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[TTG]

To tell you the truth save for one almost disastrous Starship Troopers like terror mission I was two shotting them with ease. And after a little while one shotting them. In the end my guys were such monsters that I was only really in trouble against multiple Sectorpods or multiple Ethereals.

My most interesting encounter with Sectopods happened during the story mission "special UFO shot down". There, that doesn't spoil it, right? Anyway, I don't know if that thing is always a stock, medium sized UFO or not, but damn! In that little ship there were 2 sectopods, an ethereal and his possey of elite mutons AND a mix of floaters and more mutons to keep them happy.

Firing a rocket in there, which blew up a wall that kept the ethereal from the rest of the gang, on the first turn didn't help matters either. That mission cost me a full bird colonel support guy. At least the sectopods didn't appreciate being packed in there like sardines either, they didn't have a line of sight on a lot of my guys.

 

[Tacitus_]

How did you manage to built a satellite in 8 days? They take 20 days, not dependant on the number of engineers. Also, terror missions are too infrequent to matter much and you shouldn't rely on them - I'm in September and only had 3 missions till now.

Bugger if I know >_>
Maybe some tomfoolery from the tutorial section of the start? I think I ordered multiple satellites or something.

 

[Darkone]

Yea, I can't give you advice about what to sell and when. Because it depends on your situation. But I have to say that there were many times when I was out of cash and still many things I wanted to buy. You just have to prioritize and keep yourself afloat.

What about alien corpses, after research do i i need to keep them?

 

[Nome]

lmao

just be honest, bro. you need to make a 90 dollar video game to survive. but you know damn well that no $90 msrp game is going to fly on a store-shelf.

I've never heard of a game that was designed to be profitable solely through DLC. In fact, that goes against the entire planning aspect of how DLC is budgeted. Most all DLC at any decently sized developer is all planned out before ship. It doesn't matter when they start making it, or when they ship it. It's all planned out. Whether or not it's actually put into production is usually dependent on perceived consumer demand though. They're not going to make something they don't think people will buy.

What's sad is that there's really two types of single player DLC. There's the stuff that's integral to a story, and there's stuff that's not. Gamers will complain about both. One will be "cut content", the other will be "just a distraction". And the sad thing is, you can guess which one tends to be more substantial for players (and developers)... yet it just gets criticized.

When I see day 1 DLC, I don't think "cut content" at all. I don't see on-disc DLC like that either. If it wasn't budgeted and planned for the original game, there's ZERO moral differentiation between it and DLC released a few months later. No, it's just the dev being smart with production.

 

[TTG]

These two contradict each other. When you try to flank you will run into a lot of hidden terrain, most of the time with extra group waiting for you.

Not at all, that's one of the misconceptions I had when I first started playing. You don't need to take a long detour to flank. Look at the angle and height of the enemy's cover and where you will be moving to carefully. If there isn't a spot you can get to in one turn, look at removing that cover or run and gun to get there.

 

[Castor Krieg]

What about alien corpses, after research do i i need to keep them?

Alien corpses are used for some items - aircraft one-use items, medical stims, etc.

Not at all, that's one of the misconceptions I had when I first started playing. You don't need to take a long detour to flank. Look at the angle and height of the enemy's cover and where you will be moving to carefully. If there isn't a spot you can get to in one turn, look at removing that cover or run and gun to get there.

I will have to try that, thanks.

 

[Dina]

Not at all, that's one of the misconceptions I had when I first started playing. You don't need to take a long detour to flank. Look at the angle and height of the enemy's cover and where you will be moving to carefully. If there isn't a spot you can get to in one turn, look at removing that cover or run and gun to get there.

Most of the times you can't get to that spot in one turn, however. You need to go from cover to cover, usually using half-cover (aka shit cover).

 

[TTG]

What about alien corpses, after research do i i need to keep them?

Some you will want to keep in stock, yes. Some off the stuff I remember:

-All those abilities interceptors get are fueled by alien corpses. Makes lots of sense, I know. Sectoids to dodge, maybe laser disks to track? or drones?
-Some of the stuff in the foundry also requires corpses. Thin men for medkits research.

