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[Rhaknar]

son of a bitch!

PSA: Proving Ground Projects do NOT cost supplies, they use the various materials you gahter, AND some of them are instant, like spider suits or exo suits. I did no know that!

no reason not to alays have a project going there!

 

[Klyka]

son of a bitch!

PSA: Proving Ground Projects do NOT cost supplies, they use the various materials you gahter, AND some of them are instant, like spider suits or exo suits. I did no know that!

no reason not to alays have a project going there!

they aren't instant, they require 5 days to make.

and they do cost stuff o-O

 

[Shake Appeal]

I don't know if this is universal, but are snipers terrible? In the first game my sniper was my go-to for alien killing. In this game my Rangers are more accurate at range with their shotguns.

I feel like sniper damage is slightly on the low side, but they're still lifesavers, and having Squadsight/Long Watch as the first two perks makes them an amazing support unit. I feel like they're the quiet heroes of council missions, sprinting along a rooftop to provide accurate clean-up, always the last ones to the evac zone.

I haven't built an out-and-out gunslinger yet, but it's probably worth trying on a less stressful run. Looks like they would be insanely good at hitting a bunch of units in one turn.

But yes, Rangers are the GOATs with their scouting/concealment abuse. I don't bother with their swords at all once Shard Guns come online.

Although I did

Spoiler

slash a Berserker to death, just to do it. And there was an achievement for it!

There is definetely something funky going on with shot percentage on Commander. I started playing on Veteran and I swear to god I hit much more shots with 65%+ than on Commander :/

I think Veteran does some rebalancing, tilting things in your favor if you've missed recent shots. Someone would need to dig into the code/.inis to see.

 

[patapuf]

they aren't instant, they require 5 days to make.

and they do cost stuff o-O

Yeah, but not Supplies (money), "just" materials. It took a while for me to realize that as well.

 

[Dick Justice]

they aren't instant, they require 5 days to make.

and they do cost stuff o-O

You can get a continent bonus for instant completion. And a good number of projects don't cost supplies.

 

[mbpm1]

Lost my whole weekend to this and I don't regret a thing

 

[Rhaknar]

they aren't instant, they require 5 days to make.

and they do cost stuff o-O

no, I just made 4 exo suits and 2 spider suits instantly. Then I made a order for a special heavy gun, that takes 6 days

and I said they dont cost supplies, as in the "money", they use up the various other loot you get during the game like crystals, corpses, etc

You can get a continent bonus for instant completion. And a good number of projects don't cost supplies.

guess I lucked out and had that bonus then, my bad. Just before the blacksite mision too, all dem suits mang!

 

[Tworak]

elerium cores are pretty rare on my run. I've not yet done the loot upgrade, though. need those ammo upgrades.

 

[Shake Appeal]

elerium cores are pretty rare on my run. I've not yet done the loot upgrade, though. need those ammo upgrades.

On my current C/I run, I get elerium cores Every. Single. Time. So almost none of my guns have mods.

 

[Doikor]

son of a bitch!

PSA: Proving Ground Projects do NOT cost supplies, they use the various materials you gahter, AND some of them are instant, like spider suits or exo suits. I did no know that!

no reason not to alays have a project going there!

Some of the better ones do (W.A.R and Wraith armours)

 

[Tworak]

On my current C/I run, I get elerium cores Every. Single. Time. So almost none of my guns have mods.

yeah, I can see that being a problem too. I've only gotten 1 laser sight, though.

speaking of, a sectoid killed by bladestorm just dropped 2 cores. helps to bitch and moan about problems, I guess!

 

[Rhaknar]

Some of the better ones do (W.A.R and Wraith armours)

well its a PSA for early on then >_> still something easy to miss, at least I did

 

[CrichtonKicks]

son of a bitch!

PSA: Proving Ground Projects do NOT cost supplies, they use the various materials you gahter, AND some of them are instant, like spider suits or exo suits. I did no know that!

no reason not to alays have a project going there!

