Difference between revisions of "Air Combat (LWR)"
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− | |<div style="background:#333333">[[Image: UFO-Analysis_Scout.png|center|128x64px]]</div> '''[[UFOs ( | + | |<div style="background:#333333">[[Image: UFO-Analysis_Scout.png|center|128x64px]]</div> '''[[UFOs (LWR)#Scout|Scout]]'''|| Low (800) || None || Low || The speedy Scout-class UFO is fortunately within Earth's native capabilities to shoot down ... on occasion. It appears to be used for general reconnaissance, resource-gathering and research. |
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− | |<div style="background:#333333">[[Image: UFO-Analysis_Fighter.png|center|128x64px]]</div> '''[[UFOs ( | + | |<div style="background:#333333">[[Image: UFO-Analysis_Fighter.png|center|128x64px]]</div> '''[[UFOs (LWR)#Fighter|Fighter]]'''|| Low (400) || Moderate (75% DR) || Low || The alien Fighter, while similar in outward appearance to the Scout, is much better protected. Armor-piercing weapons like our Stingray Missiles will be helpful in bringing these craft down. This class of craft is used primarily for air raids and anti-satellite operations. |
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− | |<div style="background:#333333">[[Image: UFO-Analysis_Raider.png|center|128x64px]]</div> '''[[UFOs ( | + | |<div style="background:#333333">[[Image: UFO-Analysis_Raider.png|center|128x64px]]</div> '''[[UFOs (LWR)#Raider|Raider]]'''|| Moderate (4000) || None || Low || The Raider class of UFO seems to be a multirole craft that thus suffers in combat power. The aliens appear to use it for reconnaissance, research and resource-gathering operations. |
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− | |<div style="background:#333333">[[Image: UFO-Analysis_Destroyer.png|center|128x64px]]</div> '''[[UFOs ( | + | |<div style="background:#333333">[[Image: UFO-Analysis_Destroyer.png|center|128x64px]]</div> '''[[UFOs (LWR)#Destroyer|Destroyer]]'''|| Low (1500) || Moderate (75% DR) || Low || The Destroyer presents a much greater threat to our aircraft than its sister class of ships. Armor-piercing weapons are required to defeat this craft. It appears to primarily be used for air raids and anti-satellite operations, although we may see it conduct reconnaissance missions as well. Our analysts note the presence of unused hardpoints on some images of this craft, so we should look out for upgraded versions with even more killing power. |
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− | |<div style="background:#333333">[[Image: UFO-Analysis_Abductor.png|center|128x64px]]</div> '''[[UFOs ( | + | |<div style="background:#333333">[[Image: UFO-Analysis_Abductor.png|center|128x64px]]</div> '''[[UFOs (LWR)#Abductor|Abductor]]'''|| High (12000) || Very Heavy (225% DR) || Moderate || Abductors appear to be much better protected than other ships of this size. Perhaps the aliens particularly value the abduction and research missions they are used for. |
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− | |<div style="background:#333333">[[Image: UFO-Analysis_Harvester.png|center|128x64px]]</div> '''[[UFOs ( | + | |<div style="background:#333333">[[Image: UFO-Analysis_Harvester.png|center|128x64px]]</div> '''[[UFOs (LWR)#Harvester|Harvester]]'''|| High (8000) || Heavy (100% DR) || Moderate || The Harvester class of UFO seems to have one role - to recover important biological materials and minerals from Earth in support of other alien operations. We should try to interdict alien harvest operations whenever possible to slow the alien advance. These craft may be vulnerable to a concentrated attack. |
