ShneekeyTheLost
2015-03-09, 10:31 PM
No, really. It doesn't matter which X-COM you are talking about, all the way back to the one on my old DOS system. The computer is a cheap, cheating bastard. Which is, of course, half the reason we play it and why kicking its arse anyway is so damn satisfying!
So, I just picked up the bundled pack with Enemy Unknown, Enemy Within, and all DLC for $12.50 on Steam, and it now is available for Linux-based OS, which is double-plus good! Since I was running through the original before delving into EW, I'm reminded of a few builds I've made that have been effective, and figured I could share them, and others could share theirs. Plus, yanno, any other kind of XCOM chatter.
For Heavies, I have two main builds:
Moar Dakka: Bullet Swarm, Shredder Rocket, HEAT, Danger Zone, Mayhem.
This is your balls-to-the-wall damage output gun bunny. He's equipped with a SCOPE for additional accuracy so bullet swarm can do something other than miss twice as often (insert monk flurry of misses joke here). This is the guy you want around when the Sectopod shows up. Two rounds from HEAT ammo is enough to really bring the pain on one of those suckers. Plus he's got both Danger Zone and Mayhem to make his rockets more effective, and a shredder rocket to also help assist in even more kills and take out cover.
Nerf Bat: Holo-Targeting, Suppression, HEAT, Danger Zone, Mayhem.
This started out as an 'out of the box' kind of thinking that was brought up mostly because I clicked on Holo-Targeting by accident, and it actually turned out exceedingly well. This guy can afford to pack a grenade or other utility because it doesn't matter what his accuracy is when he is Suppressing. Which stacks on Holo-Targeting, and does so in a small area so you can hit multiples, and STILL does at least SOME guaranteed damage. While he won't be taking much down directly, he has an enormous amount of support capability. He can lock down an opponent, take out its cover, and give a bonus to aim for everyone else all in the same turn. That's... really not bad. In particular, he makes a wonderful 'newbie trainer' to bring alongside rookies to help them get kills. Don't forget he still has a rocket that can be used to blow cover, and he can afford to pack a grenade as well since he doesn't have to worry about his own AIM score as much.
I've got one basic Assault type, and I tend to not vary much from the golden rule:
Tactical Sense, Lightning Reflexes, Rapid Fire, Close Quarters, Resilience
Assaults tend to end up on the short end of the stick. Fortunately, Tactical Sense and Lightning Reflexes really help with this. With Ghost armor and an Alloy Cannon, he's going to be guaranteed crits anyway, so why bother with Aggression when he can get some much needed defense if he ends up opening up the wrong door? Likewise, Close And Personal is not necessary since he's getting crits anyway. Enemy Within makes Close and Personal worth considering with the bonus shot, but getting to that shot without Lightning Reflexes might get dicey. I've never seen the point in flush. I've heard about 'Suppression/Flush' combo, but that absolutely stinks. You're taking a penalty on the reaction shot from suppression, so you might as well take the damn shot in the first place instead of taking up a third of your team to do the job. Assaults tend to end the job readily enough that Bring Em On just seems pointless overkill, whereas popping someone trying to run behind you is always for the lulz. The only real question is Resilience vs Killer Instinct, I could see it going either way. With KI, you can one-round a Sectopod with a rapid fire stealth crit combo. But immunity to crits on the guy most likely to take a bad shot is NEVER a bad thing.
My supports tend to be medics with guns, so I build 'em that way.
Sprinter is just dead useful, way more than Covering Fire that will probably miss since you're taking a reaction shot to something likely already in cover.
Field Medic is a thousand times better than Smoke And Mirrors, that just doesn't even seem to be a choice.
Revive vs Rifle Suppression is one I occasionally waffle over, but on higher difficulties, Revive is absolutely essential.
Dense Smoke vs Combat Drugs is a no-brainer as well, Combat Drugs boosts will for Psi troops. Dense Smoke isn't worth deploying.
And of course Savior over Sentinel any day of the week. Because healing 10 damage in a single medikit is necessary when you have heavy mutons and sectopods firing at you.
Snipers changed quite a lot in Enemy Within, but the basic game had them largely as long guns. Pick a vantage point, and provide support fire where necessary.
Squadsight is love. Squadsight is life. All hail Squadsight. In EW, Snap Shot becomes more viable, but in the base game, this is an easy choice to make. Blowing your AIM to try and pretend to be a Support is just not a winning proposition.
Damn Good Ground is... damn good. In EW, if you use a sniper as a covert op, then Gunslinger makes him far more viable on those Exalt missions.
Disabling Shot vs Battle Scanner. If you go Squadsight, you are NEVER going to need a Battle Scanner, so go Disabling Shot. Not only can it save your life, it can also disable a mind controlled ally. If you are in EW, Battle Scanners can be very useful on a Snap Shot sniper.
Then there's Opportunist or Opportunist. I'm sorry, is your sniper really ever going to have a low enough aim this high in the tech tree to need a bonus 10 aim on something already almost dead?
In The Zone or Double-Tap depends wildly on the RNG and how well you can set up flanking and busting of cover. Double-Tap is guaranteed every other turn getting two shots, and is reliable. In The Zone has no cooldown and can theoretically be far more powerful, if you can set up the proper conditions.
