Apocalypse later...

[NKF]

Yeah the designers should've given the bio trans and the bio transport module more distinct names.

 

 

Also the problem with swarm is that you must individualy click every bike at ufo, with 4 incursions per week you might get tired of it. (or can you multi attack like agent arming ? Never tried this tactics I prefer to go heavy).

 

 

Oh yes! ctrl+click the icons of the vehicles you want to group together and they'll all move or attack when ordered. Disposition and heights can be adjusted simultaneously too. I can't remember if it works with the hardpoints but that's not a biggie.

 

With Manual control you only control the active vehicle in the selection, all the others follow it and fire on any target the manual vehicle fires at.

 

PS: Rushing off to work, but a tip for future UFO incursions: The moment you see the UFO beam stuff into a building, you can launch an immediate investigation. You know aliens will be in there so don't wait until there are complaints. There is automatically some spread to nearby buildings on the creation of the sites, but the longer you wait the worse it'll get and it'll spread further. Trying to control the infiltration once it has spread far can be a bit of a nightmare! It's best to attack them early.

 

After you've cleared the sites, try to remember these buildings (I don't have photographic memory, so tend to keep a hoverbike in them). You can then use a combination of the top-10 infiltration graphs with the overhead map and the organizations tab to pinpoint possible infiltration sites over the next couple of hours and attend to them right away. They're always around or a block away from the drop sites. Once the infiltration bars starts to drop, the rest of the day is free. Weak infiltration dies off naturally.

 

- NKF

[The Veteran]

I never did check to see what was going on in that powerplant actually, though I did down the UFO mid-beam. Will check it out when I next load the game as there may be some nasties in there!

[Sgt. Strike]

From a couple things that I've read, is that you don't sell the Storm dog that you get. Well not right off. Wait at least a week. Another thing, is that you shouldn't sell off your weapons, either. Or at least not what you research. The other factions, especially the Cult of Sirus, or however that's spelled.

 

The Phoenix hovercar/ hover bike swarms are actually good until later in the game. I think at least up to UFO type 3. For the hover bikes, go with the lasers until you can get the plasma guns. Get rid of the auto cannons, though. For the car, stick with what it comes with. Of course it may cost you some on the missiles, but that's not a major issue. When you get to the Hawk Air Warriors, switch those to picking up UFO's, and going on missions.

 

On you base, place security stations all around the access lift and the vehicle bay. On your future bases, be sure to designate them for only up to two things, such as research and intercept, things like that. Don't go overboard, either on things, until you get further in to the game.

[The Veteran]

Cheers Sarge, I've only had one good place to put up security in my current base but I'm sure it'll do. Where do the aliens start off in base attacks in Apoc? Is it Access lifts like the older games? Can they come through the vehicle repair bay as well?

 

Still going to be a long time till I'm able to upgrade my vehicles so for now I'll have to make do with the hovercars and Valkyrie I think. Must remember to remove the crew from the Valkyrie before engagements though lol that would be an embarrassing loss, especially on ironman with no reloading

 

How come I never have new soldiers to hire by the way? I only seem to be gettin 1 new soldier per week and I want to get up to 3x 4 man squads asap so it kinda sucks...

[Bomb Bloke]

Soldiers come from the grav ball league, megapol, the mutant alliance and SELF. The happier these groups are with you the more troopers should become available each week. Try and keep your mutants safe, as with training these guys turn into supermen in the late game.

 

Most base invaders come in through the vehicle bays.

 

Note that even if you win a ground battle, odds are aliens will've escaped to nearby buildings anyway. Pay attention to where you were fighting, as NKF described, and use the infiltration graphs to determine where - if anywhere - the bugs went. Unchecked, they'll slowly move all over the place (though it's just as likely they'll die out on their own, it's not really worth the risk of letting them roam freely).

[NKF]

In general recruits are randomly generated when the clock passes over to 12am each day, so it pays to check each day. Do note that this is still random, so it doesn't necessarily guarantee new recruits will appear (unless you cheat and use a bit of Groundhog day madness to meddle with fate).

 

Hybrids and Androids definitely need their respective organisations to be non-hostile to have them appear for hire, though their chance of generation is much lower than humans, which is why it's hard to quickly hire mobs of androids at the beginning for example. As for humans I don't think they are directly tied to any one group as such or their relationship levels. They're the most abundant and seem to just appear.

 

As time goes by the pool of available agents for hire will grow - as long as you're not using it up as quickly as they are generated!

 

- NKF

[Sgt. Strike]

I copied this from a FAQ on gamefaqs.com.