The good news is all the stuff you need is low level, so you can restock often. If you're looking for stuff to sell... Honestly, if you have a surplus of UFO flight stuff and power sources, sell those. I piled up 9 flight computers early and there was just no reason to keep all of them, plus they're priced high. Same thing for power sources, I never even built an elerium generator.

The stuff that's always off limits are alloys, fragments and ellerium.

 

[Wunder]

I am so fucking fucked. FUCK. I loaded up my save from last night after having a bad mission and losing about three ranked dudes. I'm left with 3 super wounded guys out for a good 15-20 days and I have 3 snipers, an assault and a bunch of rookies. What do I get? Terror Mission in Panic5 Egypt. Decided it was too much so I ignored it hoping to get an easy abduct or something. Nope, 3 abduct sites all in Panic3-4 countries and all 'very difficult'. Picked Argentina which will give me a Heavy Captain, so if I lose 3 rookies or something at least I'll get a Capt. out of it.

 

[TTG]

Most of the times you can't get to that spot in one turn, however. You need to go from cover to cover, usually using half-cover (aka shit cover).

That thing should be posted on every page, or something. Not saying you haven't seen it, just want to reiterate.

Also, the second diagram down is still a high percentage shot. Provided you have a high aim and the right weapon, that should be somewhere in the 70%. Maybe it's because the cover doesn't always line up on the same plane, so if your cover is deeper, relative to the front line, you get a better shot.

I'll be honest, if I'm at full health and in the middle of a turn, I'll always take a better offensive position and low cover vs a bad, high cover position. High cover is for spots where I know the opposition won't be decimated at the end of the turn or I know there's not much to be gained from moving. Obviously, when you're moving into the fog of war, you're also picking high cover where possible. If my soldier is hurt, I just run the fuck out of dodge, no matter what cover I'm behind. This is probably a different story on impossible, but on classic, it works well enough.

 

[Dina]

That thing should be posted on every page, or something. Not saying you haven't seen it, just want to reiterate.

Also, the second diagram down is still a high percentage shot. Provided you have a high aim and the right weapon, that should be somewhere in the 70%. Maybe it's because the cover doesn't always line up on the same plane, so if your cover is deeper, relative to the front line, you get a better shot.

I'll be honest, if I'm at full health and in the middle of a turn, I'll always take a better offensive position and low cover vs a bad, high cover position. High cover is for spots where I know the opposition won't be decimated at the end of the turn or I know there's not much to be gained from moving. Obviously, when you're moving into the fog of war, you're also picking high cover where possible. If my soldier is hurt, I just run the fuck out of dodge, no matter what cover I'm behind. This is probably a different story on impossible, but on classic, it works well enough.

I've seen that pic on the original forums, but that doesn't make my point any less true. With most long range encounters, you can't move and shoot from a normal shootout to a flanked situation in one turn. Not to mention that aliens have a tendency of moving back to prevent flanks.

 

[Nocebo]

What about alien corpses, after research do i i need to keep them?

3 sectoid corpses allow you to build a temporary aim module which will give 100% hit rate to your interceptor's next 2 hits.
3 floater (not heavy) corpses can be made into a dodge module that will automatically dodge the next 2 attacks if I recall correctly.

Those were really the only ones I used. I forgot if cyberdisk corpses were needed to build certain things...
It may be different for you but I didn't need the other corpses and only had use for the dodge and aim modules a few times.
I never used the stims made from berserkers or mutons or whatever.

 

[TTG]

I've seen that pic on the original forums, but that doesn't make my point any less true. With most long range encounters, you can't move and shoot from a normal shootout to a flanked situation in one turn. Not to mention that aliens have a tendency of moving back to prevent flanks.

I think there are enough opportunities there with 6 soldiers at your command and whatever the number of aliens in range and the layout of a lot of maps. Especially with the use of explosives and run and gun. If your average shot is in the mid 70s, over a whole game, I think that would point to that as well.

