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XCOM 2 |OT| Be Aggressive! Be Be Aggressive!
- Thread starter Sober
- Start date
You know, I thought I was awesome. I thought I was smart. I thought I was Hot Shit.
Had a Sharpshooter with every aim buff known to mankind and Bluescreen Rounds. Codex packs (no CCCP/K-Lite jokes please) and Gatekeepers were a complete non-issue. Even Sectopods hit with an Acid nade could more or less get nearly blown up instantly with Fan Fire. Codex gets 1-shot by sniper rifle.
And then one of them dodged and gave me the scare of my life.
Thankfully if you group up their AI tends to go for the AOE weapon disable, and when Grenadiers are busy spamming grenades anyway, NBD.
Had a Sharpshooter with every aim buff known to mankind and Bluescreen Rounds. Codex packs (no CCCP/K-Lite jokes please) and Gatekeepers were a complete non-issue. Even Sectopods hit with an Acid nade could more or less get nearly blown up instantly with Fan Fire. Codex gets 1-shot by sniper rifle.
And then one of them dodged and gave me the scare of my life.
Thankfully if you group up their AI tends to go for the AOE weapon disable, and when Grenadiers are busy spamming grenades anyway, NBD.Loved the game, but as always you can pretty much mow down all enemies before they even get a chance to fire at you as soon as you get 6 decent soldiers per mission (Veteran Ironman). There's something intensely frustrating about a perfect XCOM run, in a way.
).
Hoping for an Enemy Within-tier add-on to shake things up a bit.
I'll go for a Commander Ironman run once they fix the glaring bugs (not fond of catching on fire on a rooftop for no reason).
Hell, even the Avatars never got a chance to act (apart from teleporting all over the place
Hoping for an Enemy Within-tier add-on to shake things up a bit.
I'll go for a Commander Ironman run once they fix the glaring bugs (not fond of catching on fire on a rooftop for no reason).
Okay, now I'm confused about the math again.
Sorry about the confusion :<
Let's break it down.
A ranger squaddie has 68 aim.
In melee, swords get +20% proximity bonus, to make it 88 aim, or 88% chance to hit since swords ignore cover. That's not bad.
However, shotguns are classified under short range weapons, which means they follow different hit bonuses for proximity.
Code:
SHORT_CONVENTIONAL_RANGE[1] = 40
SHORT_CONVENTIONAL_RANGE[2] = 35
SHORT_CONVENTIONAL_RANGE[3] = 32
SHORT_CONVENTIONAL_RANGE[4] = 28
SHORT_CONVENTIONAL_RANGE[5] = 23
SHORT_CONVENTIONAL_RANGE[6] = 19
SHORT_CONVENTIONAL_RANGE[7] = 16
SHORT_CONVENTIONAL_RANGE[8] = 12
SHORT_CONVENTIONAL_RANGE[9] = 6
SHORT_CONVENTIONAL_RANGE[10] = 2
SHORT_CONVENTIONAL_RANGE[11] = 0
SHORT_CONVENTIONAL_RANGE[12] = -2
SHORT_CONVENTIONAL_RANGE[13] = -4
SHORT_CONVENTIONAL_RANGE[14] = -7
SHORT_CONVENTIONAL_RANGE[15] = -10
SHORT_CONVENTIONAL_RANGE[16] = -12
SHORT_CONVENTIONAL_RANGE[17] = -15
SHORT_CONVENTIONAL_RANGE[18] = -17
SHORT_CONVENTIONAL_RANGE[19] = -18
SHORT_CONVENTIONAL_RANGE[20] = -18
SHORT_CONVENTIONAL_RANGE[21] = -19
SHORT_CONVENTIONAL_RANGE[22] = -19
SHORT_CONVENTIONAL_RANGE[23] = -21
SHORT_CONVENTIONAL_RANGE[24] = -25
SHORT_CONVENTIONAL_RANGE[25] = -30What this means is that in melee, or SHORT_CONVENTIONAL_RANGE[1], they get +40% to hit bonus, which added to their original 68 aim is 108%. If you follow the chart, it isn't until you get to 6 tiles away, or SHORT_CONVENTIONAL_RANGE[6] = 19, that your hit % falls under a sword's 88% (and is still 87%).
This is different from the crit% given by flanking, which is a flat 40% for having a flank. You should also always put laser sights on shotguns, because the crit% on laser sights increase with proximity, and the proximity hit bonus shotguns get is so huge they don't need scopes to guarantee hits.
I'm pretty sure it is deliberate: getting the most out of your first combat turn is a pretty fun puzzle in itself, it's never frustrating or boring - but I really feel like XCOM2 is less stressful than X1 in a lot of ways. Bring back the Thin Men, I say. Vipers and Codexes never felt as scary. The new soldier classes are so powerful that the game desperately needs a new "oh shit", formation-breaking enemy. But one run on Veteran difficulty may not be enough to judge the whole game yet.
It feels like very deliberate design. You're almost always going to be scouting ahead with a concealed ranger, so not getting the drop is now (generally) your own mistake, whether it is letting your ranger get popped out of concealment by a flank, not scouting properly, or not making the most of your free shot(s). And even in those cases (although that first is a huge chore) it's not instantly the end of the world.
