Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks

[Dioxine]

Hail.
Here's latest download link and recent changelongs.
If you're upgrading mid-campaign, make sure to check the 'upgrading saves' thread.


MOD HERE: https://dl.dropbox.com/s/brguff4je90o1ud/Dioxine_XPiratez_L6.7zs


Read the install instructions carefully. No joke. Srsly. Then the Bootypedia, to avoid premature death.
Suffering awaits. And boobs.

Video Tutorial: Install X-Piratez by Ivan Dogovich
https://youtu.be/L1WUpX9n7gY?t=54m11s

v.L6 06-Dec-2020 Bag Of Tricks
- OXCE upgrade to 6.8.3 30-Nov-2020
- Fix: Organ Grinder now spawns craft properly
- Fix: Manacles now actually work
- Fix: Looted Cyberdiscs can be taken to missions allowing flying tanks
- New Missions: Small Bandit Camp, Scum & Villainy
- New Armors: Skullstrider (Gnome & Lokk; gfx and idea by Erylia Starheart), Aggressor (Gals; Red Codex special instead of Chainmail; paperdoll by Perekrylo)
- New Weapons: More Mines (Fire, Stun, Acid, EMP, WP, Poison Gas, Crys-Gas, Knockout Gas, PS-Frag), Firecrackers, Combat Carbine
- New Ammo: Crys-Gas Cannonball, Mortar Shell/CRY, Bombard Shell/CRY, OGRE Phoenix Shells, Bossar/HVAP
- New Item: Hologal Pad
- New music: Celestial Fantasia
- New sounds: Gachi
- New gfx: +16 Gal avatars; +10 Syn avatars
- Global mission zone updates
- Hunter/Killer behaviour removed from the largest enemy ships
- Civilians pick up weapons aggressively now
- The Proffesional and Secret Base missions less hacky thanks to using updated OXCE code
- Craft Gauss cannon buff
- Admiral suit less punishing to high ranks
- Slight rebuild of the Aurora arc
- Merged & expanded the Great Advice mod (by OAK Group & Dukoni Ber)
- Rescue Pod Repair Bills
- Armors gfx fixes & updates (including full layering of Syn armors; thx to Bloax)
- Laser weapons now can set on fire, Chem rounds more likely to cause smoke
- HMG small and medium clips take more inventory space
- WP munitions now cause some armor dmg
- Crys-Gas ammo can now be manufactured
- Stun Grenades tweaked (explode on impact, other adjustments)
- Bootypedia improvements
- Categories improvements
- Increased enemy Melee buff on higher difficulties, slightly decreased Firing
- Lots of other weapon tweaks
- Experimental: Slaves Gone Wild (new units: basic slave, maid, specialist, taskmaster, worker, gladiatrix, yeoman)
- Map fixes, Condemnation fixes, other fixes

v.L5A2 01-Nov-2020 New Energy v2
- Fix: Taberna Del Diablo mission gen crash
- Nuke Map crash fixes, voxelmap fixes, passability fixes
- Thicc Wall fixes
- Other fixes
- Melee damage to terrain reduced to sane levels, fine-tuned for every weapon

v.L5 30-Oct-2020 New Energy
- OXCE upgrade to 6.7.2 24-Oct-2020
- Fix: rare Party Dress crash
- New Enemy: Assault Ninja
- New Enemy Mission: Ninja Patrol
- New Enemy Craft: Ninja Jetbike
- New Mission: Taberna Del Diablo
- New Facilities: Disruptor Shroud, Alenium Chamber
- New Craft: V-8 (Cadillac El Dorado by Alex_D), Little Bird (by Alex_D and Perekrylo)
- New Craft Equipment: Shadowshield
- New Soldier Type: Damsel (recruited from DILDO, has her own special armor)
- New Armors: Scale Mail (Shield), Cybermage (Bugeye; thanks to XOps and Solarius)
- New Weapon: Quicksilver Cutlass
- New Ammo: Combat Bow PS Arrows
- New Equipment: Armored Corset, Magnificient Pirate Hat, Cigar 'El Commandante'
- New Terrains: Nuke Zone (by Luke83), Nuke City (by Luke83)
- New Maps for CoS temples (by Wolverin)
- New Events
- New Music (~EnV~Tranceish; A New Energy)
- New special mechanics for Handcuffs (modified Kozinsky's script)
- Retouched Charts GUI (by OAK Group)
- Added flash messages for personal shields hit and breached (copied from Nord's Chronicles mod)
- All trainings now give some sort of Soldier Bonus to keep track of them.
- Due to the above: Repentias cannot undergo Gladiatorial Training anymore.
- Chocolate added to loot here and there; More goods from crushing rocks
- Potions of Freshness (added to super-long missions)
- Extra loot for Space Freighter
- Increased radar range for Outpost and some defensive systems
- Airbuses can now be bought from Car Thieves
- Airvan got a weapon
- Fighters go faster (some of them)
- Annihilator Armor has shields now
- Govt Fines added
- Removed Best Exploit Ever
- Melee terrain damage and other new OXCE stuff
- Tech tree adjustments, Tweaks, Map Fixes, Other fixes

