Xcom advice

[Ari Rahikkala]

Hmm... as I have no real strategy to share, I'll just share a few nitpicks :

quote: The five combos are, in approximate order of appearance, Floater/Reaver, Sectoid/Cyberdisk, Snakeman/Chryssalid, Muton/Silacoid, and Ethereal/Sectopod

Don't forget that Mutons have also celatids with them (IIRC celatids were the flying ones and silacoids the quick blobs whose method of attacking I haven't even yet found out).

By the way, is there a way any way of studying an intact cyberdisk, other than alien medics? I remember that I have seen a cyberdisk being intact without its self-destruction being triggered, but I can't be sure if I remember correctly. Another thing about cyberdisks, is my observation that they seem to enjoy spending their time at gas stations in terror missions*correct?

[Richard Bruns]

quote: Originally posted by LightEning on 04-26-2001 04:40 PM Don't forget that Mutons have also celatids with them (IIRC celatids were the flying ones and silacoids the quick blobs whose method of attacking I haven't even yet found out).

You're right. I always get the two mixed up.

quote: By the way, is there a way any way of studying an intact cyberdisk, other than alien medics? I remember that I have seen a cyberdisk being intact without its self-destruction being triggered, but I can't be sure if I remember correctly.

I get cyberdisk corpses all of the time, but I've never captured a 'live' one.

quote: Another thing about cyberdisks, is my observation that they seem to enjoy spending their time at gas stations in terror missions*correct?

LOL. It sure seems that way. Half the city can go up in flames. It doesn't help that civilians seem to have one hit point, so they die instantly if any explosive even comes close to them.

If you blow up a cyberdisk and it kills a civilian, does that count as "Civilian killed by X-Com"? What about secondary explosions? I never figured that out exactly.

[Urban Ranger]

If the Cyberdisk is bearing down on you, kill it when you can. Better a dead civilian than a dead squaddie, I say

[Richard Bruns]

quote: Originally posted by Father Beast on 04-26-2001 09:36 AM There's 2 kinds of aliens there. some big as a tank ugly ones, and these tall purple fellows. I killed a couple of each (man, takes a lot of hits with rifles to kill one of those big suckers), when on the same turn 2 of those big aliens jumped out and squashed my tanks! I figured I was in over my head and got everyone out of there. my score went down, but I didn't lose any soldiers. was I really in over my head, do you think?

That sounds like Floater/Reaver. Ethereal/Sectopod also fits that desciption, bit I don't think that's what it was. Ethereals look like nothing but purple/orange robes, while Floaters are purple mutated/cyborg things that look like an enemy from Doom. Reavers can only hurt you if they are right next to you, while Sectopods have long ranged weapons. If it was early in the game, it was probably Floaters. I know you don't want to hear this, but they are the least dangerous terror ships in the game. The five combos are, in approximate order of appearance, Floater/Reaver, Sectoid/Cyberdisk, Snakeman/Chryssalid, Muton/Silacoid, and Ethereal/Sectopod.

Floaters are fairly unskilled aliens, and relatively easy to kill. Reavers are not a problem if you scout the area well. They can't fit in houses, so they are usually in open areas where you can kill them at long range. Beware of warehouses, though, they can fit in those big doors and hide in there. (I have no clue how they open them with no arms, but they do.) Most squads can handle the floaters, you just got unlucky that time.

Question for those with more experiance and/or the strategy guide: Do grenades do damage to every section of a large enemy, or do they only damage it once? It seems that grenades are surprisingly effective against Reavers.

[Father Beast]

That must have been reavers that one time. floaters are the ones that look like flying saucers, right? I ran into them on another terror mission.

I keep getting plastered on these terror missions. I went in on another one recently, and lost both tanks almost as soon as they unloaded. ended up losing almost everyone, and getting out with 1 living squaddie. Had a captain and 2 seargants in that troop, too. had to leave a bunch of laser rifles behind. set me back considerably.

Dang.

I also read through that FAQ and USG. sort of lets me in on what may be coming up. the idea of attacking huge ufo battleships is intimidating, to say the least!

I am learning, though. my second base sent out a team of rookies with rifles and took a downed small craft and only lost 2 troopers. I had invaded the UFO, and went both ways around the middle. I had my soldiers arranged around the door, looking at it, with some movement points left over. I was going to go through next turn. an alien acme through on their turn, and was shot down. this time I was smart and didn't move that squad. the last alien came through and met the same fate. cool!

[Richard Bruns]

No, cyberdisks are the ones that look like little UFO's. They hang out with sectoids. Floaters are soldiers that look like cyberdemons from DOOM. They have an antigravity implant instead of legs.

