Scouting

Scout/Sniper Tactics

The most valuable tip I ever learned from the xcom.co.uk (now [StrategyCore.co.uk]) forums was this: The soldier who sees the alien, should not be the soldier who shoots the alien. (This is prior to having as strong psi force - the most critical part of the game.)

Reaction fire from the aliens may be fast and deadly, but there are several ways to avoid reaction fire completely. The most important are:

• 1) Don't shoot at the alien.
• 2) Don't be within sight of the alien.

Thus we have the Scout/Sniper teamwork tactic.

When first establishing your XCOM affilate, with every dollar closely watched, consider having your soldiers who are poor in firing accuracy, reactions, and other skills, be your scouts. They signed the Will all XCOM soldiers were required to take. They each knew they were doing their part to save the world. Once you have the making of an integrated team,

The Scout creeps forward -- high Reactions, high movement, always careful to keep looking around, always finishing the turn crouched and behind cover to avoid being noticed during the alien turn. When turning corners they wait for the Sniper to catch up and get a good angle on the corner.

The Sniper -- or preferably Snipers, plural, with high Firing Accuracy -- stay within the "safe", cleared area, moving only if the Scout has completed their movement with no alien contact, moving to keep the Scout covered.

If the scout spots an alien at the same time that the alien first spots him, the scout will not be fired on until his or her next action. So don't move the scout once an alien is spotted. If the scout can move out of the alien's line of sight by moving one square, this is permitted, and if the alien isn't looking, certain other actions can be performed safely. If the scout can move out of the alien's visual range, then he or she can become an additional sniper and safely fire upon the alien.

Snipers can then take shots at the alien safely. Being out of range, they're safe from return fire. But they can still fire at the alien if they have line of sight. (Think of it as using spotter data, or a telescopic sight.) Or if they don't have line of sight, a strong soldier might still be able to toss grenades into the area.

Smoke cover permits the use of Scout/Sniper tactics over short distances, or in confined areas. If a scout wandering through smoke spots an alien, have it freeze (or move one square back out of the alien's visual range), then have nearby soldiers fire at it through the smoke cloud with impunity.

If using this tactic with several scouts -- or with multiple alien contacts in the same turn -- be sure to STOP advancing your scouts when your snipers run out of TU's. Otherwise you're just dropping bait in the water without a hook.

This tactic is best suited to the middle third of a battle, after LZ deployment and before storming the UFO, when there's a lot of relatively open ground to clear. See also Sweeping the Battlescape.

More Tips

• Don't fall into the trap where, when your scout gets shot, you walk another soldier to the same spot to see if you can spot the shooter. The enemy has the TU advantage, the established line of sight, and probably good cover to boot.

I've lost three soldiers rounding the same wheel of the Skyranger before it occurred to me this was unproductive behavior.

• When all that separates your soldier and the alien is a closed interior door, as in our favorite Large Scout, try this trick with Heavy Plasma: Move a second soldier beside the door, where he's not in the line of fire. Have him shoot the door away. (It may take several shots; see Destroying Terrain.) This leaves your first soldier facing the alien, and you can take your auto-shot before the alien can get in reaction fire. from StrategyCore
• Snipers can get best results with a series of Snap or even Aimed shots, if they are out of visibility range. This also reduces friendly fire risk. At closer range, though, Auto fire is better to keep the alien from getting off a reaction shot. Statistical calc of Snap vs Auto by Hobbes on StrategyCore

--JellyfishGreen 16:47, 19 Apr 2005 (BST)

• Whenever possible, try to walk around corners at a 45-degree angle. If you can spot an alien at the same instant that it first spots you, it will not fire upon you. So instead of walking blindly around a corner and then turning, approach it at a diagonal. This will generally allow your troops to see what's around the corner as they round it. --Tip by Papa Legba updated by Ethereal Cereal.