Anyone Can Beat WOTC on Legendary Ironman, Even You! (Guide to victory) ~ Episode 1

Tired of having to complain about bullshit RNG on reddit after every squadwipe? Now you don't have to! Just do what the guy in the video tells you to do, and you can impress your friends with a victory screencap of Legendary Ironman! Of course they'll think you used mods and cheated your way through, but at least you'll know in your heart that you don't need to complain on reddit about losing your campaign to the RNG!
Just kidding, a bug will delete your save.
TL;DW
3 Steps to winning every engagement:
- Kill everything
- Ignore the ones that don't kill you
- Don't alert more enemies
Watch me live here:
Twitch: / ronar1
Recieve updates on what I'm up to as well as to find a way to directly contact me!
Discord: / discord
This will be a vanilla WOTC run with only visual and informational mods used:
WOTC Additional Icons
WOTC Smart Overwatch All
WOTC Gotcha Again
WOTC Stop Wasting My Time
Free Camera Rotation
Cost Based Ability Colors
Tactical UI Killcounter

[@Zullia]

If you, like me googled "WTf how does one beat XCOM2 on legendary it cannot be done i hate everything" and ended up here, i urge you all to stick with this series for at least 10 episodes. I had 650 hours invested in Xcom 2 and WOTC combined and i had never managed past three missions on Legendary until i saw these videos and started to think differently. I've now completed two legendary campaigns in a row, some of it luck, some of it new thinking based on Ronars tips on enemy management and how to accept your losses. I highly recommend sticking around. The greatests tips i've really absorbed is to not panic, carefully think what a miss will lead to, always have a backup for said miss, and choose your targets carefully. Thanks Ronar!

[@Malouco]

Patrik R yeah breaking enemy sight retreating instead of getting right up on them when u hv more than half enemies killed is huge.

[@nonameguy96]

650 hrs? Jeezus i thought restarting my ironman playthrough till i was on playthrough 57 was bad

[@pipeds9979]

Without dead soldiers?

[@robertosheldon9061]

@@pipeds9979 not so hard once you played a lot. But not losing anybody throughout a campaign usually means that the chosen difficulty is too easy. The game shines when you actualyl struggle. Take some hits, lose some soldiers here or there. When you have to retreat and abort and flee at times. That's when youll truely sit at the edge of your seat. The game gets friggin emotional in those moments. The most satisfying moments are those when you make it to the evac in the very last turn, evybody half dead, you have to carry to unconscious soldiers, even the vip you escort took a hit and then you see your badly bruised squad in the debriefing. Good thing is that mods allow you to buff endgame. There are some nasty modded endgame enemies available. Or you can also buff pod size or play with less soldiers. Youll have the most fun and most excitement if you find a difficulty that makes you struggle but you barely pull through.

[@HotaruZoku]

Can you give a list of what specifically you altered, behavior wise?

[@skippychurch2965]

Its 2020 and I just discovered this game. It is amazing

[@robertosheldon9061]

best turn based game ever. Once you played through the difficulties and unmodded l/i, you can get dozens of new and pretty awesome enemies via workshop, enhance difficulty with better enemy ai, bigger pods, stronger opposition, new elite tier battle suits, new research....youll love it even more. Ive played thousands of hours of this game haha. 10/10.

[@ishalmighty6109]

I been waiting to get it then I seen the complete edition for 25$ on psn this month... saved 75$

[@DanielMartinez-dg8is]

@@ishalmighty6109 same its awesome just beat it today

[@HotaruZoku]

What brought your attention to it?

[@skippychurch2965]

@@HotaruZoku the spiffing brit

[@tommyvercetti9434]

-Gatecrasher -Three rookies on a roof -Use one action point of the fourth one to bait the officer pod and come back to full cover -Three rookies miss the shot -Advent soldier crits the rookie behind full cover Ok :)

[@DelosApolo]

thats me

[@snooginzboobookittyfuk1874]

Better than beating it untouched and restarting because you forgot to build something at the start lol

[@Jay-mq2ng]

*within 2 minutes of the game* “We have the high ground” ITS OVER ADVENT, WE HAVE THE HIGH GROUND!

[@lancej1249]

Advent: YOU UNDERESTIMATE MY POWER

[@TheSuperhomosapien]

@@lancej1249 Don't try it!

[@tozmom615]

Yeah, but is it moral?

[@sergueileonardoafonin7950]

You were supposed to destroy the Elders, not join them!

