What gameplay changing mods are you using?

cryptc
Posts: 97
Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2017 8:35 am

What gameplay changing mods are you using?

Post by cryptc »

So in waiting for 1.3 I've been playing around with a lot of different mods, and I'm curious what gameplay changes others play with. I'm ignoring cosmetic, maps and class mods, since those are pretty plug and play regardless. But apart from that, this is the mods I use with some reasoning for why I use each one. I realize almost all of them makes the game easier, but the way LW2 is kicking my ass that doesn't matter much to me :P.

Liberate Job / Guerilla Job / Manufacture Job / Facility Hunt Job
More variety in what jobs havens can do. I've not used it much, but I like the option.

An Easier War: Dark Events
Makes the dark events that would normally be permanent end after a couple of months.

Tactical X4
Placable explosives, always fun.

Less BS Yellow Alert
Makes so that if a pod activates on the same turn it gets into yellow alert it won't be shoot at you, so less random flanking pods.

Hacking: Action Point Investment
Lets you get higher chance for hacking by allowing your soldier to get stunned for a while. Abusable with certain abilities that remove status effects, so need to be used honestly, and it's pretty rippy at times, so not something I've used much, but I like the option of taking that risk for increased hack reward.

Pistol Upgrades
Add weapon mods on pistols, 'nuff said.

Grimy's Loot Mod: Long War 2 OPEN BETA
Adds lots of different random gear, making soldiers more unique, which I like.

LW2 A Better AWC
Lets you change an AWC perk for a cost, which I like to use when making a few soldiers that are my "super heroes", to make them feel unique. I don't abuse it to just pick optimal powers on every soldier.

LW2_All_Officer_Perks
Officers gets both trees instead of having to pick powers. I just don't feel like trying to decide between the two powers.

LW2_Show_Faceless
Marks who are faceless in the havens. I like it to just get a small behind the scenes look, and the transparency makes me trust long war a bit more with the faceless, since I can see that it's not cheating with the faceless.

Partially Gifted
Train psi powers on non-psi soldiers. Customize to make certain soldiers special which I like.

Free Reload Anytime
Separate reloads from free-reloads for tactical purposes.

TONS of Utility Items
Lets you configure how many utility items soldiers can carry, letting me load up for harder missions at the cost of movement, and makes soldiers more customizable.

Commander's Choice
Pick classes on level up, I'm not a big fan of getting trolled by rng to get low aim sharpshooters and stuff (I already make strange builds since I enjoy making them, I don't need to be forced into it randomly as well).

Utility Slot Sidearms
Lets you place swords, gremlins and grenade launchers as utility items. Makes for more customizability, and more cross-class abilities combined with awc perks.

Remove Unique Restrictions
Removes restrictions on equipment that I don't feel adds anything to the game.

Extract Corpses
The ability to pick up and carry off advent and sectoid corpses on missions you normally don't get corpses. I feel this makes me keep considering taking some risks to get a payoff, and makes the game more exciting.

Avenger Events
Avenger Events: LW2 Pack

Random events that are mostly interesting small bonuses.

Additional Mission Types: LW2 Edition
Adds a few new mission types for variety. Some can be really dangerous too.

True Concealment for LW2
Timers don't move when you're concealed, which makes more logical sense to me, and tends to not change that much for me since usually I need to deal with a pod within the first few turns anyways. I don't use it for infinitely waiting for ideal time to cheese a mission.

Additional Dark Events
More dark events, variety is fun.

Steady Weapon
LW1 style steady weapon for everyone instead of needing the weapon mod. I just like the tactical option.

Veteran Training: Defense Matrix Edition
Gives some random xp rewards when you put soldiers on patrols. I like to think they snipe a few ayys in area around the avenger, or just when needing to evacuate a location.

Hack Plus
Gives a small hacking bonus on successful hacks, just because I like that they improve in their hack skills.

Overwatch Ignores Concealment
Makes overwatch fire from concealment to allow the ambushes from back from how xcom2 was at release (or pre-release? I forget). I think it makes sense, even though beagle got it nerfed. It's powerful for starter, but really not that much better than doing a proper attack or burninate to start an ambush.

Beatdown Skill
Gives every soldier a minor melee attack.

HunkerDownMod
Makes hunker down slightly better (removing burning, giving armor, etc)

The MOCX Initiative
Not actually seen in game yet, but it should in theory put in enemy xcom soldiers from my dark vip character pool, making for some interesting rare encounters.
Tuhalu
Posts: 433
Joined: Wed Feb 01, 2017 9:02 pm

Re: What gameplay changing mods are you using?

Post by Tuhalu »

The only real gameplay changing mod I use is Free Reload Anytime, because it makes Autoloaders not garbage. Specifically, it lets you choose when to use the Free Reload ability rather than forcing you to use it the first 1-3 times you reload.
Dwarfling
Posts: 524
Joined: Wed Jan 25, 2017 12:16 pm

Re: What gameplay changing mods are you using?

Post by Dwarfling »

I modded my config files to add some of the 1.3 changes. Out of the top of my head:

- Reduced flashbang radius.
- Reduced smoke grenade and dense smoke bonuses.
- Reduced disoriented and poisoned aim malus.
- Roust to 50% damage.
- Sapper enviroment damage +1.
khomotso
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Apr 30, 2017 2:46 am

Re: What gameplay changing mods are you using?

Post by khomotso »

Tactical Suppressors and Spec Ops combat knives. When everyone else is complaining about the push into stealth on 1.2, I'm loving it. Enjoying it so much, in fact, my big fear for 1.3 is that Pavonis will overreact to the criticism, and end up spoiling it.

I also feel the same way you do about Commander's Choice. As far as I'm concerned, it's a bugfix. A design decision that removes from the player interesting and meaningful choices is just baffling.
cryptc
Posts: 97
Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2017 8:35 am

Re: What gameplay changing mods are you using?

Post by cryptc »

khomotso wrote:Tactical Suppressors and Spec Ops combat knives. When everyone else is complaining about the push into stealth on 1.2, I'm loving it. Enjoying it so much, in fact, my big fear for 1.3 is that Pavonis will overreact to the criticism, and end up spoiling it.
I tried Tactical Suppressors since it sounded interesting, but I felt it just lead me into traps where I tried using it and when it didn't work as I hoped I was stuck in a bad situation. How do you generally play when using that mod?

(also I think it might truly become OP in 1.3 with the smaller pod sizes... but that remains to be seen)
Jacke
Posts: 623
Joined: Sat Jan 28, 2017 1:10 am

Re: What gameplay changing mods are you using?

Post by Jacke »

cryptc wrote:I tried Tactical Suppressors since it sounded interesting, but I felt it just lead me into traps where I tried using it and when it didn't work as I hoped I was stuck in a bad situation. How do you generally play when using that mod?

(also I think it might truly become OP in 1.3 with the smaller pod sizes... but that remains to be seen)
I tried Tactical Suppressors a bit. To use it successfully, you have to kill the target with one shot or concealment was broken. Combined on a Sharpshooter with AP Ammo against lone Scout Drones was often a winning. Trying to remember how it set up, I think you could set up multiple shots before having them all go off. You also didn't want to leave any of the pod alive as they went into alert. But trying to use it in quick succession risked breaking concealment as well.

It was interesting and I'll likely try it again. But it could be deadly against 1.3's smaller pod average size.
Wigpeeler
Posts: 11
Joined: Tue May 09, 2017 11:45 am

Re: What gameplay changing mods are you using?

Post by Wigpeeler »

I tried the suppressors mod and had quite a bit of fun with silent snipers and shinobi scouts. The decline in concealment with each shot is pretty well balanced (advanced suppressors being more effective, etc) and you can't be sure if you will be revealed with each shot after the first (assuming a full kill). It does make things a little easier, especially dealing with those drones that are a yellow walk from starting spot, but I found that to be sure of not being revealed you usually had to pick lower health enemies in a pod, until you had high powered snipers. If you pick off a single member of a pod in silence, but remain unseen, the pod will scatter somewhat randomly, but if they were close enough to hear the shot on their turn they will usually run straight at your position without paying attention to cover. This will usually reveal your squad but also allows for too-easy destruction of the pod. If at a distance sometimes they don't run at you and will hover around the body, exposed.

So the mod needs a few tweaks but it is a fun variant play.
LordYanaek
Posts: 940
Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2017 1:34 pm

Re: What gameplay changing mods are you using?

Post by LordYanaek »

