X-COM XCOM 2 + War of the Chosen Expansion Thread

[Matalarata]

I personally find flashbangs convenient up until mid-late game, and even then I always bring one if the shadow chambers predicts some specific enemy, like a Codex.
They have a huge area, and prevent any organics they hit from using ANY skill. Especially useful vs codexbulshitting but you'll find there are lots and lots of aliens that become almost harmless once disoriented. It also prevents use of rockets and granades, for example.
Finally it reduces movement range iirc, so even pesky berserkers can be managed easily...

I obviously always carry a mimic beacon too (and consider them almost OP, imho they shouldn't be auto targeted by the enemy, that's stupid) but I find that as you progress in the game, you'll find yourself in situations where a couple of devastating attacks destroy your beacon and the rest of the enemies go back to shooting your soldiers. Just my two cents.

 

[Vibalist]

That's why you bring three or four beacons for a mission. :D

 

[not an artichoke]

Which makes them even more important. I certainly don't want that devastating attack heading at my troops. There are few things more beautiful than watching a huge AE destroy cover in 3 tiles around your mimic and one shot it. Although you do hope someone takes a 3 or 4 damage potshot first.

 

[Matalarata]

Uh? Flashbangs just forbid AoE from happening, problem solved, no need to throw 2+ beacons. To each one his own I guess but I find that on higher difficulty levels Mimic beacons are too fragile. One good crit or two and that's it, you're back having 0 protection.
I admit I also dislike m.b. since they're so cheesy, vipers try to grab them wasting actions, even if you have clustered soldiers that could be hit by AoE the AI always targets the beacon. It's like they were added really late in developement cycle and just slapped above everything else. Anyway, just try swapping a beacon or even a frag on one of your grenadiers for a f.b. as I said above, you'll be surprised by the amount of aliens that are just rendered harmless by that low tech thing. Additional advantage, just build one of those pricey beacons (75 supplies each) and sell the rest of the faceless, what you are saving in supplies easily covers an early psionic/shadow chamber/armor rush.

 

[ArchAngel]

I use only one mimic beacon on my L/I runs, I never needed more. If you need more you are playing badly. On some missions I don't even need that one, I use them only for "Oh Shit!" moments which are usually when I have to fight 3+ alien packs.

As for flashbangs they don't prevent acid grenade from Andromedon (learned that the hard way in one of my many failed L/I runs) but otherwise are a useful tool even later. They make all melee enemies useless for one round and make your heavy cover using troop safer.

 

[NotAGolfer]

I think the mimic beacon needs to be nerfed even more.
For instance by not guaranteeing that all the enemies target it.
The way it's now you can screw up big time and not get punished, not learning using better positioning and tactics in the process.
Will try to not take them with me for the next few missions. Will see how this goes.

Commander got pretty easy for me by now, and the new enemies I encounter don't change that. Codex was a letdown (as usual ), did expect a more dangerous foe after some rants I read.
The game still is plenty fun though, improved over the predecessor in nearly every aspect. Even time limits aren't really an issue, 8 rounds is more than enough and on missions with 12 you can pretty much forget about time.

regarding my earlier rant:
My time units >>>>> 2 actions combat complaint still stands. It might be elegant but it gives you less margin for errors too which is annoying on ironman and also unnecessary.
Also the game is more difficult than the first one. It might be easy now but I still have to keep vigilant and proceed carefully or I'm screwed.
Which is nice I guess.

 

[Vibalist]

I just installed a mod that puts all of the old music from the first Xcom from the 90's into the game, rather than that boring Hollywood Nu-xcom soundtrack. It's p. cool.

 

[Mazisky]

I just installed a mod that puts all of the old music from the first Xcom from the 90's into the game, rather than that boring Hollywood Nu-xcom soundtrack. It's p. cool.

Well, easy talking when you quote the most atmospheric and well made videogame OST of all times :D

Btw, for Xcom2 and guerilla theme his new soundtrack works well i have to say, original ost is more for an horror theme, like the og or xcom 1

 

[NotAGolfer]

Dunno if it's just me or does this game still have the same problem XCOM 1 had in that in most cases there is a clearly superior skill choice for each rank?

I'm always choosing the following skills.

Specialist:

• Medical Protocol because Combat Protocol is made redundant by bluescreen stuff, hacking / haywire protocol, armor shredding and capacitator discharge and remote healing is incredibly useful.
• Haywire Protocol because status effects are not really an issue for me. And nobody ever gets stunned or unconscious, not on my watch.
• Scanning Protocol because Faceless and Chryssalids and I don't need more than one medikit use per mission anyway.
• Threat Assessment to make Aid Protocol even more useful in case I triggered a pod unprepared - I like fallback abilities like that, Covering Fire looks nice but my specialist has too high aim (uses the bolt caster) to end her turn on overwatch.
• Guardian obviously, my Specialist is very busy all the time and can't waste a single turn just moving around.
• Capacitator Discharge for its AoE and disorienting status, it's a flashbang with high damage on top! Restoration is too situational in comparison.

Grenadier:

• Shredder because noone ever uses explosives against me and 1 armor point is a joke.
• Suppression because it's another highly appreciated fallback option and there are better ways to destroy cover than demolition.
• Heavy Ordnance because 2 frost grenades = dead alien leader without my own being injured. The second Grenadier gets the same because destroying cover with a grenade and dealing damage while at it is a much better way to increase the to hit chance against the enemy.
• Chain Shot because it's awesome (especially in combination with Shredder) and +2 damage per grenade is just hilariously weak.
• Salvo because it gives your grenadier extra firepower (destroy cover and then crit that bugger in 1 turn). Also if you can't get a clear shot then just move into a better position or use one of his other abilities (like the Shredder Gun if he has it). And did I mention the 2 frost grenades and the alien leaders? Fire 2 of them at the leader in the same round to get 5 or so actions before it can even react.
• The Colonel rank abilities are both underwhelming. I went with Saturation Fire to have yet another multiple target attack that also destroys cover.

Ranger:

• Phantom. Scouts are the single most important class in every mission. Without them it all becomes a random clusterfuck. I think I will respec my second ranger to Blademaster to make better use of Reaper though.
• Shadowstrike because these bonuses are too good to pass on and I always choose Conceal anyway. Shadowstep is extremely useless because I don't think there even are enemies that have a reaction fire skill and normally I surprise them so they rarely get the chance to even go into overwatch. If they do there are other ways to get rid of it.
• Conceal because my rangers always get the +3 or +4 mobility PCS and don't need to dash before acting (and I can act anyway, dashing + melee works without Run and Gun). And I already mentioned that scouts are invaluable in this game.
• Implacable because enemies attacking from melee range are usually too strong to kill with a single sword slash triggered by Bladestorm and catching other enemy types that way is too situational. Implacable turns an already very mobile unit into Quicksilver - good to have if that mission time limit becomes a problem
• Untouchable so you can abuse your Rangers as mimic beacon replacements and replace those broken items with something less passive. Deep Cover is a joke. If my ranger is moving without attacking in the same round that either means that no enemy is near or that I'm in concealment. In both cases there is no need for cover.
• Both highest rank abilities are great. I think I will respec my axe wielding ranger to Reaper and Blademaster and the other one gets Phantom and Rapid Fire. Meaning for Rangers at least 2 out of 6 skill ranks don't have an obvious choice. Better than the other classes covered above.

edit: Seems like Implacable is made redundant by Reaper on a melee ranger. So for the melee guy I guess I will take Bladestorm too.
edit 2: Bladestorm is shit though. When you really need it it doesn't kill the enemy. And Implacable isn't made redundant by Reaper, my melee ranger still used his shotgun all the time (mostly thanks to that Reaper cooldown timer). Without Implacable he felt seriously handicapped.

I think Sharpshooter is balanced quite nicely though. Pistols get ridiculously awesome with special ammo, a good light armor (like the Serpent stuff) and the pistols skills.
The only stinker here seems to be Deadeye. That aim penalty is not funny and you get the aditional damage output with Lightning Hands too.

 

[not an artichoke]

Which is why you use the Long War perk mod.

 

[NotAGolfer]

Sure, but not before I didn't play through this completely unmodded.

And I have to say that while I like the game as it is there's one thing that really starts to grate on my nerves.

Shut the fuck up, Bradford!

 

[Jimmious]

There's a mod exactly for that too

 

[anus_pounder]

Bradford should stfu and give us his gun that magically has every single upgrade and somehow manages to keep pace with whatever tier of tech you've unlocked to that point. Fucker only had a handgun in the first game.

 

[ArchAngel]

I just installed a mod that puts all of the old music from the first Xcom from the 90's into the game, rather than that boring Hollywood Nu-xcom soundtrack. It's p. cool.

I did that with less hassle. You turn off music in game and in the background open UFO soundtrack video on youtube

 

[NotAGolfer]

Goddamnit gaem, y u constantly crashing on me?!

And no, after 2 crashes where I went along with your bullshit I won't send you a crash dump anymore, Firaxis!
Just fix that shit immediately!

The worst thing is that I can't even close it through the task manager because XCom 2 is forcing itself in the foreground no matter what (but only during a crash, as if it wants to troll me even further).
Pick your poison:
a) wait for the log to be sent and then after a few more minutes witness the miracle of the fucking game finally closing and giving you back control
b) ignore all that shit and just restart

The second option works much faster.

This has to be the buggiest PoS I had the pleasure to play in a while.
:trigglypuff:

edit:
Maybe switching from fullscreen to borderless window fixes the problem that I can't even use the Task Manager to shut it down when it crashes. Will try.

 

[Thane Solus]

so still not playable, but with more dlcs. I am never gona buy again from firaxis.

 

[NotAGolfer]

It is playable though. Only crashes every 4 or 5 hours or so.
But it doesn't make a lick of sense if it does.
Spotted enemy, attacked enemy with blaster bomb and left concealment. Try to use the Icarus armor to get my gunslinger into a better position and clonk, game crashes.
"Do you want to help improving stability or some shit by sending ..." - Fuck you, game!

And no, I have zero mods installed (never had either). Not even the one to shut up fucking Bradford, that annoying cunt.

 

[Thane Solus]

It is playable though. Only crashes every 4 or 5 hours or so.
But it doesn't make a lick of sense if it does.
Spotted enemy, attacked enemy with blaster bomb and left concealment. Try to use the Icarus armor to get my gunslinger into a better position and clonk, game crashes.
"Do you want to help improving stability or some shit by sending ..." - Fuck you, game!

And no, I have zero mods installed. Not even the one to shut up fucking Bradford, that annoying cunt.

Game performance is still shit... That happens when you use that piece of shit Unreal for strategy games...

 

[NotAGolfer]

about ammo:

I'm using PB ammo on my shotgun ranger and Bluescreen ammo on my gunslinger (he's my sectopod and gatekeeper killer) and that's about it.
My melee ranger (always using 2 rangers, 1 gunslinger, 1 specialist, 1 grenadier and one Psi Op) has a proximity mine because I can use that to prepare an ambush without leaving concealment, the grenadier only carries different sorts of grenades (frost + whatever, mostly flashbangs since he also wields the blaster launcher), the specialist the skulljack (because +25 hacking) and the Psi Op either one EMP bomb or a flashbang (whatever the grenadier left behind ... still unsure about that one though, I think I give him bluescreen rounds too and the EMP bomb stays at home, since I rarely encounter pods with more than 1 mechanical enemy).

Now I'm hearing everybody gushing about how great talon rounds are because guaranteed criticals on shotgun rangers. Why?
My shotgun ranger already does critical damage on nearly every attack (she always gets in a position to flank the enemy, high mobility plus grappling hook) so why should I prefer talon rounds over PB ones? A critical is a critical. Meaning around +50% damage unless graze, right? So what's the fucking point of talon on a shotgun ranger?

 

[Matalarata]

"Nearly every attack" is much, much different from guaranteed criticals (and +1 damage iirc) but I see your point. Personally I tailor loadouts depending on what enemies the shadow chamber predicts and I give mines to my grenadiers for longer range deployment. Usually when I use my rangers to lay mines, their concealment is broken in the ensuing clusterfuck but it's a valid tactic nonetheless.
I still go for TR once I have access to psi op and heavy/power wpns, grenadiers can sacrifice a grenade slot for mines due to easier access to renewable/higher tier AoE.

 

[NotAGolfer]

Personally I tailor loadouts depending on what enemies the shadow chamber predicts

Really? I'm way too lazy to do that.
I guess I should wrap it up and investigate the enemy bases unlocked by the shadow chamber projects, this playthrough is getting a bit stale tbh. November 23. and nothing new and unexpected happened in the last 2 months.

 

[Matalarata]

Wait a bit before doing the one from the

Spoiler

Codex Brain

What you'll get cannot be researched untill you finish each other SC project (the game tells you this), prioritize intel, supply and Elerium if possible. Oh, and engineers, if you have less than 6-7.

 

[Eyestabber]

Hey guys,

So I recently finished Xcom 2 on Veteran difficulty. Having finished the "original" NuXcom on Impossible Ironman and played a lot of Long War, I think I'm ready to share some thoughts on the changes X2 brought. Here we go...

What ed:

- I like the new aliens. A lot, actually. I think they're pretty cool concepts. The Andromedon, the Gatekeeper, the faceless...they are proof that Firaxis is capable of delivering entirely NEW aliens that fit the setting and do cool things. The Avatar angle is also nice, the Ethereals in the first game looked VERY decrepit and the avatar plot makes perfect sense.
- The new Chrysalids are actually challenging. I like them! One of them even killed my gunner in the final mission.
- No more LOLRANDOM rocket misses. Sadly, still no accuracy system for explosives.
- The Guerrilla/Dark Event angle is interesting. I just wish there was actual PLANNING on the Guerrilla Ops. Maybe mods will fix that?
- Intel system is interesting. Actually, the new resource system seems a bit more complex than the old one.
- Weapon upgrades are better than having a "SCOPE" on your backpack, but I still think it's way too shallow. I hope mods make a JA2 style upgrade system.
- The new maps. That's the big one, IMO. NuXcom had very few maps, and by the time you finished the game ONCE you already knew every single map, so it's mostly a slog. The new "random" maps add a lot of replay value to the game, IMO.

What ed:

- Whoever came up with "yeah, free flight is bad. Let's remove the Flying Armor" deserves to be shot.
- Squad-wide upgrades AND instant production? Wow...guess the whole "PC exclusive" thing was too good to be true, eh? I hope mods make upgrades cheaper, but individually produced. AND actually take time to produce.
- No more interceptors. An entire layer of the game was simply removed. Fuck that! I don't care about excuses, we got nothing in return. It just feels like the game got dumbed down even more.
- Free actions. Free actions everywhere. DERP!
- Alien Hunters. Everything about this DLC deserves to die in a fire. Ruler reaction is a terrible mechanic that forces you to cheese, the new items are OBJECTIVELY better than their vanilla counterparts and the new armors look very, VERY silly. And on top of that we never get an explanation for Vahlen's actions other than "she did it for teh lulz".
- LOLRANDOM continent bonuses. And a lot of them are p. useless.
- Smaller tech tree. Three tiers of weapons instead of four.
- Still no real character development. Why? Perk trees need to die in a fire...Also PCS is such a lazy way to add some extra depth. I hope they release an EW-like expac with some cool new options.
- So now, apart from the usual multikult-gay-shit squad we get a magical science negro and a stronk womyn engineer? LOL. The propaganda is heavy on this one. OH and races can't be named anymore. Dat be racist, boi. Seriously, that's like half the reason why I won't buy this game until it's like 66% off. AAA needs to understand tumblr is NOT their target audience. Period.

What changed:

- I still think swords look silly, but mechanically they work fine, so I won't complain.
- Shen's last gift is interesting, but DAMN that's one ugly looking robot!
- Why does everyone's gear looks LESS developed than in EW?
- The new psi ops...I don't know what to think about it. They are still amazingly powerful and I think making them a separate class was a good decision. But a soldier that can be trained all the way up to Colonel w/o seeing ANY action? I don't know...
- The new combat seems to be more disable-focused and less damage-spammy. I think that might be a good thing? I dunno.


Final thoughts:

The game is better than NuXcom, but worse than either EW or LW. I think it has great potential and IF Firaxis + modding community play their cards right, X2 might even become a GREAT game. As of RIGHT NOW...it belongs in the "good for what it is" tier. I don't regret pirating it, but I sure as hell am in no rush to buy it. Firaxis needs to stop wasting time with bullshit customization options and get around to adding more depth into the game. Jake Solomon is a massive cuck, he praises Long War on Twitter but refuses to take ANY step towards making the game more complex. He KNOWS such a move would alienate his console audience...

so still not playable, but with more dlcs. I am never gona buy again from firaxis.

What is it about performance I keep reading? The game runs pretty smothly on my rig. Maybe I started playing in a better version?

 

[cvv]

Guise are there any more DLCs coming or that's it?

Great summary Eyestabber. Don't have the game yet but I've seen a few playthroughs on Jewtube and I mostly agree with the inclines. As for declines, I kindda got used to most of them except the party-wide upgrades and instant production. This shit is so fucking jarring I just can't...

 

[Mazisky]

There are no more announced Dlcs but on november they should announce the first big expansion pack