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[weekend_warrior]

Finished the first UFO mission, lost a rookie, he was good too, 70 aim, 55 will, and it was from the only shot the aliens took at me the entire match. It was pretty boring and by the books mission, squadsight sniper got 2 kills, heavy got an overwatch kill and killed the outsider with a rocket, dead rookie got 1 kill.

Got enough crap to sell to get the uplink built, need to decide if I want the heavy to get holo-targeting or bullet swarm, he has terrible fucking aim- 56. I don't know which makes more sense. 5 days before the council report I got a council mission, bomb disposal, which I'm not even going to bother with. Because I never got a second abduction mission I only have 2 countries in red, and with 2 sats I might not lose any countries this month! That would be a big boost.

 

[The Stig]

currently doing classic for the first time properly. did base assault at the end of month 2 to save 2 countries. still only had 4 troops (officer school not quite completed) but made it through with laser rifles anda carapace armor. 2 snipers, a CPT support and assault.

all came back with grave wounds IIRC.

but in the next month I got the officer school and Im a little more in control of this game.

 

[Dance Inferno]

Ironman Classic is pissing me the fuck off. My soldiers don't do shit and the aliens will rape my team even if they're in cover. At one point one Thin Man took out three of my squad on a bomb defusal mission. How the hell are you supposed to beat this shit? I beat Normal yesterday and thought Ironman Classic would be a fun thing to try but it's been anything but.

 

[Rufus]

Ironman Classic is pissing me the fuck off. My soldiers don't do shit and the aliens will rape my team even if they're in cover. At one point one Thin Man took out three of my squad on a bomb defusal mission. How the hell are you supposed to beat this shit? I beat Normal yesterday and thought Ironman Classic would be a fun thing to try but it's been anything but.

Minimize alien opportunities to shoot at you, especially with Thin Men, because they have excellent aim and can spew poison on top of it.

Other things, off the top of my head:
- Move very cautiously and carefully, only from full cover to full cover if possible. Hunker down or use smoke grenades if there's none available.
- Sometimes it's good to just stay where you are and use the turn to reload.
- Don't use up both actions if you're still moving your soldiers.
- Use your grenades if someone absolutely needs to die.
- Avoid trading shots from cover to cover. Flank them, expose them, break line of sight.
- Rush for laser weapons, it's going to make your life a lot easier.
- Bomb defusal missions: early on, I got nothing. Rush and hope for the best, I guess...

 

[The Stig]

thin men are the hardest and most annoying enemy in the game, IMO.

edit - beserkers, muton, ha!

 

[Dance Inferno]

Minimize alien opportunities to shoot at you, especially with Thin Men, because they have excellent aim and can spew poison on top of it.

Other things, off the top of my head:
- Move very cautiously and carefully, only from full cover to full cover if possible. Hunker down or use smoke grenades if there's none available.
- Sometimes it's good to just stay where you are and use the turn to reload.
- Don't use up both actions if you're still moving your soldiers.
- Use your grenades if someone absolutely needs to die.
- Avoid trading shots from cover to cover. Flank them, expose them, break line of sight.
- Rush for laser weapons, it's going to make your life a lot easier.
- Bomb defusal missions: early on, I got nothing. Rush and hope for the best, I guess...

Cool thanks for the tips. I think I spent a lot of time trading shots which obviously doesn't work. Just started a new game, first mission went well as I only lost one soldier, and only because she panicked and got herself flanked. I'm playing with Not Created Equally and Hidden Potential on so rookies are much more volatile.

 

[The Stig]

trading shots with thin men......... never works.

edit - screw bomb disposal missions

 

[weekend_warrior]

I/I attempt #5, 1st month-

I got an abduction mission a few days before the council report, on that map with the narrow parking lot. It was a disaster. Right from the get go it was a shit storm when a group of sectoids teleported into me at the start- I had to waste 3 grenades to kill them. I had no opportunists to flank, nor could I use any high ground to get better shots. I tried to minimize how many times I traded shots but it was to no avail, I missed every one, the aliens hit every one- 4 out of 4. My sniper was killed, and as I tried to make a hasty retreat so was my assault. My heavy got out with 1 hp, my support was unhurt.

My panic level went from 2 countries in the red to nine in the red and at the council report I lost 5. It's amazing how quickly this game went from great to total disaster because I missed 2 straight 75% sniper shots.

