Tactics (Long War)

As many other XCOM titles, there are no right or wrong way to play Long war. What works for you in the tactical combat, might not work for others and vice versa. There are some subtle changes to the way that Long War plays, from Vanilla, but most of the some basic gameplay ideas are still in effect. Some changes however are very profound and changes the way that the game is played in drastic ways.

The following list is in no way intended to be exhaustive or complete, but instead shed some light on the nuances of Long War.

Long War Combat guide and tips.

Pre-battle Guide & Tips

This covers general advice, when setting up squads, unit compositions, class synergies and other things that are important to consider before heading into a battle.

Increased Squad Size

The first very important change in Long war, is the increase in squad size from 4 to 6 and later 8 to even a staggering 12. To off-set this, Classes have been made much more specific for instance, Gunner and Rocketeer both would have been the Heavy in Vanilla X-com. The increase in squad size offers greater flexability for squad composition but since there are a total of 8 classes, there is still an element of picking and choosing between offensive and defensive capabilities.

Fatigue

The new Fatigue system, introduced in Long War, means that Soldiers cannot go on missions in rapid succession. Usually, after a successful mission, Soldiers will need to rest for 5 days, this can be decreased with specific soldier upgrades. This places an emphasis having a much bigger unit roster, as having to wait for 5 days for each mission can spell disaster on the strategic map. In the early game, it is always a good idea to have 2 or more Rookies in the squad, as the alien forces are relatively weak. In general, whenever there is an oppotunity to do so, always take a rookie or low ranked soldier with you into combat to more evenly spread out experience. The effects of this might not be felt immidiately, but when going into the mid to late game, those extra soldiers will be absolutely clutch to be able to handle the amounts of missions that the game throws at you.S. Another way to bolster your ranks is by using the new and improved S.H.I.V. As these are mechanized units, they do not suffer fatigue as regular soldiers do, meaning that they can go on several missions in rapid succession. The down side of this being that they steal valuable experience from lower ranked soldiers. Even if you don't intend on using them, it is always a good idea to have at least a squad of S.H.I.Vs ready, in the unfortunate event of getting an important mission, while all your ranked up soldiers are fatigued.

Map Description

A new feature in Long War, is the ability to see what kind of map you are going to. You won't know exactly what map you are getting, but you will get a general idea. This information is incredibly important, as it gives you an idea of what type combat scenario will occur. For example: A Long Road road with vehicles. Notice how it doesn't say what map it is, but you can make a reasonable assumption of what type of soldiers that you should take with you. These Map hints, can make your battles easier but be careful, they can sometimes be very misleading.

Increased Inventory

In Long war, all soldiers are able to carry two items instead of one. This, along with a plethora of new items, laser sights, ceramic plating, smoke grenades etc. Give you a higher degree of flexability when outfitting your soldiers. It is easy to simply stock up on Grenades and then head out, but it is often wise to give several team members, medkits and battle scanners especially front line fighters, as they will be the first ones to make contact with the Aliens. Battle scanners in particular become a requirement when seekers start coming into the enemy squad rotation as they can seriously wreck any well laid plan. When outfitting your soldier, it is a good idea to think about, what type of role that particular soldier is supposed to fill, this is regardless of class. Perhaps it is not a good idea to give only grenades to your Assault if she is under constant fire, and likewise, Snipers wouldn't really benefit from having more health.

Classes

The new classes in long war are all designed with certain roles in mind, however they work best if they have other roles that synergize with them. For example, A gunners ability to Suppress work will with the high mobility of the Scout and Assault, as the Gunner can stop Overwatch fire, letting the Scouts and Assaults move in for a flank. Likewise Infantry can be used to Lock down certain areas with their powerful overwatch abilities, letting the rest of the squad move up for better cover. When putting together your squad, first see what sort of terrain you are fighting on, then what mission it is and then try to adjust the class choices to whatever specific playstyle you prefere. For instance a very agressive player might want to take one mobile sniper, one rocketeer, two infantry and one scout and assault with him, so he can constantly move forward against the Alien positions.

There is no right or wrong way to set up the squad. Usually though, if you can see how the different classes compliment eachother, then you have a pretty good set-up.

If you have specific goals in mind for a particular mission, like capturing an outsider, then you should always plan according to that objective. As you want to make that process as painless as possible, while still being able to handle whatever else the mission throws against you.

General Advice & Tips

This section covers anecdotal or general concepts and tips that might not fit into any of the above, usually just player specific styles or advice that might help you set up the perfect team.

MEDIC! A medic is one of the most useful classes to have around, they can keep your soldiers healthy during battle and they increase the survivability of friendly (and enemy) soldiers with their smoke grenades. I personally always take one with me during every mission.

Divide and Conquer Usually it is never a good idea to split your team into two, but on urban maps, there some merit in doing this. When you have both your Squad upgrades, you can split your squad into fire teams of four people. Why is this a good idea? Because it lets you breach buildings and other structures much more effeciently and sets you up for more flanking manuvers. It also lets you get out of deadlock situations where you are in a prolonged fire fight with Alien opposition, without any opportuity to move forward.

S.H.I.V all the things I liberally use S.H.I.Vs, they are much better than the standard rookie, can take more damage and can create moving cover. They might not get any experience and be less effective than a regular soldier, but they can be outfitted to oblivion due to the much expanded S.H.I.V tree, present in Long War. They also add the benefit of making me feel less sad when checking out the memorial wall, which by the end of the game is quite big.

Do I really need this? Before going onto a mission, think about if you really have to do it. When faced with shooting down a Scout UFO during the middle of the month, it might be wise to take a step back and think. "Do I really need to assault it?" You never know when a new Terror mission or Council mission might show up, and it is very important if you don't have enough soldiers to spare. Weigh the potential consequences, of you taking or denying a particular mission.

Combat Guide & Tips

This part of the guide covers the tactical decisions and manuvers that you can be faced with during battle.