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[TTG]

My Assaults go around carrying Shotguns which is useless while on overwatch.
Are shotguns useful in general? Or should I swap them out with Assault Rifles?

Right now my team is:
2 Heavies
2 Assaults
1 Support
1 Sniper

My Sniper does the most kills. Is this a good team configuration?
Playing on Normal. Not Ironman.

Assaults(with shotguns) are great, you just need to use their run and gun to flank and get really close to ET. Just don't get greedy, sending them out into uncharted territory early in turns.

What my roster looks like really depends on the situation. I think I had the same load out as you, except 2 assaults and 1 heavy, for a lot of missions in the past.

 

[TTG]

2nd day on classic ironman done, things are going much better this time. I'm on my 11th mission, have all 6 spots unlocked and about 10 ranked soldiers.

The only issue is I still don't have an alien containment and cash is low, but I'm not THAT far behind on things. I haven't done any autopsies either and only 1 lab up and running, so research times are still painful. If I don't turn things around on the research end, it will mean 20 days for carapace armor and I already spent a similar length of time on beam weapons.

 

[Incendiary]

My Assaults go around carrying Shotguns which is useless while on overwatch.
Are shotguns useful in general? Or should I swap them out with Assault Rifles?

Right now my team is:
2 Heavies
2 Assaults
1 Support
1 Sniper

My Sniper does the most kills. Is this a good team configuration?
Playing on Normal. Not Ironman.

In Classic I actually rolled with 3 Assaults and 1 of each other class, just because I was given so many Assaults at the beginning. I equipped one with a shotgun and the other with assault rifles for coverage.

In Normal, I had 2 Snipers, 2 Support, 1 Assault (with shotgun) and 1 Heavy. I would use the Snipers for long range, and the Support/Heavy could suppress while the Assault got up close and personal.

 

[Ketch]

This game.

FUCK

 

[Danj]

Anyone know where the PC version of this game stores its save games? My laptop hard drive is in the process of dying (can't boot properly off it right now) but I can still access files using an external dock on my desktop PC.

 

[crackhead_bob]

Just started playing the game today.

I played the original game over 15 years ago, and my best recollection is making most of my money through research of alien technology and the manufacturing and the selling of it in the black market.

I won't lie. I find myself overwhelmed and have just shot down my first UFO.

I'd like to know when I can expect to start playing to the black market.

Also, what is the best squad combination during missions? I have to assume that you want to keep rookies into the rotation in case your higher ranks are killed off in later missions. Should it be 2 veterans and 2 rookies per mission? And what do i need to do in order to be able to expand my team to six?

When can I start recruiting scientists and engineers?

When will my squad expand to 6?

I can't help but feel this games feels off a bit. I hope I'm premature in my judgement.

 

[TTG]

Just started playing the game today.

I played the original game over 15 years ago, and my best recollection is making most of my money through research of alien technology and the manufacturing and the selling of it in the black market.

I won't lie. I find myself overwhelmed and have just shot down my first UFO.

I'd like to know when I can expect to start playing to the black market.

Also, what is the best squad combination during missions? I have to assume that you want to keep rookies into the rotation in case your higher ranks are killed off in later missions. Should it be 2 veterans and 2 rookies per mission? And what do i need to do in order to be able to expand my team to six?

When can I start recruiting scientists and engineers?

When will my squad expand to 6?

I can't help but feel this games feels off a bit. I hope I'm premature in my judgement.

You need to build an officer school to expand your squad size and get the opportunity for a few other squad related upgrades. The building itself and everything available to purchase through it are tied to your highest ranking soldier. You're also right about rotating rookies into the line up early. You will need a B team.

Scientists and Engineers will show up as rewards for missions and are handed out at each monthly report(depending on what your satellite coverage looks like). You can build workshops for extra engineers, but they're really not in a short supply. Instead, I would look at building a lab or two linked together, that will reduce research time considerably.

Honestly, the thing to keep in mind is satellite coverage. The tutorial does a bad job of explaining how vital it is and both satellites and satellite uplinks are the slowest things in the game to build. So, you have to anticipate when you'll need them.

 

[crackhead_bob]

So will I need satellite uplinks in all sectors of the globe?

