XCOM tips and my sob story (Converted to a mild Let's Play!)

[Llil]

Probably the most important thing is to always have a backup plan.

Don't trust your soldiers' lives to the dice. If you're taking a shot that doesn't have a 100% chance to hit, be prepared for it to miss. Instead of staying in firefights with the aliens, suppress, retreat to a better position and flank. The heavy with his guaranteed 6 damage rocket launcher is your best backup, so move him last. Grenades are a decent alternative. Also, when moving your soldiers, use the first move on all of them, and only then start taking the second moves. That way you can better react to new enemies that you might find during your turn. And move the person that's the farthest back first, so you won't accidentally move too far and trigger new enemies that some of your guys can't reach.

If you can avoid it, don't end your soldiers' turns in the currently visible enemies' line of sight, even if you get to full cover. For example, don't leave a soldier standing at the corner of a building if an enemy can see him; move him one tile away from the corner so that he's fully behind the wall.

Also remember that when the aliens first spot you, they get a free move, but not a full free turn. New aliens will never fire at you before you get to react. This means that if you haven't yet found any aliens, you don't have to worry about getting into cover. Just focus on moving to a better position, or on setting up overwatch traps. And keep count on how many aliens you've seen and killed, so you won't get surprised.

That's all I can think of for now.

 

[lacktheknack]

Me: "LOLOLOLOL send the assault guy all the way to the edge of his sprinting range and shoot that one alien!"

<alerts FOUR groups of aliens, including two groups of Mutons>

Me:

Quite simply, you have to move slow. Don't even reach the edge of your walk zone if you can't find cover close to everyone else at it. then, put them on overwatch.

Then, if you get assaulted by surprise, everyone will immediately turn and shred the intruder. If you alert a pack of aliens, you'll be able to put your group in position before the aliens can move.

Sprinting is for assault troops only, or in between fights for your long-sighted snipers to move to new positions (if it's "so my other soldiers can join the main group", you've played it wrong). There are exceptions, but try to minimize them.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

I just started it recently myself. I thought, "It can't be THAT hard," and so far, I haven't faced anything that totally floored me. Of course, I'm playing on Normal, so I'm sure the other two difficulties will kick me hard.

I started one game and got to the part where you need to build the Firestorm, and things started to fall apart there. I wasn't losing, but I was starting to tell that I hadn't prepared properly, so I cheated and just started new game based on what I'd learned. I may go back to that first game after I complete this second one. Anyway, here's what I've learned:

--Keep at least one satellite in reserve at all times. Council members won't leave until the end of the current month, so you may luck out and reduce their panic before then. If not, launch that reserve satellite and breathe a sigh of relief.

--Because of the above option, you need to make sure you always have ROOM for that reserve satellite in your network. So what I did was build two satellite uplinks next to each other right away, then built a satellite nexus under one of them, and another uplink attached to that one. That alone gave me about five or six extra slots from linking them, not counting the ones that I got simply from building the stuff.

--Researching armor is good, and that Nano-suit is a nice boast early in the game. Give that to your frontline units so they can take more hits.

--As soon as you can research the Firestorm, do it. That thing greatly tips the balance of air combat in your favor. UFO battles are no longer nail-biting fights, but simple "Ha, you think you can hurt me?" Add the plasma cannon and good-bye UFO.

--Engineers are important, as everyone else has said. Mainly because they lower the cost of stuff, and plasma weapons aren't cheap. Unless your running around stunning everything, like I do.

Those are set up tactics, but what about combat? Well, I'm glad you asked:

--Snipers are the way to go, at least for me. I have two in my squad, both with squadsight and double tap. They put enemies to bed. Set them on overwatch (make sure you chose the perk that removes the reaction shot aim penalty) and they will take out enemies before they even have a chance to move. As for moving them, you have one stay back to cover the advance of the first one. When that one gets into position, set it to overwatch and move up the second sniper. Have them work as a team. I only wish I had three snipers in my squad.

