The last fight of the game is horrifying.
Also.
Do you colour-code your troops?
I do this:
Rookie: Default tan.
Support: White
Psionic: Blue
Sniper: Black
Assault: Red
Heavy: GreenI don't give them colors until top rank, and then do it by specialty.
So far I have:
Heavy: Blue
Sniper: Black ("Garrote" Jackson is a stone cold alien killer. )
Psi: PurpleThe colour coding is not so much a 'reward' for achieving a class, as it is a means for me to tell my troops apart at a glance. It's handy to know which class is where.
Also, can you notice the means by which I selected the colours for each class? :P
Yeah, I saw what you did there. : ) I just am the kind of person who will reward nonliving pieces of code for a good job.
Also nasty, and the game doesn't tell you (although it may be somewhere I missed):
Soldiers permanently lose fairly sizeable amounts of stats every time they are critically wounded!
It was on one of my loading screens, once. I think Will is the most highly impacted.
The random loading screen to provide info on how to play the game is a bit annoying. I didn't realize how a high will was important just for a positive on psi tests. I tested a bunch of my rookies, and now they can't be tested again.
That feeling when you lose 12 out of 18 and two squadmates. >:( Fracking Chyrsallids... Also, apparently SHIVS roll off the factory line sometimes with no guns on them. This has happened to me twice.
The random loading screen to provide info on how to play the game is a bit annoying. I didn't realize how a high will was important just for a positive on psi tests. I tested a bunch of my rookies, and now they can't be tested again.
Don't worry.
The situation is actually the reverse. When a soldier is created, psi potential is rolled in secret.
A soldier with psi potential is more likely to (but not guaranteed) have higher will.
I just got a positive psi test for a 46 will squaddie.
That feeling when you lose 12 out of 18 and two squadmates. >:( Fracking Chyrsallids... Also, apparently SHIVS roll off the factory line sometimes with no guns on them. This has happened to me twice.
Don't piss off China. ;)
The random loading screen to provide info on how to play the game is a bit annoying. I didn't realize how a high will was important just for a positive on psi tests. I tested a bunch of my rookies, and now they can't be tested again.Don't worry.
The situation is actually the reverse. When a soldier is created, psi potential is rolled in secret.
A soldier with psi potential is more likely to (but not guaranteed) have higher will.
I just got a positive psi test for a 46 will squaddie.
Ah! Cool. Thanks. That's the way it was in the original. The load screen was probably just a bit obtuse then.
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The random loading screen to provide info on how to play the game is a bit annoying. I didn't realize how a high will was important just for a positive on psi tests. I tested a bunch of my rookies, and now they can't be tested again.Don't worry.
The situation is actually the reverse. When a soldier is created, psi potential is rolled in secret.
A soldier with psi potential is more likely to (but not guaranteed) have higher will.
I just got a positive psi test for a 46 will squaddie.
Oh dammat
I've been tying ukp my best and brightest all this time with Psi-training.
Time to start cramming the new recruits into those pods.
Is there any kind of shortcut/mod that puts everyone on overwatch and ends the turn? Cuz that would really enhance my xcom:eu experience at this stage...
People have been mucking about in the game files and discovering lots of things.
One of these things is that the aliens send UFOs to conduct their missions (abduction, terror). These UFOs are set as undetectable. This can be altered in the game files.
Toggling it means you can detect abductors and terror ships in continents where you have a satellite, and intercept them to prevent the abduction/terror mission!
The downsides are that any missed interceptions both add to panic and cause the mission to occur as normal, adding potentially more panic. Also, by successfully intercepting abduction missions, you reduce the number of reward selections and may miss out on things you want.
Undetected UFOs do not cause panic.
Ive been playing ironman on normal, lost china today a day before the satellite finished. Also poor john rambo took a grenade to the face, he will be missed. Plus side john mcclane is almost unstoppable it seems. With sarah connor backing him with a sniper rifle aliens dont stand a chance.
I was this (.) close to capturing a live ethereal last night! Grrrr.
Then he shamelessly moved triggering opportunity fire? Or committed some other form of refined suicide?
Capturing one of each type is extremely important as they give research buffs. Capturing more than one gets you their weapon intact which is still pretty great once your researching plasma.
