Xcom-Warblade

Answering your question BladeFireLight..... In Xcomutil.cfg there is a section in the cfg. file which is to do with AutoCombat. Originally, when you want AutoCombat to run your mission, it will look at the situation: How many men you got? Their ranks? stats? what aliens? What type of aliens? Who has what weapon? Each of these values has a - or + number next to it. If the program goes "Hello....you have 28 veterans armed with Heavy Plasma's while the aliens are 5 sectoids all of them injured" - it will then compute the positive score (28 veterans with Heavy Plasma's, the aliens wounds) then take away the negatives (The fact that they are Sectoids)...then it will judge whether or not it should abort the mission or fight. What I have done, was change those values so that no matter what situation, the program will fight. To the death. Doesn't seem to work with base defenses though. So yeah.

I've been playing X-com for quite a few years now and pretty much know the game back-to-front-inside-out. I decided to get my hands on Xcomutil and came across the "AutoCombat" function. It caught my attention and started to play the game with AutoCombat solving my battles. It always annoyed the hell out of me because everytime it went to a terror mission or board a terror ship, the XcomUtil config file told the game that "Hey! horrid stuff here" and would abandon the mission. So I changed the config file. Now it does EVERY single mission no complaints at all. Overall, playing an overall amount of 196 missions, December 13th 1999 and losing only 3 men. I'm quite impressed. It's a great way to solve small crappy battles you don't want to waste your time on. Also allows you to focus on building your team. So yeah.

I think the only sucky thing about the book was the sucky ending. I was cheesed off that there was no mass firefight in the Andermatt Base and that it was a "fight-to-death' 5 men left and 1 clip each scenario...add a bit of spice to it.

Basically you need PATIENCE. I played the game today and with much patience, managed to blow the living crap out of Sectoids who were invading my most importnat base. In a battle, you need to look at your surroundings....figure out approximately how many TU's it will take to get from Point A to Point B. Like the rest of the guys said, grenades. Grenades are essential to survive, from clearing area to preparing the soldier's dinner (YUM! Sectoid Casserole.... ). USE THEM!!.

At the moment in the game I have, I am running a 5 man squad. It's just training, though they don't really need it any more but they are armed with Devastator Cannons (2 each) and personal shields (2 each). Then I have been just constantly raiding Cult of Sirius Temples when I have the free time. Gets the stats up big time while having some mass firefights. If I am raiding a Alien craft, once the alien flow has stopped I send a lone man into the ship and hope for the best. It can be bad (especially when I walk into horde of poppers!) but also a lot of fun.

Hey Moth, You can get the Midnight editor and a few others at: http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~xcom/x3f2.shtml I got it last night and I am quite impressed. Much better than Xed.

I like the Snakeman. They make a cool death sound and look funky when they are dead!

<------- See this? they are good for hunting Ethereals. Get your tanks right out there searching for them, make your tanks the "cannon fodder" (pardon the pun). With ethereals you have to be quick in to destroy them. Just remember: If they can't see you - they can't get you. Use cover as much as possible, stick to the walls, enclosed areas where they can't see you. The windows are your friend....so are high explosive weapons. You just need to think carefully of how you are going to get to them. Hope that helped and was not mindless blabber.

:devil: My personal opinion would be to use the Pistol to deal with aliens that are weak against AP damage and the Plasma Pistol to deal some damage with the other, more resilient aliens. Stick with the laser pistol if you want to save room in your base.

I am currently finishing off my secondary studies and have been under high amounts of pressure. I still manage to go on the game everyday because I need some time to chill off, collect my thoughts and move on with my work.

I have this thing with stun bombs......they hate me, I hate them. My men always tend to get shot in the back with one either friend or foe. But, stun bombs are still the best way to bring 'em down. UNLESS you don't want to use stun bombs, get the ol' trusty stun rod, mind control a alien, make him drop his gear (YOU ALL SHOULD KNOW HOW TO ACCESS ALIEN INVENTORY BY NOW!) then the alien is free sport.

My highest Ranking Officer (Commander) is currently in critical condition with 78 days to heal. He's my best soldier too. I am sooo dissapointed.

Sweet! I like that attack style....gotta try someday.....

I like Carlos The Jackals idea. Everybody is throwing in so many ideas, but for the time being, I'm taking everybody's ideas down. I have the time to stuff around on Xcom for the fact that I am just about to recieve my Senior Year 12 certificate and once that is done, I have 2 -3 months before I go to Kapooka Army Barracks for training. So, I salute you Carlos for the marvelous idea!

The way to go Acidboot. SAS tactics. I love it!. How exactly do you approach your SAS clearing tactics?

