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[MCreeper]

"- Some pixels rearranged on some maps for Hobbes to finally sod off (by Solar)" 

If ninjas are finally sane, i might try a new game.

I have thought that no one will willigly start this thing from scratch after making at least somewhat signifacant progress. You have proved me wrong.

EDIT:
Choosing peasant revolution now gives you free skilled peasants from time to time. One of the group i got now was girl guide, with all stats already trough the roof. 

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Also, in first month you are asked "What kind of captain are you?". Depending on the answer, you get a small unique tech and a load of associated random events. I picked Lazy-ass captain, because i'm lazy-ass and want that hotel. 

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Yep, that's me alright.
EDIT2:
Revolutionary HQ is available very early on and gives amazing benefits. But...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Actually, 2500 scrap metal is only 625000 moneys, though storing it may be a bit tricky. But there is another but - it is 3x3 building. Not something you'd build in the first base.

[Mathel]

About the "What kind of Captain are you?" thing is annonying if you update mid-game.
I suspect you are supposed to get the event 1st month, the autochoice 2nd month (if you did not choose). But if you are already in a later month, you get both in the same month.

I got the first event, then got the autochoice event (Lazy-Ass) on the same day. I cheated my way into having Jack-Ass instead, because that was what I wanted and the game was supposed to give me a choice.

[Rolan7]

I may have got it in month 2 but yeah, early for sure.  Shame about the Lazy-ass, it didn't appear to have any benefits (maybe events, i dunno) - obviously, that was a valid "cheat".

I went dumbass because I love credit chips, so converting Personal Databases into them (and tributes!) seemed handy.  Something I glanced at while raws-diving indicated that they're each associated with a codex, and I think my personality choice is mismatched but not opposite my green codex.  I'll say no more.

"- Some pixels rearranged on some maps for Hobbes to finally sod off (by Solar)" 

If ninjas are finally sane, i might try a new game.

I have thought that no one will willigly start this thing from scratch after making at least somewhat signifacant progress. You have proved me wrong.

EDIT:
Choosing peasant revolution now gives you free skilled peasants from time to time. One of the group i got now was girl guide, with all stats already trough the roof. 

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Also, in first month you are asked "What kind of captain are you?". Depending on the answer, you get a small unique tech and a load of associated random events. I picked Lazy-ass captain, because i'm lazy-ass and want that hotel. 

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Yep, that's me alright.
EDIT2:
Revolutionary HQ is available very early on and gives amazing benefits. But...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Actually, 2500 scrap metal is only 625000 moneys, though storing it may be a bit tricky. But there is another but - it is 3x3 building. Not something you'd build in the first base.

I did manage to build it in my first base!  It feels like a pretty strong bundle deal, plus it has some unique effects.  The worldwide "radar" reports have been very interesting to me, giving me a picture of worldwide shipping despite lacking airgame or many outposts.  Mechanically it's a 3% chance radar, but... OH!  I *just* realized: It's only occasionally spotting far-off contacts, but it technically covers the whole world.  So anything that wanders near my real radar will remain tracked wherever they go!  Interesting quirk which provides a lot of insight and utility while keeping actual radar coverage important.

It also interacts with the scavenging events in some way, I think it boosts odds.  I'm getting scavenge from any region of the globe, but I think all revs get that even pre-HQ.  It seems to be roughly monthly but it's nifty and has some rare drops in the tables, like bounty token stuff.

Those two effects probably don't meaningfully stack, but I built one in my second base anyway just for the basic effects at low cost.  Which I want to explore for a sec:

9 tiles for 200 berths, 25 cells, 24 treadmills, 50 workspace, 200 storagespace

200 berths is 8 Living Quarters, or 5.9 tiles of Large Quarters
25 cells is basically 1 basic prison (15) with a lot more wiggle room.
24 treadmills is triple that of a dojo, with the same mild freshness (5)
50 workspace is an extractor plus a workshop.  HOWEVER, it is only work-SPACE, so you'll still want their services.

All for 550k+625k (minus scrap you salvage) at basically the start of the tree?  Pretty sweet, I feel like it holds up until late game in almost any base.  Maintenance is only 40k which (eyeballing) is a good deal too.  The "rudimentary infirmary" is only half as good as a sickbay, and it's an absolute bonus that won't help ubers much, but it's significant for getting peasants back in the fight.

Storing the scrap metal is a concern, particularly since I didn't have slaves when I built my second base, so I threw up some burrows and hired a few workers.  It's "only" 250 space worth, and burrows are handy for building over.

