UFOpaedia - User contributions [en]

User:Captain Foo

2008-09-25T08:04:36Z

Captain Foo:

I'm a bit busy with other things right now, so I'll be taking a break from playing X-COM for the most part. However I still enjoy talking and writing about the game occasionally.

Stuff I'm working on:
* [[Defending_Mega_Primus_from_Evil_Space_Aliens%2C_a_Beginner%27s_Guide]]

=An X-Com 3 Beginner's Log: assorted observations and trivia within=
I'm going to organize my ideas a bit here before moving them to the main wiki...

==Week 1==
===Day 1===
*Your initial base layout will be randomized, and you can get one of several starting bases. It's a good idea to restart the game a few times to see what you can get, though this can get a rather annoying. The main annoyance with this method is that the game places all the buildings randomly, so it's quite common to get a layout that will a pain to defend later. Sometimes you do get lucky with good placement and a properly situated repair bay though. Of course, you can in theory do a few stun raids here to get some funds to pay for a renovation if you don't mind cheating a bit.

*The minute you start, there will already be an alien infiltration in your city. The question is whether you want to save and reload and cheat to find them, or wait for an alien sighting. If you wait for a sighting, you should also watch the graphs and be prepared to investigate neighboring buildings as the alien infection will probably have spread a bit by the time an alien is spotted.

*[[Hoverbike_(Apocalypse)|Hoverbikes]]! Nothing beats hoverbikes! Buy some hoverbikes and sell your ground vehicles, which aren't of much use early on.

*Other trivia: There's a few decent initial bases in Novice, some really bad ones in Easy, and some hard to defend but large rectangular ones in Medium. The S-shaped building in Superhuman also looks nice.

====Agents====
*Your starting agent setup is less than ideal to say the least. Actually it's awful. The guy with the Mind Bender needs a new weapon immediately, as do the units equipped law pistols and stun grapples.

*You should immediately hire an android, and perhaps a mutant for psionic attacks.

=====Agent Equipment=====
*Sending a lone android in for the first encounter is probably a safe bet since you'll mostly be facing Arthropods with mindsucker launchers. I like to equip him with a machine gun, a sniper rifle, two clips of ammo for each gun, four gas grenades and two high explosive grenades. A motion scanner and a medikit round things out.

*56 seems to be the average speed of agents after loaded with equipment for some reason.

====Scientists====
*Immediately assign them to research. The game really should do this for you. If you see any particularly skilled ones, go ahead and hire them now. You don't pay salaries until the end of the week, so you can wait til Saturday to fire people (unconfirmed however).

===Day 2===

*Week 1 is quite easy. All you need is a fleet of hoverbikes with laser cannons (cheapest way to take down UFO since lasers require no ammo), and an android soldier for brainsucker immunity.
*The hardest part is probably getting your system set up. Your troops, but mainly your base will probably need to be reconfigured slightly. You will want to decide where you want to keep your aircraft hanger and will need to make room for security stations around that hangar and at the base entrance.
*Don't do what I did and try to use the APC. While it is nice and large, it can't get to UFO crash sites, which makes it of limited value.
*Ditto with the Stormdog or other road combat vehicles. If the road gets blown up under your vehicle, you lose it. If the road gets blown up in front of your vehicle, it gets stuck and can't move. However if you are inclined to experiment, you can install the Roadwar mod which makes roads invulnerable. It also seems to make air vehicles more expensive however, which is a bit of a disappointment.

==Week 2==
*Valkyrie or better is essential for UFO captures. Roger Wong's guide does recommend selling the Valkyries to buy Hovercars. If you feel you can capture Transporters with just 4 troops, this can work. But you'll need that Valkyrie for anything bigger. Also there's the problem of the Hovercar only having room for either a cargo hold or a bio-transport module.
*Stun raids are fun. But watch the tactical points. Too many points and aliens will bring vortex mines and shields to the party. Vortex mines are not fun. :(
*You can actually pick up and drop off troops from other bases with your vehicles. In fact, you can even station troops at a base that they do not live at. So you do have some extra flexibility with where you put your living quarters this way. Where do your troops sleep and shower if their barracks are halfway across town? Who knows? Maybe androids don't need to sleep or shower anyway.

==Week 3==
===Sunday===

*I am finding disruptor guns when I raid Diablo's slums now. Weird. It's not like they have been infiltrated by aliens. Where are they getting them? Anyway, my tactical score is about to hit 5000 soon. I hope those extra labs get online soon. Six bio labs now, but not one of them is large enough to research Toxiguns yet. Two more physics labs came online today, which is good. Mixing physicists and scientists is confusing. I am wondering when I will get to build large physics labs too.

====Base Setup====
*Base organization is a huge deal. Having mixed bio and physics labs and engineers in the same base makes life more confusing.
:*Transferring stuff around is a annoying too.
:*However establishing separate bases for bio, physics and engineering requires a ton of money. Thank goodness for stun raids even if it is cheating.

====Troops====
*To misquote GI Joe: Organization is half the battle. Setting up your soldiers with enough weapons, especially grenades can be a pain in the neck with a large squad.
:*I currently have 12 Soldiers in 3 squads of 4. This might be a bit much. Maybe 3 squads of 3 or 2 squads of 4 is sufficient.
::*More soldiers means more micromanagement. :(
*Current troop setup:
:*4 Androids as shock troops. 2 Plasma Guns each. 4 Stun grenades, 2 HE grenades, 1 medikit. They can take more hits, and they like [[brainsucker sushi]], so they go in first.
:*4 Humans as regular troops. Same gear as the androids. I could go with HE autocannons or something more interesting, but that would require too much micro.
:*4 Humans as snipers. Dual wielding Laser Sniper Rifles seems like a good way to go. With aimed or snap shot, they should still have good accuracy and a decent fire rate from dual wielding.
:Marsec armor for all the troops. I tried skimping on the [[medikits]] to save on some weight. But the extra micro isn't really worth it. Having to play pass the [[medkit]] when someone gets wounded is a bad idea when they are bleeding badly. Plasma guns are great though. Great accuracy, good damage, dual wieldable with no penalty. What's not to like? Lack of ammo. Thank goodness for stun raids. If you don't want to cheat, I guess you could raid CoS, maybe in turn-based so they don't blow you up with rockets and grenades so quickly. I guess it would be fun to bankrupt them anyway. :)

====Vehicles====
*[[Hoverbikes]] are still fairly effective, but more bikes means more micromanagement. :( It's probably time to upgrade to [[hovercars]] soon. They are almost as fast as hoverbikes with upgraded engines. I could also go with [[Hawk Air Warriors]], but they are even more expensive.
*The maximum number of vehicles you can put in a group is 13. Why 13? Who knows? But not being able to set up persistent groups for your vehicles makes managing hoverbikes a lot of work. Sure, I could send 39 odd hoverbikes into battle, but not if the game requires me to click 39 times every time some UFOs show up. What ever happened to click and drag and square to select your forces? Or Ctrl 1-9?
*Running into problems with tougher UFOs now. Switching from Laser Cannons to Plasma. Thank goodness for stun raids for those elerium pods. I could use Janitor missiles, but they are rather expensive. Using Janitor missiles against Type 1 and 2 UFOs seems like a waste though.

--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 10:26, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----
===Monday===
====12:00pm====
*Just downed a rather large attack wave and captured the first alien assault ship. Current tactical points are about 5400 and total points over 111000. I kinda wish I had heard NKF's advice regarding stun raids sooner. However, I'd picked up a shiny power sword in my last major stun raid and didn't feel like giving it up.
*Things are getting interesting with the latest assault ship I stormed. Tactically it was a piece of cake, since doing a quick perimeter sweep and camping outside the front door with plasma guns and laser snipers works amazingly well. NFK's advice was useful here too. [[Dual-wield]] seems to work best on slow firing weapons. Four snipers with two rifles each can lay down a very nice volume of fire and when lying down, their shots are still quite accurate.
*The aliens are bringing more interesting toys. Devastator cannons, gas grenades and something nasty that causes big purple explosions. Hanging out in the elevator of the assault ship is a bad idea in general. Camping outside is probably best. Actually, there are two Chrysalises in the Assault Ship, but they seem to be auto-captured once you kill everyone else.
*Aliens always seem to appear in groups of 5, at least in Novice mode. Maybe they send more in superhuman.
*They vary the attack waves quite a bit. Last turn it was a transporter and a handful of scouts, then two assault ships and three fast attack ships, and then this turn an assault ship, a transporter and three scouts. Weird since I'd expect their forces to steady escalate, especially since I am racking up more points with each wave.

*Laser and plasma weapons are particularly useful when dealing with [[poppers]], since they do not detonate the popper when killing it.
*I saw my first pair of skeletoids. At least that's what I think they are. Yellow guys that jump around. A perimeter sweep around the far side of the assault ship was a good idea, since they were already on their way out. Nothing like getting ambushed from behind while you are camping to ruin your day.
*There appears to be only one exit for the assault ship, which makes things very convenient for you since you only have one exit to cover.
*I standardized on Plasma Guns and Laser Snipers. I suppose I could add autocannons to the mix, but I'm not convinced about the usefulness of using explosive ammo. It does kill headsuckers better, but they are hardly the most serious threat at this point. Also, explosions tend to destroy equipment, and while I'm not sure about the particulars, I prefer to capture stuff intact and research it at this point. Perhaps when everything is researched, I can safely use huge explosions to wipe out the enemy instead. I sure would like something to punch a hole in one of the UFOs the next time I need to storm it. Beats using the front door in general.

*Ship to ship combat is getting rather tricky. I think reloading plasma weapons for 14 hoverbikes cost something like 1400 elerium. I'll have to check the numbers again. I'm considering just using 20-25 hoverbikes with janitor missiles to get the job done instead. Maybe add some hovercars to the mix. Either way, I'll need more cash, so it's time to raid for psiclone again.
*I wonder if I should leave the other four UFOs alone and let the aliens do whatever they do when they disappear. I'm paranoid they'll leave the ship and infiltrate the surrounding buildings, but I'm pretty sure they just vanish or go home. I think I do need to keep my score down a bit, and I don't really need another assault ship for now. The loot would be handy, but I think I already have all the tech. Capturing a live skeletoid would be handy, but on the other hand, I probably have a bunch of stuff to research as it is. I can't wait for Toxiguns though.

*The plantation slum map is probably the quickest map for grabbing psiclone. There's only four, but the handy thing is that you can get them all easily. Go the second floor first. While enemies do spawn there, there is only one way out, so you can just stun them all and grab the psiclone if someone has picked it up. Afterwards, you can get the psiclone in the two sheds. Enemies occasionally spawn near the SW shed, but usually only one or two and he doesn't wander too far.
*The plantation map is the 05 series in the slum folder. Here's the other maps I have tested so far:
01: Central Elevator
02: Bridge
03: Grasslands
04: U Shaped Building
05: Plantation

Hmm, I am not sure what to do about extra aliens in alien containment. I wish the game would just auto-destroy them when it's clear that you no longer need them? Can some aliens be researched twice, or can you dump them once they've been crossed off on your research list?
--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 19:49, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----

====12:15pm====
Amazing how much can happen in 15 minutes of game time.

*Camping out at the front of the assault ship works, but aliens managed to get out of the ship somehow. I guess it was because something kicked up a smoke cloud in front of the exit. I tried using a stun grenade to dispel it. I wonder exactly how much smoke or stun gas cuts down visibility exactly. Anyway, a pair of skeletoids charged me and got taken down promptly.

Also, a pair of poppers and a brainsucker somehow escaped, perhaps their morale broke and were trying to flee. The AI is still pretty limited, but it has interesting features like that. They snuck out and tried to get away from the back rather than charging headlong into my ambush. But then the poppers charged when they saw me. Strange. Aliens also retreat when they get wounded or are under heavy fire. Too bad they're not smart enough to avoid winding up under heavy fire in the first place.

*Sniper rifles are okay, but I can't wait until I can swap them out for dual devastator cannons. The cannons are 20% less accurate, but they hit a lot harder. Perhaps toxiguns would work too.

=====Base Management=====
*If you are setting up research bases, you will notice that each [[Living Quarters]] always houses 10 units and that each lab can support five or ten scientists in the case of advanced structures. The typical research base will probably have four small labs and one large lab, which is probably the maximum amount the game will let you have. That's a total of 30 scientists and they will completely fill three Living Quarters. So if you want to station a few soldiers at each research base (you need at least one, or you automatically lose a base defense mission), then you should keep all your soldiers at one base, and send a few over the your research base. I'm not sure exactly how training works in this situation. Maybe the soldier can using the training facility at the home base, or perhaps you'll need to build training facilities at the research base if you want you troops to be able to train while guarding the base. In any case, you can send your androids off to perform guard duty. They're more durable anyway, which is good if you need a base defender, and you can send them off on solo psiclone stun raids which means won't have to fiddle with equipment setups on your main troops, unless you want to use stun raids to boost your stats, but that's another story.

=====Air Battles=====
*Hoverbike strategy is getting more complex. I'd really like to be able to assign fixed squadrons. Also, micromanaging seems to yield some improved results. You can reduce casualties by pausing at the right moments and having your bikes and surround the aliens.

*Friendly fire seems to be a big issue with hoverbikes. At least with the [[Bolter lasers]]. The bikes in front tend to get shot by their comrades behind them. Rather embarrassing really. I guess the solution is to split your forces up and attack from multiple directions. If you really wanted to go nuts on micro, you could even have parts of the same attack squadron fight from different altitudes. Impractical unless the game helped you manage this though.

*Disruptors do not fit on hoverbikes, hovercars or Valkyries. I wonder what the optimal loadout for the hoverbikes are. Perhaps the Lineage Plasma Cannon, if you can afford the elerium.

*I wonder if upgrading hoverbike engines is worth the trouble and expense considering you'll lose some anyway.

*Perhaps it's better to save the big plasma cannons for hovercars, preferrably shielded hovercars. There are never enough plasma cannons for sale, and the hoverbikes often get killed in one shot if they get hit.

=To Cheat, or not to Cheat...=
To Cheat, or not to Cheat, that is the Question: 
Whether 'tis Nobler in the minde to suffer 
The Slings and Arrowes of outragious Fortune, 
Or to take up Questionable Tactics against a Sea of Hostile Boomeroid-chucking Alien Hordes, 
And by Cheating end them: to Play, to Cheat 
No more; and by Cheat, to say we end 
The Heart-ache, and the thousand Naturall shockes 
That X-COM: Apocalypse is heir too? 

The original words have been crassly abducted from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_be,_or_not_to_be Hamlet's Soliloquy].

User:Captain Foo

2008-09-25T06:36:10Z

Captain Foo:

I'm a bit busy with other things right now, so I'll be taking a break from playing X-COM for the most part.

Stuff I'm working on:
* [[Defending_Mega_Primus_from_Evil_Space_Aliens%2C_a_Beginner%27s_Guide]]

=An X-Com 3 Beginner's Log: assorted observations and trivia within=
I'm going to organize my ideas a bit here before moving them to the main wiki...

==Week 1==
===Day 1===
*Your initial base layout will be randomized, and you can get one of several starting bases. It's a good idea to restart the game a few times to see what you can get, though this can get a rather annoying. The main annoyance with this method is that the game places all the buildings randomly, so it's quite common to get a layout that will a pain to defend later. Sometimes you do get lucky with good placement and a properly situated repair bay though. Of course, you can in theory do a few stun raids here to get some funds to pay for a renovation if you don't mind cheating a bit.

*The minute you start, there will already be an alien infiltration in your city. The question is whether you want to save and reload and cheat to find them, or wait for an alien sighting. If you wait for a sighting, you should also watch the graphs and be prepared to investigate neighboring buildings as the alien infection will probably have spread a bit by the time an alien is spotted.

*[[Hoverbike_(Apocalypse)|Hoverbikes]]! Nothing beats hoverbikes! Buy some hoverbikes and sell your ground vehicles, which aren't of much use early on.

*Other trivia: There's a few decent initial bases in Novice, some really bad ones in Easy, and some hard to defend but large rectangular ones in Medium. The S-shaped building in Superhuman also looks nice.

====Agents====
*Your starting agent setup is less than ideal to say the least. Actually it's awful. The guy with the Mind Bender needs a new weapon immediately, as do the units equipped law pistols and stun grapples.

*You should immediately hire an android, and perhaps a mutant for psionic attacks.

=====Agent Equipment=====
*Sending a lone android in for the first encounter is probably a safe bet since you'll mostly be facing Arthropods with mindsucker launchers. I like to equip him with a machine gun, a sniper rifle, two clips of ammo for each gun, four gas grenades and two high explosive grenades. A motion scanner and a medikit round things out.

*56 seems to be the average speed of agents after loaded with equipment for some reason.

====Scientists====
*Immediately assign them to research. The game really should do this for you. If you see any particularly skilled ones, go ahead and hire them now. You don't pay salaries until the end of the week, so you can wait til Saturday to fire people (unconfirmed however).

===Day 2===

*Week 1 is quite easy. All you need is a fleet of hoverbikes with laser cannons (cheapest way to take down UFO since lasers require no ammo), and an android soldier for brainsucker immunity.
*The hardest part is probably getting your system set up. Your troops, but mainly your base will probably need to be reconfigured slightly. You will want to decide where you want to keep your aircraft hanger and will need to make room for security stations around that hangar and at the base entrance.
*Don't do what I did and try to use the APC. While it is nice and large, it can't get to UFO crash sites, which makes it of limited value.
*Ditto with the Stormdog or other road combat vehicles. If the road gets blown up under your vehicle, you lose it. If the road gets blown up in front of your vehicle, it gets stuck and can't move. However if you are inclined to experiment, you can install the Roadwar mod which makes roads invulnerable. It also seems to make air vehicles more expensive however, which is a bit of a disappointment.

==Week 2==
*Valkyrie or better is essential for UFO captures. Roger Wong's guide does recommend selling the Valkyries to buy Hovercars. If you feel you can capture Transporters with just 4 troops, this can work. But you'll need that Valkyrie for anything bigger. Also there's the problem of the Hovercar only having room for either a cargo hold or a bio-transport module.
*Stun raids are fun. But watch the tactical points. Too many points and aliens will bring vortex mines and shields to the party. Vortex mines are not fun. :(
*You can actually pick up and drop off troops from other bases with your vehicles. In fact, you can even station troops at a base that they do not live at. So you do have some extra flexibility with where you put your living quarters this way. Where do your troops sleep and shower if their barracks are halfway across town? Who knows? Maybe androids don't need to sleep or shower anyway.

==Week 3==
===Sunday===

*I am finding disruptor guns when I raid Diablo's slums now. Weird. It's not like they have been infiltrated by aliens. Where are they getting them? Anyway, my tactical score is about to hit 5000 soon. I hope those extra labs get online soon. Six bio labs now, but not one of them is large enough to research Toxiguns yet. Two more physics labs came online today, which is good. Mixing physicists and scientists is confusing. I am wondering when I will get to build large physics labs too.

====Base Setup====
*Base organization is a huge deal. Having mixed bio and physics labs and engineers in the same base makes life more confusing.
:*Transferring stuff around is a annoying too.
:*However establishing separate bases for bio, physics and engineering requires a ton of money. Thank goodness for stun raids even if it is cheating.

====Troops====
*To misquote GI Joe: Organization is half the battle. Setting up your soldiers with enough weapons, especially grenades can be a pain in the neck with a large squad.
:*I currently have 12 Soldiers in 3 squads of 4. This might be a bit much. Maybe 3 squads of 3 or 2 squads of 4 is sufficient.
::*More soldiers means more micromanagement. :(
*Current troop setup:
:*4 Androids as shock troops. 2 Plasma Guns each. 4 Stun grenades, 2 HE grenades, 1 medikit. They can take more hits, and they like [[brainsucker sushi]], so they go in first.
:*4 Humans as regular troops. Same gear as the androids. I could go with HE autocannons or something more interesting, but that would require too much micro.
:*4 Humans as snipers. Dual wielding Laser Sniper Rifles seems like a good way to go. With aimed or snap shot, they should still have good accuracy and a decent fire rate from dual wielding.
:Marsec armor for all the troops. I tried skimping on the [[medikits]] to save on some weight. But the extra micro isn't really worth it. Having to play pass the [[medkit]] when someone gets wounded is a bad idea when they are bleeding badly. Plasma guns are great though. Great accuracy, good damage, dual wieldable with no penalty. What's not to like? Lack of ammo. Thank goodness for stun raids. If you don't want to cheat, I guess you could raid CoS, maybe in turn-based so they don't blow you up with rockets and grenades so quickly. I guess it would be fun to bankrupt them anyway. :)

====Vehicles====
*[[Hoverbikes]] are still fairly effective, but more bikes means more micromanagement. :( It's probably time to upgrade to [[hovercars]] soon. They are almost as fast as hoverbikes with upgraded engines. I could also go with [[Hawk Air Warriors]], but they are even more expensive.
*The maximum number of vehicles you can put in a group is 13. Why 13? Who knows? But not being able to set up persistent groups for your vehicles makes managing hoverbikes a lot of work. Sure, I could send 39 odd hoverbikes into battle, but not if the game requires me to click 39 times every time some UFOs show up. What ever happened to click and drag and square to select your forces? Or Ctrl 1-9?
*Running into problems with tougher UFOs now. Switching from Laser Cannons to Plasma. Thank goodness for stun raids for those elerium pods. I could use Janitor missiles, but they are rather expensive. Using Janitor missiles against Type 1 and 2 UFOs seems like a waste though.

--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 10:26, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----
===Monday===
====12:00pm====
*Just downed a rather large attack wave and captured the first alien assault ship. Current tactical points are about 5400 and total points over 111000. I kinda wish I had heard NKF's advice regarding stun raids sooner. However, I'd picked up a shiny power sword in my last major stun raid and didn't feel like giving it up.
*Things are getting interesting with the latest assault ship I stormed. Tactically it was a piece of cake, since doing a quick perimeter sweep and camping outside the front door with plasma guns and laser snipers works amazingly well. NFK's advice was useful here too. [[Dual-wield]] seems to work best on slow firing weapons. Four snipers with two rifles each can lay down a very nice volume of fire and when lying down, their shots are still quite accurate.
*The aliens are bringing more interesting toys. Devastator cannons, gas grenades and something nasty that causes big purple explosions. Hanging out in the elevator of the assault ship is a bad idea in general. Camping outside is probably best. Actually, there are two Chrysalises in the Assault Ship, but they seem to be auto-captured once you kill everyone else.
*Aliens always seem to appear in groups of 5, at least in Novice mode. Maybe they send more in superhuman.
*They vary the attack waves quite a bit. Last turn it was a transporter and a handful of scouts, then two assault ships and three fast attack ships, and then this turn an assault ship, a transporter and three scouts. Weird since I'd expect their forces to steady escalate, especially since I am racking up more points with each wave.

*Laser and plasma weapons are particularly useful when dealing with [[poppers]], since they do not detonate the popper when killing it.
*I saw my first pair of skeletoids. At least that's what I think they are. Yellow guys that jump around. A perimeter sweep around the far side of the assault ship was a good idea, since they were already on their way out. Nothing like getting ambushed from behind while you are camping to ruin your day.
*There appears to be only one exit for the assault ship, which makes things very convenient for you since you only have one exit to cover.
*I standardized on Plasma Guns and Laser Snipers. I suppose I could add autocannons to the mix, but I'm not convinced about the usefulness of using explosive ammo. It does kill headsuckers better, but they are hardly the most serious threat at this point. Also, explosions tend to destroy equipment, and while I'm not sure about the particulars, I prefer to capture stuff intact and research it at this point. Perhaps when everything is researched, I can safely use huge explosions to wipe out the enemy instead. I sure would like something to punch a hole in one of the UFOs the next time I need to storm it. Beats using the front door in general.

*Ship to ship combat is getting rather tricky. I think reloading plasma weapons for 14 hoverbikes cost something like 1400 elerium. I'll have to check the numbers again. I'm considering just using 20-25 hoverbikes with janitor missiles to get the job done instead. Maybe add some hovercars to the mix. Either way, I'll need more cash, so it's time to raid for psiclone again.
*I wonder if I should leave the other four UFOs alone and let the aliens do whatever they do when they disappear. I'm paranoid they'll leave the ship and infiltrate the surrounding buildings, but I'm pretty sure they just vanish or go home. I think I do need to keep my score down a bit, and I don't really need another assault ship for now. The loot would be handy, but I think I already have all the tech. Capturing a live skeletoid would be handy, but on the other hand, I probably have a bunch of stuff to research as it is. I can't wait for Toxiguns though.

*The plantation slum map is probably the quickest map for grabbing psiclone. There's only four, but the handy thing is that you can get them all easily. Go the second floor first. While enemies do spawn there, there is only one way out, so you can just stun them all and grab the psiclone if someone has picked it up. Afterwards, you can get the psiclone in the two sheds. Enemies occasionally spawn near the SW shed, but usually only one or two and he doesn't wander too far.
*The plantation map is the 05 series in the slum folder. Here's the other maps I have tested so far:
01: Central Elevator
02: Bridge
03: Grasslands
04: U Shaped Building
05: Plantation

Hmm, I am not sure what to do about extra aliens in alien containment. I wish the game would just auto-destroy them when it's clear that you no longer need them? Can some aliens be researched twice, or can you dump them once they've been crossed off on your research list?
--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 19:49, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----

====12:15pm====
Amazing how much can happen in 15 minutes of game time.

*Camping out at the front of the assault ship works, but aliens managed to get out of the ship somehow. I guess it was because something kicked up a smoke cloud in front of the exit. I tried using a stun grenade to dispel it. I wonder exactly how much smoke or stun gas cuts down visibility exactly. Anyway, a pair of skeletoids charged me and got taken down promptly.

Also, a pair of poppers and a brainsucker somehow escaped, perhaps their morale broke and were trying to flee. The AI is still pretty limited, but it has interesting features like that. They snuck out and tried to get away from the back rather than charging headlong into my ambush. But then the poppers charged when they saw me. Strange. Aliens also retreat when they get wounded or are under heavy fire. Too bad they're not smart enough to avoid winding up under heavy fire in the first place.

*Sniper rifles are okay, but I can't wait until I can swap them out for dual devastator cannons. The cannons are 20% less accurate, but they hit a lot harder. Perhaps toxiguns would work too.

=====Base Management=====
*If you are setting up research bases, you will notice that each [[Living Quarters]] always houses 10 units and that each lab can support five or ten scientists in the case of advanced structures. The typical research base will probably have four small labs and one large lab, which is probably the maximum amount the game will let you have. That's a total of 30 scientists and they will completely fill three Living Quarters. So if you want to station a few soldiers at each research base (you need at least one, or you automatically lose a base defense mission), then you should keep all your soldiers at one base, and send a few over the your research base. I'm not sure exactly how training works in this situation. Maybe the soldier can using the training facility at the home base, or perhaps you'll need to build training facilities at the research base if you want you troops to be able to train while guarding the base. In any case, you can send your androids off to perform guard duty. They're more durable anyway, which is good if you need a base defender, and you can send them off on solo psiclone stun raids which means won't have to fiddle with equipment setups on your main troops, unless you want to use stun raids to boost your stats, but that's another story.

=====Air Battles=====
*Hoverbike strategy is getting more complex. I'd really like to be able to assign fixed squadrons. Also, micromanaging seems to yield some improved results. You can reduce casualties by pausing at the right moments and having your bikes and surround the aliens.

*Friendly fire seems to be a big issue with hoverbikes. At least with the [[Bolter lasers]]. The bikes in front tend to get shot by their comrades behind them. Rather embarrassing really. I guess the solution is to split your forces up and attack from multiple directions. If you really wanted to go nuts on micro, you could even have parts of the same attack squadron fight from different altitudes. Impractical unless the game helped you manage this though.

*Disruptors do not fit on hoverbikes, hovercars or Valkyries. I wonder what the optimal loadout for the hoverbikes are. Perhaps the Lineage Plasma Cannon, if you can afford the elerium.

*I wonder if upgrading hoverbike engines is worth the trouble and expense considering you'll lose some anyway.

*Perhaps it's better to save the big plasma cannons for hovercars, preferrably shielded hovercars. There are never enough plasma cannons for sale, and the hoverbikes often get killed in one shot if they get hit.

=To Cheat, or not to Cheat...=
To Cheat, or not to Cheat, that is the Question: 
Whether 'tis Nobler in the minde to suffer 
The Slings and Arrowes of outragious Fortune, 
Or to take up Questionable Tactics against a Sea of Hostile Boomeroid-chucking Alien Hordes, 
And by Cheating end them: to Play, to Cheat 
No more; and by Cheat, to say we end 
The Heart-ache, and the thousand Naturall shockes 
That X-COM: Apocalypse is heir too? 

The original words have been crassly abducted from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_be,_or_not_to_be Hamlet's Soliloquy].

User:Captain Foo

2008-09-04T04:42:12Z

Captain Foo: /* Agents */

Stuff I'm working on:
* [[Defending_Mega_Primus_from_Evil_Space_Aliens%2C_a_Beginner%27s_Guide]]

=An X-Com 3 Beginner's Log: assorted observations and trivia within=
I'm going to organize my ideas a bit here before moving them to the main wiki...

==Week 1==
===Day 1===
*Your initial base layout will be randomized, and you can get one of several starting bases. It's a good idea to restart the game a few times to see what you can get, though this can get a rather annoying. The main annoyance with this method is that the game places all the buildings randomly, so it's quite common to get a layout that will a pain to defend later. Sometimes you do get lucky with good placement and a properly situated repair bay though. Of course, you can in theory do a few stun raids here to get some funds to pay for a renovation if you don't mind cheating a bit.

*The minute you start, there will already be an alien infiltration in your city. The question is whether you want to save and reload and cheat to find them, or wait for an alien sighting. If you wait for a sighting, you should also watch the graphs and be prepared to investigate neighboring buildings as the alien infection will probably have spread a bit by the time an alien is spotted.

*[[Hoverbike_(Apocalypse)|Hoverbikes]]! Nothing beats hoverbikes! Buy some hoverbikes and sell your ground vehicles, which aren't of much use early on.

*Other trivia: There's a few decent initial bases in Novice, some really bad ones in Easy, and some hard to defend but large rectangular ones in Medium. The S-shaped building in Superhuman also looks nice.

====Agents====
*Your starting agent setup is less than ideal to say the least. Actually it's awful. The guy with the Mind Bender needs a new weapon immediately, as do the units equipped law pistols and stun grapples.

*You should immediately hire an android, and perhaps a mutant for psionic attacks.

=====Agent Equipment=====
*Sending a lone android in for the first encounter is probably a safe bet since you'll mostly be facing Arthropods with mindsucker launchers. I like to equip him with a machine gun, a sniper rifle, two clips of ammo for each gun, four gas grenades and two high explosive grenades. A motion scanner and a medikit round things out.

*56 seems to be the average speed of agents after loaded with equipment for some reason.

====Scientists====
*Immediately assign them to research. The game really should do this for you. If you see any particularly skilled ones, go ahead and hire them now. You don't pay salaries until the end of the week, so you can wait til Saturday to fire people (unconfirmed however).

===Day 2===

*Week 1 is quite easy. All you need is a fleet of hoverbikes with laser cannons (cheapest way to take down UFO since lasers require no ammo), and an android soldier for brainsucker immunity.
*The hardest part is probably getting your system set up. Your troops, but mainly your base will probably need to be reconfigured slightly. You will want to decide where you want to keep your aircraft hanger and will need to make room for security stations around that hangar and at the base entrance.
*Don't do what I did and try to use the APC. While it is nice and large, it can't get to UFO crash sites, which makes it of limited value.
*Ditto with the Stormdog or other road combat vehicles. If the road gets blown up under your vehicle, you lose it. If the road gets blown up in front of your vehicle, it gets stuck and can't move. However if you are inclined to experiment, you can install the Roadwar mod which makes roads invulnerable. It also seems to make air vehicles more expensive however, which is a bit of a disappointment.

==Week 2==
*Valkyrie or better is essential for UFO captures. Roger Wong's guide does recommend selling the Valkyries to buy Hovercars. If you feel you can capture Transporters with just 4 troops, this can work. But you'll need that Valkyrie for anything bigger. Also there's the problem of the Hovercar only having room for either a cargo hold or a bio-transport module.
*Stun raids are fun. But watch the tactical points. Too many points and aliens will bring vortex mines and shields to the party. Vortex mines are not fun. :(
*You can actually pick up and drop off troops from other bases with your vehicles. In fact, you can even station troops at a base that they do not live at. So you do have some extra flexibility with where you put your living quarters this way. Where do your troops sleep and shower if their barracks are halfway across town? Who knows? Maybe androids don't need to sleep or shower anyway.

==Week 3==
===Sunday===

*I am finding disruptor guns when I raid Diablo's slums now. Weird. It's not like they have been infiltrated by aliens. Where are they getting them? Anyway, my tactical score is about to hit 5000 soon. I hope those extra labs get online soon. Six bio labs now, but not one of them is large enough to research Toxiguns yet. Two more physics labs came online today, which is good. Mixing physicists and scientists is confusing. I am wondering when I will get to build large physics labs too.

====Base Setup====
*Base organization is a huge deal. Having mixed bio and physics labs and engineers in the same base makes life more confusing.
:*Transferring stuff around is a annoying too.
:*However establishing separate bases for bio, physics and engineering requires a ton of money. Thank goodness for stun raids even if it is cheating.

====Troops====
*To misquote GI Joe: Organization is half the battle. Setting up your soldiers with enough weapons, especially grenades can be a pain in the neck with a large squad.
:*I currently have 12 Soldiers in 3 squads of 4. This might be a bit much. Maybe 3 squads of 3 or 2 squads of 4 is sufficient.
::*More soldiers means more micromanagement. :(
*Current troop setup:
:*4 Androids as shock troops. 2 Plasma Guns each. 4 Stun grenades, 2 HE grenades, 1 medikit. They can take more hits, and they like [[brainsucker sushi]], so they go in first.
:*4 Humans as regular troops. Same gear as the androids. I could go with HE autocannons or something more interesting, but that would require too much micro.
:*4 Humans as snipers. Dual wielding Laser Sniper Rifles seems like a good way to go. With aimed or snap shot, they should still have good accuracy and a decent fire rate from dual wielding.
:Marsec armor for all the troops. I tried skimping on the [[medikits]] to save on some weight. But the extra micro isn't really worth it. Having to play pass the [[medkit]] when someone gets wounded is a bad idea when they are bleeding badly. Plasma guns are great though. Great accuracy, good damage, dual wieldable with no penalty. What's not to like? Lack of ammo. Thank goodness for stun raids. If you don't want to cheat, I guess you could raid CoS, maybe in turn-based so they don't blow you up with rockets and grenades so quickly. I guess it would be fun to bankrupt them anyway. :)

====Vehicles====
*[[Hoverbikes]] are still fairly effective, but more bikes means more micromanagement. :( It's probably time to upgrade to [[hovercars]] soon. They are almost as fast as hoverbikes with upgraded engines. I could also go with [[Hawk Air Warriors]], but they are even more expensive.
*The maximum number of vehicles you can put in a group is 13. Why 13? Who knows? But not being able to set up persistent groups for your vehicles makes managing hoverbikes a lot of work. Sure, I could send 39 odd hoverbikes into battle, but not if the game requires me to click 39 times every time some UFOs show up. What ever happened to click and drag and square to select your forces? Or Ctrl 1-9?
*Running into problems with tougher UFOs now. Switching from Laser Cannons to Plasma. Thank goodness for stun raids for those elerium pods. I could use Janitor missiles, but they are rather expensive. Using Janitor missiles against Type 1 and 2 UFOs seems like a waste though.

--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 10:26, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----
===Monday===
====12:00pm====
*Just downed a rather large attack wave and captured the first alien assault ship. Current tactical points are about 5400 and total points over 111000. I kinda wish I had heard NKF's advice regarding stun raids sooner. However, I'd picked up a shiny power sword in my last major stun raid and didn't feel like giving it up.
*Things are getting interesting with the latest assault ship I stormed. Tactically it was a piece of cake, since doing a quick perimeter sweep and camping outside the front door with plasma guns and laser snipers works amazingly well. NFK's advice was useful here too. [[Dual-wield]] seems to work best on slow firing weapons. Four snipers with two rifles each can lay down a very nice volume of fire and when lying down, their shots are still quite accurate.
*The aliens are bringing more interesting toys. Devastator cannons, gas grenades and something nasty that causes big purple explosions. Hanging out in the elevator of the assault ship is a bad idea in general. Camping outside is probably best. Actually, there are two Chrysalises in the Assault Ship, but they seem to be auto-captured once you kill everyone else.
*Aliens always seem to appear in groups of 5, at least in Novice mode. Maybe they send more in superhuman.
*They vary the attack waves quite a bit. Last turn it was a transporter and a handful of scouts, then two assault ships and three fast attack ships, and then this turn an assault ship, a transporter and three scouts. Weird since I'd expect their forces to steady escalate, especially since I am racking up more points with each wave.

*Laser and plasma weapons are particularly useful when dealing with [[poppers]], since they do not detonate the popper when killing it.
*I saw my first pair of skeletoids. At least that's what I think they are. Yellow guys that jump around. A perimeter sweep around the far side of the assault ship was a good idea, since they were already on their way out. Nothing like getting ambushed from behind while you are camping to ruin your day.
*There appears to be only one exit for the assault ship, which makes things very convenient for you since you only have one exit to cover.
*I standardized on Plasma Guns and Laser Snipers. I suppose I could add autocannons to the mix, but I'm not convinced about the usefulness of using explosive ammo. It does kill headsuckers better, but they are hardly the most serious threat at this point. Also, explosions tend to destroy equipment, and while I'm not sure about the particulars, I prefer to capture stuff intact and research it at this point. Perhaps when everything is researched, I can safely use huge explosions to wipe out the enemy instead. I sure would like something to punch a hole in one of the UFOs the next time I need to storm it. Beats using the front door in general.

*Ship to ship combat is getting rather tricky. I think reloading plasma weapons for 14 hoverbikes cost something like 1400 elerium. I'll have to check the numbers again. I'm considering just using 20-25 hoverbikes with janitor missiles to get the job done instead. Maybe add some hovercars to the mix. Either way, I'll need more cash, so it's time to raid for psiclone again.
*I wonder if I should leave the other four UFOs alone and let the aliens do whatever they do when they disappear. I'm paranoid they'll leave the ship and infiltrate the surrounding buildings, but I'm pretty sure they just vanish or go home. I think I do need to keep my score down a bit, and I don't really need another assault ship for now. The loot would be handy, but I think I already have all the tech. Capturing a live skeletoid would be handy, but on the other hand, I probably have a bunch of stuff to research as it is. I can't wait for Toxiguns though.

*The plantation slum map is probably the quickest map for grabbing psiclone. There's only four, but the handy thing is that you can get them all easily. Go the second floor first. While enemies do spawn there, there is only one way out, so you can just stun them all and grab the psiclone if someone has picked it up. Afterwards, you can get the psiclone in the two sheds. Enemies occasionally spawn near the SW shed, but usually only one or two and he doesn't wander too far.
*The plantation map is the 05 series in the slum folder. Here's the other maps I have tested so far:
01: Central Elevator
02: Bridge
03: Grasslands
04: U Shaped Building
05: Plantation

Hmm, I am not sure what to do about extra aliens in alien containment. I wish the game would just auto-destroy them when it's clear that you no longer need them? Can some aliens be researched twice, or can you dump them once they've been crossed off on your research list?
--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 19:49, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----

====12:15pm====
Amazing how much can happen in 15 minutes of game time.

*Camping out at the front of the assault ship works, but aliens managed to get out of the ship somehow. I guess it was because something kicked up a smoke cloud in front of the exit. I tried using a stun grenade to dispel it. I wonder exactly how much smoke or stun gas cuts down visibility exactly. Anyway, a pair of skeletoids charged me and got taken down promptly.

Also, a pair of poppers and a brainsucker somehow escaped, perhaps their morale broke and were trying to flee. The AI is still pretty limited, but it has interesting features like that. They snuck out and tried to get away from the back rather than charging headlong into my ambush. But then the poppers charged when they saw me. Strange. Aliens also retreat when they get wounded or are under heavy fire. Too bad they're not smart enough to avoid winding up under heavy fire in the first place.

*Sniper rifles are okay, but I can't wait until I can swap them out for dual devastator cannons. The cannons are 20% less accurate, but they hit a lot harder. Perhaps toxiguns would work too.

=====Base Management=====
*If you are setting up research bases, you will notice that each [[Living Quarters]] always houses 10 units and that each lab can support five or ten scientists in the case of advanced structures. The typical research base will probably have four small labs and one large lab, which is probably the maximum amount the game will let you have. That's a total of 30 scientists and they will completely fill three Living Quarters. So if you want to station a few soldiers at each research base (you need at least one, or you automatically lose a base defense mission), then you should keep all your soldiers at one base, and send a few over the your research base. I'm not sure exactly how training works in this situation. Maybe the soldier can using the training facility at the home base, or perhaps you'll need to build training facilities at the research base if you want you troops to be able to train while guarding the base. In any case, you can send your androids off to perform guard duty. They're more durable anyway, which is good if you need a base defender, and you can send them off on solo psiclone stun raids which means won't have to fiddle with equipment setups on your main troops, unless you want to use stun raids to boost your stats, but that's another story.

=====Air Battles=====
*Hoverbike strategy is getting more complex. I'd really like to be able to assign fixed squadrons. Also, micromanaging seems to yield some improved results. You can reduce casualties by pausing at the right moments and having your bikes and surround the aliens.

