preparing for base being attacked.

[jackdog3]

So I just had the attack on x-com base and as usual lost a few troops, mainly the unpromoted ones with basic armour and normal weapons, occasionally sacraficed to save a shot against better troop.

My question is, do people prepare for the attack as in theoru by that stage you have plenty of alloys and should be pretty good money wise so could euqip all with carapace and laser weapons at least and make sure you have alien grenades rathe than normal ones. This would have sqved 1-2 troops in my recent game, I think I lost 3-4 can't remember.

Do you do this, is it worth it, I presume if you do they will enter the battle equipped rather than stripped down (presuming Ironman on classic).

Last unrelated question about bullet swarm vs holo targeting. I keep reading people use holo but I have always used bullet swarm. Does holo add to the heavies chance to hit as well as everyone elses afterwards and does everyone else get the bonus even if the heavies attack misses?

[garytay]

use to use holo but now go with swarm because it gives you 2 shots.

[Falentir]

jackdog3 původně napsal:

So I just had the attack on x-com base and as usual lost a few troops, mainly the unpromoted ones with basic armour and normal weapons, occasionally sacraficed to save a shot against better troop.

My question is, do people prepare for the attack as in theoru by that stage you have plenty of alloys and should be pretty good money wise so could euqip all with carapace and laser weapons at least and make sure you have alien grenades rathe than normal ones. This would have sqved 1-2 troops in my recent game, I think I lost 3-4 can't remember.

Do you do this, is it worth it, I presume if you do they will enter the battle equipped rather than stripped down (presuming Ironman on classic).

Last unrelated question about bullet swarm vs holo targeting. I keep reading people use holo but I have always used bullet swarm. Does holo add to the heavies chance to hit as well as everyone elses afterwards and does everyone else get the bonus even if the heavies attack misses?

Yes, sure. XCOM base defense comes a couple of weeks after alien base attack - but sometimes before. The system seems to pick up from your high ranked soldiers, and complete with random rookies. What I do: I always equip all of my top ranked soldiers with usable weapons and armors after alien base attack - and here Exaltweapons (grabbed from Exalt missions) are useful to keep with you so you don't have to purchase them.

Holo targeting only increase other people chance - no matter how the heavy shots were. Nice to have if you have another heavy in bullet swarm (which is the one to favor in my opinion).

[Gentleman Jack Frost]

I do prepare somewhat after the first one kicked my ass. I don't do the temple ship assault untiil I have a 4 man B team of at least sgt rank and two SHIV's. Then after the temple ship I keep all of my top 6 guys fully equiped and buy diferent stuff for my four B team guys and send the B team + two SHIV's on every mission till the base defense. That way I never have to keep track of who is in the med bay and worry about who is equipped and I work on getting alot of extra colnels at the same time which is essential on ironman anyway.

It's cheaper than it looks since my A team wears all skeleton armor I already have 4 left over carpace armors and I usually have a bunch of extra exalt laser weapons to equip people with. The only extra stuff I usually end up buying is extra items like med packs and stun grenades.

I put halo targeting on my early heavies to help my team stay alive and train rookies. It makes subsequent shots have a better chance of hitting even if you use suppression. It's great for lvling the rookie you brought along. Use halo on an enemy maybe shot him with a pistol a bit to get his health down or use a grenade to bust his cover than have the rookie finish him off. Makes your rookies lvl a lot faster when you make an effort to get them kills. I use almost all of the skills in the game. I pretty much look at every skill as an early game skill or a late game skill. My first group of colnels end up being back up people at the end of the game. I pretty much load up on low risk skills early game when my guys are fragile and switch to the higer risk skills later after i get the will upgrade with new rookies.

[R2_Opus2]

Experience playing strategy games also make me over prepare a bit. Because the game's narrative and certain situations occur after certain research tasks, its easy enough to do, Either postpone Outsider research, or postpone alien base assault for a few months while you stockpile, equip and research other items.

[Stardustfire]

U only need to let u top 5 guys stay under weapons and with there full equipment (at least all the top 5 that not in the medic bay)
So depending on u playstyle u dont need to change anything.
I for myself dont aim for 2 or 3 complete squads of cornels, i have only one working squad so i never shuffle equipment to noneactive soldiers, means no need to prepare.
if u one of this guys who se a need in haveing 12 or more colonels and for that ever shuffle equipment betwen every mission: good luck to predict when in the 3 weeks the Aliens jump u.

[Wise Joe]

Like some have said, I equip my non-A team guys with the laser weapons I get from Exalt. Last game I played I was able to equip every soldier in my base with either my self made laser weapons or Exalt laser weapons. As for armor, my A team has Titan, so I equip the next soldiers down the ranking with the no longer mission used carapace.

But, I think I was lucky, I didn't have anyone in sick bay, so my A team was the quick reaction force for the base assault.

[-=Maure=-]

I didn't prepare the first time, lots of people with ballistics and regular armor, it wasn't pretty but I only lost 1 important guy. Now I always prepare, everyone equipped at all times, and rookies get dismissed early to have a better chance of veterans showing up.

[Stardustfire]

Mutare this is no thing of chance, u get the 5 highest soldiers that are active in u rooster

[Aya]

What i did was manufacture spare sets of armor and weapons for my top 8 troops before assaulting the Alien Base.

As for rookies, they're supposed to represent the security detail of your base, and because you won't ever see them again, it's best to let them take point and trigger reaction shots.

[DashThrowing]

You are guaranteed the top 4. In one base defense, I never got the other two. Simply keep the higher-ranking soldiers fully equipped, and ready yourself.

[R2_Opus2]

Stardustfire původně napsal:

U only need to let u top 5 guys stay under weapons and with there full equipment (at least all the top 5 that not in the medic bay)
So depending on u playstyle u dont need to change anything.
I for myself dont aim for 2 or 3 complete squads of cornels, i have only one working squad so i never shuffle equipment to noneactive soldiers, means no need to prepare.
if u one of this guys who se a need in haveing 12 or more colonels and for that ever shuffle equipment betwen every mission: good luck to predict when in the 3 weeks the Aliens jump u.

If you're like me, you don't care how long something takes, because in the end, its the tactical game play we're addicted to. Take your time, and enjoy yourself. If you rush to beat it, start again and try different things.

[Hannibal Barca]

Ive beaten it with lasers, the only prepare you have to do is make sure your top 6 ranked troopers are fully equiped and not wounded. having researched from foundry extra inventory will make the base soliders actually useful.

[ROOK]

I do prepare now but, to be honest, I had a lot more fun in the first two runs of the game in which i did not prepare. Had a Major assault guy in the second run. He was practically naked and had a normal shotgun but I wish i had video'd what he did because it was awesome. You do have a large advantage in this scenario because the aliens have to come to you(for a change) and thier AI isn't designed for it. What ever you get just hold up in the upper tiers of the command section and let them come to you.

[MacroNova]

The soldier selection and equipment selection design choices in the base defense mission were pretty boneheaded. Once you know how it works, it becomes an annoying chore of re-equipping your top six guys after every mission after the base assault (because by this point you are fielding squads of lowbies trying to rank them up on all those easy exalt missions). It would be better if the soldiers selected were more randomized and you got to choose their equipment at the beginning of the attack.

I use holo-targeting and bullet swarm about equally. Holo-targetting is good for a suppression heavy that you plan to use take away overwatch and combine with danger zone and mayhem for area of effect and a bit of damage. Fire (or suppress) first with the heavy to give the rest of the squad the bonus on critical targets. Taking one shot that helps everyone else can be better than taking two shots that could easily both miss.

[R2_Opus2]

I agree, even if the selection of soldiers for the mission were random, and not the top 6, it would be nice to equip them before the mission. Even so, it ain't much of a chore to equip the top 12 or so long before then.

Seriously, I get the sense some people are playing this incredibly fast with no prep.