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− | |<div style="background:#333333">[[Image: UFO-Analysis_Transport.png|center|128x64px]]</div> '''[[UFOs ( | + | |<div style="background:#333333">[[Image: UFO-Analysis_Transport.png|center|128x64px]]</div> '''[[UFOs (LWR)#Transport|Transport]]'''|| High (14000) || Heavy (150% DR) || Moderate || This ponderously slow craft will be a tough nut to crack. It appears to be primarily used in alien terrestrial resource-gathering but could also be used in support of other major alien operations. |
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− | |<div style="background:#333333">[[Image: UFO-Analysis_TerrorShip.png|center|128x64px]]</div> '''[[UFOs ( | + | |<div style="background:#333333">[[Image: UFO-Analysis_TerrorShip.png|center|128x64px]]</div> '''[[UFOs (LWR)#Terror Ship|Terror Ship]]'''|| High (10000) || Heavy (125% DR) || High || The rarely encountered Terror Ship appears suited for rapid deployment of alien shock troops. They appear to presage alien terror missions, but they may be used for alien research on XCOM as well. |
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− | |<div style="background:#333333">[[Image: UFO-Analysis_AssaultCarrier.png|center|128x64px]]</div> '''[[UFOs ( | + | |<div style="background:#333333">[[Image: UFO-Analysis_AssaultCarrier.png|center|128x64px]]</div> '''[[UFOs (LWR)#Assault Carrier|Assault Carrier]]'''|| Very High (20000) || Very Heavy (200% DR) || High || The Assault Carrier, while built on a battleship hull, lacks some of its sister's firepower and may be easier to shoot down. Nevertheless, we expect to see the aliens use this craft only against high-value targets, so it should be taken seriously whenever it is detected. |
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− | |<div style="background:#333333">[[Image: UFO-Analysis_Battleship.png|center|128x64px]]</div> '''[[UFOs ( | + | |<div style="background:#333333">[[Image: UFO-Analysis_Battleship.png|center|128x64px]]</div> '''[[UFOs (LWR)#Battleship|Battleship]]'''|| Very High (20000) || Heavy (175% DR) || Extremely High|| An unbelievably dangerous piece of hardware, these UFOs never appear to land but are used in bombing, anti-satellite and air superiority roles. |
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− | |<div style="background:#333333">[[Image: UFO-Analysis_Overseer.png|center|128x64px]]</div> '''[[UFOs ( | + | |<div style="background:#333333">[[Image: UFO-Analysis_Overseer.png|center|128x64px]]</div> '''[[UFOs (LWR)#Overseer|Overseer]]'''|| Moderate (4000) || Heavy (125% DR) || High || This class of ship appears to be used as a airborne command center for the Ethereal race of alien. Only our strongest weapons will be able to penetrate its armor. |
|} | |} | ||
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{|class="wikitable" width="100%" | {|class="wikitable" width="100%" | ||
|- | |- | ||
− | !rowspan="2" {{Item name ( | + | !rowspan="2" {{Item name (LWR)}}!!rowspan="2"|Health!!rowspan="2"|Damage Resistance!!rowspan="2"|Speed!!colspan="2"|Prerequisites!!colspan="6"|Cost!!Maintenance |
|-align="center" | |-align="center" | ||
− | |{{Research required ( | + | |{{Research required (LWR)}}||{{Engineers required (LWR)}}||{{Credits cost (LWR)}}||{{Alloys cost (LWR)}}||{{Elerium cost (LWR)}}||{{Meld cost (LWR)}}||{{Items cost (LWR)}}||{{Time cost (LWR)}}||{{Maintenance cost (LWR)}} |
|-align="center" | |-align="center" | ||
− | |[[File:Inv Skyranger.png|128px|link=Air Combat ( | + | |[[File:Inv Skyranger.png|128px|link=Air Combat (LWR)#Aircraft|Skyranger]]<br />'''[[Air Combat (LWR)#Aircraft|Skyranger]]'''||colspan="3"|Can't be damaged or destroyed||colspan="8"|XCOM starts with one, unable to produce more||title="Cost in Credits"|20 |
|-align="center" | |-align="center" | ||
