Stats

[Dumb_Commander]

Explain me, how to use reactions. Because it seems that my soldiers aren't shooting, even if the alien is close and the trooper has enough TU's.

[Zombie]

A great place to learn about reactions is the X-COM wiki. The main section is the Reactions page. From there, the other main sections are the Reaction fire formula and Reaction fire triggers pages. Read those pages and you should be completely up-to-date. If not, I'm sure NKF will be around to explain this in-depth.

 

- Zombie

[NKF]

You called?

 

I'd say go read the article, but I'll try to keep it short. Reaction works two ways. Defensively and offensively. Defensive reactions are used while you're making your turn (it stops the enemy from reacting). Offensive reactions are used when the other team moves (it allows you to react against the enemy).

 

Reactions and time units make up your reaction level. Your reaction level is obtained by multiplying Reactions by Current TUs divided by Max TUs. So if you had 50% of your TUs left, you'll only get to use 50% of your reactions.

 

While you're moving your soldiers, you'll keep draining your TUs as you perform more actions, thus reducing your reaction level. If it falls underneath the alien's score, and if it can see you and you've just done an action that will trigger a reaction shot, it will attempt to shoot if it has enough TUs to fire. And vise versa on the aliens turn.

 

The aliens generally have a lot higher base reactions than you do, so it's easier for them to defend against your reactions. Therefore, to get the best out of your lower reaction scores, keep your TUs as high as possible - preferably 100% when you end your turn. Also, try to get the aliens into such a position that they have to waste TUs before they come into view. If you know there's an alien up ahead, let it come to you rather than moving towards it. Camping in front of or around the corner of UFO doors is often a good way to get the aliens to waste TUs. One good suggestion mentioned in another thread is to place a smoke grenade in front of the door. This will force the aliens to walk even further to get through the smoke cloud before it can see you.

 

Your choice of reaction fire weapon is also important, as each time you fire you'll reduce your overall score by how much you spent on the shot. Fast snap shot weapons like the pistol, laser pistol and laser rifle are recommended, as they let you get off more shots than with a plasma weapon. The pistol is the best number-wise, but it doesn't deal any impressive damage. The laser pistol is 2% slower, but does more damage. The reason you're after fast snapshot weapons is because player controlled units only know how to use snapshots for reaction shots. The aliens on the other hand have the option of autoshots as well.

 

You don't have to be up close to trigger a reaction shot. You just have to be able to see it - i.e. be in visual range. If it's at night, make sure you deploy some flares up ahead because the aliens aren't affected by the lower light level.

 

- NKF