Lately, I've been asked about my Deadnaut tactics for extreme difficulty level. Response turned out to be quite a guide (also, exceeding maximum limit of 20 000 characters for personal message), so I decided to post it here, for everyone to benefit:
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Hi Cat Lady,
do you mind sharing some Deadnaut tactics?
Hello flyer!
Why, thank you and sure - actually, it is both surprise and pleasure that anyone is interested in my Deadnauts tactics.
Starting from the... end:
as 'extreme' is really very difficult - maybe almost impossible to beat.
Well, I agree that it is somewhat hard (and can be very hard, if RNG decide to hate you), but definitely possible:
That said, I don't even consider myself some super-awesome Deadnaut player... Albeit, this game mechanics really hit the sweet spot of gaming type that I like very much (coming from background of original X-COM: Enemy Unknown and X-Com: Terror from the Deep being one of my favorite games), so after getting used to it being played real time and not (as I expected) in turns, I must admit that everything there feels quite natural to me, and I had some time polishing best squad builds. BTW, I also started Deadnauts with playing on "Hard", but after completing my first campaign (Mutants, shamblers in this case) on it, I decided it started to be a little too easy after first mission, and switched to "Extreme".
It resulted in Horrors - obviously - kicking my ass few times in a row (with one or two losing case against xenomorphs from portals in between, but that was completely my fault of getting too hotshot in later missions), thanks to their [strike]invisible rocket launchers[/strike] blast waves, but with a side effect of getting much Deadnaut experience (personal one) in short time, and finally being able to beat it - it was rather smooth ride from now on. Obviously, Evolved/Enhanced blasted me few times too, but somehow I actually found them easier than Horrors.
So, coming back to tactics - important notice first. I always play with custom-made squads for now (which I roleplay a little, so if they get killed/cloned during successful campaign, or released to earth, I delete them and draw new recruit for squad) and I suppose that it would be *MUCH* harder with randomly generated ones. So, while most tips I'm going to give would still apply to randoms, it could be less effective, or(in rare cases) impossible to achieve with certain specialists.
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I. SquadI've been testing various individuals (including strange ones, like Stealth types) and managed to actually finish all campaigns at least twice already, with the 2nd pass on campaigns using "experimental" (read: suboptimal, to the point that once I just skipped cloning one crew member after mission 2 and decided that it will be more worthwhile to finish it with squad of 4) builds getting finished successfully, so I've filtered out setup that works best for my playstyle. What works best for me is:
a)
- Totally unlikable, bad vibed hacker, liking to work alone (Think "girl with a dragon tattoo" moved further to the extreme) and not minding corpses (which are often found in rooms with terminals). completely bad for fighting, so stays in the back of ship - gradually being transferred further on the ship's security system "axis" if she starts having trouble reaching squad position with her hacks. Usually, moving is only required on bigger ships, and 2-3 times at most. Her responsibility is hacking everything that needs to be hacked and keeping pesky watchers trapped somewhere away from firesquad (and friendly sentinels) at all times.
- Xenobiolog (investigation) focused character, with just one part of career dedicated to fighting. Below average fighter, as a result.
- Shield (protection) specialist, as a side effect being quite able fighter. Doesn't need to be very bright.
- Signals (detection) and intuition specialist, moderately able to fight. No problem if having stability issues.
- Field Commander of the team (Cohesion), being also most able fighter of the team.
b)Same as above, but without dedicated xenobiolog, and hacker being one career step less good at hacking, and having investigation instead. Free slot is filled with dedicated fighter, that is maxed out for fighting. Actually, this variant works even better, but is harder to manage - you don't get clues from corpses during mission, cause your hacker wait until the ship is perfectly clean, then stimulates her/himself in wits department (getting basically maxed out investigation, anyway) and do research on the ship basically after-mission, when everything is safe, sound, and filled with [strike]unicorns and rainbows[/strike] corpses of dead, hostile alien lifeforms.
c)If you absolutely can't manage having hacker sitting in some safe room (remember, double-tapping number key instantly bring you to appropriate Deadnaut),having hacker/xenobiolog/weak fighter combo walking with the squad all the time works too. From mission 2 onwards, you can max him/her in hacking/investigation via the use of stims, anyway, when needed.
