XCOM 2
- Thread starter Xexx
- Start date
Oddly enough most of my save & exit is when a mission pops up. I love the base management aspect of XCom. The combat is pretty fun too but I almost see that as an intermission between base management.
Lithose
Buzzfeed Editor
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Nice, must have gotten lucky, got the GTS perk both times in the U.S. That actually makes things more interesting. I wonder if they are weighted at all, due to some continents having 2/3 and Asia having 4, I believe?
Dandain
Trakanon Raider
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I can't believe all you guys starting on easy difficulties without Ironman on. You are robbing yourself of the experience only X-Com can give you. I am so stressed out by my current Commander/Ironman playthrough. Every mission might have some new enemy - or one mistake and my game can just end. If you aren't playing ironman - turn that shit on. Ironman on any difficulty is 50,000 times > than Non-Ironman save scumming. Save scumming also kills momentum and robs you of all the oh shit moments that you have to deal with. I've had to restart about 50 times learning this shit. I can now reliably get games started into the 3rd month, but In my first 30 restarts, getting beyond the first retaliation mission was kicking my ass. The first time I saw a Muton I decided to finish him with a sword slash. Then I learned they can counterattack/parry. Then I learned they can melee crit for 10. And my best ranger was just dead. The first time I met a viper I got two soldiers poisoned and was stressed out because I had no way to cure it and they just kept losing health. I spread the plague once, and they both survived with 1-2 health. They were then injured for 22 days or some shit and it just spiralled out of control. These are moments you just can't have if you don't ironman it, the pull to savescum out of those situations is too strong if you leave yourself the option.
EX: I just had a abduct VIP mission, I get into the bottom floor of this three story science lab. I have my 5 soliders in the room, I smack the vip out, I consider moving my scout up the ladder to the roof because that is where I want to go. I tell myself not to do it because if their is shit up there I"m fucked as I've used my actions up. So better part of valor I end my turn. 2 fucking viper, and 2 stun lancers then walk into the room from the room/side door. I managed to get it down 1 stun lancer, he knocks one of my soldiers unconscious. I had to pack out the vip and my solider, to the extraction, made it with 1 turn to go. Wickedly rewarding to survive. With save scumming, maybe I just redo that viper fight, redo whatever, but it completely busts the flow of the game.
TLDR; Quit your current playthrough and restart on ironman now, your love of this game depend on it.
EX: I just had a abduct VIP mission, I get into the bottom floor of this three story science lab. I have my 5 soliders in the room, I smack the vip out, I consider moving my scout up the ladder to the roof because that is where I want to go. I tell myself not to do it because if their is shit up there I"m fucked as I've used my actions up. So better part of valor I end my turn. 2 fucking viper, and 2 stun lancers then walk into the room from the room/side door. I managed to get it down 1 stun lancer, he knocks one of my soldiers unconscious. I had to pack out the vip and my solider, to the extraction, made it with 1 turn to go. Wickedly rewarding to survive. With save scumming, maybe I just redo that viper fight, redo whatever, but it completely busts the flow of the game.
TLDR; Quit your current playthrough and restart on ironman now, your love of this game depend on it.
Dandain
Trakanon Raider
- 2,092
- 917
That's my point, you rob yourself of the hardest moments of the game. When you meet a new enemy for a first time, get yourself flanked, or activate that extra pod. The first time is the hardest when you have no idea what attacks the enemies might have. Turn on ironman, don't give yourself a chance to reload.
Edit: A friends and family character pool I feel is a really awesome enhancement to ironman. My RL friend and I have got to share our failures and successes and being able to tell him when he fucked it up or saved the day makes it more entertaining at least to me.. He's so far earned the call signs Baller, Taxman, and Tickle through various incarnations. Any difficulty is fine, but just turn on Ironman.
