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Can't wait. Gonna wreck so many aliens.
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Jan 29, 2016 02:42
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I'm sure this game is well balanced, so I'm doing something wrong. Rangers are complete poo poo. Why on earth would I ever want to run up to an rear end in a top hat where I end up out of cover and ALSO can swing and miss with the sword? If I'm at that close of range, the shotgun will do more damage and be less likely to miss. The only thing I've found them good for is concealment/shadowstep and having them act as spotters for my snipers.
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Feb 6, 2016 18:58
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Tae posted:When you get missions to hack a terminal, use your specialist because there's a potential +20 hacking buff that's permanent I had a specialist get two of these bonuses early on. Blacksite was hilarious since she had a 90% chance to take over mechs, turrets, etc. She also got a bonus "everyone in the squad gets all their turns back" that allowed me to wipe out three packs in one turn. ...then she got murdered a month later by a stun lancer who came out of nowhere but apparently had shieldbearer shields up and just shrugged off all my over watch. I can't bring myself to use other specialists. None of them compare.
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Feb 7, 2016 05:17
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Hey, I'm still having trouble using slash on my rangers--the game really wants me to take a dumbass path. If I told move my ranger can I select her after the fact and do a slash? (This assumes the gold move puts me adjacent to an enemy, but in my preferred adjacent position that doesn't leave me exposed to everything else.) E: also, how do you set waypoints while moving so I can avoid overwatch with clever movement?
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Feb 7, 2016 17:56
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How do you get continent bonuses? Just make contact? Or do you need towers?
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Feb 8, 2016 03:43
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texasmed posted:Managed to win a round without taking a shot, I guess. All grenades, overwatch, and sword swings. Good roster.
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Feb 8, 2016 03:55
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So uh... I was on a capture/kill the VIP mission. The car she was near was set on fire. I knocked her out and had my specialist pick her up and start booking it to the evac. Two turns later I am roughly five squares from evac and twenty five from the car she originally started near. The car explodes. And...I guess she has a heart attack because she dies in my specialist's arms. I still evac and get supplies, but I really could've used that 100 Intel. Fix your game Jake.
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Feb 9, 2016 05:48
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Does the Dark Event "ADVENT gets poison rounds" apply to only ADVENT units, or all alien units? Because I can't remember the last time an ADVENT unit got off a shot. Or hit me. But if it's all units, that event sounds HORRIBLE and I will choose to kill it even though the reward isn't nearly as good as the other options.
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Feb 10, 2016 03:50
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How much time do I have before a "Rescue the VIP" mission expires? I am like 1-2 hours away from finishing a scan for an engineer that's like SUPER far away from anything else on the map I want to do. It'd be a shame to lose like 12-24 hours having to schlep back and forth to scan for the last little bit. Also: does Willpower impact psionic abilities like it used to? I have a Superior Will PCS that I could slap on my psykers if ever I decided to take one out of the tube, but if it doesn't do anything I'm giving it to the black market.
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Feb 10, 2016 18:17
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Khisanth Magus posted:Has anyone here have any troops that were actually killed by a zombie? Yes. My first Commander campaign died on the first Retaliation mission. Ended a turn with 1 sectoid in view. Figured he'd uselessly raise a zombie. He did. Then one of the civilians turns into a Faceless! Well that's new, but whatever; how much harm could it do? Then it ran over, did a ridiculous jump in the air, and punched my roof-perched sharpshooter in the face for 3 damage. Which still would've been fine except it collapsed the roof. Sharpshooter falls to her death. 2 of my remaining 3 units panic, including one that ended up in range of the zombie. My last unit can't kill the sectoid on her own, so the zombie gets a free kill the next turn. Total squad wipe because I didn't know about Faceless or that Faceless can blow up everything around them.
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Feb 11, 2016 00:06
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I've only had 1 soldier get a skill from the AWS (and it's a grenadier with the skill that lets you move after killing something, so who cares)? Does retraining actually give a person their skill, or is that just Reddit misinformation? Also, Andromedons: any way to kill them so they stay dead the first time? Just ran into my first mission with them and I only have Plasma Rifles--still on mag tier shotguns/cannons/snipers. Just putting them in stasis meant it was easy, but it's still a lot of HP to chew through.
