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[XCOM] Aliens have defeated this thread. Find the resistance movement in the new one

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Posts

  • Mr RayMr Ray Sarcasm sphereRegistered User regular
    edited July 2014
    Fifty-one aliens in one mission? Fifty-one?? I'm starting to think I should have played on normal, like the game repeatedly told me to. I'm also thinking I should have selected "not so long war". I'm doing ok for now but I have a feeling the other shoe is about to drop. On the bright side, after reading this thread I'm now pumping all of my cash and research into my interceptors.

    Mr Ray on
  • electricitylikesmeelectricitylikesme Registered User regular
    So based on this thread, I'm pretty sure I'm about to lose my Long War game because I didn't rush beams (detoured to alien xenobiology because I didn't have sufficient weapon fragments)?

    Also just got a landed UFO which started off with 8 aliens within sight range of the skyranger. I'm definitely not iron manning it, but after a lot of rockets I somehow got out of it with zero casualties. I assume this is because I'm playing on normal.

  • AegeriAegeri Tiny wee bacteriums Plateau of LengRegistered User regular
    Well, my hyperbole from earlier aside, there is a fair amount of leeway if you're on normal at least. The problem I mentioned only really comes into being around June or so. UFOs in LW can have all manner of crew if they have landed and are large enough. So a UFO with a lot of aliens early isn't remarkable (never assault a landed large UFO early on).

    The Roleplayer's Guild: My blog for roleplaying games, advice and adventuring.
  • electricitylikesmeelectricitylikesme Registered User regular
    Also holy christ, Seekers have gone from "cute" to "OMG WHY WON'T IT DIE!!!!"

  • AegeriAegeri Tiny wee bacteriums Plateau of LengRegistered User regular
    edited July 2014
    I love watching Northernlion.

    Five times now he's tried to shoot seekers with pistols. Five times now it just comes up with the little damage resistance icon and it's not died. Five times later and it's still utterly hilarious.

    Aegeri on
    The Roleplayer's Guild: My blog for roleplaying games, advice and adventuring.
  • GoumindongGoumindong Registered User regular
    Yea seekers have DR and when they fly they get half cover DR in addition.

    wbBv3fj.png
  • Casual EddyCasual Eddy The Astral PlaneRegistered User regular
    haha exalt can cash hack you into negative money

    ouch

  • Casual EddyCasual Eddy The Astral PlaneRegistered User regular
    seekers are at least predictable, so a heat rocket can take down a group of them. If you uncover 5 of them and they all cloak, they're probably making a beeline towards your squad. Explosives will hurt and reveal them, so a well placed heat rocket or heat grenade can wipe them out

  • GoumindongGoumindong Registered User regular
    The problem with seekers is not that it's one seeker pod it's that it's 5 seeker pods.

    wbBv3fj.png
  • MorninglordMorninglord I'm tired of being Batman, so today I'll be Owl.Registered User regular
    I got openxcom working.

    Holy shit where did the last hour go?

    (PSN: Morninglord) (Steam: Morninglord) (WiiU: Morninglord22) I like to record and toss up a lot of random gaming videos here.
  • chiasaur11chiasaur11 Never doubt a raccoon. Do you think it's trademarked?Registered User regular
    I got openxcom working.

    Holy shit where did the last hour go?

    Swamp gas.

    Weather balloon.

    Weather balloon filled with swamp gas.

  • MorninglordMorninglord I'm tired of being Batman, so today I'll be Owl.Registered User regular
    My first ufo...killed one alien.

    Recovered ufo.

    The rest had all died in the crash.

    Score!

    I have no idea what I'm doing. And I just lost two interceptors.

    At this point I'm throwing away this game just to learn what all the options are.

    (PSN: Morninglord) (Steam: Morninglord) (WiiU: Morninglord22) I like to record and toss up a lot of random gaming videos here.
  • electricitylikesmeelectricitylikesme Registered User regular
    Urgh, the damn outsiders are on the roof of a large UFO. There's no way up there. They regenerate. I'm basically moving my entire squad into a firing line so hopefully I can kill them 1 by 1 in 1 turn when they appear.

    This map I've save scummed to hell, because lets face it, I don't know Long War well enough to not do that.

  • heenatoheenato Alice Leywind Registered User regular
    My first ufo...killed one alien.

