Aw, I was hoping to join the clean-up mission, being wanting to clean their clocks since the original base fell. Also point for stun batons: they don't need to be reloaded.
Ha, sorry about that. Like I said in the ep, it really just ended up coming down to Zarmal having a few more points in accuracy. :) With stun batons, I think the big thing that kind of kills me with them now is that you have to get right up to point blank to use them and they still have an average 1-in-3 chance of whiffing. :P
Ah, by the way, if you’re going to make the entire team skip their turn, you can right click on the “End Turn” button to skip the checks, as the tooltip says.
32:00 Moral of the story: always check the bodies. You never know what you might find. I'd also have dumped the grenade launcher, which is nearly useless indoors, and toted a looted rifle instead.
To be fair, we did still get some use out of the launcher once I realized the doorways were going to be an issue. And then once we got late into it, we went almost completely stungun anyway. Though yeah, we probably would have gotten more use out of an MG or rifle overall. :)
Love at the beginning. Open door. Bang bang. Close the door don’t want to let bugs inside. Also no mistakes, just opportunities to get better! Great mission.
So, no stats without research. Basic hurt/wounded/almost dead after autopsy. Detailed stats w/ autopsy & observation. Maybe another level for observation but no autopsy. Would have to determine what each research gave in that case, plus a synergy bonus for both.
The newest patch notes talk about reducing enemy grenade spam, have you noticed that being the case in later episodes before the patch since you batch record?
The Raiders have not encountered thrown grenades (if I recall correctly). I had been keeping an eye out for them due to a personal bet on a grenade being what would a Raider's first downfall. Closest we got was the floating drones in Milestone 3 timeline.
Might have split into two teams to assault command room from left and right. Would have provided better visibility on targets in the rooms corners and targets in the center would be in crossfire with smaller chance of friendly fire.
@RetconRaider Understandable, but the sentry on the right was known and could have been neutralized with a shield at the door triggering it open and the sniper. Your strategy was good, but left you open to surprises in the upper left corner. But I understand the caution. Bad luck with RNG could decimate a squad in XCOM. And it's easier to be a back seat driver than an actual driver.
Been a few days since we cleaned up the Cleaners. Haven't had the stomach for journal entries, but I think it's time. I'm glad the Commander put such a heavy focus on live capture rather than kills. Even if his reasoning for it was less about the ethics of ending human life than the economics of ransom. I'm not entirely certain I could actually take an alien life, let alone a human one. I know these are read thru by the base's psych staff, so I'd like it if this were considered a formal request to never be issued lethal weaponry. I like my stun pistol just fine. - Addi
There's an advanced stun weapon research project later, when you don't really need to capture any more aliens. Your flashbangs get upgraded and you can eventually build accelerated stun pistols and rifles, all three I use, but due to their added EMP damage... helps with the robotic units! Especially with the alien version of the D&D Beholder you will get to meet later 🙂 I really like this game, believe they still need to add the "mind control" mechanics, honestly, I prefer the game without it! Didn't like it in X-COM, XCOM or Phoenix Point!
I agree, the Mind Control was a serious minus for me. It's a tactical game, there shouldn't be wild cards like that. I modded my Xeno 1 to remove it. It's very easy to do. Assuming Xeno 2 follows the same format of putting all data in text files, it should be possible to mod it out of X 2 when they do put it in.
I do want to get back to Pathfinder at some point. I actually *was* going to get Lord of Nothing going again last month, but ran into some bug issues with our previous saves so I had to put it on the back burner again while I got that resolved. Overall, the really long series like Wrath and Kingmaker (and BG3 and Rogue Trader) is that the longer they run, the more they tend to struggle with viewer retention and sustainability. While I never want to have to pause or cancel a series, especially when its a series I'm particularly invested in like Wrath, I do have to at least consider it when there are other potentially much more viable series to at least temporarily shift focus towards. With Kingmaker, that series ended up being Wrath. With Wrath, it was Rogue Trader. I'd ultimately *like* to eventually go back and finish all three, but at this point I'm sort of working back through them in backwards order since RT is still the most viable of the three.
