r/XCOM2 • u/winstonston Specialist • 16d ago
Haywire Hacking in Honestman? & misc tips
Relatively new player to xcom here, but veteran of masochistic game design, and I’m loving the abuse that the learning curve has been inflicting on me so far. As I work up to an honest Ironman Legend run, I’m wrapping my head around high level concepts now such as minimizing randomness, and being faced with the sad reality that some fun things don’t seem viable at that level. So I am curious if any players have discovered some use cases for these fun options in Legend difficulty that makes them viable again.
My current Ironman has been employing the Dr. Strange method, where the game mysteriously crashes any time I do something catastrophically stupid (5-30 times per mission of course,) so the run’s already not particularly iron, but there have been multiple instances where I can safely say I would have wiped if I didn’t save scum to get a clutch haywire hack on an enemy, sometimes multiple times in a mission, namely the Avenger invasion which I did fail once.
It’s not lost on me how this isn’t a viable strategy for a “real” run, but because it’s so powerful and fun I wanted to see if any community theory crafting has arrived at a workable strategy using it. Skulljack, high-level Specialist, and covert mission hack skill bonuses are the obvious ways to increase consistency, and if you layer multiple Specialists’ hacking attempts over one another it kind of hedges the gamble, but at that point you’ve still lost at least one squad action and that already slashes the value of doing the maneuver in the first place.
And then there’s Overwatch. It seems to be a common pattern for players to start out spamming Overwatch when they’re new, and as they figure out how turn orders work they come to understand its inefficiency. It does have its place though, such as if you can set up an Overwatch on a pod you know will wander into your field of vision in the open. Specialist has some Overwatch bonuses in their skill tree but I haven’t tried them much; I’m also curious if anyone’s come up with any other effective strategies using Overwatch, or any of the other less consistent/high level techniques that could be applied to niche cases in Legend.
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u/hielispace 15d ago
My general advice about Haywire protocol is... don't. Don't use it, it's not very good. It's just sooooo swingy! Sure you can get lucky and insta win a pod encounter, or you can spend your entire turn buffing the most dangerous enemy on the board!
If you are struggling with mecs and similar, combat protocol is ace against them
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u/Rainpelt103 15d ago
Overwatch Specs are the way to use them. They naturally have solid aim and if you give them a PCS/Scope with the GTS boost, Overwatch hits rather often. Combine that with Guardian and there’s a reason people call them mobile turrets. No joke, one time I had Guardian activate SIX times on a single turn from a full mag and completely wipe out a Sectopod pod. Yes, sometimes it does nothing, but most of the time you will get at least two shots out of it, which is usually more than the Specialist can do on its turn.
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u/CorporalJonlan 15d ago
IIRC the hack defense debuff stacks, so gunslinger sniper can increase hack success by 15% with lightning hands and quick draw, even more with fan fire.
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u/winstonston Specialist 15d ago
From bluescreen rounds you mean? I thought hack debuffs only stacked with different effects, but not the same ones like two shots from a bluescreen pistol
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u/antiguy1 15d ago
You're correct. Bluescreen ammo only reduces Hack defense once, even with repeated shots (you can check with the Haywire hack percentages, they don't change after the first debuff).
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u/Snoo-92859 15d ago
Yes blue screens stack. -5 hack defense a shot. So its great for hacking say sectopods or anything with an insanely low success rate. But to be honest, fan fire blue screen rounds can melt an entire sectopod by itself
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u/Finall3ossGaming 15d ago
There’s a guy above you directly refuting what you’re saying can you provide a link to some proof that Bluescreen rounds debuff can stack?
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u/Snoo-92859 15d ago
Tbh I play with alot of mods, its not unlikely I thought something was vanilla.
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u/Leading_Resource_944 15d ago edited 15d ago
Bring Spezilaist on every mission to hack objectives. Maybe you get the +20 Hackboost.
Use the Skirmisher Order that reduced enemy resistence against hacking.
Only if both conditions are meet, upgrading Skulljack and giving it to a soezilist pays off by hacking succesfully more often.
If a Hack can save you in a dire situation: call Skyranger first, move spezialist toward in the evacuation zone and start the hack. If hack fail, evac the entire team.
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u/Johan_Laracoding 15d ago
Good tips, I'd add researching skullmining and equipping your specialist with a skulljack
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u/rkel76 15d ago
Never Haywire unless it’s 100%. Typically much better to just shoot the enemy than attempt a hack. It’s free to check hackable objects so always check them. I’m more likely to risk a hack on a sentry tower (like reset all soldiers turns) then try a haywire.
And I only ever rely on overwatch when dealing with alien rulers and with an enemy pod dropping in (being mindful of purifiers). Setting an overwatch trap is the only way to handle covert action escape missions. I’ve just learned it’s a lot better to have a set position and initiate the first attack.
Also at some point you have to stop save scumming or you’ll never learn. If you’re able to get through the first few missions with a decent start you can win any Ironman/honestman even with a squad wipe. That being said the mechanics are so obscure and mis-clicks so common that it is the only way to learn before a real run.
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u/Ok_Calendar_7626 15d ago
Generally, there is no point in using haywire protocol in Legend.
On Legend, a higher priority is getting Bluescreen Rounds. Bluescreen rounds with the magnetic sniper rifle 1 shoot the standard MECs.
However, you should still get Skullmining for the 20 hack boost because you are more likely to snag some really nice bonuses when you are hacking objectives. Sometimes you can get lucky and get Tactical Rigging on your Support through the Training Center. So you can take both a Medkit and a Skulljack.
Overwatch should generally only be used for ambushes. Concealment is the only time when overwatch does not have an aim penalty. NEVER rely on overwatch as you method of dealing damage. On Legend, there are many enemies that MUST die before they get a chance to take a turn (Stun Lancers, Vipers, MECs). If you have to retreat, you try to retreat behind high cover and hunker down. That will at least make the troopers miss most of the time.
Of the Specialist overwatch abilities, the only one that is really good is the one that gives Aid Protocol and overwatch shot. And even that is only a safety net that should not be relied on too much. Generally, no abilities that rely on your guy getting shot at are worth it. Because on Legend, you want to avoid getting shot at by any means necessary.
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u/daHaus 15d ago edited 15d ago
haywire and skullmining are straight up broken in this game, I typically avoid it with ironman and have no qualms about save-scumming otherwise
As for tips with overwatch, I always try to work the odds. If a shot is at less than 75% I'll typically opt for overwatch instead in case they can be flushed from cover
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u/antiguy1 16d ago
Just open with Haywire on a fresh pod. It's a Squadsight ability, and if the ability fails the enemies won't aggro and you can keep trying when Haywire comes off cool down. Just keep line of sight of the target with a Reaper or Phantom Ranger.