XCOM 2

[SupremacyKing2]

1) The first was on my first Ironman Legendary run. It was the first supply raid mission and i had not lost a single soldier up till that point, in the second month. Things were going well. I scouted out a bit and came across a pod that was awkwardly placed. There was a mech on top of the train with 2 stun lancers, which on legend difficulty is about as difficult a group as you can get early doors. I placed my squad (2 sharpshooters, 1 Grenadier and 1 ranger) on a roof of a building and led off with my shadowstrike ranger with a 92% hit chance on the mech and a 45% crit chance. He missed his shot. But both my sharp shooters shot before the grenadier, and i missed out on the kill by one health. The mech went first, ran forwards, launched grenades on my squad, who then fell through the floor, killing all of them in one fell swoop. Then i rage quitted.

Thanks for sharing. wow. That would be crazy frustrating.

 

[sherbz]

And so my legendary Ironman game comes to a close. It was a brutal campaign with lots of near misses, but finally i won through. I now have a new found appreciation for soldiers you can recruit from HQ. As they saved me after some serious losses. As the following goes to show though, you dont need a flawless start to triumph. I lost one soldier on the very first mission, and a load more in months 2 and 3. I also failed the first supply run. But Xcom 2 seems a lot more forgiving than the original, even though i think its slightly harder. But there are more ways to get back into it. And the Avatar counter is more forgiving than the doom clock because you can reset it. I had two fairly major mishaps midway through the game (operation Hell storm and Witchmother). But won through in the end. Most of my final squad were raw recruits i acquired from either the black market or HQ recruited at colonel rank.

Spoiler :

 

[SupremacyKing2]

Had a weird bug last night in my avenger defense mission. Instead of my squad starting on the ramp, they started off to the side. And at the end of the mission, when I tried to lift off, I got the message that I would be leaving people behind, but the counter said "0" soldiers left and I cycled through all my soldiers and they were all on the ramp.

 

[PhilBowles]

Had a weird bug last night in my avenger defense mission. Instead of my squad starting on the ramp, they started off to the side. And at the end of the mission, when I tried to lift off, I got the message that I would be leaving people behind, but the counter said "0" soldiers left and I cycled through all my soldiers and they were all on the ramp.

Did you have any mind-controlled aliens? If so you'll get the warning for those (can't recall if they count as soldiers on the counter - I don't think they do).

 

[SupremacyKing2]

Did you have any mind-controlled aliens? If so you'll get the warning for those (can't recall if they count as soldiers on the counter - I don't think they do).

No mind controlled aliens. I'm guessing it was a crazy graphics bug. I think there was a floating gremlin in the spot where the reinforcements were appearing. My guess is that the game tried to give me one of my specialists but they did not show up correctly. But the game still thought the specialist was out there which is why I was getting the message that a soldier would be left behind.

 

[sherbz]

Had a weird bug last night in my avenger defense mission. Instead of my squad starting on the ramp, they started off to the side. And at the end of the mission, when I tried to lift off, I got the message that I would be leaving people behind, but the counter said "0" soldiers left and I cycled through all my soldiers and they were all on the ramp.

Ive had this happen before. i started to the right of my Avenger ramp and had to leg it over to it to stop a mech getting to the ramp.

And no matter what i do, i always seem to get bradford tell me i have soldiers out in the field, even though they are clearly back on the pad. Sometimes it is a rogue gremlin that has not followed its specialist. Sometimes its a mind controlled eneemy. Sometimes it just does it anyway. Not once have i not had him say it, lets put it that way (and thats 3 full playthroughs each with an avenger defence mission).

 

[SupremacyKing2]

Does anyone have any thoughts on the best way to do a concealment ambush? I used to think that the best way was to simply put everyone on overwatch, except one, and have that one soldier take a shot or toss a grenade to break concealment and trigger the overwatch. Most of the time, it works beautifully: the overwatch shots kill all the aliens in a single turn and your squad is free to keep moving towards your objective. But in some instances, your overwatch shots don't kill all the enemies and since you set all your soldiers to overwatch, you have used up your turn. As a result, the aliens who do survive your ambush are free to take their turn with complete impunity. And this can be really bad. A lancer can rush and melee attack one of your soldiers. A muton can toss an acid grenade on one or more of your soldiers. There is nothing you can do about it.

