Cyrus
Hero
Hydras rock! BURN BABY BURN!
Posts: 159
|
Post by Cyrus on Aug 12, 2013 7:32:29 GMT -5
Hehe, I haven't been in a position to play Pong with a xeno yet, but I've seen them move around weirdly. Especially Those 3x3 rooms seem to confuse the xenos mightily. I suppose they don't have a very high Tactics skill ;-)
|
|
Cyrus
Hero
Hydras rock! BURN BABY BURN!
Posts: 159
|
Post by Cyrus on Aug 12, 2013 4:43:02 GMT -5
Just a funny thing I ran across while trying to recreate the scene from Aliens where Ripley toasts all the alien eggs:
As long as you don't move, fire won't touch you in TA. So if your dumb Hydra sets the team on fire: Just stand still and shoot the few aliens that make it into your white-hot flame-themed party. Also, bring Marshmallows!
Btw, yes that means alien eggs > Hydra plasma fire. You need direct hits to kill them :-P
|
|
Cyrus
Hero
Hydras rock! BURN BABY BURN!
Posts: 159
|
Post by Cyrus on Aug 12, 2013 0:44:29 GMT -5
fallen: To be honest, that would just make me suicide the captain, adding 2-3 turns to the mission before I can restart and adding absolutely no challenge. If the captain's death is the end of the entire game, that would mean no more Brutal for me. He'd need like 10 HP or more to prevent unlucky deaths that you can do nothing about in the early game. In general, the early game is mostly a lottery. If your soldier misses twice in a row, he's dead. If two 5 HP xenos spawn together, you're dead. If a xeno with high move and AP spawns, you're dead. Acdepting soldier deaths means you're always stuck playing the early game and the "easy" campaigns. No thanks, I'll pass.
|
|
Cyrus
Hero
Hydras rock! BURN BABY BURN!
Posts: 159
|
Post by Cyrus on Aug 9, 2013 11:17:12 GMT -5
I restart a mission immediately if I stand to lose a templar. The honor cost to replace one geared templar amounts to several complete campaigns and the xp loss is even more. That's waaaayyyy too steep for me. I'd rather replay one mission 5 times than 5 campaigns one more time (every time I lose a templar)
And don't get me wrong: I'm not asking for Wards to be changed. Brutal is Brutal and anything that makes it weaker just takes away from the experience. I justed wanted to know if they had any other benefits I didn't know about.
|
|
Cyrus
Hero
Hydras rock! BURN BABY BURN!
Posts: 159
|
Post by Cyrus on Aug 9, 2013 9:09:36 GMT -5
From what I've read in older posts, that is a conscious design choice, to prevent solo captains from being all-powerful. You're supposed to empower your squad, not make them obsolete.
|
|
Cyrus
Hero
Hydras rock! BURN BABY BURN!
Posts: 159
|
Post by Cyrus on Aug 9, 2013 3:51:42 GMT -5
This screenshot shows how I use my Hydra: I set side corridors on fire and put up a block behind the group every few turns. Notice there are NO aliens anywhere in view chasing the group. This allows me to move a full 5 squares about half of the turns and 3 on the rest. Much better than 3 squares with a Neptune in front and 1 measly square if a Neptune is rearguard. Often I look at the briefing map, select my route and pick a number of corridors/junctions I want to set on fire, then roughly follow that plan depending on the actual situation. Thinking in corridors and blocks rather than aiming at xenos makes all the difference and sets the Hydra apart from all other Templars.
|
|
Cyrus
Hero
Hydras rock! BURN BABY BURN!
Posts: 159
|
Post by Cyrus on Aug 9, 2013 2:31:35 GMT -5
"Templars MOVE! We have less than three minutes before the ship's Void engine goes critical!"
**Sound of Heavy Neptune firing continuously**
"Why are you still standing around there? MOVE!"
**Sound of Heavy Neptune firing continuously**
Scout Cordoba points at his ear and raises his hands in question
**Firing stops**
"What sir? Couldn't hear you."
"We need to get the h...**sound of Heavy Neptune firing continuously**
External view of the derelict ship. It starts to shake and erupts in a bright white light as it disintegrates.
**Silence**
|
|
Cyrus
Hero
Hydras rock! BURN BABY BURN!