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Feb 11, 2016 16:11
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Wait, Andromedons have an acid bomb? I took control of one and all he had was a lovely punch. Or is the acid bomb only a thing you can use in their first form?
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Feb 11, 2016 18:04
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Fangz posted:Yeah, the Control is generally the thing you turn to when you are basically looking at a squad wipe anyway, then suddenly you start looking in your entire toolset for any small chance of turning the situation around. Or yeah, you use it speculatively when it's safe (for example, when your squad is across the map from a turret, say, and you want visibility). This is what happened to me the first time I met Andromedons. I had its buddies safely locked down, then I killed the Andromedon. Except I didn't because apparently you have to kill them twice! I had a Haywire Protocol and a Meme Beacon still available, so I figured I'd try for control first, and if that failed then the Beacon would get me out of trouble. Except it didn't fail and I had an incredibly tanky unit that couldn't do poo poo for damage, but took a ton of pressure off of me.
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Feb 11, 2016 18:52
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Are lids supposed to be able to run out of the fog of war before they've even activated and swipe at your dudes? Fuckers charged across the entire damned map. Fortunately my ranger is immune to poison and has sick dodge and defense, so it didn't matter. But that seems pretty unfair. In other news, I met my first sectopod. It attacked a mimic beacon before getting brutally murdered by a shotgun with double shot that also shreds armor. I seriously have no room in my squad for a sharpshooter. Grenadiers are too good not to double up on. Rangers can output insane single target damage plus they help me scout and tank. My hacking specialist ruins all robots and has incredibly high hack so she can get any bonus. But that also means she can't do medical stuff, which is what the other specialist is for. And psi ops are absurd. Stasis is a hilarious ability.
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Feb 12, 2016 04:17
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Oh hello, ranger who just got Serial from the AWS. This should be fun.
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Feb 13, 2016 17:44
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Is there any particular reason I should keep going and trying to take Africa and east Asia? Commander Ironman, mid September. Avatar project has only three pips. I have WAR and wraith suits for everyone, three fully trained psionics, have done all research except for what I imagine is the final project in the shadow chamber, and just need to do a couple sites the shadow chamber wants me to hit. Other than trying to get my dudes to get free AWS skills, is there anything left for me to do that'd help on what I'm told is a brutal final mission?
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Feb 14, 2016 06:15
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I guess I'll delay my endgame a month since Africa gives the bonus "armed to the teeth," and having an extra weapon mod on everyone seems like it's worth pushing things back. I'd say "endgame is super easy" but I still haven't done the final mission which I've been told is absolutely horrific.
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Feb 14, 2016 19:57
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Just had my Commander Ironman game die a terrible death because I couldn't back out to the main menu once I was given the gimmick to what I can only imagine is the penultimate mission. If I'd known I only got 3 people I would've invested more heavily in the various things you were allowed to get. But I'd been destroying everything prior to that and with the Shadow Chamber telling me there were only 9 dudes I figured I'd have absolutely no problems. 1 Psyker, 1 Assault, and 1 Sharpshooter got murdered by a bunch of andromedons. Lame and dumb and bad. I'm not even going to bother replaying. I got beaten by a gimmick and I'm super salty about it.
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Feb 17, 2016 01:48
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dyzzy posted:My feeling is that the only big difference is reaper vs. rapid fire as far as play style goes. Wish there were more incentive to sword things. Yes! And then he...immediately shook it off somehow? Can a codex cure mind control with its ammo vortex thing?
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Feb 17, 2016 01:51
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busb posted:What are you specifically complaining about? the mission loadout screen specifies 3 troops, and you can do the mission with 3 troops just fine, especially with the extra intel tools. It also says there's no going back once you launch the mission before you send the avenger there and get to loadout too! I mean it surprised me too that i only had 3 troop slots, but you should have had at least 6 ace troops to pick from anyway? Penultimate (I think?) mission spoilers ahead: The mission loadout screen specifies 3 troops. That's the first time you learn about 3 troops. You cannot escape out of the mission loadout screen. Thus, by the time you learn you only have 3 troops, you're committed and don't have a chance to buy the various intel tools. Which I skipped! Because I figured I'd have a squad of 6 that prior to that point had dominated the poo poo out of everything without needing special intel bonuses. Thus, had I known "3 troops only," I would've bought all 4 intel tools because I was swimming in resources and intel and Col/Magus level troops.
