Should i be capturing aliens more than killing?

[Sega Genesis]

Do i get more items from them that way?

[coledragonknight]

Capture = Plasma weapons, and Grendaes
Kill = Bodies and fragments,

It just depends on what you need more of at the time, If i can zap someone for the good doctor to have her way on, I will, But otherwise, KILLEM ALLL!

[Sega Genesis]

What about plasma weapons? are they better than laser?

[coledragonknight]

Originally posted by Alucardr:

What about plasma weapons? are they better than laser?

Ohhh Yeah. BY a factor of 2. If you are playign Long War ( I dont reccomend till you have 3 or 4 playthrough under yoru belt, perhaps a perfect run) Even more so

[DarkDronex]

I usually start with we have ways and i capture every alien for the tech bonuses ( also i play with the greater good on) other than that you can stun for weapons; and not having to buy plasma rifles at all its around 500$ + you don't need to research alien granades
stunning can be dangerous so save your soldiers when in doubt and ALWAYS keep a backup plan in case stunning fails

[PhellAsleep]

Capturing is a good way to get good gear earlier. Even without a containment facility, you still get their weapons intact. This means you can skip far ahead in weapons tech, if you research arc thrower early and catch aliens as soon as you can.

However, remember that you only need a certain number of guns for each troop. So after a certain point, you don't need to catch any more. You can't sell off the intact weapons or break them down after-the-fact, for the parts needed to research and make other stuff.

Basically, catch them to get enough gear to equip your squad. Then, kill everything for the parts.

[Stardustfire]

Well u shoud at least try to get one of each species and subspecies alive because every interrogated Alien type gives a 50% Science speed bonus in a corosponding field. Also without capture of an alive Sectoid or Sectoid Commander u dont get u Hands on Plasmaa Pistol Research options.

[yuri simp]

You only need to capture one of each type if you want the research credit. Having research credit will speed up research in a particular field by 50% (except Muton Elites, which only give 25%).

However, stunned enemies do drop their weapon intact. Especially in EW, plasma weapons are expensive as hell to produce, so this is a workaround. You'll still need those fragments, though, so don't capture more than you need. (And you can't sell weapons, so definitely don't go overboard.)