How do you make it early in the game

[Sunflash]

Regarding Mutual Surprise: If your soldier suddenly stops on his jaunt from somewhere off-screen, THIS IS USUALLY WHY. Make /sure/ he doesn't see anything instead of just glancing at the TU bar and giving another move order while grumbling about buggy games...

 

>.>

[CapnKill]

Well this game was short lived. I got caught with my pants down, they attacked my base. I had no proximity grenades on hand and only about 3 or 4 laser rifles... it was a disaster.

 

The game was over anyway, since it was my only base so I took the opportunity to reload and work on my tactics. I probably tried about 15 attempts and could not do it.

 

The base is well built with the choke point mentality, but while I can take down the sectoids, the cyberdisks are too much to handle. This is on Genius difficulty, so it it takes a number of shots to take one down.... but it got ugly, people were panicking, getting mind controlled... I think the closest I got was 1 Sectoid and 2 cyberdisks in the hangar bay.

 

Then I reloaded a bit earlier and got some proximity grenades... those helped a bit, but still those damn discs, I can't reaction fire the discs, they have too many freaking TUs...

 

So what are some good strategies to taking out those pesky discs.. .I assume they can see 360 degrees, and reaction fire is not the best idea... Normal strategies would work if I had better armament, but right now it just takes at least 6 laser rifle shots to take one down.

 

Also some of the Sectoids were armed with blaster bombs... and the freeze gun, so I have to keep everyone as seperated as I can, very difficult to concentrate fire.

 

I'm making my stand right at the entrance to the base, but perhaps I should fall back to an area where I can maybe get some cross fire going... I think that will be my next strategy.

 

I'll post up a screen shot of my setup tonight to see what you guys think.

 

Its interesting really, because its so early in the game, a victory at this point would essentially give me the blaster launcher technology so soon... it seems as if that would give me a huge advantage for the rest of the ride would it not?

[NKF]

The chokepoint base has its merits, but it also means that the aliens will come at you in force from one direction. If you can destroy a few cyberdiscs in the hangar as early as you can, or fire a rocket or two into the hangars, that generally clips quite a number of sectoids.

 

One thing that might help is to set up a game of whack-a-mole, with your troops as the moles. Let the aliens have the corridors, and instead fall back into the small rooms and HWP closest that litter the base. Don't stay out in the corridors unless you are certain that the area is cleared. Each turn, have someone pop out to check the corridor. If you spot an enemy, jump right back in and and try to get someone further down the corridor to get out and fire a few shots and jump back into the room again. Repeat as necessary.

 

If anything, this is going to save a good chunk of your soldiers from the blaster bombs, with the walls protecting you at the end of each turn.

 

- NKF

[Bomb Bloke]

Never tested if Cyberdiscs can see all directions... They certainly look like they should be able to, and it's impossible to tell which way they're actually facing. That plus it seems impossible to sneak up on them.

 

You do have rocket tanks at this base, yes? It's a good idea to order ahead - you should be able to have one on hand to restock your SkyRanger quickly, and a few on hand for base defense. If your first turn involves sending a crapload of rockets into your hangars, the aliens are gonna have serious morale issues. Remember, rookies with rocket launchers just aren't the same - they're slow and inaccurate.

 

Aliens tend to send blaster bombs down the middle of corridors. Stick to the walls, and remember to crouch - a bomb aimed at a kneeling trooper will usually fly right over his head (his odds of survival therefore depend on whatever is behind him).

 

Come to think of it, they probably send their bombs along the route nodes...

 

Getting a blaster launcher too early won't really help you all that much. The things take an age to research, and there are FAR more important projects to deal with. Even if you do decide to prioritise it, you'll have great difficulty keeping a good supply of ammo.

 

I'd recommend researching laser rifles first, then personal armour, medkits, and heavy plasmas. After that, you may want to go for plasma cannons for aerial supremacy, then if you haven't yet caught a psi-capable alien, stun weapons.

 

One way to make the game far easier is to have an alien base - Floater, for preference, since they're weak relative to anything else - pop up right next to you. Supply ships will regularly land there, at which point you just send the Skyranger over and grab them without a dogfight. You get 150 Elerium per undamaged ship, all the alien alloys you can eat, and fat stacks of cash from the surplus weaponry you collect. This plus the score bonuses will make it rather hard for you to "lose" the game.

[NKF]

Cyberdiscs are directional just like any unit. It's just that it's very hard to tell which direction they are facing until they fire a shot. It's probably a safe bet to expect them to always be facing the nearest soldier.

 

Snakemen bases are also great bases to leave alone and sponge off. The supply ships won't have Chryssalids. Better still, Snakemen rank equally with the Silacoid and Zombie as the races with the lowest TU count, coming in at 40 base TUs before rank/difficulty adjustments. This means their TU percentage drops faster than the other aliens for every tile they walk across. Reactions are worse than a floaters too. They do have more health and better armour, but it's nothing a basic pistol cannot handle with two or three extra hits.