 

[Dance Inferno]

I just discovered that you can cheese Ironman by dashboarding before the alien turn ends. The game only saves at the beginning of your turn so dashboarding before your turn starts prevents the game from autosaving. As you can imagine I have been abusing the hell out of this.

 

[Oppo]

I had a fantastic Classic Ironman game going. 12 successful missions, 1 rook casualty. Then I got hit with what I guess is called the teleport bug. 3 thin men and 3 sectoids materialized out of nowhere AMONGST my troops. On top of the 2 mutons already engaged. Got 2 troops out and finished it but it was all downhill after that. Ironman bugs really sting.

 

[Cystm]

Third attempt, the final room containing the Boss won't even allow me to move characters into it now. It just stays black and turn after turn will not allow me to enter.

I am going to have to load an earlier save point and hope that it's not completely fucking unplayable again when I get back to it.

For now, I am fucking over it.

 

[The Stig]

this teleport bug sounds awful.

 

[Scirrocco]

So my first foray's into classic mode haven't gone particularly smoothly. The first council mission where the thing men show up tends to end in squad wipes. Its amazing; even when they pop down in the open where half my squad is on overwatch they seem to make it out unscathed. How do you handle it? Should i just skip it and come back when i have better weapons, or send a sacrificial rookie squad in to get wiped out? Just load everyone up with grenades and go nuts?

 

[TimeEffect]

So these glitches are only in Classic Ironman?

I play Ironman, but on Normal

 

[Rufus]

So these glitches are only in Classic Ironman?

I play Ironman, but on Normal

Glitches can happen in any difficulty, but you will remember them so much more when they hit you on Classic or Impossible.

 

[sixghost]

I just discovered that you can cheese Ironman by dashboarding before the alien turn ends. The game only saves at the beginning of your turn so dashboarding before your turn starts prevents the game from autosaving. As you can imagine I have been abusing the hell out of this.

Why would you play ironman if you are going to do this?

 

[Rufus]

Why would you play ironman if you are going to do this?

Achievements.

Uegh.

 

[Dance Inferno]

Achievements.

Uegh.

Pretty much. I also dashboard when Mutons teleport into the diner I'm camping out in while I'm fending off Thin Men and Sectoids on two different fronts. I don't generally quit if I have deaths, as long as they're not my star soldiers.

Speaking of which, I have a Support Major who has aim of 108. I give him a scope and there is not a single shot that is below 90% for him. He's amazing, I've won battles relying solely on him.

Edit: ...aaaand I just lost the UK, Germany, and Australia. I swear the base building part of this game is harder than the combat sections.

 

[PastorOfMuppets]

God the variance in this game is so eye twitchingly tilt inducing sometimes.

Doing an Ironman Run on Classic, managed to down a large sized UFO with a Phoenix cannon equipped jet. Three days until my new soldiers arrive so I had to put together a ragtag crew of:

One Major level heavy - 103 aim.
One Captain Assault - 93 aim - Laser rfile
One Major Support - Laser rfile
Two squaddie assaults both with under 65 aim.

Down to the last thin man to beat the level. Heavy and Support is with him just in case are on the other side of the map rushing to meet their team members. The assault team has done most of the killing thus far with no hiccups.

The teleporting bug strikes and the thin man manages to critical hit my assault captain. Luckily he is only in critical condition. His accompanying squadies panic and run for cover. The support will not be able to reach him three turns but the two squaddies should be able to rush the thin man and take him out with point blank shots from their shotguns and end the mission before my captain bleeds out. Next turn, the thin man miraculously misses my squadies, despite being right around the corner.

First squaddie rushes him and misses a 94% shot. Second squaddie rushes him and misses a 92% shot. No biggie, I still have one turn to end the mission with my captain alive and I have new soldiers arriving after this mission so losing one squaddie won't be a big deal. Next turn the Thin Man predictably takes out one of the squaddies. The last squaddie left I bring right up to him to get a 100% shot. He hits it but leaves one hit point on the Thin Man. Captain dies and squaddie gets put into critical condition. Captain dies at the beginning of the turn. I'm so pissed by this time that I decided to take my Heavy and just use a rocket launcher to blow the thin man up, squaddie be damned.

Three 90%+ shots to beat the level and they choked so they deserved to die.

Finished the mission with no good Assault guy left.

 

[weekend_warrior]

One Major level heavy - 103 aim.

Goddamn, I hope you gave him Bullet Swarm!

