A comprehensive guide for playing Phoenix Point (or an attempt at one)

Phoenix Point Hints and Tips
2

last updated 2020/5/8: various corrections, corrected for changes from Derleth patch [in progress]

Part 2

Characters attributes, stats, skills, gear and augmentations.

Below are the stats, the things that make each character different:

  • Health Points (HPs), when this goes to 0 the character dies (derived from the Strength attribute, 1 pt in Strength = 10 HPs)

  • Armor, average of armor on all the body parts (for humans derived from armor/augmentations)

  • Accuracy, expressed as a % bonus/penalty, adjusts the size of the aiming reticle (derives from armor, skills/perks, and augmentations)

  • Perception, in tiles, determines the range at which the character will detect enemies in daylight (for humans starts at 35, bonuses and penalties derive from armor, skills/perks, and augmentations); at night reduced by 50%

  • Stealth, a %, reduces the range at which a character can be detected by enemies, i.e. their Perception (for humans Stealth starts at 0%, bonuses and penalties derive from armor, skills/perks, and augmentations)

  • Movement, in tiles, determines how many times a soldier can move in one turn (divided by four, gives movement per AP) (derives from the Speed attribute, 1 pt in Speed = 1 tile; note that the Speed attribute can be modifed by armor, skills/perks, and augmentations )

  • Willpower points (WPs), fuel the use of skills, cost of mind-controlling the unit to the enemy, if below 0 the character panics (loses 1 turn) (derives from Willpower attribute, 1 pt in Willpower = 1 WP; note that some skills and mutations can increase WPs)

  • Carrying capacity, in weight units, determines how much a character can carry without suffering a penalty to the movement (derived from the Strength attribute, 1 pt in Strength = 1 additional weight unit carrying capacity; note that there is a skill - Resourceful - that can add +2 to the Strength attribute and increase the carrying capacity by 25%, but the +2 Strength from the skill doesn’t actually add additional capacity when in battle, even though it shows so on the Geoscape*)

  • Skills & Personal traits or perks: Human characters belong to one of seven different classes of soldiers, each class having seven levels each corresponding to a skill, including a 4th level skill that enables dual classing. Finally, each PP operative can also unlock 3 random personal traits (often called third-row skills, because of their location on the character sheet). Among these the traits providing buffs to damage with certain types of weapons are particularly important.

*Explanation from devs about Resourceful*

So characters have 3 primary attributes (Strength, Willpower, and Speed) and 3 armor/augmentation slots (head, torso, and legs) which all together determine their derived stats, and human soldiers acquire experience points that unlock levels (and the skills associated to them) and receive Skill Points that can be used to purchase additional attribute points or skills.

For now, the big takeaway is that the stats that make a character distinct are derived from a number of things - some of them dependent on experience level (access to skills & perks), some of them on attributes and some of them on armor/augmentations.

Particularly, note that accuracy, stealth, and perception are mostly dependent on armor/augmentations. You can acquire some skills/perks that increase accuracy, but all except one of them (sniper’s marksman) are only available at random, as third-row skills.

Also, note that as skills/perks and stats cost SPs (which are given for completing missions (10 SPs going to each soldier that took part in the mission, and a variable amount going to a common pool), gaining levels (20 SPs per level) and some geoscape events), there is an opportunity cost when spending SPs.

Phoenix Point soldies also have a Stamina stat, ranging from 1-40, indicating how tired the Character is, with 40 being perfectly rested. Characters lose 2 pts of Stamina for every mission turn, up to a maximum of 10 per mission. Once they deplete their Stamina pool they become tired, and then exhausted. A tired soldier will have 3 APs to spend each turn, and an exhausted one on only 2. [can anybody confirm when soldiers become tired and exhausted?]

Character progression tips

  1. There are many possible builds and arguably no wrong way to go about it. Be imaginative, try different things.

  2. You may want to pay attention to the unlockable personal traits (aka third row skills). One approach is to consider these as the foundations defining the build. For example, a heavy class recruit with the melee perk (profiency with melee weapons and shotguns and +20% damage) might make a particularly good… you guessed it, melee fighter. A sniper with the same perk can be a shotgun CQC specialist (and if dual classed to assault, a ‘Terminator build’ - see First Turn Strike).

  3. Don’t underestimate skills that are not flashy. For example, Ready for Action (assault LVL5 passive skill, allows reloading and inventory management for 0 AP) doesn’t seem like much, but combined with a heavy’s biggest booms (heavy LVL5, for 5 WP cost of using any explosive weapons reduced by 1 AP and their range by 50% until the end of the turn) and the Quarterback trait (+50% to grenade range and +2 to speed) a squaddie can be made into a devastating grenadier.

