OpenXcom Forum
Modding => XPiratez => Released Mods => XPZ Strategy/Tactics => Topic started by: FiendishDrWu on September 27, 2017, 10:28:50 pm
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As someone who played the original X-Com as a kid, I'm totally loving X-Piratez! It's quirky and fun, and the variability it brings to the table makes the 25+ year old game engine feel fresh & new again. In original X-Com, I'd invariably end up with a Skyranger full of soldiers in Powered Armor, with Heavy Plasma, except for a few who had Psi-Amps or Blaster Launchers. I'd scout the enemy, mind control the baddies, use them to find more baddies, mind control them, then march the whole lot out somewhere and shoot them with a blaster bomb. Not in this mod!
Right now, in Sept 2602, I'm using a Shadowbat for most of my ground missions. I typically have a mix of gals in Camp Paint/Guerrilla Gear, with Hunting/Auto/Battle/Las/Dragoon rifles up on the wings of the bat, along with Rogues with hunting bows and fire arrows, while my scouting is Barbarian/Amazon gals with Barbaric swords. I've been using this basic approach for almost a year in-game and it works pretty well. I GTFO immediately if I'm up against lots of Marsec/Megapol/Mercs, unless there's several near the Shadowbat I can get to with my sword Gals, but otherwise this approach works pretty well. I relied on grenades a lot in my earlier days, and I still keep some on board, along with shotguns, but I don't use grenades or shotguns much anymore, unless it's a really close-quarters mission, like an Archeological Dig. I've yet to really use the heavy weapons or explosives much; though I did use a grenade launcher against a Megapol landed ship to mixed results.
On underwater missions, I'm using my "B" team I keep for defense purposes at a manufacturing base, and my typical approach is to have them swim up to level 4 or 5, and slowly patrol. They're high enough so that they have clear lines of sight every direction and can't be easily surprised. They all have X-bows, which works fairly well - I've noticed the baddies I meet often take 5-6 X-bow shots to take down, but hey, low-risk ranged weapon training!
I managed to find a single space suit in a warehouse raid, so I typically have that on someone, armed with a heavy laser, during space missions. Those pods are terrible.
Any advice? What do you do differently?
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I GTFO immediately if I'm up against lots of Marsec/Megapol/Mercs, unless there's several near the Shadowbat I can get to with my sword Gals, but otherwise this approach works pretty well.
Ah, a connoisseur of the tactical retreat, how unusual.
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I'm partial to the heavy slugthrower at the moment. That 80 piercing can punch through lot of armor, and up to their optimum range, they are very accurate. I have a couple of gals who run seductress armor at the moment as well for when I run into power armor (these are the same gals who used to be my archers.) Armor rating does very little against charm damage :D
I also have an advance team, but they're armed with Riot Shields and Electro-whips/Zappers or a Bardiche, or Arena Flak Cannons depending on their specialty. Most are wearing Tac Armor(H).
I also keep a mortar, rotary grenade launcher, and recoiless rifle around for big nasties, and some super-chargers for low impact missions where I'd rather conserve ammunition.
Tactics wise, I'f I'm not doing what you do, I tend keep a sniper near my ship if applicable (sometimes in a grav harness if I'm expecting dense terrain), and then move the remaining gals in groups of twos and threes. One with a Heavy Slug Thrower/Flak Cannon, one melee oriented, and one Seductress (who also is armed with a zapper so it isn't so fatal if they go bezerk) I have the groups methodically clear on side of the map, while the sniper makes sure that nobody tries to move into the cleared areas.
Overall it works pretty well. Marsec and Megapol have very little defense against charm, and the sheer firepower of the Slug Thrower and Flak Cannon can punch through most of the non-powered armor I've come across with little-to-no effort. I switch to my backup loadout of Battle Rifles and Super-Chargers for reticulans, since they can't take much punishment.
The only group to give me trouble so far is the Ghouls, since they can take enough punishment to survive my alpha damage, though the Flak Cannon still sends them packing. I haven't met Raiders or Dark Ones yet. I'm in March of 2602.
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A few thoughts on your stated tactics and what I like in my current campaign.
