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[Nete]

This game. All these ups and downs in the same mission.

Avenger mission. One of my front guys (Falk pls) panics after witnessing someone else getting injured, retreating to the back line where two snipers and a medic were deployed. Once there, he decides to drop a grenade to his own feet.

Next turn, a Berserker goes crazy after being shot, charging towards a nearby Lancer and instakilling him.


Btw, for those who are new in the thread, feel free to join GAF-COM Character Pool (all the info in posts #2 and #3. Update 2 is waiting for a couple more submissions to hit 40 Gaffers before it's released.

 

[void666]

Just evac'd all my guys while being shot by 7 enemies. Including one andromedon and one sectopod. Five gravely wounded. One unharmed. lol

 

[BoosterDuck]

How does the game know what campaign my save is on?

Is Firaxis spying on me ;_;

 

[OverturePT]

Just evac'd all my guys while being shot by 7 enemies. Including one andromedon and one sectopod. Five gravely wounded. One unharmed. lol

Nothing more awesome than seeing your last guy getting away while the enemy misses an overwatch shot and then getting roped up. The tension before you know if he will survive that overwatch, with that cinematic camera and the slow motion, makes it all great.

 

[Jintor]

How does the game know what campaign my save is on?

Is Firaxis spying on me ;_;

Mine started with Campaign 50. I didn't check but I wonder if it was pulling my XCOM 1 save data?

 

[Afrocious]

Debating on if i should try making a sharpshooter focused on pistol.

 

[Hazaro]

Debating on if i should try making a sharpshooter focused on pistol.

Nothing to debate.

 

[Afrocious]

Nothing to debate.

what are your (and others) thoughts on making a sharpshooter pistol-specced?

i went the traditional route and i have a long range sniper to pick dudes off atm

 

[Echoplx]

Nothing to debate.

Honestly both skill trees are great, I'm primarily using a gunslinger on this playthrough and just last mission used face off to kill 3 enemies in a single turn but Killzone also delivers on the sharpshooter tree, especially if you do overwatch traps a lot.

 

[Poodlestrike]

what are your (and others) thoughts on making a sharpshooter pistol-specced?

i went the traditional route and i have a long range sniper to pick dudes off atm

Pistol-specced sharpshooter is beastly.

Shit is nuts.

 

[Seraph_Nicholas]

This game is SO OVERWHELMING. I never feel like I'm getting even slightly ahead on the aliens. I beat the second 'facility' mission (The first self-guided one, after the Blacksite) thanks to tier 2 assault rifles and little else, and the retaliation they hit me with afterwards has NO basic troopers, just robots, Faceless, and Mutons, with a berserker and Advanced trooper here and there for flavor.

I've suddenly and dramatically run out of rangers, snipers are starting to show just how situational they can be, and I haven't even built the room to train my first Psi-Ops soldier.

I'm on easy! I've savescummed my way out of every soldier death but one - A ranger, of course. I don't feel like I even have enough firepower to bring to bear on all that enemy HP.

Meanwhile, the counter is at 5, down from 6, and I just realized there's a whole 'nother region between me and the australia facility I need to target next. Augh.

 

[Hazaro]

what are your (and others) thoughts on making a sharpshooter pistol-specced?

i went the traditional route and i have a long range sniper to pick dudes off atm

The Sniper perks and additional weapon cost, extremely limited effective sniping range (~11 tiles then it goes wonky due to close range penalties / squadsight penalties), multiple LoS blockers, reliance on moving in most missions, and how effective and cheap Pistols + Ammo are make Pistol use a clear winner. FanFire + BlueScreen rounds alone...

Later in the campaign adding a Killzone Sniper with Extended Mag + Auto Loader is the only thing I'd consider acceptable (and is very strong since it gives you the old Overwatch trap of Overwatch + free turn)

This game is SO OVERWHELMING. I never feel like I'm getting even slightly ahead on the aliens. I beat the second 'facility' mission (The first self-guided one, after the Blacksite) thanks to tier 2 assault rifles and little else, and the retaliation they hit me with afterwards has NO basic troopers, just robots, Faceless, and Mutons, with a berserker and Advanced trooper here and there for flavor.

I've suddenly and dramatically run out of rangers, snipers are starting to show just how situational they can be, and I haven't even built the room to train my first Psi-Ops soldier.

I'm on easy! I've savescummed my way out of every soldier death but one - A ranger, of course. I don't feel like I even have enough firepower to bring to bear on all that enemy HP.

