X-Com: Enemy Unknown

tgb · Post by **tgb** » Tue Nov 12, 2013 8:05 pm

Started my first game of EW, and found that I could only place my base in the US or Europe. Everyplace else was red, and the game wouldn't accept the choice. Is this something new with Enemy Within? It's also my first game at Classic difficulty. Could that be it?

Sepiche · Post by **Sepiche** » Tue Nov 12, 2013 9:14 pm

tgb wrote:Started my first game of EW, and found that I could only place my base in the US or Europe. Everyplace else was red, and the game wouldn't accept the choice. Is this something new with Enemy Within? It's also my first game at Classic difficulty. Could that be it?

Must be classic. On Normal I could place it wherever.

RMC · Post by **RMC** » Tue Nov 12, 2013 9:34 pm

Sepiche wrote:
tgb wrote:Started my first game of EW, and found that I could only place my base in the US or Europe. Everyplace else was red, and the game wouldn't accept the choice. Is this something new with Enemy Within? It's also my first game at Classic difficulty. Could that be it?
Must be classic. On Normal I could place it wherever.

Did you have the tutorial on? I think the tutorial restricts where you can start.

tgb · Post by **tgb** » Tue Nov 12, 2013 10:14 pm

I guess I did, just as a refresher. Will have to start a new game without it.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Nov 13, 2013 11:02 am

Newcastle wrote:
There is no new icon or launch button as far as i can tell. Just the same old one. When you launch it, you have a choice of which version to play.

Really? I've received no choice like that when starting up.

Now I'm worried that even though it's listed in my DLC, it might not be running. I have heard some reports in the mission control room about "covert agents". Plus, the intro movie was different than I remember. Anyone know if that means I'm playing Enemy Within?

$iljanus · Post by **$iljanus** » Wed Nov 13, 2013 11:35 am

hepcat wrote:
Newcastle wrote:
There is no new icon or launch button as far as i can tell. Just the same old one. When you launch it, you have a choice of which version to play.
Really? I've received no choice like that when starting up.

Now I'm worried that even though it's listed in my DLC, it might not be running. I have heard some reports in the mission control room about "covert agents". Plus, the intro movie was different than I remember. Anyone know if that means I'm playing Enemy Within?

For starters as Newcastle said you should see a screen where you click on one of the two versions. Also, you should have on the upper right hand of the screen references to the meld canisters that you can now collect in missions. Perhaps re-download the DLC and/or repair the program?

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Nov 13, 2013 11:41 am

Thanks. I'll uninstall and reinstall. Sounds like I just have a messed up installation.

edit: weird. i just ran a verify and it kicked off a large download after it finished. i'm guessing it just didn't install after I registered the key earlier.

IceBear · Post by **IceBear** » Wed Nov 13, 2013 11:51 am

Ha! Just had a council mission to investigate disappearances in St John's, Newfoundland. Wonder if my university is destroyed

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Nov 13, 2013 1:01 pm

Getting the option to play Enemy Within now. From looking around, it appears quite a few non-Steam purchased keys were having the same issue after registering them.

$iljanus · Post by **$iljanus** » Wed Nov 13, 2013 1:12 pm

hepcat wrote:Getting the option to play Enemy Within now. From looking around, it appears quite a few non-Steam purchased keys were having the same issue after registering them.

Glad it worked out. I happened to see that as well and was wondering if you bought it elsewhere but it seems that you're good to go. Now get that meld so you can build yourself some super soldiers! (although one of the processes is rather horrifying. But you can't make an omelet without amputating a few limbs or something like that)

tgb · Post by **tgb** » Wed Nov 13, 2013 1:15 pm

I wish the frakking aliens would stop using Meld cannisters for cover.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Nov 13, 2013 1:54 pm

Now the real question: should I start this on normal or classic? I played through the original on classic and while I enjoyed it, I also missed a few things that I couldn't afford as I was hemorrhaging money quite often.

Sepiche · Post by **Sepiche** » Wed Nov 13, 2013 1:57 pm

hepcat wrote:Now the real question: should I start this on normal or classic?

I'm doing my first playthrough on Normal, just so I can take a leisurely look at all the new stuff, but I plan on starting a Classic playthrough after that.

If you're the type that doesn't find multiple playthroughs of XCom fun I'd just do classic now though.

Buatha · Post by **Buatha** » Wed Nov 13, 2013 2:16 pm

So, I guess that means you can't access the EW content from a normal, vanilla game. Damn. I was hoping for at least the new maps.