Heck, that one design adjustment alone of concealed scouts preserves the whole 'whoever runs into the enemy on their turn is actually at a disadvantage' result of pod activation mechanics, without the edge-forward-turn-by-turn Overwatch crawl that EU (and even EW) boiled down to.
Heck, that one design adjustment alone of concealed scouts preserves the whole 'whoever runs into the enemy on their turn is actually at a disadvantage' result of pod activation mechanics, without the edge-forward-turn-by-turn Overwatch crawl that EU (and even EW) boiled down to.
Yeah, exactly. With the only downside that once you understand how to scout properly (choosing two-fold covers, gremlin-scouting for civilians before-hand on city maps, etc.), things get too easy too fast (he said, not realizing that the Commander difficulty would soon crush his cockiness in no time)
Rentahamster
Rodent Whores
What do you mean by gremlin scouting? Scanning Protocol?
Yeah
Gas bombs are another awesome replacement for battle scanners.
What? That place might be infested by Chryssalids? One of those civilians might be a Faceless? We ran out of Battle Scanners? It's okay, gas them all.
edit: Radius is obviously smaller than a scanner, but who cares, it's still an entire screen
What? That place might be infested by Chryssalids? One of those civilians might be a Faceless? We ran out of Battle Scanners? It's okay, gas them all.
edit: Radius is obviously smaller than a scanner, but who cares, it's still an entire screen
Vipers and Codexes are weaksauce.
Archons, Andromedons and gatekeepers are what gives me moments of "oh shit" on Legendary.
Yeah, totally - I was thinking about aliens that break your formation with auto-flank moves (although Archons can certainly do that). I wish I had the guts to start a Legendary Ironman game. The strategic layer is what I'm worried about.
The real Butters
Member
Whew, Finished the game. That ending was pure pleasure. Now I can play the division with good conscience
Does Bradford go crazy when you gas a non shapeshifting civilian?
The gigantic health increase above Veteran makes enemies way tougher when you can't one shot them with every soldier on the board.
RandomSeed
Member
The mod that removes some of Bradford's lines is nice, but I really hope eventually they'll have one that completely removes 100% of his dialog. I've put in enough time with the game now, that each time he speaks, I want to shut the game off.
Legendary run is going OK, and I like the fact it's kind of a marathon mode, but a few things go too far IMO. Reaching captain rank for squad size 6, and gravely wounded times are too long. Win or lose this one, I think I'll just tweak the ini to have 6 soldiers at the start next time.
The mission balance from early to late game is kinda getting on my nerves, too. At the start, you can't complete a scan without pop-up windows making you wish the game came with Ad-Block, while towards the end I find myself just wasting time at HQ, since the map is empty.
Eh, just some minor complaints after putting a ton of time into the game. Little things start to accumulate and become more annoying than they really are.
Legendary run is going OK, and I like the fact it's kind of a marathon mode, but a few things go too far IMO. Reaching captain rank for squad size 6, and gravely wounded times are too long. Win or lose this one, I think I'll just tweak the ini to have 6 soldiers at the start next time.
The mission balance from early to late game is kinda getting on my nerves, too. At the start, you can't complete a scan without pop-up windows making you wish the game came with Ad-Block, while towards the end I find myself just wasting time at HQ, since the map is empty.
Eh, just some minor complaints after putting a ton of time into the game. Little things start to accumulate and become more annoying than they really are.
Wounded is balanced with AWC and scanning bonus. 40d becomes 10d when you have both active, which is very manageable.
At least on L, i don't think the majority of scans are worth it over Rapid Construction scan. Shit's too important.
The Jackdog
Member
waiting to start another playthrough for some game changing mods
like new enemies, new problems to deal with, etc. anything find anything good like that?
I got the muton centrion and an elite viper already
like new enemies, new problems to deal with, etc. anything find anything good like that?
I got the muton centrion and an elite viper already
RandomSeed
Member
Sure (with AWC), but I won't have that for a while with increased times for...everything on legendary. Not sure about the scanning bonus, though. Seems like a total waste at the start when you are starved for everything, and scanning locations can give you engineers, scientists, or even extra contacts. Of course that's what it's there for, but if I just sit at HQ scanning, I'm going to miss so much stuff, it would make the game harder in other ways.
Think I just need a break from the game, until it gets some patches, and more importantly, some nice gameplay mods. The kill or die in a turn nature is getting under my skin a bit.
Glitchesarecool
Member
I don't mind Bradford as much as I do all the unneeded cutscenes that arrest attention from what you're doing. The "Oh here's a new alien" or "some useless detail about the world no one cares about, but you have to stare at this thing for ten seconds while the dialogue plays."
Game, I already have the achievement for playing through all your bullshit up to Commander. Do you really need to tell me that the advent commanders are better trained than their subordinates every fucking time I start a campaign over? I have reduce beginner VO checked ffs!
Radio silence. I found that playing on minimal settings reduced my problems significantly.