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Feb 17, 2016 01:59
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monster on a stick posted:Also requesting rubber chickens, Nerf guns, and of course The stun lancers didn't have LOS to the beacon. Why would he expect them to attack it?
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Feb 21, 2016 17:01
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I both think Long War has troublesome elements I don't like as well as being a superb mod and my preferred way of playing XCOM. I'm weird.
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Jan 13, 2017 19:58
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The Duggler posted:If I played XCOM EW am I good to turn off tutorials? I had a couple minutes and tried to play the intro missions but it was mind numbingly slow with the "click only here even though it's a lovely spot" type lessons. The only thing you need to learn in the tutorial is that you can pick up bodies (VIPs, bleeding-out soldiers). You'll need to do the former on some missions. Also you can evacuate individual units without ending the mission. "Call for Skyranger" will create an evac zone in most missions where there's not already an evac zone. Evacuating doesn't take an action if you're in the zone, so you can take potshots to your heart's content. Otherwise you should be good to go. The major difference in tactical play between XCOM and XCOM2 is concealment scouting, but that's not really something the tutorials teach you. You'll figure it out as you go.
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Feb 6, 2017 23:30
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I finally beat XCOM2 after playing at release, not understanding the radio tower mission, and accidentally launching it with 3 not-fully equipped guys on ironman. Then rage quitting, obviously. Anyway, on Commander Ironman, Rangers absolutely decimated everything. Aim PCS + Tracer Rounds meant they were reliably getting 90%+ shots on rapid fire, and Untouchable+Bladestorm makes it so I don't even mind hanging them out to dry. The only dicey moments of the entire campaign were because I wasn't familiar with the DLC: 1.) I launched the Shen mission the minute it became available. That was, uh...tough sledding with 4-person squads and only ballistic guns. 2.) The Archon ruler made his first appearance on Avenger defense and KO'd like half my team. Had he KOed my specialist with the "wake everyone up at once" move, that might've been enough to end the campaign. But as soon as I started fielding multiple rangers per mission, the game got immensely easier. Is there any reason I shouldn't just field 6 Rangers? Would this strategy fall on its face in Legendary?
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Feb 7, 2017 18:06
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Backhand posted:Grenadiers are pretty much the undisputed kings of the game.... until the very last mission, where psi ops dominating armies of Gatekeepers for you or rangers Rapid-Firing avatars become insanely more useful. I didn't get a single good grenade this game, which might've been why I went with the ranger shotgun squad. I mean, I still had a grenadier just for the get out of jail freeze bomb x2. But he wasn't that's helpful! Can't wait for the expansion. The fixes between launch and now were excellent. And I'll be the an expansion would rebalance sparks since they suck a ton by mid-late game,
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Feb 8, 2017 02:41
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Shredstorms are great, but Blaster Bombs make Avenger Defense a hilariously short exercise with no risk.
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Feb 9, 2017 23:39
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JoelJoel posted:Just got the bundle expansion for xcom 2 on ps4 and I can't seem to access third map tier on levels. I go into a roof and can see a pipe or ladder with an arrow pointing up but I can't see the top (3rd level). Pressing up and down on the d pad I can only go to the first two tiers. Is this a known issue or is my dlc just loving up? I ran into this but only when the spot on the second floor was a valid location. Annoying but not disastrous. Though I could see it really loving you on a rooftop evac.
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Feb 10, 2017 03:07
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Walton Simons posted:Ooooh, OK. Perfect Information mustn't be able to pick up on that and shows 0% instead, so I thought it was bugged. Thanks! Another sniper tip: don't use them and instead give scopes, Aim PCS, and tracer rounds to rangers. Then the rangers can shotgun clowns with crazy-high crits and never miss. And never take any damage because untouchable grants them immunity from an attack. (Snipers are great but outside of killzone traps they're just not as consistently useful because of mission timers. Pistol sharpshooters are good always though!) There's really not a wrong way to play. Just...if you're struggling with your snipers, you might find yourself better served by using non-snipers than changing your sniper tactics.
