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[Imperfected]

There seems to be a bug in Gangplank though. By the time you reach the second power node (or whatever they're called), there will be a Cyberdisc dropped in near the first power node, already activated, and the game won't show you when it happens. I've had several occasions where suddenly a Cyberdisc appeared behind my back and flank killed my Gunner.

Yes, this is a known bug they decided to leave in for "challenge".

Their attitude with the DLC is, next to the air game, honestly my least favorite part of the mod by far. They very nearly manage to ruin all the DLC missions, and I would actually prefer they have a tick-box Second Wave option that just removes every change they've made from those maps. Literally rather have vanilla cakewalks than the absolute mess they've made of Deluge.

 

[Shake Appeal]

So far the DLC missions have seemed like they're designed to be played with a lot of foreknowledge of how they made them harder, which is punishing on a first blind LW playthrough.

That said, Portent felt largely the same, if not identical.

 

[Shake Appeal]

Literally rather have vanilla cakewalks than the absolute mess they've made of Deluge.

You weren't kidding.

 

[Shake Appeal]

You weren't kidding.

So, I lost my best soldier (a captain) on this mission, as well as a not very good lance corporal. Four other good soldiers are in the hospital for at least a few weeks; one is out for 44 days.

Landed a train station mission with a mechtoid and berserker two days later, lost another three (less good) soldiers.

Down to 32 troops. I think I'm now losing the Long War.

 

[AlexVu]

Might as well restart. The problem with Long War being really hard to lose is that it also means it never really gives you an indication of whether or not you're better off just restarting, and the downward spiral will continue until the point where you encounter a pod of 5 Muton Elites and 3 Berserkers in September and you decide you've had enough.

If there's one piece of advice I can give, it'll probably be starting out with either the Kiryu-Kai (Japan iirc) for a MSGT Scout or Cadre (Canada) bonus and rush for Concealment. Once you have Concealment Scout you can easily cheese your way through most situations unscathed with LMG Gunner and Sniper. It just takes a whole lot of patience.

 

[Shake Appeal]

I think in my next game I'll probably go with Nigeria, because +1 Mobility to everyone seems really powerful and useful throughout the whole game.

 

[Fragamemnon]

So, I lost my best soldier (a captain) on this mission, as well as a not very good lance corporal. Four other good soldiers are in the hospital for at least a few weeks; one is out for 44 days.

Landed a train station mission with a mechtoid and berserker two days later, lost another three (less good) soldiers.

Down to 32 troops. I think I'm now losing the Long War.

32 troops active or 32 troops period?

A decent option for that point in the campaign would be MEC troopers out of some of the really wrecked (40+ days) soldiers, just to get them back in the fight sooner.

There's no reliably good way out of this situation unless you have access to some corporals from the council via capturing aliens or alien corpses. Heavy Floaters are going to maul you without decent troops.


Deluge is a pure RNG dumpster fire if you leave on the "aliens drop into cover" flag in the INI. When you get to that mission, save/exit, update INI, then load it up. The mission isn't designed for having mechtoids drop in behind high cover trucks in the back of the damn map. It's hugely retarded and like another one of wghosts' experiments (alternate LZs) adopted by the mod, has some real bad effects on certain maps.

I think in my next game I'll probably go with Nigeria, because +1 Mobility to everyone seems really powerful and useful throughout the whole game.

This is one of the top 5 starts. For the record, the rest are France's council requests, UK Penetrator Weapons, China's genemod discounts, and Canada's four-CPL start.

 

[Shake Appeal]

32 total. It's now back to 40 and I've turned most of the newbies into SPEC or higher already. How many troopers should I have by late summer (and by end of game), and is there something that will let me recruit them at a rank above rookie, as in vanilla?

I guess I need to up my capture game and hope for some soldier rewards from country requests.

 

[Fragamemnon]

You can only get new soliders that aren't rookies through council requests. Note that there's a pretty broad array of requests that can warrant CPL rewards, not just captives. So jut keep up your tech and you'll get a shot at new troops.