57:07 you request of an "indiation above head" is filled already. Look at the red arrow heading south, next to HP counter above the head ? That is your indication of supresss.
Cheesing the game and the (pretty bad) AI in the end 🤔 If it works, why not? Though I tend to play "RP" myself, I off course don't expect other to do the same. Thanks ❤
Honestly, it's a bit of a weird situation because the game is still under active development. The latest patch notes mentioned earlier builds (like the one we're using) were too skimpy on funding and it caused unintended difficulty beyond the midpoint of the campaign. So while I wouldn't normally resort to that sort of cheese (especially in a video), I ended up going for it here in anticipation of those future difficulties.
You spent several turns suspecting that enemy might flank you... and they only started moving when you entered their FOV again. Here's the problem, the devs apparently can't do anything about biggest balancing factor of them all - AI. The smartest enemy we've ever seen was sybilian hiding behind an abductee tube and even then it was by accident. Current state of enemies borders on complete absense of AI, they can basically be just as effective by being RNG rolls on what they will do. Civilians running to hide inside downed UFO are just a commentary on the sad state of affairs. In ideal scenario lack of 100% reliable information would make captures harder as well as make certains enemies(sybilians due to regeneration and mantis due to Time Units) very dangerous IF they had proper AI that matched their unique stats and case files. Make autopsy, research project and finally capture be mandatory to get reliable info AFTER this. This way you will not be able to reliably know when enemy would be in stun range, when they will bleed out or even if you have enough Time Units to down them this turn. Word description for status may work before autopsy with autopsy providing you an approximate range of their stats and research projects on corpses allowing to narrow those down. Even a small range of unknown variable may result in enemy that survives on bare minimum HP and if that's a sybilian, they(if they had proper AI) would take cover and heal. Or in case of mantis, they'd try to run to servitor to heal. But instead devs chose another approach, the approach of overbuffing enemies and nerfing player. "Here's new enemy, mantis, you'll encounter them on the first week. Here's another new enemy, andron, you'll also encounter them on the first week. Here's one more new enemy, gojira, you'll encounter them on the second week." And as for nerfing the player, they introduced more RNG. RNG that removes skill and tactics because I can't use those without reliable equipment. And of course it's only human equipment that is unreliable😅 Grenade launcher with those will 45° angle "misses" is just too unreliable to use. And you will agree with that the next time it does so when your guy is in partial cover and now your whole team is injured on a breach. No, it's NOT the same as rifle aim RNG. "Punish player for being good because we gave up on AI in a de facto remake of previous game that already worked this way" is a very questionable strategy in my eyes. Several episodes ago when I saw a guy die to a banzai charge of a mantis, I didn't know how to feel. Now I just question why devs gave up on the game. Different sprite with different HP/TU balance, but same AI doesn't feel like a new enemy:(
Psyons are supposed to be able to mind control with their Mesmerize ability if your soldier fails a Bravery check, but I've never actually seen it happen.
Mind control has been in every form of X-Com since the original, so I assume they'll have it here. Currently, you only get Mesmerized if you miss a Psyon, which just means the soldier can't do anything for the rest of the turn. The mind control in Xeno 1 was simple enough to mod out. Xeno 1 was very mod-friendly, everything is in Text files. If they use the same format in X 2, it should be as easy to mod.
You spent several turns suspecting that enemy might flank you... and they only started moving when you entered their FOV again. Here's the problem, the devs apparently can't do anything about biggest balancing factor of them all - AI. The smartest enemy we've ever seen was sybilian hiding behind an abductee tube and even then it was by accident. Current state of enemies borders on complete absense of AI, they can basically be just as effective by being RNG rolls on what they will do. Civilians running to hide inside downed UFO are just a commentary on the sad state of affairs. In ideal scenario lack of 100% reliable information would make captures harder as well as make certains enemies(sybilians due to regeneration and mantis due to Time Units) very dangerous IF they had proper AI that matched their unique stats and case files. Make autopsy, research project and finally capture be mandatory to get reliable info AFTER this. This way you will not be able to reliably know when enemy would be in stun range, when they will bleed out or even if you have enough Time Units to down them this turn. Word description for status may work before autopsy with autopsy providing you an approximate range of their stats and research projects on corpses allowing to narrow those down. Even a small range of unknown variable may result in enemy that survives on bare minimum HP and if that's a sybilian, they(if they had proper AI) would take cover and heal. Or in case of mantis, they'd try to run to servitor to heal. But instead devs chose another approach, the approach of overbuffing enemies and nerfing player. "Here's new enemy, mantis, you'll encounter them on the first week. Here's another new enemy, andron, you'll also encounter them on the first week. Here's one more new enemy, gojira, you'll encounter them on the second week." And as for nerfing the player, they introduced more RNG. RNG that removes skill and tactics because I can't use those without reliable equipment. And of course it's only human equipment that is unreliable😅 Grenade launcher with those will 45° angle "misses" is just too unreliable to use. And you will agree with that the next time it does so when your guy is in partial cover and now your whole team is injured on a breach. No, it's NOT the same as rifle aim RNG. "Punish player for being good because we gave up on AI in a de facto remake of previous game that already worked this way" is a very questionable strategy in my eyes. Several episodes ago when I saw a guy die to a banzai charge of a mantis, I didn't know how to feel. Now I just question why devs gave up on the game. Different sprite with different HP/TU balance, but same AI doesn't feel like a new enemy:(
Aw, I was hoping to join the clean-up mission, being wanting to clean their clocks since the original base fell. Also point for stun batons: they don't need to be reloaded.
Ha, sorry about that. Like I said in the ep, it really just ended up coming down to Zarmal having a few more points in accuracy. :)
With stun batons, I think the big thing that kind of kills me with them now is that you have to get right up to point blank to use them and they still have an average 1-in-3 chance of whiffing. :P
when the commander asks what is your life worth. he does indeed mean in dollar bills
Ah, by the way, if you’re going to make the entire team skip their turn, you can right click on the “End Turn” button to skip the checks, as the tooltip says.
32:00 Moral of the story: always check the bodies. You never know what you might find. I'd also have dumped the grenade launcher, which is nearly useless indoors, and toted a looted rifle instead.
To be fair, we did still get some use out of the launcher once I realized the doorways were going to be an issue. And then once we got late into it, we went almost completely stungun anyway.
Though yeah, we probably would have gotten more use out of an MG or rifle overall. :)
The puns...they hurt my soul.
Love at the beginning. Open door. Bang bang. Close the door don’t want to let bugs inside. Also no mistakes, just opportunities to get better! Great mission.
I really like how you don't split up longer missions. Also, the turret death animation is quite something.
You make captures look so easy, my guys can't seem to hit anything with those tasers even when nose to nose with the target.
There is actually a status icon for a unit being suppressed.
So, no stats without research. Basic hurt/wounded/almost dead after autopsy. Detailed stats w/ autopsy & observation. Maybe another level for observation but no autopsy. Would have to determine what each research gave in that case, plus a synergy bonus for both.
Well actually they give you long range stunning weapons
Good to know, though not something that helps us much right now. :)
The newest patch notes talk about reducing enemy grenade spam, have you noticed that being the case in later episodes before the patch since you batch record?
Honestly, I don't think I've *ever* seen an enemy throw a grenade. :)
The Raiders have not encountered thrown grenades (if I recall correctly). I had been keeping an eye out for them due to a personal bet on a grenade being what would a Raider's first downfall. Closest we got was the floating drones in Milestone 3 timeline.
I abused stun grenades so much in Xeno 1, I think I'm the reason they took them out of Xeno 2. :)
Might have split into two teams to assault command room from left and right. Would have provided better visibility on targets in the rooms corners and targets in the center would be in crossfire with smaller chance of friendly fire.
I avoided going in on right because of the sentry gun aimed at that entrance. :)
@RetconRaider Understandable, but the sentry on the right was known and could have been neutralized with a shield at the door triggering it open and the sniper. Your strategy was good, but left you open to surprises in the upper left corner. But I understand the caution. Bad luck with RNG could decimate a squad in XCOM. And it's easier to be a back seat driver than an actual driver.
Hell yeah! loot!
Ayyy, new vid just as I finished another
30:00
Bro got cut in half.
Huh... I never expected this game to be turned into a kidnappers simulator... Although trading a psion for a new airplane sounds awesome to me...
Been a few days since we cleaned up the Cleaners. Haven't had the stomach for journal entries, but I think it's time. I'm glad the Commander put such a heavy focus on live capture rather than kills. Even if his reasoning for it was less about the ethics of ending human life than the economics of ransom. I'm not entirely certain I could actually take an alien life, let alone a human one. I know these are read thru by the base's psych staff, so I'd like it if this were considered a formal request to never be issued lethal weaponry. I like my stun pistol just fine. - Addi
Well good news I’m still alive
There's an advanced stun weapon research project later, when you don't really need to capture any more aliens. Your flashbangs get upgraded and you can eventually build accelerated stun pistols and rifles, all three I use, but due to their added EMP damage... helps with the robotic units! Especially with the alien version of the D&D Beholder you will get to meet later 🙂
I really like this game, believe they still need to add the "mind control" mechanics, honestly, I prefer the game without it! Didn't like it in X-COM, XCOM or Phoenix Point!
I agree, the Mind Control was a serious minus for me. It's a tactical game, there shouldn't be wild cards like that.
I modded my Xeno 1 to remove it. It's very easy to do. Assuming Xeno 2 follows the same format of putting all data in text files, it should be possible to mod it out of X 2 when they do put it in.
Hey Ret, love the content, are you ever going to finish Pathfinder? What happened?
I do want to get back to Pathfinder at some point. I actually *was* going to get Lord of Nothing going again last month, but ran into some bug issues with our previous saves so I had to put it on the back burner again while I got that resolved.
Overall, the really long series like Wrath and Kingmaker (and BG3 and Rogue Trader) is that the longer they run, the more they tend to struggle with viewer retention and sustainability.
While I never want to have to pause or cancel a series, especially when its a series I'm particularly invested in like Wrath, I do have to at least consider it when there are other potentially much more viable series to at least temporarily shift focus towards.
With Kingmaker, that series ended up being Wrath. With Wrath, it was Rogue Trader. I'd ultimately *like* to eventually go back and finish all three, but at this point I'm sort of working back through them in backwards order since RT is still the most viable of the three.
Great episode! Even if Reb was not at risk
👍👍
57:07 you request of an "indiation above head" is filled already. Look at the red arrow heading south, next to HP counter above the head ? That is your indication of supresss.
Oh, wow, I guess I just completely overlooked that. But good to know moving forward. :)
No ones dead yet very similar to hey watch this
I can't believe Xenonauts is interrupting my Lieat nostalgia search.
Cheesing the game and the (pretty bad) AI in the end 🤔 If it works, why not?
Though I tend to play "RP" myself, I off course don't expect other to do the same.
Thanks ❤
Honestly, it's a bit of a weird situation because the game is still under active development.
The latest patch notes mentioned earlier builds (like the one we're using) were too skimpy on funding and it caused unintended difficulty beyond the midpoint of the campaign.
So while I wouldn't normally resort to that sort of cheese (especially in a video), I ended up going for it here in anticipation of those future difficulties.
You spent several turns suspecting that enemy might flank you... and they only started moving when you entered their FOV again.
Here's the problem, the devs apparently can't do anything about biggest balancing factor of them all - AI. The smartest enemy we've ever seen was sybilian hiding behind an abductee tube and even then it was by accident. Current state of enemies borders on complete absense of AI, they can basically be just as effective by being RNG rolls on what they will do. Civilians running to hide inside downed UFO are just a commentary on the sad state of affairs.
In ideal scenario lack of 100% reliable information would make captures harder as well as make certains enemies(sybilians due to regeneration and mantis due to Time Units) very dangerous IF they had proper AI that matched their unique stats and case files. Make autopsy, research project and finally capture be mandatory to get reliable info AFTER this. This way you will not be able to reliably know when enemy would be in stun range, when they will bleed out or even if you have enough Time Units to down them this turn. Word description for status may work before autopsy with autopsy providing you an approximate range of their stats and research projects on corpses allowing to narrow those down. Even a small range of unknown variable may result in enemy that survives on bare minimum HP and if that's a sybilian, they(if they had proper AI) would take cover and heal. Or in case of mantis, they'd try to run to servitor to heal.
But instead devs chose another approach, the approach of overbuffing enemies and nerfing player. "Here's new enemy, mantis, you'll encounter them on the first week. Here's another new enemy, andron, you'll also encounter them on the first week. Here's one more new enemy, gojira, you'll encounter them on the second week."
And as for nerfing the player, they introduced more RNG. RNG that removes skill and tactics because I can't use those without reliable equipment. And of course it's only human equipment that is unreliable😅 Grenade launcher with those will 45° angle "misses" is just too unreliable to use. And you will agree with that the next time it does so when your guy is in partial cover and now your whole team is injured on a breach. No, it's NOT the same as rifle aim RNG.
"Punish player for being good because we gave up on AI in a de facto remake of previous game that already worked this way" is a very questionable strategy in my eyes.
Several episodes ago when I saw a guy die to a banzai charge of a mantis, I didn't know how to feel. Now I just question why devs gave up on the game. Different sprite with different HP/TU balance, but same AI doesn't feel like a new enemy:(
This game going to have bullshit mind control and psychic attacks from the original Xenonauts?
Psyons are supposed to be able to mind control with their Mesmerize ability if your soldier fails a Bravery check, but I've never actually seen it happen.
Mind control has been in every form of X-Com since the original, so I assume they'll have it here. Currently, you only get Mesmerized if you miss a Psyon, which just means the soldier can't do anything for the rest of the turn.
The mind control in Xeno 1 was simple enough to mod out. Xeno 1 was very mod-friendly, everything is in Text files. If they use the same format in X 2, it should be as easy to mod.
@@RetconRaider If you miss a Psyon with a shot, he'll Mesmerize the shooter, but all it does is freeze them for the rest of the turn.
They do and I can already predict that implementation would be made not in the smartest way possible:(
Ant no body doup as meeee....
You spent several turns suspecting that enemy might flank you... and they only started moving when you entered their FOV again.
Here's the problem, the devs apparently can't do anything about biggest balancing factor of them all - AI. The smartest enemy we've ever seen was sybilian hiding behind an abductee tube and even then it was by accident. Current state of enemies borders on complete absense of AI, they can basically be just as effective by being RNG rolls on what they will do. Civilians running to hide inside downed UFO are just a commentary on the sad state of affairs.
In ideal scenario lack of 100% reliable information would make captures harder as well as make certains enemies(sybilians due to regeneration and mantis due to Time Units) very dangerous IF they had proper AI that matched their unique stats and case files. Make autopsy, research project and finally capture be mandatory to get reliable info AFTER this. This way you will not be able to reliably know when enemy would be in stun range, when they will bleed out or even if you have enough Time Units to down them this turn. Word description for status may work before autopsy with autopsy providing you an approximate range of their stats and research projects on corpses allowing to narrow those down. Even a small range of unknown variable may result in enemy that survives on bare minimum HP and if that's a sybilian, they(if they had proper AI) would take cover and heal. Or in case of mantis, they'd try to run to servitor to heal.
But instead devs chose another approach, the approach of overbuffing enemies and nerfing player. "Here's new enemy, mantis, you'll encounter them on the first week. Here's another new enemy, andron, you'll also encounter them on the first week. Here's one more new enemy, gojira, you'll encounter them on the second week."
And as for nerfing the player, they introduced more RNG. RNG that removes skill and tactics because I can't use those without reliable equipment. And of course it's only human equipment that is unreliable😅 Grenade launcher with those will 45° angle "misses" is just too unreliable to use. And you will agree with that the next time it does so when your guy is in partial cover and now your whole team is injured on a breach. No, it's NOT the same as rifle aim RNG.
"Punish player for being good because we gave up on AI in a de facto remake of previous game that already worked this way" is a very questionable strategy in my eyes.
Several episodes ago when I saw a guy die to a banzai charge of a mantis, I didn't know how to feel. Now I just question why devs gave up on the game. Different sprite with different HP/TU balance, but same AI doesn't feel like a new enemy:(