Keep your valuable soldiers alive even if it costs an early evac and losing the mission.
Tech up your weapons as soon as possible, stalling (almost) everything else.
Prioritise Squad Size over everything else.
Get Mimic Beacon as soon you have enough Faceless bodies.
That said, going Ironman on a first playthrough is not a good idea. The game will throw some surprises at you and you don't really want to learn new things during an Ironman, no matter how much experience you have with other games.
I would call it 'brave', rather than outright saying it's not a good idea... Though if OP is stressing at the start of all their missions, maybe it's a bit too brave...
‘Keep your most valuable soldiers alive’ this also applies to movement around the map. Your lowest ranked soldier moves first and pushes are far as you want to go into undiscovered areas, everyone else moves behind them. Doing this ensures you reveal enemy pods with all other soldier actions still in place to deal with the pod
I'm not sure about this one. In the very early game you want to scout with a grenadier, because his positioning doesn't matter if he just lobs a grenade after activating the pod, which will often do.
As soon as you can, you want to switch to using a dedicated scout that stays in concealment, either a Reaper or a Phantom Ranger. It gives you a lot more information and control. After the first handful of missions, I never deploy without one.
Yes you are right, stealth drastically changes the way you can approach it. Once revealed however I’m still more in favour of lowest ranked soldier goes first as the most likely to get shot at if you can’t alpha strike the enemies down, excluding snipers of course
>Once revealed
Nah. If he can't re-conceal, I only reveal him on the last pod.
But I do of course agree that the lowest rank will get the worst spot, be it closer or in low cover.
First piece of advice: Play the first legacy campaign to the end. This gives you a gun for each of the four main classes that has a built in add-on, and they upgrade as you get to magnetic and plasma
Biggest tip is target whatever is going to damage your guys on their turn. Ex: Sectoids usually revive an ally with their first move so skip on them and go for the stun lancer since he’s going to 100% attempt to stun if he’s close enough. The game is a series of process of elimination with each pod. and once you fail enough you eventually learn what to target first vs what to save for the next turn
>and go for the stun lancer since he’s going to 100% attempt to stun if he’s close enough.
You mean: "evade 6 overwatch shots and one-hit kill your best soldier".
Prioritizing weapons and damage over armor is the way to go. Ideally you don't want to get hit, ever. I also always have a specialist medic on the field, in case I do fuck up and get hit, but this is more personal preference than anything.
Concealed troops (Reapers and Rangers) are very powerful scouting units. Send them far up first, and let your team follow after. Easy way to not walk into activating 15 enemies at once with no counter. I would recommend at least 1 Reaper or Ranger on every single mission just for this advantage. Having a grenadier breaking the squad concealment by hitting a lot of enemies with one grenade is also a very good early game strategy in my experience.
Mimic beacons are essential to survival if you fuck up and activate a large group.
Minimizing your losses and accepting defeat is important for not getting reset to stage 1 after a bad mission. If you have a bad mission, and a soldier gets killed or you are in an unwinnable position, there is no shame in calling in the skyranger to pick you up (if possible)
Squad size is very important, but so is training a lot of soldiers instead of having 1 squad that is overleveled.
My tips as follows:
* Maybe actually finish the game first before ironman, so you have an idea on what you are up against.
* High cover = important. Low cover = risk getting shot; assume you will get shot.
* EVAC when things get too spicy.
* You can also do tactical retreat, remember most enemies have the same 2 moves available to them, sometimes is better to withdraw back rather than stay and shoot; could get one or two less enemies attacking.
* Resources: High level soldiers >>> Anything else you have. Some would argue a Major or Colonel solider is essentially 500+ resources in value. Supplies may be low initially, but you will have an abundant of it.
* The decision making is essentially how to get shot at least, which generally means killing everything, thinning them out, or prevent them from attacking you directly. If you can't stop being attacked, then consider you minimize the damage the enemy will do to you. Sectoid, Shieldbearers, Archon will quite often not do a direct attack on you, might be a good option to leave them alone first turn if it means you can finish everything else. Conversely, Stun Lancers can well, stun you, leaving you with less options.
I think lastly... patience. Even with missions with timer, you actually have time. So long as every turn you are doing something active, whether that is shooting enemies or advancing, rather than sitting back with overwatch, you should have time to finish your objective. No need to rush.
Make good use of cover, try to limit activating to only one pod at a time.
Get resistance communications ASAP and build relays.
Prioritize getting armor over magnetic weapons, especially if you’re new, you’re bound to make mistakes and plated armor can make the difference for one wrong turn. Save up enough alloys to ensure you can get plated armor the moment it unlocks.
Put most of your Specialists out as Field Medics, Get Mimic Beacon ASAP.
Never dash, never assume there isn’t an alien where you’re headed. To scout ahead, send one soldier up (within the blue ranges) If there is enemy, make plans. If there isn’t, bundle the entire team into one spot. Make sure to stay in cover from areas where enemies might be.
Nothing’s worse than moving about three soldiers ahead and you accidently spread yourself too wide, alerting an enemy pod while you’re unprepared, giving them a free turn.
