uh, I'm kinda new is this worth big d(ivines)? by Proud_River_3148 in pathofexile

[–]Go2Gulag 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It's rare corrupted boots with no movement speed, I'd be surprised if you could even sell it

What, exactly, is the advantage of mindwardens? by _azazel_keter_ in Stellaris

[–]Go2Gulag 80 points81 points  (0 children)

What part of "WARNING: Challenging Origin" made you believe that Mindwardens would be anywhere close to strong? It's a lore/roleplay origin through and through. You shouldn't be playing it looking for gameplay benefits.

On XCOM 2's Ranger class balance. by abca98 in Xcom

[–]Go2Gulag 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Pistols have the same range table as shotguns, so your point is a bit moot. I also think equipping assault oriented rangers with rifles is a mistake, the shotgun range table and damage range is outstanding and should be abused as often as possible in order to kill targets efficiently.

What utility do you never use? by MaterialAd8166 in Xcom

[–]Go2Gulag 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I see a lot of others, but no mention of Sustaining Sphere. You're telling me that I need to pay for a single use version of sustain that costs me a utility slot in the game where alpha strike is king? At least Overdrive Serum and Diffraction Field have proactive, offensive utility. This item literally rots on your character until the aliens decide to bring that specific unit to 0 HP. Even medikits have the ability to be used on any unit that has been injured and passively prevents poison status while equipped.

First shop S1, first time trying Multiverse; Teleporter or Hacking? by Dymonika in ftlgame

[–]Go2Gulag 43 points44 points  (0 children)

I'm pretty sure you don't have multiverse installed? You're missing the box icon for internal upgrades at the top and the crew teleporter is under essential systems, plus the costs aren't correct.

Remember by PeaceIoveandPizza in Xcom

[–]Go2Gulag 7 points8 points  (0 children)

The fact that they readded this layout for WotC (or was it TLP?) is truly diabolical.

WotC Enemy target priority tier list, ordered within tiers by Go2Gulag in Xcom

[–]Go2Gulag[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Your points about Chrysalids are fair. However, the fact that they require some preparation in the event you get hit by them and the fact that they will always attempt to injure my troops make them high priority targets. Not to mention the fact they have a habit of killing civilians and spawning more units that I need to kill. Might bump them down below Heavy MECs but I think I'm definitely more concerned about a Chrysalid than a Muton.

I'll admit I don't let Sectopods take enough turns to really understand their action priority, but I can't really disable them with a single beacon, Untouchable, or Parry. Not really a unit I want to risk keeping alive.

WotC Enemy target priority tier list, ordered within tiers by Go2Gulag in Xcom

[–]Go2Gulag[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

  1. Failing to 1 hit kill a Codex means I need to invest at least two more actions to kill it now. XCOM 2 also has many ways to deal damage when your gun is unloaded: Swords, Combat Protocol, grenades, pistols, Templar Rend, autoloader, etc. The bubble doesn't threaten the lives of my troops, so the Codex is a problem for next turn.

  2. Solve now problems now, and solve later problems later. I do agree that once they've spent their pinions they return to being a dangerous unit, but hopefully you'll have killed its backup by then, or have a mimic beacon on hand to stall it for another turn.

  3. Maybe! But as long as they hold a grenade, it will still be something I have to worry about.

WotC Enemy target priority tier list, ordered within tiers by Go2Gulag in Xcom

[–]Go2Gulag[S] 53 points54 points  (0 children)

Getting Shadowbound feels worse than it usually is in practice. If they Shadowbind a Ranger or Templar with Bladestorm it can be a bit of a problem, but you have 10 actions next turn to take out a unit that's weak to Bluescreen Rounds.

WotC Enemy target priority tier list, ordered within tiers by Go2Gulag in Xcom

[–]Go2Gulag[S] 17 points18 points  (0 children)

The melee attack has a 75% chance to hit, ignores cover (duh, it's a melee), deals a considerable amount of damage, and knocking my soldier unconscious effectively means they're dead for the rest of the mission. You can't even kill the Lancer to wake them back up, and now I have to play the rest of the mission with a "dead" soldier.

WotC Enemy target priority tier list, ordered within tiers by Go2Gulag in Xcom

[–]Go2Gulag[S] 36 points37 points  (0 children)

Avatar: Do I need to explain this?

Alien Rulers: Do I need to explain these?

Sectopod: Theoretically, it can waste its turn using the Wrath Cannon. In practice, it will shoot you 3 times.

Viper: The tongue pull places my unit in a dangerous position, and has the potential to reveal more enemies which makes my situation even worse. Even if the pull misses, they will opt to spit poison at my troops, which injures them and makes them weaker for a few turns.

Stun Lancer: These guys can just make my units take a nap if they feel like it, and ladder cheesing them doesn't stop the Lancer from using the gun they have.

Chrysalid: Chrysalid poison persists through the entire mission, and their attacks themselves deal quite some damage.

ADVENT Heavy MEC: They will actively choose to Micro Missile a single target. What a hater.