    Recovered ufo.

    The rest had all died in the crash.

    Score!

    I have no idea what I'm doing. And I just lost two interceptors.

    At this point I'm throwing away this game just to learn what all the options are.
    Yup. The first UFO you encounter will USUALLY be only one sectoid.

    Here's something fun. ALL aliens can die in the crash, which is pretty amusing. You start the map, and on openXcom, instantly win.

    M A G I K A Z A M
  • MorninglordMorninglord I'm tired of being Batman, so today I'll be Owl.Registered User regular
    edited July 2014
    I had to end turn to win.

    I don't think I'm fighting sectoids and I'm not sure why.

    They look a bit too tall.

    Pretty sure I saw a sectoid in my instant squad wipe game a week or two ago and they were squat round headed ugly things.

    These guys look like they got capes. Kinda weird.

    Morninglord on
    (PSN: Morninglord) (Steam: Morninglord) (WiiU: Morninglord22) I like to record and toss up a lot of random gaming videos here.
  • AegeriAegeri Tiny wee bacteriums Plateau of LengRegistered User regular
    Those are floaters.

    They have considerable.... balls.

    The Roleplayer's Guild: My blog for roleplaying games, advice and adventuring.
  • heenatoheenato Alice Leywind Registered User regular
    Yup. Thems a floater.

    And now you know why the autopsy project in Enemy unknown has the codename "Red Cape"

    M A G I K A Z A M
  • DracomicronDracomicron Registered User regular
    I had an odd circumstance in Enemy Within where I mind controlled one of the Muton Elites in the last room of the temple ship, and the game wouldn't end even after I killed the boss. I had to kill the MC'd guy for the end to trigger.

  • YogoYogo Registered User regular
    If there is one thing Long War is good at, it is giving you that feeling that all your efforts are worth for nothing.

    Egypt decided to kiss Alien boots which means I am looking at a 2 hour mission again. I am seriously tempted to either edit or do something else as I am getting seriously tired of doing Alien Base Assault when I have 50 Aliens to kill (and they are seriously beefed up. One wrong move and you trigger 2-4 packs).

    On the other hand you gain considerable salvage from doing the mission, so I suppose it shouldn't be too easy.

    Maybe I just need to up my roster so I can field more decent soldiers. One for doing abductions and 1 for base assaults. I suppose Pulse Lasers may help me kill them faster, but we'll have to see.

  • BlindPsychicBlindPsychic Registered User regular
    There are some broken pods. Outsiders on the roof of the UFO is probably the most frequent in LW. The other one I got was Cyberdisks and Drones overwatching me in that 'L' shaped highway map. Like this:

    mcluzb5qrrbe.png

  • Smaug6Smaug6 Registered User regular
    Had a weird bug (I think) in LW. I had China go full panic on me with the red swirling storm above it. Later there was a terror mission there so I just ignored it. Then when I ignored the terror mission, it said China had withdrawn from the XCOM project and I lost their funding. I thought I had already lost their funding when they went full panic and I lost the continent bonus. Anyone know what happened?

    steam_sig.png
  • scherbchenscherbchen Asgard (it is dead)Registered User regular
    dear LW, outsiders on top of a UFO roof I can not access are a fucking war crime.

  • scherbchenscherbchen Asgard (it is dead)Registered User regular
    for extra fun please have it be the medium UFO stuck in a skycraper so that I cannot even get LOS.

  • MorninglordMorninglord I'm tired of being Batman, so today I'll be Owl.Registered User regular
    heenato wrote: »
    Yup. Thems a floater.

    And now you know why the autopsy project in Enemy unknown has the codename "Red Cape"

    Hah.

    So I heard laser rifles are the shit.

    Am I supposed to be able to get them pretty much instantly?

    (PSN: Morninglord) (Steam: Morninglord) (WiiU: Morninglord22) I like to record and toss up a lot of random gaming videos here.
  • cB557cB557 voOOP Registered User regular
    heenato wrote: »
    Yup. Thems a floater.

    And now you know why the autopsy project in Enemy unknown has the codename "Red Cape"

    Hah.

    So I heard laser rifles are the shit.

    Am I supposed to be able to get them pretty much instantly?
    Not sure about the shit part, but yeah, it's one of the three starting research projects.

