The Sectopod is an awesome boss level unit. The first time I encountered one was one of the most dramatic battles I 'd ever had. But now they show up on every other mission!!

They do massive amounts of damage. They get to attack twice per turn. They are ALWAYS ON OVERWATCH!!!! Even on an attacking turn!!! Their reaction shots can hit multiple targets, even characters that aren't moving if they happen to be in the line of fire. And they are IMMUNE TO EXPLOSIVES!!!

I love a challenge, but come on!!

I felt the same way about them, and I wish I had a good counter besides just trying to swarm them with everything you've got to limit the damage they can do. I don't know if the Sniper's 'Disable Weapon' shot works on them, but it's worth trying. Also, don't forget about grenades. You can break line of sight with them, but still hit them with a grenade (not ideal, but it helps sometimes).

I'm playing on Normal, which I know is a lot easier than Classic, and am at a point with all plasma weapons and veterans that I can take them down pretty well; but I assume I'll always sacrifice 80% of at least one guys health.

@KirePDX: Disable weapon works.

First time I ran into a Sectopod he snuck up behind me when I was assaulting a UFO. Wasn't expecting anything to come from behind but managed to get everyone into cover before he opened up. Didn't help though, first turn he fired twice and killed my best heavy...

Towards the end of the game I found myself relying on snipers more and more. The double tap ability means that they can do so much damage, especially if you have squad sight which keeps them safe and give very high accuracy. My go to combo was unit in ghost suit to reveal the enemy and then 2-3 snipers to clear the field.

@Turambar said:

@KirePDX: Disable weapon works.

Wish I had known that... poor Zeus, never stood a chance.

Disable weapon seems to fuck them up pretty hard. I don't know if they have a method to reload, or if they do the ai delays on doing it. Regardless the solution to sectopods is the same solution to "every" hard encounter a double tap sniper with squad sight and someone spotting for said sniper behind heavy cover. Heat ammo works nicely but if it puts your heavy in a bad spot don't go out of your way for a shot. Also while the sectopod can shoot twice per turn they can only hit a single target once, I'm not far along enough on classic to know if this changes there, so you're better off only having one unit pulling aggro on it. An assault with lightning reflexes will dodge the free overwatch laser which can be nice if you need to get in close.

I actually hate sectopods for a different reason if you spot one and they avoid the encounter they'll laser mortar your positions from halfway across the map without actually having sight. Which is kinda bullshit imo.

Col. Sniper with double tap. Can kill in a single turn if they get a crit. Even if they don't the rest of the squad should be able to finish it off before the end of the turn. IF you are forced to have a more drawn out fight, eliminate the sentries first so they can't heal.

H.E.A.T. rounds work, my Heavies usually hit for ~20 damage.

Heavies with HEAT can do 20 damage BASELINE. If they crit, it'll instantly kill it.

Double tap snipers shit on them just like they shit on the rest of the game.

If all else fails, throw EVERYTHING at them. Run 'n Gun an Assault up to them (to avoid their infinite overwatch) and double-shot them point blank. If it gets an attack, it's going to kill you anyways, so you might as well hedge your bets.

Squadsight snipers in archangel armor + HEAT heavies

Hi all,

I think my game is buged. some how i can't seem to damage those Sectopods. i have 2 heavys with HEAT rounds and heavy plasma but its live just wont go down.

so now im stuck in the asault the alien base mision. does any one know how to get this fixed?

Yes, heat and double tap is the way to go. But it is really difficult to keep people alive to advance into those high ranks. I've had much luck with shotgunners, run and gun and when you're up close use Rapid Shot to shoot twice with the shotgun with the chance of critting twice. It normally doesn't take it down but all you need is a little more damage from someone else to take it down. Be aware of the AoE explosion when it goes down as yeah.. I've died a few times forgetting it, so don't stand too close.

2 snipers with double tap kill easily a single sectopod in one turn.

What difficulty are you all playing on that can have two snipers with double tap?

I am really starting to hate the sniper/double tap hing, it is the solution to everything. They should rebalance that whole thing for the good of the game, it ruins the whole tactical aspect in the late game.

I neglected to get H.E.A.T. rounds but yeah Snipers with Disable Weapon shuts them down completely for a few turns. Then they're easy pickins'.

yeah, some dude on the forum said he had a mission where he encountered 7 sectopods. 3 of them were in a single room. That's fucked up.

@Wuddel said:

Squadsight snipers in archangel armor + HEAT heavies

What benefit does the archangel armor give a sniper? I thought it wouldn't give any elevation advantage. Oh, I guess maybe it helps with line of sight, so your sniper's view doesn't get blocked by anything?

@newhaap said:

@Wuddel said:

Squadsight snipers in archangel armor + HEAT heavies

What benefit does the archangel armor give a sniper? I thought it wouldn't give any elevation advantage. Oh, I guess maybe it helps with line of sight, so your sniper's view doesn't get blocked by anything?

That's basically how I use it. Sniper with archangel armor doesn't really have to leave the skyranger, he just floats in place and chews through enemies that the rest of the squad spots for him. IMO it is a great way to deal with the flood of enemies the game tends to throw at you late game.

If you use the upgraded scope and have a sniper with double tap you get two crit shots in one turn. Hell that's my experience with that combo so far. I can't tell you how meany times my sniper prevented what would of been a very bad outcome for my squad.

@The_Ruiner said:

And they are IMMUNE TO EXPLOSIVES!!!

I encountered my first this evening. The always-on-overwatch bit left my team a little more wounded than I'd like. No deaths though, so that was all okay. In reference to above claim; I threw an alien grenade at it successfully for the standard 5 (I think it's 5?) damage. Sectopod was not immune to that.

edit----- this was on normal difficulty, not sure if that changes anything.

@HerbieBug said:

@The_Ruiner said:

And they are IMMUNE TO EXPLOSIVES!!!

I encountered my first this evening. The always-on-overwatch bit left my team a little more wounded than I'd like. No deaths though, so that was all okay. In reference to above claim; I threw an alien grenade at it successfully for the standard 5 (I think it's 5?) damage. Sectopod was not immune to that.

edit----- this was on normal difficulty, not sure if that changes anything.

Nah, they're still vulnerable on Classic. The only difference is that their model is much bigger than its actual hitbox, so it's entirely possible to undershoot them and get the impression that they're immune to it... which they're not. Explosives are probably the best way to deal with them. HEAT rockets will take out half their life, if not all of it if it crits.

Played on Classic, had a pair of Sniper Colonels in Archangel armor, did make some situations easier.

Did run into 3 Sectopods in one crashed UFO, but got lucky with the third one just walking away from me for a few turns, while my snipers took down the 2 that remained.

My heavys could take them down in one turn with the double damage against machine, and extra shot perks. ALL HEAVYS NO MEDKITS.