X-Com 2 confirmed...trailer

[Newcastle]

Not proud to say I dropped down to rookie level the other day; just to relearn the mechanics of the game. I really didn't like the timer idea, so i installed the "Disabled Timers" which totally nullifies the timers, except for certain story missions. Much more pleasant to play without timers. Though its gotten quite a bit more easier with the more leisurely pace I can play now. When I was on veteran that timer was forcing me to make too many mistakes thereby killing my guys. Too many rushes that triggered more enemies. But I wonder if its expected for you to lose troops frequently? Is it designed so that you are suppose to lose troops relatively frequently and emerging relatively unscathed is a suppose to be a rarity.

In regards to the timer I installed it mid game, and havent encountered any problems.

Question - about the dark avatar projects and the countdown timer...i've been lollygagging and letting the timer creep up; its now at 2 boxes from max. I have 1 "dark avatar" site I can hit; at least i think its dark avatar. Will that reset the timer? Or is it another base of missions? that mission is connected to the interface at the top; so I am assuming yes. I am trying to find out definitely what qualifies as a mission that resets the timer and what doesn't.

Fun game so far.

[Brian]

... it's "just" an ADVENT Retaliation rescue mission...

My least favorite mission type.

Made worse by "Central" constantly haranguing me.

1. Mission starts
2. Aliens fire on and kill a civilian
3. Central, "We're losing civilians left and right!!"

Yeah, I get it Central. Now shut the fuck up and stop Fox Newsing me every time we lose a civilian.

[Fretmute]

3. Central, "We're losing civilians left and right!!"

Yeah, I get it Central. Now shut the fuck up and stop Fox Newsing me every time we lose a civilian.

Central: "The aliens came in hot, and so are we!" <lands a mile and a half away from nearest civilian>

Question - about the dark avatar projects and the countdown timer...i've been lollygagging and letting the timer creep up; its now at 2 boxes from max. I have 1 "dark avatar" site I can hit; at least i think its dark avatar. Will that reset the timer? Or is it another base of missions? that mission is connected to the interface at the top; so I am assuming yes. I am trying to find out definitely what qualifies as a mission that resets the timer and what doesn't.

I don't think any of them reset the timer. The best I've done is to knock two boxes off, and most of them give one.

[Exodor]

One touch I appreciate - when waiting for a mission to load I like how the interior of the skyranger turns red when it's ready.

It lets me alt-tab and know when the game is finally ready for me to proceed.

Of course it would be better if the loading times weren't so long that I have time to surf the web but...

[Pyperkub]

Quick question, do the squaddies still acquire nicknames? That was one of the touches I really liked in the first one.

[Butterknife]

I failed my Commander/Ironman game after my second squad wipe in a row. I got back and the game helpfully informed me that I didn't have a full squad left for a mission (really? I thought for sure 3 rookies would be just fine ...)

After that I started a new game on Veteran/Ironman, but after playing a bit I realized pretty quickly that it just didn't feel challenging enough (hate me if you must). I thought about just modifying the difficulty on that campaign, but you can't modify Ironman and it would just be a matter of time before more squad wipes, so I have started over with Commander/No Ironman and I'm going to save scum when things go too poorly (ie - squad wipe or one of my "favorite" characters die in a cheap way). I'm hoping that is a difficulty level that works for me.

I'm never going to finish the game at this rate, though.

[Butterknife]

Quick question, do the squaddies still acquire nicknames? That was one of the touches I really liked in the first one.

Squaddies don't, but they do get one once they get to Sergeant I believe. Also, any pre-generated characters you make start off with their nickname, even the rookies. Rest In Peace, "Lockdown".

[jztemple2]

I updated my Nvidia drivers from 359.06 to the latest 361.75. I also used the GeForce Experience app to make some changes to the game's graphics settings but I'm not really seeing much different right now. I am seeing some increase in frame rate, up into the 40s. So it is a bit better.

My mods for Campaign 2:

[Baroquen]

I restarted, but kept it on veteran difficulty. Going to be more careful about saving, (that was the main reason for abandoning the previous campaign). I'm glad I did, as I think all of my custom OO soldiers weren't available for the first try. I probably had a toggle switch off or something. But already, I've got a bunch of OOers on the roster this second time. I'm not sure this is a good thing though. Brian was gravely wounded on the first mission, and I personally can't hit the side of a barn in combat. But despite that - the restart seems to be going well so far.

