Hey ya'll, been having a go at XCOM: Enemy Unknown which i got from the pre-order of Bioshock: Infinite, was wondering what the best starting strategies were? I know everyone says focus on satellites, but engineers are a problem. (yes i know build a workshop) but I'm also looking at the whole general out start of what you should place emphasis on in start game, mid game and the start of end game.
XCOM - Recommended Strategies?
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I'd recommend starting in North America to get cheaper satellites. Try and rotate as many rookies in as you can so you don't get fucked on a Code Black (team wipe). If you get snipers, for the love of god, GIVE THEM SQUADSIGHT.
Hahahahaha I rotated so many after i had a code black on the game when i had it on PS3. combination of getting boned by mutons, and panicked soldiers wiping my squad, I dropped my controller, and stopped playing, and cried. But now i'm back on PC because All Hail the Master Gaming Race.Bleidd Whitefalcon said:
The name of the game is "Satellites".
You need to stand up Satellites IMMEDIATELY or you will lose countries very very rapidly.
Snap Shot snipers have their uses (especially with stealth units), but only once Plasma and Laser Snipers become available.
You need to stand up Satellites IMMEDIATELY or you will lose countries very very rapidly.
Definitely give them Squadsight starting out.Bleidd Whitefalcon said:
Snap Shot snipers have their uses (especially with stealth units), but only once Plasma and Laser Snipers become available.
Try and grab as many engineers as possible and don't build laboratories.
Also try to get Iron Will as early as possible from the Officer Training School, you'll need it if you want lots of [REDACTED] near the end-phase of the game.
Also try to get Iron Will as early as possible from the Officer Training School, you'll need it if you want lots of [REDACTED] near the end-phase of the game.
Building satellites is your number one priority. Early on, always choose to do a mission that gives engineers as a reward, unless another country is in danger of leaving the council from panic. Scientists are a joke, full coverage as fast as possible is the name of the game. After that, you'll have all the time in the world to research stuff. Place at least one fighter craft on each continent as you launch satellites over it so you have a chance to take down any UFO contacts, or you risk losing satellites.
Stunning enemies is important as it gives you earlier access to alien weaponry, and gives you a little breathing room to upgrade armor while the standard troops sport light plasma weaponry.
When moving units, never, ever, ever dash except when absolutely necessary. Use one unit on everybody before setting people in overwatch/firing/hunkering down, as overwatch carries an aim penalty. You want that extra aim bonus for if you uncover enemies with troops with one of your last units.
Stunning enemies is important as it gives you earlier access to alien weaponry, and gives you a little breathing room to upgrade armor while the standard troops sport light plasma weaponry.
When moving units, never, ever, ever dash except when absolutely necessary. Use one unit on everybody before setting people in overwatch/firing/hunkering down, as overwatch carries an aim penalty. You want that extra aim bonus for if you uncover enemies with troops with one of your last units.
Avoid using heavies most of the time they can't hit the side of a barn with an even bigger barn.
Start in Asia.
Now, a lot of people are going to disagree with me here, but hold up a second and listen. Asia is the largest area in the game aside from Europe, with 4 countries. Not only that, but the funding these countries give you is nothing spectacular really. Take Asia in order to get the bonus, then abandon it when you need to. If it comes down to a choice between an Asian country and another, go with the other. Your priority for other countries should be North American and African ones first, then South American, then European. Don't just abandon countries without cause though, but only when forced to. Satellites are your highest priority early on, and you should be producing as many as possible. If engineers come up as a reward early on, and you have a choice in what abduction to do (not causing a nation to panic and leave really), go for them. Cash can also be a great choice at some points in order to allow for much more things to go into production.
From what I've seen of Support units, most people undervalue them. With Sprinter, they make great flankers, can revive, stabilize, and heal units, as well as provide suppression on enemies and smoke on yours in order to better protect them. I almost always head out with 2 when I have a full 6 man squad.
Oh, and rush laser weapons as a tech. You'll be so thankful for them, especially if you get them before the first terror mission with citizens, which is far harder without a full squad and a couple laser rifles.
Now, a lot of people are going to disagree with me here, but hold up a second and listen. Asia is the largest area in the game aside from Europe, with 4 countries. Not only that, but the funding these countries give you is nothing spectacular really. Take Asia in order to get the bonus, then abandon it when you need to. If it comes down to a choice between an Asian country and another, go with the other. Your priority for other countries should be North American and African ones first, then South American, then European. Don't just abandon countries without cause though, but only when forced to. Satellites are your highest priority early on, and you should be producing as many as possible. If engineers come up as a reward early on, and you have a choice in what abduction to do (not causing a nation to panic and leave really), go for them. Cash can also be a great choice at some points in order to allow for much more things to go into production.