Then he shamelessly moved triggering opportunity fire? Or committed some other form of refined suicide?
Sort of. He floated into cross fire amidst three of my squad then dropped the psionic area effect and killed all three of them including my most experienced psi op trooper.
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Beat the game yesterday.
The fight began with him. He ended it.
He's survived by the two remaining members of the "Original Four", Carla "Cargo" Santiago and Amber "Stalker" Fontaine, both heroes several times overs in their own right. The fastest soldier in the force, everyone above the rank of Squaddie owes "Cargo" Santiago their life. She served as scout, field-medic, bomb-disposal expert, and in the hairiest of situations: bait. She was the glue that held the team together. "Stalker" Fontaine may not have covered as much ground on foot but her eagle eyes certainly did, even moreso when the Archangel Armor project took off. Nicknamed the Angel of Death, when Fontaine had her vantage point set up and was "in the zone", she was dropping hostiles nonstop until she either ran out of targets or ammo. They're raising glasses to those they lost throughout the conflict.
Alphonso "Mad Man" Diego, the first of the Original Four to fall. He made it through most of hte war, half his time on the field, half in the hospital. He was always the first into the fray. He was one of the few who never took Psi training. "I don't have time for that @#$%," he'd say. "I'm needed out there." He was rescuing civilians during a terror mission when a Cyberdisc ambushed him from above. After he had survived the attacks of two Chryssalids and pushed through their corpses to save the people they were about to tear apart. He was raised Catholic, but I truly believe that man was bound for Valhalla.
Hao "Septic" Gao, we hardly knew him. He came onboard after X-Com rescued a VIP in Hong Kong. His teammates always wondered about the name, but he kept quiet about its origins. He was by-the-numbers, an absolute professional. And he when given the choice between diving for cover or holding the line between a Berserker and two wounded Support squadmates, he held his ground.
Dean "Deadbolt" Vandermeir, the sniper-surgeon. Where Fontaine was the squad's guardian angel most of the time, raining death from above, Vandermeir ran into the thick of things right behind guys like "Mad Man" Diego. It was his quick reflexes and steady aim and nerves that saved the lives of two squadmates after they had been mind-controlled by the then-newly discovered advanced Sectoids. His tactics put himself in harm's way regularly, and eventually the cards turned against him. Half of the surviving squad that raided the Temple Ship probably owes him their lives.
And so many more. Too many.
Beat the game yesterday.
** spoiler omitted **...
Awesome Mikaze. This games sounds like it will be a blast to play, when I cna pick it up.
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Dan from the Fear the Boot podcast has written his XCOM Saga.
Played the Demo and being a huge fan of the original Microprose game I must admit I love the new version. Same game play style just improved a ton.
They add some customization to shoulders looks which is fun and the ability to design your base. You also have to decide which missions to take. Help the US and get scientists to help and let Asia go or help Asia get money but US falters. Every choice has an positive/negative
I am looking forward to playing on Oct 9th
I bought the pre-order since I knew it'd be good. I've already completed it, but I'm still playing it just because of how random certain events can be and I'm looking forward to the DLC that's coming.
I see a lot of complaints (mostly over on the 2K forums) about not seeing any battleships.
I seem to run into them all the time, and I'm not missing any interceptions.
I must admit, the replay value is pretty low. Maps are not randomized tiles, but always the same. That alone makes a second playthrough not all that interesting.
Oh, well. Still got about 30 hours of great entertainment out of it, that's better than any movie. But I don't see myself buying any of the DLC, unless it dramatically expands the range of options one has in the game or gives radically different goals and means to reach them.
This game is SOOOO AWESOME, I have never so much addicted to a game since Baldur's Gate 1!
What are your favorite classes and/or abilities combo?
Here's what my squad looks like:
1- Heavy, ''debuffer'' (Holo-Targeting, Supression, Rapid Reaction) - Always the first to attack because of Holo-Targeting
2- Heavy, ''destroyer'' (Bullet Swarm, Shredder Rocket)
3- Support, ''buffer'' (Smoke and Mirrors, Dense Smoke) - There's no need for healing if the opponent can't harm you. It doesn't help you against grenades however.
