XCOM 2 Tips: Weapon Upgrades Guide

[@fitmcdeezy8778]

5 year old video and still helping noobs. Much appreciated sir

[@TapCat]

Happy to help!

[@daniel-son428]

Make that 8 years

[@Noble6233]

Tom hanks talking about xcom

[@TapCat]

It's like mama always said, "a KZbin channel is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."

[@Noble6233]

lol

[@stardaggerrihannsu2363]

"You never know what you are going to get until you press play"

[@BenjiPrice502]

Now I can't stop hearing Tom Hanks lol

[@rdowg]

Tom hanks/nicholas cage

[@therealG-iz5cv]

Im glad you made all these videos, 7 years later they are really useful

[@TapCat]

Glad to hear that!

[@BajaBrosuke]

Seriously, just started playing Xcom 2 again and these really help!

[@jamesgrose510]

"80% hit chance; you'll hit four out of five times." Are you RNGesus or are we not playing the same XCOM

[@TapCat]

Lol

[@theshinygoldenemperor2422]

TapCat First time on Commander Ironman a couple days ago. I got to my first Retaliation Strike with only kinetic weapons and spawned a faceless halfway through. In a stroke of genius, I launched a grenade at the faceless, not realising it would kill my other Grenadier and leaving the faceless to miss my sniper a few times. All the while, my Specialist was getting free 80% shots on the thing and missing EVERY TIME. The worst part? The faceless only had 3 health left, but regenerated and chased my soldiers into evac.

[@rich4958]

Cant savescum for hits so what I do is reload a save only if I miss more than 4 shots and make sure to change up my shot order and working my grens/ranger to hit and use my slinger/snipe to peel after armor, always good to hit elevation with snipe and have slinger always follow ranger and grens for a 2 hit extra with the handgun. Specs always use for hacks and try to leave one to two medical abilities for emergencies. Crits clean up so you dont need healing as much sans that Chrysalid that wrecks you.

[@omnipotiscience7251]

You have more of a chance to hit with 80 than 95.

[@firstdondiego]

I tell you what, I've had several situations where all 4 of my characters surrounded 1 enemy at point-blank execution-style range with 98% to hit and all of them still miss. Then a trooper who is not even on-screen or in line of sight insta-kill my soldier through a wall. This was happening every single mission to the point I had no soldiers and game over. This happened to me 4 times. Who made this game?

[@uzairdurrani755]

In XCOM, 80% accuracy means you will miss at least half your shots. And 50% percent accuracy just means your soldier really hates that wall next to the alien and will do his best to destroy it.

[@Odbarc]

Video game percentages: You: 80% means 50% and 20% means 1%. Them: 20% means 50% and 50% means 80%.

[@DracoAvian]

I've found the repeater is pretty fun if you can equip your entire squad with them. A squad full of 10-15% chance of insta-killing makes those kings and queens much less dangerous. That and ambushes often see at least one enemy getting executed.

[@astreinerboi]

I had the repeater make the first encounter with a sectopod really anticlimatic. i had my specialist on overwatch when suddenly that big fucking Robot stepped in. I thought now i'm totally fucked. But that specialist just insta killed it and saved the day.

[@sodium7127]

@@astreinerboi I had a similar experience with my first encounter with Julian. My specialist executed him on the spot before he could even attack. Luckiest moment I've had in this game since.

[@caracallazjoust1028]

Exactly one time, I had a repeater go off on one of the Alien Bosses. I was so happy!

[@stevehamner9708]

Just getting started with XCOM 2 - really enjoying and learning a lot from your videos. I really like the summary page there at the end. It was good to know the 'why' for each decision, but being able to take notes from that summary really helped me be prepared for weapon upgrade time. Thanks again!

[@TapCat]

Glad to hear you found that useful, and hope the videos are a big help in your next campaign!

[@bluedragonrob1]

You are amazing for these. I just started playing and holy shit I got worked my first 2 days. Day 3 I had killed the King Snake and the Berzerker Queen and felt like I had cured cancer.

[@TimbaWolf65]

Personally, I like to assign repeaters to my grenadiers, or anyone who happens to pick up "Shredder" from the AWC, for that matter. Shredder troops are generally the first to fire on hardier targets like sectopods and gatekeepers, so it seems to me they're the best suited to capitalise on that bonus. Obviously, this means I have to compensate for the slightly lower aim stat, but I find prioritising them for the perception pcs does a pretty good job of that. Mind you, none of this is intended as criticism for your guide; it's pretty solid, actually. I'm just throwing my own thoughts on that particular upgrade into the conversation. :P

[@TapCat]

No worries, I know most veteran players have their own preferences. Most of it boils down to part judgment call and partly what best fits your play style so there really is no one right answer. I don't like repeaters because I'd rather have a more consistent effect but they are really sweet on the occasions when they pay off.

