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XCOM 2 |OT| Be Aggressive! Be Be Aggressive!

Zeth

Member
Do Mimic Beacons change from limited supply to infinite for some reason? I'm confused, swore I had one or two at some point.
 

Corpekata

Banned
Do Mimic Beacons change from limited supply to infinite for some reason? I'm confused, swore I had one or two at some point.

If someone dies or is captured with a crafted item and you don't recover the body, it is lost in the field. So chances are you might have had someone die while carrying it.
 
I feel like overwatch has been failing on me horribly all of today and I've got no idea why. I'd been relying on it the whole game and it was doing great but all of a sudden only 1 in 5 shots connect even with a well placed ambush. Only mod I added was 'stop wasting my time' and I can't imagine that would have any effect on any values relevant to that. The invisible dice has been hating me bad today, I don't know how most of my team aren't traumatized after the day they've had.
 

Jintor

Member
hi, how are you doing?

BU4aVWH.jpg

I'm a horse.
 
I made the mistake of checking out the steam forums...

"hey guys is my rng broken because no matter how many times I take this 50% shot I miss. I tried at least 20-30 times, is this happening to anyone help" -Typical Poster
 

mbpm1

Member
I feel like overwatch has been failing on me horribly all of today and I've got no idea why. I'd been relying on it the whole game and it was doing great but all of a sudden only 1 in 5 shots connect even with a well placed ambush. Only mod I added was 'stop wasting my time' and I can't imagine that would have any effect on any values relevant to that. The invisible dice has been hating me bad today, I don't know how most of my team aren't traumatized after the day they've had.

The RNG is displeased
 
So you know what actually needs a buff? Swords.

Those stun lancers are pretty nasty at times, especially with the potential to inflict Unconscious.
I've never seen a Slash ever really produce a worthwhile effect, and burning damage isn't the most useful when you're face to face with an enemy, probably in terrible cover, or no cover at all.

Can we get some lightsabers in here? Some progressive knives? Least give me that stun baton.
 
I feel like overwatch has been failing on me horribly all of today and I've got no idea why. I'd been relying on it the whole game and it was doing great but all of a sudden only 1 in 5 shots connect even with a well placed ambush. Only mod I added was 'stop wasting my time' and I can't imagine that would have any effect on any values relevant to that. The invisible dice has been hating me bad today, I don't know how most of my team aren't traumatized after the day they've had.

There's an aim penalty to over watch now while in cover unless it's from concealment. That might the problem you're having.
 

mbpm1

Member
So you know what actually needs a buff? Swords.

Those stun lancers are pretty nasty at times, especially with the potential to inflict Unconscious.
I've never seen a Slash ever really produce a worthwhile effect, and burning damage isn't the most useful when you're face to face with an enemy, probably I'm terrible cover, or no cover at all.

Can we get some lightsabers in here? Some progressive knives? Least give me that stun baton.

That's why I'm using the Enhanced Swords mod
 

Jintor

Member
There's always been an aim penalty to overwatch. Exascebated if they dash.

Anyone know if Stun Lancers operate like bladeboys, i.e. they can dash and stab?
 

Falk

that puzzling face
I thought it was commonly accepted that stun lancers are annoying as hell BECAUSE they can stab at the end of a 2-action dash.
 

Lagamorph

Member
Someone told me that this game was fairer compared to the first one.
That person was talking out of their arse. Or comes from bizarro world.
 
I'm pissed off at this game right now, vent post


They added too much RNG shit. In EU, so much could be controlled. This shit like grazing/dodge and chryssalids getting free burrow attacks are just fucking unfair


There's a lot of borderline stuff too, like blazing pinions and codex splitting, that isn't 'random' but very obviously designed to fuck you over the first time you see it

It's why I happily bashed my face against Classic on EU but dropped to Veteran on this one. In Classic I could -always- trace losses to my own fault. This time I'm having to learn on an easier difficulty what shit to expect.

Andromodon falls into that category too. THere was zero reason for me to expect revival with like 10 hp and insta-kill melee. I was super super super careful, because nothing else in the game had led me to believe it might have 2 lives. They count on that.

This game takes too much pleasure in fucking you over in unexpected ways, new enemies always have some stupid shit they can pull
 
Finished my legend run. Only reloaded because BUGS. Avoided mimic beacon usage because they basically invalidate the tactical game, but as it turns out there are plenty of other things that also kind of invalidate the tactical game (but not so blantantly so).

Definitely going to look at some balance mods for the next run through. It's smoother than EU/EW in terms of difficultly curve but eventually XCOM just gets too much tools and tyoo much damage. The alien pod sizes can't keep up, even if the aliens themselves are much more formidable foes than in EU 2012/EW.

My only beef about the game is that I think it is too focused on the Avatar project and not an actual insurgency/counter-insurgency campaign. These conflicts are well explored in modern wargaming (see Volko Ruhnke''s stunning series of games) and given that Firaxis and modern board game design are total BFFs, I'm not sure why they would instead jerk around with the Avatar project focus instead of something more grounded. FFS it's been 20 years and just now the aliens are getting their shit together?

Game's a A-, with mods and performance boosts (either active from Firaxis or passive with just better hardware) it's a A+. The core gameplay loop is improved and the only reason I nick it at all is because Long War's design priorities were much more my style than XCOM2's are.
 
Do andromedons actually instakill in melee, or is it just high damage? They've always either missed or attacked an untouchable ranger in my campaign.
 

Jintor

Member
honestly, the first was like that as well. hey, did you know skinnies explode on death poisoning everything around them? did you know outsiders can basically one shot you from low cover and are flaming assholes? hey guess what happens to these dudes when a cryssie gets them. lol check out these cyberdisks if you hit it it will be unhittable by like anything except high explosives. it's a little exascebated in this game just by virtue of being a sequel but nothing's better than seeing enemies you used to believe were gods and absolutely crushing them underfoot. lol codexes.

Do andromedons actually instakill in melee? They've always either missed or attacked an untouchable ranger in my campaign.

A lot of damage i think but not instant murderface... I hope
 

Sciz

Member
I really don't like how the advanced ammo/wrist weapon/etc are developed. I don't have a problem with having to research new types in the proving ground, but I don't like that I can't just make more after the fact. I had one acid grenade on a guy who I had to leave behind and now I just have to wait until I randomly come up with it again. That makes no sense.

There's a mod for that.
 
Do andromedons actually instakill in melee, or is it just high damage? They've always either missed or attacked an untouchable ranger in my campaign.

The suit melee damage is 7-9 base but can definitely crit.

Andromedons are generally one of the best domination targets in the game-high HP, resuable acid grenades, and a giant PITA to kill.
 
You know what? Thin Men still scare me more than anything else, save maybe Chrysallids. Their sheer ability to outmaneuver my soldiers, staying out of range, while getting phat elevation bonuses, was the absolute worst.

Vipers are a joke in comparison.
The suit melee damage is 7-9 base but can definitely crit.

Andromedons are generally one of the best domination targets in the game-high HP, resuable acid grenades, and a giant PITA to kill.

I got a Specialist with a passive that shreds 3 armour per hit, which has... diminished armoured opponents' fearsomeness to a great degree.

It'd be a whole different game without that soldier.
I may have inadvertently signed his death warrant with this post.
 
My only beef about the game is that I think it is too focused on the Avatar project and not an actual insurgency/counter-insurgency campaign. These conflicts are well explored in modern wargaming (see Volko Ruhnke''s stunning series of games) and given that Firaxis and modern board game design are total BFFs, I'm not sure why they would instead jerk around with the Avatar project focus instead of something more grounded. FFS it's been 20 years and just now the aliens are getting their shit together?

I agree, the Avatar Project is a cool concept but I would've preferred more of a fight to actually take back the planet. I think there's plenty of room for mods to explore here. I'm really excited to see people add new mission types, like supporting the resistance in their battle for some ADVENT city like an XCOM take on Stalingrad.
 

Jintor

Member
The main thing about skinnies was that they showed up in huge numbers around the time you were only just beginning to graduate from ballistics. In my vet run vipers only showed up around the time I was already beginning to accelerate over the XCOM Welcome To Erf curve and the moment I got predator armour they basically became obsolete.

Also the game got super easy/fun once I started toting around 2 or 3 grenadiers each with double 'nades. Why even bother C4ing this sweet facility when I could just level the entire building? Ain't nobody got time for that
 
That N7 armor is sweet. What a simple but awesome mod to make.
No. But they do so much damage that they knock people unconcious in one hit pretty often.

Oh, dear. I didn't think of the unconsciousness factor.

It's bad enough when they level, like, half a block of cover with one attack...
 

Miletius

Member
Started playing yesterday, so when is a good time to do the
black site mission
?

Do it early. I did it as soon as I hit Squad Size 5 and had a few free vets. If you do it early enough, enemy
You won't even get anything other than Advent and Sectoids

It was the same deal in Enemy Unknown. If you did the missions early you avoided a lot of nasty advanced monsters.
 

Jintor

Member
Cover destruction is the real threat by them and similar enemies tbh

yep. faceless suiciding a car is pretty bad.

Were there ever any moves that could shift enemies around? A throw mechanic would be interesting.

I also miss MEC cool-aid manning mutons through walls.
 

Sober

Member
yeah, doing the project in the proving ground should unlock it to build in the engineering bay.
Yeah it's weird that doesn't happen, cause I would totally still pay the core plus some supplies to ensure I get something, just that the roulette factor of the proving grounds randomizing the order should really be it.

I do understand why bluescreen nades/ammo probably were untied from that, considering how many robotic enemies appear in the mid to late game.
 

Jintor

Member
The actual main chokepoint on the proving grounds is time. You can't speed that shit up fast enough without a continent bonus to be viable.
 
Experimental Ammo and Grenades and such should be experimental the first time you make an item, and making that item should unlock just being able to produce it every time afterwards.
 

Sblargh

Banned
So, I decided to do a GAF run on legend ironman and will update y'all as to make me play to the end, be it my end or the alien's. No restarting until some ending movie plays.

No editing to make character pool more likely because I unshackled some stuff that prevents rookies from looking crazy, so I like my crazy rookies.

Some gifs of the first mission.
Mupod and Glitchesarecool are on my initial squad. The other two are generic rookies, but I hope everyone will learn to love them.

LikableUncomfortableHoopoe.gif


It's the first mission, so the plan is simple: find a building and cheese the height bonus. I set up my ambush and...

BlindLateKangaroo.gif


...the other people on the pod don't seem to notice their dead comrade, meaning that Mupod will have to go and be bait.

OldEnragedChanticleer.gif


The bait does his job and even manages to score a free kill with a grenade. His job is to die, but hey, if he wants to kill, that's cool, too.

Second pod, second building, this map is really good, btw, I should know, I've played this first mission *a lot*. A good building helps a bunch, two good buildings and we're all set.

WeepyPresentGilamonster.gif


Glitches does her job, Mupod the bait, fails, but it's ok. The real problem is that the overwatch rookie on the roof also misses, and the trooper escapes to find his friends, which helps, because he gives us their direction.

TenseInconsequentialDogfish.gif


And he doesn't even have a chance to join his pals, as my bait manages another kill.

A sectoid and a trooper when you have a godlike position are no threats at all. A little scare when both people on the roof missed their overwatch shots, allowing the trooper to shoot. But the trooper also misses, so all is cool.

EvilCriminalDodobird.gif


What else is cool is glitches, who decided to not miss twice.

Flawless first mission. It helps a lot going into the game with a full squad.
Glitchesarecool became a specialist because glitches are cool. Mupod, tired of being bait, decided to become a sharpshooter.
 
Okay, so my first playthrough I failed nearly instantly. Like two missions in.

I don't want to save scum because I think that's not the intended way to play the game, but holy shit is this difficult. I loved the previous game, and considered myself decent at it... Why is this so much more brutal?

Going to restart and try again, but I'm so demoralized I feel like giving up and getting a refund.
 

Lanrutcon

Member
Okay, so my first playthrough I failed nearly instantly. Like two missions in.

I don't want to save scum because I think that's not the intended way to play the game, but holy shit is this difficult. I loved the previous game, and considered myself decent at it... Why is this so much more brutal?

Going to restart and try again, but I'm so demoralized I feel like giving up and getting a refund.

- There are difficulty levels, and they form a ladder. I find Veteran to be a very fair starting point.
- Being good at the old game means shit. New game, new tricks, new things to learn.
- The start of the game is the most difficult. Your first 5 to 10 missions will test you. After that you generally have the toys and options to excel. Mid/End game is stupidly easy.
- Watch Beaglerush or ChristopherOdd's Let's Plays for some tips on how to handle the first few encounters. They've both got the game down to an art.
 
Okay, so my first playthrough I failed nearly instantly. Like two missions in.

I don't want to save scum because I think that's not the intended way to play the game, but holy shit is this difficult. I loved the previous game, and considered myself decent at it... Why is this so much more brutal?

Fuck that, save scum as much as you want your first playthrough. You need to get used to the new mechanics/style of play of this one first. After you've become familiar, then start Ironman.

I wiped out on my first playthrough as well. It's really tough if you're playing with the old XCOM habits.
 

Falk

that puzzling face
- Being good at the old game means shit. New game, new tricks, new things to learn.

I would say that understanding basic concepts like how Overwatch affects enemy AI, to the value of high cover over low, etc all are leg-ups on understanding XCOM 2, but yeah, the game really requires a deeper understanding of its mechanics, both inherited from EU and brand new, to get anywhere.
 
I got really cocky on a Legendary VIP mission and got 4 of my guys wounded for no reason. I did a hack that said the next 2 enemy attacks would miss, so I haphazardly position my guys. First two shots from the enemy hit. Apparently it only applied to the soldier that did the hack... lesson learned.
 

bjaelke

Member
I got really cocky on a Legendary VIP mission and got 4 of my guys wounded for no reason. I did a hack that said the next 2 enemy attacks would miss, so I haphazardly position my guys. First two shots from the enemy hit. Apparently it only applied to the soldier that did the hack... lesson learned.
One reward will usually say "Soldier will get x" and the other reward (to the far right) will say "Squad will get x".
 
One reward will usually say "Soldier will get x" and the other reward (to the far right) will say "Squad will get x".

Yea, it just said. Next two enemy shots will miss. I don't really know, it was odd. Maybe I'm just tired and misread it. The one on the right was an alien facility lead.
 
I just had a VIP mission go poorly because I wasn't paying attention at the end. 3 captured... ouch.

Also had a couple of other odd things happen throughout.

But the real weird thing is that after that happened new soldier recruits from the black market and HQ disappeared, even though there were 2 majors to recruit. And now a second UFO has appeared and shot me down, so I have to do an avenger defense with a weaker squad.
 
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