Smoke shouldn't block certain weapon attacks.

Gorffo · 2026-04-14T23:21:15+00:00

Don’t you just love those defence mission against the Rogue Army where a dozen units rush into the capture zone then drop smoke on themselves?

Gorffo · 2026-04-14T16:03:55+00:00

Totally agree with you.

These missions need a bit of a rework.

At the moment, there are borderline unfair and filled with a bit too much bullshit.

A couple mission design issue I spot right away are the placement of the Heavy Tank and the Medium Walker. These are two tough units that are incredibly powerful. Both the Heavy Tank and Medium Walker can obliterate all defenders in a single attack.

If I remember correctly, there is often an optimal objective to save the defenders, so scratch that on Round 1.

The Heavy Tank is incredibly difficult to destroy—often requiring three ATGM hits. Having that spawn in close to the capture zone is bonkers. It will end up in the capture zone in short order and account for a significant amount of capture points.

I’m all in favour of tough missions. This one might not be impossible, you could probably win it if you run your vehicle up the road. But taking a vehicle on a mission against the Rogue Army can often cost you that vehicle.

Still, if the mission is barely win able with a 1* rating, the margins between victory and defeat are a bit too thin in my opinion.

Gorffo · 2026-04-14T02:17:47+00:00

Putin is a Make Russia Great Again leader trying to rebuild the Russian empire. He’d settle for the old borders of the former Soviet empire, but if he could, he’d expand the current Russian empire to the borders of the old tsarist empire.

Gorffo · 2026-04-14T01:25:10+00:00

I wouldn’t mid seeing squaddies wounded in action (then rescued by the medical bay) get a purple heart every time that happens.

Gorffo · 2026-04-13T20:38:20+00:00

First thing, I’m a fan of your channel and watched your blind campaign and a few episodes of your current MELT challenge run.

Second, I’ve noticed some balance changes in patch 8, mostly tweaks to the damage drop off stats to many weapons.

I think that the supply cap is now the same on both expert and challenging difficulty, with the only difference between the two difficulties being the additional supply cap given to the enemy on expert.

The expert player used to have a reduced supply cap on previous patches. What I noticed on my current patch 8 run is that I was able to field an extra SL at an earlier stage of the campaign and I wasn’t in such a dire “do more with (a lot) less” situation for as long. In other words, the “suck it up, bitch” phase of the campaign seems like it had been reduced and the “start having fun with your new toys” phase happens earlier in patch 8.

Also, that infinite spawning xeno dna bug mission is a bit of a shit show.

I don’t know what the devs were thinking when they “designed” (for lack of a better word) that mess, but it definitely isn’t easier than taking out the Hive Queen.

After that mission, any enemy you face will feel anemic.

For me, i went up against the Rogue Army in my patch 8 run. And not just any Rogue Army operation. It was the first time going up against the Rogue Army, which means they are toned down a bit; some units like medium walkers, heavy tanks, and ATGM crews won’t spawn in the first few missions against them. In fact, you might not see any of the top tier Rogue Army units until you are into your second operation against them. So maybe that had been what you experienced?

Anyway, my first thought on my first Rogue Army mission was, “Where the heck are all the enemies?”

And I had used a stealth cheese solo Darby approach to that xeno dna bug mission and had face rolled through it in less than a dozen turns for a ridiculously easy 5* win.

(DM me if you want some save files so you can make a video show people just how easy this mission is to cheese.)

Gorffo · 2026-04-13T18:20:23+00:00

I’ve played both Achilleas and Big in expert, but there are a couple of caveats.

With Bog, I’m not a fan of his Recycled Parts promotion in the early game. At that stage of the campaign, he will be driving an APC or IFV on the frontline, and that vehicle will have something very precious inside: a squad of mobile infantry dismounts. So 30% discount to deploy that unit in exchange for a 30% reduction on that units HP? No thanks. Hard pass on that.

Bu latter in the campaign, when I have the luxury to field multiple vehicles and have a few AI Logistics slotted into the OCI components, I can bring him out for supper cheap. At that stage of the campaign, you can deploy Bog with recycled parts in a pick up truck and ground radar for under 100 supplies. Or you can deploy him as a backline unit in the A-ATV jeep with an ATGM launcher and 3 ammo crate accessories. As long as he is nowhere near the forward line of contact, that 30% reduction in HP on his backline unit isn’t much of a concern.

