XCOM 2

[Nappi]

It seems that I only have a couple of Shadow Chamber projects, and the two final missions left. Comments I have read here and there make the final mission sound quite brutal, and I feel like I should do some grinding before tackling that one. At the very least, I should start paying more attention to ammo and grenades. I should probably also train a second Psi operative.

 

I just realized that my ship is full of corpses I could be selling for a lot of intel in the black market. Has anyone found a handy list of which items or research projects require which corpses? Also, is assigning an experimental grenade project and hope for the best the only way to get, say, acid grenades? Typical work day for a proving grounds engineer must be fascinating.

[Gaizokubanou]

Pretty sure you get supplies, not intel from selling stuff on black market (it costs intel for you to buy)

 

Only thing to note is faceless for mimic beacon.  Everything else that's worth noting are experimental ammo and grenade projects so you want to churn those out constantly since it is the most time consuming unless you have good continental bonus.

 

The deal with final mission is that the very last part can turn into an endurance match unlike anything that you have seen before.  So your ability to have extreme alpha strike capability to wipe out alien pods before they get to shoot gets more and more difficult cause you can't rely on powerful consumables like grenades to last.

 

Farm at least 2 psi ops.  More the merrier.  Bring 2 that can shred (either from AWC or 2 grenadiers).  You want superior perception on as many soldiers as possible.  Idea is to break the game via perception+scope+tracer for whooping 21+15+10=46% aim bonus.

 

Practically speaking, it's hard to reliably get 4 tracer rounds in timely manner so you are probably looking at 2 blue screen, 2 tracer and 2 warsuits with either shred storm or blaster(the guided missile)... only bother with warsuit if you can 2 of those cause other heavy weapons suck compared to bluescreen rounds.

[Nappi]

Thanks for the tips.

 

Yeah, supplies makes more sense. I have barely used the black market at all and only just remembered that I could sell that stuff.

 

I think experimental ammo and grenades are instantaneous for me, but I might be running low on Elerium cores. Training the other psi operative will take a lot of time, though. Well, at least the Avatar project progress will not be a problem for a while as the counter in now less than half filled.

[Sorbicol]

Yeah corpses and equipment are sold for supplies not Intel (understandably, but unfortunately!)

As for the final mission - without wanting to spoil it it's worth trying to save your heavy weapons for the bit at the end. You'll be fine with just one psi trooper, just make sure they've got domination, void rift and solace. They'll need them. Solace works on the trooper too, so if someone attempts to mind controll them it won't work. Handy to know. It's also worth having someone with squad sight as its a big map and sometimes half the problem is getting close enough to target your objective.

That's probably as much as can be said without massive spoilers. If you have a specialist with haywire and a very high hack skill (I.e they've picked up a few of those 'raise hack skill by 20' options) then that'll help enormously too. A lot of times that mission all you are trying to do is give the aliens something to target that isn't your squad.

Edit: Proving ground results for experimental ammo, grenades and heavy weapons are randomised. This play through I've had 3 AP rounds, 1 talon and 1 venom (which I lost) I'm too fed up now to be bothered getting any more!

Edit edit: if you look on the steam community page for XCOM 2 a very nice chap has made an excel spreadsheet listing out what corpse are used for and what can be sold (after they've been researched) I think there are only about 3 corpse types that are reusable. So mostly, just sell them. Worthing noting that in the later stages of the game you won't need all the alloys and crystals you get either. Those can be sold for a lot of money if you need cash fast.

[Bjorn]

Also, the black market has 2-3 items that are worth extra supplies every month.  Unless I'm in dire need of supplies, I generally hold onto everything and wait to see what is getting the bonus every month. 

 

Also, in my first playthrough I ended up incredibly flush with Intel thanks to focusing on skullmining.  In a pinch, you can always buy stuff for Intel from the black market and sell it back to them for supplies. 

[thefncrow]

Thanks for the tips.

 

Yeah, supplies makes more sense. I have barely used the black market at all and only just remembered that I could sell that stuff.

 

I think experimental ammo and grenades are instantaneous for me, but I might be running low on Elerium cores. Training the other psi operative will take a lot of time, though. Well, at least the Avatar project progress will not be a problem for a while as the counter in now less than half filled.

 

Depending on what you've done or not so far, you may have seen a Shadow Chamber research project that you cannot quite yet do.  Let me suggest to you that if you need to grind up a 2nd Psi soldier, you should refrain from doing that research until you are ready. 

 

(Completing that research project is essentially a point of no return.  The game gives you a point of no return warning when you go to do the mission it opens up, but the real point is really before you've unlocked that mission.  You can continue to do development after it, but there's a change that makes doing that less viable.)

