The enemy unit count can become overwhelming. 15-16 enemy units, especially on small maps, makes it so the enemy can kill at least one of my units per turn and there’s nothing I can do about it since they seem to focus on a single unit whenever possible. This is even worse when clearing lairs and mass spawn triggers an additional 10 worms.
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Today I had to fight in a nest with so many tritons that I just lost count. It took me lots of will and ammo to get through it by spamming “dash” and “quick aim” (4 shots with assault/sniper, 2 shots with “sniper/assault”). Each soldier had 2 spare magazines and I ended all of them on my assaults (I know bring 4).
The only way I can imagine doing this one with level 3 soldiers would be by retreating in a dead end and spamming overwatch (not that fun).
Now it’s true that the description does say that the danger level is “high” ;o).
In the end, it was challenging but what bothers me the most is the price I have to pay in material to buy ammo afterwards with only a +4 consideration by all factions and a surprisingly low amount of XP considering how many aliens I killed.
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It seems with Nests the name of the game is move quickly. Find the Alien Spawners and take them out as quickly as possible. It almost feels like a suicide mission. Perhaps that is the feel they are going for but with not enough recruits, or not enough resources to buy them, it really makes each soldier that much harder to put in harms way. Either guarantee the ability to get “cannon fodder” or stop making it feel like they are.
Granted, I’m not sure how much time has passed in my game or if I should be attacking nests already but it makes me wonder how to hold on. Are some games unwinnable due to RNG?
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Well I’m probably in one of those since I’m unable to find a Phoenix base so lagging behind in research and production. Managed to BUY two soldiers to save humanity.
If the game was finished, I’d imagine the following question:
Should I buy a recruit or a new research lab? Both cost the same.
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Well i don’t have that problem right now im playing at devastation level( the hardest) and i didnt lose any soldier, im going for my 2nd ship, i have 3 base. i only have some research to go for the quest( i suppose didnt finish the game)
And it is really easy to kill all ennemie on first turn before they attack, or kill after you spot them.
Right now it all about dash and Quickdraw(sniper,assault class) and having more than 15 will and using recover to get your willback. + using sniper helmet for aim. after you have these the game become really easy, you spam ur dash until you are at ennemie reach and than you attack 4 time, or you snipe form far away with 2 shot where there is no armor and GG.
(just saying it’s too easy( i dont like it right now) )
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Yes, I also spam “dash” and “quick aim”. Just have a single Phoenix base 
.
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There has been some talks at Discord server that the difficulty level stays the same, no matter which one you choose.
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that make senses
You are right, I got a mission with 20 tritons having all a railgun like gun (+100 damage to structures or soldiers) though I managed to beat this level without damage by hiding out of sight at the end of each turn and each turn killing at least 4 of them. I used the goliath of the heavy to damage groups of 3+ tritons. Also, I had an assault with shotgun: dash in, kill 2 enemies and dash out. My snipers provided support at a distance.
Then I had the second mission for New Jericho. 2 Sirens, 2 artillery guys and about 20 crabmen and tritons in an open field!
There are missions with way too many aliens, also the hatching sentinels in the alien bases are ways too sensitive, you have no idea when they will trigger and even if you are out of sight, but within a certain number of tiles, they trigger.
Though I found a workaround. There is a MAJOR bug (I already filed) in the game: start a mission, reload the geoscape autosave and you have successfully completed the mission without a fight.
edit: the bug does not trigger always and once it triggers there are troubles with saving the game, though I have had the bug happen a couple of times: I am tired fighting too many aliens, load the geoscape and my mission is successful.
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I’m not too far in, but this sounds crazy. I have had missions where I feel like I’m impatiently chewing through enemies to get back to the geoscape.
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Now imagine that each one of those had sniper rifles or the paralyzing rifles…
This is lazy, over whelming me with so such a large amount of enemies isn’t really tactical or fun. Same when you mix things like the mortar crabs and such. It seems almost gimmicky, even UFO defense which was quite hard atleast was consistant, you were never horrendously out numbered like this. Mixed with how bad Aiming(the fact that even if the shot in in the circle it can still miss somehow, and that the dmg calculator doesn’t work) and cover (pretty much doesn’t work and all aliens can shoot you around it or through it) can be in this game its becoming less and less fun.
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Use explosives. 
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15-16? Those are rookie numbers. 30 is what you get a bit later on.
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Explosives are quite weak, though they destroy equipment
thats stupid levels of enemies considering you have like 6
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Learn to prioritize your targets.
Learn to use cover more effectively. (standing in the open but having a building or trash between you and the enemy is more effective than leaning against a trash can in full view of the enemy, for example.)
Don’t take risky shots.
Make use of your abilities.
Make sure you’re geared out properly.
Make sure you’ve spent your SP wisely.
Optimize your armor load - Banshee helmets on a Heavy, for example, is much more useful than a few more points of armor.
Grenade often. They may not kill the enemy, but an enemy without any arms is pretty much neutralized.
Just because you get a soldier to level 7 doesn’t mean he’s more effective at killing than a soldier at level 3. The random abilities you get can either make or break a soldier on being OP or not.
Speed is probably the most important stat to boost up first. The farther you can move, the more likely you are to both get into cover as well as get optimal shots on the enemy.
I’ve gotten to the point in BB5 that I really have nothing left to do. the amount and types of enemies you see get ridiculous. And we haven’t even seen any actual end-game enemies yet. 20+ enemies is very common later on. It isn’t impossible, as long as you didn’t just goof off for the first half of the game. This is a strategy game, after all. Learn to strategize.
Or, if you just want to cheese it, give everyone Grenade launchers. They’re really OP in this build.
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brilliant list, I would add three more things:
- KILL the enemies if you can. Crabman with 20HP and Grenade Launcher is as deadly as Crabman with 160HP. If you cant get a kill shot on deadly opponent try to destroy his weapon.
- Killing aliens reduces will power of their friends. Sometimes the best way to survive is to kill two aliens with low HP, induce the panic effect on the rest so they have to hide to recover. then move with the rest to get some ground
- don’t kill neutralized enemies if you don’t have to. If you ALREADY have a panic on nearby enemies, hold your horses. There is no such thing as negative WP. next round the enemies will get their WP by recover ability and you will be out of easy targets. it’s better to wait one more turn to kill the rest to keep them panicking.
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Use Dash and Rapid Clearance!
My personal record is 25 killed aliens in one round, using one assault soldier with a shotgun. 
Eventually he ran out of ammo.
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use berserker next time 
my current record is 2 chirons, 2+ sirens, 4 tritons and 10+ crabmen on the first turn. I have to kill two more by sniper as they spawn on the roof without a ladder
Now that you say, I think it was a berserker.
I stopped playing, because that thing is so OP and I just can’t hold myself from using it 