X-Com 2 - War of the Chosen

[Fallow]

Has anyone tried this yet? What are your thoughts? Does it bring enough to the table to warrant the price? How does it compare to existing mods (classes, long war, equipment etc). Is it worth cancelling a Long War campaign to get this, and if so, what is needed on the mod side to make it work?

I know there are some insightful X-COM players around here, and I would like to hear your thoughts.

 

[Jamcie Kerbizz]

Has anyone tried this yet? What are your thoughts? Does it bring enough to the table to warrant the price? How does it compare to existing mods (classes, long war, equipment etc). Is it worth cancelling a Long War campaign to get this, and if so, what is needed on the mod side to make it work?

I know there are some insightful X-COM players around here, and I would like to hear your thoughts.

Don't have a deep insight as I only had limited time to play but so far feels worth it.
Just start different campaign.

Spoiler

The only thing I found odd so far was a possibility to cheese with sniper's pistol attack and lost (zombie like opponent) you can run into groups of them and wipe out all of them with unlimited pistol shots that don't deplete your actions (and there is no ammo limit on pistol). First encounter with chosen was a fun one. Read her description and launched grenade at only immediate elevated place to destroy it and prevent her from firing shots from there at my team. It turned out she was already there cloaked. So after she fell down and bit on a bullet from a ripper's rifle next, she just run off instantly.

There are 3 new systems / tactical screens in place, few new opponents and at least one new room type. Some elements of long war are already in place. Previous DLCs are turned off but i.e. weapons from alien hunters are now just early game research project. Wish there were some old school multiple ground bases building (resistance hideouts?) where you could station your troops but it seems that isn't the case. Story line is rehashed a bit and new rebels are just now core part of it from start.

 

[Satinavian]

Still waiting to finish my Long War run before that. But i am certain to play it at some point

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

I haven't played it, but i think trying to compare it to Long War 2 is not the right move. LW2 is so different from standard XCOM2 and the expansion builds on the base game. It's more like a fork I suppose, where LW2 took the game in one direction and this one takes it in another.

I might have a look at it when I fancy another playthru, but it will be a while. I burned myself out on that achievement to finish the campaign before July 1st (Exquisite Timing).

 

[Veldel]

War of the Chosen is quite frankly FUCKING FANTASTIC.

 

[Gennadios]

It's easier, the 3 unique units are fun, there are ops missions you can send your extra squaddies on to keep them busy when not using them, and a good amount of new enemies and research, which I hadn't discovered yet.

I'm not sure if I can recommend it at full price or not. What got me to pick it up was the slow releases and the fact that they actually overhauled the code so that it doesn't memory leak and run like ass after an hour of playtime. I never finished Long War because the game ended up slowing to a crawl after every mission.

Over all, if you're a massive fan of XCom get it, if you're meh, just wait for a sale, it's more of the same with some new toys thrown in.

 

[My name is Fiction]

I'll watch beags play it but i really should beat my longwar campaign as well before i touch it.
The darkest dungeon quirk system looks pretty hot, definitely a big strategic layer overhaul..
You know i probably will never finish my longwar run so i'll put this on the back burner and
wait a couple months before I buy!

 

[KaraFang]

What got me to pick it up was the slow releases and the fact that they actually overhauled the code so that it doesn't memory leak and run like ass after an hour of playtime. I never finished Long War because the game ended up slowing to a crawl after every mission.

Hang on, shouldn't THAT be free? I mean, it's fixing a problem with the engine of the game FFS.

I really like Xcom2, but when a 1070 and 16 gigs of ram sit there for AGES loading.... I call crappy coding. (sighs)

So this is what we have come to, paid repairs.

 

[Gennadios]

What got me to pick it up was the slow releases and the fact that they actually overhauled the code so that it doesn't memory leak and run like ass after an hour of playtime. I never finished Long War because the game ended up slowing to a crawl after every mission.

Hang on, shouldn't THAT be free? I mean, it's fixing a problem with the engine of the game FFS.