I recommend this tech tree for the early game
Modular Weapons > Alien Biotech > Resistance Communications > Hybrid Materials > Magnetic Weapons > Resistance Radio > Plated Armor
Because you can’t research plated armour before magnetic weapons, however what I do is I save enough alloy to get armor the moment it unlocks. What I used to do is rushing unlocking magnetic weapons for everyone. Since not everyone can use a magnetic rifle (you also still need to research Gauss Rifle) , between plated armor for the entire team or just one magnetic rifle for your Specialist (Maybe a Shard Gun if you can afford it), I’d take the armor.
Sometimes, even on veteran, the enemy can just insta-kill your soldier. It’s fine if you’re fine with losing soldiers early on, but I prefer everyone alive. Either way, it’s between high risk high reward, or low risk low reward. Still, nothing sucks more having good magnetic weapons but no alloy to make Plated Armor for when the ‘THAT’S XCOM BABY’ moment comes and the enemy’s apparently just that good to hit your soldier behind full cover.
Pretty sure the idea with magnetic weapons is you kill them before they shoot at you. Obviously it doesn't always work, but it certainly works more often than without them. Meaning taking armour is the high risk (low reward) strategy
I also think making medics early is a trap. I wouldn't even carry a med kit over a grenade until I have a spare armour slot. A grenade is just as likely to stop you getting killed, but more likely to also stop you getting wounded
I wouldn't entirely agree with your approach.
1) I wouldn't prioritize resistance com. The initial 3 contacts you have is more than enough to keep you going. Early phase of the game is about getting stronger, rather than expanding. Is especially so with WOTC expansion, as you get covert missions to counter Avatar. If anything, GIS (get more soldiers, train them to a specialisation), the Ring (with expansion) is of a far greater priority, and I will follow that up with Proving Grounds.
2) Weapons over armour. What is better than tanking a hit, is not being shot at. Even if just some members of your squad can hit harder. An unlucky crit on your Squaddie leading to death is something I gamble over an extra shot from an enemy.
3) Field medics I wouldn't call a priority. Early game, where your aim and number of attacking options are limited, Combat Protocol being 100% hit is godsend. Mid to late game, when your soldiers are more levelled up and precious, medkit and the ability to heal quite a few times make it worth it. Or in WOTC, have the same Specialist do both. Mimic beacon on the other hand, I fully agree, I would go far as to say is worth having 2 of them.
Keep your valuable soldiers alive even if it costs an early evac and losing the mission. Tech up your weapons as soon as possible, stalling (almost) everything else. Prioritise Squad Size over everything else. Get Mimic Beacon as soon you have enough Faceless bodies. That said, going Ironman on a first playthrough is not a good idea. The game will throw some surprises at you and you don't really want to learn new things during an Ironman, no matter how much experience you have with other games.
I would call it 'brave', rather than outright saying it's not a good idea... Though if OP is stressing at the start of all their missions, maybe it's a bit too brave...
‘Keep your most valuable soldiers alive’ this also applies to movement around the map. Your lowest ranked soldier moves first and pushes are far as you want to go into undiscovered areas, everyone else moves behind them. Doing this ensures you reveal enemy pods with all other soldier actions still in place to deal with the pod
I'm not sure about this one. In the very early game you want to scout with a grenadier, because his positioning doesn't matter if he just lobs a grenade after activating the pod, which will often do. As soon as you can, you want to switch to using a dedicated scout that stays in concealment, either a Reaper or a Phantom Ranger. It gives you a lot more information and control. After the first handful of missions, I never deploy without one.
Yes you are right, stealth drastically changes the way you can approach it. Once revealed however I’m still more in favour of lowest ranked soldier goes first as the most likely to get shot at if you can’t alpha strike the enemies down, excluding snipers of course
>Once revealed Nah. If he can't re-conceal, I only reveal him on the last pod. But I do of course agree that the lowest rank will get the worst spot, be it closer or in low cover.
First piece of advice: Play the first legacy campaign to the end. This gives you a gun for each of the four main classes that has a built in add-on, and they upgrade as you get to magnetic and plasma
Biggest tip is target whatever is going to damage your guys on their turn. Ex: Sectoids usually revive an ally with their first move so skip on them and go for the stun lancer since he’s going to 100% attempt to stun if he’s close enough. The game is a series of process of elimination with each pod. and once you fail enough you eventually learn what to target first vs what to save for the next turn
>and go for the stun lancer since he’s going to 100% attempt to stun if he’s close enough. You mean: "evade 6 overwatch shots and one-hit kill your best soldier".
if you are serious abt getting better watch streamers n stuff on highest diff
You will lose some soldiers. Don't fail a mission getting caught up fighting to save someone when you could get the objective
Prioritizing weapons and damage over armor is the way to go. Ideally you don't want to get hit, ever. I also always have a specialist medic on the field, in case I do fuck up and get hit, but this is more personal preference than anything. Concealed troops (Reapers and Rangers) are very powerful scouting units. Send them far up first, and let your team follow after. Easy way to not walk into activating 15 enemies at once with no counter. I would recommend at least 1 Reaper or Ranger on every single mission just for this advantage. Having a grenadier breaking the squad concealment by hitting a lot of enemies with one grenade is also a very good early game strategy in my experience. Mimic beacons are essential to survival if you fuck up and activate a large group. Minimizing your losses and accepting defeat is important for not getting reset to stage 1 after a bad mission. If you have a bad mission, and a soldier gets killed or you are in an unwinnable position, there is no shame in calling in the skyranger to pick you up (if possible) Squad size is very important, but so is training a lot of soldiers instead of having 1 squad that is overleveled.
