Son of a Lich

[CdrPlatypus]

En1gma I've done it on NMI. Firepower is more important than extra healing. Neptune ftw.

[poryg]

I haven't beaten him yet...
Once I got so angry that I just rage quit and yelled "You son of a l**h!"

[capthawk]

I've managed to beat this level up to Ironman, and my basic strategy didn't change.

I've used different lineups under Nightmare difficulty, but for that level and Ironman, my best is: Capt, Nyra, Soldier, Engineer, Scout, then add a second Soldier.

After the first Lich kill, I set up a second turret facing wherever he spawns, unless I'm lucky enough my first turret to the east is where he spawns.
Either way, it's north or east, usually Nyra or Scout, Capt, and a Soldier.

The others defend the TP, trying not to kill the Lich until tower one falls. Once the first tower falls, the TP team kills the Lich and lines up to attack wherever he didn't spawn. Group one ideally makes it back, everyone buffs again, Engineer grabs more turrets if we haven't, and they head due the next tower. Group one lines up for the final tower.

Those extra turrets really make splitting the teams up possible, IMO, given the dicey spawn points East and West.

I ideally like when the west is last to fall, as it gives a chance for the east group to grab that secondary objective.

If my Templars are getting shredded, I have kept the whole team together for the final two towers, forgoing secondary and turn goal.

Also, I have to echo how valuable proper use of Ordnance can be on the higher difficulties!

[contributor]

I just beat this on NMI today again. It's a challenge, but doable. I actually pulled in a Berserk as my 6th soldier because this team is all about going melee. It was an extra challenge but careful management won the day.

My strategy for this level is all about turrets. I actually used the turret perimeter resupply twice and placed 6 turrets. After clearing and capturing the TP I start setting up 4 turrets around it. I put all my Engi's talents into turrets for this one and placed the turrets on +accuracy/range squares where possible. I actually killed the Lich twice with only a turret firing on him and making him walk through their OW twice.

The only split on my team is that I keep enough templars to hold the center and then I send one away team. I always take the east tower first because I don't like those narrow corridors to get too choked up with xeno. This time I sent Cappy, Nyra, Scout and Dalan, while Engi and Berserk held the center. The center got dicy fast because the extra credits for the Berserk slowed down getting 4 turrets set up and strong surges from the North and SW sent my Berserk running all over the place. On the east I used Dalan to hold the hallway and Cappy and scout to take down the tower. Eventually Nyra charged in to help them when the Lich respawned there.

Once the east tower was down they booked it back to the center, which was now mostly stabilized. Nyra was so hot that she tried to cool down while Cappy, Dalan and Scout headed west. The engineer was actually able to back them up and heavy Goliath spawns made it a big challenge. There were three Goliath's including one UberGoli. My Captain is all set up for melee so he leads, attacking when possible and being the shield wall for those behind him. His block and parry are way high so he can hold pretty well even against Goliaths. The scout cripples when necessary and then uses headshot when I think he can get a kill. We advance, kill those who are close, cripple the scary ones and then set up OW so that every one has to advance through it to get to Cappy. With luck, those that make it are weak and get counter-attacked and killed. Then we advance again.

After the west tower, heat was a major issue and spawns for the north and west were still high. Dalan staged a rear-guard OW, trying to cool down, while everyone made it back to the center. Nyra was cooling down and focusing on healing everyone to get them ready for the final assault to the North. I got Nyra resupplied with healing, a minor med-kit for my scout and another turret perimeter resupply because I had a plan. Once the assault was ready the Berserk lead the way because he was healthy and cool. The Lich came down and I hit him with the Berserk's -ap attack and then parked the Berserk next to him counting on his defense and counter-attack. The rest of the group slid by and marched on the tower. At the same time, the xenos breached the TP perimeter and destroyed two turrets, which was actually in my favor, because now the Engi could set up two more turrets in our new basecamp by the North tower. Nyra overheated from healing and buffing and Dalan and the scout were one turn away, but they had enough to destroy the tower along with the turrets. Once that was done the Berserk was able to finish off the weakened Lich and we finished in 22 turns to just beat the turn cap by 2.

So turrets, healing, ordinance and keeping heat just at the edge won the day. Dalan's Rallying Cry 4 helped early on and -1AP shots helped keep the damage manageable. The Captain actually made the round trip to all 3 towers, I'm not sure why heat wasn't a major issue for him. The Thunder Shield +15 heat certainly helped and I minimized using his buffs. I don't think using a Berserk is ideal, but it was manageable.

[redartrats]

The li(t)ch level was pretty tough and took me several tries. In the end I beat it by basically moving my entire squad (abandoning the tact point -- I found it was hopeless to try to defend it) to each power generator and bulldozing over any xeno that show up. Soldiers with overwatch were an absolute must; one for the rear guard, the other for the frontline / sidelines depending on the terrain. Scout with Crippling Fire was essential for slowing down the li(t)ch to controllable MP levels so that Captain and Nyra can move in and melee for the kill before it can actually attack.