donno if there was a joe thread about this before or not

played for 2 hours on classic (3/4) difficulty, screwed myself over a few times learning things (like you cant walk then fire a heavy weapon in same turn), etc, entire squad died two missions in a row, didnt know it took time to buy new soldiers, etc, now i have to restart

restarting now @ classic difficulty, tutorial off, "ironman" mode

classic ironman is a fucking whore

i dont understand the firing mechanics, how does this even happen that the enemy there shoots across the field, up an elevation and behind a giant boulder to kill my guy from full health in one shot

is it all just really luck-based and you just need to play above average? its hard to get a read on what strategy to use when it just seems random what the enemies do on their turn

anyway because of that dumb kill on my most experienced soldier, i left that fight with 1 gravely wounded and 3 dead, back to square 1 (4 rookies)

not only is there a roll of the die, but half cover is not 100% from head on iirc. and on classic the computer has the advantage with the damage. its not always like that, there is huge rng. you can have many 99% chance to hit and miss. i think what happens is the computer has a hidden % bonus or something on classic.

you just have to play the averages, and expect losses on classic. and by averages i mean dont ever end your turn on an advance. advancing is your first move, retreat and overwatch is the last. until you get a feel for how rng the combat seems and when it does not seem.

ohh, and tech is everything. aka as you advance weapons you get an inherent bonus. and iirc aliens are immediately one tech up from you (the green lasers or w/e)

next mission, all 4 rookies die (3 die, i rescue the vip, then i have to go hunt down the last 2 aliens with 1 soldier left, she dies and the vip somehow isnt rescued either)

it seems like you need to be constantly aggressive with a flanker, because if you in cover and trading shots, youre just going to have your guys die to kill 1 alien

its really bad design to have such a large reliance on rng when your soldiers/enemies kill each other in 1 hit, im getting pretty angry

update; got through the mission with 4 level 1 recruits, all got promoted, went with 2 upgraded armor 2 medkits for next mission

started next mission in great shape, killed 3 enemies right off the bat, then a vehicle i had 2 people covering behind spontaneously exploded without anything shooting at it and critically wounded/incapacitated 2 of my soldiersthey were both the ones with the medkits

update on result. got so lucky with reaction shots, and enemies walking straight into my shotgun heavy weapons guy

^ got gifted a sgt assault soldier for above said mission, although mexico is now fully panicked and withdrew from council, and 3 others are fully panicked

next mission; half robot half body thing teleports behind me, murders said sgt in one 9 damage critical laser hit

still have 3 men (all promoted living through 2 missions at this point) alive, spend the next 20 minutes walking strategically toward this downed UFO expecting enemies to appear every single move (they dont, thus 20 minutes)

get to this final small ass room that i open up hidden behind the door frames, put one guy at each and open them up to find this laser faggot

shoot from one door across the room diagonally, 40 some chance to hit, misses
cant attack him with other 2 guys without walking in the middle of the open door

enemy round 1, he moves to the other side, shoots from the exact same spot i shot him from and kills my guy with a 9 damage crit
my round 2, use my guy on the other door frame (who is now in position to fire on the enemy because he switched) to shoot him, it hits, 4 damage out of 5 hp
enemy round 2, he shoots through the other door frame, kills my second guy
my round 3, shoot him and miss
enemy round 3, moves to other door frame and kills my third guy with a third consecutive 9 damage crit


engage the rage








obligatory took screenshot right as i realized what was about to happen, for future rage purposes

im pretty mad

gonna have to start another new game tommorrow

how do i gun

game 4 update, started off pretty solid, using blue moves/overwatch now like youre supposed to

i think ive done 5 missions now, had 1 soldier die in each except for one. latest mission i had 2 corporals and 2 squaddies, so i benched one of the sq and brought a rookie (so in case i wipe, or lose 2 guys and have 1 grievously injured, i wont have to start 4 rookies and ruin my game). turns out the rookie was the one that died (thin man jumped off roof and right into the door he was standing at, he wasnt overwatched because he just fired at a regular alien that was coming from the side) and my 2 corporals both got promotes to sgt, so it worked out

also got gifted a sgt support class from that mission, so gained lots of experience for my team

