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[Imperfected]

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

Yeah, Snipers don't really come into their own until they hit Master Sergeant, though they're still quite useful early game for various reasons. (Their value also doesn't become fully apparent until large packs of Chrysalids, Berserkers, and Mectoid/Sectopod packs become common, as they're basically specialized in dealing with high-threat targets.)

Particularly for a new player, though, I would prioritize getting a Concealment Scout over an In the Zone Sniper. Especially with the new Motion Tracker, having a Concealment Scout is one of those major turning points in the game, even coming from someone who often uses the Japan Kiryu-Kai bonus to start with a MSGT Sniper.

 

[McNum]

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

Had a feeling it would be that one. Got explosives? Because those tombstones in the middle have got to go. The aliens will use them for cover, so either wait for them to do that, or blow them up beforehand. And bring medkits so you're immune to acid.

Deny the aliens cover, and keep yourself acid-proof. That's pretty much that mission in a nutshell.

 

[Shake Appeal]

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

The differences between them are more pronounced when you're using Commander's Choice and have specific builds in mind, but even just the difference between Lightning Reflexes and Squadsight at the SPEC level are huge in terms of playstyle and where you want them deployed on the field.

Snipers should be sitting in full cover somewhere high and moving as little as possible; ideally you want them steadying their weapon on the turn before a pod is revealed. Scouts should be on the front line or the flank making the first move of the turn into the fog; their mobility and Lightning Reflexes perk means they have a better chance of surviving a bad pod reveal (e.g., a pack of Floaters all going on Overwatch). Once they get Battle Scanners, they're even more useful at getting you information.

Also, even in the early game, snipers' Squadsight perk is insanely powerful. So much so that I often have to hold back on taking shots with them if I'm trying to level other soldiers.

 

[AlexVu]

Friend in Low Places in LW is such a shitfest, just like EVERY OTHER GODDAMN DLC MISSION. Waves and waves of Thin Men dropping (like 3-4 every turn). You're really not gonna have enough time/people to deny all of their covers unless you bring like 3 Engineers or something. On higher difficulties all aliens get buffs on Aim and HP and shizzles. And Thin Men? At that point? Fuck everything.

I have no idea how many times I've had to bronzeman that mission in every single LW campaign I've had. But I can't just not do it. Zhang is my hero.

 

[Shake Appeal]

Except for Portent, I find that one by far the easiest of the DLC missions. But I play on Normal, so...

 

[Trickster]

Ugh, this game just is so lame at times. Doing a large ufo mission. Have done well for 40 minutes, then I engange a new pack of aliens, np as long as I play properly. Then after one or 2 turns it's the aliens turn, queue extra large alien appearing from nowhere, oneshots my medic, and at the same time 6 mutons and 6 thin men decide to join the fight.

Seriously? Fuck that, restarting mission.

 

[Sober]

Beta 15f is out and now Long War is technically "finished", or at least the team is no longer working on balance/feature changes anymore. They're going to be working on their own game now.

 

[Imperfected]

Ugh, this game just is so lame at times. Doing a large ufo mission. Have done well for 40 minutes, then I engange a new pack of aliens, np as long as I play properly. Then after one or 2 turns it's the aliens turn, queue extra large alien appearing from nowhere, oneshots my medic, and at the same time 6 mutons and 6 thin men decide to join the fight.

Seriously? Fuck that, restarting mission.

Might have just been bad luck, but be aware that if you engage the "command pod" on UFOs (generally the Outsider or Ethereal pack, usually on the ship's bridge but they can move), every other remaining pack of aliens on the map will immediately start moving toward your position.

You can use it to your advantage by taking the bridge as a defense position and making a stand there, but a lot of the time it's better to just sweep the outside, battle scan an entrance to confirm the command pod isn't there, and then clear the rest of the ship before engaging the pilots.

 

[eJawa]

Might have just been bad luck, but be aware that if you engage the "command pod" on UFOs (generally the Outsider or Ethereal pack, usually on the ship's bridge but they can move), every other remaining pack of aliens on the map will immediately start moving toward your position.