− | |[[File:Inv Satellite.png|128px|link=Air Combat ( | + | |[[File:Inv Satellite.png|128px|link=Air Combat (LWR)#Aircraft|Satellite]]<br />'''[[Air Combat (LWR)#Aircraft|Satellite]]'''||colspan="3"|Increases funding and provides unique bonuses|| ||10||title="Cost in Credits (Cost when building quickly)"|300<br />(450)|| || ||title="Cost in Meld (Cost when building quickly)"|0<br />(7)|| ||title="Duration in days (Duration when building quickly)"|27 days<br />(13.5 days)|| |
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− | |[[File:Inv Interceptor.png|128px|link=Air Combat ( | + | |[[File:Inv Interceptor.png|128px|link=Air Combat (LWR)#Aircraft|Interceptor]]<br />'''[[Air Combat (LWR)#Aircraft|Interceptor]]'''||2000||0%||10|| || ||title="Cost in Credits"|500|| || || || ||title="Duration in days"|20 days||title="Cost in Credits"|100 |
|-align="center" | |-align="center" | ||
− | |[[File:Inv Firestorm.png|128px|link=Air Combat ( | + | |[[File:Inv Firestorm.png|128px|link=Air Combat (LWR)#Aircraft|Firestorm]]<br />'''[[Air Combat (LWR)#Aircraft|Firestorm]]'''||6000||100%||15||[[Research (LWR)#Materials and Aerospace|Alien Propulsion]]||75||title="Cost in Credits (Cost when building quickly)"|600<br />(900)||title="Cost in Alien Alloys (Cost when building quickly)"|20<br />(30)||title="Cost in Elerium (Cost when building quickly)"|30<br />(45)||title="Cost in Meld (Cost when building quickly)"|XX<br />(XX)||X [[Alien Artifacts (LWR)#Alien devices|UFO Flight Computers]]<br />X [[Alien Artifacts (LWR)#Alien devices|UFO Power Sources]]||title="Duration in days (Duration when building quickly)"|80 days<br />(40.0 days)||title="Cost in Credits"|XX |
|} | |} | ||
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{|class="wikitable" width="100%" | {|class="wikitable" width="100%" | ||
|- | |- | ||
− | !rowspan="2" {{Item name ( | + | !rowspan="2" {{Item name (LWR)}}!!rowspan="2"|Hit chance!!rowspan="2"|Damage!!rowspan="2"|Penetration!!rowspan="2"|Firing<br />cooldown!!colspan="2"|Prerequisites!!colspan="6"|Cost!!rowspan="2" {{Sell value (LWR)}} |
|-align="center" | |-align="center" | ||
− | |{{Research required ( | + | |{{Research required (LWR)}}||{{Engineers required (LWR)}}||{{Credits cost (LWR)}}||{{Alloys cost (LWR)}}||{{Elerium cost (LWR)}}||{{Meld cost (LWR)}}||{{Items cost (LWR)}}||{{Time cost (LWR)}} |
|-align="center" | |-align="center" | ||
− | |[[File:Avalanche Missiles Long War.png|128px|link=Air Combat ( | + | |[[File:Avalanche Missiles Long War.png|128px|link=Air Combat (LWR)#Interceptor Weapons|Avalanche Missiles]]<br />'''[[Air Combat (LWR)#Interceptor Weapons|Avalanche Missiles]]'''||title="Rear / Mid / Lead "|30% / 40% / 50%||160<br />(80 per second)<br />(32 dmg/s realised)|| ||2.0 second||colspan="8"|XCOM starts with an unlimited supply|| |
|-align="center" | |-align="center" | ||
− | |[[File:Stingray Missiles Long War.png|128px|link=Air Combat ( | + | |[[File:Stingray Missiles Long War.png|128px|link=Air Combat (LWR)#Interceptor Weapons|Stingray Missiles]]<br />'''[[Air Combat (LWR)#Interceptor Weapons|Stingray Missiles]]'''||title="Rear / Mid / Lead "|20% / 30% / 40%||900<br />(90 per second)<br />(27 dmg/s realised)||75%||10.0 second||colspan="8"|XCOM starts with an unlimited supply|| |
|-align="center" | |-align="center" | ||
− | |[[File:Phoenix Coilgun Long War.png|128px|link=Air Combat ( | + | |[[File:Phoenix Coilgun Long War.png|128px|link=Air Combat (LWR)#Interceptor Weapons|Phoenix Cannon]]<br />'''[[Air Combat (LWR)#Interceptor Weapons|Phoenix Cannon]]'''||title="Rear / Mid / Lead "|20% / 30% / 40%||360<br />(120 per second)<br />(36 dmg/s realised)||50%||3.0 second||[[Research (LWR)#Materials and Aerospace|Alien Materials]]||15||title="Cost in Credits (Cost when building quickly)"|300<br />(450)||title="Cost in Alien Alloys (Cost when building quickly)"|10<br />(15)|| ||title="Cost in Meld (Cost when building quickly)"|0<br />(5)|| ||title="Duration in days (Duration when building quickly)"|13 days<br />(6.5 days)||48 |
