Quite The Predicament... // XCOM Enemy Within // Impossible Difficulty

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👇🏻Mod List👇🏻
All mods on default settings unless specified in brackets.
Abduction Map Manager www.nexusmods.com/xcom/mods/735
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[@abstraktxxcellencestudios1841]

Hey Odd, a couple of missions back, you discussed the value of SHIV units. To me, the greatest benefit of SHIV units, especially in the late campaign, is their immunity to mind control and panic. This capability becomes increasingly powerful when you invest heavily in them. However, I'd recommend waiting until you acquire alloy shivs (which are immune to psychic attacks & can provide cover) before deploying SHIVs or hover SHIVs. Combined with MEC troopers, this strategy essentially turns your units into mobile fortresses. You can then use these units to lure enemies into cover before employing tactics like flamethrowers, railgun stuns, and necessary interventions. One aspect to consider is the strategy involving drone hacking. Remember, units like Cyberdisks and Sectopods always have drones accompanying them. Including a high mobility unit capable of hijacking a drone can stun a Sectopod. Additionally, a heavily modified alloy/hover SHIV can stun, rescue civilians, wield plasma, and hack drones. Hacking not only repairs the SHIV and the MEC but also turns them into priority targets for the enemy. During missions like the Alien Base mission, where encounters with Sectopods and Sectoid Commanders are frequent, this combination proves highly effective. It makes sense to leverage the self-repair mechanisms of MECs and SHIVs as an additional safety net. This strategy is reminiscent of the synergy between Watcher and Jube- but its wayyy more unconventional, & highly enjoyable and effective against formidable foes like Sectopods and Cyberdisks. Just sharing some insights from different playstyles I experimented with while waiting for XCOM 2. It's quite unorthodox, but incredibly fun giving Sectopods and Cyberdisks a taste of their own medicine with high-end SHIVs and MECs.

[@Bannedinlyfe]

And shiv mobility is awesome for getting meld. But yeah I would wait to build one until the research is maxed out

[@kingdancekiller]

Shivs are the only reason I got as far in an Impossible playthrough as I did. I thought they were busted for the exact same reasons.

[@jorgmeltzer9234]

You can't capture cyberdiscs and other robotic units (mectoid is robotic). I love you lovin close and personal on your assault. Congrats on the meld. If you never take a shiv on mission, you might want to consider the shiv slot extension. You can basically bring one more unit to battle, shiv only.

[@wondersight2337]

To be fair, its unlikely you will ever get to use more than 2 Ravens, since it takes time for them to get to ufo location. It means ufo will often complete "mission" like causing abduction, shooting down satellite or cause panic before you get 3rd Raven to them. It's more important to get better weapons for them, because of alien ship armor (you have laser cannon researched) and have defensive module ready so they can dodge twice. Abduction and supply ships should be possible with laser and I think you faced abductor already (The one that got away).

[@ethanmuri]

Yeah. I was like nooooo buy the laser cannons,

[@chrisb2942]

X-Com at its best. 30 seconds in and everything is going nuts.

[@fleetadmiralj]

So Odd, 1) You can get laser cannons for your planes. They are both cheaper than new planes (base 35 vs. 40 for planes) and you won't have to pay upkeep for the planes. The interceptors aren't delivered yet so you can probably cancel them if you want to. Laser Cannons are close range like phoenix cannons, so you will probably want to use the dodge things, but they should be able to shoot down the large alien craft you may currently face (namely abductors and supply ships). 2) You can get an improved arc thrower, but you have to research elerium first 3) As for when to go to the alien base, I'd probably wait until you have enough soldiers that you can survive everyone coming back injured or you need it to get out of a panic pinch.

[@allanpeter7700]

I’m actually surprised he brought more ships instead of just upgrading to laser weapons,

[@gamingnscience]

i agree with this. Instead of ordering a bigger money sink, increasing te survivability and offense of your existing interceptors is the better choice to hold you over till you can field DEMONS.

[@ChristopherOdd]

@@allanpeter7700lasers next episode

[@allanpeter7700]

I feel like you didn’t need it and also it was large expenditure somewhat randomly and given new info from the comments are you going to cancel the new ships ?

