New Version of Xcom

[dazedroyalty]

I was just going with the fact that other SGs that aren't civ are still in that forum but I don't really care either way.

[haphazard1]

Posted a sign up in the SG thread. I have been looking forward to an SG of the new game, so of course the discussion starts on the first day in a couple weeks that I did not check the forums.

And I will set the over/under on my avatar dying at 5.

[Sareln]

If your only steam vent is on the 4th floor, but right off the elevator, is it worth it to dig for it? My intuition is no.

[Ug the Barbarian]

If your only steam vent is on the 4th floor, but right off the elevator, is it worth it to dig for it? My intuition is no.

Depends on the difficulty level - but certainly not on Classic or above. On those its not worth going out of the way to get one on 3rd level either

[Sareln]

If your only steam vent is on the 4th floor, but right off the elevator, is it worth it to dig for it? My intuition is no.

Depends on the difficulty level - but certainly not on Classic or above. On those its not worth going out of the way to get one on 3rd level either

Classic is busy kicking my butt right now. The extra point of health on the thin-men (3HP versus 4HP) is a huge deal. I'm trying to figure out how I'm supposed to have laser weaponry ready to go for the introduction of the cryssalids on the first terror mission though. It just doesn't feel like there's enough time...

[haphazard1]

Steam vent starting placement is something I am unhappy with -- I wish there was a non-random option for this. It can have a big impact. In two of the three Classic games I have played so far there was one vent on the bottom level, at the farthest point from the elevator. In the other there was one vent on the second level next to the access lift. Huge difference. Has anyone seen more than one steam vent at Classic or Impossible?

Sareln, yeah thin men are major bastards on Classic. The extra health point is big, especially since they often seem to take less damage from basic weapons than sectoids do. So many times I have seen them take 2 or 3 points, even from a sniper or heavy, and end up needing a second hit to go down. And with their light plasma rifles they snipe your guys out of full cover if you let them live long enough to shoot.

Chrysalids can be dealt with without laser weapons, but it certainly is more difficult. You definitely need at least two hits each, so you have to cluster your squad closer together for mutual support. Activating a pair and having them scuttle towards your soldiers is a serious "oh ****!" moment if you are still using basic weapons. Don't hesitate to use rockets and grenades on them if you can damage more than one -- you still get the corpses and chrysalids don't have any weapons to fragment.

[uberfish]

Don't worry too much about steam and don't dig for it. Steam is nice, but a 2x2 square of regular power plants will tide you over until you can build an Elerium one later, and you only have to pay 60 upfront per regular power plant.

As for lasers, what are you researching? If you beeline lasers, you get them in the first week of month 2 even with no scientists.

[dazedroyalty]

Steam is great if you can get it. I did have a classic game with 2 steam which was awesome. If we get a roll with steam on level 2 or right next to access on level 3, I like going for it. Otherwise just leave it be. It's not worth it. Money is too tight to make it worthwhile to dig and pay extra maintenance. In my first game, I remember thinking that I'd probably have to rearrange my base late game to be more efficient, but there is totally enough extra space that it wasn't necessary. The only thing I think is REALLY important in planning bases is to get satellites uplinks next to each other, ideally in a 2x2 grid cuz that can save an entire building and even make the satellite nexus unnecessary. 5 Uplinks adjacent is cheaper and easier to get than waiting for and building the more expensive Nexus. In fact, that is the one building I have NEVER built in 4 play throughs.

[haphazard1]

Adjacency bonuses (bonii?) are the key aspect of building your base. I try to get adjacency bonus for everything I build that benefits from it, with everything else (OTS, Foundry, Alien Containment, etc.) getting stuck in the odd corners. Sat uplinks and regular power plants benefit hugely from adjacency, and need to be planned carefully ahead of time. Other things mostly benefit less, but I will still try to get some adjacency but not push too hard for perfect squares.

