XCOM 2 - War of the Chosen Fall Update

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Henriquejr spotted spotted a change-list for the new XCOM 2: War of the Chosen patch:

Fall 2017 XCOM 2: War of the Chosen Update Deploys

The Fall 2017 update for XCOM 2: War of the Chosen is available now on PC and coming soon for Mac, Linux, Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

This new update institutes multiple bug fixes and optimizations that will facilitate a better overall experience for players. Challenge Mode has been updated to include new stats on the leaderboard, new player-to-player tracked events and retooled notifications.

Head below for the full list of changes.

Good luck, Commander.

Gameplay – Strategy Layer

  • Beta Strike now is applied to XCOM soldiers if the tutorial is enabled
  • Scientists and engineers can no longer be used while deployed on Covert Actions
  • Fixed base game soldier promotion abilities not being free in the Training Center if a cross-class ability is purchased first
  • Fixed a visual issue with the inventory menu after selecting a Grenadier's utility item or grenade slot in the Hangar
  • Fixed Resistance Order card duplication
  • Fixed a navigation issue caused by empty Resistance Order card slots
  • Tutorial: Players can now re-enter the Research screen if they’ve tried to exit during the tutorial.
  • Fixed an issue that prevented soldiers from being dismissible after completing Lost and Abandoned with the Tutorial enabled
  • Fixed the conventional weapon breakthrough tech causing "+1 Damage" to display on the claymore when viewed in the Armory
  • Soldiers in the Character Pool now generate with a background
  • Scavengers Resistance Order now only applies to resource-based POI rewards
  • Weapon color defaults to 20 now instead of -1 to prevent mismatched color previews
  • Camera outline and poster display update on screen change
  • Fixed an issue with SPARKs getting permanently stuck in a wounded yet "Available" state after going on Chosen Stronghold missions
  • Fixed the Lost World Dark Event to expire correctly
  • Fixed lingering cohesion glow after creating a new bond
  • Fixed an issue where faction soldiers in the Training Center promotion screen would not appear when cycling through soldiers
  • Removed references to Resistance HQ from strategy notifications
  • Removed the ability for soldiers to gain positive traits as part of the AWC post-mission negative trait recovery mechanic
  • Soldiers on Covert Actions no longer drop their equipped items when the player enters the squad select screen
  • Fixed Rescue Soldier missions sometimes appearing with no reward if you fail it the first time
  • Adding additional text to the Reaper's Silent Killer ability description
  • Fixed weapons with mods attached not upgrading to the next tier for soldiers who are deployed on ambush-able Covert Actions
Gameplay – Tactical Layer

