Be glad you're not playing Enemy within. Then you'd have to deal with the meld too.
M A G I K A Z A M
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MorninglordI'm tired of being Batman,so today I'll be Owl.Registered Userregular
edited July 2014
I'm facing it from the side near the front. I opened up the first room near the front and killed a couple of C's and a berserker, but the muton with the berserker vanished somewhere.
I can't find him. I've sent my assaults and scout hunting around the front of the ship for him. I have no idea where he is.
This is going to change my gameplan moving into the rest of the ship. It all just got complicated.
On the other hand everyone but one heavy has plasma (although the laser heavy has two rockets). Including my double tap sniper.
Also both assaults have resilience and lightning reflexes.
Everyone has skeleton armor as well.
I brought my A team because it was a large unidentified. Boy am I glad I did.
Morninglord on
(PSN: Morninglord) (Steam: Morninglord) (WiiU: Morninglord22) I like to record and toss up a lot of random gaming videos here.
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chiasaur11Never doubt a raccoon.Do you think it's trademarked?Registered Userregular
I'm facing it from the side near the front. I opened up the first room near the front and killed a couple of C's and a berserker, but the muton with the berserker vanished somewhere.
I can't find him. I've sent my assaults and scout hunting around the front of the ship for him. I have no idea where he is.
This is going to change my gameplan moving into the rest of the ship. It all just got complicated.
On the other hand everyone but one heavy has plasma (although the laser heavy has two rockets). Including my double tap sniper.
Also both assaults have resilience and lightning reflexes.
Everyone has skeleton armor as well.
I brought my A team because it was a large unidentified. Boy am I glad I did.
Supply ships are the devil even with endgame gear.
I think Long War dicks with you with patrols. I sat in an entrenched position around the bridge of a supply ship for 8 turns on automatic overwatch waiting to clear any patrols that would interfere with my breach. So I get into position at the doors, breach, and get a spawn of 5 fairly high HP outsiders. No problem, whatever. I don't quite clear them on that turn, but the remaining 2 are flashbanged. And then a patrol of 2 berserkers and 3 mutons jumps in from a direction that they could not possibly have been, and I am in the worst position in the universe to deal with 2 berserkers.
What the fuck is up with teleporting spawns and stuff? Shouldn't LW have fixed that, or did it increase its likelihood just to troll people?
Believe it or not, this has absolutely nothing to do with LW and is the game working as intended. If you hit the command of an alien ship, where outsiders/sectoid commanders or whatever are EVERY remaining alien patrol will go straight for it automatically. It's intended as a "defensive" function and the number of remaining aliens on the map that do it is determined by difficulty - or basically non-patrolling aliens can become patrols that head right for it. I think on impossible it's basically everyone, but LW removes all the AI shackling and similar so even on normal it probably does that.
Never ever ever breach the command area of a UFO before wiping out the other aliens or you too will get this lovely surprise.
Well, what I mean is that group of mutons and berserkers came from an area I just came from. There was no way they could have gotten there short of teleporting, and yet that is what happened. I know about aliens heading toward the bridge, that's why I attempt to breach the bridge in one turn so I can use it as a nice defensive position with decent cover against basically everything on the map. Hitting large ships from the cargo bay seems like a poor move, strategically, so I usually don't do that.
Finally done the MEC research and have a cybernetics lab + 2 mecs in the building process.
Now I just have to begin branching out due to money issues.
I have had the damnedest time keeping my MECs alive in my C/I Marathon game. They're like plasma magnets. I don't usually have trouble with this, but this time around I am on my third MEC trooper but first MEC suit.
Of course, I have over 300 Meld, so maybe I should fix that. My main problem, I think, is that I refuse to chop able-bodied soldiers. I'll pretty much only ever MECanize Gravely Wounded soldiers or Wounded soldiers with 10 or more days of recovery time.
Do you mec your heavies so that they get the -20 Aim penalty to close troopers.
Do you smoke your mecs?
Both of those help an awful lot
I do those things when I can, but this game I've been having some HR problems. Namely I've gotten very few Supports, and those I do get have been unlucky plasma magnets, and my Heavies have been remarkably healthy (I refuse to chop an able-bodied soldier).
I have it under control now, I think. I have two Mec-2s and three MEC troopers, so I should be covered if one dies.
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chiasaur11Never doubt a raccoon.Do you think it's trademarked?Registered Userregular
Finally done the MEC research and have a cybernetics lab + 2 mecs in the building process.
Now I just have to begin branching out due to money issues.
I have had the damnedest time keeping my MECs alive in my C/I Marathon game. They're like plasma magnets. I don't usually have trouble with this, but this time around I am on my third MEC trooper but first MEC suit.
Of course, I have over 300 Meld, so maybe I should fix that. My main problem, I think, is that I refuse to chop able-bodied soldiers. I'll pretty much only ever MECanize Gravely Wounded soldiers or Wounded soldiers with 10 or more days of recovery time.
Do you mec your heavies so that they get the -20 Aim penalty to close troopers.
Do you smoke your mecs?
Both of those help an awful lot
I do those things when I can, but this game I've been having some HR problems. Namely I've gotten very few Supports, and those I do get have been unlucky plasma magnets, and my Heavies have been remarkably healthy (I refuse to chop an able-bodied soldier).
I have it under control now, I think. I have two Mec-2s and three MEC troopers, so I should be covered if one dies.
Son, this is war. War unlike anything this planet has seen, with an enemy lacking entirely in honor and humanity.
We do not have the luxury of scruples.
The volunteers under your command have agreed to sacrifice their lives to protect Earth from those who would exterminate its most precious resource. You will not dishonor their sacrifice, you will not get good men and women KILLED because you are feeling squeamish.