 

[demidar]

So will I need satellite uplinks in all sectors of the globe?

Try and get as many up as possible yes. Go for countries that give lots of monthly income. You probably won't get lots of satellites up until past mid-game since you'll be strapped for cash early-on. Satellite uplinks merely increase the capacity of satellites that can be sent out. Try and cover a few continents first and grab their continental bonuses while doing missions to decrease panic in non-covered countries. This is because if you have one satellite per continent you'll spread yourself thin since you have to buy more interceptors with money you don't have.

 

[Funky Papa]

My Assaults go around carrying Shotguns which is useless while on overwatch.
Are shotguns useful in general? Or should I swap them out with Assault Rifles?

Right now my team is:
2 Heavies
2 Assaults
1 Support
1 Sniper

My Sniper does the most kills. Is this a good team configuration?
Playing on Normal. Not Ironman.

Shotguns are shit at anything above medium range. Replace them with plasma rifles and live a happier life.

 

[SirIgbyCeaser]

Ok game is bought... Do you guys think the ps3 version might be better without the 1.01 patch?!? I don't want sound bugs.

Ironman normal game is awesome, I wish it had end mission stats about what people picked and so on and so forth. I bet nobody rescued china's abduction at the start for example.

 

[GenericUser]

I am so tempted to buy this game right now. Is it worth the full price? I am not a strategy expert, but I am tired of only playing first person shooters.

 

[Jintor]

I am so tempted to buy this game right now. Is it worth the full price? I am not a strategy expert, but I am tired of only playing first person shooters.

Yes. Even with the absurd amount of bugs.

 

[McNum]

I am so tempted to buy this game right now. Is it worth the full price? I am not a strategy expert, but I am tired of only playing first person shooters.

You are aware what responses to expect when asking this question in the official thread, yes?

But Jintor is right, this is definitely worth the asking price. It's a great strategy game, with some annoying bugs here and there, that is fairly easy to pick up, but difficult to master. The aliens aren't dumb, and the game can be a bit tense and scary even at times. You will learn why some people shudder at the word "Chryssalid". (Even if the old ones were meaner.)

If you've never played a turn based strategy game, you should stay away from difficulty levels above Normal for now. Classic is for people who could reliably beat the original X-Com. Impossible is for masochists. And do the tutorial, it'll teach you a lot of what you need to know about the game. For the rest, you can just ask us in this thread. Free tip: Satellites are good. More are better.

 

[LuchaShaq]

Really regret building 4 labs because I haven't even done the 2nd big story mission I think and I have basically everything researched but not enough money to buy any of the good weapons/armor I researched or any foundry stuff. Guess it's time to replace a couple of labs with workshops/power/nexus once I save up and then buy armor (have titan/ghost/skeleton/jet pack but not sure what to buy) and plasma/alloy guns.

 

[Vlodril]

I am so tempted to buy this game right now. Is it worth the full price? I am not a strategy expert, but I am tired of only playing first person shooters.

Definitely yes.

 

[r1chard]

Finally finished my first full story playthrough on Normal. Yes, the game categorically confirmed for me that I played it more slowly than "the world"

Amazing stuff. Only one show-stopper bug during the play which was a mission to one of the larger UFOs which would just crap out (basically stop responding to input requiring a forced exit with the task manager.) It was pretty repeatable over multiple loads of that savegame, but fortunately a load of a previous auto save from a few (game) days earlier the UFO still appeared and I could complete the mission just fine when I ran it again.

Next time: Classic. And definitely focusing on getting those satellites up much earlier so I have a decent revenue stream...

 

[crackhead_bob]

Can you allocate a specific number of scientists to separate research projects or is it all or nothing?

 

[TTG]

All or nothing. The number of scientists you're really looking for early is 10. That's the magic number to build 2 labs, which will allow you to research faster, and make sure they're adjacent to each other(just like any other facilities of the same sort). Then, it's a matter of autopsies/interrogations to further increase the speed of research on certain stuff. I don't want to give out what to research and in what order, that's part of the fun.

 

[demidar]

Can you allocate a specific number of scientists to separate research projects or is it all or nothing?

All or nothing. More scientists speed up research, so even if you could split them I don't see why you would.

 

[Impeccable]

This is so good.