  • Chosen will be activated only if someone on XCOM team has been revealed
  • Fixed a bug where the fog of war fails to update or disappear when the player's Codex creates a clone during a mission
  • Fixed an issue where detection tiles would disappear for faction soldiers after loading a save while in concealment
  • VIPs using hunker down no longer break concealment
  • Berserk Rangers no longer attack squadmates
  • Fixed visualization of Archon patrol pathing
  • Units now take claymore damage when a claymore is detonated underneath them while on a destructible floor during tactical gameplay
  • ADVENT Priests triggering Sustain while standing in the evac zone no longer fails the mission
  • Alien Rulers get a 1.5X HP boost when Beta Strike is enabled
  • Fixed an issue where Purifiers became unresponsive after their clone made from Shadowbind was destroyed
  • Bladestorm and Retribution excludes teammates as valid targets
  • Enemy reinforcement visual indicator no longer disappears
  • Chosen can no longer turn into cocoons from Chryssalid poison
  • Spectres hit with Stasis will no longer prevent shadowbound units from recovering when the Spectre is killed
  • Fixed missing flyover for Lightning Reflexes
  • Gremlins only reveal hidden units after a hack attempt is made
  • Changed Skirmisher Ionic Ripjack stun chance to 25%
  • Darkclaw now gains the effects of equipped ammo
  • Brutal Chosen strength temporarily decreases soldier Will
  • Fixed ambient lighting not being applied in some non-tactical areas
  • Targetable enemy indicator refreshes correctly after navigating tactical menus
  • Fixed an issue where help text and other pop-ups would not trigger during the tutorial
  • Units provided by the Volunteer Army & Double Agent Resistance Orders will no longer count as units lost during a campaign
  • Updated Mimic Beacon behavior for Purifier, Priest, Spectre, and shadowbound units
  • Added AI AoE finder updates to enable AoE attacks on Mimic Beacons
  • Fixed an issue preventing Mimic Beacons from being attacked more than once by purifiers
  • Skulljack now kills units instantly if Beta Strike is enabled
  • Shredded armor no longer reappears after reloading a save
  • Fixed an issue where Skirmishers could use Wrath to move to an area, but not perform a melee attack
  • Fixed infinite visualization hang when X2Action_WaitForAnotherAction fails to receive the event trigger it is registered for
  • Fixed issue with claymores not being immediately targetable by the Reaper
  • Reduced Chosen Hunter pistol range
  • Skulljack no longer prevents a unit from becoming concealed
  • Supply Extraction loot now recovered if XCOM evacs from the mission
  • Fixed a loss of functionality caused by simultaneously entering a rescue circle and triggering a Lost pod during a Rescue Stranded Resistance Agents mission
  • Fixed crash caused by too many Lost on screen at one time
  • Restricting spawns in the corners of some parcels to prevent Chosen from being stuck if they spawn in the corner of a map
  • Slightly reducing the aim of Retaliation civilian militia and Volunteer Army soldiers
  • Shadowbound units don't get abilities granted from Sustaining Spheres. This matches up with shadowbound units not getting built in Sustain ability from units either
  • Prevent Chosen Kidnap / Extract on special units that come from HQ via Double Agent or Volunteer Army
  • Fix for an indefinite hang when a unit gets the burning status effect when moving for a Skullmine action during tactical gameplay
  • Holy Warrior effects no longer persist after the Priest is removed from the mission
  • Chosen Sarcophagus health displays correctly after loading a save game while the shield is up
  • Bluescreen Rounds no longer affect destructibles
  • Updated Shadowbind to remove the Parthenogenic Poison from the target
  • Decoupled GameStateUnit and asynchronous pawn load requests to prevent hung levels and crashes on level load
  • Fixed crashes related to GetAllViewersOfTarget
  • Fixed crashes related to GetAllVisibleToSource
  • Fixed crashes related to GetAllViewersOfLocation
  • Fixed crashes caused by for large block of LoadMap crashes
  • Fixed GetWorldInfo crashes on RenderThread
  • FixedProtection against IsAudible crashes from effects
Challenge Mode

  • Added new event notifications: 5 Enemy Kills, Concealment Broken, First Soldier Wounded, Killed a Sectopod or Gatekeeper, Lost a Sectopod or Gatekeeper, and Completed Mission
  • Challenge Mode replay improvements: show the reaper roll, skip challenge points banners, disable mission narratives
  • Added user score and total players to Challenge Mode squad select screen
  • Changed Challenge events to display completion percentages of total players for an event
  • ADVENT soldiers now take an action when their shadowbound clone is killed
  • Enemy units will now move or take actions when the player Shadowbinds another enemy unit in the same pod
  • Challenge Mode replays will now automatically start playing
  • Fixed an issue where Focus drops were not occurring in Challenge mode
  • Additional score break down and stats to leaderboard
  • Consolidated the objective and enemy score decrease messages into one message when appropriate
  • Fixed an issue causing Challenges to auto-complete
Misc

  • Modding - Added files to improve compatibility between the game and uncooked content
  • Character Pool now checks base game and expansion directories for available pools
  • Fixed Character Pool lighting when on Stronghold shell screen
  • Fixed a crash with the Character Pool trying to access a version of a unit that no longer exists
  • Added a button to open the local Photobooth directory from the game
  • Class pose filtering is skipped when doing a memorial shot
  • Additional crash and bug fixes
More information.
 
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Just finished my first full game with WotC options… My concern that the new enemy troop options were too janky turned out to be unfounded. Most were very cool additions, though there seems to be an overuse of the Spectre. The "lost" (aka zombies) missions also turned out to be more enjoyable than I had thought. Finally, I became obsessed with the portrait studio to make posters… It really adds so much character to your roster-- if they'd only bring back the medals system, or something like it…

On the 'not so cool' side are the Chosen themselves. I don't think they really add much to the game, and their weapons, which become yours, are a mixed bag of overpowered (armor piercing katana) vs underpowered (sniper rifle) compared to similar weapons you can equip and mod yourself. When you also now add the three former Alien Hunter 'King' units along with the Chosen showing up every battle, it really just gets silly. But at least you can de-select the Alien Hunter content when you set up a game. I just wish you could de-select the whole Chosen sidestory, as well, but keep the other new content.

