Tips & Tricks on Veteran difficulty (incl Total Rebalance Mod) Options

[Gascogne]

The most difficult part is the start before one gets weapons and ammunition factories up and running.
How do people manage on veteran difficulty? ((With Total Rebalance Mod by ShadoWarrior)

Resources are really hard to get, one runs out of them too fast..
Ones soldiers dies very easily and it's very hard to get ammunition to the weapons when the factories aren't up and running.
Recruting new soldiers costs resources as well hehe, so one don't want ones soldiers dying.


Anyone have any tips & tricks?

[Gorre]

Apologies. I had typed a decent sized post last night and was about to click 'add reply' when the power went out due to a thunderstorm .

TBH, I've never been very good at the strategic part, and I've never play the veteran difficuly. For me, it's always newbie or heroic. I think. I haven't played it all that often recently. I'm also not very good at giving tips (as I usually state the obvious), but here it is.

For resources, I would recommend gunning exclusively for the resource(s) you need most. If that resource territory is in a country that you don't have a base in, take the base, then the territory, then build the track. You want immediate benefits once that track is built, because the upkeep costs can kill you. Sometimes it's just luck on how you start a game. Sometimes there's a particular resource that just isn't around, other times it's another resource that gives you trouble. Also, don't forget that the more knowledge a base has, the more resource income it will recieve.

Indeed, ammunition is a dire issue early game. I never really got through this issue without some problems. Morelmen are great targets early game, especially when they drop shotguns and some cartidges. Reticulans are also an important target, because you want those reticulan batteries for those laser rifles you start with. As soon as possible, try to drop the number of reticulan laser rifle-wielding members of your squad to about two. That way you're not burning through the cells quite as fast, but you still have a nice anti-flatster weapon (), with a decent range and accuracy.

It's all up to individual tactics, but don't split your squad up. You want to be able to bring down enemies as they appear. Try to stay in one position and lure the enemy to it. An open area with your squad behind some sort of cover is nice against reticulans and mutants, while indoor buildings with only a few points of access is better against cultists (eliminates their ranged advantage... shotguns are excellent here). When moving, keep one or two squad members cover the rest of the squad while they advance, that way if any enemies appear, your covering guys can distract the enemy while the other squad members get in position.

Once you get to fighting cultists (and win atleast one fight against them), ammo and weapons aren't really an issue after that.

Believe it or not, stances are an excellent way to avoid being hit. Despite the extra time it takes to get into position, it greatly reduces your chances of getting hit. Muckstars are a great example. If you see something like "Muckstar missed Neil (chance to hit 65%)," tell him to crouch or go prone, and the muckstar will be forced to move closer to get a clear shot. Hopefully this will allow you to see it and kill it before it gets off another zap.

Don't forget the basic medkits, either. They're really handy for those brief lulls in the battle.

I know I'm missing something, but I can't remember it right now. I might edit it in if I remember it later.

I'm pretty sure you know alot of the stuff I mentioned, I'm just trying to be thorough.

[Gascogne]

Thunderstorms are fun.

You have a point with limiting the number of laser rifles in the squad, will try that out.
But about the territories, most often are they owned by the humans/cyborgs/psyonics side and one needs to control it in order to get resources from it (or am I mistaking here?)
Eitherway I know that one needs to control the base territories, but it is worth to take them by force and loose diplomacy from that faction?

And how do you do with recruits? Do you use the ones one gets at start and then add to the squad when you can afford it?

[Gorre]

Indeed, you need the resource territory and the abse territory in the same country to get the resource(s).

As for diplomacy, I always thought that was something of preference among players. Some players assault the various factions because of the better gear you can get earlier (they have some nice stuff... I got my first XM-8 from a downed human ally as I was helping them). However, if you assist them you can ask for resources from them, and get new recruits, if it comes to that.

Speaking of recruits, I usually don't get any more until I can expand the size of my craft or if I have enough spare resources for the fifth slot (which might not be such a great idea. You can't use him/her on capture and rescue missions...), which is a decent time later, when the otehr problems aren't as much of an issue. I rarely lose my guys, and if I do, TBH, I'm wimpy enough to reload my game. I hate losing my dudes... I get so attached and can't let 'em go...

Until later in the game when I have quite a few recruits. I just get really get attached to the first 4 dudes (and the one 1 hire for that fifth slot... though less so). I'm not an ironman player

[Kruniac]

I drop a human from my team to make room for one cyborg and one psionic. Then I don't care about diplomacy. Also, try to remember that shotguns are your friend, but Muckstars (which can hurt your team when about 4 of them are nearby) have such little HP that it's best to use something longer ranged.

I never have a problem with mutants, it's the damn Wargots that get me every time. Considering that soft rounds do 0 damage to power armor, I'm usually pulling my hair out at that time.

Another tip - I tried an experiment recently where I made each base a specialty base. For instance, the starting base had NOTHING but Weapon Labs (Basic). London had NOTHING but Weapon Factories. Etc etc.

Yes, you have to expand more quickly with this method, but your research will fly by, and when you are finished with a grouping (Such as with Basic Psionics or Implants), you can destroy all of the labs in a single base, then rebuild whatever else you need.

Reticulans in this aren't as bad as in Afterlight or Aftermath, in my opinion. I deal with them with concentrated soft rounds, and the occasional grenade. In Afterlight they outrange you so badly that you get ripped to pieces, and in Aftermath, their plasma guns rip a grouped squad to shreds.

I'm going to experiment more with explosives (RPGs and so forth) to see if I can improve my squad's survivability.


By the way - cultists, Cyborgs, and Humans are GREAT targets. They generally have good equipment and aren't too hard to put down.

If Cultist snipers are giving you a problem - invest in countersnipers. I always have my Psionic prone and ready to lay out (or at least Panic) enemy snipers at a moment's notice.

I don't know. That's all of the "tips" that I have. I'm not really an expert at the UFO series, but I've played it since Aftermath (and X-Com before that).