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Shooting from higher ground


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I'm not 100% convinced that any bonuses/penalties should be applied to shooting to/from higher ground. The main advantage you get from having higher ground is that you can see better and the geometry of cover is more favorable, but that really only matters if you're on a horizontal surface above the enemy and you're presenting a low profile (laying down) or if you're using the crest of a hill as cover like a hull down tank would do. In my mind the only bonus anyone should get is an increase in sight range.

I was thinking the same thing, though from a game perspective I like the idea of accuracy/defense bonuses. Being higher than your target doesn't really make you shoot more accurately (the opposite is often true); it just (usually) makes it easier to see/avoid obstacles. And being higher can make you *easier* to hit, especially if you skyline yourself. Moot point I guess.

Edited by crusherven
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Yeah, getting high up (especially with jump-jets) is very useful, even without an accuracy bonus. On v21, before any added alien AI for using elevation, I found Harridan suits to be very worth it just for reconnaisance purposes. They both kept me from running straight into an aliens around unscouted corners, and on Terror Missions provide very useful spotting in my main kill zones

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The new patch should include behavior which uses the upper levels for all races. Harridans have special behavior built in due to their unique abilities

I'm sitting here thinking that this has the potential to really transform the game. Sebs shooting at you from second-floor windows while harridans hover and snipe from a distance. I've always felt that the game's biggest disappointment was not fully utilizing the available multi-level component. If it all works out, it'll certainly make ground combat much more involved, dangerous and challenging :cool:

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Can I also ask, can you chuck grenades into the adjacent tile from a second floor window? and does explosive damage go upwards also?

Explosions seem to affect one level above and below them *unless* there is a floor tile intervening between the levels. So if you threw a grenade into a room on the ground floor of a building, it wouldn't affect units on the first floor. However, if a unit was hovering 1 level above ground and you threw a grenade below them, they'd be caught in the blast.

Don't know about the grenade throwing.

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Just because I have seen this a number of times, let me tell you from personal experience in this game... high ground is freaking AMAZING to have in this game. And while there seem no applied extra defenses for being on high ground, keep in mind that you can only really be shot if you are at the edge of a roof(aka, you can retreat back if things get too hot, you can walk forward, shoot, and go back, any of that), you can't really be flanked as you can only be shot at from the direction you are facing, you can shoot over cover(and enemies shooting at you too, but you expect to get the first shot, aka be able to use it more), and most importantly, you can LOOK over cover. In city maps I pretty much always have a guy go on the 2nd floor, when going into a UFO, if the map permits it, I have two guys cover my breaching squad from close by windows(by looking into the direction of the map I wasn't coming from, so that no one can sneak up and shoot my guys in the back). Overall, I have had great experiences with this,(and only just got the buzzard jumpsuit, so this was with stairs and windows only)

I am sure there are downsides and dangers of going on roofs/2nd floors, but if it hadnt then it be broken.

For the record, I had a sebilan go on a 2nd floor and kill two of my guys as I tried to get up there(first mission in the game.. I restarted the game). It was what made me try out 2nd floors and fall in love with the strategy

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If you just got buzzard armor, you're in for a real treat. It completely transforms your ability to scout a battlefield. Just send a guy flying around, happily seeing right over hedgerows, high walls, and into the upper floors of buildings, and you'll see what I'm talking about. I used to never build buzzard- little point in doing it- now I can't wait to get my hands on it

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If you just got buzzard armor, you're in for a real treat. It completely transforms your ability to scout a battlefield. Just send a guy flying around, happily seeing right over hedgerows, high walls, and into the upper floors of buildings, and you'll see what I'm talking about. I used to never build buzzard- little point in doing it- now I can't wait to get my hands on it
I haven't developed that yet, but it's sounds like have a personal gunship at your disposal. I will say that rooftop snipers are great targets for pulse lasers the vehicles as the last two Harridans that tried that found out, "Say hello to my little friend..." :D
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