Usually there is a single, dominant theme on a wiki - which fits or tries to resemble the game design. The articles content on this wiki was initially designed for Dark Theme and continued to be Dark-Theme-optimized. All users who voted here prefer the Dark Theme too.
The purpose of the poll question was to determine if there is anyone, among those who primarily use the Light Theme, willing to develop (derive) the articles content and templates design for the Light Theme.
Best choice - neither. It is better to eliminate the alien threat for good.
If you play either of these games in multiplayer mode, which platform/OS/distributor you use and are there any technical issues that need solving to be able to play? E.g. XCOM 2 multiplayer has been disabled for PC, namely for Steam and GOG, but maybe it is functional for Epic distributive and/or Linux, Mac, or Android (if it had MP)?
Is XCOM 2 multiplayer working, as claimed on a Steam guide ("Restoring XCOM 2 Multiplayer")?
16 Votes in Poll
Thank you for interest and caring for this wiki! It is a rarity for wikis dedicated to the old games.
By "any organizational work of contributors can effortlessly be solved by themselves" I meant self-organizing of ready-to-contribute users to co-operate.
As for the technical part, as far as I know there are no protected pages, except for the main page (and only partially). Only the Navigation bar page requires more rights for editing than a regular user has.
Before I opted for admin rights there were many pages marked for deletion, and redirects too. Though they could not technically be deleted, that didn't pose any issues for me (except for a few rare cases - which never happened to me on any other wiki - when the pages were bugged and couldn't be renamed due to the platform flagging my account for "too many attempts" to rename those few pages) - only little annoyance of them not being fixed.
As for the categories, I changed, added, renamed quite many of them - to make the content logically organized and be user-friendly in terms of browsing. Though, the categorization is far from being final and needs to be worked on, especially interconnecting the content from all the XCOM games on this wiki.
I had planned many things for this Wiki in the past few months, however, I can devote less time to the wiki now than I was expecting earlier back then. For example, 'developing' rules and editing guidelines - based on Fallout and GTA wikis (I think those are finely managed) - which would allow to have all the content organized and formatted in the best possible way.
Currently there is a very raw and incomplete draft of tasks and goals on my profile page. I was also planning to make tiny tutorials for the very fresh wiki users to be able to effectively contribute. At the moment I thinks it is more important to coordinate the efforts of those who can adequately edit and contribute - for those who have time, knowledge, and passion.
On a side note, I managed (and still do) several other wikis. Despite very dedicated game fans and communities overall, there were only a handful of contributors throughout several past years, me being among the very few of those. One project was maintained in adequate shape by a single user eventually becoming a bureaucrat and making me an admin, and another project was kept afloat by a single person as well, a bureaucrat at that moment, also making me an admin.
On those wikis, new users who were willing to contribute asked me (because I usually reach out to new contributors making edits of more than a single and sole typo fix) and also learned by existing examples on those wikis, becoming very successful editors and valuable contributors. Some editing for several wikis, others - for several months; some of them returned after a pause in order to contribute again.
One thing to note is that these old, or relatively old, games are long not supported by the game developers, but there are very popular, usually massive mods, which have their own audience. When a game receives updates or DLCs or there is a sequel game in a series coming out (or at least there is a possibility that it would come out), the wikis receive a lot of visitors and some dedicated contributors appear.
Having used this Wiki as some knowledge base I felt obliged to fix issues which obstructed me from using it in that regard. If you like the game you play (or played) - XCOM: Enemy Unknown - do whatever you think is best for any other player, new or veteran, in terms of using the wiki. If you think some categories need to be changed or some other things in that matter, try it - because you can revert or re-make, if the solution didn't turn out to be as good as it was initially planned. I use a better organized XCOM: Enemy Unknown part of the wiki as a base line, namely categorization.
Some of the questions and tasks aroused in the previous years: all pages can be renamed to specifically point to either XCOM: Enemy Unknown/XCOM 2/ ... or disambiguation pages can be used to avoid the unnecessary now or low-priority work at the moment.
You can leave messages on my Message Wall regarding different topics, I will reply as soon as I am online and have time. However, don't hesitate to introduce changes as long as you are being integral in this regard (i.e. don't abandon halfway what you started, because no one else is going to finish it for different reasons), but don't be afraid to make mistakes - it is alright due to the edits being made in good faith (and anything wrong can be fixed, including by you).
Again, thanks for showing interest in this XCOM Wiki! Most importantly, enjoy using it: it is alright if you don't make any or much edits (due to any reasons) - don't take any obligations: no one is paying you (or me, or the guys who made this wiki), no one is judging you, and only few are concerned about this wiki. If you like the game and you find this resource useful, you want to share your game knowledge or improve this wiki, and you have time and energy for that - I am not stopping you. Just don't lose the enjoyment and pleasure of playing the game and using the wiki. Cheers!