 

7.2 DEFENSE

 

7.2.1 Against Hostile Agents

Let security stations rip them to shreds. Situate them by the entry portal

so they can shoot the bad guys as soon as they invade. Vehicle repair bays

are also a type of entry portal. If you have any repair bays, place them by

the entry portal and cordon off that section of base with a string of

security stations.

 

 

7.2.2 Against Air Attack

Every base has a single grid square with a stick figure in it. This figure

represents your agents. If the roof collapses on this stick figure during

an attack, all your agents and scientists inside will die.

So, what can you do about this? For starters, you can house your men

inside a hardened building such as a two-story warehouse. They can absorb

more damage than slum housing. Slums are prone to catastrophic collapse.

You'll lose ALL your base that way.

The best thing to do is kill the UFOs before they reach your X-COM

base. But if you can't get there in time, see above.

 

Basically, set your Access point and your repair bays on one side of the base. Put a cordon of security systems around those two, and build up the rest of the base for what you want. You may have to even modify the base some. But you may not need to modify the base at all, just place things in different places than you have already. To make money, just be sure not to sell everything, just obsolete junk. Ammo and fuel are necessary things.

 

Build another living quarters. That may help some as well. Making friends with the different organizations also helps. Giving them some money helps as well. You should watch a bit of everything on, basically, an hour by hour basis. Pause the game, check the infiltration graphs, check your base, men, vehicles, etc. Do not attack anywhere that hasn't been infiltrated, yet. Last thing is, check your targets. You may have to go manual control on your vehicles to prevent too much damage to buildings.

[The Veteran]

Thanks guys, how is it I feel like such a noob when my name suggests the complete opposite haha Been such a long time since I played Apocalypse and I don't recall ever taking it seriously! Obviously I am this time though Just had a thought as well whilst reading those posts. My current base isn't very easy to defend as the repair bay is right off to one side and there was only 1 half-decent spot for a security station;

https://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa460/Tim_Munt/XCom%20Apocalypse%20Playthrough/XCOM3.jpg

 

The space above the access lift is my new defences and looking at it now there WAS space for another one below it but there's a science lab building there now Anyway, my point is I think I can fix that a bit...

 

My base is in an awful position right on the West side of a very big map. It resulted in 3 of the 5 ufos that invaded the city a few days ago easily escaping as my craft were so far away. So I'm wondering if I could (when funds allow) build up a second base in the central slum area with equidistance to any point on the map. Build a few repair bays, station all my vehicles there and use the rest of the space for labs or something. I can litter it with security stations and just post one squad of troops there for defence then sell the repair bays in my original base and maybe the labs too, transferring the scientists over.

 

Would give the aliens only one entry and add another defence point to it as well. Plus my interceptions would have a greater chanc of success to as the craft will never be more than half a map away from the portals. Considering the aliens always start on the very edge of the city it should guarantee a successful interception every time, provided they don't target buildings on the frige of the city and the retreat quickly...

 

Still, I'm guessing it'll be some time till I can afford that but it may be a plan in the sort of mid-term lol

[The Veteran]

Ok I'm puzzled... I've just played through some more of this game today and there are 2 new posts coming up but first I want to show this off...

https://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa460/Tim_Munt/XCom%20Apocalypse%20Playthrough/Historya.jpg

 

This is the message log from the cityscape right from the beginning of the game (it's not up-to-date though) and it's seriously messed up right???

 

So I got a bit confused when the weekly reports started coming in every few days, is that normal? It still says week 1 at the top so it's not REALLY a weekly report anyway is it? I mean I'm getting updates every 2 days but why? At first I thought it had kind of lost the first week of the game as the furthest back I could see was the 7th so I thought maybe I'd started on the 1st and got my initial report for week 1. After another week I lost the first week and it said week one again.

 

So I looked at the message log and became even more confused. The earliest messages displayed (from the 7th) refer to the first time I hired troops and bought equipment. So I started a new game to check and it DOES start on the 7th of the month.

 

So the question is this...

 

How have I managed 2 UFO engagements and 4 tactical missions in less than 7 days?

 

Look at the image above and you'll see a few squares I've drawn on in paint which are colour coded to each other. There are 4 sets in all and none of them make any sense.

 

The first is mission no.1 in the police station.

Alien spotted at 13.05.00

37 seconds later the craft has already arrived at the mission site and completed it's objectives thus returning home. While I'm aware that mission time isn't counted it then goes on to take the craft only 32 more seconds to return to base from half way across the city. It took longer than that in realtime!

 

It goes on...

 

Second mission and it takes 35 seconds from recieving the report of a live alien to completing the mission. Then it takes 4minutes 25seconds to return home???