If you don't mind a bit of a spoiler, this is the entire section of the UFOpedia that deals with alien life forms: http://www.tacticalplanet.com/xcom/ufo/ufop6.htm

[Urban Ranger]

quote: Originally posted by Father Beast on 04-27-2001 02:46 PM I keep getting plastered on these terror missions. I went in on another one recently, and lost both tanks almost as soon as they unloaded. ended up losing almost everyone, and getting out with 1 living squaddie. Had a captain and 2 seargants in that troop, too. had to leave a bunch of laser rifles behind. set me back considerably.

Go slow. Even slower than your normal missions.

Spread out a little and use section tactics.

When you move down the plane, don't go charging down. IIRC, you can see outside from the windows in the aircraft. Try that. Move the tank out one step, then look around. If it's dark outside, consider move a fast squaddie out and throw a few electo-flares.

You can take this to the extreme by moving the squad out near the exit, but not actually leaving the plane. Have your two best shooters kneel at the exit with lots of time units left, any aliens want to shoot at you will have to move into your field of vision.

Move your squad out slowly, you might even want to spend a turn or two getting down on the ground. Have everybody kneel so you get a better chance of shooting at aliens. Never run out of time units when your turn is over.

Also remember that, if an alien is shot it will shoot back, but if you lob a grenade, it won't shoot.

By the way, once you have laser rifles you might want to start researching alien alloys so you can start making body armour. Good to have

Have lots of engineers crank out laser rifles to sell. Not as good as heavy laser cannons, but still make a pretty penny.
[This message has been edited by Urban Ranger (edited April 28, 2001).]

[Dis]

do you have 2 tanks on your skyranger? really 1 is all you need. and for terror missions I really don't like tanks much (personal preference). because I use the tanks for scouting rural environments. they city doesn't fit well with the tank- plus it can't get inside buildings.

be cautious with terror missions but you must act quick. cover is imperitive here. move your troops out quickly (to save as many civilians as possible) once your sure the landing zone is clear. move them to cover (buildings, poles etc) immediately. they are toast out in the open. and when you do get to chryssalids (sp?) you go all out to kill them. This is why I go in 3 man squads. 1 man cannot kill them. often 1 man will be turned into an alien and I use the other 2 to kill him and the alien. If you do see chryssalids cautian is important here- you must get them from afar.

as for large ships you won't get them with your interceptor if you still have starting weapons- get the long range weapons fast!! ditch the stingrays and get avalanche. and please ditch the cannons if you still have them!!! you must go for high damage and long range to avoid massive damage to your interceptors and later craft (damage sucks ). I research these before I do the others stuff to win the game (alien commander etc). you must have advanced weapons for your craft and your troops or you are toast.

damn I still love this game . I'm thinking of starting a new game right now.

[Urban Ranger]

No way. You don't want to go too fast in a terror mission. The tank is optional, but you must proceed very slowly.

The only speed you need to be concerned with is getting to the terror sites in time. Once you are there, you should concentrating on three tasks. In decending priority, they are:

1. Preserving the life of your team members.
2. Kill off aliens.
3. Rescue civilians.

If you can do [1], there is no question that you will eventually wipe out all the aliens, and save some civilians in the process. My experience is, once you get there, the aliens will start ignoring the civilians to track you down.

[Richard Bruns]

quote: Originally posted by Urban Ranger on 04-30-2001 06:01 AM No way. You don't want to go too fast in a terror mission. The tank is optional, but you must proceed very slowly.

I seem to have different experiences. On most missions, especially terror missions, I spread out as fast as possible. If I kill the aliens as fast as possible, they can't sneak up on me or mow down civilians. Almost all of my casualties come from reaction fire in my movement phase, and nothing can really stop that. You have to move there eventually, and if you move there fast and see them on your turn the other team members will able to kill the alien before it gets its turn.

There are two classes of aliens on terror missions: soldiers and terrorists. I believe that the terrorists hunt down civilians, while the soldiers go after your troops.

But then, I don't have much experiance with terror sites. I only have to deal with two or three per game, because after I get hyperwave decoders built I shoot down all of the terror ships and the scouts on terror missions. Then I usually let the terror ship rot on the ground unless it is a floater ship or I am feeling adventurous. I hate those things because I usually take three to six casualties, especially with those cyberdisks. No armor can stand up to them; they can kill a tank or a flying-suit clad trooper with one shot.

