Short of punching your screen when your sniper misses a 95% probability shot, what kind of strategies do you guys use? I've been using two heavies, two supports, a sniper and an assault guy for my current run, turns out that destructable scenery in a game is like catnip for me.
XCOM -Enemy Unknown - Post your gamewinning strategy!
- Thread starter ResonanceSD
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This is for Classic Ironman. No idea if it would work on Impossible.
Start in Asia to lower costs.
Initial priorities: beam weapons, carapace armour, satellite coverage. Ignore everything that doesn't advance those things. Get satellites over Russia, USA and all of Africa as soon as possible (for the most funding). South America has lowest priority (hardly any money and their bonus sucks.)
My squad is usually two support (medic build), one of each other class and one SHIV. I treat the SHIV as expendable. It's gets sent into rooms first and if someone else is in trouble I'll drive it out into the open next to the aliens to draw fire. The other soldiers operate as you'd expect. Heavy handles crowds and mechanical enemies (yay HEAT ammo). Sniper gets up high (skeleton suit, elevation bonus, squad sight) and picks shit off. Assault holds doorways (close quarter specialist), draws reaction fire (lightening reflexes) and delivers the killing blow on anything the sniper can't kill.
I'd be interested to hear other people's preferred soldier builds. I've got Assault and Support all figured out, but I can never decide whether squad sight or snap shot is better for Snipers. Same with holo targeting and bullet storm for Heavies. Holo targeting is more useful most of the time, but when you open a door and find yourself looking up a Sectopod's nostrils, you'll quickly come to appreciate the wonders of bullet storm.
Start in Asia to lower costs.
Initial priorities: beam weapons, carapace armour, satellite coverage. Ignore everything that doesn't advance those things. Get satellites over Russia, USA and all of Africa as soon as possible (for the most funding). South America has lowest priority (hardly any money and their bonus sucks.)
My squad is usually two support (medic build), one of each other class and one SHIV. I treat the SHIV as expendable. It's gets sent into rooms first and if someone else is in trouble I'll drive it out into the open next to the aliens to draw fire. The other soldiers operate as you'd expect. Heavy handles crowds and mechanical enemies (yay HEAT ammo). Sniper gets up high (skeleton suit, elevation bonus, squad sight) and picks shit off. Assault holds doorways (close quarter specialist), draws reaction fire (lightening reflexes) and delivers the killing blow on anything the sniper can't kill.
I'd be interested to hear other people's preferred soldier builds. I've got Assault and Support all figured out, but I can never decide whether squad sight or snap shot is better for Snipers. Same with holo targeting and bullet storm for Heavies. Holo targeting is more useful most of the time, but when you open a door and find yourself looking up a Sectopod's nostrils, you'll quickly come to appreciate the wonders of bullet storm.
Personally, I attempt shots at a much lower percentage to hit than I should. Following that, I try not to tear up as all my soldiers are cut to ribbons.
I think the best strategy for any given mission though is to panic and abort whilst all high-ranking soldiers are outside the drop zone.
A right tactical genius I am.
I think the best strategy for any given mission though is to panic and abort whilst all high-ranking soldiers are outside the drop zone.
A right tactical genius I am.
I found my 2 Heavies - 2 Supports - 1 Assault - 1 Sniper squad composition to be pretty damn effective.
Both of my Heavies get Holo-Targeting, no questions. Anyone hard to hit? Heavies fire first.
My Supports are both geared to be medics, because it can't hurt to be sure.
My Assault gets the defense perks, like Lightning Reflexes, because he's usually shoving a shotgun down a Chrysalid's throat.
My Sniper has Squad Sight, Damn Good Ground, Double Tap, etc. Once they're in a good position, or up in the air, they simply annihilate anything that wanders into anyone's range.
Both of my Heavies get Holo-Targeting, no questions. Anyone hard to hit? Heavies fire first.
My Supports are both geared to be medics, because it can't hurt to be sure.
My Assault gets the defense perks, like Lightning Reflexes, because he's usually shoving a shotgun down a Chrysalid's throat.
My Sniper has Squad Sight, Damn Good Ground, Double Tap, etc. Once they're in a good position, or up in the air, they simply annihilate anything that wanders into anyone's range.
Seriously, though:
Start in Africa or N.America for more money/less expenses. Don't start in Asia since you will hardly even use that bonus for the first 2-3 months, but make sure you get that bonus early.
Go for Lasers, then Skeleton, skip Carapace since Skeleton is better (+Defense bonus and move speed bonus trumps a few hitpoints) and cheaper (needs less Alloys). If you're feeling adventurous go for the alien biology research first, try getting the S.America bonus fast and capturing live aliens as soon as possible (Sectoids and Floaters) and insta-researching them with the S.Am bonus to get research credit for armor and weapons. This is tricky to do, but if can pull it off it saves time.
Satellites, satellites, satellites. Get coverage and get it fast. Make sure to use adjacency bonuses when building Uplinks/Nexuses to maximize your Sat cap. It is possible not to lose a single country, but you need to not fail any missions and juggle abductions well. Try to get Engineers for rewards if you can (to make everything cheaper and unlock production) and money (to build stuff). Scientists aren't a priority. Neither are the free soldiers.
Squad sight is undoubtedly better than Snap Shot because it enables the sniper to be a good sniper as opposed to a bad assault. For the same reason I try and make sure I have extra troops trained up, if the mission doesn't sound like it supports sniping I have back up assaults and heavies.Zhukov said:
I don't think there's such a gulf between Bullet Storm and Holo targeting, they are abilities that support or round out the Heavies role and you can make a case for either. I tend to prefer Bullet Storm though as it is more useful in Terror Missions which I still have most problems with.
I roll with 2 assault, 1 support, 1 heavy and 2 snipers OR 2 heavies and 1 sniper, usually split my squad in to 2 groups of 3.
One assault rolls with Alloy Cannon, the other with plasma rifle, everyone else has bast plasma weapon for their class.
It's all about using my assault to scout forward or if I have 2 snipers, one always has archangel armour to spot for the other.
Overwatch and suppression (with holo targeting, naturally) are lifesavers!
I'm not too far from the end now (been taking my time)
One assault rolls with Alloy Cannon, the other with plasma rifle, everyone else has bast plasma weapon for their class.
It's all about using my assault to scout forward or if I have 2 snipers, one always has archangel armour to spot for the other.
Overwatch and suppression (with holo targeting, naturally) are lifesavers!
I'm not too far from the end now (been taking my time)
3 assaults to charge in and wipe everything out (lightning reflexes+run n' gun+rapid fire+close combat specialist=win), a sniper to soften the enemies up for my assaults, a heavy for crowd control (shredder rocket=win, especially in the late game), and a medic to heal whoever is unlucky enough to take a plasma blast to the face was my main build for most of the game. 
Didn't really have much of a grand strategy, sad to say, which was what probably led to 4 nations abandoning the project. D:
Didn't really have much of a grand strategy, sad to say, which was what probably led to 4 nations abandoning the project. D:
Depends whoever's available.
Generally go 2 heavies, 2 supports (medic), one sniper and one assault.
Heavies for suppression fire (may take an insane amount of ammo but it lowers enemy accuracy)
Supports of healing.
Squad-sight sniper.
Assault for scouting.
I tend to rush the Alien base as soon as possible, I'm hitting with both Laser and Carapace/Skeleton but will hold off if Mutons upgrade to Plasma Rifles before those two technologies are ready.
Generally go 2 heavies, 2 supports (medic), one sniper and one assault.
Heavies for suppression fire (may take an insane amount of ammo but it lowers enemy accuracy)
Supports of healing.
Squad-sight sniper.
Assault for scouting.
I tend to rush the Alien base as soon as possible, I'm hitting with both Laser and Carapace/Skeleton but will hold off if Mutons upgrade to Plasma Rifles before those two technologies are ready.
I tend to go in the opposite direction, both N.America and Africa require 3 sat's each while Asia needs 4 for complete coverage. Plus India and Australia only give $60 per month each.Jandau said: