First thoughts... questions, along with a few comments.

[Cpl. Facehugger]

Okay, for the past few days, I've been both stressing out over christmas and over killing the Xenos and their filthy cultist allies.

 

What I mean is that the Cultists are fairly tough for an early-game squad to take on. Although this probably wasn't helped by the fact that I was just screwing around with the game, rather than going for effectiveness.

 

Regardless, it was refreshing to see an actual enemy who operated like you did. I almost got the impression that I was fighting a human player at some points, (especially when the Cultists started busting out plasma shotguns. )

 

In fact, the whole beginning-mid portion of the game was phenomenal. Enemies were varied, and there was always some new toy to research, some new gun to produce. T'was very entertaining. Especially once I got my detection factory working and made me some scanners.

 

However:

 

*SPOILERS!!! READ ON AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

However, my main problem was the endgame. My guys were so rediculously powerful that I really had no problems with the missions (not that I mind, since I played more for the strategic game anyway ), but the Starghosts were plain irritating. Perhaps I wasn't using the proper weaponry or tactics on them (At the time, I was using my tried and true combination of a headshot-capable sniper/cyborg with a .50 caliber rifle, along with M60s and a token plasma gun, which stomped wargots good.) But even when I upgraded my M60s to warp rifles... the starghosts still didn't take very much damage from my attacks. The Guardians in particular were incredibly tough to take down, almost as much as Wargot Power Armor, although they were not as heavily armed.

 

But what really rubbed me the wrong way was how they conquered territories. Now, I don't mind them conquering territories... after all, the Cultists do it, and I always have fun retaking territories from the alien-worshipping scum, but you can't do it with the Starghosts. I would have really liked some research that could allow me to reconquer Starghost captured territories... especially since I had a bug where if there's a military base that is being attacked by either Wargots or Starghosts, I would automatically win if I got all my men to the second stage (due to there being no enemies,) and the game would crash. Effectively, I had to sacrifice any and all high-tech resource sites that aren't nuclear plants by the end.

 

Also, I'm not sure I liked the ending revelation... the Myrmont critters being at the crux of what happened on Earth? Eh... I don't know, I felt it sort of cheapened the whole near-annihilation of the human race. It's like... "Oh, so instead of humanity being exterminated for an experiment to produce a god-machine, we were really killed off so that some giant alien space ameoba can fornicate!?"

 

Which brings me to my final few comments: The Moon mission. No, I haven't beaten it. The first part was as easy as pie. However, the second part was considerably different. I found the tendrils (which were actually the targets for the final mission in Aftermath... great continuity there! ), but the damn things took a lot of firepower to take down. Such that most of my guys, who were loaded with a mix of M60s, XM-8s, Warp Rifles (Energon magazines), and Barretts ran out of ammo trying to destroy them. In the end, my Tankdrone had to open up on the last one with its warp cannon and destroy the last tendril.

 

I thought it was over, and that I'd be treated to a sexy ending cinematic. Nope. There's another whole mission... with those nameless 'transgenants' from the first game, with new spiffy names like 'Myrm Octopus' and such. Now, if I remember what worked in the last game, it was massed warp-weapons. Unfortunately, at that point, the only weapon that had any ammo was a couple shots on the Tankdrone's warp cannon. Killed one Octopus, but then got mauled by the rest.

 

So, my question is thus... Is there any special trick to taking down the 2nd mission's tendrils with a minimum of ammo expenditure?

[Preda]

Yes, the tendrils are tricky, there's a pipe going in each one in the middle/upper portion. aim at it's base and they go off. If you don't get it, I made a Moon Mission thread some time ago. Look for it, it's got a pretty says-it-all piccieof where you should aim.

 

As for the myrms, they're pies to machineguns. I didn't really use warp weapons in my first game, so I can't help you with that, but I have a trick: drones. 1 drone on the sonic gun can shift the whole battle, because sonic guns do TONS of stun damage, and drone guns are much stronger than the normal versions (I OWNED all wargots with drone lasers )

[GuiJay]

Octopus: without any mod, just use regular flechette ammo on them. For the tendrils, bring 2 or 3 troopers with a warp resonator (they're -made- for that, taking down buildings). One warp resonator shot kills a tendril. Aim lower, like Preda said, you need to hit the soft-looking part, not the part directly under the red marker.

 

For the starghosts in general: There again, I simply let my guys use regular AP ammo (or even flechette ammo), using a XM8 assault rifle with all the bells and whistles (Accelerator, gyro-stabiliser, Movement-finder) set to Burst fire, snap shot. The only starghosts that ever got to me were Stars and even then, when your guys are decked in medium armor with a power shield, they barely take any damage at all. (Though, you have to remember to keep one or two plasma gun/shotgun/warp rifles when taking Starghost missions, to kill the annoying star ghost clouds - even a warp resonator if you want, usually takes 2 or 3 hits from that)

 

To be frank, I've had more problems with the cultists and their darn snipers (quoting my oh-so-often sniped cyborg "Painnn") than with the starghosts.

 

Btw, they're called Mermycols

[Cpl. Facehugger]

Yes, the tendrils are tricky, there's a pipe going in each one in the middle/upper portion. aim at it's base and they go off. If you don't get it, I made a Moon Mission thread some time ago. Look for it, it's got a pretty says-it-all piccieof where you should aim.

 

Thanks. I figured that out *after* I posted this. It makes sense, too, blowing up the soft and squishy parts rather than the hard metal looking parts.

 

The Warp resonator helped very much for that. I really wish there was some sort of heavy long-range warp weapon though, or perhaps a railgun like the first game. Don't get me wrong, M60s are nice and all... but by the endgame, I really want something that I *haven't* been using since before the first Wargot ship arrived.

 

I didn't really use warp weapons in my first game, so I can't help you with that, but I have a trick: drones. 1 drone on the sonic gun can shift the whole battle, because sonic guns do TONS of stun damage, and drone guns are much stronger than the normal versions (I OWNED all wargots with drone lasers )

 

I found the Octopi weren't a major problem when I actually had ammunition. A single warp rifle stomped them quite well, as did the warp cannon on my medium-shielded tank drone.

 

For the starghosts in general: There again, I simply let my guys use regular AP ammo (or even flechette ammo), using a XM8 assault rifle with all the bells and whistles (Accelerator, gyro-stabiliser, Movement-finder) set to Burst fire, snap shot. The only starghosts that ever got to me were Stars and even then, when your guys are decked in medium armor with a power shield, they barely take any damage at all. (Though, you have to remember to keep one or two plasma gun/shotgun/warp rifles when taking Starghost missions, to kill the annoying star ghost clouds - even a warp resonator if you want, usually takes 2 or 3 hits from that)

 

I used a mix of plasma rifles, M60s (AP and Explosive ammo,) with a single .50 caliber rifle with AP shells. Worked well for most starghosts, except for the defenders and spiders. Which, incidentally, proved to be the biggest annoyances.

 

What I really didn't like was the fact that you couldn't retake provinces from them.

 

Something else that's been bugging me, too: What's the purpose of the Biomass in all this? I understand that it's 'death' was something that the female Myrmecol used to call potiential mates, but why were the Starghosts dropping psionic towers that selectively eliminated non-biomass life? Hadn't the biomass already served its purpose?

 

^May have missed something.