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a cow posted:I much prefer XCOM EW's meld rewarding non-slow play. Getting punished for "wrong" play feels bad - being rewarded for "correct" play feels good. Our perception of wrong is much stronger than of right (that's just how the human brain is wired I guess) so yeah what you said is very true.
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Jun 23, 2017 23:47
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So actually owning the game proper now and excited for the next dlc, I was checking the mods list of what I needed and saw that retroactive AWC isn't on there. Is it not needed anymore?
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Jun 23, 2017 23:52
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InfinityComplex posted:So actually owning the game proper now and excited for the next dlc, I was checking the mods list of what I needed and saw that retroactive AWC isn't on there. Is it not needed anymore? You still need it for now probably. AWC is being overhauled in the expansion so it'll be obsolete then.
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Jun 23, 2017 23:54
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Any advice on class overhauls? I started fresh as far as mods go, using A Better Advent as a base, a bunch of outfits. Started with Paragon Class Rebalance, but what is changed feels like change for the sake of change. How do the LW classes play, and what would be a good Spark rework to use?
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Jun 24, 2017 01:18
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winterwerefox posted:Any advice on class overhauls? I started fresh as far as mods go, using A Better Advent as a base, a bunch of outfits. Started with Paragon Class Rebalance, but what is changed feels like change for the sake of change. How do the LW classes play, and what would be a good Spark rework to use? The only SPARK class reworks are the SPARK Pugilist class, which is an optional class they can promote into instead of the normal SPARK class, and the one built into Long War 2 (its not part of the perk pack)
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Jun 24, 2017 02:15
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winterwerefox posted:Any advice on class overhauls? I started fresh as far as mods go, using A Better Advent as a base, a bunch of outfits. Started with Paragon Class Rebalance, but what is changed feels like change for the sake of change. How do the LW classes play, and what would be a good Spark rework to use? Honestly, the Long War classes feel good - though they are definitely an overall power increase from the base classes, significantly so. They feel kind of... incomplete next to the full version of the classes in full-on Long War, but even in this state, they're a huge improvement on the base classes... but I would definitely recommend an increased squadsize mod, since there are almost twice as many classes as in the base game. Bigger squad is especially important if you're running A Better ADVENT 2. The Sharpshooter doesn't fundamentally change that much. It just gives more options - though their base ability to Steady Weapon for an aim bonus on their next turn can come in very handy; a stationary sniper is, IMO, by far the most likely class to get use out of such an ability, so it's nice that they get it by default. The Ranger is now a full-out Assault Rifle class. Starts Light 'Em Up which is basically Bullet Swarm from EU/EW if you're not familiar with Long War perks. Gets lots of various Overwatch tricks, and also tricks to make him better at just straight-up shooting, including perks that just increase the damage of his assault rifle. They have a pistol secondary, but it feels like an empty slot when you're this good with an assault rifle. The Specialist is largely unchanged, though they get a whole bunch of extra tricks, and they start with Haywire Protocol rather than having to give up something else to get it. Among other things, they can get a free Flashbang or smoke grenade, freeing up inventory slots for other stuff. The Gunner is basically the vanilla Grenadier minus the Grenade launcher. He's all about the gun and heavy firepower. He starts with an AoE suppression ability, letting you suppress multiple targets at once; though if a single one moves, the shot that gets taken releases everybody from the suppression. He'll get getting perks that make him better at standard shots, overwatch/suppression, or get access to various special shots like Hail of Bullets or Rupture. Much like the Ranger, he has a pistol, but again, it feels like an empty slot. Grenadier. He has an assault rifle instead of a cannon to back up the grenades, and he can get a few perks to compliment it, but he gets a lot more fun tricks to do with the grenade launcher along the way. Assaults are the classic assaults from EW, complete with starting with Run 'n' Gun. Very powerful, and they even get access to an old favorite: Close Combat Specialist, allowing them to take that free shot at anything that moves within 4 squares if you choose it. They have a sword, if you want, but there's SO Much more they can do with guns. The Shinobi is basically an XCom2 vanilla Ranger with more stealth, and assault rifles instead of shotguns. They *start* with Phantom, so they're pidgeonholed into that kind of role from the start. They pick up some powerful perks along the way though, and can becomes fantastic swordsmen, or deadly flanking scouts. BlazetheInferno fucked around with this message at 03:47 on Jun 24, 2017 |
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Jun 24, 2017 03:44
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Zore posted:The only SPARK class reworks are the SPARK Pugilist class, which is an optional class they can promote into instead of the normal SPARK class, and the one built into Long War 2 (its not part of the perk pack) There's also a pack of SPARK classes by bg based loosely on LW1 MECs. I've never actually used them, though.
