kerbel Posted July 8, 2004 Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 I lost my instruction manual for X-Com and I want to know the following. When you click to reserve time units for what ever type of shot, are the units reserved for during the Alien's turn when you fire back? If not, when your men shoot when its the Aliens turn is it just down to their reactions or stats? How do I improve my mens reactions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JellyfishGreen Posted July 8, 2004 Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 I owe this to NKF-sensei: 1. When you reserve TUs, this is the minimum TUs saved for reaction fire during the alien's turn. 2. You get reaction fire if (your TU remaining * your reaction stat) > (alien TU remaining * alien reaction stat). So for the best chance of firing first, save as many TUs as possible for reaction fire. Eg. 'Camp' the UFO door the entire turn without moving. Also note if the alien has the higher reactions, fires first, and misses, the drop in his TUs may lower his score and give you a chance to fire. So will his moving around. If you miss he may get a chance to fire. The math is pretty simple. 3. To improve reaction stat - use reaction fire. Camp a lot. I don't remember if missed shots improve reactions but hits certainly do. Panic sectoids and give the rookies standard pistols to do a half dozen quick reaction snapshots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NKF Posted July 8, 2004 Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 Well, hitting with opportunity fire does not raise reactions, but the very act of reacting does. Quite a hard-working ability, isn't it? Opportunity fire is best done in sheer volume. Volume as in lots of soldiers armed with guns with very low snap-shot costs. Pistols, laser pistols and laser rifles are great for this. This way the aliens may be able to attack once, but you'll be able to retaliate multiple times before it gets to move again. - NKF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zombie Posted July 9, 2004 Report Share Posted July 9, 2004 Since I cannot outshoot the big guns around here (NKF, JFG) I can only agree with what has already been said and offer some additional tips. 1) Yes, reserving TU get carried over into the aliens' turn. And by the way, you do not need to click any buttons to reserve time units. If you know how many TU your soldiers require for a particular shot, stop moving just before you reach that point. The game will speculate what shot you want and act accordingly during the aliens round. The buttons are there to hopefully guarantee that you have enough TU for that shot, and that shot will be used. 2) Save lots of time units! Move very little, and you will have a better chance of getting reaction fire. Camping outside UFO doorways is a perfect spot for increasing reactions. The aliens burn TU opening the door, hopefully allowing some of your soldiers to fire. Set one or two soldiers up for reaction fire each round by having them kneel close by (to increase firing accuracy and give a better line-of-sight for the rest of your troops behind them). Your other troops should stand nearby with full TU to protect those soldiers getting into position. The next round, get a couple more soldiers into position at the other side of the door. The ones already in place will protect those getting set up! This way, some of your soldiers are always defending those other soldiers. 3) If you have Psi abilities, panic or MC an alien until he drops his weapons. This assures some reaction fire will occurr later when the alien comes to his senses. Mutons are perfect for reaction fire! Their high health and decent armor guarantee your soldiers will get some shots off. Give your soldiers regular pistols and let them blast away. Don't have Psi yet? Use stronger weapons to kill them like laser pistols, plasma pistols, laser rifles and even heavy plasmas. While more shots do not assure that your reactions will increase, it is sure fun to see a flury of small arms fire coming from every direction. If you use reaction fire, the computer will randomally determine how much of an increase you get at the end of the mission depending on your current reactions. For some ballpark numbers, see the 'Formulas, the agony' thread. NKF really did a good job of explaining this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bomb Bloke Posted July 9, 2004 Report Share Posted July 9, 2004 It might just be a pure coincedence, but I tend to find that reaction fire is more accurate then normal. As a general rule, it's worth relying on - it's safer to shoot them as they come round the corner, rather then to go round the corner and get shot. Aliens know this, and tend to camp a bit themselves. When in doubt, you can always cheat and throw a grenade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NKF Posted July 9, 2004 Report Share Posted July 9, 2004 You know, I've made that observation myself. Reactions do seem incredibly accurate, even with low accuracy and dinky pistols - which aren't really dinky, it's just their damage that is dinky. Dinky is a funny word. Maybe it's just because it looks so spontaneous. Either luck is more to blame or there is a hidden accuracy booster for opportunity fire. By the way, just a thought about the reserve TU buttons. The reserve TU buttons are actually there to serve the purpose of reserving enough TUs for you to ensure that you can make that action during the turn. If you don't use it by the end of the turn, then the TUs are used up for opportunity fire. You've probably noticed that if you've only got the reserved TUs left, you will be still be able to spend the TUs on that action and the game won't stop you from doing so. - NKF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zombie Posted July 9, 2004 Report Share Posted July 9, 2004 NKF Posted on Jul 8 2004, 10:58 PM The reserve TU buttons are actually there to serve the purpose of reserving enough TUs for you to ensure that you can make that action during the turn. Didn't I just say this in different words? Zombie Posted on Jul 8 2004, 09:15 PM The buttons are there to hopefully guarantee that you have enough TU for that shot, and that shot will be used. Oh well! I do not know whether a reaction shot is any more accurate than if you shoot the gun yourself during X-COMs round. It always (well, not always) seemed to me that a soldier could miss just as badly with a reaction shot than with a normal shot. Even killing an alien with a reaction shot seems just as likely as killing it with a normal one. Maybe my perceptions are clouded somewhat. Playing with rookies and squaddies can do that to a person, you know! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NKF Posted July 9, 2004 Report Share Posted July 9, 2004 I'm living in a five minute time loop. I just seem to get a lot more million-to-one chances when I let luck take over than when I actively ask a hopeless rookie to take a snapshot at something. It just seems that way, but you're right, it shouldn't be any different than actively attacking. I'm living in a five minute time loop. I just seem to... oh, right. - NKF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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