[QUOTE=Sgt Doom;47988143]15e[/QUOTE]
Alright, I'm on 15d I think.
Anyway, I feel that the earlier versions were harder/more imbalanced, with some Swarming missions actually giving a meaning for that word. Like, getting literally swarmed, with very little chance to overcome those particularly hard missions unless you really set up your strategy right (involving loadsa explosives most likely.)
I miss those moments.. So far on Brutal difficulty, with first few levels, I'm just getting a lot of Drones who keep injuring my troopers through cover with critical hits, and not enough Sectoids. :v: I want more!
Are they sticking with the two actions per move system? I saw in the demo that the specialist did three moves to carry out his ally to the skyranger.
[QUOTE=LoneWolf_Recon;47989004]Are they sticking with the two actions per move system? I saw in the demo that the specialist did three moves to carry out his ally to the skyranger.[/QUOTE]
Pretty sure that was again just for the Demo, just like the free shots the advent MECs and Bezerker get.
[QUOTE=CGNick;47989104]Pretty sure that was again just for the Demo, just like the free shots the advent MECs and Bezerker get.[/QUOTE]
although, a high level support ability like "get a third action point, but only when carrying a wounded soldier" would be kind of interesting.
that scene was obviously for the demo though, which begs the question of why they didn't set up the demo in a way where he could reach the skyranger in 2 moves.
On re-entering stealth state... Don't the aliens have some kind of wizard survielance to stop you doing that? I mean sure, you might fall asleep at the screen when nothing's happening, at worst you'd lose your job. but do that during a firefight and you're going to die. Benevolent overlord can't stand your lazy incompetence, and so might benevolently destroy you in the most humane way possible.
Another funny thing I noticed in the trailer is that when the Advent guys were activated, the two furthest from the action (on the other side of the barrier) nonchalantly walk forward and [I]knock out two of the crowd while they're at it.[/I]
Advent does not really care for keeping appearances once XCOM is on the scene, apparently.
I really think that alot of the people need to stop speculating about shit that was in the demo purely because it was demo.
If you people kep speculating more and more people in the thread are going to get confused and think that shit you bring up are in-game features.
Like jesus christ, there's no re-stealth option, no one-shots and no unlimited actions. Think logical people and don't make assumptions.
I don't understand where people even got the idea of re-stealth from, the developer [i]clearly[/i] states during the gameplay that you start off concealed and once you are spotted the enemy knows where you are.
How could someone go from hearing that then make the conclusion that re-stealth would be an option...
[QUOTE=RichyZ;47989903]i kinda hope they change that
i want xcom to look like actual terrorists until the ayy lmaos are discovered and are shown to be the liars they are[/QUOTE]
Well, the aliens are already discovered. People know they are ruled by alien overlords, but yeah, XCOM are going to be the bad guys to people until they can prove the disappearances (and what is happening to the people who are disappearing)
They're doing that 'all hail our benevolent OVERLORDS type thing' 'OBEY for protection'. Y'know, all that snarky compliance thing. The aliens are going to be obviously bad.
Haha, took out EXALT last night! No more siphoning cash reserves, assholes.
RIP Agent Park, without whom we could not have done this. He was tragically slain in the line of duty attempting to deliver more intel.
[QUOTE=RichyZ;47990127]well i mean id like to see the aliums actually seem benevolent and give a damn about the people instead of needlessly slapping them around in public[/QUOTE]
But races and species are seen as nothing more than beings to be experimented on for the ultimate purpose of [sp]becoming hosts for the ethereals[/sp]. The only reason they give a tiny bit of a damn to bother with propaganda and convincing people the cities are safe is because humans are most likely the first type of life they found with both intelligence and psi potential, so they have to adapt their methods of occupation.
Humans are just cattle to the aliens, so I don't think they really care about anything past the potential for psi powers some humans might have (scanners everywhere, advent detaining random people near/under scanners).
[editline]17th June 2015[/editline]
I mean really ADVENT basically seems like Civil Protection in HL2, they dont give a damn about populaces well being and are there to maintain control over the people.
i think if you read between the lines a bit the two civs getting knocked out is the kind of thing that's intended to clue the player into what's going on more than it has any effect on the ingame plot
you can sort of imagine that ADVENT would gloss over that little detail in the 5 o'clock news, and in all the commotion it could be passed off as a necessary act of policing or w/e
[editline]17th June 2015[/editline]
the demo was designed to be maximalist and show as much as possible, eg the berserker, but i'm sure the actual plot will be more paced than that
Normal Difficulty became kind of a face-roll after I got Titan Armor for all my troops. Even the final boss died in one turn to my colonel team. I'll have to play Classic difficulty next.
