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2013-07-21, 06:28 PM (ISO 8601)
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- May 2006
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Re: Crash course in XCom: Enemy Unknown?
I actually kind of like the weak pistol damage at mid levels. Especially if my goal is to capture. Can't tell you how many times I've had a dude in perfect capture range but the target has too many HP. A regular gun might kill him. But a pistol will only ever knock him down to 1-2 HP. Which is perfect for capture.
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2013-07-21, 09:08 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Sep 2007
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- Earth... sort of.
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Re: Crash course in XCom: Enemy Unknown?
Last edited by shadow_archmagi; 2013-07-21 at 09:09 PM.
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2013-07-21, 10:49 PM (ISO 8601)
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- May 2006
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Re: Crash course in XCom: Enemy Unknown?
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2013-07-22, 01:40 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Nov 2010
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Re: Crash course in XCom: Enemy Unknown?
Thousands of years ago, Egyptians worshipped what would become our ordinary housecat. The cats have never forgotten this.
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2013-07-22, 02:15 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2009
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- San Francisco
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Re: Crash course in XCom: Enemy Unknown?
I tried dwarf fortress once, but the difference with roguelikes is that you know what you're getting into. XCOM seems to have an active community dedicated to nothing but constantly making the game harder and harder.
Clear out everything and when you go to the pilots' room in a big ship, don't open the door until your entire team is right outside the door together. Then open it, have your assaults run in and double-tap one-shot two of the commanders, have ~2 squaddies whittle down the third with pistols or grenades (or weaker guns if you haven't upgraded everyone to plasma yet), and then have the last 2 guys with arcthrowers come in for the capture. Very possible in a single turn and you should be looking at all 90%+ chances at that range.
Flying doesn't count as high ground but snipers with the "damn good ground" merit do get their bonus.
Here's my thinking. With armor you can survive a hit, but you very quickly start running into enemies with 6 hp that do not die from ballistic weapons. The amount of additional attacks necessary to kill a thin man with ballistics as opposed to lasers is a huge deal. Moreover, the crits from thin men will kill you through carapace armor, so I find it's not that helpful early.
However, the biggest reason for lasers is that if you rush them, you'll have them for the first terror mission. Armor makes zero difference against Chrysalids, but laser weapons can let you breeze through the first terror mission on impossible like it's nothing.
The cost issue is irrelevant. If you pass through the first couple months without falling apart, even on impossible, the game gets incredibly easy and you can amass all the resources that you need. There's a difficulty spike the first time you run into mutons, but if you have lasers, you can handle that too.
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2013-07-22, 03:12 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2008
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- Poland
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Re: Crash course in XCom: Enemy Unknown?
I don't think a mod that'd make the aliens behave the way they did in the original Ufo/X-Com game would make the game harder, actually. They would walk around individually and it'd be easier to catch a single alien, instead of always encountering them in groups. And it would certainly be more fun, because as it is right now, XCom is all about approaching very slowly and carefully to make sure you pull only one enemy group at a time, dealing with it, and then moving on to the next group. Like an MMO dungeon.
Siela Tempo by the talented Kasanip. Tengu by myself.
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2013-07-22, 07:24 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Nov 2009
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2013-07-22, 07:36 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Jan 2012
- Location
- Montreal
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2013-07-22, 08:30 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2012
Re: Crash course in XCom: Enemy Unknown?
My first playthrough my first sniper (an Israeli female) also managed to pass Psy testing when I unlocked it. She had twice as many kills as my 2nd highest kill count character (which was the 2nd sniper I started taking) who also had twice as many kills as the 3rd highest kill count.
I've wanted to develop a squad of 6 Colonel ranked Snipers. Not sure how viable that would be. Maybe 4 Snipers and 2 Supports to scout.
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2013-07-22, 11:34 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2011
- Location
- Minnesota
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Re: Crash course in XCom: Enemy Unknown?
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2013-07-22, 12:01 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2009
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- San Francisco
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Re: Crash course in XCom: Enemy Unknown?
Does it change depending on whether you capture one or autopsy it first? I recall during my playthroughs that interrogating the sectoid commander was a green-highlighted priority choice that unlocked the psionics facility for me. But I always make a point of capturing that very first one at the end of the base because they're so nice about leaving it all by itself for you, so I actually have no idea what you get if you just kill it.
True dat.
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2013-07-22, 12:07 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2011
- Location
- Minnesota
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Re: Crash course in XCom: Enemy Unknown?
Avatar of George the Dragon Slayer, from the upcoming Indivisible!
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2013-07-22, 01:49 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2007
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- Earth... sort of.
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Re: Crash course in XCom: Enemy Unknown?
Well, for one thing, I always only do Classic Ironman, rather than Impossible Ironman, so that makes the game loads easier. (I find that Impossible's increased numbers place increased priority on avoiding triggering spawns, which means the game becomes all about waddling down the narrowest possible corridor of fog of war, which strikes me as tedious and unfun).
Besides that, I dunno. It's only one or two points of damage, and it's pretty rare for me to have enemies at 1-2 hp, so except in the case of sectopods, I rarely see an extra turn's worth of bad-guy for my choice. Also, even with sectopods, a pair of heavies, firing twice each, with HEAT rounds, will 1-shot him. (I really like my heavies)Last edited by shadow_archmagi; 2013-07-22 at 01:50 PM.
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2013-07-22, 03:11 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Nov 2009
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Re: Crash course in XCom: Enemy Unknown?
I understand the game logic behind it, but I'll never understand the in-verse logic for 6ish Mutons to spend an entire terror mission killing civilians while leaving the two Berserkers to deal with the elite squad of plasma wielding soldiers. Especially once the Berserkers get melted before doing a thing.
Last edited by Tanuki Tales; 2013-07-22 at 03:12 PM.
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2013-07-22, 03:25 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Oct 2007
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- Chicagoland
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Re: Crash course in XCom: Enemy Unknown?
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2013-07-23, 05:44 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Apr 2012
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- not found
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Re: Crash course in XCom: Enemy Unknown?
Maybe it was just me, but my heavies were terrible at shooting - regardless of skill or sights or weapon, they just couldn't be relied upon to accurately hit the target. The rockets and anti-robot upgrades were their only reason for existence imo.
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2013-07-23, 05:56 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Nov 2009
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Re: Crash course in XCom: Enemy Unknown?
I almost lost my all Colonel team yesterday.
I had shot down a large UFO ship and went to investigate it with my team. I spend several turns getting into the thing, with no aliens showing up to attack me or anything.
When I do finally find them, it's three Septoid Commanders.
In a hall way with no cover.
And my only Support gets mind controlled.
And then a Cyberdisc and two Drones come out behind me and drop a grenade on top of me.
And then three Heavy Floaters showed up.
And then three Mutons came out of the dark.
Funny story though, only two of my team ended up wounded, regardless of all the damage I took.
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2013-07-23, 06:09 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2005
- Location
- Australia
- Gender
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2013-07-23, 06:22 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2008
Re: Crash course in XCom: Enemy Unknown?
Just snagged the game before the sale closed yesterday, and been playing on and off with the tutorial enabled on Classic difficulty.
Digging the fancy graphics. (Also, appreciating how they eased you into the game.)
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2013-07-23, 06:48 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2009
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- The cyberpunk present
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Re: Crash course in XCom: Enemy Unknown?
Weird. My heavies do splendid work. I remember a particular heavy, by the name of "Chunky Salsa" Rodriguez, who at one point had as many kills as every other member of the main squad combined.
I really, really like Rockets. I really, really like Grenades. Two heavies is the usual for my squads.Truth resists simplicity.
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2013-07-23, 06:50 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2006
Re: Crash course in XCom: Enemy Unknown?
I always have this problem too, which is generally why I only bring one heavy. It's also why I usually take holo-targeting. Even if the heavy shoots like a storm trooper, he at least can help his teammates, and it works on suppression too.
On another note, how many of you guys do your own modding/tweaking of the game? The first thing I did was change the default squad size from four to six and I've never looked back. I also rebalanced the final armors so that ghost armor isn't automatically the best. I've been meaning to do the same with laser and plasma weapons, but I haven't had really any good ideas on how to differentiate them. I see a lot of mods that make lasers have higher crit chance and plasma lower accuracy, but that seems a little basic and doesn't really do anything but make plasma worse. Any thoughts?The first chapter of The Book of Svarog
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2013-07-23, 07:08 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Sep 2008
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Re: Crash course in XCom: Enemy Unknown?
I found that two heavies with HEAT rounds and the bullet storm traits can reliably take out any enemy in the game in one round, including sectopods. I agree that heavies tend to be lacking on Aim, so I usually run them with the SCOPE.
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2013-07-23, 07:34 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Sep 2007
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- Earth... sort of.
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Re: Crash course in XCom: Enemy Unknown?
As far as I can tell, there isn't actually a very strong correlation between class and accuracy. Heavies tend to be less accurate because they can get away with it- When you've got a rocket, you can get kills (and thus promotions) regardless of your ability to aim. Less so for snipers, for whom the inability to shoot straight is diagnosed early on.
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2013-07-23, 08:00 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2007
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- Here
Re: Crash course in XCom: Enemy Unknown?
Oddly enough, my game seems to find amusement in putting my most accurate soldiers into assault and heavy classes, while my support and snipers usually can't shoot straight, which leads to an annoying bit in the midgame where I'm desperately trying to train up a sniper because all my other ones are worthless
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2013-07-23, 08:28 AM (ISO 8601)
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- May 2006
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Re: Crash course in XCom: Enemy Unknown?
So I have a confession. I've never actually beaten Classic Ironman. I got 1/3 of the way through normal and decided it was too easy, switched to Classic and finished that game.
