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Re: Phoenix Point - from the creator of the X-COM series in the 1990s

Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2020 6:21 pm
by jztemple2
Buatha wrote: Tue Apr 28, 2020 5:44 pm
Changed the Lair missions’ layout and objective. Players now have to evacuate all of their units after destroying the Spawnery.
:shock: Well, there goes that strategy! :mrgreen:

Re: Phoenix Point - from the creator of the X-COM series in the 1990s

Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2020 7:47 pm
by Lassr
jztemple2 wrote: Tue Apr 28, 2020 6:21 pm
Buatha wrote: Tue Apr 28, 2020 5:44 pm
Changed the Lair missions’ layout and objective. Players now have to evacuate all of their units after destroying the Spawnery.
:shock: Well, there goes that strategy! :mrgreen:
It was already hard enough dammit. That is not an improvement.

Re: Phoenix Point - from the creator of the X-COM series in the 1990s

Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2020 8:26 am
by RMC
Lassr wrote: Tue Apr 28, 2020 7:47 pm
jztemple2 wrote: Tue Apr 28, 2020 6:21 pm
Buatha wrote: Tue Apr 28, 2020 5:44 pm
Changed the Lair missions’ layout and objective. Players now have to evacuate all of their units after destroying the Spawnery.
:shock: Well, there goes that strategy! :mrgreen:
It was already hard enough dammit. That is not an improvement.
Yeah, I have shelved this until all the DLC is out, and hopefully they have a pathetic difficulty, so I can actually play it.

For games like this, I have started the Xcom-Chimera squad, and it is pretty fun. At one of the very difficult missions, and not sure if I didn't get the right items for it. But seeing if I can salvage it.

Re: Phoenix Point - from the creator of the X-COM series in the 1990s

Posted: Tue May 05, 2020 10:46 am
by Buatha
Exactly.

It's always depressing when another player is saying the AI is "brain dead" and wished the campaign was more difficult...when I'm on my 3rd restart after being constantly crushed.

Re: Phoenix Point - from the creator of the X-COM series in the 1990s

Posted: Sat Jun 13, 2020 2:12 am
by Buatha
Feature Changes

Scavenging Sites Rework and Overgrown Environments
Scavenging sites are now bigger and split up into three types based on the objective.

-- Recovering resources
-- Rescuing soldiers
-- Recovering vehicles

Players can encounter any one of these three types of scavenging site missions and they’ll have to complete the objectives while fending off against constant enemy reinforcements.

Later in the game, players will encounter the Overgrown variant of the scavenging sites which offer better rewards.

Pandoran Citadels Rework
Pandoran Citadels are now bigger and have a more labyrinthian design with high walls blocking the players’ line of sight.

Weapon and ammo crates can now be found in Citadels as well as alien structures.

Scylla Rework
The Scylla has more Hit Points and more armour on each body part. Disabling any of its body parts results in more stacks of Bleed damage.

Personnel Recruits
Players can now recruit soldiers from the Personnel section after researching Haven Recruitment Protocols. These soldiers won’t have armour or weapons and will refresh every 3 days.

Dismissing Soldiers
Players now have the option to dismiss any of their units at any time by selecting them through the Personnel screen

Haven Defense Resident Soldiers
When defending a Haven, players will now find resident soldiers fighting with the attacking forces. If a player unit comes close to a defending unit, the player will gain control of that unit for the rest of the mission.

Haven Defense Starting Mist
If a haven is covered by mist in the Geoscape then there will also be mist after loading into the map itself.

Status Effect Interactions
The following status effect interactions have been updated:

-- Sirens and Priest units will lose mind control of all units as soon as they become dazed or paralyzed
-- Daze and Paralysis remove the overwatch status from a target, as well as the ability to return fire
-- Daze and Paralysis remove reactive abilities from enemies like the Triton’s chameleon ability, Scylla’s mist spawning torso, and the Sentinel’s Preparation ability
-- Panic removes return fire, overwatch, and mind control
-- A unit with overwatch set cannot return fire
-- Turrets and vehicles are immune to paralysis, daze, bleed, and mind control
-- Mind controlling a Siren removes its mind control of other characters
-- Melee attacks don’t trigger return fire

Save System Updates
If changes to the game lead to a player’s Tactical saves being invalidated, they will instead receive a warning message and be returned to the Geoscape right before they started the mission.