[@ChristopherOdd]

@@allanpeter7700 no

[@cainednd]

Good morning Commander. Yes, there is the Improved Arc Thrower research in the Foundry. A cool tactic for capturing aliens, especially those with low health like Sectoids, Thin Man, and Floaters, is to use your MEC Trooper's Collateral Damage to deal low damage and weaken them. Using a Rail Gun, you will deal 2 damage to aliens consistently. One more thing to keep in mind for MEC troopers: Yes, you can use medikits to heal them, even if it's only armor damage. Cheers!

[@allanpeter7700]

That’s interesting you can use medikit son the mech troopers

[@ausSwiffer]

Emela 'Herald' Winds, Personal Log #16 15 June, 1200 Two logs in one day, anyone would think I had a book deal. Ha! What a day, though. It has been years since I was on home soil and while I *technically* didn't set foot in my home town, I *was* sat thirty feet from the ramp when the squad deployed and exfiltrated, so I am counting it as a trip home nonetheless. It was an emotional homecoming; the team deployed a few suburbs away from where I grew up and I am fairly sure I visited the liquor store the team blew up with my father numerous times. It was hard to accept that a bunch of Mutons and Flyers had taken over operations from the friendly old man that I remember. I tried to spend a little time during the mission checking on the whereabouts of my parents but cell signal in the area was, perhaps understandably, quite disrupted and I never managed to confirm their status. The mission itself was both chaotic and mundane. From the off, the group found the aforementioned Mutons and Flyers but also a group of Thin Men were lurking at the end of an alley down the side of the store. A month ago, this would have been a deadly encounter but the soldiers of Xcom have come a long way. Between the abundance of rockets carried by our heavies, Laitinens incredible aim and Leighs ability to move around undetected, the squad not only escaped the encounter unscathed, but finished them off quickly enough for Leigh to collect a few meld canisters that were in the car park. Pity the store got blown up in the process but war is not the place for sentimentality. Tell that to my brain 99% of the time I am by myself on base. We did find a new enemy this time around; a sectoid in a mechanical suit. The Commander has taken a drastic approach to any new alien entity we encounter; kill it before it can do anything. It certainly keeps the team safe on the ground but also makes it hard for us to create alternative strategies for when we *can't* focus them down, as it means we have no idea what it's capabilities are. I suppose I can't blame him; it's not the strategy team risking life and limb on these missions as we sit warm and (relatively) safe halfway across the world. It did look like a toy my brother used to play with and it would have been almost cute were it's intents less deadly. It was strange to find myself walking down the Skyranger ramp behind the squad when we returned to base. I did notice a couple of heads turned ever so briefly toward the spot I usually stand at; perhaps my presence is beneficial not just for my 'hardening' purposes. That is a nice thought. It may also have just been because my CO was waiting for me, reprimand in hand. Not entirely unexpected and it was still worth it just to see home for an ever so brief time. There was no anger, on either side. We both knew this would be the result of my insistence on flying despite my grounding notice so it felt like more of a formality than discipline; being confined to base is hardly punishment, after all, but I suppose it would look worse on the COs record if he *didn't* censure me. Whatever. I have started to think a move out of the military might be a good idea once all this is over. I am sure the same skills that make me a good military strategist are more than transferrable to the corporate world. -E

[@absentialucci]

Interceptor Pilot, Claudia Seamus Log 12 Locke found me at the memorial, didn't say much at first. Let me stand in silence. I appreciate that. He's been around longer... So maybe he's used to this, but at least he let me honor the fallen in my own way. After a while, he caught me up on what else has been happening. It sounds like the labs have gotten a working prototype laser weapon for our interceptors. We really need it. We have new pilots, and my contact from the RAF is among them. It's nice to have more pilots. Xcom has veritablw air force at this point. ... At least we haven't lost any pilots. ... I'm noy sure what to do with Baby's tags. Maybe I'll keep them, but... That doesn't feel right. They aren't mine to keep. She was never in my squad. ... Still feels like I lost family though. Maybe this is why pilots and ground forces were separated in the military. Emotions can... Easily cloud operational integrity. ... I'm at the bar as I write this. So far no one has said anything about me going AWOL for a couple weeks. ... I wonder if they'll try me. But I don't care. I got Baby's tags. ... I think I'll take a bourbon on the rocks. Get out of this slump. They need me at my best. End Log