Edit: A friends and family character pool I feel is a really awesome enhancement to ironman. My RL friend and I have got to share our failures and successes and being able to tell him when he fucked it up or saved the day makes it more entertaining at least to me.. He's so far earned the call signs Baller, Taxman, and Tickle through various incarnations. Any difficulty is fine, but just turn on Ironman.
Gavinmad
Mr. Poopybutthole
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Just because I didn't have Iron Man enabled doesn't mean I was save scumming. I did a bit early on while I was testing out how various things worked, but I didn't scum my way through the whole game. Pretty sure more than one person on this forum alone has had their Iron Man playthrough messed up or corrupted, so until the game is a bit more stable I'll be sticking with honestmanning things.
Iron Man does make you a much better player though. Controlling pod activation, not setting yourself up for easy flanks, not hinging your entire battle plan around a single sub-100% shot, etc.
Iron Man does make you a much better player though. Controlling pod activation, not setting yourself up for easy flanks, not hinging your entire battle plan around a single sub-100% shot, etc.
Raes
Vyemm Raider
- 3,264
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All that shit will still happen when I start enabling Ironman. 3 playthroughs without Ironman is a very small percentage of my game time. I put well over 1000 hours into EU/EW.
Edit: Lol, that vid was great, Gavin. Thx.
Bandwagon
Kolohe
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- 60,150
Ok ok ok, I just restarted on Ironman. Still not doing hard difficulty because I'm not a fucking masochist, but I did stop my other campaign just before finishing the last mission.
I save scummed like a motherfucker on that one, I think I only had 1 person die by the time I got to the final mission. I'll save the completion for this Ironman playthrough. It's already creating a little more anxiety.
I save scummed like a motherfucker on that one, I think I only had 1 person die by the time I got to the final mission. I'll save the completion for this Ironman playthrough. It's already creating a little more anxiety.
Gavinmad
Mr. Poopybutthole
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stolen from reddit, it's long so I spoilered it, and bolded a couple I thought were important
Also, according to reddit pistols DO get the benefit of weapon upgrades, which means there is finally someone the repeater is worthwhile to use on.
Apparently Shadowstrike only requires that you start the turn out of LoS of your target, so it works with sword attacks if you weren't in LoS of your target.
Also, according to reddit pistols DO get the benefit of weapon upgrades, which means there is finally someone the repeater is worthwhile to use on.
Apparently Shadowstrike only requires that you start the turn out of LoS of your target, so it works with sword attacks if you weren't in LoS of your target.
If a unit that can grapple is concealed and on the edge of an enemy's detection radius, using the grapple to move outside the range will not break concealment as long as the path of the grapple doesn't enter detection range.
Mimic beacons force enemies to attempt attacking it as long as they have LoS. This is very useful for flushing enemy melee units into the open for easy flanking shots.
Mimic beacons take full advantage of cover and can have abilities (such as Aid Protocol) cast on them.
Faceless ignore mimic beacons. (This only appears to happen to faceless that transform AFTER placing the beacon, thanks /u/Aedn)
You can cheese the avatar project by having blacksite missions readily available to start, but waiting until the project meter fills and the countdown begins before starting them. Essentially, only do blacksite missions after the countdown begins and as long as you can complete the mission, you'll never have to worry about the avatar project.
You can hold down "Control" and right click to set waypoints to create more precise paths for your units.
Placing proximity mines does not break concealment.
Enemy reinforcements do not appear until a full turn passes after an objective has been captured.
Reaching LoS (and therefor gaining control of) a "hidden" VIP will break a unit's concealment, regardless if there are any enemies in range. In addition, capturing any objective will also break concealment.
Unconscious units that do not make it to the Skyranger will show up as "captured" and can be reacquired as the VIP in rescue missions.
Knocking the floor out from under a turret is a guaranteed kill.
The insta-kill from a repeater can proc off the guaranteed damage from a stock and/or venom rounds.(A grenadier's saturation can apparently proc the repeater as well - thanks /u/C4ptainR3dbeard)
[BUG] If a unit next to a burning car gets picked-up by another and then moved out of the way, the explosion will still damage the unit that's being carried. Hopefully this will be fixed soon.