[@TimbaWolf65]

Yeah, I can easily see why one would put a low priority on repeaters, I just enjoy having the potential to kill some of the scarier enemies outright. While definitely a small chance, it's served me pretty well in the past. I do want to say that the advice in this video isn't entirely lost on me: I've been playing _XCOM 2_ since the PC launch back in February, but I've actually struggled on settling on a secondary weapon upgrade for shotguns. I do appreciate the advice on that one, especially.

[@vicio19995]

@@TimbaWolf65 i see you point, but i still put it on the specialist, even more if is a "overwach" specialist, as ir they hit it, they get more shots, and is just a good bonus that you are really not counting on it

[@Yubnub_dunduY]

Repeaters belong on low calibre weapons and/or soldiers who take the most shots

[@gildedphoenix]

Repeaters are fun and good to use, especially with Inside Knowledge. I will never have a greater satisfaction than repeater shutting down Julian Sectopod with an overwatch shot. Totally worth the moment

[@MurfatlarAII0]

Just got the game today and it’s lots of fun, it actually makes you think 💭 And with help from your channel, makes a lot of fun. Many thanks again, greetings from Germany 🇩🇪

[@TapCat]

Glad to hear it and good luck!

[@Wudanthe2nd]

killed the berserker ruler on my first shot with a repeater equipped. took me a second to figure out what happened lol. favorite weapon upgrade combo ( with continent bonus) is for the sharpshooter. 1)superior scope 2 ) superior expanded magazine 3) superior repeater I called it "Hand of God"

[@TapCat]

That's the thing with repeaters. They can do stone nothing for several missions in a row and then come up huge when you least expect it. I generally approach the game to maximize consistency, but there's no denying that repeaters can add a kind of fun to XCOM 2 that isn't quite like anything else.

[@dylandugan76]

I once killed the Archon ruler with a repeater the first time I encountered it from an overwatch shot when it stumbled across my squad. The achievement for killing it popped up before I even knew that it was present during that mission.

[@fbi1319]

I killed the berserker ruler by getting skirmisher 2 Rangers to melee it and they all used their bladestorm abilities and fucking chain stunned him so hard that he was just a sitting duck it was fucking hilarious

[@alexanderjackovich6905]

The same thing happened to me right before the Berserker Queen destroyed my whole team since I was not prepared to encounter her.

[@AkidZolkifli]

I was going to rematch the video to write the notes you said, but you summarised it at the end! So so helpful!

[@GrandSupremeDaddyo]

I was debating the usefulness of a repeater on my Specialist. She missed a crucial shot and I was on the backfoot for several turns. She was heavily wounded and I tried to evac her when she stumbled across a Sectopod. She one-shotted it and restored my faith in RNGesus.

[@TapCat]

That's the beauty of the repeater. If you can stomach the fact that there are missions where it will do nothing at all, the payoff from the successes can be an amazing payoff for your patience.

[@passionfly1]

Thank you for making this video! Now I have to restart my game because I was putting the wrong upgrades on the wrong weapons for the wrong classes (I also built my base very poorly too). All of your recommendations make perfect sense now! Thank you!

[@richardbohacik2685]

Yeah, repeater is quite a fun thing. I had it on one in superior quality of my grenadiers and he took down sectopoid down with the first shot on two consecutive missions and at least one full health gate keeper, I have enjoyed it a lot 😄 And one grenadier had expanded magazine and one had autoloader and both worked fine :)

[@TapCat]

I've come to appreciate repeaters more and more as time passes. And if you can get the Resistance order that makes a superior repeater 20%, they almost seem OP. Put one on a reaper with Banish and an expanded magazine and it's never failed to execute a target for me.

[@serder910630]

Personally, I had a couple of rifles with scopes only to help with squaddies/recruits aim.

[@TapCat]

Thanks for posting this, it's an angle I didn't even think about. I would definitely agree that scopes are useful for any low-level soldier. And for those with the Alien Hunters DLC, the Bolt Caster is another way to help generate some hits/kills for aim-challenged lowbies.

[@mjohnsimon1337]

@@TapCat during my 2nd playthrough with the DLC, the Bolt Caster was next to useless. No one could aim with the damn thing. It went from being one of the most reliable weapons to the most useless and I'm kinda sad :/ I had to unequip it it was becoming THAT unreliable

[@chadjacobsen4020]

just started xcom 2 and im a TOTAL beginner at this game. Never played xcom before so your videos are really helping my build right now. had to start over because i kinda know what im doing now. lol Awesome vids! keep it up!! (subbed)

[@TapCat]

Thanks for the positive feedback, I'm very glad to hear that you're finding these videos helpful. Good luck with your new campaign!

[@chadjacobsen4020]

TapCat they are becoming very helpful my friend. I am starting a new campaign as soon as im done typing this. just got home from work and nobodys here to bug me amd i have a whole bottle of Jameson to help. lol cheers!!