 

- NKF

[CapnKill]

Still not able to defend it, tried again and again. I fell back in my base and used proximity grenades to soften up their approaches, but one douche bag panicked and walked right into them triggering at least one off... Then eventually a blaster bomb was sent down the hallway and took out 3 more guys that were in crevices but not guarded by doors.

 

I don't have a rocket tank, or any tanks for that matter, I supposed it would come in handy here that's for sure. Also don't have any stun rods for the cyberdisks, I think that too would help out.

 

I'm certainly caught unprepared, no argument here, I think 8 out of the 10 soldiers have never seen combat... I remembered that the Aliens attacked your base early on harder difficulties, but I forgot that it was THIS early

 

I am enjoying the challenge, but I am unable to compensate for the unpredictability of some events, mainly, mind control, panic and berserk. There is only ONE soldier in my squad that has never succumbed to any of the aforementioned affects in this battle, but she is just one, and can only do so much.

 

I might reload it and grab a rocket tank before they come just to see how things would turn out if I had that at my disposal.

 

I also can't get to the hangars because the air lock is in the way, and it's far too heavily populated with little green bastards for me to get passed it without getting wiped out. The Mind control this soon is really doing a number on some of my guys.

 

Also I thought that Mind Control and Panic was line of sight, but I feel like the Aliens were able to panic one of my soldiers that was in a closet all by himself.. I'm not exactly sure how that works... am I not understanding the functionality correctly?

 

Ahh, I found this nugget in UFO Pedia... was not aware of the 20 turn rule:

 

If any of your squad members, even a HWP, is visible to any alien during the Alien Turn, every member of your squad is at risk of attack from any psionic aliens, regardless of whether the spotter is psionic. It should be noted that once you pass Turn 20, all of your squad members and their locations are revealed to the AI. This means you can expect a steady stream of psionic attacks after that turn. Your soldiers are also revealed to the AI if there are only two or less units under permanent Alien control.

[Bomb Bloke]

That information is somewhat outdated; turns out that if you haven't yet passed turn 20, aliens need to see a unit to use psi attacks on it. If you're interested in the specifics, start here, or check out the info on UnitPos[8].

 

Once a unit is "seen", he remains seen - by all aliens - for an amount of turns dependent on the alien race you're up against (ranges from 2 to 8 turns, depending on the Int level of each individual alien unit). The more powerful the alien, the more turns it'll "see" that trooper for, and during that time it can use psi attacks whenever it pleases (Sectoid Leaders and Commanders, the two you need to worry about in this instance, get 7 to 8 turns of memory respectively).

 

Psi attacks are more effective at close range, but can be used at any distance regardless of whether there's LOS.

 

I can't remember previously reading the bit about having "only two or less units under permanent Alien control" (which I see was written by Arrow Quivershaft). It'd be interesting to test that one out.

 

By all means, if you can't get directly to the hangars, shell the access lift first! The trick is getting the door open so you can get your explosives inside. But still, I suppose that is a downside to the "bottleneck" design (which I personally never use; I tend to just build my base around the default layout, which allows me to flank invaders very easily indeed).

[chiasaur11]

I just formed a corridor of death when base defending. Combine that with some safe psi bait, and it could form a nice set up.

 

Tried the wall 'o reaction fire? If you don't get B-Bombed, it's good.

[Sgt. Strike]

Ok, for me, to make it in the early game, I usually edit my game. That is after I start the game. Actually, this is how I play, at least through the start of a game. I usually buy a couple extra soldiers. Add a couple hangers where they start out at. (Ok, it's a vanilla game.) Anyway, I sell off all pistols, pistol clips, heavy and auto cannons, clips for those, rocket launchers and ammo, smoke grenades, stingray missiles (or whatever they are called.) I do buy one additional Avalanche launcher and some more missiles for those. I also build 2 additional living quarters, one large radar, missile defenses, one lab, and one stores. However it might be 2 labs, depending on my mood. I then save the game, get out, and edit away. I adjust the amount of rifles I have, I add 4 auto cannons, 4 heavy, 2 rocket launchers, more grenades. I also edit the soldiers so that they are better, and all about the same. I also include them wearing Flying suits and amount of money. I know it sounds cheap, but it does save some space and time. I don't edit in, or buy immediately, tanks. I do get them eventually. I usually start researching, before I save, either laser weapons or medi-kits. (I usually hex edit weapons, both the weapons, and ammo. I don't change the alien weapons, except the small launcher and ammo. I also adjust the amount of turns the stun rod uses and try adjusting the mind probe turn usage as well.) I know it's a ton of work, but it's all good.