Meanwhile, the counter is at 5, down from 6, and I just realized there's a whole 'nother region between me and the australia facility I need to target next. Augh.

Don't fly to every point on the map, only go after what you need (Except the ones that warn you bad stuff will happen if you dont do them, do those!)
Meeting Objectives can set back the clock (Marked with a Gold Star) and taking down facilities will also knock progress off. Really, don't sweat the clock that much. The game will let you know if you need more time.

 

[Archaix]

Decided to start an iron man game. Was going amazingly for the first two or three months of the campaign, at which point a shieldbearer decided he wanted to phase out of reality instead of fighting me and I couldn't complete the mission.

 

[Jintor]

This game is SO OVERWHELMING. I never feel like I'm getting even slightly ahead on the aliens. I beat the second 'facility' mission (The first self-guided one, after the Blacksite) thanks to tier 2 assault rifles and little else, and the retaliation they hit me with afterwards has NO basic troopers, just robots, Faceless, and Mutons, with a berserker and Advanced trooper here and there for flavor.

I've suddenly and dramatically run out of rangers, snipers are starting to show just how situational they can be, and I haven't even built the room to train my first Psi-Ops soldier.

I'm on easy! I've savescummed my way out of every soldier death but one - A ranger, of course. I don't feel like I even have enough firepower to bring to bear on all that enemy HP.

Meanwhile, the counter is at 5, down from 6, and I just realized there's a whole 'nother region between me and the australia facility I need to target next. Augh.

i know, isn't it great?

 

[Afrocious]

The Sniper perks and additional weapon cost, extremely limited effective sniping range (~11 tiles then it goes wonky due to close range penalties / squadsight penalties), multiple LoS blockers, reliance on moving in most missions, and how effective and cheap Pistols + Ammo are make Pistol use a clear winner. FanFire + BlueScreen rounds alone...

Later in the campaign adding a Killzone Sniper with Extended Mag + Auto Loader is the only thing I'd consider acceptable (and is very strong since it gives you the old Overwatch trap of Overwatch + free turn)

Don't fly to every point on the map, only go after what you need (Except the ones that warn you bad stuff will happen if you dont do them, do those!)
Meeting Objectives can set back the clock (Marked with a Gold Star) and taking down facilities will also knock progress off. Really, don't sweat the clock that much. The game will let you know if you need more time.

^What build you got that you'd recommend for a sharpshooter focusing on pistol then?

also, would you not have this dude hanging back? I have my sniper hanging back on rooftops and such all the time.

 

[Hazaro]

^What build you got that you'd recommend for a sharpshooter focusing on pistol then?

also, would you not have this dude hanging back? I have my sniper hanging back on rooftops and such all the time.

Aim penalties on Squadsight mean the farther back your Sniper is the worse they are. It's not like EU/EW where you are 40 tiles away with 98% accuracy.
You want a sweet spot of ~11 tiles, but they cant move and shoot even? Cumbersome to use effectively.

Pistol you just take every pistol perk I think. *Except Aim

 

[Jintor]

with squadsite changes and even with superior scopes and shit you ideally want your sniper only just out of firing range rather than all the way back.

 

[Rhaknar]

with squadsite changes and even with superior scopes and shit you ideally want your sniper only just out of firing range rather than all the way back.

On missions with no timers ive had my sniper all the way at the beginning of a mission with great sucess

 

[afreaknamedpete]

Finally beat this game. Really regret not getting Vulture since I basically ran out of Elerium Cores and didn't get some of the cooler heavy weapons stuff.

Ending Spoilers:

Spoiler

Holy shit that final battle was harrowing. I'm not really sure what the point of the final mission was... go through the gate, kill three avatars, escape? They didn't even blow up the facility. I doubt that the aliens have just four avatars. I'm not sure what XCOM even accomplished in that mission.

 

[Hazaro]

I'm getting Vulture way more early on next run as well.

On missions with no timers ive had my sniper all the way at the beginning of a mission with great sucess

Your Sniper will have 1 shot at 65%-75% assuming they arent even in cover vs. two-three pistol shots / grenade / at 85%+

Snipers are fun to use, but their use just isn't that good until you can afford them bonus Aim/Tracers/Gun/Killzone imo.

 

[OverturePT]

I don't know guys, I have a sniper that kills aliens like it's nothing, waay back in the field. He's the guy that killed more aliens in my team, free reloads, "Serial", high ground free kills, the guy is a fucking beast. I also have a gunslinger and he's pretty cool as well, but I wouldn't trade him for the sniper focused one.