 

[weekend_warrior]

I/I attempt #5, month 2-

After a devastating abduction mission previously I had a real nice bounce back mission- crash medium UFO. Everything went swimmingly, encountered 2 sectoids first, 1 rushed in and got caught in an overwatch storm, the other retreated. As I was circling around to find him without triggering his own overwatch a group of 2 floaters popped next to my heavy. Because everyone had full turns it was easy too get up close and hit high percentage shots. After that I found the sectoid, got 3 health off before he retreated and we got into a standoff. I kept 3 guys just out of his range on overwatch and 1 guy hunkered in his range and he kept overwatching, so finally I circled a rookie around where he couldn't see him and used a grenade to finish it. The Outsider was next, and it's always easy on medium UFOs since you can group everyone outside the room, open the door, and have full turns to pin him down. Only had two thin men left, which were right outside the UFO. This was tricky, I had good firepower left- 2 grenades and a rocket, but no good position to use them. Luckily the aliens were stupid. 1 rushed in and used both turns to run into the center of the room and was easy pickings, the other stayed outside without shooting and was easy too. All 4 soldiers got promotion- 2 rookies to sniper ans support, heavy and support both to sergeant.

But with good news comes bad, and with 20 days left this month I realized I hadn't ordered any sats, and now it's too late. I have 2 countries already in the red, an abduction mission will send 2 more into the red, and I've already lost 5. This game is a failure.

Oh well, I still feel like it was a good attempt, 4 out of missions were very successful, all it took was a couple of critical mistakes to ruin it.

 

[Amagon]

If I chase down a huge UFO, can I visit the ship later on or do I have to visit it asap?

 

[McNum]

If I chase down a huge UFO, can I visit the ship later on or do I have to visit it asap?

You don't have to go immediately, but the crash site will disappear within a couple of days. 36 hours, I think. So if you got something good that's really close to done, you can wait, but you can't wait too long.

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

So is it actually possible to beat this game? I'm on easy and am about 8-10 hours in and have had 2 countries pull out with 3 more close.

I'm getting "very hard" battles now too.

Man.

 

[weekend_warrior]

So is it actually possible to beat this game? I'm on easy and am about 8-10 hours in and have had 2 countries pull out with 3 more close.

I'm getting "very hard" battles now too.

Man.

Yes, very possible.

 

[McNum]

So is it actually possible to beat this game? I'm on easy and am about 8-10 hours in and have had 2 countries pull out with 3 more close.

I'm getting "very hard" battles now too.

Man.

Very Hard battles just means there are more aliens than a Hard or Moderate one.

Sounds to me like you haven't been building satellites fast enough, though. Do you have one in production right now? Maybe two? Perhaps even three? If not, then why not? Launching a satellite over a country is an instant -2 Panic and a block on abductions happening in that country. Keep them in store until the end of a month, though. If any nation is a 5 Panic and you have a satellite ready for launch, then do it. It'll drop to 3 Panic before the monthly report.

Another panic reducer is to capture an Outsider, do the research and production that unlocks and the story mission that pops up when you do. -2 Panic, worldwide. Very effective, but only once.

 

["God's Beard!"]

Hey, I'm having some trouble with the last mission. I cleared the first two rooms no problem, didn't even take damage. But now I'm stuck at the doors on the end, they won't open at all. My

Spoiler

volunteer

has had an enemy sign since the very beginning that won't go away, either. I tried restarting from the main menu and restarting the game but the doors are just glitched.

Is there anything I can do or do I have to restart the mission? Kinda sucks because I was doing really well.

By the way, this is my team for the mission, which seems good enough to me:

Assault(Titan Armor)(Psychic)
Assault(Titan Armor)
Support(Titan Armor)
Support(Titan Armor)(Psychic)
Heavy(Psy Armor)(Psychic)
Sniper(Archangel Armor)

 

[weekend_warrior]

Hey, I'm having some trouble with the last mission. I cleared the first two rooms no problem, didn't even take damage. But now I'm stuck at the doors on the end, they won't open at all. My

Spoiler

volunteer

has had an enemy sign since the very beginning that won't go away, either. I tried restarting from the main menu and restarting the game but the doors are just glitched.

Is there anything I can do or do I have to restart the mission? Kinda sucks because I was doing really well.

