Perraine Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 Found this guide over at pcgamer, and it was VERY useful ...(Hope it's OK to post a link to these guys)My link Couple of things I'll addDon't be afraid to restart the game if your base gets put on a bad chunk of earth ... I had one base with only 1 steam vent on the very bottom of the map, and no "caves" .. restart the game and the base now has 3 steam vents on level 2 and 2 and 6 "caves" Don't be afraid to "dismiss" crap soldiers, or if playing on the lower difficulty settings, the game will auto select a "class" but it doesn't help if you have 5 snipers and only 1 heavy ... It can be a little expensive, but sometimes firing a low stat squaddie and hiring a better stat rookie is worth it in the end. Build as many satellites as you can as fast as you can, 4 satellites take the same amount of time as 1, so if you have the cash and engineers, build as many as possible at once (they can also be a resource that is asked for by a country, so having a spare satellite can have good financial/game rewards) DON'T research the "**priority**" items as this will trigger the game to move forward and cause higher level enemies to spawn and increased terror attacks ... Leave the autopsies and interrogations till last and research every thing else first. DON'T RUSH in battle, if you only move 2 squares at a time, so what? Keep your soldiers covered at all times with overwatch, and let the aliens come to you. Pistols can be deadly in the right hands, most particularly the "sniper" class, and with the 3 foundry upgrades ... This also means your sniper can have the "Squad Sight" ability and move whilst wielding the pistol, go on overwatch and STILL be nearly as effective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhodryn Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 (edited) Pistols can be deadly in the right hands, most particularly the "sniper" class, and with the 2 foundry upgrades ... This also means your sniper can have the "Squad Sight" ability and move whilst wielding the pistol, go on overwatch and STILL be nearly as effective.3... 3 foundry pistol upgrades. Crit, Aim, and DMG. Oh and I agree with the part about not rushing. I almost never dash, and will move from cover to cover as often as possible. I will also sometimes stand still and overwatch 2-3-4+ turns because there is alien activities just outside of my sight range. I have numerous times decimated half of an enemy squad becauser they walked into my overwatching ambush. :devil: Not to mention that if I don't kill any of them with the ambush, I have no problem with retreating a little and go into another overwatch to lure them with me into another ambush. That's how I normally do it if I my self run into an enemy squad. Dash the person who found them back to the group, and then overwatch. Edited October 20, 2012 by Rhodryn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perraine Posted October 20, 2012 Author Share Posted October 20, 2012 ^ edited for my stuff up ... Just to add ... TEAMWORK ... With all of the OTS upgrades, you can hire and fire soldiers until you get the right mix for your gameplay style ... I generally go with two teams of 3 soldiers ... 1 x Sniper with Squad Sight, Damn Good Ground, Battle Scanner, Opportunist and In The Zone - This soldier can clear half a map in one turn with this combination, provided that you use their team mates in the right way (my current "record" is six kills in a row :pirate: )1 x Assault with Aggression, Lightning Reflexes, Rapid Fire, Close Combat Specialist, and Resilience - Once your sniper has a good "nest" This build is for getting forward quickly to "spot" for the sniper, and also do serious damage with good survivability1 x Support with Covering Fire, Field Medic, Revive, Combat Drugs, and Savior - This soldier sits in the middle, providing "covering fire" for the Assault and also the all important "smoke" which is REALLY hand in later game against psionic enemies, plus the healing ability which can be needed to keep your team in the fight longer ... This is just MY idea of a useful combination, and I'VE found that if I use these two teams, by sending them out to circle around and clear the scattered enemies on a map, then converging on the end point from two directions works extremely well ... Always try and keep your sniper on higher ground a little back from he main fight if possible (their rifles have over 3 times the range of the other weapons so you can keep them safe for 2 or even 3 turns before moving them forward to the next position. This combination doesn't include the "Heavy" class as quite frankly, in later game, as you get better and better weapons, the sniper rifle is deadlier and more useful than a rocket launcher. The heavy only gets 1 or at most 2 shots with the rocket and then because of their generally lower "aim" stat, the SMG's are virtually useless unless at the "sweet spot" of perfect range/location, so this soldier becomes a waste of space ...I also haven't used any of the "mechanized" units because I prefer the flexibility and maneuverability of soldiers over the brute force of a tank Most of the maps are very carefully designed to allow this type of play, and again I'll say DON'T RUSH ... Use the Sniper's "Battle Scanner" to find where the enemy is without alerting them and you can then plan your assault accordingly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1elvis Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 (edited) ^ edited for my stuff up ... This combination doesn't include the "Heavy" class as quite frankly, in later game, as you get better and better weapons, the sniper rifle is deadlier and more useful than a rocket launcher. The heavy only gets 1 or at most 2 shots with the rocket and then because of their generally lower "aim" stat, the SMG's are virtually useless unless at the "sweet spot" of perfect range/location, so this soldier becomes a waste of space ...I also haven't used any of the "mechanized" units because I prefer the flexibility and maneuverability of soldiers over the brute force of a tank Awww.. you shouldn't knock the heavies. Sure: They're slow and their aim's not that great - but I use them quite frequently. When buffed with the right armor/chitin, they can soak up quite a bit of damage and keep enemies under control with surpression. Although I have to say that I would've expected the heavies to have the largest HP-pool through buffs/perks. The way I see it, that role actually falls to the Assault-guys ("conditioning-perk"). I like to use them as my central point of advance, meaning 1 or 2 heavies will occupy enemies from a central position while my assault-guys flank them and take them out from close range. Also: Once you get the alien rocketlauncher, not having a heavy (preferrably one with shredder-rockets and