Any downsides to requesting Veteran agents? Also 1 handed gun + shield choice

[Rag]

First time trying out the request veteran agents system but I'm wondering if them arriving with higher stats than normal and free medals might have any negative impact on the stat gains they can naturally reach. With things like them not being able to use the gym despite coming in with some stats lower than those in the gym, I did notice an old post mentioning that medals shouldn't effect the natural stat gains so if thats true the free medals shouldn't hinder anything but still worrying if there is any downside with using this system compared to training up fresh agents or if I should just be requesting all of them and ignoring hiring new ones from now on

Also unrelated question, for Promotion 2 weapons I'd like some advice for mid to close range one handed weapons to try with the Xeno Shield. I am using BlackOps Sniper for long range but close range unsure which is best to use. Currently using BlackOps SMG however the shots tend to bounce off armoured cults a lot, working towards Smart Magnums seems like a good alternative but worried their low clip size might be a hinderance. The P-90 has a huge ammo supply but worried the accuracy loss of one handing it makes it less appealing similar to shotguns. Not sure if there is any overall best weapon or something I forgot to try.

Similar to above I'd also like some advice on 1x2 melee choices, so far I've just used combat knives but I remembered being unsure which Tritanium blade to use between the simple knife and scary maths kukri the first time, ending up with kukri for the style points

[psavola]

My veteran agents have turned out to be excellent. For whatever reason, for example they might end up having higher STR than my other agents. But I have not analyzed where (which commendations) this comes from. Once you can get veterans, you pretty much can stop buying rookies (except for buying 30-40+ hybrids for to get bunch of >80 PST for psionics).

If you want to use the shield, I suggest trying black-ops pistol. Good range, accuracy and speed, and 30 damage with 0-200 % rolls eventually punch through.

But note that I essentially never use shields against cultists myself. At least after promo II (and explosives license) I would not suggest it as a tactic. Shooting most cultists triggers sniper/spotter mechanics and your units are liable to to get grenaded or grenade launched (in addition to blind shotted), unless you have favourable cover. Throw lots of grenades instead or weapons with area effect rather than direct hit.

Melee is essentially waste of time for the first 6 months of the game due to poor agent MELEE stat. Once you get decent melee stats, combat knives and kukris are both good, as well the stunning options. I usually end up using kukris. But note that combat knifes are concealable, sporting and beach gear, and kukris are none of those, so you may need to keep both to deal with all the mission types.

[zee_ra]

A more interesting question if it is actually possible to opt out from the veteran system?

I feel that the set of gym training routines and the full set of modifications is more than sufficient to create a very strong novice in about 4-6 weeks, without a single combat engagement.

[psavola]

A more interesting question if it is actually possible to opt out from the veteran system?

You can definitely sell all the veteran agent acquisition rights you obtain, you're not forced to claim them.

[Rag]

My veteran agents have turned out to be excellent. For whatever reason, for example they might end up having higher STR than my other agents. But I have not analyzed where (which commendations) this comes from. Once you can get veterans, you pretty much can stop buying rookies (except for buying 30-40+ hybrids for to get bunch of >80 PST for psionics).

I think my highest strength agent right now was a Gunner type request, looking at their commendations rocket scientist, canoneer, jungle mower and gunner medals all give strength bonuses, I dont use those type of weapons much so I guess I should try to in order to increase all my agents strength a little, that seems like the biggest benefit to me that they can come with medals I don't usually remember to work on so it is effectively free bonuses no other agents tend to recieve. Focusing on earning varied medals is probably one of the things I should try to improve on since my usual playstyle is snipers and popping in and out of cover to shoot, should try more heavy weapons and grenades etc. but they tend to cost more / destroy items on floor but it would be fun to try the miniguns

I never did use many hybrids my first time playing but might try this time, the energy and self stun of psi weapons tends to put me off trying them and the hybrids seemed to have low strength if I remember correctly, but the free shield and psi bonuses would be nice if I found a good way to use them.

If you want to use the shield, I suggest trying black-ops pistol. Good range, accuracy and speed, and 30 damage with 0-200 % rolls eventually punch through.

I didn't consider the pistol as a main weapon but looking at it compare to the SMG it does do more damage but less shots so might make for a good trade off so will give it a try thanks

But note that I essentially never use shields against cultists myself. At least after promo II (and explosives license) I would not suggest it as a tactic. Shooting most cultists triggers sniper/spotter mechanics and your units are liable to to get grenaded or grenade launched (in addition to blind shotted), unless you have favourable cover. Throw lots of grenades instead or weapons with area effect rather than direct hit.