Sepiche · Post by **Sepiche** » Wed Nov 13, 2013 3:55 pm

I know it won't surprise anyone, XCom fanboy that I am, but I'm loving the expansion so far.

The addition of meld is a nice curveball that changes in big ways how the game can be played. The MEC troopers are an early, powerful option meld gives to bring out some much needed early firepower, but used creatively the genetic options are just as strong. In particular I've been having fun with one of them that lets the unit that has it stealth as long as they started out unseen by enemies and are moving to heavy cover. I have a heavy with that and it lets me rush forward with him to take key positions that would otherwise be too risky.

The new maps I've seen so far are great and in particular do a good job of adding a fun third dimension to the battles. On the new maps there are always lots of fun little places to stick a sniper among other things.

Lots of other nice little changes too:
- AOE weapons now highlight units and terrain they will hit
- Button to unequip anyone not on the current mission
- Better assortment of council missions

Stuff like that.

As I mentioned my current game is on Normal, but I'm looking forward to a Classic game next where I can see how much the new options shake up the early game on harder difficulties.

Zurai · Post by **Zurai** » Wed Nov 13, 2013 7:13 pm

IceBear wrote:Ha! Just had a council mission to investigate disappearances in St John's, Newfoundland. Wonder if my university is destroyed

That mission is Hell. The only soldier I've lost so far has been on that mission.

Spoiler:

Sepiche · Post by **Sepiche** » Wed Nov 13, 2013 7:18 pm

Zurai wrote:
Spoiler:
Endless chrysalids that spawn from all over the map, and you have to travel the entire length of the map there and back to complete the mission.

It was certainly a nice change from the generic council missions of EU!

Spoiler:

MonkeyFinger · Post by **MonkeyFinger** » Thu Nov 14, 2013 2:53 am

hepcat wrote:Getting the option to play Enemy Within now. From looking around, it appears quite a few non-Steam purchased keys were having the same issue after registering them.

Was wondering why what downloaded when I put in my GMG acquired key was so small. Just did a 'verify' and it said some 5000 odd files
'failed to validate and will be reacquired'... and now it's downloading 7.1GB.

tgb · Post by **tgb** » Thu Nov 14, 2013 4:20 am

Pro Tip: You don't necessarily have to put squad members at risk to get Meld. When you finish a mission, you get all the Meld on a map that hasn't expired, even if you haven't found it.

Note: This is on Normal difficulty, so I wouldn't be surprised if it works differently on higher difficulty levels.

RMC · Post by **RMC** » Thu Nov 14, 2013 7:18 am

Finally have one mech soldier up. Umm, wow they are very powerful. Not sure I need the assault trooper anymore except maybe to capture live aliens. And only because they can avoid the first shot at them...

IceBear · Post by **IceBear** » Thu Nov 14, 2013 7:24 am

Until they upgrade, the MEC trooper can't climb ladders and stuff, and they don't seem to benefit from cover. I agree, it is very powerful and in the beginning I pretty much ran it around without fear. Lately, it has been nearly destroyed a couple of times as it was a nice tempting target. I gave my main assault guy the regeneration gene mod and he's not too shabby

RMC · Post by **RMC** » Thu Nov 14, 2013 7:48 am

IceBear wrote:Until they upgrade, the MEC trooper can't climb ladders and stuff, and they don't seem to benefit from cover. I agree, it is very powerful and in the beginning I pretty much ran it around without fear. Lately, it has been nearly destroyed a couple of times as it was a nice tempting target. I gave my main assault guy the regeneration gene mod and he's not too shabby

I don't have the gene lab up and running yet. And my SQ Assault guy just got killed from a lucky shot. I now have 4 heavy SQ, 1 support, 1 sniper, and a Mec Trooper and a ton of Rk.

<sigh> It always bugs me that your like, wow we need X class, but you have shown aptitude for Heavy, so here let's make you a heavy weapons guy. You can sit here and wait for someone to get hurt. I am sure you would suck with a normal rifle... <shrug>

Sepiche · Post by **Sepiche** » Thu Nov 14, 2013 11:20 am

Assault troopers are also still really useful in securing meld.

The MEC suits are definitely strong, but as the aliens start bringing out the bigger guns they aren't nearly as invulnerable as they start out.

Zurai · Post by **Zurai** » Thu Nov 14, 2013 1:33 pm

For me, MECs replace Heavies, not Assaults. They have all kinds of spammable AOE damage attacks (both short range like the flamethrower and long range like the incredibly useful grenade launcher and proximity mine launcher), a massive high damage gun with decent range, and aren't particularly fast or maneuverable. Assaults, meanwhile, are designed to move in close, draw ineffective fire, and deliver short-range punch.

