@database UFO_Strategy.guide @author "Gareth Griffiths" @index INDEX @wordwrap @node MAIN "UFO: Enemy Unknown AGA Strategy Guide" @{b} UFO: ENEMY UNKNOWN AMIGA AGA Strategy Guide@{ub} This strategy guide is UNOFFICIAL. I believe there was an Official UFO Strategy Guide published, but I don't know how to get hold of it. Some data contained in this guide may be incorrect, if you find any errors, please @{" contact me" LINK author}. @{" -= TABLE OF CONTENTS =- " LINK contents} @{" -= ABOUT THE AUTHOR! =- " LINK author} @endnode @node contents "Table Of Contents" @{b}TABLE OF CONTENTS@{ub} @{" 1: Introduction to UFO: Enemy Unknown " LINK intro2ufo} @{" 2: How to use the Strategy Guide " LINK howtwouse} @{" 3: XCOM Bases: General Strategies " LINK xcombases} @{" 4: Air Combat Strategies " LINK aircombat} @{" 5: Ground Combat Strategies " LINK gndcombat} @{" 6: Research & Manufacture Strategies " LINK resch&man} @{" 7: Material Management " LINK materialm} @{" 8: Miscellaneous Q&A " LINK miscellqa} @{" 9: Beating the Cydonia Stages " LINK beatcydon} @{" A: Appendices " LINK appendice} @endnode @node intro2ufo "Introduction to UFO: Enemy Unknown" @{b}WHAT IS UFO: ENEMY UNKNOWN?@{ub} UFO: Enemy Unknown (called UFO from now on) is a turn-based strategy game from Microprose. In the game, you are the commander of a covert ops group dedicated to crushing alien threats, XCOM. There now follows an excerpt from the UFO manual, page 6: It is the year 1999. Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) have started appearing with disturbing regularity in the night skies. Reports of violent human abductions and horrific experimentation has struck terror into the hearts of millions. Mass public hysteria has only served to expose Earth's impotence against a vastly superior technology. Many countries have attempted to deal independently with the aliens. In August 1998, Japan established an anti-alien combat force, the Kiryu-Kai. Equipped with Japanese-made fighter aircraft, the Kiryu-Kai certainly looked like a powerful force. However, after 5 months of expensive operations they had yet to intercept their first UFO. The lesson was clear: this was a worldwide problem which could not be dealt with by individual countries. On December 11th 1998, representatives from the world's most economically powered countries gathered secretly in Geneva. After much debate, the decision was made to establish a covert independent body to combat, investigate and defeat the alien threat. This organisation would be equipped with the world's finest pilots, soldiers, scientists and engineers, working together as one multi-national force. This organisation was named the Extraterrestrial Combat Unit: XCOM. @{b}WHAT TYPE OF AMIGA DO I NEED TO RUN IT?@{ub} To run the AGA version, you will need an AGA Amiga with 2Mb of Chip RAM. The game will be playable, but it will be slow. To make it faster, buy a memory upgrade or an accelerator card. There is also an ECS version available, and this will also work on an AGA Amiga. Both versions were given away free on Amiga Format's April 1998 Cover CD. @{b}ARE THERE ANY BUGS IN THE AMIGA VERSION?@{ub} Not that I know of. There are two possible bugs which have been confirmed for the PC version of UFO, but haven't been confirmed in the Amiga version. These are: The Corrupted Intercept Bug: If you save a game whilst an air intercept is in progress, then the save game file will be corrupted and you won't be able to reload the game. The only workaround is to not save during an interception! The Wandering Soldier Bug: This only happens if the soldier is equipped with the Flying Suit. If he/she is at the very edge of the map, sometimes they move off it and cannot move back in again, meaning they are stuck there for the rest of the mission. They do get out at the end of a successful mission though, so don't worry too much about losing your best soldiers! @{b}ARE THERE ANY SAVED GAME EDITORS FOR THE AMIGA VERSION?@{ub} I know of two, they are both available on the AMInet, and they are: UFOEd.lha game/patch This is the best of the two. It allows you to increase your soldier's abilities incredibly high. Imagine having 180 TU's per unit, each with 110 bravery, and 180 on everything else, including the PSI skills! It also lets you edit your bases so that you get the best stuff first! THIS ONLY WORKS WITH THE AGA VERSION OF UFO! UFOCU.lha game/patch This is quite good. It uses the same (almost) frontend as the game itself, and allows you to edit your soldier's abilities, upto a maximum of 160 on each attribute. It also heals any wounded soldiers instantly, something which UFOEd cannot do. THIS ONLY WORKS WITH THE AGA VERSION OF UFO! @{"-= HOW TO USE THE STRATEGY GUIDE =-" LINK howtwouse} @{"-= TABLE OF CONTENTS =-" LINK contents} @endnode @node howtwouse "How to use the Strategy Guide" @{b}HOW TO USE THE UFO STRATEGY GUIDE@{ub} Using this guide is really simple. Thanks to the AmigaGuide Hypertext system, I am able to create user-friendly interfaces for documents. On the many pages contained in this document, you will see @{"buttons" link} that look like @{"this." link} Simply click on the button to take you to the page that it says. It's as simple as that! Now for some pointers to the various chapters of the guide: Those flashing lights in the night sky are not fun any more. Shoot them down and then go to ground level! Go to @{"Air Combat Strategies" LINK aircombat} for tactics on Interception missions. Once they hit the deck, it's time to send out a boarding party to capture and kill any surviving aliens and capture any surviving alien artefacts. Go to @{"Ground Combat Strategies" LINK gndcombat} for tips and tactics on the ground combat missions. If the UFO lands before you can shoot it down, send a boarding party immediately (if you have a decent squad) and make sure an interception craft is patrolling the site in case it takes off again. Note that if a UFO lands in an area, it usually means that there is an alien base somewhere in that area. When you get the Hyper Wave Decoder, look for Alien Infiltration, because they sign a pact and build a base! If the aliens are terrorizing civilians, get your team to the site ASAP Alien Terror is the second-biggest threat to XCom. Sort them out QUICKLY! And remember that civilians must be saved at all costs, even if it means blowing their properties to bits to catch that last Chryssalid! At the start of the game, your technology is inferior to the aliens'. However, as you begin to build up stores of Alien Artefacts, you can research and manufacture these alien weapons, making you equal! Go to @{"Research & Manufacture Strategies" LINK resch&man} to find out what to research first! The funding countries pay you a certain amount of money each month, and may increase or decrease the funding level depending on their opinion of your efforts to keep aliens out of their area. Unfortunately, that source of money is never enough. @{"Material Management" LINK materialm} tells you how you can make more money. Aliens will attempt to force governments into abandoning the X-COM project by attacking that country heavily until the government signs a pact with them. If that happens, your income decreases, and you hit a trouble spot. To stop it happening, go to @{" Miscellaneous Q&A" LINK miscellqa} If you're unlucky, the aliens will build a base on Earth. These act as infiltration centres, so should be dealt with quickly. Unfortunately, the alien bases are well hidden, and you will need a craft patrolling the suspected area for quite some time before they notice it. OR you can just let XCom agents discover it, but this takes more time. Clues to alien bases are a lot of alien activity without UFO's being detected, a lot of landed UFO's in the area, and if you get the Hyper Wave Decoder, LARGE UFO's, which are called Supply Ships. If you see one on an Alien Supply mission, follow it and you will find an Alien Base at the end of it's journey. Go to @{"Miscellaneous Q&A" LINK miscellqa} for tactics on alien base raids. When you've researched enough, you can travel to Mars and face the aliens on their home turf in the final battle! The outcome of this determines whether you beat the aliens once and for all, or fail miserably. Unfortunately, the final battle is very tough, so you'll need all the help you can get. This is where @{"Beating the Cydonia Stages" LINK beatcydon} comes in. In this section, you will find all you need to kick some serious alien butt! And finally, there's the appendices. These are a general collection of tables and charts with info about UFO types, alien attributes and stuff. To get there, click on @{"Appendix Of Tables" LINK appendice} @{"-= XCOM BASES: GENERAL STRATEGIES =-" LINK xcombases} @{"-= TABLE OF CONTENTS. =-" LINK contents} @endnode @node xcombases "XCOM Bases: General Strategies" @{b}XCOM BASES: GENERAL STRATEGIES@{ub} @{b}WHERE SHOULD I BUILD BY BASES?@{ub} Most UFO-players tend to start off in North America or Europe, as then you have access to a lot of the funding countries. The second base should be in the other area (so if you put the first in North America, the second would go in Europe, and vice versa). That then means that the majority of countries are in your radar range. @{b}ANY SUGGESTIONS FOR BASE PLACEMENT@{ub}? These are only suggestions! The first two areas are interchangeable. Only six of your eight allowable bases are covered. Central Europe (western USSR and all of Europe, India) North America / Rockies (USA and Canada) Japan (eastern USSR, Japan, and China) Eastern South America (Brazil) Australia (Australia and Pacific) Central Africa (South Africa, Egypt, and Nigeria) @{b}WHAT TYPE OF BASE DO I BUILD?