the 2xrocket perk) on your team, would be pretty stupid. Gotta agree on snipers. I usually have my primary sniper devoloped in a "classic" role. Read: None of the close-quarters perks but the ones to emphasize long-range killing. I have her hang far back on the maps on elevated ground and thanks to double-tap she can really clean house once her squadmates start spotting enemies. It's a bit more time-consuming that way, since she can't fire when I reposition her, but IMO it's worth it. If you can spare the slot on your team, you might want to train up a second sniper with all the close-range perks (gunslinger, err.. that perk that removes the movement-restriction, etc). The added mobility is usually more useful when you have to fight entirely inside those large UFOs. Build as many satellites as you can as fast as you can, 4 satellites take the same amount of time as 1, so if you have the cash and engineers, build as many as possible at once (they can also be a resource that is asked for by a country, so having a spare satellite can have good financial/game rewards) Very good point. I've made it a habit now to always have one satellite in reserve and always one in production (when I can afford it). That way you can react to rising terror-levels and often prevent countries from leaving XCOM. Just make sure to launch the satellite for a high-panic country shortly before the council report. But: Don't forget about uplinks/power. I did at one point and thought I could counter panic because I had a satellite on stand-by. But when the time came for launch, I realized that I had neither enough uplink nor the power to build another one. Argh! New tip from yours truly: Try and build the officer's school as soon as possible. Get the Squad Size upgrade (one more gun on the battlefield can really make a difference) and also try and get the +25%-XP per kill perk and the one enabling shorter hospital-time for injured soldiers. I'd also recomend to improve medkits as soon as possible *and* to train a support guy up far enough to get the triple-medkit perk. Medkits really are life-savers. Another top priority should be armor research beyond the fiber vests. What you really want in early/mid-game is Carapace. IMO this should take priority over any weapon research. And I'd highly recommend using one of the rebalancing mods available that offer a second loadout-slot once you have Carapace-armor *and* turns the ARC thrower into a sidearm (which is probably what the developers intended to do with it in the first place, since all the graphics are there). The mod I use balances all this out quite nicely with nerfed aiming for the more powerful guns and slightly nerfed scopes. But having two loadout slots gives you much more flexibility and actually makes the nano-fiber vests a viable option. E. Edited October 23, 2012 by 1elvis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resdulac Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 (edited) Pistols can be deadly in the right hands, most particularly the "sniper" class, and with the 3 foundry upgrades ... I can not determine if those foundry upgrades also apply to laser and plasma handguns. Edited October 23, 2012 by Resdulac Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1elvis Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 (edited) ^ They do. IIRC it even says so in one of the upgrade's descriptions. Something like "those upgrades will be applied to our entire range of handguns..".. or something like that. Edited October 23, 2012 by 1elvis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawk07 Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 Snipers are invaluable because they (with good planning) are immortal. Assaults and heavies have a tendency of being expendables because of wounds and you may need a couple of replacements so train a second group of them. As far as the Support class is concerned, I want to point out that they can do more stuff than the medikit, I used a smokesguy as a front soldier, he did pretty well till he got headshot with a 10 damage critical, but they can be decent in a ton of roles. And one more thing, never, ever, ever underestimate the pistols and not upgrade them. You are going to regret this choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perraine Posted October 28, 2012 Author Share Posted October 28, 2012 There is probably only a few of us, But I'm also a player that uses the Support class's Smoke Grenades frequently, I find it invaluable on Terror missions for instance, in getting my troops up closer to the civilians and reducing the risk to them, I also use the upgraded Smoke Grenade in later missions for buffing my soldiers when they come up against the mind controlling Sectoid Commanders and Ethereals Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deroger11 Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 a) Snipers: On the other hand, remember that the Gunslinger perk will have him almost as much "firepower on the move" as a support w/ regular rifle, but usually with better accuracy. Also, if you supply him with a scope, it will affect both gun types.If you go for an inbetween approach (most longrange perks but also Gunslinger), he won't be a dead duck if overrun or suprised by leftover targets. b) Armor: It is possible to layer two types of armor... the Carapace/Titanium/whatever in the Armor slot and the nanofibre or chitin in the Grenade/Medkit/... slot. Titanium w/chitin saved my assault's ass twice yesterday (ok I admit I handled him a bit recklessly...) c) Supports: I totally agree. Though they lack some firepower against Elite Mutons and such, they can have that additional movement ability making the difference between a captured/stunned hostile and a dead trooper. My stunner always is a supporter with that perk. Also, Smoke grenades appear to be really effective. In my latest game I have two PSI Supporters, they have a wide range of capabilities. d) Hint on "Advanced PSI training"... Most (easy) council missions have you face a bunch of those poisonbags (thin men), so take as many gifted troopers as you can on that trip. On sight, use mindblast to obliberate them for good, works better than shooting them, and gives promotions that you might need later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigfatmeow Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 (edited) A personal tip- Start in North America, then try to control Africa quickly. Their combined perks will make satellite construction a lot easier and allow you to move on to the others. At the same time though, don't be afraid to put satellites in high-panic areas elsewhere. Asia is big and easy to lose, and has arguably the best perk mid-game. Edited December 27, 2012 by Bigfatmeow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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