I generally need 55 or so troops by the fall to keep up with all of the missions.

 

[AlexVu]

55? I've never reached that count before, even by endgame. Does that include rookies you hired or are they all either default soldiers or council request soldiers?

 

[Fragamemnon]

55? I've never reached that count before, even by endgame. Does that include rookies you hired or are they all either default soldiers or council request soldiers?

That would include rookies I hired early on in the campaign, council/DLC mission soldiers, and council request reward soldiers.

I find that the aliens will really crunch your roster hard enough in September/October or so that you actually do need about that many troops. Psi labs are almost a perma -3 on your roster total and there's just a ton of UFO crashes and abductions to deal with, not to mention the added fatigue from genemods and higher ranked officers.

Also important to note that I don't use Stay Frosty because you absolutely need that extra juicing of panic rolls on higher difficulties and early psi is god awful without Legio Patria Nostra.

 

[AlexVu]

Welp. Maybe we play differently strategically. I do relatively ok with 45 troops on Impossible myself. And I do take Stay Frosty because of such.

 

[Fragamemnon]

Welp. Maybe we play differently strategically. I do relatively ok with 45 troops on Impossible myself. And I do take Stay Frosty because of such.

Another thing that I didn't mention is that I tend to sit my MSGTs a lot unless their skills are absolutely needed on a mission. I definitely could get by with less troops if I had them in constant rotation.

 

[RandomSeed]

You know, I'll reload a save here and there if I totally blow a mission, nothing crazy, but that Gangplank Cyberdisc can have all my reloads. I've done that mission a bunch of times, but it almost always strolls right through whatever overwatch trap I have set and one shots a soldier.

 

[Shake Appeal]

I restarted and I'm through to late May having lost only two rooks and two specs.

Lost a satellite, though. Just like my first game, I was tempted into launching it where I could get an engineers reward instead of on my starting continent, and then my interceptors got stretched too thin.

 

[AlexVu]

Yeah. Don't do that. In LW you should definitely focus on getting the maximum out of your base continent first before expanding to another. You'll need a full fleet of interceptors (plus 2 substitute interceptors parked in another continent recommended) to safely guard a continent. It is definitely possible to not lose a single satellite until you have Firestorm (unless you do so damn well that the aliens decide to send a Battleship just to shoot down your sat) if you care enough about your airgame.

Airgame in LW is, frankly, a heavily RNG reliant shitfest. Which is why I'd recommend taking North America first (or ASAP) for the airgame cost reduction bonus, because you're going to have to invest A LOT on your airgame or you're going to be resource-starved horribly by mid/lategame because your interceptors can't shoot down shit. Plus, as far as I know, airgame isn't affected by difficulties - which means the higher the difficulty, the more bang you get for your airgame bucks.

Also, you will NEVER ever have enough Cyberdisc Wrecks for Dodge Module, so refrain from using them as much as possible unless you absolutely have to. Consider sending your interceptors in Defensive Stance and make use of the Boost and Aim modules instead, you'll almost never run out of them.

 

[Eyeh4wk]

Xcom air combat is such a crapshoot, I either choose Mexico and blow the extra cash on interceptors or I choose India for the 2 improved interceptors.

 

[Trickster]

Anyone know how I can see objectives for missions? Nowhere can I see what I'm supposed to do on a mission, it's really annoying

 

[Shake Appeal]

Anyone know how I can see objectives for missions? Nowhere can I see what I'm supposed to do on a mission, it's really annoying

They're not that varied; 90% of the time it's just kill or subdue everything on the map. On other missions (escort, bomb disposal, etc.), talking heads patiently explain what you need to do.

But there should also be big ol' objectives pasted up on the left side of the screen somewhere, unless they removed them. They long since faded out of my conscious vision.

 

[Trickster]

They're not that varied; 90% of the time it's just kill or subdue everything on the map. On other missions (escort, bomb disposal, etc.), talking heads patiently explain what you need to do.

But there should also be big ol' objectives pasted up on the left side of the screen somewhere, unless they removed them. They long since faded out of my conscious vision.