[@Deadput]

Dicey! You pulled that off brilliantly Commander, some advice in regards to finding more Meld, if you take out a Mechtoid or a Heavy Floater (not the normal ones) without using explosives like you did this episode you can retrieve 5 meld for each unit. Not a lot but it's more of a boost then none at all, otherwise Mechtoids can't be captured much like any pure mechanical unit like Cyberdiscs or Drones. The Alien base assault I reckon you can take on, but it's the Xcom Base Defense you need to consider when taking on the former as you won't have long before the mission happens so I'd say wait till you feel like you can take on the base defense, however...the longer you wait the more deadly the Aliens encountered will be so if you the Base Defense during End-game months...ha ha ha! Oh that would be very scary Chris! Very, very scary. Jayko log below as usual, good luck Commander!

[@Deadput]

Date: 2015/06/15-2015/06/16 Name: Jayko Joyeuse, Rank: Base Security Junior Officer Subject Log: Operation FIRST KING and the first Mec Trooper. That was scary, very scary…some bad moves alerted groups of Floaters, Mutons and Thin Men right to us although Commander Odd’s brilliant commanding allowed Strike-1 to clean them all up with ease! Heavies man, their explosives are just that good! Same goes with Leigh and Laitinen although that’s to the downside of our squaddies as only Ibrahim got a kill although it was a nice shot with a pistol similar to Mellioria’s feats! We even collected a bunch of meld too thanks to Leigh’s camo-skin for the cybersuit and whatever else we will need it for. I have a feeling that Magallanes is going to be able to kick some serious ass with that suit! Ah I’m gushing over these suits right now, it’s like something from my childhood! Although the Aliens have one of their own, Strike-1 encountered but swiftly destroyed a Sectoid-piloted Mec, the creative designation for this new unit is the Mechtoid. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ A few have asked me if I’ve considered the fact that Mec Troopers have given up their limbs and whatever else in order to become these Mec pilots…I have, yes it’s a serious commitment that they can’t just walk back from but what else do you want Xcom to do? Let the Alien invaders win? I don’t consider it any different from the potential side-effects somebody like Leigh could have due to the biological alien modifications made to them. I’ve talked to some in the Engineering team at one point and I’ve been reassured that the pilots WILL have a bright potential future after the war, resources will be used to develop proper limbs with help from the science team who have preserved the original organic limbs for reference. Besides the dilemma there, a large scout UFO showed up although this time the pilot of Interceptor Raven 7 did take it down, with some damages taken but with a close-range weapon like that cannon they did pretty well! Strike-1 is mobilizing right now to sweep the crash site in the UK. Laitinen or Leigh are leading, Hide, Zhang, Cutter and our resident Mec Trooper Magallanes are taking off right away and I can only hope they stay safe while getting the mission done, hopefully Leigh can recover more meld if possible. Junior Officer Jayko signing out, Vigilo Confido!

[@DerAva]

Regarding the Alien Base Assault: not sure if it has been mentioned yet, but assaulting the alien base will also give a global panic reduction - not sure if 1 or 2 blips, but absolutely something to keep in mind. So this might come in handy next month, since it's looking like Asia is getting hot.

[@marbles863]

19:11 It's amazing how polite you are, even to npcs lol

[@gamingnscience]

I think the aliens in your campaign just hit a new force level, since they started fielding mechtoids now. So, if you assault their base, those will be the toughest enemies you engage there. More importantly, you will have to deal with 2+ at a time in your base defense. So, start making plans on how to keep them in check with the initial 3-4 soldiers + 4 rookies you get on the first turn. If you wait much longer, you might start to run into heavy floaters and berserkers, too. because you get the defense after the alien base defense, Sectoid commanders will be a given as well. And then 2-3 Cyberdiscs, Floaters Mutons, Chrysallids and your odd sectoid will be a given. On the plus side, I don't remember ever seeing Thin Men on the defense mission.

[@stragen0013]

Perfect timing! I literally just sat down on the sofa after doing all my Saturday morning ing chores

[@ChristopherOdd]

Perfect!