I know i will use those two in my 1.3 campaign when it's out :
  • Free Reload Anytime. Have used it since it was released and will use it until Autoloaders are "fixed" by default. Prior to having this mod autoloaders were nothing more than additional supplies and even with this mod it's not a no-brainer for me to use those or expanded mags. With the change to Serial i really see no reason not to use it.
  • Reliable ever vigilant. Because otherwise if i merely look at a lamp to check what hacking is available i won't enter overwatch wich makes no sense. Feels more like a fix to me.
I tested a bunch of other mods, especially while waiting for 1.3but i'm not so sure what to think about those
  • Musashi's Katana Pack and Combat Kinves. I like the idea of being able to do some limited fighting without loosing concealment but the Katana Pack is crazy OP once you get the Vortex Ninjato. Combat Knife is probably OKish in terms of balance but Musashi's silent takedown is rather strange. I didn't test the Tactical suppressors but i suppose it uses the same weird silent takedown.
  • Tactical X4. Buggy and slightly OP.
  • Extract Corpses. If the corpses shortage is fixed in 1.3 i won't need this. I tested it after being unable to find any stun lancer corpse to create better blades but it's really easy to abuse it.
  • Commander's Choice was more a QoL mod for me as i only used it to get interesting (rather than optimized) classes for a bunch of guys from my pool. Unfortunately it makes random leveling of random rookies harder so i'll probably just drop it.
  • Shadow Ops LW2 Class Pack. Not sure what to think about this one. Some classes seem interesting. Others are just weird. I'll keep an eye and see how it moves.
Prior to LW2 i also played a bunch of A Better Advent mods but i won't throw those in a LW2 game yet.
Littlebob86
Posts: 14
Joined: Sun Apr 09, 2017 8:21 pm

Re: What gameplay changing mods are you using?

Post by Littlebob86 »

Peek from concealment! Finally can peek around high cover or from ledges and not get spotted!! I edited the ini because the default isn't good in my opinion.

0 added tiles, and can't remember the other settings :)
sentinel
Posts: 23
Joined: Thu Jan 26, 2017 9:29 am

Re: What gameplay changing mods are you using?

Post by sentinel »

Littlebob86 wrote:Peek from concealment! Finally can peek around high cover or from ledges and not get spotted!! I edited the ini because the default isn't good in my opinion.
Very cool mod. Maybe with the 1.3 changes to marker tiles, the small visual problem can be fixed as well.
Swiftless
Posts: 59
Joined: Wed Apr 26, 2017 4:31 pm

Re: What gameplay changing mods are you using?

Post by Swiftless »

Jacke wrote:
cryptc wrote:I tried Tactical Suppressors since it sounded interesting, but I felt it just lead me into traps where I tried using it and when it didn't work as I hoped I was stuck in a bad situation. How do you generally play when using that mod?

(also I think it might truly become OP in 1.3 with the smaller pod sizes... but that remains to be seen)
I tried Tactical Suppressors a bit. To use it successfully, you have to kill the target with one shot or concealment was broken. Combined on a Sharpshooter with AP Ammo against lone Scout Drones was often a winning. Trying to remember how it set up, I think you could set up multiple shots before having them all go off. You also didn't want to leave any of the pod alive as they went into alert. But trying to use it in quick succession risked breaking concealment as well.

It was interesting and I'll likely try it again. But it could be deadly against 1.3's smaller pod average size.

Tactical suppressors is one of my favorites because it makes sense to me and I happen to really like the stealth aspect of the game, even if it has some issues.

It is a little finicky because you have to kill the target, but that just makes it so that it's not completely OP. Usually what I did, as mentioned, was equip snipers with it. However, I also played around with gearing up Shinobi or Assaults with suppressed shotguns. That was pretty fun and provided some very interesting risk/reward situations. Even with both setups, it was rare that I would be able to pull off a full pod kill and remain concealed, so we will indeed see how 1.3 changes that (keep in mind I haven't played since 1.0).

The mod grants you the Ambush ability, which is basically an overwatch you can set to a particular target. Basically whenever a selected target moved a few squares and remained in sight while doing so, it triggers the Ambush and the character would take a shot. If you managed to kill the target it won't reveal you but increases a map level 'detection' score. If that score gets too high (taking too many ambush shots over too many turns) and you become revealed. Also if the target is part of a pod it puts the pod on semi-alert and they go into a scatter mode. The after-ambush alert mode isn't really a yellow alert, as you still remain concealed and the pod know you're there unless they move into sight distance proximity, but the pod is aware something is going on and goes into a search mode. If they don't find you after a number of turns they go back to patrolling in a non-alert status. If you kill all of the pod members or any pod members that are in search mode with follow-up ambushes it resets your global detection value to zero and you remain concealed.
LordYanaek
Posts: 940
Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2017 1:34 pm

Re: What gameplay changing mods are you using?

Post by LordYanaek »

What makes absolutely no sense for me (i only tested the melee stealth) is the way you become "invisible" for an entire turn (alien turn included) when you use Silent Takedown. This allowed me to escape shinobis from a position where they were almost surrounded by enemies by using Silent Takedown and then fleshing the lowest health enemy, standing in the open like a doofus after the kill and being totally undetectable.

