Soldier aiming progression

[PaxEmpyrean]

What I ended up doing was normalizing stat growth across all classes and used weapon accuracy adjustments to get the desired result. This allows me to swap out different weapons and have different performance even with the same character. I standardized aim progression as follows:

 

5

5

3

3

3

3

3

 

The early levels give the biggest gains. I like how it plays this way. The overall effect is for new soldiers to improve quickly at first, then slow down. The high end abilities generally have a huge payoff, so it's not like you need 5 aim bonus at Colonel to make it feel like that's a significant promotion.

[Daemonjax]

The high end abilities generally have a huge payoff, so it's not like you need 5 aim bonus at Colonel to make it feel like that's a significant promotion.

 

Fair enough. Matter of opinion. I modded mine so that 10-100% more exp needed for each officer rank, so I like the high rank rewards to be larger than that. ;) So, I prefer the inverted bell curve.

 

m_iSoldierXPLevels=0
m_iSoldierXPLevels=90
m_iSoldierXPLevels=300
m_iSoldierXPLevels=560
m_iSoldierXPLevels=820
m_iSoldierXPLevels=1325
m_iSoldierXPLevels=2400
m_iSoldierXPLevels=4300

 

It's easy enough to get to Sgt/Lt (and get the majority of your perks), but after that it's increasingly difficult. Makes you be really careful with your Colonels, and more willing to sacrifice your other troops to save the higher ranking ones. I prefer the system used in the OG for promotions, but whatever.

 

Offtopic: I think that willpower increases for officer ranks should be higher than 2, so that panic feels more like how it did in the OG (High ranks couldn't care less if 4 rookies got their faces melted off). i.e. a progression like: 1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Edited October 17, 2012 by Daemonjax

[Kaerar]

I countered the loss of Aim bonus with added Offense bonus on the sniper rifles, basically to stop Pistols being OP in the hands of a Sniper...

 

I've made almost as many changes as some of the bigger rebalance mods out there. Only took about 20mins to do once I worked out how to use the modpatcher and which file to edit ;)

[Gazzzz]

get a relatively useless perk at squaddie.

Headshot is nothing I plan for. Sure, I use it when it happens to be up but when I have a shot I take it.

 

I'd add +1 cooldown to it but give it +10 aim in addition to the crit chance. Something to actually make you consider if you want to use it now or save it for a more critical shot.

[Daemonjax]

I countered the loss of Aim bonus with added Offense bonus on the sniper rifles, basically to stop Pistols being OP in the hands of a Sniper...

 

That's a good idea, actually.

 

Is gunslinger really OP though? Maybe, but only when compared to Snapshot... Any reductions to aim that aren't added to to the offense stat on rifles just makes Snapshot look even worse.

 

To be honest, I actually increased the damage for laser and plasma pistols in my game by 1 (for the sectoids, too). I think both gunslinger and snapshot kinda suck, though. :D

Edited October 17, 2012 by Daemonjax

[Anbar]

Ive mentioned elsewhere that swinging changes to weapons should be avoided in the assumption that they "work" L often they do not.

 

offence is a good example: often the offence bonus given to the weapon, shows up on the F1 in-game stats but fails to add to the actual roll-too-hit percentage.

 

 

---

 

watch out for second wave features also.

 

Random stats....

 

Soldier 1: Will 34 Aim 80

Soldier 2 Will 54 Aim 50

 

Game assigns Soldier 1 as Heavy & soldier 2 as sniper.

 

GO figure.

 

The upshot is that some second wave features turn arguments on their head due to the randomnality of rookie stats AND the fact that the player cannot assign classes.

Edited October 17, 2012 by Anbar

[Daemonjax]

offence is a good example: often the offence bonus given to the weapon, shows up on the F1 in-game stats but fails to add to the actual roll-too-hit percentage.

 

You sure about this? Is it just a display bug?

 

 

 

 

watch out for second wave features also.

 

Random stats....

 

Soldier 1: Will 34 Aim 80

Soldier 2 Will 54 Aim 50

 

Game assigns Soldier 1 as Heavy & soldier 2 as sniper.

 

GO figure.

 

Haha, yeah, good point. I think we'll need to have random stat ranges for each class (with some overlap of course). A one size fits all approach will be frustrating, since too many stars would have to align to get a decent soldier. Or, maybe not... I'll have to try it and see. Might be fine, really... just the cost of hiring soldiers may need to be adjusted, since they'll probably suck. Also, the following is adjustable:

 

LOW_AIM=50
HIGH_AIM=80
LOW_MOBILITY=12
HIGH_MOBILITY=14
LOW_WILL=20
HIGH_WILL=60

 

Low mobility should be 10, but otherwise the spread looks reasonable. In the OG buying 10 soldiers was pocket change, but in this game it's the cost of a workshop. Should probably halve the cost.. or not. Could be cool if money was tighter than it is in the midgame.

Edited October 17, 2012 by Daemonjax

[Perraine]

There MUST be more to it than just these variables though and there must be a script or variable somewhere that effects the hit chance...

For example (on Classic IM)

I had:

A Cpt. Sniper Class with around 100 aim (with lvl 1 scope) who gets virtually %100 to hit on every shot, not matter where it is or how far away and basically never misses (even as a "Squaddie" she never missed) :thumbsup: ... However, in the same squad

A Maj. Assault Class with around 80 aim (no scope) who gets the usual %40 ~ %60 to hit and she virtually never misses either :unsure:

A Maj. Heavy Class. with around 80 aim (with lvl 1 scope) who also gets the usual %40 ~ %60 to hit and he can't actually hit anything at all .. EVER! A sectoid 2 squares from him, still only %50 to hit and he MISSES! And 3 out of for rockets go "wide" :facepalm:

 

There must be a calculation somewhere to adjust these variables, they can't be just a % ... Maybe the "Will" stat is used somehow or the target's "Will" and/or "Defense" values are added to the calculation somewhere or perhaps there is a hidden "Luck" variable somewhere ???

 

Then too on the 'strategy" or "balance" issues, there is also a couple of abilities that add considerably to the mission mechanic, the "In the Zone" and 'Squad Sight" abilities for snipers for instance, means that my Super Sniper :pirate: can pretty much clear a map all by herself, now she has a plasma sniper rifle, because every shot seems to be "in the zone" so she never looses a turn and every shot is a kill ... I put her on overwatch just so a few of my other soldiers can actually do something!

[PaxEmpyrean]

offence is a good example: often the offence bonus given to the weapon, shows up on the F1 in-game stats but fails to add to the actual roll-too-hit percentage.

I'm pretty sure this is not true. The random rolls do seem to be affected by offense bonuses; my sniper rifles have +25 offense on them, and either it's working as it should or I've been getting really, really lucky.

 

I have noticed that pistols inherit offense bonuses from the primary weapon, though; my snipers have the same standardized stat progression as my other soldiers, but they're crack shots with pistols because they're getting the +25 offense from the sniper rifles. I tested it by switching out the sniper rifles for assault rifles and their accuracy dropped considerably, both displayed and in practice.

[Daemonjax]

Good info, thanks!