This wiki gets 1-2 active editors every half a year who are active for several days and then gone: it was several years ago and so is now. To see the current activity, I made several polls: only 9 people took part in one poll (Dark/Light theme), and only 3 in the other. There is no communication problem per se: there are no people, more so there are less who contribute.
The main most recent game - XCOM 2 - is quite old and won't get updates, the fan base is diminishing with every day. Its successor has failed, the other xcom-like game, created by the same team, failed as well. Moreover, there won't be any decent successor afterwords. The most currently popular mod, The Long War of the Chosen, content is covered on other platforms but was not even mentioned here (besides me adding a link to the mod on the main page). Little can rekindle the interest in this game series and more so to contributing to this wiki (abandoned by Fandom), also due to other popular wiki platforms already having alike content (and being widely promoted).
The founders, admins and heavy-contributing editors who were active at the games peak - XCOM: Enemy Unknown, XCOM 2 - are long gone from this wiki. Using Talk Pages and Wall Messages were more than enough for them to create and develop this wiki and was suffice for those who contributed in the past few years and now. There are also other means now too: Discussions and Comments. If the lack of a Discord Server is the main cause for the lack of editors in the course of the past several years, then it is a great news!
If you happen to know decent people with profound knowledge of this wiki games and who are interested in contributing to this wiki, send them here. There is nothing that stops anyone from contributing to this wiki - any organizational work of contributors can effortlessly be solved by themselves! I can apply for bureaucrat wiki rights so that I can promote the interested contributors to admins, if this will assist them in their active contributions to this wiki.
Some styling elements were, apparently, specifically designed for the Dark Theme. And while all voters as of yet use the Dark Theme, it would be helpful for other users if a proper Light Theme styling is developed.
Many high-activity wikis are well-maintained in this regard among other things, so anyone interested in a better Light Theme design could ask someone knowledgeable they know to adjust the styling for this wiki too.
Alternatively, the dark-themed elements, namely -- most/all infoboxes, many/some tables, could be re-designed (or set to default), but that would affect those who primarily or exclusively use the Dark Theme.
Anyone wishing to apply a properly developed Light Theme styling, create an example in your sandbox page and post a link to it here.
Article Comments have been enabled on the wiki.
Though not everything there could be useful for everyone and, sometimes, for anyone at all -- some visitors might not want to edit an article, while they have something worthwhile to say or share.
Specific guidelines for the comments will be introduced later. For now, general Fandom and civic rules apply, simply put -- don't spread misinformation (and makes sure to backup your claims with as many legit evidence as possible) and don't be an ass.
19 Votes in Poll
As of now the Wiki has 3 columns: "XCOM 2", "Other games", and "Universe".
The Navigation Bar allows to utilize up to 4 columns, meaning that 3 primary games can have their own column entries, whereas the 4th column could include a left-over game (Bureau), XCOM universe, and community links. Alternatively, all 4 games can have their own column each, while "universe" and community links would be placed to the right-side column of the main page.
If you would like to take part in forming of the revamped navigation bar, look at https://xcom.fandom.com/wiki/MediaWiki:Wiki-navigation to see how the structure works. After that you can create the per-formatted draft in your sandbox and post a link to it here. Note that each column can have up to 4 hierarchy levels, the title of the column being the level 1 level.
At the moment I am inclined to use the 3-game column variant till interested and active editors appear.
Hello visitors and community members!
I am intending to receive admin rights, which will allow me and you better organize the content and keep the wiki clean and safe.
This wiki lacks goals and tasks, and a considerable amount of efforts by new contributors is wasted onto disambiguation activity (reinventing the re-invented wheel) or of the least importance (while those contributors are capable of more). There were attempts by some editors to set goals, but these were never established. I plan to set goals so that any contributor will not be lost anymore and can efficiently contribute to the best of one's capacity.
This wiki doesn't have rules and guidelines, and it brings in chaos because new good-faith contributors fail to communicate or adhere to even the general Fandom guidelines.
Goals and tasks, rules and guidelines will be developed and adjusted to meet the community needs. This should prevent unnecessary conflicts, minimize the edits which set back the wiki progression, and, ultimately, shape the wiki into the best form (provided there are contributors willing to do so).
Of course, it is best that the Wiki is maintained and actively monitored by the previously known admins, who had a common vision on the content. Should they not appear in the meantime, the Wiki will be looked after by new people.
