Oh we do! Just not our wallets! :P
I have to avoid getting too hyped up and wait for a steam sale XD
Though I'm definitely way more interested in this, than The Bureau...
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Oh we do! Just not our wallets! :P
I have to avoid getting too hyped up and wait for a steam sale XD
Though I'm definitely way more interested in this, than The Bureau...
As do I. The mech class sounds like it would be fun to play as opposed to the SHIVs.
Plus flamethrowers. :bounce:
I agree on all counts. The time, effort and resources wasted on the Bureau could have and should have been applied to XCOM EU, there is just so much untapped potential here.
With just more maps (god I hate seeing the same ones even after just one play through, that was just beyond stupid), some time spent doing a better job fleshing out interception (which right now is just a placeholder), a more robust strategic layer (right now it's build satellites and launch them, that's it), and base invasion they'd have taken quite a few steps towards taking advantage of the position they have in breaking open this IP again.
What they've done instead for about the last year appears to be the production of a fairly modest DLC. I mean I'll take what I can get, I might even pay 30 bucks for it (probably not, I'll still be up in my eyeballs in R2 in Nov).
I'm glad to see they are still developing for it. As everyone who has played and liked it has noticed, there's so much potential untapped. It's hard for me to not wonder why Firaxis isn't putting more behind this, because for my money, Civ 5 is played out, you either feel like you're on board with the byzantine number of decisions they've forced the game down along with the insane clutter of the map now, or you're not (you can no doubt guess which camp I'm in). But wasting more time putting out more DLC on that in my eyes is just stupid when there's so much low hanging fruit to be developed on XCOM.
Ah well, such is life, just thought I'd bring it to everyone's attention it's coming.
Interesting interview over on RPS:
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013...hin-interview/
I'm torn - it sounds like they want to add meaningful stuff, but it also doesn't sound like they care much about balance. I guess we'll know for sure when it's out.
Finally got started on this game, its quite challenging I must say. The AI seems to be quite good.
Shame I accidentally uninstalled the game/lost my savegame file and now I cant play until I get back to campus on a strong internet connection.
Had no idea about this game until I saw Day[9] get *massacred* at it on Classic Ironman a few times before he just quit. I was playing Shadowrun Returns at the time and discovering a love for tactical shooters I didnt know I had so I thought "heck why not" and bought XCOM.
Beat the Classic Ironman a few weeks ago after 22 attempts (although at least 10 of those were me losing guys left and right at mission 1 and going the coward's route of retrying - yeah, I still suck). I gotta say I had a feeling I'd like the game based on what I saw in the LetsPlay, but I did not expect to fall completely in love with it. Holy hell does this game not joke around. I loved the constant tension and the progression of difficulty (new gear vs new enemies). In fact the only two letdowns were the endfight in the base assault and the endfight in the last level - the only really terribly balanced thing seems to be Squadsight (+Double Tap), which essentially turns your snipers into I-win-machines, esp against sole enemies with high hp. So no using Squadsight in the impossible playthrough ^^
I actually like the sort of simplied macromanagement aspect of the game. I got plenty of 1990's gamer frustration from the actual missions, and that's before the alien material gets a half-life. It struck a nice balance of not being too long and complex, while still maintaining the merciless fun/frustration-balance perfectly. Had a mission where 3 of my corporals were off-duty due to being nearly dead, so I sent a bunch of squaddies and corporals into the first mission featuring a Sectopod! Throw in a couple of Sectoid Commanders aggroed accidently and the mission was a blast! I ended up with 4 guys with 2 health left, but no casualties or critical wounds (taking the Will penalty). Next mission, all I face are Floaters and Thin Men - and 2 Thin Men flank my Colonel Sniper and wound her critically! Got lazy for a second, instant punishment. Good going, game! Dammit that Will penalty hurt when she later became my "defensive" Psi user.
It was quite fascinating how you slowly develop a care for certain soldiers that have saved your entire squad in pinced situations. I spat Coke all over my keyboard when the infamous sniper Tong Hi Lao was insta-gibbed in a council mission by a drop-in Thin Man. That guy was my best soldier! Too bad for me, suck it up and train a new Sniper. Funnily enough my new sniper squaddie by the name "Emily King" ended up saving me later by landing 3 35% shots in a row on Mutons in the train-mission, prompting me to rename her "Emilia Rex". She later became the first soldier in Archangel armor and earned the nickname "Angelica", which I found quite fitting, because of....
