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XCOM: Enemy Unknown |OT| Neo GAF is Under Alien Control

D

dantehemi

Member
Just got this game as a gift, I have been really excited about this game.

This is my first experiance with a turn based strategy game (actually first strategy type game all together)

I have gotten up to the point where the tutorial stops (3rd mission?) and I must admit I feel overwhelmed, I'm not sure where to progress from here?

I am now in charge of my actions and would like some guidance, what should I concentrate on first in the early game? What should my next moves be? I know as I play I will grow accustomed to the game and eventually it will all "click" but I don't want to waste alot of time and find out later on in the game that my choices leave me unready to progress deeper into the game (is that possible?)

Is there a order you guys do certain things in the game, seems like as the days go by the game progresses, I have been reading that satellites are very important and to build many of those. Would I be at a disadvantage if I just proceeded with missions and not concentrate on my base?

Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated, I want to enjoy this game I want to play the heck out of it while I have another week off work, but I feel so lost right now, please help.

Thanks in advance guys.
 
M

McNum

Member
Well, the common advice is to always have a satellite in production until you're covering all remaining nations. But don't launch it until the last of the month, in case you need it for an emergency panic reduction. Any country at full five panic has a big chance of leaving XCOM at the end of the month. If eight countries do that, you lose.

To progress in the game, you need to catch live aliens, but I think the tutorial already set you up with the Alien Containment facility and the Arc Thrower, so you're good to go on that. You can always review your current objective to win the game in the Situation Room. You'll also want to research, of course. Laser Weapons and Carapace Armor are nice to have early on, but do remember to interrogate any live captures you have. They grant fairly major research bonuses.

As for things that aren't readily apparent, you want Workshops over Laboratories when building. Each Workshop gives you extra engineers, and the more engineers you have, the less things cost to build. Also, there are two Squad Size upgrades in the Officer Training School. Get them. Six soldiers stand a much better chance in a fight than four. But you'll need to get some of your starting soldiers promoted a bit before you can get the OTS upgrades. For... reasons... you may want to have at least a 5-man squad by the end of April. You'll see why.

Another thing that you may want to know is when you get those three pronged abduction missions, you can cancel out and go check the panic levels in the Situation Room before going back to the hologlobe to pick where you're going. Remember, completing a mission reduces panic in that nation, but ignoring an abduction, which you'll have to do, increases panic by one in that counter and by another one in the entire continent. So watch out for that i you're having some 4/5 panic nations that you can't spare.

For air combat, your basic Interceptor is not bad, but it will lose to bigger UFOs unless you get it some better weapons. Plasma Beams are a little late game, but nice. Use the boosts you can research by autopsying aliens if you need to. By the end of the game, you won't lose a dogfight ever due to some fancy toy you'll research.

As for the tactical combat, there are a few basic tips to consider. You never want to reveal new terrain with your last guy. If he spots aliens, you're in bad shape for the next turn. However, if you can't see any aliens when you end turn, you're most likely not going to get shot at, since any alien that walks into view will spend its turn running to cover... most of the time. A few aliens do something else. You'll see.

A Sniper with the Squad Sight perk is pretty awesome, and don't count out having a Heavy with rockets around to handle stcky situations. The science team don't like it much, but sometimes you just have to blow an alien up. Also, grenades never miss, they explode exactly where the game shows. So an alien with 3 HP left that's hard to hit with your weapons, check if you can get a grenade near it. Your soldiers have impressive throwing skills. Also, flanking is nice, and high cover is lovely. Low cover is... eh. Okay. But some aliens have pretty good aim, so watch out for that. Hunker Down if you need to. You'll live longer.

There are a few alien specific tactics, too, but when you get to those, you'll know the game a bit better.
 
T

TTG

Member
dantehemi said:
Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated, I want to enjoy this game I want to play the heck out of it while I have another week off work, but I feel so lost right now, please help.

Thanks in advance guys.
Click to expand...

The game is very well balanced. There are always compromises and no one definite road map to success. It's a strategy game, so come up with strategies and test them out in the field. A couple of tips:

-Always build satellites and build them way ahead of time(since they take 20 days and need a facility to function).