[@ian-ht1nf]

@@lancej1249ADVENT PROCEEDS TO SHOOT AND DESTROY THE GROUND UNDER YOUR SOLDIER

[@iamsopure1043]

Very hilarious that the mission briefing mark mission 2 as "EASY". I feel like this might be the most difficult mission among all when running legendary ironman.

[@InvertedDoyen]

I hope you are going to do a full walkthrough of wotc. One of the best educational xcom players out there imo.

[@davidsmith5815]

Ive seen better, his tactics aren't the greatest

[@fattytan1377]

@@davidsmith5815 point me to it. I really need good ones.

[@oldschoolhoxton8843]

I was a little dissapointed that Firaxis never bothered to buff the specialists. On the combat hacker side, they could have given us abilities similar to that of the ADVENT captain, allowing them to mark certain enemies without ending their turn, or forms of overwatch with no aim penalty, or just straight up guaranteed hits against specific targets (like stunlancers). Would have made sense to me that specialists could either be the combat medics or officers of X-Com.

[@cccbbbaaa110]

If you are super lucky, you overwatch 3000 times and can kill chosen on one turn.

[@joelmendoza7759]

Playing xcom 2, i found the specialist to be extremley importamt as secondary firepower and main support. My top grade specialist has 200 hack skill and good healer capabilities. Very important on certain missions

[@Zercias]

@Oldschool Hoxton totally disagree with you here, it's a hacker, you are the officer,you ''mark'' and tell them who to kill besides that, specialist can give ever vigilant on def protocol(overwatch buff) garuanteed damage is not fun, run heavy demo's with salvo if you want easy guarantees. also xcom is not advent and should not be advent. but that's just all my oppinion.

[@EDgarAltar]

Tentaclator *skirmishers

[@CarlosFlores-rf3jp]

Hacker specialist are great man, take out armor on all enemies and make sectopods, gatekeepers and heavy mecs waaaay easier to kill taking of chunks of life with combat protocol

[@indianindieplayer5655]

6 years ago and still fun and entertaining to watch while learning more about the game! Thank you for this content :)

[@ConfusedGeriatric]

That rookie in the second mission was an absolute beast. Even being panicked could not distract the man from his bloodthirst.

[@olookslike0]

You saying that you didn't want to trigger a cluster of pods at once and then immediately doing just that is something I empathize with so damn hard. It almost feels like Xcom can read your mind sometimes and factor your worst imagined scenario into the RNG or something like that.

[@maxmustermann-zx9yq]

it's only the start though, get a reaper or a ranger with phantom skill to scout ahead

[@miask8er]

Just when I had given up hope on beating XCOM on Legendary due soldiers who couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. This is great!

[@randomlygeneratedname]

When 99 percent shots miss and 2% shots hit every time

[@Zercias]

@@randomlygeneratedname honestly the % doesn't matter, you can either afford to take the shot or not.

[@paulmouatib9999]

This is the kind of playthrough i love : the "dont waste my time and teach me some stuff!" kind New subscriber here!

[@Nod-xr3oj]

oh man, i laughed my ass of when the paniced rookie killed that poor soldier! amazing guide so far, you explain everything very well and i ll be watching your whole series! Thanks for the vids man

[@9SMTM6]

Wait. You can remove fire by hunkering down? I've played XCOM since EU, and I didn't know that until now 😅

[@EmergencyInductionPort]

Literally paused the video at that moment to see if anyone else was thinking this! Can't believe I never knew this!

[@FrankDaze]

I thought the only way was jumping on the water!

[@NestedQuantifier]

It's new in war of the chosen. Doesn't work in Xcom 2 vanilla.

[@marcorc5167]

@@NestedQuantifier Yeah doesn't work on vanilla. Just tried it on ironman and my guy died :(

[@tomkelly00]

It's new in WOTC

[@TheAdditionalPylons]

My rookies consistently do 3 damage on a hit. They might as well just commit seppuku when I order them to shoot, the result is the same either way.

[@Savak22]

Wait, are you getting hits?

[@ZKP314]

You know you’re gonna get something special when the menu solder is headless when the vid starts.

[@teamextreme334]

Hey learning to play Xcom, you and TapCat have been the best, i know this was years ago, but man is it helping in 2022! Thanks man!

[@thekdawg6606]

I'm here in 2020, have over 1000 hrs in the game, stuck at home with the pandemic going on outside, and this series of videos are the ones that made me finally understand how to play this game.

