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19.6 Gameplay Notes (formerly things I'm using//Not using)


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September

Strategy

Saving Money for additional bases looked to work well in previous builds, so going for that again. By the end of September I have two bases. On the 1st October I started a third base. This leaves no money for equipment or for vehicles.

Bugs

Talyn Majenkov is invisible in soldier screen. Head and hands and portrait images didn’t load. Also affects Battlescape portrait.

Medkits don’t always seem to work? This turned out to only be from one soldier in the first mission. Odd.

Can see grass through floor of UFO when door is opened.

Sebillian suppressed through hull of light scout. Scared by noises on the hull?

New charred damaged ground effect may be preventing sniper fire 0% through it. Desert Map.

Issues

Greece in Middle East (known)

UFO door stays open. Is this on purpose?

It takes 10 days to build a hanger, meaning that you have to wait 6 days or so once Foxtrot is researched. Solution: Add a third hanger to starting base, and deduct cost from starting amount.

First 2 stun grenades stunned 2 Sebillians. I feel it’s better that the stun gas works over time.

Promotion continues to be too fast (known)

Suggestions

When ordered items arrive at base, it would be nice to know which items.

Roles in the Personnel screen would be great.

Having captured listed alongside missions & kills would be nice (particularly considering usage of stun weapons currently)

Knowing what rocket is in the launcher, & being able to easily change it before combat, would be nice.

Things I’m using/ Not using

Shotguns get more use due to lower cost. However, they are relegated steadily once stun grenades come into play.

Stun – A single grenade has taken out most aliens. Both grenades and rockets are immediately very useful. Apart from being over powerful, it’s also due to always meeting the aliens head on, either in the map or in the UFO. There’s not much room for snaking round to use the shotgun or stun baton. Partly it’s the complete wiping out of the aliens when using conventional rockets and grenades. This makes the stun options more appealing. So stun quickly become a key tactic.

Sniper Rifle Fairly useful so far, although I did switch them out for a few missions. This is due to the small light scout maps being more useful for other weapons. Hypervelocity is back in by the looks of it.

C4, Flash Bangs, Vehicles & Smoke Grenades are all not being used, although I’ll probably use smoke in larger maps. Reasons same as before.

Aircraft Cannon Used once in September, which is earlier than usual. Light Scouts seemed a bit tougher this build.

Manufacturing & Stores Remain broken and practically obsolete.

Research Plenty to start with, but became linear towards end of the month, and have now all been completed.

Timeline

1/9 – Europe base

1/9 – built hanger & medical centre

1/9 – ordered 5 scientists

1/9 – started 2nd N America Base. Built radar and 1 hanger

Funds =0

1/9 - UFO 1 – Light Scout – Lands - Ground Mission – Caesians

- breaching is now trickier

Note: Seeing the roles on the Battlescape is very useful.

Note: Used shotgun. Twice!

1/9 -UFO 2 – Light Scout – Ground Combat – Sebillians

Note: Aliens more aggressive when inside UFOs, coming out to attack.

6/9 – UFO 3 – Light Scout - Ground Combat – Sebillians!

Note: Combat shield destroyed by alien fire! 3 Sebillians rush from UFO. Yikes!

6/9 – UFO 4 – Air Combat. Crashes into sea

11/9 – start Foxtrot Construction.

Funds =2k

8/9 – UFO 5 – Light Scout - Ground Combat. Sebillians

11/9 – start alien interrogation research

16/9 – UFO 6 – Light Scout - Ground Combat

22/9 – UFO 9 – Light Scout Ground Mission – 1st of 3 consecutive missions. Caesians

22/9 – UFO 7 - Light Scout Ground Mission. Sebillians

22/9 – UFO 8- - Light Scout Ground Mission. Sebillians

24/9 - build 2nd hanger in N America Base. Tferred Foxtrot to N American Base. Began building 2nd Foxtrot in Europe Base

Funds =4k

25/9 – UFO 10 - Light Scout Ground Mission – Caesians

26/9 – UFO 11 – Air Combat – Crashed at Sea

Note: 2 interceptions and 1 Ground combat have come from 2nd base within 1st month. So helping funding in month 1.

