Can I beat XCOM 2 WOTC using only LW2 Assaults?

[@Impleione]

...So when's the DJ Drifter EP coming out? "Wubz Of The Chosen" featuring hit tracks like: -_Close range_ (club mix) -That's Xcom Baybee -EDM-B (Electronic Dance Mim-Beacon)

[@craftermatt3609]

This, all of this.

[@malorian1855]

agreed.

[@malorian1855]

Exorcise caution, duet by dr. Vahlen and John Constantine.

[@Ian501st]

Bangers, all of them

[@darkdreadnought4459]

Sight Shenanigans, (guitar cover)

[@evilbob840]

When you promised no more "close range?!", I was thinking you hadn't done enough. I was satisfied by the end.

[@casuscnactus4864]

I welcome possible future Long War runs. You were so thorough with your wotc runs that I think you squeezed out every little bit that the vanilla game has to offer.

[@IkLms11]

I'm honestly surprised Drifter hasn't migrated to Long War yet. The vanilla game has like 3 playthroughs in it before it's just a boring routine. And he's clearly mastered the mechanics enough to move up.

[@dskdev]

@@IkLms11 Long war becomes an even longer more boring routine

[@IkLms11]

@@dskdev in some regards. But the strategy layer changes are massive improvements on the base game. Running several squads with the infiltration system is something the base game really should have had. It makes far more sense from a thematic point of view and it gives you an excuse to actually use more than like 8 soldiers in the entire run

[@brazenduke8164]

If you do manage to get through all the long war classes before the year is out, I think it’d be fitting to do a long war highlander run to end it all off.

[@SeventhSeraphOfficerRevolver]

Even better do long war for the first time on the highlander run

[@Headbanger203]

Oooo, we're getting closer! Still not quite long war... Loved the little shout-out and seeing my soldier out there, might be my favourite video so far. Keep it going Drifter!

[@armansagmanligil1144]

hmm, close range + long war... does this mean this video is Short War?

[@Rog_7]

The Trench Gun and AoE in general are super important for actual Long War, singular pods can have ten or twelve enemies, so Flashbangs and repeatable AoE are your bread and butter.

[@cliftonsavage7380]

What. I'm sorry how does one deal with that

[@shanehudson3995]

​@@cliftonsavage7380 Lots and lots of area effect weapons.

[@FGC292]

@@cliftonsavage7380 Classes in long war are balanced around fighting huge groups of enemies.

[@cliftonsavage7380]

​@@FGC292 noted. But wouldn't the early game be pain until the aoes get unlocked

[@FGC292]

​@@cliftonsavage7380 Even early game you have plenty of AoE with Grenadiers and Technicals. Unit composition early game usually consists of small groups of ADVENT troops + Sectoids anyways so AoE isn't as useful as you might think. The most annoying thing about early game LW which this video obviously doesn't showcase since he isn't actually playing the mod, is the Drones... Drones are robot units with 4hp, 2 armor, and an annoyingly high dodge stat. You squad can easily waste all their moves shooting at this thing grazing it over and over for 1 damage. They are the sole reason you MUST get combat protocol on a Specialist early on since it's an guaranteed kill. Everything else is easy early game.

[@imonlyhuman6716]

21:30 Warlock: Give in! Drifter: I do challenge runs for fun, can't break what's already broken!

[@Ko_Kasumi]

Nah he's just got that cute and smol smooth brain, mental attacks slide right off it, downside being making poor decisions, like these challenge runs lol.

[@treysabre2943]

Yo Drifter, I’d have no problem if you repeated a challenge, much less an overhaul. I think a lot of people just like watching you do these runs

[@riccardocalosso5688]

Can confirm, as i am one of those people. (Also, sorry for the delay, KZbin pulled a KZbin move, and failed to notify me this run was out. Such KZbin!)

[@Regi_Keresztes]

Honestly speaking, if you are fine going gray early, 90% of us would love to watch overhauls, new runs and entire LW2 runs. Keep up the amazing work my friend!

[@mobgabriel1767]

Drifter's close range music:exists Me:this is perfection

[@mikoajciemiega8018]

Little advice for LWotC for assault class They can be weaker in LWotC because every soldier there has randomized starts so you can get assaulted class with only 4-5 movment

[@korenn9381]

in actual LWotC you normally don't use random promotions on rookies, you train classes as you need them. So you'd never train a low movement guy as assault. Those are ok for sharpshooters or technicals.

[@10011110011]

there is one vanilla wotc run i would have love to see. The commander's avatar solo run . . . . . . . or rookies only

[@glenmcgillivray4707]

Can the Avatar. Well three of them because fatigue is a thing. Plus infinite rookies as backup. Beat WOTC. Probably not. But at least I have one useful unit per map. Until we lose them to mistakes and bull dung. Vipers entangle the avatar. And then they clone both of my rookies. So we just outright lose. Fun Although the one run I wish to see? Every class loses their skills and special abilities. Rookies everywhere. But everyone gets a single use of mind control. Can Mind control alone beat WotC. Probably not. But it could be fun having to manage the resources and pick who to steal as you play knowing there will be more pods in future. But an all mechanical first pod might suck. Do you let specialists hack bots once for free? Wait. No I've changed my mind. Single use mind control couldn't deal with final mission well. Or more importantly. Chosen elevators which rob your troops of minions. So maybe a 10 turn cool down with one mind control per trooper.

[@10011110011]

@@glenmcgillivray4707 problem is easy to solve: avatar mind control on all soldiers same can be done with avatar run. Just mind control the serpent or others before the pod gets a turn

[@glenmcgillivray4707]

@@10011110011 so. You are in a surgical sitrep. In a tunnel system. With 3 pods activated. Hostiles don't count. And so your singular command unit mind controls that Berserker as a damage sponge But then the clone makers and our easy to kill snek disable your entire squad of three. And you instantly lose. Doesn't matter if you are an avatar or not. Mind control is risky business. And if you are facing the lost? Keeping your rookie squad back as your single commander tries to lead you to victory, particularly with another surgical sitrep. Will pose a challenge due to pure lack of ammunition and low ballistic skill. Wait. Can our Commander leadership playthrough have a different mod to permit training of our rookies base skills, because improved aim, will and movement could be really nice to have. It still bewilders me we cannot build a gymnasium/psychologists facility to improve base skills of say 4 troopers at a time to make our squaddies more competent.

[@stevengull6703]

It's always heartbreaking to watch people go down the close range meme addiction road. Don't worry drifter my range of expertise is very close to this. No wait wait nooo!

[@TheDriftersBroadcast]

One of us! One of us!

[@BreezeTheCat]

The ending song is beautiful. Thanks for that. Amazing video as always and I hope the next release is within CLOSE RANGE

[@viosiocraft58]

If it makes you feel any better, I was happy for every "Close Range ?!" in this video.

[@evanwickstrom5698]

Not gonna lie, the Close Range remix had strong “Exercise Restraint” vibes, in good ways.

[@waldotheranger3987]

Just a heads up, LW2 classes are not balanced around being able to give one soldier multiple abilities from each rank. If you didn't figure that out already Just don't get too comfortable with the idea of say, hit+run and close encounters on the same soldier when you go for the real deal.

[@joshrhakkis5390]

The Close Range remix meme-fest at the end had me in tears. Never let this meme die!

[@TheBookOfAkersGaming]

21:00 Flash-bangs Interrupts Mind Control and revived Zombies btw! Could have just gotten the soldier back lol.

[@TheDriftersBroadcast]

Don't think that works on a Chosen.

[@TheBookOfAkersGaming]

@@TheDriftersBroadcast Herm...Maybe.

[@Dermenscha]

Do the Sharpshooter next, just so we can get the opposite of C L O S E R A N G E

[@GodEmperorofDrip]

yes and the we go for technical, cause cool guys don't look at explosions

[@McNIMs]

Just wanted to say I really appreciate your content bro! Given the vibes in the intro to your vid with the music/background, I can tell you know how cozy these longform videos are :D

[@theboredguy733]

If its any consalation for the sharpshooters run, they do get snapshot on their second promotion so if you can trudge through squaddie things will get much better

[@Ahakenab]

If you ever need more CLOSE RANGE I recommand the marksman class mod. A sniper with no close range penalty that can shoot after moving. Even gets an ability for a free move action as well as run and gun. Also close combat specialist. Once had one do 5 kills with that in a single turn.

[@ProphetOfSarge]

I greatly enjoyed the "Close Range" remix and giggled at every point the joke was used. Your funnies were not wasted.