PS: Obviously talking about a sniper with good sights equiped and a PCS aim bonus.

 

[Falk]

Found snipers to be fine with high ground advantage to start off with and beastly with +15% scope, aim PCS and +10/10 stationary bonus.

Gunslinger with debuff ammo and Face Off is really helluva fun though.

 

[Erheller]

Outside of Kill Zone (which is a fantastic perk), the sniper tree gets less useful perks than the gunslinger tree.

Long Watch vs Return Fire: okay, Return Fire is pretty useless. Long Watch is a good choice here.

Deadeye vs Lightning Hands: Is this even a contest? Lightning Hands is a free shot against any enemy in sight range. Deadeye gives you like 3 more damage for a reduced CTH. Even with an aim-stacked lategame sniper (Superior Scope, Superior Aim PCS, high ground), I had trouble getting 100% shots on enemies. It's just not reliable, and you're putting yourself at the mercy of the RNG. Lightning Hands is free with no drawbacks if you miss.

Death from Above vs Quickdraw: Quickdraw easily. Quickdraw gives you two pistol skills per turn (yes, it works with Fan Fire AND Faceoff in the same turn). Death from Above lets you, uh, reload after a kill? I dunno. Reposition? It's not that useful.

Kill Zone vs Faceoff: Kill Zone is fantastic. Faceoff is fantastic.

Steady Hands vs Aim: Snipers benefit from these two perks the most. While the +10 crit from Steady Hands is a little substantial, it feels out of place because you can't crit-stack snipers (you can't put laser sights and scopes on the same weapon). Aim is okay I guess.

Serial vs Fan Fire: The problem with Serial is that you NEED to kill to guarantee the next action. I dunno, it's pretty strong, but it's also really situational. You need enemies at 8 hp or less (Plasma Lance) to guarantee the next shot. That's actually a pretty small window in the lategame. I'd rather take another grenadier for CC or a gunslinger for CC/single target damage. Fan Fire is the second-best single-target damage in the game behind Rapid Fire. Stick Bluescreen Rounds on a gunslinger and watch Sectopods dissolve.

Basically, I feel like the gunslinger tree is much more flexible than the sniper tree by miles. The sniper tree only has Kill Zone and Long Watch (and I take Long Watch over Return Fire anyways) as standout perks.

 

[Rhaknar]

I'm getting Vulture way more early on next run as well.

Your Sniper will have 1 shot at 65%-75% assuming they arent even in cover vs. two-three pistol shots / grenade / at 85%+

Snipers are fun to use, but their use just isn't that good until you can afford them bonus Aim/Tracers/Gun/Killzone imo.

Maybe if you didnt rely on auto aim your snipers would be good

:3

 

[Onivulk]

Final mission question:

Spoiler

Does anyone know if having mindshields on all of my dudes will keep the Avatars from mindcontrolling them?

 

[Royal_Phalanx]

Got wrecked again by the aliens, now it's because those damn Stun Lancers in a civ rescue mission knocked both of my best troops unconscious and managed to shoot another soldier dead (one of the few times Lancers actually use their guns) who was behind full cover. 2 soldiers left, I run into 2 Mutons and a Berserker, I die, time to savescum again. Jake Solomon feasts on our tears I swear, never found mid game XCOM to be that tough before. But I love it. I'm on Veteran, so I must be utterly terrible at the game, lol.

 

[SpartanSlayer117]

Debating on if i should try making a sharpshooter focused on pistol.

Gunslingers are great so i highly recommend them. I've gotten many triples on weakened enemies with lightning hands and that perk that lets you shoot your pistol twice. My build is a hybrid though, i have steady hands and Killzone which is amazing if you can set it up on an incoming dropship.

 

[Afrocious]

Ok so XCOM 2 wont start anymore. I've redownloaded it and it won't start at all.

It tries to skyrocket up to 8 GB then it crashes before the main menu or intro videos show up.

I dunno why this is happening now. FWIW, in my session last night, there were huge delays in actions during overwatch reactions when aliens were closing in on me.

I dunno how to fix this. Help?

Currently validating files since I've downloaded and installed the game again.

 

[LurkerPrime]

Found snipers to be fine with high ground advantage to start off with and beastly with +15% scope, aim PCS and +10/10 stationary bonus.

Gunslinger with debuff ammo and Face Off is really helluva fun though.

