Talk:Cyberdisc

Stun Bombs vs. Detonation

Zombie, just a thought on your recent edit. Can we get a few more tests on the stun bombs against cyberdisc detonation? It's just that I caused a Cyberdisc to explode while testing the stun bombs for the stun/flare gun while running a test on my all-pistol mod.

I suppose I should test the small launcher and see if that gives me different results. The possibilities that I can see are:

Stun bombs don't always work
It's an obdata slot-specific trait
It's Dos vs. CE edition difference

There's also the possibility that the cyberdisc's damage may have had something to do with it.

-NKF 22:45, 22 November 2008 (CST)

Hmm, it seems as though partially-to-fully MC'd Cyberdiscs do not explode when stunned with the Stun Bomb. However, a fully controlled alien Cyberdisc will explode. Nice catch. Don't know about the Stun Rod, though it should follow the same mechanics. May need to do a rewrite of the article then. --Zombie 23:18, 22 November 2008 (CST)

Seems as though the Stun Rod prevents a Cyberdisc from using it's auto-destruct sequence. These tests were conducted on Cyberdiscs in Mountainous terrain from a Supply Ship while on the ground (L0). The Cyberdiscs themselves were never mind controlled, but I did edit their integrated weapon to hold 0 shots to make it safer for my troops to approach. ;) MC status doesn't matter though, because my soldier tried it by MCing one section and still no explosion. As always, I'm using the Collector's Edition version. --Zombie 22:40, 24 June 2009 (EDT)

Ok, a partially MC'd Cyberdisc does explode with a Stun Bomb. So will a full alien controlled Cyberdisc. However, a fully MC'd Cyberdisc will not explode when it is stunned with a Stun Bomb. So there you go. Some odd stuff going on with stunning, but at least we have an answer. --Zombie 22:55, 24 June 2009 (EDT)

It's not (entirely) a MC issue. Early on, before I even had psi labs, I took one down safely with a small launcher. It wasn't previously damaged (I don't think, unless I missed and hit it off-screen). Importantly, I didn't hit it dead-on; the stun bomb landed next to it. Totally random idea but could it have to do with where the stun bomb lands in relation to it, kind of like how grenades can destroy each other? Seems unlikely, but hey. This was on Beginner, and using UFOExtender which I guess might throw everything off. Sowelu 03:33, 3 March 2011 (EST)

Doing a Superhuman run (DOS version, unmodified except to hex-edit the Difficulty Bug out) at the moment, and stunned a couple of Cyberdiscs with a Small Launcher. They didn't explode. One had been damaged with Laser Rifles, one hadn't. The one I shot with Laser Rifles only did explode. No Psi involved. Magic9mushroom (talk) 13:30, 9 February 2018 (CET)

MCed Cyberdisc MAD suggestion

I just think it should be noted that the Cyberdisc, with a Psi Strength of 100 in Beginner difficulty, is one of the two toughest units in the game to successfully mind control(tied with the Sectopod). If you have Psi-troops capable of successfully MCing even 1 quarter of a Cyberdisc, the sectiods accompanying it (indeed, the Cyberdisc itself!) should pose little trouble. In addition, it may be more effective to just tell the MCed component to shoot one of the other three components. They'll likely reaction-fire the MCed area, and the whole thing will explode. Arrow Quivershaft 13:00, 24 November 2008 (CST)

Weapon Rankings Vs. Cyberdiscs

Average %TUs per kill (at Firing Accuracy=50):

Blast Bmb        38
HE Pack(XCU)     59
HvyPlas          67
Stun Bmb        101
Stun Rod        102
PlasmaR         106
HvyLas (XCU)    119
HE Pack         187
LaserR          192
PlasmaP         204
RocketLg        273
HvyLas          291
Alien Grd       333
LaserP          391
HC - AP         765
RocketSm        769
Prox Grd        962
AC - AP        1219
Rifle          3918
HC - HE        5027
Grenade        9154
Pistol        10371
AC - HE       16837

Heavy Weapon Platforms (at standard HWP FA)

Tk Cannon       549
Tk Rocket       287
Tk Laser        168
Tk Plasma        90
Tk Fusion        78

It's possible that Incendiary weapons are comparatively effective vs Cyberdiscs, since they ignore armour and may cause multiple damage to large units. However the mechanics of Incendiaries are not yet well enough understood to do exact modelling.

Spike 19:00, 11 March 2009 (CDT)

Cyberdisc vs. Tanks

Regarding the previous edit, I've always said that the Rocket tank is not good against the Cyberdisc. This was mainly from an ammo-efficiency point of view. One rocket tank has to expend a lot of rockets just to knock down a Cyberdisc - which is extremely prominent on Superhuman.

A handheld rocket launcher and HE packs are always the better answer to Cyberdiscs, but between the two starting tanks, if you had to go up against a Cyberdisc with a tank due to some desperate circumstance, I believe the cannon tank would be a slightly better choice.