In all honesty, I didn't really use any of the new allied units, either. They just didn't really appeal to me, considering my playstyle. I'm not a stealth guy (Reapers), or a huge psych-user (Templar) and I'm not a fan of weak weaponry (Skirmisher), so these troops always were sent on covert ops instead of battles. It's kind of a waste, I know, but perhaps I'll incorporate them a bit better into future games. I just couldn't find much of a use for them, as their strengths created too many weaknesses in other areas for me to take them over one of my hand-picked normal troop options.

What this game needs now is a mixture of some former XCom choices combined with a few of the Long War options. With the "hidden potential" and "not created equal" system along with expanded soldier class options (not quite the 8 found in LW, but maybe 6) and officer promotions vs enlisted, this game would be perfect for me. It's quite clear from the WotC end game cutscenes that the next expansion will be Terror from the Deep, though it's unclear if sales of WotC will justify it. If it is created, hopefully Terror from the Deep will incorporate some of these wishlist items for me.
 
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When the expansion was released, somebody asked me if we could import our original Character Pool into War of the Chosen (sorry, I can't remeber who asked me, maybe it was you @Pladio; ???).

From Update's Misc section we can read:

  • Character Pool now checks base game and expansion directories for available pools

That's about time. One less unnecessary tinkering :)
 
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When the expansion was released, somebody asked me if we could import our original Character Pool into War of the Chosen (sorry, I can't remeber who asked me, maybe it was you @Pladio; ???).

From Update's Misc section we can read:

  • Character Pool now checks base game and expansion directories for available pools

That's about time. One less unnecessary tinkering :)

Yup, was me :D

But I finished the game now, so I doubt I will restart unless they make another major DLC ...
 
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This patch is way too late although it has some nice fixes.

Atm I am thinking of going back to Xcom 2 vanilla + Long War 2, it is still a much superior game.
 
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On the 'not so cool' side are the Chosen themselves. I don't think they really add much to the game, and their weapons, which become yours, are a mixed bag of overpowered (armor piercing katana) vs underpowered (sniper rifle) compared to similar weapons you can equip and mod yourself.

The chosen sniper rifle only cost one action to fire. This is a game changer, not an underpowered sniper rifle.
It allows you to chain kills indefinitely with Death From Above.

But I agree about the Chosen not being very good additions the way they were included:
Too much depend on rolling good chosen and weaknesses/strength combination (the Assassin early on can end your playthrough brutally, making the difficulty even more frontloaded. On the other hand, the other 2 are nowhere near as bad).

I didn't like the Lost much. They are OK when they appear in a mission with advent, but they are trivial to deal with on their own.

The real strengths of the Reaper are scouting, and boss killing (with banish).
His stealth allows you to use your ranger without risking triggering any pod, and unlike the conceal ranger, he can still help from concealment.
The skirmisher was strong with his guaranteed stun, but now, he is borderline useless.
 
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The chosen sniper rifle only cost one action to fire. This is a game changer, not an underpowered sniper rifle.
It allows you to chain kills indefinitely with Death From Above.

But I agree about the Chosen not being very good additions the way they were included:
Too much depend on rolling good chosen and weaknesses/strength combination (the Assassin early on can end your playthrough brutally, making the difficulty even more frontloaded. On the other hand, the other 2 are nowhere near as bad).

I didn't like the Lost much. They are OK when they appear in a mission with advent, but they are trivial to deal with on their own.

The real strengths of the Reaper are scouting, and boss killing (with banish).
His stealth allows you to use your ranger without risking triggering any pod, and unlike the conceal ranger, he can still help from concealment.
The skirmisher was strong with his guaranteed stun, but now, he is borderline useless.
Yes I also didn't like Chosen. Lost are irritating (when fighting with Advent as well) because they bring in even more randomness into the game with how they choose their targets and how they frack up advent AI (or activate them randomly) but in Lost only missions they are a pushover (even without the card that lets you kill them with any damage).

