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Battleship

2007-10-06T11:51:05Z

MB: silly typos

==General Information==
The battleship is the largest and most powerful [[UFOs|alien craft]]. It is normally the primary alien mission craft, equipped with powerful weapons and numerous crew members.

==Statistics==
<table {{StdCenterTable}}>
<tr {{StdDescTable_Heading}}><th align="left">Statistic</th>
<th>Value</th></tr>
<tr><td align="left">Size</td><td>Very Large</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left">Max Speed(km)</td><td>5,000</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left">Weapon Power</td><td>148</tr>
<tr><td align="left">Weapon Range(km)</td><td>65</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left">Weapon Range(range units)</td><td>520</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left">Damage Capacity</td><td>3,200</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left">UFO Downed points</td><td>700</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left">UFO Destroyed points</td><td>1,400</td></tr>
</table> 

==Additional Information==
Great care should be taken while engaging one - be it a ground assault or recovery, or aerial interception. Battleships always show up as Very Large on a radar profile, and often maintain very high cruising speeds.

===TFTD Note===
[[TFTD]] also has Battleship. However in there it's not the strongest. The TFTD version of the Battleship is...the [[Dreadnought]].

===Statistics===
*Radar Profile: Very Large
*Maximum Speed: 5000 knots
*Damage Capacity: 3000 units
*Weapon Power: 140 units
*Weapon Range: 65 km
*Missions used in: Base, Infiltration, Retaliation, Harvest, Abduction

==Alien Missions==
Battleships are normally associated with retaliation, base construction and Infiltration missions, however, unlike Terran Battleships the alien battleship can fulfill a very diverse set of mission profiles. Unlike [[Supply Ship]]s, [[Terror Ship]]s, [[Harvester]]s, or [[Abductor]]s, a Battleship's presence does not lend itself to one or two specific [[Alien Missions|alien missions]]. For an [[X-COM]] Commander tracking a Battleship using radar, he or she must observe the Battleship's movement patterns in order to guess its mission. The Commander must then take appropriate measures to deal with the battleship. He or she may even choose to ignore the Battleship, as their size and firepower require an extensive commitment of personnel and equipment that may not justify the attack. Though not often, Battleships can occasionally accomplish nothing, with no penalty aside from a slightly raised [[UFO Activity]] graph. (''See: Alien Retaliation'') 
 
Battleships can be involved in the following missions:

===Alien Base===
The construction of [[Alien Base Assault|alien bases]] are marked by heavy UFO activity in rural areas. In addition to the scouts and Supply Ships sent by the aliens to survey the potential base site, a Battleship is sent to construct the base after the new site has been determined, and also to transport the valuable alien commander. It is possible to capture the Battleship's commander at this time, while it is vulnerable.
Construction of the base will not stop even if the Battleship and its commander are captured. 
 
''[Alitorious: I've heard both that it works and doesn't work, so I'm not sure if you can interrogate these commanders or not. Maybe it depends on the version of the game?]'' 
 
''[ [[user:NKF|NKF]]: Oh yes they will. A commander's a commander's a commander. The game doesn't distinguish. The problem only arises if you don't have the right prerequisites for the tech you want the commender to unlock.]'' 
 
At any rate, it is much easier to find the commander on the bridge of a Battleship than inside the maze of an Alien Base.
If a Battleship lands in a rural area as part of a large force, then it is likely to be on an Alien Base mission. If all ships of an Alien Base construction force are shot down or assaulted, then the Alien Base has no chance to be built. 
 
''[Alitorious: I might be wrong about that, actually.]'' 
''[ [[user:NKF|NKF]]: Well, it's only the battleship that matters. You should be able to stop base construction if the battleship is shot down before it lands.]''

''[ [[user:Papa Legba|Papa Legba]]: Shooting down a battleship en route for base construction does not prevent the base from being constructed. However, other ships may be sent out to scout the area prior to construction, and shooting these down will delay or prevent the construction ship being sent out. The battleship can be sent out on either, or both, missions, so it's difficult or impossible to distinguish a scouting battleship from a constructing battleship. ]''

===Alien Infiltration===
Two Battleships are always the primary component in the final phase of an infiltration. The Battleships are part of a large force of five ships sent, much like in Alien Base missions. However, ships involved in an Alien Infiltration mission will instead land in urban locations. Battleships contain the alien "diplomats" who will attempt to persuade one of Earth's countries to cease funding X-COM, and form a [[pact]] with the aliens. The alien "diplomats" leave the ship immediately after landing, however, and continue their goal of signing a pact with one of Earth's countries regardless of what happens to their base ship. This means that a ground assault on the UFO will not always prevent the aliens from accomplishing their mission. The only possible way to prevent a pact-signing would be to shoot down the Battleships before they can reach their target city. 
 
Battleships are most often seen on this type of mission. When two Battleships, and usually a force of smaller craft, are in the same region, then it is most likely on an Alien Infiltration mission. This can be confirmed when the craft land near or in the cities and no [[Terror Mission]] begins.

===Alien Retaliation===
Alien Retaliation missions have two main components: Search, and Destroy. The Battleship quite often fulfills the "destroy" component for obvious reasons - it's the troop carrier. The heavy firepower of a Battleship is required to breach any barricaded underground [[Hangar]]s or [[Access Lift]]s, and they contain the troops, weapons, and terror units for the subsequent assault on any [[Base Defense|X-COM Base]] itself. 
 
After unloading its troops, a Battleship on a retaliatory mission will return to space immediately. It is thus impossible to assault the Battleship itself after the base has been defended. 
 
Any Battleship that is going to attack your base will head on a direct path for the base at near-maximum speed. It is thus impossible to shoot down the Battleship except with the Avenger, or with base defenses. Even then, I sadly bemoaned once as an Avenger tried a close tail chase to stop one attacking a base. And failed. Intercept them from the front. If a Very Large craft is detected on a direct course for one of your bases, then start [[Base Defense|base defense]] preparations immediately. 
 
If [[Craft|X-COM craft]] are successful at downing all alien scout craft on a retaliatory operation, then the Battleship itself must search for your base. Despite the Battleship's formidable strength, one thing it does seem to lack is scanning and sensing equipment. It is rare that a Battleship searching for your base will ever find it, so these Battleships can be safely ignored. 
 
''[ [[User:NKF|NKF]]: Not battleships. Other scouts are dispatched to scout. It is possible to mislead for a short time by shooting down the scouts further and further away from your base. I wouldn't count on it though. Also, not to forget, there will be a ceaseless stream of Battleships until one manages to break in.]''

''[Alitorious: Well, of course they send scouts in first. I've just noticed that if you keep downing all the scouts, then eventually they send the Battleship in anyways. This Battleship doesn't attack your base, though, and seems to be searching for your base just like the scouts.]''

''[[User:Papa Legba|Papa Legba]]: Battleships will be sent on scouting missions if you shoot down the smaller scouting craft. I'm pretty sure this is a game-wide pattern-- when smaller ships are interdicted, a battleship will be sent to do their job.''

 

Battleship movement on an Alien Retaliation mission is characterized by either a fast, direct course for one of your bases, or a repeated "weaving" pattern around where many UFOs have been downed recently. They will only land to attack your base. A Battleship searching for your base will soon give up and head for space.

 

[[User:Jasonred|Jasonred]] : If, for some reason, you coincidentally decided to dismantle the base (possibly to relocate?), and there is a battleship actually enroute to attack your base, the battle ship will head for that base's ex-location anyhow. It will then realise it's been duped, BUT, after consulting it's alien masters, will simply head to the next closest base. In a straight line, top speed. HOWEVER, once it arrives there, it will realise that they only have the lift access codes to your old base, and will then simply hang there hovering over your base for ages and ages.
In fact, this is due to the nature of the code which sends out the scouts. If successful, it sets the "aliens know where base is" flag, and applies it to the next battleship launched on a retaliation mission. This flag is only removed after a battleship actually manages to land and send troops inside your base. This flag is not removed by base defence blowing up battleships, craft blowing up battleships (I think), or, as I just mentioned, by removing that base entirely. Nor is this flag restricted to that base in particular.

===Alien Harvest===
It seems that if X-COM forces are successful in downing or assaulting many [[Harvester]]s, then the aliens will send their glorious Battleships to do the dirty work in the hopes that X-COM does not have the resources to attack them. Or maybe they hope you just won't want to waste the effort. 
 
Battleships on harvest missions will fly and land in rural areas. Sometimes they work in pairs. 
 
''[ [[User:NKF|NKF]]: To top it off, harvest missions are harmless in comparison to retaliation and infiltration missions.]'' 

===Alien Abduction===
The Battleship will sometimes participate in Alien Abduction missions. Like its participation in Harvest missions, this occurs only when X-Com has already been successful in preventing lesser craft from doing the job.

== Intercepting Battleships ==
===Speed===
Despite being the largest class of ships, alien Battleships have four powerful [[Elerium-115]] [[UFO Power Source|power sources]], and as such can travel through Earth's atmosphere at a surprisingly high speed - they have been known to travel at over five thousand knots during atmospheric entry and exit. Because of this, it is very difficult for [[Craft|X-COM craft]] to intercept a Battleship during these phases of its flight. X-COM Commanders must usually wait for the Battleship to slow down as they approach their mission zone in order to intercept it.

===Weapons===
When X-COM forces have engaged a Battleship, the commander and pilots must be extra cautious. The battleship's primary weapons have a range of sixty-five kilometres - greater than that of long-range [[Avalanche]]s or [[Plasma Beam]]s. 
 
Do not send [[Interceptor]]s to attack a Battleship or heavy losses will be expected. A direct hit from a Battleship's primary weapons are enough to incinerate an Interceptor in one or two hits. Even the very durable [[Skyranger]] will only survive a few hits. It is recommended that commanders only intercept Battleships using Alien-Terran Hybrid craft. 
 
''[ [[User:NKF|NKF]]: Or short of that, have interceptors attack in groups. This'll cut the Battleship rate of fire to 1/n-th its normal speed as it fires sequentially on each ship in range.''] 
''[ [[User:JellyfishGreen|JFG]]: It's possible. Have multiple fighters at standoff, then send in the Skyranger first as a damage soak, and follow him with Interceptors to dump their ordnance. (This is a surprisingly similar method to using a Journeyman and Berserkers to beat the final boss in Myth II.) I prefer the ground assault, though. ]'' 

===Armour===
A Battleship is also incredibly well armoured. Native terran technology - [[Cannon]], [[Stingray]]s, and [[Avalanche]]s - have little chance of downing a battleship unless used in high quantity. Anything less than an [[Avenger]] with twin [[Plasma Beam]]s is not recommended, and even an Avenger will sustain moderate damage when intercepting a Battleship. [[Fusion Ball Launcher]]s may be effective, but only when intercepting with three or more craft. 
 
''[ [[User:NKF|NKF]]: If you've gone absolutely mad, consider twin [[Cannon]]s on an Avenger!]'' 
''[ [[User:Jasonred|Jasonred]]: ... Next, tell us: how many Cannon Avengers does it take to down a battleship? ;)] '' 
''[ [[User:NKF|NKF]]: Two - minimum. A single avenger will be down by 1/4th of its armour before it even gets its cannons in range.'']

===General Conclusion===
Although it may be possible to eventually design a hybrid craft that can go toe-to-toe with a Battleship, it is recommended that any aerial assault be undertaken with multiple craft , and with maximum available firepower. 
 
''Addendum: The Alien-Terran Hybrid craft class [[Avenger]] is capable of one-on-one engagement with a Battleship. However, very heavy damage will be inflicted on the Avenger, which must be repaired prior to further flights. Considering the complexity of the craft, however, repair times are extensive and border on the time taken to manufacture a new Avenger. Multiple Avengers, with [[Firestorm]]s or [[Lightning]]s as support if avaliable, are still recommended in order to assault a Battleship. This has two mayor advantages. First, by using multiple crafts your firepower raises and the time the battleship has to inflict damage to your craft lowers, therefore also lowering the overall damage that has to be repaired. Second, repairing Avengers takes quite a time. However, if the damage is distributed to 4 Avengers they will be repaired all at a time. The overall damage will therefore be dealt with much faster. Only negative aspect, as mentioned below is the temporary loss of up to 4 Avengers.''

''Alternate opinion: There is a lot to be said for the "gang up on the Battleship" theory, but I prefer single-Avenger assaults. If there are multiple Avengers available, I use only one to intercept, and suck up the long repair time. Rotate the damaged Avenger out of the high-activity regions, and rotate a fresh Avenger in. I find this preferable to having multiple avengers knocked out for a shorter period of time, since if another Battleship comes along quickly, you'll have two or three Avengers out of commission, instead of just one.'' --[[User:Papa Legba|Papa Legba]] 13:19, 22 Nov 2005 (PST)

'''In conclusion''', choosing aerial engagement of an alien battleship is a very high-risk. If a commander does not have sufficient or well-equipped craft to deal with this threat, it is recommended that he or she instead wait until the Battleship lands and assault it with ground forces if possible. The weapons systems of a Battleship are not activated while it is not in flight, so the transport faces little threat of return fire.

== Assaulting/Recovering Battleships ==
===Mission Spoils===
Assaulting a landed or downed Battleship with ground forces is a dangerous operation. However, a success is well worth it. A Battleship has four [[UFO Power Source|power sources]], and two hundred units of [[Elerium-115]]. On top of that, Battleships carry many [[Alien Entertainment]] and [[UFO Navigation]] units, and vast quantities of [[Alien Alloys]]. Because the crew size is so large, one can find large amounts of alien [[Weapons|weapons]] and ammo, including deadly [[Blaster Bomb]]s. In addition, every rank of alien can be found on a Battleship, including the commanders X-COM needs to capture to end the war.

===Ground Threats===
The Battleship carries a large crew complement. These are often equipped with [[Heavy Plasma]]s and [[Alien Grenade]]s, which pose a large threat. In addition to the regular alien species, their associated [[Terror Units]] accompany them on Battleships. Last but not least, some officers on a Battleship are armed with the dreaded [[Blaster Launcher]]. Squad leaders must be careful in their deployment of personnel on the battlefield.

===Battleship Layout===
The Battleship itself consists of three levels. The ground level has five "legs," one on each corner and one in the center. The corner legs cannot be entered from the outside, as they house the valuable elerium power sources. The center leg has two doors that give accesss to a wide central lift. The doors are large enough to allow passage of [[Cyberdisc]]s, [[Reaper]]s, and [[Sectopod]]s, so they can also be used to allow [[Heavy Weapons Platforms]] access to the UFO. This pair of doors is the only access point in or out of the Battleship, therefore a siege is very effective here. However, a siege may attract hostile blaster bombs, so use the tactic with discretion. Alien Engineers can sometimes be found taking care of the power sources in one of the outer legs. 
 
The second level has four major hallways (or two, if you look at it that way). Each leads to a small lift that accesses the four outer pods holding the Power Sources. There are three main rooms, two of which seem to be used for storage. One is filled with the red spheres and cylinders on blue support legs that we have not yet identified. The fourth room contains an alien entertainment complex. 
 
