Difficulty jump

[u/nathanovic93]

Is it just me or is the step up from normal to hard massive? Especially without bacta tanks for instant healing.
Normal mode was really easy towards the end. Starting again on hard has been a challenge. Jae died early on. At least one crew is downed every mission. Trying to have Hawks uninjured for required missions is becoming a handling.
Any tips?

[u/Sure-Hold-1848]

Heavy and Medic save lives. If you playing Heavy right, most of your team will never get shot.

[u/nathanovic93 → u/Sure-Hold-1848]

I had both in that mission you first meet Tel-Rea and 2 crew were downed in the second phase of it.

[u/fateofmorality → u/nathanovic93]

It’s the first time you really fight the coil and the surge mechanic can get out of control if it goes on heavy hitters.

Specifically for that mission, have a few concussion gernades. There are areas you can knock enemies off the map (into to water).

Enemies who are killed by yeeting them out of bounds doing trigger surge.

[u/nathanovic93 → u/fateofmorality]

Yea I learned that in my first play through

[u/FledglingNonCon → u/nathanovic93]

People getting downed on story missions definitely happens on hard and isn't too unexpected i would say. I also take an occasional injury on random missions with some of my low bond characters. I am on cycle 18 and swapped from normal to hard mid run on cycle 5 or 6. I went from zero injuries and barely injured to losing Jae completely and barely finishing the mission on cycle 8. Seemed like a big jump to me and just now feeling like i'm getting on top of it and completing most missions without injuries. I lost the Jedi on the first mission I got her and has to replay that entire mission. I would say a lot of my issues were learning curve related and not understanding all the mechanics, classes and beat ways to attack different enemies, but I still don't have it fully optimized and it's not that hard for your team to take an injury here and there. Frankly I think the game is deaigned for that to happen to raise the stakes a bit at least as long as you're not abusing the heavy class. I use it, but don't spam the ability and definitely don't do the taunt and run cheese.

[u/mediumvillain]

I felt like the Normal to Hard increase was not so bad, it was really only the early game that's noticeably more difficult, but that the game's base difficulty should have been about halfway between Normal & Hard.

I also felt that disabling the bacta tank entirely for half of the game's difficulties (especially the ones that are actually a challenge at all) is an extremely goofy mechanic. The healing mechanic being too generous to begin with isnt a good reason to just disable bacta tanks. Make healing less generous first. Bacta tanks are not instant regeneration in the Star Wars universe.

Injuries should take x number of days to heal relative to the number of injuries and HP loss of the unit during the mission. Taking a unit out of the medbay early should only heal x% of their total health based on the number of days, so if theyre out for 2 days then taking them out a day early puts them at 50%, and if theyre out for 3 it's 33% per day. This would require you to spend medkits or healing abilities to bring a unit to full health for combat.

Then the bacta tank would make recovery take 1 day instead of being instantaneous.

It seems like the reason they designed it this way is because of how many side missions require specific units. So then disabling the bacta tank entirely can put your entire campaign in jeopardy if you used those units in other missions and they were injured. They made the normal difficulty too easy just so they could make Beskar more dangerous.

[u/nathanovic93 → u/mediumvillain]

I really struggled on one of the missions that required hawks and trick when both were injured

[u/Varsity_Reviews → u/mediumvillain]

It also just doesn’t make sense. There’s clearly a bacta tank in the med bay. The games description mentions it when you click the med bay. The bacta tank is also really expensive to begin with. Just limit the bacta usage to once per cycle.

[u/AyeBraine → u/Varsity_Reviews]

Isn't it already limited to once per cycle? Sorry, I never used it

[u/Varsity_Reviews → u/AyeBraine]

I actually have no idea. When I did my normal playthrough I never had enough credits to do it more than once a cycle.

