How to Survive in Every Mission, Dominate the Game - Aliens: Dark Descent

[@teknoid5878]

My fav unit is hacker not for the hacking, but for the drone. You can recon a map early opening fog of war. And also i found that mines are very useful, stick them in front of every door, it will prevent the patrolling enemies from accidentally detect you, and they cost only command points, so you can literally swarm the map with mines (if you're paranoid).

[@rz3264]

Tecker ironically do a better job at recon, than the recon class itself lol

[@teknoid5878]

@@rz3264 yeah lol. but they are very useful nonetheless.

[@kruger4444]

@@rz3264 Silent precision shot alone is probably the most powerful skill. It allows you to snipe tough warriors or keep away detection.

[@rz3264]

​@@kruger4444 I feel on nightmare mode,on higher stage the alien will detect you faster than the sniping animation. So i mostly opt to use drone voice to lure alien into sentry guns or mines lol

[@santiagoramos4157]

I can't believe I haven't thought of that and I'm on my third playground 😫

[@docsantander]

This game has a very steep learning curve but once you start to get how the stuff works and the mechanic.. this game is very addictive! It's very hard but not unfair... 10/10

[@UncleGamerNtwk]

I concur about the learning curve. Once I figured out that i should stay in the slow motion mode, it made it easier.

[@Qichar]

Wow the recon marine made the Dead Hills mines nearly trivial for you. I didn't have any level 3 marines when I first attempted it and it ended up being very difficult. There were places in the mines I could not avoid drones detecting me and so I had to fight my way through. Eventually, after killing the Queen, I was forced to defend against a massive onslaught in the mines on Hard infestation level. I was only able to make it through because I had found lots of ammo and I could reload my 2 sentry guns. I had to place that at strategic points and take on the various waves of enemies and I was only able to move on to extract after defeating the hunt following the massive onslaught. They just kept coming.

[@ia115]

The best moments of the game

[@BeefNEggs057]

You might have ptsd now. 😂

[@stunitech]

The first time i encountered this area it kicked my ass big-time. Then I figured out the "put turrets down before going in" on my own and used suppressing fire on Queenie 1. It went from brutal boss fight to minor inconvenience in the blink of an eye. Another good tip for this section is that when the hunt is launched after killing Queenie, go kill the hidden face hugger in the nest during that hunt. That way you'll only go through one hunt/stress build up instead of two. Can make the difference between 40% stress and 125% and traumas.

[@munkhdulbat-erdene2538]

I just finished first mission and you relived my stress exactly. I didnt use sentry, i just ran away grenade 3times to stun the queen and tactical points same thing haha i didnt even know how to point sentry gun lol never stressed in my life in videogame

[@TATERplaysGAMES]

Mines are a game-changer. I drop em like bread crumbs behind me, and they've saved my ass from many random patrols, ambushes, etc, because the mines are technically stealth equipment. If a patrolling xeno detonates a mine, it WILL die, but you will not be detected, even if youre in the same room, so planning ahead with mines means that by the time the mine goes off for a kill, you've already regenerated that command point. Precision shot IS more immediately and directly applicable, but in some missions the aliens may move in groups, or they may be dragging Darwin Era cultists, and if you shoot one of them, the others may detect you. Not a problem if they step on a mine, killing all or most of them in one go, and if any survive, your precision shot should be ready to go. The biggest thing that helped me alot is remembering that command points are free and abundent, so on your first deployment into a map, you wanna be setting up a grid of motion trackers and mines in front of any spawn-points. The mines will cover your ass, ans the motion trackers will make ANY future deployment to that map dramatically more managable, which means you can bring in a rookie squad to sweep resources and handle secondary objectives to get them experience. Point is, the mines are incredibly useful, you just need to get a little creative with their application.... ...or dont. They work just fine at face value. If aliens are attacking a welded door, you should have time to slap a little present down for them when they finally get it open.

[@Nugire]

Also, make use of the armored transport in combination with scanner overload. It's invulnerable and kills off enemies without raising stress or threatlevel, doesn't even cause a hunt to start. Just slap some extra scanners around the car deployment points and use them. Note: level 2 xenos apperently grant exp, but only if killed by the squad. In those cases, the car will deny you gaining exp.

[@munkhdulbat-erdene2538]

Thanks for tips, i will definitely spam them but does mines give you exp? And acr on level one xenos?

[@Nodjia]

I haven't finished watching the video as of writing this first part, but I just saw 3:00 that we don't have mines and going up to sentry guns, they are never mentioned. I feel it is important to note that the power mines bring to the party as of level 2 for any soldier cannot be overstated. If the goal is to trigger as few "hunt" states as possible, to prevent stress and to prevent difficult increases, and to prevent boss spawns, then the mine is an absolute treasure of efficiency. When dealing with patrols like drones, or even just cultists, the mine can be placed in their path (really any chokepoint) and they will 1 shot practically every type of patrol out of line of sight and with no consequences regarding "sound". They do not trigger investigative responses from nearby aliens, they don't wake up sleepers, and you never need to be in line of sight of the "alarm" aliens. Basically any scenario where the team is going to try to "snipe" a patrolling drone can also be done with mines, even if the technique is slightly different. Combining mines and snipes results in the capability to handle "hibernating drones", patrols, runners, guardians, etc. I managed to make it through the entirety the docks and the refinery without triggering hunts (aside from scripted queen fights or when I actively chose to engage them for lab recipes) using just mines, snipes and motion trackers. Do not sleep on mines. All that being said, I've watched the rest, and it's solid advice all around. Manipulating search behavior and movement is important, taking out key alarm enemies is great.

[@devonramos9202]

For the first crusher I literally just set up the car at the front and then ran like hell for. It worked pretty damn well😂 Car killed it in seconds.😂

[@godmode9913]

I don’t think you get xp from atv kills , I might be wrong.

[@101Sektor]

I try to do everything in 1 deployment, keeping the marines stress free and well equipped. its not always easy but saves time. Thats how i beat the game on hard difficulty, my 1st playthrough :)

[@protiliusproductions]

I find quiting to the main menu whenever someone dies is the best tool (wink).

[@Oroberus]

Specifically for the mines another easy out besides the sniper is Sentries + Beacons Sentry fire will pull Xenos but not trigger hunts, therefor setting up 2 sentries on crucial points, putting down a beacon and activating it while your squad goes to hide is a great way to pull 5 or 6 or even 7 Xenos from the shafts. Especially usefull if you use this tactic while scrounging for all crates and bodies in the mines. The sentries you've put down on your way in will also help to make your way out much easier. Another thing that's not particularily useful for one mission but a good practice in general: If you about to leave a map but know you'll be coming back, check the map screen for Tools and Medkits you've not yet taken with you but discovered. Often times it's not necessary to take ANY supplies with you if you go into a map a second or even third time as there are sooooo many supplies around, that starting with 0 tools and medkits isn't going to make anything harder. And one should ALWAYS push their luck tbh ... otherwise you'll never have the chance to mutter "Game over man ... game over!" *ggg*

[@zacharyking6504]

I just finished the first mission first try only on medium. I must say I’ve been liking the game so far and I’m starting to feel as stressed as the marines 😅😂

[@ryanjacobs5958]

Enjoy the guides and breakdowns. Really fun game. looking forward to DLC and such ! and mods haha I can see so many possibility's

[@Momofukudoodoowindu]

I wanna see an AVP adaption of this format the alien models, power attacks, and classes are already in the game I bet it would be super easy to pull off

[@williamedwards4151]

The flamethrower can also block off an area. Enemies will absolutely go around the fire. I even had one time when I used it and the Xenos went clear around another hallway and ended up flanking me. That was rough. lol. That was an big oof.

[@millch2k8]

Once you have a sufficiently levelled Sergeant, the reprimand skill is really great at keeping the stress level under control. Or, like you say, just try and avoid them instead.

[@andrewcaldwell-jones8212]

Great Guide. Thank you. I have found, dropping trackers near your apc and setting them off helps, as the APC kills them without affecr your dectection.(i get the APC isnt available in every mission) If no APC I find a room/area earliest as possible in a mission and leave a few turrets with the tracker to set up a "kill" room/area as they turrets don't affect your detection level either. Also if your tecker is a high enough level for 1 tool he can upgrade turrets to get them suppression fire. I also found the start of the game a huge learning curve, i wasn't aware that certain rooms you could rest in and reset your stress, the game could of been more helpful but enjoying it none the less.

[@jmorris023]

Dominate? Look man, I'm not gonna last 17 hours! I guess I should put you in charge!

[@matthewameel1741]

I understand that reference lol

[@cnkclark]

Well, why don't we build a fire, sing some songs?

[@nybias666]

Let's rooooooockkk!!!!!

[@BeefNEggs057]

Gameover man! ❤RIP Bill.

[@mobithe1]

This game as i see in comments has its own learning curve. My first dead hills queen had been nothing but nightmare especially once you kill her and are horded with drone and eventually a crusher. This was my first strategy with zillion attempt which all ended in killing. Than I started from the beginning with more strealth focus and usage of sentry gun effectively i was able to come out with a hord of attack and finished off with min truma and impact. So stealth and strategy as per playing style is the key.

[@機械神教]

use supressive fire often especially with smart gun, use hacker drone to scout every nook and cranny for xeno spawn, if you got detected and the status went to hunt go to a shelter and weld the doors it will reset the status back to undetected immediately even when the hunt status still full, some people didnt know and the tutorial did not help at all YOU CAN SPREAD THE FLAMETHROWER just left click and drag it, its that easy and really game changing for me.

[@matthewameel1741]

You can spread the flame of the flamethrower. Like click and drag for sentry gun. Wow that's clutch didn't know that

[@reelgesh51]

I spent a solid 2 hours or something going through the codex to learn that 😅

[@Mircheeks]

This was so incredibly helpful. Thank you! I’m new to RTS but am obsessed with the Aliens franchise. I was so lost playing on medium but as a seasoned gamer feel too prideful to go to storyline difficulty. I’ve never done that. I think it’s safe to say this game is a difficult one right off the rip. These tips are invaluable.

[@darklink1011]

another thing is you can run back to the arc when a onslaught is about to happen and set up sentry turrets as well

[@jeffteskey4232]

Dark hills bottom left of map. There’s your first mission where u get a sentry gun. Complete the mission and extract your squad. Redeploy and you can now buy extra sentry guns for 20 materials. This helps alot farming experience points. Build your team up in the first 4 missions. Farm massive onslaughts. With patience you will have a well balanced and upgraded team. Completing the game also allows you to keep your marines. The game goes a lot better with 20 marines at your disposal.

[@FrazzyNZ]

So im new to the game. So far loving it. I have been utilizing the motion trackers as diatractions. In the mine after defeating the queen i left a turret behind and a motion tracker infront of it. Thia helped slow the aliens right down and i got out of the mine no hassle. All troops healthy. None of my troopers were promoted until after the deployment so they gained like 4 or 5 levels. I have since now upgraded one to tech, recon, gunner and i think sarg?

[@maestrolodahl8681]

I frakkin` LOVE this game! About time we got a GOOD Aliens game!

[@raypang8400]

i got so many no deployment day from Hayes's speech that even 7 days in med bay does not hinder my squad's formation

[@DoktorZaius86]

You mention needing flamethrower to prevent eggs from hatching/spotting, but the grenade launcher is usually quicker and cleaner for this task. Flamethrower is still a great pick, just not necessarily for that.

[@teknoid5878]

flamethrowers good for making barrier, some enemies go around them. good for open grounds.

