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Fuzz posted:I put AP on my Shredder Gunner for whenever I see a single target with huge HP+Armor. Open with that and your shots bypass all that armor, PLUS they get shredded so the rest of your squad can gently caress them up. This seems pretty optimal to me, that way no damage is lost.
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Feb 23, 2016 03:25
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Mazz posted:Just finished my first full campaign on Veteran, zero losses, only 3 missed flawless missions in total, and I think 2 of those were the final missions because I only remember loving up one along the way. Same, the two last avatars were both shadowstruck when they decided to flank themselves against my concealed ranger. I have learnt to love phantom rangers so hard. Properly used, I almost always activate enemies on their turn, and attain local numerical superiority.
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Feb 23, 2016 03:27
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Also, regarding combat vs medical protocol, I've been going early combat, and then respeccing into medical once I have 3 grenadiers to take care of my guaranteed finishers, I have enough xp to get field medic, and my dudes have enough hp to not get 1-shot.
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Feb 23, 2016 03:30
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Asproigerosis posted:So why is it that all the localized voices haven't been made into a voice pack yet? Would be nice to have some asian/nonwestern europe voices. Or am I assuming too much that localization was done outside of western europe? All the non-English voices are localized voices that Firaxis reuses. The game is text localized for other territories beyond Europe, but otherwise yeah Europe was the only place to get localized voices.
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Feb 23, 2016 03:33
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Mazz posted:If you are save scumming at all then a medic is completely unnecessary. The last mission was the only one that I took any damage on, but even then I was able to work around most of it to the point I didn't lose anyone (although it was close). I ran my entire veteran run with the same squad: 2 grenadiers (both explosives focused), 2 Rangers (one of each full tree to test things out), 1 combat specialist, and one full sniper sharpshooter. I got some sweet AWC rolls along the way so that Sniper had Serial as did the Bladestorm ranger. Good point. I don't savescum bad beats, I mostly only reload when the the game does something that I decree as Stupid (see: drones activating pods or breaking concealment; soldiers getting stuck on terrain; really loving stupid pod placement (I had three(!) pods placed on a single truck yesterday, you bet your loving rear end I savescummed that). In that light, and in light of the fact that I have a mod that makes armor useful for preventing hospital time, the medic specialist seems less useful. I'm not getting a lot of use out of Ranger either, to be honest; I just feel like the 'scout' Phantom role leaves me a gun down too often instead of being a useful scout. I might replace him with a second Grenadier, and my medic with a second Psi Ops, for a total of: 2 Grenadiers 2 Psi Ops Hacker Pistoleer for my A-team. (edit) Or maybe I'll respec said Ranger into a HANZO STEEL SAMURAI now that I have Arc Blades and he has a few ranks in him 
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Feb 23, 2016 03:44
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The "Armor Gives Armor" mod I'm trying out would be way better if a ton o the mid- and late-game enemies didn't shred as part of their normal dinky guns. Why does a Muton rifle shred? I don't really get why MEC guns shred either. Considering the mod trades every 3 health on armor to an armor point, it actually makes them less useful to most damage as the game goes on. I do like the idea of being able to stack a bit of armor on without having to jump through hoops though.