Elerium Cores are really rare. If you just now found out about the Proving Ground stuff then you might have had a nice little stockpile but I certainly can't keep a project going there all the time for just that reason.

The game actually gives you a little icon in the lower left corner of the base to indicate when you have an Elerium Core on hand with no Proving Ground project going on.

I don't know if this is universal, but are snipers terrible? In the first game my sniper was my go-to for alien killing. In this game my Rangers are more accurate at range with their shotguns.

My main sniper is the total MVP of the game. Racked up the most kills by far and almost never gets hit. Snipers are totally amazing.

 

[Calcium]

I feel like sniper damage is slightly on the low side, but they're still lifesavers, and having Squadsight/Long Watch as the first two perks makes them an amazing support unit. I feel like they're the quiet heroes of council missions, sprinting along a rooftop to provide accurate clean-up, always the last ones to the evac zone.

Yeah, the damage does feel low on top of the accuracy issues. I have a Superior Scope on my Mag Rifle and my sniper missed like three 85% shots in a row last night. All I could do was shake my head.

But yes, Rangers are the GOATs with their scouting/concealment abuse. I don't bother with their swords at all once Shard Guns come online.

The shard guns are amazing, but the swords have saved so many lives for me. When shit hits the fan I know that as a last resort my Rangers can start slicing.

My main sniper is the total MVP of the game. Racked up the most kills by far and almost never gets hit. Snipers are totally amazing.

Huh, maybe my Sniper is just terrible.

 

[jaekeem]

flawless on my first codex and archon sighting

 

[Dick Justice]

I don't have many criticisms of the game but this is one. The armour should'nt add health. It should add pips and then any damage that is done gets through that first. It should'nt add health pips. Health should only come from level and certain add ons like Vests.
My only other complaint are the Chryssalids. Now jumping out of the ground is fine but not attack straight away. That's a cheap shot.

So Chryssalids have the same bullshit thing as Faceless where they can attack before you even have a chance to prepare? Wonder what happened to the guy who decided in EU that teleporting enemies/enemies that could appear out of nowhere would have to wait a turn before attacking, to avoid making it too cheap? Seems like a cool guy.

 

[Rhaknar]

I assume if a dude with these fancy suits dies, I lose the suit unless I drag his carcass with me?

edit: lol the exo suit makes a little wizzing sound as you run, cute

 

[Admodieus]

So Chryssalids have the same bullshit thing as Faceless where they can attack before you even have a chance to prepare? Wonder what happened to the guy who decided in EU that teleporting enemies/enemies that could appear out of nowhere would have to wait a turn before attacking, to avoid making it too cheap? Seems like a cool guy.

Chryssalid range is ridiculous in this game.

 

[Mupod]

Pretty sure every facility you blow up takes away two Avatar squares.

Some are only 1. Also to clarify, those red facilities also seem to add a 'delay' to the next time the main avatar thing counts up the clock. I staggered the destruction of two in a row and I swear I went months without them making progress.

The Avatar Project just hit the halfway mark for me and the only target facility up is in the USA, which is going to take some time for me to get contact with. Is it possible to bring the Avatar Project back down to 2-3 squares at this point or am I in a downward spiral towards doom?

I don't know if this is universal, but are snipers terrible? In the first game my sniper was my go-to for alien killing. In this game my Rangers are more accurate at range with their shotguns.

The story stuff has some avatar reduction built in apparently.

Spoiler

I just did a story related thing that reduced it by 3. I haven't even done either of the two post-blacksite story facilities, it's related to skullmining.

Snipers aren't gods anymore but they aren't weak either. Get some high ground, an aim PCS/scope/tracer rounds and start abusing Kill Zone with a phantom Ranger spotter. Gunslingers with special ammo are fun too, poisoning everything in sight or doing 10-11 damage per pistol shot to robots is bananas.

 

[Glitchesarecool]

So Chryssalids have the same bullshit thing as Faceless where they can attack before you even have a chance to prepare? Wonder what happened to the guy who decided in EU that teleporting enemies/enemies that could appear out of nowhere would have to wait a turn before attacking, to avoid making it too cheap? Seems like a cool guy.

