Neuromancer
Member
Do you get the helmets/armors right away or do you have to do the missions?
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XCOM: Enemy Unknown |OT| Neo GAF is Under Alien Control
- Thread starter Jintor
- Start date
Metalmurphy
Member
You get them right away.
Neuromancer
Member
Cool thanks.
Gonna buy this to support Firaxis but I have to say I'm more interested in that stuff than the actual missions. Oh well
Im in the same position. Think Im more interested in all the new armor options than the 3 missions. Dont get me wrong, Im sure I will enjoy the new missions, but I like having more customization on my soldiers. It will make losing them hurt even more though :cry
K
kittens
Unconfirmed Member
Is there no way to check the objectives once a mission starts?
- Is there someone yelling at you? Go find them.
- Is there a timer ticking down? Go defuse the bomb / power nodes.
- Kill all the aliens.
(Yes, #3 even if it's a terror mission.)
K
kittens
Unconfirmed Member
Cool, thanks again for answering my questions.
Another one: How do I get my support peeps to use a medkit on another soldier? I've only had one opportunity to try, but I couldn't do it for some reason. They have to be "critically wounded"? What does that mean? This game needs to come with a real manual.
Another one: How do I get my support peeps to use a medkit on another soldier? I've only had one opportunity to try, but I couldn't do it for some reason. They have to be "critically wounded"? What does that mean? This game needs to come with a real manual.
Supports with a medkit have two healing skills, Stabilize and Heal.
I think you may have been trying to stabilize someone who had just lost a bit of health, hence the game telling you that they need to be critically wounded.
Wounded: Some blocks are gone from their HP bar but they are still standing (and in the fight).
Critical condition: They are incapacitated and near death with one HP left. You have three rounds to stabilize them or they bleed out. Later on you can learn how to 'revive' them, which patches them up to the point where they can keep fighting.
I think you may have been trying to stabilize someone who had just lost a bit of health, hence the game telling you that they need to be critically wounded.
Wounded: Some blocks are gone from their HP bar but they are still standing (and in the fight).
Critical condition: They are incapacitated and near death with one HP left. You have three rounds to stabilize them or they bleed out. Later on you can learn how to 'revive' them, which patches them up to the point where they can keep fighting.
K
kittens
Unconfirmed Member
Damn, that's rough. I've never had anyone reach critical condition -- they all just die, lol. Thanks again for the help! I wish I would have gotten the game on launch, when the thread was more active. I should just read through it in my free time, heh.
Edit: Just beat my first very hard mission. This game is effing intense. :-D
speculawyer
Member
Scrubs often just die. As they rank up, you have more of a chance of them to be critically wound instead of just die.
As pointed out, you then have 3 turns to stabilize them before they die. And higher ranked supports can bring them back instead of just stabilize them.
Tip: if someone gets critically wounded near the end of the mission and you don't have any med-kits left or the medic is far away, see if you can end the mission by completing the goal in the next 3 turns. i.e. kill the remaining aliens, get the VIP to rescue zone, etc.
Oh man, I could have used this info on Ironman mode earlier this week. I looked up everywhere to see if that was the case, but my search was not fruitful. After much soul-searching and quiet tears for the soon-to-be dead colonel, I finished the mission. I couldn't press "Esc" fast enough to get through the cutscene into the debriefing screen. When I saw "Gravely Wounded," I literally fist pumped SO HARD that I brought my elbow down onto my roll-out keyboard and busted it. I had to drill new holes and reinstall the runners.
THIS GAME, MAN
Any more impressions on the new DLC? Do the extra missions and added character give you a noticeable early advantage or is it a slight advantage? Ive heard conflicting stories on how useful doing the dlc missions early on is, some say it helped them a lot and other said it was useful but not that big of a deal. Im sure I will pick it up eventually, probably when there is a sale on steam, but if it will help considerably during ironman impossible, I will pick it up much sooner.
K
kittens
Unconfirmed Member
Sometimes cars I'm hiding behind just randomly blow up on the enemy's turn. They don't shoot it or anything. What's the deal?
Edit : Nevermind, I think I figured it out. They blow up a turn or two after they take damage? I guess I need to pay closer attention.
