The Exquisite Corps: XCOM: Enemy Within - Part 14

"Donna Tello, is pretty green though" ~ Vinny 2017

That was a fantastic joke, that I don't even think you meant to tell. Cheers!

The Jank of War

BUILD A DANG FOUNDRY

Out of context, wrt the whole series:

Watching vanilla un-modded (unfixed) XCOM/XCOM2 is painful, I beat the campaign on normal before running harder ironmans with a lot of adjustments. Not as big of a fan of the base game without changes; shame as I've spent a lot of time fixing and playing the fixed version.

Godspeed and good luck.

Per the opening, I propose that all Mutons now be called Muttons.

"I did guud"

- Commander Russell 2017

@telfo: I have been screaming this internally, but also enjoying the lack of it in their run.

Someone's gonna build one, see all the enhancements they could've had all this time, and slap themselves on the forehead.

I should really replay this with the DLC. Those mecs looks pretty cool.

Hey @vinny, if a mission is an easy one you can also take the arc thrower along. Interrogating more aliens gives research and recovers their weapons intact.

@gregalor said:

I admire your optimism.

I haven't watched yet, but since there's hardly any comments I assume not much of note happens?

If it was a Dan episode there'd be 5 pages by now.

@purc: I always called them muttons

China Don’t Care

I can't believe they're still committed to spending two weeks on a rocket launcher upgrade instead of researching the Outsider shard. Alien Base Assault would've given them a chance at stopping a bunch of countries from pulling out. Hope that rocket launcher is worth that, plus the ten other things that could have been researched in its place (it's not). It's been nothing but spinning the globe for, what, a month at least?

They still get confused when they move a Heavy and then can't fire the rocket. I have no words.

I'm a little annoyed with Vinny giving too much advice (especially when he says he's going to cut back then immediately starts doing it again), but it's worse when his advice is wrong. "Oh, just have them shoot and then move." That's never been allowed Vinny! I know your not playing, but your the only one that's been there every session.

Still look forward to each episode though. Keep it up

@gregalor: To be fair to them, I don't think it's super specific about what the research unlocks.

I really like Alex' approach to this game. It's calculated, he thinks his options through before committing. Like, yeah, there are elements he forgets, but the man plays the game for an hour every three weeks. Considering that, I think he's doing dang good.

69% to hit
Vinny: "It's not terrible."
Alex: "It's pretty nice to me."

I also like how the real life Jason has lightning reflexes. Imagine him moving like a cat.
Donna Tello, best new character of 2017.

Hey China, what is your opinion on X-Com?

I feel like Vinny did a bit of a better job with just giving advice/suggestions this time without telling Alex what to do. It still takes a lot of reminding and talking things through since they play so infrequently.

Really glad to see them using lightning reflexes properly. That ability is awesome.

Alex segments are the best. Can't wait until that dumb research is done so that they can actually move on in the game. :p

I love that this comment has been on almost every one of these videos. I hope it continues even if they build one. It feels like tradition now.

Hey Comments section - is Chosen a necessary purchase to get the most of out XCom 2?

I beat FiraXcom at release and didn't mind it, but the mechanical limitations compared to classic XCom or other successors turned me off that I never came back for Enemy Within.

I bought XCom 2 at release planning to play it, but never did.

If this series has put me back in an XCom mood - do I want to pick up Chosen before I dive into 2?

Just a tip guys. Snipers with Squad Sight are best served in high perches like rooftops and second floor windows at a distance. They can high very far away and the height helps limit things obstructing their vision. Plus the high ground bonus of course.

Vinny, how are you fourteen episodes in and can't remember that snipers can't shoot and move in the same turn?! Same with rocket launchers... Not only can't you remember, you're giving bad information... this feels like the third consecutive episode that you've said a sniper can shoot then move, and then are surprised when they can't.

Perhaps try playing a bit of the game on your own to learn the basics, or take notes on these things. Aren't you supposed to be the guy learning from each playthrough here and passing that information along between players?

Very extremely helpful advice here:

At the end when Jason had a so-so shot from far away on a guy with only one pip of health... He still made the shot, so it worked out, BUT it was needlessly risky. You should have switched to the pistol, which would have given you better odds and it still would have been a guaranteed kill if it had connected because of single pip of health. Pleeeeeeeease try to think about which weapon is best for a shot when it comes to Assault and Sniper classes.

Get ready for even more confusion, now that do have a sniper who can move and then shoot.

@do_the_manta_ray: I'm fairly sure Alex mentioned in a previous episode that he's running his own personal game of X-COM alongside this one. So he likely has the most recent practice of anyone. Regardless, I agree that his approach is the generally the most considered of the three which I appreciate.

@convox said:

As someone who has only played the FiraXcoms (all the recent games and dlcs), I would recommend playing base 2 then play Chosen( or I'll call WOTC), to get your feet wet.

WOTC builds on 2, literally inserting the chosen bosses into the game and without being accustom to the base version it can be alot to take in.

Granted there are some needed changes in WOTC such as enemy preview, the choice to mitigate timers, and other niceties which I wish the base game had.

Would it be a good idea for them to bring one new recruit with them on each mission, just to level them up? They keep buying soldiers (Tim Turi, Donna Tello, Song Bros) but then doing nothing with them. If their main dudes get killed, they will be screwed if they have not leveled up new soldiers along the way.

It's an honest question since I've never played an xcom game.

@convox: IMO it's absolutely mandatory. I wasn't all that big on XCOM 2 when it came out but I feel like WOTC has turned it into the best XCOM game by far. I guess the only downside is that you will be learning a lot of new mechanics all at once, but I think it's doable.