[@RussellCHall]

Nice calm stealth mission I see. Worked your way out of it rather nicely i thought. Kudos

[@too_s0ber910]

Yeeesh. That was a nailbiter! Great job handling three pods all at once! Rocket go BOOM, baby! For me, that's my primary use of my mimetic skinned soldiers; scouting for my squad-sight snipers and racing off towards the meld. As a tip, you can look around in the immediate fog of war and spot the turning meld canisters to get a better idea of where to go. Another tip; mimetic skin works with ANY full cover, even if the soldier is flanked, and this also applies to a soldier who has the Low Profile perk, so you may want to consider that if you want another soldier with MS. Shiv units? I mean... I feel like they are not worth it. They're not like Celatid Turrets in XCOM 2, where you can just deploy them by sacrificing an inventory slot. SHIV units take an entire soldier slot in your squad. Yes, they're immune to panic and mind control, but you have other, cheaper ways to mitigate that stuff. SHIVS don't really bring the same utility to the squad like a soldier does, as they can only use Suppression IIRC and they can't take cover. Why bring a SHIV when I can have a MEC trooper? Why bring a SHIV when I can have a heavy, assault, sniper, or support? About the only thing a SHIV is a better replacement choice for is a rookie. Personally I feel they're a waste of resources that are much-needed elsewhere. But ultimately that's your call. In that same vein, you're on your way to getting the interceptor upgrade, so I wouldn't bother with more planes. Again that is resources that could go elsewhere, and unless you also invest in consumables and weapons for the interceptors, they're not worth it and it's better to wait until you get the improved version. My main concern, which has obviously been addressed by numerous others, is the lack of flight computers. You will need minimum five of them to get the new interceptor; IIRC it's one computer to do the research on flight computers, two to research the new aircraft itself, and then each one you want to build costs a further two flight computers (along with a power source, elerium, alloys, etc). They're expensive, but worth it, since anything smaller than an Abductor class UFO can't even damage the new interceptor.

[@robertagren9360]

The main reason why use a shiv put it next to full cover and it will not be seen. As well it can shoot through walls if standing next to a wall while having squadsight making it breach the wall. Since the shiv can not be seen it prevent aliens to shoot at soldiers from ufo. It prevent the AI from using cheap tactics of reaching out beyond your visual sight. As well the shiv is very mobile and a great way to collect meld. Since it will not panick you won't have to worry about getting stuck with this unit being attacked by thinmen poison.

[@shanew7711]

I strongly recommend waiting till you have plasma weapons and titan armor for your squad attack the base AND fit and of your other troops. Reason being, that mission was hell. As for the base defense, it will help when Bradford sends reinforcements and they have good armor and weapons

[@jeffreygriffith6157]

Others in chat have convinced me my timing on when the base defense happens is probably wrong. You may have the 10-20 days as some have mentioned. Unfortunately that means you need to buy more equipment. You really need to keep your best troops constantly equipped and not use their items on others. You don't want to send your colonels into battle with only base equipment. That also means buying more med kits to stay with your support troops. By the way, floaters can be captured. The list of what you can capture Sectoid, Sectoid Commander, Thin Man, Floater, Heavy Floater, Muton, Muton Berserker, Muton Elite, and Ethereal.

[@bfwebster]

I did the Alien Base last night on my iPad game (Normal difficulty). Several nasty Sectopods, including 2 in the same room. Also, completing that triggered the XCOM base invasion not many turns later. I got through both fine, but I ignored the alien base for a long time until I had a complete squad maxed out in skills _and_ had all plasma weapons (including the rocket blaster). I also had two MECs. So, yeah, I'd hold off on the alien base. No penalty for doing so, other than you can't start the psionic path until then. ADDED: sectopods are _really_ nasty. They'll fire twice and _then_ go into overwatch. And they're hard to damage. Disabling shot, heat ammo, any kind of EMP help. ADDED: Yes, there is an improved arc thrower tech. I think it requires a specific live interrogation. It's a big jump in power.

[@WanoReborn]

Classic Odd - triggers 3 pods at the start ;) We need to have mectoid on the next mission too, so we can see that amazing close combat animation with the MEC. Anyway, great as usual, Commander!