With this "nerf" to Skirmisher only late game new class that is useful is Reaper. Templar would be as well if their Col abilities were better or if Assassin's Katana didn't exist. A good Ranger with that Katana is as good or better than a Templar and does not suffer from not being to use a useful ranged weapon.
 
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Yes I also didn't like Chosen. Lost are irritating (when fighting with Advent as well) because they bring in even more randomness into the game with how they chose their targets and how they frack up advent AI (or activate them randomly) but in Lost only missions they are a pushover (even without the card that lets you kill them with any damage).

With this "nerf" to Skirmisher only late game new class that is useful is Reaper. Templar would be as well if their Col abilities were better or if Assassin's Katana didn't exist. A good Ranger with that Katana is as good or better than a Templar and does not suffer from not being to use a useful ranged weapon.

And a ranger does not need you to skill him up to see whether he got Reaper and Bladestorm...
 
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This game is a joke. XPiratez is the KING of all XCOM-like tactical types.
 
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The chosen sniper rifle only cost one action to fire. This is a game changer, not an underpowered sniper rifle.
It allows you to chain kills indefinitely with Death From Above.

So the 3-shot limit is what really handicaps it. The most powerful perk combo in the game for snipers, at least for me, was Longwatch combined with Killzone. 7 shots in a row on units out of cover is lethal when literally the entire map can be seen. Add armor piercing rounds, Death from Above and Superior Hair Trigger with Superior Magazine and Superior Auto Loader (I could add 3 mods to my sniper rifle halfway through the game due to a project), that's 21 rounds basically for free, as opposed to 9 with the Chosen sniper rifle. I actually found the armor piercing pistol more valuable than the Assassin's sniper rifle.

But I guess it's all playstyle!
 
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So the 3-shot limit is what really handicaps it. The most powerful perk combo in the game for snipers, at least for me, was Longwatch combined with Killzone. 7 shots in a row on units out of cover is lethal when literally the entire map can be seen. Add armor piercing rounds, Death from Above and Superior Hair Trigger with Superior Magazine and Superior Auto Loader (I could add 3 mods to my sniper rifle halfway through the game due to a project), that's 21 rounds basically for free, as opposed to 9 with the Chosen sniper rifle. I actually found the armor piercing pistol more valuable than the Assassin's sniper rifle.

But I guess it's all playstyle!

Death from Above does not let you fire your regular sniper rifle, though, as it refunds one single action and you need 2 to shoot.
It is true that the chosen upgrades are meh, but still, moving and shooting without the former snapshot penalty is awesome in my book.
 
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With the "hidden potential" and "not created equal" system along with expanded soldier class options (not quite the 8 found in LW, but maybe 6) and officer promotions vs enlisted, this game would be perfect for me.

Is "hidden potential" and "not created equally" not available for WotC? Those were my fav options from Enemy Within, sadness.
I've got the game sitting in my backlog, but waiting for a sale on WotC now.
 
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Is "hidden potential" and "not created equally" not available for WotC? Those were my fav options from Enemy Within, sadness.
I've got the game sitting in my backlog, but waiting for a sale on WotC now.

Not that I have seen. IIRC you had to beat the game first (in the 'old' XCOM) before these options would open. I went back to check after doing so and still did not see these, so I don't think it's available without a future mod or expansion.

That said, a new game feature (resistance… com center or something room you build on the Avenger), allows you to send whomever you want for a slight boost to a certain stat (+3 hacking, +1 mobility or +2 aim, etc). These are now called "covert operations", there are only a few offered per month, and the stats they boost are completely random. You can see what stat will be boosted before you start the mission, so you can avoid wasting time on stats you don't need (like boosting your sniper's hacking skill, which is useless). Your soldier is unavailable for 4-7ish days when on a mission tho, which is a big deal when you are barely able to field a healthy team.

Aside from this, all new soldiers still start each game with equal stats, which to me takes a bit of the fun out of it. There are ability points now that you spend to choose what abilities you can unlock, which makes a huge difference-- however basic stats all level equally upon promotion unless you send them on covert missions. But like I said, these missions are limited so you end up sending the same 3-5 soldiers out over the course of the game to make the little incremental boosts add up.
 
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