4- Sniper, ''camper'' (Squadsight, Battle Scanner, Damn Good Ground)
5- Assault, ''berserker'' (Agression, Close and Personal, Flush, Close Combat Specialist)
6*- Support, ''healer'' (during missions where I can take my time to heal)
OR
6*- Assault, ''fast and furious'' (during terror and bomb missions where I need to move and kill stuff as fast as I can)
My favorite abilities combo is Overwatch with Rapid Reaction (Heavy) and Flush (Assault). Also, having two heavy in your squad is awesome because you can reshape the battlefield the way you want with your rockets. I mostly use my rockets against the environment, destroying my opponent's cover without harming them (while the other members of my squad are on overwatch or performing a supression), to preserve their stuff, and to create ''shortcuts'' for my squad. Don't have the time to move around this building? No problem, just move through it by making holes in the walls. ;)
Am I the only one to thing that Disabling Shot is a trap ability? Chances of success seem too low even with a S.C.O.P.E. equiped, but maybe that's because I'm doing it wrong.
Disabling Shot is currently bugged.
I just realized I haven't heard of anyone having their base invaded yet.
Guess that's one thing that didn't make it over from the original, huh?
Yup, the devs at Firaxis really tried to implement it into the game, but it didn't work well so they focused on the other aspects of the game instead. I don't really care about this because I never played the original X-COM.
Disabling Shot is currently bugged.
How so? I never succeeded a Disabling Shot.
Two heavies as frontline. Always pick Bullet Swarm (action economy > all), HEAT ammo is cool for when robotics start showing up. Heavies are useless unless they are in front, as they have bad aim. That's the reason I avoid Overwatch with them, their aim is even worse in Overwatch. But when in front with Bullet Swarm, you can fire twice in one round at an enemy behind cover and increase your chances of hitting once a lot.
One or two assaults (2 in missions where I know there are Chrysalids). Assaults should always go for the defense perks, the offense perks at the same level are insignificant, and defense will hugely benefit you; being able to sit behind low cover as if it were high cover. Rapid Fire or Flush is a tough choice, but I like Flush as a don't-know-what-to-do-this-round option, and the low damage helps to capture aliens. Never leave home without Lightning Reflexes though, the ability to draw Overwatch fire safely to allow safe passage for teammates is invaluable. Also important for flanking runs.
One support with medpack. Never take Revive; soldiers that go down suffer a permanent Will penalty which is pretty big (worse than rookies) and as a result those soldiers that go down are forever useless; better to let them die or sack them afterwards. By not taking Revive the support can function as Overwatch sentinel and medic. Plus, the Suppression ability is great.
One sniper with Squadsight, Gunslinger. It is better to shoot your pistol after moving with Gunslinger than having that -20 penalty on Snap Shot, and Squadsight is a gamechanger. The sniper never tags along on missions where I expect Chrysalids.
Usually one rookie tags along to gain ranks.
Disabling Shot is currently bugged.How so? I never succeeded a Disabling Shot.
Successful Disabling Shots will give enemies unlimited overwatch shots.
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I have found that a pack of 3 snipers with Squadsight, a super-tough Assault, a demolitions expert Heavy, and a speedy Support are all I need for 90% of missions. Squadsight is possibly the most horribly overpowered ability in the game. It's amazing! My trio of sharpshooters can pretty much just massacre things with impunity. If there's a building or something significantly impairing their line of sight, the Heavy just blows an enormous hole in the wall and the snipers have a field day.
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I thought it was an amazing game and having never played or even heard of the original, I was not tainted by preconceptions or expectations.
Finished game on Impossible/Ironman mode, no countries panic levels got high enough to leave the council and I lost three squad members (no Tutorial on impossible).
Two heavies as frontline. Always pick Bullet Swarm (action economy > all), HEAT ammo is cool for when robotics start showing up.
I think that Holo-Targeting is really worth it for your 2nd heavy, especially if he survives long enough to get Danger Zone.
Heavies are useless unless they are in front, as they have bad aim. That's the reason I avoid Overwatch with them, their aim is even worse in Overwatch. But when in front with Bullet Swarm, you can fire twice in one round at an enemy behind cover and increase your chances of hitting once a lot.