Edit : Nevermind, I think I figured it out. They blow up a turn or two after they take damage? I guess I need to pay closer attention.
Before the patch, there used to be a standard amount of time(1 full turn) between a car setting on fire and exploding. Obviously, if you hit it with a rocket or something, it was and still is instant. Now they're unpredictable, not sure if that was even intentional on their part.
Oppo
Member
Yeah just look to see if the hood is smoking, and listen for the little "she's gonna blow!" barks the soldiers give.
It's fun to suppress an alien while they hide behind a smoking car.
Metalmurphy
Member
Same. 1 shot from an enemy starts a small fire and it blows up the end of your turn, but if they can actually get another shot it blows up at the end of the enemy turn and u can't espcape it. Grenades make it blow right away
I've had a car blow up mid turn, another one about 3 turns after it lit on fire and a third that didn't blow up at all and just stayed on fire for the whole mission.
Anyway, impossible run completed! I always run out of steam by the end for whatever reason and go straight for the final mission. Only get to play around with some of the end game gear for a couple of days. I only got one real mission in before the end with full on ghost/archangel stuff, alloy cannons and blaster launchers. 24 Aliens in a harvesting ship that had landed, I think I only had to use one medkit.
Protip: equip your supports with ghost armor, or if you do use them with assaults, be careful. The assault's auto reaction shot means they'll be revealed before the alien turn ends if you leave them too close to an enemy.
All that's left now, if I ever get to it, is a purely trophy driven run to get the last 3. Every project in the foundry, cure 6 people of poison and the 5 continent thing.
Anyway, impossible run completed! I always run out of steam by the end for whatever reason and go straight for the final mission. Only get to play around with some of the end game gear for a couple of days. I only got one real mission in before the end with full on ghost/archangel stuff, alloy cannons and blaster launchers. 24 Aliens in a harvesting ship that had landed, I think I only had to use one medkit.
Protip: equip your supports with ghost armor, or if you do use them with assaults, be careful. The assault's auto reaction shot means they'll be revealed before the alien turn ends if you leave them too close to an enemy.
All that's left now, if I ever get to it, is a purely trophy driven run to get the last 3. Every project in the foundry, cure 6 people of poison and the 5 continent thing.
Wait, I thought that the turn order was "XCOM, Aliens, Cars blow Up, XCOM again". Which, by the way, would mean that if a car is critical'd, but not blown up in one shot, the aliens would get a turn to move out, but XCOM don't.
But then there's those "The fuel's gonna blow!" yells at the start of an XCOM turn... Hmm, I don't know. Only that pinning aliens behind a burning car with Suppression is funny. Except when they have grenades...
But then there's those "The fuel's gonna blow!" yells at the start of an XCOM turn... Hmm, I don't know. Only that pinning aliens behind a burning car with Suppression is funny. Except when they have grenades...
K
kittens
Unconfirmed Member
Hah, I turned soldier comments off before even starting the game. I just assumed they'd be obnoxious. Maybe I'll turn'em back on.
milkham
Member
It doesn't really add much, the new guy is pretty good, and clearing the battleship from the dlc mission is easier than clearing it later in game because the aliens are different, but I also encountered mutons and chrysalids way earlier than I normally would have. I got what I needed for the blaster launcher research but at the same time my scientists are so busy with other things I don't have time to devote to it yet.
Nice. Well deserved. What games was XCOM up against?
K
kittens
Unconfirmed Member
Sweet. It's my #3 for best Xbox 360 game of the year.
Well done. Great game.
I do have one gripe though...and maybe I'm just missing something - is there a way to just unload everything from all soldiers so that when I'm gearing up for a mission I don't have to go find where the stuff I want to use is? It's ridiculous to just have to guess what gear is on what toon.
After playing 2 games of this on easy to get most of the chieves out of the way I bumped up to classic for game 3.
I was not ready.
I was hot shit on easy mode. Game 2 I went through the game with the same 4, then 6 dudes through every single mission, laughing the whole way.
Now the game just makes me want to cry. I swear, and I mean I SWEAR this game is fucking with me on percentages. Hits are so damn rare, even when I'm lucky enough to flank my way up to a massive 80% chance. Also enemy crit % seems to be through the roof. I don't understand how they can crit and then outright smoke a guy I have sitting behind full cover with a carapace on.
