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[umiman]

I dunno about you, but I kinda like not missing shots, even if the only thing that determined it was a 3% base chance to hit. It might also be a psychological thing as I would skip shots that were say... 67% chance to hit but would go for them at 70% chance to hit. In my personal experience, missing shots is a huge cause of lost games wheras I really cannot think of a game I lost because I couldn't move a little further. I really can't. I mean, there are probably battles I won easier because my scout could run across the entire map, but I've never lost anything because I couldn't move as fast.

In contrast, I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in saying that missing a shot has made me ragequit the game more than once. You know... those times when you got three chrysalids bearing down on you and have to hit every single shot to win. You miss one, but it's okay. You just sacrifice one dude but you can still make it. Miss another. Fuck my life. Miss the last one. Don't you wish you got the extra 3% then? Because I don't know about you but that happens a lot more than it should. It's also why I give everyone scopes. Grenades might be technically more useful (and I do bring them), but again, I like not missing.

So... technically speaking, if you wanted to minmax your benefits I'm sure the +1 movement is logically more beneficial in terms of utils gained but I'll stick to my 3% base accuracy increase. Even if the ROI isn't as high.

Though honestly, if you play Long War unmodded, I think it might be a better idea to give your guys more will. They lose so much every time they get injured.


Edit: I didn't know there was an option to start with +1 hp. That sounds way more useful than anything else.

[Rince Wind]

Well I can think of situations where I couldn't shoot at all because that rocketeer ist way too slow to catch up. So more movement might have helped him.

[i2amroy]

Well I can think of situations where I couldn't shoot at all because that rocketeer ist way too slow to catch up. So more movement might have helped him.

Remembering to just give him the +3 movement gun helps a lot there I find.

In contrast, I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in saying that missing a shot has made me ragequit the game more than once. You know... those times when you got three chrysalids bearing down on you and have to hit every single shot to win. You miss one, but it's okay. You just sacrifice one dude but you can still make it. Miss another. Fuck my life. Miss the last one. Don't you wish you got the extra 3% then? Because I don't know about you but that happens a lot more than it should. It's also why I give everyone scopes. Grenades might be technically more useful (and I do bring them), but again, I like not missing.

Honestly here's how I would deal with that situation.
1) Run a grenadier backwards 1 one move. Use their second move to flash bang the group of chrysalids.
2) Run everyone else backwards 1 move, overwatch with a few and steady aim with the rest.
3) Wait for the chyrsallids to come towards me with the overwatch killing 1-2, then hit the rest the next turn with my steadied aim.

Flashbangs is love, flashbangs is life, and that -Move penalty to disorientated enemies is often the difference between "I can run up to you with 1 move, then kill you with the second" and "it takes me two moves just to get to you, putting me in a 2 square away 100% hit chance shot". The idea that sometimes you need to retreat doesn't just apply to entire missions, there are often times when it's better to fall back a little ways to force the aliens to come to you through overwatch again.

[Rolan7]

I'm still very early on but I'm using the SMG with my medics and rocketeer.  My best medic has suppression, which empties the entire SMG in one action... but that's fine, she's dedicated support.  Will probably be my first officer now that I finished the OTS.

I keep "seeing" roaming aliens outside my view range, but I don't think they provoke reaction fire.  I think they're untargetable during my turn, until I approach.  Not sure.  Then last battle, a sectoid used suppression on me while out of visible range.  I checked, it only had 3HP like the rest.  But maybe it had squadsight anyway?  If I do an autopsy, will I be able to see what perks each sectoid has?

[Flying Dice]

The thing about SMGs on Rocketeers is that they only offset the penalties from carrying a pair of spare rockets and the launcher; you're still in the negative if you don't take light armor, which means that even if you strip down to vest and SMG you're breaking even, and that can mean taking two turns instead of one to get a rocket in position to fire. (If you're not taking extra rockets, why do you have a Rocketeer on the squad?)

To be fair, another reason I beat the mobility drum so hard is because it's crucial to two of the things I love: Scout sharpshooters who can dash around the flank to blow things away and force relocations (while being zippy enough to yellow-move back to cover if they trigger something), and paired Assaults who can run up and use their pile of actions to kill entire pods. It's even funnier when you combo the two together to use Scouts to Flush the last enemies into CCS fire.

[Urist Imiknorris]

(If you're not taking extra rockets, why do you have a Rocketeer on the squad?)

Decent overwatch build with an OHSHIT button or two. (or, with my own edits to their perk tree, an infinite DZ mayhem suppressor with an OHSHIT button)

[Flying Dice]

Eeh. Too JoaT-y for my tastes when I could either bring along another Infantry for top tier OW/single-target or a real Rocketeer for when you absolutely, positively need something dead. Taking those OW perks loses out on Fire in the Hole (which is even more relevant late when it makes the Blaster Launcher better) and Mayhem (an effective +4 damage to most things you're likely to be rocketing, unless you didn't take HEAT Warheads for some ungodly reason). And they miss out on one of the most important OW perks (Covering Fire) and get their other one two ranks late. I mean, it can work, but it's not very effective compared to other things for either of the roles. It's like building a Medic around suppression and OW.

Unless you edit perk trees, fair enough. 

[i2amroy]

If I do an autopsy, will I be able to see what perks each sectoid has?

Yes, and it's a very useful thing. Being able to see if any of the aliens in a given group has the covering fire perk is a godsend later in the game, and has prevented many a stupid death on my part by making sure that the scout takes the first shot at the aliens in overwatch.

[BFEL]

I don't think I've ever seen anyone die to Covering Fire, ever. In fact I can't recall any significant instances of being HIT by covering fire. Its just a ammo waster.