  • GoumindongGoumindong Registered User regular
    heenato wrote: »
    Yup. Thems a floater.

    And now you know why the autopsy project in Enemy unknown has the codename "Red Cape"

    Hah.

    So I heard laser rifles are the shit.

    Am I supposed to be able to get them pretty much instantly?

    Long war or normal?

    Long War you need lasers and advanced lasers immediately. But your ground troops don't actually need them. Shotguns, SAWs, and infantry will keep you competitive well into the four month mark. Don't spend on anything but carbines (and then only a few) and ship weapons.

    In normal you can skip lasers entirely and can do so for quite a while: this is largely because of MECs (and the aforementioned shotguns). Also with a good capture (I think mutons) you can pretty easily leapfrog lasers.

    wbBv3fj.png
  • PinfeldorfPinfeldorf Yeah ZestRegistered User regular
    scherbchen wrote: »
    for extra fun please have it be the medium UFO stuck in a skycraper so that I cannot even get LOS.

    Trigger them with a single Scout and move him back. After a few turns, they should jump down and come at you, bro. Outsiders are extremely aggressive in LW. If you can't get them to take any bait, you may have to try some bullshit with battle scanners.

  • BlindPsychicBlindPsychic Registered User regular
    Welp Exalt has me rage quitting. These four man hack the encoder missions are insane. 3 turns in and I'm surrounded by 15+ health enemies without ever moving away from the skyranger

  • heenatoheenato Alice Leywind Registered User regular
    Goumindong wrote: »
    heenato wrote: »
    Yup. Thems a floater.

    And now you know why the autopsy project in Enemy unknown has the codename "Red Cape"

    Hah.

    So I heard laser rifles are the shit.

    Am I supposed to be able to get them pretty much instantly?

    Long war or normal?

    Long War you need lasers and advanced lasers immediately. But your ground troops don't actually need them. Shotguns, SAWs, and infantry will keep you competitive well into the four month mark. Don't spend on anything but carbines (and then only a few) and ship weapons.

    In normal you can skip lasers entirely and can do so for quite a while: this is largely because of MECs (and the aforementioned shotguns). Also with a good capture (I think mutons) you can pretty easily leapfrog lasers.
    Not even that! ORIGINAL X-com.

    @morninglord. Yes. You want those lasers post haste. I mean, out of the 3 starting research, only one of them is useful to you right now. Medkits don't save you from getting horribly dead, and the motion scanner is USELESS.

    M A G I K A Z A M
  • GoumindongGoumindong Registered User regular
    Ahh yes, original Xcom has the optimal strat of "research lasers... build and sell a whole bunch of laser rifles"

    Second optimal original XCOM strat: Never shoot down UFO's. Catch them on the ground for better rewards and more capture chances

    wbBv3fj.png
  • chiasaur11chiasaur11 Never doubt a raccoon. Do you think it's trademarked?Registered User regular
    Goumindong wrote: »
    Ahh yes, original Xcom has the optimal strat of "research lasers... build and sell a whole bunch of laser rifles"

    Second optimal original XCOM strat: Never shoot down UFO's. Catch them on the ground for better rewards and more capture chances

    You sold laser cannons. Rifles were for you to keep. Better rate of return.

    The really nice thing about the rifles? You could get 'em (with a little luck) before the first terror mission, and they'd still be useful right up to the end of the game.

  • AegeriAegeri Tiny wee bacteriums Plateau of LengRegistered User regular
    Especially because Sectopods in the original have a weakness to lasers (and a big one).

    The Roleplayer's Guild: My blog for roleplaying games, advice and adventuring.
  • GoumindongGoumindong Registered User regular
    Also cyberdisks.

    wbBv3fj.png
  • hippofanthippofant ティンク Registered User regular
    Please stop making me want to play X-Com again :(

  • AegeriAegeri Tiny wee bacteriums Plateau of LengRegistered User regular
    edited July 2014
    Welp Exalt has me rage quitting. These four man hack the encoder missions are insane. 3 turns in and I'm surrounded by 15+ health enemies without ever moving away from the skyranger