From what I've seen of Support units, most people undervalue them. With Sprinter, they make great flankers, can revive, stabilize, and heal units, as well as provide suppression on enemies and smoke on yours in order to better protect them. I almost always head out with 2 when I have a full 6 man squad.
Oh, and rush laser weapons as a tech. You'll be so thankful for them, especially if you get them before the first terror mission with citizens, which is far harder without a full squad and a couple laser rifles.
Generally, it's best to bring at least one on a mission because of their launchers. The rocket they have can get you out of a tight bind when you need it. Also, their HEAT ammo makes them the most devastating unit you can bring when you run into anything robotic. Suppression also gives them good support abilities, but chews up their ammo fast. While their aim is bad, always give Heavies a scope in order to help counteract the problem. Plus, if you can get the enemy to come to you, they can shoot twice a round with bullet storm.Darth Sea Bass said:
While I still find a Support unit to be the best all around, don't dismiss Heavies completely. Don't dismiss any unit really, as every single one has their uses.
I skipped lasers altogether and went directly to plasma.Chicago Ted said:
While it makes early game a bit harder, it will boost your combat capabilities in mid game
Have at least one soldier with arc thrower (you never know when there is last alien you can stun)
Stunning gives you live alien (dead if alien type is researched) and intact plasma rifle (light or medium- depending on enemy)
FOR A LOVE OF GOD, DON'T TRY TO STUN CHRYSALID!!!
(lost few good men when tried it
)Already mentioned, but...
MAKE SATELLITES AS MUCH AS YOU CAN.
There are some money left?
INCREASE SQUAD SIZE TO 6 AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
P.S. Are S.H.I.V.s helpful? I managed to beat the game without them.
Yeah, they can be, especially when you're low on manpower. They're like an instant mid-level unit.blackrave said:I skipped lasers altogether and went directly to plasma.Chicago Ted said:
While it makes early game a bit harder, it will boost your combat capabilities in mid game
Have at least one soldier with arc thrower (you never know when there is last alien you can stun)
Stunning gives you live alien (dead if alien type is researched) and intact plasma rifle (light or medium- depending on enemy)
FOR A LOVE OF GOD, DON'T TRY TO STUN CHRYSALID!!!
(lost few good men when tried it
Already mentioned, but...
MAKE SATELLITES AS MUCH AS YOU CAN.
There are some money left?
INCREASE SQUAD SIZE TO 6 AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
P.S. Are S.H.I.V.s helpful? I managed to beat the game without them.
Some tips:
- The first thing you should build is a power generator, you will need that power to supply the satellite uplink you will be building next.
- If you have access to a steam vents in the first level or two of your base then put geothermal power generators on them and build any other power generation structures around them for the bonus if at all possible.
- Fuck lasers (except for maybe the Laser sniper as a transitional weapon for a few missions), go directly to plasma. In the beginning of the game get the arc thrower and alien containment built ASAP and capture them Sectoids to get the light plasma rifle and research credits, in fact always have a arc thrower handy and capture everything that you can in the beginning. Saying that though, be careful, it's not worth sacrificing most of your squad to capture one alien.
- As you won't be researching weapons much then you can focus on armour. It's really not that hard to get Titan armour before the base in Africa mission. Armour will save you a lot of hassle in having to train up replacements.
- Build satellites even if you don't have the uplinks to launch them. A satellite takes ages to build. The more you have on hand the better. It gives you more of a breathing space when things heat up in the panic department.
- No man walks alone. Never send a squad member into a structure without backup. That's a sure way to loose people to an ambush.
- It's not running away...it' a tactical retreat. Don't be afraid to pull back to a more advantageous position if out gunned.
- Snipers are all kinds of bad ass. While a bit of a pain to level up initially, once they get the squad sight upgrade then they become almost OP. Keep them at the back, get them to high ground with good lines of sight and watch the kills rack up.
- The first thing you should build is a power generator, you will need that power to supply the satellite uplink you will be building next.
- If you have access to a steam vents in the first level or two of your base then put geothermal power generators on them and build any other power generation structures around them for the bonus if at all possible.
