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

Grimsen

Member
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.

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

My vote goes for Assault class. Run&Gun, lightning reflexes, rapid fire, extra health, and crit machines.


Poor Supports. :p
 

ShaneB

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

Pretty much my opinion as well. My snipers are always killing machines, taking out most enemies in one turn, and if not killing, certainly setting them up to be killed. I usually go for double tap however :p
 
I/I # 9 first month over. The UFO mission was a breeze, but I ran into some trouble with an abduction mission afterwards. My sniper was killed in a car explosion, I either wasn't paying attention or it blew up randomly, then my heavy was flanked and killed as we regrouped on the Arby's rooftop. It was looking pretty grim with just my assault and support left versus about 6 aliens, but then the assault went into beast mode. Chewing through sectoids and quite possibly saving the entire human species. It was rough, but we made it. The 4 scientists halved the time to carapace and now at the start or month 2 we're in decent shape. Got 3 sats up, lost 2 countries, carapace armour, and some spending money. Soldier outlook it a little down, only 2 promoted soldiers left, but I have a couple of solid rookies I can use for the time being. Onward and forward! Upwards not backwards, and whirling, always whirling!

EDIT: Well, never-fucking-mind. My interceptor was shot down trying to take down a medium UFO, which means I don't have enough money or time to get an uplink up this month, which means I'm totally fucked. Cheers.
 

Branson

Member
Full squad wipe. Ironman. Took out some of my best people on a moderate difficulty mission. Feels bad. :(. Shit just got fucked.
 
started a new game and have I got a super squad of rookies!

51 will, 75 aim
59 will, 80 aim
47 will, 70 aim
57 will, 80 aim

:O

EDIT: Awesome starting squad, awesome rookie platoon, 2 steam vents right next to each other on the second floor, good starting money, everything was going so good I knew something shitty was going to happen, and it did. First abduction mission came with 24 days left, not enough time to get a workshop then uplink up. FFS. My only hope is that I can get a 2nd abduction before the 14 day mark.

EDIT: Rough 2nd mission, lost a support and rookie, on that Arby's map again, and again using the rooftop ans targeting mind mergers my assault was able to rack up kills.
 

Mazre

Member
Getting some traction in my current C/I run, no other modifiers. Most of the way through May, full squad, carapace armor, lasers researched and slowly coming on line, low squad turn over. Have the outsider captured and 0 countries lost with satellites rolling out steadily.
 
Feeling pretty good about this game again. Got a council mission which I was able to take care of, only 2 countries in the red, an abduction mission which hopefully will only send 1 more, and a group of fucking awesome soldiers. My sergeant sniper has an aim of 100 already, and all the corps are at 75 or better.
 
Guys I never played similar game to this one, but after hearing about it so much I'm thinking of getting it :)

So any tips/advices for a new player?
 
Guys I never played similar game to this one, but after hearing about it so much I'm thinking of getting it :)

So any tips/advices for a new player?

  • Play on Normal/Non-Ironman
  • Turn on the tutorial to get a feel for the controls
  • Lots of advice and info at the wikia and on youtube
  • Build satellites, they are your source of income.
  • Have fun, stay safe, and kick some alien ass!
 
Beat the first terror mission on Impossible. Went smoothly until the very end. I miscalculated the tiles to a Chryssalid and my assault took a hard shot, he survived but i stupidly moved him back to that spot a few turns later. A floater was a round the corner and I set everyone to overwatch but a another Chryssalid ran out setting them all off, that left the floater a close shot on the assault and he hit it. The assault was criticaled but didn't die, and I had no med-kits. Fortunately I was able to end the round before he died. I'm now about halfway through the 2nd month. Got carapace and beam weapons (no LMGs or snipers though), a good squad of troops, officer school, containment, lost 2 countries, poised to lose 1 or 2 more, haven't decided if I want to keep the US with my last sat or put it on Africa for the 30% bonus. Going pretty good though.
 

The Stig

Member
so the teleport bug. this is when enemies "teleport" from nowhere?

think I finally just encountered it.

see the sectopod in the top left corner? popped in just as this turn started. think I'll just scrape out fine but as you can imagine I had cleared the room of elites and was closing in on an ethereal capture and all looks well...............

then BAM

2013020400001.jpg
 

crispyben

Member
Argh, I only want to shoot down a Large Scout before I can enter the Gollop chamber, and of course it finally appears over North America right as I return from a Battleship assault... Except I shot down said Battleship over North America with my lone Firestorm, which is currently out of order because it took heavy damage even with Dodge and EMP :(

Does anyone know how often the Large Scout UFO pops up? Can I reload a save from the Geoscape continuously until it shows up? Thanks.
 

Shantom

Member
Just finished the game. Apart from the awful (awfully long) last mission I really enjoyed it. Hopefully they can patch the multiplayer to something a bit more playable soon.
 

ShaneB

Member
Just finished the game. Apart from the awful (awfully long) last mission I really enjoyed it. Hopefully they can patch the multiplayer to something a bit more playable soon.

For multiplayer, I wish they would've have just had it be set templates for teams, figured that would've made it much easier to balance. Basically just have 10 or so team setups and that's what you pick from.
 