[Dis]

well I still say spread out fast. but like I said you need to make sure your landing zone is clear first. but until you spread out you can't get more troops out of the crafts. If you bunch them up they are a target for a grenade. I try to never have more than 2 people close to each other. I haven't had too much trouble with discs. yeah they kill a lot of newbies. but oh well. I usually only deal with terror missions in the first part of the game where I still only have less than 6 soldiers that are 'keepers' I'll send the expendables out on terror missions first. they are great for spotting the enemy and my keepers usually have a good enough fa to snipe them from afar.

but chryssalid terror missions are the only ones that scare me. there caution is very important. you are unlikely to save many civilians in this case. It is imperitive that you spot them before they sneak up on you.

[Ari Rahikkala]

quote: Originally posted by Dissident on 05-01-2001 05:22 AM but chryssalid terror missions are the only ones that scare me. there caution is very important. you are unlikely to save many civilians in this case. It is imperitive that you spot them before they sneak up on you.

I have a faint memory of that while chrysallids are very quick, they are also cowards; It's a good idea to use groups of four operatives or more on terror missionswith chrysallids, because if the chrysalis gets shot (opportunity fire) it is not likely to attack you that turn.

[Father Beast]

I FINALLY won a terror mission!!

I had to reload and replay but I did it. went into havana with 3 squaddies and 7 rookies. all with laser rifles and half with personal armor. they all got killed the first time I did it, so I reloaded and did it again, much more carefully. didn't lose a man this time, and got a terrific rating!

had snakemen and Chrysalids. man those chrys are tough buggers. the first time they took about 3 of my men and zombied them. got them all this time.

I also used some of the "watch each other's back" tactics talked about in the USG. made sure I didn't move far, kept half to third mps in reserve. came in handy more than once.

brought home a bunch of booty, too.

[Urban Ranger]

Good work.

Chryssalids are real buggers. They can move really fast and turn your people into zombies. What's worse, zombies turn into aliens when killed.

Don't forget your area effect weapons too.

[Father Beast]

Okay, I just lost a terror mission to snakemen and Chrysalids again. I think it was the throwing grenades at me that did it. I need to learn to use grenades properly...

I keep grenades on my belt, because all my troops carry laser rifles, and I think accuracy would go down if they had it in their hand. what's the best way to go about it?

[Richard Bruns]

One strategy for dealing with crysallids/zombies is to have everyone keep primed grenades on their belts. It the chrysallids turn them into zombies, they drop the stuff and it explodes, killing the zombie and hopefully the chryssalid as well. This also has the added bonus of quicker throwing. But if a trooper gets shot while surrounded by teammates, the result can be disastrous. But if they are using grenades on you anyway, this bomb strategy will force you to spread out.

Have you researched heavy plasma yet? If not make it a priority. I try to make sure that I have power suits and heavy plasma by the time snakemen show up.
[This message has been edited by Richard Bruns (edited May 03, 2001).]

[Dis]

ahh yes heavy plasma I did not mention it. Mainly because many here are big on laser rifles. But this is always my top research priority. good range and firepower. and not too heavy that your weaker guys can't carry it. this makes one shot kills much easier. I usually skip laser rifles, pistols and plasma pistols. sometimes I research plasma rifles if heavy plasma is unavailable. The only time I use laser rifles is maybe on scouts I want to be fast.

I never use grenades (personal preference). They may be fairly useful though. I use rocket launchers with 1 or 2 guys. The time unit cost is steep though. grenades may be better. Maybe I should use grenadiers. I am realizing how great they are in fallout: tactics. they may be good here. just put grenades in both hands... They wouldn't be good on terror missions though.

[Father Beast]

quote: Originally posted by Dissident on 05-03-2001 04:58 PM I never use grenades (personal preference). They may be fairly useful though. I use rocket launchers with 1 or 2 guys. The time unit cost is steep though. grenades may be better. Maybe I should use grenadiers. I am realizing how great they are in fallout: tactics. they may be good here. just put grenades in both hands... They wouldn't be good on terror missions though.

Dang. the place I was considering using them was on terror missions. that's where I usually get creamed.

Richard, I haven't researched heavy plasma yet. I am busy researching laser cannons so I can put some decent firepower on my fighters. I finally got rid of all my cannons and put 2 avalanche launchers on each of my interceptors. the short range of the cannon made it all but useless.

Before Snakemen show up? is there a timetable? it's now june 1999 in my game, and I first saw these guys on a terror mission 2 months ago.

[Dis]

I always sell the cannons immediately. and get avalanche. I sell my stingrays too. I wouldn't recommend laser cannons. I believe they have the same firepower as heavy plasma or close to it. I'd have to look at the guide to find out. Heavy plasma is the weapon to get. most of your squad should have these. bring along laser rifles if your ammo gets low (they do burn a lot of eurilym). And research a longer range weapon for you interceptor too. and think planning to upgrade your interceptor and skyranger. Takes research and a lot of workshop space to do. and of course another hanger. I usually have 4 hangers in my main base and 2 or 3 in my europe base (or vise versa sometimes ukraine area is my main base). sometimes I'll put up a radar station in the south somewhere (still haven't found the best place- usually africa though close enough so I can cover brasil)

[Urban Ranger]

Don't worry. Father Beast, each person has a different playing style.

