Now that I have many bases outfitted with hyper-wave, I pick up all sorts of stuff (this game is going really, really well from my perspective, don't think I've been this far yet.) Once of which are the impending terror missions. Is it better for national morale to kill the ship before the terror mission lights up, or to down the craft and recover it? Obviously when it's crashed I get to pick time of day for performing the mission and so forth, but maybe there's points to be gained for responding quickly to a terror mission.
Fighting Terror Missions
Started by
M. Norton
, Sep 17 2009 03:38 PM
11 replies to this topic
#2
Zombie
-
- Xenocide Creative-Text Departmen
-
- 2,947 posts
Colonel
Posted 17 September 2009 - 07:22 PM
You don't get any points for responding to a terror mission fast. The only points you get are from saving civilians, killing aliens and recovering loot. Though, if you ignore a terror mission completely it's -1000 points against your score whereas if you show up and abort it's at most -480 points (just the dead civilians and there can only ever be 16). So there is a benefit to letting a Terror Mission form because if you are a capable (and lucky) commander you could amass (at most) 480 points from saving civilians plus the points from equipment and alien bodies. On the other hand, the risk/benefit ratio for a crashed Terror Ships is a lot more favorable because you don't have to worry about pesky civilians getting themselves killed and you can recover some navigations and entertainment which can be sold fo a good chunk of cash. If you are fortunate and none of the Power Sources explode, you can recover those plus 200 Elerium. Doesn't add much to your points, but Elerium is more important to me than points any day because it is tangible. And like you say, you can't pick the time of day you want to visit a Terror Site (well, technically you can by always keeping it targeted with a craft). 
- Zombie
- Zombie
The Mr. Grognard of X-COM
Zombie: Empirical data's your only man, when formulating a research plan.
A soldier's death is never in vain if it makes the formula more plain.
A few dozen make a better case for refining that third decimal place.
They call me Zombie because I don't sleep, as I slowly struggle to climb this heap,
of corpses, data points, and trials, but from the top - I'll see for miles!
#3
NKF
-
- [Global Moderators]
-
- 4,798 posts
Commander
Posted 18 September 2009 - 12:42 AM
Overall the terror site has less rewards and a lot more disincentives attached to it - as well as that 1000 point non-response penalty if you choose to avoid it. A shot down terror ship definitely has more loot. Even if you don't recover any elerium, the exploding power units should do a bit of work for you. If not killing some occupants, then at least making a relatively flat and open playing area of the lower level. There's also no penalty for avoiding the shot down terror ship if your crew is in bad shape.
Zombie, since this is your department, are there differences in the crew deployment for a terror site and a terror ship? I had this funny idea that we had some tables on the wiki somewhere with the run-down on crews but can't recall where it was discussed.
- NKF
Zombie, since this is your department, are there differences in the crew deployment for a terror site and a terror ship? I had this funny idea that we had some tables on the wiki somewhere with the run-down on crews but can't recall where it was discussed.
- NKF
Edited by NKF, 18 September 2009 - 12:53 AM.
Lord High Generalissimo Ruler Supreme of Norm's Anti Pedant Society (NAPS).
Number of members: 1
Number of members: 1
#4
Zombie
-
- Xenocide Creative-Text Departmen
-
- 2,947 posts
Colonel
Posted 18 September 2009 - 06:32 AM
The crew deployments for a Terror Site and Terror Ship are identical. I think that the deployments for an X-COM base defense mission and a Battleship are identical as well. So if a ship disappears off the map because it formed something else the crew deployments will follow the ship that sent them.Zombie, since this is your department, are there differences in the crew deployment for a terror site and a terror ship? I had this funny idea that we had some tables on the wiki somewhere with the run-down on crews but can't recall where it was discussed.
Something you have to watch on a crashed Terror Ship is the copious amount of smoke produced when a Power Source explodes. It can conceal enemies (usually terror units) pretty easily which can turn a somewhat easy mission into something much harder. Recently I've decided on waiting a good number of turns to let the smoke dissipate before entering the craft and that makes it a little easier. Still, Superhuman Cyberdiscs are tough to kill no matter if they are visible or not.
- Zombie
The Mr. Grognard of X-COM
Zombie: Empirical data's your only man, when formulating a research plan.
A soldier's death is never in vain if it makes the formula more plain.
A few dozen make a better case for refining that third decimal place.
They call me Zombie because I don't sleep, as I slowly struggle to climb this heap,
of corpses, data points, and trials, but from the top - I'll see for miles!
#5
M. Norton
-
- Forum Members
-
- 11 posts
Sergeant
Posted 18 September 2009 - 10:16 AM
Thanks for the information. I like killing the ships in-flight better anyhow, just did not know how appreciated the countries were about the effort. I've got 4 bases I've found and probably ought to start whittling those down. They give a lot of activity to shoot at though so I've kind of let them be for now, just catching the muton, snakeman, and floater supply ships :-).
#6
EtherImp
-
- Forum Members
-
- 189 posts
Captain
Posted 29 December 2009 - 12:49 AM
Still, Superhuman Cyberdiscs are tough to kill no matter if they are visible or not.
- Zombie
I prefer them to be killed while invisible.. Blasterbombs do not discriminate between "visible" and "invisible".
Overwhelmed as one would be, placed in my position.
Such a heavy burden now to be the 'one'.
Born to bear and bring to all the details of our ending,
To write it down for all the world to see.
But I forgot my pen!
Such a heavy burden now to be the 'one'.
Born to bear and bring to all the details of our ending,
To write it down for all the world to see.
But I forgot my pen!
#7
Doomblade403x
-
- Forum Members
-
- 4 posts
Squaddie
Posted 25 June 2010 - 07:48 PM
Did a terror mission last night...
Had Chrysalids on my crew as we disembarked and lost all but two men and saved Tokyo. I'm not a rebooter unless I misclick and when it came to the point where I had to make a decision to run or fight I chose fight knowing it was gonna be a skin of my teeth victory. I'll take a cyberdisk over chysalids any day of the week and twice on sunday. It takes a standard laser rifle about 4-6 hits to drop one where four hits is about max for a disk.
Had Chrysalids on my crew as we disembarked and lost all but two men and saved Tokyo. I'm not a rebooter unless I misclick and when it came to the point where I had to make a decision to run or fight I chose fight knowing it was gonna be a skin of my teeth victory. I'll take a cyberdisk over chysalids any day of the week and twice on sunday. It takes a standard laser rifle about 4-6 hits to drop one where four hits is about max for a disk.
#8
MiniMacker
-
- Forum Members
-
- 30 posts
Sergeant
Posted 27 June 2010 - 02:50 AM
Say what now? For some reason, I've never had trouble with Chrysalids, but that might be that I mostly play on Day missions...
I find Cyberdisks a pain in the butt for their reaction skills.
I find Cyberdisks a pain in the butt for their reaction skills.
#9
NKF
-
- [Global Moderators]
-
- 4,798 posts
Commander
Posted 27 June 2010 - 04:38 AM
They can certainly do some damage if they catch you off your guard. If you spot them first, all you need to do is to move the spotter away and stay well out of their visual radius. This renders their high reaction skill moot. After that, it's their hard armour on non-beginner levels that make them difficult to shoot down if all you've got are pistols and rifles.
I think the worst part about them is the fact there's no easy way to tell which direction they're looking!
Chryssalids also have fairly tough exteriors, but their high speed and high 70-86 reactions (defends against your reactions) make them rather unpleasant foes to deal with, day or night. Then there's the element of surprise that they have. With luck, they'll be sufficiently scattered about the map that some might approach your squad rom behind, or one will suddenly pop out of nearby cover that your soldiers had gone to seek safety. Happens to me a lot in the terror sites around the small storage shed. Often I'll send a soldier around the corner and wait a turn. Then a chryssalid pops out the door and it's all over.
A few handy tip: If there are any zombies - leave them for last and concentrate on the Chryssalids first. The zombies can easily be out-walked. No, they won't hatch on their own without some outside intervention. Also dealing the killing blow to zombies will cause the chryssalid to die instantly. Very useful to know if you've got any AC-IN rounds on hand.
