HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
Jesus jumped up Christ that battle in chapter 4 scared the shit out of me.
The third battle, specifically. When the boss moved in and mowed down one of my engineers ASAP, that was fucked; I didn't know that deployment location was going to be facing the tanks. Also when my first turn came up I sent my star player, Teresa, up along the north to try and scout out how that path would look and she ate a mortar. I found cover for her and healed up but she was stationary most of the battle.
But I got lucky right at the start. RNGesus blessed me and Riley took the boss out in two attacks, direct hits on the engine. So the other tanks got swept fast and I was able to send the Hafen in along the south side of the battle field along with Riley and another mortar op to do most of the heavy lifting on saving Raz. Who is a fucking idiot, by the way.
I wanted to try and be more of a badass and take two other enemy camps but the rescue effort was eating all my CP and attention. At the very least I had the APC setup to gun down a never-ending wave of Shocktroopers from one of the camps. It was kind of hilarious and bad.
+1
HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
I just noticed a huge discrepancy in the writing of VC4, it's still early on.
During the fall months, the Federation is pushing on the Empire's old border. And the people in squad E are all, "We have to stop the empire here to keep them from invading Galia!"
... But Galia was invaded in March of that same year. The fuck?
I just noticed a huge discrepancy in the writing of VC4, it's still early on.
During the fall months, the Federation is pushing on the Empire's old border. And the people in squad E are all, "We have to stop the empire here to keep them from invading Galia!"
... But Galia was invaded in March of that same year. The fuck?
They mean that it will cut the invasion short, basically.
I just noticed a huge discrepancy in the writing of VC4, it's still early on.
During the fall months, the Federation is pushing on the Empire's old border. And the people in squad E are all, "We have to stop the empire here to keep them from invading Galia!"
... But Galia was invaded in March of that same year. The fuck?
They mean that it will cut the invasion short, basically.
I guess the wording needed work. I'll allow it though.
I just hit chapter 7. A feature I'm digging in this game is the "Squad Stories" stuff.
Also I'm using individual equipment options for the first time ever. In VC1 all my characters in each class would have the same loadout. It's nearly the same in VC4 except for the Grenadiers. Riley is equipped with the anti-tank rounds, and my other is equipped with anti-infantry. I'm very rarely using Lancers and most of the time I've tried deploying them (or been forced to) they do nothing in combat.
Lancers are good for one specific job.
But others can also be good at that job in a pinch so it's usually better to fill that space with someone else.
I usually only call in Lancers at camps when I know there's going to be a tank to blow up and the Hafen can't reach them. Other times where there's an unexpected tank I'll spend points on turning Raz into a tank murderer and let him go on a spree.
I only just finished Chapter 4 though, so maybe things'll change.
I eventually found a use for Lancers: standing around in your base camp doing nothing.
No, really! Any mission that you have to hold your camp, a Lancer is tough enough to take a turn of fire from a Shocktrooper or Scout, and basically immune to grenades and mortars. They're great for meeting the legal requirement of being a person.
(Also, plopping one in the Cactus so that you have an AT option with it isn't the worst.)
//
A quick word on the last DLC: The Two Valkyria. It consists of two missions, both of which take place on the map from Chapter 4.1, but neither of which really take advantage of it an interesting way. In both missions you get some Imp grunts and a Valkyria (Cyrmaria and Selvaria, from the first game) and have to defeat the other while not losing your base. They're very simple to play, with the Valkyria being tough enough to ignore the opponent's fodder and just chase the opposing Valkyria. The Valkyria have super-weapons and cost two CP to use, but... the missions themselves are extremely blah. While I haven't tried it yet, using Crymaria and Selvaria in the post-game skirmishes might be fun. (I guess you also get swimsuit options? And access to Nikola and Chiara.)
