A thread for little questions

[eharper256]

No EMP grenades available?

Stun Batons are, at least in my experience, pretty useless past very early game; only a catgirl can really use it due to their massive reactions, else it's 20-30 damage and is pointless.

Cattle Prod and Whip are fine, but Tazogun and Circuit Breaker Spell are better still.

[Tamren]

Depends on your playstyle I guess. I'm a red jackass captain that captures everyone I can get my hands on, especially "civilians". Many targets are so soft that even gas rounds or punching them in the face will be instantly fatal. While the lasso is also available, the stun baton has the advantage of fitting into your pocket and is the least lethal capture tool you have in the early game, it will last you a long time until the tazogun eventually replaces it, which can take more than a year depending on your tech choices.

[Laie]

Stun batons work great for me.

I used cattle prods at first, but but never loved them because slow and unwieldy. At some point I noticed the baton's damage bonus, checked my gal's stats, and gave it a try. I get three dings out of them in the time it takes to prod someone once -- this certainly helped. Next thing I noticed was that it trains not only melee, but reactions as well. Suddenly all my gals had 100+ reactions.

It's a "don't leave home without it" item and I successfully use it on everyone not wearing power armor: academy medics and engineers, guild engineers, church priests and matrons. Even lobstermen! It's one-handed and small and often good enough. By the time I could have a lasso ready, the baton has already done the job and is back in the holster.

However, lately I run into opponents where the baton is no longer enough. I had high hopes for the poisoned dagger: "Stun damage modifier: 100%" it says. I thought it would do a lot of stun on top of the HP damage, but that doesn't seem to be what's happening. I had my second encounter with MERCs the other day and it typically took some 3-5 stabs of the poisoned dagger to put them down. Most of the time, the final blow was also fatal. So I guess the poisoned dagger is much less stunning than I thought it would be. Looking around for alternatives, I don't see any. What to do?

[Delian]

Toxi-Lance, Iron Rod, Tesla Coil, Handcannon Arcane Rounds... depends on who you're fighting tho. Mercs are surprisingly susceptible to mind control.

[Rokksta]

Stun batons work great for me.

I used cattle prods at first, but but never loved them because slow and unwieldy. At some point I noticed the baton's damage bonus, checked my gal's stats, and gave it a try. I get three dings out of them in the time it takes to prod someone once -- this certainly helped. Next thing I noticed was that it trains not only melee, but reactions as well. Suddenly all my gals had 100+ reactions.

It's a "don't leave home without it" item and I successfully use it on everyone not wearing power armor: academy medics and engineers, guild engineers, church priests and matrons. Even lobstermen! It's one-handed and small and often good enough. By the time I could have a lasso ready, the baton has already done the job and is back in the holster.

However, lately I run into opponents where the baton is no longer enough. I had high hopes for the poisoned dagger: "Stun damage modifier: 100%" it says. I thought it would do a lot of stun on top of the HP damage, but that doesn't seem to be what's happening. I had my second encounter with MERCs the other day and it typically took some 3-5 stabs of the poisoned dagger to put them down. Most of the time, the final blow was also fatal. So I guess the poisoned dagger is much less stunning than I thought it would be. Looking around for alternatives, I don't see any. What to do?

I share my experience: The Stun Baton is amazing for everything until medium armor. I have some lassos around for flying enemys and high armor (Still useless against exosuits).

I like to use the Tazogun for non-lethal infiltration mission, because of the reaction snapshot.

Poison in general is a gamble. It has like a 50% chance, depending on the enemy and weapon, to kill instead of stunning. I also use a Spiked Mace to stun exosuit units in early-mid game with more deaths than stuns.

Don't try to stun every MERC or similar unit, unless you have late game weapons like Neural Whip. Just kill them and make them surrender. Don't risk your units needlessly.

[hth]

From my first game in older version of the mod I remember a spiked SMG as quite good imo "unholy union" for melee fighters, but now killing with it (no matter exactly how) is awarded by "Idiot" award, which penaltize psi_skill up to -10 on last level. But that if this skill still zero now? In general, in which moment award's bonuses/maluses are calculated?

[Psyentific]

From my first game in older version of the mod I remember a spiked SMG as quite good imo "unholy union" for melee fighters, but now killing with it (no matter exactly how) is awarded by "Idiot" award, which penaltize psi_skill up to -10 on last level. But that if this skill still zero now? In general, in which moment award's bonuses/maluses are calculated?

add some force circuitry and upgrade it to the holo-spikey so you can start getting that delicious techno-barb commendation

[Laie]

In general, in which moment award's bonuses/maluses are calculated?

Just from loooking at the stat screen, there are three different values on display:
-the initial stats
-the current value of the "soldier as such" (matches what is stored in the savegame)
-the effective value including the effects of clothing and commendations.

You can easily change the latter by changing clothes. Camo Paint on a Gnome is a stark example, -30 bravery. I expect that your idiot's Vskill is going to remain at zero until the combination of learning and clothes makes up for the negative value from the commendation.

The spikey SMG didn't seem worth making when I got it; IIRC there were better guns available in the market. But calling someone an idiot for using it is harsh. It's not that bad.

[Laie]

How does one down small "craft"? Like Roving Bands and Bogeyman Swarms? So far I've always blown them up, no matter how small the weapon. I use them for pilot training, and just now one of them actually crashed. That was a big surprise, I didn't know that such an outcome even was possible. But now that I've seen it, I want to do it again, on purpose.

Also, what is adequate protection for cold weather? So far I either change into furs or just accept the health damage. But I have an inkling that there might be ONE SIMPLE TRICK that I missed.

[Ultimoos]

Some radar contacts do not leave a "crash landed" mission and can only be completely destroyed. That includes all rowing bands, necropirate ground contacts, some enemy crafts with radars like helicopters and F117's, Boogeyman with radar. A necropirate ground contact will at some point "land" and then you can intercept it.

There are 2 levels of cold climate environment. You do not need much cold resistances for cold missions, but freezing cold one can hurt units that only wear furs. You will want to give them more cold protection like fur hats and scarfs.

[hth]

I found furs quite annoying, because it always creates a mess in inventory due its small space. Why gals can't make own polar outfits, like human ones?

[Tamren]

Bit of a mystery isn't it? You can make do with furs, ushankas and the like, but there isn't any gal specific polar survival suit. The closest thing you get is warrior armour and only because it coincidentally covers up all the skin.

[eharper256]

For me, most early polar missions I did were over quick (like Yeti hunts) or came sufficiently later that cold protection was no longer an issue. The main problem is determining whether the potential troop downtime after is worth it.

[Solarius Scorch]

Bit of a mystery isn't it? You can make do with furs, ushankas and the like, but there isn't any gal specific polar survival suit. The closest thing you get is warrior armour and only because it coincidentally covers up all the skin.

Tribal doesn't change into furs for you? I thought it worked every time, but I could be wrong.

[minimen]

It's the third year of my campaign, July. While surveying the geoscape, I noticed a Sentry vessel bearing the StarGods flag, conducting a crackdown mission. I can't help but imagine how challenging a StarGods base invasion would be, especially targeting one of their secondary bases. Why do I deserve this? Is it simply the passage of time catching up to me? Or is it because I’ve reached the rank of Public Enemy? Could it be the consequence of raiding that landed MERC heavy gunboat?