frank_walls

I think it could be done with a modified throwing area and it wouldn't be game breaking. Really though, once flashbangs are fixed it may not be much of an issue. Not being able to suppress the aliens waiting on the other aide of the door is annoying. I've compensated by just having 3 shield guys do the entry now. They run in and throw grenades, then my laser carbines come in behind them. It works pretty good, but it gets kind of repetitive after awhile.

I agree. One of the most common tactics you see when assaulting something with rooms and doors is a soldier standing next to the door and tossing the grenade through the door exposing only his arm for a brief second. this should be allowed in the game as well, or you should be able to move to the door, throw without getting shot, and then step back.

That's a good point Jaran. I always felt the game balance/difficulty should have a curve to it. On Normal setting the first few missions should be fairly easy to get you used to the game. Once you start researching laser and plasma technology the difficulty should increase because the aliens are like, "Okay, these guys mean business!" Then once you get MAG weapons and all the superior aircraft you should be on equal footing with the aliens. To balance it out you might see more terror missions and larger groups of aliens as they get more desperate in their attempt to take over earth.

I've had caesans reaction fire and fire on their turn from 3 to 8 spaces out of my FOV, and it's not because there's one closer that sees me. They also take 2-3 shots when reacting. There's definitely something off their reaction. Their aim is pretty bad, but the amount of shots they fire make up for it.

I've noticed this quite a few times. I had a commander that would panic, berserk, and runaway on occasion. One time he went berserk and shot the private in front of him. Not a very good leader!

Don't know if it's possible, but it would be nice to get a cover bonus when you were behind a corner, but still be able to shoot. That's a pretty common tactic to use corners for cover, but still squeeze off a shot.

So I just started a new game on normal with the version-6, and I would say it's unplayable (as in not fun). 1st UFO mission with a scout and I lost 4 out of 8 of my guys (I just quit after the 4th). 1 alien reaction fired my guy before I saw him, then when I ran another guy over to see where he was the alien fired 4 MORE reaction shots that luckily missed. Another alien shot a guy that was crouched outside a window looking in. I made it to the UFO, opened the door and threw in a flashbang. No one was suppressed, then the 3 aliens reaction fired 1 guy to death. My other guy, a CPL with 72 TU fired a shotgun round from the door, then the aliens reaction fired him to death. ESC>QUIT>EXIT.

I completely agree. If you you're going to make everything appear real, model it all after real items and weapons, then make it play as real as possible. I never bought that other XCom game, because it wasn't XCom. I purchased this because it was exactly what I was looking for. I don't think too many people purchase strategy games like this looking for an arcade-like experience.

I agree. A major role for an MG is to provide covering and suppressive fire.

Not sure if the newest update changed things yet. But I'll get you that saved file when I get home from work later. It could definitely be the numbers, and I usually have 12 guys in my base. It just happens that I finished a mission and lost a few guys, my planes are all damaged from taking down a massive UFO, and I don't have enough time to hire new soldiers. I've basically been put into check by the game and I haven't figured a way out yet without losing my base or almost all of soldiers.

Ah. That makes sense. Especially since there's a room full of 8 aliens!

Wraiths & Ceasans. Yea, I've tried flanking, smoke (helps a little), flashbangs, rocket and grenade spam, barging in, and camping. All except 1 of my guys has good equipment too. It's all plasmas, a couple of lasers, and wolf armor. I'm not trying to make it through with no casualties, but I'm losing over 1\2 my guys - many of which are good soldiers. Losing so many good well trained guys at this point means I'll have nothing but rookies left that will get slaughtered unless I grind scouts for awhile. At which point I have to hope there are no terror missions, etc.

Sorry to change the subject, but I'm finding some frustrating behavior in an attack on my base. My weapons are creating very little suppression while a large % of alien shots are suppressing my men. Including snap shots. Also, the aliens reaction fire is extremely high and mine is very low to almost non-existent. I'd say 50-75% of the aliens manage to squeeze off 2 reactions shots. What's happening is I'm positioning my guys behind cover around a door, I open the door, and toss a grenade. 2 to 3 aliens are getting 2 snap shots at my guys after that. This destroys their cover, suppresses them, and wounds them. Is there something off with that part of the game or am I just sucking that bad? I have some pretty experienced guys in there also - a Commander, a Major, 2 Captains, a Sergeant, 2 Corporals, and 2 Privates. EDIT: Attempt 5. Everyone died. Rockets don't help because they take a full turn to reload. Grenades help a little, but can't go very far and can only be thrown over beds. My guys are constantly suppressed and can barely move. Can't reload because that takes a turn and then the aliens run up and shoot my guys before the next turn. I'm trying once more then I may have to start over. EDIT: Attempt 6. Gave up after 7 out of 9 guys died, including my Commander and Major. Seriously not fun. I gotta say, if my one Commander could move AND shoot in the same turn it would make a huge difference. Also, please fix the corner exploit for aliens. I lose so many guys from getting shot by aliens through corners. Either make it so I can shoot through corners too, or make it so they can't. So I feel like everything is balanced with my guys now - they all suck equally regardless of rank.