It's just wrong. It's wrong I tell you. Wrong!
I was not ready.
I was hot shit on easy mode. Game 2 I went through the game with the same 4, then 6 dudes through every single mission, laughing the whole way.
Now the game just makes me want to cry. I swear, and I mean I SWEAR this game is fucking with me on percentages. Hits are so damn rare, even when I'm lucky enough to flank my way up to a massive 80% chance. Also enemy crit % seems to be through the roof. I don't understand how they can crit and then outright smoke a guy I have sitting behind full cover with a carapace on.
It's just wrong. It's wrong I tell you. Wrong!
After playing 2 games of this on easy to get most of the chieves out of the way I bumped up to classic for game 3.
I was not ready.
I was hot shit on easy mode. Game 2 I went through the game with the same 4, then 6 dudes through every single mission, laughing the whole way.
Now the game just makes me want to cry. I swear, and I mean I SWEAR this game is fucking with me on percentages. Hits are so damn rare, even when I'm lucky enough to flank my way up to a massive 80% chance. Also enemy crit % seems to be through the roof. I don't understand how they can crit and then outright smoke a guy I have sitting behind full cover with a carapace on.
It's just wrong. It's wrong I tell you. Wrong!
Think of cover as what it is, a simple buff to defence:
Out in the open a soldier dies. In medium cover, they're still more likely to get hit than not. Heavy cover? More likely to be missed than hit, but not really safe. Heavy cover, hunkering down? Safe from anything except area attacks, and if they don't have a better target you can bet that the aliens will use them. The absolute best defence? Out of line of sight.
It mostly boils down to never letting the aliens shoot, planning to have them all dead or pinned down at the end of every turn.
Dakota47
Member
Oh, right. Diablo 3 was released this year. Whatever happened to that?
Also, had anyone said that XCOM would win PC Game of the Year over Diablo 3 early this year, I doubt anyone would have believed it. Hoped it, yes, but...
K
kittens
Unconfirmed Member
God damn, I would have done the (minor mission name spoiler)
mission FAR SOONER if I had known that it would decrease panic worldwide by 2. I've been busy churning out satellite relays and satellites to keep the council nations calm, and it was a losing battle. Doing that mission earlier would have saved me a lot of stress.
alien base
How do you know if you're out of their line of sight?
Basic military rule of thumb: If the enemy is in range, so are you!
If you can see an alien, the alien can see you. Exception: when you're hunkered down, you may get shot at by an alien you can't see since your vision range is cut down. If you end your turn with visible aliens, you're going to get shot at. Same if you end it with active aliens just outside your field of view, although they'll have to move to fire at you. If you end your turn and haven't activated any alien groups, you're most likely safe for that turn since any alien that see you on their turn will spend its turn running to cover.
If you can see an alien, the alien can see you. Exception: when you're hunkered down, you may get shot at by an alien you can't see since your vision range is cut down. If you end your turn with visible aliens, you're going to get shot at. Same if you end it with active aliens just outside your field of view, although they'll have to move to fire at you. If you end your turn and haven't activated any alien groups, you're most likely safe for that turn since any alien that see you on their turn will spend its turn running to cover.
On most difficulties, heavy cover and hunkering down makes you safe from most weapons fire, but not on impossible. Full cover is 40 percent and hunker down doubles the 40 percent also granting immunity to crits. On impossible, hunker down usually keeps me safe most of the time, but Thin men have insane aim and can still hit me when hunkered down in full cover. Thin men have crazy aim on impossible and will pull off shots, you didnt think were possible. If they dont feel they can make the shot, they shoot poison at you instead. Personally I would rather get hit with gun fire. Mutons will toss grenades. Hunker down has its uses, but it doesnt provide complete protection from all gun shots and attacks.
I have not found much use for hunker down, impossible difficulty or not. If I'm going defensive, it's usually about running the fuck out of dodge/drawing aliens into my overwatch range.
Thin men on impossible start with like 80 aim and that light plasma gives another 10 bonus, if I remember correctly. Those are the encounters where you can't leave your people in range. It's a great enemy to fight though. Even at the end game stage, if you're in a bad position, they can do real damage.