|-align="center" | |-align="center" | ||
− | |'''[[Air Combat ( | + | |'''[[Air Combat (LWR)#Interceptor Weapons|Phoenix Coilgun]]'''|| ||360<br />(120 per second)<br />(36 dmg/s realised)||100%|| ||[[Foundry (LWR)#Aerospace Improvements|Phoenix Coilguns (Foundry)]]|| || || || || || || || |
|-align="center" | |-align="center" | ||
− | |[[File:Laser Cannon Long War.png|128px|link=Air Combat ( | + | |[[File:Laser Cannon Long War.png|128px|link=Air Combat (LWR)#Interceptor Weapons|Laser Cannon]]<br />'''[[Air Combat (LWR)#Interceptor Weapons|Laser Cannon]]'''||title="Rear / Mid / Lead "|35% / 45% / 55%||300<br />(120 per second)<br />(54 dmg/s realised)|| ||2.5 second||[[Research (LWR)#Laser and Gauss Weapons|Advanced Beam Lasers]]||35||title="Cost in Credits (Cost when building quickly)"|450<br />(675)||title="Cost in Alien Alloys (Cost when building quickly)"|25<br />(37)|| ||title="Cost in Meld (Cost when building quickly)"|0<br />(6)|| ||title="Duration in days (Duration when building quickly)"|18 days<br />(9.0 days)||64 |
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− | |'''[[Air Combat ( | + | |'''[[Air Combat (LWR)#Interceptor Weapons|Pulse Cannon]]'''|| ||450<br />(180 per second)<br />(81 dmg/s realised)|| ||2.5 second||[[Foundry (LWR)#Aerospace Improvements|Supercapacitors (Foundry)]]|| || || || || || || || |
|-align="center" | |-align="center" | ||
− | |[[File:Plasma Cannon Long War.png|128px|link=Air Combat ( | + | |[[File:Plasma Cannon Long War.png|128px|link=Air Combat (LWR)#Interceptor Weapons|Plasma Cannon]]<br />'''[[Air Combat (LWR)#Interceptor Weapons|Plasma Cannon]]'''||title="Rear / Mid / Lead "|10% / 20% / 30%||1500<br />(750 per second)<br />(150 dmg/s realised)||100%||2.0 second||[[Research (LWR)#Plasma Weapons|Vehicular Plasma Weapons]]||95||title="Cost in Credits (Cost when building quickly)"|1200<br />(1800)||title="Cost in Alien Alloys (Cost when building quickly)"|55<br />(82)||title="Cost in Elerium (Cost when building quickly)"|55<br />(82)||title="Cost in Meld (Cost when building quickly)"|xx<br />(xx)|| XX ||title="Duration in days (Duration when building quickly)"|28 days<br />(16.6 days)||200 |
|-align="center" | |-align="center" | ||
− | |[[File:EMP Cannon Long War.png|128px|link=Air Combat ( | + | |[[File:EMP Cannon Long War.png|128px|link=Air Combat (LWR)#Interceptor Weapons|EMP Cannon]]<br />'''[[Air Combat (LWR)#Interceptor Weapons|EMP Cannon]]'''||title="Rear / Mid / Lead "|30% / 40% / 50%||420<br />(120 per second)<br />(48dmg/s realised)||150%||3.5 second||[[Research (LWR)#Laser and Gauss Weapons|Electromagnetic Pulse Weapons]]||100||title="Cost in Credits (Cost when building quickly)"|800<br />(1200)||title="Cost in Alien Alloys (Cost when building quickly)"|15<br />(22)||title="Cost in Elerium (Cost when building quickly)"|75<br />(112)||title="Cost in Meld (Cost when building quickly)"|xx<br />(xx)|| XX ||title="Duration in days (Duration when building quickly)"|20 days<br />(14.0 days)||230 |
|-align="center" | |-align="center" | ||