I'm still early 2602, and I'm loving the Shadow Bat. I use a lot of the same, Guerilla gear, with some snipers on the wings. Usually my sniping gal (in a Sniper Suit) is up there for Firing Training, so I give her the Machine Gun with the tripod and let her crouch and blast away. The snap shots are great for reaction, and flinging 5 slugs in an auto burst is great for training. I'm using Starving Poet's stat Training custom Stat Strings, so I tend to focus on getting the gals trained up on things they are weak on. Early on, I trained firing accuracy heavily. A grenade launcher with WP was great for training, as it had nice AOE. When I got the Assault Grenade Launcher, I put that in the hand and the GL with willie pete in the back pack. I still pull it out and use it for Illumination and enemy morale supression. I have my Hover Suit gal set up with an LACC with WP ammo for similar reasons. AOE gets me a greater chance to hit, and I can fire 3 rd bursts if I want to. Great for training accuracy. The one thing that everyone carries this time around is Hallucigen Grenades. So many of the early foes are weak to smoke and these just take them out of the fight and leave them surrendered. Most of my recent missions have my gals needing melee and throwing training. That little grenade is great for the throwing training. Everyone carries throwing stars and a few are sporting bows with flame arrows. But right now, the handle is king. I'm pretty much going for captives every mission. I use the handle alot, but will go at them with Fisticuffs too, if I have the opportunity. Everyone keeps a shiv for melee training on folks that can't be slaved. I even put my Officer who only needs Melee training in my first looted Defender Suit and sent her into a Church Bootcamp with just the shiv. :)
My B Team is my Air Car team (25mm) they shootdown and clean up Civvie shipping. The Auto Shotgun from the bounty prizes with Rubber Shot Ammo is perfect. These gals suit up in Warrior armor to mostly ignore enemy fire and then reaction fire all the civ crews for ransom and slaves. Nice way to train up extra troops.
I have a C Team for Underwater only. Chiller Suits, Harpoon Carbines, Spike Balls. Sweep and clear.
I just set up a D team (in an Air Van) for infiltration only missions. They stay in Ganger Attire with a combo of Smart Pistols, Mini SMGs and Mini Shotguns. Spike Balls, Hallucigen Grenades, etc.
I"ll switch the A-team to Mesh for the Organ Grinders but I've yet to fully take one on. With Guerilla and Gasmasks we were taking too much damage on the first mission I tried.
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Throw that shit before you walk in the room!
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Dynamite!
Dynamite!
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I also have an advance team, but they're armed with Riot Shields and Electro-whips/Zappers or a Bardiche, or Arena Flak Cannons depending on their specialty. Most are wearing Tac Armor(H).
Why the bardiche? I've built some and experimented with them, but I find they seem to hit less reliably. Do you find the extra damage worth it?
Raiders are tough, but not really any tougher than your Gals. Dark ones don't seem to have any special armor, though the Imp's attack is REALLY annoying.
But right now, the handle is king. I'm pretty much going for captives every mission. I use the handle alot, but will go at them with Fisticuffs too, if I have the opportunity.
Why the handle? I tend to have a cattle prod as a backup for my sword gals. I guess the handle could do more damage if wielded by a gal with really high stats, but it's way cheaper in TUs to use, I guess.
@Marza & sinisteragent: Shh! You'll wake the rest of the Gals!
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I'm tempted to recommend you don't give the handle a chance, because once you do you'll likely find it renders all other non-lethal weapons obsolete. It's cheap, light, small, very fast, fairly accurate, one-handed, and highly effective. It's also rare for it to overdo thing and kill your target.
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The good ol' wood remains one of the most efficient mostly-non-leathal tools to take hostages. Light, 1x2 for quickdraw slots and just right to bash heads with it.
Cattleprod is a 2-h weapon and costs alot of TU for the early usage. The stun baton is somewhat more efficient as it is another 1x2 item with different stat-scaling and allows nearly double the amount of swings a cattleprod could do.
Yet the handle remains a tool send from the earth's heaven to bring all the captives home with only slight injuries.
Ofc you'll use less handles later once you can use stun-darts and stun-bombs but that's a very far way too go in the research tree and the enhanced early-game year(s) throw various problems your way you have to get dealt with using primitive weaponry. (things like small crew sizes, early 'armors' and 'guns')
Go big or go home :D
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Ahh...the humble Handle. I'm in year 3 of my campaign and it's still a staple of my loadouts. The Zapper is a great stunning tool, but the parts to make it are in short supply. The Dart Pistol has great tranq shots, but only 4 of them. The Stun Baton never seems to perform as well as I'd hope. Which leaves the Handle as king. No ammo limitations. No material limitations. And effective enough to beat someone wearing power armor unconscious.