It would seem much more sensible to be invisible only to your target so you could come from behind and kill an isolated guy or kill the last member of a pod but not run through the middle of half a dozen soldiers without them noticing, kill your target, stand in the open and laugh as enemies are running around unable to see you. At that level, it' no longer stealth, it's magical invisibility. If it was given by some special gear like the EW Ghost armor, it would be OK but just having a knife in your hand shouldn't make you invisible.

I like the idea, not the implementation. It would be a really cool mechanism if better implemented thought.
Clibanarius
Posts: 205
Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2017 1:33 am

Re: What gameplay changing mods are you using?

Post by Clibanarius »

Sadly, a lot of Musashi's stuff is kinda unbalanced. Well, the Samurai and Katanas are. I like a lot of the ideas and work that went into them, though, and I use the Gunslinger mod with its prerequisites because of how they're pretty fair, though. I have a hard time choosing between SPARKs, Gunners, Rangers, and Gunslingers for pure infantry damage-dealing. Oh, and it really feels like Tactical Suppressors are a natural extension of LW2's stuff and make sense. I like that mod, even if I don't use it right now.
fowlJ
Posts: 198
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2016 1:45 pm

Re: What gameplay changing mods are you using?

Post by fowlJ »

LordYanaek wrote:What makes absolutely no sense for me (i only tested the melee stealth) is the way you become "invisible" for an entire turn (alien turn included) when you use Silent Takedown.
This is definitely the problem I have with using those mods, made worse by the fact that unless something has changed since the last time I tried it, there's nothing actually requiring you to make a melee attack as your next action - you can just turn invisible and run past a bunch of enemies, which when you don't need to kill everything to complete your objective is in many cases a better use of the ability.
Zenteck
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Jan 19, 2017 7:28 pm

Re: What gameplay changing mods are you using?

Post by Zenteck »

I'll be keeping it minimal, for this play through I want a more or less 'pure' LW experience. But I may end up using Make Psiops Great Again, because I love the look of that new skill tree, and hopefully it's balanced enough. Also Turrets are Cover, because they always should have been!
Does Gotcha Again count?
Takeda
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Feb 08, 2017 6:31 pm

Re: What gameplay changing mods are you using?

Post by Takeda »

fowlJ wrote:This is definitely the problem I have with using those mods, made worse by the fact that unless something has changed since the last time I tried it, there's nothing actually requiring you to make a melee attack as your next action - you can just turn invisible and run past a bunch of enemies, which when you don't need to kill everything to complete your objective is in many cases a better use of the ability.
That changed, now if you don't make an attack while the skill is active, it automatically breaks your stealth at the end of your move.
Clibanarius
Posts: 205
Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2017 1:33 am

Re: What gameplay changing mods are you using?

Post by Clibanarius »

Gotcha Again is Quality Of Life, not a gameplay mod. It is definitely great, too. I also like LEB's Make PsiOps Great Again mod, but I feel like Advanced Telekinesis is just awful. If it reduced an enemy's defense by 10 with a huge boost with will or something, that'd be fine. But 5 dodge? But grabbing loot at range is nice; I use GREMLINs Grab Loot as well.
Dlareh
Posts: 125
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Re: What gameplay changing mods are you using?

Post by Dlareh »

For first 1.3 campaign I will continue to play with an INI edit that reveals the AWC tree for each soldier. I may discontinue this in future campaigns, but I want to be able to see all the possibilities my first time through.

I'm not planning on any gameplay changing mods, but "Reliable ever vigilant" does look like a good fix. I will probably grab that now that I might have a couple of soldiers who actually take the perk.
Excitement continues to build as city centers across the globe prepare for the latest incarnation of Groundhog Day.
Maebalzurakin
Posts: 44
Joined: Wed Feb 01, 2017 2:02 am

Re: What gameplay changing mods are you using?

Post by Maebalzurakin »

Thank you for sharing. I love getting insight on new mods to make the game better. I use a few of the ones you have and a few are new to me. Here are a few I use that you did not mention.

Dynamic Stats Development
Hack and you get better at hacking, run and you get better at running, shoot and you get better at shooting. This one creates a lot of immersion and not overpowered. A must have mod for me.

Remove Equipment Mods
Seriously. You can make a gun from scratch, but you cant figure out how to remove the scope? Another must have.

Ammo and Vest Slots
I like the option to go in loaded with gear. I like that LW2 adds penalties to balance this. But I can't wrap my mind around how special ammo has a penalty to movement, but the generic ammo was somehow weightless.

Flawless
Adds small random bonuses with backstory if you get a perfect score on a mission.

Stop Scanning When a Soldier Recovers
This should be the default option. Very helpful.

