official XCOM 2

[soniqstylz]

Enjoying this so far.

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

After having played the game on commander ironman difficulty for more than 170+ hours, I can say that I fully agree with this post.

 

It's nearly impossible not to get your soldiers wounded no matter what you do. The game wants you to train and rotate more than six soldiers. 

 

I managed to complete the Enemy Unknown on legendary ironman difficulty without any deaths and such a task is virtually impossible for me now. It's doable, but I'd have to resort to a play style that I'd rather not play.

 

 

[+Asmodai MVC]

8 hours ago, Mirumir said:

After having played the game on commander ironman difficulty for more than 170+ hours, I can say that I fully agree with this post.

 

It's nearly impossible not to get your soldiers wounded no matter what you do. The game wants you to train and rotate more than six soldiers. 

 

I managed to complete the Enemy Unknown on legendary ironman difficulty without any deaths and such a task is virtually impossible for me now. It's doable, but I'd have to resort to a play style that I'd rather not play.

 

 

I can't see reddit at work so I'm not sure what "this post" says and now I'm curious.

That said I totally agree "It's nearly impossible not to get your solidiers wounded"... that's kind of the point.  Are you saying this is a problem?

I think they've clearly stated this one is intentionally harder than Enemy Unknown.

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

37 minutes ago, Asmodai said:

I can't see reddit at work so I'm not sure what "this post" says and now I'm curious.

That said I totally agree "It's nearly impossible not to get your soldiers wounded"... that's kind of the point.  Are you saying this is a problem?

I think they've clearly stated this one is intentionally harder than Enemy Unknown.

My "dissatisfaction" with the current state of the game's mechanics is two-fold:

 

1) pod activation;

 

You either kill the enemy patrol on activation or they kill or harm your soldiers on their next move regardless of the full cover bonus of your squad. Gone are the days when you could manage an encounter in two or three moves. In XCOM2, if you don't kill the enemy gang on agro, it's pretty much guaranteed that some of your soldiers will get hurt.

 

2) damage mitigation;

 

If I heal a wounded soldier in combat, they still come back "gravely wounded" from the mission and get hospitalized for 20 days. This is a major change from the previous version of the game.

 

P.S. In Enemy Unknown, there was a "second wave" options menu. I wish they kept in XCOM2 so that I could fine tune the game.

 

 

[+Asmodai MVC]

1 hour ago, Mirumir said:

My "dissatisfaction" with the current state of the game's mechanics is two-fold:

 

1) pod activation;

 

You either kill the enemy patrol on activation or they kill or harm your soldiers on their next move regardless of the full cover bonus of your squad. Gone are the days when you could manage an encounter in two or three moves. In XCOM2, if you don't kill the enemy gang on agro, it's pretty much guaranteed that some of your soldiers will get hurt.

I've not heard that!?!  Let me make sure I'm understanding... you're stating that they game system actually ignores cover on the enemies next move after pod activation... or are you just saying it somtimes seems that way?

 

If it actually does ignore cover then I'm with you that's ridiculous but if you're just saying it seems that way it's likely because we notice the bad rolls more than the good and the game IS harder than the first one.

 

1 hour ago, Mirumir said:

2) damage mitigation;

 

If I heal a wounded soldier in combat, they still come back "gravely wounded" from the mission and get hospitalized for 20 days. This is a major change from the previous version of the game.

I'm not sure I see a problem here.  If you heal a soldier that went down during the mission he should be gravely wounded.  If on the other hand you're saying if your soldier gets any tiny scratch (one damage for example) and you heal him to full health before you leave the game STILL stamps them with "gravely wounded" then I'd agree that's an issue but I don't recall seeing that.

 

1 hour ago, Mirumir said:

P.S. In Enemy Unknown, there was a "second wave" options menu. I wish they kept in XCOM2 so that I could fine tune the game.

Just for the record I don't believe "second wave" launched with Enemy Unknown either.  I'm pretty sure it was added later in a patch and they may well do that with this one.

 

I do think the game is a harder then I would prefer.  It's absolutely harder than the previous one... but that makes sense since we LOST.

