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

[Falksi]

I think the pod system has been liveable up to now, but it does limit the game for me.
The old school Time Units method gave the game a much deeper & tenser feel.
The pod system ends up meaning that you go into missions to try and avoid enemies, and that's just not fun. Nothing worse than disturbing a pod with your last move of a turn, to have all the enemies instantly flank and kill half your squad. It just feels cheap.

 

[Harg Harfardarssen]

I don't have to imagine, it is called Open Xcom. It is called Terror from the Deep and it is called Xenonauts. And not, it is not irritating. It is 2x better than what nuXcom has.

NuXcom sucks compared to old X-Com is a unique opinion that has not been expressed a billion times already. C'mon man, don't be pedantic, you know I mean within the mechanics of NuXcom where reaction fire wouldn't mesh with the movement system,

 

[ArchAngel]

I don't have to imagine, it is called Open Xcom. It is called Terror from the Deep and it is called Xenonauts. And not, it is not irritating. It is 2x better than what nuXcom has.

NuXcom sucks compared to old X-Com is a unique opinion that has not been expressed a billion times already. C'mon man, don't be pedantic, you know I mean within the mechanics of NuXcom where reaction fire wouldn't mesh with the movement system,

No I don't know what you mean, you don't even know what you mean or what I mean. Learn to mean the meaning and then we can talking about real meaning.

 

[Padzi]

I came back to playing X-Com 2. I preparation for Long War 2, but the enemy variety is pretty disappointing. You fight Advent for most of the time but when the actual aliens come in the difficulty just spikes. I'm missing those mid-tier enemies. It's either pretty managable Advent or super dangerous aliens. Previous X-Com game I felt had a better grip on this progression. Though I'm liking the new alien designs. Especially the floaters.

 

[ArchAngel]

I came back to playing X-Com 2. I preparation for Long War 2, but the enemy variety is pretty disappointing. You fight Advent for most of the time but when the actual aliens come in the difficulty just spikes. I'm missing those mid-tier enemies. It's either pretty managable Advent or super dangerous aliens. Previous X-Com game I felt had a better grip on this progression. Though I'm liking the new alien designs. Especially the floaters.

Well aliens don't think they need to involve their troops when their advent slaves can handle most of the problems. But when they do, they do it with tough troops. Later some more info about advent will surface it will change things a bit

Spoiler

Adent are not human but mix of humans with alien genes making them basically shock troops like sectoids or floaters from Xcom 1

Also from this post I am not sure I understand if you are playing Xcom 2 or Long War 2?

 

[Padzi]

Well aliens don't think they need to involve their troops when their advent slaves can handle most of the problems. But when they do, they do it with tough troops. Later some more info about advent will surface it will change things a bit

Yes, I understand that it makes from in-universe perspective, but I don't really like it gameplay wise. I think I would prefer more traditional progression when it comes to enemies.

Also from this post I am not sure I understand if you are playing Xcom 2 or Long War 2?

I am playing XCOM2 as a warm up for Long War 2. Do you by chance have any tips?

 

[ArchAngel]

Well aliens don't think they need to involve their troops when their advent slaves can handle most of the problems. But when they do, they do it with tough troops. Later some more info about advent will surface it will change things a bit

Yes, I understand that it makes from in-universe perspective, but I don't really like it gameplay wise. I think I would prefer more traditional progression when it comes to enemies.

Also from this post I am not sure I understand if you are playing Xcom 2 or Long War 2?

I am playing XCOM2 as a warm up for Long War 2. Do you by chance have any tips?

In that case I can tell you LW2 has 3x more enemies and Advent enemies also progress instead of becoming super easy so you will get what you want (except there are still no easy aliens except Sectoids)

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

best tip on playing vanilla xcoms: don't.

 

[cvv]

But you don't understand why people don't like pod system and free moves when discovered is one of the main reasons.

I don't have to imagine, it is called Open Xcom. It is called Terror from the Deep and it is called Xenonauts. And not, it is not irritating. It is 2x better than what nuXcom has.

Yeah, you have no idea what you're talking about do you? If you haven't noticed a big change happened in XCOM compared to the old games - now it's a cover shooter. Which gives the game a whole new strategic level, what with flanking, destroying covers and such.

It also means you gotta have some way for the enemies TO TAKE THE COVER FIRST. Otherwise the game would play as follows: you discover mobs out of cover, you slaughter them immediately with a few flanking crits. Rinse and repeat. Such fun.

It doesn't mean old games are better or worse than the new ones. Just different. I for one much prefer the cover system. You don't like it, fine. But at least you should think about shit before you yap about it on teh forums.