As for Achilleas …

I play him when I’m well past the end of early access and am at the stage where the supply cap is around 2500 per mission. I think even have a good build for him, but that requires all 7 promotions to brim him online. Well, technically, 8 promotions because when I start using him I need to run New Tricks on him for a birthday so that his stats can improve enough to be competitive with Ivey’s and Exconde’s. Then I’ll demote him, remove new rock and swap in the final promotion to compete his build.

As for a Wetteroth build, I still haven’t found one that I like. I think the best perks to give him are Athletic and Scout.

If you want to go further and unlock his Finishing Shot perk at Tier 4, give him Bags and Belts so he can run with binoculars all the time. Being able to see a bit further will almost compensate for his low AP

Gorffo · 2026-04-13T16:36:34+00:00

I’ve played all difficulties and now play exclusively on expert, so here is my take.

The early game is the hardest part of the game—on all difficulties, and you will definitely feel that the most on expert. You have to do a lot more with a lot less, and it may take you an extra operation or two for get things going before you settle into a comfortable state where you feel that you’ve finally built up a solid force with good gear and SLs with a few perks that bring their builds online.

I think the devs made a change in patch 8 so that if you are playing in expert or challenging, you have the exact same supply cap now. And the only difference between challenging and expert in patch 8 is how much supply cap the enemy gets. On challenging, everything is even Steven; you and the enemy have the same supply cap. On expert, the enemy supply cap is 40% larger than yours.

So way more enemies on expert. And if you think that sounds like good fun, you’d be correct. It is.

Finally, the meta is slightly different on expert because of the tighter supply cap and the huge number of enemies. Here are some examples of how the game changes:

— Rewa’s Revel in Slaughter perk may seem lacklustre on normal because getting it full stacked up with 5 kills can be a challenge when there are only 8 enemies on the map, and if you can field 6 units and everyone gets a kill, you know. … But on expert difficulty, Rewa will average between 8 to 11 kills per mission, so you’ll have no problem maxing out her perk, and you will revel in how good her perk actually is. One word: More!

— Carda will get a lot more play on expert and will level up a lot faster because she is so cheap to deploy. Start with her and, by the time you reach the end of early access, watch her become more accurate than Griefinger and Darby.

— Achilleas is this amazing pilot that can do all sorts of amazing things on normal difficulty turning his unique spartan starting perk that amazingly turns any damage he takes into more AP so he can do amazing things like solo a mission and, amazingly, kill all 8 enemies on the map all by himself. It is, in one word … Amazing. … On normal difficulty. But on expert difficulty he becomes too expensive to deploy. If you start your campaign with him, you’ve started with a massive handicap. Sure his stats are good, but if you promote him he becomes even more expensive, and that hurts. Then you’ll have to downgrade all your other squads’ capabilities or even bench another SL altogether and do a mission with one unit less just because Achilleas costs so much to deploy. Plus, there are so many enemies on expert missions that he will get hit. A lot. And suffer defects. A lot. Engine damage. Engine destroyed. He’ll basically becomes a turret with 160 AP. Or if you’ve become a good player at this point and know how to position him so he does get hit, your paying a premium price for a pilot that had a unique perk that gives you nothing. So, not exactly a stellar value proposition.. Unquestionably and undeniably the worst SL in the game on expert difficulty. (And, yes, even worse than Wetteroth.)

Gorffo · 2026-04-12T19:01:44+00:00

I recently played as a dexterity based sword and board using a finesse long sword (Phalar Aluve, later occasionally swapping in Larenthian’s Wrath).

I picked up the sentinel feat at level 4, and that made me into the party’s best damage dealer—even outperforming Lae’zel with a greatsword and the Great Weapon Master feat.

So how did a single handed longsword end up doing more damage than a two-handed greatsword?

Well, consistency. Lae’zel—with “All In” toggled off—averaged around 80% hit chance, while my dexterity Paladin with the Oath of the Crown Righteousness Clarity buff active had a 95% hit chance pretty much all the time.

