Squad size

[Mel]

Is 4 members always going to be the size of the team you can take on a mission?
If this is the case I'm having hard time ever picking anyone else than the four you start the game with since their XP lead is so far beyond anyone you can recruit later on....

[Martydi]

Seems like it. A lot of the missions start with just 4 agent slots in breach points.

As for the exp lead, that's generally how it ends up. It was like that in EW as well from what I can remember. I got lucky and grabbed Patchwork and Torque early, so Godmother got relegated to assembly duty while the rest rotate in the APC, depending on who has training to do.

[Sui]

Originally posted by Martydi:

Seems like it. A lot of the missions start with just 4 agent slots in breach points.

All missions are 4 characters... with eventual 2 androids as backup if at one of breach points any of your characters get incapacitated (runs out of HP, but doesn't bleed out)

[Dave Mongoose]

You eventually have 8 agents, but only 4 can go on a mission. There are two good reasons to rotate your team, though: injuries and training.

If an agent gets badly wounded or downed during a mission then there's a chance they'll develop an injury which will harm one stat (usually something related to their class, e.g. Verge can lose Psi-strength). To cure an injury, you need to put that agent in the training room for 2 days.

The other use for the training room is to unlock additional bonuses and skills for each agent. Each agent has 3 sets of training and each takes up to 5 days. The highest level training usually unlocks a really powerful ability for the agent so you'll need to give up your favourite squad members sometimes so they can get their full potential.

Lastly, some squad members are naturally better or worse against certain enemies - you can't use psychic powers on robots, for example, so you might want to swap Verge out for someone else if you're going against a faction with lots of robots.

[stony]

I think, in a way, this is good, depends how you look at it, and what brings you fun and joy in the game. In one way I would like to have more team members, on the other, I keep changin my team, and trying different abilities, items, combinations.. so you I don't do the same routine over and over again.. I have been using alot Zephyr and Snakey, and the Charub fella I barely use for some reason, but else I try pretty much all the guys and change them all the time.. I think maybe that's one of the "strenghts" of the game, you have many options and possiblities and its fun trying them out, rather than just settling into one "core team" that you use mostly, and repeating the same moves and combos over and over.. well, whatever makes you happy ;)

[tolshortte]

firaxis, and their defenders, have maintained that "less is more" since '12.

while i understand that for most 32 is too many, 8-12 would be a better fit for this IP.

for this game, 4 seems ok because of how small the rooms are.

[InverseFalcon]

Also, certain investigations can improve the value of certain squad members.

Sacred Coil employs turrets and robotic enemies, so Patchwork with her ability to hack and jolt robotic enemies becomes invaluable, along with those who can deal heavy explosive and armor piercing/shredding damage.

Progeny is all about psionics, making Shelter a frontline member in terms of flanking and the aoe anti-psionics bubble from Solace. Armor isn't as useful vs psionic attacks.

Gray Phoenix has mutons and plasma weapons, heavy armor piercing is useful as well as melee denial.

Some members are especially useful for certain mission objectives. Shelter and Torque for example are great for moving your escort target, or making sure runners can't escape. Shelter and Zephyr are great for quickly getting to a collect objective.

[stony]

Originally posted by tolshortte:

firaxis, and their defenders, have maintained that "less is more" since '12.

while i understand that for most 32 is too many, 8-12 would be a better fit for this IP.

for this game, 4 seems ok because of how small the rooms are.

you're an "olds school" xcom like me, I guess.. oh those days, when you had an Avenger packed with soldiers.. those days are gone.. well, I play the old games once in a while.. after all, that's the reason I am playing the new "crap" ;)

[The Met4l God]

Originally posted by Mel:

Is 4 members always going to be the size of the team you can take on a mission?
If this is the case I'm having hard time ever picking anyone else than the four you start the game with since their XP lead is so far beyond anyone you can recruit later on....

I've changed out some of the starting crew to make room for operators that suit my playstyle/strategy better. This game is more like playing chess, but you can only use 4 types of pieces.

[Martydi]

Originally posted by Suicide Machine:

Originally posted by Martydi:

Seems like it. A lot of the missions start with just 4 agent slots in breach points.

All missions are 4 characters... with eventual 2 androids as backup if at one of breach points any of your characters get incapacitated (runs out of HP, but doesn't bleed out)

Yes, that's my point. You can't have more than 4 characters in an APC at once because sometimes you won't have enough breach points to get everyone in.

[SamBC]

Originally posted by Martydi:

Originally posted by Suicide Machine:

All missions are 4 characters... with eventual 2 androids as backup if at one of breach points any of your characters get incapacitated (runs out of HP, but doesn't bleed out)

Yes, that's my point. You can't have more than 4 characters in an APC at once because sometimes you won't have enough breach points to get everyone in.

And it would be a lot of work to fix that in a mod, as you'd have to add extra breach points to a lot of maps.

[Martydi]

Originally posted by parent child bowl:

There are also missions where some agents are just better than others. E.g. Torque on VIP rescues,

Torque is just great in general. She can just pull and instakill most enemies with 5 or less health once you upgrade the bind damage. Most of the time I don't even use her gun, just spit poison during the breach and bind enemies after.

[Martydi]

Originally posted by parent child bowl:

Originally posted by Martydi:

Yes, that's my point. You can't have more than 4 characters in an APC at once because sometimes you won't have enough breach points to get everyone in.

There is no reason to not let six people get through a door. Same goes for windows. Agents already stagger window breaches.

I agree, I'm just saying the game doesn't let you put more agents at once, so it shows that you can't have more than that.

[Bazzakrak]

Originally posted by stony:

Originally posted by tolshortte:

firaxis, and their defenders, have maintained that "less is more" since '12.

while i understand that for most 32 is too many, 8-12 would be a better fit for this IP.

for this game, 4 seems ok because of how small the rooms are.

you're an "olds school" xcom like me, I guess.. oh those days, when you had an Avenger packed with soldiers.. those days are gone.. well, I play the old games once in a while.. after all, that's the reason I am playing the new "crap" ;)

Well at least until you stepped out of the avenger and your soldiers were shot without seeing yorur enemy.
Or the good old, the aliens shoot a rocket inside your avenger and kill 4-5 soldiers, have that happend to me once in the good 'ol X-com