[Flying Dice]

Wait, for aliens or X-Com? Because Covering Fire is core for Overwatch Monster Infantry for a reason. The only reason to not take it is if you're building that particular trooper into the hyper-aggressive kill line (Executioner -> Aggression -> Ranger -> Sharpshooter -> Bring 'Em On -> VPT) or the Psy-Tank line (Steadfast -> Will to Survive -> Suppression -> Tactical Sense -> Resilience -> Extra Conditioning). Infantry are neat like that, they have three sharply delineated builds, and each of those are monstrously powerful.

Covering Fire is the sort of perk that looks underwhelming until you use it, and that you don't notice until it's gone, at which point you miss it sorely. Among other things, it allows you to get OW shots on all enemy attacks (even ones like Chryssalid melee strikes), allows you to make full use of Sentinel, and allows you to get shots when an enemy moves into vision by peeking a corner without triggering OW before they fire. The bottom line with CF is that unless literally every enemy in sight does nothing except hunker or reload, you're getting two OW shots. Yeah, it's not good if you're not building around OW, duh, but if you went (CF -> Opportunist -> Ranger -> LNL -> Sentinel -> EC/VPT) it is as core as core gets.

I don't see it trigger often, but when it does it almost always saves a life.

_{Time to see if anyone decides to fanboy Beagle and whine about not taking Suppression on a non-tank build that doesn't get bonuses for it...}

[Rolan7]

It's late April and I'm worried.  Just captured a second supply vessel, at very heavy cost this time...  Mostly because I got less lucky, the aliens were more tactical instead of charging out or waiting to be surrounded.  Still, I have a fresh load of resources and I'm wondering what to build or buy:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197964141316/screenshots/

 

I only have 10 scientists and 17 engineers, so can't make a second workshop or lab (takes 20).  I spent a couple weeks with no satellites, but now I've got most of Europe covered (including Russia??  Pretty sure that's different.)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197964141316/screenshots/

I'm mainly wondering what to research next.  I have Alien Weaponry->Beam Lasers, and just finished Xenobiology.  My choices are (days):
Xenoneurology (20): Should unlock arc thrower, for tasty research credits and the theoretical possibility of taking out alien bases
Alien Materials (15): Armor.  Not crazy about spending a bunch of time and resources on this just yet.
Experimental Warfare (20): Dunno?  I'm already building a foundry, but I guess this will unlock a lot of projects there.
Xenogenetics (25): Genemods, haha no way (I'd need a lot of autopsies first I'm sure)
Alien Computers (25): Might let me research Firestorms?  But that probably requires Alien Power Source, which isn't available for some reason (or Elerium), and then another 20 days I bet.  But air superiority would be wonderful.
Advanced Beam Lasers (35): Gauss I bet!  But holy cow that time requirement, and then another few weeks to build the things.  Someday.
Sectoid Autopsy (10): Tempted to do this just to see sectoid perks.  Also, might unlock one of those fighter upgrades I never used in vanilla...  With my luck it's the speed boost one which would be absolutely useless
Thin Man Autopsy (15): Might make the council missions a little easier, but ehh.
Can't research floaters, chryssalids, drones, seekers, surgery, elerium, or power sources.  Thinking the autopsies might require sectoid autopsy first.

Leaning toward xenoneurology then autopsies.  The readme said the arc thrower is even less reliable now, but I'm desperate for research credits.  I *want* to build another satellite uplink to cover Europe and get USA for "We Have Ways", but that third uplink requires 20 engineers (3 more than I have).  So I'll have to wait a little on that.  Really wish I could get more scientists though.

I should probably just read the wiki to reveal the tech tree, but it's kinda fun being in the dark.  I'd still appreciate advice though, I don't want to get too screwed.

[Flying Dice]

Nope, Advanced Beam Lasers are the beam laser heavy weapons. Sniper/Strike Rifles, Scatterlaser, Autolaser, &c.

Just a tip, but you can skip Gauss and go straight to Pulse Lasers. The only thing is that if you do, you need to get Supercaps by the end of the year or your interceptor weapons will fall off. The only things Gauss has going for it is HEAT perk attached to the sniper rifle and a slightly more damaging out-of-the-box interceptor weapon.

The earlier you get Xenoneuro, the sooner you can start capturing weapons. You won't get Firestorms for a long time. At this point it's basically down to MOAR LAZER vs. Armor vs. specializing vs. minor projects.

[Urist Imiknorris]

Sell elerium, buy labs.

[Rolan7]

Ah okay, it's a bit confusing because I already have autolaser and the other one (LMG and SAW lasers).  But no laser sniper, shotgun, or battle rifle.  I think I even have a laser carbine, though it's hard to keep track.  No craft weaponry either though, maybe that's behind experimental warfare.  ... yeah, I'll just check the wiki.

As for capturing weapons, what does *that* do?  Somehow it's hard to imagine Long War will actually let me use them.  A lot of the enemies have plasma carbines but I'm expecting that to take at *least* two months to research, and somehow I doubt it'll let me skip the gauss and pulse tiers.

Sell elerium, buy labs.

Can't buy labs without scientists ):  I'm short *9*.  The country requests have all given me engineers so far...  And I don't even have enough of *them* to buy a second *workshop*.  Hopefully once this second month ends though.

[i2amroy]

In long war capturing weapons is required to build plasma weapons, each plasma weapon will use a varying in size "alien weapon core" or something similarly named, to build.

Experimental warfare is one of those "base" projects that a ton of stuff uses later, so you should probably get it sometime soon. On the other hand if you are planning on skipping gauss (which bear in mind that skipping is a lot more risky in long war, and you can easily get yourself into a bad situation if you don't plan far ahead and try to do so) you could also pick something else up such as xenoneurology for the interrogations/requests; those research credits from the interrogations are more valuable the earlier you get them.