Hey, I'm just starting out and am still have to use cars and vans for transportation, and my weapons are handguns, shotguns, and a couple Calico SMG's I took from cultists. How do I fight sectoids? It seems like they take my guys out in one shot as soon as I start. If I shoot them, it doesn't put them down and their reaction fire instantly burns through any cover and kills in 1 hit. If I try to move from the starting position, their reaction fire hits my guy and kills them in 1 hit.
In regular Xcom, you start with several guys and longer range weaponry. How am I supposed to fight them with 2 shotguns or 2 pistols? Do I just have to avoid them until I get explosives?
You aren't really meant to fight the aliens until you progress far more into the game, for now focus on cults and creature missions, make sure to capture high rank people from each cult. You will be able to get explosives freely later into the game.