I have a 5% chance to instakill mod on my sniper rifle. The only two times it's ever triggered have been from gunslinger pistol-inflicted dragon rounds causing enemies to go aflame... during their turn, while burning, it will trigger.

Gunslingers are unstoppable.

Ok so XCOM 2 wont start anymore. I've redownloaded it and it won't start at all.

It tries to skyrocket up to 8 GB then it crashes before the main menu or intro videos show up.

I dunno why this is happening now. FWIW, in my session last night, there were huge delays in actions during overwatch reactions when aliens were closing in on me.

I dunno how to fix this. Help?

I haven't experienced that, but verifying the cache should fix it if you're at wit's end. (Be warned: this will reset your graphics options.)

Alternately, and this is a long shot, I wonder if it has to do with the dynamic main menu, showing a soldier from your game? If that's tied to a save game, maybe renaming the save folder (not deleting it) would fix the issue.

 

[jaekeem]

Final mission question:

Spoiler

Does anyone know if having mindshields on all of my dudes will keep the Avatars from mindcontrolling them?

u can use a psi ops passive to protect everyone instead

 

[OverturePT]

Serial vs Fan Fire: The problem with Serial is that you NEED to kill to guarantee the next action. I dunno, it's pretty strong, but it's also really situational. You need enemies at 8 hp or less (Plasma Lance) to guarantee the next shot. That's actually a pretty small window in the lategame. I'd rather take another grenadier for CC or a gunslinger for CC/single target damage. Fan Fire is the second-best single-target damage in the game behind Rapid Fire. Stick Bluescreen Rounds on a gunslinger and watch Sectopods dissolve.

I've killed 6 guys with my sniper because of Serial in a turn. Everyone gets their damage in (grenadiers for example) and the sniper essentially just finishes them off. Serial + Free Reloads (or higher mags) and it's not even funny. You can also activate Dead Eye for a dude that has more health than you can normally take and being stationary gives you a decent bonus making the Dead Eye much more likely to hit. It's pretty absurd.

 

[afreaknamedpete]

Final mission question:

Spoiler

Does anyone know if having mindshields on all of my dudes will keep the Avatars from mindcontrolling them?

Strangely mind-controlling is probably one of the least dangerous things you need to worry about in the final mission. Bring lots of explosives and mimic beacons.

 

[Falk]

Put it this way. If you intend to stick your Sniper at the start of the map with a height advantage and use him for long range support, Lightning Hands is useless while Deadeye is at least situational.

But on the flipside, the opportunities where you CAN afford to put a Sniper that far back and crawl to each pod with a ninja Ranger is limited to non-timed missions, so it in itself is situational to begin with.

 

[SpartanSlayer117]

Good Lord. My repeater just triggered (executed) a full health Sectopod after he blew through a wall and triggered my nearly dead specialists ever vigilant. 10/10 Take my money again Firaxis.

 

[Hazaro]

I don't know guys, I have a sniper that kills aliens like it's nothing, waay back in the field. He's the guy that killed more aliens in my team, free reloads, "Serial", high ground free kills, the guy is a fucking beast. I also have a gunslinger and he's pretty cool as well, but I wouldn't trade him for the sniper focused one.

PS: Obviously talking about a sniper with good sights equiped and a PCS aim bonus.

Having one is fine, but not early on. Like I said the investment costs are very high. Killzone + Conceal with no timers is one of the most effective and safe methods of clearing.

 

[OverturePT]

Also, always use grapple with the sniper when you can, even if you can go up to the roof in a blue space. After grappling you can take a sniper shot, while after running you unfortunately can't.

 

[Afrocious]

I have a 5% chance to instakill mod on my sniper rifle. The only two times it's ever triggered have been from gunslinger pistol-inflicted dragon rounds causing enemies to go aflame... during their turn, while burning, it will trigger.

Gunslingers are unstoppable.


I haven't experienced that, but verifying the cache should fix it if you're at wit's end. (Be warned: this will reset your graphics options.)

Alternately, and this is a long shot, I wonder if it has to do with the dynamic main menu, showing a soldier from your game? If that's tied to a save game, maybe renaming the save folder (not deleting it) would fix the issue.

Holy shit LurkerPrime, you're like PC Jesus or something.

Renamed my XCom2 folder in My Games to something else. The game started. omg.

I don't get it... I'm also able to load too oddly enough

Good Lord. My repeater just triggered (executed) a full health Sectopod after he blew through a wall and triggered my nearly dead specialists ever vigilant. 10/10 Take my money again Firaxis.

Repeater?