[QUOTE=IrishBandit;47991359]Normal Difficulty became kind of a face-roll after I got Titan Armor for all my troops. Even the final boss died in one turn to my colonel team. I'll have to play Classic difficulty next.[/QUOTE]
Long.. War?
Late-game normal mode is really easy. I think I find myself getting rustier the longer I play a game just due to the huge drop in difficulty between early and late game.
[QUOTE=Bat-shit;47991436]Long.. War?[/QUOTE]
I'm not interested in having to read a wiki for literally as much time as spent playing the game. I already did that with Modded Minecraft.
[QUOTE=IrishBandit;47991463]I'm not interested in having to read a wiki for literally as much time as spent playing the game. I already did that with Modded Minecraft.[/QUOTE]
Or you could play it blind. Like most do.
Long war looks to be horrifically balanced.
[QUOTE=IrishBandit;47991359]Normal Difficulty became kind of a face-roll after I got Titan Armor for all my troops. Even the final boss died in one turn to my colonel team. I'll have to play Classic difficulty next.[/QUOTE]
iirc the last time Marbozir did an Ironman Impossible vanilla run he killed the final boss in one turn then as well
The problem is the final boss is really just a giant bullseye that will get absolutely smashed the turn you spot it by any combination of auto-hit equipment like rockets, never-miss always-crit Colonels with plasma snipers that can fire twice and suicide-charging assaults.
In X-COM 2 I seriously hope they reconsider how to make a final boss that can't just be wiped out like that easily.
Help, is it possible to somehow move my Long War (which is installed on Steam obv.) to elsewhere, so that I can install EW without mods for multiplayer?
[QUOTE=The Jack;47991881]Long war looks to be horrifically balanced.[/QUOTE]
And the normal game isn't?
Yeah, I really don't get people who can't adapt to Long Wars difficulty and then complain. It's not horribly balanced, you just have to adjust to how it plays differently.
Remember when the game first came out and people would cry in horror at the sight of Chrysalids and Thin Men and would say they were unbalanced but you learned how they worked and figured out strats? It's the same thing.
Most complaints I see are aimed at screenshots/looking at stuff on the wiki of high HP enemies which are clearly in the mid/late game, at which point you've figured out what works and what doesn't and you can just destroy high HP enemies pretty quick.
Although Air Game is pretty fucked and early versions were less well-balanced but 15E is good.
In the regular game thin men are piss easy, and Cryssalids aren't too bad once you've encountered them a few times.
[QUOTE=Taggart;47989694]Another funny thing I noticed in the trailer is that when the Advent guys were activated, the two furthest from the action (on the other side of the barrier) nonchalantly walk forward and [I]knock out two of the crowd while they're at it.[/I]
Advent does not really care for keeping appearances once XCOM is on the scene, apparently.[/QUOTE]
Nah they just spotted the Steam sale.
[QUOTE=Takuat;47992491]Yeah, I really don't get people who can't adapt to Long Wars difficulty and then complain. It's not horribly balanced, you just have to adjust to how it plays differently.
Remember when the game first came out and people would cry in horror at the sight of Chrysalids and Thin Men and would say they were unbalanced but you learned how they worked and figured out strats? It's the same thing.
Most complaints I see are aimed at screenshots/looking at stuff on the wiki of high HP enemies which are clearly in the mid/late game, at which point you've figured out what works and what doesn't and you can just destroy high HP enemies pretty quick.
Although Air Game is pretty fucked and early versions were less well-balanced but 15E is good.[/QUOTE]
There are certain things that while is nice that Long War changed, it did NOT adapt the rest of the gameplay features it was tied with.
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The Cover system rework is pretty good. In Vanilla Low Cover / Flying gave you only 20 DEF and High 40 DEF, making Low cover just completely useless, even when you hunker down it just feels bad, so the rework of making Low Cover / Flying to 30 DEF and High Coveer to 45 is a nice change to make it feel so that cover still has some form of use even in late game.
However
This makes the early months of the game goddamn horrendous to level up your squad or even let alone get good kills. The fact is, a rookie trying to shoot a sectoid behind full cover at more than 10 tiles is gonna have a 20% chance to hit and 35% if it's only half. Not to mention the drones are hilariously hard to hit, even at point blank, if it ain't a shotgun just cause of that 30 DEF from flying. If anything, Long War should have made it so that soldiers base Aim is now boosted from 65 to 70 in order to compensate for this change. And no, equipping a laser sight to all of my soldiers is not a proper solution to this.
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The Air Game is nicely revamped to actually be a bigger challenge now, since in Vanilla your interceptors barely took damage unless it's a Battleship or an Overseer. Plus their repair time was fairly short, I don't think I've ever seen anything past a week of repair. They were really cheap to buy and maintain as well, and all of the weapons had a high chance of hit to begin with. So, Long War's change on stances, and Aim and defense improvements on pilots is a welcome addition.
