BASE DEFENSE // XCOM Enemy Within // Impossible Difficulty

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KZbin 'Set The Vibe' members and Patrons in the 'custom soldier tier', submit on discord. When you submit a character, you’ll need to submit:
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👇🏻Mod List👇🏻
All mods on default settings unless specified in brackets.
Abduction Map Manager www.nexusmods.com/xcom/mods/735
Compact HP Display www.nexusmods.com/xcom/mods/735
Custom Sorting of Soldier Lists www.nexusmods.com/xcom/mods/735
Game Speed www.nexusmods.com/xcom/mods/735
Improved Enemy Icons www.nexusmods.com/xcom/mods/735
Kills Counter www.nexusmods.com/xcom/mods/735
Limit Chain Panic (ignore soldier wounded, ignore ally mind controlled) www.nexusmods.com/xcom/mods/735
Line of Sight Indicator (gold disc, .80, .30, enemies only) www.nexusmods.com/xcom/mods/666
Map Image on Squad Select www.nexusmods.com/xcom/mods/735
Mini UI Helpers www.nexusmods.com/xcom/mods/735
MoreGlamCam
Officer's Iron Will www.nexusmods.com/xcom/mods/735
Scout Sense www.nexusmods.com/xcom/mods/735
Sequential Overwatch www.nexusmods.com/xcom/mods/735
Show Squad Selection Progress www.nexusmods.com/xcom/mods/735
Soldiers' Respec Training (10, 14, 20, 2 Squad Size II)
Strip Gear Anytime www.nexusmods.com/xcom/mods/735
HUD Cleaner (Mouse Controls) www.nexusmods.com/xcom/mods/572/
Enable Camera Pitch www.nexusmods.com/xcom/mods/444
Camera Zoom Levels www.nexusmods.com/xcom/mods/444
Camera Yaw Angle www.nexusmods.com/xcom/mods/444
QE Free Rotation www.nexusmods.com/xcom/mods/444
XCOM EW Toolboks www.nexusmods.com/xcom/mods/79
Colored Aliens Content www.nexusmods.com/xcom/mods/817
Colored Aliens Script www.nexusmods.com/xcom/mods/817
New Colors for Aliens www.nexusmods.com/xcom/mods/734
SweetFX www.nexusmods.com/xcom/mods/445
Corpses Destroy Time www.nexusmods.com/xcom/mods/474
Hunker Down and Overwatch Delays www.nexusmods.com/xcom/mods/474
Remove Death Animation Delay www.nexusmods.com/xcom/mods/474
Mini Mods www.nexusmods.com/xcom/mods/735
Sightlines www.nexusmods.com/xcom/mods/666
Geoscape Pause on Notification www.nexusmods.com/xcom/mods/474
PatcherGUI www.nexusmods.com/xcom/mods/4...
UI Mod Manager www.nexusmods.com/xcom/mods/766
👇🏻Second Wave Options👇🏻
New Economy
Not Created Equally
Hidden Potential
Absolutely Critical
More Than Human
Total Loss
Mind Hates Matter
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#xcomenemywithin #xcom #impossible

[@fleetadmiralj]

Cutter is like "please spend that meld on a MEC-2 suit pretty please"

[@imy356]

bro same. i really want to see that MEC-2 suit

[@lightheadfox5130]

YEAH!!!!!! Upgrade is long overdue!

[@maxxsbrother2]

He’s taken enough hits!

[@jodhweijoundica3453]

YES although absorption fields will then have a higher max damage. Currently it will be 5 or 6, then all subsequent hits go down by 2, so sectopods are doing 4 damage on their crits, then the mec regens 2 hp per turn. The survivability may decrease with the upgrade in some situations, but grenades or restorative mist is good

[@lucidquasar]

Doesn’t he get healing mist with the upgrade too? Could be big considering the lack of supports now.

[@RatoInsano]

Hey Odd, one thing you can do with Leigh is get within 4 tiles, do a regular shot and then rapid fire for 3 consecutive shots against those big targets. Someone else mentioned this but I'm bringing it up again for visibility.

[@agustinrojas1751]

Don't forget to equip the plasma sniper rifle for Mellioria!!! Also, you probably could have used one of Robinson's grenades to destroy the cover she was stuck in, might have been able to free her. It's worth a shot since she wasn't doing anything else anyways.

[@wondersight2337]

1:08:43 He was actually shielded, meaning he gets temporary hp and correct he loses some regular hp along with said shield upon sectoid death. Also, you can do standard shot with blue move + rapid fire on Assault.

[@SoulCrusherEx]

Javier Charez was definitely the MVP of the Brazil XCOM HQ Security Forces. This man needs to be remembered

[@bfwebster]

Leigh pretty much is playing the Reaper role from XCOM 2.

[@jwbaker]

That's why Odd got confused about whether she needed to get a kill to get another action. Personally I think it's a shame because Leigh, unlike a Reaper, is a murder machine. She can move and take 3 point-blank shots that are all but guaranteed to crit. But Odd treats them most turns as a straight up scout.

[@extragooey813]

I don't blame him. Concealed scouting is super OP.

[@consolescrub4031]

@@jwbaker Objection! He may have been thinking of the Ranger ability unstoppable which gives an extra move after a kill. While Reapers can get that as an additional ability, it's primarily for Rangers. I think Reapers are excellent at clearing targets once banish is unlocked (especially if they have a repeater) although Leigh would be an absolute menace with an upgraded shotgun. Best for cleaning up the last target in a pod and then reconcealing I feel as otherwise there's the risk of activating a new pod or dangling her because you didn't give the kill to the sniper first.

