Long War 2 is out TODAY

[BloatedGuppy]

And it looks incredible.


I enjoyed XCOM 2, but whenever I think back fondly on XCOM these days, it's always Long War I'm remembering. Firaxis makes a great platform, but it was the Long War developers who found the real potential in it.

I'd managed to cobble together a homebrew/DIY Long War style experience through the use of MANY janky mods, but I could never get the campaign pacing right, and there were a lot of bugs, and there was a general lack of cohesion. The mods didn't always "hang together" particularly elegantly.

I know what I'm doing this weekend.

 

[iwinatlife]

Ugh even more reason I want that game but all the moneys. Maybe after full recovery from the holidays.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Ugh even more reason I want that game but all the moneys. Maybe after full recovery from the holidays.

https://www.humblebundle.com/best-of-2016-bundle

Humble Bundle is giving XCOM 2 + extras for subscribing. I imagine one sub for $12 would do it.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Unless its about Chaos Marines fighting against the false Emperor, that ain't no Long War.

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

Oh no.

OH NO.

There goes my whole weekend oh no.

I am going to be all over this. I loved the base game, and the new changes that Long War brings look outstanding.

I have just one concern. I don't think my army of 43 friends, family and game reference characters will be enough. XD

 

[meiam]

I generally don't use mod since they usually change one aspect of the game without thinking about the repercussion on other aspect, but this is something I can get behind since its closer to an expansion. Hopefully it come with the "overwatch all" command already in it...

 

[BloatedGuppy]

I generally don't use mod since they usually change one aspect of the game without thinking about the repercussion on other aspect, but this is something I can get behind since its closer to an expansion. Hopefully it come with the "overwatch all" command already in it...

I don't believe it does, but it's compatible with almost all the existing QOL mods.

 

[iwinatlife]

Ok I bought it how long should I play the tutorial(Vanilla campaign) before I turn it real?

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Ok I bought it how long should I play the tutorial(Vanilla campaign) before I turn it real?

How familiar are you with XCOM in general? Did you ever play the original? Or the original Long War?

 

[iwinatlife]

Ok I bought it how long should I play the tutorial(Vanilla campaign) before I turn it real?

How familiar are you with XCOM in general? Did you ever play the original? Or the original Long War?

No play of Xcom Had seen Some of this and played a lot of other TBS(mainly fire emblem but the real ones with permadeath) but not Xcom in particular. Have seen some gameplay of Xcom 2 but not a huge amount. Looks amazing and hard. will be bouncing in between this and Dark souls so getting good is in order

 

[BloatedGuppy]

No play of Xcom Had seen Some of this and played a lot of other TBS(mainly fire emblem but the real ones with permadeath) but not Xcom in particular. Have seen some gameplay of Xcom 2 but not a huge amount. Looks amazing and hard. will be bouncing in between this and Dark souls so getting good is in order

Alright. I'd recommend going with Long War regardless (it expands and enriches the gameplay substantially), but start on Rookie. The old Long War was notorious for breaking hardcore strategy gamers who thought they could stroll in and jump on the hardest difficulty. Start on Rookie, and in true Dark Souls fashion expect to learn by getting fucked up severely on your first and possibly second tries.

If you want a sense of how to approach XCOM gameplay in general, I recommend watching a couple of Beaglerush videos. He does a good job covering the basics of risk mitigation and how to make sure you're not constantly leaving everything up to raw chance.

 

[CritialGaming]

I never played an Xcom game before. I'm usually bad at tactics games like Fire Emblem and stuff. Does this game play similar?

 

[meiam]

I never played an Xcom game before. I'm usually bad at tactics games like Fire Emblem and stuff. Does this game play similar?

Yes and no. Yeah it's pretty similar (you move character on a grid and attack enemy with a %chance to hit) but unlike FE character are ranged and there's cover and such.

I'd say if you dislike FE it's unlikely you'd like Xcom.

 

[Zhukov]

Fucking oath man, have some consideration for my backlog!

Do they have a page that outlines the changes anywhere? Having trouble finding details.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Fucking oath man, have some consideration for my backlog!