Squad Cohesion
Tracks which soldiers have fought together and gives a bonus. Different levels. Works great with squads that stick together.

No Full Cover Grabs
Because magic 30 foot viper tongues shouldn't be able to go through walls.
Kyrsoh
Posts: 50
Joined: Tue Feb 14, 2017 8:53 am

Re: What gameplay changing mods are you using?

Post by Kyrsoh »

I play with a lot of mods in addition to LW2. UI and cosmetics are certainly great features, I use a bunch of them. The remaining mods are falling into three categories:

1. More realistic tactical options: X4, Tactical Suppressors, True Concealment for LW2 (I may deactivate it with the new reinforcement mechanics in 1.3 patch), Beatdown (this is awesome, not an overpowered but very realistic thing: all of your soldiers and VIPs get a weak melee attack, everybody can hit things now), No Full Cover Grabs (against Sneks), Realistic Panic Behavior for LW2 (great mod!).

2. More strategic options: mostly the Rebel Jobs mods and I am considering the Avenger Events and Additional Mission Types on my next playthrough.

3. Expanding the world: 8 map packs with great parcels and PCPs, additional aliens (such as the Celatid which is one of the best mods I've ever seen), additional "feeling" mods like Advent Flashlights, Human Blood for Advent, weather/night skins and I will take a great survey for great mods after 1.3 comes out. I am thinking about A Better Advent for LW2, Grimy's Loot Mod for LW2... Imagine the possibilities!

My greatest desire is a submod for LW2 with a different campaign theme: liberation of Earth. I am planning this for a while now, I have very interesting ideas, new mission types, a propaganda war to impress the civilian society, anti air/space defense against UFOs and a lot of other things. The Avatar project is just a (serious) thing in my conception not the winning condition of the game. Everything I imagined here can be done with the current mechanics of the game but it is a difficult job and I am not a modder just a historian/high school teacher with plenty of experiance with firearms and military strategy. :geek:
khomotso
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Apr 30, 2017 2:46 am

Re: What gameplay changing mods are you using?

Post by khomotso »

LordYanaek wrote:What makes absolutely no sense for me (i only tested the melee stealth) is the way you become "invisible" for an entire turn (alien turn included) when you use Silent Takedown.
I agree that the melee one is weird in that way, but I wouldn't tar Tactical Suppressors with that same brush, and you should really give it a look. Tactical suppressors involves no special invisibility state, it just tweaks the conditions of breaking concealment so that it uses a 'suspicion' mechanic, and weapons with silencers will not necessarily break concealment. The way it basically breaks down is this:

1) You have to one-hit kill the enemy (with your silenced weapon) or concealment is broken.
2) If you kill an enemy within sound range of a pod, but concealment is not broken, that pod will go into yellow alert automatically
3) Each enemy you kill while remaining concealed starts a 'suspicion' counter, which stacks additional chances that the next silent kill will break concealment, though the amount changes (a configurable amount) with the quality of your suppressor, and whether you're killing the last member of a pod or not.
4) There is one extra ability you can employ if you're carrying a silenced weapon while concealed, which is called ambush, and is basically an overwatch you have to set against a specific mob (i.e. it doesn't trigger against just any mob within range) that follows the same rules as above (i.e. you have an overwatch shot which, if it one-hit kills, will not necessarily break concealment)

All in all, I find it quite balanced, intuitive and fun. It seems to play the way I would expect silencers should work. I can't just spam those attacks, and it's not really useful against high-health mobs, just for picking off isolated and weaker ones. I use it most often to clear out pathways during guerilla missions (e.g. solo drones). It also means that my Shinobi can really be a member of the tactical team when it comes to offense, if used judiciously. They're not just the idle spotter parked off to the side any more. It also opens up tactics around silenced sniper rifles, in single-shot scenarios (i.e. it doesn't really work with serial or double-tap, since you're basically just going to break concealment each time).

The conventional wisdom is that 1.2 put extra pressure on a clumsy part of play that XCOM2 was not well-designed for: the stealth game. Tactical Suppressors almost single-handedly turned that around for me, by fleshing out the stealth gameplay in a simple but intuitive and fun way. I can't really recommend the other stealth mods in that set, but I can no longer play the game without Tactical Suppressors.
Last edited by khomotso on Tue May 09, 2017 11:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
khomotso
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Re: What gameplay changing mods are you using?

Post by khomotso »

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khomotso
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Re: What gameplay changing mods are you using?

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khomotso
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Re: What gameplay changing mods are you using?

Post by khomotso »

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Clibanarius
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Re: What gameplay changing mods are you using?

Post by Clibanarius »

Stop that.
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