    It's worth noting that in LW, if you're at this point you are not supposed to be trying to face them on these missions. You need to be seriously thinking about eliminating EXALT entirely by destroying their base. One thing that's emphasized from what I've been seeing from the developers is that LW is not supposed to be the "Infinitely long war" AKA the main game: You actually *do* have to win as quickly as you can. If you're at the point where you can take an alien base with 51 aliens in it (reliably), you might want to try getting to that point where you can assault the temple ship sooner than later. It's design goal is entirely contrary to EW: You can't infinitely extend the game out because there will be billions of incredibly powerful aliens. To the point where it's so overwhelming you lose, instead of being EWs "SHOOOOOOTINNNNGGGGG GALLLLERRRYYYYYY GOOOO!" time. Likewise, the design lets you take back countries but this isn't an intended "Crawl back to winning" thing, it's something you do a handful of times (maybe for a continent bonus) and not a "Retake the world" mechanism.

    Basically in LW you should never be thinking "How many EXALT operations can I do?", you should be thinking "How soon can I knock these bastards out?". If you get three clues and realize "Hey, these guys are in the US!" that should be your cue to go hit them. It's actually one of the things I like about LW: EXALT are no longer a complete irrelevant joke and a great excuse to train 4 rookies later in the game. Same with alien bases, if you can theoretically take a bunch of them, with heavy alien resistance, you can probably go towards actually winning the game. By design, the aliens will eventually have so much stuff even with all the toys EW and LW gives you, it will just be utterly impossible.

    Aegeri on
    The Roleplayer's Guild: My blog for roleplaying games, advice and adventuring.
  • MorninglordMorninglord I'm tired of being Batman, so today I'll be Owl.Registered User regular
    Aegeri wrote: »
    EXALT are no longer a complete irrelevant joke and a great excuse to train 4 rookies later in the game.

    The contradiction confused me here until I realised each half of the sentence is assuming a completely different tech level.

    (PSN: Morninglord) (Steam: Morninglord) (WiiU: Morninglord22) I like to record and toss up a lot of random gaming videos here.
  • AegeriAegeri Tiny wee bacteriums Plateau of LengRegistered User regular
    edited July 2014
    Aegeri wrote: »
    EXALT are no longer a complete irrelevant joke and a great excuse to train 4 rookies later in the game.

    The contradiction confused me here until I realised each half of the sentence is assuming a completely different tech level.

    EXALT are a joke in EW as soon as you realize how their AI works in their respective missions. They then become dreadful shooting galleries (for the poor EXALT soldiers). In multiple playthroughs of EW, including on impossible, EXALT have killed one of my soldiers. Their AI is so bad and so exploitable, even completely unintentionally, that they can literally offer no threat at all (except in the actual base assault). Late game there are tons of them and laser/plasma weapons do enough damage to easily knock them out in the hands of rookies. So they make the ideal mission to take rookies to, given that the aliens are packing serious firepower at this point by comparison.

    The only thing that makes EXALT in EW scary is that they have grenades or rockets and sometimes might get the inspiration to use them. I don't know how they fixed it in LW, but EXALT AI actually attacks you much more often and they aren't inherently obsessed with moving around doing nothing of much interest every turn.

    Aegeri on
    The Roleplayer's Guild: My blog for roleplaying games, advice and adventuring.
  • BlindPsychicBlindPsychic Registered User regular
    It was the fourth mission. My only hints in the previous ones were that the base wasn't in specific countries, so I still basically had a 1 in 13 chance of actually guessing it right. I'm still on laser weapons and the first level of armor, there was no way I could do the base assault on them.

  • farbekriegfarbekrieg Registered User regular
    Exalt and explosives are stupid annoying in LW as rocketeers like to hide in the back and out out of view and explode the shit out out of your guys (i carry about 4 or 5 scanners into these missions). My last legit attempt at I/I for LW I just couldnt keep up with alien tech even having built a pair of labs and taking every scientist that was offered to me.

    Arc throwers either need an upgrade to make them more useful or just be made to not give a negative movement based on weight, and such a god damn low success rate. maybe make an option in the grenadier/engineer tree to improve their effectiveness/range(yeah i got more than a few rookies killed because they are the carries of the arcs).

  • Casual EddyCasual Eddy The Astral PlaneRegistered User regular
    Is there a penalty to guessing the exalt base is in a country if they've already withdrawn?

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