[NKF] Posted January 18, 2004 Report Share Posted January 18, 2004 (edited) Sure. The unitref.dat experience offsets for the first soldier are from bytes 75 to 85 (0x4B to 0x55). If I got that wrong, well, it's basically the first 8 bytes before the unit's name field. The first one is kills, it takes up two bytes (i.e. it's an unsigned short int). It merely counts how many kills that soldier has made throughout the game so far. Kills from previous missions are included. From that, it goes reactions counter, ranged/area effect hit counter, melee hit counter, thrown objects counter, successful psi attack counter and the panic counter. - NKF Edited January 18, 2004 by NKF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunsmountain Posted May 3, 2004 Report Share Posted May 3, 2004 This does indeed explain why my stun boys/girls usually became commanders over time, or at least sergeants. The increases clearly point to:- BRAvery, and- Psionic STRength as main selection criteria. Of course you dont know PSTR when hiring. And BRA can only be raised by panicking. - REActions,- FIRing Accuracy,- THRowing Accuracy, and- Psionic SKill can be increased, but slower than TimeUnits/STAmina/HEalth/STRength can. They are therefore the secondary selection criteria, though some ppl will think little of THR. cheers, sunsmountain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[NKF] Posted May 3, 2004 Report Share Posted May 3, 2004 (edited) Actually, some of my best, and more interesting soldiers had a bravery of 10. The thing about bravery is that if you lose a lot of soldiers during the course of a mission, this can mean a lot. But if you only have minimal losses, say one or two officers per mission, the high bravery stat is meaningless. Actually, it might have a very small role in determining how much morale is lost per panic attack, but as psionic panic attacks come very frequently, this bonus (even with the high ranked officer morale reduction bonus) don't really amount to much. So, while bravery is one of the harder stats to increase, its importance is inversely proportional to your rate of success. But hey, the more the merrier. Ooh, I spy typos in my post. Speaking of the Throwing skill: I find it's one of the only skills that needs the least attention. I mean, what I look for in a good grenadier is strength. If you can lob a high explosive over two or three fields, who needs great accuracy? Besides, your starting throwing accuracy is decent enough. Throwing accuracy is however quiet important for proximity mines - I'm sure I don't need to explain why . - NKF Edited May 3, 2004 by NKF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunsmountain Posted May 3, 2004 Report Share Posted May 3, 2004 (edited) As for Bravery, well I just dont like cowards, and on superhuman my rate of success is not that high... yet. Sticking to the veteran level, but i'm new here. I'm sure I'll progress. I also believe (though havent checked), that attempts at psionic attacks, even unsuccessful ones, reduce your morale. If morale slips more than 10 on a bravery 10 dude, he's a potential runner i believe. That's losing 0 soldiers. NKF wrote:"You can get more stats than the caps. For example, 61 health when health maxes at 60, or 125 accuracy, when accuracy caps at 120. The game just rolled a higher number, which is a good thing!." I did a search on these 'caps' and found, amongst the usual CAPS LOCK joke, a previous post by NKF on the technical support xcom 1 from which i now quote: --------------------------------------------- Newer versions of the game (1.4 and 1.4CE) have caps for all the stats to prevent this. You no longer gain any experience when you've reached the maximum. <cut> So what does this mean for those with older versions of the game? Share the experience, and have an all round good team rather than crippling a super soldier! ---------------------------------------------- Edit 2Means the following caps:TU: 90STA: 100HE: 60BR: 100REA: 100FIR: 120THR: 120STR: 70PST: 100PSK: 100 All are pretty sure values, based on observations so far. If anyone has soldiers in 1.4 or 1.4CE with stats higher than these values +5 (allowing for the random bonus of 1-6), please post and i'll edit this post as final numbers come in.We simply collect the breadcrumbs the game leaves. :: cheers, sunsmountain Edited May 4, 2004 by sunsmountain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robo Dojo 58 Posted May 3, 2004 Report Share Posted May 3, 2004 Those caps look pretty good to me. I think I have gotten Psi skill above 110, but I'll have to check up on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[NKF] Posted May 3, 2004 Report Share Posted May 3, 2004 (edited) Actually