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The Archon is the worst one. Grab one of your guys and fly up to drop kill heights. Its the worst thing when the a-hole does that on the last turn of the round.
As far as difficulty, the Viper King was the hardest for me, whereas the Berzerker Queen, while the easiest for me to take down, had the most critical wounded soldiers (and had it decided not to try and flee, 1 ruler action from a kill). The armors are kinda meh, especially the berzerker armor. Losing those utility slots in the late game is killer, for me, because you can't carry a grenade and ammo. Yeah, tossing the berzerker suit on a superior speed ranger can give a guy the whole map of movement in a dash, but without a good stun grenade (or secondary armor) and dragon rounds, it kinda lowers their use. And the snake suit being a light armor? Yeah, I'll take generic powered armor any day.
Of the DLC weapons, the bolt caster is my favorite, even though it has that horrid reload time (which triggers a ruler action btw), with the axes a close second. The pistol is nigh useless, with its special only triggerable once per map. I wish that it concealed on *every* kill, then it would make it worthwhile to upgrade over the standard pistol. The damage boosts from the weapons was really only evident on the Bolt Caster, as the axes had higher minimum damage but not upper (iirc), and the pistol was only 1 damage higher.
Yea. That damn Archon was the one that squad wiped me.
Nice! Enjoy it.
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OK, been playing some XCOM again with the release of Long War 2.
I don't like Long War 2. The simultaneous infiltration approach is too micro-managy, and the increases from cover and increased pod sizes are a huge difficulty ramp. In Vanilla, mission 1, you're looking at 3 pods of 3 plus reinforcements. Mission 1 in LW2, its 3 pods of 4-5, including some units that get a shot + overwatch. The difficulty spike, for me, wasn't enjoyable. Its like they took my least two favorite LW options from EW (Aiming Angles and Damage Roulette) and laid them on top of larger mobs.
I also finally got around to playing Shen's Last Gift. And dear lord, that mission took nearly 2 hours to play through. It is 3 maps, 2 of which have a 1 or 2 at a time evacuation mechanic. The three maps are played sequentially, so if you spent all your heals and grenades on map 1, good luck on 2 and 3. The boss is also a hefty chore at the low tech level I fought it (ballistics and traditional grenades, at about level 2 or 3 on each guy). I had at least 4 re-loads during that boss fight simply to figure out a viable strategy to wear through 6! layers of armor. The enemy AI in the mission was a pretty good enemy.
My replay has a mod that has the avatar project doom counter disabled, so I can move at a more leisurely pace at Veteran difficulty. Still a lot of scramble, but I can reasonably heal all my guys without worrying about a doom counter game over.
IT kind of bother me that the game seems to have less content the the first one. otherwise it was a fun play through maybe the add-ons will make it feel more fulfilling?
IT kind of bother me that the game seems to have less content the the first one. otherwise it was a fun play through maybe the add-ons will make it feel more fulfilling?
IMHO XCOM 2 has about as much content as XCOM Enemy Unknown. Enemy Within added a lot more and I am hoping for an expansion like that for XCOM 2.
is the 20 dollar add-on package worth it?
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For XCOM 2? Not for $20. Wait until it goes on sale to pick it up. It added some nice features but nothing that was as game breaking as Enemy Within added for the original XCOM.
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For XCOM 2? Not for $20. Wait until it goes on sale to pick it up. It added some nice features but nothing that was as game breaking as Enemy Within added for the original XCOM.
Some would argue that 'Alien Hunters' was pretty 'game breaking'...
For XCOM 2? Not for $20. Wait until it goes on sale to pick it up. It added some nice features but nothing that was as game breaking as Enemy Within added for the original XCOM.Some would argue that 'Alien Hunters' was pretty 'game breaking'...
** spoiler omitted **
~rolls my eyes~ yea. I had a WTF moment when the second one appeared in a mission. Not the best implementation of new features in a game.
ok yeah I was all anxious about getting the 3 pack but you guys have talked me out of it. shame I really like the one for x-com 1
ok yeah I was all anxious about getting the 3 pack but you guys have talked me out of it. shame I really like the one for x-com 1
I would still pick it up, once it goes on sale.
really only the one that has the new class has my interest.
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My 2c as a pre-order guy who got them all:
Anarchy's Children is a pass. Its just punk stylings, and there are plenty of sci-fi stylings in base game. Free Mods available for just as much stylings.