[@N1ghtwalk3r]

Tbh, formidable is even worse than blast padding, blast padding adds an armor point which is useful early-game and reduces explosive damage by 66% But this thing adds 2 shield points (which are gone as soon as they're hit) and less explosive resistance Other than that i really enjoy these challenge runs, keep it up 👍

[@TheDriftersBroadcast]

I see your point, but for me it's unlikely you're going to get hit more than once per mission, unless things go really wrong. So the one extra HP makes a big difference IMO. That being said, if I had to choose between Formidable and Shred, I would go Shred every single time.

[@peamercreamy4656]

And here I thought Rangers were already op in end-game. I’m guessing this takes even more beyond than that. 1:29:58 Close (7x), close range?

[@birdup1305]

Ok now I know this isn't a LW2 class and it might not happen this year, but both the playable aliens and the PROJECT EXVENT are amazing mods and I would love to see them getting more recognition.

[@drbgamez4926]

“Can the Aliens defeat… The Aliens?” Sounds interesting ngl

[@SolPiercer15]

"Can I beat XCOM 2 WOTC using only Vipers?"

[@birdup1305]

@@SolPiercer15 or Sectoids, Mutons, Andromedons, Officers, Stun Lancers. You get the idea.

[@glenmcgillivray4707]

Can Melee only Advent beat Advent with all their toys. Well yes. Stun lancers and beserkers are tough and ludicrously powerful. But can I use their non stun attacks, That's a challenge

[@OrionTheta1]

"Close Range!" LOL! Love it every time. :)

[@softxpandguest708]

Hey, awesome run! Assaults are my favorite class; the more mobility, the better. Just a heads up about Trench Gun... It perhaps isn't good here, but in Long War, where concealment and establishing a good starting ambush are crucial, it's *very* good.

[@yari4046]

honestly from my experience lwotc is mostly difficult at the start, you can pretty easily tell if you got a good run going or if restarting makes sense but once you get a good start your guys will just naturally get very strong and carry you pretty easily through the rest

[@jonbongroovy]

Enjoyed the vid Drifter! I'm actually playing thru LWOTC for the first time now. I really like the classes in the mod. I look forward to watching more single class playthroughs of the LWOTC classes, if you decide to do it. I know you don't like this particular mission but ever thought of doing a playthrough where one of the challenges you put on yourself for the run is that you can't attack a chosen's stronghold until that chosen has attacked the avenger? I would enjoy seeing how you would do during that mission. Either way, love your content. Keep it up!

[@cheeseburgertornado8685]

close range?! that was the best "first attempt at audio mixing for fun" I've ever heard honestly

[@齐轩-o3l]

Just finished LWOTC here, be prepared haha. Definitely wants to see more of these solo runs though!

[@齐轩-o3l]

Also hit & run and close encounters does not stack in LWOTC

[@finlaymortimore]

Legit loved the remix, made me laugh a lot, great video Drifter

[@erich.1355]

This was maybe your funniest episode yet, bravo

[@ratchetthemedic169]

1:02:20 this is how you know that the assaults just got better and the music hits well with them 👍also good video

[@yonderboygames]

Not gonna lie. "Close Range" entered my vocabulary last year thanks to your videos LOL

[@ethangarofolo8170]

Hahaha, efficiency vs. laziness. I love your content, Drifter. Thanks for continuing to deliver it.

[@goldengolem4670]

As someone who played with the spark overhaul in my legendary run, holy fucking shit they are so extremely versatile and powerful that its not even funny. Especially if you invest a lot of ability points into them, their flexibility is INSANE. And i only used one so id imagine you starting with a whole squad of them would be very fun if you want something easier.

[@arroz-autista7766]

Well, just what I needed, just when I needed it

[@SuperMixedd]

very interesting; can't wait for the LW2 runs!!!!!!!!!

[@tech9d]

Super glad you're doing LW! I have never played it (PC lags to hell when I try) but I had wanted to ask u to try yhe LW with solo class stuff so i'm super excited to watch this! Now on to the video!

[@tech9d]

Aaaaand this isn't LW XD lol but I'll take it! New content baby!!

[@Lazymindflayerwithcofffee]

12:16 He seriosly went ,,who decided that?" On the game,s : ,,your too lucky, so i kill of your solder"

[@Purble1234]

51:10 If only you had someone with Trench Gun :3

[@TheDriftersBroadcast]

Problem is the ones that survived would have been in "close range"...

