new player, what difficulty with EW?

[DrOak2]

I'm new to xcom (well, this iteration!), and am going to start a game with the new expansion. What difficulty level would people recommend? I've seen some let's play videos but otherwise am planning to go in without reading up too much on strategies... people on this forum seem to be saying with the new expansion in particular the game can be pretty hard, so maybe I should go with easy? Not what I would normally do when playing a new game...

Thanks!

[arealhumanbean]

Go with Normal and pretend it's on Impossible. The paranoia should make it easier.

[P-47 Thunderbolt]

I'd say normal. Classic gives quite a few problems to newer players. There is a lot of information to absorb and classic can be a bit brutal.

[Znail]

I would recomend Normal/Ironman or Classic with option to reload. Easy is really only for people with no idea how that game works.

[Arkelis]

I recommend Impossible so everything else will be a cake walk :D

Just kidding but seriously I would say classic as the game cheats for you on normal and as a result when it plays properly on classic it can be a very big shock to the system.

Like learning to drive it's better to get lessons rather then starting with a friend as you will often pick up bad habits which will cause you issue when you go for the real deal :D

You can always drop back to normal if it gets too frustrating :D

[xDLGx]

Classic ironman is the way it's meant to be played... but first time normal might be a good idea as doing just one thing wrong on classic (especially with ironman) often makes you lose.

[TheOtherBarry]

Arkelis eredeti hozzászólása:

I recommend Impossible so everything else will be a cake walk :D

Just kidding but seriously I would say classic as the game cheats for you on normal and as a result when it plays properly on classic it can be a very big shock to the system.

Like learning to drive it's better to get lessons rather then starting with a friend as you will often pick up bad habits which will cause you issue when you go for the real deal :D

You can always drop back to normal if it gets too frustrating :D

I had to drop back down to normal from "Classic" difficulty. There should be a disclaimer for Classic mode saying that the AI will cheat and give itself an artificial increase in aim and crit chance. I was getting hit by critical damage from across the map behind full cover! Most of my guys got 1-shotted or two-shotted by sectoids in the first month of the game.

[norker77]

I'd say go with the difficulty you want to play with.
Playing on Normal lets you get away with stuff that will get you killed on Classic and Impossible is another step up again.
To avoid bad habits it'd be better not to start off with a difficulty lower then the one you intend to play (though it does require a high tolerance for punishment).

[Arkelis]

That's what happens when you go from normal to classic.

Just for the record I started on normal in EU so I'm not knocking anyone who does in EW but you end up thinking the computer is cheating when you step up to classic because it actually plays properly.

I started EW on classic and really I should have started on Impossible with the amount of experience I have but I wanted to play with the new features and be allowed to make mistakes in doing so. Something you really don't get to do on impossible especially for the first few months :D

In regards to classic, you no longer get buffs to your percentages and the aliens no longer suffer debuffs to thiers, meaning your whole gameplay needs to change.

Since the OP is new to the game he will not feel any difference towards this since he has no experience with it.

If he starts on normal then he will feel the same when he moves to classic, that the computer is cheating.

If he starts on classic however, he will know no different and just deal with it :D

The reality is the computer is not cheating but actually playing the way it should.

Hunker down, smoke grenades, flanking, base building, tech research all has to be used and refined much more intensely then on normal and tactical mistakes get punished. Sometimes even when you do all the right things, bad things can happen but it is less likely when you are careful :D

I don't want to say more in regards to the new gameplay mechanics as I don't want to spoil anything for the OP.

Enjoy it OP.

I wish I was starting all over again with no idea how to play.

Love this game so much :D

[ogreballerina]

Start on Easy...get used to game play.
Get to second month realizing how easy it is, bump it to Normal.
Repeat to mid game on Normal and change to Classic.
Do first Classic mission and rage quit ( or throw your mouse through your monitor..your pick )
Simmer for a few weeks and try again.
Get late game Classic and decide Ironman.
Mid Ironman game best squad wipe, destroy new monitor.
Wait a week and try again...
Finally you will get to Ironman Impossible and after 248 hours and several monitors and mice..not mention noise complaints because you Col Sniper just got killed at 2 AM, and your loud screams of anquish and denial echoed his , finally beat it.
And people will bow before you and call you a gaming god.

That's X-Com baby !

[DrOak2]

Thanks for the replies so far!

I think classic is probably out of the question for me. I have the impression from this forum that even some seasoned players have trouble with the EW classic... remember guys, I won't know what is best to research, what the best skills are, how some of the missions work, when to build to what, etc. On top of that, I'll try to get away without too much reloading (unless I completely misunderstood something or maybe with catastrophic failures), and won't have the real life time to restart the game too many times...

So yeah, I was thinking it's more between easy and normal, really :)

[Arkelis]

Tut tut tut.

Talk to the hand...

Only joking just enjoy it the way you want man.

I think it's a brilliant game and I have spent way too much time playing it :D

However, I've no regrets although those with an actual life might :P

[TheOtherBarry]

http://xcom.nexusmods.com/mods/10/?

There are some fixes to the Classic difficulty. Im not making stuff up about AI cheating with their aim and crit values. Now that mod I linked, I am not sure if it will work with the Enemy Within updates so read everything that mod author has typed out on the intro page.

[WoodMan]

For a new player I would recommend Normal with Ironman. I found Normal too easy and quit part way through my first campaign, ever since I've played Classic Ironman and never completed the game.

I would say ironman really makes the game more fun though, use it even if you go Easy.

[DrOak2]

ok thanks!

[Wolfman]

I don't play Ironman unless there is a patch for all those bugs. I already had some bugs that would have killed the game.