Cyberdisc

2009-05-16T16:24:26Z

Urailar: /* Notes */

[[Image:cyberdisc.gif|right|Cyberdisc]]
'''Cyberdiscs''' are an alien [[Terror Units|terror unit]] accompanying [[Sectoid]]s. As with all terror units, they can be encountered on [[Terror Mission]]s, [[Base Defense]], with a [[Terror ship|Terror Ship]] or [[Battleship]], [[Alien Base Assault]]s and finally in [[Cydonia]].

The Cyberdisc's only means of attack is its plasma beam doing an impressive 130HP damage. The Cyberdisc has another characteristic which makes it rather deadly, and that is, it can explode upon death with an average GZ strength of 120 and damage radius of 7 (diameter 15). Upon targeting a Cyberdisc, be wary of this blast radius as your soldiers, or perhaps a wandering [[Civilian]], could find themselves in a world of hurts.

==Statistics==
'''TUs:''' 62-71
'''Health:''' 120
'''Energy:''' 90-104
'''Reactions:''' 64-79
'''Strength:''' 90-97
'''Bravery:''' 110
'''Firing Accuracy:''' 30-70
'''Throwing Accuracy:''' N/A
'''Psi Skill:''' N/A
'''Psi Strength:''' 100-116

'''Damage:''' 130
'''TUs-'''
'''Snap:''' 30% (Accuracy 75%)
'''Aimed:''' 60% (Accuracy 110%)

==Live Specimen==
( Note: it is not possible to capture one, the only way to get this report is to get it from a captured [[medic]].)
This miniature flying saucer is an automated terror weapon armed with a powerful plasma beam. The anti-grav propulsion gives it a big advantage in difficult terrain. Its primary function is destruction and terror in the service of the [[Sectoid]] race.

==Autopsy==
[[Image:cyberdiscautopsy.gif|right|Cyberdisc - Autopsy]]
The Cyberdisc is well shielded and is particularly good at withstanding explosive ammunition. The primary anti-gravity system is too badly damaged to gain any understanding of its functioning.

Note: you may have difficulty getting an intact corpse because of its explosive nature. Shoot the Cyberdisc to kill it when its one level above the ground, it drops down to ground level, hits the ground and becomes a corpse, THEN the explosion goes off where it was just hovering: ie: at one level off the ground. Guaranteed works if corpse falls flat. Or you could just stun it with a Stun Bomb or a few pokes with the Stun Rod and bypass the explosive characteristic altogether.<br clear="all">

==Notes==
The following are some miscellaneous notes on the Cyberdisc:
* The Cyberdisc takes 0.8x damage from armour-piercing weapons.
* It takes 0.6x damage from high explosives.
* It has a flat profile (smaller than a Sectoid), making for a harder target (per square).
* Takes up 4 squares on the battlescape.
* Is the Sectoid's equivalent of a HWP. It has very high health, [[Psionic Strength]], and bravery, making it tough to disable.
* Unlike human HWPs, it has very high reactions and firing accuracy. This, combined with its powerful plasma shot, make it capable of one-hit killing many targets.
* Can attack up to 3 times in one turn. It fires with such frequency that many commanders have mistaken it for an auto-shot. If a one-hit kill fails, 3 hits from this has a VERY good chance of killing.
*On any mission where the Sectoids have their Cyberdisc terror unit, they will also have a Leader capable of [[Psionics]].
**However, not all missions with Sectoid Psionics will have Cyberdiscs.
* Take this hovering manhole cover down with (in this order): High Explosive packs, Laser Rifles, Heavy Rockets, Tank Rockets, Heavy Lasers, Alien Grenades, Laser Pistols, or Tank Cannon. Heavy Cannon (AP only) can be used but you will need the massed fire of half a full squad for a whole turn to bring down just one disc. Forget standard Rifles or Pistols - they're just too tough. HE rounds (Heavy Cannon or Auto Cannon) and regular Grenades (even Proximity mines) are almost totally ineffective. Of course, once you have Plasma weapons, things start to look up.
* If two Cyberdiscs are close together, the self-destruct explosion from one may be enough to bring down the second. Mutually Assured Destruction (or MAD for short) is a great way to kill these creatures without using advanced weaponry. If you have psionics, MC one quarter of the unit then send it within line of sight of the closest Sectoid. Usually the Sectoid will reaction fire and kill the Cyberdisc and the resulting explosion will kill the Sectoid too. Even the act of firing on the Cyberdisc with its own weapon may precipitate reaction fire from nearby Sectoids, thus assuring that if the initial shot didn't do enough damage to kill, the reaction fire should.
* Although they cannot be captured, Cyberdiscs take damage from [[Stun Rod]]s and [[Stun Bomb]]s and will not explode if they are finished by one. This is very useful if a Cyberdisc spawns in the small storage room (1st floor right north of the central lift) on a battleship ground assault mission or a Terror Ship (the overlooks on L1 are notorious for this). What otherwise might make it necessary to sacrifice some soldiers to kill it, this at least gives your men a chance. In fact, out of the starting weapons, the Stun Rod is the most effective vs Cyberdiscs - if you can get close enough.
* Because of its large size, Cyberdiscs take roughly quadruple damage from explosive weapons; rather, they take damage once for every segment caught in the blast. This is another way to take down stuck or camping Cyberdiscs without losing men. But because of their strong armour and high resistance to HE, this is only effective with very powerful explosives (Blaster Bomb, HE Pack, Heavy Rocket, Alien Grenade).
* You might try fighting armoured vehicles with armoured vehicles.
**Standard Cannon tanks have limited effectiveness against Cyberdiscs (midway between Heavy Rockets and HC-AP), but have the ammo to keep slugging away for a relatively long time.
**Rocket-armed tanks are initally more effective, but very soon run out of ammo. And 4 soldiers with Rocket launchers are about 4 times as destructive as the Rocket tank (though with limited ammo the soldiers will likely run out of ammo twice as quickly even than the tank).
**Laser tanks are even better - but 4 soldiers with Laser Rifles are about 3 times as destructive as one Laser tank.
**Unfortunately, until you get the more heavily armoured and better gunned hovertanks, using tanks against Cyberdiscs is improvisation, not a battle-winning tactic.
*Ive heard that if you mind control them and keep them until the end of the battle, you can get a live Specimen.

