This game is unbalanced and broken

[Kel'Thuzad]

So which genius dev thought it would be a good idea to:...

1/ Give Sectoids 6-8 health, mind control and auto-panick early in the game? When you only have weapons that can do about 3 damage (if you're lucky enough to land any of the 30-40% hit chances, which is about the best the game gives you).
This is almost as bad as it would be fighting against Ethereals early on in XCOM 1.

2/ Have a soldier wounded for ~19 days for only taking 3 damage, when it's too early in the game to have enough armour to prevent this?
The game is basically saying "complete the mission flawlessly without taking a scratch, or go ♥♥♥♥ yourself".

3/ Add in some melee mobs who can not only hit you THROUGH WALLS (after dashing) but also stun your guys for a turn..

I'm trying to complete the first "save 6 civilians" mission and it's simply impossible. There are only 2-3 civilians within reach of my squad's starting position, and the rest are killed by enemies too far off for me to engage. My only choice would be to sprint recklessly through the level, which isn't even an option when wounded soldiers are out of action for almost a month. Soldiers are so weak early in the game that even 2-3 enemies tie down your squad for around 3 turns, which is enough for the far away enemies to wipe out all the civilians. And to top it all off the game says "hurr hurr by the way you start without concealment trololol"

So far every mission in the game has had some sort of time limit, meaning you can't even take your time to get familiar with the game mechanics & favourable tactics, or set up proper ambushes and the like.

This isn't my idea of fair or fun.

[The Last Helldiver™]

We lost the war. We're outnumbered and outmatched.

Fair isn't even something to consider here.

[MrBananaGrabber]

lol, the xcom fanatics are going to rip you to pieces. fyi I couldn't agree with you more. Good luck, here they come...

[Kel'Thuzad]

Originally posted by Cyriel Dosferatu:

We lost the war. We're outnumbered and outmatched.

Fair isn't even something to consider here.

This isn't about realism, it's about unfair game design and mechanics, and imbalancing.

Originally posted by MrBananaGrabber:

lol, the xcom fanatics are going to rip you to pieces. fyi I couldn't agree with you more. Good luck, here they come...

Line 'em up!

[CoyoteCat]

I think 2 is a fair point, but with the right tactics, sectoids are not that dangerous in the beginning of the game, and neither are melee mobs.

Trying to save the civliians also is not very difficult.

I think you might just not be that good at the game yet.

[✪ Battle Fox ✪]

It's almost like you're fighting a losing battle uphill... like what Xcom is meant to be.

Lower the difficulty level if it's too hard.

[Thomas Eichhorst]

I can't say about balance, since this is my first playthrough, but I don't agree that almost every mission has a timer. Less than a half missions have timers, and so far I have managed to solve them all on difficulty one notch below Legendary.

[Kingjello]

sectiods are the easied to kill, and just stop crying and get the second set of weapons that can usaly take em out in 1 or 2 shots, or 1 crit shot. I dont get how so many people are crying . Just man up and just play smarter

[Banana King]

So far the pacing is similar to the Original X-COM in that the begining of the game can be brutal. But if you keep pace in tech it gets easier and easier. Hopefully it doesn't go the route of the original or EU:EW that you eventually get to a point of steam rolling over everything. Hopefully it stays challenging unless you do exceptionally well.

[Thneed]

A blinding light flows down from the heavens. A golden light fills the room. A great, booming voice speaks from nowhere and everywhere, "Get good."

[MrBananaGrabber]

Before this thread becomes 100% toxic, I'll add my fun experiences:

* Having an enemy unit use a melee attack on me from the floor above.
* A faceless swiping at a soldier - blowing up whatever flammable thing was next to him. Instantly killing the soldier.
* Rushing a VIP to evac, with only 3 turns left, only to discover a patrol squad (with snake), a faceless appear, and also two heavies. The best part is that I only had two moves left, and they all missed my last soldier (the odds of that are virtually impossible). That is the first and only time RNG has saved me, rather than utterly ****ing me over.
* An alien shot missing you when you are on the roof, but the damage causing the floor to collapse, and the fire to kill you before you get to take a turn.
* Setting off an alien patrol just by moving one unit forward at the very start of a mission, then getting naded by the first alien turn.

I could go on and on, and that's all on top of the performance issues and general bugs. I have no idea why I still play it in the current state its in.

[Lantanek]

On what difficulty do you play? If it is too hard for you lower the difficulty. I play on Commander Ironman and it is a fun tough challenge for me.

Against the Sectoits flashbangs are your friend it disables most special ability of an enemy. Always try to get a flank on the enemy and keep your squaddies in buddy teams. Try to not spread them out too much, so they are able to support each other. And be wary not to activate too many pods at once. If you do, you will find yourself in a pickle. Later on the mimic beacon is your squaddies best friend.

Hope those basic tips could help you. The game isn't unbalanced you were just using wrong tactics.

[Kel'Thuzad]

Originally posted by Thomas Eichhorst:

I can't say about balance, since this is my first playthrough, but I don't agree that almost every mission has a timer. Less than a half missions have timers, and so far I have managed to solve them all on difficulty one notch below Legendary.

Well so far I've only had missions with "do X before Y explodes", "evac X before Y happens", "Save 6 civvies before they all die in 5 turns"

Originally posted by Pocket Fox:

It's almost like you're fighting a losing battle uphill... like what Xcom is meant to be.

Lower the difficulty level if it's too hard.

Don't think people should have to play on easy just to not be banging their head against the deck on the first playthrough. Normal should be achievable for people who smashed XCOM 1.
Again, it isn't about realism. XCOM1 was also a losing uphill battle but never felt like it had any balance issues.

Originally posted by CoyoteTheClever:

I think 2 is a fair point, but with the right tactics, sectoids are not that dangerous in the beginning of the game, and neither are melee mobs.

Trying to save the civliians also is not very difficult.

I think you might just not be that good at the game yet.

Ok then please tell me how you so easily save the civilians

[Thomas Eichhorst]

^ yes, performance issues - namely sporadic cutscene slowness - are real.

[Hendumaica]

I believe how bad the wound is depends not only on the amout of damage taken but also the amount taken in one hit.

The very first missions can be tricky since your soldiers are crap. Don't be afraid to use grenades: They would one shot ennemies and/or destroy cover to open a clearer line of sight.

early on you don't want to spread ennemies dps on your soldier. Use one to take all the attention, if it dies you wouldn't care it's a newbie and you'ld never end with a whole crippled team.

[Thomas Eichhorst]

Originally posted by Kingjello:

sectiods are the easied to kill, and just stop crying and get the second set of weapons that can usaly take em out in 1 or 2 shots, or 1 crit shot. I dont get how so many people are crying . Just man up and just play smarter

Yes, one hit with even the newbie ranger saber is usually enough. They are a soft target and swords work wonders on them.