v.L4 15-Sep-2020  Mad Melee Massacre
- OXCE Upgrade to 6.6.1+ 12-Sep-2020
- Fixes to psiSkill overflow (again)
- Fixes to enemy morale regen (again)
- Fixes to Mutant Blessings (again)
- Fixed EMP weapons (erroneously ignoring Shock Immunity)
- Fixed Chort ranks
- Fixed X-Vampiress recovery
- Fixes to Recon Expeditions
- New Missions: Haunted Forest, Isolated Valley
- New Facility: Bee Hive
- New Armor: Ghostbuster (PEA)
- Experimental: extended melee reactions enabled
- Experimental: off-centre shooting by Karadoc (enabled by default)
- Basescape Gfx update (WIP)
- Dogs can bark now which reduces enemy TU, Morale
- Battle Tank can now be used as craft in missions (battlemap, turret unit & weapon added)
- Battle Tank manufacturing time x2, M1A1 version removed
- Basic Mecha Armor weapon changed to Aircraft HMG (fixes no-rotation and no-reload issue)
- Zombie damage type changed to Daze
- Chryssalids and other zombifying units now need to actually cause damage to zombify
- More Pedia stuff
- Tweaks, Improovements, Adjustments, Map Fixes, Other minor fixes

v.L3 23-Aug-2020 The Byzantine Crown
- OXCE Upgrade to 6.6 22-Aug-2020
- Fixed Aqua Plastic recovery from USO
- Fixed V.Skill overflow for Weirdgals and Gnomes
- Fixed unduly disappearing handheld shields
- Map Fixes
- New Missions: Party!, Attack On Winter Palace
- New Enemies: Pillbox, +6 enemy types for the Assault On Winter Palace mission
- New Weapons: Durandal Cannon, Concealable RR
- New Items: Polymakh's Cap (by OAK Group), Dog Collar (by Solarius Scorch)
- New Transformations: Lifeforce Focusing (x3)
- New Inv Images: Marsec Sentry Drone (based on Brain's picture), Marsec Hunter Drone (Voidavatar's)
- New gfx for X-Vampiress bite (by Xom126) and tank track animation (co-made with Xom126)
- New Events
- Animated Armored Cars (Xom126, Perekrylo)
- Gfx improvements by Bloax
- Chorts expanded
- Vehicles and Testudo armor now pay extra TU for turning
- Gals get morale bonus when defending Hideout
- Enemy Morale Recovery slower, but also even slower decay
- Mutant Blessings Fixed/Expanded
- Removed effects of Best Kind of Friend Condemnation, changed effects of Gal of Steel
- Shields on melee armors now have lower skill bonus to Evasion, get some flat bonus instead
- Riot Shield now protects vs Stabbing
- Red Shields easier to get
- Superhero armor harder to get
- Skulls now drain more Morale, Drug Dispenser buffed, Tome of Lightning electric again
- Minor fixes, tweaks, additions