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Feb 23, 2016 03:53
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Ciaphas posted:Good point. I don't savescum bad beats, I mostly only reload when the the game does something that I decree as Stupid (see: drones activating pods or breaking concealment; soldiers getting stuck on terrain; really loving stupid pod placement (I had three(!) pods placed on a single truck yesterday, you bet your loving rear end I savescummed that). In that light, and in light of the fact that I have a mod that makes armor useful for preventing hospital time, the medic specialist seems less useful. I got some decent mileage out of Bladestorm (you can do a lot to force its activation by good positioning) but honestly the rest of the melee stuff was forgettable at best. About the only time I remember Reaper being useful was was I used a Psi Ops to give that ranger an extra move so that I could melee twice, which allowed Reaper to trigger two more melee attacks for 4 total (more like 3 with the reduced damage). I would absolutely take Rapid Fire over Reaper in my next game, even if you don't roll them both as Phantoms. I cannot explain how good Rapid Fire is when you get the opportunity to flank something like a Gatekeeper, Avatar or Sectopod. You can do upwards of 35 damage in the 2 crits, and the enemy gets no response in between. Give them AP rounds and a speed PCS and they can delete any unit in the game when you need them to. Not only that, they can rush a mob, double tap it, and then use Implacable(sp?) to get the gently caress back into good cover, all in the same turn. I ran two grenadiers for the entire campaign and for most of the early/mid game they were the primary way I ended pods quickly, but then again when I went into the final 2 missions I dropped one of them for a Magus and I don't regret that decision in the slightest. Also, on the medic thing, I guess it really comes down to situation and game mode. In my veteran playthrough I found little use, but I could definitely see where the medic has value. I just really wish it made more difference at the end of missions with injury type. Like even dropping the threshold from gravely to lightly so long as the soldier was healed high enough would make a huge difference for me. Mazz fucked around with this message at 04:03 on Feb 23, 2016 |
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Feb 23, 2016 03:56
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I for loving love scout rangers. A pack out in the distance? I can infiltrate everyone to cover just out of vision, put them on overwatch, activate them on their turn with a long watch sniper shot, and watch as the entire pack charges into my overwatch trap and disappears. A pack behind a wall or a building? I'll infiltrate everyone close via the other side, or via the roof, and open up with grenades, and everyone else can safely charge in with flanking shots. And because my ranger is typically on the other side of the pack, I can be confident that my assault won't be activating another pack on my turn. Early game, with 4-5 squad size, I'll typically burn conceal in order to take out one particular target. Late game, I can run entire maps with my ranger never leaving conceal, eating one pack at a time.
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Feb 23, 2016 03:56
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Just want to reiterate how loving amazing mods in xcom are. It's like a republic commando fan fic
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Feb 23, 2016 04:06
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PantsBandit posted:Just want to reiterate how loving amazing mods in xcom are. 
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Feb 23, 2016 04:10
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PantsBandit posted:Just want to reiterate how loving amazing mods in xcom are. I don't see an imperial flag on that trooper 
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Feb 23, 2016 04:13
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If there was a way to go MGSR blade mode on an enemy as a sword ranger similar to how Rapid Fire works, the sub-class would be a whole lot more viable as well as more fun to use in general all the way to the end (who the hell wasn't thinking MGSR in early trailers of XCOM 2 thinking about a ranger taking down a sectopod solo with an anime blade?). If it were possible to make a semi-gimpy rifle / shotgun ranger but godly melee anime-as-gently caress swordsman build, it could seem perhaps overpowered. But how the hell else am I going to ever justify rolling out my Geralt of Rivia character with maximum dodge and stasis vest otherwise? Don't make me make a witcher soldier mod that requires sacrificing rookies at 1/10 success rates producing a soldier that has self-regeneration, extended visibility range, high dodge, and gimpy versions of soul fire and Domination... but with terrible as hell ranged aim stats.Phobophilia posted:Early game, with 4-5 squad size, I'll typically burn conceal in order to take out one particular target. Late game, I can run entire maps with my ranger never leaving conceal, eating one pack at a time.
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Feb 23, 2016 04:33
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I am frankly shocked I managed to make it out of that last mission with only one injury considering how many 95+% shots I missed. Thankfully, the sneks missed them too!
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Feb 23, 2016 04:35
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Later game is when I do consider Conceal over Run and Gun. I've...come around on Phantom. I don't 'like' taking it, but the power it gives you is insane. If anything what I'd do is take Blademaster first, train up a second with Phantom for 5 man squad size (Or just respec your first guy.) But at least with bigger pod sizes, I usually have to break conceal to deal with something and I hate no ability to get back in it. I don't know if Conceal with 2 charges would be overpowered though.
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Feb 23, 2016 04:45
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necrobobsledder posted:So you honestly don't care about the DPS of the Ranger late game then? What do you pack on him then, battle scanners only or something? I've had so many games on even Commander where my squad is in a bind without an extra grenade or a rapid fire shotgun and that Ranger's damage becomes more important than the scouting ability. I do care, I like loading him with some Talon rounds. And I'll use him to finish someone when I get into a pinch. But between a serial sharpshooter and a shitload of grenades, not much survives the initial encounter. The trick of a scout ranger is that you decrease the likelihood of getting into that pinch in the first place, because you pull one pack at a time, and wipe it out on the first turn. Though to be honest, conceal vs RnG is very debatable. Phantom as the cpl level skill is a no-brainer. But many times, I never need to pop that mid-mission conceal, and instead wish that I could pull off a RnG. Other times, the initial pod scatters in a way that flanks and reveals my scout ranger, and I'm glad that I have the opportunity to reconceal and do further scouting once the first pack is dead.
