The XCOM Thread: HOW DOES SNEK KICK DOOR?!

LordNat · LordNat May 16, 2009

Also on the note of research. You don't really need to head into Tier 2 stuff early. You are better off unlocking things like Radio Towers and Psi Ops ASAP. Those matter much more then getting T2 stuff before you can really afford it.

SniperWoreConverse posted:

wait so how does the level up perks thing work? Next time a guy levels up they get extra perks from some rando other class?

It is a low (15~%) chance any time someone gains a level to gain a random perk from another class. I have had people get end game perks the first time they level. It is very RNG tho so don't expect it, just be happy for it when it does happen.

LordNat fucked around with this message at 02:24 on Feb 8, 2016

Adbot · # ¿ May 22, 2024 02:44

LordNat · LordNat May 16, 2009

Elliotw2 posted:

If you ignored any mission in EU/EW you got critical game ending results. If you ignore a UFO it'll shoot down your satellites and raise panic by 3-4 in that continent, if you ignored an abduction chain panic went up world wide by 3, if you ignored a terror mission you instantly lose a country and panic goes up world wide, and if you gently caress up ID'ing EXALT, you lose a country. EU/EW absolutely did not accept loss or ignoring missions, period.

I think that is one of the reasons people get more frustrated with failed runs on Xcom 2. It's failure is a slower march to death rather than a cascading explosion.

LordNat · LordNat May 16, 2009

Vengarr posted:

So...is there any downside to expanding your territory? I played it really conservative early and didn't extend myself at all because I thought there might be some traps there, but now I'm leading half the planet with no obvious negatives. Should have done this from the start.

As far as I can tell the more you expand the request missions you get. Turning one down or failing it can break your connection with an area (and areas it connects you too). The upside is more supplies and rewards from those missions.

IMO the best thing to do is grab the Radio tech and the Skulljack ASAP, do a jack a dude each mission for the free 20~ Intel and hammer out expanding your area. Build order I like is Coms -> Proving Ground -> Power (if you don't get a random power reward scan) -> GTS.

LordNat · LordNat May 16, 2009

Grizzled Patriarch posted:

Hah, I was just looking at the achievements for this game and I really want to see people pull some of these off.

Beating the final mission with "conventional" gear, beating it on Commander by July 1st, and beating it on Commander without upgrading squad size sound kinda nuts. Beating the game on Commander without losing a single soldier doesn't even seem possible without frequent save-scumming.

Are there any videos floating around yet that show someone who is super good at this game just clearing house on the crazy difficulties / Iron Man runs? I'm learning a lot as I go, but I feel like there are a ton of cool tricks that I just don't know about.

Mods don't disable achievements so I am willing to best 99% of the people who get the hard ones will be "cheating".

LordNat · LordNat May 16, 2009

Notorious QIG posted:

The UFO mission is awesome and you should never stop it from happening

Also one of the best ways to farm supply if you really want too.
Just never lift off and insta kill anything that lands with 8+ overwatches.

You just need someone to run around and pick up whatever loot they drop and sell it to the black market. I also think you can drag some of the corpses back to pad but I have not tested it yet.

LordNat · LordNat May 16, 2009

dyzzy posted:

I mind controlled a berserker and punched some chryssalids, who went unconscious.

Then the alien AI stopped working.

Then I couldn't win the mission after killing all the other aliens.

Now my save crashes the game when I try to load it.

RIP. Don't play on ironman, folks.

I find things that make it hard for the AI to act break it. Things like boxing stuff in with Acid/Fire will do it almost 100% of the time. The game will try so hard not to have them move into the Acid/Fire that it will just break the AI entirely and nothing will move or shoot.

Fairly easy to replicate just find a high HP Organic mob and toss a Fire bomb on him in a enclosed area. If there are no non-fire filled spaces to move on the AI just dies.

LordNat · LordNat May 16, 2009

Internet Kraken posted:

Can someone explain how exactly killzone works too me because I'm afraid I don't quite understand it. So you only get shots off when the enemy moves inside of it, not when they do anything else?

