Looking for First Time Long War Campaign Tips

[D Blu J]

I'm about to start my first ever Long War campaign. I have 172 hours logged in Vanilla and am planning to start Long War on normal.

Any helpful advice for someone likely about to be in over his head?

[George Kerman]

1)Absolutely start on Normal difficulty. I was a vanilla veteran when I started, playing impossible ironman with no soldier deaths and I thought I can start at brutal. Boy, was I wrong. Don't make the same mistake.
2)Read a lot on ufopaedia.org, there's a section related to Long War.
3) If you are unsure aboult soldier builds, try checking this out:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1GTQ0xGMkVDUfpsJZl5A4UxcSSlC2sdDqef5t6h_cbkM/edit#gid=563704489

While I don't agree with all his builds, the man has gathered a lot of good builds and if you're unsure, you might wanna try one of his suggestions.
4) The golden rule from vanilla of killing the aliens as soon as you reveal them just can't be applied here, it simply can't. So get used to things like suppression, flashbangs, chem grenades, smokes... Suppression is very very useful because most of the time (90%+) the suppressed will try to shoot the suppressor, even when there are completely exposed targets!

Tip for some situations: If you suppress a target then flank it (even with a dash, doesn't matter), the target will try to move and the suppressor will get an overwatch-opportunist shot that ignores his cover. If the flanker is a close combat specialist assault and he's in four tiles of the target, you get two free shots (I know, it's all jibberish, this doesn't make sense for you now but come back to this when you're facing outsiders or sectoid commanders)
5) Everything you will face (outsiders with 10hp/ 3 hp regen per turn,50+ hp chryssalids) is beatable (unless there are way too many of them). At first, you'll probably have the same reaction as everyone else, saying "WTF! You want me to take on THAT??" and then you'll have to adjust your strategy to actually beat it.
6) Focus on research, building a lab or two then gene lab and psionics adjacent
7) Focus on buying interceptors and maintaing a proper satellite network. Don't lose interceptors
8) Both EXALT types of missions are very beatable and once you get the hang of them, they'll become training missions just like in vanilla. See other threads for specific strats for both of them. The agent should be a guy especially built for that role (I like concealment scout but plenty of people use an assault)
9) Landed UFOs = A team or at least some A team members. Even after playing this for so long I'm amazed how many aliens can fit in a small landed scout (like, more than as many tiles there are in a small scout). This applies for July onwards (in my experience).
10) Vision is very very important. In some landed UFOs, if you are engaged by two 8-alien pods, well, you're kinda screwed. So learn to use battle scanners and maybe even motion sensors in the early game.
11) Read the readme when installing it :D.
12) There have been many, many posts about the DLC council missions and even Site Recon. They are HARD, especially the first time you play them. Another task for your A-team.

There's many more but it'll just make my post exaggerately large.

Good luck, commander!

Later Edit: Starting country! I'd highly recommend you Canada - four free corporals. It will help you a lot, from your 70-100 soldiers in late game you will surely remember the first four and they will save you a lot. Sometimes there is a transport ship landing in March. Without them, that mission would be almost impossible to complete without save scumming. Other people will try to convince you of other countries - France, China, Nigeria, don't listen to them :P.It will be a more emotional game, having these four guys always there. I'm doing an Impossible Bronzeman run now and I still start Canada. I never thought, gee, I wish I had more money from selling sectoids and mutons but I was always grateful that, when a council mission or a landed UFO came, I knew who to send safely. I didn't believe the guy initially advocating Canada on reddit until I tried it. Since then, I'm a convinced canadian.

[D Blu J]

Originally posted by George van Doorn:

*snip*

Funny story, I actually chose Canada with the 4 starting corporals before reading your post. Besides, I wanted to start in Canada anyways. Gotta defend that poutine! XD

I started on normal, and I'm not having quite the hard time I was expecting out the gate. However, I know Long War focuses on a challenging late-game, so I suspect it'll pick up in intensity soon enough.

I have a general idea of how some things work since I've been watching Beaglerush's Long War Live and Impossible playlist on youtube. He frequently stresses how amazing flashbangs are, and I find myself agreeing with him.