[@Wolfeson28]

That's exactly how I thought of mimetic skin once I saw how Chris used Leigh with it. Unfortunately, since she doesn't have a direct equivalent of Silent Killer, she's often running into the problem that vanilla XCOM2 Phantom Rangers did - often not getting to actually join in a lot of the fighting. Still, it's proven to be a *really* powerful and useful skill.

[@blackeyefatlip7045]

We're in the non-canon portion now, folks. Let's keep it rolling!

[@joshuafox8856]

Yes we are now running battle simulations for an Ethereal inside a 1950's detective's body (who fought against the first invasion which there is somehow no record of) in order to secure a tactical advantage over the remaining Earth forces and secure the New World Order where the people will be duped into believing they are now living in an oppressive Utopia in order to efficiently harvest rare DNA strands in order to create new biological weapons to use against an as of yet unknown force. IIRC according to canonical lore.

[@DimasTWD]

I swear to god, the XCOM memes has been so funny, especially this one 😂

[@0o0ification]

"Robinson's hacking" 😂...and the files are INSIDE the computer 🙃

[@Wolfeson28]

That's usually where the files are...just an unusual method of access.

[@Xorgrim]

If you make Wilson a MECH, you will respec him automatically and he will never miss.

[@pascal6871]

I second this, huge fan of Wilson Sashimi

[@zerogen8989]

Yes, please. Such an obvious choice in my opinion.

[@Yamatification]

You heard the man, chop chop, time for blackbird sashimi 🍣😝

[@softno7506]

Oh yeah, thats a really solid idea!

[@Jimmythehand]

What he said! ☝️

[@lthastings8800]

I do love Cyberdisks as enemies. They are undoubtedly alien, sleek, cold and deadly. Unlike the Gatekeepers from :2, who can't even shoot straight. Every time a Cyberdisk enters the battlefield, it gives me chills. I think, if I were to count the victims vs appearances on missions, Cyberdisks would be the deadliest.

[@RussellCHall]

"alien, sleek,cold and deadly" I like that description a lot!

[@cainednd]

First off, great job on your base defense. I got 4 cyberdiscs on my base defense, and lost 3 rookies. Turning Blackbird into a MEC would be the most ideal soldier to do so. His Aim is insane at 120, he'd have the platform bonus if he doesn't move, and you would not need any mod to respec him. He would NOT be a tank though, so keep him in second line. Building him with defensive skills and self-repair would definitely help, but that's just my opinion.

[@juanfranciscoconchabastian4564]

in the lastest batch of videos you ask, why we all keep coming back to Xcom despite that there's a lot more new games like xcom, and i have my reason (i been thinking alot in this because i am a solo develover of my own tactical title base game): 1. Every campain feels very different from one to the other. Not only the tactics that the enemy takes is different in every mission (or even in realods of the game), but the order of mission, the order of maps is very different. The randomness of the structure of the game gives a unique flavor to every campain. 2. Most of the tactital title base game now is hero base, so there a flavor to "get to know" the character that the develover create, but xcom is different. Here you create the history of every soldier base in what they do in the mission, campain or how they die, for example the joke that your fist dead was a lover's tragic dead, or the log that the comumnity creates for every campain in xcom2. 3. There is something about aliens and the desing choices made for them. There is no denial that is very cool to shoot an alien in the face while the humanity joins as a whole. There's a lot of more reasons, but i think that is my top 3

[@olsongc8422]

Character creation for me. So many of the XCOM-likes miss that ingredient. The ability for players to create and share their own stories. The community that was built from it. Pre established characters are great, but when yountake the agency of character creation from the player it makes it less likely someone like me will get invested.

[@DannYIIF]

The ability to give your grunts personalized names and outfits makes you really attach to them. Which by itself isn't that special - what makes XCOM so special is how it's not afraid to kill them off, and every death hurts so much.

[@Yamatification]

I totally agree, deep uniquely replay-able campaign where your build choices determine the playstyle and heroes, which organically creates the flavor of each run and soldier. Also who doesn't want to see humanity finally unite as one species and kick butt against evil?!!

[@Finly052]

Hey bud, you're absolutely right. If you can incorporate this in to what you're developing you'll do great. Enough of this cheese dick shit triple A developer's are pushing. Give us a game with substance, not a kindergarten experience. Best of luck in your project. Cheers from Canada 😊👍.

[@HillHomeGaming]

EMERGENT STORY instead of being TOLD everything. The old adage "SHOW don't TELL". Most games, especially tactical ones, just go off and pontificate endlessly about how you SHOULD feel, how you SHOULD want to respond to whatever situation (Looking at you Triangle Strategy) instead of just putting you into a setting and letting you do whatever you see fit to do. Approach and problem solve how you want to (within the limitations of what the game gives you of course). For this XCOM and Battle Brothers both are great examples but even there I feel like XCOM/XCOM 2 sometimes leans a bit too far to the "story" side of things. But that is 100% because Jake wanted to tell a story. He said it in multiple interviews. This lead to Midnight Suns which was a very avg game all around. Character customization (Make the soldiers your own, name them after friends, etc NOT pre-generated characters. This was where Chimera Squad went sideways), emergent story (The story of your characters interacting with the missions/world is the REAL story. The backdrop in this case is saving the world from aliens), focus on player agency (Your decisions both tactical and strategic have very clear consequences both good and bad). That's what it is that brings people back IMO.

[@MaiAolei]

Every time I see or play this mission, I wish that the security officers would join the soldier roster after the mission. Rivera even earned a promotion.

[@Myomer104]

Thankfully, that's the case in Long War.

[@Nick1979BN]

After that "fair" decision I'd not be suprised if they quit. ;o)

[@MaiAolei]

@@Nick1979BN 😂😂😂 Very true!

