XCOM Weapons and Squad Member Type discussion

W8taminute · October 11, 2012, 02:09:38 PM

Hi guys,

I thought it might be a good idea to start a discussion on strategies and weapon choices for this game. Playing Classic difficulty is really challenging especially since the aliens seem to one shot kill you and all you can do is fire miss after miss after miss even at point blank range. Now I'm exaggerating obviously but if you have not played above Normal difficulty then you're in for a rude shock. This game is not easy and sometimes downright frustrating but I believe that is what's great about it. Do you honestly think that a squad of gunpowder armed humans has a chance against plasma wielding aliens? Not until the humans can develop better weapons.

Here is what I've been using during my first 2.5 hours of gameplay:

Weapons

Assault Rifles - seem to have decent stopping power at medium (i.e. 4-6 map tiles) but usually can't one shot even a sectoid.

Pistols - when there is nothing else or if you need to have your sniper provide overwatch because no one else is around this little popgun is better than nothing. Don't expect it to one shot anything though, not even a fly.

Shotgun - so far unless you are within eyelash distance of your enemy these guns don't hit much. When it does hit though it's a one shotter for sure on sectoids and thin men.

Sniper Rifle - In the beginning when you have not developed the scope upgrade and your rifleman is just a grunt with no specials you will not be a Vasily Zeitsev. Get your man up to at least corporal with a scope and squad sight ability and you will start to see great results. My sniper has 4 missions and 12 kills under his belt and didn't get his scope or squad sight ability until mission 3.

Arc Zapper - have yet to get close enough to use this weapon without dying.

Rocket Launcher - This weapon is great but only got to use it once before losing my heavy support guy. Have not found another soldier to take on the heavy support role.

Squad Member Types

None of my guys are greater than corporal, in fact I have only one corporal (my sniper), the rest of my guys are rookies and squaddies. Can't really comment yet on the different classes until my men level up some more. My sniper however is starting to show signs of really being a significant contributor. If I lose him I'll be done.

Kushan · October 11, 2012, 05:26:29 PM

Both of my Snipers (one a major, the other is sergeant) are by far the best soldiers I have on the battlefield. When they have squad sight, their ability top deal damage from across the map while staying far outside an enemies attack range is invaluable. My major is up to 20+ kills in 9-10 missions.

Rayfer · October 11, 2012, 05:36:11 PM

In another thread I read something about changing the colors of squad member's armor to help distinguish them on the battlefield, i.e. red for rookie, etc. I can't find anywhere how this is done?

CptHowdy · October 11, 2012, 05:38:31 PM

hehe classic. ill wait til i win on normal before stepping up difficulty! got to mod the panic levels though, +3 for not choosing a mission in that country is rough when the bar only has 5 spots. i mean really china and india with billions of people each, would they panic if a few went missing??

CptHowdy · October 11, 2012, 05:40:20 PM

Quote from: Rayfer on October 11, 2012, 05:36:11 PM
In another thread I read something about changing the colors of squad member's armor to help distinguish them on the battlefield, i.e. red for rookie, etc. I can't find anywhere how this is done?

when you go to barracks and click a soldier you get the popup on the left that has abilities, loadouts, customize and dismiss options. choose customize. can change names, hairstyle, armor colors etc...

Bison · October 11, 2012, 07:17:20 PM

I've had 3 squad members named Poplav from Russia. They are like red shirts in Star Trek. Now they all wear red armor.

Jarhead0331 · October 11, 2012, 07:21:31 PM

Quote from: CptHowdy on October 11, 2012, 05:40:20 PM
Quote from: Rayfer on October 11, 2012, 05:36:11 PM
In another thread I read something about changing the colors of squad member's armor to help distinguish them on the battlefield, i.e. red for rookie, etc. I can't find anywhere how this is done?

when you go to barracks and click a soldier you get the popup on the left that has abilities, loadouts, customize and dismiss options. choose customize. can change names, hairstyle, armor colors etc...