  4. Attributes are just as important as skills, don’t neglect them. For some builds/roles you don’t need that many skills (for example, melee fighters), but SPs invested in attributes can pay off nicely.

  • Strength determines the total HPs of the character, at the rate of 10 HPs for every point in strength. A squadie with 30 strength, 300 HP can withstand a lot of punishment. The damage dealt with the bash attack also scales with strength (weight of weapon * strength). I recommend that all you soldiers have enough strength to do 50 damage with a single bash attack. Why? Because that will allow them to one hit kill for 1AP worms, and attached mindfraggers. Some builds can also benefit from increased carrying capacity.

  • Willpower is important primarily for characters who will be using a lot of skills, which is usually those in support roles (techies, priests), but a minimum pool of 12 WP is advisable for any build. Bear in mind that WPs also act as defense against mindcontrol attempts.

  • Speed is the easiest attribute to recommend because of the importance mobility has in the game (given that accuracy is solely determined by range, being able to close the distance to a target is equivalent to having perfect accuracy) and because absurdly extreme mobility is currently possible (a character with high speed, dash and the right buffs can all but teleport anywhere on the map).*

*see the maths here About reducing mobility.

  1. You will be getting a lot of SPs - 10 for every mission, 20 for gaining a level, plus every mission and some text quests in the geoscape give SPs to the common pool. Currently there is no limit to how many SPs a soldier can gain, so you can have maxed out squaddies, though it will take a lot of missions.

  2. Armor and other gear, as well as augmentations, have a huge impact on a character stats. Perception, stealth and accuracy are mostly determined by the armor/augmentations. Some armors/gear/augmentations also enable the use of abilities that may define the role of the soldier in the battlefield.

Putting together the basics

PP has a rather easy start, with enemies generally wearing less armor and dealing less damage than PP soldiers. It’s not until more heavily armored opponents start to appear that difficulties tend to arise.

1) Aiming

Maps are small. You will often start with some of the enemies already detected and within LOS. Target them with different weapons (you will have assault rifles, a pistol, a sniper rifle and a heavy cannon). Play around with the aiming reticle. Convince yourself that zooming doesn’t alter the size of the reticle. Look at what happens to the health bar of the targeted enemy as you move the aiming reticle around it. You will see that part of the red bar will be filling with white > wedges. The part of the red bar where wedges appear and the size of the > wedges will change as you move the aiming reticle. The white represents the chances that the shot will do a certain amount of damage (the game runs a Monte Carlo simulation on the current shot and the projected damage is an average of the results We have to talk about the Scylla in the room - #81 by VOLAND).

The more white you see, the higher the probability that the shot will deplete the health bar up to the point where white wedges start appearing. A flashing red skull & crossbones next to the HP bar indicates that the shot is certain to kill the target. You will see a similar HP bar next to a targeted body part and a card detailing what will happen if the body part is disabled.

So, the first thing you should notice is that most weapons are out of range of the enemies that you can see at the start of the mission. Remember, if the inside circle of the aiming reticle is not covering fully the target, you have less than 50% chance of hitting it, and the empty spaces that the target might have count (for example, Arthrons are thin, often wearing a large armored carapace; even when you have them completely covered by the aiming reticle there is a high chance that the shot will miss, or hit the armored carapace, when it would otherwise hit a human). Usually, you don’t want to take that shot.

It’s crucial to understand that using the aiming reticle is not like aiming using crosshairs, iron sights, or optics in an FPS, in that in an FPS you expect the shot to land at the center of the crosshairs with some possible deviation away from the center. By contrast, in PP all shots will land somewhere in the big circle, with a 50% chance of landing in the small circle, the highest chance of landing on the border of the inside circle (thx @Yokes for the tip and explanation) and lower chance of landing on the bullseye (thx @UV), or more precisely:

In other words, don’t think “I’m aiming at the right arm because it’s smack in the middle of my aiming reticle”, rather think “what is occupying the largest part of my aiming reticle, what proportion of it is inside the small circle and what is the border of the inner circle touching?” That’s what you have the best (mathematical) chances of hitting, and if you are a headshots aficionado aiming with an assault rifle, it’s probably empty space.

Another thing you should notice is that targets are constantly chaning their position, so their exposure changes. This is because all the characters are performing the ‘idle’ animations all the time and hitting the freeaim button at the right moment can enable you to take a better shot.

