XCOM: Enemy Unknown

[HopAlongBunny]

It is interesting how a RNG and an investment of time can have us attribute personalities/histories to pixels

[Monk]

It is interesting how a RNG and an investment of time can have us attribute personalities/histories to pixels

Best part about gaming if you ask me.

[Arjos]

Finished on CI and meh the ending was ok, for what Monk said, but the events leading to it, let me down a bit...

Still great game and can't wait for the DLC with the missions in China ^^
Off to find mods or MP games now lol
Since in the endgame, even on CI, you become pretty much unbeatable XD

[HopAlongBunny]

You ppl are embarrassing me!

I'm still slogging away at normal :p

[Monk]

I have to say I wish this game was about twice as long as it is. I know what you're thinking. "Monk, you spent 40 hours on a single playthrough, how the heck can you want MORE."

There's a point in the game where if you're playing well, you turn a corner, and so long as nothing utterly disastrous happens you really can't lose, like Arjos said, you become unbeatable. I mean yes, Sectopods are scary and Ethereals are a real pain, but by the time you get to that point you have so many safety nets that as long as you don't lose 5 of your squad, back to back, you're fine. It's a far cry from the early game where every shot, every grenade, every moment is a tense struggle for survival against the simplest of enemies. Once you hit Titan armor you can really play pretty fast and loose with your soldiers with almost no negative consequences to your actions, as long as the aliens can't frontload like, 20 damage a turn, nothing can really kill you. You'll always be able to put down some cover fire, fall back and heal up. I guess that's why Sectopods are so dangerous and have such cheap abilities, they are literally the only things, minus mind control units, that can kill you after you get Titan.

There simply comes a point where the tension that the game builds so beautifully in the early game gets lost. In some ways that's incredible because now it's time to throw the aliens off your world. Payback is a and all that, but I had way more fun when it was me and a half dozen, outmatched grunts against the unknown. A fight where every square could reveal a new and deadly enemy that I've never seen before. I don't know.

I think if they ever make an expansion or a DLC that is a continuation of the story (not the upcoming DLC that is a side-story) I think they should really work hard to throw you back into that tense feeling. Some kind of strategic layer consequence needs to be there that shakes you out of your comfort zone, even when you're rocking full titan. I know they had trouble getting Base Invasions to work and those would have accomplished exactly what I am talking about. It doesn't have to be invasions, but it needs to be something.




tl;dr the first 4 months of the game are some of the most engaging and tense action i've ever had as a gamer, and the late game simply cannot compare.

[HopAlongBunny]

I do hope they publish a patch to deal with some of the LOS issues.

Running through the "Temple ship" I've had some bizarre results. My assault revealed a cpl of Mutons and took one down. On the next turn the remaining Muton blasts me; I move up the follow-on units-none of which can "see" the Muton (although it should have been in clear sight of at least 2)-so no shots fired. My assault moves the 3tiles to get adjacent for a "Rapid-fire" execution-Muton disappears from screen. End turn and Muton blasts my assault into oblivion-wth!

Issues like these will keep me from ever bothering with "Iron-man".

[Papewaio]

The orginal game allowed multiple bases. Add to that they were from a plan view it would have been easier to have base attacks with consequences but not neccesarily a game wipe for a loss.

It was interesting when a radar installation came under attack by an alien battleship with only a squad of four rookies in basic armour and laser rifles. Because in the old one you had to worry about ammunition, laser weapons had unlimited ammo and were great for base defence. Or one of your manufacturing hubs came under attack... Those bases generated more income then the council of nations and as such had a dozen well equipped veterans and a couple of tanks to guard them... I pity the fool alien for attacking those bases... It was more like alien alloy delivery then a butt kicking.

[HopAlongBunny]

I think it was Pape that pointed out satellites are key. My last playthrough sats kept me flush and my bottleneck was with elementium.

It seems once you get good coverage and some Firestorms the whole game settles down.

The game is addictive :) Started a "Classic" run through and have revealed the vast limits of my knowledge...

[HopAlongBunny]

Good luck :) I have had games go sideways at the point you are at. A ramp up in alien firepower and a bad mission can blow it all up.

A real upside to the game is you can never get sloppy; its a bit of a tight-rope right up until you are packing the best of the best in every slot.

[HopAlongBunny]

Owee!

