MorninglordI'm tired of being Batman,so today I'll be Owl.Registered Userregular
edited February 2016
So I've noticed this a couple of times, but I've gotten it three times in the last mission in really obvious circumstances.
Sometimes certain enemies can be mysteriously immune to aoe circles.
Please don't tell me it happens at the edge, I know. I mean theyre right in the middle of the circle, completely standing in open ground, and they don't get shaded red. When I fire off the aoe ability, they don't get hit.
It's very obviously a bug.
This last mission has given me more bugs than the entire campaign. Just in case I wasn't clear, I was getting fairly annoying bugs in the campaign too, at a rate of one every couple of missions. This mission has given me a major bug once every second pod. It's getting old.
The bugs and awful AI has really dampened a lot of my enthusiasm for the game. When I finish up this campaign, I'm going to shelve it until some patches have rolled through. No point getting all interested in modding a buggy mess.
Morninglord on
(PSN: Morninglord) (Steam: Morninglord) (WiiU: Morninglord22) I like to record and toss up a lot of random gaming videos here.
Hopefully multiplayer stays pretty active for awhile.
Really want to try it but don't want to spoil any of the new enemy types for myself.
It'll be fun if they fix the lag (they won't) and remove Codices from the roster (also probably won't).
I mean, it already is pretty fun just to fuck around in, but those two issues are so obvious and awful that it's pretty clear they don't give half a shit.
I've had more bugs on my legendary ironman campaign so far than my entire commander playthrough.
These include:
-Can't evac a soldier despite standing in the evac square, just says 'not in evac zone'
-All cover icons disappearing
-Enemies vanishing when hit by a grenade, then reappearing back at full hp on the alien turn and taking their actions
-You are not shooting at the enemy you think you are: tab though enemy list, camera zooms between each target as you select them, but when you fire, it actually turns and fires on the next enemy in the list.
-soldier with full actions can't be ordered to move at all for a turn, for no reason
As far as grenades go though, remember that incendiary, acid and gas are blocked by cover obstacles as they 'spread' from the centre of the AOE outwards, so being within the radius doesn't guarantee a hit.
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And then mind controlled it. That mission was easy.
I'm cranking along in Veteran Ironman now. Seems like there's an early hump to get over but now that I have some levelled up troops and tier 3 armor/plasma rifles, it's gotten a lot easier.
Also, fuck Chryssalids. Again. But yeah, I have tons of health so they haven't been an issue yet. Story wise:
I finished the blacksite and the second blacksite, and now I'm headed to the codex brain location. Gotta be getting close, I've finished researching EVERYTHING else!
I found that my troops stopped dying when I got Predator armor. It happened occasionally, but not often (4 extra hitpoints really makes a difference). I didn't lose anyone after I got Warden armor.
Is Warden armor actually worth it? It adds one more HP than the EXO suits that I have and an inventory slot but is missing the armor and the heavy weapon. I was pretty disappointed when I finally built it and then immediately shelved it again. Everybody needs rocket launchers. Everybody.
It does have armor. +1 armor.
edit: whoops totally beated
not only that, but by that point in the game you'll have plasma grenades. the plasma grenades are barring some very rare situations better than the rocket heavy weapon.
the rocket launcher has basically infinite range
a plasma grenade thrown by a non-grenadier will get about as far as a fart
not
even
close
to equivalent
let alone better
and that's the only niche situation where it's better. a situation that, if you're playing properly, never occurs!
And then mind controlled it. That mission was easy.
I'm cranking along in Veteran Ironman now. Seems like there's an early hump to get over but now that I have some levelled up troops and tier 3 armor/plasma rifles, it's gotten a lot easier.
Also, fuck Chryssalids. Again. But yeah, I have tons of health so they haven't been an issue yet. Story wise:
I finished the blacksite and the second blacksite, and now I'm headed to the codex brain location. Gotta be getting close, I've finished researching EVERYTHING else!
I found that my troops stopped dying when I got Predator armor. It happened occasionally, but not often (4 extra hitpoints really makes a difference). I didn't lose anyone after I got Warden armor.
Is Warden armor actually worth it? It adds one more HP than the EXO suits that I have and an inventory slot but is missing the armor and the heavy weapon. I was pretty disappointed when I finally built it and then immediately shelved it again. Everybody needs rocket launchers. Everybody.
It does have armor. +1 armor.
edit: whoops totally beated
not only that, but by that point in the game you'll have plasma grenades. the plasma grenades are barring some very rare situations better than the rocket heavy weapon.
the rocket launcher has basically infinite range
a plasma grenade thrown by a non-grenadier will get about as far as a fart
not
even
close
to equivalent
let alone better
and that's the only niche situation where it's better. a situation that, if you're playing properly, never occurs!
that is not even remotely a niche situation, but hey, believe what you want. it doesn't really matter in the end how you blow up the cover.
(PSN: Morninglord) (Steam: Morninglord) (WiiU: Morninglord22) I like to record and toss up a lot of random gaming videos here.