Keep in mind, in order to have the customization options, you had to have pre-ordered. If you did not pre-order, these options will probably be released as a DLC.

son_of_montfort · October 11, 2012, 07:46:09 PM

Let me tell you something - Assault class + shotgun + skill that lets him dash then fire = TOTAL WIN.

That is all.

Rayfer · October 11, 2012, 08:19:47 PM

Quote from: Jarhead0331 on October 11, 2012, 07:21:31 PM
Quote from: CptHowdy on October 11, 2012, 05:40:20 PM
Quote from: Rayfer on October 11, 2012, 05:36:11 PM
In another thread I read something about changing the colors of squad member's armor to help distinguish them on the battlefield, i.e. red for rookie, etc. I can't find anywhere how this is done?

when you go to barracks and click a soldier you get the popup on the left that has abilities, loadouts, customize and dismiss options. choose customize. can change names, hairstyle, armor colors etc...

Keep in mind, in order to have the customization options, you had to have pre-ordered. If you did not pre-order, these options will probably be released as a DLC.

Thanks JH....I didn't pre-order so the option doesn't work for me.

Kushan · October 11, 2012, 11:41:21 PM

Quote from: CptHowdy on October 11, 2012, 05:38:31 PM
hehe classic. ill wait til i win on normal before stepping up difficulty! got to mod the panic levels though, +3 for not choosing a mission in that country is rough when the bar only has 5 spots. i mean really china and india with billions of people each, would they panic if a few went missing??

I'm having a hard time figuring out how panic works. For example if you have a mission in Argentina, Canada, and China, and you choose to do Canada. When you complete the mission, every country in Asia and South America will increase panic, but only Canada will decrease instead of all of North America.

Bison · October 12, 2012, 06:22:52 AM

I had a very strange combat last night. I had all 4 of my members panic. 1 shot at the aliens. The other 3 shot at each other for 2 straight turns, which resulted in 2 deaths. I cannot lie. I laughed. Said WTF. Then I restarted from the last save.

W8taminute · October 12, 2012, 08:30:39 AM

^Yeah I still haven't figured out why some units panic and others do not. For example my sniper who is a captain panicked when another soldier outside of dash distance away got hit. Fortunately all he did was curl up into a ball and cry for 1 turn. I ended up having to reload my save on that mission though...

s.o.m. you are right about dash and shotty. Although I rely heavily on my sniper last night I experimented with my assault trooper armed with a shotgun and dash and fire. When that guy is less than 2 tiles away from an enemy and he unloads his shotgun on him it's always big big damage if not a one blast kill. Me thinks I need to use him a bit more often than I am now.

Jarhead0331 · October 12, 2012, 08:52:13 AM

Regarding panic, there is a soldier stat for "will-power." It seems that certain events cause a check against this stat. If the check fails, the will-power will be reduced. The lower the number gets, the more likely it is that the soldier will panic. Obviously, getting injured, getting shot at, or seeing squad-mates die causes a hit on will-power. It seems that some of the more inexperienced guys may even get a WP reduction just for seeing or coming into contact with the enemy. This is just a hunch on my part, but it would be a realistic mechanic in my opinion. Fight or flight is very real dilemma in real life and some soldiers begin to panic even before the first shot is fired.

Imagine how stressful it would be to come in contact with hostile aliens for the first time? Scary...you'd have to have your $hit screwed on real tight.

Kushan · October 12, 2012, 11:43:57 AM

What type of troops do you guys typically use? I was using 1 Sniper, 1 Support/Medic, 1 Heavy, and 3 assault....until I ran into cyberdiscs. Now I typically using 2 snipers, 2 heavies, then a combination of assault or support for the last two slots. I try to use at least 2 slots for rookies.

Silent Disapproval Robot · October 12, 2012, 01:57:32 PM

I just use whatever the game throws into the Ranger when it's time for a mission. If everyone's healed up and good to go, my 6 most senior guys who get chosen are:

1 sniper (laser rifle and grappling hook armour)
2 heavies (heavy lasers and the first heavy armour you can develop)
2 support (plasma rifles and heavy armour)
1 assault (plasma rifle, bug zapper, and titan armour)