X-COM: UFO Defense - Strategy Guide (Page 04)
Below are the cheat codes, hints and help for X-COM: UFO Defense - Strategy Guide (Page 04).
General observation: aliens do NOT pick up dropped weapons.
Offensive tips:
Panicked aliens drop their weapons (just as panicked XCOM
soldiers) Of course, they will pull out anything else they got
left on them as well as use their natural abilities (HTH or Psi
attacks) if any.
Aliens under mind control then stunned does NOT count as
captured. One player reported that he saw a commander but had no
stun weapon, so he threw a smoke grenade and kept the commander
in the smoke (with mind control) until it passed out. He was
NOT captured. It appears that the computer counts mind-
controlled aliens as "friendly", which they sort of are.
You can access inventory of an alien under your mind control
even though the inventory button does not work. Select one of
YOUR soldiers, then use scroll button on top to scroll to the
alien. (Watch out for the 1.5.6 bug/feature!)
To get more ammo, mind control an alien, and have it throw its
weapon toward you or drop everything on the ground.
Panic has a much better chance of success than mind control.
Psi strength is more important than psi skill. PsiStr
determines resistance to psi attacks as well as potential with
training (actual formula is in the OSG)
Defensive tips:
The only way to protect yourself against psi attacks is to
kill the attackers quickly. While some soldiers at the
beginning may be more resistant to psi attacks (i.e. high psi
strength), without psi labs to help you identify them it is a
all by chance.
If a solider was mind-controlled more than once in a battle and
s/he survives, sack him/her immediately after. S/he probably
has low bravery and/or low psi strength.
Get rookies with high bravery ensures they are more resistant to
alien panic attacks (though they may not be as resistant to mind
control, that has a inherent lower chance of success)
8.6 Battle Notes on weapons
8.6.1 General Weapon Notes
Most pistols and rifles holds 20 rounds or more, so ammo
is usually not a problem unless you fire a lot on auto or
you carry something like autocannon (14) or heavy cannon
(6). Usually one extra clip should be enough. In case of
plasma or laser weapons one/none is enough.
Use HWPs (and rookies?) to "beat the bush" and spot
enemies. THEN shoot them. Once an alien is visible,
everybody can take a shot as long as there's nothing in
the way.
If you can, take a aimmed shot while staying in cover.
You want a kill, not spraying shots all over the place.
"One shot, one kill" is not a bad motto. On the other
hand...
If you have the ammo, use auto shot whenever you can.
Why? It ensures a kill. Let me explain:
Auto shot fires three rounds, but is the least accurate of
the three shots. On the other hand, when you use the laws
of probability, you actually come out ahead using an
auto-shot, since each shot is calculated independently.
For example, let's say chance of hitting in auto shot is
25%, and snap shot is 30% (average). The chance of
getting at least one hit out of three is 1-(chance of no
hits). So 25% hit prob AND no hit in three tries is
0.75 * 0.75 * 0.75 = 0.42
Chance of getting at least one hit is then
1 - 0.42 = 0.56, or 56%
Which is much better than 30% (but no higher than the
aimed percentage). When your accuracy improves, you
increase your chances of hitting the target multiple
times, which ensures a kill, and you use less TUs than ONE
aimmed shot.
It is not unknown to see three aliens line up in a row,
you fired auto, and each shot killed one alien.
8.6.2 Pistols and Rifles
Use them only when you have to, sniper style. Dump them
for lasers as fast as possible. They use clips and
doesn't do much damage. They may be enough to use against
Sectoids, who has very little armor, but not against
tougher enemies (and Reapers/Cyberdiscs).
8.6.3 HeavyCannon and AutoCannon
HeavyCannon is slightly more accurate than the AutoCannon
and slightly more damage, but a lot less effective with
only six shots and no auto-fire mode. I'd rather use the
AutoCannon.
