Is it worth to start playing LW2 1.2 since patch 1.3 is coming soon?

[PandaPirate]

Hello ladies,

I'm new to the world of XCOM 2 mods and stumbled upon xwynns youtube series a week ago. I absolutely love it!

So, since 1.3 will drop soon, is it worth to play 1.2?
Will my campaign automatically update to 1.3 or will I need to start over?

Thanks in advance!

[bingo12345]

my expectation ETA is 5/30.

[Olin]

It depends. If you're totally new to the XCOM 2 mods I would say check out 1.2 and just toy with it until 1.3 comes out. In the meantime you can read some wiki or forums if it isn't clear how something works. Long War is an extensive mod of vanilla that adds various mechanics and not all of them are super clear (some of them were actually meant to be kept hidden from the players). I would say first check the ingame readme in the Commanders HQ and then the internet if you want to know more.

Regarding updating 1.2 to 1.3 as far as we know the changes between these two versions are huge so I would recommend you to start fresh campaign when the new version comes out.

[PandaPirate]

It depends. If you're totally new to the XCOM 2 mods I would say check out 1.2 and just toy with it until 1.3 comes out. In the meantime you can read some wiki or forums if it isn't clear how something works. Long War is an extensive mod of vanilla that adds various mechanics and not all of them are super clear (some of them were actually meant to be kept hidden from the players). I would say first check the ingame readme in the Commanders HQ and then the internet if you want to know more.

Regarding updating 1.2 to 1.3 as far as we know the changes between these two versions are huge so I would recommend you to start fresh campaign when the new version comes out.

I already have some knowledge, since I'm watching xwynns' playthrough, but I'll definitely check out the Commanders HQ - thank you!

For the 2nd part, that sounds reasonable, even though I'm sad about it. I don't have that much time .

I guess a 1.2 rookie Iron Man run sounds fun for a beginner, since I was a notorious save/load pleb in my Commander playthrough.

[DaviBones]

Totally agree with the Rookie Ironman campaign, with a restart when 1.3 comes out. It will allow you to get your feet wet, learn some of the ins/outs, and experiment without risking much. I mean... If you start to death spiral, who cares? You were going to start a new campaign anyway.

It will also give you a better idea of what difficulty is best suited to your skill level, something that is notoriously hard to figure out without actually playing.

[Antifringe]

A resource that I don't think a lot of people know about is deaconivory's pdf manual.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4_jI6 ... dya3M/view

It bills itself as a "compendium of tips and observations," which is seriously underselling itself. It's basically an old-school manual, the kind that used to be included in retail games.

[PandaPirate]

A resource that I don't think a lot of people know about is deaconivory's pdf manual.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4_jI6 ... dya3M/view

It bills itself as a "compendium of tips and observations," which is seriously underselling itself. It's basically an old-school manual, the kind that used to be included in retail games.

Holy mother of information flood - just spent half an hour reading it and I'm amazed. This is really an amazing in depht information pool right there. Maybe I'll hire that guy to write the remaining ~15 pages of my bachelor thesis

[Clibanarius]

Honestly, until we get notification from Johnnylump that the patch is literally right around the corner, don't hesitate on playing 1.2. It's not like the entire mod is changing with 1.3. Enough that I'm anxious for it, but not enough that I'm stopping playing 1.2 for fear that knowledge of the game and its systems won't port over.

[Jacke]

I'd also be wary about playing an Ironman campaign. This is still a mod under development and it can burn an Ironman with bugs. If you watch any playthrough, you'll see there's enough stock line-of-sight issues that indicator mods can't completely protect against. And there have been other bugs in 1.2 that are being fixed in 1.3.

[PandaPirate]

I'd also be wary about playing an Ironman campaign. This is still a mod under development and it can burn an Ironman with bugs. If you watch any playthrough, you'll see there's enough stock line-of-sight issues that indicator mods can't completely protect against. And there have been other bugs in 1.2 that are being fixed in 1.3.

Thanks for the headsup, but I don't mind starting over, so I at least learn the early-mid game mechanics until 1.3 drops. I probably go for some save scumming every other mission or so, just in case.
My biggest reason for iron man is that in Vanilla I used to generate like 30 saves per mission and reloaded quiet a few times per turn. I didn't mind the save/load, but after the last mission I felt exhausted and realised that just playing and take a failed mission into account would make the experience thousandfolds better.

[Drogmyre]

Honestly, until we get notification from Johnnylump that the patch is literally right around the corner, don't hesitate on playing 1.2. It's not like the entire mod is changing with 1.3. Enough that I'm anxious for it, but not enough that I'm stopping playing 1.2 for fear that knowledge of the game and its systems won't port over.

I just want the patch to drop so I can enjoy the game more. I hate stealth missions, and being resource starved due to getting dicked by RNG is not fun.

[Clibanarius]

Don't worry, I agree entirely with you there. I'm going to enjoy 1.3 a lot. I just wish waiting for it weren't so hard, haha.

[cryptc]

You can also use the time to look around for other mods you might enjoy using together with long war, and testing that it all works properly together (I'm using like 130 mods currently, and it took a while to figure out what makes the game most enjoyable for me)

[Clibanarius]

I've never stopped modding since starting playing XCOM2 seriously in November, although I basically purged everything but the basics when LW2 came out. I've gone through a lot more than just the ones I have now, but I have about 50 mods, most of them actually doing stuff to the UI/gameplay. I think the only armor stuff I have is Individual Arms and Anarchy Bashes, the XCOM armor ports, and Capnbubs's pack. No voice packs. I can't even imagine the people who have 100+.

[cryptc]

I've never stopped modding since starting playing XCOM2 seriously in November, although I basically purged everything but the basics when LW2 came out. I've gone through a lot more than just the ones I have now, but I have about 50 mods, most of them actually doing stuff to the UI/gameplay. I think the only armor stuff I have is Individual Arms and Anarchy Bashes, the XCOM armor ports, and Capnbubs's pack. No voice packs. I can't even imagine the people who have 100+.

A majority of mine are cosmetic or minor fixes too, and I even trimmed away a lot of the cosmetic ones since they were gigantic and suddenly my loading times were much faster

Even so, I have like 10-20 that affect minor or not so minor parts of the gameplay. Things like Extract Corpses that lets me carry off Advent corpses from evacuation missions, TONS of utility items to let me carry more things on soldiers if I want, and a handful of custom classes for variance on my soldiers.

Even if the mods make my game easier at times, I'm not a good enough player that the advantage makes much difference for how much LW2 is kicking my ass

[Clibanarius]

Agreed. I use Extract Corpses without the Fulton and CARRY_UNIT_MOBILITY_ADJUST to -6 to make carrying a corpse out actually a dangerous proposition. I could list my modlist, but it's probably identical to 90% of everyone else's.

[Dwarfling]

I have had missions where you need to evac a group of rebels not spawning the rebels and not letting me evac my soldiers. Don't do Ironman.

[deaconivory]

Holy mother of information flood - just spent half an hour reading it and I'm amazed. This is really an amazing in depht information pool right there. Maybe I'll hire that guy to write the remaining ~15 pages of my bachelor thesis

I'll take payment in Bourbon or Scotch.