Tips / Tricks!

[Matryx]

1. Never stand (in run mode) - you're far easier to see, and hit. Try to stay prone if you can, and spread out a bit. Makes you harder to hit in general, and less susceptible to blast-radius attacks.

 

2. Using Watch mode holds your guns up, ready to fire - this can shave off as much as half a second from your fire-time which can be the crucial difference between killing them before they attack, or dying.

 

3. Psionics are invaluable for their ability to sense people through walls - I really notice the difference when mine is in training, so get more than one!

 

4. Rescue missions sometimes involve a super-powerful 'local'. Use them to hunt down enemies on the map, rather than wasting your own guys life / weapons. You may want to win the mission first, then send him/her back out on his own.

 

5. With enough people shooting at the aliens / mutants, you can cause them to start to run away. Seemingly breaking their morale. Be careful when pursuing them as they are likely to set up traps for you round corners.

 

6. People are cheap - especially at the start. For the first few missions, it doesn't matter if you get a bit shot up, you can always hire more people to fill the gaps. Winning the missions is a greater priority than ensuring all of your men survive.

 

7. Pick speciality trainings which compliment each other. For example - a Psionic works well as a leader and a medic, providing skills to enhance the whole team and survivability.

 

8. Know when to retreat. Often I'll use a single man as bait to lead aliens into traps. Or to move an entire squad back to an area better covered.

 

9. Medics are essential. In previous games of this style, the medic was rarely used / useful, however in this one it can really make a difference. One single medic can put an entire team back together from a few rocket blasts!

 

10. Don't spread yourself too thinly. At the start, make sure you research and produce the simple things to help you survive - low tech weapons, armour, and ammo. Don't do what I did in my first game and try to get one of every lab across your first 5 bases - it'll take you days and days to research anything remotely useful, by which time you may well all be dead, or out of ammo.

[Xzarr]

Excellent advice Matryx , I use #8 for all the search and destroy missions

 

Assessing the map to find a good ambush spot is the first thing I do in a mission then I approach it ~very~ carefully to make sure none has been set for me

 

To draw enemies into your trap send someone light of foot with a frag grenade and throw it in the general direction of the first alien you see , this will attact a large group into your ambush

 

 

Oh and just simply sitting there for 1 minute (undetected) can push up your chances of survival , I've found anyway :>

[ricardo440]

DON'T wipe the cultists out.

 

If you kill the last province they get given new ones. They were given on in NA ok, I can live with that. Then they were given 3 of my crucial bases.

 

 

Other tips I have:

Demolish old buildings to make way for new ones. Your labs become obscelete, so no point in having 4 weapon labs later on.

Get the Laputa upgrades ASAP. 2 extra men is more than it sounds.

 

You can really do well with a balanced team. I have 3 troops with rifles, 1 or 2 with MGs 1 or 2 with Sniper rifles, and one psi Medic. It works a treat.

 

Keep fighting. The more fights the more xp, and you get a standard amount each level (which rises as you go through the levels)

 

Don't connect everything to your network with Track. Be very selective, and only expand your track when you know you will net a profit, or you need the base room.

 

SPEED is the best stat. If you can shoot first you win!

 

Use SNAP shots and WATCH and BURST fire. Volume of fire will make up for lack of acuracy.

remember all you need to do is 30% damage and it interupts their plan, so spread the fire around. All on one, knock him down, switch to target 2 knock him down, then return to the first target as the poor sod is trying to stand, kill him, then back to number 2.

 

Snipers are great. If you have level 3 sniping against the wargots I think Aiming for the legs is the best bet. You have excelent chances to hit, and they fall over. More time for you to shoot them. Keep them on the floor and they can't hurt you.

[Llama8]

A quick question on the laputa upgrades, can you have them all (with sufficient time/resources for research, etc) or do you have to choose?

[ricardo440]

It is a choice. I went for increased speed as I figured I'd be defending the whole world against the aliens, and increased area would be better if I was just defending a continent.