[@Purble1234]

@@TheDriftersBroadcast talon rounds trench gun can do 20+ dmg, saved so many of my LWotc missions, love the vids tho really fun to watch :D

[@alect9278]

44:10 I don’t blame you. You put this content on the internet for free at the end of the day

[@tofastninj9747]

I've heard many things about how difficult long war is but it is good to see that assaults can handle it. At immediate distances no less.

[@adamsteele23]

The main challenge of long war is that it makes it longer to reach critical mass where your soldiers can overpower enemies with ease. Everything takes considerably longer to get, and coupled with the fact that your rookies actually feel like "rookies" (aka totally shit) AND that there're now eight classes which makes the randomness even worse, you'll learn to avoid making ideal troop combos.

[@ragedgrunt]

Dang what was the song at 1:02:21?

[@craftermatt3609]

Music in the description!

[@ragedgrunt]

@@craftermatt3609 Yes but I can't figure out which one it is

[@TheDriftersBroadcast]

I think it's BFG 9000.

[@ragedgrunt]

@@TheDriftersBroadcast thank you

[@Plutario9715]

glad to finally make it in a vid! I can't catch the streams because of the time zones so i'll take killing those advent goons.

[@zdante1]

Seeing you play this made me try long war and wow it took a moment to understand what i was doing

[@MofuggerX]

Memelord and Moby are the Laid Back Bros that just wanna make Daddy Drifter proud.

[@CarlDeer]

This would have been much more difficult with Leeson here.

[@PeriodicallyRational]

When you do Long War, I suggest breaking ir down as multiple videos

[@IkLms11]

He'll absolutely have to. Long war adds a ton of great features. But it's worst part is how much repetition you have to go through because of just how many missions are required

[@snowfox2192]

I am surprised, astounded, proud, and (Slightly) disapponted you didn't use that close range meme more than you did. The music mix made up for it though, and while it could be improved, it was not bad for what it is. Maybe it should not be the last time you try it. Good work as usual drifter, looking forward to the next mission report.

[@craftermatt3609]

Can you please upload the "Close Range" song somewhere? I need to be able to play this on a whim XD

[@Sacredsnow2]

“The one duplicate we got is the one who died” Well of course, haven’t you watched futurama? Time traveling duplicates are doomed.

[@twbillionare9568]

You know what would be a funny April Fool’s day prank. Release a video titled Rookies only but just play a normal game of XCom but claim everyone are still just “rookies”

[@mb4517]

The Close Range remix at the end of the video actually was pretty good

[@tombraiserzombie2581]

23:05 God helped you alright, Drifter

[@takenname8053]

SUPER NICE, keeping it close range!

[@Shytle720]

Love your channel dude! Just got done beating xcom 2, with halo mods, but i cant seem to get wotc working with any mods at all. Im using the old launcher, cause AML isnt working ugh! Cant wait for your next challenges this is the first i heard of the long war overhaul and im curious

[@TheDriftersBroadcast]

There was a WOTC update that broke a lot of mods. Trying to get AML working is probably your best bet.

[@polokratos8366]

Looking forward to the garbled mess that will be the rules card by last run!

[@ForgedinPrint]

A great content creator makes the content, they don't rely on the content. You make the content. As for the long war of the chosen, I say if you think it's a good idea, you know the channel better than the fans in that case so go for it.

[@chevairelame]

Strap in, ladies and gents. We're going to be here for the long haul! Also, I'm not sure what you mean by the Sectoid and Berserker ignoring your mimic beacons at 27:53 and 39:45. Seems like they one-shot those mimic beacons to me.

[@TheDriftersBroadcast]

Not sure what video you were watching haha.

[@chevairelame]

@@TheDriftersBroadcast 🧍 💣

[@peteraagaard2837]

@@TheDriftersBroadcast I believe there's some sort of mechanic that forces enemies to target civilians/resistance fighters in haven assaults. Not sure of the specifics, but it might overrule the beacon rules?