-The cover mechanic is very literal. It's all right angles and your soldier will only step around to fire from high cover. So, if you're having trouble figuring out when you have someone flanked and vice versa, you can draw a line with the cursor to see how it lines up. Also, click down on the thumb stick when targeting an enemy to see exactly why your aim is what it is.
 
S

ShaneB

Member
Just played the final mission, and failed.

The volunteer died?? Uhhh.. what? A squad member died and apparently there was some volunteering involved? edit: I guess the "volunteer" is the one I had use the ethereal device? I had no idea what the heck is going on, and it just said I had to restart the mission. So deflating.

Lesson learned as well, spread out your squad and level them up equally. lol, I've got a solid crew I run with, but now I'm stuck and can't run with a solder I loved because he got injured on the penultimate mission.
 
D

Deleted member 13876

Unconfirmed Member
I find myself in a very difficult situation. It's the beginning of August I think and I just had an encounter with the first
Overseer
UFO and while I came out of that pretty well, my A team had to recover a few days and in those days another one of those bastards had to be shot down. The resulting mission is the same in difficulty as the last one, but with the huge difference I now only have two okay-ish dudes, backed up by 4 squadies, all snipers. Much like in that Eurogamer screenshot the game gave me a ton of snipers that went unused because I have two amazing ones in my team already. The remainder of my team that is not injured is stuck in
psionic training
. I tried the mission and got kinda far but in the end it's a game of attrition I seemingly can't win. At this point i'm thinking of reloading a save and ignoring the UFO, but I have a feeling that too will bite me in the ass majorly later on. So far one country has dropped out.
 
C

chillumchilla

Member
Just got this for Yule. Very impressed.

I was a huge fan of the ps1 original hence my two gripes.

1. No big fat manual :(

2. Max of 6 squad members :(

On the plus side, I am excited about trying this online (tips for finding good opponents?)

I am too scared yet to try 'Iron' mode yet though I have started the campaign on 'Classic'.
 
M

Mazre

Member
Waited to Xmas to pick this one up and so far it's been an absolute blast. Playing on normal-ironman for my first go round and loving the highs and lows of successful and less successful missions.

Just completed the alien base assault and am really starting to feel comfortable with the game and it's mechanics. Nearly executed the mission perfectly, had a full squad in carapace armor with a handful of laser/plasma weapons, running 2 support, 2 assault, 1 heavy and 1 sniper, all sergeant or better.

Had successfully captured the sectoid leader and was back clearing to finish off the last aliens. Noises were bringing me in close. Sent in my assault at the start of the turn and up pop 3 chrysallids, which stopped about 4 tiles short of my lead assault. Pants pooping commenced. About half my squad was out of LoS down a ramp with the other 2 squadies (assault/heavy) down range from the lead assault.

Decision time, do I attempt to slug it out and rush the rest of the squad up the ramp? Or do I attempt a tactical retreat and regroup? I didn't have the firepower to down more than 1 of the chrysallids in a single turn and I felt that having everyone run would lead to sever casualties as well. So I bit the bullet and sent my lead assault in as a decoy while the rest of the team rallied to better cover. Poor guy was torn to shreds and reanimated as a zombie but the rest of the squad was able to mop up with gusto. Last action for the map was for my remaining assault to put his buddy down. :(

Game is fantastic.
 
A

abundant

Member
Mazre said:
Had successfully captured the sectoid leader and was back clearing to finish off the last aliens. Noises were bringing me in close. Sent in my assault at the start of the turn and up pop 3 chrysallids, which stopped about 4 tiles short of my lead assault. Pants pooping commenced. About half my squad was out of LoS down a ramp with the other 2 squadies (assault/heavy) down range from the lead assault.

