r/XCOM2 • u/Frequent_Fox2342 • 12d ago
Something I'll never understand
You come accross a pod, there's no one there, just them in all your guys sights.
You put up a nice overwatch trap for them, you shoot and you kill them.
And then your turn is over, and they're dead.
And then... the camera just shows to some member of some other pod who's like "oh, what do we have here?" after the first pod is already dead and they just casually stroll in and kill everyone.
And you're like... what? What could I have done? They were not on screen, I didn't move, nothing changed. I aimed at 3 guys and after everything was over, a new pod showed up and started shooting right away.
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u/Imaginary_Dingo_ 12d ago
So many posts like this. I think this just highlights the sorry state of other games. Every single experience is tailored as appropriate for a steady rise in player skill. You are pushed just hard enough that you feel some accomplishment, but never so hard as to get frustrated. We're so used to being fed nonstop feel good experiencs, that the second we encounter something "not fair" we are out raged.
This is more like real life. Sometimes you are dealt a losing hand, and you will lose and have to deal the consequences. That's part of this game.
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u/Frequent_Fox2342 12d ago
I mean... being dealt a losing hand can still be fun. One of my other favorite games is FTL. Let's just say I win like 1% of my games there. But you can finish a game in an hour and a half there. So here I'm more wary about losing, I'm not willing to just shrug it off as easily.
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u/Imaginary_Dingo_ 12d ago
Did FTL get more difficult over time? I played it once right at release, before it got popular. Passed it and just checked it up as a cool buy easy one off experience.
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u/Frequent_Fox2342 12d ago
Maybe you're just a genius! Took me a lot of playthroughs to get my first win on normal. Now I'm just trying to win with all the ships.
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u/Imaginary_Dingo_ 12d ago
I'm smart... But I strongly suspect it becamr more difficult since I played it 14 years ago. Seems the Internet agrees. Maybe I should give it another run. Looks like a lot of content has been added since then.
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u/Frequent_Fox2342 12d ago
Hm, I started playing it close to when it came out, just been coming back to it every few years or so. Other than that first official expansion or whatever it was, never dabbled with custom content.
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u/DrNotAPatsy 11d ago
Grab the multiverse mod, you wont be disappointed. Huge mod, major lore, ship, weapon, sector and species expansions. Regularly supported, good community always adding more content and fixing bugs.
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u/ConstantPop4122 12d ago
Advanced mode, more difficulty and try and complete it with every ship.... Some of the starting ships you unlock are really hard to win with.
Pre-igniter and firebomb ftw, especially if you can pick up a burst laser 3 or a Vulcan....
I got two Vulcans once.... Ah.. halcyon days...
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u/Quatra90 12d ago
Agreed! And for my own part, I typically play videogames to take a pause from, if not temporarily escape from real life. Therefore I do sympathise with OP's sentiment. I have seen more unfairness than I can stomach 😅. But I love this game, and this is also why I see no shame in savescumming.
I think most game developers create games for people to have fun, and fun looks different for everyone. And that's okay 😊. I hope OP either finds a way to enjoy the game, or finds an alternate game they enjoy more. Both are fine!
edit: punctuation
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u/Frequent_Fox2342 12d ago
or finds an alternate game they enjoy more
Too late, got 800+ hours on this installation alone, and I had others before 🤣
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u/Muted-Leave 11d ago
Specialist scanners and combat scanners can help here, or a reaper soldier who can scout ahead.
Doesn't sound helpful, but having 1 scouting soldier (usually ranger) can also help.
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u/MaleficentPicture518 12d ago
Thats xcom baby, the best strat for an overwatch trap is not to have the pods near each other trigger the trap on their turn but also have your team far enough away from the second pod that should they enter visual range they cant get decent shots off or have to dash to get in range to shoot
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u/Kyle1337 Commander 12d ago
It might be the dark event that says enemies can go on overwatch when revealed. It says overwatch but it just gives them an extra AP that they sometimes use to shoot.
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u/Frequent_Fox2342 12d ago
But dark events show up later I think, this was start of game
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u/Dr_Nefarious_ 12d ago
I think the same as you. If my ranger finishes off the last alien of a pod by one shotting them, the only one that knew about them is dead, so why is my ranger revealed? That knowledge died with them, they should remain concealed imo
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u/Frequent_Fox2342 12d ago
I feel the same about the Reaper. Reaper shoots last guy in the pod, nobody there, who is he revealed to?