[@aaronantwine6782]

Looks like all these troops.... ....called "Shotgun." *puts on shades and walks away*

[@timbawden2577]

Slug shot also gives an aim bonus and removes the range penalty for the shotgun, so youll wanna check slug shots when you check regular shots. You may know that, but i just wanted to mention it

[@randompotato2894]

11:35 i am convinced for years that flashbangs buff enemys in higher difficulties

[@yann9915]

In truth, flashbangs are not that crazy good in such a scenario. All they do is remove 20 aim and reduce mobility. If the captain has 75 aim, -20 from flashbang and then +20 from a height advantage shot, its back up to 75 aim with unaffected crit chance from a flanking shot. So yeah, it shouldn't have been a surprise at all when the shot connected, it just sucks that the shot was a crit too (although again, not that shocking of an outcome) and that the soldier straight flopped over and died rather than bleeding out :')

[@randompotato2894]

@@yann9915 the game says -20 aim...in my experience it reduces the mobility, except stun lancers, berserkers and cryssalids, and gurantees hit chances from units like captains and regular troopers. The same feeling like the 95% guaranteed miss

[@yann9915]

@@randompotato2894 their mobility is still affected, but if you dont play with a UI mod that shows you the statistics of all the enemies as you're fighting them you may fail to notice the difference; the melee enemies have a ridiculous amount of mobility so the -3 i think that flashbangs do are in most cases not enough to always deter their attacks. Flashbangs are not a get out of jail free card (thats mimic beacons); they're meant to strip enemies of dangerous abilities and to decrease their chances of hitting your troops through full cover whilst in a prolonged engagement. If a flashbanged enemy can still flank you with reduced mobility, then your troop was on death's door regardless :p

[@randompotato2894]

@@yann9915 dude i know this...i am just illustrating the xcom feeling(95% guaranteed miss) flashbangs only for the early game sectoids

[@齐轩-o3l]

Hit chance and crit chance of Xcom 2 is a bit weird. In short the crit chance does not affected by hit chance at all. By default the captain has 10%crit chance, and this, in xcom 2, means that the captain will have 10% over all to crit no matter the hit chance, so flash bang does not help here.

[@Just_Lionz]

Maybe an interesting video: can I beat Xcom 2 WOTC while using Old Xcom tactics? Idk how you’d do it but I’m sure you could figure it out

[@Alelip1000]

Drifter, I got an idea for a run. So, you know how in Long War the soldiers start "not made equal", and sometimes you end up with snipers with dreadful aim and very slow assaults, and so on. Maybe you could do a run where the important and not important stats for a class are, respectively, really bad and really good IE a sniper with very high health or mobility and very low aim or a "scraping the barrel" themed run, in which your soldiers start with the lowest possible stats (as dictated by the long war stat randomizer, ofc having 1 health, 10 aim, 2 mobility would be silly) probably the second one is easier to set up and be consistent with ... and more painful! lol

[@elitefoxes]

Nice job!

[@68Fourty72]

"Yes I said closer, get as close as you can and engage those Advent at point blank range."

[@Alelip1000]

Ayo drifty boy! I know what im watching this weekend hell yeah

[@SArugbyALLday]

HOWEVER! Pride comes before the fall is such a hard d line and funny to pair it with "Close range" memes and maymay becons

[@bastianschumacher790]

Close Range is a Banger like the Mission Accomplished (Advent Burger Mix)

[@derptomistic]

Had that muton/berserker church party earlier today Tons of civilian casualties (a faceless killed 3 in one hit) by my guys were completely untouched... somehow

[@JayHog1992]

So many "Close range?" memes, almost worth a drinking game.

[@omegavulture8379]

Great run but I’m still not sure at what range we are.

[@quaternarytetrad4039]

Drifter doing LWOTC runs? Count me in!

[@EruHjoyn]

Killer instinct is way stronger than it sounds, because the 50% damage bonus is applied to the entire hit, not just the crit damage. 10 base damage plus 4 crit damage is 21 damage total with killer instinct. Trench gun and street sweeper have somewhat finicky targeting due to being blocked by high cover, but are excellent aoe attacks.

[@tazamane9705]

Another class pack I can recommend would be Richard's Classes for when you're done with this series

[@Jeikobu]

Here is an idea for the overhauled classes. I know part of the challenge is just the single class run, but maybe if they feel pretty similar, do a run where you use the overhualed classes only, giving you a blended team.

[@korvasterindar9672]

Hmmm, I'd love to see you play Vipers only, there is a unit mod where you can play as aliens who have freed themselves from the elders (just vipers I think) and you can play with them. They are pretty strong units

[@GodEmperorofDrip]

Trench Gun was actually clutch in one of my runs as my last action of the turn I used it to kill 3 enemies on a bad pod activation and completed the mission, but still very situational.

