Intelligent Aliens

[GalacticOrigins]

SPOILER ALERT!
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Advanced Players only!
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Ok, this is a discussion.

1. Ever notice how accurate the aliens are? And how they zero in on your highest ranked soldier? Basically, if you place your squad leader any where near the line of fire of a hiding alien, they are going to get hit (most of the time). I now hold back my senior soldier during the mission, keeping her in the middle of my advance. Since she has many AP, and is very accurate, she can run to a trouble spot using good interior lines.

Oh, and the alien sight range is definately superior. This means missions are, um, harder.


2. I have built many base defences at my bases. This costs a lot in upkeep. However, the aliens are way too smart for this trap. The only ships that show up to attack any of my bases are the largest, and they never lose. The smaller ships do not even attempt to attack since they will lose. The alien vessels seem to know that they will win. They never attack a base with a small ship, and they only attack when they are 100% cetain of victory. Even a badly damaged battlecruiser wins since they seldom miss, and my ground defenses are shot at then return fire one at a time. I kinda thought that the enemy would shoot a few times then my 10+ defences would all unload. Not so. It seems that the game allows the enemy to counquer your bases so you can have more missions. I suggest not building huge defences at your bases to lure in smaller ships and to lower monthly expenses. Oh, of course an occasional smaller ship enters the atmosphere and flies around, but it is just a recon manuever. I have seen 2 cruisers in 6 months, several scouts, and 3-4 fighters. In the same time period, I have seen 16+ battlecruisers. (They have only been showing up the last four months, new year and all).

However, this is not all bad, since this way I may get to capture more commanders (the game has informed my that I must capture 'commanders' from only BC sized ships, all others are unimportant, and now many BC are showing up. It is hard on the fighters tho!)

Also, whenever I try and get more than 3 lightnings at my main base, a swarm of enemy show up and inevitably shoot down one so I have to build more. Basically, I cannot place level 2 fighters anywhere except the main base.


3. Lasers are ineffective against armored opponents. I have found the original rifle to be of some use, and the shotgun is once again very important. The shotgun will do normal damage while all lasers are very ineffective. Also, fire is awesome against armored opponents. Since I am at a standstill with further research until I capture more alien commanders, I wil continue to use some shotgun and standard rifles as well as lasers. (Seems that I just can't build enough laser ammo).

4. My best soldier is currently at 1600 exp. and is a warrant officer. Not too bad, but my first BC ground mission resulted in 8 wounded soldiers. She should be coming back soon. Just thought I'd share this info.

5. The strength requirements for equiping items is not available in the UFOpedia. I wish it were. That way, after I research an item but before I build it, I know whether or not I need 60+ strength. Argh. I guess the longer time needed to reach higher ranks is a blessing in disguise.

6. I like the longer time needed to reach the higher ranks. And, since many alien commanders are required to research the tech tree, this is a very long game. This is an improvement over the original game, which could be finished in 9 months. I used to play the heck out of X-COM, until it got old and was way too easy. Intelligent aliens, higher exp for promotions, very involved tech tree, and ships that blast my defences to pieces really add up to make this game much better. Also, no minimap, which was illogical and made missions easy (I could never understand how a device would 'map' the surrounding area.) A motion detector would be neat if it was short ranged and the 'detecting motion' appeared on the tactical map as red blips (no minimap). Dunno if there is one since I am only through Stage One of the tech tree.

7. My funds are at a standstill. I have all territories except one covered with bases. Most have 2 hangars, on the other side of the world I have a single base with 4 hangars. (I wish I had built my 8th base next to it). I am going to reduce my space defenses at certain areas and reduce costs. When I research items I will need more money. 20 fighters cost a lot in income and they cannot down the largest enemy vessels. As mentioned, space defenses are ineffective all of the time, as they only scare away the smaller ships.


Anyway, post comments if they are constructive. Thanks!

[dpazuk]

Base Defences:

The modding community, having opened up the game files, found that all base defenses are not very well balanced (i.e. far too weak for the cost).

So much so that some folks don't bother with them in the vanilla game.