*Friendly fire seems to be a big issue with hoverbikes. At least with the [[Bolter lasers]]. The bikes in front tend to get shot by their comrades behind them. Rather embarrassing really. I guess the solution is to split your forces up and attack from multiple directions. If you really wanted to go nuts on micro, you could even have parts of the same attack squadron fight from different altitudes. Impractical unless the game helped you manage this though.

*Disruptors do not fit on hoverbikes, hovercars or Valkyries. I wonder what the optimal loadout for the hoverbikes are. Perhaps the Lineage Plasma Cannon, if you can afford the elerium.

*I wonder if upgrading hoverbike engines is worth the trouble and expense considering you'll lose some anyway.

*Perhaps it's better to save the big plasma cannons for hovercars, preferrably shielded hovercars. There are never enough plasma cannons for sale, and the hoverbikes often get killed in one shot if they get hit.

=To Cheat, or not to Cheat...=
To Cheat, or not to Cheat, that is the Question: 
Whether 'tis Nobler in the minde to suffer 
The Slings and Arrowes of outragious Fortune, 
Or to take up Questionable Tactics against a Sea of Hostile Boomeroid-chucking Alien Hordes, 
And by Cheating end them: to Play, to Cheat 
No more; and by Cheat, to say we end 
The Heart-ache, and the thousand Naturall shockes 
That X-COM: Apocalypse is heir too? 

The original words have been crassly abducted from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_be,_or_not_to_be Hamlet's Soliloquy].

User:Captain Foo

2008-09-04T04:00:08Z

Captain Foo: /* Scientists */

Stuff I'm working on:
* [[Defending_Mega_Primus_from_Evil_Space_Aliens%2C_a_Beginner%27s_Guide]]

=An X-Com 3 Beginner's Log: assorted observations and trivia within=
I'm going to organize my ideas a bit here before moving them to the main wiki...

==Week 1==
===Day 1===
*Your initial base layout will be randomized, and you can get one of several starting bases. It's a good idea to restart the game a few times to see what you can get, though this can get a rather annoying. The main annoyance with this method is that the game places all the buildings randomly, so it's quite common to get a layout that will a pain to defend later. Sometimes you do get lucky with good placement and a properly situated repair bay though. Of course, you can in theory do a few stun raids here to get some funds to pay for a renovation if you don't mind cheating a bit.

*The minute you start, there will already be an alien infiltration in your city. The question is whether you want to save and reload and cheat to find them, or wait for an alien sighting. If you wait for a sighting, you should also watch the graphs and be prepared to investigate neighboring buildings as the alien infection will probably have spread a bit by the time an alien is spotted.

*[[Hoverbike_(Apocalypse)|Hoverbikes]]! Nothing beats hoverbikes! Buy some hoverbikes and sell your ground vehicles, which aren't of much use early on.

*Other trivia: There's a few decent initial bases in Novice, some really bad ones in Easy, and some hard to defend but large rectangular ones in Medium. The S-shaped building in Superhuman also looks nice.

====Agents====
*Your starting agent setup is less than ideal to say the least. Actually it's awful. The guy with the Mind Bender needs a new weapon immediately, as do the units equipped law pistols and stun grapples.

*You should immediately hire an android, and perhaps a mutant for psionic attacks.

====Scientists====
*Immediately assign them to research. The game really should do this for you. If you see any particularly skilled ones, go ahead and hire them now. You don't pay salaries until the end of the week, so you can wait til Saturday to fire people (unconfirmed however).

===Day 2===

*Week 1 is quite easy. All you need is a fleet of hoverbikes with laser cannons (cheapest way to take down UFO since lasers require no ammo), and an android soldier for brainsucker immunity.
*The hardest part is probably getting your system set up. Your troops, but mainly your base will probably need to be reconfigured slightly. You will want to decide where you want to keep your aircraft hanger and will need to make room for security stations around that hangar and at the base entrance.
*Don't do what I did and try to use the APC. While it is nice and large, it can't get to UFO crash sites, which makes it of limited value.
*Ditto with the Stormdog or other road combat vehicles. If the road gets blown up under your vehicle, you lose it. If the road gets blown up in front of your vehicle, it gets stuck and can't move. However if you are inclined to experiment, you can install the Roadwar mod which makes roads invulnerable. It also seems to make air vehicles more expensive however, which is a bit of a disappointment.

==Week 2==
*Valkyrie or better is essential for UFO captures. Roger Wong's guide does recommend selling the Valkyries to buy Hovercars. If you feel you can capture Transporters with just 4 troops, this can work. But you'll need that Valkyrie for anything bigger. Also there's the problem of the Hovercar only having room for either a cargo hold or a bio-transport module.
*Stun raids are fun. But watch the tactical points. Too many points and aliens will bring vortex mines and shields to the party. Vortex mines are not fun. :(
*You can actually pick up and drop off troops from other bases with your vehicles. In fact, you can even station troops at a base that they do not live at. So you do have some extra flexibility with where you put your living quarters this way. Where do your troops sleep and shower if their barracks are halfway across town? Who knows? Maybe androids don't need to sleep or shower anyway.

==Week 3==
===Sunday===

*I am finding disruptor guns when I raid Diablo's slums now. Weird. It's not like they have been infiltrated by aliens. Where are they getting them? Anyway, my tactical score is about to hit 5000 soon. I hope those extra labs get online soon. Six bio labs now, but not one of them is large enough to research Toxiguns yet. Two more physics labs came online today, which is good. Mixing physicists and scientists is confusing. I am wondering when I will get to build large physics labs too.

====Base Setup====
*Base organization is a huge deal. Having mixed bio and physics labs and engineers in the same base makes life more confusing.
:*Transferring stuff around is a annoying too.
:*However establishing separate bases for bio, physics and engineering requires a ton of money. Thank goodness for stun raids even if it is cheating.

====Troops====
*To misquote GI Joe: Organization is half the battle. Setting up your soldiers with enough weapons, especially grenades can be a pain in the neck with a large squad.
:*I currently have 12 Soldiers in 3 squads of 4. This might be a bit much. Maybe 3 squads of 3 or 2 squads of 4 is sufficient.
::*More soldiers means more micromanagement. :(
*Current troop setup:
:*4 Androids as shock troops. 2 Plasma Guns each. 4 Stun grenades, 2 HE grenades, 1 medikit. They can take more hits, and they like [[brainsucker sushi]], so they go in first.
:*4 Humans as regular troops. Same gear as the androids. I could go with HE autocannons or something more interesting, but that would require too much micro.
:*4 Humans as snipers. Dual wielding Laser Sniper Rifles seems like a good way to go. With aimed or snap shot, they should still have good accuracy and a decent fire rate from dual wielding.
:Marsec armor for all the troops. I tried skimping on the [[medikits]] to save on some weight. But the extra micro isn't really worth it. Having to play pass the [[medkit]] when someone gets wounded is a bad idea when they are bleeding badly. Plasma guns are great though. Great accuracy, good damage, dual wieldable with no penalty. What's not to like? Lack of ammo. Thank goodness for stun raids. If you don't want to cheat, I guess you could raid CoS, maybe in turn-based so they don't blow you up with rockets and grenades so quickly. I guess it would be fun to bankrupt them anyway. :)

====Vehicles====
*[[Hoverbikes]] are still fairly effective, but more bikes means more micromanagement. :( It's probably time to upgrade to [[hovercars]] soon. They are almost as fast as hoverbikes with upgraded engines. I could also go with [[Hawk Air Warriors]], but they are even more expensive.
*The maximum number of vehicles you can put in a group is 13. Why 13? Who knows? But not being able to set up persistent groups for your vehicles makes managing hoverbikes a lot of work. Sure, I could send 39 odd hoverbikes into battle, but not if the game requires me to click 39 times every time some UFOs show up. What ever happened to click and drag and square to select your forces? Or Ctrl 1-9?
*Running into problems with tougher UFOs now. Switching from Laser Cannons to Plasma. Thank goodness for stun raids for those elerium pods. I could use Janitor missiles, but they are rather expensive. Using Janitor missiles against Type 1 and 2 UFOs seems like a waste though.

--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 10:26, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----
===Monday===
====12:00pm====
*Just downed a rather large attack wave and captured the first alien assault ship. Current tactical points are about 5400 and total points over 111000. I kinda wish I had heard NKF's advice regarding stun raids sooner. However, I'd picked up a shiny power sword in my last major stun raid and didn't feel like giving it up.
*Things are getting interesting with the latest assault ship I stormed. Tactically it was a piece of cake, since doing a quick perimeter sweep and camping outside the front door with plasma guns and laser snipers works amazingly well. NFK's advice was useful here too. [[Dual-wield]] seems to work best on slow firing weapons. Four snipers with two rifles each can lay down a very nice volume of fire and when lying down, their shots are still quite accurate.
*The aliens are bringing more interesting toys. Devastator cannons, gas grenades and something nasty that causes big purple explosions. Hanging out in the elevator of the assault ship is a bad idea in general. Camping outside is probably best. Actually, there are two Chrysalises in the Assault Ship, but they seem to be auto-captured once you kill everyone else.
*Aliens always seem to appear in groups of 5, at least in Novice mode. Maybe they send more in superhuman.
*They vary the attack waves quite a bit. Last turn it was a transporter and a handful of scouts, then two assault ships and three fast attack ships, and then this turn an assault ship, a transporter and three scouts. Weird since I'd expect their forces to steady escalate, especially since I am racking up more points with each wave.

*Laser and plasma weapons are particularly useful when dealing with [[poppers]], since they do not detonate the popper when killing it.
*I saw my first pair of skeletoids. At least that's what I think they are. Yellow guys that jump around. A perimeter sweep around the far side of the assault ship was a good idea, since they were already on their way out. Nothing like getting ambushed from behind while you are camping to ruin your day.
*There appears to be only one exit for the assault ship, which makes things very convenient for you since you only have one exit to cover.
*I standardized on Plasma Guns and Laser Snipers. I suppose I could add autocannons to the mix, but I'm not convinced about the usefulness of using explosive ammo. It does kill headsuckers better, but they are hardly the most serious threat at this point. Also, explosions tend to destroy equipment, and while I'm not sure about the particulars, I prefer to capture stuff intact and research it at this point. Perhaps when everything is researched, I can safely use huge explosions to wipe out the enemy instead. I sure would like something to punch a hole in one of the UFOs the next time I need to storm it. Beats using the front door in general.

*Ship to ship combat is getting rather tricky. I think reloading plasma weapons for 14 hoverbikes cost something like 1400 elerium. I'll have to check the numbers again. I'm considering just using 20-25 hoverbikes with janitor missiles to get the job done instead. Maybe add some hovercars to the mix. Either way, I'll need more cash, so it's time to raid for psiclone again.
*I wonder if I should leave the other four UFOs alone and let the aliens do whatever they do when they disappear. I'm paranoid they'll leave the ship and infiltrate the surrounding buildings, but I'm pretty sure they just vanish or go home. I think I do need to keep my score down a bit, and I don't really need another assault ship for now. The loot would be handy, but I think I already have all the tech. Capturing a live skeletoid would be handy, but on the other hand, I probably have a bunch of stuff to research as it is. I can't wait for Toxiguns though.

*The plantation slum map is probably the quickest map for grabbing psiclone. There's only four, but the handy thing is that you can get them all easily. Go the second floor first. While enemies do spawn there, there is only one way out, so you can just stun them all and grab the psiclone if someone has picked it up. Afterwards, you can get the psiclone in the two sheds. Enemies occasionally spawn near the SW shed, but usually only one or two and he doesn't wander too far.
*The plantation map is the 05 series in the slum folder. Here's the other maps I have tested so far:
01: Central Elevator
02: Bridge
03: Grasslands
04: U Shaped Building
05: Plantation

Hmm, I am not sure what to do about extra aliens in alien containment. I wish the game would just auto-destroy them when it's clear that you no longer need them? Can some aliens be researched twice, or can you dump them once they've been crossed off on your research list?
--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 19:49, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----

====12:15pm====
Amazing how much can happen in 15 minutes of game time.

*Camping out at the front of the assault ship works, but aliens managed to get out of the ship somehow. I guess it was because something kicked up a smoke cloud in front of the exit. I tried using a stun grenade to dispel it. I wonder exactly how much smoke or stun gas cuts down visibility exactly. Anyway, a pair of skeletoids charged me and got taken down promptly.

Also, a pair of poppers and a brainsucker somehow escaped, perhaps their morale broke and were trying to flee. The AI is still pretty limited, but it has interesting features like that. They snuck out and tried to get away from the back rather than charging headlong into my ambush. But then the poppers charged when they saw me. Strange. Aliens also retreat when they get wounded or are under heavy fire. Too bad they're not smart enough to avoid winding up under heavy fire in the first place.

*Sniper rifles are okay, but I can't wait until I can swap them out for dual devastator cannons. The cannons are 20% less accurate, but they hit a lot harder. Perhaps toxiguns would work too.

=====Base Management=====
*If you are setting up research bases, you will notice that each [[Living Quarters]] always houses 10 units and that each lab can support five or ten scientists in the case of advanced structures. The typical research base will probably have four small labs and one large lab, which is probably the maximum amount the game will let you have. That's a total of 30 scientists and they will completely fill three Living Quarters. So if you want to station a few soldiers at each research base (you need at least one, or you automatically lose a base defense mission), then you should keep all your soldiers at one base, and send a few over the your research base. I'm not sure exactly how training works in this situation. Maybe the soldier can using the training facility at the home base, or perhaps you'll need to build training facilities at the research base if you want you troops to be able to train while guarding the base. In any case, you can send your androids off to perform guard duty. They're more durable anyway, which is good if you need a base defender, and you can send them off on solo psiclone stun raids which means won't have to fiddle with equipment setups on your main troops, unless you want to use stun raids to boost your stats, but that's another story.

=====Air Battles=====
*Hoverbike strategy is getting more complex. I'd really like to be able to assign fixed squadrons. Also, micromanaging seems to yield some improved results. You can reduce casualties by pausing at the right moments and having your bikes and surround the aliens.

*Friendly fire seems to be a big issue with hoverbikes. At least with the [[Bolter lasers]]. The bikes in front tend to get shot by their comrades behind them. Rather embarrassing really. I guess the solution is to split your forces up and attack from multiple directions. If you really wanted to go nuts on micro, you could even have parts of the same attack squadron fight from different altitudes. Impractical unless the game helped you manage this though.

*Disruptors do not fit on hoverbikes, hovercars or Valkyries. I wonder what the optimal loadout for the hoverbikes are. Perhaps the Lineage Plasma Cannon, if you can afford the elerium.

*I wonder if upgrading hoverbike engines is worth the trouble and expense considering you'll lose some anyway.

*Perhaps it's better to save the big plasma cannons for hovercars, preferrably shielded hovercars. There are never enough plasma cannons for sale, and the hoverbikes often get killed in one shot if they get hit.

=To Cheat, or not to Cheat...=
To Cheat, or not to Cheat, that is the Question: 
Whether 'tis Nobler in the minde to suffer 
The Slings and Arrowes of outragious Fortune, 
Or to take up Questionable Tactics against a Sea of Hostile Boomeroid-chucking Alien Hordes, 
And by Cheating end them: to Play, to Cheat 
No more; and by Cheat, to say we end 
The Heart-ache, and the thousand Naturall shockes 
That X-COM: Apocalypse is heir too? 

The original words have been crassly abducted from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_be,_or_not_to_be Hamlet's Soliloquy].

User:Captain Foo

2008-09-04T03:54:20Z

Captain Foo: /* Day 1 */ expanding day 1

Stuff I'm working on:
* [[Defending_Mega_Primus_from_Evil_Space_Aliens%2C_a_Beginner%27s_Guide]]

=An X-Com 3 Beginner's Log: assorted observations and trivia within=
I'm going to organize my ideas a bit here before moving them to the main wiki...

==Week 1==
===Day 1===
*Your initial base layout will be randomized, and you can get one of several starting bases. It's a good idea to restart the game a few times to see what you can get, though this can get a rather annoying. The main annoyance with this method is that the game places all the buildings randomly, so it's quite common to get a layout that will a pain to defend later. Sometimes you do get lucky with good placement and a properly situated repair bay though. Of course, you can in theory do a few stun raids here to get some funds to pay for a renovation if you don't mind cheating a bit.

*The minute you start, there will already be an alien infiltration in your city. The question is whether you want to save and reload and cheat to find them, or wait for an alien sighting. If you wait for a sighting, you should also watch the graphs and be prepared to investigate neighboring buildings as the alien infection will probably have spread a bit by the time an alien is spotted.

*[[Hoverbike_(Apocalypse)|Hoverbikes]]! Nothing beats hoverbikes! Buy some hoverbikes and sell your ground vehicles, which aren't of much use early on.

*Other trivia: There's a few decent initial bases in Novice, some really bad ones in Easy, and some hard to defend but large rectangular ones in Medium. The S-shaped building in Superhuman also looks nice.

====Agents====
*Your starting agent setup is less than ideal to say the least. Actually it's awful. The guy with the Mind Bender needs a new weapon immediately, as do the units equipped law pistols and stun grapples.

*You should immediately hire an android, and perhaps a mutant for psionic attacks.

====Scientists====
*Immediately assign them to research. The game really should do this for you.

===Day 2===

*Week 1 is quite easy. All you need is a fleet of hoverbikes with laser cannons (cheapest way to take down UFO since lasers require no ammo), and an android soldier for brainsucker immunity.
*The hardest part is probably getting your system set up. Your troops, but mainly your base will probably need to be reconfigured slightly. You will want to decide where you want to keep your aircraft hanger and will need to make room for security stations around that hangar and at the base entrance.
*Don't do what I did and try to use the APC. While it is nice and large, it can't get to UFO crash sites, which makes it of limited value.
*Ditto with the Stormdog or other road combat vehicles. If the road gets blown up under your vehicle, you lose it. If the road gets blown up in front of your vehicle, it gets stuck and can't move. However if you are inclined to experiment, you can install the Roadwar mod which makes roads invulnerable. It also seems to make air vehicles more expensive however, which is a bit of a disappointment.

==Week 2==
*Valkyrie or better is essential for UFO captures. Roger Wong's guide does recommend selling the Valkyries to buy Hovercars. If you feel you can capture Transporters with just 4 troops, this can work. But you'll need that Valkyrie for anything bigger. Also there's the problem of the Hovercar only having room for either a cargo hold or a bio-transport module.
*Stun raids are fun. But watch the tactical points. Too many points and aliens will bring vortex mines and shields to the party. Vortex mines are not fun. :(
*You can actually pick up and drop off troops from other bases with your vehicles. In fact, you can even station troops at a base that they do not live at. So you do have some extra flexibility with where you put your living quarters this way. Where do your troops sleep and shower if their barracks are halfway across town? Who knows? Maybe androids don't need to sleep or shower anyway.

==Week 3==
===Sunday===

*I am finding disruptor guns when I raid Diablo's slums now. Weird. It's not like they have been infiltrated by aliens. Where are they getting them? Anyway, my tactical score is about to hit 5000 soon. I hope those extra labs get online soon. Six bio labs now, but not one of them is large enough to research Toxiguns yet. Two more physics labs came online today, which is good. Mixing physicists and scientists is confusing. I am wondering when I will get to build large physics labs too.

====Base Setup====
*Base organization is a huge deal. Having mixed bio and physics labs and engineers in the same base makes life more confusing.
:*Transferring stuff around is a annoying too.
:*However establishing separate bases for bio, physics and engineering requires a ton of money. Thank goodness for stun raids even if it is cheating.

====Troops====
*To misquote GI Joe: Organization is half the battle. Setting up your soldiers with enough weapons, especially grenades can be a pain in the neck with a large squad.
:*I currently have 12 Soldiers in 3 squads of 4. This might be a bit much. Maybe 3 squads of 3 or 2 squads of 4 is sufficient.
::*More soldiers means more micromanagement. :(
*Current troop setup:
:*4 Androids as shock troops. 2 Plasma Guns each. 4 Stun grenades, 2 HE grenades, 1 medikit. They can take more hits, and they like [[brainsucker sushi]], so they go in first.
:*4 Humans as regular troops. Same gear as the androids. I could go with HE autocannons or something more interesting, but that would require too much micro.
:*4 Humans as snipers. Dual wielding Laser Sniper Rifles seems like a good way to go. With aimed or snap shot, they should still have good accuracy and a decent fire rate from dual wielding.
:Marsec armor for all the troops. I tried skimping on the [[medikits]] to save on some weight. But the extra micro isn't really worth it. Having to play pass the [[medkit]] when someone gets wounded is a bad idea when they are bleeding badly. Plasma guns are great though. Great accuracy, good damage, dual wieldable with no penalty. What's not to like? Lack of ammo. Thank goodness for stun raids. If you don't want to cheat, I guess you could raid CoS, maybe in turn-based so they don't blow you up with rockets and grenades so quickly. I guess it would be fun to bankrupt them anyway. :)

====Vehicles====
*[[Hoverbikes]] are still fairly effective, but more bikes means more micromanagement. :( It's probably time to upgrade to [[hovercars]] soon. They are almost as fast as hoverbikes with upgraded engines. I could also go with [[Hawk Air Warriors]], but they are even more expensive.
*The maximum number of vehicles you can put in a group is 13. Why 13? Who knows? But not being able to set up persistent groups for your vehicles makes managing hoverbikes a lot of work. Sure, I could send 39 odd hoverbikes into battle, but not if the game requires me to click 39 times every time some UFOs show up. What ever happened to click and drag and square to select your forces? Or Ctrl 1-9?
*Running into problems with tougher UFOs now. Switching from Laser Cannons to Plasma. Thank goodness for stun raids for those elerium pods. I could use Janitor missiles, but they are rather expensive. Using Janitor missiles against Type 1 and 2 UFOs seems like a waste though.

--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 10:26, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----
===Monday===
====12:00pm====
*Just downed a rather large attack wave and captured the first alien assault ship. Current tactical points are about 5400 and total points over 111000. I kinda wish I had heard NKF's advice regarding stun raids sooner. However, I'd picked up a shiny power sword in my last major stun raid and didn't feel like giving it up.
*Things are getting interesting with the latest assault ship I stormed. Tactically it was a piece of cake, since doing a quick perimeter sweep and camping outside the front door with plasma guns and laser snipers works amazingly well. NFK's advice was useful here too. [[Dual-wield]] seems to work best on slow firing weapons. Four snipers with two rifles each can lay down a very nice volume of fire and when lying down, their shots are still quite accurate.
*The aliens are bringing more interesting toys. Devastator cannons, gas grenades and something nasty that causes big purple explosions. Hanging out in the elevator of the assault ship is a bad idea in general. Camping outside is probably best. Actually, there are two Chrysalises in the Assault Ship, but they seem to be auto-captured once you kill everyone else.
*Aliens always seem to appear in groups of 5, at least in Novice mode. Maybe they send more in superhuman.
*They vary the attack waves quite a bit. Last turn it was a transporter and a handful of scouts, then two assault ships and three fast attack ships, and then this turn an assault ship, a transporter and three scouts. Weird since I'd expect their forces to steady escalate, especially since I am racking up more points with each wave.

*Laser and plasma weapons are particularly useful when dealing with [[poppers]], since they do not detonate the popper when killing it.
*I saw my first pair of skeletoids. At least that's what I think they are. Yellow guys that jump around. A perimeter sweep around the far side of the assault ship was a good idea, since they were already on their way out. Nothing like getting ambushed from behind while you are camping to ruin your day.
*There appears to be only one exit for the assault ship, which makes things very convenient for you since you only have one exit to cover.
*I standardized on Plasma Guns and Laser Snipers. I suppose I could add autocannons to the mix, but I'm not convinced about the usefulness of using explosive ammo. It does kill headsuckers better, but they are hardly the most serious threat at this point. Also, explosions tend to destroy equipment, and while I'm not sure about the particulars, I prefer to capture stuff intact and research it at this point. Perhaps when everything is researched, I can safely use huge explosions to wipe out the enemy instead. I sure would like something to punch a hole in one of the UFOs the next time I need to storm it. Beats using the front door in general.

*Ship to ship combat is getting rather tricky. I think reloading plasma weapons for 14 hoverbikes cost something like 1400 elerium. I'll have to check the numbers again. I'm considering just using 20-25 hoverbikes with janitor missiles to get the job done instead. Maybe add some hovercars to the mix. Either way, I'll need more cash, so it's time to raid for psiclone again.
*I wonder if I should leave the other four UFOs alone and let the aliens do whatever they do when they disappear. I'm paranoid they'll leave the ship and infiltrate the surrounding buildings, but I'm pretty sure they just vanish or go home. I think I do need to keep my score down a bit, and I don't really need another assault ship for now. The loot would be handy, but I think I already have all the tech. Capturing a live skeletoid would be handy, but on the other hand, I probably have a bunch of stuff to research as it is. I can't wait for Toxiguns though.

*The plantation slum map is probably the quickest map for grabbing psiclone. There's only four, but the handy thing is that you can get them all easily. Go the second floor first. While enemies do spawn there, there is only one way out, so you can just stun them all and grab the psiclone if someone has picked it up. Afterwards, you can get the psiclone in the two sheds. Enemies occasionally spawn near the SW shed, but usually only one or two and he doesn't wander too far.
*The plantation map is the 05 series in the slum folder. Here's the other maps I have tested so far:
01: Central Elevator
02: Bridge
03: Grasslands
04: U Shaped Building
05: Plantation

Hmm, I am not sure what to do about extra aliens in alien containment. I wish the game would just auto-destroy them when it's clear that you no longer need them? Can some aliens be researched twice, or can you dump them once they've been crossed off on your research list?
--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 19:49, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----

====12:15pm====
Amazing how much can happen in 15 minutes of game time.

*Camping out at the front of the assault ship works, but aliens managed to get out of the ship somehow. I guess it was because something kicked up a smoke cloud in front of the exit. I tried using a stun grenade to dispel it. I wonder exactly how much smoke or stun gas cuts down visibility exactly. Anyway, a pair of skeletoids charged me and got taken down promptly.

Also, a pair of poppers and a brainsucker somehow escaped, perhaps their morale broke and were trying to flee. The AI is still pretty limited, but it has interesting features like that. They snuck out and tried to get away from the back rather than charging headlong into my ambush. But then the poppers charged when they saw me. Strange. Aliens also retreat when they get wounded or are under heavy fire. Too bad they're not smart enough to avoid winding up under heavy fire in the first place.

*Sniper rifles are okay, but I can't wait until I can swap them out for dual devastator cannons. The cannons are 20% less accurate, but they hit a lot harder. Perhaps toxiguns would work too.

=====Base Management=====
*If you are setting up research bases, you will notice that each [[Living Quarters]] always houses 10 units and that each lab can support five or ten scientists in the case of advanced structures. The typical research base will probably have four small labs and one large lab, which is probably the maximum amount the game will let you have. That's a total of 30 scientists and they will completely fill three Living Quarters. So if you want to station a few soldiers at each research base (you need at least one, or you automatically lose a base defense mission), then you should keep all your soldiers at one base, and send a few over the your research base. I'm not sure exactly how training works in this situation. Maybe the soldier can using the training facility at the home base, or perhaps you'll need to build training facilities at the research base if you want you troops to be able to train while guarding the base. In any case, you can send your androids off to perform guard duty. They're more durable anyway, which is good if you need a base defender, and you can send them off on solo psiclone stun raids which means won't have to fiddle with equipment setups on your main troops, unless you want to use stun raids to boost your stats, but that's another story.

=====Air Battles=====
*Hoverbike strategy is getting more complex. I'd really like to be able to assign fixed squadrons. Also, micromanaging seems to yield some improved results. You can reduce casualties by pausing at the right moments and having your bikes and surround the aliens.

*Friendly fire seems to be a big issue with hoverbikes. At least with the [[Bolter lasers]]. The bikes in front tend to get shot by their comrades behind them. Rather embarrassing really. I guess the solution is to split your forces up and attack from multiple directions. If you really wanted to go nuts on micro, you could even have parts of the same attack squadron fight from different altitudes. Impractical unless the game helped you manage this though.

*Disruptors do not fit on hoverbikes, hovercars or Valkyries. I wonder what the optimal loadout for the hoverbikes are. Perhaps the Lineage Plasma Cannon, if you can afford the elerium.

*I wonder if upgrading hoverbike engines is worth the trouble and expense considering you'll lose some anyway.

*Perhaps it's better to save the big plasma cannons for hovercars, preferrably shielded hovercars. There are never enough plasma cannons for sale, and the hoverbikes often get killed in one shot if they get hit.

=To Cheat, or not to Cheat...=
To Cheat, or not to Cheat, that is the Question: 
Whether 'tis Nobler in the minde to suffer 
The Slings and Arrowes of outragious Fortune, 
Or to take up Questionable Tactics against a Sea of Hostile Boomeroid-chucking Alien Hordes, 
And by Cheating end them: to Play, to Cheat 
No more; and by Cheat, to say we end 
The Heart-ache, and the thousand Naturall shockes 
That X-COM: Apocalypse is heir too? 

The original words have been crassly abducted from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_be,_or_not_to_be Hamlet's Soliloquy].

User:Captain Foo

2008-09-04T03:36:52Z

Captain Foo: /* Day 1 */

Stuff I'm working on:
* [[Defending_Mega_Primus_from_Evil_Space_Aliens%2C_a_Beginner%27s_Guide]]

=An X-Com 3 Beginner's Log: assorted observations and trivia within=
I'm going to organize my ideas a bit here before moving them to the main wiki...

==Week 1==
===Day 1===
*Your initial base layout will be randomized, and you can get one of several starting bases. It's a good idea to restart the game a few times to see what you can get, though this can get a rather annoying. The main annoyance with this method is that the game places all the buildings randomly, so it's quite common to get a layout that will a pain to defend later. Sometimes you do get lucky with good placement and a properly situated repair bay though. Of course, you can in theory do a few stun raids here to get some funds to pay for a renovation if you don't mind cheating a bit.

*The minute you start, there will already be an alien infiltration in your city. The question is whether you want to save and reload and cheat to find them, or wait for an alien sighting. If you wait for a sighting, you should also watch the graphs and be prepared to investigate neighboring buildings as the alien infection will probably have spread a bit by the time an alien is spotted.

*[[Hoverbike_(Apocalypse)|Hoverbikes]]! Nothing beats hoverbikes! Buy some hoverbikes and sell your ground vehicles, which aren't of much use early on.

*Other trivia: There's a few decent initial bases in Novice, some really bad ones in Easy, and some hard to defend but large rectangular ones in Medium. The S-shaped building in Superhuman also looks nice.

===Day 2===

*Week 1 is quite easy. All you need is a fleet of hoverbikes with laser cannons (cheapest way to take down UFO since lasers require no ammo), and an android soldier for brainsucker immunity.
*The hardest part is probably getting your system set up. Your troops, but mainly your base will probably need to be reconfigured slightly. You will want to decide where you want to keep your aircraft hanger and will need to make room for security stations around that hangar and at the base entrance.
*Don't do what I did and try to use the APC. While it is nice and large, it can't get to UFO crash sites, which makes it of limited value.
*Ditto with the Stormdog or other road combat vehicles. If the road gets blown up under your vehicle, you lose it. If the road gets blown up in front of your vehicle, it gets stuck and can't move. However if you are inclined to experiment, you can install the Roadwar mod which makes roads invulnerable. It also seems to make air vehicles more expensive however, which is a bit of a disappointment.

==Week 2==
*Valkyrie or better is essential for UFO captures. Roger Wong's guide does recommend selling the Valkyries to buy Hovercars. If you feel you can capture Transporters with just 4 troops, this can work. But you'll need that Valkyrie for anything bigger. Also there's the problem of the Hovercar only having room for either a cargo hold or a bio-transport module.
*Stun raids are fun. But watch the tactical points. Too many points and aliens will bring vortex mines and shields to the party. Vortex mines are not fun. :(
*You can actually pick up and drop off troops from other bases with your vehicles. In fact, you can even station troops at a base that they do not live at. So you do have some extra flexibility with where you put your living quarters this way. Where do your troops sleep and shower if their barracks are halfway across town? Who knows? Maybe androids don't need to sleep or shower anyway.

==Week 3==
===Sunday===

*I am finding disruptor guns when I raid Diablo's slums now. Weird. It's not like they have been infiltrated by aliens. Where are they getting them? Anyway, my tactical score is about to hit 5000 soon. I hope those extra labs get online soon. Six bio labs now, but not one of them is large enough to research Toxiguns yet. Two more physics labs came online today, which is good. Mixing physicists and scientists is confusing. I am wondering when I will get to build large physics labs too.

====Base Setup====
*Base organization is a huge deal. Having mixed bio and physics labs and engineers in the same base makes life more confusing.
:*Transferring stuff around is a annoying too.
:*However establishing separate bases for bio, physics and engineering requires a ton of money. Thank goodness for stun raids even if it is cheating.

====Troops====
*To misquote GI Joe: Organization is half the battle. Setting up your soldiers with enough weapons, especially grenades can be a pain in the neck with a large squad.
:*I currently have 12 Soldiers in 3 squads of 4. This might be a bit much. Maybe 3 squads of 3 or 2 squads of 4 is sufficient.
::*More soldiers means more micromanagement. :(
*Current troop setup:
:*4 Androids as shock troops. 2 Plasma Guns each. 4 Stun grenades, 2 HE grenades, 1 medikit. They can take more hits, and they like [[brainsucker sushi]], so they go in first.
:*4 Humans as regular troops. Same gear as the androids. I could go with HE autocannons or something more interesting, but that would require too much micro.
:*4 Humans as snipers. Dual wielding Laser Sniper Rifles seems like a good way to go. With aimed or snap shot, they should still have good accuracy and a decent fire rate from dual wielding.
:Marsec armor for all the troops. I tried skimping on the [[medikits]] to save on some weight. But the extra micro isn't really worth it. Having to play pass the [[medkit]] when someone gets wounded is a bad idea when they are bleeding badly. Plasma guns are great though. Great accuracy, good damage, dual wieldable with no penalty. What's not to like? Lack of ammo. Thank goodness for stun raids. If you don't want to cheat, I guess you could raid CoS, maybe in turn-based so they don't blow you up with rockets and grenades so quickly. I guess it would be fun to bankrupt them anyway. :)

====Vehicles====
*[[Hoverbikes]] are still fairly effective, but more bikes means more micromanagement. :( It's probably time to upgrade to [[hovercars]] soon. They are almost as fast as hoverbikes with upgraded engines. I could also go with [[Hawk Air Warriors]], but they are even more expensive.
*The maximum number of vehicles you can put in a group is 13. Why 13? Who knows? But not being able to set up persistent groups for your vehicles makes managing hoverbikes a lot of work. Sure, I could send 39 odd hoverbikes into battle, but not if the game requires me to click 39 times every time some UFOs show up. What ever happened to click and drag and square to select your forces? Or Ctrl 1-9?
*Running into problems with tougher UFOs now. Switching from Laser Cannons to Plasma. Thank goodness for stun raids for those elerium pods. I could use Janitor missiles, but they are rather expensive. Using Janitor missiles against Type 1 and 2 UFOs seems like a waste though.

--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 10:26, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----
===Monday===
====12:00pm====
*Just downed a rather large attack wave and captured the first alien assault ship. Current tactical points are about 5400 and total points over 111000. I kinda wish I had heard NKF's advice regarding stun raids sooner. However, I'd picked up a shiny power sword in my last major stun raid and didn't feel like giving it up.
*Things are getting interesting with the latest assault ship I stormed. Tactically it was a piece of cake, since doing a quick perimeter sweep and camping outside the front door with plasma guns and laser snipers works amazingly well. NFK's advice was useful here too. [[Dual-wield]] seems to work best on slow firing weapons. Four snipers with two rifles each can lay down a very nice volume of fire and when lying down, their shots are still quite accurate.
*The aliens are bringing more interesting toys. Devastator cannons, gas grenades and something nasty that causes big purple explosions. Hanging out in the elevator of the assault ship is a bad idea in general. Camping outside is probably best. Actually, there are two Chrysalises in the Assault Ship, but they seem to be auto-captured once you kill everyone else.
*Aliens always seem to appear in groups of 5, at least in Novice mode. Maybe they send more in superhuman.
*They vary the attack waves quite a bit. Last turn it was a transporter and a handful of scouts, then two assault ships and three fast attack ships, and then this turn an assault ship, a transporter and three scouts. Weird since I'd expect their forces to steady escalate, especially since I am racking up more points with each wave.

*Laser and plasma weapons are particularly useful when dealing with [[poppers]], since they do not detonate the popper when killing it.
*I saw my first pair of skeletoids. At least that's what I think they are. Yellow guys that jump around. A perimeter sweep around the far side of the assault ship was a good idea, since they were already on their way out. Nothing like getting ambushed from behind while you are camping to ruin your day.
*There appears to be only one exit for the assault ship, which makes things very convenient for you since you only have one exit to cover.
*I standardized on Plasma Guns and Laser Snipers. I suppose I could add autocannons to the mix, but I'm not convinced about the usefulness of using explosive ammo. It does kill headsuckers better, but they are hardly the most serious threat at this point. Also, explosions tend to destroy equipment, and while I'm not sure about the particulars, I prefer to capture stuff intact and research it at this point. Perhaps when everything is researched, I can safely use huge explosions to wipe out the enemy instead. I sure would like something to punch a hole in one of the UFOs the next time I need to storm it. Beats using the front door in general.

*Ship to ship combat is getting rather tricky. I think reloading plasma weapons for 14 hoverbikes cost something like 1400 elerium. I'll have to check the numbers again. I'm considering just using 20-25 hoverbikes with janitor missiles to get the job done instead. Maybe add some hovercars to the mix. Either way, I'll need more cash, so it's time to raid for psiclone again.
*I wonder if I should leave the other four UFOs alone and let the aliens do whatever they do when they disappear. I'm paranoid they'll leave the ship and infiltrate the surrounding buildings, but I'm pretty sure they just vanish or go home. I think I do need to keep my score down a bit, and I don't really need another assault ship for now. The loot would be handy, but I think I already have all the tech. Capturing a live skeletoid would be handy, but on the other hand, I probably have a bunch of stuff to research as it is. I can't wait for Toxiguns though.

*The plantation slum map is probably the quickest map for grabbing psiclone. There's only four, but the handy thing is that you can get them all easily. Go the second floor first. While enemies do spawn there, there is only one way out, so you can just stun them all and grab the psiclone if someone has picked it up. Afterwards, you can get the psiclone in the two sheds. Enemies occasionally spawn near the SW shed, but usually only one or two and he doesn't wander too far.
*The plantation map is the 05 series in the slum folder. Here's the other maps I have tested so far:
01: Central Elevator
02: Bridge
03: Grasslands
04: U Shaped Building
05: Plantation

Hmm, I am not sure what to do about extra aliens in alien containment. I wish the game would just auto-destroy them when it's clear that you no longer need them? Can some aliens be researched twice, or can you dump them once they've been crossed off on your research list?
--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 19:49, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----

====12:15pm====
Amazing how much can happen in 15 minutes of game time.

*Camping out at the front of the assault ship works, but aliens managed to get out of the ship somehow. I guess it was because something kicked up a smoke cloud in front of the exit. I tried using a stun grenade to dispel it. I wonder exactly how much smoke or stun gas cuts down visibility exactly. Anyway, a pair of skeletoids charged me and got taken down promptly.

Also, a pair of poppers and a brainsucker somehow escaped, perhaps their morale broke and were trying to flee. The AI is still pretty limited, but it has interesting features like that. They snuck out and tried to get away from the back rather than charging headlong into my ambush. But then the poppers charged when they saw me. Strange. Aliens also retreat when they get wounded or are under heavy fire. Too bad they're not smart enough to avoid winding up under heavy fire in the first place.

*Sniper rifles are okay, but I can't wait until I can swap them out for dual devastator cannons. The cannons are 20% less accurate, but they hit a lot harder. Perhaps toxiguns would work too.

=====Base Management=====
*If you are setting up research bases, you will notice that each [[Living Quarters]] always houses 10 units and that each lab can support five or ten scientists in the case of advanced structures. The typical research base will probably have four small labs and one large lab, which is probably the maximum amount the game will let you have. That's a total of 30 scientists and they will completely fill three Living Quarters. So if you want to station a few soldiers at each research base (you need at least one, or you automatically lose a base defense mission), then you should keep all your soldiers at one base, and send a few over the your research base. I'm not sure exactly how training works in this situation. Maybe the soldier can using the training facility at the home base, or perhaps you'll need to build training facilities at the research base if you want you troops to be able to train while guarding the base. In any case, you can send your androids off to perform guard duty. They're more durable anyway, which is good if you need a base defender, and you can send them off on solo psiclone stun raids which means won't have to fiddle with equipment setups on your main troops, unless you want to use stun raids to boost your stats, but that's another story.

=====Air Battles=====
*Hoverbike strategy is getting more complex. I'd really like to be able to assign fixed squadrons. Also, micromanaging seems to yield some improved results. You can reduce casualties by pausing at the right moments and having your bikes and surround the aliens.

*Friendly fire seems to be a big issue with hoverbikes. At least with the [[Bolter lasers]]. The bikes in front tend to get shot by their comrades behind them. Rather embarrassing really. I guess the solution is to split your forces up and attack from multiple directions. If you really wanted to go nuts on micro, you could even have parts of the same attack squadron fight from different altitudes. Impractical unless the game helped you manage this though.

