Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N9.7.7 12-Sep-2024 Second Coming

[nicedayright]

Craft returning from a missing don't get intercepted, thank God.

Also, "You should have your second base by march" was hilarious.

If you can do that, film it. I would love to see a LP of whatever shenanigans you've been getting up to.

[Delian]

This isn't even close to true.

Which part isn't true?

Earning money is hard in the early game, but there are ways. Each Castaway Gal recovered is a $200k brainer in disguise. So, get lucky with some distress calls and necropirate hunts and you got plenty of free brainers.
It's a bit obvious to say this but, stun enemies instead of killing them. Each Academy Nurse is 15k, Osion Yeoman 25k, Researcher 35k... did you perhaps kill them all?
There are some missions that pay pretty well. For instance, you can research !Monster Hunt! and with little luck get the Giant Spider Hunt mission. The hunt spawns 30-40 spiders. Each living spider is worth $52k. That's over $1M in cash. But even if you don't go that way, you can easily do over 20 missions in the first two months and roll in plenty of cash.

Code: [Select]

  - { id: 0, markerName: STR_LANDING_SITE_, markerId: 1, time: { second: 40, minute: 8, hour: 16, weekday: 6, day: 2, month: 1, year: 2601 }, region: STR_SOUTH_EAST_ASIA, country: STR_TURAN, type: STR_UFO_GROUND_ASSAULT, ufo: STR_VESSEL_AIRBUS, success: true, score: 205, rating: STR_MS_RATING_150, alienRace: STR_SECTOID_NONCOM, daylight: 15, lootValue: -200 }
  - { id: 1, markerName: STR_LANDING_SITE_, markerId: 2, time: { second: 55, minute: 57, hour: 16, weekday: 4, day: 7, month: 1, year: 2601 }, region: STR_SOUTH_EAST_ASIA, country: STR_TURAN, type: STR_UFO_GROUND_ASSAULT, ufo: STR_VESSEL_AIRBUS, success: true, score: 160, rating: STR_MS_RATING_150, alienRace: STR_SECTOID_NONCOM, daylight: 15, lootValue: -200 }
  - { id: 2, markerName: STR_MARKER_DISTRESS_BUNKER, markerId: 1, time: { second: 0, minute: 12, hour: 23, weekday: 5, day: 8, month: 1, year: 2601 }, region: STR_NORTH_AFRICA, country: STR_NIGERIA, type: STR_LOC_DISTRESS_BUNKER_JUNGLE, ufo: NO_UFO, success: true, score: 120, rating: STR_MS_RATING_75, alienRace: STR_BANDIT, daylight: 15, lootValue: -200 }
  - { id: 3, markerName: STR_MARKER_LOC_WHOREHOUSE, markerId: 1, time: { second: 0, minute: 12, hour: 16, weekday: 7, day: 10, month: 1, year: 2601 }, region: STR_CENTRAL_ASIA, country: STR_INDIA, type: STR_LOC_WHOREHOUSE, ufo: NO_UFO, success: true, score: 68, rating: STR_MS_RATING_0, alienRace: STR_BANDIT_TOWN, daylight: 15, lootValue: -200 }
  - { id: 4, markerName: STR_LANDING_SITE_, markerId: 3, time: { second: 45, minute: 18, hour: 10, weekday: 4, day: 14, month: 1, year: 2601 }, region: STR_SOUTH_EAST_ASIA, country: STR_RUSSIA, type: STR_UFO_GROUND_ASSAULT, ufo: STR_VESSEL_AIRBUS, success: true, score: 190, rating: STR_MS_RATING_150, alienRace: STR_SECTOID_NONCOM, daylight: 15, lootValue: -200 }
  - { id: 5, markerName: STR_MARKER_GOVT_CAR, markerId: 1, time: { second: 0, minute: 33, hour: 13, weekday: 1, day: 18, month: 1, year: 2601 }, region: STR_SOUTH_EAST_ASIA, country: STR_TURAN, type: STR_LOC_GOVT_CAR, ufo: NO_UFO, success: true, score: 128, rating: STR_MS_RATING_75, alienRace: STR_BANDIT_TOWN, daylight: 15, lootValue: -200 }
  - { id: 6, markerName: STR_MARKER_RATLING_VILLAGE, markerId: 1, time: { second: 15, minute: 38, hour: 3, weekday: 3, day: 20, month: 1, year: 2601 }, region: STR_SOUTH_EAST_ASIA, country: STR_CHINA, type: STR_LOC_RATLING_VILLAGE, ufo: NO_UFO, success: true, score: 424, rating: STR_MS_RATING_300, alienRace: STR_RATMEN, daylight: 0, lootValue: -200 }
  - { id: 7, markerName: STR_MARKER_CHURCH_OUTPOST, markerId: 1, time: { second: 10, minute: 33, hour: 22, weekday: 5, day: 22, month: 1, year: 2601 }, region: STR_CENTRAL_ASIA, country: STR_UNKNOWN, type: STR_LOC_CHURCH_OUTPOST_TEMPERATE, ufo: NO_UFO, success: true, score: 95, rating: STR_MS_RATING_75, alienRace: STR_CHURCH_NONCOM, daylight: 15, lootValue: -200 }
  - { id: 8, markerName: STR_LANDING_SITE_, markerId: 4, time: { second: 5, minute: 4, hour: 20, weekday: 7, day: 31, month: 1, year: 2601 }, region: STR_SOUTHERN_AFRICA, country: STR_UNKNOWN, type: STR_UFO_GROUND_ASSAULT, ufo: STR_VESSEL_FOOT_PATROL_NECRO, success: true, score: 345, rating: STR_MS_RATING_300, alienRace: STR_CANNYS, daylight: 15, valiantCrux: true, lootValue: -200 }

