User talk:Arrow Quivershaft

Hello, and welcome to my talk page. Basically, I'll elaborate here on anything I think needs to be elaborated on, but isn't actually relevant enough to be on it's own page in the wiki. I might also add little things to the bottom that I think might be relevant to the wiki but aren't sure yet. My first topic on this page will be 1-mission X-COM, which basically means I'm bragging about what I can do. If you don't want to read it, you can leave. :)

1 Mission X-COM

Basics

What IS 1-Mission X-COM?

1 mission X-COM is just that. Playing through the entire game of X-COM:UFO Defense with only 1 UFO assault allowed, and relying ENTIRELY on the funding nations to keep your bank balance running. One Battleship can provide all the appropriate aliens and research topics needed to develop the Avenger, build it, and launch the Cydonia assault. It is understood that you must undertake the Cydonia missions to complete the game. This challenge was originally developed by Robo Dojo 58, but I was the first person(to my knowledge) to complete it.

How do I do 1-mission X-COM?

It's easy. You have to just exercise restraint in dealing with the aliens and adhere to the restrictions in the following section. 1-mission X-COM is a fast challenge, because you only participate in one Tactical mission, which is the majority of time spent playing X-COM.

Requirements/Restrictions of 1-mission X-COM

(Copied directly from http://www.xcomufo.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=242026759 )

• You are allowed only one ground assault. This assault must be a battleship. (If the assault is a Muton Battleship, you may abort and assault a different one, but you can't take any loot from the Muton ship!)
• During this battleship mission, you must capture 3 live aliens: An extra(preferably a navigator), a leader, and a commander. They are needed to unlock the research topics for the final mission.
• You must recover at least one intact power source, one ufo navigation, 1 alien alloy, and one elerium pod. This is the minimal necessary materials needed to build the Avenger, fuel it, and beat the game.
• You can not sell any spoils from the mission. Considering how few you'll have to work with, there's little you'd want to sell anyway! If you need the space, you better destroy what you don't want in the mission itself.(I.E. corpses)
• If your home base is assaulted, you must abandon the base. You get one mission, no freebee shipments from space! You can keep base assaults from happening by not shooting down UFOs nearby, shooting down retaliation scouts(they don't land), shooting down assault battleships(very low, very fast, radar will rarely spot them), and with adequate base defences (but they will eventually get through). The mind shield helps to keep your base hidden, as well.
• Shoot down UFOs! This is your only defense against the alien menace, and to keep your score high enough so you don't lose funding.
• Blaster bombs get one waypoint (direct fire). This is so that you don't beat the final mission in two turns, which is possible otherwise.
• You can not manufacture then sell equipment. None of that laser cannon nonsence. Your funding must come from the funding nations, and the funding nations alone.
• Landed terror missions are to be left alone.
• Alien bases are to be left alone.
• No MC, no psionic labs. Period. (Exception: You can research the Psi Lab in order to get access to the "Mind Shield" research topic; however, you are still prohibited from using the Psi Lab for screening or training.)

Some tips from Robo Dojo 58.

• You'll only have up to 200 elerium with which to arm your final mission, build tanks, build+fuel the Avenger(12 fuel), and keep the skies clear. Spend it wisely!
• You can not destroy bases, but you can stop them from being built. Shoot down the convoy (which usually has two battleships...) before it lands to stop the base. I think that only one ship actually builds the base? Not sure about that one.
• Shoot down terror ships before they land! Those terror missions cost you tons of points and will lose you countries fast.
• Tanks can't be MC'ed, which is vital for the final missions.
• A fully loaded blaster tank takes 65 elerium total. 40 for the 8 ammo, and 25 for the hull. You can only really afford one.
• Every research topic you take inches you closer to defeat. Time is of the essence!

That's too hard!

I never said this would be easy. You don't have to play.