*Disruptors do not fit on hoverbikes, hovercars or Valkyries. I wonder what the optimal loadout for the hoverbikes are. Perhaps the Lineage Plasma Cannon, if you can afford the elerium.

*I wonder if upgrading hoverbike engines is worth the trouble and expense considering you'll lose some anyway.

*Perhaps it's better to save the big plasma cannons for hovercars, preferrably shielded hovercars. There are never enough plasma cannons for sale, and the hoverbikes often get killed in one shot if they get hit.

=To Cheat, or not to Cheat...=
To Cheat, or not to Cheat, that is the Question: 
Whether 'tis Nobler in the minde to suffer 
The Slings and Arrowes of outragious Fortune, 
Or to take up Questionable Tactics against a Sea of Hostile Boomeroid-chucking Alien Hordes, 
And by Cheating end them: to Play, to Cheat 
No more; and by Cheat, to say we end 
The Heart-ache, and the thousand Naturall shockes 
That X-COM: Apocalypse is heir too? 

The original words have been crassly abducted from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_be,_or_not_to_be Hamlet's Soliloquy].

User:Captain Foo

2008-09-04T03:35:13Z

Captain Foo: /* An X-Com 3 Beginner's Log: assorted observations and trivia within */

Stuff I'm working on:
* [[Defending_Mega_Primus_from_Evil_Space_Aliens%2C_a_Beginner%27s_Guide]]

=An X-Com 3 Beginner's Log: assorted observations and trivia within=
I'm going to organize my ideas a bit here before moving them to the main wiki...

==Week 1==
===Day 1===
*Your initial base layout will be randomized, and you can get one of several starting bases. It's a good idea to restart the game a few times to see what you can get, though this can get a rather annoying. The main annoyance with this method is that the game places all the buildings randomly, so it's quite common to get a layout that will a pain to defend later. Sometimes you do get lucky with good placement and a properly situated repair bay though. Of course, you can in theory do a few stun raids here to get some funds to pay for a renovation if you don't mind cheating a bit.

*The minute you start, there will already be an alien infiltration in your city. The question is whether you want to save and reload and cheat to find them, or wait for an alien sighting. If you wait for a sighting, you should also watch the graphs and be prepared to investigate neighboring buildings as the alien infection will probably have spread a bit by the time an alien is spotted.

*[[Hoverbike_(Apocalypse)|Hoverbikes]]! Nothing beats hoverbikes! Buy some hoverbikes and sell your ground vehicles, which aren't of much use early on.

===Day 2===

*Week 1 is quite easy. All you need is a fleet of hoverbikes with laser cannons (cheapest way to take down UFO since lasers require no ammo), and an android soldier for brainsucker immunity.
*The hardest part is probably getting your system set up. Your troops, but mainly your base will probably need to be reconfigured slightly. You will want to decide where you want to keep your aircraft hanger and will need to make room for security stations around that hangar and at the base entrance.
*Don't do what I did and try to use the APC. While it is nice and large, it can't get to UFO crash sites, which makes it of limited value.
*Ditto with the Stormdog or other road combat vehicles. If the road gets blown up under your vehicle, you lose it. If the road gets blown up in front of your vehicle, it gets stuck and can't move. However if you are inclined to experiment, you can install the Roadwar mod which makes roads invulnerable. It also seems to make air vehicles more expensive however, which is a bit of a disappointment.

==Week 2==
*Valkyrie or better is essential for UFO captures. Roger Wong's guide does recommend selling the Valkyries to buy Hovercars. If you feel you can capture Transporters with just 4 troops, this can work. But you'll need that Valkyrie for anything bigger. Also there's the problem of the Hovercar only having room for either a cargo hold or a bio-transport module.
*Stun raids are fun. But watch the tactical points. Too many points and aliens will bring vortex mines and shields to the party. Vortex mines are not fun. :(
*You can actually pick up and drop off troops from other bases with your vehicles. In fact, you can even station troops at a base that they do not live at. So you do have some extra flexibility with where you put your living quarters this way. Where do your troops sleep and shower if their barracks are halfway across town? Who knows? Maybe androids don't need to sleep or shower anyway.

==Week 3==
===Sunday===

*I am finding disruptor guns when I raid Diablo's slums now. Weird. It's not like they have been infiltrated by aliens. Where are they getting them? Anyway, my tactical score is about to hit 5000 soon. I hope those extra labs get online soon. Six bio labs now, but not one of them is large enough to research Toxiguns yet. Two more physics labs came online today, which is good. Mixing physicists and scientists is confusing. I am wondering when I will get to build large physics labs too.

====Base Setup====
*Base organization is a huge deal. Having mixed bio and physics labs and engineers in the same base makes life more confusing.
:*Transferring stuff around is a annoying too.
:*However establishing separate bases for bio, physics and engineering requires a ton of money. Thank goodness for stun raids even if it is cheating.

====Troops====
*To misquote GI Joe: Organization is half the battle. Setting up your soldiers with enough weapons, especially grenades can be a pain in the neck with a large squad.
:*I currently have 12 Soldiers in 3 squads of 4. This might be a bit much. Maybe 3 squads of 3 or 2 squads of 4 is sufficient.
::*More soldiers means more micromanagement. :(
*Current troop setup:
:*4 Androids as shock troops. 2 Plasma Guns each. 4 Stun grenades, 2 HE grenades, 1 medikit. They can take more hits, and they like [[brainsucker sushi]], so they go in first.
:*4 Humans as regular troops. Same gear as the androids. I could go with HE autocannons or something more interesting, but that would require too much micro.
:*4 Humans as snipers. Dual wielding Laser Sniper Rifles seems like a good way to go. With aimed or snap shot, they should still have good accuracy and a decent fire rate from dual wielding.
:Marsec armor for all the troops. I tried skimping on the [[medikits]] to save on some weight. But the extra micro isn't really worth it. Having to play pass the [[medkit]] when someone gets wounded is a bad idea when they are bleeding badly. Plasma guns are great though. Great accuracy, good damage, dual wieldable with no penalty. What's not to like? Lack of ammo. Thank goodness for stun raids. If you don't want to cheat, I guess you could raid CoS, maybe in turn-based so they don't blow you up with rockets and grenades so quickly. I guess it would be fun to bankrupt them anyway. :)

====Vehicles====
*[[Hoverbikes]] are still fairly effective, but more bikes means more micromanagement. :( It's probably time to upgrade to [[hovercars]] soon. They are almost as fast as hoverbikes with upgraded engines. I could also go with [[Hawk Air Warriors]], but they are even more expensive.
*The maximum number of vehicles you can put in a group is 13. Why 13? Who knows? But not being able to set up persistent groups for your vehicles makes managing hoverbikes a lot of work. Sure, I could send 39 odd hoverbikes into battle, but not if the game requires me to click 39 times every time some UFOs show up. What ever happened to click and drag and square to select your forces? Or Ctrl 1-9?
*Running into problems with tougher UFOs now. Switching from Laser Cannons to Plasma. Thank goodness for stun raids for those elerium pods. I could use Janitor missiles, but they are rather expensive. Using Janitor missiles against Type 1 and 2 UFOs seems like a waste though.

--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 10:26, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----
===Monday===
====12:00pm====
*Just downed a rather large attack wave and captured the first alien assault ship. Current tactical points are about 5400 and total points over 111000. I kinda wish I had heard NKF's advice regarding stun raids sooner. However, I'd picked up a shiny power sword in my last major stun raid and didn't feel like giving it up.
*Things are getting interesting with the latest assault ship I stormed. Tactically it was a piece of cake, since doing a quick perimeter sweep and camping outside the front door with plasma guns and laser snipers works amazingly well. NFK's advice was useful here too. [[Dual-wield]] seems to work best on slow firing weapons. Four snipers with two rifles each can lay down a very nice volume of fire and when lying down, their shots are still quite accurate.
*The aliens are bringing more interesting toys. Devastator cannons, gas grenades and something nasty that causes big purple explosions. Hanging out in the elevator of the assault ship is a bad idea in general. Camping outside is probably best. Actually, there are two Chrysalises in the Assault Ship, but they seem to be auto-captured once you kill everyone else.
*Aliens always seem to appear in groups of 5, at least in Novice mode. Maybe they send more in superhuman.
*They vary the attack waves quite a bit. Last turn it was a transporter and a handful of scouts, then two assault ships and three fast attack ships, and then this turn an assault ship, a transporter and three scouts. Weird since I'd expect their forces to steady escalate, especially since I am racking up more points with each wave.

*Laser and plasma weapons are particularly useful when dealing with [[poppers]], since they do not detonate the popper when killing it.
*I saw my first pair of skeletoids. At least that's what I think they are. Yellow guys that jump around. A perimeter sweep around the far side of the assault ship was a good idea, since they were already on their way out. Nothing like getting ambushed from behind while you are camping to ruin your day.
*There appears to be only one exit for the assault ship, which makes things very convenient for you since you only have one exit to cover.
*I standardized on Plasma Guns and Laser Snipers. I suppose I could add autocannons to the mix, but I'm not convinced about the usefulness of using explosive ammo. It does kill headsuckers better, but they are hardly the most serious threat at this point. Also, explosions tend to destroy equipment, and while I'm not sure about the particulars, I prefer to capture stuff intact and research it at this point. Perhaps when everything is researched, I can safely use huge explosions to wipe out the enemy instead. I sure would like something to punch a hole in one of the UFOs the next time I need to storm it. Beats using the front door in general.

*Ship to ship combat is getting rather tricky. I think reloading plasma weapons for 14 hoverbikes cost something like 1400 elerium. I'll have to check the numbers again. I'm considering just using 20-25 hoverbikes with janitor missiles to get the job done instead. Maybe add some hovercars to the mix. Either way, I'll need more cash, so it's time to raid for psiclone again.
*I wonder if I should leave the other four UFOs alone and let the aliens do whatever they do when they disappear. I'm paranoid they'll leave the ship and infiltrate the surrounding buildings, but I'm pretty sure they just vanish or go home. I think I do need to keep my score down a bit, and I don't really need another assault ship for now. The loot would be handy, but I think I already have all the tech. Capturing a live skeletoid would be handy, but on the other hand, I probably have a bunch of stuff to research as it is. I can't wait for Toxiguns though.

*The plantation slum map is probably the quickest map for grabbing psiclone. There's only four, but the handy thing is that you can get them all easily. Go the second floor first. While enemies do spawn there, there is only one way out, so you can just stun them all and grab the psiclone if someone has picked it up. Afterwards, you can get the psiclone in the two sheds. Enemies occasionally spawn near the SW shed, but usually only one or two and he doesn't wander too far.
*The plantation map is the 05 series in the slum folder. Here's the other maps I have tested so far:
01: Central Elevator
02: Bridge
03: Grasslands
04: U Shaped Building
05: Plantation

Hmm, I am not sure what to do about extra aliens in alien containment. I wish the game would just auto-destroy them when it's clear that you no longer need them? Can some aliens be researched twice, or can you dump them once they've been crossed off on your research list?
--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 19:49, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----

====12:15pm====
Amazing how much can happen in 15 minutes of game time.

*Camping out at the front of the assault ship works, but aliens managed to get out of the ship somehow. I guess it was because something kicked up a smoke cloud in front of the exit. I tried using a stun grenade to dispel it. I wonder exactly how much smoke or stun gas cuts down visibility exactly. Anyway, a pair of skeletoids charged me and got taken down promptly.

Also, a pair of poppers and a brainsucker somehow escaped, perhaps their morale broke and were trying to flee. The AI is still pretty limited, but it has interesting features like that. They snuck out and tried to get away from the back rather than charging headlong into my ambush. But then the poppers charged when they saw me. Strange. Aliens also retreat when they get wounded or are under heavy fire. Too bad they're not smart enough to avoid winding up under heavy fire in the first place.

*Sniper rifles are okay, but I can't wait until I can swap them out for dual devastator cannons. The cannons are 20% less accurate, but they hit a lot harder. Perhaps toxiguns would work too.

=====Base Management=====
*If you are setting up research bases, you will notice that each [[Living Quarters]] always houses 10 units and that each lab can support five or ten scientists in the case of advanced structures. The typical research base will probably have four small labs and one large lab, which is probably the maximum amount the game will let you have. That's a total of 30 scientists and they will completely fill three Living Quarters. So if you want to station a few soldiers at each research base (you need at least one, or you automatically lose a base defense mission), then you should keep all your soldiers at one base, and send a few over the your research base. I'm not sure exactly how training works in this situation. Maybe the soldier can using the training facility at the home base, or perhaps you'll need to build training facilities at the research base if you want you troops to be able to train while guarding the base. In any case, you can send your androids off to perform guard duty. They're more durable anyway, which is good if you need a base defender, and you can send them off on solo psiclone stun raids which means won't have to fiddle with equipment setups on your main troops, unless you want to use stun raids to boost your stats, but that's another story.

=====Air Battles=====
*Hoverbike strategy is getting more complex. I'd really like to be able to assign fixed squadrons. Also, micromanaging seems to yield some improved results. You can reduce casualties by pausing at the right moments and having your bikes and surround the aliens.

*Friendly fire seems to be a big issue with hoverbikes. At least with the [[Bolter lasers]]. The bikes in front tend to get shot by their comrades behind them. Rather embarrassing really. I guess the solution is to split your forces up and attack from multiple directions. If you really wanted to go nuts on micro, you could even have parts of the same attack squadron fight from different altitudes. Impractical unless the game helped you manage this though.

*Disruptors do not fit on hoverbikes, hovercars or Valkyries. I wonder what the optimal loadout for the hoverbikes are. Perhaps the Lineage Plasma Cannon, if you can afford the elerium.

*I wonder if upgrading hoverbike engines is worth the trouble and expense considering you'll lose some anyway.

*Perhaps it's better to save the big plasma cannons for hovercars, preferrably shielded hovercars. There are never enough plasma cannons for sale, and the hoverbikes often get killed in one shot if they get hit.

=To Cheat, or not to Cheat...=
To Cheat, or not to Cheat, that is the Question: 
Whether 'tis Nobler in the minde to suffer 
The Slings and Arrowes of outragious Fortune, 
Or to take up Questionable Tactics against a Sea of Hostile Boomeroid-chucking Alien Hordes, 
And by Cheating end them: to Play, to Cheat 
No more; and by Cheat, to say we end 
The Heart-ache, and the thousand Naturall shockes 
That X-COM: Apocalypse is heir too? 

The original words have been crassly abducted from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_be,_or_not_to_be Hamlet's Soliloquy].

User talk:Captain Foo

2008-09-04T02:44:41Z

Captain Foo: /* Bases */ squished a typo

Hi!

----

After reading some of your notes, I thought I'd offer some advice.

Week 2 Notes:

- As you've noticed that you don't have to be stationed at a base to use other base facilities, remember that you can do the same with vehicles too. Once you've built a manufacturing base that specializes in cranking out tons of goodies, just send your ships there whenever they need to stock up.

(tip: for this base, ignore storage capacity and just build one Gen. stores - you won't be buying anything, just moving stuff directly off/on ships and out of the workshop), use this base as a dump for excess goodies (brought in manually by your own ships - or have your dropship that's returning from a mission site land at the storage/manufacturing base rather than its originating base).

Do the same with your hangar/repair bay as well. Only build one in the entire city and seal it off with defense modules. When ships get damaged, park them at the base with the hangar and then have them return home once fixed. This really helps in assisting base defense layout planning. I mean, with only one access point (in most bases), there's no reason not to build a forest of plasma and disrupter defense modules around the lift.

Week 3 Notes:

- Guards also have a technology/score roll-out schedule like the aliens. They're generally a little slower than the aliens, but a few players (well, one that I know of at least) have reported them getting the tech a lot earlier if they are infiltrated - well before the aliens. Take that with a grain of salt until it's verified.

- Lab tips:

Don't go overboard with your labs! Only build at most two of each respective lab types at your research base (ideally your main assault base). Once you get access to the larger variety, all 20 staff members for the two small labs will give you a full team to fill up a large lab, but first you need space to build the labs as each is 2x2 in size. To reduce the clutter at your main base, I suggest moving your workshop facility to another base. Your repair bay is also a good facility to relocate if you centralize the bulk of your combat aircraft at another base. Also keep your living quarters and stores to the barest minimum.

If you decide to make your bio lab or quantum physics lab at a different base from the base where you station your troop transport: Whenever you capture something new, have your ship park at the research base before heading home so that it deposits the equipment or captured aliens directly into the research base. This is REALLY helpful later if Transtellar throw a fit and stops providing transport services to you. You can get on without them - it just means a bit of extra micromanaging.

Two or three bases should give you plenty of space to contain all your functions and make the bases extremely defendable. Luckily, unlike UFO and TFTD, there's no need to build more bases as intercept outposts, since parking in Mega Primus is free everywhere and there's a reasonably large limit to the number of ships you can store at a base.

To get the large bio-lab, go for the multiworm life cycle. That is, multiworm egg, chryssalis, hyperworm, multiworm and their respective corpses. The large quantum physics lab becomes available... heh, memory fails. I know the large workshop becomes available once you can start building the Dimension Probe (which I recommend skipping - more on that in a bit). Just research everything that you can and it'll become available.

Equipping large squads:

There's a quick way to equip lots of agents at the same time by extending the selection of agents that you are equipping.

Select the inventory of one of the units. Then ctrl+click all the agent icons on the right panel that you want to equip (Yes! It's the same as selecting multiple vehicles in the cityscape). This will highlight their icons. Start to equip your visible agent. All the selected units will mimic what you're doing and equip everything in the same slot. Note, if some slots are already filled, they will not equip the item you want to place there. If you remove any items, anything that's stored in that slot will be removed. Say the slot you designated to carry a stun grenade was filled with an ammo clip on one of the agents. Place an item there, then remove it. This will clear the slot for all agents in the selection.

Note that you must have the same amount of items in storage as the number of agents you have selected to be able to select an item from storage!

I recommend making a common equipment setup that everyone uses. For example: Everyone carries two stun grenades in the left pocket and two AP grenades in the right, a medikit on the right leg and a smoke grenade on the right shoulder lapel slot. This way you can select EVERYONE and rearm them all at once. Then go into you respective smaller sub-groups and arm them accordingly with their unique setup.

Equipment suggestions:

Might I recommend berserker androids with swords? Simply amazing. It's an acquired taste and needs some strategy in addition to blindly charging towards the aliens (or walking to attack at the same time if there are nearby targets), but simply amazing. Then again, try this after you're comfortable playing the game on Superhuman.

Dual Autocannons rock. I recommend sticking to AP rounds almost exclusively as they are the most damaging non-explosive ranged weapon you can buy plus they won't rip up large sections of carpet compared to HE. Keep at least one HE and INC round on your belts though, as a sudden burst of HE to wipe out a mob of hyperworms (or shoot the floor to blast off a brainsucker that's on your head when you're isolated from the rest of the team) or you might suddenly need to force a tight mob of anthropods to flee in panic from fire (forced AI reaction - even on your troops). It's good to have options.

Vehicles:

Hoverbikes last a fair while. Do watch out for any Bombers though (They're green). They eat hoverbikes for breakfast with their multibomb, a weapon that appears to be designed to wipe out hoverbike swarms. But DO invest in some Hawk squadrons (or Hawk + Hoverbike squadrons). You'll need the heavier firepower, and they're also the only ship that'll mount the medium disrupters until you can build the Explorer, Retaliator or Annihilator. You'll need a minimum of medium disrupters to shoot down the capital ships as their hulls are too tough for most weapons. Consider selling your Valkyrie to finance your first Hawk if cash is tight.

Ever try using the default hoverbike minigun? It's an amazing weapon if you give it a go. Not that good against really tough enemies like the Fast Attack Ship, but since you get so many hoverbikes, you might as well use the default ammo up. it's accurate and has a high rate of fire, but the individual bullets won't hurt your surroundings so much, but can still put the hurt on UFOs.

By the way, I tend to get through the game with a good portion of my hoverbikes armed with Bolter lasers, even when fighting tougher UFOs. A mix of janitor, prophet and Lineage Plasma cannons for say half the squad works quite well. Also you don't have to go after EVERY enemy ship, so concentrate your firepower on the ships that matter (aka the dropships and any of the escorts (such as Fast Attack Ships) that you have not yet captured at least once)

By the way, speaking of inter-dimensional aircraft: Save your workshop hours and skip building the Dimension Probe after you've researched it. Proceed onto the Bio Trans, which you get right after the Dim. Probe. Also, when scouting the alien dimension for the first time, retreat immediately the moment you switch to the alien dimension. The first visit is merely to open up research into your first target in the alien dimension, and only a brief glance is required.

When leaving UFOs alone, to keep the infiltration low: Pause a lot and keep an eye on the dropship in the fleet. When I say dropship, I mean the ship that'll drop aliens into a building. Ships like the Fast Attack Ships tend to just link up with the dropship and escort them around the city. Those can be left alone or avoided. While you're watching the various dropships, the moment something is beamed down (be sure it's white, and not blue sparkles), tag the building (I like to send a road vehicle - since it's slow and won't get shot at by the aliens - it's just to mark the building). Then send your troop transport there immediately (well, wait for the UFOs to clear out of the way). Do the same for all two or three dropships. Mark each building (however you see fit). Once your troop carrier arrives at the site, investigate the area right away. After you've cleared the site, keep the building marked and proceed immediately to the next site. Repeat until all major sites have been cleared. For the rest of the day, watch your graphs every hour or half hour and refresh the top-ten infiltration level charts. If you see any sharp rise in activity, go back to the cityscape view, hit the organizations tab, select the organization that you want to investigate and then tab to the overhead map view. Look for highlighted buildings that are close to the earlier dropsites. Send your troop carrier to the building and investigate. The enemy numbers will generally be quite reduced, but don't let your guard down and be prepared for sudden hordes (got overrun by spitters at one time - rather embarrassing!). Once cleared, keep watching your graphs and repeat the process until the graphs start to drop off. When done, you're all clear for the rest of the day, and if you keep this up all the time you'll never lose any of the companies to normal alien infiltration. That doesn't count companies getting taken over via a micronoid rain attack or if they get grumpy at you due to your poor performance in their buildings (when offered bribes, they'll say the aliens are their 'friends' even if they dislike the aliens. So don't pay any heed to that expression).

-[[User:NKF|NKF]] 00:24, 1 September 2008 (PDT)
----
Ah excellent. Thanks for the feedback. It's definitely given me a lot of interesting ideas. Ctrl-clicking to equip troops! That's very helpful. I've been going nuts with the labs because at the beginning it seems that there is a ton of biological stuff to research, but no physics stuff. Then, during the middle of week two you get swamped with physics projects as you begin to capture UFOs. --[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 11:45, 1 September 2008 (PDT)

=Bases=
Anyway, as far as the bases go, how many do you typically build and what's your approach to building labs and workshops?

Perhaps the best setup is two small labs, and then the large biology labs in your main base, if space permits, and then a separate base for two small and two large physics labs. Throw in an engineering base and that makes three bases which is reasonably cheap. Maybe a fourth base (provided there is money and time to build it) for more workshops to build stuff for money would be helpful if you don't intend to cheat by stun raiding.

----

Don't worry too much about trying to race through all the research topics. The topics are fairly finite, and there'll be plenty of downtime periods in the bio lab, so one large version of each lab should do unless you're trying to catch up with alien tech if you advanced it too much.

As for bases, I generally end up with about three main bases. I like to use the smaller layouts as they are easy to set up for defence, but do mean I have to spread my functions out over several bases. I tend to avoid the slum maps, even though they have tons of space. Not so much for the space, but for the fact that slum buildings collapse really easily, while warehouses are sturdier.

On the superhuman map I like to get the starting base that's like a S on its side. The grav-lift's in the middle, so I try to get the repair bay shifted to the right side of the base and everything else on the left. (I just keep restarting until the repair bay's on the right). I end up reorganizing the base so that most of the facilities are along the left side, and to make room to accommodate the two large labs.

Since this base is rather limited in size, I try to make do with less general stores, and use small squads so that I don't need so many quarters.

The second base (well, perhaps not strictly in this order) I buy to move my repair bay out. I like the layouts that's shaped like an 8 or a V. The 8's awesome (both versions - one's lumpier along one edge) as the grav-lift is in the centre, and you can split the whole base in half by putting a belt of defence modules along the center strip or along the long corridors. With the repair bay all the way at one end of the base and nothing much else, the enemies will end up spread out and become easy pickings for the defence modules as they make their way to populated side. The Y shaped one is very good too. It's small, but very easy to split into two sections with a defence module block around the grav-lift.

With the repair bay removed from the main base, I end up with one less entry point into the most important base in the city. Actually, these two shapes are great for decentralizing either of the labs too if you wanted The C shaped layout is great for this too.

My third base is to shift my workshop out. I like to use the + shaped layout for this. It's great because it consist of 5 2x2 areas, 4 of which can be used for large facilities. I place one gen. stores, one or two quarters and a med-bay along one the eastern arm or central area. If I've still only got small workshops, I'll plug that in the middle. The area around the grav-lift (the western arm) gets a mass of defence modules. Once I can build the large workshop, I build two and decommission the old workshop. This layout's also good if you want a dedicated facility to house both the bio and quantum lab if you wanted. I mainly like it for my manufacturing plant.

By now my main base will have been streamlined a bit and the number of facilities cut down. Actually there'll be lots of empty corridors (less areas for friendlies like the scientists to spawn).

Any other bases I buy afterwards tend to be for the kicks, or perhaps squad organization. Money permitting!

Keep in mind that except for the concept of splitting bases in half and using most of the smaller base/warehouse layouts, most of what I've mentioned above isn't something I strictly follow. It's just how things tend to turn out.

Hope that gives some ideas.

- [[User:NKF|NKF]] 00:12, 2 September 2008 (PDT)
----

Hmm, that was pretty interesting. Maybe it's time to start a separate article on bases layout. :)

I'm curious what your build order looks like, though perhaps it is more like a set of rough guidelines. It seems like defense is the number one priority with all the bases though, rather than organizing everything perfectly.

If I'm following you, I guess there won't be much at the third base except for a workshop, defense modules and perhaps one general stores.

Do the first and second bases both have mixed bio and physics labs then? It seems like the first base has a slight advantage in researching bio as it has it's alien containment prebuilt. It also seems like a good place to centrally house all your troops as it already has a hospital and training facility for them.

Also, what is the reason for moving the repair bay to the second base? Is the second base more defensible than the first one for some reason?

There are some interesting base layouts at the X-com UFO forums [http://www.xcomufo.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=2318 here], I wonder if they look anything like your bases. I get the impression that the OP may have too many security stations, but then again, maybe a extra layer of security stations is helpful in Superhuman mode.
*Also it seems that playing the game at high difficulty levels becomes a matter of going slow and keeping the amount of points you have low, and perhaps not making too many enemies, rather than rushing up the tech tree. --[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 19:43, 3 September 2008 (PDT)

User talk:Captain Foo

2008-09-04T02:43:53Z

Captain Foo: /* Bases */

Hi!

----

After reading some of your notes, I thought I'd offer some advice.

Week 2 Notes:

- As you've noticed that you don't have to be stationed at a base to use other base facilities, remember that you can do the same with vehicles too. Once you've built a manufacturing base that specializes in cranking out tons of goodies, just send your ships there whenever they need to stock up.

(tip: for this base, ignore storage capacity and just build one Gen. stores - you won't be buying anything, just moving stuff directly off/on ships and out of the workshop), use this base as a dump for excess goodies (brought in manually by your own ships - or have your dropship that's returning from a mission site land at the storage/manufacturing base rather than its originating base).

Do the same with your hangar/repair bay as well. Only build one in the entire city and seal it off with defense modules. When ships get damaged, park them at the base with the hangar and then have them return home once fixed. This really helps in assisting base defense layout planning. I mean, with only one access point (in most bases), there's no reason not to build a forest of plasma and disrupter defense modules around the lift.

Week 3 Notes:

- Guards also have a technology/score roll-out schedule like the aliens. They're generally a little slower than the aliens, but a few players (well, one that I know of at least) have reported them getting the tech a lot earlier if they are infiltrated - well before the aliens. Take that with a grain of salt until it's verified.

- Lab tips:

Don't go overboard with your labs! Only build at most two of each respective lab types at your research base (ideally your main assault base). Once you get access to the larger variety, all 20 staff members for the two small labs will give you a full team to fill up a large lab, but first you need space to build the labs as each is 2x2 in size. To reduce the clutter at your main base, I suggest moving your workshop facility to another base. Your repair bay is also a good facility to relocate if you centralize the bulk of your combat aircraft at another base. Also keep your living quarters and stores to the barest minimum.

If you decide to make your bio lab or quantum physics lab at a different base from the base where you station your troop transport: Whenever you capture something new, have your ship park at the research base before heading home so that it deposits the equipment or captured aliens directly into the research base. This is REALLY helpful later if Transtellar throw a fit and stops providing transport services to you. You can get on without them - it just means a bit of extra micromanaging.

Two or three bases should give you plenty of space to contain all your functions and make the bases extremely defendable. Luckily, unlike UFO and TFTD, there's no need to build more bases as intercept outposts, since parking in Mega Primus is free everywhere and there's a reasonably large limit to the number of ships you can store at a base.

To get the large bio-lab, go for the multiworm life cycle. That is, multiworm egg, chryssalis, hyperworm, multiworm and their respective corpses. The large quantum physics lab becomes available... heh, memory fails. I know the large workshop becomes available once you can start building the Dimension Probe (which I recommend skipping - more on that in a bit). Just research everything that you can and it'll become available.

Equipping large squads:

There's a quick way to equip lots of agents at the same time by extending the selection of agents that you are equipping.

Select the inventory of one of the units. Then ctrl+click all the agent icons on the right panel that you want to equip (Yes! It's the same as selecting multiple vehicles in the cityscape). This will highlight their icons. Start to equip your visible agent. All the selected units will mimic what you're doing and equip everything in the same slot. Note, if some slots are already filled, they will not equip the item you want to place there. If you remove any items, anything that's stored in that slot will be removed. Say the slot you designated to carry a stun grenade was filled with an ammo clip on one of the agents. Place an item there, then remove it. This will clear the slot for all agents in the selection.

Note that you must have the same amount of items in storage as the number of agents you have selected to be able to select an item from storage!

I recommend making a common equipment setup that everyone uses. For example: Everyone carries two stun grenades in the left pocket and two AP grenades in the right, a medikit on the right leg and a smoke grenade on the right shoulder lapel slot. This way you can select EVERYONE and rearm them all at once. Then go into you respective smaller sub-groups and arm them accordingly with their unique setup.

Equipment suggestions:

Might I recommend berserker androids with swords? Simply amazing. It's an acquired taste and needs some strategy in addition to blindly charging towards the aliens (or walking to attack at the same time if there are nearby targets), but simply amazing. Then again, try this after you're comfortable playing the game on Superhuman.

Dual Autocannons rock. I recommend sticking to AP rounds almost exclusively as they are the most damaging non-explosive ranged weapon you can buy plus they won't rip up large sections of carpet compared to HE. Keep at least one HE and INC round on your belts though, as a sudden burst of HE to wipe out a mob of hyperworms (or shoot the floor to blast off a brainsucker that's on your head when you're isolated from the rest of the team) or you might suddenly need to force a tight mob of anthropods to flee in panic from fire (forced AI reaction - even on your troops). It's good to have options.

Vehicles:

Hoverbikes last a fair while. Do watch out for any Bombers though (They're green). They eat hoverbikes for breakfast with their multibomb, a weapon that appears to be designed to wipe out hoverbike swarms. But DO invest in some Hawk squadrons (or Hawk + Hoverbike squadrons). You'll need the heavier firepower, and they're also the only ship that'll mount the medium disrupters until you can build the Explorer, Retaliator or Annihilator. You'll need a minimum of medium disrupters to shoot down the capital ships as their hulls are too tough for most weapons. Consider selling your Valkyrie to finance your first Hawk if cash is tight.

Ever try using the default hoverbike minigun? It's an amazing weapon if you give it a go. Not that good against really tough enemies like the Fast Attack Ship, but since you get so many hoverbikes, you might as well use the default ammo up. it's accurate and has a high rate of fire, but the individual bullets won't hurt your surroundings so much, but can still put the hurt on UFOs.

By the way, I tend to get through the game with a good portion of my hoverbikes armed with Bolter lasers, even when fighting tougher UFOs. A mix of janitor, prophet and Lineage Plasma cannons for say half the squad works quite well. Also you don't have to go after EVERY enemy ship, so concentrate your firepower on the ships that matter (aka the dropships and any of the escorts (such as Fast Attack Ships) that you have not yet captured at least once)

By the way, speaking of inter-dimensional aircraft: Save your workshop hours and skip building the Dimension Probe after you've researched it. Proceed onto the Bio Trans, which you get right after the Dim. Probe. Also, when scouting the alien dimension for the first time, retreat immediately the moment you switch to the alien dimension. The first visit is merely to open up research into your first target in the alien dimension, and only a brief glance is required.

When leaving UFOs alone, to keep the infiltration low: Pause a lot and keep an eye on the dropship in the fleet. When I say dropship, I mean the ship that'll drop aliens into a building. Ships like the Fast Attack Ships tend to just link up with the dropship and escort them around the city. Those can be left alone or avoided. While you're watching the various dropships, the moment something is beamed down (be sure it's white, and not blue sparkles), tag the building (I like to send a road vehicle - since it's slow and won't get shot at by the aliens - it's just to mark the building). Then send your troop transport there immediately (well, wait for the UFOs to clear out of the way). Do the same for all two or three dropships. Mark each building (however you see fit). Once your troop carrier arrives at the site, investigate the area right away. After you've cleared the site, keep the building marked and proceed immediately to the next site. Repeat until all major sites have been cleared. For the rest of the day, watch your graphs every hour or half hour and refresh the top-ten infiltration level charts. If you see any sharp rise in activity, go back to the cityscape view, hit the organizations tab, select the organization that you want to investigate and then tab to the overhead map view. Look for highlighted buildings that are close to the earlier dropsites. Send your troop carrier to the building and investigate. The enemy numbers will generally be quite reduced, but don't let your guard down and be prepared for sudden hordes (got overrun by spitters at one time - rather embarrassing!). Once cleared, keep watching your graphs and repeat the process until the graphs start to drop off. When done, you're all clear for the rest of the day, and if you keep this up all the time you'll never lose any of the companies to normal alien infiltration. That doesn't count companies getting taken over via a micronoid rain attack or if they get grumpy at you due to your poor performance in their buildings (when offered bribes, they'll say the aliens are their 'friends' even if they dislike the aliens. So don't pay any heed to that expression).

-[[User:NKF|NKF]] 00:24, 1 September 2008 (PDT)
----
Ah excellent. Thanks for the feedback. It's definitely given me a lot of interesting ideas. Ctrl-clicking to equip troops! That's very helpful. I've been going nuts with the labs because at the beginning it seems that there is a ton of biological stuff to research, but no physics stuff. Then, during the middle of week two you get swamped with physics projects as you begin to capture UFOs. --[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 11:45, 1 September 2008 (PDT)

=Bases=
Anyway, as far as the bases go, how many do you typically build and what's your approach to building labs and workshops?

Perhaps the best setup is two small labs, and then the large biology labs in your main base, if space permits, and then a separate base for two small and two large physics labs. Throw in an engineering base and that makes three bases which is reasonably cheap. Maybe a fourth base (provided there is money and time to build it) for more workshops to build stuff for money would be helpful if you don't intend to cheat by stun raiding.

----

Don't worry too much about trying to race through all the research topics. The topics are fairly finite, and there'll be plenty of downtime periods in the bio lab, so one large version of each lab should do unless you're trying to catch up with alien tech if you advanced it too much.

As for bases, I generally end up with about three main bases. I like to use the smaller layouts as they are easy to set up for defence, but do mean I have to spread my functions out over several bases. I tend to avoid the slum maps, even though they have tons of space. Not so much for the space, but for the fact that slum buildings collapse really easily, while warehouses are sturdier.

On the superhuman map I like to get the starting base that's like a S on its side. The grav-lift's in the middle, so I try to get the repair bay shifted to the right side of the base and everything else on the left. (I just keep restarting until the repair bay's on the right). I end up reorganizing the base so that most of the facilities are along the left side, and to make room to accommodate the two large labs.

Since this base is rather limited in size, I try to make do with less general stores, and use small squads so that I don't need so many quarters.

The second base (well, perhaps not strictly in this order) I buy to move my repair bay out. I like the layouts that's shaped like an 8 or a V. The 8's awesome (both versions - one's lumpier along one edge) as the grav-lift is in the centre, and you can split the whole base in half by putting a belt of defence modules along the center strip or along the long corridors. With the repair bay all the way at one end of the base and nothing much else, the enemies will end up spread out and become easy pickings for the defence modules as they make their way to populated side. The Y shaped one is very good too. It's small, but very easy to split into two sections with a defence module block around the grav-lift.

With the repair bay removed from the main base, I end up with one less entry point into the most important base in the city. Actually, these two shapes are great for decentralizing either of the labs too if you wanted The C shaped layout is great for this too.

My third base is to shift my workshop out. I like to use the + shaped layout for this. It's great because it consist of 5 2x2 areas, 4 of which can be used for large facilities. I place one gen. stores, one or two quarters and a med-bay along one the eastern arm or central area. If I've still only got small workshops, I'll plug that in the middle. The area around the grav-lift (the western arm) gets a mass of defence modules. Once I can build the large workshop, I build two and decommission the old workshop. This layout's also good if you want a dedicated facility to house both the bio and quantum lab if you wanted. I mainly like it for my manufacturing plant.

By now my main base will have been streamlined a bit and the number of facilities cut down. Actually there'll be lots of empty corridors (less areas for friendlies like the scientists to spawn).

Any other bases I buy afterwards tend to be for the kicks, or perhaps squad organization. Money permitting!

Keep in mind that except for the concept of splitting bases in half and using most of the smaller base/warehouse layouts, most of what I've mentioned above isn't something I strictly follow. It's just how things tend to turn out.

Hope that gives some ideas.

- [[User:NKF|NKF]] 00:12, 2 September 2008 (PDT)
----

Hmm, that was pretty interesting. Maybe it's time to start a separate article on bases layout. :)

I'm curious what your build order looks like, though perhaps it is more like a set of rough guidelines. It seems like defense is the number one priority with all the bases though, rather than organizing everything perfectly.

If I'm following you, I guess there won't be much at the third base except for a workshops, defense modules and perhaps one general stores.

Do the first and second bases both have mixed bio and physics labs then? It seems like the first base has a slight advantage in researching bio as it has it's alien containment prebuilt. It also seems like a good place to centrally house all your troops as it already has a hospital and training facility for them.

Also, what is the reason for moving the repair bay to the second base? Is the second base more defensible than the first one for some reason?

There are some interesting base layouts at the X-com UFO forums [http://www.xcomufo.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=2318 here], I wonder if they look anything like your bases. I get the impression that the OP may have too many security stations, but then again, maybe a extra layer of security stations is helpful in Superhuman mode.
*Also it seems that playing the game at high difficulty levels becomes a matter of going slow and keeping the amount of points you have low, and perhaps not making too many enemies, rather than rushing up the tech tree. --[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 19:43, 3 September 2008 (PDT)

User:Captain Foo

2008-09-04T02:16:54Z

Captain Foo: /* Air Battles */ air battle micro

Stuff I'm working on:
* [[Defending_Mega_Primus_from_Evil_Space_Aliens%2C_a_Beginner%27s_Guide]]

=An X-Com 3 Beginner's Log: assorted observations and trivia within=
I'm going to organize my ideas a bit here before moving them to the main wiki...

==Week 1==
*The minute you start, there will already be an alien infiltration in your city. The question is whether you want to save and reload and cheat to find them, or wait for an alien sighting. If you wait for a sighting, you should also watch the graphs and be prepared to investigate neighboring buildings as the alien infection will probably have spread a bit by the time an alien is spotted.
*[[Hoverbike_(Apocalypse)|Hoverbikes]]! Nothing beats hoverbikes!
*Week 1 is quite easy. All you need is a fleet of hoverbikes with laser cannons (cheapest way to take down UFO since lasers require no ammo), and an android soldier for brainsucker immunity.
*The hardest part is probably getting your system set up. Your troops, but mainly your base will probably need to be reconfigured slightly. You will want to decide where you want to keep your aircraft hanger and will need to make room for security stations around that hangar and at the base entrance.
*Don't do what I did and try to use the APC. While it is nice and large, it can't get to UFO crash sites, which makes it of limited value.
*Ditto with the Stormdog or other road combat vehicles. If the road gets blown up under your vehicle, you lose it. If the road gets blown up in front of your vehicle, it gets stuck and can't move. However if you are inclined to experiment, you can install the Roadwar mod which makes roads invulnerable. It also seems to make air vehicles more expensive however, which is a bit of a disappointment.

==Week 2==
*Valkyrie or better is essential for UFO captures. Roger Wong's guide does recommend selling the Valkyries to buy Hovercars. If you feel you can capture Transporters with just 4 troops, this can work. But you'll need that Valkyrie for anything bigger. Also there's the problem of the Hovercar only having room for either a cargo hold or a bio-transport module.
*Stun raids are fun. But watch the tactical points. Too many points and aliens will bring vortex mines and shields to the party. Vortex mines are not fun. :(
*You can actually pick up and drop off troops from other bases with your vehicles. In fact, you can even station troops at a base that they do not live at. So you do have some extra flexibility with where you put your living quarters this way. Where do your troops sleep and shower if their barracks are halfway across town? Who knows? Maybe androids don't need to sleep or shower anyway.

