So much content and not enough time to play with it....
Time to i guess, post what i think of this submod, you made commendable work, but there could be some polish in certain areas.
The one thing i for sure use are the new armors in this mod, the armor staging in baseline XCOM Files is too harsh given you jump from kevlar vest, which can sometimes stop really low caliber rounds but otherwise is a pretty much just better than nothing to blast padded vests that renders shotguns and pistols almost harmless to your troops unless they roll for high damage and the next step up is outright bulletproof armor unless you are getting hit by armor piercing projectiles or high caliber rounds.
Armoured cars are great, also fits the massive gap of XCOM tank troops because it takes a long time before you get tanks and by the time you get tanks, you had to take out a cult already given that is the situation where they would be the most useful.
Optional off hand shield that isnt glued to your soldier is way better alternative to the baseline version, albeit i didnt actually found it that useful as i expected, mainly because having blackops rifle that can hit enemies halfway across the map is just way too strong to pass up and good pistols come way too late for this shield to be relevant. And enemies simply not breathing my air is plain out better option than shielding up. This off hand weapon does open up some playstyles but requires alot of TU to mine every ounce of usability (Like carrying it with shotgunner, pulling it, shielding up and brace for impact while you close the gap), but this competes with the fact that high TU troops are better used elsewhere. It also requires considerable strenght which means most likely Dawns bio upgrades so you can actually have a two handed weapon, shield, some medispray and few shells on one soldier so he is usable beyond turn 3.
So many new weapons like the anti tank rifle feel redundant by the time i can actually buy them, they would be REALLY useful against Armoured Cars of Red Dawn which happens to be the first cult for me to defeat (They have the least bullshit around them, i progress Red Dawn -> Black Lotus -> Exalt -> Church of Dagon)
I kinda laughed that i got some kind of rocket launcher, carl gustav something something for finishing the Church of Dagon, mission that got cleared with a laser tank, miniguns, rocket launchers and auto sniper rifles, kinda late ?
Gas Grenade and Gas Mines are a good gear, albeit i found it rather really inconsistent if it kills or just knocks people unconcious, but i like it over standard mines and grenades when i dont want to destroy enviroment like staircases and the blast radius is quite large.
So many weapons added by this mod could have been more accessible, here is the problem, pretty much most weapons added by this mod cannot compete with BlackOps weapons, who hit more accurately, generally have good damage, some minor armor penetration ability and mainly, excelent range, the most basic Blackops Rifle is like THE most used weapon, obscene range, accuracy and kills most humanoids in 1-2 and can even dent armored enemies.
And its quite a problem given Blackops weapons are unlocked w Military Envoy recruitment, which can be actually quite early, way more quickly before you could access these weapons. And even then, i just realized i should just stick to hunting rifle (given it has map wide range and kills most humanoids in 1-2 hits, very cheap ammo), regular shotgun (Which can shoot multitude ammo types and be pretty effective at most ranged fights, i do like flechets, kinda wish i could have buy more of them to actually use them beyond 1 mission against Red Dawns manor where it raked quite the bodycount.
And by the time i could, everyone was walking around with Blackops rifles and shotguns pretty much took a backseat outside creature/zombie hunts.
Things like AA12 are sort of overkill, the standard shotgun does the same work at beter range and i find this quite the deal when it comes to fighting creatures. And i cannot remember if there are enemies in this mod that actually are 1) Have massive HP 2) Dont have fuckton of armor 3) Dont have some sort of reaction attack that can instantly kills your soldier
Like, if there was like a creature, that has no armor, but really high HP... then automatic shotguns would be straight up better given you could nuke it when it gets close.
But the biggest "why even use the other weapons" is the freaking MP5, yes i am not kidding, this accurate, people shredding SMG and accessible EXTREMELY early on, way before you get actual cult weapons pretty much makes most weapons redunant, before Military Envoy recruitment, the only weapons i need to round up cultist officers are hunting rifles, Mp5 and shotguns, i literally dont need anything else (Well if i skip non weapons like stun weapons, tear gas, smoke screen etc...). Like i am looking at kalashnikov and MP5 and comparing its stats, yes kalashnikov has better ammo type that will do more damage to armoured enemies, but here is a thing... there arent many enemies in the early game with armor where such difference would mean anything, just double tap them 6 times and they will be riddled with so many bullets it didnt matter that they got hit for 8 HP x 6.
Look, i guess what people encounter and how they progress will change from person to person so dont take what i say as some sort of ironclad facts. I do have actually few ideas to improve these problems.
- Make MP5 locked as a cult weapon, Dagon Cult, this gun is way too good for how early you get it and this submachineguns competes with actual assault rifles.
- Make an anti tank rifle be purchasable once you finish integoriating Red Dawn Coordinator so you have 100% chance to actually put it to use and its probably also the only time you will use it to be frank, given explosive weapons will surpass these clunky WW2 weapons because they hit for 4x times each attack. And against individuals, you will have the much more useful MAGMA cannons or simply the Blackops Rifles. Hell the Armoured Cars can actually be damaged with regular blackops sniper rifles and if you happen to get Berret Sniper Rifles, then they are in for bad time too. And by the time i get to assault Red Dawns HQ i usually just have blackops weapons and some scrounged up explosives and incendiaries to take out the armoured cars outside.
- Increase the cost of all Blackops weapons or decrease the cost of the weapons you made, looking at the list i notice that KS 23 cost whoopin 12k to buy while a Blackops Weapon costs 4500, despite Blackops shotgun being much better weapon at killing enemies KS 23 might be able to fire different ammo but by the time of Promo 2 its super likely you wont even need that.