Despite having 10hp and 3 per turn regen, one outsider didn't really pose too much of a threat against my 6 rookies. Drones are kind of annoying though. >_<

Also, 50+ hp Chryssalids?! Please tell me you're exaggerating. T_T

Thanks a lot for the advice. I'm taking a short break right now, but I'm excited to continue my Long War playthrough later today. I'm loving how many options there are now with soldier promotions. :D

P.S.: I'm also loving the additional voice acting that's been done. I've got one soldier with a thick French accent, and she's kind of distracing me sometimes. I don't mind one bit though. O///O;

[George Kerman]

Not even impossible is that hard in the beginning but it will pick up don't worry :P. First month is much harder in vanilla than here. But then... :)

Maybe I'm joking about those chryssalids, check for yourself ;)
http://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Alien_Life_Forms_(Long_War)

It's called a Greater Hive Queen and it's one of the biggest monstruosities I've seen.

[Mdaddy924]

If you dont have bare minimum laser weapons and upgraded armor dont bother with the DLC when it shows up, you are just sending your men in to die and any losses from refusing the mission can be recoupped over time. Losing countries is not as big because you can get them back.

[D Blu J]

Originally posted by Mdaddy924:

If you dont have bare minimum laser weapons and upgraded armor dont bother with the DLC when it shows up, you are just sending your men in to die and any losses from refusing the mission can be recoupped over time. Losing countries is not as big because you can get them back.

Actually, I disabled the DLC. No Slingshot or Progeny on my first Long War plz & ty. XD

[George Kerman]

Oh and for drones, you might wanna get a demo man build for engineer (sapper and HEAT) or consider taking an executioner perk on one of your infantries. Both of these builds are somewhat suboptimal once you get alien grenades and your soldiers can shoot straight. Nevertheless, one or two demo men are essential in early game to remove cover. And the executioner infantry is the answer to the "Can you all 6 kill that 2 hp drone already?" question (good candidate for MEC after that).

If by any chance you look at the engineer handyman build and you think it's weak, think again. In mid and late game, it's great and it will let you run In The Zone on your scout plus other offensive perks, while the engineer can become the designated Pod Manager by throwing battle scanners, smokes and removing cover with the alien grenades.

[Séamus]

Crowd management is important, as well as advancing slowly and not taking on more than you can chew. There are far more enemies, even at the start - like crazy amounts. You will suffer if you step too far ahead and reveal multiple pods.

It's funny. I feel like Long War actually exposes a couple of flaws in vanilla that aren't always quite as apparent. The "lawn mowing" style of creeping around the map, trying not to alert the aliens you've been sent to take out is weaker than it seems on the surface. I'm glad XCOM 2 is totally switching things up - it sounds much more plausible in the sequel.

The maps are too small for LW - i.e. too many enemies, especially late game. Without godlike supersoldiers, it's ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ impossible. Lasers should be a top priority, as enemies will quickly develop ridiculous levels of health and armour that will soak up most of your fire.

In LW, as in vanilla, your greatest assets are your soldiers. Protect them and lead them well, and by the last days of the war you'll have powerful tools at your disposal. I'm almost a year (in-game) into my latest LW playthrough and have mighty MECs and troopers at my command.

[red255]

In Pulse Lasers and Titan armor you'll be fine. plasma with the enhanced plasma upgrade, Vital point targetting and Ranger, and maybe some stellarators you'll be even better off.

if you don't take vital point targetting and ranger and focus on some damage, then sure. its hard.

SO don't build poor soldiers. just because Beagle posted a build.

Beagle makes things harder than he should for instance he didn't build labs until like his second year. he would have finished his research if he built labs.

I thought it was excellent tactical advice since he didn't build labs making due with bad tech meant greater tactics, BUT I would not suggest not building labs yourself. it was....poor tactics.

Basically when you watch something or do your own playthrus always consider whether something is tactically sound before your commit to it.

[D Blu J]

Originally posted by red255:

*snip*

Fair points all. I also just want to say that I'm not planning on copy-pasting Beagle's builds and such. I'm just using his series partly as entertainment and partly to see what kind of things I'll be competing against. I've only watched up to near the end of month 3 of his series so far, so I'm not too deep in there yet.

