Xcom: Enemy Within

[bghost]

Re: Xcom: Enemy Within

Back to Xcom, I restarted a new game. Lost my sniper in France, but everything was still going along well. Then a saucer crashes in Florida and my squad got completely whiped out again.

My fatal error was going for the meld. Then my squad misseed some easy shots, got outflanked and it was over. How important is meld?

Now I just have basically a couple squaddies and rookies left and there is major panic in Europe and I am being asked to go to madrid on some really difficult mission. Can I ignore the request? Do you ever ignore the requests? Theses guys need some seasoning before they tackle anything difficult. Or do you just put them in the grinder?

I do ignore some requests, but depending on which level you are playing on the difficulty of the missions just have more difficult opponents, not really increased AI so it might help to keep tighter groupings.

[Gotmadskillzson]

Re: Xcom: Enemy Within

Meld is very important. You can't enhance your soldiers without it.

[fistofrage]

Re: Xcom: Enemy Within

Meld is very important. You can't enhance your soldiers without it.

Seems pretty hard to get without racing towards it. Do you usually only get 1 or do you get both? I find it hard to even get the 1. It also doesn't appear that you can grab the meld if you dash over to it. It was on 1 a couple of times last night and I dashed someone over to it, but couldn't grab it.

I think I'll start over again, getting the hang of it. The game is sweet, really punishes you for your mistakes.

[bakan723]

Re: Xcom: Enemy Within

Looks like that will be a purchase. Thanks.

If you're looking for something with a bit more depth to it, check out a game called Jagged Alliance 2 (and the 1.13 mod)

[Gotmadskillzson]

Re: Xcom: Enemy Within

Seems pretty hard to get without racing towards it. Do you usually only get 1 or do you get both? I find it hard to even get the 1. It also doesn't appear that you can grab the meld if you dash over to it. It was on 1 a couple of times last night and I dashed someone over to it, but couldn't grab it.

I think I'll start over again, getting the hang of it. The game is sweet, really punishes you for your mistakes.

I usually get both most of the time. Just matter of learning to explore the map in a timely fashion. I usually have one of my assaults on the look out for meld. It gets easier when you get 6 members in your squad to find the meld quicker.

Meld is high risk and high reward. Once you find it, make sure you send people to it as fast as possible. I send one of my guys straight towards it, while 2 other squad members laying down cover fire and the rest of the squad on over watch.

Over watch and cover fire is your friend. Learn how to use both. Took me a long time to even realize it was even in the game when I started playing XCom Unknown. It is very easy to over look and not notice all the options your squad members have, other then shoot and move.

Hunker down is another command you will want to learn how to use as well. This game is just one big balancing act. On one hand you want to move forward during the battle to find that very valuable meld, but on the other hand you don't want to move too fast, where as you leave your whole squad exposed.

But once you learn covering fire, over watch, hunker down and the proper use of smoke grenades, the game becomes much more manageable. One also have to master the art of pairing the right squad members together for the right mission.

I would highly suggest when you level up your squad members, make them different. Per a class, you always have 2 options, make them offensive oriented or defensive oriented.

I usually have both types. For example, 1 assault offensive, 1 assault defensive. You definitely have to pay attention to their type, because it has an over all effect on what type of strategy you use during missions. It can mean the difference between them dying or surviving.

[fistofrage]

Re: Xcom: Enemy Within

Can you explain cover fire. Normally I've been moving 1 spot and then over watch trying to keep my squad pretty close together.

[Gotmadskillzson]

Re: Xcom: Enemy Within

Can you explain cover fire. Normally I've been moving 1 spot and then over watch trying to keep my squad pretty close together.

When you see an enemy that is near an area you want to get to, you just have one of your squad members suppress them. Basically that squad member will continue to shoot at the enemy, preventing that enemy from doing anything worthwhile. The enemy can move, but risks being shot in the process or even out right killed if their health is low enough. The enemy can also shoot back but their aim takes a huge penalty while being suppressed.

Covering fire is helpful in the following scenarios:

1. You want to get to meld right before it expires. For example, you see meld and it says expires in 2 turns. If you suppress an enemy that is near it, you can use another squad member to move directly to it in one turn, instead of playing it safe and moving towards it in multiple turns.

2. You are flanked and want to move to a better position or you want to flank the enemy.

3. A squad member is wounded and you want to pull them away from the front lines.

4. A squad member laid out on the ground and you need to get a medic to the member to stabilize them to prevent them from bleeding out.