[@TheStygian]

The repeater has served me very well... I had the story Avenger defence mission. (At the time the hardest mission I faced yet because there were simply that many enemies rushing me.) And ofcourse the nightmarish King Archon shows up! Who ploughed through my team in the previous mission and left them limping and carrying their unconscious home before it escaped! So - while I was being overrun by 3 mech's, 2 archon's, 2 spectres and an assortment of Advent soldiers and zombies (there was also an undying loyalty dark event) my unassuming specialist fucking blew the king Archon's brains out while he was in the middle of my team. Just flat out one shot it at 2/3 health. That saved the whole mission! And in 2 other battles the same specialist (Her name was Andrea) also one shot the Assassin and Warlock chosen on 2 separate occasions. Absolutely hilarious and satisfying.

[@AdvancedSquadLeader]

The picture in the end, GOLDEN. Thanks

[@TapCat]

Thank you for the feedback. I don't think anyone else has ever mentioned it before, but I thought a quick summary that viewers could take a screenshot of might be helpful.

[@AdvancedSquadLeader]

I would even suggest starting the video with that. Its very helpful for a beginner like myself (evenm though I played and finished XCOM EU) to not miss anything. Makes it super clear :)

[@Tee2020tavares]

love the videos you have helped me big time,I started playing on ps4.

[@TapCat]

That's great to hear, welcome to the channel as well as XCOM 2!

[@voidkat4202]

+TapCatVids what if i stay with normal weapons like assault rifle or normal machine gun cannon but with superior upgrades, im just curious and also interested to the result :)

[@TapCat]

Whitefang, I haven't tried that (nor do I recommend it!) but you'd have a few things to look forward to. First, your grenadiers would still only shred 1 armor per attack and that is going to make the late game enemies extremely challenging. Similarly, every soldier will do considerably less damage and that will also hinder your ability to get kills. Your enemies will live longer, get more attacks against you, and that will result in more hospital time and deaths for your squad. I think that if I were going to try this, I'd get as many Superior Repeaters as possible looking for cheap kills whenever I could get them. I'd also play on rookie or veteran because doing it on Legend will almost certainly be a massacre. All that said, there is an achievement in XCOM 2 for not using any of the upgraded gear so if you're really gutsy, you could go for it.

[@voidkat4202]

+TapCatVids so meaning its less damage using cheap weapons?

[@TapCat]

Yes, exactly.

[@Turburki]

Thank you Tapcat! subscribed when I found your XCOM 2 videos! well made and explained! I just started playing the game and your videos helped me a lot in understanding how the game works.

[@TapCat]

That's awesome, J Law, I'm very glad to hear that my videos have been helpful. Thanks for watching as well as taking the time to leave the positive feedback!

[@spicymilkshake6599]

I’m late to the party, but I just got hooked to this game, and you are now my KZbin Xoom Guru. Liked and subbed.

[@TapCat]

Thanks, glad you find the videos helpful!

[@skyefox]

I found Stock/Extended Mag to be effective on my Grenadiers until getting enough scopes, since I was essentially using them to activate holo targeting for the rest of my squad. Also had a decent amount of success with a scope and Hair Trigger on my Sharpshooter, the free action on the first shot allowed for additional follow ups without having to rely on Gunslinger the whole time (I did a bit of a standard sniper build, taking only Quickdraw and Lightning Hands).

[@Philip-0]

It's worth noting that killing with explosives destroys any upgrades your target may have dropped.

[@TapCat]

This comment triggered flashbacks to Dr. Vahlen yelling at me about using explosives.

[@Moniks13807]

It's really up to how you fight. My playstyle is to fight at long range so I just strap scope to everything. It also gives me confidence to fight at long range so I wouldn't get closer to risk getting hit.

[@Zajuts149]

I really liked using autoloaders on shotguns in addition to the laser sights since a free reload was often more useful than a delayed reload on the shotguns.

[@spaceyonqui1235]

I like to get stocks on grenadiers with shredder, comes handy more often than you might think.

[@FatalJapan]

I just started playing my first ever rts (xcom2) and your guides have been so helpful.🙏ty so much for continuing to put out content.

[@TapCat]

Glad to help!

[@AbsurdistAsian]

Rangers wipe the floor if they have the random Death from Above ability. I have one, so the loadout is: Autoloader + Laser Sight. But it's situation-specific, the Ranger has to be on a higher ground. I have one and she constantly finishes every enemy off. I usually start with the lowest health advents, and with a very high crit + double shots (I forget the ability's name) she can finish off higher health enemies. For tge Sniper I tend to use Scope and Autoreloader. Not a fan of Cone, I use Serial and like to carefully pick my shots. Like the Ranger, a Serial Sniper will shoot everything in sight and up to 9 aliens in one turn with the reloader. These are two of my favorite builds & upgrades.

[@williamriggs3462]

Hey these videos have helped me a lot in my game play. Thank you very much .

[@TapCat]

You're more than welcome William and thank you for watching!

