2 new questions

[teklor]

Whats the best way to capture live aliens, especially a navigator for the HWD and preferable a sectoid commander for psi...iv'e only had to deal with snakemen and sectoids so far and the way people talk about ethereals.....i dunno if i ever want to run into them.

 

So yea, tips tricks or strategies for live captures of a navigator and psi capable alien?

 

I remember readign that some alien units start off at set locations in certain ship types....but i can't find it now...perhaps someone could drop me a link if they know which thread i'm speaking of.

 

Oh, and I've started reading into XcomUtil....can it be of use to a complete rookie like me...i don't know anything about editing hex files or anything like that....is it user friendly....or am i gonna end up blowing up my computer

[uriaheep]

The Utils are easy to use but to be honest they are best used to make the game more difficult so it may be wise to play without them first.

 

Capturing aliens is always difficult. The best way is by using the stun weapon, this works like a tazer or a cattle prod and is effective but it is always gonna' be risky just running up to an alien and shocking it. It's a good way to get your trooper killed.

 

If you have researched the alien stun bomb then this is usefull too but it's effects can be unpredictable and needs to be fired by one of your better shots, preferably when the alien is in a confined area.

 

Wounded aliens are the best but you may have to wait for a while until the right type are captured.

 

Remember to have alien containment units at your base.

 

Etherials? mmmm. Stay clear is my advice.

[NKF]

XComutil can be used by novice and advanced users alike. The automated options are easy enough to use, but you can really get a lot more out of it through its command line functions. Still, I agree, hold off on this until you've beat the game once or more times.

 

Stunning particular aliens is very hit and miss at first. Just wander around and stun random aliens until you get the one you want. Be sure to grenade or use an autocannon-HE shell on the ones you don't want (after you move it, of course, so you don't lose the weapons). Letting aliens choke in smoke and hitting them with weak weapons work too, but this is very unpredictable as different aliens and different ranks are less susceptible to smoke stun damage than others.

 

Be sure to knock off any 'soldier' alien as they tend to clog up your containment very fast if you indiscriminately stun aliens. You can tell their rank by walking over a stunned body and picking it up.

 

Intermediate measures involve using a mind probe. This device can let you identify the alien beforehand so that you can decide whether or not they're worth stunning or wether or not it's too dangerous to approach the alien. When looking at the stats, be sure to look at the alien's remaining TUs.

 

When you get the small launcher and its stun bombs, stunning becomes so much easier. But you only get a limited number of uses, so be sure to make each shot count. Have the soldiers hang back, kneel and where possible, aim the shot unless you're pretty sure it'll hit the target or a wall or the ground near the target.

 

Tip: After you've used the small launcher and its stun bombs for capturing all the aliens that you want, you can keep using it to easily destroy large terror units. It's particularly impressive on the lower to intermediate difficulty levels. Yes, it does work against sectopods and cyberdiscs. Unlike the Reaper, stunned cyberdiscs and sectopods are counted as kills and are never recovered. If you want their live research, look to medics to get this information.

 

- NKF