I loved that Floaters had this amazing flanking maneuver but it was offset by the fact that it ended their turn, so there was actually a chance to counter it.

 

[Xamtheking]

I assume if a dude with these fancy suits dies, I lose the suit unless I drag his carcass with me?

If you beat the mission, you keep the gear without having to worry about the body
Otherwise you can extract if you have dragged the body to the extraction zone

 

[Salty Catfish]

The wounding mechanics make Chryssalids a real frustration. They've never come close to killing me but they pop up at the end, chip off a bit of health, and make sure that soldier is "gravely wounded" for two weeks despite being at 75% health. It's the one enemy that really flies in the face of the "keep pushing!" gameplay focus since your only legit option is to spam overwatch every turn.

 

[CrichtonKicks]

Yeah, the damage does feel low on top of the accuracy issues. I have a Superior Scope on my Mag Rifle and my sniper missed like three 85% shots in a row last night. All I could do was shake my head.

Give your Sniper Tracer rounds for an accuracy boost. Then put them in an elevated position for even more accuracy. Even better if the elevated position is far back from the action since they will still hit off of Squad Sight and they are pretty well protected due to range. I've had my Sniper standing completely out of cover on a hilltop absolutely decimating pods before they are a threat. Then add the Killzone perk? Fughetaboutit.

If you beat the mission, you keep the gear without having to worry about the body
Otherwise you can extract if you have dragged the body to the extraction zone

Yeah basically if you extract whether voluntary or due to mission requirements (Blacksite, VIP rescue) then you only keep what you take with you. But if the mission ends because you killed all of the enemies then you get everything left on the battlefield.

 

[mbpm1]

Was doing a terror mission and I see a sectopod doing it's whole "Charge Superdeadly explosion" thing on the second floor of a building. There was a civilian next to it and no enemies besides that nearby so I move my dude over to evac it.

It's a faceless.

Next turn starts and the explosion immediately goes off and the faceless falls into the abyss of the bottom floor and dies.

lol

 

[Shake Appeal]

So Chryssalids have the same bullshit thing as Faceless where they can attack before you even have a chance to prepare? Wonder what happened to the guy who decided in EU that teleporting enemies/enemies that could appear out of nowhere would have to wait a turn before attacking, to avoid making it too cheap? Seems like a cool guy.

For the record, I think this stuff is lame. I'm all for making the game hard, but not giving the player any recourse or counter other than scanning everywhere...

It's the kind of thing the Long War guys would remove. Say what you like about that mod's "difficulty," but it was brutally fair. They vastly improved Thin Men by taking away their bullshit accuracy bonus and implementing the "acid" mechanic over poison, which I wish Firaxis had stolen.

I kinda wanna learn how all this stuff works so I can rebalance some things.

The wounding mechanics make Chryssalids a real frustration. They've never come close to killing me but they pop up at the end, chip off a bit of health, and make sure that soldier is "gravely wounded" for two weeks despite being at 75% health. It's the one enemy that really flies in the face of the "keep pushing!" gameplay focus since your only legit option is to spam overwatch every turn.

I would love to know how the wounding mechanic works. Right now it seems like a random roll as to whether you get Lightly Wounded/Wounded/Gravely Wounded. If it's not proportional to your total health bar, it should be.

 

[jaekeem]

Hm I don't find faceless so bad personally

I never move on a civilian at the end of a turn if I have few moves left. I always engage them with my first soldier's action so that I have a lot of flexibility in case they are a faceless.

Haven't seen chrysallids yet though, and I know they're burrowed or w/e, so that may be a whole 'nother level of BS

 

[Admodieus]

Hm I don't find faceless so bad personally

I never move on a civilian at the end of a turn if I have few moves left. I always engage them with my first soldier's action so that I have a lot of flexibility in case they are a faceless.

