Xcom advice

[Richard Bruns]

quote: Originally posted by Urban Ranger on 04-24-2001 10:51 PM Sack all your engineers and replace them with scientists. Build a second living quarter right away and hire as many scientists as you can afford. Have them all start researching laser weapons. Once you have something start hiring some engineers to build them.

My laser pistol research is always complete far before that living quarters is built. I need those ten engineers after only ten days of research.

quote: By the way, high explosives are the best grenades. You can chuck them, and they waste a lot of the bugged-eyed baddies if used correctly.

Most of my grenade use is to hit a single target at long range. The scout finds one at the edge of his view, and someone behind that troop will send a grenade at the lone offending alien. How do you get them to throw the high explosive that kind of distance?

quote: I think you can destroy a Cyberdisk early on, but you have to attack it from behind. Maybe AP ammo on an autocannon or something.

I know it's possible. My preferred method is (surprise) grenades, since the underbelly armor is the weakest. But in that game there were about three of them in a group together and I can't throw grenades in the corridors of my base.

[Urban Ranger]

Laser pistol is, uhm, uninteresting. I usually skip straight to laser rifles, and really crack up production when I get the heavy laser cannon.

[Paul Hanson]

I personally forget laser pistols, get laser rifles, and move on to plasma rifles as soon as possible after that. When it becomes economical, I start using heavy plasma.

[Richard Bruns]

According to the numbers in the UFOpedia, laser pistols have a power and fire rate, and accuracy equivalent to an auto-cannon. I make about six of these pistols while researching laser rifles, and they seem to do wonders for my ability to kill aliens. Are those numbers wrong?

[Father Beast]

quote: Originally posted by Urban Ranger on 04-24-2001 10:51 PM FB, You should start building a second base until your first base is fairly well equipped.

Isn't the base you start out with "fairly well equipped"? if not, what is? I wanted to get some coverage over the US so there'd be something I could do over there, insted of watching my US funding continually drop. I also want to put up a china base soon, then the northern hemisphere will be pretty much covered.

in other news. I got word of a terrorizing attack in south africa, but it was too far, and I had just come back from ANOTHER mission and only had 4 soldiers at the time. I had ordered more, but they hadn't arrived yet. So I didn't go. is this going to hurt me pretty bad?

[Father Beast]

BTW, I only have an interceptor in the second base. How long do they stay on the ground after you shoot them down? long enough for me to build a second hangar and a skyranger and outfit it?

[Ari Rahikkala]

quote: Originally posted by Father Beast on 04-25-2001 09:30 AM BTW, I only have an interceptor in the second base. How long do they stay on the ground after you shoot them down? long enough for me to build a second hangar and a skyranger and outfit it?

IIRC about one day. Usually it is a basic strategy to use only a single central base where you have your soldiers so that you can put all the training stuff and your best ships together into that single base.
[This message has been edited by LightEning (edited April 25, 2001).]

[Richard Bruns]

quote: Originally posted by Father Beast on 04-25-2001 09:27 AM Isn't the base you start out with "fairly well equipped"? if not, what is? I wanted to get some coverage over the US so there'd be something I could do over there, insted of watching my US funding continually drop. I also want to put up a china base soon, then the northern hemisphere will be pretty much covered.

A well equipped base has two fully staffed labs, at least three living quarters, a hyperwave scanner, a defense rating over 3000, a grav shield and mind shield, several alien containments and general stores, a psi lab or two, and three hangers with two Firestorms and an Avenger.

But I typically start building the second base as soon as I research the hyperwave scanner, which is February if things are going well. By the time the hangar is finished, I'll hopefully have an interceptor with two plasma cannons to transfer there. When that base is running, I shoot down as many UFO's as possible with that interceptor, so they are less likely to find the main base.

Eventually, that little base gets built up into a base with soldiers and the skyranger. I'll build the Avenger in the main base and keep the best troops in there, while the second string goes to the other base. I'll use those guys for minor missions like small or medium downed UFO's and reserve the main squad for the terror sites and big UFO crashes.

quote: I got word of a terrorizing attack in south africa, but it was too far, and I had just come back from ANOTHER mission and only had 4 soldiers at the time. I had ordered more, but they hadn't arrived yet. So I didn't go. is this going to hurt me pretty bad?

Expect a negative score and a loss of all funding from South Africa.

[faded glory]

The tanks and Hover tanks later in the game, ROCK. Although the first few years are tough. Trying to take out Sectiods and Slugs. I guess what I find most difficult is the Ethereals. There #$@! mind control BS. Anyway, the easiest way to win battles is to level citys. How do you level citys? With the Alien Blaster .


Hey I have not played X-Com in 7 years. My CD is a bit too corrupt. Does anyone know where a pirated version can be found?

[Richard Bruns]

If you have a modern computer, then the original CD game probably won't run very well anyway. There is a windows version that I could send you. Just tell me if the e-email in your profile is correct.

Edit: Why is that icon there? I can't change it to the normal one either...
[This message has been edited by Richard Bruns (edited April 25, 2001).]

[Father Beast]

I just had a time when there was a very large ship spotted by my north american base, and I didn't go after it, because the last time I sent an iterceptor after one, it got shot down.

So the very large ship lands in chicago and starts terrorizing. I send my troops in, because I figure with 2 tanks, they should be okay.

Silly me. There's 2 kinds of aliens there. some big as a tank ugly ones, and these tall purple fellows. I killed a couple of each (man, takes a lot of hits with rifles to kill one of those big suckers), when on the same turn 2 of those big aliens jumped out and squashed my tanks! I figured I was in over my head and got everyone out of there. my score went down, but I didn't lose any soldiers.

was I really in over my head, do you think?

[Urban Ranger]

Since you aren't facing Snakeman - you'll know, their terrorists the Chrysslads (sp?) are the nastiest baddies in the game - you are probably facing some ethereals. They are bad news.

There are ways to take out those tank beasts though: stay in doors and shoot them through doors only 1 wide. They can't get through to you, and you can basically butcher these nasties.

You don't go after a big ship with a single skyranger. It sounds like either a battleship or a terror ship. Avoid battleships at all costs, and go after terror ships with multiple fighter crafts (no less than 3 preferrably). Standoff until all fighters arrive, than attack at the same time.

[Urban Ranger]

quote: Originally posted by Richard Bruns on 04-25-2001 05:58 PM A well equipped base has two fully staffed labs, at least three living quarters, a hyperwave scanner, a defense rating over 3000, a grav shield and mind shield, several alien containments and general stores, a psi lab or two, and three hangers with two Firestorms and an Avenger.

Depending on the type of base you have. I guess the second base can be a hanger base with just a couple of skyrangers and a general store in the beginning. You just have to be careful with their scouts. Shoot all of them down if possible, since that will prevent the aliens from sending in retaliation missions.

[Urban Ranger]

No idea, they seem to be quite wimpy as far as terrorists go. My rookies had a high success rate with autocannons against Reavers.

[Urban Ranger]

quote: Originally posted by Richard Bruns on 04-25-2001 08:41 AM According to the numbers in the UFOpedia, laser pistols have a power and fire rate, and accuracy equivalent to an auto-cannon. I make about six of these pistols while researching laser rifles, and they seem to do wonders for my ability to kill aliens. Are those numbers wrong?

No. Just different playing style. DO whatever you feel comfortable.