Research Priority Order

[Bu6613man]

Hi! I got pretty lucky in my Lib Chain, and then got an early 0% supply mission right before my HQ. Everything went passably well (barring one little micro-missile fiasco at the very end) and I now have a liberated region in late April. So, here's my question: What should I research, and in what order?

I just finished Laser Weapons, not the advanced, and combat armor. I have enough stuff to do elerium. Should I research right on through mag weapons, and make coil my main weapon purchases? Or should I invest in a bunch of laser weapons now (the aim bonus is really quite good), and do autopsies instead of supply expensive research?

[Skeazix]

There's a point when you accumulate enough corpses that autopsies become instant. I try to wait for that on most autopsies and just work on big projects unless I'm out of funds.

[trihero]

I would try to prioritize constantly upgrading weapon/armor research, only stopping for really good autopsies, of which there are few to none (muton is ok for the plasma grenades, andromedon is essential for advanced nade launcher, depending on your tastes you might like a stun lancer for better swords or sectoid for the psi lab, turret wreck is good for avenger defense, drone wreck gives you better gremlins).

I'd get laser weapons/pred armor and then try to tunnel into coil guns and skip making mag weapons as much as you can to save money.

I know it's somewhat expensive to continually do weapons/armor research, but it pays off and it's not something you want to delay given how long it takes to drill through all the difference weapon types.

[Bu6613man]

There's a point when you accumulate enough corpses that autopsies become instant. I try to wait for that on most autopsies and just work on big projects unless I'm out of funds.

Wait... Do autopsies get faster based on the amount of corpses you have?

Ps. Thanks for the replies folks!

[Tuhalu]

Wait... Do autopsies get faster based on the amount of corpses you have?

If you have 10 of a corpse, they research instantly. It's a hard number, not a matter of a sliding scale. This is the same as vanilla XCOM2 iirc.

[Bu6613man]

Wait... Do autopsies get faster based on the amount of corpses you have?

If you have 10 of a corpse, they research instantly. It's a hard number, not a matter of a sliding scale. This is the same as vanilla XCOM2 iirc.

Does it consume all 10 corpses? Or just one?

[nightwyrm]

Wait... Do autopsies get faster based on the amount of corpses you have?

If you have 10 of a corpse, they research instantly. It's a hard number, not a matter of a sliding scale. This is the same as vanilla XCOM2 iirc.

Does it consume all 10 corpses? Or just one?

Just one.

[Ketchup4684]

I skipped Laser Weapons and went straight for Magnetic Weapons. The damage boost was very nice, it let me power through 2 liberation chains quite easily. I then upgraded from Mag to Coil, which was another huge jump.

Going with lasers saves time and resources that could be going to the higher tier weapons, skipping them is a solid strategy imo.

[Jadiel]

I'm trying a Mag rush in my current game, but it's taking longer than I expected. I'm into May, and still no weapons...

The fact that you need 3 Scientists and 3 Engineers (I think?) could be a major problem with this strategy. I would say I've been lucky with my Extract VIP missions this game and I haven't needed to do Basic research (though I did have to delay Mag research almost a week while my troops infiltrated the mission to get my 3rd scientist). If you were unlucky, I think Mag rush is just going to take too long.

Do you build an early Lab?

[trihero]

I no longer understand the hype behind rushing mags, having tried it myself on legend. It delays you from doing a liberation chain early when mobs are still relatively easy. I skip mags; the money I save from not making mags helps me skip to coils pretty quickly.

[aimlessgun]

I just finished Laser Weapons, not the advanced, and combat armor. I have enough stuff to do elerium. Should I research right on through mag weapons, and make coil my main weapon purchases? Or should I invest in a bunch of laser weapons now (the aim bonus is really quite good), and do autopsies instead of supply expensive research?

Definitely get everyone with lasers. Coil is way too far off. Skip building mags unless you still need to replace ballistic guns by the time you get there. Most autopsies can wait until you have 10 corpses.

I've been using this tech tree to plan: http://imgur.com/a/TLjWz It's not 100% correct (for example Adv. Mags are actually needed for Coilguns), but it's pretty helpful. Lets you identify which autopsies you might want to do immediately.

[archangel]

Wait... Do autopsies get faster based on the amount of corpses you have?

If you have 10 of a corpse, they research instantly. It's a hard number, not a matter of a sliding scale. This is the same as vanilla XCOM2 iirc.

10 corpses is not enough. I had 25 advent corpses and it wasn't instant. But at the moment I researched laser tech, advent soldier research became instant.

[Tuhalu]

Wait... Do autopsies get faster based on the amount of corpses you have?

If you have 10 of a corpse, they research instantly. It's a hard number, not a matter of a sliding scale. This is the same as vanilla XCOM2 iirc.

10 corpses is not enough. I had 25 advent corpses and it wasn't instant. But at the moment I researched laser tech, advent soldier research became instant.

Taking a look at the ini files, looks like there are indeed a two exceptions to the general rule.

The bulk of the autopsies are instant with 10 corpses in your Inventory.
Advent Trooper autopsy requires 20 corpses to be instant.
Advent Robotics (drone autopsy) can never be instant.

I don't understand why you'd need to research lasers to get instant research on corpses. Had you partially researched Advent Trooper Autopsy previously?

[Skeazix]

I think it only checks for instant research only when you complete a research project. I've noticed that I can't change research and get an instant autopsy when I hit 10 corpses. But once whatever I was currently researching completes I get the notice for it being instant.

[trihero]

I think it only checks for instant research only when you complete a research project. I've noticed that I can't change research and get an instant autopsy when I hit 10 corpses. But once whatever I was currently researching completes I get the notice for it being instant.

Yes this. You have to finish some kind of research (any kind) for it to check for the instant corpses.

[LordYanaek]

Taking a look at the ini files, looks like there are indeed a two exceptions to the general rule.

The bulk of the autopsies are instant with 10 corpses in your Inventory.
Advent Trooper autopsy requires 20 corpses to be instant.
Advent Robotics (drone autopsy) can never be instant.

I think the Advent Officer is also an exception. I had 21 in storage and it still wasn't instant. Of course it's also the only required autopsy so it's actually a double exception but don't wait for it to become instant.

[Tuhalu]

I think the Advent Officer is also an exception. I had 21 in storage and it still wasn't instant. Of course it's also the only required autopsy so it's actually a double exception but don't wait for it to become instant.

You are correct. It was in a different area of the ini file since it's a golden path critical research item. Didn't realise it wasn't with the rest