So, it seems to me that sometimes it is best not to overwatch your soldiers or at least not all of them, when you break concealment. I have had much better success, breaking concealment by taking a shot that is guaranteed to kill an enemy and only partially overwatching the rest of my squad. This way, the overwatch shots can kill or injure some of the remaining aliens but you still have 1-2 soldiers that can take actions after the surviving aliens have scattered. I have found that a key tactic in XCOM2 is 1) not to trigger pods too early and 2) always try to have more actions than the enemy. The more actions you can take in a turn, the more control you will have over the battle. Once your actions are done, you are at the mercy of whatever the enemy can do. So not overwatching everybody is a good way to keep some actions in reserve in order to still have some control over the battle after the aliens scatter to cover.

 

[sherbz]

Does anyone have any thoughts on the best way to do a concealment ambush? I used to think that the best way was to simply put everyone on overwatch, except one, and have that one soldier take a shot or toss a grenade to break concealment and trigger the overwatch. Most of the time, it works beautifully: the overwatch shots kill all the aliens in a single turn and your squad is free to keep moving towards your objective. But in some instances, your overwatch shots don't kill all the enemies and since you set all your soldiers to overwatch, you have used up your turn. As a result, the aliens who do survive your ambush are free to take their turn with complete impunity. And this can be really bad. A lancer can rush and melee attack one of your soldiers. A muton can toss an acid grenade on one or more of your soldiers. There is nothing you can do about it.

So, it seems to me that sometimes it is best not to overwatch your soldiers or at least not all of them, when you break concealment. I have had much better success, breaking concealment by taking a shot that is guaranteed to kill an enemy and only partially overwatching the rest of my squad. This way, the overwatch shots can kill or injure some of the remaining aliens but you still have 1-2 soldiers that can take actions after the surviving aliens have scattered. I have found that a key tactic in XCOM2 is 1) not to trigger pods too early and 2) always try to have more actions than the enemy. The more actions you can take in a turn, the more control you will have over the battle. Once your actions are done, you are at the mercy of whatever the enemy can do. So not overwatching everybody is a good way to keep some actions in reserve in order to still have some control over the battle after the aliens scatter to cover.

The ambush works better at the start of the campaign than at the end because you have poor aim aginst full cover and less means and soldiers with which to remove it. At the end you have more guns and more equipment that you dont need overwatch, or it is actually a waste to use it.

At the start though it is very useful. I keep one soldier back, usually my ranger who is often concealed, and give them either a flashbang or mimic beacon. So if it all goes to hell and everyone is still alive, i still have the beacon to toss if it all heads south.

 

[SupremacyKing2]

The ambush works better at the start of the campaign than at the end because you have poor aim aginst full cover and less means and soldiers with which to remove it. At the end you have more guns and more equipment that you dont need overwatch, or it is actually a waste to use it.

Also, your soldiers are much weaker in the early game. Even a weak enemy can really wreck your day with a lucky crit shot. I have actually lost a soldier in the very first gatecrasher mission because an advent soldier got a lucky crit shot on one my soldiers who was behind cover. In the late game, the enemies are more powerful but your soldiers have a lot of health points and armor points, plus other tools for protection. I find that soldiers can usually take a hit and survive in the late game unless they get hit multiple times in the same turn.

At the start though it is very useful. I keep one soldier back, usually my ranger who is often concealed, and give them either a flashbang or mimic beacon. So if it all goes to hell and everyone is still alive, i still have the beacon to toss if it all heads south.

Thanks for the great tips. I am really liking my partial ambush technique of only setting some of my concealed soldiers on overwatch. It seems to give me a nice balance between overwatching and leftover actions. I am definitely trying to learn ways to minimize the "everything goes south" phenomena . I hate it when a mission is going smoothly and then suddenly everything changes.

 

[Sal]

In addition to this I would suggest an early game strategy I have used a lot, which actually breaking concealment and putting no one on overwatch at all. Even though the enemy runs for cover you can usually pretty much walk up to them, flank and fire. I have found you can get better shot success this way than overwatch. It may seem like it wastes concealment but it works because concealment allows you to get close enough.

Also, your soldiers are much weaker in the early game. Even a weak enemy can really wreck your day with a lucky crit shot. I have actually lost a soldier in the very first gatecrasher mission because an advent soldier got a lucky crit shot on one my soldiers who was behind cover. In the late game, the enemies are more powerful but your soldiers have a lot of health points and armor points, plus other tools for protection. I find that soldiers can usually take a hit and survive in the late game unless they get hit multiple times in the same turn.



Thanks for the great tips. I am really liking my partial ambush technique of only setting some of my concealed soldiers on overwatch. It seems to give me a nice balance between overwatching and leftover actions. I am definitely trying to learn ways to minimize the "everything goes south" phenomena . I hate it when a mission is going smoothly and then suddenly everything changes.