That's the thing, there's nothing there. I looked up some youtube videos of long war gameplay, and they didn't have an objective display either.

At least I noticed that I can see the objectives while I'm flying my squad to the mission...but still annoying.

 

[RandomSeed]

This is in regards to vanilla, but this thread seems to be the active XCOM one, so I'll ask here. After finally getting around to beating the game on classic, I started up a custom difficulty game, picking normal to start with the extra satellite and officers school, then immediately changing it to classic for the extra combat challenge. The last couple of missions have been a joke, so just for the hell of it I check the difficulty settings, and see that it's back on normal. Is this a known thing with changing the difficulty?

Not to sound dramatic, but it's kinda soured me on this playthrough. I thought the Alien Base and Base Defense missions went way too easy, but I thought maybe it was because I did them so early and the big baddies didn't show up.

 

[Funky Papa]

Goddamn, I'm getting my ass kicked. Is it normal to lose two soldiers per mission? I feel like this may be the closest thing yet to OG X-Com.

I may even have to hire new troops.

 

[Poodlestrike]

Goddamn, I'm getting my ass kicked. Is it normal to lose two soldiers per mission? I feel like this may be the closest thing yet to OG X-Com.

I may even have to hire new troops.

What, every mission?

No, no, that's special to you.

 

[Funky Papa]

BRB, buying more KY.

 

[Sober]

Goddamn, I'm getting my ass kicked. Is it normal to lose two soldiers per mission? I feel like this may be the closest thing yet to OG X-Com.

I may even have to hire new troops.

Maybe. Better start breaking out the Beagle meta. And even then!

 

[Fragamemnon]

Xcom air combat is such a crapshoot, I either choose Mexico and blow the extra cash on interceptors or I choose India for the 2 improved interceptors.

The best start for getting ahead at the air war is the UK. Penetrator Weapons+Phoenix Cannons cleave through anything for a very long time and at a fraction of the alloys of Laser Cannons (and no need later to get Supercapictors).

Seriously considering a third b15 campaign once b15f comes out, with more or less the sole goal of pointing out that the current metagame is largely wrong about damn near everything.

 

[AlexVu]

Seriously considering a third b15 campaign once b15f comes out, with more or less the sole goal of pointing out that the current metagame is largely wrong about damn near everything.

Dude I've only just reached Plasma on the current campaign that I started when b15e came out

 

[Funky Papa]

I feel like this game is trolling me. I just downed a small UFO carrying four chrysalids, a couple of thin men, three or four floaters, a drone and at least six seekers. And I'm just four missions in.

It was a small UFO. It was suppossed to be a tiny and tidy mission to level up some of my unskilled grunts. I didn't ask for this.

 

[Sober]

I feel like this game is trolling me. I just downed a small UFO carrying four chrysalids, a couple of thin men, three or four floaters, a drone and at least six seekers. And I'm just four missions in.

It was a small UFO. It was suppossed to be a tiny and tidy mission to level up some of my unskilled grunts. I didn't ask for this.

Grats on the trap UFO, surprised they filled it with that much shit on a crash, usually only see those on a landed.

 

[Imperfected]

I feel like this game is trolling me. I just downed a small UFO carrying four chrysalids, a couple of thin men, three or four floaters, a drone and at least six seekers. And I'm just four missions in.

It was a small UFO. It was suppossed to be a tiny and tidy mission to level up some of my unskilled grunts. I didn't ask for this.

Best practices are generally to send a ringer/"babysitter" along on small UFO maps, either a higher-level Sniper who can just declare International In the Zone Day and delete every alien on the map, or something with enough explosives to work as a get out of jail free card (Rocketman, Engineer built as a grenadier, or Archer MEC).

Personally, I'm paranoid, so I generally send a ringer plus a mid-tier Officer, just in case. A high rank Sniper with good use of Command can pretty much clean up whatever mess a bunch of rookies make for themselves, and in particular just eradicates surprise Chrysalid or Berserker packs, which I find tend to be the bane of newbie XCOMs.