... am I playing "the Sims" in alien invasion space?
Game was good, looking forward to an expansion. If nothing else then for some more map variation.
Yeah, that's a testament to a great game in my opinion, it creates great emergent stories about what happened that players are itching tell other players about. This game is full of those moments. The tension is well balanced especially in the tactical side, I wish they'd done just a bit more on the strategic (it comes down too much to just launching sats).
It's probably been my favorite game over the last year and I look forward to new content and hope Firaxis keeps giving it some love.
From the sounds of things the main creative forces behind Enemy Unknown have left development and went on to other things. The lead on Enemy Within isn't the same as the ones who made the base game. That may be the reason new content has been a long time in the making..Quote:
Originally Posted by Gelatinous Cube
So yeah... a lot of people have noted how much harder "Classic" is than "Normal".
Let me just for the record state that "Impossible" feels like 3 times that gap atm. My Classic squad was made up of 2 assaults, 2 snipers, a heavy and a support, with the assaults spearheading to scout for mobs, letting the rest move in peace. Assaults are a great class to gear up due to their sick mobility with Run and Gun - and Im now considering not using any at all! Enemies seem to hit *every single shot* at medium range and they come in legions instead of packs. Assaults just die. Instantly. I dont think even Titan Armor with Chitin Plating would stop this, and I used Ghost Armor on Classic. My previously so graceful idea of not using Squadsight is also being seriously reconsidered, not because of "bossfights" but because of Thin Men. They are surprisingly terrifying when they pack 6 health instead of the usual 4. Add their annoying +hit modifier from Impossible and their stupidly powerful Light Plasmas in mission 3 and let the nightmare commence. The game does - not - joke - around. Also panic levels... yeah. Forget all about going for continent bonuses. Pick the 30% credits-per-month continent, you will never unlock it by satellites.
I wonder what Mutons will be like. I have yet to get anywhere close to seeing them :) Playing again has let me to get quite excited for the expansion, mostly due to the limited map pool. Its really starting to show itself. Takes a lot of the appeal out of the game when you "learn" most of the maps. I know its unavoidable, but for once I would seriously consider investing in a map pool DLC.
A little more from RPS:
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013...-enemy-within/
Enemy Within sounds like a beast :)
I've pre-ordered. Wasn't going to, but found it at GMG for 20 bucks. I'll get value out of that with just one complete campaign, and I know, just know, I'll play it through more than once. :yes:
So after 15 or so tries Ive made it to see my first Muton. I don't know how I made it through Classic without ever really utilizing Hunker Down, but I rely heavily on it for Impossible. Got a good game going atm, I believe I might make it to the base assault, yay. Also Assaults are still gods, they just aren't immortal anymore. I engaged in learning!
And here I thought I'd pretty much "mastered the game" after a Classic win. Pfff! No Hunker Down. Frowning at Supression. Rushing to gear everyone in medkits, SCOPEs or Nanovests, leaving no grenades in the squad. Thinking that the 100%-crit bonus from Ghosting was "kinda cute I guess". I've learned so much more from this that I laugh at my own past inferior tactical self! Did I ever miss games that give me that feeling again (Thief 4, Im staring myself blind at you).
Pre-ordering was unavoidable.
Been spending a lot of time updating servers and fixing stuff, during which I've spent an irresponsible amount of time finding good XCOM series. If you're struggling with higher difficulties or just enjoy watching different ways to approach the game like me then I recommend these following series:
Beaglerush's Ironman Impossible is a comedic post-play commentary on Beaglerush's IM/Imp playthrough in fast-forward. Well worth a watch for the entertainment value alone, but it's clear he knows his stuff.
Beaglerush's Live and Impossible is a standard Letsplay with commentary from the same guy. He cranked the Second Wave-difficulty to "no oh god please don't" and commented on the experience.
Marbozir's IM/Imp Letsplay is another Second Wave-Impossible Ironman with a slightly more aggressive approach than standard. Given my lust for Assaults I like his style, plus he taught me how to effectively use Heavies in Impossible.
Sean "Day[9]" Plott's XCOM Classic Ironman Day-off is a Letsplay from the closest thing Starcraft-players have to an Obi-wan'ish mentor. His masterful RTS skills don't always convey to other genres, which, when mixed with his sense of humour, makes for some solid entertainment. I recommend checking it out at least up to the end of part 2 as to experience why Anna Sing is the funniest thing ever concieved by mortals.