AutoCannon is probably the most effective weapon in the
early game, with auto mode, three types of ammo, and 14
shot magazine. Still, 14 shots is not much in auto-mode,
and three magazines can run out on you pretty quick. It
is also VERY HEAVY. (more than twice of heavy plasma)
8.6.4 Rocket Launcher
Rocket Launcher packs your biggest punch in the early
game, and being an area weapon makes it invaluable in
dealing with nasty Reavers and Cyberdiscs. On the other
hand, you can only carry three reloads, and they only fly
in straight lines.
Try to have another team member carry reloads. When you
got to a good firing point, have that guy drop the reloads
on the ground, then you stand on top of the reloads.
Don't give rocket launcher to rookies with low morale. If
they go berzerk, you may lose a lot of people.
8.6.5 Laser Pistol, Laser Rifle, and Heavy Laser
Forget the heavy laser. The 35% more damage that it does
is offset by having no auto mode and decreased accuracy.
You can probably forget the pistol also, but you need to
research it to get laser rifle. Laser rifle is arguable
the best squad weapon in the game, needing no ammo, with
decent accuracy and damage. True veterans prefer heavy
plasma, of course.
8.6.6 Grenades and High Explosive
Get alien grenades when you can, but regular grenades
would do. Use them to flatten small buildings and take
down walls so aliens have nowhere to hide.
Proximity grenades should be used to block off doors and
stuff so nothing can sneak up behind you. They appear to
have a 2-square blast radius and 1-square sensing radius,
so do NOT throw them next to the door! Throw them one
square away from the door so when the alien have to come
out before it blows up. For example:
(D=Door P=Proximity Grenade A=Alien)
Alien just behind door, does NOT trigger the grenade since
not in radius of 1. Then Alien steps through the door,
and BOOM!
| |
AD P DAP
| |
[Jim Muchow's variation]
Throw one in front of medium/large scout's exterior door,
one off like above, then hide near the doors in the
shadows so you are not visible.
| X = YOU Just stand there, keep others out of
| sight. After a few turns, alien
| will come out and take a peek,
\----\ wondering where did you go. And as
| soon as it steps out the door, BOOM!
|
D P = Prox Repeat as needed. They are dumb...
| Grenade
I haven't found smoke grenades to be that useful. I've
tried it in covering my deployment, but it doesn't seem to
work that well. You can try to use it as a stun weapon
alternative, but it's bound to be slow.
I've yet to use any high-explosive in any of the games I
played, but [NET] has reported that they are very useful
taking out Cyberdiscs in tight urban settings, due to more
blast power, useful before you get alien grenades.
Sometimes kneeling down will allow you to throw where you
cannot before
8.6.7 Plasma Pistol, Plasma Rifle, and Heavy Plasma
Plasma weapons are good weapons, and the heavy-plasma is
the only heavy weapon in the game with auto mode. On the
other hand, Heavy Plasma is , like its name says, "heavy".
Heavy Plasma should only carried by a few select members,
due to possible shortages in clips early on and its weight
(later you'll find PLENTY of reloads so no problem).
Heavy Plasma can punch through inner walls of UFOs when
auto- fired a couple times, useful for pincer attacks in
Supply Ships, when one lift goes straight to third level
while another lift goes only to second. The guys take the
high lift can punch through the walls on second level and
attack both sides at once. [see 12.x]
8.6.8 Blaster Launcher
Blaster launcher is probably one of the greatest weapons
in the game. It is expensive, its ammo is expensive, but
it is VERY useful. You can blow up things in ANY
direction, turn around corners, go up and down stairs,
flatten entire barns, even punch a hole in UFO's outer
hull! Each solider can carry up to 5 reloads (2 on belt
and 3 in backpack).
[NET] One trick is to leave the soldier and the launcher
inside the craft kneeling on top of the ammo on the floor.
That way there's more than 5 rounds available. Or you can
have other soldiers carry more ammo, drop them on the
ground, then have the launcher guy stand/kneel on top of
them. You can use this trick on rocket launcher too, but
it's not as useful.
[NET] You can also blow open parts of UFO and go in that
way instead of through the door. Many have reported that
wrecking the bridge first with a well-placed blaster bomb
or two into the upper level will decrease casualties by a
large amount.