If you plan on using them, I suggest downloading a mod that alters their balance so at least you are getting what you pay for. Otherwise, you could spend that money on more useful items/production/research.

I don't mind my base being invaded - it just levels my soldiers up more and could possibly lead to a commander being captured.

[GalacticOrigins]

Sorry, not in to using player mods. Oh, on the subject, I read about a mod available, where players get 4 exp per mission. Since I am about 1.5 years into the game, I do not reccommend such a change. I would settle for 1 exp at most, but am quite happy without any.
 
I have been on about 50-60+ missions, and my highest soldier has 1700 experience. If I had the mod, that would mean well over 200 exp. I have recently been able to spot and stun a Vipon Commander so have reached level 2 tech. (Late June, 2109). We had a stalemate for about 8 months, during which I had nothing to research (except BC). But the engineers have been very busy.
 
After looking at the tech tree posted elsewhere, I believe I need many more alien commanders. This is a Very Long War, and any change to the exp system I think is BAD.
 
Many of my soldiers are sergeant and up, so I am not hurting on exp. Also, if soldiers do not have high strength, they are in a littlebut of trouble. Strength of 50-60 is needed for tech 2 items. If you do not train your strength early on, (I did not), then the later promotions (which take a long time) allows me to fix the strength situation. Also, newer soldiers do not have this problem, since I train their strength earlier (at the expense of accuracy, my best soldiers have that, and if the younger troops get nailed ... oh well!). Of course, I get by with lasers and even basic rifle/shotgun. Anyway, be careful with fast promotions, it may ruin the game.
 
I don't mind about the bases either, but it would be nice to shoot down an occasional enemy ship as it attacks my base. I basically posted this info (that base defenses are not overly neccessary) as disscussion and a big hint (i.e., do not build many base defences at all locations. Choose which bases are 'weak' so you can counter-attack after it has been invaded.)
 
Also, if you recover a base your fighters stationed there are still there (you get them back).
 
In any event, since my first posting here, I have had some luck. We downed a BC, dunno how, it was only about 45% damaged, but I guess we hit the engines (game was 'nice'). I was able to stun the level 2 commander and have moved on.
 
BTW, the game is 'nice' to players. It has been designed well. Case in point, the level 2 commander 'appeared' near the end of the tactical mission to 'allow' me to snag it. I had this happen several times before, but could not capitulate on the event. (Heh, I had an alien appear through a door into a dead end room that was 100% clear of enemies. Somehow my guys missed the alien. Perhaps it was hiding in the ceiling, or behind some barrier, maybe in a secret wall closet. [;)][:D][8D])
 

[PhoenixD]

Your highest soldier would have been on well over 75 missions?

The aliens CAN pick out the most dangerous soldier. It isn't always your highest ranked guy, either; I've had them pick off the poor sap holding the Rocket Launcher while everyone else had rifles, as well..

[GalacticOrigins]

Yeah, they sure zoom in on the better soldiers. In one mission just today, I lost all my high ranking people. It was a fighter ground mission, and the enemy took LONG range shots and made Unbelievable tricky aiming and hit at least two of my guys in the foot ... and down they went. They had decent cover, too, and were not the closest targets to the enemy. heh, have to be careful out there, those aliens mean business ...

[GalacticOrigins]

ORIGINAL: PhoenixD

Your highest soldier would have been on well over 75 missions?

The aliens CAN pick out the most dangerous soldier. It isn't always your highest ranked guy, either; I've had them pick off the poor sap holding the Rocket Launcher while everyone else had rifles, as well..

Aye, but she has been to the hosipital a few times, most recently 19 days. She was initially lucky. There is always a flurry of missions from months 3-6 and she was wounded only once then. She has been about 3 months total out of service. (Unlike this one soldier I have, he gets wounded almost every time, and is kinda stuck at the mid rank of Sgt.) [:)]

[PhoenixD]

I know how that goes. I have this poor W@#% who keeps getting hit in the head every mission. The funny thing is, despite that he's never been in the hospital for more than a day or two..