New Mechanics (LWR)
In General
If you have played the Long War mod, many of the game mechanics in Long War Rebalance will feel familiar. However, there are some very significant changes which are described below.
Pod Activation
Enemy pods will now activate when they see an active pod or a corpse. This can lead to a chain of activations, and a more dangerous situation. This is mitigate somewhat by another new game mechanics that will sometimes cancel the scamper movement of pods when they activate in this way, leaving them out in the open and more vulnerable. Sometimes they will also have their weapons disabled which buys your squad a turn to prepare.
Overwatching
Your soldiers can no longer overwatch unless they have a targetable enemy, and then their overwatch fire will only apply to those enemies that they could target when they started their overwatch. This removes the tactic of overwatch creeping from the game. While this is a big disadvantage for your squad, this rule also applies to the aliens.
Overwatching has also been buffed in a few ways. Overwatch fire now occurs sequentially, so that shots aren't wasted, and cover only grants half its regular defense against overwatchers. Overwatch shots that land can stagger the target which removes their 2nd action point.
Steadying
Your soldiers can no longer steady their weapons unless they have a targetable enemy. This prevents steady creeping.
Steadying has also been buffed. It will now grant +50 aim, and if the steadied soldier has 2 action points. it will ignore cover DR.