Edit:  I completely forgot that it also provides storage space, 200 (two vaults).  Too bad it's no pets allowed so you still need a burrow or beast den :3

[MCreeper]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Here's the lazy hotel. Can confirm that ninjas are sane now, survived first year without troubles now (except wasting 2 millions by not putting some people into new base immidiately). Ninja raid, though, was 50 turns of sheer brutality, because blowfish is not fast enough to reach it, because i neglected weapon research, and because last three ninja warriors sneaked around in a wide open plain, forcing me to sacrifice a gal to reach them. And because i didn't really have weapons to kill the turret. Antitank rifle consistently chipped away on it, but did not kill it in 10-15 shots, and it is tricky to actually hit it with 40mm grenade launcher. And i only got either from random boxes.
Fat loot.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Also, i just can't get over some weapon stats. Not only they work on alternative math, but they also are unnecesarily fiddly at times. I understand that second part of this is supposed to give me 1.6 damage at 100 throwing, but holy shit, why?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[Rolan7]

I get tripped up on that too but I think it's 40 damage at 100 Throwing - it squares Throwing first, so 10000, then multiples that by .004.  It's commonly used for sniper rifle accuracy.  Usually it just comes out to a reasonable value at 100 of the stat.

I look at those Ninja stars and read the expected damage as 0+27+40 (AKA, assuming about 100 in relevant stats).  The growth is technically exponential but pretty tame - about 1 extra damage per point above 100.  At 110 you have 0+29.7+48.4, which is 11 extra damage.  That's a pretty big deal against the 99% of enemies that have significant amounts of armor.

What I wish I could see quicker is the effective range, armor effectiveness, and armor-pre-dmg stats.  The latter two are tied to ammo and can sometimes be predicted by damage type, but bullets are all over the place in how they interact with armor.  Some machine guns strip, others don't, some big pistols are AP while others like flintlocks and handcannons use "soft" rounds where armor value is magnified.  It's important information.  It's often mentioned in the descriptions but still...  I use the ANAL tab but it's a bit tedious.

Huh, thinking about throwing has me remembering those electric lassos.  I feel like they were more common as loot before, I haven't found any in Dec 2601.  I think they're part of the Confederate Weapons prize from Jack though.  I've been using Chakram occasionally which are very strong and high range stun but slow (they're also lowkey voodoo in that they always "return to one's hand", hehe).

[Dostoevsky]

Also, i just can't get over some weapon stats. Not only they work on alternative math, but they also are unnecesarily fiddly at times. I understand that second part of this is supposed to give me 1.6 damage at 100 throwing, but holy shit, why?

I remember the discord-era conversation surrounding that one -- it was an exponential curve that was relatively balanced, but then the newly-expanded condemnation system allowed ways to push one's throwing up high enough that the numbers could get completely ridiculous. So they tried to find a way to keep it somewhat exponential while flattening things out some.

On a side note, remember that you can hold ALT while mousing over a weapon in the loadout screen to see the damage range for the equipping character (as long as you have the weapon researched).

What I wish I could see quicker is the effective range, armor effectiveness, and armor-pre-dmg stats.  The latter two are tied to ammo and can sometimes be predicted by damage type, but bullets are all over the place in how they interact with armor.  Some machine guns strip, others don't, some big pistols are AP while others like flintlocks and handcannons use "soft" rounds where armor value is magnified.  It's important information.  It's often mentioned in the descriptions but still...  I use the ANAL tab but it's a bit tedious.

There are standards that are generally followed -- e.g. 60 and over piercing damage has armor strip -- but there are a fair number of exceptions. Those exceptions will usually be mentioned in the written description... but not always. A few common exceptions are big-bore pirate weapons like the boarding gun or handcannon, which are terrible against armor (low tech bullets!) but will still strip some armor, and the entirety of laser weaponry was given armor-stripping abilities a few patches ago. (Though... the pocket laser has an armor strip % but can't do enough damage to actually strip any, hah.)

Range is similar, with standards per category of weapon - e.g. pistols will tend to have around 20 aimed range and 15 snap, while 2H rifles will have 99 aimed range and 18-20 snap. But, again, there are a lot of exceptions (and the shotgun category is just all over the place).

Most of the contacts I was seeing were little copters, apparently scouts of [redacted] (I checked the raws, I do that a lot). 

Huh, those ones are new to me.

so, for 'vehicles' like the hunt party and V8, what is the point of using these low-tech options? Should I be patrolling cross-continent in the first year on foot or something, looking for bases?

As mentioned before it's partly a replacement option if your bus gets shot down, but the cars, bikes, and other low tech transport are also often 'cool' - this translates into extra glamour for beating missions with them. It's niche, but for those trying to use a lot of glamour it's useful.

[Mathel]

Want to see truly weird weapon bonus damage? This one takes the cake. Or at least poisons it.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Firstly, I am not certain wheter that is maximal stamina or current stamina. And if current, whether before or after the shot.

