03-14-2018, 09:41 AM
(This post was last modified: 03-15-2018, 03:18 AM by Groo The Wanderer.)
It's been a while, but I was able to find some time and boot-up the game and advance a little... I last left the game with a "guerrilla attack" mission selection, meaning I had three choices, each with a different benefit for completing, PLUS it would negate one of the current "dark events" that can really put a pin in your butt when trying to complete a mission / advance the game. I quickly selected the mission that would garner me more supplies... Money's real tight right now (art imitating life much?) and I could use the cash to re-stock my gear, upgrade my weapons to the Magnetic tier (I've already done the research), and maybe buy some perks from the Guerrilla Tactics School... some much candy, so little coin... So, let's apply some of the principles I learned from reading personal finance books: thoughtful spending!
Replacing some of the gear I lost from the bug-out mission would be handy, so I buy another flash-bang grenade and a mimic beacon. They were (relatively) cheap and super useful... especially the Mimic Beacon, a little holographic decoy that all the aliens prioritise on attacking... it basically buys me one round (provided it doesn't get destroyed right away... we'll get back to that in the mission debrief). The next thing was to upgrade my basic rifle to the Tier 2 Magnetic rifle... I could've gone with any weapon here, but two of the five soldiers on the next mission were packing rifles, so it was the economic choice.
But the BIG ticket items are facilities for my flying base. If I can construct the Shadow Chamber, not only will I advance the plot, but I can see how many and what type of enemies are present on missions I take on in the future... SUPER useful for deciding what soldiers and what gear to bring along. And the Psionic lab, if bought early, pays off LARGE once those Psionic troopers start to load up on abilities... another game changer. And finally, the second-tier armour allows for a second slot for gear. The Psionic lab and armour still need to be researched, so I'll be saving my pennies for the Shadow Chamber.
I ran through the actual mission pretty quickly. Deploying the Battle Scanner early makes all the difference during deployment, although I really didn't utilise my Ranger as effectively as I could have. My favourite tactic has always been deploying my squad around a clutch of enemies, set everyone to overwatch, then get the party started by launching a grenade into my enemies... it damages everybody, destroys cover (and armour!), and then the rest of the squad mops up with reaction shots. My Ranger was close to the action, but due to her specific level-ups, she remains hidden even once the rest of the team are spotted. That all boiled down to her overwatch shot *not* being triggered. Another lesson learned. Also, I met a Viper for the first time this game with two troops out in the open... I deployed my Mimic Beacon, and all the dumb-ass baddies focused their efforts on the decoy, allowing me to flank and spank the next round. Very useful kit, that is!
The overall mission was another timed one (get to the data cache and download it before the timer runs out) and I had no problems this time. I focused on the objective, used my gear effectively, and even had one troop scoot around a building and get this beautiful flanking shot on the Viper. Only one soldier was wounded, so a near-flawless mission!
On final thought on strategy: I really need to balance my spending. I let my wallet decide where to go this time, and right now there's this "encryption" dark event that doubles all intelligence costs. If I wasn't so worried about cash, I wouldn't taken the mission that negated that event. Thrift is a good thing!
In closing, it's almost like the more entertaining posts are when I'm sleep-deprived and making bad decisions during combat, but I'm not about to start shooting myself in the foot for the sake of posts! Hubris will pop-up eventually, to be sure, so just be patient. I'm bound to screw up soon!
Replacing some of the gear I lost from the bug-out mission would be handy, so I buy another flash-bang grenade and a mimic beacon. They were (relatively) cheap and super useful... especially the Mimic Beacon, a little holographic decoy that all the aliens prioritise on attacking... it basically buys me one round (provided it doesn't get destroyed right away... we'll get back to that in the mission debrief). The next thing was to upgrade my basic rifle to the Tier 2 Magnetic rifle... I could've gone with any weapon here, but two of the five soldiers on the next mission were packing rifles, so it was the economic choice.
But the BIG ticket items are facilities for my flying base. If I can construct the Shadow Chamber, not only will I advance the plot, but I can see how many and what type of enemies are present on missions I take on in the future... SUPER useful for deciding what soldiers and what gear to bring along. And the Psionic lab, if bought early, pays off LARGE once those Psionic troopers start to load up on abilities... another game changer. And finally, the second-tier armour allows for a second slot for gear. The Psionic lab and armour still need to be researched, so I'll be saving my pennies for the Shadow Chamber.
I ran through the actual mission pretty quickly. Deploying the Battle Scanner early makes all the difference during deployment, although I really didn't utilise my Ranger as effectively as I could have. My favourite tactic has always been deploying my squad around a clutch of enemies, set everyone to overwatch, then get the party started by launching a grenade into my enemies... it damages everybody, destroys cover (and armour!), and then the rest of the squad mops up with reaction shots. My Ranger was close to the action, but due to her specific level-ups, she remains hidden even once the rest of the team are spotted. That all boiled down to her overwatch shot *not* being triggered. Another lesson learned. Also, I met a Viper for the first time this game with two troops out in the open... I deployed my Mimic Beacon, and all the dumb-ass baddies focused their efforts on the decoy, allowing me to flank and spank the next round. Very useful kit, that is!
The overall mission was another timed one (get to the data cache and download it before the timer runs out) and I had no problems this time. I focused on the objective, used my gear effectively, and even had one troop scoot around a building and get this beautiful flanking shot on the Viper. Only one soldier was wounded, so a near-flawless mission!
On final thought on strategy: I really need to balance my spending. I let my wallet decide where to go this time, and right now there's this "encryption" dark event that doubles all intelligence costs. If I wasn't so worried about cash, I wouldn't taken the mission that negated that event. Thrift is a good thing!
In closing, it's almost like the more entertaining posts are when I'm sleep-deprived and making bad decisions during combat, but I'm not about to start shooting myself in the foot for the sake of posts! Hubris will pop-up eventually, to be sure, so just be patient. I'm bound to screw up soon!
They say Hitler loved dogs; that doesn't mean I want to travel back in time and discuss the merits of the Border Collie with the guy. He's still an a-hole.