So... final verdicts on DLC: Squad E, To The Beach! 6.99 // A little pricey, and a lot pervy, but it's the only DLC that gives you a new map to play with two fun scenarios. A Captainless Squad 4.99 // For a fair price made use of a lot of characters I had neglected. Missions are well done, though repetitive of main game. Expert Level Skirmishes 4.99 // Didn't buy. The Two Valkyria 4.99 // Disappointing missions, and a bit pervy. Getting to use the Valkyria might be fun in other missions. Edy's Advance Ops 3.99 // A cute, fun little mission for the early game. Allows you to recruit Edy. Not bad. A United Front With Squad 7 5.99 // Three fun missions that let you recruit the core cast of the first game. Not bad.
Edit: Forgot two points. One, it's criminal that The Two Valkyria doesn't also include Klaus in a speedo. And two, the best DLC of course remains the entire first game, which is a $19.99 download, with a further discount if you already have VC4 digitally.
LordSolarMacharius on
+2
HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
edited January 2019
Damn this game has a lot of DLC for something that just came out pretty recently. How much of that was day-one?
Also VC4 is substantially more difficult than VC1 was, for sure. I mean if you know how to fuck around with the combat system it's not THAT hard, but still. It took me 10 turns to complete one mission just now.
Edit - Mischief Makers my favorite squad story so far. Also just unlocked my first elite class; Snipers being able to do intercept fire is pretty great.
In my opinion, Snipers fire way too slowly for their interception fire to be of much use.
And being able to return fire doesn't do much when they're so squishy.
I feel like 4 made mortar lances more viable. If it gave some extra move I'd use them a lot - lancer toughness and they blow away enemies in cover or groups from a healthy range. But as usual scouts are faster and get rifle grenades to get 80% of the damage anyways.
Elite scouts are still pretty silly, even if nobody hits Alicia tier OP (much less Emilia in VC2 and her "fuck mechanics cut boss in half" hacks).
HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
Chapter 7 done. That changed my mind from feeling a positive "eh it's okay" about the game to "I like it a lot." Hopes still high for the game getting even better.
Riley is still a freaking monster in my team with the anti-tank mortars. I'm actually making more of an effort to rotate squad members in and out of play too. When I get their squad stories done I give other people a chance to see how they play out. So far the alcoholic had ONE moment where she said "fuck it, too drunk to do anything this turn" which cracked me up until she got incapacitated.
In my opinion, Snipers fire way too slowly for their interception fire to be of much use.
Single shot rifles, yeah. And when it does fire, they often miss. The three shot rifle is better for that.
0
HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
Holy shit is this a spoiler? I'll put it behind a tag but it's a game function you get later on.
You can assign anyone you want to a leadership position! OH MY GOD this makes me happier than it should. The obvious power play here is to have an Engineer leading because you should never not have one.
Holy shit is this a spoiler? I'll put it behind a tag but it's a game function you get later on.
You can assign anyone you want to a leadership position! OH MY GOD this makes me happier than it should. The obvious power play here is to have an Engineer leading because you should never not have one.
I realize the usefulness of this, but
I couldn't not have the "story" leaders as the leaders. It just feels wrong otherwise.
Also, on the (I think) last chapter 17, spoilers:
Raaaaaaaazzzzz!!!!
Working on the first Chapter 17 battle currently. Man, is it a doozy.
The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it. ~ Terry Pratchett
0
HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
Um, excuse me, but Chapter 10 is fucking stupid.
I have to shoot down the bombs within one turn, which requires reaching all available high ground locations ASAP and simultaneously, all while fighting off these two bullshit bosses? Ew, I think this battle was very badly designed.
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TexiKenDammit!That fish really got me!Registered Userregular
I have to shoot down the bombs within one turn, which requires reaching all available high ground locations ASAP and simultaneously, all while fighting off these two bullshit bosses? Ew, I think this battle was very badly designed.
Position Claude's tank just at the front of where he already is, right where the ramp to the upper plane (and the ice steps are. He can block off the enemy from really going at the squishy troops. And then I had Minerva carry a sniper (Neige best sniper) to the other side across that rope and with that it made the sniping easy.
Minerva best girl, Minerva never gets hit, classy dodging.
Holy shit is this a spoiler? I'll put it behind a tag but it's a game function you get later on.
You can assign anyone you want to a leadership position! OH MY GOD this makes me happier than it should. The obvious power play here is to have an Engineer leading because you should never not have one.