Enemies in the fog of war can still be damaged by AoE effects such as the EXO Suit's rocket launcher. And as long as you don't have LoS on these enemies after attacking, the pod will not "activate" until its turn begins.
You can uncover hidden faceless or chryssalids by using a battle scanner (or the similar specialist ability).
Enemies will still use AoE damaging attacks even if it means damaging one of their own.
If constricted, you can position grenades a certain way to damage only the viper and release the stuck unit.
If a unit is killed in an evac mission, you lose all their equipment unless you pick up and carry their corpse to the Skyranger.
Using threat assessment on an overwatched unit grants them 2 uses of overwatch.
Dropped items are picked up if they're still on the map when the mission ends. This is NOT the case for evac missions however.
The guaranteed damage from Combat Protocol removes overwatch.
(UPDATE
It seems my idea of "common" knowledge may not be the case for some, so I've decided to include some more well known tips in the list for easy reference.
Specialists gain 5 to their tech (hacking) score at the end of a mission if they successfully hacked something.[Thanks /u/rankzerox]
You can gain a bit more control on where a ranger performs their slash ability by moving the cursor to where you want them to attack from and then placing it over the enemy. If done right, the slash icon should appear along the movement path.
Making a double-move (dash) while concealed can "alert" the enemy to your relative location and will cause patrols to start moving toward the source of the sound. (Haven't had a chance to properly test this yet myself, but multiple users confirm it works. Thanks to /u/Niakshin for bring it to my attention.)
Calls for evac to the Skyranger last 4 turns. [Thanks /u/Binturung]
If you evac a unit currently controlling an enemy (either through mind control or haywire protocol) the controlled unit will break free. [Thanks /u/YourBlogSucksToo]
Dropping a gas grenade on a reinforcement flare will cause the units that spawn into to not move for an entire turn, allowing for some easy flanking shots! [Thanks /u/Snoozing_Daemon]
A faceless can detonate a vehicle if caught in the AoE range of its attack. [Thanks /u/Kouse]
Detonating a vehicle to kill an enemy without first damaging the enemy awards no XP or kill count. [Thanks /u/Grimy_Bunyip]
If a pod with andromedon stubles into your overwatch trap, and you kill the andromedon, the shell can attack you on the same turn it was revealed. [Thanks /u/Grimy_Bunyip]
Walking over a water/liquid tile while burning will remove the effect. [Thanks /u/Grimy_Bunyip]
Mimic beacons force enemies to attempt attacking it as long as they have LoS. This is very useful for flushing enemy melee units into the open for easy flanking shots.
Mimic beacons take full advantage of cover and can have abilities (such as Aid Protocol) cast on them.
Faceless ignore mimic beacons. (This only appears to happen to faceless that transform AFTER placing the beacon, thanks /u/Aedn)
You can cheese the avatar project by having blacksite missions readily available to start, but waiting until the project meter fills and the countdown begins before starting them. Essentially, only do blacksite missions after the countdown begins and as long as you can complete the mission, you'll never have to worry about the avatar project.
You can hold down "Control" and right click to set waypoints to create more precise paths for your units.
Placing proximity mines does not break concealment.
Enemy reinforcements do not appear until a full turn passes after an objective has been captured.
Reaching LoS (and therefor gaining control of) a "hidden" VIP will break a unit's concealment, regardless if there are any enemies in range. In addition, capturing any objective will also break concealment.
Unconscious units that do not make it to the Skyranger will show up as "captured" and can be reacquired as the VIP in rescue missions.
Knocking the floor out from under a turret is a guaranteed kill.