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Jun 24, 2017 04:15
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Played with the LW 2 perk classes some. They feel like familiar, evolved versions of LW 1 classes. Running with starting squad of 6. getting back into the hang of XCom. I bought Shen's gift, got distracted with college, and now im coming back having never owned a single Spark, but loved LW 1's mecs, only to read about how sparks seem to be lacking.
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Jun 24, 2017 08:25
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Personally I never agreed with the thread's overall (largely uncontested) conclusion that sparks are poor. They're fairly limited in what they do but they make great shock troops and are good front line proactive/reactive shooters with a bit of flexibility. I usually only field one though, while in EW a whole squad of MECs was feasible (if you could ever afford it).
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Jun 24, 2017 08:33
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i like sparks but to be clear the main reason most people rag on them is less that they're bad and more that they cost an awful lot for what they do.
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Jun 24, 2017 08:37
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Yeah, SPARKs have amazing burst potential even in vanilla because of Overdrive and having a free heavy weapon. Their biggest issue is really that they're sort of a jack of all trades unit. They have remote hacking, though no bonuses so they can't match specialists. They have the free heavy weapon/a perk for shooting their BIT as an explosive but not as many charges as a Grenadier along with Shred. They have a melee attack... on a cooldown. They're tankier than any Bio-soldier, but not enough to weather a pod's full attacks. That being said they have some unique strengths with Overdrive and being able to deploy when damaged (which you can heal up in the field with the repair perk). They can become surprisingly decent at shooting, and will be much better with the expansion adding extra base Aim and mods to their weapons so you can slap on a scope. And their weapons do deal a whole bunch of damage. I think with Aim and Health buffs they're basically competitive with all the vanilla classes bar Psi-Ops. The biggest worry I have is that one of the new classes seems to have stolen their multi-action niche without the downsides.
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Jun 24, 2017 11:31
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Has anyone run a full-SPARK squad?
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Jun 24, 2017 12:55
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The thing about Sparks I found most useful was the inherent shredding and the fact that because they're never behind cover the AI treats them as a priority. So make use them to make contact then use your support to slap an aid buff on them and the aliens will waste all their shots on it. Bonus if you have intimidate so pod panics and starts shooting itself. The integral heavy weapon is also really useful for when you absolutely must make a pod (or two) disappear. But at the end of the day that 'deploy while damaged' thing is the hint at how Firaxis expects them to be used - when your A squad is hosed up and your B squad is incomplete and you need to go to the next mission with the intention of making everything in sight explode, completing the objective, and getting the gently caress out.
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Jun 24, 2017 15:29
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Vib Rib posted:Personally I never agreed with the thread's overall (largely uncontested) conclusion that sparks are poor. They're fairly limited in what they do but they make great shock troops and are good front line proactive/reactive shooters with a bit of flexibility. I usually only field one though, while in EW a whole squad of MECs was feasible (if you could ever afford it). I did a mixed MEC/SHIV in late game and it was really amazing not having to worry about cover, especially with SHIV regeneration.
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Jun 24, 2017 16:00
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If I wanted to play LW2, what tweaks, additional mods, or general tips and tactics would people suggest? I had a love/hate thing with LW1 because it added some really neat stuff while making certain parts of the game truly intolerable, such as the air war and some missions' enemy numbers. I'd like tog et a grasp of what people feel about it before I commit to a full game of it.
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Jun 24, 2017 22:14
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Mr.Pibbleton posted:I did a mixed MEC/SHIV in late game and it was really amazing not having to worry about cover, especially with SHIV regeneration.
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Jun 24, 2017 22:24
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The Lone Badger posted:Has anyone run a full-SPARK squad? I did for the "hijack the relay" mission. It's a pretty good mission for it.
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Jun 24, 2017 22:30
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Sparks make a good case for replacing any other injured class. Sure, they can't hack enemies like a Specialist but they sure can hack objectives. They get a Heavy Weapon so they can sub for your second Grenadier. It feels right having six classes for six squad slots.
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Jun 24, 2017 23:17
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Sparks mostly just act as bullet magnets for me; they either die or suffer so much damage by the half-point of a mission that I need to pull them back and treat them like snipers or just keep them out of harms way. I'd say they're disposable like SHIVs but they cost far too much and die to easily to be worth using.
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Jun 24, 2017 23:24
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Once you get repair on Sparks they become effectively immortal. A pair of Sparks can keep healing each other back to full and can even deploy while wounded and patch up in the field. At that point they are really only gonna die if they sustain massive damage in a single turn. Which is certainly possible, but death from attrition is no longer a concern. Also their durability improves a lot if you protect them with smoke grenades, just like SHIVS and MECs in EW.
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Jun 25, 2017 00:39
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Does the robot repair on hacked drones work on sparks?
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Jun 25, 2017 00:46
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During the LW2 missions where there's no time limit but you must infiltrate to 100%, like the investigate the facility/liberate a sector type missions, does over infiltration do anything at all, or is there just a fixed number of enemies and it doesn't matter?
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Jun 25, 2017 02:07
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SHIVs let you perform shock tactics to break enemies entrenched in high cover: chaaaarge in, smash their lines, flank them and force them to reposition to low cover, instead of barraging them with artillery or sniper fire.
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Jun 25, 2017 02:14
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Alchenar posted:But at the end of the day that 'deploy while damaged' thing is the hint at how Firaxis expects them to be used - when your A squad is hosed up and your B squad is incomplete and you need to go to the next mission with the intention of making everything in sight explode, completing the objective, and getting the gently caress out. Yeah, one of my best victories in XCOM 2 came right after a mission that, while successful, ended with three critical injuries, two KIAs, and one captured soldier. At the end of a series of increasingly disastrous missions. When the next mission came around, the only team I had to field was four rookies and a partly-damaged SPARK. Came out the other side with no injuries or deaths (besides more damage on the SPARK), thanks to its drawing fire, overdrive, rocket, etc. God bless those durable murder machines.
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Jun 25, 2017 02:19
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Heffer posted:Does the robot repair on hacked drones work on sparks?
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Jun 25, 2017 04:03
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Vib Rib posted:Drones are in XCOM 1. Sparks are in XCOM 2. Long War and A Better ADVENT say otherwise.
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Jun 25, 2017 04:14
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I'm pretty sure LW2/ABA Drones don't have repair, though, which is what dude was asking about.
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Jun 25, 2017 04:28
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LW2 Drones certainly have a repair ability if you hack them. I've never had a chance to try it on sparks before though.
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Jun 25, 2017 04:43
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counterfeitsaint posted:LW2 Drones certainly have a repair ability if you hack them. I've never had a chance to try it on sparks before though. It does Repair Sparks, Drones are my favorite hack target nowadays, they are decent at dodging fire and the Stun is incredible.
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Jun 25, 2017 04:46
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PiCroft posted:If I wanted to play LW2, what tweaks, additional mods, or general tips and tactics would people suggest? I had a love/hate thing with LW1 because it added some really neat stuff while making certain parts of the game truly intolerable, such as the air war and some missions' enemy numbers. I'd like tog et a grasp of what people feel about it before I commit to a full game of it. Depending on how you feel about timers you might want to get True Concealment for LW or some other timer mod because timed missions are a big part of LW too. On the other hand, you get officer abilities to extend timers for a cost, so a mod is vital only if you really hate timers.
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Jun 25, 2017 04:47
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If you've got the time and the willingness to dig into LW2's .inis you can fiddle with a lot of stuff, too. They all have enough comments and documentation that you can quickly figure out what each setting does and why or why not you might want to change said setting, including timers.
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Jun 25, 2017 04:52
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Just caught up on beagle's streams. Man, I can see why people wouldn't like his streams now but I'm having a blast watching them. I actually stopped watching him for a bit when he seemed to get really really upset at the game and sounded like he was miserable when he was playing it. Now the stream is filled with silly gimmicks(...that I admit I enjoy) and the guy at least sounds like he's having fun with the game now, which is fun to watch and also just in general, good for him that he's having fun now. Plus I love his streams when they are closer to overt silliness than serious pro starts, so really enjoying them now.