Finally done the MEC research and have a cybernetics lab + 2 mecs in the building process.
Now I just have to begin branching out due to money issues.
I have had the damnedest time keeping my MECs alive in my C/I Marathon game. They're like plasma magnets. I don't usually have trouble with this, but this time around I am on my third MEC trooper but first MEC suit.
Of course, I have over 300 Meld, so maybe I should fix that. My main problem, I think, is that I refuse to chop able-bodied soldiers. I'll pretty much only ever MECanize Gravely Wounded soldiers or Wounded soldiers with 10 or more days of recovery time.
Do you mec your heavies so that they get the -20 Aim penalty to close troopers.
Do you smoke your mecs?
Both of those help an awful lot
I do those things when I can, but this game I've been having some HR problems. Namely I've gotten very few Supports, and those I do get have been unlucky plasma magnets, and my Heavies have been remarkably healthy (I refuse to chop an able-bodied soldier).
I have it under control now, I think. I have two Mec-2s and three MEC troopers, so I should be covered if one dies.
Son, this is war. War unlike anything this planet has seen, with an enemy lacking entirely in honor and humanity.
We do not have the luxury of scruples.
The volunteers under your command have agreed to sacrifice their lives to protect Earth from those who would exterminate its most precious resource. You will not dishonor their sacrifice, you will not get good men and women KILLED because you are feeling squeamish.
Am. I. Making. Myself. Clear?
Way i see it, anyone who does not just go ahead and cut their own arms & legs off in protest of the MEC program being short listed is a traitor to mankind.
Finally done the MEC research and have a cybernetics lab + 2 mecs in the building process.
Now I just have to begin branching out due to money issues.
I have had the damnedest time keeping my MECs alive in my C/I Marathon game. They're like plasma magnets. I don't usually have trouble with this, but this time around I am on my third MEC trooper but first MEC suit.
Of course, I have over 300 Meld, so maybe I should fix that. My main problem, I think, is that I refuse to chop able-bodied soldiers. I'll pretty much only ever MECanize Gravely Wounded soldiers or Wounded soldiers with 10 or more days of recovery time.
Do you mec your heavies so that they get the -20 Aim penalty to close troopers.
Do you smoke your mecs?
Both of those help an awful lot
I do those things when I can, but this game I've been having some HR problems. Namely I've gotten very few Supports, and those I do get have been unlucky plasma magnets, and my Heavies have been remarkably healthy (I refuse to chop an able-bodied soldier).
I have it under control now, I think. I have two Mec-2s and three MEC troopers, so I should be covered if one dies.
Son, this is war. War unlike anything this planet has seen, with an enemy lacking entirely in honor and humanity.
We do not have the luxury of scruples.
The volunteers under your command have agreed to sacrifice their lives to protect Earth from those who would exterminate its most precious resource. You will not dishonor their sacrifice, you will not get good men and women KILLED because you are feeling squeamish.
Am. I. Making. Myself. Clear?
With all due respect, sir, Dr. Shen and I were talking, and he raised some very good points about our pursuit of human-altering technology and our treatment of prisoners. While I understand that the Geneva Convention does not apply to the Xeno nation (or hive, if that's what they are), are we worth saving if we become our enemy? Doc Vahlen is so blinded by the new possibilities, she doesn't realize that her "enhanced interrogation techniques" are nothing but torture and death. I would ask you, sir, if it is honoring our soldiers' sacrifices to turn them into bio-mechanical monstrosities without good reason. We should be about improving life, not degenerating it. You have seen the enemy Floaters, sir, is that twisted hunk of flesh and metal what you really want our men and women to become?
No, sir, only as a last resort. If you want someone who will hack the limbs off of his boys and girls willy-nilly, then you have the wrong commander.
*drops mic*
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chiasaur11Never doubt a raccoon.Do you think it's trademarked?Registered Userregular
Finally done the MEC research and have a cybernetics lab + 2 mecs in the building process.
Now I just have to begin branching out due to money issues.
I have had the damnedest time keeping my MECs alive in my C/I Marathon game. They're like plasma magnets. I don't usually have trouble with this, but this time around I am on my third MEC trooper but first MEC suit.
Of course, I have over 300 Meld, so maybe I should fix that. My main problem, I think, is that I refuse to chop able-bodied soldiers. I'll pretty much only ever MECanize Gravely Wounded soldiers or Wounded soldiers with 10 or more days of recovery time.
Do you mec your heavies so that they get the -20 Aim penalty to close troopers.
Do you smoke your mecs?
Both of those help an awful lot
I do those things when I can, but this game I've been having some HR problems. Namely I've gotten very few Supports, and those I do get have been unlucky plasma magnets, and my Heavies have been remarkably healthy (I refuse to chop an able-bodied soldier).
I have it under control now, I think. I have two Mec-2s and three MEC troopers, so I should be covered if one dies.
Son, this is war. War unlike anything this planet has seen, with an enemy lacking entirely in honor and humanity.
We do not have the luxury of scruples.
The volunteers under your command have agreed to sacrifice their lives to protect Earth from those who would exterminate its most precious resource. You will not dishonor their sacrifice, you will not get good men and women KILLED because you are feeling squeamish.
Am. I. Making. Myself. Clear?
With all due respect, sir, Dr. Shen and I were talking, and he raised some very good points about our pursuit of human-altering technology and our treatment of prisoners. While I understand that the Geneva Convention does not apply to the Xeno nation (or hive, if that's what they are), are we worth saving if we become our enemy? Doc Vahlen is so blinded by the new possibilities, she doesn't realize that her "enhanced interrogation techniques" are nothing but torture and death. I would ask you, sir, if it is honoring our soldiers' sacrifices to turn them into bio-mechanical monstrosities without good reason. We should be about improving life, not degenerating it. You have seen the enemy Floaters, sir, is that twisted hunk of flesh and metal what you really want our men and women to become?