If anyone interested in the prosperity of the XCOM Wiki and the community, come join the team. XCOM streamers and viewers, players, and those proficient with wiki-editing and administering are very much welcome here.
Didn't instantly find the other info. However, there is a little bit: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/ex-xcom-developers-open-new-studio-dedicated-to-turn-based-tactics-games
What matters is whether the team who literally created XCOM 2 are going to work on the XCOM "3". And that core team left the company which just owns the franchise.
So, are you hiring yet - the crew, the team?
When is the invasion Earth?
TS, are choosing to whom to be the Speaker of?
The main devs who worked on XCOM2 left the company who owns XCOM franchise. IMO, if XCOM3 or something comes out, it won't be like XCOM2. RIP XCOM.
Yeah, the Vipers can be annoying and can pose high threat to separated soldiers, if they Bind&Crush. If they poison a unit, he or she can die if the poison persists for too many turns (e.g. up to 5), though it is only -1 HP every turn.
As usual, fire and Flashbangs debilitate them severely in terms of offense. They have 75% Aim, so a high cover (+40 Defense) and disoriented debuff (-20 Aim) would make it merely 15%. Fire prevents any abilities, except for using the primary rifle, but doesn't reduce accuracy.
If you group 2+ units, the Viper will most likely Spit Poison instead of other attacks (if not disabled by fire or disorientation), however, it could go for a flanking shot. Besides, the Tongue Pull cannot be performed every turn (it is stated to have 2 turn cooldown). Equipping any kind of medikit makes a unit immune to poison, but the game doesn't cheat in this aspect and a Viper will not know (i.e. will disregard) this and would still spit poison. An older entry on the Wiki claimed that a Viper Poison Spit does flat damage on impact (some game files claim the same - apparently, the added info was sourced from the game files just like most info added to the infobox at some point then), but that is opposite to what is in the actual game - there is no impact/blast damage.
Hellweave vest will only activate after a unit wearing it is attacked in melee (I didn't test it vs Viper Tongue Pull), but not prior to it. So, it will most likely harm more than help, if a unit would be pulled and then released due to vest damaging the Viper - the unit will be exposed to flanking enemy shots on the same turn of the enemy (the Viper, or one of them in a pod, might be the first one to act on the enemy turn phase). [however, if it somehow interrupts the Tongue Pull, then it is useful, at least in this aspect]
Viper's dodge can be annoying as well: the damage gets halved due to Dodge and is also rounded down (up to a minimum of 1). E.g. a 3 damage shot would result in 1 damage only if the Dodge triggers (it can trigger at accuracy below 100%). However, a Stock weapon mod can be very helpful in releasing a pulled and bounded unit - even if a shot misses, the damage will be applied to the Viper, which will force it to release a unit.
Again, softening up a healthy Viper (e.g. with a grenade) and finishing it up by Ranger works well. Not a high threat unit in my book, but can deal a lot of harm, if not prepared for an unexpected encounter (i.e. in undesired circumstances, like being already engaged with strong pod).
It doesn't have Defense stat, so it is not as difficult to hit as a Muton (or anything else with Defense). Also, this enemy doesn't scale with the game progression, so it will soon fall off as a weak being by itself.
But the Viper potentially poses danger to units due to its inherent crit chance (10%) and the maximum damage with crit of up to 7. Supporting a somewhat exposed unit with Aid Protocol and/or hunkering down can save a soldier. It is generally better to have a Flashbang rather than a Smoke Grenade, though the latter can be used to cover the whole group and is more effective the less accuracy an enemy has (due to disorientation/poison/aim penalties for targeting units in cover).
Btw, what difficulty are you playing, what is the current date in-game, and are tier 2 weapons and armor research complete?
Hey there!
Mutons are dangerous in close proximity. While I don't know for sure if they get +10% Aim bonus from melee attacks like some units, for example, Stun Lancers and Archons (I have no complete list of the units with and without this Aim bonus for melee attacks), they are very damaging - up to 11 damage. However, IIRC, they can't run just like Lancers or Rangers and attack at the end of their dashing movement. Nevertheless, they are claimed to deal a finishing hit to stunned units (again, can it be dodged or do soldiers have chances to bleed out instead of being insta-killed?).
Their beam rifle is very damaging as well - up to 8 hitpoints with a crit damage (and they have at least 10% crit, even if they shoot at a unit in cover; vs flanked unit the crit gains +33% or +40%, depending on the game difficulty).