==Week 3==
===Sunday===

*I am finding disruptor guns when I raid Diablo's slums now. Weird. It's not like they have been infiltrated by aliens. Where are they getting them? Anyway, my tactical score is about to hit 5000 soon. I hope those extra labs get online soon. Six bio labs now, but not one of them is large enough to research Toxiguns yet. Two more physics labs came online today, which is good. Mixing physicists and scientists is confusing. I am wondering when I will get to build large physics labs too.

====Base Setup====
*Base organization is a huge deal. Having mixed bio and physics labs and engineers in the same base makes life more confusing.
:*Transferring stuff around is a annoying too.
:*However establishing separate bases for bio, physics and engineering requires a ton of money. Thank goodness for stun raids even if it is cheating.

====Troops====
*To misquote GI Joe: Organization is half the battle. Setting up your soldiers with enough weapons, especially grenades can be a pain in the neck with a large squad.
:*I currently have 12 Soldiers in 3 squads of 4. This might be a bit much. Maybe 3 squads of 3 or 2 squads of 4 is sufficient.
::*More soldiers means more micromanagement. :(
*Current troop setup:
:*4 Androids as shock troops. 2 Plasma Guns each. 4 Stun grenades, 2 HE grenades, 1 medikit. They can take more hits, and they like [[brainsucker sushi]], so they go in first.
:*4 Humans as regular troops. Same gear as the androids. I could go with HE autocannons or something more interesting, but that would require too much micro.
:*4 Humans as snipers. Dual wielding Laser Sniper Rifles seems like a good way to go. With aimed or snap shot, they should still have good accuracy and a decent fire rate from dual wielding.
:Marsec armor for all the troops. I tried skimping on the [[medikits]] to save on some weight. But the extra micro isn't really worth it. Having to play pass the [[medkit]] when someone gets wounded is a bad idea when they are bleeding badly. Plasma guns are great though. Great accuracy, good damage, dual wieldable with no penalty. What's not to like? Lack of ammo. Thank goodness for stun raids. If you don't want to cheat, I guess you could raid CoS, maybe in turn-based so they don't blow you up with rockets and grenades so quickly. I guess it would be fun to bankrupt them anyway. :)

====Vehicles====
*[[Hoverbikes]] are still fairly effective, but more bikes means more micromanagement. :( It's probably time to upgrade to [[hovercars]] soon. They are almost as fast as hoverbikes with upgraded engines. I could also go with [[Hawk Air Warriors]], but they are even more expensive.
*The maximum number of vehicles you can put in a group is 13. Why 13? Who knows? But not being able to set up persistent groups for your vehicles makes managing hoverbikes a lot of work. Sure, I could send 39 odd hoverbikes into battle, but not if the game requires me to click 39 times every time some UFOs show up. What ever happened to click and drag and square to select your forces? Or Ctrl 1-9?
*Running into problems with tougher UFOs now. Switching from Laser Cannons to Plasma. Thank goodness for stun raids for those elerium pods. I could use Janitor missiles, but they are rather expensive. Using Janitor missiles against Type 1 and 2 UFOs seems like a waste though.

--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 10:26, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----
===Monday===
====12:00pm====
*Just downed a rather large attack wave and captured the first alien assault ship. Current tactical points are about 5400 and total points over 111000. I kinda wish I had heard NKF's advice regarding stun raids sooner. However, I'd picked up a shiny power sword in my last major stun raid and didn't feel like giving it up.
*Things are getting interesting with the latest assault ship I stormed. Tactically it was a piece of cake, since doing a quick perimeter sweep and camping outside the front door with plasma guns and laser snipers works amazingly well. NFK's advice was useful here too. [[Dual-wield]] seems to work best on slow firing weapons. Four snipers with two rifles each can lay down a very nice volume of fire and when lying down, their shots are still quite accurate.
*The aliens are bringing more interesting toys. Devastator cannons, gas grenades and something nasty that causes big purple explosions. Hanging out in the elevator of the assault ship is a bad idea in general. Camping outside is probably best. Actually, there are two Chrysalises in the Assault Ship, but they seem to be auto-captured once you kill everyone else.
*Aliens always seem to appear in groups of 5, at least in Novice mode. Maybe they send more in superhuman.
*They vary the attack waves quite a bit. Last turn it was a transporter and a handful of scouts, then two assault ships and three fast attack ships, and then this turn an assault ship, a transporter and three scouts. Weird since I'd expect their forces to steady escalate, especially since I am racking up more points with each wave.

*Laser and plasma weapons are particularly useful when dealing with [[poppers]], since they do not detonate the popper when killing it.
*I saw my first pair of skeletoids. At least that's what I think they are. Yellow guys that jump around. A perimeter sweep around the far side of the assault ship was a good idea, since they were already on their way out. Nothing like getting ambushed from behind while you are camping to ruin your day.
*There appears to be only one exit for the assault ship, which makes things very convenient for you since you only have one exit to cover.
*I standardized on Plasma Guns and Laser Snipers. I suppose I could add autocannons to the mix, but I'm not convinced about the usefulness of using explosive ammo. It does kill headsuckers better, but they are hardly the most serious threat at this point. Also, explosions tend to destroy equipment, and while I'm not sure about the particulars, I prefer to capture stuff intact and research it at this point. Perhaps when everything is researched, I can safely use huge explosions to wipe out the enemy instead. I sure would like something to punch a hole in one of the UFOs the next time I need to storm it. Beats using the front door in general.

*Ship to ship combat is getting rather tricky. I think reloading plasma weapons for 14 hoverbikes cost something like 1400 elerium. I'll have to check the numbers again. I'm considering just using 20-25 hoverbikes with janitor missiles to get the job done instead. Maybe add some hovercars to the mix. Either way, I'll need more cash, so it's time to raid for psiclone again.
*I wonder if I should leave the other four UFOs alone and let the aliens do whatever they do when they disappear. I'm paranoid they'll leave the ship and infiltrate the surrounding buildings, but I'm pretty sure they just vanish or go home. I think I do need to keep my score down a bit, and I don't really need another assault ship for now. The loot would be handy, but I think I already have all the tech. Capturing a live skeletoid would be handy, but on the other hand, I probably have a bunch of stuff to research as it is. I can't wait for Toxiguns though.

*The plantation slum map is probably the quickest map for grabbing psiclone. There's only four, but the handy thing is that you can get them all easily. Go the second floor first. While enemies do spawn there, there is only one way out, so you can just stun them all and grab the psiclone if someone has picked it up. Afterwards, you can get the psiclone in the two sheds. Enemies occasionally spawn near the SW shed, but usually only one or two and he doesn't wander too far.
*The plantation map is the 05 series in the slum folder. Here's the other maps I have tested so far:
01: Central Elevator
02: Bridge
03: Grasslands
04: U Shaped Building
05: Plantation

Hmm, I am not sure what to do about extra aliens in alien containment. I wish the game would just auto-destroy them when it's clear that you no longer need them? Can some aliens be researched twice, or can you dump them once they've been crossed off on your research list?
--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 19:49, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----

====12:15pm====
Amazing how much can happen in 15 minutes of game time.

*Camping out at the front of the assault ship works, but aliens managed to get out of the ship somehow. I guess it was because something kicked up a smoke cloud in front of the exit. I tried using a stun grenade to dispel it. I wonder exactly how much smoke or stun gas cuts down visibility exactly. Anyway, a pair of skeletoids charged me and got taken down promptly.

Also, a pair of poppers and a brainsucker somehow escaped, perhaps their morale broke and were trying to flee. The AI is still pretty limited, but it has interesting features like that. They snuck out and tried to get away from the back rather than charging headlong into my ambush. But then the poppers charged when they saw me. Strange. Aliens also retreat when they get wounded or are under heavy fire. Too bad they're not smart enough to avoid winding up under heavy fire in the first place.

*Sniper rifles are okay, but I can't wait until I can swap them out for dual devastator cannons. The cannons are 20% less accurate, but they hit a lot harder. Perhaps toxiguns would work too.

=====Base Management=====
*If you are setting up research bases, you will notice that each [[Living Quarters]] always houses 10 units and that each lab can support five or ten scientists in the case of advanced structures. The typical research base will probably have four small labs and one large lab, which is probably the maximum amount the game will let you have. That's a total of 30 scientists and they will completely fill three Living Quarters. So if you want to station a few soldiers at each research base (you need at least one, or you automatically lose a base defense mission), then you should keep all your soldiers at one base, and send a few over the your research base. I'm not sure exactly how training works in this situation. Maybe the soldier can using the training facility at the home base, or perhaps you'll need to build training facilities at the research base if you want you troops to be able to train while guarding the base. In any case, you can send your androids off to perform guard duty. They're more durable anyway, which is good if you need a base defender, and you can send them off on solo psiclone stun raids which means won't have to fiddle with equipment setups on your main troops, unless you want to use stun raids to boost your stats, but that's another story.

=====Air Battles=====
*Hoverbike strategy is getting more complex. I'd really like to be able to assign fixed squadrons. Also, micromanaging seems to yield some improved results. You can reduce casualties by pausing at the right moments and having your bikes and surround the aliens.

*Friendly fire seems to be a big issue with hoverbikes. At least with the [[Bolter lasers]]. The bikes in front tend to get shot by their comrades behind them. Rather embarrassing really. I guess the solution is to split your forces up and attack from multiple directions. If you really wanted to go nuts on micro, you could even have parts of the same attack squadron fight from different altitudes. Impractical unless the game helped you manage this though.

*Disruptors do not fit on hoverbikes, hovercars or Valkyries. I wonder what the optimal loadout for the hoverbikes are. Perhaps the Lineage Plasma Cannon, if you can afford the elerium.

*I wonder if upgrading hoverbike engines is worth the trouble and expense considering you'll lose some anyway.

*Perhaps it's better to save the big plasma cannons for hovercars, preferrably shielded hovercars. There are never enough plasma cannons for sale, and the hoverbikes often get killed in one shot if they get hit.

=To Cheat, or not to Cheat...=
To Cheat, or not to Cheat, that is the Question: 
Whether 'tis Nobler in the minde to suffer 
The Slings and Arrowes of outragious Fortune, 
Or to take up Questionable Tactics against a Sea of Hostile Boomeroid-chucking Alien Hordes, 
And by Cheating end them: to Play, to Cheat 
No more; and by Cheat, to say we end 
The Heart-ache, and the thousand Naturall shockes 
That X-COM: Apocalypse is heir too? 

The original words have been crassly abducted from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_be,_or_not_to_be Hamlet's Soliloquy].

User:Captain Foo

2008-09-04T02:14:31Z

Captain Foo: reorganized a bit, added a link for personal use

Stuff I'm working on:
* [[Defending_Mega_Primus_from_Evil_Space_Aliens%2C_a_Beginner%27s_Guide]]

=An X-Com 3 Beginner's Log: assorted observations and trivia within=
I'm going to organize my ideas a bit here before moving them to the main wiki...

==Week 1==
*The minute you start, there will already be an alien infiltration in your city. The question is whether you want to save and reload and cheat to find them, or wait for an alien sighting. If you wait for a sighting, you should also watch the graphs and be prepared to investigate neighboring buildings as the alien infection will probably have spread a bit by the time an alien is spotted.
*[[Hoverbike_(Apocalypse)|Hoverbikes]]! Nothing beats hoverbikes!
*Week 1 is quite easy. All you need is a fleet of hoverbikes with laser cannons (cheapest way to take down UFO since lasers require no ammo), and an android soldier for brainsucker immunity.
*The hardest part is probably getting your system set up. Your troops, but mainly your base will probably need to be reconfigured slightly. You will want to decide where you want to keep your aircraft hanger and will need to make room for security stations around that hangar and at the base entrance.
*Don't do what I did and try to use the APC. While it is nice and large, it can't get to UFO crash sites, which makes it of limited value.
*Ditto with the Stormdog or other road combat vehicles. If the road gets blown up under your vehicle, you lose it. If the road gets blown up in front of your vehicle, it gets stuck and can't move. However if you are inclined to experiment, you can install the Roadwar mod which makes roads invulnerable. It also seems to make air vehicles more expensive however, which is a bit of a disappointment.

==Week 2==
*Valkyrie or better is essential for UFO captures. Roger Wong's guide does recommend selling the Valkyries to buy Hovercars. If you feel you can capture Transporters with just 4 troops, this can work. But you'll need that Valkyrie for anything bigger. Also there's the problem of the Hovercar only having room for either a cargo hold or a bio-transport module.
*Stun raids are fun. But watch the tactical points. Too many points and aliens will bring vortex mines and shields to the party. Vortex mines are not fun. :(
*You can actually pick up and drop off troops from other bases with your vehicles. In fact, you can even station troops at a base that they do not live at. So you do have some extra flexibility with where you put your living quarters this way. Where do your troops sleep and shower if their barracks are halfway across town? Who knows? Maybe androids don't need to sleep or shower anyway.

==Week 3==
===Sunday===

*I am finding disruptor guns when I raid Diablo's slums now. Weird. It's not like they have been infiltrated by aliens. Where are they getting them? Anyway, my tactical score is about to hit 5000 soon. I hope those extra labs get online soon. Six bio labs now, but not one of them is large enough to research Toxiguns yet. Two more physics labs came online today, which is good. Mixing physicists and scientists is confusing. I am wondering when I will get to build large physics labs too.

====Base Setup====
*Base organization is a huge deal. Having mixed bio and physics labs and engineers in the same base makes life more confusing.
:*Transferring stuff around is a annoying too.
:*However establishing separate bases for bio, physics and engineering requires a ton of money. Thank goodness for stun raids even if it is cheating.

====Troops====
*To misquote GI Joe: Organization is half the battle. Setting up your soldiers with enough weapons, especially grenades can be a pain in the neck with a large squad.
:*I currently have 12 Soldiers in 3 squads of 4. This might be a bit much. Maybe 3 squads of 3 or 2 squads of 4 is sufficient.
::*More soldiers means more micromanagement. :(
*Current troop setup:
:*4 Androids as shock troops. 2 Plasma Guns each. 4 Stun grenades, 2 HE grenades, 1 medikit. They can take more hits, and they like [[brainsucker sushi]], so they go in first.
:*4 Humans as regular troops. Same gear as the androids. I could go with HE autocannons or something more interesting, but that would require too much micro.
:*4 Humans as snipers. Dual wielding Laser Sniper Rifles seems like a good way to go. With aimed or snap shot, they should still have good accuracy and a decent fire rate from dual wielding.
:Marsec armor for all the troops. I tried skimping on the [[medikits]] to save on some weight. But the extra micro isn't really worth it. Having to play pass the [[medkit]] when someone gets wounded is a bad idea when they are bleeding badly. Plasma guns are great though. Great accuracy, good damage, dual wieldable with no penalty. What's not to like? Lack of ammo. Thank goodness for stun raids. If you don't want to cheat, I guess you could raid CoS, maybe in turn-based so they don't blow you up with rockets and grenades so quickly. I guess it would be fun to bankrupt them anyway. :)

====Vehicles====
*[[Hoverbikes]] are still fairly effective, but more bikes means more micromanagement. :( It's probably time to upgrade to [[hovercars]] soon. They are almost as fast as hoverbikes with upgraded engines. I could also go with [[Hawk Air Warriors]], but they are even more expensive.
*The maximum number of vehicles you can put in a group is 13. Why 13? Who knows? But not being able to set up persistent groups for your vehicles makes managing hoverbikes a lot of work. Sure, I could send 39 odd hoverbikes into battle, but not if the game requires me to click 39 times every time some UFOs show up. What ever happened to click and drag and square to select your forces? Or Ctrl 1-9?
*Running into problems with tougher UFOs now. Switching from Laser Cannons to Plasma. Thank goodness for stun raids for those elerium pods. I could use Janitor missiles, but they are rather expensive. Using Janitor missiles against Type 1 and 2 UFOs seems like a waste though.

--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 10:26, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----
===Monday===
====12:00pm====
*Just downed a rather large attack wave and captured the first alien assault ship. Current tactical points are about 5400 and total points over 111000. I kinda wish I had heard NKF's advice regarding stun raids sooner. However, I'd picked up a shiny power sword in my last major stun raid and didn't feel like giving it up.
*Things are getting interesting with the latest assault ship I stormed. Tactically it was a piece of cake, since doing a quick perimeter sweep and camping outside the front door with plasma guns and laser snipers works amazingly well. NFK's advice was useful here too. [[Dual-wield]] seems to work best on slow firing weapons. Four snipers with two rifles each can lay down a very nice volume of fire and when lying down, their shots are still quite accurate.
*The aliens are bringing more interesting toys. Devastator cannons, gas grenades and something nasty that causes big purple explosions. Hanging out in the elevator of the assault ship is a bad idea in general. Camping outside is probably best. Actually, there are two Chrysalises in the Assault Ship, but they seem to be auto-captured once you kill everyone else.
*Aliens always seem to appear in groups of 5, at least in Novice mode. Maybe they send more in superhuman.
*They vary the attack waves quite a bit. Last turn it was a transporter and a handful of scouts, then two assault ships and three fast attack ships, and then this turn an assault ship, a transporter and three scouts. Weird since I'd expect their forces to steady escalate, especially since I am racking up more points with each wave.

*Laser and plasma weapons are particularly useful when dealing with [[poppers]], since they do not detonate the popper when killing it.
*I saw my first pair of skeletoids. At least that's what I think they are. Yellow guys that jump around. A perimeter sweep around the far side of the assault ship was a good idea, since they were already on their way out. Nothing like getting ambushed from behind while you are camping to ruin your day.
*There appears to be only one exit for the assault ship, which makes things very convenient for you since you only have one exit to cover.
*I standardized on Plasma Guns and Laser Snipers. I suppose I could add autocannons to the mix, but I'm not convinced about the usefulness of using explosive ammo. It does kill headsuckers better, but they are hardly the most serious threat at this point. Also, explosions tend to destroy equipment, and while I'm not sure about the particulars, I prefer to capture stuff intact and research it at this point. Perhaps when everything is researched, I can safely use huge explosions to wipe out the enemy instead. I sure would like something to punch a hole in one of the UFOs the next time I need to storm it. Beats using the front door in general.

*Ship to ship combat is getting rather tricky. I think reloading plasma weapons for 14 hoverbikes cost something like 1400 elerium. I'll have to check the numbers again. I'm considering just using 20-25 hoverbikes with janitor missiles to get the job done instead. Maybe add some hovercars to the mix. Either way, I'll need more cash, so it's time to raid for psiclone again.
*I wonder if I should leave the other four UFOs alone and let the aliens do whatever they do when they disappear. I'm paranoid they'll leave the ship and infiltrate the surrounding buildings, but I'm pretty sure they just vanish or go home. I think I do need to keep my score down a bit, and I don't really need another assault ship for now. The loot would be handy, but I think I already have all the tech. Capturing a live skeletoid would be handy, but on the other hand, I probably have a bunch of stuff to research as it is. I can't wait for Toxiguns though.

*The plantation slum map is probably the quickest map for grabbing psiclone. There's only four, but the handy thing is that you can get them all easily. Go the second floor first. While enemies do spawn there, there is only one way out, so you can just stun them all and grab the psiclone if someone has picked it up. Afterwards, you can get the psiclone in the two sheds. Enemies occasionally spawn near the SW shed, but usually only one or two and he doesn't wander too far.
*The plantation map is the 05 series in the slum folder. Here's the other maps I have tested so far:
01: Central Elevator
02: Bridge
03: Grasslands
04: U Shaped Building
05: Plantation

Hmm, I am not sure what to do about extra aliens in alien containment. I wish the game would just auto-destroy them when it's clear that you no longer need them? Can some aliens be researched twice, or can you dump them once they've been crossed off on your research list?
--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 19:49, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----

====12:15pm====
Amazing how much can happen in 15 minutes of game time.

*Camping out at the front of the assault ship works, but aliens managed to get out of the ship somehow. I guess it was because something kicked up a smoke cloud in front of the exit. I tried using a stun grenade to dispel it. I wonder exactly how much smoke or stun gas cuts down visibility exactly. Anyway, a pair of skeletoids charged me and got taken down promptly.

Also, a pair of poppers and a brainsucker somehow escaped, perhaps their morale broke and were trying to flee. The AI is still pretty limited, but it has interesting features like that. They snuck out and tried to get away from the back rather than charging headlong into my ambush. But then the poppers charged when they saw me. Strange. Aliens also retreat when they get wounded or are under heavy fire. Too bad they're not smart enough to avoid winding up under heavy fire in the first place.

*Sniper rifles are okay, but I can't wait until I can swap them out for dual devastator cannons. The cannons are 20% less accurate, but they hit a lot harder. Perhaps toxiguns would work too.

=====Base Management=====
*If you are setting up research bases, you will notice that each [[Living Quarters]] always houses 10 units and that each lab can support five or ten scientists in the case of advanced structures. The typical research base will probably have four small labs and one large lab, which is probably the maximum amount the game will let you have. That's a total of 30 scientists and they will completely fill three Living Quarters. So if you want to station a few soldiers at each research base (you need at least one, or you automatically lose a base defense mission), then you should keep all your soldiers at one base, and send a few over the your research base. I'm not sure exactly how training works in this situation. Maybe the soldier can using the training facility at the home base, or perhaps you'll need to build training facilities at the research base if you want you troops to be able to train while guarding the base. In any case, you can send your androids off to perform guard duty. They're more durable anyway, which is good if you need a base defender, and you can send them off on solo psiclone stun raids which means won't have to fiddle with equipment setups on your main troops, unless you want to use stun raids to boost your stats, but that's another story.

=====Air Battles=====
*Hoverbike strategy is getting more complex. I'd really like to be able to assign fixed squadrons. Also, micromanaging seems to yield some improved results. You can reduce casualties by pausing at the right moments and having your bikes and surround the aliens.

*Friendly fire seems to be a big issue with hoverbikes. At least with the [[Bolter lasers]]. The bikes in front tend to get shot by their comrades behind them. Rather embarrassing really. I guess the solution is to split your forces up and attack from multiple directions.

*Disruptors do not fit on hoverbikes, hovercars or Valkyries. I wonder what the optimal loadout for the hoverbikes are. Perhaps the Lineage Plasma Cannon, if you can afford the elerium.

*I wonder if upgrading hoverbike engines is worth the trouble and expense considering you'll lose some anyway.

*Perhaps it's better to save the big plasma cannons for hovercars, preferrably shielded hovercars. There are never enough plasma cannons for sale, and the hoverbikes often get killed in one shot if they get hit.

=To Cheat, or not to Cheat...=
To Cheat, or not to Cheat, that is the Question: 
Whether 'tis Nobler in the minde to suffer 
The Slings and Arrowes of outragious Fortune, 
Or to take up Questionable Tactics against a Sea of Hostile Boomeroid-chucking Alien Hordes, 
And by Cheating end them: to Play, to Cheat 
No more; and by Cheat, to say we end 
The Heart-ache, and the thousand Naturall shockes 
That X-COM: Apocalypse is heir too? 

The original words have been crassly abducted from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_be,_or_not_to_be Hamlet's Soliloquy].

Defending Mega Primus from Evil Space Aliens, a Beginner's Guide

2008-09-04T02:11:13Z

Captain Foo: /* Tips and Tricks */ added Base Layout section

= Getting Started With X-COM 3 =

This page is a rough guide based on my first few weeks with X-COM 3.

The names of the following sections are just filler for the time being.

== Early Game ==
===Things that are new from X-COM 1 and 2===
* [[Dual-wield]]
* [[Stun raiding]]

===Before you start===
* Map scumming

===Week 1===
=====I Want Some Action Now!=====
* Skip to alien encounters or stun raids
====Day 1====
* Think about how to make your base easier to defend.
* Look around for buildings you'd buy for future bases. Having a well organized set of bases can make things a lot easier. Aliens are not your biggest enemy in the game, organization is. :)
* Buy hoverbikes and outfit them with lasers, which are the most cost effective weapon early on. Their starting guns are decent, but using lasers will save you some money, provided they don't get shot down. Also, capturing UFOs is important...
* Sell all your land vehicles and extra craft weaponry.
* Assign researchers
* Construct buildings: You'll need biology labs initially, once you get a bio transport module, there will be a lot of aliens to research. Physicists will not be needed until Week 2 when transporter UFOs start to show up, though you can hire some to stock up on them because there are only so many scientists available for hire each day. Be aware you'll have to pay salary for them at the end of the week though.
* Stun raiding for practice and money is a good idea, if you don't consider it cheating. It will give you some time to get familiar with the combat engine in a safe environment as well as give you some extra cash. Be careful not to overdo your stun raids though. Keeping your overall tactical score to a reasonable level will prevent you from facing powerful alien weapons before you're ready.
* Equip your soldiers. Dual machine guns and snipers work well. Motion sensors are handy too.
* Dealing with brainsuckers: order your soldiers to lie down... (there's a possible bug where some of them won't lie down however).
* This first mission: There is one building already infiltrated by the alients. You can fast forward in time and reload to figure out which building this is and raid them before the get established and spread. Send a lone android to deal with the brainsuckers.

====Day 2 onwards====
* Dealing with UFOs: Capturing UFO type 3 is important so make sure you don't blow them all up. After capturing them though, you have the option of using heavier weapons such as janitor missiles if you prefer to blow them up and avoid a ground mission.

===Week 2===
* New UFO types appear. Having a Valkyrie or other large air transport is very important at this point if you want to be able to capture Type 3 and above UFOs. You can use a hovercar, but this limits you to sending four soldiers to each UFO capture mission. Also, hovercars do not have room for both cargo and bio-transport modules, which means you'll sacrifice either items or the chance to collect extra aliens.

== Mid Game ==

== Late Game ==

== Tips and Tricks ==
===Getting Organized===
===Stun Grapple Raids===
* Raid the gangs for cash.
* Raid Marsec for power swords and flight armor.
* Other groups you can raid for fun.
* Raiding party size
* Knocking everyone unconscious is the quickest way to get all the items.
* Establishing a separate base to raid from.

===Raiding the Cult of Sirus===
===Research Tree Snafus===
* Research projects you must not miss

===Base Layout===
====Base Defense====
====Spawning areas====
*Scientists / Engineers (and perhaps your soldiers) spawn with less frequency in empty corridors.

Talk:Heavy Laser

2008-09-04T01:23:57Z

Captain Foo: a bit of commentary on the xcomutil version.

== XComUtil Stats ==
<table><tr><td>[[Image:BIGOBS06.GIF|left|64 px]]</td><td>
*Power: 120
*Size: 3 high x 2 wide
*Weight: 18
*TUs:
** Auto: n/a
** Snap: 33% (accuracy 75%)
** Aimed: 60% (accuracy 110%)
----
Hmm, interesting stats for XComUtil version of the Heavy Laser. I like how this upgrade makes it a more viable weapon now, the extra accuracy and power make it a potentially useful sniper weapon.

It also makes sense that lasers would be at least as accurate as plasma weapons (if not more), since lasers move at the speed of light. If you were going for realism, they should perhaps be more accurate, but maybe less powerful -- maybe allowing a high volume of rapid, low damage, but highly accurate shots to simulate the amount of time a laser would need to burn a hole in a target. For game balance though, this seems like a good improvement.

It's also interesting that the Sniper Rifles in Apocalypse are laser based. It is a bit strange how much weaker they get even though technology has presumably advanced in the intervening years. --[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 18:23, 3 September 2008 (PDT)

User talk:Captain Foo

2008-09-01T18:45:59Z

Captain Foo:

User talk:Captain Foo

2008-09-01T18:42:24Z

Captain Foo: /* Bases */

User talk:Captain Foo

2008-09-01T18:39:48Z

Captain Foo:

User:Captain Foo

2008-09-01T18:10:02Z

Captain Foo: /* Week 2 */

To Cheat, or not to Cheat, that is the Question: 
Whether 'tis Nobler in the minde to suffer 
The Slings and Arrowes of outragious Fortune, 
Or to take up Questionable Tactics against a Sea of Hostile Boomeroid-chucking Alien Hordes, 
And by Cheating end them: to Play, to Cheat 
No more; and by Cheat, to say we end 
The Heart-ache, and the thousand Naturall shockes 
That X-COM: Apocalypse is heir too? 

The original words have been crassly abducted from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_be,_or_not_to_be Hamlet's Soliloquy].

=An X-Com 3 Beginner's Log: assorted observations and trivia within=
I'm going to organize my ideas a bit here before moving them to the main wiki...

==Week 1==
*The minute you start, there will already be an alien infiltration in your city. The question is whether you want to save and reload and cheat to find them, or wait for an alien sighting. If you wait for a sighting, you should also watch the graphs and be prepared to investigate neighboring buildings as the alien infection will probably have spread a bit by the time an alien is spotted.
*[[Hoverbike_(Apocalypse)|Hoverbikes]]! Nothing beats hoverbikes!
*Week 1 is quite easy. All you need is a fleet of hoverbikes with laser cannons (cheapest way to take down UFO since lasers require no ammo), and an android soldier for brainsucker immunity.
*The hardest part is probably getting your system set up. Your troops, but mainly your base will probably need to be reconfigured slightly. You will want to decide where you want to keep your aircraft hanger and will need to make room for security stations around that hangar and at the base entrance.
*Don't do what I did and try to use the APC. While it is nice and large, it can't get to UFO crash sites, which makes it of limited value.
*Ditto with the Stormdog or other road combat vehicles. If the road gets blown up under your vehicle, you lose it. If the road gets blown up in front of your vehicle, it gets stuck and can't move. However if you are inclined to experiment, you can install the Roadwar mod which makes roads invulnerable. It also seems to make air vehicles more expensive however, which is a bit of a disappointment.

==Week 2==
*Valkyrie or better is essential for UFO captures. Roger Wong's guide does recommend selling the Valkyries to buy Hovercars. If you feel you can capture Transporters with just 4 troops, this can work. But you'll need that Valkyrie for anything bigger. Also there's the problem of the Hovercar only having room for either a cargo hold or a bio-transport module.
*Stun raids are fun. But watch the tactical points. Too many points and aliens will bring vortex mines and shields to the party. Vortex mines are not fun. :(
*You can actually pick up and drop off troops from other bases with your vehicles. In fact, you can even station troops at a base that they do not live at. So you do have some extra flexibility with where you put your living quarters this way. Where do your troops sleep and shower if their barracks are halfway across town? Who knows? Maybe androids don't need to sleep or shower anyway.

==Week 3==
===Sunday===

*I am finding disruptor guns when I raid Diablo's slums now. Weird. It's not like they have been infiltrated by aliens. Where are they getting them? Anyway, my tactical score is about to hit 5000 soon. I hope those extra labs get online soon. Six bio labs now, but not one of them is large enough to research Toxiguns yet. Two more physics labs came online today, which is good. Mixing physicists and scientists is confusing. I am wondering when I will get to build large physics labs too.

====Base Setup====
*Base organization is a huge deal. Having mixed bio and physics labs and engineers in the same base makes life more confusing.
:*Transferring stuff around is a annoying too.
:*However establishing separate bases for bio, physics and engineering requires a ton of money. Thank goodness for stun raids even if it is cheating.

====Troops====
*To misquote GI Joe: Organization is half the battle. Setting up your soldiers with enough weapons, especially grenades can be a pain in the neck with a large squad.
:*I currently have 12 Soldiers in 3 squads of 4. This might be a bit much. Maybe 3 squads of 3 or 2 squads of 4 is sufficient.
::*More soldiers means more micromanagement. :(
*Current troop setup:
:*4 Androids as shock troops. 2 Plasma Guns each. 4 Stun grenades, 2 HE grenades, 1 medikit. They can take more hits, and they like [[brainsucker sushi]], so they go in first.
:*4 Humans as regular troops. Same gear as the androids. I could go with HE autocannons or something more interesting, but that would require too much micro.
:*4 Humans as snipers. Dual wielding Laser Sniper Rifles seems like a good way to go. With aimed or snap shot, they should still have good accuracy and a decent fire rate from dual wielding.
:Marsec armor for all the troops. I tried skimping on the [[medikits]] to save on some weight. But the extra micro isn't really worth it. Having to play pass the [[medkit]] when someone gets wounded is a bad idea when they are bleeding badly. Plasma guns are great though. Great accuracy, good damage, dual wieldable with no penalty. What's not to like? Lack of ammo. Thank goodness for stun raids. If you don't want to cheat, I guess you could raid CoS, maybe in turn-based so they don't blow you up with rockets and grenades so quickly. I guess it would be fun to bankrupt them anyway. :)

====Vehicles====
*[[Hoverbikes]] are still fairly effective, but more bikes means more micromanagement. :( It's probably time to upgrade to [[hovercars]] soon. They are almost as fast as hoverbikes with upgraded engines. I could also go with [[Hawk Air Warriors]], but they are even more expensive.
*The maximum number of vehicles you can put in a group is 13. Why 13? Who knows? But not being able to set up persistent groups for your vehicles makes managing hoverbikes a lot of work. Sure, I could send 39 odd hoverbikes into battle, but not if the game requires me to click 39 times every time some UFOs show up. What ever happened to click and drag and square to select your forces? Or Ctrl 1-9?
*Running into problems with tougher UFOs now. Switching from Laser Cannons to Plasma. Thank goodness for stun raids for those elerium pods. I could use Janitor missiles, but they are rather expensive. Using Janitor missiles against Type 1 and 2 UFOs seems like a waste though.

--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 10:26, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----
===Monday===
====12:00pm====
*Just downed a rather large attack wave and captured the first alien assault ship. Current tactical points are about 5400 and total points over 111000. I kinda wish I had heard NKF's advice regarding stun raids sooner. However, I'd picked up a shiny power sword in my last major stun raid and didn't feel like giving it up.
*Things are getting interesting with the latest assault ship I stormed. Tactically it was a piece of cake, since doing a quick perimeter sweep and camping outside the front door with plasma guns and laser snipers works amazingly well. NFK's advice was useful here too. [[Dual-wield]] seems to work best on slow firing weapons. Four snipers with two rifles each can lay down a very nice volume of fire and when lying down, their shots are still quite accurate.
*The aliens are bringing more interesting toys. Devastator cannons, gas grenades and something nasty that causes big purple explosions. Hanging out in the elevator of the assault ship is a bad idea in general. Camping outside is probably best. Actually, there are two Chrysalises in the Assault Ship, but they seem to be auto-captured once you kill everyone else.
*Aliens always seem to appear in groups of 5, at least in Novice mode. Maybe they send more in superhuman.
*They vary the attack waves quite a bit. Last turn it was a transporter and a handful of scouts, then two assault ships and three fast attack ships, and then this turn an assault ship, a transporter and three scouts. Weird since I'd expect their forces to steady escalate, especially since I am racking up more points with each wave.

*Laser and plasma weapons are particularly useful when dealing with [[poppers]], since they do not detonate the popper when killing it.
*I saw my first pair of skeletoids. At least that's what I think they are. Yellow guys that jump around. A perimeter sweep around the far side of the assault ship was a good idea, since they were already on their way out. Nothing like getting ambushed from behind while you are camping to ruin your day.
*There appears to be only one exit for the assault ship, which makes things very convenient for you since you only have one exit to cover.
*I standardized on Plasma Guns and Laser Snipers. I suppose I could add autocannons to the mix, but I'm not convinced about the usefulness of using explosive ammo. It does kill headsuckers better, but they are hardly the most serious threat at this point. Also, explosions tend to destroy equipment, and while I'm not sure about the particulars, I prefer to capture stuff intact and research it at this point. Perhaps when everything is researched, I can safely use huge explosions to wipe out the enemy instead. I sure would like something to punch a hole in one of the UFOs the next time I need to storm it. Beats using the front door in general.

*Ship to ship combat is getting rather tricky. I think reloading plasma weapons for 14 hoverbikes cost something like 1400 elerium. I'll have to check the numbers again. I'm considering just using 20-25 hoverbikes with janitor missiles to get the job done instead. Maybe add some hovercars to the mix. Either way, I'll need more cash, so it's time to raid for psiclone again.
*I wonder if I should leave the other four UFOs alone and let the aliens do whatever they do when they disappear. I'm paranoid they'll leave the ship and infiltrate the surrounding buildings, but I'm pretty sure they just vanish or go home. I think I do need to keep my score down a bit, and I don't really need another assault ship for now. The loot would be handy, but I think I already have all the tech. Capturing a live skeletoid would be handy, but on the other hand, I probably have a bunch of stuff to research as it is. I can't wait for Toxiguns though.

*The plantation slum map is probably the quickest map for grabbing psiclone. There's only four, but the handy thing is that you can get them all easily. Go the second floor first. While enemies do spawn there, there is only one way out, so you can just stun them all and grab the psiclone if someone has picked it up. Afterwards, you can get the psiclone in the two sheds. Enemies occasionally spawn near the SW shed, but usually only one or two and he doesn't wander too far.
*The plantation map is the 05 series in the slum folder. Here's the other maps I have tested so far:
01: Central Elevator
02: Bridge
03: Grasslands
04: U Shaped Building
05: Plantation

Hmm, I am not sure what to do about extra aliens in alien containment. I wish the game would just auto-destroy them when it's clear that you no longer need them? Can some aliens be researched twice, or can you dump them once they've been crossed off on your research list?
--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 19:49, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----

====12:15pm====
Amazing how much can happen in 15 minutes of game time.

*Camping out at the front of the assault ship works, but aliens managed to get out of the ship somehow. I guess it was because something kicked up a smoke cloud in front of the exit. I tried using a stun grenade to dispel it. I wonder exactly how much smoke or stun gas cuts down visibility exactly. Anyway, a pair of skeletoids charged me and got taken down promptly.

Also, a pair of poppers and a brainsucker somehow escaped, perhaps their morale broke and were trying to flee. The AI is still pretty limited, but it has interesting features like that. They snuck out and tried to get away from the back rather than charging headlong into my ambush. But then the poppers charged when they saw me. Strange. Aliens also retreat when they get wounded or are under heavy fire. Too bad they're not smart enough to avoid winding up under heavy fire in the first place.

*Sniper rifles are okay, but I can't wait until I can swap them out for dual devastator cannons. The cannons are 20% less accurate, but they hit a lot harder. Perhaps toxiguns would work too.

=====Base Management=====
*If you are setting up research bases, you will notice that each [[Living Quarters]] always houses 10 units and that each lab can support five or ten scientists in the case of advanced structures. The typical research base will probably have four small labs and one large lab, which is probably the maximum amount the game will let you have. That's a total of 30 scientists and they will completely fill three Living Quarters. So if you want to station a few soldiers at each research base (you need at least one, or you automatically lose a base defense mission), then you should keep all your soldiers at one base, and send a few over the your research base. I'm not sure exactly how training works in this situation. Maybe the soldier can using the training facility at the home base, or perhaps you'll need to build training facilities at the research base if you want you troops to be able to train while guarding the base. In any case, you can send your androids off to perform guard duty. They're more durable anyway, which is good if you need a base defender, and you can send them off on solo psiclone stun raids which means won't have to fiddle with equipment setups on your main troops, unless you want to use stun raids to boost your stats, but that's another story.

=====Air Battles=====
*Hoverbike strategy is getting more complex. I'd really like to be able to assign fixed squadrons. Also, micromanaging seems to yield some improved results. You can reduce casualties by pausing at the right moments and having your bikes and surround the aliens.

*Friendly fire seems to be a big issue with hoverbikes. At least with the [[Bolter lasers]]. The bikes in front tend to get shot by their comrades behind them. Rather embarrassing really. I guess the solution is to split your forces up and attack from multiple directions.

*Disruptors do not fit on hoverbikes, hovercars or Valkyries. I wonder what the optimal loadout for the hoverbikes are. Perhaps the Lineage Plasma Cannon, if you can afford the elerium.

*I wonder if upgrading hoverbike engines is worth the trouble and expense considering you'll lose some anyway.

*Perhaps it's better to save the big plasma cannons for hovercars, preferrably shielded hovercars. There are never enough plasma cannons for sale, and the hoverbikes often get killed in one shot if they get hit.

User:Captain Foo

2008-09-01T17:59:50Z

Captain Foo:

To Cheat, or not to Cheat, that is the Question: 
Whether 'tis Nobler in the minde to suffer 
The Slings and Arrowes of outragious Fortune, 
Or to take up Questionable Tactics against a Sea of Hostile Boomeroid-chucking Alien Hordes, 
And by Cheating end them: to Play, to Cheat 
No more; and by Cheat, to say we end 
The Heart-ache, and the thousand Naturall shockes 
That X-COM: Apocalypse is heir too? 

The original words have been crassly abducted from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_be,_or_not_to_be Hamlet's Soliloquy].

=An X-Com 3 Beginner's Log: assorted observations and trivia within=
I'm going to organize my ideas a bit here before moving them to the main wiki...