I have ZERO issue with you having to manage more than 6 characters.  I DO think it would be too easy if you can finish the entire game with just six.  There is a pool of characters for a reason, there are missions to recover captured soldiers for a reason.  If you do everything with just 6 characters there a lot of things in the game that are pointless.  If you did the last game on Legendary Ironman with 6 character I would say the problem with the games was the last one was too easy not that this one is necessarily too hard.  A skilled player should be able to do the game on the lowest setting with 6 characters but on the highest it SHOULD be darn near impossible to do with just 6.

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

52 minutes ago, Asmodai said:

I've not heard that!?!  Let me make sure I'm understanding... you're stating that they game system actually ignores cover on the enemies next move after pod activation... or are you just saying it somtimes seems that way?

 

If it actually does ignore cover then I'm with you that's ridiculous but if you're just saying it seems that way it's likely because we notice the bad rolls more than the good and the game IS harder than the first one.

The full cover bonus is working as intended although I did notice that my soldiers do get hit much more often now when the thing I'm hiding behind is directly in front of the enemy. The chances of this happening in XCOM were 1 out of 10. These days, it's 49%. They miss one or two times, but the third time your soldier that's behind the full cover is being shot at, it's guaranteed he/she will get hurt.

 

The other problem is that starting from about early mid game, you get to fight against the units that render the full cover defense bonus totally useless. They either run up to you or AOE the whole squad from the sky  

 

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I'm not sure I see a problem here.  If you heal a soldier that went down during the mission he should be gravely wounded.  If on the other hand you're saying if your soldier gets any tiny scratch (one damage for example) and you heal him to full health before you leave the game STILL stamps them with "gravely wounded" then I'd agree that's an issue but I don't recall seeing that.

In the previous game, if you healed your soldier back to full HP during a mission, they returned with full HP  What a surprise! The only time they'd be put on bed was if they had been critically wounded with one or two HP bars remaining. However, if they were healed and their HP was topped off, they wouldn't be marked as gravely wounded upon their return to the base which what's happening now.

 

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I have ZERO issue with you having to manage more than 6 characters.  I DO think it would be too easy if you can finish the entire game with just six.  There is a pool of characters for a reason, there are missions to recover captured soldiers for a reason.  If you do everything with just 6 characters there a lot of things in the game that are pointless.  If you did the last game on Legendary Ironman with 6 character I would say the problem with the games was the last one was too easy not that this one is necessarily too hard.  

I like the concept in general. What I don't like is that despite being forced to train more than six soldiers on one hand, on the other hand, in order to win the game on legendary ironman, you are being forced to play a primitive play-style when you keep all your units really close to each other and ditch the snipers (my favourite class). It's the same concept in SC/SC2 with the marines deathball. The higher the density of your units, the greater the damage.

 

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A skilled player should be able to do the game on the lowest setting with 6 characters but on the highest it SHOULD be darn near impossible to do with just 6.

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The Few and the Proud

Beat the game on Commander+ difficulty without buying a Squad Size upgrade

 

[+Asmodai MVC]

21 minutes ago, Mirumir said:

In the previous game, if you healed your soldier back to full HP during a mission, they returned with full HP  What a surprise! The only time they'd be put on bed was if they had been critically wounded with one or two HP bars remaining. However, if they were healed and their HP was topped off, they wouldn't be marked as gravely wounded upon their return to the base which what's happening now.

My personal opinion is that if you're wounded in battle, if a medic heals you or not in the field, it should take SOME recovery time after the mission.  Those are field bandages in a combat environment not proper medical attention.  Honestly I've played both games but I didn't pay that much attention to exactly what criteria the game was using for wounds... you've clearly played WAY more than I have.  If the last game counted you as fully healed just because you patched the guy up the field then I'd say that was a bit off IMHO.  Now on the other hand if you're saying taking one damage leads your characters in the new game to be out for 20 days and "gravely wounded" then that's WAY too far in the other direction IMHO.