v.L2 21-May-2020 Blood And Skulls
- OXCE upgrade to 6.5.1 21-May-2020
- New Item Pedia interface (by Bloax)
- New Events
- New Terrain: Snow Forest (by Solarius Scorch)
- New Facility: Flak Tower
- New Armors: Cyberpunk (LOK), The Hero, Patient, Lingerie (x3), Dresses (x3)
- New Ammo: Shiny Niner Magnum Rounds (also upgraded Slay and EP munitions)
- New Augmentation: Nightshade (PEA)
- Hit FX added
- More Gfx Goodness from Bloax
- Captain Kidd easier
- Armors with HP regen, regen it fully after combat (at Freshness cost)
- Adjustments to aircombat. Pilots get slightly less +dodge, slightly more +acc. Friendly escort range increased.
- All enemies have properly set Freshness stat now
- Overhauled enemy stat recovery system (less cheaty now, Fresh damage viable to debilitate them)
- All weapons updated for possible Freshness damage
- Making missions in certain craft now adds extra Glamour and/or Databases; Expedition - Journey Notes.
- Base defense turrets now AI-controlled, stats buffed
- Raynerd mission rolled back to how it was early on
- Vessel behaviour fixes: Labship, HK-117
- Repentia & Holy Warrior buffs
- Trainings and Transformations now honor bonus stats for minimum requirements
- Improvements of battery-craft tilesets (mostly lighting effects)
- Content-adding, polishing, disturbing
- Terrain/map fixes

v.L1A1 9-Apr-2020 Aurora Nights 2
- OXCE upgrade to 6.4.2.1
- Fixed bank robbery mission
- Fixed Blue Turret crash
- Fixed some map crashes
- New Vessel Component: STC Zortrium Plating
- New Armor: Plate Mail (Lokk'Naar)
- New Weapons: Fish Grenade (Deep Ones), Huge Bone
- New Ammo: Longbow Tarnian Arrows
- New Item: Golden Mask
- New smashing spriteworks by Bloax!
- New Academy and Brothel buildings by Wolverin
- Starting Hideout changes: added Land Deed and extra Security Corridor
- Rebalanced White Worm and Shadowbat stats
- Glitter armor rechristened to Sear, shield changed to Red
- Most Electric Stun Weapons do some HP dmg now.
- Un-Surrealistiked damage formulas on Stone Hatchet and Bone Club.
- Buffs to some sniper weapons
- Buffs to Staff of Explosion and Phantom Whip
- Extra recruitment option: Veterans for Glamour
- You need to pay for ship damages in Battlescape now
- Capitatory Tax
- Cydonia tweaks
- AI behaviour tweaks
- Regenerating units/armors have 0 recovery time, instead they get a proportional Freshness hit.
- Lots of new Lore, including the new VIP section
- Smoothing out rough edges
- Removing unused terrain/map/route files
- Small fixes

v.L1 1-Apr-2020 Aurora Nights
- Exec update to OXCE 6.4.2+ 18-Mar-2020
- Fix: most medkits can heal standing enemies again
- New Enemy Vessel: HK-117
- New Enemy: Blue Turret
- New Armor: Zortrium Suit
- New Ammunition: C.Bow Stun Arrows
- Hobbesocalypse
- New Gfx and Ambients by Perekrylo
- New maps made: OVER ONE HUNDRED. Thx for help to Solarius Scorch, Wolverin
- New Terrains made: Chemtown, Industrial Slum
- New Terrains/Maps/Scangs from Community Terrain Pack (Bulletdesigner, Luke83, Efrenespartano)
- Terrain Upgrades: ROCKY ROAD TAKE GRUG HOME, TO THE CAVE GRUG BELONGS
- Globe rework
- Inventory rearranged: wearables now have their special slots
- Expanded shipping radar markers
- Mecha Suits now have Grabbers
- Randomized Personal Computer disassembly (based on Grub's work)
- Minor fixes, and adjustments of "fixes", and other delights

v.K2 2-Nov-2019 Ice Ice Cool
- OXCE upgrade to 6.1.1. 2-Nov-2019
- Fix: more tile fixes (thx to Meridian)
- Fix: bugged Space Station tile fixes from K1
- Fix: morale regen on Space Pod/Gal
- Fix: enemy radar circles were not being always drawn
- Fix: Trapmaster condemnation
- Fix: heat/cold resistances on items
- New Mission: Beach Sweep
- New Weapons: Heavy Rifle, Advanced Minigun, ATGM Launcher, Servo Mortar, Hand Mortar, Bootleg Plasma (x4), Singing Spear
- New Ammo: Bombard/WP, Minigun/ETAP, HMG/MAG (x3), Combat Bow Explosive Arrows
- New Music
- White Dragon has BH Tokens and offers prizes now
- Enemy fighters have lower weapon ranges
- Most enemy hunter-killers tries to flee when damaged instead of fighting to the death now
- Menace class ships got STC slots, weapons slightly reshuffled
- Shadowbat's armaments changed to 2xLT, 2xSTC
- Missiles buffed
- Admiral outfit buffed
- Throwing cost changed from 30 TU flat to 40% TU
- Grenade unpriming cost reduced, priming costs revised (baseline is now 30% TUs)
- Instant Explosives cost changed from flat to % (baseline assumed 70-75 Max TU), added unique strings
- Reduced extreme morale damage on most incendiaries (flamers excluded)
- Added unique rank images for Syns; fixed Lokk'Narr & Gnome ranks
- Adjusted ship attack bonuses for Mercs and Zombies
- Improved map light sources
- Additions, Fixes, Rebalances