You get your current ammo worth of normal overwatch shots shots in the cone.

LordNat · LordNat May 16, 2009

FairGame posted:

How do you get continent bonuses?

Just make contact? Or do you need towers?

You need towers.

LordNat · LordNat May 16, 2009

Always build a Workshop first thing on the 2nt or 3rd row. Then use the drones to dig out each side. If you can build Comms above it since mid game you want 2 guys camping in Comms anyways.

LordNat · LordNat May 16, 2009

Harrow posted:

So an early Workshop is a good idea? It seems like it'd give you a leg up on building other things a lot faster.

Maybe...

Row 1 - GTS, AWC, Power Relay
Row 2 - Start with a Workshop in the middle, then Resistance Comms and Proving Ground to either side
Row 3 - Psi Lab right under Workshop ASAP

I have been going
GTS Comms, Power
Middle Workshop, Proving Grounds, AWC

IMO Comms matters far more then AWC early game. Rotating your guys while some of them are hurt matters much less early game then mid, getting early contacts and more resources matters much more.

LordNat · LordNat May 16, 2009

Paradoxish posted:

So, how are you guys feeling about hacking on the whole?

I like specialists as a class, but hacking anything other than mission objectives feels unbelievably off to me in terms of risk/reward. Some of the rewards are great, but the penalty for failure always feels objectively worse. Like, sure, getting all of my AP back would be great, but at best it's going to turn the tide of the current fight that I'm involved in. Meanwhile, failing and having reinforcements drop on my head while also having my specialist waste their action could very well lose me in the mission on the whole. Giving a permanent buff to all enemies on the map is pretty brutal in early/mid-game too.

I might just be missing something, but it seems like hacking is almost universally a choice between a temporary buff for your squad/hacker vs. a permanent buff for all aliens on the map (or some other equally devastating penalty). The only time I've ever bothered to hack so far is when I'm looking for a hail mary move on a mission that's going to poo poo anyway, because otherwise there's just always something better and more useful for the specialist to be doing.

If you load out a hacker they are amazing. Toss a Skulljack on a dude and start taking control of any MEC or Turret you see. As long as you are keeping up with Gremlin Tiers you have a fairly good chance to hit most rewards.
If you get lucky and hit 1 or 2 of the +20 Hacking skill rewards early that Specialist more or less becomes your auto win option.

LordNat · LordNat May 16, 2009

Bogarts posted:

I'm almost done with the my game but I've only seen two beserkers. On the other hand I get at least one sectopod and one of those deep diver suits per mission.

I think two Beserkers is all you get. After the first use of them the leaders figured a hulking monster that turns on it's own allies the moment it gets damaged is a bad idea.

LordNat · LordNat May 16, 2009

Harrow posted:

Do you all prefer a sniper or a gunslinger Sharpshooter? My two snipers did fantastic work in my last campaign, but I'm hearing that gunslingers are death-machines.

If you get AP or Shredder Ammo on your first roll then Gunslinger. If you get Tracer or Crit ammo then go Sniper.

LordNat · LordNat May 16, 2009

Rhymenoserous posted:

Are SMG's worth a poo poo? I mean plasma rifles etc are already pretty good, unless I can snap a smg on my pistol sniper I can't see the point.

They are nice if you are rushing objectives or you want a guy that can run in, drop the bomb, and run out for evac.
I got a Specialist who ended up rolling Run & Gun so I dropped a SMG and a +3 Movement PCS on him. Can book it to an objective in 2 turns at most on 90% of maps.

LordNat · LordNat May 16, 2009

Wizard Styles posted:

There's no way to get guaranteed Elerium Cores, is there?

It's been a while since I've gotten something that isn't a stock or repeater from regular drops.

Elerium Cores are my biggest complaint about the game really. I wish they showed up on the Black Market. It just feels bad sitting there not being able to build anything in the Proving Ground.