The insta-kill from a repeater can proc off the guaranteed damage from a stock and/or venom rounds.(A grenadier's saturation can apparently proc the repeater as well - thanks /u/C4ptainR3dbeard)
[BUG] If a unit next to a burning car gets picked-up by another and then moved out of the way, the explosion will still damage the unit that's being carried. Hopefully this will be fixed soon.
Enemies in the fog of war can still be damaged by AoE effects such as the EXO Suit's rocket launcher. And as long as you don't have LoS on these enemies after attacking, the pod will not "activate" until its turn begins.
You can uncover hidden faceless or chryssalids by using a battle scanner (or the similar specialist ability).
Enemies will still use AoE damaging attacks even if it means damaging one of their own.
If constricted, you can position grenades a certain way to damage only the viper and release the stuck unit.
If a unit is killed in an evac mission, you lose all their equipment unless you pick up and carry their corpse to the Skyranger.
Using threat assessment on an overwatched unit grants them 2 uses of overwatch.
Dropped items are picked up if they're still on the map when the mission ends. This is NOT the case for evac missions however.
The guaranteed damage from Combat Protocol removes overwatch.
(UPDATE
Specialists gain 5 to their tech (hacking) score at the end of a mission if they successfully hacked something.[Thanks /u/rankzerox]
You can gain a bit more control on where a ranger performs their slash ability by moving the cursor to where you want them to attack from and then placing it over the enemy. If done right, the slash icon should appear along the movement path.
Making a double-move (dash) while concealed can "alert" the enemy to your relative location and will cause patrols to start moving toward the source of the sound. (Haven't had a chance to properly test this yet myself, but multiple users confirm it works. Thanks to /u/Niakshin for bring it to my attention.)
Calls for evac to the Skyranger last 4 turns. [Thanks /u/Binturung]
If you evac a unit currently controlling an enemy (either through mind control or haywire protocol) the controlled unit will break free. [Thanks /u/YourBlogSucksToo]
Dropping a gas grenade on a reinforcement flare will cause the units that spawn into to not move for an entire turn, allowing for some easy flanking shots! [Thanks /u/Snoozing_Daemon]
A faceless can detonate a vehicle if caught in the AoE range of its attack. [Thanks /u/Kouse]
Detonating a vehicle to kill an enemy without first damaging the enemy awards no XP or kill count. [Thanks /u/Grimy_Bunyip]
If a pod with andromedon stubles into your overwatch trap, and you kill the andromedon, the shell can attack you on the same turn it was revealed. [Thanks /u/Grimy_Bunyip]
Walking over a water/liquid tile while burning will remove the effect. [Thanks /u/Grimy_Bunyip]
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Vaclav
Bronze Baronet of the Realm
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Jait
Molten Core Raider
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It's funny because there were 2 that I say, but I still stand by...
"Hold that shit!" in my alien Mike Ross voice.
Seananigans
Honorary Shit-PhD
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- 30,003
So small nit-picky type issue/question. Does anyone else end up with an extra apostrophe on either end of nicknames of character pool characters (as opposed to auto assigned nicks) when viewed in tactical missions? But when looking at them on strategic layer, they look identical. Let's assume the nickname: Blitz
Char pool nick: 'Blitz'
Auto-assigned nick: Blitz
In fact, now that I explore it more, even after I enter the nicks in the char pool w/o any apostrophes, if I exit and come back they magically appear with apostrophes on either end (even visible in the customization screen), resulting in the above issue.
Char pool nick: 'Blitz'
Auto-assigned nick: Blitz
In fact, now that I explore it more, even after I enter the nicks in the char pool w/o any apostrophes, if I exit and come back they magically appear with apostrophes on either end (even visible in the customization screen), resulting in the above issue.
Mist
Eeyore Enthusiast
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- 22,413
It'll be hard to make Terror from the Deep anywhere near as good as this game. I'm absolutely loving the thematic/aesthetic elements of X-com as an insurgent resistance force in this game. Very few games have managed to match thematic elements to gameplay mechanics as well as this game has.