By the way, this is my team for the mission, which seems good enough to me:

Assault(Titan Armor)(Psychic)
Assault(Titan Armor)
Support(Titan Armor)
Support(Titan Armor)(Psychic)
Heavy(Psy Armor)(Psychic)
Sniper(Archangel Armor)

The doors stay locked until you've killed all the enemies in a certain area, so I would assume there's still an alien out there someplace you haven't killed, I haven't heard of any door bugs.

 

[Sotha Sil]

Hey, I'm having some trouble with the last mission. I cleared the first two rooms no problem, didn't even take damage.

If I remember correctly, you have to move your

Spoiler

volunteer

next to the closed door; he/she will be able to open it. The same thing happened to me.

 

[weekend_warrior]

Bah, I/I attempt #5 is done. Had a hairy mission where I took a lot of damage but didn't lose anybody, then another abduction popped right after it so I took a bunch of rookies and everything was going fine until 1 aggro'd pack of floaters chained into a another pack of floaters which chained into a pack of sectiods on the other side of the map and I just aborted with 2 killed. Have like 14 countries in the red or gone already, what a mess.

 

["God's Beard!"]

If I remember correctly, you have to move your

Spoiler

volunteer

next to the closed door; he/she will be able to open it. The same thing happened to me.

They were already one of the people next to the door, didn't work.

 

[Sotha Sil]

They were already one of the people next to the door, didn't work.

Weird, I distinctly remember managing to open the central door with the aforementioned unit, but it's been a while...

 

[weekend_warrior]

I/I #6 is a failure, first mission wipeout. Got the construction map with the central crane, did a nice job of flanking around and taking high percentage shots, but the RNG was not with me.

On to #7.

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

Very Hard battles just means there are more aliens than a Hard or Moderate one.

Sounds to me like you haven't been building satellites fast enough, though. Do you have one in production right now? Maybe two? Perhaps even three? If not, then why not? Launching a satellite over a country is an instant -2 Panic and a block on abductions happening in that country. Keep them in store until the end of a month, though. If any nation is a 5 Panic and you have a satellite ready for launch, then do it. It'll drop to 3 Panic before the monthly report.

Another panic reducer is to capture an Outsider, do the research and production that unlocks and the story mission that pops up when you do. -2 Panic, worldwide. Very effective, but only once.

FUnny thing is I played 8 hours in playthrough 1, realized the satellite thing and started over. I have about 6 satellites out and 2 more in production. 3 in countries that now have full panic meters. The very hard missions are taking me 2 or 3 tries and it takes you a good 20 min to know if you need to restart it.

Maybe I'll start over again and do even more satellites.

 

[Cystm]

Here's a few Steam Icons I put together.

 

[GungHo]

Is there an enemy numbers increase beween Classic and Impossible? I'm considering re-starting because I'm not getting enough weapon fragments for research on Normal. I realize the other factors may make the game harder, but at least I'll move my frustrations away from the base and onto the battlefield.

 

[weekend_warrior]

Is there an enemy numbers increase beween Classic and Impossible? I'm considering re-starting because I'm not getting enough weapon fragments for research on Normal. I realize the other factors may make the game harder, but at least I'll move my frustrations away from the base and onto the battlefield.

Maybe a few more enemies but not enough to make a big difference in weapon fragment accumulation. You just have to be more conservative about spending them, sometimes I have no research projects going because I'm saving the weapon fragments for something I want later.

 

[GungHo]

Yeah, I've already decided to just injest my teeth for awhile and skip the laser weapons, because mathematically it seems ridiculous to try to fill that out and fill out plasma.

 

[ShaneB]

Yeah, I've already decided to just injest my teeth for awhile and skip the laser weapons, because mathematically it seems ridiculous to try to fill that out and fill out plasma.

That just seems silly, Laser weapons is generally a top priority for me, definitely a big help.

The more I play, the more useless heavy's feel =/ Would rather just 2 assault,support, snipers.

 

[GungHo]

That just seems silly, Laser weapons is generally a top priority for me, definitely a big help.

It seems like I need to skip one or the other, because I can't seem to fill both. Maybe I'll just do the laser and incrementally get to plasma. I do agree that the laser weapons are much better than the default weapons. I'll check the wiki tonight and see how the laser and plasma actually compare. I know for rifles there's not a big difference, but I do know that the plasma sniper definitelty is an upgrade over the laser sniper.

The more I play, the more useless heavy's feel =/ Would rather just 2 assault,support, snipers.

