I appreciate of you writing on this subject - the couple of times I put some real effort into Long War, I marvelled at how hard some Exalt missions were! It wasn't until I watched Beaglerush and BrutalBarbarian that I realized how I was supposed to play them...
CCS on Assaults is extremely powerful and basically wins the Data Recovery mission type on its own.
However the context of EXALT is also one of the 2 cases where it can have a clear drawback, which you obviously know because you have a separate "Covert Operative" Assault Build, but it isn't explicitly stated in the Assault build guide:
If CCS drains your pistol of ammo, you can't activate Run n Gun, which potentially stops you from getting to the next relay.
(The other clear drawback is when you Ghost Grenade your whole squad, a random enemy runs at your invisible squad, CCS goes off and reveals the Assault/Shogun, and then they get annihilated)
Definitely agree about that map - you are hosed if the relays are on opposite sides, with 18 Exalt in-between. I play DW, and so Exalt base location isn't revealed until later game, so 18 Exalt encountered along the way, especially on that map, is quite possible by that time, and there's no way the extraction team can even make a dent on that - I use those missions simply to level up squaddies/rookies, hoping for a kill or two along with mission XP. Along with an officer, of course, to get that move in for the Operative. Can't recommend enough that said Operative should have jumpy legs; getting out of LOS on a rooftop can save you from grenades. I also (when available) equip the Combat Stims on the Operative, as the extra movement ready at the start of the turn where you reveal can be helpful. Not to mention the reduced damage if one of those grenade-throwing cheese monkeys tosses one; along with alloy plating, it means wound time may be negligible.
There’s a fix available that makes it so they can’t rocket or grenade when disabled
Otherwise you’re just running the slot machine - I’ve had 3 exalt operatives just nade my single operative back to back to back and there’s nothing you can do about it.
Can cost the campaign.
Scouts to trigger overwatch is hugely important especially on that freight yard map where they pop in - the absolute worst is when somehow your scouts path doesn’t trigger the overwatch due to LOS. Ugh.
The big lesson is sometimes you have to just hit a relay with RNG and evac out
I’ve had impossible spawns on the TV store / alley map where that was the only option
I don’t like Exalt in LW personally - they’re either too easy and just farming missions, or they are insanely overpowered with snap shot 100% rockets and 10 dmg hits mid game with a laser rifle
But if you just accept that you’ll lose operatives sometimes it’s not that bad
Crit build infantry are excellent in the data recovery missions - they can usually drop multiple targets per turn
Exalt base can be really hard if you’re not ready for it
It was that train map that re-taught me to set up the scout to run overwatch. I had a Scout on the mission, but he wasn't in position, and so the operative ran 2 overwatches, and took a big wound but lived.
I do remember infantry being awesome on DRs - finishing off the low HP enemies hit by an assault's CCS. But I just skipped that entire class this campaign.
I also don't really like the Exalt missions. The first 3-4 are fine, and then they get tiresome and risky. And yeah I just accept that they are going to kill someone at some point. And so I run the Exalt Base asap. I just camp near the back of the helicopter pad covered in dense smoke. It usually goes well. I never get anywhere near the building until I've killed half the map.
In my current game, I'm trying the Exalt Mission Mod. It allows you to set the % chance of Extraction vs Recovery (set on default, currently) and on the Extraction, it places the 4-squad (I think 6 w/ Super Skyranger?) with the Operative, and I think it tones down the Exalt composition on the Extraction missions. It's... different; I am not sure it's harder or easier, and I'd like to hear your take on it. Normally, for the Extraction missions, I just take a couple of rookies and maybe a scout officer (to break overwatch and for the final Command) and they cower around the LZ while the run-and-gun operative does his or her work. Quite repetitive. The mod forces you to build a mobile and reasonably lethal-on-the-move escort squad.
I appreciate of you writing on this subject - the couple of times I put some real effort into Long War, I marvelled at how hard some Exalt missions were! It wasn't until I watched Beaglerush and BrutalBarbarian that I realized how I was supposed to play them...
