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AceOfFlames posted:... So no one ever loses anyone on easy? The gently caress am I doing wrong. I always put people in cover and yet every so often someone misses a shot they should have taken and then get killed. I lose rookies and occasionally levelled soldiers in the early missions on Commander, but that's okay as long as you're still making steady progress towards getting better gear and higher-levelled troops. (Losing a specialist who's grabbed an early Enemy Protocol definitely stings though...). I don't think I ever lose anyone after getting T2 armour, unless I totally cock something up and pull way more enemies than I can deal with. It seems difficult to lose people on Easy, unless you've got lots of really bad habits because you're used to the game never punishing you for making mistakes.
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Jun 13, 2017 13:31
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Only time I ever really lose people is to bad rolls or forgetting that Half Cover might as well be no cover.
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Jun 13, 2017 13:32
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AceOfFlames posted:... So no one ever loses anyone on easy? The gently caress am I doing wrong. I always put people in cover and yet every so often someone misses a shot they should have taken and then get killed. Play some more, lose a lot, try different research paths, figure out how to abuse the enemy AI. Did you know that Sectoids will use a psychic ability more often than they will straight up shoot at you, especially if they're the last enemy alive? A sectoid raising a psi zombie is effectively them wasting a turn.
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Jun 13, 2017 13:39
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Iron Crowned posted:The sad thing is, it took me way to long to figure out that they were the evolution of the floaters from EU/EW
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Jun 13, 2017 13:41
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Cythereal posted:Wouldn't be surprised if Priests are more support or debuff oriented - say, they can heal aliens and ADVENT, or have a psi flashbang effect of their own. If the Lost are single units then the Blademaster is going to get a lot of lifting done while the Pistolero's on cooldown. e: Did they ever fix it so the throwing axes get the blademaster perk boost? I have a mod just for that. quote:oh loving hell I'm dumb The Gatekeepers are basically Cyber Actually I like how in EU the aliens were greys/the MIB/literally UFOs, and so on, and in XCOM 2 it's a weird mishmash, both to try and fit in a bit better and also because the Ethereals are hiring mercs from Andromeda so Earth's just some weird backwater while also a sort of hub because something keeps chasing the Ethereals. Earth's pretty hosed up in XCOM 2! It's weird that it's only like twenty years later though. With the ADVENT centers it feels like it should be 50+. RBA Starblade fucked around with this message at 13:53 on Jun 13, 2017 |
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Jun 13, 2017 13:46
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I think there are two handy rules to stop your soldiers from dying: - never reveal more fog after a few of your guys have ended their turn - kill or debuff every enemy which carries explosives as a #1 priority Not doing these correctly is the cause of pretty much every single one of my  moments outside of unavoidable RNG hatred.
ModernMajorGeneral fucked around with this message at 13:57 on Jun 13, 2017 |
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Jun 13, 2017 13:55
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ModernMajorGeneral posted:Based on when my XCOM missions go horribly wrong I find there are two rules to stop your soldiers from dying: The easiest way to victory is to bring as many explosives as possible, throw as many as possible, then have the sniper (if XCOM 1) or Sharpshooter (if XCOM 2) wrap up. Alternately if XCOM 1 make a lot of MECs and SHIVs and punch everyone to death while driving tiny tanks up their asses. I miss SHIVs so much.
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Jun 13, 2017 13:56
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Tips I wish I'd known earlier: *Use stealthed scout units to avoid setting off more pods down the line *Conceal is great for this *Use the Gotcha Again mod to know when moving somewhere will activate a pod you can see, so you can keep troops back as needed *Never fight more than one pod at a time if you can help it That's basically it. Managing encounters is huge and I kinda wish it wasn't but that's the nature of the game and I dunno how you'd splice that up any further.
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Jun 13, 2017 13:59
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I can't wait to see what a mess War of the Chosen LW2 is going to be.
