When to retire old weapons

[Minor Annoyance]

I'm not sure when to change weapons. So far I've been doing this:

Sniper Rifle > Disrupter > Devistator

Machine Gun > Toxigun

Auto Cannon > Dimension Missile Launcher

The problem with the Auto Cannon is that I'm keeping it for a long time. In my first game I assumed I had already gotten everything when the DML showed up (although it wasn't as bad as when teleporters showed up and I had already destroyed my labs thinking they were wasted space). So when is the ability to light alien ships on fire outclassed by direct damage? While we're on the subject, is fire that useful? It's hard to tell how much damage it does and it doesn't seem to hurt my agents that much. Sometimes it seems like it's just disrupting my vision and giving the aliens free cover.

[NKF]

When do you want to get rid of the old weapons? It's really just a personal preference, as the only real hinderance you'll get later on will by the personal disrupter shields that some of the Anthropods and Skeletoids end up carrying. This just doubles their health, so you need double the firepower to take them down. Weapons that throw out more damage per hit like the devestator or ignore the shields like the toxigun make things so much easier. Also there'll be more enemies to contend with. Harder difficulty levels increase the volume considerably.

 

The Autocannon is special because it has three modes of attack based on its shells, so you'll end up retiring it depending on what you want it for. The AP rounds, which will probably make up the core of your ammo in the city, gets made redundant with the disrupter gun (which it's on par with, but doesn't have infinite ammo) and then by the devastator cannon. The HE rounds are handy, but have this tendency of blowing up loot and causing collateral damage. Incendiary rounds - the autocannon is probably not the best incendiary weapon to use, and there are many alternatives so it won't be your only source of fire.

 

Fire does two things. The first is the indirect damage over time. This is very low, and good armour nullifies the damage. Does quite good against dying Multiworms though as it can deliver quite a good initial kick to the hyperworms. The second is that it forces the AI to flee from it, including your men even though they're set to aggressive. If anything, this is the one reason to have fire on hand. Nothing like forcing the enemies to break their ranks in a mob vs. mob firefight.

 

Actually, you may want to replace the Autocannon with the Marsec minilauncher, as it efficiently covers both of the Autocannon's two other ammo types and throws in a homing guidance system so that accuracy is less of an issue. Even carrying an assortment of grenades allows you to mimic the versatility of the autocannon's HE and Incendiary attack.

 

There are some weapons like the stun grapple and power sword for example never go out of fashion - although the stun grapple does lose its potency against shielded enemies (though not unshielded ones like spitters and.... well pretty much everything else - just get their health below 160hp).

 

- NKF

[Minor Annoyance]

The strategy guide didn't think much of the marsec mini launcher or power sword so I didn't use them much before. The mini launcher doesn't seem that powerful (I didn't take into account it could hit a whole group) so I didn't bother unless I had alien gas. The argument against the sword was that you'd have to get very close to use it, but there are several enemies that will try and get that close anyway so they clearly underestimated it. I'm using them together now agents won't fire explosive rounds close in even if their armour protects them.

[NKF]

Sounds like the sword's definitely underestimated by the guide. It's thin so you can store one up beside two shields. Up close, two of them can rip most enemies to shreds - they're practically a short range but compact version of the Devastator. There are also many situations in the game where you'll end up fighting in close quarters (or get to use the good old waiting-around-the-corner trick).

 

Be sure to combine them with personal teleporters (3 to 5 recommended). You'll be amazed.

 

Useful powersword tidbit: you can get them to fire beyond their adjacent tile range. However it's tricky and you can only do it at an angle. shift-click the diagonal tile in front and above the agent and the sword beam will fly as far as it can up towards the ceiling. Useful in the alien dimension where you want your swordsman to attack large (exploding) mission targets at a distance.

 

Odd about the reaction with the minilauncher. It's a smash hit with the fans and is quite effective in its own right. They're excellent to use in city missions too since they don't cause as much collateral damage and you can enjoy the benefit of their guided projectiles. All I can say is use them a bit and see how you like them. They may not be as powerful as the others, but the extra ammo and smaller size more than makes up for having half the strength and half the range of the standard rockets.

 

- NKF