You can use it to your advantage by taking the bridge as a defense position and making a stand there, but a lot of the time it's better to just sweep the outside, battle scan an entrance to confirm the command pod isn't there, and then clear the rest of the ship before engaging the pilots.

Wow, that makes sense. I was doing a large UFO and it started me in the back and I triggered the Outsiders right away. At first I thought I was lucky. Take care of them now, then clean up. Next thing I know, I'm surrounded and my guys start dropping like flies.

I love Long War, but it was what finaly made me give up on pure ironman runs. I use bronzeman now so I have to live with my strategy layer decisions, but no longer have to worry about bad luck (or a really bad tactical decisions) ending my run.

 

[McNum]

Well, since this version is as final as it gets, unless there's a big bug, I started up a new campaign. Tweaked some Second Wave options to make it a bit easier, especially the Friendly Skies one, and I hope this will be a slow burn campaign until XCOM 2.

This one is already looking special two missions in. I shot down a Scout. While it was crashing, the Abduction alert happened. So the game got all confused and showed some weird hybrid UI of both and dumped me back on the Hologlobe with an abduction site and a crashed UFO ready to be attacked.

So it's still early, but my plan is to get three sats up fast, covering India (starting nation), Australia and China. Then next go for Japan and one of North America, then hopefully I'll be able to build a Satelite Nexus so I won't have to build an Uplink just to tear it down again. Looks like the aliens are going for South America, but time will tell what their freebie nation will be.

Also, that Motion Scanner is amazing. I can see that become a must have item for a lot of soldiers. Assaults are going to love them. Blue move. Scan. Safe? Run and Gun! Orange move. BOOM!

 

[AlexVu]

I love Long War, but it was what finaly made me give up on pure ironman runs. I use bronzeman now so I have to live with my strategy layer decisions, but no longer have to worry about bad luck (or a really bad tactical decisions) ending my run.

I actually feel like the messed up part here is that LW is generally a lot more lenient on strategic mistakes than tactical ones.

 

[Funky Papa]

I'm loving LW, but I feel like I'm about to drop it like a bad habit. Zhang's mission is absolutely unbeatable.

Edit: Fucking finally. It feels so weird that that random chrysalid near the end was nowhere near as threatening as the thin men and their venom spit. I can finally see the benefits of squad sight. Jesus.

 

[Shake Appeal]

That one isn't even difficult compared to the ones to come! Good luck with Deluge!

 

[Funky Papa]

I'm currently in Newfoundland.

 

[HK-47]

I'm currently in Newfoundland.

Free xp

 

[AlexVu]

Alright. I think I've lost my Impossible campaign. Was about get my first plasma weapons when a second base defense mission came up. Then I got fucked by the RNGesus and got the worse half of the prepared troops with no HEAT Gunners, and then 2 Leviathan Mechtoids spawned on the first turn and wiped my entire squad.

I guess that's fucking XCOM?

 

[Poodlestrike]

So. This game.

I've just beaten Operation Progeny (fuck Thin Men). Well, I say "beat." I lost the VIP to a reaction shot on the last turn, because fuck Thin Men.

Anyway, everyone gets home from Operation Progeny. I have exactly 1 non-rookie who is neither fatigued nor wounded (out of around 16). Even my SHIV is banged up. I settle back, expecting a few days respite; after all, it's only month 2. Then, suddenly, a UFO appears! Well, I figure, I can just let this one lie after I shoot it down. Interceptor goes out. Then...

The terror mission cutscene starts.

What.

The.

Fuck.

So now I've got a downed UFO AND a terror mission sitting there and nobody capable of handling either, let alone both. What do?

 

[AlexVu]

Prioritize the terror mission. Not clearing crash sites does not harm you in any way other than just missing the resources. If you don't think you can even handle a terror mission, then remember that lost nations CAN be rescued and taken back, but dead soldiers can't - as crazy as ignoring a terror mission sounds.