However
They went in the polar-opposite when it came to the maintenance of your aircraft. First off the interception time is absurdly low. There is a good chance you have to spend at least 2, maybe even 3 if you are unlucky, Interceptors on a small Scout. That is if they don't get away by then. Secondly, the repair times are balls to the wall insane. 28 days to repair an interceptor that's at about 3/4 health? If they plan on keeping something as crazy as that, which mind you can happen if your interceptors get shot about 3-4 times from a scout, they should make it so that you can still launch your Interceptors, even if they are damaged. If they can make it back from an interception barely alive, they outta go back to fighting in not-so-top-notch condition too. Also, mounting a Laser Cannon on an Interceptor takes a week? I'd understand if they made it like 3 days or something, but a whole week for just one interceptor? No, they just plainly stretched the air-game to make it painful.
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The new Damage Reduction value is a very nice strategic element to the game. Especially how they made it factor into both Cover and Armor/Items. Heck even a genemod. I've always thought that player's who try their best to give the best spot of cover/armor/items to a certain soldier should have some bonus of a reduced damage, and this plays in nicely.
However
Late game, this is a complete niche. It's one for having enemies bathe in Passive DEF bonuses, but having them soaked in Damage Resistance is another. The REAL problem is the Robotic units. I get that since they are robotic, they get more Damage Resistance, but having a passive 5+ DR just comes to complete standstills, ESPECIALLY if they have that goddamn Absorption Fields perk or whatever, where the more you shoot them, the more DR they get. I've had enemies with 10+ DR Late game. And that is all the damage from a Single shot, literally. I've had so many situations where I deal 0-3 damage on a good shot, that gets translated into complete BS. To counteract this, you just have to build MECs, there is no going around that, the only thing that can tank like crazy is a MEC of your own, which makes it so that even though there are like, 8 classes of MECs, you only need like 2, one of which is designed to take as much punishment as possible.
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Explosives are now nicely reworked in Long War to do randomized damage, depending on how far away from the center of the explosion a target it. Even the rocket launcher is way better now, with the tile spreading formula they have going on, instead of a passive 90% chance to fuck up.
However
Cover destruction early game is a joke. Most of the time, your HE grenades do fuck all to blow up a wall like a proper explosive. This makes taking Sapper on Engineers a must if you even plan on doing anything useful with your grenades early on. Late game Sapper is useless, cause Alien grenades actually do a lot of environmental damage. And even then, this brings up the second type of MEC you need, which is one who is full of Grenades and Proxy mines. They become perfect for just explosive spamming and you NEED to do that late game, because again, you can't win with normal shots, due to that absurd DR most enemies get.
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Those are some of my main gripes, which I think Long War just didn't balance properly. So no, it's not about coming up with a strategy to get by late-game enemies at all, you end up having to follow a Meta instead of allowing the user to make their own solutions around a problem.
[QUOTE=G3rman;47992307]And the normal game isn't?[/QUOTE]
I don't see vanilla feature sectoids with up to 3 chain reaction shots, +1 pistol damage and no range penalty, use all sorts of psi powers with their rapidly growing will, get full cover from low cover, and have 6 base hp.
Or how about the fact that Alpha Chryssalids exist, or that you can have 5 interceptors in a country and [i]still[/i] fail to take down some craft.
The air game is completely shit in vanilla and any mod I've ever seen, so I really hope it's either completely redone to fit the guerrilla theme or it's... well... yeah I hope it's just completely redone because there's no good way to salvage it.
The air combat in Enemy Within looks like a half-assed mobile game and mods tacking on difficulty doesn't help.
[QUOTE=CGNick;47993031]WALL OF REALLY GOOD POINTS ABOUT LONG WAR[/QUOTE]
All of these have to be fixed via other mods or manually tweaking that configuration program for Long War (My Long War) and some of these can't even be changed.
[QUOTE=CGNick;47993031][out of] 8 classes of MECs, you only need like 2, one of which is designed to take as much punishment as possible.[/QUOTE]
Which one are those?
[editline]18th June 2015[/editline]
Also you mentioned on grenades being useless early game, I have to disagree on that.
I know they don't destroy some sturdy objects, like Alien ship hulls notably (gotta use AP grenades where suited), but simple fences and boxes and thin-ish walls, and trashcans, and wooden benches. Stuff like that can be blown up easily, then followed by gunfire.
Mostly Abduction missions I've noticed, for UFO landings/crashes I pack some AP's.
[editline]18th June 2015[/editline]
I pack HE grenades on Infantry troops like always, because they can shoot and throw a grenade in same turn. Or shoot twice. Or shoot and reload, or [DEL]throw a grenade and reload.[/DEL]
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