Difference between revisions of "Spring Cleaning Tips"
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| − | = Spring Cleaning = | + | == Spring Cleaning == |
| − | While your bases' storage space is for all practical purposes infinite, the number of [[General Stores]] modules do serve a purpose. Once your stores fill up, you will only be able to move items into the base by acquiring them on tactical missions or manufacturing them on site. You will not be able to purchase new items, transfer items from another base or off a craft. More importantly, when the [[Base Defense|aliens attack your base]], the items stored in the base will determine what you will have available to use. Therefore, it is to your best interest to | + | While your bases' storage space is for all practical purposes infinite, the number of [[General Stores]] modules do serve a purpose. Once your stores fill up, you will only be able to move items into the base by acquiring them on tactical missions or manufacturing them on site. You will not be able to purchase new items, transfer items from another base or off a craft. More importantly, when the [[Base Defense|aliens attack your base]], the items stored in the base will determine what you will have available to use. Therefore, it is to your best interest to manage what is kept in your stores. In addition, selling those corpses, weapons, etc. is a good source of money. |
| − | In summary, good base management is needed for: | + | In summary, good base storage management is needed for: |
#Allowing purchase or transfer of items to or from bases and your aircraft. | #Allowing purchase or transfer of items to or from bases and your aircraft. | ||
#To work around the 80 item limit for base defence | #To work around the 80 item limit for base defence | ||
| − | = What to keep and what not to? = | + | == What to keep and what not to? == |
De-cluttering your stores is as simple as selling or moving unnecessary/redundant equipment. You should make it a point to spring clean once every few months or after playing a series of missions with a high amount of recovered loot. | De-cluttering your stores is as simple as selling or moving unnecessary/redundant equipment. You should make it a point to spring clean once every few months or after playing a series of missions with a high amount of recovered loot. | ||
| − | But that's simple common sense. What's more difficult is deciding on what to keep. If you have a clear idea of what you need and how much you need, then your job will be much easier. But if you're new to the game, or you | + | But that's simple common sense. What's more difficult is deciding on what to keep. If you have a clear idea of what you need and how much you need, then your job will be much easier. But if you're new to the game, or you are undecided but want to keep your stores as bare bones as possible but still functional, read on for a few tips on where to get started. |
| − | == Aircraft Weapons == | + | === Aircraft Weapons === |
| − | Aircraft weapons and ammunition can and will take up a generous amount of space in storage, but will not affect your items in base defence. | + | Aircraft weapons and ammunition can and will take up a generous amount of space in storage, but will not affect your items in base defence. The only work towards storage capacity. |
| − | Keep your craft ammo levels down, but don't skimp out too much on the ammunition | + | Keep your craft ammo levels down, but don't skimp out too much on the ammunition as you don't want to get into a dogfight with a medium UFO only to find you have one missile and ten bullets left after the last re-arm phase. Buy sufficient ammo to arm all of your interceptors for several sorties and replenish their supply as necessary. |
Once you've obtained weapons that don't need ammunition - i.e. the [[Laser Cannon]]s and [[Plasma Beam]]s - you can easily wipe out much of your craft armament inventory and keep only the weapons that are bolted onto the ships. | Once you've obtained weapons that don't need ammunition - i.e. the [[Laser Cannon]]s and [[Plasma Beam]]s - you can easily wipe out much of your craft armament inventory and keep only the weapons that are bolted onto the ships. | ||
| − | == Exotics == | + | === Exotics === |
| − | Exotic items include alien UFO components and raw material. These items are usually acquired by capturing downed or landed UFOs | + | Exotic items include alien UFO components and raw material. These items are usually acquired by capturing downed or landed UFOs. Some components like navigation, power units, and alloys can be manufactured. |
Minimum Recommendations for UFO Components: | Minimum Recommendations for UFO Components: | ||
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* [[Alien Alloys|Alloys]] | * [[Alien Alloys|Alloys]] | ||
| − | Keep enough to produce what you | + | Because you often get large amounts of alloys from UFO recovery missions, you will rarely have a shortage. Keep only enough to produce what you need and sell it or use it up by producing items that use alloys, such as [[Personal Armour]]. |
| − | == Troop Weapons and Equipment == | + | === Troop Weapons and Equipment === |
| − | Troop weapons and equipment work towards the 80-item limit in the battlescape, so some care should be taken with them to ensure you don't end up with a lot of useless weapons. | + | Troop weapons and equipment work towards the 80-item limit in the battlescape, so some care should be taken with them to ensure you don't end up with a lot of useless weapons. This is especially important in base defense missions where the game decides what equipment is generated for your troops. |