[@ausSwiffer]

Emela 'Herald' Winds, Personal Log #24 19 July, 2345 At the start of the month, most of the base was celebrating. We had invaded the alien base and killed its commander. More than once around the base I heard about how the aliens were on the run and that the war was over (or soon to be). Backs were slapped, fives were highed and (almost) everyone was riding a wave of euphoria. And yes, it was a great victory, there is no denying it. Those celebrations seem like a long time ago now. Today, the aliens came knocking. This was a surprise to us only insofar as we had hoped it would never happen but the strategy team has been working on plans for this kind of event since the Xcom project settled in it's South American base. The problem, of course, is the amount of variables. There are numerous entries and exits to the base, especially since half the aliens seem to be able to fly, so our ventilation system was an obvious weak point but how else could we live if we sealed it off? So straight away, there are weaknesses galore due to the balance between security and habitability. To exploit that weakness, the aliens deployed something we have yet to see. We know that the sectoids can perform some kind of mental connection with other aliens but we had only ever seen it on the battle field to take control of willing minds. The prelude to the base attack involved mass mind control of presumably unwilling minds. Early estimates suggest a third of base inhabitants were taken control of. I can't even fathom the amount of power that such a feat must have taken. Chaos ensued. The Skyranger was damaged, fights broke out across the base and our foundry was heavily damaged. I was on my way to the barracks when hell broke loose and I admit I could feel the pull of the alien mind as it sent it's feelers through the base. It was so subtle and so cunning that I struggled to fight off the influence. Some of those in the hall were not as lucky. I...I am not proud of what I did but survival was all I was thinking of. I don't even know if the guard who tried to draw down on me is dead or recovering in the now very crowded medbay. I just ran at him, trying to knock him down before he could get his pistol out. We fell, there was a scuffle and then he was thrown back as I shot him. I didn't stay to see whether all my training paid off, I just started running to the command centre. Everyone seemed to be fighting and it was hard to tell who was being controlled and who was free. I didn't dare intervene in case I got it wrong and hurt someone but I fear that means I passed up opportunities to save lives. That is going to sit with me for a long time and no amount of medical leave is going to fix things. My CO wasn't there when I arrived, pistol still in hand; I still don't know his fate. Central threw the blast shields up and sealed the place off as there was still a job to do. There were a number of staff bound and gagged who must have been under alien control which left barely a skeleton to support Central. There were only two of us strategists among them. We did the best we could. I have never had a conversation with Central before today but it didn't seem to matter, the chain of command was completely remade on the spot. Due to the damage from the initial wave of mind control, we were having trouble with the digital maps and feeds, so we were pouring over paper maps, manually marking soldier locations to come up with options on the run. I don't even know ultimately what was happening; the soldiers in Delta sector were barking through what they faced with approximate locations and we just went on autopilot, relying on our experience to keep them alive. The base security performed superbly. I hope Jayko survived, he will be so proud I am sure. I told Central what I did and while he said there would eventually be an investigation, I shouldn't have anything to worry about. I hope he is right. More to the point, I hope the soldier I shot didn't die. I would love to sit and muse about how we are going to recover from this, but already I am getting called back to the command centre; the UFO that must have delivered the legions of aliens to our base crashed during it's escape and even in its damaged state, the Skyranger is being sent out. I can barely keep my eyes open, but I am not alone in that respect and who knows how much of my team is still alive, let along able to help. I suppose sleep can wait. -E

[@TheSabeltandtijger]

Mechtoids gain a significant (8?) hp shield from being mind-merged, indicated by the purple shield dome surrounding it. Severing the link does not kill the mechtoid but it does remove the shield and damage it slightly so it's definitely still worth it to break the link but don't expect much else.

[@spiritsoldier4475]

Interceptor Pilot, Log #30 - Aren Locke (The first thing that was heard was heavy breaths) That... That was a nightmare. Not sure even a nightmare could best describe the attack. As you could probably guess, the base got attacked. There was breaches across all sectors, with everyone scrambling to counter and defend. What made it worse... was that practically a third of our staff was mind-controlled. Strategists, engineers, scientists, construction workers, no group was safe and there was sabotage at every corner. Had to knock out a few of the staff members, and put a bullet in the abdomen of one of my guys. Ended up at the command center, helping defend the Commander and Bradford, along with other key personnel. Fought alongside one of the junior officers, Jayko, and took down several of the aliens that attempted to get into the room (From sectoids to even a few mutons). Had the other pilots coordinate with the guards and soldiers stationed all across the base, either subduing anyone mind-controlled or defending non-combatants from the aliens. We won. But... a lot of good people died. Several guards, many non-combatant staff members... possibly even a few pilots. Heard Jayko lost his dad during the fighting. He was about to get killed by the floater, but the man push him aside and took the plasma shots in his place. It was only after the fighting ended that he allowed himself to grieve for his father. Mathias... can't say that I knew him that well personally, but I've seen him around the base. Saw him working to keep the base clean, and appreciated how hard-working and affable the man was. Unfortunately, none of us are getting any rest any time soon. Command is gathering up the survivors, re-structuring the chain, taking steps to figure out how this mass mind control happened. Jayko ended up being promoted to senior officer, and depending on who survived, the strategy team might end up being re-structured. I plan to gather my own pilots, see who survived and who didn't. And another UFO landed; likely one of the ones carrying the aliens that attacked us. So the ground team is being sent out (Thankfully, none of them suffered any casualties from the attack), with Watcher taking lead. Commander want all his troops at high rank as soon as possible, so most of the team are lieutenant rank and under. Hopefully, this doesn't come to bite him; and Skyranger can hold up the flight. Locke out.

[@AdamHawkesDeveloper]

"What is this map, a corn field?" Man, in the original XCOM I'd end up on a farm all the time. Cornfield. Barn. Lots of sight lines.

[@Wolfeson28]

Crop circles, livestock being abducted...ya, makes sense to me.

