XCOM : Enemy Unknown - by Firaxis Games - Thread

I strayed away from the 'storyline' (progression) stuff for a while so I could try and get a handle on things first. All my earlier attempts I leapt on anything deemed a 'priority' development and the pace got away from me, so stayed away from the bait this time.

However, and to my point, this meant I didn't have an arc thrower until late in the game and I'm only getting to use it on stuff like heavy floaters, mutons, chrysalids - in doing so, have I cut myself off from some lines of research/engineering as I don't seem to be getting opportunities to try and capture thin men, sectoids, etc., anymore?
 
Finished the game on regular classic. Now to play it on ironman classic or regular impossible, hmmm :D

Btw, is there any way to save mindcontrolled teammates? You can`t stun them, the only effect that works on them is the disabling shot but that only last 1 round before they reload.

Also the fact you can`t stun/kill mind controlled aliens is slightly annoying as after 3 rounds you lose control and they shoot you in the back:o
 
The only way to save a mind controlled human is to kill the controlling alien. Never found it a problem to do this in the first turn after my friendly gets controlled as I usually have a double tap sniper with friend sight within close proximity of my assault front-liners. As a result as soon as one of them is controlled I can move the other assault person into line of sight, take a shot with the sniper and either double tap to kill or arc it for a capture if it's viable.
 
Today's XCOM experiences go from the ridiculous to the sublime. After my ealier rages I then manged to save all 18 civvies in a terror attack with what I assumed would be a rookie filled disaster unit. Then, while taking stock in the situation room I heard Bradford informing me that a certain Commander Straker was on the radio.

Very funny. :D
 
Yay finally got upgrade rockets, built them and forgot to equip :(, but I think that's all research done now.

Do I do the final mission. Or do I plod on being bored just to replace my elite soldiers with an elite psi force. But that means training them up from rookie and train the psi abilities that could take ages.
 
Just a warning to those of you who have finished the game and are starting again on Iron Man or just harder difficulty:

If you don't delete your previous save games, you can end up fighting the end-game enemies (Elites, etc) with rookies starting on your 2nd mission!
 
Xordium said:
Psi training can be done in 2-3 missions max. They seem to throw missions full of thin men after you get psi abilities to give you the opportunity for easy levelling.
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I think he means in order to get the best psi-soldiers you need to start with a rookie due to the extra will bonus when characters level up that you buy from the barracks. I haven't tested it but I assume this means they'd end up with much higher will and therefore better psi abilities (and will panic less often). If you turn a high level soldier into a psi-soldier you get the abilities, but they'll not have the maximum Will possible.

Either that or the fact that a small number of your 'elite' squad will have psionic potential, as a result you will need to swap those out with rookies that do and train them up.
 
Streeteh said:
I
Either that or the fact that a small number of your 'elite' squad will have psionic potential, as a result you will need to swap those out with rookies that do and train them up.
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This, only one of my elite soldiers has psi capabilities.
Which means I need to train 5 new guys up from scratch, to get a full psi squad. Which will take a while.
I've been hiring and firing and now found the units I need with psi, two snipers, two heavies, 1 support, 1 assault.

But only one sniper is a colonel, the rest are all n00bies.
 
Ar, ok - well really you only need the psi powers on one for the final mission and I find them rather underwhelming anyway. To breeze the final mission I had a psi at the front and one to boost the support - that was classic/ironman. I am trying impossible/ironman and have come to the conclusion for me it is aptly named I just can't do it.
 
Hi,

I'm wondering about getting this game. I didn't play the original when it came out but bought it on Steam a while back during a sale. Played it today to try to get a feel for the style of the game. To be honest it was a bit overwhelming and annoying (getting shot by Aliens that were too far away to be seen and my squad panicking).

I'm guessing it'd probably take a bit of getting used to, but I'm thinking that rather than persevering with that game I might just get this new one.

I'm hoping it'll be easier to get into?

Now I realise this thread will probably be a bit biased, but given my experience with the original (or lack of) do you think I should get this (for £21.60)?

Thanks.
 