 

Get the Increased troop capacity ASAP. That saves lives.

[woflborg]

Steal all you can get.

 

This means that in any mission (rescue/protect) where you spot a groovy weapon or projector, especially the psi and cyborg ones, you can go and knock out the character, wait until he drops weapons, pick em up, and then heal him.

 

This way I was able to score some of those x80 rifles (or whatever they were called), 2nd level psychic projectors and machineguns full of explosive ammo at the very start of the game, without ever researching them.

 

A bit later in the game tho, on a protection mission, was when i got the motherload tho. Sonic sniper rifle and sonic rifle. Both doing insane damage. Hell, i didnt even have plasma yet. Or lasers. Or even sniper rifles.

 

Needless to say, that armed with sonic weapons, all i had to do was to research how to make batteries and voila. Yeah and i could confuse and paralyse them too without even building a psi lab. Whee!

[Avenger]

A quick question on the laputa upgrades, can you have them all (with sufficient time/resources for research, etc) or do you have to choose?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Increased pod size you should get ASAP.

 

As for increased speed or increased area you can have both, so long as the second one is queued for research before the first one completes. It's taking advantage of a bug, and should be fixed soon.

[Dog Soldier]

For all you guys who like too use heavy machineguns, Combine technician training (3/3) with sniper training (1 out of 3 is already enough), so that you later in the game can attach laser scopes on the MachineGuns. It's a very lethal combination. It is actually not a bad idea to have all your team members have basic sniper training. With the laser scope attached too a XM-8 rifle, a level3 (!) soldier will get a 100% hit chance at a decent distance away! This combined with stalker (3/3) for the critical hits and you've got yourself a lean mean killingmachine!!!

[Acth]

For very early game..In one of my games I "accidently" attacked a human provence (didn't read the briefing) and snagged a XM-8 and a M-4 in my second mission. I had to be sparing with the ammo for a while, but it really helped.

[Martian base commander]

Hey dont' be upset about attacking humans mate,most humans are boring and annoying anyhow .

 

Really though,go in and attack them if you need to,then compensate them for your actions,that is a good strategy I have employed.Sit around til they ask for help and it COULD be too late

 

The XM8 is a nice weapon.I have just been doing some reading on this weapon on the internet.It IS under development and the Yanks hope the XM8 or XM8 Battle Rifle could become the standard assault weapon for their army.Fitted with an 'airburst grenade launcher' it would give much more versatility and lethality to the average trooper.

 

https://www.maku.de/XM8.jpg

 

Shame we British STILL use the SA80 (L85A1) which is notorious for jamming in the field!

 

https://www.campingandcamo.co.uk/ishop/images/975/sa80.jpg

 

However,I am slowly moving away from conventional guns now in my game,I think the new Plasma Gun is devastating,if a little slow.The Laser rifle may have some potential against armour like the Wargots as they appear to have low resistance against energy,and it really tears through them soft bodied aliens.

[cduke]

Hope this one is not too plain. Works very fine for me:

 

Flank the enemy!

Cover enemy units with supressive fire from the front, whilst one or two units equipped with shotguns (yeah. I love shotguns.) flank them. Mostly enemys won't take care of the units who are trying to flank them until it's too late. Works good against guys with launchers or nades too.

[ricardo440]

Hey dont' be upset about attacking humans mate,most humans are boring and annoying anyhow  .

 

 

Shame we British STILL use the SA80 (L85A1) which is notorious for jamming in the field!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

MAte of mine who has fought with both the SA80 and (but only on exercise) the M16 says he would rather have his SA80 any day of the week in combat.

The SA80 is fine if you keep it properly, and he has never had it jam in combat.

On the other hand the M16 jammed all three times he has used it on exercise.

 

Not looking for a flame war, but just saying there are two sides to everything.

[BlackAlmaz]

MAte of mine who has fought with both the SA80 and (but only on exercise) the M16 says he would rather have his SA80 any day of the week in combat.

The SA80 is fine if you keep it properly, and he has never had it jam in combat.