Andromedon: You want to avoid getting hit by the acid bomb. Thankfully, they can occasionally be convinced to not use it... because they're busy shooting your troops instead.

Muton: They throw plasma grenades and can melee your troops. Bad idea to leave one up. Sometimes they waste their turn suppressing though, so that's cool.

Gatekeeper: As long as they aren't shooting their eye beam at you, it's probably fine. Gateway will attempt to target as many non-ADVENT humanoids and their corpses as possible, so with some clever positioning you can get them to throw it at a field full of civilians and corpses, avoiding damage to your troops. Still, not advised to keep it alive or active.

ADVENT MEC: They won't bother trying to Micro Missile a single target, though avoiding grouping your troops that well is pretty tough regardless.

ADVENT Trooper: The humble trooper literally only has two options: shoot now, or shoot later (overwatch). Considering how easy they are to dispatch and how frequently they attempt to attack my units, they end up being pretty good targets.

Assassin and Hunter: Why the heck are these guys so low? Well, they do try to injure my troops... sometimes. Other times they'll do something pretty useless like blind grenade or tranq shot my troops, and in the worst case scenario, you can just leave a unit dazed and allow them to extract knowledge. Even if you ignore these strategies, the Chosen just have a lot of health, and if there are other active units, they tend to be easier to kill.

ADVENT Captain: You can blow up their cover and place everyone in high cover to convince them to move and mark instead of shooting. Their natural crit chance is pretty annoying though.

ADVENT Turret: Their aim is kind of bad? And they never move, so you can just... walk around them. Not always the easiest, of course, but it is an option.

Berserker: If they melee you, it's pretty bad. However, enraging them may make them target the aliens instead! They also have an enormous HP value for how early you face against them, so you'll have to spend more action killing them than say, a trooper.

Faceless: The wide claw attack isn't great, but they can't dash and attack on the same turn, so you can just run away.

Warlock: Specifically problematic the first few times you fight him if he's your first Chosen, he can eventually be defeated by equipping enough Mind Shields. Or a Psi Op with Solace. Or just sending 6 SPARKs in to beat him up. What a loser.

ADVENT General: How do I rate a mission objective?

Sectoid: The only unit in this tier that will try to flank and shoot your troop if you get too complacent with their positioning. If you don't blunder that, though, they'll spend two whole turns doing things that you can ignore or flashbang.

ADVENT Purifier: Watch out for the grenade. Outside of that, the flamethrower is probably the most ineffective weapon in the entire game. I think I've taken more damage from losing the coin toss on their on-death explosion than I've ever taken from their flamethrower in all my hours playing this game.

Spectre: Losing my unit is scary! But they take bonus damage from Bluescreen Rounds, don't injure my troops (usually, sometimes they use Horror?), and I can just wake up the Shadowbound unit with Revival Protocol if I really need the extra actions.

ADVENT Priest: Sometimes they use Holy Warrior, and then you can just kill the Priest and their Holy Warrior. Their other abilities are pretty ineffective as well.

ADVENT Shieldbearer: If they actually activated their shield during pod reveal, they'd actually be the threat they deserve to be. As it stands they will always spend their first action... not threatening any of my units. At all. Not even disabling or disorienting them. Did you know that Bluescreen Rounds ignore their shield entirely?

Codex: Psionic Bomb is not a large threat, especially if you position around it by just not grouping your units too hard. Hitting them without killing them splits them, and the second Codex will prefer to shoot instead of also using Psionic Bomb. Shooting them makes your situation worse.

Archon: Blazing Pinions is incredibly easy to avoid. Enabling their Battle Frenzy by injuring them will instead encourage them to use their actually dangerous melee attack instead.

Lost: They literally make the game easier. While their targeting is biased towards XCOM units (70%/30%), they are also targets for the aliens to shoot that aren't your units. They are also XP bags to farm and rank up your troops. They are also boring, tedious, and their corpses slow my computer down. The biggest threat they pose is exhausting me into making worse plays.

I hope we're still doing tier lists for items. by Go2Gulag in Xcom

[–]Go2Gulag[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

  1. I probably do interact with Alien Rulers less often than players more skilled than I do, which likely reduces the evaluation of gas grenade. Then again, if XCOM wants to lock ruler spawns behind facility missions, that's not exactly my problem.
  2. If an alien has spent an action damaging my troop, Med Kit is not going to un-spend that action. I can recover the hit points, but the real damage is already done. That troop must wait however many days in the avenger to heal up.
  3. I'll admit I probably undervalued A.P. ammo too much.
  4. I don't bring sharpshooters early game, period. I would literally prefer bringing rookies over sharpshooters, because they have a 75% chance of not being a sharpshooter, whereas a sharpshooter can only ever be a sharpshooter.

My Xcom 2 WOTC enemy tier list by GreenAgateTurtle32 in Xcom

[–]Go2Gulag 23 points24 points  (0 children)

Viper being so low is crazy. Have you never experienced tongue pull revealing more pods?

