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XCOMUFO & Xenocide

Should I Restart?


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I'm in week 4 now and FINALLY managed to get up personal shield generators, but the aliens are so far ahead technology wise (they all have entropy launchers etc and cloaking devices), every anti infiltration mission a chore to do since turn based gets on my nerves fast in this one and in realtime i often get shot out of nowhere by cloaked aliens and even the shields dont help too much against them.

 

I also feel completely powerless against all ufo raids, I only have small disruptors so far and no means to produce them, and my three hawks are powerless against the armada of type 4/5/6 ufos that always come in.

 

Another thing is that i constantly have to placate evonet/solmine with money because the aliens almost exclusively attack those and when I fight in their buildings half of the stuff goes boom since only a few of my soldiers have toxin guns and the others are armed with dual devastators.

 

I raided the cult a few times at the start and tried to hold off every possible infiltration attempt and as a result i was attacked by devastators by the end of week 2.

 

Normal difficulty btw.

 

should I try to salvage this game or just start over?

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I'm in week 4 now and FINALLY managed to get up personal shield generators, but the aliens are so far ahead technology wise (they all have entropy launchers etc and cloaking devices), every anti infiltration mission a chore to do since turn based gets on my nerves fast in this one and in realtime i often get shot out of nowhere by cloaked aliens and even the shields dont help too much against them.

 

....

 

I raided the cult a few times at the start and tried to hold off every possible infiltration attempt and as a result i was attacked by devastators by the end of week 2.

 

Normal difficulty btw.

 

should I try to salvage this game or just start over?

That depends on your tolerance for tactical learning, and whether you're ready to try a different strategy outright. I'd try to salvage the game while taking notes on what I'm doing wrong strategically, then restart when I know what strategy I want to try next. I would not restart only to do the same things the first two weeks.

 

If you shoot down all the UFOs the first two weeks, devastators for the later missions in cleaning up the second attack wave's downed UFOs should be normal even with no raiding whatsoever.

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my main problem is that I really dislike having to replace dead agents. I guess i should use more androids and not humans, since those are way easier to replace when dead. I'm just a bit frustrated with my inability to deal with the type 5/6 ufos atm due to the lack of shielding on my vehicles and their weaponry and having to constantly placate companies with money keeps me from buying a 4th or 5th hawk
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I'm also in week 4 and I've got only a few days ago the Personal Shield Generators. The aliens also had entropy launchers and cloaking devices.

But believe me, once you take those shields into battle ( I play TB ) the game becomes a LOT easier.

Entropy launchers became nothing more than a bad joke and only annoying thing is the cloaking device ( damn the sectoids who fly around with that in some obscure place ).

 

I've also had the problems with the UFO's.

I had just recently bought 2 hawks and around 6 of hoverbikes ( as much as ammo will allow ), thinking my armada will own the UFO's.

Next attack a hawk was destroyed and 3 hoverbikes.... Half my forces.

When I recovered from the blow and rebuild my fleet came the next attack... Which I absolutely owned. Sometimes the game sends very strong UFO's and sometimes they don't.

So don't be discouraged when you get heavy losses, the next attack might be easier.

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Unless you've missed the Type-3 transporter earlier on, your game is still salvageable.

 

Before I go on, a quick note on the way this game ramps up its difficulty level:

 

This is done mainly through your weekly score levels. The faster you accumulate your score levels, the faster the aliens will bring out their new toys. Raiding, being very aggressive in shooting down UFOs and going after every alien in the battlescape can ramp up the alien tech levels a bit too quickly for your own techs to keep up. We still haven't quite chronicled the precise score levels where tech gets unlocked, but just keep that in mind while you're playing.

 

 

---

 

The best overall advice I can give to you is to play it safe and flee when the opposition gets too difficult. This is true both in the Cityscape and in the Battlescape. Now when I say flee, I don't mean head to the exits. I mean just withdraw and seek cover. Don't rush head on into the battle. Try to engage the enemy in close quarters rather than engage in long range firefights. Long range battles will just wear you down.

 

To get the enemies close to you, either charge towards them (recommended only for androids armed with shields), rush forward but jump from cover to cover (use the pauses to recharge shields if you're wearing any) or to flee behind a corner and wait for the enemy to come to you so you can open fire with full-auto gunfire at almost point blank range (highly recommended).

