Messages

31

The X-Com Files / Re: Clarification questions

« on: August 19, 2020, 12:23:59 am »

No, the blackops Pistol. the First pistol unlocked from Blackops. I guess you get a better version later?

Two of them, technically. There's the BlackOps Spypistol and the BlackOps Smartpistol, the first one is weaker but takes up only one space in the inventory like the light pistol and is the one that can be taken on most undercover missions except for the beach. The latter is just a flat upgrade to the black ops pistol with higher accuracy.

Both require Promotion III.  And yes, read the briefing on the map as well as before the mission- it can also give hints on what kind of map to expect (e.g. if it says to bring explosives, get dynamite at least- there's going to be secret doors hidden behind walls or cramped passages that will take forever toove your team through if you march down single file).

32

The X-Com Files / Re: Clarification questions

« on: August 18, 2020, 10:47:28 pm »

Understood. The stats for nerds extension doesn't appear to work for Armor or Vehicles, just equipment. Even opening all four subtabs doesn't show it.

I know I've seen them before but I can't remember how I did it. Hopefully someone else can recall how to do so.

About Labor, etc. You can use the BlackOps pistol for all covert missions except Beach and the crossbow for the Beach.

You mean the BlackOps Spypistol, I assume.

33

The X-Com Files / Re: Clarification questions

« on: August 18, 2020, 09:13:23 pm »

It's not a bug so much as the game assuming you can figure it out on your own- did you think it was a coincidence that crowbar acquisition was unlocked by Cover: Workers? Generally, those missions will mention infiltration or disguises and won't even show up without the correct Cover technology researched.

That data is in the Stats for Nerds. You need to use the More Info button that I mentioned earlier to see that. No, you can't use a mudranger on undercover missions- common sense is in fact your best bet here most of the time and experience will fill in for the rest. Also, some undercover missions won't let you use the helicopter, and at any rate most won't require more than four agents to complete anyway.

The mission you posted has no requirements. The vast majority of them don't. It will, however, be very hard since at that point you'll start seeing grenade launchers and assault rifles more often.

34

The X-Com Files / Re: Staged Progression or Timed Progression?

« on: August 18, 2020, 09:00:12 pm »

There is some minor penalty for not destroying the starting cults at that point. I haven't played up to that point though.

Those would be the "Slander Missions". They carry a steep score penalty if you don't complete them (same as an expired Terror Mission), they're concealed equipment only, and they expire almost as soon as they appear on the geoscape. So unless you know exactly when and where they're going to spawn and send a van or Land Rover there in advance, you're going to eat that penalty.

They also show up if you share techs with M.A.G.M.A, so unless you don't want to be able to use pulse weapons or alien alloy rounds for the cannons you'll have to put up with them.

35

The X-Com Files / Re: Clarification questions

« on: August 18, 2020, 08:45:36 pm »

Ctrl + ALt + B in mission brings up the mission briefing, which is nice.
Industrial Investigation.
Public/Van
An illegal organization built a sleeping cell to lay low in this industrial complex. We must take down these cultists and possibly arrest their leader. To abort the mission return X-Com operatives to the exit area nad click on the 'Abort Mission' icon.

I have Medkits, Flashlights, and flares. No Taser, which are concealable, and I always bring. No Knives, or batons. No guns of any type, even concealable pistols.

Maybe it has to do with how I have kevlar vests for everyone? But there is no data on that in the ufopedia either.

Past that, What vehicles are acceptable for undercover of various types, because extended info doesn't include that. Nor does it for armor, and I assume there are limits there as well.

I need clarification, because these missions appear bugged.

It's not a bug, that mission specifically requires labor gear- and while tasers are concealable they are not labor gear. You'll want crowbars, knives (the one specifically called "knife", combat knives aren't allowed) wooden clubs (it has to be wooden clubs, electric ones aren't allowed), axes, fire extinguishers, and later on you'll get a nailgun- fortunately most of the enemies in the mission are similarly equipped and a dog can take them out without much hassle. Like I said, go to your inventory and when you get the option to sort it, choose "Labor gear". You'll be given a specific outfit for the mission, which is why the kevlar vests aren't equipped. All this stuff doesn't show in the UFOPedia unless you click on the "More info" button (I think that it was called that, it's a button on the UFOPedia that gives detailed stats about items including stuff you probably won't need to know unless you plan to mod the game yourself).