On the other hand the M16 jammed all three times he has used it on exercise.

 

Not looking for a flame war, but just saying there are two sides to everything.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

okay i have been a styer user for 2 years now and had my hands on m16 a2, ak 74, slrs, minimi,

 

but from what i have heard the ausie sas are using the m4 a3 which from reports has worked much better than the styer its the new one out and i think its the one in the game....

[Martian base commander]

Suppression and flanking ARE great strategies yes.

 

The Germans used these tactics to great effect during WWII,being able to hit an enemy in the sides and rear assures certain victory,even against a numerically superior force.They also began most battles with a fierce artillery barrage,and I like to think of my Cyborg heavy gunners as Panzers or 88s.Not only were they masters in war but they revolutionised many areas of modern warfare and indeed designed some amazing weapons and machines.Their classic 'Blitzkrieg' can be used in this game too and is a sure winner,hit the enemy hard and fast.Just about all modern machines and weapons of war can be traced back to the Germans (except Gunpowder) and without them much of the technology today may never have even invented,like the Jet Engine,the Rocket and the indeed the Machine Gun.They make probably the finest engines too.

Their MP40 was a superb SMG,light and with an extremely fast rate of fire,virtually no recoil either.

 

This interest on the Germans here is purely on a professional level and does not carry any hidden political or social implications.

 

All these tactics and ideas can be used in this game.

[Martian base commander]

Ricardo.

 

The SA80 is a pretty good AR indeed,but has been plagued with various mechanical problems during its use.I saw many articles on this problem and its even been on the news before.

 

Good luck to your mate too,I support our boys 100%!

[laclongquan]

That is not dead which can eternal lie..

 

:necro:

 

It does seem the latest/final patch fix the ability to attack ally so we can no longer attack ally. Or maybe because I was too dumb to figure it out? Pressing Attack to attack allies, of course, silly me! Nevermind, there is one another trick not yet mentioned.

 

Wait for missions that the factions get attack by cultists so that they ask you for help. It's critical that mission mention preserve ally, because that mean there's a friendly force on map.

 

Proceed to defensive position and wait. Map should have some indicator of where the battle happen. Because hostile occur in group and friendly seem to spawn in at least two group, it's more likely that they get outnumbered and outguned. let the friendly get killed and the hostiles softened. Move carefully to mop up the aftermath of such battles. When the friendly get killed to the point of near failure, attack to finish off the hostiles.

 

You must carefully inspect each corpse. I am even more careful by take up the fallen arms. I think the game's report mechanism is broken by not reporting the exact loots, and only do it successfully if we inspect them like that. Even see it on the ground is not enough.

 

At normal difficulty, it's typically 4 hostiles and 4 friendly. A successful battle net you 4 full set of hostile arms and prolly 2 set of friendly

 

Mission is not too often, but it's a good method to get huge number of weapons, and a good way to clean up the cultists. If it's not to your liking, press Refuse, let time run a bit before get mission again. Refuse seem to have no negative consequence.

[laclongquan]

Spotter/Sniper trick: One good sniper. One stealthy troop to recon, preferably scout/stalker, but as long as they dont get noticed/attacked it's alright. Detect enemy. Sniper sight in and snipe at extreme range. Bang, headshot! Another extreme alternative is using doppler scanner. Detect moving sources at unseeing range. The sniper sight in. Bang, headshot! Well, not headshot as such, just a bullet into the body is enough. It's also a good way to draw enemies toward our ambush site.

 

The utility of doppler scanner is such that I am willing to lose the use of that scout just to have him continously scanning.

 

Diplomacy hit: if you refuse mission that attack factions, you wont get a diplomacy rep hit.otherwise you will get one. You refuse to kidnap a leader of human/psy/cyborg of that province to get it, fine. You refuse to capture a leader of the attack on that province, be it mutants, rets, or cults, you get hit.

