Should I Attempt Portent?

[Connatic]

This is like my 6th try on Classic/Ironman mode. Everytime I've lost by April. One of the reasons is I always wipe on the Portent council mission. Trying to get through all those Thin Men just seems impossible. The times where it felt like I was close, they start dropping out of the sky perfectly flanking me.

Currently I'm able to field a 5-man squad and I have 2-3 Sergets. Unfortunatly my two S.H.I.V.s are like 3 days away from being completed. I have Beam weapons researched, but out of cash and not enough engineers to build them. (Forgot I needed like 12 on staff to build the Rifles) The rewards for beating Portent are 1 Engineer, 1 Scientist, and $150.

Am I ready for this mission with my current loadout? Is this a mission I can put off or skip if not? I really don't want to wipe my entire squad again if I'm not, espcially with the 2 Sergets I found in my earlier Abduction missions.

[achus93]

do you have a GModded soldier, or a MEC?

[dP | Grund]

You are ready, yes it is tough but the guys ALWAYS spwan in the same place so if you have done it 6 times b4 then you should know what to expect. If they drop out of your range just hunker down and OW who you can and WAIT for THEM. NEVER take the fight to them thier overwatch shots will kill you. Advice take them 1 at a time and go slow there is NO time limit so go slow and try to use as much full cover as you can and remember even a sniper pistol hit leaves thimen killable by a grenade as a last resort. Oh and use heavies if your sergeats are that class, makes it much easier to just rocket your way through (but only when facing 2 at a time never just 1. Hope this helps.

[Sneaky]

Clear the entire map before touching the VIP, the thin men will only spawn when the VIP moves forward so you can safely move up your squad and overwatch the spawn points for a free shot, just be carefull about the one that spawns in your backfield.

[Don_Quixote]

I've really never had much issue taking out thin men ever. They've been a little annoying sometimes, but I don't recall any more than 1 of my solders ever being killed by these guys. (I tend to not let thin men live very long...)

[Frowny]

Also try to take the roofs, i always find the Aimbonus very helpful and you defintetly don`t want the Thin Men to have it.

[BecuzScience]

I did it the same as other's have said so far. Stay on the roofs move slowly, overwatch constantly. I did it with 4 and lost 1 rookie due to missed shots that way. Take the people with the best aim and probably a heavy for a rocket in case you need it. Only shoot at what you can kill and if not, fall back, find concealment and set up an overwatch ambush, they'll walk right in. Concealment meaning they can't see you, not just cover. Make sure whenever they move to shoot at you they will trigger 3 or 4 overwatches. It's the only way to survive with underpowered units.

[MeatPopsicle]

If you ignore the portent mission the first time, will it come around again the next month?

[Connatic]

All of my tries but one I had taken the roof, but didn't seem to help. The aim bonus was nice, but from the roof top, there isn't any Full Cover. Plus I always have cleared out the initial wave before I get to the VIP, it's the reinforcments that get me. They drop on the roofs on overwatch, usually flanking me.

[Connatic]

Yeap, with my 5-man squad...still a total wipe. I'm really lost here. I setup Overwatch traps...but I always miss. Overwatch seems like a death sentence against Thin Men. With Balistics, even when I hit it doesn't kill them. Then they procced to get a free shot at my troops, and even in full cover, it's always a 9 damage critical hit. Even when i was trying to hide and lure them out, they would sit there on Overwatch, or just throw poison at my one Flanker/Bait that is Hunker Down.

Is there a way to get Carapace armor and Lasers before the Portent Mission? That seems like the only way I'd have a chance on this map.

Oh, and to the eailer question, no I didn't build any of the Meld Labs yet, didn't even research it. Tried Genemods early once and the investment to get there didn't seem to yield any benefit. Was trying to avoid MECs cause I heard they were "easymode".

[WarLord-1211]

oddly enough in my current playthru of classic ironman i had a whole month without any alien activivty,so i was able to invest and focus on my HQ

[Garatgh Deloi]

I would advice you to get a Mech or some of the more advanced gene mods for this mission.

They can indeed make the game too easy on the lower difficulties (easy and normal).

But classic is still hard with a mech and gene mods (classic and impossible are both harder then they were before, so its recommended to use the tools you have been given to combat this increase in difficulty).

(Off course there are some cheap "Easy mode" tactics, like mimatic skin scouts combined with squad sight snipers, but just avoid such tactics)

[Segovax]

Originally posted by Connatic:

Yeap, with my 5-man squad...still a total wipe. I'm really lost here. I setup Overwatch traps...but I always miss. Overwatch seems like a death sentence against Thin Men. With Balistics, even when I hit it doesn't kill them. Then they procced to get a free shot at my troops, and even in full cover, it's always a 9 damage critical hit. Even when i was trying to hide and lure them out, they would sit there on Overwatch, or just throw poison at my one Flanker/Bait that is Hunker Down.

Is there a way to get Carapace armor and Lasers before the Portent Mission? That seems like the only way I'd have a chance on this map.

Oh, and to the eailer question, no I didn't build any of the Meld Labs yet, didn't even research it. Tried Genemods early once and the investment to get there didn't seem to yield any benefit. Was trying to avoid MECs cause I heard they were "easymode".

The map is buggy for me. I have experienced LOS issues every time I hit it and problems with cover not working (Defense: 0 for everyone). Thin Men on Portent in Classic seem to be amped up on screw-you juice on top of that. I've lost a few C/I games with squad wipes there and have decided to set Ironman aside for the moment til I figure out wtf is going on with that mission.

MECs won't be easy mode since the tier 1 armor is about as tough as a basic Shiv, but with some more hits - and the skinnies in Portent average for 9dmg a hit on them for me with some shots taking 12. Racing to get a MEC in did not help much.

I am curious to know if Not Now for Portent will have it show up again later also, because that is the Exalt campaign flag afaik. If it can be put off then teching up to lasers and carapace seem like it would definitely make that mission workable even with weird glitches.

[rojimboo]

Originally posted by dP | Grund:

You are ready, yes it is tough but the guys ALWAYS spwan in the same place so if you have done it 6 times b4 then you should know what to expect.

^This.

After failing horribly at it with C/I, turned off Ironman and just practiced on the map. You know exactly when and where the reinforcements show up, and if things go really bad, there is always the lure and bait and overwatch for the few remaining thin men (2) and sectoid. An assault class here is king, as an appropriate Run n Gun on the rooftops saves your ass.

Now I finally completed it with C/I, with 4 squaddies with no beam weapons. I'm so happy I could cry. Almost. Now I just need not to ♥♥♥♥ up the rest of the game.

[VerdantSF]

It can definitely be tough, but if you don't take the mission, it won't come back later, according to multiple posts on the XCOM 2k forums. In my current game, I managed to get the captive to the Skyranger right before my team was taken out!

Screenshot 1

I thought it was a complete wipe, but the soldier who was critically injured wasn't killed at the conclusion of the mission. Her stay in the infirmary would've been 16 days had she not become my first MEC.

Screenshot 2

[The Faceless Man]

Haven't failed a Portent mission yet.

Though I will admit, I suffer at least 1 crit shot from a thin man in that mission each time. :\ Always costs me at least one soldier.