the known caps are already posted somewhere else on this forum. Can't remember where, but I'm basing my knowledge off of that and what I've seen myself. Firing and throwing max at 120, I believe, and I'm inclined to agree. At first, I only ever got 125, so I just assumed it was rounded to 130. But now that I understand a little more on how stats are awarded, getting 120 being the cap makes a bit more sense. And no, I do not and never will have the final say, as everything I've put forward is derived from the findings of others or and from findings of my own. Quite a lot of it is just guesswork until it can be proven somehow. I too am picking up breadcrumbs, you see? - NKF Edited May 3, 2004 by NKF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunsmountain Posted May 4, 2004 Report Share Posted May 4, 2004 Yes I thought firing accuracy and throwing accuracy worked the same, but used 100 for THR at first. It's edited now in my post. In one of j'ordos posts, he names TU 85+ soldiers SC, implying at least a cap of 90 (also changed). > Actually the known caps are already posted somewhere else on this forumI searched long and hard and found.... nothing. I'm quite thorough in my searches, but perhaps some kind of code wording was used that doesnt show up on the search results, or I have no access to certain forums. cheers, suns Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[Blehm 98] Posted May 14, 2004 Report Share Posted May 14, 2004 Sure wish i could read this and give myself a sectoid navigator: Sectoid Navigator ÿ ÿ ðJn à« F :::aF 2ÿ ÿ*R+d Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[Blehm 98] Posted May 15, 2004 Report Share Posted May 15, 2004 Here is something: If you reaction fire and hit the alien, do you get both bonuses? And also, throwing grenades and killing an alien with them gives you the same bonus as hitting and throwing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[NKF] Posted May 15, 2004 Report Share Posted May 15, 2004 Yep. As long as a bullet or an area effect weapon hits its intended target, the 'hit' experience counter will be incremented. If the attack was performed by reactions, it will also raise the reactions counter, and if it was by a thrown grenade, it'll raise the 'thrown objects' counter. There is one oddety in the game I thought I'd best mention. If, for example, when you start out and you begin with some grenades already equipped on you, the game doesn't know who these grenades belong to until they are 'thrown'. But if you primed and set the grenade by dropping it, you do NOT get credited for any kills done this way. So you must throw the grenade to get the experience. A bit of a let down, really. It's so much easier to use 2 TUs to set the grenade rather than 25% of your TUs, which gets larger and large the more your TUs increase. I state this mainly for the benefit of players using weak rookies to set high explosive charges. - NKF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robo Dojo 58 Posted May 16, 2004 Report Share Posted May 16, 2004 One question: Do smoke grenade explosions also count as hits? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[NKF] Posted May 16, 2004 Report Share Posted May 16, 2004 No smoke doesn't increment your hit counter. I'm not entirely sure how incendiary effects work either - I haven't had much of a chance to experiment with it because its effects are so weird. - NKF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ticklemeozmo Posted July 7, 2004 Report Share Posted July 7, 2004 For my stat-raising missions I tend to follow the following formula: Use a Small or Medium craft.Give the crew stun launchers/bombs (equipped), medikits and pistols.As aliens are found, they are stunned. [increasing hits]Stunned aliens are carried into contained places, stimulated and guarded (so when they move, they can be stunned again [increasing reactions/hits]Weapons are picked up by other crew.Lather, rince, repeat until everyone has had a few shots (dont take too many, your exp is on a scale of diminishing returns and peaks out).Equip pistols and let aliens move so you can shoot them [again, reaction/hits] letting whomever you want to get the kills to be promoted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[Blehm 98] Posted July 8, 2004 Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 *imagines unarmed muton navigator leaving medium scout, shielding its eyes, and sees 14 xcom soldiers all with pistols drawn and aimed at it* "FIRE!