I find the aliens are always doing things my guys can't do. Such as running up to FOV with my guys, snapping off a shot that hits my guy, and then running back behind cover. Hardly any of my guys can do that. I'm stuck at a point where my base gets invaded because my planes are beat up and I can't take down the alien ship. Anyway, I've tried 3 times to defend my base with the 9 guys in it and the aliens are slaughtering me! I have all 9 guys taking on each breach one at a time. There's 3 breaches, and by the time I get to the 3rd I'm down to 4 guys if I'm lucky. The most frustrating issue is the reaction fire. In order to move the game along I usually have 1/2 to 2/3 of my guys maneuvering into a better fire position or get close enough to throw grenades. The problem I see is that aliens hardly move, and just kind of camp there and pick off my guys with reaction fire. My weapons don't seem to have much suppression power, where as the aliens almost always suppress my guys with bursts from their rifles. The only thing that seems to work is to either camp there and wait for aliens to wander into my guys FOV and hope they get them through reaction fire, or just spam them with rockets or grenades. However, grenades don't work well because throwing them indoors over obstacles like 4 foot tall crates is impossible. So I guess I'll just load up on rockets.

I don't mind the rocket launcher taking a full turn to reload. The process of removing the rocket from your pack and loading it seems like it would take some time.

Actually I think you're right. I'm on the latest patch now, but I wasn't when I was using the MG a few days ago. My guys have had laser weapons and now plasmas since early this past weekend. I'll throw in an MG guy tonight and see how he does.

Well, the MG was better at killing with on the first attack if it hit. I had my highest ranking (and also the strongest) carrying the MG. When camped in a good spot he was pretty deadly with the MG. However, the gun is worthless inside a ship or building. So I have that guy carrying lots of grenades - of course he can't throw them over anything now. The AR is average at killing. I get a lot of misses with that one, even at close range. I had 7 guys all take shots at an alien camped in the cargo bay of a carrier and they couldn't kill him. 3 high ranking soldiers were camped at the main door, and 4 were at a side door. I couldn't believe everyone of them missed. I had a Captain walk in and stand 2 squares from the alien and fire a normal shot and miss with the plasma rifle! Ugh, I wish I could recruit some Navy Seals.

So at this point I'm getting farther into the game, and think that most stuff is balancing very well. I don't use the MG anymore because I have plasma weapons. It worked ok until I had better weapons, but that was with 50 rounds per clip. Also, when I think back 5 our 10 bullets hitting was the exception, 2-3 was the norm. Grenades are annoying! I was attacking a carrier bridge and couldn't throw any grenades from the bridge while my guys were behind cover. I had one guy, a commander, crouched behind a 1 block tall table thing with a 2 block tall computer object next to it and he couldn't throw anything over them. There was an alien 4 squares in front of him and he couldn't t do it. That would be like me hiding behind my couch while my friend hides behind the chair on the other side of my living room, and I can't throw anything from behind the couch. Kind of frustrating. I shouldn't have to stand out in the open to throw grenade!

Agreed. I'm just grinding ships now to build marauders.

I like it when they explode right away as long as you can throw them over things properly. Recently I've noticed my guys can't throw them over objects they're crouching behind. You should be able to lob a grenade over an object that's only one block high. That's the whole point! Hiding in close range of an enemy and throwing it over their cover to blast them out. Imagine though if aliens could react and run away from the grenade before it blew up! I do wish you could throw them a little farther though. An average soldier can throw a grenade 40 meters with a full throw. If 1 grid square = about 5ft then you should be able to throw a grenade at least 15 to 20 squares. Could there be a different amount of TU's used for the varying distance? You should be able to quickly (15 TU) lob a grenade through a door, but take longer (30-40)to get a full throw with good distance. As far as damage goes, the M67 has a kill radius of about 15 feet and a wounding radius of almost 50 feet. Anything not heavily armored should be killed in that 15 foot zone.

I would argue that you can have fun and interesting, and realistic. Also, breaking too far away from reality in a game where everything is modeled after realistic items is not fun and interesting. For the MG it should depend on the style that is pictured. The one in the picture looks like an MG42 or similar type of weapon. In that case it should have a high rate of fire and ammo capacity since it is pictured with a belt feed for ammo. A 50 round magazine that fires 10 rounds per shot with high suppression makes sense. I like the way it fires now, and the ammo capacity. I also don't think it is OP right now. Half of those 10 shots miss unless I'm lucky, and I need to keep my soldier camped somewhere. Also, once I get to Laser weapons I never use it anymore. With a 20 round capacity I'll probably just switch my MG guy to a Rocketeer. 4 Rockets with a guaranteed kill over 4 bursts from an MG that might miss is much better.

Yea, I saw this on a terror mission with Androns. Luckily they weren't very accurate, but they were getting 2 sometimes 3 reaction shots per guy. Which, when coupled with not being able to move and shoot makes it somewhat difficult to maneuver into position.

I'm still finding the ability for my guys to move and shoot limited. I have a Captain with 73 TU and he just sits in the back with a scatter laser because I don't want him to die in the front. It makes it tough maneuvering inside buildings, UFO's, and bases when my guys aren't able to run into a room and shoot aliens. Well, they can shoot, but they almost always miss and then are left hanging there. I've got guys 65-70 accuracy that can't hit something 10 feet in front of them! It's unfortunate the only way I've been able to clear a base without losing 75-90% of my team is to just throw grenades everywhere. I wish I had a guy skilled enough to run into the room and spray bullets, then take cover somewhere. I'm also getting frustrated that I can't equip most of my Privates with Jackal armor, a laser rifle, and an extra clip without getting a weight penalty.

Except desert missions, or areas with accessable cover. Can you increase the area of the drop zone? That would truly give an advantage to building one.