==Week 1==
*The minute you start, there will already be an alien infiltration in your city. The question is whether you want to save and reload and cheat to find them, or wait for an alien sighting. If you wait for a sighting, you should also watch the graphs and be prepared to investigate neighboring buildings as the alien infection will probably have spread a bit by the time an alien is spotted.
*[[Hoverbike_(Apocalypse)|Hoverbikes]]! Nothing beats hoverbikes!
*Week 1 is quite easy. All you need is a fleet of hoverbikes with laser cannons (cheapest way to take down UFO since lasers require no ammo), and an android soldier for brainsucker immunity.
*The hardest part is probably getting your system set up. Your troops, but mainly your base will probably need to be reconfigured slightly. You will want to decide where you want to keep your aircraft hanger and will need to make room for security stations around that hangar and at the base entrance.
*Don't do what I did and try to use the APC. While it is nice and large, it can't get to UFO crash sites, which makes it of limited value.
*Ditto with the Stormdog or other road combat vehicles. If the road gets blown up under your vehicle, you lose it. If the road gets blown up in front of your vehicle, it gets stuck and can't move. However if you are inclined to experiment, you can install the Roadwar mod which makes roads invulnerable. It also seems to make air vehicles more expensive however, which is a bit of a disappointment.

==Week 2==
*Valkyrie or better is essential for UFO captures.
*Stun raids are fun. But watch the tactical points. Too many points and aliens will bring vortex mines and shields to the party. Vortex mines are not fun. :(
*You can actually pick up and drop off troops from other bases with your vehicles. In fact, you can even station troops at a base that they do not live at. So you do have some extra flexibility with where you put your living quarters this way. Where do your troops sleep and shower if their barracks are halfway across town? Who knows? Maybe androids don't need to sleep or shower anyway.

==Week 3==
===Sunday===

*I am finding disruptor guns when I raid Diablo's slums now. Weird. It's not like they have been infiltrated by aliens. Where are they getting them? Anyway, my tactical score is about to hit 5000 soon. I hope those extra labs get online soon. Six bio labs now, but not one of them is large enough to research Toxiguns yet. Two more physics labs came online today, which is good. Mixing physicists and scientists is confusing. I am wondering when I will get to build large physics labs too.

====Base Setup====
*Base organization is a huge deal. Having mixed bio and physics labs and engineers in the same base makes life more confusing.
:*Transferring stuff around is a annoying too.
:*However establishing separate bases for bio, physics and engineering requires a ton of money. Thank goodness for stun raids even if it is cheating.

====Troops====
*To misquote GI Joe: Organization is half the battle. Setting up your soldiers with enough weapons, especially grenades can be a pain in the neck with a large squad.
:*I currently have 12 Soldiers in 3 squads of 4. This might be a bit much. Maybe 3 squads of 3 or 2 squads of 4 is sufficient.
::*More soldiers means more micromanagement. :(
*Current troop setup:
:*4 Androids as shock troops. 2 Plasma Guns each. 4 Stun grenades, 2 HE grenades, 1 medikit. They can take more hits, and they like [[brainsucker sushi]], so they go in first.
:*4 Humans as regular troops. Same gear as the androids. I could go with HE autocannons or something more interesting, but that would require too much micro.
:*4 Humans as snipers. Dual wielding Laser Sniper Rifles seems like a good way to go. With aimed or snap shot, they should still have good accuracy and a decent fire rate from dual wielding.
:Marsec armor for all the troops. I tried skimping on the [[medikits]] to save on some weight. But the extra micro isn't really worth it. Having to play pass the [[medkit]] when someone gets wounded is a bad idea when they are bleeding badly. Plasma guns are great though. Great accuracy, good damage, dual wieldable with no penalty. What's not to like? Lack of ammo. Thank goodness for stun raids. If you don't want to cheat, I guess you could raid CoS, maybe in turn-based so they don't blow you up with rockets and grenades so quickly. I guess it would be fun to bankrupt them anyway. :)

====Vehicles====
*[[Hoverbikes]] are still fairly effective, but more bikes means more micromanagement. :( It's probably time to upgrade to [[hovercars]] soon. They are almost as fast as hoverbikes with upgraded engines. I could also go with [[Hawk Air Warriors]], but they are even more expensive.
*The maximum number of vehicles you can put in a group is 13. Why 13? Who knows? But not being able to set up persistent groups for your vehicles makes managing hoverbikes a lot of work. Sure, I could send 39 odd hoverbikes into battle, but not if the game requires me to click 39 times every time some UFOs show up. What ever happened to click and drag and square to select your forces? Or Ctrl 1-9?
*Running into problems with tougher UFOs now. Switching from Laser Cannons to Plasma. Thank goodness for stun raids for those elerium pods. I could use Janitor missiles, but they are rather expensive. Using Janitor missiles against Type 1 and 2 UFOs seems like a waste though.

--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 10:26, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----
===Monday===
====12:00pm====
*Just downed a rather large attack wave and captured the first alien assault ship. Current tactical points are about 5400 and total points over 111000. I kinda wish I had heard NKF's advice regarding stun raids sooner. However, I'd picked up a shiny power sword in my last major stun raid and didn't feel like giving it up.
*Things are getting interesting with the latest assault ship I stormed. Tactically it was a piece of cake, since doing a quick perimeter sweep and camping outside the front door with plasma guns and laser snipers works amazingly well. NFK's advice was useful here too. [[Dual-wield]] seems to work best on slow firing weapons. Four snipers with two rifles each can lay down a very nice volume of fire and when lying down, their shots are still quite accurate.
*The aliens are bringing more interesting toys. Devastator cannons, gas grenades and something nasty that causes big purple explosions. Hanging out in the elevator of the assault ship is a bad idea in general. Camping outside is probably best. Actually, there are two Chrysalises in the Assault Ship, but they seem to be auto-captured once you kill everyone else.
*Aliens always seem to appear in groups of 5, at least in Novice mode. Maybe they send more in superhuman.
*They vary the attack waves quite a bit. Last turn it was a transporter and a handful of scouts, then two assault ships and three fast attack ships, and then this turn an assault ship, a transporter and three scouts. Weird since I'd expect their forces to steady escalate, especially since I am racking up more points with each wave.

*Laser and plasma weapons are particularly useful when dealing with [[poppers]], since they do not detonate the popper when killing it.
*I saw my first pair of skeletoids. At least that's what I think they are. Yellow guys that jump around. A perimeter sweep around the far side of the assault ship was a good idea, since they were already on their way out. Nothing like getting ambushed from behind while you are camping to ruin your day.
*There appears to be only one exit for the assault ship, which makes things very convenient for you since you only have one exit to cover.
*I standardized on Plasma Guns and Laser Snipers. I suppose I could add autocannons to the mix, but I'm not convinced about the usefulness of using explosive ammo. It does kill headsuckers better, but they are hardly the most serious threat at this point. Also, explosions tend to destroy equipment, and while I'm not sure about the particulars, I prefer to capture stuff intact and research it at this point. Perhaps when everything is researched, I can safely use huge explosions to wipe out the enemy instead. I sure would like something to punch a hole in one of the UFOs the next time I need to storm it. Beats using the front door in general.

*Ship to ship combat is getting rather tricky. I think reloading plasma weapons for 14 hoverbikes cost something like 1400 elerium. I'll have to check the numbers again. I'm considering just using 20-25 hoverbikes with janitor missiles to get the job done instead. Maybe add some hovercars to the mix. Either way, I'll need more cash, so it's time to raid for psiclone again.
*I wonder if I should leave the other four UFOs alone and let the aliens do whatever they do when they disappear. I'm paranoid they'll leave the ship and infiltrate the surrounding buildings, but I'm pretty sure they just vanish or go home. I think I do need to keep my score down a bit, and I don't really need another assault ship for now. The loot would be handy, but I think I already have all the tech. Capturing a live skeletoid would be handy, but on the other hand, I probably have a bunch of stuff to research as it is. I can't wait for Toxiguns though.

*The plantation slum map is probably the quickest map for grabbing psiclone. There's only four, but the handy thing is that you can get them all easily. Go the second floor first. While enemies do spawn there, there is only one way out, so you can just stun them all and grab the psiclone if someone has picked it up. Afterwards, you can get the psiclone in the two sheds. Enemies occasionally spawn near the SW shed, but usually only one or two and he doesn't wander too far.
*The plantation map is the 05 series in the slum folder. Here's the other maps I have tested so far:
01: Central Elevator
02: Bridge
03: Grasslands
04: U Shaped Building
05: Plantation

Hmm, I am not sure what to do about extra aliens in alien containment. I wish the game would just auto-destroy them when it's clear that you no longer need them? Can some aliens be researched twice, or can you dump them once they've been crossed off on your research list?
--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 19:49, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----

====12:15pm====
Amazing how much can happen in 15 minutes of game time.

*Camping out at the front of the assault ship works, but aliens managed to get out of the ship somehow. I guess it was because something kicked up a smoke cloud in front of the exit. I tried using a stun grenade to dispel it. I wonder exactly how much smoke or stun gas cuts down visibility exactly. Anyway, a pair of skeletoids charged me and got taken down promptly.

Also, a pair of poppers and a brainsucker somehow escaped, perhaps their morale broke and were trying to flee. The AI is still pretty limited, but it has interesting features like that. They snuck out and tried to get away from the back rather than charging headlong into my ambush. But then the poppers charged when they saw me. Strange. Aliens also retreat when they get wounded or are under heavy fire. Too bad they're not smart enough to avoid winding up under heavy fire in the first place.

*Sniper rifles are okay, but I can't wait until I can swap them out for dual devastator cannons. The cannons are 20% less accurate, but they hit a lot harder. Perhaps toxiguns would work too.

=====Base Management=====
*If you are setting up research bases, you will notice that each [[Living Quarters]] always houses 10 units and that each lab can support five or ten scientists in the case of advanced structures. The typical research base will probably have four small labs and one large lab, which is probably the maximum amount the game will let you have. That's a total of 30 scientists and they will completely fill three Living Quarters. So if you want to station a few soldiers at each research base (you need at least one, or you automatically lose a base defense mission), then you should keep all your soldiers at one base, and send a few over the your research base. I'm not sure exactly how training works in this situation. Maybe the soldier can using the training facility at the home base, or perhaps you'll need to build training facilities at the research base if you want you troops to be able to train while guarding the base. In any case, you can send your androids off to perform guard duty. They're more durable anyway, which is good if you need a base defender, and you can send them off on solo psiclone stun raids which means won't have to fiddle with equipment setups on your main troops, unless you want to use stun raids to boost your stats, but that's another story.

=====Air Battles=====
*Hoverbike strategy is getting more complex. I'd really like to be able to assign fixed squadrons. Also, micromanaging seems to yield some improved results. You can reduce casualties by pausing at the right moments and having your bikes and surround the aliens.

*Friendly fire seems to be a big issue with hoverbikes. At least with the [[Bolter lasers]]. The bikes in front tend to get shot by their comrades behind them. Rather embarrassing really. I guess the solution is to split your forces up and attack from multiple directions.

*Disruptors do not fit on hoverbikes, hovercars or Valkyries. I wonder what the optimal loadout for the hoverbikes are. Perhaps the Lineage Plasma Cannon, if you can afford the elerium.

*I wonder if upgrading hoverbike engines is worth the trouble and expense considering you'll lose some anyway.

*Perhaps it's better to save the big plasma cannons for hovercars, preferrably shielded hovercars. There are never enough plasma cannons for sale, and the hoverbikes often get killed in one shot if they get hit.

User:Captain Foo

2008-09-01T17:59:35Z

Captain Foo:

To Cheat, or not to Cheat, that is the Question: 
Whether 'tis Nobler in the minde to suffer 
The Slings and Arrowes of outragious Fortune, 
Or to take up Questionable Tactics against a Sea of Hostile Boomeroid-chucking Alien Hordes, 
And by Cheating end them: to Play, to Cheat 
No more; and by Cheat, to say we end 
The Heart-ache, and the thousand Naturall shockes 
That X-COM: Apocalypse is heir too? 

The original words have been crassly abducted from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_be,_or_not_to_be Hamlet's Soliloquy].)

=An X-Com 3 Beginner's Log: assorted observations and trivia within=
I'm going to organize my ideas a bit here before moving them to the main wiki...

==Week 1==
*The minute you start, there will already be an alien infiltration in your city. The question is whether you want to save and reload and cheat to find them, or wait for an alien sighting. If you wait for a sighting, you should also watch the graphs and be prepared to investigate neighboring buildings as the alien infection will probably have spread a bit by the time an alien is spotted.
*[[Hoverbike_(Apocalypse)|Hoverbikes]]! Nothing beats hoverbikes!
*Week 1 is quite easy. All you need is a fleet of hoverbikes with laser cannons (cheapest way to take down UFO since lasers require no ammo), and an android soldier for brainsucker immunity.
*The hardest part is probably getting your system set up. Your troops, but mainly your base will probably need to be reconfigured slightly. You will want to decide where you want to keep your aircraft hanger and will need to make room for security stations around that hangar and at the base entrance.
*Don't do what I did and try to use the APC. While it is nice and large, it can't get to UFO crash sites, which makes it of limited value.
*Ditto with the Stormdog or other road combat vehicles. If the road gets blown up under your vehicle, you lose it. If the road gets blown up in front of your vehicle, it gets stuck and can't move. However if you are inclined to experiment, you can install the Roadwar mod which makes roads invulnerable. It also seems to make air vehicles more expensive however, which is a bit of a disappointment.

==Week 2==
*Valkyrie or better is essential for UFO captures.
*Stun raids are fun. But watch the tactical points. Too many points and aliens will bring vortex mines and shields to the party. Vortex mines are not fun. :(
*You can actually pick up and drop off troops from other bases with your vehicles. In fact, you can even station troops at a base that they do not live at. So you do have some extra flexibility with where you put your living quarters this way. Where do your troops sleep and shower if their barracks are halfway across town? Who knows? Maybe androids don't need to sleep or shower anyway.

==Week 3==
===Sunday===

*I am finding disruptor guns when I raid Diablo's slums now. Weird. It's not like they have been infiltrated by aliens. Where are they getting them? Anyway, my tactical score is about to hit 5000 soon. I hope those extra labs get online soon. Six bio labs now, but not one of them is large enough to research Toxiguns yet. Two more physics labs came online today, which is good. Mixing physicists and scientists is confusing. I am wondering when I will get to build large physics labs too.

====Base Setup====
*Base organization is a huge deal. Having mixed bio and physics labs and engineers in the same base makes life more confusing.
:*Transferring stuff around is a annoying too.
:*However establishing separate bases for bio, physics and engineering requires a ton of money. Thank goodness for stun raids even if it is cheating.

====Troops====
*To misquote GI Joe: Organization is half the battle. Setting up your soldiers with enough weapons, especially grenades can be a pain in the neck with a large squad.
:*I currently have 12 Soldiers in 3 squads of 4. This might be a bit much. Maybe 3 squads of 3 or 2 squads of 4 is sufficient.
::*More soldiers means more micromanagement. :(
*Current troop setup:
:*4 Androids as shock troops. 2 Plasma Guns each. 4 Stun grenades, 2 HE grenades, 1 medikit. They can take more hits, and they like [[brainsucker sushi]], so they go in first.
:*4 Humans as regular troops. Same gear as the androids. I could go with HE autocannons or something more interesting, but that would require too much micro.
:*4 Humans as snipers. Dual wielding Laser Sniper Rifles seems like a good way to go. With aimed or snap shot, they should still have good accuracy and a decent fire rate from dual wielding.
:Marsec armor for all the troops. I tried skimping on the [[medikits]] to save on some weight. But the extra micro isn't really worth it. Having to play pass the [[medkit]] when someone gets wounded is a bad idea when they are bleeding badly. Plasma guns are great though. Great accuracy, good damage, dual wieldable with no penalty. What's not to like? Lack of ammo. Thank goodness for stun raids. If you don't want to cheat, I guess you could raid CoS, maybe in turn-based so they don't blow you up with rockets and grenades so quickly. I guess it would be fun to bankrupt them anyway. :)

====Vehicles====
*[[Hoverbikes]] are still fairly effective, but more bikes means more micromanagement. :( It's probably time to upgrade to [[hovercars]] soon. They are almost as fast as hoverbikes with upgraded engines. I could also go with [[Hawk Air Warriors]], but they are even more expensive.
*The maximum number of vehicles you can put in a group is 13. Why 13? Who knows? But not being able to set up persistent groups for your vehicles makes managing hoverbikes a lot of work. Sure, I could send 39 odd hoverbikes into battle, but not if the game requires me to click 39 times every time some UFOs show up. What ever happened to click and drag and square to select your forces? Or Ctrl 1-9?
*Running into problems with tougher UFOs now. Switching from Laser Cannons to Plasma. Thank goodness for stun raids for those elerium pods. I could use Janitor missiles, but they are rather expensive. Using Janitor missiles against Type 1 and 2 UFOs seems like a waste though.

--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 10:26, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----
===Monday===
====12:00pm====
*Just downed a rather large attack wave and captured the first alien assault ship. Current tactical points are about 5400 and total points over 111000. I kinda wish I had heard NKF's advice regarding stun raids sooner. However, I'd picked up a shiny power sword in my last major stun raid and didn't feel like giving it up.
*Things are getting interesting with the latest assault ship I stormed. Tactically it was a piece of cake, since doing a quick perimeter sweep and camping outside the front door with plasma guns and laser snipers works amazingly well. NFK's advice was useful here too. [[Dual-wield]] seems to work best on slow firing weapons. Four snipers with two rifles each can lay down a very nice volume of fire and when lying down, their shots are still quite accurate.
*The aliens are bringing more interesting toys. Devastator cannons, gas grenades and something nasty that causes big purple explosions. Hanging out in the elevator of the assault ship is a bad idea in general. Camping outside is probably best. Actually, there are two Chrysalises in the Assault Ship, but they seem to be auto-captured once you kill everyone else.
*Aliens always seem to appear in groups of 5, at least in Novice mode. Maybe they send more in superhuman.
*They vary the attack waves quite a bit. Last turn it was a transporter and a handful of scouts, then two assault ships and three fast attack ships, and then this turn an assault ship, a transporter and three scouts. Weird since I'd expect their forces to steady escalate, especially since I am racking up more points with each wave.

*Laser and plasma weapons are particularly useful when dealing with [[poppers]], since they do not detonate the popper when killing it.
*I saw my first pair of skeletoids. At least that's what I think they are. Yellow guys that jump around. A perimeter sweep around the far side of the assault ship was a good idea, since they were already on their way out. Nothing like getting ambushed from behind while you are camping to ruin your day.
*There appears to be only one exit for the assault ship, which makes things very convenient for you since you only have one exit to cover.
*I standardized on Plasma Guns and Laser Snipers. I suppose I could add autocannons to the mix, but I'm not convinced about the usefulness of using explosive ammo. It does kill headsuckers better, but they are hardly the most serious threat at this point. Also, explosions tend to destroy equipment, and while I'm not sure about the particulars, I prefer to capture stuff intact and research it at this point. Perhaps when everything is researched, I can safely use huge explosions to wipe out the enemy instead. I sure would like something to punch a hole in one of the UFOs the next time I need to storm it. Beats using the front door in general.

*Ship to ship combat is getting rather tricky. I think reloading plasma weapons for 14 hoverbikes cost something like 1400 elerium. I'll have to check the numbers again. I'm considering just using 20-25 hoverbikes with janitor missiles to get the job done instead. Maybe add some hovercars to the mix. Either way, I'll need more cash, so it's time to raid for psiclone again.
*I wonder if I should leave the other four UFOs alone and let the aliens do whatever they do when they disappear. I'm paranoid they'll leave the ship and infiltrate the surrounding buildings, but I'm pretty sure they just vanish or go home. I think I do need to keep my score down a bit, and I don't really need another assault ship for now. The loot would be handy, but I think I already have all the tech. Capturing a live skeletoid would be handy, but on the other hand, I probably have a bunch of stuff to research as it is. I can't wait for Toxiguns though.

*The plantation slum map is probably the quickest map for grabbing psiclone. There's only four, but the handy thing is that you can get them all easily. Go the second floor first. While enemies do spawn there, there is only one way out, so you can just stun them all and grab the psiclone if someone has picked it up. Afterwards, you can get the psiclone in the two sheds. Enemies occasionally spawn near the SW shed, but usually only one or two and he doesn't wander too far.
*The plantation map is the 05 series in the slum folder. Here's the other maps I have tested so far:
01: Central Elevator
02: Bridge
03: Grasslands
04: U Shaped Building
05: Plantation

Hmm, I am not sure what to do about extra aliens in alien containment. I wish the game would just auto-destroy them when it's clear that you no longer need them? Can some aliens be researched twice, or can you dump them once they've been crossed off on your research list?
--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 19:49, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----

====12:15pm====
Amazing how much can happen in 15 minutes of game time.

*Camping out at the front of the assault ship works, but aliens managed to get out of the ship somehow. I guess it was because something kicked up a smoke cloud in front of the exit. I tried using a stun grenade to dispel it. I wonder exactly how much smoke or stun gas cuts down visibility exactly. Anyway, a pair of skeletoids charged me and got taken down promptly.

Also, a pair of poppers and a brainsucker somehow escaped, perhaps their morale broke and were trying to flee. The AI is still pretty limited, but it has interesting features like that. They snuck out and tried to get away from the back rather than charging headlong into my ambush. But then the poppers charged when they saw me. Strange. Aliens also retreat when they get wounded or are under heavy fire. Too bad they're not smart enough to avoid winding up under heavy fire in the first place.

*Sniper rifles are okay, but I can't wait until I can swap them out for dual devastator cannons. The cannons are 20% less accurate, but they hit a lot harder. Perhaps toxiguns would work too.

=====Base Management=====
*If you are setting up research bases, you will notice that each [[Living Quarters]] always houses 10 units and that each lab can support five or ten scientists in the case of advanced structures. The typical research base will probably have four small labs and one large lab, which is probably the maximum amount the game will let you have. That's a total of 30 scientists and they will completely fill three Living Quarters. So if you want to station a few soldiers at each research base (you need at least one, or you automatically lose a base defense mission), then you should keep all your soldiers at one base, and send a few over the your research base. I'm not sure exactly how training works in this situation. Maybe the soldier can using the training facility at the home base, or perhaps you'll need to build training facilities at the research base if you want you troops to be able to train while guarding the base. In any case, you can send your androids off to perform guard duty. They're more durable anyway, which is good if you need a base defender, and you can send them off on solo psiclone stun raids which means won't have to fiddle with equipment setups on your main troops, unless you want to use stun raids to boost your stats, but that's another story.

=====Air Battles=====
*Hoverbike strategy is getting more complex. I'd really like to be able to assign fixed squadrons. Also, micromanaging seems to yield some improved results. You can reduce casualties by pausing at the right moments and having your bikes and surround the aliens.

*Friendly fire seems to be a big issue with hoverbikes. At least with the [[Bolter lasers]]. The bikes in front tend to get shot by their comrades behind them. Rather embarrassing really. I guess the solution is to split your forces up and attack from multiple directions.

*Disruptors do not fit on hoverbikes, hovercars or Valkyries. I wonder what the optimal loadout for the hoverbikes are. Perhaps the Lineage Plasma Cannon, if you can afford the elerium.

*I wonder if upgrading hoverbike engines is worth the trouble and expense considering you'll lose some anyway.

*Perhaps it's better to save the big plasma cannons for hovercars, preferrably shielded hovercars. There are never enough plasma cannons for sale, and the hoverbikes often get killed in one shot if they get hit.

Talk:Wolfhound APC (Apocalypse)

2008-09-01T17:55:53Z

Captain Foo: New page: Have some people had success with storing their extra troops inside an APC to protect them in case the roof collapses on them? That's about the only use I can think of for the APC unless ...

Have some people had success with storing their extra troops inside an APC to protect them in case the roof collapses on them? That's about the only use I can think of for the APC unless someone else has clever ideas for it.

User:Captain Foo

2008-09-01T17:52:47Z

Captain Foo: /* Week 1 */

To Cheat, or not to Cheat, that is the Question:

Whether 'tis Nobler in the minde to suffer

The Slings and Arrowes of outragious Fortune,

Or to take Armes against a Sea of Hostile Boomeroid-chucking Alien Hordes,

And by Cheating end them: to Play, to Cheat

No more; and by Cheat, to say we end

The Heart-ache, and the thousand Naturall shockes

That X-COM: Apocalypse is heir too?

(The original words have been crassly abducted from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_be,_or_not_to_be Hamlet's Soliloquy])

=An X-Com 3 Beginner's Log: assorted observations and trivia within=
I'm going to organize my ideas a bit here before moving them to the main wiki...

==Week 1==
*The minute you start, there will already be an alien infiltration in your city. The question is whether you want to save and reload and cheat to find them, or wait for an alien sighting. If you wait for a sighting, you should also watch the graphs and be prepared to investigate neighboring buildings as the alien infection will probably have spread a bit by the time an alien is spotted.
*[[Hoverbike_(Apocalypse)|Hoverbikes]]! Nothing beats hoverbikes!
*Week 1 is quite easy. All you need is a fleet of hoverbikes with laser cannons (cheapest way to take down UFO since lasers require no ammo), and an android soldier for brainsucker immunity.
*The hardest part is probably getting your system set up. Your troops, but mainly your base will probably need to be reconfigured slightly. You will want to decide where you want to keep your aircraft hanger and will need to make room for security stations around that hangar and at the base entrance.
*Don't do what I did and try to use the APC. While it is nice and large, it can't get to UFO crash sites, which makes it of limited value.
*Ditto with the Stormdog or other road combat vehicles. If the road gets blown up under your vehicle, you lose it. If the road gets blown up in front of your vehicle, it gets stuck and can't move. However if you are inclined to experiment, you can install the Roadwar mod which makes roads invulnerable. It also seems to make air vehicles more expensive however, which is a bit of a disappointment.

==Week 2==
*Valkyrie or better is essential for UFO captures.
*Stun raids are fun. But watch the tactical points. Too many points and aliens will bring vortex mines and shields to the party. Vortex mines are not fun. :(
*You can actually pick up and drop off troops from other bases with your vehicles. In fact, you can even station troops at a base that they do not live at. So you do have some extra flexibility with where you put your living quarters this way. Where do your troops sleep and shower if their barracks are halfway across town? Who knows? Maybe androids don't need to sleep or shower anyway.

==Week 3==
===Sunday===

*I am finding disruptor guns when I raid Diablo's slums now. Weird. It's not like they have been infiltrated by aliens. Where are they getting them? Anyway, my tactical score is about to hit 5000 soon. I hope those extra labs get online soon. Six bio labs now, but not one of them is large enough to research Toxiguns yet. Two more physics labs came online today, which is good. Mixing physicists and scientists is confusing. I am wondering when I will get to build large physics labs too.

====Base Setup====
*Base organization is a huge deal. Having mixed bio and physics labs and engineers in the same base makes life more confusing.
:*Transferring stuff around is a annoying too.
:*However establishing separate bases for bio, physics and engineering requires a ton of money. Thank goodness for stun raids even if it is cheating.

====Troops====
*To misquote GI Joe: Organization is half the battle. Setting up your soldiers with enough weapons, especially grenades can be a pain in the neck with a large squad.
:*I currently have 12 Soldiers in 3 squads of 4. This might be a bit much. Maybe 3 squads of 3 or 2 squads of 4 is sufficient.
::*More soldiers means more micromanagement. :(
*Current troop setup:
:*4 Androids as shock troops. 2 Plasma Guns each. 4 Stun grenades, 2 HE grenades, 1 medikit. They can take more hits, and they like [[brainsucker sushi]], so they go in first.
:*4 Humans as regular troops. Same gear as the androids. I could go with HE autocannons or something more interesting, but that would require too much micro.
:*4 Humans as snipers. Dual wielding Laser Sniper Rifles seems like a good way to go. With aimed or snap shot, they should still have good accuracy and a decent fire rate from dual wielding.
:Marsec armor for all the troops. I tried skimping on the [[medikits]] to save on some weight. But the extra micro isn't really worth it. Having to play pass the [[medkit]] when someone gets wounded is a bad idea when they are bleeding badly. Plasma guns are great though. Great accuracy, good damage, dual wieldable with no penalty. What's not to like? Lack of ammo. Thank goodness for stun raids. If you don't want to cheat, I guess you could raid CoS, maybe in turn-based so they don't blow you up with rockets and grenades so quickly. I guess it would be fun to bankrupt them anyway. :)

====Vehicles====
*[[Hoverbikes]] are still fairly effective, but more bikes means more micromanagement. :( It's probably time to upgrade to [[hovercars]] soon. They are almost as fast as hoverbikes with upgraded engines. I could also go with [[Hawk Air Warriors]], but they are even more expensive.
*The maximum number of vehicles you can put in a group is 13. Why 13? Who knows? But not being able to set up persistent groups for your vehicles makes managing hoverbikes a lot of work. Sure, I could send 39 odd hoverbikes into battle, but not if the game requires me to click 39 times every time some UFOs show up. What ever happened to click and drag and square to select your forces? Or Ctrl 1-9?
*Running into problems with tougher UFOs now. Switching from Laser Cannons to Plasma. Thank goodness for stun raids for those elerium pods. I could use Janitor missiles, but they are rather expensive. Using Janitor missiles against Type 1 and 2 UFOs seems like a waste though.

--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 10:26, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----
===Monday===
====12:00pm====
*Just downed a rather large attack wave and captured the first alien assault ship. Current tactical points are about 5400 and total points over 111000. I kinda wish I had heard NKF's advice regarding stun raids sooner. However, I'd picked up a shiny power sword in my last major stun raid and didn't feel like giving it up.
*Things are getting interesting with the latest assault ship I stormed. Tactically it was a piece of cake, since doing a quick perimeter sweep and camping outside the front door with plasma guns and laser snipers works amazingly well. NFK's advice was useful here too. [[Dual-wield]] seems to work best on slow firing weapons. Four snipers with two rifles each can lay down a very nice volume of fire and when lying down, their shots are still quite accurate.
*The aliens are bringing more interesting toys. Devastator cannons, gas grenades and something nasty that causes big purple explosions. Hanging out in the elevator of the assault ship is a bad idea in general. Camping outside is probably best. Actually, there are two Chrysalises in the Assault Ship, but they seem to be auto-captured once you kill everyone else.
*Aliens always seem to appear in groups of 5, at least in Novice mode. Maybe they send more in superhuman.
*They vary the attack waves quite a bit. Last turn it was a transporter and a handful of scouts, then two assault ships and three fast attack ships, and then this turn an assault ship, a transporter and three scouts. Weird since I'd expect their forces to steady escalate, especially since I am racking up more points with each wave.

*Laser and plasma weapons are particularly useful when dealing with [[poppers]], since they do not detonate the popper when killing it.
*I saw my first pair of skeletoids. At least that's what I think they are. Yellow guys that jump around. A perimeter sweep around the far side of the assault ship was a good idea, since they were already on their way out. Nothing like getting ambushed from behind while you are camping to ruin your day.
*There appears to be only one exit for the assault ship, which makes things very convenient for you since you only have one exit to cover.
*I standardized on Plasma Guns and Laser Snipers. I suppose I could add autocannons to the mix, but I'm not convinced about the usefulness of using explosive ammo. It does kill headsuckers better, but they are hardly the most serious threat at this point. Also, explosions tend to destroy equipment, and while I'm not sure about the particulars, I prefer to capture stuff intact and research it at this point. Perhaps when everything is researched, I can safely use huge explosions to wipe out the enemy instead. I sure would like something to punch a hole in one of the UFOs the next time I need to storm it. Beats using the front door in general.

*Ship to ship combat is getting rather tricky. I think reloading plasma weapons for 14 hoverbikes cost something like 1400 elerium. I'll have to check the numbers again. I'm considering just using 20-25 hoverbikes with janitor missiles to get the job done instead. Maybe add some hovercars to the mix. Either way, I'll need more cash, so it's time to raid for psiclone again.
*I wonder if I should leave the other four UFOs alone and let the aliens do whatever they do when they disappear. I'm paranoid they'll leave the ship and infiltrate the surrounding buildings, but I'm pretty sure they just vanish or go home. I think I do need to keep my score down a bit, and I don't really need another assault ship for now. The loot would be handy, but I think I already have all the tech. Capturing a live skeletoid would be handy, but on the other hand, I probably have a bunch of stuff to research as it is. I can't wait for Toxiguns though.

*The plantation slum map is probably the quickest map for grabbing psiclone. There's only four, but the handy thing is that you can get them all easily. Go the second floor first. While enemies do spawn there, there is only one way out, so you can just stun them all and grab the psiclone if someone has picked it up. Afterwards, you can get the psiclone in the two sheds. Enemies occasionally spawn near the SW shed, but usually only one or two and he doesn't wander too far.
*The plantation map is the 05 series in the slum folder. Here's the other maps I have tested so far:
01: Central Elevator
02: Bridge
03: Grasslands
04: U Shaped Building
05: Plantation

Hmm, I am not sure what to do about extra aliens in alien containment. I wish the game would just auto-destroy them when it's clear that you no longer need them? Can some aliens be researched twice, or can you dump them once they've been crossed off on your research list?
--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 19:49, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----

====12:15pm====
Amazing how much can happen in 15 minutes of game time.

*Camping out at the front of the assault ship works, but aliens managed to get out of the ship somehow. I guess it was because something kicked up a smoke cloud in front of the exit. I tried using a stun grenade to dispel it. I wonder exactly how much smoke or stun gas cuts down visibility exactly. Anyway, a pair of skeletoids charged me and got taken down promptly.

Also, a pair of poppers and a brainsucker somehow escaped, perhaps their morale broke and were trying to flee. The AI is still pretty limited, but it has interesting features like that. They snuck out and tried to get away from the back rather than charging headlong into my ambush. But then the poppers charged when they saw me. Strange. Aliens also retreat when they get wounded or are under heavy fire. Too bad they're not smart enough to avoid winding up under heavy fire in the first place.

*Sniper rifles are okay, but I can't wait until I can swap them out for dual devastator cannons. The cannons are 20% less accurate, but they hit a lot harder. Perhaps toxiguns would work too.

=====Base Management=====
*If you are setting up research bases, you will notice that each [[Living Quarters]] always houses 10 units and that each lab can support five or ten scientists in the case of advanced structures. The typical research base will probably have four small labs and one large lab, which is probably the maximum amount the game will let you have. That's a total of 30 scientists and they will completely fill three Living Quarters. So if you want to station a few soldiers at each research base (you need at least one, or you automatically lose a base defense mission), then you should keep all your soldiers at one base, and send a few over the your research base. I'm not sure exactly how training works in this situation. Maybe the soldier can using the training facility at the home base, or perhaps you'll need to build training facilities at the research base if you want you troops to be able to train while guarding the base. In any case, you can send your androids off to perform guard duty. They're more durable anyway, which is good if you need a base defender, and you can send them off on solo psiclone stun raids which means won't have to fiddle with equipment setups on your main troops, unless you want to use stun raids to boost your stats, but that's another story.

=====Air Battles=====
*Hoverbike strategy is getting more complex. I'd really like to be able to assign fixed squadrons. Also, micromanaging seems to yield some improved results. You can reduce casualties by pausing at the right moments and having your bikes and surround the aliens.

*Friendly fire seems to be a big issue with hoverbikes. At least with the [[Bolter lasers]]. The bikes in front tend to get shot by their comrades behind them. Rather embarrassing really. I guess the solution is to split your forces up and attack from multiple directions.

*Disruptors do not fit on hoverbikes, hovercars or Valkyries. I wonder what the optimal loadout for the hoverbikes are. Perhaps the Lineage Plasma Cannon, if you can afford the elerium.

*I wonder if upgrading hoverbike engines is worth the trouble and expense considering you'll lose some anyway.

*Perhaps it's better to save the big plasma cannons for hovercars, preferrably shielded hovercars. There are never enough plasma cannons for sale, and the hoverbikes often get killed in one shot if they get hit.

User:Captain Foo

2008-09-01T17:51:53Z

Captain Foo:

To Cheat, or not to Cheat, that is the Question:

Whether 'tis Nobler in the minde to suffer

The Slings and Arrowes of outragious Fortune,

Or to take Armes against a Sea of Hostile Boomeroid-chucking Alien Hordes,

And by Cheating end them: to Play, to Cheat

No more; and by Cheat, to say we end

The Heart-ache, and the thousand Naturall shockes

That X-COM: Apocalypse is heir too?

(The original words have been crassly abducted from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_be,_or_not_to_be Hamlet's Soliloquy])

=An X-Com 3 Beginner's Log: assorted observations and trivia within=
I'm going to organize my ideas a bit here before moving them to the main wiki...

==Week 1==
*The minute you start, there will already be an alien infiltration in your city. The question is whether you want to save and reload and cheat to find them, or wait for an alien sighting. If you wait for a sighting, you should also watch the graphs and be prepared to investigate neighboring buildings as the alien infection will probably have spread a bit by the time an alien is spotted.
*[[Hoverbike_(Apocalypse)|Hoverbikes]]! Nothing beats hoverbikes!
*Week 1 is quite easy. All you need is a fleet of hoverbikes with laser cannons (cheapest way to take down UFOs), and an android soldier for brainsucker immunity.
*The hardest part is probably getting your system set up. Your troops, but mainly your base will probably need to be reconfigured slightly. You will want to decide where you want to keep your aircraft hanger and will need to make room for security stations around that hangar and at the base entrance.
*Don't do what I did and try to use the APC. While it is nice and large, it can't get to UFO crash sites, which makes it of limited value.
*Ditto with the Stormdog or other road combat vehicles. If the road gets blown up under your vehicle, you lose it. If the road gets blown up in front of your vehicle, it gets stuck and can't move. However if you are inclined to experiment, you can install the Roadwar mod which makes roads invulnerable. It also seems to make air vehicles more expensive however, which is a bit of a disappointment.

==Week 2==
*Valkyrie or better is essential for UFO captures.
*Stun raids are fun. But watch the tactical points. Too many points and aliens will bring vortex mines and shields to the party. Vortex mines are not fun. :(
*You can actually pick up and drop off troops from other bases with your vehicles. In fact, you can even station troops at a base that they do not live at. So you do have some extra flexibility with where you put your living quarters this way. Where do your troops sleep and shower if their barracks are halfway across town? Who knows? Maybe androids don't need to sleep or shower anyway.

==Week 3==
===Sunday===

*I am finding disruptor guns when I raid Diablo's slums now. Weird. It's not like they have been infiltrated by aliens. Where are they getting them? Anyway, my tactical score is about to hit 5000 soon. I hope those extra labs get online soon. Six bio labs now, but not one of them is large enough to research Toxiguns yet. Two more physics labs came online today, which is good. Mixing physicists and scientists is confusing. I am wondering when I will get to build large physics labs too.

====Base Setup====
*Base organization is a huge deal. Having mixed bio and physics labs and engineers in the same base makes life more confusing.
:*Transferring stuff around is a annoying too.
:*However establishing separate bases for bio, physics and engineering requires a ton of money. Thank goodness for stun raids even if it is cheating.

====Troops====
*To misquote GI Joe: Organization is half the battle. Setting up your soldiers with enough weapons, especially grenades can be a pain in the neck with a large squad.
:*I currently have 12 Soldiers in 3 squads of 4. This might be a bit much. Maybe 3 squads of 3 or 2 squads of 4 is sufficient.
::*More soldiers means more micromanagement. :(
*Current troop setup:
:*4 Androids as shock troops. 2 Plasma Guns each. 4 Stun grenades, 2 HE grenades, 1 medikit. They can take more hits, and they like [[brainsucker sushi]], so they go in first.
:*4 Humans as regular troops. Same gear as the androids. I could go with HE autocannons or something more interesting, but that would require too much micro.
:*4 Humans as snipers. Dual wielding Laser Sniper Rifles seems like a good way to go. With aimed or snap shot, they should still have good accuracy and a decent fire rate from dual wielding.
:Marsec armor for all the troops. I tried skimping on the [[medikits]] to save on some weight. But the extra micro isn't really worth it. Having to play pass the [[medkit]] when someone gets wounded is a bad idea when they are bleeding badly. Plasma guns are great though. Great accuracy, good damage, dual wieldable with no penalty. What's not to like? Lack of ammo. Thank goodness for stun raids. If you don't want to cheat, I guess you could raid CoS, maybe in turn-based so they don't blow you up with rockets and grenades so quickly. I guess it would be fun to bankrupt them anyway. :)

====Vehicles====
*[[Hoverbikes]] are still fairly effective, but more bikes means more micromanagement. :( It's probably time to upgrade to [[hovercars]] soon. They are almost as fast as hoverbikes with upgraded engines. I could also go with [[Hawk Air Warriors]], but they are even more expensive.
*The maximum number of vehicles you can put in a group is 13. Why 13? Who knows? But not being able to set up persistent groups for your vehicles makes managing hoverbikes a lot of work. Sure, I could send 39 odd hoverbikes into battle, but not if the game requires me to click 39 times every time some UFOs show up. What ever happened to click and drag and square to select your forces? Or Ctrl 1-9?
*Running into problems with tougher UFOs now. Switching from Laser Cannons to Plasma. Thank goodness for stun raids for those elerium pods. I could use Janitor missiles, but they are rather expensive. Using Janitor missiles against Type 1 and 2 UFOs seems like a waste though.

