Difference between revisions of "Tactics (Apocalypse)"

Revision as of 20:47, 4 November 2009

This section provides a section to collect player discussions and articles on various plans, strategies, procedures, etc. that you can do in this game to gain an advantage over the enemy. For example: tips and strategies on how to attack various maps with fixed layouts or the various ways you can run or manage raiding other organizations.

Raiding

Raiding is an art in X-COM Apocalypse that allows players to bolster their cause with extra funds, equipment, experience and even manipulate public relations through brute force, deviousness or even non-violent combat.

Stun Raid: A form of raiding that can be used to exploit the good nature of non-hostile organizations to steal equipment and gain some combat experience without adversely affecting relations. Commonly performed with non-violent tools such as Stun Grapples, Stun Grenades and even Mind Benders.

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-this pages needs its own subtitle on the main apoc page - i wouldn't have a clue how to.
+This section provides a section to collect  player discussions and articles on various plans, strategies, procedures, etc. that you can do in this game to gain an advantage over the enemy. For example: tips and strategies on how to attack various maps with fixed layouts or the various ways you can run or manage raiding other organizations.
-TACTICS (no particular order)
+== Raiding ==
+Raiding is an art in X-COM Apocalypse that allows players to bolster their cause with extra funds, equipment, experience and even manipulate public relations through brute force, deviousness or even non-violent combat.
-= STUN GRAPPLE RAIDS =
+;[[Stun Raid]]: A form of raiding that can be used to exploit the good nature of non-hostile organizations to steal equipment and gain some combat experience without adversely affecting relations. Commonly performed with non-violent tools such as Stun Grapples, Stun Grenades and even Mind Benders.
-==== What is it? ====
+[[Category: Apocalypse]]
-A stun grapple raid is where your agents are armed ONLY with stun grapples (purchased from Megapol) for the intent of looting (raiding) an organisation of all available personal armaments '''WITHOUT KILLING ANYONE'''.
-==== How? ====
-*Remove '''all''' armour (yes, that's correct) and equipment from (approximately) 12 of your agents and then equip them with only a stun grapple each. Equip a Valkyrie Interceptor craft with a passenger module (so the craft can hold 12 agents) and one cargo module (you don't need two). Assign your 12 agents to the craft as you would normally do.
-*IMPORTANT: Look at your corporation list and find out which corporations are hostile to Xcom. DO NOT raid these corporation(s) unless you want a fire fight. Aliens will be present if the corporation is under Alien control. Don't forget the biotransport module if you want to recover aliens.
-*Find a corporation that is neutral or better (gang based slums are the best) and then go and order your Valkyrie craft (with 12 troops on board) to land at this building you have choosen. Don't attack the building with you craft, just land there! Once it lands, click on the building and you'll find four buttons on the top right of the screen. Your Valkyrie craft and personel loadout displayed as well. Click on your craft to automatically select 12 agents, then click on the RAID button (the second button down).
-*Why 12 agents? Usually, the tactical battles are generated from tilesets particular to the type of building. The battlescape ''usually'' will be larger if you use more than 12 agents. The Slum maps don't use tilesets, but one whole map by itself. Sometimes you'll find that the map has generated two slums, instead of the usual singular one. The Railway Station slum building is typical of this.
-==== Starting the Tactical Raid ====
-<br> Typically against slum buildings, but you can raid ANYONE if you want (including the government).
-*REAL TIME works best.
-*IMPORTANT: You are not to bunch up your agents, you must spread them around the map to stand next to the exit points.
-*Save your game.
-*Slum buidlings will have only three main exit points. You MUST cover these points if you want you raid to be worthwhile. However, there will be five exit points if its a double size map.
-*Set all you agent's attitude to agressive. Set them all to RUN mode. You do not want your agents to be cautious.
-*Run two agents to the west corner, run two agents to the east corner and run three agents down to the south corner. Be careful that they don't exit the tactical map. Stand a soldier next to the exit points and make them face into the middle of the tactical map. (obviously if double size map appears, then place two agents at each middle exit point).
-*Place you agents against the very edge of the map. It will help to space them apart just enough so that they cannot shoot each other, yet the range of the stun grapples slightly overlaps. (stun range = 6, so place the guys approx 9 cells apart)
