For the second time I failed the planet. Please help.

[BlorkTheOrk]

So, I failed campaign second time, I need some guidelines for the next playthrough.

It all was fine - I got constant fund raises throughout the years. I researched stuff till I have nothing to reasearch. 50 scientists, 2 bases, stable +2mil a month. But 1999 arrives and I have no interceptors. '-1400' rating. I expect game over next month.

I prefer blind playthrough, but I don't know what to do, help.

 

[unarmed drifter]

two bases are not enough; aim for five

[Squarehead]

I couldn't load your save for some reason, but in general it sounds like you were not prepared for the invasion. In the first 2 years, your primary objective is to prepare X-Com to confront the invasion. This means by January '99 you need bases to give you radar coverage of as much as possible, interceptors to hunt down the smaller UFOs, and the ability to get an X-Com ground team anywhere in the world quickly. To do that you need to have eliminated at least one of the cults and researched Promotion III. I recommend using the tech tree viewer see what you need to research, and who you need to capture, to advance. Oh, and make sure you are selling things you don't need to keep the money flowing. Good Luck!

[Srletinja]

Where do I find this tech tree viewer?

[Meridian]

Where do I find this tech tree viewer?

While on geoscape globe view, press Q.

[Srletinja]

Thanks for the input, btw does anyone know why etherials are not coming in my case year is 2002 Feb, there is like 15 embassies around the globe, but I can't get the key , any help with this?

[Empiro]

If you ran out of things to research it means that you probably haven't been capturing enemies. Two bases is the bare minimum at that point, and you should be feeling like you have too much stuff to research.

Middle click is your friend. In battle, middle click and enemy and middle click on the sprite to get ufopedia information. If you don't get more information, it means that you haven't researched them, and you should capture.

Middle click on a research topic to see where it can lead. Press q to search for interceptor and see what you need to research it.

[BlorkTheOrk]

Middle click is your friend. In battle, middle click and enemy and middle click on the sprite to get ufopedia information. If you don't get more information, it means that you haven't researched them, and you should capture.
Middle click on a research topic to see where it can lead. Press q to search for interceptor and see what you need to research it.

It really felt for me like I was pretty fast, rather than slow. I capture people even when failing. At the other hand, maybe I skipped too much missions - I don't like some of them and I honestly scared about going to some higher tier cult missions without 8+ men. I wish the mod was more like Xpiratez in the term of skipping stuff. Or maybe the ability to buy needed research, like, again, in Xpiratez.
Also, I could not mouse click till the very last OXCE update, cause I'm on mobile. The last update was great, because it brought me buttons in battlescape.     

[Solarius Scorch]

The next version should be a bit more forgiving...

[Mrvex]

It really felt for me like I was pretty fast, rather than slow. I capture people even when failing. At the other hand, maybe I skipped too much missions - I don't like some of them and I honestly scared about going to some higher tier cult missions without 8+ men. I wish the mod was more like Xpiratez in the term of skipping stuff. Or maybe the ability to buy needed research, like, again, in Xpiratez.
Also, I could not mouse click till the very last OXCE update, cause I'm on mobile. The last update was great, because it brought me buttons in battlescape.   

When dealing with cults, just blitz against Red Dawn, they have the least bullshit for a starting enemy (No energy weapons, no psionics, no monsters, no super armoured units). Then really just keep researching and focus on the other cults once you get a good armour that can reliably stop bullets instead of trying to take all 4 of them at the start.

Another tip, if you can find all 4 cult higher ups you will unlock Osprey VTOL which can ferry tanks and alot more soldiers than Dragonfly.

Furthermore, if you can catch a whiff of research related to Kitsune, go for it and ignore everything else, this research lets you rebuild a craft that has tons of useful things for mid game.
Kitsune doesnt require end game research and doesnt require Elerium, it runs on standard aircraft fuel

It can also

• Fly to space
• Really fast and global range
• Its one of the few transports that can actually fight back or be even used as emergency interceptor, albeit its fragile
• Carries sufficient number of troops and can carry vehicles
• It has an empty space beneath it, under the ramp, your troops can hide under it so enemies cannot hit them with grenades unless they are very close, perfect for clearing the landing site

So Kitsune is a godsend, unique vehicle that can easily skyrocket XCOM through the game. Hell even in late games i use it till i get Avenger since it doesnt require elerium, doesnt get molested by random tiny drones that happened to fly by and intercepted it (This sucks if it happens on unarmed craft like Skymarshall and you are just sitting and waiting for the drone to ram the craft and destroy it).

To get the even basic interceptors (MIG) you need promotion III, to get promotion III you need well uh, lets say the easiest one is "in to the darkness" tech, which is unlocked by researching motion sensors, UFO signiatures, alive spider and alive shambler.

Or Deep One  communities if you can capture one from Dagon missions.

[misha_cilantro]

Promotion III can be pretty hard to get if you happen to not get a lot of spider or shambler missions, and then when you do you don't cap them. My brother managed to miss the Shogg path entirely until into the invasion, and then had to hack his save file to get it >..<

[Squarehead]

So Kitsune is a godsend,

The Kitsune is fantastic, especially considering when you can get it. Although I do think the Ironfist deserves consideration as transport of choice when it becomes available

[Mrvex]

The Kitsune is fantastic, especially considering when you can get it. Although I do think the Ironfist deserves consideration as transport of choice when it becomes available

Ironfist is a clear upgrade to Skymarshall, it wields the name of heavy infantry transport quite well. Not only it can carry alot of troops, it has rooftop staircase which can be used to throw grenades or fire mortars from or just in general against melee enemies, being able to shoot them from high ground can be quite useful when not everyone has flying suits.

Two problems, it cannot defend itself and it runs on Zubrite and not Elerium so the fuel is harder to come by and the way you can secure a steady source of it is to finish the underwater arc which isnt exactly the easiest since its filled to brim with hard hitting enemies and your troops being considerably penalized in all departments. So before that, you are forced to do more underwater missions or intercept depth-related UFO to get Zubrite containers just to be able to use this vehicle elsewhere.

Osirion sometimes drop Zubrite canysters in their crates but i wouldnt relly on RNG so i can even launch a mission.

[BlorkTheOrk]

I guess I figured out for now that there is some general guidelines for me, which I should follow. I'm writing it because maybe somebody will have same problem as me. Which is failing third time:)

So, its important to rush things. I believe its ineffective but will give you needed funds and promotions faster. Without higher level missions you can't really get money, without money you can't build bases needed for invasion. No decent equipment availible, its not vanilla, you can't overvhelm strategically. Playing blind is not an option - you need to rush things , until you consider using tech viewer as a part of blind playthrough. It seem to be important to complete all missions before the invasion. Visiting them for points is not  enough.