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[NKF] Posted July 8, 2004 Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 ticklemeozmo: Actually, the higher your stats, the more you'll need to perform to have it raised. For example, at the low end, you'll probably need only one or two hits to earn a chance at gaining a fair number of points. Still, the more the bigger the posible size of the bonus. The closer you get to the statistic's maximum level, the more hits will be needed. Possibly even 10 - 20. One possibility would be to locate a sectopod, empty its guns and equip a laser pistol and have a bit of fun. It's very hard to damage a sectopod in its front plates. - NKF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[Blehm 98] Posted July 8, 2004 Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 how do you "empty" its guns...Oh yeah, use all its ammo! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paladin Posted July 20, 2004 Report Share Posted July 20, 2004 (edited) ticklemeozmo: (...) One possibility would be to locate a sectopod, empty its guns and equip a laser pistol and have a bit of fun. It's very hard to damage a sectopod in its front plates. - NKF Except the Sectopod takes double damage from lasers... :laser: I'd suggest getting a good ol' fashionned pistol, it'll last longer Then again, if it has the same amount of shots as the plasma hovertank (255?), it might take a hundred turns to empty it... O:) Edited July 20, 2004 by Paladin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[NKF] Posted July 21, 2004 Report Share Posted July 21, 2004 Well, it depends on the difficulty level. A laser pistol does, what was it? 46 damage. Let's say your average beginner level sectopod has 90 front armour. 46 * 2 = 92 So 92 - 90 = 2 points of damage. But that's only assuming you score a critical (100% damage). It's still going to be pretty tough. But once damage is done, there's a chance that armour will be damaged. When armour is worn down, the chance of scoring damage gets greater and greater. Still, you're going to get plenty of exercise out of it! A superhuman sectopod has 142 front armour. Even with double damage, the laser pistol's certainly to have a real hard time besting that score! Nevertheless, you still have the sides, rear and under armour (almost impossible to pull off except in Terror ships) you can try targeting if you really must damage them with the laser pistol. - NKF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paladin Posted October 1, 2004 Report Share Posted October 1, 2004 Gee, taking on a Sectopod with a pistol... I can't wait to try that :: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsereve Posted October 1, 2004 Report Share Posted October 1, 2004 Normal, laser, or plasma? Which does more to a Sectopod, a plasma pistol or a regular one? That'd be funny if conventional firearms did more than plasma weapons. . .finally, a use for the rifle! Oh, wait, lasers, right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paladin Posted October 4, 2004 Report Share Posted October 4, 2004 Actually, a Sectopod is resistant to plasma... So I'd guess they were pretty close (I don't have the exact numbers here <_> But even with a regular riffle, that thing have so much armor (esp. on Superhuman I'm told) that it's going to take a heck of a shelling to bring it down... Like a dozen amno clips... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[NKF] Posted October 5, 2004 Report Share Posted October 5, 2004 Wouldn't do a thing - even if it got double damage. See, regular pistol or rifle can do up to 26 or 30 normal damage. Doubled, that's 52 and 60. Now, a superhuman sectopod's front plates are 142. No damage will ever get done. Not even in the sides or rear. I now know you cannot get them from the under-armour without an area-effect weapon. But even then, a regular rifle wouldn't be able to harm it. - NKF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paladin Posted October 5, 2004 Report Share Posted October 5, 2004 Is there any chance that a lucky shot might do more damage, enough to get throught the armor anyway? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ambegen Posted October 5, 2004 Report Share Posted October 5, 2004 nope, weapons do random damage, from 1 to 2xweapon_strenght and if shot doesn't damage target it not damage armor as well which somehow sux, as t-shirt rookie with enough luck is able to absorb several heavy plasma shot but your commander in flying suit can die from one heavy plasma shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paladin Posted October 6, 2004 Report Share Posted October 6, 2004 (edited) Yeah, it's a bit too randomised to my taste... But that is exactly what I was asking... weapons can do up to double their listed damage To stay in the spirit of the original game, T-shirt guys should die easily, but they should at least have visible protection, like