Talk:Overviews of Aliens
Threat scale
After all these years, I'm still not quite comfortable with the sectoid, floater and snakeman scales that were chosen. I'm okay with the terror units and the Mutons and Ethereals, but it's not so clear cut with the Sectoid, Floater and Snakeman. What does everyone think? -NKF 03:42, 26 June 2012 (EDT)
- I think the issue with the classification level is how it depends on XCOM's technological level and the mission involved. For instance, I consider the danger level of Cyberdisks to be High during the initial terror sites. The same way, once you get Plasma Snakemen drop to Low level to me.Hobbes 07:46, 26 June 2012 (EDT)
Well, here's how I see it. Silacoids and Reapers are almost definitionally Low Threat, since they're slow melee units and don't have the instakill effect Chryssalids do. Ethereals are likewise definitionally High Threat, since they're all psionic and their stats are much better than other armed aliens (on Superhuman they have a full 20 points more Firing Accuracy, 15 points more Reactions and 14 more Time Units than the next-best in each, all of which are different races!). Everything else is somewhere in-between.
Celatids are quite sturdy and have an incredibly-powerful weapon, but the Celatid aim bug mostly defangs them. I'd say they're Low Threat, unless you're playing a version without that bug in which case they're Medium Threat.
Floaters and Snakemen probably belong together; they're both fairly basic armed aliens with no psionics and low-ish health. Snakemen are obviously slightly stronger, but it's not a big deal unless you're using Rifles against them. The one-hit kill roll for a Floater is 43 and for a Snakeman 65, but that's not much of a difference compared to the real damage sponges (Mutons at 145 and Cyberdiscs at 154). Chryssalids are obviously far, far more dangerous than Reapers, but they've got their own ranking. Low to Medium Threat.
Sectoids are an odd case in that they're slightly weaker than Floaters/Snakemen in Medium Scout/Large Scout missions (which are, let's not forget, more common than every other sort of mission put together), but far, far more dangerous in larger missions due to psionics. Still nowhere near as bad as Ethereals, though, so they're a pretty clear Medium Threat to me.
Mutons and Cyberdiscs also probably belong together, as they're both heavily armed and heavily armoured beatsticks. Mutons certainly don't belong above Cyberdiscs, since Cyberdiscs are literally better in every way except not having autofire or grenades and being slightly less likely to survive a Blaster Bomb to the face. Medium to High Threat.
Chryssalids are a massive danger to ground-bound troops, almost on par with Ethereals, and would unquestionably be High Threat if the Flying Suit didn't exist. Thing is, the Flying Suit does exist and mostly neuters the fearsome bug because Chryssalids literally can't hurt soldiers flying in the air. They'll still get a kill or two in enclosed spaces like the inside of a UFO or in bases, but in the open they're sitting ducks that aren't even as dangerous as Snakemen themselves. Still probably a High Threat, but that weakness should definitely be noted in their overview.
Sectopods are possibly even more terrifying than Ethereals until you have Blaster Bombs. Once you have Blaster Bombs, they're not that much worse than Mutons and Cyberdiscs. Still definitely High Threat.
If you want an even ranking I'm not really sure what to do. Without considering the Celatid aim bug the chart shakes out fairly naturally to Reapers/Silacoids/Floaters/Snakemen in Low Threat, Sectoids/Celatids/Mutons/Cyberdiscs in Medium Threat, and Chryssalids/Sectopods/Ethereals in High Threat, but taking it into account you're going to end up with 5/3/3 no matter which way you rule the borderline cases.
Opinions? Criticisms? Thoughts? Magic9mushroom (talk) 22:37, 10 January 2016 (EST)
- I don't disagree with any of your analysis but again, it really depends on XCom's tech level and the perception of each player. Perhaps it might be more useful to classify their threat level when equipped with Conventional/Laser/Plasma weapons. Hobbes (talk) 14:06, 11 January 2016 (EST)
Reapers resist AP?
In this article, it says Reapers resist Armour Piercing. But in the Damage Modifiers article, it says they take 100% damage from AP. I'm assuming the latter is correct, but could somebody more knowledgeable than me double-check? Magic9mushroom (talk) 20:41, 10 January 2016 (EST)
This one, or the other one? Magic9mushroom (talk) 15:24, 11 January 2016 (EST)
- The damage modifiers are correct. I think the assertion that they're resistant to AP has more to do with the fact that AP weapons have low damage. The Reaper's protection on its front sides and rear is 28. The most common AP weapon players will be armed with is the rifle, which does 30 average. Compared to the rest of the every-day aliens you'll be fighting during the time you will be equipped with rifles, it does give the perception they are resistant to AP weapons. NKF (talk) 17:11, 11 January 2016 (EST)