I've got the Free Camera Rotation, SMG Pack, Leader Pack, Katana Pack, and Timertweaks mods active. No problems so far.

[Buatha]

Man, I don't mind the occasional mind-controlled rookie from a Sectoid, but damn, if he can do that AND re-animate the dead. I'd imagine mind-controlling would take all of his concentration, but NOPE.

[jztemple2]

Had my first alien standing next to a gas pump:


Shot the gas pump (which is awesome ) and this happened:



Question, what does the little "+" next to the insignia in the lower left corner mean?

[Baroquen]

I'm going to guess it means they've earned a promotion?

[coopasonic]

Yup that indicates a promotion.

Things would have to go really sideways at this point for my Veteran difficulty game to go bad now. I have built something in every slot on the Avenger. I am finishing up the third tier of weapons. I have finished a bunch of missions without the enemy every getting a shot off. The only thing that really bothers me at this point is... well... it would be a spoiler for folks that haven't seen it yet so I can't say. I've lost one soldier beyond the scripted losses, so I can see how Butterknife finds Veteran embarrassingly easy. Before things really started rolling the Avatar tracker was 2 boxes shy of full. Now I have it down to just 1 box and have 9 contacts paying me close to 500 supplies a month. Intel is the limiting factor now.

I have yet to put him in the field for fear of him wandering off at random, but my psi-operative's name is...

James Temple!

[jztemple2]

I have yet to put him in the field for fear of him wandering off at random, but my psi-operative's name is...

James Temple!

And you wonder why things are going so well for you??

In my game (Campaign 2), playing as Rookie with mods, I've had several missions and I've yet to lose someone. I'm thinking that maybe I've made it too easy. But I know that as soon as I start thinking that way, I can expect something horrible. In my first game I never got to any upgraded weapons at all, or any armor past nanovests, so I think the way I'm playing now might be the best thing for my sanity.
Also, heaven help me, it's a lot of fun to clean the clocks of the aliens

[Brian]

I'm still on my first playthrough in Veteran mode. While it hasn't been easy, I have managed to not lose anybody outside of the scripted deaths.

That said, there have been times when nearly my whole roster was injured and I was sending out teams composed entirely of freshly minted Squadies.
They seldom came back unhurt.

[jztemple2]

I'm building a Workshop for the first time. I almost passed on it since it uses just one power, which means I have only two power left and my next project would take three. However, I never built the Workshop before and I am intrigued if it will help with the engineer/scientist shortage.

[Baroquen]

Also, heaven help me, it's a lot of fun to clean the clocks of the aliens

Yeah, this. The last couple missions have almost felt too easy, but I fear shooting myself in the foot if I crank up the difficulty and it's just fun steamrolling the enemy. There's still been tension, and some luck involved so I should probably just keep the difficulty right where it is.

[Stuie]

I'm doing rookie with no mods and yeah.... it is a little too easy. Guess I'll stick with it though to learn the game and then go back to veteran on the next playthrough. I needed the easy/fun play time after doing the taxes today.

[jztemple2]

I'm doing rookie with no mods and yeah.... it is a little too easy. Guess I'll stick with it though to learn the game and then go back to veteran on the next playthrough. I needed the easy/fun play time after doing the taxes today.

Don't get too cocky, the difficulty ramps up, even on Rookie.

Speaking of that, when folks went on their first Blacksite mission, how far had you gotten in kitting out your soldiers? I'm going on my first one on my second campaign and I'm using the same starting weapons and no armor other than a couple of nano vests.

[Buatha]

I don't know about you guys, but the Long War mod has prepped me for XCOM 2. I'm assuming it will get better once I research Modular Weaponry to make those goddamn assault rifles more accurate. Right now, I feel like the first month of Long War without lasers.

Seriously, the Sectoid is like a Psionic Chryssalid and the Advent Captain was able to hit my quite elevated Sniper in full cover from the ground. I've only seen a Panic/Disorient/Mind-Control fail once. Again, I assume it will get better once my troops get some experience, but right now, at least one rookie/squaddie will come back gravely wounded no matter how careful I am with them...usually two.

I still haven't disabled/tweaked the timers yet, but I am starting to dislike them due to need for speed making less-than-cautious moves to meet the turn-limit. I understand the narrative purpose of them, but they seem a little on the extreme side especially when you need something like Lightning Reflexes (which I haven't seen in this game yet), more accurate/longer-range weapons to properly cover your troops, or mitigating abilities which I'm sure are right round the corner.