-==== Fighting with Stun Grapples ====
-*When an 'enemy' approaches the exit point they will be knocked unconscious. Don't move your agent from the postion, but use a different agent to go and pick up all the equipment that this enemy soldier just dropped.
-*IMPORTANT: DO NOT place a weapon which can be fired into the hands of the your agent. DO NOT fire any weapons except the stun grapple. Place any projectile weapons into the backpack.
-*As you can now understand, your stunning the enemy to steal their stuff. Use your agents which are not in postion and guarding the exits to run around the map and stun enemy agents with wild abandon. Remember to pick up the stuff they dropped.
-*If your agent is full of loot, just swap the guarding agents with the fully laden agent and continue your stunning. (walk the heavy troop back to the exit - but don't exit - THEN swap agents. Don't leave a gap for enemy agents to escape)
-==== Loaded Down With Loot - What Now? ====
-*If the tactical battle does not end because all hostiles have been neutralised, you'll need to exit the battle manually. Just make your troops walk over the blue exit tiles to end the tactical mission. It might take a while for a heavy laden agent to walk back to the exit. Just be patient.
-*Pressing the ''escape'' key gives you an option to exit as well. This isn't the prefered method because if your agents aren't near the exits, the game will count as some troops as MIA.
-==== Advanced Tactics ====
-*If you raid a slum often, you'll eventually start to understand the layouts on offer (SEE BELOW). There are items laying on the ground which you can pick up. Common items are psiclones (more common than Cult of Sirius raiding), Marsec armour (chest pieces as well), Elerium, and unloaded weapons.
-*Layouts are identical for positions of item to pick up, but the items will be different each time. Get to know them when dealing with slums. Pick them up before the enemy does.
-*If you decide to cut away a staircase, just be sure not to kill anyone from the fall.
-==== Quirks ====
-*You'll probably see enemy agents playing a game of "Pass the Parcel" ... with a live prox-mine!
-*Random rocket firings can sometimes happen when the gang members get itchy trigger fingers.
-*Hostiles do like to throw AC-AP clips as well.
-=Slum Building Item Spawn Spots=
-There are seven slum buildings generated in the game. This next section lists where the item spawns are located using a very simple (but tedious) method of direction. The isometric map has a corner at each compass point. The most obvious way to describe the map would be as the top most corner being North, the leftmost corner being West, etc. Also, each sqaure of the map is called a cell. A cell is a square which makes up the map at the most smallest part. One cell is the size of the cursor (only the base of the rectangular box, actaully).
-== Locations ==
-HINT: The items '''will''' appear. If they are missing from their spawn location, then you are either using too many agents (over 28) for that map or they have been picked up by a hostile.
-NOTE: directions are given as absolute north of the map, being '''Cell 1,1'''.
-*eg: '''Lev 05 - 23SW, 18SE''' means that the item is on Level 5 of the map and is how many cells you must count in that compass direction from the most northern cell.
-*Elevator = Gravlift.
-SPECIAL NOTE: Raid the gangs for the best stuff. Forget raiding a Mutant Alliance slum, and forget about Cult of Sirius!
-====Grasslands====
-A map which has only trees, grass, and some building rubble. The most obvious feature is the grass the is covering part of the road in the southwestern part of the map. (weird: there is a door that still works!).
-*Lev 01 - 20SW,16SE - on ground next to I-beam rubble.
-====The Bridge====
-A map which has a large bridge crossing over a road. Lots of building rubble in northern part of the map.
-*Lev 01 - 25SW,10SE - on ground near blue arcade machine.
-====Drug Plantation====
-A map that contains a plantation of trees near the west corner. There is a large multistorey building which has an elevator shaft external to the main superstructure.
-*Lev 01 - 26SW,14SE - on floor inside the garden shed inside the plantation.
-*Lev 01 - 28SW,25SE - on floor inside the garden shed, inside the rubble area, opposite the plantation.
-*Lev 02 - 14SW,21SE - on floor beside coffee table.
-*Lev 02 - 13SW, 9SE - on floor beside table.
-====Graveyard Castle====
-A map that has a cemetary with names of the game makers. There also is a large building with a heli-pad on the roof.
-*Lev 01 - 11SW,32SE - on floor inside the garden shed situated inside the cemetary.
-*Lev 01 - 12SW,27SE - on ground, on top of the dirt mound of grave owner, Andy Greene.
-*Lev 08 - 19SW, 7SE - on ground, on top of the castle tower which is on the right when exiting the door.
-*Lev 08 - 31SW, 7SE - on ground, on top of the castle tower which is on the left when exiting the door.
-====U-shaped Hotel====