GAF, this game intrigues me, but I'm not sure it's for me... I enjoyed Advance Wars: Dark Conflict/Days of Ruin a lot, so I bought Valkyria Chronicles but it's still shrinkwrapped. I'm currently playing through Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars and having fun (Rookie mode though). Is there an easy mode in that game and does it look like I might like it? By the way, since it's on a console, can you save at anytime? Thanks.
K
kittens
Unconfirmed Member
Does anyone ever use the radar in the upper left corner of the screen? I always forget it's even there. Is it useful for anything?
Advance Wars is one of my favorite series ever, but Xcom plays VERY differently. The similarities between them are few. I absolutely love Xcom thus far, though, and would definitely recommend it. And yeah, you can save anytime (with a few rare exceptions), and there's four different difficulties. This thread is kinda dead, but definitely keep on posting here, and I'll try to answer your questions if no one else does. I just got the game last week, lol.
electricpirate
Member
How do you know if you're out of their line of sight?[/QUOTE]
The easiest way to think of it is: High cover blocks Line of Sight, Low Cover doesnt. A unit on the edge of High cover can be seen, but if you have a a high cover position on each side of a dude, they are effectively invisible.
Example
x = dude 1 = full shield cover, alien = 0
That alien cannot see that dude, he's now concealed, and the AI will generally ignore the position (I don't know if the AI has "memory" so it sees you dash a dude behind there if it will go for the kill or not.
It doesn't have to just be cover though, a big hill that features 2 half covers on a slope would still provide a break in LOS. You also don't have to be pressed right against cover, but I don't really mess with that situation, because it's too easy to get caught in the open.
Look for Vans, hills, train cars, trucks, buildings, shipping containers to provide large amounts of concealment.
Understanding that, and the enemies reaction is a huge step in terms of conquering classic mode. Often times, Concealing a dude,letting the enemies move up past you, and sneaking out to get a huge flank shot is the key to victory, especially when outgunned. I think of classic as more a game about making the enemies flank themselves, then trying to push out and get a string of flank shots.
The easiest way to think of it is: High cover blocks Line of Sight, Low Cover doesnt. A unit on the edge of High cover can be seen, but if you have a a high cover position on each side of a dude, they are effectively invisible.
Example
x = dude 1 = full shield cover, alien = 0
Code:
1
0 1x
1That alien cannot see that dude, he's now concealed, and the AI will generally ignore the position (I don't know if the AI has "memory" so it sees you dash a dude behind there if it will go for the kill or not.
It doesn't have to just be cover though, a big hill that features 2 half covers on a slope would still provide a break in LOS. You also don't have to be pressed right against cover, but I don't really mess with that situation, because it's too easy to get caught in the open.
Look for Vans, hills, train cars, trucks, buildings, shipping containers to provide large amounts of concealment.
Understanding that, and the enemies reaction is a huge step in terms of conquering classic mode. Often times, Concealing a dude,letting the enemies move up past you, and sneaking out to get a huge flank shot is the key to victory, especially when outgunned. I think of classic as more a game about making the enemies flank themselves, then trying to push out and get a string of flank shots.
K
kittens
Unconfirmed Member
Awesome, once again, thanks for the info. I love this game, and I love having to "play to learn" rather than going through endless tutorials, but some things in this game just aren't telegraphed well. This is one of them. It doesn't help that some of the game's core mechanics don't make sense -- like getting a 85% accuracy rating on a guy who's totally behind a wall. I don't really care if the game makes sense or not, but that means I can't take common sense as a way to gauge how other mechanics work, lol.
Click down on the left stick while aiming at the enemy to see the breakdown of why your percent chance to hit is what it is. You're right about the visuals though, it's not at all obvious for a beginner and sometimes what you see on screen vs the percentage of the actual shot are inconsistent period. Wait 'till you magically shoot, or get shot at, through a wall... good times.
First time playing an Xcom game guys. Should I start on easy?
I normally begin all my games on normal or hard, I can't really remember the last one I started on easy. And I have a lot of experience with strategy games, but mainly console ones, Xcom feels like a totally different beast so I don't know how I should approach it.
