Sometimes the game glitches out and activates units from far away, though. Happened to me a couple of times, but never with a sectopod. Usually it's with aliens that don't have an area attack, so they just stand there.
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XCOM: Enemy Unknown |OT| Neo GAF is Under Alien Control
- Thread starter Jintor
- Start date
Sometimes the game glitches out and activates units from far away, though. Happened to me a couple of times, but never with a sectopod. Usually it's with aliens that don't have an area attack, so they just stand there.
I dunno.. i mean, I like support soldiers, and I always have one for healing and suppression, but I have a hard enough time allowing ONE on my team, I would never put more. Their damage output is just too low.
Personally, I wouldn't waste a rocket on just a sectopod. I would if its drones are nearby though. Yeah they're a nuisance when alone, but getting to that point is fraught with danger.
10 HP healing 3 times, impromptu +40 defense, high aim (90 at corporal), +3 movement. Certainly an assault is a better fighter, that's what they're there for, but supports can hold their own. Heavies are only useful for their explosives to blow up cover and for bullet storming to deal some damage. I've never had a problem with damage though, I got plasma rifles early.
Early game, supports are by far the best overall class IMO. Better hit percentages and good mobility make them killing machines. Plus, they are by the far the best unit to have arc throwers, even counting the fact that they can use medpacs because of mobility and later a 2nd equipment slot.
Late game they suffer from low damage, but they more than make up for it with healing. Plus, a support is the ideal flanker, which makes them much more likely to crit than a heavy.
Heavies have naturally low aim and move slower than the others (I think), so I don't tend to rely on their shooting too much. And Arc Throwers are excellent for taking out enemies in cover since hit chance is only determined by remaining health. And suppressing is very useful for mitigating threat.
There's a warning sign if you know what to look for. The camera moves. If the camera flies into the fog of war, then back onto one of your soldiers... run. Fast. If you've seen how it looks when a Sectopod does it while visible, you'll know what to look for. It looks like it does nothing, and then the camera focuses on your unit. That unit will get bombed if you leave it there.
Or you know, kill it. Interrupt it before it bombs you. But that's not always possible, so it's better to run. Pull back, maybe.
afreaknamedpete
Member
I'm not sure if this was your experience, but from mine whenever you have a scout reveal a sectopod, and then retreat out of the sectopod LOS they magically learn the locations of your entire squad and send an artillery blast towards them.
Happened to me twice. Once I had a hover SHIV doing recon, and an ambush like 10 spaces away on higher elevation right out of LOS. Sectopod ended up nuking my ambush from out of LOS.
Happened to me twice. Once I had a hover SHIV doing recon, and an ambush like 10 spaces away on higher elevation right out of LOS. Sectopod ended up nuking my ambush from out of LOS.
famousmortimer
Banned
I beat Normal Ironman with about 4 deaths total. I've started about 7 classic ironman's and I can't make it more than 2-3 hours.
Why am I so dumb, gaf? Any tips for someone who has played the game for 64 hours and still sucks?
Why am I so dumb, gaf? Any tips for someone who has played the game for 64 hours and still sucks?
-Never explore deep into the fog unless it's the start of the turn. That way, if you aggro a group you'll still have some moves available to deal with them.
-Thin men are much more dangerous because they have a base aim of 70% + 10% for classic + 10% from light plasma rifle bonus. Mutons are bullshit, they will kill a lot of your guys with miracle shots, attack them with everything you got.
-Use hunker down, it doubles cover bonus (low 20 -> 40, high 40 -> 80).
-Early game concentrate on satellites, abduction missions occur if you fail to stop several UFOs, even if you can't detect them.
-Know that abduction missions raise panic across continents you didn't help, so help the countries who have the biggest continents. Use explosives liberally early on, for lots of guaranteed damage and to remove cover.
-Don't try and capture an alien unless you have 2 team members on standby to kill the alien if the stun fails.
-Everything will get easier when you get carapace.
-Control berserkers by setting up overwatch in their field of view. They don't move if they are watched.
-Chryssalids are highly susceptible to explosives, Zombies deal up to 15 damage on hit but they don't spawn from civilians killed in fog.
-Don't neglect your air force, the more UFOs you can shoot down, the more items you can sell. Don't be afraid to sell alloys/fragments/Elerium since that stuff isn't useful without money anyway.
weekend_warrior
Banned
omg, no.
bonesmccoy
Banned
I can't believe the awfulness of the final mission.