Decision time, do I attempt to slug it out and rush the rest of the squad up the ramp? Or do I attempt a tactical retreat and regroup? I didn't have the firepower to down more than 1 of the chrysallids in a single turn and I felt that having everyone run would lead to sever casualties as well. So I bit the bullet and sent my lead assault in as a decoy while the rest of the team rallied to better cover. Poor guy was torn to shreds and reanimated as a zombie but the rest of the squad was able to mop up with gusto. Last action for the map was for my remaining assault to put his buddy down. :(

Game is fantastic.
Click to expand...
I had a similar experience in my game. It was during a UFO Recovery Mission, my Assault, Freestyle, stormed into the downed UFO, only to have three Mutons pop out and surround her. The rest of my squad were outside of the UFO, and Freestyle had no where to go. Next turn, the Mutons destroyed her. I got payback though, as my heavy took two Mutons down with his RPG and my Sniper took down the third.
 
A

abundant

Member
There's no greater feeling than completing a mission perfectly, no casualties or injuries. I just did it during a Terror mission and I'm in love with this game. I was lucky too, because not once, but twice a chrysallid came after my Assault, but thanks to overwatch, I took them out before they could strike.

This is easily my surprise of the year and is slowly becoming my game of the year.
 
D

Deleted member 13876

Unconfirmed Member
Any suggestions on how to resolve the dilemma I outlined a few posts above? Feels like I'm fucked either way.
 
D

Deleted member 13876

Unconfirmed Member
weekend_warrior said:
I ignored a lot of UFO's late game on my way to winning for the first time. You'll be fine if you just want to skip it.
Click to expand...

Worked out well. Got an A for that month. That said, is the number of months theoretically infinite or set?
 
S

ShaneB

Member
I keep failing the last mission on easy.

But I love this game, and feels like I cheated my way to the end, so even though I'm that close to the ending, I'm tempted to just bump it way up to classic and start all over again. lol
 
M

McNum

Member
ShaneB said:
I keep failing the last mission on easy.

But I love this game, and feels like I cheated my way to the end, so even though I'm that close to the ending, I'm tempted to just bump it way up to classic and start all over again. lol
Click to expand...
What part of the mission are you having trouble with? There are two difficulty spikes in it, so I'm thinking it may be either of those.
The twin Sectopods and the Uber Ethereal and friends
.

If it's the first of those two, then
get the Volunteer in Rift range and let it rip. Have the rest of the squad finish them off. Rift is very powerful against Sectopods.

If it's the latter one,
concentrate all firepower on the Uber and take it down in one round. You win the game when it dies. Snipers are good, rockets are nice, just do not let it and its friends get a turn. A Double Tap sniper with a Plasma Sniper Rifle can kill it in two critical hits. But that may be riding the odds just a little.

In general, though, the new psi power the Volunteer has is very powerful. And since
there are no wandering patrols in his map
, you can just end turn four times to get it back before entering the next room.
 
S

ShaneB

Member
McNum said:
What part of the mission are you having trouble with? There are two difficulty spikes in it, so I'm thinking it may be either of those.
The twin Sectopods and the Uber Ethereal and friends
.

If it's the first of those two, then
get the Volunteer in Rift range and let it rip. Have the rest of the squad finish them off. Rift is very powerful against Sectopods.

If it's the latter one,
concentrate all firepower on the Uber and take it down in one round. You win the game when it dies. Snipers are good, rockets are nice, just do not let it and its friends get a turn. A Double Tap sniper with a Plasma Sniper Rifle can kill it in two critical hits. But that may be riding the odds just a little.

In general, though, the new psi power the Volunteer has is very powerful. And since
there are no wandering patrols in his map
, you can just end turn four times to get it back before entering the next room.
Click to expand...

It's the latter. The rest of the area I actually found very easy. The first case I do exactly you say for that situation, just tears them up.

Will take your advice on the final encounter. Given how cautious I am for the rest of the area, I guess going the complete opposite makes sense for the final encounter.

Want to finish it and dive right back in on a higher difficulty.
 
M

Mazre

Member
In continuing news, a mission or two after my base assault I scoped a small ufo. Perfect I thought, I can cycle out some vets, toss in a couple squadies and break in a rookie or 3, I mean they have high powered lasers and plasma doohickeys so they should be fine. Nice low stress by the numbers mission.