 

[LiK]

Phew, beat the final mission my second try. Did WAY better with a different loadout and changed some units. Nobody died which was great. Still tense as hell. Really fun game and I can tell they're setting it up for more later. Hope the DLC is good.

Story was as basic as it gets but whatever.

Also

Spoiler

They just HAD to put in that anime psionic fireball battle in that cutrscene between the Commander and the aliens.

lol

 

[Random17]

Put it this way. If you intend to stick your Sniper at the start of the map with a height advantage and use him for long range support, Lightning Hands is useless while Deadeye is at least situational.

But on the flipside, the opportunities where you CAN afford to put a Sniper that far back and crawl to each pod with a ninja Ranger is limited to non-timed missions, so it in itself is situational to begin with.

I don't know man, abilities that give extra actions tend to be invaluable in the mid game. That's why I prefer bladestorm over its alternative, or Silo over its alternative.

 

[mbpm1]

Finally beat this game. Really regret not getting Vulture since I basically ran out of Elerium Cores and didn't get some of the cooler heavy weapons stuff.

Ending Spoilers:

Spoiler

Holy shit that final battle was harrowing. I'm not really sure what the point of the final mission was... go through the gate, kill three avatars, escape? They didn't even blow up the facility. I doubt that the aliens have just four avatars. I'm not sure what XCOM even accomplished in that mission.

Spoiler

It was enought to fool the Commander into enough of a sense of complacency for them to Mind Control him at the last moment and stuff him back in the box.

jk

that was just speculation

maybe

 

[Steel]

Put it this way. If you intend to stick your Sniper at the start of the map with a height advantage and use him for long range support, Lightning Hands is useless while Deadeye is at least situational.

But on the flipside, the opportunities where you CAN afford to put a Sniper that far back and crawl to each pod with a ninja Ranger is limited to non-timed missions, so it in itself is situational to begin with.

Eh, it depends on how the map's laid out. I find that on timed missions I can waste a turn or two getting my sniper to high ground and not have to move them for the rest of the game.

 

[King Tubby]

Put it this way. If you intend to stick your Sniper at the start of the map with a height advantage and use him for long range support, Lightning Hands is useless while Deadeye is at least situational.

But on the flipside, the opportunities where you CAN afford to put a Sniper that far back and crawl to each pod with a ninja Ranger is limited to non-timed missions, so it in itself is situational to begin with.

Not true at all. Any mission where you don't have to evac at the end is fine to leave your sniper on the roof of a tall building/behind cover on a hill. Even on those missions, you should always put a wraith suit on your sniper, and that + Death From Above ensures that you're able to bring your Sniper up to the rest of the squad really quickly.

I spec all my Sharpshooters as follows: Long Watch, Lightning Hands (for those times when you are in range of your enemies...Deadeye I never use, too unreliable), Death From Above (reloading after every kill ensures that your sniper can always take a shot on their turn, or allows them to move for better position/catch up to the rest of the squad), Kill Zone, Steady Hands (+10 Aim and +10 Crit on top of Height Advantage, Scope, PCS??? It's insane), and Serial.

Long-range Snipers are some of my most effective units, there is no better way to initiate combat with the enemy but with a Phantom scout watching ahead for your team, your sniper setting up a Long Watch or Kill Zone that is guaranteed to hit on the Aliens' turn, and the rest of your squad just out of sight of the enemy in overwatch position.

 

[Afrocious]

I am not ready for the black site omg.

 

[Rhaknar]

My sniper was the same as tubby's

 

[Lingitiz]

Any chance we can get the OP title changed to the correct phrase?

 

[Jintor]

On missions with no timers ive had my sniper all the way at the beginning of a mission with great sucess

i only think in terms of extraction timers now ever since i lost a guy one square away from the bug out.

 

[Echoplx]

My sniper was the same as tubby's

brb changing all my snipers to gunslingers.

 

[Jintor]

but yeah though i've never gotten a pcs through random loot. Worth picking them up at the market?

 

[King Tubby]

I haven't really tried gunslingers, I'll give them more of a shot on my next playthrough, but fundamentally they seem inferior to long range snipers. Squadsight dramatically changes the way you can approach engagements.

but yeah though i've never gotten a pcs through random loot. Worth picking them up at the market?

I get Perception or Speed PCS whenever possible. In my current campaign I've gotten very few PCS' compared to my last one.

 

[LiK]

but yeah though i've never gotten a pcs through random loot. Worth picking them up at the market?

yea, buy them up. they're good upgrades.