Cash has been an issue as I'm no longer able to build anything. All my weapons are default. I have the option to research and make some laser stuff, but I don't have the time and money. I have a few nano suits and a couple of med kits. I have two satellites set up (China and Germany). Japan is on the brink of leaving and Egypt is requesting a satellite that will be completed and deployed with a few hours to spare. I have about 6 things I could research, but I keep getting new things from missions and I just pick whatever sounds nice. My vents are at the very bottom of the map so I have to build power things that are taking up precious real estate. I think that's all of the problematic stuff.

The good news is that the enemies have 3-5 bars of health so I can usually kill them in one shot. I've completed about 8 missions so far and my team usually gets out without anyone taking any damage (crawling pace across maps). I will have two new satellites ready to go before the end of the month for a total of 4. I can research the computer needed to build the satellite nexus and I have the spot picked out for it, but it will have to wait next month when I get paid.

I'm a bit worried about my Interceptors ability to kill UFOs as they have no upgrades currently on them, but I can buy boosts if needed. I'm not sure when I need to upgrade them.

Any advice on upgrade priorities or things I should research before the month ends in 14 days?

I wouldn't worry too much about your interceptors at the moment. There will be a time when you will need to upgrade, but that isn't for a while and should wait until your not so strapped for cash. I would suggest selling some things on the Gray Market if you haven't already, especially anything that is 'broken".

You will probably be fine soldier-wise as long as you are careful and don't be afraid to save mid-mission. Although I do think the laser weapons would be a decent investment if you're looking for short term benefits.

The biggest investment you should make though is satellites and their nexus's. They will get you that monthly funding and that much needed panic reduction. Also, the best tip I can give you regrading those is to wait until near the end of the month to launch a satellite. Panic is reduced immediately, and you will get the monthly funding even if its only been operational for a day.

@DaemonBlack said:

I wouldn't worry too much about your interceptors at the moment. There will be a time when you will need to upgrade, but that isn't for a while and should wait until your not so strapped for cash. I would suggest selling some things on the Gray Market if you haven't already, especially anything that is 'broken".

You will probably be fine soldier-wise as long as you are careful and don't be afraid to save mid-mission. Although I do think the laser weapons would be a decent investment if you're looking for short term benefits.

The biggest investment you should make though is satellites and their nexus's. They will get you that monthly funding and that much needed panic reduction. Also, the best tip I can give you regrading those is to wait until near the end of the month to launch a satellite. Panic is reduced immediately, and you will get the monthly funding even if its only been operational for a day.

I've run several "month simulations" to see what happens if I hold my satellites or if I spend my time doing this or that and if I don't deploy my satellites as soon as they're ready to go some country gets a terror mission and I've heard those are extra tough and I think my people are badly equipped to handle it. Although, is it good to get a terror mission because it gives good stuff? Does it give good stuff or should I prevent them from happening?

I've been able to easily tackle the first Alien with just normal weapons, but the Crysallids will give you the most challenge in my humble opinion. They just move so closely and to risk a shot from a distance without being able to move can put you in a terrible position. Other than that, just be extremely careful and don't ever dash.

About the interceptors, I wouldn't worry too much about upgrades before you get the hyper-weave. The ships you go up against are rarely a threat, especially if you have 2 docked and the one time use abilities stocked up. After the hyper weave, it's more about losing the UFO rather than getting shot down by it.

NOTE: Don't bother bringing Snipers. Although it may sound like a great decision, the closed quarters of the alien base don't really give a lot of firing space. I recommend mainly Assault (w/ rifles) and Heavy's.

ALL HEAVIES, NO MEDKITS

The Alien base is substantially harder than a terror mission at this point in the game, at the time that I did it on my Ironman Classic run I had 4 guys with Light Plasma Rifles and 2 Squadsight snipers, most of my regulars were injured but I needed to reduce panic worldwide so I went with Corporals and Sergeants instead of Captains and Majors and came out unscathed. Squadsight is quite useful in the Alien Base, no clue why someone would tell you otherwise, you just have to get familiar with the terrain and utilize elevated positions whilst moving slowly forward. The penultimate room is utterly massive and usually has 10-12 enemies and you can cover the entire thing from an elevated position with squadsight.