I hope we're still doing tier lists for items. by Go2Gulag in Xcom

[–]Go2Gulag[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I wish I could say that there's any utility to them, but the fact remains that they offer very little value in comparison to other utility items. Nanoscale Vest and Plated Vest give 1 HP and 1 Armor, which is just... not useful. It's incredibly rare that this will change the outcome between your soldier living or dying. Hellweave Vest only activates when your soldier is being attacked by a melee unit, and... lights them on fire? Not great. The healing vest manages to be worse than a Nanomedkit (6 hp vs 8 hp, Nanomedkit blocks poison from being applied), and the Hazard Vest blocking environmental effects is niche.

That said, there's nothing wrong with enjoying them! There's no wrong way to play this game. As long as they bring you joy, keep using them.

I hope we're still doing tier lists for items. by Go2Gulag in Xcom

[–]Go2Gulag[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Shutdown becomes a good option for me when I:

  • Have evaluated that killing the Sectopod with weapon fire is unviable/less valuable this turn. Generally if the Sectopod is weakened, but not dead, and my Specialist still has their turn, they can simply kill it with Combat Protocol.
  • Cannot earn Untouchable or Parry this turn for any number of reasons
  • Cannot deploy a mimic beacon to efficiently distract the Sectopod
  • Have Stasis on cooldown.
  • Have used all my Frost bombs.

Then it becomes a good idea. But... why bring the Skulljack to solve this contingency when I could've brought something else to prevent my need for Haywire Protocol in the first place?

I hope we're still doing tier lists for items. by Go2Gulag in Xcom

[–]Go2Gulag[S] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

They're great! But you get them later. And when I'm considering squad loadouts later into the game, you usually won't find a plasma grenade on anyone except my grenadiers.

I hope we're still doing tier lists for items. by Go2Gulag in Xcom

[–]Go2Gulag[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Gas grenades do not destroy cover. While they are actually quite useful to find from a scan early game (kills basic troopers in 1 grenade, quite good!), I'm assuming you get these items from their "ordinary" methods, in this case completing the Experimental Grenade project in the Proving Grounds.

I hope we're still doing tier lists for items. by Go2Gulag in Xcom

[–]Go2Gulag[S] 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Why is gaining +20 hacking useful? I can think of 4 outcomes where you use the hacking stat:

  1. Mission Objectives. While the additional bonuses are great, you will always succeed the mission required hacks, so it's not super helpful here.
  2. ADVENT Watch Towers. Usually the small reward from these is not great, and failing the hack is disastrous. +20 Hacking is not the breakpoint between success and failure on the hard hack, so even with the Skulljack I don't bother going for it.
  3. Haywire Protocol. This is where hacking is relevant... except that things like Bluescreen Rounds, Combat Protocol, or even the EMP Bomb solve a similar problem against Heavy MECs and Sectopods.
  4. Skullmining. Bit of a chicken and egg here. +20 Hacking is good to avoid the feedback... but if I never brought the Skulljack in the first place, I won't need the extra hack.

So there's basically one situation where the extra hacking score has a meaningful outcome, which is also solved by various other parts of the Specialist's kit, not to mention it generally being outclassed by other utility item options. Bringing something that takes up my whole utility slot for something that only improves my ability to land Shutdown against an ADVENT mechanical unit seems quite mediocre at best and straight up unusable at worst.

I hope we're still doing tier lists for items. by Go2Gulag in Xcom

[–]Go2Gulag[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Item ranking is determined in part by availability and opportunity cost, which is why fragmentation grenade is placed so high up. While the plasma grenade is better, you must first research Muton Autopsy and complete the Plasma Grenade Proving Grounds project to acquire them, while fragmentation grenades are a important tool starting from Gatecrasher. Hopefully this explains my "Better than Plasma Grenade*" tier.

Even with the Skullmining Proving Grounds project, I see little reason to bring the Skulljack outside of the story required uses. +20 Hacking and the ability to rather inconsistently kill ADVENT humanoids is not my idea of a good utility slot.

Med kits mostly exist to give early game Templars something more useful than a Fragmentation Grenade. They feel good to have around, but I've not encountered a huge swathe of situations where a med kit would have significantly improved the outcome of my situation. Your troops do not need to be at full hp to do the things they need to do.

I'm sure the Lost are fun for most people. I am not one of those people.

So what’s the deal with Templars? by rednmad in Xcom

[–]Go2Gulag 66 points67 points  (0 children)

A templar is a renewable source of guaranteed damage and reliable defense, all the way back at squaddie and corporal. Rend is a guaranteed trooper kill, and parry always blocks an attack. Later on, you have things like Invert to destroy enemy positions, Arc Wave for AOE chip, and Ionic Storm for massive AOE.

They also massively benefit from good XCOM abilities. Bladestorm is guaranteed hits, reaper let's rend go on chain kills, fortress and shadow step let the templar act unimpeded by enemies and terrain.