- NKF
I think the worst part about them is the fact there's no easy way to tell which direction they're looking!
Chryssalids also have fairly tough exteriors, but their high speed and high 70-86 reactions (defends against your reactions) make them rather unpleasant foes to deal with, day or night. Then there's the element of surprise that they have. With luck, they'll be sufficiently scattered about the map that some might approach your squad rom behind, or one will suddenly pop out of nearby cover that your soldiers had gone to seek safety. Happens to me a lot in the terror sites around the small storage shed. Often I'll send a soldier around the corner and wait a turn. Then a chryssalid pops out the door and it's all over.
A few handy tip: If there are any zombies - leave them for last and concentrate on the Chryssalids first. The zombies can easily be out-walked. No, they won't hatch on their own without some outside intervention. Also dealing the killing blow to zombies will cause the chryssalid to die instantly. Very useful to know if you've got any AC-IN rounds on hand.
- NKF
Edited by NKF, 27 June 2010 - 04:42 AM.
Lord High Generalissimo Ruler Supreme of Norm's Anti Pedant Society (NAPS).
Number of members: 1
Number of members: 1
#10
Doomblade403x
-
- Forum Members
-
- 4 posts
Squaddie
Posted 05 July 2010 - 02:13 AM
I'm playing the game alot differently than most I'm sure. The only cheat I'm using is the money cheat...which is more than enough...and I'm limiting myself in research. I have two bases that are research capable with 50 and 38 at each base. The biggest difference I have in regards to most folks is the troop count. I have over 100 troops worldwide and I time my responses for the daylight hours through the clever dispatching of my skyrangers. In other words if I got a downed ufo that can be reached by a Ranger easily at night, I'll bring in a different team so they land in the daylight. I'm mixing and mataching teams on the skyrangers too so I don't have a million rookies around who've never fired a shot in anger.
In the case of this combat mission i just discussed...My boys disembarke from the boat and there was the chrysalid. I had been seeing floaters so I expected that again...sending in a squad of rookies with laser rifles to kick some butt. Sadly the but kicking travelled in the opposite direction. I did win the mission, but with four guys left I leveled just about everything on the map to survive with two. The survivors were looting dropped comrades for high explosives, grenades, and smokers just to beat back the horde. Good news was we were right there at the skyranger and the baddies came to us. Bad news is that in the end two men lived.
Alot of people would reboot but you know this is the kind of mission you remember. when the enemy was at the gates and you simply fought to survive. One of the last four was really impressive and I lament losing him cause he took out 2 snakemen and a chrysalid before getting wasted, but it's those moments that make this game infinately playable. TFTD wasn't as good and niether was apoc although it was OK.
In the case of this combat mission i just discussed...My boys disembarke from the boat and there was the chrysalid. I had been seeing floaters so I expected that again...sending in a squad of rookies with laser rifles to kick some butt. Sadly the but kicking travelled in the opposite direction. I did win the mission, but with four guys left I leveled just about everything on the map to survive with two. The survivors were looting dropped comrades for high explosives, grenades, and smokers just to beat back the horde. Good news was we were right there at the skyranger and the baddies came to us. Bad news is that in the end two men lived.
Alot of people would reboot but you know this is the kind of mission you remember. when the enemy was at the gates and you simply fought to survive. One of the last four was really impressive and I lament losing him cause he took out 2 snakemen and a chrysalid before getting wasted, but it's those moments that make this game infinately playable. TFTD wasn't as good and niether was apoc although it was OK.
#11
Doomblade403x
-
- Forum Members
-
- 4 posts
Squaddie
Posted 07 July 2010 - 11:45 PM
Did it again last night and I should've known better...
Sent a rookie squad into a terror site simply to garner them some experience. I lost two coming right out of the can due to a cyberdisc. From there things went from bad to worse. We took out the disk and next thing I know an alien grenade frags two more. We dust that sectoid and yet another disc rears it's ugly head and I swear we must've hit it ten times before it dropped. He blasted one more. All in all I walked out with three of the landing party and the whole op looked like a complete joke. Since the only time I restart is when I misclick the mission stands at terrible. The bad thing was I don't think I used poor tactics or judgement save the blast radius of the alien grenade.