Also, high-tier MECs are hideously expensive. Just upgrading from the tier 2 to tier 3 suit takes 100 meld. The total cost for a Paladin suit is probably over 200 meld and almost as much cash, and that's just the suit.

Sepiche · Post by **Sepiche** » Thu Nov 14, 2013 1:41 pm

Zurai wrote:Also, high-tier MECs are hideously expensive. Just upgrading from the tier 2 to tier 3 suit takes 100 meld. The total cost for a Paladin suit is probably over 200 meld and almost as much cash, and that's just the suit.

Yeah, I think that's probably the biggest mistake new players of the EW will make... early on the suits don't seem that expensive and it's easy to build a few of them, but to actually upgrade more than 1 or 2 is a massive investment. You could darn near give someone every genetic upgrade for the price of upgrading one suit to level 3.

I'm currently running 3 suits, 2 level 1s and a level 3, but in retrospect I probably should have just stuck to 2 suits. The good news is I don't think level 1 suits are all that much worse than level 3 suits, but I could be mistaken, and I haven't been in a battle where I really got to use the mines on my new level 3 suit, so they could be amazing.

MEC suits do look badass though:

Zurai · Post by **Zurai** » Thu Nov 14, 2013 2:00 pm

Sepiche wrote:I haven't been in a battle where I really got to use the mines on my new level 3 suit, so they could be amazing.

They do 8 damage in their AOE when they explode, and they can be set off by other explosions. And if you took the extra ammo upgrade, you get 5 of them. I use two MECs, currently a tier 2 and a tier 3, and the combo of proximity mine followed by grenade launcher can blow up a pair (or more, if they're tight-packed) of most non-mechanized enemies. They'll also explode when Seekers pass by invisibly, so they can be useful to guard your flanks if you don't want to just wait a couple turns with everyone on overwatch.

Incidentally, the electric field skin gene enhancement also reveals cloaked Seekers, as do Sniper sensors. Honestly, Seekers seem pretty toothless to me, especially with their poor AI. I've had Seekers just trail around behind my MECs because they were the closest target but can't be strangled. One mission I had to bring up my sniper from the rear line (she literally hadn't moved from the start, I love squad sight on missions where the LOS is relatively clear) just to reveal a pair of Seekers who refused to actually attack anything.

Sepiche · Post by **Sepiche** » Thu Nov 14, 2013 2:12 pm

I get the feeling seekers were almost added more for MP than for SP. They are an obvious counter to the lone, backfield sniper and that's about it.

Even with the MEC suits I still tend to use heavies though... they can put out a lot of damage with their MGs, and one heavy with a blaster launcher and extra ammo is a force of nature. My heavy has been racking up kills thanks to his trusty blaster launcher and Exalt teams tendency to bunch up.

Zurai · Post by **Zurai** » Thu Nov 14, 2013 2:21 pm

I don't have a blaster launcher yet, so my MECs are currently my highest damage output (especially if they don't have to move, since they're both max rank and get two shots if they don't move). I do still use a Heavy because rockets are still useful and more high-damage guns are never bad, but where in the original I'd usually take multiple Heavies, now I take one and multiple MECs instead. My usual team is Assault, Sniper, Support, Heavy, 2x MEC. Once I get a Psi I'll see who I drop; it probably won't be the Heavy, but it might be one of the MECs since she got mind-controlled on the alien base mission.

THAT was unpleasant, let me tell you. And MECs can't get the anti-mind-control gene augment, either.

EDIT: And the lone, backfield sniper's still fine since they can just take the electric skin augment and be immune to strangulation. Unless gene augments are turned off for MP?

Octavious · Post by **Octavious** » Thu Nov 14, 2013 2:26 pm

So are the beginning missions still scripted? Like you always get that first invasion?

Newcastle · Post by **Newcastle** » Thu Nov 14, 2013 2:27 pm

1 - any good tips on amount of tiles/space each gun range needs - close, short, medium & long?

2. When and how did you get the mecs? What did you need to research?

RMC · Post by **RMC** » Thu Nov 14, 2013 2:56 pm

Newcastle wrote:1 - any good tips on amount of tiles/space each gun range needs - close, short, medium & long?

2. When and how did you get the mecs? What did you need to research?

For the Mecs, you need to build the mech lab, and then research the alien thing that gives you access to meld. I forget the name. Then you get enough meld, select a trooper to turn into a mec troop and build the suit.

