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[RandomSeed]

I know this was discussed a bit a few pages ago, but the need to take a medic specialist to missions is kinda a bummer. Most missions go excellent or flawless, but when you need serious healing and don't have it? Ouch. I love the right side of the specialist's tree, but things are tight already with 5 classes for 6 spots. Having at least 2 ranged heals (and still being able to grab the little combat buddy) by default would be awesome. I could see the medic (extra uses) ability opposite of combat protocol.

 

[Random17]

Subreddit is fixed atm.

 

[Shake Appeal]

I know this was discussed a bit a few pages ago, but the need to take a medic specialist to missions is kinda a bummer. Most missions go excellent or flawless, but when you need serious healing and don't have it? Ouch. I love the right side of the specialist's tree, but things are tight already with 5 classes for 6 spots. Having at least 2 ranged heals (and still being able to grab the little combat buddy) by default would be awesome. I could see the medic (extra uses) ability opposite of combat protocol.

They just need to:

1. Make medics better. I'd suggest a power at Corporal or Sergeant to reduce wound timers when healing (for starters).
2. Give more healing options to other characters (it'd be a good psi power, for instance).

 

[SRG01]

Conveniently, I created a wide field of fire in Overwatch before breaking concealment. All of my troops missed. XCOM!

This is why I rarely overwatch to pop pods in XCOM I usually move my rangers close with my first move, pop them with a grenade or flashbang, then run/gun with a flank.

edit: Interestingly enough, I've seen that popped pods are less likely to scatter or rush you if your guys are already up close...

 

[RandomSeed]

What about a medic having bonus abilities and damage to organics? You use Viper venom to upgrade your medkits, so maybe medics could have something like combat protocol that hurts only organic enemies? Sacrifice a heal for damage? I dunno.

 

[cdyhybrid]

What about a medic having bonus abilities and damage to organics? You use Viper venom to upgrade your medkits, so maybe medics could have something like combat protocol that hurts only organic enemies? Sacrifice a heal for damage? I dunno.

Letting them get two uses out of support grenades would be good. My Medics in LW would always carry double Smoke and Chem Grenades, or Flashbangs.

 

[Shake Appeal]

Letting them get two uses out of support grenades would be good. My Medics in LW would always carry double Smoke and Chem Grenades, or Flashbangs.

Yep, this would also be a good one. Double flashbangs in the first month or two would be big.

Also a mobility bonus. Medics in LW got Sprinter, right?

 

[Rentahamster]

I'm trying to test to see whether Aid Protocol Threat Assessment (apply overwatch to target) stacks with the Guardian (50% chance to take another overwatch shot if the first one hits).

I've been setting up my overwatch traps with the Specialist giving himself Aid Protocol, and then overwatching. Not sure yet if it's worth the trouble, lol.

 

[SRG01]

At this point, I don't even know what the point of a medic is. The medic was good in XCOM1 when the pace was slower, but for XCOM2, it was almost always better for me to play aggressively and let the soldier heal up after the mission than to take a turn to heal.

 

[vpance]

I know this was discussed a bit a few pages ago, but the need to take a medic specialist to missions is kinda a bummer. Most missions go excellent or flawless, but when you need serious healing and don't have it? Ouch. I love the right side of the specialist's tree, but things are tight already with 5 classes for 6 spots. Having at least 2 ranged heals (and still being able to grab the little combat buddy) by default would be awesome. I could see the medic (extra uses) ability opposite of combat protocol.

I'm sure it's all set up that way purposely. I mean, the game should be making you navigate the tradeoffs in finding that mix of offense and defense you're comfortable with. Holistically, global health bar wise, they probably figure that 1 combat protocol shock roughly equals 2 heals in terms of the balance of power between you and the enemy, or something like that. Of course you could always just bring more mimic beacons, in which case healing becomes far less useful.

 

[Rentahamster]

What about a medic having bonus abilities and damage to organics? You use Viper venom to upgrade your medkits, so maybe medics could have something like combat protocol that hurts only organic enemies? Sacrifice a heal for damage? I dunno.

I would suggest having the medkit have additional buffs to the target rather than just heal. If it's only heal, then it's a waste when you don't use it, and the whole point of optimal play is that so you don't have to use it.

Like, say, if the overdrive serum and medkit were combined. Or if, the medkit had some combat uses, like it could be used as a close range attack or something as well.

