laser tank damage resistance

[Tsathoggua]

Is it my imagination, or are laser tanks much more susceptible to destruction than the tank/cannon? Idon't use the rocket launcher tanks at all,since the rockets are weak and damage limited, and a small magazine to begin with.

 

Just had three laser tanks fall in battle, each time to sectoids with heavy plasma,each time themselves falling to my psyker team, who despite their starting out green have nevertheless done pretty well, against their beginner level targets. No doubt trying to take on an ethereal would result in their heads exploding right now as they are at least up to lower-end sectoids,

 

But a couple of hits and the laser cannon tanks seem to be destroyed, although I'd expect the regular cannon mounting tanks to take

several plasma rounds from either the rifle or heavy plasma and stay alive, although if the armor doesn't hold then most likely quite

badly damaged. But certainly more often than not surviving two shots of heavy plasma. While the laser tank seems almost always

to be destroyed on the second shot,

 

Odd thing is the ufopaedia entries for both tank chassis states both armor and health are equal. But they don't SEEM to be at all.

[Zombie]

Both the Rocket Launcher, Cannon and Laser Cannon variants have the same overall stats and damage modifiers. So they should all be destroyed in about the same number of Heavy Plasma shots. All you are seeing is short term variance which is totally expected. Aliens get lucky rolls with their Heavy Plasma shots too.

 

If your tanks are getting destroyed often, consider having them fall back after taking a serious hit. Let your men protect the tank, and use it for long range shots or destroying terrain, not leading the charge front and center. Alternatively, get out those Smoke Grenades and dump one on the tank every few rounds to obscure it, and make sure to use Electro-flares to illuminate the terrain in low light conditions. Use the tank to spot, shoot with your snipers, and if all that fails, back off and do the same next round.

 

- Zombie

[Tsathoggua]

Well with whats been happening, its just those lucky (not for x-com mind you, lucky for some sneaky little sectoid git)

And opening fire, with either several snap shots or a three round burst, one or two striking the tank and while I don't think I've lost a laser tank to a single hit, I may be wrong, but theres been 3 times in the last few missions where sectoids have popped out from round a corner, sighted despite smoke (and there has been smoke EVERYWHERE, from smoke grenades and the shitstorms kicked up by blaster launcher shells going off.

 

Sometimes like you said they get lucky.

 

Although seems like so do X-com, once in a blue moon. Just fighting a terror site, and damned if some rookie picking up a loaded blaster and not having a clue what to do with it, loosed the shell off and the guidance was awry, shell went off and scored a direct hit on the tank, not a scratch. Everything else reduced to smoking rubble with the tank in the middle, as if nothing had happened:D

 

And as for scouting, thats what I do use tanks for, the turret is more for those nasty close up encounters where a retreat is likely the worse of two options.

 

The recent losses have been in daylight actually, just a shooter popping out of cover that there as of the time, was of a lesser priority for destruction than the four sectoids in a medium scout wielding heavy plasma, a soldier, a navigator and an engineer. Luckily the squad psykers took them down, one of them with a prox mine placed behind the left hand corridor door, the others with psionics, their weapons dropped, navigator died after catching a prox mine, throwing it at the sectoid trying to sneak up on the right, then running towards the mine itself.

 

Wasn't taking the UFO that the tank fell to the first time (it could enter the UFO entryway, as X-com had....shall we say...knocked VERY loudly.

Loudly enough in fact to blow in the door and the walls either side of it, plus the alien grenade, artfully tossed down the single tile hole made by the exploding power core. Never saw the result, but there was an awfully loud shriek, methinks there must have been at least two in there. Didn't bother looking, nothing on the motion scanner, so the last sectoid in the UFO itself was used for mind control training, first disarmed, and then the three psykers (there are currently four but one

was better employed hanging back and shelling with the blaster launcher.....I think he's grown rather attached to it actually. Almost didn't expect him to be

much of a psyker given his penchant for using that blaster launcher as a battering ram but it turns out he's actually got the potential, with training to be quite a talented psionics trooper.

 

All going well, disarmed sectoid completely zeroed out on morale, shitting his....err..well I'd say britches..but...

 

Then a sniper in the distance got a good two shots in and destroyed the tank. Didn't get to fire again though, due to the trooper carrying the squad rocket launcher (or one of them, only took the one out of the transport that time, but the launcher wielder popped off a large rocket on react fire, dead on target, leaving the only alien still alive that sectoid in the UFO, being repeatedly terrorized by the psykers, using it as a training dummy more or less, before one of them stunned it, and another one blew it to hell with the autocannon carried as a sidearm.

 

But the next mission, a terror site, sod all that could be done really, the first tile moved down the ramp, met with a hail of plasma fire, destroyed instantly.

Not possible to throw a smoke grenade past the tank down onto the ramp before its moved down a little, this time it was just bad fortune, shooters in perfect positions

 

This time though, its payback time. Just wish there weren't so many STUPID civilians. I mean really...plasma cannon fire and laser blasts coming down like rain and the damn fools like taking a leisurely stroll through a petrol station.