Talk:Weapons (TFTD)

What Happened to First Alien War Weapons ?

Is there any reasonable excuse why we can't use good old Heavy Plasma, or any weapon from First Alien War, on land combat? L-Zwei 23:44, 25 July 2006 (PDT)

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I have been wondering that myself. Let's see: X-Com operatives are required to prepare for undersea combat, regardless the original destination of their transport. A commander may decide to send a midair Triton undersea, and as soon as the doors are opened, any non water proof equipment inside would be damaged. That's also the reason why soldiers take their diver suits on land. It's not that good of an excuse, but it's something. --Trotsky 01:50, 26 July 2006 (PDT)

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If you could use the Plasmas, then why not the craft engines? My bet is the Elerium mines weren't set up at that point, meaning there was nothing to power these devices with.

- Bomb Bloke 02:56, 26 July 2006 (PDT)

The official story goes thus: sea water aggressively corrodes Elerium (and by extension anything made from alien alloy), and plasma weapons EXPLODE when fired underwater, as some unlucky scientists found out. Microprose released a couple short stories before the launch of TFTD to explain the backstory that closed the gap between the two episodes, and the technological issues were briefly hinted at --KJK::Hyperion 15:14, 17 April 2007 (PDT)

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The economy argument seems more plausible. Once the war was finished, there would be no reason not to sell recovered Elerium for use as power source, especially since X-Com was disbanded shortly after.--Trotsky 11:05, 26 July 2006 (PDT)

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Plus Elerium was consumed by research on interstellar travel.

As a side note, the Gauss weapons aren't as bad as many say. For example, people also say lasers are bad, although a Laser Rifle can kill a Muton in one hit. Why people doesn't like it? Because there are better weapons (plasma). Same with Gauss: people use Sonic instead because of the higher damage. I personally prefer the Gauss's accuracy and one-shot-one-kill technique. Plus if you get in close range and miss a snapshot, you will be killed by reaction fire. However, a point-blank Gauss auto is too strong to survive and too fast to counter.

On the other hand, Gauss weapons are a bit more... realistic. Small pistols which fire a sonic wave with sniper-level accuracy over the map? Come on... Plus you can distinguish yourself from the aliens by not using mainstay alien equipment :D--amitakartok 15:00, 11 November 2008 (CST)

Fluff stories released by Microprose indicate that the Funding Nations basically divvied up X-COM 16 ways after the war, including all resources, and wasted most of it(including Elerium, to the point that they sent X-COM down to UFOs that crashed in the ocean to try and find more. This is when they learned that both Elerium is rendered inert by sea water, and Alien Alloys DISSOLVE in it.)

As for Gauss/Sonic, well, I've had a Tasoth kill a trooper with reaction after soaking up 3 Auto shots from a Pistol. I understand the difference though, and it is a issue of personal choice. Whether you get more shots in a small time frame or less shots but more power. Of course, there is something that offers both power and speed...and it's immensely satisfying sometimes to just run up to the aliens and fight them with power tools! (Idly, a Muton with 125 HP cannot be 1-shotted by a Laser Rifle, since LR damage maxes out at 120.) Arrow Quivershaft 18:33, 11 November 2008 (CST)

Lobstermen. First time I ever met one, I emptied all of my gauss and harpoons into it and got royally slaughtered. Much fun. Gauss weapons are near useless against them - and perhaps the main reason why you must have sonic or power tool support by the time you meet them.

By the way, players are split down two camps with regards to the weapons in UFO. There's the ever present Laser Rifle vs. Heavy Plasma debate that always flares up from time to time. Both weapons are jolly good in their own respect (I'm in the arm-laser-rifle-on-Skyranger-but-pick-up-HPs-in-Combat-when-necessary camp) so there's no loss of love for the laser weapons.

TFTD's gauss weapons lost a lot of favour with their ammo requirements. I don't mind that at all - I adore the gauss pistol and its massive (and cheap) 20 round clip. However their (the Gauss weapons in general) loss in effectiveness against enemies with lots of external armour (large units) and the lobstermen do hurt them quite a bit. Absolutely essential weapons to get at the start of the game though unless you stick to the Gas Cannon - which is awesome but you've got to be careful with the ammo levels.