[Nappi]

Ok, I guess that would be The Avatar Autopsy? I already started researching the Psionic Gate, and would probably have researched that one as well just to get it out of the way, so thanks for the heads up.

[thefncrow]

That's the one.

[Gaizokubanou]

Depending on what you've done or not so far, you may have seen a Shadow Chamber research project that you cannot quite yet do.  Let me suggest to you that if you need to grind up a 2nd Psi soldier, you should refrain from doing that research until you are ready. 

 

(Completing that research project is essentially a point of no return.  The game gives you a point of no return warning when you go to do the mission it opens up, but the real point is really before you've unlocked that mission.  You can continue to do development after it, but there's a change that makes doing that less viable.)

 

I don't think this is correct?  I continued farming up after all research is done.  You can safely ignore the point of no return mission.

 

I'm talking about the research that starts the cutscene where spokesman possibly dies.  You can see that video and still just play the game as normal while ignoring the point of no return mission.

[thefncrow]

I don't think this is correct?  I continued farming up after all research is done.  You can safely ignore the point of no return mission.

 

I'm talking about the research that starts the cutscene where spokesman possibly dies.  You can see that video and still just play the game as normal while ignoring the point of no return mission.

 

My experience with that was that once I completed the research and got the cutscene you refer to, Avatar progress sped up considerably.  Maybe it was just awkward timing, but after that cutscene, the Avatar project jumped up 3 blocks within a week and a half.  It was enough that it made me take a hard look and decide I didn't really have time for any significant further research, and I rolled on into the ending.

[Sorbicol]

I've just had my Arse handed to me in the final mission on an ironman play through thanks to having no idea just what the range of the sectopod mega cannon is. 'What's it firing it over there for?' I wondered "It's nowhere near my flanking troops".

Cue my 3 flanking troops getting eveserated. It could really do a better job of explaining the range of that weapon.

[Mawd]

I've been enjoying the game a lot lately but I've felt a bit frustrated with things like judging enemy line of sight or the way the camera can sometimes freeze on your last move during the entirety of the enemy turn or how reaction shots sometimes bug out by only playing the audio and freezing the victim in place for the correct animation length.

Small things mostly.

Anyway I've been having tonnes of fun the rest of the time and I came across this article of mods/quality of life changes that you peeps might appreciate.

 

PCGamesN's Best XCOM 2 mods

[Dewar]

*sigh* I I thought I was doing good in this game, but I took a break for a few weeks and I guess that means I just lost any skill I had accumulated. I quit out last night figuring I was just doing bad because I was tired, but I did similarly bad today in another mission and I guess I'm starting over again.

 

At least this time I can blame two badly explained mechanics for my second failure. In all my plays I've never had a mission that required me to destroy a target that I couldn't just walk up to and destroy, so I just didn't have the firepower necessary to take down the beacon in time. Second, a hack that gives you disorientation for two turns actually means disorientation for one turn apparently

 

Edit: I guess I'm going to have to swallow my pride and play on Rookie so I can at least see the game.

[Sorbicol]

Completely and utterly lost my rag with this game tonight. Not only has my first ironman play-through ended in failure due to a bug if you have to restart the final mission (essentially you lose all your armour bonuses and passive Psi abilities if you have to restart) my second attempted campaign has completely crashed and burned thanks to a episode of 3 stun lancers having 3 turns in one move. I went from a full squad in full health to all 5 of them being unconscious in one turn. Oh, and at least 2 instances where the experimental ammo I'd built in the proving grounds didn't materialise in my inventory.

 

I'm remarkably impressed my PC is still in one piece to be honest. I think I might be done with the game now until there has been more serious patching done. 

[Dewar]

 

That's why I'm so hesitant to play in Iron Man mode in these games, even though I try to stick to Ironman rules.

 

On another note, rookie has been ridiculously easy so far. I feel like there needs to be an in-between difficulty.

[Nappi]

I think I will try to complete the game tomorrow, as my second Psi operative now has all the essential skills and as I do not want to mine for more Elerium cores. A couple of questions about the final two missions: Will there be a chance to heal between the two missions? Should I use up all my intel in the black market and on perks for the penultimate mission or will there be new opportunities to spend that stuff after the mission? Will the perks be active for the final mission as well? How are the sniping prospects in the final mission?

 

By the way, a portion of the health bar of a dominated enemy often flashes red at the start of the turn but turns blue again after I move or shoot. Does this have any significance or is it just some glitch? I mostly dominate Andromedon's so I'm not entirely sure if it happens with all enemies.

[thefncrow]

The biggest thing I'll say about the final mission is that snipers are useful, but high ground is very, very scarce and sometimes just not present.  The final map is shockingly flat. 