[Harkonis]

So far in my game the further the game goes the less I see timers on missions at all. They tapered off before I even felt tempted to mod it out

[Paingod]

you need something like Lightning Reflexes (which I haven't seen in this game yet), more accurate/longer-range weapons to properly cover your troops, or mitigating abilities which I'm sure are right round the corner.

If you're using the Ranger, I think the Seargeant level offers a choice between +25% Aim and Crit from stealth or "Does not trigger overwatch or reaction fire" - it's as close to Lightning Reflexes as I've seen - but it doesn't let you burn your enemies' Overwatch on an impossible target. Now to stop Overwatch, you have to hit them somehow - a grenade, a shot, something - before moving... or just keep your fingers crossed.

I don't know about you guys, but the Long War mod has prepped me for XCOM 2. I'm assuming it will get better once I research Modular Weaponry to make those goddamn assault rifles more accurate. Right now, I feel like the first month of Long War without lasers.

Seriously, the Sectoid is like a Psionic Chryssalid and the Advent Captain was able to hit my quite elevated Sniper in full cover from the ground. I've only seen a Panic/Disorient/Mind-Control fail once. Again, I assume it will get better once my troops get some experience, but right now, at least one rookie/squaddie will come back gravely wounded no matter how careful I am with them...usually two.

I never got into Long War, but my last game through XCOM was Classic Ironman. I'm currently playing on Commander Non-Ironman and seem to be doing fairly well as far as I can tell. I save at the beginning of missions and re-load if I get a death, but keep going if I get a wounded. So far, on 75% of missions, I come back with at least one gravely wounded person. Only once have I had someone get nicked and come back simply "Wounded"

My first two "Ironman" games were complete non-starters. My first mission out after the tutorial resulted in a complete team wipe. My second time out of the game out was going down that same path with another team wipe early on, mostly due to a string of misses (One shot out of 6 at 45% should hit, right? No?) on my part and critical hits on theirs. I've learned to adjust my expectations.

Timers on everything have been a big adjustment, but not an impossibility. I'm not at a point of modding it out and I generally end with 1 or 2 rounds to spare. Only once has it caused a failure.

What's getting me more than anything is the relative power of my enemies right from the start. Having avoided spoilers, demos, and review videos - I know next to nothing of any particular scenario or hostile enemy, I'm experiencing them all in their full glory as I move forward. It's jarring and surprising - and a lot of fun.

I'm falling back on familiar XCOM: Enemy Within tactics - using a stealthed scout (Phantom Ranger) to spot, snipers to kill things off screen, and a lot of explosives to destroy cover and soften targets. That doesn't work well on timed missions, so then it becomes a matter of the ranger scouting while I push as hard as I can while using a grenade in each encounter to ruin some measure of cover and health.

Something that's getting to me, and maybe it's just me and random numbers, is the number of bald (or near-bald) soldiers I get. I'm mean, I know "It's XCOM, Baby" - but half my roster looks like a tribute to Telly Savalas, even the girls.

I'm having some glitches, too - like soldiers running through burned out truck flatbeds. I'm sure these will get ironed out over time.

[RMC]

I'm building a Workshop for the first time. I almost passed on it since it uses just one power, which means I have only two power left and my next project would take three. However, I never built the Workshop before and I am intrigued if it will help with the engineer/scientist shortage.

I found putting the workshop in the center so it hit's 4 other rooms helps. As one engineer becomes 2, so you gain 1 'free' engineer. And then if you upgrade you can put a second engineer there, and get two more gremlin's. I was able to put the workshop in between two power plants, and one of those plants was one of the 'high' energy variety. So with some of the advancements that allows you to upgrade the power plants, I have more than enough power.

I have never built a lab, even though I think I should for the boost, but I just have not had a problem with waiting for tech. And the black market let's you buy tech(or reduce the time it takes for research) with Intel, so I used that a ton at the beginning of the game. I also used the black market to get supplies when I was low, I used Intel to get supplies.

I am in the late game, and need the Intel, so there is a fine line with using the black market. But Intel can be gotten in a few different ways, so I am happy with the trade off.