I realize the usefulness of this, but
I couldn't not have the "story" leaders as the leaders. It just feels wrong otherwise.
Also, on the (I think) last chapter 17, spoilers:
Raaaaaaaazzzzz!!!!
Working on the first Chapter 17 battle currently. Man, is it a doozy.
Ch 17 tip:
There are archways you can drop that seal off three of the enemy camps - left, right, and rear. Also, I had the great fortune of it falling on the boss unit.
Holy shit is this a spoiler? I'll put it behind a tag but it's a game function you get later on.
You can assign anyone you want to a leadership position! OH MY GOD this makes me happier than it should. The obvious power play here is to have an Engineer leading because you should never not have one.
I realize the usefulness of this, but
I couldn't not have the "story" leaders as the leaders. It just feels wrong otherwise.
Also, on the (I think) last chapter 17, spoilers:
Raaaaaaaazzzzz!!!!
Working on the first Chapter 17 battle currently. Man, is it a doozy.
Ch 17 tip:
There are archways you can drop that seal off three of the enemy camps - left, right, and rear. Also, I had the great fortune of it falling on the boss unit.
Yeah, just finished the first Ch. 17 battle:
I finished it in about the silliest way possible. I had an assault team of two shocktroopers, and an engie get carried around in the APC. First turn, loaded them up in the APC, took them to the NE camp, to take that. Used Kai to snipe the peeps close by the base camp, and hide under a shelter to avoid the damn grenadiers. Minerva took another south with her to capture that base. And I had a shocktrooper and grenadier (probably didn't even need the grenadier) to take the base to the west. Claude gets killed after the first turn, who needs tanks or orders anyway?
Turn two, wasted 2 moves trying to use the grenadier to kill the tank (just needed one hit!) but missed both times. Then took my 2 shocktrooper team in the APC to base in the east took that. Got 3 moves and I suddenly realize I only need the northwest base. Use the sewer to get up there, and then try to use my grenadier (again a mistake) and he gets himself bombarded to kingdom come. Shocktrooper doesn't have enough movement to capture, so I think I'm hosed.
But after my turn two, the enemy doesn't seem all that interested in doing anything but either killing my peeps or bumrushing the base. They kill a couple of my peeps, but just leave them lying there, and waste most of their moves trying to move lancers and grenadiers closer to the base camp. On turn 3, I use my first 2 moves to just use my shocktrooper and take the last base after flamethrowering the defenders.
Pretty silly.
Also, just a comment about squad stories (with big Ch. 16 spoilers):
I sent Zaisa with Raz on their suicide misson, since there seemed like some connection there. Both Darcsen, both like each other, there is even some audio lines that they each call out when they battle together, but there was never any backstory to Zaisa, I thought I had used just about everyone a few times to unlock their stories, but was never one for him that I could find. Does he just not have one, or did I miss it?
chrono_traveller on
The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it. ~ Terry Pratchett
There's a "hidden" recruit, that you only get if you have a balance of 1,000,000 ducats (Gertrude). Her, Zaiga, and Vancey share a squad story.
(By sending Zaiga on the suicide mission I don't think you'll be able to access it until you're in the post game.)
Also, an addendum to my thoughts on the DLC The Two Valkyria. I decided to try out the characters in a more interesting mission, and I have to say they are better when they're not just chasing each other around. Selvaria's lance being able to fire through multiple targets is a lot of fun when you manage to line stuff up, and both her and Crymaria lay down some crazy intercepting fire. Nikola and Chiara offer interesting variations on Scouts.
The latter two have alright swimsuit uniforms. Bikini bottom, giant ammo clips on the thighs, long flowing scarf. Crymaria's is actually really nice, although the bikini shows off how wonky her proportions are. But added to that is... I don't know how to describe it... a bum cape? The back half of a dress? Anyway, a bunch of flowy fabric that, combined with all her hair and a big floppy hat give her a fashion-runway-impractical-cool look. Bonus points for the hat being reminiscent of a witch's, and for her staff being replaced with a glowing beach umbrella.