Game, I already have the achievement for playing through all your bullshit up to Commander. Do you really need to tell me that the advent commanders are better trained than their subordinates every fucking time I start a campaign over? I have reduce beginner VO checked ffs!
Radio silence. I found that playing on minimal settings reduced my problems significantly.
Kaffeemann
Banned
Any updates on the new patch yet?
Haven't played in a week or so because the glitches and performance issues start to get on my nerves.
Haven't played in a week or so because the glitches and performance issues start to get on my nerves.
RandomSeed
Member
Reduce VO really should disable all the BS, yeah. Even the first playthrough, do you really need to be told how a supply raid, or hacking a crate works past the first time? Exalt missions all over again.
I've never thought about doing this. I'll have to try this once I finish my current Legendary run. Does it affect excavation times, too?
Glitchesarecool
Member
Yep! It's super good.
Okay, so this makes a lot more sense now. Thanks
So now on that note, how do I use Phantom (and Shadowstrike) effectively? I can never get close enough for a good shot because of the enemy's detection range. I usually pick Shadowstep and Run/Gun to fit my play style...
I'm hitting this problem on my Legendary run. I'm starting to think that scanning for Intel isn't a proper use of days, when you can pick up Intel from datapads and mission rewards...
Rentahamster
Rodent Whores
Okay, so this makes a lot more sense now. Thanks
So now on that note, how do I use Phantom (and Shadowstrike) effectively? I can never get close enough for a good shot because of the enemy's detection range. I usually pick Shadowstep and Run/Gun to fit my play style...
You don't have to get that close. The + aim and +crit is a huge boost, even if you are mid range. Get some high ground, and it's even better.
Yeah, I'll have to try this with my next run, since I messed up this particular one... My first Commander run too, hah.
Glitchesarecool
Member
Wish I could filter Voice Packs out of the Workshop.
Rentahamster
Rodent Whores
And you only need to get by with cheap mag shotguns once you get it. Grenadiers blow away cover; rangers move in and deal damage. Don't need mag canons or rifles to do that.
TemplaerDude
Member
My game just started playing at a buttery smooth 60 FPS last night. I had changed nothing. Da fuq?
can someone tell me please?
RandomSeed
Member
It means a different thing for everyone.
Yup, that's definitely an XCOM 2 grenadier.
RandomSeed
Member
I stubbornly tried to push forward on legendary a bit more, but the game just crosses a line for me there. Glad it's there for people that enjoy it, but ugh. Now to wait until a properly balanced marathon mode comes out for commander difficulty.
I saw a mod for that. Have no idea if it is balanced though.
RandomSeed
Member
Nah, I tried it. Doesn't touch Avatar progress, and the mod I used to slow it down didn't seem to work well with it. A bunch of things are not touched, so for example, you have standard excavation times, with 180 day build times on some things, and shorter builds on others. The version I used also had enemies showing up too early (34 health Berserker vs zero upgraded soldiers what?). Not knocking the mod, it's just alpha stage now.
Rentahamster
Rodent Whores
Hahaha, that's hilarious XD
Played the final mission last night and it kicked my ass (Normal difficulty, ended with 2+1 soldiers standing). Next time, equip the damn medic with a medikit :-/ [can't believe I stuffed that up]
Looking forward to re-starting on a higher difficulty, now that I have a better understanding of the game and more specifically what to research and what to totally ignore. And mods to fix some of the game's annoyances
Was disappointed I only had one Avenger defence mission - and that was before I built the defence guns.
That glitching in the final map is bloody annoying. Had to reload three times, and each time I would have to go find the Avatars to re-pop them while at the same time getting swarmed from all sides :/
Oh, on medikits - when a non-medic has one in their hand is there any way for them to heal someone else? I could not figure out how to do that thing :/
Looking forward to re-starting on a higher difficulty, now that I have a better understanding of the game and more specifically what to research and what to totally ignore. And mods to fix some of the game's annoyances
Was disappointed I only had one Avenger defence mission - and that was before I built the defence guns.
That glitching in the final map is bloody annoying. Had to reload three times, and each time I would have to go find the Avatars to re-pop them while at the same time getting swarmed from all sides :/
Oh, on medikits - when a non-medic has one in their hand is there any way for them to heal someone else? I could not figure out how to do that thing :/
Played the final mission last night and it kicked my ass (Normal difficulty, ended with 2+1 soldiers standing). Next time, equip the damn medic with a medikit :-/ [can't believe I stuffed that up]
Looking forward to re-starting on a higher difficulty, now that I have a better understanding of the game and more specifically what to research and what to totally ignore. And mods to fix some of the game's annoyances
Was disappointed I only had one Avenger defence mission - and that was before I built the defence guns.
That glitching in the final map is bloody annoying. Had to reload three times, and each time I would have to go find the Avatars to re-pop them while at the same time getting swarmed from all sides :/
Oh, on medikits - when a non-medic has one in their hand is there any way for them to heal someone else? I could not figure out how to do that thing :/
You can heal someone else you just have to be near them.
I tried that - there's the 3x3 highlight when you use it. Maybe it only works that way if the healer isn't also injured? Kinda bites when you want to save someone else from chryssalid poison while you also have a scratch on your left pinkie :-(