| + | |||
| + | In a base defense, you generally have no control over what equipment will appear. By streamlining your equipment, you regain control over what equipment will appear. | ||
At minimum, each base should have one weapon per soldier with one clip per weapon. Many commanders keep some extra reloads for each soldier. Don't go overboard with this - it's fine to keep enough ammunition to last you several missions. | At minimum, each base should have one weapon per soldier with one clip per weapon. Many commanders keep some extra reloads for each soldier. Don't go overboard with this - it's fine to keep enough ammunition to last you several missions. | ||
| − | === Rarely used Weapons === | + | ==== Rarely used Weapons ==== |
Sell off excess weapons and ammunition, especially older weapons that you rarely or never use. | Sell off excess weapons and ammunition, especially older weapons that you rarely or never use. | ||
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* AP and Incendiary ammunition for the [[Auto-Cannon]]. Many players favour the more formidable HE shells, so will often go through a lot of them compared to the AP and Incendiary versions. In such a case, if neither of these types are used, then there's no reason to keep any. If they are used occasionally, then they should be kept in a much smaller quantities. The same applies to the [[Heavy Cannon]] and [[Rocket Launcher]]. | * AP and Incendiary ammunition for the [[Auto-Cannon]]. Many players favour the more formidable HE shells, so will often go through a lot of them compared to the AP and Incendiary versions. In such a case, if neither of these types are used, then there's no reason to keep any. If they are used occasionally, then they should be kept in a much smaller quantities. The same applies to the [[Heavy Cannon]] and [[Rocket Launcher]]. | ||
| + | ==== Weapons with ammo ==== | ||
| − | + | Older weapons with ammo such as the cannons and rocket launchers are high in the equipment order. This means that their ammunition is very likely to appear before some of the more advanced equipment such as lasers. If you have a large amount of spare ammunition, then your equipment pile may be cluttered with this ammunition when the base is attacked. | |
| − | + | Like aircraft equipment, the solution to this is to keep a minimal supply of this ammunition to last you several missions, and re-order them as you need to. | |
| − | === Alien Weapons === | + | |
| + | ==== Laser Weapons ==== | ||
| + | |||
| + | [[Weapons#Laser Technology|Laser weapons]] do not require ammunition and are fairly effective against almost every enemy. If you are willing to sacrifice a little firepower, they are great space-savers compared to most of the conventional weapons that require ammunition. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==== Alien Weapons ==== | ||
Aliens will have plasma weapons in abundance. You will easily capture a large amount of plasma weapons through the missions. Often you will end up with more plasma weapons than you'll ever need. Keep only as many as you need, with perhaps a few spares and sell the rest. | Aliens will have plasma weapons in abundance. You will easily capture a large amount of plasma weapons through the missions. Often you will end up with more plasma weapons than you'll ever need. Keep only as many as you need, with perhaps a few spares and sell the rest. | ||
| − | Managing Plasma weapon ammunition will have to take a slightly different approach. As the [[Plasma Pistol]] and [[Plasma Rifle]] are limited once the [[Heavy Plasma]] becomes the aliens' mainstay weapon, their ammunition will become very scarce. You may want to stockpile them if you intend to use them. Heavy Plasma ammunition on the other hand will be highly abundant, so you can easily make do with one clip per heavy plasma. | + | Managing Plasma weapon ammunition will have to take a slightly different approach. As the [[Plasma Pistol]] and [[Plasma Rifle]] are limited once the [[Heavy Plasma]] becomes the aliens' mainstay weapon, their ammunition will become very scarce. You may want to stockpile them if you intend to use them. If you don't intend to use either, then sell them all. |
| + | |||
| + | Heavy Plasma ammunition on the other hand will be highly abundant, so you can easily make do with one clip per heavy plasma. | ||
If you are really concerned about space, you can even choose not to stock any plasma weapons, use lasers and win your plasma weapons off defeated enemies during battles. | If you are really concerned about space, you can even choose not to stock any plasma weapons, use lasers and win your plasma weapons off defeated enemies during battles. | ||
| − | === Heavy Weapons Platforms === | + | ==== Heavy Weapons Platforms ==== |
[[Heavy Weapons Platforms]](HWPs) don't work against your 80-item limit, but instead will work against the battlescape's 40-unit (per side) limit. | [[Heavy Weapons Platforms]](HWPs) don't work against your 80-item limit, but instead will work against the battlescape's 40-unit (per side) limit. | ||
