• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

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

Tworak

Member
I mean, when a specialist goes from rookie to squaddie, he gets to keep his weapon, with its color and pattern; but he is the only one.
But you'll lose it anyway when you upgrade to beam weapons, so...

I got mad because I went to all this trouble to figure out how to get rookies a random weapon pattern and color and then, in most cases, it will last only for one mission, maybe. lol.

But this is part of the bigger problem of weapon upgrades not retaining their customization. A problem some other modder will have to solve, I guess.
right. yeah.
 

vpance

Member
If there is ONE thing I had to say that FiraXCOM has over Mythos' X-COM games in every way imaginable, it's that EU and 2 have satisfying combat that beats out the classic ones in every respect.

But on the other hand, it NEEDS to be, since the Geoscape layer of EU and 2 is... Vestigial at best IMO.

It's better overall because of streamlining but I still wonder if pod activation is the way to go.

Wonder if this would spice things up. Have a mix of pods and patrols. Nerf overwatch with a big dodge chance auto applied, and everyone gets suppressed a bit on a miss. Health, ammo and base hit chance will probably need to be rebalanced.
 
I'm a lot better at the tactical side of the game than I am on long term goals. I fell behind in technology yet again because I didn't get powered armor fast enough. Time to roll back a few months.
 

Nezzhil

Member
I just finished my first game (veteran) and save/loading minor errors. I could have finished the game more early, but I wanted to unlock, buy and see everything.

For my second game, I don't know if start a vanilla commander or legend game and add some mods. What do you think?

My little review: On the tactical layer the random/destroyable environment make the game better, and the pacing is more fast/agressive thanks to the more powerful skills of your soldiers and enemies too -who gives quickly gives twice- is a welcome change after the defensive of the prequel. The strategy layer is a lot better, and I'm sure that with some expansions and mods, it will be even better. In overall, I liked this game more than the last one, and I'm sure that the game will be better and better with the time.
 

Aureon

Please do not let me serve on a jury. I am actually a crazy person.
I'm a lot better at the tactical side of the game than I am on long term goals. I fell behind in technology yet again because I didn't get powered armor fast enough. Time to roll back a few months.

Don't, unless you're on Legend. No need to do that.
 
Don't, unless you're on Legend. No need to do that.

I haven't got Powered Armor or Beam Weapons yet and Archons have shown up. And those guys are devastating right now. Mimic beacons and some good maneuvering are why I haven't taken mass casualties. I can see it happening inevitably, however.
 

Hazaro

relies on auto-aim
I just finished my first game (veteran) and save/loading minor errors. I could have finished the game more early, but I wanted to unlock, buy and see everything.

For my second game, I don't know if start a vanilla commander or legend game and add some mods. What do you think?

My little review: On the tactical layer the random/destroyable environment make the game better, and the pacing is more fast/agressive thanks to the more powerful skills of your soldiers and enemies too -who gives quickly gives twice- is a welcome change after the defensive of the prequel. The strategy layer is a lot better, and I'm sure that with some expansions and mods, it will be even better. In overall, I liked this game more than the last one, and I'm sure that the game will be better and better with the time.
Start with Commander and see how the HP changes affect your play. The game needs a difficulty between Commander and Legendary badly imo
 
Archons are terrifying when first encountered. And it's not unwarranted either--their sheer mobility and defense makes them devastating for the unprepared.

I feel bad for anyone hit by Blazing Pinions, though.
Start with Commander and see how the HP changes affect your play. The game needs a difficulty between Commander and Legendary badly imo

Ini edits make it pretty easy to change difficulties, don't they? (I haven't actually looked at the .ini yet)
 

Hazaro

relies on auto-aim
Archons are terrifying when first encountered. And it's not unwarranted either--their sheer mobility and defense makes them devastating for the unprepared.

I feel bad for anyone hit by Blazing Pinions, though.


