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XCOMUFO & Xenocide

Which Is Harder?


Sharp

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So who instills more fear into you, makes you want to reload your game and avoid that mission, wishes your men all had flying suits.

 

The Deadly Chryssalid from XCOM:Enemy Unknown. Dark as sin, incredibly fast with tough armour, just one touch from these deadly aliens caused your troops to get zombified, and whats worse then losing one agent instantly and having a zombie claw at your men? Once you kill him you get another more deadly chyrsalid, spawned very close to your men as well.

 

The small orange blob from the alien dimension. Tiny and hard to hit, can leap very high into the air, has a tendancy to hide and surprise your men and launched from the aptly named Brainsucker Launcher. One of these on your head and you may be brainsucked, once brain-sucking is complete you lose your agent and now have to face him with all the weapons he was carrying as well and having to get through the fairly tough armour. Appears in large groups and it only takes a single one to take a man down.

 

So which one is worse (just assume that Chryssalids are in Apocalypse, which you think would be deadlier)

Edited by Sharp
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Hmm, come to think of it neither doesn't work to well, I suppose what I meant was that both don't make you afraid at all and you laugh when they arrive.

 

Though I suppose that would be covered under both equally.

 

Ah well say la vee

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Brainsuckers are nasty little gas bags that pop on a pin, and come in great numbers (if you let the alien shoot them all off and you don't bother picking them up before they hatch, that is), but they are only one-shot and not all of them work. Their infestation is time consuming, giving you a small window to disable it. The danger of the mind replaced unit is variable and depends on how experienced the victim is and what sort of weaponry the victim is armed with or manages to pick up while it's running about.

 

Chryssalids have medium armour, making them very powerful in the beginning as you need much more firepower to take them down. Their infestation attacks are instantaneous, and they can do it again and again. Because their victims are turned into walking cocoons that gestate another chryssalid, this easily increases their numbers in the battle. If we try to translate the chryssalid's speed into real-time, the closest I'd give it would be either on par with the brainsucker, or they go by the popper's speed which is very hard to avoid.

 

Both aliens require that you are aware of them in order to counter them. The main thing going for the chryssalid at the moment that it has multiple uses, has tougher armour and it turns its victims into clones of itself. The brainsucker on the other hand has a lot less going for it, but if it manages to replace the mind of a very powerful veteran armed with powerful weaponry, you're also in for a lot of hurt.

 

Still, of the two, the one that gives you the most leeway to recover your soldier is the brainsucker. So I'd go for the chryssalid as being the more ferocious of the two, but in truth you must never discount the damage the pathetic little basketballs can do if unwatched.

 

- NKF

 

edit: After rereading the title of this topic, I think it's an even simpler question that I thought. I was thinking 'difficulty'. Taken literally, then of course the chyssalid is harder. It's covered in hard carapace. Brainsuckers are soft and tend to pop like balloons.

Edited by NKF
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Compared to chryssalids, brainsuckers are just a harmless kitties. Extremely weak, a fellow soldier can easily shoot it off your head. Even if you're alone, an AP grenade at your feet can easily solve this problem with minimal damage to yourself (or none at all if you're wearing the blue underwear).

 

And you can dig a pit in the ground with vortex mines, set in on fire and throw in all brainsucker pods. Oh look, they're so cute running around in fire :P

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Hmm, come to think of it neither doesn't work to well, I suppose what I meant was that both don't make you afraid at all and you laugh when they arrive.

 

Though I suppose that would be covered under both equally.

 

Ah well say la vee

 

 

It would appear our diligent friend AZ has rectified the matter.

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Guest Azrael
Hmm, come to think of it neither doesn't work to well, I suppose what I meant was that both don't make you afraid at all and you laugh when they arrive.

 

Though I suppose that would be covered under both equally.

 

Ah well say la vee

 

 

It would appear our diligent friend AZ has rectified the matter.

Plus corrected a few spelling mistakes which were getting on my nerves ^_^

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Brainsuckers! They're so tiny I miss them half the time! Not to mention they seem to have a better AI than Chrysalids ever did.

