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XCOMUFO & Xenocide

X-corps Strikes Back!


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Topic says it all. I've been doing another Apocalypse runthrough on Hard and I learnt a few new things; (so far we're on Week 10)

 

Any Post-Transporter ship will yield the three core systems (Propulsion, Control, Energy), not just the Transporter. Thus it is entirely possible to develop a fully fledged "full-tech" ground force and be at the point where you could develop the Annihilator long before being able to develop the Biotrans (sadly, a prereq to the Annihilator, which is irritating) entering the Alien Dimension, to the point where it looks like you might be caught in a situation where striking back may be impossible.

 

Mega-Primarian Politics give me a headache.

 

Diablo really are the most mother****ing stupid gang in Mega-Primus.

 

Diablo have far too many illegal fliers for their own good.

 

It's possible to become Allied or non-Hostile with an Alien-Controlled Corporation (even the Cult!) through certain events, even if one is doing very well against the aliens themselves.

 

"Surrender" is not a word in the X-COM dictionary.

 

Hawks and Valkyries are excellent in groups at high tech levels, and can take down unescorted Battleships and Motherships fairly easily.

 

Dimension Probes have more armour (but not more constitution) than Hawks, and can fit a Light Disruptor Beam. Naturally, this means they can be used as hoverbikes on crack for the purpose of swarming.

 

It's possible to inflict ~$500k-$1m of damage on a corporation in a single day through three aerial combats, two cityscape demolition operations and one base assault.

 

And there you have it! ^_^

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They could be the X-Korps, or it's just an Ex-Corpse. Bleah.

 

 

It's possible to become Allied or non-Hostile with an Alien-Controlled Corporation (even the Cult!) through certain events, even if one is doing very well against the aliens themselves.

 

Do you mean as in 100% infiltrated, or they're just at the point where they're no longer accepting bribes and think of the aliens as their "friends"? Happens a lot if the aliens do some serious damage to buildings owned by their fans.

 

"Surrender" is not a word in the X-COM dictionary.

 

Definitely not : but tactical retreat is!;)

 

Hawks and Valkyries are excellent in groups at high tech levels, and can take down unescorted Battleships and Motherships fairly easily.

 

I probably wouldn't throw the Valkyries in except as a distraction, but the Hawks have the capacity for a medium disrupter, one of the few weapons that'll damage a capital ship hull at a reasonable rate (apparently the lineage plasma cannon isn't that effective against the capital ship hull on superhuman level). Given a decent number (4 or more), they'll easily pulverize any small group of UFOs that enter the city.

 

Dimension Probes have more armour (but not more constitution) than Hawks, and can fit a Light Disruptor Beam. Naturally, this means they can be used as hoverbikes on crack for the purpose of swarming.

 

I agree - but they'll take a while to get built though. Not a problem if you've got multiple large workshops running. Then again, you probably don't need to resort to swarming by the time you can build them - unless you really want to. ;)

 

Another good weapon to bolt on would be the multi-plasma - although it would require the probe to dock at a base with elerium every so often.

 

 

- NKF

Edited by NKF
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X-Corps != X-Com :P

 

You don't say. :P It's a long story as to why I've started using X-Corps for this run through.

 

Do you mean as in 100% infiltrated, or they're just at the point where they're no longer accepting bribes and think of the aliens as their "friends"? Happens a lot if the aliens do some serious damage to buildings owned by their fans.

 

Fully infiltrated as far as I know (it shows 100%, and there were takeover messages). Psyke are neutral, Sensovision are allied... it's quite confusing. I guess I've managed to confuse the game by blowing a pair of Diablo slums to smithereens. heck, I was losing a bit of rep with the government as well, but I guess they like that X-COM is taking a hard stance on illegal activity when they're not exterminating alien invaders.

 

I probably wouldn't throw the Valkyries in except as a distraction, but the Hawks have the capacity for a medium disrupter, one of the few weapons that'll damage a capital ship hull at a reasonable rate (apparently the lineage plasma cannon isn't that effective against the capital ship hull on superhuman level). Given a decent number (4 or more), they'll easily pulverize any small group of UFOs that enter the city.