[@kinglysandus]

When a soldier is stuck in terrain like that, you can use a grenade to break the cover and they might pop free... I think? Stuck like Robinson is, she isn't going to need that grenade anywhere else...

[@jefferydraper4019]

I think a one point he even tried to place a grenade template on the console and it never highlighted.

[@bamatrucker31]

I like when the base defense starts cuz you get the cutscene and then you either accept the mission or quit the game. It's the suspense of this is it!

[@wjwoodget01]

Date: 20th July 2015 00:01 Name: Will 'Collux' Penton Rank: Support Squaddie - Former Med Bay Nurse Subject Log: The call up It's finally happened. I've been called up and will be seeing action. No more waiting around while people get injured just to give them some painkillers, slap their butts and send them back out again. No more getting bored and checking all the med kits are fully stocked twenty times before each mission. I can now do my part, serve XCom as I wanted to and how my parents would want me to. I'm going out on the next mission now, a landed UFO in Brazil. Hopefully I can impress the commander enough to come out on more missions and learn new skills by talking the guys and girls who have been doing this the longest. Wish me luck, off I go. Wait, let me check that med kit one last time.

[@Wolfeson28]

I hope you don't end up getting...Experimented...on later, Mr. 001.😉

[@CodeSquares]

Well I hope you're happy Mr. Odd, I have reinstalled XCOM (although I went with WOTC) and am playing yet another campaign thanks to this series. :)

[@joshp8535]

Lol, I just texted a couple of friends and said "what class do you want to be in the xcom run I'm about to start.

[@kevinyuan1535]

I think it is such a missed opportunity that if the base security you get as reinforcements survive the base defence, they will be recruit as a squaddie and join the team. I had one base security rookie landing every single shot, even landed some crit and was being an absolute star. On the final wave of attack, she got hit but went into bleed out instead of dying, and I rushed my support try to stabilize her because I am just that attached to her. However the game won’t let me do it and I watch her bleed out….RIP soldier 🫡

[@syncmonism]

I thought the game would let you stabilize base security... It's a bit glitchy in showing you what square a bleeding soldier is actually on, so maybe that was the issue. Having them bleed out can still trigger panic checks on nearby conscious soldiers, so even from a game standpoint, stabilizing base security should still be allowed.

[@kevinyuan1535]

@@syncmonism that is probably the issue, but I was more dealing with the Alien dropping from the vent more 😂

[@jefferydraper4019]

Cutter put the smackdown on that Mechtoid. This is my favorite battle to watch in XCOM. Because this is the All for the Marbles battle. In XCOM2, this is the battle that its assumed was lost. This is also one battle I liked in Phoenix Point. Their base defenses are fun like this. I do wish Central would have been incorporated into this battle.

[@kingdancekiller]

Robinson forgot it was Raid Night with her guild in Classic WoW.

[@Wolfeson28]

I was wondering why our main tank was so late logging on.

[@MaKcoH95]

Private Chavez is now a living legend. Wish to see him as a character in the future

[@darkokat]

Killing a sectoid who has mind merged with a mechtoid just gets rid of their shields (6 or 7 shield I think)

[@N1ghtwalk3r]

Kill count : 33 (+1 Capture) Col. Juuso "Jube" Laitinen : 8 Rk. Javier Chavez : 5 Maj. Lewis "Lockport" Cutter : 5 Col. Ginger "Stargazer" Robinson : 4 Col. Shaojie "Chilong" Zhang : 4 Col. Alicia "Watcher" Leigh : 2 (+1 Capture) Rk. Alejandro Rivera : 2 Rk. Dominga Ramirez : 2 Rk. Patricia Ruiz : 1 You were right about Javier being special, that rookie was the MVP, he deserves to be included into your squad

[@RyanBetts]

I really hope Odd recruits Javier!

[@Wolfeson28]

Laitinen actually had 8, but spot on otherwise. Chavez did only have about 33 damage due to his basic weapons (best I could guess - holy SHIT the camera in this episode was obnoxious for showing damage flags), but he essentially outperformed the other 3 rookies combined.

[@N1ghtwalk3r]

​​​@@Wolfeson28 Thanks man, just edited my comment

[@jorgmeltzer9234]

Next guy he recuits has to get named Javier!

[@evilbob840]

1:06:10 I'm pretty sure Zhang couldn't target the rocket because he couldn't step out from behind cover (because he was next to a big hole). So, his full cover was blocking his rocket. 1:08:30 Yeah, he was mind-merged, it doesn't kill mechtoids when you kill the merger. (Still worth it though.)

[@jonpickens3965]

