Looking for advice on timing of Alien Base Assault (Spoilers - classic ironman)

[ositodefelpa]

Ok, it's the beginning of August. I could do the Alien Base Assault now, which should assure the X-com Base Defence before the end of August. Alternatively, I could delay and pick up as much tech as possible before doing the assault.

At present I have all laser weapons and blaster launcher. I should be able to get titan armour before the Xcom Base Defence mission.

If I go now (in August) I should be able to avoid heavy floaters, muton elites and possibly a sectopod. If I go later, I expect to get all three of those, but I can get all plasma weapons.

I have had real difficulty with the X-com Base Defense in the past. Last time, I failed the X-com Base Defence in September (which is 'game over' under my own ironman house rules). Admittedly, I was underarmed, because I'd left some soldiers with rifles, and I only had two colonels, because I'd been relying on shivs.

So what do you think? Given that I'm already in August, am I better waiting for plasma weapons, or should I go now?

[di eshor ribly]

The one time I beat C/I I had also waited until plasma/titan gear for the alien base assault. If you can manage panic levels until you finish researching available techs, then I'd wait for it. Even if you get heavy floaters, elites, and sectopods, plasma weapons help put them down. Having the extra time to promote troops to colonel wouldn't hurt either.

[blind3rdeye]

I usually just think of the alien base as a tool for mass reduction of panic. I attack it if I'm in danger of lossing a council member. Panic levels are pretty much the only factor I consider when I attack the base.

[ositodefelpa]

That's interesting, thank you.

In fact, I have stealth satellites over 15 countries (keeping one country 'unsatellited'), and no panic problems whatsoever, so it looks like the advice it to continue with the research until I've maxed out, then do the base. It might also give me some time to get a bit more meld, because I have hardly any gene or mech upgrades (my play style is quite successful, but very cautious, so I usually miss the meld - but with greater use of shivs I reckon I can risk going for it more aggressively). I guess a splash of mimetic skin is not going to hurt.

[yuri simp]

tl;dr: August is waiting it way too long. You should've done it by May.

I would say you could pull off a successful breach by April-May (2nd-3rd month). I wouldn't put it off much further. Laser/skel is fine for doing an alien base mission during April or May, considering that the only enemies you'll find are pretty easy to deal with (LPR Mutons are the main headaches, honestly).

While I wouldn't rush the base per se unless you are having major panic issues, there's no reason to put it off that long. The base mission does scale up as time goes on, so those early-game enemies get replaced with end-game foes. You wait too long, and you'll be dealing with pods of Muton Elites and Sectopods in the alien base, and that's hard no matter what tech you've got. When we're talking about August, that's Cyberdiscs and Heavy Floaters. That's still difficult.

Also as a side note: you need two countries open for abductions to continue. If that's what you're going for, then you screwed up by only opening up one country.

[ositodefelpa]

Nah, I'm not worried about the alien base assault in any month, with appropriate research. A couple of plasma shivs, a couple of snipers and a couple of something else (maybe more shivs) and anything will die. I know I could have gone sooner, but I prefer not to rush it, especially as I'm prone to careless mistakes in the strategic layer of the game.

I am worried about the X-com base defence though, as it has always given me problems, and you can't use shivs.

Anyway, I'm now committed to the long game, and am busy ticking off all available research, then I'll hit the alien base, then I'll see if I can withstand the X-com base defence.

Incidentally, I didn't know that you need to keep at least two open countries for abductions to continue. Ah, the folly of relying on Internet derived info. I'd wondered why I hadn't seen any recently. Thankfully the ufos are still around, otherwise I'd be stuffed on weapon fragments.

[takeshiyamato103]

Is the XCOM Base Defense mission in Enemy Within only? I've been sticking with Enemy Within to start with, and haven't come across anything like that.

[ositodefelpa]

Yes, it is in Enemy Within (i.e. the expansion) only. It does not appear in the original game, Enemy Unknown. And it's pretty challenging compared with the other missions.

[takeshiyamato103]

Gotcha - Will need to get into Enemy Within before XCOM 2 Launches

[red255]

Yeah if you've waited till august wait till you finish research, its way too long to rush.

Bring a MEC with EMP pulse.

[yuri simp]

I didn't read the OP very well initially, but plasma by August means that you really screwed up your research something awful. What sort of godforsaken research path did you take?

[ositodefelpa]

Originally posted by hinge:

I didn't read the OP very well initially, but plasma by August means that you really screwed up your research something awful. What sort of godforsaken research path did you take?

If you want to complete the game early, then yes, but otherwise what difference does it make? The game is extremely forgiving on classic ironman. I already 'screwed up' the satellites by leaving a single country without one, which makes things take a bit longer, because I don't have a monthly abduction mission, but the 'scan for alien activity' button is so fast that it makes no practical difference.

I 'screwed up' the power supply, so I had to demolish a workshop to build to the second floor. But I'm rolling in money and workshops now, so the extra time hasn't really made any difference.

And now, apparently, I 'screwed up' the research. But so what? I didn't even get the option to research light plasma rifles until around July, and it's not as if you need plasma to deal with any of the regular missions (I didn't bother capturing any aliens till July).

Personally, I prefer playing a longer game in which you unlock all the toys, and as long as I've got laser and carapace (which I always do rush, because it makes life much easier), it doesn't matter what order I do anything else.

However, the one mission that does scare me is the X-com base defence, because I've failed that mission several times, hence my original question. Essentially the question was this:

Would it be better to take the X-com base defence in August with lasers, probably not facing heavy floaters, muton elites or sectopods; or would it be better to get to the end of the research tree (i.e., as far as possible), but face heavy floaters, muton elites and sectopods? I think the consensus from the posts above is that the latter would be best. I guess your answer is that neither is best, which is fair enough, but not the way I prefer to play.

[Rigel]

I'm currently on my second C/I playthrough, last time I lost 5 soldiers, this time I'm already at 12. Casual mistakes, impatience and Exalt rockets cost me dearly.

Note that I never use invisibility of any kind (mimetic skin, ghost armor, because it ruins the suspenseful vibe for me). I also don't use mecs, shivs, psionics, alloy cannon, blaster launcher, because I already have plasma sniper rifles and they are overpowered as it is. (I do use rift on the last mission.)

I always wait until my soldiers are fully promoted, have gene mods (particularly neural damping, because mind controllers can really complicate things), plasma and titan. Just now on a base defense I had Elite Mutons, Berserkers, Chryssalids, 3 Cyberdicks, several Heavy Floaters, Sectoid Commanders and loads of Mechtoid, usually fully buffed. Oh and a Sectopod.

My 2 squad sight snipers have double tap and disabling shot, and rarely miss. From the balcony they made minced meat of these high level aliens.

(Usually I also have a snapshot sniper with me for flexibility. Unfortunately my snapshot snipers were murdered by Exalt rocket fire on two separate missions. Seriously: I get a replacement for the first snapshot sniper that got killed, they kill the second one too, in exactly the same way. What can I say, I'm a slow learner!)

Lost one Heavy who got broadsided by an Elite Muton and finished off by a Chryssalid, even though he had secondary heart. Damn, should have given him the chitin plating but I was one short.

You can play this game in different ways, you don't have to rush if you don't feel like it. You do need to figure out, though, why your base defense is going so badly.

As you probably know the game selects the first six soldiers from the barracks for base defense, so make sure that the selection makes sense and that they are fully equipped at all times. Also base defense works best if you stay in the initial room, let the aliens come to you, snipe from the balcony, with perhaps a heavy on the lower level to guard the entrance. It can't hurt to have a colonel medic with you either.

Anyway, good luck.

[ositodefelpa]

Thanks for your feedback, Rigel. To be honest, most of my base defence has gone wrong because of one or both of:

1. I forgot to equip my soldiers before the mission. I do think this feature is a flaw, because it's not immersive: if the invasion is really unexpected, why would anyone manage to get to their weapons and armour? Also, it's just irritating to have to remember it. It's the kind of thing you should have assistants for (in rl and in game).

2. I didn't develop enough good soldiers, because I focused too heavily on shivs. Easily done, because of the OP nature of shivs.

This time round, I have a good balance of everything. I've got about eight colonels; I've maxed out tech as far as I can, and now I'm maxing out meld. The combat is quite interesting, because my equipment and soldier abilities are advanced enough to give me lots of options, but I also tend to be a lot less cautious, as I'm going for the meld. So I'm ending up in pretty hairy situations, with tons of dangeous enemies and it's nice trying to figure out how to handle it. I actually lost a soldier recently, which was a bit of a shock: a heavy colonel; my first loss of the campaign.

[yuri simp]

Originally posted by ositodefelpa:

And now, apparently, I 'screwed up' the research. But so what? I didn't even get the option to research light plasma rifles until around July, and it's not as if you need plasma to deal with any of the regular missions (I didn't bother capturing any aliens till July).

Personally, I prefer playing a longer game in which you unlock all the toys, and as long as I've got laser and carapace (which I always do rush, because it makes life much easier), it doesn't matter what order I do anything else.

Up to you, but not getting an option to research LPR means you didn't stun anything until July, basically. Those research credits don't hurt, you know.

Originally posted by ositodefelpa:

Would it be better to take the X-com base defence in August with lasers, probably not facing heavy floaters, muton elites or sectopods; or would it be better to get to the end of the research tree (i.e., as far as possible), but face heavy floaters, muton elites and sectopods? I think the consensus from the posts above is that the latter would be best. I guess your answer is that neither is best, which is fair enough, but not the way I prefer to play.

If I had to answer this question (which I didn't, sorry about that!), well, since you've gone this far, you will definitely need some sort of plasma weaponry. You're going to face Heavy Floaters regardless, so might as well bring as much firepower as possible. And if you wait until September, Muton Elites and Sectopods join the brawl, and Ethereals are possible on Base Defense.

Also SHIVs aren't really all that great. Hover SHIVs are the only useful SHIV, and by the point you have Hover SHIVs you have AA Squadsight snipers, so...?

[Yeet'em Up]

If you go quickly, you might be able to avoid sectopods. But don't go in without plenty of firepower. Allow Shivs, although not mandatory, are still awesome.

And of course, waiting to get full profit out of the panic reduction upon it's success is risky, but pays off nicely.