Besides, there's just something fun about early church raids armed with nothing but these little beating sticks. I like to think I keep capturing and releasing the same set of civilians and they never learn their lesson.
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Besides, there's just something fun about early church raids armed with nothing but these little beating sticks. I like to think I keep capturing and releasing the same set of civilians and they never learn their lesson.
"Hey, look who we have here! It's our pal Jim again!"
"Hehe, the story continues!"
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Handle is excellent. Harpoon kinda sucks, it does unreliable stunning and usually earns you a reaction shot. Dart pistol is inaccurate AF but its a good alternative when you get the tranq rounds.
Ironically I end up using my Aye Phones for doing the same thing the handle does. And with its primary function, and taking up only 1x1 slot, it outshines the Handle. Aye Phones are essential for finishing most maps efficiently.
Maces are a good anti-armor weapon. Shotguns are golden, especially the Heavy Shotgun. The UAC Chaingun and UAC Rifle are excellent, I wipe ghouls with these.
Military Shotgun with AP rounds, and the LACC with AP are almost as good as the light cannon or a heavy laser because of the armor divisor. The lower damage is more than compensated for by practicality. Though the Lasgun is a noteworthy mention since if you're worried about the damage, just get up close and burst someone.
Since Diox expanded alot of ground missions in size... if you hit a Steel Forest map you're bound to get a bunch of Boom Fruits (like 40-70 of them). These things are a wonder... its an even faster toss than Stick Grenades. But Stick Grenades are also a major boon because they're so dang cheap and easy to use, and its 50 explosive to just peel off at someone... (combine with your Hover armor!). And they do a good job of weakening a marsec dude so that you can put him down with a single shot afterwards, if it doesnt kill or take him out right away.
You need to keep around the Assault Cannon (and normal cannonballs) for the Armored Cars in the bandit pogroms. I guess the explosive cannonballs work well enough as a grenade launcher. Later on you want to replace it with the Rail Driver.
I still don't have an answer for you about Stargod pogroms... I haven't figured out how to kill the sectopods yet. I dropped two Baby Nukes on one and it kept going, I was just kinda like "whatever" and scavenged stuff and left.
"Hey, look who we have here! It's our pal Jim again!"
"Hehe, the story continues!"
This is what I like to think when you capture a VIP or leader and then sell them (because you already interrogated/researched one)... and then you find another of the same type out there somewhere.
"Hey Carly what's shaking... you know the drill"
(trader rep gulps and mutters an obscenity)
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My first two fights against Sectopods just used a massive amount of grenades. It took about 12+ of a mix of hellerium grenades, Willie Petes, and high explosives but they eventually went down. My recent fight I had my gal in Ghost armor run up and wreck them in 2-3 hits. Apparently they have no resistance to Mind damage.
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The good ol' wood remains one of the most efficient mostly-non-leathal tools to take hostages. Light, 1x2 for quickdraw slots and just right to bash heads with it.
Cattleprod is a 2-h weapon and costs alot of TU for the early usage. The stun baton is somewhat more efficient as it is another 1x2 item with different stat-scaling and allows nearly double the amount of swings a cattleprod could do.
In my personal and not very thoroughly researched opinion, cattle prods are excellent for taking down tough targets like yetis (whatever they're called in-game) or werewolves. Assuming you can maneuver into a situation where a few of your gals can gang up on one without getting shredded first, that is.
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White Shambler = Yeti
Those werewolves and yeti's should be easily been dealt with using flying armors since melee can't slash upwards.
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White Shambler = Yeti
Those werewolves and yeti's should be easily been dealt with using flying armors since melee can't slash upwards.
Yep, we really need that jumping mechanics. :)
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Those melee goons could get a secondary attack that costs more stamina but has a range of 2 maybe?
In general this mechanic mostly benefits the A.I. and while this adds to an even more challenging game I wonder how far can those creatures *leap* upwards with(out) moving thier unit.
It would look rather odd to have a floating werewolf and yeti.
I accept every new challenge tho^^
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For white shamblers - set them on fire (fire arrow) and whipe them with whips. Beacause of fire and whip's special they will loose morale in one turn and will start to panic. Easiest mission ever.