Just one of those days
Sent a rookie squad into a terror site simply to garner them some experience. I lost two coming right out of the can due to a cyberdisc. From there things went from bad to worse. We took out the disk and next thing I know an alien grenade frags two more. We dust that sectoid and yet another disc rears it's ugly head and I swear we must've hit it ten times before it dropped. He blasted one more. All in all I walked out with three of the landing party and the whole op looked like a complete joke. Since the only time I restart is when I misclick the mission stands at terrible. The bad thing was I don't think I used poor tactics or judgement save the blast radius of the alien grenade.
Just one of those days
#12
Istrebitel
-
- Forum Members
-
- 40 posts
Sergeant
Posted 21 August 2010 - 07:38 AM
There is a discussion here
http://www.xcomufo.c...?showtopic=7678
This forum has two subforums, and battlescape discussion generally goes into battlescape subforum (if i understand correctly, i'm new to it...)
Anyway, i had the same problem with discs destroying me, and since i learned the insane power of smoke grenades, there is no more trouble. Read my last post at the link. It really is groundbreaking, its the difference of having 0 to 2 casualties against having to disembark with one-two people left and everything lost in combat... Before i got to know smoke, i also had serious trouble with terror sites...
BTW, do you really need the money cheat? What for? What difficulty do you play?
I'm playing superhuman w/o reload like you do (except mistakes like misclick or serious bugs like four cyberdisks stuck at elevator with 100% tu for reaction fire, or game refusing to show me who shot at me). I go Laser Weapons - Pistol - Rifle - Heavy - Canon. Initial funds go into tanks, large radar, and some more scientists. Then my main income is selling enemy loot until the...
Laser Canon, is the single best item you can manufacture for money in the game. A single workshop will yeild $ 2 000 000 every month of pure profit (costs of the workshop maintenance, living quarters maintenance, salaries already deduced!). Thats ten million a month from a fully stuffed base (255 is the max number of engineers game can support, so five workshops are optimal).
And if you fear the night (there are reasons, i know), you can use the interceptors, at least one interceptor must target the terror site while skyranger waits till daytime. And with crashed ufo's you are given several days to recover them whatever time you like it.
By the way, how do you use those 100 soldiers, are they just sitting and waiting for their turn to get onboard the skyranger? you only use two skyrangers right?
http://www.xcomufo.c...?showtopic=7678
This forum has two subforums, and battlescape discussion generally goes into battlescape subforum (if i understand correctly, i'm new to it...)
Anyway, i had the same problem with discs destroying me, and since i learned the insane power of smoke grenades, there is no more trouble. Read my last post at the link. It really is groundbreaking, its the difference of having 0 to 2 casualties against having to disembark with one-two people left and everything lost in combat... Before i got to know smoke, i also had serious trouble with terror sites...
BTW, do you really need the money cheat? What for? What difficulty do you play?
I'm playing superhuman w/o reload like you do (except mistakes like misclick or serious bugs like four cyberdisks stuck at elevator with 100% tu for reaction fire, or game refusing to show me who shot at me). I go Laser Weapons - Pistol - Rifle - Heavy - Canon. Initial funds go into tanks, large radar, and some more scientists. Then my main income is selling enemy loot until the...
Laser Canon, is the single best item you can manufacture for money in the game. A single workshop will yeild $ 2 000 000 every month of pure profit (costs of the workshop maintenance, living quarters maintenance, salaries already deduced!). Thats ten million a month from a fully stuffed base (255 is the max number of engineers game can support, so five workshops are optimal).
And if you fear the night (there are reasons, i know), you can use the interceptors, at least one interceptor must target the terror site while skyranger waits till daytime. And with crashed ufo's you are given several days to recover them whatever time you like it.
By the way, how do you use those 100 soldiers, are they just sitting and waiting for their turn to get onboard the skyranger? you only use two skyrangers right?