--Assault class I find useful for really only one thing: triggering reaction fire so the rest of my squad can move up. I have two of these people in my squad, but I wish I only had one (replace one of them with a sniper if you ask me). When I know an enemy is on overwatch, I send Assault in because they have lightening reflexes, so the shot will automatically miss.

--Heavy class can be decimating if you have all of them with their rockets ready, but they can't aim for crap it seems. So, I only have one heavy and I have her fire first to raise the chances of my other squadmates hitting the target. She has holo-targeting.

--My final squadmate is Support, and this one I use as bait. Like everyone said, you need to move slow and check things out, and Support is perfect for this. What's nice about the Support class is that they can move further than any other class (with a certain ability). So what I do is I have my two snipers on overwatch while I move Support up to the very edge of her BLUE movement range. If she triggers something, my snipers tend to take it out quick with overwatch. If she triggers a LOT of something, this is where her extra movement comes in handy. She can double-time it back to safety and be out of range of most of the enemies she triggered. Have the rest of the squad on overwatch, and anyone that comes after Support will be shredded.

--So, my ideal squad layout is Three snipers (squadsight, double tap, Damn Good ground, reaction shot penalty removed), an assault class with lightening reflexes, a heavy with holo-targeting and extra missile, and a Support who has the extra medkits, revive, and extra move. The reason I like snipers so much is because, with double tap, every other turn they get two shots instead of one. That's six shots if you have three snipers, all with high critical chances, combined with squadsight, means that your snipers can stay back where it's safe and utterly destroy the enemy before they get you in range. Removing the reaction aim penalty also means that ambushes where you are heavily outnumbered are suddenly reduced to simple battles against one or two remaining enemies before you're even attacked.

--Finally, get to high ground. if there is anywhere on the map that allows you to get to an elevated position, take it. Clear it first and make sure it's safe, but take it. The reason is two fold: If enemies are on high ground, they will murder you, so you can't let them have it. Second, if you have it, you murder enemies. You range goes up, and so does your accuracy. Combine this with the sniper's Damn Good Ground, and you will have death raining from above. I just finished a Terror Attack mission where I placed my snipers up on a highway advertisement sign. They were literally picking enemies off from across the map, and sometimes enemies that I couldn't even see. It was beautiful.

 

[Pink Gregory]

There'll be a time when worrying about Chryssalids will be a thing of the past...

Then you'll be shit-scared of Sectopods instead

 

[Mycroft Holmes]

Assuming you mean the latest X-COM and not Classic X-COM:

Crank out satellites, be aware that they take forever to make so start them early, and those satcom arrays as well. Don't be too afraid to sell things you don't need to buy them, especially alien corpses. Wait till either right before monthly report or wait until a country is at red panic level before deploying satellites. This makes it easiest to not lose any countries.

I had the best luck by not bothering to get the alien taser, and not bothering to do alien autopsies/interrogations until much later in the game. Get better armor ASAP, get laser guns ASAP.

You need to keep everyone alive, two deaths in a fight is unacceptable, and a single death is pushing it. On my hardcore iron man game before I got bored of it by trying to find a ton of high end psionics and wasting time before the ending battle, I had only 1 death total the entire time.

Move through levels really freaking slowly and end all turns with everyone on overwatch. Never move up unless you're either 100% certain it's clear, or you can run back immediately. I would actually do that to lure aliens into my firing line.

Especially important early on, is to hide behind hard cover at all times. It does not matter if both sides have like a 7% hit chance and the fight is taking forever. Sit there and plink at them.

Oh and remember to keep up with the aliens in all ways, don't neglect your airforce.

 

[The Madman]

Honestly with the new X-Com as long as you take combat at a slow and methodical pace while also having kept up with research, you should be fine. Just be certain to only 'activate' one group of aliens at a time if possible.

