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

I wonder, is it possible to make the Avatar completion not be a game over, but instead make it so that
Avatars
become a regularly occurring enemy? Among other things that cause the difficulty to spike into a rapid downward spiral towards a true military defeat, of course. IE, constant presence of Hunters, uber-difficult missions meant to force loss of territory, more and more frequent retaliations.
 

Falk

that puzzling face
Would there even be a fail state for the game then?

I guess if the base is shot down and you fail a defense mission?
 
Has anyone else run into the problem where the game refuses to load in correctly on returning from a mission? I'm stuck staring at one of the Avenger's struts and the frames drop to like 5fps according to the counter. This is after a flawless mission and I really don't want to have to do that all over again.

Someone might want to compile common problems and solutions for the front page where applicable.
 

vpance

Member
Multiple mimics are definitely OP. I think the whole reason behind why they even exist is to mitigate the problems of trying to flank, since you'll usually activate something by doing that. That's pretty much that only time I feel forced to use them. On timed missions it seems almost unavoidable.
 
Whew! Just beat the game for the first time. Had to completely redo the final mission due to a save-corrupting bug I encountered at the very end of the mission the first time I attempted it. I'd like to do another run, possibly an Ironman run, but I think I might wait until the game gets a patch, since the last thing I want is a corrupted Ironman save.

Still, all in all, I had a blast with the game. Not perfect, but a worthy successor to XCOM EW, in my opinion.
 

GRIMREEFZ

Member
There is something about this game, when you want to play for a quick session, it ends up pulling you in for extended gameplay. I think there's something to be said about that.
 

Lagamorph

Member
Why is it so easy to get Gravely Wounded now? I've had units take 2 or 3 points of damage and come back as Gravely Wounded so they're out for 15+ days.
 

void666

Banned
There is something about this game, when you want to play for a quick session, it ends up pulling you in for extended gameplay. I think there's something to be said about that.

Last night i planned to play one mission and go to bed. Hours later, sun is rising.
I thought i was done with this game. But i keep coming back.
 
Tweeted Jake Solomon to ask if he was going to improve Sectoid behaviour in a patch. Here's hoping he will notice it and reply.

EDIT: Also there's a new and very good looking Advent Armour mod. Used to be called 'Advent Helmets' but was just updated to include the full set. Adds optional choices for the various armour tiers. Really gives off the resistance vibe when you're using captured ADVENT equipment.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=621966098
 

samn

Member
Why is it so easy to get Gravely Wounded now? I've had units take 2 or 3 points of damage and come back as Gravely Wounded so they're out for 15+ days.

Apparently it's based on dmg taken but with RNG applied, so more wounded = slightly more likely to be gravely wounded. The buckets are very wide so it's hard to see much correlation in game.
 
Do I have to skulljack a codex to beat the campaign? I've been avoiding that since I never use the skulljack.
Skulljack is great! Once you've bought Skullmining, it's a 70% guaranteed kill on any Advent soldier, plus you can get nice hacking bonuses, plus it gives +50 to your specialists' hacking while they carry one!

And yes, you need to do it to win.

That's annoying. What a waste of an inventory slot
+50 to hacking!!
 

Falk

that puzzling face
Heh, with 2 slots on a Specialist, and having to choose between mimic/skulljack/medkit, took a look at medkit, shrugged and tossed it.
 

Sulik2

Member
Why is it so easy to get Gravely Wounded now? I've had units take 2 or 3 points of damage and come back as Gravely Wounded so they're out for 15+ days.

This actually really bugged me, if the damage dealt was within the threshold of health that armor grants it should be no wound. Instead I get guys with a scratch out for weeks.
 

Sblargh

Banned
2016_02_17_00011.jpg


With a squad of proper soldiers instead of rookies, we charge on our first real mission.
The objective is pretty close to the LZ, so time doesn't seem to be a problem, on the other hand, multiple pods close together are always a scary possibility.

After finding our first pod, we quickly discover the objective to be inside a factory which is across the street to a pre-destroyed house which will work perfectly as our Mupod perch.