 

[cvv]

Btw tried LW2 and found it pretty raw. I played at a reasonable pace, trying to liberate every sector first but no dice. The dark events totally crushed me. If they happen in a sector you haven't made contact with you can't block them and the stay for good. It seems the only strat is to expand as fast as you can and make blocking dark events your top priority.

Problem is you may neglect your old sectors where Advent gets so strong you won't be able to do any missions anymore, with activity on Heavy+. Dunno, maybe it's just me but imma put it away for now and wait for more balancing.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

It doesn't mean old games are better or worse than the new ones. Just different.

 

[ArchAngel]

But you don't understand why people don't like pod system and free moves when discovered is one of the main reasons.

I don't have to imagine, it is called Open Xcom. It is called Terror from the Deep and it is called Xenonauts. And not, it is not irritating. It is 2x better than what nuXcom has.

Yeah, you have no idea what you're talking about do you? If you haven't noticed a big change happened in XCOM compared to the old games - now it's a cover shooter. Which gives the game a whole new strategic level, what with flanking, destroying covers and such.

It also means you gotta have some way for the enemies TO TAKE THE COVER FIRST. Otherwise the game would play as follows: you discover mobs out of cover, you slaughter them immediately with a few flanking crits. Rinse and repeat. Such fun.

It doesn't mean old games are better or worse than the new ones. Just different. I for one much prefer the cover system. You don't like it, fine. But at least you should think about shit before you yap about it on teh forums.

And who says aliens stay out of cover? You give them better AI or maybe make cover less important. Are you that dense that you don't understand basic stuff that is implied?

 

[ArchAngel]

Btw tried LW2 and found it pretty raw. I played at a reasonable pace, trying to liberate every sector first but no dice. The dark events totally crushed me. If they happen in a sector you haven't made contact with you can't block them and the stay for good. It seems the only strat is to expand as fast as you can and make blocking dark events your top priority.

Problem is you may neglect your old sectors where Advent gets so strong you won't be able to do any missions anymore, with activity on Heavy+. Dunno, maybe it's just me but imma put it away for now and wait for more balancing.

You cannot stop dark events, you can only delay them. Even if you succeed they will just start again and again until they finish. LW2 is made so you cannot fuck around and do nothing useful, you must always go towards your goal which is stop the Avatar project. Both Dark Event system and not being able to reduce Avatar project pips in the middle (except only a few limited times) make sure of that.

 

[cvv]

And who says aliens stay out of cover? You give them better AI or maybe make cover less important. Are you that dense that you don't understand basic stuff that is implied?

What? Dude...

Nvm, you're right, I'm very dense.

 

[ArchAngel]

And who says aliens stay out of cover? You give them better AI or maybe make cover less important. Are you that dense that you don't understand basic stuff that is implied?

What? Dude...

Nvm, you're right, I'm very dense.

What yourself, you came into this topic with this grand idea like it wasn't mentioned only like 50 times already. It is assumed if stupid pod idea is scrapped aliens go back to individual AI and they know how to use and abuse the environment. I bet half the reason we got pod system in the first place was because Firaxis didn't want to invest time and resources by developing a good AI for aliens (other half probably because they were scared their popamole Xcom would not be welcome by the popamole crowd if it had such "hardcore" mechanics.)

 

[Space Satan]

After playing many hours I finally realized that LongWar 2 is not fun for me and not going to be fun so I quit.
Enemies are so much tougher and numerous. Even with 100% infiltration 20-30 enemies on a simple 20 inter reward mission is a norm. LW2 is a mess. Skills were designed with vanilla mechanics and values in mind. Now you can face a pack of 6 vipers, who will strangle your entire team, or 3 heavy rocketeers, who will level entire map area leaving you without cover. Etc etc etc. It's ok to deal with this once in a while, but fighting like a surrounded Space Marines on their last stand every single mission is a tedious and boring shit, bordering with masochism.

Also, maybe old new but two DLCs are announced, at least one supposed to be non-socmetic it seems:
https://steamdb.info/app/268500/dlc/

 

[Falksi]

I've only played the vanilla game on ps4, but I gotta say it left me hugely disappointed all round.
Main gripes are how you can do everything right, and yet still see your squad wiped out in 1 turn, and the aliens were on the whole fairly bland and boring, as were the environments.
They also kind of miss the point overall Imo. Xcom has always been about tension, and in the original games pushing forward to find and get the drop on an alien was often as rewarding as it was frightening. You were as likely to land a great tactical position in doing so as you were a bad one. Xcom 2 pretty much just always lands you in the shit.
Thought the new character classes were great though.
Still enjoyable-ish, a 7/10 for me, but just a big let down and definitely drifting more & more away from what made the franchise great.