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Feb 13, 2017 02:36
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I found killing the Berserker Queen on first encounter the easiest. Somewhere between being covered in acid, poisoned, and being set on fire, she just kind of sits there and makes grumpy noises without doing anything.
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Feb 23, 2017 18:25
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It finally happened to me. I thought y'all were just giant whiners about timers being too short and evac zones being in dumb places. But (vanilla) I just had a "kidnap a VIP" mission on legendary in which the evac zone was literally on a rooftop that was only accessible by climbing to the top of the other side of the building.And also behind one of those giant glass ceilings so you couldn't even run down the center of the roof, but had to waste a turn going down one of the two sides. Literally the last 5 turns of the mission were just full-out sprinting without any ability to fire back on the shieldbearer and officer took potshots. Killed my sharpshooter in the evac zone and I didn't even have an action to pick him up before evac. I can't think of anything I could've done differently in that mission other than "have the entire squad outfitted in grappling hook armor" or "have a blaster bomb so I can blow up the evac zone in favor of literally any other area on the map." This, after opening up an alien facility with only 2 hours left on the doom timer, and doing a mission that somehow had 2 goddamn sectopods in it. I thought it'd be the strategic layer's "surprise, every facility you need to hit is impossibly far away from your area and you'll need to go nuts with skulljacking" that'd get me. Now it might just be force understrength that does me in on the tactical level. I love this game.
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Feb 24, 2017 20:45
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malhavok posted:Are you sure the other ways up the building weren't just blocked by someone? If a civ is standing by the pipe or whatever you won't path through there, but if you run at them they run off. I don't think so. I mean, I guess it's possible but I saw *no* other ways up the building, and I don't think there were any civs around--or I would've seen the little red tiles with my ranger scout. Oh well. I've still got enough soldiers to keep going, and hopefully both the black market and HQ start selling top-notch soldiers soon.
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Feb 24, 2017 23:39
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Legendary isn't that bad. It's just the first month that's absolutely brutal and makes you not want to play it anymore. If you can get a campaign past your first month in legendary, you'll find it pretty enjoyable. You get a to do a bunch of missions with the next tech level and establish a good "we're stronger/we're even/we're hosed and need better gear" dynamic with the alien pods the game throws at you. In other difficulties the timeline is so compressed that you will skip entire tiers of gear. You'll see like...one berserker the entire campaign. It's just that first loving month. Stun Lancers really shouldn't roll out as quick as they do because outside of flashbangs you just don't have a reliable tactic against 'em.
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Mar 2, 2017 00:16
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Jenny Angel posted:Hi folks! I recently wrapped my first two runs as a newcomer to the series (a Veteran non-Iron Man and a Legend non-Iron Man) and had a few questions before I dive into the world of Iron Man: Your mileage may vary; there are clearly different ways that work for different people. Here's what works for me: 1.) Volatile Mix isn't worthwhile--being able to stack burst damage on targets is far more valuable. Chain Shot all day, every day. 2.) It's extremely rare that you'll need to use suppression--either pods are already dead by the end of your turn, or the still living pod has something unpleasant it can do to you through suppression. (Suppression does nothing against Codex teleportation, Psionic bullshit, Stun Lancers will just charge through it, etc.) Demolition isn't a great skill, but it's probably more handy for the "I'd like to take this guy's cover out and save a grenade for later" situation. 3.) Holo-Targeting is a great skill, but not versus Heavy Ordinance. I got very lucky in my game that I got a specialist with Holo-Targeteing as his AWS skill. 4.) I find sharpshooters unnecessary. The sniper rifle is clunky to use when you get a bunch of timed missions, and it's annoying to have to keep upgrading the pistol. Waste of resources. I've been rolling with 3 grenadiers, 2 specialists, and a ranger. I'll probably swap out one of the specialists for a psionic on the final mission 5.) Stasis is great, but since learning psi skills are random (or more accurately, the order in which you get 'em), I wouldn't rush psionics. If you end up with a guy who just gets like...fortress and fuse...that's pretty useless. 6.) I've had the most luck rushing an early lab. Obviously the GTS comes first, but lab second. I've not found the workshop worthwhile at all 7.) gently caress swords. Shotguns all day. Even the hunter's axe free throw is only useful for the stun ability.