Note: All research dries up on 28th

Funding - September

N America: -7k, S America:-10k, Europe: +15k, C America:0, N Africa:+48k

M East:0, Indochina:0, S Africa:0, Soviet:+1k, Australasia:-7k

Overall: +41k

UFO Summary

Light Scouts: 11 – Ground Combat: 9 Crash at Sea: 2

Edited by thothkins
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I'm finding the higher accuracy makes using shotguns pretty great. I also found that my shotgun guys become grenadiers as soon as stun weapons show up.

I love opening the door and shooting a stun rocket in, then closing it. Muahahahaha! Suck gas, evildoers!

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Regarding stun, what is it that you're finding particularly powerful about it?

In my last game, I was making a lot of use of stun grenades but largely because of the raw damage they do rather than the cloud. A direct hit does ~40 stun damage, which is as good or better than the early direct fire weapons (plus at least some splash damage if you miss) and so I was largely just bombing them with a couple or shooting first to weaken them and finishing them off with the stun grenades.

I can't honestly say I needed to be using the stun grenades; the accuracy buff was sufficient to resolve that. But I was in a situation where I could use them fairly easily because of the raw damage they do and since stunned aliens are worth a few more points, I figured I might as well.

What I'm thinking therefore is that if the immediate damage was reduced or removed entirely, with the main damage being done by the cloud, I would almost certainly stop using them for this purpose. Would this be likely to reduce anyone else's use of them, or do you tend to make use of the cloud more?

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On the light scout missions, the room is tiny and the aliens don't come out for anything. So it turns out that the easiest, safest, and most rewarding thing to do is to smoke them out with stun gas. Have some troops drop their main weapons, pop in, throw a grenade, and get out so the next guy can do the same. The aliens don't move out of the ship, which not only makes them vulnerable to a room full of smoke, they just sit inside while I surround the entrance with troops. I would rather the AI be improved than the stun gas nerfed too much.

Stun grenades might be a bit powerful at the moment, especially combined with flashbangs, but you need to be really close for grenades, which is a pretty good deterrent.

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I get the feeling I've received the stun option a little early. So, accuracy wise, it's more appealing than shooting in a number of circumstances. Previous accuracy issues will only have added to that feeling.

In practice, even on the battlescape, I'm taking out aliens with a single grenade. From a distance I'll use a stun rocket. That way I get the equipment too.

In an earlier build , it would take a couple of rounds for the stun gas to work it's magic. It would also give the alien a chance to get out of it.

Having the grenade range be less has certainly helped. I'm using cover even more than before to edge my way round and use a variety of weapons. So, that was a good switch. But, having adjusted to get close, I use stun grenades/ grenades more than I feel I should.

Bear in mind, that in EU1994, I would use grenades very, very rarely. I have a preference to use the guns where I can.

So, like kabill says, I'd be interested in seeing more impact from the cloud than the initial gas. I'd like to ensure that in an enclosed space, that there's splashback from the walls intensifying that cloud, while it disperses more readily in the battlescape.

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So here's a question. If stun weapons are the go-to item, are stun weapons OP?

YEah they are, ever since you got more points for stunning an alien (which your organization promptly destroys lol). And ask yourself between having stun grenades early in the game along side stun batons, which of the two is overpowered?

Yeah I agree the majority of stun damage should come by exposure after the blast and probably dissipate outdoors faster

Edited by smoitessier
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With the enhanced lethality of the fights due to accuracy increases, I find that I don't "depend" on the aliens missing all the time, but I'm reaching for "kill it before it kills me" solutions more often.

For example, I had a heavily entrenched sectoid that I finally ended up shooting an explosive rocket at. He was too dangerous and the heavy cover he was in prevented me from neutralizing him in a manageable timeframe.

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October

Strategy

Completed the build of the third base. Although I left it for almost two weeks with a single Condor (something I won't do next time). By the month's end, there are three operational bases, each almost with a Foxtrot and 2 Condors (building a new one for the first base). That's a month ahead of the last build. No money for anything else.

Bugs

- CTD returning to Geoscape from mission. Pressing on the Soldier inventory button causes CTD

- Using Alenium missile on farm map, killing a civilian caused CTD

-Aliens continue to shoot out their UFO

- Corvette. Able to see what the aliens are up to in the control room, although the door is closed.

Issues & Suggestions

As per September (except for anything hotfix 2 has taken care of.