[@SArugbyALLday]

Sick song to end the video as well!

[@guilhermepetroli3612]

I hope you play a campaing in the future with only the random generated "soldiers", from the RPG Overhaul mod.

[@Fallen-shinigami]

Best "close range" challenge.

[@marcelovinicius3386]

that's awesome, but i need to know, if u're doing long war, maybe there is a chance of you doing covert infiltration as well ? idk if any classes are the same, but if they aren't it would be cool as well

[@firefoxsimplyred]

LW2 Classes aye? You're gonna like the Rangers on this one, nothing like a more accurate skirmisher and a more versatile shooter.

[@firefoxsimplyred]

With the Rangers I'd suggest you try playing slightly defensively with ever-vigilant, their skills and utilities revolve around their weapon utility and they're an excellent shooter overall.

[@darianmartin416]

I’m glad you got to get it out of your system at the end. XD and wouldn’t you nope out if you were dealing with the assaults?

[@christophervanoster]

Great video drifter. Sorry it took me a few days to watch I’ve been busy

[@TheDriftersBroadcast]

No need to apologise, chief.

[@werdfeefs7027]

Hey, what's the song playing at 1:02:30? Soundhound couldn't find it. (Not that I'm surprised; it's more of a shock when it *does* identify something, these days.)

[@TheDriftersBroadcast]

I think it's BFG 9000.

[@werdfeefs7027]

@@TheDriftersBroadcast thanks!

[@Gh0stKiller3]

Awesome Drifter 🔥

[@borisdaanimal4014]

"taking on 6 guys at once..." "getting sandwiched between 2 pods..." ... hehehe

[@modest_soup]

What did I learn from this video: close range is the best range

[@TheIoPC]

If there was a way to "double like" something I totally would have. Once for the video itself, and another for the Close Range Audio Mix.😝👍 ~ Adam

[@Raisen_ch]

The day was saved with the power of.... CLOSE RANGE

[@overfailed3639]

First off great video. I support future attempts at long war (of the chosen) and would propose maybe cutting those videos in parts because... Well, yeah... Also: Close Range Remix was very much a vibe to witness, I've skipped back to that part 3 times by now.

[@TheDriftersBroadcast]

You don't want to see the 11 hour supercut? Haha.

[@creed2466]

11:55 reports of my death were greatly exaggerated- Jan Anderson 2035

[@digitaldevil696]

LW sharpshooters without pistols won't be a problem. The snap shot ability (lowest row, first promotion) will allow you to ignore the movement limitation, by the low-ish price of penalty of squadsight greatly increased. Granted, other special shots will still require 2 actions, but being able to take a shot alone is worth it. It is weighted against 2 other excellent abilities, but given it's wotc you can have them all eventually, and the middle row build (the holotargeting aka the holobot built) you're gonna need on 1-2 soldiers in the whole barrack. So yeah, it's probably gonna be much easier time than you think, even if you'll have to miss on early DFA snipers. I've been playing with lw classes in vanilla for a while now, even completed a Legend run with them, it's nice to see you trying them out as well. In my estimations/educated guessing, the real problem is going to be a shinobi run, as it's going to run in Templar problem all over again, and they aren't as OP as Templars, so the midgame is probably going to be a nightmare

[@Buglin_Burger7878]

You don't even need Snapshot, you can move the first soldier up and if they see enemies take 5 shots from others before running away from the enemies.

[@digitaldevil696]

@@Buglin_Burger7878 yeah, phantom holobot would do that. But on time limited missions moving is crucial, so I'd prefer to have the option

[@theboredguy733]

Also I'm assuming the arc throwers exact stats are ported from Lwotc 2, so they should be stunning organic troops for 2/3/4 depending on thrower tier. I'm unsure since I very rarely take the trait that lets them be used on robotic enemies, but that could be the reason why you got a 1 action stun on a mec.

[@BloodyN1nja]

I personally love the LW2 Ranger for close range. Just double barrel 20+ health off a chosen for fun

[@cadencenavigator958]

I think that maybe disorientation gives the AI more crits because it decides whether its shots hit before checking the status of the attacker, and if they're disoriented they'll only make that shot if they get a crit. Not sure, but that sounds plausible to me.