[KSC] Use blaster bomb to enlarge a standard door so you
can fit a tank through by targeting the wall next to the
door. You can also try this with heavy plasma as those
can sometimes punch through walls. This is great for
battleships since the large central lift allows tanks to
go up to any level, and they also have 2-space corridors
wide enough for tanks.
8.6.9 Small Launcher
This is the only weapon that gives you standoff stun
capability. Get this when you need to stun aliens and do
not rely on stun rods.
Try to back this up with another stun bomb or a pistol.
Stun damage counts against alien's health, and a hit can
drop its health low enough so it gets stunned.
9.0 The Aliens
Most information here can be accessed via the UFOpedia.
9.1 Average Alien Stats (on easiest level!)
------ Armor ------
TUs Ene Hea Bra Rea Fir Thr Str PSt PSk Fro Lft Rgt Rer Und
Sectoid 55 90 30 80 65 30 60 30 40 * 2 1 1 1 1
Reaper 60 90 145 80 60 0 0 90 35 - 14 14 14 14 2
Floater 50 90 35 80 50 25 60 40 - - 4 3 3 2 6
Cyberdisc 60 90 120 110 65 30 0 90 - - 17 17 17 17 17
Snakeman 40 80 45 80 45 30 65 50 - - 10 9 9 8 6
Cryssalid 110 140 95 100 70 0 0 110 - - 17 17 17 17 17
Zombie 40 110 85 110 40 0 0 85 - - 4 4 4 4 4
Ethereal 70 100 60 80 75 40 80 50 50 40 17 17 17 17 16
Sectopod 60 90 95 110 65 30 0 90 - - 70 65 65 50 45
Muton 58 90 90 80 60 30 60 70 - - 10 10 10 10 5
Celatid 70 90 70 90 40 50 0 70 60 - 10 10 10 10 10
Silacoid 40 80 115 100 40 0 0 70 - - 25 25 25 25 5
TUs = time units Ene = energy/stamina Hea = health
Bra = bravery Rea = reaction Fir = firing accuracy
Thr = throwing accuracy Str = strength PSt = Psi Strength
PSk = Psi Skill Armor = front/left/right/rear/under
* Only Sectoid leaders and commander have Psi Skill, with avg of 55.
NOTE 1: you can get info on particular alien stats by using a mind probe
on them. Leaders and commanders are 10 to 20% higher, and there
appears to be random modifiers, depending on rank and position.
Stats are also higher on higher difficulty levels
NOTE 2: higher rank aliens also have higher "intelligence", which means
they will remember your location longer. Some alien species are
also more intelligent than others. For example, Ethereals and
Sectoids have higher intelligence than Mutons and Reapers.
9.2 Alien attack/defense summary
Alien Attack Defend Vulnerable
-------------------------------------------------
Celatid Acid Spit none none
Chryssalid HTH none IC, stun *
Cyberdisc Plasma beam AP, HE none
Ethereal Psi,weapons IC,stun none
Floater weapons none none
Muton weapons AP psi
Reaper HTH none IC
Sectoid Psi,weapons none none
Sectopod Energy beam PL,HE laser
Silacoid HTH IC HE
Snakeman weapons IC none
Zombie HTH Psi,AP,Las,Pl,HE none **
HTH=hand to hand combat IC =incendiary/fire
AP =armor piercing PL =plasma
HE =high explosive Las=laser
Alien : alien name
Attack : attack method
Defend : resistance to type(s) of attack
Vulnerable : esp. vulnerable to type(s) of attack
* When Chryssalids succeeds in HTH attack, the subject
attacked becomes a Zombie
** Zombie in a few turns becomes a Chryssalid. If killed, the
new Chryssalid hatches from the zombie IMMEDIATELY.