I started on Commander(3rd level) difficulty and lost that campaign, or got close enough to losing that I backed out. I was fine with troops, but needed to get the timer down, and it was one away with a few events getting ready to trigger. So I restarted on Easy, just to play through and learn the game progress.

I don't mind the timers, but it is always a gamble when you double move. At the higher levels the specialists have an ability that really helps out, but you have to get them there first. And Psi Ops troopers are over the top good, so once you get one of them trained up and really working that changes the aspect of the tactics as well.

[coopasonic]

Steam says I played 26 hours this weekend. Apparently I like the game. Not much has changed since my last post. I tore down my starting power relay and replaced it with a second comms array so I could finish my worldwide takeover.

Since someone complained that nobody is talking excitedly about the strategic layer, I'll give it a shot. I really like the way your influence expands across the world through contacts and spending intel and building comms. It works really well and there's always another goal to hit and two or three things you have to do to accomplish it. I need power, I need comms, I need intel, I need another damn engineer. Dammit why is the engineer on the guerilla ops mission that stops the dark event I don't care about? I don't need a damn scientist. 18 days? oh wait, I do need a scientist. Crap, if I use that engineer to speed the building of that power relay, it's going to slow down the recovery of my top ranger.

That was 20 seconds inside Coop's brain while playing XCOM2. I hope you enjoyed it. I like how they made it so each engineer is important and adds specific value. The fact that my entire base is built out and I could *still* use another engineer for those times when I have someone gravely wounded... though it's less often now. I often come back from missions and that slot for the soldier most under fire... yeah it's empty.

Speaking of that sort of thing the most beautiful thing has started happening. Have you run into the new (I am not sure why I am spoilering this and I can't hint at it without giving it away. It's the toughest alien in Enemy Unknown. There I spoiled it, pre-spoiler)

Spoiler:

Sectopod

yet? Pain in the ass, I know. You know the "Repeater" mod that gives you a 5% chance to insta-kill the target. Well, when you get the superior repeater, good things happen. When you are surprised inside a *spoilered* by a *spoilered* and you see the "Executed" text pop up on an overwatch shot. The smile that crossed my face. It was amazing. I have seen "Executed" twice and both times it was on the guys with the most health and armor. Seeing it pop up next to a guy with 6 armor... YES!

That reminds me, the new enemies are GREAT. I love them. I can name them because the name doesn't spoil anything, right? The Andromedon is very cool... and then... whoa, more cool! I'm a little sad that thought I've seen two Gatekeepers, I have yet to *see* the gatekeeper. *Executed* Yeah, exactly. Oh and screw you Codex. Seriously.

[coopasonic]

Something that's getting to me, and maybe it's just me and random numbers, is the number of bald (or near-bald) soldiers I get. I'm mean, I know "It's XCOM, Baby" - but half my roster looks like a tribute to Telly Savalas, even the girls.

Edit - Customize.

I got the avatar of Rick James on my squad... I sent him to the beautician. I have not gotten any bald soldiers at all, so I guess you are getting my allotment.

[Paingod]

You know the "Repeater" mod that gives you a 5% chance to insta-kill the target. Well, when you get the superior repeater, good things happen.

I've found exactly one of these so far (I'm not out of month 2 yet) - and it was an Advanced Repeater. 10% chance for an insta-kill. I've got it slotted on my Gauss sniper rifle with an advanced hair trigger (10% chance to not consume an action when shooting). I look forward to the days when I see both trip at the same time.

I don't know if it was a bug or not, but I was tickled pink when I saw my Hair Trigger upgrade move from my normal sniper rifle to the Gauss version. Given the cautionary text, I assumed weapon mods were permanent to a gun and was shocked (happily) to see that when I automatically switched to a better gun, the mod automatically followed.

One of my first squad upgrades was the "Vulture" option, and I've been quite happy getting 2-3 drops off a single kill. Lots of Elerium Batteries and no use for them yet.

Something that's getting to me, and maybe it's just me and random numbers, is the number of bald (or near-bald) soldiers I get. I'm mean, I know "It's XCOM, Baby" - but half my roster looks like a tribute to Telly Savalas, even the girls.

Edit - Customize.

I do, I do - but I keep getting bald people showing up in my team when I get fresh recruits through missions.
"Get a soldier" was my reward. Another hairless ape awaits me in the barracks...

[Archinerd]

You guys aren't helping me stay motivated to finish the games I've already started.

