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[scrdest]

I ended up binning LW. Although if someone made a LW mod that's basically Vanilla with LW's strategic/tactical options and features like random LZ positioning (well, let's be honest - I want LW without LW balance as it is) I'd download it in a heartbeat.

[i2amroy]

When I tried it, which was the last LW version, there was also an incredibly annoying pause every combat turn with LW - which didn't exist in vanilla. If there's a fix, I couldn't find it (other than uninstalling LW and going back to vanilla).

Strange, I'm haven't gotten that at all. In fact my LW maps tend to go much faster than vanilla due to the fact that I don't have an annoying alien cinematic every time I surprise a group of aliens.

[Flying Dice]

I very rarely will have the alien turn hang up on one of the buggers for longer than normal, but it's made up for by not having those stupid fucking cinematics.

Yeah, I read that on the mod's page.
Well, looks like I'll be running Cinematic Mode and every possible Second Wave option that could possibly make things easier.

Just remember that most of the ones which up the impact of RNG hurt you more than they help you. Except for Hidden Potential.

My recommendation for a relatively smooth but still challenging play would be: Classic; Absolutely Critical, Strict Screening, Hidden Potential, Commander's Choice, Cinematic Mode, The Friendly Skies, and Miracle Workers.

If you are little babby and want the easiest possible game, play with this: Normal; all of the above Second Wave Options, as well as Durability, We Are Legion, and Quick and Dirty. If you're a cheating cheater who cheats, add Save Scum.

My personal preference for a balanced campaign that doesn't require five minutes of thought before every move but also makes it fairly hard to win: Classic/Brutal; Absolutely Critical, Strict Screening, Hidden Potential, Commander's Choice, Cinematic Mode, The Friendly Skies, Miracle Workers, Total Loss, and Liberators. If I play on Impossible or Brutal, I might do We Are Legion to level more people faster.

Actually, that's a very, very good way to make the game easier if you're struggling early. Just run We Are Legion in addition to whatever else you use. 8 PFCs is enough to clear the early missions without the struggle some of you apparently have, it makes the four-man EXALT missions easier, and it lets you get all of your starters to SPEC by April, but by the time you're halfway through summer it's not really in effect any more because you'd already have researched the upgrades naturally.

[umiman]

I think if you wanted to save scum, using the Save Scum option is counterproductive.

This is because the results of each action using one seed is predetermined. So let's say you're faced with a challenging situation where you need to kill 3 aliens in 3 turns, instead of just dice rolling each one and restarting constantly, you can manipulate the seed and do the actions that succeed instead.

Essentially on the normal setting, the future is predetermined and you're basically just traveling back in time to take the optimal course. This is good for complex actions.

With Save Scum on, you're constantly traveling to separate futures and are basically hoping for the best. This is only good if you're trying to land a 10% chance shot.

Or you could just save nonstop every single action, but that seems so incredibly lame.

[Shadowlord]

When I tried it, which was the last LW version, there was also an incredibly annoying pause every combat turn with LW - which didn't exist in vanilla. If there's a fix, I couldn't find it (other than uninstalling LW and going back to vanilla).

Strange, I'm haven't gotten that at all. In fact my LW maps tend to go much faster than vanilla due to the fact that I don't have an annoying alien cinematic every time I surprise a group of aliens.

I thought it was especially weird considering I had done a clean install, deleted all the save files, and deleted everything in Documents\My Games\XCOM - Enemy Within\XComGame\Config, and the profile.bin before I even installed Long War. It didn't even crash when I started it the first time, it started just fine. So... I dunno. I don't think I turned off cloud saves, though, because I love cloud saves. I had a computer die in the middle of a HL2 playthrough not long after Valve introduced that feature on Steam. Being able to just pick it up on another computer was amazing and wonderful.

[Chiefwaffles]

Have you also tried playing in offline mode? I can't even start up Long War when steam isn't in offline mode.

[i2amroy]

I don't think I turned off cloud saves, though, because I love cloud saves.

That might be what's doing it. I have mine turned off and just rely on the in-game autosaves to keep my games intact in the event of a crash.

[Parsely]

Angry story:
I was playing vanilla EU classic ironman yesterday and I had two terrible missions back to back.

I've won the game twice before but I've never gotten the blaster launcher before; I thought you had to get the slingshot DLC in order to get blaster launchers. I figured it out because I was trying to get the achievement for researching all topics, and I found out that you had to beat a battleship crash to get it. It always made me super mad that all my dudes had shiny chrome guns, pistols, grenades, armor, but the heavies only had the plain olive green launchers, so I was supes excite to get the fucking things so I could finally have a squad that matched perfectly.

