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

Falk

that puzzling face
The real power of the specialist is the ability to do guaranteed damage, dependent only on line of sight.

I think Capacitor Discharge also ignores LOS, although I may be high and just actually thinking of the AE effect hitting stuff he couldn't see, rather than being able to actually select a tile out of LOS.
 

Erheller

Member
I think Capacitor Discharge also ignores LOS, although I may be high and just actually thinking of the AE effect hitting stuff he couldn't see, rather than being able to actually select a tile out of LOS.

Naw, I'm pretty sure you don't need LOS for Capacitor Discharge.
 

Sober

Member
Makes a lot of sense to me but I used to tank in WoW.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Yeah too bad the way it pushes things off the roll isn't very intuitive or makes sense. It should literally push crit off the table and shift hit into its space.

Tempted to do a harder run but probably will get the mod that gives you D&D style rolls honestly.
 

Falk

that puzzling face
Again, that's a two way street. That would make high-dodge enemies (which is like everything in Legendary) impossible to crit.

edit: Unless I'm misunderstanding you (probably am!) since you mentioned D&D style rolls which is more similar to yellow attacks in old-school WoW on a two-roll system. Then yeah, the proportion between hits and crits on landed attacks remains, but it's much more of a bitch to calculate benefit assessment from crit boosts, etc.
 

Erheller

Member
How much can you stack dodge on your own soldiers, anyways? If you can stack dodge and defense enough, it could be possible to be shot at but have a 100% chance to dodge.
 

AlanOC91

Member
Lost two Soldiers to my first Viper encounter last night.

Infuriating wasn't even the word. The first time I've been seriously annoyed with Xcom 2.

4 over 60% shots and 2 overwatch shots all missed on the one Viper. God damn...

I lost two good Soldiers over it. It didn't help that my stupid Sniper panicked and started running away from his high vantage point automatically.
 

peakish

Member
So it's a literal interpretation of "30% crit". Eh, seems good if a bit opaque. I'm surprised that it's not shifted together with any aim penalties, though.
 

Falk

that puzzling face
How much can you stack dodge on your own soldiers, anyways? If you can stack dodge and defense enough, it could be possible to be shot at but have a 100% chance to dodge.

It's enough to make Hunker Down completely push everything other than dodge off the table, at least. There's a PCS + GTS boost which is about 30?
 

Rentahamster

Rodent Whores
It's enough to make Hunker Down completely push everything other than dodge off the table, at least. There's a PCS + GTS boost which is about 30?

Plus wraith armor grants dodge too, right? Although I wonder if the two levels of armor from a WAR suit, plus a level or armor from Blast Paddding might synergize with stacked dodge better? I have no idea how damage is calculated though.
 

Falk

that puzzling face
I guess ultimately I feel that right now this is really more of an academic than practical discussion since, as discussed slightly prior, the whole wounded mechanic still makes taking hits an absolute last resort, whether you take half damage (or quarter, compared to crits) or not. Unless you have a huge-ass roster of high-ranked soldiers.
 

mercviper

Member
Just finished my co-op C/I run with a friend. Stats here: http://imgur.com/a/vGF84

Almost xcommed out at this point so I dunno if I'll finish my L/I run. Have mag weapons and plated armor with plasma nades just around the corner. My crew is only 7 strong though so it's a thin line between killing it and losing the campaign lol.
 

pislit

Member
The final mission is just ridiculous what the hell is this. I thought I was ready, but no. Here's more enemy while you miss 90% shots bitch.

Fun fact: I mind-controlled some Chrysallids because I like their poison, however, LOL, the spawned Chrysallids off their kills are never loyal to you. Makes sense. Fuck me.
 

Hazaro

relies on auto-aim
Yeah just I don't see why this is considered a flawed system. There's two ways to interpret crit % and just because crit isn't a % of hit doesn't mean the system doesn't make sense. Already agreed with Jintor that it's counter-intuitive to initial thoughts (as evidenced by all the complaints) but I disagree with a need to change the system.

Someone else mentioned it should be D&D style rolls but it is a D&D style roll. In 5e you crit on 20s so an attack vs DC20 with no bonuses will always crit if it hits. /shrug. As long as the system is known and fair then it should be fine.
It's not flawed it just was never explained is was changed from the previous games and explains why debuffed Ayys always crit you in full cover. Suddenly your defensive maneuvers INCREASE that chance of death, but lower chance of taking damage.
Oh yeah. Suddenly the +15% crit mod is god-tier.

...I thought they were practically useless before.

Alright, I'm back on board with this system. I guess the hit chance and crit chance aren't deceptive or anything (since they're all based on the same roll) but man is it hella confusing. I doubt a single person thought it worked this way before the news leaked.
It scales (like all laser sights). Up close they are like +16/22/28% + 20% from Talon + 15% from shotgun + 40% from flank and GTS bonus +3 = 42 Damage a shot with Rapid Fire.