The Stig

Member
So how would I go about Mind Controlling an Ethereal? I had one down to 1HP a psi assault COL with psi armor. I think his will is about 80 (then +20).

and he only had 1% chance of MCing. will a mind shield make a difference? and what else can I do to up the % next time?
 
So how would I go about Mind Controlling an Ethereal? I had one down to 1HP a psi assault COL with psi armor. I think his will is about 80 (then +20).

and he only had 1% chance of MCing. will a mind shield make a difference? and what else can I do to up the % next time?

Combat drugs (Upgrade on a support, +20 will I thnk) and the consumable you get from beserkers (Stimulatn) will also pop up your will for a couple of turns.

I don't think damage factors into MC.
 
Combat drugs (Upgrade on a support, +20 will I thnk) and the consumable you get from beserkers (Stimulatn) will also pop up your will for a couple of turns.

I don't think damage factors into MC.

Psi Inspiration (+30), combat stims, and mind shield (+30) all add to will. I think you take a big hit in mind control % when you have lower will then the target, so you want to at least match the Ethereal will (120-155 depending on difficulty)
 

The Stig

Member
ok, got a sniper with 92 will +20 psi armor, +20 mind shield. He also has psi inspiration.

Started a mission where I shot down a large ship last night, will finish it later today, hopefully after MCing an ethereal....
 

The Stig

Member
cpt jackie chan was the op who was going to do the MCing. psi inspiration, mind shield, combat stims.

it failed.

chan and dundee were in full cover behind the bulkhead of a battleship but in the next turn the ethereal attacked dundee.

1 hit kill.

next turn I tried again, failed and BLEW THAT MOTHER TO PIECES.
 

The Stig

Member
just downed a ship with 6 crew. used psi inspiration on one soldier, hit the ethereal with mindfray and then MCed him. Hit chance was a whopping 91%, and thats without combat drugs or stim!

Col. Billy Connolly (psychic sniper) was the man to get it done.

edit - he did have psi armor and a mind shield tho
 
Had a real fucking mess with a downed UFO mission. All it was was a small scout but apparently this this too much stress for my squad because at the first exchange of fire they all fucking started panicking and shooting each other. Lost a Lt and Sgt heavy and a rookie. What a goddamn joke.

edit: abduction mission afterwards, lost 2 more rookies.
 

Mxrz

Member
The difficulty levels still bother me. I never have enough money on Classic for all the cool toys, and Normal is too easy to be interesting. Always wanted to try a full stealth-armor squad, but that $240 price. Geh.

so the teleport bug. this is when enemies "teleport" from nowhere?

I have it happen every time i do that 1st ethereal mission. Outside of it, I've only seen a few times.
 
The difficulty levels still bother me. I never have enough money on Classic for all the cool toys, and Normal is too easy to be interesting. Always wanted to try a full stealth-armor squad, but that $240 price. Geh.



I have it happen every time i do that 1st ethereal mission. Outside of it, I've only seen a few times.

I just started my Classic playthrough today, and it looks like it's going to be too hard for me... which sucks, because Normal is way too easy. :/
 

The Stig

Member
training up my squad for the final mission.

finally got 6 psychics and none that have suffered grave wounds. 2 snipers, 2 heavies, a support and an assault. just getting them up to Colonel ranks.
 

Dunkelgrau

Member
Played the demo on steam today because everyone seems to love this game. The art-design is really terrible. I mean those aliens, WTF?! They look like the ones everyone was talking about 1970 or something. Beside the art design the graphics are really terrible. I am a huge sci-fi-fan and XCom seems to have some very interesting gameplay-mechanics, but I am not sure about this game.
 

The Stig

Member
give it a chance, it's worth it

training up my squad for the final mission.

finally got 6 psychics and none that have suffered grave wounds. 2 snipers, 2 heavies, a support and an assault. just getting them up to Colonel ranks.

think I'll dump the assault for a 2nd support, I dont want any deaths and the heavys will do the real damage
 

McNum

Member
]blacky[;47573870 said:
Played the demo on steam today because everyone seems to love this game. The art-design is really terrible. I mean those aliens, WTF?! They look like the ones everyone was talking about 1970 or something. Beside the art design the graphics are really terrible. I am a huge sci-fi-fan and XCom seems to have some very interesting gameplay-mechanics, but I am not sure about this game.
The game draws heavily on UFO lore, so yes, those are the Greys and the Men in Black
and the Reptilliians
. It's on purpose. The soldiers are made in an action figure style, so make them easy to read from overhead view. The guns are silly-huge, but it makes them easy to see.

The demo, sadly, does not give a very good indication on what the game can really do. With just premade soldiers, no real research and manufacturing and no strategic mode, it's really missing a lot. When you're sitting on the last of a month and have to decide between Brazil and France as you only have one sattelite left to reduce panic with, but one of those two will leave XCOM unless you make a show of support right now, then youll know the full game. It also hurts a lot more to lose a soldier in the full game than in the demo. And the late game enemies can wipe out a squad quite fast if you aren't careful and pay attention.
 