-A map that has a typical hotel look to it. There is a car parking area in the middle section of the U shape. This building does not have a roof!
-*Lev 02 -  6SW,34SE - on floor near oval table.
-*Lev 02 - 13SW,10SE - on floor at far wall.
-*Lev 04 - 28SW,16SE - on floor at middle of room.
-*Lev 02 - 28SE,23SE - on chair right beside door.
-*Lev 04 - 28SW,21SE - in hand basin on the left of door.
-*Lev 04 - 29SW,27SE - on floor near wall.
-*Lev 02 - 28SW,34SE - on coffee table.
-====Central Elevator====
-A map with a large square shape building. The building has eight large foundations and an external fire escape. There is an elevator inside the core of the middle foundation.
-*Lev 04 - 28SW,27SE - on large table against near wall.
-*Lev 04 - 28SW, 5SE - on cupboard against external wall.
-*Lev 04 - 34SW,10SE - on cupboard closer to windows.
-*Lev 04 - 26SW,12SE - on floor between beds.
-*Lev 06 - 12SW, 5SE - on coffee table near external wall.
-*Lev 06 -  5SW,32SE - on box next to window.
-*Lev 06 - 12SW,30SE - on bed.
-*Lev 06 - 12SW,21SE - in air (!) just inside doorway
-*Lev 06 -  8SW,21SE - on cupboard next to chair.
-====The Railway Station====
-A dedicated double sized map. It will sometimes appear if there are many (usually over 20) Xcom agents present in a mission. It is a rare map to play!
-*Lev 01 -  2SW,16SE - in hand basin just left of door.
-*Lev 04 - 54SW,10SE - on elevated rail line between the two rail track pairs.
-*Lev 01 - 86SW,32SE - inside carpark ticket booth at far wall.
-*possibly more.
-=FAQ=
-*Do I have to count the cells each time I start a new raid?
-** NO! Due to the static shape of the slum buildings, each and every type of building will be the same with regards to where the spawn loactions are situated. Once you know where the spawn is located after counting out the map cells for just one time, you'll won't need to do it again (unless you forget!).
-*How do I do multiple raids in quick succession?
-** If you use an air vehicle, immediately after a mission, you can click on the building and find that the craft is not yet airbourne. Within this very short time frame, you can raid (or search) the organisation again. Also, this means that you do not need to go back to base after every single mission. Obviously if you troops inventory if full of loot, then it may be wise to offload back at base once every third mission, or so. This does not work with ground vehicles or walking troops unless you redirect them back towards the building after every mission.
-*Why do you think slums are better than Cult of Sirius raids?
-** (1) The only items that will spawn in a '''gang''' slum are: Psiclones, Marsec armour, weapons ('''only''' M4000, Laser, Autocannon) and Elerium. You will NEVER get AP-grenades, Hi-Ex, stun grenades, or other ordinary low level junk. Also, the gang members never carry rubbish like the lawpistol. Mutant alliance and SELF are not gangs, but do have Psiclone spawning within their slums (and possibly their HQ or office buidling - need testing).
-** (2) The buildings are easily defendable (exit points will be EXACTLY in the same spot - no guessing!). The slum shape is indentical each time (no dynamic generating of the map grid). It means that as soon as the map loads you'll know immediately where the items are situated for that given slum shape.
-** (3) The gangs are NEVER hostile at the start of a new game. Cultists can be. If there are hostile, then CoS stun raiding is now DEADLY and absolutely pointless.
-** (4) Gang slums '''usually generate psiclones at a 75% quantity''' versus spawn quantity. If a building has 9 spawn spots then approx 75% of the available spawn spots will contain a psiclone. If a building has 1 spawn spot, then a psiclone (once again) will spawn at approx 75% of the time. If it doesn't spawn, then most likely it will be Elerium or Marsec armour.
-==An Example And Result==
-A new superhuman game using 12 agents + 12 stun grapples raiding a Diablo slum (always and only: '''Central Elevator'''). Realtime gameplay.
-After 10 raids one after the other in the '''first 2 minutes of a new game''' (90 spawn spots in total):
-* 11 x Marsec chest
-* 3 x Marsec helmet
-* 20 x Elerium pods (equals 3000 elerium)
-* 48 x psiclones
-TOTAL = 82. leaving only 8 spawn spots for unloaded weapons.
-This above example has a psiclone ratio of 53%. If you keep doing stun-raids regularly throughout the whole game, you will notice the ratio will slowly start to change so that psiclones become more frequent. This is due to Xcom starting to use alien weaponry for craft loadouts and not Elerium based weapons which fall out of favour, hence, the value of Elerium to a player diminishes.
-Extra: To get the particular map to spawn each and every time, remove the other map-series from the maps folder (only do this for slums).
-<br>EG: "Central Elevator" map is the '''01 series''' contained within the maps folder.

Difference between revisions of "Tactics (Apocalypse)"

Revision as of 20:47, 4 November 2009

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