Turrets and Spider Drone Updates
Turrets and Spider Drones can now be manually controlled by the player as long as they have a Technician or Infiltrator under their control. This control lasts as long as those units stay alive or do not become mind controlled. If the units leave the battlefield or become mind controlled then the turrets/spider drones will continue moving and shooting using their own AI.

Balance / Other
The maximum Speed stat a soldier can have has been reduced slightly and levelling up the Speed stat costs more SP
Vehicles and Mutogs have increased HP and Mutogs deal more damage making them more valuable to the player
Changed the background colour of several Geoscape screens such as the Personnel, Equipment, Deployment, etc.
Made changes to the explosive barrels so that only the largest explosive tanks will explode after getting hit

Bug Fixes
Enemies stuck in the environment will now die if they can’t move at the start of their turn
Fixed a hang when disabling one of the Chiron’s legs
Fixed an issue where after loading a Geoscape save the player wouldn’t be able to move their selected aircraft
Fixed a hang after a Mutog attacked an enemy close to an exploding barrel
Fixed a hang after a friendly soldier died from bleeding out
Fixed a hang after a Mindfragger attempted to mind control a vehicle
Fixed a hang after a Triton was hit by a fire grenade
Fixed a hang after a friendly unit was killed by a melee attack and the unit dropped a specific item
Fixed a hang after an enemy moved and discovered several units and objectives
Fixed a hang after an overwatch shot destroyed an enemy unit’s weapon
Fixed a hang after an enemy tried to heal an ally that was killed by an overwatch shot
Fixed an issue where landing with a Jet Jump on certain platforms would instantly kill the player’s unit
Fixed an issue where the player’s containment was emptied after loading a Geoscape save
Fixed an issue where Mindfraggers would lose their collision after attaching to a unit
Fixed an issue where enemies would spawn inside certain environments’ props
Fixed an issue where vehicles had no collision with certain environments’ props
Fixed an issue where destroyed havens would remain in the Geoscape’s objectives
Fixed an issue where the remove Mindfragger ability can take upwards of 15 seconds to complete
Fixed an issue where certain weapons couldn’t reload even if the unit has ammo in its inventory
Fixed an issue where switching from the Equipment to the Manufacturing screen and then to the Personnel screen would cause certain pieces of equipment to disappear
Fixed an issue where the Yugotthian Entity can cause 0 damage with its Mark of the Void ability
Fixed an issue where the research for Alien Citadels was unlocked by destroying a Nest
Fixed an issue where the objective buttons in the Geoscape were smaller than their icons
Fixed an issue where the “Tab” key didn’t work in the Free Aim mode
Fixed an issue where a character info screen with random characters and symbols would randomly appear in the tactical portion of the game
Fixed an issue where loading a save during the Geoscape tutorial would not update the objectives and the tutorial couldn’t be finished
Fixed an issue where a Scylla’s movement can be heard during the cinematic after loading into the mission
Fixed an issue where the evacuation zone for some Synedrion maps was placed in the middle of the map
Fixed an issue where the “Replenish All” button wasn’t greyed out after replenishing all of the items
Fixed an issue where the right Ctrl button couldn’t adjust the overwatch’s width
Fixed the “Hide Helmet” text not fitting in its UI box within the Customization screen
Fixed an issue where the “Will Points” text spilt out of its UI box in certain languages

Re: Phoenix Point - from the creator of the X-COM series in the 1990s

Posted: Sat Jun 13, 2020 8:50 am
by $iljanus
I keep forgetting that I backed this game in the days before they bailed on a Steam release. By the time it gets to Steam I'm sure it will be awesome!