Plus they clutch you through while your grenadiers get kitted up.
 

Falk

that puzzling face
Suddenly your defensive maneuvers INCREASE that chance of death

Wat.

If an enemy has 85 chance to hit, 20% crit (numbers pulled out of ass), not taking any dodge bonus you have or aim angle/height advantage into account:

Low cover: (20% defense)
- 35% chance to miss
- 45% chance to hit
- 20% chance to crit

High cover: (40% defense)
- 55% chance to miss
- 25% chance to hit
- 20% chance to crit

High cover + disorient: (40% defense, 25% aim penalty)
- 80% chance to miss
- 0% chance to hit
- 20% chance to crit

In every case, a shot taken by the enemy still has 20% chance to crit. "increase that chance of death" is factually incorrect.
 

Sober

Member
I guess ultimately I feel that right now this is really more of an academic than practical discussion since, as discussed slightly prior, the whole wounded mechanic still makes taking hits an absolute last resort, whether you take half damage (or quarter, compared to crits) or not. Unless you have a huge-ass roster of high-ranked soldiers.
I agree. I think the single roll is fine but weird edge cases make it unintuitive (like when you can't hit but you can still crit, which to me is just a hit), at least for me. 2-roll system makes more sense but I also value consistent damage over time to discrete bursts although the game probably doesn't work for it vs. like a WoW raid boss that's taking in hundreds of damage instances over 3 to 10 minutes.

I also think the problem is that dodge is kinda like a gotcha later on in the game because you have no access to whatever dodge the enemy has against your aim values, so it's really up to you to know who has it and how much.

And also because of how wounding works, yeah. I guess it's nice we have mods that help rectify these things.
 

Hazaro

relies on auto-aim
Wat.

If an enemy has 85 chance to hit, 20% crit (numbers pulled out of ass), not taking any dodge bonus you have or aim angle/height advantage into account:

Low cover: (20% defense)
- 35% chance to miss
- 45% chance to hit
- 20% chance to crit

High cover: (40% defense)
- 55% chance to miss
- 25% chance to hit
- 20% chance to crit

High cover + disorient: (40% defense, 25% aim penalty)
- 80% chance to miss
- 0% chance to hit
- 20% chance to crit

In every case, a shot taken by the enemy still has 20% chance to crit. "increase that chance of death" is factually incorrect.
no pls I did my 2am math

Snektits takes a shot 40% to hit (Full cover), 10% to Crit: Crit Chance is 25% if it hits
(2.5% probability)
You Flashbang (-15) and Aid Protocol (-20) and the shot is 5% to hit, 10% to Crit: Crit Chance is 100% if it hits
(5% Critical Hit chance)

oh shit my math is not correct I am making mistakes those numbers dont do that
It's weird that a shot that shouldn't hit has a chance to crit.
The thing is that Crit implies hit since it's the same roll which is what I got caught on.
 

Falk

that puzzling face
oh shit my math is not correct I am making mistakes those numbers dont do that

Yeh, there's also the semantics issue of "100% chance to crit on shots taken that land", which is very different from "still a fraction of all shots taken". The latter is the right way to look at it.

Is this going to get patched?

This seems like a very deliberate design decision. Not sure why it would get patched.
 

Sblargh

Banned
Is this going to get patched?

There's mods that change it already. Look for EU rolls or something like that.

But as Falk said, I think it is meant to be this way, so no matter what you do, you are still in some danger.

On another news, I have something like 110 face paints and 80 armor patterns, didn't had the courage to count the tattoos. I need a UI mod now that sort it like it does collours, with numbers and stuff, because the list is not helping my method of punching a number on random.org to know which lipstick my grenadier will be wearing.
 
I guess ultimately I feel that right now this is really more of an academic than practical discussion since, as discussed slightly prior, the whole wounded mechanic still makes taking hits an absolute last resort, whether you take half damage (or quarter, compared to crits) or not. Unless you have a huge-ass roster of high-ranked soldiers.
Yep. It all plays into this Reddit post, which I completely agree with:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Xcom/comments/476ckv/xcom_2s_gameplay_is_too_binary/
 

Falk

that puzzling face
I'm not too sure if going slightly towards binary is inherently a bad thing. Yes, snowballing generally is a problem for tuning long-form games, which is why everything from Civ (happiness on large empires) to WC3 (army size vs gold mining penalty) have mechanics that curb it.

On the other hand, I really think that the strategic metagame being too strict in turn feeds into the tactical layer feeling binary. Wounded soldiers really, REALLY suck because if you're not at top condition in terms of your roster, you lose the power creep arms race, which is far more pronounced than in EU. If taking wounds wasn't such a huge subsequent penalty, the tactical layer would be a lot less binary even without many other changes.