 

[Sal]

I have a couple of question. Firstly, is there a good forum like the civfanatics ones discussing game strategy? It seems a shame that there is only one thread on here and no subsections. I know it is a civ website but I think most people who play civ love XCOM too. In fact I am not playing civ at all at the moment due to XCOM's release! Other forums I have looked at don't always have the community feel and nice manners that you can expext to find on civfanatics.

Second question: who has good team builds to suggest for multiplayer? It seems to me that nothing can beat a well balanced all human team, but I want to play with more variety. Anyone stumbled across any killer combinations involving aliens?

 

[SupremacyKing2]

In addition to this I would suggest an early game strategy I have used a lot, which actually breaking concealment and putting no one on overwatch at all. Even though the enemy runs for cover you can usually pretty much walk up to them, flank and fire. I have found you can get better shot success this way than overwatch. It may seem like it wastes concealment but it works because concealment allows you to get close enough.

Yeah, I have used that tactic as well with great results. Overwatch can be useful if you think that you won't be able to get good shots on the enemy because of a lot of high cover or in cases where your soldiers already don't have any good shot options (like your aim percentages are < 30%). But I would argue that overwatch can be a newbie trap because newbies assume overwatch is the best option when many times it is not.

 

[SupremacyKing2]

I have a couple of question. Firstly, is there a good forum like the civfanatics ones discussing game strategy?

You can try the 2K forum. They have a dedicated sub forum just for XCOM2.

 

[sherbz]

Yeah, I have used that tactic as well with great results. Overwatch can be useful if you think that you won't be able to get good shots on the enemy because of a lot of high cover or in cases where your soldiers already don't have any good shot options (like your aim percentages are < 30%). But I would argue that overwatch can be a newbie trap because newbies assume overwatch is the best option when many times it is not.

This is certainly true. My experience, which now stretched to legendary ironman, is that over watch goes through 3 phases.

1- early game: over watch on all except for your ranger who has either flash bang or mimic.

2- mid game: over watch on all who have special abilities like kill zone and guardian. Or even a repeater. Save a grenade and mimic for clear up or damage control.

3- late game: don't break concealment with a grenade anymore. Use your ranger who has shadow strike or your sniper on an enemy that can dodge and try to insta kill it (codex). Then use your grenadier to clear cover and mop up. You can increase this process by using a proximity mine, which does not break concealment. Never use over watch on your psi soldier.

 

[SupremacyKing2]

This is certainly true. My experience, which now stretched to legendary ironman, is that over watch goes through 3 phases.

I am not ready for legendary yet. I feel like my skill level is just a bit below commander. Veteran is easy and commander feels doable if I really focus hard.

 

[tesb]

skip legendary. the first mission is insanely hard, while the later missions are not that much harder than commander. the biggest difference is the longer strategic layer.

 

[ls612]

skip legendary. the first mission is insanely hard, while the later missions are not that much harder than commander. the biggest difference is the longer strategic layer.

Legendary is super hard compared to commando. Think about how you deal with an Andromedon. Now imagine dealing with 1 Andromedon and 3 Archons with mag weapons, not plasma. And they have 4-5 more health to boot.

 

[sherbz]

Legendary is tough, especially at the start. The first mission is one of the most difficult. It only starts to get easier by the time you have struggled to your squad size upgrades plus predator and mag weapons. After that it's not that much more difficult than commander. You just need to be smart about your abilities.

 

[SupremacyKing2]

New DLC coming May 12 called "alien hunters" which will add new aliens, new weapons, new armor and a new narrative mission, plus bug fixes of course.

https://xcom.com/news/en-dangerous-ruler-aliens-await-in-xcom-2s-alien-hunters-dlc

 

[Barathor]

Oh man, how will I find the time next week for modding BE, Stellaris (!), and now this!

I actually haven't touched XCOM 2 in a while since I wanted to wait for this DLC (and the patch accompanying it) to get part of that feeling back when you sit down to a great, new game or one you haven't played in a while.

If they also reveal the second expansion for BE next week I may faint from hype overload.

Spoiler :

EDIT: It's interesting that you can make armor out of the ruler alien corpse; I hope it's done tastefully (it's probably going to be parts of their fancy ruler armor, not their skulls or hides). The Icarus Suit is no doubt from the Archon ruler (that one is going to be scary to face). So that leaves the Berserker and Viper. Also, these armors give a penalty to the alien class of the ruler you assassinated, which is strange, because berserkers shouldn't experience any fear at all, they should become even more enraged instead (maybe that's the excuse for giving them a penalty?). Well, it's not like you face many berserkers anyway, lol... unless they adjusted that too!