 

The first UFO interception lasted precisely 10 minutes from start to finish. That includes recovery of an unmanned UFO and rearming/refuelling of all craft...

 

Mission 3 takes the transport 5 mins to arrive and complete the mission then only 48 seconds to return to base.

 

I now have an additional UFO incursion and one more tactical mission under my belt which I haven't analysed but I imagine it'll be the same.

 

So what the hell is going on? These times are absolutely ridiculous and if this is the normal way the game works it's going to be absolutely impossible to win this game as there is so much activity between each resupply from the funding organisations! I haven't even had one yet in fact, since starting on the 7th it's now no later than the 12th in game. I'm paying maintenance and wages every 2 days but my income is only once a week? I think I'd like to pay monthly wages (imagine all the dead troopers who get nothing at all!) and pay maintenance once a month as well. Just because this game is contained in one city doesn't mean everything that happens there is super-fast does it? The planet still rotates at the same speed for god sake!

 

So what is going on?!!?!?!?

[NKF]

Not overly sure about the really short 35 second travel times, but I'd say don't pay too much attention to the particulars of the logs. It's not as bad as it seems. Just use them as a rough guide.

 

One thing to remember that battlescape time and cityscape time aren't related. Like UFO and TFTD you arrive and return at exactly the same time no matter how much time you spend in the battle. Still doesn't explain the 35 second logs though.

 

Edit:

 

Just reading up to the point your team gets stranded in the little tower block. If you ever get stuck in an upper level and you need to get down: Walk to the edge of the ledge, hold down J and click past it. Your agent will leap down. Just be careful not to do this with very high ledges (2, 3 or more levels). Gravity hurts! Only problem is you'll never be able to get back up again.

 

If you captured the Multiworm, I highly suggest you put some research hours into it post-haste!

 

Regarding hybrids, they are useless at the start but are great long term investments. They need to spend a lot of time in both training labs to be of any use. Definitely recommend the physical training first as that's the only way you can raise strength. Have them armed with something light in the meanwhile, like Lawpistols or better still the Megapol Plasma Gun when they are available. This keeps them mobile.

 

 

- NKF

[The Veteran]

Cheers NKF, I knew there had to be a way to get down from the stairs but just clicking off the edge didn't do anything :s

 

As for the Multiworm, I only got a dead one but I'm researching that first as the blurb says it won't last for long. I was really impressed with the final tally of aliens from this mission actually, especially considering there wasn't a single death!

 

As this is the first outing for my bio-transport module I knew for a fact that the number of aliens nrought home was the number killed in the mission. 23 of the buggers!

 

I got 2 live Hyperworms and 3 live Chrysalis things, 5 more dead ones and 4 dead hyperworms. Also took home 2 dead brainsuckers, 2 multiworms, 4 spitters and 1 Anthropod!!! I didn't encounter ANY lifeforms outside of that stairwell except the 3 chrysalis' in the main building (only one of which I killed) So that means there were 20 aliens in the stairway and they failed to kill a single soldier even though I only ever had a maximum of 3 soldiers with a LOS to them

 

Result

 

On a related matter, what can I do with the spare corpses? I'm guessing they can't be sold as there are only equipment and vehicle tabs for that. Do I just incinerate them? Seems a bit of a waste of effort doesn't it

[Bomb Bloke]

The report you're seeing isn't weekly, it's just stating that you're in the first week.

 

It seriously only takes half a minute to fly partway across the city map. The times can get a little approximated if you use the "max speed" button, though.

 

UFOs usually all come through the portals in a group. It just seems to take longer, as by default the game pauses as each ship pops through.

 

Spare corpses are useless. Just let them sit and fester (they'll last as long as you want them too), if you bring back some new ones and the containment chamber is overfilled, you'll be prompted to re-arrange matters then. Don't bother researching the bipedal aliens until you've done all the worms and eggs.

 

If you're really pressed for resources, you can always go "borrow" some from a neighboring organisation. However, the aliens offer little resistance to start with. Just tell your dudes to use aimed shots, only ever while kneeling/prone, and your ammo will last quite some time (though if multi/hyperworms start closing in, it's time to go full auto!).

 

You can take that a big step further if you're inclined to exploit the game, as you can raid other companies without taking a disposition penalty so long as you don't kill any of their dudes (you literally tell your guys not to fire, unless they're armed with stun grapples, in which case you can knock out the guards and pick up their equipment - except for the occasional grenade, they won't shoot back unless you start shooting to kill. Even if you lack grapples, you can steal those by just picking them up from the storerooms in the buildings you raid. Obviously, Megapol and Marsec are the guys to "visit" if you want "the good stuff" - raiding Marsec is the only way to get the psi-shield device, which can be exploited yet further to make all your guys immune to psi attacks).