| − | Don't stock too many HWPs as they take up 6 Stores units apiece and 4 unit slots in the battlescape. Because they have higher spawn priority than soldiers, if you have too many HWPS, they will start to take up a lot of soldier spawn points when the battle starts. | + | Don't stock too many HWPs as they take up 6 Stores units apiece and 4 unit slots in the battlescape. Because they have higher spawn priority than soldiers, if you have too many HWPS, they will start to take up a lot of soldier spawn points when the battle starts. In base defense, this means you could have a lot of HWPs but almost no soldiers to defend the base. |
| − | If used in the field, buy enough ammunition to last two or more missions. Tank ammo do not count as battlescape items | + | If used in the field, buy enough ammunition to last two or more missions. Tank ammo do not count as battlescape items but will use storage space. Alternately use ammo-less tanks such as the [[Tank/Laser Cannon]] or [[Hovertank/Plasma]]. |
If used strictly for base defence, you don't need to buy ammunition for the HWPs, as they will be fully armed at the start of the battle. | If used strictly for base defence, you don't need to buy ammunition for the HWPs, as they will be fully armed at the start of the battle. | ||
| − | === Miscellaneous Equipment === | + | ==== Miscellaneous Equipment ==== |
Miscellaneous equipment include [[Psi-Amp|Psi-Amps]], [[Medi-Kit|Medi-kits]], [[Electro-flare|Electro-flares]], and other items | Miscellaneous equipment include [[Psi-Amp|Psi-Amps]], [[Medi-Kit|Medi-kits]], [[Electro-flare|Electro-flares]], and other items | ||
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[[Motion Scanner|Motion Scanners]], Medi-Kits, and Flares should all be stored on craft since tactical missions are the only times you will use them. Due to the random nature of Base Defense mission spawning, your medics are likely to be scattered about the base and may be away from the main action to be useful. Your base passages are well-lit so flares aren't an absolute requirement for defending it. | [[Motion Scanner|Motion Scanners]], Medi-Kits, and Flares should all be stored on craft since tactical missions are the only times you will use them. Due to the random nature of Base Defense mission spawning, your medics are likely to be scattered about the base and may be away from the main action to be useful. Your base passages are well-lit so flares aren't an absolute requirement for defending it. | ||
| − | [[Mind Probe]]s are useful for locating specific aliens and for analysing their current state. | + | [[Mind Probe]]s are useful for locating specific aliens and for analysing their current state. Despite their limited availability, you are likely to pick up more probes than you'll ever reasonably need. Keep one or two probes and sell the excess. They are very profitable items. |
Psi-Amps are powerful game-balance breaking devices that will only work for troops that have had a month's training the psi lab. Keep only enough for your psi-capable troopers. You will rarely need to buy spares. | Psi-Amps are powerful game-balance breaking devices that will only work for troops that have had a month's training the psi lab. Keep only enough for your psi-capable troopers. You will rarely need to buy spares. | ||
| − | = Troop Transport Storage = | + | == Troop Transport Storage == |
Remember that weapons stored in a troop transport are unloaded for use in a base defence mission. Nevertheless, it's a good idea to have some spare weapons in the base itself in the event that the [[Skyranger]] is out on a mission when the aliens come calling. | Remember that weapons stored in a troop transport are unloaded for use in a base defence mission. Nevertheless, it's a good idea to have some spare weapons in the base itself in the event that the [[Skyranger]] is out on a mission when the aliens come calling. | ||
| − | = Storage Base = | + | == Storage Base == |
If you really want to hang on to a very large amount of stuff, build a storage facility somewhere and garrison it with a small squad. This base can also serve non-combat roles such as psi screening, UFO detection, etc. It should be constructed in an area with low UFO activity and protected with a Mind Shield. It should also keep a few HWPs on hand so the soldiers don't get completely shafted by the 80 item limit | If you really want to hang on to a very large amount of stuff, build a storage facility somewhere and garrison it with a small squad. This base can also serve non-combat roles such as psi screening, UFO detection, etc. It should be constructed in an area with low UFO activity and protected with a Mind Shield. It should also keep a few HWPs on hand so the soldiers don't get completely shafted by the 80 item limit | ||
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| − | = Waste not Want Not = | + | == Waste not Want Not == |
Be very, very sure before you sell off anything that needs to be Manufactured and cannot simply be Purchased. You might need that equipment in a hurry if you are expanding unexpectedly, or if you suffer a setback, or if a change in tactics is forced. Your main assault force might not need those 14 Laser Rifles but they could be great for a defence force for that new base you just built. You can't afford to stop building your new Avenger in order to produce more Alien Grenades and Power Suits, but you can get some Laser Rifles and Personal Armour out of storage - not quite as good, but much better than any Purchased items. Don't leave old Manufactured items at your main base cluttering your 80 item limit, send them off to a research base or radar base somewhere. But DO NOT SELL THEM! - at least not until you have maxed out the research tree and produced more