@{ub} You will probably have four to six types of bases. As you play you will start upgrading them to the next level to create a more effective detection and interception network. @{b}Radar/Picket base@{ub} Just an access lift and some radars, plus maybe some storage for HWP defences and/or living quarters for defending soldiers. This base detects UFOs. Add more radars and defenses whenever possible. SMALL RADAR SYSTEM: Range=300 nm. Detection rate: 10% rotation / 10 mins. LARGE RADAR SYSTEM: Range=450 nm. Detection rate: 5% rotation / 10 mins. HYPER WAVE DECODER: Range=500 nm. Detection rate: 100%rotation / 10 mins. @{b}Interception base@{ub} Two hangars, with either Interceptors or Firestorms. Storage space for craft weapons and ammunition. Living quarters for defence team and at least a Defence Strength of 2500. I have an Interception base with 5 Fusion Ball Defences and in an average month, 15 out of 15 Battleships were destroyed! @{b}Transport base@{ub} At least one transport (Skyranger, Lightning, or Avenger), as well as living quarters and storage. Houses soldiers and equipment. Used to board UFOs and/or attack alien bases. Can be created from both radar base or airbase by adding a hangar for the transport. Remember to add more storage space for the increased need for weapons and ammo as well as captured artefacts. Also add an alien containment in case you capture a live alien. @{b}Central Command@{ub} The EVERYTHING base, includes research and manufacturing. Your first base is your first (and probably only) central base, where all the research and manufacturing is done. Most people have this configuration instead of the next two. @{b}Research Department@{ub} You should keep this away from your main bases, The Arctic is a good place. All you need are living quarters, and laboratories, and a Stores facility for storing items to be researched. As research is independent, you have to transfer the item to be researched to this base. You only need to transfer one though! Plonk in some defences if you like, but as not many UFOs are shot down near the base, it should be safe. @{b}Manufacturing Base@{ub} You just need living quarters and workshops for the engineers, and general stores for storing the results, and maybe a hangar if you are manufacturing crafts. Transfer between bases are cheap, and you don't need anything else. A nice place to put this is Antarctica. Again, defences aren't really necessary. @{b}Storage Base@{ub} Only necessary if you like manufacturing. To avoid the 80 items limit, I have my own base just for storing things. Filled with General Stores and maybe a hangar for a spare craft. I have this configuration of bases: Central Command (North America) Defence Strength: 4200 Interception Base (North Africa) Defence Strength: 4200 Manufacturing (Arctic) Defence Strength: 1200 Storage Base (Antarctic) Defence Strength: 0 @{b}HOW SHOULD I BUILD MY BASES?@{ub} Plan for the worst situation (an alien raid) Design A Design B HHHHHH HHHHHH HHHHHH HHHHHH A X X XXXX XXXXXX X XXXX X XXXX XXXXXX A XXXX H=Hangars A=Access Lift X=anything else Design A: ALL vulnerable areas are concentrated to ONE part of the base, limiting possible attacks along that ONE long corridor. Design B: Isolates Hangar from Access Lift. Since hangars have no doors, blaster bombs and/or fusion tanks can destroy everything in those spaces with one shot per hangar, counting the secondaries due to the fuel drums. The access lift can be blocked by proximity grenades. @{b}Keep tabs on a bases progress@{ub}: Plan ahead for expansion. Use the BASE INFORMATION button frequently (once every 10 game days?) and start construction of things BEFORE you actually run out. @{b}Initial modifications:@{ub} The first things you should add to your base are: General Stores - More storage for ammo and artefacts Alien Containment - For interrogating captured aliens. Large Radar System - Improved UFO detection. and then add Laboratories and Workshops when needed. Defences are also a priority once you get quite far into the game. @{b}Keep a hangar available!@{ub} You should always keep a hangar SOMEWHERE available for new construction purposes. Transferring crafts is quite cheap! See base types for details @{b}How to defend a base@{ub} Aliens do try to raid your base. The loss of the base means the loss of everything based on it. So what can you do to prevent the destruction of your base? Read on! @{b}Build defences@{ub} You can build four types of base defences: DAYS COST UPKEEP DEF. STRENGTH ACCURACY Missile Defence 16 200k 5k 500 50% Laser Defence 24 900k 10k 600 60% Plasma Defence 36 1200k 12k 900 70% Fusion Defence 36 1800k 14k 1200 80% These two facilities help with base defences. Grav Shield 38 2300k 15k Mind Shield 33 1300k 5k The Grav Shield repels a UFO, allowing the defences to get in an extra shot! Quite useful. The Mind Shield cloaks the base from an alien scout (not for long) though, giving you more time to intercept before the scout contacts it's battleship. I recommend 4800 defence strength in total. My bases are that, and in the course of a month, 15 out of 15 battleships have been destroyed! @{b}Attack the incoming UFOs@{ub} Usually you can detect the UFOs as they come in for the attack. Shoot them down first. If you have Hyper Wave Decoders, watch for UFOs with "retaliation" missions. Those are coming after your bases. The small UFOs that come first are scouts. If they see your base, then comes the battleships. @{b}Watch the "80-item limit"@{ub} If the aliens make it through your defences, you will have to defend yourself. Only the first 80 items in storage can be used for your Defence, so this is another reason to sell off those excess inventory. Besides, you need the cash. Do NOT keep electro-flares in the warehouse as those are often the first items in the 80-item list! Lasers and HWPs are on top so keep them. @{b}Keep some HWPs just in case@{ub} If the worst comes to the worst, have a few HWP's around to defend the base. You'll probably have Hovertank/Launcher's by the time the aliens start getting peeved at your base operations, so use them, as they can shoot round corners. Also, a soldier armed with a Blaster Launcher is great! @{b}Booby trap the rooms!@{ub} Booby trap all rooms that you must abandon, usually by throwing proximity grenades at the doors. Any alien steps in, BOOM! You can clear them by dropping a regular grenade on top of them. @{b}Leave some soldiers!@{ub} This is not a verified fact. During an alien raid, all crafts are evacuated, along with everything on board, and this also means the soldiers. So always keep some spare in case the aliens find the base. Some players report that their soldiers stayed during a raid. No one has successfully verified this though, so send me a reply if you have! So defending a base needn't be a challenge. If you stick to those guides, you should be bopping the aliens in no time at all! @{"-= AIR COMBAT STRATEGIES =-" LINK aircombat} @{"-= TABLE OF CONTENTS =-" LINK contents} @endnode @node aircombat "Air Combat Strategies" @{b}AIR COMBAT STRATEGIES@{ub} Air Combat and Interceptions are the fundamental part of playing UFO, without them there would be no progress in the game, as you couldn't shoot down the UFOs to capture the aliens and equipment! So if you have to use air combat, use it right! This little chapter should give you some hints on doing just that! @{b}INTERCEPT TACTICS@{ub} Interception of UFOs is important. Intercepting UFOs over funding countries tells them you are doing your job and keeps them happy. Successful interception and shoot-down means you can capture aliens, alien bodies, and alien equipment. Even if interception is unsuccessful you may be able to discover an alien base. @{b}Don't get your shoes wet!@{ub} Try to attack an UFO over land, because if you shoot it down at sea no one can get to it. If you intercepted it over water, press minimize and click over to 1 minute time step until you ran out of fuel, it lands, it outruns you, or you get back over land. If you fly back over land, change back to 5 seconds, then commence attack! @{b}Get back to base! That's an order!@{ub} When you send multiple crafts after one UFO and the UFO gets shot down, the shooter will go home, but other crafts will continue onto the crash site and THEN return. Instead, click on them and turn them back early (Return to base). They will return earlier, thus be refuelled and rearmed faster for the next mission. @{b}Don't let them get away!@{ub} Even if a UFO has landed, keep an interceptor on top of it if possible until your landing craft arrives for the action. That way, if the UFO takes off, you still have a chance to shoot it down before it evades detection! @{b}Don't use the wrong weapons!@{ub} Before attacking click on the VIEW UFO button to take a look at your target before deciding whether to attack or not. Attacking with the wrong weapons means either the loss of the interceptor or the UFO totally destroyed so that nothing can be recovered. @{b}Very Small / Small UFOs@{ub} Interceptors with Stingray missiles and cannons can only handle very small or small sized UFOs. Attacking larger UFOs means heavy damage or even destruction. @{b}Medium UFOs@{ub} Interceptors with Avalanche missiles can handle medium UFOs. One Avalanche will blow a very small UFO into pieces though. @{b}Large UFOs@{ub} Interceptors with Plasma beam and/or Avalanche missiles can handle large UFOs, but not VERY large UFOs. Plasma beam may blow small UFO into pieces. @{b}Very Large UFOs@{ub} Multiple Interceptors with plasma beam and/or Avalanche are needed to attack very large UFOs, and you'll probably lose a few, since one shot from battleship and the interceptor is destroyed or crippled. Interceptors with fusion ball launchers can attack very large UFOs if it does so at maximum distance, but will probably run out of ammo first since they are two shots each. The only way to "safely" attack alien battleships is to use Firestorms and Avengers, and even then you will probably be heavily damaged (as in 20% to 60% damage), even with Fusion Balls and Plasma beams. @{b}Differences among Aggressive, Normal, and Cautious attacks@{ub} The difference between Aggressive, Normal, and Cautious attacks were not explained clearly in the manual. Here's my version: @{b}Cautious Attack@{ub} Attack the UFO from maximum range of the available weapon(s) at a slow firing rate. Cause least damage per shot, useful when you want prisoners or attacking a small target and your weapons may be overkill. @{b}Normal Attack@{ub} Attack the UFO from maximum range of the available weapon(s) at standard firing rate. Cause average damage per shot, suffice for most attacks if your weapon outrange the enemy's. @{b}Aggressive Attack@{ub} Attack the UFO as fast as possible, as close as possible, and fire as fast as possible. Cause most damage per shot, but exposes the craft to enemy return fire. @{b}Applications of each attack mode@{ub} To determine which attack mode to use, you need to look at the UFO first. Click on the VIEW UFO icon and take a look at what type of UFO it is. See section A.3 for list of UFOs and recognition chart. Of all the UFOs, only a Battleship is a major threat to your crafts. Battleships have a weapon range of 70 km, longer than even fusion balls. NO OTHER UFO has this kind of firepower. The only way to ensure destruction of a Battleship is to use Firestorm or Avenger with dual Plasma Beams. One shot from a Battleship is usually enough to destroy Interceptors, so do NOT attack Battleships with Interceptors. When attacking Battleships with Avengers and Firestorm, use Aggressive Attack. After several Battleship interceptions with an Avenger, I've found that using Aggressive Attack with an Avenger I get approximately 40% damage (once as low as 30%) where as I usually get 60% damage in Normal attack. Firestorm got hit pretty hard against Battleships, usually 50-80% damaged. All other UFOs can be safely tackled with Avalanche missiles and Plasma Beams, since you can stay at maximum range and avoid their fire. Supply Ship and Terror Ship have range of 50 km, which is the second longest, but Avalanche and Plasma Beam outrange them. @{b}CRAFT WEAPONS TACTICS@{ub} @{b}Get Plasma Cannon quickly@{ub} Plasma Cannon is THE best craft weapon in the game, with 99 shots and 54 km range. Interceptors armed with twin plasma cannons can even tackle large (though not VERY large) UFOs safely by remaining outside the UFO's weapon range. @{b}Get rid of Stingray Missiles and Cannons@{ub} Stingrays are only good for hitting VERY SMALL and maybe SMALL UFOs due to the short range (30km for Stingray, 12km for cannon). Replace Stingray and Cannon with Avalanches as soon as possible. You can also forget about the laser cannon but at least it does not use ammo. @{b}FINDING THE ALIEN BASES@{ub} There are two ways of discovering an alien base. First of all, you can let XCom agents find them for you, but they are not very efficient, and it could take time. Alternatively, you could look at the graphs to find high amounts of UFO activity, and if that area is one where you aren't getting any UFO reports, ther's probably a base there. When you get the Hyper Wave Decoder, you can look for UFOs on Supply missions. When you spot a Supply Ship on an Alien Supply mission, use an empty Skyranger or an Avenger to follow it. Follow it to it's last known position and keep patrolling. After a few hours game time, the base will be discovered! @{"-= GROUND COMBAT STRATEGIES =-" LINK gndcombat} @{"-= TABLE OF CONTENTS. =-" LINK contents} @endnode @node gndcombat "Ground Combat Strategies" @{b}GROUND COMBAT STRATEGIES@{ub} There is much debate over which area of the game is most important, I think that personally it is Air Combat, but being skilled in Ground Combat is also an attribute that every UFO player needs if he is going to defeat the aliens. So here are a few basic hints on how to beat the crap out of them. @{b}BASIC EQUIPMENT CONSIDERATIONS@{ub} Since you only get 80 items per craft, you have to plan carefully. Lasers are useful since they do not need ammo, saving you a lot of items. They also cause a nice amount of damage (though not as much as plasma weapons, thus the trade-off). Carry Blaster Launchers and Bombs as soon as you obtain them. They are incredibly useful, and can punch holes in UFO walls! Note that Blaster Launchers start out UNLOADED so don't forget to load them during the initial equip squad screen! @{b}BASIC CRAFT LOADS@{ub} Skyranger: 2 HWPs and 6 soldiers. Divide them up to 1 HWP / 3 person fire teams, with HWP as scouts. If necessary you can split each team up further into pairs. Lightning: Only soldiers. HWPs cannot be carried on Lightning. Avenger : 4 HWPs and 10 soldiers is good. Use 2 teams of 1 HWP and 2 soldiers, and 2 teams of 1 HWP and 3 soldiers, or you can make them all 1 HWP and 2 soldiers, with two soldier as the special weapons team with blaster bombs and/or psi attacks. @{b}ROOKIE TRAINING@{ub} You start off with a squad of Rookies. As your squad builds up, you will need to train your rookies. Do this by taking them into the heat of battle. You gain experience by doing things. If you need more accuracy on your firing, take more shots. Simple as that! @{b}TAKE A MIXED SET OF WEAPONS@{ub} If you take a variety of weapons, you can be prepared for all threats. It is no good just taking auto cannons, because some aliens are more resistant to them. Take a selection, like Laser Rifle, Heavy Plasma and Auto Cannon. By the way, Heavy Plasma is the best rifle in the game! @{b}MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT IS IMPORTANT! USE THEM ALL THE TIME!@{ub} * Medikits are important. In addition to healing fatal wounds they can raise morale if used on panicking troops as well as revive unconscious soldiers which have been stunned/inhaled too much smoke. * Motion detectors are only useful if you have a vague idea where an alien could be, because they only have a 9square range. Also, the alien must move, otherwise it won't be detected. * Mind Probes are useful for identifying alien leaders and commanders, or any specific type of alien you want to capture. Make sure you have an arsenal of stun weapons. * Proximity grenades are great for blockading large UFO doors. Just drop one next to the door and wait for them to come out. Do it like this though! ------+ D=Door, A=Alien, P=Prox. Grenade | AD P If you plonk the P right next to the door, the sensors will | activate when the door is closed, so the alien won't be ------+ hurt. If you put it there, he has to step outside for it to go off! @{b}DEPLOYING UNITS FROM YOUR CRAFT@{ub} When moving the soldiers out of the craft, make sure that you only move two at a time, next to the landing stanchions are good. If you do more than two, you may be targetted by a grenade, or in the worst case, a Blaster Bomb. @{b}SPREAD OUT AND COVER EACH OTHER@{ub} Here's a simple demonstration with a four person fire team: X X X X ===>> X X X X The two in front did not move, while the two in the back moved up beyond them for about that much distance. The recommended separation between team members is between four to six squares, and the normal leap frog distance is about that much as well. That way, when one person spots a target, most likely every one will be able to see and fire at the target. The two who stayed in place should turn around and face out and/or back to prevent rear attacks. Keep plenty of TUs handy for opportunity fire. @{b}USE THE TERRAIN!@{ub} The trees that are usually plastered over ground missions make great cubbyholes. All you do is stand behind a tree, and pray that the aliens weapon isn't powerful enough to take it down. This next idea may sound crazy, but it works just as well! Stand behind an alien! Other aliens don't check who is in the line of fire before shooting at you, and if one of the bullets can hit the alien, you are saved! Just make sure the alien you're standing next to is unarmed, and if it's a Chryssalid, either mind-control it or bugger off before you get zombified! @{b}THE ALIEN VERSION OF A TRAFFIC ISLAND.@{ub} Aliens usually move forward, take a shot, then turn 180 and move back. So, if you see them in their movement phase and don't see them in yours, move forward a little, and you may see them. For example, they move like this... visible range | S -----/-->S | | YOU S<-\---+ | @{b}CATER FOR OPPORTUNITY FIRE!@{ub} To use the Opportunity Fire functions, you need enough TU's to take a shot, and the soldier ideally needs a reaction level of 50+. If none of the soldiers qualify, try moving them in front of the UFO door and making them kneel. This is great against Mutons and Snakemen because they leave the UFO a lot. @{b}USE HWPs AS SCOUTS@{ub} Hovertanks are the best units in the game to act as scouts, as are the other HWP's. They are immune to psi-attacks and have tons of TU's. Just make sure that the HWP does just scouting. If you want the soldiers to gain experience, look for aliens using the HWP, and shoot at it using a regular unit. @{b}DON'T LET ALIENS USE THE TERRAIN!@{ub} This is especially important on Terror missions. Hovertank/Fusion Launcher is ideal for this, but if not, just use Rocket Launchers and grenades. Even lasers can be used. Just blow apart a building or forest, and any aliens hiding in it will either be killed, spotted or peeved. You see, you've just destroyed it's hiding place. And remember, there is no penalty for destroying civilian PROPERTY, just civilians! So go ahead and destroy the city just to get that last alien, if you have to! @{b}LISTEN TO AURAL CLUES IN THE ALIEN MOVEMENT PHASE@{ub} The sounds in alien movement phase can reveal important clues to alien locations. Normal door sounds means the aliens are near a regular building (farm house, etc.) Hydraulic door sounds means the automatic doors were used. Two sounds close together means someone just went in and immediately came back out (or vice versa). The length of the alien movement phase is also proportional to the number of aliens left on the map. (Remember that stunned aliens or civilians can wake up!) @{b} ALIENS ARE ALWAYS WARM.@{ub} Aliens obviously don't feel draughts, because they leave all the doors open when they go through farmhouses. That little snippet is useful to know if you see an open door, and you're certain that none of your soldiers have been near it. @{b}WEAPON TACTICS@{ub} Different weapons should be used differently and in different circumstances. Here are some suggestions on how to best employ the different weapons. @{b}Pistols and Rifles@{ub} Use them only when you have to, sniper style. Dump them for lasers as fast as possible. They use clips and doesn't do much damage. they may be enough to use against Sectoids, who have little armour, but not against tougher enemies. @{b}Heavy Cannon@{ub} Even though it is more accurate than the auto-cannon, it is a lot heavier, and only has 6 rounds loaded. It also has no auto-shot mode! @{b}Auto-Cannon@{ub} Probably the most effective weapon in the early game, with auto mode, three types of ammo, and 14 shot magazine. Still, 14 shots is not much in auto-mode, and three magazines can run out on you pretty quick. It is also HEAVY. Of course, auto-fired HE rounds can clear a forest REAL quick. @{b}Rocket Launcher@{ub} Rocket Launcher packs your biggest punch in the early game, and being an area weapon makes it invaluable in dealing with nasty Reapers and other loathsome creatures. On the other hand, you can only carry three of them, and they only fly in straight lines. Have another member carry reloads for you. @{b}Laser Pistol, Laser Rifle, and Heavy Laser@{ub} Forget the Heavy Laser. The 35% more damage that it does is offset by having no auto mode and decreased accuracy. You can probably forget the pistol also, but you need to research it to get laser rifle. Laser Rifles are arguably the best squad weapon in the game, needing no ammo, with decent accuracy and damage. @{b}Grenades and High Explosive@{ub} Get alien grenades when you can, but regular grenades would do. Use them to flatten small buildings and take down walls so aliens have nowhere to hide. Proximity Grenades are similar, but they detonate when a unit moves within it's sensing radius. Remember that a unit can be an alien, an XCom soldier, or a civilian. Also, because they have a 1-square sensing radius, don't chuck them next to a UFO door, like this: ----+ Because when the alien steps out, the grenade will go off | and just come in contact with the now-closed UFO door, ADP allowing the alien to survive. | If you want to use Proximity Grenades properly, you do it ----+ like this: ----+ Because the alien steps out, into the grenades sensing | radius, and hey presto! the alien cannot retreat behind a AD P closed door, so he becomes fried Sectoid/Muton/whatever! | ----+ A=Alien D=UFO Door P=Proximity Grenade @{b}Plasma Pistol, Plasma Rifle, and Heavy Plasma@{ub} Forget the plasma pistols. Plasma Rifle and Heavy Plasma are good weapons, and the Heavy Plasma is the only heavy weapon in the game with auto mode. On the other hand, Heavy Plasma is "heavy" and normal soldiers can't carry it very well. Heavy Plasma should only carried by a few select members, due to possible shortages in clips. Also, with only 80 items per craft, having so many clips around can be a problem. Heavy Plasma can punch through inner walls of UFOs when auto-fired a couple times, useful for pincer attacks. I'd just like to say this: HEAVY PLASMA IS KING! GET IT AS SOON AS YOU CAN! IT WILL BE WELL WORTH THE WAIT! IT IS SUPERB-DUPERB! Aah, glad to get that off my chest! @{b}Blaster Launcher@{ub} Blaster launcher is probably one of the greatest weapons in the game. It is expensive, its ammo is expensive, but it is VERY useful. You can blow up things in ANY direction, turn around corners, go up and down stairs, flatten entire barns, even punch a hole in UFO's outer hull! With a bit of management one soldier can carry up to 5 reloads (2 on belt and 3 in backpack). Leave some Blaster Bombs on the floor and get the weapon carrier to kneel on the reloads, making more available! If you are attacking a Battleship, blow open one of the engine legs using the Blaster Launcher to save you going up the central grav-lift. Alternatively, blow a hole in the roof of a UFO and go in top to bottom. I have had more success against battleships this way! A Blaster Bomb can also be useful when using HWP's. Blow a hole in the space next to a UFO door and then move the HWP in through the enlarged entrance. Nice! @{b}Small Launcher@{ub} This is the only weapon (apart from Stun Rod) which is designed for stunning creatures. Although my favourite tactic is to mind-control an alien, position a stun-rod soldier next to it, and on the next turn, stun it until it drops, the Small Launcher can make the process a lot easier. Watch out for Floaters, they use these a LOT! @{b}ASSAULT TACTICS@{ub} * Your first priority is to make sure no aliens can ambush you as you deploy. This makes HWP invaluable as they are often the first ones to exit the craft, saving your soldiers from getting shot. They also take several hits, even from heavy plasma, before being destroyed. * Your second priority is to scout and clear out the map of any stray aliens, while locating your primary objective. When boarding UFOs, the objective is the UFO itself. When attacking alien base, the objective is the alien command center. Spread out into fire teams of two soldiers or one soldier and one HWP and search. One team should guard the entrances to the objective when found. * Your third priority is to secure the objective. Leave a team guarding the entrance to the objective in case the perimeter sweep missed somebody. @{b}DON'T FORGET YOUR WOGGLE!@{ub} There should be one person (scout) whose specialty is open doors so that other people can shoot through the open door. The person with the best reactions and most TU's should get this role. @{b}HAVING A REVERSED MIND IS COOL!@{ub} On some missions, you may notice that the UFO's roof is blown open. This is caused by the Power Source exploding on impact with the turf. You can use this hole to your advantage. If you get four soldiers to stand on each of the corners, you can peek inside and kill any aliens left inside. You need flying suits for this though! You may prefer to blast the roof open using a Blaster Launcher. This is especially useful when attacking Battleships. Whenever I need to capture a Commander, I always let the Battleship get shot down, and then I attack from the top-down, Mind Probing the aliens until I find him. Then I stun him, and get him back to base. I usually don't finish the mission unless there are only a couple left. @{b}USE THE WINDOWS IN YOUR CRAFT!@{ub} Your craft have windows, so turn your rearmost soldiers or HWPs around and take a look. This will let you know the general terrain layout before you even get out of the transport. @{b}FIND THE CENTRAL COMMAND IN AN ALIEN BASE!@{ub} The command centre in an alien base is very distinctive, it looks a bit like this (not drawn to scale) +---------W---------+ | | | +---------------+ | D= Door (3 space doors!) | | | | | | | | W= Window (watch out for passing aliens!) | | | | | | | | G= Central grav-lift D | GGG D | D | GGG D | D | GGG D | The gravlift takes you up to the second level | | | | of the command centre, where the base commander | | | | normally lives. He usually never comes out of | | | | this two-level command centre. Fire a blaster | | | | bomb in through the two walls and march right | +---------------+ | up into the gravlift. Aliens will come at you | | from all directions, so watch out! +---------W---------+ @{b}CAPTURING ALIENS@{ub} Successful capture of live aliens is a very important aspect of UFO. Without it, you would never progress, because to progress, you must research! The table that follows shows the information that aliens yield when researched: Commander Cydonia or Bust * Leader The Martian Solution ** Medic Species Information (not just their own) Engineer Specifications of UFOs Navigators Hyper Wave Decoder Soldiers Mission Information. All aliens give you Alien Origins, and species information (their own) * Cydonia or Bust is the research needed to complete the game. ** The Martian Solution must be researched to advance to Cydonia or Bust. @{b}BUILD ALIEN CONTAINMENT FIRST!@{ub} The very first improvement you should make to ALL your strike bases is an Alien Containment facility. If you don't, any live aliens brought back will die on arrival at the base. Remember that aliens are only returned to the base of the craft which captured the alien! @{b}HOW DO I CAPTURE ALIENS?@{ub} There are three ways: 1: Shoot them and pray that they don't die (ie, they don't scream) 2: Use a Stun Rod to stun the alien. 3: Use the Small Launcher and Stun Bomb to stun an alien from a distance. Bizarrely, I seem to have more success using Number 2 than Number 3? @{b}WHAT ALIENS DO I CAPTURE?@{ub} It depends on what information you want. Check the information table above for information on what rank gives what information. If you want PSI-Powers (PSI-Lab, PSI-Amp etc) you need to capture either an Ethereal (any rank) or a Sectoid Leader/Commander. Terrorists are exactly the same as soldiers. You cannot capture Cyberdiscs or Sectopods, these just blow up when their health bar reaches stun level. If you have Flying Suits, and you want to capture a live Chryssalid (it can be done!) simply stun it and if you run out of TU's before it drops, simply hover above it. As it only has Hand-To-Hand Combat capabilites, it cannot attack you! @{b}KEEP A BACKUP AVAILABLE!@{ub} Always have another soldier ready to back you up should a stun attempt fail. Make him stand in front of the alien to keep it's attention, whilst you sneak up behind and stun it. This way, if the first attempt fails, the second soldier can have a crack at it. @{b}USING STUN RODS@{ub} The only disadvantage against Stun Rods is that you must be adjacent to the alien to be able to stun it. Click on the Stun Rod and then select Stun from the Popup menu. If it's successful, the alien will collapse (without screaming), if not, prepare for retaliation! @{b}USING STUN BOMBS@{ub} The main advantage a Stun Bomb possesses over a Rod is their ability to stun more than one alien at a time. Unfortunately, most aliens need more hits from a Bomb than they would need from a Rod. Even so, Bombs are useful when attacking groups of aliens, particularly Sectoids! If the alien is hit by a Stun Bomb, take a Snap Shot at it, and if it hits, it might drop unconscious. However, in the majority of cases, it will die instead. @{b}DO NOT STUN MIND-CONTROLLED ALIENS [?]@{ub} Another UFO Strategy Guide says that you should NOT stun Mind-Controlled aliens because technically they are on your side. They ask for verification on the matter. Here it is: @{b}Stun Rod@{ub} You cannot Stun your own units using a Stun Rod. @{b}Stun Bomb@{ub} It is much harder to Stun your own units using a Bomb than when stunning an alien, so most soldiers can withstand a LOT more hits! It is still possible though, and if it happens, wait until it is no longer under your control, and then stun it! @{b}ANTI-REAPER CAMPAIGN@{ub} To protect yourself against Reapers during missions, simply hide in a building which has only got a one-space door. Reapers, being 4-space creatures, cannot fit through. You can now torture it as much as you want! Just don't shoot the wall down! @{b}PSI / ANTI-PSI TACTICS@{ub} If you want PSI powers, you must capture an Ethereal or a Sectoid Leader or Commander. Then you must build a PSI-Lab to train your soldiers. Here are some tactics for causing and absorbing PSI attacks from aliens. @{b}CAUSE PANIC@{ub} If you successfully make an alien panic, the chances are that the alien will drop his weapons, and as thet never pick them up again (?) you have made this alien safe (except PSI-aware aliens) Panic can also cause an alien to go Berserk and fire his weapons in random directions. This is great for wiping out nearby aliens, especially if there are fuel drums nearby! Remember that aliens can also make your soldiers panic/berserk! @{b}ACCESS MIND-CONTROLLED ENEMY INVENTORY [CHEAT / BUG]@{ub} When you mind control and alien, you may notice that the Equip Unit button doesn't function, preventing you from taking it's weapons. There is a way round this though. Select one of your own soldiers, then click on the Equip Unit button. Now scroll through your soldiers until you reach the alien. It will show up as a soldier without Armour, and the name will be the aliens race and rank, eg "Sectoid Medic". Now you can remove his weapons without using up all it's TU's. @{b}MARTIAN SCOUT HUT@{ub} Mind-controlled aliens make great scouts. If you don't want to take your units into a place, then just send an alien! And, as a bonus, if another alien spots it and has some TU's left, it will take a shot at it. This means that if it hits, the Alien has just helped you finish the mission, as well as giving away the position of another alien. @{b}CHECK FOR SIGNS OF MIND CONTROL@{ub} If an alien attempts to take over one of your units, you will notice. If the mind-control didn't work, make him drop all his weapons. This way, if he does get mind-controlled, no harm can be done, as panicked aliens and mind-controlled units never pick up dropped weapons! @{b}DIFFERENT SHOTS AND DIFFERENT WEAPONS@{ub} Which shot to take from which weapons depends a lot on the tactical situation involved. Any shot, no matter hit or not, can alert the enemy who may turn around and let loose some shots (if alien is still alive after the shot) by opportunity fire. Here's some general guidelines. @{b}Auto Shot@{ub} Auto shot is the least accurate of the three available, but if you use the laws of probability, you actually have more chance of getting a hit with the three shots than with a Snap Shot. For this reason, you should use Auto Shot when you definitely want a kill. If the first shot doesn't kill it, there's a chance the secnd and third shots will finish the job. @{b}Snap Shot/Aimed Shot@{ub} Snap Shot is my personal favourite. Low TU usage and decent accuracy. I only use Aimed Shot if I am in a lot of danger and need to kill an alien. It still may miss, but accuracy is vastly improved. @{b}MISC. GROUND COMBAT QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS@{ub} You always get 'em don't you? The annoying little bugs that cause so many questions to be raised. Here I will try to answer them. * Why do I lose ammo that I never use? After combat all clips loaded in weapons are lost, whether or not they have been used (not a great piece of design!). Thus you should unload any weapons that uses valuable ammo before the battle ends. See "How do I UNLOAD ammo from a weapon?" Check the length of the alien movement phase for hints on how many aliens are left. * How do I reload weapons? You don't need the other hand free, that's just for UNLOADING. Simply select the Ammo Clip and move it over to the weapon. Now click the mouse button again and you should hear a ker-chunk. If you select the weapon, you will see the cartridge in place. * How do I UNLOAD ammo from a weapon? You need an empty hand for this. Select the weapon and move it over the UNLOAD icon (the one with a rifle depicted on it) and click the mouse button. The weapon should return to the hand it was in before, and the ammo clip will be in the other hand. * Some of my units have less TU's than they should have. Why? Your soldiers strength rating decides how much they can carry. When the soldier's load goes over this limit, they start to lose manoeuvrability, just like real life. The effect of that is reduced TU's. You have to give your unit a lighter load. * Why carry grenades when there is the Auto Cannon with HE ammo? That's a good question. Auto Cannon's are heavy, a strength rating of 40 or more is recommended to carry one, whereas a normal soldier can carry a Laser Rifle and two grenades. The grenades are just as good as HE (High Explosive) ammo, and are lighter to boot! * How can I fire on aliens in their movement phase? You need Opportunity fire. If you still have enough time units left and you don't want your soldier to be a sitting duck, click on one of the opportunity fire buttons in the bottom left of the panel. Clockwise, from left to right these are: Nothing, Snap Shot, Auto Shot, Aimed Shot Then, if your soldier sees an alien during it's movement phase, and the soldier's reactions are high enough, he will fire! Always leave rookies with over half of their TU's left, otherwise they probably won't fire. * What's with the MIA's If some of your soldier's is still outside the transport when you click on the Abort Mission icon, then those units will be classed as MIA, or Missing In Action. You will lose the soldiers forever. Also, if some of your units are under alien control, and you kill all the aliens whilst the unit is still under their control, you will lose that unit (This is a bug). Try not to lose all your units, as there will be no-one to fly the transport back to base, so you will lose that as well. This also happens if the last unit is unconscious. * Can I wake up unconscious soldiers? Of course you can, simply get a person carrying a MediKit to stand over the unconscious soldier's body (ie on the same square) and use the MediKit. Apply one shot of Stimulant, and then exit. Go to the Equip Unit screen and if the soldier's body is still on the ground, then apply another shot of Stimulant. Repeat this until his body is no longer on the ground, and on the next turn, he will be standing next to you. * How do I use a MediKit? Walk up to the soldier to be healed (unless he is unconscious, see above) and select Use Medikit from the medikit menu. Painkillers increase soldier morale, Stimulant is used to revive unconscious soldiers. HEAL FATAL WOUNDS STRAIGHT AWAY, or the unit will die. Click on the red body part and then apply doses until the body part turns green. Each dose (of anything) costs 10 TU's. See the UFOpaedia for more information on how to use the MediKit. * How do you open doors? Move your soldier to one square behind the door, and he will automatically open it. Or you could shoot your way through walls. * How do I use the Mind Probe? Simple. As soon as one unit sees an alien, move to the unit holding the Mind Probe. Now Use the mind probe and click on the alien (make sure the cursor is blinking) Now you will see that aliens stats screen (similar to your own) showing TU's, armour, bravery, and also race and rank. * How do I make my soldiers better? By giving them experience. You don't learn things by sitting on your arse all day letting someone else do all the work. The same applies in UFO. If you want a stronger soldier, pack him full of heavy stuff and run him back and forth through the transport. If you want more accuracy, shoot more things. Theoretically, you could just spend an entire mission shooting bushes (one unit anyway) and when you return, he should be improved. @{"-= RESEARCH AND MANUFACTURE STRATEGIES =-" link resch&man} @{"-= TABLE OF CONTENTS =-" link contents} @endnode @node resch&man "Research and Manufacturing Strategies" @{b}RESEARCH AND MANUFACTURE STRATEGIES@{ub} @{b}WHAT SHOULD I RESEARCH?@{ub} Here are the research trees that shows detailed progression. These trees were originally by the author of UFO_FAQ.txt (I don't know his name.) Laser Weapons Heavy Heavy Plasma Plasma | Plasma Plasma Clip Rifle Rifle Clip Laser Pistol |___________| |__________| | | | Laser Rifle | | | |__________OR___________| Heavy Laser | | | Laser Cannon Plasma Cannon (Laser Tank) (Hovertank/Plasma)* | | Laser Defense Plasma Defense Alien Alloys Blaster Blaster | Launcher Bomb Elerium 115 Personal Armor UFO Power Source |___________| |_____________|_________________| | | Fusion Ball | (Hovertank/Launcher)* Power Suit UFO Navigation | |_________________| Fusion Defense | Flying Suit Alien Elerium UFO UFO Alloys 115 Power Source Navigation |___________|___________|______________| | UFO Construction | | | | New Fighter Craft (Firestorm) * = [Hovertank / Plasma] | New Fighter-Transporter (Lightning) __________|____________ | | Grav Ultimate Craft Shield (Avenger) * You need "New Fighter Craft" before you can build the hovertanks. You need fusion ball launcher before you can build the fusion ball hovertank. @{b}RECOMMENDED RESEARCH@{ub} Top priority at the start of the game should be a Laser Rifle. Then research up to the Laser Cannon, as that can make pots of cash! Next is Alien Alloys. This allows you to research Personal Armour, which increases your survival chances substantially. As soon as you can research the Heavy Plasma, do it. It is without a doubt the best rifle in the game, with unrivalled accuracy and damage. Capture an alien Navigator to get the Hyper Wave Decoder. This will make equipping your crafts a lot easier, as you will be able to see what race is aboard the UFO, as well as what mission they are going on. After that, it is basically just what you need, but Flying Suit and New Fighter Craft are essential, as Interceptor's are too slow and most UFO's can outrun them easily. @{b}RESEARCH STRATEGIES@{ub} Research is independent at each base, so don't research the same thing at two different bases. It is unnecessary and is a waste of your scientists. Likewise, don't split your research intwo two groups, eg if you had 100 scientists (like me) and you wanted to research the Plasma Cannon and a Sectoid Medic, don't split them 50/50. Don't split them at all, as research is much faster when completed in large groups. @{b}SCIENTISTS ON THE DOLE@{ub} If you have two or more research sites, transfer all of your scientists at one base to the other base and vice versa, just before the end of a month. Hopefully, when the month end comes, they will still be being transferred, so no salary will be paid to them. This saves pots of cash! @{b}MANUFACTURING STRATEGIES@{ub} Remember that all items need space in the workshop, so don't build two extra Workshops for 150 spaces, and them get 150 engineers, as some of them will be sitting idle. Don't let your engineers go bone-idle. Always manufacture something, as most items can be sold off for a profit. Just don't use up any Elerium! @{b}ENGINEERS GET PAID PEANUTS@{ub} This is exactly the same as SCIENTISTS ON THE DOLE, except you transfer your engineers instead of the scientists! @{b}SALE ON TODAY!@{ub} Fancy building an Avenger without using up money or Elerium? Simple, just select the project to manufacture, but don't allocate any engineers to it, and don't make any items, in other words, leave both figures at 0. Now click OK until you get back to the main manufacture screen. If you now click on that project again, and allocate your engineers to it, and then set the number of items to 1, and click OK, the item will be made, but you won't pay anything, or lose Elerium (or Alien Alloys) @{"-= MATERIAL MANAGEMENT =-" link materialm} @{"-= TABLE OF CONTENTS =-" link contents} @endnode @node materialm "Material Management" @{b}MATERIAL MANAGEMENT@{ub} @{b}WHAT IS ELERIUM-115 AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?@{ub} Elerium-115 is an element used in UFO Power Sources as a form of power. It is not available in our solar system, so it must be gained by recovering UFO's with then Power Sources intact. Every Power Source yields 50 units of Elerium (or 5 storage spaces). It is important because Elerium is used in almost every alien artefact and is needed to fuel the UFO-based craft (Firestorm, Lightning and Avenger). As Elerium cannot be manufactured, you must never sell any of it. It is without exception, the single most important alien artefact in the entire game. You should consider using the Cautious Attack mode on UFO intercepts as this will in nearly every case ensure that the UFO crashes down with it's engines intact. If you have the first version of UFO, you can get thousands of units of Elerium-115 by allowing an alien raid on an XCom base, and then defeating them. This no longer works on versions 1.2 and above of UFO. @{b}HOW CAN I PRESERVE MY ELERIUM-115?@{ub} If you feel like a challenge, only use the Interceptor and Skyranger, as all the UFO-based craft require Elerium for fuel. Only use clips and weapons picked up during a mission. Unload all weapons before the battle is over for a free refill of ammo. NEVER, under any circumstances, sell Elerium-115! You never know when you will need it, and as it is not abundant, you can soon find yourself short. Only sell items which need Elerium-115 to be manufactured, and even then, don't sell items that you definitely need. Plasma clips do not need to be manufactured as you capture loads on a completed UFO recovery anyway. @{b}HOW DO I MAKE MONEY?@{ub} There are three main ways of earning cash in UFO: 1: The funding countries. This is where most of XCom's income comes from. If you keep alien activity low in the countries, they will increase their funding. 2: Selling excess artefacts. Most alien artefacts can be sold for profit. For example, you only need 1 alien corpse for research, so sell any excess ones as they earn $20,000 each! If you are very successful you can make a packet just by selling alien corpses. Also, you only need 1 alien food, alien surgery, examination room and the other alien rooms. These make varying amounts. 3: Selling manufactured goods. This is why engineers should never be kept idle. If you constantly tell your engineers to manufacture goods, particularly those which don't require Elerium or Alien Alloys, you can make a fortune selling off the manufactured goods. @{b}HOW DO I KEEP THE FUNDING COUNTRIES HAPPY?@{ub} * Intercept all UFO's flying over the country. * Shoot the UFO's down (this discourages other alien missions in that area) * Attack UFO's and capture live aliens, dead bodies and artefacts with no XCom deaths or casualties (you get more points) * Attack and defeat Alien Terrorists ASAP! * Destroy any Alien bases that have been built on Earth. * Don't let the aliens destroy your bases! * Research alien technology, and then use it to good effect. @{b}WHAT ALIEN ARTEFACTS CAN I SAFELY SELL?@{ub} Everything that cannot be used in Battlescape mode, except Alien Alloys Elerium-115, and the UFO components. The other artefacts only need one to be researched, so you can sell the rest. Alien Entertainment, and the other alien rooms offer nothing except research value, so you can sell these until you have nothing else to research. Selling alien corpses is definitely a money-maker. It is not essential knowledge to win the game, so you can research alien corpses right at the end. In the meantime, just sell the corpses and only research live aliens. @{b}WHAT ALIEN ARTEFACTS SHOULD I NOT SELL?@{b} Under no circumstances should you sell your Elerium. Almost every alien artefact which is of use requires Elerium to be manufactured. Never sell any weapons or ammo clips, unless there are far too many of them. If you have 8 Heavy Plasma's in your possession, always keep around 24 Heavy Plasma Clips handy so that you can always reload. Remember that the base and the transport have seperate storage areas, so if you have 8 soldiers, and twenty rifles in your BASE STORE, and you sell 12, you may still have 8 aboard your craft, so you can sell the other 8 that are left in the BASE STORE. Only keep enough rifles for the number of soldiers you have, because the excess items go towards the 80-item limit, and they can make money for you. @{b}WHAT MANUFACTURED ITEMS CAN I SELL?@{ub} The Laser Cannon can make you pots of cash, and it doesn't need Elerium. For this reason, it is ideal. You could sell the Hovertank/Fusion Launcher if you wanted more cash, but it uses Elerium. @{b}WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH EQUIPMENT SHORTAGES?@{ub} Isn't it annoying. You return from a successful mission and the game informs you that there is not enough equipment left in the stores to stock the transport with. Here are some solutions on how to avoid this. @{b}The "Not enough equipment to fully re-equip squad" screen.@{ub} This basically means that your base has not got enough equipment to take the craft back to it's previous load. For example, if you have 8 Rifles and 8 Rifle Clips, and you use 4 Rifle Clips, and the base stores only have 2 Rifle Clips left, then there isn't enough to take the number of Rifle Clips back up to 8, just 6. The only way around this is to buy/manufacture more of the required item. @{b}The "Not enough ammo to fully arm HWP" window@{ub} You've just bought a HWP but you find out that you cannot put it onto the transport. Why? There isn't enough ammo for it. The following table shows you how much ammo each HWP needs: Tank/Cannon 30 HWP Cannon Rounds Tank/Rocket Launcher 8 HWP Rockets Tank/Laser Cannon ---- No Ammo Needed ---- Hovertank/Plasma ---- No Ammo Needed ---- Hovertank/Fusion Launcher 8 HWP Fusion Balls * * Fusion Balls must be manufactured, so keep plenty in stores. As a general rule, always keep about three times the amount needed to fully arm a HWP in the base stores. @{b}Not enough missiles to arm craft.@{ub} There are two options, either buy/manufacture more ammo, or just use craft weapons that don't need ammo. If you use Avalanche Missiles (forget Stingray, they're useless) you should always have 12 missiles per Launcher in stock. Forget Fusion Cannon, it may be the longest ranged craft weapon, but you can only carry two rounds! The alternative is to use an ammo-less weapon. I recommend Plasma Beam. It only needs Elerium when built. Laser Cannon is best suited to making money for the XCom project. @{b}When do I sack or get rid of personnel/craft?@{ub} As a rule, you should always get a replacement craft if the old one is damaged above 65%. If the craft needs to be manufactured and you are short on cash/materials, then grin and bear it. Otherwise, get a new one pronto! Soldiers with a strength of below 30 should be sacked, unless you are willing to put in the training time to get it higher. Also sack soldiers if they are not improving in skill over a large period of game time. @{b}EQUIPPING TRANSPORT CRAFTS@{ub} There is an 80-item limit on every craft you have, so planning ahead is vital. Here is some hints on how to equip your landing crafts properly. @{b}Use Laser Weapons@{ub} Laser Pistols and Rifles don't require ammo clips, so you can bring a lot more items along with you. EG, if you take 8 Laser Rifles instead of 8 Plasma Rifles with 2 Clips each, that's 16 items off the list straight away, which can be filled up with PSI-Amps and MediKits, and grenades :) @{b}Don't mix and match@{ub} If you bring both pistols and rifles (excluding lasers) you need two different ammo clips, adding to the items list. Nuff said. @{b}Bring less miscellaneous equipment@{ub} You only need a MediKit on the medics assigned in your squad, unless you want more immediate medical aid. Likewise, Mind Probes and PSI-Amps don't need to be carried by everybody. Motion Scanners should only be carried by one or two units. @{b}Don't forget the HWP's@{ub} A HWP counts as one item, and the ammo is already loaded, so the ammo doesn't count on the item list. Even though a HWP takes up four spaces on the craft, this means that you take less soldiers, which saves you even more clips! @{"-= MISCELLANEOUS Q&A =-" link miscellqa} @{"-= TABLE OF CONTENTS =-" link contents} @endnode @node miscellqa "Miscellaneous Q&A" @{b}MISCELLANEOUS Q&A@{ub} * How do I win the game? To win at UFO, you must gain enough knowledge of the aliens to go to their home base on Mars and then beat the crap out of them, eventually destroying the master brain. * What knowledge do I need then? First of all, you need to research Alien Origins. You get this by researching any live alien. I'm not sure if you get it from corpses? Surely dead things can't talk! Then you need to capture an Alien Leader so that you can get access to the Martian Solution. Finally, capture and successfully research an Alien Commander (these are only in bases and on Battleships) to learn about going to Cydonia (on Mars) and beating the crap out of them. Note that you need an Avenger craft to fly to Mars! * I've never seen a UFO larger than a Large Scout. Why? On most missions, like Alien Terror, and Retaliation, the larger UFO sends a scout UFO first. If you destroy this before it can transmit the relevant information to the larger UFO, it won't come looking. * My soldiers hardly ever get promoted. Why? To get promotions, there has to be a certain amount of each rank in the XCom base. These numbers appear to be based on the number of soldiers that XCom has ever had, not on ones currently in employment. Sergeant: 5 soldiers for one Sergeant Captain: 11 soldiers for one Captain Colonel: 23 soldiers for one Colonel Commander: 30 soldiers for one Commander * * There can only ever be one Commander (unless he dies) * One of the countries has signed a pact! Can I get them back? Nobody is sure. People say that if you patrol that area fiercely, and don't let any UFO's get through, then they may come back. It may have something to do with the difficulty level. * How do I go to Cydonia? As long as you capture an Alien Commander, you can go. Read the Cydonia or Bust text, and when you have done everything right, just choose an Avenger as your intercept craft and when the SELECT DESTINATION requester appears, a button will be next to CANCEL with CYDONIA written on it. Just click this! * If a country signs a pact, and I have a base there, what happens? I haven't noticed any effects. My Central Command base was in the North America area, and the aliens suddenly launched a four UFO infiltration mission against the USA. It succeeded, and the USA withdrew from the XCom project. The only noticeable difference was the decrease in funding. The base is not lost, well mine isn't anyway! @{"-= BEATING THE CYDONIA STAGES =-" link beatcydon} @{"-= TABLE OF CONTENTS =-" link contents} @endnode @node beatcydon "Beating the Cydonia Stages" @{b}BEATING THE CYDONIA STAGES@{ub} The Cydonia Stages are hard, there is no doubt about that, but if you have got this far, then you must be pretty good anyway. There are two stages to the Cydonia mission, the surface of Mars and the base itself. Here are some hints and tips for kicking the alien butt once and for all. @{b}NO STUN WEAPONS, JUST KICK ASS!@{ub} The sub-heading says it all. This is the final battle. If you lose, the aliens take over, if you win, they don't. Either way, you won't be able to bring back any live aliens, so just pack all of your Blaster Launchers, the Heavy Plasma, and the PSI-Amp. These are the most useful weapons on Cydonia. @{b}BEWARE SECTOIDS AND CYBERDISCS@{ub} As you will already know if Sectoids performed a lot of Terror Missions while you were on Earth, they hang around with Cyberdiscs. They do here too. On the surface, there will be a LOT of Sectoids and Cyberdiscs, so be prepared. These are the only two aliens who surface (in my experience). The fact that some Cyberdiscs explode when killed is great for wiping out large bunches of aliens. Use them effectively. @{b}WHAT DO I DO THEN?