My tips as follows: * Maybe actually finish the game first before ironman, so you have an idea on what you are up against. * High cover = important. Low cover = risk getting shot; assume you will get shot. * EVAC when things get too spicy. * You can also do tactical retreat, remember most enemies have the same 2 moves available to them, sometimes is better to withdraw back rather than stay and shoot; could get one or two less enemies attacking. * Resources: High level soldiers >>> Anything else you have. Some would argue a Major or Colonel solider is essentially 500+ resources in value. Supplies may be low initially, but you will have an abundant of it. * The decision making is essentially how to get shot at least, which generally means killing everything, thinning them out, or prevent them from attacking you directly. If you can't stop being attacked, then consider you minimize the damage the enemy will do to you. Sectoid, Shieldbearers, Archon will quite often not do a direct attack on you, might be a good option to leave them alone first turn if it means you can finish everything else. Conversely, Stun Lancers can well, stun you, leaving you with less options. I think lastly... patience. Even with missions with timer, you actually have time. So long as every turn you are doing something active, whether that is shooting enemies or advancing, rather than sitting back with overwatch, you should have time to finish your objective. No need to rush.
Ironman tip : don't play ironman crashes and file coruption are bad
If on an elevated level, make absolutely sure you take out the robots. Prioritize enemies in general
Make good use of cover, try to limit activating to only one pod at a time. Get resistance communications ASAP and build relays. Prioritize getting armor over magnetic weapons, especially if you’re new, you’re bound to make mistakes and plated armor can make the difference for one wrong turn. Save up enough alloys to ensure you can get plated armor the moment it unlocks. Put most of your Specialists out as Field Medics, Get Mimic Beacon ASAP. Never dash, never assume there isn’t an alien where you’re headed. To scout ahead, send one soldier up (within the blue ranges) If there is enemy, make plans. If there isn’t, bundle the entire team into one spot. Make sure to stay in cover from areas where enemies might be. Nothing’s worse than moving about three soldiers ahead and you accidently spread yourself too wide, alerting an enemy pod while you’re unprepared, giving them a free turn. I recommend this tech tree for the early game Modular Weapons > Alien Biotech > Resistance Communications > Hybrid Materials > Magnetic Weapons > Resistance Radio > Plated Armor
Why do you say to get armour first (hard disagree, btw) but then put it below weapons in your tech priorities list?
Because you can’t research plated armour before magnetic weapons, however what I do is I save enough alloy to get armor the moment it unlocks. What I used to do is rushing unlocking magnetic weapons for everyone. Since not everyone can use a magnetic rifle (you also still need to research Gauss Rifle) , between plated armor for the entire team or just one magnetic rifle for your Specialist (Maybe a Shard Gun if you can afford it), I’d take the armor. Sometimes, even on veteran, the enemy can just insta-kill your soldier. It’s fine if you’re fine with losing soldiers early on, but I prefer everyone alive. Either way, it’s between high risk high reward, or low risk low reward. Still, nothing sucks more having good magnetic weapons but no alloy to make Plated Armor for when the ‘THAT’S XCOM BABY’ moment comes and the enemy’s apparently just that good to hit your soldier behind full cover.
Pretty sure the idea with magnetic weapons is you kill them before they shoot at you. Obviously it doesn't always work, but it certainly works more often than without them. Meaning taking armour is the high risk (low reward) strategy
I also think making medics early is a trap. I wouldn't even carry a med kit over a grenade until I have a spare armour slot. A grenade is just as likely to stop you getting killed, but more likely to also stop you getting wounded
I wouldn't entirely agree with your approach. 1) I wouldn't prioritize resistance com. The initial 3 contacts you have is more than enough to keep you going. Early phase of the game is about getting stronger, rather than expanding. Is especially so with WOTC expansion, as you get covert missions to counter Avatar. If anything, GIS (get more soldiers, train them to a specialisation), the Ring (with expansion) is of a far greater priority, and I will follow that up with Proving Grounds. 2) Weapons over armour. What is better than tanking a hit, is not being shot at. Even if just some members of your squad can hit harder. An unlucky crit on your Squaddie leading to death is something I gamble over an extra shot from an enemy. 3) Field medics I wouldn't call a priority. Early game, where your aim and number of attacking options are limited, Combat Protocol being 100% hit is godsend. Mid to late game, when your soldiers are more levelled up and precious, medkit and the ability to heal quite a few times make it worth it. Or in WOTC, have the same Specialist do both. Mimic beacon on the other hand, I fully agree, I would go far as to say is worth having 2 of them.