Some of the cutscenes are pre-rendered using shitty Bink, which look absolutely terrible and run at 24-30 fps. You can generally tell if a cutscene is in-engine if one of your soldiers is featured in it (and the fact that it doesn't run like shit).
Good to know. I was wondering if it was something with my GPU but those cutscenes looked to awful to be stressing it. Awesome game so far though.
MasonOfWords
Neo Member
Enemies that are above you could have a larger field of vision, and so have sight of your troops without being spotted.
Rentahamster
Rodent Whores
With run and gun, assaults are the best flankers, although that is balanced out with the cooldown.
Rentahamster
Rodent Whores
After my 20th Impossible Ironman restart, I tried it out non-ironman. Pretty smooth sailing. Time to go back to the pain of Ironman, though.
crackhead_bob
Member
Which mission types are ideal for rookies/squaddies? Which mission types should they be off limits to? I'm trying to balance out my roster by slowly leveling up any lowranking agents I can in case my higher ranked agents are killed.
When is it best to begin investing in new soldiers? How low should I allow my overall team to get before I begin recruiting? Is it best to have 5 or 10 fresh agents in reserve for moments when teammates are injured?
I'm playing on classic right now.
When is it best to begin investing in new soldiers? How low should I allow my overall team to get before I begin recruiting? Is it best to have 5 or 10 fresh agents in reserve for moments when teammates are injured?
I'm playing on classic right now.
KO Traveling Hobo
Member
Council missions are great for coddling rookies since they seem to be limited to early game aliens(particularly thin men). They're pretty infrequent, though.
weekend_warrior
Banned
Normal abduction missions are the best to bring 2-3 rooks into. It never hurts to bring at least 1 rook to use as a scout/ meat shield, but you usually want some better soldiers for large UFO crashes/landings, VIP missions, terror missions.
I start recruiting new soldiers almost immediately because hired recruits have 6 base health vs the 4 health the starting soldiers have which is HUGE when to start facing floaters and thin man since I never want to bring a soldier that can be 1-shot killed from behind cover.
So what I do is use all rookie squads for the first 2 missions since you'll only face sectoids. Then I'll hire new soldiers and from then on only use hired soldiers to go along with any supports and heavys I get from that first batch of 8 soldiers I use the first 2 missions.
Another rule of thumb is to rookies more right after you hit milestones. So like right after you get laser weapons it's going to be real easy for a few missions so use that as an opportunity to rank more rookies.
Rentahamster
Rodent Whores
Good piece of advice from Reddit:
http://www.reddit.com/r/Xcom/comments/12luc4/psa_choosing_the_continent_with_two_abductions/
http://www.reddit.com/r/Xcom/comments/12luc4/psa_choosing_the_continent_with_two_abductions/
Just picked up the game and started playing it on Saturday.
It's 2am Sunday night when I stopped playing.
Holy wow this game is awesome. It gets a little random here and there with some of the shots, and I definitely missed a 98% hit chance on someone which almost made me flip my computer desk. Outside of some sporadic stuff like that, It's pretty freakin amazing.
It's 2am Sunday night when I stopped playing.
Holy wow this game is awesome. It gets a little random here and there with some of the shots, and I definitely missed a 98% hit chance on someone which almost made me flip my computer desk. Outside of some sporadic stuff like that, It's pretty freakin amazing.
crackhead_bob
Member
What mission types should be considered off limits?
Castor Krieg
Banned
Bomb disposal.
If you are looking to train rookies along with veterans, I would bring my best squads for Terror/Large UFO missions, downed or landed large UFOs. For me they are definitely the most difficult missions with the toughest aliens. Outside of some story missions, Terror/Large UFO missions I would bring rookies to train on all other missions. Well unless it is late in the game and you get a very difficult rated mission, hopefully by that point you will have a decent pool of trained soldiers to use.
Maybe Ive been lucky so far, but I havent had much trouble with bomb disposal missions even using a squad with a lot of rookies. There seems to be a small cluster of disabling devices that bumps extra turns that dont attract many packs of aliens. It is usually along the outside of the map. If I go for the ones in the middle, I trigger a lot of alien packs.