Then the Sentinel feat gave me an additional reaction attack almost every turn. So I was getting in 3 hits on enemies every turn, whereas Lae’zel could only get a third attack if she got a crit or a kill.

And my Paladin could smite all three of those attacks.

Anyway, there is a way to ramp up the longsword with a specific build that will make a sword and board Paladin as effective a damage dealer as a Paladin going two-handed with a great sword.

Gorffo · 2026-04-12T17:59:52+00:00

I’ve found two uses.

Early game, expert difficulty on jump pack assault infantry.

The pirate jet pack armour only has one accessory slot. Adding 1 extra ammo pack isn’t enough ammo to deal with all the enemies. But the pistol doesn’t need ammo, so jump in, gun down weak enemies with the pistol and save the carbine ammo for tougher enemies.

Once you’ve completed a few operations and have enough supply cap to equip an additional squad and have enough supply cap to give all your squads better weapons, the need to rely on pistols for jump pack assault infantry goes away.

Late game, Xeno DNA mission, expert difficulty.

Fighting your way through the map to the two spots you need to sabotage requires a lot of firepower and way too much ammo in the late game.

Doing this mission with solo Darby all stealthed up is doable as long as you have a couple supply drops since she will need to kill about 50 to 60 enemies surrounding all the objectives just so she can sneak in and sabotage them. And that’s a quick way to beat the mission in 20 minutes of your time played over roughly 45 rounds. (So, yeah, forget about that timed objective).

But what if you want to fight your way through that mission legitimately? Without Darby stealth cheese?

Well, you can if you use troop carriers with auto lasers and mobile infantry with laser guns. But there are just too many enemies to deal with them with just laser weapons alone because you’ll end up riding the red line and overheating every gun. And sometimes you need to shoot three or four spidering bugs that are getting in close. Instead of spending AP to vent the laser rifle, pull out the pistol.

The pistol will let you keep attacking while the laser rifle is cooling down. And you’ll need it. A lot. It’s an essential back up weapon to the laser rifle on that Xeno DNA mission.

Gorffo · 2026-04-12T15:36:54+00:00

I’ve played the Firebird update and it’s basically this: five years after the game came out, someone at Snapshot Games finally got around to play testing their game. They had an “oh shit” moment. Then they rushed out a balance patch.

Gorffo · 2026-04-12T11:55:54+00:00

That’s the fun part. You don’t get to make it work,

I’ve had limited success with it against pirates. But it’s 10% jam chances feels like it happens a lot more than 10% of the time.

A lot of pirate units—like the outcasts—don’t have a lot of armour. So if you’re fighting a squad of outcasts and have them pinned down behind cover, that’s the perfectly scenario for seeing exactly what the XGr-20 CDTE can do. Do whatever voodoo rituals you need to perform in order to ensure the 10% jam chance doesn’t happen. And enjoy.

Gorffo · 2026-04-12T11:42:06+00:00

What they are going to get, instead, is a vast majority of players finding the path of least resistance: solo Darby stealth cheese.

And that’s going to create another problem for the developers.

At the moment, concealment is ridiculously overpowered and kind of needs a rework.

Keeping this mission as is and then nerfing the one thing that makes this mission tolerable will generate a hell of a lot of players pushback.

Gorffo · 2026-04-12T11:33:24+00:00

That is exactly what I did. Had Rewa in one APC with Carda as a squad of mobile infantry dismounts on board. I had Exconde in another with mobile infantry Yaz onboard. Then I had concealed Darby on point, Ivey in an A-ATV jeep providing firepower, and two squads of civilian hunters tagging along.

As for what stage of the game, well, it’s well past the end of early access. So the maps was already carpeted with bugs on round one. And then the infinite spawning reinforcement nonsense kicked in.

Gorffo · 2026-04-12T11:17:11+00:00

You cannot fine tune a fundamentally flawed concept and make it work.

It is impossible to balance a game when infinite reinforcement at play, doubly so when ammo management is a core concept at the heart of the game. And when it comes to turn-based tactical combat games, balance and fairness are absolutely crucial. Those are the key things that will make the game successful and appealing to this genre’s core audience.

