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Exposure posted:
So you are saying that what we got as the third mainline XCOM title in the modern era is riddled with unfinished hatchet-jobs clearly put together from parts that do not fit into the overall original theme or design of the game. How... apocalyptic. EDIT: it actually fits nicely into the timeline, XCOM2 being "more everything" and definitely much more difficult than XCOM, so by this metric the next XCOM game will be something really esoteric like gardening or flight simulator, and the XCOM3 will be almost finished and then cancelled at the beta testing phase without any explanation. A couple of years later XCOM3: Retry will be announced but will die out even before the first art concepts are leaked. Later in 2030's someone finds out the buildable beta source of the XCOM3 from an abandoned USB drive, puts it publicly available and we find out it was a basically a mediocre Dead space 3 with XCOM IPR taped over the assets. Der Kyhe fucked around with this message at 17:27 on Jun 3, 2020 |
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Jun 3, 2020 17:18
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| # ? May 15, 2024 01:03 |
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So yeah about the last Gray Phoenix mission. I beat it but holy poo poo, gently caress that mission. Just got the psychics left and I will be done with the 3 factions.
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Jun 3, 2020 17:36
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I'm almost done with the game and it's pretty fun but I have some issues, mainly with how few healing options you have available (you either carry a medkit or your team has terminal permanently affixed), how the game really should reward you more for captures, and how the strategic layer seems pretty weak, especially once you hit the endgame and you're basically just bouncing cooldowns. E: like the enemies in this game do an insane amount of damage, most of them will do 5-7 damage per shot. Grapplejack fucked around with this message at 20:59 on Jun 3, 2020 |
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Jun 3, 2020 20:56
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Grapplejack posted:I'm almost done with the game and it's pretty fun but I have some issues, mainly with how few healing options you have available (you either carry a medkit or your team has terminal permanently affixed), how the game really should reward you more for captures, and how the strategic layer seems pretty weak, especially once you hit the endgame and you're basically just bouncing cooldowns. Respectully, outside of the very early game when you only have a bunch of rookies, if you're letting a lot of them live long enough to do damage to you, you're probably playing wrong. Megazver fucked around with this message at 21:20 on Jun 3, 2020 |
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Jun 3, 2020 21:17
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Any tips for the achievement for killing all the enemies in the breach? Does Easy reduce numbers that much? There always seem to be more than four. Unless I'm missing some Area of Effect breah attacks?
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Jun 3, 2020 21:36
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Doubtful Guest posted:Any tips for the achievement for killing all the enemies in the breach? Does Easy reduce numbers that much? There always seem to be more than four. Unless I'm missing some Area of Effect breah attacks? I think that's just getting lucky in the first few breaches of a new game. I haven't managed to get this one yet.
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Jun 3, 2020 21:53
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Megazver posted:Respectully, outside of the very early game when you only have a bunch of rookies, if you're letting a lot of them live long enough to do damage to you, you're probably playing wrong. When you can burn all of your skills, sure, but if you're at a 2 or 3 encounter mission you're going to take some hits Maybe I'm playing too aggressively because of terminal's free heal
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Jun 3, 2020 22:36
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Grapplejack posted:When you can burn all of your skills, sure, but if you're at a 2 or 3 encounter mission you're going to take some hits There's really only a few enemies you absolutely need to kill before they act like Ronin or Codexes or the Shieldbearer types. After that it's just a matter of disabling or focus firing as needed
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Jun 3, 2020 22:43
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Der Kyhe posted:So you are saying that what we got as the third mainline XCOM title in the modern era is riddled with unfinished hatchet-jobs clearly put together from parts that do not fit into the overall original theme or design of the game. How... apocalyptic. Hmm, it'd probably be a dating sim.
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Jun 3, 2020 23:19
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Grapplejack posted:When you can burn all of your skills, sure, but if you're at a 2 or 3 encounter mission you're going to take some hits You spread that stuff out. Claymore using motile in the first two encounters on Blueblood and Teaming Up with him in the third encounter, coupled with a very judicious use of capstones, is usually enough to wipe out most of the enemies in the first half of the initiative order, unless you're, like, fighting one of the big deal purple missions.
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Jun 4, 2020 00:09
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Mr.Pibbleton posted:Hmm, it'd probably be a dating sim. Forget saving Bradford's sweater from the aliens. For this mission, we'll be getting him out of it. 
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Jun 4, 2020 02:08
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Grapplejack posted:When you can burn all of your skills, sure, but if you're at a 2 or 3 encounter mission you're going to take some hits i personally don't agree with that post in a world where Progeny exists. the entire loving faction is built around soulfiring your boys and there's very little you can do about that. like we can have a bigger and better and more full discussion about the rest of the game but i continue to be super suspicious of people trying to turn using terminal into the mark of the bads in chimera squad. she does make the game a lot easier but the game's design is set up such that it unfairly weights her abilities. not using terminal is just necessarily going to mean more scars and more risk than if you brought her in a large number of situations, especially when the Progeny are involved. xcom has always been a game about reducing risks in risky situations so recognizing her value just seems like proper evaluation to me.