Re: Phoenix Point - from the creator of the X-COM series in the 1990s

Posted: Sat Jun 13, 2020 2:15 pm
by TheMix
Some interesting changes. But there are a couple of the first ones that I don't agree with.
A unit with overwatch set cannot return fire

Melee attacks don’t trigger return fire
So I'm sitting there with my gun waiting to fire at anything that moves, but I'm going to ignore being shot at? I guess it makes sense if the return fire would use up my ammo, making it so I then wouldn't be able to overwatch. Still... Or maybe I don't remember the return fire option very well. Is it one of those things where you are generally going to miss? In that case I think I would prefer to wait for the overwatch.

But the melee one seems stupid. How about I don't return fire, but instead I hit the buggers in the face with the rifle butt?

Re: Phoenix Point - from the creator of the X-COM series in the 1990s

Posted: Sat Jun 13, 2020 4:11 pm
by Lassr
Sigh. Now the citadel missions are more difficult. I have not played this since a lot of the changes in the last update made it more difficult.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk


Re: Phoenix Point - from the creator of the X-COM series in the 1990s

Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2020 11:42 pm
by Lassr
Lassr wrote: Sat Jun 13, 2020 4:11 pm Sigh. Now the citadel missions are more difficult. I have not played this since a lot of the changes in the last update made it more difficult.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk
Started a new game on beginner to see how the changes affected the game and I am happy to report that the beginner level is very manageable now. I have made it to my first Lair mission and have not had to reload once so far during the entire campaign. Lair mission was made easier by not being overwhelmed with too many pandorans to handle and the Spawnery is now above ground so once you spot it you can attack it from afar. I only had to travel maybe half the distance on the map and easily evacuated. I have not seen any large pandorans yet such as the Chirons. Have not gotten to a Citadel yet either. So this game has moved out of the fun but frustrating category and into the very fun to play category now...so far. So it looks like I may be able to move up in difficulty now but I'm going to finish this game on beginner just to see how it goes.

Re: Phoenix Point - from the creator of the X-COM series in the 1990s

Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2020 12:01 am
by stimpy
Lassr wrote: Thu Jun 25, 2020 11:42 pm
Lassr wrote: Sat Jun 13, 2020 4:11 pm Sigh. Now the citadel missions are more difficult. I have not played this since a lot of the changes in the last update made it more difficult.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk
Started a new game on beginner to see how the changes affected the game and I am happy to report that the beginner level is very manageable now. I have made it to my first Lair mission and have not had to reload once so far during the entire campaign. Lair mission was made easier by not being overwhelmed with too many pandorans to handle and the Spawnery is now above ground so once you spot it you can attack it from afar. I only had to travel maybe half the distance on the map and easily evacuated. I have not seen any large pandorans yet such as the Chirons. Have not gotten to a Citadel yet either. So this game has moved out of the fun but frustrating category and into the very fun to play category now...so far. So it looks like I may be able to move up in difficulty now but I'm going to finish this game on beginner just to see how it goes.
Thanks for the update. I wasn't too far into this when I put it on the back burner to wait out the updates.
My ssd took a dump last week and wiped most all of my games, so I've been looking for something I can start fresh.

Re: Phoenix Point - from the creator of the X-COM series in the 1990s

Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2020 7:17 am
by RMC
Is there any update on the additional DLC that they have planned?

Also, I noticed that there is a "Living weapons pack" DLC that I don't seem to have(only 2.99). I preordered and got all DLC, but apparently this was extra? All the other DLC is listed as Owned, but not this one. What is it?

Thanks.

Re: Phoenix Point - from the creator of the X-COM series in the 1990s

Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2020 10:52 am
by Lassr
RMC wrote: Fri Jun 26, 2020 7:17 am Is there any update on the additional DLC that they have planned?

Also, I noticed that there is a "Living weapons pack" DLC that I don't seem to have(only 2.99). I preordered and got all DLC, but apparently this was extra? All the other DLC is listed as Owned, but not this one. What is it?

Thanks.
Legends of the Ancients DLC is due out in August. I didn't have the Weapons pack, meant to get it before I started the current game and forgot. I just bought it, but not sure it will incorporate into my current game. It adds missions that provide you with 3 power weapons.