The latest game play footage has me convinced this is going to be good stuff gentleman.
I went back to play the game; warm-up for the new content.
Gawd I suck! :dizzy2:
Must play more!!!
Yeah, I believe you award them instead of having them handed out by the game itself like a run of the mill achievement. I'll be interested to see how exactly they've implemented it. It will be a nice touch.
I foresee some real heartache over losing troopers in this one, you get a member of your team all spliced up and enhanced only to loose him/her on a mission, that's going to leave a mark as you start over from scratch.
Late to the party, but anyone who is a fan and hasn't watched beagle's Ironman Impossible is doing themselves a real disservice. His tactics are really sound (for the most part) and when they are not, he's really good at explaining why things work and why they don't. The humor is top notch too, but that's subjective so you may not enjoy it as much as me.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jarmam
Enemy Within looks like it's absolutely wonderful, but if the mech-troopers are as powerful as people are saying I may be bumping up to impossible to keep the challenge going. We'll see. Can't wait to get my hands on it either way.
I suspect getting a Mec is going to be expensive and/or time consuming, and it is a commitment you can't go back on, and losing them means starting over. So I don't know that they are OP necessarily given how much will probably be entailed in getting one, I might forego that route and splice soldiers instead.
Besides, it's not like the aliens aren't fielding one of their own that's a counter to this. :yes:
Based on your recommendation, I'm going to make some time to look at the vid, I'm intrigued now.
Ok, just finished watching the first two missions, this guy is tactically sound and absolutely hilarious. Love it.
So, does he do the entire campaign?
Apparently Base Defense is back in some form in Enemy Within:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...type=1&theater
(Direct link to image from the 2k Facebook account: http://imgur.com/9Vmoqyx)
Yeah, I that's going to come into play because there's a human group with a different agenda than xcom who turn up as an additional adversary.
if the final mission is against a Col. Maybourne I may have to just throw in the towel right then and there.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gelatinous Cube
As a result of these comments I've decided that the naming convention for my first play through will be StarGate!
I anticipate Maybourne taking point early on and catching one in the forehead. haha
Well you have to get to Col first otherwise its just the son...
True enough. haha In which case I'd probably be stuck working to keep him alive.
May have to reconsider that name, but there are plenty of others in the Stargate universe!
Remember: Col. Jack O'neill. Two L's. There's another O'Neil with only one L. He doesn't have a sense of humor.Quote:
Originally Posted by easytarget
Now I feel left out from not having watched said show :(
There are those of us who are stuck having to rename Malcolm Reynolds every time he gets promoted to Major.
As long as his nickname is "Tightpants" does it really matter?Quote:
Originally Posted by Jarmam
Is he always in the bar between missions or playing hello nurse?Quote:
Originally Posted by Gelatinous Cube
Well he does like taking pot shots.
What nickname did you give him?
Once your troopers get assigned a nickname you can change it to whatever you want.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gelatinous Cube
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alexander the Pretty Good
Confirmed. Hold onto your butts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUxqjq6HW3M
Devs have confirmed on an IGN stream: Lose the base defense mission and it's game over.
As it should be, it is after all the only base you've got.
Release day is almost upon us!
RPS Wot I Think - http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013...within-review/
Pretty positive, it's going to be tempting to outright buy it. I'll probably try to hold out until the first patch is released though.
I picked it up on GMG on a 20 buck pre-order, suspect I'll get at least two more complete play throughs in it, easily worth 20 bucks.
One will be to mess w/ MECs, the second to mess with gene splicing.
I'm assuming the core game play is pretty much the same, so it's always down to money early on about where you want to commit it so I always end up sacrificing something I wanted to fully explore but couldn't.
Yep, same here, somehow there was a mix up, which is starting to get to be a pretty typical story with GMG, and the download that happened last night before game release didn't end up actually being the update (makes zero sense) and in order to kick start the process you had to go in and run verify integrity, at which point steam found like 5000 files that weren't up to snuff and proceeded to start downloading what is turning into a rather large file update.
This may be my last time doing business with GMG, I like their prices, but they aren't proving terribly professional at handling release launches and it's just old. Over the last year this is the third time with them, the last time I had to hassle with a refund process because what they were selling had no steam key, despite the fact the game had to be installed and run from steam (who but morons do that?).
So, here I sit waiting through a download process that should have been done before launch....
