X-Com 2, War of the Chosen

This is my first time playing X-Com 2 (played the original), and I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the multilayered mechanics of the game. Does anyone have a good guide handy for this game? I'm about to restart since I felt I was already screwing up pretty badly 8 missions into my prior playthrough.

Originally Posted by Drithius
This is my first time playing X-Com 2 (played the original), and I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the multilayered mechanics of the game. Does anyone have a good guide handy for this game? I'm about to restart since I felt I was already screwing up pretty badly 8 missions into my prior playthrough.

I would recommend turning all DLC off and playing on easiest mode first if you're having difficulty. Do not install mods unless they're just quality of life mods either.

The vanilla game is fun on its own and a good experience. The DLC all add tons of options and make it harder to understand the base game. They are fun, but not if you are struggling.

Take your time, and proceed carefully, at least in the missions where time isn't a factor. For the most part, you can lure out the opposition and often catch them in cross fire situations. I've not played the expansion yet, but the base game seemed quite easy to me.

Originally Posted by Drithius
This is my first time playing X-Com 2 (played the original), and I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the multilayered mechanics of the game. Does anyone have a good guide handy for this game? I'm about to restart since I felt I was already screwing up pretty badly 8 missions into my prior playthrough.

Simcopters1 is the streamer to follow. His streamers are methodical : he breaks down gameplay mechanics for his viewers to ingest.
They are also interactive, meaning that he answers questions.

A good fit for players who struggle with basic gameplay.

I got WotC a couple of weeks back and yow, it adds a LOT to the game! I don't think it quite makes the game XCOM 3 but it isn't far off.

The opening was sure a lot harder. After y'olde Gatecrasher tutorial mission and the quick mission to switch off the do-dad, you get dropped into a mission to introduce you to the Lost. No big deal there. And your first Chosen. Real big deal there. She stealths after most every turn and she's got a skill that keeps her from triggering overwatch. Good luck.

One thing I haven't adjusted to is the need for more soldiers. Your soldiers get tired (similar to Long War but triggered differently), they've got covert missions to go on, and they can get stuck treating mental disorders, too. You can forget about having an A team that does most of the work along with a backup for each soldier job. You're going to need a small army this time.

I would do your first few play throughs on a lower difficulty. The vanilla game really only has one build that works well on the higher difficulties. You can play your battles perfectly and still lose every time mid game with a bad build on the higher difficulties.

Actually, I'm doing fine now in Commander. Once I got some more soldiers, the game seemed to let up on me a bit and I got enough people healed up to assault the Assassin's HQ. The Avatar Project got to its timer but I had a covert to bring that down.

Now I've gotten the Warden armor and more area feeding me cash. I've got the plasma weapons research about half done, though I don't think I'll have the supplies to get everyone new weapons until next month. The Assassin's shotgun is death incarnate!

The new 'ability points' thing is sure interesting. Each character earns ability points as they advance and do good things (like flanking enemies). These points can be spent to buy skills you did not pick on promotion, which can be incredibly handy. Each soldier also gets a few random skills from other classes that they can pick, though they cost more. If the soldier doesn't have enough AP to buy the skill, there is also a common pool of points to draw from. Now that I've actually managed to build the room that allows this training, it's made my soldiers a good bit more powerful! (Halo Targeting and Heavy Ordinance for all grenadiers! Deadeye and Lightning Hands for all sharpshooters!)

Edit: Also, there's a new option that adds extra turns in the turn-limited missions. Enough extra turns, by the sound of it, that you don't have to rush to the target though not so many that you can just sit there after each battle and wait for skills with 4-turn cooldowns to recycle.