@{ub} Put simply, you must fight your way into the alien base under the surface and then destroy the master brain which will then destroy the other aliens. Unlike other missions, you don't have to wipe out all of the aliens, just the master brain. This is also true for the surface stage. Here is a guide to each of the two stages. @{b}THE SURFACE OF MARS@{ub} The objective on the surface is to find the pyramid which contains the green exit area (like on alien base missions) There are a lot of pyramids and nearly every one of them contains Sectoid Leaders or Commanders, so your soldiers need to be pretty resistant to PSI-attacks. Mind control any aliens you come across to minimize risk and then kill them off while they are under. If mind control fails, just panic them until they drop. Then you can safely kill them. This doesn't go for Cyberdiscs, as you have to mind-control each of the four squares that it takes up, otherwise it can still move (and shoot) during it's turn. Hover above pyramids, but don't stay there for long, because the Sectoids and Cyberdiscs have guns! As soon as you find the exit pyramid, get all your remaining units there pronto. Abandon HWP's as the door is only one square wide and Blaster Bombs are ineffective. Above all, remember that you don't have to kill every alien. When all all of your soldiers are in the pyramid, click on the Abort Mission icon. You will then be whisked off to the second stage. @{b}THE ALIEN BASE@{ub} The objective on this stage is to find and destroy the master brain. However, it's not just Sectoids and Cyberdiscs down here. When I last got here, I saw Celatids, Silacoids, Chryssalids, Ethereals, Sectoids, Mutons, and even Floaters! They are all out in force, so prepare for a tough time. Use the mind-control tactic to sweep through the base until you come across an area of base which looks like this (not to scale) +------------------+---+ D= Door G= Gravlift +-|= Walls | | | | | G | This is the first floor of the alien base | | | When you go up the gravlifts (it's best to +------------------+ | use a mind-controlled alien for this) you | | will see a room full of chairs, and a D X | four-space eyeball thing at the back of the | | room. This eyeball is your objective. Get +------------------+ | a soldier to stand at X (or nearby) and make | | | sure that the door is open. Fire a Blaster | | G | Bomb up through one of the grav-lifts and into | | | the master-brain. If all four squares are +------------------+---+ destroyed, the mission is completed! That's all there is to it. Obviously, it is much harder than what I have described, but I have to give you some challenge don't I! Just a final tip: Kill or mind-control any Chryssalids you see as there is no where to go where you can hover above it, and as they usually have 120 TU's, they can kill almost all of your soldiers in one turn! Because of the number of TU's they possess, they make great scouts and can be used when going up into the command centre above. If one of your own units goes up, he will usually be killed by one of the five or so Ethereals that usually hang around up there. Obviously, because of the number of Ethereals that are in this base, only the strongest PSI-units should go, as Ethereals have excellent PSI-capabilities! @{b}GOOD LUCK! YOU'LL NEED IT!@{ub} @{"-= APPENDICES. =-" link appendice} @{"=- TABLE OF CONTENTS =-" link contents} @endnode @node appendice "Appendices Of Tables" @{b}APPENDICES (OF TABLES)@{ub} Now following is a series of tables which contain important information for the game UFO. A ? means that a figure is unknown. Please contact me if you see the right figure in the game so I can update it! @{"-= Base Facilities =-" link a_basefac} @{"-= XCom Crafts and Craft Weapons =-" link a_xcrafts} @{"-= UFO Types =-" link a_ufotype} @{"-= Ground Combat Weapons =-" link a_gcweaps} @{"-= Alien Species Information =-" link a_alninfo} @{"-= Costs of Equipment =-" link a_eqcosts} @{"-= Time Unit Usage by Activity =-" link a_tuusage} @endnode @node a_basefac "Appendice: Base Facilities" @{b}BASE FACILITIES@{ub} Name Days Build Cost Cost/month Usage Access Lift 1 300k 4k (Entrance to underground base) Living Quarters 16 400k 10k (Sleeps 50) Laboratory 26 750k 30k (Allows 50 research) Workshop 32 800k 35k (Allows 50 manufacture) Small Radar 12 500k 10k (300nm range, 5% detect/10mins) Large Radar 25 800k 15k (450nm range, 5% detect/10mins) General Stores 10 150k 5k (Holds 50 units of equipment) Alien Containment 18 400k 15k (Holds 10[!?] live aliens) Hangar 25 200k 25k (Maintains 1 craft) Missile Defenses 16 200k 5k (Def value 500, Accuracy 50%) ------------RESEARCH REQUIRED TO OBTAIN THESE BASE FACILITIES--------------- Laser Defenses 24 900k 10k (Def value 600, Accuracy 60%) Plasma Defenses 34 600k 12k (Def value 900, Accuracy 70%) Fusion Defenses 36 1800k 14k (Def value 1200, Accuracy 80%) Grav Shield 38 2300k 15k (Gives defences an extra shot) Mind Shield 33 1300k 5k (Stop aliens finding base) PSI-Lab 24 750k 16k (For troop psionics training) Hyper Wave Decoder 26 2000k 30k (To evaluate alien missions) If you wish to dismantle an entire base (can't think why) then just dismantle everyting except the access lift (transferring equipment and stuff elsewhere if needed) and then remove the Access Lift. @{"-= Back to Appendices Menu =-" link appendice} @{"-= Table Of Contents =-" link contents} @endnode @node a_xcrafts "Appendice: XCom Crafts and Craft Weapons" @{b}XCOM CRAFTS AND CRAFT WEAPONS@{ub} Speed Acceln Fuel Weapon Hull Cargo HWPs Skyranger 760 2 1500 0 150 14 3 Interceptor 2100 3 1000 2 100 0 0 ------------RESEARCH REQUIRED TO OBTAIN THESE------------------------ Firestorm 4200 9 20(E) 2 500 0 0 (1) Lightning 3100 8 30(E) 1 800 12 0 (2) Avenger 5400 10 60(E) 2 1200 26 4 (3) (E) means that this craft uses Elerium-115 for fuel. (1) needs to be researched. It is called New Fighter Craft by scientists. (2) needs to be researched. It is called New Fighter-Transporter by your men (3) needs to be researched. It is called Ultimate Craft by your geezers. Damage Range Accuracy Reload Shots Cannon 10 10 10% 2s 200 Stingray 70 30 70% 15s 6 Avalanche 100 60 100% 20s 3 ------------RESEARCH REQUIRED TO OBTAIN THESE------------ Laser Cannon 70 21 70% 4s 100 Plasma Beam 140 52 140% 6s 100 Fusion Launcher 230 65 230% 25s 2 Plasma beam is the best Craft Weapon in the game. Fusion Launcher has too few shots to be effective. @{"-= Back to Appendices Menu =-" link appendice} @{"-= Table Of Contents =-" link contents @endnode @node a_ufotype "Appendice: UFO Types" @{b}UFO TYPES@{ub} Max Hull Weapon Max Ship Speed Damage Power Range Crew Width comment Small Scout 2200 50 0 0 1 3 Like an Apollo capsule Medium Scout 2400 200 20 120 6 9 1 level, small square Large Scout 2700 250 20 272 ? 12? 1 level, like a cross Harvester 4000 500 40 176 ? 16 3 levels, top hatch Terror Ship 4800 1200 120 336 ? 30 2 levels, narrow top Supply Ship 3200 2200 60 288 ? 30 3 levels Battleship 5000 3000 140 520 ? 30 3 levels, 5 legs Abductor 4300 500 40 160 ? 12? ? There now follows some floor diagrams for the various UFO Types. I think the sizes are correct. If not, send a new diagram in! Sorry about the uses of + symbols instead of / and \, but my Amiga doesn`t seem to like them very much. @{b}MEDIUM SCOUT@{ub} +-------+ | | | P | | | +---D---+ @{b}LARGE SCOUT@{ub} +---------+ | D | | | | +-----+ | +-----+ | +-------+ | | | | | | D P | D | | | | | +-------+ | +-----+ | +-----+ |--D-| | | D | +---------+ Those are the only floorplans I have been able to compile, but if you draw up some more, send them to me and I will plonk them in the next update. Don't forget your name so I can credit you for it! Should you want to know what type of UFO you're intercepting without the Hyper Wave Decoder, here are some recognition graphs for the various UFO's @{b}SMALL SCOUT (VERY SMALL)@{ub} +=+ --- 123 @{b}MEDIUM SCOUT (SMALL)@{ub} +=======+ |_______| 123456789 @{b}LARGE SCOUT (SMALL)@{ub} +===+===+===+ |___|___|___| 1234567890123 @{b}HARVESTER (MEDIUM)@{ub} +---|------|---+ |---|------|---| |---|------|---| +---|------|---+ 1234567890123456 @{b}TERROR SHIP (LARGE)@{ub} +--------------+ +------| |------+ |____________________________| 123456789012345678901234567890 @{b}SUPPLY SHIP (LARGE)@{ub} +--------|----------|--------+ |--------|----------|--------| |--------|----------|--------| +--------|----------|--------+ 123456789012345678901234567890 @{b}BATTLESHIP (VERY LARGE)@{ub} +----------------------------+ |----------------------------| +-------==----------==-------+ |-------||----------||-------| 123456789012345678901234567890 @{b}ABDUCTOR (MEDIUM)@{ub} +---|------|---+ |---|------|---| +---|------|---+ 1234567890123456 As far as I know, that is all the UFO's you're ever likely to come across in the game. If you see any more, send em in. @{"-= Back to Appendices Menu =-" link appendice} @{"-= Table Of Contents =-" link contents} @endnode @node a_gcweaps "Appendice: Ground Combat Weapons" @{b}GROUND COMBAT WEAPONS@{ub} (Accuracy / TU%) Aimed Snap Auto Dam Type Ammo (Capacity) Pistol 78/30 60/18 26 AP Pistol Clip (12) Rifle 110/80 60/25 35/35 30 AP Rifle Clip (20) Heavy Cannon 90/80 60/33 56 AP HC-AP (6) 52 HE HC-HE (6) 60 I HC-I (6) Auto Cannon 82/80 56/33 32/40 42 AP AC-AP (14) 44 HE AC-HE (14) 48 I AC-I (14) Rocket Launcher 115/75 55/45 75 HE Small Rocket (1) 100 HE Large Rocket (1) 90 I Incendiary Rocket (1) Laser Pistol 68/55 40/20 28/25 46 Las Laser Rifle 100/50 65/25 46/34 60 Las Heavy Laser 84/75 50/33 85 Las Grenade 50 HE Smoke Grenade 60 HE Proximity Grenade 70 HE High Explosive 110 HE Plasma Pistol 85/60 65/30 50/30 52 Pls P. Pistol clip (25) Plasma Rifle 100/60 86/30 55/63 80 Pls P. Rifle clip (30) Heavy Plasma 110/60 75/30 50/35 115 Pls H. Plasma clip (35) Blaster Launcher 120/80 200 HE Blaster Bomb Small Launcher 110/75 65/40 90 Stn Stun Bomb Alien Grenade 90 HE AP= Armour Piercing, HE= High Explosive, I= Incendiary, Las= Laser, Pls= Plasma, Stn= Stun Note: TU% is the percentage of TU's used up for one shot. Accuracy for rifles and other two-handed weapons is decreased by 20% if the other hand has something in it (Grenade, PSI-Amp etc.) Accuracy is increased by 10% if the soldier is kneeling at the time of shooting. Kneeling (and getting back up) costs you 4 TU's. @{"-= Back to Appendices Menu =-" link appendice} @{"-= Table Of Contents =-" link contents} @endnode @node a_alninfo "Appendice: Alien SpeciesInformation" @{b}ALIEN SPECIES INFORMATION@{ub} This table shows the forms of attack that the various alien races use, their weaknesses (which weapons hurt the most) and their strengths (which weapons they suck up like a vacuum cleaner) @{b} Species Attack Strength Weakness Notes@{ub} Sectoid Weapons/PSI Leader/Commander has PSI Cyberdisc Weapons HE Some explode when dead Floater Weapons Flies (=flying suit) Reaper HTH I Two brains and hearts Snakeman Weapons Heat Carries up to 50 eggs Chryssalid HTH HE Turns humans to zombies Zombie HTH Dies -> Chryssalid Ethereal Weapons/PSI All have PSI attack Sectopod Weapons Plasma Lasers Power armored robot Muton Weapons AP Strong, work for Eths Silacoid HTH I Works with Mutons Celatid Venom The blob! This table shows the average statistics of a race, like their TU's, and their strength, reactions, and where available, PSI Strength and Skill. Average Alien Stats ------ Armor ------ TUs Ene Hea Bra Mor Rea Fir Thr Str PSt PSk Fro Lft Rgt Rer Und Sectoid 55 90 30 80 100 65 30 60 30 ? ? 