Re: Phoenix Point - from the creator of the X-COM series in the 1990s

Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2020 11:28 am
by RMC
I think I will wait for August then, and pick up the weapons pack as well. That's not that long, and a few additional patches will help the gameplay. :)

Re: Phoenix Point - from the creator of the X-COM series in the 1990s

Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2020 6:02 pm
by Lassr
Tackled my first Citadel mission. So there are a bunch of walls now preventing the rage burst killing of the Scylla on the first turn. And it take 2 to 3 rage bursts to kill it. A lot more hit points have been added. I made it through the mission though and evacuated with 4 injuries, no deaths. Again, this all on Beginner's difficulty but it now seems to be very playable at that level compared to when it first came out and beginners felt like a very high difficulty level.

Re: Phoenix Point - from the creator of the X-COM series in the 1990s

Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2020 1:36 pm
by Lassr
Well, everything has been very playable until the final mission. I kept taking a lot of damage which I assumed was from the psychic attack but I had a priest with the blocking ability but it was not doing anything. So my whole team died. I mean if they have disabled the ability of a priest to block the psychic attack in the final mission I don't know how it is winnable. I'll dig and see if I can figure out what is going on but at this point I don't want to finish the game. This game is so close to being great but it still needs tweaks to shorten the game. I still had to take out like 10+ citadels because I would spend all my time defending my bases and couldn't progress the game through exploration until I wiped out all the citadels nearby.

Re: Phoenix Point - from the creator of the X-COM series in the 1990s

Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2020 9:43 am
by Lassr
So reading the PP forums, the priest not blocking attacks in the final mission is a bug and they have been working on a fix for several weeks. So I will just wait until the fix is deployed and continue with the mission from where I saved.

Re: Phoenix Point - from the creator of the X-COM series in the 1990s

Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2020 10:43 am
by Lassr
someone replied to the thread and said it is now a feature and to let them know if you dislike it, a few replies have said so far they hate it, as did I and I would no longer recommend the game if that was the case because to me it's broken and can't be completed.

Re: Phoenix Point - from the creator of the X-COM series in the 1990s

Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2020 12:36 pm
by RMC
Lassr wrote: Tue Jul 14, 2020 10:43 am someone replied to the thread and said it is now a feature and to let them know if you dislike it, a few replies have said so far they hate it, as did I and I would no longer recommend the game if that was the case because to me it's broken and can't be completed.
Man they seem to have made some very odd decisions with this game. I am hoping it is better with the next DLC.

Re: Phoenix Point - from the creator of the X-COM series in the 1990s

Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2020 11:48 am
by Victoria Raverna
New patch changed exploration and Pandoran evolution.

https://forums.snapshotgames.com/t/phoe ... 2020/11075
REMINDER: it is highly advisable to start a new campaign after this patch to make everything work smoothly. You will still be able to load old saves, but the game experience might be flawed.

If you want to continue with your old save games, we recommend not updating the game. If you have auto-update enabled on Epic Launcher, you can run the game from the .exe file on your PC (without using Epic Games Launcher). This way, the game will not update.



Geoscape

Phoenix Bases

The first base at the start of the game is the only Active one. Players need to locate and activate the rest of the Phoenix Bases.

The remaining Phoenix Bases can be located after researching Phoenix Archives.

Inactive Phoenix Bases need to be activated by paying resources.

Inactive Phoenix Bases can be revealed to be Infected Bases upon activation. The percentages of a Phoenix Base being infected vary. If a Phoenix Base is covered in Mist then the chances of it being Infected are increased. The Infected Bases will have Pandoran enemies in them and need to be cleared out before they can be used.

When a Satellite Uplink in a base is built or repaired it begins scanning with increasing range, revealing sites as it expands. Scavenging, Haven and Exploration Sites are located this way.

When a base is attacked without soldiers, or not defended, the base is not destroyed. Instead, all the facilities in the base are damaged. The soldiers are not affected.

Food Production facility now requires the “Fungal Food Production” research in order to unlock it.

Exploration

Active Scanning has been removed.

Reduced the number of overall sites on the Geoscape.

Reaching a Haven will reveal nearby sites.