[@Nick1979BN]

That mecha-melee surprised me so much when it happened in my campaign for the first time!

[@CorvusABray]

Lead by example takes no effect unless you stick your highest will soldier in the center. Where Bradley is sitting at the end. They are considered the squad leader.

[@PaulStargasm]

I rarely use the mech route, mainly because I have a fondness for my soldiers and it seems horrific to mutilate their bodies in this way.

[@aneru9396]

Especially with how little the XCOM project is focusing on post-service vet care. Like, those torso Vets are gonna get a rude awakening when it turns out they can’t keep those Cyber Prosthetics after being relieved of service lol

[@exequielgaleano9947]

I feel like the progress is really showing, even if things still get spicy. So, it looks like you managed to not only advance but also catch up with the difficulty level you're at. Can't wait to see the mech unit in action, haven't seen a heavy one yet. Also, hopefully the people who needs those promotions get those kills soon and that meld collecting operation... Well, gets that meld collected, lol! Lots of thanks for the series!!! 😁

[@Wolfeson28]

Funny how this went completely unnoticed (I didn't even realize until I started entering the numbers for today): the squad hit *every single shot* on today's mission. Granted they only took 8 shots total, but still, first perfect accuracy mission!🎯

[@SockimusPrime]

And no restraint was exercised that day.

[@prcervi]

Personal Log of Mickey “Frosty” Caldwell June 15th - June 16th Feels like the Skyranger has barely had time to let the engines cool before needing to fly back out for a new mission. Better stop myself from doing this log out of chronological order, trying to keep this comprehensible. A new enemy type was encountered on the last mission, sectoid in a mecha suit. Tanked a lot of grenades to the face before it went down. Zero injuries and enough meld to make the Mec gal a nice suit of armor that’s getting tested out when the skyranger gets to that crashed UFO. Research pulled a quick autopsy for the mecha sectoid, I still don’t know how they manage to do those so fast. And then a big UFO popped up, the Ravens shot it down pretty easy with the newer guns, even did a few pretty spins dodging the UFO’s own lasers. Haven’t been scolded for my sewing project yet, so I guess I’m in the clear for the pillow project, think I might make it a bit fancy and whimsical. I already have to order in more materials just for stuffing, might as well get a bit more fabric and make it fun too. Thinking it’ll be a bird or a jellyfish, the left over fabric is already blue and a blue bird or blue moon jellyfish feels right.

[@PackAddict]

Zhang and Cutter become the next evolution…Cang!

[@Deadput]

Together they are a "Cut" above the rest eh?

[@bryantaylor6010]

HEAT Ammo is what is allowing Zhang and other heavies to hit for 4 with grenade and increasing damage against mechanicals with rockets. A nice benefit, to be sure! Great work on the situation this episode and looking forward to some MEC on Mectoid action!

[@redblarin8030]

Odd: I'm going to try and capture aliens like Pokémon Also Odd: Hey look, aliens! Better use rockets and handgrenades to kill everything. I love you Odd, but I swear you're so frustrating sometimes

[@Myomer104]

Regarding the Alien Base, wait until you have the resources to field two full squads.

[@j.f.richard9875]

"We need a Mec suit!" Otherwise, we dismembered one of our squaddies just for Vahlen's amusement!

[@jarnomikkola8438]

"Yes, there is the Improved Arc Thrower research in the Foundry." Quoted from another post... but it requires the Elerium research, which in turn requires the alien powersource research.

[@lekoe961]

I was NOT expecting a Mechtoid oh my god. When I heard the stomping my only thought was Berserker, but I yelled when I saw the Mechtoid. Tense stuff

[@Myomer104]

That particular type of stomping only belongs to Mechtoids and Sectopods.

[@star0794]

Fighting sectopod without lightning reflex assault,ghost granade or dissable shot sniper is rough

[@ShadowRoadX]

MEC upgrades are expensive, but they do a lot to improve them since they can't heal from Medkits in the field. And again, they only earn half XP from kills, so it's going to be a slog to get them leveled if they end up wounded after every mission.