Those were really the only ones I used. I forgot if cyberdisk corpses were needed to build certain things...
It may be different for you but I didn't need the other corpses and only had use for the dodge and aim modules a few times.
I never used the stims made from berserkers or mutons or whatever.

I think the aerial battle stuff could have been tuned better. Maybe I was just in a bad spot, but I got stuck in a position where a certain ship could never be shut down with the ship you're able to research(firestorm?), a phoenix cannon and ALL 3 abilities available. On the other hand, the first time I got to equip a plasma weapon on that same ship, I didn't need any of the abilities to shoot down that same enemy. As a matter of fact, the whole thing was over before a third of the my over all health had dropped.

 

[Rentahamster]

Oh god impossible ironman is brutalizing me.

 

[Woo-Fu]

Most of the times you can't get to that spot in one turn, however. You need to go from cover to cover, usually using half-cover (aka shit cover).

The best way to flank isn't to send flankers forward but to draw your middle in so the enemy moves into bad/flanked positions on their turn.

I setup a line, then move the center forward one move. If I don't encounter anybody I move everybody else up the next turn.

If I do encounter somebody I pull the center back on 2nd move and put the flankers in overwatch.

The enemy will either advance into the killzone or they'll sit back on overwatch for one turn. There is a flow to this that works just about the same way every time. If they don't show up after contact you know they're sitting in overwatch so you don't move. If they don't come next turn you wait until you hear them move before starting all over by pushing your center up one move. If you know they're there and you don't get movement sounds you know they're sitting in overwatch.

 

[Jintor]

Making killzones is the number one most effective tactic in this game. You don't risk triggering enemies. You maintain cover. Sucks for the bait though.

 

[Sentenza]

GameBanshee people have published their XCOM review, very competent as usual.

 

[Metalmurphy]

Single support assault with cannon shotgun vs 1 cyberdisk, 1 drone, 2 thin man, 1 ethereal and 4 elite mutons.

MWAHHAHA!

 

[Grimsen]

Single support with cannon shotgun vs 1 cyberdisk, 1 drone, 2 thin man, 1 ethereal and 4 elite mutons.

MWAHHAHA!

Your support's dead anyway, since he'll be like, Durr how do I fire a shotgun?

 

[coldfoot]

Can you get that trophy with 1 soldier and 5 SHIV's?

 

[KO Traveling Hobo]

Single support with cannon shotgun vs 1 cyberdisk, 1 drone, 2 thin man, 1 ethereal and 4 elite mutons.

MWAHHAHA!

Supports can use shotguns? What?

 

[Metalmurphy]

I meant assault -.-

Had to be assault due to lighting reflexes run&gun and double shot. I thought of doing it with a sniper + radar, but only 2 radar balls wasn't going to be enough.

 

[KO Traveling Hobo]

I meant assault -.-

Whew. I thought I was missing out this whole time.

 

[Castor Krieg]

GameBanshee people have published their XCOM review, very competent as usual.

I do not agree with this part:

Panic levels around the world are tied, to a degree, to completion of story objectives, which means that there is limited time for forward progress as the "story" needs to be advanced at an almost pre-determined rate before the game simply becomes unwinnable.

I can see why someone might think that, but it is not the case. After you cover all the remaining countries with satellites there will be no more abductions, and if your Firestorms are strong enough you will shot down every UFO you encounter. Strongest enemies are also gated plot-wise:

Spoiler

Sectoid Commanders and Ethereals only show up after you assault an alien base.

 

[Stronghammer22]

Fuck, fuck, fuck!!! They're all dead... Everything was going swimmingly (well, it still is on the world strategy thing) then I lost all of my good soldiers over a couple of missions. The last one, where it went completely to hell was the --story spoiler--

Spoiler

assault the alien base

mission. I was working my way through. By about 3/4 of the way everyone except my Colonel sniper was dead. She killed a Beserker, killed a couple of mutons, a heavy floater. However, as I advanced to the very end I didn't know what was ahead. I moved in, then the cutscene came on. I couldn't shoot, as I had already moved, so I just tried to run...