I had that last night too. In my case it was an untriggered pod (i.e. I was concealed) and fired the prox mine into the pod. One of the guys (the one that triggered first) took damage, but the other 2 did not.
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MorninglordI'm tired of being Batman,so today I'll be Owl.Registered Userregular
I've had more bugs on my legendary ironman campaign so far than my entire commander playthrough.
These include:
-Can't evac a soldier despite standing in the evac square, just says 'not in evac zone'
-All cover icons disappearing
-Enemies vanishing when hit by a grenade, then reappearing back at full hp on the alien turn and taking their actions
-You are not shooting at the enemy you think you are: tab though enemy list, camera zooms between each target as you select them, but when you fire, it actually turns and fires on the next enemy in the list.
-soldier with full actions can't be ordered to move at all for a turn, for no reason
As far as grenades go though, remember that incendiary, acid and gas are blocked by cover obstacles as they 'spread' from the centre of the AOE outwards, so being within the radius doesn't guarantee a hit.
I don't actually have any experimental grenades, so this was happening with plasma grenades and rockets, on enemies standing in completely open ground (open because I'd just blow it all away with a different grenadier on the same turn). I also saw it happen with specialists capacitor discharge on one of those red mecs standing in the middle of a field on overwatch, no cover anywhere near him.
I've also had problems with not being able to click on terrain. Two kinds of problem. One where moving the camera to focus on the terrain magically makes it work (wtf?) and others where terrain that the outline says should be targettable flatly isn't, no matter what I do with the camera or how much I click. Also had problems with cover icons not showing up for objects that should give cover.
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(PSN: Morninglord) (Steam: Morninglord) (WiiU: Morninglord22) I like to record and toss up a lot of random gaming videos here.
Plasma grenades do more damage and shred (and I'm pretty sure have a wider radius once you have the right heavy upgrades). It's not really a contest.
Also if you're using a rocket you don't have the shred gun, which is an almost unpardonable sin.
I'm talking about using grenades on a non grenadier, who has no grenade launcher to boost its range and aoe, and no upgrades to boost its tiles and damage. Unless you get lucky and get volatile mix via AWC, in which case I did give that character a grenade. One I almost never got to use because all my grenadiers were flat out better at grenading.
Obviously its better on a grenadier...but then again, so is the rocket (or blaster bomb, if we are suddenly talking about upgrades beyond warden vs war suit), since you can't take an extra grenade in your utility slot on a grenadier anyway.
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(PSN: Morninglord) (Steam: Morninglord) (WiiU: Morninglord22) I like to record and toss up a lot of random gaming videos here.
Plasma grenades do more damage and shred (and I'm pretty sure have a wider radius once you have the right heavy upgrades). It's not really a contest.
Also if you're using a rocket you don't have the shred gun, which is an almost unpardonable sin.
I'm talking about using grenades on a non grenadier, who has no grenade launcher to boost its range and aoe, and no upgrades to boost its tiles and damage. Unless you get lucky and get volatile mix via AWC, in which case I did give that character a grenade. One I almost never got to use because all my grenadiers were flat out better at grenading.
Obviously its better on a grenadier...but then again, so is the rocket (or blaster bomb, if we are suddenly talking about upgrades beyond warden vs war suit), since you can't take an extra grenade in your utility slot on a grenadier anyway.
Indeed, I must agree. It does make sense that the grenadier is the best at grenading. Because of the name, you see.
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DuriniaEvolved from Space PotatoesRegistered Userregular
Welp, got to see the "ending" cinematic on Commander. Lost a lot of soldiers along the way, so was walking a knife's edge. 1 day left on the game over timer and went to hit a facility with 4 pips. Of course, 3/4 of the pods (including first sectopod and andromaedon) were between my little corner and the facility.
Took my psi soldier on an end run for the pillar as things fell apart. He got all the way to the facility outrunning the andro suit (Newfoundland style)...
...only to get finished off by a turret through 2 floors and strong heavy cover.
:xcom:
For business reasons, I must preserve the outward sign of sanity.
--Mark Twain
Plasma grenades do more damage and shred (and I'm pretty sure have a wider radius once you have the right heavy upgrades). It's not really a contest.
Also if you're using a rocket you don't have the shred gun, which is an almost unpardonable sin.
I'm talking about using grenades on a non grenadier, who has no grenade launcher to boost its range and aoe, and no upgrades to boost its tiles and damage. Unless you get lucky and get volatile mix via AWC, in which case I did give that character a grenade. One I almost never got to use because all my grenadiers were flat out better at grenading.
Obviously its better on a grenadier...but then again, so is the rocket (or blaster bomb, if we are suddenly talking about upgrades beyond warden vs war suit), since you can't take an extra grenade in your utility slot on a grenadier anyway.
Wait, now I'm confused. What are we talking about? Which one is a better use of a turn? Cause everyone can bring both a heavy weapon and a grenade.