 

[Poodlestrike]

Prioritize the terror mission. Not clearing crash sites does not harm you in any way other than just missing the resources. If you don't think you can even handle a terror mission, then remember that lost nations CAN be rescued and taken back, but dead soldiers can't - as crazy as ignoring a terror mission sounds.

5 rookies (all with <65 aim) and one medic...

I'm going in.

 

[Vaporak]

5 rookies (all with <65 aim) and one medic...

I'm going in.

Why wouldn't you just take some fatigued troops? The slight wound you take on them only puts them out for a few days longer than the normal fatigue time, and it's very important to do well on Terror Missions.

 

[Poodlestrike]

Why wouldn't you just take some fatigued troops? The slight wound you take on them only puts them out for a few days longer than the normal fatigue time, and it's very important to do well on Terror Missions.

Honestly hadn't even occurred to me; I'm still not very good at this, SoP is to treat fatigued soldiers as off-limits entirely, as if they were wounded.

That'd definitely be a better way of doing things, yeah.

 

[McNum]

Honestly hadn't even occurred to me; I'm still not very good at this, SoP is to treat fatigued soldiers as off-limits entirely, as if they were wounded.

That'd definitely be a better way of doing things, yeah.

That is a good SoP, yes. But there are times that aren't standard. It's a 10 day wound if you bring them, so keep that in mind.

In my game I have right now a Landed Large UFO which is not an Abductor (meaning Harvester, Barge or Terror Ship), a Covert Extraction three days out, and no Terror Missions have happened in May yet. It's May 21st.

In other words, I am weighting my options very carefully because if I get two Terror Missions in a week, and a Covert Extraction then that's 22 soldiers on Fatigue or worse right there. Add the Landed Large and it's 29. Give or take a SHIV standing in or two. But on the other hand, if I capture that Large UFO, I'll have alloys to last all summer, basically.

It's gut check time. Do I risk it on that Landed Large? I know I can do two missions. Three is also possible. Four in a week is... on the very limit of things.

 

[AlexVu]

I updated to Windows 10 and now can't run XCOM ... Shit.

 

[Poodlestrike]

I updated to Windows 10 and now can't run XCOM ... Shit.

"Steam servers are busy?"

 

[Keysersoze]

I updated to Windows 10 and now can't run XCOM ... Shit.

verify game cache. I had to do this before it would work.

 

[Imperfected]

Honestly hadn't even occurred to me; I'm still not very good at this, SoP is to treat fatigued soldiers as off-limits entirely, as if they were wounded.

That'd definitely be a better way of doing things, yeah.

Honestly the standard for me is that if I have a mission pop up, first thing I look for to fill the roster is soldiers with 3+ days of fatigue time. Those guys are basically free boots on the ground.

Obviously I'm less keen to send them if they're a few hours off coming back online, though.

 

[AlexVu]

"Steam servers are busy?"

Yeah. First launch nothing popped up. Second launch gets me this error.

verify game cache. I had to do this before it would work.

Trying that right now. Crossing my fingers. Would suck really hard if I lost my current campaign just like that.

 

[Poodlestrike]

Your campaign should be fine either way, if you're using cloud saves. Cache verification should work, but if it doesn't, you might have to reinstall. Had to do that a few times after upgrading builds.

Of course, there might be an easier fix, but considering how abominable Steam support is there's no way to be sure

 

[McNum]

Well now we have a plausible explanation for why we lost the war in XCOM2. Windows 10 happened, and XCOM suddenly was unable to use their computers. Then the aliens invaded everywhere at the same time.

I'll try reinstalling XCOM, too. Then modding it for Long War. Then modding Long War for taste. Should take a while.

 

[Poodlestrike]

Well now we have a plausible explanation for why we lost the war in XCOM2. Windows 10 happened, and XCOM suddenly was unable to use their computers. Then the aliens invaded everywhere at the same time.

I'll try reinstalling XCOM, too. Then modding it for Long War. Then modding Long War for taste. Should take a while.

I'm not 100% sure that this'll make a difference but put XCOM through the first run before you mod it. I didn't, and I had to do another reinstall.

 

[McNum]

I'm not 100% sure that this'll make a difference but put XCOM through the first run before you mod it. I didn't, and I had to do another reinstall.

Of course. I'm in trouble shooting mode for this. Gotta check everything works at every step. Otherwise, I won't find out what broke.

Fun fact, XCOM with Enemy Within is over twice as big a download as Windows 10. And now i remember I have the DVDs for those. Ah well.

 

[Imperfected]

Well now we have a plausible explanation for why we lost the war in XCOM2. Windows 10 happened, and XCOM suddenly was unable to use their computers. Then the aliens invaded everywhere at the same time.

I'll try reinstalling XCOM, too. Then modding it for Long War. Then modding Long War for taste. Should take a while.

One thing you might try for the last step is saving a copy of the .ini file you're using, and then after doing the fresh Long War installation, run it through a basic Diff program (like WinMerge). You can, at a minimum, look at where there are changes and decide if you want to do it like that again.

(This is, provided, that simply saving your copy of the .ini and straight up dropping it back into the folder unchanged doesn't work. And provided you haven't redone the installation already and thus lost your modified .ini.)

 

[McNum]

One thing you might try for the last step is saving a copy of the .ini file you're using, and then after doing the fresh Long War installation, run it through a basic Diff program (like WinMerge). You can, at a minimum, look at where there are changes and decide if you want to do it like that again.

(This is, provided, that simply saving your copy of the .ini and straight up dropping it back into the folder unchanged doesn't work. And provided you haven't redone the installation already and thus lost your modified .ini.)

I have the Config folder of the previous installation sitting on my Desktop. All my little ini changes are going right back in all at once when I get it running. I also saved Engine.upk for the console. Not that I expect to need it, but I have had a Sectoid get stuck in a wall once this campaign already. But HE grenades care not for walls. If it had gotten stuck, I'd have no qualms about tossing a "killallaliens" at it, though.

 

[Clevinger]

Verifying the cache and reinstalling Long War worked for me.

I forgot to make a backup of my ini changes before verifying replaced them tho. :/

 

[McNum]

I can confirm, reinstalling worked for me.

I suppose XCOM needs to run once in vanilla form for mods to work, and upgrading Windows technically is a clean slate, even if it's an in-place upgrade, XCOM needs to run one unmodded in Windows 10 before accepting mods again.

And yes, all my save files are there. Good thing, too, because I have no idea where those are saved. They're not in the Steam folder, so... I wonder.

 

[Erheller]

I tried uninstalling Long War and verifying the cache and a lot of different things, but only reinstalling XCOM worked.

My launcher is borked, but fortunately that's the only thing that's broken now.

 

[McNum]

Dear XCOM, I know you read my forum posts now. I have defeated the large landed UFO (was a Harvester), and am running down the clock for the Covert Extraction and May Terror Mission coming up... "Incoming Transmission from the Council!"

"Commander, we've lost contact with a town in Newfoundland..."
SITE RECON - 8 Hours Remaining

Well... nice? I do have some Specialists that could use a levelup... Still, to spring that on me now is pretty mean, if I didn't know what it was. Since I do, Laser Rifles and Shotguns for everyone, let's farm some BUGS!

EDIT: Okay, this month just does not want to give up. Site Recon down. "UFO-0 has landed". I check it out, it's a barge. With my D-team, so NOPE! Abort and get out of there. Then Covert Extraction happens, and it's a walk in the park. EXALT didn't even get a shot off since they only got two turns, both of them right after a hack. Then a Medium UFO decides my Japan satellite has got to go... Two completely spent Interceptors later and it's down.

"Alien Containment Facility online."
"Arc Thrower (1) Completed"

...did I mention this week is a busy one in this game? But letting that Barge go does make me in a catching mood. Hm, that old problem. How do I exactly not kill an alien when I'm packing lasers? Grenades?

 

[AlexVu]

So I'm on another Impossible run. In September right now. Last month's terror missions (yes, 2) didn't go very well, but they weren't terribly bad either. But since panic levels in Asia were pretty much red, I lost all of China, India and Japan at once. And then this month both Australia and South Africa got infiltrated and also left the Council -_- so right now I'm 8 countries down and frankly there wasn't much I could do. Even Beagle's LnI campaign isn't that bad even though he's still way ahead of me (I think he's still at like 4-5 lost countries).

Really starting to wonder if that's the sign of a downward spiral that's just gonna waste my time. It's really hard to tell, because at the moment I'm still doing quite okay. Very few to no casualties, airgame well invested, not resource-starved, tactical layer still not seeing a lot more difficulties. But really at this point I'm expecting to get fucked really soon in one way or another.

 

[Clevinger]

just FYI, I hit a nasty bug in the latest beta and was able to find a fix.

When a mission is loading on the liquor map (mine was in an Exalt extraction) it'll crash to desktop. The problem is in the defaultmaps.ini (in config) and patch_liquorstore.upk (in the cookedpcconsole folder) files. There's a line in defaultmaps (actually, there are two lines I think) that needs to be the same as the upk name. In mine the upk file had an extra E (it was patch_liquorestore.upk) and all I had to do was remove that E and it fixed it. But I've read that some people had the opposite problem, that the line(s) in defaultmaps.ini had the extra E while the upk file didn't. But I don't think it matters which you change, it just needs to end up the same. Make backups of those files before you mess with em, of course.

 

[McNum]

just FYI, I hit a nasty bug in the latest beta and was able to find a fix.

When a mission is loading on the liquor map (mine was in an Exalt extraction) it'll crash to desktop. The problem is in the defaultmaps.ini (in config) and patch_liquorstore.upk (in the cookedpcconsole folder) files. There's a line in defaultmaps (actually, there are two lines I think) that needs to be the same as the upk name. In mine the upk file had an extra E (it was patch_liquorestore.upk) and all I had to do was remove that E and it fixed it. But I've read that some people had the opposite problem, that the line(s) in defaultmaps.ini had the extra E while the upk file didn't. But I don't think it matters which you change, it just needs to end up the same. Make backups of those files before you mess with em, of course.

Yeah, there's a workaround in the Nexus forums for the Long War about that particular bug:

CTD / liquorstore map fix:
Open defaultmaps.ini
Find: patch_liquorstore
Replace: patch_liquorestore (there's an extra "e" in the filename that isn't accounted for in the ini setting)
Should make two changes.

My current game is progressing quite well. But I sorely need armor soon. I keep coming home with injured soldiers, which is just not going to keep on working, especially my Assaults. They give and take big damage. That said, I got a single Arc Thrower built and it's working overtime. Bagged me a Muton, a Thin Man, and a Sectoid... in that order no less. Since I've only autopsied a Sectoid so far, I guess it will be the first to undergo Dr. Vahlen's brand of enthusiastic inquisition.

So, I think next order of business is Alien Materials. But Sectoid Interrogation is nice, too. I really want Elerium -> Alien Power Generators done, too, so I can start building Elerium Generators. So much science, so little time. Advanced Beam Lasers is coming soon, and so my Interceptors shall become fearsome.

Met my first Cyberdisk on a Terror mission. Turns out they get all stupid when suppressed. Yes, shoot the Gunner with your 6% chance of hitting. Thunder-2, go have a bot-to-bot talk with Mr. Disk about that. Worked quite well.

 

[Gaz_RB]

Beaglerush is so fucking entertaining.

 

[Roshin]

Might have just been bad luck, but be aware that if you engage the "command pod" on UFOs (generally the Outsider or Ethereal pack, usually on the ship's bridge but they can move), every other remaining pack of aliens on the map will immediately start moving toward your position.

You can use it to your advantage by taking the bridge as a defense position and making a stand there, but a lot of the time it's better to just sweep the outside, battle scan an entrance to confirm the command pod isn't there, and then clear the rest of the ship before engaging the pilots.

Well, that explains why I'm having such a rough time currently. I went up on the roof of the UFO and dropped a grenade into the command room. After that, it seemed like every alien on the map came to say hello.

