X-com Soldier Requirements

[Privateer]

I thought about sticking this one with the newbie questions, but since there will probably not be a unanimous answer and hopefully a good discussion will follow, I think it deserves its own topic.

 

So, when you are picking out your soldiers from the recruits, how do you do it? What stats do you look for and at what level should they be?

 

How important do you think is psy-strength for a good soldier? Since it takes a month of training to even figure out the psy-strength, do you even bother to look at psy-strength of those who don't shine in physical stats?

 

Roughly, what percentage of recruits you look at make it into your force?

 

To avoid confusion, let's say we're talking about a period later in the game when money is a bit less of a problem, since obviously, you'd be putting anyone who can run and shoot onto the front lines simply because at $40,000 hiring bonus soldiers are too expensive to sack.

[Hobbes]

First thing I look for is morale....never less than 30 since it is very difficult for that stat to raise. (Although it gives the game a twist when my 10 morale points Commander decides to crap his pants and go bezerk).

 

Then it depends on what type of soldiers do you want. I always keep high-reaction soldiers (50 and up), even if the rest of the stats are low, because they are invaluable as snipers and to guard doors. Then I usually look for the firing accuracy (60 and up) and hang in these soldiers also.

 

TUs and stamina can usually get to decent levels after the soldier has 10 missions on his belt so I don't worry too much about them. If a soldier gets more than 75 TUs then he's priceless, especially if his Psi is high. It takes 25 TUs to make a psi attack with every soldier (it's not dependable on the soldier's stats) and he can make 3 psi attacks on one turn. Two soldiers of 75 can make the same as 3 soldiers will less leaving the extra soldier to either be a cannon fodder rookie or someone who needs more experience.

 

And finally Psi....I hate to sack my best soldiers when their get to the lab and I found out that their level is less than 50 (therefore the 10 morale points commander). So I usually keep them around for non Sectoid/Ethereal missions. High levels of PSI are always good since they give protection from attacks, even if the soldier is a wimp physically. Just keep them on the back of the Skyranger but remember to let them have kills once in a while (get control of the aliens next to your LZ, disarm them and take them down after they move them up the ramp of the craft).

 

In general terms for me morale and psi strength are the things to look out but it also depends of my requirements for soldiers. Usually the ones who don't get sacked and are sent to the psi-labs already have at least one high stat (either reactions, firing or TUs and stamina). Then if their Psi levels are bad I keep them as cannon fodder.

By the time of the game I get Psi 25% of the troops are Elite (and get according assigned to a special base), 50% have some experience and the rest are rookies but most of them are assigned to base defense.

[NKF]

I only screen my soldiers by psi-strength these days. As long as they can survive an attack from a sectoid commander or any old ethereal, then they're set. Everything else can be improved, one way or another.

 

TUs, Health, Stamina, strength are the easiest to raise -- since almost every major offensive activity raises them. Hitting enemies (bullets, grenades), reaction fire and successful psionic attacks (not probes) raise these stats. I think successful stun rod attacks count as well. In any case, low stats in these areas aren't too bad, as they get raised very quickly.

 

Low firing accuracy preventing a soldier from hitting a target even at point blank range? Let that soldier take up throwing grenades as his or her primary profession. Not only will it raise throwing accuracy, the very act of hitting the enemies with the explosion will give a chance at raising firing accuracy in addition to the usual physical stats. Alternately, pick up very fast firing weapons like the pistols and laser pistols. Though they are technically among the least accurate weapons in the entire game, they do however allow a massive number of shots per turn (5 snaps at most). The greater number of shots means a greater chance that some of them will actually hit their target.

 

For bravery, since it can only be raised after a good bit of screaming and running around in circles, it's nice to start off at a good level, but low morale won't make me fire the soldier. Its importance is inversely proportional to how well I play. If I play badly, and have soldiers dropping left and right, I jolly well want someone with 60 or 70! But if I play well, cowardly Joe Soldier with only 10 bravery will do just fine. Higher ranking officers help reduce morale loss, in any case.

 

Until I can get some form of psionic screening, my ideal starting soldier would have to be any soldier that starts with a decent strength level. 35 and above for preference, but anything lower then that can be worked on. Good strength means that you can carry more items where the word "collateral damage" features prominently, and get a boost to your grenade tossing range.

 

- NKF

[PvT Emil Thorsell]

Interesting discussion, but since i play UFO so very little i don't think i have much to participate with. I only hire them and never look at their stats, i mean, if they have the lowest accuracy ever then they are bound to soon die a gruesome and horrible death. That is the way i keep my squad elite, only those who survive are the ones with high stats. If a low stats soldier die, i hire a new soldier, if that one die, i hire a new one until my squad only have the best of the best, or at least, the most normal of the most normal.

[FullAuto]

I give my soldiers different roles according to their stats (hi accuracy=sniper etc) but apart from that, they all get a place in the front line. They'll either die or improve. Natural selection. Brings out the best in everyone.