v.K1 17-Nov-2019
- Exec upgrade to OXCE 6.0 13-Nov-2019
- Fix: Synth morale issues
- Critical Error Terrain Fixes (special thanks to Meridian for bugfinding)
- New Missions: Apocalypse Tunnels, Hell Outpost
- New Feature: Random Events
- New Feature: Freshness System
- New Feature: Condemnation Bonuses
- New Feature: Random Base Names
- New Feature: Enemy Panic & Berserk sounds; hence, enemy panic txt messages now locked OFF
- New & Updated Condemnations
- New Enemy: Spiderdemon (sprites by Abyss)
- New Facility: Love Clinic
- New Weapons: Staff of Explosion, Phantom Whip
- New Item: Bandaid Kit
- New Trainings: Mutant Martial Arts, Nepotism
- New Music: Castlemania by amIEvil (conversion by Bloax)
- All soldier races have ranks now (also lowered rank cash bonus)
- All grenades explode in inventory when the timer runs out
- Rabid Fans and Groupies removed; now Stardom brings special events.
- Combat-oriented enemy aircraft now actively attacks you
- Enemy morale regen lowered
- Advanced Medipack reduced to 3 charges, adjustments to many items
- Engineered Biomatter replaced by Boomfruit or removed in all manufactuing recipes
- Other Fixes, Rebalancing and Improvements

v.J17.A 8-Sep-2019
- Updated OXCE Common/Standard directories (lang fix)
- Fixed: agricultural goods recovery sheaningans
- Human-sized soldiers have lower kneel hitbox; general hitbox size updates
- New feature: Berserk and Panic sounds for player units
- New feature: Gotta Go Fast. Finishing missions quick is likely to award Glamour and extra score.
- New feature: Damsel In Lethal Distress, Ohhh!
- New Combat Unit: Robo-Parrot (co-made by Osobist)
- New Weapon: Advanced Rifle
- Minor Fixes (thx to Kato), Adjustments

v.J17 1-Sep-2019
- Exec Update to OXCE 5.6.1 special build by Finnik w/ loading splashscreen feature by Stoddard
- Fixes to Gfx and Code to support new exec; some tidying-up and new gfx involved
- Rebuilt special mission enviros/starting conditions for the new exec. Report any suspicious behaviour!
- Fixed underwater explosions
- Fix: Sonic weapons crash
- Fix: Spacesuits not protecting from the coldness of space
- Fix: Devil's Reef mission (first stage removed)
- New damage type: Stabbing
- New soldier type/transformation: Weirdgal. Only weirdgals can wear voodoo outfits (which were streamlined accordingly).
- Expanded Recon Expeditions mechanics
- Adjustments to Amazon, Savage, Berserker and Tamed Werewolves. The last three can now use the Wild Howl skill.
- Updated soldier ranks and flags
- Minor Fixes, Additions