[CapnKill]

Ok, I did it!! Only lost 3 soldiers

 

The magic answer, for me at least, was, go figure, Tanks!.

 

I picked up two rocket tanks before the mission (although it turns out I just needed one). I parked it down the hall from the access lift and it did a great job with reaction fire. Also I got one of my more expendable soldiers in the room closest to the access lift, at the beginning of each turn, I'd walk out, open the door,if bad guys where there I'd step aside and let the rocket do its thing. If no one was in there, I'd have someone else throw in a proximity grenade.

 

The main thing was to get everyone back inside a room before the turn was run so stray fire (there was plenty of that) wouldn't kill them, and blaster bombs, etc..etc...

 

Really I was able to perform this maneuver with the rocket tank as support and only 4 soldiers pressuring the air lock and eventually moved into the hangar to clean up the rest.

 

In fact one of the soldiers I lost was over my own proximity grenade which was obstructed in a corner (I thought it blew up in a bigger explosion, I was wrong), so maybe I could have done it with losing only 2?

 

Anyway, I'm a tank believer again, maybe not for terror missions, but certainly for base defense, I will re-start a real game (still trying Iron man on maybe genius or superhuman) and make sure to always have a couple of rocket tanks on hand.

 

Only trick now is trying to salvage as much equipment as I can, so I'll probably add mule to pick some stuff up and bring it to a room where its safe from explosions... but anyway, it was very satisfying to clean house so efficiently after getting my arse worked for about 30 attempts in a row

 

Thanks for all the tips!!

[Sgt. Strike]

For base defense, tanks are a good thing, but your best bet, to prevent Chrysallid attacks, use flying armor, and your tanks to block your people. I prefer the laser tanks over almost anything else, at first. The Plasma hovers are better. Except for your initial two bases, unless you spread out your manufacturing (which you shouldn't), you can have both the hover tank plasma and the tank laser. Unless you have a lot more stores than I think you do. Anyway, most of my space is taken up with what I'm researching or manufacturing. And there is only so much space to go around, along with defenses, radar, etc.

[CapnKill]

For base defense, tanks are a good thing, but your best bet, to prevent Chrysallid attacks, use flying armor, and your tanks to block your people. I prefer the laser tanks over almost anything else, at first. The Plasma hovers are better. Except for your initial two bases, unless you spread out your manufacturing (which you shouldn't), you can have both the hover tank plasma and the tank laser. Unless you have a lot more stores than I think you do. Anyway, most of my space is taken up with what I'm researching or manufacturing. And there is only so much space to go around, along with defenses, radar, etc.

 

Well this is very early in the game, I just finished researching laser rifles and had about time to make 2 before the aliens attacked the base.

 

So my challenge was to figure out a way to successfully defend with what I had available to me... and at that point HWP wise I just had rocket and the other one... no laser tanks just yet and most certainly no armor of any type. Just a bunch of rooks, in fatigues, with laser pistols, motion grenades and rocket launchers

[NKF]

Since you did something similar with the base defense scenario, you might just be up to trying a Solo Floater Base Assault challenge. A real trial by fire that is, but also rather entertaining when your main goal is not to win but just to see how far you can go despite the ridiculous odds.

 

As for base construction, you might actually want to try out a two-chokepoint base. Both sides do have to split forces for this, but having one clear rocket corridor into the hangar is very handy. You could even disconnect the access lift from the main base by removing the the module that's connected to the south of it once the second tunnel is up. Where possible, you want to avoid fighting in the access lift, there's too many places in it that you to watch.

 

If you don't want a clear shot into the hangar but still want to make it difficult for the aliens, try the missile defense module as a choke point. Its unique ground floor layout forces aliens to shuffle around a narrow G shaped bend just to get into the base. You can see it on the wiki's Missile Defense page. The upstairs room is a good place to put a soldier if you were lucky enough to get a motion scanner in the pre-base equip scramble.

 

Sgt. Strike: If you don't mind the free ammo bug feature that allows HWPs to always start a base defence mission with full ammo regardless of your supplies, the fusion hovertank is probably the best HWP base defender in the late game.

 

Though I would be very careful about putting more than 3 or 4 tanks into any base. Each tank uses 4 soldier slots, and you've only got 40 soldier slots to use. As tanks take priority over soldiers in the spawn queue, the more tanks you have the less soldiers will appear. You can just imagine what would happen with 10 tanks!

 

 

- NKF

[Space Voyager]

trying a Solo Floater Base Assault challenge. A real trial by fire that is, but also rather entertaining when your main goal is not to win but just to see how far you can go despite the ridiculous odds.

The odds are not as ridiculous if that one person is also a powerful psy-warrior. Did that, also without weapons carried to base (except psy... thingy), but it drags for ages.