 

If you've been equipping snipers with Spider Suit over Warden Armor, I'd go with Warden Armor here, because that grapple is not going to be as effective.  If you have the Wraith Suit, then make your decision on that or Warden Armor based on whether you would prefer the dodge abilities and Wraith power or the point of armor.

 

You do not get a chance to heal between missions, but the game lets you deploy wounded soldiers for the final fight, so you can take them with you.  I assume it may incur a minor health penalty, but I didn't notice.

[Bjorn]

The biggest thing I'll say about the final mission is that snipers are useful, but high ground is very, very scarce and sometimes just not present.  The final map is shockingly flat. 

 

In the very end, the grapple is worth its weight in gold, as there are a few high points that are accessible only with it with great views.

[Gaizokubanou]

By the way, a portion of the health bar of a dominated enemy often flashes red at the start of the turn but turns blue again after I move or shoot. Does this have any significance or is it just some glitch? I mostly dominate Andromedon's so I'm not entirely sure if it happens with all enemies.

 

It's a purely graphical glitch that can be reproduced every time you target dominated unit.  Guessing game's having trouble refreshing its UI element when dominated friendly is targeted by yourself.

[Nappi]

For the final mission, I picked a squad of 2 psi operatives, 2 sharpshooters, a grenadier and a specialist. I equipped one of my sharpshooters with superior auto-loader (for 3 free reloads) and the other with superior extended magazine (for +3 ammo), and gave both of them superior repeaters (for 15% chance of instant kill), AP rounds, and Spider suits. This turned out to be an excellent arrangement, as my squad was absolutely devastating. I dealt with most enemy arrangements by softening them with a Void or Dimensional Rift, perhaps a shot or two, and finished them off with Serial shots from my snipers. The last area was pretty brutal, but I managed to execute the first Avatar with my sharpshooter, crit the second one (again a the sharpshooter), and the final one I just shot and Null lanced into oblivion.

 

 

All in all, this game was pretty fantastic. I think I'm most impressed by how well the sense of progress* and threat is balanced.  For example, when I first encountered the stun lancers and Vipers, I thought they were the absolute worst things ever, but after I while, seeing them was a huge relief because it meant that I didn't have to deal with Andromedons or whatever that turn. Still, Vipers, Sectoids, and stun lancers never seized to be a threat altogether, because if you didn't manage to kill them before the end of your turn, they could still fuck up your plans real good. I felt like I was constantly getting more badass, but so were enemies, but not in an annoying rubberbandy** way whereby you wouldn't actually feel more powerful at all.

 

That said, I would probably have had my ass handed to me several times during the campaign had I not relied on save scumming here and there. I mostly used it in dumb, annoying situations, such as, when after a battle you move your last squad member a couple of steps forward to a new cover and you trigger another squad of enemies, or when you miss several high percentage shots in a row. I never rerolled a mission, though, no matter how fucked up situations I found myself in, as I liked approaching firefights as puzzles to be solved. I appreciate that the game was not judgmental about my play style (by e.g. disabling saving during missions), since there is no way I would have finished this game had I played it ironman style, not only because of the difficulty but also because I would have found the experience way too stressful for my tastes.

 

 

* My biggest progress related issue was with early game base building. If you don't pick the correct projects at the beginning, you are going to have wait for those essential Advanced Warfare Center and Guerrilla Tactics School a long time, because you have to excavate, build a power relay, and excavate some more before you are able to build your third workshop. All this with one or two number of engineers. I also wish there was more sense of progress in terms of your overall goal early on. Now you are just looking at the Avatar counter ticking up for a long time.

** By the way, are the new enemy types tied to the calendar or the players progress?

[Dewar]

Yeah, maybe I should give up on not save scumming. It just feels like then there aren't any consequences for anything you do, besides the waste of time having to re-do things.

[parrythrust]

Boy did this thread die off fast.

[Bjorn]

Weirdly enough, I think Stardew Valley of all thinks helped kill it. 

 

 

I'm sure I'll come back to it, but I wasn't finding that my second playthrough had enough differentiation to it to really keep me invested.  I imagine once the DLC packs drop and mods continue to become more robust and refined, it will justify another run or two at it. 

[Nappi]

I got my fill after the first playthrough. I might play it again if they release an Enemy Within type expansion (which, come to think of it, I bought during a Steam sale but never played, oops), but for the moment at least I'm not interested in restarting the campaign, even though I enjoyed it a lot the first time around.

[Sorbicol]

I'm still playing just struggling with a number of game killing bugs. I've got one commander level ironman play through save file, stuck on the final mission after a restart lost me all my armour bonuse and passive psi abilities, and 2 other commander ironman playthroughs that downgraded themselves to veteran half way through (nothing to do with me!)

I am playing a lot of Cities:Skylines though, and I fully expect Stellaris to chew up my gaming time from next month.