v.J16 08-Aug-2019
- Now contains html format external Bootypedia by Tylor/Baturinsky
- Fix: Crash on wearing Operator armor
- Fix: Saviour and Destructor outfits researchable again
- Fixed/Improved the Truth is Out There mission
- Fixes to globe
- New Missions: Devil's Reef, Zombie Panic
- New content on Demon God Shrines
- New Enemies: Aquaman, Marauder of Apocalypse, Tomb Guard, Black Pyramid
- New Facility: Metagarden (green codex)
- New Armors: Purgatoria (red codex), Runt/Bug
- New Weapons: UAC Heavy Nailgun, Metagenic Plant (green codex), Warhammer, Boathook
- New Ammo: Heavy Shotgun Slugs/AP, Painbringer Clip/Inc
- New Consummables: Fun-Go!
- Jack Sparrrow difficulty level increased
- Buffs to Gray Codex: Sorceress easier to research, Conversion Launcher +50% damage, extra Gnome + Brainer Outfit when Using Drill.
- All vaults and Outposts provide more storage. All vaults provide some workshop space. Hangars provide more workshop space.
- Slavery gives Glamour now
- Airbus is slower, but has more range. Similar crafts adjusted slightly.
- Witch Outfit now Gray-Only
- Brainer Outfit buffed
- Overhauled O'Harty's gun
- Secret Bases are now defended by Hunter-Killers
- Tweaks to missions: They Came From The Sea, Secret Base Supply
- Church Cardinal's MC replaced with Seduction, +V.STR
- Tweaks to Wrestling and Martial Arts
- Adjustments to Killgun, Linux, Assault and Big Ben SMGs, and other weapons
- Window transparency added to "Apocalypse Craft" tilesets (originally by Robin), eg. battery craft, guild warehouses etc.
- Hit animation consistency improved
- Minor and less minor Fixes, Improvements, Tech tree adjustments, extra lore

v.J15 11-Jun-2019
- Fixed Gnome recruitment
- Terrain fixes (Savanna, Steppe, Pirate Hideout)
- Fixed non-working Shields of enviro versions of Aqua, Furiosa armors
- New Mission: The Truth is Out There
- New Facility: Personal Labs (+4 Brainers). Tech Tree adjustments, Old Earth Lab capacity 15->12.
- New Craft: Trucks
- New Soldier Type: Pirate Dog
- New Armors: Operator (SS)
- New Vehicle Armors: XEC/Paladin, XEC/Archer (old Archer renamed to Lancer), XEC/Exorcist
- New Weapons: Mini Cannon, Marsec Frag Grenade, Ol' Rifle, Light Machinegun, Chaos Dagger
- New Ammo: Minibombs (HE, Gas, Hellerium), Imperator Missile
- New Items: Small Arcane Shield, Small Disruptor Shield, Small Refractor Shield, Small Energy Shield (two old handheld shields replaced), Arcane Strongbox, Prepper Box
- New Dark One Soldier spritesheet by Кнроптл
- New Hot and Cold enviro palettes by Кнроптл and Bloax
- Complete Energy Shields system overhaul
- Lessened TU penalty on some armors which don't allow running (esp. Loader)
- Extra loot in Space Freighter
- Improved accuracy of most enemy military vessels by +5, fighters by +10 (DPM in desc. adjusted)
- Overhauled item categories
- More paperdoll layering
- Lots of minor fixes
- Plethora of rebalances, tweaks and additions

[pilot00]

Looking forward to it bro

[Roxis231]

Extended just replaces the EXE, right.  No other modifications to Open-Xcom are needed?

[Dioxine]

It doesn't even replace the OXCom exe, you just dump it alongside. If you don't start the game using the custom .exe, it will just work as normal. No modifications at all.

[Arthanor]

Oh! I have been looking forward to that! Count on me to give it a try as soon as you push something. Hopefully I will finish my current game too though..

I'm guessing you consider the latest Piratez release to be as "feature complete" as possible in OpenXCom?

Just the idea of multiple craft slots for customization and power ups fits really well with pirates! This is exciting!

[Phoenix7786]

And so, I'm starting to work on it, and this will be the developement thread. Any further expansion of vanilla Piratez is cancelled, effective today.

Understood. I'll be looking forward to it!

[Dioxine]

Oh! I have been looking forward to that! Count on me to give it a try as soon as you push something. Hopefully I will finish my current game too though..

I'm guessing you consider the latest Piratez release to be as "feature complete" as possible in OpenXCom?

Just the idea of multiple craft slots for customization and power ups fits really well with pirates! This is exciting!

Well, complete enough to be fully playable & enjoyable. It has everything it has to have, but I'm not saying there won't be new factions/weapons etc. in the future

[robin]

good, good!

unravel all those features,
so when it's my turn I'll just have to copy-paste from your ruleset

 

[Dioxine]

So I've started to build new melee weapon balance and boy it is a complex problem now

Here's a table with what I have so far, thoughts on that are welcome (keep in mind that damage is only a single factor: accuracy and TU cost varies, plus every attack will cost Stamina, equal to weapon's weight):

[ivandogovich]

I think the stamina cost is too high, as it will make the current Hammer unplayable.  I guess an "extended" hammer could be lighter.  Or you could boost the stamina range of the Pirates. 

