Getting higher-level ships

[Meridian]

Out of curiosity, does XPZ 'increase' in difficulty like Long War? Where every month, other factions get 'research' and 'upgrades'? Looking through the conf files, it appears that certain UFOs spawn more as the years go by.

OpenXcom supports alien tech levels, but XPZ is using only a single one... so no, there is no progression in this particular way.

You can fight against blaster launchers in January 2601 (see FireWaterGasoline's LP)... just like you can play against shovels in December 2601 (see my LP).

However Dioxine is removing the early game madness (e.g. hideout defenses)... by not giving you means of shooting down ships... so you'll feel a little curve in newer XPZ versions.
Still, the rest is mostly just RNG.

[Dioxine]

The factions don't get any buffs. They cannot advance any more really Although there will be special late game content to make it less boring

[lusciouspear]

Yaaas. I like that you can't shoot down ships in newest versions -- not that I ever really did, in the beginning.

[lusciouspear]

Update: I ended up modding in an Imperial Probe mission for the Reticulan base, and then some base-waves for the Church and Star Gods so I could take out some VL ships. too bad you can't break their commanders. I find that immensely satisfying.

It's really irritating how a TON of end game research depends on the Plasma Subrifle 

[Dioxine]

It's really irritating how a TON of end game research depends on the Plasma Subrifle 

How so? Afaik nothing except plasma clip manufacture, custom plasma weapons, plasma beam and Plasma & Fusion defences. Unless I'm missing some critical link.

[legionof1]

well in a manner of perspective those items are "alot". standing as the last few % of the tech tree as far as depth and quality of weapons means a great deal. Being stuck without ammo production is only really viable for gauss weapons. The rest are just to infrequent given how ammo is consumed to be wholly suitable as mainstay weapons late game without the attendant ammo production. Micro manageing limited scavenged ammo stocks gets old real fast.

[lusciouspear]

Yeah, that's what I meant. Although looking at weakness, I wonder if the final Star Gods baddies are beatable with Mass Drivers/Gauss. They seem more vuln to pierce than plasma.

[legionof1]

On paper yes but stargods because of the way the invisibility functions are immune to projectiles from almost every direction. Aoe weapons are the only way to realistically apply more then then a few gals worth of firepower.

The invisibility works by rendering portions of the hitbox non existent for the purpose of vision. However the same system is also responsible for determining projectile impact.

[lusciouspear]

Fascinating! Also, is there a Plasma sniper weapon? (Oddly enough, in all my missions I never captured a laser sniper).

[legionof1]

No there is not a plasma sniper. Which always struck me as an odd addition to the new xcom games. Plasma stinks as a long range weapon because of containment issues and energy loss.

[Solarius Scorch]

No there is not a plasma sniper. Which always struck me as an odd addition to the new xcom games. Plasma stinks as a long range weapon because of containment issues and energy loss.

True.
Actually, I added a plasma sniper weapon for the aliens too, but it's not a "real" sniper rifle as its range is limited.