II. Perks1. You probably know that already, but "Attention Seeker" is basically free +10 for anyone that isn't Stealth focused. All it does, is lowering Stealth periodically (which is pathetically low anyway on everyone that isn't stealth focused) and frustrates teammates.
2. It took me a while to decipher what "Suspicion" actually does (it makes other Deadnaut unstable if he is working on duo *only* team with Deadnaut having this perk), but even before I suspected that I can safely assign it to Deadnauts that are meant to work in group all the time. Indeed, it is the case - As long as you're not splitting team into two person mini-squads, it does nothing (not even frustrates teammates), so it is another free +10 for most squaddies.
3. I discovered it only recently - in last few days, actually - but "Siphon" is actually another free +10, as you might have noticed from my other report. As long as Deadnaut having it is not left alone for extended periods, it does absolutely nothing bad, not even frustrate teammates.
4. Memory lapse, while irritating, is relatively harmless on Deadnauts that specialize in just one thing (like, combat). It *seems* to have bigger chance to hit most developed skill of said team member (or I just see RNG as biased in this regard), but it still affect other - useless, in this case - skills too, so on average, you just need to wait it out once or twice per mission. That said, I wouldn't put it on any Deadnaut that is expected to be proficient in two or mote things.
5. "Signal to noise" can be lotta hell irritating, but if you're quick with swapping signal channels booster, it can be considered (almost, due to irritating teammates) free perk - at least, in situations where your dedicated hacker keeps watchers away all/most of the time. Note, though, that I wouldn't give it to more than 2 Deadnauts (preferably just one), or you might find yourself chain-disorted, which *can* be deadly.
6. Short circuit, while sounding like potential disaster, is actually pretty harmless, too - most of the time, you *don't* want your Deadnauts to run on decreasing power supply, as it tends to run out of power in worst possible moment. As a result, having someone short-circuit from time to time just forces you to wait it out. There is small potential for real disaster though, in situations where you go through destroyed sections of ship, relying on shields specialist to Field your squad, saving from environmental damage. Also note, that it could be irritating for full beam equipped squad too, from time to time. OTOH, you can have this perk on your hacker (or stealth guy, working alone, if you're using that) as quite literal free +10.
7. Selective deafness, while disastrous, is actually pretty fun to play with, and I had it on *one* Deadnaut all the time during my 2nd pass on campaigns. Oh, the joy moments, where *after* ship is cleared of baddies and I happily investigate, my field commander decide to run somewhere and annoy odd sentinels, that in turn decapitate him (literal quote from case of death - "decapitated by sentinel"). OTOH, in most cases it just make him follow rest of the squad in harmless way, or just stay in place, forcing you to wait it out. In some cases, our comm-troubled Deadnaut can decide to investigate some corpse on his own - no harm if it is the investigation guys, a little irritating if it is someone else. Anyway, it makes it makes the game feel more "alive", with random communication problems occurring.
Side note - there is small bug that I actually forgot to report. When "selectively deaf" Deadnaut decide to go and open some random door, he may decide that it is one leading to (pre)destroyed room. While normally, you can't hack/open them - only blast, decreasing ship integrity, "deaf" Deadnaut can miraculously open them (permanently) just fine.
8. Don't take "stimpack addict" flaw. Just don't. I'll explain later.
9. The bonus from "cooperative group" is actually HUGE. It is almost like having basic +1 stimpack active for *all* stats, all the time. It won't always turn out like you expect it too, but having at least one "likeable" on all Deadnauts expected to work together have high chance of generating relationships that grant this buff.
Note, though, that getting irritated due to flaws marked earlier as "frustrates teammates" may temporally remove this buff (as it results in relationships dropping for the duration of being frustrated with someone) - albeit, I've seen relationships so good, than even frustration were not causing losing "Cooperative group" buff. Other thing that totally and *permanently* ruins positive relationships is cloning someone - there is very good chance that they won't like clone as much (or at all) like the original, so if you got relations granting buff, be extra careful not to lose anyone at any point (i know, easier said than done).
10. If, for some reason, you're not aiming at the buff from #8, there is other interesting thing: This can be risky, as it does *not* always turn out as you're expecting it, but if you have one Deadnaut that have "unlikable" spammed in every possible situation (like our mentioned working-alone hacker), it is very probably that other Deadnauts - if having just one "unlikable" - will develop bad relationships with just that former person. No problem, if she/he is meant to work alone all the time, and possible free +10 for everyone else.
Also, rarely you can see that Deadnauts having "unlikable" and forming negative relationship with the most unlikable guy, have very positive relationship between themselves. So, having "red lines" to the one unlikable guy actually "reinforces" blue lines to other people, which may result in *still* having firesquad with "cooperative..." buff, despite everyone having one "Unlikable" flaw (and hacker having lotta hell of them).
11. You probably know that too, but "stable formation" - apart from making Deadnauts travel with the speed of slowest one, aka together - grants non-negilible bonus to damage and (unconfirmed, but I got this feeling) firing speed, if they're all attacking same target. "Stable formation" is given when most of squad have stable mental state, and Deadnaut with high cohesion skill affect (positively) mental state of nearby Deadnauts. Thats why it is important to have proper "field commander" with maxed out cohesion.
12. It is always worthwhile to advance your Deadnauts all the way to (and including) Wisdom stage. It gives 2x the benefit of normal career stage for the same cost in points, so it is well worth having to pick up 3+ flaws.
13. Last but not least, try to avoid having Deadnauts with vigor 1 - they're walking and shooting pathetically slow. Usually, I don't even take it for the standing-in-one-room hacker.
III. Equipment1. For long time, I had no idea what is the relationship between rifle and scatter gun. I expected the latter to be better at close quarters but more damaging to hull, so I usually ended up with the rifles for fighters, during my first mission.
In reality, it turned out that the scatter gun have same (or almost same) effective range as rifle, shoots a little bit slower, but indeed 3 bullets (close together) at the same time, that seem to always either hit (all three) or miss together. Result is that net damage of scatter gun of same type and power is always bigger than of rifle - but, misses (and last shoots, when someone else already killed threat) are *really* wrecking the room integrity. So, against tough targets - like slow mutants or "soldiers" - always take scatter guns, it really wrecks them.
2. Remember that suit type - shield or combat, for example - doesn't have *any* difference in protection it gives, if they're of the same level (standard/light/medium/heavy). Their only difference (in terms of stats they give) is their slots - if you have tech or weapon suit that have many (or just as much as you need) defense slots, don't hesitate to use it for shield guy.
As a result, it is often advisable to buy "medium" suit (that is often available to purchase, amongst "light" ones) before your 2nd mission, and use it for everyone (or everyone possible). Difference in penetration protection and damage reduction between levels of suits are HUGE. If in doubt, check "defense" tab of your Deadnaut, once for every suit equipped - you will see yourself.
3. Pistol with specific damage type modifier is, in most cases, better than "standard" rifle or scatter gun (that doesn't have any additional + damage). Certain medium pistols are better than most light rifles (check "attack" tab once for every item, if in doubt) - generally, better damage is more important than better penetration, especially if you're targeting damage type that enemy is not (most) resistant too.
4. Good medium/heavy axe and good pistol is combo that usually wrecks most threats (they got gunned down, and if they come close, they're finished with even more powerful axe blow). "Soldiers" are exception from that rule - they're better to take out from afar in all cases. Of course, it only applies since fixes for 1.3.1 release candidate.
5. Don't ever bother with traps, they're pathetically under-powered as of now. Unless you're for a challenging game with [strike]useless[/strike] experimental Stealth specialist, don't bother with cloaks (also, good luck with having one dedicated to the exact detection type you need hiding from). If you see a suit with 4 defense slots, consider it 0 for everyone else than field-throwing guy - lowest personal shields require 5 defense.
6. As for launchers, they *can* be useful in certain situations, and definitely may spice up gameplay and cheer you up if you manage to empty room full of threats with one shoot from medium/heavy launcher but - to face the truth - objectively speaking - they're *still* always worse than similarly priced beam, scatter gun, or even rifle. Also, the potential for SNAFU is VERY high. If I would be given a penny for every time I wanted to ping with sensors, and instead shoot point-blank rocket at the wall my squad is facing... I blame number "slots" for (order of) Deadnauts being assigned randomly for every campaign.
So, if you're up for finishing certain campaign for the first time, and not for experiments/challenge, I would say don't bother with launchers, too.
7. Beams are always best thing you can get (IF you can get them) - especially, if their damage type is not the thing that your enemy is most resistant to. It is safe and sound for the ship's hull (mostly), it tend to apply special damage effects pretty often, and overall, kicks ass. OTOH, is using stronger (and more power hungry) beams, be ready to attack, pew pew, and run for recharge. Unless you were blessed with suits having many weapon and tech slots - then give them recharters, and enjoy "unlimited powaaah!".
8. If you have suit with good defense AND tech slots, and your next tier of defense suit doesn't have tech slots, stick to the "Weaker" one, but keep rechargers. Every 10 kW of additional power mean another Deadnaut that can be constantly fielded without power pool (on shield specialist) decreasing. Having whole squad fielded all the time thanks to medium/high recharger and/or personal shields on some is blessing. Having most of the squad with BOTH personal shields AND field at the same time makes you virtually invincible (penetration and damage resistances easily maxed out for *everything*).
9. Another good use for recharger is signals specialist and his scanner. No real "powerplay" reason - it just makes mission take half the time, cause you don't need to constantly wait until his power recharge and he can send another ping. For that very reason, having to choose between giving him/her recharger or personal shield, I usually choose recharger (unless enemies are VERY hard hitting, and shield is protecting most from exactly the type of damage i need).
10. It it probably obvious, but fields/shields/sensors/scanners give quite good boost to ALL things related to them, even if they're named like "chemical shield" - note that it just means it gives additional (huge) boost to defending from "their" type of damage, but they're very good against everything else, nonetheless. If in doubt, always compare details of stats.
11. When fighting anything other than "Soldiers", be sure to always give *good* knifes (best possible) to your beam/rifle/scatter/anything wielding firesquad members. Seriously, do - while you can make yourself un-drag'able by fields, good damaging knifes are VERY handy when zergs get close.
12. Not always possible due to generated loot/items in "shop", but having at least one Deadnaut with passive slot scanner (the one that pings constantly around) is very handy for keeping Deadnauts aware of their enemies during actual fight. You've probably noted that they *don't* see enemies that are indicated by weak, periodic "blinks" - it is what you, as commander, noticed on sensors (makers of Deadnaut could, as well, be cruel and don't show them at all), your Deadnauts are unaware of them. Having passive sensor pings saves you from needing to send active ping in middle of fight, when zerg's reinforcements arrive.
13. Stimpacks are golden. They are life. Always buy best possible stimpack you can.
14. No matter what is your actual mission, always clean whole ship, take ship log (also with best "investigation" skilled Deadnaut!), and overall, maximize gains from it. *Unless* you're perfectly sure that trying to do so will get you killed, yet somehow you actually managed to finish objectives. During my ALL playthroughs, I had to abandon checking every room only once - when I had team full of scatter guns, and they were about to literally blow ship away (I pulled out at 11% total ship integrity). Even then, it was just few rooms with corpses remaining, and I had ship's log already.
To be continued... (freaking 20 000 characters limit)
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