  - { id: 9, markerName: STR_MARKER_ISOLATED_VALLEY, markerId: 1, time: { second: 55, minute: 10, hour: 7, weekday: 3, day: 3, month: 2, year: 2601 }, region: STR_NORTH_AFRICA, country: STR_NIGERIA, type: STR_LOC_ISOLATED_VALLEY, ufo: NO_UFO, success: true, score: 631, rating: STR_MS_RATING_500, alienRace: STR_ZOMBIE, daylight: 0, lootValue: -200 }
  - { id: 10, markerName: STR_MARKER_LOC_CRACKHOUSE, markerId: 1, time: { second: 55, minute: 56, hour: 18, weekday: 2, day: 9, month: 2, year: 2601 }, region: STR_NORTH_AFRICA, country: STR_EGYPT, type: STR_LOC_CRACKHOUSE, ufo: NO_UFO, success: true, score: 298, rating: STR_MS_RATING_150, alienRace: STR_BANDIT_TOWN, daylight: 13, lootValue: -200 }
  - { id: 11, markerName: STR_LANDING_SITE_, markerId: 5, time: { second: 25, minute: 7, hour: 0, weekday: 4, day: 11, month: 2, year: 2601 }, region: STR_AUSTRALASIA, country: STR_AUSTRALIA, type: STR_UFO_GROUND_ASSAULT, ufo: STR_VESSEL_CI_HARVESTER, success: true, score: -30, rating: STR_MS_RATING_0, alienRace: STR_CIVILIANZ_1, daylight: 0, lootValue: -200 }
  - { id: 12, markerName: STR_TERROR_SITE, markerId: 1, time: { second: 0, minute: 1, hour: 5, weekday: 6, day: 13, month: 2, year: 2601 }, region: STR_NORTH_AMERICA, country: STR_NCR, type: STR_TERROR_MISSION_NO_PENALTY, ufo: NO_UFO, success: true, score: 1058, rating: STR_MS_RATING_1000, alienRace: STR_MIXED_KKK, daylight: 15, lootValue: -200 }
  - { id: 13, markerName: STR_MARKER_CHURCH_OUTPOST, markerId: 2, time: { second: 55, minute: 42, hour: 17, weekday: 7, day: 14, month: 2, year: 2601 }, region: STR_CENTRAL_ASIA, country: STR_UNKNOWN, type: STR_LOC_CHURCH_OUTPOST_JUNGLE, ufo: NO_UFO, success: true, score: 282, rating: STR_MS_RATING_150, alienRace: STR_CHURCH_NONCOM, daylight: 15, lootValue: -200 }
  - { id: 14, markerName: STR_MARKER_ACADEMY_OUTPOST, markerId: 1, time: { second: 20, minute: 7, hour: 0, weekday: 2, day: 16, month: 2, year: 2601 }, region: STR_SOUTHERN_AFRICA, country: STR_UNKNOWN, type: STR_LOC_ACADEMY_OUTPOST_JUNGLE, ufo: NO_UFO, success: true, score: 428, rating: STR_MS_RATING_300, alienRace: STR_SECTOID_NONCOM, daylight: 15, lootValue: -200 }
  - { id: 15, markerName: STR_MARKER_LOC_BARN_GROX, markerId: 1, time: { second: 15, minute: 29, hour: 3, weekday: 5, day: 19, month: 2, year: 2601 }, region: STR_NORTH_AMERICA, country: STR_NCR, type: STR_LOC_BARN_GROX, ufo: NO_UFO, success: true, score: 358, rating: STR_MS_RATING_300, alienRace: STR_LOKNAR, daylight: 15, lootValue: -200 }
  - { id: 16, markerName: STR_MARKER_TAVERN_CELLAR, markerId: 1, time: { second: 45, minute: 57, hour: 22, weekday: 6, day: 20, month: 2, year: 2601 }, region: STR_EUROPE, country: STR_RUSSIA, type: STR_LOC_TAVERN_CELLAR, ufo: NO_UFO, success: true, score: 305, rating: STR_MS_RATING_300, alienRace: STR_MONSTER_RACE_NIGHT, daylight: 11, valiantCrux: true, lootValue: -200 }
  - { id: 17, markerName: STR_MARKER_RATLING_VILLAGE, markerId: 2, time: { second: 35, minute: 11, hour: 23, weekday: 7, day: 21, month: 2, year: 2601 }, region: STR_CENTRAL_ASIA, country: STR_TURAN, type: STR_LOC_RATLING_VILLAGE, ufo: NO_UFO, success: true, score: 356, rating: STR_MS_RATING_300, alienRace: STR_RATMEN, daylight: 15, lootValue: -5 }
  - { id: 18, markerName: STR_MARKER_LOC_WHOREHOUSE, markerId: 2, time: { second: 10, minute: 43, hour: 11, weekday: 2, day: 23, month: 2, year: 2601 }, region: STR_NORTH_AMERICA, country: STR_NCR, type: STR_LOC_WHOREHOUSE, ufo: NO_UFO, success: true, score: 224, rating: STR_MS_RATING_150, alienRace: STR_BANDIT_TOWN, daylight: 15, lootValue: -5 }
  - { id: 19, markerName: STR_MARKER_DISTRESS_BUNKER, markerId: 2, time: { second: 55, minute: 56, hour: 17, weekday: 4, day: 25, month: 2, year: 2601 }, region: STR_NORTH_AFRICA, country: STR_EGYPT, type: STR_LOC_DISTRESS_BUNKER_DESERT, ufo: NO_UFO, success: true, score: 150, rating: STR_MS_RATING_150, alienRace: STR_BANDIT, daylight: 12, lootValue: -5 }
  - { id: 20, markerName: STR_MARKER_LOKNAR_VILLAGE, markerId: 1, time: { second: 25, minute: 57, hour: 19, weekday: 7, day: 28, month: 2, year: 2601 }, region: STR_SOUTH_EAST_ASIA, country: STR_CHINA, type: STR_LOC_LOKNAR_VILLAGE_DEFENSE, ufo: NO_UFO, success: true, score: 675, rating: STR_MS_RATING_500, alienRace: STR_NINJA, daylight: 15, valiantCrux: true, lootValue: -5 }