My Strategy

Basic Tips

• Forget beating the aliens. Just win.
• Don't take tanks on your one ground mission. Yeah, they're tough, but in this challenge, 4 soldiers is more useful.
• Don't shoot down the battleship! (As if you have a choice, but I know there are some awfully creative people out there!)
• Completed research topics give you points! This is a good way to try and keep your score up.
• Be prepared for your funding to drop. Rapidly.
• Save at the beginning of every month! If possible, save 2 or 3 times a month, so you can restart if the funding council decides to can you at the end of the month.
• Your score will be low. Real low. Think negative triple digits in most months. The funding council will not be happy often, and you may win only because you repeatedly succeeded on your 50-50 chance of not being cut.
• Be prepared for your battleship assault ASAP. You don't know when it'll come, so you want to be prepared.
• Scrimp and save! You may be able to turn a profit from the funding nations in early months, but later in the game your finances will be dropping every month because of funding cuts and withdrawing countries.
• If you can afford it, build two empty bases to either side of your main base to give alien retaliation scouts alternative locations to find. These bases should consist of an Access Lift and NOTHING ELSE.
• If you assault a Sectoid or Ethereal(!) battleship, write down who's getting psi-attacked. This is the only screening you'll get the entire game.
• Equipment in the trunk of the Skyranger doesn't count against storage space! This is useful when buying your Avalanche Missiles.
• Don't let your Interceptors get destroyed. They're expensive to replace and they're a negative on your score.
• Don't screen soldiers. The usefulness of having a few extra stat points is negated by the mortality rate of you soldiers on the Battleship mission, and screening is expensive to boot.
• You should probably just forget about attacking alien Battleships with your Interceptors. Even once you get the Plasma Beam, you'll be lucky to survive a single shot of return fire. Earth's best technology isn't good enough to deal with Battleships.

Hit the ground running...for your life.

Place your base in a good central location. You need to be able to detect the Battleship, so a good location is vital. I like Europe, on the Greecian Peninsula. As soon as the game starts, go into your base starting screen. Build a Large Radar System to enhance detection abilities, a second Living Quarters, a second General Stores, and an Alien Containment. Build your base so you can expand your base as rapidly as possible; you won't have time to putter around. Forget a defensive base layout. You won't be fighting here anyways.

After you've started construction on those facilities, go into research. Start all three topics IMMEDIATELY, and put all the scientists on Laser Weapons. Then go into the 'purchase' screen and buy 6 Soldiers, 16 Scientists, an Avalanche Launcher, 14 Stun Rods, 1 grenade, and as many Avalanche missiles as you can stuff into your General Stores. If you stuffed as much junk as you could into the Skyranger, you'll have room to buy a few extra missiles. The best strategy is to stuff in everything except 7 pistol clips, and then unload it when your second General Stores is done. Make sure you get the missiles LAST, so that you have all the important items already ordered. Now go back and equip one Interceptor with a Stingray/Avalanche combo, the other with a Cannon/Stingray combo.

Exit, and start using the fast forward time buttons. As soon as that second Avalanche launcher comes, equip that instead of the Cannon. Assign scientists as they arrive, and when Laser Weapons is done, research the Laser Pistol and then the Laser Rifle. As soon as Laser Rifle research is finished, manufacture 14 Laser rifles. Research the Medi-Kit after the Laser Rifle; make 14 of those as well. Put the following equipment in the Skyranger: 14 each of the Laser rifles, stun rods, medi-kits, grenades. If you want anything else, there's 24 item slots left before you hit 80. Electroflares might be a good idea but are by no means required, since the interior of a Battleship is well-lit. In the meantime, shoot down any UFOs, and keep your missile stocks sufficient to stay armed.

Battleship Assault!

By the time late February rolls around, you should start looking for a Battleship to plunder. By this point you should have at least your Laser Rifles manufactured, and if you're lucky you might have your Medi-Kits done or almost done. If you're REAL lucky, you might even have Motion Scanners. If you're lucky, the aliens will choose to build a base in the area your base is, and you'll be able to find them that way. Unfortunately, this often isn't the case. In March, start sending the Skyranger out on sweeps to far reaching areas of the globe, fully loaded with men and equipment. I've intercepted Battleships in South America from Europe with this method. Keep looking, sooner or later you'll detect and then be able to intercept a Battleship.

Once you find the Battleship, intercept it while its landed. You won't have much time to do this, only a few hours. When you land, equip your men with the kit I suggested(Laser Rifle, Stun Rod, Grenade, Medi-Kit.) The total weight of this loadout is 22. Before you disembark from the Skyranger, check to be sure everyone has full TUs. If they don't, have them discard their grenade OR their medikit; your choice, because whichever they discard, it'll bring them below 20 weight units, so even the weakest soldiers won't be encumbered.

I can't really give any specific tactical advice for the mission given the randomness of the level, but I can make a few notes.

