https://openxcom.mod.io/ramikin-rebalance/Works with OXC and OXCE.
This mod adds (almost) no "new cool stuff". Rather, it addresses problems with vanilla content.
In the main, this is a
rebalance of Geoscape combat. Instead of relying only on Avalanches, then Plasma Beams and Avengers, you'll have good incentives to use all existing Craft weapons at some stage, you'll have reasons to make Firestorms, and eventually you might settle on a mix of Firestorms and Avengers using Lasers, Plasma, and Fusion Balls for different reasons. (Lightning are still trash, of course. They will always be trash.)
You'll also notice the UFOs hit harder - some a LOT harder - but the two smallest ones are prone to getting destroyed instead of downed. This makes the right choice of weapon and craft important.
There is one new Craft (thanks, MickTheMage!), rentable after researching Alien Alloys. This helped me make all 3 starting weapons useful: Stingrays and Avalanches are good for Very Small and Small craft respectively if all you have is Interceptors, but once the tougher Alloy Craft is available Craft Cannon come into their own as a high DPS weapon good against anything up to Harvesters.
To let that happen, I felt the need to delay the availability of Laser Cannons. I chose to do so by making Laser tech depend on Alien Alloys, and then I realized it's also a good idea to tweak Lasers a little: the Heavy Laser is now more useful, especially as a sniping weapon, and since Lasers are alloy tech now, the Laser Tank is now an Alloy Tank.
This creates a more distinct Alloy tech stage, with a craft weapon, a line of small arms, and a tank that's noticeably tougher than standard Earth tanks. I find this a satisfying side effect of what was originally going to be purely a Geoscape rebalancing.
All in all I feel I accomplished everything I wanted, at least according to my tastes. The end result is pretty much the same vanilla content (except that one new Craft) but now I have good reasons to use pretty much all weapons. My endgame save has Avengers with FBL for Battleships, Firestorms with Plasma Beams for Terror and Supply ships, and Firestorms with Laser cannons for everything else. And the performance of my veteran soldiers with Heavy Lasers and Laser Tanks is so fun that I wanna try a no-plasma no-psionics playthrough.
Originally this was just me tweaking the game for myself, but perhaps someone else will enjoy this.