So my dudes landed to handle the battleship crash which I immediately got on the next intercept just by wanting it really bad (I hadn't had a single battleship the whole playthrough). They've got all the best gear (except blaster launchers grrrrrr). I always roll two heavies, two supports, one sniper and one assault. Or all SHIVs, but not this time. This was too important.

Mission start. Have to use all our medkits and smoke and two rockets leaving just one regular rocket, I waste some time investigating the other two areas where you can start the mission, but we make it to the end without anyone getting dead, and everyone's still got good health. We even survived activating two sectopods at the same time. So the end: I was keeping score in my head so I knew there were exactly two pods. Three mutons possibly elite (because there's no way there'd be three sectopods), and one ethereal with his elite muton bodyguard. Everyone dashes to set up on the door, except one dude, who's right next to the door. I go to press overwatch...I fucking hit A on accident (Xbox controller). Door opens, muton+ethereal wake up. Everyone's out of actions. Such rage has never been seen before (I just groaned a lot). Of course they kill two of my dudes on the next turn. We manage to kill them without taking any more casualties but everyone is hurt really bad and we're out of medkits. Sniper is still alive with one HP so I'm like "ugh just go set up and everyone else go". Boom, elite muton activation, everyone except the sniper is out of cover. Agh. Ugh. Ergh. *rolls around* UEGH. Everyone dies except the sniper and one other dude who survived critically wounded, and all the salt is washed away because wooooo blaster launchers ayyyyyy--

So I was feeling good, then there was a terror mission and we activated one sectopod right away. I figured "pfff no problem I've got six dudes what could go wrong." He killed four people. Now I just want to evacuate so I can save my one psi dude for the Gollop Chamber but...there's no extraction zone.

Welp. ._. Just gonna have to buy more rookies.

Or you could just save nonstop every single action, but that seems so incredibly lame.

I do this when I play Fallout Tactics because I have to win without wasting a single item or taking any casualties. But in something like new/oldCOM where I can keep playing after a TPK my laziness enforces ironman playthroughs. I only scum in oldCOM when I mistime an intercept, because I can't stand having to waste time throwing flares on night missions.

[SOLDIER First]

So, uh. Apart from the first mission (you will be missed, three unnamed rookies), I haven't lost a soldier. Like, I'm up to my first UFO, with the ten-health-and-regeneration Outsider (which, by the way, I took care of in one turn thanks to super great planning), and nobody's died. And my Sniper really liked his cross-map kills in this UFO drop, because he took out four Sectoids that way. One of which was in full cover. And had 40% to hit.

[Parsely]

So, uh. Apart from the first mission (you will be missed, three unnamed rookies), I haven't lost a soldier. Like, I'm up to my first UFO, with the ten-health-and-regeneration Outsider (which, by the way, I took care of in one turn thanks to super great planning), and nobody's died. And my Sniper really liked his cross-map kills in this UFO drop, because he took out four Sectoids that way. One of which was in full cover. And had 40% to hit.

Keep it up.

[Flying Dice]

I just got 50 Meld from a 2-container map during a mission in early April of the first year. What.

[BFEL]

Yeah, contrary to my previous rage, the new LW version on normal with things like cinematic and the other babby options make the game well within playable. Though I AM planning to edit down SHIV rebuild times because fuck your balance long war, it does NOT take 7 times longer to repair something then it does to make a fucking new one.

Also, just did Friends in Low Places and gotta say, they must have switched a lot of shit around from the version I was playing (11) because holy shit that was ridonkulous.
The Chryssallid spawned ON TOP OF one of my dudes, and every other enemy bar the three or so starting ones spawned BEHIND ME.
GET AWAY FROM MY ASSHOLE THIN MEN, THAT IS NOT A PLACE YOU SHOULD BE.

I just got 50 Meld from a 2-container map during a mission in early April of the first year. What.

This is fairly normal actually. Make sure to stockpile it, because if you do well then after awhile entire maps will start giving only 3.
Meld is based on Alien Research, so the more they win the more you can find. Because balance is everything in LW.

[Urist Imiknorris]

There's also meld from enemies. Was the map a landed supply barge full of floaters?

[Flying Dice]

No, it was teeny tiny. 3 Sectoids, 3 Floaters, 2 Thin Men. It just happened twice more, too. Another Abduction where I got 33 despite losing a container, and then a downed Scout that gave me 30.

IDK what's going on, unless they seriously tweaked the amount dropped in b15e. I'm getting on average around 16 per container, and all of my settings are the same as they've always been. o.0

[Mephansteras]

Beta 15 did rebalanced out how much meld you need and get.