Not that I’ve noticed. Aside from Enemy Within (which is a full blown expansion full of awesome), the DLC seems to mostly be a handful of story missions with some cool rewards.
I’ve never played Enemy Within, although I’ll probably get it sometime this winter. The base game is among my favorite squad-based games, possibly my favorite of all time, in a genre I really like. Success is heavily dependent on good tactics; when you mess up, it’s immediately clear what you did wrong, so you can adjust next time; when you get it right (your sniper stationed on a van picks off an enemy across the screen, your assault moves into position to stun an enemy, your heavy’s oversight kills a moving enemy), it’s tremendously satisfying.
The base gameplay is perfectly fine.
As others have said…not at all!
I’ve been playing nothing but the base game so far (I haven’t gotten any of the DLCs yet) and it is very fun, very addicting, and fairly challenging…but not overly HARD challenging…more of a “Makes you think and consider all your possible moves and options” challenging.
My suggestion would be to start playing it ASAP. 
Join the madness so you can join this discussion and the things we’re talking about will make sense.
IMHO: Enemy within adds a ton of variety that is very welcomed. The base game had a dearth of maps.
I would opine. Enemy Within is really worth it.
It has its own issues - namely, that some genemods and some mech options are unbalancingly powerful, and the additional aliens added to the game to counterbalance that don’t do the job - but that’s really a late game problem, since early on the cash and meld situation will ensure mechs and genes are not ubiquitous - but on the whole it greatly improves the basic experience. Which was already pretty damn good.
But for Lars, a quick list of the things added by Enemy Within :
- a new (albeit short-lived) enemy faction, humans that have been corrupted by the xenos. They’re all humans, and fight with soldiers that have roughly the same equipment, character classes and skills as you. Which make them pretty dangerous - they punked me quite hard the first few times I ran into them. These guys also have their own mission types - the main ones are sort of “king of the hill”, where both teams fight for the control of a number of physical objects on the map. There’s also a final base assault to end the threat
- big balance changes to every character class, more accessories (such as flashbang grenades, gas grenades…) and 2 items per guy instead of just the one
- a handful of new alien types
- a handful of new one-time special missions
- a **big **handful of new maps for crashed ships, terror etc…, plus flipped versions of the old maps (i.e. maps from the base game, except you spawn in a different corner, which really makes for a very different strategy)
- a new resource : Meld. Unlike cash, you can’t earn meld outside of missions. Rather, there are now 3 “meld canister” on each combat map for you to find; and you have a limited time to get the Meld, which forces you to make a choice between advancing slowly and safely, or moving up with shock and awe to get at the Meld.
- this resource in turn is used in two whole new ways to upgrade your pixel men : mechs, and genes. Mech-ing a guy involves chopping off all their limbs and replacing them with a giant robot à la Aliens. They’re fast, solid, but can’t take cover and have more limited skills than regular soldiers. On the other hand they can* punch aliens through walls*. Gene mods OTOH are “on top” of the soldier’s regular class and skills and provide more marginal bonuses (although some are downright broken, like the camouflage one)
- a few more meta options you can set at the start of the game, like randomized soldier stats
- regional language. German soldiers speak German, French troopers speak French and so on. Basically what they did was roll each of the game’s localized versions together for a more international experience. Seems trivial, but I love that.
Okay, so…I’m a bit frustrated right now. Seems to be more so when I’m playing the level, heh.
I’ve reached one level, though, that I cannot–for the life of me–pass. I’ve already tried ten times and I even put all of my best guys on it (a team of six MAJORS)…and even with that, this level always winds up wiping them all out.
[spoiler]It’s a “UFO has landed” type level…and the head engineer made mention that it looks like a supply ship, if that sounds familiar and/or gives away what level it is to experienced players.
The defense on this shit is RIDICULOUS, though. It is not only MUCH, MUCH, MUCH harder than ANY level I’ve ever done, it pretty much seems damn near impossible.
During the last time I was defeated on it, I took note of what and how many of them they were.
Okay, first of all, there are two sectoid commanders. THEN there are about three or four (regular) mutons. THEN there are about 4-5 BERSERKER mutons. THEN there are about 2-3 mutons WITH BETTER ARMOR ON (so their defense is somewhere between a regular muton and a berserker…maybe about 10 bars)(These are new to me, never encountered them before). THEN there are about 2-3 ARMORED FLOATERS (which have about 7-9 bars of health each)(These are also new to me, never encountered them before).
THEN…THERE IS A FRIGGIN CYBERDISC.
THEN, THERE IS A NEW ROBOT type that is MASSIVE, has MASSIVE HEALTH, and does MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF DAMAGE. The wiki says it’s a Sectopod.