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Jun 13, 2017 14:01
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AceOfFlames posted:... So no one ever loses anyone on easy? The gently caress am I doing wrong. I always put people in cover and yet every so often someone misses a shot they should have taken and then get killed. High or low cover? High Cover is "I don't want to get shot." Low cover is "there's nowhere else around to stand, I don't want to get critted". Secondly, your goal should be to reduce the # or dice rolls the AI gets. This means removing its pieces from the board: shoot to kill. Use grenades to strip the enemy of their cover which then makes follow-up shots from your dudes that much easier. Finally, look for an "EU dice roll mod" or something like that to get rid of crazy poo poo. The way the current dice roll system is set up it's only a single roll for miss/dodge/hit/crit. If a unit has a higher chance to crit than it does to hit, then that hit will be a guaranteed critical.
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Jun 13, 2017 14:02
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With all the new toys I hope we either get more armor that lets you carry more stuff or larger squad sizes outside mods, too.
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Jun 13, 2017 14:04
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Vib Rib posted:That's basically it. Managing encounters is huge and I kinda wish it wasn't but that's the nature of the game and I dunno how you'd splice that up any further. There's a pretty easy way to fix it, you just need to have enemies shoot at you when they patrol into you instead of giving you a grace turn to react to them. That grace turn is what makes it so there's a massive difference between stumbling across a pod at the end of your turn, vs. not quite seeing them and having them walk into vision on their turn. It turns out that doing that is one of the most hated features of LW2 though.
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Jun 13, 2017 14:05
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XCOM punished you really hard for wanting to use explosives because a critical element of progress is gathering weapon fragments. One of the main transitions I made to playing well in XCOM2 (just finished my first Commander Ironman game, 15 dead) was learning to embrace using explosives whenever it would significantly speed up killing a pod. If you are moving to contact never rush unless you absolutely can't help it. If you have to, use a support soldier's aid ability to boost their defences (It's probably the most effective early game ability). Try to cycle through your soldiers using all first actions then all second actions, doing it that way can be a little tedious but it maximises the chances that you will have something in your pocket to deal with an unexpected missed shot or pod activation. Mimic beacons are your 'oh poo poo I need a free turn where nothing bad happens to my soldiers' button, always bring one.
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Jun 13, 2017 14:05
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I gotta say, I love Jake in spite of himself. The man frequently makes design choices that I don't approve of, but he never seems to stop trying to make his games better and he absolutely listens to player feedback. He may not always make the right calls, but god drat it, the man is always trying. And yeah, you guys were absolutely right to bring up snake tits. I remember how much we all ridiculed that poo poo pre-launch, but they wound up being really fun enemies.
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Jun 13, 2017 14:06
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Lunchmeat Larry posted:oh loving hell I'm dumb They did a bad job making it apparent. Shen comments on them being a cosmetic upgrade from EU/EW, but otherwise it's up to you to figure it out, and they don't really act, look, or sound like floaters Or is it Sputnik posted:Did you know that Sectoids will use a psychic ability more often than they will straight up shoot at you, especially if they're the last enemy alive? A sectoid raising a psi zombie is effectively them wasting a turn. gently caress that, every time I expect them to raise a zombie they just up and blast someone with plasma causing someone else to panic. The worst panics are when I'm at the loving evac zone, and one more turn and they get to go home, then they start crying about it and either get captured or killed because I'm out of time.
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Jun 13, 2017 14:10
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Jabor posted:There's a pretty easy way to fix it, you just need to have enemies shoot at you when they patrol into you instead of giving you a grace turn to react to them. That grace turn is what makes it so there's a massive difference between stumbling across a pod at the end of your turn, vs. not quite seeing them and having them walk into vision on their turn.
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Jun 13, 2017 14:13
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Iron Crowned posted:They did a bad job making it apparent. Shen comments on them being a cosmetic upgrade from EU/EW, but otherwise it's up to you to figure it out, and they don't really act, look, or sound like floaters But...they float. I thought it was the most obvious thing, which is they were upgraded floaters. I would like to see more of the interim models, though. What did they field between the floater and the archon? Why did they scrap it? A mission that takes you to a scrapped alien R&D factory and you fight alpha and beta models of the regular enemies that are all hosed up like how you fight early MECs during Julian's mission would be cool.
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Jun 13, 2017 14:27
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RBA Starblade posted:With all the new toys I hope we either get more armor that lets you carry more stuff or larger squad sizes outside mods, too. I have a feeling the reason fatigue now exists is because without it, all the original classes would be getting nudged out by the new stuff. That is if they're not intending to up squad sizes.
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Jun 13, 2017 14:30
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marshmallow creep posted:But...they float. I thought it was the most obvious thing, which is they were upgraded floaters. So do seekers, and drones, and cyberdisks. Mutons and Crysallids look like the previous versions, and Sectoids look similar enough, that if they weren't called Sectoids you could probably figure it out. Archons look nothing like floaters, and aren't called floaters, so it's like trying to figure out that snake tits were thin men without Tygan telling you that.
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Jun 13, 2017 14:34
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I figured Archons were floaters because they float, also don't have legs, and the autopsy mentions that they look a little squished into the human torso shell thing or something.
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Jun 13, 2017 14:35
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Shen also implicitly refers to archons as improved floaters when you first encounter them, talking about how the aliens cleaned up the design from the biomechanical horrors of the invasion.
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Jun 13, 2017 14:40
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Cythereal posted:Shen also implicitly refers to archons as improved floaters when you first encounter them, talking about how the aliens cleaned up the design from the biomechanical horrors of the invasion. She doesn't say floaters, just that the design was cleaned up, leaving it open to interpretation of what they cleaned up the design of.
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Jun 13, 2017 14:48
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There's a mod that moves LW2's elective AWC functionality to the vanilla game and says it should be compatible with basically all other mods as well as offer ini customizability as to what perks are included. I'm in the middle of a heavily modded non-vanilla campaign and can't really test it myself, but can anyone vouch for (or against) it?
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Jun 13, 2017 14:50
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Iron Crowned posted:She doesn't say floaters, just that the design was cleaned up, leaving it open to interpretation of what they cleaned up the design of. IIRC she also does refer to biomechanical horrors, and there's only one enemy in X-COM that archons fit the profile of. Leg-less jetpack alien is a fairly specific concept. I figured gatekeepers to be an evolution of the cyberdisk, considering Vahlen in EU/W speculates that the cyberdisk might be a silicon-based lifeform rather than a machine as initially thought. The ethereals' chatter in Avenger also suggests that cyberdisks are indeed living creatures.
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Jun 13, 2017 14:51
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To the guy who got Avenger Defense early: this is essentially what canonically happened to the original Xcom before the aliens put the commander in a brain boy suit.
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Jun 13, 2017 15:10
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AceOfFlames posted:... So no one ever loses anyone on easy? The gently caress am I doing wrong. I always put people in cover and yet every so often someone misses a shot they should have taken and then get killed. I think the typical errors beginners make are undervaluing having a concealed scout, over reliance on overwatch, and not thinking hard enough about order of operations in terms of keeping back soldiers with Get Out Of Jail cards to act last if things go wrong. You really wanna minimise the amount of RNG you are exposed to.
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Jun 13, 2017 15:29
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For those who were wondering about it, someone on r/xcom posted a cliff notes summary of an interview Jake did with Twitch, and one of the tidbits was that the Chosen operate on normal rules:quote:Confirmed that the Chosen do not use the Ruler Reaction system. They operate like normal enemies that are very, very powerful.
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Jun 13, 2017 15:32
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What happens when they find xcom Hq? Do we get a second base assault
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Jun 13, 2017 15:37
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Cythereal posted:I figured gatekeepers to be an evolution of the cyberdisk, considering Vahlen in EU/W speculates that the cyberdisk might be a silicon-based lifeform rather than a machine as initially thought. The ethereals' chatter in Avenger also suggests that cyberdisks are indeed living creatures. The gatekeepers have nothing to do with cyberdisks other than being flying metal that can change shape. One's a big blob of psychic brain piloting a tank, the other explicitly is a robot/machine, as per Vahlen's silicon comment. Fluff-wise, cyberdisks are infinitely cooler!
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Jun 13, 2017 15:40
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Ramadu posted:What happens when they find xcom Hq? Do we get a second base assault Game over screen and top ten commanders list
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Jun 13, 2017 15:45
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Or this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9z-NEkVebs I'm happy either way
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Jun 13, 2017 15:54
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quote:Reaper is about making attacks while concealed without breaking concealment, and sabotaging enemies. death blossom is ready
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Jun 13, 2017 16:00
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I have a hunch that sword rangers were balanced pretty well; Sgt. Shrooms' constant melee death-charges deep into enemy territory were the linchpins of my entire campaign.
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Jun 13, 2017 16:07
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The best advice I can give to new players is to understand that having 5 active soldiers along with a ranger who remains concealed is 100% better than having 6 active soldiers. Scout with the ranger to identify patrols and enable you to find safe areas you can double move your soldiers to to access objectives more quickly. It allows you to set up advantageous initiations by letting snipers open up with an easy flank shot to eliminate high value targets, and maximizs the actions you have by ensuring that you don't trigger a pod halfway through your turn. The general strategy is: 1) Move your scout up to identify safe areas to set up your squad, then move your squad up outside of triggering range for the patrol. 2) Open up with a sniper shot on a high-value target. 3) Once the remaining enemies take positions re-assess, falling back is always an option, keep your scout relatively far back so he can escape without running through the red zones. 4) Generally, though, stay aggressive by using explosives to destroy cover and finish off the pod then repeat by scouting out the next pod. 5) A scout with conceal becomes an additional get out of jail free card, providing a critical flank shot before jumping back into scout mode. The part that is so overlooked is the fact that scouts help you identify safe places to double move to. Obviously you never want to double move blind as it leaves you up poo poo creek, but if you run your scout forward and see nothing it's generally safe to advance your squad up a few tiles behind the scout. This allows you to move aggressively without sacrificing safety. If you're having trouble finishing objectives on time this is likely the key to doing it successfully. Using this strategy on a standard objective guerilla mission the enemy should almost never get a shot off. If things hit the fan just prioritize targets, for instance you can usually leave a sectoid if they're just going to make a worthless zombie, but one of those stun baton guys who is going to sprint past your scout, revealing him, before hitting the grenadier, is a big threat to the mission. edit: it's important to note that this is a good way to win missions and the game while minimizing soldier losses. For a true x-com experience I suggest throwing this style out and throwing your best squads into a meat grinder while a sword ranger on one health desperately hacks up Advent. Tom Tucker fucked around with this message at 16:20 on Jun 13, 2017 |
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Jun 13, 2017 16:15
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Psi Zombies aren't completely worthless, they still count as a kill. I like to shoot them when I know that I can pop the sectoid just for that extra experience.
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Jun 13, 2017 16:20
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Scouts are also nice for timed missions where you need to break something or hack something.
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Jun 13, 2017 16:23
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I've only needed a stealth ranger a handful of times. I don't play on Impossible though.
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Jun 13, 2017 16:42
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At some point I need to start this game again instead of just collecting mods that seem cool af.
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Jun 13, 2017 16:43
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marshmallow creep posted:At some point I need to start this game again instead of just collecting mods that seem cool af. 
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Jun 13, 2017 17:10
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I'm just going to turn most off except a few cosmetics or bugfix/common sense ones like the blademaster for throwing axes and see what happens. Sort of like with Skyrim Special Edition, which blew my mind when it didn't crash all the drat time because of 50 things forcing it in different directions. 
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Jun 13, 2017 17:12
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