Downloaded! It's a big one.
It gives the option to play "Unknown" or "Within"; kinda nice as I still want to complete a campaign I was finishing up :)
Yep, finally got the update loaded, starting a new.
Yeah, but it is nice they put in some language choices, my snipers are all now speaking Russian and the heavies oddly enough are all speaking German. As for clothes, I changed the colors right off for ease of class identification. Otherwise you have to earn the rest by making Sgt, at which point you get your nick, your proper name and any specializations in appearance.
I changed the language right off though just because it's fun to hear different languages spoken on the missions. I foresee some new tough trade offs in the additions they made, I like it.
I hope there's one more DLC, they need to replace the intercept with something legitimate, not this placeholder BS they left in place. They need to make the strat level real, not just this one trick pony with firing Sats up in orbit. And lastly they need to update the ending and make it a challenging real ending.
I can't decide if the game is easier of it it is simply less :daisy: in the dice rolls.
I feel like heavy cover is way more reliable.. but it's now more much more destructible. Alien weapons fire will blow out hard cover pretty easily, but the protection inferred seems a lot more reliable when calculating hit rates, if that makes sense.
Sectoid numbers in the first few missions has been reduced from 3 aliens to 2 aliens per pack on Classic. This is a huge hit to early game difficulty. I haven't taken a single point of damage in the month of march. Will need to play more to see how it shapes up but overall the early game feels way easier. I don't like that. Will probably bump up to impossible if this keeps on.
New maps are freakin' awesome. Love them way more than the old ones, haven't come across a new map that I haven't liked yet, where in the original i was hard pressed to find one I did like.
MELD is an interesting concept. Turns most missions into an optional bomb disposal without the automatic fail if you don't get to the canisters. Moving at a mixed posture, I can typically secure at least 1 MELD per mission with 4 squadies. Haven't tried the new units yet but I'm about to make my first MEC. Should be fun.
Leveling up feels much slower. I bagged a triple kill with my squadie sniper in a UFO assault and he is still a squadie. I am almost certain he'd have hit corp by now in Enemy Unknown. Could just be a perception thing.
Also noticed Rookies getting auto promoted to Squadie after two active missions, even if they have 0 kills. I am fairly certain mission count never counted before toward rank up. Anyone else confirm?
edited for more thoughts
Doesn't come out here until tomorrow at midnight - I much jelly :/
That did make me spend the last couple of days getting smashed to absolute bits on Impossible again. You know - for warm-up!
Monk, I don't want to dig to find the source, but they adjusted the XP curve at least in the early game. It's not just you. :P
Looks good; finished my old campaign.
The tutorial locks up at the same point everytime though.
Maybe I'll just skip straight to a game.
I take back what I said about it being too easy. I got pearl harbored on the 6th of april by a mixed thin men and floater opfor. Holy crap. The slower XP gains make the second month incredibly dangerous.
It's also a bad idea to rush the new toys in your first month. Play it smart and sat blitz like you normally would, go for MECs or Gene mods by the middle of month 2 at the earliest.
It depends on what your panic levels look like, honestly. Unless you're completely spiraling there's no reason to ever take the guess, but if you're about to lose a nation it might be worth the risk to get them out of the way once you've narrowed it down.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gelatinous Cube
Also: Once EXALT shows up never, and I mean never, tread close to zero space dollars. If you don't have enough money for them to steal? Yeah. They will just raise panic instead.
Just been playing with my first mech trooper, Lt. Scottie "Clank" Gibson with the pneumatic fist suit and more medals than previous limbs, still having half his health taken out in one hit from by an errant zombie, hrm.
Also a bit dissapointed that while Scotland is a seperate nationality from Britain in this game, we still dont get seperate accents for their soldiers. I mean I have a guy named scottie for chris' sake and I cant role-play Mr Scott in a mech suit, what the heck man?
Skipped the tutorial to by-pass where the game was freezing up on me. So far, so good :)
Need to see which candy is quicker now: weapons, armour or meld!
If you're playing on Classic or above, I still highly recommend the old strategy of weapons and satellites. Save Meld for when you've got resources to spare. Oh, and Memitic Skin is almost certainly the greatest single ability in the entire game.Quote:
Originally Posted by HopAlongBunny
Since I had lost quite a lot of support following my negligence of satelliting as much country as I could, in my first go with XCOM:EW yesterday, I preferred to not spend a single shilling on soldier upgrades and focused on excavations, satellite uplinks and satellite launches instead.