Get up to the ufo with no contacts and think I'm well situated. Move my lead towards the target and out pop 2 sectoid commanders, in high cover and excellent position. I start repositioning my sqaud to flank as the mind controls begin to hit my rookies, the same said rookies with high powered weapons in close proximity to the rest of my squad. My vets start pounding away at the commanders and I rush in my newly minted close range assault to drop some pain. Rookie A takes out Rookie B. One sectoid goes down and Rookie A comes back to reality, to shortly receive a shot of plasma to the face as he has been left standing out in the open. My assault mops up the second commander but is now completely exposed and succumbs to multiple plasma shots. I rally panicking Rookie C, my sqauddie sniper and my hotshot major to win the day.

3 kia, 1 wounded, all over a small ufo. Only silver lining was the minting of my first colonel.
 
A

A Link to the Past

Banned
I got maybe 10 missions in, liking it a lot. Made my generic PCs into developed characters, gave them a story and connections. Really motivates me to keep them alive.

I liked it so much that I almost decided that I didn't want to wait until I bought a good computer to start playing again that I would impulse buy a $60 copy of it from GameStop. I resisted, thankfully.
 
W

weekend_warrior

Banned
Heavy floaters are a real pain in the ass to capture. Spent like half an hour try to chase one around the map before I just fucking gave up and killed it before it killed my Col Assault.
 
T

TTG

Member
ShaneB said:
It's the latter. The rest of the area I actually found very easy. The first case I do exactly you say for that situation, just tears them up.

Will take your advice on the final encounter. Given how cautious I am for the rest of the area, I guess going the complete opposite makes sense for the final encounter.

Want to finish it and dive right back in on a higher difficulty.
Click to expand...

As you go through that level, you'll notice that, except for the robotic sectopods and cyberdisks, all the enemies are projections of the uber ethereal. That's why they have that effect when they do. Same goes for the final encounter, just take him out.

Last time I was going through that mission, I had the blaster launcher and my heavy was optioned in such a way that it amounted to 24 damage per sectopod with that rocket. 9 base damage + 3 for the high ranking ability that amplifies damage based on the type of weapon x2 via Heat Ammo. Sectopods are actually vulnerable at that stage of the game anyway, it was just nice to put the blaster launcher to some real use.
 
Z

Zertez

Member
Lasthope106 said:
How long does a typical game of X-com take. Is it like Civ where you can spend 8 hours on one sitting?
Click to expand...
It all depends on if it is your first playthrough, what difficulty level you are playing on and if you are playing on ironman. My games last between 10-20 hours.
 
E

EmCeeGramr

Member
A burger joint in Mexico. Thin Men, Floaters, and Mutons fall before my rockets and double sniper Overwatch death brigade. The last dead Muton has a car on fire right next to half my squad. His friend takes a shot at my Colonel Sniper. She's critting, bleeding out. My Russian Assault is carrying an un-upgraded Arc Thrower and is in range. This is my first real shot to capture one. I throw a grenade to take 3 points off my target. 4 points left. My Assault runs up on the Muton and pulls out the Thrower. 34% chance to hit.

This is it. This is living.
 
P

Pachterballs

Banned
ahhh. great game. so addictive. got to mission where I had to save an indian general - and I had 1 alien left and I let the guy run into their line of fire instead of letting my troops clean up. CTRL ALT DELETE and ended play. I wonder what the save stat is like. This is like xcom of old but better :) Loving it.
 
A

Atruvius

Member
Bought this yesterday and started my first playthrough on normal ironman. The game hasn't gotten hard yet, but Japan has left the council because council gave me a mission there and I thought I could do it later. Which I couldn't.

I have lost maybe two or three of my guys, deaths were totally my fault. I should remember not to take cover behind a car. They tend to explode randomly.

I guess the game doesn't really like the Steam Overlay? I was writing something on the chat while the game was loading and it CTD'd on me.
 
M

Mazre

Member
EmCeeGramr said:
A burger joint in Mexico. Thin Men, Floaters, and Mutons fall before my rockets and double sniper Overwatch death brigade. The last dead Muton has a car on fire right next to half my squad. His friend takes a shot at my Colonel Sniper. She's critting, bleeding out. My Russian Assault is carrying an un-upgraded Arc Thrower and is in range. This is my first real shot to capture one. I throw a grenade to take 3 points off my target. 4 points left. My Assault runs up on the Muton and pulls out the Thrower. 34% chance to hit.