So I've noticed this a couple of times, but I've gotten it three times in the last mission in really obvious circumstances.
Sometimes certain enemies can be mysteriously immune to aoe circles.
Please don't tell me it happens at the edge, I know. I mean theyre right in the middle of the circle, completely standing in open ground, and they don't get shaded red. When I fire off the aoe ability, they don't get hit.
It's very obviously a bug.
This last mission has given me more bugs than the entire campaign. Just in case I wasn't clear, I was getting fairly annoying bugs in the campaign too, at a rate of one every couple of missions. This mission has given me a major bug once every second pod. It's getting old.
The bugs and awful AI has really dampened a lot of my enthusiasm for the game. When I finish up this campaign, I'm going to shelve it until some patches have rolled through. No point getting all interested in modding a buggy mess.
I just had the bug earlier myself today. We may both be waiting for a really long time though, since even today, EW still has that explosive radius bug at times. It's like they're either completely unaware of it, or it's some fundamental engine thing they can't get at.
---
As for setup and explosives, I did previously think Acid Grenades might be useful even after you get Plasma Grenades, but I take it back. I played around with them for a while, but I've gone back to Plasma Grenades now, not because Acid Grenades aren't good, but because Plasma Grenades are just better general-purpose.
This is my best team composition, with equipment:
Grenadier #1, with Warden Armor, Scope and Stock, Flashbang Grenade, Mimic Beacon, 2x Plasma Grenade
Grenadier #2, with Warden Armor, Scope and Stock, Proximity Mine, Mimic Beacon, 2x Plasma Grenade
Sharpshooter, with Wraith Suit, Scope and Autoloader, and Talon Ammunition
Scout Ranger, with Warden Armor, Laser Sight and Hair Trigger, Battle Scanner and Proximity Mine
Hacking Specialist, with War Suit, Scope and Repeater, Blaster Launcher and Skulljack
Psi Operative, with War Suit, Scope and Repeater, Blaster Launcher and Mimic Beacon
And basically, I can't cram any more grenades on my Grenadiers. The one Flashbang Grenade continues to be useful occasionally, with its large radius and 2 damage. Proximity Mines are hella useful to trigger pods so that you can overwatch ambush them on THEIR turns, so even if I were to get rid of the Flashbang, I still think I'd prefer a Proximity Mine on both Grenadiers. The marginal benefit of using an Acid Grenade over Plasma Grenade just isn't much compared to the Proximity Mine, with its higher damage, larger radius, and distinct tactical usage, and the Plasma Grenade is much more general purpose than the Acid Grenade with its cover destruction.
Similarly, that's why my Grenadiers are still running with Warden Armors rather than War Suits; Blaster Launchers are cool, but when I'm already packing 2 Plasma Grenades and have Blaster Launchers on two other soldiers, I don't need more of the same type of explosive.
I do find it hard to believe any weapon upgrades are better than a scope. On my Sharpshooter, it enables Deadeye and chaining together Serial kills. On my Specialist, it enables Guardian to keep chaining. On my Grenadiers, it makes sure they hit with those opening Ruptures and shreds. Missing is just so much fucking worse for any and all of them than any benefit the other upgrades can bring me, other than Autoloader on the Sharpshooter enabling Killzone and Serial.
I think my next playthrough, I'm definitely going to be snapping up any Perception PCSes or Scope upgrades from the Black Market, intel be damned.
---
Also, I finally got an execution on a full-health Sectopod.
... It was next to the truck with the objective and I failed the mission :bigfrown:
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Inquisitor772 x Penny Arcade Fight Club ChampionA fixed point in space and timeRegistered Userregular
Later on you can upgrade all your special Grenades into Bombs. Acid Bombs are da bomb.
Psionics are "optional". But they are amazing, and they are never not good except in the very beginning. I mean, Void Prism alone is essentially another grenade that doesn't take up a slot, except it's better than a grenade because it ignores armor and regularly procs stuff like Panic, Rupture, Mind Control, etc. Throw in Domination and you basically have an additional squad member and meat shield for every mission.
Psi troopers are indeed awesome. While the Domination, the Void and Null lance skills are flashy and useful for spiking down a sectopod, mind controlling a gatekeeper, or exploding a squad every once and awhile, my personal MvP psychic abilities are
1: Inspire to grant a bonus action to whichever soldier is in position to be make use of it most.
2: Stasis to take that one enemy you can't deal with right now out of the fight (bonus points in that the ability only uses one action point and doesn't end your turn).
3: Fuse. No cooldown. Guaranteed damage against any enemy that has a grenade/rocket launcher, will shred their armor if they have any, and probably will destroy whatever cover they were hiding behind so that the rest of the squad can mop up.
These were my bread and butter that I used all the time.
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MorninglordI'm tired of being Batman,so today I'll be Owl.Registered Userregular
and in that situation the grenadiers couldn't actually reach with their grenades, I'd already tried it. Pods are all grouped up before they are triggered, so I could hit them all at once and then they'd all run forwards into my trap and die.