[@wata2uluvme]

2023, just found out about this game, i wish we were back in pandemic so i can stay home for months playing lmaaaao

[@jonathanjohnson9910]

I wish i would've known this about the gts in campaign cause only having the base number of members would've made my journey SOOOOO much easier now i have to start over and redo what WOTC has to offer campaign wise .......I LOVE VTHIS GAME

[@Ca2C4]

Love this series. Watching it for the second time since I'm diving into XCOM again after a long-ish break.

[@marcorc5167]

Replaying XCOM 2 and rewatching this awesome series. Again this is the ONLY series where the youtuber doesn't get super lucky and has 100% accuracy AND the enemy missed all their shots!

[@jhadesdev9576]

Awesome commentary, learned tons of stuff i never noticed, and i finished war of the chosen on legend 👍👍

[@tiebeswinkels8584]

Hi Ronar, this video series taught me everything I needed. I got incerdibly far with my veteran ironman, but then the game crashed and the savefile got corrupted. RIP dozens of wasted hours :'(

[@clericneokun]

I lost count of how many shots with less than 70% hit chance that you've actually landed. You sir have a kind of luck that I do not have.

[@Ronar150]

You don't get to call yourself unlucky until you get hit by 3 1% lethal shots in a campaign.

[@clericneokun]

Ronar No argument there. My only point is that I have an uncanny ability of attracting bad rolls. So bad in fact that a 1 out of 3.5 chance of missing will, more often than not, end up as a miss for me.

[@djfrederick360]

i did a playthrough of about 9 hrs and i got a bit smacked up foreal. but then i watched this video and went back to the same stuff. ive only tried on veteran since im new to these games. i went from dying about 3 times on the first story mission to doing it flawless and no one getting wounded. your brain works different. i had this video playing with my friend telling me methods of how to box enemies in. this game is so rewarding once u figure out certain things. this game was really on sale for 6 dollars LOL. its so dope, thank you for explaining this how you did. i'll def watch more of this series because i wanna help the universe smack aliens too 😂

[@florinadrian5174]

Thanks for the tips and for minding our time, Ronar, you've got best pacing of anyone posting XCOM gameplays.

[@brucemeise3677]

I remember beating the assassin when I first encountered him. This dude must’ve pumped lots of iron since the first encounter.

[@undiee]

SO instead of recommending me BS videos , youtube actually might recommend THESE kind of videos as well . Thx m8 for saiving me from these trash videos . Cheers .

[@jgregorygraves5792]

Not only is this very informative you're a talented narrator as well. Your play by play commentary had me cracking up. Thanks for sharing ... heheh ...

[@CoconutChriss]

Your tips are really good and this video is well produced. You deserve the thumbs up, sir.

[@eattoes6729]

I'm not even planning to do this, I just like hearing you play and watching the moves so i can play better

[@LynxStarAuto]

I am surprised you feel so lowly about the Specialist class. They start a bit weak early game, but around mid game they become beastly. One of the best overwatches in the game, plus the ability to sprint and end the turn in overwatch. Or the ability to boost a squad member's defense, while awarding them overwatch. A team of rangers and specialists with one heavy or sharpshooter, wrecks this game. I actually feel the heavy is the worst class in the game. Terrible mobility, wishwashy aim, and once you unlock Exo suit, anyone on the squad can have a rocket.

[@LynxStarAuto]

Yeah once you learn the A.I. tendencies, this game becomes very easy. It all depends on how you play. For my style, specialists are incredible. Bonding specialists and Rangers makes for some ridiculous scouts as well. As well as bonding rangers with Heavies. The Ranger class is the best in the game. Edit: also The Skirmisher if bonded with either of the above could award you the interrupt ability. That is game breaking

[@paulscott2037]

I used to believe this too. However with War of the Chosen I kinda feel it makes snipers redundant. My main team now tends to be two rangers and two specialists, a heavy and a reaper.

[@paulscott2037]

The Hunters Rifle definitely puts them back in the game. But by that point my other troops are so highly ranked that I still and up considering snipers more of a backup when some of my others are wounded.

[@paulscott2037]

Ronar the wonderful thing about XCOM. We're all winners when we see that alien health bar hit zero. :p

[@iaretehleet]

Me too i also like the specialists alot. Sometimes i even bring two. They really make the rangers shine even more with aid protocol and threat assesment. Couple that with the ranger skill Implacable, they become close range crit/flanking machines.

[@senseisenseix]

Roxar: iron legendary guide KZbin: I'm about to boosr this man's whole career

[@vesanius1]

I didn't even realize you have a KZbin channel until today. I'm a regular viewer on your twitch streams and your streams were the number one reason I was able to start doing L/I campaigns and even stream them after learning some tricks from you. I didn't play the game for more than a year, but went straigth back to L/I and while I was managing it, I was still making a lot of rookie mistakes again. So time to watch this series and fresh my memory so I can do a proper and clean L/I myself again.