No, sir, only as a last resort. If you want someone who will hack the limbs off of his boys and girls willy-nilly, then you have the wrong commander.
*drops mic*
I can't hear you.
Shen's chainsawing something right now. And humming something cheery.
Finally done the MEC research and have a cybernetics lab + 2 mecs in the building process.
Now I just have to begin branching out due to money issues.
I have had the damnedest time keeping my MECs alive in my C/I Marathon game. They're like plasma magnets. I don't usually have trouble with this, but this time around I am on my third MEC trooper but first MEC suit.
Of course, I have over 300 Meld, so maybe I should fix that. My main problem, I think, is that I refuse to chop able-bodied soldiers. I'll pretty much only ever MECanize Gravely Wounded soldiers or Wounded soldiers with 10 or more days of recovery time.
Do you mec your heavies so that they get the -20 Aim penalty to close troopers.
Do you smoke your mecs?
Both of those help an awful lot
I do those things when I can, but this game I've been having some HR problems. Namely I've gotten very few Supports, and those I do get have been unlucky plasma magnets, and my Heavies have been remarkably healthy (I refuse to chop an able-bodied soldier).
I have it under control now, I think. I have two Mec-2s and three MEC troopers, so I should be covered if one dies.
Supports are the worst MEC's never MEC a support. They have no more aim than an assault MEC and have a strictly worse bonus. Supports make great Psions though.
Snipers are OK to MEC if you MEC them at the end of their career. This gives you the large aim bonus which make the MEC cannon super good as a general damage dealing weapon.
Assaults are OK to MEC if you plan on being in close and not having many enemies at long range. Ideally you MEC them late because their aim growth is decent.
Heavies are by far the best to MEC. Heavies have the same stat growth as MECS so you don't lose anything by MECing them. Heavies have the best first perk (immune to crits and -20 def from closest enemy is really good because you expect there to be very few enemies left to shoot you at the end of a round). MECs and Heavies also do the same job (destroy terrain) and MECs don't really do that worse than Heavies (unless/if you get the blaster bomb launcher) due to the frequency with which they can destroy cover. So if you MEC your support or your Assault you may lose a position in your team that you want. But if you MEC a heavy you only lose suppression*, and you gain a rocket punch fist.
*Suppression is heavily nerfed in EW because of the AI tweaks that make enemies move more often when they're suppressed. Moving breaks the suppression and then the enemy is free to shoot back.
Finally done the MEC research and have a cybernetics lab + 2 mecs in the building process.
Now I just have to begin branching out due to money issues.
I have had the damnedest time keeping my MECs alive in my C/I Marathon game. They're like plasma magnets. I don't usually have trouble with this, but this time around I am on my third MEC trooper but first MEC suit.
Of course, I have over 300 Meld, so maybe I should fix that. My main problem, I think, is that I refuse to chop able-bodied soldiers. I'll pretty much only ever MECanize Gravely Wounded soldiers or Wounded soldiers with 10 or more days of recovery time.
Do you mec your heavies so that they get the -20 Aim penalty to close troopers.
Do you smoke your mecs?
Both of those help an awful lot
I do those things when I can, but this game I've been having some HR problems. Namely I've gotten very few Supports, and those I do get have been unlucky plasma magnets, and my Heavies have been remarkably healthy (I refuse to chop an able-bodied soldier).
I have it under control now, I think. I have two Mec-2s and three MEC troopers, so I should be covered if one dies.
Supports are the worst MEC's never MEC a support. They have no more aim than an assault MEC and have a strictly worse bonus. Supports make great Psions though.
Snipers are OK to MEC if you MEC them at the end of their career. This gives you the large aim bonus which make the MEC cannon super good as a general damage dealing weapon.
Assaults are OK to MEC if you plan on being in close and not having many enemies at long range. Ideally you MEC them late because their aim growth is decent.
Heavies are by far the best to MEC. Heavies have the same stat growth as MECS so you don't lose anything by MECing them. Heavies have the best first perk (immune to crits and -20 def from closest enemy is really good because you expect there to be very few enemies left to shoot you at the end of a round). MECs and Heavies also do the same job (destroy terrain) and MECs don't really do that worse than Heavies (unless/if you get the blaster bomb launcher) due to the frequency with which they can destroy cover. So if you MEC your support or your Assault you may lose a position in your team that you want. But if you MEC a heavy you only lose suppression*, and you gain a rocket punch fist.
*Suppression is heavily nerfed in EW because of the AI tweaks that make enemies move more often when they're suppressed. Moving breaks the suppression and then the enemy is free to shoot back.
I was only mentioning Supports because you asked if I was dropping smoke on my MECs to keep them alive. No Supports = Thank You For Not Smoking.
Though I heavily disagree with you regarding Supports vs. Assaults when MECing. Supports are like the Heavy bonus, but for everyone around them (I'm not sure, does the distortion field help the MEC itself, or just those surrounding them? Regardless it's an amazing power for stacking defense bonuses). I find that Assault MECs end up being far too vulnerable because of the short range on their defensive ability.
I always play with Not Created Equal and Hidden Potential, so the Aim progressions are largely meaningless to me.
how long do landed UFOs last in long war? My captain has 11 hours of fatigue and it's a big one and I want to bring my A-team.
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wiltingI had fun once and it was awfulRegistered Userregular
Huh, supports are very strong mecs, that defence field is great, as is the aim. Heavies are a poor choice precisely because of their similar stat progression (also because you are losing a rocket soldier). You want to turn a relatively high ranking class that has built up good aim into a MEC.
Although in practice your MEC types depend on what classes you have to spare. Still a heavy is the last type I would take.