Once heavies get to their highest ranks (can't remember if it's Colonel or Major) and they get to fire twice in a round, they come into their own. But, getting them there is a real son of a bitch. At the end of the day, an assaulter or supporter will keep themselves valuable through the entire experience. I haven't ever really wanted more than one sniper, though, unless I was just training one up. I certainly have no interest in having one go snapshot over spotting.

 

[So Many Bullets]

That just seems silly, Laser weapons is generally a top priority for me, definitely a big help.

The more I play, the more useless heavy's feel =/ Would rather just 2 assault,support, snipers.

Heavies are probably your most useful and important class. They are your CC. Once you get your heavies to carry two grenades, you can blow a lot of cover and get some really good shots. This opens up more opportunities for your squad sight snipers as well. I try to bring two heavies on any mission I can.

 

[The Stig]

If youre playing classic or above, skipping laser weapons is madness.

 

[weekend_warrior]

I/I attempt #8 ends in a total wipe the first mission. Got the small construction site map with the narrow starting position and crane in the front and tried something I've never done on that map. I flanked everyone around the left side all the way behind that large windowless building and around to the back where I could get on the second floor. The height advantage didn't make any difference as the RNG was joke once again. Aliens tore me apart with every shot, including a couple the must have been around 15%. Didn't help that my rookies were all scrubs, sans for 1 super-solder (75 aim and 59 will! He was the first to die)

On to #9!

 

[Grimsen]

Once heavies get to their highest ranks (can't remember if it's Colonel or Major) and they get to fire twice in a round, they come into their own. But, getting them there is a real son of a bitch. At the end of the day, an assaulter or supporter will keep themselves valuable through the entire experience. I haven't ever really wanted more than one sniper, though, unless I was just training one up. I certainly have no interest in having one go snapshot over spotting.

Heavies become useful when they reach corporal with bullet swarm. Yes, they can shoot twice, which is great, but they can also shoot and take cover, which is very useful on harder difficulties. Explosives are the best OH SHIT moment weapons, especially when your squad isn't very accurate.

Snipers, Assaults and Support classes have a lot of ranks where there is clearly a better ability. Heavies have in my opinion some of the most useful abilities, and every ability at every rank can be a tough choice. Having two Heavies with different abilities is a great way to diversify your team.

Aside from the lieutenant rank HEAT Ammo/Rapid reaction choice which is dumb. HEAT ammo is so much better.

 

[The Stig]

HEAT ammo saves squads.

 

[weekend_warrior]

Made it through #9 first mission with 1 KIA, got the railroad map, key moment came when 2 mind mergers were close to each other, and close enough to my squad that 2 grenades insured 4 kills. Got 2 promotions, heavy and sniper (sniper had 80 aim as rookie, 85 now as squaddie), oddly 1 guy didn't get a promotion despite getting a kill. My platoon of rookies is terrible and I don't expect this campaign to last long.

edit: Mission 2 went good, freeway map, all survived, got a support and assault, heavy to corporeal. 2 sats on the way, workshop coming, UFO mission popped, I have no money left after selling everything so I'm going to need to make $150 off it to get an uplink going.

 

[ShaneB]

Eh, all valid opinions on Heavy's. I guess I do see their usefulness since I keep bringing one along. Just seems like the other classes have done a hell of a lot more for me. My snipers are always killing machines. Guess I'll finally make a serious run at Classic now, since I stormed through easy and Normal.

 

[Remachinate]

If youre playing classic or above, skipping laser weapons is madness.

I couldn't disagree more. The early game is much more about explosives and high-percentage shots/criticals through flanking than high-damage ones. It makes much more sense to avoid Laser tech and rush Arc Throwers after Carapace Armor. This allows you to subdue a Thin Man/Floater and get access to the aim boost of Light Plasma Rifles ASAP.

Once heavies get to their highest ranks (can't remember if it's Colonel or Major) and they get to fire twice in a round, they come into their own. But, getting them there is a real son of a bitch.

You might be confusing heavies with snipers. The former get their double shot as their first upgrade. And heavies are the best class in the game, bar none. Double shooting, AOE, Suppression CC, and guaranteed damage with Danger Zone--their flexibility is unmatched and useful at all levels. I would consider fielding an all-Heavy team if I had the troops.

 

[GungHo]

I'm happy to admit to being occasionally confused, and thanks for all the insights.

 

[weekend_warrior]

Sniper is the best class in the game. Squad sight, in the zone, and near 100% shots every time.