How to acquire weapons from the aliens?

[himmatsj]

Some weapons such as the plasma pistol, rifle and light rifle can be apparently obtained from the aliens. I have a question...how do you get these?

I kill an alien...I see his rifle on the floor...but I can't seem to pick it up.

Also, are those three the only alien plasma weapons that can be obtained?

PS: I did apparently find a few plasma pistols and alien grenades, but it seems random to me. Can't think why I got them.

[BlackWater]

Only way too get intact weapons is to stun with your arc thrower, make sure your target is 3 health or less, else the stun may not work. No wish for spoikers, but I almost took the 1 alien grenade with me to the field, Good thign I happened to notice the foundry project that basicaly gives unlimted alien grenades in place of your standard ones. Ive been stunning left & right, only to just now notice research requires certain things, weapon fragments, etc. I have that nice heavy plasma rifle just begging to get researched, but I need 75 weapon fragments...

[himmatsj]

Aha...gosh the game could have made that clearer! I think I have a couple of plasma pistols because I stunned 2 sectoid commanders. The grenades must've been from here too.

Any idea which weapons can be obtained by this means? All weapons?

[Incunabulum]

All of the non-integrated weapons - no chryssalid egg implanters, no sectopod missile launchers.

There's three types of plasma gun (pistol, carbine, and rifle), the alien grenade, and (I think) the Fusion Launcher - If the aliens ever carry them (I've never seen them with one).

[theoptimisticgamer]

You can obtain weapons intact from UFO missions, although the fastest way to get access to the weapons the aliens possess, is to stun them with the arc thrower as mentioned before. However, live captures are extemely risky, so always have a backup plan because you never know how exactly the enemy will react. Also, 3 health or less will significantly raise your chance to stun from 70 percent at 3 health to 90 percent at 1 health. However, nothing is set in stone in xcom. Backup plans are a must. Distance from the target changes everything for percentage chances. I have had 99% chance to hit shots miss. If it is not 100%, it is not set in stone.

[himmatsj]

Originally posted by Incunabulum:

All of the non-integrated weapons - no chryssalid egg implanters, no sectopod missile launchers.

There's three types of plasma gun (pistol, carbine, and rifle), the alien grenade, and (I think) the Fusion Launcher - If the aliens ever carry them (I've never seen them with one).

So just those guns then? Thanks!

[hghwolf]

Aliens don`t carry Blaster Launchers. The plasma weapons you CAN get from stuns are actually Pistol, Light Rifle, Rifle and Heavy Plasma. The only tier three weapons you have to build yourself are the Sinper Rifle and the Shotgun.

And the Blaster Launcher but that doesn`t really fit into the tiering.

[Rox]

The game does make it clear, if you pay attention. Dr. Vahlen says that the "weapons appear to self-destruct when the operator dies". Stunning them with the Arc Thrower doesn't kill them, so they can take the weapon from them without damaging it. You still need to research the weapon in order to use it, though.

[himmatsj]

Guys, I did some research on the weapons on the Xcom wikia, and correct me if I'm wrong on this: You can research the Light Plasma Rifles once you've researched Weapons Fragments and also recovered a Light Plasma Rifle from a Thin Man? Which means this can theoretically be done quite early into the game...and that you can research the other Plasma weapons quite quickly too?

I only started researching mine after the 5th month, and I kinda regret it. Also, this possibly means you can easily skip the Laser/Beam weapons?

[hghwolf]

You CAN - I think, never tried it - but it`s a very, very risky move since even basic plasma weapons take a long time to research, and getting the research credits is also risky considering all you have is ballistics and MAYBE tier 2 armour. I wouldn`t try it on anything higher than Normal difficulty.

Lasers defiently are worth researching if only because they make Chryssalids and Mutons that much more manageble and even rifles reliably oneshot Thin Men for those nasty missions where it throws them at you like candy.

[Blitz0Leer]

Stun.

[Blitz0Leer]

Originally posted by hghwölf, now 100% more metal:

You CAN - I think, never tried it - but it`s a very, very risky move since even basic plasma weapons take a long time to research, and getting the research credits is also risky considering all you have is ballistics and MAYBE tier 2 armour. I wouldn`t try it on anything higher than Normal difficulty.

Lasers defiently are worth researching if only because they make Chryssalids and Mutons that much more manageble and even rifles reliably oneshot Thin Men for those nasty missions where it throws them at you like candy.

Plasma Sniper Rifle Solve All.

[Xerica]

Meh . just dont sell the weapon fragments and try not to go berserk with explosives on ufo missons and you can make your own weapons fast enough.

[Slaughterfest Sam]

Also, enemies that die under mind control will drop their weapons for you, but only if you don't blow them up (I think.) I'm pretty sure the rare sectoid that dies to poison will also drop its plasma pistol.

[himmatsj]

Originally posted by Darknessconsumes:

Meh . just dont sell the weapon fragments and try not to go berserk with explosives on ufo missons and you can make your own weapons fast enough.

Indeed. I have come to a point when I actually have a lot of excess money now. I started very, very tight (only had 2 satellites in or bit at the end of month 3), but I've been killing it ever since. I let some countries go though so as to be more focused in my efforts.

[Twelvefield]

Skipping lasers for plasma is definitely a workable strategy, at least up to Classic. The advantage is that you get plasma weapons a little sooner and that you save quite a bit of money in the late-early and early-mid game, money that can be spent on sats. The disadvantage is that soldiers die. Rely on heavies, snipers, and meatshields with arc throwers and it's possible to skip laser tech. It's up to you as the Base Commander, though, just as long as you save Earth from the X-Ray horde.