Classic Ironman strategy for those who've played enough but want a guideline to do better.

 

[patapuf]

Shotguns are shit at anything above medium range. Replace them with plasma rifles and live a happier life.

i like having one of each, sometimes you need the raw damage of a shotgun with 100% hit chance and high crit damage.

 

[KO Traveling Hobo]

Shotguns are shit at anything above medium range. Replace them with plasma rifles and live a happier life.

Shotguns are worth it if only for how they(maybe just the alloy cannon?) send aliens flying on kills. So satisfying.

 

[Totakeke]

Shotguns 100% chance to hit at close range is invaluable but also situational. Bring a rifle to to those situations and you'll be always dreading missed shots.

 

[Sickboy007]

Hit&Run + Shotguns has saved my ass multiple times.

 

[Basileus777]

If you are going to be using assault rifles with assaults, you might as well use a different class that isn't designed around close quarters combat instead.

 

[Noaloha]

I dunno. Having a Lightning Reflexes or a clutch Run & Gun in your pool of options is always nice, regardless of whether you're going up-close weapons.

 

[Corum]

Recommendations for decent Let's Plays? I'm enjoying the Impossible Ironman but the only other that I can find is DaStalinator which is a bit slow and he's a low-experience player.

 

[meppi]

Was holding off a bit to get this game on 360 since I have a lot of things I'm buying in the next month or so.
Certainly didn't want to wait till it hit the sub-£20 or anything, but I thought of grabbing it when the first price drop hit.

Well today I notice that it dropped £2 or so on Amazon to £34.97 so I bought it. lol

Can't wait to finally get my hands on this.

 

[Woo-Fu]

If you are going to be using assault rifles with assaults, you might as well use a different class that isn't designed around close quarters combat instead.

Not true at all. Assault brings more to the table than the ability to wield shotguns. Namely they bring massive HP in titan armor and invulnerability to crits and the ability to move twice and then fire or use overwatch. They're the toughest units at your disposal. If somebody has to take a hit you want it to be your assault.

I don't use shotguns on my assaults either until I get the alloy cannon.

They did a poor job differentiating shotguns and assault rifles.

 

[Funky Papa]

I think I just found the mother of all bugs. I was clearing a heavily armed UFO downed by one of my fancy alien interceptors when two sectopods with a number of drones came by to fuck shit up. That was after cleaning a number of elite mutons, mind you. My sniper was already dead, so I made a tactical retreat in order to regroup behind cover (read: I ran the fuck away), mend my two heavies and allow the fuckers to come close in a couple of turns so I could blow them with my rockets.

Lo and behold, both sectopods appear to be immune to rocket fire. No, seriously. Four direct hits, two them shredder rockets, and somehow failed to make a dent on the sectopods, killing only the drones. And not only that: I also discovered they can launch mortar attacks when in the open.

What. The. Fuck.

Time to savescum.

 

[KO Traveling Hobo]

Feature, not a bug.

 

[demidar]

Using shotguns is dangerous on classic unless you're executing the last alien left on the map, simply because being cut off from your team spells death against superhumanly accurate mutons that can deal 12dmg crits often.

 

[nonnocere]

Finished a playthrough on Normal - ~33 hours total.

42 Battles, 0 losses thanks to load saves from the base as I didn't know what to expect for "story" battles.

I'll be back to save the world on Classic next.

 

[Fersis]

Ive been playing for like 8 hours and so far only one sniper. =/

 

[Firebrand]

And not only that: I also discovered they can launch mortar attacks when in the open.

I think they just spam when they can't see you. I've had an out-of-view sectopad fling grenades over my squad and way past us, not hitting anything.

Disabling Shots works for disabling the grenades, but the beam isn't a whole lot of fun either.

 

[demidar]

Actually I think I found a bug: Rocket Launcher free aiming locks onto aliens in fog of war.

 

[Totakeke]

Using shotguns is dangerous on classic unless you're executing the last alien left on the map, simply because being cut off from your team spells death against superhumanly accurate mutons that can deal 12dmg crits often.

Missing that last shot is also deadly as well. Shotguns are fine on classic and I've used them all game long. They just require an extra layer of patience and knowing that you won't be able to always use them.