As mentioned by others, Handle is the king :) One more mystery what Gals are doing with that wooden stick after the mission :P
Edit: I don't know if anything was changed for ShadowBat in last few version. But I do see that some players here likes that craft. Can someone elaborate about ShadowBat?
I played before those missions with tokens came in and I found Jellyfish craft to be outstanding. Good for Hover armors usage. Nice in-build beam with auto targeting and good damage for nasty opponents.
Would really like to try new versions but have no much time for gaming.
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Those melee goons could get a secondary attack that costs more stamina but has a range of 2 maybe?
Sadly no, because of how AI works. It doesn't really support limited range weapons. If you give them such a weapon, they will try to snipe you from the moment they see you, got interrupted by the range check, and freeze in place and won't ever move unless they lose sight of you, or you generously wander into 2-tile range to allow them use this attack.
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With how violent werewolves are and how sneaky they can kill your gals maybe this software limitation shall remain as it is.
Werewolf missions are *scorching hot* 100% of a time so at least we're limited to skimpy armors or 24/7 canteen refreshments.
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With how violent werewolves are and how sneaky they can kill your gals maybe this software limitation shall remain as it is.
Werewolf missions are *scorching hot* 100% of a time so at least we're limited to skimpy armors or 24/7 canteen refreshments.
Launching and Jumping movements/attacks I think would be a welcome addition to the game. That sound effect the zombies used to have for aggro would do nicely for the "jump" sfx, including the vanilla melee visual effect to be left behind to indicate the critter jumped (imagine... jumping chrysallids... pounce baby pounce).
However in any case, Smartrifles do a real number on werewolves, along with an arcing launcher like a GL or assault cannon. I often just skip these missions until then because all you get out of it is a castaway (if there were more... things on that altar it would be worth the risk). Although a shotgun is good up close, being repeatedly hit reliably for so much 40 range damage takes them down, dead or bleeding.
My werewolf missions are usually over in 3-4 rounds depending on how far away the altar is. The wolves generally stick around the altar at least the last few I went on.
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I haven't figured out how to kill the sectopods yet. I dropped two Baby Nukes on one and it kept going
One EMP "grenade" - one sectopod.
...or tank, or disk, or hovertank (i do believe, as i haven't messed w/mercs after i've got EMP grens)
My first sectopod received plasma rocket from that big black launcher, missed it's reaction fire and got downed by mere AC-tank shot into side.
It's "bane of warmachines" the item. Except dinos, but they're weak enough for common guns and simpler tools anyway, like "one black powder bomb - one reaper", if not bit unlucky.
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I don't really understand the reluctance to go on Werewolf missions, unless its just the Hot environment and inappropriate armor. Maybe my playstyle of sticking to environmentally neutral outfits is influencing me. I usually just keep one Painkiller on everyone, and if need be grab an O2 tank and share it around. Other than that, I've Never been even really threatened on a Werewolf mission and the Castaway gal is SO worthit! These are the best soldiers in the game and the sooner you get them the sooner they start training. (I think I saw that you can even get Power Armor Parts drops on some of these missions! #WorthitX2). As far as tactics: keeping the gals together so they can't be rushed. Let fire and Shotguns do the talking or give everyone pistols for reaction training. Also: any Flying armor makes these missions a breeze!
Shadowbat: 9 troopers. All troops start one level above ground or higher. 3 in each wing with a ladder to get up on the wing itself and shoot down. The other 3 gals start in the cockpit up top, and have to move down. I like scouts, melee, and shoot and move folks up here, with maybe support like Wench or Nurse. These will move down one level and scout the ground tile (doors have been removed so there are just stairs now) then scoot back up the stairs, to deploy in further rounds. The gals in the wings pop up to scout, and usually after the first turn my sniper/machinegunner gets on a wing and first burst or reaction fires. I get a gal with grenade launcher/assault cannon (arcing fire) up here to. I use these weapons to also train firing acc. I usually have archers and grenadiers in the wings too, and in a hot LZ, its surprising how angles of attack you can get firing out of the hatches without ever exposing yourself (ala the original Bonaventura's hatch). A word about light: The Shadowbat lights up a huge radius around the craft and leaves a pool of darkness under it and on the wings. I'm not sure how darkness tiles work on Z levels above the ground, but I have had my gunners shot at that were in the shadows on the wings. I like to use a stealthy lokknar to scout the ground, and if necessary get out past the light pool. Then my other assaulters can follow once the way is clear. The other alternative is to just go with the theme and continue to light up the rest of the battlefield. Toss maglights with strong gals and electroflares with weaker ones, or if nothing else use fire to light up the night. These pools of light (esp near enemy craft) usually give great opportunities for reaction firing. Overall, I'd say the Shadowbat is one of the coolest additions to the game since CQC. (No offense to the Jellyfish, I just haven't had the chance to try it.). I don't regret upgrading my Hawk for it in the slightest.