2) Detection

You might (should, in fact) ask yourself, why can I see some of the enemies and can they see my soldiers? Detection is determined by the perception stat of the observer and the stealth stat of the observed. The perception stat is expressed in tiles and the stealth stat as a percentage (which can also be negative, meaning the observed is easier to detect), the stealth reducing the perception range vis a vis the observed.

So, if Bob has a perception of 35, he will detect all enemies with =<0% stealth within his LOS within 35 tiles. He will also detect enemies further away if they have a negative stealth stat (which is usually derived from wearing heavy armor). For example, Bob will detect enemies 49 tiles away within LOS whose stealth is - 40%. Similarly, Bob will be detected by enemies depending on his stealth stat and the perception stat of his enemies. Bob will also alert enemies to his presence by shooting a non-silenced weapon.

Talking about, enemies’ stats now is a good time to look at them. Just left click on an enemy and then left click on info, and you will see everything there is to know about it, almost as if it was one of your troops.

image

Tritons with the double perception ability are very dangerous for your scouts. I met with this one after around 10 missions playing on Legendary, you shouldn’t see Tritons with so many HPs, armor and wielding sniper rifles until much later in the game if you are playing rookie or veteran.

You can even calculate the range at which he will detect Bob - just check the perception stat, adjust it with Bob’s stealth, and count the tiles… Not that I suggest doing it before making every move…

But do take look at the weapons and skills of the enemy, and especially at its WPs. If you manage to bring its WPs below 0 (characters lose WPs when using special abilities, or when their teammates get killed), the unit will panic, and be unable to do anything for one turn.

You can also just hover the mouse over the enemy to get a quick info tooltip, showing key information about the character [image pending]

The mechanics in PP might be complex and somewhat obscure, but they are transparent.

The big takeaway as to detection is that 1) you want a soldier with high stealth and high perception to do the scouting, and 2) you don’t want to take low chance shots that reveal your position to the enemy without doing much (if any) harm to them.

In the first missions this doesn’t matter all that much. For starters, you don’t have access to armor/skills that radically enhance stealth or perception. Also, enemies are easy to handle.

I advise against acquiring bad habits though, such as using your jetpack heavy as a scout. It’s true that the jetpack allows to cover more distance than any of your starting soldiers can run, that the best LOS is from higher ground and that the heavy armor is strong enough to withstand a lot of punishment. However, the heavy armor helmet has a penalty to perception, and the heavy body armor has a huge penalty to stealth. Good scouts, they are not - but you might want to use them as baits. As I said, in the very early game it doesn’t matter, but past that your heavy scout/bait will be drawing a lot of deadly attention.

3) Cover and positioning

Because of real ballistics, in PP cover only works if it’s actually in the way of the projectiles and doesn’t get destroyed by them. If some part, even if very small, of a character is exposed (e.g. because the attack comes at an angle) and the attacker is close enough to accurately target it, the cover will not do any good.

There are two kinds of cover in PP, high and low. The difference between them is that, in addition to the character behind low cover being partially exposed by definition, a character in low cover will kneel (so that he/she/it is partially exposed, - normally head and shoulders in case of humans) and will fire without changing position, while a character in high cover (whether real or nominal) will step to the side to fire, being completely exposed in the process.

The reason why it matters is that if an enemy is on Overwatch covering that corner, stepping to the side to take a shot (whether at that enemy or another) can mean entering a world of pain. Similarly, if the enemy is an Arthron (crab) with a machine gun, or a human with the Return Fire skill (assault LVL3 passive skill, shoot back at enemy that attacks the character provided the enemy is within LOS and half the perception range of the character), the return fire from the enemy will activate (if the enemy is still capable of shooting) before the soldier returns to cover.

However, shooting from low cover doesn’t activate overwatch and partially protects from return fire. The disadvantage is that any return fire will probably hit the soldier in the head, which usually has less armor than the rest of the body. Still, the head makes for a smaller target and it’s more likely that the return fire will miss the partially covered soldier.

So one way to think of it is that low cover is better for attacking (from it) and high cover is better for defending.

However, in practice

  • an enemy won’t go on a overwatch if there is a PP soldier in low cover within range - it will shoot at the soldier instead; and

  • if you are shooting at an enemy with the return fire skill better just make sure it can’t shoot you back (because after your shot it’s gonna be dead, crippled, or you are more than half its perception range away, or undetected - for infiltrators)

I have been referring here to “high” cover as opposed to “full” cover. That is because high cover is not necesarily full, or solid cover. The shield icon might show a position being protected by high cover, indicating that the soldier will step to the side to fire at an enemy, but the cover might be of poor quality, e.g. not large enough to actually cover the whole body, or be of very weak material (glass, trees). Or it might be an explosive barrel.