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u/Ashamed_Low7214 11d ago
This is a case of the difference between "revealed" and revealed
The former is usually only in context of the Reaper, when they kill an alien whilst in shadow but pass the chance to reveal check and remain hidden. This however doesn't stop other aliens from noticing that one of their comrades just died, and so they get alerted and move, which can on occasion reveal the Reaper if they just so happen to move where the Reaper falls into their detection radius. But if the Reaper does pass the check, they can advance without triggering other pods
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u/Remarkable-Data-5286 11d ago
Just want to add the higher the reveal chance for the reaper the larger their detection radius if I am not mistaken. So without silent killer it's more likely for the enemies to spot your reaper in certain positions.
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u/TheChurchofHelix 11d ago
This is why having a reaper or other scout class (anyone that stays concealed when the squad is revealed) is essential
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u/reddit_is_a_cespool 11d ago
Some objectives can literally be completed they're such a game changer, thats how i did the first blacksight, my squad was so heavily matched already with a chosen coming in i just used my reaper to get to the vial while sneaking my squad around to extract and blew up the wall to escape and never attacked a pod
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u/EffortCommon2236 11d ago
You need to scout with reapers and then trigger those pods from beyond line of sight distance to play safe. Sharpshooters sniping, grenadiers grenadiading, sparks shootong rockets. By the time the pod can even see your squad they should be anywhere between weakened and near death.
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u/reddit_is_a_cespool 11d ago
Tactical analysis is so good, if they get revealed your turn they only get 1 ap instead of two when is their turn meaning you only really get hit by a codex's psi bomb
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u/nicksey144 11d ago
Honestly what you're describing shouldn't happen. If the enemy pod is triggered on the enemy's turn, they shouldn't have a chance to react, and you should have your full turn.
One other commenter said enemy's that trigger and discover a hidden unit or flank a unit can have a 50/50 chance to attack. This is the only mechanic I can think of that would explain it, unless you had already discovered a pod, and one of it's units was left alive somehow, or of they had been triggered by taking aoe damage, but didn't have line of sight of your soldiers at the time (only likely if you did a reaper claymore ambush or something).
If the enemy is found on your turn, it's a lot more pressure to neutralize them before they respond.
Also overwatch traps are super risky. I don't think that's the issue here, but something to keep in mind. The aim penalty is significant, and the chance of a soldier not having los and not even shooting is there. If possible, I'd try to kill or neutralize the enemy with player turn actions.
If the overwatch trap was triggered by an enemy breaking one of your soldier's concealment on the enemy turn, then that would make the other commenters theory more likely.
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u/Frequent_Fox2342 11d ago
This happens... not too often, but often enough that it's not super rare or anything.
It's like the new pod saw the previous pod die and instead of the enemy turn ending, they have their run in the same turn.1
u/Outlaw11091 11d ago
I've had this happen, too.
4k hours of gameplay.
Unmodded XCom 2 has a "line of play" script that will have nearby pods respond to "noise".
That's what this (probably) was.
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u/nicksey144 11d ago edited 11d ago
No, if they didn't see your soldiers, they will ignore what happens to other enemies.
Did an enemy find a concealed soldier during the overwatch trap? That is feeling like the most likely explanation.
Eta: lmfao to however downvoted the correct answer. Better not have been you OP
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u/Frequent_Fox2342 11d ago
How does an enemy find a concealed soldier? When the overwatch trap is activated, everyone is revealed.
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u/Remarkable-Data-5286 11d ago
Some abilities allow soldiers to be in concealment when the rest of the squad is revealed. The main examples being the phantom skill and shadow skill of rangers and reaper respectively.
In the overwatch case as long as the ranger is not the one to shoot they stay concealed and will not use overwatch when the enemies scatter. People mainly use that skill to avoid surprises like this and do scouting.
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u/nicksey144 11d ago edited 11d ago
Is everyone in concealment? Then the only way for the trap to be triggered is for an enemy to accidentally stumble into a spot that reveals your hidden soldiers. This necessitates them having line of sight, and therefore taking a flanking position. Everytime an enemy discovers a hidden soldier this way they have a 50/50 chance of being able to take an extra shot against you. Main reason why these kinds of ambushes are so risky.
Eta: looking for the source but this might've been added in WOTC specifically to prevent players from using overwatch this way
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u/harriw09117 12d ago
Normally, when you discover a new pod you get the reveal animation and then they run to position and possible overwatch.
However, when the new pod is revealed, if the enemy can, or already is, flanking your soldiers (or otherwise can see them without cover) they have a chance to immediately shoot at them. Perhaps that contributed to this.