It would be just as bad in that it would need about 3 - 4 hits to knock a Cyberdisc down. Since it has more ammo it can continue fighting well past the first Cyberdisc. The rocket tank on the other hand would be no more than an expensive scout/decoy after the second Cyberdisc - assuming every shot connected.

The laser, plasma and fusion tanks on the other hand are always good against Cyberdiscs. However, by the time you have access to them, you'll have plenty counter-Cyberdisc measures available to you.

-NKF 02:52, 1 March 2009 (CST)

Of course, I've always been of the opinion that tanks are almost necessary on an Avenger because 80 items split among 26 soldiers means no one gets much gear. Using tanks alleviates this somewhat. Also, tanks make great expendable scouts, especially for a Psi Ops team, since you probably don't want your carefully cultivated 99 Psi Strength trooper shot by a Muton who was around the corner. This doesn't really change your base point, it just comments that tanks in the late game are great for anti-Cyberdisc purposes. Arrow Quivershaft 19:28, 1 March 2009 (CST)

Though, by the time you have an Avenger and deadly Psi-corps, 26 soldiers is pretty much overkill... if I'm careful and really lucky, I can win it with just 1 man. But a 3 man psi-elite team is enough to beat any map. Jasonred 21:20, 1 March 2009 (CST)

Agreed, but redundancy is good. I usually stack 10 men in the Avenger and 4 Plasma hovertanks. Arrow Quivershaft 21:23, 1 March 2009 (CST)

Bit late to the party here, but I think the rocket tank is still preferable. Why? Well, because your tank is highly unlikely to actually survive long enough to run out. Cyberdiscs' plasma cannons are pretty much designed for reducing tanks to scrap and their Reactions and Firing Accuracy are exceptional; one tank is hardly going to carry the mission against 6-10 Cyberdiscs. You're going to need lasers. And I'd prefer a rocket tank and a laser dude to a cannon tank and a rocket dude on a Sectoid terror mission. Magic9mushroom (talk) 02:10, 16 May 2015 (EDT)

Live Specimen

I've heard that if you mind control them and keep them until the end of the battle, you can get a live Specimen (Urailar)

This one actually is worth testing on the PlayStation version. I know it can't possibly work on the PC versions because the battle won't end until the 'Disc is killed or stunned (either of which are known to give corpses), but on the PS version MCed aliens are captured alive if there are no un-MCed aliens remaining and it's worth checking whether that respects the "robotic" flag or not. Magic9mushroom (talk) 07:59, 9 November 2023 (CET)

You can capture cyberdiscs.

If a cyberdisk is hovering when you stun bomb it, it's explosion will not usually kill it, as the explosion happens on the level above where the "corpse" falls. One sectoid terror mission is usually enough to capture one if you've using stun launchers.

Except it still comes up as a corpse. Even if you taser it and there is no explosion. Magic9mushroom 09:41, 15 August 2009 (EDT)

one more instance

these can appear in Abduction missions too, not just Terror (now playing my first Classic run-through, after a Normal game in which they debuted in Terror). I checked the Terror mission entry but didn't find Abductions to be a 'subset', so this is a suggestion that Alien Abduction be added to the list of appearances. Apocalypse.underground 20:13, 22 September 2013 (EDT)

You're looking for Cyberdisc (EU2012), if you are talking about XCOM: Enemy Unknown ;) Hobbes 23:32, 22 September 2013 (EDT)

thanks! this sort of oversight is exactly why i learned to leave comments before taking full advantage of edit power :) Apocalypse.underground 21:40, 23 September 2013 (EDT)

My experience

Just finished a Superhuman Sectoid Terror Mission in January (Tank/Rocket Launcher and 10 guys with Laser Rifles went in; 7 turns later 5 guys with Laser Rifles came out) and honestly I think Cyberdisc explosions are a blessing. On Superhuman, the aliens are crammed in so tightly that you usually hear Sectoid death moans every time a Cyberdisc falls, which reduces the volume of fire you need to put out to a manageable level (because you only have to shoot the Cyberdemons... um, I mean Cyberdiscs until they die instead of spending all your TU shooting them and then having to kill the Sectoids as well). And when there are Cyberdiscs literally jammed in next to each other (ever seen the inside of a Sectoid Terror Ship?) the explosion means it's only 1-1.5x the work to kill two Cyberdiscs rather than 2x. Don't get me wrong, Cyberdiscs are half the reason Sectoid Terror Missions are such hell, but they'd be much worse if they didn't explode.

(The Sectoid Leader in this particular mission wasn't killed by a Cyberdisc explosion, but by a Cyberdisc shooting at my tank, missing, and the shot going past the tank and through a window to hit the Leader holed up inside a building. Guess Murphy's Laws of X-Com apply to aliens, too?) Magic9mushroom (talk) 06:09, 17 May 2015 (EDT)