This is it. This is living.
Click to expand...

I ordered a rookie to subdue a Muton. I knew that even if successful he wouldn't survive the next turn. Who are the real alien monsters? Rest well Rk. Lee.
 
W

weekend_warrior

Banned
EmCeeGramr said:
A burger joint in Mexico. Thin Men, Floaters, and Mutons fall before my rockets and double sniper Overwatch death brigade. The last dead Muton has a car on fire right next to half my squad. His friend takes a shot at my Colonel Sniper. She's critting, bleeding out. My Russian Assault is carrying an un-upgraded Arc Thrower and is in range. This is my first real shot to capture one. I throw a grenade to take 3 points off my target. 4 points left. My Assault runs up on the Muton and pulls out the Thrower. 34% chance to hit.

This is it. This is living.
Click to expand...

So what happened?
 
S

Santiako

Member
So I'm about 4 and a half hours in, loving the game, but Japan just left XCOM, is it too big of a hinderance or can I continue without worrying?
 
D

DY_nasty

NeoGAF's official "was this shooting justified" consultant
Santiako said:
So I'm about 4 and a half hours in, loving the game, but Japan just left XCOM, is it too big of a hinderance or can I continue without worrying?
Click to expand...

You can beat the game without having all the countries just fine.
 
C

CushVA

Member
I'm down to 5 healthy soldiers. Many of my wounded should be back soon. Still, need to hire more and also research Quick Recovery at the Officer Training School.
 
J

Jharp

Member
Digging the SHIT out of this game, except... man, fuck the camera controls. And I'm not sure what everyone on the podcasts I've been listening to are talking about, but this game controls like absolute balls with a controller.

It's pretty bad with mouse/keyboard, but I plugged in my 360 controller and switched the image output over to my TV, and fuck me, it's sluggish, convoluted... yeah, fuck the controller controls, but at least I can understand why they suck. The mouse/keyboard have no reason to be as bad as they are. Why am I forced to choose from four different angles? Why can't I rotate the camera at will? Why do I have to use the same obnoxious downward angle? Why can't I move the camera horizontally however I want? Why does my camera reset every time I select a new squadmate or when a turn resets? The camera in this game should work like spectator mode in online shooters- I should be able to move it wherever I want and look at any angle I want. There's absolutely zero reason for that not to be the case, outside of laziness. The camera is fine for people playing it on a console, but this is 1. X-Com, 2. A goddamn strategy game, and 3. Firaxis! Why are PC users being punished because of console users, given that pedigree?!

Are there any user-made solutions for these gripes? Because it's literally the only thing I have to complain about. The game is excellent through and through, and the poor controls/camera aren't near enough to sully that, but man, there's really just no excuse to have camera issues like this in 2012.
 
S

ShaneB

Member
TTG said:
As you go through that level, you'll notice that, except for the robotic sectopods and cyberdisks, all the enemies are projections of the uber ethereal. That's why they have that effect when they do. Same goes for the final encounter, just take him out.

Last time I was going through that mission, I had the blaster launcher and my heavy was optioned in such a way that it amounted to 24 damage per sectopod with that rocket. 9 base damage + 3 for the high ranking ability that amplifies damage based on the type of weapon x2 via Heat Ammo. Sectopods are actually vulnerable at that stage of the game anyway, it was just nice to put the blaster launcher to some real use.
Click to expand...

Just ended up getting lucky with a mind controlled sniper missing, and finished it.

Now I'm making the big jump to classic ironman. Already the first encounter has me afraid to make any moves. lol
 
P

Pachterballs

Banned
does the pistol + arc thrower upgrades rename the weapons?

I've upgraded the arc thrower; but I can't seem to buy one that's better.

Pistols I upgraded to pistols II (I skipped pistols I) - do they stack? Or will I not need to get pistols I now that I have 2?


I think the x360 controls are excellent. No issues here.

any point to capturing an alien you've already captured again?
 
The Stig

The Stig

Member
Pachterballs said:
does the pistol + arc thrower upgrades rename the weapons?

I've upgraded the arc thrower; but I can't seem to buy one that's better.

