Re: The X-Com Files - 3.5: Whispers In The Dark

[theophilos]

"ALEAYS WATCH THE SKIES"

I have this "technology" but I don't remember seeing what it said. But I also can't seem to find it in my ufopedia

Is there a way to view it or what is it's purpose? Or where can i find it again

[psavola]

"ALEAYS WATCH THE SKIES"

I have this "technology" but I don't remember seeing what it said. But I also can't seem to find it in my ufopedia

Is there a way to view it or what is it's purpose? Or where can i find it again

It has no entry and serves no purpose at all (except open up a locked extra staff message for interrogation).

Another question: in the Vincent Decker mission I managed to capture 2 MIB scientists and 1 MIB enforcer , but I took heavy losses

It is mid 1998, im wondering without spoiling too much, would it be a mistake to try to research MIB tree ans possibly hit "effects game progression" for some them? Or are these techs abd presumably missions it might unlock meant for more end game period  , with no real benefit to earlier game

In mid-1998, it should be OK to research the MIB tree. Personally I have always delayed it quite a bit, because interrogating MIBs is research-wise very expensive and I've wanted to get most of the topics from cheaper sources.

Some better MIBs are a good source for, for example, scavenging better armors that you would usually not have access to at that point. It helps to have ghost-arc tech to be able to stun them comfortably.

[Juku121]

a huge advantage of cutting is that ghosts die from it and do not rise again.

While it's indeed a mild advantage, ghosts don't have any special recovery powers, so just double-tase them if you can't complete the mission quickly enough.

My personal experience shows that incendiary grenades are very not effective in this mission.

That's true, although they're not totally useless (20% damage still goes through). But ghosts are fearless, so the big advantage of incendiaries is gone.

And lasers are cool, of course, but how to get them there?

MiB, depending on luck. The David Vincent mission, perhaps?

Did my soldiers die in vain?

Of course not! Khorne does not discriminate, all deaths are good deaths!

[Vakrug]

My personal experience shows that incendiary grenades are very not effective in this mission.

That's true, although they're not totally useless (20% damage still goes through). But ghosts are fearless, so the big advantage of incendiaries is gone.

The question was how to deal with the demonic circle, not ghosts!

[Juku121]

Well, if that's the real question, I've always killed all the ghosts in the Asylum, myself. But setting the summoning circle on fire for a few turns should work, too, just tested and two turns of being on fire was enough to trigger the message.

[Akamashi]

The question was how to deal with the demonic circle, not ghosts!

Wow. Is there still some kind of demonic circle with a trigger?

[Chuckebaby]

My second playthrough on this latest version seemed to be much more fluent than my first time around.
This second time (on Experienced), the research was laid out very well.
In earlier versions, you could research "Cydonia" and have no means to begin the mission yet.

This past run, that research was not available until I completed and researched the "Main core colony" and catching the

Spoiler:

GrandMaster Ethereal

.

That seems like that is the way it should be.

[theophilos]

It is August 1998 but I do not have promotion III

I cant find a shambler for that route, and unsure what a shambler is,

I havjt seen a deep one since destroying dagon cult

The 2 alien missions I had I didjt have alien containment set up yet, so no interrogated saucer aliens yet

Cyberweb I have a mystek researched and am beginning the council friendly enemy tree, and researching the cyber web plans. Although fighting around another dimension sounds very difficult so I am skeptical of completing this for promotion III

is there anything I can do to help get more missions for any of the 4 routes, the pieces I mentioned are the only research I'm missing to complete the prerequisites

[Juku121]

A Shambler is a big white furry critter. If you haven't caught one yet, it's a crapshoot to get them to show up again. Dr. Alpha's island is a sort of safety valve since it has most if not all types of cryptids present, but people tend to waste their chances there and just shoot everything that moves.


You did get a live Sorcerer, right? Research the follow-up topic that this guy unlocked, otherwise getting a live Gillman Deep One is hard. But even then, it ups your chances from 10% to 28% per month to get a relevant mission. Not capturing a live Deep One when they were plentiful was a mistake.


Aliens will become more frequent in 1999, but the entire problem with that is you want Promo III to prepare for them, not the other way around. You may still manage, since ETs are probably the most guaranteed to show up among the four paths to Promo III, now that you've lost easy access to the others. And there are small, easy pickings among the UFOs.


The relevant stage of Cyberweb is probably too hard to battle through without Promo III.

[theophilos]

I have all the dagon sorcerer follow-ups completed, I assume you mean messengers of dagon? It says for that will attempt to catch these messengers on land (although I have this completed for quite some time, not seen a mission like this yet)

Yes it was pretty foolish, I have every other creature of dagon cult researched thoroughly,  I even did the HQ twice, but it slipped my mind to get a deep one I kinda assumed there would be a lot of "deep ones attack village" mission that i remember from Lewis and Ben playthrough but not seen any yet , so i didnt worry so much

[theophilos]

Is there a way to know which aliens, or if hybrids, can see through smoke?

[psavola]

Is there a way to know which aliens, or if hybrids, can see through smoke?

Look for "heatVision" (percentage) in the rulesets or the wiki. psiVision also indirectly leads to the same I think. You'll find all these definions in armors_XCOMFILES.rul.

Various aliens have some degree of either. Hybrids only have psiVision 3, i.e. not very much.

[theophilos]

does that mean, its only lookable by going to the wiki website, or by looking at files for the game? (that is to say, is it listed nowhere in-game)

Also, I researched the staff of heart grip and using staff of heart grip, but I can only throw it, is there a different button I am supposed to be using to use it?

Is it still really good against those one giant alien monsters with the huge armor?

[psavola]

does that mean, its only lookable by going to the wiki website, or by looking at files for the game? (that is to say, is it listed nowhere in-game)

The information is not available in-game.

Also, I researched the staff of heart grip and using staff of heart grip, but I can only throw it, is there a different button I am supposed to be using to use it?

Is it still really good against those one giant alien monsters with the huge armor?

'Using' article says: "By trial and (often painful) error, we finally managed to uncover the secret of how to operate the Staff of Heart Grip. To use it properly, one should not think of it as a weapon, but as a delicate instrument of dark mystic arts which requires attunement and dedication. It is therefore only suitable for trained psions.". Using it for anything other than throwing requires PSI skill, which you apparently don't have yet.

It ignores armor and causes BIO damage, so I guess in the right hands (good PSI strength and skill) it could be useful in some contexts. I've not found much use for it myself, though.

[theophilos]

Ohhhhh ok, i was assuming that was just referencing the multiplier for psi skill

At least in the playthrough , that was back In 0.9 version.. the sectopods were vulnerable to the staff of heart grip, so it was very effective way to dispatch them from safe distance. Their highly trained+talented psi guys could kill a sectopod with 2 hits from the staff