Thanks,
good luck commander!
CCS on Assaults is extremely powerful and basically wins the Data Recovery mission type on its own.
However the context of EXALT is also one of the 2 cases where it can have a clear drawback, which you obviously know because you have a separate "Covert Operative" Assault Build, but it isn't explicitly stated in the Assault build guide:
If CCS drains your pistol of ammo, you can't activate Run n Gun, which potentially stops you from getting to the next relay.
(The other clear drawback is when you Ghost Grenade your whole squad, a random enemy runs at your invisible squad, CCS goes off and reveals the Assault/Shogun, and then they get annihilated)
yeah I should mention that somewhere. CCS is definitely a liability in some cases...
Definitely agree about that map - you are hosed if the relays are on opposite sides, with 18 Exalt in-between. I play DW, and so Exalt base location isn't revealed until later game, so 18 Exalt encountered along the way, especially on that map, is quite possible by that time, and there's no way the extraction team can even make a dent on that - I use those missions simply to level up squaddies/rookies, hoping for a kill or two along with mission XP. Along with an officer, of course, to get that move in for the Operative. Can't recommend enough that said Operative should have jumpy legs; getting out of LOS on a rooftop can save you from grenades. I also (when available) equip the Combat Stims on the Operative, as the extra movement ready at the start of the turn where you reveal can be helpful. Not to mention the reduced damage if one of those grenade-throwing cheese monkeys tosses one; along with alloy plating, it means wound time may be negligible.
I hadn't considered Combat Stims. I added a line about that in the write up.
Great write up on Exalt
There’s a fix available that makes it so they can’t rocket or grenade when disabled
Otherwise you’re just running the slot machine - I’ve had 3 exalt operatives just nade my single operative back to back to back and there’s nothing you can do about it.
Can cost the campaign.
Scouts to trigger overwatch is hugely important especially on that freight yard map where they pop in - the absolute worst is when somehow your scouts path doesn’t trigger the overwatch due to LOS. Ugh.
The big lesson is sometimes you have to just hit a relay with RNG and evac out
I’ve had impossible spawns on the TV store / alley map where that was the only option
I don’t like Exalt in LW personally - they’re either too easy and just farming missions, or they are insanely overpowered with snap shot 100% rockets and 10 dmg hits mid game with a laser rifle
But if you just accept that you’ll lose operatives sometimes it’s not that bad
Crit build infantry are excellent in the data recovery missions - they can usually drop multiple targets per turn
Exalt base can be really hard if you’re not ready for it
Yup to all that.
It was that train map that re-taught me to set up the scout to run overwatch. I had a Scout on the mission, but he wasn't in position, and so the operative ran 2 overwatches, and took a big wound but lived.
I do remember infantry being awesome on DRs - finishing off the low HP enemies hit by an assault's CCS. But I just skipped that entire class this campaign.
I also don't really like the Exalt missions. The first 3-4 are fine, and then they get tiresome and risky. And yeah I just accept that they are going to kill someone at some point. And so I run the Exalt Base asap. I just camp near the back of the helicopter pad covered in dense smoke. It usually goes well. I never get anywhere near the building until I've killed half the map.
In my current game, I'm trying the Exalt Mission Mod. It allows you to set the % chance of Extraction vs Recovery (set on default, currently) and on the Extraction, it places the 4-squad (I think 6 w/ Super Skyranger?) with the Operative, and I think it tones down the Exalt composition on the Extraction missions. It's... different; I am not sure it's harder or easier, and I'd like to hear your take on it. Normally, for the Extraction missions, I just take a couple of rookies and maybe a scout officer (to break overwatch and for the final Command) and they cower around the LZ while the run-and-gun operative does his or her work. Quite repetitive. The mod forces you to build a mobile and reasonably lethal-on-the-move escort squad.
I have never played with that mod. It sounds like it is worth checking out.