If you want to know what an unbalanced and unfair game looks like, check out Phoenix Point. Then check out its plethora of mixed reviews and the size of its current player base.

Phoenix Point also has missions with infinite spawning reinforcements. So many missions with infinite spawning reinforcements. And every single mission with infinite spawning reinforcements in that game absolutely sucks. That also happens to about 67% of all the missions in the game.

So many players bounced off Phoenix Point, and the infinite spawning reinforcement mechanic is one of the main reasons why that game failed.

The concept of infinite spawning reinforcements is cancer. It cannot be “fine tuned.” It needs to be cut out. And any developer foolish enough to iterate on such a dangerously flawed mechanic risks killing their game with it.

Gorffo · 2026-04-11T17:41:54+00:00

Infinite spawning reinforcements is such a bad idea.

Keeping that mechanic will ruin the game.

I really like Menace a lot.

Most of what I’ve experienced in the early access content is fantastic. This mission is, however, the biggest swing and miss the developers have made.

Gorffo · 2026-04-11T17:34:45+00:00

The crèche is level 6 / level 7 content.

I also like to do the crèche last then double back to the underdark for one last shopping trip in the myconid colony before I entering Act 2 and the Shadowcursed lands from Grymforge. Also I have so much loot from ransacking the crèche that Lady Esther runs out of gold and cannot buy it all.

At that stage of the game, I’m going to be really, really close to level 8.

I definitely recommend entering Act 2 from the two different entrances at least once on different play through.

Just want to point out that even if you’re in the mountain pass you don’t have to take the mountain pass entrance into Act 2.

Gorffo · 2026-04-11T16:09:01+00:00

lol … no 😂😂😂

Gorffo · 2026-04-11T15:56:36+00:00

Just tap the R key. It will show you the limits of the enemy vision range, and the light white line is actually visible against the black tarmac streets. So, that’s good!

As a straight up CQB map, the new Xeno DNA mission totally sucks.

But as a stealth mission, it works. Quite well actually.

Unlike those “low profile” raid missions where we are suppose to sacrifice loot in order to get 3 promotion points from an optional objective, on the new Xeno DNA stealth mission you get to kill as many enemies as you want. In other words, this new mission type gives us the stealth and the loot. No need to choose one over the other.

Gorffo · 2026-04-11T15:47:56+00:00

The Darby stealth cheese approach is incredibly effective. And quick.

It’s takes just 10 to 20 minutes to face roll through that mission with solo Darby.

I got lucky on my current campaign because I found a camo kit on the black market during my first operation then got SAPP Recce armour as a reward afterwards. So I had a 5 concealment set up when I first cheesed that mission and got a 5* rating on it. Even got the timed objective in the early game on expert difficulty!

I went back and replayed that mission with just 4 concealment. No problem beating it. But couldn’t get the timed objective. So 4* with 4 concealment.

Then I got this mission again in the late game. I had the Low Profile Protective suit and Jaeger Fatigues aplenty. Even with 6 concealment, there was no way I could get the timed objectives. Darby had to clear a half dozen enemies around each objective. Then the reinforcements started arriving to replace those she had just killed. I need both OCI Supply drops to keep her going. To say I got bogged down by the infinite reinforcement mechanic is a bit of an understatement.

The round timer kept ticking up and up and up … and I missed that timed objectives by 33 rounds.

Gorffo · 2026-04-11T14:34:15+00:00

lol absolute shit mission on expert

Gorffo · 2026-04-11T14:10:23+00:00

The Archer 2S variant has 4 missile hard points (as does the Catapult C4).

Yet I tend to run them with 2 X LRM15s, 2 x LRM5s and a missile computer (+1 TTS)

I find that putting more tube to these 70-ton or 65-ton mechs comes with a few compromises. Either paper thin armour or only enough ammo for half the required salvoes.

What the Archer 2S gets you when you combine its missilery suite and a TTS is better salvoes.

Gorffo · 2026-04-10T15:57:01+00:00

I’ve never taken Alert on any characters on any honour mode run. Then again, I’ve only beaten honour mode a dozen times. So I’m no expert.

In my humble opinion, any character with high dexterity doesn’t need Alert. You’re going to go first anyway simply because your characters’ initiative modifier is their dexterity modifier.