The central lift also extends to the third and topmost level of the Battleship. Unlike the level below it, the lift on this level is in a small room. This level of the UFO has lots of smaller rooms and tight corridors, making it very dangerous. There are two rooms which appear to be the navigation room, and bridge. Both rooms have the distinctive blue chairs, yet only one has any navigation modules. For some reason, the two rooms are on opposite sides of the ship. The third level is also where X-COM forces are most likely to find any Alien Navigators or Alien Leaders, or possibly even the commander if present.

===Entry===
Heavy Weapons Platforms can enter the central lift and navigate much of the second floor, however the lift on the third floor is closed off via small doorways. HWPs are very useful for opening the main doors on the bottom level and allowing soldiers to fire at any aliens inside, or to send a blaster bomb up into the interior of the UFO. 
 
Forced entry using a Blaster Bomb is often used, as it also reduces the risk of succumbing to an alien ambush on the second or third floors. The four corner legs can be one entry point, although elerium may be damaged from such an entry. If [[Flying Suit]]s are avaliable, then an entry from the third level is also an effective tactic that also minimizes the risk of damaging elerium. Entering via the top floor also gives a good chance of surprising and capturing alien officers. A pincer movement, with two or more fireteams working from multiple entry points, is a very effective tactic while storming a Battleship. 
 
==Recoverable Components==
<table {{StdCenterTable}}>
<tr {{StdDescTable_Heading}}><th align="left">Item</th>
<th>Sell Price</th>
<th>Quantity</th>
<th>Value</th></tr>
<tr><td align="left">UFO Power Source</td><td>$250,000</td><td>4</td><td>$1,000,000</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left">UFO Navigation</td><td>$80,000</td><td>4</td><td>$320,000</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left">Alien Food</td><td>$5,000</td><td>0</td><td>$0</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left">Alien Surgery</td><td>$38,000</td><td>0</td><td>$0</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left">Alien Entertainment</td><td>$20,000</td><td>24</td><td>$480,000</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left">Examination Room</td><td>$9,000</td><td>0</td><td>$0</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left">Alien Alloys</td><td>$6,500</td><td>231</td><td>$1,501,500</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left">Elerium-115</td><td>$5,000</td><td>200</td><td>$1,000,000</td></tr>
<tr><th colspan="3">Totals</th><td>$4,301,500</td></tr>
</table> 
Also see [[UFO Recovery Values#Battleship|UFO Recovery Values]].

==Alien Deployment==
<table {{StdCenterTable}}>
<tr {{StdDescTable_Heading}}><th align="left">Rank</th>
<th>Beg./Exp.</th>
<th>Vet./Gen.</th>
<th>Super.</th></tr>
<tr><td align="left">Soldiers</td><td>4-8</td><td>6-10</td><td>8-12</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left">Navigators*</td><td>1</td><td>1</td><td>2</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left">Medics* **</td><td>1</td><td>1</td><td>2</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left">Engineers*</td><td>1</td><td>1</td><td>2</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left">Leaders***</td><td>1</td><td>2</td><td>3</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left">Commanders***</td><td>1</td><td>1</td><td>1</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left">Terrorists</td><td>0-2</td><td>2-4</td><td>4-6</td></tr>
<tr><th>Totals</th><td>9-15</td><td>14-20</td><td>22-28</td></tr>
</table> 

<nowiki>*</nowiki>Ethereals use Ethereal Leaders in place of Navigators, Medics, and Engineers. 
<nowiki>**</nowiki>Snakemen use Snakeman Soldiers in place of Medics. 
<nowiki>***</nowiki>Mutons use Muton Soldiers in place of Leaders and Commanders.

==Floor Plans==
<gallery>
Image:Battleship_0.gif|Level 0
Image:Battleship_1.gif|Level 1
Image:Battleship_2.gif|Level 2
</gallery>

==Terrain Maps==
<gallery>
Image:UFO_160MAP-L1.JPG|Level 0
Image:UFO_160MAP-L2.JPG|Level 1
Image:UFO_160MAP-L3.JPG|Level 2
Image:UFO_160MAP.JPG|Level 3
</gallery>

==See Also==
[[Small Scout]] 
[[Medium Scout]] 
[[Large Scout]] 
[[Abductor]] 
[[Harvester]] 
[[Supply Ship]] 
[[Terror Ship]] 

[[Category: UFO (UFO Defense)]]
[[Category: Tactics]]

Talk:UFO Interception

2007-03-06T19:56:55Z

MB: /* Engaging with multiple craft */

I am currently on 23rd January, so should be able to check whether XCOM Activity relates more or less directly to your pay rise at the end of the month fairly soon, but if it does then clearly you will always want to shoot down UFOs over a sponsor country instead of neutral territory (especially the big scoring recovery missions).

--[[User:Sfnhltb|Sfnhltb]] 06:31, 28 February 2007 (PST)
----
IIRC the amount of money you get is randomly assigned, though increase, decrease, or no change is based upon 'score', and the country's 'happiness' with XCOM. I think this can be seen by saving near the end of the month and noting the funding changes on each save (w/o doing anything special), I believe each time they will be random amounts (but again the sign of the change is dependent on the score, directly or indirectly).

I'm not sure if a higher score as an effect on the average increase (or conversely lower score with average decrease). It is possible. However I imagine that you are still correct that downing a UFO over a sponsors country is better than over a neutral country.
[[User:Pi Masta|Pi Masta]] 11:51, 28 February 2007 (PST)

:Hmm, we should add a graphic to the wiki showing where the sponsor land masses are.--[[User:Ethereal Cereal|Ethereal Cereal]] 12:22, 28 February 2007 (PST)

Yeah I had noticed it was random, I think your starting cash is as well, where the random range comes is was something I will be testing at the end of the current month of the game I am on, which might take a while as I am only playing intermittently (lots of work on atm)

--13:11, 28 February 2007 (PST)

----
Don't bother with the funding deals. I did this looong ago, both at the [http://www.strategycore.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=652 StrategyCore forums] as well as a complete country-by-country funding breakdown at the [http://www.xcomufo.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=7424 xcomufo.com forums]. Granted, this was for the starting funds, not for subsequent months. But I did run about 2000 trials on that scenario and found that funding was random within a certain range. --[[User:Zombie|Zombie]] 14:44, 28 February 2007 (PST)

Hmm, well compared to the starting funds that you tested that were almost static overall (unless I am misreading it, +/- 15k or so?), the monthly amount varies a whole lot more, certainly +/- 250k from the average on a given good month I tested briefly to get an idea of it (and could grow more for an even better month I suspect). I would be interested in finding out what exactly affects it, and how responsive it is to key elements you might be able to control (like how beneficial is shooting down more aliens in sponsor country, compared to the same region (if that affects anything at all), and overall.

Btw, in case you still are thinking about the question regarding the discrepancy between your income and expenditure at startup, i can tell you where the 1860000 comes from at least - its in LIGLOB (A0611C00 in backwards hex) - its basically the source of the Finance graph (except score, which comes from XCOM.DAT combined with UIGLOB), which of course assigns it all to Maintenance - which in theory could include 1.7 million for the planes, 300k for the scientists, 250k for the engineers, 160k for the soldiers, and 224k for the maintaince of facilities of the base, so it doesnt solve it, but at least you can eliminate paying for things in trying to work out what it is.

The most obvious answer here is that you pay for craft rental (1.7 mill) and your soldiers (160k) = 1.86 million, and you dont pay for the scientists, engineers or base maintainance. --[[User:Sfnhltb|Sfnhltb]] 16:41, 28 February 2007 (PST)

----
The monthly funding (according to the OSG) is determined by these two equations:

Alien activity in country + (Overall alien activity/5) 
X-COM activity in country + (Overall X-COM activity/10)

These numbers are compared and if the alien score is greater than X-COM, the country decreases funding by a random amount, but no less than 20%. If X-COM is greater than the alien score, the country increases funding by a random amount, but no greater than 20%. I'm not sure what the upper or lower boundary is. It could be 0%. Who knows, the frequency of the non-20% limits may increase as score does. Suppose the easiest way would be to edit alien score to 0 and X-COM score to something high and check the results. That would correspond to "EXCELLENT" on the End Of Month report. Another test is to edit both X-COM and alien score to zero and check the funding there. This would correspond to "OK" on the EOM report. One thing is for certain, it would take a great many reloads to form any type of conclusion. One of these days I'll have to write up an AHK script and dedicate some computer time to this project. It won't be right away though. --[[User:Zombie|Zombie]] 21:47, 28 February 2007 (PST)

:Ah, that explains something I was seeing - basically if you get double the Alien score, everything is good, if you are less than that everything is bad. When using very large numbers that is, to minimise other factors.

:I think the increase is between 5-20%, if they come up as happy. But sometimes even with the same scores they turn out just to be satisified (current game I am playing, overall score 2.6k, alien score was 132 (and I think quite a bit of that I am double counting, country and region)

:And yeah, no matter how high the XCOM scores went (very high values in the 4th byte didnt register, but I could get 30k or 60k I think, and there was no change in the range of values to cursory inspection at least. I am fairly sure that happy/satisfied/unhappy is an on/off switch that is fired by a comparision of the scores in a manner as you list above (but there is some randomness in it however).

:The scale of the increase in funds seems to be based entirely on the existing funding level, so basically you just get a random percentage value within fixed limits (5-20% on the upswing, havent explored going down enough to say with enough confidence). If US is paying out 10 Million (and you have removed the funding cap, or it wont go higher), values are in the range of 500k to 2 Million if it increases, or 0 if they are only satisfied.

:There isnt a whole lot of random numbers it rolls either, which you see with that nice round 10 mill, you get nice neat values spread out every 100k (rounding issues would make it look like there were more possibilities with a smaller existing fund). So its a random int between 5 and 20. Going down is probably a mirror image I would guess, but thats not got any real evidence behind it. --[[User:Sfnhltb|Sfnhltb]] 18:16, 1 March 2007 (PST)

----

Of course the thing that has lead me onto, is trying to work out how it calculates base maintenance. A lift only new base costs 30k (4k for the lift, 26k extra somewhere), and a vanilla starter base costs 224k, but the parts only add up to 169k, so the extra unassigned part raises to 55k. Whats going on?

So I dismantle the starter base (after dumping all loose objects like people, planes and guns), the first Hangar drops the cost by 10k (not 25k), the next one by 4k (huh?), then 10k again for the last hangar, workshop drops it by 35k (correct!), the radar drops it another 35k (way high!), the living quarters are 30k, the lab 35k (a bit high), the stores 35k (massive - 7 times what it should be), and the lift 30k (4k in UFOpedia).

I thought maybe this was messed up somehow because of being the starter base, but it seems to behave the same way in new bases - as I say empty base with lift 30k, lift + stores + small radar = 95k, adding alien containment, stores, living quarters to starter base is 55k up on the starting cost (second stores 10k off when removed, second living quarters 10k, alien containment 35k)

So the same facilities take different maintainance depending on how many you have of them (it seems), and most of them cost different to what it says they do. No idea what the relationship or reasoning is behind all of this.

--[[User:Sfnhltb|Sfnhltb]] 17:05, 28 February 2007 (PST)

:No what's happening is that there are completed 'empty' modules. When you dismantle a facility it doesn't set the days to build to 255 like it should, and instead just puts the dirt tile there. Apparently these completed dirt modules take monthly maintenance (but isn't shown in the monthly costs IIRC). If you want me to find the post I can, but this is something I'm familiar with and in fact the 'editor' I'm making (PyXCom) should be able to fix it. (another thing is even if you build something and dismantle it before it's built, it will still count down and suck your money away)

:Atleast I think this is the issue you are having. [[User:Pi Masta|Pi Masta]] 19:57, 28 February 2007 (PST)

No I worked it out, I added the basic details to [[Known_Bugs#Facility_Maintenance_Costs]], there might be something additional as you say, as destruction a facility doesnt clear the construction counter as you say - in fact you can see that it keeps construction counters from previous saves as well at times, the clearest indication its doing stuff like this is if you start a game and name your first base something long, say 'ABCDEFG', and then start again and make a new base with a one character 'X', in the BASE.DAT you will see something like 'X CDEFG' (the space indicating actually a null (00) to show end of string). So when you save it doesnt 100% overwrite all bytes, just the minimum it needs to save the information for your current save (which may have errors like you suggest).

--[[User:Sfnhltb|Sfnhltb]] 20:03, 28 February 2007 (PST)

== Engaging with multiple craft ==

If I understand the latest edit, UFOs will not "divide" their fire amongst multiple targets, but will fire at each of them as frequently as they would fire at a single ship. If that's the case, is there really any advantage to having all ships engage at the same time?--[[User:Ethereal Cereal|Ethereal Cereal]] 15:29, 5 March 2007 (PST)

Thats because whoever wrote it was a moron, thats precisely what doesn't happen as I finally managed to identify just before writing it. Its tough to tell though, especially as you cant get them all to go in at once, and if you go in on aggressive attack it gets very quick at the end and hard to say whats going on. --[[User:Sfnhltb|Sfnhltb]] 15:43, 5 March 2007 (PST)

The most convincing aspect for me anyway was the results - three interceptors armed with plasma mostly going in singly almost always get eaten, three at once (or as close as you can get it, and setting the cycle speed way down helps synchronise them better) nearly always wins and often doesn't take a single casualty. --[[User:Sfnhltb|Sfnhltb]] 15:47, 5 March 2007 (PST)

: From what I can remember, the UFO's rate of fire gets faster and faster the closer you get to the UFO. I've tested this with two different ships with identical armament, with one on aggressive and the other on cautious. The one on cautious fired normally, but the one that got right up to the UFO was exchanging and receiving ammo at a considerably faster rate than the one on cautious.

: That still this doesn't answer the question wether the UFO splits the attacks or fires on the ships normally.