− | |[[File:Fusion Lance Long War.png|128px|link=Air Combat ( | + | |[[File:Fusion Lance Long War.png|128px|link=Air Combat (LWR)#Interceptor Weapons|Fusion Lance]]<br />'''[[Air Combat (LWR)#Interceptor Weapons|Fusion Lance]]'''||title="Rear / Mid / Lead "|5% / 15% / 25%||5000<br />(1667 per second)<br />(250 dmg/s realised)||150%||3.0 second||[[Research (LWR)#Plasma Weapons|Fusion Weapons]]||120||title="Cost in Credits (Cost when building quickly)"|1800<br />(2700)||title="Cost in Alien Alloys (Cost when building quickly)"|90<br />(135)||title="Cost in Elerium (Cost when building quickly)"|90<br />(135)||title="Cost in Meld (Cost when building quickly)"|xx<br />(xx)||1 [[Alien Artifacts (LWR)#Alien devices|Fusion Core]]||title="Duration in days (Duration when building quickly)"|49 days<br />(24.5 days)||320 |
|} | |} | ||
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|- | |- | ||
− | !rowspan="2" {{Item name ( | + | !rowspan="2" {{Item name (LWR)}}!!rowspan="2" {{Special properties (LWR)}}!!colspan="2"|Prerequisites!!colspan="6"|Cost!!rowspan="2" {{Sell value (LWR)}} |
|-align="center" | |-align="center" | ||
− | |{{Research required ( | + | |{{Research required (LWR)}}||{{Engineers required (LWR)}}||{{Credits cost (LWR)}}||{{Alloys cost (LWR)}}||{{Elerium cost (LWR)}}||{{Meld cost (LWR)}}||{{Items cost (LWR)}}||{{Time cost (LWR)}} |
|-align="center" | |-align="center" | ||
− | |[[File:UFO Tracking Long War.png|128px|link=Air Combat ( | + | |[[File:UFO Tracking Long War.png|128px|link=Air Combat (LWR)#Modules|UFO Tracking (Boost)]]<br />'''[[Air Combat (LWR)#Modules|UFO Tracking (Boost)]]'''||Increases the duration of this air combat||[[Research (LWR)#Materials and Aerospace|Alien Materials]]<br />[[Foundry (LWR)#Aerospace Improvements|Aircraft Boosters]]||12||title="Cost in Credits (Cost when building quickly)"|15<br />(22)|| ||title="Cost in Elerium (Cost when building quickly)"|1<br />(1)||title="Cost in Meld (Cost when building quickly)"|1<br />(3)||2 [[Alien Artifacts (LWR)#Aliens|Drone Wrecks]]||title="Duration in days (Duration when building quickly)"|5 days<br />(2.5 days)||6 |
|-align="center" | |-align="center" | ||
− | |[[File:Defense Matrix Long War.png|128px|link=Air Combat ( | + | |[[File:Defense Matrix Long War.png|128px|link=Air Combat (LWR)#Modules|Defense Matrix (Dodge)]]<br />'''[[Air Combat (LWR)#Modules|Defense Matrix (Dodge)]]'''||Dodges the next two incoming attacks||[[Research (LWR)#Alien Autopsies|Cyberdisc Autopsy]]<br />[[Foundry (LWR)#Aerospace Improvements|Aircraft Boosters]]||50||title="Cost in Credits (Cost when building quickly)"|25<br />(37)|| ||title="Cost in Elerium (Cost when building quickly)"|2<br />(3)||title="Cost in Meld (Cost when building quickly)"|1<br />(3)||2 [[Alien Artifacts (LWR)#Aliens|Cyberdisc Wrecks]]||title="Duration in days (Duration when building quickly)"|5 days<br />(2.5 days)||10 |
|-align="center" | |-align="center" | ||
− | |[[File:Uplink Targeting Long War.png|128px|link=Air Combat ( | + | |[[File:Uplink Targeting Long War.png|128px|link=Air Combat (LWR)#Modules|Uplink Targeting (Aim)]]<br />'''[[Air Combat (LWR)#Modules|Uplink Targeting (Aim)]]'''||Automatically hits the next two attacks||[[Research (LWR)#Alien Autopsies|Floater Autopsy]]<br />[[Foundry (LWR)#Aerospace Improvements|Aircraft Boosters]]||35||title="Cost in Credits (Cost when building quickly)"|20<br />(30)||title="Cost in Alien Alloys (Cost when building quickly)"|1<br />(1)||title="Cost in Elerium (Cost when building quickly)"|1<br />(1)||title="Cost in Meld (Cost when building quickly)"|1<br />(3)||3 [[Alien Artifacts (LWR)#Aliens|Floater Corpses]]||title="Duration in days (Duration when building quickly)"|5 days<br />(2.5 days)||8 |
|} | |} | ||
Revision as of 15:49, 26 September 2020
Overview
UFOs are tougher, faster, and much stronger in Long War Rebalance than in either Long War 1.0 or Vanilla EU/EW. Along with that, your crafts and armaments are significantly less potent, at least at first. However, in Long War Rebalance you can send up full sorties of up to 5 aircraft at once, which helps you handle such strong UFOs.