It is fairly low on the research tree to get the mech lab, and does not take a ton to build or power to run.

tgb · Post by **tgb** » Thu Nov 14, 2013 2:57 pm

Octavious wrote:So are the beginning missions still scripted? Like you always get that first invasion?

Are you referring to the tutorial? All you have to do is disable it. I haven't had a scripted mission yet.

Octavious · Post by **Octavious** » Thu Nov 14, 2013 3:05 pm

I haven't played it in a long time so maybe my memory just sucks, but even without the tutorial turned on I would always get a terror mission right away. I'd always get a UFO mission as well where you would get that weird alien that does that teleport animation when he dies. I'm totally explaining that terribly so I'll just give up.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Thu Nov 14, 2013 3:08 pm

Yeah, there are still missions that happen every time at the beginning to get you started.

Sepiche · Post by **Sepiche** » Thu Nov 14, 2013 3:18 pm

First month is always: 1st mission, abduction mission, 1st UFO, and then council mission. The first terror mission is in month 2.

Grifman · Post by **Grifman** » Thu Nov 14, 2013 3:48 pm

How hard is meld to come by? Are you rushing your troops, taking risks just to grab it? Are you playing less conservatively, adapting your play style to get it? Or are people still playing rather conservatively and damn the meld? I'm just wondering what impact this is having on how people approach their tactics.

IceBear · Post by **IceBear** » Thu Nov 14, 2013 3:59 pm

I am definitely playing less conservatively. It's not too hard to come by... There are usually 2 canisters per map that give (I think) 10 meld each. I think they have an 8-10 turn timer each, and I find assault classes very useful to collect them.

Sepiche · Post by **Sepiche** » Thu Nov 14, 2013 4:01 pm

Grifman wrote:How hard is meld to come by? Are you rushing your troops, taking risks just to grab it? Are you playing less conservatively, adapting your play style to get it? Or are people still playing rather conservatively and damn the meld? I'm just wondering what impact this is having on how people approach their tactics.

Honestly I think you could play it either way.

You have the potential to get 20 meld (from 2 sites) on any non-council, non-terror mission. I think they were pretty fair with the timers on the meld canisters, so generally I don't even need to push too fast and still get at least one of the canisters, but occasionally you might find yourself rushing someone forward to grab a canister on the last turn.

IIRC it takes 10 meld to augment a soldier into a MEC trooper, and 30? to build your first MEC. As for genetics, it varies by power, but they all cost anywhere from 5 to 35 meld each to apply, and one soldier can have 4 genetic enhancements.

MEC troopers are really strong in the beginning though and fielding 1 or 2 isn't too much of an investment. Once you get a couple it really lets you play much more aggressively than you otherwise can if you want. Basically where before to get through a door I would mass up all my guys on one side and then storm through, I tend to now just send in a MEC and see what happens. Until you get much, much later in the game there's really not much that can take down a MEC in 1 turn and if he gets in way too deep you can still pull back and form an overwatch line.

I think the only real downside to the MECs is the huge meld cost to upgrade them, and because I've been playing much more aggressively I haven't captured anywhere near as many aliens as I usually do.

Btw, what class does everyone think works best for conversion to MEC troopers? I think I've tried them all at this point, and my favorite is probably the shield that gives you a defense bonus against the nearest enemy. My MEC trooper with that ability rarely ever seems to get hit, and is getting me closer than I've ever gotten to the achievement for having the same soldier on every mission.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Thu Nov 14, 2013 4:21 pm

It has me rushing and I am playing (Normal)Ironman... not a good combo. It's still early for me. I haven't built anything to use it, but somehow I feel the need to collect it all.

Zurai · Post by **Zurai** » Thu Nov 14, 2013 4:25 pm

I don't take big risks to get meld, personally. You get a small amount even if you don't tap either canister in time (5, IIRC) and it isn't worth risking a high ranking soldier's death for 5-15 meld. Also, if you finish the mission before a meld canister's timer runs out, you automatically get the meld from it, so just winning missions will get you a decent flow of the stuff. I've only missed both canisters on missions against the very large alien UFOs because there's absolutely no way I'm charging anybody inside a UFO that can have Sectopods in it. In every other mission, I've gotten at least one canister, whether through actually tapping it manually or just through winning quicker than its countdown timer.

As for the best class for MEC troopers, Heavies and Snipers seem to be the best to me. Heavies give -20 aim and -100% crit chance to the nearest visible alien, and Snipers get +10 aim and crit if they don't move (which meshes well with the high-level ability MECs get that lets them shoot twice if they don't move).