Covering fire basically allows your squad members to move to a position more safely for that turn. Keep in mind however, there might be other enemies in the area nearby on over watch.

FYI..........Don't bunch your squad members close together. That is a big no no. You can get away with it the first handful of missions, but eventually you will run into more aggressive enemies who won't hesitate to throw a grenade or fire a rocket at your bunched up squad. Moving bunched up is the quickest way to get your entire squad wiped out in one move.

As you advance through the game, you will notice the enemy will use covering fire quite a bit, along with smoke grenades.

[fistofrage]

Re: Xcom: Enemy Within

When you see an enemy that is near an area you want to get to, you just have one of your squad members suppress them. Basically that squad member will continue to shoot at the enemy, preventing that enemy from doing anything worthwhile. The enemy can move, but risks being shot in the process or even out right killed if their health is low enough. The enemy can also shoot back but their aim takes a huge penalty while being suppressed.

Covering fire is helpful in the following scenarios:

1. You want to get to meld right before it expires. For example, you see meld and it says expires in 2 turns. If you suppress an enemy that is near it, you can use another squad member to move directly to it in one turn, instead of playing it safe and moving towards it in multiple turns.

2. You are flanked and want to move to a better position or you want to flank the enemy.

3. A squad member is wounded and you want to pull them away from the front lines.

4. A squad member laid out on the ground and you need to get a medic to the member to stabilize them to prevent them from bleeding out.

Covering fire basically allows your squad members to move to a position more safely for that turn. Keep in mind however, there might be other enemies in the area nearby on over watch.

FYI..........Don't bunch your squad members close together. That is a big no no. You can get away with it the first handful of missions, but eventually you will run into more aggressive enemies who won't hesitate to throw a grenade or fire a rocket at your bunched up squad. Moving bunched up is the quickest way to get your entire squad wiped out in one move.

As you advance through the game, you will notice the enemy will use covering fire quite a bit, along with smoke grenades.

Thanks. The game is addictive. One of the best games I have played in a long time. I like the little touches like squad members nationalities and the medals.

I restarted a new game today. Definitely getting the hang of it. I was using that suppressing fire quite a bit. I lost a sergeant tonight. I got trapped down in a construction pit on a mission with a lot of rookies because my vets were injured. That loss hurt. I was trying to get him behind a bulldozer and didn't realize they had a shot at him while he retreated his position. Costly error.

I leveled up my soldiers a lot quicker this time around. It makes a huge difference fighting with some vets instead of squaddies.

[fistofrage]

Re: Xcom: Enemy Within

The game is going alot better now that I actually leveled up some soldiers and gained some abilities. The first 2 games I played were impossible, I was trying to make do taking 4 rookies into battle......I guess if you want a real challenge try that.

One more question, how do I heal another soldier? I get next to them, but then the medic seems to use the medkit on himself insteads of the guy I want to heal.

[Gotmadskillzson]

Re: Xcom: Enemy Within

You have to stand directly next to the guy. It will be a like a light purple or pink looking circle under the players who is within the healing mist area of effect.

[fistofrage]

Re: Xcom: Enemy Within

You have to stand directly next to the guy. It will be a like a light purple or pink looking circle under the players who is within the healing mist area of effect.

I was and it still healed the medic. The medic had taken 1 point of damage prior. Does the medic have to be completely healthy?

[Gotmadskillzson]

Re: Xcom: Enemy Within

I was and it still healed the medic. The medic had taken 1 point of damage prior. Does the medic have to be completely healthy?

Not to my knowledge. Usually who ever is within the area of effect will get healed.

[fistofrage]

Re: Xcom: Enemy Within

Not to my knowledge. Usually who ever is within the area of effect will get healed.

Wait, are you saying the med kit can heal multiple people at the same time if they are all right next to eachother?

[Gotmadskillzson]

Re: Xcom: Enemy Within

Wait, are you saying the med kit can heal multiple people at the same time if they are all right next to eachother?

2 people, you and the guy directly next to you. Once you unlock the healing smoke for mechs, you can heal the entire squad if they are within the smoke cloud.

[fistofrage]

Re: Xcom: Enemy Within

2 people, you and the guy directly next to you. Once you unlock the healing smoke for mechs, you can heal the entire squad if they are within the smoke cloud.

Cool thanks, I'll pay more attention to this.