9.3 Alien specialties and information possible from them
Alien Soldier ----- mission (harvest, base, etc)
Alien Medic ----- Species information *
Alien Navigator ----- Hyper-Wave Decoder
Alien Engineer ----- UFO stats (of that UFO)
Alien Leader ----- The Martian Solution
Ethereal/ Sectoid Leader ----- Psi Lab, which leads to
or command psi amp and mind shield
Alien Commander ----- Cydonia or Bust **
* alien medics can give information on species other than
their own
** commander can be found in bases, or UFOs on Base missions
9.4 Alien Missions
Research Generally small vehicles, least threat
Harvest Great concern to governments, usually cattle
abduction
Abduction Abducts humans, causes great alarm
Infiltration Infiltrates countries and try to make pact with
government, big threat as countries that sign
pact cease to fund XCOM!
Base Survey and establish alien base, may contain alien
commander, esp. higher levels
Terror Creates terror sites when lands at city, so get
them fast!
Retaliation Scout / attack XCOM base, greatest threat
Supply Supply alien bases. Trail them and patrol nearby
to find alien base
9.5 Battle Notes on individual aliens
Chrysalid, Reaper, Silacoid, and Zombie are hand-to-hand only,
which means if you have flying suit, take off and shoot them
from the air. They cannot attack things in mid-air nor through
a window. Reaper, being double-wide, cannot attack through
single-wide doors.
Celatids are VERY dangerous and causes A LOT of damage if you
don't have good armor. Kill them ASAP.
Kill Chrysalids ASAP at a terror site. Kill them ASAP, even if
it means wiping out the civilians near it. Use rockets and
blaster bombs and grenades on it freely.
If you are REALLY worried about Chrysalids, have everyone carry
a PRIMED grenade around (prime it first). If your soldier got
turned into a zombie, all equipment gets dropped, and the
grenade should go BOOM at the end of the turn
Usually you only find floaters flying (i.e. on higher levels),
so if you can fly, you do gain an advantage, esp. if you go on
top of buildings and start sniping.
You cannot stun a Cyberdisc. Just destroy it.
9.6 UFO floorplans
Following floor plans are approximately 1x1. Approximate
only, so no complaints about precision please.
KEY:
D/Dr = Door Gr = Gravlift (Up/Down)
Gu = Gravlift Up Gd = Gravlift Down
P/Pw = Alien Power Unit S = Alien Surgery
F = Alien Food X = Alien Examination
Small Scout 123 Looks like an Apollo Capsule...
(Very Small) /=\ 2 level, 1 square each UFO
|===|
Medium Scout (Small) 123456789
/=======\
|_______|
/--------\
| |
| |
| Pw |
| |
| |
\---Dr---/
Large Scout (Medium) 123456789012
/==/====\==\
|__|____|__|
+--------+
| | |
| D |
// | \\
// | \\
+----/ +---------+ \----+
| | | |
| D P | D
| | | |
+----\ +---------+ /----+
\\ | //
\\ --D--| //
| D |
| | |
+--------+
Terror Ship (Large) 123456789012345678901234567890
/--------------\
/------| |------\
|____________________________|
Level 0--Menachem M. Pastreich (mpastrei email.ir.miami.edu)
______________
/// \\\
/// ______ \\\
+--------+ /// __| |__ \\\ +--------+
| | | __| |__ | | |
| | | __| Pw |__ | | |
| |____| | | |____| |
| | | |
| | Pw Gu Pw | |
| ____ | | ____ |
| | | |__ __| | | |
| | | |__ Pw __| | | |
| | | |__ __| | | |
+--DrDr--+ \\\ |__Dr__| /// +--DrDr--+
\\\ ///
\\\______________///
Terror Ship Level 2 -- Pastreich
______________
/// | | \\\
/// D D \\\
///--| | | |--\\\
| | |____Dr____| | |
| | | |
| | ____Dr____ | |
| | | | | |
| D | Gd | D |
|____| |__________| |____|
| |
| |
| E NNN NNN E |
\\\ NNN NNN ///
\\\ ///
\\\______________///
Battleship (Very Large) 123456789012345678901234567890
/----------------------------\
|----------------------------|
\-------==----------==-------/
|-------||----------||-------|
Battleship Level 1 -- Pastreich
/------\
/ \
| Gu |
| Pw |
| |
\ /
\------/
/------\ /------\
/ \ +------+ / \
| | |GuGuGuD | |
| GuPw | |GuGuGuD | PwGu |
| | |GuGuGu| | |
\ / +DrDr--+ \ /
\------/ \------/
/------\
/ \
| |
| Pw |
| Gu |
\ /
\------/
Battleship Level 2 -- Menachem M. Pastreich (mpastrei email.ir.miami.edu)
./------+----------+------\.