[@leolee7059]

Later on in the game you'll reach egg clusters that's impossible to clear with grenade without detection. Flamethrower on the other hand generates zero noise and doesn't wake up eggs in the same room.

[@kruger4444]

Flamethrower is best at making a single route for Xenos a complete killzone. If you lay down the fire, Xenos will take a route around it, but if there is nothing available, they will try to go through the fire. It's very situational, but if you manage to bottleneck an onslaught in it with suppressive fire, you'll win almost always, unless you get pounced over it.

[@wtfronsson]

Flamer makes the omelette _quietly,_ that is the advantage over grenading. Explosions and gunfire will draw patrolling enemies to the location. Now, if you have turrets set up correctly you can take advantage of the noise, since turret kills will not trigger hunt when the marines themselves are not seen. But this is the cushy situation where you already know how and what is going to happen.

[@LastNameTom]

But the real way is to use the drone to find the next safe room, then just get the drone to bring every alien out to the APC to get blown up, then rush to the next safe point, and repeat. Before you finish the level run back to the APC and pick up all the DNA samples you've collected. OR you do the same but set up at least 2 sentry guns, and use the drone to bring them to the drones. run back and reload as needed, then pick up before you exit the level.

[@orlandomando8486]

Just get a recon with silenced sniper shot and take your sweet time for every mission. One mission is about 1h30m for me and creeping around is realistic in most scenarios :)

[@jamesowenbradley6841]

I enjoy it isn't just me. This is also how I play, missions take ages because I play like it is Splinter Cell.

[@thomasdepauw]

Can't wait to try out this game. It's one of the free games of the month, today on PSN. Really excited about this one. From looking at videos, it reminds me of Alien vs Predator, which I played a few times on the original Xbox. I wonder if it's a good comparison, or totally not.

[@odinulveson9101]

Once played the tutorial its great that we can skip it. Im on XbsX, still waiting for patch. Damn certification process😂Still.. I dont get the hyperventilation against a story buildup tutorial first time playing. The devs did a great job with likable characters but indeed played it safe story wise. Aka WY doing dark stuff, aliens goes nommnomm. Its a trope and yes they should dip their toes into other corporations and factions having stakes in the galaxy. Weyland-Yutani, Armat, Hyperdyne is the biggest corporations. Union of Progressive Peoples, United Americas and Three World Empire are the biggest factions of earth nations

[@Costin_Gaming]

First time? Sure. Repeating it? It's hell.

[@anthonyca30]

tab will switch the marine you are using to place items.

[@kruziikal]

ima tell u three things that make the game a cake walk. first the tecker drone. they dont get spotted at all so u can explore the map of rip as soon as u spawn. next motion trackers near ur apc just activate the noise attrcter and let the apc take car of it and lastly get a sentry when ur inside the apc cant help so this is the next best thing just put a sentry or two preferably at the end of a long hallway and put a motion tracker next to them, sentries dont cause a hunt or aggressiveness so u can clear whole levels with that and lastly get sergeants they have a reprimand abiloty that stops stress from accumulating. op

[@marstudios7879]

You play so well I cannot do that 😢like you do.

[@VulcanJEDI]

I put mines down ALL the time. Any choke point. When a bunch are coming I set the choke point on fire and have turrets

[@charlesbrown1570]

Love your video just one thing the motion tracker is good for both tracking and distraction . I personally have mine all over the map with a few extra so I know where the alien are and if I need to set up a trap or use one to pull all the alien to different part

[@smellykat6481]

I almost always do everything on one deployment.