Guess I'll add my say. Depending on the mission, depends on what I do. If the alien crafts are the size of a large scout (small class) to a battleship, I usually send a squad of 2 men down to the alien craft's front door and hold fort there. If any aliens step out, BANG! they're gone. The rest of my men are usually separated in squads of 2 or 3, out clearing buildings and exploring the map. This is my squad numbers: Very Small (small scout): How often does that happen?. 2 of my best guys anyway, equiped with a grenade, proxy grenade and medkit. If available, both men with Heavy Plasma's. Small (Medium and large scout): 8 soldiers, 4 squads, 2 soldiers in each squad. 2 head for the alien craft, the rest seek and destroy. Usually make 1 squad my snipers (best firing accuracy) and give them Heavy Plasma's. all soldiers equipped with 2 grenades, 1 proxy grenade, medikit and YES, smoke grenade. Only use Rocket Launchers/Blaster Bombs WHEN the game is getting harder. Supply ships/ Terror ships 10 soldiers, 2 squads, 5 soldiers in each. 9 soldiers armed with weapon of choice (usually laser rifle), 2 grenades, 2 proxy grenades, medikit and 2 smoke grenades. 1 soldier armed with Blaster bomb for creating new "doors". That soldier will also have the other weapon line up once the bombs are used. Both squads will clear out the surrounding areas of the ship and once clear, they will sit out the front of the alien ship door and let the aliens come out one at a time. Once no more come out for a while, my men will go in (ALL OF THEM!!!) and clear the ship out. Battleships Full load of soldiers, a HWP, best of the best items. You will have to consider personal selections at this time. Clear surrounding areas of the ship then go in CAREFULLY.

The only reason why I name my soldiers is to keep tabs on them. Example: If you are trying to train up certain men, call them names like "Marine 1" or something along those lines, so when you are in battle you can get that soldier and know that he/she is the one you want. I also include the ranks, but I have no idea why I have done that. Once that soldier is completely trained up, then you could call it a person's name (My girlfriend is currently my best soldier! :devil: )

Okay, I would just like to find out how other fellow X-com players approach destroying the enemy. Just speak up, talk about anything from squads to weapons. Say your word, stake your claim.

My rookies get treated as equal as everyone else. "First come, first serve" is the way for me. So if the rookie is lays sight on a alien BAM! he shoots. I like all my guys to be trained up together.

Unfortunately I do not think so. The tank is always at the front, blocking your way. Bit of a pity though, but can also become very handy.

The Laser Rifle! Okay, there's a couple reasons why. 1) None of the aliens are strong against lasers which is a big advantage, since it is a jack-of-all-trades weapon. Sectopods are weak against lasers. 2) The damage is decent but the TU Cost in good with a nice accuracy percentage. Cheers!

Sectoids and Floaters? you're lucky. Reapers....they are tough buggers. Okay......Reapers are weak to the most unlikely of things......incendiary weapons!!. So, the best thing would be to load up a rocket launcher or two, with some incendiary rockets and bombard them with the rockets. The rockets create 90 damage (on impact I believe) but only a small explosion area, so if they do survive the initial explosion, hopefully the fire should get them. Just to make sure, you may want hit them again or increase the area with more fire. Risky in a terror mission, but that's the way it goes in war. Hope that helps.

Tanks? they are easy use. Don't like using humans as scouts? Tanks!. They take a battering and are great for searching out the enemy. My tanks rarely fire upon aliens, they just scout and keep an eye on the alien's movement till I can get a trooper there. Tank on!

You may not like to bum around to destroy them Chryssalids, but you need to consider how tough these mongrels are. After a bit of experimenting, I discovered that Chryssalids are weak against Incendiary and stun weapons. You may not want to stun them for the fact that they may come back into conciousness eventually. So consider burning them :devil:. Depending on how you are playing the game (e.g; Human weapons only OR using all weapons) depends how you approach it. If you are playing the way I am playing (Human weapons only, and it's fun!), consider the trusty rocket launcher. An incendiary missile causes 90 damage (on impact I believe). With that damage area, it's kind of small but not enough time to cook the sucker. So you may want a soldier(s) who can fire a couple rockets around the original impact site, increasing the fire area. Hopefully the Chryssalid will catch on fire. It's risky but has worked for me. If you are playing with all weapons, that's where the Psi-Amp comes in. Take over the Chryssalid, and just keep him still while beating the buggery out of him. Boring way, but oh well. BUT if you want to use stunning, stun the creature first with a Small Launcher but once it's knocked out, throw a grenade at it's carcass and BOOM! bye bye buggie. Hope that helps.