Plama weapons are good, but they use up your limited supply of E-115, which you could used elsewhere (flying suits, hover tanks, plama cannons for fighters, and blaster bombs). I myself prefer flying suits. They make attacking landed/crashed UFOs much easier, esp. if you also have blaster bombs.

For using grenades, you might try this tactic. Form 3 or 4 person terms, and have your squaddies in the back of the formation throw grenades. Rocket launchers are also good against terrorists in the beginning.

To reduce casualties you must master the use of opportunity fire.

If you have researched heavy lasers crank up the production since they are good cash items. You might want to consider build a research/manufacting only base in a remote place, such as the Antartica.


Dissident,

I found heavy plasma too slow and too heavy for my liking. A veteran trooper can dish out more damage using autoshots.
[This message has been edited by Urban Ranger (edited May 04, 2001).]

[Richard Bruns]

Heavy laser and laser cannon are a waste of time. For about as much effort, you can get heavy plasma and plasma cannons. I research heavy plasma long before I have enough to equip a squad with, because plasma cannons are the best craft weapon. They only use elerium when you make them, they don't need reloads.

I don't manufacture alien weapons and I certainly won't waste elerium making ammo. I only use what I collect and I use the stuff sparingly. I also try to unload any unused clips before the end of the battle. But if a single shot has been fired, you lose the whole clip, so you might as well use it all up in the battle to flatten buildings and walls. Another trick is to look at the equipment of aliens you have killed. If they haven't fired a shot, unload the clip. If they have, pick up the weapon and start using it.

As a side not, I have never, not once, seen a heavy plasma slow down a soldier. They seem to weigh as much as laser rifles. One trick with heavy weapons is to toss them onto the ground at the end of your turn. The soldier will start the next turn unburdened, with full time units. Then they can pick up the thing and proceed.

I tend to have realy bad experiances with my reaction fire. On three missions yesterday, I had a trooper (veteran squaddie in each case) kneel with 40+ time units, looking at an area where I knew aliens were. In each case, the alien walked out in full view of the trooper and calmly killed him. One time, it also killed another soldier. I am quite sure that I would have suffered less casualties if I had charged ahead and tried to kill it that turn.

[Urban Ranger]

I was saying heavy laser is a good cash item. It fetches lots of money on the market and you should have a lot of engineers crank it out. You'll never run out of money.

As for reaction fire thing, I always have at least two troopers waiting in ambush in each of the areas that need covering. Always provide cover for your people, behind a wall is best, or prone on the ground if not. Also make sure your ambushers have a high reaction rating.

[Darkknight]

Man We still dont have X-com alliance over here. I have every other X-com game X-com Apocalypse was by far the best.

------------------
" Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few "

[Urban Ranger]

BAH! A FPS.
[This message has been edited by Urban Ranger (edited May 07, 2001).]

[Dis]

hey do you guys run the original x-com game in windows or in dos? I played last year but cannot remember which I ran it in. I can't get it to run in dos. in windows I ran go.exe and it worked. although my mouse moves accross the screen (in combat) extremely fast. and I have the slowest scroll speed selected. I know I did an upgrade since I last played, but still. and perhaps it is the size of my monitor that makes the game look bad. the graphics don't look so hot on a 19" monitor BTW by running in windows I mean opening up my computer and clicking on the go.exe icon. I think I used to run it by selecting run- shut down to dos and then switch directories and play the game (like you used to with dos games)

I would like to play again. also is there a screen where you can see what level you played on in your save games? I know I haven't beaten the game at the highest level. I cannot remember what level I played my last game as.
[This message has been edited by Dissident (edited May 08, 2001).]

[Richard Bruns]

The old version was designed to run in DOS; the manual warns against running it in Windows. But I never had any problem running it in windows on my old computer. I just set up a shortcut to the .exe and it ran fine.

But on my newer computer, I couldn't do that. It wouldn't tun sound at all, and without sound it was really choppy and buggy. Father Beast sent me a Windows version from a PC Gamer CD, and I use that now. It's a copy of the game altered to run under Windows. It works fine, but some of the animations go too fast. E-mail me if you want me to send it to you.

As far as I know, there is no way to see the difficulty of a saved fame.

[Garth Vader]

I'll email you when I get home, if you are willing to send it to me too!