Acceptable vehicles for most undercover types are vans, the helicopter, and the Land Rover (you won't get that for a very long time either). As for armor, I hope you like leather coats because it'll be the best thing you can bring until you can make bulletproof coats (again, much later on).

36

The X-Com Files / Re: Armored vest and shield

« on: August 18, 2020, 08:35:05 pm »

If you can kill everyone that is in effective range all the time, yeah. But you will eventually take return fire. I prefer that it is directed at heavily armored expendable soldiers (these tend to have abysmal accuracy anyway). They can take a few shots and I don't care if they bite the dust. All the soldiers with good accuracy have good guns and hide behind the shield wall. South Park sums it up pretty nicely below.

Actually 1/3 is a bit high. I have 4 out of 16 in the OSPREY and I used 2 in the Dragonfly, so it is more like 1/4th.

Granted, and I do use them on whoever I have using a SMG or one of my good pistols. But eventually the loss of the hand slot isn't worth it and it ends up being easier to just huddle behind the nearest solid object/HWP.

37

The X-Com Files / Re: Clarification questions

« on: August 18, 2020, 08:28:01 pm »

Vampire Knight. Dang. Well, I suppose that I will try and keep one on fire as long as possible, and bring extra flare ammo for future heavy zombie missions. It caused it to panic, and if it ignores armor, that should take one down eventually.

Undercover missions. I have had quite a few missions where people arrive with nothing on them, except for, I think, concealable stuff. This makes sense for actual undercover missions, but It keeps happening for missions without any undercover data in the description. Did I miss something, or is it implied that any safehouse raid mission is considered a concealment only mission? Because some missions have that in their description already, but safehouse missions don't, and I double check every Cult-type mission description, just to be safe.

Like I said, vampire knights won't spawn at all on other zombie-heavy missions until much, much later, although fire is always your best bet for killing zombies. Agricultural flamers and flamethrowers work better than flare guns though, since zombies will try to come to you and end up right in flamethrower range. Also, be aware that most zombies don't panic- vampires and some other zombie types you'll find later which aren't nearly as troublesome are the exception. You'll find those in "zombie hive" and "zombie catacombs" missions, and it should be noted that some of them do have guns. Not very strong guns, but guns nonetheless.

Which missions are you talking about? They're typically mentioned in the description or the briefing, and many won't even let you travel to the mission without the right armor or vehicle type. If it's the ones for the industrial investigation, ski resort or the beach, those use specific "labor gear", "sporting gear" and "beach gear", which don't always overlap with undercover gear. You can sort through your inventory to find what gear falls in those categories.

38

The X-Com Files / Re: Training Methods / Collecting Medals

« on: August 18, 2020, 08:13:17 pm »

I've gotten Monster easily by punching enemies to death with the Power Suit equipped, the gargantuan amount of stun damage it deals tends to overstun anything it doesn't kill outright. And you're right, the later missions are much better at giving you higher scores- alien bases, battleships, and basically any map with a lot of civilians to save has a good chance of making progress towards Keystone.

39

The X-Com Files / Re: Clarification questions

« on: August 18, 2020, 07:57:32 pm »

Vampire Knight. Reacted to a Police VS Zombie battle. Aside from the awesome of seeing frikkin TANKS driving around with machine guns equipped, there was a Vampire Knight. I was somewhat concerned when I saw a zombie with a Cape. When he was also wearing a sword, which sliced a solider in half, I was worried. When Armor piercing shotgun shells, flare guns, and ~4 turns worth of fire from Blackops SMG, Hunter rifles, AP Shotgun shells, and Blackops Pistols only managed to piss him off, I had to retreat. Mainly because he charged and sliced two agents in half, despite being on fire. I am either behind, missed a low-hanging fruit of a high-damage option, or this is one of those "Ran into something horrific early, retreat, and prepare next time" situations I expected, like early UFOS. I plan to try and get explosives next time, and more fire, because at the very least, that panicked him.

Oh, and Fire damage, according the UFOPEDIA ignores armor (though presumably not damage coefficients) But, I have no idea how much damage it actually does past that. Aside from 10 damage per round, maybe. Does it stack? If something is on fire, can it be MORE on fire? IF it is standing in fire, does it catch on fire, or only if it is hit by something that sets fire? If standing in fire, does it take damage from both? Does it actually ignore armor? If not, which armor does it effect? Do 2x2 enemies still take quadruple damage, and is that the case for being on fire, or only ground fire? And in the case of ground fire, is it always 4x, or only if all 4 tiles are on fire?