 

In the cityscape, concentrate on a few UFOs - don't try to shoot them all down. Your combined fleet can easily knock down a few select UFOs (go after ones you've not yet researched, or any easy ones that you can leach weapons or shields off). Get as many as you can without losing too many ships, and let the rest go.

 

If your ships are really suffering (either heavily damaged or you're low on funds) , leave the UFOs alone for a few incursions. Just observe the transports in the fleet and mark each drop sites and do the ground missions immediately (and don't forget to monitor the area and your graphs for the next couple of hours for spreading infiltration). One advantage of toning down your UFO interceptions is that you'll do much less damage to the city. This will keep the declining faith of the companies at a much more stable level until you get better toys to play with.

 

In the Battlescape, if any aliens - let them. Their effect (if any) on the infiltration levels on nearby buildings is negligible.

 

What I'm getting at is to play it safe and not to take on more than you can handle. Try and corner smaller groups of enemies at a time rather than to jump into a big skirmish where ever possible. Playing it safe lets you gather up all the new toys the aliens are throwing at you. After you've researched them and have kitted yourself with them, you can turn the tables and crush the aliens under your feet easily.

 

Also whether you're playing TB or RT: Take your time.

 

---

 

Re: Cloaks, a few good means of defending against them include:

 

- Run. Get to some cover of some sort.

- Be aggressive: Run towards the source of the gunfire.

- Get in close. As mentioned earlier draw the enemy to you by making them walk around a corner. Or stand a few tiles away from a doorway and shoot them as they walk through. A cloaking device is useless in short range combat.

- In Real-Time, if you have an idea where the cloaked alien is: shift-click a burst of fire in a spread in the suspected area. (M4000's or Devestators are great for this). If the cloaked alien is hit hit, it will be revealed temporarily - in which case you order your entire team to open fire on it.

- Use stun gas, incendiary or even smoke to baffle, panic (fire forces any unit to run) or knock it out.

 

 

- NKF

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Thanks for the ideas so far, I managed to get my game up and running again even tough I had to deal with some horrible base attacks on my scientist base. I basically dropped my huge 12 man squads for a smaller 5 man squad that is fully equipped with shields & toxiguns with toxin B. I now pretty much rush for the aliens in real time battle mode and can take them out without losing a single shield generator atm, i'm just glad theyre not coming with dimension launchers just yet :P

 

UFO battling is still very lopsided, tough i finally managed to take down a type 7 ship. I still don't have a type 5 or 6, how important are they for researching ships?

Also the newest wave of ships appeared with shield generators, I need some sort of plan to take them down i guess. I have 4 Hawks and hoverbikes atm.

 

I managed to capture the micronoids in the type 7 tough, so I hope I will be able to get Toxin C sometime soon maybe. Also what are the reqs for the xcom armor? I still can't build it.

 

 

Also on a sidenote, the aliens constantly invade evonets waste facilities, and one of those maps basically i just a long corridor without good cover. that map killed tons of my agents before, at least now i can fight there well. Also i pissed and placated evonet enough that nutrivend is now my ally somehow.

 

I guess i'll keep the game running :P

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Most of them are important, although there are one or two ships that aren't necessary for advanced ship research, like the Escort (semi transparent purple ship that fires stassis missiles) and the Bomber. The type-3 transport is absolutely essential to winning the game.

 

A type-6 (if I'm not mistaken is the Assault ship. Small stumpy carrot shaped thing) is quite a good ship to capture. It's easy to shoot down and attack on the ground. It also carries a small disrupter shield and a medium disrupter (ship equipment).

 

X-Com Armor is obtained after researching the small disrupter shield, personal disrupter shield and the medium disrupter. This is even more reason why you should go after the Assault Ship. Absolutely brilliant armor to be wearing in a complete set when your shields have just fizzled out and you've got several poppers or dimension missiles bearing on you.

 

Have you got access to the Bio Trans yet? You should get it after capturing and researching a type-3, two of the three UFO components and then researching (and probably skipping) the Dimension Probe.

 

Unfortunately I do not have access to ship research notes at the moment but you'll want to capture and research the Fast Attack Ship, Destroyer, Assault Ship and Battleship to expand beyond the Bio Trans. The new interceptors will easily outclass the Hawks in combat.

 

- NKF

Edited by NKF
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Try to engage the enemy in close quarters rather than engage in long range firefights. Long range battles will just wear you down.

 

To get the enemies close to you, either charge towards them (recommended only for androids armed with shields), rush forward but jump from cover to cover (use the pauses to recharge shields if you're wearing any) or to flee behind a corner and wait for the enemy to come to you so you can open fire with full-auto gunfire at almost point blank range (highly recommended).

 

- NKF

 

I must say, I play it totally the opposite way. I go for cover and co-operative arcs of fire. Stay on aimed or snap shot at first, and win the firefight. Agents quickly develop aim, and in short order, the aliens will get lucky shots in, but creating a bottleneck and using long-range fire control will win the bulk of the battle. Like my captain in the army said, "don't charge into a ready enemy. Win the firefight first. Only assault when fighting at range is no longer useful."

 

Cover and overlapping arcs of fire, and controlling/accounting for all axes of attack, will force the aliens to charge through bottlenecks. That's when lots of agents can bring fire on only one or two enemies at once. When the reminder then go into hiding, it's time for careful assault. Works every time! ;-) It's not just a tactic; it's a doctrine. :-)

 

Aiki-Knight

Edited by Aiki-Knight
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I don't think our strategies are really too far off. There's just so many ways a battle can play out.

 

I guess my angle on it is more along the line of playing with smaller squads and staying well away from a protracted long range firefight when you're outnumbered. Say 2 agents (assume the others are dead) against a large assortment of aliens including spitters and Multiworms. If you get caught out in the open and you just let the agents stay there, they'll get worn down and massacred. It gets worse as they are injured. You need to run and split the aliens into smaller numbers - hence where fleeing around corners and catching them point blank works best.

 

Now, with a larger group, a long ranged firefight is good in places like any UFO assaults where there's a large channel carved out of the ground. Like the Mothership or the Assault Ship. There I sometimes get away with a squad at the far end of the groove, some along the banks and some spotters close to the door, and maybe some in the air. Dual aimed devestators are optimal in this situation. Plus the lightshow is fun. :)

 

---

 

FrickenMoron: If you've got the same sort of strength of will as NRN_Sumo1, I'd probably hang on and try to catch the ships you need while they're in the city rather than try to attack the alien dimension fleet with Bio Trans (you can't do UFO ground missions there anyway - they blow up on contact with the ground). Concentrate on just getting the ship you need - ignore the Fast Attack Ship or Escort escorts. Although it might pay to wipe out some of the smaller fry like the probes and scouts and maybe the escorts.

 

Biotrans are great little ships (Defense! Room for +1600 shield space.), but their firepower potential against capital ships leaves much to be desired.

 

- NKF

Edited by NKF
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I don't think our strategies are really too far off. There's just so many ways a battle can play out.

 

I guess my angle on it is more along the line of playing with smaller squads and staying well away from a protracted long range firefight when you're outnumbered. Say 2 agents (assume the others are dead) against a large assortment of aliens including spitters and Multiworms. If you get caught out in the open and you just let the agents stay there, they'll get worn down and massacred. It gets worse as they are injured. You need to run and split the aliens into smaller numbers - hence where fleeing around corners and catching them point blank works best.

 

Now, with a larger group, a long ranged firefight is good in places like any UFO assaults where there's a large channel carved out of the ground. Like the Mothership or the Assault Ship. There I sometimes get away with a squad at the far end of the groove, some along the banks and some spotters close to the door, and maybe some in the air. Dual aimed devestators are optimal in this situation. Plus the lightshow is fun. :)

 

- NKF

I think my doctrine, whether I'm fighting with 4 agents or 20, is to create micro-numerical advantage. In the Aliens:250 game, there were cases where a medium-sized force got overrun by a very aggressive, late-game alien horde. This was the exception, and by the time it's down to 2 agents in that case, it's time to retreat and evacuate. I don't generally have agents out in the open, but rather standing by available cover so they can duck behind cover. Either way, I do try to benefit from long-range victories as much as possible. XCOM agents generally aim better than aliens once they get going.