Dunkelgrau

Member
The game draws heavily on UFO lore, so yes, those are the Greys and the Men in Black
and the Reptilliians
. It's on purpose. The soldiers are made in an action figure style, so make them easy to read from overhead view. The guns are silly-huge, but it makes them easy to see.

The demo, sadly, does not give a very good indication on what the game can really do. With just premade soldiers, no real research and manufacturing and no strategic mode, it's really missing a lot. When you're sitting on the last of a month and have to decide between Brazil and France as you only have one sattelite left to reduce panic with, but one of those two will leave XCOM unless you make a show of support right now, then youll know the full game. It also hurts a lot more to lose a soldier in the full game than in the demo. And the late game enemies can wipe out a squad quite fast if you aren't careful and pay attention.
Thank you.

Found it for 20 Bucks via Gamesrocket here in germany. Bought it. Hope I can connive the graphics and the art design.
 

Fersis

It is illegal to Tag Fish in Tag Fishing Sanctuaries by law 38.36 of the GAF Wildlife Act
So i lost my campaign.
I haven't lost a game in years!

Gotta admit that i had a smile during the 'defeat' cutscene.
 

sixghost

Member
I'm in the middle of a great Classic Ironman game at the moment. I decided to try a new strategy, and started in NA, then dropped satellites in all 3 African territories to get the 30% bonus, instead of starting there. Random economy was on and I got the luckiest draw imaginable. Egypt and SA were $180 and $140, and when the bonus kicked in I was making $900 a month in maybe the 3rd month of the game.

I've lost one important soldier. I still have a major, 2 LTs, and 4-5 SGTs or CPLs and just finished research on the last set of laser weapons. I've really put off the critical missions, I don't even have a containment facility yet, but I captured the outsider.

I've never actually made it past the alien base mission on classic, but I don't think I've ever been this well off before. In a few days I'll get another influx of cash and will be able to unlock all the Officer training things. This is probably the best chance I'll ever have to beat this mode, I almost want to start another game just to see what the back half of the game is like so I don't fuck it up.
 

Sentenza

Gold Member
So, are you guys actually enjoying playing the campaign more than once?
Because I'm trying, from time to time, but compared to the original one this game feels so forced into binaries I can't really enjoy any sense of novelty out of my new games.
 

Alo81

Low Poly Gynecologist
So, are you guys actually enjoying playing the campaign more than once?
Because I'm trying, from time to time, but compared to the original one this game feels so forced into binaries I can't really enjoy any sense of novelty out of my new games.

I think the early game is the funnest because it's a lot more manageable.

I had one run that I ditched because it was my first try so not great and going poorly, second run was going well, but I found myself reloading too often so I started a 3rd iron man run.

I find early game really fun.
 

Sentenza

Gold Member
I think the early game is the funnest because it's a lot more manageable.

I had one run that I ditched because it was my first try so not great and going poorly, second run was going well, but I found myself reloading too often so I started a 3rd iron man run.

I find early game really fun.
well, just to be clear, I like the combat and all (even if it has its flaws, like lines of sight that work as they want and so on), but it's really the management/strategic layer that doesn't click for me.
I went through that part in my first playthrough barely complaining about everything, but now I'm noticing that there is essentially no freedom in it. I have to go with a certain order of progression to be effective.

As I said in this very thread several weeks ago I can't even tell what they were aiming for exactly, as the goal was apparently to "streamline the game" and yet research, manufacture and base building are now actually more unintuitive, convoluted and restricted by arbitrary rules than ever before.
 

Grimsen

Member
So, are you guys actually enjoying playing the campaign more than once?
Because I'm trying, from time to time, but compared to the original one this game feels so forced into binaries I can't really enjoy any sense of novelty out of my new games.

Yup. Finished it multiple times. Trying different team builds, and playing on classic or impossible, depending on my mood.

If I run into a map I'Ve played a lot before, I just take a different approach to it.

It's really time we got more content, though.
 

sixghost

Member
well, just to be clear, I like the combat and all (even if it has its flaws, like lines of sight that work as they want and so on), but it's really the management/strategic layer that doesn't click for me.
I went through that part in my first playthrough barely complaining about everything, but now I'm noticing that there is essentially no freedom in it. I have to go with a certain order of progression to be effective.

As I said in this very thread several weeks ago I can't even tell what they were aiming for exactly, as the goal was apparently to "streamline the game" and yet research, manufacture and base building are now actually more unintuitive, convoluted and restricted by arbitrary rules than ever before.

There is plenty of freedom in your research paths. Are you playing the game on classic? Playing on normal it didn't matter what I researched since the game was so easy, but playing on classic really requires you to optimize your research patterns like a game of StarCraft or something. I'm on my 12th ironman classic game and I constantly find more efficient paths of research each time I play. You really need to plan out exactly how many engineers you need to manufacture stuff or how many scientists you need, or whether you eschew all that and try to expand early and get 5 satellites as soon as possible.

Classic really put the pressure on when it comes to researching.
 

Hindle

Banned
This is such an awesome game. I'm on easy mode yet it's still hard lol. Just doing the final mission, dam it's cool having a tooled up squad.

I'm planning on an impossible run through after this, I'll get slaughtered lol.
 
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