So, share your tales of angst and woe, where you had your start teammate critted by some alien you never saw, where you had two sectopods show up at the same time, where you had that ethereal somehow manage to MC your psionic unit despite having a 130 will... we've all been there. We understand. And... we will be watching.
So, I just picked up the bundled pack with Enemy Unknown, Enemy Within, and all DLC for $12.50 on Steam, and it now is available for Linux-based OS, which is double-plus good! Since I was running through the original before delving into EW, I'm reminded of a few builds I've made that have been effective, and figured I could share them, and others could share theirs. Plus, yanno, any other kind of XCOM chatter.
For Heavies, I have two main builds:
Moar Dakka: Bullet Swarm, Shredder Rocket, HEAT, Danger Zone, Mayhem.
This is your balls-to-the-wall damage output gun bunny. He's equipped with a SCOPE for additional accuracy so bullet swarm can do something other than miss twice as often (insert monk flurry of misses joke here). This is the guy you want around when the Sectopod shows up. Two rounds from HEAT ammo is enough to really bring the pain on one of those suckers. Plus he's got both Danger Zone and Mayhem to make his rockets more effective, and a shredder rocket to also help assist in even more kills and take out cover.
Nerf Bat: Holo-Targeting, Suppression, HEAT, Danger Zone, Mayhem.
This started out as an 'out of the box' kind of thinking that was brought up mostly because I clicked on Holo-Targeting by accident, and it actually turned out exceedingly well. This guy can afford to pack a grenade or other utility because it doesn't matter what his accuracy is when he is Suppressing. Which stacks on Holo-Targeting, and does so in a small area so you can hit multiples, and STILL does at least SOME guaranteed damage. While he won't be taking much down directly, he has an enormous amount of support capability. He can lock down an opponent, take out its cover, and give a bonus to aim for everyone else all in the same turn. That's... really not bad. In particular, he makes a wonderful 'newbie trainer' to bring alongside rookies to help them get kills. Don't forget he still has a rocket that can be used to blow cover, and he can afford to pack a grenade as well since he doesn't have to worry about his own AIM score as much.
I've got one basic Assault type, and I tend to not vary much from the golden rule:
Tactical Sense, Lightning Reflexes, Rapid Fire, Close Quarters, Resilience
Assaults tend to end up on the short end of the stick. Fortunately, Tactical Sense and Lightning Reflexes really help with this. With Ghost armor and an Alloy Cannon, he's going to be guaranteed crits anyway, so why bother with Aggression when he can get some much needed defense if he ends up opening up the wrong door? Likewise, Close And Personal is not necessary since he's getting crits anyway. Enemy Within makes Close and Personal worth considering with the bonus shot, but getting to that shot without Lightning Reflexes might get dicey. I've never seen the point in flush. I've heard about 'Suppression/Flush' combo, but that absolutely stinks. You're taking a penalty on the reaction shot from suppression, so you might as well take the damn shot in the first place instead of taking up a third of your team to do the job. Assaults tend to end the job readily enough that Bring Em On just seems pointless overkill, whereas popping someone trying to run behind you is always for the lulz. The only real question is Resilience vs Killer Instinct, I could see it going either way. With KI, you can one-round a Sectopod with a rapid fire stealth crit combo. But immunity to crits on the guy most likely to take a bad shot is NEVER a bad thing.
My supports tend to be medics with guns, so I build 'em that way.
Sprinter is just dead useful, way more than Covering Fire that will probably miss since you're taking a reaction shot to something likely already in cover.
Field Medic is a thousand times better than Smoke And Mirrors, that just doesn't even seem to be a choice.
Revive vs Rifle Suppression is one I occasionally waffle over, but on higher difficulties, Revive is absolutely essential.
Dense Smoke vs Combat Drugs is a no-brainer as well, Combat Drugs boosts will for Psi troops. Dense Smoke isn't worth deploying.
And of course Savior over Sentinel any day of the week. Because healing 10 damage in a single medikit is necessary when you have heavy mutons and sectopods firing at you.
Snipers changed quite a lot in Enemy Within, but the basic game had them largely as long guns. Pick a vantage point, and provide support fire where necessary.
Squadsight is love. Squadsight is life. All hail Squadsight. In EW, Snap Shot becomes more viable, but in the base game, this is an easy choice to make. Blowing your AIM to try and pretend to be a Support is just not a winning proposition.
Damn Good Ground is... damn good. In EW, if you use a sniper as a covert op, then Gunslinger makes him far more viable on those Exalt missions.
Disabling Shot vs Battle Scanner. If you go Squadsight, you are NEVER going to need a Battle Scanner, so go Disabling Shot. Not only can it save your life, it can also disable a mind controlled ally. If you are in EW, Battle Scanners can be very useful on a Snap Shot sniper.
Then there's Opportunist or Opportunist. I'm sorry, is your sniper really ever going to have a low enough aim this high in the tech tree to need a bonus 10 aim on something already almost dead?
In The Zone or Double-Tap depends wildly on the RNG and how well you can set up flanking and busting of cover. Double-Tap is guaranteed every other turn getting two shots, and is reliable. In The Zone has no cooldown and can theoretically be far more powerful, if you can set up the proper conditions.
So, share your tales of angst and woe, where you had your start teammate critted by some alien you never saw, where you had two sectopods show up at the same time, where you had that ethereal somehow manage to MC your psionic unit despite having a 130 will... we've all been there. We understand. And... we will be watching.