Do they have a page that outlines the changes anywhere? Having trouble finding details.

Off the top of my head...

Something like 8 new mission types
9 classes
Squad sizes up to 12
Larger enemy pods, more varied enemies, better enemy AI
Reactive enemy AI on the strategic map (you can redirect enemy forces by hitting in one area, and actually clear areas entirely)
Infiltration mechanic that replaces fatigue...you have to spend time infiltrating before a mission begins. If you're caught mid-infiltration, things can go seriously haywire and you might have to bail or face overwhelming odds.
Expanded loot system and more tiers of weaponry.
Greatly extended campaign length and a more graduated difficulty curve.

There's more, but that's what I remember. It's expansion level in terms of features added.

 

[Zhukov]

Fucking oath man, have some consideration for my backlog!

Do they have a page that outlines the changes anywhere? Having trouble finding details.

Off the top of my head...

Something like 8 new mission types
9 classes
Squad sizes up to 12
Larger enemy pods, more varied enemies, better enemy AI
Reactive enemy AI on the strategic map (you can redirect enemy forces by hitting in one area, and actually clear areas entirely)
Infiltration mechanic that replaces fatigue...you have to spend time infiltrating before a mission begins. If you're caught mid-infiltration, things can go seriously haywire and you might have to bail or face overwhelming odds.
Expanded loot system and more tiers of weaponry.
Greatly extended campaign length and a more graduated difficulty curve.

There's more, but that's what I remember. It's expansion level in terms of features added.

I was more after the nitty-gritty details. Class skill trees and such.

Ah well, might be more fun to just dive in blind, at least the first time around. No doubt a wiki will emerge in due course.

Any idea of mod compatibility? Have you used it with any others? Will I still be able to use Stop Wasting My Time? Will I still be able to turn half my squad into Mass Effect/Starcraft characters?

What sort of campaign length are we looking at? My least favourite part of Long War was, well, the "Long". The vanilla campaigns were already pretty long for me (I never finished vanilla XCOM2). Extending the duration just seemed excessive.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Any idea of mod compatibility? Have you used it with any others? Will I still be able to use Stop Wasting My Time? Will I still be able to turn half my squad into Mass Effect/Starcraft characters?

This thread covers Mod Compatibility. Seems most of the QoL mods and basic changes like voice packs are fine. Stuff that digs into the mechanics is where things get wooly.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Xcom/comments/5ox2js/long_war_201_compatible_mods_and_first_campaign/

What sort of campaign length are we looking at? My least favourite part of Long War was, well, the "Long". The vanilla campaigns were already pretty long for me (I never finished vanilla XCOM2). Extending the duration just seemed excessive.

No clue. I never finished a Long War campaign in the original, but I played for a couple hundred hours. It gets ridiculously hard. What I like about Long War isn't the "finishing" aspect, it's that it handles difficult ramping far better than Firaxis's original. It starts hard and gets steadily harder, rather than starting ridiculously hard and then getting dramatically easier. Long War doesn't snowball the same way. It's more forgiving of defeat, but also less rewarding of victory.

 

[The Madman]

Sounds good. I actually just recently picked up XCOM2 from that humble deal that's going on, but have had trouble getting into it despite being a fan of the previous game plus the original X-Com games. Just a lot of annoyances and niggling issues that have made playing it more tedious than I feel it should. Maybe this will re-invigorate my interest as I quite enjoyed the previous Long War mod when that was released.

 

[Zhukov]

https://www.reddit.com/r/Xcom/comments/5ox2js/long_war_201_compatible_mods_and_first_campaign/

Ah, perfect.

Thanks.

 

[CritialGaming]

I never played an Xcom game before. I'm usually bad at tactics games like Fire Emblem and stuff. Does this game play similar?

Yes and no. Yeah it's pretty similar (you move character on a grid and attack enemy with a %chance to hit) but unlike FE character are ranged and there's cover and such.

I'd say if you dislike FE it's unlikely you'd like Xcom.

Good to know. Thanks man. Maybe I'll try out a demo or something.