Haven't seen chrysallids yet though, and I know they're burrowed or w/e, so that may be a whole 'nother level of BS

For civilian missions, I find it's just a lot easier sometimes to just hit the enemy hard. You have enough of a civilian buffer to waste a few turns, and once you kill the last one the faceless reveal themselves

 

[CrichtonKicks]

Hm I don't find faceless so bad personally

I never move on a civilian at the end of a turn if I have few moves left. I always engage them with my first soldier's action so that I have a lot of flexibility in case they are a faceless.

Haven't seen chrysallids yet though, and I know they're burrowed or w/e, so that may be a whole 'nother level of BS

Yeah I've never found Faceless to be cheap. Hell I even let the Dark Event that added Faceless to every mission pop because I needed more of their corpses for the Proving Ground.

 

[The Jackdog]

For civilian missions, I find it's just a lot easier sometimes to just hit the enemy hard. You have enough of a civilian buffer to waste a few turns, and once you kill the last one the faceless reveal themselves

same strategy here. i tend to go in hard as hell and if im not shooting im on overwatch if the enemy count is starting to get low. that way, 9/10 times the faceless appears tries to look all badass and come at me and 3 soliders light em up

 

[jaekeem]

Yeah I've never found Faceless to be cheap. Hell I even let the Dark Event that added Faceless to every mission pop because I needed more of their corpses for the Proving Ground.

Yep. I didn't plan it, but because of that dark event I now have 3 mimics and am not afraid of anything xD

 

[mbpm1]

Yeah, since EU most of the time I just ignore civilians. Better to put enemies down and save everyone instead of having people out of position (and killed or swiped at by a faceless).

Also, like 25 hours in and I've only seen Chrysalids twice lol

 

[Kezen]

The title of the thread is a reference to Faith No More, isn't it ?

 

[patapuf]

They always show you the chrysalids when they bury themselves, even if they are not in your FOV. If you keep track of that, you shouldn't be surprised too often.

Still, i find that a poor solution. I'd prefer if they were like the stunblades but scary. Though it is the one enemy you can't kill with grenade spam.

 

[Incendiary]

VIPs are dumb - tried to capture one alive, but the idiot hid behind a car that was on fire in the middle of the battlefield. Instant toast VIP - what a waste of Intel.

Two questions - can you get PCSes anywhere other than the Black Market? And is there another way to get Intel besides missions and scanning? Intel is my most scarce resource right now.

 

[Camp Freddie]

In retaliation missions I generally ignore civilians and just run past them.

1) If the civillians are behind me, the aliens are unlikely to ignore my troops to shoot them
2) Detours to rescue civilians slows down my advance to rescue the civilians in most peril on the 'alien' side of the map.
3) Faceless suprise! If you kill all other enemies, the faceless reveal themselves at a rate of 1 per turn, so it's easy to mop them up at the end.

Any tips for defending against a UFO attack? I just got wasted after trying a concealment/squadsight rush to take down the objective. Having starter guns/armour is going to make it really tough, since the aliens have just brought some new and tougher friends for this mission.
Is it better to advance slowly and hope your kill rate is higher than the alien reinforcement rate?
Someone should teach Bradford how to do a barrel roll.

 

[Jintor]

I like that the fact that codexes can teleport is countered by the fact that they're complete idiots... at least so far

ALSO! This may seem obvious, but acid eats through floors. I discovered this when I acid'd some aliens on the roof, who ran into the room below, and then halfway through the firefight I was interrupted when everybody in the room was covered in acid.

 

[Woo-Fu]

fuck that bar is getting filled awfully fast and I keep putting off the blacksite mission, I was told I should have 6 guys but I cant reach captain rank to get the 6th memeber >_<

You don't need 6 guys for the first one. The nice thing about the blacksite missions is that there is no timer. If you play it like traditional xcom you can do a blacksite with 4 guys. Pick a good position, give your firing line hard cover+elevation, pull in a pod at a time.

 

[Sub Zero]

VIPs are dumb - tried to capture one alive, but the idiot hid behind a car that was on fire in the middle of the battlefield. Instant toast VIP - what a waste of Intel.