My playstyle already differs from his between my choice of starting location and early research focus (he rushed weapon frags while I started Xenobio). I'm only 3 missions in, so I've got plenty of time to develop my own playstyle. I'm taking his strategies and advice into consideration, but I'm not treating his playthrough like a set of commandments or anything. Thanks for the consideration though.

I look forward to repelling this alien scourge in a longer and more difficult engagement than I've ever committed to before.

[Séamus]

Originally posted by Twiggles:

Originally posted by red255:

*snip*

Fair points all. I also just want to say that I'm not planning on copy-pasting Beagle's builds and such. I'm just using his series partly as entertainment and partly to see what kind of things I'll be competing against. I've only watched up to near the end of month 3 of his series so far, so I'm not too deep in there yet.

My playstyle already differs from his between my choice of starting location and early research focus (he rushed weapon frags while I started Xenobio). I'm only 3 missions in, so I've got plenty of time to develop my own playstyle. I'm taking his strategies and advice into consideration, but I'm not treating his playthrough like a set of commandments or anything. Thanks for the consideration though.

I look forward to repelling this alien scourge in a longer and more difficult engagement than I've ever committed to before.

Oh, it will be. It will be.

[red255]

He started in Australia for Role play reasons and not for tactical ones. He makes many of his decisions for Role play reasons, and would only consider them if they were completely tactically unviable instead of purely poor tactical choices.

For instance on the base defense missions he'll try to save the rookies, when his purposes would be better served using the rookies consumables then getting them killed and getting new rookies with new consumables.

even to the point of getting his higher ranked soldiers hurt or killed.

But he does at least occasionally step back and re-evaluate a strategy, I won't say he made his choices PURELY for sentimental value (Which you wouldn't have) but a number of them he decided sounded cool and tried to make them work over finding what works then trying to reconcile it with his narrative.

He also makes specialized builds, I personally make jack-of-all-trades builds because I dont know what I'm going to encounter on any particular mission (barring EXALT, and TERROR)

so I make builds that can handle a typical mix of everything and a complete team that will work thru anything.

[Séamus]

Originally posted by red255:

He started in Australia for Role play reasons and not for tactical ones. He makes many of his decisions for Role play reasons, and would only consider them if they were completely tactically unviable instead of purely poor tactical choices.

For instance on the base defense missions he'll try to save the rookies, when his purposes would be better served using the rookies consumables then getting them killed and getting new rookies with new consumables.

even to the point of getting his higher ranked soldiers hurt or killed.

But he does at least occasionally step back and re-evaluate a strategy, I won't say he made his choices PURELY for sentimental value (Which you wouldn't have) but a number of them he decided sounded cool and tried to make them work over finding what works then trying to reconcile it with his narrative.

He also makes specialized builds, I personally make jack-of-all-trades builds because I dont know what I'm going to encounter on any particular mission (barring EXALT, and TERROR)

so I make builds that can handle a typical mix of everything and a complete team that will work thru anything.

It's also good to make teams that can function even under heavy duress - i.e. dead or wounded units, a vast range of simultaneous enemy types and attacks, etc ...

[red255]

I make a team of 8, one of each man(s) except I pull off the rocket for a MEC Ideally a pathfinder. when I get them except when I face EXALT, where I'll pull off the gunner instead.

assuming I get 8 Mans and not the 4 mans mission which the second wave option bumps up to 6 mans cuz can't let you have 8 mans on this mission because you are fat or something stupid that doesn't fit in the box and makes no sense.

I like the fact they eventually put an option in the second wave to fix since its not in the ini, its buried in the .exe. I don't like the fact its still not completely fixed. thanks Johnny.

on 6 mans teams I take out the gunner, rocket and medic. if I take wounds I'm extracting, since I'm extracting. no robots and rockets kinda suck.

Rockets are ok early except their aim is garbage, then the recoilles come with advanced gauss which I normally skip because that ALL advanced gauss gets and I'd rather just move on to pulse, and the final upgrade is awesome but requires a battle ship take down to make one. and the opportunity cost of a fusion lance.

so they win the 'least valuable player' award and get the axe

if you DO take advanced gauss you got the minelauncher which works similiar to the rocket launcher, except it doesn't roll to hit. and probably does better damage.

Classes
Infantry- Mid Range damage dealler/overwatch. (Heavy rifle)
Assault-Close range damage dealer/Shred/crystallids/beserkers/other swarmers (shotgun)
Scout- Close range overwatch remover, and...scout. also deals with crystallids and beserkers with its shotgun.
Sniper. Long range squad sight unit, even if everyone else is running away, this guy is usually still firing to hold the line and break enemy morale, disable shot, doubletap. (sniper, reflex post flight)
Gunner- anti-robot unit the big ones. (Saw, LMG post double tap)
Rocket- massed robots I guess, if you didn't want the alloys and elerium and liked the fact your items weigh 2 but when you use them they still weigh 1, because thanks johnny. numbers work differently for Johnny Apparently. 8-0=6 and 2-2=1

Not saying they don't work that way, or the ini numbers are bad and you should fix them, but, I probably could make a decent case for it.
Engineer- Throws grenades of various types, also uses the arc thrower because he's the only class that gets 4 charges when everyone else gets 1. (alien, Chem, smoke, battlescanner)
Medic- Meds and support grenades. (Acid) and suppression and command unit.

MEC-Killing things, drawing fire. using its tools (flamethrower, mine launcher, EMP pulse) when applicable to save your team.

[D Blu J]

Originally posted by red255:

He started in Australia for Role play reasons and not for tactical ones. He makes many of his decisions for Role play reasons, and would only consider them if they were completely tactically unviable instead of purely poor tactical choices.

For instance on the base defense missions he'll try to save the rookies, when his purposes would be better served using the rookies consumables then getting them killed and getting new rookies with new consumables.

even to the point of getting his higher ranked soldiers hurt or killed.

But he does at least occasionally step back and re-evaluate a strategy, I won't say he made his choices PURELY for sentimental value (Which you wouldn't have) but a number of them he decided sounded cool and tried to make them work over finding what works then trying to reconcile it with his narrative.

He also makes specialized builds, I personally make jack-of-all-trades builds because I dont know what I'm going to encounter on any particular mission (barring EXALT, and TERROR)

so I make builds that can handle a typical mix of everything and a complete team that will work thru anything.

I haven't gotten to his base defense missions yet. (Not even close.) No spoilers pls. :(

[tangoafterdark]

I have a highly aggressive style of play so my tips might not suit you if you prefer to take the high ground and engage from maximum distance, but I tried a defensive approach in my first LW campaign and I find that being aggressive works much better for me.

SHIVs are amazing. I use them extensively in the early game to babysit my soldiers. I could go on and on about how much I love SHIVs, but in short, they kill Drones and save soldiers' lives. Alloy SHIVs are even better and can tank even the hardest missions.

With the exception of the SAW and Shotgun, ballistics weapons are terrible. Research Beam Weapons ASAP. In the early game, I give Marksman Rifles to my Snipers, SAWs to my Gunners and as many Shotguns to the rest of the squad as I think I can get away with. I strip down high mobility Rookies to just a Tac Vest and Carbine with no small items to give them maximum flanking opportunities.

My typical squad consists of a SHIV, 2 Gunners w/ SAWs, a Scout w/ Shotgun, a Sniper w/ Marksman Rifle, an Engineer, an Assault, and something else. I bring a Rocketeer when I know I'll need long-range destructive power and a Medic on hard missions. Infantry are good but they don't fit very well with my aggressive tactics. I don't really use MECs but I usually end up making a few out of gravely wounded soldiers to tank harder missions.

EXALT missions (except for the HQ raid) are a great source of credits and panic reduction. I keep a cadre of 2-3 Assaults just for Covert Ops. I think the United Humanity SW option actually makes the game harder.

Bring lots of explosives - the more cover you destroy, the faster you kill aliens. Don't bother with AP Grenades except for Terror Missions.

I put Motion Trackers on SHIVs and use them to activate pods, then I use my Engineer/Rocketeer to destroy cover and my other soldiers to flank/kill as many aliens as possible before they can shoot back. I find that Medics are also pretty good at this because they can use their gold move to throw smoke where needed after everyone else has moved or Mindfray the most dangerous remaining alien.