 

Resource trade reputation: at max rep, ask for resource get you 10k of the possessed unit (human for low tech, psi for alien) and get down to neutral rep. From there a 20k combined of the other two type will get back to max rep. Consider that as trade rate. Or as the saying go, you receive one you give back two of the OTHER type.

 

Recruits: at max rep you can hire a level10 recruit trained at level3 profession for 3k resource. Human Male, Psy Female, and Cyborg Male. Psy and Cy will have a level 1 psi/cy profession. A good way to reduce the gap in experience as well as some advanced weaponry, particularly gunman and sniper/trooper. We can get psy, cy gear even earlier at level 4 when we hire a level4 with level2 psy/cy training.

 

Cheat tip: add_experience -1, number00 will give the active squad number EXP divided by members. Active squad is the one appear when you click on squad button. So a good way to level up one recruit is to stash him/her in an empty squad, get back to geosphere screen, use the cheat, and get back to that. A great way to fix your deficiency in troop planning if you are ready to lose that precious statistic in career page.

[laclongquan]

Line formation: Lineup in a diagonal formation to form a firing lane. Imagine standing in a cross sections of two corridors. You dont want to line straight, but diagonal, so that you can fire at ease down through different directions. It's more useful in corridor because it's tighter. But it still can be used in the wide open terrains, provided you predict in advance which way they come, by the use of scanners.

 

Another use is for escort civilians missions, which are a pain the ass to manage those bloody civilians. Line the diagonal against a barrier with the rightmost soldier stand between the barrier and other troops. If you line up correctly they wont be able to go through your formation and foul up firing lanes.

[ERISS]

Line formation: Lineup in a diagonal formation to form a firing lane. Imagine standing in a cross sections of two corridors. You dont want to line straight, but diagonal, so that you can fire at ease down through different directions. It's more useful in corridor because it's tighter. But it still can be used in the wide open terrains, provided you predict in advance which way they come, by the use of scanners.

Yup, it's even better to spare the soldiers like the chess' distance "L" from the Knight (mainly 'L' down in direction of the threath, sometimes 'L' up for the long distance weapons); not making an exact 45° diagonal, rather a broken 30°.

Another use is for escort civilians missions, which are a pain the ass to manage those bloody civilians. Line the diagonal against a barrier with the rightmost soldier stand between the barrier and other troops. If you line up correctly they wont be able to go through your formation and foul up firing lanes.

It can often be better to let this last soldier some far from the fighting group, so this guarding soldier should be equipped with a far distance weapon to help the main group.

[laclongquan]

L is of more limited usefulness than Diagonal. If one stay slightly to one side of the axis, the firing lane of one or two shooters will be fouled up. It's primary in use when terrain is too cramp, like a narrow room with only one entry. If one stray manage to wander back and hit the tip, more casualties! With diagonal they have to dead directions, With L, it's at least 3.

 

The point of using Diagonal for escorting is to prevent the buggers running forward and fouling firing lane of escorter and/or others. When you set the escort far from others, that group become a liability if there are strays wandering about. Incorporated them into the firing lane is to trade off flexibility with reliability.

[ERISS]

Napalm or explosive rockets can be shot from far and/or hidden place and easily kill the civilians bloked just behind the fighting troopers. Depending on the map, when the guarding soldiers is far behind, else the fighting group have to clean the back first, or all must hurry on the objective to not being catch from the back.

[laclongquan]

Sure, but running in time can save half of them, which is enough. We dont have ANY incentive to save them all.

 

Escort civilians is THE pain in the ass.

[Schuesseled]

Murder makes profit

 

When a mission briefing tells you to eliminate hostiles whilst maintainingminimum casualties among locals, it's time to slap your thighs and start square dancing. Because you are about to get some free stuff, incredibly helpful early game when you have the ability to make ammo, but not guns, and late game for getting some tricked out gunz.

 

In order to complete the mission only one friendly soldier needs to survive. Killed all the enemies and there are six of those friendly guys left alive. Be a shame if something happened to say five of those sweet lads, at least we get to scavenge their weapons and equipment, they'll no longer need it.