I never used the shields the first time so trying them this time, for outdoor missions I prefer having both hands free for snipers etc. but they helped in the cramped corridors of the Black Lotus party / EXALT HQ type map, I just tried a second Red Dawn HQ first time with sniper rifles and second time with shield and pistol, it took a lot more pistol shots to down an enemy but with camping in the bunkers and shooting down it seemed more effective than the sniper rifles due to the shear number of bullets being shot per turn even if most didn't do much

Enemies using explosives is my main threat alongside melee enemies, especially with bunching people together into sniper nests only to have some olympic level cultist toss a grenade half way across the map outside my sight range, I always prioritise them if I do see them since its rare to lose people to a few bullets with armoured vests but explosives and melee can often 1 shot still

Melee is essentially waste of time for the first 6 months of the game due to poor agent MELEE stat. Once you get decent melee stats, combat knives and kukris are both good, as well the stunning options. I usually end up using kukris. But note that combat knifes are concealable, sporting and beach gear, and kukris are none of those, so you may need to keep both to deal with all the mission types.

I've mostly been using melee in my quick change or belt slot which is why I like the 1x2 weapons to quickly pull it out if I end up in danger, I feel like I *should* try the katana etc. but maining melee is a scary prospect even if its powerful. For some reason I ended up using Baseball Bats for beach missions since its one of the few weapons they let me take which seem to have a decent chance to 1-2 shot people to take their guns

You can definitely sell all the veteran agent acquisition rights you obtain, you're not forced to claim them.

I do like the idea of selling them back, but a good agent is worth the money and manufacture time for me, outside of worrying about if there was any downsides to it I also like the idea of fully molding my fresh agents so getting the free medals did seem counter to that but usefulness is better so I shouldnt complain that they come out with useful extras

[SickBoySid]

Black ops pistol and if you Wana spice it up a sawed off DB in the quick draw,

I think alot of people use shields on your grunts but I really think they are for your mid tier+ units,

They need the Str for the shield melee damage
They need HP to effectively tank a high roll shot
They need good stamina and time units for mobility

But you still want your stated out elites useing Auto-Sniper and HMG ( what have you) but one you get material Arts training and Bio Enhancement, early, especially Trit shields are crazy strong *54* front armor
I've noticed they have excellent melee Dodge but only from the front.

For example in the syndicate underground lab mission I've completed it 2ice with only really using trit shields ( was even able to take down blood hounds and it's good to farm scientists) they thrive in choke points and are great for capturing, but fall short in maps that lack cover and are weak vs explosives, very high damage, and flanking,

you shouldn't be aggressively putting them in danger just to tank shots, but they do fantastic overwatch bashing people around corners and have a much better chance in melee if it's from the front, and are nearly immune from wounds from basic small arms from front

If your lacking str stats you can use pepper spray for capturing it's actually really good for that. It also does TU damage so it helps prevents overwatch return fire, it's how I captured sectiods prior to knock out nades

Also it's just fun to diversify your gameplay

[Solarius Scorch]

I agree; I use about 1 shield-bearer per 5 agents, and they are dedicated specialists, not rookies. A shield-bearer needs strength, mobility, and especially vitality to fulfill their role.

[Rag]

Black ops pistol and if you Wana spice it up a sawed off DB in the quick draw

I've been using the BlackOps Pistols into BlackOps Smart Pistols so far for the quickdraw and for shield agents and have found them to be very effective against things at the Promotion 2-3 point. I'm currently facing MiB and Syndicate where they have lost their edge and not sure if its worth investing into Mass Driver Pistols or to hold out longer for Turbolasers and Gauss and continue using Blackops Auto-Sniper Rifles without a sidearm since I don't have shield agents anymore

I think alot of people use shields on your grunts but I really think they are for your mid tier+ units, I think alot of people use shields on your grunts but I really think they are for your mid tier+ units,

They need the Str for the shield melee damage
They need HP to effectively tank a high roll shot
They need good stamina and time units for mobility

But you still want your stated out elites useing Auto-Sniper and HMG ( what have you) but one you get material Arts training and Bio Enhancement, early, especially Trit shields are crazy strong *54* front armor
I've noticed they have excellent melee Dodge but only from the front.

For example in the syndicate underground lab mission I've completed it 2ice with only really using trit shields ( was even able to take down blood hounds and it's good to farm scientists) they thrive in choke points and are great for capturing, but fall short in maps that lack cover and are weak vs explosives, very high damage, and flanking,

Sadly I've not gotten much alien alloys so far so was unable to invest into tritanium shields to see how much of an upgrade they were over the first kind, instead I ended up using Heavy Tactical Armour until able to get Cyber Armour and Aqua-Plastic, so I effectively skipped over the good shield upgrade due to limited resources to use them, but if I had them at the time I also would have likely used them for the cave missions and monster lab since they were useful for the EXALT HQ and Red Dawn HQ alongside a few BlackOps Sniper Rifles for the tanks, as I didn't fancy fighting them with pistols.