Skip the other smaller DLCs though, they aren't that great and tend to just make the game much harder in ways that aren't much fun and some of them break the artstyle in a way that bothered me.

Just my opinion

@convox: I was in the exact same position as you. I went in to WOTC without playing the base game and had a blast. Granted, the beginning is a little like drinking from a fire hose considering the amount of new systems. But I got my bearings pretty early and never regretted it.

The Exquisite Corps. - Stubbing Toes with Laser Weapons since 2017.

Also, a nice creepy detail on the soundtrack here that I hope was intentional - the sound of a drum roll with an opening similar enough to the 'Memorial Anthem' to unsettle the Player with thoughts of imminent death.

Excellent work, Commander Navarro and Captain-then-General Caravella! And a special thank you to Alex for your Herculean feats of drumming, and to the rest of the GB family for your Extra Life streams. Indeed, Drew and Alexis have been on in another tab while I've been watching this (albeit muted for the duration of the latest from the Corps.), so I'll be returning to their stream momentarily!

@freetacos: This is generally my approach: one or two Green recruits in the squad (depending on the risk - for instance, I wouldn't necessarily take two on a Terror Mission) per mission, rotating through the cohort available at base for each successive mission. For all the equipment you can get to increase survivability in these games, a Barracks full of Greens at the wrong time can make life very difficult indeed (particularly as the games incentivise experience gain and development for Soldiers via Stats, Perks, resistances to certain enemies' attacks, etc..) Considering they're effectively Iron Man-ning this playthrough, the sudden loss of several high-tier soldiers could make things extremely tough afterwards if troop rotations aren't a regular thing beforehand.

So yes - in a long-winded way, I agree. Should you get into XCOM (and you should - it's great!) I think your approach is a good one, freetacos :D

@absoluterare: Huh, I could've sworn that was Dan. But perhaps both of 'em are?

The monster closet nature is definitely rough. Discovering a group of enemies on your last character's turn, vs. your first character's makes a world of difference. I ended up moving one person out in front, and then overwatching all 5 others. Move again, overwatch everyone, etc., so that I could guarantee I would discover new enemies and have all my turns still.

I'm sick of this goddamned mutton threat!

Man Alex really lucked out on some of those rounds, leaving soldiers flanked for enemy shots drove me crazy. Nice job pulling it off, though.

@vinny, just a friendly reminder that the panic is so perilously high that the Exquisite Corps might lose the campaign at the end of the current game month. You might want to switch the research to the Outsider Shard thing, then when that finishes you can immediately buy a Skeleton Key which lets you assault the alien base, and finishing the base mission will prevent you from the losing the game.

How you not gonna get rapid fire?

Will it? Unless they get another abduction round that increases some level 3 countries I don't think they'll lose more than six at the next report. They're certainly going to launch the other satellite over South America so the only country that's really in danger of leaving is China. What other events in-game raise panic?

This campaign is going to end in tears.

Yeah, it's not a guaranteed loss, though if they somehow manage to fail the abduction mission they would be megascrewed. But yeah, even if the abduction comes for exactly Europe, Asia, and a third continent, they might only lose 5-7 countries. If they get 2 abduction missions between now and the end of the month, they would almost definitely lose the game.

Still, this would be a good time to do the base assault to dramatically improve their panic situation, since they're still building satellites very gradually because they don't seem to realize that every abduction mission is a losing game.

@drew327: It's a solid tactic, and exactly why they introduced Mission Timers/Meld Pickups etc for Enemy Within.

It pained me when Alex didn't get some more satellite construction going, simply because they're at satellite capacity. They take soooooo long to build, it helps to be ahead of the Uplink curve.

Once you get total satellite coverage panic only increases through EXALT and UFOs, right? So if they want to not lose any countries this month Dan has to immediately research the Outsider Shard, 'cause I'm pretty sure that takes another five days, so they can get to the base assault in time.

They would also have to hope that they don't get any other events in the leadup to the assault, since EXALT interference would mess with them and any kind of actual mission would surely involve units getting injured with the way the commanders all play, risking them not being available for the assault. Which, to be fair, probably wouldn't be so much of an issue if they had just one more assault unit to help dispatch the chryssalids. But if they go into it without both MEC soldiers and Abomination they have virtually no real firepower to combat muttons, chryssalids, and probably also a cyberdisc is on the table as well.

Honestly, if the panic spread were a little different I would consider it a minor blessing. I unfortunately had all of Africa drop from the council at once in my game I've been playing the past few months, and while the cash bonuses would have been nice, it means I didn't need to build a nexus and was able to stick with a 2x2 uplink grid, plus the one the tutorial made me build. Much nicer on resources.

lol Abby's briefing was so good

@roy42: Yeah, I sorta don't expect they'll ever build a satellite nexus, at this rate. They're trapped in research purgatory. The possible outcomes I see are:

• don't do the alien base this month, after which 8 countries will leave and they lose
• don't do the alien base this month, after which a number of countries very close to 8 will leave, and they can probably shore up the remaining countries with another normal satellite uplink
• do the alien base, which would dramatically save their bacon, but who knows what the hell they'll research, because they don't actually know which research would give satellite nexus, and it's more than likely that they'll spend a bunch of money from the council report building more satellite uplinks

I hope Vinny is reading some of the comments, because among Vinny and the commanders, there's been a lot of back-patting over decent mission results, but only mild concern over how very bad the panic is. This video series might end in a couple episodes if the panic gets bad enough on the (likely) upcoming abduction mission or missions.

that super long research was such a bad idea, it really held them back. too late now, pretty sure there is no hope for a win, interesting idea for a show, just wish more of them had an idea of how to win.

hey, at least it will be canon

"It's entirely up to you..............BUT"- Vinny