[@Ronar222]

Its true, but you only get that functionality for 2 or 3 missions before the bossfight since ronin only show up really late in the chapter compared to other elites.

[@kristopher7569]

YEEEEAAAH! I just found your series on XCOM 2 vanilla earlier today, and I watched about 4 episodes hoping to gain some info useful for my wotc run, but now this!!!! FUCK YEAH.

[@JG52Gutted]

Don't promote injured soldiers from gatecrasher. You first 4 promotions are guaranteed to be 1 of each class. ex. The next rookie you take out and promote will become a grenadier, while your injured (and un-promoted) rookie heals.

[@InYounGwa]

Many Thx. Finally finished a ironman legendary level. i didn't know what to do when i faced lots of lost games. Your video was a great help.

[@oceanskie]

I've had nearly 200hrs on this game and I still learnt multiple new things on this first mission alone.

[@Ronar222]

Its ok, I've got 3500+ hours.

[@alexglover3236]

I learned the Evac trick from this vid so thanks for that, it'll be handy thank you. I am liking the content so far. But I strongly disagree with the opinion that Specialists are bad, I find them fantastic. Having a "scout" in front to pull pod(s) into combat with a blue movement then Hunkering down and having a Specialist way back with Aid on the Hunkered ally up front makes things easy. Enemies miss almost all the shots they would take and then most of your squad can get great positioning next turn with hardly any draw backs, and Specialists having ranged hack is so good (as shown in this vid). I agree other classes are better (each role has their strengths obv) but I've always found Specialists to be very good in general.

[@control5586]

Absolutely love your style and way of teaching/playing. Thank you so much for this content!!!!

[@BiFurDoggy]

I was watching meme-y xcom videos and expected this to be the same since it was in recommendeds for one (and the headless soldier in the beginning lol), but honestly this is really nice. Thanks for the cool video :)

[@waddlehi]

This is amazing, Plus i feel like i could use some knowledge on my journey to beat ironman and commander. i did get close.

[@brentf9616]

Late to the party, but i learned more in this video than any other tutorial i watched

[@AllDaWayJay]

I would’ve never thought to move the squad slowly together as a whole LOL that’s an awesome tactic prior to engagement

[@gamerdweebentertainment1616]

only if you have infinite moves.

[@TheVlad1616]

The luck with this one is strong... the crits from these rookies too....

[@jorgejuantorresquiroga5441]

I had the same problem with Zemalf's Legendary playthrough of Enemy Within. The amount of lucky shots he got was unreal, and he even admitted that he felt pretty lucky on that playthrough when he was interviewed (it got somewhat viral because it was a "perfect" playthrough with no soldiers or countries lost)

[@JRG333]

That's what I'm thinking..... You never know, they could have mods. They are still playing very well, but it wouldn't have been that good a video if he wasn't lucky

[@josephletherby883]

I feel so sad when looking at this sometimes. Just played a game where i had 5 characters on a mission all with between 70 -85% chance to hit and i missed 10 times in a row excluding one that did hit but was dodged so only two damage. I was flanking aswell and in the end in another mission i had to use 4 nades to kill some troops and each 50-50 failed and the trooper was left standing. It feels like even if you have backups (the 10 misses were flanking shots on 3 targets) even when you have a backup you can get screwed by rng :( ended up losing my Templar and skirmisher which i had to get back. At least it was early in the campaign so i didnt lose anything important really. Oh and i forgot to mention of those 3 enemies that matrixed the 10 shots 2 of them crit so thats a feels badman

[@Ronar222]

This actually just happened to me last stream and we had to restart the entire campaign. The important thing is to realize that bad RNG is just bad RNG, and that as long as you are taking proper actions with the higher expected value vs odds, you'll eventually win. The game is designed in a way that doing things right once or twice won't win you a campaign, but doing it right repeatedly will net results.

[@minigungameryt2525]

btw, if you're wondering, the grenade damage is coded to only have a 20% chance to do 4, so I usually treat them as 3 damage only.

[@TheAdditionalPylons]

That panic shot....Wtf. Missed 100% of your overwatch, AR and SR miss from the high ground. Panicked solider on the low ground from 20 tiles away...Max damage.

[@arturssinelnikovs4712]

Has the difficulty increased since this video has been released? I believe that Legendary difficulty is now higher than right after wotc release.

[@rolandarriaga1295]

Late but difficulty has increased.