blast-vests... Perhaps the random damage could be affected by of good the shot was That way, exceptionnal snipers could overcome a superior foe by carefull aiming Edited October 6, 2004 by Paladin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadowHawk00 Posted October 6, 2004 Report Share Posted October 6, 2004 well in apoc i had a nice strat that involved the cult. As soon as i got disruptors just have 3 of 4 guys armed with 4 of them 1 in each hand and 2 in backpack set them on full auto and have fun. That way u can get accuracy up in about 1 to 2 missions by a factor of 3. And u destroy all of the building as a nice bonus. If u go for maximum damage try to trap 1 or 2 cultist in on of the pits by destroying the stairs. Then run around killing all and destroy the complete building exept for that small part ( destroy the underground as well it does not cost ammo ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paladin Posted October 7, 2004 Report Share Posted October 7, 2004 Yeah, well, this is theXCOM1 forum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hailfire22 Posted October 10, 2004 Report Share Posted October 10, 2004 Perhaps the random damage could be affected by of good the shot was That way, exceptionnal snipers could overcome a superior foe by carefull aiming Same thing would go for the sectopod too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paladin Posted October 12, 2004 Report Share Posted October 12, 2004 Yeah, both ways... It'd be slightly easier for an expert marksman to kill the thing, but he could wreak more havok too... But the Sectoids would mow down Heavilly armored troops :o Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
floater medic Posted October 19, 2004 Report Share Posted October 19, 2004 Can u raise health by constantly shoting your men with a weak weapon (say a pistol) when they are wearing an armour that stops all of the damage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[NKF] Posted October 19, 2004 Report Share Posted October 19, 2004 Nope. You only get experience points for shooting enemy targets. Nothing to stop you from getting a defenceless muton, by the way. - NKF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paladin Posted October 19, 2004 Report Share Posted October 19, 2004 Yep, trust NKF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hailfire22 Posted October 19, 2004 Report Share Posted October 19, 2004 Yep, trust NKF Let's not start that again Paladin. You know what happend the last time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alok Posted November 13, 2004 Report Share Posted November 13, 2004 For me, the most important is accuracy, since in this game the soldier play on a hit or die basis... Second is psi-defense, because I don't want my good accuracy soldiers to change side! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adun_Toridas Posted January 19, 2005 Report Share Posted January 19, 2005 By sniping... The best and most important thing is accuracy. I love snipers, and if the enemy has psiquics, i send a tank or two to clean out and scout the area. Then i send my my snipers to make a long shot killing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zrylam Posted April 12, 2005 Report Share Posted April 12, 2005 Sorry to backtrack a bit but I have a small question in a big post... Recently I got a rookie to walk into a small (intact) UFO. He was faced by 6 Sectoids who strangely didn't react. Anyway, he had time to prime an alien grenade and either drop it and run, or throw it and hope to be the only survivor. I decided to test three possibilities: 1) Prime -> Drop -> Run: result was fairly good; all Sectoids killed and UFO still intact, but rookie killed while ducking out the door... 2) Prime -> Throw -> Pray: same result as above 3) Run -> Guide a Blaster Bomb from Skyranger: this was the most fun; seven-in-one death-a-thon... no artifacts remained either... After trying out the third possibility a couple of times for some fun and trying to keep the rookie alive, I decided to try the first option again when I noticed a strange phenomenon: the rookie's kill count wasn't jumping up by 6... I read the whole topic and found the answer (big thanks) but I was puzzled again when I noticed something a bit stranger: the Blaster Launcher recruit was collecting all the kills when the rookie either threw the primed grenade or dropped it (I can't remember which one it was - I'm fairly certain that the rookie dropped it). It happened when the rookie survived the run out the door. Was it a glitch from continuously loading the same game (like the temporary base glitch when loading from a more advanced game to an older game with less bases) or do the dropped grenade kills go to a default recruit? (I think the Blaster Launcher recruit was a Sergeant amongst only Squaddies and Rookies) Or am I just blind and mixing two stories together? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[NKF] Posted April 12, 2005 Report Share Posted April 12, 2005 I have one possible explanation for that. I haven't confirmed it, but it certainly makes sense in my mind. See, all grenades have an 'ownership' flag. The ownership flag lets the game know who to credit the kill with. Of course, all grenades have a default ownership flag as well, which is 0. This number is set to the record number of each soldier after the soldier 'throws' the grenade. Personally it would've made more sense if it was set the moment it was picked up, right? But I digress... Anyway, the default value for all grenades is 0 until it is thrown. Naturally enough, the first soldier on the ship (usually the one standing on the equipment pile in the Skyranger/Avenger - or the one right before it on the Lightning) has a record number of 0. The next soldier in the roster will be 1, then the one after that 2, and so on. As you can see, because the first soldier is 0, and all grenade ownership flags start off at 0... Who do you suppose is getting the credits (or hit experience)? This forces you to actually throw the grenade rather than drop it if you want the hit experience. --- The aliens not reacting to your initial appearance is probably attributed to having a lower reaction score than your soldier's. Their actual reaction levels are adjusted by a percentage of the remaining time units - as is yours. They can also only react if they are actually seeing your unit, or are alerted to your presence (by being shot, mainly) - NKF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zombie Posted April 12, 2005 Report Share Posted April 12, 2005 What an interesting theory, NKF! The way you explain it makes sense to me too. But you know me.... I have to test this out! So just to make sure I understand you completely, the soldier standing on the equipment pile is 'soldier 0'. If another soldier (say 'soldier 1') drops a primed grenade and it kills some aliens, soldier 0 gets credited for the kills. I wonder what would happen if an alien dropped an alien grenade. Would 'alien 0' get credited for killing your troops? j/k But it does bring up some other interesting questions concerning mind-control. Questions that can only be answered through testing! :wink1: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[NKF] Posted April 12, 2005 Report Share Posted April 12, 2005 (edited) Well, aliens would always throw the grenade, and the grenade should be assigned to them as it explodes. But, as the game ignores the experience stats used by the aliens, they don't exactly get credited for anything. Unit 0 is the soldier that's first on the Skyranger in the soldier list. Note that if you have a tank on the ship it will be referenced as unit 0 as tanks have a higher priority than soldiers - so don't bring a tank along if you want to test this. (It's based on the order of the units in the unit savegame files) This would actually be rather an interesting (but cumbersome) way of training particular soldiers by having veterans do all the work for them. - NKF Edited April 12, 2005 by NKF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[stewart] Posted April 12, 2005 Report Share Posted April 12, 2005 I just took a quick look at the poll results, they are in-line with what is reported here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zombie Posted April 12, 2005 Report Share Posted April 12, 2005 Whoa, it works! I sent my fully-loaded Skyranger into battle. Soldier 0 was a guy named Victor who has 2 missions and 0 kills, while soldier 1 was named Maria who had 2 missions and 1 kill. Maria and a group of other soldiers went out and searched the landscape around a Snakeman Supply Ship. If an alien was spotted, it was rounded up via psi and corralled into one spot. After all 11 aliens were rounded up, I released MC over the aliens. Then Maria primed her alien grenade and dropped it right in the middle of the "sea of orange". All the aliens died. :wink1: When I got back into the Geoscape, I checked what happened. Maria had 3 missions and still one kill. Her stats didn't change either. Now I checked Victor (soldier 0). He had 3 missions and 11 kills! Neat stuff! He never moved a muscle on that mission, but yet got those kills. His stats also increased: Stat Before After Improvement TU 55 58 +3 STA 51 54 +3 HE 36 36 0 BR 50 50 0 RE 58 58 0 FA 55 59 +4 TA 50 51 +1 STR 40 41 +1 PST 92 92 0 PSK 60 60 0 Pretty good way to train soldiers if you ask me. Just remove soldier 0 off the transport before you start a new mission and let soldier 1 take his or her place. When you get through improving all your troops, start over again with the original soldier 0. Of course, you could always leave one guy in that slot and just constantly improve him. Personally, I like to "spread the wealth" so to speak! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[NKF] Posted April 13, 2005 Report Share Posted April 13, 2005 (edited) I'd rather have my soldiers do their own grenade hurling myself... but I like dropping explosives discretely behind an alien and then slinking around an alien alloy wall too - but at least it's good to know that someone's getting credited for the kills. One way around this is to hurl your grenade at the ground at some point in time prior the actual planting of said grenade. That way you'll surely get the credit. Kind of defeats the purpose, doesn't it? One more proposed test Zombie: This is to see if you can move the ownership flag around a bit. What I'm suggesting is to have a variation of the grenade relay (well, a two person relay), but the last person in the relay simply drops the grenade near (or on top of) the aliens, while the other (or others) throw it. The test is to see if the last person to throw the grenade will get the credits. - NKF edit: Just so you know - it vorks! Muhuhahaha! *Ahem* I mean it works. I can already imagine players that like to use 'suicide bombers' will have the proverbial gears clanking and whirling in their heads at the thought of getting some additional benefit out of their terrorists. Not my cup of tea, personally. Edited April 13, 2005 by NKF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zrylam Posted April 14, 2005 Report Share Posted April 14, 2005 Very thank you for that. Another interesting glitch to take advantage of Here's another one for you NKF (since you seem to love solving them so much - a good habit to get into): When I first got the game (a very long time ago - legally) I decided to create a "super-squad" - I hired hundreds of soldiers and hand-picked the top 14 (according to psy), naming them after myself and 13 friends (me being the best, of course). Their kills started reaching the hundreds and their laser rifles required 70+ TU's for Auto Shots. Then one day, the super-soldier/commander/me met catastrophe when the TU's dropped from mid-200's to 15... and stayed there. I tried as hard as I could but finally gave up when the TU's refused to improve. Realising I'd be able to play alien-hunting again I had him shot and replaced with someone who was renamed to me and we all pretended that nothing had ever happened. The puzzle for you is: what happened? And wasn't there a cap on the maximum TU's? Thanks in advance! NB:- The version of the game had a glitch where it blurred the screen in battle for ONLY the alien base missions. I'm not sure if this was a recorded glitch from an old version of the game but I hope it helps with give a hint to the solution.- I'm not sure if this scenario happened pre-computer crash (legal CD version) or post-crash (legally downloaded Gold version). I'm leaning towards the former, though.- I'm pretty sure the glitch happened after 255 TU's... a jump from FF -> 0F...- Even though I'm asking about glitches, I'm asking about stat raising glitches so it's still <slightly> relevant to this topic... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[NKF] Posted April 14, 2005 Report Share Posted April 14, 2005 (edited) It is indeed a fault with the game using bytes and then having everything roll over to the beginning as it discards the higher values. Well, actually, the game uses two bytes (base and improvements), but combines them into a single byte. Older versions of the game (pre 1.4 and 1.4ce(just so you know, this is just the way I refer to the windows version of the game)) did not have attribute caps so bits higher than a single byte would get discarded. I think your 15TU soldier could have improved (I was able to recover such a soldier at one time) - it's just so hard to improve anything if all you can do is move 3 to 4 tiles at a time. You should have had no trouble firing and loading your weapons though. With blaster bombs you can earn experience from anywhere - well every other turn, and you won't be earning as much experience as the soldier out in the field with the pea shooter. - NKF Edited April 14, 2005 by NKF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zombie Posted April 14, 2005 Report Share Posted April 14, 2005 Zrylam:Increasing a soldiers stats above their natural improvement limits often yields quite the opposite intended effects. I always limit my guys to max improvement, and