--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 10:26, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----
===Monday===
====12:00pm====
*Just downed a rather large attack wave and captured the first alien assault ship. Current tactical points are about 5400 and total points over 111000. I kinda wish I had heard NKF's advice regarding stun raids sooner. However, I'd picked up a shiny power sword in my last major stun raid and didn't feel like giving it up.
*Things are getting interesting with the latest assault ship I stormed. Tactically it was a piece of cake, since doing a quick perimeter sweep and camping outside the front door with plasma guns and laser snipers works amazingly well. NFK's advice was useful here too. [[Dual-wield]] seems to work best on slow firing weapons. Four snipers with two rifles each can lay down a very nice volume of fire and when lying down, their shots are still quite accurate.
*The aliens are bringing more interesting toys. Devastator cannons, gas grenades and something nasty that causes big purple explosions. Hanging out in the elevator of the assault ship is a bad idea in general. Camping outside is probably best. Actually, there are two Chrysalises in the Assault Ship, but they seem to be auto-captured once you kill everyone else.
*Aliens always seem to appear in groups of 5, at least in Novice mode. Maybe they send more in superhuman.
*They vary the attack waves quite a bit. Last turn it was a transporter and a handful of scouts, then two assault ships and three fast attack ships, and then this turn an assault ship, a transporter and three scouts. Weird since I'd expect their forces to steady escalate, especially since I am racking up more points with each wave.

*Laser and plasma weapons are particularly useful when dealing with [[poppers]], since they do not detonate the popper when killing it.
*I saw my first pair of skeletoids. At least that's what I think they are. Yellow guys that jump around. A perimeter sweep around the far side of the assault ship was a good idea, since they were already on their way out. Nothing like getting ambushed from behind while you are camping to ruin your day.
*There appears to be only one exit for the assault ship, which makes things very convenient for you since you only have one exit to cover.
*I standardized on Plasma Guns and Laser Snipers. I suppose I could add autocannons to the mix, but I'm not convinced about the usefulness of using explosive ammo. It does kill headsuckers better, but they are hardly the most serious threat at this point. Also, explosions tend to destroy equipment, and while I'm not sure about the particulars, I prefer to capture stuff intact and research it at this point. Perhaps when everything is researched, I can safely use huge explosions to wipe out the enemy instead. I sure would like something to punch a hole in one of the UFOs the next time I need to storm it. Beats using the front door in general.

*Ship to ship combat is getting rather tricky. I think reloading plasma weapons for 14 hoverbikes cost something like 1400 elerium. I'll have to check the numbers again. I'm considering just using 20-25 hoverbikes with janitor missiles to get the job done instead. Maybe add some hovercars to the mix. Either way, I'll need more cash, so it's time to raid for psiclone again.
*I wonder if I should leave the other four UFOs alone and let the aliens do whatever they do when they disappear. I'm paranoid they'll leave the ship and infiltrate the surrounding buildings, but I'm pretty sure they just vanish or go home. I think I do need to keep my score down a bit, and I don't really need another assault ship for now. The loot would be handy, but I think I already have all the tech. Capturing a live skeletoid would be handy, but on the other hand, I probably have a bunch of stuff to research as it is. I can't wait for Toxiguns though.

*The plantation slum map is probably the quickest map for grabbing psiclone. There's only four, but the handy thing is that you can get them all easily. Go the second floor first. While enemies do spawn there, there is only one way out, so you can just stun them all and grab the psiclone if someone has picked it up. Afterwards, you can get the psiclone in the two sheds. Enemies occasionally spawn near the SW shed, but usually only one or two and he doesn't wander too far.
*The plantation map is the 05 series in the slum folder. Here's the other maps I have tested so far:
01: Central Elevator
02: Bridge
03: Grasslands
04: U Shaped Building
05: Plantation

Hmm, I am not sure what to do about extra aliens in alien containment. I wish the game would just auto-destroy them when it's clear that you no longer need them? Can some aliens be researched twice, or can you dump them once they've been crossed off on your research list?
--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 19:49, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----

====12:15pm====
Amazing how much can happen in 15 minutes of game time.

*Camping out at the front of the assault ship works, but aliens managed to get out of the ship somehow. I guess it was because something kicked up a smoke cloud in front of the exit. I tried using a stun grenade to dispel it. I wonder exactly how much smoke or stun gas cuts down visibility exactly. Anyway, a pair of skeletoids charged me and got taken down promptly.

Also, a pair of poppers and a brainsucker somehow escaped, perhaps their morale broke and were trying to flee. The AI is still pretty limited, but it has interesting features like that. They snuck out and tried to get away from the back rather than charging headlong into my ambush. But then the poppers charged when they saw me. Strange. Aliens also retreat when they get wounded or are under heavy fire. Too bad they're not smart enough to avoid winding up under heavy fire in the first place.

*Sniper rifles are okay, but I can't wait until I can swap them out for dual devastator cannons. The cannons are 20% less accurate, but they hit a lot harder. Perhaps toxiguns would work too.

=====Base Management=====
*If you are setting up research bases, you will notice that each [[Living Quarters]] always houses 10 units and that each lab can support five or ten scientists in the case of advanced structures. The typical research base will probably have four small labs and one large lab, which is probably the maximum amount the game will let you have. That's a total of 30 scientists and they will completely fill three Living Quarters. So if you want to station a few soldiers at each research base (you need at least one, or you automatically lose a base defense mission), then you should keep all your soldiers at one base, and send a few over the your research base. I'm not sure exactly how training works in this situation. Maybe the soldier can using the training facility at the home base, or perhaps you'll need to build training facilities at the research base if you want you troops to be able to train while guarding the base. In any case, you can send your androids off to perform guard duty. They're more durable anyway, which is good if you need a base defender, and you can send them off on solo psiclone stun raids which means won't have to fiddle with equipment setups on your main troops, unless you want to use stun raids to boost your stats, but that's another story.

=====Air Battles=====
*Hoverbike strategy is getting more complex. I'd really like to be able to assign fixed squadrons. Also, micromanaging seems to yield some improved results. You can reduce casualties by pausing at the right moments and having your bikes and surround the aliens.

*Friendly fire seems to be a big issue with hoverbikes. At least with the [[Bolter lasers]]. The bikes in front tend to get shot by their comrades behind them. Rather embarrassing really. I guess the solution is to split your forces up and attack from multiple directions.

*Disruptors do not fit on hoverbikes, hovercars or Valkyries. I wonder what the optimal loadout for the hoverbikes are. Perhaps the Lineage Plasma Cannon, if you can afford the elerium.

*I wonder if upgrading hoverbike engines is worth the trouble and expense considering you'll lose some anyway.

*Perhaps it's better to save the big plasma cannons for hovercars, preferrably shielded hovercars. There are never enough plasma cannons for sale, and the hoverbikes often get killed in one shot if they get hit.

User:Captain Foo

2008-09-01T17:49:54Z

Captain Foo: tweaked

To Cheat, or not to Cheat, that is the Question:

Whether 'tis Nobler in the minde to suffer

The Slings and Arrowes of outragious Fortune,

Or to take Armes against a Sea of hostile alien hordes,

And by Cheating end them: to Play, to Cheat

No more; and by Cheat, to say we end

The Heart-ache, and the thousand Naturall shockes

The Game is heir too?

(The original words have been crassly abducted from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_be,_or_not_to_be Hamlet's Soliloquy])

=An X-Com 3 Beginner's Log: assorted observations and trivia within=
I'm going to organize my ideas a bit here before moving them to the main wiki...

==Week 1==
*The minute you start, there will already be an alien infiltration in your city. The question is whether you want to save and reload and cheat to find them, or wait for an alien sighting. If you wait for a sighting, you should also watch the graphs and be prepared to investigate neighboring buildings as the alien infection will probably have spread a bit by the time an alien is spotted.
*[[Hoverbike_(Apocalypse)|Hoverbikes]]! Nothing beats hoverbikes!
*Week 1 is quite easy. All you need is a fleet of hoverbikes with laser cannons (cheapest way to take down UFOs), and an android soldier for brainsucker immunity.
*The hardest part is probably getting your system set up. Your troops, but mainly your base will probably need to be reconfigured slightly. You will want to decide where you want to keep your aircraft hanger and will need to make room for security stations around that hangar and at the base entrance.
*Don't do what I did and try to use the APC. While it is nice and large, it can't get to UFO crash sites, which makes it of limited value.
*Ditto with the Stormdog or other road combat vehicles. If the road gets blown up under your vehicle, you lose it. If the road gets blown up in front of your vehicle, it gets stuck and can't move. However if you are inclined to experiment, you can install the Roadwar mod which makes roads invulnerable. It also seems to make air vehicles more expensive however, which is a bit of a disappointment.

==Week 2==
*Valkyrie or better is essential for UFO captures.
*Stun raids are fun. But watch the tactical points. Too many points and aliens will bring vortex mines and shields to the party. Vortex mines are not fun. :(
*You can actually pick up and drop off troops from other bases with your vehicles. In fact, you can even station troops at a base that they do not live at. So you do have some extra flexibility with where you put your living quarters this way. Where do your troops sleep and shower if their barracks are halfway across town? Who knows? Maybe androids don't need to sleep or shower anyway.

==Week 3==
===Sunday===

*I am finding disruptor guns when I raid Diablo's slums now. Weird. It's not like they have been infiltrated by aliens. Where are they getting them? Anyway, my tactical score is about to hit 5000 soon. I hope those extra labs get online soon. Six bio labs now, but not one of them is large enough to research Toxiguns yet. Two more physics labs came online today, which is good. Mixing physicists and scientists is confusing. I am wondering when I will get to build large physics labs too.

====Base Setup====
*Base organization is a huge deal. Having mixed bio and physics labs and engineers in the same base makes life more confusing.
:*Transferring stuff around is a annoying too.
:*However establishing separate bases for bio, physics and engineering requires a ton of money. Thank goodness for stun raids even if it is cheating.

====Troops====
*To misquote GI Joe: Organization is half the battle. Setting up your soldiers with enough weapons, especially grenades can be a pain in the neck with a large squad.
:*I currently have 12 Soldiers in 3 squads of 4. This might be a bit much. Maybe 3 squads of 3 or 2 squads of 4 is sufficient.
::*More soldiers means more micromanagement. :(
*Current troop setup:
:*4 Androids as shock troops. 2 Plasma Guns each. 4 Stun grenades, 2 HE grenades, 1 medikit. They can take more hits, and they like [[brainsucker sushi]], so they go in first.
:*4 Humans as regular troops. Same gear as the androids. I could go with HE autocannons or something more interesting, but that would require too much micro.
:*4 Humans as snipers. Dual wielding Laser Sniper Rifles seems like a good way to go. With aimed or snap shot, they should still have good accuracy and a decent fire rate from dual wielding.
:Marsec armor for all the troops. I tried skimping on the [[medikits]] to save on some weight. But the extra micro isn't really worth it. Having to play pass the [[medkit]] when someone gets wounded is a bad idea when they are bleeding badly. Plasma guns are great though. Great accuracy, good damage, dual wieldable with no penalty. What's not to like? Lack of ammo. Thank goodness for stun raids. If you don't want to cheat, I guess you could raid CoS, maybe in turn-based so they don't blow you up with rockets and grenades so quickly. I guess it would be fun to bankrupt them anyway. :)

====Vehicles====
*[[Hoverbikes]] are still fairly effective, but more bikes means more micromanagement. :( It's probably time to upgrade to [[hovercars]] soon. They are almost as fast as hoverbikes with upgraded engines. I could also go with [[Hawk Air Warriors]], but they are even more expensive.
*The maximum number of vehicles you can put in a group is 13. Why 13? Who knows? But not being able to set up persistent groups for your vehicles makes managing hoverbikes a lot of work. Sure, I could send 39 odd hoverbikes into battle, but not if the game requires me to click 39 times every time some UFOs show up. What ever happened to click and drag and square to select your forces? Or Ctrl 1-9?
*Running into problems with tougher UFOs now. Switching from Laser Cannons to Plasma. Thank goodness for stun raids for those elerium pods. I could use Janitor missiles, but they are rather expensive. Using Janitor missiles against Type 1 and 2 UFOs seems like a waste though.

--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 10:26, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----
===Monday===
====12:00pm====
*Just downed a rather large attack wave and captured the first alien assault ship. Current tactical points are about 5400 and total points over 111000. I kinda wish I had heard NKF's advice regarding stun raids sooner. However, I'd picked up a shiny power sword in my last major stun raid and didn't feel like giving it up.
*Things are getting interesting with the latest assault ship I stormed. Tactically it was a piece of cake, since doing a quick perimeter sweep and camping outside the front door with plasma guns and laser snipers works amazingly well. NFK's advice was useful here too. [[Dual-wield]] seems to work best on slow firing weapons. Four snipers with two rifles each can lay down a very nice volume of fire and when lying down, their shots are still quite accurate.
*The aliens are bringing more interesting toys. Devastator cannons, gas grenades and something nasty that causes big purple explosions. Hanging out in the elevator of the assault ship is a bad idea in general. Camping outside is probably best. Actually, there are two Chrysalises in the Assault Ship, but they seem to be auto-captured once you kill everyone else.
*Aliens always seem to appear in groups of 5, at least in Novice mode. Maybe they send more in superhuman.
*They vary the attack waves quite a bit. Last turn it was a transporter and a handful of scouts, then two assault ships and three fast attack ships, and then this turn an assault ship, a transporter and three scouts. Weird since I'd expect their forces to steady escalate, especially since I am racking up more points with each wave.

*Laser and plasma weapons are particularly useful when dealing with [[poppers]], since they do not detonate the popper when killing it.
*I saw my first pair of skeletoids. At least that's what I think they are. Yellow guys that jump around. A perimeter sweep around the far side of the assault ship was a good idea, since they were already on their way out. Nothing like getting ambushed from behind while you are camping to ruin your day.
*There appears to be only one exit for the assault ship, which makes things very convenient for you since you only have one exit to cover.
*I standardized on Plasma Guns and Laser Snipers. I suppose I could add autocannons to the mix, but I'm not convinced about the usefulness of using explosive ammo. It does kill headsuckers better, but they are hardly the most serious threat at this point. Also, explosions tend to destroy equipment, and while I'm not sure about the particulars, I prefer to capture stuff intact and research it at this point. Perhaps when everything is researched, I can safely use huge explosions to wipe out the enemy instead. I sure would like something to punch a hole in one of the UFOs the next time I need to storm it. Beats using the front door in general.

*Ship to ship combat is getting rather tricky. I think reloading plasma weapons for 14 hoverbikes cost something like 1400 elerium. I'll have to check the numbers again. I'm considering just using 20-25 hoverbikes with janitor missiles to get the job done instead. Maybe add some hovercars to the mix. Either way, I'll need more cash, so it's time to raid for psiclone again.
*I wonder if I should leave the other four UFOs alone and let the aliens do whatever they do when they disappear. I'm paranoid they'll leave the ship and infiltrate the surrounding buildings, but I'm pretty sure they just vanish or go home. I think I do need to keep my score down a bit, and I don't really need another assault ship for now. The loot would be handy, but I think I already have all the tech. Capturing a live skeletoid would be handy, but on the other hand, I probably have a bunch of stuff to research as it is. I can't wait for Toxiguns though.

*The plantation slum map is probably the quickest map for grabbing psiclone. There's only four, but the handy thing is that you can get them all easily. Go the second floor first. While enemies do spawn there, there is only one way out, so you can just stun them all and grab the psiclone if someone has picked it up. Afterwards, you can get the psiclone in the two sheds. Enemies occasionally spawn near the SW shed, but usually only one or two and he doesn't wander too far.
*The plantation map is the 05 series in the slum folder. Here's the other maps I have tested so far:
01: Central Elevator
02: Bridge
03: Grasslands
04: U Shaped Building
05: Plantation

Hmm, I am not sure what to do about extra aliens in alien containment. I wish the game would just auto-destroy them when it's clear that you no longer need them? Can some aliens be researched twice, or can you dump them once they've been crossed off on your research list?
--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 19:49, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----

====12:15pm====
Amazing how much can happen in 15 minutes of game time.

*Camping out at the front of the assault ship works, but aliens managed to get out of the ship somehow. I guess it was because something kicked up a smoke cloud in front of the exit. I tried using a stun grenade to dispel it. I wonder exactly how much smoke or stun gas cuts down visibility exactly. Anyway, a pair of skeletoids charged me and got taken down promptly.

Also, a pair of poppers and a brainsucker somehow escaped, perhaps their morale broke and were trying to flee. The AI is still pretty limited, but it has interesting features like that. They snuck out and tried to get away from the back rather than charging headlong into my ambush. But then the poppers charged when they saw me. Strange. Aliens also retreat when they get wounded or are under heavy fire. Too bad they're not smart enough to avoid winding up under heavy fire in the first place.

*Sniper rifles are okay, but I can't wait until I can swap them out for dual devastator cannons. The cannons are 20% less accurate, but they hit a lot harder. Perhaps toxiguns would work too.

=====Base Management=====
*If you are setting up research bases, you will notice that each [[Living Quarters]] always houses 10 units and that each lab can support five or ten scientists in the case of advanced structures. The typical research base will probably have four small labs and one large lab, which is probably the maximum amount the game will let you have. That's a total of 30 scientists and they will completely fill three Living Quarters. So if you want to station a few soldiers at each research base (you need at least one, or you automatically lose a base defense mission), then you should keep all your soldiers at one base, and send a few over the your research base. I'm not sure exactly how training works in this situation. Maybe the soldier can using the training facility at the home base, or perhaps you'll need to build training facilities at the research base if you want you troops to be able to train while guarding the base. In any case, you can send your androids off to perform guard duty. They're more durable anyway, which is good if you need a base defender, and you can send them off on solo psiclone stun raids which means won't have to fiddle with equipment setups on your main troops, unless you want to use stun raids to boost your stats, but that's another story.

=====Air Battles=====
*Hoverbike strategy is getting more complex. I'd really like to be able to assign fixed squadrons. Also, micromanaging seems to yield some improved results. You can reduce casualties by pausing at the right moments and having your bikes and surround the aliens.

*Friendly fire seems to be a big issue with hoverbikes. At least with the [[Bolter lasers]]. The bikes in front tend to get shot by their comrades behind them. Rather embarrassing really. I guess the solution is to split your forces up and attack from multiple directions.

*Disruptors do not fit on hoverbikes, hovercars or Valkyries. I wonder what the optimal loadout for the hoverbikes are. Perhaps the Lineage Plasma Cannon, if you can afford the elerium.

*I wonder if upgrading hoverbike engines is worth the trouble and expense considering you'll lose some anyway.

*Perhaps it's better to save the big plasma cannons for hovercars, preferrably shielded hovercars. There are never enough plasma cannons for sale, and the hoverbikes often get killed in one shot if they get hit.

User:Captain Foo

2008-09-01T17:48:37Z

Captain Foo: To Cheat, or not to Cheat, that is the Question:

To Cheat, or not to Cheat, that is the Question:

Whether 'tis Nobler in the minde to suffer

The Slings and Arrowes of outragious Fortune,

Or to take Armes against a Sea of troubles,

And by Cheating end them: to Play, to Cheat

No more; and by a Cheat, to say we end

The Heart-ache, and the thousand Naturall shockes

The Game is heir too?

(The original words have been crassly abducted from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_be,_or_not_to_be Hamlet's Soliloquy])

=An X-Com 3 Beginner's Log: assorted observations and trivia within=
I'm going to organize my ideas a bit here before moving them to the main wiki...

==Week 1==
*The minute you start, there will already be an alien infiltration in your city. The question is whether you want to save and reload and cheat to find them, or wait for an alien sighting. If you wait for a sighting, you should also watch the graphs and be prepared to investigate neighboring buildings as the alien infection will probably have spread a bit by the time an alien is spotted.
*[[Hoverbike_(Apocalypse)|Hoverbikes]]! Nothing beats hoverbikes!
*Week 1 is quite easy. All you need is a fleet of hoverbikes with laser cannons (cheapest way to take down UFOs), and an android soldier for brainsucker immunity.
*The hardest part is probably getting your system set up. Your troops, but mainly your base will probably need to be reconfigured slightly. You will want to decide where you want to keep your aircraft hanger and will need to make room for security stations around that hangar and at the base entrance.
*Don't do what I did and try to use the APC. While it is nice and large, it can't get to UFO crash sites, which makes it of limited value.
*Ditto with the Stormdog or other road combat vehicles. If the road gets blown up under your vehicle, you lose it. If the road gets blown up in front of your vehicle, it gets stuck and can't move. However if you are inclined to experiment, you can install the Roadwar mod which makes roads invulnerable. It also seems to make air vehicles more expensive however, which is a bit of a disappointment.

==Week 2==
*Valkyrie or better is essential for UFO captures.
*Stun raids are fun. But watch the tactical points. Too many points and aliens will bring vortex mines and shields to the party. Vortex mines are not fun. :(
*You can actually pick up and drop off troops from other bases with your vehicles. In fact, you can even station troops at a base that they do not live at. So you do have some extra flexibility with where you put your living quarters this way. Where do your troops sleep and shower if their barracks are halfway across town? Who knows? Maybe androids don't need to sleep or shower anyway.

==Week 3==
===Sunday===

*I am finding disruptor guns when I raid Diablo's slums now. Weird. It's not like they have been infiltrated by aliens. Where are they getting them? Anyway, my tactical score is about to hit 5000 soon. I hope those extra labs get online soon. Six bio labs now, but not one of them is large enough to research Toxiguns yet. Two more physics labs came online today, which is good. Mixing physicists and scientists is confusing. I am wondering when I will get to build large physics labs too.

====Base Setup====
*Base organization is a huge deal. Having mixed bio and physics labs and engineers in the same base makes life more confusing.
:*Transferring stuff around is a annoying too.
:*However establishing separate bases for bio, physics and engineering requires a ton of money. Thank goodness for stun raids even if it is cheating.

====Troops====
*To misquote GI Joe: Organization is half the battle. Setting up your soldiers with enough weapons, especially grenades can be a pain in the neck with a large squad.
:*I currently have 12 Soldiers in 3 squads of 4. This might be a bit much. Maybe 3 squads of 3 or 2 squads of 4 is sufficient.
::*More soldiers means more micromanagement. :(
*Current troop setup:
:*4 Androids as shock troops. 2 Plasma Guns each. 4 Stun grenades, 2 HE grenades, 1 medikit. They can take more hits, and they like [[brainsucker sushi]], so they go in first.
:*4 Humans as regular troops. Same gear as the androids. I could go with HE autocannons or something more interesting, but that would require too much micro.
:*4 Humans as snipers. Dual wielding Laser Sniper Rifles seems like a good way to go. With aimed or snap shot, they should still have good accuracy and a decent fire rate from dual wielding.
:Marsec armor for all the troops. I tried skimping on the [[medikits]] to save on some weight. But the extra micro isn't really worth it. Having to play pass the [[medkit]] when someone gets wounded is a bad idea when they are bleeding badly. Plasma guns are great though. Great accuracy, good damage, dual wieldable with no penalty. What's not to like? Lack of ammo. Thank goodness for stun raids. If you don't want to cheat, I guess you could raid CoS, maybe in turn-based so they don't blow you up with rockets and grenades so quickly. I guess it would be fun to bankrupt them anyway. :)

====Vehicles====
*[[Hoverbikes]] are still fairly effective, but more bikes means more micromanagement. :( It's probably time to upgrade to [[hovercars]] soon. They are almost as fast as hoverbikes with upgraded engines. I could also go with [[Hawk Air Warriors]], but they are even more expensive.
*The maximum number of vehicles you can put in a group is 13. Why 13? Who knows? But not being able to set up persistent groups for your vehicles makes managing hoverbikes a lot of work. Sure, I could send 39 odd hoverbikes into battle, but not if the game requires me to click 39 times every time some UFOs show up. What ever happened to click and drag and square to select your forces? Or Ctrl 1-9?
*Running into problems with tougher UFOs now. Switching from Laser Cannons to Plasma. Thank goodness for stun raids for those elerium pods. I could use Janitor missiles, but they are rather expensive. Using Janitor missiles against Type 1 and 2 UFOs seems like a waste though.

--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 10:26, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----
===Monday===
====12:00pm====
*Just downed a rather large attack wave and captured the first alien assault ship. Current tactical points are about 5400 and total points over 111000. I kinda wish I had heard NKF's advice regarding stun raids sooner. However, I'd picked up a shiny power sword in my last major stun raid and didn't feel like giving it up.
*Things are getting interesting with the latest assault ship I stormed. Tactically it was a piece of cake, since doing a quick perimeter sweep and camping outside the front door with plasma guns and laser snipers works amazingly well. NFK's advice was useful here too. [[Dual-wield]] seems to work best on slow firing weapons. Four snipers with two rifles each can lay down a very nice volume of fire and when lying down, their shots are still quite accurate.
*The aliens are bringing more interesting toys. Devastator cannons, gas grenades and something nasty that causes big purple explosions. Hanging out in the elevator of the assault ship is a bad idea in general. Camping outside is probably best. Actually, there are two Chrysalises in the Assault Ship, but they seem to be auto-captured once you kill everyone else.
*Aliens always seem to appear in groups of 5, at least in Novice mode. Maybe they send more in superhuman.
*They vary the attack waves quite a bit. Last turn it was a transporter and a handful of scouts, then two assault ships and three fast attack ships, and then this turn an assault ship, a transporter and three scouts. Weird since I'd expect their forces to steady escalate, especially since I am racking up more points with each wave.

*Laser and plasma weapons are particularly useful when dealing with [[poppers]], since they do not detonate the popper when killing it.
*I saw my first pair of skeletoids. At least that's what I think they are. Yellow guys that jump around. A perimeter sweep around the far side of the assault ship was a good idea, since they were already on their way out. Nothing like getting ambushed from behind while you are camping to ruin your day.
*There appears to be only one exit for the assault ship, which makes things very convenient for you since you only have one exit to cover.
*I standardized on Plasma Guns and Laser Snipers. I suppose I could add autocannons to the mix, but I'm not convinced about the usefulness of using explosive ammo. It does kill headsuckers better, but they are hardly the most serious threat at this point. Also, explosions tend to destroy equipment, and while I'm not sure about the particulars, I prefer to capture stuff intact and research it at this point. Perhaps when everything is researched, I can safely use huge explosions to wipe out the enemy instead. I sure would like something to punch a hole in one of the UFOs the next time I need to storm it. Beats using the front door in general.

*Ship to ship combat is getting rather tricky. I think reloading plasma weapons for 14 hoverbikes cost something like 1400 elerium. I'll have to check the numbers again. I'm considering just using 20-25 hoverbikes with janitor missiles to get the job done instead. Maybe add some hovercars to the mix. Either way, I'll need more cash, so it's time to raid for psiclone again.
*I wonder if I should leave the other four UFOs alone and let the aliens do whatever they do when they disappear. I'm paranoid they'll leave the ship and infiltrate the surrounding buildings, but I'm pretty sure they just vanish or go home. I think I do need to keep my score down a bit, and I don't really need another assault ship for now. The loot would be handy, but I think I already have all the tech. Capturing a live skeletoid would be handy, but on the other hand, I probably have a bunch of stuff to research as it is. I can't wait for Toxiguns though.

*The plantation slum map is probably the quickest map for grabbing psiclone. There's only four, but the handy thing is that you can get them all easily. Go the second floor first. While enemies do spawn there, there is only one way out, so you can just stun them all and grab the psiclone if someone has picked it up. Afterwards, you can get the psiclone in the two sheds. Enemies occasionally spawn near the SW shed, but usually only one or two and he doesn't wander too far.
*The plantation map is the 05 series in the slum folder. Here's the other maps I have tested so far:
01: Central Elevator
02: Bridge
03: Grasslands
04: U Shaped Building
05: Plantation

Hmm, I am not sure what to do about extra aliens in alien containment. I wish the game would just auto-destroy them when it's clear that you no longer need them? Can some aliens be researched twice, or can you dump them once they've been crossed off on your research list?
--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 19:49, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----

====12:15pm====
Amazing how much can happen in 15 minutes of game time.

*Camping out at the front of the assault ship works, but aliens managed to get out of the ship somehow. I guess it was because something kicked up a smoke cloud in front of the exit. I tried using a stun grenade to dispel it. I wonder exactly how much smoke or stun gas cuts down visibility exactly. Anyway, a pair of skeletoids charged me and got taken down promptly.

Also, a pair of poppers and a brainsucker somehow escaped, perhaps their morale broke and were trying to flee. The AI is still pretty limited, but it has interesting features like that. They snuck out and tried to get away from the back rather than charging headlong into my ambush. But then the poppers charged when they saw me. Strange. Aliens also retreat when they get wounded or are under heavy fire. Too bad they're not smart enough to avoid winding up under heavy fire in the first place.

*Sniper rifles are okay, but I can't wait until I can swap them out for dual devastator cannons. The cannons are 20% less accurate, but they hit a lot harder. Perhaps toxiguns would work too.

=====Base Management=====
*If you are setting up research bases, you will notice that each [[Living Quarters]] always houses 10 units and that each lab can support five or ten scientists in the case of advanced structures. The typical research base will probably have four small labs and one large lab, which is probably the maximum amount the game will let you have. That's a total of 30 scientists and they will completely fill three Living Quarters. So if you want to station a few soldiers at each research base (you need at least one, or you automatically lose a base defense mission), then you should keep all your soldiers at one base, and send a few over the your research base. I'm not sure exactly how training works in this situation. Maybe the soldier can using the training facility at the home base, or perhaps you'll need to build training facilities at the research base if you want you troops to be able to train while guarding the base. In any case, you can send your androids off to perform guard duty. They're more durable anyway, which is good if you need a base defender, and you can send them off on solo psiclone stun raids which means won't have to fiddle with equipment setups on your main troops, unless you want to use stun raids to boost your stats, but that's another story.

=====Air Battles=====
*Hoverbike strategy is getting more complex. I'd really like to be able to assign fixed squadrons. Also, micromanaging seems to yield some improved results. You can reduce casualties by pausing at the right moments and having your bikes and surround the aliens.

*Friendly fire seems to be a big issue with hoverbikes. At least with the [[Bolter lasers]]. The bikes in front tend to get shot by their comrades behind them. Rather embarrassing really. I guess the solution is to split your forces up and attack from multiple directions.

*Disruptors do not fit on hoverbikes, hovercars or Valkyries. I wonder what the optimal loadout for the hoverbikes are. Perhaps the Lineage Plasma Cannon, if you can afford the elerium.

*I wonder if upgrading hoverbike engines is worth the trouble and expense considering you'll lose some anyway.

*Perhaps it's better to save the big plasma cannons for hovercars, preferrably shielded hovercars. There are never enough plasma cannons for sale, and the hoverbikes often get killed in one shot if they get hit.

User:Captain Foo

2008-09-01T17:37:14Z

Captain Foo: /* Week 1 */ to cheat or not to cheat...

Captain Foo was last seen charging through the streets of Mega Primus alone, brandishing a pair of Plasma Guns the way crazy people do in the movies. Captain Foo is also a big fan of stun gas, except when the multiworms wake up and nibble on his troops from behind.

=An X-Com 3 Beginner's Log: assorted observations and trivia within=
I'm going to organize my ideas a bit here before moving them to the main wiki...

==Week 1==
*The minute you start, there will already be an alien infiltration in your city. The question is whether you want to save and reload and cheat to find them, or wait for an alien sighting. If you wait for a sighting, you should also watch the graphs and be prepared to investigate neighboring buildings as the alien infection will probably have spread a bit by the time an alien is spotted.
*[[Hoverbike_(Apocalypse)|Hoverbikes]]! Nothing beats hoverbikes!
*Week 1 is quite easy. All you need is a fleet of hoverbikes with laser cannons (cheapest way to take down UFOs), and an android soldier for brainsucker immunity.
*The hardest part is probably getting your system set up. Your troops, but mainly your base will probably need to be reconfigured slightly. You will want to decide where you want to keep your aircraft hanger and will need to make room for security stations around that hangar and at the base entrance.
*Don't do what I did and try to use the APC. While it is nice and large, it can't get to UFO crash sites, which makes it of limited value.
*Ditto with the Stormdog or other road combat vehicles. If the road gets blown up under your vehicle, you lose it. If the road gets blown up in front of your vehicle, it gets stuck and can't move. However if you are inclined to experiment, you can install the Roadwar mod which makes roads invulnerable. It also seems to make air vehicles more expensive however, which is a bit of a disappointment.

==Week 2==
*Valkyrie or better is essential for UFO captures.
*Stun raids are fun. But watch the tactical points. Too many points and aliens will bring vortex mines and shields to the party. Vortex mines are not fun. :(
*You can actually pick up and drop off troops from other bases with your vehicles. In fact, you can even station troops at a base that they do not live at. So you do have some extra flexibility with where you put your living quarters this way. Where do your troops sleep and shower if their barracks are halfway across town? Who knows? Maybe androids don't need to sleep or shower anyway.

==Week 3==
===Sunday===

*I am finding disruptor guns when I raid Diablo's slums now. Weird. It's not like they have been infiltrated by aliens. Where are they getting them? Anyway, my tactical score is about to hit 5000 soon. I hope those extra labs get online soon. Six bio labs now, but not one of them is large enough to research Toxiguns yet. Two more physics labs came online today, which is good. Mixing physicists and scientists is confusing. I am wondering when I will get to build large physics labs too.

====Base Setup====
*Base organization is a huge deal. Having mixed bio and physics labs and engineers in the same base makes life more confusing.
:*Transferring stuff around is a annoying too.
:*However establishing separate bases for bio, physics and engineering requires a ton of money. Thank goodness for stun raids even if it is cheating.

====Troops====
*To misquote GI Joe: Organization is half the battle. Setting up your soldiers with enough weapons, especially grenades can be a pain in the neck with a large squad.
:*I currently have 12 Soldiers in 3 squads of 4. This might be a bit much. Maybe 3 squads of 3 or 2 squads of 4 is sufficient.
::*More soldiers means more micromanagement. :(
*Current troop setup:
:*4 Androids as shock troops. 2 Plasma Guns each. 4 Stun grenades, 2 HE grenades, 1 medikit. They can take more hits, and they like [[brainsucker sushi]], so they go in first.
:*4 Humans as regular troops. Same gear as the androids. I could go with HE autocannons or something more interesting, but that would require too much micro.
:*4 Humans as snipers. Dual wielding Laser Sniper Rifles seems like a good way to go. With aimed or snap shot, they should still have good accuracy and a decent fire rate from dual wielding.
:Marsec armor for all the troops. I tried skimping on the [[medikits]] to save on some weight. But the extra micro isn't really worth it. Having to play pass the [[medkit]] when someone gets wounded is a bad idea when they are bleeding badly. Plasma guns are great though. Great accuracy, good damage, dual wieldable with no penalty. What's not to like? Lack of ammo. Thank goodness for stun raids. If you don't want to cheat, I guess you could raid CoS, maybe in turn-based so they don't blow you up with rockets and grenades so quickly. I guess it would be fun to bankrupt them anyway. :)

====Vehicles====
*[[Hoverbikes]] are still fairly effective, but more bikes means more micromanagement. :( It's probably time to upgrade to [[hovercars]] soon. They are almost as fast as hoverbikes with upgraded engines. I could also go with [[Hawk Air Warriors]], but they are even more expensive.
*The maximum number of vehicles you can put in a group is 13. Why 13? Who knows? But not being able to set up persistent groups for your vehicles makes managing hoverbikes a lot of work. Sure, I could send 39 odd hoverbikes into battle, but not if the game requires me to click 39 times every time some UFOs show up. What ever happened to click and drag and square to select your forces? Or Ctrl 1-9?
*Running into problems with tougher UFOs now. Switching from Laser Cannons to Plasma. Thank goodness for stun raids for those elerium pods. I could use Janitor missiles, but they are rather expensive. Using Janitor missiles against Type 1 and 2 UFOs seems like a waste though.

--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 10:26, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----
===Monday===
====12:00pm====
*Just downed a rather large attack wave and captured the first alien assault ship. Current tactical points are about 5400 and total points over 111000. I kinda wish I had heard NKF's advice regarding stun raids sooner. However, I'd picked up a shiny power sword in my last major stun raid and didn't feel like giving it up.
*Things are getting interesting with the latest assault ship I stormed. Tactically it was a piece of cake, since doing a quick perimeter sweep and camping outside the front door with plasma guns and laser snipers works amazingly well. NFK's advice was useful here too. [[Dual-wield]] seems to work best on slow firing weapons. Four snipers with two rifles each can lay down a very nice volume of fire and when lying down, their shots are still quite accurate.
*The aliens are bringing more interesting toys. Devastator cannons, gas grenades and something nasty that causes big purple explosions. Hanging out in the elevator of the assault ship is a bad idea in general. Camping outside is probably best. Actually, there are two Chrysalises in the Assault Ship, but they seem to be auto-captured once you kill everyone else.
*Aliens always seem to appear in groups of 5, at least in Novice mode. Maybe they send more in superhuman.
*They vary the attack waves quite a bit. Last turn it was a transporter and a handful of scouts, then two assault ships and three fast attack ships, and then this turn an assault ship, a transporter and three scouts. Weird since I'd expect their forces to steady escalate, especially since I am racking up more points with each wave.

*Laser and plasma weapons are particularly useful when dealing with [[poppers]], since they do not detonate the popper when killing it.
*I saw my first pair of skeletoids. At least that's what I think they are. Yellow guys that jump around. A perimeter sweep around the far side of the assault ship was a good idea, since they were already on their way out. Nothing like getting ambushed from behind while you are camping to ruin your day.
*There appears to be only one exit for the assault ship, which makes things very convenient for you since you only have one exit to cover.
*I standardized on Plasma Guns and Laser Snipers. I suppose I could add autocannons to the mix, but I'm not convinced about the usefulness of using explosive ammo. It does kill headsuckers better, but they are hardly the most serious threat at this point. Also, explosions tend to destroy equipment, and while I'm not sure about the particulars, I prefer to capture stuff intact and research it at this point. Perhaps when everything is researched, I can safely use huge explosions to wipe out the enemy instead. I sure would like something to punch a hole in one of the UFOs the next time I need to storm it. Beats using the front door in general.

*Ship to ship combat is getting rather tricky. I think reloading plasma weapons for 14 hoverbikes cost something like 1400 elerium. I'll have to check the numbers again. I'm considering just using 20-25 hoverbikes with janitor missiles to get the job done instead. Maybe add some hovercars to the mix. Either way, I'll need more cash, so it's time to raid for psiclone again.
*I wonder if I should leave the other four UFOs alone and let the aliens do whatever they do when they disappear. I'm paranoid they'll leave the ship and infiltrate the surrounding buildings, but I'm pretty sure they just vanish or go home. I think I do need to keep my score down a bit, and I don't really need another assault ship for now. The loot would be handy, but I think I already have all the tech. Capturing a live skeletoid would be handy, but on the other hand, I probably have a bunch of stuff to research as it is. I can't wait for Toxiguns though.

*The plantation slum map is probably the quickest map for grabbing psiclone. There's only four, but the handy thing is that you can get them all easily. Go the second floor first. While enemies do spawn there, there is only one way out, so you can just stun them all and grab the psiclone if someone has picked it up. Afterwards, you can get the psiclone in the two sheds. Enemies occasionally spawn near the SW shed, but usually only one or two and he doesn't wander too far.
*The plantation map is the 05 series in the slum folder. Here's the other maps I have tested so far:
01: Central Elevator
02: Bridge
03: Grasslands
04: U Shaped Building
05: Plantation

Hmm, I am not sure what to do about extra aliens in alien containment. I wish the game would just auto-destroy them when it's clear that you no longer need them? Can some aliens be researched twice, or can you dump them once they've been crossed off on your research list?
--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 19:49, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----

====12:15pm====
Amazing how much can happen in 15 minutes of game time.

*Camping out at the front of the assault ship works, but aliens managed to get out of the ship somehow. I guess it was because something kicked up a smoke cloud in front of the exit. I tried using a stun grenade to dispel it. I wonder exactly how much smoke or stun gas cuts down visibility exactly. Anyway, a pair of skeletoids charged me and got taken down promptly.

Also, a pair of poppers and a brainsucker somehow escaped, perhaps their morale broke and were trying to flee. The AI is still pretty limited, but it has interesting features like that. They snuck out and tried to get away from the back rather than charging headlong into my ambush. But then the poppers charged when they saw me. Strange. Aliens also retreat when they get wounded or are under heavy fire. Too bad they're not smart enough to avoid winding up under heavy fire in the first place.

*Sniper rifles are okay, but I can't wait until I can swap them out for dual devastator cannons. The cannons are 20% less accurate, but they hit a lot harder. Perhaps toxiguns would work too.

=====Base Management=====
*If you are setting up research bases, you will notice that each [[Living Quarters]] always houses 10 units and that each lab can support five or ten scientists in the case of advanced structures. The typical research base will probably have four small labs and one large lab, which is probably the maximum amount the game will let you have. That's a total of 30 scientists and they will completely fill three Living Quarters. So if you want to station a few soldiers at each research base (you need at least one, or you automatically lose a base defense mission), then you should keep all your soldiers at one base, and send a few over the your research base. I'm not sure exactly how training works in this situation. Maybe the soldier can using the training facility at the home base, or perhaps you'll need to build training facilities at the research base if you want you troops to be able to train while guarding the base. In any case, you can send your androids off to perform guard duty. They're more durable anyway, which is good if you need a base defender, and you can send them off on solo psiclone stun raids which means won't have to fiddle with equipment setups on your main troops, unless you want to use stun raids to boost your stats, but that's another story.

=====Air Battles=====
*Hoverbike strategy is getting more complex. I'd really like to be able to assign fixed squadrons. Also, micromanaging seems to yield some improved results. You can reduce casualties by pausing at the right moments and having your bikes and surround the aliens.

*Friendly fire seems to be a big issue with hoverbikes. At least with the [[Bolter lasers]]. The bikes in front tend to get shot by their comrades behind them. Rather embarrassing really. I guess the solution is to split your forces up and attack from multiple directions.

*Disruptors do not fit on hoverbikes, hovercars or Valkyries. I wonder what the optimal loadout for the hoverbikes are. Perhaps the Lineage Plasma Cannon, if you can afford the elerium.

*I wonder if upgrading hoverbike engines is worth the trouble and expense considering you'll lose some anyway.

*Perhaps it's better to save the big plasma cannons for hovercars, preferrably shielded hovercars. There are never enough plasma cannons for sale, and the hoverbikes often get killed in one shot if they get hit.

User:Captain Foo

2008-09-01T17:35:09Z

Captain Foo: /* Week 1 */

Captain Foo was last seen charging through the streets of Mega Primus alone, brandishing a pair of Plasma Guns the way crazy people do in the movies. Captain Foo is also a big fan of stun gas, except when the multiworms wake up and nibble on his troops from behind.

=An X-Com 3 Beginner's Log: assorted observations and trivia within=
I'm going to organize my ideas a bit here before moving them to the main wiki...

==Week 1==
*[[Hoverbike_(Apocalypse)|Hoverbikes]]! Nothing beats hoverbikes!
*Week 1 is quite easy. All you need is a fleet of hoverbikes with laser cannons (cheapest way to take down UFOs), and an android soldier for brainsucker immunity.
*The hardest part is probably getting your system set up. Your troops, but mainly your base will probably need to be reconfigured slightly. You will want to decide where you want to keep your aircraft hanger and will need to make room for security stations around that hangar and at the base entrance.
*Don't do what I did and try to use the APC. While it is nice and large, it can't get to UFO crash sites, which makes it of limited value.
*Ditto with the Stormdog or other road combat vehicles. If the road gets blown up under your vehicle, you lose it. If the road gets blown up in front of your vehicle, it gets stuck and can't move. However if you are inclined to experiment, you can install the Roadwar mod which makes roads invulnerable. It also seems to make air vehicles more expensive however, which is a bit of a disappointment.

==Week 2==
*Valkyrie or better is essential for UFO captures.
*Stun raids are fun. But watch the tactical points. Too many points and aliens will bring vortex mines and shields to the party. Vortex mines are not fun. :(
*You can actually pick up and drop off troops from other bases with your vehicles. In fact, you can even station troops at a base that they do not live at. So you do have some extra flexibility with where you put your living quarters this way. Where do your troops sleep and shower if their barracks are halfway across town? Who knows? Maybe androids don't need to sleep or shower anyway.

==Week 3==
===Sunday===

*I am finding disruptor guns when I raid Diablo's slums now. Weird. It's not like they have been infiltrated by aliens. Where are they getting them? Anyway, my tactical score is about to hit 5000 soon. I hope those extra labs get online soon. Six bio labs now, but not one of them is large enough to research Toxiguns yet. Two more physics labs came online today, which is good. Mixing physicists and scientists is confusing. I am wondering when I will get to build large physics labs too.

====Base Setup====
*Base organization is a huge deal. Having mixed bio and physics labs and engineers in the same base makes life more confusing.
:*Transferring stuff around is a annoying too.
:*However establishing separate bases for bio, physics and engineering requires a ton of money. Thank goodness for stun raids even if it is cheating.

====Troops====
*To misquote GI Joe: Organization is half the battle. Setting up your soldiers with enough weapons, especially grenades can be a pain in the neck with a large squad.
:*I currently have 12 Soldiers in 3 squads of 4. This might be a bit much. Maybe 3 squads of 3 or 2 squads of 4 is sufficient.
::*More soldiers means more micromanagement. :(
*Current troop setup:
:*4 Androids as shock troops. 2 Plasma Guns each. 4 Stun grenades, 2 HE grenades, 1 medikit. They can take more hits, and they like [[brainsucker sushi]], so they go in first.
:*4 Humans as regular troops. Same gear as the androids. I could go with HE autocannons or something more interesting, but that would require too much micro.
:*4 Humans as snipers. Dual wielding Laser Sniper Rifles seems like a good way to go. With aimed or snap shot, they should still have good accuracy and a decent fire rate from dual wielding.
:Marsec armor for all the troops. I tried skimping on the [[medikits]] to save on some weight. But the extra micro isn't really worth it. Having to play pass the [[medkit]] when someone gets wounded is a bad idea when they are bleeding badly. Plasma guns are great though. Great accuracy, good damage, dual wieldable with no penalty. What's not to like? Lack of ammo. Thank goodness for stun raids. If you don't want to cheat, I guess you could raid CoS, maybe in turn-based so they don't blow you up with rockets and grenades so quickly. I guess it would be fun to bankrupt them anyway. :)

====Vehicles====
*[[Hoverbikes]] are still fairly effective, but more bikes means more micromanagement. :( It's probably time to upgrade to [[hovercars]] soon. They are almost as fast as hoverbikes with upgraded engines. I could also go with [[Hawk Air Warriors]], but they are even more expensive.
*The maximum number of vehicles you can put in a group is 13. Why 13? Who knows? But not being able to set up persistent groups for your vehicles makes managing hoverbikes a lot of work. Sure, I could send 39 odd hoverbikes into battle, but not if the game requires me to click 39 times every time some UFOs show up. What ever happened to click and drag and square to select your forces? Or Ctrl 1-9?
*Running into problems with tougher UFOs now. Switching from Laser Cannons to Plasma. Thank goodness for stun raids for those elerium pods. I could use Janitor missiles, but they are rather expensive. Using Janitor missiles against Type 1 and 2 UFOs seems like a waste though.

--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 10:26, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----
===Monday===
====12:00pm====
*Just downed a rather large attack wave and captured the first alien assault ship. Current tactical points are about 5400 and total points over 111000. I kinda wish I had heard NKF's advice regarding stun raids sooner. However, I'd picked up a shiny power sword in my last major stun raid and didn't feel like giving it up.
*Things are getting interesting with the latest assault ship I stormed. Tactically it was a piece of cake, since doing a quick perimeter sweep and camping outside the front door with plasma guns and laser snipers works amazingly well. NFK's advice was useful here too. [[Dual-wield]] seems to work best on slow firing weapons. Four snipers with two rifles each can lay down a very nice volume of fire and when lying down, their shots are still quite accurate.
*The aliens are bringing more interesting toys. Devastator cannons, gas grenades and something nasty that causes big purple explosions. Hanging out in the elevator of the assault ship is a bad idea in general. Camping outside is probably best. Actually, there are two Chrysalises in the Assault Ship, but they seem to be auto-captured once you kill everyone else.
*Aliens always seem to appear in groups of 5, at least in Novice mode. Maybe they send more in superhuman.
*They vary the attack waves quite a bit. Last turn it was a transporter and a handful of scouts, then two assault ships and three fast attack ships, and then this turn an assault ship, a transporter and three scouts. Weird since I'd expect their forces to steady escalate, especially since I am racking up more points with each wave.

*Laser and plasma weapons are particularly useful when dealing with [[poppers]], since they do not detonate the popper when killing it.
*I saw my first pair of skeletoids. At least that's what I think they are. Yellow guys that jump around. A perimeter sweep around the far side of the assault ship was a good idea, since they were already on their way out. Nothing like getting ambushed from behind while you are camping to ruin your day.
*There appears to be only one exit for the assault ship, which makes things very convenient for you since you only have one exit to cover.
*I standardized on Plasma Guns and Laser Snipers. I suppose I could add autocannons to the mix, but I'm not convinced about the usefulness of using explosive ammo. It does kill headsuckers better, but they are hardly the most serious threat at this point. Also, explosions tend to destroy equipment, and while I'm not sure about the particulars, I prefer to capture stuff intact and research it at this point. Perhaps when everything is researched, I can safely use huge explosions to wipe out the enemy instead. I sure would like something to punch a hole in one of the UFOs the next time I need to storm it. Beats using the front door in general.

*Ship to ship combat is getting rather tricky. I think reloading plasma weapons for 14 hoverbikes cost something like 1400 elerium. I'll have to check the numbers again. I'm considering just using 20-25 hoverbikes with janitor missiles to get the job done instead. Maybe add some hovercars to the mix. Either way, I'll need more cash, so it's time to raid for psiclone again.
*I wonder if I should leave the other four UFOs alone and let the aliens do whatever they do when they disappear. I'm paranoid they'll leave the ship and infiltrate the surrounding buildings, but I'm pretty sure they just vanish or go home. I think I do need to keep my score down a bit, and I don't really need another assault ship for now. The loot would be handy, but I think I already have all the tech. Capturing a live skeletoid would be handy, but on the other hand, I probably have a bunch of stuff to research as it is. I can't wait for Toxiguns though.

*The plantation slum map is probably the quickest map for grabbing psiclone. There's only four, but the handy thing is that you can get them all easily. Go the second floor first. While enemies do spawn there, there is only one way out, so you can just stun them all and grab the psiclone if someone has picked it up. Afterwards, you can get the psiclone in the two sheds. Enemies occasionally spawn near the SW shed, but usually only one or two and he doesn't wander too far.
*The plantation map is the 05 series in the slum folder. Here's the other maps I have tested so far:
01: Central Elevator
02: Bridge
03: Grasslands
04: U Shaped Building
05: Plantation

Hmm, I am not sure what to do about extra aliens in alien containment. I wish the game would just auto-destroy them when it's clear that you no longer need them? Can some aliens be researched twice, or can you dump them once they've been crossed off on your research list?
--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 19:49, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----

====12:15pm====
Amazing how much can happen in 15 minutes of game time.

*Camping out at the front of the assault ship works, but aliens managed to get out of the ship somehow. I guess it was because something kicked up a smoke cloud in front of the exit. I tried using a stun grenade to dispel it. I wonder exactly how much smoke or stun gas cuts down visibility exactly. Anyway, a pair of skeletoids charged me and got taken down promptly.

Also, a pair of poppers and a brainsucker somehow escaped, perhaps their morale broke and were trying to flee. The AI is still pretty limited, but it has interesting features like that. They snuck out and tried to get away from the back rather than charging headlong into my ambush. But then the poppers charged when they saw me. Strange. Aliens also retreat when they get wounded or are under heavy fire. Too bad they're not smart enough to avoid winding up under heavy fire in the first place.

*Sniper rifles are okay, but I can't wait until I can swap them out for dual devastator cannons. The cannons are 20% less accurate, but they hit a lot harder. Perhaps toxiguns would work too.

=====Base Management=====
*If you are setting up research bases, you will notice that each [[Living Quarters]] always houses 10 units and that each lab can support five or ten scientists in the case of advanced structures. The typical research base will probably have four small labs and one large lab, which is probably the maximum amount the game will let you have. That's a total of 30 scientists and they will completely fill three Living Quarters. So if you want to station a few soldiers at each research base (you need at least one, or you automatically lose a base defense mission), then you should keep all your soldiers at one base, and send a few over the your research base. I'm not sure exactly how training works in this situation. Maybe the soldier can using the training facility at the home base, or perhaps you'll need to build training facilities at the research base if you want you troops to be able to train while guarding the base. In any case, you can send your androids off to perform guard duty. They're more durable anyway, which is good if you need a base defender, and you can send them off on solo psiclone stun raids which means won't have to fiddle with equipment setups on your main troops, unless you want to use stun raids to boost your stats, but that's another story.

=====Air Battles=====
*Hoverbike strategy is getting more complex. I'd really like to be able to assign fixed squadrons. Also, micromanaging seems to yield some improved results. You can reduce casualties by pausing at the right moments and having your bikes and surround the aliens.

*Friendly fire seems to be a big issue with hoverbikes. At least with the [[Bolter lasers]]. The bikes in front tend to get shot by their comrades behind them. Rather embarrassing really. I guess the solution is to split your forces up and attack from multiple directions.

*Disruptors do not fit on hoverbikes, hovercars or Valkyries. I wonder what the optimal loadout for the hoverbikes are. Perhaps the Lineage Plasma Cannon, if you can afford the elerium.

*I wonder if upgrading hoverbike engines is worth the trouble and expense considering you'll lose some anyway.

*Perhaps it's better to save the big plasma cannons for hovercars, preferrably shielded hovercars. There are never enough plasma cannons for sale, and the hoverbikes often get killed in one shot if they get hit.

Talk:Hoverbike (Apocalypse)

2008-09-01T17:26:13Z

Captain Foo:

The official entry says "The Hoverbike can be a valuable means of transport for the Agent on investigative missions where speed of response is essential." Is there ever such a situation though? It seems waiting another minute for the Valkyrie to arrive with 8-12 agents is usually more practical, unless you are roleplaying.

The hoverbike can be useful if you want to send an agent or two to stun raid the slums for psiclone though.
--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 09:13, 1 September 2008 (PDT)

Well it's just fluff text, but I always kinda assumed it referred to the stripped out VIP part of the game, where speed&stealth (tracker gun) might have been more important than squad size? [[User:J'ordos|J'ordos]] 09:41, 1 September 2008 (PDT)

There was a VIP part of the game? Also, what is the tracker gun? It sounds like a cool idea, though too bad it didn't actually get implemented. --[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 10:26, 1 September 2008 (PDT)

Talk:Melee Accuracy

2008-09-01T16:37:48Z

Captain Foo: New page: Hmm, it seems rather counter-intuitive that you would get a melee accuracy bonus for kneeling. But I suppose whether it applies depends on whether the designers thought of this detail. --...

Hmm, it seems rather counter-intuitive that you would get a melee accuracy bonus for kneeling. But I suppose whether it applies depends on whether the designers thought of this detail. --[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 09:37, 1 September 2008 (PDT)

User:Captain Foo

2008-09-01T16:33:00Z

Captain Foo: /* 12:15pm */ research base and living quarters tweaking

Captain Foo was last seen charging through the streets of Mega Primus alone, brandishing a pair of Plasma Guns the way crazy people do in the movies. Captain Foo is also a big fan of stun gas, except when the multiworms wake up and nibble on his troops from behind.

=An X-Com 3 Beginner's Log: assorted observations and trivia within=
I'm going to organize my ideas a bit here before moving them to the main wiki...

==Week 1==
*[[Hoverbike_(Apocalypse)|Hoverbikes]]! Nothing beats hoverbikes!

==Week 2==
*Valkyrie or better is essential for UFO captures.
*Stun raids are fun. But watch the tactical points. Too many points and aliens will bring vortex mines and shields to the party. Vortex mines are not fun. :(
*You can actually pick up and drop off troops from other bases with your vehicles. In fact, you can even station troops at a base that they do not live at. So you do have some extra flexibility with where you put your living quarters this way. Where do your troops sleep and shower if their barracks are halfway across town? Who knows? Maybe androids don't need to sleep or shower anyway.

==Week 3==
===Sunday===

*I am finding disruptor guns when I raid Diablo's slums now. Weird. It's not like they have been infiltrated by aliens. Where are they getting them? Anyway, my tactical score is about to hit 5000 soon. I hope those extra labs get online soon. Six bio labs now, but not one of them is large enough to research Toxiguns yet. Two more physics labs came online today, which is good. Mixing physicists and scientists is confusing. I am wondering when I will get to build large physics labs too.

====Base Setup====
*Base organization is a huge deal. Having mixed bio and physics labs and engineers in the same base makes life more confusing.
:*Transferring stuff around is a annoying too.
:*However establishing separate bases for bio, physics and engineering requires a ton of money. Thank goodness for stun raids even if it is cheating.

====Troops====
*To misquote GI Joe: Organization is half the battle. Setting up your soldiers with enough weapons, especially grenades can be a pain in the neck with a large squad.
:*I currently have 12 Soldiers in 3 squads of 4. This might be a bit much. Maybe 3 squads of 3 or 2 squads of 4 is sufficient.
::*More soldiers means more micromanagement. :(
*Current troop setup:
:*4 Androids as shock troops. 2 Plasma Guns each. 4 Stun grenades, 2 HE grenades, 1 medikit. They can take more hits, and they like [[brainsucker sushi]], so they go in first.
:*4 Humans as regular troops. Same gear as the androids. I could go with HE autocannons or something more interesting, but that would require too much micro.
:*4 Humans as snipers. Dual wielding Laser Sniper Rifles seems like a good way to go. With aimed or snap shot, they should still have good accuracy and a decent fire rate from dual wielding.
:Marsec armor for all the troops. I tried skimping on the [[medikits]] to save on some weight. But the extra micro isn't really worth it. Having to play pass the [[medkit]] when someone gets wounded is a bad idea when they are bleeding badly. Plasma guns are great though. Great accuracy, good damage, dual wieldable with no penalty. What's not to like? Lack of ammo. Thank goodness for stun raids. If you don't want to cheat, I guess you could raid CoS, maybe in turn-based so they don't blow you up with rockets and grenades so quickly. I guess it would be fun to bankrupt them anyway. :)

====Vehicles====
*[[Hoverbikes]] are still fairly effective, but more bikes means more micromanagement. :( It's probably time to upgrade to [[hovercars]] soon. They are almost as fast as hoverbikes with upgraded engines. I could also go with [[Hawk Air Warriors]], but they are even more expensive.
*The maximum number of vehicles you can put in a group is 13. Why 13? Who knows? But not being able to set up persistent groups for your vehicles makes managing hoverbikes a lot of work. Sure, I could send 39 odd hoverbikes into battle, but not if the game requires me to click 39 times every time some UFOs show up. What ever happened to click and drag and square to select your forces? Or Ctrl 1-9?
*Running into problems with tougher UFOs now. Switching from Laser Cannons to Plasma. Thank goodness for stun raids for those elerium pods. I could use Janitor missiles, but they are rather expensive. Using Janitor missiles against Type 1 and 2 UFOs seems like a waste though.

--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 10:26, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----
===Monday===
====12:00pm====
*Just downed a rather large attack wave and captured the first alien assault ship. Current tactical points are about 5400 and total points over 111000. I kinda wish I had heard NKF's advice regarding stun raids sooner. However, I'd picked up a shiny power sword in my last major stun raid and didn't feel like giving it up.
*Things are getting interesting with the latest assault ship I stormed. Tactically it was a piece of cake, since doing a quick perimeter sweep and camping outside the front door with plasma guns and laser snipers works amazingly well. NFK's advice was useful here too. [[Dual-wield]] seems to work best on slow firing weapons. Four snipers with two rifles each can lay down a very nice volume of fire and when lying down, their shots are still quite accurate.
*The aliens are bringing more interesting toys. Devastator cannons, gas grenades and something nasty that causes big purple explosions. Hanging out in the elevator of the assault ship is a bad idea in general. Camping outside is probably best. Actually, there are two Chrysalises in the Assault Ship, but they seem to be auto-captured once you kill everyone else.
*Aliens always seem to appear in groups of 5, at least in Novice mode. Maybe they send more in superhuman.
*They vary the attack waves quite a bit. Last turn it was a transporter and a handful of scouts, then two assault ships and three fast attack ships, and then this turn an assault ship, a transporter and three scouts. Weird since I'd expect their forces to steady escalate, especially since I am racking up more points with each wave.

*Laser and plasma weapons are particularly useful when dealing with [[poppers]], since they do not detonate the popper when killing it.
*I saw my first pair of skeletoids. At least that's what I think they are. Yellow guys that jump around. A perimeter sweep around the far side of the assault ship was a good idea, since they were already on their way out. Nothing like getting ambushed from behind while you are camping to ruin your day.
*There appears to be only one exit for the assault ship, which makes things very convenient for you since you only have one exit to cover.
*I standardized on Plasma Guns and Laser Snipers. I suppose I could add autocannons to the mix, but I'm not convinced about the usefulness of using explosive ammo. It does kill headsuckers better, but they are hardly the most serious threat at this point. Also, explosions tend to destroy equipment, and while I'm not sure about the particulars, I prefer to capture stuff intact and research it at this point. Perhaps when everything is researched, I can safely use huge explosions to wipe out the enemy instead. I sure would like something to punch a hole in one of the UFOs the next time I need to storm it. Beats using the front door in general.

*Ship to ship combat is getting rather tricky. I think reloading plasma weapons for 14 hoverbikes cost something like 1400 elerium. I'll have to check the numbers again. I'm considering just using 20-25 hoverbikes with janitor missiles to get the job done instead. Maybe add some hovercars to the mix. Either way, I'll need more cash, so it's time to raid for psiclone again.
*I wonder if I should leave the other four UFOs alone and let the aliens do whatever they do when they disappear. I'm paranoid they'll leave the ship and infiltrate the surrounding buildings, but I'm pretty sure they just vanish or go home. I think I do need to keep my score down a bit, and I don't really need another assault ship for now. The loot would be handy, but I think I already have all the tech. Capturing a live skeletoid would be handy, but on the other hand, I probably have a bunch of stuff to research as it is. I can't wait for Toxiguns though.

*The plantation slum map is probably the quickest map for grabbing psiclone. There's only four, but the handy thing is that you can get them all easily. Go the second floor first. While enemies do spawn there, there is only one way out, so you can just stun them all and grab the psiclone if someone has picked it up. Afterwards, you can get the psiclone in the two sheds. Enemies occasionally spawn near the SW shed, but usually only one or two and he doesn't wander too far.
*The plantation map is the 05 series in the slum folder. Here's the other maps I have tested so far:
01: Central Elevator
02: Bridge
03: Grasslands
04: U Shaped Building
05: Plantation

Hmm, I am not sure what to do about extra aliens in alien containment. I wish the game would just auto-destroy them when it's clear that you no longer need them? Can some aliens be researched twice, or can you dump them once they've been crossed off on your research list?
--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 19:49, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----

====12:15pm====
Amazing how much can happen in 15 minutes of game time.

*Camping out at the front of the assault ship works, but aliens managed to get out of the ship somehow. I guess it was because something kicked up a smoke cloud in front of the exit. I tried using a stun grenade to dispel it. I wonder exactly how much smoke or stun gas cuts down visibility exactly. Anyway, a pair of skeletoids charged me and got taken down promptly.

Also, a pair of poppers and a brainsucker somehow escaped, perhaps their morale broke and were trying to flee. The AI is still pretty limited, but it has interesting features like that. They snuck out and tried to get away from the back rather than charging headlong into my ambush. But then the poppers charged when they saw me. Strange. Aliens also retreat when they get wounded or are under heavy fire. Too bad they're not smart enough to avoid winding up under heavy fire in the first place.

*Sniper rifles are okay, but I can't wait until I can swap them out for dual devastator cannons. The cannons are 20% less accurate, but they hit a lot harder. Perhaps toxiguns would work too.

=====Base Management=====
*If you are setting up research bases, you will notice that each [[Living Quarters]] always houses 10 units and that each lab can support five or ten scientists in the case of advanced structures. The typical research base will probably have four small labs and one large lab, which is probably the maximum amount the game will let you have. That's a total of 30 scientists and they will completely fill three Living Quarters. So if you want to station a few soldiers at each research base (you need at least one, or you automatically lose a base defense mission), then you should keep all your soldiers at one base, and send a few over the your research base. I'm not sure exactly how training works in this situation. Maybe the soldier can using the training facility at the home base, or perhaps you'll need to build training facilities at the research base if you want you troops to be able to train while guarding the base. In any case, you can send your androids off to perform guard duty. They're more durable anyway, which is good if you need a base defender, and you can send them off on solo psiclone stun raids which means won't have to fiddle with equipment setups on your main troops, unless you want to use stun raids to boost your stats, but that's another story.

=====Air Battles=====
*Hoverbike strategy is getting more complex. I'd really like to be able to assign fixed squadrons. Also, micromanaging seems to yield some improved results. You can reduce casualties by pausing at the right moments and having your bikes and surround the aliens.

*Friendly fire seems to be a big issue with hoverbikes. At least with the [[Bolter lasers]]. The bikes in front tend to get shot by their comrades behind them. Rather embarrassing really. I guess the solution is to split your forces up and attack from multiple directions.

*Disruptors do not fit on hoverbikes, hovercars or Valkyries. I wonder what the optimal loadout for the hoverbikes are. Perhaps the Lineage Plasma Cannon, if you can afford the elerium.

*I wonder if upgrading hoverbike engines is worth the trouble and expense considering you'll lose some anyway.

*Perhaps it's better to save the big plasma cannons for hovercars, preferrably shielded hovercars. There are never enough plasma cannons for sale, and the hoverbikes often get killed in one shot if they get hit.

Talk:Hoverbike (Apocalypse)

2008-09-01T16:13:10Z

Captain Foo:

Talk:Hoverbike (Apocalypse)

2008-09-01T16:12:55Z

Captain Foo: New page: The official entry says "The Hoverbike can be a valuable means of transport for the Agent on investigative missions where speed of response is essential." Is there ever such a situation th...

User:Captain Foo

2008-09-01T16:05:29Z

Captain Foo: /* 12:15pm */ hoverbike strategy

Captain Foo was last seen charging through the streets of Mega Primus alone, brandishing a pair of Plasma Guns the way crazy people do in the movies. Captain Foo is also a big fan of stun gas, except when the multiworms wake up and nibble on his troops from behind.

=An X-Com 3 Beginner's Log: assorted observations and trivia within=
I'm going to organize my ideas a bit here before moving them to the main wiki...

==Week 1==
*[[Hoverbike_(Apocalypse)|Hoverbikes]]! Nothing beats hoverbikes!

==Week 2==
*Valkyrie or better is essential for UFO captures.
*Stun raids are fun. But watch the tactical points. Too many points and aliens will bring vortex mines and shields to the party. Vortex mines are not fun. :(
*You can actually pick up and drop off troops from other bases with your vehicles. In fact, you can even station troops at a base that they do not live at. So you do have some extra flexibility with where you put your living quarters this way. Where do your troops sleep and shower if their barracks are halfway across town? Who knows? Maybe androids don't need to sleep or shower anyway.

==Week 3==
===Sunday===

*I am finding disruptor guns when I raid Diablo's slums now. Weird. It's not like they have been infiltrated by aliens. Where are they getting them? Anyway, my tactical score is about to hit 5000 soon. I hope those extra labs get online soon. Six bio labs now, but not one of them is large enough to research Toxiguns yet. Two more physics labs came online today, which is good. Mixing physicists and scientists is confusing. I am wondering when I will get to build large physics labs too.

====Base Setup====
*Base organization is a huge deal. Having mixed bio and physics labs and engineers in the same base makes life more confusing.
:*Transferring stuff around is a annoying too.
:*However establishing separate bases for bio, physics and engineering requires a ton of money. Thank goodness for stun raids even if it is cheating.

====Troops====
*To misquote GI Joe: Organization is half the battle. Setting up your soldiers with enough weapons, especially grenades can be a pain in the neck with a large squad.
:*I currently have 12 Soldiers in 3 squads of 4. This might be a bit much. Maybe 3 squads of 3 or 2 squads of 4 is sufficient.
::*More soldiers means more micromanagement. :(
*Current troop setup:
:*4 Androids as shock troops. 2 Plasma Guns each. 4 Stun grenades, 2 HE grenades, 1 medikit. They can take more hits, and they like [[brainsucker sushi]], so they go in first.
:*4 Humans as regular troops. Same gear as the androids. I could go with HE autocannons or something more interesting, but that would require too much micro.
:*4 Humans as snipers. Dual wielding Laser Sniper Rifles seems like a good way to go. With aimed or snap shot, they should still have good accuracy and a decent fire rate from dual wielding.
:Marsec armor for all the troops. I tried skimping on the [[medikits]] to save on some weight. But the extra micro isn't really worth it. Having to play pass the [[medkit]] when someone gets wounded is a bad idea when they are bleeding badly. Plasma guns are great though. Great accuracy, good damage, dual wieldable with no penalty. What's not to like? Lack of ammo. Thank goodness for stun raids. If you don't want to cheat, I guess you could raid CoS, maybe in turn-based so they don't blow you up with rockets and grenades so quickly. I guess it would be fun to bankrupt them anyway. :)

====Vehicles====
*[[Hoverbikes]] are still fairly effective, but more bikes means more micromanagement. :( It's probably time to upgrade to [[hovercars]] soon. They are almost as fast as hoverbikes with upgraded engines. I could also go with [[Hawk Air Warriors]], but they are even more expensive.
*The maximum number of vehicles you can put in a group is 13. Why 13? Who knows? But not being able to set up persistent groups for your vehicles makes managing hoverbikes a lot of work. Sure, I could send 39 odd hoverbikes into battle, but not if the game requires me to click 39 times every time some UFOs show up. What ever happened to click and drag and square to select your forces? Or Ctrl 1-9?
*Running into problems with tougher UFOs now. Switching from Laser Cannons to Plasma. Thank goodness for stun raids for those elerium pods. I could use Janitor missiles, but they are rather expensive. Using Janitor missiles against Type 1 and 2 UFOs seems like a waste though.

--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 10:26, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----
===Monday===
====12:00pm====
*Just downed a rather large attack wave and captured the first alien assault ship. Current tactical points are about 5400 and total points over 111000. I kinda wish I had heard NKF's advice regarding stun raids sooner. However, I'd picked up a shiny power sword in my last major stun raid and didn't feel like giving it up.
*Things are getting interesting with the latest assault ship I stormed. Tactically it was a piece of cake, since doing a quick perimeter sweep and camping outside the front door with plasma guns and laser snipers works amazingly well. NFK's advice was useful here too. [[Dual-wield]] seems to work best on slow firing weapons. Four snipers with two rifles each can lay down a very nice volume of fire and when lying down, their shots are still quite accurate.
*The aliens are bringing more interesting toys. Devastator cannons, gas grenades and something nasty that causes big purple explosions. Hanging out in the elevator of the assault ship is a bad idea in general. Camping outside is probably best. Actually, there are two Chrysalises in the Assault Ship, but they seem to be auto-captured once you kill everyone else.
*Aliens always seem to appear in groups of 5, at least in Novice mode. Maybe they send more in superhuman.
*They vary the attack waves quite a bit. Last turn it was a transporter and a handful of scouts, then two assault ships and three fast attack ships, and then this turn an assault ship, a transporter and three scouts. Weird since I'd expect their forces to steady escalate, especially since I am racking up more points with each wave.

*Laser and plasma weapons are particularly useful when dealing with [[poppers]], since they do not detonate the popper when killing it.
*I saw my first pair of skeletoids. At least that's what I think they are. Yellow guys that jump around. A perimeter sweep around the far side of the assault ship was a good idea, since they were already on their way out. Nothing like getting ambushed from behind while you are camping to ruin your day.
*There appears to be only one exit for the assault ship, which makes things very convenient for you since you only have one exit to cover.
*I standardized on Plasma Guns and Laser Snipers. I suppose I could add autocannons to the mix, but I'm not convinced about the usefulness of using explosive ammo. It does kill headsuckers better, but they are hardly the most serious threat at this point. Also, explosions tend to destroy equipment, and while I'm not sure about the particulars, I prefer to capture stuff intact and research it at this point. Perhaps when everything is researched, I can safely use huge explosions to wipe out the enemy instead. I sure would like something to punch a hole in one of the UFOs the next time I need to storm it. Beats using the front door in general.

*Ship to ship combat is getting rather tricky. I think reloading plasma weapons for 14 hoverbikes cost something like 1400 elerium. I'll have to check the numbers again. I'm considering just using 20-25 hoverbikes with janitor missiles to get the job done instead. Maybe add some hovercars to the mix. Either way, I'll need more cash, so it's time to raid for psiclone again.
*I wonder if I should leave the other four UFOs alone and let the aliens do whatever they do when they disappear. I'm paranoid they'll leave the ship and infiltrate the surrounding buildings, but I'm pretty sure they just vanish or go home. I think I do need to keep my score down a bit, and I don't really need another assault ship for now. The loot would be handy, but I think I already have all the tech. Capturing a live skeletoid would be handy, but on the other hand, I probably have a bunch of stuff to research as it is. I can't wait for Toxiguns though.

*The plantation slum map is probably the quickest map for grabbing psiclone. There's only four, but the handy thing is that you can get them all easily. Go the second floor first. While enemies do spawn there, there is only one way out, so you can just stun them all and grab the psiclone if someone has picked it up. Afterwards, you can get the psiclone in the two sheds. Enemies occasionally spawn near the SW shed, but usually only one or two and he doesn't wander too far.
*The plantation map is the 05 series in the slum folder. Here's the other maps I have tested so far:
01: Central Elevator
02: Bridge
03: Grasslands
04: U Shaped Building
05: Plantation

Hmm, I am not sure what to do about extra aliens in alien containment. I wish the game would just auto-destroy them when it's clear that you no longer need them? Can some aliens be researched twice, or can you dump them once they've been crossed off on your research list?
--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 19:49, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----

====12:15pm====
Amazing how much can happen in 15 minutes of game time.

*Camping out at the front of the assault ship works, but aliens managed to get out of the ship somehow. I guess it was because something kicked up a smoke cloud in front of the exit. I tried using a stun grenade to dispel it. I wonder exactly how much smoke or stun gas cuts down visibility exactly. Anyway, a pair of skeletoids charged me and got taken down promptly.

Also, a pair of poppers and a brainsucker somehow escaped, perhaps their morale broke and were trying to flee. The AI is still pretty limited, but it has interesting features like that. They snuck out and tried to get away from the back rather than charging headlong into my ambush. But then the poppers charged when they saw me. Strange. Aliens also retreat when they get wounded or are under heavy fire. Too bad they're not smart enough to avoid winding up under heavy fire in the first place.

*Sniper rifles are okay, but I can't wait until I can swap them out for dual devastator cannons. The cannons are 20% less accurate, but they hit a lot harder. Perhaps toxiguns would work too.

=====Air Battles=====
*Hoverbike strategy is getting more complex. I'd really like to be able to assign fixed squadrons. Also, micromanaging seems to yield some improved results. You can reduce casualties by pausing at the right moments and having your bikes and surround the aliens.

*Friendly fire seems to be a big issue with hoverbikes. At least with the [[Bolter lasers]]. The bikes in front tend to get shot by their comrades behind them. Rather embarrassing really. I guess the solution is to split your forces up and attack from multiple directions.

*Disruptors do not fit on hoverbikes, hovercars or Valkyries. I wonder what the optimal loadout for the hoverbikes are. Perhaps the Lineage Plasma Cannon, if you can afford the elerium.

*I wonder if upgrading hoverbike engines is worth the trouble and expense considering you'll lose some anyway.

*Perhaps it's better to save the big plasma cannons for hovercars, preferrably shielded hovercars. There are never enough plasma cannons for sale, and the hoverbikes often get killed in one shot if they get hit.

User:Captain Foo

2008-09-01T15:56:21Z

Captain Foo: /* Week 1 */ wikified page

Captain Foo was last seen charging through the streets of Mega Primus alone, brandishing a pair of Plasma Guns the way crazy people do in the movies. Captain Foo is also a big fan of stun gas, except when the multiworms wake up and nibble on his troops from behind.

=An X-Com 3 Beginner's Log: assorted observations and trivia within=
I'm going to organize my ideas a bit here before moving them to the main wiki...

==Week 1==
*[[Hoverbike_(Apocalypse)|Hoverbikes]]! Nothing beats hoverbikes!

==Week 2==
*Valkyrie or better is essential for UFO captures.
*Stun raids are fun. But watch the tactical points. Too many points and aliens will bring vortex mines and shields to the party. Vortex mines are not fun. :(
*You can actually pick up and drop off troops from other bases with your vehicles. In fact, you can even station troops at a base that they do not live at. So you do have some extra flexibility with where you put your living quarters this way. Where do your troops sleep and shower if their barracks are halfway across town? Who knows? Maybe androids don't need to sleep or shower anyway.

==Week 3==
===Sunday===

*I am finding disruptor guns when I raid Diablo's slums now. Weird. It's not like they have been infiltrated by aliens. Where are they getting them? Anyway, my tactical score is about to hit 5000 soon. I hope those extra labs get online soon. Six bio labs now, but not one of them is large enough to research Toxiguns yet. Two more physics labs came online today, which is good. Mixing physicists and scientists is confusing. I am wondering when I will get to build large physics labs too.

====Base Setup====
*Base organization is a huge deal. Having mixed bio and physics labs and engineers in the same base makes life more confusing.
:*Transferring stuff around is a annoying too.
:*However establishing separate bases for bio, physics and engineering requires a ton of money. Thank goodness for stun raids even if it is cheating.

====Troops====
*To misquote GI Joe: Organization is half the battle. Setting up your soldiers with enough weapons, especially grenades can be a pain in the neck with a large squad.
:*I currently have 12 Soldiers in 3 squads of 4. This might be a bit much. Maybe 3 squads of 3 or 2 squads of 4 is sufficient.
::*More soldiers means more micromanagement. :(
*Current troop setup:
:*4 Androids as shock troops. 2 Plasma Guns each. 4 Stun grenades, 2 HE grenades, 1 medikit. They can take more hits, and they like [[brainsucker sushi]], so they go in first.
:*4 Humans as regular troops. Same gear as the androids. I could go with HE autocannons or something more interesting, but that would require too much micro.
:*4 Humans as snipers. Dual wielding Laser Sniper Rifles seems like a good way to go. With aimed or snap shot, they should still have good accuracy and a decent fire rate from dual wielding.
:Marsec armor for all the troops. I tried skimping on the [[medikits]] to save on some weight. But the extra micro isn't really worth it. Having to play pass the [[medkit]] when someone gets wounded is a bad idea when they are bleeding badly. Plasma guns are great though. Great accuracy, good damage, dual wieldable with no penalty. What's not to like? Lack of ammo. Thank goodness for stun raids. If you don't want to cheat, I guess you could raid CoS, maybe in turn-based so they don't blow you up with rockets and grenades so quickly. I guess it would be fun to bankrupt them anyway. :)

====Vehicles====
*[[Hoverbikes]] are still fairly effective, but more bikes means more micromanagement. :( It's probably time to upgrade to [[hovercars]] soon. They are almost as fast as hoverbikes with upgraded engines. I could also go with [[Hawk Air Warriors]], but they are even more expensive.
*The maximum number of vehicles you can put in a group is 13. Why 13? Who knows? But not being able to set up persistent groups for your vehicles makes managing hoverbikes a lot of work. Sure, I could send 39 odd hoverbikes into battle, but not if the game requires me to click 39 times every time some UFOs show up. What ever happened to click and drag and square to select your forces? Or Ctrl 1-9?
*Running into problems with tougher UFOs now. Switching from Laser Cannons to Plasma. Thank goodness for stun raids for those elerium pods. I could use Janitor missiles, but they are rather expensive. Using Janitor missiles against Type 1 and 2 UFOs seems like a waste though.

--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 10:26, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----
===Monday===
====12:00pm====
*Just downed a rather large attack wave and captured the first alien assault ship. Current tactical points are about 5400 and total points over 111000. I kinda wish I had heard NKF's advice regarding stun raids sooner. However, I'd picked up a shiny power sword in my last major stun raid and didn't feel like giving it up.
*Things are getting interesting with the latest assault ship I stormed. Tactically it was a piece of cake, since doing a quick perimeter sweep and camping outside the front door with plasma guns and laser snipers works amazingly well. NFK's advice was useful here too. [[Dual-wield]] seems to work best on slow firing weapons. Four snipers with two rifles each can lay down a very nice volume of fire and when lying down, their shots are still quite accurate.
*The aliens are bringing more interesting toys. Devastator cannons, gas grenades and something nasty that causes big purple explosions. Hanging out in the elevator of the assault ship is a bad idea in general. Camping outside is probably best. Actually, there are two Chrysalises in the Assault Ship, but they seem to be auto-captured once you kill everyone else.
*Aliens always seem to appear in groups of 5, at least in Novice mode. Maybe they send more in superhuman.
*They vary the attack waves quite a bit. Last turn it was a transporter and a handful of scouts, then two assault ships and three fast attack ships, and then this turn an assault ship, a transporter and three scouts. Weird since I'd expect their forces to steady escalate, especially since I am racking up more points with each wave.

*Laser and plasma weapons are particularly useful when dealing with [[poppers]], since they do not detonate the popper when killing it.
*I saw my first pair of skeletoids. At least that's what I think they are. Yellow guys that jump around. A perimeter sweep around the far side of the assault ship was a good idea, since they were already on their way out. Nothing like getting ambushed from behind while you are camping to ruin your day.
*There appears to be only one exit for the assault ship, which makes things very convenient for you since you only have one exit to cover.
*I standardized on Plasma Guns and Laser Snipers. I suppose I could add autocannons to the mix, but I'm not convinced about the usefulness of using explosive ammo. It does kill headsuckers better, but they are hardly the most serious threat at this point. Also, explosions tend to destroy equipment, and while I'm not sure about the particulars, I prefer to capture stuff intact and research it at this point. Perhaps when everything is researched, I can safely use huge explosions to wipe out the enemy instead. I sure would like something to punch a hole in one of the UFOs the next time I need to storm it. Beats using the front door in general.

*Ship to ship combat is getting rather tricky. I think reloading plasma weapons for 14 hoverbikes cost something like 1400 elerium. I'll have to check the numbers again. I'm considering just using 20-25 hoverbikes with janitor missiles to get the job done instead. Maybe add some hovercars to the mix. Either way, I'll need more cash, so it's time to raid for psiclone again.
*I wonder if I should leave the other four UFOs alone and let the aliens do whatever they do when they disappear. I'm paranoid they'll leave the ship and infiltrate the surrounding buildings, but I'm pretty sure they just vanish or go home. I think I do need to keep my score down a bit, and I don't really need another assault ship for now. The loot would be handy, but I think I already have all the tech. Capturing a live skeletoid would be handy, but on the other hand, I probably have a bunch of stuff to research as it is. I can't wait for Toxiguns though.

*The plantation slum map is probably the quickest map for grabbing psiclone. There's only four, but the handy thing is that you can get them all easily. Go the second floor first. While enemies do spawn there, there is only one way out, so you can just stun them all and grab the psiclone if someone has picked it up. Afterwards, you can get the psiclone in the two sheds. Enemies occasionally spawn near the SW shed, but usually only one or two and he doesn't wander too far.
*The plantation map is the 05 series in the slum folder. Here's the other maps I have tested so far:
01: Central Elevator
02: Bridge
03: Grasslands
04: U Shaped Building
05: Plantation

Hmm, I am not sure what to do about extra aliens in alien containment. I wish the game would just auto-destroy them when it's clear that you no longer need them? Can some aliens be researched twice, or can you dump them once they've been crossed off on your research list?
--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 19:49, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----

====12:15pm====
Amazing how much can happen in 15 minutes of game time.

*Camping out at the front of the assault ship works, but aliens managed to get out of the ship somehow. I guess it was because something kicked up a smoke cloud in front of the exit. I tried using a stun grenade to dispel it. I wonder exactly how much smoke or stun gas cuts down visibility exactly. Anyway, a pair of skeletoids charged me and got taken down promptly.

Also, a pair of poppers and a brainsucker somehow escaped, perhaps their morale broke and were trying to flee. The AI is still pretty limited, but it has interesting features like that. They snuck out and tried to get away from the back rather than charging headlong into my ambush. But then the poppers charged when they saw me. Strange. Aliens also retreat when they get wounded or are under heavy fire. Too bad they're not smart enough to avoid winding up under heavy fire in the first place.

*Sniper rifles are okay, but I can't wait until I can swap them out for dual devastator cannons. The cannons are 20% less accurate, but they hit a lot harder. Perhaps toxiguns would work too.

User:Captain Foo

2008-09-01T15:54:13Z

Captain Foo: /* Monday */ formatting fixes

Captain Foo was last seen charging through the streets of Mega Primus alone, brandishing a pair of Plasma Guns the way crazy people do in the movies. Captain Foo is also a big fan of stun gas, except when the multiworms wake up and nibble on his troops from behind.

=An X-Com 3 Beginner's Log: assorted observations and trivia within=
I'm going to organize my ideas a bit here before moving them to the main wiki...

==Week 1==
*Hoverbikes! Nothing beats hoverbikes!

==Week 2==
*Valkyrie or better is essential for UFO captures.
*Stun raids are fun. But watch the tactical points. Too many points and aliens will bring vortex mines and shields to the party. Vortex mines are not fun. :(
*You can actually pick up and drop off troops from other bases with your vehicles. In fact, you can even station troops at a base that they do not live at. So you do have some extra flexibility with where you put your living quarters this way. Where do your troops sleep and shower if their barracks are halfway across town? Who knows? Maybe androids don't need to sleep or shower anyway.

==Week 3==
===Sunday===

*I am finding disruptor guns when I raid Diablo's slums now. Weird. It's not like they have been infiltrated by aliens. Where are they getting them? Anyway, my tactical score is about to hit 5000 soon. I hope those extra labs get online soon. Six bio labs now, but not one of them is large enough to research Toxiguns yet. Two more physics labs came online today, which is good. Mixing physicists and scientists is confusing. I am wondering when I will get to build large physics labs too.

====Base Setup====
*Base organization is a huge deal. Having mixed bio and physics labs and engineers in the same base makes life more confusing.
:*Transferring stuff around is a annoying too.
:*However establishing separate bases for bio, physics and engineering requires a ton of money. Thank goodness for stun raids even if it is cheating.

====Troops====
*To misquote GI Joe: Organization is half the battle. Setting up your soldiers with enough weapons, especially grenades can be a pain in the neck with a large squad.
:*I currently have 12 Soldiers in 3 squads of 4. This might be a bit much. Maybe 3 squads of 3 or 2 squads of 4 is sufficient.
::*More soldiers means more micromanagement. :(
*Current troop setup:
:*4 Androids as shock troops. 2 Plasma Guns each. 4 Stun grenades, 2 HE grenades, 1 medikit. They can take more hits, and they like [[brainsucker sushi]], so they go in first.
:*4 Humans as regular troops. Same gear as the androids. I could go with HE autocannons or something more interesting, but that would require too much micro.
:*4 Humans as snipers. Dual wielding Laser Sniper Rifles seems like a good way to go. With aimed or snap shot, they should still have good accuracy and a decent fire rate from dual wielding.
:Marsec armor for all the troops. I tried skimping on the [[medikits]] to save on some weight. But the extra micro isn't really worth it. Having to play pass the [[medkit]] when someone gets wounded is a bad idea when they are bleeding badly. Plasma guns are great though. Great accuracy, good damage, dual wieldable with no penalty. What's not to like? Lack of ammo. Thank goodness for stun raids. If you don't want to cheat, I guess you could raid CoS, maybe in turn-based so they don't blow you up with rockets and grenades so quickly. I guess it would be fun to bankrupt them anyway. :)

====Vehicles====
*[[Hoverbikes]] are still fairly effective, but more bikes means more micromanagement. :( It's probably time to upgrade to [[hovercars]] soon. They are almost as fast as hoverbikes with upgraded engines. I could also go with [[Hawk Air Warriors]], but they are even more expensive.
*The maximum number of vehicles you can put in a group is 13. Why 13? Who knows? But not being able to set up persistent groups for your vehicles makes managing hoverbikes a lot of work. Sure, I could send 39 odd hoverbikes into battle, but not if the game requires me to click 39 times every time some UFOs show up. What ever happened to click and drag and square to select your forces? Or Ctrl 1-9?
*Running into problems with tougher UFOs now. Switching from Laser Cannons to Plasma. Thank goodness for stun raids for those elerium pods. I could use Janitor missiles, but they are rather expensive. Using Janitor missiles against Type 1 and 2 UFOs seems like a waste though.

--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 10:26, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----
===Monday===
====12:00pm====
*Just downed a rather large attack wave and captured the first alien assault ship. Current tactical points are about 5400 and total points over 111000. I kinda wish I had heard NKF's advice regarding stun raids sooner. However, I'd picked up a shiny power sword in my last major stun raid and didn't feel like giving it up.
*Things are getting interesting with the latest assault ship I stormed. Tactically it was a piece of cake, since doing a quick perimeter sweep and camping outside the front door with plasma guns and laser snipers works amazingly well. NFK's advice was useful here too. [[Dual-wield]] seems to work best on slow firing weapons. Four snipers with two rifles each can lay down a very nice volume of fire and when lying down, their shots are still quite accurate.
*The aliens are bringing more interesting toys. Devastator cannons, gas grenades and something nasty that causes big purple explosions. Hanging out in the elevator of the assault ship is a bad idea in general. Camping outside is probably best. Actually, there are two Chrysalises in the Assault Ship, but they seem to be auto-captured once you kill everyone else.
*Aliens always seem to appear in groups of 5, at least in Novice mode. Maybe they send more in superhuman.
*They vary the attack waves quite a bit. Last turn it was a transporter and a handful of scouts, then two assault ships and three fast attack ships, and then this turn an assault ship, a transporter and three scouts. Weird since I'd expect their forces to steady escalate, especially since I am racking up more points with each wave.

*Laser and plasma weapons are particularly useful when dealing with [[poppers]], since they do not detonate the popper when killing it.
*I saw my first pair of skeletoids. At least that's what I think they are. Yellow guys that jump around. A perimeter sweep around the far side of the assault ship was a good idea, since they were already on their way out. Nothing like getting ambushed from behind while you are camping to ruin your day.
*There appears to be only one exit for the assault ship, which makes things very convenient for you since you only have one exit to cover.
*I standardized on Plasma Guns and Laser Snipers. I suppose I could add autocannons to the mix, but I'm not convinced about the usefulness of using explosive ammo. It does kill headsuckers better, but they are hardly the most serious threat at this point. Also, explosions tend to destroy equipment, and while I'm not sure about the particulars, I prefer to capture stuff intact and research it at this point. Perhaps when everything is researched, I can safely use huge explosions to wipe out the enemy instead. I sure would like something to punch a hole in one of the UFOs the next time I need to storm it. Beats using the front door in general.

*Ship to ship combat is getting rather tricky. I think reloading plasma weapons for 14 hoverbikes cost something like 1400 elerium. I'll have to check the numbers again. I'm considering just using 20-25 hoverbikes with janitor missiles to get the job done instead. Maybe add some hovercars to the mix. Either way, I'll need more cash, so it's time to raid for psiclone again.
*I wonder if I should leave the other four UFOs alone and let the aliens do whatever they do when they disappear. I'm paranoid they'll leave the ship and infiltrate the surrounding buildings, but I'm pretty sure they just vanish or go home. I think I do need to keep my score down a bit, and I don't really need another assault ship for now. The loot would be handy, but I think I already have all the tech. Capturing a live skeletoid would be handy, but on the other hand, I probably have a bunch of stuff to research as it is. I can't wait for Toxiguns though.

*The plantation slum map is probably the quickest map for grabbing psiclone. There's only four, but the handy thing is that you can get them all easily. Go the second floor first. While enemies do spawn there, there is only one way out, so you can just stun them all and grab the psiclone if someone has picked it up. Afterwards, you can get the psiclone in the two sheds. Enemies occasionally spawn near the SW shed, but usually only one or two and he doesn't wander too far.
*The plantation map is the 05 series in the slum folder. Here's the other maps I have tested so far:
01: Central Elevator
02: Bridge
03: Grasslands
04: U Shaped Building
05: Plantation

Hmm, I am not sure what to do about extra aliens in alien containment. I wish the game would just auto-destroy them when it's clear that you no longer need them? Can some aliens be researched twice, or can you dump them once they've been crossed off on your research list?
--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 19:49, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----

====12:15pm====
Amazing how much can happen in 15 minutes of game time.

*Camping out at the front of the assault ship works, but aliens managed to get out of the ship somehow. I guess it was because something kicked up a smoke cloud in front of the exit. I tried using a stun grenade to dispel it. I wonder exactly how much smoke or stun gas cuts down visibility exactly. Anyway, a pair of skeletoids charged me and got taken down promptly.

Also, a pair of poppers and a brainsucker somehow escaped, perhaps their morale broke and were trying to flee. The AI is still pretty limited, but it has interesting features like that. They snuck out and tried to get away from the back rather than charging headlong into my ambush. But then the poppers charged when they saw me. Strange. Aliens also retreat when they get wounded or are under heavy fire. Too bad they're not smart enough to avoid winding up under heavy fire in the first place.

*Sniper rifles are okay, but I can't wait until I can swap them out for dual devastator cannons. The cannons are 20% less accurate, but they hit a lot harder. Perhaps toxiguns would work too.

User:Captain Foo

2008-09-01T15:49:54Z

Captain Foo: /* 12pm */

Captain Foo was last seen charging through the streets of Mega Primus alone, brandishing a pair of Plasma Guns the way crazy people do in the movies. Captain Foo is also a big fan of stun gas, except when the multiworms wake up and nibble on his troops from behind.

=An X-Com 3 Beginner's Log: assorted observations and trivia within=
I'm going to organize my ideas a bit here before moving them to the main wiki...

==Week 1==
*Hoverbikes! Nothing beats hoverbikes!

==Week 2==
*Valkyrie or better is essential for UFO captures.
*Stun raids are fun. But watch the tactical points. Too many points and aliens will bring vortex mines and shields to the party. Vortex mines are not fun. :(
*You can actually pick up and drop off troops from other bases with your vehicles. In fact, you can even station troops at a base that they do not live at. So you do have some extra flexibility with where you put your living quarters this way. Where do your troops sleep and shower if their barracks are halfway across town? Who knows? Maybe androids don't need to sleep or shower anyway.

==Week 3==
===Monday===

*I am finding disruptor guns when I raid Diablo's slums now. Weird. It's not like they have been infiltrated by aliens. Where are they getting them? Anyway, my tactical score is about to hit 5000 soon. I hope those extra labs get online soon. Six bio labs now, but not one of them is large enough to research Toxiguns yet. Two more physics labs came online today, which is good. Mixing physicists and scientists is confusing. I am wondering when I will get to build large physics labs too.

====Base Setup====
*Base organization is a huge deal. Having mixed bio and physics labs and engineers in the same base makes life more confusing.
:*Transferring stuff around is a annoying too.
:*However establishing separate bases for bio, physics and engineering requires a ton of money. Thank goodness for stun raids even if it is cheating.

====Troops====
*To misquote GI Joe: Organization is half the battle. Setting up your soldiers with enough weapons, especially grenades can be a pain in the neck with a large squad.
:*I currently have 12 Soldiers in 3 squads of 4. This might be a bit much. Maybe 3 squads of 3 or 2 squads of 4 is sufficient.
::*More soldiers means more micromanagement. :(
*Current troop setup:
:*4 Androids as shock troops. 2 Plasma Guns each. 4 Stun grenades, 2 HE grenades, 1 medikit. They can take more hits, and they like [[brainsucker sushi]], so they go in first.
:*4 Humans as regular troops. Same gear as the androids. I could go with HE autocannons or something more interesting, but that would require too much micro.
:*4 Humans as snipers. Dual wielding Laser Sniper Rifles seems like a good way to go. With aimed or snap shot, they should still have good accuracy and a decent fire rate from dual wielding.
:Marsec armor for all the troops. I tried skimping on the [[medikits]] to save on some weight. But the extra micro isn't really worth it. Having to play pass the [[medkit]] when someone gets wounded is a bad idea when they are bleeding badly. Plasma guns are great though. Great accuracy, good damage, dual wieldable with no penalty. What's not to like? Lack of ammo. Thank goodness for stun raids. If you don't want to cheat, I guess you could raid CoS, maybe in turn-based so they don't blow you up with rockets and grenades so quickly. I guess it would be fun to bankrupt them anyway. :)

====Vehicles====
*[[Hoverbikes]] are still fairly effective, but more bikes means more micromanagement. :( It's probably time to upgrade to [[hovercars]] soon. They are almost as fast as hoverbikes with upgraded engines. I could also go with [[Hawk Air Warriors]], but they are even more expensive.
*The maximum number of vehicles you can put in a group is 13. Why 13? Who knows? But not being able to set up persistent groups for your vehicles makes managing hoverbikes a lot of work. Sure, I could send 39 odd hoverbikes into battle, but not if the game requires me to click 39 times every time some UFOs show up. What ever happened to click and drag and square to select your forces? Or Ctrl 1-9?
*Running into problems with tougher UFOs now. Switching from Laser Cannons to Plasma. Thank goodness for stun raids for those elerium pods. I could use Janitor missiles, but they are rather expensive. Using Janitor missiles against Type 1 and 2 UFOs seems like a waste though.

--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 10:26, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----
=====12pm=====
*Just downed a rather large attack wave and captured the first alien assault ship. Current tactical points are about 5400 and total points over 111000. I kinda wish I had heard NKF's advice regarding stun raids sooner. However, I'd picked up a shiny power sword in my last major stun raid and didn't feel like giving it up.
*Things are getting interesting with the latest assault ship I stormed. Tactically it was a piece of cake, since doing a quick perimeter sweep and camping outside the front door with plasma guns and laser snipers works amazingly well. NFK's advice was useful here too. [[Dual-wield]] seems to work best on slow firing weapons. Four snipers with two rifles each can lay down a very nice volume of fire and when lying down, their shots are still quite accurate.
*The aliens are bringing more interesting toys. Devastator cannons, gas grenades and something nasty that causes big purple explosions. Hanging out in the elevator of the assault ship is a bad idea in general. Camping outside is probably best. Actually, there are two Chrysalises in the Assault Ship, but they seem to be auto-captured once you kill everyone else.
*Aliens always seem to appear in groups of 5, at least in Novice mode. Maybe they send more in superhuman.
*They vary the attack waves quite a bit. Last turn it was a transporter and a handful of scouts, then two assault ships and three fast attack ships, and then this turn an assault ship, a transporter and three scouts. Weird since I'd expect their forces to steady escalate, especially since I am racking up more points with each wave.

*Laser and plasma weapons are particularly useful when dealing with [[poppers]], since they do not detonate the popper when killing it.
*I saw my first pair of skeletoids. At least that's what I think they are. Yellow guys that jump around. A perimeter sweep around the far side of the assault ship was a good idea, since they were already on their way out. Nothing like getting ambushed from behind while you are camping to ruin your day.
*There appears to be only one exit for the assault ship, which makes things very convenient for you since you only have one exit to cover.
*I standardized on Plasma Guns and Laser Snipers. I suppose I could add autocannons to the mix, but I'm not convinced about the usefulness of using explosive ammo. It does kill headsuckers better, but they are hardly the most serious threat at this point. Also, explosions tend to destroy equipment, and while I'm not sure about the particulars, I prefer to capture stuff intact and research it at this point. Perhaps when everything is researched, I can safely use huge explosions to wipe out the enemy instead. I sure would like something to punch a hole in one of the UFOs the next time I need to storm it. Beats using the front door in general.

*Ship to ship combat is getting rather tricky. I think reloading plasma weapons for 14 hoverbikes cost something like 1400 elerium. I'll have to check the numbers again. I'm considering just using 20-25 hoverbikes with janitor missiles to get the job done instead. Maybe add some hovercars to the mix. Either way, I'll need more cash, so it's time to raid for psiclone again.
*I wonder if I should leave the other four UFOs alone and let the aliens do whatever they do when they disappear. I'm paranoid they'll leave the ship and infiltrate the surrounding buildings, but I'm pretty sure they just vanish or go home. I think I do need to keep my score down a bit, and I don't really need another assault ship for now. The loot would be handy, but I think I already have all the tech. Capturing a live skeletoid would be handy, but on the other hand, I probably have a bunch of stuff to research as it is. I can't wait for Toxiguns though.

*The plantation slum map is probably the quickest map for grabbing psiclone. There's only four, but the handy thing is that you can get them all easily. Go the second floor first. While enemies do spawn there, there is only one way out, so you can just stun them all and grab the psiclone if someone has picked it up. Afterwards, you can get the psiclone in the two sheds. Enemies occasionally spawn near the SW shed, but usually only one or two and he doesn't wander too far.
*The plantation map is the 05 series in the slum folder. Here's the other maps I have tested so far:
01: Central Elevator
02: Bridge
03: Grasslands
04: U Shaped Building
05: Plantation

Hmm, I am not sure what to do about extra aliens in alien containment. I wish the game would just auto-destroy them when it's clear that you no longer need them? Can some aliens be researched twice, or can you dump them once they've been crossed off on your research list?
--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 19:49, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----

=====12:15pm=====
Amazing how much can happen in 15 minutes of game time.

*Camping out at the front of the assault ship works, but aliens managed to get out of the ship somehow. I guess it was because something kicked up a smoke cloud in front of the exit. I tried using a stun grenade to dispel it. I wonder exactly how much smoke or stun gas cuts down visibility exactly. Anyway, a pair of skeletoids charged me and got taken down promptly.

Also, a pair of poppers and a brainsucker somehow escaped, perhaps their morale broke and were trying to flee. The AI is still pretty limited, but it has interesting features like that. They snuck out and tried to get away from the back rather than charging headlong into my ambush. But then the poppers charged when they saw me. Strange. Aliens also retreat when they get wounded or are under heavy fire. Too bad they're not smart enough to avoid winding up under heavy fire in the first place.

*Sniper rifles are okay, but I can't wait until I can swap them out for dual devastator cannons. The cannons are 20% less accurate, but they hit a lot harder. Perhaps toxiguns would work too.

Auto-Cannon

2008-09-01T15:47:48Z

Captain Foo: changed inconsistent spellings to "Auto Cannon"

This is the automatic version of the [[Heavy Cannon]]. It retains the versatility of the Heavy Cannon and features a larger magazine as well as the capability for automatic fire.

The Auto Cannon is heavier than the Heavy Cannon and is thus less accurate. It is a slow and cumbersome beast of a weapon. Though it is called an "auto" cannon and looks like a large gatling gun, is not a fast weapon. It is the slowest operational three-shot-burst weapon in the entire X-Com armoury. It is also the Auto Cannon's ''most powerful'' feature.

As with its close cousin the [[Heavy Cannon]], the Auto Cannon retains a versatile selection of shells to suit your every need. Armour Piercing, High Explosive and Incendiary rounds are all available. By reducing the effectiveness and size of the shells, more shells can be stored in the Auto Cannon's ammunition magazine, and the shells are slightly lighter to carry than Heavy Cannon shells. The shells still pack a considerable punch nonetheless.

:'''AC-AP''' rounds are standard for the Auto Cannon, but are not particularly remarkable since they straddle the middle-ground between the Pistol and Cannon Tank shells. However they are reliable when you need to fight in close quarters and you do not want to cause any damage to your surroundings or destroy equipment.

:'''AC-HE''' rounds are by far the most popular and most useful shells to be crammed into the cannon's ammo hopper. They clear terrain, wipe out mobs of enemies and can cause utter mayhem as effectively as a cluster bomb. The enemies ACHE at the mere sight of it. Note however they they may not be suitable against very heavily armoured units like the [[Sectopod]]s. HE shells are unfortunately also a major source of self inflicted wounds or kills, so be very careful when using them. Be prepared to lose equipment dropped if an enemy is defeated in the middle of a high explosive burst.

:'''AC-Incendiary''' rounds are [[Auto Cannon#Limitations of Incendiary damage|not as popular]] as the other two, but can serve two very important functions. The first is simply to start fires. As the impact damage for incendiary rounds is the same regardless of the weapon, AC-I rounds are the most effective means of dishing out incendiary damage against Zombies to prevent them from hatching into [[chryssalid]]s. Burning down a building or orchard is often safer then going inside or blasting away the obstacles, which would expose you to reaction fire. Also if you wish to abuse the game bug where all units standing in fire will take on incendiary impact damage, then again this is the most efficient mean of producing the damage.

:The other, probably even more popular use, is simply to start fires and illuminate the battlefield.

== Stats ==
Auto Cannon:
<table><tr><td>[[Image:BIGOBS07.GIF|left|64 px]]</td><td>
*Size: 3 high x 2 wide
*Weight: 19
*TUs:
**Auto: 40% (Accuracy 32%)
**Snap: 33% (Accuracy 56%)
**Aimed: 80% (Accuracy 82%)
*[[Buying/Selling/Transferring#Non-Manufacturable_Prices|Cost]]: $13,500
*Sell Price: $10,125</td></tr></table>

<table style="border:1px gray solid;"><tr style="border:1px gray solid;"><td style="border:1px gray solid;">
[[Weapons#Armour-Piercing|AP]] Clip:
<table><tr><td>[[Image:BIGOBS08.GIF|left|64 px]]</td><td>
*Power: 42 AP
*Ammo: 14
*Size: 1 high x 2 wide
*Weight: 5
*[[Buying/Selling/Transferring#Non-Manufacturable_Prices|Cost]]: $500
*Sell Price: $400</td></tr></table>
</td><td style="border:1px gray solid;">
[[Weapons#High Explosive|HE]] Clip:
<table><tr><td>[[Image:BIGOBS09.GIF|left|64 px]]</td><td>
*Power: 44 HE
*Ammo: 14
*Size: 1 high x 2 wide
*Weight: 5
*[[Buying/Selling/Transferring#Non-Manufacturable_Prices|Cost]]: $700
*Sell Price: $560</td></tr></table>
</td><td style="border:1px gray solid;">
[[Incendiary]] Clip:
<table><tr><td>[[Image:BIGOBS10.GIF|left|64 px]]</td><td>
*Power: 48 IN (6.4)
*Ammo: 14
*Size: 1 high x 2 wide
*Weight: 5
*[[Buying/Selling/Transferring#Non-Manufacturable_Prices|Cost]]: $650
*Sell Price: $520</td></tr></table>
</table>

== Usage Notes ==
The following lists how many times a soldier can fire the gun by shot type continuously in any given round and the remaining percentage of any left over TUs that cannot be spent as a shot.

* Aimed: 1 Shot, 20% Remaining TUs
* Snap: 3 Shots, 1% Remaining TUs
* Auto: 2 Shots, 20% Remaining TUs

== Limitations of Incendiary damage ==
The listed [[incendiary]] damage using [[IN]] rounds is misleading. IN rounds do ~6.4 damage on a direct hit. The damage values listed in the [[UFOpaedia]] do not determine how powerful an incendiary round deals damage; it only determines how wide an area will be blanketed with flames.

Furthermore soldiers cannot gain any form of [[experience]] shooting any weapon loaded with [[incendiary]] rounds.

==Tips==

The Auto Cannon is most efficient when armed with AC-HE shells and excels at close to mid range combat. If you must fight in long range combat, use the same strategies that you would use with the Heavy Cannon or [[Rocket Launcher]]. Use terrain to your advantage and try to hit a wall or climb up a level or two and fire down at the ground.

When using AC-HE shells, be sure to wear some armour. A [[Power Suit]] or better is most ideal, but [[Personal Armour]] can do in a pinch. Armour will protect you from any back blast from shells that detonate too early. With Power Armour in particular, the Auto Cannon is turned into an extremely potent close combat weapon and can safely attack from an adjacent tile without fear of damaging yourself. Be careful of the indiscriminate destruction of anything and everything around you, especially around UFO Power Units.

Direct hits from the Auto Cannon may harm you even in a Power Armor, but it will not be very severe. This is extremely useful knowledge to have when you face enemies with psi powers. Though not especially powerful, the Auto Cannon packs enough firepower to be a real threat against most enemies such as [[Muton]]s, but is a very insignificant threat to your own soldiers as long as everyone wears Power Armour or [[Flying Suit]]s.

When inside buildings or UFOs, you can also shoot AC-HE rounds at the ceiling and defeat anything that's directly above you. This is a very useful strategy to use in UFOs that have aliens waiting in ambush, such as in the [[Abductor]]. This strategy works with any weapon that produces an area of effect, including incendiary rounds or stun bombs.

{{Equipment (UFO Defense) Navbar}}
[[Category:Equipment (UFO Defense)]]

Talk:Auto-Cannon

2008-09-01T15:44:58Z

Captain Foo:

Is the Auto Cannon heavier than the Heavy Cannon? I thought it was the other way round. [[User:Fullauto|Fullauto]] 11:55, 18 April 2007 (PDT)

:See [[Item Weight]]s. AC is slightly heaver; 18 vs. 19. Heavy Cannon clips weigh more, so they're equal (24) when a clip is loaded, and with additional clips, HC edges AC out.--[[User:Ethereal Cereal|Ethereal Cereal]] 13:49, 18 April 2007 (PDT)

Ah, thank you. [[User:Fullauto|Fullauto]] 12:40, 19 April 2007 (PDT)

By the way, it can be quite fun to spray explosive Auto Cannon rounds from an elevated position. Not always practical, but fun. Also it helps since you don't need to score a direct hit to do damage. [[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 08:44, 1 September 2008 (PDT)

User:Captain Foo

2008-09-01T04:21:37Z

Captain Foo: /* Week 3 */

Captain Foo was last seen charging through the streets of Mega Primus alone, brandishing a pair of Plasma Guns the way crazy people do in the movies. Captain Foo is also a big fan of stun gas, except when the multiworms wake up and nibble on his troops from behind.

=An X-Com 3 Beginner's Log: assorted observations and trivia within=
I'm going to organize my ideas a bit here before moving them to the main wiki...

==Week 1==
*Hoverbikes! Nothing beats hoverbikes!

==Week 2==
*Valkyrie or better is essential for UFO captures.
*Stun raids are fun. But watch the tactical points. Too many points and aliens will bring vortex mines and shields to the party. Vortex mines are not fun. :(
*You can actually pick up and drop off troops from other bases with your vehicles. In fact, you can even station troops at a base that they do not live at. So you do have some extra flexibility with where you put your living quarters this way. Where do your troops sleep and shower if their barracks are halfway across town? Who knows? Maybe androids don't need to sleep or shower anyway.

==Week 3==
===Monday===

*I am finding disruptor guns when I raid Diablo's slums now. Weird. It's not like they have been infiltrated by aliens. Where are they getting them? Anyway, my tactical score is about to hit 5000 soon. I hope those extra labs get online soon. Six bio labs now, but not one of them is large enough to research Toxiguns yet. Two more physics labs came online today, which is good. Mixing physicists and scientists is confusing. I am wondering when I will get to build large physics labs too.

====Base Setup====
*Base organization is a huge deal. Having mixed bio and physics labs and engineers in the same base makes life more confusing.
:*Transferring stuff around is a annoying too.
:*However establishing separate bases for bio, physics and engineering requires a ton of money. Thank goodness for stun raids even if it is cheating.

====Troops====
*To misquote GI Joe: Organization is half the battle. Setting up your soldiers with enough weapons, especially grenades can be a pain in the neck with a large squad.
:*I currently have 12 Soldiers in 3 squads of 4. This might be a bit much. Maybe 3 squads of 3 or 2 squads of 4 is sufficient.
::*More soldiers means more micromanagement. :(
*Current troop setup:
:*4 Androids as shock troops. 2 Plasma Guns each. 4 Stun grenades, 2 HE grenades, 1 medikit. They can take more hits, and they like [[brainsucker sushi]], so they go in first.
:*4 Humans as regular troops. Same gear as the androids. I could go with HE autocannons or something more interesting, but that would require too much micro.
:*4 Humans as snipers. Dual wielding Laser Sniper Rifles seems like a good way to go. With aimed or snap shot, they should still have good accuracy and a decent fire rate from dual wielding.
:Marsec armor for all the troops. I tried skimping on the [[medikits]] to save on some weight. But the extra micro isn't really worth it. Having to play pass the [[medkit]] when someone gets wounded is a bad idea when they are bleeding badly. Plasma guns are great though. Great accuracy, good damage, dual wieldable with no penalty. What's not to like? Lack of ammo. Thank goodness for stun raids. If you don't want to cheat, I guess you could raid CoS, maybe in turn-based so they don't blow you up with rockets and grenades so quickly. I guess it would be fun to bankrupt them anyway. :)

====Vehicles====
*[[Hoverbikes]] are still fairly effective, but more bikes means more micromanagement. :( It's probably time to upgrade to [[hovercars]] soon. They are almost as fast as hoverbikes with upgraded engines. I could also go with [[Hawk Air Warriors]], but they are even more expensive.
*The maximum number of vehicles you can put in a group is 13. Why 13? Who knows? But not being able to set up persistent groups for your vehicles makes managing hoverbikes a lot of work. Sure, I could send 39 odd hoverbikes into battle, but not if the game requires me to click 39 times every time some UFOs show up. What ever happened to click and drag and square to select your forces? Or Ctrl 1-9?
*Running into problems with tougher UFOs now. Switching from Laser Cannons to Plasma. Thank goodness for stun raids for those elerium pods. I could use Janitor missiles, but they are rather expensive. Using Janitor missiles against Type 1 and 2 UFOs seems like a waste though.

--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 10:26, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----
=====12pm=====
*Just downed a rather large attack wave and captured the first alien assault ship. Current tactical points are about 5400 and total points over 111000. I kinda wish I had heard NKF's advice regarding stun raids sooner. However, I'd picked up a shiny power sword in my last major stun raid and didn't feel like giving it up.
*Things are getting interesting with the latest assault ship I stormed. Tactically it was a piece of cake, since doing a quick perimeter sweep and camping outside the front door with plasma guns and laser snipers works amazingly well. NFK's advice was useful here too. [[Dual wield]] seems to work best on slow firing weapons. Four snipers with two rifles each can lay down a very nice volume of fire and when lying down, their shots are still quite accurate.
*The aliens are bringing more interesting toys. Devastator cannons, gas grenades and something nasty that causes big purple explosions. Hanging out in the elevator of the assault ship is a bad idea in general. Camping outside is probably best. Actually, there are two Chrysalises in the Assault Ship, but they seem to be auto-captured once you kill everyone else.
*Aliens always seem to appear in groups of 5, at least in Novice mode. Maybe they send more in superhuman.
*They vary the attack waves quite a bit. Last turn it was a transporter and a handful of scouts, then two assault ships and three fast attack ships, and then this turn an assault ship, a transporter and three scouts. Weird since I'd expect their forces to steady escalate, especially since I am racking up more points with each wave.

*Laser and plasma weapons are particularly useful when dealing with [[poppers]], since they do not detonate the popper when killing it.
*I saw my first pair of skeletoids. At least that's what I think they are. Yellow guys that jump around. A perimeter sweep around the far side of the assault ship was a good idea, since they were already on their way out. Nothing like getting ambushed from behind while you are camping to ruin your day.
*There appears to be only one exit for the assault ship, which makes things very convenient for you since you only have one exit to cover.
*I standardized on Plasma Guns and Laser Snipers. I suppose I could add autocannons to the mix, but I'm not convinced about the usefulness of using explosive ammo. It does kill headsuckers better, but they are hardly the most serious threat at this point. Also, explosions tend to destroy equipment, and while I'm not sure about the particulars, I prefer to capture stuff intact and research it at this point. Perhaps when everything is researched, I can safely use huge explosions to wipe out the enemy instead. I sure would like something to punch a hole in one of the UFOs the next time I need to storm it. Beats using the front door in general.

*Ship to ship combat is getting rather tricky. I think reloading plasma weapons for 14 hoverbikes cost something like 1400 elerium. I'll have to check the numbers again. I'm considering just using 20-25 hoverbikes with janitor missiles to get the job done instead. Maybe add some hovercars to the mix. Either way, I'll need more cash, so it's time to raid for psiclone again.
*I wonder if I should leave the other four UFOs alone and let the aliens do whatever they do when they disappear. I'm paranoid they'll leave the ship and infiltrate the surrounding buildings, but I'm pretty sure they just vanish or go home. I think I do need to keep my score down a bit, and I don't really need another assault ship for now. The loot would be handy, but I think I already have all the tech. Capturing a live skeletoid would be handy, but on the other hand, I probably have a bunch of stuff to research as it is. I can't wait for Toxiguns though.

*The plantation slum map is probably the quickest map for grabbing psiclone. There's only four, but the handy thing is that you can get them all easily. Go the second floor first. While enemies do spawn there, there is only one way out, so you can just stun them all and grab the psiclone if someone has picked it up. Afterwards, you can get the psiclone in the two sheds. Enemies occasionally spawn near the SW shed, but usually only one or two and he doesn't wander too far.
*The plantation map is the 05 series in the slum folder. Here's the other maps I have tested so far:
01: Central Elevator
02: Bridge
03: Grasslands
04: U Shaped Building
05: Plantation

Hmm, I am not sure what to do about extra aliens in alien containment. I wish the game would just auto-destroy them when it's clear that you no longer need them? Can some aliens be researched twice, or can you dump them once they've been crossed off on your research list?
--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 19:49, 31 August 2008 (PDT)
----
=====12:15pm=====
Amazing how much can happen in 15 minutes of game time.

*Camping out at the front of the assault ship works, but aliens managed to get out of the ship somehow. I guess it was because something kicked up a smoke cloud in front of the exit. I tried using a stun grenade to dispel it. I wonder exactly how much smoke or stun gas cuts down visibility exactly. Anyway, a pair of skeletoids charged me and got taken down promptly.

Also, a pair of poppers and a brainsucker somehow escaped, perhaps their morale broke and were trying to flee. The AI is still pretty limited, but it has interesting features like that. They snuck out and tried to get away from the back rather than charging headlong into my ambush. But then the poppers charged when they saw me. Strange. Aliens also retreat when they get wounded or are under heavy fire. Too bad they're not smart enough to avoid winding up under heavy fire in the first place.

*Sniper rifles are okay, but I can't wait until I can swap them out for dual devastator cannons. The cannons are 20% less accurate, but they hit a lot harder. Perhaps toxiguns would work too.

User:Captain Foo

2008-09-01T02:49:19Z

Captain Foo: /* 12pm */ Actually, there are two Chrysalises in the Assault Ship,

User:Captain Foo

2008-09-01T01:42:23Z

Captain Foo: /* 12pm */ should i leave the other crash landed ships alone?

User:Captain Foo

2008-09-01T01:39:26Z

Captain Foo: /* Week 3 */ Monday, 12pm

User:Captain Foo

2008-09-01T01:16:58Z

Captain Foo: /* An X-Com 3 Beginner's Log: assorted observations and trivia within */

Talk:Sectoid

2008-08-31T17:46:59Z

Captain Foo:

One important point on Sectoids. Their small stature gives them a serious advantage when behind certain kinds of cover. For instance, to see them behind standard fences in the rural areas you have to duck and I think they are definitely harder to spot in wheat fields and smoke. I personally think they are much more dangerous than floaters and am usually relieved when aliens "upgrade" to the silly purple guys.

----

That's a good point, Pherd. If somebody wanted, they could run numbers on how often higher terrain appears, and how often various aliens appear. We hardcore have looked at terrain data e.g. [[TERRAIN|here]]. But I don't think anyone's talked about how often particular terrains appear. Also, height of aliens is [[Height|here]]. If you or anyone else wants to do an analysis, you can find the height of every object using MapView as mentioned [[Explosions#Tile_Characteristics|here]].

I had not thought about your concept but it suddenly makes perfect sense - more than once, I've had real trouble with sectoids being hard to see. Until I got Flying Armor, anyway. :P

Good to have you aboard, commander. Earth needs good X-COM unit commanders in this time of grave crisis! ---[[User:MikeTheRed|MikeTheRed]]

P.S. Why not take a look at "Community Portal" at the bottom of the Main Page. ALL newcomers welcomed! But sign your name to comments, and use four dashes (----) to separate them.

----

I hate these little critters.Always shooting from cover.Or I am unlucky.Yes,they do annoy in city-fights.The Opposite of Snakemen,I would say.Bug-Eyed motherf***ers.--[[User:X-COM:Turcocalypse|X-COM:Turcocalypse]] 08:32, 16 April 2006 (PDT)

By the way,is it my imagination or is it just that they faint very rapidly in smoke?--[[User:X-COM:Turcocalypse|X-COM:Turcocalypse]] 10:48, 22 April 2006 (PDT)

----

:How much stun damage a unit takes while in smoke is variable. It generally depends on the unit's armour, rank, remaining health, and possibly the unit's susceptability to stun damage. (Rank and difficulty level influences the unit's armour - so it's probably just armour)

:Beginner difficulty sectoid soldiers are very low ranked and have almost no armour, so it's not surprising to see them drop when over saturated with smoke. Superhuman difficulty sectoid commanders cannot be stunned, just as a X-Com soldier in a power suit cannot be stunned.

:We need to create a whole section detailing Stun effects some day.

:- [[User:NKF|NKF]]

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How is it possible for a sectoid to take three heavy plasma hits before going down? Was I just really unlucky? [[User:SirBob42|SirBob42]] 21:38, 16 October 2007 (PDT)
:That was exactly your problem. A weapon does 0-200% of its listed damage, as explained on the [[Damage]] page. So after subtracting the Sectoid's armor, you rolled a combined total on your first two shots of less than the 30 damage needed to kill it.

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According to the X-COM: Interceptor booklet, the first official Sectoid sighting was in the Roswell incident, 1947: ''"Some reports claim that there were two objects and that one actualy housed three alien beings, two dead and one alive."'' The question whether they were Sectoids or not, is answered by another fact: ''"A small colony of Sectoid-human hybrids was discovered last week, living in the sewers and catacombs beneath the ruins of the Roswell Urban Complex in New Mexico, NAA... Scientists say that the alien roots of the hybrid race might go back as far as 1947, when a craft of alien origin reportedly crash-landed in the desert near the then small town of Roswell. If found to be true, this find would completely contradict the government document "Roswell - The Absolute Last Report" published in 2047 on the one-hundredth anniversary of the incident."''

And another line, this one's from Wikipedia:

''"Greys are intelligent, humanoid extraterrestrials that appear in claims of encounters with UFO-related phenomena, especially alien abduction. The study of these phenomena is considered pseudoscientific by mainstream scientists and by virtue of their close relationship with them, Greys are generally dismissed as non-existent. Some have also criticized Greys as being too excessively anthropomorphic to be a likely candidate for real extraterrestrial life forms.

Nevertheless, Greys hold a prominent place in the popular imagination. Reports of close encounters of the third kind and alien abductions involving Grey-type beings continue to be made in many countries and ufologists still search for confirmation of their existence."''

Well, that's a bit scary... Given that the so-called Greys are very similar to Sectoids (in fact, Sectoids were modelled after the Greys), is it possible that the events of X-COM will come true?

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Not if you buy a tinfoil hat from me. Only $120,000 or I'll trade for an Avenger or two. :)

Seriously though, I would be more worried about an asteroid hitting the earth than aliens invading us. X-COM's just a story and it was written using the current UFO mythology we have. And besides, conflict is interesting. After all, who would write a game about aliens who are only interested in peaceful co-existence with humans?
--[[User:Captain Foo|Captain Foo]] 10:46, 31 August 2008 (PDT)

Talk:Sectoid

2008-08-31T17:46:18Z

Captain Foo: mildly OT

User:Captain Foo

2008-08-31T17:39:44Z

Captain Foo: /* Monday */

User:Captain Foo

2008-08-31T17:36:15Z

Captain Foo: /* Troops */

User:Captain Foo

2008-08-31T17:36:02Z

Captain Foo: /* Troops */

User:Captain Foo

2008-08-31T17:35:13Z

Captain Foo: /* Week 2 */

User:Captain Foo

2008-08-31T17:32:43Z

Captain Foo: /* Vehicles */

User:Captain Foo

2008-08-31T17:32:00Z

Captain Foo: /* Monday */