Spoiler

that mind controlling piece of shit took over my sniper

and that was it. Kind of a lame end after what she had been through. 65 kills total.

I tried a mission after that, but my new guys can't shoot an enemy two feet in front of them. I believe I dilly-dallied too much - I didn't go for the story mission quick enough. Now there are all sorts of nasty aliens. I'm ready to concede, despite the fact that the world is in good shape, I have no-one decent to take on missions.

Oh well, I'm learning. 0/2 on classic/ironman, but I got further this time at least.

 

[Grimsen]

I do not agree with this part:



I can see why someone might think that, but it is not the case. After you cover all the remaining countries with satellites there will be no more abductions, and if your Firestorms are strong enough you will shot down every UFO you encounter. Strongest enemies are also gated plot-wise:

Spoiler

Sectoid Commanders and Ethereals only show up after you assault an alien base.

Are you sure?

Spoiler

From my 3 playthroughs It seemed like abductions stopped for the most part after the alien base, regardless of satellite coverage.

Abduction missions become rarer than sectoids post alien base. I got maybe one or two abduction missions past that point, and I grinded for awhile to get my PSY soldiers up and running. I might be remembering wrong though, and maybe they just stop popping up, or I was too good at shooting down large UFOs.

 

[bryehn]

I think I'm nearing the end of my first run (wimpy normal with saves) and the game is starting to get tough. I find myself reloading far more often than before. I'm playing a la Fire Emblem and not letting anyone get killed.

Yet I can't wait to dig into Classic/Ironman.

 

[Dynamic3]

What exactly does will do?

 

[Castor Krieg]

What exactly does will do?

Effects PSI abilities and your resistance to them if used against you. Also soldiers with high Will are less likely to panic.

 

[Basileus777]

What exactly does will do?

It affects how effective PSI attacks are and how resistant soldiers are to PSI attacks. It also affects how prone to panicking soldiers are.

 

[Metalmurphy]

What exactly does will do?

Higher will = more resistance to psi attacks, more unlikely to panic,

Spoiler

increases Psi attacks

 

[Dr. Kitty Muffins]

Well, I do like the idea of "hero" characters: enhanced special units that have abilities other soldiers do not have.

I wouldn't mind a DLC pack that added around a dozen of them with the limitation that you can only recruit one or two into your group at any one time. If this had been in the game at the beginning, it would have encouraged multiple playthroughs.

 

[Grimsen]

Higher will = more resistance to psi attacks, more unlikely to panic,

Spoiler

increases Psi attacks

I could never get Mindfray to do more than 5 damage. Maybe a higher WIL causes more penalties to aim, will and mobility? I never checked.

 

[Slackbladder]

I could never get Mindfray to do more than 5 damage. Maybe a higher WIL causes more penalties to aim, will and mobility? I never checked.

Mindfray only does 5 damage. It can not be improved.

 

[Basileus777]

I could never get Mindfray to do more than 5 damage. Maybe a higher WIL causes more penalties to aim, will and mobility? I never checked.

Will doesn't change damage, just hit %.

 

[coldfoot]

Mindfray is good if your Sniper has Psi abilities and you haven't invested in plasma pistols or pistol research in the foundry. Because you can use it after moving.

 

[electricpirate]

Alright, Save scummed classic has been conquered, now to man up for ironman.

Mindfray is good if your Sniper has Psi abilities and you haven't invested in plasma pistols or pistol research in the foundry. Because you can use it after moving.

I just appreciate how reliable it is. Muton in heavy cover, it's okay, 2 mind frays and he's gone!

 

[Mupod]

Mindfray is good if your Sniper has Psi abilities and you haven't invested in plasma pistols or pistol research in the foundry. Because you can use it after moving.

It's nice on snipers, but I really get the most use out of it on bullet swarm heavies. My sniper is usually way too far away to use psi abilities at all. Whereas heavies benefit hugely from a decent-range accurate attack that can be used as a 'finisher' in case that guy didn't die from the first shot.