Nice base defense. Very clean. Rookies take their chances. You are of course right about Mechtoids + Sectoids. By the fan-wiki, the psi-boost is 6 ghost armor, plus half excess damage when broken. If the Sectoid is killed, armor goes away immediately and deals 3 points damage to the Mechtoid. The ghost armor loss is the main benefit of killing the sectoid first, and is the best counter. Incidentally, Mechtoids yield a small amount of meld (5), unless you kill them with explosives (as will Heavy Floaters), since you're scrounging. Thanks for showing off the Mec-on-Mechtoid action. Wonderful stuff, not seen nearly enough. NOT interested in seeing a RE-SPEC mod. Resorting to reconversion to fix your missed accuracy error or your shortage of medics is, IMO, at the same play level as scum-saving. This action will never get a closing "T" in my book. As the emergence of my inner drill-sgt is now imminent ("NO WUSSES IN THIS OUTFIT!!"), let's change tack. Stronger Choice: Play it where it lies, roll with the punch, get the pistol upgrades, and create the maximum gunslinger this game will allow, as an example of expert optimization on the fly. ((If you _absolutely_ must put in a new mod, I'd suggest one that allows dual-pistol wielding, so you can make a proper late-version-Xcom style gunslinger. I know this mod exists for ENEMY WITHIN, no clue if it's compatible with your other mods.)) Absolutely back your decision on the STAR AWARD. I used to decide too soon how to call it, and have come to respect precisely the use you've picked for it. It would be nice to hit the endgame with the buffs. But demonstrating how superior play decisions compensate for setbacks in this game is by far the greater good. Spot on! Believe you got the right new Support, but perhaps you did it for the wrong reasons. Going forward, your key is not Accuracy, but Will. The new guy beat out the Support not chosen by 42 to 37. A squaddie at Will 37 is pretty hopeless for the endgame. Now 42 is not great--won't be psionic warrior material--but by boosting and babysitting, the character's endgame could well be memorable. BTW, I always screen Squaddies for WILL when resources permit. You're there now. As the last comment along these lines, suggest you dismiss all your squaddies with less than 50 Will (except Penton, who you need here and now). Otherwise, be ruthless. You are weeding out those less than the best, and you have a war to win. Even though you're still working on the money snowball, you can still buy two new soldiers per mission with elerium and alien alloys alone, and not risk your long-term stocking of these materials. As I said, only about 20% of troops screened will meet a higher limit, but I think you'll like the number of psionic warrior options you can develop for the late game. Soon as things settle down a bit, I'd look into a Mec upgrade. I would not start a new mec until getting your current guy to tier 3. Also, consider bone marrow genetics for Penton to improve his survivability, and depending on how livid you stay, the second heart might be nice as well. I would be extremely reluctant to consider Welcher a Mec candidate--far too valuable as a potential psionic warrior. Abduction missions will be with you until you take off for the Temple Ship. Crystal Ball Time: Thought I'd do a theoretical pre-screen for the likelihood of psionic talent for you: Possible: Welcher, Durant. Not in this Universe: Robinson, Laitinen, Mellioria, Zhang, Cutter, Wilson, Hide, Ibrahim, Penton, Eastmond, Shen, (Krause? only got one flash of these stats, which I've been unable to relocate, but I think they were low). Last Note: Missed a response, but you might find these notes on UFO Flight Computers/UFO Power Sources of use: Firestorm Advanced Fighter cost: $200, 20 elerium, 40 alloys, 2 UFO Flight Computers, 1UFO Power Source. (4 are desirable) Blaster Launcher cost: $400, 120 elerium, 75 alloys, 1 fusion core, 2 UFO Flight Computers. (2 are desirable) Happy Budgeting!

[@jonpickens3965]

One addendum. Re: Blackbird. The only opinion you should really listen to on this is the player who created the character. Every other opinion on the matter is just gas. He wants Mec, do mec; he wants Gunslinger, do gunslinger. End of the day, that's the short of it.

[@bfwebster]

Robinson getting stuck: I just ran into something similar in one of my iPad EW games just a day or two ago. My squad was in a large downed ship (abductor, I think). One soldier was standing behind a half-cover wall overlooking a lower area. I had her take a shot; the game had her step forward thru the wall for the shot, but then left her dangling in the air on the other side of the wall. Nothing I could do could get her to move. I had a save game from several turns earlier, and I just had to reload and replay.

[@Wolfeson28]

Awesome job with the base defense. Your top soldiers really came in clutch with hitting almost everything, and even the rookies stepped up (poor Chavez, still getting turned down for the main roster).

[@terilumi]

dude that was practically clean (well, RIP the rookie, but yknow how it is). been waiting for this episode from the start - the base defense is my beloved and beloathed, such a highlight in the storyline but has definitely taken few of my favorite soldiers in my own playthroughs.

[@jonmagic1123]

The meme at the end got a real good chuckle out of me. Love those

[@Finly052]

Hey bud, considering the difficulty level you're playing that was flawless. Great episode and cheers from Canada 😊

[@GlenK94]

The mini mods collection you already have installed has an option for "Soldier's Respec Training". It will make the soldier unavailable for a while (customisable, 2 weeks is default I believe). There is a limit on how often you can retrain a soldier, they have to go on a certain number of missions before they can be respecced again.

[@hardfoil]

Impressive job! Such a relief to have this one completed

[@allanpeter7700]

I don’t think it really matter since you can’t take the rookies with you but I think perfect world I think you would use the rookie to get vision, then shoot one Mechoid, and disable the other. And trust cutter to get the 88% shot

[@Chooch1080]

Yooo great work on the base defense!!!

[@carrieullrich5059]

Finally he equips some medkits. ❤❤❤❤❤👏👏👏👏👏😊

[@chrismartindale7840]

2 things. 1st, I was surprised at how many sectoids you got. I am guessing this was due to how early this mission happened. I don't normally assault their base until August. 2nd your assumption was correct, the mechtoid only takes damage when the mindmerging sectoid is killed. I am guessing you didn't read my comment in the last episode, it was partially incorrect based on my forgetting about mechtoids showing up, but you more or less followed my strategy. Keep up the good work!

[@GeronimoJones4422]

Insanely clean defense, well played commander! Never played Enemy Within but I know I probably would’ve lost the game on this mission lol

[@TheRockzone03]

You should know something leader in mission is from where you choosing soldiers from left 3 position is always for a leader of the team and there should be soldier with a higher rank

[@huntermad5668]

Not really, the one standing nearest is the commanding officer. That position is the left in center

[@Bannedinlyfe]

Anyone else become a member so we could watch these episodes lol

[@virgo293]

so real of u LMFAOOO

[@jayasathivellan237]

same😅

[@jonathanpickles2946]

Almost

[@XtraaJuice]

No

[@suggestiveartefacts3956]

Writers' and roleplayers' logs are compiled at: docs.google.com/document/d/1WpKFCy6kCWAOOjlFWC9y7hZ0h9ARhL0k3Sv6ptMIHPM/edit?usp=sharing

[@WanoReborn]

Pretty clean base defense, good job! As for the next mission, It will be funny if landed UFO is a big one, and Odd is taking mid level squad. Anyway, good luck, Commander!