Finally done the MEC research and have a cybernetics lab + 2 mecs in the building process.
Now I just have to begin branching out due to money issues.
I have had the damnedest time keeping my MECs alive in my C/I Marathon game. They're like plasma magnets. I don't usually have trouble with this, but this time around I am on my third MEC trooper but first MEC suit.
Of course, I have over 300 Meld, so maybe I should fix that. My main problem, I think, is that I refuse to chop able-bodied soldiers. I'll pretty much only ever MECanize Gravely Wounded soldiers or Wounded soldiers with 10 or more days of recovery time.
Do you mec your heavies so that they get the -20 Aim penalty to close troopers.
Do you smoke your mecs?
Both of those help an awful lot
I do those things when I can, but this game I've been having some HR problems. Namely I've gotten very few Supports, and those I do get have been unlucky plasma magnets, and my Heavies have been remarkably healthy (I refuse to chop an able-bodied soldier).
I have it under control now, I think. I have two Mec-2s and three MEC troopers, so I should be covered if one dies.
Supports are the worst MEC's never MEC a support. They have no more aim than an assault MEC and have a strictly worse bonus. Supports make great Psions though.
Snipers are OK to MEC if you MEC them at the end of their career. This gives you the large aim bonus which make the MEC cannon super good as a general damage dealing weapon.
Assaults are OK to MEC if you plan on being in close and not having many enemies at long range. Ideally you MEC them late because their aim growth is decent.
Heavies are by far the best to MEC. Heavies have the same stat growth as MECS so you don't lose anything by MECing them. Heavies have the best first perk (immune to crits and -20 def from closest enemy is really good because you expect there to be very few enemies left to shoot you at the end of a round). MECs and Heavies also do the same job (destroy terrain) and MECs don't really do that worse than Heavies (unless/if you get the blaster bomb launcher) due to the frequency with which they can destroy cover. So if you MEC your support or your Assault you may lose a position in your team that you want. But if you MEC a heavy you only lose suppression*, and you gain a rocket punch fist.
*Suppression is heavily nerfed in EW because of the AI tweaks that make enemies move more often when they're suppressed. Moving breaks the suppression and then the enemy is free to shoot back.
I was only mentioning Supports because you asked if I was dropping smoke on my MECs to keep them alive. No Supports = Thank You For Not Smoking.
Though I heavily disagree with you regarding Supports vs. Assaults when MECing. Supports are like the Heavy bonus, but for everyone around them (I'm not sure, does the distortion field help the MEC itself, or just those surrounding them? Regardless it's an amazing power for stacking defense bonuses). I find that Assault MECs end up being far too vulnerable because of the short range on their defensive ability.
I always play with Not Created Equal and Hidden Potential, so the Aim progressions are largely meaningless to me.
Supports are like the heavy bonus for people who don't get shot at because the enemy is shooting at the MEC. A MEC has 20 defense, the same as low cover, and enemies tend to prioritize MECs. As soon as you give the rest of your squad 10 defense then the AI to hit calc will only shoot at them if they're flanked... When they don't get the bonus. As soon as your squad has skeleton armor, same deal. Your MECs will always be prioritized.
The heavy bonus is +20 defense for everyone from the effected target(regardless of flanking). The hilarity of the heavy bonus is that it will often get picked up on multiple shots as the enemy leapfrogs to get closer. Basically the AI doesn't understand order of operations so it moves people closer to get a good shot, which triggers a change in the aim penalty to the new alien shooting. I have had situations where 3/3 aliens were effected by the aim penalty on the same round.
Assault MECs are specialized. Very good for close in maps like battleships, where they can take an advanced position swiftly and dish out the pain while having a bunch of DR. Certainly better than Support MECs whose bonus might as well not be there.
Supports are like the heavy bonus for people who don't get shot at because the enemy is shooting at the MEC. A MEC has 20 defense, the same as low cover, and enemies tend to prioritize MECs. As soon as you give the rest of your squad 10 defense then the AI to hit calc will only shoot at them if they're flanked... When they don't get the bonus. As soon as your squad has skeleton armor, same deal. Your MECs will always be prioritized.
The heavy bonus is +20 defense for everyone from the effected target(regardless of flanking). The hilarity of the heavy bonus is that it will often get picked up on multiple shots as the enemy leapfrogs to get closer. Basically the AI doesn't understand order of operations so it moves people closer to get a good shot, which triggers a change in the aim penalty to the new alien shooting. I have had situations where 3/3 aliens were effected by the aim penalty on the same round.
Assault MECs are specialized. Very good for close in maps like battleships, where they can take an advanced position swiftly and dish out the pain while having a bunch of DR. Certainly better than Support MECs whose bonus might as well not be there.
The difference is that you can have your Support MEC on Overwatch behind high cover, where it is essentially immune to attack (and thus the prioritization you speak of), and stack its forcefield bonus onto your dudes who are also in cover but CAN be shot at. This is a pretty good way to convince enemies to just sit there and do nothing, because if they try to flank the guys with high cover+Support field, they'll walk into the MEC's Overwatch, and they don't have a shot on the dudes they can see.
There's a terror mission/EXALT hack map that illustrates this perfectly. You start in front of a warehouse, and as soon as you open the door the shit starts raining down on you. You have high cover for around 4 dudes and one support MEC can cover 2-3 of those positions without presenting itself as an easy target.
I'm not knocking Heavy MECs. They're great for dealing with single threats, or situational groupings, but Supports, as they're supposed to, buff the team itself and present a very nice stackable bonus that you can enhance with smoke grenades.
EDIT: Is Geth confused? Did I stutter?
Dracomicron on
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MorninglordI'm tired of being Batman,so today I'll be Owl.Registered Userregular
Hey guys?