: Still, I find the odds of knocking out a UFO with multiple ships a lot better than to attempt it sequentially. (edit: or mind you if I'd checked through all the edits, all this has been covered already. Oh well.) - [[User:NKF|NKF]]

:I did 10 tests each way yesterday from the same save - sequentially 1 win from 10, even that the last interceptor was fully red damage at the end (cant tell the exact numbers, for some reason after the fight the geoscape was zooming out past maximum and crashing to the battlescape). Simultaneous was 9 wins from 10, 0 shot down 2 times, 1 down 4 times, 2 down three times. I then did a few further tries later with all three having slowed the cycle rate down and got 0 shot down 3 times out of 4, as generally the first one in was the one that almost always died if any did, if you can get them all attacking closer together it ensures it doesnt take the first two or two of the first three salvoes. --[[User:Sfnhltb|Sfnhltb]] 05:06, 6 March 2007 (PST)

I think some of what's written at [[Battleship#Weapons]] should be copied over. I've never tried it myself, personally; I don't bother engaging battleships until I have an Avenger. What I'd really like is some way to stop Terror Ships before I get Plasma Cannons... two Interceptors armed with Avalanches? Or does it take three?--[[User:Ethereal Cereal|Ethereal Cereal]] 21:59, 5 March 2007 (PST)

:From the encounter I had yesterday, would suggest 3 is needed, it can trash them so quickly that you need to throw in loads. The one thing I noticed was that Avalanches in some ways seemed better than the Plasma cannons because you can get off a 1-2 rounds of missiles before the Plasma even starts firing due to the range difference, which is critical with your paper thin Interceptors vs the Battleships. --[[User:Sfnhltb|Sfnhltb]] 04:56, 6 March 2007 (PST)

:2 interceptors with avalanches can bring down a terror ship and make it back to base in one piece. I think 10 avalanches will kill it. You do need to do the agressive trick with at least one interceptor to make sure all 6 missiles actually hit.
:(Never tried interceptors vs battleship, it sounds suicidal.) --[[User:MB|MB]] 11:56, 6 March 2007 (PST)

==Patrolling fuel usage==
I saw somewhere that the skyranger at least uses less fuel when patrolling, but I have this vague recollection that the hybrids don't. Am I right in this or does it need investigating to determine one way or the other? --[[User:Sfnhltb|Sfnhltb]] 16:05, 5 March 2007 (PST)

:You are correct, hybrids don't conserve fuel while patrolling. Only the originals do. --[[User:Pi Masta|Pi Masta]] 17:15, 5 March 2007 (PST)

::That does appear to be the case. I just tested this with a Firestorm (not an Avenger), and there were a few quirks: fuel consumption was the same whether patrolling or not (which is what you were asking about); fuel readout only decreased in 5% increments (not well-documented); it returned to base when it hit 50% fuel, regardless of distance-to-base (argh). (Skyrangers and Interceptors will stay out below 50%, based on distance.) Fuel consumption was 0.5% of total per minute.

::A patrolling Skyranger used up 0.02% of fuel per minute. A constantly-moving one used up 0.0455% per minute. This is more or less consistent with what is documented at [[Skyranger]].--[[User:Ethereal Cereal|Ethereal Cereal]] 18:29, 5 March 2007 (PST)

Damage

2007-02-15T21:44:24Z

MB: Tanks can't be stunned

= Overview =

'''Damage''' in XCOM comes in two major ways, and then there are some oddballs:

*[[Weapons|Firearm]] or gun damage, commonly known as "weapons", and
*[[Explosions|Explosive]] damage

A 2 x 2 table of the most important types of damage is as follows. Percents mean, '''percent of weapon strength as shown in UFOpaedia:'''

Firearms Explosives
Units 0%-200% 50%-150%
Terrain 25%- 75% 50%

Unit '''Armor''' is always '''subtracted''' from calculated damage, before any damage is applied. Units take damage and "remember" it, but terrain is unaffected unless the damage is equal to or greater than its armor strength, at which point it will be breached or destroyed. (Some terrain objects will initially turn into a "damaged" object which itself can usually be destroyed. See [[Destroying Terrain]] for more details.)

So, the UFOpaedia shows ''average'' weapon strength versus units. But they only impart ''half'' their listed UFOpaedia strength versus terrain - a fixed half, for explosives, and half on average, for firearms.

Some units also have modifiers versus particular weapon classes, as shown below.

The less common (but no less fun!) forms of damage are:

* Stun damage, provided by the [[Stun Rod]] and [[Small Launcher|Stun Bomb]] and even [[Smoke Grenade|smoke]]. Oddly, the Stun Rod is the lone melee weapon in XCOM, and the [[Small Launcher|Small Launcher's]] stun bomb follows the rules of [[explosions|explosives]] for its blast pattern and tile "explosive" strength, but gives 0-200% stun damage at a given tile; see [[Small Launcher]] for more clarification.
* [[Incendiary]] damage is a complex but ultimately fairly weak type of damage.
* Objects dropped on the ground can only be destroyed by explosive damage, at particular fixed strengths as shown [[Explosions#Object Destruction|here]] .

= Formula =

''' Damage to Unit = (Weapon Damage × Damage Modifier) - Armour '''

If the bullet does negative or zero damage, then the bullet is ignored (for damage purposes, but you still get [[Firing Accuracy]] [[experience]] if it did hit). If the bullet does damage, then there's a chance that the armour plate that it struck will deteriorate by a few points, as shown [[Damage#Armor_vs._Health_Damage|below]].

That's the basic idea. Let's expand on the variables a bit:

; Weapon Damage : Weapon damage will be a random number between 0 and two times the damage level of the weapon listed in the UFOpaedia. In reality, all of the damages listed in the UFOpaedia are the averages for the weapons. Note that the doubling of the damage is done before the modifiers are applied.

; Damage Modifier : All units in the game will have various modifier levels for all the ammo types in the game. The modifier is simply a percentage multiplier that changes the weapon damage, for better or for worse. For more information, see the next section for specifics.

; Armour : The armour section the bullet hit. This can be the front, rear or the left or right side armour for ballistic projectiles. Under armour can only be hit when the target is at or standing right next to the very [[Explosions#Distance_from_Ground_Zero|centre]] of an explosion from an area-effect weapon, otherwise it's treated as directional damage. To put it bluntly, armour is pure damage reduction.

= Damage Modifiers =
Everything's 100% except the following:

=== '''Vulnerable to...''' ===

'''Incendiary:'''
Reaper 170%

'''High-Explosive:'''
Silacoid 130%

'''Laser:'''
Sectopod 150%

'''Melee:'''
Unarmoured Soldier 120%
Civilian 120%
Sectoid 120%
Celatid 120%
Floater 120%

'''Celatid Acid Spit:'''
Unarmoured Soldier 160%
Civilian 160%
Sectoid 160%
Celatid 160% ''I find it amusing that Celatids
Floater 160% ''are vulnerable to their own spit -- [[User:Danial|Danial]]
Personal Armour 110%

=== '''Resistant to...''' ===

'''Armour-Piercing:'''
Cyberdisc 80%
Muton 60%
Zombie 60%

'''Incendiary:'''
Chryssalid 80%
Ethereal 70%
Snakeman 70%
Tanks 40%
Personal Armour 0%
Power Suit 0%
Flying Suit 0%
Silacoid 0%

'''High-Explosive:'''
Sectopod 80%
Zombie 80%
Tanks 70%
Cyberdisc 60%

'''Laser:'''
Zombie 70%

'''Plasma:'''
Sectopod 80%
Zombie 70%

'''Stun:'''
Personal Armour 90%
Chryssalid 90%
Power Suit 80%
Flying Suit 80%
Ethereal 80%
Zombie 0%
Tanks 0%

'''Melee:'''
Tanks 90%

'''Celatid Acid Spit:'''
Tanks 40%

=== '''Susceptible to...''' ===
''Cramped column headings - see legend for full explanation

X-COM
Sect.
Cela. Pers. PS/ Tanks Snake Ethe- Sila- Chrys Reap Sect Cyber
Float Armor FS /HTs men real Muton coid alid er opod disc Zombie
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Armor Piercing 100 100 100 100 100 100 60 100 100 100 100 80 60
Incendiary 100 0 0 40 70 70 100 0 80 170 100 100 100
High-Explosive 100 100 100 75 100 100 100 130 100 100 80 60 80
Laser 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 150 100 70
Plasma 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 80 100 70
Stun 100 90 80 0 100 80 100 100 90 100 100 100 0
Melee 120 100 100 90 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Acid Spit 160 110 100 40 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100

'''Column''' '''Unit Type(s)'''
'''1''' Soldier, Civilian, Sectoid, Celatid, Floater
'''2''' Personal Armor
'''3''' Power Suit, Flying Suit
'''4''' Tanks, Hovertanks
'''5''' Snakemen
'''6''' Ethereal
'''7''' Muton
'''8''' Silacoid
'''9''' Chryssalid
'''10''' Reaper
'''11''' Sectopod
'''12''' Cyberdisc
'''13''' Zombie
To summarize re: the all important '''X-COM armor''':
*'''AP, HE, Laser, and Plasma:''' All types of X-COM armor have full/normal (100%) susceptibility to these types of damage
*'''Stun:''' Personal Armor has 90% susceptibility to stun, while Power/Flying Suits have 80% to stun. (Less than 100% is better.)
*'''Incendiary:''' Personal, Power, and Flying Armor are completely resistant to Incendiary.

For another way to view the same info above, see [[Kill_Modelling#Modifiers|this]].

See also: [[Damage Modifiers (TFTD)|TFTD Damage Modifiers]]

= Example =

''Adapted from [http://www.xcomufo.com/forums/index.php?act=ST&f=280&t=8701&st=37# Zombie's] kindly example:

'''Scenario:''' Beginner level Muton mission. Your soldier is carrying a normal Pistol and you want to know what is the chance that a Muton Soldier's front armor will absorb a direct hit without lowering health.

'''Vitals:'''
Muton Soldier front armor = 10
Muton Soldier health = 125
Muton susceptibility to Armor Piercing ammo = 60%
Pistol listed power = 26 (average)

'''Calculation:'''

Max damage for a Pistol against a Muton is lowered due to susceptibility:

'''Modified max damage''' = INT(26 * 2 * 60 / 100)
= INT(52 * 60 / 100)
= INT(3120 / 100)
= INT(31.2)
= 31

where 2 is the max modifier (200% of UFOpaedia listed power) and 60/100 is the damage modifier (60%)

The range of values the Pistol can deal is 0 to 31 points of damage (or a range of 32 different values). The equation's steps are shown because XCOM's math sometimes leads to slightly unexpected values in [http://www.strategycore.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=746&view=findpost&p=41445 subsequent] steps.

The Muton Soldier has a front armor rating of 10. It will absorb up to this much damage without changing health. In other words, it will negate the first 10 points of damage a Pistol can dish out (0-10; 11 possible values). Since the Pistol has a range of 32 possible values, the probability that a direct hit will be blocked by Muton armor is simply 11 / 32 = '''34.4%'''.

Okay, say you want to know the probability of doing damage to a Muton's health. The pistol still has 32 values, but instead of absorption we want penetration. 10 points of damage is absorbed, so we need at least 11 to penetrate. 32 - 11 = 21 values which will breach. 21 / 32 = '''65.6%'''.

21 is also the maximum number of damage points which might be deducted from the Muton's health. Assuming the Muton was initially uninjured, in the worst case (for him!) he will have an ending health of 125 - 21 = '''104'''.

On average, there will be 15.5 damage dealt (0-31). Then armor (10) reduces this to an actual (penetrating) average damage of '''7.22'''. (It's not simply 15.5-10=5.5 because initial damage that's less than ten becomes zero penetrating damage, not negative penetrating damage. The removal of these negative values causes the expected average to rise, as it were.)

If you need precision while testing, note that the game applies truncation ''after'' making its damage roll. It does not first determine the maximum (including damage modifiers), and then roll randomly/evenly from 0 up to the maximum, per se. To wit: if you hack a pistol to an average damage strength of 1, there would not be an overall roll of 0 to a maximum of 1 (with average damage of '''''0.5''''') as might be implied from the Muton-versus-AP example above. Instead, there is a roll of 0, 1, or 2, to which the .6 modifier is applied. Only a roll of 2 results in non-zero damage (INT(2x60/100)= INT(1.2)= 1), and the Muton only takes an average of '''''0.33''''' damage, not 0.5. Usually this effect is insignificant relative to the large damage values found in the game, but it could matter in testing situations involving very low damage strengths. It also means you need to take into account all possible values versus individual truncation effects, if you want an ultra-precise listing of e.g. how often armor is breached.

= Armor vs. Health Damage =

When there is '''penetrating''' damage (i.e., damage is >0 and not all blocked by armor), Health and Armor Damage have a very simple relationship:

'''Health Damage''' = 10 * Armor Damage, minus 1 to 10

Or the other way around:

'''Armor Damage''' = INT( Health Damage / 10 ) + 1

In table form:

Armor Health Damage
Damage Min Max
0 0 0
1 1 9
2 10 19
3 20 29
4 30 39
5 40 49
6 50 59
7 60 69
8 70 79
9 80 89
etc.

Of course, this assumes armor is not zeroed out by the hit. Also note that you will always have armor damage if you have health damage and vice-versa, if there was damage penetration. Stated another way, you will never have armor damage if you don't have health damage (i.e., when there is insufficient damage to breach the armor).

You will see this health/armor relationship if you watch damage from individual hits. However, the relationship is muddied if you only look at a unit after a number of hits (or, of course, if armor is broken through). The most extreme example would be if a unit were hit with e.g. five hits of 1 penetrating damage point each. The unit would have 5 health damage and 5 armor damage, which would appear contrary to the above table.

This relationship has been been tested for a wide variety of explosions and some light weapons vs. Mutons, and some hits on soldiers. It has not otherwise been widely tested, but is presumed true unless/until found otherwise.

As stated, the above is for damage that '''penetrates'''. It is possible for hits (guns or explosions) to do zero damage. This happens on the rare occasion that a weapon damage roll is actually zero, or, much more commonly, when armor has blocked all the damage. You still get an experience point toward [[Firing Accuracy]] if damage fails to penetrate. You only have to hit the target(s) to get Firing experience; there doesn't have to be damage.

= See Also =

*[[Weapons]]
*[[Explosions]]
*[[Firing Accuracy]]
*[[Health]]
*[[Medi-Kit]]
*[[Experience]]

[[Category: data tables]]

Talk:Kill Modelling

2007-02-03T09:57:23Z

MB: reapers vs explosions

Does this take into account 2x2 units getting hit 4 times by explosions? Based on the reaper vs blaster bomb result, I'm guessing it doesn't. --[[User:MB|MB]] 11:33, 2 February 2007 (PST)

----

Hi MB,

No, that's not included in the model per se; big aliens are treated as a single-square target with that alien's stats.

That said, they die when one quadrant dies, AFAIK. (A blast individually affects each of the four quadrants separately, and that as per the rules of explosions decreasing by each tile outward from GZ.) It's possible that by chance the other quadrants may take more damage than the GZ/targetted quadrant I modelled. Still, one expects the GZ/targetted quadrant to take the most blast damage '''on average''', since that's where the explosion is envisioned as coursing outward from. (Except for the "at edge" blasts... they should be seen as having only one quadrant of the four being hit, I guess.)

So the model is probably fairly accurate for 2x2 units, but may over-estimate a little (i.e., big units may die with a little less hitting than shown)... probability/statistics can get funny when "selection" occurs, which this is an instance of, because the critter dies as soon as any one quadrant dies (it selects for whichever quadrant actually got the most damage, never mind averages). It's an interesting question, really... if I ever re-do the model, I would try to include that.

Let me take this chance to say, I hope everyone keeps in mind that my kill modelling is oriented toward experience training, where you're deliberately trying to keep the target ''alive'' (as modelled by, hitting two sides' armor, whichever has ''more'' armor as of any given shot). In real battle, of course, many shots will be hitting only one armor facing. This doesn't apply to GZ explosions, since they only affect one facing (Under armor), but does apply to any modeling of blast damage farther than GZ+1.