no more. That way, the game can't complain. Just stick to these numbers and you shouldn't have any problems:TU: 81Stamina: 101Health: 61Bravery: 80Reactions: 101Firing Accuracy: 125Throwing Accuracy: 125Strength: 71Psi Strength: 100Psi Skill: 100 is more than sufficient Keeping your guys at this limit prevents improvement. One more proposed test Zombie: This is to see if you can move the ownership flag around a bit. What I'm suggesting is to have a variation of the grenade relay (well, a two person relay), but the last person in the relay simply drops the grenade near (or on top of) the aliens, while the other (or others) throw it. The test is to see if the last person to throw the grenade will get the credits. - NKF edit: Just so you know - it vorks! Muhuhahaha! *Ahem* I mean it works. I can already imagine players that like to use 'suicide bombers' will have the proverbial gears clanking and whirling in their heads at the thought of getting some additional benefit out of their terrorists. Not my cup of tea, personally. We are on the same page NKF. I tried that too, and it works! I also did a different test: I never loaded my transport ship with grenades of any sort. Then I went on a mission and used a scavenged alien grenade. Result: soldier 0 got those kills. Another scenario: I MC'd an alien with a grenade, had him prime it, and drop it on the ground near some of his panic-stricken friends. Result: soldier 0 got those kills. I guess that the game considers all grenades on a mission as belonging to soldier 0 (even alien). However, once a grenade is primed and thrown, the game switches ownership to the soldier which threw it. Nice info to know, but like you said it isn't really practical for vets of the game! :wink1: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GetAssista Posted July 1, 2007 Report Share Posted July 1, 2007 (edited) Bravery is pretty easy to rise in XCOM1. Ideal situation is some sectoid ship containing psi-sectoids. Kill all except leader on the bridge, then drop ALL weapons on all guys and wait out continuos psi attacks for some dozen turns. I got 5 guys +10 bravery in a single terror crash site mission this way. Too bad during those dozens turns sectoid leader never targeted other soldiers, or I'll have all squad at +10 To make things easier for that poor leader, keep an eye on him panicing. When he finally does it, get all guys to the bridge next to him, so that he have no problems with picking targets for psi attacks.This is also a good way of getting statistics on your soldiers' relative psi-strength early. Edited July 1, 2007 by GetAssista Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sangrahl Posted July 10, 2007 Report Share Posted July 10, 2007 My training program for my final raiding force is straightforward, but strictly regimented... (This is for the End Game strike force... otherwise it's a waste of resources/time, and makes use of Alien LOS issues.) My initial squad develops normally, taking advantage of lucky pot-shots that may incapacitate and disarm aliens. (free target practice with belt-holstered sidarms... they always keep a pistol on hand for training purposes) But once I have a Training Base begun (basic interception base with an emphasis on Psi-Labs and multiple Skyranger hangers) I take note of any Floater Bases for not only Supply Ship commandeering, but also for fast-track training for my fresh recruits. I outfit a new squad of 8 soldiers in Powered or Flying Armor (to shrug off "friendly" fire from missed shots), arm them up with a Laser Pistol for each, adding a Heavy Plasma to the 3 most accurate shooters for clearing Reapers (but only if Firing Accuracy is exceptionally high... otherwise they can be cleared with a few turns of concentrated small-arms laser fire). I use the highest-TU soldier to scout below (just to have viewable area and not pure blackness... and then promptly return him/her to the upper level), and set everyone up in a center-facing circle around a single open lift-space... and let the Floaters come up into the meat-grinder on their own. Entry: EEEEEE ELLEEE ELLEEE EEEEEE EEEEEEDeployed: SSSEEE SLXEEE SXXEEE EEEEEE EEEEEEE = Empty spaceL = LiftS = Soldier w/ LaserX = Solder w/ Laser + Plasma The 3 Plasma soldiers have clear shots below to remove Reapers fro the Lift pad, while the full ring have centered fire on the single open Lift space that will inevitably be occupied by Floaters coming up to investigate. Each soldier will get a chance to Reaction Fire until the Floater is incapacitated or killed. If it is incapacitated, a forced Snap Shot or two will surely clear the space for the next unlucky contestant. Once all are dead, and no more come out to play, then