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Feb 23, 2016 04:54
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Does Mind Control have a time limit or does it last as long as the MC isn't forcibly broken (e.g. disorientation/death of the controller)? I've got hold of a Muton in my current mission and he's done sterling work but I'm worried he'll break loose at a bad time 
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Feb 23, 2016 05:11
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Ciaphas posted:Does Mind Control have a time limit or does it last as long as the MC isn't forcibly broken (e.g. disorientation/death of the controller)? I've got hold of a Muton in my current mission and he's done sterling work but I'm worried he'll break loose at a bad time Hacked mechanical units will eventually become un-hacked, but psi operatives' mind control lasts the rest of the mission.
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Feb 23, 2016 05:13
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Cooool. Hey Muton go run those overwatches would you please~
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Feb 23, 2016 05:13
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Mind control from the Domination skill is forever, mind control from the insanity skill (whether self cast, or from void rift) lasts a handful of turns.
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Feb 23, 2016 05:23
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Domination is loving insane then, even at one success per mission. It's literally a seventh (or eighth) unit for your squad as soon as you find a victim and get a good roll. Psi Ops Rule
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Feb 23, 2016 05:26
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Ciaphas posted:Domination is loving insane then, even at one success per mission. It's literally a seventh (or eighth) unit for your squad as soon as you find a victim and get a good roll. It quickly becomes necessary as the game's difficulty ramps up. Enemies just get more numerous and nastier, so you need as many force multipliers as you can get. A powerful alien on your side is just what the doctor ordered.
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Feb 23, 2016 05:40
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The hubris of thinking I was ready for ironman commander. Snakes kept barfing poison and one grabbed a guy right onto a burning semi just so they could blow up together.
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Feb 23, 2016 05:42
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It seems like the rewards from the Proving Grounds are random, but you'll get one of everything in the pool before it repeats. That is, if you throw enough cores in the grinder, you'll get one of every type of ammo to try it out. Getting the second ammo / nade of choice is more difficult since it seems like it enters full RNG after the first set, but it doesn't look like you'll get swamped by Plasma Lances when you want just one Shredstorm Cannon. I only have the sample space of one Veteran campaign; have other people seen this pattern?
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Feb 23, 2016 05:48
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PantsBandit posted:Just want to reiterate how loving amazing mods in xcom are. Its one step down the road to the Star Wars total conversion mod I'm sure someone will put out in a year or two. I can't wait.
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Feb 23, 2016 05:50
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Yeah, it seems to work that way for me too: one of each type of experimental ammo/grenade until you get the chance to repeat.
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Feb 23, 2016 05:50
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My first two "random" ammo projects were AP rounds, this is only the 2nd campaign i've done so far. (Well, 2nd campaign that's lasted long enough for me to build a proving grounds  .)
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Feb 23, 2016 06:03
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jng2058 posted:Its one step down the road to the Star Wars total conversion mod I'm sure someone will put out in a year or two. Predator armor painted white is already a decentish Stormtrooper knockoff set. I do eagerly await more armor/guns though.
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Feb 23, 2016 06:14
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Hell, magnetic weapons look kind of like blasters when they shoot anyway.
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Feb 23, 2016 06:21
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I wanted bladmasters to have multiple strikes on a single foe or an AoE cleave, not this gimped version of what a Serial Implacable shotty Ranger. All the other classes AoE's are guaranteed without damage dropoff.
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Feb 23, 2016 06:56
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Speedball posted:It quickly becomes necessary as the game's difficulty ramps up. Enemies just get more numerous and nastier, so you need as many force multipliers as you can get. A powerful alien on your side is just what the doctor ordered. Andromedan or Gatekeeper? Andromedan has that nice acid bomb AOE that strips armor and health, perfect for follow-up, and seems easier to MC. Gatekeeper has the psi bomb thing which seems to have wonky aim for me, but I think has more armor/HP.