==See Also==
*[[Bio-Drone]]
*[[Mind Control#Mind controlling 4-square units - a bug|Problems with mind control]]

{{Aliens Navbar}}
[[Category:Alien Life Forms]]

Alien Containment

2009-05-04T15:29:19Z

Urailar: /* Unique Alien Types */

== General Information ==
[[Image:Base-containment.gif|right|100px]]
'''Alien Containment''' facilities provide the special environments needed to keep aliens alive for extended periods of time. Without an Alien Containment, any live aliens captured at the end of a mission will die.

The default starting base does not include an Alien Containment facility, although they are available to build at the start of the game. It is recommended you build one immediately, as some of the highest-priority [[research]] in the game depends on studying specific live aliens.

== Unique Alien Types ==

There are 29 different alien race/rank combos in the game:

* Sectoid Soldier, Medic, Navigator, Engineer, Leader, or Commander
* Snakeman Soldier, Navigator, Engineer, Leader, or Commander
* Ethereal Soldier, Leader, or Commander
* Muton Soldier, Navigator, or Engineer
* Floater Soldier, Medic, Navigator, Engineer, Leader, or Commander
* Celatid Terrorist
* Silacoid Terrorist
* Chryssalid Terrorist
* Reaper Terrorist
* Sectopod Terrorist
* Cyberdisc Terrorist

The two robotic units (Sectpods and Cyberdiscs) cannot be captured alive. Therefore, only 27 of the race/rank combos can be kept in a containment facility.Actually, they can be caught alive, though they need to be caught via stun rod or mind control to prevent explosion.

== Functionality ==

Contrary to the in-game UFOpaedia and popular opinion, the Alien Containment module does not have a limit of 10 total aliens or 10 aliens of each race or rank. That is a complete fallacy. Live aliens successfully recovered from a mission are placed into a file named [[ASTORE.DAT]] which has capped size of 50 records. Adding more AC modules to a base does not increase this cap, nor does a new AC module at another base. Thus, the max capacity is 50 units, and that limit is shared between all the bases which have an alien containment facility. It doesn't matter what the race or rank is either; as long as the file has room, the game will continue to add live aliens until it is. For example, if you managed to stun only Sectoid Soldiers you could clog ASTORE.DAT with nothing but this type of alien.

In practice, one containment module can suffice for the duration of the game. Researching live aliens invariably kills them, and if all aliens of a given type are researched, their space will become available for a different alien type. Thus to clear out space in your containment, just research some aliens.

If you have more than one alien of a given type in your confinement, you will be able to research that alien type repeatedly until all aliens of that type are used up. If you have already gleaned all possible information from a given alien type, you will not gain a new [[UFOpaedia]] entry once the research is done. Soldiers in particular offer little of value, revealing only information about their species, if you have not yet studied any member of their race. See [[Research#Researching aliens|Researching Aliens]] for details on what information can be gathered from each alien type.

You cannot dismantle ANY Alien Containment facilities at your base if even one alien is in storage. Build your Alien Containment facility to plan for future growth and expansion.

If the alien containment module is destroyed in a base assault, the aliens will still be there when a new containment module is rebuilt.

[[Image:XBASE_08MAP-L1.JPG|Alien Containment: Level 0|250 px]] [[Image:XBASE_08MAP-L2.JPG|Alien Containment: Level 1|250 px]]

== Statistics ==

Construction Time: 18 days<br>
Construction Cost: $400,000<br>
Maintenance Cost: $15,000/month<br>

== See Also ==
{{Base Facilities Navbar}}
[[Category:Base Facilities]]

UFOpaedia - User contributions [en]

Cyberdisc

Alien Containment