Going to play without saving/reloading (the most common form of cheating)

[Minor Annoyance]

Having years ago finished Super Human with all but two organizations allied with me, I decided to play without reloading whenever something goes wrong. I'm starting back at novice and I'll have to adjust the way I play.

For instance, I used to build a second base right away and have it house all my new labs. This may be a bad idea now because a base of all scientist will be vulnerable to attack since I can't just move agents in when I know an attack is coming. I considered just placing android agents there so I don't need training facilities for them. I'd also have more bases since it would now be possible to lose some of them so base space would be so cramped so it might be better just have labs spread over several bases so they're guarded by well trained agents.

Anyone have thoughts on this, or other potential new problems I'd have when I can't just turn back time?

[Gimli]

Personally, I don't build them right away, only when I feel financially secure enough. I put five agents inside... it's usually enough. Be sure to give them combat training.

You'll also want to relocate part of your fleet to the new base. Two reasons for this: you cover more of the city when the UFOs hit, meaning faster response time. More importantly, you're making sure the base is defended if someone tries to attack you.

[NKF]

You can manually park vehicles anywhere in the city and do not have to restrict them to their home base's location. Park small fleets strategically around the city, and only have them return home for repairs and to rearm.

 

Generally it's better to keep all vehicles at the base with the repair bay rather than have lots repair bays all around the city. The less repair bays, the more you'll force enemy entry through the access lift. Which leads to:

 

Security station belts. Even if you helped the invaders destroy the guns, they tend to cripple most of the invading army effortlessly. Just be sure to have some androids or training soldiers guard the base and assist the guns. Don't be afraid to build more than three security station modules, as any inactive guns still make for tough targets that the invaders will waste their ammunition on. Also, don't try to defend the base in turn based mode, as the security stations won't work.

 

At the start, build to your needs as money allows. You don't have to expand right away. You might find that you can comfortably beat the game with just 2 or 3 bases tops in any of the difficulty levels. Some can easily make do with 1. Although that can lead to quite a cramped base.

 

When you do buy a new base and decide to move things out, the main thing when considering what facilities to move out to another base is how inconvenienced you'll be when Transtellar reachs a point where they'll no longer haul stuff between the bases for you. It's not a problem at the start, just don't get into the habit of relying on their service.

 

I'd highly recommend decentralizing your workshop facility, but keep your two primary research facilities at the main base. There isn't enough research in the game to need more than one large lab of each variety, unless you've been stun raiding too much and now need to catch up with the accelerated alien technology. Also there's less micromanagement with transferring the goods and specimens to the proper research lab as your main transport will drop everything off automatically at the research facility.

 

If your starting base is too small though, then it might be worth moving the bio lab out, and then demolish your containment facility after transferring all the specimens. This way your ships won't unload any live specimens and corpses when you return from a mission. You'll have to manually tell the ship to make a stop at the bio-lab base to drop them off. This helps avoid the potential situation where Transtellar refuses to serve you while they are hostile, and you end up not being able to transfer across a critical specimen you need to unlock some good technology.

 

- NKF

[Minor Annoyance]

...When you do buy a new base and decide to move things out, the main thing when considering what facilities to move out to another base is how inconvenienced you'll be when Transtellar reachs a point where they'll no longer haul stuff between the bases for you. It's not a problem at the start, just don't get into the habit of relying on their service.

 

I'd highly recommend decentralizing your workshop facility, but keep your two primary research facilities at the main base. There isn't enough research in the game to need more than one large lab of each variety, unless you've been stun raiding too much and now need to catch up with the accelerated alien technology. Also there's less micromanagement with transferring the goods and specimens to the proper research lab as your main transport will drop everything off automatically at the research facility.

 

If your starting base is too small though, then it might be worth moving the bio lab out, and then demolish your containment facility after transferring all the specimens. This way your ships won't unload any live specimens and corpses when you return from a mission. You'll have to manually tell the ship to make a stop at the bio-lab base to drop them off. This helps avoid the potential situation where Transtellar refuses to serve you while they are hostile, and you end up not being able to transfer across a critical specimen you need to unlock some good technology.

 

- NKF

 

I'll be playing with the roadwar mod so I think the invincible roads might prevent Transtellarfrom getting too hostile. I'm not sure if they own the roads though.

[Minor Annoyance]

I've thought of something I used to do but maybe now shouldn't. I've beenusing marsec body armour even when I have disrupter armour, but now that my agents can actually die, it might be too risky. Maybe I should just let the robots fly. They can't gain stats so I can use them for cannon fodder.

[NKF]

Most players use the Marsec torso with the Disrupter limb combo. Just make sure your disrupter shields hold out. You can even play without wearing any armor as long as the shields have some juice left. (Carry two or three at the very least)

 

I like to mostly kit everyone (bar one or two flyers) with full disrupter suits for the invulnerability towards dimension missiles and poppers when my shields fizzle out. Lasts for as long as the armour durability holds out, so good value for money and light.

 

Use whatever setup you want, but perhaps start to rethink how you approach the battles. Move more. Use more cover to catch your breath, try to take on less enemies, stockpile captured shields and replace them as necessary (drop old one to recharge, pick up fresh one, etc), or maybe flee to a better position when and where necessary. So on and so forth.

 

- NKF

[Minor Annoyance]

Here's something that's starting to be a problem. I lost a phoenix hovercar in the first battle, and after the first battle of the second week I lost the second hovercar and a hoverbike I just bought. I may have to start treating vehicles like the good china, and not take them out except for special occasions like needing research material or to stop bombing of the city, and have my agents do all the work.

[NKF]

You're not sending them out in ones or twos I hope? The general strategy with hoverbikes and hovercars is to use them in swarms (4 or more).

 

You don't have to go after every UFO that you see, although you do want to capture at least one of every type so that you can unlock the advanced aircraft. Taking it easy, shooting down the occasional isolated UFO and just cleaning up the drop-sites on the ground is a viable strategy.

 

Once you get some really good toys to play with like small disrupter shields, medium disrupter beams and Hawk Air Warriors (or Explorers or better), then you can turn the fight around and start pounding them into the ground, then start your campaign to gain complete air superiority over the alien dimension and mop up the new UFOs that respawn every week.

 

Of course, by then, the game's over - you just have to finalize it by methodically removing what's left of the aliens.

 

- NKF

[Minor Annoyance]

You're not sending them out in ones or twos I hope? The general strategy with hoverbikes and hovercars is to use them in swarms (4 or more).

I'm not intentionally sending them out that way, but if you only have one or two...

I'm not sure if I should buy an air warrior on the fourth (maybe third) week like I'd usually do. Not that it can get shot down. Until I have a medium disrupter that big weapon space is wasted and I'll get more total weapons in the air with several hover cars. Maybe hover bikes but roadwar shrinks their weapon space so they'd only have the small plasma guns.

 

You don't have to go after every UFO that you see, although you do want to capture at least one of every type so that you can unlock the advanced aircraft. Taking it easy, shooting down the occasional isolated UFO and just cleaning up the drop-sites on the ground is a viable strategy.

...

I shot down a fast attack ship but didn't want to risk agents going in when there's nothing unique available from the ship, but now I think I should of. In the second week there are no highly trained agents to lose, it's not a well defended class of ship, and I could have dismantled its medium disrupter and used the one from the assault ship so I wouldn't have to wait for the advanced workshop to build one myself.

[Gimli]

You always need to knock out and recover one ship of every type. It's imperative for further research and finishing the game.

[Minor Annoyance]

You always need to knock out and recover one ship of every type. It's imperative for further research and finishing the game.

 

The guide I have has the Transporter, Assault Ship, Destroyer, and Battleship are the only ones required to build advanced ships. Due to the time it takes to build a advanced physics lab and then an advanced workshop I'd have researched all the other ships anyway so I've never actually tested this, so unless they changed this after the guide was written, I don't need every ship.

[NKF]

No, only a specific set of ships need to be captured to unlock each advanced ship. I forget the exact list, but it's safe enough to try and capture at least one of each type.

 

- NKF

[Gimli]

The guide is correct, but usually people don't know they need to shoot down the UFOs. I was too lazy to find the exact list, so I just thought you should know they need to be taken down. Obviously, the Transporter is the most important, since it allows you to build the Biotrans, which in large quantities can take on any alien ship and is the first of your ships that can transport your units into the dimension.

[Minor Annoyance]

I've finally started losing agents. At the end of the third week I lost an android that was standing on a stunned Popper. I think fire spread to the tile and detonated it, or maybe the fire made my agent move and allowed the Popper to wake up. Early in the fourth week some agents turned a corner in the senate and one was instantly killed by a Popper and another injured so badly he had to sprint to the exit not even having time to use a medkit. I wasn't even going to go in because it was so small an infestation it would have died out on it's own, but I got an alert. It may have been two Poppers because his equipment was gone and I think there would have had to have been a second explosion for that, but there wasn't the gas or smoke from the carried grenades there should have been, assuming he was carrying any of them. There was only one Anthropod and 3 to four Poppers so it wasn't worth it. I lost three in one mission in an apartment because they were firing devastators from the second floor. I couldn't shoot back very well and then ran through a hallway another room and I kept looking in the wrong place so they shot me from behind. I may have to build another base soon and hire a lot more agents if they're going to keep droping like this.

[NKF]

Have you already captured a live popper for research? In the future, manually kill the stunned poppers so that you need not worry about them later on (use energy weapons so that they don't detonate). Getting fire on the tile would have forced your android to flee - and possibly killed the popper at the same time. For next time: Lob a smoke grenade on any nearby fires that may pose health hazards. One other possibility is that the popper was bleeding to death - that would cause it to detonate too.

 

In addition to buying extra spare troops, one thing you want to start doing is to improve your ground combat tactics. Try not to get into extended long range firefights against enemies with devestators (especially if you can't see them)- they're lethal, and head for cover. You don't have to rush into an area controlled by any aliens, instead let them come to you or pick them off a few at a time. If the fighting is too much, head back down the path you came and secure a better position such as the door way you fled through.

 

When you are barricading an area like a long corridor or a corner where you can get attacked from the side or rear, make absolutely sure that one of your agents is facing the side/rear. Once the fighting commences, this agent will automatically turn to join in the fun - be sure to manually order this agent to turn away every so often, and especially once there are no more enemies at the front. Nothing like a rear attack by a popper to ruin your day!

 

- NKF

[Minor Annoyance]

I didn't have a live Popper at the time, but I should have known better than to try to capture one during a recovery mission. They're too dangerous. I'm not sure how many I should go on. Before I would try and get more shields by recovering smaller ships but I might not be able to afford the agents. I'll have to reassess when I get shields and disrupter armour.

[NKF]

Don't let the poppers scare you - they're dangerous but being vigilant and having the right firepower to take them down before they get to you is the key to getting through the missions (treat them like UFO's Chryssalids or Blaster Launcher operators: have the whole team set their targeting focus on a popper the moment it appears). Also having a motion scanner out helps if you're playing real-time.

 

If you've got stun grapples, switch to them if the popper gets in close. They're generally strong enough to knock out a popper very easily. I try to go full auto and use them in pairs if possible, but not everyone has the space to carry two grapples at once.

 

I would recommend pushing for the small shields, personal disrupter shield and medium disrupter right away and start decking your team out in full suits of X-Com Armour. Even if your shield is zapped, you'll be immune to popper blasts for as long as the armour durability holds out.

 

Alternately, fly. Fly high. Poppers can't jump (though may detonate if you're too low), so they'll end up mingling around your shadow, not knowing what to do. Drop an AP grenade set to blast-on-impact and you're all set. Just be absolutely sure you're flying high enough to evade the secondary explosion.

 

Capturing shields off UFOs is a great bonus, but you may want to rely more on your large workshops to pump out the small shields. I tend to have my workshops constantly pumping out small shields or personal shields whenever I'm not getting them to build anything specific.

 

- NKF