it's just a matter of holstering weapons and dragging all of the remains and detritus up to the green exit tiles for extraction and aborting the mission. If you feel adventurous, then you can explore the base for a random chance at a bit of free Elerium from the possible Power Supply(ies). (Always located in the SW corner of the second floor of the LARGE Base facility that is ringed by a cooridor and accessable only from a central door and single lift at the center... It's been outlined by other, more experienced, XCom Vets in another post.) Depending on the placement of the entry-point, you can bag anywhere from 6 to 13+ aliens without any trouble. (If close-by to the Command Center, you can even expect the nearby Commander or Leaders to do most of the work for you with a Blaster Launcher round fired directly into the southern wall of the lower level (Alien-controlled Blaster Rounds have an aversion to going UP Lifts...) Sure you get less overall experience gain, but the number of bagged aliens and alien hardware will go through the roof. ** I HAVE had a single incident where a Leader got a Blaster Bomb up to my troops and wiped out the whole lot of them... I think he actually Berserk-fired up at an angle (missed shot) and hit one of the troops standing ON a Lift tile. But it was a single incident in a month-long string of raids. Depending on the placement of the raiding party, scores range from mid-to-low hundreds (placed in far corner away from the Command Center, so only the outer sentries come calling) to 300+ (placed right next to the Command Center, with all dead but the single panicked Commander huddling in fear... his discarded Blaster Launcher sitting unfired a few yards away). With the number of gathered weapons (5+ Heavy, 1-2 Rifle, 0-3 Blaster, 0-1 Stun), clips (2 per Plasma, 3-4 Bombs per Blaster, 3 per Stun), grenades (1 for each Plasma-wielding alien), corpses (6-13 Floaters), and Elerium (usually 0, but have gotten 4 crystals equating to 200 units in one lucky run) moneymaking and monthly score is no longer a problem. An average raid takes about 100 Turns (which FLY by, since most are just rapidly clicking "End Turn, End Turn, End Turn...", anyways) including rounds used to gather and pile up bodies, collect and clear weapons (all clips are removed added to the piles), and evacuate. With the number of Reaction Fire shots, and the odd forced Snap Shot, experience will flow like a mountain stream in the springtime. And since a single Skyranger flying a distance from the North Pole to the Netherlands can make two raids per day. By the time a month ends (Psi-Lab weeding schedule), the group of trainees are hardened soldiers, and only have their Psi-Strength to distinguish them from being heroes or history's forgotten has-beens. (8 Recruits, 2 Vets in each Psi-Lab cycle... raise the skill of Vets, while sifting through the others for acceptable Cydonia Troopers) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevelyan Posted July 11, 2007 Report Share Posted July 11, 2007 So how about when your new rookie scout guy gets MCed? I usually shoot the guy... does it count to my stat gaining activities? He IS an alien... the alien spotted number pops up! Either way I'll still kill the rookie so don't worry about him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[NKF] Posted July 12, 2007 Report Share Posted July 12, 2007 A mind controlled soldier is still an X-Com soldier, but will be flagged as being under mind control. Since you don't get experience for shooting your own soldiers, it won't do a thing. Killing your own soldiers reduces your morale. This can be bad if things aren't going very well. I'd recommend disarming the soldier somehow, perhaps by stunning the soldier, then waking the soldier up. Then let the soldier go forth as a decoy/psi-sponge. - NKF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sangrahl Posted July 12, 2007 Report Share Posted July 12, 2007 I'd recommend disarming the soldier somehow, perhaps by stunning the soldier, then waking the soldier up. Then let the soldier go forth as a decoy/psi-sponge.Any trained soldiers that finish initial Psi Training and have a truly abysmal Psi Strength rating get renamed "F.A.S." (F.orward A.blative S.upport) and are issued either a Pistol/Laser Pistol or Stun Launcher. If they get turned, they'll either plink away uselessly at the Power/Flying Armor of their squadmates, or maybe even help stun their captors with an errant Stun round. Either way, they're great for flushing out Etherials, or at least keeping them locked down from wasted TU's on Mind Control turns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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