 

My wallet is not bottomless, sadly, and there are just not enough Hawks on market to do that. The Valks are armed with plasma cannons and prophet missiles, and I've also considered experimenting with the larger tacnuke warheaded missiles for large ship killing, but that's a moot point seeing as we already killed them all so far. Besides, it beats using those pansy-donkey laser guns which are only good for killing their shields.

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No you cannot afford a huge fleet of Hawks - but you should be able to scrounge up enough cash to get at least 4 or 5 of them over the course of a few game weeks or months. Early on I usually sell my Valkyrie to get just that little bit more cash for one more Hawk! ;)

 

The lasers are useless against capital ship hulls but at least they're great penny-savers on the cannon fodder, letting you save up your elerium and rockets for the bigger fish.

 

The one shot missiles aren't that hot on their own, although they do pack a punch. You might need to invest in a small fleet of hovercars and fire the lot against a single UFO.

 

- NKF

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about the corporations thing, In my apoc games there is always a big "split" in allegiance after half of the game, because after a certain time the aliens become very aggressive and destroy corporations buildings etc. This will make the opposite corporation "love" the aliens for taking out their competitors. So when you attack the aliens, your relationship with those companies will go down the drain very quickly.
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about the corporations thing, In my apoc games there is always a big "split" in allegiance after half of the game, because after a certain time the aliens become very aggressive and destroy corporations buildings etc. This will make the opposite corporation "love" the aliens for taking out their competitors. So when you attack the aliens, your relationship with those companies will go down the drain very quickly.

 

 

I seem to remember NKF suggesting that you could park a hoverbike or two near these corporations' buildings and set them not to fire. When the aliens drop in, try to position your hoverbike(s) in order to draw alien fire towards these buildings. As the aliens do collateral damage against these foolhardy orgs, their relations will suffer.

 

I usually just pay them off, but this does work from time to time. Perhaps NKF or j'ordos or another serious veteran could clarify.

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The corporations get madder and madder (to clarify: they go insane) as the game progresses and the aliens and you make a mess of the city. I mean, Lifetree or Evonet raiding the Senate? Marsec attacking the Gravball League? Nutrivend attacking X-Com? Some dispute over whether or not to put Nutrivend Nutrient Paste™ dispensers in the base?

 

The faster you bring the UFOs to their knees on their home ground, the madder it will get. Which is a good reason to gain air superiority in the alien dimension FAST - hence my keenness on using Explorers to annihilate the UFO fleet! :D

 

---

 

Yeah, any action you take that causes a UFO to damage a building owned by any of your allies or the fans of the aliens' will be good for your public relations (as long as you don't do any damage). Just make sure you've built up a positive number of activity points to cover the damage done to the city.

 

The Apocalypse Mission where the aliens go amok and destroy a few selected targets with some of their heavy ships is good too - as long as none of your bases are targeted. Yes, just leave them alone - and the affected organizations will start to see that X-Com's not just a two-bit money drain filled with asylum tenants - and is in fact crucial for the defense of the city. ;)

 

The best is perhaps the Overspawn drops. Unless they are trampling on your buildings, leave them alone. Their movement pattern is utterly random. They get given an order to move in a random direction every so often. If strategically placed (i.e. the aliens stuffed up), they'll flatten buildings owned by companies allied with them without even realising it. Got the Cult of Sirius allied with me after the overspud destroyed The Temple of the Apocalypse (Superhuman map - a few blocks away from the legendary X-Com Recyclotorium).

 

- NKF

Edited by NKF
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Meh, I usually don't mess with politics. My bases are well built, so any invasions are usually blown away before they leave the vehicle bay/access lift.

 

I will do virtually anything to keep Transtellar happy, however. And that is no easy task.

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Ah, the wonders of a belt or hallway of plasma defence stations (or disrupter stations - depending on which gun formation you need). They'll usually whittle most of the attackers to nothing before you get to bear your own guns on them - and they also make great decoys. They make base raids (in real-time) fun.

 

Transtellar isn't absolutely necessary, you can easily make do without them by manually moving your ships and troops about to the storehouses to pick up their upgrades and ammo.

 

However, Transtellar's taxi service (for transport of techs - thanks to their affinity at getting stranded forever if walking on foot) is certainly a much appreciated convenience.

 

- NKF

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