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Jun 25, 2017 20:37
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I'm enjoying his streams because he's loving up and getting people killed.
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Jun 25, 2017 21:21
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Darkrenown posted:Depending on how you feel about timers you might want to get True Concealment for LW or some other timer mod because timed missions are a big part of LW too. On the other hand, you get officer abilities to extend timers for a cost, so a mod is vital only if you really hate timers. Xarbala posted:If you've got the time and the willingness to dig into LW2's .inis you can fiddle with a lot of stuff, too. I dived into it blind and I have to say the whole feel of the game is completely different. Accuracy is massively changed which makes firefights quite interesting (I'm still not sure I like how my accuracy is almost always <50% even for fairly sure-thing shots, but I notice that the enemy seems to have the same issue so I can live with it). I quite like the new infiltration mechanic. The game now feels a lot more like what I thought it would be like back when I was devouring the trailers and game teasers. I find it weird that given the game has a much different approach to missions that you can't pick up the bodies of enemies to bring back - I half expected to be able to on my last mission but you can't. My medkit equipped soldiers even have a sedate item but apparently it can only be used on your own troops? Not sure why that's a thing. I'm really enjoying it. Several squads, their size and configuration of which determines how easy it is to infiltrate, makes it a lot more interesting and worthwhile to build up a cadre of soldiers with specific builds and skillsets to make them loud, explodey gatecrashers or sneaky hackers. I also find the turn timers pretty generous, but I have the timer mod active so maybe I'm not seeing the true turn limits, but whatever - I find the current settings to be just right. Altogether I'm very happy - it's pretty clear they cooperated with Firaxis because the quality is so good I'd have taken it for a DLC.
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Jun 26, 2017 00:17
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With respect to the timers, a lot of them were massively buffed in a recent patch (well, the timers were increased but they also sped up Advent reinforcements a bit, apparently, so it might average out to a bit of a wash) so people's advice regarding them may be out of date. I know I used to use True Concealment with LW2, but I disabled it for my most recent restart because it honestly kind of feels unnecessary now. (then again I am only playing on Veteran so maybe they're harsher on higher difficulty levels.) I recall that there's a mod that lets you carry corpses out, "Extract Corpses" or something like that. The dev, Maluco Marinero, posts ITT so he can probably tell you how compatible with LW2 it is - I don't know since I don't use it. Dallan Invictus fucked around with this message at 02:29 on Jun 26, 2017 |
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Jun 26, 2017 02:26
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Alchenar posted:Because it's a terrible option next to either versions of the scope or extra ammo/reloads or even just a stock. This is freaking me the hell out, because that dude was NOT there when I played. I just got into XCOM 2 recently, and I've watched that intro three times in the past three weeks, and at no point was there a weird goofy-head alien doing magic. Maybe it's because of the expansions, because I don't have any of them.
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Jun 26, 2017 02:37
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Dallan Invictus posted:I recall that there's a mod that lets you carry corpses out, "Extract Corpses" or something like that. The dev, Maluco Marinero, posts ITT so he can probably tell you how compatible with LW2 it is - I don't know since I don't use it. Yeah, it's compatible. If you add the mod in mid-mission, it won't actually work til the next mission, but other than that it's fine.
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Jun 26, 2017 03:28
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Maluco Marinero posted:Yeah, it's compatible. If you add the mod in mid-mission, it won't actually work til the next mission, but other than that it's fine. What got you into modding? Do you code for a living or is it just a hobby kind of thing?
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Jun 26, 2017 03:38
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John Lee posted:This is freaking me the hell out, because that dude was NOT there when I played. I just got into XCOM 2 recently, and I've watched that intro three times in the past three weeks, and at no point was there a weird goofy-head alien doing magic. Maybe it's because of the expansions, because I don't have any of them. That video was posted literally on XCOM 2's release date, so yeah he was.
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Jun 26, 2017 05:05
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It's the sort of thing you don't really notice until someone points it out, and then it's all What The Fuuuuu-
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Jun 26, 2017 05:06
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