./ | | | \.
./ D | Gd | _____\.
./ | | | | \.
//----- --| +--+ +--+ | \\
./ | | | __| \.
./| +------| | | \.
./ | | | | \.
/ | +--------| | D \
| +--Dr--+ | | | | |
| Gu | | | | |____ |
| | D | | | |
+------+ | | +--+ +-- | +------+
| | | | | | | | |
| +------Dr------+ GrGrGr +--Dr----------+ |
| Gd GrGrGr Gd |
| +--Dr------Dr--+ GrGrGr +--------------+ |
| | | | | | |
+------+ |___ +--+ +--+ +--Dr--+
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
\. | | | __| ./
\. D | | | ./
\. | D | __ ./
\. | | | | ./
\\ +--Dr----+--+ +--+-------+ //
\. | | | ./
\.| | Gd D ./
\. | | ./
\------+----------+------/
Battleship Level 3
./------------------------\
./ | | \
./ | | \
./ | +---Dr---+ | \
// | | | | \\
./| | | | | \
./ | D | | | \
./ D | | | | \
/ | | | | | \
| | | | | | |
| Gd +----------+ +--------+ +-----Dr---------|
| | |
|______|__________ ___________ |
| | | +---Dr---+ | | |
| | | | GdGdGd | | | |
| D | D GdGdGd D | D |
| | | | GdGdGd | | | |
| |___________| +---Dr---+ |___________| |
| |
| |
|-------+ + -----+ +---------+ +----------------|
| | | | | |
\. | | | | ./
\. | | | | ./
\. | | | | ./
\. | | | D ./
\\ | | | | //
\. | +----Dr---+ | ./
\. | | ./
\. | | ./
\------------------------/
Harvester 1234567890123456
(Medium) (?) /---|------|---\
|---|------|---|
|---|------|---|
\---|------|---/
Level 0 Level 1
/----------\ /----------\
/ SS \ / | Empty | \
/ SSSS F \ / | Room | \
/ \ / | Up to | \
/ FF F F \ / Gu | this | Gu \
+ + +___DD___ | level |___DD____+
| +----------------+ | | +---DD---+ |
| | Pw Pw | D | FF |
| +-------------DD-+----+ | F F +------+__________|
+ | | + + F F | | +
\ F F | Gu | Gu / \ F D Gd D Gd /
\ F | | / \ | | /
\ | | / \ +--DD--+ /
\--+--DD--+---/ \---------+---/
Level 2
/-+------+-\
/ | | \
/ +--DD--+ \
/ | | \
/ Gd D D Gd \
+ | | +
+----------+ +----------+
|N |
|N NNN NNN |
+ NNN NNN +
\ /
\ /
\ /
\ /
-----------
Supply Ship (Large) 123456789012345678901234567890
/--------+---+-+---+---------\
/----------|---|-|---|-----------\
\----------|---|-|---|-----------/
\--------+---+-+---+---------/
Level 0
/----------\ /----------\
// Gu \\ // Gu \\
// \\ // \\
/ --------- \+--+/ --------- \
| | | | | |
| | ---------------- | |
| D Pw Pw Pw D |
| | ---------------- | |
| | | | | |
\ --------- /+--+\ --------- /
\\ // \\ //
\\ // \\ //
\----DD----/ \----DD----/
Level 1
/----------\ /----------\
// ------ \\ // ------ \\
// | | \\ // | | \\
// F | Gu | \+--+/ | Gr | F \\
/ | | | | \
| F F --DD-- ---DD--- ------ F F |
| | S | |
| F F F F | | F F F F |
| | S | |
| F F --DD-- ---DD--- --DD-- F F |
\ | | | | /
\\ F | | /+--+\ | | F //
\\ ------ // \\ ------ //
\\ // \\ //
\----------/ \----------/
Level 2
/----------\ /----------\
// \\ // | Gu | \\
// \\ // --DD-- \\
/ +----------+ \+--+/ \
| | | |
| | |------+------+------DD------+---|