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Feb 23, 2016 06:57
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monster on a stick posted:Andromedan or Gatekeeper? Andromedan has that nice acid bomb AOE that strips armor and health, perfect for follow-up, and seems easier to MC. Gatekeeper has the psi bomb thing which seems to have wonky aim for me, but I think has more armor/HP. They're BOTH good to have on your side. Dominate as necessary whenever you get the opportunity (just make sure to KILL at least two gatekeepers first, one for the autopsy and the second to fully upgrade your psi-amps). Andromedon's acid bomb actually recharges on a timer and it is, itself, immune to the acid it spews so it's pretty drat amazing against groups of mutons. Gatekeeper's psi bomb thing is also capable of turning dead Advent into zombies under your control....good cannon fodder, anyway. Just remember of course, that if your dominated Andromedon dies the robot suit will reactivate and try to kill you, haha! Codexes are also useful to dominate, though they've got a high defense against that. They're fragile but FAST and they can do everything but clone themselves when under your control, which means doing that gun-jamming AOE attack and teleporting behind aliens to flank them. That's a powerful way to break up enemy pods and make them useless for a turn. Don't ever make the mistake of thinking there's exactly one optimum way to go through the whole game, though. A game that gives you this many tools allows you to pick what works for you. Hell, dominate a Shieldbearer and have him put shields around your entire team if that's the only thing you've got. Another pretty useful tool for psi ops is Stasis. Especially the upgraded version that lets you use it on your friends. If someone's out of cover next to a horde of aliens, put him in a bubble, or if there's a giant robot about to crash your party and you need to freeze it for one turn while everyone reloads, that's cool too.
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Feb 23, 2016 07:05
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monster on a stick posted:Andromedan or Gatekeeper? Andromedan has that nice acid bomb AOE that strips armor and health, perfect for follow-up, and seems easier to MC. Gatekeeper has the psi bomb thing which seems to have wonky aim for me, but I think has more armor/HP. I go Andromedan, though the fact that the suit changes sides back to the aliens when they kill the guy inside can be troublesome sometimes. I love MCing Codexes, though. Teleport with the area effect No Guns For You? It's very nice.
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Feb 23, 2016 07:06
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I'm running through a Commander+ campaign now--with a ban on Haywire protocol and Psi-ops, using the Any Class Any Weapon and Hunter's Instinct for Swords mod It's really fun. I love how mobile you can make Snipers with an assault rifle--you can move, lightning hands, and still shoot the assault rifle. Seems a little too powerful with squadsight, though, which was why I recommended that change a while ago. Love Demolition Grenadiers with a Shotgun and Gunner Grenadiers with an AR. Blademaster is amazing with that Hunter's Instinct mod--once you're fully teched up, you can take out a Stun Lancer or Shieldbearer in one hit. I managed to get blast padding from the AWC on my blademaster, stacked it with plated armor and a WAR suit for a 4 armor. It's pretty crazy.
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Feb 23, 2016 07:17
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So I just hacked a sectopod and it made my life good. just the fantastic feeling of walking through walls with it
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Feb 23, 2016 07:29
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Phobophilia posted:
I loved Conceal in my first playthrough for scouting and ambush traps and Prox mines. I changed my mind after playing with a Run N Gunner, though. Ambush traps post-concealment are useless without a Kill Zone aimed at the pod or a Prox Mine, whereas a Ranger off her leash is by far the best hitman in a squad. Easy flanks and Hunters Instincts means all but the beefiest targets in one shot reliably, before you even hit Rapid Fire. The sheer number and health of enemies Legend throws at you means having her as an active alien hunter outweighs Conceal for one extra pod, especially when there are plenty of ways to scout ahead (Scanning Protocol and Battle Scanners). Maybe I'm just more aggressive than most; I consider Medic a waste of a skill tree. If things go pear-shaped, you're much more likely to turn the tide with the Combat Specialist's ability pool rather than bringing a Medic and patching up afterwards.
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Feb 23, 2016 07:56
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On cmdr I'm not using medics unless I get a Chrysalid retaliation mission, and then only for the poison. Revival has helped me maybe twice and I've never felt the need. I'm sure at one point I'll get a ton of unconscious soldiers at once, but as-is I've had one guy drop unconscious and two go into bleedout, both stabilized by a medkit carried as a backup. Lategame I just put the mass restoration skill on my specialists instead of capacitor discharge and that's covered me just fine. I'm sure there are scenarios where only a medic spec could pull everything out, but bringing an extra grenadier or psiop has kept me from seeing them so far.
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Feb 23, 2016 08:02
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Yeah the problem is a medic is great reactively when soldiers have taken hits, but doesn't do anything about the real problem with damage: hospital time. They can still pick up the Overwatch buffs but that doesn't make up for Combat Protocol (which is amazing regardless of how un-flashy it is), Haywire (reliable stuns on most of the beefiest targets), Scanning, or Capacitor Discharge (a flashbang that deals Plasma Grenade damage and double-wrecks robots). Basically, a Medic can patch you up after a bad situation while a Combat Hacker has the tools to prevent the bad situation from even occurring. Except for the rare mission where a medic can save someone after an unlucky Chrysalid charge, they just don't seem worth it. Now, in a scenario where battlefield healing also saved hospital time, my opinion would flip in the medic's favor. In all of Commander and Legendary I've never hit a situation where a medic would have saved a soldier from lethal on the field (save Chrysalids) yet it'd be worth it to shave even a little off a wounded soldier's 3-6 week wounded timer.
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Feb 23, 2016 08:26
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Avenger Defense Story time : Gather round children, of here's the tale of how El Duque saved humanity in its darkest hour. Now, El Duque is a Vanguard class (More Custom classes mod has them) so he has fun skills like Void Rift and Null Lance to support his cannon weilding. Beginning the mission (is it always the same map for the first defense?) I spread my troops out and over watch with the exception of El Duque, who sprints forward across the hilltop towards the busted up building where the spike is. A few rounds of overwatch later there's a ton of dead Advent around (running ISEE+) and my troops have shifted forward to the edges of the cliff face of the hill. 2 (!) reinforcement flares pop, and down come 2 MECs and a bunch of random Advent. My Tech proceeds to own the robot (Thanks to Robot Pals mod, forever) who meatshields like a boss. Meanwhile, El Duque uses the blaster launcher for the first time to launch that little green ball of hello at the spike. I didn't realize there was a squad there. Or the propane tank sitting RIGHT next to the spike. Spike died, squad dies, MEC melts another pod with missile Salvo, and the last pod died on drop/moving to my overwatch crew. Cue 3 rounds of bounding overwatches and mission completion. But wait, I couldn't complete the mission without leaving a man behind it seems. Turns out MEC buddy had to be on the ramp too. Cue 3 more rounds of whole squad OW while the MEC hauls rear end from 3 more reinforcement pods. In the end, holy gently caress I love the blaster launcher. My first facility attack I had a pod + turret activate by moving too close while fighting another group. But wait, they're all on the roof and tightly clustered. Blaster took 1/3 of the roof out, but that whole group died,and the turret died too. They never even got to move far enough away.
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Feb 23, 2016 08:44
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I decided to try my hand at this modding thing, with a little update that lets you buy upgrades to the Guerilla Tactics School that rank up rookies you train there (to a max of one below your max rank soldier). Feel free to give it a try and let me know if it crashes your game and deletes your ironman saves and curdles your milk and insults your mother: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=630838743
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Feb 23, 2016 08:55
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Modding question for increasing squad size: Is there any reason that I would change \XComGame\Config\DefaultGameData.ini (to "m_iMaxSoldiersOnMission=6") and yet not get 6 soldiers default? I keep trying to fix it, and it's real annoying, cause I'm not sure whether Gatecrasher should have 4 or 6 rookies now. So I've been making new campaigns, playing through Gatecrasher with 4, and then scanning until my first mission for testing. I have the DefaultUI.ini "MaxDisplayedSlots=8" and the UI "Max Squad Size Fix" mod enabled as well. I mean, I guess I can scrap my whole mod stack and try this edit without it, but I don't see why that would help due to the nature of the edit. I'm confused as to why this doesn't seem to be working. None of the mods seems to edit DefaultGameData.ini.
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Feb 23, 2016 08:59
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