2 1 1 1 1 Reaper ?? Floater 50 90 35 80 100 50 25 60 40 - - 4 3 3 2 6 Cyberdisc 60 90 120 110 100 65 30 0 90 - - 17 17 17 17 17 Snakeman 40 80 45 80 100 45 30 65 50 - - 10 9 9 8 6 Chryssalid 110 140 95 100 100 70 0 0 110 - - 17 17 17 17 17 Zombie 40 110 85 110 100 40 0 0 85 - - 4 4 4 4 4 Ethereal 70 100 60 80 100 75 40 80 50 50 40 17 17 17 17 16 Sectopod 60 90 95 110 100 65 30 0 90 - - 70 65 65 50 45 Muton 58 90 90 80 100 60 30 60 70 - - 10 10 10 10 5 Celatid ?? Silacoid 40 80 115 100 100 40 0 0 70 - - 25 25 25 25 5 If you want information on a specific alien whilst playing, use a Mind Probe on it. Only Sectoid Leaders, Sectoid Commanders and Ethereals have PSI skills. Be careful in a Muton base, as the commanders seem to be Ethereals in those. Celatids are very dangerous, kill them ASAP! @{b}INFORMATION GAINED FROM RESEARCHING ALIEN RANKS@{ub} Alien Soldier ----- Alien activity Alien Medic ----- Species information * Alien Navigator ----- Hyper-Wave Decoder Alien Engineer ----- UFO stats Alien Leader ----- The Martian Solution Ethereal/ Sectoid Leader ----- Psi Lab -> Mind Shield/Psi-Amp Alien Commander ----- Cydonia or Bust ** * Alien Medics can give information on species other than their own ** Commander can be found in bases, or Battleships. ALIEN MISSIONS Research Generally small vehicles, least threat Harvest Great concern to governments, usually cattle abduction Abduction Abducts humans, causes great alarm Infiltration Infiltrates countries and try to make pact with government, big threat as countries that sign pact cease to fund XCOM Base Survey and establish alien base, may contain alien commander Terror Creates terror sites when lands at city Retaliation Scout / attack XCOM base, greatest threat Supply Supply alien base, trail them and patrol nearby to find alien base @{"-= Back to Appendices Menu =-" link appendice} @{"-= Table Of Contents =-" link contents} @endnode @node a_eqcosts "Appendice: Costs of Equipment" @{b}COSTS OF EQUIPMENT@{ub} Items which can be purchased do not have a figure underneath Engineer Hours. Items which can be manufactured DO have a figure underneath Engineer Hours. Items which can't be purchased nor manufactured just have a sales price figure. Engineer Workshop Alien Sale Hours Cost Space Elerium Alloys Price @{b}EQUIPMENT@{ub} Stun Rod - 1260 - - - 945 Electroflare - 60 - - - 40 Motion Scanner 220 34k 4 - - 45600 Medikit 420 28k 4 - - 46500 Mind Probe 1200 262k 4 1 - 304000 PSI-Amp 500 160k 4 1 - 194700 @{b}ARMOUR@{ub} Personal Armour 800 22k 12 - 4 54000 Power Suit 1000 42k 16 5 5 310000 Flying Suit 1400 58k 16 16 5 420000 @{b}HWP's@{ub} Tank/Cannon - - - - - 340000 Tank/Rocket Ln'r - - - - - 360000 Tank/Laser 1200 500k 25 - - 594000 Hovertank/Plasma 1200 850k 30 30 5 980000 Hovertank/Fusion 1400 900k 30 25 8 1043000 HWP Fusion Bomb 400 15k 25 5 8 31500 @{b}WEAPONS@{ub} Pistol Rifle Grenade Proximity Grenade Smoke Grenade High Explosive Laser Pistol 300 8k 2 - - 20000 Laser Rifle 400 20k 3 - - 36900 Heavy Laser 700 32k 4 - - 61000 Plasma Pistol 600 56k 3 - 1 84000 Plasma Pistol Clip 60 2k 4 1 - 4440 Plasma Rifle 820 88k 4 - 1 126500 Plasma Rifle Clip 80 3k 4 2 - 6290 Heavy Plasma 1000 122k 4 - 1 171600 Heavy Plasma Clip 80 6k 4 3 - 9590 Blaster Launcher 1200 90k 5 - 1 144000 Blaster Bomb 220 8k 3 3 - 17028 Small Launcher 900 78k 3 - 1 120000 Stun Bomb 200 7k 2 1 - 15200 Alien Grenade 200 6.7k 2 2 - 14850 @{b}XCOM CRAFTS@{ub} Interceptor Skyranger Firestorm 14000 400k 30 - 65 -* Lightning 18000 600k 34 - 85 -* Avenger 34000 900k 36 - 170 -** @{b}CRAFT ARMAMENTS@{ub} Cannon Stingray Stingray Launcher Avalanche Avalanche Launcher Laser Cannon 300 182k 6 - - 211000 Plasma Beam 500 226k 8 15 - 267300 Fusion Launcher 400 242k 6 - - 281100 Fusion Ball 600 28k 6 4 - 53300 @{b}MISC. ARTEFACTS@{ub} Alien Alloys 100 3k 10 - - 6500 Elerium-115 - - - - - 5000 UFO Power Source 1400 130k 22 16 5 250000 UFO Navigation 1600 150k 18 - 3 80000 Alien Surgery 20000 Examination Room 20000 Alien Entertainment 20000 Alien Food 20000 Alien Corpses 20000 * needs 1 UFO Power Source + 1 UFO Navigation ** needs 2 UFO Power Sources + 1 UFO Navigation @{b}MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT DESCRIPTIONS@{ub} @{b}Equipment available at start of game@{ub} Stun Rod Allows you to stun an alien into unconsciousness Must be standing next to and facing the target. Electro Flare Of no use in the Amiga version. It lights up the area around you for use on night missions. @{b}Equipment which must be researched@{ub} Motion Scanner Detects movement in a 9-square radius, even behind doors and walls, useful when storming UFOs or buildings. Medikit Heals fatal wounds (heal), revives unconscious (stimulate) and boosts morale (painkiller). Elerium-115 Only found in UFOs/alien bases, and needed for many important weapons and power units. Mind Probe When used on an alien it tells you its stats and rank, useful to find an alien Commander or Leader PSI-Amp Allow unit to use psionic attacks on aliens (attempting to cause panic or get mind control), requires Psi training (see later) @{"-= Back to Appendices Menu =-" link appendice} @{"-= Table Of Contents =-" link contents} @endnode @node a_tuusage "Appendice: Time Unit Usage by Activity" @{b}TIME UNIT USAGE BY ACTIVITY@{ub} This section describes how many Time Units are used up by a unit when they perform a certain action. This could be shooting, moving or using equipment. @{b}EQUIPMENT USAGE@{UB} Medi-Kit 10 / dose Mind Probe 25% Motion Scanner 25% @{b}MOVEMENT USAGE@{ub} Kneel/Stand 4 Go Up 8 Go Down 8 Turn 1 per 45 degrees Go Forward Depends on terrain type. 1-3 TU usage for weapons can be found in the Ground Combat Weapons appendice. @{B}TRANSFERRING ITEMS FROM ONE PLACE TO ANOTHER@{ub} From \ To! Hand ! Belt ! Shoulder ! Leg ! Pack ! Ground -------------------------------------------------------- Hand ! - 8 10 8 14 2 Belt ! 4 - 12 10 16 6 Shoulder ! 3 10 - 12 16 4 Leg ! 6 10 10 - 18 6 Pack ! 6 12 14 16 - 10 Ground ! 8 12 12 10 20 - @{"-= Back to Appendices Menu =-" link appendice} @{"-= Table Of Contents =-" link contents} @endnode @node author "About The Author" @{b}ABOUT THE AUTHOR@{ub} My name is Gareth Griffiths, and I am 15 years old. I come from Shrewsbury in the UK, and live with my parents. I have owned an Amiga 1200 for four years, but only started playing UFO about a year and a half ago when a friend of mine, Paul Shemmell, introduced me to the game on his Amiga. That was only the ECS version, and I couldn't find the AGA version anywhere, so when Amiga Format gave it away on their CD, I rushed out and bought it, even though I didn't have a CD drive at the time! After playing UFO for that time, and completing it once (and it dominated nearly every free minute of my life for that time) I decided to try and help others who play UFO. Unfortunately, I never got around to doing this Strategy Guide, until now. My Amiga setup consists of a 68020-based A1200 with a 773 Mb Hard drive from Gasteiner, an 8MB RAM expansion from Golden Image, and an 8x CD-ROM drive from Eyetech. I also have an Epson Stylus 820 inkjet printer attached to it. About a year ago, I formed a sortof company, in that we aren't a registered company, called Joker Developments. This is just one of my products released under the Joker Developments name. The staff at JD are all very pleased with the way this strategy guide has turned out and I would like to thank all of them for their help in providing me with their own hints and tips for UFO. If you would like to contact me, then you will have to send a letter by snail mail. The address is: GARETH GRIFFITHS 26 Buttington Road Monkmoor Shrewsbury Shropshire SY2 5TS ENGLAND However, one of my JD colleagues has a dreaded PeeCee with email, so if you want to contact us over the internet, you can email us at: andyC24005@aol.com And the JD Website will be up and running soon! In fact, I had to halt the website project while I completed this! When it is completed, it will be viewable at: http://member.aol.com/andyC24005/JD/Index.htm Although this address is not confirmed as yet. I will send a report to Amiga Format when the website is ready, and hopefully, they will plonk it somewhere in their Websites directory on their CD. GREETZ: Andy Carpendale (andyC24005.aol.com) Phillip Jones (crypt3686.aol.com) Simon Jeavons Paul Shemmell Owen Benjamin David Ball Chris Glover-Price and all the other people I've known over the 15 years of my life! THANX: Andy Carpendale - Hints and tips Phillip Jones - Hints and Tips Simon Jeavons - Hints and Tips Paul Shemmell - Floorplans and Recognition charts Owen Benjamin - Alien stats (he would know after all!) David Ball - Weapon charts and anyone else involved in this project! @{"-= TABLE OF CONTENTS =-" link contents} @endnode @node spesh "Special Page" See if you can find the button that will take you to the {fg highlight} secret area {fg text} @{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link} @{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link} @{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link} @{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link} @{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link} @{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link} @{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link} @{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link} @{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link} @{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link} @{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link} @{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link} @{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link} @{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link} @{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link} @{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link} @{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link} @{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link} @{" " link}@{" " link secret}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link} @{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link} @{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link} @{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link} @{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link} @{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link} @{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link} @{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link} @{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link} @{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link} @{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link}@{" " link} @endnode @node secret "The Secret Area: YOU FOUND IT!" Well Done. I can tell you will go far in UFO, and maybe complete it! @{" Back to Index! " link INDEX} @endnode @node INDEX "Index Page" @{b}INDEX@{ub} Click on the appropriate button to jump to that destination: @{b}General Pages@{ub} @{" Table Of Contents " LINK contents} @{" About The Author " link author} @{" Start Page " link main} @{b}The Strategy Guide@{ub} @{" Introduction to UFO: Enemy Unknown " link intro2ufo} @{" How to use this Strategy Guide " link howtwouse} @{" XCOM Bases: General Strategies " link xcombases} @{" Air Combat Strategies " link aircombat} @{" Ground Combat Strategies " link gndcombat} @{" Research and Manufacture Strategies " link resch&man} @{" Material Management " link materialm} @{" Miscellaneous Q&A " link miscellqa} @{" Beating the Cydonia Stages " link beatcydon} @{" Appendices - Main Menu " link appendice} @{b}The Individual Appendices@{ub} @{" Base Facilities " link a_basefac} @{" XCOM Crafts and Craft Weapons " link a_xcrafts} @{" UFO Types " link a_ufotype} @{" Ground Combat Weapons " link a_gcweaps} @{" Alien Species Information " link a_alninfo} @{" Costs of Equipment " link a_eqcosts} @{" Time Unit Usage by Activity " link a_tuusage} @{" The Special Page " link spesh} @endnode