That's what Supression is for. It's a good alternative when you're chances of hitting the target are too low, since Suppression always works.
One sniper with Squadsight, Gunslinger. It is better to shoot your pistol after moving with Gunslinger than having that -20 penalty on Snap Shot, and Squadsight is a gamechanger.
I 100% agree about Snap Shot being a trap choice. With Battle Scanner and Squadsight, you can reveal aliens without ''triggering'' them, giving you a free shot with your sniper against a cover-less opponent before they realise that you are here.
I thought it was an amazing game and having never played or even heard of the original, I was not tainted by preconceptions or expectations.
Finished game on Impossible/Ironman mode, no countries panic levels got high enough to leave the council and I lost three squad members (no Tutorial on impossible).
Impressive. What was your starting position? South America? :P
After being decimated* in my first attempt against the campaing mode (Classic/Ironman), I have chosen to downgrade to Normal/Ironman, but so far it's mostly a cakewalk and I can't wait to get back to Classic/Ironman after finishing the campaing.
*Everything was alright until I lost all my veterans in a single mission after ''triggering'' both a group of Mutons and a Cyberdisc + 1 drone at the same time while I was out of rocket. During the fight, my Assault panicked and killed one of my 3 Snipers. It ended in a TPK and I was never able to succeed a single mission after that point, since all I had left was a bunch a rookies and squaddies. It was only after this event that I learned that you could abort an ongoing mission. o_O
I was thinking the other day. A perfect mod of this game would be to make it into Space hulk. Like the FPS that was out many years ago by EA. Up date it, keep it turn based, place it in a dead space ship and go crazy.
Modders need to get on this right now.
I was thinking the other day. A perfect mod of this game would be to make it into Space hulk. Like the FPS that was out many years ago by EA. Up date it, keep it turn based, place it in a dead space ship and go crazy.
Yeah, I was thinking the exact same thing, except that my thought process replaced Space Hulk with Mutant Chronicles, Star Wars, or any sci-fi theme that would translate well into a turn-based squad-based strategy game. Add a decent melee-combat subsystem to this game and the potential would be limitless! We could even see a medieval fantasy version of X-COM, like Final Fantasy Tactics but better! :)
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I'm amazed that none of you guys seem to be naming your troopers after your friends in real life. It adds so much to the game. All of my ladylike female friends have become relentless killing machines while half of my male friends have been fried by plasma weaponry.
A space hulk mod with genestealers and alloy chainguns would be awesome.
I think that Holo-Targeting is really worth it for your 2nd heavy, especially if he survives long enough to get Danger Zone.
Bullet Swarm is practically always better because it increases action economy. If you use Holo-Targeting you just ended your round, and give all allies +10 to hit only one target. I would not be surprised if even purely DPS wise Bullet Swarm is strictly better (taking into account ally bonuses even), but it is certainly better in the real circumstance that you are not fighting just one enemy. Add to this the fact that you actually need to have your Holo-Targeting heavy in the right location for it to work. That also is action economy.
That's what Supression is for. It's a good alternative when you're chances of hitting the target are too low, since Suppression always works.
But it doesn't really do anything unless you have allies which can benefit from it. In that case it is good for ally placement, but for the Overwatch shot it is absolutely useless, especially since you will practically never get that Overwatch shot since AI prefers not to move when suppressed. I prefer Suppression on my Supports anyway!
I 100% agree about Snap Shot being a trap choice. With Battle Scanner and Squadsight, you can reveal aliens without ''triggering'' them, giving you a free shot with your sniper against a cover-less opponent before they realise that you are here.
Squadsight is so good it blows my mind. Snipers can sit safely three screens away and have the BEST chances to hit at that range. They can routinely hit enemies behind low cover.
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Impressive. What was your starting position? South America? :P
It was actually Asia. I came very close to losing Japan before I put my 16th Satellite on it, but holding back the alien assault as long as possible (so you can use it to reduce panic when s~+* hits the fan before your well established)as well as focusing almost exclusively on Satellites and Workshops early game pays massive dividends later.
I'm amazed that none of you guys seem to be naming your troopers after your friends in real life. It adds so much to the game. All of my ladylike female friends have become relentless killing machines while half of my male friends have been fried by plasma weaponry.