 

[Erheller]

Yep, this would also be a good one. Double flashbangs in the first month or two would be big.

Also a mobility bonus. Medics in LW got Sprinter, right?

Yeah, medics in LW got Sprinter, as well as a bonus +1 mobility on promotion from PFC to SPEC medic.

I think that specialists in XCOM 2 should get some more choices for overwatch/suppression perks. That's another build you could go with in Long War - a hybrid healer/suppressor that had utility in controlling enemies while also providing heals.

 

[SRG01]

I would suggest having the medkit have additional buffs to the target rather than just heal. If it's only heal, then it's a waste when you don't use it, and the whole point of optimal play is that so you don't have to use it.

Like, say, if the overdrive serum and medkit were combined. Or if, the medkit had some combat uses, like it could be used as a close range attack or something as well.

I like this idea. Give the overdrive serum as an auto-equip for specialists if the medkit is equipped.

Alternatively, let in-mission heals decrease the amount of post-mission healing required (non-stackable).

 

[LurkerPrime]

Buffing a medic is crazy talk. The ability to ensure a soldier won't die from the next hit, or waste away turn-to-turn, is invaluable. And waking up unconscious soldiers? Irreplaceable.

Like, yeah, optimally you won't ever need a medic. But if things are going optimally in XCOM, a lot more than just medics are made redundant.

 

[Salty Catfish]

So, I encountered a mission where 3 of the 4 pods were huddled together at the start, with some of them being on the roof of a small hut. Add a proxy mine, and awesomeness ensued.

I recorded the action here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTJyrJL-n_k

Fuck yeah, that was awesome to watch. Especially that Faceoff...So good.

 

[Mobius and pet octopus]

I think medics are invaluable as well. You may not need the heal every single battle, but when you do it makes a huge difference. And specialists specifically being able to heal from any range... I don't think they need buffs in terms of healing at least. You can probably get by with just the gremlin heal you get from the perk. And that means you get to take a non-medic heal into battle instead.

 

[LurkerPrime]

Oh yeah, the ranged skill use is a huge buff over the previous game. Complete gamechanger.

 

[cdyhybrid]

Buffing a medic is crazy talk. The ability to ensure a soldier won't die from the next hit, or waste away turn-to-turn, is invaluable. And waking up unconscious soldiers? Irreplaceable.

Like, yeah, optimally you won't ever need a medic. But if things are going optimally in XCOM, a lot more than just medics are made redundant.

Yeah, but you build your squad around the assumption that you will play optimally. Bringing a medic because you might do something wrong shouldn't take precedence over learning not to do things wrong in the first place

And optimally you don't ever get shot at in the first place!

 

[Clevinger]

Flanks a 4 health advent officer, gets right next to the dude, 98% hit chance 50% or whatever crit, this dude needs to go down now or else I lose the last civ I can save

*Grazed/dodge 2 damage*

 

[Van]

what fixes comes with this new xcom 2 update?

 

[Random17]

 

[Rentahamster]

Fuck yeah, that was awesome to watch. Especially that Faceoff...So good.

Thanks! Yeah that sniper is from the GAF pool, Sober. He has implacable, which turns out to be really really useful on a sniper or gunslinger, in order to get that extra movement in to keep up with the rest of the squad.

Probably need to do things like more missions, which means either more VIPs (and in terms scientists and engineers need to contribute less overall per character) or more Dark Events that can happen but can counter, or something. But yeah, I'd like to play a version where you have to actually fill out your roster. Considering now you can actually sort your roster now and you don't have to keep a separate literal spreadsheet for all your away teams.

It sucks to want to bring some people to level up but you look at the Shadow Chamber overview on the mission and it's like, whelp, can't have anyone below sergeant coming anymore. At least reward soldiers scale, thank goodness.

Watch yourself own aliens in this clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTJyrJL-n_k

 

[LurkerPrime]

The alien designs are so good. Monsters I don't even want to fight.

Yeah, but you build your squad around the assumption that you will play optimally. Bringing a medic because you might do something wrong shouldn't take precedence over learning not to do things wrong in the first place

And optimally you don't ever get shot at in the first place!

Optimal play

Mission successful.

 

[cdyhybrid]

The alien designs are so good. Monsters I don't even want to fight.


Optimal play

Mission successful.

One Grenadier ain't optimal

 

[Poodlestrike]

Yeah, but you build your squad around the assumption that you will play optimally. Bringing a medic because you might do something wrong shouldn't take precedence over learning not to do things wrong in the first place

And optimally you don't ever get shot at in the first place!

I build my squad around the assumption that I will a) screw up at some point or b) the aliens will refuse to cooperate with my plans. Thus, I need a medic.

 

[Jintor]

optimal play involves explosives erryday

medic usefulness drops off the better armour and killing power you get. Damn i miss MEC mist healing power though. Cluster everyone near the MEC and bam, group bong session. {*}

{*} Do not do near mutons or sectopods

 

[LurkerPrime]

optimal play involves explosives erryday

It rhymes, so it must be true.

 

[cdyhybrid]

optimal play involves explosives erryday

medic usefulness drops off the better armour and killing power you get. Damn i miss MEC mist healing power though. Cluster everyone near the MEC and bam, group bong session. {*}

{*} Do not do near mutons or sectopods

I miss MECs in general. Hopefully that's what the Shen's Last Gift DLC is about.

 

[Jintor]

Plan for misses but pray you hit. Optimise in such a way that you can mostly eliminate RNG or at least skew the dice in your favour. Always have a backup plan.

Yeah man mecs were cool. Swords are alright until they get phased out around midgame (they just don't keep up on the damage curve though having an always-available run and gun is a'ight) but a MEC built like a tank punching mutons through walls was THE BEST.

Swords should ignore armour :T

 

[SRG01]

It rhymes, so it must be true.

Not gonna lie: I went through most of the early game just spamming grenades (and knifing sectoids) until I got predator armor and magnetic weapons.

 

[LurkerPrime]

I miss MECs in general. Hopefully that's what the Shen's Last Gift DLC is about.

Shen's Last Gift
Offering a brand new soldier class with unique upgradeable weapons, armor, and customization features, as well as an additional narrative-driven mission and map (releasing summer 2016).

The 'unique upgradable' bit makes it sound like a MEC equivalent to me. Either that or some bizarre hybrid thing.

I also miss MECs. I do not miss SHIVs because I never used them.

 

[TonkatsuAddict]

optimal play involves explosives erryday

medic usefulness drops off the better armour and killing power you get. Damn i miss MEC mist healing power though. Cluster everyone near the MEC and bam, group bong session. {*}

{*} Do not do near mutons or sectopods

I feel like there are several choices that change which is optimal depending on when you are in the game. Specialist Medical vs. Combat Protocol is one, since ranged healing is huge early game, but later game I'd rather have the guaranteed damage. Same with the first heavy choice. Early game, some extra armor and protection from explosions is nice and shred is worthless, but shred felt like a no-brainer late game since freaking everything has armor.

That said, a lot of the choices are great, with both of them feeling like very valid options, and both proving useful in actual play, so props to the designers on that.

 

[Poodlestrike]

I miss MECs in general. Hopefully that's what the Shen's Last Gift DLC is about.

Descriptions make me think Android or something rather than MEC. Could be wrong tho.

 

[LurkerPrime]

Descriptions make me think Android or something rather than MEC. Could be wrong tho.

I would love that.

 

[Jintor]

SHIVs got fucked over compared to X-Com i think mainly because taking one was so expensive compared to taking a rookie and the performance/loss risk wasn't worth it. Back in the day I recall that the HWPs were sick because their performance was so much higher than a squad of rookies (you could shoot a rocket and it might actually hit!!!!) and it was much easier and cheaper to get a decent one on the field in short order.

Of course they started getting phased out around plasma/psi time but they were a lot more useful back in the day.

 

[Erheller]

SHIVs got fucked over compared to X-Com i think mainly because taking one was so expensive compared to taking a rookie and the performance/loss risk wasn't worth it. Back in the day I recall that the HWPs were sick because their performance was so much higher than a squad of rookies (you could shoot a rocket and it might actually hit!!!!) and it was much easier and cheaper to get a decent one on the field in short order.

Of course they started getting phased out around plasma/psi time but they were a lot more useful back in the day.

I loved HWPs because you could take 8 rockets in one mission and not have to reload.

 

[Palmer_v1]

I loved them cause they could semi-reliably get off the skyranger without dying.

 

[Jintor]

I loved them cause they could semi-reliably get off the skyranger without dying.

You know I'm surprised they don't have a unique "Skyranger Ambush" mission now that I think about it. I guess that's why they just rope off these days.