[Sgt. Strike]

Well this is very early in the game, I just finished researching laser rifles and had about time to make 2 before the aliens attacked the base.

 

So my challenge was to figure out a way to successfully defend with what I had available to me... and at that point HWP wise I just had rocket and the other one... no laser tanks just yet and most certainly no armor of any type. Just a bunch of rooks, in fatigues, with laser pistols, motion grenades and rocket launchers

 

Ok, never fails, a bunch of rookies with not a whole lot of equipment and two tanks. It's tough, but can be done. I bet you play on superhuman as well. Or, I wouldn't have given up on the regular weapons that you started with to start with until I had laser weapons at least researched. Where I save a little time is by making laser rifles, and not laser pistols. But that might not help at all. Anyway, the way to do is to be very careful move a little at a time, have two soldiers back to back, with weapons pointed outwards, and kneeling. The tanks would be your scouts.

 

NKF, for the initial base, and my manufacturing base, I keep no more than 6 total. One on the transport ship, which is either the Skyranger or the other one. (My memory isn't 100% on that one, but it is the last one you research.) The others may have a few more, but it's not over 12 total. All depends on how fast I do things, etc.

[NKF]

The odds are not as ridiculous if that one person is also a powerful psy-warrior. Did that, also without weapons carried to base (except psy... thingy), but it drags for ages.

 

It's a good illustration of how psi is quite the game breaker once it is the players' hands. You can actually do it with the psi soldier not firing any weapons at all if you have a small launcher or blaster launcher on either of the last two standing aliens.

 

As I did suggest floaters, there's no psi to worry about so it can be accomplished with psisies.

 

For most of the ones I've played in the past I've restricted any use of psi and made it a policy to only use what I brought in with me. A bit masochistic but also completely feasable. Probably one of the more entertaining ones I played was with a soldier armed with a basic pistol with a heap of clips. I nearly aced it with the pistol had I not run out of ammo. Superhuman reapers are very resilient to the bullets - so 15 - 20 spares are recommend at least for a fighting chance.

 

The other was with just a laser pistol - though that turned out to be too easy as my win/loss ratio with it was far better than with most of the other configurations. This is probably what cemented my appreciation for the weapon - and why I often promote it.

 

- NKF

[Space Voyager]

Most entertaining one I played was with a soldier armed with a basic pistol with a heap of clips, and not allowed to pick up any equipment. I nearly aced it with the pistol had I not run out of ammo.

Holy s***, you have nerves! Congrats!

[NKF]

To be fair, that's was probably only once out of the 50 or so attempts. Still, very exciting.

 

- NKF

[CapnKill]

How do you do that with just one guy, I mean how do you turn a corner and not take on in the face at least once in how many corners do you have to navigate?

 

And yeah, the mind control thing is pretty over the top, I don't think I'll be using it... I mean it is fun, but once you get it, you're basically unstoppable.

[Bomb Bloke]

Using psi, once you've got control of an alien, you have him go around corners for you. You would, in fact, be better off disarming each Floater as you go, but never killing them until you're quite sure the base is "safe" (hence ensuring you have a good supply of cannon fodder to send into the more dangerous areas, such as the base control center).

 

If that's not an option (either because you haven't located any Floaters to order about, or you're not using psi), make sure your trooper has high max TUs and reaction scores. Move through the base very slowly (don't forget to check your rear - there's no one else there to cover it), and never go around a corner unless it's the first move at the start of your turn.

[Sgt. Strike]

Well, to take a corner, you can start with a new turn, stand up, take one step in the direction you are facing, use the right click to make the turn to face the way you want to, if you have to fire, you can, otherwise, make a couple steps at most, and kneel again, end turn. Well, you would use tanks to scout for you, as well. Also, check rooms, as well. But as BB said, take no corners unless it the start of your turn.

[CapnKill]

I think perhaps an obvious thing is not familiar to me.... why take corners only at the start of a turn?

 

Oh never mind, cause with max TUs I have a better chance of winning a reaction fire roll... right?

 

What do you guys go for first, Laser Rifles or Armor?

[Bomb Bloke]

with max TUs I have a better chance of winning a reaction fire roll... right?

Right.

 

What do you guys go for first, Laser Rifles or Armor?

Laser rifles.

[Jman4117]

What do you guys go for first, Laser Rifles or Armor?

 

Lasers, hands down. Armor is one of the last core things I'm going to go for before I go for the filler things. The laser rifle is a solid weapon that I'll take to Cydonia. Personal Armor? You've just as dead if you get hit. Power Suit? You're a little better, but the average shot has a better than 50% chance of killing you if you're hit in the front armor, and you're out 5 Elerium. Flying Suit? Only 10 more armor than the Power Suit, but at least you get a mobility gain for your scouts and such.

[Space Voyager]

Ehm, so you don't put any armour to the soldiers at all?