 

[Funky Papa]

Grats on the trap UFO, surprised they filled it with that much shit on a crash, usually only see those on a landed.

Correct. I thought I had downed it, but now that I remember I had to cut the chase since it almost destroyed my interceptor, so I had to take on them once they landed.

Something I'm not liking is that I have zero intel about the kind of enemies and terrain I'm going to fight until I'm there. It makes a total crapshoot of picking a proper team for the mission.

 

[Imperfected]

Correct. I thought I had downed it, but now that I remember I had to cut the chase since it almost destroyed my interceptor, so I had to take on them once they landed.

Something I'm not liking is that I have zero intel about the kind of enemies and terrain I'm going to fight until I'm there. It makes a total crapshoot of picking a proper team for the mission.

Kind of a meaningless gesture, but late in the game you actually do get a complete reporting of the number and types of enemies on alien ships, along with their mission profile. (It's meaningless because by the time you get it the game is practically over.)

 

[Sober]

Kind of a meaningless gesture, but late in the game you actually do get a complete reporting of the number and types of enemies on alien ships, along with their mission profile. (It's meaningless because by the time you get it the game is practically over.)

That's always been in EU as the Hyperwave Relay.

Landed ships expect +1 month research's worth of enemy types or basically expect to see current month aliens + next month aliens (seeing as it's the 4th mission, you got Thin Men who don't appear until month 2) and Chryssalids are just "surprise!" stuff you get on landeds on occasion. Numbers-wise, sadly you'll have to do enough UFOs to eventually figure out how many there are (or check the wiki).

If a landed dropped next month, you'd have a chance to see mutons for example along with sectoids, thin men and floaters and seekers (and chryssalids). Later on when you have all the alien types out, +1 month's worth of research is usually more hp/damage/perks depending on where you are in the alien research progression.

Basic rule of thumb though is no matter the landed, take your A-team. First month crashes are usually the only time you can send full rookie squads or 5+babysitter.

 

[Shake Appeal]

Pretty sure Long War has catapulted XCOM into my top ten all-time favorite games.

Otoh, even with advance knowledge of Gangplank on my second campaign, I still lost a scout to a cyberdisk. Spawning it activated in the fog is a joke.

 

[Funky Papa]

Cyberdisks were already a pain in the ass when popping against a team of scrubs, so I don't want to imagine the horror that Long War is conjuring against me.

 

[AkuMifune]

I finally had the time, willpower, and clear enough backlog to start tackling this.

I'm going to need more time and willpower! Really like what I've played so far though.

 

[Funky Papa]

Yeah. Shit is hard as nails.

Currently I'm getting buttfucked at a low intensity abduction mission that puts me against nine floaters and four thin men right after stepping out from my plane.

I'm not shitting you.

As soon as I reach the closest form of cover, I trigger the thin men with the most dastardly accuracy and a pack of three or four floaters. The rest come in droves forming a C shape after the next turn, even if I don't move from that quadrant.

In two turns the fuckers clean half of my squad. The rest quickly falls prey to panic and leave themselves to be picked by the aliens. Mission ends in less than six turns.

RIP.

 

[Sober]

Yeah. Shit is hard as nails.

Currently I'm getting buttfucked at a low intensity abduction mission that puts me against nine floaters and four thin men right after stepping out from my plane.

I'm not shitting you.

As soon as I reach the closest form of cover, I trigger the thin men with the most dastardly accuracy and a pack of three or four floaters. The rest come in droves forming a C shape after the next turn, even if I don't move from that quadrant.

In two turns the fuckers clean half of my squad. The rest quickly falls prey to panic and leave themselves to be picked by the aliens. Mission ends in less than six turns.

RIP.

http://www.twitch.tv/miss_jamball

Watch how this madman plays, play like this madman

 

[AlexVu]

Beagle is kinda bad on the strategic layer though, and refuses to get better at it. He plays a bit too intuitively and doesn't really plan ahead. His TMX campaign is being screwed really badly right now because he tried to Gauss rush without knowing exactly what he was doing (according to JC_Lewis actually).