[Squaddie01]

I look at two criterias. Reaction and accuracy. The combination of these two scores must exceed 100. The best of the best recruits can start out as high as 120 give or take a few points. With this criteria, the soldier is either a sniper type or a reaction specialist. Sometimes I get lucky and get a soldier that is good in both. (ie 55/60 or 60/55 or 60/60)

 

The high reaction troops guard the doors and are on the point. The snipers hang back and obviously pick off any targets they can. Strength, moral, time units don't matter to me. On a side note I have one trooper with a moral of 80.

 

Once I have Psi labs, all soldiers on my primary and secondary squads must have a minimum Psi strength of 70. 75 or higher is my preference for Cydonia. Anyone less is removed from the active squad and is left on base defense. All new recruits must meet the 100 requirement for reaction and accuracy and minimum Psi score of 70. If not they get sacked right away. When looking for recruits mid to late game, all my bases have two Psi labs. That way I can train 20 troops per base and quickly find enough suitable troops. At the end of the month those with sub par scores are sacked and the hiring process begins again.

[Psy Guy]

good ol natural selection........

 

anyway usally i only sack troops if there psi strenght is ungodly low (below 25) and they stink as a soldier (low health, firing ac, strenght). Usally if a trooper has something going for them (good ac, good TUs, good strenght, good reaction) ill keep them. I find it impactical to sack and hire unless you have a terrable soldier who could poss a threat to your troops. Even late game a low psi strenght soldier has its use taking out floaters, snakemen, mutons, and small class sectoid craft. Usally i keep the high psi strenght troopers at one base and the low psi strenght troopers at another. Using hyperwave decoder you can make effective use of this system by choosing the right squad for each mission.

And if your entire squad stinks something awful in terms of accucary (expecially in the beginning) use nades. Nades allow even the worst thrower to at least hurt the alien.

 

-Psy Guy-

[Hobbes]

That last reply reminded me of a thing that comes handy when screening troops for Psi.

1) Have a base or a psi-lab facility assigned simply to train new recruits.

2) At the beginning or middle of the month hire 12-14 for that psi-lab.

3) When they arrive check their reaction/FA/TU. Sack the weaklings and those you otherwise don't consider fit.

4) Hire more troops until you have high-stats recruits for all slots available on the psi-amp. Remember it takes 72 hours for them to arrive at the base so be careful to ensure that they arrive before 23:59 of the last day on the month.

5) Assign them to the psi-amps at the end of the month. Sack those already screened that are shown to have weak psi stats. Go back to the first step.

 

If you keep this routine you won't have to worry about running out of high Psi soldiers...

[NKF]

If you're screening for high psi-strength troops, then screening them again for low combat stats may lose you the occasional 100 psi strength troop.

 

The secondary use of a psi-academy is that it serves as a buffer for new recruits. Transferring soldiers takes less time than waiting the 72 hours for a new arrival. A transferred soldier can usually arrive at about the same if not less time it takes for a Skyranger to fly the same distance. Or at least it seems that way.

 

However, a large psi-academy can be rather expensive to maintain, what with having to pay all the idle soldiers their salaries every month.

 

- NKF

[The Demi-Godly One]

I personally don't use any screening process whatsover, nor do I have any "most improtant" stat value either.(Although I do have a least important stat, throwing accuracy).

 

P.S. I actually do find psi strength very important if I choose not to inflict a bug.(You know, the one where you can get above maximum stats or improve psi strength when injured)

[Jman4117]

I basically look at 4 stats:

Firing accuracy - 60

Strength - 35

Reactions - 40

Psi Strength - 40 (70 to mind blast)

 

I rarely sack however. Maybe for very low Psi strength (<20).

[FullAuto]

You need different soldiers to perform different roles, so different levels of stats for each role apply, really. Like Psy Guy says, you can still use low-psy troops, just don't use them against sectoids or ethereals. In my current game, some of my best troops have low psy ratings. I just use them against anything but sectoids and ethereals. I don't use the psy amp in my game, it spoils it, makes the gme too easy.

But it is very entertaing.

[Hobbes]

If you're screening for high psi-strength troops, then screening them again for low combat stats may lose you the occasional 100 psi strength troop.

 

The secondary use of a psi-academy is that it serves as a buffer for new recruits. Transferring soldiers takes less time than waiting the 72 hours for a new arrival.

 

However, a large psi-academy can be rather expensive to maintain, what with having to pay all the idle soldiers their salaries every month.

All of it true.

 

I use that technique I've said before because I loathe either the aliens or my soldiers to use psionics. It nearly takes away all the strategy of the game. If you pack eight soldiers with high Psi level and Psi skill on a mission most times you can control all of the aliens on the first turn with a little luck and skill. The mission usually is over in two or three turns with a dozen aliens dead on the field. I can live with the aliens mind blasting me on occasion, although it pisses me off, since it adds a certain random factor which is nice.