Selvaria though: ugh. It's not even pretending to be swimwear related, it's just straight up a stripper costume. Heels, thigh-high fishnets, a micro skirt, and a top that she's falling out of. Like, I get that the point of the anime-beach-type-things is to appeal to thirteen year old boys, but at least keep on theme damnit.
(And give me swimsuit Klaus!)
0
knitdanIn ur baseKillin ur guysRegistered Userregular
I’ve been going through VC1 which I barely remember from the first time, and man. It feels a lot easier than VC4 so far?
Although I did screw up the bridge mission in part because it turns out snipers in VC1 SUCK ASS AND CANT HIT A DAMN THING
“I was quick when I came in here, I’m twice as quick now”
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
Up to chapter 8 of VC4, and I'm going to need someone to give me a reason to give anyone the non-accuracy focused weapons.
The only ones I'm switching up are the mortars (Riley gets the anti-personnel one, and Other Grenadier gets the anti-armor one).
I've also had a few occasions where I've just taken a long distance shot with a lancer because they weren't going to get to really shoot at anyone this turn.
I've hit a tank radiator from halfway across the map, and headshotted a sniper in a tower.
Nobody remembers the singer. The song remains.
+2
TexiKenDammit!That fish really got me!Registered Userregular
With the scouts I always used the more firepower rifle (the one with extra shots) because it really is needed, but I would always give the scout something like a super dodge item or a +aim/+person item. And really all you lose is a small amount of range.
The accuracy sniper, I switched later on to the three shot option for everyone but you will need an accuracy/range sniper rifle option to make Chapter 10 bearable. I know there's a range/aim item boost around that area you could have gotten.
+1
HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
I dunno if this works out in VC4 yet but in VC1 there was a point with snipers and scouts where you could swap off the accuracy line of weapons and go for the more powerful ones. Like yeah you could have the pinpoint accuracy but reasonably speaking why would you? You could move closer and still be out of range and kill the enemy from far enough away.
With the scouts I always used the more firepower rifle (the one with extra shots) because it really is needed, but I would always give the scout something like a super dodge item or a +aim/+person item. And really all you lose is a small amount of range.
The accuracy sniper, I switched later on to the three shot option for everyone but you will need an accuracy/range sniper rifle option to make Chapter 10 bearable. I know there's a range/aim item boost around that area you could have gotten.
Plus one. My Scouts and Engineers get the increased shots, Shocktroopers whatever has the greatest range (for intercepting fire - I almost always actively use the Flamethrower). Grenadiers I have Riley with Anti-Infantry and Jascha with Anti-Tank (his accuracy boost is good for targeting radiators).
Snipers I mix it up. Kai gets the triple shot, as she's often in the action so the range trade-off isn't an issue, and it's the best at intercepting fire. Then I keep Mabel with a long range accurate rifle and Leonhardt with an A-Rank rewarded Anti-Tank rifle in reserves to call upon as needed.
0
TexiKenDammit!That fish really got me!Registered Userregular
I never tried the anti-tank rifle because I thought I would need to add penetration to it and I just didn't want to waste those turns, is it that good out of the box? (I've basically A ranked everything but the last story chapter and those super skirmishes)
I haven't used them, but I'd assume that to be viable, anti-tank weapons would be useless against armor, but a shocktrooper who unloads a full clip into a radiator is going to do some damage.
On that subject though (early boss question):
With custom-decal-tank-guy, is the radiator on the top of the tank an actual weak point? I tried to hit it with mortars, but never got any bonus damage from it. I just couldn't tell if it wasn't a weak point at all, or if the mortar just kept missing the sweet spot.
In the end I just mass tank/mortared him to death before he could order his troops to murder me too much.
klemming on
Nobody remembers the singer. The song remains.
0
TexiKenDammit!That fish really got me!Registered Userregular
I haven't used them, but I'd assume that to be viable, anti-tank weapons would be useless against armor, but a shocktrooper who unloads a full clip into a radiator is going to do some damage.
On that subject though (early boss question):
With custom-decal-tank-guy, is the radiator on the top of the tank an actual weak point? I tried to hit it with mortars, but never got any bonus damage from it. I just couldn't tell if it wasn't a weak point at all, or if the mortar just kept missing the sweet spot.
