On February 07 2016 10:41 Frolossus wrote:
why do i ever want to use a sword over a shotgun?
shotgun seems to have higher base damage, puts my guy in less danger and has better crit chance.

And at close range the shotgun is probably more likely to hit.
And some enemies are immune to melee and hit you instead when you try.

It looks great in concept. Doesnt work so well in practice imo.

Kipsate

Netherlands45349 Posts

February 07 2016 02:03 GMT

#663

Arc blade has a chance of stunning but is not reliable, in my experience the fat guys/berserkers are fairly resistent to sword attacks.

it does have the advantage of not spending ammo but Shotgun has a decent amount of rounds.

Talaris

Switzerland753 Posts

February 07 2016 02:13 GMT

#664

On February 07 2016 10:41 Frolossus wrote:
why do i ever want to use a sword over a shotgun?
shotgun seems to have higher base damage, puts my guy in less danger and has better crit chance.

Simple answer, built-in hit and run if you end in melee range.

Not sure if you need/want that, but it's a definitive advantage.

The flat +20% to-hit for the sword is a joke admittedly, esp. as shotguns get up to +40(?) at 1 tile distance.... could be viable at +30% (so a rookie gets to 95% hit chance and higher level agents wil get 100%) --- or alternatively perhaps give the +2dmg perk also +10 aim, that way stun lancers wont get even more painful :D :D

Shouldn't be that OP considering the aikido moves of some enemies...

SagaZ

France3460 Posts

February 07 2016 02:20 GMT

#665

Can the melee sword crit btw? I never use it..

Plansix

United States60190 Posts

February 07 2016 02:21 GMT

#666

The zero ammo spend is pretty good and you can attack after a full run without putting the run and gun perk on cool down. And if you spec for it, it does really damage almost equal to the shotgun.

Edit: Yes, it can crit.

dae

Canada1600 Posts

February 07 2016 02:23 GMT

#667

On February 07 2016 11:21 Plansix wrote:
The zero ammo spend is pretty good and you can attack after a full run without putting the run and gun perk on cool down. And if you spec for it, it does really damage almost equal to the shotgun.

Edit: Yes, it can crit.

Also, before you get Tier 2 weapon, swords do much more damage, especially speccing for it.

Talaris

Switzerland753 Posts

February 07 2016 02:28 GMT

#668

On February 07 2016 11:20 SagaZ wrote:
Can the melee sword crit btw? I never use it..

10% critchance (like a sniper rifle) if I remember correctly.

Gorsameth

Netherlands21687 Posts

February 07 2016 02:29 GMT

#669

At times the full move + attack from a sword is good but that is imo its only advantage.
After T1 its damage falls off compared to the shotgun and I'm pretty sure your going to crit a whole lot more with the gun then the sword.

One of my 3 Rangers is sword specced and I should get around to changing him since I haven't used his sword in ages.

Imo the Phantom Ranger who can run around spotting pods and delivering surprise damage when needed is much better.

Plansix

United States60190 Posts

February 07 2016 02:32 GMT

#670

On February 07 2016 11:23 dae wrote:

Show nested quote +

Also, before you get Tier 2 weapon, swords do much more damage, especially speccing for it.

It is way better than the base shotgun if you go down that path. And the later weapons have a 25% chance to stun or light enemies on fire. And the upgrades are pretty cheap.

Coppermantis

United States845 Posts

February 07 2016 02:33 GMT

#671

On February 07 2016 11:23 dae wrote:

Show nested quote +

Also, before you get Tier 2 weapon, swords do much more damage, especially speccing for it.

Also, killing things with a sword is badass.

