Fireaxis's XCOM: The Long War Mod (Late to the party)

[Neon Knight]

I played Fireaxis's XCOM game when it first came out, and after running through the main game and the expansion on the lower difficulties I was satisfied and set it aside. Now after watching some XCOM 2 content I got interested in the game again and decided to check out the very popular Long War mod. I've installed it and started a Normal difficulty game in Canada using several of the second wave options like Dynamic War and Cinematic Mode that seem like they'd put a curb on Long War's infamous difficulty. Still, I'm not much of a masochistic guy when it comes to video game difficulty. What should I know heading into the Long War mod?

[Knaight]

I'd recommend adding Not So Long War, to help combat how ridiculously long Long War is. On top of that, there's a few things in particular to be aware of:

The old strategy of the one elite team no longer works. Mission cool down is fairly long, complements of a new fatigue mechanic and ramped up injury penalties. On top of that, the expanded squad size means you want a bigger roster.
The air war is completely different. Repairs take a good long time, and it can pay to play conservatively. With that said, a completely uninjured alien craft is a problem. One with even one shot that hits it, not so much.
The grenade situation has changed drastically, with flashbangs, and smoke grenades easily available from very early. The standard grenade also got split into a frag and high explosive grenade, and the second one is a beautiful tool for taking cover right out. This is helpful, because...
Aiming is harder across the board. There's a lot more missing, cover gets defenses up to downright amazing levels, and it's just generally a problem. A good flank is better than ever, and getting flanked is a bigger problem than ever.
Some classes need to be able to move, and when you still have early armor, that can be a problem. Fortunately, if you're willing to give up a bit of damage there's a tool just for that job, in one of the new rifle alternatives. With sawn off shotguns, that extra movement can also translate to more damage in some cases, if you can get right up in some alien face.
Outsiders are brutal, brutal enemies now. They start with 10 HP, regenerate, and have really heavy weapons fire. Take ship crashes very seriously right up until the end. Take landings even more seriously. Also in this situation, grenades are your friend.
Plasma weapons need to be captured, and capturing aliens is dramatically harder due to the arc-shocker-thingy having its accuracy dropped. If you get a good shot with it, take it.

[Neon Knight]

Thanks for the reply; that's a good list of tips, particularly the stuff about the arc-welder and movement. I remember from reading some stuff in the FAQ that they've reworked the strategic mechanics so that spamming satellites is no longer the best strategy; what's a better approach to take?

[Knaight]

Thanks for the reply; that's a good list of tips, particularly the stuff about the arc-welder and movement. I remember from reading some stuff in the FAQ that they've reworked the strategic mechanics so that spamming satellites is no longer the best strategy; what's a better approach to take?

This is part of the air war changes. The aliens can and will shoot your satellites down, so you only really want to put them up in places you've got pretty solid interceptor coverage. So you load up the starting continent, get air coverage up over another continent, expand to it after the air coverage is up, etc.

[Neon Knight]

Thanks again for the reply; that is certainly an important change to know about. I don't have anymore questions for the moment, but I really appreciate the help.

[Cikomyr]

Thanks again for the reply; that is certainly an important change to know about. I don't have anymore questions for the moment, but I really appreciate the help.

Also don't panic when you lose a country. The whole "Alien Base" mission has been reworked into "reclaiming a lost country", and you can do it multiple times.

[Neon Knight]

Also don't panic when you lose a country. The whole "Alien Base" mission has been reworked into "reclaiming a lost country", and you can do it multiple times.

I had read about that, but thanks for the reminder.

So far I've been sending teams of entirely Rookies/5 Rookies and one Specialist grade or higher for away missions, to try and spread the XP around and develop a deeper roster. I've also been experimenting with arming my Rookies with Carbines and SMGs instead of the basic Assault Rifles. It seems to be working so far, although I've been pretty busy and barely been able to play, so Sectoids, Drones, and some Floaters are all I've seen.

[Cikomyr]

Also. Heavy Weapon Platforms are a lifesafer. Having 2-3 in deployment rotation will do wonders to your effectiveness.

[Neon Knight]

Also. Heavy Weapon Platforms are a lifesafer. Having 2-3 in deployment rotation will do wonders to your effectiveness.

The SHIV? I noticed they were available right from the start. Have they been re-balanced to be more useful than they typically are in the regular game?

[Knaight]

The SHIV? I noticed they were available right from the start. Have they been re-balanced to be more useful than they typically are in the regular game?

Absolutely. Plus, the game is significantly harder, so having these around for hard missions is really useful. They also don't suffer combat fatigue, which is a nice bonus.