What's a Sectopod?
(PSN: Morninglord) (Steam: Morninglord) (WiiU: Morninglord22) I like to record and toss up a lot of random gaming videos here.
Imagine a huge pile of bullshit. Now imagine that this pile of bullshit takes half damage from everything, can see through walls, shoot twice per round, and has automatic overwatch.
Imagine a huge pile of bullshit. Now imagine that this pile of bullshit takes half damage from everything, can see through walls, shoot twice per round, and has automatic overwatch.
That too.
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MorninglordI'm tired of being Batman,so today I'll be Owl.Registered Userregular
Imagine a huge pile of bullshit. Now imagine that this pile of bullshit takes half damage from everything, can see through walls, shoot twice per round, and has automatic overwatch.
Jesus.
I'm glad I saved, exited and asked.
I never got up to them in normal.
Morninglord on
(PSN: Morninglord) (Steam: Morninglord) (WiiU: Morninglord22) I like to record and toss up a lot of random gaming videos here.
Imagine a huge pile of bullshit. Now imagine that this pile of bullshit takes half damage from everything, can see through walls, shoot twice per round, and has automatic overwatch.
Jesus.
Jesus? Your savior can't hear you when you're up against the Sectopod, my friend. It is to the Devil, whose sword you must wield, that you must go for help.
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MorninglordI'm tired of being Batman,so today I'll be Owl.Registered Userregular
If by that you mean draw it out to my double tap fuck off awesome murder death kill squad sight sniper?
Can do.
(PSN: Morninglord) (Steam: Morninglord) (WiiU: Morninglord22) I like to record and toss up a lot of random gaming videos here.
For Sectopods, I think you want to open with a shredder rocket, then follow up with your HEAT ammo heavies, as well as every damn thing you have because fuck sectopods.
Finally done the MEC research and have a cybernetics lab + 2 mecs in the building process.
Now I just have to begin branching out due to money issues.
I have had the damnedest time keeping my MECs alive in my C/I Marathon game. They're like plasma magnets. I don't usually have trouble with this, but this time around I am on my third MEC trooper but first MEC suit.
Of course, I have over 300 Meld, so maybe I should fix that. My main problem, I think, is that I refuse to chop able-bodied soldiers. I'll pretty much only ever MECanize Gravely Wounded soldiers or Wounded soldiers with 10 or more days of recovery time.
Do you mec your heavies so that they get the -20 Aim penalty to close troopers.
Do you smoke your mecs?
Both of those help an awful lot
I do those things when I can, but this game I've been having some HR problems. Namely I've gotten very few Supports, and those I do get have been unlucky plasma magnets, and my Heavies have been remarkably healthy (I refuse to chop an able-bodied soldier).
I have it under control now, I think. I have two Mec-2s and three MEC troopers, so I should be covered if one dies.
Son, this is war. War unlike anything this planet has seen, with an enemy lacking entirely in honor and humanity.
We do not have the luxury of scruples.
The volunteers under your command have agreed to sacrifice their lives to protect Earth from those who would exterminate its most precious resource. You will not dishonor their sacrifice, you will not get good men and women KILLED because you are feeling squeamish.
Am. I. Making. Myself. Clear?
With all due respect, sir, Dr. Shen and I were talking, and he raised some very good points about our pursuit of human-altering technology and our treatment of prisoners. While I understand that the Geneva Convention does not apply to the Xeno nation (or hive, if that's what they are), are we worth saving if we become our enemy? Doc Vahlen is so blinded by the new possibilities, she doesn't realize that her "enhanced interrogation techniques" are nothing but torture and death. I would ask you, sir, if it is honoring our soldiers' sacrifices to turn them into bio-mechanical monstrosities without good reason. We should be about improving life, not degenerating it. You have seen the enemy Floaters, sir, is that twisted hunk of flesh and metal what you really want our men and women to become?
No, sir, only as a last resort. If you want someone who will hack the limbs off of his boys and girls willy-nilly, then you have the wrong commander.
*drops mic*
Those "enhanced interrogation techniques" are the only damn way we can communicate with them. We have no understanding of their language, and unless you'd like to have humanity just wait a few months longer while our linguists get to work before we try to turn the tide against the hordes of aliens assaulting our planet, m'kay, we will continue with our current methods. It is the lesser of two evils. Nothing more, nothing less.
As well, monstrosities? They are the same people they were before. They retain their personalities, their memories, everything that makes them human. Meanwhile, their combat abilities are significantly augmented. If you personally have misgivings about transhumanism, I recommend you shove them to the back of your brain, because a hostile outside context problem is not the damn time for luddism.
For Sectopods, I think you want to open with a shredder rocket, then follow up with your HEAT ammo heavies, as well as every damn thing you have because fuck sectopods.
Finally done the MEC research and have a cybernetics lab + 2 mecs in the building process.
Now I just have to begin branching out due to money issues.
I have had the damnedest time keeping my MECs alive in my C/I Marathon game. They're like plasma magnets. I don't usually have trouble with this, but this time around I am on my third MEC trooper but first MEC suit.
Of course, I have over 300 Meld, so maybe I should fix that. My main problem, I think, is that I refuse to chop able-bodied soldiers. I'll pretty much only ever MECanize Gravely Wounded soldiers or Wounded soldiers with 10 or more days of recovery time.
Do you mec your heavies so that they get the -20 Aim penalty to close troopers.
Do you smoke your mecs?
Both of those help an awful lot
I do those things when I can, but this game I've been having some HR problems. Namely I've gotten very few Supports, and those I do get have been unlucky plasma magnets, and my Heavies have been remarkably healthy (I refuse to chop an able-bodied soldier).
I have it under control now, I think. I have two Mec-2s and three MEC troopers, so I should be covered if one dies.