 

In buildings, things are totally different. I try not to wind up at point-blank range with aliens, who could drop a vortex mine or dump a brainsucker. I try to stake out long hallways to catch aliens in bottlenecks. If the axis of attack looks nasty, I'll mine it with prox mines and stacked grenades or vortex/boomeroid. However, this usually isn't necessary, and if no alien set it off, you have to blow it to bypass your own trap. Every agent has a partner, and I try to create "safe territory" to the rear of agents, a place where they can fall back and then turn on whoever catches up with them first. When I fall agents back and a number of aliens gives chase, usually this stretches their force into a line which one or two agents can then, from a fallen-back position, kill one-by-one. I always try to draw out larger forces into bottlenecks and microfights this way. And goodness knows I've had an agent, retreating with aliens hot on his/her heels, prime and drop grenades etc. to catch their pursuers during the foot chase, especially poppers.

 

When it comes to storming, I admit there's more I could do, but it's not usually necessary. First, win the firefight. Then one agent moves while the other covers. Always real-time. Every agent who assaults forward must be visible to one other agent (to cover brainsucker sneak-ups). I also tend to "stack up" agents and take the door SWAT-style. It works for the SWAT in real life and for military forces, so I use it. What I don't usually do is frag the room I'm storming first. I really should toss in an explosive, let it frag the room, then storm. The problem is that this usually only weakens the aliens at best - it doesn't have the effect it would in real life. I used to be vigilant about fragging a room first, but it tended not to accomplish much. However, there have been a few times when rooms full of bad guys got fragged with a couple vortex mines just to knock out their shiels and detonate/kill all the poppers, brainsuckers, and hyperworms. As I matured as a player, I learned that stun gas works better, anyway: it knocks them out, and you get all their gear. Let the gas dissipate, then agents almost always storm in twos: they can cover each other.

 

Ironically, this gets harder in the UFO:AI game, because you only have 8 agents max per mission. There tend to be many super-long battles to be had, and so winning the firefight with superior aim, arc control and discipline is more important. Also, aliens tend to take advantage of windows and peep-holes to fire at your team, so it's crucial to flank them. Keep 'em occupied with someone shooting it out with them at range, while another fire team works their way around behind. Fragging the room is a must, because UFO:AI aliens have wicked-deadly swords at point blank range. Stack around the door, stun grenade/frag the room, storm in tight, and kill kill kill.

 

I find that the lessons learned from extremely tactical play make winning XCOM3 missions a snap, if the player is meticulous by nature and likes to execute highly informed strategies and tactics. Patience is a virtue, and that's why the real-time mode makes the game more playable: missions happen faster. I find the methodical doctrine really reduces, almost eliminates, agent deaths. Even on superhuman level, it's a freak accident if I lose one agent. Once things go extremely late-game (you know me - I go LONG) and I have the teleporting ultra-commandos, then I can break out the one-man armies and I know I've written a whole thread on this. That's a totally different doctrine that reads a lot like your style, NKF, and it's likely you have evolved your sense of the game to the point where you know how to use that style even early in the game.

 

Either way, XCOM, that is 1,2, 3 and also UFO:AI, are really chess games in live action, and my chess-playing friends are intrigued by it but either consider themselves too purist to try a new game, or feel it's too much work to learn a whole new milieu of chess strategy when the pieces have different weapons, can be trained, can have armor and shields, and so on. I, however, find that a combination of long-established military tactics and a good chess-sense of placing pieces is far beyond the ability of the AI to contest. Even when the aliens break out the entropy, a volley of stun-gas grenades usually nets some shields and it's a short period before the tables are turned against entropy. Double-shields cope with dimension missiles, and once a strong teleporting ultra-commando arrives, the aliens' entire arsenal is all but useless. It only takes one ultra-commando to handle all missions, except maybe the gate generators.

 

And so, to the originator of this thread, as far as my approach to handling ground missions, I would summarise thus:

 

Preface: All agents should be meticulously equipped with armor, extra ammo, grenades and stun gas, and a medi-kit.

1. Cover all possible axes of attack and overlap agents' arcs of fire, so that any alien will take fire from two agents or more. Let them come to you, and play the game on your terms, not theirs.

2. Take cover (or lie prone) and win the firefight at maximum range. Out-shoot the aliens at range until they no longer come out to fight.

3. Agents advance never alone. Use the motion sensor to scan for ambushes, stack agents at doors, stun gas the room if necessary, then storm and kill kill kill.

4. Patience: capitalize on the enemy's mistakes, and use superior numbers to kill enemies.

5. If your team's getting shredded, evacuate.

6. Play the long game and try the teleporting ultra-commando, and you'll feel like you're sending in a jedi knight who's also equipped with battle armor, shields, and ranged weapons.

 

Aiki-Knight :-)

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I don't think I'm that good. My doctrine is to just wing it and hope for the best it works. :D Okay, so there's more method to it - but...

 

While I often recommend fighting at point blank range in Apocalypse, my reasoning behind this is depressingly simple. You hit better up close with full auto shots, so you can maximize your damage output and take them down faster. Plus there's the potential to do less damage to the building in the process (you can't do more damage to the bits that you've already destroyed, so...).

 

It has its disadvantages though. Some enemies like the Multiworm excel at close range combat with its rapid fire and highly damaging spit attack. Oh, and especially the popper. Then there are those occasions where you've dealt with a lot of tool wielding aliens and now have a decent equipment pile. Then some bright spark comes along and drops an explosive on the pile.

 

The best bit of advice any of us can give though is: Be patient. Granted it's easier to be patient in real-time than it is in turn-based thanks to the designers leaving out the speed settings completely. (Coincidentally, I enjoy TB. I played one of the best hotseat co-op games I've ever had in it. However it's the whole head-less-chicken-dance the civilians do that drives me away from it. )

 

- NKF

Edited by NKF
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the missing speed settings were the reason i played realtime, turn based is dreadfully slow in apoc.

Anyways I kept on rolling and captured a live megaspawn & psimorph and completed my toxin C requirements and finally got disrupter armor.

 

After steamrolling alien ships with the 94 dmg alien missile launchers for 5 weeks finally a shielded type 5 showed up and I could continue with my research of ship designs etc and now have annihilators battle ready. I'm taking the fight to the aliens now.

 

 

 

Also the aliens got very aggressive and started attacking companies. this led to a citywide split really since half the companies started lovin' the aliens for taking out their competitors and consequently got pissed when I attacked them from then on. Like... evonet, marsec, SELF, mutant alliance, technocrats. On the other side, gov/megapol/transtellar/nutrivend/Extropians etc can't stop loving me anymore no matter how much damage the city etc takes. Oh well, I guess it doesn't matter as long as i get my paychecks and transtellar helps me transport stuff from base to base. The aliens also decided its a good idea to infiltrate the cult of sirius, I hope those guys there are happy now.

 

 

Anyways, for fighting I usually send my 6 man squad of toxin C equipped flying/cloaked guys and hope for the best. massed dimension launchers can hurt a lot but i usually never lose more than 1 shield gen on 1 person now.

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thanks to the designers leaving out the speed settings completely. (Coincidentally, I enjoy TB. I played one of the best hotseat co-op games I've ever had in it. However it's the whole head-less-chicken-dance the civilians do that drives me away from it. )

 

- NKF

That's another disadvantage of the hybrid system - while there are turns, movement in ones turn happens in "RT" with many units moving simultaneously.

I always play in TB and I have to admit that the citizen behaviour causes the citizen to get "accidentally" hit by agents <_< ...

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Sorry for asking off topic questions, but because I don't want to double post in my own thread and because making a new one is a bit excessive I'll do it anyway :P.

 

What is a good armed Annihilator? I use 1 Heavy Beam Disruptor and 2 Medium's, with 2 large shield disruptor, 2 X-com Accuracy thingies and 1 missile jammer. Should I use missiles instead of the 2 medium beam disruptors? I've got everything researched and avaible.

 

Secondly, what is a good fleet to destroy the Alien Dimension? So far I've got 6 hawks ( I'd like to use them as defence though but I could get a lot more of them), 2 retaliators and 2 annihilators, will that be enough?

 

And thirdly, how many remaining missions will it take to complete the game? Also anything important to remeber in the alien dimension?

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Sorry for asking off topic questions, but because I don't want to double post in my own thread and because making a new one is a bit excessive I'll do it anyway :P.

 

What is a good armed Annihilator? I use 1 Heavy Beam Disruptor and 2 Medium's, with 2 large shield disruptor, 2 X-com Accuracy thingies and 1 missile jammer. Should I use missiles instead of the 2 medium beam disruptors? I've got everything researched and avaible.

 

Secondly, what is a good fleet to destroy the Alien Dimension? So far I've got 6 hawks ( I'd like to use them as defence though but I could get a lot more of them), 2 retaliators and 2 annihilators, will that be enough?

 

And thirdly, how many remaining missions will it take to complete the game? Also anything important to remeber in the alien dimension?

If you're planning to take down the Aliens' standing fleet of some 11 ships, including capital ships, I'd take twice the number of dimension-gate-capable ships you've got: 2 Annihilators and 2 Retaliators is cutting it a little close. I often take 14 to 16 ships. Nothing like a good, crushing smash of the alien fleet. But 8 should manage if you keep them together and take out the worst alien ships first.

 

For the alien dimension, there's no penalty for hitting buildings, so I dump the accuracy computers and go all shields: 2 large and three small on my Annihilators, 4x small on the Retaliators. I don't bother with missiles because disruptors don't need to be supplied with ammo, and they dole out endless damage.

 

Be very careful about taking off after taking down an alien building. One particular building overhangs the launch tube. If you take off right away, the crashing building will land on your annihilator. Even a maximum-shielded annihilator cannot survive getting hit by the building, so wait until the building fully finishes crashing, THEN launch for home.

 

There are 10 ground missions in the Alien Dimension. You definitely need to bring along lots of vortex mines. There are orange square pads which teleport in alien reinforcements. If you don't want to be facing endless aliens, take out the pads. 1 vortex mine will take out a pad. For groups of 4 pads grouped in a tight square, 1 vortex mine will take care of all 4, most of the time. Think vertically, not just horizontally: there are all kinds of weird little platforms and pits where crucial alien equipment is located, and also where aliens hide. At least some of your agents will need to carry a Marsec chest plate so they can fly up to high spots - you don't want to be limited to using lifts and stairs. When it comes to the final mission to take out the dimension-gate generators, you need anti-alien gas, so make sure you capture the earlier alien queen alive. Bring along the gas in the form of lots of missiles, and use them widely to create a massive pink cloud of alien-poisoning death. The final mission has green reinforcement pads that are invincible, so don't bother trying to take them out with vortex mines. Just cover the pads with toxin-shooters so you don't get any nasty surprises, and take out the beam-generating towers. Just shoot the towers to disable them.

 

Be prepared for a real battle in the final mission. There will be well-armed skeletoids in a large swarm and several megaspawns. The longer you take, the more reinforcement will arrive.

 

Fight the good fight!

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the missing speed settings were the reason i played realtime, turn based is dreadfully slow in apoc.

Anyways I kept on rolling and captured a live megaspawn & psimorph and completed my toxin C requirements and finally got disrupter armor.

 

After steamrolling alien ships with the 94 dmg alien missile launchers for 5 weeks finally a shielded type 5 showed up and I could continue with my research of ship designs etc and now have annihilators battle ready. I'm taking the fight to the aliens now.

 

 

 

Also the aliens got very aggressive and started attacking companies. this led to a citywide split really since half the companies started lovin' the aliens for taking out their competitors and consequently got pissed when I attacked them from then on. Like... evonet, marsec, SELF, mutant alliance, technocrats. On the other side, gov/megapol/transtellar/nutrivend/Extropians etc can't stop loving me anymore no matter how much damage the city etc takes. Oh well, I guess it doesn't matter as long as i get my paychecks and transtellar helps me transport stuff from base to base. The aliens also decided its a good idea to infiltrate the cult of sirius, I hope those guys there are happy now.

 

 

Anyways, for fighting I usually send my 6 man squad of toxin C equipped flying/cloaked guys and hope for the best. massed dimension launchers can hurt a lot but i usually never lose more than 1 shield gen on 1 person now.

It's great to see that, once again, the aliens will get a taste of their own nasty medicine, this time from you. As for the aliens and their propensity to infiltrate the cult, yes, that should be what the cult wants. If you've ever tried to clean out an alien infiltration in a cult temple, you've found that the cult members and the aliens double up against you. In more careful games. I avoid dealing with infiltration at the cult. However, when an infiltration occurs later in the game, I'm only too happy to send in my top team of late-game stormtroopers or even commandos to give their double-team a hard whipping.