[@nikkof5384]

Hunker down cancelling burn and yolo extractions. Holy shit I really learned a good amount thanks man, making Ironman seem less scary.

[@rvallekinloch]

loongtime xcom fan and really enjoying this series.. that evac on the slash zone at the end, that's a gooooood tiiip.. thanks duude

[@fx7105]

i don't know when's the last time i enjoyed a youtube video this much while working. thanks :D

[@eandlbloodflower6765]

I just watched this video and that Rookie definitely earned his promotion.

[@qd5683]

Great video and invaluable tips. I followed your advice about giving my sniper the flashbang grenade to minimise damage if he gets mind controlled. It made a lot of sense. Well... he got mincontrolled... Then he threw the flash bang grenade into the middle of my squad and ... they all got disorientated and died. That's XCom baby!

[@Ronar222]

Something not mentioned in the video (Since its years old) is that I'm starting to give flashbangs to units with the highest will so they will be less likely to be targeted.

[@qd5683]

@@Ronar222 Thank you Ronar. I am learning so much from this series of videos. You are making the game enjoyable at the highest difficulty, which is giving me the balance of challenge and enjoyment I was looking for. Brilliant content, good sir. Best wishes from Scotland.

[@90snetworkproductions79]

Playing through wotc and starting with the Templar faction most definitely helped me out. I do play with mods, but one constant that’s been present, even with vanilla xcom2, expect bullshit. For example, an advent duelist/pistolero via mods, has a 45% chance to hit my people with a standard 🔫 even if they have twice the height advantage. On another instance a random trooper hit a critical on my trooper two stories above, with low cover, from ground level, while disoriented, with a 15% chance to hit. You’ll be mad, and on Ironman, if a mission is flooded with enemies with more HP than you can drop with the starting guns, there’s no shame on evacing. You’ll fail the mission but at least your squad got out alive...

[@wesleyfilms]

I feel like I’ve studied strategy in xcom 2 to the same degree that people study chess lol Thanks for the great video, King.

[@TheGreatRakatan]

This guy just rolling through not missing 86% shots, rarely low rolling on damage, high rolling on cover saves. I seriously cannot get through gate crasher on Legendary without losing 2-3 people. Even killing the captain right away the troopers just mow down my rookies like they aren't in cover and on the high ground.

[@TheGreatRakatan]

I mean, preparing for bad RNG is using two grenades on a advent soldier because none of your people have good shots or available high cover or high ground, but you still have 2 pods left to deal with. I can't tell you how many legendary runs I've started only to lose my entire squad on the first guerrilla ops mission because it's in the sewers with narrow passages and no high ground or multiple pods spawn right next to each other. I guess I could just force fail the mission by evacing everyone but that just seems like I'm digging myself deeper into a hole. How do you deal with instances where it's impossible to get good flanking shots because of the risk you'll activate a second pod and you have limited cover? You can't just sit there and take subpar shots because you've got a timer running and you can't move forward without basically screwing yourself.

[@nonameguy96]

@@TheGreatRakatan you just gotta keep trying. After legit starting 56 ironman playthroughs on my 57th i made it through gate crasher flawlessy and was lucky with the second mission. But i totallu get you. You get a bad roll on the second mission can possibly end the playthrough

[@Mezmorizorz]

Play gatecrasher exactly how he did. He really didn't get particularly lucky. Maybe like 70th percentile on the shot rolls, and that's more than made up for by him getting a horrendous gatecrasher spawn with the tutorial on. Those high ground overwatch shots are like 90%. The strategy is ~2/3 to be flawless on the maps with high ground (which is all but 1 iirc?) and pods spaced enough to do it one by one. Also, what should be the main lesson of this series is that the game rubber bands you way harder than you think it does. It's quite hard to actually lose the campaign. Like he explicitly said in the video, losing the second mission isn't actually a reroll. Ultimately you only "need" 6 colonels, armor upgrades, and weapon upgrades to win, and that's not that much. People just quit once it's no longer flawless which is not what firaxis intended. The earliest missions are the hardest, yes, but only the first retaliation is actually unfair.

[@Kevinofrepublic]

Flashbang on the sniper on the first mission. Holy fuck that's so smart. Man this video is great.

[@SAVEmeFROMtheANTS]

Wow! The speed you run through thoughts about your actions makes me feel 'dumb'. I have only just finished my first commander vanilla playthru so hopefully with time I will feel as confident as you with my actions in game

[@Ronar222]

When you've played XCOM for over 4000 hours you know what to do already.

[@SAVEmeFROMtheANTS]

@@Ronar222 4000 hours!?! Damn. This game is addictive. Are you still playing?