[Sgt. Strike]

Veteran, your best bet, is to get the best engines for your craft that you can. And if you need some more cash, slowly part out the Storm dog. You won't make a whole lot, until week 2, or later, if I remember correctly, but you will make more on parts than selling it out right. And start adding in one or two more hover bikes, Phoenix cars, and Valkyries. And only one at a time, and when you have a ton of extra money. Your first bits of money should go to agent ammo, weapons, armor, med-kits, grenades, base facilities, agents, scientists, workshop people, then vehicles. And no road vehicles, either. And using BB's method getting what you need is good too. Use a couple of squads armed with 2 stun grapples, stun grenades, med-kits, etc. and you should be able to clean house, with no casualties.

 

Until the bodies, and live aliens, are researched, keep a few, up to 3, in your alien containment. When you are done researching, especially the dead, incinerate them. Get room for other stuff.

[NKF]

One reason why I'd go raiding early is to steal power swords before their embargo is lifted. These sweet weapons are melee range only, but they're easy to carry and can rip your enemies apart a lot better than the Devestator cannon if you happen to come face to face with an alien. Plus, it doubles as a shovel. Actually a lot of folks only see it as a fancy shovel...

 

 

Other things you may want to steal are psiclones for cash, or elerium pods to fuel your vehicle elerium weapons. Early Marsec torso plates from the Marsec Arms Factory or Diabolo slums for flight and better HE resistance. Plasma Guns, which are quite abundant as guard weapons, are also great Sniper Rifle replacements too. Not as accurate but they pack a bigger punch and have loads of rounds in each clip. Being one-handed helps lots as well.

 

Whether you go 'borrowing' equipment or physically raiding enemy organizations (like the cult and maybe pick one of the gangs), just remember not to accumulate a high score too quickly until your researchers have had a chance to catch up with the technology. Nothing like only using M4000's to fight anthropods with brainsucker launchers and suddenly having to go up against the same with shields and dimension missile launchers.

 

Speaking of research, your initial research facilities are actually quite adequate for the time being. However you may want to concentrate on re-ordering your base facilities to make space for at least two 2x2 facilities - this being the Large variants of the two research facilities where all the good stuff is researched. It's not going to be easy with the S shaped base you started with, but it's possible.

 

It might even be worth outsourcing the repair bay to another base to make the main base easier to set up for defense. Just remember to park damaged vehicles at the repair base until they are fixed.

 

- NKF

[The Veteran]

Wow you guys want me to do a lot of reading today hey

 

I wasn't aware of the borrowing exploit but I won't be doing that as then my superhuman ironman becomes into a cheatfest. If I need more money or what-have-you I'll go and raid CoS for a bit of fun. They'll never stop hating me anyway so it's ok

 

Unfortunately I've already sold my road vehicles Sarge, though I did briefly ponder whether it was worth breaking them for more money. Thought it'd probably make no difference so I didn't bother! But yes I agree, if I hadn't just lost one hovercar I'd have 3 and the Valkyrie right now so I'll be a bit more cautious in engagements from now on for sure!

 

As for research facilities, I'd completely forgotten there WERE large variants and my 2 new labs will actually finish next time I load the game so it's too late really to reorganise that base. What I'll look to do is build another base near the SE portal as that's where the gits keep coming in from and I've lost a few through it already so I want to be able to intercept them too.

 

Now is it just me or do these gateways move? I'm certain they do but if so when? How often and how far or is it a complete relocation once a week or something? Obviously I won't specifically build a base near a gateway if the next day said gateway is gone

 

But yes, for now I shall amble along with what weapons and technology I have and I'll just play the game as it's intended. Anything else is not a true playthrough so I won't use any exploits. I'm looking forward to getting the rookies into the fight actually so may send them to the gravball league or megapol today to see what all this fuss is. Both have rising alien activity... What can I do though? Is there any way to pre-empt actual alien sightings or do I have to wait for the alert? If I send a craft and tell the troops to check for aliens will that work?

[Bomb Bloke]

You don't need to wait for an alert. If an organisation registers alien activity on the graphs, and one of their buildings is next to one of your recent combat sites, then consider that building infested and by all means go send the troops to flush the aliens out. It's a little bit of a guessing game, but it's educated guessing; just run the game for about an hour after each battle against the aliens, check the graphs, inspect who owns the buildings near the combat zone, and send your troops to whichever building/group matches up.

 

(This is what all the "mark the buildings you fight in" malarkey was about - any aliens who escape the map stay in the city and will migrate to other buildings. Just because you win by killing the last alien, doesn't mean others didn't have time to run from the battle first. Of course, these subsequent missions are against much smaller groups of aliens - you'll've already cleaned out the main nest, you're just chasing after the dregs, so don't be surprised if you win these missions by way of a single kill).