 

[kris]

I got this on a discount and played a bit this evening. It is after all no different from its predessesor and I am not and was not impressed. It kind of falls flat as there is so little depth to it.

 

[ArchAngel]

I got this on a discount and played a bit this evening. It is after all no different from its predessesor and I am not and was not impressed. It kind of falls flat as there is so little depth to it.

Install Long War 2 mod.

 

[Galdred]

And who says aliens stay out of cover? You give them better AI or maybe make cover less important. Are you that dense that you don't understand basic stuff that is implied?

What? Dude...

Nvm, you're right, I'm very dense.

What yourself, you came into this topic with this grand idea like it wasn't mentioned only like 50 times already. It is assumed if stupid pod idea is scrapped aliens go back to individual AI and they know how to use and abuse the environment. I bet half the reason we got pod system in the first place was because Firaxis didn't want to invest time and resources by developing a good AI for aliens (other half probably because they were scared their popamole Xcom would not be welcome by the popamole crowd if it had such "hardcore" mechanics.)

There is another reason, though. Without the pod system, we would have a good chance to lose one squad member whenever a new aliens are discovered.
The original had squads of 14, and experience did not change as much as in the new one (it "only" changed stats, but rookies were still somewhat competent enough to get the job done, while it is almost impossible to manage late game missions with a squad of rookies now).
So casualties are much worse than they used to. The pod system is like a cheat that does advantage the player (having aliens run for cover is much better than finding aliens already in cover and in overwatch IMO).

I got this on a discount and played a bit this evening. It is after all no different from its predessesor and I am not and was not impressed. It kind of falls flat as there is so little depth to it.

The timed missions make a huge difference on the higher difficulty. I would just have prefered a "soft" timer, either self destruct starting when you are first spotted, or the VIP being evacuated/shot down after X turn, or only reinforcements pouring in. That would not have changed much gameplay wise, but would have been much less immersion breaking and repetitive.

 

[ArchAngel]

And who says aliens stay out of cover? You give them better AI or maybe make cover less important. Are you that dense that you don't understand basic stuff that is implied?

What? Dude...

Nvm, you're right, I'm very dense.

What yourself, you came into this topic with this grand idea like it wasn't mentioned only like 50 times already. It is assumed if stupid pod idea is scrapped aliens go back to individual AI and they know how to use and abuse the environment. I bet half the reason we got pod system in the first place was because Firaxis didn't want to invest time and resources by developing a good AI for aliens (other half probably because they were scared their popamole Xcom would not be welcome by the popamole crowd if it had such "hardcore" mechanics.)

There is another reason, though. Without the pod system, we would have a good chance to lose one squad member whenever a new aliens are discovered.
The original had squads of 14, and experience did not change as much as in the new one (it "only" changed stats, but rookies were still somewhat competent enough to get the job done, while it is almost impossible to manage late game missions with a squad of rookies now).
So casualties are much worse than they used to. The pod system is like a cheat that does advantage the player (having aliens run for cover is much better than finding aliens already in cover and in overwatch IMO).

Then you balance with aliens not using overwatch if they don't see your team or know their position. It could be done with states and radius of awareness similar to how Long War 2 does it except without pod system part of the system could be that enemies can transfer their awareness status to their allies within certain range (which would also fix stupidity from pod system where only members of one pod activate and game ignores that there is one alien from another pod just one square outside your vision range).
So aliens could have a couple of awareness statuses. From Oblivious to Engaged and some of them would allow them to use overwatch and some would not. If it is still a problem you make the overwatch penalty bigger, reduce damage from overwatch shots of give more abilities to your soldiers to deal with overwatch.
Also in nuXcom/2 you almost never get one shot as long as your tech keeps up with new alien types and in end game I never had a soldier of mine get one shot.

 

[Raghar]

I got this on a discount and played a bit this evening. It is after all no different from its predessesor and I am not and was not impressed. It kind of falls flat as there is so little depth to it.

I assume you don't smoke and you can't use one dollar bill to light your cigarette and get the game on five finger discount half year earlier. (Or borrow it from friend, but who has friend.)

At least it has nice graphic and decent animation.

 

[kris]

I got this on a discount and played a bit this evening. It is after all no different from its predessesor and I am not and was not impressed. It kind of falls flat as there is so little depth to it.

Install Long War 2 mod.

That certainly improved the early game greatly. Base game felt like the self-imposed gimping experience.

 

[Raghar]

Long war is superior to long war 2.

 

[not an artichoke]

Considering it has had years more of development, that's unsurprising.