XCOM : Enemy Unknown - by Firaxis Games - Thread

[Diplexbullet19]

Spoiler

Annoying bug with Double Tap, few times it's happened now and I keep forgetting about it.

Yup had that quite a few times, nothing to big but is annoying. On the base defence one of the minion soldiers given to me glitched into the ceiling into another room, could shoot but couldn't be hit and made it to easy for my snipers to pick them off.

 

[Chong Warrior]

They really, REALLY need to introduce a difficulty level in between normal and hard. Very frustrating when one feels too easy and the other a brick wall.

Agreed, the difference is a joke. I'm playing normal, almost finished now. I did lose India but now every single country is a lowest level of panic, I have 12 troops fully upgraded to colonel, PSI, gene mods, best armour and weapons and I walk every level without a scratch, very easy.

Spoiler

Only 2 soldiers I've lost whole game were the basic troops when the XCOM base is attacked

Next level up I get my ass kicked, just feels like a lottery. Aliens never miss, my troops usually miss, except when they panic and shoot each other.... frustrating!

 

[Loosecannon]

I just finished my first Exhalt Hacking mission.

My god it was a nightmare. I would guess upwards of 20 enemies on 1 map. And when the reinforcements came, it would always be to flank me.

Mission completed but some seriously injured soldiers.

 

[Borrish]

They really, REALLY need to introduce a difficulty level in between normal and hard. Very frustrating when one feels too easy and the other a brick wall.

This is exactly what I've found. I know it's because I'm not great at the game but honestly the jump in difficulty is ridiculous.

 

[Chong Warrior]

I just finished my first Exhalt Hacking mission.

My god it was a nightmare. I would guess upwards of 20 enemies on 1 map. And when the reinforcements came, it would always be to flank me.

Mission completed but some seriously injured soldiers.

Just research plasma (don't bother with lasers, waste of time) then all the exalt missions become tediously easy. They all die with 1 shot.

 

[Khrest]

I'm really struggling on Normal and hating so much I'm thinking of going back to the non-dlc.

The start of the game just seems like a scramble for satellites whereas I remember having more time to get them up before countries started leaving in the original. Anybody found a good working plan to get through this phase without falling behind the weapon tech curve?

 

[Loosecannon]

I have a couple of Plasma weapons now, which is helping, along with a MEc soldier with a railgun...

Just completed the Fishing village. Damn that is not nice. By the time it was done I had killed 32, 0 soldier deaths, and finished on the last turn.

I could not do that level on classic! Its impossible.

On return from that my base has been attacked!

 

[FoxEye]

This is exactly what I've found. I know it's because I'm not great at the game but honestly the jump in difficulty is ridiculous.

You can probably blame posters on the 2k forums for that. There were some very vocal people complaining that the game was too easy on Classic and pretty easy on Impossible.

Given the number of bugs, I don't think Firaxis bother with playtesters, so they probably take their feedback from forumites

 

[Crimefighter]

I'm really struggling on Normal and hating so much I'm thinking of going back to the non-dlc.

The start of the game just seems like a scramble for satellites whereas I remember having more time to get them up before countries started leaving in the original. Anybody found a good working plan to get through this phase without falling behind the weapon tech curve?

I normally just do the 1 satellite for the 1st month, and then 3 each month thereafter. I don't normally lose any countries but it depends on luck and management with the panic missions.

With regards to weapon tech, I hadn't played for about 9 months since EW came out, and I completely forgot that interrogations gave weapons research bonuses. On my current playthrough I hard researched everything before realising.

Next playthrough Ill rush Alien containment facility and get those weapon research bonuses - maybe that will help you stay ahead of the tech curve as well? (Disregard my post if you knew about this already).

 

[Crimefighter]

I have a couple of Plasma weapons now, which is helping, along with a MEc soldier with a railgun...

Just completed the Fishing village. Damn that is not nice. By the time it was done I had killed 32, 0 soldier deaths, and finished on the last turn.

I could not do that level on classic! Its impossible.

On return from that my base has been attacked!

I managed it on classic but not Ironman. It was a heart stopping last turn finish though! Very cool mission, and and the last part was tricky.


Dunno about everyone else, but I am very underwhelmed with the MEC trooper. She has crappy aim, and the railgun only has enough ammo for 2 shots - 1 if you use it to destroy terrain which is admittedly pretty handy.