 

This poll is fatally flawed however because you forgot Tentaculants which would have surely gotten my vote. They are 2x as scary in battle as a chrysalid.

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Guest Azrael
It's not really flawed, he wants to know which of the those two is harder for you, the poll isn't about all zombie-creating-Aliens, it's solely about those two :)
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Well, I added it in anyway. Makes for a more interesting poll IMHO. :)

 

Basically, Tentaculats are just a glorified Chryssalid with the ungodly ability to zombify while floating too. I never really had that much trouble killing them. My vote still goes with the Chryssalid. ^_^

 

- Zombie

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Guest Azrael
Well, I added it in anyway. Makes for a more interesting poll IMHO.  :)

 

Basically, Tentaculats are just a glorified Chryssalid with the ungodly ability to zombify while floating too. I never really had that much trouble killing them. My vote still goes with the Chryssalid. ^_^

 

- Zombie

If it wasn't his intention, I wouldn't, but what's the difference anyway :P

 

Chryssalids, obviously (haven't played against Tentaculats), Brainsuckers are some of the easiest Aliens around.

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Fixed topic description. :)

 

Well, I added it in anyway. Makes for a more interesting poll IMHO.  :)

 

Basically, Tentaculats are just a glorified Chryssalid with the ungodly ability to zombify while floating too. I never really had that much trouble killing them. My vote still goes with the Chryssalid. ^_^

 

- Zombie

 

 

Ah but Mr. zombie, our resident statistics guy, the data is forever skewed because it was added after-the-fact. :hammer:

 

Brainsuckers! They're so tiny I miss them half the time! Not to mention they seem to have a better AI than Chrysalids ever did.

 

This poll is fatally flawed however because you forgot Tentaculants which would have surely gotten my vote. They are 2x as scary in battle as a chrysalid.

 

 

Tell you what, I didnt intend to vote at all in this poll so I'll say Tentaculats for you; K?

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Well, I added it in anyway. Makes for a more interesting poll IMHO.  :)

 

Basically, Tentaculats are just a glorified Chryssalid with the ungodly ability to zombify while floating too. I never really had that much trouble killing them. My vote still goes with the Chryssalid. ^_^

 

- Zombie

 

Sorry didn't mean to cause a stir but the ability to float definately makes the tentaculant the clear winner, you barely have to fear chryssalids at all later in the game while Tentaculants stay frightening throughout, especially on those colony, and artifact missions.

 

Ah but Mr. zombie, our resident statistics guy, the data is forever skewed because it was added after-the-fact. :hammer:

 

Brainsuckers! They're so tiny I miss them half the time! Not to mention they seem to have a better AI than Chrysalids ever did.

 

This poll is fatally flawed however because you forgot Tentaculants which would have surely gotten my vote. They are 2x as scary in battle as a chrysalid.

 

 

Tell you what, I didnt intend to vote at all in this poll so I'll say Tentaculats for you; K?

 

Thank you! Now all is balanced and peace and harmony can once again return to the Brainsucker/Chryssalid/Tentaculant poll!

 

...Although there will now be one extra vote for brainsuckers, proving once again how much brainsuckers...well...suck.

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Never played TFTD so haven't had the pleasure of blowing up a tentaculant.

 

However all the data has gone to pieces now thanks to you Zombie :P

Easiest way to get a more accurate reading would be to scrap this poll completly and make a new revised poll.

Of course an alternative would just be to continue posting here and possibly provide reasons for your choice.

 

But this poll was actually designed to be for Apocalypse (hence its location in the Apoc section) and if chyrsalids were in Apocalypse (use your imagination). I would say its more likely to have Chryssalids then tentaculants as in Apocalypse there seems to be a distinct lack of water features.

 

I would say chryssalids are much more harder as they are incredibly fast (can't say about tentaculants) and take a fair number of hits to take down. And all it takes is a touch and your agent is zombified, and not only that once you kill your remaining agent(s) you have to face a freshly hatched chryssalid. (And just a little sub-question, has anyone ever tried to blaster-bomb a zombie to see if the chryssalid still hatches?)