I get how powerful grenades are in normal close quarter infighting....but if I was in that situation, I'd cocked up something pretty major, cos this is how 90% of my fights played out. Most of the time enemies didn't even get to scatter into cover, they died before they got to it.
Which is why I value rockets. They were super good at enabling phantom ambushes to start off with all the enemies at half health or more.
Whenever I would start fights by having enemies patrol into me, then I would use grenades, but in that situation my grenadiers humongous aoe would clear all the cover from all the enemies in one shot cos they had limited scatter. So I didn't need to worry about using normal grenades either.
I rarely had to use more than one grenade per encounter, so my grenadiers would last me the entire mission.
I needed to bring scanning beacons, mimic beacons, skulljacks on specialists, and whatnot, they were all more important than normal grenades. I just never found a use for normal grenades after I got enough grenadiers. But I could use all the rockets my team could bring doing this. So I just found them more valuable cos dead enemies and flawless missions seemed, to me, to be pretty rewarding!
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(PSN: Morninglord) (Steam: Morninglord) (WiiU: Morninglord22) I like to record and toss up a lot of random gaming videos here.
Saturation Fire is good, but I've tested it in every conceivable terrain scenario and will confirm what everyone has already said: it will light the Grenadier's tile on fire every time, unless you're firing at a position elevated from yours.
It's really dumb that this happens.
I hope Firaxis somehow decides not to be their usual selves and actually support this game with post-launch patching. I don't care about balance stuff, really, but these bugs tied to certain abilities have to go, and the save file corrupting Chryssalid bullshit needs to go. I spent a lot of last year playing Early Access titles, and almost every single one was more polished than this.
and in that situation the grenadiers couldn't actually reach with their grenades, I'd already tried it. Pods are all grouped up before they are triggered, so I could hit them all at once and then they'd all run forwards into my trap and die.
I get how powerful grenades are in normal close quarter infighting....but if I was in that situation, I'd cocked up something pretty major, cos this is how 90% of my fights played out. Most of the time enemies didn't even get to scatter into cover, they died before they got to it.
Which is why I value rockets. They were super good at enabling phantom ambushes to start off with all the enemies at half health or more.
Whenever I would start fights by having enemies patrol into me, then I would use grenades, but in that situation my grenadiers humongous aoe would clear all the cover from all the enemies in one shot cos they had limited scatter. So I didn't need to worry about using normal grenades either.
I rarely had to use more than one grenade per encounter, so my grenadiers would last me the entire mission.
I needed to bring scanning beacons, mimic beacons, skulljacks on specialists, and whatnot, they were all more important than normal grenades. I just never found a use for normal grenades after I got enough grenadiers. But I could use all the rockets my team could bring doing this. So I just found them more valuable cos dead enemies and flawless missions seemed, to me, to be pretty rewarding!
My current approach is to give the exo / war suit to non-grenadiers to essentially "upgrade" the frag I would have had them carry to a heavy weapon. Preferably blaster launchers for the same reason you use rockets (really, the blaster launcher is just an upgraded rocket).
Because you're right. If your grunts are in a position to use hand thrown frags, then generally something went wrong and it is time to use a mimic beacon to get out of jail free.
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MorninglordI'm tired of being Batman,so today I'll be Owl.Registered Userregular
and in that situation the grenadiers couldn't actually reach with their grenades, I'd already tried it. Pods are all grouped up before they are triggered, so I could hit them all at once and then they'd all run forwards into my trap and die.
I get how powerful grenades are in normal close quarter infighting....but if I was in that situation, I'd cocked up something pretty major, cos this is how 90% of my fights played out. Most of the time enemies didn't even get to scatter into cover, they died before they got to it.
Which is why I value rockets. They were super good at enabling phantom ambushes to start off with all the enemies at half health or more.
Whenever I would start fights by having enemies patrol into me, then I would use grenades, but in that situation my grenadiers humongous aoe would clear all the cover from all the enemies in one shot cos they had limited scatter. So I didn't need to worry about using normal grenades either.
I rarely had to use more than one grenade per encounter, so my grenadiers would last me the entire mission.
I needed to bring scanning beacons, mimic beacons, skulljacks on specialists, and whatnot, they were all more important than normal grenades. I just never found a use for normal grenades after I got enough grenadiers. But I could use all the rockets my team could bring doing this. So I just found them more valuable cos dead enemies and flawless missions seemed, to me, to be pretty rewarding!
My current approach is to give the exo / war suit to non-grenadiers to essentially "upgrade" the frag I would have had them carry to a heavy weapon. Preferably blaster launchers for the same reason you use rockets (really, the blaster launcher is just an upgraded rocket).
Because you're right. If your grunts are in a position to use hand thrown frags, then generally something went wrong and it is time to use a mimic beacon to get out of jail free.
Well the cool thing is that salvo works for the heavy weapon. And I think it also benefits from the tile and damage bonus too. So its definitely still worthwhile on a demo grenadier too! They can fire one and then shoot.