This is what I'd do:

- Increase soldier XP per kill/mission
- Make recruits slightly less rare. I understand the whole guerrilla ragtag concept but as it is it's too limiting. (Unfortunately due to the ubiquity of engineers you'll always go for an engineer over a soldier reward)
- Have a similar mechanic to Long War's fatigue to force roster rotations

This sets a baseline where even with perfect play and flawless missions out the wazoo, you'll get a rotating roster that's at least on par with the current metagame's top squad at any point in the arms race, which in turn makes wounds and having a couple of soldiers out of commision not nearly as debilitating. That means it's a lot more acceptable to take hits (as long as they don't crit and 1-shot you) which opens up a lot more tactics w.r.t mitigation and at least guaranteeing you don't get crit even if you're potentially going to get shot at.

Oh, and obviously it goes without saying that wound severity needs to be a little more deterministic, rather than the crapshoot it is right now.
 
Dodging is a load of fucking bollocks, especially with archons. You can be concealed, have 100% chance to hit and a disoriented target, but they can still fucking dodge. Stupid design decision.
 

Falk

that puzzling face
Actually THERE's an idea. Disorient should reduce dodge stat.

(Yeah yeah flashbangs already too powerful etc)
 

Falk

that puzzling face
No, but really, disorient reduces aim, will, mobility. From a pure mechanics standpoint I don't see why it doesn't also reduce dodge. If you're so dazed you can't aim straight and are more open to mental attacks, being able to dodge at full power makes no sense unless you're one of those drunken kung-fu master types.

Shot in the dark being maybe it was an oversight considering dodge is a new stat compared to EU/EW? Heh.

edit: also before anyone points it out, yes, I'm completely aware of the irony of this post in the light that I'm totally fine with disorient not technically reducing crit until it actually clips on the hit table.
 

mbpm1

Member
How much can you stack dodge on your own soldiers, anyways? If you can stack dodge and defense enough, it could be possible to be shot at but have a 100% chance to dodge.

Had a PCS which gave 20% dodge and then used wraith armor that gave another 20% in my first playthrough.
 

Vee_One

Member
Finally finished it & really enjoyed it. Last mission was a blast, however, I feel like the game doesn't really prepare you for it as such and it is a massive spike in difficulty compared to the rest of the game.
 

Falk

that puzzling face
Breaking: Disorientation makes you hallucinate high cover.

FOA8YPn.jpg

edit: whatever it is, it's contagious


edit: oh jesus RIP this run maybe hahaha

At least it was a ranger and not a grenadier, although getting another Shadowstep up pronto is gonna be a little hard.
 

Sulik2

Member
Dodge overriding hit AND crit is what irks me.

Especially when dodge on your soldiers is near-useless without a mod to revert the 'wounded' status to needing to drop below the bonus amount provided by armor to be counted as wounded, or to have medkit heals override wounded state if healed in mission.

Is there a mod for this?
 
Someone at the strategy department of alien HQ is about to get fired.
This is a really weird map layout to me. The two times I've done this mission, it's featured a sort of "land bridge" with two valleys on either side. The first time, the reinforcements kept dropping on the bridge, which I needed to traverse to get to the disruptor. And setting up a squadsight to the disruptor was impossible because of the bridge blocking LOS. It kinda sucked.

The second time, all the drops were in the valleys, so I could sit on the bridge and destroy everything.

How did you do that? You fought 53 aliens and only one person died?
Overwatching reinforcement drops is fun.
 

Sblargh

Banned
How did you do that? You fought 53 aliens and only one person died?

I am using a mod that increases the enemy squads, so after I stabilized the initial assault (which is what cost me my one soldier), it was basically overwatching everyone and watching sci-fi recreations of Saving Private Ryan's opening scene.

This is a really weird map layout to me. The two times I've done this mission, it's featured a sort of "land bridge" with two valleys on either side. The first time, the reinforcements kept dropping on the bridge, which I needed to traverse to get to the disruptor. And setting up a squadsight to the disruptor was impossible because of the bridge blocking LOS. It kinda sucked.

The second time, all the drops were in the valleys, so I could sit on the bridge and destroy everything.


Overwatching reinforcement drops is fun.

The disruptor was behind a house, which blocked LOS from my snipers, so some of those 17 turns were about positioning my ranger so he could get a shot without aggroing the aliens near it.

Oh, and fun fact. I had a wounded soldier going in. During the mission, I healed him, he never got shot, so when he got out, he was no longer wounded. I think he still had some 10 days of bed rest before him.
Nothing like a good fight to get you back in your feet.
 
I read the whole roll discussion and I am a bit lost. I don't play many of these games so this is a bit alien to me. There is a critical % and a critical hit %, what's the difference. Dodge is governed by what?
 

Profanity

Member
A Grenadier's Saturation Fire is invaluable on Avenger Defence missions. They can hit the beacon even if they don't have LOS to it from miles away.
 
I swear nothing works like you think it should in this game. I purposefully set a Shieldbearer on fire so he at least can't get his shield off...and they can still do it?
 

Jintor

Member
That reminds me, I've seen people building map elements for the random pool, but is there a fully-fledged map editor in the SDK?
 
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