Pandoran Evolution

Pandorans start off without any weapons or mutations. They now have their own research and evolution system that develops over the course of the game.

Every time the Pandorans unlock a new stage in their evolution an event on the Geoscape will appear with detailed information about the new developments.

Number of Pandoran Bases has been reduced. There is now a maximum concurrent number for each type of base.

Pandorans unlock the building of Lairs and Citadels through their own research

Dynamic difficulty has been changed so that it affects the rate of pandoran evolution, not the amount of enemies deployed.

Human population census

ODI has been removed.

Human Population Census has been added that will track the total population of humanity.

Protecting Havens is more important as the player has to prevent the total human population from reaching a certain threshold (based on difficulty level).

Reduced the total number of Havens in the Geoscape.

Increased the rewards from successfully defending Havens.

Haven facilities will break down if the population gets too low.

Phoenix can assist havens by repairing their structures.


Tactical

Abilities

Armor Break - reduced the cost from 4 WP to 3. Reduced the shred stat to 30. Shred is spread across each individual bullet.

Rage Burst - Cost increased from 5 to 7 WP. Functionality reworked: Shoot 5 times spread across an arc with a direct-fire weapon.

Adrenaline Rush - Dazes the unit next turn after using it.

Rally the Troops - Renamed: Onslaught. Functionality reworked: An ally within 10 tiles recovers 2 Action Points.

Electric Reinforcement - Armor bonus no longer stacks.

Dash - Movement range reduced from 75% to 50%. Limited to 2 uses per turn.

Mark for Death - Each hit from an attack or individual round gets +10 damage instead of 50% more.

Reckless - Damage reduced from 30% to 20%.

Weapons

Thor AML - reduced its damage.

Gungnir SR-2 - slightly reduced its accuracy and Virophage damage.

Pythagoras VII - slightly reduced its accuracy.

Fury-2 - reduced its damage.

Ragnarok - reduced its Shredding stat.

Raven SR13 - reduced its accuracy and increased its damage.

Jormungandr Cannon - reduced its Acid damage.

Iconoclast - reduced its damage.

Cyclops SR7 - slightly reduced its accuracy.

Firebird SR - slightly reduced its accuracy.

Mercy SG3 - increased its damage.

Harrower - increased its damage.

Deimos AR-L - slightly reduced its accuracy.

Archangel RL1 - Increased its accuracy, range, damage and Shredding stat.

Vyara SR - slightly reduced its accuracy.

Bulldog AR-50 - slightly increased its accuracy and Shredding stat.

Deceptor MG - increased its accuracy. Reduced its damage and Shredding stat.

Nergal’s Wrath - slightly increased its accuracy.

Scion of Sharur - increased its Viral damage.

Uragan MG - increased its accuracy. Reduced its damage and Shredding stat.

Dagon’s Tooth - increased its damage and the Bleeding it applies.

Phoenix Shock Lance - increased its damage and significantly increased the Shock it applies.

Athena NS-2 - reduced its accuracy and Paralysing stat.

Kydoimos Grenade - increased its AoE radius.


Bug fixes

Fixed a hang when an Overwatch shot hit a Mutog during its leap animation.

Fixed an animation issue when an Overwatch shot hit a Pure soldier and disabled its shield arm.

Fixed a hang when using the Induce Fear ability.

Fixed a hang when a Mindfragger attempted to mind control a soldier with the Juggernaut head bionic.

Fixed a hang after a Technician picked up its turret and entered the Panicked status afterwards.

Fixed an issue where units will continue to be affected by Mind Control even if the unit controlling them has evacuated.

Fixed some animation issues when throwing grenades.

Fixed an animation issue when using the Jet Jump ability while gooed.

Remove Mindfragger ability is executed faster now.

Civilians will no longer die from Fire damage after getting evacuated.

Fixed an issue where Scylla enemies dying from Bleed damage did not trigger their death animations.

Fixed an issue where the Mist Sentinel didn’t apply its Preparing status when an enemy unit was near.

Mist Sentinels will no longer use their mist ability when they are in the Dazed or Paralyzed status.

Fixed an issue where the Advanced Nano Tech research would make units immune to the Acid damage type.