LordNat · LordNat May 16, 2009

isk posted:

3) Yes, from what I've seen. Main callout is that Psychics are a class all on their own. Once a Rookie levels up, they can't be trained as Psy Operatives.

You can train a rookie into any class in 5 days using the GTS. There is very little reason to ever take a Rookie into the field unless you are already in the death spiral.

LordNat · LordNat May 16, 2009

ZenVulgarity posted:

All classes are good

All classes are equal, but Grenadiers are more equal than others.

LordNat · LordNat May 16, 2009

ZenVulgarity posted:

Sword rangers I found are really good early and kind of blow late

They do a fairly good job of cleanup late game. If you have 1-2 guys on low HP almost ready to die Sword Rangers finish them off better then any other class.

LordNat · LordNat May 16, 2009

I wish there was a way to bring back hacked MECs. 90% of my missions end with a hacked MEC just standing there begging to be taken. I am really hoping that is Shen's Last Gift, the ability to capture and refit ADVENT robots.

LordNat fucked around with this message at 19:45 on Feb 8, 2016

LordNat · LordNat May 16, 2009

If they made it so Swords applied whatever the effect of your Ammo was then I can see it being worth having them able to miss. If you don't want to miss then you can toss on Tracer Ammo.

LordNat · LordNat May 16, 2009

ZenVulgarity posted:

I want to make a Gunslinger class now

I also want to be able to mod secondary wepaons

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=617731309

Make Pistols their Main weapon as well. Their class base ability to fire a shot from each Pistol if they attack as their first action.

LordNat · LordNat May 16, 2009

ZenVulgarity posted:

I think a fun thing was no mods but let each pistol independently have a different ammo type

Replace the Pistols with 2 Revolvers, each one can have 1 Mod. They have a special Ammo slot (like the Grenadiers slot) and have the ability to have 2 ammo equipped. Main down side is they have to manage the ammo on both guns (6 shots each), one of their perk levels is the Option of a free Auto Loader on each gun or have the Reload option reload both at once.

One tree is focused on getting more shots and the other is weird special effects (themed as custom made ammo).
Have the end cap of one side be unloading all your ammo on random targets in your range at -10% hit, Up to 12 shots at full ammo.
Other side is a micro missile that has unlimited range and does a small AoE around the target.

LordNat · LordNat May 16, 2009

Ersatz posted:

RIP mid-August ironman commander difficulty run. You died to a secret ethereal weapon: the post-mission loading glitch.

Those are not glitches, they are just flickers of the real Xcom trying to break you out of the simulation. Xcom 3 will start with Bradford breaking you out of a underwater base and taking you back to the sub they they have refitted.

LordNat · LordNat May 16, 2009

Tenzarin posted:

No in the next game you will find out they never show the commander because he is actually a dolphin.

Na they will reveal you are really a Ethereal who has been prepping for the invasion and Xcom 3 is us attacking earth and fighting Xcom.

LordNat · LordNat May 16, 2009

SirDrinksAlot posted:

So this is a fun bug, i'm playing an Iron man game and i've come across an Advent Heavy Mec that doesn't take any explosive or EMP damage. I can only damage it with my gremlin or by direct fire.

What the christ

Did you adjust the camera to see if it was flying? I have had guys just take off into the air randomly and be out of the range of explosives.

LordNat · LordNat May 16, 2009

SynthOrange posted:

What if you get them back but they're really Faceless?

I am honestly disappointed a VIP never changes into a Faceless when you get next to him. It'd be neat to have some kind of trap ambush mission where when you trigger the Faceless it calls in 2ish pods of reinforcements and disables the evac for a few turns.

LordNat · LordNat May 16, 2009

Zaphod42 posted:

drat the levels in this game are so good.

I've been playing so many of these infiltration missions, have to destroy this or rescue these civvies, I'm in dense urban areas with cyber cars and poo poo,

Just finally got a mission where there's no time limit, we're out in the boonies in the snow and trees, and we're just hunting down aliens at our leisure, like good old' X-COM days.