- Fuck lasers (except for maybe the Laser sniper as a transitional weapon for a few missions), go directly to plasma. In the beginning of the game get the arc thrower and alien containment built ASAP and capture them Sectoids to get the light plasma rifle and research credits, in fact always have a arc thrower handy and capture everything that you can in the beginning. Saying that though, be careful, it's not worth sacrificing most of your squad to capture one alien.
- As you won't be researching weapons much then you can focus on armour. It's really not that hard to get Titan armour before the base in Africa mission. Armour will save you a lot of hassle in having to train up replacements.
- Build satellites even if you don't have the uplinks to launch them. A satellite takes ages to build. The more you have on hand the better. It gives you more of a breathing space when things heat up in the panic department.
- No man walks alone. Never send a squad member into a structure without backup. That's a sure way to loose people to an ambush.
- It's not running away...it' a tactical retreat. Don't be afraid to pull back to a more advantageous position if out gunned.
- Snipers are all kinds of bad ass. While a bit of a pain to level up initially, once they get the squad sight upgrade then they become almost OP. Keep them at the back, get them to high ground with good lines of sight and watch the kills rack up.
Beginning strategy is basically getting as many satellites up over countries that are important to you. For example South America's bonus is almost pointless, so if it's a choice between South or North America, I'd choose North. Play slowly and carefully, depending on what difficult your on, Normal is much more forgiving if you make an error, whereas on Classic or higher that can end your game pretty swiftly.
Try and end your moves with at least some of your soldiers on overwatch, don't feel bad if you have to spend a turn reloading everyone's weapons before you breach a room... and always consider when your moving your squad members to fire on an alien already within sight, you might stumble into another patrol and get yourself in an even worse situation - In other words, if the chance to hit isn't in your favour, the enemy has more advantageous cover you might want to pull your soldiers back and overwatch.
Try and end your moves with at least some of your soldiers on overwatch, don't feel bad if you have to spend a turn reloading everyone's weapons before you breach a room... and always consider when your moving your squad members to fire on an alien already within sight, you might stumble into another patrol and get yourself in an even worse situation - In other words, if the chance to hit isn't in your favour, the enemy has more advantageous cover you might want to pull your soldiers back and overwatch.
Whilst I only played the game on Normal, I didn't seem to find it particularly challenging, but I'll admit to save-scumming (mostly because I fucked up my early-game and didn't rotate my rookies enough).
- Skip laser weapons and go straight to plasma
- Get good armour as soon as you can.
- Don't neglect your fighters, you will regret it.
- As soon as you can, get the Alloy Cannon. An assault soldier with the best armour + chitin plating and an alloy cannon is an unstoppable force of carnage (I've seen the alloy cannon do 30 damage over one full turn).
- Skip laser weapons and go straight to plasma
- Get good armour as soon as you can.
- Don't neglect your fighters, you will regret it.
- As soon as you can, get the Alloy Cannon. An assault soldier with the best armour + chitin plating and an alloy cannon is an unstoppable force of carnage (I've seen the alloy cannon do 30 damage over one full turn).
Always leave Satalite deployment until the last day of the month, you never know when you might get lucky and get a mission in a high panic level country.
Also start in Africa, the money boost you get there is useful throughout the entire game and you'll quickly get good satalite coverage in America and Europe.
Also start in Africa, the money boost you get there is useful throughout the entire game and you'll quickly get good satalite coverage in America and Europe.
This is a later game tip, but invest in Shivs. Namely Heavy Shivs.
Although they're not amazing in terms of firepower (good, but not amazing), they have two very useful traits. The first is that they act as mobile cover. Only half cover mind you, but that is still far better than nothing.
Secondly, they are immune to mind control, as they are drones. This means that they are perfect for assassination runs against Sectoid Commanders and Ethereals.
Also, never underestimate the Heavy. A lot of people don't like them due to their awful aim, however they still have a rocket launcher. The rocket is great for manipulating the battlefield, as well as being a big-ass boomstick which can severely weaken pesky aliens.
That, and doing double damage to robots is great. Sectopods aint got nothing on me D:
Although they're not amazing in terms of firepower (good, but not amazing), they have two very useful traits. The first is that they act as mobile cover. Only half cover mind you, but that is still far better than nothing.
Secondly, they are immune to mind control, as they are drones. This means that they are perfect for assassination runs against Sectoid Commanders and Ethereals.
Also, never underestimate the Heavy. A lot of people don't like them due to their awful aim, however they still have a rocket launcher. The rocket is great for manipulating the battlefield, as well as being a big-ass boomstick which can severely weaken pesky aliens.
That, and doing double damage to robots is great. Sectopods aint got nothing on me D: