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Ahaaa X-Com. Oh, for the olden days...

Anyway, Here's a few tips.

Heavy plasma wins. Get it.

Tech to laser rifles for a good alternative to HP Until you can get a steady income of ammo.

Get armor. Wub the armor. Give your best soldiers your best armor.

Don't bother with HWPs later on, They're useful at the start, and midpoint as scouts, but later on, your best soldiers are just as good, if not more. And as for scouting... that's what rookies are for, right? :whistle:

Pistols. Don't underestimate 'em. A heavy weapons soldier with no ammo is useless, But one with a good pistol on em can STILL kick some arse.

Go straight from the firestorm to avenger. Use IT just as a tech link, It's useless, and can't even carry HWPs..

Even though I never finished it, I tried like hell and built a few tatics up.

[PrejudiceSucks]

Actually, the Lightning craft is great for Alien Base attacks. So what, it can't carry HWPs, on the other hand it delivers 12 crack soldiers just where I need them. Like bases.

Also, the Avenger takes ages to build, far too many raw materials and if you start using it as a combat craft you put masses of equiptment at risk.

HWPs are utter cattle crap. Just no. 4 spaces for a piece of technology that can't even pick an alien corpse up and has trouble stunning it? THE ANSWER MUST BE NO!

HP does not win. It loses. A lot. As said earlier today, it just punches through your own armour. Laser Weapons are better for a reason. Laser Pistols are not bad at all, especially as sidearms for snipers with HP and heavy weapons troopers, who should be armed with Heavy Cannons.

Before anyone complains about that one, if you load up an auto-cannon with HE ammo and take it within a square mile of an etherial/sectoid commander then you know what will happen. Heavy Cannons are slow, but that doesn't really matter if you're hitting every time.

X-Com tip for the day: Anything that's on the interior of your landing craft (Skyranger/Lightning etc.) will be taken away, so dump alien stuff in there early on to save TUs for later turns. You'll thank me after turn 5.

[Lizard]

Funny.20 or 30 pages backwards I was only one who said that laser rifles are far better than plasma, and now there is a LOT another defenders.... :w00t:
Laser rules!!!

[Zarkumo]

Uhm... I hope you don't mind me not searching through the whole 56 pages of ingame tips but asking my technical prob question here:

The game works fine until I order my skyranger to land at an ufo site. Then the game just shuts down and returns me to the desktop. (Win XP Professional SP 2) Common problem? What can I do?

Edit:
Actually I DID find another post now of someone describing the same problem. I'll try the suggested solution (closing all other programs and savong often...)

So sorry for interrupting...

[lethe]

Do you actually manage to finish anything with laser weapons? I mean, what's with the unlimited ammo and wasting 20 tu's reloading? I have a very careful way to play, I hardly lose man (except the damn novices proving me wrong when I think they're ready to join the main squad, and mainly only to mind-playing ethereals). At most, you'll have 20/25 opponents, if you have 12 in a squad, that's 35x12= 420 shots. Get yourself a good squad (aka very good reflexes, somewhat good accurancy, very brave and with a long training in psi labs), and you'll hardly need to reload one single weapon during the entire game. Besides, after occupying a few strategic positions in battle, most of the team will be stranded, and the ones advancing can always switch places when/if they need to reload.
Heavy plasma and psi amps are without doubt, the ones to blame for me finishing the game in all levels except superhuman (They start off way too fast, if someone can finish this one, I'll bow to you ). It's hard enough with it after veteran, can't imagine how to play without them. :blink:

Lightning and firestorms are worthless. Go straight to avenger. With 100 scientists working on it, you'll take less time completing research on the avenger than building up a lightning in 2 workshops.

[Lizard]

Originally posted by lethe@Mar 27 2005, 11:47 PM
Do you actually manage to finish anything with laser weapons? I mean, what's with the unlimited ammo and wasting 20 tu's reloading? I have a very careful way to play, I hardly lose man (except the damn novices proving me wrong when I think they're ready to join the main squad, and mainly only to mind-playing ethereals). At most, you'll have 20/25 opponents, if you have 12 in a squad, that's 35x12= 420 shots. Get yourself a good squad (aka very good reflexes, somewhat good accurancy, very brave and with a long training in psi labs), and you'll hardly need to reload one single weapon during the entire game. Besides, after occupying a few strategic positions in battle, most of the team will be stranded, and the ones advancing can always switch places when/if they need to reload.
Heavy plasma and psi amps are without doubt, the ones to blame for me finishing the game in all levels except superhuman (They start off way too fast, if someone can finish this one, I'll bow to you ). It's hard enough with it after veteran, can't imagine how to play without them. :blink:

Lightning and firestorms are worthless. Go straight to avenger. With 100 scientists working on it, you'll take less time completing research on the avenger than building up a lightning in 2 workshops.

Duh....I finished Ufo in first four difficulties and then as the Superhuman JUST with laser weapons(and Blasters).I really dont see what you all have on heavy plasmas :blink: There is only one thing in they are better than lasers-you can made holes in Ufo more easily with them :bleh:
Really,I never had a problem to kill something with them :blink:
But well,diferent persons,diferent opinions...