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One EMP "grenade" - one sectopod.
...or tank, or disk, or hovertank (i do believe, as i haven't messed w/mercs after i've got EMP grens)
My first sectopod received plasma rocket from that big black launcher, missed it's reaction fire and got downed by mere AC-tank shot into side.
It's "bane of warmachines" the item. Except dinos, but they're weak enough for common guns and simpler tools anyway, like "one black powder bomb - one reaper", if not bit unlucky.
EMP grenades are new and I haven't got them yet. Also in order to get the lookup on a Sectopod I think you'd have to kill one first and research it.
Hate to add a spoiler (I cheated and looked at the armor stats in the rules file) but for most damage types including piercing the sectopods either take 0% or 10-20% damage, plus have that 100ish armor. You'd literally have to hit it with that red Wang nuke to take it out (and only on a direct hit).
So I mean you probably could burn it to death after about 5 turns of constant burning, it doesn't get a resistance against fire (however I couldn't keep it burning that long... I ran out of WP Mortars). I heard from some other player that fire could kill it just like fire kills cyberdiscs, so I brought something that did fire damage, just didn't bring enough of it I guess.
Someone else said that the Force Blade will tear them apart too. Dont have that yet in this playthrough though.
(...has anyone figured out a way to knock out cyberdiscs without them blowing up? or are they just supposed to explode now and you can get all the research from their wrecked version)
I don't really understand the reluctance to go on Werewolf missions, unless its just the Hot environment and inappropriate armor. Maybe my playstyle of sticking to environmentally neutral outfits is influencing me.
A word about light: The Shadowbat lights up a huge radius around the craft and leaves a pool of darkness under it and on the wings.
What exactly is the Shadowbat again?
Im still using my Bonaventura and im probably not going to switch until I get the thunderhorse (or better).
My aversion to the werewolf missions is because of practically being weigh-laid by 5 sharkmen or chryssalids, has nothing to do with the environmental heat (even if I hadn't turned it off in my mod). Flying armor makes it more or less "safe" but I pretty much just use the flying to find where they are and start pincushioning or bombarding them from across map.
They dont seem to move around much until you get close enough for the AI to think that they can reach you and attack within the next round.
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Edit: I don't know if anything was changed for ShadowBat in last few version. But I do see that some players here likes that craft. Can someone elaborate about ShadowBat?
I played before those missions with tokens came in and I found Jellyfish craft to be outstanding. Good for Hover armors usage. Nice in-build beam with auto targeting and good damage for nasty opponents.
Would really like to try new versions but have no much time for gaming.
I had to choose between the Snake, Jellyfish, and Shadowbat. The Shadowbat has the biggest crew complement, which was really what I needed at the time - before that I was using the initial airbus. The Jellyfish's beam sounds cool, but the description makes it sound like a Gal (which at the time, didn't have great stats) needs to be permanently assigned to the craft, which didn't strike me as a great deal. Now, in-game, I have a good number of high-skilled Gals, so sacrificing one to the Jellyfish might make more sense.
The Shadowbat's ability to let you deploy quickly to high ground is it's greatest strength and weakness. It makes beasthunting/zombie/werewolf missions an absolute snap, as well as the more routine (crackhouse, hitman, etc.) trophy missions, since you can bring a lot of firepower to bear in almost any direction very quickly.
It's also a weakness - I just tried the Siberia Base mission and got absolutely housed. There's very little cover up on the Shadowbat's wings, which means if you're facing large numbers of well-armed, straight-shooting foes, your Gals get cut down VERY quickly!
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Siberia Base with 9 hands and shadowbat. Whelp you really asked for a big challenge there :D
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Siberia Base with 9 hands and shadowbat. Whelp you really asked for a big challenge there :D
Hey, I'm on my first playthrough and had no idea what to expect. I saved before I left for the mission, though - I'm going to try again with 13 Gals (and even more explosives) in the Fortuna.
Edit: And they still owned my punk ass in 3 rounds. :-[
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(...has anyone figured out a way to knock out cyberdiscs without them blowing up? or are they just supposed to explode now and you can get all the research from their wrecked version)
E
M
P
Really. I've struggled to get disks for a while too, and then - eureka, it turns them into jellyfish laying at ground.
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Siberia Base with 9 hands and shadowbat. Whelp you really asked for a big challenge there :D
Heck even on alien base missions I only use like 8 hands. Personally im just waiting for getting a tank or two of my own before I go hit siberia. Ive taken alien bases with 6 hands. The only problems I usually have in the siberia raid are:
* The Trenches on the perimeter
* The Tanks (requires a fast getaway to the downstairs portion, and someone being a spotter to find the tanks)
* The average dudes downstairs with all the laser rifles (and treating hands when they get shot, and certainly get wounded by it).
I manage these issues, but that is what makes it hard.
The supersoldiers are definitely dangerous but they're slow, and can be taken out with melee (in that playthrough I did have the force blade to kill them though). Its just a matter of maneuvering, and they allow the other humanists with the nuclear lasers to flank you if you haven't dealt with them.
A rather current issue to talk about since the siberia base investigation is on my research list now and coming up within the next week (real time) probably.
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Hey, I'm on my first playthrough and had no idea what to expect. I saved before I left for the mission, though - I'm going to try again with 13 Gals (and even more explosives) in the Fortuna.Edit: And they still owned my punk ass in 3 rounds. :-[
Am I one of the ONLY players who plays defensively?
Are you using your cover?
First few rounds you need to be ducking out of the ship, taking shots, shooting rockets, looking for the underground entrances. Maybe have somebody with high TUs to go out there and hide in the structures to do some spotting. Then make a break for the underground entrance and just rush it. Stay on the surface exposed and you'll get owned by the tanks and some of the other dudes.
Once you're underground you can just resolve most of that, and wait until the end for dealing with the Surface. In which case you're going to be ducking up to take shots at the tanks... rockets, grenades, and heavy laser type of thing, then drop back down to cover again.
Another tip - you probably want to shoot Snap shots or fire from out of view (even with your rocket launchers). If you use too many TU in your attacks you're going to run the risk of the Tanks being able to reaction fire on you (reaction fire, as explained in the bootypedia, is not a random chance - the more TU you use the more likely someone will be able to react).
This is a good map to bring Baby Nukes to, since you wont have to fight this mission again.
(without a doubt they will Not Surrender in this mission, so dont bother with that tactic... im not sure the supersoldiers can even surrender)
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Edit - Also in a recent pogrom mission with ratmen I had a tank that took an entire series of melee hits from a lowly ratman, from behind, probably with a cutlass. And it clipped over 40 health from the tank.
So keep it in mind that if you've got a Tech Blade, Mace, with a hand of peak strength you can take down one of these tanks.
(im also thinking that if you can Surround a tank, one hand on each of the sides so that it cant move... it may not take any actions at all because its main weapon is explosive and it doesn't want to fire it at point blank range)
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Supersoldier can panic but just like marsec bootyguards it takes a huge number of casualties in one turn to drop the moral of a soldier to 0-20.
Also certain maps and spawn points can be absolutely annoying to deploy upon like the instance of spawning in the center of the map or on an ISLAND.
It's possible to spawn somewhere in the down-right corner with the river seperating your squad from the facility. Better bring a pair of flying armors too.
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It's possible to spawn somewhere in the down-right corner with the river seperating your squad from the facility. Better bring a pair of flying armors too.
Sooo... unless you're on a supermutant game... its well worth it to save the game right before you get to the site, and if it lands you in a bad way just reload it and have it re-roll the map placement.
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Iron(wo)man rules even without the option enabled.
If you roll a bad deploy you can just give it a damn.
It's absolutely possible to do the run without nuclear lasguns and just go for XG gauss / SG gauss and plasma.
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Am I one of the ONLY players who plays defensively?
Are you using your cover?
First few rounds you need to be ducking out of the ship, taking shots, shooting rockets, looking for the underground entrances. Maybe have somebody with high TUs to go out there and hide in the structures to do some spotting. Then make a break for the underground entrance and just rush it. Stay on the surface exposed and you'll get owned by the tanks and some of the other dudes.