 

[duckroll]

Making killzones is the number one most effective tactic in this game. You don't risk triggering enemies. You maintain cover. Sucks for the bait though.

I just had a REALLY satisfying moment with regards to that. Had a perfect killzone set up, triggered a Berserker with my awesome up-close-and-personal Assault (her nick's TOMBSTONE!), and I shot at it with with Assault, forcing it to move... right into my perfect set up. He didn't stand a chance. It felt SO GOOD.

Mindfray is good if your Sniper has Psi abilities and you haven't invested in plasma pistols or pistol research in the foundry. Because you can use it after moving.

The above mentioned Assault I have once ran out of ammo in her Plasma Rifle with a Muton really close by. She just shrugged and Mindfrayed it to death. FUCK YEAH!!

 

[electricpirate]

I just had a REALLY satisfying moment with regards to that. Had a perfect killzone set up, triggered a Berserker with my awesome up-close-and-personal Assault (her nick's TOMBSTONE!), and I shot at it with with Assault, forcing it to move... right into my perfect set up. He didn't stand a chance. It felt SO GOOD.

I love baiting Berserkers. Especially right into the waiting arms of an assault with the auto reaction fire.

 

[Grimsen]

Up to game 12 in saves.

Did a lot of failed Classic Ironman, and finished the game on Normal, Classic and Easy/Ironman.

Now I'm in June 2015 on Classic Ironman, and only lost France. I have Lasers and Carapace, and I can assault the alien base at any time.

My game is just a meatgrinder though. Lost so many good soldiers, but I only failed two missions. One was a Bomb mission that I bugged out of without any losses, and the other was an Abduction I just wiped.

From my experience, as long as you have up-to-date gear and a good sniper, you can get by with rookies with grenades up to at least Mutons/cyberdisks.

I just hope my survival rate goes up for the rest of my game.

 

[demidar]

Mindfray is extremely powerful, and is still useful when you're toting plasma weaponry because Mindfray is guaranteed damage (with sufficient will), slows and reduces aim. It basically makes an enemy as weak as a rookie. On classic or higher you'll want as many guaranteed damage as possible since enemies are more accurate so you have to make every shot count or risk getting critted, and shots are hard against enemies in high cover.

 

[kurahador]

Uhh...guys? I just built Gollop Chamber, but I can't send my psi soldier in it. Help?

 

[Metalmurphy]

Is it possible to find a normal floater later in the game?

Turns out you can't interrogate the heavy ones -.-


Looks like I wont be making the Edison achievement on this run either.

 

[mAcOdIn]

Is it possible to find a normal floater later in the game?

Turns out you can't interrogate the heavy ones -.-


Looks like I wont be making the Edison achievement on this run either.

Hmm, I think you can interrogate the heavy floaters.

 

[Grimsen]

Interrogating Heavy floaters gives you flight credit.

 

[demidar]

I once stunned a floater on my Classic Ironman run (still ongoing, should be studying instead lol) but I couldn't actually interrogate it. Then I recalled not seeing "Floater captive" during the post-mission screen then remembered even further back that I stunned the floater next to a car, which was shot by another floater trying to suppress my assault and exploded, possibly killing the stunned floater. Can anyone confirm that a stunned alien can be killed?

 

[Metalmurphy]

Hmm, I think you can interrogate the heavy floaters.

Yeah but you have to interrogate both for the achievement no?

 

[Mupod]

I once stunned a floater on my Classic Ironman run (still ongoing, should be studying instead lol) but I couldn't actually interrogate it. Then I recalled not seeing "Floater captive" during the post-mission screen then remembered even further back that I stunned the floater next to a car, which was shot by another floater trying to suppress my assault and exploded, possibly killing the stunned floater. Can anyone confirm that a stunned alien can be killed?

Yep, they can die from explosions.

 

[Corky]

Uhh...guys? I just built Gollop Chamber, but I can't send my psi soldier in it. Help?

Make sure she/he has enough will. Psi-armor, mind-shield etc.