Son, this is war. War unlike anything this planet has seen, with an enemy lacking entirely in honor and humanity.
We do not have the luxury of scruples.
The volunteers under your command have agreed to sacrifice their lives to protect Earth from those who would exterminate its most precious resource. You will not dishonor their sacrifice, you will not get good men and women KILLED because you are feeling squeamish.
Am. I. Making. Myself. Clear?
With all due respect, sir, Dr. Shen and I were talking, and he raised some very good points about our pursuit of human-altering technology and our treatment of prisoners. While I understand that the Geneva Convention does not apply to the Xeno nation (or hive, if that's what they are), are we worth saving if we become our enemy? Doc Vahlen is so blinded by the new possibilities, she doesn't realize that her "enhanced interrogation techniques" are nothing but torture and death. I would ask you, sir, if it is honoring our soldiers' sacrifices to turn them into bio-mechanical monstrosities without good reason. We should be about improving life, not degenerating it. You have seen the enemy Floaters, sir, is that twisted hunk of flesh and metal what you really want our men and women to become?
No, sir, only as a last resort. If you want someone who will hack the limbs off of his boys and girls willy-nilly, then you have the wrong commander.
*drops mic*
Those "enhanced interrogation techniques" are the only damn way we can communicate with them. We have no understanding of their language, and unless you'd like to have humanity just wait a few months longer while our linguists get to work before we try to turn the tide against the hordes of aliens assaulting our planet, m'kay, we will continue with our current methods. It is the lesser of two evils. Nothing more, nothing less.
As well, monstrosities? They are the same people they were before. They retain their personalities, their memories, everything that makes them human. Meanwhile, their combat abilities are significantly augmented. If you personally have misgivings about transhumanism, I recommend you shove them to the back of your brain, because a hostile outside context problem is not the damn time for luddism.
I'm no luddite, sir. I'm in favor of advancement, but we need to go about it in a responsible way. Why, I'm the first person to promote Dr. Shen's very promising SHIV development program. Just from studying the enemy's repair drones, we can augment them so that they self-repair on the battlefield far beyond even the capacity of our most advanced MECs. And if we can integrate the aliens' hover and plasma technology... we honestly would only have to field a minimal number of living soldiers! Think of it, sir! We could run the war from the comparable comfort and safety of our own HQ. No more of our kids going home as literal basket cases with no arms or legs. No more questions of what to do with our soldiers when they return home and find that there are no veterans' services capable of dealing with their unique situations.
I'm saying that we can win this war responsibly. Our first instinct must not be to become the enemy ourselves.
I'd certainly love to fight a war with nothing but a horde of chibi-murder tanks. I would in fact describe that as an ideal situation for me. But you know as well as I that while the SHIVs are good, they're just... not as good as our soldiers. In this war, we need the very best we can. For the sake of others, our soldiers are going to have to stay in combat roles. And as long as they're in the field, we have to provide them the best tools to ensure our survival.
As for floaters: I'd say the issue with them is not the cyborg part, but the in continuous horrible pain part. Our MEC augmentations do not have that particular flaw. We are not going to be sending men and women home with no arms and legs, we're sending them home with better arms and legs. Seriously, everyone brings up how immoral the augmentations are when there's not really a downside to them. Now, it is possible that if we somehow win this war, it could be difficult to maintain their augments, due to the advanced nature of their hardware. This is, of course, ignoring how absurd the idea that anything that doesn't rhyme with shmeaponized shmasma bleaponry could harm the limbs is. However, just for one possible solution if wear and tear did become a problem, and if for whatever reason we are unable to simply provide repairs or replacements for our veterans, the technology we're reverse engineering from these aliens will allow for the creation of prosthetics via civilian materials that have capabilities equal to or greater than that of the limbs of the average human. We at the very least will be able to provide that much.
It's probably good to know for the future that since you're only playing enemy unknown, Sectopods actually aren't that big a problem. Their damage reduction is nowhere near as bad as it is in Enemy within,
It's probably good to know for the future that since you're only playing enemy unknown, Sectopods actually aren't that big a problem. Their damage reduction is nowhere near as bad as it is in Enemy within,
Beware, sectopods are also known to exhibit pseudo-buggy behaviour, behaviour that's in their favour. They're known to be able to detect cloaked units and launch missiles at them. Also they can sometimes shoot at units they can't see behind walls, destroying the wall and opening the target up for more. Also they can sometimes launch missiles at units they can't see while off-screen, so you have no warning. I also, personally, have a hard time determining when they're launching too, since their animations seem a little glitchy. They can also get stuck in their pathfinding, blocking your ability to lure them out to your snipers.
Also, in EW, they explode when they die.
Usually, my approach is to maneuver my units around and kill everything but the sectopod (pack) first, since the sectopod just absorbs so much damage, and it's erratic behaviour often throws my battle plans into chaos. I'll also withdraw from sectopods if I don't like how I'm situated, mostly because the missiles can force you to anyways, and I'd rather do it in safer conditions and re-engage rather than get forced out of cover into overwatched enemies.
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chiasaur11Never doubt a raccoon.Do you think it's trademarked?Registered Userregular
Imagine a huge pile of bullshit. Now imagine that this pile of bullshit takes half damage from everything, can see through walls, shoot twice per round, and has automatic overwatch.
Jesus.
Jesus? Your savior can't hear you when you're up against the Sectopod, my friend. It is to the Devil, whose sword you must wield, that you must go for help.
The devil is a fickle little piece of crap who lost a war and then went on bitching like a baby about it.
Jesus, meanwhile, took the nastiest death available, immediately turned around and fucked up the devil's shit and was back in action before the weekend was out.
What I'm saying is, no reason to ignore a winning strategy. Praise the lord, pass the ammunition.