Once you're underground you can just resolve most of that, and wait until the end for dealing with the Surface. In which case you're going to be ducking up to take shots at the tanks... rockets, grenades, and heavy laser type of thing, then drop back down to cover again.
Another tip - you probably want to shoot Snap shots or fire from out of view (even with your rocket launchers). If you use too many TU in your attacks you're going to run the risk of the Tanks being able to reaction fire on you (reaction fire, as explained in the bootypedia, is not a random chance - the more TU you use the more likely someone will be able to react).
This is a good map to bring Baby Nukes to, since you wont have to fight this mission again.
(without a doubt they will Not Surrender in this mission, so dont bother with that tactic... im not sure the supersoldiers can even surrender)
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Edit - Also in a recent pogrom mission with ratmen I had a tank that took an entire series of melee hits from a lowly ratman, from behind, probably with a cutlass. And it clipped over 40 health from the tank.
So keep it in mind that if you've got a Tech Blade, Mace, with a hand of peak strength you can take down one of these tanks.
(im also thinking that if you can Surround a tank, one hand on each of the sides so that it cant move... it may not take any actions at all because its main weapon is explosive and it doesn't want to fire it at point blank range)
Ah. I haven't had much of a chance to scout the map much, so I didn't know there was a big underground component to it - I thought the bulk of the mission was dealing with all those guys (and fucking tanks) on the surface. My problem is that I might be relying too much on Amazons with Bardiches - they can take out tanks or supersoldiers OK, but then they're stuck out in the open and get chewed up. I'll try heading for cover/underground right away instead of trying to get in a big gunfight to secure my landing zone. Although, with upwards of 10 enemies in visual distance as soon as I have someone leave the Fortuna, simply dashing to cover might be dicey enough!
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Ah. I haven't had much of a chance to scout the map much, so I didn't know there was a big underground component to it
Siberia Base is definitely a ranged weapon map, you use the melee downstairs, you use heavy ranged out in the open.
I got dropped sorta on the north end of the map and there was a structure near there that I hid in. And got shot by some guy there, but there was stairs going down that I was using for an alternative to dealing with the surface, and thats how I found it. So I knew right away pretty much.
I believe my primary weapons were Death Blossom/HVAP (...60 frigging damage), Advanced Launcher with Plasma Rockets, and I had a grenadier loaded down with hellerium grenades.
I didnt have anybody with flying armor, and near the end of the map I was trying to use the stairs on the southwest trench to duck up and toss grenades at the last couple tanks and supersoldiers above ground. I only got dragged over there because there were a couple dudes in the trench that had to be removed. The water in those trenches is a PITA.
The last tank reaction fired on my grenadier and hurt her, but more importantly blew up the stairs and I ran off the edge without looking first and couldn't get back up there. I had to use a Nuclear Heavy Laser I grabbed off of someone to finish off the tank.
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My first two fights against Sectopods just used a massive amount of grenades. It took about 12+ of a mix of hellerium grenades, Willie Petes, and high explosives but they eventually went down. My recent fight I had my gal in Ghost armor run up and wreck them in 2-3 hits. Apparently they have no resistance to Mind damage.
Crap if they have no Mind damage resistance then there is a very dangerous weapon that will destroy them... Demonic Essence (200 mind damage, maybe no armor divisor but that should be enough to one-shot them since 100ish armor + 96 health is a good 50/50 chance)
Only thing is that the bootypedia article about stun damage said that robots and zombies typically have a good resistance against mind and daze damage. So the sectopod is a very clear exception to that (its got an actual brain in the robot?)
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I was surprised too but the Sectopod examination has no entry for Mind, which should mean normal damage. I am still running 0.99H, but I didn't see anything in the patch notes so I assume it is the same.
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I was surprised too but the Sectopod examination has no entry for Mind, which should mean normal damage. I am still running 0.99H, but I didn't see anything in the patch notes so I assume it is the same.
(personally id think that such a thing would do Warp damage to just dissolve someone down into slag, reminds me of the Destruction cleric spell from d&d. But Mind damage also works for the description of the demonic essence as well)
Mind damage is a new type or a renamed type from before, I believe demonic essence did plasma damage in previous versions.
