Ranks and Promotions

[Solfius]

I thnk there might be a glitch in my game, i'm getting loads of promotions,

 

i've got:

 

1 commander

 

1/2 colonels

 

3/4 captains

 

about 7/8 sergeants

 

1 squaddie

 

and 20 rookies

 

 

that can't be right, can it?

[Psy Guy]

Here is how promotions go.

1 sarge for every 5 solders

1 captain for every 11 solders

1 colonel for every 23 solders

1 commander for every 30 solders (only one commander at a time)

there that should help

thats about right. Promotions are based purely on the # of solders

(one time late in the game i had a sergeant that was the best person on my team (with most kills))

-PSY GUY-

[The Veteran]

Hmm... Nice one Psy guy that table should help me as well! I have noone but soldiers at the moment as I've just started... So hopefully after this terror mission I should see a few promotions then! (although seeing as this is superhuman I have to survive first)

[Solfius]

so i guess the reason i don't have many squaddies is that they don't last long enough!

 

still IMHO i think its a bit messed up

 

I would have:

 

1sergeant for every 10 men

 

1 captain for every 50

 

i wouldn't bother with colonels

 

and 1 commander for every 100 men

 

 

also exp would be based on missions and kills rather than rank

[Psy Guy]

rookies can't be promoted unless they have battle exp. The reasion you don't have many squaddies is that they all were promoted. Send out the rookies if you want to get more squadies (battle exp means shooting and hitting aliens) If you shoot at aliens but don't hit them does the rookie become promoted?

 

-PSY GUY-

[Solfius]

so really i need to pull back some sergeants and commanders etc. and give the rookies a chance?

 

also how is exp awarded?

[Psy Guy]

If you want more higher ranked people you should (also good to get the rookies feet wet {or better yet put some C-4 on them and let one take over a ship})

Basicily the game desides who rank ups by three variables

1. (and the ultimate) is there a spot open (as in enough peeps to add another officer)

2. # of kills

3. # of missions been on (if # of kills between two canidates is the same i think)

 

Stat increasement is another subject all together.

 

-PSY GUY-

[NKF]

Stat increments... well, I can only say from observation, but:

 

Killing an alien increases strength, TUs, health, stamina and firing accuracy. Probably not all at the same time, but killing an alien will definitely improve these stats. By the way, this also applies to killing with grenades as you can get a minor increase in firing accuracy. Although I'm uncertain whether it's the person who primed the grenade that gets the improvement or the one who threw it. Must check this some time....

 

Killing an alien with a gun further increase firing accuracy plus all the above.

 

Killing an alien with a grenade does everything as said above, and increases throwing accuracy.

 

Reaction fire improves everything firing a gun can, as well as the reaction fire stat. (making it great for all-round stat improvement, as high reactions really does come in handy)

 

The number of kills the soldier performs can greatly influence the stat improvements. I saw a huge improvement in stats when one soldier took out all the aliens in one mission. Probably a 5 or more point increment in firing accuracy alone, not counting the other stats. In any case, it's a lot greater than just killing one or two would get you.

 

Bravery increases if a soldier panics. But if your soldier panics from a psi-attack, then high bravery really isn't going to fend off the inevitable.

 

Psi-skill improves greatly with use, and slowly via the labs. Psi defense is fixed and never ever improves.

 

Oh, and by the way: Firing and hitting and alien but not killing them does provide some improvements, although I cannot say for certain to what specific skills. TU's is definitely one of them, and presumably stamina.

 

- NKF

[Psy Guy]

Don't forget that psi attacks increase TU the greatest (for me anyway). i guess when you use all your TU every turn it really makes your TU jump.

Strenght increases with the more stuff you carry in battle (heavier the better)

Bravery increases when you don't panic when your moral is lower than 50

Stamina ups when you move a lot

Health seems to go up after injuries (when you heal) and when you move a lot. For some odd reason health goes up when you kill things. WHY??

:hmmm:

 

-PSY GUY-

[Cazbol]

Performing psi attacks not only improves TUs and psi skill, but also stamina, health and strength.

 

Cazbol

[Neo]

What do you need to research psi because i have never had it yet

[Snikers]

To research psi you must capture an opponent that uses psi. The research tree makes actual sense

(unlike another XCOM game I know of).

[NKF]

To be more specific, you need either a live sectoid leader, sectoid commander, or any ethereal.

 

I'm still taking Carlos's challenge, and I'm on my first base defense mission. The last alien, when it went berserk, turns out to be a sectoid commander. Hurrah!

 

But, there's always a 'but', I've got no stun rods because of that @%@#% 80 item limit! Argh!

 

Smoke doesn't seem to be able to choke it, and pistols are too powerful. I think most of you may think this to be odd, but no, it isn't. It kills the commander instantly, even on superhuman. Sectoids apparently are a lot weaker than floaters...? Or maybe the game's conspiring to not let me finish the game too quickly?

 

What bad luck... oh well.

 

- NKF

[The Veteran]

In superhuman I noticed that the sectoids were pretty weak myself... I found everything pretty weak in defence so far actually. The main difference I saw in combat was that they were stronger attackers and more likely to win an attack...

[Neo]

i was on a terror mission b4 on beginner and it was either a sectoid or floater and it took more then 5 shots to kill it!!!!! (and i was using heavy plasma and laser rifles!!!)

[Solfius]

probaly you were only giving it fatal wounds, rather than killing it outright,

if that happens to one of my soldiers they get instant promotion to the "suicide squad" they move as fast as possible finding and killing aliens until they die trying or die of their wounds.

[Neo]

cool that sounds like a good idea!!

[Solfius]

sort of, the way i see it is they're going to die any way so they might as well take a couple aliens with them (has evil idea involving high explosives ) sometimes they manage to kill the last couple of aliens then the mission finishes and they live another day (which is good)

[Snikers]

I assume this of course stops once you get Medikits...?

[The Veteran]

I wouldn't be so sure Snikers... This is Solfius after all...

[Carlos the Jackal]

I'm still taking Carlos's challenge,

[Solfius]

no, sometimes a soldier will be hit by alien fire, but won't die right away insted he has fatal wounds which slowly subtract from his health (a few every turn) until he dies or the mission ends and he gets to hospital.

 

i've had men take 3 plasma rounds (not sure if heavy or rifle) at close range ie right next to them, and still get away with a few fatal wounds

[Snikers]

Um, yeah. Medikits fix that. Once you have Medikits, do you still use the "oh no I'm bleeding better take some

of them with me" strategy?

[Carlos the Jackal]

no, sometimes a soldier will be hit by alien fire, but won't die right away insted he has fatal wounds which slowly subtract from his health (a few every turn) until he dies or the mission ends and he gets to hospital.

 

i've had men take 3 plasma rounds (not sure if heavy or rifle) at close range ie right next to them, and still get away with a few fatal wounds

Um yes... those medikits must be *used*

 

Its kind of like a canteen full of water while your in the desert. Just carting it around with you wont help. Unless you actually drink the water, you'll still die of thirst.

[Greg]

As regards number of soldiers for promotions... I usually do my best to win with less than 10 soldiers, although it can stretch to 20 depending on how many bases I have... So lets not have 100 for 1 commander...