And wow, it just like, really caught up with me at once how good this game is, how much variety there is.

I do kinda miss shooting down UFOs and investigating their crashed innards, but I don't miss the old interception minigame at ALL.
Also having a single HQ ship that flies around and not launching multiple skyrangers at a time keeps everything dramatically simpler. But you still have to rotate your squads because of injuries.

There is a downed UFO mission that can pop. I think it is a alternate/rare version of the Supply Raid mission.

LordNat · LordNat May 16, 2009

Roobanguy posted:

people acting like sectopods are a problem to a 6 man psi team when stasis is a thing...

can you even build more than 1 psi lab?

6 Man Psi team fully trained in W.A.R suits. This is my new goal.

LordNat · LordNat May 16, 2009

Elswyyr posted:

Are there any news about a possible performance patch/Nvidia game-specific drivers? I would like to play some more, but I also want to have the game stop stuttering.

You bought a modern AAA game. If it ran anything but lovely on mid/high end machines it'd be a miracle.

LordNat · LordNat May 16, 2009

"I wish this game had micro-transactions, I'd buy 10 Elerium Cores for $5 in a instant" - My asshat steam friend.

LordNat · LordNat May 16, 2009

Vib Rib posted:

I'm kind of surprised there's no mod that lets you recruit aliens yet but I figure that's a taller order than first imagined.

Still really looking forward to it though. It's got to be inevitable.

I still want to be able to bring home MECs I hack and leave alive at the end of missions.

LordNat · LordNat May 16, 2009

All ADVENT need to use the Stun Lancer AI that is entirely OK with just running up and standing next to you to get off a flank attack. Suicidal ADVENT is the only way to play!

LordNat · LordNat May 16, 2009

Elliotw2 posted:

It's because it's impossible.

There are VIP missions where you start with the VIP in Concealment with you. You'd just have to make it to the evac point without ever getting spotted.

LordNat · LordNat May 16, 2009

Musluk posted:

http://i.imgur.com/eDqhbqP.gifv

Don't be in situations where an enemy has more than one shot against your guys, by removing cover and exposing them. The worst part is the first 3 missions where you have to field rookies and can lose dudes. This is however countered by the fact that first 5 missions don't have more than 3 pods, so if you can successfully clear a pod (2-3 advent, sectoid+advent) in 2 turns with rookies nading you're home free.

Also killing with explosives is not nearly as bad in this one. At worst you have a chance not to drop random weapon mods, you don't lose corpses when you use explosives.

Rule 1 of Xcom 2 is lob grenades!

LordNat · LordNat May 16, 2009

poptart_fairy posted:

I could see nano vests being useful if they provided armour, but a single extra HP...eh.

There is a Proving Grounds armor that gives 1 point of Armor. Nano Vests just seem like the easy to build option to keep a Rookie alive for one mission.

LordNat · LordNat May 16, 2009

I am going to start a new Commander run tonight with Mods (have not tried any yet). What are the current mods worth running?

LordNat · LordNat May 16, 2009

Looks like Long War 2 1.3 dropped.
http://www.pavonisinteractive.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=25855

LordNat · LordNat May 16, 2009

Gervasius posted:

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Games > XCOM 2: EXPANSION SOON?

https://www.facebook.com/XCOM/photos/a.331680753522762.86598.112972802060226/1621582097865948/?type=3&theater

XCom Elder Thing Edition!?

LordNat · LordNat May 16, 2009

How does this mesh with the main core game tho?
Is it it's own thing or are they added a crazy space ninjas and zombie hordes into the current campaign.

Adbot · # ¿ May 22, 2024 02:44

LordNat · LordNat May 16, 2009

RBA Starblade posted:

I was kind of hoping before they said it that "the lost" referred to other XCOM remnants but it sounds like they just want to get super weird with it.

Vahlen leads The Lost with some kind of hive mind, calling it now.