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XCOM: Enemy Within |OT| Your Soldiers Never Asked For This

Toreal

Member
How is the performance of Enemy Within on the PS3 compared to EU?
I played EU on the pc and loved it, but I might get this on PS3 if it performs better then EU
 

Jintor

Member
It wasn't too bad really. Run & Gun + Rapid fire = instant kill on sectoid commander. Any turn they use to mind control is a turn they're not overwatching.
 

Morokh

Member
Lesson of the day : Don't abuse the button to make all items available !

I just got the base invasion mission, and all of my soldiers were as naked as babies save for three of them that did not get injured in the previous mission.

I managed to get through it with only one important loss, and 4 rookies/security agents, thanks to the fact that it was only on Normal/Ironman, I don't think I want to know how this mission is on Classic or Impossible .....

I'm also playing with every second wave options that make soldiers completely random, some weird stuff happened, but there is also some cool combinations that you can achieve if you are lucky enough.
 

Mupod

Member
Disabling shot is the best solution to inconvenient mind controls, since whenever the AI gets disabled all it cares about doing is reloading its weapon ASAP.

I wish I understood exactly how the ethereal reflection shield worked though. Seems kinda random? Seems to frequently ruin my alloy cannon run and gun rapid fire gambits and makes me really nervous around ethereals.

Funniest anti-ethereal strat - give a psi soldier combat drugs and a mind shield, and mind control anything.
 

suaveric

Member
I finally hit the base invasion mission and it destroyed me. I started with my best sniper, one support and an assault along with the 4 random dudes. Here's what the aliens spawned with: two mechs, two sectiods and one muton. Their second wave was 4(!!) cyberdisks and some drones.This is on a normal play through.

After that was quickly over I went back to a previous save and really decked out my guys to be ready the next time. But it turns out the alien spawns are completely random. they only spawned with one mech the second time around and the fliers that got brought in were just floaters. That time it was a breeze.
 
I got mechtoids and a chysallid spawn on my first wave. But after the invasion abuse the hell out of the make everything available button. Your chances are significantly increased when ever something is surpressed. And ghost armor+ arc thrower= profit.
 
I finally hit the base invasion mission and it destroyed me. I started with my best sniper, one support and an assault along with the 4 random dudes. Here's what the aliens spawned with: two mechs, two sectiods and one muton. Their second wave was 4(!!) cyberdisks and some drones.This is on a normal play through.

After that was quickly over I went back to a previous save and really decked out my guys to be ready the next time. But it turns out the alien spawns are completely random. they only spawned with one mech the second time around and the fliers that got brought in were just floaters. That time it was a breeze.
My initial wave had a bunch of mutons and crysallids. The second or third had cyberdisks.
 
There's a bug with the Chryssalid Newfoundland mission. It came really late for me and I have two mechs, one with Proximity mines. Don't put them by the
sharks that the Chryssalids jump out of
, it'll make the game CTD.
 

Leunam

Member
I hate to ask since I usually prefer going in unspoiled, but how are your soldiers selected for the base defense mission?
 

Woorloog

Banned
Impressive game.
I've played the demo before and i liked it though it didn't feel that special.
After playing the actual game (Enemy Within on 360)... Impressive.
Fun, addictive, challenging (even on normal, though arguably this is because i fucked up tech research and base design).

And that feel when a ten mission veteran gets critically hit from a long range plasma shot and is brutally flung away...

Also, haven't gotten very far yet but based on the description, neurofeedback gene-mod seems rather useless... is my hunch about it correct or am i still too early (and playing on too low difficulty) to appreciate it?
 

studyguy

Member
Started a new classic game.

First mission outside the initial tutorial/starter misison was the small car garage map.
I walked forward, spawned 3 groups of sectoids, 7 in total.
4 to the west, 3 to the north, only cover I had was explosive cars.

Thanks XCOM. Never had a mission go so poorly so early on the first move.
 

Alric

Member
Question if anyone can answer. I have XCOM but not this expansion and have never played it yet. Does the expansion add anything to the original campaign or am I fine playing through the original first and getting the expansion at a later cheaper time?
 