Ini edits make it pretty easy to change difficulties, don't they? (I haven't actually looked at the .ini yet)
'I sure hope the aoe is like, pretty small' - Soon to be dead Ranger

Yeah my next run after Legend will probably just be a modded Legendary where everything isn't such a pain to get on the strategic layer, not as enjoyable.
If Commander is too easy you can start with a +1 alien per pod mod, maybe tweak some timers or costs.
 

mbpm1

Member
Archons are terrifying when first encountered. And it's not unwarranted either--their sheer mobility and defense makes them devastating for the unprepared.

I feel bad for anyone hit by Blazing Pinions, though.

First time seeing Blazing Pinions the points of light landed pretty much right next to my soldiers.

"Oh, I guess I just have to move them to a spot of cover a little ways off."

"Wait he just took out half the roof and four of my soldiers."
 

Sblargh

Banned
I haven't got Powered Armor or Beam Weapons yet and Archons have shown up. And those guys are devastating right now. Mimic beacons and some good maneuvering are why I haven't taken mass casualties. I can see it happening inevitably, however.

Nah, you are on the right place, imo.
You need tier 2 armor to facetank archons without it being an instakill, tier 3 will just hurt less.

Actually, I think the jump from tier 2 to tier 3 (both weapons and armor) don't make that much of a difference except for the last two enemy types you meet.

The most crucial thing at this stage of the game is getting some high ranking skills. And Archons will always be a pain. That won't change a lot.

Blazing pinions is a blessing. Free turn. Getting smacked in the face is the real danger.
 

KingV

Member
It's better overall because of streamlining but I still wonder if pod activation is the way to go.

Wonder if this would spice things up. Have a mix of pods and patrols. Nerf overwatch with a big dodge chance auto applied, and everyone gets suppressed a bit on a miss. Health, ammo and base hit chance will probably need to be rebalanced.

I'm not a fan of pod activation. It's just so gamey. The originals somehow were able to get by without it. And the aliens just moved around the whole time.

I'd prefer a system balanced around that.
 
I'm making progress in the game, and despite some bugs, I really like this.

There's one particular design decision that I can't really understand though. Why do the game so often insist that I clear out all enemies?

I just played a dark event mission, where I was supposed to go in and hack something to gain...something. And I did that. I used my specialist to hack it from a distance, and had cleared all enemy pods but one. And when I discoved that the last one or two contained a sectopod, alongside 5 advent soliders, I decided to call in the skyranger and just leave. I mean, I had gotten what I was supposed retrieve, had all 6 soldiers alive, and got out of there. Success, right? No, the game claimed that it was a failure, and all my soldier hung their heads in shame.

Why? Did I have to remove all the witnesses? Is the sectopod going to talk about me in the press now? Or is it a matter of pride?
 

Sblargh

Banned
If you evac after doing the objective, you prevent the dark event. Clearing the enemies will give you the reward. (I feel this is one thing the game should comunicate better)

Also, yeah, shouldn't be considered a tragic failure, more of a "it could have been better"
 

pringles

Member
If you evac after doing the objective, you prevent the dark event. Clearing the enemies will give you the reward. (I feel this is one thing the game should comunicate better)

Also, yeah, shouldn't be considered a tragic failure, more of a "it could have been better"
So that's how it is. I've only been forced to early evac one time because I activated 3 pods at once (on Legendary) and couldn't figure out the mixed messages. "Mission Failure" ..and then a thank you from HQ.
But at least my soldiers survived and I could see no negative effects.
 
I'm having more fun figuring out which mods are good for a run versus actually playing a game. Chooseable AWC is a nice mod if you're mad at a shitty AWC roll but is certainly game breaking. The DMR mod is arguably a straight upgrade to the sniper, since it comes with a "steady aim" that eliminated the accuracy penalty and the one damage loss is negligible in the lategame with some of the tools at your soldier's disposal.

Having Lock and Load as a researchable bonus, on the other hand, is very nice and doesn't shatter anything other than being able to use weapon augments around without feeling bad about installing them in the first place.
 