Human enemies now have reinforcements in the appropriate mission types.

Fixed an issue where Mind Control abilities would last a single turn on friendly haven defender units.

Loading a save located in the Tactical layer will no longer restore the Stamina of all friendly units.

Added a confirmation prompt for both options in the Containment section.

Fixed an issue where the camera would focus more on the cover than the soldier’s shooting when entering a step out animation.

Fixed an issue where the Standby ability couldn’t be used by units inside a vehicle.

Fixed an issue where the L3 button on the gamepad didn’t open the correct character’s information.

Fixed an issue where the Phoenixpedia couldn’t be navigated with a gamepad.

Old Enemy, New Enemy event now shows the correct picture of the Forsaken faction.

Fixed an issue where the Danchev Assault Rifle fired half a burst during Return Fire.

Abilities that target Will Points will no longer have an effect on structures and units without the Will Power stat.

Fixed an issue where the “Enemy Spotted” status icon would always show the Assault class icon.

Retrieving a turret should now put it in the Ready Items slot instead of the Technician’s inventory.


Note: We are releasing only the PC (Windows) version today. The Mac version will be delayed.

Re: Phoenix Point - from the creator of the X-COM series in the 1990s

Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2020 11:56 am
by TheMix
There are some interesting things going on there. The top sections feel like maybe they are making things a bit easier. But then it looks like they nerfed almost every weapon. :)

Re: Phoenix Point - from the creator of the X-COM series in the 1990s

Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2020 2:34 pm
by jztemple2
Holy smokes, from the first few categories it sounds like a significantly different game! I might have to reinstall and give this a look, but if anyone has some impressions on gameplay with the new patch I'd be interested in hearing about them.

Re: Phoenix Point - from the creator of the X-COM series in the 1990s

Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2020 7:42 pm
by Lassr
jztemple2 wrote: Thu Jul 30, 2020 2:34 pm Holy smokes, from the first few categories it sounds like a significantly different game! I might have to reinstall and give this a look, but if anyone has some impressions on gameplay with the new patch I'd be interested in hearing about them.
I'll give it another go. Just not sure how to handle the final mission. Have to take fully leveled technician with the medkit abilities to keep healing people as they take psychic damage. Man I wish they'd fix that.

Re: Phoenix Point - from the creator of the X-COM series in the 1990s

Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2020 7:43 pm
by TheMix
Lassr wrote: Thu Jul 30, 2020 7:42 pm
jztemple2 wrote: Thu Jul 30, 2020 2:34 pm Holy smokes, from the first few categories it sounds like a significantly different game! I might have to reinstall and give this a look, but if anyone has some impressions on gameplay with the new patch I'd be interested in hearing about them.
I'll give it another go. Just not sure how to handle the final mission. Have to take fully leveled technician with the medkit abilities to keep healing people as they take psychic damage. Man I wish they'd fix that.
Oh. Right. I forgot about that. That is a load of crap. Maybe someone will come along and mod it for you.

Re: Phoenix Point - from the creator of the X-COM series in the 1990s

Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2020 6:21 pm
by jztemple2
Just got my monthly newsletter from the devs. They discussed the recent update and also posted the roadmap. Most of the milestones on the roadmap have been reached, leaving only these two:
Coming Soon
  • Legacy of the Ancients DLC - August 2020
    More details coming soon!
  • "Arkham" Update - September 2020
    More details coming soon!
I'm assuming we'll hear more about the DLC 3 - Festering Skies later in the year.

By the way, does anyone have the Living Weapons Pack DLC? Is it worth the $2.99 USD?

Re: Phoenix Point - from the creator of the X-COM series in the 1990s

Posted: Sat Aug 01, 2020 12:45 pm
by RMC
jztemple2 wrote: Fri Jul 31, 2020 6:21 pm Just got my monthly newsletter from the devs. They discussed the recent update and also posted the roadmap. Most of the milestones on the roadmap have been reached, leaving only these two:
Coming Soon
  • Legacy of the Ancients DLC - August 2020
    More details coming soon!
  • "Arkham" Update - September 2020
    More details coming soon!
I'm assuming we'll hear more about the DLC 3 - Festering Skies later in the year.