Question if anyone can answer. I have XCOM but not this expansion and have never played it yet. Does the expansion add anything to the original campaign or am I fine playing through the original first and getting the expansion at a later cheaper time?
Well, the expansion material is integrated into the original campaign, but you can play the original and get it later.
 

N7_average_azn

Neo Member
That's a bummer about the crashing, but man I had MECs pretty early. I had my first one made in early month 2 I think? Maybe sooner - I definitely had two by my first terror mission and let me tell you them chryssalids were burning.

I think my most recent Classic run is done though. I'm in month 3 now? or 4? I can't down EXALT troops reliably - I ran into the genetically modified troops and my weapons do piss damage. I have two Majors and the rest of my troops are squaddies or DEAD. Doom tracker is 3 or 4 countries shy of dumping my ass, and my research and satellite coverage has slowed to a crawl (not to mention the UFOs that are getting by because of my balsa wood Ravens).

Firaxsis please - give me unshackled AI on a difficulty below Classic. I need a stepping stone.

The gameplay strategy changes dramatically once you can get your soldiers equipped with carapace armor and laser weapons. Once I had that, I was no longer scared of EXALT, since they go down like flies and can't one-shot you as long as you watch for Heavies and don't be too reckless.

Also, high ground with skeleton suits is badass as hell. You're like freakin Batman with grappling hooks! >D

Disabling shot is the best solution to inconvenient mind controls, since whenever the AI gets disabled all it cares about doing is reloading its weapon ASAP.

I wish I understood exactly how the ethereal reflection shield worked though. Seems kinda random? Seems to frequently ruin my alloy cannon run and gun rapid fire gambits and makes me really nervous around ethereals.

Funniest anti-ethereal strat - give a psi soldier combat drugs and a mind shield, and mind control anything.

You could also gene mod your soldiers with the anti-psionic Head gene. You counter attack psionics with space acid from your mind!
 

Firebrand

Member
2uQV62P.jpg

Newfoundland mission didn't go so well (though this particular soldier actually survived).
 

Vaporak

Member
I had my first run in with a Mectoid. I used a lazer rifle and shot a hole in the wall. Next turn a mectoid burst in through the wall and one shot one of my A team. :/
 

Deadman

Member
Just had the newfoundland mission. Entire team dead. Game over.

I might have to go back to normal because classic is destroying me.
 
Newfoundland is a really raw deal. There's a pretty good chance of wiping if you get it early, and the only reward you get is panic reduction, and nothing else, not even the leftover corpses.
 

Firebrand

Member
Damn, what a sticky situation. lol Did you rocket and nade that one guy so that he can make it out even with only a few HP?
Nah, no need, all 4 were catching up with me on their dash move so they couldn't attack, and fortunately you can move diagonally. It did look funny with them grouping up around me each turn.

But yeah, I didn't even made it to the
airstrike
part, was busy fighting already when I triggered the event, and when I did starting legging it across the deck I would just get cut off and killed. Had to abort and run back with my 1 remaining dude. I had dressed up all my high ranking guys and gals in unique outfits, now they're gone. :(
 

Grimsen

Member
Played the base defense yesterday. I loved it. I was lasered-up, with no armor though. I had one gene-mod major Assault and a MEC Colonel.
Faced mutons, chrysalids, cyberdisks and 3 or 4 Mechtoids (first appearance in my game, too)
I lost a Captain in the process, R.I.P in peace Bev Crusher.

My XCOM HQ defense squad did fairly well. I wish you could keep them. In their honor, I'm going to field 4 rookies in baby blue with hats on, and see how far they go.

I also keep forgetting to scan for EXALT activity. In my 4th extraction, they finally wisened-up and had laser weapons and Gene mods, but they're still mostly pushovers. The exalt misions need to be harder, or to start sooner in the game TBH.

This expansion is crazy good. Hopefully they bring something soon to complement the late game. I'd be down.
 

ixix

Exists in a perpetual state of Quantum Crotch Uncertainty.
If I remove a foundry do I lose any bonuses with it? I know you do with the training school.