[@Myomer104]

From the map, I think it's a Harvester, so pretty big.

[@24nero24]

The plasma sniper is so cool. And that damage really doing work

[@nils-peterwihlney8732]

I've encountered that get stuck in cover bug in X-Com 2. the solution was to destroy the cover.

[@daywalkerdw]

I’m behind, but it had to be said this is a masterful play through of this ridiculous mission. I forgot this was a thing on my replay of this game. And I had just completed a mission with my secondary squad and all of my top soldiers were with basic weapons and armor. So dumb.

[@PailosRey]

Great Job Commander! And I think the map for the landing refers to the original Xcom, with the open farm scenario

[@stevennicholas5472]

Nostalgia vibes. Those night missions rocked. 4 dead as they step down the ramp. I can still hear their footsteps.

[@PailosRey]

@@stevennicholas5472 And the screamings in the dark...

[@OrionTheta1]

Kudos Commander. Killed 34 enemies and not one bad puppy moment. ;)

[@bfwebster]

Yep: the mechtoid takes damage but isn't killed.

[@PowerJugs]

Damn, those openings rounds were on point from the guards as well as the usual operatives

[@damionjones8092]

21:40 You are able to take a normal shot before the rapid fire when you are in that radius (the normal shot wont count as an action allowing for three shots, assuming you have the ammo)

[@irbaboon1979]

Well played Commander! This playthrough is making me itch to start another EW run myself, recently finished a WotC run but won’t have time for a while so your playthrough will have to suffice for me. Give’ em hell :) Every campaign is different, there’s emotions (actually, prayer to the RNG gods) behind every shot and that moment where you’re down, hurting but somehow turn it around makes xcom have amazing replay ability….

[@suggestiveartefacts3956]

Habiba ‘Squirrel’ Ibrahim Log 6 Look, I’m gonna say this frankly - yes, I am truly grateful to be sent to Cape Town, for another covert mission against EXALT. Funny how I used to think of city life as distant and alien as another planet. Decades of living on the plains does that to you. Now, even though I’ve never been to South Africa before, I’m just happy to set foot again on the continent I was born in. And yet, though I don’t need to be reminded of the stakes in this mission, I can’t shake the feeling that the Commander was wanting me out of the base for some reason or the other. I know I’m not the easiest person to get along with, but this feels like…something else. But there’s no point dwelling on something I do anything about. This mission was practically tailored for someone of my background. There’s a wildlife smuggler in town working for EXALT who is selling more than just geckoes and bush squirrels. Not the high-profile type who can smuggle lion cubs to Saudi influencers on Instagram with more money than sense, just one of many small back alley sellers keeping a low profile to avoid attention. No back alley seller with a tarp-covered crate sells a lizard for USD$1.1m, and immediately buys and transfers cryptocurrency with the proceeds. If the rumours are correct, they’re selling wildlife that *is not of this planet*, and are a revenue source for EXALT. I’m also no zoologist, but I know that contrary to the label on the cage, ‘Madagascan Cave Crayfish’ do not grow two feet long, hunt in packs, have five tentacles or a hunger for live mammals. On land. Which is exactly what I saw when I flashed enough expensive jewellery to get the seller to show me what special stock he had ‘in the back’. Now he’s tied up in a room with the cage of horrors, which I’ve threatened to unleash if he doesn’t tell me where his boss lives... I think he’s ready to talk.

[@Sam-xd5oy]

OH YEAH BEEN WAITING FOR THIS

[@Sam-xd5oy]

that was almost disappointing how smoothly that went

[@javierat8308]

Cutter is a MACHINE rn!

[@RussellCHall]

Last mission: taken down by a door. This mission: base defense is a breeze. What do you call this roller coaster haha

[@srellison561]

The mechtoid gets an HP boost from the mind merge. If you kill the sectoid, the extra HP and a little norma XP goes away.

[@WulfCorbett]

On more than one occasion in XCOM2 I've had a soldier drop into a scenario on a partially destroyed roof and be immobilied right from the start. In one case, I was able to use the Denmother's Relocate special with the grapple to get them active.

[@AndyDouglas200]

Don't forget the plasma sniper.

[@millbrook33]

Seems like that's a known bug on the base defence map, people getting stuck in objects or walls or even aliens getting stuck outside the map so you can't finish the mission, so I guess it could have been worse.

[@armelior4610]

Xcom can retire now : just send Laitinen, he will solo the entire alien army ! Remember when he wondered what to take between "Double tap" and whatever the alternative was ? OTOH Robinson seems to want to be reassigned to operative hacking enemy computers 😄

[@Deadput]

Good job Commander! And yeah would be nice to keep the Blueshirts in base Enemy Within, you do get them with Long War though! Wish there was a mod for EW alone that would do so though. Javier Chavas would of been very cool to keep! Also fun fact, Blueshirts get their own voice packs as some of you might of noticed, although it's possible to mod it for use on your own soldiers. Gonna be a bit until I've gotten this Jayko log written since being a Blueshirt it's gonna be one of the most pivotal this entire season! Will be under this as a reply once ready.