 

[demidar]

Missing that last shot is also deadly as well. Shotguns are fine on classic and I've used them all game long. They just require an extra layer of patience and knowing that you won't be able to always use them.

I've got plasma weaponry early so I'm able to dominate everything with long range anyway.

 

[Basileus777]

Not true at all. Assault brings more to the table than the ability to wield shotguns. Namely they bring massive HP in titan armor and invulnerability to crits and the ability to move twice and then fire or use overwatch. They're the toughest units at your disposal. If somebody has to take a hit you want it to be your assault.

I don't use shotguns on my assaults either until I get the alloy cannon.

They did a poor job differentiating shotguns and assault rifles.

I phrased my initial post poorly as I actually agree with most of this. Assaults were actually my favorite class before I played impossible. My exception is to the idea of holding the assault back and using it as a mid range attacker and refraining from taking advantage of the classes' close quarters abilities and survivability. If you are going to have a unit hover around in mid attacking range, you are better off using a heavy who can use bullet swarm and rockets than an assault.

 

[weekend_warrior]

Speaking of rockets, can you hit flying floaters with them? I had an oppertunity to kill 2 at once, but they were just out of range of the top of the damage "bubble" so I figured it wouldn't hit.

 

[Asuma01]

Anyone have problems filling the third slot in the Psi labs? I can fill the first two slots. but then I fill the third and it gets rid of one of the previous soldiers. So I can never have more then 2 soldiers in testing.

 

[Doomshine]

Feature, not a bug.

Really? I could've sworn I hit Sectopods with rockets before, but this last mission all 4 rockets did nothing.

 

[SirIgbyCeaser]

Ive been playing for like 8 hours and so far only one sniper. =/

My snipers always get themselves kills.

I reach the point in the game where you're

Spoiler

Invading the enemy base with a skeleton key

I should have know my whole team would die.

Playing iron man the first time too, i don't care for controlling my save games. Also i'm deciding not to patch my game, because damn it there are no patch notes and it's playing perfectly.

 

[GenericUser]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, will pick it up next week.

 

[Astery]

I've just encountered the weird glitch that my heavy fires the rocket in a complete different direction from where I aimed it to. I laughed and then my squad got screwed. (The rocket made a big hole in the central UFO room, triggered Ethereal spawn while there are still Muton Elites around which I was initally aiming the rocket at.)

 

[weekend_warrior]

I've just encountered the weird glitch that my heavy fires the rocket in a complete different direction from where I aimed it to. I laughed and then my squad got screwed. (The rocket made a big hole in the central UFO room, triggered Ethereal spawn while there are still Muton Elites around which I was initally aiming the rocket at.)

Feature, not bug. Rockets are only 90% to hit.

 

[Currygan]

I think I just found the mother of all bugs. I was clearing a heavily armed UFO downed by one of my fancy alien interceptors when two sectopods with a number of drones came by to fuck shit up. That was after cleaning a number of elite mutons, mind you. My sniper was already dead, so I made a tactical retreat in order to regroup behind cover (read: I ran the fuck away), mend my two heavies and allow the fuckers to come close in a couple of turns so I could blow them with my rockets.

Lo and behold, both sectopods appear to be immune to rocket fire. No, seriously. Four direct hits, two them shredder rockets, and somehow failed to make a dent on the sectopods, killing only the drones. And not only that: I also discovered they can launch mortar attacks when in the open.

What. The. Fuck.

Time to savescum.

haha, yeah, I cleared that mission just yesterday. It was hellish. I got pretty lucky, though, with my sniper critical hitting the first sectopod while the heavy rocket shredded the drones and finished it. Three mutons were inside, but didn't disband by the moment my heavy had the second rocket available, so it was easy


one lucky mission among a sea of bloody KIA ones, though

 

[Funky Papa]

Feature, not bug. Rockets are only 90% to hit.

Still, those misses tend to be SPECTACULAR.

Rocket aim is definitely one of XCOM's biggest failures.

 

[CommonSense]

Had a monty python moment earlier.

*encounter cyberdisc
*miss with rocket (wtf)
*miss with sniper (k......)
*cyberdisk kills squaddie
*other squaddie panics and shots and wounds my high ranker
*run away run away!