Newbie in need of advices!

[dashyr]

Well, so far I'm alright... survived 2 terror mission.  Not meaning much since it is my first real game and im playing on beginner. I just want some tactical advices. I have joined my save file with my post. I am quite lost about what I should do now.

Any help would be welcome !



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EDIT: Only using FinalModPack with the latest nightly build.

[Warboy1982]

with no disrespect intended to solarius or his mod, my recommendation for your first run would be to disable the FMP until you're familiar and comfortable enough with the base game.

[Phoenix7786]

Xcom is challenging and fun enough without getting into deep, detailed mods. I 2nd Warboy's suggestion to get some Sectoid skulls under your belt! If you want a decent run for your 1st time, I suggest the shotgun mod, sniper rifle mod, and Retaliator mod. Those will help give you an extra nudge to help you out in the challenging times at the start.

Out of curiosity, are you remembering to use smoke grenades to cover your exit from the Skyranger and are you using any kind of tanks (the things called HWP's)?

[yrizoud]

Here is some spoiler-free game system info, so that you can draw your own conclusions :
- Your soldiers can shoot even at targets that they don't see personally (when they don't have the flashing red square). Chance of hitting is the same.
- Smoke is 'all or nothing' : If enough tiles of smoke are in the way, line of sight is blocked. If there is not enough smoke, line of sight is possible. Smoke doesn't make shots less accurate.
- Reaction shots are much more likely if the defending character has a lot of unused Time Units (as a percentage of his maximum) : A character with reactions 30, waiting with 100% unused TU, will react as quickly as a character with reactions 120 with 25% unused TU, or a character with reactions 60 with 50% unused TU.

[Solarius Scorch]

with no disrespect intended to solarius or his mod, my recommendation for your first run would be to disable the FMP until you're familiar and comfortable enough with the base game.

I actually second that. the FMP isn't terribly hard, but it's harder.

Of course I'm not saying you shouldn't play your first game if you want to; when I started playing Rimworld, I've soon downloaded the biggest mod pack I could find, it made the game much harder but also way more fun, so it was a good decision. But I also accepted this consciously; and I didn't ask for help because that's kinda backwards, you're supposed to learn through vanilla if you can't deal with a mod.

Having said that, the FMP doesn't change that much, so 95% of suggestions should work for both versions. The biggest difference - or at least most commonly discussed - is how you deal with Cyberdiscs in early game, since in vanilla you can get lasers quickly while in the FMP you need to rely on other options, like explosives and flamethrowers (fire is great against Cyberdiscs, but also burns them pretty slowly). And the FMP forces you to catch live aliens (epsecially Engineers and leaders/Commanders) to progress, which isn't as important for vanilla.

[dashyr]

Xcom is challenging and fun enough without getting into deep, detailed mods. I 2nd Warboy's suggestion to get some Sectoid skulls under your belt! If you want a decent run for your 1st time, I suggest the shotgun mod, sniper rifle mod, and Retaliator mod. Those will help give you an extra nudge to help you out in the challenging times at the start.

Out of curiosity, are you remembering to use smoke grenades to cover your exit from the Skyranger and are you using any kind of tanks (the things called HWP's)?

I didnt tried the tanks yet. Using dogs as scout/spotter. Snipers for long range from a vantage point. I tend to use the shotgun to clear ufos. And im getting used to relay grenades. (Am I the only one to think that throwing a live grenade at a friend... even as a relay feels wrong? XD)
Well, I didnt need to use smoke so far. But I keep some in the skyranger just in case.

The problems I have are mostly related to the main quest. My biggest issue is capturing aliens. I captured one but looks like he wasnt important enough to be ''researched''. Is there anyway I can know wich one is valuable? o.O What kind of research is a priority? There is so much stuff in there its hard to figure out. xD

 PS: I eat cyberdiscs for breakfast. I play dodgeball with them using high explosives. unfortunatly they got no hands. And yeah maybe the logical course would be vanilla first. But technology-wise... vanilla makes no sense. Felt like I was fighting in the 60s. FMP kinda fixes that for me.  I played a bit of Xenonauts wich got me hooked on the concept. I just didnt liked the graphic style. There is something just..special... about those pixels.

For me:
Xenonauts. Awesome but I just can't stand the graphics.
Vanilla XCom: Graphics appeals to me but starting with generic 60s technology (at least its how it felt to me) kinda limit my enjoyment of the game. Especially once I noticed that as soon as I unlocked laser weapons, standard were kinda useless. (i did do a non-serious game just to run research without caring about ufos to see what to expect in the first tiers)
FMP XCom: My brain is swelling but im having so much fun it should be illegal! xD And the big selling point was the standard weapons upgrades and new alien races.

[Solarius Scorch]

The problems I have are mostly related to the main quest. My biggest issue is capturing aliens. I captured one but looks like he wasnt important enough to be ''researched''.