Plansix

United States60190 Posts

February 07 2016 02:38 GMT

#672

You can also spec the ranger so they attack anyone that comes within melee range. There are lists of enemies that are way less scary once you have that. Its not a replacement for the shotgun, but its not a bad option when it make sense.

ahswtini

Northern Ireland22208 Posts

February 07 2016 02:45 GMT

#673

is the 'attack all in melee range' actually practical? like how often do u get several enemies running into melee range of u

Plansix

United States60190 Posts

February 07 2016 02:49 GMT

#674

Like all the enemies that try to hit you with melee attacks. A muton will just run up and punch your ass out. Faceless sometimes spawn randomly and try to murder you. The stun baton dudes that just fucking run at you. The snakes will just grab you and constrict you. Its good on all the missions where you need to haul ass or risk failing outright or losing the squad.

xDaunt

United States17988 Posts

February 07 2016 02:52 GMT

#675

Phantom ranger seems a lot better than sword ranger. Ranged combat is still king in XCOM. Rangers are always at risk of very bad things happening to them. I'm not sure that sword rangers are even viable before you get tier 2 armor. You're just begging to get 1 shot.

Deleted User 137586

7859 Posts

February 07 2016 02:58 GMT

#676

The sword was great in the early game, but in the late game either the shotgun is objectively better or my rangers missed a 94% strike and got eaten by some alien scum that they were trying to stare down. Now I have only 1 ranger and he's under strict orders never to attempt to use his sword.

On a similar point, anyone else feel like snipers miss way too many shots? I have all the upgrades for them, but I'd rather have three or four grenadiers bomb everything to bits than risk another turn when my sharpshooters do nothing.

Frolossus

United States4779 Posts

February 07 2016 03:06 GMT

#677

anyone have tips for the geoscape? i'm breezing through the tactical missions but still have no clue what buildings or upgrades to prioritize

andrewlt

United States7702 Posts

February 07 2016 04:32 GMT

#678

I'm in May (just finished my first blacksite) and the sword has been very good so far. I find it to be among my most reliable damage dealers since I can spend my full movement and attack. It's oftentimes difficult to get close enough to aliens behind cover to get good accuracy on shotgun blasts, especially those damn shock troopers. If they move close to me, I find the sword to the most reliable way to take them out. I've been giving my rangers all my mobility PCS so far.

For the geoscape, I find the proving grounds to be a newb trap. I did the advanced training center and guerilla center for the first row and a workshop and proving grounds for the second row with 1 power planet each. I should've done radar instead of proving grounds since it's taking forever to clear the third row. Stupid RNG gave me both power coils in the fourth row. So far, I've been completely underwhelmed by the stuff coming out of the proving grounds. The advantages are minor enough so far that I could wait for the third row.

xDaunt

United States17988 Posts

February 07 2016 06:36 GMT

#679

So I'm never going on a mission without a mimic beacon again. I was on a VIP rescue mission with my team. The VIP was located in an alley between two buildings. The extraction zone was one dash away, past the alley and into an intersection. After grabbing the VIP, my phantom ranger scouted ahead, and found two codices and an archon on the roof overlooking my position. She got spotted, fired upon, was injured, and panicked. Enemy reinforcements were on the way at the same time. I was able to extract most of my squad, but my ranger and my colonel sniper weren't going to make it out. I left my specialist and my other sniper behind. The specialist got rid of the panic on my ranger. The other sniper dropped a mimic beacon, which ate all of the enemy fire for a full turn, letting me extract everyone safely. I don't think that I had a chance in hell of getting out of that one any other way.

Unsurprisingly, the mimic beacon was the most fired upon member of my squad for that mission, haha.

Salazarz

Korea (South)2591 Posts

February 07 2016 06:57 GMT

#680

My sword ranger has 51 kills after 10 missions without me purposefully 'feeding' her or anything. By Sgt. rank HP is high enough to not care if she gets shot once in a while even without upgraded armor, and you reliably one-shot anything less meaty than a Muton with the sword; also the advantage over using a shotgun is that you can't always get in range / line of sight for a flanking shot from a shotgun on a blue move, so whenever run & gun is on cooldown it's quite often chopchop time. The autochop ability is amazing too, while the 'sneaky' ranger perks are IMO rather underwhelming.