• The majority of the aliens will be INSIDE the Battleship.
• Keep a strategic reserve of troops in the Skyranger for if things start to go bad.
• Stun any alien you possibly can. This is the best way to ensure you get the Minimum 3. This rule does not apply to Terror Units.
• The Leader(s) and Commander usually stick to the top floor. So does the Navigator, but sometimes he'll come downstairs.
• Probably the easiest race to intercept would be Floaters, but you likely won't have a choice, nor will they allow access to the Mind Shield.
• Be prepared to lose a number of troops. Half the squad is pretty common.

Aftermath

After the smoke has settled and the Skyranger is back, the game strategy changes. You'll no longer be allowed to intercept alien craft, so sack the Skyranger as soon as you can. It'll save you half a million dollars a month. Also, take stock of exactly what you brought back from the mission, ESPECIALLY how much Elerium you got. If you got all 200, good! If you got less, you may have to make some judgement calls. Also check how many Alien Alloys were recovered; 231 will come back from a full Battleship, less if you or the aliens blew holes in the walls. If you got back less than two power sources, you're going to have to build a second one.

Hire an additional 24 Scientists(to make it 50) and 4 Engineers. The reason you only get 4 technicians is because 14 is the highest number of Engineers you can fit in a single Workshop that is busy constructing an Avenger. And as you'll see, you won't be pressed for time if you play your cards right. Also check what weapons the aliens dropped. Did you get more of a particular type? That might be the weapon you end up using in Cydonia. Are there enough clips for every weapon, or even extras? If you have 8 or more clips for a particular plasma weapon, that would be a wise choice for your Cydonia weapon.

Of course, now you've got a deluge of research topics, and you need to get to Cydonia. But you also need to defend your base, get the weapons and the armor for the Cydonia Assault, and keep the skies clean. So how to do that? Read on.

Research Blitz!

As soon as the extra scientists arrive(or preferably sooner), get them to work on researching the spoils of war. Take them off any current projects they were on; those are no longer important except for the points they give(and possibly the Laser Tank). There's a lot of topics, but you'll have to pick. Always assign all 50 scientists to a single project to get it done as fast as possible. Occassionally, you'll end up wasting research days because of odd numbers and remainders, but that's even more likely if you assign them haphazardly.

The first thing to realize is that there are some high-level goals you should work towards IMMEDIATELY to even continue in the game. In particular, you may have noticed by now that the Avalanche/Stingray combo works passably, but it sometimes runs out of ammo and costs lots of money. So one of your first goals should be to research either the Plasma Rifle and clip or Heavy Plasma and clip, and then research the Plasma Beam(Plasma Cannon, as the research topic is called). Either one will give you the appropriate research topic. Plasma Rifle researches faster, but Heavy Plasma is worth more to your score. Build two Plasma Beams ASAP and equip one on each Interceptor in place of the Avalanche missiles. This will cost 30 Elerium, but so long as your Interceptors aren't destroyed, should give you an adequate answer to most UFOs for the remainder of the game.

You should also research Alien Alloys quickly, and any time your engineers aren't building something else, they should be pressing out chips of Alien Alloys. You'll need 120 chips of them in order to build the Avenger at all, and more if you want armor, Hovertanks, or need to build any more Plasma weapons or a Power Source. They're relatively cheap to make, so crank them out. If you have extra at the end, who cares?

If you got a Navigator from the Battleship, he should be researched IMMEDIATELY after completion of Plasma Beam research and then you should research the Hyper Wave Decoder. Or maybe even before the Plasma Beam, if you have some Avalanche Missiles that need to be used up. Build a HWD as soon as possible, but DO NOT dismantle your previous radars. The previously built radars will cost more on your maintenance if you dismantle them because of the Paying For Dirt bug.

Regarding armor, the research needed to get armor has high overlap with the research needed to build the Avenger. Here's what I recommend. Research to the Power Suit, and build 10 Power Suits(1 for each trooper going to Cydonia.) This costs another 50 Elerium, and 50 Alien Alloys. While the Power Suits are being built, research the necessary topics to build the Avenger and the "Alien Origins" research path. If you're tight for Elerium, say you only got 150 units or less, build Personal Armor instead.

Other notes:

• If you got a Sectoid or Ethereal Battleship, you should research the Mind Shield as soon as it can be squeezed in, likely during production of the armor or Avenger. Build one as soon as able. With the decoy scheme mentioned above, this makes you almost immune from retaliation unless your decoys are destroyed, and you can just replace them.
• The Avenger will take about 100 days to complete with 14 engineers. Plan ahead, and have the armor done first.
• Firestorms and Lightnings cost Elerium to fuel. Don't use them.
• Once the Avenger is in production, start to research other things. You can't launch Cydonia until the Avenger is done, so you don't need to finish the Alien Origins research branch right away. Research the Alien Grenade, any other Plasma weapons, and the Blaster Launcher during this time. Anything else is also fair game. If you've got extra time, take a look at those autopsies, and any Engineers or Medics you captured. They don't give you any new weapons or abilities, but they're worth 50 points per UFOpaedia entry; that's high for a research topic!
• Otherwise just research as much as you can while the Avenger is being manufactured. There still might be a bit of prep work to do when it's finished, though.