Players should exert caution and pick and choose their air battles carefully. You will not be able to bring down every single enemy UFO. Sometimes attempting high risk interceptions against tough targets would be detrimental to your campaign due to the highly unpredictable nature of the engagements at the start of the game. Your early game goal should be to get experience for some of your pilots and advance your air-warfare technology in order to keep aliens at bay on the battleground for the Earth's skies. In case you overreach too early, you might quickly find yourself crippled with long repair times and unable to stop alien operations.
If the aliens send a UFO and it is damaged, destroyed or lost, the aliens will pay resources for it, limiting their options in the next month.
Damaging UFOs
It is not necessary to shoot down enemy UFOs in order to prevent them from completing their mission. Doing damage to them is enough to spoil their plans or reduce their effectiveness. The damage that UFO sustains is stored between interceptions, therefore multiple interception attempts may be a good idea to limit the damage to your own Air Force. When a player does more than 50% damage to a UFO, you will start seeing explosion effects around it. A UFO at 50% health will fail the mission it was sent on. Any damage to a UFO will prevent it from increasing panic in the country below.
UFOs that take too much damage will be destroyed in the air, so in some cases you may want to pull your punches. To compensate, the Council will give cash rewards for UFOs obliterated in flight. Fighters and Destroyers will always be destroyed if their hp is reduced to 0 or less (as they never crash land). Harder hitting weapons have a greater chance of reducing UFOs to a pile of smelted alloys: specifically, it is the strength of the killshot that determines the UFO's survival.
Interceptor Weapons
Air-to-air weapons have three main damage statistics - Damage, Rate of Fire, and Penetration. UFOs have different armor levels, which reduces the damage done by a weapon if its armor penetration isn't high enough. For example, you start with a choice between Avalanche Missiles (medium damage, low armor penetration, moderate rate of fire) and Stingray missiles (high damage, high armor penetration, low rate of fire). Avalanches will be better against unarmored UFOs, while Stingrays will be better against more armored UFOs.
Formation
When launching you can set a combat formation position for your interceptors as they launch on a mission:
- Lead position gives +10 to hit for you and +50% to hit for the UFO. You may not use the dodge module when the active aircraft is in the lead of a formation.
- Mid position plays out like normal, no bonus or negative for the Interceptor or UFO.
- Rear position gives -10 to hit for you and -33% for the UFO. You may not use the aim module when the active aircraft is in the rear of a formation.
Mathematically and not accounting for interception time, this means that lead is the most efficient formation position when your Interceptor aim is low, while rear is most efficient when your Interceptor aim is high. However, lead formation positions can lead to too much damage and rear formation positions can lead to too little.
The Active Aircraft
The active aircraft is chosen randomly from all aircrafts in the lead of the formation. If there are no aircrafts in lead, an aircraft will be randomly select from the mid of the formation. Likewise, if there are no aircrafts in mid, an aircraft will be randomly selected from the rear of the formation.
The active aircraft will take 50% of all shots from the UFO, which makes it the most likely to take damage when there are more than 2 aircraft in a sortie.
The active aircraft also dictates which aircraft modules can be used (an active aircraft in lead restricts the use of dodge modules and an active aircraft in rear restricts the use of aim modules).
UFO Flight Patterns
UFOs can fly at three altitudes: "High", "Low" and "NOE" ("Nap of the Earth,"). The altitude is a clue of what mission the UFO is going on - UFOs flying at NOE altitude are most likely to land, are performing bombing runs, or will generate an Abduction or Terror mission immediately upon arriving at their destination. UFOs at high altitude are most likely to be hunting satellites. UFOs at low altitude are likely to be scouting satellites, so they must be dealt with. Unless playing in Ironman, you may want to see if a UFO will land before shooting it down (and reload if it does not): while a landed UFO is always more dangerous, an intact UFO and it's material components is a valuable prize, given how fragile Power Sources and Flight Computers are from being shot down in Long War.
Once you successfully raid, shoot down, or destroy a UFO type, you can research that craft for a damage and resource bonus against it in the future.
Strategic Plan
- You start with the Avalanche and Stingray missiles. These will work for small craft for a while until Aliens field stronger UFOs.