top-end equipment than will physically fit on 250 soldiers. | Be very, very sure before you sell off anything that needs to be Manufactured and cannot simply be Purchased. You might need that equipment in a hurry if you are expanding unexpectedly, or if you suffer a setback, or if a change in tactics is forced. Your main assault force might not need those 14 Laser Rifles but they could be great for a defence force for that new base you just built. You can't afford to stop building your new Avenger in order to produce more Alien Grenades and Power Suits, but you can get some Laser Rifles and Personal Armour out of storage - not quite as good, but much better than any Purchased items. Don't leave old Manufactured items at your main base cluttering your 80 item limit, send them off to a research base or radar base somewhere. But DO NOT SELL THEM! - at least not until you have maxed out the research tree and produced more top-end equipment than will physically fit on 250 soldiers. | ||
Revision as of 07:41, 11 November 2010
Spring Cleaning
While your bases' storage space is for all practical purposes infinite, the number of General Stores modules do serve a purpose. Once your stores fill up, you will only be able to move items into the base by acquiring them on tactical missions or manufacturing them on site. You will not be able to purchase new items, transfer items from another base or off a craft. More importantly, when the aliens attack your base, the items stored in the base will determine what you will have available to use. Therefore, it is to your best interest to manage what is kept in your stores. In addition, selling those corpses, weapons, etc. is a good source of money.
In summary, good base storage management is needed for:
- Allowing purchase or transfer of items to or from bases and your aircraft.
- To work around the 80 item limit for base defence
What to keep and what not to?
De-cluttering your stores is as simple as selling or moving unnecessary/redundant equipment. You should make it a point to spring clean once every few months or after playing a series of missions with a high amount of recovered loot.
But that's simple common sense. What's more difficult is deciding on what to keep. If you have a clear idea of what you need and how much you need, then your job will be much easier. But if you're new to the game, or you are undecided but want to keep your stores as bare bones as possible but still functional, read on for a few tips on where to get started.
Aircraft Weapons
Aircraft weapons and ammunition can and will take up a generous amount of space in storage, but will not affect your items in base defence. The only work towards storage capacity.
Keep your craft ammo levels down, but don't skimp out too much on the ammunition as you don't want to get into a dogfight with a medium UFO only to find you have one missile and ten bullets left after the last re-arm phase. Buy sufficient ammo to arm all of your interceptors for several sorties and replenish their supply as necessary.
Once you've obtained weapons that don't need ammunition - i.e. the Laser Cannons and Plasma Beams - you can easily wipe out much of your craft armament inventory and keep only the weapons that are bolted onto the ships.
Exotics
Exotic items include alien UFO components and raw material. These items are usually acquired by capturing downed or landed UFOs. Some components like navigation, power units, and alloys can be manufactured.
Minimum Recommendations for UFO Components:
- navigation × 1
- power sources × 2
Though you will probably want more as you play, this amount will be enough to construct one of any hybrid craft. There is little reason to keep too many spares once your fleet is complete. These should be stored at your 'shipyard' base(s).
Elerium is the lifeblood of your high-tech production line and your advanced aircraft. Keep all of it unless you're lucky enough to have so much of it that it's spilling out your ears or you really need the space. It's probably a better idea to just transfer it to another base.
Because you often get large amounts of alloys from UFO recovery missions, you will rarely have a shortage. Keep only enough to produce what you need and sell it or use it up by producing items that use alloys, such as Personal Armour.
Troop Weapons and Equipment
Troop weapons and equipment work towards the 80-item limit in the battlescape, so some care should be taken with them to ensure you don't end up with a lot of useless weapons. This is especially important in base defense missions where the game decides what equipment is generated for your troops.
In a base defense, you generally have no control over what equipment will appear. By streamlining your equipment, you regain control over what equipment will appear.
At minimum, each base should have one weapon per soldier with one clip per weapon. Many commanders keep some extra reloads for each soldier. Don't go overboard with this - it's fine to keep enough ammunition to last you several missions.
Rarely used Weapons
Sell off excess weapons and ammunition, especially older weapons that you rarely or never use.
Some examples where this can be done include:
- Once you have completed the research that requires live aliens, you may find that your use of the Stun Rods or Small Launchers will decrease. You may want to reduce or sell all of these weapons.
- When you've upgraded to laser weapons, Pistols and Rifles may start to see less action, and are good candidates for clearing out.