[@christianmccoubrey1692]

After getting they therapists I’m doing the same the stress stressed me out lol

[@Abp.Mars-Assembly]

I played the game on high difficulty and actually found the charger and Alien Queen easy compared to the surprise hunts and surprise onslaught. Killing the Alien queen was no problem. Problem is getting through back to back alien hunt and about three onslaughts in a row. Allot of video out there about how tough the charge and queen is. It wasnt. First charger encounter got someone killed, reloaded and it was down before it even reached the sentry. The next charger encounter was a surprise and i found it easier than the average alien for some reason. I add extra ammo, extra mags and if can I add two gunners. I dont care about nothing but ammo. I find ammo to be more important to me than command points. I rarely need heal. Two sentry guns and two gunners is a cheese fest everytime. I put down three sentry guns with the same vector, a nice corridor bottleneck and its a wrap. Once I fall back to my killzone im unkillable almost everytime. Only thing that gets me is the terrible map and scripted attacks. I just kick back with a tall glass of pineapple juice and zone out on this damn game

[@matthewameel1741]

Yes same. I was on hard difficulty and found that I did great against the queen then I actually died during the massive hunt onslaught. I reloaded and apparently got to kill both the queen and the crusher at the same time somehow managed to do just fine except I was still learning the ropes and lost one soldier due to panic and not knowing I could use retribution or w.e. and heal on the fly. That skill is so useful when your at the final stage of the fight and got some stragglers on the ass of your least healthy marine.

[@Abp.Mars-Assembly]

@@matthewameel1741 Retribution plus Suppressive fire is super cheesy. At the end of Harpers Hell, allot people lost turrets. I kept all 4 by picking them up when during Marlow's banter. Left 3 other turrets, used retribution and suppressive fire and found it did way more damage than having the 7 turrets instead of 3. The charger didnt make it half way across the map and not one Alien bypassed the firing line. Talk about an ace in the hole

[@bilson7523]

Yeah, I think it's because you can actually control the fights with Queens in all but 1 encounter. It means you can WAY over prepare, pulling the Queen into mines or sentries. I think the only thing that makes Queens truly dangerous is they are always with eggs, and they have attacks that can eat 3-4 points of health at once. I find Onslaughts and Praetorians more difficult to deal with. The former rarely occurs on your schedule, and you can't control which spawn point they come from... And Praetorians will never fight you 1:1 and like to troll your squad by triggering the detected state and running to meet up with the Xenos hunting you.

[@ivoferin8176]

Nice vid mate

[@tincantub8373]

How the smeg did you get 4 sentry guns so early in the game?

[@Costin_Gaming]

It's only 60 materials + the sentry gun from the vet clinic stage. You'll get that on your first deployment.

[@Beefcake4001]

That was my question too, didn't realise they could be built! Cheers@@Costin_Gaming

[@tomasburian6550]

The real question is how do you deal with your own stress, because a lot of players actually got affected by this game and actually needed help to deal with it. You know the devs did a good job when this happens. The immersion is just top notch here.

[@J.J.Jameson_of_Daily_Bugle]

The game has good atmosphere from second movie, it's fairly stressful, alto it becomes much better once you learn how to play (by just basically playing the main game). Tutorial kinda does piss poor job so there are ton of stuff you'll learn from experience, like when to engage, when not, when to weld the doors and make killroom\chokepoint, which class and equipment to bring, etc. It legit becomes lot better game as you play it. I hope we get similar game but for Terminator.

[@marstudios7879]

Starting playing this game is not easy. One of my marine has lost her leg on the second deployment and I don’t know how much it’s gonna affect me. Any help with that.

[@CybershamanX]

Thank you! Very informative! 😎🤘☮

[@MrMightyZ]

Nice work👍

[@Nugire]

7:45 I actually deal with the facehuggers quietly. I stay in line of sight just long enought so the egg opens, then a retreated the squad before the hugger saw me. I then activated a scanner outside, next to the ARC car, which dealt with them quite easily.

[@edwardjohnson6300]

HOW DO YOU AIM YOUR MACHINE GUNS?

[@Triumph633]

Mines are better than snipers most of the time. They dont not generate detection and with the upgrade they lure in enemies. Just setting mines everywhere is the way to go in my opinion, sniper is only usefull against stasis aliens, against the rest your shot is always blocked and its to annoying to make it work, while mines just kill all the time 100% of the time and they stay there forever even after your deployment. Just mine the spawns and no enemies on the map anymore.