[@TheSuperColonel]

That 3hp Thinman could have been disabling shot for 2 dmg if it hits and then it has 1 hp and 90% of getting captured. If you miss 90% he is forced to reload or spit poison that can be cured for medkit and try another 90% capture chance. If a disabling shot misses you just kill him. Good idea to capture aliens when they are alone.

[@millbrook33]

Researching UFO power sources and then elerium will lead to the improved arc thrower.

[@katrinatam2714]

Hello Commander Odd, congratulations on another flawless mission and thanks for another awesome video. I agree with other commentors that equipping some Ravens with Laser Cannons would be useful. Also that its probably too late to do an early Base Assault to get easier enemies, but too early to assault it now regarding your power level. Plasma grenades/weapons would probably be the thing to wait for before the alien base assault. Looks like no one else has mentioned this yet so SCAN FOR EXALT ACTIVITY!!! after the next mission. Also as others have mentioned you cannot capture mechanical units, including Mechtoids and Cyberdiscs. It is possible to upgrade the Arc Thrower, but you need to do more research. I don't recall myself, but another commenter said Elerium research and that sounds right to me. Really glad you are finally researching the Alien Flight Computer. That will allow you to build a Satellite Nexus, which is much better. The earlier you take Iron Will they better your soldiers will be overall as its not retrospective so only your newer soldiers will benefit from the higher will increase from levelling. If you manage to get full Satellite coverage over Asia you will get Future Combat which iirc reduces the cost of Foundry and Officer training upgrades by 50% so its more useful/valuable the earlier you build it.

[@darkflash6152]

26:03 omg that is sick.

[@thedopdeity]

I completely forgot Mectoids even existed

[@skylar9046]

Logistics Tactical Officer "Ruby" Log 22. Date: June 16, 2015 So what came first: The concept of the MEC, or the Mechtoid? Who's copying who here? Jokes aside, that thing looked pretty mean. Those twin plasma cannons look like they could shred anything in their path. Not something I want to see getting fired at us. Mission recap time. Squad dropped down by a convenience store and library in Australia. Lot of activity right off the Skyranger. A group of Floaters, Mutons, and Thin Men all within minutes of hitting the ground. Not ideal, but the soldiers made it work without getting wounded. There is, however, one thing that's starting to bother me, and that's with the Commander's orders of explosives. Every alien that gets blown up is a weapon we can't salvage for parts and study. Each time that happens, we lose potentially valuable knowledge. It's a worrying trend. Back in my military, boots-on-the-ground days, we'd first try and flush out hostiles with withering fire, and if that didn't work, pull the pin and get that grenade out. Urban environments meant we had to be cautious of causing collateral damage. The last group was the aforementioned Mechtoid, supported by two normal Sectoids, not in that armored exoskeleton. We've seen Sectoids "merge" with one another using their minds. I wonder if a similar thing can occur here? There's still the organic part, after all, like with our own MEC Trooper. But this is all theory, one that I'm not well-versed in. Perhaps it's best that we don't know yet. Took a short break from my work to write this log, put my thoughts together. Got a new UFO to track. Let's see what this one is up to.

[@jodhweijoundica3453]

Double tap baby! Although in the zone would have given you those same 2 shots for free and been available on the next turn

[@lthastings8800]

Speaking of Sectopods -- Commander, in your XCom2 campaign maybe you do the abandoned factory mission? I know you don't do missions usually, just throwing it out there. IMO the rooftop battle with the robot is kinda cool

[@kingdancekiller]

Yeah I wish Shen’s gift was better integrated with WoTC. But not Alien Rulers tho. Screw Vahlen lol

[@tomasduchan8275]

Assault on alien base will reduce panic for all countries. So this might be used as a last result sometimes.

[@nightworg]

You should get laser on you airship since you already unlocked them 🤔 That MEC is not going to hit much with that aim especially later aliens. She still has grenades later who is very useful. I think the fully upgraded sniper makes the best MEC since they can shoot twice and has superior aim - but I always start out with a heavy, but usual one with at least 70 aim. And there is an upgrade for the Arc thrower, but I don't think you have unlocked it yet. Good luck Commander! 😉

[@bladefly18]

I say you should wait until you get plasma grenades. This mission alone, you could’ve taken care of some of the enemies if your grenades were a bit better. So get better grenades so that way you have more ways of killing your opponents.