2 Sectoid Commanders
3-4 Armored Mutons
3-4 regular Mutons
3-4 Berserker Mutons
2-3 Armored Floaters
A Cyberdisc
A Sectopod
And I didn’t even count the 2 or 3 DRONES there are (since they only have three health and can be defeated pretty easily…still, when they’re in a huge group like that, they can still do some damage).
AND ALL OF THESE FORCES, PRETTY MUCH, ATTACK AT THE SAME, FRIGGIN TIME.
There are about 15-20 enemies on the screen at once…against a team of six.
I can’t seem to do it. I’ve reloaded saves six or seven times now (which I normally don’t do, because it feels like a cheap way to play), but this level wiped out all of my guys so many times it’s not funny. Like I said, I already put all of my best guys on it (six majors) and fashioned them with the best weapons and armor I currently have. They’re all wearing titan armor, they all have extra armor, some are carrying HEATHpacks (one guy has three of them, because I gave him that upgrade), they all have laser weapons, they all have EVERY SINGLE MAX LEVEL THING I OWN, so far, in the game…
…yet I’m getting my ass kicked by this level time and time again.
I’m to the point where I’m ready to just ignore it, if I can.
I’ve tried every possible combo of a team, tried doing many different things and moves, tried mixing up play and choices…tried doing everything I could imagine at least ONCE, and it’s like…nothing. I just don’t think I’m strong enough to take this level on, but I don’t know how much stronger I can get.[/spoiler]
Hahaha. Welcome to X-COM. If you’re running into Sectopods and Muton Elites with only laser weapons, my initial thought is you messed up your research tree somewhere. That said, these enemies are beatable with laser weapons. The key is careful moves so that you don’t trigger multiple packs at the same time. Don’t go into the ship or take positions that can see into the ship to begin with. Make only single moves. If you can’t kill all(or most) of the enemies in the pod, take positions where they can’t flank you, and then hunker, preferably after shooting once(Bullet Swarm heavy, Squad sight sniper). If you have two squad sight snipers, park them in heavy cover somewhere they have good lines of sight, explore cautiously with a tanky guy, and take shots with the snipers from out of the enemy’s range while your tanky guy sits in heavy cover, and hunkers after the snipers have shot.
Yeah, I know about triggering multiple packs…but this level doesn’t seem to give me the option of not triggering them. The Cyberdisc, Berserker Muton, Armored Mutons, and Sectoid all come out at once, no matter where I move with my first person. They come out even if I don’t move (from the starting point) ANYBODY and just put them all on overwatch.
There’s no place to easily get at with snipers…but that’s no use anyway, because there is no higher ground in this level other than just up steps, onto the second level. A lot of the enemies are already up there, though, so the snipers don’t really get any extra sight/aiming bonus.
I’ve even tried reloading saves from BEFORE the mission even starts (because sometimes it changes the outlook of the level, I’ve found), but the same stuff always happens.
As for having laser weapons, your post here makes it sound like I should be having stronger weapons by now…but what should I have? I haven’t had the choice to research anything better.
The only other type of weapons I have are plasma ones,… now, those may be better, but even if they are, I can’t use them, because they take alloys and weapon fragments to make and I have about TWO alloys right now (I’ve been running low on alloys for the last 4-5 missions)…and that sucks, because a lot of things take alloys to research/build/etc.
I assume by “tanky” guy you mean the SHIVS? I have none built because I need more alloys. And even if I did, those things are VERY weak. Mine only have about two lines of health. Yes, I know you can make them better and upgrade them, but I can’t yet because…alloys.
It’s like this guy:
I don’t want to say it’s because of alloys…but…alloys. Because alloys.
Haha, yes alloys are important. And weapon fragments. Also, yes, reloading from before you go on a mission does change insertion point and enemy pod placement, although number (and possibly type) of enemies remains the same.
If you have plasma weapons researched, then yes, those are significantly better than laser. There’s a little description button that’ll tell you weapon stats. It seems like you’ve built Titan armour before plasma weapons. I always prefer building better weapons before better armour, but I don’t know if that is strictly better.
By ‘tanky’ guy I meant someone with very high health. Like an assault with the extra conditioning perk and Titan Armour. If an assault with tac sense is hunkered behind heavy cover and not flanked, shots will almost certainly miss him. I’m surprised that you’re triggering multiple packs on the starting position, but I suppose it’s possible. If it gets too much, just skip the mission, although succeeding will solve your alloy problem 
Most of my guys (like my majors) all have a lot of health. I typically have about four or five full ROWS of health. I tend to put them in titan armor and THEN, on top of that, give their backpack the cryssalid scale armor.
But one thing (that doesn’t help with the frustration of being unable to beat the level) that is further infuriating sometimes…is that a lot of the times, you can be very close and have great odds at hitting the target, but the shot will miss anyway.