I got torn up. The Matrix-esque guys had only recently shown up in game and my manpower was already plummeting. A survivor extraction mission ended up total disaster, losing all soldiers on site.
I just couldn't figure out how to balance out the sci-eng-credits expenditure concerning the squads and infrastructure. No satelliting means cancerous panic everywhere, no upgrades mean losing a lot of guys and eventually coming to an end. Should I sacrifice one over another (obviously the latter needs a little bit of improving but still) or the gameplay accepts a management I couldn't figure out yet?
:bow:
Perhaps there are other strategies, but the satellites/weapons priority works fine for me on Classic Ironman, even in EW. You make up for your shortfall in equipment/abilities on the battlefield with better tactics. Do not be afraid of explosives, they are your friend, especially in the early game. Any loss of weapon fragments is a minor inconvenience if it saves the life of your soldiers. Don't forget that explosives can destroy cover as well. I cannot count the number of times I have used explosives to knock down walls (without damaging anything) just to open up a shot so that another soldier can save one at risk of death. It's not a cake-walk by any means. Even in my successful runs I've taken some big losses, losing some of my best soldiers in months 2-3. However, the game is relatively kind in this regard and if you find yourself running short on a role you'll often see a high ranking soldier of that role pop up as a reward on an abduction mission. If you've gotten panic under control with satellites, you'll have more freedom to select missions like that with rewards you want, instead of having to choose purely based on panic levels.Quote:
Originally Posted by LeftEyeNine
If the "Matrix-esque guys" you're referring to are the Seekers, there are specific tactics that defend effectively against them. The Seekers uncloak just prior to strangulation, and at that point overwatch gets triggered on them from everyone but the target of the attack. Thus, when you uncover Seekers, everyone at risk of a strangulation attack should try and get within LOS of each other and all be put on overwatch. If you do that, it's very likely that the Seeker will be instantly killed by the overwatch fire when it uncloaks, before it can do any damage. I've also had success by rocketing the area where they went invisible immediately afterwards, though that's something of a gamble.
In my opinion this completely wrecks the balance of the game for missions. I've got a friend who by month 2 or maybe it was 3 had an entire squad with this. The AI doesn't even begin to know how to handle it. And by the time you get snipers who get full cover EVERYWHERE, as I have in my current campaign, I can basically take my two snipers and plant them anywhere I want to and shoot the place up. It's a shooting gallery.Quote:
Originally Posted by TinCow
I can't honestly believe this does not have a cool down. It's ridiculous.
Oh, and one mimetic medic with the extra 3 steps or a bot coupled with an 5 snipers would be just flat out stupid. With low profile (half cover is full) and double tap.
There isn't an enemy in the game the AI can field that could even comprehend what was happening to them much less handle it.
While no one is forcing you to play like this, it's a game play balancing failure of epic proportions that this is possible.
Just start using it some and you'll see just how comically easy it is to abuse. With full cover snipers I can run almost anywhere on a map and remain invisible. Till of course I've planted not one but two 15 pt plasma shots in your head.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gelatinous Cube
Yeah, but there are plenty of ways around that. For example, you can just have you snipers kill the thing that can see you. Another option derives from the fact that Memitic Skin works on ANY movement, not just the first move of a round. So, if an enemy could see you, you can use you first move to reveal with the movement taking you to a spot the enemy cannot see. You then use Dash to move back to a full cover spot, thus making you invisible again before the enemy gets a turn. Put Memitic Skin on assaults with Lightning Reflexes, and even overwatch issues are solved here.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gelatinous Cube
Try it, you'll see. It needs to be nerfed with a cool down or something, right now it's comical.
Use it and see how befuddled the AI becomes. Turns take longer while the AI tries to sort out where I've gone....haha
What does mimetic skin provide practically? I remember not being awed having read the description.
Scouting. You can spot enemies without them seeing you, and plan accordingly. Combined with Squadsight snipers and rockets, you can kill entire packs of enemies before they even see one of your soldiers. In addition, it makes it much, much easier to obtain Meld. There's significantly less risk with splitting off a soldier to run across the map and snag some Meld when that soldier can stay invisible (and thus out of harms way) the entire way. It's also superb for getting personnel close enough to the enemy for flanking attacks and stunning. Finally, Exalt covert ops missions are a piece of cake if your operative have Mimetic skin. He can run around the place activating all the various comms towers without much concern for his own safety, despite his lack of equipment.Quote:
Originally Posted by LeftEyeNine
Something that even Mimetic skin users may not have realized: Mimetic skin works in any cover that acts like high cover, not just any cover that is high cover. As such, a sniper with Low Profile and Mimetic skin will actually go invisible hiding in any cover on the entire map. This opens up some interesting options for aggressive Snapshot snipers.