This thread has made me try again. This will be attempt #14. I usually do base building fine, but some brutal TPK ruins the playthrough.
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2013-07-23, 08:33 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Jan 2009
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- The cyberpunk present
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Re: Crash course in XCom: Enemy Unknown?
Last edited by SlyGuyMcFly; 2013-07-23 at 08:34 AM.
Truth resists simplicity.
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2013-07-23, 08:34 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2006
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- Esslingen, Germany
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Re: Crash course in XCom: Enemy Unknown?
By default, I think Heavies are legitimately the class with the lowest aim increases per rank, and sniper the highest. Hidden Potential and Not Created Equal throw that completely out of whack, though. You can get eagle-eyed heavies and crappy snipers in equal measure.
What's also true is that a heavy with crappy aim can still provide up to five aim-independent explosives per mission and support other squad members' damage, through holo-targeting or shredder rockets, or provide defensive support through suppression. A sniper with crappy aim can hold one item and does basically nothing otherwise except battle scanning.
My decent heavies are my favorite people of all. There is no greater satisfaction than a well-placed rocket, or unloading two full blasts of HEAT into that cyberdisk that just sauntered up right next to the squad. It doesn't even matter if you miss one of the two times.Last edited by Silfir; 2013-07-23 at 08:36 AM.
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2013-07-23, 09:15 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2007
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- Earth... sort of.
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Re: Crash course in XCom: Enemy Unknown?
The thing to remember is that a brutal TPK doesn't mean game-over. It just means you're down a few soldiers. Bring whatever veterans survived (Always good to bring one rookie on every mission, to ensure that there's a stockpile of not-rookies for later) and begin building anew.
I find that it's best to have at least one heavy with SCOPE and bullet storm- since they can attack twice, you're getting far more usage out of the SCOPE. Plus with two heavies, you've got at least four explosions anyway.
A quick trip to the wiki proves you right. By default, a fully-levelled heavy has 75 aim, 30 less than a max-power sniper. Still, with scope, that's 85% hit chance, assuming the enemy doesn't have cover (And if you've got a heavy weapons guy, of COURSE the enemy doesn't have cover)Avatar by K penguin. Sash by Damned1rishman.
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2013-07-23, 09:45 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2010
Re: Crash course in XCom: Enemy Unknown?
These notes are on the vanilla game, and from my own personal experiences.
1. Cover is vitally important, don't neglect it and don't let anyone end their turn in the open. 2 directions or more of cover is very useful.
2. Utilize a real overwatch, that is a sniper on a rooftop or high position (with cover if possible) that can overwatch. If he has in the zone, even better.
3. Many people swear by an assault with a shotgun and the perk that gives you a free shot when an enemy gets within 3 hexes. I prefer to equip that assault with a regular gun (plasma especially is nice). Usually his overwatch shot + the perk shot kill anything coming at him.
4. Keep your squad spread out a little. It sucks getting one soldier pinned down by an enemy squad, but it sucks more to have one lucky grenade or something unexpected kill or injure a large amount of your squad.
5. Pay attention to the terrain. Enemies tend to come from predictable locations, but sometimes they hide very well. UFOs are especially a pain in the ass because while the terrain is predictable, cover is not in large supply and some of the cover that is available blows up.
Honestly, you should just play through a couple games because even loosing is fun in this game. Turn on ironman if you want to torture yourself.
Let me give you a fun example: I was playing an abduction map late in the game (maybe it was a panic, I don't recall) and started by a gas station. Now, I'd blown up enough cars to realize their danger, but I didn't realize the explosive radius of the gas pumps themselves. A bunch of enemies burst out of a nearby building while my entire squad is camped around the gas station, and lobs one grenade at the front guy. The grenade nearly kills him, the gas pump and car exploding does kill him, and I have a bad day. Then I notice nothing is happening, and I see two other pumps burning. They explode, causing the fourth to light up, and all the cars around. Whole station goes boom and I'm left with my medic at 1hp and everyone else dead.The Chaotic Evil Dungeon Master
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2013-07-23, 03:02 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2006
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- BFE
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Re: Crash course in XCom: Enemy Unknown?
One thing that I think is worth mentioning is that XCOM is one of those rare games where high-difficulty tactics are distinctly sub-optimal for lower difficulties. For instance, on the lower difficulties, the power difference between your troops and the aliens is such that splitting into fireteams to sweep larger areas usually works significantly better than the "stack up in each others' footsteps" tactic.
QFT, especially #4. The missions where I found out the hard way that three or four guys were within a single grenade's blast radius dominate the top of the "Arty's spectacularly bad mission outcomes" list
Although I'll never be able to play Ironman because my terrible excuse for a video card leads to at least one crash during a mission being pretty much guaranteedSpoilerBossing Around Mad Cats for Fun and Profit: Let's Play MechCommander 2!
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