@golguin: Don't worry too much, I did the first base with all default equipment (maybe one or two pieces of carapace armor). It just means be VERY cautious and don't take chances.

@Undeadpool said:

@golguin: Don't worry too much, I did the first base with all default equipment (maybe one or two pieces of carapace armor). It just means be VERY cautious and don't take chances.

A month and a half has passed since the Alien Base mission and I haven't researched the Hyperwave Relay because I hear stuff gets serious after that. I have just completed research on plasma rifles, which unlocked the 4 I picked up from captured aliens. That is the only upgrade any of my characters have picked as I can't afford spending things on unneeded weapons and armor if I keep completing missions. The only real buff for my dudes is the $200 Iron Will perk that apparently is needed if I want psychic dudes, but I don't even have the money to build the place for that.

I don't know how long the game lasts or what story missions unlock new enemies, but I feel crunched on putting up new satellites (currently at 6/10) and finally researching the firestorm (7 days left) so I can get some real air support. I was invaded by a large UFO one day after my last save and all I had was the default Interceptor. I kept getting shot down and transferring my two other interceptors to the area didn't work as they couldn't get here in time. I went all in and sold off some UFO power sources to afford building a phoenix cannon, an aim buff, and a dodge buff to finally take it down.

I believe its May in my game and I don't know how many more "main story missions" are left. Are they all triggered by researching priority things?

If I remember correctly, most missions at this point in the game will be triggered by research, or other obvious events. You can choose when to move forward. If you have all of your satellites up, don't worry too much about them. They will be fine. Take some time to make sure your best squad members are all colonels, and have a few guys ready to jump in as back up. Don't worry about having all psychic dudes. Unless you really want to, I guess.

@ck1nd said:

NOTE: Don't bother bringing Snipers.

I disagree. Have one sniper with squad sight can be extremely valuable.

@golguin: They are. The game doesn't proceed until the Hyperwave Relay is researched, but be careful as the events can become frequent enough to make it impossible to keep all the nations from leaving. If you're that strapped for cash, start selling your spare alien corpses/equipment (and always check to make sure you're not accidentally keeping anything that's labelled "No research benefit").

Going in to the Alien Base for the first time. I might be over-equipped but I didn't want to get steamrolled. Titan suits, plasmas and lasers. Don't Dash and overwatch is your friend :P

Nope still kicking my butt. The aliens are not afraid to use grenades on this mission. Finished it once but lost 2 of my col. so I'm replaying in hopes of getting everyone out alive. Bringing a Support class now, but still tough. I wonder if this scales to the level of your squad, either way it's been the most challenging mission thus far.

I went into the first alien base today pretty much straight after unlocking it. All I had was like two carapace armor and only like level 2 and 3 soldiers. Obviously I failed miserably. Pretty frustrating considering the game constantly urged me to go there, saying how important it is. Then I get there and have to go up against multiple packs of three chrysalids. My guys need about 4 shots to kill one. Even being extremely cautious doesn't matter because they move faster than my guys so I can't even dash away. I like hard games a lot but this game is just unfair in the worst way.

@daigen said:

Going in to the Alien Base for the first time. I might be over-equipped but I didn't want to get steamrolled. Titan suits, plasmas and lasers. Don't Dash and overwatch is your friend :P

Nope still kicking my butt. The aliens are not afraid to use grenades on this mission. Finished it once but lost 2 of my col. so I'm replaying in hopes of getting everyone out alive. Bringing a Support class now, but still tough. I wonder if this scales to the level of your squad, either way it's been the most challenging mission thus far.

I went in with essentially default equipment and 6 dudes and took them out pretty well. My two snipers did the majority of the work since they could basically see everything from way back. There was a moment where 4 chrysalids ran right up to my assault girl Miria, but I had her pull back and let my two heavies rocket them to death. If I had only had 1 heavy things would have gone very bad right there.

EDIT: The trick was to move extremely slow and have everyone pull back once we ran into some baddies. The AI would move right into my snipers on overwatch and my crew would clean up.

Yeah wait til you hit a UFO Battleship-class, that's a WHOLE lot of fun

@Mercer said:

Yeah wait til you hit a UFO Battleship-class, that's a WHOLE lot of fun

/shudder