WHOA.Quote:
Originally Posted by TinCow
I say nerf inbounds.
This is THE reason I find it comical.Quote:
Originally Posted by TinCow
To be fair, having 4-5 Squadsight-specced Snipers was comically imbalanced in the vanilla game as well, even before Ghost Armor-Supports/Assaults. Them being invisible is just icing on the cake - pretty silly icing considering they invented a new enemy type to very specifically counter the concept of lone Squadsight Snipers. But I feel you really should limit your squads to max 2 of a type anyway, mostly due to Snipers.
Beaglerush said that he's not going to use any of the MELD-enhancements and solely rely on MECHs, because all the enhancements are bloody stupid in that they're overpowered while being unnecessary, and though I have yet to acquire anything remotely useful yet (due to me being consistently dead, hello Impossible, its been a while), I have a nagging little feeling that he might be right... which is kind of saddening. I remember, when I first saw footage of the leg enhancements that let your soldiers act like Thin Men and jump higher than Kris Kross mixed with Die Antwoord would have ever dreamt of, that this is... redundant while being stupid. I mean we have grappling hooks and Archangel Armor for that, and those things were the exact mix of sci-fi-awesome and gameplay-functional for me. What is this?
Enemy Within is a nice addition due to the polish of a lot of little things, map variety and different starting positions on each map and so forth, and I really like the Meld-container concept, giving you more than one objective on abduction and UFO missions, but the whole MELD-idea is bugging me and perma-stealth - a feature so imbalanced that if Ghost Armor provided no defense and no mobility increase it would still be worth it for the 4 charges alone - makes me more anxious.
Arh, Im being wholly unreasonable. Let the game prove to me that it's silly! To the front! Hopefully further than mission 5 this time!
That is a valid point. What Im worried is that the choice is less "Gunslinger" versus "Damn Good Ground" (the hardest choice in the game for me) and more "Squadsight" versus... whatever that other thing is called that no one has ever used, ever. But with some patches to polish the balance, the concept could be good. It's just that... the vanilla game never really got that. So I'm sceptical. But I guess it is all moddable in time.
So yeah, the teleport bug is back with a fury that I've yet to experience before. I was playing an unusually solid first mission, clearing a train yard step by step. Got the first MELD canister, got the first group with no hits taken and no grenades used. Then started moving towards the other side of the train yard after clearing every inch of "my" side.
Decided to Overwatch my squad while my straggler caught up with a dash. As she dashed through completely familiar territory, she somehow invokes 3 Sectoids out of litterally thin air (as in - I could see the area they spawned from). And that was my last move, so they got 3 free flankshots from the rear. My confidence is shaken - how am I to advance if the enemy can be anywhere? Anytime? Wait... that cloaking augment... do the Sectoids have access to it?!
...Snapshot has it's merits...Quote:
"Squadsight" versus... whatever that other thing is called that no one has ever used, ever
It might in the expansion. I am in awe of how elegantly they nerfed Squadsight in EW (didnt notice at first). Pretty good idea to limit the damage potential of Squadsight Snipers while also making Headshot more of a choice. I like it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Greyblades
I tried Snapshot once, back when it was -20 aim, and I didn't get it. I still don't get it, to be honest. I'm excited that some people do - maybe I'll learn something valuable - but to me the ability makes no sense. Why would I bring a Sniper, the lowest health-class, to move and shoot with less accuracy than a Rookie (In EW it is now aim=Rookie) when I have 3 classes that can do that job for me? Especially when the Sniper is the only class which can reliably deal damage at long range (not counting Heavy-secondaries). I'm bending my head to find a use for it that isn't more effectively covered by bringing someone else. An Assault with a standard Rifle (or its upgrades) still seems better to me for that job. What does the Snapshot Sniper offer that I'm missing?
Some of my latest fun I've had was with, mimic beacons, the upgrade to the MECs punch and the gene splice that prevents MC.
The beacon draws any of the flesh based enemies out into the open, they ignore everything and run towards. Imagine the fun.