Things are going well in Long War. I have 2 mec suits up and running with at least a rotation of 6-7 soldiers ranging from Guardians and Goliaths to Valkyries and Shoguns. A third suit is on its way.
However, EXALT is becoming a pain in my ass. Their cash drain sets me back a month in development and hampers my ability to begin development on the Skeleton Key.
But hey, at least the Aliens are no longer a threat during mission time. The 2 mecs have been cleaning up preeetttyy nicely while my SHIV's are coming along as well (SHIV regeneration online with hp bonus). Just need more money to build the Alloy Shivs.
Posts
I can't find him. I've sent my assaults and scout hunting around the front of the ship for him. I have no idea where he is.
This is going to change my gameplan moving into the rest of the ship. It all just got complicated.
On the other hand everyone but one heavy has plasma (although the laser heavy has two rockets). Including my double tap sniper.
Also both assaults have resilience and lightning reflexes.
Everyone has skeleton armor as well.
I brought my A team because it was a large unidentified. Boy am I glad I did.
Supply ships are the devil even with endgame gear.
Be careful, and always be ready to run.
Why I fear the ocean.
Not a scratch.
*moonwalks back and forth*
Well, what I mean is that group of mutons and berserkers came from an area I just came from. There was no way they could have gotten there short of teleporting, and yet that is what happened. I know about aliens heading toward the bridge, that's why I attempt to breach the bridge in one turn so I can use it as a nice defensive position with decent cover against basically everything on the map. Hitting large ships from the cargo bay seems like a poor move, strategically, so I usually don't do that.
Oh, don't worry. You'll find him again, soon enough. Or vice versa.
I do those things when I can, but this game I've been having some HR problems. Namely I've gotten very few Supports, and those I do get have been unlucky plasma magnets, and my Heavies have been remarkably healthy (I refuse to chop an able-bodied soldier).
I have it under control now, I think. I have two Mec-2s and three MEC troopers, so I should be covered if one dies.
Son, this is war. War unlike anything this planet has seen, with an enemy lacking entirely in honor and humanity.
We do not have the luxury of scruples.
The volunteers under your command have agreed to sacrifice their lives to protect Earth from those who would exterminate its most precious resource. You will not dishonor their sacrifice, you will not get good men and women KILLED because you are feeling squeamish.
Am. I. Making. Myself. Clear?
Why I fear the ocean.
Way i see it, anyone who does not just go ahead and cut their own arms & legs off in protest of the MEC program being short listed is a traitor to mankind.
With all due respect, sir, Dr. Shen and I were talking, and he raised some very good points about our pursuit of human-altering technology and our treatment of prisoners. While I understand that the Geneva Convention does not apply to the Xeno nation (or hive, if that's what they are), are we worth saving if we become our enemy? Doc Vahlen is so blinded by the new possibilities, she doesn't realize that her "enhanced interrogation techniques" are nothing but torture and death. I would ask you, sir, if it is honoring our soldiers' sacrifices to turn them into bio-mechanical monstrosities without good reason. We should be about improving life, not degenerating it. You have seen the enemy Floaters, sir, is that twisted hunk of flesh and metal what you really want our men and women to become?
No, sir, only as a last resort. If you want someone who will hack the limbs off of his boys and girls willy-nilly, then you have the wrong commander.
*drops mic*
I can't hear you.
Shen's chainsawing something right now. And humming something cheery.
...Man just loves cutting off limbs.
Why I fear the ocean.
He hasn't quite seen that line in the sand yet. I bet some more blood would help make it more distinct.
Supports are the worst MEC's never MEC a support. They have no more aim than an assault MEC and have a strictly worse bonus. Supports make great Psions though.
Snipers are OK to MEC if you MEC them at the end of their career. This gives you the large aim bonus which make the MEC cannon super good as a general damage dealing weapon.
Assaults are OK to MEC if you plan on being in close and not having many enemies at long range. Ideally you MEC them late because their aim growth is decent.
Heavies are by far the best to MEC. Heavies have the same stat growth as MECS so you don't lose anything by MECing them. Heavies have the best first perk (immune to crits and -20 def from closest enemy is really good because you expect there to be very few enemies left to shoot you at the end of a round). MECs and Heavies also do the same job (destroy terrain) and MECs don't really do that worse than Heavies (unless/if you get the blaster bomb launcher) due to the frequency with which they can destroy cover. So if you MEC your support or your Assault you may lose a position in your team that you want. But if you MEC a heavy you only lose suppression*, and you gain a rocket punch fist.
*Suppression is heavily nerfed in EW because of the AI tweaks that make enemies move more often when they're suppressed. Moving breaks the suppression and then the enemy is free to shoot back.
I was only mentioning Supports because you asked if I was dropping smoke on my MECs to keep them alive. No Supports = Thank You For Not Smoking.
Though I heavily disagree with you regarding Supports vs. Assaults when MECing. Supports are like the Heavy bonus, but for everyone around them (I'm not sure, does the distortion field help the MEC itself, or just those surrounding them? Regardless it's an amazing power for stacking defense bonuses). I find that Assault MECs end up being far too vulnerable because of the short range on their defensive ability.
I always play with Not Created Equal and Hidden Potential, so the Aim progressions are largely meaningless to me.
Although in practice your MEC types depend on what classes you have to spare. Still a heavy is the last type I would take.
Supports are like the heavy bonus for people who don't get shot at because the enemy is shooting at the MEC. A MEC has 20 defense, the same as low cover, and enemies tend to prioritize MECs. As soon as you give the rest of your squad 10 defense then the AI to hit calc will only shoot at them if they're flanked... When they don't get the bonus. As soon as your squad has skeleton armor, same deal. Your MECs will always be prioritized.