Creating stamina costs is not bad, it will just make the already very difficult early game, almost impossible?  At least much more bloody. I think the player would suffer many more casualties this way.

[pilot00]

I think the stamina cost is too high, as it will make the current Hammer unplayable.  I guess an "extended" hammer could be lighter.  Or you could boost the stamina range of the Pirates. 

Creating stamina costs is not bad, it will just make the already very difficult early game, almost impossible?  At least much more bloody. I think the player would suffer many more casualties this way.

Y m2. It already gets bad with certain soldiers having useless stats when you hire em and they will be unable to effectively use melee weapons. This complecates things even further, when used in conjunction with the constant draw of stamina from moving you will be running in situations where, run or fight will not be an option since you wont be able to do anything of the two.

Personally I find it to a be an unnessary complication, but thats me. Especially since the gals are starting with terrible accuracy almost always.

[Dioxine]

Maybe the full weight cost is too much for melee weapons; 2/3rds might be better. I will also put a Stamina cost on throwing, about 2x the weight of an item (capped at about 16 or so).

Anyway, this will curb the over-reliance on melee and thrown weapons in damage dealing; Ivan's LP shows clearly that you practically don't need to use guns, which is definitely a bad sign.

[ivandogovich]

It may be true that in the early game you can play without guns, in fact its probably the only way to survive.   Early guns are just too horrible to bother with.  You will almost always face enemies that will just laugh at them.   

My point is that if you nerf melee and grenades, you may make the early game so difficult that there may be no way to get past it.

[Arthanor]

Yup, I agree too. The reason for not using guns is that they can't penetrate armor. Melee and explosives are the obvious (and only) answer to that.

A pirate would be crazy to engage a trader security guard in a firefight until quite late in the game (I've got heavy armor now but still nothing to shoot him with reliably). You don't have a gun that can hurt him and you don't have armor that can resist his gun. It's a losing proposition and the answer is black powder bombs and melee rush.

Then you get the unarmoured ones (GOs, hostesses and especially engineers), which are often worth thousands as hostages (which you also only catch in melee) but nothing dead. I've used the harpoon gun relatively successfully for that but it's the only gun I use much.

I have smgs and scoped/sniper rifles for support gals but they can't take out armor so I only use them for reaction shots or if I end up badly positioned. They are basically there for training as it is pointless to have 18 melee gals,  the slower ones get left behind anyways. They might as well have a gun amd carry medikits. Even then, with a tac vest or better I'll often face tank a pistol/shotgun/rifle and punch the GOs in the face next turn for the ransom. Melee is also much better in small spaces.

In pogroms I actually use explosives (rpgs too, if that counts as a gun) more because I value saving civilians more than taking hostages. But you still meet power armor dudes that need melee and a few valuable targets that make good hostages or interrogation fodder. Explosives are too expensive to use in shipping crashes though so I use black powder bombs a lot.

The only time I'll happily use guns is on raiders. They are unarmoured so the guns work and they are worth nothing to ransom. They are actually a bit refreshing because of that.

We use guns irl because they hurt people at a distance well enough to take them out and it is obviously safer because you can duck back instead of rushing forward. In Piratez conventional guns can't really hurt the dangerous types so you are more in a middle ages situation. I believe that when lasers (and other advanced guns) become available, it will change the game.

In fact, I think of your mod as a kind of late middle ages situation where melee dominates because of armor, then you invent guns that bypass it and it becomes more balanced. Which works really well to represent a primitive gang starting up as pirates then coming into modern warfare as they make progress. It is something that adds to your storytelling and that I think is great in Piratez.

It takes a while to get to guns that actually do something (or have enough cash that rpg and grenade launchers can be used regularly) but that's ok. It gives the game a different feel and makes the guns welcome when they show up and it works with the narrative.

[Dioxine]

Fair points, guys. I will certainly not impose these ideas upon people without serious prior testing. Maybe it's just my playstyle: I know that personal-armored guys can be brought down with continuous barage of Str 30+ firearms, and using a grenade is basically an easy way out. I usually keep 60% ranged, 40% melee+ranged squad; true I don't want to force this playstyle upon people, but guns seem to be under-appreciated. Like I said, I will test this new melee formula out and see how really it does hamper the melee combat; I think the debuff will be rather slight. Plus there will be new advantages and ways to handle the enemy.