Take my last game, for example. One time I had an 89 percent chance to hit, yet it misses…and another I had a FREAKING 97 percent chance! 97 percent! Yet it missed! That’s pretty crappy luck…
…yet the enemy can seemingly take a shot that goes across half of the entire complex and hit you; and when it does, it’s not pretty. Even with all my people in titan armor, it’s taking 7-9 health bars from me. Yes, that’s with every hit. 7-9, sometimes even TEN…yet my 97 percent fails and, when I do hit them, it’s like 4-6 health off of 'em.
So I do four to six damage and they do seven to ten damage. That’s really balanced. 
But all that is at least understandable as it’s what I’ve learned is all part of the game. I can’t really fault it for missing good shots and the aliens always seeming to hit theirs, because that’s how the game has been from the beginning. That has consistency.
This BS with 10 or 15 enemies all at once that have 5-6 rows of health, though? That’s some bullshit.
But I’m sure I’ll be ready to try again tomorrow. 
My own I/I story - I had my high level squad going on an abduction in the second month. They’re lined up in front of a door waiting to breach when three floaters patrol into my back, and take up positions too far to deal with any way except by using my rocket on two and killing the third using two other squaddies. No problem I think, I’ll get rid of this pod, and won’t have to activate any other pods. So I kill the third floater, and click fire rocket at the other two. For some inexplicable reason, even though both my squad and the floaters are on the same side of it, my heavy kicks open the door he’s standing next to before firing his rocket, in the process revealing nine more floaters in the building I was about to breach, with no moves left on three out of four people. Everyone died on the next turn.
Good ol’ confirmation bias at work I’m afraid. I agree it certainly seems like it’s tipped against you(it did to me too!), but apparently the game uses nearly true random seeds to determine rolls. So it’s all happening at exactly(to a high decimal point) the percentages they show you.
This on the other hand is happening because your enemies have plasma weapons and you don’t. When your plasma sniper rolls 18 critical damage, you’ll change your mind
Idle Thoughts,
What is the composition of your team?
I usually have 2-3 heavies with HEAT ammo (+50% against mechanical enemies) and the perk that allows them to shoot twice. That makes each heavy as effective as 3 vanilla heavies against mechanical enemies. That really helps. Add 1 support guy with smoke grenades to reduce sectopod effectiveness and patch up the heavies and that’s usually far enough.
MECs can also do well against them but they have to have been trained up properly. Preferably, you take a sniper to colonel rank then transform him into a MEC, because snipers get big accuracy boosts when they rank up.
That’s one of the last missions I played recently, I think, if I can rely on the message at the start saying “this must be a supply ship and it’s huge”. However I didn’t have so many powerful ennemies at the same time. No “sectopod” (whatever that might be) at all, only two berserkers at the beginning (and a couple others a bit behind), armored floaters were deeper in the ship too.
I think for me it went something like muttons and berserkers, then one round later, more muttons and berserkers + cyberdisc, and only when I had finished them all and advanced into the ship I got again more muttons/berserkers, and after I finished those and advanced a bit more I got the armored floaters.
But maybe it wasn’t the same mission, despite the message. Or the supply ship landed much later in the game for you and the aliens were more numerous and stronger (it was around the middle of august for me).
In any case, if you can’t manage it, I guess you have to give it a pass.
Hmm…when I think of it, I might have downed this UFO. I downed a big one, almost having my plane destroyed despite using all the bonuses, and it’s very possible it was this one. Which would explain why I had less ennemies.
Depends on when. Early on I try to go 2 heavies, 2 assaults, 1 support, 1 sniper (or even 2 supports) because when people can’t shoot yet, grenades and shotguns are good. And Snipers are a pain in the dick to work with before they get Squad Sight.
Later in the game I drop 1 heavy for a second sniper in regular alien invasion+council missions, or drop an assault for terror missions (where I won’t be charging in, and won’t be capturing much either). Ship clearing I still only have the 1 sniper, if that (I often take a tank instead. Go on, scout ahead, that’s a good tank).
A mech can substitute for a heavy obviously - I mostly make Support & Heavy mechs. I like the ability of Heavies to get up to 45 cover on Overwatch better than the 10 Aim for not moving of Snipers (tricky shots, you can always zoom/jump around anyway), and Assaults are no good because I don’t plan on getting shot in the first place, much less from point blank. Supports are best though. 50 defense in full cover ? Yesplease.
Before I have 5/6 men squads I pretty much just rotate rookies in and out to get the most Squaddies possible while the going’s still easy. I’ll usually keep one experienced Assault with the newbs, just to be able to pop overwatch risk-free.