 

Brain-suckers are devious little buggers when they sneak up behind you, but you may be able to shoot them off, or might not get brainsucked at all. And although they appear in larger numbers due to the number of pods, chryssalids are much better at multiplying. However the brainsucker does have a better advantage over the chryssalid, it can leap like a leaping thing, very high in the air, unlike the chryssalid which you can just laugh at while hovering above dropping stun grenades or Hi-Explosives.

 

I suppose that if the tentaculant can float in the air (as opposed to swimming in water(which is really unbelievable)) might make a harder opponent, but I can only assume would be slower then a chyrsalid.

 

For fear factor though I would say chryssalids as they just look scary as well.

Edited by Sharp
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Never played TFTD so haven't had the pleasure of blowing up a tentaculant.

I would say its more likely to have Chyrsalids then tentaculants as in Apocalypse there seems to be a distinct lack of water features.

 

True, Tentaculants never appear above water so they would just be writhing Jelly in Apoc, and Chryssalids with better AI would be pretty frightening.

 

I would say chyrsalids are much more harder as they are incredibly fast (can't say about tentaculants) and take a fair number of hits to take down. And all it takes is a touch and your agent is zombified, and not only that once you kill your remaining agent(s) you have to face a freshly hatched chyrsalid. (And just a little sub-question, has anyone ever tried to blaster-bomb a zombie to see if the chyrsalid still hatches?)

 

Well the Chryssalid and Tentaculant both have a huge number of time units over 100 for both. A Tentaculant can swin for a huge distance and still zombify your troops, I've lost 3 in one turn from 1 tentaculant before. Whereas I can't say that I've everr lost a troop to a chryssalid. Tentaculants are a little easier to kill but they can survive a sonic cannon shot some of the time. Overall they are pretty evenly matched but the ability to fly renders mag ion armor, not quite the same life saver as flying armor would be for Chryssalids in EU. Tentaculants do not appear in Terror missions though, so you don't have to worry about civilian zombies, unless you're stupid and M.C. them. :D

 

And yes I'm pretty sure no matter how much damage you deal to a Zombie the Chryssalid will emerge unharmed.

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An incendiary on the killing blow will cause the chryssalid to die, but all other attacks, no matter how powerful, will allow it to hatch unscathed.

 

Maybe a new written poll:

 

Which Apocalypse alien is scarier than the Chryssalid? - explain.

 

Mind the spelling or else you'd get entries comparing something to a chryssalis - not a chryssalid.

 

- NKF

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I say tentaculat, its as tough as the chrysallid and floats, its only weakness is that the chrysallid appears on terror missions and makes zombies from civilians, while tentaculats don't so the can only make zombies from your soldiers

edit: should this be moved to xcom general? Since no one else moved it i won't but just wondering

Edited by Blehm 98
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I would say the Chryssalids, for starters the tentaculat dosen't really look that scary. It can float (but then it is DESIGNED to be underwater anyway) it has tentacles to sting but the Chryssalids has a tough exo skelton and powerful claws. The dfference between the two that given the descripton of the UFO archives, one can tear a tank apart, the other can't. (I only have a faulty UFO terrior of the deep game that dosen't go further then the second mission so quote me wrong if the tenta thing has proven to tear up the underwater equivaliant of a tank.

 

At best the tentaculat is best at stealth underwater, Chryssalids seem powerful enough for stealth and direct assault. Tentaculat's are tough as everyone is saying but from what i can gather the weapons in the second UFO game are in fact weaker then the first. With no plasma weapons in the seond game i wonder how much harder the Chryssalids would be if they were in it.

 

I would go with the Chryssalids given they are more fearsome and appear to be created for a more confrontational approach. (If only they could do superhuman jumps, that would be great)

 

As for the alien dimseion thing on Apoc, from what it sound it dosen't seem quite impressive to me.

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