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Jun 4, 2020 03:44
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Coolguye posted:i personally don't agree with that post in a world where Progeny exists. the entire loving faction is built around soulfiring your boys and there's very little you can do about that. Late game you can pretty safely ditch her, even on impossible, if you bring my boy Axiom. Mostly because 'shrug it off' and his innate regen are stupidly good, you don't need healing if you're only hit for 4 damage a turn that you heal off anyways!
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Jun 4, 2020 03:46
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Doubtful Guest posted:Any tips for the achievement for killing all the enemies in the breach? Does Easy reduce numbers that much? There always seem to be more than four. Unless I'm missing some Area of Effect breah attacks? It really only seems possible on easy, on the very first breach. Bring Godmother, Axiom, Claymore, (all the shotgun people) and not-Zephyr.
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Jun 4, 2020 05:09
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Terminal isnt top just because of her healing. Its the combination of healing, giving a free turn to anyone, an extremely potent delay that works on everything, an extra utility slot to carry 3 of grenade/ammo/Motile/Disc , mitigation on demand, and having access to one of the most potent DPS moves in Guardian. She brings so much stuff to the table that she just fits in perfectly in any situation while always being useful.
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Jun 4, 2020 07:09
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Shoenin posted:Terminal isnt top just because of her healing.
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Jun 4, 2020 07:18
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CapnAndy posted:She’s also a free door hack, which frees up a breach slot for more gently caress-you grenades because now you don’t need to bring an auto key card. I like that her clutch heal ability is a third slot action, too. Roar, grenade, and heal your team!
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Jun 4, 2020 08:07
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Der Kyhe posted:So you are saying that what we got as the third mainline XCOM title in the modern era is riddled with unfinished hatchet-jobs clearly put together from parts that do not fit into the overall original theme or design of the game. How... apocalyptic. 
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Jun 4, 2020 15:36
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  That last mission was a ride, I ended up having to chain heals on godmother since the snakes kept chainbinding her. Very fun, felt kind of dry on the strategic layer tbh, there's not much for you to do. The only time I openly panicked was the surprise at the end of grey phoenix. Granted I dealt with it before it could do anything but what a horrifying thing to run into, especially in a game with segmented actions like this one. So actual question: did anyone ever actually bother with the androids? Why are they there
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Jun 4, 2020 19:18
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Grapplejack posted:
I never used androids. Their utility is very limited because their purpose is to sub in for someone who gets downed between encounters, but usually the first couple of encounters of any mission are a breeze anyway so the only time you're likely to have anyone go down is at the end where you won't be able to replace them with an android anyway.
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Jun 4, 2020 19:24
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Grapplejack posted:So actual question: did anyone ever actually bother with the androids? Why are they there Option to limp through to the end vs forced into a failure cascade, I guess, without letting you plan on having a real B-team ready to step in Some people do no-reloads runs etc
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Jun 4, 2020 20:22
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Grapplejack posted:So actual question: did anyone ever actually bother with the androids? Why are they there They're probably a vestigal element of an earlier design for the game, where you had a greater use/need for extra manpower. Maybe it was originally planned that you would have multiple bases/precincts/squads and had to decide whether to upgrade your agents or give them Android backup.
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Jun 4, 2020 20:52
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Grapplejack posted:So actual question: did anyone ever actually bother with the androids? Why are they there  bullshit on Encounter 1 or 2 so that you're not shorthanded for the rest of the mission, obviously.But yeah, I never bothered outfitting them even after I unlocked modular androids because... why? It's gonna be on the bench 99% of the time and I need those items to actually get used.
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Jun 4, 2020 20:53
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The androids could've been cool if you just always had a 5th soldier who was always a droid who didn't gain xp but also could get annihilated every mission with no consequences, and you could invest research and parts to make them better or just not care and use them as cannon fodder.
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Jun 4, 2020 21:08
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The Cheshire Cat posted:I never used androids. Same but also I don't even know how to use them in the first place. I assumed they'd just jump in whenever one of my guys went down ; but I've had that happen a couple of times and no androids - is there some UI button I've missed ? And if so... why ?! Is there some sort of penalty or cost for calling in the Iron Legion ?
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Jun 4, 2020 21:36
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Holy gently caress the archon ruler. That's an immediate evac. Evaced a supply raid and it said I completed the objective, lol whatever. Even the game knows it's total bullshit.
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Jun 4, 2020 21:50
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Supply raids are a success even if you only get one crate
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Jun 4, 2020 21:58
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Kobal2 posted:Same but also I don't even know how to use them in the first place. I assumed they'd just jump in whenever one of my guys went down ; but I've had that happen a couple of times and no androids - is there some UI button I've missed ? And if so... why ?! Is there some sort of penalty or cost for calling in the Iron Legion ?
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Jun 4, 2020 22:51
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Kobal2 posted:Same but also I don't even know how to use them in the first place. I assumed they'd just jump in whenever one of my guys went down ; but I've had that happen a couple of times and no androids - is there some UI button I've missed ? And if so... why ?! Is there some sort of penalty or cost for calling in the Iron Legion ? They only jump in on the next encounter and you have to have bought androids at the supply shop first.
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Jun 4, 2020 22:51
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Whelp, I have confirmed that Big Boss could CQC a sectopod to death.
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Jun 5, 2020 00:24
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yeah androids coming in after the encounter is pretty lame. Kind of makes them essentially never showup.
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Jun 5, 2020 03:18
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I feel like they had an idea for some sort of reinforcement mechanic for cs where in bigger missions someone could maybe get called in but the “in between Android” is what got left over when they cut it.
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Jun 5, 2020 21:57
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Replaying Enemy Within and struck again by how out of place EXALT feels. I'm in the middle of an escalating alien invasion and I have to pause to go completely murder some half-assed frat boy cult. They're feeble combatants to boot, and I felt embarrassed for them and their evil genius penthouse as I farmed them for kill xp for my squaddies. I have to imagine Firaxis originally had more ambitious plans for them and the expansion? It feels like a distraction from the actual story and a waste of effort/assets that could have gone into making more aliens and mission types.
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Jun 6, 2020 02:45
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Fintilgin posted:Replaying Enemy Within and struck again by how out of place EXALT feels. I mean, on paper the concept isn't so bad - "here, see how you like fighting with guys who have the exact same skills/weapons you do". There's a reason why almost every superhero movie ends up being a mirror match (well, there's many, really). Beating your own, just_as_overpowered dark mirror is a whole Thing. The issue is that, as you say, my dark mirror is a bunch of absolute chumps. That I can entirely disable more or less whenever I need to (Time Walk is a balanced card, right ?). And who zerg capture points out of cover like so many 14 yr old Call of Duty rageoids. ETA : also, while the whole "shadowy mystery" thing is/was cool at first ; it's never really explained who the gently caress these people *are* or why they try to gently caress with you in the first place. Are they mind controlled ? If so, why don't aliens jab themselves in the neck to prevent capture ? Have they been in talks/allied with the aliens, "we'll let you rule the ashes, pinkie swear" type thing ? They have advanced/alien tech, but it's sort of implied they got there just like you by reverse-engineering it from dead aliens (or even by hacking/copyright infringing X-Com stuff, which would explain their Geosphere); so does that mean they also fight aliens when they're not loving with you ? Who's funding all their toys and poo poo, since I'm the darling of every government in the world - are they, like, the mafia, the Axis of Evil, what ? We don't know. They just... suddenly exist. And then they suddenly don't, and that's that. I don't think they're ever mentioned in X-Com 2 or Chimera squad (but then again why would they, since they're just figments in the Matrix/the aliens trying to learn how the Commander would go about killing X-com kinda guys ?) Kobal2 fucked around with this message at 03:07 on Jun 6, 2020 |
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Jun 6, 2020 02:56
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Look, Bradford was trying his best
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Jun 6, 2020 03:13
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Ardlen posted:Someone has to go down and there needs to be another encounter where you'll bring them instead of the casualty. If it is your last encounter of the mission you won't get a robot. There's no penalty, although I think repairs afterwards cost something. Ah, thanks, that would be it then - fatalities tend to only happen in the final clusterfuck (or on highway escort missions because fuckin' 'ell, that's a lot of explosive only-half-cover).
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Jun 6, 2020 03:18
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EXALT are a perfectly good rookie/squaddie training ground for late-game reinforcements if your A team takes a casualty also in Chimera today I learned that Shelter has a thing for Zephyr and of course they found out in the most embarrassing way possible. thankfully, as professionals, it never came up again 
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Jun 6, 2020 03:33
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Kobal2 posted:I mean, on paper the concept isn't so bad - "here, see how you like fighting with guys who have the exact same skills/weapons you do". There's a reason why almost every superhero movie ends up being a mirror match (well, there's many, really). Beating your own, just_as_overpowered dark mirror is a whole Thing. I think there's even a Council mission where you do capture one alive and Bradford says something like "finally we'll get some answers" with 0 follow-up. But the most half-assed thing about them was their final mission which doesn't feature a leader or special character of any kind. At least Firaxis learned from this mistake and ended Chimera Squad by introducing a last-minute evil mastermind out of nowhere that's a normal enemy with a name over his head and 2 "greater good" lines of dialogue.
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Jun 6, 2020 03:56
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I liked how Speedball's LP of Enemy Within made EXALT into white supremacists trying to steal alien tech to keep the status quo going.
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Jun 6, 2020 05:03
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Avasculous posted:I think there's even a Council mission where you do capture one alive and Bradford says something like "finally we'll get some answers" with 0 follow-up. The follow up to him was actually the dam mission where you find the French psychic. If I remember right there was a blurb about Exalt trying to get her back from the aliens, and the ensuing firefight was why the dam was already shot to poo poo when you arrive. Afterwards, Vahlen describes her as having "focused mental trauma" or something similar. So, the implication is that Exalt had their own Psi program, and the aliens caught wind of it.
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Jun 6, 2020 05:59
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