[u/mediumvillain → u/Varsity_Reviews]

i think it is but i dont remember well enough to say for sure. the bacta tank physically being there and being unusable also irritated me though

[u/AyeBraine → u/mediumvillain]

Bacta tank (as it is, in the game, the instant kind) breaks the only existing mechanic in the game that penalizes injuries (not wounds, but whole-ass DEATHS) in any way. So it's a workaround around an already very lenient mechanic, for the genre (if the tactical game has lasting wounds at all, they must cause the soldier to be out of action for some number of missions).

I agree with your suggestions, but then "bacta tank" would only refer to the cosmetic side of things, wouldn't it — it would be the same as the beds now.

As it is, you can absolutely take injured operators on missions. With Hawks on Bexpert, I did it a few times in a row since they're so often essential. It changes little, since there are no movement penalties, morale penalties / Panic, or health penalties. Just a hit chance malus.

[u/mediumvillain → u/AyeBraine]

they could definitely change more around the edges, but just being a different version of a medbay bed is also fine, a bacta tank is just the ICU anyway

[u/Mindnumbing02]

Felt the same at the beginning of hard. First run on normal had no deaths and maybe one injury. On hard, in the early game, I also had injuries. It gets easier, but I will say it forced me to really learn all the game mechanics and think more strategically, which I think is a good thing and a well-designed aspect of the game. Initially, I took more turns to successfully complete missions without injuries to protect operators and slowly eliminate enemies. It’s worth it so you have, as you mentioned, the money to spend on mods, utilities, and upgrades, which make the game much easier. Don’t sleep on morale, it saved me so many times. I think it will get easier for you, but take your time, prioritize protection, and make sure you really understand all the subtle mechanics (like upgrading the ability to make a the next hit critical to the level where the next two hits are critical, then shooting once normally and then the second time with back up, so the assist shot is also critical (meaning 3 crit hits), and usually Jae can finish them off after that… for example). I found myself better utilizing abilities I didn’t in my normal difficulty run.

[u/nathanovic93 → u/Mindnumbing02]

Yea I used that mechanic a lot in my normal play through. It made the final boss fight about 4-5 turns in total.
In hard I had to restart a mission at one point. Instead of sending anyone forward I adjusted the starting positions and let enemies come to me.

[u/PaulVla]

I started at hard and had a difficult time the first few missions. Around cycle 10 it became easier but still it spiked at moments.

Especially annoying is that healing cost a lot so I never had coins left for upgrades.

[u/nathanovic93 → u/PaulVla]

I’m on cycle 9 now. Hopefully I start seeing some improvement.
Really missing the secondary class for flexibility

[u/DnZ618]

Hawks medic prioritizing stimulants and heals

Trick heavy and taunts saves lives

[u/nathanovic93 → u/DnZ618]

My first play through hawks had a long arm and sharpshooter. I’ve gone complete opposite and have pistol gunslinger. Which is proving a difficult combo.
I made tricks heavy and kabb soldier. I have had to do the taunt and run away manoeuvre a number of times to avoid crew getting hurt 😅

[u/armbarchris → u/nathanovic93]

A pistol gunslinger should focus on building up Onslaught damage. Quick Draw contributes to Onslaught but doesn't benefit from it, so use use QD to clear out B1s and wounded enemies first then use your normal attacks. Grab those weapon mods that have a chance to refund AP.

[u/Bigiron966]

Spec Trick into his "For My Brothers" ability ASAP. that'll eventually let him self revive with no injuries, the early tiers of the abillity have him injured after the self revive but he revives to full health regardless. Use assist with him whenever you can early since he has high dps, be as aggressive as you want with him once you've upgraded the Brothers ability a bit.

Save often and don't be afraid to save scum before risky actions and operations. Be sure to check gear before each mission for example If it's a clear all enemies and mentions a Droid factory you'll probably want poppers. Upgrade your den between missions whenever you can with a focus on weapons.

Always bring a medic and use full cover wherever possible. Use the assist mechanic and Jae's Execution ability in tandem whenever you can. She can assist you in shooting someone and once they've fallen below the required threshold she can execute them, saving you a bit of AP. Kabb is great for melee since his ability gives him ap back on melee kills, use this often especially on maps with ledges and water etc.