I'd gladly help, but this isn't much info to work with isn't there.

Honestly, I can't think of an alien which can't be researched. In the FMP at least.

[dashyr]

Was some sort of blue bipedal alien. Yet now that I think of it. Once they are unconcious can they still bleed out? I did hurt it with a grenade (accidentally) before KOing him with a dart. and by ''research'' i meant interrogate sorry. Is there any way to tell a commander from a soldier. A navigator from something else? or I just have to be lucky and or ko everything i see? o.o

Favourite tactic of the day: Walk into a cornfield with aa flamethrower.........................\m/ ^_^ \m/

[Warboy1982]

the mind probe is useful for identifying an alien's rank

[dashyr]

the mind probe is useful for identifying an alien's rank

If I get my hands on it. I always wondered why we have it so soon if our soldiers dont have psy training and just sold them for the money. Ill be sure to try this out. Thanks for the tip. ^^Srsly this was exactly the kind of small thing I needed someone to point me to. xD
Does it require training or I can use it even if I don't know what it is (ingame)? (lunch break not at home. )


By the way I gave original another go. And yeah, Mods or nothing here. Guess Im just a little bit too young to have that nostalgia flick.Also tried Redux wich, from what I learned, adds things without screwing too much with the balance. Its very good as well especially the maps but im just used to **** around with all the stuff in FMP iguess =/. But I reserve Redux for my mythical run on superhuman since it is closer to OG.

Anyway, restarted my game taking into account all the advices you guys gave me .

PS: About cyberdiscs. I think I found the single most ridiculous way to plow through them. o_o Took only soldiers with 30+ strenght. Then I literally relayed the explosive from the skyranger to the cyberdiscks..... on the other side of the map. In a single turn once my soldiers were layed out. I simply made sure to keep them in range of one another yet they works in pair. 1 for relay, other for cover. Only issue is the mind controlling sectoids that comes with them. I sure hope this isnt what they do in the millitary. Playing hot potato with c4 is ill advised.

[Countdown]

Does it require training or I can use it even if I don't know what it is (ingame)? (lunch break not at home. )

You don't need training, but you do need to research it with your scientists.

I sure hope this isnt what they do in the millitary. Playing hot potato with c4 is ill advised.

Haha, very true. And that's why when I first did the grenade relay, I wondered if it was a bit "cheaty", but I think you kind of need this tactic if you're not using instant grenades. Otherwise I would almost never use grenades at all. I also read a good defense of it online. With the grenade relay you spend way more TUs overall than you would with just one soldier just priming and throwing so you pay for the advantage.

[Zyzyfer]

 

And im getting used to relay grenades. (Am I the only one to think that throwing a live grenade at a friend... even as a relay feels wrong? XD)

You can set them up in options so that they explode when thrown, even so that they affect multi levels instead of single(original). I suggest you set them up this way for more realistic play.
The grenade relay is original xcom gayness.

[Countdown]

You can set them up in options so that they explode when thrown, even so that they affect multi levels instead of single(original). I suggest you set them up this way for more realistic play.
The grenade relay is original xcom gayness.

I really liked Meridian's post about making the game more challenging and he says not to use instant grenades or extra explosion height (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?topic=3748.0):

Now, I am not telling you to stop using explosives... but at least don't make them even more powerful than they are supposed to be.
There are several settings in OpenXcom, which transform explosives from the best weapon in the game into game-breaking uber-weapons:
 - instant grenades - keep turned off
 - pre-primed grenades - keep turned off (even for non-lethal, such as smokes)
 - explosion height - keep at 0 (zero)

Already one of these settings breaks the game (IMO), all three are just ridiculous.

However, I thought about it and doesn't it go both ways? I've had a lot of times where if explosion height was more than 0, my guys would be dead because they were right above or below a big blast. And if you have instant grenades, then you can't do the grenade relay so that might limit some options.

It's an interesting debate. Which does everyone think is harder? Non-instant/explosion height 0 (can use relay) or instant with explosion height 1 (so no relay).

EDIT: Another option could be having instant grenades, but making TU cost to throw a bit higher. Kind of a compromise.

[Zyzyfer]

Grenades/HE pack are always going to be OP; my suggestion at least offers some realism. The reality is, all  XCOM operatives are recruits of Major League Baseball.
If one really wants to gimp oneself don't use grenades at all.
The one thing that bugs me is that Grenadiers will also improve firing accuracy (which IMO they shouldn't), for each kill they make (often at a much faster rate than the snipers/scouts as the grenadiers tend to have most of the kills- when you can sometimes kill 4+ aliens with x1 HE pack).

[Arthanor]

Are you using a grenade launcher mod or something? Because throwing grenades should improve throwing accuracy, not firing. You're the first person I see making that claim...