Maybe Ive been lucky so far, but I havent had much trouble with bomb disposal missions even using a squad with a lot of rookies. There seems to be a small cluster of disabling devices that bumps extra turns that dont attract many packs of aliens. It is usually along the outside of the map. If I go for the ones in the middle, I trigger a lot of alien packs.
Jawmuncher
Member
Really Really want to play this game after reading some reviews and watching some videos.
As dumb as it sounds being able to name the troops and see if they'll live or die alone is a huge selling point for me.
Was just wondering though the PC version is obviously the way to go right?
With that said is there a patch in the works for some of the issues i've heard about or did it already come out?
As dumb as it sounds being able to name the troops and see if they'll live or die alone is a huge selling point for me.
Was just wondering though the PC version is obviously the way to go right?
With that said is there a patch in the works for some of the issues i've heard about or did it already come out?
A patch was being passed around but I don't know if it's actually implemented. So far PC with 360 controller seems to be the best way to play, though KB + M is okay.
Yes, because mods.
Also yes, date to be determined, still.
Jawmuncher
Member
Excellent news.
I won't be able to play it until closer to Dec so by then everything should be in place!
Rentahamster
Rodent Whores
Bomb disposal in the first month of an Impossible game are arguably the hardest missions in the entire game. On Classic, it's hard but not that bad, but on Impossible, you might as well just shoot yourself in the head before you get off the skyranger. It can be done, though.
weekend_warrior
Banned
Large downed UFOs/ Alien bases are probably the only 2 types I would not bring any rookies or squaddies.
Most objective based games (VIP, Bomb disposal, small UFOs, etc) I try to bring a good mix of soldiers- a few high/medium ranks, a few low ranks, and maybe a rookie.
Abduction missions are the easiest and most predictably so I bring as many rookies and low ranks as I feel comfortable, usually along with my best medic support.
Can anyone explain to me how the Sniper's Battle Scanner's field of view works? The description says that it "creates a new source of vision" at the scanners location, which I thought meant it would treat the scanner like a new troop and "see" from that location like a unit. In my experience though, it seems like it only has vision on the plane it exists on. I keep throwing it as high as possible (top of busses, buildings, etc) always on the edge, but it never sees anything below it. For instance, in my most recent VIP rescue mission I threw it into a potted plant that was 3 tiles up from the ground thinking it could see everything around it, but it didn't reveal anything.
Perhaps I'm just not being as careful in my placement as I think I am? Does what you throw it into (plant) have an effect on it's field of vision?
Perhaps I'm just not being as careful in my placement as I think I am? Does what you throw it into (plant) have an effect on it's field of vision?
As far as I can tell, you don't have field of vision if you're not on the edge tile of elevation, except for really shallow angles with a Squadsight Sniper. So throwing the Battle Scanner onto the middle of something means it won't look down.
I usually use it to toss towards a downed UFO, or have someone open a door and then toss the scanner as far into the room as possible to get a view. Most often it comes back empty, but that's a good result, too, as it tells you that the area is safe to advance towards.
I usually use it to toss towards a downed UFO, or have someone open a door and then toss the scanner as far into the room as possible to get a view. Most often it comes back empty, but that's a good result, too, as it tells you that the area is safe to advance towards.
I always used them to check flanks I didn't want to take the time to explore. Anyway, it's much more of a plane than a sphere of what's visible. It's hard to pinpoint beyond that because, much like everything else in XCOM, it's buggy. I learned early, the more complicated(in terms of geometry) the area you're throwing in, the less likely you are to get much out of it.
Freeza Under The Shower
Member
That would make sense. It also only lasts two turns and is really only good for getting the drop on difficult units like sectopods.
Stupid hamburgers keep dying on me.
Lostconfused
Member
The scanner is limited by line of sight by whatever process the game uses to determine that. And the way the scanner gets spawned is kind of broken and buggy so it's possible for it to spawn underground or under some geometry and have it's line of sight cut off entirely.
The best way to use it is to throw it in a wide open area. It functions exactly the same way as an additional source of vision but nothing more.
The best way to use it is to throw it in a wide open area. It functions exactly the same way as an additional source of vision but nothing more.
Also this. Elevated geometry cuts off line of sight very easily. For example some sloped/ramped areas of the UFO, at the foot of the ramp it's possible to see anyone standing at the top of the ramp but due to some odd angle anyone standing in the middle of the ramp wouldn't have line of sight to the top where the ramp ends.