Two questions - can you get PCSes anywhere other than the Black Market? And is there another way to get Intel besides missions and scanning? Intel is my most scarce resource right now.

PCSes drop as loot sometimes but they are quite rare.

As for Intel, you can select it as a wait bonus in your Resistance HQ or you can Skulljack/Skullmine Advent troops on missions with your Specialist

 

[Meadows]

Just got fucked on my 4th attempt. Got caught setting up an ambush and it all went to shit. FUCK.

Before I start a new one, please can I have some strategy tips?

Not like in-game, but stuff on the world map, as I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing. Basically what and when should I scan certain stuff? I feel like I'm wasting most of my days.

Thanks!

 

[mbpm1]

I like that the fact that codexes can teleport is countered by the fact that they're complete idiots... at least so far

I got hit by so many disabling vortexes by them T_T

 

[Shake Appeal]

Two questions - can you get PCSes anywhere other than the Black Market? And is there another way to get Intel besides missions and scanning? Intel is my most scarce resource right now.

PCS can drop as loot. So do advent data caches, which you can research for an intel boost. I think you can also get intel as a hacking reward sometimes. And it's sometimes a scannable resource on the geoscape.

 

[Rhaknar]

You don't need 6 guys for the first one. The nice thing about the blacksite missions is that there is no timer. If you play it like traditional xcom you can do a blacksite with 4 guys. Pick a good position, give your firing line hard cover+elevation, pull in a pod at a time.

one day people will realise that not everyone thinks games are as easy as they do :/

 

[Admodieus]

That feeling when your Overwatch ambush is executed perfectly

This game can be really tough sometimes, but every once in a while you just nail a mission and it feels incredible

 

[CrichtonKicks]

PCSes drop as loot sometimes but they are quite rare.

As for Intel, you can select it as a wait bonus in your Resistance HQ or you can Skulljack/Skullmine Advent troops on missions with your Specialist

Wait, can you skulljack with a Gremlin?

 

[Xamtheking]

Wait, can you skulljack with a Gremlin?

No, Specialists need to get up close and personal

 

[Sblargh]

Game has kind of a steep learning curve, but you can definetly climb it. My ironman commander is going well, maybe too well, lol. I feel uneasy having a superstar squad that, if wiped, will be replaced mostly by rookies.

My ideal squad so far is: concealement ranger, Gunslinger sharpshooter, grenadier and a specialist who is mostly medic, but have haywire instead of revival. Then another grenadier, then either a sword ranger or a sniper sharpshooter.

 

[Facism]

Yeah, since EU most of the time I just ignore civilians. Better to put enemies down and save everyone instead of having people out of position (and killed or swiped at by a faceless).

Also, like 25 hours in and I've only seen Chrysalids twice lol

i've seen them once and they all died first turn because they crowded around each other, ripe for grenades. Literally 1 Grenadier killed them because of the Salvo ability not costing an action if explosives are used on first move.

 

[Jintor]

I got hit by so many disabling vortexes by them T_T

Sword inna face. Disable that, assholes!

 

[Mupod]

I might be wrong, but I read somewhere that skullmining dudes could potentially reveal more sites.

Anyone care to comment on that?

occasionally when skullmining I've seen a 'hidden facility lead' option. Near as I can tell this gives you a research item that doesn't actually show up in research until a facility pops up in a country you haven't made contact with. I had one sitting in my inventory for months, and it actually just came in handy because a base popped up in one of the few places I had no contact AND I was maxed out with no easy way to get a new comms room up. I researched the data and I could attack the facility without needing to make contact, pretty cool.

 

[Facism]

occasionally when skullmining I've seen a 'hidden facility lead' option. Near as I can tell this gives you a research item that doesn't actually show up in research until a facility pops up in a country you haven't made contact with. I had one sitting in my inventory for months, and it actually just came in handy because a base popped up in one of the few places I had no contact AND I was maxed out with no easy way to get a new comms room up. I researched the data and I could attack the facility without needing to make contact, pretty cool.

sensational. This is going to help me.