Vampire Knights are actually late-game enemies with lots of armor (55 front armor, 45 everywhere else) and health in the the triple digits. I have no idea why exactly they appear that early other than to mess with the player. Hell, they're a pain even at the point you're actually supposed to face them because like other zombies they aren't as affected by plasma and lasers. They're somewhat resistant to explosives too, so between that and the armor you'll need a lot of grenades or rockets to deal damage that way. Unlike most zombies they don't take extra damage from fire, but it still bypasses their armor. Apart from that, you'll want Black Ops Sniper Rifles and LMGs at minimum, and be thankful that they never use ranged weapons.

Haven't tested whether standing in fire does damage in a different way than actually being on fire, but it does definitely ignore armor. That said, it doesn't ignore resistance to incendiary damage and some enemies are just plain fireproof.

40

The X-Com Files / Re: Early gun balance

« on: August 18, 2020, 07:08:08 pm »

The flare gun's main purpose is to set fires and light up dark areas, hitting things with it is really a bonus although its accuracy isn't quite as bad as it looks. The Minebeo's real draw is that it's concealable and can be fired with one hand at full accuracy- plus, it fits in a quick draw slot.

For what it's worth, I've always used a mix of weapon types based on a mixture of what's most powerful and most easily available- the assault rifles are definitely a step up when you first get them, but with no safe way of getting more copies of them or their ammo besides killing enemies carrying it you have to make do with what you can find.

Guess that's about what I should have expected. Should have assumed you'd already had gun nuts try to school you after 4 years of doing this
My main thing was the part about how it's frustrating for Assault rifles to not do anything against mid-late 97 cultists, but I'll check the hub before commenting again about that.

That's because they typically have better armor and have innate kinetic damage resistance. The M16 (and especially the G11) are better for dealing with that, but failing that, the crossbow is an acceptable alternative since they don't resist its cutting damage to nearly the same degree.

41

The X-Com Files / Re: The X-Com Files - 1.4: Signs of Apocalypse

« on: August 14, 2020, 06:59:18 pm »

Yeah, it's not very fleshed out yet.


Can someone tell me why Dr. Hadriex is in the list of X-Com's Friends on The Council ? He was missing and is hostile towards X-Com upon discovery.

As a more serious reply, it's actually a list of people who donated to Solarious's Patreon enough to get a mention in-game.

42

The X-Com Files / Re: Armored vest and shield

« on: August 14, 2020, 06:57:44 pm »

Yes.

I plant about 1/3 of the team in these and send them in the front to soak up shots. All rookies and other assorted low quality soldiers.

They are useful if there will be a lot of shooting, but against melee enemies I revert to no shields.

Even then, I've found that the best defense is simply having a weapon with longer range than the other guy's gun.

43

The X-Com Files / Re: EXALT HQ not spawning

« on: August 03, 2020, 06:50:27 pm »

There are a few fringe reasons: You might want to make the money, missing research, you might want to research a living Deep One (after researching autopsy and Alien Containment) and the Dagon HQ is sure to have them.

Deep Ones show up quite frequently in their own missions if you get far enough, but I guess if you're super strapped for funds that's still a valid option. That said, not terminating the cults will lead to slander missions so it's still in your best interests to terminate the cults ASAP. (Also, there's a few missions that require a cult termination as a prerequisite, such as the Assassin Clan bank robberies.)

44

The X-Com Files / Re: EXALT HQ not spawning

« on: August 02, 2020, 07:16:02 pm »

HQs always spawn at the beginning of the next month after researching the project. There can be small delay of a couple of days. The mission site despawns after a short while, if not attacked and will respawn each month in the same spot until the mission is completed.

The exception is the Red Dawn HQ, which has multiple possible spawn locations. It will still respawn each month, however.

Also, HQs spawn even after you complete them until you choose to terminate their associated cult. I'm not sure why exactly you'd want to do one of those missions again when it's no longer necessary, but you can do it.

45

The X-Com Files / Re: Dossiers wanted!

« on: July 31, 2020, 05:18:18 pm »

Hm, usually you'd better keep careful taking Firaxis XCOM content...

That EXALT screenshot on the EXALT Rationale page (among others) has been there for a long time and they've never made a fuss about it. But I'm sure I could find replacement art if I absolutely had to.