I really like Xcom2, but when a 1070 and 16 gigs of ram sit there for AGES loading.... I call crappy coding. (sighs)

So this is what we have come to, paid repairs.

Yep, but I'm actually between a rock and a hard place. I won't be getting Shadow of War due to the extremely shady mocrotransactions practices, so I decided to pay myself on the back with a $40 fix to a game that was actually fun at some point.

I didn't buy a AAA game at release this year, so this will be my one indulgence of gaming nonsense for the year.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

I wonder if the LW2 crew will patch the mod to incorporate any of the WotC expansion. It does sound fun but it'll be a while before my next campaign.

I think my most enjoyable XCOM experience was in Enemy Within, playing with the mutator that randomised the skills and a few other bits. I remember it specifically because I was able to make a great squad with totally unique soldiers. It meant soldiers could have skills from other classes and while some were rubbish, I got some great combinations and thoroughly enjoyed the unique experience and different combinations, particularly when gene-modding/psiops came in later too. I did Commander Marathon and separately Commander Iron Man too, both challenging. XCOM2 tho, Exquisite Timing burned me out. It was brutally hard with so little room for error and while it was very satisfying to complete, I didn't enjoy the journey to get there.

I also think the Psi/machine soldiers weren't as good in XCOM2 and I miss the armours that let you hover (was so good with snipers).

 

[TilMorrow]

I'd say wait until it gets a discount. Like Enemy Within, the base game is the same with the additional new missions, units and encounters shoehorned/merged into the flow. If you get it now, you're basically buying the game again at it's original price with the new stuff added.

 

[gigastar]

I wonder if the LW2 crew will patch the mod to incorporate any of the WotC expansion.

Theres alot of discussion on the Pavonis forums about this right now.

Nothing official yet though.

 

[Jamcie Kerbizz]

After playing some more: it is well worth the price.
Chosen give amazing dynamic to the core game and are fun to fight against even thou at times it may seem like you try to demolish a wall by face planting into it (ie. if you prefer to build your teams around one-trick pony spec and chosen spawns with close to 100% immunity to it).

They practically destroy the previous source of income and progress. After 2 reports I have below 30 supply drops - not even worth bothering to fly pick it up, due to the activity of chosen, even thou I had all my missions ranked excellent or flawless. At the same time, twice when I tried to establish 'first' contact with resistance in region that should push story forward they sabotaged it changing scaning from <1 day up back to 10 days ). It's a lot more like darkest dungeon now on campaign level.
However there is plenty room to hold back avatar using misssions. And there is a ton of variation to them. Practically everything now dlc related is part of missions, which can dynamically go into missions related to their outcome, research and incorporated to main story line(so DLCs content no longer feels slapped on).

Overall I wouldn't say it's harder (although second retaliation with 3 berserkers, few mutons, various advent and droids plus, faceless did cought me off guard) but it is a lot more... diverese and fun to play - it isn't monotonous as previously campaigns tend to be when you stabilized avatar and just started to grind out the aliens and churning out several squads of alpha soldiers.

 

[Sonmi]

It broke Alien Rulers, which you can now pretty much go through at each first encounter without them ever retaliating if you know what you're doing.

For that I'll be forever grateful.

I'm hoping they won't patch it before I do my Impossible Ironman playthrough, because honestly, fuck the Alien Rulers.

 

[gigastar]

It broke Alien Rulers, which you can now pretty much go through at each first encounter without them ever retaliating if you know what you're doing.

For that I'll be forever grateful.

The silver bullet to use against them before WotC was Stasis, which would keep them trapped until your next turn, thus giving you plenty of time to set up on them.

But yes a Reaper with Banish is good too.

 

[Sonmi]

It broke Alien Rulers, which you can now pretty much go through at each first encounter without them ever retaliating if you know what you're doing.

For that I'll be forever grateful.

The silver bullet to use against them before WotC was Stasis, which would keep them trapped until your next turn, thus giving you plenty of time to set up on them.

