Does crouching decrease chance for enemy to hit?

[ToxorAxiom]

I've tried searching UFOpaedia on the topic, and I can't find anything specific regarding this. Some players end every soldier's action with a crouching position, some argue it does nothing. I've noticed that if an enemy is standing behind half-cover and I attempt to shoot at it when I'm crouching, the half-cover blocks LOS. So, if I'm standing and the bullet has LOS to the enemy, it made me wonder the opposite when I'm crouching and the enemy is standing.

So, let's assume the soldier is way out in the open, with nothing obstructing complete LOS. Does my crouching minimise the chance for an enemy's bullet to hit, even when said bullet has nothing blocking LOS? Put another way, if a bullet is heading straight for the soldier, would there be any variation in chance of bullet collision, be it crouching or standing?

EDIT: Thanks to everyone below for your answers.

Poet's got the short of it for us.

[Colonel Sanders Lite]

I think that there's a pretty small chance that crouching can turn a shot that would otherwise hit into a miss.

While the game shows percentages, it doesn't *really* work on actual percentage hit/miss rolls. It does some semi-complicated dispersion modelling and the worse you roll, the more dispersion the round has.

I believe that everything always shoots at center of mass. Imagine the rolls dictate that a shot goes a little high and a standing guy would take a plasma bolt to the face. Well, that same shot would pass right over a crouching guy.

Again though, this is a small chance sort of thing. Really just an edge case.

[Starving Poet]

Everyone has the gist of It - it doesn't affect probability in any way - all it does is make you a smaller target. Whether it's beneficial or not is marginal.

You need to remember that XCOM is a running a voxel engine with what you see being an abstracted isometric overview. When you shoot at something your weapon fires projectiles in a cone based on your accuracy. There's no rolling for hit or miss - you are rolling for a trajectory. Crouching only helps in the edge cases where the bullet was going to barely hit the top of your voxel but won't because you are now a bit shorter.

Its real benefit is for breaking enemy LOS since they can't fire at what they can't see*

*except for certain mods utilizing OXCE enhancements.

[ToxorAxiom]

Originally posted by Starving Poet:

...all it does is make you a smaller target. Whether it's beneficial or not is marginal.

... Crouching only helps in the edge cases where the bullet was going to barely hit the top of your voxel but won't because you are now a bit shorter.

Its real benefit is for breaking enemy LOS since they can't fire at what they can't see...

So, however marginal, it can be beneficial? I only want to know if it makes a difference, or none at all.

And is the enemy's LOS view reduced by distance? I know they can see up to 20 blocks and can have their vision impaired by smoke (all depending what smoke and where the smoke is, etc.), but does crouching reduce that sight number?

(I only ask all this 'cause I've seen you guys breaking stuff down here in the discussions based on the reverse engineering done, and I can't find the data on it myself.)

[Colonel Sanders Lite]

Originally posted by ToxorAxiom:

So, however marginal, it can be beneficial? I only want to know if it makes a difference, or none at all.

Yes, it does make a marginal difference. Not enough to be worth the 12 TU investment of crouching every turn IME. The accuracy bonus far outweighs any defensive utility, and even that is honestly kind of situational.

Originally posted by ToxorAxiom:

but does crouching reduce that sight number?

No, it doesn't.

[Starving Poet]

Yes, it can be beneficial, but at the cost of 12 TU - 4 to crouch, 8 to stand back up - that's a lot of wasted potential.

I only ever crouch these days in mods where there is a substantial bonus to aim associated with it. Or in situations where I can shoot from beyond enemy LOS since the accuracy bonus is also not worth the 12 TU cost.

Crouching has no affect on alien view distance, other than the times when it could remove you from view completely due to sight lines.

[Colonel Sanders Lite]

Originally posted by ToxorAxiom:

(I only ask all this 'cause I've seen you guys breaking stuff down here in the discussions based on the reverse engineering done, and I can't find the data on it myself.)

Oh, btw, you can find a bunch of mechanical information buried in the articles on this page -
https://www.ufopaedia.org/

[ToxorAxiom]

Originally posted by Colonel Sanders Lite:

Yes, it does make a marginal difference. Not enough to be worth the 12 TU investment of crouching every turn IME. The accuracy bonus far outweighs any defensive utility, and even that is honestly kind of situational.

That's the risk/reward "edging" aspect right there. I also found it to be a waste of TUs at times I needed my guy to stand back up and turn around 180 degrees, when needed. Is it really worth expending those precious TUs?

Knowledge is power, Commander.

[ToxorAxiom]

Originally posted by Colonel Sanders Lite:

Oh, btw, you can find a bunch of mechanical information buried in the articles on this page -
https://www.ufopaedia.org/

Thanks, I've been reading so many pages on there for quite a while, but I just never came across any details regarding this. I appreciate your help.

[Tetsuri]

Originally posted by ToxorAxiom:

Originally posted by Colonel Sanders Lite:

Yes, it does make a marginal difference. Not enough to be worth the 12 TU investment of crouching every turn IME. The accuracy bonus far outweighs any defensive utility, and even that is honestly kind of situational.

That's the risk/reward "edging" aspect right there. I also found it to be a waste of TUs at times I needed my guy to stand back up and turn around 180 degrees, when needed. Is it really worth expending those precious TUs?

Knowledge is power, Commander.

if you have enough TU to crouch and shoot, you have enough TU to back up out of vision range. Crouching can be helpful if you know you are going to be making a bunch of shots in position. You may be on a roof, in the back, or just about to fire a barrage off at several enemies or terror units. It can be useful when Chryssalid are about to approach. It's great for explosive launchers(if used at all), because anytime your shot flies up, it usually wastes the shot. You can use it in the front line to allow back units to fire over head. Crouching to completely block view of yourself is great defensively for scouts that are going to pop up and spot on the next turn. It's not any different from standing behind a wall.

Crouch is a very useful strategic tool, but you have to know how to use it; but if you're asking about it like this, then you're probably not at that level. Figure out how to minimize being seen first.

[Sly-Scale]

Crouching is prominently useful for when you're shooting over your own soldiers. Since there's friendly fire (and since pretty much everything is an early-game one-shot,) you *really* don't want to turn your miss into a friendly hit.

Beyond that, crouching probably makes a bigger difference on skilled soldiers: those with the TUs to afford it, and the skill to reduce the cost of each shot. Things you can't apply to the Bravery 10 meatshields you pick up.

[ToxorAxiom]

Originally posted by Sly-Scale:

...crouching probably makes a bigger difference on skilled soldiers: those with the TUs to afford it, and the skill to reduce the cost of each shot.

Good point!

[Empiro]

Crouching is most useful for shooting rather than for defense. Put your shooters in a good position and crouch them to increase their accuracy. Fire from beyond line-of-sight.

Generally speaking, you should never move (except out of view), fire, or crouch someone who is in view of an enemy. That can draw reaction fire.

If I'm planning on holding a position for a few turns, then crouching makes sense. Every little bit helps. Otherwise, I've found it better to stay mobile and just stand.

[chuckpolk]

The reason I crouch is if I have a soldier behind who is taking a shot. There is always the chance of beaning soldiers in front, but if they’re crouched (and the shooter isn’t) the bullet goes over their head.

Also, there is a LOS consideration. There are times I could see an enemy standing, and when I crouch, the enemy is no longer in LOS. It stands to reason that ducking behind concealment also removes you from their LOS.