 

[McNum]

Well, that explains why I'm having such a rough time currently. I went up on the roof of the UFO and dropped a grenade into the command room. After that, it seemed like every alien on the map came to say hello.

Pretty much yeah. Of course, now that you know, you can use it to your advantage. Trigger and kill the command pod and set up shop in the UFO. Now they have to try breaching your defenses. And remember, aliens that trigger themselves on their turns do NOT get a free move. They have to spend their own turn to get to cover. Really, having a solid defensive position and aliens incoming is a good thing most of the time.

My game has the third Terror Mission lined up. I don't get the aliens' logic for this one, they've hit South Africa a lot, and it was at 95% panic until a lucky EXALT cell let me save off a chunk of that, so why go after China now? Why not finish off South Africa? Also, I seem to have read that the third Terror Mission is... special in Long War. Something, something,

Spoiler

zombie apocalypse

... I should bring multiple Assaults for this, I think.

I'm also going to have to consider MECs sooner or later. What's good in MEC? I think I want a Goliath for tanking, perhaps, but other than that, I have no idea.

 

[Imperfected]

My game has the third Terror Mission lined up. I don't get the aliens' logic for this one, they've hit South Africa a lot, and it was at 95% panic until a lucky EXALT cell let me save off a chunk of that, so why go after China now? Why not finish off South Africa? Also, I seem to have read that the third Terror Mission is... special in Long War. Something, something,

Spoiler

zombie apocalypse

... I should bring multiple Assaults for this, I think.

It's funny, the "AI" for mission planning always seems much more in-depth and interesting than it actually is.

Spoiler

There's a setting for how likely the aliens are to target missions at the nation with the current highest Panic level. Though it's fairly high in Long War by default (80% or so), it literally just checks against this figure and if the RNG fails, they go raid some other random country instead of the priority target. No real logic going on or anything.

 

[Spacecowboy77]

Beaglerush is so fucking entertaining.

Just recently stumbled upon his channel, he's awesome (and helpful)

 

[McNum]

It's funny, the "AI" for mission planning always seems much more in-depth and interesting than it actually is.

Spoiler

There's a setting for how likely the aliens are to target missions at the nation with the current highest Panic level. Though it's fairly high in Long War by default (80% or so), it literally just checks against this figure and if the RNG fails, they go raid some other random country instead of the priority target. No real logic going on or anything.

Huh, interesting. That actually explains a lot. So the reason aliens go for a continent as a whole is

Spoiler

that a Terror Mission will increase panic on the entire continent, so it is more likely that the next nation on the list is in the same continent. Which is entirely random since the first Terror Mission will be random.

I suppose that is a fairly lightweight method of making the aliens seem more organized than they are.

But... I wonder if I can game that.

Spoiler

Leave a Satellite Raider be with another satellite ready to go, make a country get more panic, put the sat back up and pick on the UFOs that come a-flying.

I would need better planes for that, though.

 

[Majukun]

do I need the expansion too to play this?

 

[McNum]

do I need the expansion too to play this?

There is an old version that runs on the basic Enemy Unknown game, but the version we're discussing, currently beta15f(2), does require Enemy Within, yes.

Enemy Within does change the tone of the game, though, what with having giant cyborgs that can punch enemies through walls, but I consider it worth it. Long War is like an expansion pack on top of EW at this point.

 

[Gaz_RB]

Tips for dealing with thin men/their annoying acid?

 

[Fragamemnon]

Tips for dealing with thin men/their annoying acid?

Open areas- Get a handle on the blue movement and acid range of Thin Men, move accordingly.
Urban fighting - Treat almost like sectoids. Explosives, flashbangs, suppression, and shotguns.

Note that opportunist overwatch is almost a hard counter to Thin Men for a very long time once you start rolling it out.

do I need the expansion too to play this?

Pretty much. I played a LOT of the EU2012 version of Long War, it is substantially less interesting than the Enemy Within version. It is also a huge pain in the ass to get running as you have to manually backpatch EU2012 then install the mod and prevent steam from updating the game.