XCOM 2

[SupremacyKing2]

So i just downloaded a huge slew of mods, including the new ones from Long war studios, and i have to say its almost like a different game and similar to long war.

I like the mods a lot. But they do have one annoying glitch. When your squad returns to the Avenger after a mission, the soldiers stand in front of the panel for selecting a new promotion which makes it hard to promote a soldier from that screen. You have to exit and do the promotions from the armory instead.

 

[Sonereal]

LWS Mods are really good, but because of LWS's position relative to the rest of the modding community, I feel like they care a smidge less for compatability. With that said, I like how many mods actually build on the LWS mods, such as classes that main the SMG, or the Spectrum enemies that use the lasers.
-----
The DLC cycle has been a bit of a let down. Anarchy's Children was cool, but you can't keep soldiers from spawning with AC cosmetics without turning the DLC off. Alien Hunters was better, but Shen's Last Gift and that mission was a blast. Shen's Last Gift does have me hopeful for the unannounced-but-surely-in-the-works expansion pack.

 

[SupremacyKing2]

Alien Hunters was better, but Shen's Last Gift and that mission was a blast. Shen's Last Gift does have me hopeful for the unannounced-but-surely-in-the-works expansion pack.

I LOVE Shen's Last Gift. The mission is unique and interesting. The banter with Julian is priceless. And the speech that Shen's dad gives when the SPARK is activated actually brought tears to my eyes. Gameplay wise, the SPARK unit adds some good variety to your squad by giving you a mech unit and is a very cool and powerful unit once fully upgraded.

In terms of Alien Hunters, the mission is interesting and the backstory is real cool. But I feel like it is better to skip it. The special armors are cool and powerful but I am not sure they are worth it compared to the difficulty of getting them. The Archon King is very difficult to beat. The frost bomb only took 1 ruler action off. The Archon King still rushed my squad and used its blazing pinions ability twice. There was nothing I could do to move my squad to safety since it moves after every action. I managed to damage it and it fled through the gate but not after 2 soldiers got knocked unconscious and the other 4 got gravely wounded. A similar campaign, I skipped the alien hunters mission and I was fine. I had a powerful squad, including a fully upgraded SPARK and I was able to finish the campaign with no problem. So, you can definitely do just fine without getting the special armor.

 

[sherbz]

I like the mods a lot. But they do have one annoying glitch. When your squad returns to the Avenger after a mission, the soldiers stand in front of the panel for selecting a new promotion which makes it hard to promote a soldier from that screen. You have to exit and do the promotions from the armory instead.

Yes, i quite agree here. Thats very annoying

 

[grandad1982]

Picked this up for £15 in the green man gaming sale. Played a few hours before the stupid timers became unbearable and downloaded a mod to get rid of them. Not sure its the best solution so might try one to extend them, however its a hell of a lot better than leaving the game as it is. It turns all the tactical play I want from an XCOM into a straight up rush and means you can't play around with the levels properly. Also don't know why the ai gets a free move when you spot them.

 

[SupremacyKing2]

Picked this up for £15 in the green man gaming sale. Played a few hours before the stupid timers became unbearable and downloaded a mod to get rid of them. Not sure its the best solution so might try one to extend them, however its a hell of a lot better than leaving the game as it is. It turns all the tactical play I want from an XCOM into a straight up rush and means you can't play around with the levels properly. Also don't know why the ai gets a free move when you spot them.

Most missions don't have timers. In fact, I think it is only the VIP missions and the hack missions that have them.

I don't think the AI gets a free move per se. They can't shoot, they can only move to cover.

 

[sherbz]

Picked this up for £15 in the green man gaming sale. Played a few hours before the stupid timers became unbearable and downloaded a mod to get rid of them. Not sure its the best solution so might try one to extend them, however its a hell of a lot better than leaving the game as it is. It turns all the tactical play I want from an XCOM into a straight up rush and means you can't play around with the levels properly. Also don't know why the ai gets a free move when you spot them.

Try the true concealment mod. That only starts the timers once you break concealment. I actually think timers are a good thing in general. But for cautious gamers, they are unwelcome (nothing wrong with being cautious btw). Trouble is that XCOM by its nature makes you want to defend. So as a way of making people attack, the developers introduced timers. And for the most part i think it works. Maybe a bit more mission variety would be the answer.

 

[SupremacyKing2]

So as a way of making people attack, the developers introduced timers. And for the most part i think it works. Maybe a bit more mission variety would be the answer.

Is it just me or are the timer missions, especially the VIP ones, sometimes a bit uneven? It seems like the map generation is sometimes a bit screwy with where it places the VIP and the extraction point. Sometimes they are "just right" where you have to rush a little but the mission is doable with 2-3 turns to spare. Other times, you have to double move almost every single turn just to make it in the nick of time.

 

[Sonereal]

They're always going to be a bit uneven. Unlike XCOM 1, the maps aren't premade and so aren't balanced. You noticed this very quickly with map mods that add very tight alleys and a lot of buildings.

I replaced my timers completely with the Attrition Mod + Triple Enemies mod.

 

[sherbz]

http://www.pavonisinteractive.com/news.htm

And there we have it. Long war 2 is due to be released for XCOM 2. I cant tell you how hyped i am for this. Long War is quite possibly the best mod over any platform that i have played. The developers understood EXACTLY how to mod the game, and understood EXACTLY the things that made the original great. It breathed new life into the game and basically made it a whole new experience. And now they are releasing XCOM 2 the long war. Cant wait. This is pretty much better than a new expansion.