Sblargh

Banned
I think very little mods are worried about balance atm. Or they are and feel the game is either too hard or too easy (the first being far more common).

Most gameplay mods feel like straight buffs.
 

Nete

Member
Still with my Legendary run, my snipers received Lightning Reflexes and Run and Gun from AWC. I think the game really wants me to use a dual Gunslinger build :p



In other news, a small update for GAF-COM. Just three new recruits this time, but we are already at 42 members!

Atraveller, Komarur, Corsick

XhchEub.png


As happened with the other Pool updates, for those who didn't download yet the Character Pool here you have the full updated Pool.

Those who already have the GAF-COM Pool loaded, you better use this file with only the new recruits so you don't need to check who is already in and who is not to avoid duplicates. If you missed any of the other updates, you can find the first here and the second here.

Those who haven't joined yet, you will find all the info in the second and third posts of the thread.
 

cdyhybrid

Member
Pretty much all of the mods I have installed are quality of life mods or cosmetic mods. Don't feel like messing with the balance of the game until something like Long War comes around. Can't mess with the balance of one aspect of the game without throwing off everything else.
 

Jintor

Member
I'm not a fan of pod activation. It's just so gamey. The originals somehow were able to get by without it. And the aliens just moved around the whole time.

On the other hand the chances of your entire team being annihilated without getting off the skyranger were about 1 in 3 for the first month or two.

Man x-com was such a scarier game just because of the way reaction fire and time units worked. Oh and getting shot by enemies you couldn't see half the time. Good times.
 
On the other hand the chances of your entire team being annihilated without getting off the skyranger were about 1 in 3 for the first month or two.
I just had a bug on a retaliation mission where my team didn't appear at the landing zone for 20 seconds or so, then suddenly all the civilians died at the same instant. My team then finally popped into existence for a brief moment before failing the mission.
 
Pretty much all of the mods I have installed are quality of life mods or cosmetic mods. Don't feel like messing with the balance of the game until something like Long War comes around. Can't mess with the balance of one aspect of the game without throwing off everything else.

I'm using the Improved AI mod and to balance it out on the other end I also have True Concealment with default turn timers and Retroactive AWC (which is just a mod that increases fun factor IMO). It feels about as challenging as vanilla and makes engagements drag out a bit longer.
 

Aureon

Please do not let me serve on a jury. I am actually a crazy person.
I haven't got Powered Armor or Beam Weapons yet and Archons have shown up. And those guys are devastating right now. Mimic beacons and some good maneuvering are why I haven't taken mass casualties. I can see it happening inevitably, however.

It takes.. two weeks to do power armor? Tough it out two missions!
 

Sober

Member
On the other hand the chances of your entire team being annihilated without getting off the skyranger were about 1 in 3 for the first month or two.

Man x-com was such a scarier game just because of the way reaction fire and time units worked. Oh and getting shot by enemies you couldn't see half the time. Good times.
Yeah but no one remembers this because they're too busy seething over the aliens getting an entire free move. So unfair, etc. etc..
 

Jintor

Member
I just had a bug on a retaliation mission where my team didn't appear at the landing zone for 20 seconds or so, then suddenly all the civilians died at the same instant. My team then finally popped into existence for a brief moment before failing the mission.

I can't even fathom the coding logic that makes that bug happen
 

mbpm1

Member
I just had a bug on a retaliation mission where my team didn't appear at the landing zone for 20 seconds or so, then suddenly all the civilians died at the same instant. My team then finally popped into existence for a brief moment before failing the mission.

The ayyliens gassed the populace.
 

Aureon

Please do not let me serve on a jury. I am actually a crazy person.
I can't even fathom the coding logic that makes that bug happen

Spawn logic fails to trigger, or triggers late, so cleanup & analysis logic kicks in, destroying the level to do the count of kills etc.
 