I have done this for every single squad member that survives to Sergeant status. Only after achieving that rank do they get colour coded into their various roles.
Rookies, Squaddies and Corporals are forced to wear Hot Pink coloured armour until they reach that rank. I found it gives the lads and ladies a real incentive to give 110%.
I think that Holo-Targeting is really worth it for your 2nd heavy, especially if he survives long enough to get Danger Zone.Bullet Swarm is practically always better because it increases action economy. If you use Holo-Targeting you just ended your round, and give all allies +10 to hit only one target. I would not be surprised if even purely DPS wise Bullet Swarm is strictly better (taking into account ally bonuses even), but it is certainly better in the real circumstance that you are not fighting just one enemy. Add to this the fact that you actually need to have your Holo-Targeting heavy in the right location for it to work. That also is action economy.
That's why I always go for Danger Zone if I take Holo-Targeting. If you can catch more than one aliens into your Supression AoE (which is increased by Danger Zone), you allies get an aim bonus against all those aliens. At least, that's how I think it works, maybe I'm wrong.
That's what Supression is for. It's a good alternative when you're chances of hitting the target are too low, since Suppression always works.But it doesn't really do anything unless you have allies which can benefit from it. In that case it is good for ally placement, but for the Overwatch shot it is absolutely useless, especially since you will practically never get that Overwatch shot since AI prefers not to move when suppressed. I prefer Suppression on my Supports anyway!
Indeed, don't expect to kill an alien with Suppression, it effectively locks them down (I never saw an alien trying to move while under Suppression fire). But it's, like you said, an effective ability when the opponent is on overwatch and you want to move in to make the kill or to stun him, or when you know that you won't be able to kill him before his turn. I also give Suppression to my Support, and I use Deep Pocket to equip him with the Arc Thrower and an armor upgrade, like the nano-fiber body armor of the chitin plate. That being said, Bullet Swarm is also an awesome ability and that's why I like to have two Heavy troopers in my squad: one for battlefield control, the other killing big robots and stuff. :)
I 100% agree about Snap Shot being a trap choice. With Battle Scanner and Squadsight, you can reveal aliens without ''triggering'' them, giving you a free shot with your sniper against a cover-less opponent before they realise that you are here.
I can't agree about Snap Shot. Especially in cramped quarters with lots of cover, Snap Shot has saved the bacon of many a squadmate for me.
I thought it was an amazing game and having never played or even heard of the original, I was not tainted by preconceptions or expectations.
Finished game on Impossible/Ironman mode, no countries panic levels got high enough to leave the council and I lost three squad members (no Tutorial on impossible).
Bloody hell how many tries did this take?
On my 4th or 5th attempt at classic ironman, finished it easily on normal ironman. Few half-hearted tries on impossible wiped the floor with me.
Would you mind sharing that strategy? While I did okay on Classic during the tactical battles, in the end losing nations is what always did me in. I guess it was because I hadn't stormed the enemy base yet after month three, but maybe there are other factors on how to beat the RNG to getting council/terror missions.
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Those of you who are reminiscing about Space Hulk and wishing for an XCOM mod might want to look into this as a compromise.
It's the same turn-based squad action style game as XCOM, set in the WH40K universe, except it's Space Marines vs. Chaos, not genestealers and whatnot. Of course, it's only for the PSP, which is not exactly the most popular console, but it's something if you happen to own one (and can actually hunt down a copy of this game somewhere).
Well, I just lost my saved game. When I try to load it I receive the following message:
''Failed to read save game, file might be corrupt''
This kind of sucks when playing Ironman. I'm going to wait for the next patch before starting a new game, and I think I'm done with Ironman.
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Those of you who are reminiscing about Space Hulk and wishing for an XCOM mod might want to look into this as a compromise.
It's the same turn-based squad action style game as XCOM, set in the WH40K universe, except it's Space Marines vs. Chaos, not genestealers and whatnot. Of course, it's only for the PSP, which is not exactly the most popular console, but it's something if you happen to own one (and can actually hunt down a copy of this game somewhere).
One Major Glowing issue.
Playstaion Portable
Nintendo DS
OH this would never work, besides I'm thinking it needs updated as this came out in 2007