The MEC punch upgrade takes what was an interesting melee and increases the damage by 50%, I'm often getting 18-23 damage from it, so naturally I walk up and hit stuff a lot.
And last, tired of getting MC'd, well now you've got the additional resistance spliced right into your soldier, on top of the Psi armor and the helmet. Combined you can make someone invulnerable to PSI attacks.
I just finished a normal campaign just for the purposes of seeing what new was going on, time to fire up ironman classic and try and survive the early months where I often run into the big challenges keeping it all together. Should be interesting with all these new options, and really that's all it is, just more choices about how you want to tackle a problem.
Anyway, I've liked the new additions quite a bit, I'd LOVE to see them release a DLC that did 3 things:
1. made the strat layer slightly more involved then just firing sats up
2. add a wing commander style intercept, jumping into the seat of the intercept would just be too cool for words
3. the ending, i mean seriously, i don't know, put some sectapods at the door, put the head PSI alien somewhere harder to shoot at, i mean god, the choices on how to improve the ending are nearly endless and many of them would be no more difficult than putting different aliens there and placement
I started all over and chose North America as my base so as to be able max. out airborne power as soon as possible.
This time, however, I built a genetics lab at first chance and loaded my 2 heavy and 1 assault soldier with bone marrow upgrade. %66 shorter recovery time and 2 HP max.ed to level without armor in combat sound extremely useful for tankers. I also got the heavy whose first shot does not count as an action hypersensitive pupils that increase their aims in case they miss with the former try -I thought that would complement each other. Another Heavy member has Halotargeting skill so I assume that will add up nicely.
It was too late in the night and I couldn't risk another 10-15 minutes of combat sequence traded off for some sleep.
Hopefully, genetics upgrades are not in vain, yes ?
If those two heavies you are focused on are going on most of your missions it's hard to see how any of the gene splicing you do on them will go to waste. I've not regretted any of the ones I've done, but I'll admit I've only done a few, the health regen one, the PSI protection one near the end, of course I've messed with mimic skin, nd I've used the jump one plus the better aim one on snipers. I consider them all good investments that increase the surviveability of my regulars.
To all those deprived of greatness: Beagle is back! Get the MELD! His stream channel (or his girlfriend's) has quite a few hours of commentated gameplay, which is highly appreciated. Also "ANANDA GUPTA! JAKE SOLOMON!" is now an official "why is this happening to me"-battlecry for XCOM-gaming.
You know you've got something special when your biggest problem with a game is that it's so good you forget things around you - even when you haven't gone farther than the first EXALT-mission yet due to quadquad+1 Thinmen. This game, guys, this game... so good. Let's hope the modding gets off to a good start, or even better: Steam Workshop!
Well, I was hoping that someone else would answer and reenforce my convictions that my preference for "snapshot" is not a mistake.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jarmam
Anyway, I find the ability to reposition and fire the same turn has saved many a trooper from being mind controled by a commander or etherial that refuses to come out of hiding. It also helps get the "In The Zone" free shots I get from higher ranked snipers as the aliens never seem to put themselves in a flankable position for my stationary snipers. I add a scope to each of my snipers to undo somewhat the penalty to hit.
That is a pretty important point. I always picked Double Tap so that I don't rely on having to shoot enemies in flanks with my Snipers - I'm trying to capitalize on how often I can hit them anyway, with SCOPE and innate high rank +aim for the class. But with the nerf to Squadsight so that Snipers can no longer crit on a Squadsight shot (outside of Headshot) this approach might not be as effective anymore. Now I have never tried Snapshot+In The Zone, which might be a viable option in the expansion. I hope so! I dislike choices that are so heavily weighted in one direction as the vanilla corporal Sniper felt to be.
As for MC, if my Squadsight Sniper is in range of an Ethereal's mind control, something has gone terribly, terribly wrong. Ideally they're somewhere at least 1 move away from firing/Psi range. Now that means that Snipers are pretty bad at retreating and shooting/overwatching, which is one more reason I kind of like Gunslinger. Gunslinger makes the stock pistol = assault rifle with infinite ammo and a Sniper's aim. Sure, once Ethereals are on the board your plasma pistol shots feel almost laughable (almost... they're actually not that bad) but by then you should be able to control the situation without having to bail your Snipers constantly. But heck, if I ever get an overweight of Snipers I will give it a go. I didn't believe in Suppression for the longest time and now I can't live without it. Who knows? Especially given the new enemy type that really mocks your isolated Snipers.