In the end I just mass tank/mortared him to death before he could order his troops to murder me too much.
The top radiator is a weak point on that tank but it's a cheap ass weak point where you'd be better ganging up with tanks and lancers early on instead of wasting an action. I never got a mortar to actually connect and do real damage like the back of a tank (and there's a train later on that has top radiators but you can actually hit them).
I haven't used them, but I'd assume that to be viable, anti-tank weapons would be useless against armor, but a shocktrooper who unloads a full clip into a radiator is going to do some damage.
On that subject though (early boss question):
With custom-decal-tank-guy, is the radiator on the top of the tank an actual weak point? I tried to hit it with mortars, but never got any bonus damage from it. I just couldn't tell if it wasn't a weak point at all, or if the mortar just kept missing the sweet spot.
In the end I just mass tank/mortared him to death before he could order his troops to murder me too much.
About the tank boss:
I think it is a weak point, but yeah, damn if I have any luck with my mortars hitting it. Once or twice, my mortars did more than usual, so I think I hit it, but I had the darnedest luck trying to.
The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it. ~ Terry Pratchett
0
HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
I haven't used them, but I'd assume that to be viable, anti-tank weapons would be useless against armor, but a shocktrooper who unloads a full clip into a radiator is going to do some damage.
On that subject though (early boss question):
With custom-decal-tank-guy, is the radiator on the top of the tank an actual weak point? I tried to hit it with mortars, but never got any bonus damage from it. I just couldn't tell if it wasn't a weak point at all, or if the mortar just kept missing the sweet spot.
In the end I just mass tank/mortared him to death before he could order his troops to murder me too much.
The top radiator is a weak point on that tank but it's a cheap ass weak point where you'd be better ganging up with tanks and lancers early on instead of wasting an action. I never got a mortar to actually connect and do real damage like the back of a tank (and there's a train later on that has top radiators but you can actually hit them).
I disagree big time.
I took out that tank with Riley's anti-tank rounds in two shots, both direct hits.
If it is a weakspot, would Demolition Order plus gunfire from an elevated position work? I could have hit it pretty easy with snipers or scouts.
I'd really love an order to increase accuracy, even if it was really expensive. There are plenty of times where I'd spend 3CP on knowing that a shot would hit exactly on the X.
I never tried the anti-tank rifle because I thought I would need to add penetration to it and I just didn't want to waste those turns, is it that good out of the box? (I've basically A ranked everything but the last story chapter and those super skirmishes)
I almost always try to shoot a radiator (even with a Lancer or the Hafen). So the AT rifle's accuracy and range are handy at long distance if you can get an angle on one.
I never tried the anti-tank rifle because I thought I would need to add penetration to it and I just didn't want to waste those turns, is it that good out of the box? (I've basically A ranked everything but the last story chapter and those super skirmishes)
I almost always try to shoot a radiator (even with a Lancer or the Hafen). So the AT rifle's accuracy and range are handy at long distance if you can get an angle on one.
One downside is that it's easier to get lancerd around behind a tank because of their superior defense. Although the AT rifle can also be used against gun emplacements I think (but mortars already wreck those hard).
Generally I'd have a Scout Leader tow the AT Sniper around somewhere safe, so they're not getting close enough to be shot. As long as they can see the radiators, they can hit them.
Though the most fun way to blow up tanks is to assign a Lancer as a Leader and team up with two other Lancers, so that you fire three rockets at once.
I use Lancers so sparingly I didn't realize that they could team attack. :redface: Was this something they added in 4? I don't remember that in 1 (but its been awhile, and I didn't use lancers much then either).
The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it. ~ Terry Pratchett
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HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
Tanks can team attack too. I was pleased as shit to discover that.
Heh, the more you know! I think I was so conditioned to never use the tank from 1 (it cost two moves to use, iirc), that I kept trying to find other solutions to everything that didn't involve using the tank.