Nice to get the base out of the way though :) With luck you'll have a few easier missions to cultivate some squaddies into higher ranks.

I like how you have to pay attention to all the pipelines: research, personnel, air cover; to keep things moving forward.

[johnhughthom]

Running fine on my PS3, only issues seem to be the universal problems, shooting through walls, animation clipping etc.

[Greyblades]

I have to say I don't like how when your men die you lose the equipment they were carrying. You're telling me you couldn't retrieve the body after clearing the map!? I spent a small fortune on that titan armour, dang it!

[HopAlongBunny]

Are you sure you lost the equipment?

I have not seen that (so far) I find that all the equipment just goes into "storage" when someone dies or ends up in the infirmary.

I am a little annoyed that when my medic gets killed I can't nab the Medkits from his body during the same mission.

[Greyblades]

Trust me I've lost way too many arc throwers and medkits due to my hapless goons ending the turn out in the open just to heal a veteran or snag those valuable live alien specimens, losing titan armour or plasma sniper rifles, while rare, is one heck of a noticeable blow.

I had a funny moment when I finished the game:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I had two men in critical condition awaiting medkits when my sniper finally took down that last boss and I ended up watching a cutscene where the two remaining members of my team, a medic and a sniper, hauled ass and left thier friends bleeding on the bridge of a doomed mothership. No man left behind, this outfit 'aint.

[HopAlongBunny]

Ghost Armor + (Run+Gun) = Awesome! :)

[HopAlongBunny]

You should be all set; the Sectopods are nasty! (I save at least one rocket for them) All you can really do is keep spread out and blast with everything you've got.

The final encounter is actually easier than it looks but I don't want to give anything away. Just use anything to even the score; one run through I mind-controlled the Mutons and that gave me time to get up close and personal with the Ethereals.

[HopAlongBunny]

I think I'm up to 3 complete run-throughs; In any case, I've had 2 Psionic soldiers each time. I take the time to test every soldier on my roster (including Rookies)

I also give everyone a Mind shield thingy; I hate having my soldiers shooting their friends; usefulness is questionable though-I have only seen 1 attempt blocked.

[Arjos]

Is it possible to have more than one Psionic soldier?

If you mean, soldiers with the powers to mind control etc, yes, they aren't common, but you can have a few (I had a complete team of 6 for example)...
If you meant the soldier, who can access the ethereal device, I do not know tbh, didn't lost mine, so I've no idea whether another can take his place...

As for the final battle:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I had my sniper right in the middle, when I accessed the last room...
Heavy got in and shot, with holo-targeting, then squadsight took care of the rest lol
All you need to do is kill the boss, the rest of the aliens can be ignored :)

[HopAlongBunny]

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Yay!

[Monk]

If you mean, soldiers with the powers to mind control etc, yes, they aren't common, but you can have a few (I had a complete team of 6 for example)...
If you meant the soldier, who can access the ethereal device, I do not know tbh, didn't lost mine, so I've no idea whether another can take his place...

As for the final battle:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I had my sniper right in the middle, when I accessed the last room...
Heavy got in and shot, with holo-targeting, then squadsight took care of the rest lol
All you need to do is kill the boss, the rest of the aliens can be ignored :)

The last fight was a bit.. anticlimactic for me. I just identified which was the "boss" and let my Squad Sight, Double Tap Sniper (with a Plasma Sniper Rifle) have at it. Two crits for 19 damage each. Nothing says "Welcome to Earth" quite like that.

As for the double Sectopods, that's where rolling with two heavies really comes into play. A Heavy Plasma Rifle with HEAT rounds does like 13-16 damage on a non-crit to sectopods. Two heavies with bulletstorm? Dear lord, the amount of damage you're putting out is insane. The trick is getting them into position and not getting killed by the magical beam of death.

[HopAlongBunny]

The last fight was tough. I was lucky because the boss mind-controlled a heavy; I hate mind-control so I just focused on that Ethereal. I was shocked/relieved when everything disappeared as soon as it died :)

That encounter becomes almost trivial once you learn the "trick".

[HopAlongBunny]

The jump normal=>classic is huge. Playing normal you might have a couple of fights where the aliens are really tough; on Classic the AI has raised its game for every fight, and (as you note) there are more of them. I have yet to complete a game on Classic :(

[HopAlongBunny]

Tactically it seems to be safer to use a standard "pull to kill group"; I really like SHIV's for pulling (cheap and no skills to lose) You will lose ppl, so it is nice to "cultivate" 2 full squads to try and keep a good flow of quality troops to the front.