Did anyone ever figure out how to properly unfuck them? My first Alloy SHIV was invisible and unselectable. I built the second one after I had scrapped the first and it worked fine.So I build a hover SHIV, that can't hover nor shoot... I build another one but I can't select it when I'm going to do a mission, great!
Anyway, it's going to be fixed in the upcoming patch, so... Rejoice, I suppose?
Vol5
Member
Your not as dumb as me. Went Snap Shot over Squad Sight for my Sniper.
weekend_warrior
Banned
Yeah I go squad sight on all my snipers.
Having seen no aliens with Maj. Jessica "Back-up Plan" Lawrence, Sniper, on a truck roof, the remaining 4 members of this largely veteran squad creep up along the road, using cars as cover. They get almost halfway across the map before reaching the end of the vehicular cover, encountering a large open expanse with a building to the left and to the right. After waiting for the Sniper to rejoin, the squad crowds between a van and a SUV and has to make a tough decision. The Sniper has used both of the vision throwables getting to this point, and has no weapons-range high ground to scout their surroundings from.
After drawing straws, the Heavy, Col. Jake "Novel" Marshall is chosen to make the dash to the building on the left side. It is a long, exposed dash, but it ends just inside the building and will grant him good cover and precious vision. He takes a pair of deep breathes before spinning off the hood of the SUV that concealed him and sprinting into the open air.
Things go south, fast. In his approach run, the Heavy alerts a set of Mutons that immediately take up a position that will flank the location he is sprinting to. What's more, when he smashes through the window and lands in his destination, he alerts another group of Mutons, with a Berserker. This group takes cover in close proximity to the Heavy behind some fallen tables, eliminating the possibility of a rocket attack from the Heavy or grenade support from the others. The Support, Col. Judy "Saturn" Saucers covers him with smoke, but the Heavy's turn is over and he is flanked in the range of 6+ enemies.
The Sniper tries for a Headshot on the Berserker, but only lands standard damage. The Berserker Intimidates and runs closer to the Heavy. The squad outside the building tries to hold it together, but the Rookie Kieran McCarthy panics.
"We need emergency evac, NOW DAMMIT!" he screams as he runs in the opposite direction of the enemies, across the open space and into the building on the right side. He alerts the 3 Heavy Floaters inside, as well as another group of Mutons, and unfortunately, a Berserker.
The only person yet to move is an Assault, Col. Rachid "Airball" Haddad, wielding only the default shotgun and the weight of his experience, as the plasma weapons given to the others had drained what was left of the paltry council payment. He decides that for this mission to succeed, that Heavy needs some help. Using Run and Gun, he sprints up to the wall the Heavy had jumped into partial cover, and blasts the Berserker at close range for a massive 3 damage. The Berserker shrugs it off, Intimidates again, and runs right up to the wall.
The enemy turn begins. The Berserker charges the wall the Assault is using for cover, smashing it to bits and throwing the Assault back. He lies spread-eagle in the open space, critically wounded. The Mutons inside fire upon the Heavy, who dodges two of them, but falls victim to 3 others and a critical hit. The remaining Muton fires back at the Sniper, missing the Low Profile figure but hitting the SUV she hides behind instead, lighting it ablaze.
Across the road, the Rookie is knocked down by the Berserker and beaten like a drum. The Heavy Floaters and Mutons take position atop his corpse along the wall overlooking the cars and the expanse before firing upon the squad hiding within. The last Muton throws a grenade, landing between the van and the SUV. The squad survives the grenade blast, but the SUV explodes, critically wounding the Support and killing the Sniper.
From no enemies spotted to a full squad wipe in one turn rotation.
After drawing straws, the Heavy, Col. Jake "Novel" Marshall is chosen to make the dash to the building on the left side. It is a long, exposed dash, but it ends just inside the building and will grant him good cover and precious vision. He takes a pair of deep breathes before spinning off the hood of the SUV that concealed him and sprinting into the open air.
Things go south, fast. In his approach run, the Heavy alerts a set of Mutons that immediately take up a position that will flank the location he is sprinting to. What's more, when he smashes through the window and lands in his destination, he alerts another group of Mutons, with a Berserker. This group takes cover in close proximity to the Heavy behind some fallen tables, eliminating the possibility of a rocket attack from the Heavy or grenade support from the others. The Support, Col. Judy "Saturn" Saucers covers him with smoke, but the Heavy's turn is over and he is flanked in the range of 6+ enemies.