[@alihunter84]

Reminds me of whats considered a "fun" maths problem thats often taught in math classes as its considered relatable by gamer teens. Its statically better to never miss than do more damage with a hit. Its a point that i learned about when i first got into table top games but it goes back a long way in strategic war games and pretty much applies across the board. The damage loss from missing a shot pretty much always negates the gamble and damage loss of a miss and potential reaction from the target. Always go for accuracy over damage total. The same idea works with Crits in games. 100% crit chance typically gives 150-200% damage. Thats likely to negate any damage bonus on a gamble with high damage in the long run. The outcome is accuracy first, crit chance second, crit damage 3rd (if it even applies in whatever game), base damage 4th. *shudder* theres defo a crossing point from considering yourself a cool kid thats a bit nerdy...to being the guy that just typed that... sorry

[@renatosousa9971]

Wow never thought about it this way, it makes a lot of sense

[@missfire9480]

Wouldn't base damage be second? as crit chance and crit damage are unreliable and so doing more consitent damage over time would yield better gains then some rare 1.5 and 2x multi's that might just over kill the target anyways where as base damage allows for consitent damage even against larger hp enemies ?

[@kreativwiebetonblock1327]

@@missfire9480 Crit chance tends to be capped at values that are reliable enough. At a high crit chance, more of it will make it more reliable than more base damage. Also in some games there is a lot of armor, making base damage a rather bad choice as it won't reach good values anyway. Of course it depends on the balancing of the game.

[@stupididiot9336]

@@kreativwiebetonblock1327 yup, generally maxed crit chance and bonus crit dmg are the way to go once your base dmg multiplier reaches a certain point. You dont really ever see people trying to max out their atk stat in games, it's always crit crit crit

[@ravana2348]

Great vid man, only thing is by the end of the game I had all the superior scopes to outfit all my people and all of the instant kill ones to xD so by late game I had insane accuracy nearly 100 on all my people and had best chance to instant kill xD but great video keep up the good work u deserve more recognition c:

[@TapCat]

I've never equipped Superior Repeaters on a full squad but there's a twisted corner of my mind that has always wondered how much mayhem one could wreak with all those executions. I think the reason I've never done it is that I'm convinced that the executions will be nowhere to be found when it's time to take down an Avatar or several pods activate at once because... that's XCOM baby! At any rate, whether it's optimal or not your way sounds like a lot of fun for anyone willing roll the dice.

[@ravana2348]

TapCatVids It helped a load on the last mission set my squad to over watch and chewed threw enemies and got an instant kill on a sectapod (probably wrong spelling) the turn before and on the second to last avatar it's a fun as hell run but I prefer out fitting my sniper with superior auto loader and extended clip use serial mop up 4/5 guys then throw down a kill zone as my last move and can clear out 2/3 pods with one guy :')

[@shakarnfoster1569]

You're the best man thanks , me personally love hair triggers with specialist. Saved me so many times 😂

[@RatedSlayer]

Your voice is really nice and unique plus your videos are very helpfull, u gained a new sub my friend 😁

[@TapCat]

Thanks, and welcome to the channel!

[@debclatterbuck6708]

Nice vid. It was very helpful. I find that always putting auto loaders on grenadiers can work well and also frees up expanded mags for others. If you are always aware that grens have auto loaders it helps to keep track of it mentally, too... (just like specialists always having stocks allows one to more fully concentrate on battlefield tactics rather becoming involved in the tedium of checking which squad member has a stock when that muton is down to two health). Grenadiers use the launcher regularly and so need their primary ammo much less than, say, a pure sniper build.

[@denstuff3166]

Love your videos! Really helping me with my commander ironman campaign. im still two missions in after several op gatecrasher massacres lol. Playing on PS4 and been looking for this kind of game for a long time now. More power to you!

[@TapCat]

Thank you, glad to hear you're finding the videos successful. Good luck with your campaign!

[@catandthesixxness]

By the way thanks for the informative videos! I was able to defeat Enemy Unknown and Enemy Within on normal difficulty. XCOM 2 isn't a dramatic step up in challenge but it is different enough to need a little help with the new elements. The hardcore have their favorite strategies but beginners need a baseline for success and your videos are perfect for that. Thanks for all the tips.

[@TapCat]

Thanks for the feedback, the "baseline for success" for beginners that you described is exactly my goal when creating these videos!

[@aesheronanglvd3th309]

I personally really dislike taking stocks and repeaters on the same weapon. Back when the stock dmg could proc the repeater it was fantastic, but now they work against each other, you should really specialise in one or the other imho. A specialist with scope+repeater and the abilities that buff their overwatches can be very interesting. Had one get steady hands as well that could really tear things up on the enemie's turn by just reloading and overwatching.

[@skylar9046]

This is just me personally, but my preferences (/ indicates one or the other, and is in preference order): Shotgun (Ranger): Laser Sight, Expanded Magazine/Auto-Loader, Hair Trigger Sniper Rifle (Sharpshooter): Scope, Auto-Loader, Hair Trigger (I personally have never used a Sniper build; I'm attached to Gunslinger.) Cannon (Grenadier): Expanded Magazine, Auto-Loader/Stock, Scope Assault Rifle (Specialist): Expanded Magazine, Scope, Repeater Vektor Rifle (Reaper): Expanded Magazine, Repeater, Scope/Laser Sight (Admittedly, this is exclusively to get the most out of the one use of Banish. And yeah, I had the Repeater in Banish once execute a Gatekeeper in a 4-alien kill thanks to Annihilate: 2 Archons, 1 Gatekeeper, 1 Faceless. 2 per Archon, 1 for the Gatekeeper, 1 for the Faceless.) Kal-7 Bullpup (Skirmisher): Expanded Magazine/Auto-Loader, Scope, Repeater/Hair Trigger (Mainly focused on as many actions as possible)

[@rberg79]

once again, great and useful analysis. thanks.