Soldiers

The heavy weapons soldiers are pushing into the mid to high 90s in Strength. After 23 missions for some of them, the ranks continue to be jarring.

Things I’m using/ Not using

Not using - Shotguns have gone. Sniper rifles are of limited use in smaller maps (but have come in handy on occasion). Towards second half of month the soldiers had more than enough strength to handle LMGs, so Rifles have now gone.

Normally, with laser weapons just about available, you would look to manufacture some. But with Alenium missiles and grenades turning up first, I've no need to. So the Laser Tier can be skipped. C4, Stun Batons, Flash Bangs, Vehicles & Smoke Grenades not touched.

I used Stores twice to sell some alloys as I needed $10k on both occasions to build Foxtrots. Not touched otherwise. there are three operational bases for the same organisation but there's no interaction between them other than sending a Foxtrot to a new base. Manufacturing used only for 2 Foxtrots in 2 game months.

Stun and Alenium grenades are the most useful items currently, with recently added fire teams of LMGs being effective too. The overkill from Alenium rockets/grenades is something I'm trying to avoid, so it limits Rocketeers a bit. I might just give one of them only stun rockets.

I did use the Aircraft Cannon quite a bit more. I'm not sure if their damage has been increased but they were very useful in finishing off Scouts and Corvettes.

Research was fairly constant in October, with only two days with nothing towards the end. There were a few choices of path, but still a bit linear, in that they would all get done within a few weeks.

Timeline

1/10 – began construction of 3rd base (Indochina)

1/10 – UFO – Caesians Scout – alenium & alien rifle research

1/10 – UFO– Sebillians Light Scout

1/10 – UFO– Air Combat. Light Scout

4/.10 – bought condor for 2nd base

4./10 -Alenium research complete. Alenium explosives starts

4/10 – began 3rd hanger in N America (2nd) base

8/10 – UFO – Landed – Scout Sebillians

9/10 – UFO – Air Combat Light Scout

11/10 – UFO – Light Scout - Sebillian

11/10 – UFO – Air Combat – Scout

9-11/10 - 2 escaped UFOs

16/10 – UFO – Light Scout – Sebillian

17/10 – UFO – Light Scout – Caesian

17/10 – UFO – Scout - Caesian

17/10 – UFO – Scout – Escaped

26/10 – UFO - Light Scout – Landed – Caesian

26/10 – UFO - Light Scout – Sebillian

28/10 – UFO -fighter

28/10 – Research empty

31/10 – UFO – Light Scout – Sebillian

31/10 – UFO – Corvette – Sebillian

UFO Summary

Sep: Light Scouts: 11 – Ground Combat: 9 Crash at Sea: 2

Oct: Light Scout – 7 (+Crashed at Sea – 2); Scout – 3 (+Crashed at Sea – 1); Fighter – 1; Corvette - 1

Funding - October - (September in () )

N America: +48 (-7k), S America:-5 (-10k), Europe: 0 (+15k), C America:+19(0), N Africa:+70(+48k)

M East:+28(0), Indochina:+11(0), S Africa:-5(0), Soviet:+10(+1k), Australasia:0 (-7k)

Overall: +174 (+41k)

Savegame

http://www.sendspace.com/file/onub11

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I avoid using frag grenades/rockets if at all possible due to overdamage. I used a RL frag once in the game, forgetting that it tends to reload frag instead of stun rockets. Bah. A few alenium grenades got used in a base defense when three androns actually opened a door and charged me (which took me by surprise!). Other than that, stun -> electroshock all the way as far as grenades go, and then rifles/snipers for ranged kills. Do you find overkill hurts your bank account too much?

I'm actually going the other way as regards LMGs and ARs. LMGs don't improve their suppression as tiers go on but their ammo's more annoying to cater for, and they're unreliable in terms of damage. ARs have less reliable suppression, but what with the amount of suppression AR single shots and snipers put out, it's not too bad. ARs are better for fewer shots per reload, too, and single shots can put out some reiable damage if you can flush them out of cover. I'm not going to comment much on snipers since they're under work at the moment.

Oh, yeah: don't you find it risky not using any armour at all? I tried out making three suits of jackal armour near the start of Oct., and it paid off for me later on in Nov. All four of my casualties this game have been from poor rookies wearing the default romper suit. There's been a couple of times I've noted that I would have lost a commander if it wasn't for the jackal's mitigation. Sometimes the aliens are going to beat the odds, and twice I've had a jackal shieldbearer behind a rock both get hit and fail the shield save. Without the jackal, that can be a one hit kill.

