Newbe questions

[Gremlion]

Hi, I have a question.

April first year, there are swarm of helicopters, flying around tanking my infamy (to -1600 infamy).
Am I suppose to do something about it. My airbus doesn't have any guns. Do I need to rush some specific research to get one?

Contacts:car thieves comes early and offers some ships that can mount weapons.
Usually I try to rush shadowmaster ships, they are on par with the first helerium interceptor you will be able to make.
To do that you need in addition to car thieves to get "Shadowmasters" tech (from interrogation is the easiest, the best source by the amount of unlocks/abundance was Hoes), usually I try to build a second prison for Hoes specifically;
and to use a drill to unlock the codex. Using a drill takes a lot of workshop space, so you need to build an additional extractor or two, you don't need a workshop which takes a while.

From my experience, I usually get them by May, sometimes in April, though I had a game where I was forced to research shadowmasters myself, which required a library and was done in the second year.

[Joe Ini]

Thanks for advices. I manage to get little bird by june and shot down the next activity spike.

More questions:

Are peasants (and peasant revolution) a noob trap? Are they just dogs but worse?
I got catgirl and some lizardgoblins, are they viable or just stick with ubers? 
I made new base and filled it with plantations (and some stationery force to defend it), is this a smart move or will it bite my in the ass/waste of time?
Are there "hidden" weapons that looks bad but are actually great? I found whips to be awesome in skilled hands.

[Gremlion]

1. So, there are missions which are unavailable for gals (too big or too mutant-looking,  if we talk without spoilers). You can get a ton of gals from other sources besides shop on all paths (getting random young ubers&castaway gals), and non-gal paths would offer them in a shop with a slight price increase later anyway. So, as an experienced with the mod person I'd rather take peasant revolution path just so in missions where gals are unavailable I would have an edge due to the transformation.
2. Cats - besides atrocious health and strength they have better stat caps in all other ways, which allows them to utilize stat-scaling weapons much better than ubers. And they have better night vision. And they have free spot. I had a run where no ubers left in the final team, and it was a blast.
3. Goblins - again, there are missions which are available only for them with potentially godly rewards, so having a trained team is more or less a must. Also, due to how interception works (scaling with bravery, reaction, firing) they are the best pilots (catgirls, actually, better than them now, but goblins are MUCH cheaper). Oh, and they have a bunch of battlefield machinery only they can use.
4. It's fine to have one plantation base all game long - it would allow you to get materials for useful or profitable things for other bases. If you plant on the first day, you might be able to gather resources before the end of the month and get both materials and income as a result. Manufacturing bases are more profitable.
5. I really like Spiked maces. They have great scaling with strength, damage armor, penetrate armor, they crack tanks and people in power armor. Shotguns with rubber slugs - shitty damage, great for training - animal pelts cost more when animals are alive. Hostages worth more alive. And you can pour out so many reaction shots... Fists, surprisingly - well hidden, you need to click on an empty slot to use, and do surprisingly well on ubers to the point where they can sometimes break walls.

[inect]

Hi! Sorry if my question is somehow a recurring question here on the forum that I was unable to find. Anyway, I'd like to know if it's important for me to finish the base game before I play this mod. Thanks!

[Rince Wind]

It is not important, but you should be familiar with the mechanics, because this mod adds a ton of those on top.
So it is generally recommended to play vanilla first, though not neccessarily finish it.

[Psyentific]

Fumbling your way through the first playthrough and figuring it all out as you go along is one of the highlights of the Piratez experience. It's helpful if you learn the basics in OG xcom (things like TUs and inventory management, intercepting UFOs and sending the skyranger, etc.) but that's really only worth playing for a few weeks to a few months in-game.

[inect]

Cool, thanks guys. I played OG for a few weeks, so I know the basics of gameplay. And what about the story? I didn't finish the OG and I still don't have any spoilers, so I don't know how the story of XCOM ends or the possible twists in it. Is this a problem or is the Piratez story independent?

[Rince Wind]

Just let a few months run through and loose your current game.

XPiratez playes hundreds of years after Earth lost.

[Psyentific]

if you're going to play O.G. enemy unknown, you should at least try a terror mission. ideally a snakeman terror mission at nighttime to get the proper experience. you need to squadwipe at least once.

[howareyou32ny]

if you're going to play O.G. enemy unknown, you should at least try a terror mission. ideally a snakeman terror mission at nighttime to get the proper experience. you need to squadwipe at least once.

Yeah. been there. painfully fun. lol

[Iazo]

Peasant revolution provides at least one major strategic benefit, one major tactical benefit, and multiple smaller other benefits, at the cost of closing off one othe major recruitment method.

Personally, I think that the benefits are worth it, BUT ONLY if you do not lose elite soldiers that often. If you do, and stuggle keeping your gals alive, you are very seriously going to be in considerable pain.

I am going to dissent a bit. Yeah, even on peasant or male path you can buy gals later. But later mens LATER, set firmly in mid-game. This is not something you can plan on achieving any sooner than 12 months in, and likely around 18 months in.

So if you cannot keep your elites alive, go with Gals are Superior.