The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it. ~ Terry Pratchett
In VC1, the only non-standard weapons worth using were the ones from the DLC maps, and that was only because they were broken. The gimmick behind the enemy weapons was higher power with lower range and accuracy, but the trade-off was always garbage. The DLC versions cranked the power though and finally made it worth it, to the point you could kill crouching enemies in one round and even tank radiators without the proper orders.
Anti tank sniper rifles are neat, and sometimes you can get snipers behind tanks and just destroy them. Otherwise they're really just a bog standard lancer attack with accuracy. Attacking tanks head on is pretty wasteful, and you're almost always better off going around back for the radiator, and lancers are usually just better at doing that.
The one really interesting weapon in 4 is the 3 shot sniper rifle. The stats make it kind of confusing what it actually does. But it simply fires three times every combat round instead of once, and they can attack three times total before needed to reload. It's really good for interception fire because they'll shoot three times before pausing to reload. The big downsides though is that they're really weak. There's not much advantage to killing an enemy with 2-3 consecutive headshots when they'd be dead in 1 from a higher powered rifle. And even with the extra shots their interception fire is pretty darn poor.
And yeah, every class can team attack now. That's how I beat the last boss the first time, by getting lancers together so they could destroy turrets and stuff with just 1CP. Just keep in mind that team attacks still use up ammo. Been a few times where I've attacked while next to a sniper, and they decide to join in but I'm like "Please don't, you contribute nothing and are just wasting your shots".
"The sausage of Green Earth explodes with flavor like the cannon of culinary delight."
Posts
But I got lucky right at the start. RNGesus blessed me and Riley took the boss out in two attacks, direct hits on the engine. So the other tanks got swept fast and I was able to send the Hafen in along the south side of the battle field along with Riley and another mortar op to do most of the heavy lifting on saving Raz. Who is a fucking idiot, by the way.
I wanted to try and be more of a badass and take two other enemy camps but the rescue effort was eating all my CP and attention. At the very least I had the APC setup to gun down a never-ending wave of Shocktroopers from one of the camps. It was kind of hilarious and bad.
... But Galia was invaded in March of that same year. The fuck?
3DS: 0473-8507-2652
Switch: SW-5185-4991-5118
PSN: AbEntropy
I just hit chapter 7. A feature I'm digging in this game is the "Squad Stories" stuff.
Also I'm using individual equipment options for the first time ever. In VC1 all my characters in each class would have the same loadout. It's nearly the same in VC4 except for the Grenadiers. Riley is equipped with the anti-tank rounds, and my other is equipped with anti-infantry. I'm very rarely using Lancers and most of the time I've tried deploying them (or been forced to) they do nothing in combat.
But others can also be good at that job in a pinch so it's usually better to fill that space with someone else.
I usually only call in Lancers at camps when I know there's going to be a tank to blow up and the Hafen can't reach them. Other times where there's an unexpected tank I'll spend points on turning Raz into a tank murderer and let him go on a spree.
I only just finished Chapter 4 though, so maybe things'll change.
No, really! Any mission that you have to hold your camp, a Lancer is tough enough to take a turn of fire from a Shocktrooper or Scout, and basically immune to grenades and mortars. They're great for meeting the legal requirement of being a person.
(Also, plopping one in the Cactus so that you have an AT option with it isn't the worst.)
//
A quick word on the last DLC: The Two Valkyria. It consists of two missions, both of which take place on the map from Chapter 4.1, but neither of which really take advantage of it an interesting way. In both missions you get some Imp grunts and a Valkyria (Cyrmaria and Selvaria, from the first game) and have to defeat the other while not losing your base. They're very simple to play, with the Valkyria being tough enough to ignore the opponent's fodder and just chase the opposing Valkyria. The Valkyria have super-weapons and cost two CP to use, but... the missions themselves are extremely blah. While I haven't tried it yet, using Crymaria and Selvaria in the post-game skirmishes might be fun. (I guess you also get swimsuit options? And access to Nikola and Chiara.)
So... final verdicts on DLC:
Squad E, To The Beach! 6.99 // A little pricey, and a lot pervy, but it's the only DLC that gives you a new map to play with two fun scenarios.