you shouldn't be aggressively putting them in danger just to tank shots, but they do fantastic overwatch bashing people around corners and have a much better chance in melee if it's from the front, and are nearly immune from wounds from basic small arms from front
If your lacking str stats you can use pepper spray for capturing it's actually really good for that. It also does TU damage so it helps prevents overwatch return fire, it's how I captured sectiods prior to knock out nades

I liked to place them first in line around a courner or a killbox just incase the enemy did come up or around with time to attack for the extra protection or shield bash, but with trying out dogs more I liked how instead of killing / stunning anyone who got close they would be stuck from barking to prevent other enemies moving up, its less satisfying than killing with reaction fire but helped reduce the chance of a grenade thrower walking up after everyones reactions were spent since those grenades were always the most dangerous part of camping an exit

Using pepper spray instead of dog barking never occured to me but I also seem to get unlucky with pepper spray as I can never get it until pretty late, I ended up using the grenade launchers / taser cannon to stun aliens instead of the knockout grenades due to how long they take to create I wasn't sure how useful they would be in comparrison, the tactical grenade launcher especially has been really good at stunning enemies as long as they dont overstun / outright kill them and the Taser Cannon despite its weight and clip size issues remain my go to indoor / underwater stun weapons, the consistency makes its flaws worth the hassle

Also it's just fun to diversify your gameplay

I always had a hard time doing that, as I like to have standardised equipment unless I need some people to carry heavy stuns or rockets, I already struggle with inventory management so I like to give them all the same setup to make it easy

I agree; I use about 1 shield-bearer per 5 agents, and they are dedicated specialists, not rookies. A shield-bearer needs strength, mobility, and especially vitality to fulfill their role.

I am doing similar but with dogs and tanks atm, if I can bring tanks then I like 1-2 tanks or if its a tight map without room for the tanks to go in to have 2 dogs, not sure if I should try more dogs as I've grown to love them this playthrough especially for infiltration missions and reaction barking and scouting / biting and returning with their high time units (even if that has resulted in them kill stealing A LOT, but they are good boys and girls so its forgiven)

[psavola]

I've been using the BlackOps Pistols into BlackOps Smart Pistols so far for the quickdraw and for shield agents and have found them to be very effective against things at the Promotion 2-3 point. I'm currently facing MiB and Syndicate where they have lost their edge and not sure if its worth investing into Mass Driver Pistols or to hold out longer for Turbolasers and Gauss and continue using Blackops Auto-Sniper Rifles without a sidearm since I don't have shield agents anymore

There are multiple options after BO (smart)pistol era that depend on what you have obtained. For example, BO Macro SMG is a reasonably good choice and usually will punch through eventually, but when you get it depends a bit on RNG. Even if you don't have it, you can still mostly use sniper rifles. In particular .308 Cal has extremely accurate snapshot  once the agents' Bravery has improved a bit (say 50,60+, while allowing for some movement.

I have never bothered with Mass Driver weapons for soldiers (the tech is useful yo research for other progress, however). Researching it requires capturing a live alien. But when you have done it, you can also progress down the laser path. If you play your cards right, you will have scavenged some  laser weapons from MIBs. And you don't even need to research anything to use them. The lasers are efficient against armored human enemies, because most of them have some resistance to kinetic (requiring effective regular weaponry to be effective), but not lasers. So if you're experiencing difficulties delivering damage, those may be worth checking out.

As for MIBs, the best way to deal with them is TAC grenade launcher + gas grenades on open maps. Their crafts are also a goldmine. There is usually just one MIB outdoors, everyone else is cramped indoors, and they get out usually one by one. With a few dogs you may want to more or less rush to the craft and block the exit with reaction barking. Once they get out one by one, stun and/or melee them. Capturing live MIBs when you have not researched that specific type of MIB also gives you huge number of points. But watch out, you need to pick the location carefully. In the worst case one MIB will open a door while the other will blast you through the open door, if you pick a spot where they can do so.

[Rag]

There are multiple options after BO (smart)pistol era that depend on what you have obtained. For example, BO Macro SMG is a reasonably good choice and usually will punch through eventually, but when you get it depends a bit on RNG. Even if you don't have it, you can still mostly use sniper rifles. In particular .308 Cal has extremely accurate snapshot  once the agents' Bravery has improved a bit (say 50,60+, while allowing for some movement.

I have never bothered with Mass Driver weapons for soldiers (the tech is useful yo research for other progress, however). Researching it requires capturing a live alien. But when you have done it, you can also progress down the laser path. If you play your cards right, you will have scavenged some  laser weapons from MIBs. And you don't even need to research anything to use them. The lasers are efficient against armored human enemies, because most of them have some resistance to kinetic (requiring effective regular weaponry to be effective), but not lasers. So if you're experiencing difficulties delivering damage, those may be worth checking out.

