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Author Topic: Second Sectoid base defence  (Read 1809 times)

Offline 10TC

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Second Sectoid base defence
« on: October 05, 2022, 04:58:04 am »
Hi all,

Second time around now in a playthrough (on Veteran difficulty), that I've had a complete wipe on a Sectoid base defence. Within two turns I might add. Only a month and some change into the game. My soldiers are immediately mind controlled and turned on each other, or they panic. I am relatively shit new at the game, having not completed it yet; but I always seem to hit a dead end with base defence, with Sectoids at least. I have had success with floaters mind you, they don't seem to be nearly as tough. Is it really down to RNG or am I missing something? All the best,

- 10TC

Offline psavola

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Re: Second Sectoid base defence
« Reply #1 on: October 05, 2022, 05:24:06 pm »
Second time around now in a playthrough (on Veteran difficulty), that I've had a complete wipe on a Sectoid base defence. Within two turns I might add. Only a month and some change into the game. My soldiers are immediately mind controlled and turned on each other, or they panic. I am relatively shit new at the game, having not completed it yet; but I always seem to hit a dead end with base defence, with Sectoids at least. I have had success with floaters mind you, they don't seem to be nearly as tough. Is it really down to RNG or am I missing something? All the best,

I assume you're playing vanilla UFO. There are various techniques to mitigate those issues, especially mind control. For example:
- use a defensible base layout with some chokepoints (so you'll know the aliens can't get around you and come at your back)
- especially with mind-controlling aliens, use smoke grenades in the critical corridors to block aliens' vision; scout the aliens with tanks or a single soldier, then shoot them from further away so that the aliens don't see you; don't put too many soldiers in a single room, and if in doubt, drop the hand guns after each turn (so if the soldier is controlled, s/he can't hurt the others)
- if the aliens very aggressively attack you, deploy a huge amounts of proximity grenades on critical corridors through which the aliens attack.

With sectoids I think the main technique would be to use proximity grenades a lot to kill the aliens, and try to keep back (and if there is a danger of an alien seeing you, drop the weapons at the end of the turn).

Offline 10TC

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Re: Second Sectoid base defence
« Reply #2 on: October 06, 2022, 02:23:40 am »
Well I'm playing OpenXCom, I think that counts? The main problem seems to be that the Sectoids don't need LOS to be able to mind control half my squad in 1 turn.

Offline psavola

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Re: Second Sectoid base defence
« Reply #3 on: October 06, 2022, 07:39:58 am »
Well I'm playing OpenXCom, I think that counts?

There is no difference that I know of in OpenXcom. The key point was that you're not playing a mod or with very customized settings.

Quote
The main problem seems to be that the Sectoids don't need LOS to be able to mind control half my squad in 1 turn.

The alien doing mind control don't need to get visual sighting itself on the unit to mind control them. It's enough that some alien unit has seen your guy at some point in the turn. The aliens also remember seeing your particular soldier for a certain number of turns (depending on alien race). The aliens have also seen you if they mind control one of your soldiers who then sees some others. Some aliens in non-vanilla also have "psiVision" where they can sense enemies certain number of tiles away regardless of walls. But that should not apply to vanilla.

That's why you'll need to adopt several techniques I described above. You'll need to avoid the aliens seeing you at all costs, keeping the distance, using a lot of proximity grenades, using smoke, and using tanks to spot the aliens if possible. Or if you need to scout with a soldier, do it with as few different soldiers as possible, and keep them separate from the rest of your troops. You'll also need to put the soldiers that can be seen in different compartments (e.g. different general stores rooms) so that if one of them is mind-controlled, the aliens don't get vision on the rest of them. And you can miitgate the effects of mind control by dropping your hand-held weapons at the end of each turn (and equipping the soldiers with a pre-primed smoke grenade, which they'll throw out first if they are controlled otherwise).

Sectoid base defense missions are by no means trivial nonetheless, but these techniques might make them at least more manageable and you should never lose in a few turns. Further, cyberdisks that accompany them can be very challenging if you don't have sufficiently strong weapons (especially explosives, using the battle tactics above).

Offline Chuckebaby

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Re: Second Sectoid base defence
« Reply #4 on: November 07, 2022, 12:27:44 pm »
Hope you got this sorted by now. I've been there, it sucks.
Look at your soldiers stats, sometimes it's best to disarm some of them, leaving them in a small room next to their weapon until you can wipe out the mind controllers.
Otherwise they will freak out and turn on one another.

As mentioned above, (especially on higher skill levels), smoke is a necessity and 100% needed.

Option 2-
I believe you can turn off PSI in OXCE options.
I'm not sure if you can do that mid game though. But it's an option just to muscle through the mission.
« Last Edit: November 07, 2022, 12:31:20 pm by Chuckebaby »

Offline 10TC

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Re: Second Sectoid base defence
« Reply #5 on: November 29, 2022, 02:52:45 am »
Hi all thanks for the responses. I know it's been a while lol. Haven't played XCOM in long, but going to crack out some tonight so I'll put these tactics to good use. Thanks again all. All the best

- 10TC

Offline Chuckebaby

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Re: Second Sectoid base defence
« Reply #6 on: November 29, 2022, 12:31:10 pm »
Hi all thanks for the responses. I know it's been a while lol. Haven't played XCOM in long, but going to crack out some tonight so I'll put these tactics to good use. Thanks again all. All the best

- 10TC

Early on in the game H.E> (High Explosives) can be a good friend. You may end up losing a few good men or even an air lock or two  :P But you wont lose the base.