The Sniper tries for a Headshot on the Berserker, but only lands standard damage. The Berserker Intimidates and runs closer to the Heavy. The squad outside the building tries to hold it together, but the Rookie Kieran McCarthy panics.
"We need emergency evac, NOW DAMMIT!" he screams as he runs in the opposite direction of the enemies, across the open space and into the building on the right side. He alerts the 3 Heavy Floaters inside, as well as another group of Mutons, and unfortunately, a Berserker.
The only person yet to move is an Assault, Col. Rachid "Airball" Haddad, wielding only the default shotgun and the weight of his experience, as the plasma weapons given to the others had drained what was left of the paltry council payment. He decides that for this mission to succeed, that Heavy needs some help. Using Run and Gun, he sprints up to the wall the Heavy had jumped into partial cover, and blasts the Berserker at close range for a massive 3 damage. The Berserker shrugs it off, Intimidates again, and runs right up to the wall.
The enemy turn begins. The Berserker charges the wall the Assault is using for cover, smashing it to bits and throwing the Assault back. He lies spread-eagle in the open space, critically wounded. The Mutons inside fire upon the Heavy, who dodges two of them, but falls victim to 3 others and a critical hit. The remaining Muton fires back at the Sniper, missing the Low Profile figure but hitting the SUV she hides behind instead, lighting it ablaze.
Across the road, the Rookie is knocked down by the Berserker and beaten like a drum. The Heavy Floaters and Mutons take position atop his corpse along the wall overlooking the cars and the expanse before firing upon the squad hiding within. The last Muton throws a grenade, landing between the van and the SUV. The squad survives the grenade blast, but the SUV explodes, critically wounding the Support and killing the Sniper.
From no enemies spotted to a full squad wipe in one turn rotation.
famousmortimer
Banned
Good tips. I do most of this stuff but was able to grab a couple tactics I was ignoring.
My main problem in the very early game is thin men. I can handle sectoids just fine but thin men just completely destroy me. I was doing a mission earlier today where one thin man killed my entire squad in 3 turns (which also included panic'd soldiers shooting each other). Do I just bum rush them? It seems like hiding in cover and cherry picking vs them is always a loss because their aim is so damn good.
Things that work well against thin men:
- Rockets!
- Snipers
-Flanking them with an assault guy (risky though)
- destroying cover with grenade, then shooting them.
-If your heavy has holo targeting that is useful too if you use it a the start of a round.
If you think there are too many thin men for you to kill in one round: retreat out of their range, drop a smoke and set up a defence, the AI rarely attacks with all of them at once which makes it easier to pick them off
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that turn sounds brutal nontoxic, dashing is punished sometimes but loosing 6 guys in one turn is heartbreaking.
I havent played impossible yet, but in Classic and below I dont think Ive seen a bomb disposal in the first month ever. I cant say this works on Impossible, but working the edges of the map running in enough to zap a delay device, instead of going through the middle of bomb disposal mission triggers less packs in my experience. If I go through the middle of the map, I always seem to trigger a couple packs with one move. Are the spawn points and packs laid out differently in Impossible compared to Classic?
Keeping your troops in pairs with one guy scouting ahead and the trailing guy on overwatch, has helped me with Thin men. Be sure to keep your troops separated a little instead of grouping them next to one another because they will spray you with a poison cloud, if you have your troops lined up in cover side by side. Thin men love to use overwatch, so I will use Assault soldiers with lightning reflexes when they are hidden in fog of war and I need to locate them.
Dont be afraid to use grenades or missles on them. Outside of a couple pieces of research, an autopsy and an interrogation, you dont have much use for their corpses like other alien corpses. They do carry light plasma rifles, so it is worth stunning a few early on, if you can do so without dying. I will also sacrifice a rookie trying to stun a Thin man, if it means I can get a light plasma rifle out of the death. Replacing a rookie is much cheaper/easier than manufacturing a light plasma rifle.
On VIP rescue missions I keep a few guys back towards the skyranger in overwatch. Thin men always seem to spawn close to the skyranger after you gain control of the VIP. With a few soldiers in overwatch, they can kill or put a huge dent in their hp before they get a chance to react. On my next turn, I can finish them off with my sniper or the soliders who got off an overwatch shot.