So this makes it worth it to capture demons and possessed soldiers and go on the doom pogroms/imperial probe missions and bite the bullet for it. Because you'll get demonic essence and you can use it as a superweapon to destroy things like sectopods when you really need to do that. Usually and I stress that, destroying something isnt such a big deal, but critters like that are one of the few cases where taking them out really is a problem.
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Mind damage is a new type or a renamed type from before, I believe demonic essence did plasma damage in previous versions.
Mind is a new damagetype, and essence used to do acid damage. : )
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So I went back and tried this mission twice more, this time with two Gals with rocket launchers, each with a Baby Nuke and some regular rockets. I started firing at the two largest groups of tanks and foes, and killed quite a number that way. But the first time, I made the fatal mistake of trying to have a gunfight with the rest of the folks on the surface - big mistake! Even the two tanks and one supersoldier were able to tank my Gal's laser shots and kill Gals quite effectively.
So I reloaded, started again, fired the nukes, and then had everyone dash for the center of the map so they could fall down into the trench and get inside the underground complex. That worked much better - against the stormtroopers and regular soldiers, my Amazons rocked face. I cleared one portion of the map, then moved on to the next, and then used a cowardly but effective approach of popping up the stairs, shooting, and going back down to take out the tanks. Two supersoldiers came down after me, but getting tag-teamed by Amazons in close quarters took them down without too much trouble. Travel in packs and do it from the back - how else can you get to the booty? ;)
Thanks!
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Situations like this remind me of the expendability of Slave Soldiers combined with the firepower of a Chinese Dragon (an actual nuke, im guessing probably as strong as a MOAB). Im not sure if the transport hull will block the explosion damage (of which 200-400 points of it might still be baring down on the transport) but its I guess worth it to not have to deal with the BS. Of course I think that will also wipe off all of the loot from the surface too, at a price of 900,000 bucks plus a slave soldier.
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Never thought about big-nuke the surface.
You shouldn't try that on iron(wo)man tho. Also you just need to roll lucky for getting 1x russian files.
Once you got one file you can pretty much abort since there's not too much further value to get from this trenchwar.
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For Sectopod problems or any other tanks I highly recommend Lascannon, it's super accurate when kneeled and the dmg is very good. Especially if you manage to hit one from the side or rear. I've managed to one shot Sectopods with Lascannons. Recoiless Rifle is also very good against any mechanical threat. And if you manage to get close the Rail Driver can blow them up very easly.
Right now I just got my Thunderhorse. My A team is running 2 Guardian, 4 Defender, 2 StormMarine, 4 Assassin and 2 Loaders as well as some early game armors for backline. I don't really like most of the early game shotguns, the good stuff starts with CAWS, the AP slugs can be really accurate even on quite long distance. And there's the Hv Slug Thrower, which can murder almost anything that you can get close to. I also use the mentioned Rail Driver as a shotgun in missions with tough enemies like Mercs. Assasin armor is a godsent if you want some accurate auto fire from any HMG type weapons in the game, though it's rather flimsy in the later stages of the game.
Can somebody tell me how to get more Mansion missions? I've researched the tech, I have some maid clothes prepared and have vessels that can take me there. I need the Rubys for the Moloch Armor and I read the only reliable source is the Mansion missions. I think I had maybe one Mansion before and 2 in-game years have passed since I think.
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Mansion shedule is totally random and several months can pass until the next mansion pops up.
A 2nd source for rubies is an imperial probe mission: The deep one (maya)pyramid. Inside the main structure are several rubies to get.
Like the mansion it's sheer luck to get this mission. Watchout for fartbags and don't get close to lobsterbobs.
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Speaking of which, where are the chests located in mansions? I never ever found one within time limit and resorted to just looting the rooftops, before abandoning this completely because mission preprarations are bothersome, unless there is a separate craft and a team for just those.
is there a way to get diamonds and other gems anywhere, besides mansion and galleon wreck? I know there are possible emeralds on organ grinder, and apparently rubies but I never got one from pyramid of pain (admittedly, I have only done it once).
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The chest-room is a specific map-block spawning ALWAYS in the dungeon of the mansion.
All gems are 1x inside the treasure chest.
Some undersea mission can contain a treasure chest too (very rare)
rubies are inside the pyramid of pain (don't blow it up^^)
Saphire and diamonds should be the rarest gems to be found.