(PSN: Morninglord) (Steam: Morninglord) (WiiU: Morninglord22) I like to record and toss up a lot of random gaming videos here.
I'm kind of terrified of my Serial Ranger. I just looked at things on my commander game.
She's been on 32 missions.
She's killed a 115 things in these 32 missions. Or, on average, she wipes out 3.59 enemies per mission - More than a pod's worth every time she comes along. (In the last mission alone, she took out four codex cloens and andvnet trooper and finished off an archon and a secotpod. It was disgusting, and moderately terrifying to boot)
Quality of life things aside, that mod fixes 99% of the game's animation bugs just by taking out the derp pauses. Kill Zone actually animates correctly with that installed, for example!
and in that situation the grenadiers couldn't actually reach with their grenades, I'd already tried it. Pods are all grouped up before they are triggered, so I could hit them all at once and then they'd all run forwards into my trap and die.
I get how powerful grenades are in normal close quarter infighting....but if I was in that situation, I'd cocked up something pretty major, cos this is how 90% of my fights played out. Most of the time enemies didn't even get to scatter into cover, they died before they got to it.
Which is why I value rockets. They were super good at enabling phantom ambushes to start off with all the enemies at half health or more.
Whenever I would start fights by having enemies patrol into me, then I would use grenades, but in that situation my grenadiers humongous aoe would clear all the cover from all the enemies in one shot cos they had limited scatter. So I didn't need to worry about using normal grenades either.
I rarely had to use more than one grenade per encounter, so my grenadiers would last me the entire mission.
I needed to bring scanning beacons, mimic beacons, skulljacks on specialists, and whatnot, they were all more important than normal grenades. I just never found a use for normal grenades after I got enough grenadiers. But I could use all the rockets my team could bring doing this. So I just found them more valuable cos dead enemies and flawless missions seemed, to me, to be pretty rewarding!
My current approach is to give the exo / war suit to non-grenadiers to essentially "upgrade" the frag I would have had them carry to a heavy weapon. Preferably blaster launchers for the same reason you use rockets (really, the blaster launcher is just an upgraded rocket).
Because you're right. If your grunts are in a position to use hand thrown frags, then generally something went wrong and it is time to use a mimic beacon to get out of jail free.
Well the cool thing is that salvo works for the heavy weapon. And I think it also benefits from the tile and damage bonus too. So its definitely still worthwhile on a demo grenadier too! They can fire one and then shoot.
BUT if you put your War Suits on your non-Grenadiers, then you can have turns where you launch 7 explosives at the enemy (assuming you, like me, put a Wraith Suit on your Sniper, and have 2 Grenadiers). And actually, in your video, I believe a proximity mine would have been a better choice than a rocket there - though perhaps not available yet.
That being said, I suppose you could put War Suits on everybody, but then that limits your non-grenade item complement. With my setup as above, and my Grenadiers carrying 4 explosives, that would leave just the Psi Operative and maybe the Sniper with 1-2 slots for Mimic Beacons or Flashbangs etc. Hmmm.
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MorninglordI'm tired of being Batman,so today I'll be Owl.Registered Userregular
edited February 2016
Sniper needs tracer ammo to pull off that magnificence and spider suit to keep up.
A thing I have done with my sniper:
Grappled up to a tiny ledge in open cover, 100% shot an enemy, used death from above's free action to hop back down to a safe spot.
I lolled.
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(PSN: Morninglord) (Steam: Morninglord) (WiiU: Morninglord22) I like to record and toss up a lot of random gaming videos here.
Perfect Reaper chain set-up. ADVENT Officer at 4 HP, MEC at 3, Lancer at 3, and some 2 HP Codexes.
Reaper -> Officer.
Dodge! Grazed! 3 damage!
RIP my boner.
Freaking hate the "graze" crap.
I could see enjoying something like a VATS-esque system where soldiers have a higher chance to hit but it's spread around different body parts for different damage levels (and you don't get to pick the part to target), but the graze system is just a straight-up penalty against the player for trying to shoot things.
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DuriniaEvolved from Space PotatoesRegistered Userregular
Last night I was running a Protect The Doodad So It Can Doodar mission. In previous missions when enemies have been firing upon the doodad I've been able to see that it's being fired upon despite being many screens away from actually putting eyes on it. Whereas in this one, while I was tangling with my first Andromedan (which I only survived due to a bunch of seriously bad rolls for the AI), suddenly the doodad blew up. When I eventually got to the building it was in, there was indeed a pod sat on the far side of the building.
It seems like they did indeed blow it up, but should I not have seen their shots and the damage being done? Or is the bug in fact that I never should have seen the damage in previous missions.
Also it's pretty mean that they didn't up the health of the doodad. Couple of shots from high level enemies and that thing will be disintegrated!