Pretty much all of the mods I have installed are quality of life mods or cosmetic mods. Don't feel like messing with the balance of the game until something like Long War comes around. Can't mess with the balance of one aspect of the game without throwing off everything else.
Here's what I've got installed:
-SMG pack
-Leader Pack
-Numerical Health Display
-Saturation Fireproof
-True Retroactive AWC
-The mod that lets you build experimental stuff after you unlock it
-More Countries flag pack
-Zaeed Massani voice pack
-Two separate map packs that I can't remember the names of
-TimerTweaks

Honestly, the SMG pack's pretty useless, since the mobility bonus and lower detection range doesn't compensate for the lower damage, and the only job it'd be good for, a weapon phantom soldiers who have skulljacks, is practically nonexistent. Why? The game's options for keeping an enemy in place long enough to skulljack them are super limited, and aside from stasis, kind of terrible. The Arc Thrower was way more fun, even when the RNG made the thing not work.
 

Rentahamster

Rodent Whores
I'm liking this:

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=628187112

Makes all transitions in the Avenger instant + other time savers. Creates a much smoother experience, particularly on lower framerates.

Changes:
All transitions between rooms on the Avengers are now instant
Hologlobe dissolve animation has been removed
Drastically reduced pauses during Avatar Project updates
Instant customization of units, making pre-mission loadout screens much snappier


Fully compatible with Stop Wasting My Time
 

Rentahamster

Rodent Whores
Has it been working for you? When I tried it, it kinda fried my game pretty hard. Stopped loading between missions sort of bad.

No issues on my end. I'm using:

Stop wasting my time
Overwatch all
Evac all
Instant Avenger menus
Always show shot breakdowns

Maybe there's a conflict with something else? You could always try to verify game cache.

Also you've been my MVP Psi-Ops master in the last three games I've played.
Cool! :D

I, am so smart! I, am so smart! S-M-R-T, I mean S-M-A-R-T!
 

Random17

Member
I have about 70 mods and no conflicts. Just avoid redundancies and you'll be fine. Framerate is similar to vanilla which is a plus.
 

Baalzebup

Member
I just had a bug on a retaliation mission where my team didn't appear at the landing zone for 20 seconds or so, then suddenly all the civilians died at the same instant. My team then finally popped into existence for a brief moment before failing the mission.

Funny. I've had a retaliation mission where all of the civilians were in a circle around my starting location, all within a 15 tile~ radius and the game forgot to load most of the enemies. The only opposition my squad faced were the 2 Faceless hidden among the civvies.
 

Jintor

Member
Funny. I've had a retaliation mission where all of the civilians were in a circle around my starting location, all within a 15 tile~ radius and the game forgot to load most of the enemies. The only opposition my squad faced were the 2 Faceless hidden among the civvies.

That's a bug I'd like to keep thanks. Just once in a while.
 

Falk

that puzzling face
That's a bizarre-ass bug and I want to ask how it's even possible for the game to come up with that, then I remember some of the other bugs.
 

Menthuss

Member
Anyone know if it's possible to mod the firing effects of weapons (or if there's already a mod for this)? Really not a fan of how plasma weapon discharges look and sound.
 
Any news on XB/ PS4 controller support?

I love this game but played EU on my couch which is how I prefer to play it. The steam controller does not sound appealing to me.

Anyone know if this is in the works?
 
Any news on XB/ PS4 controller support?

I love this game but played EU on my couch which is how I prefer to play it. The steam controller does not sound appealing to me.

Anyone know if this is in the works?
I think Firaxis is too busy with bug fixing, but someone put out a mod that basically clones EU's controller support and adds it to the game, so you could try that.

If you do, let us know how well it works. I'd like to use a controller too.
 
Twitch would find a way to abort every mission



2 attacks and a move command I think

Encountered my firsts sectopods yesterday. The first one was accompanied by five advent soldiers, so it became a nope.gif moment, and my soldiers bailed from the mission.

The second one I used a mimic beacon for, and it was like watching a very big and stupid dog playing fetch.
 
Top Bottom