1st month income: 2305730
2nd month income: 4896914
Altho I gotta admit, those two were before the 40% sales price penalty was added on Jack Sparrow.

If you can do that, film it. I would love to see a LP of whatever shenanigans you've been getting up to.

It would be pretty boring, because a lot of it involves training unit stats in missions, so each mission can take hours lol

[Warface]

Which part isn't true?

The part I quoted, obviously. We're calling BS on having Conqueror etc. and finishing in 18 months. If you're doing it, you're using some kind of "golden path" which has already been established in this thread to be unnecessary given the sheer number of research topics.

Also, you're essentially saying that every enemy needs to be stunned and I should have 15 castaway gals (for my 18 brainers) or else Star Gods will be up my ass by month 18.

I have seen about 5 castaway gals in all of these 18 months. All other gal recruits have been young ubers.

What are you using for the first two months? Nothing but handles? Or did your version of the game come with free stun harpoons in month 1 as well as the extra cash you got from sales (before the 40% nerf)?

edit:

1st month income: 2305730
2nd month income: 4896914
Altho I gotta admit, those two were before the 40% sales price penalty was added on Jack Sparrow.

so these actual values should be
1st month income: 1383438
2nd month income: 2938138

Now subtract maintenance & expenses, more runts, etc.

What version of the game did you do all this on? Because virtually nothing you are saying checks out in the version I'm playing.

[Meridian]

He's just a tryhard (I'm not trying to be rude, but I don't know a better word) and a minmaxer.

It's possible, but it's definitely not designed to be this way.

