What to do on impossible missions?

[Chyllstorm]

So, as I just had another squad wipe (including Mox) in my 29th consecutive game that I'm now going to lose (again, losing Mox and two other key soldiers early on), I simply don't understand what to do on certain missions or how the difficulty of the game is possible. I'm on the second difficulty. No, I will not play on the easiest. I understand the game mechanics, I simply don't understand how to ever get them to not *always* end my game, because full cover never works, careful movement isn't possible or you run out of time, agressive movement gets you killed, and so on. I'm always outnumbered, always outpowered. The old, original (reboot) XCom strategy of slow, careful progression simply fails every time, but so does everything else.

Just had a 3 person only mission. Had Mox, a templar and a ranger. This is earlier on in the campaign, so no major skills. Had to get to a crate and hack it before timer ran out. This game I do not have the "delay timer" perk. So, as I ran toward the crate in stealth at the beginning of the game for 3 turns, I was finally cut off by two enemies that forced me to break contact, so I did and easily killed them. By this point, though, there were only 4 turns left. First point- timer missions almost *always* have the timer item simply too far to get to and still fight through 3-5 pods of enemies, no matter how many exciting grenades or perfect shots I luck into (in most instances, of course, a turn consists of half your team missing 75%+ shots, but we all know this.)

I moved forward in full cover toward the crate room, but with 3 turns to go I was fighting three units- two soldiers and a leader. I easily took out the other two and skulljacked the leader, however as I was doing this they dropped reinfocements on my right flank at the end of that turn, where I couldn't move again. So, the next turn I had to get toward the crate so I ran Mox into full cover in front of the room- he would have been able to move to the crate and get it the last turn, but of course- while I'm already fighitng the three reinforcements from my right/rear, Mox's move revealed a viper and sectoid inside the room, who immedately flanked Mox. The Viper grabbed him and started the bound for 2 points, and so I ran my ranger (no one could shoot from where they were because of how far the Viper pulled Mox) to try to get in range to unbind Mox asap. Meanwhile, my Templar, in full cover in the rear, without getting a chance to move, had the Codex teleport behind him and critical hit him for a kill.

At this point, the ranger was moving to free Mox, and arrived for what I thought would be another turn of 2 points of bind damage, but no... suddenly it was 6 points, Mox dies, and the Viper immediately wraps up the ranger, game over. It literally wasn't possible for me to get to Mox or to get to the crate.

Should I just immediately evac on certain missions? Now my entire game is screwed, because not only did I lose those key figures, the negative effect from this mission is no overwatch shots hit, and without overwatch shots you're never going to survive without extreme luck, and I don't have any luck, ever, in anything.

Love the game, but I simply don't understand what I'm doing wrong every time I play. Yes, I have watched millions of hours of Let's Plays. Yes, I understand the best ways to load up a team and improve my gear and move into full cover rather than half, etc. But it all gets nullified every time- either crit hits through full cover, or now the Chosen running in halfway across the map, halfway killing someone and stunning them, then running entirely out of range invisible and impervious to overwatch. (I have managed to kill the assassin each time I've faced her, and the hunter, but they basically guarantee injured or killed party members if you're already fighting other enemies, and I don't know how to avoid that.)

What do you internet peoples do on these impossible missions? Evac right away and save your people? Or are you somehow magically flawless and never have a codex teleport behind you and crit hit/kill you, or have vipers grab you half way across the map? How did you attain such perfection, if so?

Been playing XCom since the original (original original, I'm 45) and this version feels "definitive", but it also feels like a lost cause that I'll only ever finish if I get really, really, really, really, really lucky.

Ok, needed to rant. I'm tired of trying to keep Mox and Elena alive in a game. Dunno why they hired famous voice actors with how easy it is for them to die (had Mox die early in a prior attempt, he had 19 dodge early on, was crit killed while hunkered down in full cover.)

[Zyrrashijn]

Cool story, bro. Hope you are feeling better now. Sadly, there's only two options for you: Git easy or git gud.
For every trait any enemy has, there's a counter. Most involve killing pre-emptively or the liberate use of flashbangs. And, of course, don't take any unnecessary risks.

[Tiasmoon]

3 soldiers only, and sergeant only SITrep missions are very, very hard in general OP. I'd advise skipping them. And sometimes if you see you wont be able to beat a mission while playing it, its better to evac out.

One thing I would note tho: Don't rely on Overwatch. It will often miss, and prevent any action other then shooting at a completely random enemy. (usually at low chance)

[Angela™]

You can have all the inside knowledge in the world, but nothing can save you from bad RNG.

[K. the Land-Surveyor]

Why are you activating the Codex when you only have three soldiers? There's no penalty for waiting to use the Skulljack, so you may as well sit on it until you have mag weapons + bluescreen protocol.

For that specific mission, that squad template sounds kinda terrible. I haven't gotten the 3 man Sitrep yet, but to me, that squad doesn't sound great. You need to be as efficient with actions as possible, which I think a Templar is going to force you not to be. Either the Templar is going to hang back, making it difficult to use him to his full potential, or you're going to rush him forward, triggering pods you're not ready for, activating an additional 2-3 enemies when you have, at max, 4 actions left between your squad members. I don't know what equipment you brought with you, but you could have brought some flashbangs to buy your squad some time during awkward engagements.

One thing that helps is to know what the "Mission difficulty" means. It's the number of units left on the map. So, for example, "Difficult" is 9 (Or maybe 9-10) units on the map, so if you've already killed 2 pods, you probably know there's only one pod remaining which should hopefully free up your movement somewhat.

[Private Pyle]

You evac. Recognize when you are outnumbered and out gunned a cut your losses. Early game, one dead solider can really skew your chances of completeing a mission. Get out, save who you can and push on.

I had two near squad wipes on my current play through, one early game and one mid game. With the chosen and boss aliens just randomly showing up, its going to happen. Just have to build a deep roster.

If the wipe happens in the first 5 mission or so, i usually just restart my campaign.

Also, when things go south, sacrifice the rookies and get your high ranking troops out. When I know my mission will fail, it's about saving what people and equipment is most valuable.

[phillip_lynx]

If this was an one time desaster I would say it was the RNG who messed it up. But since that happens to you always, then somethung on your tactics is wrong.

I also have played all UFO Games since the very first (I am 52) and on the 2nd difficulty I have o such problems. OK a little savescum involved, when bugs or chrshes ruined a savegame or in early game have a squadwipe.

Hard to tell, where you can improve since I do not know your playstyle. Maybe make an LP on Youtube or twitch so we can watch and help you. But here are some things that may help if you do not do this on your own.

Ome thing I have learned trough WotC is, that overwatch traps are not the best way to break concealment. I now mostly put only 1 guy in OW , when this guy has no other means of acting than shoot. It is better to have your guys able to act after the aliens scatter, you may even get a flankingsjot on them.

And of course, if possible, bring an specialist to hacking missions.

And if revealed, take also shots with 30 to 50 % hitchance than OW. I was astound how many shots hits in this range :).

And if hitchances to low, move you soldiers out of LOS.

If I come to other tips, I will add it to this thread :).

I wish you good luck Commander,

[Manhattan]

I find the game is imposssible because it crashes my computer before I can play the entire game

[Player]

Hacking missions bring a specialist so you can hack from range and stop the timer

[Sammarok-GoodGaming]

Originally posted by Noblesdown:

I moved forward in full cover toward the crate room, but with 3 turns to go I was fighting three units- two soldiers and a leader. I easily took out the other two and skulljacked the leader, however as I was doing this they dropped reinfocements on my right flank at the end of that turn, where I couldn't move again. So, the next turn I had to get toward the crate so I ran Mox into full cover in front of the room- he would have been able to move to the crate and get it the last turn, but of course- while I'm already fighitng the three reinforcements from my right/rear, Mox's move revealed a viper and sectoid inside the room, who immedately flanked Mox. The Viper grabbed him and started the bound for 2 points, and so I ran my ranger (no one could shoot from where they were because of how far the Viper pulled Mox) to try to get in range to unbind Mox asap. Meanwhile, my Templar, in full cover in the rear, without getting a chance to move, had the Codex teleport behind him and critical hit him for a kill.

Ok, here right here is what went wrong.

1) Is a max 3 soldier + Timed mission + hacking mission. Right there, you know it will not be easy plus is timed. At the moment you know there is a timed mission and (hello!) hacking!, you know you will be in a hurry to the objective, so where is your specialist and scout? In this case (timed mission), I would recommend at least 1 scout (reaper if possible, you have mox so I asume you have the reaper too, if not, you can use the ranger to scout too, but reaper is better than ranger for this) that can run the map without alerting enemies, and of course to scout the area so you can plan your movement and see patrols, etc. And more important, your Specialist? is a hacking mission, you forgot him :(

2) Mox (skirmisher) + Ranger + Templar -> Bad decision. Ranger and Templar both have very poor aiming, worst aiming clases they are (well, ranger is not as bad in aiming as lets say, granadier, but templar is worst in aiming), also skirmisher is not that good with aiming. Why would you bring the 3 bad in aiming together in a 3 max soldier timed mission that you need to hack too? This is really a poor choice of a team for this mission :(

3) Skulljacked....really? in a 3 man soldier + Timed mission, all melee team ... here my friend, you burried your own grave. Why will you awake a Codex? You know you are outnumbered, why will you call more enemies, specially a Codex! BTW, skulljack is best to have on a Specialist ;) because of the hacking bonus it adds later on. (if you build the upgrade, that I recommend you do as is a nice hacking bonus)

4) Is very important to see where the reinforcements will arrive (red flare), so you can position your soldiers for when they arrive. The game always tell you/let you know when the reinforcement are coming and where. So you have, a Codex + Reinforcements, you are wrong positioned (because you said your turn ended with the reinforcement arriving and you not able to move anymore) and then you plan to keep pushing forward revealing more enemies? You don't do that, you can't keep poping more enemies with what is at your back already, forget about the time here, you have only 1 choice now, deal with reinforcement + Codex first. Codex most of the time, will do their skill to disable your weapon (8 out of 10 times), but there is a chance she will flank a soldier and do extra damage.

Next time you just need to plan better, bring a better team, not all melee or all anything. Have always a scout if possible. Avoid 3 max soldiers missions early on or if you don't have a proper team ready for the mission, decision making is the most difficult part of the game.

[Sammarok-GoodGaming]

Originally posted by Pe Ell:

wait until you get far enough that the game just ""blue screeens your entire systom""

Blue screen = hardware failure.

[discodog]

Soldiers die, especially early game. Just try not to get wiped. In the mission you are in I think you can continue after you lose the objective, if you know you can't get to the objective let it go slow down and try and get the xp from kills.

[reddog832]

I feel your pain friend , I have killed all the chosen and am well into the campaign and now have what I would call an impossible mission. I too have played xcom since the beginning in the 90's. I'm 58 and love strategy games but this has me beat. I'm facing 5 Archons, the King Archon, 2 andromedons god knows how many advent (stun lancers, flame guys , priests ect.) And about 30 lost. I have to rescue 2 resistance dudes and escort one vip. The Resistance guys are guarded by the Archons. I have tried everything even running round them but the advent are all over the map. This one has me baffled

[theworld]

Why the heck would you skulljack to unleash Codex on a difficult mission? Seriously, WTF?

[Stark Raving Sane]

XCOM has an element of RNG. There will never be a perfect plan that will always work. The key to winning is knowing how to minimize risks.

I always bring a specialist. They can provide ranged healing that can be a life saver. Combat and haywire protocall helps take care of low health or mech enemies. Most importantly, aid protocall will save lives. You were running several close-range soldiers. When my ranger pulls more than I can handle, aid helps them survive till my next turn. Also, ranged hacking is critcal on timed missions.

[Richard]

Today I ran into the mission with chosen assassin which knockouted 2 of my troops before i got him. (also early game I hadnt even got rail guns) Then I tought hardest part must be behind me alredy but ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ no! I got swarmed by advent! There was 18 units on mission recap written. I was overhelm because I got 5 man squad with 2 KO from the assassin. And I couldnt call evac on the blacksite. So I went like die all ****** i dont care for ******* and I completed that mission with one single soldier left standing. XD I know how you feel man. Impossible missions can enrage anybody.

Or I got instakill from 2 advent soldiers on my best soldier. I missed 5/7 shots on 70% chance. Then they got 2 crits in a row. This is why I dont play on ironman. In theese situations you feel like you are being ******* really badly.