Last night I was running a Protect The Doodad So It Can Doodar mission. In previous missions when enemies have been firing upon the doodad I've been able to see that it's being fired upon despite being many screens away from actually putting eyes on it. Whereas in this one, while I was tangling with my first Andromedan (which I only survived due to a bunch of seriously bad rolls for the AI), suddenly the doodad blew up. When I eventually got to the building it was in, there was indeed a pod sat on the far side of the building.
It seems like they did indeed blow it up, but should I not have seen their shots and the damage being done? Or is the bug in fact that I never should have seen the damage in previous missions.
Also it's pretty mean that they didn't up the health of the doodad. Couple of shots from high level enemies and that thing will be disintegrated!
It's possible that the enemies did something that caused the building to collapse. A collapsing roof will instagib a doodad.
Edit: I had a mission where a sectopod started firing on the doodad turn 1, it was pretty hairy but I managed to get in and distract it a turn before it would have killed it.
Last mission, man they throw it all at you. Thankfully over watch and having a gatekeeper mind controlled kept it all from spiraling. As for the ending....terror from the deep I'm xcom 3?
Sniper needs tracer ammo to pull off that magnificence and spider suit to keep up.
A thing I have done with my sniper:
Grappled up to a tiny ledge in open cover, 100% shot an enemy, used death from above's free action to hop back down to a safe spot.
I lolled.
I prefer to put AP rounds on my Sniper. They are often taking shots at heavily armored enemies before you get a chance to strip them and being able to bypass that for full damage is awesome.
The last room would have been a lot harder if the Avatars weren't so dumb. The last 2 teleported into flanked positions for easy kills. I got some sweet, sweet serial action with my sniper at the end. He got up on a raised platform with a full pod of chrysalids and a handful of damaged codices in view AND a free reload remaining on his autoloader. He killed everything he could see that turn. Commander avatar was also kind of OP. Good aim, good gun, 100% mind control, void rift AND null lance? Felt kind of cheap getting that without having to work for it. Didn't lose anyone, but my specialist, who I had named "Lucky" because he should have died so many times, got down to one health.
I also had that bug in the final room where grenadiers could only shoot grenades as if they were in a 1-story room on most of the map. Seemed to be ok near the edges of the room though.
Also figured out that Untouchable can also make you dodge AOE attacks, which doesn't make much sense but is still fun.
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Sometimes certain enemies can be mysteriously immune to aoe circles.
Please don't tell me it happens at the edge, I know. I mean theyre right in the middle of the circle, completely standing in open ground, and they don't get shaded red. When I fire off the aoe ability, they don't get hit.
It's very obviously a bug.
This last mission has given me more bugs than the entire campaign. Just in case I wasn't clear, I was getting fairly annoying bugs in the campaign too, at a rate of one every couple of missions. This mission has given me a major bug once every second pod. It's getting old.
The bugs and awful AI has really dampened a lot of my enthusiasm for the game. When I finish up this campaign, I'm going to shelve it until some patches have rolled through. No point getting all interested in modding a buggy mess.
It'll be fun if they fix the lag (they won't) and remove Codices from the roster (also probably won't).
I mean, it already is pretty fun just to fuck around in, but those two issues are so obvious and awful that it's pretty clear they don't give half a shit.
These include:
-Can't evac a soldier despite standing in the evac square, just says 'not in evac zone'
-All cover icons disappearing
-Enemies vanishing when hit by a grenade, then reappearing back at full hp on the alien turn and taking their actions
-You are not shooting at the enemy you think you are: tab though enemy list, camera zooms between each target as you select them, but when you fire, it actually turns and fires on the next enemy in the list.
-soldier with full actions can't be ordered to move at all for a turn, for no reason
As far as grenades go though, remember that incendiary, acid and gas are blocked by cover obstacles as they 'spread' from the centre of the AOE outwards, so being within the radius doesn't guarantee a hit.
and that's the only niche situation where it's better. a situation that, if you're playing properly, never occurs!
that is not even remotely a niche situation, but hey, believe what you want. it doesn't really matter in the end how you blow up the cover.
Origin: KafkaAU B-Net: Kafka#1778
I don't actually have any experimental grenades, so this was happening with plasma grenades and rockets, on enemies standing in completely open ground (open because I'd just blow it all away with a different grenadier on the same turn). I also saw it happen with specialists capacitor discharge on one of those red mecs standing in the middle of a field on overwatch, no cover anywhere near him.
I've also had problems with not being able to click on terrain. Two kinds of problem. One where moving the camera to focus on the terrain magically makes it work (wtf?) and others where terrain that the outline says should be targettable flatly isn't, no matter what I do with the camera or how much I click. Also had problems with cover icons not showing up for objects that should give cover.
Also if you're using a rocket you don't have the shred gun, which is an almost unpardonable sin.
Was this just a game mechanic that was never fully implemented?
I'm talking about using grenades on a non grenadier, who has no grenade launcher to boost its range and aoe, and no upgrades to boost its tiles and damage. Unless you get lucky and get volatile mix via AWC, in which case I did give that character a grenade. One I almost never got to use because all my grenadiers were flat out better at grenading.