- After some time, sticking with conventional weapons will leave you totally outgunned. Next you'll want to upgrade to Laser and Phoenix cannons: Laser Cannons are built for accuracy and damage against unarmored UFOs, so a pilot can still reliably hit UFOs on Mid or Rear positions. Phoenix Cannons are built for armor penetration and higher rate of fire. You would likely need multiple interceptions to reliably bring down larger UFOs.
- Eventually, you may be able to purchase the Gauss/Coilgun and Supercapacitor Foundry projects for the Phoenix and Laser Cannon: these vastly upgrade every aspect of these mid-level aerial weapons
Interception Strategy
- Choose an appropriate formation position for each aircraft based on your equipped weapon, researched upgrades, and UFO type.
- Always be prepared to cancel an interception if the engagement is not going well for you. Losing an aircraft with an expensive weapon can be costly. Note that it will take 1-2s for aircraft to disengage after you give the order, which means they could still be lost after you tell them to pull out.
- Consider aborting when a satellite hunter displays explosion effects. You have prevented the destruction of the satellite, so you might not want to risk additional damage.
- Use modules in tough situations when you need an extra boost to get the job done.
- The aliens will most often focus their efforts on wherever they have the greatest foothold: expect Terror Ships and Assault Carriers on any country that's in the red, as the aliens commit Terror Missions in order to send a country over the edge to withdraw from the Council.
By swatting UFOs out of the sky, you may be able to keep Panic tempered down: a UFO brought crashing to the ground is a pack of aliens not completing missions in the cities, and a smoking impact crater is a mission your soldiers don't need to get fatigued/injured on: heavy weapons obliterating the smaller UFOs may be desirable, at least to avoid a 'Fatigue Spiral.' If you've managed to take by the sky for a month, you may have a easier time in the next, as the aliens recoup their losses...
Damage Calculations
Tables
UFO Types
UFO Type | Durability | Armor | Firepower | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|
Scout | Low (800) | None | Low | The speedy Scout-class UFO is fortunately within Earth's native capabilities to shoot down ... on occasion. It appears to be used for general reconnaissance, resource-gathering and research. |
Fighter | Low (400) | Moderate (75% DR) | Low | The alien Fighter, while similar in outward appearance to the Scout, is much better protected. Armor-piercing weapons like our Stingray Missiles will be helpful in bringing these craft down. This class of craft is used primarily for air raids and anti-satellite operations. |
Raider | Moderate (4000) | None | Low | The Raider class of UFO seems to be a multirole craft that thus suffers in combat power. The aliens appear to use it for reconnaissance, research and resource-gathering operations. |
Destroyer | Low (1500) | Moderate (75% DR) | Low | The Destroyer presents a much greater threat to our aircraft than its sister class of ships. Armor-piercing weapons are required to defeat this craft. It appears to primarily be used for air raids and anti-satellite operations, although we may see it conduct reconnaissance missions as well. Our analysts note the presence of unused hardpoints on some images of this craft, so we should look out for upgraded versions with even more killing power. |
Abductor | High (12000) | Very Heavy (225% DR) | Moderate | Abductors appear to be much better protected than other ships of this size. Perhaps the aliens particularly value the abduction and research missions they are used for. |
Harvester | High (8000) | Heavy (100% DR) | Moderate | The Harvester class of UFO seems to have one role - to recover important biological materials and minerals from Earth in support of other alien operations. We should try to interdict alien harvest operations whenever possible to slow the alien advance. These craft may be vulnerable to a concentrated attack. |
