XCOM 2 is great! Well, mostly. It has some performance issues and, more pertinently, it can get a little frustrating with fickle random number calculations and Central screaming at you all the time. Here are some mods to help with that.
Save Scum Roller
Do you save scum? You probably save scum. Save scumming is the art of loading a carefully timed save after you’ve — pardon the jargon — Had Your Shit Pushed Into A Crater So Enormous That It will Finally Pull Those Damn Conspiracy Theorists Off Roswell. Thing is, XCOM 2 makes it a slightly less viable tactic by preserving any rolls of the random number generator from previous attempts. So basically, if you miss a big shot one time and reload, you will miss the big shot again no matter what (at least, if you attempt it the same way). This mod lets you reset the game’s cruel internal god whenever you want. Take the same shot over and over! Critical hit every alien! Let a squad member die in a horrific Groundhog Day pastiche until finally, mercifully, the alien with a 99 per cent chance of hitting misses!
Quiet, Bradford!
In XCOM 2, certain missions task you with saving civilians while those mean old aliens hunt them for sport (or to punish them for rebelling, probably). Every time a civilian dies (something that’s often unavoidable), Central Officer Bradford throws a tantrum that lands somewhere between a yappy floo-floo dog and Splinter Cell‘s Sam Fisher if he stubbed his toe. If you are not Literally Gandhi, you will invariably begin responding to Bradford’s wailing with, “I KNOW GODDAMNIT” or “PLEASE SHUT UP ALREADY.” This mod makes him shut up already.
Stop Wasting My Time
This mod is fantastic. It removes a bunch of annoying pauses and generally speeds up the game so you can get right into the thick of things. Here are some examples of what it does:
Combat changes:
-Removed 1-3 sec pause after shooting, throwing grenades, abilities, etc.
-Removed 1 sec pause after getting a kill
-Removed 2.75 sec pause after going into cover
-Increased unit movement speed by ~20% (This is much less than other mods, it doesn’t break immersion by turning every unit into Sonic the Hedgehog)
-Removed slowdown of non-attacked enemies during overwatch slow-mo
Non-combat changes:
-Increased the speed of the Avenger on the global map
-Reduced the fade-in time of the horrendously slow colour picker
Evac All and Overwatch All
These are technically two separate mods, but they both perform similar functions. Basically, if you’re putting units on overwatch or sending them to an evac zone, you usually have to handle each one individually. It’s the sort of minor slog that can make your blood boil in the middle of a long or difficult battle. These mods add “all” buttons for both so you can handle actions in a single, convenient go.
Accurate Swords and Better Aim In Cinematic Mode
Another pair of mods that do similar things. XCOM 2 is at its most obnoxious when you have a character in range to land a shot (or sword slash) with no obstructions, but somehow… they miss! I’ve had it happen at points so egregious that I nearly chewed off my own lower jaw in frustration. Accurate Swords makes swords 100 per cent accurate, and Better Aim In Cinematic Mode boosts your aim when the game decides it’s time for things to look all cool and action-movie-like. It’s not a perfect solution, but it’s something.
Comments
10 responses to “Seven Mods That Make XCOM 2 Less Frustrating”
Accurate swords? Dunno if I agree about them being 100% accurate, the missing aspect I guess I always took as the alien being able to luckily dodge a swipe? But SCUM roller is a great one.
Yeah and I noticed it was mostly Snakes and Codex’s that were able to dodge in melee. Has anyone tried this on a Muton? Someone should totally try this on a Muton because I have no idea if they dodge. Absolutely no idea.
Fine they don’t dodge; they just block and backhand the shit out of your soldier who gets knocked out.Yeah, rather than straight up 100% hit or risk a miss, I’d sooner the melee attacks have a chance to be blocked where possible or dodged with the graze damage if not. Technically you’d always hit your target, just that sometimes they’d absorb the hit or only take a glancing blow.
Having a muton whip his rifle up to block a sword attack with his bayonet would be better than just missing and looking like an idiot (though not as much of an idiot as when you try to melee them & they counterattack which kills your ranger). Of course it’d require new animations so it’s a bit harder than just a code change.
yeah but then it should show dodged:grazed rather than missed…
Which is really only a minor text alteration? If Z is used show X instead of Y.
I get where you’re coming from with the concern about 100% sword accuracy, but when a Ranger’s sword seems less accurate than their gun the sword just goes unused.
Definitely a good point. Maybe a better hand to hand system should’ve been implemented possibly?
Don’t forget the “free Camera Rotation” mod, this was the first mod I picked up and it makes the camera so much less frustrating.
And “Configurable Mission Timers”, I have no shame in admitting I’m a casual scrub with Xcom, this mod mad the game SO FUN for me!
“Thing is, XCOM 2 makes it a slightly less viable tactic by preserving any rolls of the random number generator from previous attempts.”
Ahh what? This hasn’t been the case for me at all. Everytime I reload, even if I follow the exact same moves and actions, I get a randomly different outcome. At least enough of a random outcome that it feels like a HUGE improvement over X-Com 1.
The only mod here that I see worth getting is the “Quiet, Bradford!”.. all the others are cosmetic changes really.
And this one of course, the free camera rotation mod:
http://www.nexusmods.com/xcom2/mods/1/?