With the old X-Com games it was much more difficult since the AI would function on its own without the players interference. Many a rookie squadie was brutally murdered from a distance never having even seen their attacker. In the new X-Com the AI patiently waits for the player before attacking, so you'll almost always have at least some idea who is where and what they're doing. It's one of my biggest peeves with the new game.

Still a ton of fun mind you, but that is one nitpick that annoys me. I realize why it's done; to try and reduce the absurd difficulty of the older games, but it also kinda kills the horror and suspense elements of X-Com when you can be reasonably certain you're safe at any moment till you active the enemy AI after finding a gang of em. The hunt for that one sectoid firing potshots from a distance might have been frustrating at times, but I'll be damned if it wasn't also satisfying as hell when you found him hiding in a wooden barn and proceeded to burn the whole thing down around him while cackling maniacally and chanting about revenge!

Or was that just me?

 

[tippy2k2]

All of you have been very helpful. So far I am just getting to the first council report and I have yet to lose a man, thanks in large part to everyone's tips (though I have yet to run into the bane of my existance: Purple zerg monster). I have a satellite up-link and will have more satellites soon after the first council meeting.

I do have one issue that maybe someone will know. Is there a way to tell what type of soldier class a rookie is going to be BEFORE you put them out to fight? It's obvious who will be a heavy but I don't see any real difference between the models for assault, sniper, and support.

Thanks again for everyone's help. I have a 360 so I can't screenshot them but I promise that everyone who has requested a place in my army has one.

 

[StashAugustine]

Probably the most important thing is to always have a backup plan.

Don't trust your soldiers' lives to the dice. If you're taking a shot that doesn't have a 100% chance to hit, be prepared for it to miss. Instead of staying in firefights with the aliens, suppress, retreat to a better position and flank. The heavy with his guaranteed 6 damage rocket launcher is your best backup, so move him last. Grenades are a decent alternative. Also, when moving your soldiers, use the first move on all of them, and only then start taking the second moves. That way you can better react to new enemies that you might find during your turn. And move the person that's the farthest back first, so you won't accidentally move too far and trigger new enemies that some of your guys can't reach.

Listen to this man. I hear lots of people complaining about the luck element. There are several attacks (Suppression, grenades, rockets sorta, some sniper shots) that are guaranteed hits. Get Suppression as much as possible, use it to pin down people that got lucky. (Use with caution, though: Grenades don't have a chance to hit, so suppressed Mutons will happily use them with no penalty.) Always make sure you have a backup plan.

On terror missions, move as little as possible. Save civilians if you can, but (unless the panic situation is desperate) don't go looking for them. Kill 'lids as soon as they pop up, before they can get away or attack you.

 

[janjotat]

I don't think anyone has said this, but try to rotate your soldiers so they all have some front line experience. If your best troops die late in the game you won't have to rely upon new recruits. I haven't played, but I've heard that rant several times from my friends.

off-topic: could you message us when we die a valiant death?

 

[Souplex]

All of you have been very helpful. So far I am just getting to the first council report and I have yet to lose a man, thanks in large part to everyone's tips (though I have yet to run into the bane of my existance: Purple zerg monster). I have a satellite up-link and will have more satellites soon after the first council meeting.

I do have one issue that maybe someone will know. Is there a way to tell what type of soldier class a rookie is going to be BEFORE you put them out to fight? It's obvious who will be a heavy but I don't see any real difference between the models for assault, sniper, and support.

Thanks again for everyone's help. I have a 360 so I can't screenshot them but I promise that everyone who has requested a place in my army has one.

It's decided randomly.
I think it's somewhat weighted based on what classes you already have.
In other news: Take Iron Will and Squad Size in the officer training school as quickly as possible.
America gives the most money for satellite coverage, so they're a high priority if you didn't pick them as your starting location.
Having south America lets you quickly burn through interrogations and autopsies, allowing you to get your research done faster, and have your squad equipped earlier. Interrogations are vital. Do not listen to the people who say otherwise.
In terms of starting location, Asia and Africa are the best, Europe is the worst, South America has a good bonus, but it's only two countries, so it's easy to get without starting there. North America gets you the most initial cash, but if you can get a satellite over them in the first month, it doesn't matter.