Pistols I upgraded to pistols II (I skipped pistols I) - do they stack? Or will I not need to get pistols I now that I have 2?


I think the x360 controls are excellent. No issues here.

any point to capturing an alien you've already captured again?
Click to expand...

they stack and the arc thrower does not change name. just improves in effectiveness.
 
Sentenza

Sentenza

Member
Chanser said:
Bought XCOM at GMG, this better be worth it.
Click to expand...
I think the game is somewhat of a wasted opportunity, but it will hardly be a purchase you'll regret.
It's definitely a lot of fun. It could have been far better with few more maps, some tweaks and a more open-ended and less linear campaign.
 
A

abundant

Member
Pachterballs said:
does the pistol + arc thrower upgrades rename the weapons?

I've upgraded the arc thrower; but I can't seem to buy one that's better.

Pistols I upgraded to pistols II (I skipped pistols I) - do they stack? Or will I not need to get pistols I now that I have 2?


I think the x360 controls are excellent. No issues here.

any point to capturing an alien you've already captured again?
Click to expand...

When you upgrade anything that you already own, it's automatically upgraded.

And no to your last question. You only interrogate them once just like you only dissect them once.
 
D

Deadman

Member
If you capture an alien multiple times you can recover their weapons + grenades. This is a great way to get the higher tier weapons because they are expensive to make for yourself. Plus its the only way to get alien grenades.
 
A

abundant

Member
Deadman said:
If you capture an alien multiple times you can recover their weapons + grenades. This is a great way to get the higher tier weapons because they are expensive to make for yourself. Plus its the only way to get alien grenades.
Click to expand...

Only recapture Mutons, Thin Men, and Heavy Floaters for Plasma Rifles, Floaters and Thin Men for Light Plasma Rifles, and Muton Elites for Heavy Plasma. Sectoids only carry Plasma Pistols.
 
M

Mazre

Member
uDkLN.jpg
Click to expand...

Sums up my first overseer ufo mission fairly well.


Squad was spread out nicely in solid cover with an elevation advantage. 2 drones popped into few along with
a sectopod
though I only knew what it was thanks to the pre-mission brief, my first encounter with one. It shrunk just out of sight leaving the a drone visible. My sniper picked off both drones as I inched up my assault and heavy, still no sign of whatever it was. The remainder of my squad beginning to shift laterally to flank via high cover. I learn to fear and respect
sectopods, as it rains fire down upon my forward units. Poor guys are reduced to puddles.
I'm now left with 3 supports (2 fully trained psionics) and a sniper.

Two heavy floaters pop up on my flank, and I think this is surely over. I manage to mind control one and snipe the other down.
Mr. Sectopod evidently has free reaction shots in certain conditions and critically wounds my non-psionic support. I'm able to get him back on his feet and sacrifice my mind controlled floater to buy some time and improve my position.

Cover starts to dissolve around me, when
the sectopod seemed to change stance. I scatter my psionics just in time to avoid their comrades fiery fate.
My sniper pounds away, and a few salvos from the rest of the team bring the target down. Everything is deathly still.

I should've taken the opportunity to retreat and regroup, come back better prepared. Instead I stepped forward into the maw of madness. I engaged and mopped up a group of elite mutons, snagging the last one as my puppet. I reached the center of the craft and sent my dummy just inside the door. Seeing nothing immediately, I stepped him back out and down the hall past he door, this would prove a fatal error. I positioned my squad so I could put him down as the control was about to end. My attempt to reapply mind control via my second psionic failed so down he went.

I move my non-psionic past the same door I had just cleared when from the back of the room I glimpse two elite mutons backing my first
ethereal
. I can only surmise that mutons have lousy vision, MC reduces vision, or I was ever so slightly in the wrongs spots to see the back of the room, regardless I was out of position with heavy fire and psionics coming at me. My lead support was immediately MC'd as my original super soldier was gunned down. They made quick work of my remaining crew as the quarters were far to tight for my sniper to be effective and the numbers were against me with a man down and one mind controlled.

Not sure I'll be able to recover from this set back, definitely won't be tangling with another overseer ufo for a while.
 
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