I'll make a note on the page pointing others here, in case others have the same question. Thanks! - [[User:MikeTheRed|MikeTheRed]] 16:36, 2 February 2007 (PST)

----

Hang on, I thought a 2x2 unit has only one set of stats; in particular, one HP value. So if a reaper gets hit by a blaster bomb, minimum damage is 100 at the centre + 90 everywhere else, for a total of 370. Under armour (4) reduces this, but not by much. Mr. Reaper should now have about -220 hit points and therefore be very dead.
In fact, I think even an alien grenade should kill a reaper every time. (45+3*40=165).

Well there's only one way to settle this... Next time I see a floater terror ship, I will let it land and go nuts with blaster bombs and grenades. In the interests of science, of course. --[[User:MB|MB]] 01:57, 3 February 2007 (PST)

Talk:Kill Modelling

2007-02-02T19:33:25Z

MB:

Does this take into account 2x2 units getting hit 4 times by explosions? Based on the reaper vs blaster bomb result, I'm guessing it doesn't. --[[User:MB|MB]] 11:33, 2 February 2007 (PST)

Hovertank/Launcher

2007-02-02T19:26:58Z

MB: Safe(ish) from own weapon

[[Image:BIGOBS43.GIF|right|thumb|64 px|Tank Turret]]
The launcher hovertank leverages off Firestorm technology and vehicle-mounted blaster weapons to provide a small, airborne weapons platform of unsurpassed mobility.

The hovertank is superior in both armor and agility to the standard tracked chassis, while mounting a blaster launcher in the turret. In addition to its ability to hover, it can move over 50% faster than tracked tanks. The hovertank chassis's armor is stronger than the standard tank's, and more uniformly distributed. In fact, there is only one weak point on the chassis-- its underside-- and even this weak spot is more resilient than the main armor of the standard tank.

The blaster provides powerful fire support that is absolutely immune to psionic attack, and carries 8 shots-- much more than a trooper can normally carry. In addition, the automatic ammunition feed on the launcher precludes awkward reloading operations. However, the weapon has its drawbacks.

A standard blaster launcher, ammunition and a feed system are too large to fit on the diminutive HWP chassis, so specialized, smaller shells have to be used. These miniaturized blasters are significantly less powerful-- 140 vs 200 for a standard blaster-- while at the same time more expensive and labor-intensive to produce. Standard blaster rounds '''cannot''' be used, and the commander must ensure that he has a full load-out of ammunition on hand, otherwise the tank will not deploy.

Due to its diminished damage rating, the hovertank's blaster rounds cannot be used to penetrate UFO outer hulls. In fact, most UFO inner walls cannot be penetrated by a tank's blaster either -- although certain wall types exhibit special vulnerabilities. See [[Destroying Terrain]] for more details.

In spite of these factors, the hovertank/launcher sees wide use, if not quite as widespread as the hovertank/plasma. To commanders without psionic research capability, the weapon can be a godsend.

Like all tanks, its larger size precludes it from moving into confined spaces. However, the blaster's guidance system allows it to direct fire to areas otherwise inaccessible to HWP's.

The research requirements of the tank mean that, by the time the hovertank becomes available, commanders will typically have access to high-tech armor and alien weapons, making the hovertank less competitive with well-equipped soldiers.

== Vital Statistics ==
<table>
<tr><td>Cost:</td><td>Manufacture only. $900,000</td></tr>
<tr><td>Manufacturing Requirements:</td><td>1400 Engineer hours, 25 Elerium-115 and 8 Alien Alloys</td></tr>
<tr><td>Research Requirements:</td><td>New Fighter Craft, Fusion Ball Launcher</td></tr>
</table>

{{Hover Tank Stats}}

{| {{stdTable}}
|- {{stdTable Heading}}
| colspan = "3" | '''Fusion Turret Specifications'''
|-
| colspan = "3" {{stdTable Sub Heading}} | '''Ammunition'''
|-
| Type || '''HWP Fusion Bomb'''
|-
| Damage || '''140 High Explosive'''
|-
| Rounds || '''8'''
|-
| Manufacture Price || '''$15,000'''
|-
| style = "padding-right:5px;" | Manufacture Requirements
| style = "padding-right:5px;" Colspan = "2" | '''400 Engineer hours, 5 Elerium-115, 8 Alien Alloys'''
|-
| Sale Price || '''$31,500'''
|- {{stdTable Sub Heading}}
| '''Firing Modes'''
| Accuracy
| Cost
|-
| Aimed
| '''100%'''(n/a)
| '''66%'''(66)
|-
| Snap || '''n/a''' || '''n/a'''
|-
| Auto || '''n/a''' || '''n/a'''
|-
|  
|-
| colspan = "3" | Numbers in parenthesis are the actual values after modified by the chassis' abilities. Actual costs are in fixed [[TU|Time Unit]]s
|}

== Notes ==
*The hovertank/launcher is a good unit for base defense. First of all, any tank present on a base defense mission gets a free load of ammunition. Secondly, its combination of high firepower and psionic immunity are a huge boost to garrison-quality troops.
*Unlike a man-portable [[Blaster Launcher]], the tank's blaster is incapable of penetrating the outer hull of an alien craft.
*We're not kidding about the HWP blaster shells being expensive to produce. The elerium and man-hour requirement for a full load of shells mean that you should only rely on them when you have no other choice, or when you have a massive surplus of resources.
*The hovertank, like all flying units, can avoid physical attacks like the [[Chryssalid]]'s or [[Reaper]]'s by staying above ground level.
*Due to its thick side armour and resistance to explosives, the hovertank/launcher has little to fear from its own weapon. As long as the tank is at least 2 squares away from the centre of the explosion, it will not be damaged.

== See Also ==
[[Template:Hover Tank Stats|Hover Tank Stats]]

[[Category:Heavy Weapons Platforms]]

UFO Ground Assault

2007-01-23T21:47:54Z

MB: Stupid typo

==Briefing==
Explore landing site and, if possible, gain entry to the UFO. Mission will be successful when all enemy units have been eliminated or neutralised. Recovery of UFO, artefacts and alien corpses can then be initiated.

==Breaching UFOs==
Most of a UFO ground assault is like any other mission. Use smoke grenades to disembark; illuminate the exterior in night missions with flares or fires; and use fire team tactics for [[Sweeping the Battlescape]]. The moment of entry into the UFO can be a unique challenge, however, as the first soldier inside a UFO strongroom is often a guaranteed casualty. Several measures can be taken to reduce the agony of this crucial (and sometimes climactic) phase of the battle.

'''1. Rookies ("puppets") first.''' It never hurts to deliberately take a few rookies or underachievers to absorb enemy reaction shots and/or psionic attacks. (You end up with a lot more Sergeants as these guys are rotated in and out of the Skyranger.) One of these should be sent first through UFO doors.

'''2. Cover the point.''' Have the rest of his fire team positioned a few squares behind with plenty of TUs to fire over his shoulder. They may be able to throw explosives (or even smoke) into the room, or even shoot all the aliens inside. They risk shooting the point (the rookie who entered the door), but the aliens are more likely to do that if you don't kill them all first. Any TUs the rookie uses to kneel, escape, or fire may get him shot. The aliens will have a harder time returning fire against shots over his shoulder (hitting the UFO wall etc).

'''3. BANZAI!!''' (Note: Without the right equipment, this can be considered a "sacrificial rookie" tactic; but with the right equipment the rookie stands a good chance of survival. Consider a [[Power Suit]] and and [[Auto Cannon]] with explosive ammunition for for this purpose, at least for the frontline rookies .)

The point may have to take one for the team. The worst case scenario is that the entire team misses the aliens, the aliens kill the point, and come out to shoot the team (who burned all their TUs up covering the point). Even if the point tries to retreat, he may be shot, and if he is using a rifle-type weapon, he may still get shot after killing one alien. The solution is to use whatever explosives he is carrying to kill as many aliens inside as possible before dying, or upon death. Sufficient armor will allow him to do this with minimal personal risk. If he is carrying a grenade, prime it and move him as far toward the group of aliens as possible. In a small room, he will be in their midst by the time they shoot him. If they don't kill him, and he has 2 TUs left, he can drop the primed grenade. This also works with smoke if the aliens are far enough away. If he is using rockets or explosive ammunition, fire at point blank range and blast everything in the room (preferably targeting the rear wall or alien). If he is wearing a power or flying suit, then ordinary grenades, AC-HE, and HC-HE ammunition will be nearly harmless. The edge of a rocket blast is also much less dangerous in armor. He or someone behind him may be able to bombard the room with minimal risk. Of course, in a small UFO the power source and elerium may be nearby, so the use of extreme measures to clear the room in one turn may be at the expense of valuable resources.

'''4. Make a new hole.''' A second entry in a UFO exterior created by a [[Blaster Bomb]] (or [[Heavy Plasma]] for interior walls) is generally safer than a preexisting door. The aliens are usually paying attention the UFO doors instead; they only gang up around the new holes if they see you coming.

Note: Proximity grenades may occasionally kill the aliens inside when one steps out, but this isn't always the case, and proximity grenades have other limitations (especially deep inside big UFOs).

'''5. Shoot the rookie.''' Send one rookie, wearing [[Coveralls]], through the door. If he survives (which he often does, thanks to the mutual surprise rule), he can safely turn around to spot any aliens, as turning does not provoke [[Reaction fire triggers|Reaction fire]]. Unfortunately, taking any other action will likely prove fatal. So shoot him - with a [[Stun Bomb]]. With any luck, he'll drop to the floor, [[Unconscious]] - but alive. Snipers can then shoot through the door at spotted aliens, from outside their sight range. This tactic works quite well when assaulting a [[Large Scout]] with destroyed interior; firing a large rocket through the open door and into the back wall has a good chance of killing the aliens who tend to lurk in that area.

The rookie could also carry a primed [[Smoke Grenade]]. This will go off after the rookie drops (for whatever reason), providing cover for the next soldier through the door.

== Assaulting Supply Ships with JFG ==
After staking out a [[Floater]] base and getting a recovery craft set up, I was hijacking a [[Supply Ship]] every week for a month, and be darned if I wasn't starting to follow a pattern. I had a modified Firestorm stalking them, with 6 soldiers and a HWP; after clearing the outside and sniping a few at the exit, I'd breach with a team of 3 at each door; clear the one or two aliens usually at the grav lifts, quickly peek into the engine room in passing (150 units of intact [[Elerium-115]] waiting, sweet); send one guy straight to the top floor to hide by the door, while the other two on his team go halfway up and bust open the shaft with plasma rounds; five guys sweep the middle deck. Usually the floaters are starting to panic by now. Then all six troops re-converge on the lift, head for the upper deck, and advance on the control room. First guy out of the lift turns right; the second turns left, checks the corner, then turns to stand next to the closed door to the south; third advances past second guy to snipe towards control room; fourth (if time) enters closed door to the south. Then it's just a matter of leapfrogging most of the team up the north corridor towards the control room with overwatch while one or two do a quick sweep of the narrow south corridor, perhaps opening a shortcut across the waist of the ship with heavy plasma along the way.

Occasionally I'd vary this routine by hitting the floor of the control room from below with HE-HC or stun rounds, but that could be considered cheating. But not as [[Exploits|exploitative]] as the time I shoved a brick of HE up through the floor of the control room. A quick way to end the mission. Also fun is tossing HE or alien grenades into the diagonal walls at the back of the ship, near the lifts, from outside, with a long delay; if timed right, this kills anyone near the lifts inside just before the breaching team gets there. In mountain terrain, this might even destroy the outer wall at the waist of the ship! Easy lift access if I had stuck around!

And all that procedure comes from harsh experience, like the time I forgot to check the corner after coming out of the top level lift and was shot in the back.

And it got me a sectoid leader for [[Psionics]], too, once I had identified my weakest link and given him a standard pistol and smoke grenades. The decoy was being alternately panicked and controlled somewhere out in the forest right up until the powersuits kicked in the control room door and hit the preoccupied leader with stun rounds at point blank range. Previously, every attempted sectoid supply ship hijacking or sectoid base raid had been a psi-attacked disaster.

--[[User:JellyfishGreen|JellyfishGreen]] 14:26, 23 May 2005 (BST)

''Note: This was on Normal difficulty. At Superhuman difficulty, there's a few more aliens around, and it becomes wiser to stand in the lift (since aliens don't shoot down well) than to hide by the door. --[[User:JellyfishGreen|JellyfishGreen]] 01:35, 26 Sep 2005 (PDT)''

== Notes ==
* In THE ABOVE EXAMPLE "I had a modified Firestorm stalking them, with 6 soldiers and a HWP" indicates a modified game using XcomUtil. In an unmodified game this is just an interception craft.
* If you want Elerium, don't use explosives near the power cores.
* If you have stunned a 'soldier' class and don't want it, relocate it and grenade it, or use medikits to awaken then shoot.
* If you assault craft that are landed you get more things to sell, but there may be more aliens to shoot your head off.

''For medium-sized and larger UFO's in the later game, your best friends are some flying suits and a blaster bomb. Use the blaster to make a hole in the topmost level of the craft--only blasters can pierce the outer walls of UFOs. Then send in your flying units. This will let you take out the alien leader sooner-- which I believe adversely effects the morales of the enemy-- and lets you attack from an unexpected angle.''

''In general, it's best to make new doors inside a UFO than use the existing ones, since the aliens have a tougher time setting up ambushes that way. Use heavy plasma to shoot open internal walls (see [[Destroying Terrain]]).''
--[[User:Papa Legba|Papa Legba]] 13:09, 22 Nov 2005 (PST)

''If you feel like you absolutely must use a lot of explosives, you can save the elerium by shooting the power source (with a non explosive weapon), and then picking up the elerium crystal in the inventory. I don't find it worth the time to do, but if you must use explosives then it's better than losing 50 elerium''
~~ [[User:Blehm|Blehm]]

==See Also==
[[UFO Crash Recovery]]

[[Category:Missions]]
[[Category: Tactics]]

UFO Ground Assault

2007-01-23T21:46:46Z

MB: Shoot the rookie!

==Briefing==
Explore landing site and, if possible, gain entry to the UFO. Mission will be successful when all enemy units have been eliminated or neutralised. Recovery of UFO, artefacts and alien corpses can then be initiated.

==Breaching UFOs==
Most of a UFO ground assault is like any other mission. Use smoke grenades to disembark; illuminate the exterior in night missions with flares or fires; and use fire team tactics for [[Sweeping the Battlescape]]. The moment of entry into the UFO can be a unique challenge, however, as the first soldier inside a UFO strongroom is often a guaranteed casualty. Several measures can be taken to reduce the agony of this crucial (and sometimes climactic) phase of the battle.