Final preperations

After the Avenger is finally completed, probably in late December or early January, you'll have a few last decisions to make. You should hire enough soldiers to bring you up to 10, put them in whatever armor you manufactured, and put them in the Avenger. You may want to bring along additional soldiers, but I prefer tanks. They're tougher, and immune to MC. Assuming you got 2 Plasma Beams and 10 Power Suits, you'll have 108 units of Elerium left after you fuel the Avenger. Spend it however you want. I generally use it to standardize what Plasma weapon everyone gets, manufacture a few more Alien grenades, make a Hovertank/Launcher, and anything else I may need. Fill up your remaining tank slots with whatever tank you want; Tank/Laser Cannons and Hovertank/Plasma both have their place, although I personally prefer the Tank/Rocket Launcher for its ability to blow stuff up, which is valuable on the final mission. Once you've got everything you want loaded into the Avenger, launch it.

• Remember, you only get graded on score at the end of the month. If you're in debt at the beginning of the month and know the funding council will can you at the end of the month, remember that this still leaves you an entire month to finish the Avenger and get it ready.
• Bring along any Blaster Launchers and Bombs you may have sitting around. Even though you can only direct-fire, it's still handy in a pinch.
• Alien grenades are nice and powerful for their weight, but HE packs give you more bang and don't need Elerium, either.
• Medi-kits remove fatal wounds and negate stun damage, you may want to consider bringing a few along.
• Consider a few laser weapons for Cydonia 2's Sectopods.
• Also consider a rocket launcher for Cydonia 2 for a very special reason. Blaster bombs work as well, but it can be trickier.
• Bring a stun rod or two if you have room, to mesh with my Cydonia strategy.
• Of the plasma weapons you can bring along to Cydonia, both the Plasma Rifle and the Heavy Plasma has its place. Its a strategic decision best left up to you. But I'll briefly expound on the strengths and weaknesses of both.
  • The Plasma Rifle is the more accurate of the two(except in Aimed mode), and requires less Elerium to manufacture. It's also lighter, if you plan on bringing extra stuff along. However, it requires slightly more TUs to fire in auto mode, doesn't have as many bullets in the clip, and lacks the punch of the Heavy Plasma; it can't even cut through tile floors in the second level of Cydonia. There is also the difficulty that none of the aliens on Cydonia will have Plasma Rifles, so you have to bring all your ammo with you on the Avenger.
  • The Heavy Plasma may be less accurate than the Plasma Rifle, but you get 7 more shots per clip, and it packs almost 1.5 times as much punch. It's also slightly faster to fire in auto mode, and you can scavenge for spare ammo off of aliens you kill during the mission. However, it's quite a bit heavier, meaning you can't carry as much, and its ammo needs more Elerium to be made.

Is 3 units heavier really that much? That's only one grenade (or clip), and you can always screen a little if strength is <25.--Ethereal Cereal 14:59, 4 July 2007 (PDT)

It isn't really that much, no. Yes, it is only one grenade or clip. But I felt it deserved mention, since by the end of this challenge, it is quite easy to be in the hole, money-wise, thus making screening impossible. It's more of an issue for me, since, as I've said, I'm a fan of equipment standardization. Also, given my (upcoming) strategy for Cydonia, it becomes a much more valid complaint in some regards. Or if you pack Electroflares or HE Packs, the weight savings does become an issue. Arrow Quivershaft 14:16, 6 July 2007 (PDT)

• Of course, while scavenging for ammo is great, you can also just take the whole Heavy Plasma gun off ET's corpse. As said, which weapon you use is your call.

Cydonia

Cydonia 1

When you arrive in Cydonia, equip your men with your gear and fight the first battle. Be careful how you do it; you won't get any reinforcements for the second mission, so make sure you lose as few men and tanks as possible. There's two win conditions. You can either get as many men as you want onto the green platforms in the pyramid and press abort, or you can kill all the Sectoids and Cyberdisks and take everyone who's alive to the next level. I prefer the latter condition.