Alien Hunters: Gives 3 extra bosses, 1 new mission, 3 weapons (9 with tier ups), and 3 armors. Extra bosses get a free action after every single player action (including movement). The new weapons are all slightly better than their base weapon, but have a drawback. For example, the Bolt Caster does Tier 2 damage and chance to stun on a Tier 1 weapon, but has 1 ammo. The armors are literally skinning the bosses. Its a heavy challenge added to missions randomly (especially Archon King), but its fun. I recommend it as it has the most content of the three.
Shen's Last Gift: SPARK class and 1 mission. Spark functions like Enemy Within's Mech units. Their focus is on either melee or ranged, with a lot of the mech perks from EW showing up here (Provide high cover, Falcon Punch, etc). The mission is fun but huge. I recommend it.
I agree with Sharoth about XCOM 2 being pretty similar in content to Enemy Unknown. For me, though, the variety in mission types is better than the kill em all or terror missions of EU. I'm hoping the obvious nautical themed expansion hits this year (even though they've not announced it yet). Maybe we'll get word on it at E3 in the summer for a winter release. 2 year gap seems to be a good span between release and expansion for Firaxis.
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really only the one that has the new class has my interest.
You can get the Long War 2 mod for free. It's a pretty huge change to the base game. Maybe not quite Enemy Within levels of difference, but not far off. It gives you 3 new classes (1 new one and 2 from the previous Long War mods).
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Their official Facebook is teasing an announcement Monday with the tagline "The real war begins now". Maybe an expansion? Unless their expanding mod support to consoles which is hardly interesting for me.
The setup post victory needs explored before Phoenix point or xenonauts 2 get here and eat up dollars for genre fans.
It seems to be a nod to the ending of XCOM 2. I wonder if they're just going to move straight onto XCOM 3? It looks like they weren't happy with the long gap between 1 and 2 and wanted to get on with a sequel more quickly. Also, an expansion to XCOM 2 seems odd given that they gave the greenlight to big, official mods to help alleviate the need for that.
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XCOM 2: War of the Chosen, coming August 29th, this year. like 77 days from now.
As the insurgency increases, the elder ghosts send in some elite unique beings to capture the Commander. Unclear whether this is post XCOM 2 or in media res like Enemy Within was to XCOM. There are three additional notable insurgency groups beyond XCOM and you'll probably have to curry favor with them. This seems aping a bit of Phoenix Point's premise, but its not a novel idea, so not exactly ripping off their nearest competitor.
A few new enemies, a new hero class, "new environments and depth of strategy", so probably like 2 new map types and 2 mission types.
Hell YEA!!!
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Interesting additions. I like the idea that all the old bomb disarm missions from XCOM may have been bio weapons and that created the Lost. It sure fits with the glowing green theme behind them.
The EXP does beg the question, though, how will the Chosen units factor into fights when you have Alien Rulers enabled? Am I going to be wonderfully delighted when I get Assassin Chosen and Berzerker Queen on the same map?
My *HOPE* is that it takes place after shutting down AVATAR. It makes sense, having lost what would become another Chosen in the CMDR and having their human based creation project wiped out, the remaining Ghosts and Elder send in the big guns to put things down before they get further out of hand. Perhaps with the destruction of AVATAR is how the other factions are able to emerge, taking XCOM's inspiriation and bringing the struggle.
XCOM 2: War of the Chosen - Tactical Legacy Pack Overview
Well now, that is interesting. It looks like we will be having new stuff coming our way for XCOM 2. So very nice.
Excellent. If only War of the Chosen dropped to a reasonable price. Two years from release and it's still more expensive than most brand new games.
Ack, and just a little while after I started a new file. XD; Welp, reason for a third playthrough?
Brand-new XCOM game dropping on 24 April. XCOM: CHIMERA SQUAD is set after XCOM 2: WAR OF THE CHOSEN and tells the story of the first joint human-alien XCOM team formed after the defeat of the Ethereals.
This isn't XCOM 3, which is reportedly underway with the original XCOM team at Firaxis, more of a side-adventure which focuses on pre-generated characters and a more linear storyline. It does feature some new mechanics such as a "breach" mode and expands the teamwork mechanic from WAR OF THE CHOSEN.
Some raised eyebrows this is coming out just a few days before the GEARS OF WAR tactics spin-off.