 

Yes, the gateways move every few days. Trying to build a base next to them is pointless - but you can park your craft in any building you like, for as long as you like, free of charge. The only real reason they have to sit at your base is so you can refuel/rearm/repair them.

[Sunflash]

Re "Everything happening at once":

 

This is why it's best to do as BB said and pre-empt the Alerts. If you jump in feet first ASAP and clear the nests out fast, then it's much more likely to have a nice long break before the next UFO attack.

[Sgt. Strike]

The gates do move, just before the UFO's come through. Watch the Transtellar ships for the changes. They usually fly right through the gates, so when their flight paths change, get ready for an invasion. When they do move, and before they start spewing UFO's, pause, and send out your craft to the gates, and be ready for a fight. Leave your Valkyrie for last to go out, and have it target the bigger UFO's. Getting more Valkyries will help as well. The Hawk should come week 2 to week 3.

The reason I caution selling anything that you collect on missions, is two fold. First, the other organizations will get what you sell. The other is that the value of the stuff you sell eventually goes down. It gets devalued after a while.

[NKF]

It's worse than that: other oganizations get the new technology anyway regardless of whather you sell it or hoard it. Hoard it anyway and sell it in one big lump to reap the intial reward. Selling a hundred Devestator Cannons on the first sale for example is very rewarding!

 

From the discussions I've read from the experts of Apocalypse's inner workings, the technology release timetable for organisations is a bit different from the aliens. If you were to play very carefully and keep your score at a very low level, any organisations that are infiltrated may actually have better tech before the aliens and non-infiltrated organizations.

 

This is one reason why you should make absolutely sure that the Cult of Sirius do not get infiltrated! They are your mortal enemies and will always remain that way (unless you can find some way to get them to fall out of favour with the aliens), but they don't start the game infiltrated. So if the aliens attempt to infiltrate the Cult, do your best to help them (while attacking their guards) to get rid of the alien infestation.

 

But if it's money you're after (which is certainly a premium early on), pick on a gang. Any gang. Their psiclones are quite a good way to quickly finance a fleet. Psyke can be good chums (or anti-chums) to attack since the Psiclone is their stock and trade. Osiron too. Diabolo are good to stay friendly with if you like their incendiary bombs, but their buildings also have Marsec armour parts you can pilfer. Your choice really, any of the three are good. Since they're generally not liked by most folks they're usually safe to attack without angering anyone else. Megapol will certainly like you more.

 

- NKF

[The Veteran]

I don't think I really like the idea of making more enemies for myself so I'll probabyl hold off raiding anyone unless it becomes absolutely necessary. We'll have to see though, that could be sooner than we think!

[Sgt. Strike]

Vet, remember to use stun grapplers. That way you won't kill anyone, and making matters worse. And CoS is your best bet for money, as well.

[The Veteran]

Exactly so why would I attack neutral organisations when I can thin out CoS numbers and make money that way I want to make everyone my friends so I'm going to stick to the cultists for extra income. But even then I'm not going to be taking on any extra work until it's absolutely necessary! Got 2 more possible missions to finish the cleanup of the last incursion but won't be doing them today so will see after they're done.

[NKF]

There's always a quick smash-and-grab. Go in to a temple guns-a-blazing, take down a few cultists, grab a handful of good stuff, and make a break for the nearest exit. A few plasma guns and clips in your pockets won't affect the score too badly and you get away with a bit extra than what you came in with. The only problem is if a cultist suddenly points a Marsec Heavy Launcher at you. They're bad that way.

 

But of course this secondary income is not compulsory. It's probably something to save for later when you've built up your battle experience dabbling in real-time combat.

 

- NKF

[Bomb Bloke]

Keep in mind that someone's bound to be on friendly terms with the cultists. Whether or not that's someone "important" (eg: Transteller, Marsec, Megapol, etc) is random. Raids on the cult are as "risky" as they are against anyone else.

[Sgt. Strike]

I've found that Apocalypse is far more restrictive in money income, over UFO Defense and TFTD. The best way to help yourself is to make the other organizations friendly, and stop as many UFO's as you can. Also, when they land aliens, go in and take care of things as soon as you can. I'd give it a few hours, tops, before you do a sweep of the building. Then do a few more sweeps, at least once a day, until there are no more aliens there. And using stun grapplers, A.P. ammo, stun grenades, etc. may help as well. Oh, one other thing, if it's been a while since you swept through, then do a sweep in surrounding buildings, as well.