Any other tips would be really welcome too! Thanks guys!
I normally begin all my games on normal or hard, I can't really remember the last one I started on easy. And I have a lot of experience with strategy games, but mainly console ones, Xcom feels like a totally different beast so I don't know how I should approach it.
Any other tips would be really welcome too! Thanks guys!
If you know a bit about strategy games, you should probably start on Normal. It's difficult, but fair to a new player. The tricky part is managing the strategic part of the game as you win or lose the game there. Juggling panic, research and manufacturing is something you only learn by trying it out. Free tip: Satellites are good. More are better, but balance it with better guns and armor, too.
Also, don't feed the Chryssalids. Just trust me on that.
Also, don't feed the Chryssalids. Just trust me on that.
K
kittens
Unconfirmed Member
I just got the game last week, and I started on Normal. I never played the old school Xcom. I found it pretty hard at first, but now that I've learned the game pretty well, it doesn't feel like much of a challenge. But you can always change difficulty mid-way through, I think.
As far as advice goes, I'd say don't worry if a few nations back out of the council. I've had four nations drop out now, and it's now MUCH easier to juggle the panic levels of the other nations. Also, once the (minor mission name spoiler)
alien base
Also, like others said recently, be aware of how long it takes to build satellites and satellite relays, plus all the engineers, power, and money needed to do the building. You do NOT want to be caught with too few satellites, lol.
Thanks for the tips Mcnum and Kittens! I'm starting the game right now!
I also bought the Slingshot DLC. Even if it's not that great I want to support Fireaxis and any developer who puts out strategy games like this.
Hopefully publishers realize that there is a market for niche games like this and we'll see new original strategy games down the line.
I also bought the Slingshot DLC. Even if it's not that great I want to support Fireaxis and any developer who puts out strategy games like this.
Hopefully publishers realize that there is a market for niche games like this and we'll see new original strategy games down the line.
K
kittens
Unconfirmed Member
I've seen people talk about it here openly, and I don't personally see it as a spoiler. I mean, the location of the mission doesn't really come as a surprise even to me, and I knew nothing about the game before playing it. But whatevs.
TimeEffect
Member
So I tried the demo for this game expecting it to play like Starcraft or something, but it's apparently a turn based war strategy game?
I am really looking for some sort of sim management game but I cant at all find a proper forum to ask advice. Like, I want something like Sim City or Civilization so bad at the moment.
That said, I enjoyed the demo, but I already have Valkyria Chronicles, and if its the same genre, as it seems, I should probably lay off XCOM until I beat that first. Still, I like this genre and want to support it, and I enjoyed the challenge/mental engagement the genre offers
Should I however, go for Civilization instead? Is Civilization more like what Im looking for? I know it's turn based and all that, but it's also more like a god/management game, right? (Talking Civ Rev for Consoles).
Anyways, hope u guys have fun with this game, please guide me if you can
Edit: Oh, multiplayer! How strong is the community on PS3?
Also, for those that played VC, how do you like XCOM in comparison? I enjoyed XCOM's demo a lot, and have lost the interest to finish VC, even though I'd like to.
I am really looking for some sort of sim management game but I cant at all find a proper forum to ask advice. Like, I want something like Sim City or Civilization so bad at the moment.
That said, I enjoyed the demo, but I already have Valkyria Chronicles, and if its the same genre, as it seems, I should probably lay off XCOM until I beat that first. Still, I like this genre and want to support it, and I enjoyed the challenge/mental engagement the genre offers
Should I however, go for Civilization instead? Is Civilization more like what Im looking for? I know it's turn based and all that, but it's also more like a god/management game, right? (Talking Civ Rev for Consoles).
Anyways, hope u guys have fun with this game, please guide me if you can
Edit: Oh, multiplayer! How strong is the community on PS3?
Also, for those that played VC, how do you like XCOM in comparison? I enjoyed XCOM's demo a lot, and have lost the interest to finish VC, even though I'd like to.
I personally wasn't such a huge fan of Civ Rev, but I think it's sort of what you are looking for -- X-Com has some light base management too, but not nearly the level you are thinking about.