"Getting Started" for /r/xcom

[lusciouspear]

I've been getting a few "How i get started" messages on /r/xcom. I'd like to put together a little "getting started" wiki they can link to. Is there anything I could crib from?

[ivandogovich]

That is one of the things we need for the Bootypedia:

The info page here on the wiki has some items that might be useful: https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Info_(Piratez)

I'l like to see a quick break down on where the 4 initial techs lead (along with an introduction to the TechTree viewer to help the player explore further on their own), along with a quick guide to equipping the initial 6 escaped lunatics.    

[lusciouspear]

Yeah, I think it's important to explain the theory and pacing behind the game (hell, it took me 140 hours to get to the last ship and that's with half-priced scientists and stronger starting stats. I should make an easymode patch).

Like, it's OK to take a long time. And you're not completely fragile. And all weapon classes are useful. And captives are always good for bonus research, etc. And how to make money.

[Nygmus]

I'm just getting started myself. It's exciting!

This new version looks like it will be much easier to get into, as well, since you start with much less access to proper weaponry and have to deal with the primitive stuff for a while.

What do you guys think is the best start on 0.99? I'm about to restart my campaign again to tinker with it, but I'm thinking at this point that either Violence->Weirdness->Ballistics (Cannonball manufacturing, since without it the starting Assault Cannon quickly becomes useless) or Survival (Javelin manufacturing, possibly into Cave Hunt->Scale Mail manufacturing) might be decent ways to go early on.

I'm not seeing "safe" stun weapons as early as I did in the campaign I was running in the last version, and it feels like it's a bit harder to rapidly push into having ubiquitous nonlethal options. This first 0.99 campaign has been intensely bloody just because I've been feeding Hands into the meat grinder trying to land live captures with pipes, bats, and whips.

Another thing that took some getting used to is the idea of using booze in place of medkits. Having a set of bandages on all hands was pretty easy previously, but now that you need Mixed Clothing to manufacture them it's gotten a bit trickier, too. I've taken to bringing a keg of X-Grog on most missions just so that everybody can chug the pain away.

[Dioxine]

As for early stun options, my personal sorting algorithm is like this:
- great melee & strength? Fistycuffs.
- bad melee but high bravery? Handles.
- bad melee but high strength, TUs and firing? Gun butts.
- bad everything? Stun Batons asap, otherwise ballbats or whips
Teching towards the Wench Outfit also makes live captures far, far easier...

[Nygmus]

This is the part where I realize I should have been packing handles instead of pipes all along.

Wups.

[karadoc]

This is the part where I realize I should have been packing handles instead of pipes all along.

Wups.

In my first playthrough, I got pretty much all my capture using the cattle prod. But this time, I've discovered the glory of the handle. They're small and light and quite effective. I put a handle in the quick-draw slot of almost all my soldiers; just like I give a bandage or medkit to everyone.

Not every soldier can reliably face-rush enemies to stun them; but they can at least re-stun enemies who wake up, and get a few melee points bonus as a reward.

The reason I didn't use them the first time around is that I was put off by the 15% lethal damage. I thought it meant 15% chance of killing the enemy outright, or something like that. I avoided using the handle to avoid killing the targets I wanted to capture. (I read it as 15% chance of causing death; but now I understand that it is 15% of the attack's power is subtracted from the target's health. 15% chance of an instant kill did sound pretty powerful for a killing weapon; but I assumed that there was some other kind of balancing offset like a saving-throw or something. I just didn't test it out because it didn't sound like it did what I wanted it to do.)