Yes, you need to keep the Foundry. If you deconstruct it you lose all the upgrades you've researched until you build a fresh one.

I tried to get clever like that once upon a time. It didn't end well for me.
 

Uriah

Member
I had to destroy one anyway because I didn't have enough power for an access lift. Good thing I didn't research anything yet.
 

pizza dog

Banned
Beat a normal campaign the other day--absolutely adored it. Checked the list and realized I only had a couple 'cheivos to go for dat S-RANK,

By Our Powers Combined
An Army Of Four
Guardian of Earth
Tingling Sensation

I figure Guardian of Earth is easy enough; I didn't really understand medals first run and handed them out willy-nilly; I'll just hold back one of each until showtime.

Tingling Sensation too shouldn't be bad, I never did give someone Bioelectric skin or whatever; how does that work?

I welcome our new robot overlords for By Our Powers Combined.

An Army of Four tho. Holy shit. Classic is WAY harder than Normal I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit, and the four-member limit is catastrophic. I guess I just gotta move super super super slow and never uncover enemies unless it's on purpose. I keep fanning out my squad on the first move and all of a sudden I'm up against 6-8 sectoids that can actually hit me in cover from across the map for near-lethal damage...
 
Tingling Sensation too shouldn't be bad, I never did give someone Bioelectric skin or whatever; how does that work?
Say you're in cover up against the wall of a building and an alien is on the other side of the wall, you will see an electromagnetic field which tells you it is there. It's pretty handy actually. With the stealth strangle things, you can just throw grenades or shoot rockets at them for the achievement. Should be easy enough.
 

Jintor

Member
Say you're in cover up against the wall of a building and an alien is on the other side of the wall, you will see an electromagnetic field which tells you it is there. It's pretty handy actually. With the stealth strangle things, you can just throw grenades or shoot rockets at them for the achievement. Should be easy enough.

what's the range on bioelectric field anyway?
 
Haven't posted in here in a while. About to wrap up my Classic playthrough that I dragged out to October, and in mid-May on my latest Ironman Impossible run now.

Definitely liking the expansion a lot overall. It's really reached that sweet spot of replayability for me; I almost feel like booting up another run as soon as I finish this Classic one. Really hope this sold well enough to overshadow The Bureau's failure.
 

Uriah

Member
Mexico and Canada have left Xcom but the USA still stands. I feel like rewarding my homeland with a satilite though I probably shouldn't.
 

ixix

Exists in a perpetual state of Quantum Crotch Uncertainty.
You'd really think the United States would be up to the task of sending up its own anti-alien satellite, but no.

These are the consequences we reap for cutting NASA's funding for decades.
 

Almighty

Member
Newfoundland is a really raw deal. There's a pretty good chance of wiping if you get it early, and the only reward you get is panic reduction, and nothing else, not even the leftover corpses.

Yep fuck that mission I was wiped because of it. If that was on an iron man run it would of cost me the game. Luckily for me it wasn't and I just reloaded and then skipped it. Anyone know if that will have some consequences down the road, because as far as i can tell nothing happened when i ignored it?
 
Just got this expac a few days ago, great stuff.

I was wondering if there were any downsides to making all your troopers Genemen. I guess there are none, as it seems like you can stack PSI upgrades ontop of gene upgrades too apparently when you get the Psionic Labs facility after the Base Assault mission. Too bad Meld supplies are limited per mission and sometimes require you to pretty much send troops off on their lonesome to gather them before they self-destruct. Mimetic Skin on Snipers is pretty damned hax since they have that ability that converts any kind of cover to full cover right away, I foresee the ability being nerfed in a patch. The only downside is pretty much cosmetic, they all seem to have sleeveless armor that really looks crappy (why would you wanna expose your bare arms to enemy weapon fire?), even after you've obtained the next tier, i.e. Titan Armor and the like. Any mods for changing it back to the standard sleek armor designs that standard troopers use?