[@TapCat]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!

[@ianhargrave8240]

I had a repeater kill the boss at the end of shen mission

[@justinvanvolkenburg5298]

To me, Autoloaders and Expanded Magazine are interchangeable. Especially when used for missions with The Lost. The stock is good for the Specialist, especially since I usually give them Guardian for a skill.

[@justinvanvolkenburg5298]

Also, the repeater usually is used because it makes the weapon looks good. I also have seen it be extremely useful, especially the one time it took a Chosen Warlock out the first time they attack.

[@zwecko6190]

It's 2024 and I still loves this game and ur videos ❤

[@TapCat]

That's awesome, thank you!

[@Zigadeezac]

Repeater is my new filler upgrade, was playing last week and took out the royal berserker in the first encounter. Was all set up for an overwatch ambush on a different set of enemies and then the royal berserker comes running in first shot was a miss second . . . execution.

[@RecklessInternetting]

I like to put auto-loaders on my rangers. I usually run Rangers up the guts of an enemy pod, and find that the auto-loader functionally means you have 8 shots rather than the 7 the expanded mags offer (at least if you aren't a moron and manage your ammo well). And that frees up the expanded mags for other people who need it. Laser-sight is definitely non-negotiable. Agree with you on that

[@christianfitzgerald7359]

I love your content it helped me through legend mode 2 times

[@TapCat]

That's awesome, Christiation, congrats on getting the wins on Legend difficulty!

[@christianfitzgerald7359]

TapCat yeah I didn't even care about cover until i watched your video s and then I realized just how much every advantage was

[@exukvera]

Outfit a reaper with the banish and anihilate skills and equip his rifle with the superior clip and repeater to have the harbinger of death. Almost certain insta-kill on rulers and the chosen with the chance of taking 1-2 extra aliens with them.

[@Luna_nyxborn]

Ok as great as a laser sight on a ranger is I always use scopes every time I do so they basically never miss I had a ranger with a scope never take a shot with a chance greater than 45% and they never missed and I had a sharpshooter with a laser sight always crit

[@ChrBrandt]

One thing I think you missed was to put a repeater on the handgun of your sniper especially if it is a gunslinger. Under ideal circumstances he can fire almost 10 times in one round and that almost garentees an execution on one of them.

[@TapCat]

That wasn't an oversight. It isn't an option to equip the handgun with weapon upgrades. While experimental ammo will affect both the rifle and handgun shots, the weapon upgrades only go on the sniper rifle.

[@scottshamblin6251]

Thanks for these xcom 2 videos, they are very helpful.

[@TapCat]

Thank you, I'm glad they're you're finding them useful. Good luck, Commander!

[@marcof6235]

For the Repeater/ Specialist, another reason it works is because they have improved overwatch - more shots means more chances to instagib.

[@intense_pickle]

thanks to a repeater, i took down the viper king...it was an all or nothing shot and i was sure my squad was getting wiped out, but because i chose repeater, it was toast ;) that's why you take it

[@generictoasterstroodle1080]

For some reason once I went into the switching equipment option I couldn’t go back. What should I do?

[@johnnemesh5459]

Save your expanded mags for the Reaper, Skirmisher, Sharpshooter, and Grenadier, in that order! All of these classes have weapons that only have 3 shots, and need the mags FAR more than the Ranger! Personally, I prefer Rangers with Bladestorm, Untouchable, and Reaper more than shotgun centric buildouts. Rangers with Bladestorm are basically immune from the Lost, and if you slash most enemies, you will either kill them outright, or kill them with Bladestorm on their next movement.

[@angelcolon6693]

I was really intimidated by xcom 2 but your guides have given great help and reduce that intimidation. I had my rear gaped by souls games i tjink i can take xcom now lmao

[@TapCat]

Glad to hear that you've found my videos helpful and good luck with your campaign!

[@michaelsimmons8731]

Nice video but I was disappointed that you not did discuss three slot upgrade choices you get when you receive the US continent bonus

[@kennethwright1893]

Repeater takes down Gatekeeper...Repeater takes down Sectopod for the Win! It always surprises me when this happens, but it always makes me smile and be happy! :)

[@stevenshatswell53]

I'm super late, I just picked the game up on sale, but I'd like to praise the repeater. Put it on my Ranger and she instagibbed the King Archon Ruler during an extract VIP mission. That instagib saved my ass from having to start a whole new campaign since that King Archon would have wrecked my unit.