[lethe]

Thing is, laser weapons are so frustrating. Hitting a muton with 3 auto shots, just to see it turn around and kill your esteemed commander that just had scratched him. Even with heavy plasma this happens sometimes.

Oh and.. Give me tips how to end superhuman level. I always end up too far behind on research (a thing I'm pretty good at all other levels) and end up getting my new bases destroyed, until I either quit for being totally pointless, or end up just running out of money (My 3rd base is usually the one to make the big profit, most of the times I don't even get to build it). Just seems AI develops too fast, not funny to fight very large ethereal missions with a poorly trained squad, rather a suicide. :crazy:

[Lizard]

Originally posted by lethe@Mar 28 2005, 12:37 AM
Thing is, laser weapons are so frustrating. Hitting a muton with 3 auto shots, just to see it turn around and kill your esteemed commander that just had scratched him. Even with heavy plasma this happens sometimes.

Oh and..* * Give me tips how to end superhuman level. I always end up too far behind on research (a thing I'm pretty good at all other levels) and end up getting my new bases destroyed, until I either quit for being totally pointless, or end up just running out of money (My 3rd base is usually the one to make the big profit, most of the times I don't even get to build it). Just seems AI develops too fast, not funny to fight very large ethereal missions with a poorly trained squad, rather a suicide.* :crazy:

Just a few tips:
-Use Avalanches.They are :w00t: :w00t: :w00t: .With 3 or 4 interceptors each with 2 avalanches you can shot down even Very Large Ufo...
-Buy a LOT of scientists.And when I mean a LOT I mean a LOT.It would be good to have around 200-300 hundred in the end of March(tip-resreach just laser weapons and armors :bleh: .Maybe the point that I didnt even bother to resreach plasma weapons(I had laser-avalanche combo on my crafts ,I resreached laser weapons,armors and Ufo Construction(and psy labs)
-Btw nevermind to not having very much money.Sell EVERYTHING from Ufos that you dont need for your resreach (even aa and elerium,in smart numbers) and again you should stuck with lighting-firestorms(avenger just cost too much material to build/maintain)
-becouse you will be generally technicaly overpowered,try to switch and play ufo wihtout alien techs on low difficult first, you should learn few tactics -how-to-kill-mutons-with-heavy-plasmas-just-with-autocannons-or-lasers......
-When you dont want,or cant afforod your crafts damged,just follow ufo till it land and then do a tactical mission.If you get rating good-excelent for it,you will even be in get plus points,regadless the fact that you ignored the Ufo and allowed it to land...
And so on...And so on.....

[lethe]

First base is always crowded with scientists, still the advance it's substantially slower than the advance at genius level.

I never take down very large ships, they're the main source of elerium, at least the first ones without the damned ethereals (getting tired of saying this). What's more annoying in these is that they start appearing when I don't have a fast transporter yet, and the skyranger just makes me throw the computer through the window, by the time it arrives at the location, the ufo already landed and lifted off a few hundred times.

Never got crafts damaged (mainly cause I don't take down very large ships)

I'll think about the lasers, but I think I'll give it a try at the hardest level again using plasmas. It's been quite some years since I played this one (exception made this last week, but playing in 4th level), maybe other strategy games sharpened some areas

On a personal note, I expect nothing else but to be humilliated, any other result will be a victory, such as managing to build and mantain a 3rd base for the very first time :bleh:

Ehh, I dont get it.




Laser Rifle___________Heavy Plasma

Acc%___TU%_________Acc%_____TU%
46%____34%___Auto ___50%_____35%
65%_____25%__Snap____75%___ 30%
100%____50%__Aimed__110%____60%

60_____________DMG___115

Ignoring that the HP has greater accuracy... and the degree that difference is depends greatly on the soilder (the more accurate the soilder the greater that accuracy gap)

Fire Auto twice.. Laser has 360 dmg potential vrs. HP 690

If you use Snap lets assume your soilder is at 75% TU, Fire Laser x3 180 vrs. HP x2 for 230

Worse for 100% TU, 240 vrs 345 (plus 10% TU for HP soilder to move, kneel, or turn to fire)

Laser gets the nod on aimed assuming full TU AND you discount movement that turn for HP, 120 potential vrs 115, otherwise again the HP has more potential

Reloading has never been a problem for me, I just never use up the clip already loaded. I can count on one hand the number of times I can remember HAVING to reload, much less a HP. Ima big fan of snap shot, so lets assume about 50% accuracy on 35 rounds, normaly higher but, anyway, 50% hit rate gets me 17 hits and on most enemies, 17 kills. From one soilder. Anything bigger, and not sectopod, gets auto fire, assume i fire twice at 50% again for simplicity, thats 3 hits for 345 dmg. I can do that for 5 anda half rounds before im low on ammo, 2 left. My problem is Im running out of things to kill at this point.

Elerium certainly isnt a problem in the late stages your talking about... even IF for some reason the baddies stop droping lots and lots of HP clips. (2 per alien most times, if not all never made certain)

Certainly have a few laser rifles on your transport for sectopods, if your people are strong enough just equip them regardless. And ofc as has been said over and over and yet again laser pistols for your BL/psi amp boys...

But lasers greater than HP?


Well... only for a challenge



Speaking of which... superhuman? with lasers?? on the non bugged version???