And then have your turn. Lol
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XCOM 2 |OT| Be Aggressive! Be Be Aggressive!
- Thread starter Sober
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And then have your turn. Lol
CertifiedFP
Member
Just out of curiosity, anyone else here only use females for Psi troopers?
CertifiedFP
Member
Don't worry about it, play the way you like it. A lot of people like playing XCOM almost like it's a roguelike - you aren't supposed to win, but that one time you get really close to winning feels so good. That's the type of person Ironman appeals to.
Controversial Opinion
: Snipers are a liability.
Seriously, my current campaign has gone THAT MUCH smoother just outright ignoring Sharpshooters, and going full Gunslinger for what Sharpshooters I do bother with. Having six frontline troops who can act in the here and now instead of having to pre-plan all their actions has been the single greatest boon my squad has gotten. Especially so because of all these time-limited set-extract missions.
Gonna miss those moments I used to have where I'd have my last man - A sniper - be kiting enemies around the map in a mad-dash for the extract or waiting for my Request Extract cooldown to finish though. Had some interesting moments doing that.
I think that the only standout perk sniper sharpshooters have going for them in most missions is Kill Zone. In the usual time-limited missions, Salvo grenadiers have a much higher damage output than a Serial sniper. 2 grenades that have huge AoE, goes partially through walls, shreds, guaranteed 8-9 damage with plasma grenades. A Serial sniper has to actually kill enemies to continue the chain, and does 8-10 damage per shot. Sniper rifles also don't crit that much because of Squadsight. You also need LOS on all of the enemies you want to hit, which can be wonky sometimes. It's also limited by ammo (which, admittedly can be mitigated by having extended magazines). I rarely get more than 3 kills with Serial. Snipers are outdone in single target damage by rapid fire rangers, and in crowd control by salvo grenadiers.
Kill Zone is actually fantastic, though. It's the perk that does something that no other class can do. And in long missions like the final mission, I would consider taking a sniper over a grenadier, because they aren't reliant on consumables. But most of the time, I'd rather have a grenadier or ranger over a sharpshooter.
manfestival
Member
why do you regret putting them into your game? lol
Rentahamster
Rodent Whores
That's why you give them Auto-Loaders too.
The thing with snipers, if they're paired with a concealed ranger they can start a fight from all the way across the map and keep the enemy at range. Having a battery of snipers with a spotter can be a pretty safe way to go. Additionally, with Armor-Piercing ammo a sniper can take out just about anything with ease. The only problem comes up when the enemy is indoors.
On the other hand, extended mags allows for them to shoot more than 3 enemies in one killzone attempt(let's say you start killzone, start an ambush at range with a ranger, you shoot all three, then on the enemies' turn you can shoot all three again). You don't even need an auto-loader if you have the high ground bonus give you an extra action after a shot.
On the other hand, extended mags allows for them to shoot more than 3 enemies in one killzone attempt(let's say you start killzone, start an ambush at range with a ranger, you shoot all three, then on the enemies' turn you can shoot all three again). You don't even need an auto-loader if you have the high ground bonus give you an extra action after a shot.
You give them both. Scopes, Auto-Loaders, and Extended Mags.
Is having 3 mods a continent bonus? Cause, if so, my current playthrough is extremely unlucky in that I don't have a continent with that bonus.
Yep. Armed to the Teeth.
Sniper with serial and bluescreen rounds has always singlehandedly cleaned up a bunch of squads. And I bring two grenadiers (shredder gunner and salvo grenadier) who do most the softening up. Not that I need to blow up cover sometimes though, with an aim PCS and some high ground you can shoot over 100% through high cover even on elite troopers which makes serial amazing.
toastyToast
Member
Snipers should do a tad more damage tbh. My ranger does 11-13 on a flank with 101% critical hit chance (yes I saw that number) and can shoot twice for 1 AP. If sniper did 10-12 that'd make them slightly more interesting. Pretty much everything needs to be buttered up for Serial to work so it's pretty much a waste of time. I still use my main sniper because he got me through some tough situations in the early game but now not so much. Wraith suit has been a huge boon since the grapple hook doesn't use any action points and they can shoot after.
To that end, I think a fair buff would be to give crit bonuses to snipers, which increase with higher ground.
LurkerPrime
Member
Flanked crits are all shotguns really have. Snipers have range and area control that a ranger will never even be able to dream of, but they make up for that with impressive maneuverability and survivability.
No buffs. Only bringing others in line with the power curve (i.e. nerfs).
No buffs. Only bringing others in line with the power curve (i.e. nerfs).
King Tubby
Member
Surprised to see so many people putting the long range Sharpshooter down. I'm in the middle of my first Legendary Ironman run, finally have Squad size II and about to get Predator armor and so far my undisputed MVP is my Sharpshooter with a scoped Gauss rifle and Advanced Perception PCS. Basically kills at least one enemy unit every turn, sometimes two through Lightning Hands/Death From Above pistol shot. Death From Above guarantees that she can at least reload after a kill so she can always take a shot, I just unlocked Kill Zone which makes my ambushes that much more deadly. And the best part is she can do this all in complete security far from enemy sight, which also means that I have a better chance of getting all my front line troops behind heavy cover.
In my playthrough, snipers were good at dishing out damage, just not as OP as they were in EW so they never felt essential. Rather they seemed roughly on par with specialists and rangers, while grenadiers were a bit stronger. The tradeoff is that they slow the missions down a bit since they need positioning and setup, which wasn't a problem for me (only ever lost one mission to a time limit yet) but still something I didn't quite realise during the playthrough. I played many missions with two snipers just hanging out far away on the map, which wasn't super fun tbh.
I think I'll do with one sniper at most on missions when I start again and get another close range unit to keep up the tempo in my play.
I think I'll do with one sniper at most on missions when I start again and get another close range unit to keep up the tempo in my play.
Kaffeemann
Banned
Except Blader Rangers which are complete garbage late game.
ISee
Member
Especially endgame Snipers are awesome (and good before that, imo). And once you get access to spider suits their mobility will improve significantly, if that's your concern about snipers.
Get the third weapon equipment slot.
Superior Auto Loader
Superior Expanded Magazine
Superior Laser Sight
Talon Rounds
Deadshot
PCS: Aim
Wraith Suit (for 'easy' height advantage)
Kill Zone and Serial will turn into god like abilities (most of the time) and ammunition isn't an issue anymore. I love this so much.
Shake Appeal
Member
My long-range Sharpshooter has by far the most kills of anyone on my I/C squad. I have also killed four people on one turn with him on several occasions.
roadrunn3r
Member
I realize I rely too much on my snipers. Spider armor is insane in terms of mobility, find high ground, proceed to murder 90% of the enemies with my two snipers alone. The rest of the squad is just there to complement them sometimes. Should definitely try a no sharpshooters run for a change.
Glitchesarecool
Member
I think in the end I only ended up taking one ability out of the sniper tree. For some reason all the gunslinger stuff was beautiful, and I could almost always have a 100% hit chance when factoring in height and stuff. Showdown is just a godlike damage machine. Fast hands > Pistol shot (with the upgrade that doesn't end your turn) > Showdown. Then you keep dishing out damage with the retaliation ability.
I was real sad my sniper wasn't the long range death machine it was in EW, thanks to the squadsight 'nerf,' but it feels so good to just whip out the pistol and blow those aliens away.
captainpat
Member
Man, I tried to be stealth on my last mission and paid for it with my team. All the enemies I snuck pass just swarmed me and then reinforcements came in. Least I completed the objective and avoided the dark event.
I failed Blacksite #2 because I opened the stasis chamber, fought my way out, then evacuated while leaving the body on the floor next to the stasis chamber.
Best part is, since nobody was injured, and you just have to repeat failed missions with no penalty, I got free XP out of it (although it was an hour's worth of gameplay setting up perfect overwatch traps and inching forward)
You'd think that when a secret facility gets busted wide open, ADVENT would at least move the site away, but no, I guess they just put the guy back in the stasis chamber, closed the door and called it a day.
How about when you totally forget to hack the objective because you were too busy fighting three pods at the same time? And when you realize there's only one turn left and you dash... but there are no more action points.
I had a psi soldier to "inpire" me though. Crisis averted.
I had a psi soldier to "inpire" me though. Crisis averted.
TonkatsuAddict
Member
"They'll never expect it to be in the same place! It's the perfect plan!"
Slackbladder
Member
If you start the game with the tutorial it actually makes the game harder. It takes longer to excavate a room on the avenger and longer for missions to pop up. Starting without the tutorial you begin with a room already excavated and can go to any mission type as they appear.
Basically the tutorial easily puts you a month or more behind than if you started without it.
Basically the tutorial easily puts you a month or more behind than if you started without it.
RandomSeed
Member
Late game protect the device missions can be frustrating and brutal. DirectTV has 44 health, and an Andromedon can hit it for 11, so you have maybe 4-5 turns. On the way there are 2 heavy turrets, with a MEC and 2 trooper types, and 2 Archons right behind them waiting to activate. So you engage and let the device get pummeled, or sneak around them, so they'll flank the hell out of you later. At the device is the Andromedon and 2 Codex lovely ladies, with a Sectopod and a couple more troopers ready to bust in through the wall, Kool-Aid man style, as soon as you start the fight. THEN reinforcements (dark event?) land right behind your position.
Yeah, my continent bonus's suck. I can recruit people for half price, replace mods without breaking them, instantly finish armor proving grounds project, same for ammo and grenades and a couple of other mildly helpful bonus's.
That's what I've determined in mid to late game. It might also be just figuring out what works and what you can get away with but yea Bluescreen rounds made it trivial. Especially when you get the ability to overwatch and then 50% chance to overwatch again with crit and the 10% chance to kill immediately?
Yeah I stopped picking Protect the Device late game because of how impossible the mission gets on a 5 turn timer. Even had all enemies engaged and the very last two on the map just said fuckit and destroyed the relay instead of fighting. Was easy cleanup but objective loss meant no rewards and no dark event counter.
RandomSeed
Member
What's the deal with proximity mine ambushes? I drop one, put everyone on overwatch, but then they get a turn to react, unlike using...say, kill zone. Both times I've noticed it, it has been an Andromedon. Everybody does their thing, and then he comes over for a tall glass of punch. No flanks were harmed in the making of this ambush.
RPS interview w/ Jake Solomon incoming, some details on framerate issues here: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/02/19/xcom-2-framerate/
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