The heavy bonus is +20 defense for everyone from the effected target(regardless of flanking). The hilarity of the heavy bonus is that it will often get picked up on multiple shots as the enemy leapfrogs to get closer. Basically the AI doesn't understand order of operations so it moves people closer to get a good shot, which triggers a change in the aim penalty to the new alien shooting. I have had situations where 3/3 aliens were effected by the aim penalty on the same round.
Assault MECs are specialized. Very good for close in maps like battleships, where they can take an advanced position swiftly and dish out the pain while having a bunch of DR. Certainly better than Support MECs whose bonus might as well not be there.
The difference is that you can have your Support MEC on Overwatch behind high cover, where it is essentially immune to attack (and thus the prioritization you speak of), and stack its forcefield bonus onto your dudes who are also in cover but CAN be shot at. This is a pretty good way to convince enemies to just sit there and do nothing, because if they try to flank the guys with high cover+Support field, they'll walk into the MEC's Overwatch, and they don't have a shot on the dudes they can see.
There's a terror mission/EXALT hack map that illustrates this perfectly. You start in front of a warehouse, and as soon as you open the door the shit starts raining down on you. You have high cover for around 4 dudes and one support MEC can cover 2-3 of those positions without presenting itself as an easy target.
I'm not knocking Heavy MECs. They're great for dealing with single threats, or situational groupings, but Supports, as they're supposed to, buff the team itself and present a very nice stackable bonus that you can enhance with smoke grenades.
EDIT: Is Geth confused? Did I stutter?
What's a Sectopod?
Imagine a small mountain, encased in steel. Now imagine this mountain is filled to the brim with weapons, and also somebody gave it legs.
Imagine a huge pile of bullshit. Now imagine that this pile of bullshit takes half damage from everything, can see through walls, shoot twice per round, and has automatic overwatch.
That too.
Jesus.
I'm glad I saved, exited and asked.
I never got up to them in normal.
Jesus? Your savior can't hear you when you're up against the Sectopod, my friend. It is to the Devil, whose sword you must wield, that you must go for help.
Can do.
You can't rely on drawing Sectopods out. Sometimes they just launch missile barrages at you from off-screen, because they're assholes.
Those "enhanced interrogation techniques" are the only damn way we can communicate with them. We have no understanding of their language, and unless you'd like to have humanity just wait a few months longer while our linguists get to work before we try to turn the tide against the hordes of aliens assaulting our planet, m'kay, we will continue with our current methods. It is the lesser of two evils. Nothing more, nothing less.
As well, monstrosities? They are the same people they were before. They retain their personalities, their memories, everything that makes them human. Meanwhile, their combat abilities are significantly augmented. If you personally have misgivings about transhumanism, I recommend you shove them to the back of your brain, because a hostile outside context problem is not the damn time for luddism.
I'm no luddite, sir. I'm in favor of advancement, but we need to go about it in a responsible way. Why, I'm the first person to promote Dr. Shen's very promising SHIV development program. Just from studying the enemy's repair drones, we can augment them so that they self-repair on the battlefield far beyond even the capacity of our most advanced MECs. And if we can integrate the aliens' hover and plasma technology... we honestly would only have to field a minimal number of living soldiers! Think of it, sir! We could run the war from the comparable comfort and safety of our own HQ. No more of our kids going home as literal basket cases with no arms or legs. No more questions of what to do with our soldiers when they return home and find that there are no veterans' services capable of dealing with their unique situations.
I'm saying that we can win this war responsibly. Our first instinct must not be to become the enemy ourselves.
As for floaters: I'd say the issue with them is not the cyborg part, but the in continuous horrible pain part. Our MEC augmentations do not have that particular flaw. We are not going to be sending men and women home with no arms and legs, we're sending them home with better arms and legs. Seriously, everyone brings up how immoral the augmentations are when there's not really a downside to them. Now, it is possible that if we somehow win this war, it could be difficult to maintain their augments, due to the advanced nature of their hardware. This is, of course, ignoring how absurd the idea that anything that doesn't rhyme with shmeaponized shmasma bleaponry could harm the limbs is. However, just for one possible solution if wear and tear did become a problem, and if for whatever reason we are unable to simply provide repairs or replacements for our veterans, the technology we're reverse engineering from these aliens will allow for the creation of prosthetics via civilian materials that have capabilities equal to or greater than that of the limbs of the average human. We at the very least will be able to provide that much.
Which is to say they don't have any.
I don't recall so. They just had boatloads of HP. The only thing that had DR was closed disks.
Also, in EW, they explode when they die.
Usually, my approach is to maneuver my units around and kill everything but the sectopod (pack) first, since the sectopod just absorbs so much damage, and it's erratic behaviour often throws my battle plans into chaos. I'll also withdraw from sectopods if I don't like how I'm situated, mostly because the missiles can force you to anyways, and I'd rather do it in safer conditions and re-engage rather than get forced out of cover into overwatched enemies.
The devil is a fickle little piece of crap who lost a war and then went on bitching like a baby about it.
Jesus, meanwhile, took the nastiest death available, immediately turned around and fucked up the devil's shit and was back in action before the weekend was out.
What I'm saying is, no reason to ignore a winning strategy. Praise the lord, pass the ammunition.
Why I fear the ocean.
It was one of my regular A team.
Codename?
"Voodoo"
Always knew there was something funny about that guy.
However, EXALT is becoming a pain in my ass. Their cash drain sets me back a month in development and hampers my ability to begin development on the Skeleton Key.
But hey, at least the Aliens are no longer a threat during mission time. The 2 mecs have been cleaning up preeetttyy nicely while my SHIV's are coming along as well (SHIV regeneration online with hp bonus). Just need more money to build the Alloy Shivs.