Transport | High (14000) | Heavy (150% DR) | Moderate | This ponderously slow craft will be a tough nut to crack. It appears to be primarily used in alien terrestrial resource-gathering but could also be used in support of other major alien operations. |
Terror Ship | High (10000) | Heavy (125% DR) | High | The rarely encountered Terror Ship appears suited for rapid deployment of alien shock troops. They appear to presage alien terror missions, but they may be used for alien research on XCOM as well. |
Assault Carrier | Very High (20000) | Very Heavy (200% DR) | High | The Assault Carrier, while built on a battleship hull, lacks some of its sister's firepower and may be easier to shoot down. Nevertheless, we expect to see the aliens use this craft only against high-value targets, so it should be taken seriously whenever it is detected. |
Battleship | Very High (20000) | Heavy (175% DR) | Extremely High | An unbelievably dangerous piece of hardware, these UFOs never appear to land but are used in bombing, anti-satellite and air superiority roles. |
Overseer | Moderate (4000) | Heavy (125% DR) | High | This class of ship appears to be used as a airborne command center for the Ethereal race of alien. Only our strongest weapons will be able to penetrate its armor. |
Aircraft
Name | Health | Damage Resistance | Speed | Prerequisites | Cost | Maintenance | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Other | Template:Maintenance cost (LWR) | |||||||||||
Skyranger |
Can't be damaged or destroyed | XCOM starts with one, unable to produce more | 20 | |||||||||
Satellite |
Increases funding and provides unique bonuses | 10 | 300 (450) |
0 (7) |
27 days (13.5 days) |
|||||||
Interceptor |
2000 | 0% | 10 | 500 | 20 days | 100 | ||||||
Firestorm |
6000 | 100% | 15 | Alien Propulsion | 75 | 600 (900) |
20 (30) |
30 (45) |
XX (XX) |
X UFO Flight Computers X UFO Power Sources |
80 days (40.0 days) |
XX |
Interceptor Weapons
Name | Hit chance | Damage | Penetration | Firing cooldown |
Prerequisites | Cost | Sell value | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Other | |||||||||||||
Avalanche Missiles |
30% / 40% / 50% | 160 (80 per second) (32 dmg/s realised) |
2.0 second | XCOM starts with an unlimited supply | |||||||||
Stingray Missiles |
20% / 30% / 40% | 900 (90 per second) (27 dmg/s realised) |
75% | 10.0 second | XCOM starts with an unlimited supply | ||||||||
Phoenix Cannon |
20% / 30% / 40% | 360 (120 per second) (36 dmg/s realised) |
50% | 3.0 second | Alien Materials | 15 | 300 (450) |
10 (15) |
0 (5) |
13 days (6.5 days) |
48 | ||
Phoenix Coilgun | 360 (120 per second) (36 dmg/s realised) |
100% | Phoenix Coilguns (Foundry) | ||||||||||
Laser Cannon |
35% / 45% / 55% | 300 (120 per second) (54 dmg/s realised) |
2.5 second | Advanced Beam Lasers | 35 | 450 (675) |
25 (37) |
0 (6) |
18 days (9.0 days) |
64 | |||
Pulse Cannon | 450 (180 per second) (81 dmg/s realised) |
2.5 second | Supercapacitors (Foundry) | ||||||||||
Plasma Cannon |
10% / 20% / 30% | 1500 (750 per second) (150 dmg/s realised) |
100% | 2.0 second | Vehicular Plasma Weapons | 95 | 1200 (1800) |
55 (82) |
55 (82) |
xx (xx) |
XX | 28 days (16.6 days) |
200 |
EMP Cannon |
30% / 40% / 50% | 420 (120 per second) (48dmg/s realised) |
150% | 3.5 second | Electromagnetic Pulse Weapons | 100 | 800 (1200) |
15 (22) |
75 (112) |
xx (xx) |
XX | 20 days (14.0 days) |
230 |
Fusion Lance |
5% / 15% / 25% | 5000 (1667 per second) (250 dmg/s realised) |
150% | 3.0 second | Fusion Weapons | 120 | 1800 (2700) |
90 (135) |
90 (135) |
xx (xx) |
1 Fusion Core | 49 days (24.5 days) |
320 |
Modules
Name | Special properties |
Prerequisites | Cost | Sell value | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Other | ||||||||||
UFO Tracking (Boost) |
Increases the duration of this air combat | Alien Materials Aircraft Boosters |
12 | 15 (22) |
1 (1) |
1 (3) |
2 Drone Wrecks | 5 days (2.5 days) |
6 | |
Defense Matrix (Dodge) |
Dodges the next two incoming attacks | Cyberdisc Autopsy Aircraft Boosters |
50 | 25 (37) |
2 (3) |
1 (3) |
2 Cyberdisc Wrecks | 5 days (2.5 days) |
10 | |
Uplink Targeting (Aim) |
Automatically hits the next two attacks | Floater Autopsy Aircraft Boosters |
35 | 20 (30) |
1 (1) |
1 (1) |
1 (3) |
3 Floater Corpses | 5 days (2.5 days) |
8 |