Posts: 159
|
Post by Cyrus on Aug 9, 2013 1:25:11 GMT -5
Oh that sucks Cyrus (about your Neptune that is). I will give the pyros a chance ... No, don't! We'll have nobody left in the Neptunes camp then and this thread will die! Better prove us wrong, or find flamethrower accident statistics on wikipedia and make a wall-of-text on how that applies to TA...
|
|
Cyrus
Hero
Hydras rock! BURN BABY BURN!
Posts: 159
|
Post by Cyrus on Aug 9, 2013 1:01:28 GMT -5
The limit isn't in the briefing, but's clearly displayed now each turn.
|
|
Cyrus
Hero
Hydras rock! BURN BABY BURN!
Posts: 159
|
Post by Cyrus on Aug 9, 2013 0:52:24 GMT -5
As my avatar might suggest, I'm now firmly in the Hydra camp.
On normal and hard I loved the Neptune as it indeed killed everything that came near, but on brutal I found them lacking. The issue is that some xenos moves 4 times, letting them stay out of range until your defensive AP are gone, then with their last two moves run up and tear your Neptune a new one. In general, defensive fire is much weaker in brutal due to this.
I lost one "hold out for 12 turns" mission on the very last move like that. Everyone was in good positions, the Neptune had a clear line of fire and 2 AP, with no xenos in view anywhere. After hitting turn, everyone lost 1 AP, so I thought no aliens in range. Then after the second alien move phase, one gravity-type xeno pops into view at 5 squares. Well, I think, it should only have one more move left. Nope, it ran right up to my Neptune and reduced him to 1 AP, after which the victory screen popped up with one fallen Templar :-(
That was the moment I started saving up for a Hydra and I haven't looked back since. 5-7 hits from running through flame will hurt the xenos much more than any defensive fire, plus it doesn't cost nearly as much AP as always turning around and keeping 2 AP saved up. My Scout + Hydra team is now running through Brutal at high speed, setting the rear and side corridors on fire and barely ever seeing any xeno coming up from the rear.
|
|
Cyrus
Hero
Hydras rock! BURN BABY BURN!
Posts: 159
|
Post by Cyrus on Aug 8, 2013 13:14:02 GMT -5
The new Neptunes and scouts look great! I love the targeting visor on the Neptune and the ammo backpack.
The new aliens look colorful and more clearly defined, but I haven't seen them "walk" as suggested on the FB page.
|
|
Cyrus
Hero
Hydras rock! BURN BABY BURN!
Posts: 159
|
Post by Cyrus on Aug 8, 2013 12:56:54 GMT -5
I've finally gained the honor to upgrade armors for my Brutal difficulty squad, including some with Wards. Just now, they activated for the first time, sparing my templar from death...
...but leaving him at 1 HP, meaning a certain death at the end of the mission, since my captain isn't a chaplain.
I guess my Exo Scout captain will only need Wards on his own armor (since he'll somehow pull through even at 1 HP) and I can forget abouut the rest.
Do they ever activate and leave the templar with 2+ HP?
|
|
Cyrus
Hero
Hydras rock! BURN BABY BURN!
Posts: 159
|
Post by Cyrus on Aug 8, 2013 0:53:44 GMT -5
A Hydra that can't stop himself from firing prematurely in front of the squad or at the first contact should learn to use his own fist.
|
|
Cyrus
Hero
Hydras rock! BURN BABY BURN!
Posts: 159
|
Post by Cyrus on Aug 8, 2013 0:41:37 GMT -5
Ah, it's a different game every month. Too bad, I haven't really gotten into ST. Well, guess I'll just keep working on my Brutal squad. Thanks for the reply!
|
|
Cyrus
Hero
Hydras rock! BURN BABY BURN!
Posts: 159
|
Post by Cyrus on Aug 7, 2013 2:48:55 GMT -5
On the TA Facebook page the next version of TA has been announced with better sprites for Templars and aliens! I'm itching to take on a new challenge with these Better(tm) Templars and I believe next Monday would be the customary start, so I'm wondering who and what. My earlier proposal of a Xeno Punch-out challenge didn't get a lot of response, so I guess it's a bit too far out from most people's preferred playing style. Also, without access to Berserkers (Elite-only), it's not nearly as much fun. So, who's setting up the challenge?
|
|