 

[SupremacyKing2]

New soldier class coming in Long War 2:
https://xcom.com/news/xcom-2-long-war-2-mod-adds-new-technical-class-on-pc

 

[sherbz]

New soldier class coming in Long War 2:
https://xcom.com/news/xcom-2-long-war-2-mod-adds-new-technical-class-on-pc

Did you play the original Long War? I seem to remember you saying that XCOM 2 was your first XCOM title. I quite like that they have said they are going to make this one a bit more accessible. Much as I love Long War the original. There were times when it was just a little bit too difficult.

 

[SupremacyKing2]

Did you play the original Long War? I seem to remember you saying that XCOM 2 was your first XCOM title. I quite like that they have said they are going to make this one a bit more accessible. Much as I love Long War the original. There were times when it was just a little bit too difficult.

Yes, you are correct. I did try the demo of XCOM a little right before buying XCOM2 but XCOM2 is my first XCOM title that I actually owned and played. So I never played the original Long War. I've played the heck out of XCOM2 and tried some of the mods. I am definitely looking forward to LW2, especially since it is essentially a semi-official expansion pack.

 

[sherbz]

Yes, you are correct. I did try the demo of XCOM a little right before buying XCOM2 but XCOM2 is my first XCOM title that I actually owned and played. So I never played the original Long War. I've played the heck out of XCOM2 and tried some of the mods. I am definitely looking forward to LW2, especially since it is essentially a semi-official expansion pack.

To be honest, the original Long War is probably a better game than XCOM2 was on release (and IMO XCOM2 was great on release, if a little buggy). You can sort of get to a better place now by using a combination of mods. But hopefully this will be a more definitive version. The main problem with all the little changes you can make now is that you often end up having a bit of a lopsided campaign thats a bit unbalanced.

 

[SupremacyKing2]

Big News! Devs are going to play Long War 2 on the Firaxis Twitch channel tomorrow, Wednesday, Jan 18 at 12PM PST (3PM EST, 9PM CET).

 

[Sonereal]

Massive strategy layer changes coming for Long War 2

 

[SupremacyKing2]

Massive strategy layer changes coming for Long War 2

The changes to the strategic layer look amazing. The strategic game looks to be a full game in itself and a lot deeper now, instead of just being a place to pick the next mission.

 

[sherbz]

I am really glad that the strategic part is being overhauled. The risk style boardgame approach they went with wasn’t bad per se. But there wasn’t a huge amount of “strategy” involved. And looks as though they are integrating the strategic view with the tactical one by allowing you to reprogram mechs (presumably in missions) to defend territory in the strategic view. It also looks as though Avatar project progress might now be more closely aligned to facilities.


If you look at the perks, you can see that they have reemployed the mechanic that the centre of explosions mean the most damage. And damage will be least on the edge.


And maybe they might be using Advent attack missions as the trap missions they had in the original. For those who don’t know (Supremacy King), trap missions were landed UFOs of the smallest class that had insanely powerful alien types, even at the start of the game. I remember landing one of those bad boys fairly early doors, struggled through the swarms of mutons and all sorts of other nastiness. Then when I opened the UFo and triggered the command pod, it contained 3 outsiders and a sectoid commander. Yea, I had to leg it on that mission.


I like that they are supposedly making it a bit easier in this version. But I do think there should still be missions that you really should run from (unless you want to take an insane amount of risk).

 

[SupremacyKing2]

New mission types in LW2:

• Jailbreak – XCOM must infiltrate an ADVENT jail and rescue key Resistance members. Success increases the strength of the Resistance in that region.
• Haven Defense – A variation on Retaliation missions where XCOM must defend Resistance members against an onslaught of ADVENT forces until the Skyranger can get into position for extraction.
• ADVENT Base Assault – XCOM must deploy to and overtake a well-defended regional military headquarters.
• Invasion – ADVENT attempts to retake a liberated region by assaulting a city center. XCOM must destroy a psionic relay that summons continuous reinforcements, then eliminate any remaining forces.
• Rendezvous – A Faceless disguised as a member of the Resistance is detected as it goes to meet with its ADVENT handlers and XCOM must hunt it down.
• ADVENT Supply Raid – XCOM must defend a supply convoy and its Resistance personnel from ADVENT attacks.
• ADVENT Intel Raid – ADVENT attacks a Resistance listening post and XCOM must repel the attack.
• ADVENT Recruiting Raid – ADVENT forces attack Resistance recruiters within a region. XCOM must extract those Resistance members.

Also, the Skyranger now takes time to arrive at a mission site for extraction in Long War 2, and ADVENT reinforcements have become more dangerous overall.

https://xcom.com/news/xcom-2-long-war-2-mod-adds-new-missions-on-pc

 

[SupremacyKing2]

I can definitely see why the mod is called "long war". It seems to make the game much more involved and thus longer. Watching the live stream yesterday, the tactical part is much more involved now, with a lot more soldiers to move around and a lot more to do. I do like that the resistance fighters are playable characters on the map. The strategic layer is also much more involved with a lot more to manage. It seems that LW2 takes the game from being about managing one small squad from mission to mission to now managing an entire army on multiple fronts. It looks like you are actually managing a real resistance movement across the globe now.