[@TapCat]

Repeaters can be amazing. They can also go several missions in a row where they do stone nothing. Personally, I prefer the upgrades that are more consistent but if you're comfortable going with the "jackpot or bust" approach then they can be a lot of fun.

[@stevenshatswell53]

@@TapCat I have three units running repeaters on every mission. I usually get a few executions every mission because I have them on my high volume shooters. The Ranger that got the instakill mentioned above has a repeater for the hell of it though. She gets a couple instakills every so often. Btw, you're awesome for replying to a comment on such an old vid. Top notch community involvement my guy!

[@ninjae4976]

In war of the chosen, can we still get armed to the teeth as continental bonus with modular weapons so we can get four weapon upgrades to each weapon?

[@speeddemon7678]

I would like to point to anyone reading this comment in War of the Chosen the vulture tactic has been moved to resistance orders for the skirmishers. So be prepared to do a resistance op for that order.

[@svkbw1921]

I run hair triggers on the specialists because they have the most abilities that won't end the turn

[@georgiababylon3160]

Oh Hello TapCat!!

[@mockdux]

can you make a video on Kill Zone? I'm not seeing my trigger when I try to set it up. I have switched to fanfire or serial instead since it fails so often.

[@ElodieHiras]

My setup tends to be: Ranger: Laser sight + Hair Trigger. Sniper: Scope + Hair Triger/Repeater Grenadier: Expanded mags + Scope Psi trooper/Specialist: Stock + whatever. Basically, I want to get kills ASAP, and pods tend to come in 3-4 enemies. So I can kill and then reload on the move. Grenadiers are the exception because I use their Demolition ability to smash cover, and that's ammo intensive. Rangers can OHkill enemies, and since I always give them Untouchable, I often move them to tactically-advantageous-yet-defensively-questionable positions. An extra action can make or break a fight against a Gatekeeper by smashing through those last 7 HP it has. I don't often use Kill Zone because I notice most KZ shots tend to miss, maybe I'm just unlucky. Usually, it's Serial, and even then I often find myself 1 HP short of killing a PITA enemy. Besides, Death From Above gives a bonus action after a kill on an enemy at a lower elevation so it's basically a sharpshooter's free reload. Grenadiers tear down enemy cover and armor, so my setup is ammo intensive. Plus, their accuracy is shit. I use my specialists as hackers and Overwatch breakers. Stocks save on uses of Combat Protocol so that instead of using it for it's intended purpose of breaking Overwatch, I use it to nuke Sectopods and such. Besides, they're usually my best shooters anyways.

[@Ailobyte]

I disagree about expanded magazine for sharpshooter I think their much better served with a quick-reload mag instead (i dont think thats the exact name for it its been a while since ive played) Why? Its a free reload, and 3x2 is more than 3+1 (and so on with advanced & superior versions). More shots can be popped off + it wont cost a sharpshooter a shot mid-battle to reload. (Technically the same principle applies to all weapon classes, but i think its best used with the sharpshooter for reasons stated.)

[@friendlyneighborhoodpothead]

Thanks for all the tip dude really appreciate it

[@TapCat]

I'm happy to help, good luck with your campaign!

[@TommyCurrell]

What about hair trigger on a sniper? Wouldn't that double its usefulness because it saves you 2ap instead of just one?

[@chrisjordan2784]

That purple armor looks amazing

[@TapCat]

Agreed, there is some nice looking armor in this game.

[@xenkiv1087]

I usually put a repeater on a skirmisher's gun since they can fire twice in one turn.

[@mininlmewa]

I know I’m very late but why not auto loaders? For Ranger it makes sense because you can’t auto load between rapid fire but if you look at it as the raw amount of shots you can take the base auto loader gives the same as a tier 3 expanded mag. With tier 2 or 3 auto loaders you can go most missions without spending a single action to reload with all the free ones you get. I also use different upgrades than you basically across the board. Ranger: laser sight & expanded mag Grenadier: stock & autoloader (they miss anyway so why not prepare for it) Sharpshooter scope & auto loader (probably the best option for auto loaders imo since they can shoot almost every turn in a good spot) Specialist: I usually give them the alien hunter weapon but when I can’t repeater & autoloader. Scope is great but when the enemy has 3 or less hp and a scope would bump their hit from 3% to 18% I would rather have a 100% chance to kill with a stock. I only put it on grenadier so I always know who has it, they generally have the lowest chance to hit on average in a squad, and since they are usually either the first to fire or last to fire for me depending on the targets armor.

[@TapCat]

Many years after recording this video, I like auto-loaders more than I used to. I don't like them in situations where I'm routinely using 2 ammunition at a time. So a grenadier with chain shot or a base-game ranger using rapid fire. You'll end up having to constantly reload and burn through your freebies. Most of my beef with auto-loaders was that I'd get on a map with a lot of enemies and not only run out of free reloads, but they'd get used in situations where I didn't necessarily need them to be free. Having a bigger magazine and reloading less is always good and it will never stop working, but the reloads aren't like that. To be fair, the free reload is amazing after a codex zaps all your ammo and that's no small thing. All of this is to say that both have their pros and cons and I used to value the pros for the expanded magazines a lot more and the cons of the auto-loaders bothered me more. Over time, I've more or less met in the middle and am happier to use a mix of the two.