 

Again tough overall I'm happy with the game.  I did think the first one was a bit too easy and I do think the second one is a bit harder for my liking then I'd prefer but it's not so off putting to turn me off to the game in general.  It just had to eat some humble pie in that I'm not going to beat the game on the highest level like I did the last one but that's ok because I still enjoy playing it even if it is at a lower difficultly level then my pride would like.

 

In any event thanks for taking the time to clarify your opinion. :-)

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

35 minutes ago, Asmodai said:

My personal opinion is that if you're wounded in battle, if a medic heals you or not in the field, it should take SOME recovery time after the mission. 

Agreed. In Long War, they implemented a rest mechanic. It's when your soldiers needed a rest after each mission otherwise their performance degraded if you kept sending them on missions non stop.

 

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Those are field bandages in a combat environment not proper medical attention. 

No, man, in both games, they spray a magical hi-tech mist that heals to 100%!

 

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Again tough overall I'm happy with the game. 

Me too. I got my dollars' worth. 

 

I'm slightly disappointed because, in order for me to reach the same goal as in the previous game, I'd have to be analytically stupid about it. It's got nothing to do with pride. It's a paradox really. In order to win the game on the highest difficulty, you have to dumb down your strategy by ignoring the full cover most of the time and spreading your units out only when you're faced against AOE dmg folks and the threat is imminent - all because of how binary the game is: kill the enemy upon activation or die  

 

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In any event thanks for taking the time to clarify your opinion. :-)

Thanks to you too!

 

Cheers!

 

p.s. By keeping my units together in a tight group was how I beat the original UFO. It's a step backwards, although the purists might disagree.

[soniqstylz]

But holy mother of God the loading times.

 

For the record, a good way to get around enemy spawns is to level up your SPARK.  There's a perk they get that gives them a 33% chance to get in an overwatch shot on enemy reveal no matter what.  Also snipers have a great perk that gives them an overwatch shot on any enemy that comes into a certain field, even multiple times.

 

I'm just finishing my first playthough (on easy, to get the mechanics down and go for a few of the trophies) and I'm toying with AI at this point.

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

12 hours ago, soniqstylz said:

But holy mother of God the loading times.

What's the name of your GPU?

[soniqstylz]

On 10/12/2016 at 8:34 AM, Mirumir said:

What's the name of your GPU?

I'm on PS4.  Just recorded this, after a mission towards the end of the game.  

 

 

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

3 hours ago, soniqstylz said:

I'm on PS4.  Just recorded this, after a mission towards the end of the game.  

 

 

Holy smokes! 

 

And that's a mission completion loading times which are usually faster than loading a new mission.

 

I'm playing on PC, GTX770 loads the game on ultra settings 2.5K res in under two minutes. I'm playing on medium settings to cut it back to one minute.

 

 

[DrunknMunky Veteran]

XCOM 2 now has controller support on PC

[compl3x]

7 hours ago, Andrew said:

XCOM 2 now has controller support on PC

 

Are a lot of PC players using controllers for a game like XCOM? Seems like a downgrade.

[The Evil Overlord]

5 hours ago, compl3x said:

 

Are a lot of PC players using controllers for a game like XCOM? Seems like a downgrade.

It depends on your point of view,

I used to play WoW, amongst other pc games, some games I like (Hatred) I feel play better using a controller, as I'm one of those users who finds themselves looking at the keyboard too often, which in turn can delay my reaction to the on screen scenario.

And if you only need 8 buttons to play a particular game, then the controller comes into it's own.

[DrunknMunky Veteran]

2 hours ago, The Evil Overlord said:

It depends on your point of view,

I used to play WoW, amongst other pc games, some games I like (Hatred) I feel play better using a controller, as I'm one of those users who finds themselves looking at the keyboard too often, which in turn can delay my reaction to the on screen scenario.

And if you only need 8 buttons to play a particular game, then the controller comes into it's own.

It's possible to play WoW with a controller?!

[The Evil Overlord]

5 hours ago, Andrew said:

It's possible to play WoW with a controller?!

Dude, I never said I played wow with a controller.

I said some games I like to play, hatred being one of them, feel better played with a controller. At least for me.