A Captainless Squad 4.99 // For a fair price made use of a lot of characters I had neglected. Missions are well done, though repetitive of main game.
Expert Level Skirmishes 4.99 // Didn't buy.
The Two Valkyria 4.99 // Disappointing missions, and a bit pervy. Getting to use the Valkyria might be fun in other missions.
Edy's Advance Ops 3.99 // A cute, fun little mission for the early game. Allows you to recruit Edy. Not bad.
A United Front With Squad 7 5.99 // Three fun missions that let you recruit the core cast of the first game. Not bad.
Edit: Forgot two points. One, it's criminal that The Two Valkyria doesn't also include Klaus in a speedo. And two, the best DLC of course remains the entire first game, which is a $19.99 download, with a further discount if you already have VC4 digitally.
Also VC4 is substantially more difficult than VC1 was, for sure. I mean if you know how to fuck around with the combat system it's not THAT hard, but still. It took me 10 turns to complete one mission just now.
Edit - Mischief Makers my favorite squad story so far. Also just unlocked my first elite class; Snipers being able to do intercept fire is pretty great.
And being able to return fire doesn't do much when they're so squishy.
I feel like 4 made mortar lances more viable. If it gave some extra move I'd use them a lot - lancer toughness and they blow away enemies in cover or groups from a healthy range. But as usual scouts are faster and get rifle grenades to get 80% of the damage anyways.
Elite scouts are still pretty silly, even if nobody hits Alicia tier OP (much less Emilia in VC2 and her "fuck mechanics cut boss in half" hacks).
3DS: 0473-8507-2652
Switch: SW-5185-4991-5118
PSN: AbEntropy
Riley is still a freaking monster in my team with the anti-tank mortars. I'm actually making more of an effort to rotate squad members in and out of play too. When I get their squad stories done I give other people a chance to see how they play out. So far the alcoholic had ONE moment where she said "fuck it, too drunk to do anything this turn" which cracked me up until she got incapacitated.
Single shot rifles, yeah. And when it does fire, they often miss. The three shot rifle is better for that.
I realize the usefulness of this, but
Also, on the (I think) last chapter 17, spoilers:
Working on the first Chapter 17 battle currently. Man, is it a doozy.
Minerva best girl, Minerva never gets hit, classy dodging.
Ch 17 tip:
3DS: 0473-8507-2652
Switch: SW-5185-4991-5118
PSN: AbEntropy
Yeah, just finished the first Ch. 17 battle:
Turn two, wasted 2 moves trying to use the grenadier to kill the tank (just needed one hit!) but missed both times. Then took my 2 shocktrooper team in the APC to base in the east took that. Got 3 moves and I suddenly realize I only need the northwest base. Use the sewer to get up there, and then try to use my grenadier (again a mistake) and he gets himself bombarded to kingdom come. Shocktrooper doesn't have enough movement to capture, so I think I'm hosed.
But after my turn two, the enemy doesn't seem all that interested in doing anything but either killing my peeps or bumrushing the base. They kill a couple of my peeps, but just leave them lying there, and waste most of their moves trying to move lancers and grenadiers closer to the base camp. On turn 3, I use my first 2 moves to just use my shocktrooper and take the last base after flamethrowering the defenders.
Pretty silly.
Also, just a comment about squad stories (with big Ch. 16 spoilers):
(By sending Zaiga on the suicide mission I don't think you'll be able to access it until you're in the post game.)
Also, an addendum to my thoughts on the DLC The Two Valkyria. I decided to try out the characters in a more interesting mission, and I have to say they are better when they're not just chasing each other around. Selvaria's lance being able to fire through multiple targets is a lot of fun when you manage to line stuff up, and both her and Crymaria lay down some crazy intercepting fire. Nikola and Chiara offer interesting variations on Scouts.
The latter two have alright swimsuit uniforms. Bikini bottom, giant ammo clips on the thighs, long flowing scarf. Crymaria's is actually really nice, although the bikini shows off how wonky her proportions are. But added to that is... I don't know how to describe it... a bum cape? The back half of a dress? Anyway, a bunch of flowy fabric that, combined with all her hair and a big floppy hat give her a fashion-runway-impractical-cool look. Bonus points for the hat being reminiscent of a witch's, and for her staff being replaced with a glowing beach umbrella.