 

[Souplex]

I don't think anyone has said this, but try to rotate your soldiers so they all have some front line experience. If your best troops die late in the game you won't have to rely upon new recruits. I haven't played, but I've heard that rant several times from my friends.

off-topic: could you message us when we die a valiant death?

Also, if you get Iron Will later, that by the time psychic aliens show up, your original soldiers won't have sufficient will. Soldiers promoted after getting Iron Will, will however have sufficient will to resist mind-control.
At a later level, Heavies will have the option to take Heat Ammo (Doubles all damage they deal against robots) or an ability whose name I forget that lets their overwatch trigger twice assuming they hit the first time.
Take Heat Ammo. It can destroy Sectopods and Cyberdiscs (They don't take cover, so a Heavy's low accuracy doesn't matter too much) very easily.
For the second promotion for a sniper, if you took squad sight, (As you should have) take Gunslinger. This makes your pistols very lethal, allows you to have an effective option if you need to move, but still want to shoot, and pistols can get upgraded quite a bit at the Foundry.
For the final promotion of Sniper, take In the Zone over Double Tap In The Zone enables you to take out entire squads of enemies outside of cover. Combine this with a stealth suit, and four times per mission, you can guarantee a critical.

 

[Candidus]

On urban maps, do your best to walk down the side of a map with your whole team at the start, without triggering any fights.

The landing zones are usually surrounded by really average positions to fight from. This is intentional; it's supposed to put you at a disadvantage.

I found on Classic Ironman that, once I had a sense for the urban maps- knowing where enemies usually spawned- and started circumventing them to approach from a totally different angle, I just stopped losing people. I stabilized with a ranked team in no time at all.

 

[Phrozenflame500]

Not Dashing + Overwatch spam is boring, but it keeps everyone safe.

If you're feeling brave, you can save resources by skipping lazer weapons and going straight for plasma weapons. This gets you plasma weapons earlier but requires you holding out with ballistics longer.

Spam explosives on Chryssalids during early terror missions. They're easy almost certain AoE hits that do good amounts of damage.

SHIVS quickly become less useful as you get into late game. I recommend skipping them in favour of training better troops.

On abduction missions, always prioritize panic before mission rewards. Don't forget that abductions missions also give 1+ panic for all countries on the same continent.

If you're ok with getting a lower grade on your report card, it's ok with not wasting lower ranked troops on UFO attacks that happen while your main guys are injured. Not doing a mission can sometimes be worth the political consequences.

Capturing aliens alive are useful for decreasing armor research time, aircraft research time and maybe weapon research time. Prioritize Soldier safety first though.

Other then that, Engies over scientists, sattelite spam, snipers are your best friend, etc.

Just beat the game on Normal + Ironman on my second try, going for a Classic + Ironman now.

 

[Souplex]

I'm hearing a lot of bad things being said about S.H.I.V.s.
So long as you keep them up to date (Alloy/Hover, using plasma/laser) they're pretty damn good.
An alloy SHIV has a 20% defense, and provides light cover to all nearby.
A hover SHIV has 40% defense, (Equivalent to full cover) and can fly.
All SHIVs have a lot of health, and do a lot of damage. They're pretty accurate, they can move really far in a turn, they're immune to enemy psychics, and easy to replace.

 

[Naeras]

There's just one thing here that hasn't been said yet that needs to be addressed:
Pick your engagements. Specifically, if you can avoid it, do not start a fight from a bad position.

This is one of the most important tactical aspects in the game, and not one people think enough about about. If you can find a hill with a couple of trees you can use as hard cover, or something like that, prioritize taking that hill as the first thing you do. If you get to an advantageous position, it turns any subsequent fight massively in your favor, and you don't risk people being caught out of cover or in bad cover.
This also goes for other things than just hills(which are the most obvious examples). Stuff like sight-blocking walls or cars are also great, because they allow you to pick your engagements to a much larger degree than if everyone's in cover, but visible.