HugeTenderBoar.gif


The pod consists of a single trooper and a sectoid. Take out the trooper and the sectoid is no problem. My plan was to grenade then both, overwatch glitches and our ranger and then, if the trooper was alive, finish him off with mupod. We got lucky tho, as the grenade itself causes the 4 damage to kill the trooper.

DependableFrightenedHogget.gif


Also, glitchesarecool exploded a car (and declared, afterward, "negative damage").

We swiftly ran torwards the factory and a single movement later, found our second pod, a more menancing one consisting of two troopers and an officer. Here, the dilemma becomes (thanks to my "no-cover playstyle") wheter to risk an attack or forfeit the grenadier's turn by defending.

MajesticShortBluemorphobutterfly.gif


The position of the officer and the trooper make the decision for me. Not only I can damage both with one grenade, but also open a way to the objective and leave them exposed. Our ranger lob a second grenade to finish off the trooper and leave the officer on one health.

Mupod takes the 89% shot at the trooper on the back and Glitches finish the officer off with a 77% shot. Two shots, high %s, any one of them fail tho, and an injury or worse is almost assured. Luckily, they make it.

After that, glitches hack the box and acquire the objective without drawing attention to the last group of enemies, who turned out to be two troopers and another sectoid.

DefinitiveMarriedChinchilla.gif


The troopers, easily flanked, are easily killed, leaving a vulnerable sectoid whose death leads to a second flawless victory. Overall, pretty easy mission. Objective was close, good place to put our sniper, everyone landed their shots. If only all missions were like this.

Glitches level up and get the "oh god please finish that off before everything spirals out of control" protocol.

2016_02_17_00013.jpg
 
I wonder, is it possible to make the Avatar completion not be a game over, but instead make it so that
Avatars
become a regularly occurring enemy? Among other things that cause the difficulty to spike into a rapid downward spiral towards a true military defeat, of course. IE, constant presence of Hunters, uber-difficult missions meant to force loss of territory, more and more frequent retaliations.

i would like this better.

mainly because to me, the ideal failstate is you are dead. as in, all your troops are dead.

and the avatar project getting completed makes the missions much harder, but you can still scrap your way through and back to a legit team. id feel much more like im "losing" if im bringing back 3 dead soliders and 2 gravely wounded ones, rather than a timer just hitting zero
 
This actually really bugged me, if the damage dealt was within the threshold of health that armor grants it should be no wound. Instead I get guys with a scratch out for weeks.

i might be making things up but i remember at least one mission, a solider taking a few shots, me healing them to perfect health, and them being gravely wounded after
 

Sblargh

Banned
How do you unlock the second item slot for specialty armours? (W.A.R., Wraith, etc.)

I thought I saw a research or upgrade for it, but I don't see it anywhere now.


Welp. My Specialists have just been brought into the 21st Century.

You don't. That's the trade-off. They have nifty things, but only one item slot.
 
Do I have to skulljack a codex to beat the campaign? I've been avoiding that since I never use the skulljack.

With the skullmining upgrade, the skulljack is pretty good. It boosts hack rating, it kills on a successful hit (without upgrade too), it can get intel, facility locations (facility locations don't require contact with the region to raid it since you know exactly where it is IIRC).

Getting intel through missions is very very useful. Intel is just as important, if not more important, than supplies.

How do you unlock the second item slot for specialty armours? (W.A.R., Wraith, etc.)

I thought I saw a research or upgrade for it, but I don't see it anywhere now.

I just think of the specialty armor as giving up a slot to gain a unique slot or ability. You also get the extra armor/hp or dodge.
 

sanhora

Member
Hotfix is live

We’re happy to report a hotfix for XCOM 2 is now available. This update will automatically install when starting the Steam client. If it doesn’t automatically, restart Steam.

This update fixes issues causing known crashes and includes some performance improvements. Saves affected by the crashes detailed below can be recovered and continued after installing the update.

We will continue our patch support over the coming months with additional fixes and performance updates. It is important to the team that we address the issues below as soon as possible so fans can get back to enjoying the game. Stay tuned for more information on future updates!

