Any tips for a new-ish player?

[jasta85]

So, I backed the game during its crowdfund campaign and played it a little when it first launched on epic but stopped after a short time due to the launch technical issues. Have had it sitting on the back burner since then and with the new DLC coming out this week I figure now's a good a time as any to jump back in.

Given that I only played the launch version a few years ago, I'd appreciate any advice on any major things I should do or shouldn't do once I jump in. For example is there some line of research that I should be getting as soon as possible, should I be trying to expand quickly or can I take my time etc.

[Sheesh]

Play on Rookie. The game is quite terrible of explaining the nuances of its systems - there's no shame in taking it *easy* the first time around.

Play the prologue/tutorial: you'll get 5 characters instead of 4 and playing the tutorial will already level them up to level 2-3.

When you get timed missions (10 days to start them), stall them instead of taking them on directly, they can be quite tricky.

Try to understand the implications of the line-of-sight system early on; half and full cover symbols do not reduce damage or give enemies some sort of accuracy malus, if they can see you, they can hit you - it's all about how much of you they can see and which body parts they might hit.

Think about armour and the importance of shredding it.

Use the promotional codes before starting a new game (there's some sort of key symbol in the main menu somewhere next to the twitter etc bollocks) and when you start a new game, check 'use promotional skins'.
PHOENIXFRIENDS
HAPPYHEAVYHOLIDAYS
WATCHTHESKIES
HERECOMESTHEPHOENIX

If you have nothing else to produce, make grenades (they take a while to build), you should always have 6 or 10 spare lying around to replenish after a mission.
Speaking of grenades: 50 blast, 10 shred doesn't look that impressive on the first glance, but explosives usually hit multiple body parts and apply shred to all parts hit.

In the beginning, your most dangerous enemies are humans since all pandorans start melee, humans come with guns. The initial faction missions that kick of your relations may catch you off-guard.

If you can't outright kill an enemy, see if you can disable him: click on the enemy, click [info] to see its stats, abilities and equipment. You can hover over equipment to get a tooltip with further info.
Examples: a sniper rifle takes 3 AP to shoot (all enemies start with 4 AP/round just like you), if you war cry a sniper which sets his AP to a max of 2, he can't shoot his rifle. Some have pistols (1 AP shot), some don't.
If an enemy only has 2-handed weapons and you disable one of his arms, he cannot harm you any further and can be savely ignored. Same goes for say a melee-only arthron if you disable his pincer.

Killing more enemies does not give more XP in total, all it can change a little is who specifically gets more of the total XP share. So taking kill shots with underleveled operatives makes sense, but trying to clear a map just for the sake of it doesn't - you'll just spend more resources on replenishing ammunition.

That's about it for now, I guess.

[jasta85]

For those promotional skins, are those party of the existing DLC or am I supposed to type in those names as a code or something?

So, since you don't get more xp for killing, for missions that have an objective (aside from clearing the map) I should just try and rush the objective and leave, and only kill what I need to along the way?

[Sheesh]

You have to type those codes in, I *think* they're part of the free patches, worst thing that could happen is the game tells you it doesn't recognize them or whatever. The key symbol should be the last in line in the bottom left of the main menu.

Originally posted by jasta85:

So, since you don't get more xp for killing, for missions that have an objective (aside from clearing the map) I should just try and rush the objective and leave, and only kill what I need to along the way?

Pretty much. If you're fighting humans or pandorans with human weapons, there's some chance they'll drop it and you can pick it up or it gets auto-looted (missions usually have a 'disclaimer' in their starting screen whether or not items will be automatically looted).
I'd say it's usually not worth taking a risk on the off-chance that an enemy might drop something, but if you find yourself in a safe position and it's about taking a shot or two more with your sniper and delaying the exit by one turn, go for it.

[Nicholas]

Wait for october the 1st. That's my main advice.

There's going to be a patch, which somewhat fixes diplomacy. But don't pay too much attention to how I say it. These changes may indeed change a lot in the ways of many players. Mostly strategically.

Alongside the patch, there's also going to be the release of new DLC, Corrupted Horizons. While some gameplayers are skeptical about this one, I'm totally hyped about it! And you're backer, right? Check your email for an activation code. It seems they're giving away Season Pass for all the original backers. Then you shall have both the newest DLC for the game by october the 1st.

DLC to enable, left out:

• Living Weapons
  On my last run on Legend I puzzled when will this DLC kick in. I even thought if I forgot to enable it. By the end of my run, I realized it's entry point is locked behind a certain research. Haha. So it really doesn't bother you if you don't want it to. The armor and the weapons are easy to get rid of if you don't want them anymore, etc. They also aren't too OP, so.
  
• Blood and Titanium
  This one is rather controversial at times. There is another faction, which is sadly, always hostile, because of their psychotic nature. I hope it wasn't too much of a spoiler. I don't see any BIG reasons why you should not engage with it.
  
• Legacy of the Ancients
  Absolutely the same story as with Living Weapons. You can completely forget about this one even if you had it enabled. And it doesn't bother you if you don't want it to. The entry point for this DLC is a research named «Project Glory».
  
• Festering Skies
  An overwhelming DLC. The title is given by the players who started their first playthrough with this DLC enabled. The enormous Pandoran is set free to wreak havoc. It may instantly destroy any haven it makes contact with. Good thing it is slow and you may disrupt its activities for a time. But you may find yourself pressed to find a more permanent solution to it, only to find it involves you using the end game tech and you might as well just finish your campaign instead. Personally, I would not enable this one even knowing what it's about. Rewards it gives just don't feel worthy of my trouble.
  Though, I'm positive that the lower difficulty you start it with, the more likely you will actually enjoy it or even regret not enabling it. And high chances you will absolutely hate it on the Legend.
  
• Corrupted Horizons
  I don't know how it will turn out, but I bet this may end up being the best DLC released to its date. There is just so much variety bound to come with it in the form Mutoids.
  
  In general, be very active on geoscape. With 2 aircrafts you are already twice as effective. The sooner you get more, the better.

[jasta85]

Regarding the NPC factions, I remember at launch you sort of had to pick one to team up with as you would piss off the others if you helped one. Is that still the case or can you be allied with all of them throughout the game? Or should I pick one faction to back and just attack the others?

[Sheesh]

Right now it's not difficult to ally with all 3 which might change with the patch on friday, so there's really no way to tell at the moment.

[Californiadreaming]

I agree with pretty much all that's been said so far, including waiting until October 1 to start a full play-through. Consider what you're doing now a rehearsal. Definitely save Festering Skies for a later game, and I would also consider not enabling or not trying Legacy of the Ancients missions your first time through. While there are big rewards to be had, if you don't figure out how to handle those enemies early they can really grind up your soldiers. I would also add that you need to be patient and READ. As the game progresses you will get intelligence reports on new threats. You need to be able to tell the difference between an Arthron Gunner and an Arthron Tyrant (both have guns, one spits poison too). Read the reports, toggle the stats and have a look at those too. Take the time to really explore the faction-specific classes. I've found that when I've multi-classed them with base game classes you can field some really lethal ass-kickers.

On a more specific note, for enemies with shields (organic and otherwise), if you flank them on their left side, you can shoot to cripple the arm holding it, which eliminates the shield. Also for enemies with shields, it may be worth your while to put a trooper targeting one into overwatch instead of taking the shot. They can't use shields on the move.

Good luck and good hunting!