Not exactly what I meant. When the etherials start taking over my assaults whether the sniper can weigh in some damage makes the difference between a dead etherial and my supports getting a shotgun in the face.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jarmam
That the etherials have a habit of putting a wall or two between them and my other troops make the freedom to move my sniper around handy.
At the point I typically encounter these guys I have a blaster launcher and just shove one of those in the door from out of sight, which puts everything in the room in a bad state, blows the walls off, at which point the snipers finish it off.
So there is never a turn that allows them to MC anyone...
Just stopping by to announce I hate thin men.
I love the way they groove. Them being poisonous sons of daisies is what I hate.Quote:
Originally Posted by easytarget
Agreed, their animations are some of the best in the game. The problem I have with them, especially in I/C, is that they are insanely accurate. So my guys end up making a bunch of wild shots with their crappy starter weapons and miss a lot of course while these guys kill off my troops one shot'ing them.
I just had a guy killed behind full cover and this thin man was not near by, and he wasn't even remotely flanking, in fact he was at an angle to the inside of the full cover which just so happened to be a large truck.
Really hard to rank guys up with this stuff happening early.
It's one of many things that strangely makes the game difficulty curve completely out of whack. The first 3 months are harder than any other part of the campaign, and sections of the ending are so easy they really prove no challenge at all, to say nothing of the actual ending.
I agree with their frustrating level of accuracy. Actually, what I have experienced so far is that aliens in general have their accuracy increased. If you are somewhat exposed, there is no way they are missing, not even your typical home-use basic aliens. And when they do not, they splash criticals like confettis all over an award-winner.Quote:
Originally Posted by easytarget
That's why Hunker Down is your friend. There are many, many situations in which Hunker Down is vastly superior to Overwatch.Quote:
Originally Posted by LeftEyeNine
When half cover makes you frown: It's time to Hunker Down.Quote:
Originally Posted by TinCow
Thin Men are the Xenos version of your snipers. They have great accuracy no matter the situation and have good crit chance. I find that when i approach them with this mind set they are much less annoying to deal with.Quote:
Originally Posted by easytarget
Thin Men have 75 aim on Classic+. So even in Hardcover you will get hit once per 3 shots, for 4-6 damage (6-9 critical). Taking a potshot fight with Thinmen early on is one of the best ways to get wiped with no real chance to win. You either have to outflank them, heavily outgun them or explode them along with their cover. Incidently MECs do all three of those quite admirably. Having one on the 17 Thinmen council mission makes it a lot smoother.
On Impossible, Sectoids also have 75 aim along with an innate 20 critical. So taking a fight hardcover to hardcover gives you 25% to hit with 10% crit, vs their 35% chance to hit and 20% crit which can be buffed to 45% crit with Mindmerge. Also Merge heals 1 health. Potshot duels are completely unwinnable from day 1. You must cower like the Cowman said - Hunker Down while repositioning in hard cover is vital as this move grants you 80 defense. For some reason the aliens will take 0% shots at you at times instead of just Overwatching, but be mindful that if the aliens are close enough they will get range-bonuses to hit and can hit soldiers even in Hunker Down. Lost 2 Hunkered rookies on my 2nd mission to what I believe was a 10% and a 20% shot at close range from the last two Sectoids on the map. Blerh.
And finally a little whine-story: After finally stabilizing and getting 2 months into the game I was left with everyone in medcare except my Sniper for an abduction mission, so I took one of my 3 Squaddie Heavies along with 3 rookies to do a little training. First round triggers 2 rooftop-Sectoid and 6 Floaters, killing 2 rookies before they ever got a chance to shoot an alien. Through some insane luck I managed to stabilize and clear all of the map bar 1 group, but my only survivor by then was my corporal Sniper, who had earned a promotion for his modest 10 kills that mission. The reward was panic reduction and a sergeant Sniper, which I heavily lacked, so I decided to take on the last group with just my Sniper. I manage to activate them from a rooftop that has heavy cover, giving me a real fighting chance against those two 6-hp aliens. I first thought they were Thinmen and kind of freaked. Turns out they were Seekers...
ANANDA GUPTA! JAKE SOLOMON! WHY? Had to bail the mission! I have never bailed a mission before! My Sniper got out in time, but... goodbye reward-Sniper and goodbye Canada :(