Useful tips:

Note that heavy weapons, because they are held at waist length, cannot be shot behind low cover at high angles (thx @MichaelIgnotus).

Takeaways: don’t assume that a nice shield icon means good, full cover, and most importantly, don’t overestimate the importance of cover. Which brings us to the next point - positioning.

Coming from Firaxis XComs and its clones, one has the “must be in cover” syndrome. Staying out in the open means flanked (so very high chance to hit and score a critical), means death. Just find anything and get behind it. A flower pot, a rubbish bin… This largely dictates positioning priorities in these games: stay in cover, try to flank, avoid being flanked.

In PP there are no critical hits so getting shot in the foot while in full cover and getting shot in the foot in the open is exactly the same thing. When it comes to positioning, what matters most in PP is line of sight (LOS) and distance. If you are far enough and the enemy doesn’t have long range weapons (sniper rifles, Synedrion assault rifles), you are good even if out in the open. If the enemy has sniper rifles and LOS on you, any cover offers limited protection.

My advice: examine the map to find positions from which you have good LOS on the enemies and from which the enemies have bad LOS on you. Your best bet are multistory buildings with windows. Take cover behind walls next to windows allowing you to shoot at the enemies below while they can’t shoot at you. Bear in mind that this does not mean that your soldiers are now perfectly safe. Enemies have explosives, both long and short range, and psychic attack abilities (notably mindcontrol), none of which require LOS.

Also, on many missions you can’t just wait for the enemies to attack you, because they have to destroy some mcguffin (like crates, civilians, equipment) or because there is an infinite number of them and you need to destroy some mcguffin (notably in the Pandoran bases) (see Mission Types [pending]).

4) Engaging enemies

As I said somewhere way above, in PP, if you can shoot at an enemy and the enemy can shoot back at you, one of you is going to be dead very soon.

This is why players tend to gravitate at first towards sniper rifles and the grenade launcher (which can be manufactured after completing Arthron autopsy) as their weapons of choice, because they allow to effectively engage the enemy at distances where most enemies can’t shoot back. It’s not a bad choice when you are learning how to play PP, but it is suboptimal in most cases and sometimes it just does not work.

This is because the damage per AP of sniper rifles is low. That is, for each AP spent, you do more damage per AP with an AR (30 * 6 / 2 = 90) than with an SR (110/3 = < 37). The advantage of SRs is, of course, that they have high damage per projectile (thus they can deal damage no matter how much armor there is) and that they are effective at very long range. However, once you strip the armor and/or get close enough to the target, the ARs and the shotguns outperform the SRs by a very wide margin.

At first and especially on easier difficulty levels, most enemies have little to no armor, thus making the ARs very effective. (The Foresaken and the Pure - the latter only if you have the DLC - are the exception to this, and to deal with them you need SR, hellcannon/deceptor and grenades, but if you can manage to strip enough armor of them, the ARs are very effective).

If you can’t kill them outright, cripple them so they can’t attack you:

  • For humans and Tritons wielding two handed weapons, disable one of the arms. If they have single hand weapons, disable both arms. Note that humans might have grenades (you can check by clicking on their info), which can be used with one arm. Tritons have a variety of mutations that can make them dangerous/annoying (see Humans opponents [pending] and Tritons [pending] for more)

  • For crabs with machineguns, pincers and/or grenade launchers disable the arms with the weapons. The grenade launcher has a shorter range, but it’s potentially very dangerous because of the double damage explosion bug, so you might want to disable that first. Note that some of them also have the spitter head mutation that shoots poison at short range (see Arthrons [pending] for more).

  • For Sirens, disable their heads (see Sirens for more).

If you can’t cripple them, use Warcry (LVL3 Heavy skill, for 3WP reduces APs to 2 for one turn of all enemies within 10 tiles). As the skill doesn’t cost any APs, you can use the heavy armor jetpack (Heavy Armor Torso ability, for 3AP and 2WP “jump” up to 20 tiles) to get near a bunch of enemies and activate. Maybe also bash one of them with your heavy weapon.

Another approach is to break the enemies’ morale. Enemies lose WPs every time one of their mates is killed. If a character’s WPs goes below 0, they will panic, losing the next turn.

This should be enough as a start.

So, to recap:

  • On the first turn, try to figure out where most of the enemies are without being detected.

  • Take advantageous positions with good cover and LOS (multistory buildings are best).

  • If you engage enemies within their weapon range, try to leave them dead, or disabled by the end of you turn. Don’t let them retaliate.

  • Break their morale by killing enough of their mates, then finish them off.

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