[DrunknMunky Veteran]

49 minutes ago, The Evil Overlord said:

Dude, I never said I played wow with a controller.

I said some games I like to play, hatred being one of them, feel better played with a controller. At least for me.

You did. However, instead of getting into it, thanks for clarifying

[The Evil Overlord]

57 minutes ago, Andrew said:

You did. However, instead of getting into it, thanks for clarifying

Um no, The context was the reference to xcom being played on a pc using a controller, and it seeming to be a downgrade, as stated by complex

the quote goes..

'I used to play WoW, amongst other pc games, some games I like (Hatred) I feel play better using a controller,'

The point I made was about games I like playing, specifically hatred,

I went on to explain that with my mouse and keyboard games (Currently StarCraft, but it was the same when I used to play WoW) I had a tendency to look at my keyboard to orientate my finger placement for my rotations, this in turn used to make my responses slightly slower when compared to gamers who know their finger placements for their rotations and have a degree of touch typing skill. Which incidentally, after owning computers for over 20 years, is a kill I still do not have mastered by any degree.

On a game like Hatred where a controller with shoulder buttons comes into play, I'm quicker, as I have mastered that particular skill, mostly because it is the easiest granted.

 

I'm not trying to get into it neither, I was trying to keep the response as short as I can make it, as a lengthy post can often be misinterpreted, or at least appear aggressive, (some read more into a post that is actually there)

[DrunknMunky Veteran]

1 minute ago, The Evil Overlord said:

Um no, The context was the reference to xcom being played on a pc using a controller, and it seeming to be a downgrade, as stated by complex

the quote goes..

'I used to play WoW, amongst other pc games, some games I like (Hatred) I feel play better using a controller,'

The point I made was about games I like playing, specifically hatred,

I went on to explain that with my mouse and keyboard games (Currently StarCraft, but it was the same when I used to play WoW) I had a tendency to look at my keyboard to orientate my finger placement for my rotations, this in turn used to make my responses slightly slower when compared to gamers who know their finger placements for their rotations and have a degree of touch typing skill. Which incidentally, after owning computers for over 20 years, is a kill I still do not have mastered by any degree.

On a game like Hatred where a controller with shoulder buttons comes into play, I'm quicker, as I have mastered that particular skill, mostly because it is the easiest granted.

 

I'm not trying to get into it neither, I was trying to keep the response as short as I can make it, as a lengthy post can often be misinterpreted, or at least appear aggressive, (some read more into a post that is actually there)

To put it simply, less commas, more full stops

[DrunknMunky Veteran]

Long War 2 Mod Coming to XCOM 2 on PC

 

[DrunknMunky Veteran]

On 05/01/2017 at 4:24 PM, Andrew said:

Long War 2 Mod Coming to XCOM 2 on PC

 

Available now

[DrunknMunky Veteran]

 

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Published on 12 Jun 2017

Watch the official announcement trailer for the expansion to XCOM 2. SUBSCRIBE for Inside Looks at new characters and enemies, features and insights from the XCOM 2 development team: http://2kgam.es/XCOMYT

The real war begins August 29.

 

 

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

 

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XCOM 2’s next DLC is so big it almost became XCOM 3

 

...

 

The most interesting new mechanic for players is something called “bonds.” New soldiers will each have a compatibility rating, and certain individuals will get along better than others. As relationships grow, Solomon said there’s a chance that soldiers could develop a bond. After a mission, the camera will zoom in on them back at base having a beer or training together on the weapons range. As those bonds increase, more powerful skills will be unlocked on the battlefield. One allows a soldier to take their action and give it to their bondmate.

 

There’s even a chance that two soldiers who don’t really get along could change their opinion of one another. For instance, Solomon said, if a soldier saves a comrade that they actively dislike their relationship could begin to change.

 

[HawkMan]

On 11/10/2016 at 3:12 AM, compl3x said:

 

Are a lot of PC players using controllers for a game like XCOM? Seems like a downgrade.

The first new XCom played better with a controller.. you could just sit back and relax. while with M/KB you have to sit all focused and into it. and it was well designed so it had no downside to using a controller.