Strategically, you start in a deeper hole. The balancing act firepower/armour/air cover becomes a lot more important.

[Sir Moody]

a few helpful tips when it comes to equipment which helps when playing classic

Which armour should I be using

Ghost > Titan

Titan armour may seem great - the massive hp boost would make this the best armour right? well no...

Ghost armour has a grapple, can phase (hiding you) and comes with a built in +30 defense - the equivalent of being in low cover when in the open... better still you can use one of the hp boosting items to put it ahead of titan in hp... its win win

The same is true of skeleton and Carapace - Skeleton comes with a grapple and +15 defense

Who should be equipping the Arc Thrower

I spent most my first run through giving this to my shotgun wielding assaults - I realized part way through my second run through I was doing it totally wrong - by giving the Assaults Arc throwers I couldn't give them HP boosting equipment which meant they would often spend more time in the med bay (when your soldiers take damage if the damage is less than the Armour + Item hp boost they wont have to go to the med bay) since they were nearly always the closest to the aliens and thus drew more fire.

The best soldier to receive the Arc Thrower is the Support (preferable with Sprint) - why? once they level enough you can give them a med kit and a arc thrower - allowing them to fill both roles - and with sprint they don't have to be quite so close so they will (hopefully) draw less fire

alternatively they should be used by Recruits/Squadies since they are more "disposable"

How do I maximize my Psi soldiers

the power of a Psi trooper is directly related to their will - the higher their will the stronger their psi attack (and defense).

if you want to maximize the Psi troopers (to mind control an Ethereal for example) you will want to give them Psi Armour and a Mind shield (which doesn't just add to psi defense - it is actually the equivalent of the psi amp from the classic game) and use the Psi Inspire ability the turn before

truthfully however this isn't required

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

outside of the final mission where having +will is incredible helpful

Most of the time you don't need more than the occasional Mind fray for a hard to hit biological and it is generally better to not focus on Psionics at all

[Lemur]

Dang it, all of you going on about this game ... I suppose I may have to buy it. I'm guessing there's low to no chance of a Steam sale between now and Christmas?

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

Ask and you shall receive - the turducken weekend-ish sale includes XCOM for $34.

[Xiahou]

Ask and you shall receive - the turducken weekend-ish sale includes XCOM for $34.

Sold!

I've been waiting for a sale to justify buying this.

[Lemur]

Yup, $34 for a new A-list game is more than fair. Done and done.

And now I'm off to visit relatives for three days. But when I come back ...

[HopAlongBunny]

... some thin men bastards will get a series of lucky crits on my experienced troops.

Misery loves company!

[Papewaio]

In CI you have to remember it is best to hunker down for a turn then move the last person into a new line of sight.

Classic is all about cover and situational modifications. For instance skeleton suit adds +10 defence so it is actually better then carapace for overall defence. Combine that with hard cover and you had +50 defence. Suppress enemy flankers to reduce their aim by -30 and wham the enemy are -80% to hit you.

However when it comes to enemies with area of effect weapons which always have a 90 or 100% chance to hit your best defence is back off and overwatch or kill 'em quick. So I reserve my rockets and grenades for thin man and mutons. Also don't fret about thin men poison cloud it is minimal damage (1 per turn for 3/4 turns) much better then a plasma shot to the face.

Early on medi kits are expensive and one shot. A grenade is a better option until you get at least a sprinter medic. Later when you have more advanced specialists and tougher aliens the damage value of grenades diminish. However their secondary effect of removing cover is great. A grenade is handy for wall breaches to see who is on the other side and to provide a quick exit.

The best cover in the game is the silver alien pods. Hard cover that I've yet to see been blown up. On the other hand cars used to kill half my troops. Do not have a person behind a vehicle fire on an alien then another person further back fire along the same track. If they miss and hit the vehicle your guy is hiding behind they now cannot move away and they face certain death when the vehicle blows up at the start of your next turn. Only way to save them is to kill all the aliens before your next turn... Not a great plan B. For that reason it is often good to grenade a forward vehicle to make it blow up and then run upto the wreck for cover.