[@hexaanon1284]

i once lucked out with using a normal repeater and executing the viper king with a rook, *didn't have the same luck with the berserker queen*

[@GeaForce]

-Repeater is bad [Alien hunters comes up] -Equip all your units with repeaters

[@mihf772]

Repeaters are pretty much just a nice surprise

[@Laireso]

Advanced warfare center gave my new ranger Rupture. It's absolutely amazing and I don't even have run and gun on her. I'm playing Legend ironman though so I'm trying to not get attached.

[@Saddleback117]

On my first playthrough WOTC repeaters were my last choice option, then I killed the berserker queen in one turn thanks to the repeater on my heavy.

[@louurome7030]

I heard that there was a way to get a third weapon upgrade slot and can't find any information on it is it true

[@TapCat]

It is true. I've seen it as a reward on covert ops (in war of the chosen) and I believe I've seen it as a continent bonus. Not positive you can get it in every campaign, but it definitely exists in the game.

[@louurome7030]

@@TapCat thank you currently playing vanilla for the first time and enjoying it

[@afielsch]

6:04 "the way xcom works" meaning there is no rng, instead the game decides when the player hits? and the game favors the enemy too, i.e. "you miss the shot the one time you absolutely cant afford to have it happen"? I was rather unhappy with my guys inablity of hitting the targets pretty consistently ... that would explain A LOT.

[@hellhound7572]

I dont use rangers only during lost missions

[@the24thcolossusjustchillin39]

What about Psi ops and the War of the Chosen classes?

[@TapCat]

I never played enough with psionics to feel comfortable offering advice on the topic. And by the time War of the Chosen came out, I was kind of burned out on making the guides. I'm actually playing again, though, and may actually record some War of the Chosen Guides at some point.

[@Yellow13Firestorm]

Normally, the repeaters go on the sniper or the ranger. I just feel like if i want a percentage chance of instant death, i should put it on the guys that are going to hit the most often. Rangers up close, snipers at range. Expanded magazine on the grenidiers, snipers, and sometimes specilists depending on what i want to do with them, as well as stocks. Even some chip damage is better than no damage. espicially if they keep missing a lot. I kinda don't use the laser sights personally. the auto loaders, yeah, those go on the grenidiers, and snipers. sometimes on the ranger too. Scopes are pretty much sniper exclusive though because they're so valuable.

[@TapCat]

It's a shame that you can't put a repeater on a gunslinger's pistol, because that would give you by far the most opportunities for executions. Personally, I don't like repeaters for rangers because you're killing almost anything you hit as it is.

[@Yellow13Firestorm]

Fair enough. There are mods that let you add repeaters (and almost any other weapon mod) to anything else, but i was speaking purely vanilla. I might try that though now that you brought it up.

[@DracoAvian]

I find the best candidates for repeaters were specialists, since their rifles don't seem to require specific mods to synergize well with the class.

[@Hellberch1]

Any chance of a Vid with the upgrades for the resistance factions?

[@mrmcjeff385]

I've been holding off on upgrading any of my weapons because they're still just the basic weapons and I'm getting magnetic ones soon, and I'm not sure if it would be wasting the upgrades or not If I upgrade for example a standard sniper, will those upgrades still be on that soldiers gauss sniper when I upgrade or will they be stuck on the now obsolete standard sniper?

[@TapCat]

If you apply weapon upgrades to a weapon, they will automatically be transferred to the new version once you purchase it. One thing, though, the weapon does need to be equipped to one of your soldiers at the time you buy the new version from Engineering or it doesn't seem to work. But, overall, yes go ahead and upgrade your weapons now and those benefits will still be there when you get your better gear.

[@lilyslife206]

Great audio voice , could always try doing audiobooks :)

[@mickyco308]

How do you get more than 1 or 2 upgrade slots on weapons I want to put every upgrade on

[@TapCat]

You get the 2nd when you upgrade to magnetic weapons. To get the 3rd, you need to get a continent bonus for making contact with the resistance in enough regions, but it's randomly assigned and doesn't show up in every game. Alternatively, I'm sure there's a mod that would open it up if you're playing on PC.

[@NhemF]

In war of the chosen you can randomly get it as a research project as well

[@asifcra7839]

Talon rounds with laser sights are the best combo for rangers.

[@TapCat]

Agreed, a ranger who can consistently crit is a damage monster.

[@jmorris023]

I missed a 99% shot for the first time last night. Does it seem like guys miss more in Commander level even though the shot percentage seems to be the same?

[@TapCat]

There is some truth to that. At lower difficulty levels, the game uses a "streak breaker" so that if you miss a few shots in a row and then roll another miss on your next shot, you'll hit instead. But once you hit commander level, you have to live with whatever result the RNG gives you. So while you aren't any more like to miss a 99% shot taken on its own, you will miss more shots over the course of a campaign.