Also ADVENT are hilariously lazy about getting hunter UFOs around these days. I wonder why they use trains for everything? Maybe they ran out of Elerium.

 

[cdyhybrid]

I just want to rocket punch a Faceless.

 

[UpDownLeftRight]

Just reached the final mission and I can already tell how much it's going to suck just by the enemy count and the enemy types listed. At least I don't have to worry about losing soldiers in this mission too much but still, This is clearly going to be very one sided so I think I'm gonna bring 2 medics to try and keep that health up as long as possible.

 

[JustinBB7]

They "fixed" capslock bypassing the load times on the way back. Now it takes 2 minutes to go back to base after a mission again. Fuck sake. Why?

 

[Jintor]

Just reached the final mission and I can already tell how much it's going to suck just by the enemy count and the enemy types listed. At least I don't have to worry about losing soldiers in this mission too much but still, This is clearly going to be very one sided so I think I'm gonna bring 2 medics to try and keep that health up as long as possible.

Pro tip: do your best not to use consumables until it becomes very obvious you need to start using consumables.

Or, in other words, try and stick to abilities that only cost cooldowns or ammo

 

[vpance]

Do enemies target VIP? Haven't tested it yet but I ran one out to evac where a pod was lying in wait and they did nothing, and no reveal trigger.

 

[toastyToast]

Man what the fuck

I did a mission where I had to evac an enemy VIP and whenever I took one step past the car he was at, a Gatekeeper spawned and stopped literally right next to it. Had to solve a save scum puzzle to to kill it along with the 2 archons it showed up with and get the VIP the hell out of there in one turn. Figured it out and I had a soldier carry them and get as far away as possible, no where close. When the car exploded as the Gatekeeper died it said that the VIP was killed. Wat? My soldier even mentioned having the VIP in tow when they extracted.

This is the same mission where my sniper got stuck in a barrel as he fell down a floor. Luckily he was wearing a Wraith suit lol

Oh yeah he took 3 damage, was gravely wounded and suffered reduced will. A max level sniper with 70 kills smh

 

[cdyhybrid]

Man what the fuck

I did a mission where I had to evac an enemy VIP and whenever I took one step past the car he was at, a Gatekeeper spawned and stopped literally right next to it. Had to solve a save scum puzzle to to kill it along with the 2 archons it showed up with and get the VIP the hell out of there in one turn. Figured it out and I had a soldier carry them and get as far away as possible, no where close. When the car exploded as the Gatekeeper died it said that the VIP was killed. Wat? My soldier even mentioned having the VIP in tow when they extracted.

This is the same mission where my sniper got stuck in a barrel as he fell down a floor. Luckily he was wearing a Wraith suit lol

Oh yeah he took 3 damage, was gravely wounded and suffered reduced will.

Unconscious VIPs counting as being where they were knocked out after you move them is a known bug.

 

[Rentahamster]

Yeah man mecs were cool. Swords are alright until they get phased out around midgame (they just don't keep up on the damage curve though having an always-available run and gun is a'ight) but a MEC built like a tank punching mutons through walls was THE BEST.

Punshing aliens in the fucking FACE, right through a car will never, ever get old.

 

[Oppo]

so I assume... for DLC...

Spoiler

Valnen?

now that i've finished. will put game away until I get a Skylake MacBook (played on 2011 iMac, Radeon 6850, was painful but weirdly largely bug-free) and a whole pile of patches and mods have been applied. will be like a new game, lol.

 

[LurkerPrime]

so I assume... for DLC...

Spoiler

Valnen?

Haven't beaten it yet or anything, but it seems pretty obvious it'll happen somewhere. Assuming you mean

Spoiler

Dr. Vahlen, the mysteriously missing and ethically ambigious scientist.

 

[samn]

Dodge halves damage, but does anyone know if this rounds up or down? (If down then you would see a tier 1 assault rifle, min 3dmg, only do 1 dmg when dodged, at least once.)

Also, do venom rounds do 1 dmg to every type of enemy, or only organics? (I know they only poison organics)

 

[Oppo]

Haven't beaten it yet or anything, but it seems pretty obvious it'll happen somewhere. Assuming you mean

Spoiler

Dr. Vahlen, the mysteriously missing and ethically ambigious scientist.

yeah. I feel like they set it up pretty specifically.

Spoiler

she'll be a cybernetically enhanced career torturer hiding in the mountains capturing aliens. wasn't she pretty unambiguously German?