By the time I have more than twenty soldiers who are elite (all with TUs>70, FA>70 and/or RA>50 and Psi>60) I tend to rely on them in UFO missions along with the high stats rookies I've mentioned before. They just keep getting better every after mission and I believe that the rookies get trained more rapidly that way. But you need to use high stats recruits, otherwise it will take forever to get proper replacements for any losses among your elite soldiers. Still to me it pays off because if you follow my previous method the rookies chances for survival are better: they are assigned power suits and the overall squad's stats are still impressive. Then each month you'll have good numbers of high-stat rookies who are starting to become some tough soldiers. I'll loose the odd 100 psi but I prefer having 10 high-stats rookies on psi-labs positions than 10 random stats recruits. If they Psi levels are low then they are close to useless and you'll be lucky to have one soldier out of the bunch who has decent stats. With 10 high-stats rookies you will have a 50% chance of them having Psi stats above 50. The ones who fail to qualify I assign to base protection.

 

Of course all of this might not be the cheapest way to running X-COM's finances but the sale of the alien loot plus being the world's major arms dealer, with two 200 engineer factories chewing out laser cannons, still gives me a hefty profit.

 

And then again you can forget about all of this endless and boring method if you simply either disable Psi using XComUtil or use another editor to increase the Psi stats of your soldiers.

[Squaddie01]

Here's why I don't use Psi weak troops. Although some may have great stats, my feeling is, why waste my time building up these soldiers' abilities when I don't plan to take them to Cydonia or on Ethereal missions of any kind. I would prefer to have statistically weaker troops that have high Psi strength and have them gain all the battlefield experience. This way when I finally do go to Cydonia, I can field a force of high Psi strength soldiers that all have good stats.

 

Generally the way I play, I don't have weak PSI troops in the field by mid game since they generally get weeded out after a few panics and mind controls by Sectoids. After completing a mission where a trooper has gone beserk/paniced or mind controlled, I sack them or reaassign them to a desk job. (Base defense.)

 

There is one fun thing that I like to with mind control. This is pretty much late game, when I know I can take on Cydonia, but just want to have fun. I go out into the field with plenty of troops capable of mind controlling. I end up MCing every single alien, disarm them as I come across them, and then herd them all to one area and line them up. I then arm my troops with lower powered weapons (Laser rifles, pistols etc.) form a couple of firing lines and then next turn, let my soldiers give only reaction fire into the aliens as they try and run away. I repeat until all aliens are dead. Sometime I'm cruel enough to use med kits to revive unconscious aliens so I can shoot again and kill them. Cruel but fun. This also boost your reaction and accuracy stats tremendously. I've had it where on a single turn I had a squad of soldiers dish out 25 or so reaction shots. It's pretty funny to hear all the gun fire that goes off.

[Jman4117]

Uses for psi < 20 troops:

 

Send them in a room with 4 muton soldiers to draw fire/spot enemies.

Four of them = cheap tank substitute. (anything but ethereals)

Drawing mind blasts from ethereals.

Assign one as commander's bodyguard.

[Crazy Photon]

Assign one as commander's bodyguard

 

No way! he'll get mind controlled and stab the commander from the back!

[Jman4117]

I mean as in stand nearby and take a bullet. :devil:

No need to have him armed though.

[BreakMage]

For me, all a new soldier needs is 20 bravery or more. 10 panic when a squaddie dies (or seems like it) 20, I can usually kill an alien in time to bring morale back up.

 

If I get a Psi Strength of 70>, I usually don't bother training skill at all. They just do Base defense... Annoying when one of my super-soldiers was found to have 18 Psi Strength.... sigh.

 

The rest I don't really care about. I can take rookies and powerlevel them (aka use Psi and disable then, then use a pistol and get free shots/kills). Everything except Psi Strength and Bravery can be "powerleveled." And too bad you can't panic your own soldiers to raise Bravery...

[Jman4117]

@BreakMage

Would wiping out half of the squad work for causing panic? :angel:

[Kernel]

I generaly let natural selection take it's course.

[FullAuto]

Kernel - spot on! Let's face it, there's nothing harsher than natural selection.

You can psi screen your troops, sack them if you don't think they're up to scratch but the aliens will cull the real weaklings. Oh yes.

:devil:

[Slythe]

Kernel - spot on!  Let's face it, there's nothing harsher than natural selection.

You can psi screen your troops, sack them if you don't think they're up to scratch but the aliens will cull the real weaklings.  Oh yes.

:devil:

True, but those weaklings if they're taken over might cull a couple of your better soldiers too.

[Rattler]

I only get rid of the insanly crappy people. The ones with such poor accuracy that they can't hit the broadside of the skyranger, with such poor morale that they run at the first fired, even if it's by their own team. With such crappy strength they can barly get outta bed. And so forth

[FullAuto]

Slythe - you have a point, but if those better soldiers ARE better then they'll get the psied soldier before he shoots (higher reactions and accuracy) or they'll take the hit (higher health) and then shoot the traitorous weak-minded gibbering idiot before he can do any more damage. And if those better soldiers do die....well, it's still natural selection.

Some are lucky, some aren't.

:angel:

[BreakMage]

It would, but I'd rather keep my soldiers than waste a good 40k a pop for a CHANCE to raise bravery.