WARNING: You only get to take what your men are carrying into Cydonia level 2. Anything sitting on the floor of the Avenger or the surface of Mars is left behind!

However, this works two ways, and allows you to break the 80 item limit in a very special way. Remember those Stun Rods I suggested you bring along? Here's what you do. You stun a single Sectoid soldier to disarm him, then revive him with Medi-Kits and place him inside the Avenger or a pyramid, walled in by troops. Be sure it's a soldier by any means you can; if it's a Leader or Commander, it can still use Psi and isn't disarmed. After you have this captive, go through and kill everything else on the level. Once you're sure you've only got the one soldier left alive, send your troops out to pick up enemy weapons, clips, grenades, and blaster launchers, as well as the equipment of any troops you lost or Electroflares you threw, up to your maximum capacity for items. DO NOT BRING THE STUN RODS, you no longer need them. For maximum carrying capacity, remember that the hand slot can hold any size of item. Also revive any stunned soldiers. After you've finished this, kill the last Sectoid and proceed to Cydonia 2.

Cydonia 2

You'll be greeted by the equipment armament screen. Now, equip your troops with any weapons and equipment you want, from the stuff you brought and the captured equipment. This is especially useful to replace any grenades you may have used in Cydonia 1, or putting items back into the proper slots(grenades and flares on the shoulder, weapons in the hand, clips in the backpack, pistols and BBs on the belt, etc.)

Once you start the mission, you have your troops positioned automatically in lifts. There are many powerful Ethereals in this level, and they will not hesitate to MC your troops if any trooper is left visible. You also have Sectopods and Chryssalids to deal with, so be very careful. Proceed slowly, and move for the brain room. If a trooper is MCed, move away from them, but otherwise leave them alone. I have seen the AI walk MCed troopers to the Brain Room for summary execution and that's what you need to find. Once you know where the brain room is, make a mad dash for it with all your remaining troops. Kill anything in your way, but it doesn't matter how many troopers you end the mission with, so feel free to leave a few behind for suppressive fire if you know you'll have extra. Once you get to the door of the brain chamber, you have two options. You can storm the heavily guarded brain chamber, take heavy losses, and maybe succeed, or you can fire an explosive weapon into the ceiling and blow the brain up from below. The brain is positioned right above the doorway, and only needs to be damaged once to be killed. A Large Rocket or Blaster Bomb should do the trick. A Rocket Tank or Launcher Hovertank also can do enough damage to overcome the brain's damage rating of 40. I recommend blowing it up from below. Once the brain has been damaged, end the turn, and you win!

Cydonia Tips

• Don't lose your Launcher Hovertank if you took one. It's invaluable for destruction until the ammo is gone, even if only on direct-fire.
• Discard any weapon or item you no longer need or can reload. If you don't have a reload for that Blaster Launcher, there's no point hauling it the thing with you.
• Use explosives liberally. Especially on Sectopods.
• Even a wounded agent or damaged tank can win the mission. Keep everyone alive as long as possible.
• Kill all enemies you can afford to, to keep your troops Morale up. That said, don't go out of your way to kill enemies in Cydonia 2. It's only a matter of time until you run out of troops, and killing all enemies doesn't win the mission.

Final Notes

In progress.

X-COM Turn Order

Just a brief summary of how the turns proceed in the game, starting with the beginning of the mission. Any suggestions or corrections are appreciated. Events occur in the order listed, at least, to the best of my/our knowledge.

Before X-COM Turn Begins

• Fatal Wound check.
• "Anyone alive?" check for both sides. If failed by aliens, mission ends in success; if failed by X-COM, mission ends in failure. If both sides pass, continue.
• Doors that automatically close are closed, like UFO doors in UFO and the Triton's hatch in TFTD. Any auto-closing doors that were open during an earlier save may not close again if the game is reloaded.

Beginning of X-COM Turn

• Mind Controlled soldiers returned to X-COM control.
• Panic/Berserk check.
• Stun damage decremented.
• Player takes turn.

Before Alien Turn Begins

• Mind Controlled Aliens returned to Alien control.
• "Anyone alive?" check for both sides. If failed by aliens, mission ends in success; if failed by X-COM, mission ends in failure. If both sides pass, continue.

Beginning of Alien Turn

• Panic/Berserk check.
• Stun damage decremented.
• AI takes turn.

Other stuff

Leave any suggestions for me or tasks you want me to do here under this heading, and I'll get to them as I have time.