I want to make a guide up to 1999

[Juku121]

2.7
reinforcements
migs
with the new update im hoping they are more balanced and not rapidly evolving with huge troop counts

Which are all hallmarks of being swamped with tier 3 manors. Tier 1 manors have no reinforcements at all, and should make up a much, much larger proportion of manors now. Unless RNGesus hates you, of course.

reinforcements elite soldiers often seem to make around 50% of the units atleast in the late manors

More like 45%, but close enough.

they just force spawn even if your troops actively see them spawn.

Reinforcements don't really care if you see them spawning in, AFAIK.

i take out 2-3 manors a month pretty much ironman now. but in mid-late 1998 i had to do alot of save scumming

Which is why I said being swamped in manors might be one of the cases where disabling the cults to prevent more from spawning might be desirable.

because id rather fight muttons then manors

Don't we all?

[PPQ]

One thing you might want to include in this guide is a paragraph or two about smoke.

A lot of people probably underestimate smoke seeing it as a defensive tool only. Something you throw to cover your men or draw a line of smoke in the field and call it a day. But smoke is actually a really powerful offensive tool. Especially if you have a mortar or grenade launchers. If you run into tough enemies you can throw smoke in their faces to blind them as you approach. And all sorts of other stuff that even I probably have not thought of.

Also, you might want to clear up one question I always had. Does research pool? As in, if I research the same thing in two bases do the points add up? Like is 10 scientists in one base and 10 in another equal to 20 in one base or is it just wasted?

[Juku121]

But smoke is actually a really powerful offensive tool.

Note that smoke is a lot less useful than it used to be in vanilla. Both because of enemies sniping you from beyond LoS, and because some of them have anti-smoke vision. Meridian, Shadowbats, Owlmen, some undead will all ignore smoke competely, and most aliens have at least some infravision, so you need more smoke against them than you might be used to.

Does research pool? As in, if I research the same thing in two bases do the points add up? Like is 10 scientists in one base and 10 in another equal to 20 in one base or is it just wasted?

Wasted. Research projects progress separately.

If you're about to elaborate on research, it's worth mentioning putting just one or a few scientists on unimportant projects like legacy weapon or cultist mook research. Takes longer but won't waste the overflow.

[PPQ]

Note that smoke is a lot less useful than it used to be in vanilla. Both because of enemies sniping you from beyond LoS, and because some of them have anti-smoke vision. Meridian, Shadowbats, Owlmen, some undead will all ignore smoke competely, and most aliens have at least some infravision, so you need more smoke against them than you might be used to.

True. But it's still very useful against most enemies, especially humans. And especially early on. And especially if you want to capture them alive. A smoke in the face is really something that helps there.

[Stone Lake]

Smoke

Smoke is VERY powerful at almost every stage. Even if the enemy sniper shoots at you, without LOS it's huge 50% penalty to accuracy. Also, no LOS means to reaction shots.
That being said, it's not that important for saveload enjoyers, as are some things below.

Smoke+dogs/incendiaries is a very effective tactic for taking "Downed UFO" missions at promo I/II. Properly used dogs are OP in general.

Guide-wise. The most important direction of the game, as noted by OP, is getting Promo I/II/III. And along with them, new crafts (van/helicopter/dragonfly/osprey/...), new armors (kevlar/armored vest/...), new labs, soldier transformations (see available transforms). Check research dependencies for those in tech viewer (q at geoscape) or wiki.
Another important venue is getting first alien-ish corpse (for alien containment), then live alien, then alien engineer(s)...

Useful for getting through the interface secrets.

Soldier transforms are done through base->agents->button below->transformations. The most important one is x-com bio-enhancement: +15 hp, far less likely to get one-shotted by humans. You get it by finding and researching some storm.

Regarding battlescape.

• Most important. Retreat is very viable option throughout the game. Skipping on 40+ chupacabra mission is just a wise thing to do.
• Some enemies have strong armor or resist to a particular damage type. Don't be shy to check the wiki and try to figure out their weakness. The damage formula is, roughly ([a] - ammo/melee weapon, [t] - target):
  damage = [a] RNG * [a] power * [t] damage modifier - [t] armor * [a] armor eff
  Then there's also corresponding factor to affect a particular target's stat, i.e.:
  toHealth = damage * [a] toHealth
  toStun    = damage * [a] toStun
  
  Using New Battle (from main menu) + debug mode, you can test some weapons/strats directly.
• Some enemies have camo, and x-com rat/AI scouts can reduce it's effectiveness. They also see through the smoke fairly well, making it one-sided cover against humans.

Regarding manors. It's not too hard to clear out a manor in general, but it's very hard to do it quickly. Especially manor with reinforcements, even if you go rocket-blasting and all-out aggressive. And the rewards are somewhat pointless (even though it's points!). It's a chore.

The best way to deal with them is terminating the cult(s), preventing additional manor spawns.

Detecting manors is done is either by getting craft randomly attacked while flying by hidden manor or checking region/country score charts - manors generate some alien score. Patrol with any vehicle around expected manor locations for a couple hours, and chances are, it will pop up.

[SickBoySid]

Anyone got a list for the hotkeys or is the OXCE all the same shortcuts ?

[Juku121]

What do you mean?

You were already linked to some. There's a better list of super-secret-squirrel OXCE hotkeys on the forum (read all of it, not just the OP). Anything more common you can just look at or remap yourself in the options.

[Chuckebaby]

What do you mean?

You were already linked to some. There's a better list of super-secret-squirrel OXCE hotkeys on the forum (read all of it, not just the OP). Anything more common you can just look at or remap yourself in the options.

Secret squirrel  Good memories.

Super helpful link too. This list of shortcuts is a gem. Thanks.

[Skipeemcgee]

How are you supposed to deal with migs?

[Juku121]

MiGs of your own, at least. Kiting. Or use covert craft, if you can pull the mission(s) off with only a handful of agents.

Killing the manors before they sprout MiGs is the best course of action if you have trouble with those. That, and killing off the parent cult to prevent more from spawning. 

[Juku121]

Is there a reason why you duplicate your questions?

[Chuckebaby]

How are you supposed to deal with migs?

The little bird or even the Humvee.
The Humvee has one weapon slot that can be equipped with something like an M-60. I believe that's 500 rounds of paper bullets (they don't do much) but will take out a couple.
If there is more than 2 or 3, forget it.

The little bird is used almost like a decoy. Just to buy you some time to slither in there.
I actually find a better route is going stealth mode.

- Don't set your craft's course to the actual destination.
- Instead, choose a point around 300 miles north of the Manor.
- Patrol for a few until you see no crafts flying around.
- Make a dash to the manor.