Obviously its better on a grenadier...but then again, so is the rocket (or blaster bomb, if we are suddenly talking about upgrades beyond warden vs war suit), since you can't take an extra grenade in your utility slot on a grenadier anyway.
Indeed, I must agree. It does make sense that the grenadier is the best at grenading. Because of the name, you see.
Took my psi soldier on an end run for the pillar as things fell apart. He got all the way to the facility outrunning the andro suit (Newfoundland style)...
...only to get finished off by a turret through 2 floors and strong heavy cover.
:xcom:
--Mark Twain
Wait, now I'm confused. What are we talking about? Which one is a better use of a turn? Cause everyone can bring both a heavy weapon and a grenade.
I just had the bug earlier myself today. We may both be waiting for a really long time though, since even today, EW still has that explosive radius bug at times. It's like they're either completely unaware of it, or it's some fundamental engine thing they can't get at.
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As for setup and explosives, I did previously think Acid Grenades might be useful even after you get Plasma Grenades, but I take it back. I played around with them for a while, but I've gone back to Plasma Grenades now, not because Acid Grenades aren't good, but because Plasma Grenades are just better general-purpose.
This is my best team composition, with equipment:
Grenadier #1, with Warden Armor, Scope and Stock, Flashbang Grenade, Mimic Beacon, 2x Plasma Grenade
Grenadier #2, with Warden Armor, Scope and Stock, Proximity Mine, Mimic Beacon, 2x Plasma Grenade
Sharpshooter, with Wraith Suit, Scope and Autoloader, and Talon Ammunition
Scout Ranger, with Warden Armor, Laser Sight and Hair Trigger, Battle Scanner and Proximity Mine
Hacking Specialist, with War Suit, Scope and Repeater, Blaster Launcher and Skulljack
Psi Operative, with War Suit, Scope and Repeater, Blaster Launcher and Mimic Beacon
And basically, I can't cram any more grenades on my Grenadiers. The one Flashbang Grenade continues to be useful occasionally, with its large radius and 2 damage. Proximity Mines are hella useful to trigger pods so that you can overwatch ambush them on THEIR turns, so even if I were to get rid of the Flashbang, I still think I'd prefer a Proximity Mine on both Grenadiers. The marginal benefit of using an Acid Grenade over Plasma Grenade just isn't much compared to the Proximity Mine, with its higher damage, larger radius, and distinct tactical usage, and the Plasma Grenade is much more general purpose than the Acid Grenade with its cover destruction.
Similarly, that's why my Grenadiers are still running with Warden Armors rather than War Suits; Blaster Launchers are cool, but when I'm already packing 2 Plasma Grenades and have Blaster Launchers on two other soldiers, I don't need more of the same type of explosive.
I do find it hard to believe any weapon upgrades are better than a scope. On my Sharpshooter, it enables Deadeye and chaining together Serial kills. On my Specialist, it enables Guardian to keep chaining. On my Grenadiers, it makes sure they hit with those opening Ruptures and shreds. Missing is just so much fucking worse for any and all of them than any benefit the other upgrades can bring me, other than Autoloader on the Sharpshooter enabling Killzone and Serial.
I think my next playthrough, I'm definitely going to be snapping up any Perception PCSes or Scope upgrades from the Black Market, intel be damned.
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Also, I finally got an execution on a full-health Sectopod.
... It was next to the truck with the objective and I failed the mission :bigfrown:
Psi troopers are indeed awesome. While the Domination, the Void and Null lance skills are flashy and useful for spiking down a sectopod, mind controlling a gatekeeper, or exploding a squad every once and awhile, my personal MvP psychic abilities are
1: Inspire to grant a bonus action to whichever soldier is in position to be make use of it most.
2: Stasis to take that one enemy you can't deal with right now out of the fight (bonus points in that the ability only uses one action point and doesn't end your turn).
3: Fuse. No cooldown. Guaranteed damage against any enemy that has a grenade/rocket launcher, will shred their armor if they have any, and probably will destroy whatever cover they were hiding behind so that the rest of the squad can mop up.
These were my bread and butter that I used all the time.
Armchair: 4098-3704-2012
and in that situation the grenadiers couldn't actually reach with their grenades, I'd already tried it. Pods are all grouped up before they are triggered, so I could hit them all at once and then they'd all run forwards into my trap and die.
I get how powerful grenades are in normal close quarter infighting....but if I was in that situation, I'd cocked up something pretty major, cos this is how 90% of my fights played out. Most of the time enemies didn't even get to scatter into cover, they died before they got to it.
Which is why I value rockets. They were super good at enabling phantom ambushes to start off with all the enemies at half health or more.
Whenever I would start fights by having enemies patrol into me, then I would use grenades, but in that situation my grenadiers humongous aoe would clear all the cover from all the enemies in one shot cos they had limited scatter. So I didn't need to worry about using normal grenades either.
I rarely had to use more than one grenade per encounter, so my grenadiers would last me the entire mission.