[@The-ts9yv]

When you complete the Alien Base mission, panic decreases worldwide. I usually did it when the panic became unmanageable

[@herrikudo]

Hey Odd, consider modding Jube with enhanced eyes. Hes already a beast but giving him an extra bit of crit chance and bumping his aim to 100 wouldn't be a bad move.

[@ChristopherOdd]

Need Meld. But yes!

[@elathiaskade7311]

That’s X-COM, baby!

[@Wordgoblin]

With the bad aim of a lot of your soldiers, I hope you are considering giving the more junior heavy(ies) holo targeting. Heavies built for shooting are devastating vs mech units. Also, don't forget disabling shot on your sniper. You could have given yourself some breathing room on that mechtoid (it was the last pod, so it wasn't necessary) without using all those grenades. Just remember with mechtoids that they have bullet swarm and can shoot twice if they don't move.

[@Lukuigi]

Hearing odd combine two sayings has been cracking me up. We’re not out of the woods” and “coming out of the woodwork” into a new saying “we’re not out of the woodwork!” 🤣

[@TheSuperColonel]

2 planes with good weapons are enough per continent. Get laser cannons. 1 plane with a laser cannon might shoot down a supply ship, the dodge module makes it very likely. Otherwise, it would help if you had a second plane. Even if the plane gets shot down you do not lose their weaponry. Buying more planes with weaker weapons has a plane maintenance cost so it is more expensive....... Laser weapon 35 dollar plane 40 dollar+20 dollar per month...... Also using weaker planes makes UFOs very likely to escape, doing a third plane run is unlikely to catch an UFO. Shooting down a UFO and then looting it gives tons of resources including elirium so the aircraft will pay for itself. You will want plasma weapons on at least 1 plane later on usually it takes out all nonbattleships without any modules. Weaker ufos can be killed by laser cannon one. For overseer and battleship, you need a firestorm with emp or fusion lance weapon. The freeze timer and dodge module can be useful. Late game you want 1 plane and 1 firestorm per continent or 2 firestorms per continent where you have sats. Getting laser-gunned alloy shivs is good for backup. Getting a faster recovery gene mode for every top-tier soldier will stack with 50% recovery time this causes sub 5 day injuries so they are almost always ready for the next mission. Good luck commander.

[@stephencrabtree3338]

Log entry 4 Name Stephen Crabtree Call sign "The Kid" Current assignment pilot of raven-2 Got a new pilot assigned down here in South America. Heard the aliens are copy catting and got a mech soldier on the front lines. How'd they manage to get one out before we got ours armored up? I don't want to speculate, but I think we may have a trailer amongst us. I just hope we can ferret them out before something really bad happens. I'll put in a request for the commander to put me on the task of looking into it. Maybe it'll get me a better posting and out of this little bitty pilots outpost. Closing log

[@suggestiveartefacts3956]

Hey apologies - I've been travelling a lot and sometimes late to pick up logs. I don't seem to have Stephen's Log entry 3. Do you recall which episode it was posted to?

[@Vognee]

Best show on KZbin. Or at least best for me rn

[@jonathanlonsdale3404]

I remember these missions like they where yesterday

[@HighlanderBR]

Heat ammo apply to grenades too, that is why he did 4 dmg.

[@absentialucci]

The reason Zhang is getting a 4 damage grenade is due to heat ammo. It also affects his rockets.

[@alexanderpallinger1944]

Steam should cut you in, Odd, I buy half my games after discovering them on your channel ever since Midnight Suns. 😁 But I am curious if you had to do any troubleshooting to get XCOM EW to work well on a modern system? Installed it recently, and now I am getting sound choppiness and deteriorating performance after 1 or 2 missions. Playable if you quit and reload frequently, but weird.

[@kamen42]

I probably missed something in the past, but where is the Passive Sonar coming from? I don't remember that being a thing.

[@juanfranciscoconchabastian4564]

that mission was madness!! the real deal

[@Zifferony]

Odd, Did you forget to rename the mec soldier? I think Magallanes was the game she got from the game. 🤔

[@suggestiveartefacts3956]

Writers' and roleplayers' logs are compiled at docs.google.com/document/d/1WpKFCy6kCWAOOjlFWC9y7hZ0h9ARhL0k3Sv6ptMIHPM/edit?usp=sharing - and this time, I'll be joining in as I submitted Habiba!