[Delian]

[...] some kind of "golden path"

[...] I have seen about 5 castaway gals in all of these 18 months.

[...] every enemy needs to be stunned

[...] What are you using for the first two months? Nothing but handles?

[...] so these actual values should be 1st month income: 1383438, 2nd month income: 2938138

[...] What version of the game did you do all this on?

Well, no, it's not a golden path or anything. Just maximizing your production. Production -> Money -> Bases -> Research

Bro, you get (on average) 4.3 castaways in the first month (not including events).
3 from Roving Bands (100% mission spawn in the 1st month, 30% chance next 7 months).
Shipwrecked Gal (76% for mission * 61% for gal = 46%)
Red Lantern Villa (84%)

Only stun the enemies that are worth bringing back alive. For that reason most bandits and necropirates can be killed.

Handle is one of the worst stun weapons, even worse than Bare Hands. Don't ever use it. You should get a couple of Stun Batons from the first three Academy Airbuses. But even if you don't, you have a 50% chance to spawn Academy Outpost where there's plenty of stun weapons. Right, what are some good early game stun weapons?
For melee, for untrained units I'd recommend Shepherd's Staff because of high accuracy and guaranteed damage. Cattle Prod against armored targets. Once your skills are trained, Stun Baton becomes better. Leather Whip is also a safe choice if you're good at throwing.
For ranged, there's not much choice. Domestic Shotgun Rubber Slugs. Harpoon Gun once your accuracy is high. Again, obvious to say this but, do night missions so it's easy to get in melee range. Use Fire Extinguisher for smoke in day missions. Melee enemies from behind...

Doing the math... 1384k jan - 942k maintenance + 335k countries + 967k score bonus + 2157k feb - 1969k maintenance + 375k countries + 3354k from 10072 score (5550 from research) = 5661k. So in total, $5.6M spendable money was generated, which was enough to build up the 1st base and start a new base.

That was in L4. I've upgraded the version along the way, added the missing ninja bases, etc, but I can't say that the early game changed much.

[Apocca]

Can we get another research path for Canny Gal? I'm in August 2603 and have never had any mission which had a Canny Gal.

[Delian]

Blood Rituals, 15% (30% in first 15 months) chance per month, 30% chance it's Canny Gals.
Cannibal Camp, 18% chance per month (needs Customer: Wiz Biz and BH Silver Badge (B)), 100% Canny Gals

[magitsu]

Bro, you get (on average) 4.3 castaways in the first month (not including events).

Variance can be really high. For example I took a look at my new campaign: 1 castaway gal (though +1 hero too) in the first two months. Turan start.
Though I can attest that 3-4 within 2 months feels far more common result (previous start in Ghost Gates produced 3 or 4). I've had a three 2-3 month game starts with the current version trying to see how differently the early game could be played. Currently I'm of the opinion that I won't be gunning for set date 2 base in the next starts. Getting harvester or some other 1st major goals feels similarly interesting (or personal labs, 12+1 initial brainers is trivial already so getting it can be minmaxed without much effort).

[Warface]

That was in L4.

Start a new game.

[everything else]

Thing is, I do pretty much everything you say, but the results are different.

I get fine results from handles before upgrading (frankly I don't really need any of this battlescape advice). My point was that you can't get the stun on every enemy. You don't have to tell me to stun them at night from behind. FFS.

Your scores are ludicrous. I've restarted 4 times and it's simply a fact that your score is not going to be that high with what is available.

The whole point of my op was a reaction to the star god base right next to mine; everything else in that post was for context. This is bizarrely off topic and not helpful.

Your roving bands actually stop for you? They eat up my battery every time. Or did you start with something besides the airbus?

Everything you are saying is gonzo. Start a new game with N1. For accuracy, play Davy Jones (for the appropriate amount of content since you have been playing on JS) and play the first 6 months a few times. I want to know exactly how you manage to get 10000 score in Feb because that's fucking silly.

I have replayed the first six months four times.

Start a new game in N1 because your advice is dated.

Here's my old game that I stopped playing years ago. I recently re-researched a lot of things because the tree has changed. Many things have more dependencies and are gated behind RNG that weren't before. Start a new game bro.

[magitsu]

Yeah, the roving bands are certainly unreachable. I think getting even to 5k probably requires going to that first Mutant Pogrom and taking few hundred positive from that. 2.5-3k is probably more reasonable good result.