[blackjack]

Something that's getting to me, and maybe it's just me and random numbers, is the number of bald (or near-bald) soldiers I get. I'm mean, I know "It's XCOM, Baby" - but half my roster looks like a tribute to Telly Savalas, even the girls.

Same. I renamed one random bald Grenadier Ellen Ripley because she kind of looked like her in Fincher's Alien3.

Had a couple cool moments in a VIP capture/kill mission late last night:
-I had trouble pulling off a concealed ambush at the start. The Advent officer and his lackey - if we hit with grenade or a sniper shot -- would "action movie" leap to cover inside the adjacent building. On a 2nd save game reload, I tossed a poison grenade that overlapped into the building. Since the AI knows to move out of and stay away from a poisoned area, two officer and co-hort instead moved away from the building, making it easier for us to finish them off (although we still needed one turn after the ambush).

-Killed a Muton on a rooftop by dropping a Grenadier's launched regular frag grenade on him, which damaged him and also blew out the floor (ceiling) beneath him. This dropped the Muton the 1st floor, which appeared to eliminate him (took his last couple HP). Pretty gleeful moment.

[Paingod]

You guys aren't helping me stay motivated to finish the games I've already started.

I've got a pile of games wanting my attention, and all of them I want to play - but none of them as badly as I want to play XCOM 2. I put in 380 hours with XCOM: Enemy Within/Unknown, and this is a better experience so far. I'm afraid I'll never be able to go back to that "quaint" version of XCOM.

Killed a Muton on a rooftop by dropping a Grenadier's launched regular frag grenade on him, which damaged him and also blew out the floor (ceiling) beneath him. This dropped the Muton the 1st floor, which appeared to eliminate him (took his last couple HP). Pretty gleeful moment.

I had an Advent Officer perched above me, ready to get all height bonus on my soldiers in the next turn. The grenadier opened up the roof and dropped him through. He was dinged already, but the combination of grenade and fall finished him. I was only trying to hurt him and break his low cover.

Another fun moment with explosives was when a Sectoid took refuge behind a ... what is that? A propane tank and a couple trash bags? Let's see if that does what I think it should... grenade out ... "BoomBOOM" ... Yup.

[hepcat]

I'm hooked on it. When I wasn't playing Pandemic Legacy with Archinerd above, I was playing XCom 2. I even found myself editing the features of my soldiers yesterday after I got sick of seeing the same Kid n 'Play haircut on some of my soldiers.

Just out of curiosity, how long is this game? I keep hearing that they've included the Long War mod stuff in the base game. Is that true? What does that get us?

[Archinerd]

You guys aren't helping me stay motivated to finish the games I've already started.

I've got a pile of games wanting my attention, and all of them I want to play - but none of them as badly as I want to play XCOM 2. I put in 380 hours with XCOM: Enemy Within/Unknown, and this is a better experience so far. I'm afraid I'll never be able to go back to that "quaint" version of XCOM.

Be-Gone Temptress, I have Witcher games to finish!

[Paingod]

Just out of curiosity, how long is this game? I keep hearing that they've included the Long War mod stuff in the base game. Is that true? What does that get us?

I haven't gotten there, but one site indicates 28-35 hours. With the way I play and drag it out, it'll probably take me 50+ hours.

[coopasonic]

Just out of curiosity, how long is this game? I keep hearing that they've included the Long War mod stuff in the base game. Is that true? What does that get us?

I haven't gotten there, but one site indicates 28-35 hours. With the way I play and drag it out, it'll probably take me 50+ hours.

I am 26 hours in and could probably rush the end at this point. The only research I have left is a couple autopsies and some shadowy stuff. Definitely doable in 30 hours. Less on easy mode.

Speaking of that, when folks went on their first Blacksite mission, how far had you gotten in kitting out your soldiers? I'm going on my first one on my second campaign and I'm using the same starting weapons and no armor other than a couple of nano vests.

I did the first blacksite with conventional arms. I had a 5-man squad but that was about it for upgrades.

I don't know if it was a bug or not, but I was tickled pink when I saw my Hair Trigger upgrade move from my normal sniper rifle to the Gauss version. Given the cautionary text, I assumed weapon mods were permanent to a gun and was shocked (happily) to see that when I automatically switched to a better gun, the mod automatically followed.