'''1. Rookies ("puppets") first.''' It never hurts to deliberately take a few rookies or underachievers to absorb enemy reaction shots and/or psionic attacks. (You end up with a lot more Sergeants as these guys are rotated in and out of the Skyranger.) One of these should be sent first through UFO doors.

'''2. Cover the point.''' Have the rest of his fire team positioned a few squares behind with plenty of TUs to fire over his shoulder. They may be able to throw explosives (or even smoke) into the room, or even shoot all the aliens inside. They risk shooting the point (the rookie who entered the door), but the aliens are more likely to do that if you don't kill them all first. Any TUs the rookie uses to kneel, escape, or fire may get him shot. The aliens will have a harder time returning fire against shots over his shoulder (hitting the UFO wall etc).

'''3. BANZAI!!''' (Note: Without the right equipment, this can be considered a "sacrificial rookie" tactic; but with the right equipment the rookie stands a good chance of survival. Consider a [[Power Suit]] and and [[Auto Cannon]] with explosive ammunition for for this purpose, at least for the frontline rookies .)

The point may have to take one for the team. The worst case scenario is that the entire team misses the aliens, the aliens kill the point, and come out to shoot the team (who burned all their TUs up covering the point). Even if the point tries to retreat, he may be shot, and if he is using a rifle-type weapon, he may still get shot after killing one alien. The solution is to use whatever explosives he is carrying to kill as many aliens inside as possible before dying, or upon death. Sufficient armor will allow him to do this with minimal personal risk. If he is carrying a grenade, prime it and move him as far toward the group of aliens as possible. In a small room, he will be in their midst by the time they shoot him. If they don't kill him, and he has 2 TUs left, he can drop the primed grenade. This also works with smoke if the aliens are far enough away. If he is using rockets or explosive ammunition, fire at point blank range and blast everything in the room (preferably targeting the rear wall or alien). If he is wearing a power or flying suit, then ordinary grenades, AC-HE, and HC-HE ammunition will be nearly harmless. The edge of a rocket blast is also much less dangerous in armor. He or someone behind him may be able to bombard the room with minimal risk. Of course, in a small UFO the power source and elerium may be nearby, so the use of extreme measures to clear the room in one turn may be at the expense of valuable resources.

'''4. Make a new hole.''' A second entry in a UFO exterior created by a [[Blaster Bomb]] (or [[Heavy Plasma]] for interior walls) is generally safer than a preexisting door. The aliens are usually paying attention the UFO doors instead; they only gang up around the new holes if they see you coming.

Note: Proximity grenades may occasionally kill the aliens inside when one steps out, but this isn't always the case, and proximity grenades have other limitations (especially deep inside big UFOs).

'''5. Shoot the rookie.''' Send one rookie, wearing [[Coveralls]], through the door. If he survives (which he often does, thanks to the mutual surprise rule), he can safely turn around to spot any aliens, as turning does not provoke [[Reaction fire triggers|Reaction fire]]. Unfortunately, taking any other action will likely prove fatal. So shoot him - with a [[Stun Bomb]]. With any luck, he'll drop to the floor, [[Unconscious]] - but alive. Snipers can then shoot through the door at spotted aliens, from outside their sight range. This tactic works quite well when assaulting a [[Large Scout]] with destroyed interior; firing a large rocket through the open door and into the back wall has a good chance of killing the aliens who tend to lurk in that area.

The rookie could aslo carry a primed [[Smoke Grenade]]. This will go off after the rookie drops (for whatever reason), providing cover for the next soldier through the door.

== Assaulting Supply Ships with JFG ==
After staking out a [[Floater]] base and getting a recovery craft set up, I was hijacking a [[Supply Ship]] every week for a month, and be darned if I wasn't starting to follow a pattern. I had a modified Firestorm stalking them, with 6 soldiers and a HWP; after clearing the outside and sniping a few at the exit, I'd breach with a team of 3 at each door; clear the one or two aliens usually at the grav lifts, quickly peek into the engine room in passing (150 units of intact [[Elerium-115]] waiting, sweet); send one guy straight to the top floor to hide by the door, while the other two on his team go halfway up and bust open the shaft with plasma rounds; five guys sweep the middle deck. Usually the floaters are starting to panic by now. Then all six troops re-converge on the lift, head for the upper deck, and advance on the control room. First guy out of the lift turns right; the second turns left, checks the corner, then turns to stand next to the closed door to the south; third advances past second guy to snipe towards control room; fourth (if time) enters closed door to the south. Then it's just a matter of leapfrogging most of the team up the north corridor towards the control room with overwatch while one or two do a quick sweep of the narrow south corridor, perhaps opening a shortcut across the waist of the ship with heavy plasma along the way.

Occasionally I'd vary this routine by hitting the floor of the control room from below with HE-HC or stun rounds, but that could be considered cheating. But not as [[Exploits|exploitative]] as the time I shoved a brick of HE up through the floor of the control room. A quick way to end the mission. Also fun is tossing HE or alien grenades into the diagonal walls at the back of the ship, near the lifts, from outside, with a long delay; if timed right, this kills anyone near the lifts inside just before the breaching team gets there. In mountain terrain, this might even destroy the outer wall at the waist of the ship! Easy lift access if I had stuck around!

And all that procedure comes from harsh experience, like the time I forgot to check the corner after coming out of the top level lift and was shot in the back.

And it got me a sectoid leader for [[Psionics]], too, once I had identified my weakest link and given him a standard pistol and smoke grenades. The decoy was being alternately panicked and controlled somewhere out in the forest right up until the powersuits kicked in the control room door and hit the preoccupied leader with stun rounds at point blank range. Previously, every attempted sectoid supply ship hijacking or sectoid base raid had been a psi-attacked disaster.

--[[User:JellyfishGreen|JellyfishGreen]] 14:26, 23 May 2005 (BST)

''Note: This was on Normal difficulty. At Superhuman difficulty, there's a few more aliens around, and it becomes wiser to stand in the lift (since aliens don't shoot down well) than to hide by the door. --[[User:JellyfishGreen|JellyfishGreen]] 01:35, 26 Sep 2005 (PDT)''

== Notes ==
* In THE ABOVE EXAMPLE "I had a modified Firestorm stalking them, with 6 soldiers and a HWP" indicates a modified game using XcomUtil. In an unmodified game this is just an interception craft.
* If you want Elerium, don't use explosives near the power cores.
* If you have stunned a 'soldier' class and don't want it, relocate it and grenade it, or use medikits to awaken then shoot.
* If you assault craft that are landed you get more things to sell, but there may be more aliens to shoot your head off.

''For medium-sized and larger UFO's in the later game, your best friends are some flying suits and a blaster bomb. Use the blaster to make a hole in the topmost level of the craft--only blasters can pierce the outer walls of UFOs. Then send in your flying units. This will let you take out the alien leader sooner-- which I believe adversely effects the morales of the enemy-- and lets you attack from an unexpected angle.''

''In general, it's best to make new doors inside a UFO than use the existing ones, since the aliens have a tougher time setting up ambushes that way. Use heavy plasma to shoot open internal walls (see [[Destroying Terrain]]).''
--[[User:Papa Legba|Papa Legba]] 13:09, 22 Nov 2005 (PST)

''If you feel like you absolutely must use a lot of explosives, you can save the elerium by shooting the power source (with a non explosive weapon), and then picking up the elerium crystal in the inventory. I don't find it worth the time to do, but if you must use explosives then it's better than losing 50 elerium''
~~ [[User:Blehm|Blehm]]

==See Also==
[[UFO Crash Recovery]]

[[Category:Missions]]
[[Category: Tactics]]

User:MB

2006-10-19T18:55:35Z

MB:

Likes to use Large Rockets. Has been known to allow [[Terror Ship|Terror Ships]] to land, just so he can go after them with a squad of his strongest soldiers, armed exclusively with [[Rocket Launcher|Rocket Launchers]].

Also known as 80.5.160.25 The ufopaedia doesn't always agree with me about whether I am logged in.

==Playing style==

Level: Veteran/Genius

Questionable things I don't do:

* Reloading when things go bad (The aliens don't do it after all (except when the game crashes, I suppose))

* Accessing alien inventory (It's a bug!)

* Walking through walls (ditto)

* Using [[Medi-Kit]] as alien detector

* Throwing grenades through the ceiling

* Throwing stuff through diagonal walls

Questionable things I will do:

* Firing a rocket into a destructible ceiling in order to get an alien in floor above. (This is a slight cheat because the explosion occurs on the level the alien is at.)

* Nuking the crap out of a battleship with blaster bombs. (Turn 1 goes like this: Soldier 1 fires launcher into top of UFO, drops it, steps back. Soldier 2 steps onto launcher, picks it up, reloads it, drops it, steps back. Soldier 3 steps onto launcher, picks it up, fires it through the hole the first guy just made and into the bridge.)

* Mind-controlling all 4 bits of a terror unit and using it as a scout with massive TUs

* Stunning aliens, reviving them with medikits, and using them for training purposes.

(Urgh, looks like I found a bug. How do I make that box go away?)

: Delete the space in front of the text. It's a shortcut to turning 1 line into pre-formatted text without using the <nowiki><pre></nowiki> tags. If you prefer to put your list into bullet points, put a * at the start of each line. Feel free to erase my comment once you make your edit. -[[User:NKF|NKF]]

Thanks, that worked. But the bug I was referring to is the thing that happens if text inside a box is too long; the text extends off the edge of the screen and out of the box. Maybe I should get a bigger monitor or something, or perhaps I should be less of awindbag. [[User:MB|MB]] 11:55, 19 October 2006 (PDT)

==Alien Entertainment==
Has anyone noticed that terror units and alien entertainment are always found in the same places? That's not a coincidence. Terror units have nothing much to do in flight - it's not like they can operate the UFO equipment - and so they need to be kept busy somehow. Otherwise they get... cranky. And you don't want to be sharing a long flight with a bunch of cranky chrysalids.

==Armour==

Why is alien armour not listed in the articles on aliens? It would be useful to know, e.g. the uselessness of rifle vs cyberdisks.

User:MB

2006-10-17T18:53:19Z

MB:

Likes to use Large Rockets. Has been known to allow [[Terror Ship|Terror Ships]] to land, just so he can go after them with a squad of his strongest soldiers, armed exclusively with [[Rocket Launcher|Rocket Launchers]].

Also known as 80.5.160.25 The ufopaedia doesn't always agree with me about whether I am logged in.

==Playing style==

Level: Veteran/Genius

Questionable things I don't do:
Reloading when things go bad (The aliens don't do it after all (except when the game crashes, I suppose))
Accessing alien inventory (It's a bug!)
Walking through walls (ditto)
Using [[Medi-Kit]] as alien detector
Throwing grenades through the ceiling
Throwing stuff through diagonal walls

Questionable things I will do:
Firing a rocket into a destructible ceiling in order to get an alien in floor above. (This is a slight cheat because the explosion occurs on the level the alien is at.)
Nuking the crap out of a battleship with blaster bombs. (Turn 1 goes like this: Soldier 1 fires launcher into top of UFO, drops it, steps back. Soldier 2 steps onto launcher, picks it up, reloads it, drops it, steps back. Soldier 3 steps onto launcher, picks it up, fires it through the hole the first guy just made and into the bridge.)
Mind-controlling all 4 bits of a terror unit and using it as a scout with massive TUs
Stunning aliens, reviving them with medikits, and using them for training purposes.

(Urgh, lookslike I found a bug. How do I make that box go away?)

==Alien Entertainment==
Has anyone noticed that terror units and alien entertainment are always found in the same places? That's not a coincidence. Terror units have nothing much to do in flight - it's not like they can operate the UFO equipment - and so they need to be kept busy somehow. Otherwise they get... cranky. And you don't want to be sharing a long flight with a bunch of cranky chrysalids.

User:MB

2006-10-17T18:50:03Z

MB:

Missile Defences

2006-10-17T18:22:56Z

MB: Useful for base defense?

== General Information [[Image:Base-missile.gif]] ==

The missile defence module is a [[Base Defense Measures (UFO Defense)|defense measure]] that provides the base with a missile silo for launching rockets at an incoming retaliator (an alien [[Battleship]]).

Each salvo of missiles provided by the missile defence module does not do much damage, but it is the cheapest defence module that can be produced and can be built rapidly. It also has the lowest defence module upkeep cost.

If there's space, a battery of Missile Defences modules coupled with a [[Grav Shield]] can cause a significant amount of damage to a battleship, with a possibility of obtaining a greater chance of hit success than a single Fusion or Plasma defence module. However, a large battery of missile defence modules can unnecessarily increase the size of the base.

During a [[Base Defense]] mission, missile warheads can cause secondary [[Explosions]].

(TODO: insert a schematic diagram of the lower floor plan)

This module is useful for defending a base against the aliens, but not in the way it was intended. Due to its layout, it is a very effective choke point - provided the base is designed to force invading aliens to go through it.

<center>[[Image:XBASE_06MAP-L1.JPG|Missile Defenses: Level 0|250 px]] [[Image:XBASE_06MAP-L2.JPG|Missile Defenses: Level 1|250 px]]</center>

== Statistics ==

Construction Time: 16 days 
Construction Cost: $200,000 
Maintenance: $5,000/month 
 
Defense Value: 500 
Hit Ratio: 50% 

== See Also ==
[[Category:Base Facilities (UFO Defense)]]
[[Base Layout Strategy]]

Plasma Defences

2006-10-17T18:03:25Z

MB: Added category

<center>[[Image:XBASE_10MAP-L1.JPG|Plasma Defenses: Level 0|250 px]] [[Image:XBASE_10MAP-L2.JPG|Plasma Defenses: Level 1|250 px]]</center>
== General Information ==

The plasma defence module is a [[Base Defense Measures (UFO Defense)|defense measure]] that launches plasma attacks against an incoming retaliator (an alien [[Battleship]]).

It is the end result of plasma based research.

While the increase in power over the [[Laser Defences|laser defenses]] is proportional to the increase in initial cost, maintenance is only marginally more expensive.

== Statistics ==

Construction Time: 34 days 
Construction Cost: $600,000 
Maintenance: $12,000/month 
 
Defense Value: 900 
Hit Ratio: 70% 

== See Also ==
[[Category:Base Facilities (UFO Defense)]]

Talk:Reactions Training

2006-10-14T07:54:44Z

MB:

I find that reaction shots on aliens leaving a spacecraft are exceedingly dangerous. You can lose a lot of soldiers doing this. It does however train up soldiers and is tidier than grenades. If you think that covering the spacecraft door is just going to be too dangerous then just don't do it. Hold your troops further back and scout the exit area each turn instead. Here are my experiences.

Alien grenades are the biggest threat to reaction shooters. Aliens need time to take out, arm, and throw the grenade however so you're generally safe unless the alien needs to move only one or two spaces to see a soldier. Use a motion scanner to check the position of aliens and if they are close enough to throw a grenade you should take precautions, such as placing a proximity grenade.