- AP and Incendiary ammunition for the Auto-Cannon. Many players favour the more formidable HE shells, so will often go through a lot of them compared to the AP and Incendiary versions. In such a case, if neither of these types are used, then there's no reason to keep any. If they are used occasionally, then they should be kept in a much smaller quantities. The same applies to the Heavy Cannon and Rocket Launcher.
Weapons with ammo
Older weapons with ammo such as the cannons and rocket launchers are high in the equipment order. This means that their ammunition is very likely to appear before some of the more advanced equipment such as lasers. If you have a large amount of spare ammunition, then your equipment pile may be cluttered with this ammunition when the base is attacked.
Like aircraft equipment, the solution to this is to keep a minimal supply of this ammunition to last you several missions, and re-order them as you need to.
Laser Weapons
Laser weapons do not require ammunition and are fairly effective against almost every enemy. If you are willing to sacrifice a little firepower, they are great space-savers compared to most of the conventional weapons that require ammunition.
Alien Weapons
Aliens will have plasma weapons in abundance. You will easily capture a large amount of plasma weapons through the missions. Often you will end up with more plasma weapons than you'll ever need. Keep only as many as you need, with perhaps a few spares and sell the rest.
Managing Plasma weapon ammunition will have to take a slightly different approach. As the Plasma Pistol and Plasma Rifle are limited once the Heavy Plasma becomes the aliens' mainstay weapon, their ammunition will become very scarce. You may want to stockpile them if you intend to use them. If you don't intend to use either, then sell them all.
Heavy Plasma ammunition on the other hand will be highly abundant, so you can easily make do with one clip per heavy plasma.
If you are really concerned about space, you can even choose not to stock any plasma weapons, use lasers and win your plasma weapons off defeated enemies during battles.
Heavy Weapons Platforms
Heavy Weapons Platforms(HWPs) don't work against your 80-item limit, but instead will work against the battlescape's 40-unit (per side) limit.
Don't stock too many HWPs as they take up 6 Stores units apiece and 4 unit slots in the battlescape. Because they have higher spawn priority than soldiers, if you have too many HWPS, they will start to take up a lot of soldier spawn points when the battle starts. In base defense, this means you could have a lot of HWPs but almost no soldiers to defend the base.
If used in the field, buy enough ammunition to last two or more missions. Tank ammo do not count as battlescape items but will use storage space. Alternately use ammo-less tanks such as the Tank/Laser Cannon or Hovertank/Plasma.
If used strictly for base defence, you don't need to buy ammunition for the HWPs, as they will be fully armed at the start of the battle.
Miscellaneous Equipment
Miscellaneous equipment include Psi-Amps, Medi-kits, Electro-flares, and other items
Motion Scanners, Medi-Kits, and Flares should all be stored on craft since tactical missions are the only times you will use them. Due to the random nature of Base Defense mission spawning, your medics are likely to be scattered about the base and may be away from the main action to be useful. Your base passages are well-lit so flares aren't an absolute requirement for defending it.
Mind Probes are useful for locating specific aliens and for analysing their current state. Despite their limited availability, you are likely to pick up more probes than you'll ever reasonably need. Keep one or two probes and sell the excess. They are very profitable items.
Psi-Amps are powerful game-balance breaking devices that will only work for troops that have had a month's training the psi lab. Keep only enough for your psi-capable troopers. You will rarely need to buy spares.
Troop Transport Storage
Remember that weapons stored in a troop transport are unloaded for use in a base defence mission. Nevertheless, it's a good idea to have some spare weapons in the base itself in the event that the Skyranger is out on a mission when the aliens come calling.
Storage Base
If you really want to hang on to a very large amount of stuff, build a storage facility somewhere and garrison it with a small squad. This base can also serve non-combat roles such as psi screening, UFO detection, etc. It should be constructed in an area with low UFO activity and protected with a Mind Shield. It should also keep a few HWPs on hand so the soldiers don't get completely shafted by the 80 item limit
Waste not Want Not
Be very, very sure before you sell off anything that needs to be Manufactured and cannot simply be Purchased. You might need that equipment in a hurry if you are expanding unexpectedly, or if you suffer a setback, or if a change in tactics is forced. Your main assault force might not need those 14 Laser Rifles but they could be great for a defence force for that new base you just built. You can't afford to stop building your new Avenger in order to produce more Alien Grenades and Power Suits, but you can get some Laser Rifles and Personal Armour out of storage - not quite as good, but much better than any Purchased items. Don't leave old Manufactured items at your main base cluttering your 80 item limit, send them off to a research base or radar base somewhere. But DO NOT SELL THEM! - at least not until you have maxed out the research tree and produced more top-end equipment than will physically fit on 250 soldiers.