Selvaria though: ugh. It's not even pretending to be swimwear related, it's just straight up a stripper costume. Heels, thigh-high fishnets, a micro skirt, and a top that she's falling out of. Like, I get that the point of the anime-beach-type-things is to appeal to thirteen year old boys, but at least keep on theme damnit.
(And give me swimsuit Klaus!)
Although I did screw up the bridge mission in part because it turns out snipers in VC1 SUCK ASS AND CANT HIT A DAMN THING
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
Wait, I know its been a long time, but I coulda sworn the only class in that game was scouts.
Rest assured that at lv20, whatever Marina aims at, Marina hits.
...Unless the asshole ducks that is, but that ain't her fault now is it.
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
The only ones I'm switching up are the mortars (Riley gets the anti-personnel one, and Other Grenadier gets the anti-armor one).
I've also had a few occasions where I've just taken a long distance shot with a lancer because they weren't going to get to really shoot at anyone this turn.
I've hit a tank radiator from halfway across the map, and headshotted a sniper in a tower.
The accuracy sniper, I switched later on to the three shot option for everyone but you will need an accuracy/range sniper rifle option to make Chapter 10 bearable. I know there's a range/aim item boost around that area you could have gotten.
Plus one. My Scouts and Engineers get the increased shots, Shocktroopers whatever has the greatest range (for intercepting fire - I almost always actively use the Flamethrower). Grenadiers I have Riley with Anti-Infantry and Jascha with Anti-Tank (his accuracy boost is good for targeting radiators).
Snipers I mix it up. Kai gets the triple shot, as she's often in the action so the range trade-off isn't an issue, and it's the best at intercepting fire. Then I keep Mabel with a long range accurate rifle and Leonhardt with an A-Rank rewarded Anti-Tank rifle in reserves to call upon as needed.
On that subject though (early boss question):
In the end I just mass tank/mortared him to death before he could order his troops to murder me too much.
About the tank boss:
I'd really love an order to increase accuracy, even if it was really expensive. There are plenty of times where I'd spend 3CP on knowing that a shot would hit exactly on the X.
I almost always try to shoot a radiator (even with a Lancer or the Hafen). So the AT rifle's accuracy and range are handy at long distance if you can get an angle on one.
One downside is that it's easier to get lancerd around behind a tank because of their superior defense. Although the AT rifle can also be used against gun emplacements I think (but mortars already wreck those hard).
3DS: 0473-8507-2652
Switch: SW-5185-4991-5118
PSN: AbEntropy
Though the most fun way to blow up tanks is to assign a Lancer as a Leader and team up with two other Lancers, so that you fire three rockets at once.
They only use their machine guns, but yeah. It's a healthy chunk of free damage.
3DS: 0473-8507-2652
Switch: SW-5185-4991-5118
PSN: AbEntropy
Anti tank sniper rifles are neat, and sometimes you can get snipers behind tanks and just destroy them. Otherwise they're really just a bog standard lancer attack with accuracy. Attacking tanks head on is pretty wasteful, and you're almost always better off going around back for the radiator, and lancers are usually just better at doing that.
The one really interesting weapon in 4 is the 3 shot sniper rifle. The stats make it kind of confusing what it actually does. But it simply fires three times every combat round instead of once, and they can attack three times total before needed to reload. It's really good for interception fire because they'll shoot three times before pausing to reload. The big downsides though is that they're really weak. There's not much advantage to killing an enemy with 2-3 consecutive headshots when they'd be dead in 1 from a higher powered rifle. And even with the extra shots their interception fire is pretty darn poor.
And yeah, every class can team attack now. That's how I beat the last boss the first time, by getting lancers together so they could destroy turrets and stuff with just 1CP. Just keep in mind that team attacks still use up ammo. Been a few times where I've attacked while next to a sniper, and they decide to join in but I'm like "Please don't, you contribute nothing and are just wasting your shots".