When an alien leaves a spaceship it will generally shoot at someone in their sight, someone who shot at them, or the closest person. This means it is generally a good idea to put the most expendable soldier closest to the door. Even then though the alien can shoot at another target so I wouldn't cover the spaceship door with anyone that I really wanted to keep alive.

If you're using proximity grenades to cover the door then you might lose a lot of money unless you have someone running through to pick up any valuables before the you place the next grenade. Don't be too greedy or else the runner will get caught when the next alien walks out.

- Egor

----

Alien grenades are generally attracted by large packs of soldiers. Therefore, spread out. The example screenshot is one good example where an alien may choose to throw a grenade if it manages to get the higher reaction level.

One good trick to reactions is to make use of the 20 tile visual limit. All units can see that many tiles in front of them in full daylight. Aliens don't get a visual penalty at night, but you can negate this with a flare or two (on top of the UFO, for safety). Sit your soldiers at around 18 - 19 tiles away from the door within visual sight of the door. This way, after you defeat the alien leaving the door, the aliens directly behind the exiting alien will not be able open fire on your reacting soldiers, and will be forced to walk out. The main disadvantage of this strategy is that your distance is increased. More distance means bullets have more room to fly off course. One other disadvantage is terrain and the availability of open space.

Hmm, you know it's a funny thing, but I did not realise this section existed.

- [[User:NKF|NKF]]

----

If you drop a smoke grenade in front of the UFO door, you can reduce visiblility for both sides, meaning you can safely perch about 10 squares away. Any alien reaching the "visible" threshold of the cloud will have walked enough to be severely TU-depleted.--[[User:Ethereal Cereal|Ethereal Cereal]] 22:08, 18 September 2006 (PDT)

----

I see what you're saying, but doesn't that only help you for one turn? After one turn, there may have been aliens that stopped just within the edge of the cloud. I think the safest way to watch a UFO door is to use a [[Scouting]] variation: Have most of your shooters laying in wait a fair distance from the door. Each turn, have scout(s) advance to within site of the door, stopping if they see someone. (You might have it covered from 2 or even 3 sides - left, right, directly outward.) Some math could probably be done to figure a safe range: 1) takes maybe 10(?) TUs to exit door, 2) most TUs for an alien is ~78 (Ethereal in Superhuman game, not counting Zombie which is melee and Celatid with short distance); many aliens have less, and this can be modified if/when you know your target type, 3) the lowest-TU weapon likely to be used is Heavy Plasma (30% Snap) which is 23 TUs for 78-TU Ethereal. So an Etheral can walk 78-23-10=45 TUs from the door, or 11 tiles, and shoot. For other aliens, the distance would be less. Position your guys at 31 then, and run your scouts in. Sounds like a good plan in theory, but I'm not sure how workable it really is... that's a lot of ground to cover, and you don't always have clear visibility or 30 tiles of room from the door. Anyway... it's a thought. --[[User:MikeTheRed|MikeTheRed]] 16:26, 20 September 2006 (PDT)

:I can vouch from from experience that smoke-in-front-of-door plus 10-15 squares distance works quite well. It's not whether they have TUs enough to fire, it's whether they have TUs enough to reaction fire before your troops. A firing line of 4+ troops some distance away plus a smoke cloud makes for a very unprepared alien. Bang-bang-bang-bang. It's rare that aliens stay in the cloud -- a common alien movement pattern is to step outside, take one shot, then go back in. With the cloud there, they can't shoot, so they just go back in -- or they advance, and get shot down. You can also safely advance one spotter towards the cloud; due to mutual surprise, the aliens won't shoot the spotter -- and you can snipe with the other (unseen) troops.--[[User:Ethereal Cereal|Ethereal Cereal]] 21:07, 23 September 2006 (PDT)

::Makes sense to me. It all sounds like fun things to play with, to me. :) --[[User:MikeTheRed|MikeTheRed]] 15:26, 27 September 2006 (PDT)

:::It's very pleasing that with all the discussions we've had (here and there) that we're actually making the smoke grenade useful as we come to understand it more. You don't have to like it - you just have to understand how it works.
:::- [[User:NKF|NKF]]

----

Minor edit - it takes 8 TUs to go out the door, not 4. (Which makes no sense to me. Surely once the door is open, the empty space which the alien has to walk through is the same as any other empty space anywhere else)

On grenades:
I agree that the 4 soldiers in my picture are grenade bait. Spreading them out would not help much because the only have personal armour and would probably die anyway. Putting 2 on either side would help vs grenades but then they'd shoot each other. I'd rather be killed by aliens than by friendly fire... Once you have power suits, either approach would work well. (And flying suits can solve all your grenade problems.) Also, you can stay out of grenade throwing range when the UFO is a battleship, because of the low ceiling.
Don't forget that priming a grenade eats a lot of TUs (50%!) and provokes reaction fire. With any luck this will drop the pesky alien, and the grenade will go off beside the door (which will still be open I believe) A pity this destroys valuable loot.
All my grenade-related reaction training disasters have been from mutons - they have too many HP, too many TUs, and excessively high reactions. (I don't even try it with Ethereals)

Smoke grenade trick sounds interesting - I'll have to try that some time.

-[[User:MB|MB]]

:If the 8 TUs to walk through a doorway is true, is there an additional 4 TUs for the first alien to walk through it (to open the door)? --[[User:Ethereal Cereal|Ethereal Cereal]] 11:42, 12 October 2006 (PDT)

----

It's kinda counterintuitive with doorways and TU's. It takes 8 TU to open a door and step through. Stepping through a doorway which is already open still takes 8 TU. However, Daishiva's MapView program claims it takes 4 TU to walk through a closed UFO door and 0 TU for an open door. Not sure how this applies to in-game TU useage though. Hobbes would know. --[[User:Zombie|Zombie]] 14:30, 12 October 2006 (PDT)

----

Zombie, I've replied to your email but now that I've read this I think I understand the confusion. There are 2 types of doors in UFO: normal hinged doors (like those in barns and city buildings) and sliding doors (UFO doors, X-COM Base doors, etc.). To go through a closed sliding door it would cost 8 TUs: 4 to open the door and 4 to walk into the tile adjacent to it. Usually when the door is opened there won't be any extra cost to move a unit across it (other than the cost of moving it to the next ground tile) BUT in the case of UFO hull doors it will still cross an additional 4 TUs, thus it will always cost 8 TUs to cross a UFO hull door, open or closed.

[[User:Hobbes|Hobbes]] 07:56, 13 October 2006 (PDT)

----
Thanks Hobbes, I think that explains everything! ;)- [[User:Zombie|Zombie]] 19:26, 13 October 2006 (PDT)

----

Thanks people, I've checked this in-game and I'm pretty sure the article is right now. I suppose one way to explain this is that it's an automatic door which detects a body walking up to it and opens by itself - so no extra action is needed to open a closed door. --[[User:MB|MB]] 00:54, 14 October 2006 (PDT)

Reactions Training

2006-10-13T20:32:37Z

MB: Stupid doors...

== Introduction==
There is only one way to improve the reaction stat - a soldier must use reaction fire in battle. But the [[Reaction fire formula]] tells us that soldiers need good reactions to get reaction fire. This makes it very difficult for soldiers with bad reactions (anything below 45, for example) to improve. But if a Rookie arrives with good reactions, there is plenty of potential for them to become very good. Here's how to make them good.

== UFO exit ambush ==
===Patience is a virtue===
The simplest approach: wait outside the UFO exit. Once the surrounding area is cleared, just keep pressing the "end turn" button. It may take 50 turns or so, but the aliens eventually get curious and step outside.

[[Image:Shooters_and_looter.png]]

The soldiers assaulting this UFO have decided to wait for the aliens to come out. Four shooters are kneeling, facing the UFO's only exit. These soldiers have the highest reaction stats in the squad - only soldiers with reactions above 50 should be used.

Before shooting one of the soldiers, an alien must:
* Open the door and step outside (8 [[TU]]s)
* Turn to face the target (2 TUs)

Or, if he's not the first one out:
* Move onto the square in front of the door (4 TUs)
* Step outside (8 TUs)
* Turn to face the target (2 TUs)

The total is at least 10 TUs. For slow aliens like [[Snakeman|Snakemen]], that's a significant fraction of the total
TUs, and the loss of 10 (or 14) TUs often allows a soldier to fire first. Also, aliens do not always start on the square next to the door so they may have used up even more TUs.

The other soldier in the frame isn't a shooter. He's a looter. Looters have nothing to do with increasing anybody's reaction stat and everything to do with increasing X-Com's "bank balance" stat. Looters pick up corpses, stunned aliens, and dropped equipment and carry them somewhere safe, where they won't get destroyed by an explosion. Stunned aliens can optionally be left alone to provide even more reaction training once they recover.

''If you're still nervous about your troops getting shot, put a tank nearby. HWP's draw fire; aliens prefer to shoot at them over troops. As long as the tank is in the aliens' line of sight, and as close or closer than the troops, the aliens will always shoot at it before the troops. When I train, I keep several tanks on hand, replacing damaged ones with fresh units as they get shot. --[[User:Papa Legba|Papa Legba]] 14:09, 28 Nov 2005 (PST)''

=== Proximity grenades ===

The square marked with a 'G' is a good place to put a [[Proximity Grenade]]. It is a good idea to mine the exit while the shooters are getting into position - in case an alien pops out before you are ready. Once the shooters are ready, the proximity grenade can be destroyed with a normal grenade. But if the UFO contains [[Muton]]s, leave the proximity grenade where it is to soften them up before the reaction shots. Then grab the loot and set another proximity grenade for the next one.

'''Note:''' Prox Mines do not give you any experience. More specifically - and oddly - unlike other grenades, they give experience to the unit that makes them explode, not the unit that primes or throws them. So, [[Experience]] that might've been gained is basically lost - newbie units (pre Power or Flying Suit) dare not set off their Prox Grenades (which is counter to their purpose), and PS/FS units generally have psi capability and don't need proxies any more. ''Sure wish they designed Prox Mines differently - Ed.

===Which weapon to use?===

This depends on how many shots you expect to get, which in turn depends on how many shooters there are, and how good their reactions are. If the number of shooters is small, it is best to use something accurate and powerful to get a quick kill. The [[Plasma Rifle]] has the most accurate snapshot in the game, and is an excellent reaction weapon. If there are lots of shooters with excellent reactions, spraying with rapid fire weapons like the [[Laser Pistol]] will result in greater stat increases. The Laser pistol is also incapable of penetrating the front armour of a [[Flying Suit]] or [[Power Armor]], which makes it possible to set up shooters on both sides of an entrance
without any risk of damage due to friendly fire.

====Heavy weapons====

Lack of an autoshot mode is not a disadvantage, because reaction shots are always snapshots. The [[Heavy Cannon]] may therefore be the best standard weapon for reaction shooting.

====The [[Small Launcher]]====

This weapon has the potential to generate many reaction shots - first to put the alien to sleep, and then every time it wakes up. This is bordering on an [[Exploits|Exploit]]. But keep in mind that a stun bomb can do up to 180 stun damage, so it could take tons of [[Medi-Kit|medkits]] to wake up the [[unconscious]] target. Maybe it's not so hot a trick - but plenty of fun!

====The [[Rocket Launcher]]====

This is messy but effective. Few things are more entertaining than hitting an alien with multiple reaction-fired large rockets.
If fired from some distance from the side of the UFO (e.g. by the blonde soldier in the picture) then even a miss is likely to strike the wall of the UFO and do some damage. Firing from above ground level - either with a flying suit or from the roof of a conveniently placed building - is also very likely to hit something close to the target. It is definitely not recommended when using two groups of shooters facing each other, and care must be taken to ensure that all soldiers are safely outside the blast radius.

== HTH only Aliens ==

Aliens with a HTH attack only are helpless against soldiers equipped with flying suits. Just put a flying soldier nearby, one level off the ground. Eventually the alien will move, and hopefully someone will get a reaction shot. Since there is no risk of getting shot, there is no reason not to use a weak weapon like the standard pistol, in order to maximise the number of reaction shots.

If you haven't got flying suits yet, you can try bravely standing with a fence or hedge between you and the alien. It will charge in your general direction, yet be unable to reach you, if you planned it right. For Reapers, make use of 1 square wide spaces, especially. A nice bonus for those Floater Terror missions!

== Flying and Mind control ==

Mind control an alien and make it throw its weapon away. Now the worst it can do is toss a grenade. Hovering soldiers in flying suits have nothing to fear from grenades, so they can wait and shoot with impunity.

== Cheating and Mind control ==

Mind control an alien, access its inventory, and make it drop everything. Now it is harmless, and excellent target practice.
[[User:Jasonred|Jasonred]]: The aliens won't necessarily trigger reaction shots. They might run away or just stand there blankly. More effective, give them a weapon incapable of penetrating X-com armor. See my section on Laser Pistol Gifts for in depth.

== See Also ==

*[[Experience Training]]
*[[Reaction fire formula]]
*[[Laser Pistol Gifts]]

[[Category: Tactics]]

Talk:Reactions Training

2006-10-12T18:23:55Z

MB: grenade problems

Reactions Training

2006-10-12T18:03:03Z

MB: 8 TUs to go out the door, not 4

== Introduction==
There is only one way to improve the reaction stat - a soldier must use reaction fire in battle. But the [[Reaction fire formula]] tells us that soldiers need good reactions to get reaction fire. This makes it very difficult for soldiers with bad reactions (anything below 45, for example) to improve. But if a Rookie arrives with good reactions, there is plenty of potential for them to become very good. Here's how to make them good.

== UFO exit ambush ==
===Patience is a virtue===
The simplest approach: wait outside the UFO exit. Once the surrounding area is cleared, just keep pressing the "end turn" button. It may take 50 turns or so, but the aliens eventually get curious and step outside.

[[Image:Shooters_and_looter.png]]

The soldiers assaulting this UFO have decided to wait for the aliens to come out. Four shooters are kneeling, facing the UFO's only exit. These soldiers have the highest reaction stats in the squad - only soldiers with reactions above 50 should be used.

Before shooting one of the soldiers, an alien must:
* Open the door (4 [[TU]]s)
* Step outside (8 TUs)
* Turn to face the target (2 TUs)

Or, if he's not the first one out:
* Move onto the square in front of the door (4 TUs)
* Step outside (8 TUs)
* Turn to face the target (2 TUs)

Either way, the total is 14 TUs. For slow aliens like [[Snakeman|Snakemen]], that's a significant fraction of the total
TUs, and the loss of 14 TUs often allows a soldier to fire first. Also, aliens do not always start on the square next to the door so they may have used up even more TUs.

The other soldier in the frame isn't a shooter. He's a looter. Looters have nothing to do with increasing anybody's reaction stat and everything to do with increasing X-Com's "bank balance" stat. Looters pick up corpses, stunned aliens, and dropped equipment and carry them somewhere safe, where they won't get destroyed by an explosion. Stunned aliens can optionally be left alone to provide even more reaction training once they recover.

''If you're still nervous about your troops getting shot, put a tank nearby. HWP's draw fire; aliens prefer to shoot at them over troops. As long as the tank is in the aliens' line of sight, and as close or closer than the troops, the aliens will always shoot at it before the troops. When I train, I keep several tanks on hand, replacing damaged ones with fresh units as they get shot. --[[User:Papa Legba|Papa Legba]] 14:09, 28 Nov 2005 (PST)''

=== Proximity grenades ===

The square marked with a 'G' is a good place to put a [[Proximity Grenade]]. It is a good idea to mine the exit while the shooters are getting into position - in case an alien pops out before you are ready. Once the shooters are ready, the proximity grenade can be destroyed with a normal grenade. But if the UFO contains [[Muton]]s, leave the proximity grenade where it is to soften them up before the reaction shots. Then grab the loot and set another proximity grenade for the next one.

'''Note:''' Prox Mines do not give you any experience. More specifically - and oddly - unlike other grenades, they give experience to the unit that makes them explode, not the unit that primes or throws them. So, [[Experience]] that might've been gained is basically lost - newbie units (pre Power or Flying Suit) dare not set off their Prox Grenades (which is counter to their purpose), and PS/FS units generally have psi capability and don't need proxies any more. ''Sure wish they designed Prox Mines differently - Ed.

===Which weapon to use?===

This depends on how many shots you expect to get, which in turn depends on how many shooters there are, and how good their reactions are. If the number of shooters is small, it is best to use something accurate and powerful to get a quick kill. The [[Plasma Rifle]] has the most accurate snapshot in the game, and is an excellent reaction weapon. If there are lots of shooters with excellent reactions, spraying with rapid fire weapons like the [[Laser Pistol]] will result in greater stat increases. The Laser pistol is also incapable of penetrating the front armour of a [[Flying Suit]] or [[Power Armor]], which makes it possible to set up shooters on both sides of an entrance
without any risk of damage due to friendly fire.

====Heavy weapons====

Lack of an autoshot mode is not a disadvantage, because reaction shots are always snapshots. The [[Heavy Cannon]] may therefore be the best standard weapon for reaction shooting.

====The [[Small Launcher]]====

This weapon has the potential to generate many reaction shots - first to put the alien to sleep, and then every time it wakes up. This is bordering on an [[Exploits|Exploit]]. But keep in mind that a stun bomb can do up to 180 stun damage, so it could take tons of [[Medi-Kit|medkits]] to wake up the [[unconscious]] target. Maybe it's not so hot a trick - but plenty of fun!

====The [[Rocket Launcher]]====

This is messy but effective. Few things are more entertaining than hitting an alien with multiple reaction-fired large rockets.
If fired from some distance from the side of the UFO (e.g. by the blonde soldier in the picture) then even a miss is likely to strike the wall of the UFO and do some damage. Firing from above ground level - either with a flying suit or from the roof of a conveniently placed building - is also very likely to hit something close to the target. It is definitely not recommended when using two groups of shooters facing each other, and care must be taken to ensure that all soldiers are safely outside the blast radius.

== HTH only Aliens ==

Aliens with a HTH attack only are helpless against soldiers equipped with flying suits. Just put a flying soldier nearby, one level off the ground. Eventually the alien will move, and hopefully someone will get a reaction shot. Since there is no risk of getting shot, there is no reason not to use a weak weapon like the standard pistol, in order to maximise the number of reaction shots.

If you haven't got flying suits yet, you can try bravely standing with a fence or hedge between you and the alien. It will charge in your general direction, yet be unable to reach you, if you planned it right. For Reapers, make use of 1 square wide spaces, especially. A nice bonus for those Floater Terror missions!

== Flying and Mind control ==

Mind control an alien and make it throw its weapon away. Now the worst it can do is toss a grenade. Hovering soldiers in flying suits have nothing to fear from grenades, so they can wait and shoot with impunity.

== Cheating and Mind control ==

Mind control an alien, access its inventory, and make it drop everything. Now it is harmless, and excellent target practice.
[[User:Jasonred|Jasonred]]: The aliens won't necessarily trigger reaction shots. They might run away or just stand there blankly. More effective, give them a weapon incapable of penetrating X-com armor. See my section on Laser Pistol Gifts for in depth.

== See Also ==

*[[Experience Training]]
*[[Reaction fire formula]]
*[[Laser Pistol Gifts]]

[[Category: Tactics]]

Talk:Invulnerability

2005-08-17T20:43:20Z

MB: fixed bad numbers

This information is getting duplicated, so I thought I'd put it here and link to it

This is based on the following observations, which may be wrong:

*Projectile weapons do damage ranging from 0 to twice their listed damage value.
*Projectile weapons never damage the under armour, even if fired from directly underneath the victim.
*I don't know how much damage explosives can do. The autocannon HE info is based on an experiment with 14 volunteers, all armed with autocannons :) The power suit guys got damaged, the flying suit guys did not. Since the AC/HE does 44 damage, the maximum damage multiplier for it is somewhere between 70/44 (1.591) and 61/44 (1.386). 1.5 perhaps?
*Explosives damage the under armour if the victim is at the centre (even when firing a rocket from a flying suited soldier directly down onto the volunteer), otherwise they damage the front/back/sides.

--[[User:MB|MB]] 13:32, 17 Aug 2005 (PDT)

Talk:Invulnerability

2005-08-17T20:32:53Z

MB:

This information is getting duplicated, so I thought I'd put it here and link to it

This is based on the following observations, which may be wrong:

*Projectile weapons do damage ranging from 0 to twice their listed damage value.
*Projectile weapons never damage the under armour, even if fired from directly underneath the victim.
*I don't know how much damage explosives can do. The autocannon HE info is based on an experiment with 14 volunteers, all armed with autocannons :) The power suit guys got damaged, the flying suit guys did not. Since the AC/HE does 44 damage, the maximum damage multiplier for it is somewhere between 80/44 (1.818) and 71/44 (1.614)
*Explosives damage the under armour if the victim is at the centre (even when firing a rocket from a flying suited soldier directly down onto the volunteer), otherwise they damage the front/back/sides.

--[[User:MB|MB]] 13:32, 17 Aug 2005 (PDT)

User:MB

2005-08-17T19:55:43Z

MB:

Tricks, Tips and Hints

2005-08-13T18:24:04Z

MB: Linked to reaction training

== Battlescape Tactics ==
* [[Reaction fire formula]]
* [[Scouting]] - The few. The brave. The twitchy.
* [[Field Manual: HWP]]
* [[Field Manual: Terrain]]
* [[Morale]] - Don't Panic. Assign a [[Rear Commander]].
* [[Saving]] - Cheat or Necessity?
* [[Reaction Training]]
* [[Laser Pistol Gifts]] - The Best way to train reaction stat.
* [[Time Management]] - Time, time is on your side, yes it is...
* [[Grenade Relay]] - Hot potato fun

== Geoscape Strategy ==
[[Research Tips]]

[[Warlord's Foolproof Plan]]

=== Logistics ===
* [[Managing the Item Limit]] - To make a lean mean fighting machine and eliminate redundancies at the same time.
* [[Spring Cleaning Tips]] - Learning to cope and deal with the pressure of cleaning out the thousands of ammo clips littering the HWP closests and hallways, and deciding on what to keep.

=== Build Order ===
* Your first base will need Stores, Alien Containment, and Living Quarters very quickly
* If you have the cash, and don't mind abandoning the defensible base layout tip, you can start these three simultaneously.
* You will also want an additional Laboratory as lots of scientists working is key to advancing quickly. 50 scientists will keep up with almost all your needs; 100 scientists may be overkill.

[[Jasonred]] : Though I sometimes find even 200 scientists inadequate to my greed... er, I meant need. Especially if I've just captured an Ethereal or Sectoid leader and want Psi. Or the aliens are going battleship crazy and I want Avengers to shoot them down. Or if I capture myself a Navigator and can soon replace those stupid radars with Hyperwave Decoders! Or... if all those happen at the same time, as often happens...

=== Manufacturing Base ===
* When you have an extra 4 million or so, start a second base on another continent, and dedicate one to research (keep all scientists here) and one to manufacturing (keep all engineers here).
* If your original base is dedicated to research, wait until the Workshop, Stores, and Living Quarters are complete in your new base, then transfer your engineers and dismantle the old base's Workshop to make room for Laboratories.
* Manufacturing Bases will need a spare hangar to build new Craft.
* Don't forget a garrison force of soldiers, and weapons for same.
* If you're confident about your cash flow, you can start building another base as early as $1.5 million, since, to build a secure base, you're only going to be building one general stores and possibly a hangar to start. Building a secure base, you're unlikely to have more than 4-7 modules built by the end of the month, methinks.
* more to follow.

=== Base Locations ===
* In terms of radar coverage of wealthy funding countries, your first two bases should go into Europe (covering Britain to Africa) and North America (USA, Canada, Mexico). Both these bases should have Interceptors and Skyrangers.

Coveralls

2005-08-13T18:00:58Z

MB:

== General Information ==

This is the standard armour, worn by any soldier not wearing something else. It does not need to be bought or manufactured. It is unlikely to help against the alien weapons, but it may stop a stray [[Pistol]] or [[Rifle]] bullet.

== Vital Statistics ==

Front 12 
Right 8 
Left 8 
Rear 5 
Under 2

Equipment (EU)

2005-08-13T17:54:28Z

MB: Added coveralls link

== Armor ==

[[Coveralls]] - Light Kevlar protection.

[[Personal Armor]] - Incorporating Alien Alloy plates.

[[Power Armor]] - Heavy plates with Elerium-powered muscle assist and air-filtering system.

[[Flying Suit]] - Power Armor with Anti-grav harness.

== Portable Equipment ==

* [[Smoke Grenade]]
* [[Motion Scanner]]
* [[Medi-Kit]]
* [[Electro-flare]]
* [[Psi-Amp]]
* [[Mind Probe]]
* [[Elerium-115]]

== Weapons ==
See [[Weapons (UFO Defense)]]

Under The Hood

2005-08-10T21:18:01Z

MB: Two more silly glitches

Information in this section cracks open the bonnet and attempts to explain the how and why questions on a variety of aspects of the inner workings of the games, such as formulas and other odds and ends like reproduceable game bugs or useful 'glitches'. (Note this does ''not'' include technical bugs)

As we don't have the source code, quite a lot of the information here is derived the traditional way, with paper, pen and lots of free time.

Note: It is hoped that the following articles will be incorporated into their related sections at a later date - where and when ever possible (reactions under stats, phantom radars under general radar information, etc). Also duplicate entries will need to be cleared out.

== General ==
*Radars - how they work, and why only one of each type will ever function. (Plus, the phantom radar "trick")
*How the grenade timer works
*Where do [[area-effect weapons]] harm you?
*[[Damage formula]] (Weapons vs Armor)
*Calculating [[recovery time]] for injured soldiers
*[[Accuracy formula]]
*[[Reaction fire formula]]
*[[Motion scanner blip sizes]]
*[[Psionics]]
**How a psionic attack works
*[[Throwing distances]]
*Item weights and how they correlate with Strength
*Why Strength does NOT improve with more weight.
*Weapon comparison tables
*Fire. Just how does it work?
*Unit spawn priorities
*How much does it cost to lose a base - And why you shouldn't put up a fight if there really is no hope of winning. (It's not as bad as it sounds. Really!)
*The dire consequences of picking up [[unconscious]] units
*[[Alien movement patterns]]

== Useful Glitches, Workarounds or Just Plain Odd Stuff ==
See also [[Exploits]]
*Free Ammo for tanks on base defence missions
-Basically, your all your tanks will be fully armed for these, even if you didn't have enough ammo for them in the first place. Very useful for Hovertank/Launchers...
*Phantom Radar - How to get rid of the radar, but keep its abilities
*Straight lines and the equator - getting a little more range from your ships
*Stacking bug (UFO only) and Activating Melee Attacks - see [[Stun Rod]] notes
*The Medikit heal-through-wall trick
*[[Exploits#Throwing through ceilings]] - Throwing items through the ceiling trick
*Consequences of firing explosives at the ceiling
-The explosive will hit the ceiling... BUT the ceiling is actually the "floor" of the level above. So, the explosion will occur on the level above you! hmm.
*Hitting multiple targets with [[incendiary]] effects
*The oddeties of [[data corruption]]
*The oddeties of mind control/molecular control
**[[Why civilians go rogue]]
**[[Large units]]
**[[Gaining permanent control of a Chryssalid/Tentaculat]]
* On spawn locations in base defence missions and how to make the ultimate "hand's off" base.

== Not so useful Glitches ==
*Glitches with the Gauss SWS (TFTD only)
*[[Ufo Names in Tftd]] (TFTD only)
*Exponential transfer costs - don't keep clicking the transfer button.
*[[Vertical waypoint bug]] (Collectors Edition only) - Blaster bombs go south instead of straight down.
*[[Proximity mine bug]] - if nobody explodes the proximity mine, something else may explode in the future.
*[[Disappearing ammo bug]]- partly used clips are discarded. XCOMUTIL fixes.
*Ctrl+C - why it does what it does and why you shouldn't exploit it. (Dos versions only, where GEOSCAPE and BATTLESCAPE are separate programs connected by a batch file.)
*"My body is a weapon" - Alien corpses sometimes contain an ammo clip. Probably another case of [[data corruption]]
*Unresearched alien weapons can not be thrown.

Reactions Training

2005-08-10T21:09:23Z

MB: Fixed broken link, fixed typo

== Introduction==
There is only one way to improve the reaction stat - a soldier must use reaction fire in battle. But the [[Reaction fire formula]] tells us that soldiers need good reactions to get reaction fire. This makes it very difficult for soldiers with bad reactions (anything below 45, for example) to improve. But if a Rookie arrives with good reactions, there is plenty of potential for them to become very good. Here's how to make them good.

== UFO exit ambush ==
===Patience is a virtue===
The simplest approach: wait outside the UFO exit. Once the surrounding area is cleared, just keep pressing the "end turn" button. It may take 50 turns or so, but the aliens eventually get curious and step outside.

[[Image:Shooters_and_looter.png]]

The soldiers assaulting this UFO have decided to wait for the aliens to come out. Four shooters are kneeling, facing the UFO's only exit. These soldiers have the highest reaction stats in the squad - only soldiers with reactions above 50 should be used.

Before shooting one of the soldiers, an alien must:
* Open the door (4 [[TU]]s)
* Step outside (4 TUs)
* Turn to face the target (2 TUs)

Or, if he's not the first one out:
* Move onto the square in front of the door (4 TUs)
* Step outside (4 TUs)
* Turn to face the target (2 TUs)

Either way, the total is 10 TUs. For slow aliens like [[Snakeman|Snakemen]], that's a significant fraction of the total
TUs, and the loss of 10 TUs often allows a soldier to fire first. Also, aliens do not always start on the square next to the door so they ma have used up even more TUs.

The other soldier in the frame isn't a shooter. He's a looter. Looters have nothing to do with increasing anybody's reaction stat and everything to do with increasing X-Com's "bank balance" stat. Looters pick up corpses, stunned aliens, and dropped equipment and carry them somewhere safe, where they won't get destroyed by an explosion. Stunned aliens can optionally be left alone to provide even more reaction training once they recover.

=== Proximity grenades ===

The square marked with a 'G' is a good place to put a [[Proximity Grenade]]. It is a good idea to mine the exit while the shooters are getting into position - in case an alien pops out before you are ready. Once the shooters are ready, the proximity grenade can be destroyed with a normal grenade. But if the UFO contains [[Muton]]s, leave the proximity grenade where it is to soften them up before the reaction shots. Then grab the loot and set another proximity grenade for the next one.

===Which weapon to use?===

This depends on how many shots you expect to get, which in turn depends on how many shooters there are, and how good their reactions are. If the number of shooters is small, it is best to use something accurate and powerful to get a quick kill. The [[Plasma Rifle]] has the most accurate snapshot in the game, and is an excellent reaction weapon. If there are lots of shooters with excellent reactions, spraying with rapid fire weapons like the [[Laser Pistol]] will result in greater stat increases. The Laser pistol is also incapable of penetrating the front armour of a [[Flying Suit]] or [[Power Armour]], which makes it possible to set up shooters on both sides of an entrance
without any risk of damage due to friendly fire.

Heavy weapons

Lack of an autoshot mode is not a disadvantage, because reaction shots are always snapshots. The [[Heavy Cannon]] may therefore be the best standard weapon for reaction shooting.

The [[Small Launcher]]

This weapon has the potential to generate many reaction shots. This is bordering on an [[Exploits|Exploit]].

The [[Rocket Launcher]]

This is messy but effective. Few things are more entertaining than hitting an alien with multiple reaction-fired large rockets.
If fired from some distance from the side of the UFO (e.g. by the blonde soldier in the picture) then even a miss is likely to strike the wall of the UFO and do some damage. Firing from above ground level - either with a flying suit or from the roof of a conveniently placed building - is also very likely to hit something close to the target. It is definitely not recommended when using two groups of shooters facing each other, and care must be taken to ensure that all soldiers are safely outside the blast radius.

== Flying ==

Aliens with a HTH attack only are helpless against soldiers equipped with flying suits. Just put a flying soldier nearby, one level off the ground. Eventually the alien will move, and hopefully someone will get a reaction shot. Since there is no risk of getting shot, there is no reason not to use a weak weapon like the standard pistol, in order to maximise the number of reaction shots.

== Flying and Mind control ==

Mind control an alien and make it throw its weapon away. Now the worst it can do is toss a grenade. Hovering soldiers in flying suits have nothing to fear from grenades, so they can wait and shoot with impunity.

== Cheating and Mind control ==

Mind control an alien, access its inventory, and make it drop everything. Now it is harmless, and excellent target practice.

'''See also:''' [[Reaction fire formula]] and [[Laser Pistol Gifts]]

Reactions Training

2005-08-10T21:07:01Z

MB: Fixed broken image

== Introduction==
There is only one way to improve the reaction stat - a soldier must use reaction fire in battle. But the [[Reaction fire formula]] tells us that soldiers need good reactions to get reaction fire. This makes it very difficult for soldiers with bad reactions (anything below 45, for example) to improve. But if a Rookie arrives with good reactions, there is plenty of potential for them to become very good. Here's how to make them good.

== UFO exit ambush ==
===Patience is a virtue===
The simplest approach: wait outside the UFO exit. Once the surrounding area is cleared, just keep pressing the "end turn" button. It may take 50 turns or so, but the aliens eventually get curious and step outside.

[[Image:Shooters_and_looter.png]]

The soldiers assaulting this UFO have decided to wait for the aliens to come out. Four shooters are kneeling, facing the UFO's only exit. These soldiers have the highest reaction stats in the squad - only soldiers with reactions above 50 should be used.

Before shooting one of the soldiers, an alien must:
* Open the door (4 [[TU]]s)
* Step outside (4 TUs)
* Turn to face the target (2 TUs)

Or, if he's not the first one out:
* Move onto the square in fromt of the door (4 TUs)
* Step outside (4 TUs)
* Turn to face the target (2 TUs)

Either way, the total is 10 TUs. For a slow alien like [[Snakemen|Snakeman]], that's a significant fraction of the total
TUs, and the loss of 10 TUs often allows a soldier to fire first. Also, aliens do not always start on the square next to the door so they ma have used up even more TUs.

The other soldier in the frame isn't a shooter. He's a looter. Looters have nothing to do with increasing anybody's reaction stat and everything to do with increasing X-Com's "bank balance" stat. Looters pick up corpses, stunned aliens, and dropped equipment and carry them somewhere safe, where they won't get destroyed by an explosion. Stunned aliens can optionally be left alone to provide even more reaction training once they recover.

=== Proximity grenades ===

The square marked with a 'G' is a good place to put a [[Proximity Grenade]]. It is a good idea to mine the exit while the shooters are getting into position - in case an alien pops out before you are ready. Once the shooters are ready, the proximity grenade can be destroyed with a normal grenade. But if the UFO contains [[Muton]]s, leave the proximity grenade where it is to soften them up before the reaction shots. Then grab the loot and set another proximity grenade for the next one.

===Which weapon to use?===

This depends on how many shots you expect to get, which in turn depends on how many shooters there are, and how good their reactions are. If the number of shooters is small, it is best to use something accurate and powerful to get a quick kill. The [[Plasma Rifle]] has the most accurate snapshot in the game, and is an excellent reaction weapon. If there are lots of shooters with excellent reactions, spraying with rapid fire weapons like the [[Laser Pistol]] will result in greater stat increases. The Laser pistol is also incapable of penetrating the front armour of a [[Flying Suit]] or [[Power Armour]], which makes it possible to set up shooters on both sides of an entrance
without any risk of damage due to friendly fire.

Heavy weapons

Lack of an autoshot mode is not a disadvantage, because reaction shots are always snapshots. The [[Heavy Cannon]] may therefore be the best standard weapon for reaction shooting.

The [[Small Launcher]]

This weapon has the potential to generate many reaction shots. This is bordering on an [[Exploits|Exploit]].

The [[Rocket Launcher]]

This is messy but effective. Few things are more entertaining than hitting an alien with multiple reaction-fired large rockets.
If fired from some distance from the side of the UFO (e.g. by the blonde soldier in the picture) then even a miss is likely to strike the wall of the UFO and do some damage. Firing from above ground level - either with a flying suit or from the roof of a conveniently placed building - is also very likely to hit something close to the target. It is definitely not recommended when using two groups of shooters facing each other, and care must be taken to ensure that all soldiers are safely outside the blast radius.

== Flying ==

Aliens with a HTH attack only are helpless against soldiers equipped with flying suits. Just put a flying soldier nearby, one level off the ground. Eventually the alien will move, and hopefully someone will get a reaction shot. Since there is no risk of getting shot, there is no reason not to use a weak weapon like the standard pistol, in order to maximise the number of reaction shots.

== Flying and Mind control ==

Mind control an alien and make it throw its weapon away. Now the worst it can do is toss a grenade. Hovering soldiers in flying suits have nothing to fear from grenades, so they can wait and shoot with impunity.

== Cheating and Mind control ==

Mind control an alien, access its inventory, and make it drop everything. Now it is harmless, and excellent target practice.

'''See also:''' [[Reaction fire formula]] and [[Laser Pistol Gifts]]

Talk:Medium Scout

2005-08-10T21:05:12Z

MB: how many navigations?

One navigation? I thought it was two -[[User:MB|MB]]

User:MB

2005-08-10T21:04:02Z

MB: Responsible use of rocket launchers

Reactions Training

2005-08-10T20:54:10Z

MB:

== Introduction==
There is only one way to improve the reaction stat - a soldier must use reaction fire in battle. But the [[Reaction fire formula]] tells us that soldiers need good reactions to get reaction fire. This makes it very difficult for soldiers with bad reactions (anything below 45, for example) to improve. But if a Rookie arrives with good reactions, there is plenty of potential for them to become very good. Here's how to make them good.

== UFO exit ambush ==
===Patience is a virtue===
The simplest approach: wait outside the UFO exit. Once the surrounding area is cleared, just keep pressing the "end turn" button. It may take 50 turns or so, but the aliens eventually get curious and step outside.

[[Image:Shooters and looter.png]]

The soldiers assaulting this UFO have decided to wait for the aliens to come out. Four shooters are kneeling, facing the UFO's only exit. These soldiers have the highest reaction stats in the squad - only soldiers with reactions above 50 should be used.

Before shooting one of the soldiers, an alien must:
* Open the door (4 [[TU]]s)
* Step outside (4 TUs)
* Turn to face the target (2 TUs)

Or, if he's not the first one out:
* Move onto the square in fromt of the door (4 TUs)
* Step outside (4 TUs)
* Turn to face the target (2 TUs)

Either way, the total is 10 TUs. For a slow alien like [[Snakemen|Snakeman]], that's a significant fraction of the total
TUs, and the loss of 10 TUs often allows a soldier to fire first. Also, aliens do not always start on the square next to the door so they ma have used up even more TUs.

The other soldier in the frame isn't a shooter. He's a looter. Looters have nothing to do with increasing anybody's reaction stat and everything to do with increasing X-Com's "bank balance" stat. Looters pick up corpses, stunned aliens, and dropped equipment and carry them somewhere safe, where they won't get destroyed by an explosion. Stunned aliens can optionally be left alone to provide even more reaction training once they recover.

=== Proximity grenades ===

The square marked with a 'G' is a good place to put a [[Proximity Grenade]]. It is a good idea to mine the exit while the shooters are getting into position - in case an alien pops out before you are ready. Once the shooters are ready, the proximity grenade can be destroyed with a normal grenade. But if the UFO contains [[Muton]]s, leave the proximity grenade where it is to soften them up before the reaction shots. Then grab the loot and set another proximity grenade for the next one.

===Which weapon to use?===

This depends on how many shots you expect to get, which in turn depends on how many shooters there are, and how good their reactions are. If the number of shooters is small, it is best to use something accurate and powerful to get a quick kill. The [[Plasma Rifle]] has the most accurate snapshot in the game, and is an excellent reaction weapon. If there are lots of shooters with excellent reactions, spraying with rapid fire weapons like the [[Laser Pistol]] will result in greater stat increases. The Laser pistol is also incapable of penetrating the front armour of a [[Flying Suit]] or [[Power Armour]], which makes it possible to set up shooters on both sides of an entrance
without any risk of damage due to friendly fire.

Heavy weapons

Lack of an autoshot mode is not a disadvantage, because reaction shots are always snapshots. The [[Heavy Cannon]] may therefore be the best standard weapon for reaction shooting.

The [[Small Launcher]]

This weapon has the potential to generate many reaction shots. This is bordering on an [[Exploits|Exploit]].

The [[Rocket Launcher]]

This is messy but effective. Few things are more entertaining than hitting an alien with multiple reaction-fired large rockets.
If fired from some distance from the side of the UFO (e.g. by the blonde soldier in the picture) then even a miss is likely to strike the wall of the UFO and do some damage. Firing from above ground level - either with a flying suit or from the roof of a conveniently placed building - is also very likely to hit something close to the target. It is definitely not recommended when using two groups of shooters facing each other, and care must be taken to ensure that all soldiers are safely outside the blast radius.

== Flying ==

Aliens with a HTH attack only are helpless against soldiers equipped with flying suits. Just put a flying soldier nearby, one level off the ground. Eventually the alien will move, and hopefully someone will get a reaction shot. Since there is no risk of getting shot, there is no reason not to use a weak weapon like the standard pistol, in order to maximise the number of reaction shots.

== Flying and Mind control ==

Mind control an alien and make it throw its weapon away. Now the worst it can do is toss a grenade. Hovering soldiers in flying suits have nothing to fear from grenades, so they can wait and shoot with impunity.

== Cheating and Mind control ==

Mind control an alien, access its inventory, and make it drop everything. Now it is harmless, and excellent target practice.

'''See also:''' [[Reaction fire formula]] and [[Laser Pistol Gifts]]

User talk:MB

2005-08-10T20:43:50Z

MB:

Ooh, I can "discuss" myself. Well I suppose I'd better add a proper article now as this ufopaedia insn't supposed to be about me...

==Soapbox==

What I'd really like to see here is information on how to play the game better. Things like "How to get out of the skyranger without losing half your squad". (Given my dismal performance in that department, I don't think I should be writing that one). Or "How to improve soldier stats". Reactions and bravery are the tricky ones. Actually bravery isn't that hard to increase if you have enough rookies.

Or how about a "101 uses for a Rookie" article? I know many uses for rookies (laughs evilly)

File:Shooters and looter.png

2005-08-08T21:02:22Z

MB:

Reaction ambush pic

"Ways to improve reactions" article coming soon...

File:Shooters and looter.png

2005-08-08T20:58:15Z

MB: Reaction ambush pic

Reaction ambush pic

Plasma Rifle

2005-08-07T09:00:08Z

MB: Typo

The plasma rifle is a very good weapon. It is extremely accurate (although curiously the [[Heavy Plasma]] is more accurate when aimed) and powerful enough to kill most aliens with one shot.

Although there is nothing wrong with this weapon, it is rarely used, because the heavy version is better in most respects.
The aliens have apparently bought the argument that the heavy plasma is better and tend to abandon other plasma weapons a few months into the invasion. Consequently, if X-Com wants to use the plasma rifle, it often has to use up precious elerium manufacturing ammunition for it.

== Statistics ==

*Actions, TU cost:
**36% TU Auto
**30% TU Snap
**60% TU Aimed

*Accuracy:
**55% Auto
**86% Snap
**100% Aimed

*Power: 80
*Power type: Plasma

*Ammo: One clip contains 28 rounds

Plasma Rifle

2005-08-07T08:59:33Z

MB:

The plasma rifle is a very good weapon. It is extremely accurate (although curiously the *[[Heavy Plasma]] is more accurate when aimed) and powerful enough to kill most aliens with one shot.

Although there is nothing wrong with this weapon, it is rarely used, because the heavy version is better in most respects.
The aliens have apparently bought the argument that the heavy plasma is better and tend to abandon other plasma weapons a few months into the invasion. Consequently, if X-Com wants to use the plasma rifle, it often has to use up precious elerium manufacturing ammunition for it.

== Statistics ==

*Actions, TU cost:
**36% TU Auto
**30% TU Snap
**60% TU Aimed

*Accuracy:
**55% Auto
**86% Snap
**100% Aimed

*Power: 80
*Power type: Plasma

*Ammo: One clip contains 28 rounds

User talk:MB

2005-08-07T08:23:48Z

MB:

Ooh, I can "discuss" myself. Well I suppose I'd better add a proper article now as this ufopaedia insn't supposed to be about me...