I've always been intrigued by the idea of alien alloys melting in salt water. How fast though? I keep getting these funny mental images of soldiers in Power Suits being air dropped into salt water, and then having them trudge up onto a desert island with their suits melting away to expose their jumpsuit underneath. Recently added the image of water squirting out of the cracks. - NKF 22:56, 11 November 2008 (CST)

It's not quite that fast, but the fluff from Microprose indicates that in the time period of "over a year" in the seawater(so 12-23 months), the navigation consoles of a Large Scout have melted into "silvery goo", as well as eaten away enough of the hull for craft to flood. They found some inert and ruined Elerium in a Plasma Rifle; the power source was gone(ejected before impact, according to the story). So while the scenario you gave isn't exactly accurate, it would happen over time. Enough to seriously degrade a Power Suit over a period of months, if not weeks. If the Power Source leaked, the whole suit would stop functioning in short order as well. And to boot, there isn't any Elerium left to power the things anyways. (Although we must not forget the simply out-of-game reason for all of this: X-COM 2 would be way the hell too easy if you could use Plasma weapons and Flying Suits off the bat). Arrow Quivershaft 23:15, 11 November 2008 (CST)

Favourite Weapon Mix

OK, what's your favourite weapon mix and progression in TFTD? Here's mine (based on limited play):

Starting Weapons

• Stock up on HydroJet Cannon (HJCs) and Gas Cannon (GCs), enough for every Aquanaut (15 or so of each).
• Get a healthy supply of regular grenades, and some explosives and disturbance mines. This is just to tide you over until you research Sonic Pulsers.
• As soon as the extra Gas Cannons arrive, sell all the Dart Guns and Jet Harpoons. The only reason not to sell these right away is in case you have an early land mission (unlikely).
• Sell Dye Grenades right away, they are rubbish.
• Don't bother with flares. HJC-IC clips create light multiple times, at greater range and less TUs, for the same space/item limit.
• For water missions, equip mostly HJCs, with some GCs as heavy weapons. Carry mostly AP for the HJCs, an even mix of HE and AP for GCs.
• For land missions, carry all GCs and mostly AP rounds - designated heavy weapons units should chamber HE and carry both types.
• GCs with AP are your "tank-busters". Even on an underwater mission, carry more GCs if you expect tough (armoured) opposition. If you are not sure what to expect, bring enough spare GCs to switch up to half of your Aquanauts to GCs.
• Regular grenades are most useful for attacks where you can't get a line of sight, which is a common situation in many TFTD terrain types. Due to the weak power of the regular grenade, against targets in the open, an HE round fired from a GC or HJC is usually more efficient.
• I'm not convinced the Torpedo Launcher is worth bringing in any quantity. Its warhead is not sufficiently stronger than GC-HE to make it worth while. I would carry 2 at most in a sub. Even less useful once you have Sonic Pulsers - obsolete in fact.

Progression

• If the absolute priority was winning battles, I would research the Sonic Pulser first, as the quickest way to equalise firepower with the enemy. It will make short work of targets that you would struggle to kill even with Heavy Gauss, so it's a great leap forward. However, relying on Pulsers does not leave much booty left on the battlefield, so it can hurt your finances. Nor is it a terribly safe tactic for rescuing civilians!
• So for economic reasons I prefer to start down the Gauss route asap. This provides a steady stream of finesseful weapons of steadily increasing power. It also sets you up for profitable manufacture.
• Nonetheless by the time Tasoths start showing up you will need (well OK, I need) Sonic guns to deal with them without incurring heavy losses.
• Or Thermal Shok Launchers, which are quicker to research and have other advantages. Maybe a better choice. (I believe these also help with Lobstermen, though I've never got far enough to see one. )
• Particle Sensors can also be a good re-equaliser if you are often outgunned and on the defensive (as I always seem to be). Plus they are a good profit making item. So, a good early research choice.
• Medi-Kits and Armour - Nah, just encourages your Aquanauts to be careless. Who wants to live forever anyway? ;)

OK that's my mix, what's yours? Spike 13:16, 12 November 2008 (CST)