Wow, the Slingshot Mission "Friends in Low Places" is OP on Classic

[himmatsj]

I couldn't stop myself from starting Classic Ironman, and I chose Slingshot when the prompt came up. ALL 4 my members got wiped out, mainly because I didn't anticipate a damn Chyssalid this early! Managed to kill it, but not before it zombified one of my soldiers.

4 my best went down that day. Anyway, I rebuilt...but for some reason the SAME mission came again as a Council Mission (or maybe Slingshot missions repeat till you win?). This time, there was a damn Muton in there!

That's like ridiculous. Another wipeout, and I am left with 4 guys and no backups. Gonna restart a new game tomorrow. Please advice on this Slingshot pack. Maybe I'll skip it if indeed you all feel it is too difficult.

PS: On the Wikia, it says a Muton only spawns on Impossible difficulty. Why did it spawn in mine?

[CTHOMP]

I don't think you have to do the slingshot missions right away. You can wait till you are better equipped. On another note.. .maybe adapt/change strategy when approaching the mission. Be very careful, methodical and cautious. It shouldn't be that hard if you play right.

[himmatsj]

Afaik, you can only play it at the beginning. If you delay, I think either abductions or council missions won't show up.

[leandrombraz]

Yeah, you don't need to do it ASAP, do it when you feel confortable, only remember that you gonna have to control panic with sattelites and abduction missions, you won't have any other type of council mission into you do it. IMO the first mission is easy, just go slowly and be ready for the cryssalid. The other two missions is a good idea to get a litle better before going there...

[leandrombraz]

Originally posted by himmatsj:

Afaik, you can only play it at the beginning. If you delay, I think either abductions or council missions won't show up.

yeah, the first mission I think you can't delay, but the other two you can...

[Xerica]

Just over watch alot in that misson. They are no aliens at the beginning they always pop in depending how close you get towards the evac point. Just take it slow on that misson , always just move without dashing and keep using overwatch. WHen they pop in you will at least have one enemy killed before your turn.

THe Zombie maker (Or muton will always show up when you get close to over or at half through the cemetary) The Slingshot misson friends in low places is the first misson for the 3 misson dlc pack. after that its the train misson count down and then disabling a ship.

[himmatsj]

Originally posted by Darknessconsumes:

Just over watch alot in that misson. They are no aliens at the beginning they always pop in depending how close you get towards the evac point. Just take it slow on that misson , always just move without dashing and keep using overwatch. WHen they pop in you will at least have one enemy killed before your turn.

THe Zombie maker (Or muton will always show up when you get close to over or at half through the cemetary) The Slingshot misson friends in low places is the first misson for the 3 misson dlc pack. after that its the train misson count down and then disabling a ship.

Yes, that's right. Overwatch all the way. I ended up playing it 3 times, as I started 2 Ironman Classics, but found it to be totally unforgiving so played a regular Classic. Still lost one man due to bad roll out of my favour, but overwatch is the way.

[Dasyanna]

Overwatch is key (both in this mission & any mission). When the cryssilid shows up, just focus fire on it and use any explosives if you have a poor chance at taking it out.

I'm going through my second or third classic ironman right now, and posting them to YouTube. I've finished all the Slingshot missions as of yesterday. Check my videos (they're in my profile) they might help you out in both the Slingshot missions as well as just general play through & stratagy.

[zarnivop]

The aliens come in 3 waves + there's a sectoid in overwatch ambush. If you play right, you tackle each wave seperately, healing, reloading and positioning before each stage.
Positioning is crucial because you can set your assult with the shotgun close at hand OR place a granadier. Either way you take out the thin men/sectoid with a single shot (2 for classic/impossible).
Know your invisible markers. The 1st wave hits on the 1st alien turn. The next - with the chryssilid and a thin man - when you 1st get to the outer wal of the central square. You can do the sectoid before that, going aroun the square.
Use your big damage dealers on the chryssilid: Sniper+rocket
After that you have the last wave of a sectoid+ a thin man when you get to the gate right before the evaq point.

[Vantave]

I beat it on Normal with only 2 snipers (1 died) with somewhat ease :P Here's a question though: Do I need to keep the guy alive? :P

[subscriber]

In EW, none of the missions are offered again if not immediately taken. The only delay that can be worked out is if there is a soldier in a lab, and the view in the lab says there are only a few hours left to complete the procedure, but even then it is a risk, and the mission might be gone for good.

Muton does regularly get spawned under Classic/Ironman level, so wiki must be wrong about it. A Chyssalide emerges for Normal and Easy levels.

The spawn and the encounter points, and the frequency of the occurrences are the same, so it can be routinely completed without casualties, unless you manage a really nice move, when you are immediately afterwards "awarded" with an extremely annoying set-up; for instance, during the "Friends in low places", if you early enough manage to get a "squadsight" sniper behind the wall on the left side of the yard, from where the sniper can see and shoot at almost anything on the map because it is just slightly, but elevated enough position, a "bonus" Thinman emerges the next move behind the sniper's back :) If you manage to eliminate (I'm not totally sure about this one, it only happened a few times) all of the opposition just from the initial overwatch, another Thinman emerges behind the wall on left side, and so on...

General advice for the "Friends in low places" is to enter the battle with at least two MECs, or, if you are lucky, already with five, maybe even six soldiers. If you have a lousy sniper, rather take a lower ranked heavy instead. Leave support out of this fight, unless you think they can somehow bring something valuable (a good sentinel, rapid reaction or a grenadier with deep pockets are notable exceptions).

"Friends in low places" almost never comes too early in EW, though, unlike "Portent", that is almost always a suicide mission, unless all of the six in the squad are good shooters and hold decently high ranks.

[Miteusz]

PS: According to UFOpaedia ( http://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Friends_in_Low_Places_(EU2012)#Tactics ) you will get Muton instead of Chryssalid if you will do that mission later.

[Stardustfire]

Necromancer will get burned u know? and Necromancers that spread wrong knowledge will be burned twice.

[Miteusz]

Originally posted by Stardustfire:

Necromancer will get burned u know? and Necromancers that spread wrong knowledge will be burned twice.

So what?

[SamBC]

That is pretty excessive thread necromancy.

However, backseat moderation is also not allowed.