starting missions

[The Faceless Man]

back from the moderator's ban-happy power-trip, and since then i've been kind of running restarts on Commander difficulty to research starter strategies.

now, as far as "dates" go, they may be off slightly, and times especially so. i could have also gotten some random missions mixed up, but the opening sequence of missions seems pretty consistent with this:

• Operation Gatecrasher | Feb 28, 2035 | ~ First Mission ~
  
• Guerilla Ops | Mar 6, 2035 | +Engineer
  
• Council Mission | Mar 13, 2035 | +Scientist, +Intel
  
• Retaliation | Mar 20, 2035 | +Regional Income
  
• Guerilla Ops (up to 3) | Mar 28, 2035 | ~ Conditional Rewards ~
  
• Avatar Project Announcement | Mar 30, 2035 | Avatar Progress +3
  
• Supply Raid | Apr 4, 2035 | +Alloys, +Elerium, +Supplies

(i completely forgot to write down the date of the Black Site Mission Announcement. i'll edit if/when i figure it out)


XCOM 1 had this sort of "guaranteed starting missions" that would happen in the first month, this is similar except I've noticed it's consistently in order. it's probably a good idea to not lose any of these missions, since they provide some foundation resources necessary to grow.


with both a laboratory and 1 scientist, you can complete magnetic weapons well before the Supply Raid mission. you need about 20 alloys or so to manufacture the weapons. however, you cannot even start the armor research until you have alloys.


thoughts? confirmations? etc.,?

[Saint Landwalker]

I don't suppose you recorded the date of the Black Market announcement, did you?

[The Faceless Man]

i knew i was forgetting something. -_-

it comes after the supply raid i believe, that's what triggers it. i guess the devs figured once you complete the supply raid, the first thing you'll wanna do is sell stuff.

[✚ Mariel ✚]

I wouldnt personally go for a lab. Not only does it cost supplies but it costs power, which requires a power relay which requires either an engineer or a workshop GREMLIN which requires a workshop AND an engineer

You kinda need to pick what you need the most initially, and the more you try to get the farther you push back comms which means you need to rush story missions to stall the AVATAR project

Personally I go for Guerilla Tactics School. Focus on excavation but usually start a Proving Ground contruction at the start of April. Get a power relay and workshop, doesnt need to be on a power coil thing. That lets me start stockpiling grenadiers fast, and after the April retaliation mission I can autopsy the muton and go for improved grenade launchers, plasma nades, and improved explosives for acid bombs. The excess supplies I end up with go into GTS tactics or purchasing engineers whenever the HQ has them.

By May I've got played armour and by mid-May I've got plasma nades. Mag cannons are usually the start of June as with 6 grenadiers you can take on everything with plasma nades. I usually prioritise getting a Psi Lab before the end of May so I can have 2 maxed Psi Ops by mid-July, and if I have the resources I can get Comms in May as well. Then it's rapid expansion while my nades carry the day. By the time I'm up against archons I already have major grenadiers (bullet swarm) and mag cannons.

Even without a lab you get the upgrades you need when you need them, and through the early and mid game plasma/acid grenades blow mag weapons out of the water

[The Faceless Man]

my guess is you're exaggerating, big time. mutons don't show up that early (in Commander difficulty, anyway), not to mention that if you're foregoing a laboratory, you're extending your research time by about 33% for the first (and possibly second) month.

personally, i wouldn't build a GTS. all the training is expensive on supplies, which take away from facility and item construction. proving grounds is a risky endeavour, because unlike research which guarantees you new tech, proving grounds will only give you random ammo or grenades, and at the cost of not-necessarily-available elerium cores (especially if you're grenading everything). and 1 or 2 extra squadmates doesn't matter if you play missions smart.

the best start is a lab on the first day. with the scientist, it's effectively cut research time in half. you can rush resistance comms and have a good solid income already before the first supply drop. access to predator armor can be achieved by the end of April. it's a safer bet too because you can reach avatar bases more quickly with the increased intel.

[The Faceless Man]

i'm fairly sure supply raid follows with black market. can anyone confirm?

i would check myself, but i'm still working on another playthrough.

[Empiro]

In my game, the Black Market came right after the first supply raid.

I wouldn't go for labs -- in the early to mid game you're resource constrained, and even if you research quickly, you won't be able to afford the weapons. This is especially true on 2nd and 3rd playthroughs where you know exactly the topics to research first.

I would go with the GTS early on. Getting backups for all your classes is very important and the squad size upgrade is a mere 50 supply. Vulture also pays for itself because you can sell the upgrades if you really want to.