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Mar 2, 2017 21:42
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Ugly In The Morning posted:A pistol sharpshooter with fire/poison ammo and the "shoot everything on the screen at once", "free pistol shot" and "firing your pistol as a first action does not end your turn" skills is hilarious. All the sudden everyone is on goddamn fire, taking damage from being on goddamn fire, and can't use they're skills because they're on goddamn fire. As pointed out only a page or two ago, ammo effects don't apply to anything beyond the first target--it's a bug. So I guess you could lightning hands/quickdraw/normal shot or fan fire. But Faceoff, which should do what you say, doesn't. Again: not saying sharpshooters aren't good. Just that I find them outclassed by every other unit in my squad. It probably doesn't help that 2 of my grenadiers and 1 of my specialists all rolled "serial" as their AWS skill, and the specialist had it since like lieutenant or captain or something and has carried the whole loving campaign as a result. e: we can probably all agree that outside of very special circumstances (Bradford on his one mission), blade rangers are just generally not worthwhile.
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Mar 2, 2017 23:14
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Putting a cool down on rapid fire, or not letting it work with run and gun, would probably be enough to make me consider a swordsman. Well, that and "you can melee a muton." That's just an absurd gently caress you from the game. E: reaper shouldn't have its damage decay and melee attacks should never miss (maybe bladestorm reactions can miss.)
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Mar 3, 2017 06:49
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Continuing the discussion from yesterday: I definitely could have used a sharpshooter on the final mission. Completely forgot that that final room fucks with your ability to launch grenades and explosives. Still beat it with no fatalities, but having a unit capable of taking multiple shots without ever needing to reload would've been rather helpful. The last 2 missions are really weird in that nothing else in the campaign is remotely like them, and they're not at all like one another, even.
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Mar 3, 2017 16:44
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marshmallow creep posted:Speaking of AWS, I had a guy get Shredder from his class and then he got it as his bonus. Does it stack or should he respec? Haven't had a chance to test it. That shouldn't happen, aws skills are supposed to be exclusively crossclass. But an easy way to check wouldbe to shoot an armored dude and see what it shreds. Each tier of weapon = one more armor shredded. I'd be amazed if it stacked, though. I think you've got yourself free blast padding, which is pretty useless.
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Mar 4, 2017 02:34
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Yeah. It's a bad skill for a ranger. Also I think you need two action points to use it. Could still be useful on a ranger with phantom and conceal on untimed missions, I guess. Get yourself two separate high damage ambushes, maybe. But ranger shotguns are good for critical hits. And only a specialist can crit on overwatch. I mean, at least you didn't get one of the many useless grenadier skills that are completely awful on a non grenadier.mthis one at least has theoretical uses. E: I'm actually not sure if killzone shots are treated like overwatch shots or not. If you land a crit, I guess you'll know.
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Mar 6, 2017 04:22
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The most fun I've ever had in XCOM2 was going in blind to the Shen's Last Gift mission as soon as it popped. Squad of 4, none ranked higher than corporal. Lily failed her first shutdown hack on Julian, which made him STRONGER. I managed to survive long enough to get another chance to hack several turns later. Two squadmates died. Lily and Spark would not have survived another turn. My other specialist camped on roof with the bolt caster did some serious work (and also missed a couple 90% shots). Was awesome.
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Mar 8, 2017 21:52
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Sapozhnik posted:Blind encounter with Andromedon trip report: didn't even take a scratch A thing you should know: if you kill an andromedon (stage 1) on the alien turn via overwatch, it will get a free turn in stage 2. This is especially irritating in overwatch traps from concealment, since you execute everything to plan only for what I assume isn't a glitch in the game to stomp over and punch you. Fortunately, stage 2 andromedons are pretty lovely.
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Mar 18, 2017 21:21
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