Edited by Ol' Stinky
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You dont need armor, or investing in anything else, since explosives come free. If you check the save, you ll see that(just like thothkins stated, grenades and rockets are his main weapon of choice. Aliens on normal are so easy to kill, you could strangle them with a cordless phone, not to mention hitting them with a rocket. They die before they even shoot. You dont need stun batons, because aliens suffocate in a single stun grenade.

I still dont see how you use aircraft cannons to finish off corvettes.

The invisible soldier is scary as hell, I bet the aliens are puzzled. :D

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He has some assault shields too, if he spots with those, reaction fire is no prob. When you open a UFO door you dont get reaction fired right away, you can shoot stuff in and then close the door lol.

I pondered the idea of a decoy and shooting the ufo in the back, trouble is, condors dont have enough fuel to do that. And like youve said, migs make it a lot easier with much less micro management.

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I really must be the unluckiest guy in the world, because my shieldbearers screw up all the time, even though they're facing the enemy. Bah!

I've done the whole decoy thing once this playthrough, but only as a last resort: all the foxtrots were refuelling and the corv was already damaged anyway. Admittedly an unupgraded cannon probably shouldn't do great damage against a corvette, but I'm not spending precious money on something I've used once in over 25 dogfights in 19.6.

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I do feel the lost money every time I use an alenium rocket or grenade. But, I nearly always have to use them early, either to get across coverless parts of the map or when one of the soldiers blunders into something silly. Once anywhere near the UFO, then it's always stun grenades. Androns, I'm happy to grenade away at. So far, the bank balance is looking pretty decent. In that, I have the 3 bases I wanted.

I'm using LMGs in teams. So, it's as much for the damage as the suppression. I find that 2 of them make more of a difference than 1 and an AR. At least for now. Single shot ARs are decent, I agree, but that's why I have snipers.

It is risky without armour. But I'm a lot more cautious than I was when I started playing Xenonauts. Fire teams are tighter, and compliment each other more. I'm happy to leapfrog around the edges of the map, if that's where the cover is. Without exception, everyone stays in cover at the end of their turn. If I have to wait for the aliens, or inch around, I'll do that. With free alenium weapons, I'm also less likely to hold back when I need to clear an area. I'll probably get armour later and promptly lose half a squad due to lack of caution:)

Getting higher stats is also helping, even if it's just TUs to get to the cover. Using the shields as spotters is also a bonus, which I picked up on from another poster. Oh, and using a soldier pool helps. Even if it's just a few, they can step in without the others being left too vulnerable.

My breaching teams have got much better, too, so I haven't lost anyone raiding a UFO for a long time (up until Corvettes anyway) Alien bases may be tricky. I cheated on the one before last, due to them shooting through walls and the last one was pretty tough due to their numbers. So, gone are the days where I'd lose multiple soldiers in a mission.

As Ol' Stinky says, I use the Foxtrot to fire it's torpedoes then act as a slow decoy away. The two condors flank either side, and then go in behind, or just beyond half way with their missiles and then cannon to finish it off. As long as the UFO is not too far form the base, fuel shouldn't be too bad. Having near-global coverage is a big plus here.

the trick is being very careful where your Foxtrot is leading the Corvette, to ensure its path doesn't wander into any of the Condors. I think something has changed as I don't remember doing quite as well with them in the last build or two.

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Only problem is that I can't afford any more Foxtrots. Well, in November I could have bought an extra hanger and started making another one.

But, I'm also trying to hold out for the higher end aircraft. Just to see where the point is where I get thumped (hence the monthly save points). Corsairs have been shown to be naff previously, so it's onto better things. Hopefully the plasma tier should keep me going in the mean time. It did (just) a build or two back.

I'm finding that the single Chinook is fine, as long as it does two or three consecutive missions before returning to base. Due to the diverse nature of the waves, this works out quite well. If it was 3 terror missions, I'd be thumped. But it's often a corvette, a light scout and a terror mission.

I have a pretty tough grouping of missions at the moment, so I'll post if I can't get to them all. It would be a first though.

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