This post has been edited by randomtask on Thu - Mar 28 2013 - 21:10:02

following mission, 4 sectoids are spawned at same time in a courtyard im on the edge of (outside), 3 shoot at the same guy whos covered behind a brick wall (full shield), each do 2 damage = 6 health = dead sgt sniper
entered courtyard to full cover positions with heavy and assault, then covered them both in smoke from new sgt support, then moved her up on a catwalk overlooking the courtyard

need to use heavy rocket to kill one of the aliens who flanked my 2 guys (had them in hunker down instead of overwatch to they wouldnt get magical critted to death in 1 shot), the rocket blew up the cover on the catwalk, sectoid crit kills my sgt support

finish mission with my 2 faggots, lost my 2 best soldiers for a shit mission with shit rewards that shouldnt even have been difficult


edit: actually got a new sgt sniper as a reward, and my surviving heavy weapons guy hit lieutenant, so i guess i didnt come out too far behind for having 2 guys die

This post has been edited by randomtask on Thu - Mar 28 2013 - 21:32:35

why do i not believe this game when it says this location is a full shield of cover

^ were 2 of the half robot things, 4 thin men, and 2 sectoid in this mission, my sniper reaction killed 2 of them instantly when they spawned. LMG guy and shotgun guy took out the 2 half robots from full cover at low range when they spawned, and there was only the 2 sectoids left inside that gas station at top of that screenshot

"psycho" nicknamed 9 hp assault guy was just close enough to run+gun to 1 space inside the door, point blank shotgunned the 1 sectoid controlling the other for double kill, flawless mission (i dont think i got shot at, definitely didnt take any damage)

going on a few solid missions, now have a choice between invasions at moderate difficulty at panic level 2 countries, or a very difficult in panic level 4 china (lost one country from council already)

gonna go for china with my best soldiers and potentially lose the game right here, why not

i really i had the sgt support, 3x medkits is going to be a huge loss

This post has been edited by randomtask on Thu - Mar 28 2013 - 22:07:24

took me minimum 8 games to learn about flanking, not overextending, proper build, tech, dont die etc. game is super frustrating, and awesome. i hope you dont give up on it.

panic control is always #1. remember launching a satellite at the end of the month removes panic. scientists are overrated unless very early, engis are #1 if panic is equal. or go for cash if you need cash for that end of month satellite.

This post has been edited by blind_chief on Thu - Mar 28 2013 - 22:20:55

only shitty thing is the line of sight is not intuitive at all. you can shoot through solid brick walls, but you cant shoot across the hood of a truck/etc

it has to do with if you can step around to the square next to it. i agree thats its quirky at first, but kinda makes sense later on. and cover is as if you drew a 45 degree line from your "square" and your cover. if its on the cover side of the line, the cover stands, if its on the open side, you are not covered.

also, lmk how you like chryssalids

my support died again when 3 half robot things spawned outside and down the street from a warehouse i was in the process of entering, they shot diagonally into the doorframe like i always die

but overall mission was success, very tense when you have 3 soldiers with all used up consumables and no idea how many aliens are left

both my sgts were wounded in that mission, lt got promoted to captain, hes the only non-rookie i have for next mission, small ufo scout recon (hopefully is easy)

2 rookies died by regular shit enemies killing them across the map 1 hit

got to ufo with my 10 health captain assault with body armor, planted myself by the entry door to shoot at 3 shit enemies inside, energy creature spawned, 9 damage critical, soldier panicked. my 1 rookie left was flanking in the other side on that turn, was 1 space diagonally behind the energy creature, 90% chance to hit, missed

10 hp soldier (1 hp left, panicked and runs across the door to the other side, gets reaction shot killed by the sectoid. energy creature turns around and blows the shit out of the rookie who couldnt hit him from 2 feet away

gn8 this game, try 5 tomorrow

started new game, advancing slowly on intro mission in both, and 2 squads of 3 sectoids each spawn at the same time at 90 degree angles from where youre currently at, i dont get it

next game 2 squads spawned on same turn, then another squad of 3 when i made 1 blue move toward their flank (and then of course 6 damage critical killed my soldier behind half cover)

started another new game, cant get past first mission without 2 groups of aliens spawning at the same time and overwhelming my guys (i get 25% chance to hit them, they always hit me, from same distance)

im fairly certain your main issue is trying to take things head on, or uncovering area with your end moves, and not your beginning move. flank everything.

This game i was moving one soldier a blue move while the rest were overwatch. three aliens spawned. next turn i shot and killed one, and moved 1 soldier a blue move into a flanking position which spawned 3 more aliens (who will now shoot at my solitary soldier who is flanking the other aliens)

if you are playing on classic then you will be lucky to not lose soldiers, though some games the rng is stupid early on. just utilize explosives and survive.

its just early on. later in the game i can adapt to having 2 packs spawn at once with snipers/medkits/run+gun/smoke/etc. but when all my soldiers have 4 health and die in 2 hits, theres nothing you can do to not lose soldiers when that unlucky shit happens, then youre screwed for the rest of the game