what to research first?

[gnorf73]

I was wondering, if I don't research things like advent officer autopsy or resistance communications, things that progress the story am I going to get screwed over somehow or can I research other things that will give me an edge like magnetic weapons before I move on to the story missions without penalty?

[Fringehunter7719]

It makes it harder, since you won't get access to the proving grounds, AWC, battle scanners or the ability to contact regions (which would increase your income and choice of guerilla ops). Magnetic weapons takes several times longer than doing those other projects.

Will it end your campaign? Probably not, but it comes with a number of penalties.

[gnorf73]

Gotchya, thanks

[DownSouth05]

He's right, you can get pretty far with the laser weapons early game. AWC is needed to decrease med time for wounded soldiers so Id say thats a priority. Next up is the Guerrilla Warfare center so you can use any PCS chips you find. Lasty the proving grounds to work on all that new tech you discover from doing autopsies.

[CursedPanther]

Don't forget AWC can unlock hidden abilities for soldiers. Once he/she has ranked past the hidden level, you'll never get it again.

[talemore]

Originally posted by Skinny_Legs:

He's right, you can get pretty far with the laser weapons early game. AWC is needed to decrease med time for wounded soldiers so Id say thats a priority. Next up is the Guerrilla Warfare center so you can use any PCS chips you find. Lasty the proving grounds to work on all that new tech you discover from doing autopsies.

There are no laser weapons in xcom2

[RetroRun]

Originally posted by talemore:

Originally posted by Skinny_Legs:

He's right, you can get pretty far with the laser weapons early game. AWC is needed to decrease med time for wounded soldiers so Id say thats a priority. Next up is the Guerrilla Warfare center so you can use any PCS chips you find. Lasty the proving grounds to work on all that new tech you discover from doing autopsies.

There are no laser weapons in xcom2

long war 2

[SamBC]

This is not a LW2 thread.

[red255]

you have limited funds and actions. you should research what you plan on using those funds for first.

I generally get the AWC up first, and the GTS. while I collect the three contacts you get from researching resistance comms. You time it so you have the least amount of downtime.

Once you have 3 resistance contacts you'll get 3 guerrilla ops options which means its more likely you get a better reward of intel or engineers or something.

Basically spreadsheets.

I'd still call MAG and Gauss weapons lasers because I still call legendary impossible and Commander classic.

you have two basic piles for decisions.

pile 1: research that improves your economy
Pile 2: research that improves your tactical power (killing force multiplier)

You generally want to spend on pile 1 until you either run into problems tactically or run out of monetary issues.

knowing when you'd run into problems tactically without Pile 2 research is experience.

[Ixal]

You cant really do much without the additional supply income you get from contacts, even if you researched the AWC, Proving Grounds or Mag weapons. So contacts should imo be researched first. After that I usually research weapons because one shotting everything the aliens throw at you for a while makes the game a lot easier.
Imo research is more about time management and removing bottlenecks so that what you research is useful immediately instead of researching something you wont be able to use until later.

[red255]

On Commander, I find the money I get from excavating a zone is typically enough to build the building I researched. especially if I sell stuff in the market (though thats not an option till it comes available in like the second month)

still its a priority research when resistance comms becomes available to do it. Resistance Radio is less important. as once I have 3 contacts I'm.... more OK. you get a large amount of stuff from the missions.

if you get 80 intel from a mission you can spend it in the black market on elerium and supplies. it converts pretty nicely.

wouldn't recommend doing it unless I also got alot of advent datapads. but by all means the NOW is sometimes more important than the later.

and you only need so much INTEL to handle the NOW.

but say I took those suppllies and bought scientists and used those scientists to convert some datapads into INTEL, I'd be ahead research wise since my scientists make me research faster, and supply wise.

because I burned that INTEL for supplies and used that supplies to get more intel faster.

but game has alot of RNG, and alot depends on its RNG. Because maybe a scientist isn't available for purchase.

I usually just buy engineers, which I'll spend up to 85 intel on.

engineers can be used for lots of things, clearing off your base, building faster, adding power. adding contacts.

I generally finish my base with....

2 engineers on resistance contacts +1 from the map gets me to 16. with 2 upgraded resistance comms.
1 AWC
1 PSI op
Power as needed
turrets are wholly optional.
usually have maybe 3 clearing.

Guessing I could manage with 7 engineers endgame. would have to check what is actually needed in terms of power. So if I'm less than 6 engineers I generally buy them.