The best starting point is Africa and here's why: credits are the most important resource at the start of the game, you get 30% more, so is easier to invest in satellites to expand your monthly income. South America only has 2 satellite slots, easy to cover fast and so add the "we have ways" continental bonus early. If you start in South America you need 3 satellites for Africa and you have less resources to build them.
However Asia and Europe both individually have 5 slots, which is definitely something to consider. Another bonus to Asia is that it contribute engineers EXCLUSIVELY when it comes to the personnel they give you during the council report. Engineers are debatably THE most important asset in the game early on, as certain items and buildings cannot be built without more engineers than initially allocated to you, such as the satellite uplink which takes 10 engineers. You start out with 5. You must play on normal or easy, Africa was my initial continent of choice given I'd thought its additional funding would catalyst my development in every category. Then I started playing on classic and time is your enemy in that playthrough.
I'm a fan of Asia (cause i live in Asia). But i think Africa is the best too. Bonus money translate to boost in everything, it's just so versatile. (but if it's Marathon game, I have to stand with Europe. You are lagging behind in tech in marathon game, you will need to keep up with the Labs, many and early, too hard with the other choices.)
Remember, sometimes its more useful to use satellites to reduce panic than to get best country/continent bonuses. I personally feel that early on its more important to get satellites up and running than to make sure that you get all the weapon fragments and your rookies back home. So most upgrades are of low priority to me early on. You need to have a certain amount of engineers to build new satellite uplinks and nexuses. Starting position comparison: NORTH AMERICA +- US gives about twice as much income as any other country, but you can just place your second satellite here to get it. + Air and space not only lowers the cost of aircraft and their weapons but it also lowers their monthly upkeep. With only the starting craft thats 20 (25 if the Skyranger counted aswell (dont remember)) credits every month. - You might not need to build new craft until midgame SOUTH AMERICA (probably the worst starting position) +- Instant early game autopsies and interrogations give a good boost to early/mid game research. - You need only 2 satellites to get it anyway - You might want to focus on 1 particular research path early on, lowering the importance of interrogations and autopsies - In the early game you dont have the credits to spend on a lot of new equipment anyway - Base income of starting country is low AFRICA + 30% extra funding is good. - However you first need to get a sattelite or 2 up before it becomes useful. (Starting here youd ideally place your 1. sattelite in the US and the second in Russia.) EUROPE +- 50% reduction in workshop cost and upkeep is good, but you are not going to need it until midgame. You can get extra engineers and the adjacency bonuses up fast and so lower the cost of new buildings and items. +- You are not going to want to cover Europe with sattelites any time soon because you dont get any engineers from here. And Europe has 4 countries to cover. ASIA +- Increasing the squad size is not that expensive +- Other officer training scool upgrades are expensive, but you can probably do without them in the early game. +- The foundry and its upgrades can wait until you have a better monthly income - Engineers are more important than scientists. Especially early on. So you will want to cover Asia with satellites as early as you can anyway.
I always start the game in Europe when I first played it. Battled aliens protected countries (except Brazil, hard to decide whether to save China or Brazil). Got about 6 psionics and completed every project and every continent has a firestorm thanks to Europe. Summarizing all up, Europe is the best region to start for begineers. Applies to all regions if you what your doing.
The game does not have to last 18 months (I've beat the game on Normal Iron Man in under 8). I define mid game as it should be defined: when all the alien moves are available (Terror mission, all their larget ships are entering the atmosphere and you have a real chance of encounter). Asian perk allows you to save in total $1900. This is an immense sum of money and helps much more in early game and when you transition to the mid game. Plus I just did the numbers, my point stands valid.
Nice video but your logic is a bit weird. You were talking about Foundry upgrades, you can not do Foundry upgrades in the first month. You can not even start building the foundry until you have Researched 'Experimental Warfare' and even then what upgrade would you want in the early game? Your saying that the reason for starting in one of these 3 continents is because they would have some benefit in the first month/s, lets talk about that. "Future Combat", staring in Asia. Because you can start with the Officer Training School "Future Combat" is good as it will reduce the cost of 'Squad Size 1' (needed). 'Squad Size 1' (however again) only costs §50, so it's saving only §25. You might get 'Wet Work' spending another §88 (and saving §88). So having "Future Combat" as your starting bonus only has value for players who will be getting 'Wet Work' earlier. Bonus Saving: §133 "All In", staring in Africa. For this as your starting bonus you must have Nigeria. Heres a scenario with 2 more satellites. ---Monthly income--- Nigeria: §100 United States: §180 Canada: §100 Total: §380 Bonus from "All In": §114 (Yes, you could swap Canada for Russia but then you would also need another interceptor). Bonus Earning: §114 "We have Ways", staring in South America. Seriously? Firstly, you can get this bonus later for 2 satellites. Secondly, there is next to nothing to autopsy early game. Thirdly autopsy has no real value in the game, apart from moving the story forward (yes, early Gene Mods but then you can't get early MECs). You could interrogate a sectoid for 'Research Credits: Beam Weapons' but whats that involve? 1. Xeno-Biology => Alien Containment => Arc Thrower => Interrogate Sectoid => Weapon Fragments => Beam Weapons (value here) ...and doing the same thing without the interrogation... 2. Weapon Fragments => Beam Weapons (thats all) "We have Ways" has no real value unless you are going to pay for an Alien Containment (§85). So in the pursuit of speeding up research you must now go the long way, slowing yourself down and increasing the cost. Bonus Earning: -§85 Now lets look at the other two... "Air and Space", starting in North America. This one sucks. Comparison... 1. 'Air and Space' United States + Canada + Russia = §450 or 2. 'All In' Nigeria + United States + Canada = §494 Thats an opportunity cost of §44 Bonus Saving: §20 (on maintenance) "Expert Knowledge", starting in Europe. For mission rewards you might choose from §200 or 4 engineers. If you take the §200 with "Expert Knowledge" you will have enough to afford 3 workshops (thats 15 engineers). Yes, the workshops have the cost of expanding and power but these is also the workshop adjacency bonus. Setting up only 2 workshops for a 2x2 block with your Cybernetics Lab and later foundry will give a 40% refund (not including the extra cost reduction for the engineers themselves). With only 2 workshops an SHIV costs only §20 and it's getting close to the "Future Combat" bonus for foundry projects. Bonus Saving: $130 (2 workshops) My Concussion. Both "We have Ways" and "Air and Space" suck. The other 3 all have a Saving/Earning that are about the same, if you are playing to their strengths. "Expert Knowledge": SHIV cost §20. "Future Combat": 'Wet Work' early. "All In": §114
Rusty nails That's insanely long wall of text, I would read it but dude I really can't spare the time. In two words, some strategies revolving around Asia do utilize the Foundry rush and work really well if combined with economic boom. You're trying to accelerate your transition to late-game, but struggle slightly in the early game.
+Rusty nails South America is a really good country, I made an April base rush and had a full set of plasma weapons in may due to credit and research progess. I also managed to get a few carapace/skeleton armors out early game. If you take S.A going for Beam weapons through interrogation is a waste of time, you should instead focus on getting armor from floaters and plasma as soon as mutons appear.
+Leonov Martinovich See, exactly what I was talking about. You take a niche country that only *appears* weak, and you abuse the strengths to the maximum refining and figuring out a perfect strategy. Kudos, Leon.
By starting in Na you get a satellite in the US. The extra Us funding stacks up over the months to provide a tremendous economic boost, even willing you to withhold satellite for when countries go critical
Interrogations and Autopsies are also really quick anyway. You're not losing much time. Also, several autopsies just provide new optional one-use items for interceptions, or new foundry projects of limited use. Losing one or both of the South American council nations is far less painful than losing a nation in Asia, Europe, or Africa.
I disagree, you need workshops to construct satellites quickly to reduce panic and detect UFOs quicker. Since building workshops gets you Engineers 4 engineers when they are built, it's far better to start in Europe than Africa and South America, (you only need 2 satellites to get their bonus anyway, you need 4 for Europe. You don't really need Asia early on as you can't get any Officer school upgrades until you have a soldier promoted to Corporal, (which probably won't happen in the first month of the game) and you need to build the foundry to get Foundry upgrades, and you need to research Experimental weapons to unlock the ability to build it. Credits are important but build time for satellites and getting engineers to staff uplinks is even more important. Europe is easily the best continent to start in. Also, autopsies and interrogations only last 3 days, you aren't saving that much time starting in South America. Losing a country in SA or Africa is FAR less painful than losing one in Europe, NA, or Asia, their bonuses are just so useful.
Definitely helpful, I started out Euro, then N.A. then fell on Asia and stuck there. I REALLY noticed how useful it was to have a 50% off all foundry and Training school is such a godsend.
One of the rather effective strategies involves rushing Officer School. Foundry is a preference matter, but yes, the fastest I was able to build it was like at the end of 1st, closer to the 2nd month.
Africa and South America are my 2 favorite starting spots because Africa is cash and cash is used for everything and South America is for speedy interrogations, gets you through to the midgame faster (But you could argue later on the interrogation is over with and Africa's 30% Cash boost is ALWAYS good from beginning to end.
It depends when you meet them and what kind of positioning your team is at when you encounter them. Don't disregard the enemy just because a certain situation didn't happen to you. Plus 15 peeps thumbed him up, I bet he's not the only one who's got problem with Berserkers.
I always start in Asia, it really is extremely helpful since you can get the Officer Training School Upgrades very early on and the foundry has some useful upgrades as well.
i got the game the other day, had a mission in Canada with a 5 man team. went ok at first till the sectopods started showing up, kept killing the same soldier, so i kept restarting the mission from my last save. then it kept going and going. it literally became the movie aliens, all my men died at the last stretch and only one survived. was epic but damn it was hard. took me 4 - 5 hours to finish that mission.
I completely disagree. Africa has the best bonus, but it doesn’t mean you want to start there. Africa has 30 percent income, starting with Nigeria giving you 130 a month. North America start with USA at 180, eliminating the argument that Africa is better for money. By the time it matters you can have three satellites up end of the first month. South America is great, but it’s only two countries, an easy bonus to acquire. Asia has a good bonus but you need a foundry and school, which cost money. I swear by North America, with the sole purpose being to acquire Africa.
No, the game will actually carry on indefinitely and new missions will come up all the time (even if you shoot down 100% of incoming UFOs, which will make it so that you will only have crashed UFOs missions).
"P.S. - You aren't supposed to beat Insane." It can and has been beaten by many players, including myself. It's called Impossible, by the way... Your hints for starting nation are reasonable, but they need qualifying by difficulty level. Things shift rapidly and your advice is no longer valid once people start playing at the harder levels.
Second month advantages of - NA: see below + upgrades on interceptors, - Asia: some dollars due to the two or three projects u can do in the OTS, - Africa: still see below, - Europe: see below, this gives u more freedom to chose abduction sites by panic level instead of rewards - SA: allows u to rush to alien base and gives a huge bonus on research - hence, even in month two NA still gives u greatest flexibility money-wise
Your voice is awesome x3 Interesting, I've heard people complain about South America. Not that I care though, I just like cuttin' up some dudes and seeing their squishy goo. Always been my Nr 1 choice.
Always started Africa. That extra income is so valuable throughout the whole game. South Africa the lack of funds killed me same with Asia. Europe and North America I’ve never tried.
I've gotten further on Unknown, but this is the best game I've had in Within. I chose Africa and I tightened up my combat tactics. Ironically I've gotten more meld even though I'm being more methodical now.
I didn't have space to mention that all of the OTS options require higher level troops, which pushes most of them into the 3rd month. And a Foundry isn't going to be built in the first 2 months, either. You won't be recognizing that $1900 for a long, long time, allowing the benefit of starting in a higher paying nation to give you more money up front when you need it.
I think Asia is the best start since you get a good bonus that is worth 4 satellites. This way you can rush SA for the research bonus since its worth only 2 sats. Getting Africa next is nice since it will scales pretty nicely with your 6 satellites worth of income. NA next to reduce costs for late game fighters and +150$. Europe is the least relevant (I finished on classic with only one lab and one workshop without problems).
dude i laughed so hard when you talked about losing faith in humanity and you said you couldnt believe how awful of choices people made! hahahahaha keep them coming man!
I choose NA for one solid reason: Interceptors... at the start of the game, I can literally order 2 interceptors for every continent and not worry about UFO's for the time being... Europe and Asia are awesome too, but by mid game, they both seem no different to each other (from what I've seen so far) You can like SA or Africa too I guess... You know... If you're stupid...
I always play in Asia; reasons 1. Reduce cost pf Officer training school and foundry by 50% increasing squad size, wet work some foundry upgrade; in XCOM EW we can upgrade suite to bring 2 items which cost 200$(100 with Asia) which help me a lots in classic ironman play through.
Completely disagree about starting in North America as being the worst choice because the cost cut to Air defense isn't important until mid-late game. One, The mid-late game is the most important. Two, you want to start building up your air assets ASAP. It doesn't do you much good to make it 30 hours into the game and then realize that although you have a nearly unbeatable squad you didn't pay attention enough to the long game to be able to pull out a victory. For that reason I have to give this video a "thunmbs down" for giving new players poor advice...
First month advantages of - NA: Great income from North America, halved maintencance for fighters, real cheap new fighter to bring down medium UFO (which often enough fails with only two fighters on high difficulty), - Asia: None, - Africa: a little higher income but a lot less than when opting for NA, - Europe: Maybe 75 bugs on a workshop if u chose to build one, - SA: None - *cough*, yeah, u'r the man
Now to the strategics - NA: solid starting location with easiest all around strategy, Asia: very helpful for midgame tactical superiority, Africa: imo, no real strategic value, u don't need the money late game and up to then all other options are better, Europe: best choice for when u want to keep countries on board and do not want to worry about engineers and scientists, SA: Rushing for alien base with all its consequences: early psionics, extra panic reduction possible in month two
NA is one of the top choices for the simple reason that the USA is the best country in the game. 180 per month is about double that of most other countries. It's like getting a free satellite up and running from scratch. My ranking: Africa = Asia > NA >>>> SA (too easy to grab later, low income countries) >>>>>> Europe (laboratories are completely useless, and workshops are only of marginal use as well, only working at all in rather niche builds)
You don't take the starting region simply for the money ._. For this purpose I can just as well launch a satellite over US and carry on with the plan. The purpose of the starting region is to give you a certain edge which will allow you to start off with something fancy. Money and, generally, income is the question of satellites, side-missions and alien abductions. As a last resort you can always sell some artifacts just to push your development even more.
I always wondered how units in RTS games know where to go. Verbal commands over radio doesn't work the same way maps don't usually work. Coordinates? How does a man with a spear know what which coordinate is.
Surely Asia is no good either as you don't get the foundary or the officer trading school at the beginning of the game. The foundry in particular appears quite late
haha. nice tutorial. im watching your support class tutorial, one question, do i run out of mission if i wont do the priority mission and just keep on scanning satellites for other missions like alien abduction, ufo crash site etc...?
6 years too late but no, you won’t stop getting abductions unless all but 3 (or 4, can’t remember) of the remaining countries have satellites, one less needed if you’ve attacked the alien base. Then you’ll only get a maximum of 3 (I think) missions in total (including abductions, terror sites, alien ships and council missions)
Actually normal is where the computer does not cheat. Classic and Insane is where computer has unfair bonuses to stats and is more numerous, which in essence means that you have to use the cheesiest strats and tricks. I am well aware of that, although you have to build it it still pays off already in the 2nd-3rd month. I am dubious as to what you are trying to prove here. That my point is invalid? Certain starting regions in the game are simply better. P.S. - You aren't supposed to beat Insane.
I disagree. I choose North America every time not just because it's my homeland, but because the bonus halves the cost to maintain the interceptors as well as buy them. That can add up man. South America is also a pretty crappy place to start because you can easily grab the bonus with your first 2 satellites. I'd say that Asia and Europe are the top (NA is good, but not the best) because they take the longest to get the extra bonus.
For me, i could give less of a sh*t about the early game. The thing that matters is mid game and late game. Sure, South America is good for instant research on Autopsies and Interrogations, but if you have enough scientists, this wouldn't matter that much. And when you finish all the autopsies and interogations, the boost will have no meaning. So for me, South America is worst starting location. Ah yes, Asia. Future Combat is indeed helpful early and even midgame, but i tend to forget the foundry and it's projects, so that's not going to be very helpful. And the OTS projects are often finished early game (the last one to be unlocked at midgame), so yeah. I always tend to have a difficult time choosing between Europe, North America and Africa, but mostly, i choose Africa.
lol.. its like you say "a starting location".. By the time south america has become "useless" you can easily have satelites covering another continent of choice. The bonus is really good, but the downside is that you south america only needs 2 sattelites anyway, which makes some other continents better..
Meh, I wish there was a higher level. It could be called "Don't try this at home!" or something. :) After all, how hard is it to take away another troop hit point and give the aliens another 20 aim?
The game is easy honestly It depends on your play style but the 2 best are North amrica and ASia in my opiouion, because will power is key and the officer training school lets you majorly upgrade how much this increases per rank. Also you should equib all you troops except snipers and with nano fiber vest or better chitian plateing that stuff will keep you from getting squeshed by a bersaker.
On Normal/Ironman, which is child's play, so I'd expect it to go faster. I've never finished a game on that setting. I played about 4 months on Normal to get used to the strategic and tactical games and from then on I've only played Classic/Ironman or Impossible/Ironman. Which I've never been able to finish in "under 8 months", but there's no doubt better players than I out there Not to mention that if you play on Impossible/Ironman you don't start with the OTS facility and have to build it.
I gotta wonder how you manage to define "mid game" as "the end of the second month." This is just the beginning of the game! Anything lasting over 18 months shouldn't have the second month called "mid game." Asia may give a 50% reduction to Foundry and OTS costs, but it has a much lower monthly revenue as well. I haven't crunched the numbers, but I'd guess that taking a higher paying home base will pay off both in the beginning when money is very tight and again over time.
I can never bring myself to pick anything besides Africa. Everywhere else helps you use one feature of the game more effectively. Money is used for everything.
+Tetrix0 I really think South America can work and I did make it work. It's just really really really awkward to play as, Asia feels so much better, at least to me.
Like, with North America you start with more money and more revenue and less upkeep, with Europe you save 715 credits on your buildings. In any case, the researches will always stop from lack of material, which mean that even without any laboratory those researches are going too fast. So making my researches faster is the very last thing I would want.
+Tetrix0 Yeah, I get your point, but think of the autopsies. It does sound unnatural and it is unless you specifically know when and where you are going to get the specimens for your research and what specific tech you want to rush for. You obviously can't research everything in that manner, but some things can be squeezed in to get them ASAP. There is some risk involved, but certain strategies revolving around South America can give you a massive tech rush with an acceptable risk.
slow down - I mean thanks for the guide - but when speaking a non native language with the given difficulties in pronunciation you could benefit your listeners by talking at a pace that doesn't force you to stumble over the words as they try to exit your speech apparatus in high speed staccato : )
Just getting into this game - and it is addicting, I am like a crack head - Just one more mission.... then I'll get some sleep... maybe just one more - and so on... Watching your Assault video now - A little slower talking - liking it : )
Except that South America is the worst of all, Europe is the first good choice since you can start expanding and all rapidly and there for have more labs and less research time, North America i agree it didnt help alot, Africa well its a so, so and if you would like to concentrate on military purposes go to ASIA
+Luciferum No, come on, dude. He has a point, it's just that the lategame rush is not always the best choice and is definitely not the best choice for every player. But he's completely right in that your plan has to somehow transition to or completely revolve around your lategame.
So you're saying because something be starting areas do not provide EARLY game bonuses they are directly the worst starting regions? And anything that gives LATE game advantages are utterly useless? You have no idea what you're talking about lol
lol, berserkers¿ rly? they just rush at you each time you shoot them, extremely easy to pull them in and shot them down, i think i was only hit once by a berserker and it was because i was ignoring it, that¡s how bad they are.
***** Yeah you guessed it right. That's cool bit about accents, I didn't know that :D Must be all the booze us and Poles consume that ruins the accent ahaha
The best starting point is Africa and here's why: credits are the most important resource at the start of the game, you get 30% more, so is easier to invest in satellites to expand your monthly income. South America only has 2 satellite slots, easy to cover fast and so add the "we have ways" continental bonus early. If you start in South America you need 3 satellites for Africa and you have less resources to build them.
However Asia and Europe both individually have 5 slots, which is definitely something to consider. Another bonus to Asia is that it contribute engineers EXCLUSIVELY when it comes to the personnel they give you during the council report. Engineers are debatably THE most important asset in the game early on, as certain items and buildings cannot be built without more engineers than initially allocated to you, such as the satellite uplink which takes 10 engineers. You start out with 5.
You must play on normal or easy, Africa was my initial continent of choice given I'd thought its additional funding would catalyst my development in every category. Then I started playing on classic and time is your enemy in that playthrough.
I'm a fan of Asia (cause i live in Asia).
But i think Africa is the best too.
Bonus money translate to boost in everything, it's just so versatile.
(but if it's Marathon game, I have to stand with Europe. You are lagging behind in tech in marathon game, you will need to keep up with the Labs, many and early, too hard with the other choices.)
9 years later this video helps me, thank you
Remember, sometimes its more useful to use satellites to reduce panic than to get best country/continent bonuses.
I personally feel that early on its more important to get satellites up and running than to make sure that you get all the weapon fragments and your rookies back home. So most upgrades are of low priority to me early on.
You need to have a certain amount of engineers to build new satellite uplinks and nexuses.
Starting position comparison:
NORTH AMERICA
+- US gives about twice as much income as any other country, but you can just place your second satellite here to get it.
+ Air and space not only lowers the cost of aircraft and their weapons but it also lowers their monthly upkeep. With only the starting craft thats 20 (25 if the Skyranger counted aswell (dont remember)) credits every month.
- You might not need to build new craft until midgame
SOUTH AMERICA (probably the worst starting position)
+- Instant early game autopsies and interrogations give a good boost to early/mid game research.
- You need only 2 satellites to get it anyway
- You might want to focus on 1 particular research path early on, lowering the importance of interrogations and autopsies
- In the early game you dont have the credits to spend on a lot of new equipment anyway
- Base income of starting country is low
AFRICA
+ 30% extra funding is good.
- However you first need to get a sattelite or 2 up before it becomes useful. (Starting here youd ideally place your 1. sattelite in the US and the second in Russia.)
EUROPE
+- 50% reduction in workshop cost and upkeep is good, but you are not going to need it until midgame. You can get extra engineers and the adjacency bonuses up fast and so lower the cost of new buildings and items.
+- You are not going to want to cover Europe with sattelites any time soon because you dont get any engineers from here. And Europe has 4 countries to cover.
ASIA
+- Increasing the squad size is not that expensive
+- Other officer training scool upgrades are expensive, but you can probably do without them in the early game.
+- The foundry and its upgrades can wait until you have a better monthly income
- Engineers are more important than scientists. Especially early on. So you will want to cover Asia with satellites as early as you can anyway.
This is the best gaming usefull comment i have ever seen
I always start the game in Europe when I first played it. Battled aliens protected countries (except Brazil, hard to decide whether to save China or Brazil). Got about 6 psionics and completed every project and every continent has a firestorm thanks to Europe. Summarizing all up, Europe is the best region to start for begineers. Applies to all regions if you what your doing.
Did nobody fucking notice that petrol costs $9.56/gal in XCOM!?
+ManlyMcBuff Lmao thats the first thing i noticed and I was like "Welp I guess we should blow up all these cars now huh?"
Jesus i wonder how much the jet fuel cost
$9.50 a gallon for gas? We deserve to be invaded
LOL HAHA
Lol this is aging perfectly
11 dollars now bloody beam me up now Scotty 😂😂
The game does not have to last 18 months (I've beat the game on Normal Iron Man in under 8). I define mid game as it should be defined: when all the alien moves are available (Terror mission, all their larget ships are entering the atmosphere and you have a real chance of encounter).
Asian perk allows you to save in total $1900. This is an immense sum of money and helps much more in early game and when you transition to the mid game.
Plus I just did the numbers, my point stands valid.
Nice video but your logic is a bit weird.
You were talking about Foundry upgrades, you can not do Foundry upgrades in the first month.
You can not even start building the foundry until you have Researched 'Experimental Warfare' and even then what upgrade would you want in the early game?
Your saying that the reason for starting in one of these 3 continents is because they would have some benefit in the first month/s, lets talk about that.
"Future Combat", staring in Asia.
Because you can start with the Officer Training School "Future Combat" is good as it will reduce the cost of 'Squad Size 1' (needed).
'Squad Size 1' (however again) only costs §50, so it's saving only §25. You might get 'Wet Work' spending another §88 (and saving §88).
So having "Future Combat" as your starting bonus only has value for players who will be getting 'Wet Work' earlier.
Bonus Saving: §133
"All In", staring in Africa.
For this as your starting bonus you must have Nigeria. Heres a scenario with 2 more satellites.
---Monthly income---
Nigeria: §100
United States: §180
Canada: §100
Total: §380
Bonus from "All In": §114
(Yes, you could swap Canada for Russia but then you would also need another interceptor).
Bonus Earning: §114
"We have Ways", staring in South America.
Seriously?
Firstly, you can get this bonus later for 2 satellites.
Secondly, there is next to nothing to autopsy early game.
Thirdly autopsy has no real value in the game, apart from moving the story forward
(yes, early Gene Mods but then you can't get early MECs).
You could interrogate a sectoid for 'Research Credits: Beam Weapons' but whats that involve?
1. Xeno-Biology => Alien Containment => Arc Thrower => Interrogate Sectoid => Weapon Fragments => Beam Weapons (value here)
...and doing the same thing without the interrogation...
2. Weapon Fragments => Beam Weapons (thats all)
"We have Ways" has no real value unless you are going to pay for an Alien Containment (§85).
So in the pursuit of speeding up research you must now go the long way, slowing yourself down and increasing the cost.
Bonus Earning: -§85
Now lets look at the other two...
"Air and Space", starting in North America.
This one sucks. Comparison...
1. 'Air and Space' United States + Canada + Russia = §450
or
2. 'All In' Nigeria + United States + Canada = §494
Thats an opportunity cost of §44
Bonus Saving: §20 (on maintenance)
"Expert Knowledge", starting in Europe.
For mission rewards you might choose from §200 or 4 engineers.
If you take the §200 with "Expert Knowledge" you will have enough to afford 3 workshops (thats 15 engineers).
Yes, the workshops have the cost of expanding and power but these is also the workshop adjacency bonus.
Setting up only 2 workshops for a 2x2 block with your Cybernetics Lab and later foundry will give a 40% refund
(not including the extra cost reduction for the engineers themselves).
With only 2 workshops an SHIV costs only §20 and it's getting close to the "Future Combat" bonus for foundry projects.
Bonus Saving: $130 (2 workshops)
My Concussion.
Both "We have Ways" and "Air and Space" suck.
The other 3 all have a Saving/Earning that are about the same, if you are playing to their strengths.
"Expert Knowledge": SHIV cost §20.
"Future Combat": 'Wet Work' early.
"All In": §114
Rusty nails That's insanely long wall of text, I would read it but dude I really can't spare the time.
In two words, some strategies revolving around Asia do utilize the Foundry rush and work really well if combined with economic boom. You're trying to accelerate your transition to late-game, but struggle slightly in the early game.
+Rusty nails South America is a really good country, I made an April base rush and had a full set of plasma weapons in may due to credit and research progess. I also managed to get a few carapace/skeleton armors out early game. If you take S.A going for Beam weapons through interrogation is a waste of time, you should instead focus on getting armor from floaters and plasma as soon as mutons appear.
+Leonov Martinovich See, exactly what I was talking about. You take a niche country that only *appears* weak, and you abuse the strengths to the maximum refining and figuring out a perfect strategy.
Kudos, Leon.
+Rusty nails We have Ways is on point for rushing plasma weapons...
+Jizz Fudgsickle Exactly. it's really gimmicky, but if you have a specific plan and take calculated risks you're set.
By starting in Na you get a satellite in the US. The extra Us funding stacks up over the months to provide a tremendous economic boost, even willing you to withhold satellite for when countries go critical
Interrogations and Autopsies are also really quick anyway. You're not losing much time. Also, several autopsies just provide new optional one-use items for interceptions, or new foundry projects of limited use. Losing one or both of the South American council nations is far less painful than losing a nation in Asia, Europe, or Africa.
I disagree, you need workshops to construct satellites quickly to reduce panic and detect UFOs quicker. Since building workshops gets you Engineers 4 engineers when they are built, it's far better to start in Europe than Africa and South America, (you only need 2 satellites to get their bonus anyway, you need 4 for Europe. You don't really need Asia early on as you can't get any Officer school upgrades until you have a soldier promoted to Corporal, (which probably won't happen in the first month of the game) and you need to build the foundry to get Foundry upgrades, and you need to research Experimental weapons to unlock the ability to build it. Credits are important but build time for satellites and getting engineers to staff uplinks is even more important. Europe is easily the best continent to start in.
Also, autopsies and interrogations only last 3 days, you aren't saving that much time starting in South America. Losing a country in SA or Africa is FAR less painful than losing one in Europe, NA, or Asia, their bonuses are just so useful.
Definitely helpful, I started out Euro, then N.A. then fell on Asia and stuck there. I REALLY noticed how useful it was to have a 50% off all foundry and Training school is such a godsend.
One of the rather effective strategies involves rushing Officer School. Foundry is a preference matter, but yes, the fastest I was able to build it was like at the end of 1st, closer to the 2nd month.
Africa and South America are my 2 favorite starting spots because Africa is cash and cash is used for everything and South America is for speedy interrogations, gets you through to the midgame faster (But you could argue later on the interrogation is over with and Africa's 30% Cash boost is ALWAYS good from beginning to end.
NA is the only option for impossible if u want to keep all nations, because of the higher starting budget
Huh, finally a good argument. Makes sense!
It depends when you meet them and what kind of positioning your team is at when you encounter them. Don't disregard the enemy just because a certain situation didn't happen to you. Plus 15 peeps thumbed him up, I bet he's not the only one who's got problem with Berserkers.
I always start in Asia, it really is extremely helpful since you can get the Officer Training School Upgrades very early on and the foundry has some useful upgrades as well.
i got the game the other day, had a mission in Canada with a 5 man team. went ok at first till the sectopods started showing up, kept killing the same soldier, so i kept restarting the mission from my last save. then it kept going and going. it literally became the movie aliens, all my men died at the last stretch and only one survived. was epic but damn it was hard. took me 4 - 5 hours to finish that mission.
I completely disagree.
Africa has the best bonus, but it doesn’t mean you want to start there. Africa has 30 percent income, starting with Nigeria giving you 130 a month. North America start with USA at 180, eliminating the argument that Africa is better for money.
By the time it matters you can have three satellites up end of the first month.
South America is great, but it’s only two countries, an easy bonus to acquire.
Asia has a good bonus but you need a foundry and school, which cost money.
I swear by North America, with the sole purpose being to acquire Africa.
I started in South America and finished the game on Normal mode in 48 hours. The free research from autopsy and interrogation sped it up quickly.
No, the game will actually carry on indefinitely and new missions will come up all the time (even if you shoot down 100% of incoming UFOs, which will make it so that you will only have crashed UFOs missions).
"P.S. - You aren't supposed to beat Insane."
It can and has been beaten by many players, including myself. It's called Impossible, by the way... Your hints for starting nation are reasonable, but they need qualifying by difficulty level. Things shift rapidly and your advice is no longer valid once people start playing at the harder levels.
Second month advantages of - NA: see below + upgrades on interceptors, - Asia: some dollars due to the two or three projects u can do in the OTS, - Africa: still see below, - Europe: see below, this gives u more freedom to chose abduction sites by panic level instead of rewards - SA: allows u to rush to alien base and gives a huge bonus on research - hence, even in month two NA still gives u greatest flexibility money-wise
Your voice is awesome x3
Interesting, I've heard people complain about South America. Not that I care though, I just like cuttin' up some dudes and seeing their squishy goo. Always been my Nr 1 choice.
Always started Africa. That extra income is so valuable throughout the whole game. South Africa the lack of funds killed me same with Asia. Europe and North America I’ve never tried.
Especially on a harder difficulty. The funds are the most important.
I've gotten further on Unknown, but this is the best game I've had in Within. I chose Africa and I tightened up my combat tactics. Ironically I've gotten more meld even though I'm being more methodical now.
I've gotten more money coming in than the simple modifier suggests but I'm not sure what I've been doing.
I didn't have space to mention that all of the OTS options require higher level troops, which pushes most of them into the 3rd month. And a Foundry isn't going to be built in the first 2 months, either. You won't be recognizing that $1900 for a long, long time, allowing the benefit of starting in a higher paying nation to give you more money up front when you need it.
I think Asia is the best start since you get a good bonus that is worth 4 satellites. This way you can rush SA for the research bonus since its worth only 2 sats. Getting Africa next is nice since it will scales pretty nicely with your 6 satellites worth of income. NA next to reduce costs for late game fighters and +150$. Europe is the least relevant (I finished on classic with only one lab and one workshop without problems).
QuickSaveTV has lost all faith in humanity and has joined the aliens.
dude i laughed so hard when you talked about losing faith in humanity and you said you couldnt believe how awful of choices people made! hahahahaha keep them coming man!
i totally agree with you. I normally go with Africa. I'm starting a new Classic Ironman, and after watching this, I'm going with Asia this time :)
Just got this game on Steam with all the DLC for Enemy Unknown 80% off cost me a little over 10 bucks in Canada thanks for the video!
I choose NA for one solid reason: Interceptors... at the start of the game, I can literally order 2 interceptors for every continent and not worry about UFO's for the time being...
Europe and Asia are awesome too, but by mid game, they both seem no different to each other (from what I've seen so far)
You can like SA or Africa too I guess... You know... If you're stupid...
I always play in Asia; reasons
1. Reduce cost pf Officer training school and foundry by 50%
increasing squad size, wet work some foundry upgrade; in XCOM EW we can upgrade suite to bring 2 items which cost 200$(100 with Asia) which help me a lots in classic ironman play through.
+DOOK DIC GAMER Agreed there DD, I also feel like the Asia is my comfort zone.
Anyway...I feel pump for XCOM 2, Already pre-ordered it...Now...only wait...and it killing me XD
+DOOK DIC GAMER ikr, it's gonna be SO GOOD. Least I hope so.
Completely disagree about starting in North America as being the worst choice because the cost cut to Air defense isn't important until mid-late game. One, The mid-late game is the most important. Two, you want to start building up your air assets ASAP. It doesn't do you much good to make it 30 hours into the game and then realize that although you have a nearly unbeatable squad you didn't pay attention enough to the long game to be able to pull out a victory. For that reason I have to give this video a "thunmbs down" for giving new players poor advice...
Mate, stop worrying yourself about other UA-camrs and worry more about your own content. You need to.
First month advantages of - NA: Great income from North America, halved maintencance for fighters, real cheap new fighter to bring down medium UFO (which often enough fails with only two fighters on high difficulty), - Asia: None, - Africa: a little higher income but a lot less than when opting for NA, - Europe: Maybe 75 bugs on a workshop if u chose to build one, - SA: None - *cough*, yeah, u'r the man
Now to the strategics - NA: solid starting location with easiest all around strategy, Asia: very helpful for midgame tactical superiority, Africa: imo, no real strategic value, u don't need the money late game and up to then all other options are better, Europe: best choice for when u want to keep countries on board and do not want to worry about engineers and scientists, SA: Rushing for alien base with all its consequences: early psionics, extra panic reduction possible in month two
NA is one of the top choices for the simple reason that the USA is the best country in the game. 180 per month is about double that of most other countries. It's like getting a free satellite up and running from scratch.
My ranking:
Africa = Asia > NA >>>> SA (too easy to grab later, low income countries) >>>>>> Europe (laboratories are completely useless, and workshops are only of marginal use as well, only working at all in rather niche builds)
It's not hard and you could do that through modding XCom on PC.
You don't take the starting region simply for the money ._. For this purpose I can just as well launch a satellite over US and carry on with the plan. The purpose of the starting region is to give you a certain edge which will allow you to start off with something fancy.
Money and, generally, income is the question of satellites, side-missions and alien abductions. As a last resort you can always sell some artifacts just to push your development even more.
I always wondered how units in RTS games know where to go. Verbal commands over radio doesn't work the same way maps don't usually work. Coordinates? How does a man with a spear know what which coordinate is.
I thought that they were the easiest because they come close enough for your soldiers to get a higher hit percentage...
Tbh Asia is always my choice, Since south America only has 2 countries for the boost and Africa is 3 where as Asia is 4.
^This, especially when i got my first alloy-cannon.
Surely Asia is no good either as you don't get the foundary or the officer trading school at the beginning of the game. The foundry in particular appears quite late
haha. nice tutorial. im watching your support class tutorial, one question, do i run out of mission if i wont do the priority mission and just keep on scanning satellites for other missions like alien abduction, ufo crash site etc...?
6 years too late but no, you won’t stop getting abductions unless all but 3 (or 4, can’t remember) of the remaining countries have satellites, one less needed if you’ve attacked the alien base. Then you’ll only get a maximum of 3 (I think) missions in total (including abductions, terror sites, alien ships and council missions)
yo gas is ten dollars a gallon in xcom holy fuckin shit
I understand what you mean, ive seen so many people choose the continant that they live in
funny accent, its like a funny version of ezio of assasin's creed.
Dude, it's awesome :D I'm glad it amuses you haha.
Actually normal is where the computer does not cheat. Classic and Insane is where computer has unfair bonuses to stats and is more numerous, which in essence means that you have to use the cheesiest strats and tricks.
I am well aware of that, although you have to build it it still pays off already in the 2nd-3rd month.
I am dubious as to what you are trying to prove here. That my point is invalid? Certain starting regions in the game are simply better.
P.S. - You aren't supposed to beat Insane.
thanks lol every mission i did in north America My teams Always died due to Equipments
I had it happen to me too, it feels so shit x_x
Me All the Time I've lost many good men
+Pedobear Inc what misson? i lost My good Guy im the city
I disagree. I choose North America every time not just because it's my homeland, but because the bonus halves the cost to maintain the interceptors as well as buy them. That can add up man. South America is also a pretty crappy place to start because you can easily grab the bonus with your first 2 satellites. I'd say that Asia and Europe are the top (NA is good, but not the best) because they take the longest to get the extra bonus.
For me, i could give less of a sh*t about the early game. The thing that matters is mid game and late game.
Sure, South America is good for instant research on Autopsies and Interrogations, but if you have enough scientists, this wouldn't matter that much. And when you finish all the autopsies and interogations, the boost will have no meaning. So for me, South America is worst starting location.
Ah yes, Asia. Future Combat is indeed helpful early and even midgame, but i tend to forget the foundry and it's projects, so that's not going to be very helpful. And the OTS projects are often finished early game (the last one to be unlocked at midgame), so yeah.
I always tend to have a difficult time choosing between Europe, North America and Africa, but mostly, i choose Africa.
lol.. its like you say "a starting location".. By the time south america has become "useless" you can easily have satelites covering another continent of choice.
The bonus is really good, but the downside is that you south america only needs 2 sattelites anyway, which makes some other continents better..
Meh, I wish there was a higher level. It could be called "Don't try this at home!" or something. :) After all, how hard is it to take away another troop hit point and give the aliens another 20 aim?
The game is easy honestly It depends on your play style but the 2 best are North amrica and ASia in my opiouion, because will power is key and the officer training school lets you majorly upgrade how much this increases per rank. Also you should equib all you troops except snipers and with nano fiber vest or better chitian plateing that stuff will keep you from getting squeshed by a bersaker.
On Normal/Ironman, which is child's play, so I'd expect it to go faster. I've never finished a game on that setting. I played about 4 months on Normal to get used to the strategic and tactical games and from then on I've only played Classic/Ironman or Impossible/Ironman. Which I've never been able to finish in "under 8 months", but there's no doubt better players than I out there
Not to mention that if you play on Impossible/Ironman you don't start with the OTS facility and have to build it.
the ending was hilarious xD
I gotta wonder how you manage to define "mid game" as "the end of the second month."
This is just the beginning of the game! Anything lasting over 18 months shouldn't have the second month called "mid game."
Asia may give a 50% reduction to Foundry and OTS costs, but it has a much lower monthly revenue as well. I haven't crunched the numbers, but I'd guess that taking a higher paying home base will pay off both in the beginning when money is very tight and again over time.
I can never bring myself to pick anything besides Africa. Everywhere else helps you use one feature of the game more effectively. Money is used for everything.
Sure, makes sense. You prefer being more flexible.
Gotta dislike this vid for even suggesting South America is a legit start.
The worst locations are of course South America and Africa.
+Tetrix0 I really think South America can work and I did make it work. It's just really really really awkward to play as, Asia feels so much better, at least to me.
Like, with North America you start with more money and more revenue and less upkeep, with Europe you save 715 credits on your buildings. In any case, the researches will always stop from lack of material, which mean that even without any laboratory those researches are going too fast. So making my researches faster is the very last thing I would want.
+Tetrix0 Yeah, I get your point, but think of the autopsies. It does sound unnatural and it is unless you specifically know when and where you are going to get the specimens for your research and what specific tech you want to rush for.
You obviously can't research everything in that manner, but some things can be squeezed in to get them ASAP. There is some risk involved, but certain strategies revolving around South America can give you a massive tech rush with an acceptable risk.
Nice advice. I choose N.A anyway. Just because. :P
slow down - I mean thanks for the guide - but when speaking a non native language with the given difficulties in pronunciation you could benefit your listeners by talking at a pace that doesn't force you to stumble over the words as they try to exit your speech apparatus in high speed staccato : )
It's the suppression fire mechanic :D
Just getting into this game - and it is addicting, I am like a crack head - Just one more mission.... then I'll get some sleep... maybe just one more - and so on...
Watching your Assault video now - A little slower talking - liking it : )
My list:
Worst to Best:
Europe
North America
South America
Asia
Africa
Insane/ironman is possible to beat, you just have to be lucky and make sure to spend your money wisely.
I did it so it's possible. :P
I always start in Europe xD
nice, thanks, keep doing the game tutorials,
Except that South America is the worst of all, Europe is the first good choice since you can start expanding and all rapidly and there for have more labs and less research time, North America i agree it didnt help alot, Africa well its a so, so and if you would like to concentrate on military purposes go to ASIA
Wheeee... Yeah! Africa!!!
South america is also one of the worst. It only requires two satellites to get it's bonus, so choosing that as a starting location is just a waste.
you did very good
You win the game in late-game, not early game. Europe, North America and Africa are the only viable options.
Arcralf If you don't survive the early game, there will be no late game.
+Arcralf But by then you'll have those boni by putting sats all over the important regions.
+Luciferum No, come on, dude. He has a point, it's just that the lategame rush is not always the best choice and is definitely not the best choice for every player.
But he's completely right in that your plan has to somehow transition to or completely revolve around your lategame.
same here
I understood him just fine. :P
I'm not trollin I just wanna give a suggestion. If you have a heavy accent and are speaking English please slow down so we can understand you.
Wat
lol ive lost faith in humanity playing this game,its kicking my arse.
But its sooo adictive, Grrr those beserkers are freakin hardcore.
I agree a lot plus ur voice is kinda funny
But wait, what if you are wrong?
So you're saying because something be starting areas do not provide EARLY game bonuses they are directly the worst starting regions? And anything that gives LATE game advantages are utterly useless? You have no idea what you're talking about lol
I like this guy! Hahaha!
lol, berserkers¿ rly? they just rush at you each time you shoot them, extremely easy to pull them in and shot them down, i think i was only hit once by a berserker and it was because i was ignoring it, that¡s how bad they are.
Is this guy from Easten Europe? xD
I think he is Russian i'm from Eastern Europe but i speak as Americans do.Russians and Polish are only one who have different accent of all Slavs.
***** Yeah you guessed it right. That's cool bit about accents, I didn't know that :D Must be all the booze us and Poles consume that ruins the accent ahaha
QuickSaveTV I just have lot of friends from Russia and Poland so it was kinda lucky guess i suppose....xD Keep up the good work :)
You're funny.
So
thx a fkn lot dude :D
im laughing because of his accent. am i a bad person?
love this guy. lol
I love your accent. :-)
I've played impossible iron man, and i fear sectoids way more than berserks, they are just badly programed, and a joke overall.
his ukrainean