| D NNNN | | | | |
| | NNNN | D | D |
| | | | +--+ +--+ |
\ +----------+ /+--+\ | | /
\\ // \\ +--------+ //
\\ // \\ //
\----DD----/ \----DD----/
Abductor 1234567890123456
(Medium) (?) /---|------|---\
|---|------|---|
\---|------|---/
Level 0 Level 1
^ +----+ ^ ^ +----+ ^
// \\ | | // \\ // \\ | | // \\
// \\/ \// \\ // \ / \ / \\
/ \ / +-+ \
\ / \ +-DD-+ /
\\ ______DD______ // \\ +---+ +---+ //
+--/ | | \--+ +--/ +-+N N +-+ \--+
| | | | | | N | |
| Pw | XX XX XX | Pw | | |N N| |
| | XX | | | | | |
+--\ | | /--+ +--\ +-+ +-+ /--+
// |_____DD_____| \\ // +---+ +---+ \\
/ | | \ / +----+ \
\ Gu | | / \ Gd /
\\ / \ / \ // \\ //\ /\\ //
\\ // | | \\ // \\ // | | \\ //
V +-DD-+ V V +-DD-+ V
9.7 UFO speed, range, etc.
Max Hull Weapon* Ship Max**
Size Speed Damage Power Range Width Crew
Small Scout VS 2200 50 0 0 3 1
Medium Scout S 2400 200 20 120 9 9
Large Scout S 2700 250 20 272 12 13
Harvester M 4000 500 40 176 16 21 (1L)
Abductor M 4300 500 40 160 12 18 (1L)
Terror Ship L 4800 1200 120 336 30 14/10 (1L)
Supply Ship L 3200 2200 60 288 30 20 (1L)
Battleship VL 5000 3000 140 520 30 22/6 (1C/1L)
* Weapon Range should be divided by 8 for range in KM, see 7.5
** Maximum crew is absolute maximum reported in one mission. Number is
in format of X/Y (Z) where X is host race (race the UFO belongs to),
Y as terrorists and Z as number of leaders (L) or commander (C) in
the host race. Any 4-space creatures counts as 4 aliens for this.
10.0 Ground Assaults
10.1 Packing Advice
The 80-item limit is always a problem, especially on an
Avenger and Lightning when you can carry LOTS of soldiers.
While the OSG gave some hints on what to take, here's a couple
more hints to see you through the 80-item Crunch:
* If you are short on ammo clips, use laser weapons, which
require no ammo at all. (Also see below)
* Carry only ONE clip for your plasma weapons. You should
be able to find plenty of reloads during battle, esp. for
heavy plasma (which seems to be used by all aliens near the
end of the game) With 20-35 rounds in each clip, your
should not run out unless you use auto-fire a lot
* Carry uniform weapons. Don't mix pistols and rifles,
plasmas and slug-throwers. Instead of a pistol/clip and
rifle/clip, bring an extra clip for the rifle.
* Bring less misc. equipment such as mind probes, medikits,
motion detectors, psi amps, and so on. You don't need
everything on every person (except Medikits)
* Bring HWPs if you can. HWP is one item yet has plenty of
firepower. Too bad it takes FOUR soldier's space. Still,
they are quite useful in the early parts of the game
* Don't fight at night so that you need to take along all
those stupid electro-flares which you end up throwing all
over the place (exception: Attack Terror Sites ASAP)
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