By the way, does anyone have the Living Weapons Pack DLC? Is it worth the $2.99 USD?
I bought the living weapons pack, as I think Lassr said it adds some quests for some more weapons. Kind of like the advanced weapons that they had in Xcom. I am waiting until the next DLC comes out before I play it. I have only played the first hour or so, and liked it, but it seemed to need some patching. So I am waiting now for the patching to be done and the DLC. :)

Re: Phoenix Point - from the creator of the X-COM series in the 1990s

Posted: Sat Aug 01, 2020 1:52 pm
by jztemple2
I do like the changes in the initial game start. Having Pandorans with only melee weapons at first, no big influx of places to explore right away and a more logical progression of Pandoran strength makes the game more approachable in my mind. I'm about to tackle my first Pandoran lair and I'll see what's different about it.

I also did my first Haven rescue mission. It was kind of cool activating allied soldiers and then being able to use them to fight.

Normally I'd have quit on this game after putting in a few dozen hours, but I really like the tactical system. I'll put in some hours on it and see how it goes.

Re: Phoenix Point - from the creator of the X-COM series in the 1990s

Posted: Sat Aug 01, 2020 5:24 pm
by jztemple2
I'm attacking my first lair and IIRC, before the patch the first lair had only one Hatching Sentinel. Well, I've now killed one of them, and I've still got the objective to kill Hatching Sentinels. So we'll see how many I have to kill.

UPDATE: Turns out there were two. By the way, I'm playing on Rookie, your own experience may vary.

Re: Phoenix Point - from the creator of the X-COM series in the 1990s

Posted: Sat Aug 01, 2020 6:05 pm
by Lassr
jztemple2 wrote:I'm attacking my first lair and IIRC, before the patch the first lair had only one Hatching Sentinel. Well, I've now killed one of them, and I've still got the objective to kill Hatching Sentinels. So we'll see how many I have to kill.

UPDATE: Turns out there were two. By the way, I'm playing on Rookie, your own experience may vary.
Interesting...I only encountered one in each off my lair missions. Wonder if this is part of the most recent update or I just got lucky.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk


Re: Phoenix Point - from the creator of the X-COM series in the 1990s

Posted: Sat Aug 01, 2020 6:28 pm
by jztemple2
I'm guessing that finding two Sentinels is part of the update.

Another cool thing I just saw, I now get a Pandoran Intelligence Report (see below, click to enlarge)
Image
Image
Image

This report, which is two pages plus the detailed analysis, has appeared before I've even seen one of the specified creatures, much less done an autopsy on it. That makes sense in the idea that the other factions are encountering the Pandorans and so I'm getting info from them on what new creatures are being seen. This apparently is part of the new update, how the Pandorans are going to evolve during the game to become fiercer enemies. So I can understand what research and manufacturing I need to do to keep up with them.

It's kind of neat that the developers have gone back and really readdressed this part of the game. So far I'm enjoying it. I'm not saying it is "better", but it feels more logical.

Re: Phoenix Point - from the creator of the X-COM series in the 1990s

Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2020 11:36 am
by Lassr
Rage Burst is now not as useful and as is marked for death. Rage Burst spreads the shots out in an arc so you have to be fairly close to even score any hits and then they still all do not hit. Marked for death just adds 10 more points of damage per hit. Some level 7 perks that aren't much of a perk. I do like a lot of the other changes though...so far.

Re: Phoenix Point - from the creator of the X-COM series in the 1990s

Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2020 3:33 pm
by Buatha
The new expansion drops on Wednesday (8/26).

Re: Phoenix Point - from the creator of the X-COM series in the 1990s

Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2020 4:20 pm
by NickAragua
That's the Festering Skies?

Well that leaves about two expansions before I start playing. Unless there's some kind of stellar feedback about it.