[@Ronar222]

@@SAVEmeFROMtheANTS Almost all of that time has gone into a hardcore mod called Long War. We're finishing up a Long War 2 campaign on twitch soon. Not streaming today, but probably tomorrow.

[@SAVEmeFROMtheANTS]

I was thinking of starting a LW2 campaign but I think I'm gonna get a WOTC playthru in b4 then. I learn more about different mechanics almost every mission. I really want to grasp the factions before jumping in head first. I will check out your streams. Thanks. These vids really get to the point. Very fast pace learning which is the only way I can learn. I just do not have the attention span for these slower vids/guides. Well done

[@DanMcLeodNeptuneUK]

I learned a lot in even the first 5 minutes of this vid! Thanks!

[@TheEntertainment47]

Please, keep up :) i did learn something. this is rara when it comes to gaming...

[@amatiashevich]

SO MUCH FUN WATCHING THIS! THANKS! YOU ARE PRO!

[@DominicNguyenLP]

bro really like the face pace and explaining

[@VaultTecc]

3:11 In wotc aliens can take free shots if they discover you and you are flanked my mate. Some dangerous piece of advice there. Beginners have it right on this one.

[@Ronar222]

Not true, go into a mission and try running up to them without concealment. 100% sure in code this is true.

[@ausdoug974]

very helpful. I learned a lot from this first mission. Thank you

[@Giannis_Krimitzas]

You are very very good. Informative, to the point, you say exactly the things we want to hear, you explain every situation and you play fast. What more to ask? Thank you

[@misanthropicservitorofmars2116]

That rookie on mission 2. What a legend. Nailed like three 60% shots then panicked and got that trooper. Incredible. Why do KZbinrs get all the luck 😂

[@Ronar222]

I would say that even if I failed to get those hits, I'd be able to win, but of course there's no way for me to show that in a comments section.

[@NoiseMarines]

I think it's interesting in this comment section seeing how wildly different people's opinions on class strength are. Like, Ronar doesn't like specialists because he clearly gears his squads entirely around damage per turn, his strategies basically being "You don't need to worry about getting shot, if the shooter is already dead." But then I see folk who have completely different opinions. Like, Specialist is actually one of my fave classes -- I never do a mission without one unless I have absolutely no choice. Least favorite class in the whole game is Gunslinger Sniper. I... really don't see the point -- what can a gunslinger do that a Ranger can't do way better?

[@Ronar222]

Snipers in general feel like a weaker class for sure, especially in the early game. I do feel like they have a role in late game though especially with the hunter gear. The biggest thing is that they get blue screen rounds applied to sectopods like up to 5 times in a turn which is pretty amazing.

[@NoiseMarines]

@@Ronar222 I guess, yeah, if you used the right combo of abilities a gunslinger with BS rounds could pop a sectopod. Oh, I thought of another one! Using face-off, the gunslinger can apply status effects from special ammo (poison, fire, what have you) to multiple targets. Technically that doesn't work in vanilla, but there's a mod that fixes that. I always find though that the gunslinger perks often go best with Snipers that are already leveled up with marksman abilities. Sometimes getting a free pistol shot at an enemy can mean the difference between dropping them with a single sniper rifle shot, or not. Way I see it, if a sniper can manage at least one kill a turn (which they usually do, the right item combos can give them ridiculous hit chances) then taking them is justified.

[@Mezmorizorz]

@@NoiseMarines The big thing is that a gunslinger is an effective sniper, but a marksman doesn't do anything if the map doesn't have a sniper perch. Also, most of the gunslinger abilities are just better. Return fire is bad, quick draw is about equal to death from above, and the gunslinger major skill is a joke, but otherwise it's not close. In general I broadly agree with Ronar. The class itself is weak and is mostly good for trivializing sectopods and can hold its own with the hunter rifle. Specialists I bring as an oh shit button, but they're not very strong outside of leveling quickly.

[@Go2Matthew]

Appreciate the detail on how the AI thinks.

[@user-gm9xj5lj3s]

Finaly a good guide (explaining) i need very bad, im trying legend ironman as wel, but no luck so far. your guide explains wel wat i ectualy did wrong in many ways. i kinda rushed and yes, open more fog to reveal myself. (i never knew lol). im glad i found this 1. im now at (stage) 5. gg

[@OliverCovfefe]

My issue with XCOM 2 is the damn timers. I always go for the mod that disables them ticking UNTIL you break concealment, 4-8 turns just isn’t enough without taking massive risks just to cover ground.

[@Luke-wq1sx]

I know this is old but for anyone new playing, half way in the video when a soldier was at risk of burning, if you leave him there instead of moving for one or two turns he wont catch fire and it will dissapear, but the moment you move you will get burnt

[@knife9185]

that crit ratio

[@FightWithDeer]

Thanks for explaining that, I originally found your crit ratio Super suspect. But that actually lines up with my experience.

[@knife9185]

+Joey Huller I know what you mean. But following his guide yields similar results for me also

[@TheStapleGunKid]

I don't pretend to be an expert in this game, as I've never beat it on legendary. But I still think the first building you should get is Resistance Ring, not a GTS. It's absolutely vital to get the resistance ring immediately so you can start doing covert operations, which will not only bring in huge benefits, but will also get your rookies promoted to squaddies without having to send them into combat, which is a pretty big benefit on its own. Obviously the GTS is vital too, but if you get some unlucky deaths or wounds in the first few missions, which is quite common, then you might not have anyone promoted up to Sgt by the time you get the GTS, making it useless until you do. The RR will give you benefits right away every time. My build priority (not counting the necessary power stations) is Resistance Ring, GTS, Proving Grounds, Infirmary, Com Center, Training Grounds, Defense matrix (if possible), Psi Labs, Shadow Chamber

[@HenriqueRJchiki]

Except you get one free rr operation regardless if you have it built or not and GTS guarantees your grenadiers and rangers instead of useless Sharpshooters and specialist

[@TheStapleGunKid]

@@HenriqueRJchiki Sharpshooters and Specialists aren't useless, they are essential, especially Specialists. Specialists are the only medic class, so you always want to bring one for that alone. Plus their ability to hack from long range is absolutely wonderful on missions where you need to hack the main objective.

[@HenriqueRJchiki]

@@TheStapleGunKid Wrong? Since when are medics necessary? The ONLY situation where medics are necessary is vs the Assassin, because she can bleed your units out of nowhere with no counter play, outside of that if you get hit you misplayed, at it's core xcom2 is an alpha strike game meaning the optimal way to play is killing the enemy before they can retaliate. As to hacking objectives, yes that's really good actually but that specialist should be on combat protocol instead. Sharpshooters are only good in Lost missions to farm promotions and although yes they DO eventually become gods late game, it doesn't matter because EVERYONE is god at late game anyway. One thing that would make specialist medics GODLIKE is if their in mission healing counted towards wounds, unfortunately it doesn't so yeah... Grenadiers are simply way too versatile nothing in the early game can compare to their DPS, support by shredding cover and their guns being suspiciously accurate at medium to long ranges. Rangers are outright broken once you get Blade master and their shotgun is just plain silly. Look point is, xcom2 legend ironman is at it's hardest in the early game, which Sharpshooters and Specialist really suck compared to Grenadier and Ranger, once you start investing into them they become really fun and definitely not useless, i myself always try to raise two specialists and two Sharpshooters each run because I find them very fun, but only when I'm comfortable I'll be able to stomp the mission and feed them kills, and anyway, this is just a videogame so if you find bringing Sharpshooters and specialists onto your LI early game missions fun and it works for you, congrats you're actually a great player, but for a beginner they should definitely stay away from them

[@TheStapleGunKid]

@@HenriqueRJchiki Of course the optimal way to play is killing the enemy before they can retaliate. That's the optimal way to fight a war in real life also. But just like in real life, that doesn't always happen. Sometimes you do get hit, particularly in early game, and it's not always cause of a mistake. Sometimes too many pods get activated at once, sometimes your guys miss easy shots. Not to mention enemies like MECs and Mutons who love to use explosives. If just one of them is alive at the end of a turn, that's a world of hurt. Sometimes you get bad luck and activate multiple pods at once, and sometimes the chosen show up while you're already in a firefight. It's just not always possible to kill every enemy the first turn you see them. Look, if you've reached some god-like mastery of the game to the point that you literally never get it, then congratulations, but most of us are not at that level. For all us normies, medics are absolutely vital for keeping your men breathing. I've used them to avoid more than a few losses in early game on Commander/Ironman runs. Plus once you get a training center, it doesn't take a lot of ability points to get both combat protocol and medic protocol, so then you have him for both roles. Hacking towers from long range can give your team some nice bonuses too. I don't bring them for fun, I bring them because I like it when my men get to live. Plus it's not like they can't fight. They are good with rifles and the bolt caster. Usually I'll give my medic the bolt caster except on levels when the lost are around. Do I take hits in every mission? Of course not. Most of the time I don't. But I still want a medic for those times when I draw the short straw. Sharpshooters are also excellent. Give one a good elevated sniper post and watch him obliterate enemies from all the way across the map. They are especially OP if you give them AP rounds. Also snipers are pretty good in early game due to their good aim and high damage compared to other starter weapons I don't consider them vital for every mission the way specialists are, but they certainly have their place. I do agree with you on rangers though. Blademaster+Bladestorm is outstanding. And you certainly need them in early game when melee attacks are a lot more damaging and accurate than your starter guns. Grenadiers are necessary for shredder duty and specialty grenades like the ice bomb, but the problem with them is they have terrible marksmanship and their weapons don't hold much ammo. I don't know where you get the idea that grenadiers are accurate. They just miss and miss and miss over and over. It's almost a necessity to equip their guns with stocks so their misses will still cause some damage. Plus their explosions attract the lost. Great unit sure, but not god tier or anything. Just another unit that has its place, though I would say more so than snipers because of the need to shred armor in basically every level. I always bring one along.

[@zobazoba6418]

plz keep the series running I really enjoyed your videos

[@mirlegends]

Aliens see the faceless flying teeth and "Nope" tf out of earth. Humans win.

[@LordWallace]

I laughed out loud at that panic hit by the rookie, I honestly think the panic from a mind control resist is worse than actual mind control sometimes. Honestly a pretty lucky session but the tactics were sound. I'm playing on Commander rn but see Legend in my future.

[@alicersing1]

Really one of the best video of XCOM2 guide

[@doudoune8035]

Awesome video man!

[@meatyb4967]

There's a lot of Dynamics to this game ,no wonder I got my ass kicked but I still wanna keep playing.its super addictive

[@raglanheuser1162]

cant accidentally pull in any pods if you already pulled in every pod on the map this is the only piece of advice that I was already very skilled at

[@simpson6700]

that title screen is cursed

[@austinhuntoon2813]

Really cool video you did a good job explaining things and gave me some things to do for my own play through so thanks

[@Spaceboyy95]

Your soldiers 60% hit. My soldiers 85% miss

[@Ronar222]

Take more shots, the probabilities will line up. Also stop positioning in ways where if you miss, you die hard.

[@MW-hv1cl]

You cant beat it on console unless you upload your save to the cloud constantly. This game crashes and deleted ironman saves like no other.

[@Anakinuk007]

Agreed, on PC as well forget it. Ironman saves get deleted and corrupted, don’t waste your time.

[@TheQuasimodoH]

Just started xcom 2 on commander-first time playing also - the third mission sucked but so far so easy- can’t wait to play legendary

[@double-helix-22x22y]

Anyone can beat ironman, until the game corrupts your save state.

[@shardam]

I miss beagle, really miss beaglerush, but you talk like his son, and i like it. You are now The Commander, keep posting, pump the jokes, do some editing, and beat those god damn aliens.

[@awesomesauce980]

This video is nearly 5 years old and I see nobody talking about the floating teeth in the intro.

[@vegassims7]

Hunkering down removes fire? Never knew that.

[@tn9711]

I'm playing on Veteran difficulty but this is still really helpful.

[@lances7448]

Recommend changing title to "Anyone can beat legendary if you don't miss a single shot and crit nearly all of them"

[@joelmendoza7759]

Serpent armour on a top grade ranger + mobility pcs maxed + improved stats + chosen assassin weapons + skirmisher command and a max level 3 bond. Absolutely beastly

[@shanehudson3995]

This is a bit late, but never get caught out in the open. Enemy units will not look a gift horse in the mouth and immediately fire on the poor schlub.

[@AlexHardable]

Holly Molly TY 4 this guide!!!

[@ClayLoomis1958]

Actually, someone actually needs to take the word "actually" away from Ronar, actually.

[@felwodsXZ]

Excellent vdeo, very didactic and you speak very well, I'm having difficulties with this game I hope your videos help me. :D

[@zoruafox7512]

I find it funny that any of the other 3 classes if they get a lucky awc run and gun will be more effective with that then the actual class that gets the ability. Since they can take an offensive action that don’t end their turn use run and gun then move then take another offensive action but from a more advantageous position. Like a sharpshooter firing a pistol shot a specialist setting up aid protocol for threat assessment or a grenadier using a grenade.

[@Tk5869]

More words with S please :-D

[@coletalbot4007]

I wasn't lucky enough to have an elevated area on the gate crashed map, but I beat the first mission with only 1 death

[@vermojonson8835]

"pure vanilla experience" mods the shit out of the game