Firaxis, while experienced, are not gods. Nor is the 'intended experience' what will be the most fun for everyone. Between both of those facts anyone who says mods are bad can go fuck themselves. In fact I'll outright say this game repeated the most glaring flaw in XCOM 1: The inverse-difficulty curve, and I tip my hat to the modder who will inevitably think of a way to fix it. Why were the first 3 levels of the game insanely harder than anything that came after?! I honestly found the mission to retrieve the core that powers the ship harder than the final level.
XCOM 2: Mods or no mods?
- Thread starter IamLEAM1983
- Start date
Depends on the type of mod, really. Mods can broadly be seperated into 4 groups:
1. Aesthetic mods. Stuff that doesn't affect gameplay and adds extra customization. From extra props for your soldiers to changed models and such. These are fine, but I only download them if they are in line with the base game. For instance, I got a Camo pattern pack that recreates patterns used by a number of today's militaries and special ops units. But I would never go for something like Hatsune Miku hair (yes, it's on there, god help us all).
2. Quality of life mods. Things that don't change gameplay, but fix the interface and make the game overall easier and more pleasant to use. Evac All and Unlocked Camera are good examples here. I generally like these and get them to rectify oversights by the developers.
3. Rebalancing mods. Things that alter existing gameplay elements, but don't add anything new. Turn Timers are a prominent example, but weapon rebalancing mods and such are also out there. I avoid these unless there is an aspect of the game that I find utterly broken. I haven't come across anything of that magnitude in XCOM 2 and therefore don't use any of these mods.
4. New content. Basically, any mod that adds new elements that aren't just cosmetic. These can be new enemies, new weapons, new classes, etc. I tend to avoid these, unless it's a major pack that's gone through serious development (eg. something like Long War for the first game). I do have the three mods that came out at the same time with the game (SMGs, Centurions and Officer training), since they are kinda official. However, I don't really use two of them (SMGs and Officers), and the third one isn't a big deal (a tougher Muton every now and then, big whoop).
1. Aesthetic mods. Stuff that doesn't affect gameplay and adds extra customization. From extra props for your soldiers to changed models and such. These are fine, but I only download them if they are in line with the base game. For instance, I got a Camo pattern pack that recreates patterns used by a number of today's militaries and special ops units. But I would never go for something like Hatsune Miku hair (yes, it's on there, god help us all).
2. Quality of life mods. Things that don't change gameplay, but fix the interface and make the game overall easier and more pleasant to use. Evac All and Unlocked Camera are good examples here. I generally like these and get them to rectify oversights by the developers.
3. Rebalancing mods. Things that alter existing gameplay elements, but don't add anything new. Turn Timers are a prominent example, but weapon rebalancing mods and such are also out there. I avoid these unless there is an aspect of the game that I find utterly broken. I haven't come across anything of that magnitude in XCOM 2 and therefore don't use any of these mods.
4. New content. Basically, any mod that adds new elements that aren't just cosmetic. These can be new enemies, new weapons, new classes, etc. I tend to avoid these, unless it's a major pack that's gone through serious development (eg. something like Long War for the first game). I do have the three mods that came out at the same time with the game (SMGs, Centurions and Officer training), since they are kinda official. However, I don't really use two of them (SMGs and Officers), and the third one isn't a big deal (a tougher Muton every now and then, big whoop).
I didn't touch the ini files 'cos I'm just not that smart, I did go to steam workshop and get a mod to disable the turn timer ... I am pretty bad at xcom, I enjoy the game but I don't want to play 200 hours of smashing my face into a wall, so I make things easier for myself and if that makes me a filthy casual, then I am the filthiest!
If you can play and complete the game on anything higher than the second easiest, hats off to you! You're the better gamer and I am quite envious! But I'm enjoying it, even if I think a logic should be installed, so that if my barrel is clipping through the enemy, it is a 100% chance to hit and a hefty crit chance!
If you can play and complete the game on anything higher than the second easiest, hats off to you! You're the better gamer and I am quite envious! But I'm enjoying it, even if I think a logic should be installed, so that if my barrel is clipping through the enemy, it is a 100% chance to hit and a hefty crit chance!
Timed missions where your team's starting position and the objective are both close to the edge of the map and the lines of sight are long, can often be stealthed.Zhukov said:
If done it plenty of times. You have to recognize the opportunity when you get one.
It can be really easy if it's also destruction or hacking mission, where you can blow up the walls of the building around the target with a rocket and then shoot or hack from a defensible position. After that you can overwatch creep the rest of the mission.
Where players go wrong is when they try it near enclosed spaces where aliens may be lurking or patrolling right around the corner.
And if I was complaining about overwatch I would be right with you! Some little sectoid scurries across my face and I miss, fair enough.Gundam GP01 said:
This is more of a shooting gallery or TPS game where you wait for the little head to pop up so you can plink it, except you don't have to wait for the little head to pop up 'cos you can see the entirety of the person, especially on a flank shot!
Remember that this is a turn based game. What you see is just an abstraction of the intended reality - the units don't literally stand in one place for your soldier to walk over then spend 5 minutes drawing aim before firing - what actually happens is that your soldier would move and attack within the same action, which would also overlap with the enemy scampering for cover at the same time.omega 616 said:
With that said, if you want that feature, there is the Point Blank mod [http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=621915522]
I haven't played XCOM 2 yet, but I plan on playing a stealth heavy game if I can. So I have some questions.Ihateregistering1 said:
How does the game normally function when it comes to concealment? When you kill a squad from concealment, do they all now know where you are? Or is it possible to drop a unit of badguys with an effective ambush, and the rest of the forces be unaware? If it's the former, does the mod you are talking about make it more like the latter? Please asplain. xD
And sort of a general question about concealment to anyone. How effective is a full stealth team anyway? I watched a bit of TB's review of it pre-release, and some of the stuff he described about the....Ranger class I think it is? The on that gets perks to concealment, made me very interested in a full stealth team. Is that viable? Or is it basically pointless after that first alpha strike?
OT: Who cares what other people think? Play the game how you like it. You paid money for it, the people talking shit about modders can just go fuck off.
On certain missions, your entire squad starts in concealment. Once you attack or do something noisy (like break a window or attack someone) concealment is broken for the rest of the mission. One class (the ranger) can get abilities allowing it to remain in concealment when the rest of the squad breaks it, and to reenter concealment after leaving it, but for everyone else it's basically a chance to set up for a one time ambush or to complete an objective.Happyninja42 said:
In fact, I've found one of the worst things you can do is to try and stealth through the whole mission. Usually, it means when you do break concealment you'll be caught in a crossfire of several alien pods which would be much easier to take one at a time.
If it all seems unrealistic, bear in mind that lorewise the aliens are connected via a telepathic network.
On the original post. I have some cosmetic mods and would consider convenience mods, but anything which alters game balance is out for me. The turn timers are aggressive but I find them enjoyable and I've not at any point felt that I never had a chance to complete a mission because of them. As for Avatar, you can fuck up a lot and still not lose the game.. Again, Avatar serves to give you an urgent motivation, but it's not exactly hard to stay ahead unless your game is totally screwed in some other way. Basically, I prefer the game as it was designed and I would rather just accept that I'm not good enough to play on higher difficulties than alter the difficulty with mods, but unless someone is actively bragging about how good they are I don't see the problem with others using mods to get whatever experience they want.
Yes, but you're missing the point - your soldiers aren't sneaking. They don't tip-toe a meter behind the enemy, take aim and fire, while the enemy stays there patiently. They move, duck and weave at the same time. Again, the combat is an abstraction - in reality both units would have been moving at the same time. Heck, all units would be moving at the same time - your soldier isn't locked down in an individual 101 with his/her target - your soldier is part of a unit and would also be keeping tabs on where his people are, at the same time as trying to watch the enemies. You could wait for minutes, even hours, before taking an action - in reality, these actions would all happen in the span of few seconds.omega 616 said:
Well, "real" in the sense that the game mechanics shouldn't be taken as literal representation of what's happening. In RPGs you don't kill your nth goblin and suddenly become smarter. In D&D a level 12 fighter hasn't suddenly grown literally thicker skin to get more HP than a level 1 fighter. In Magic the planeswalkers aren't just pulling swamps out of their asses and piling them on the ground in front of themselves. All of these are just mechanical representations of underlying ideas. Abstractions.omega 616 said:
In "reality", which is to say, if you look past the mechanics and what those ideas are, the RPG hero has been learning about the world for the entire time, yet XP is only given on kills, because the game doesn't simulate the character reading books before bed, studying the markings in old ruins for insight to old dead civilisations, nor does it explore them meditating on all the lessons they've learned throughout their journey. In D&D the experienced fighter knows how to take a blow without being harmed as much - more HP is the collective representation of them angling their body right, applying force to mitigate the force of strikes, and just sheer determination to not succumb to the pain - that's how they are able to survive better through experience. In Magic, the planeswalkers are slowly laying claim on the lands and drawing the magic in them.
Game mechanics are simplifications in order to facilitate gameplay. We have to look past them to understand why they work the way they do - if you're to just examine the stylised representations, then of course they would look flawed. They are not the whole picture, after all. It's as if looking at a passport photo of somebody - would you assume that the man or woman shown there is just a head with no hands, legs or a body? Or would you take it as just a representative sample of them - enough to recognise the real person? It would be the latter, I imagine - this is also the case with game mechanics.
Depends. If you use them right, you can bypass most of the combat in a mission. On the other hand, they'll take much longer to level up, as you only do so by getting kills (there isn't XP per se, however, kills matter [http://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/255057/how-can-i-tell-how-many-kills-my-soldier-is-away-from-promotion/255062#255062]). Still, I've heard of people finishing Blacksite missions (go in, plant some bombs, go out) with almost always being in cover (planting charges breaks it) and generally without alerting on fighting anybody. It's supposedly easiest if you take a single scout ranger on these missions. There are other missions as well, where full stealth works, although you may have to fight a pod or two at the end. The general strategy there would be to make your way to the objective unseen, then just unleash everything you have on the aliens around it (if any) and make a quick get away afterwards.Happyninja42 said:
As I said, it would work, but you won't be levelling up that fast. Also, it's slightly risky - if you take too long fighting, you may end up fighting all the enemies from the level that you bypassed. Hence the need for a quick getaway.
Overall, I wouldn't really play this style, not all the missions, but I can see it working as a long term strategy of some sort.
Rangers have two specialisations - one is scout, which gives them more bonuses to do with mobility and stealth, the other is blademaster, where they become profficient at chopping enemies to ribbons and avoiding being filled with bullet holes in the process. Scout rangers are really good at stealth. The problem I find with them is that they are really better at scouting than combat. As in, they are good at combat, but you probably want them to either fight or scout - mixing the two is a bit difficult. They get an ability that keeps them concealed even after your team is revealed - this helps, since they can have a look ahead. But if they fight, they also get revealed. They have a single extra ability that immediately conceals them again, but it can be only used once per mission. So, if they fight, they can only ever go back to scouting one more time, and the second time they attack, they can't scout any more. Which makes them participate less in combat. On the other hand, if you wish, you could just keep fighting with them - they become really mobile and one of their abilities gives them bonuses to attacking enemies that haven't seen them yet. The ranger doesn't need to be concealed, just out of sight - behind a corner or something. Another ability allows them to move after a kill, so you could be dashing around the battle field attacking enemies and immediately retreating out of sight afterwards.Happyninja42 said:
Rangers are fun, overall.
Still, I think one of the most fun classes is the Grenadier. They just completely wreck stuff up. There is nothing quite like dropping an acid grenate on a group of enemies and watch their armour dissolve and them taking continuous damage from the corrosive substance. Or dropping a fire grenade that lights the aliens' asses on fire. Or shooting a rocket at somebody high up in a building and then watching them fall through a couple of newly missing floors down to their doom. Grenadiers are just amazing at how effective they are. I bring a couple at every mission.
A massive portion of mods on the workshop are cheat mods.
When I play "legit" I don't use gameplay-altering mods of any kind; I will first beat the game on Legend Ironman, then I will play for fun adding whatever crazy stuff I feel like adding. Certainly I wouldn't feel that I really "beat" the game if I willingly made it easier on myself.
When I play "legit" I don't use gameplay-altering mods of any kind; I will first beat the game on Legend Ironman, then I will play for fun adding whatever crazy stuff I feel like adding. Certainly I wouldn't feel that I really "beat" the game if I willingly made it easier on myself.
Yeah, saw that... but there's a difference between "wacky crazy" and "interestingly crazy", and the two sets not always intersect. I think I'll pass on that. On the other hand, the Katana [http://www.nexusmods.com/xcom2/mods/115/?] and Pulse Rifle [http://www.nexusmods.com/xcom2/mods/218/?] mods are right up my alley.sheppie said:
I usually prefer to play through my first playthrough unmodded because, for example how do I know what better melee in Xcom 2 means if I have never used it. I would never think to have others obey this as I do though in a single player game
Someone already explained a good chunk of it, but yes, technically on some of the missions you could complete them going totally stealth, but like in the last game, the vast majority of your XP comes from killing enemies.Happyninja42 said:
Yes, once you "break concealment" (open fire on the baddies) you've lost it. However, Rangers do have an ability where they can re-enter concealment. So, theoretically, if you had a squad composed entirely of Rangers, you could break concealment and ambush the bad guys and kill them, and then have everyone re-enter concealment.
But no, there aren't silenced weapons, or you can't run in and do some sort of coordinated mass killing strike and kill everyone before they have a chance to yell out and let their buddies know you're around.
The basic 2 paths with Rangers are "typical Assault class from X-Com" and "Ninja". Ninja focuses heavily on concealment and using your blade, while Assault is more oriented towards run and gun, rapid fire, not triggering overwatch, etc.
The only way to level up is through kills: explanation of the promotion system [http://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/255057/how-can-i-tell-how-many-kills-my-soldier-is-away-from-promotion/255062#255062]. There isn't really XP in the game, per se.Ihateregistering1 said: