A couple of questions and earlt game feedback

[LordYanaek]

Hello. Finally decided to register here.
First, i want to thank you for bringing this mod. From what i've seen so far this new Long War, much like EW-LW, adds a lot of depths to the game. It also adds things i really whished were present in the base game ever since it was released like a better guerilla feel, more strategical depths, havens that actually feel like they are acting for the revolution rather than just live out there and hope you do all the job. Overall i'm really pleased by your additions, maybe even more than i was with LW for EW which was already great.

OK, now, there are a few things i'd like to ask as i haven't seen them explained here or ingame (last three are actually asking for advises)

1. What's the purpose of the Long War option "pause on recruit"? X-Com is not real time so what is it pausing and when?
2. How does the "not created equally" work? Does it work like LW1 with some sort of point-buy system or is it random creating some super-soldiers and some crappy ones?
3. I see that rocketteers have an early perk that reduces rocket scatter but i don't see any to hit chance when i use a rocket. I guess it uses a system similar to LW1 where aim is actually useful but just how much does a rocket scatter? In other words, will this perk make my rockets almost always accurate or just a little less unreliable. I remember in LW1 rocketeers would almost always end up training in unimportant, low threat missions until i had the blaster launcher because they were just incapable of hitting anything with their rocket otherwise. It was my least favorite class. Misses are much worse on one-use abilities than normal hits so i really hope it's not too much scatter. I havn't tested those a lot as i have only ran infiltration missions so far, without a lot of time so i have avoided heavy weapons as much as possible.
4. How far can Advent hear shots, explosions, yells? Are every civilians "enemies" (they will all yell when they see you) or are there some resistance sympathizers that won't alert Advent? I think it would be cool if some civs, especially in "slums" zones are more friendly towards you.
5. Do dropped-in reinforcements have a chance to act (are they "yellow-status")? I've never had them fire on me, and given they can easily flank-drop on you, i hope they don't.
6. How often can you expect to recover bodies? In my first attempt i sold the ones from Gatecrasher to buy an engineer in order to start work on the avenger as the missions would only give me scientists but so far i only see extraction missions now that "green" missions are also evac. Don't get me wrong i like this change but i'd like to know if such a start is viable or not. I guess an early engineer is also a must i LW2.
7. GTS or AWC? In vanilla X-Com2 i would always go GTS first so i could control my squadies class. This seems even more important in LW2, at least with Not Created Equally which i'll probably keep unless it's pure random, but supplies seem to be much harder to come by early and delaying AWC too much is probably a bad idea.
8. Is it a good idea to contact more havens early or are you just crippling yourself because of traitors? (more below)

Some feedback now, considering i'm still very early in my first attempt (veteran difficulty, as it's the one advised as a good starting difficulty for LW1 veterans, well, i finished LW once so i guess i'm a veteran right )

• Loosing all the supplies to "unknown effects" in the first few months is really crippling. I've read the other thread, i know what happens and how to counter it but are we supposed to station one of the gatecrasher soldiers at the first haven as soon as we start? Wouldn't it be better to let a few months pass without those infiltrators actively acting? It would make sense since Advent doesn't really take X-Com seriously early (at least it's what i always thought from dialogs and as an explanation to even being able to act against them) and it would allow some buildup phase. I think it would be preferable, at least below "legend". A month or 2 would probably be enough, no need to make it "a walk in the park"
• I see you have brought the "built in damage roulette" from LW1, at least on some weapons like shotgun and heavy weapons. This was hands down the only part of LW1 i disliked, but i really disliked it a lot. I think increasing randomness to increase difficulty is the worst way to do it because it challenges player's luck rather than skill. It's especially bad on limited use abilities. If my rockets can scatter and do unreliable damages, i'll probably just ignore rocketeers again (except i would rather look at the ini's to see if i can mod damages to something more sensible). I understand some players like a lot of randomness but i really think damage roulette should be an option.
• There are lots of changes i like thought. I've already said it, but i'll repeat it here as i've just made my big complaint. Among the "nice touches" i like how you got rid of that stupid "blow the monument" first mission (now, if only you could re-create some sort of recovery missions like the two tutorial missions rather than a random ambush, it would be perfect). I also like those "hacked" load screens. Most of the big changes are, i think, right on spot. Even the "annoying" pod activation bonus action is actually a great improvement over the passive patrols and is a good way to increase difficulty (as opposed to random damages) as this one challenges skill and not luck.

[Arcalane]

What's the purpose of the Long War option "pause on recruit"? X-Com is not real time so what is it pausing and when?

Geoscape. It'll pause when havens get new recruits - otherwise the little event log in the lower left flashes by too fast to track sometimes.

How does the "not created equally" work? Does it work like LW1 with some sort of point-buy system or is it random creating some super-soldiers and some crappy ones?

Dev posts have implied (if not outright stated) that the game 'buys' stats, yes. You can't really roll supersoldiers, nor absolutely awful ones.

I see that rocketteers have an early perk that reduces rocket scatter but i don't see any to hit chance when i use a rocket. I guess it uses a system similar to LW1 where aim is actually useful but just how much does a rocket scatter?

There should be a 'scatter' option displayed when aiming. The lowest I've seen it go is 2 (haven't moved, have the accuracy perk) and the highest is 6 (have moved, don't have the accuracy perk).

Basically for maximum results you want your rocketeers doublemoving into an advantageous position after you've suppressed/hindered enemies (flashbangs/etc. to limit mobility), and then have them fire on their next turn. Whilst you can technically give them an extra action via officer abilities, I imagine the movement would still count for the purposes of accuracy.

[LordYanaek]

Thanks for your answers.

You can't really roll supersoldiers, nor absolutely awful ones.

Works like LW1 then, great. I for one hate pure random stats be it in computer games or PnP RPGs.

There should be a 'scatter' option displayed when aiming. The lowest I've seen it go is 2 (haven't moved, have the accuracy perk) and the highest is 6 (have moved, don't have the accuracy perk).

Ah, i missed it the one time i actually used my technical in a mission. So they can still totally miss their destination like LW1. I guess i know who will investigate in havens then. Too bad, the class seemed cool at first

OK. I forgot to ask this one, i've read the XP system have been changed, especially missions are now more important and number of kills less. I like this change but i see no specifics. Does someone know how it actually works?

[Arcalane]

OK. I forgot to ask this one, i've read the XP system have been changed, especially missions are now more important and number of kills less. I like this change but i see no specifics. Does someone know how it actually works?

Objective completion now accounts for (I think) a good 60-80% of the XP you gain for running missions, as I understand. Kills can still count, but they don't count nearly as much.

To put things in perspective, my stealth team has the majority of my highest-ranking soldiers despite the fact they rarely kill more than 50% of the enemies in a given mission.

[LordYanaek]

Thank you sir, you're most helpful

[Devon_v]

The explanation I saw was that the game totals up all the XP that the enemies on the map would be worth in vanilla. If you win the mission, you get all of that divided amongst the surviving squad. If you fail you get a portion (30%?) of it. If you kill enemies, the trooper who killed them gets some bonus XP.

Basically going perfect stealth no kills is a perfectly valid way to play, especially as many of the extraction missions don't give you corpses anyway.

[LordYanaek]

Basically going perfect stealth no kills is a perfectly valid way to play, especially as many of the extraction missions don't give you corpses anyway.

That's actually really great. Stealthy guerrilla missions is really something vanilla x-com2 was lacking for me. You were supposed to be a small band of badly outnumbered rebels but you kept doing most missions head-on kill-them-all
Now, if only it was possible to open cell doors/hack stuff without breaking concealment ...
I think it could be interesting if implemented on soldiers hacking without a gremlin, as otherwise it would be too strong.