I needed to bring scanning beacons, mimic beacons, skulljacks on specialists, and whatnot, they were all more important than normal grenades. I just never found a use for normal grenades after I got enough grenadiers. But I could use all the rockets my team could bring doing this. So I just found them more valuable cos dead enemies and flawless missions seemed, to me, to be pretty rewarding!
Saturation Fire is good, but I've tested it in every conceivable terrain scenario and will confirm what everyone has already said: it will light the Grenadier's tile on fire every time, unless you're firing at a position elevated from yours.
It's really dumb that this happens.
I hope Firaxis somehow decides not to be their usual selves and actually support this game with post-launch patching. I don't care about balance stuff, really, but these bugs tied to certain abilities have to go, and the save file corrupting Chryssalid bullshit needs to go. I spent a lot of last year playing Early Access titles, and almost every single one was more polished than this.
My current approach is to give the exo / war suit to non-grenadiers to essentially "upgrade" the frag I would have had them carry to a heavy weapon. Preferably blaster launchers for the same reason you use rockets (really, the blaster launcher is just an upgraded rocket).
Because you're right. If your grunts are in a position to use hand thrown frags, then generally something went wrong and it is time to use a mimic beacon to get out of jail free.
Armchair: 4098-3704-2012
Well the cool thing is that salvo works for the heavy weapon. And I think it also benefits from the tile and damage bonus too. So its definitely still worthwhile on a demo grenadier too! They can fire one and then shoot.
She's been on 32 missions.
She's killed a 115 things in these 32 missions. Or, on average, she wipes out 3.59 enemies per mission - More than a pod's worth every time she comes along. (In the last mission alone, she took out four codex cloens and andvnet trooper and finished off an archon and a secotpod. It was disgusting, and moderately terrifying to boot)
Steam: https://steamcommunity.com/id/TheZombiePenguin
Stream: https://www.twitch.tv/thezombiepenguin/
Switch: 0293 6817 9891
Just install this mod. Do it.
Quality of life things aside, that mod fixes 99% of the game's animation bugs just by taking out the derp pauses. Kill Zone actually animates correctly with that installed, for example!
BUT if you put your War Suits on your non-Grenadiers, then you can have turns where you launch 7 explosives at the enemy (assuming you, like me, put a Wraith Suit on your Sniper, and have 2 Grenadiers). And actually, in your video, I believe a proximity mine would have been a better choice than a rocket there - though perhaps not available yet.
That being said, I suppose you could put War Suits on everybody, but then that limits your non-grenade item complement. With my setup as above, and my Grenadiers carrying 4 explosives, that would leave just the Psi Operative and maybe the Sniper with 1-2 slots for Mimic Beacons or Flashbangs etc. Hmmm.
A thing I have done with my sniper:
Grappled up to a tiny ledge in open cover, 100% shot an enemy, used death from above's free action to hop back down to a safe spot.
I lolled.
Reaper -> Officer.
Dodge! Grazed! 3 damage!
RIP my boner.
Freaking hate the "graze" crap.
I could see enjoying something like a VATS-esque system where soldiers have a higher chance to hit but it's spread around different body parts for different damage levels (and you don't get to pick the part to target), but the graze system is just a straight-up penalty against the player for trying to shoot things.
Also, I learned something today:
codex (from the Latin caudex for "trunk of a tree" or block of wood, book; plural codices)
--Mark Twain
Last night I was running a Protect The Doodad So It Can Doodar mission. In previous missions when enemies have been firing upon the doodad I've been able to see that it's being fired upon despite being many screens away from actually putting eyes on it. Whereas in this one, while I was tangling with my first Andromedan (which I only survived due to a bunch of seriously bad rolls for the AI), suddenly the doodad blew up. When I eventually got to the building it was in, there was indeed a pod sat on the far side of the building.
It seems like they did indeed blow it up, but should I not have seen their shots and the damage being done? Or is the bug in fact that I never should have seen the damage in previous missions.
Also it's pretty mean that they didn't up the health of the doodad. Couple of shots from high level enemies and that thing will be disintegrated!
http://steamcommunity.com/id/pablocampy
You're my go-to sniper right now, and your specialty is murdering robots with bluescreen rounds. I like those a ton better than EMP grenades.
It's possible that the enemies did something that caused the building to collapse. A collapsing roof will instagib a doodad.
Edit: I had a mission where a sectopod started firing on the doodad turn 1, it was pretty hairy but I managed to get in and distract it a turn before it would have killed it.
I prefer to put AP rounds on my Sniper. They are often taking shots at heavily armored enemies before you get a chance to strip them and being able to bypass that for full damage is awesome.
The last mission I just pretended I never started it, because I had no way to deal with the last pod of 2 lancers and a sectoid
Proximity mines were super buggy in EW too. I saw those, and figured what the hell, I'll give them a chance. Nope.
Also figured out that Untouchable can also make you dodge AOE attacks, which doesn't make much sense but is still fun.