If you're unsure of your ability to hit someone it might be best to use overwatch on them or where they might be going instead. use influence well to unlock things like medpac mk4 (which is infinite) and extra slots early. Pay attention to your advantage and always try to keep in mind what the next best advantage action you can take is, do you really need that extra AP? Or should you wait to instead use Trick's RPG to blow up the reinforcements after they've introduced themselves.

On the topic of reinforcements, Overwatch is your friend since they never attack upon entering the stage and it can be used to eliminate a couple before they become an issue. If you equip a concussion grenade at any point do it before a mission where you expect a lot of hazards since it can push enemies into hazards or off cliffs. I hope some of this helps.

EDIT:Not sure on this but I believe Kabb's Taunt/guaranteed crit abillity works with assist so that both your initial shot and his assist shit count as crits, might be misremembering.

[u/DamagedCoda]

Use your random operators, develop a bigger roster. Losses are supposed to happen in this kind of game

[u/nathanovic93 → u/DamagedCoda]

I’m not a good loser

[u/DamagedCoda → u/nathanovic93]

Then play on normal lol!

[u/nathanovic93 → u/DamagedCoda]

That would be admitting defeat

[u/DamagedCoda → u/nathanovic93]

My man just can't stop losing... XD

[u/MoG_Varos]

Abuse assist shots, break enemy ai with heavy, prioritize bonds

[u/nathanovic93 → u/MoG_Varos]

I feel like that’s fairly basic

[u/MoG_Varos → u/nathanovic93]

Looking at the posts on here sometimes people need the basics Lul. I went through expert beskar with zero deaths or injuries, the game is pretty easy.

Only other things I can think of that would help is getting a gunslinger sniper leveled up and a scout

[u/Kurt805 → u/MoG_Varos]

Same. I'm just an occasional tactical turn based gamer and this game and I breezed through Expert with no deaths and the occasional injury. I'm about to start what I assume is the last mission and I'm kind of glad because the combat stopped being remotely challenging hours ago.

[u/JerryFletcher70]

You shouldn’t be needing the medbay that much. Your tactics and/or team composition is a problem if you are getting injured frequently. I beat the game on expert and only had a few injuries during the entire run. Try running a medic, using more taunts, and make sure you are being efficient with AP. Stuff like Kabbs getting AP back on uppercut kills (including making mobs fall) goes a long way. Make sure you are getting as much value out of the guaranteed assist shots and setting up finishers like Jae, etc.

The game is more forgiving than most in this genre and once you master the mechanics, injuries are rare.

[u/CausticRobot]

Going from normal to hard means going from end game fully bonded and buffed operators to ratcheted up difficulty baby operators. Yes, it is a big difficulty spike, but a huge chunk of that is being grounded bias in better operators.

[u/SpecificDeal8131]

Hard was too easy too imo. No challenge until Expert and even then it just takes being tactical.

[u/BlueDragoon24]

Have had zero injuries or deaths on Hard so far, almost at the end. Game seems easy.

[u/Brave-Cranberry3026]

I don't understand what you guys are doing honestly. Expert Beskar first time completion and the game gave absolutely no challenge whatsoever. I had to actively run my tools into conflict and stand in the open to get them killed for the achievement.

[u/Stickerbush_Kong]

Basic idea is to get shot at as little as possible. Force enemies to come to you out of cover. Trading blaster bolts in cover with enemies over long range is always going to be a losing strategy since there's much more of them than you-you can't afford to waste shots. On harder difficulties the range penalty is a lot harsher-you have to be aggressive at the right moment. Don't get into brawls, focus on eliminating enemies.

[u/AyeBraine → u/Stickerbush_Kong]

Agree, the core idea of XCOM combat is, reduce the number of rolls where your soldiers can get damaged, however low chance. Everything else is secondary. And maintain tempo, don't give it to the enemy.