$&@%!!!! Second Wave options are KILLING ME!

[himmatsj]

The second wave options, namely training roulette, not made equal and hidden potential is a NIGHTMARE. Started off well, I had OP heavies very quick, but then exactly half of all my troops were heavies, and I had ONLY ONE sniper. My demise began in Gangplank. Lost 3 men there, when a cyberdisk blew out on the doorway 9stupid me really).

Then in the next mission, I had an EXALT. God, the map was a high rise building, and the EXALTS were coming in from down below. I made the mistake of taking all my men up. Every one of them fell, one by one. Six more good men lost. And the next mission...it was a Terror mission.

It was too much....Chrysslids were coming from everywhere, had a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ cyberdisc too....try holding out for as long as I could...lost 2 men and I said this time I bail.

I live to fight one last day. I still have one or two decent soldiers, with beam weapons and carapace armor. Hard to think if my downfall has been due to the randomness I subjected myself to, or the VERY disastrous EXALT mission (God, the map is really difficult and never faced it on my previous run).

PS: I am wondering though, why did I get Cyberdisks and Mutons so early? I certainly remember my first EW playthrough a few days back, Mutons and Cyberdisks came in later. Is it because I captured a Muton, and had access to faster Plasma tech (though I haven't researched it)?

[Tenacious Rodent]

Well those options are specifically there to torture you so... :p

[Mandemon]

Soo... don't play with them? I mean, Second Wave options exist to make the game harder.

[T0MMY]

I actually find the training roulette fun, a lot new possiblities and interesting combination.

I think cyberdisk popping that early is probably you captured a Muton, same thing happen to me on my second playthrough.

[Poor Dick]

FYI, second wave options have nothing to do with class assignment. You could get a load of heavies and only one sniper with all three second wave options off. That said, its a crap shoot.

I've had some amazingly strong soldiers roll out (100+ aim and will heavies with above average health and movement) and some crap soldiers roll out (~70 aim and ~50 will sniper at max level). Overall, I think I come out ahead (more good soldiers than bad), but, again, its a crap shoot: it could go either way.

[himmatsj]

Originally posted by T0MMY:

I actually find the training roulette fun, a lot new possiblities and interesting combination.

I think cyberdisk popping that early is probably you captured a Muton, same thing happen to me on my second playthrough.

Shouldn't capture a muton so early then. Not like I was planning to rush for plasma. But, that's bad game logic...it should only be the case if I initiate plasma research. :(

[Mouse Lover]

I am playing Classic Ironman at the moment with:

1.- New economy (Risk worth taking, if they give me good money on starter contry).
2.- Absolutely Critical (Saved my life a lot of times, also got a very few of my men killed by thin men).
3.- High Stakes (I am never using this one again: 2 engies for one alien abduction).
4.- Training Roulette (I am never playing without this one from now on. It's sooo awesome the mixes you can get with your men!)
5.- Not created equally (This one is a double blade sword at the start of the game. I just kick any rookie, squaddy (New guy: OTS) that does not have a higher aim than what should be concider normal on this spreadsheet: http://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Soldiers_%28EU2012%29 ).


I am doing fine with these second wave options at the moment:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=198767295

[Nu-men von Kryt !!XD]

From what i get and saw in EW some of the timetable events is dynamic adjustment to some things you do. Which is by the way more advanced than in EU which by the basic the only thing changed was that how much of percentage you get to see mutons with standard Plasma Rifle instead of the "light" version.

On some of my failed games up to 9 (finally i have my precious SW options unlocked). And Timetable to see more random stuff sometimes. Once i got the normal EU timetable sectoid, thin man, floaters etc. But in game one the first month i got at 2 abduction + initial interception (and all in those missions i just went through the aliens like 150 mm shell though 3 sheets of paper ) and after i got thin man+seekers+floater right of the bat.

[Qutsemnie]

I did this just yesterday, but for gangplank I reloaded to a save prior to entering the mission. Gangplank is a little odd to me, it is far more challenging than anything else you can get at that time if you do them as they appear. I hadn't played since I got slingshot and didn't realize it. Having played about a 100 hours of the vanilla I am pretty sure the best advice for gangplank is to take it when you feel strong and not when it appears. Now that I think about it though I haven't had any bomb diffuse missions, I hope slingshot didn't push them out.

As for the topic at hand, I think in the end its easier (on classic) who knows what I would have thought if I hadn't reloaded that gangplank though right? But, I counter that with: I wouldn't have done gangplank like I did in a second play through, so which opinion do you want? So far I only had two important loses and a mixture of veterans. One of the vets went down in the mission prior to gangplank in slingshot.

One thing I noticed that is fun about random stats is to some degree you cannot pick your teams classes. The thing is that no matter how many people you recruit the goal of best stats is conflicts with the goal of best classes. Its only chance if that occurs, and a rare chance. More often you will have to pick slightly inferior stats to get the classes you want. That said, it is feasible to get better stats than vanilla and get all the classes you want as long as you are willing to ignore the fact that you have a rock star sitting doing nothing. Only my 6th person had a real conflict where I had input on the classes. The top 5 stat people were heads and shoulders above the other options in stats. This is after I recruiting like 40 people over the course of the game.

At the start random stats is a bit more challenging than vanilla. It takes a serious early investment in cash to weed out all the scrubs and get a barracks of fine recruits. Balancing early development and recruiting takes some thought.

I will say I never customized my characters until random stats. They felt more special when I found them to be above average. I gave them nicknames and beards to be all special forces looking.

I have also noticed I value above average will over above average aim. I didn't set out to do that, but after I considered what I selected I realized the wills were like 25 above vanila and some of the aims were barely as good as vanila. It is because the starting vanila will of 40 got summarily rejected when I was evaluating recruits.

I didn't pay much attention to HP and haven't really noticed. Run speed I have noticed but didn't recruit for. The result is I have a sniper with godly stats (101 will/117 aim) that is slow as heck, and a rockstar support that has near 100/100 and runs like a race horse with great HP. The support can almost cover the ground in one move that the sniper covers in 2. It is ridicolous.

[Nu-men von Kryt !!XD]

yeah like my assault with mind shiled+psi armor = 173 will and 99 aim.

[himmatsj]

Originally posted by Mr.CoachWildRide:

I am playing Classic Ironman at the moment with:

1.- New economy (Risk worth taking, if they give me good money on starter contry).
2.- Absolutely Critical (Saved my life a lot of times, also got a very few of my men killed by thin men).
3.- High Stakes (I am never using this one again: 2 engies for one alien abduction).
4.- Training Roulette (I am never playing without this one from now on. It's sooo awesome the mixes you can get with your men!)
5.- Not created equally (This one is a double blade sword at the start of the game. I just kick any rookie, squaddy (New guy: OTS) that does not have a higher aim than what should be concider normal on this spreadsheet: http://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Soldiers_%28EU2012%29 ).


I am doing fine with these second wave options at the moment:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=198767295

!!!!!

I used the EXACT FIVE! These are the ones that really give the best gameplay experience in terms of freshness.

[MattStriker]

If you want a second wave option that'll really ruin your day, try Damage Roulette. It's a complete and utter mess, heavily favors the aliens and will cause you to experience insane-level fun with Thin Men even on easy difficulty.

[John Hadley]

I think a lot of the second wave options actually make the game easier not harder.

[Znail]

A kot is a bit exagerated, but some do make it easier. Absolutly Critical, Not created Equal and Training Roulette helps, while New Econmy and High Stakes might help, but may also screw you over. The rest are just bad for you.

[Nu-men von Kryt !!XD]

Originally posted by Znail:

A kot is a bit exagerated, but some do make it easier. Absolutly Critical, Not created Equal and Training Roulette helps, while New Econmy and High Stakes might help, but may also screw you over. The rest are just bad for you.

well after my observations there is one more Second Wave setting that makes game easier which is contrary to the most opinions.

Well absolutely critical levels the playing field somewhat -> hardened means mecs and shiv survive longer since they gain 100% defense against critical hits and the are only few hardened aliens. Also Resilence skill gets a bonus (even in EW) my soldiers with it never get a critical hit or werent hit at all -> 50/50 flip coin so if we have critical immune so 50/50 flip coin if the alien will even hit(even flanked soldier).

Not to mention flanking is somewhat broken without this in EU and "aiming angles" is good supplement in EW.

[Qutsemnie]

I really want the random skills in EW for a play through, but there is no way I am giving them more than 5 dollars for it.