High hitpoints are good, and the kinetic weapon is very satisfying to use, but Im still not convinced.

 

[Pighardia]

I owned the fishing village. Hover shiv up high in the middle of the map on overwatch the entire time... They didn't stand a chance!

I did get it quite late though.

^yeah, the aim for mech troops seems really low for me as well.

 

[Omaeka]

I'm really struggling on Normal and hating so much I'm thinking of going back to the non-dlc.

The start of the game just seems like a scramble for satellites whereas I remember having more time to get them up before countries started leaving in the original. Anybody found a good working plan to get through this phase without falling behind the weapon tech curve?

Country panic is just luck though, I've not had any country go orange yet except Egypt because I've gotten lucky with abduction and UFO locations. You've just had a bad roll of the die from the sound of it. The game generates random seeds for everything, quite a few players speculate that missions are sometimes lost before you even deploy thanks to the random seed, which would explain those missions you sometimes go on where you get slaughtered beyond belief. Nothing quite like ending your turn and then having 5+ packs of enemies spawn in your vicinity and then have a free turn each, guaranteed failure.

 

[Loosecannon]

Dunno about everyone else, but I am very underwhelmed with the MEC trooper. She has crappy aim, and the railgun only has enough ammo for 2 shots - 1 if you use it to destroy terrain which is admittedly pretty handy.

High hitpoints are good, and the kinetic weapon is very satisfying to use, but Im still not convinced.

I converted a fully levelled sniper. Made sure I levelled with aim bonus's and extra weapons capacity. She is now a monster... destroys everything! Almost perfect aim too.

 

[Crimefighter]

I converted a fully levelled sniper. Made sure I levelled with aim bonus's and extra weapons capacity. She is now a monster... destroys everything! Almost perfect aim too.

Maybe that was my problem, I converted a Heavy (liked the defensive bonuses).

 

[Hive]

So, having been frustrated with the difference in difficulty between Normal and Hard I decided to do something about it! I have modded the game to create my own difficulty level which someone of my ability could find fun (Normal is too easy and Classic is too hard). There are already lots of mods available for Xcom but I didn't want anything radical, so I decided to make minor adjustments.

So, in basic terms the differences Hard/Classic gives are as follows:
* Base costs up
* Tougher Country panic settings
* Many alien units have 1 or 2 more hp
* Improved alien AI
* Marines begin with 1 hp less
* Almost all aliens have extra 10% hit AND 10% crit

All I did to my settings is remove the two differences in difficulty above that are in bold. I'm still up against improved AI with aliens with more hp, except they don't get to 'cheat' and 1 shot me so much. If you think you're in the same boat I really recommend doing the same, or I could upload my edited exe file to dropbox or something to share (I have no idea if this is allowed on this forum or not)?

I've started a new campaign under the above conditions and it feels perfect for my ability level. Much harder than standard Normal but I am now completing missions (albeit with 1 or 2 deaths each time). Woot!

 

[Sleepery]

Yeah, I've had it with classic too, just too frustrating. I think the pacing is screwed up now too though, they're trying to squash too much stuff in all at once, you need time to find your feet and get at least a few upgrades researched before they start throwing special missions at you one after the other.

 

[Pighardia]

Just completed it for the first time(unknown and Within). Loved every minute of it!

I never got round to completing it the first time, but the expansion breathed new life in to it for me.

 

[Lunatic Dreyfus]

End of May, things were getting very Red in the Situation Room and with three nations down I was left a bit battered. Classic Ironman is a proper challenge.

Trouble is satellites and uplinks have to be built, but there's so much other stuff vying for my spacebucks, including vital weaponry upgrades. Is it a bit too much too soon though? I feel you have to nail every single mission/opportunity and still hope for more than a bit of luck.

On a side note, that second Slingshot mission is almost perfectly balanced. I get there just in time every go.

 

[Pighardia]

On a side note, that second Slingshot mission is almost perfectly balanced. I get there just in time every go.

The train one?...yeah I liked that one. In fact, I liked all of the scripted missions really.

I think the best tactic to use with panic is to get to the Alien Base assault mission, and save it until you are struggling, as it resets panic across the whole world. There are other missions like that I think as well.

I am going to start again on Marathon at some point. I think it will be much better paced, with all of the new stuff in it as well.

 

[Sleepery]

I thought all Marathon did was dramatically increase build and research times, which would make Enemy Within really nasty