Geoscape Balance - V21 Stable (Hotfix)

[Chris]

This is the post where you should discuss your thoughts on the Geoscape (strategic) balance of the game in V21 Stable. As this is a Stable build, I'm not going to post the changelog - please just post your comments in general, rather than those on the changes since the last Experimental version.

[Max_Caine]

I personally think the electroshock grenade should be a manufacturable item. The reason I think this is that the electroshock grenade is a great replacement for the stun grenade and the flashbang, and it's also a reasonable replacement of the standard grenade for reasons of artifact recovery. Because the electroshock grenade arguably is better two classes of grenade, I think the electroshock should be manufacturable so the stun/flashbang grenades are viable alternatives to the jack-of-all-trades weapon the electroshock is.

[Ol' Stinky]

Only if ES are meant to be on the same level as flashbangs. I see ES as the replacement for FBs, so have ESs replace FBs when the research is complete, the same way alenium grenades replace common frags.

[Max_Caine]

The thing is, the ES is great at stunning without leaving a gaseous aftertaste, takes care of troublesome robot pests, explodes on impact... it beats as it sweeps as it cleans. I don't need stun gas or FBs after getting the ES, and while you have to work hard to get the electroshock grenade, I think it'd be better off as a manufacturable item verses the free FBs and stuns.

[ventuswings]

It was one of the reason why I was fine with end of turn explosion for ES as well, but making them be manufactured is fine as well.

[Ol' Stinky]

It was one of the reason why I was fine with end of turn explosion for ES as well, but making them be manufactured is fine as well.

End of turn explosion made the massive amount of suppression pretty pointless, except as a way to accidently suppress your own guys. I used flashbangs and stun gas instead back when ES was end-of-turn.

I'd rather have ES stun damage lowered than end-of-turn put back in. Less stun damage means that ES doesn't eclipse both stun gas and frag-type grenades. ES also got a buff in the removal of spash damage dropoff, which might be affecting its numbers.

I don't know how I'd feel about them becoming manufactured items. My first thought is that if we make some grenades have a finite supply, why not others? It's not immediately obvious that frag grenades will destroy equipment, and that mechanic's in there to stop people hurling grenades at everything behind cover, all the time. We don't use the workshop at the very start of the game anyway, so one of the tutorials can be to used the workshop to produce frag grenades. Fluff wise, say that these particular grenades are an experimental type and so are in limited supply.

Edit: I think the old bug I mentioned didn't affect stun gas, actually, so I edited that out.

Edited March 21, 2014 by Ol' Stinky

[lemm]

Gotten up to battleships on veteran; Geoscape seems well balanced.

Ship speeds are great; Alenium and Alien Alloy amounts seem good

Edited March 24, 2014 by lemm

[Top Doge]

Honestly I think auto resolve is ridiculous considering you can win a fight against a cruiser and two fighters with condors that are running plasma weapons and have 2 seconds combat time.

Another thing is it feels like you get to a point where you had small UFOs and then all of a sudden you see 3 mediums appear every other day in the same airspace which is really kind of annoying, it's either you get no ufos or 10 at once.(not really that big of a problem but just a bit annoying at times)

Edited March 25, 2014 by Top Doge

[StellarRat]

There supposed to come in waves not scattered throughout the month.

[Aaron]

There's a new experimental build out (v22.1) but there are no significant balance changes for the Geoscape in it, so just keep using this thread.

[Jimmiusmaximus]

‎

Edited March 3, 2021 by Jimmiusmaximus

[Irishguy117]

I'd really love some kind of wave "UFO detected" screen. Getting five or six pop ups of UFO detected one after another is a bit irritating. Its a minor gripe but since aliens are intended to arrive in waves it seems like the UI should acknowledge that somehow if multiple UFOs are detected simultaneously.

[Max_Caine]

On Medals

There has been discussion on several about how soliders are "defenceless" verses psychic powers, and (correct me if I'm wrong) I remember, bravery is supposed to be the resistance stat to psychic power. Well, you can't "train" bravery except under two conditions. 1) when one of your soliders freak out. 2) When you get a medal. It's far more likely that a solider will get a medal than he will freak out, seeing as how psychic powers are limited to 2 races, and you don't even experience psychic powers until corvettes. Therefore, unless the player delberately makes his soliders freak out medals become the most likely progression path for soliders to "train" bravery. With that in mind, could the bravery stat boosts from medals be increased? While some medals offer a +3 or a +2, most only offer a +1. You can get around, what.. 15 bravery from medals? That doesn't seem fair, in relation to the way bravery levels up.

[Irishguy117]

On Medals

There has been discussion on several about how soliders are "defenceless" verses psychic powers, and (correct me if I'm wrong) I remember, bravery is supposed to be the resistance stat to psychic power. Well, you can't "train" bravery except under two conditions. 1) when one of your soliders freak out. 2) When you get a medal. It's far more likely that a solider will get a medal than he will freak out, seeing as how psychic powers are limited to 2 races, and you don't even experience psychic powers until corvettes. Therefore, unless the player delberately makes his soliders freak out medals become the most likely progression path for soliders to "train" bravery. With that in mind, could the bravery stat boosts from medals be increased? While some medals offer a +3 or a +2, most only offer a +1. You can get around, what.. 15 bravery from medals? That doesn't seem fair, in relation to the way bravery levels up.

None of my soldiers has successfully resisted being mind controlled or Dread...ed. Even troopers with bravery stat in the 60s or 70s seemingly put up no resistance to it. It feels like a problem when the morale stat on the UI is saying 99+ but no one is resisting the effects. Its an incredibly frustrating way to lose people. If I lose a guy in combat its bad luck or I fucked up, but right now psyonics feels less like a game mechanic and more like an angry GM who is tired of putting up with your bullshit. I'd really like for psyonics to either become less effective or for capturing a praetor to unlock some kind of enhanced resistance research, just so I feel like I'm back in control again.

[Gorzahg]

Could aerial terror attacks be not so far away. Please.

And on the bravery problem, bravery could be increased on a level up like health is.