[@HighlanderBR]

There is a foundry project to improve arc. Not sure what research will unlock it.

[@jasondewhurst7054]

couldnt get the mods to work which is a shame but will run it vanilla until your wotc pt.

[@soven256]

you need plasma weapons to do the alien base

[@0o0ification]

Fe Fi Fo Fum! Incoming Odd and more Tactical Fun...

[@Cr0wsMurd3r]

Saw a mod that lets you get meld of alien corpses and other more "natural" ways. The Meld canisters just seem weird to me... why are they there? What's the lore behind the canisters?

[@n3ffo]

kinetic strike has the best animation in the game though

[@Xorgrim]

Haven't seen the end of the mission yet, but you just blew up the already collected meld. I think, you really lost the meld because it was technically still there, just stabilized.

[@barryhatchel]

Never understood the attraction of SHIVs other than as a meme strategy. When I've tried it, I just feel like I'm wasting resources that could better be spent on my troops' kit.

[@ZEROCh_KJCh]

The Muton so shiny

[@garicb9271]

7 mins in and I'm assuming there is no way to bug out of a mission.

[@montell19]

Get some MELD. Take some risk.

[@allanpeter7700]

I mean isn’t he doing that now, especially with mimetic skin

[@pezdispencer113]

Apparently you missed 5 meld by killing the Mechtoid with explosives.

[@DrBicsta]

I like odd

[@SoulCrusherEx]

I don't understand the use of so many interceptors... It tanks your economy

[@ThePhar0ah]

Flamethrower is OP. mistakes were made 😊

[@erikthenude]

Should’ve got better weapon upgrades for your interceptors instead of more interceptors

[@jackyiv]

07

[@OrionTheta1]

When ODD over watched the hidden character "yet again", I thought WTH. Like a new puppy, I guess you just need to keep putting his nose in the bad habit until it catches on. But we still love our little puppy. lol ;)

[@BigBoss-rw4mn]

Bro you mec solider has only 56 aim 😢?

[@Sin514]

A comment.

[@hobnobrev9570]

Phoenix cannons are terrible. Why are you ordering more interceptors when you could have laser cannons for the fighters? Slightly longer range, rate of fire and damage all massively outclass the Phoenix cannon. I don't get it.

[@classicfrog80]

28:30 Benefits of turning regular soldiers into mech troopers.... none. Waste of meld. Waste of soldiers.

[@jasondewhurst7054]

omg you do not need that many interceptors lol, and how on earth did you lose so many continents......

[@tristanswain7107]

Unfortunately i think tou wasted tour money on the aircraft, i believe once flight computers are researched you can get the upgraded planes

[@cainednd]

Actually, you need to research Flight Computers, Power Source and Experimental Aircraft before you can build Firestorm aircrafts to "level the playing field" - Bradford

[@tristanswain7107]

@@cainednd ahh my bad, was going off memory

[@ifeanyiduruaku1244]

The A.I in this game is tarded. Once you discover a cell as long as you're far away their first choice of action is to run to cover exhausting all action points in the process and dont even activate overwatch. Its a stupid loophole. And second grenades are your friend in this game, cover doesnt even block grenades and xcom 2 is just worse. I feel a mod should exist that gives the first ever turn of the enemy 3 action points.

[@shayliakara]

This was an old game. You can see why XCOM 2 is so much better. This is getting super easy now. It will be like POD erasing all the time. And aliens have the lowest health ever. How did we ever lose against them, I still wonder.

[@Deadput]

​@@shayliakara Implying Xcom 2 is even difficult at this point in the game either. At least there isn't Frost bombs or Bluescreens for everyone.

[@shobhitkaul8076]

Don't do base till you have plasma guns

[@shayliakara]

RIP Magallanes. We never knew your story. 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

[@jamesdino1388]

She's not even killed? Odd read her bio already right?

[@shayliakara]

@@jamesdino1388 No, not dead... but still "dead" as in she is a... MEC. Poor girl. 😭

[@biggusdickus4952]

🎉