Edit: Oh wow he's actually just lost it lol

 

[AkuMifune]

Day 3: Not completely dead yet.

I only have the heart to give this mod one shot, It's too demanding. When I am wiped it's over. Still loving it though.

 

[Shake Appeal]

I watch Beagle's strategic layer stuff because I am no better than he is, but I keep in mind that he apparently sucks at it.

I still wish there were a way to amp up the tactical difficulty slightly without having knock-on effects for the strategy stuff, because I'm way better at the former.

 

[Zeth]

Day 3: Not completely dead yet.

I only have the heart to give this mod one shot, It's too demanding. When I am wiped it's over. Still loving it though.

No shame(well maybe some) in reloading a save! I've had very lengthy and rewarding campaigns with ample "save scumming".

 

[Funky Papa]

So, uh, what's the point in having snipers when you can field scouts?

 

[Decado]

So, uh, what's the point in having snipers when you can field scouts?

Angel Armour + sniper rifle = crazy shots from across the map. Super deadly on some maps. Also don need an item for squad site.

 

[Funky Papa]

Oh, Jesus.

FUCK escort missions.

How am I supossed to bring a civvie with me when I need several turns to kill one thin man and the game rutinely drops them on the bulk?

 

[Poodlestrike]

Oh, Jesus.

FUCK escort missions.

How am I supossed to bring a civvie with me when I need several turns to kill one thin man and the game rutinely drops them on the bulk?

Leave them where you start and only advance them when you've killed everything between them and the exit.

 

[McNum]

Oh, Jesus.

FUCK escort missions.

How am I supossed to bring a civvie with me when I need several turns to kill one thin man and the game rutinely drops them on the bulk?

Don't advance until everything is dead. Alien drops trigger due to the position of the civvie, so don't move him ahead until you're ready to fight again. Aliens on the map already can of course walk into the fight.

And if it's the Zhang mission, put him somewhere safe that breaks line of sight.

 

[Imperfected]

So, uh, what's the point in having snipers when you can field scouts?

Not sure if this is a serious question.

In the Zone Sniper is and always has been one of the most absurdly broken things in the game. The "Sniper Team + Spotter" remains one of the ways that players cheese their way through things they aren't necessarily supposed to be able to beat, like early large landed UFOs.

The main use of Scouts is honestly to rush one to Concealment for, well, actual scouting. They can serve reasonably well as hunter-killers in the early game, but they're absurdly outclassed by a properly built Sniper when it comes to late-game killing power.

(Though, you can convert some of your Scouts into Pathfinder MECs late-game if you invested too heavily into the class and need to turn some of them into proper killing machines because you've got way more recon than you need.)

 

[Funky Papa]

Don't advance until everything is dead. Alien drops trigger due to the position of the civvie, so don't move him ahead until you're ready to fight again. Aliens on the map already can of course walk into the fight.

And if it's the Zhang mission, put him somewhere safe that breaks line of sight.

Yeah, it's Zhang. For some reason those dicks keep coming wave after wave even if I tell him to duck and cover.

Not sure if this is a serious question.

In the Zone Sniper is and always has been one of the most absurdly broken things in the game. The "Sniper Team + Spotter" remains one of the ways that players cheese their way through things they aren't necessarily supposed to be able to beat, like early large landed UFOs.

The main use of Scouts is honestly to rush one to Concealment for, well, actual scouting. They can serve reasonably well as hunter-killers in the early game, but they're absurdly outclassed by a properly built Sniper when it comes to late-game killing power.

(Though, you can convert some of your Scouts into Pathfinder MECs late-game if you invested too heavily into the class and need to turn some of them into proper killing machines because you've got way more recon than you need.)

I guess I'm still at an early phase of the game, because so far they are rather similar.

 

[Jintor]

the dlc missions are utterly ridiculous on long war. I don't bother with them.

for that first gangplank mission, the first time I did it in Long War though before I stopped bothering was to bunker up on the back-left corner. Nearly lost one fella but came through okay.