Xordium said:
Ar, ok - well really you only need the psi powers on one for the final mission and I find them rather underwhelming anyway. To breeze the final mission I had a psi at the front and one to boost the support - that was classic/ironman. I am trying impossible/ironman and have come to the conclusion for me it is aptly named I just can't do it.
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Mind Flay is quite good for bomb disposal missions, generally 100% chance to hit regardless of cover and kills a thin man in one shot. Mind control is also amusing, a mind controlled berserker taking on two sectopods :D
 
GoogalyMoogaly said:
Hi,

I'm wondering about getting this game. I didn't play the original when it came out but bought it on Steam a while back during a sale. Played it today to try to get a feel for the style of the game. To be honest it was a bit overwhelming and annoying (getting shot by Aliens that were too far away to be seen and my squad panicking).

I'm guessing it'd probably take a bit of getting used to, but I'm thinking that rather than persevering with that game I might just get this new one.

I'm hoping it'll be easier to get into?

Now I realise this thread will probably be a bit biased, but given my experience with the original (or lack of) do you think I should get this (for £21.60)?

Thanks.
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Hi there! Just my 2 pence worth on the new game, coming from someone that loves the original... :)

The new game is a lot of fun, I would say it is quite a bit more accessable compared to the first one, certainly if you enable the tutorial it holds your hand for the first 30 minutes or so of the game.

Losing soldiers is part of the experience in my opinion, the game would lose a lot of its difficulty if you are the sort that gets frustrated by that type of thing and ends up saving and reloading repeatedly, I think the fun would vanish quickly playing like that.

I played on classic ironman difficulty, and having played the original to death I found it just right. I know a lot of people on here have posted suggesting that normal was too easy, so it might be worth having a quick blast on normal to figure a couple of things out then restarting on classic.

I paid a little bit more than the price you quoted, and would say it is worth the cash. Although the title has been simplified in quite a few areas compared to the original, if you are new to XCOM chances are you won't miss these things and there is plenty to be getting on with.

Failure is part of the experience as is a bit of luck now and then, so try not to get too annoyed when one of your favourite troops misses that 85% shot and ends up dead! :D

One final thing, a demo is available on steam. Whilst it is extremely limited in what it offers, I would recommend a playthrough of it to help make up your mind.

Sorry for the wall of text, these are just my thoughts and opinions on the game, I'm sure some others will offer alternative views.

Short version - its fun and worth the money if you like this genre of game (in my opinion) :)
 
Miss 85% I had one earlier who missed 98% needless to say I got annoyed and mind fryed that plasma dodgyig ****

But agree it is slightly dumbed down so a little easier.

It's a shame as the improvements are really good. I just don't understand why they improved a lot and dumbed down the others.
 
Glaucus said:
Miss 85% I had one earlier who missed 98% needless to say I got annoyed and mind fryed that plasma dodgyig ****

But agree it is slightly dumbed down so a little easier.

It's a shame as the improvements are really good. I just don't understand why they improved a lot and dumbed down the others.
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Yeah, some bits baffle me, the new inventory, the weapons fragments for research, not being able to pick up kit on tactical map (not even friendly troop gear?), the single interceptors, the redundant geoscape, not being able to target terrain except with grenades and rockets, no base defense, the random class allocation, the simplified stats, skyranger always in corner of map...

BUT having said all that, it is loads of fun and has loads of potential for a sequel to improve things, heres hoping! :)
 
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I've been playing it with the anti-cheat mod and I'm really enjoying it now. It removes the big aim and crit bonuses aliens have on classic difficulty but leaves the full ai and alien numbers. Makes it more realistic to me and removes the wtf shots that the aliens do ie those huge long range crits on full cover squaddies that insta-kill.
 
Clav said:
I've been playing it with the anti-cheat mod and I'm really enjoying it now. It removes the big aim and crit bonuses aliens have on classic difficulty but leaves the full ai and alien numbers. Makes it more realistic to me and removes the wtf shots that the aliens do ie those huge long range crits on full cover squaddies that insta-kill.
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LOL! Aliens taking over the world with mind control and Plasma weapons....:p
 
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