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By my reckoning the absolute best Annihlator kit consists of:

 

Weapons: Heavy Disrupter, Medium disrupter x2

Accessories: 2x large shields, 3x small shields

 

Any other variations are just for fun. ;) Although you might want to swap one shield out for a missile evasion matrix or an X-Com accuracy mod unit - however that's not ultimately necessary with the heap of shields you're packing as you can safely fight up close and personal. You might want to fit a Stassis missile launcher on one of the annihilators in your fleet, and manually switch the weapon on and off whenever you want to use it. Use it to get the drop on the enemy capital ships.

 

If you've got a lot of Annihilators (5 and up), consider arming one completely with 3 Plasma Missile Defence systems. You need this many to destroy disrupter inversion missiles - they take quite a beating, but three plasma defense systems should take them out. Again this is purely for fun.

 

3x Annihilators can comfortably wipe out the alien fleet in the alien dimension in one visit - although you can get away with 5x Explorers if you utilize a hit/run/rest strategy. Mega Primus defense works fine with your Hawks (I'd replace them with Explorers later on - they can stay flying indefinitely and carry the same firepower for slightly less shield space).

 

However, the more Annihilators the merrier. I usually end up selling my whole fleet except for 3 to 6 Annihilators and a Bio-Trans. Even the Bio-Trans isn't necessary if you fit a seat module in one of the Annihilators - but I like to keep it to make it easier to differentiate between a transport and an interceptor.

 

As for the alien dimension:

 

Cityscape:

 

- The left-most edge of the map is a great place to flee and rest up to recharge your shields, as the UFOs don't often wander too far off in that direction. They can follow you there if they're chasing you, but it's still a great place to flee and rest up. I recommend you send your ships flying here the moment you enter the alien dimension - split your ships up and enter each of the gates individually so that you can get ships to enter the alien dimension three at a time.

 

- If you want to use a hit/run/recharge strategy: Head of the side, and use the overhead map to watch UFO movement. When some get isolated, send your ships in and destroy it. Then head off back to the edge, recharge your shields and repeat this process. You'll eventually whittle down the fleet.

 

- Until you destroy the alien command centre, UFOs regenerate each week. This often consists of the two capital ships and either a bomber and an escort, or three scouts. Send your Annihilators on Sunday nights to wipe them out each week.

 

- UFOs in the alien dimension wander about the area aimlessly, unlike when they visit Mega Primus. Use this to your advantage. I find that if you set your ships up in a stationary semi-circle ahead of a UFO and make sure they're all pointing towards the UFO, they'll open fire on it once it comes in range and annihilate it very quickly. This comes from the fact that they're always pointing towards the UFO, so never get to waste the rate of fire of their weapons by spinning around. But with enough Annihilators, it isn't really necessary. Although I did wipe out a Battleship in under a few game seconds this way with 4 - 5 Annihilators, with only one Annihilator needing a bit of shield recharge time.

 

 

 

- To win the game, just destroy each building one after the other

 

Battlescape:

 

- Bring Vortex mines along. Plenty of them. You'll need them to destroy the orange reinforcement spawn pads. The mines are the only unedited weapon strong enough to destroy them - and they must be directly on the pads or just one tile off. Destroying the pads will make your alien dimension missions so much more pleasant.

 

- Some mission objectives might be obscure - just keep searching the map. Look for towers or underground tunnels if you just can't seem to find the last one.

 

- You destroy buildings by either clearing the mission objectives. You can then flee the mission or wipe out the aliens in the map. I highly recommend the latter.

 

- Be prepared to capture the Queenspawn if you want to upgrade to the anti-alien gas rockets and grenades. These weapons are late in appearing, but they are devastating against aliens (only) - probably embarrasses them to death by being pink. ;) Definitely worth getting if only to be used in the final mission. The queenspawn's tough, but not impossible to capture. Clear the map of all hostiles and reinforcement pads first, then use your wits to flank it - it can only attack forward.

 

Also I recommend waiting it out long enough for the personal teleporter to appear. That's the very last item of alien technology you can unlock, but boy is it worth it - you can wipe out an entire map with one agent and a power sword with good teleport micromanagement.

 

You can easily get it by just destroying the UFOs each week and bulk up your score level until it's high enough to unlock the teleporter. You'll need something like 100k points for it, but they are well worth the effort.

 

- NKF

Edited by NKF
Some corrections
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