Your Tactics

[Nevasith]

I always have one Grenade Launcher- its one of the most tricky weapons in the game notice where are the beams and plasma bolts comming from- often its a window higher than ground level. Put some grenades through it and even if you dont kill alien inside you will greatly weaken him- on a mission with 2 tamans on the rooftop above me i sent them some grenades from a launcher (very difficult to score a direct hit while standing on the ground) and guess what happened? One Taman started running and the other ripped him open with his Kerrblade. Next grenade finished off the remaining one. With some practise you can send grenades above covers used by enemy- like cars, fences, furniture(yes, it is possible to use plasma grenades from GL indoors)
I dont like the rocket launcher- Its usage is very limited and i simply prefer to use a sniper or aditional SMG- also the ammo size limits the usage of RL as its difficult to give rocketman any other weapon if you want him to have some ammo.
Lasers are great-especially heavy ones.  The bolters are somehow inacurate, and use strange shaped ammo- fits only into belt since i tend to put medkits into holsters

[Winter]

I love this thread, it makes me feel good about all the work I've put into UFO:AI over the years. I'm really pleased that so many people are finding so many different ways to play and succeed at the game, all equally valid and well-reasoned.

Regards,
Winter

[DanielOR]

Nevasith,

For those hell-bent on not using the GL: the roof top situation is indeed very tough. 
option 1: get clost to the wall, try to toss in a gas grenade - may not work much above 2nd floor.
option 2: SMG or MG fire at that window in general - it should bother the bad guys enough that you can get close in and start clearing the building.  Imperfect, I know. 

[Nevasith]

Its also good idea to stick to the wall- in most situations there will be no angle to shoot you-than get in and rip him with SMG from point blank, but i if i can take him down before anyone gets hurt- why not?
Sometimes its also good idea to put a sniper on a close building and set him to full reaction.
This way o got past the mission with river- long fire exchange from opposite sides untill i got SMG, plasma and GL there to clear out the nests

[DanielOR]

all true

[EchizenR]

May I ask whether its better to go with MGs or assaults. MGs seem to give a higher probability of hitting with more shots compared to assaults. In addition, assualts only work at close or mid-range, and at mid-range, its rather ineffective.

I'm thinking about going with 2 4-man teams, 1 assault, 1 MG, 1 sniper and 1 GL for each each. How's that?

[Nevasith]

MG is a heavy weapon while assault riffle is assault (surprisingly:P). MG is good weapon on medium to long range (highly inaccurate though) In one mission i kept MG gunner in a window and held laid heavy reaction fire on area where bad guys tried to move- killed them before assault team got there. Id advocate against assault rifle at all- dont know why, but in current deb version its totally useless. Low accuracy terrible damage, and poor range. Go for lasers as soon as possible- actually heavy lasers are one of my favourites- i have at least 2 in every squad. HL is also another reason to use MG- training heavy weapons for future toys

[EchizenR]

I see. Thanks for clarifying. But at close range, full auto from an assault is bound to get a kill. GLs and snipers do this at long-range while assault moves in for the kill, if there's any left. Whatever objections, that's basically what urban combat is like, unless we just "Shock and Awe". Also, I don't get how the training works. So if I use assault weapons, assault skill rises, that's simple. But what about speed and health? How does the increase work?

I'm thinking about going Heavy laser for my next game (I've completed the game once and going to try again under hard mode). In terms of accuracy and damage, they seem to be quite popular.

[DanielOR]

EchizenR - two 4-man teams is exactly how I tend to split them.  The only thing I do is make sure that GL guys carry SMG's as well - if they need to clear a house, it is handy.  Plus, once I discover gas grenades, they give up GL and use their now-developed HE skill to lob gas greandes a lot, while SMG becomes primary weapon.

The MG and, eventually, HL are both very good weapons.  Sniper - no comment.  The assault rifles bridges the gap between high range and close range.  As you said, it can shoot from afar, or clear rooms as needed.  Once laser rifles (eventually particle rifles) come in - that assault skill is great.

[Nevasith]

right- one thing i forgot is the SMG- great weapon for short range combat. Assault rifle never worked for me though and in early game my storm troopers use ONLY SMG while supported by snipers

[DanielOR]

Nevasith, that is probably a pretty good idea.  Unless the Assault skill is way better, the SMG is probably the better weapon, since Assault Rifle is mediocre at high range at best.

[ufogio]

Nevasith, that is probably a pretty good idea.  Unless the Assault skill is way better, the SMG is probably the better weapon, since Assault Rifle is mediocre at high range at best.

Maybe you didn't notice, but you can set reaction fire modality for all kind of weapons.
For example, you can set to use 3-shots-bursts instead of single shot in the reaction fire for assault rifle, and that way assault weapons become more useful.

[DanielOR]

Sorry, I did not catch how reaction fire was relevant to what I was saying?  I was talking about inferior combination of accuracy and damage which was brought up earlier.

Thank you for the reminder - yes, I am aware of multiple reaction fire modes and do use them.

[Surrealistik]

SMG was and is one of the most, if not the most powerful and useful weapon overall, even when considering 'advanced' weaponry. Completely overpowered. Even at longer ranges, its volume of fire compensates for its spread.

[Nevasith]

full auto has even a chance of taking down an ortonok with a single burst