Also went for the MEC Trooper early on just to see how they're like. I converted a male Squaddie for the job as an experiment, thinking that the augmentation just involved installing some neural interfaces/implants for the mechanized robotic suit, ala Mechwarrior/Battletech with the Neurohelmet. Imagine my horror when the cutscene played out later on showing my poor trooper had his arms and legs amputated and replaced with mettalic appendages instead. I almost felt sorry for him lol, but he quickly became my most effective tank/one man wrecking machine after a few missions and promotions. Flamethrower is pretty godlike during the Alien Terror missions, and the endgame Particle Cannon primary weapon is sick. His life after the invasion ends is pretty much over lol.

In terms of the gameplay, it does seem like Normal is way easier now, although Classic is much harder for some reason. There really ought to be a difficulty in between them to bridge the gulf.
 
You'd really think the United States would be up to the task of sending up its own anti-alien satellite, but no.

These are the consequences we reap for cutting NASA's funding for decades.

Can't we just have Richard Branson protect us from the aliens?
 

Almighty

Member
In terms of the gameplay, it does seem like Normal is way easier now, although Classic is much harder for some reason. There really ought to be a difficulty in between them to bridge the gulf.

That is exactly what i was thinking. Classic went from the perfect difficulty to me to holy shit how I can't even make it past the second month. It caused me to admit defeat and give up any idea of doing another iron man run on classic. I personally blame the new missions the DLC and expansion added. Some of them are pretty unforgiving. I would kill for something between normal which I found to easy and classic which I find too unforgiving now.
 
I'd settle for some sort of mod that spread things out a bit. May is an insanely dense month on Normal - I can only imagine how bad it is on Classic since I haven't finished on Normal yet.
 

ixix

Exists in a perpetual state of Quantum Crotch Uncertainty.
Can't we just have Richard Branson protect us from the aliens?

Accept protection from a subject of the British monarchy? A minion of the lineage which subjected our nascent republic to taxation without representation?

No, I think I speak for all Americans when I say that I would sooner be probed by a Sectoid than accept aid from the redcoats.
 

Almighty

Member
I'd settle for some sort of mod that spread things out a bit. May is an insanely dense month on Normal - I can only imagine how bad it is on Classic since I haven't finished on Normal yet.

Yeah that is probably it. As soon as you get done with one thing you are hit by the next. The is very little time to recover and if you have suffered casualties(dead or wounded) you may be face with a man power shortage very quickly.
 

Vaporak

Member
That is exactly what i was thinking. Classic went from the perfect difficulty to me to holy shit how I can't even make it past the second month. It caused me to admit defeat and give up any idea of doing another iron man run on classic. I personally blame the new missions the DLC and expansion added. Some of them are pretty unforgiving. I would kill for something between normal which I found to easy and classic which I find too unforgiving now.

There's a pretty easy solution to your problem, just get better. I think you'll find that if you just take it seriously, Classic isn't very difficult at all.
 

Remmy2112

Member
I finally hit the base invasion mission and it destroyed me. I started with my best sniper, one support and an assault along with the 4 random dudes. Here's what the aliens spawned with: two mechs, two sectiods and one muton. Their second wave was 4(!!) cyberdisks and some drones.This is on a normal play through.

After that was quickly over I went back to a previous save and really decked out my guys to be ready the next time. But it turns out the alien spawns are completely random. they only spawned with one mech the second time around and the fliers that got brought in were just floaters. That time it was a breeze.

My total for the base was 31 aliens killed. First group was x1 cryssalid, x2 sectoids, x1 commander, x3 Mechtoids. Second group was x1 Berzerker, x1 cryssalid, x2 cyberdisks, x2 seekers, x4 drones, x2 floaters. Third group was x4 Mutons, x2 cryssalids, and x1 berzerker. Final group was x1 cyberdisk, x2 commanders, x2 mechtoids, and x2 drones.

Hard fights but I had managed to get my people into titan armor and give my supports plasma rifles, and my MEC trooper his final suit. EMP generator is amazing when dealing with robots. I only lost one guy, base security on classic.
 
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