Yeah, weapon upgrades seem to stay with the soldier. Did you also notice that you only have to build one upgraded weapon of each type? Nice change. I was really ocnfused bny it at first. Wait, why can't I build another one? I just get one!?

[Buatha]

What's getting me more than anything is the relative power of my enemies right from the start. Having avoided spoilers, demos, and review videos - I know next to nothing of any particular scenario or hostile enemy, I'm experiencing them all in their full glory as I move forward. It's jarring and surprising - and a lot of fun.

One word: Sectoids

While my earlier post sounds negative, I'm still enjoying the shinizzle out of the game, but I think as a person coming from Long War, I was surprised at the difficulty right out of the gate. I think it goes with the game setting of being a guerrilla unit with less-than-satisfactory equipment. You will not waltz through the beginning of the game

[Paingod]

Yeah, weapon upgrades seem to stay with the soldier. Did you also notice that you only have to build one upgraded weapon of each type? Nice change. I was really ocnfused bny it at first. Wait, why can't I build another one? I just get one!?

Honestly, that was my last step before bed. I haven't even had a chance to fire the Gauss sniper rifle yet. I just noticed that this soldier I depended on suddenly had a nice rifle in his hands and I thought "Oh, cool, he grabbed it from the armory" and then saw it also had his trigger mod.

Knowing that they all get upgraded eases the pain. I spend something like 160 Supplies on what I thought was one gun. I'm happier to discover it replaces the lot of them. Now I need the Magnetic Assault rifle for my soldiers as a next step.

[Fretmute]

Yeah, weapon upgrades seem to stay with the soldier. Did you also notice that you only have to build one upgraded weapon of each type? Nice change. I was really ocnfused bny it at first. Wait, why can't I build another one? I just get one!?

I put off getting them for a long time because I figured there was no way I could afford to kit an entire squad. It was a pleasant surprise when it turned out to work that way, because killing Mutons with the cap guns you start the game with was getting hard.

[blackjack]

Any favorite Mission Names? These apparently are randomly stitched together from a pool of names.

The mission I was struggling on (more so than others) over weekend was called "Bone Stank." It was appropriate.

Agreed about the weapons. Kinda wished grenades, medic tool worked that way -- afik, utility items still need to be manufactured. The cost is modest I guess, so fair enough.

[Paingod]

Any favorite Mission Names?

My first mission out of the gate on my third attempt (the one I've stuck with) was a goofy name, but I'll be damned if I can remember it. It was like "Cat Dragon" - I only remember making fun of it in my head as the stage loaded. I was all "Yeah - go get that Cat Dragon! When that's over we can do Puppy Dragon and then maybe Bunny Dragon!"

[jztemple2]

Any favorite Mission Names?

Manic Dirge (didn't they start in the Seattle grunge scene?)
War Stank (seriously!)
Witch Face

And those are just in this campaign!

[NickAragua]

Been playing this pretty much every night since it came out. Stutters pretty bad upon scene transitions, but other than that it's pretty stellar.

I really like the little details they put in - for example, when your squad is coming back from a mission, if it went off without a hitch, everyone has a shit-eating grin on their face. If someone got killed, everyone looks like a sourpuss. And then stagger out of the skyranger and collapse on the ground if they've been shot up. I have a sniper who's all kinds of super awesome, but has the stupidest pair of orange sunglasses I've ever seen. Since he's got like twenty kills over six missions, I'm going to let that slide. Unfortunately, he only shows up once every three missions because he inevitably gets shot up (like the one time the aliens had the choice between shooting at one of my guys they had flanked and the sniper on high ground behind high cover).

Man, this game is friggin' tense. I love it. So much stuff to do and so little resource to do it with. The sneaking/ambush mechanic is surprisingly awesome - kind of reminds me of Invisible Inc. The ability to scope out the opposition properly before the hammer comes down really changes the flow of the game quite a bit. I also like being able to avoid the turrets, because who needs to fight a three-armor unit anyway. Which reminds me, I "like" the armor mechanic, in so far as it makes pretty good sense. Hasn't been very beneficial for me though. At least I figured out how to crack it (use grenades and heavies with 'shredder').

Haven't really gotten a thorough understanding of most of the mechanics though, so my impressions are more along the lines of "whoa, awesome" or "super cool" or "what the fuck this is complete bullshit". Like the one time that I mistook one of my guys for an advent guy and spent a bunch of time flanking him.