[@Deadput]

Date: 2015/07/19-2015/07/20 Name: Jayko “Deadput” Joyeuse, Rank: Base Security Senior Officer Subject Log: Operation ASHES AND TEMPLES and I’m tired. I was among those keeping the Commander and the Command staff safe but I lost Dad…he’s gone…because that Floater had me dead in sight and f-fuck…I j-just saw it coming at the last second and before I know what’s happening I’m pushed aside and…well you get it I was going to get shot but Mathias took it for me and he’s just slumped lifelessly on the ground instantly…I didn’t even get to say goodbye or anything, my Dad raised me for 21 years and this is how it ends? I don’t even know…I don’t even know…I killed it with my rifle though I made sure to put a few more rounds into its body once the base was secured for good measure, I pray that it felt every agonizing moment. That isn’t everyone I personally lost today much like everyone else here, we lost several of the Security Personnel in the different sections of this base such as Warrant Officer Alejandro Rivera who was among those in Delta section which faced the worst of the waves although him being the only casualty in that section showcases how skilled the Field operatives like Robinson or Laitinen are although from what I heard the guards there also proved themselves. Today those of us in security were able to show that we aren’t just a bunch of useless “Blueshirts”, we are Men, Women and other brave humans who are dedicated to seeing the Aliens removed from our planet while willing to sacrifice to see that accomplished. Plenty of non-combatant staff members didn’t make it either...Aliens wanted to cause as much damage as they could and well they did exactly that and could of done much worse too…we could of lost right here today, payback against us after what we did to them with their base right? Despite the solid defense at the Command Center thanks to my fellow guards or other help like that top-dog Raven pilot Aren Locke who was fighting back to back with me…some good people died like my captain Wulf Danju and you all wanna know who’s being promoted in his place due to lack of manpower? Me of all people…me of all people, I’ve been promoted into Senior Officer but there’s nothing to celebrate about. I just survived while others died and I can hardly say skill alone carried me as whatever exams or shooting range results I get, they are not substitutes for experience and this was my first against the Aliens. Just because I’m not dead doesn’t mean I did good enough because I could of done better and I could of saved my Dad, I could of saved Danju, I could of saved anybody else who died in my field of vision…if only the Aliens took me out instead while I bought time because I have nothing of worth to offer like they did. I don’t have much else to say right now…I don’t know if I feel like making anymore logs combined with the new responsibilities…I just want to get some shut-eye once my shift ends, I want my Dad alive to help clean the base or give old military advice and stories…I don’t want to lose all of that…I want to wake up from this nightmare. If I ever see another Alien in person I’ll be sure to put them dead in their place, this is Senior Officer Jayko signing out, I love you Dad, I will miss you…more than I could ever express.

[@Deadput]

Author note: So this is it, the Base Defense ended up in a win so somewhat different then how his story would have gone if Xcom lost here much like in Xcom 2 timelines. Mathias would have still sacrificed himself to save Jayko just under slightly different circumstances. This is the place to kickstart some maturation as he learns to cope with the loss of someone dearly close to him while learning how to take charge of more than just his patrol group of 2 others. For the moment he’s suffering from survivors guilt, trauma and self-doubt despite him performing just as admirably as any other soldier/guard during the base defense. As I’ve mentioned in notes way back Jayko is an empathetic person who hasn’t suffered from much personal loss so this is new for him as it’s different from seeing Strike-1 Field Operatives die on video feed compared to seeing people die right in front of him.

[@askfrex]

Odd since Baldur gate3 tentacle love scene I expect at least a romance with sectoid commander this play through. Maybe muton. Thanks

[@exequielgaleano9947]

Playing russian roulette with the rookies, that's basically how it felt for me and I totally respect that, lol! Also, maybe trying to blow up that cover that got you stuck could have helped? You know, in a way that wouldn't catch the soldier but would still destroy it. I feel like I would totally distract from the mission in order to try and solve that puzzle, hahaha. Many thanks for this series Odd!!! 😁

[@tokusutakechi7632]

Wilson could become a mec. Imagine a tank that never misses, shoots twice per rounds plus reactions fire with 120 aim is insane.

[@MrGreedylou]

Thought I would ask here as this is an xcom community I trust- I am currently wondering whether to pull the trigger on Jagged Alliance 3 but I only have a ps4… any advice would be most welcome ❤

[@Randtxus]

You should double check your sniper rifle on the next mission Odd :)

[@skylar9046]

Well, that went about as well as one could hope for. Too bad that one blueshirt got blasted by a Cyberdisc, but apart from that, things went pretty well! Part of the reason why Sectoids drop in is because they're support units for Mechtoids. However, in the Mech Bay once, I had only Mutons and Berserkers. It was a little funny seeing a football team arrive. Logistics Tactical Officer "Ruby" Log 31. Date: July 19, 2015. What a damn mess... So, I'm still alive. Somehow. Grabbed one of the assault rifles and pistols in my room. Had to knock out and silence a few of my own, but I didn't put any bullets into them. Hopefully, some time in the medical ward will make them feel better soon. But we held the line. Unlike the aliens, we didn't break under their attack. Had to gun down a few aliens who were in my sector as I was trying to regroup with any other officers who were around. Floaters and Sectoids. Likely trying to have them infiltrate and pick off any of us who might not have experience fighting. Well, I sure did. Got a few confirmed kills, but it's nothing compared to the rest of the soldiers who were in Delta Section. From what I heard, they've mostly just had property damage. Heh, I guess the Commander really does use liberal use of explosives everywhere, even on our home turf. I don't know if I'd agree... but this time, I won't argue it. We're alive, still. I lost some good friends and fellow officers in the assault. But we're still standing. We lost a log of good men and women... some I'd consider friends... but we're still here. Breathe. Relax. We're not out of this yet. I've got to get back to work. And, hopefully, after today, I can get a good, long rest. But rest will have to wait... there's more activity in the skies. Sensors are getting tripped. All those who died defending our HQ will not die in vain. We have to kick these aliens off our planet now, more than ever. Sapphire... my friend, you'll live on through me.