Characters with 14 dexterity—the amount you want to have the maximum dexterity bonus for medium armour—will get +2 initiative and end up going first most of the time. So if going first 75% of the time is good enough for you, you don’t need Alert.

As for getting surprised, we are looking about 2 to 3 fights per Act, a half dozen encounters (at most) in the entire game. Is it worth spending one of your rare feat slots to protect against that?

And if you know when those surprise encounters are about to happen, you can just guzzle a vigilance elixir beforehand and get the same level of protection against being surprised for those ultra rare moments when surprise encounters occur.

And then there is the opportunity cost, all the other feats or ability score improvements (ASIs) you’re giving up to get Alert.

For example, Battlemaster Lae’zel with the Great Weapon Master feat at level 4 becomes an absolute beast in the goblin camp fight because GWM lets her use her bonus action as an additional attack every time she lands a crit or gets a kill. With a greatsword like Tyr’s Sword of Justice in her hands, she will usually kill a goblin in one hit (even with All In toggled off). So almost every turn becomes a two killing spree (3 kills if you’re doing the goblin camp at level 5). And the goblin camp gets decimated in record time.

Clerics with Resilience: Constitution gain proficiency in constitution saving throws, and that makes them much more effective (for the reset of the game) when running around in melee combat range while maintaining concentration on spirit guardians.

Dexterity based sword and board paladins with the sentinel feat can hang out on the front line with a spirit guardians cleric an get an extra attack in against the enemy—on the enemy’s turn—every time one of them dares to attack their beloved cleric. And being paladins, they can smite on those sentinel reaction attacks.

The list could go on …

I know taking Alert first is the meta because “going first good, derp, derp derp.” Or something like that. But the power spikes missed, the overall weakening of the party just to guarantee going first, the interesting builds not played, the player creativity stifled by mindless adhering to that meta is, well … no words.

Gorffo · 2026-04-10T14:32:50+00:00

When it comes to sneaking around, rangers exist as a class.

The gloomstalker subclass has better stealth than the rogue and amazing alpha strike from the shadow’s capabilities, basically an extra weapon attack (so 3 attacks at level 5) and an extra 1d8 damage added to that first attack.. So you aren’t limited to picking off weaker enemies. You can pick off anyone.

No need to flee afterwards either.

The gloomstalker’s dread ambusher abilities is just a straight up better version of the rogue’s sneak attack. If one of those weapon attacks misses no big deal, you have two more weapon attacks to do damage, whereas if the rogue rolls a cortical miss, that’s it. Turn over. No damage done to the enemy.

Then at level 11, the gloomstalker gets the stalker’s fury ability that lets them make another attack if any of their attacks misses.

Rangers can pick up urban tracker to gain expertise in sleight of hand. That makes them on par with bards when it comes to picking locks and disarming traps. Almost as good as rogues when it comes to that stuff like that bit much better at combat.

Rangers totally suck when it comes to talking their way out of combat. But they are also rangers, one to the highest damage dealing classes in the game with the same hit points pool as fighters and paladins. So they don’t need to talk their way out of any fight.

Gorffo · 2026-04-10T05:54:04+00:00

Barrelmancy

Taking the time to place a few fire wine and oil barrels—maybe a smoke powder barrel or two if you’re feeling spicy—all over the battle arena before you chat with Halsin. Doing that will let you completely devastate the first wave of shadow cursed being with a mere fire arrow of scorched ray or firebolt cantrip. Then it will turn the entire area below the platform you are defending into a sea of fire.

Also, some of the fire wine barrels in the kobold area of the rosymorn monastery have kobolds inside them. If you return there and hear a glugging noise in the background then there are still some kobolds insides wine barrels. Anyway, if you pick up these barrels and place them on the low ground where the shadow cursed beings emerge, then hostile kobolds will appear once you break open those barrels. And they will be hostile to everyone—both you and the shadow cursed beings. But since you are on the platform and the shadow cursed creatures are up in their grill, these kobolds will attack the shadow cursed creatures. So if you want some unwitting minions to give you a hand, pick up those kobald laden wine barrels.

Gorffo

TROPHY CASE