With uplinks, if you lose even one country than 5 uplinks can work if you get a square plus one adjacent. Lose more countries and of course you need less. I usually build uplinks for the first couple months, then try to get a nexus for my fourth to complete the square. That gives 14 sats which is usually enough with a couple panic losses, and if you somehow keep all your countries you can stick one more uplink anywhere for 16. If you can manage the cost/engineers/UFO nav computers for a nexus in month 3 and another in month 4 you can get 16 sats from a square, but I often find it difficult to manage a nexus in month 3.

Steam vents are nice, but I usually wait until I expand to a level "naturally" before putting them to use. The money cost per power generated is similar to a regular power plant, lower if you are counting adjacency bonus since the percentage effect is smaller for a steam generator. Just keep building regulars in the mean time, and stay ahead on your digging so you can avoid delays to non-power facilities.

Interesting that you have never built a nexus. I usually get one, and one game had two. Labs, now...I have never built one of those.

[Sareln]

Steam vent starting placement is something I am unhappy with -- I wish there was a non-random option for this. It can have a big impact. In two of the three Classic games I have played so far there was one vent on the bottom level, at the farthest point from the elevator. In the other there was one vent on the second level next to the access lift. Huge difference. Has anyone seen more than one steam vent at Classic or Impossible?

Sareln, yeah thin men are major bastards on Classic. The extra health point is big, especially since they often seem to take less damage from basic weapons than sectoids do. So many times I have seen them take 2 or 3 points, even from a sniper or heavy, and end up needing a second hit to go down. And with their light plasma rifles they snipe your guys out of full cover if you let them live long enough to shoot.

Chrysalids can be dealt with without laser weapons, but it certainly is more difficult. You definitely need at least two hits each, so you have to cluster your squad closer together for mutual support. Activating a pair and having them scuttle towards your soldiers is a serious "oh ****!" moment if you are still using basic weapons. Don't hesitate to use rockets and grenades on them if you can damage more than one -- you still get the corpses and chrysalids don't have any weapons to fragment.

After some more hard-fought fights I think I've come around to the idea that the best form of troop life extension is laser weapons that can one-shot the basic aliens (Sectoids, Thin Men, Floaters). This is because your squaddies are effectively glass cannons until you can get to at least Carapace Armor - but the same is true of the aliens until they get Mutons. So then the trick becomes, who can shoot and kill first since alien bonuses to hit and crit seems to be having a disproportionate effect (killing guys out of high cover etc.).

Don't worry too much about steam and don't dig for it. Steam is nice, but a 2x2 square of regular power plants will tide you over until you can build an Elerium one later, and you only have to pay 60 upfront per regular power plant.

As for lasers, what are you researching? If you beeline lasers, you get them in the first week of month 2 even with no scientists.

I delayed lasers to get the beginnings of the alien capture infrastructure up, as well as nanofiber. I think this was a strategic mistake straight up as a lot of aliens are living with 1HP and killing Rookies with that turn of life.

Steam is great if you can get it. I did have a classic game with 2 steam which was awesome. If we get a roll with steam on level 2 or right next to access on level 3, I like going for it. Otherwise just leave it be. It's not worth it. Money is too tight to make it worthwhile to dig and pay extra maintenance. In my first game, I remember thinking that I'd probably have to rearrange my base late game to be more efficient, but there is totally enough extra space that it wasn't necessary. The only thing I think is REALLY important in planning bases is to get satellites uplinks next to each other, ideally in a 2x2 grid cuz that can save an entire building and even make the satellite nexus unnecessary. 5 Uplinks adjacent is cheaper and easier to get than waiting for and building the more expensive Nexus. In fact, that is the one building I have NEVER built in 4 play throughs.

Satellite Adjacency bonuses are key, everything else is simply nice to have. Steam forums appear to swear by the 2 x 2 block of workshops. Is that just for the cost reduction and the ability to build more satellite uplinks? Does that % reduction from adjacency stack with the % reduction from having lots of engineers? If it stacks, does it stack in a multiplicative or additive manner?