 

[tippy2k2]

off-topic: could you message us when we die a valiant death?

I will be sure that your widow get the bullet-riddled flag...

I have yet to lose a man but I also haven't gotten very far yet so there is a good chance that most of you will be dead by next weekend.

Men at arms (If your name did not fit, I tried to abbreviate to something close.)!:

scorptatious (assault class; abbreviated to SCORP)
shrekfan246 (heavy class; abbreviated to SHREK)
bananafishtoday (Sniper class; abbreviated to SHEPARD)
firelightning1 (none yet, I do not have an additional sniper unlocked yet but that will be you)
Easton Dark (assault class; abbreviated to DARK)
Souplex (none yet, I do not have an additional assault unlocked yet but that will be you)
janjotat (support class; your user name fit!)

These are all the people in the thread who requested to be thrown to the meat grinder. If there is anyone else who has already helped in this thread (or if you have a death wish and some helpful hints), let me know!

Thank you once again for everyone's help. I will be sure to update once some of you start getting impregnated by purple zerg's and turned into a unholy abomination! I am just about to do my first "Terror Mission" so we'll see what happens...

Maybe I should just turn this into a "Let's Play" to give me justification to come back and update the thread. I've never done one of those so I'll have to ask someone who's smarter than me and has done one before for help. Where's that Caramel person?

 

[Bostur]

I'm hearing a lot of bad things being said about S.H.I.V.s.
So long as you keep them up to date (Alloy/Hover, using plasma/laser) they're pretty damn good.
An alloy SHIV has a 20% defense, and provides light cover to all nearby.
A hover SHIV has 40% defense, (Equivalent to full cover) and can fly.
All SHIVs have a lot of health, and do a lot of damage. They're pretty accurate, they can move really far in a turn, they're immune to enemy psychics, and easy to replace.

I like SHIVs as well. Also in the originals.

They are sturdy, have decent firepower and most importantly are excellent scouts. Why risk being ambushed when you can send a SHIV through the door.

 

[tippy2k2]

sad snip

I am sorry to report that Heavy Gunner "SHREK" has been killed in the line of duty. The commander clicked on the wrong spot (I swear it wasn't on purpose! Please forgive me...) and SHREK ended on the side of cover instead of behind it like he should have. This wouldn't have been a big deal since no hostiles were seen yet...unfortunately, this triggered a team of two floaters. While painful, this should have been a survivable ordeal. The first floater got a hit of 4 damage. The second floater then crit, sealing SHREK's fate.


We salute you SHREK.

Spoiler: Current group

scorptatious (assault class; abbreviated to SCORP)
shrekfan246 (heavy class; abbreviated to SHREK) KIA via Floater
bananafishtoday (Sniper class; abbreviated to SHEPARD)
firelightning1 (none yet, I do not have an additional sniper unlocked yet but that will be you)
Easton Dark (assault class; abbreviated to DARK)
Souplex (none yet, I do not have an additional assault unlocked yet but that will be you)
janjotat (support class; your user name fit!)

Free classes:
Two Supports
One Heavy

 

[shrekfan246]

sad snip

I am sorry to report that Heavy Gunner "SHREK" has been killed in the line of duty. The commander clicked on the wrong spot (I swear it wasn't on purpose! Please forgive me...) and SHREK ended on the side of cover instead of behind it like he should have. This wouldn't have been a big deal since no hostiles were seen yet...unfortunately, this triggered a team of two floaters. While painful, this should have been a survivable ordeal. The first floater got a hit of 4 damage. The second floater then crit, sealing SHREK's fate.


We salute you SHREK.

Aw...

At least it wasn't death by Chryssalid. Nobody deserves that.

[sub]Watch out for the tiles inside of UFOs, too, they can get extremely annoying because the camera doesn't like cooperating.[/sub]