Re: Phoenix Point - from the creator of the X-COM series in the 1990s

Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2020 5:38 pm
by Tampa_Gamer
Been playing the tutorial (Microsoft PC gamepass) and liking it, so finally thinking about biting the bullet and playing this once the expansion drops this week. Questions-

(1) Is Rookie still recommended for the first playthrough? I have played all the x-coms for the past quarter of a century and am not used to choosing that by default but I get a sense it is required if you want a "fair" fight.

(2) Are the DLCs recommended for the first playthrough or bring quality of life improvements?

(2) Any quality of life mods recommended?

Thanks

Re: Phoenix Point - from the creator of the X-COM series in the 1990s

Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2020 5:42 pm
by TheMix
You mean that you are playing it via the XBOX for PC Game Pass?

I ask because, assuming it hasn't changed, you can't use mods with that. Nor are the DLCs included.

I played the game when it first came on on XBox for PC. But I'll be picking it up elsewhere eventually to try out the DLCs (probably). And mods (very likely).

Re: Phoenix Point - from the creator of the X-COM series in the 1990s

Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2020 6:15 pm
by Buatha
NickAragua wrote: Mon Aug 24, 2020 4:20 pm That's the Festering Skies?

Well that leaves about two expansions before I start playing. Unless there's some kind of stellar feedback about it.
Legacy of the Ancients

Re: Phoenix Point - from the creator of the X-COM series in the 1990s

Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2020 6:35 pm
by jztemple2
Tampa_Gamer wrote: Mon Aug 24, 2020 5:38 pm Been playing the tutorial (Microsoft PC gamepass) and liking it, so finally thinking about biting the bullet and playing this once the expansion drops this week. Questions-

(1) Is Rookie still recommended for the first playthrough? I have played all the x-coms for the past quarter of a century and am not used to choosing that by default but I get a sense it is required if you want a "fair" fight.
I think Rookie is better if you want to have fun and progress in the story. The higher levels are, to me, more about perfecting your gameplay. I really perfer to have fun :dance:

Re: Phoenix Point - from the creator of the X-COM series in the 1990s

Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2020 6:56 pm
by Tampa_Gamer
TheMix - Yes, that is what I have. I knew about the DLCs being extra but did not know you cannot mod that version, yuck. Well for $4.99 a month I sort of view the game pass as a super demo tester. I agree, when it comes out on Steam later this year I probably will end up getting it on sale perhaps with DLC.

jztemple2, appreciate the response and all of the posts on this thread.

Re: Phoenix Point - from the creator of the X-COM series in the 1990s

Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2020 8:38 pm
by NickAragua
Buatha wrote: Mon Aug 24, 2020 6:15 pm
NickAragua wrote: Mon Aug 24, 2020 4:20 pm That's the Festering Skies?

Well that leaves about two expansions before I start playing. Unless there's some kind of stellar feedback about it.
Legacy of the Ancients
Heh, better make that three expansions then.

And what's this crap I see in the patch notes?

"Increased the speed at which Pandorans evolve"
"Increased the stats of most Pandoran enemies, especially the melee ones"

How about these guys go sodomize themselves with a retractable baton, the game's already harder than a uranium brick.

Re: Phoenix Point - from the creator of the X-COM series in the 1990s

Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2020 9:28 pm
by TheMix
NickAragua wrote: Mon Aug 24, 2020 8:38 pm How about these guys go sodomize themselves with a retractable baton, the game's already harder than a uranium brick.
:lol:

Preach!

Re: Phoenix Point - from the creator of the X-COM series in the 1990s

Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2020 8:17 am
by Lassr
Definitely play rookie level. I have not progressed off that level since I started playing. I think I could play the next level up but it's already a grind at rookie and you don't lose many of your leveled players. I love this mechanics of this game and love playing it to a point. It is a long grind, it still needs some work, but I get the feeling they keep making changes based on 'Very experienced" players and not casual players like me. It was very unplayable on rookie when it came out, my entire teams would get wiped out and I must have reloaded 50+ times my first game. Now I rarely do a reload at rookie, only if I lose a soldier I really didn't want to lose. But they lessened the effects of a lot of the level perks now because they were deemed too powerful.

As for add-ons, i have them all, and it adds nice variety to the enemies you face. I wouldn't say you need them your first play through. You'll have enough to digest.