As for MIBs, the best way to deal with them is TAC grenade launcher + gas grenades on open maps. Their crafts are also a goldmine. There is usually just one MIB outdoors, everyone else is cramped indoors, and they get out usually one by one. With a few dogs you may want to more or less rush to the craft and block the exit with reaction barking. Once they get out one by one, stun and/or melee them. Capturing live MIBs when you have not researched that specific type of MIB also gives you huge number of points. But watch out, you need to pick the location carefully. In the worst case one MIB will open a door while the other will blast you through the open door, if you pick a spot where they can do so.

Ah right I did just check Mass Driver Weapons and forgot it also needed an alien engineer researched to create them, an alien engineer / leader along with their bonus topic is all I'm missing for Turbolasers and Gauss so as soon as I did get Mass Drivers they would be replaced. I am always hesitant to use the captured Mass Drivers, Lasers and Gauss I get due to the limited ammo supply until I can make the ammo myself so I always put off using them as a result

The Macro SMG sounds like it would be worth trying as I did get one so I could research and replenish the ammo of that, I also captured the BlackOps Assault Cannon and BlackOps Smart Rifle and have the MAGMA Heavy Cannon but wasn't sure if they would be worth it over keeping with the BlackOps Auto-Sniper Rifles. I never tried using gas weapons so will give them a try and see how they do, I thought all the gas masks on the Enforcers and Scientists would make them immune but checking it they still take choke damage somehow so will see how effective that is. But so far the tactic you mentioned of camping the entrance of their dropship worked a few times so far for me with 2-3 Auto-Sniper shots usually downing them (probably very lucky to have the Blater Bomb user decide to walk up and punch me instead of using his weapon the time he broke free)

I just hope not to fight any of the power armoured MiBs anytime soon as I remember having a really hard time dealing with them the first time I played especially wanting to stun them for their armour being resistant to electricity like the Gillman Hero who I just had to get lucky from the Coelacanth wounding but not killing. The Syndicate in comparison haven't been too hard to deal with since they appeared late enough for me to have a Kitsune this time, the main issue being trying to capture all the Minotaur alive to add to the XCOM farm

[psavola]

Dealing with heavy MIBs essentially requires EMP grenades/mines or ghost arc weapons. Hadriex gun can work, with patience, but one or two katapeltes blob shots will stun or kill a heavy MIB. And a good PST agent with Manus will kill anyone with one hit.  There are some additional options to killing heavy MIBs, but you want to capture most of them alive if you can, to steal and use their heavy armors yourself.

[Rag]

Dealing with heavy MIBs essentially requires EMP grenades/mines or ghost arc weapons. Hadriex gun can work, with patience, but one or two katapeltes blob shots will stun or kill a heavy MIB. And a good PST agent with Manus will kill anyone with one hit.  There are some additional options to killing heavy MIBs, but you want to capture most of them alive if you can, to steal and use their heavy armors yourself.

Oh I misunderstood the Manus, I saw the none lethal wounds and morale boosted damace and thought it was just a panic weapon and was selling them off, hopefully can get some more back. So far I've been using the Ghost Neuraliser for the ghost missions and ignoring the other weapons so might try them out, sadly I haven't encountered the mission to lead to EMP yet but hopefully will by the time they turn up. The main way I captured the shocktrooper the first time was causing them to bleed but not die due to being incapable of knocking them out myself but that isn't an ideal solution so hopefully the new ghost stuff helps

[psavola]

You get EMP from Jarheads. The most reliable way to get them is let a Dagon manor proceed to level 2 and then dealing with that. Starting from month 20, there's also 7 % chance of a Jarhead terror mission (and Dagon HQ now has a minuscule 2 % chance of spawning such a mission).

[betatester]

You can also have jarhead corpses from Osiron crates and therefore from Land survey as a way to unlock EMP grenades early.

[Rag]

You get EMP from Jarheads. The most reliable way to get them is let a Dagon manor proceed to level 2 and then dealing with that. Starting from month 20, there's also 7 % chance of a Jarhead terror mission (and Dagon HQ now has a minuscule 2 % chance of spawning such a mission).

Is there a way to see which missions are locked behind a set date? I tried checking the data viewer but couldnt see it mentioned, but a few events did mention needing specific months like the Golden Academy.

You can also have jarhead corpses from Osiron crates and therefore from Land survey as a way to unlock EMP grenades early.

Checking the boxes I didnt see it from Osiron but did see it from Land Survey but its less than 1%, but might try to get some from cycling my other boxes for the sake of it, as would be fun to try out EMP as never did that damage type before, or bio, or chemical, or anti-E115. I mostly just stuck to Kinetic, Laser, Plasma and Cutting with electric / stun. I was never sure if EMP would be worth it or not since the robots have some resistance to it, but I guess the ignoring armour mentioned in the description helps bypass that?