Ok, what you had in fact is a big supply ship. And the comment about it being a big supply ship is made the first time. Now I got my second big supply ship. Much harder than the fist I had, but less so that what you had. Total ennemies (from the final screen):
-2 sectoid commanders
-3 heavy gliders
- 5 goliaths
-1 berserker
-3 chrysalis
-1 sectopod
-2 drones
Plus 2 others, since I killed 19 according to the mission report, but only got 17 corpses. But no cyberdisk for me
They appeared in fact in two rounds, and not on the first round. I had one soldier, one corporal, one sergeant, one lieutenant, one captain and one colonel. I survived, mostly thanks to two rockets I fired almost immediately. Few ennemies were killed but almost all wounded. And many of the gravely wounded retreated or moved inside the ship instead of advancing towards me, which allowed me to kill most of what had advanced. After this initial cleaning, I still had 4 guys alive, though all wounded.
I thought I could make it inside, but the sectoid commanders took control of two of them. One of my two remaining guys was killed taking risks to eliminate a sectoid in order to free one of the others, without success. I was left with my colonel. I thought of retreating, but then decided to just withdraw and roam around in case one sectoid would venture outside of the ship and I could free one of my guy.
But fortunately, sectoid control only last for a time, which I didn’t know, so I went back to a team of three, all seriously wounded. I proceeded with extreme caution, like moving one guy per turn only some steps, and retreating to think if he saw anything I wasn’t pretty sure to kill immediately. Since from then on I had only one target at a time, and all wounded (by the rockets at the beginning), it wasn’t a big problem, except the sectopod who agravated the wounds fortunately without killing anybody. And when I began exploring the ship it turned out there was only 1 drone still alive, with one life left. So, the good news are that once you have eliminated the aliens at the entrance of the ship, there’s nobody left apparently.
What I would do differently? In fact I would seriously consider aborting the mission and evacuate whoever survived the first round. I might do that even before fighting if I ever see another big supply ship landed, especially since it must be harder each time. If I could know in advance, maybe I would pack on heavies. Like four heavies, 1 SHIV to sacrifice in case of need and one sniper). Since the ennemies are all packed in the first room of the ship (a large one, but still), 4-5 rockets should be able to do some serious cleaning.
I see that this way : send in a sacrificiable guy extremely cautiously so that hopefully he will awake only, say half the aliens at the same time. Copiously rain rockets into the ship. Withdraw everybody immediately as far as possible (there is some empty ground to the right) to pick up on ennemies who went out in pursuit (chrisalis, berserkers, hopefully). Then come back very cautiously to clean anything left. When I think of it, it’s about exactly what I did, except accidentally.
Now, I wonder if having guys controlled by aliens means they have a low something and that I should sack them. That’s what happened in the old version of XCOM. I just fired anybody who had been controlled by an alien, because he probably had a low something (psy defense, value unknown at the start of the game. It could be because he was unlucky, but I couldn’t take the risk. i wonder if it’s the same in the modern version of XCom.
I forgot : the other good new, is that you get quite a lot of loot if you survive the mission.
Still, I’m not sure I will even try to take on the next big supply ship I see, rather than coming back home cowardly.
Well, yeah. Sometimes you get to just say “fuck it, why am I even doing this ?”. You don’t really have that luxury in base defence or story missions, but random crashes and landings ? There’s no shame in bugging out, and little point in trying to win them with one man left standing. You’ll be scoring alloys, fragments and components on some other, easier crash. It’s no big.
Speaking of which, in the mid/late game when you have satellites over every country (left), you’ll often find yourself missing out on crashes as the aliens only send tiny scouts and terror ships any more. That’s fine.
What you do is, once in a while you let one of those tiny scouts live, land and go away next to a base that has copious air defences (firestorms, plasma cannons, the works). That scout will locate your sat, then go back home. Some time later a BIG ship will come in to try and blow up the sat. That’s your Christmas prize. It’ll be a tough mission of course, but at that point you’ll have all gened-up psychic colonels in heavy armour and such to clear it.
[QUOTE=clairobscur]
Now, I wonder if having guys controlled by aliens means they have a low something and that I should sack them. That’s what happened in the old version of XCOM. I just fired anybody who had been controlled by an alien, because he probably had a low something (psy defense, value unknown at the start of the game. It could be because he was unlucky, but I couldn’t take the risk. i wonder if it’s the same in the modern version of XCom.
[/QUOTE]
Willpower is both psy attack, psy defense and morale AFAIK. If you play with stat roulette/not created equal/random promotions you have to pay some attention to that (though I find movement and aim are a lot more important. If you get MC’d, just blow up the alien wot did it). I think MEC’s cannot be MC’d at all, if you find that’s a problem for you.
Clever, never thought of doing that. I was in the mindset of “see bug, kill bug”.
Oh yes, they can. If it’s be a commander, it’s not that difficult to kill the commander. If it’s an ethereal, that gets interesting.
Still worth it to carefully use MECs against ethereals though, if only for the funny of killing one of the most advanced and sophisticated mind controlling, matter altering species with a steel fist uppercut.
Has anyone ever zoomed in on the ‘ant farm’? I just realised it was possible. My medbay has the soldier that just got wounded!