[@jmorris023]

@@TapCat Ah I see, that explains it. I've played through veteran many times, but this is my first commander attempt. I've got a couple more obscure, inside baseball questions if you have the time.

[@chrisvalen]

Gave all my specialist exo suit handme downs from the grenadiers. An they all use damage bot.

[@NotYourBusiness-bp2qn]

Good choices. Bad explanations. Rangers clearly need laser sight and expanded magazines as they tend to move a lot and shoot a lot even early game. They are your most reliable high damage source so you should prioritize getting them laser sights and expanded magazines early game. Grenadiers have shitty aim and you NEED them to hit so they have priority for scopes. Sharpshooters are a distant second because they have high aim stats naturally and if they miss you don't lose nearly as much damage as if a grenadier misses. A missed rupture means no armor points shredded and no extra damage applied to next shots on the target plus a missed guaranteed crit - it's a huge amount of damage your team won't do on that target. A missed sharpshooter hit is just a missed hit. Expanded magazines are good on both but snipers can get away without since they don't eat as much ammo and they often only need to reposition half a move for the next fight. Grenadiers shoot a ton of ammo with their numerous multi ammo skills - chain shot, rupture and hail of bullets all eat ammo like crazy and they need to dash in between fights to get close to the next pod. Snipers can just stroll to another vantage position or sometimes even stay put since they have squad sight. Stocks belong on specialists because they have to be left last to act to put defensive measures up if something went wrong. If nothing went wrong they may mop up whatever the big guns didn't finish off. Sure they have combat protocol as well but that's limited to two charges and should be kept for mechanical enemies because it does a lot more damage on them. Repeaters seem to be contradictory to the specialists role but they are a very good choice because if there is nothing to mop up the specialist usually has nothing to do with his action and can go on overwatch. This means a opening shot on the next pod leader which is usually the toughest and highest priority opponent in a pod. A free 15% chance to kill is very useful in that situation. Also later the specialist gets access to Guardian, a skill that gives him a chance to take multiple overwatch shots and this makes a repeater even more useful on him.

[@hazeddon]

1:01, holy shit! How much health do gatekeepers have on Legend?

[@TapCat]

30 Health and 7 armor to protect them. They're no joke!

[@hazeddon]

Lol, no wonder you were all like "take Rupture please", I don't know how I'd get through 30 health and 7 armor otherwise.

[@xx_gamer_xx8315]

My sniper had a repeater as a third attachment and one shot a full hp sectopod.

[@ab6318]

not in my game. 95% miss even at 95% hit

[@loodlebop]

"Early on when you build the tactics school" yeah I'm like half way through and don't have that. I'm still going into big fights with just 4 units lol

[@TapCat]

That's rough. I'd suggest you build one ASAP but I have a feeling you've already figured that out. The "good news" is that you'll get an achievement if you can finish the game without upgrading your squad size.

[@cloudybrains]

Same boat here. I just prioritized what the game was telling me to build first, but it turns out it tells you to build fairly unimportant stuff.

[@loodlebop]

clickhead fucking game. It wants you to fail! Lol :)

[@uberwebd9824]

thanks for video, it answered many questions

[@TapCat]

You're welcome, thanks for watching!

[@opinionday0079]

I find the weapons upgrade part complicated, I don't know if I am doing it right in the game, it's not well explaned. I have build stuff but can't get anyone to use them.

[@TapCat]

In order to upgrade a weapon initially, it has to be equipped to a soldier. Once it is upgraded, that soldier will still be holding it. If you equip a different weapon to that same soldier, then the upgraded weapon will go into the pool available weapons and anyone capable of using that weapon can equip it and get the benefit of the upgrade.

[@bruutwillis7760]

Thank you for the helpfull video's. Bought this great game yesterday on ps4.

[@TapCat]

You're more than welcome, enjoy!

[@catandthesixxness]

Hey Tap. Is it ever a good idea to give the Ranger an Assault Rifle?

[@TapCat]

I think the only time I was tempted was when I had upgraded the rifle, but not the shotgun and thought I might do more damage that way. But the ranger gains so much potential damage from crits with a shotgun that you're still better off. So while I'm sure somebody somewhere would argue with me, I would not recommend doing it in any circumstance that I can think of.

[@robinrondo]

Thank you

[@slippindaily]

Your videos are great for XCOM 2 fans. I like the way you explain the details, they oddly make sense out of what could be a confusing game to some. They only pet peeve I do not like... is you smacking your lips and breathing heavy after each sentence. It could just be me though lol.

[@TapCat]

You know what? That bugs me too! I'll try experimenting with putting the microphone a little farther away when I record and see if that helps.

[@RobsRobotChannel]

This isn't a guide, it's customization preferences. How do the attachments work. Can you create them anywhere? How do custom guns work. Can you free them up while a soldier is dead? Can all attachments work for all guns? Does it make sense to save attachments or simply use them when you get them? Do the upgraded gun types have special requirements for their attachments? There's a ton of questions you could answer without just sharing your "playstyle preferences".