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Commander difficulty


PsiScream
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Can anyone provide some tips for getting through Commander difficulty? My two squadmates are beyond useless and die under the slightest fire even on mission 2.

 

I resorted to leaving them far behind and sniping things from afar with lift, but now the gunship is attacking me and I'm just dying over and over again.

 

Do any skills transfer over if I complete the game on an easier level first? It's taking forever to go checkpoint to checkpoint without having anyone bleed out.

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the gunship battle on commander was a bit rough due to low level allies and low tech weapons are at that point. I went in with two snipers and as soon as the fight starts, I rushed on over to the right of the map where we could take cover behind the pillars. From there, I let the snipers use critical shot on the gunship (Or the outsiders if they were flanking too much) and tried to hold out each time the skill was recharging. I also did what I could to cover my allies, from the other units and chip away at the gunship's health with whatever guns I had at that point (think they were sniper and the alien shotgun). Don't forget to use your grenades.

 

Also, on a side note, I do recommend just using snipers for your whole playthrough. Their last ability, calling airstrikes, is a real life saver when it comes to taking down Mutons. Also, lift is very crucial in the long run, so make sure you upgrade it. I personally had both snipers with more damage using sniper rifles, one with cloak and the other with decoy and had both with critical shot doing more damage to armor and shields...though I really didn't notice a difference later on in the game, so maybe you can choose something else for that.

Always carry a heavy weapon with you that can take down armored units (alien rocket launchers or the thunder cannon near the end of the game)

Edited by NEO CRIMS0N
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I'd think that mission 2 is the hardest mission on Commander I've played so far. I just completed mission 4 and with my agents at Level 5 and Carter at Level 6, it's manageable (though still tough because you simply die too quickly).

 

For the gunship in mission 2, after dying a few times, I found an area where the gunship would find it hard to hit you and your guys. Imagine the arena as a huge rectangular box. Once entering it, head straight to the bottom right corner of said rectangle (order the two of them to that area too, obviously). If you move the two goons to the tiny area near a wooden fence there, somehow the gunship wouldn't hit them that much. In fact, the three of us just camped there throughout and were never in any real danger of dying.

 

Take note though that the gunship will occasionally try to flank you by moving to the right side, which is "outside the rectangle", behind the nearby house. When it does so, roll to the house/ white fence and hug it. The flanking gunship cannot hit you there.

 

With these in place, I kept waiting for critical strike (recon skill) to recharge, and took some pot shots on my own as and when safe (i.e., the few seconds after the gunship stops firing), and got past this bitch of a checkpoint. I used the engineer's mine whenever possible to build a barrier of mines, just in case any roaming outsiders try to flank us from the house's side.

 

Hope this helps. I can't really explain it in words but this area that I mentioned does offer the best protection. Your agents don't even need to be "in cover" to survive. They can just stand around the wooden fence and they should be fine.

Edited by neeker75
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I found "Fire Mission" unreliable. The enemies tend to move before it comes in, or they're out range. You have to lead a Muton so it lands on them, and there's always the chance it changes direction slightly and it does hardly any damage. I recommend a Commando for "Tunnel Vision"(Improved damage to taunted targets), and "Personal Shield".

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Yeah that sounds like a good combo. Such a long cooldown though. Taunt is like 5-10 seconds or so depending on buffs. Just so nice to keep pulling people out of cover and waste them. Not to mention Fire Mission is a rank 5 ability so definitely recommend Commando until people can level up a Recon a bit. Until then grenades suffice, or whatever means people like to take down Mutons/Elites. Taunt+Lightning Cannon at the end for me.

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For that Mission 2 gunship battle, I just ran all the way forward and to the left after killing the 2 Outsiders that are kind of in the way. There's an alien structure pathway that provides perfect cover against everything, including the gunship. The gunship is terrible at targeting you while running so you and your agents should make it safely there no problem. My first playthrough on Veteran went horribly because I had everyone in the middle area. This time no one even went down. Recommend using an M14 and alien shotgun for when it hovers close.

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Thanks for replies guys. I'm now on some of the minor ops between mission 3 and 4 and have started to develop my engineers, and recons as you suggested. My strategy still relies on leaving my AI teammates well back from the action, though they're getting more useful as they level up.

 

For mission 2 with the gunship, I ended up going down into the stairwell and was reasonably protected down there. Somewhat haphazard but I was able to complete the mission at least.

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Having a Commando in your squad will work wonders for you, I'm telling you. You can't rely on your squad to take down those Elite Mutons and Heavy Sectopods. I tried the Fire Mission/Lift combo and it does hardly any damage even to a regular Muton, but does strip the armor off, same as just a few grenades. When it comes down to it, the Lightning Cannon(Blaster Launcher is great until you get one) annihilates all, and combined with Taunt/Tunnel Vision, they will drop so fast. Plus Taunt will constantly allow you to pull people out of cover and kill them while taking the pressure off you. I do like a Recon for Critical Strike and Diversion, so either one of them or an Engineer as your second.

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I can't agree more about the Commando's Taunt ability. You can also use it in the final missions, if you have a little patience and can restrain your trigger finger, to have enemies bring you presents: "A Plasma Assault Cannon with ammo? FOR ME?..."

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Get behind cover and use the Blaster Launcher, then run to new cover. It should take about 3 shots, maybe 2, I forgot exactly.

 

Edit:

*Of course make sure it's high cover and shoot over the top of it while the Titan is powering up to attack. If you're standing behind the cover correctly, the blast from the Titan shouldn't even damage you, except maybe minor burn damage. You can heal that off or have a Commando throw a shield on you.

Edited by PromoteViolence
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  • 3 weeks later...
someone said on another post that you can reload chapters. Is it possible to finish game on recruit then reload chapter 1, change to commander, and keep all your upgrades?

 

Shouldn't be possile, but you wouldn't have your upgrades anyway as the game saves after every mission and you can only reload these saves so if you reload one from after a specific mission you will only have the level and skills you had back then.

 

On Commander the second mission is the hardest, if you get through that it gets easier from there on, as you will have more skills available. And the possibility to la mines before triggering fights with the engineer makes the figts a lot easier if you take the time to lay out some mines.

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