XCOM 2 Patch Notes
Player is unable to progress to scan in the Geoscape after completing the Resistance Communications research via Tutorial – This will fix previously affected saves.
Unable to load saves with a Chryssalid Cocoon – This will fix the issue, and for previously affected saves.
Adjustments were made to Texture Streaming to assist with periodic frame spikes.
Using the preview voice button for a modded voice pack will no longer crash the game when in the armory.
Removed 8x MSAA from default Max settings.

I wonder how big of a difference "some performance improvements" makes.
 
This actually really bugged me, if the damage dealt was within the threshold of health that armor grants it should be no wound. Instead I get guys with a scratch out for weeks.
This was the way Long War worked, iirc; damage to armor didn't put you in the infirmary, but you also couldn't "heal" armor once it was damaged, only health.

Like a lot of things about LW, it was great.
 

Erheller

Member
This was the way Long War worked, iirc; damage to armor didn't put you in the infirmary, but you also couldn't "heal" armor once it was damaged, only health.

Like a lot of things about LW, it was great.

You could heal armor in Long War. I think health regen didn't work on armor, though, only health.
 

mbpm1

Member
Yeah, you could definitely heal armor with a medkit, but auto-healing abilities wouldn't count armor as your natural health
 
This was the way Long War worked, iirc; damage to armor didn't put you in the infirmary, but you also couldn't "heal" armor once it was damaged, only health.

Like a lot of things about LW, it was great.

You could heal armor in LW. You just couldn't heal armor using some options.

IMO, the way it is in XCOM 2 is actually more realistic. Health from armor is helping you stay alive, not protecting you from injury until it is "chipped" away.

That isn't to say I didn't like the way they did it in LW. It was interesting, and so was fatigue. I would not mind seeing fatigue brought in. That would require a re-work of other systems, such as starting recruits and getting new recruits. There was something interesting about having a larger army at your disposal, although it was quite annoying to micromanage multiple squad's gear sets.
 

Sulik2

Member
You could heal armor in LW. You just couldn't heal armor using some options.

IMO, the way it is in XCOM 2 is actually more realistic. Health from armor is helping you stay alive, not protecting you from injury until it is "chipped" away.

That isn't to say I didn't like the way they did it in LW. It was interesting, and so was fatigue. I would not mind seeing fatigue brought in. That would require a re-work of other systems, such as starting recruits and getting new recruits. There was something interesting about having a larger army at your disposal, although it was quite annoying to micromanage multiple squad's gear sets.

Humm. I never played Long War, it sounds like I need to look into it.
 

Sullichin

Member
Skulljack is great! Once you've bought Skullmining, it's a 70% guaranteed kill on any Advent soldier, plus you can get nice hacking bonuses, plus it gives +50 to your specialists' hacking while they carry one!

And yes, you need to do it to win.


+50 to hacking!!

Stupid question... but can hacking skill go over 100? Think both of my specialists are 80+20 hack skill from the gremlin.
 
Humm. I never played Long War, it sounds like I need to look into it.

Long war was good, but I don't think I can really go back to EU after living with the improvements of 2. The overwatch improvements alone have already become such an integral part, seamlessly too. Concealment as well.

So are there no "Second Wave"/New Game+ options?

Check mods, but I somewhat expect second wave options to be added in later. Some of the second wave options became part of the base game, such as good angle shot bonus. And many have been made into mods by the user base. But I think fireaxis will do their own set of official "mods".
 

npa189

Member
Think I've hit a wall. The first one didn't feel like it had this much base management bullshit. Knocking down the avatar project shouldn't be a 4 step process. I just wanna shoot aliens, not manage all this other crap. The difficulty ramp is nuts too and the game doesn't give you enough tools to deal with it. Increasing the squad size is a daunting task involving money and time I just don't have. I think I need a fresh save.
 

Sblargh

Banned
Skulljack+Skullmining+Get lucky when hacking and find the increase hacking stat positive hack.

Upgrading your gremlin, too. Also, I think your hacking goes up a bit every level up. The hacking requurement for enemies sale accordingly tho, so it is hard to become a uber hacker.
 
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