What's your views on ammo use?

[belhedler]

It would still be very useful info. Like if I knew there was a chrysallid I'd play differently. Or if there was a MEC, and I hadn't seen one yet 3/4th of the way in, that there is one more pod with a MEC, etc.

Well you would likely try an Assault with Close Combat Specialist with armor negating close combat damage and dedicated PCS as well but the problem is you cannot guarantee the Assault will be the one attacked by the chrisalids. That impairs greatly any strategy oriented towards defeating chrisalids or close combat ennemy in general (Advent Lancer for instance strike what they want and usually not your Assault) and makes it overall weak.

[Jacke]

As it stands, these should be an additional dedicated single slot for ammo, allowing only 1 ammo per soldier....

There is a dedicated ammo slot. It's just disabled by default. The mod "Tactical Rigging: Ammo and Grenades" (along with the mods "Ammo Pocket Fix" and "TONS of Utility Items" to fix bugs) can be configured to enable the Ammo Slot and the Grenade Slot for any and all soldier classes.

[belhedler]

So apparently they changed the bonus of most non specialized ammos by giving them +1 dmg on most ennemy types if not the type the ammo is specialized in. It's basically a free Center Mass. Makes things a bit more interesting to have an ammo equipped now.

[stefan3iii]

So apparently they changed the bonus of most non specialized ammos by giving them +1 dmg on most ennemy types if not the type the ammo is specialized in. It's basically a free Center Mass. Makes things a bit more interesting to have an ammo equipped now.

The issue now is that it's very hard to get corpses to build the ammo types. I'm in Sept and only use Stiletto and Venom, since faceless and vipers are fairly abundant. I just got my first shieldbearer corpse, I'll be amazed if I have more than a couple of needle or flechette rounds this campaign.

The good news is that stiletto is very strong now, better than venom I think.

[Dwarfling]

This is from the PoV of my current Legendary campaign:

Having a hard time using anything but AP and maybe Talon to be honest. At least on GOps. Seems like the only classes that I deploy on GOps that actually shoot their weapons are Assaults, where I prefer mobility and take with vest+plating or sometimes talon, Sharpshooter, with AP for over half of the game, and Rangers, with AP to handle robotic units. I'd have more Talon to go around if I wasn't so tight on Sectoid corpses for Neurowhips and Adv. Psi Amps.

The single Overwatch Specialist I got came with negative defense so I pack her with a vest, and needs to pack a Skulljack.

The only cooldown Gunner I got out of the first batch of rookies came with 13 mobility so she rarely sees action in GOps.

[Yoshs]

Noob question- does ammo affect Shinobi swords?

[stefan3iii]

This is from the PoV of my current Legendary campaign:

Having a hard time using anything but AP and maybe Talon to be honest.

Talon rounds are actually pretty bad, in terms of expected damage. Statistically they're going to do less damage than Stiletto/Needle/Flechette, most of the time. The damage they do also has higher variance, which is also bad. The exception for using talon rounds might be if you're just doing a full kubikiri gimmick.

[Methexis]

Greetings,
Just my nickel of a thought on the subject...

I'm in late game now, no lack of supplies and/or needed materials.

One ammo combo I have found that works for me is the following:

Shredder ammo for my Sniper (shoots whatever is too strong)

2 or 3 Rangers each with a different type of ammo between venom and dragon rounds. The combination of the two kill most of the time any enemy (except robotics of course) at least at the next turn.

My Specialist also has shredder ammo, even if his aim is not that good (robotics are easy targets). I leave Gatekeepers for the rest of my squad. You might need to holotarget it and/or Focus aim with your specialist/officer.

[Thrombozyt]

So why wouldn't you put shredder on the rangers that shoot 3 times with rapid fire shredding potentially 3 times to set up the sniper for the 1 shot?

[Methexis]

I prefer the fire and venom rounds combo for them. Most of the time there's no need for armor reduction to make the ranger kills. Also let's not forget that each ranger fires only once on each target. Not 3 times.

If we think about the targets that do need armor reduction to make them more vulnerable:
1. MECs usually go to overwatch on first contact, not giving the rangers the chance to shoot them.
2. Andromedons go to cover and they have too much of armor for a ranger to make a big difference.
3. Gatekeepers have high defense number and the ranger mostly miss.
4. Same goes for the Archons (although they rarely have any armor on them).
5. Sectopods are their own category. I try to control them with my specialist and while the pod is busy with them I also shoot them with shredder ammo.

No matter what the armor value is at an Advent trooper, the venom and/or fire effect works like a charm on them, making them less effective for the next round (if they are not dead by that effect). And also Advents are the majority of the targets.

I usually start with a sniper shot that targets the heaviest armor enemies (if I cannot target them with AoE weapons, acid grenades, flamethrowers etc.).

All the above are my thoughts though.

[RookieAutopsy]

Since the changes, I love Stiletto rounds. They are my go to now as the guaranteed +1 against everything is great and they're cheap and plentiful if you do a lot of Rendezvous missions.

[stefan3iii]

Since the changes, I love Stiletto rounds. They are my go to now as the guaranteed +1 against everything is great and they're cheap and plentiful if you do a lot of Rendezvous missions.

So nearly completed my second campaign, and the only ammo I use is stiletto and red screen. The rest are either downgrades, or expensive side grades.

I didn't bother with viper research, and had enough rendezvous that I quickly had all the stiletto I needed.

I finally have corpses to get Flechette/Needle, but it's not worth my time researching it, I need my research for other stuff. The difference between the 3 isn't huge in any case.

Nowhere near enough corpses to do Dragon rounds.

Bluescreen rounds aren't worth unlocking, unless there is something special about them I don't understand.

Talon is inferior to Stiletto for everything except Kubikiri gimmick.

I don't bother with Shredder, because Shredder Cannons are better at shredding.

Basically, there is one ammo type that is available early, is abundant, and is among the best ammo types. Why bother unlocking anything else? Wish there was more progression here, hard to unlock ammo should just be better, or it should be easier to get.

[RookieAutopsy]

Basically, there is one ammo type that is available early, is abundant, and is among the best ammo types. Why bother unlocking anything else? Wish there was more progression here, hard to unlock ammo should just be better, or it should be easier to get.

It's almost like Incendiary Grenades again...

[JulianSkies]

Bluescreen rounds aren't worth unlocking, unless there is something special about them I don't understand.

Well, their big secret is that all the big nasty endgame enemies are vulnerable to them (sectopod, codex, gatekeeper), they're essentially anti-boss ammo.

[stefan3iii]

Bluescreen rounds aren't worth unlocking, unless there is something special about them I don't understand.

Well, their big secret is that all the big nasty endgame enemies are vulnerable to them (sectopod, codex, gatekeeper), they're essentially anti-boss ammo.

I actually don't even know, does Stiletto provide +1, or +2 damage vs Gatekeeper and Codex? Have to pay attention next time I play.

[JulianSkies]

Bluescreen rounds aren't worth unlocking, unless there is something special about them I don't understand.

Well, their big secret is that all the big nasty endgame enemies are vulnerable to them (sectopod, codex, gatekeeper), they're essentially anti-boss ammo.

I actually don't even know, does Stiletto provide +1, or +2 damage vs Gatekeeper and Codex? Have to pay attention next time I play.

IF the Vanilla logic still applies to those. Stiletto should provide +2 to the Gatekeeper (which can be poisoned) and +1 to the Codex (which can't)