Most common mission in the first 2nd months seems to be tthe Nurse bus of 4-5. That can feature 3-4 times. Likely just 1 temple raid, 1 shambler hunt, 1 academy outpost (the one with the first medic sighting), maybe mining ship if lucky. Then the 3rd month can have just about anything, even multiple reticulan landings.

[Warface]

Yeah, the roving bands are certainly unreachable. I think getting even to 5k probably requires going to that first Mutant Pogrom and taking few hundred positive from that. 2.5-3k is probably more reasonable good result.

Most common mission in the first 2nd months seems to be tthe Nurse bus of 4-5. That can feature 3-4 times. Likely just 1 temple raid, 1 shambler hunt, 1 academy outpost (the one with the first medic sighting), maybe mining ship if lucky. Then the 3rd month can have just about anything, even multiple reticulan landings.

This has been my experience.

[Mechanique]

Craft returning from a missing don't get intercepted, thank God.

Also, "You should have your second base by march" was hilarious.

If you can do that, film it. I would love to see a LP of whatever shenanigans you've been getting up to.

I had shrine ship spam for a whole month just a few months in. Caught around 5 of them landed, just selling the gold bars and extra engines got me 5-ish millions. Might be some RNG luck involved, but still it is possible.

[Warface]

I should probably add that that save file is a bit broken due to having started with an older version. It allowed me to research Peasant Revolution even though I already had Gals are Superior, for example.

[Delian]

Scores are higher because on Jack Sparrow more enemies spawn... also, score bonus per recovered Glamour was increased it seems, when did that happen?

Roving Bands definitely land. Their trajectory has a landing point defined, at which they stay for 50 minutes. In the sav you provided, you do land there:

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  - { id: 1, markerName: STR_LANDING_SITE_, markerId: 3, time: {second: 0, minute: 43, hour: 20, weekday: 2, day: 6, month: 1, year: 2601}, ... ufo: STR_VESSEL_FOOT_PATROL_NECRO, success: true, score: 175, ... valiantCrux: true }You did the mission, and you got all 3 gals, so why the are you saying that they don't land? Oh... I think I know why. Roving Bands and Rogue Courier have the same marker on the map, so you might be confusing the two. Rogue Courier moves at 265 speed, while Roving Bands move at 90. Well, Roving Bands don't always appear in the same region as your starting base (it's a 80% chance), so I suppose you need to get a bit lucky.

Start a new game bro.

I started a new game. Roving Bands appeared. I waited while they moved around (they change direction 3 times, then land). Did the mission, got 325 score. You got only 175 tho? Are you sure you played on Davy Jones? It's impossible to spawn only 4 necropirates (25 points each) on that difficulty.

Your scores are ludicrous. I've restarted 4 times and it's simply a fact that your score is not going to be that high with what is available.
I want to know exactly how you manage to get 10000 score in Feb because that's fucking silly.

I already posted a list of missions with scores. I don't have a precise list of research done, but I think 1k points was from codex. You'll simply have to accept the fact that getting good scores in the early game is possible and that it's it's not ludicrous to start a new base two months into the game (36 Gold Bars from Golden Codex definitely help hehe). Also, you should enable missile strikes in your game

[Warface]

The save I provided is not the one I'm playing. That save has multiple aircraft that can hover over a target for hours. It's also a little broken because I already had Gals are Superior before upgrading versions and it allowed me to research Peasant Revolution anyway.

Yes, I am aware that JS has higher scores, and that is explicitly why I said do it on DJ. Yes, I'm def playing on DJ (on both of those saves). I haven't touched the diff since I started either of them.

Also, you need to "just accept" that you did those things according to a particular set of choices. Don't say "you should have x by x." Say, "I did certain things that enabled it, e.g. Golden Codex (turn on your sense of irony for this one if it isn't already going off like an alarm). I shouldn't have to pick a specific Codex ("Golden path" anyone?). That's a whole million bucks dude. You have spent all this time basically describing a golden path while claiming it isn't one. There is only a narrow set of decisions that can be made to produce the results you claim. It's pretty damn specific. That's a golden path. Not something that everyone "should have" done by March or whatever.

And until I'm able to launch one of my ICBMs down an enemy's base-hole I'm not enthusiastic about suddenly losing craft, storage space, etc. just for the lulz. I enjoyed the game 2-3 years ago before the missiles were ever introduced, and that's how I'm going to enjoy it now. There are a couple of changes between versions that I've considered changing, like having 600 capitatory tax (120 space) dumped on you, or giant boulders (100ish), forcing out your inventory before you even get a chance to pay it off. If I want to change them I will. They won't affect my battlescape game at all.