If you group at least 2 of your units close to each other, then a Muton will throw a plasma grenade (I suppose that its blast radius is the same as for grenade launcher frag/plasma grenade - this needs testing/verifying). It is the least damaging weapon (4-5) and should have only 1 charge. However, if the blast destroys elevated surface the units are standing on, they will also take fall damage (depending on how high they were positioned, usually averaging from 2 to 4 damage). Additionally, destroying the cover of your units allows the enemy to set up high crit chance attacks without aim penalty. So if a Muton acts first in the enemy pod and starts with a grenade throw, the following attacks might be devastating for the targeted player units.
To sum up, a Muton's fairly high (for an enemy unit) 80% Aim, somewhat high (up to 11) HP pool and armor (up to 2), inherent 10% Defense (i.e. a unit targeting a Muton will have -10% Aim penalty due to this stat), for an early game enemy on Legend difficulty it poses high risk and must be eliminated as a priority target.
And once again, if you are not able to neutralize a Muton outright, either consider backing off (if circumstances would be more favorable to you) while keeping every unit in cover, unless baiting with a unit to be hit while supporting it with Aid Protocol / Smoke cloud / Hunker down. Or temporary limit a Muton's abilities and Aim with Flashbang. On a side note, a Muton can use Suppression Fire instead of making a regular shot (the triggers for this ability are in the game files, but, probably, a high cover (+40% Defense, i.e. -40% Aim for hostiles) could be one of the causes). Fire burning should also limit all his abilities to just a regular shot, which is high damaging nonetheless. Poisoning with Venom rounds reduces Aim and Movement.
So, unlike a Stun Lancer, who gets severely debilitated by a Flashbang and, to some extent, with fire burning (it doesn't lower Aim and enemy units can't Hunker Down to "waste" their action points), a Muton and a Heavy Lancer are able to deal up to 8 hitpoints of damage with their primary rifles. If there is no elevation to take advantage of for the height aim bonus, a Ranger might need to approach very close to negate the Muton Defense stat (XCOM ranged weapons get high aim bonuses for being close to an enemy, excluding a Sniper Rifle, which gets penalty); a basic shotgun can deal up to 9 damage with a crit hit. A Grenadier can setup a possible follow up kill by a Ranger by softening up or removing armor and reducing a Muton's HP with a grenade or a lucky cannon shot with Shredding and, likely, Holo Targeting. A Sharpshooter is highly accurate as a pistol Gunslinger up close, though not very damaging, and a Specialist is guaranteed to deal damage with his Combat Protocol (albeit, Medical Protocol ability is far more valuable to choose it over Combat Protocol, in my opinion, especially if going for no casualty campaign runs). A Psi Operative should be very powerful mentally vs Mutons, who have a really low Will stat of merely 50 points.
P.S. I have mostly (and somewhat recently) played on Legend difficulty (and WotC), but started with Veteran (base game). Mostly due to game difficulty differences: lowered Research speed (i.e. no fast-paced weapon/armor upgrades), no quick Autopsy instant completion (more corpses are required), higher stats for enemy units (primarily HP, but also armor, etc), and higher cost for (almost) everything - my "advice" doesn't include tier 2 weapons and armor, nor often use of experimental grenades and ammo (which usually require 2x time to research in the Proving Ground), nor weapon mods or PCS (some of which can be very impactful), nor lucky continental or scanning bonuses or Black Market assortment.
Besides the Bladestorm ability being unlocked later, it doesn't have 100% accuracy. It is either the blade attack doesn't get the +20% Aim bonus from a sword weapon (as regular Slash attacks) or there is a penalty (similar to Overwatch shots), though I suppose the former is the case. And maximum Aim stat for a Ranger is 80 IIRC, while Blademaster gives +10% Aim (don't know if the accuracy bonus is active with the Bladestorm) - that's why a Ranger is not guaranteed to hit with the Bladestorm.
In War of the Chosen though, Templar's Rend always hits (with Bladestorm as well).
On a side note, there is a Hellweave utility item vest. To a big disappointment, it is activated only after an attack was performed by a hostile unit. So, it is not a counter to Lancer, or Chryssalid, or any other melee enjoying units.
So, basically a Lancer is a priority for a kill. Flashbang is helpful in the early game with 4-unit squad, low Aim and lack of useful Abilities. They are often killed with a Ranger with a Blademaster skill (~70 Aim + 20% Slash attack Aim + 10% Aim from Blademaster) or with a shotgun (it has high accuracy bonus, up to +40% Aim, at close range), either with Run and Gun ability or without.
XCOM 2 is a tough game: I learned that in my first playthrough ... and afterwards, too! ;)
If you would need to know anything else about the game, don't hesitate to post questions here or in any other thread - I will try to answer to the best capacity of my knowledge. :)