But either way, the square part is negative
At 0 stamina, it would do 5+0 damage. At 360 stamina it would do 5+0 damage (At roughly 381 stamina, it would do 5-5 damage). At 180 stamina, it peaks at 5+32.4 damage. At a more reasonable 120 stamina, you would only get 5+28.8 damage. And since it is BIO damage, it is useless against robots anyway.

For most troops, the Blowgun peaking out then dropping would not be an issue. Gnomes are the only ones from early game units that naturally pass 180 (They go to 200). But Syns start at at least 400 Stamina. Them shooting somebody with a blowpipe will presumably heal the target.

[Egan_BW]

New strat discovered, blowgun healers.

[Chiefwaffles]

I can't believe it's took me this long to A.) try the shadowbat and B.) Immediately realize how god-awful it is.

Like. I have to be missing something, right? The internal layout has you wasting a lot of TUs just to get to the exit. The external lighting doesn't actually reach far enough to light up enemies. But it does reach far enough out to make it impossible to leave the craft without announcing your presence to every single enemy on the map. Astonishing.


EDIT: Relating to stuff that’s actually different since I last played, how are you supposed to deal with the ninja turrets? They’re keeping me from dealing with any ninja raids or forward bases and the monthly point penalty is very quickly getting unsustainable.
Also I sssume necropolis be parts are from the ships the nefroporstes fly; meaning to get some I either have to be extremely lucky and catch a necroplane spawn and attack it while it’s landed? I know there’s a country that gives parts as a starting bonus but it feels like brute forcing the issue which I should be able to solve myself.

[Mathel]

Ninja Point defence  (1x1 turrets) are pretty easy to destroy with any stronger personal gun.

Ninja 14mm AA guns (2x2 turrets) are quite deadly indeed. They are only succeptible to EMP (Ninjas in missions with them do tend to carry EMP grenades at least.)
Failing that, my strategy for the tiniest bases was:
1. Smash my way into the base from behind with a sledgehammer.
2. Kill Ninjas and the PD turrets with guns, melee and grenades.
3a. Throw large amounts of fire grenades and WP grenades at the AA turrets, while also using stolen flamethrowers to kill them. (They are resistant to fire, but not immune)
3b. Hide behind the keep and plink at them with laser weapons. They don't have the best reactions, so most people could get a snapshot off and hide again. Eventually, this slagged their armor.

At higher tech level, you can destroy one with 2 to 3 Mortar Acid Shells.


It's not just Necropirates that fly Necroplanes. But Necropirates own no other craft.

[Chiefwaffles]

You mean I have to use weapons other than the heavy shotgun and handle??? This may very well be the worst day of my life.

[EuchreJack]

You mean I have to use weapons other than the heavy shotgun and handle??? This may very well be the worst day of my life.

LOL!
Oh, I've been there!

[Rolan7]

The heavy shotgun is so great early on.  I keep meaning to give the AP shells a go, but it's hard for me to mentally readjust from it being a scattergun.  "You mean I actually have to aim it... at all?"  I used scoped magnums and now kustom handcannons instead (along with melee in the other hand), supplementing with M-Las now.

Wild to me that lasers have armor pre-dmg (strip) now, I hadn't noticed.  Kinda weird since that moves them into plasma's "niche", but they still ignore 1/3 of armor so I'm not complaining.  I personally love lasers thematically (I used to run lasers-only in oldCOM) so this just means that my Laser Squads can focus down any foe~

Anyway I keep some domestic shotguns around for training noobs and clearing zombies and bandits.  Maybe some chem shotguns would help me out.  I struggle with enemy armor so much it seems, and I just entered year 2 so I'm expecting guild/marsec powered armor soon.  Especially since I desperately need an industrial scanner...

[Dostoevsky]

Ninja 14mm AA guns (2x2 turrets) are quite deadly indeed.

I'll be honest, I edit the armor values of the 14mm guns to make them lower. They're such an oppressive presence that can absorb so much damage I just don't find them fun or interesting. Worse than what should be the thematically more dangerous [REDACTED], and more mundane.

Spoiler: redacted (click to show/hide)

The black pyramids

[Rolan7]

Omigosh, I apparently impressed the Puma Sisters

Spoiler: Event spoilers, but I got a research item I needed! (click to show/hide)

and one's coming to join, along with her equipment... which includes an Industrial Scanner??  That's exactly what I needed, woo!  No need to hunt those stupid Cutters or whatever!  All these Hunter-Killers will still be handy, but what a nice event.  I wonder if it's because I trained up a catgirl to Space Hero and gave her the Honors commendation?  I also had the Sisters researched already.

Edit:  ...And then her sister joined the next day, via a separate event O_o  No scanner but a medical slicer and some cool crates.