But yes a Reaper with Banish is good too.

I'm not using Banish tbh.

I simply use a concealed Reaper to spot the ruler, keep the rest of the squad away from the ruler's potential line of sight, and kill the ruler slowly but surely with a sharpshooter through squadsight.

The changes to the way Alien Rulers work means the don't have reactions on concealed actions or actions taken out of their line of sight, meaning you can pretty much cheese them safely without worrying about anything.

 

[gigastar]

It broke Alien Rulers, which you can now pretty much go through at each first encounter without them ever retaliating if you know what you're doing.

For that I'll be forever grateful.

The silver bullet to use against them before WotC was Stasis, which would keep them trapped until your next turn, thus giving you plenty of time to set up on them.

But yes a Reaper with Banish is good too.

I'm not using Banish tbh.

I simply use a concealed Reaper to spot the ruler, keep the rest of the squad away from the ruler's potential line of sight, and kill the ruler slowly but surely with a sharpshooter through squadsight.

The changes to the way Alien Rulers work means the don't have reactions on concealed actions or actions taken out of their line of sight, meaning you can pretty much cheese them safely without worrying about anything.

Speaking of Sharpshooters, Fan Fire is an excellent way to kill nearly anything provided they also have AP rounds to bypass armor.

Sectopods, Gatekeepers, Rulers, Chosen, even the Avatars all got annihilated if they happened to cross into pistol range of my best Sharpshooters in WotC, and all the while i get to keep Serial for when a peanut gallery shows up.

I really hope the new skills system is preserved for Long War of the Chosen.

 

[Sonmi]

Speaking of Sharpshooters, Fan Fire is an excellent way to kill nearly anything provided they also have AP rounds to bypass armor.

Sectopods, Gatekeepers, Rulers, Chosen, even the Avatars all got annihilated if they happened to cross into pistol range of my best Sharpshooters in WotC, and all the while i get to keep Serial for when a peanut gallery shows up.

I really hope the new skills system is preserved for Long War of the Chosen.

Sharpshooters are also by far the most useful units on Lost-infested missions, pistols are laughably OP.

I also hope Long War 2 keeps the new skill system, though I haven't seen them say whether or not they'd update the mod to be compatible with War of the Chosen. I'd imagine so, but the silence is still somewhat worrying.

 

[gigastar]

Speaking of Sharpshooters, Fan Fire is an excellent way to kill nearly anything provided they also have AP rounds to bypass armor.

Sectopods, Gatekeepers, Rulers, Chosen, even the Avatars all got annihilated if they happened to cross into pistol range of my best Sharpshooters in WotC, and all the while i get to keep Serial for when a peanut gallery shows up.

I really hope the new skills system is preserved for Long War of the Chosen.

Sharpshooters are also by far the most useful units on Lost-infested missions, pistols are laughably OP.

I also hope Long War 2 keeps the new skill system, though I haven't seen them say whether or not they'd update the mod to be compatible with War of the Chosen. I'd imagine so, but the silence is still somewhat worrying.

In regards to the mod i think theyre going to have to do a seperate version for WotC, as WotC itself is a seperate application from the base game.

I would also imagine Firaxis and 2K would a dim view on Pavonis patching the mod for the base game to include expansion content.

And theres other things to consider like Covert Actions, Resistance Orders, the Chosen on both the tactical and strategic layers, balancing the Purifier, Priest and Specter and balancing the fatigue system in a game where equipping 30+ soldiers before the enemy alien level advances is a tall ask.

 

[mavkiel]

At full price no its not worth it. That doesn't mean its bad, just that the price point is a tad high for what it does.

Also, keep in mind that right now it totally screws up Parcel mods, and many of the unique armor mods. Parcel mods being the various mods that add in new map pieces. Armor pieces being things like mass effect armors (or whatever floats your boat)

Lastly, it took me a few minutes to realize what happened to my classes. I got waay to used to long war classes and kept looking for specific classes. It's downright painful giving up my technical class.