[@jacquesjtheripper5922]

Hope thy will continue wt this, expansion, sequel..

[@bandohabandoha2482]

Good game but glitchy, I’m stuck on the final mission because one of my squad members is stuck in the environment and I cant extract.

[@stevehoade7867]

So im back on the space station and my squad is pinned down, need to evac bugs are pissed but im cut off, is there an easy way to get out or do i gotta backtrack all the way back to the mission opening lz?

[@Costin_Gaming]

You need to backtrack

[@stevehoade7867]

@@Costin_Gaming yea, i was afraid if that.

[@seanwhitehall4652]

You cannot play this game casually. You need to be focused at all times.

[@Saintaw]

How do you get LVL3s on the 1st deployment?

[@Costin_Gaming]

Did every objective until crusher.

[@aromero550]

Call the mines a cheap exploit all you want. This is survival. Lol. I’m fucking traumatized by this game 😂 I mean I’m gonna keep playing but I have a complex now

[@BeefNEggs057]

Need a medkit?

[@triniton8262]

You can also kill small clusters of eggs with grenades without getting hunted.

[@batzgameguru]

I've been detected everytime I used grenades, so I had to use the sniper to take each one out

[@mohammadaslam3187]

@@batzgameguru yup same thing happen to me

[@zahnloli123]

@@batzgameguru Had both happen. I think if another surviving egg is close by it "hears" the nade and triggers the hunt. Isolated clusters work fine.

[@magnusred2945]

@@batzgameguru if youre getting detected its because other eggs heard the explosion. You wont get detected if the gernades kill everything in the room. So snipe stuff till theres one egg cluster left, then you can gernade

[@MHSenju3000]

I don't feel like I'm playing this right..I loved XCOM but this game has me struggling. I just finished the Mines and while my Marines are LV 4, they are all traumatized 😂 I might have to start over again.

[@austenpowers]

What skill setting are you playing on chap? Looks quite easy..

[@robosergTV]

should be nightmare

[@davidkruglova7401]

I just put mines everywhere 😂

[@ewanfraser]

I don’t have any of this stuff lol

[@chuckhoyle1211]

It would be nice if the game did not crash my entire computer during the transition from Prologue to main game. Unless this gets fixed soon I'll have to return it because it is unplayable.

[@liambennion9627]

Your computer is trying to save you from this frustrating glitchy mess 😂

[@Upsetkiller456]

I almost want to refund the game because learning that a squad wipe just makes you game over was such a massive let down. It’s a fun enough game, my first RTS pretty much

[@JulioConnory]

Doesn't even have mines unlocked, puts up guide videos. Riiiiiiight.

[@roosterbooster6238]

You can just grenade eggs..

[@erlinghaaland8046]

Don’t bring all your tools med kits and sentry guns.

[@bobbyvandyke143]

Damn XCOM! It has made all these games feel so subpar. One playthrough and had to uninstall.

[@liambennion9627]

Totally agree, I am gonna do exactly the same 😅 Too frustrating when you dont know how too play and too boring once you learn the get arounds. We need XCOM 3 !!! this game is no substitute, save for a couple of days gameplay

[@nilsingvar7319]

Modern X-COM isn't even a hood X-COM game .

[@bobbyvandyke143]

@@liambennion9627 Try Phoenix point. Its made by the developer of the orginal XCOM its pretty bad ass.

[@zarelli7831]

The game is too short I think

[@robosergTV]

40h is too short? lol

[@zarelli7831]

@ 40 hours for you maybe 😂

[@grey8940]

ah man...... this game has so much promise... but every advanced playthrough I've seen makes me not want to bother playing this game....... lame

[@chriscastillo884]

Him: By the second deployment, you should have the recon sniper and be at the first hive Queen fight Me: *Fights hive Queen and then discovers classes* 🥲