[@syncmonism]

That was my favorite mission in the entire game

[@bjornnordquist1616]

Considering a normal mission where 6 X-Com soldiers take out about 20-25 aliens, we should have seen 75 attackers this mission. Guess that's good earth still be saved.

[@allanpeter7700]

Ok you need to remember you have close combat skill with Watcher, so you had could have had enough,

[@allanpeter7700]

Also if you’re that close you could have 2 normal shots or one normal and rapid fire

[@allanpeter7700]

Also with your crit mod, it might actually be better to do 2 normal shot since they will crit

[@nightworg]

It is not the close "combat skill". It is the "close and personal" skill he has on her. I do know what you mean though. He could have shot 3 times, if he had used the free shot first and then rapid fire. he forgot both with the Mectoid and Cyberdisk lol.

[@TheSuperColonel]

Mechtoid getting mind merged get a shield that has 6 hp and 50% dmg reduction. Killing the mind merger will cause the shield to collapse and Mecthoid takes 3 hull health dmg. The Sectoid Commander has an AOE mind merge version.

[@jeffmine2285]

The mechtoid vs mec trooper is my personal fav of all time!

[@Gornejo]

note: with leigh you can have 3 shots when close an enemy. 1 standard and 2 from the rapid fire

[@stevennicholas5472]

No respeccing. Turn him into a MEC if you want to reroll him. You can't teach years of experience in an afternoon.

[@Gornejo]

btw you can blast the computer or the cover to liberate your soldiers if they get stuck again. you need to blow up the computer and tru to not damage your soldier in the process

[@TheFoss53]

"what is blocking the rocket shot?" Well, the big effing hole in the mechbay, not allowing the heavy to step aside and shoot. But well played cmdr, i thought it could have gone worse than one lost crew, right? RIGHT?

[@OnlineKenji]

Usually once I get plasma rifles, I equip my assault soldiers with them. But, I usually have two assaults in my squads and they are almost always my top killers in varying top place with the sniper. My Usual Team Comp: 2xAssault 2xSupport 1xHMG 1xSniper

[@garicb9271]

You should have to earn the no helmet look by making it to Major. The reveals would be fun.

[@dyamonde9555]

No wonder Redshirt Chavez owned on this mission, he is probably the little Brother of 120 Aim Sniper Chavez

[@pageboysam]

50:30 > I haven’t seen anything like that… where you can’t unstick em. Well, maybe if one didn’t save and load in the middle of turns, one still wouldn’t see it.

[@DavisCentis]

You need to play the OG X-Com game Odd. Then that Cornfield will make LOTS of sense.

[@Xorgrim]

Plasma Sniper for Mellioria?

[@GAJake]

For your respecing idea for soldiers it should cost currency and take a while to "retrain" the soldier, like if they are wounded or in the gene lab they are not able to be on a mission for like 3 days.

[@nightworg]

I think you had a couple of free shots with Lee you didn't use. Anyway you did win pretty comfortable. I wonder why there was so few scary aliens. No setopod, Ethereals and elite mutons. My base defence was much worse. Good luck Commander. And I don't mind if there is a mod to redo Henry. He is almost useless for late game enemies with his current abilities. A please upgrade your MEC now that you have the meld.

[@blackeyefatlip7045]

I think the reason there's so few scary aliens is because of how early this is in terms of the calendar. Sectopods and Elite Mutons only show up later, if I remember correctly

[@Deadput]

@@blackeyefatlip7045 This would be it, the enemies you get depends on what month you are on.

[@darkokat]

Aaaaaand Robinson in the computer is what happens when you play with mods 😂

[@bralius]

This happened a couple times on my Heavy troops, and I play mod-less. It seems sometimes the step out to fire rockets gets them stuck in certain types of cover. Collateral damage or grenade on the cover are both good ways to get them free.

[@gamingnscience]

I kept wanting him to use the grenade when he used it to highlight the computer briefly and every turn after. Alternatively, you can start the game in admin mode or something and use an unstuck console command, I believe?

[@darkokat]

@@bralius I've never seen that bug before. Mostly I just have one heavy and Odd likes to have all of the heavies haha

[@joshp8535]

I wonder if he had grenaded the cover they were stuck in if it would have freed them.

[@jefferydraper4019]

@@joshp8535 It looked like he even tried to place a grenade on the console at one point and t never highlighted. At that point, I would have fallen back toward the command center to keep Robinson in the fight.

[@Laocoon283]

The reason they drop sectoids is cause they can buff the mechtoids not because they are low level enemies. They often spawn alongside mechtoids.

[@ToaDrakua]

I sense badness about to occur as I start this video. Edit: Turned pretty well in the end.

[@giovaninho8065]

With close combat you can shoot 3 times! First, a regular shoot and then rapid fire!

[@srellison561]

I hope you remember to give Malloria the plasma sniper rifle.

[@slayer6498]

Yeah Happened To Me To An A 2nd Story Balcony, I Just Used Collateral Damage On The Rail Mine Was Caught On, A Plasma Grenade To The Console Probably Would've Worked.

[@TheSuperColonel]

Mechtoids have 80 aim on impossible and if they do not move can fire twice a turn. If he gets closer he gets the same aim bonus as assault rifle soldiers. So that blue shirt was a very lucky bait.

[@absentialucci]

Aaaaaah! Every time he rapid fires before a standard shot within close and personal range it hurts!

[@TheFinius]

To get her out I might have tried one of the rookies grenades to blow up the computer she's stuck in. Take 3 damage but free her.

[@bamb1s0la]

Commander Odd! You forgot to equip a plasma sniper on Melloria

[@andrewd3098]

You could have tried having Robinson grenade himself, to see if that would have freed him from the computer

[@QmonsterGames]

Close Combat Specialist is amazing for holding choke points, iirc