Why does my colony suck at combat? pls help...

Started by erdrik, January 06, 2015, 06:29:05 AM

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erdrik

I have an ex-marine with a full set of power armor, an M-16, and an 11 rating for shooting.
Son of b*tch still can't hit the broad side of a barn, and is constantly getting knocked the frack out by the likes of stone clubs.

I have failed(and reloaded the auto save) the last 3 raid defense attempts because of this.

Does power armor not actually provide decent protection?
Why is his accuracy 95%+ and he still can't hit anything? (also why is everyone else's accuracy 93%+ when they have a shooting rating of 3?!)
Please tell me what I am doing wrong... :(

Vonholtz

Well there is more to look at other then his shooting skill. Look at his heath there are all kinds of different things that could make him a poor shoot. Like how old is he dose he have bad eye sight. is he missing a arm a finger. I think all of this shows up.

I had a guy I was using as a hunter but it took him 12 shots to get one hit even with a shooting 11. He had cataract in his right eye and he was missing a finger off his left hand. I got him a new eye and a new arm and he got a lot better more like his numbers should be for a good shot.

Being a ex-marine may mean he been hurt in the past or he just seen to many years to still be at his best. Look in to that if he still sucks then I do not know what to tell you. I am have only been playing for 2 weeks now and I am still find out there more I don't know then i do. Make the game even more fun.

Goo Poni

Hit chances are like old XCom/Xenonauts. There's little need to pay attention to them when you can hit 4/10 shots with an LMG but hit one in ten with a sniper rifle.

Shinzy


Cat123


nuschler22

Some tips:

1) Spread out your colonists.  Hide them behind cover (wall, tree, even rock debris).  Usually at least five or spaces apart, or:
2) Always hide them behind something.  There is a nice mod that has Embrasures (basically, a hole in a wall to shoot through that provides cover).  Usually, I'll make a sealed in area that looks like this with X being the embrasure and O being solid wall, D being the door, s being sandbags:
ssssssssss  ssssssssss
XOXOXOXDXOXOXOX
O                           O
________D________ 

The straight line can be anything from a wall to the side of a mountain.  Position the colonists behind the wall.  They will peek out and fire from behind it.  I believe (but I'm not sure) that the colonists get a bonus from firing from behind cover.  They CERTAINLY take a lot less damage.  It's also a good idea to spread them out in here as well, as much as possible.  If you have a large number of colonists, make the embrasure bigger. 


It's pretty easy (especially after a few raids) to figure out where the raiders will be drawn to.  I try to make my colony in a mountain, so they will always try for the front door.  If you make a kill room (which is easily enough to find on here) you can utilize the embrasure idea for full effect.  I generally put my turrets slightly in front of and to the side of where my colonists are because the raiders will go for them first and let you pick off the raiders as you do.







IkeaSwede

Do you actually have him behind some sort of cover or is he in the open?

TheSilencedScream

Something else no one's mentioned yet is the fact that you're being melee'd.

Every gun takes x-amount of time to aim, regardless of how close the hostiles are, and when you get hit, the counter essentially resets. So if someone's hitting Jimmy Dean with a club, Jimmy Dean isn't shooting - he's just getting the hell beat out of him. On top of that, if Pork'n'Beans is shooting at the hostile that's attacking Jimmy Dean, there's a decent chance that he's also going to hit Jimmy Dean, too.

So, as nuschler suggested, you'll want a defensive line. If that, for some reason, fails or you're being mortared, just be ready to multi-task - if Jimmy Dean is being or about to be melee'd, try to keep him moving while Pork'n'Beans shoots at the hostile pursuing Jimmy, but try to make sure the path Jimmy Dean takes keeps him out of fire.
Quote from: Topper on August 31, 2015, 03:33:25 AM
is the sledgehammer compatible with the romance mod?
Only in Rimworld.

skullywag

Aim for something behind the target if you can. Bullets hit things in the way more than they hit their target.
Skullywag modded to death.
I'd never met an iterator I liked....until Zhentar saved me.
Why Unity5, WHY do you forsake me?

milon

Lighting, cover, etc.  Would be helpful to see a screenshot.

erdrik

I always put him behind cover.

I just checked, yea he is missing a finger and got a crushed eye.
I guess that accounts for his bad shot.
:(

Still don't know why power armor sucks so much tho.
How can a neolithic club take out a dude in power armor?
Is 47 really too old for power armor to be effective?
Where is the 'powered' part of the armor if it can't make up for that...

REMworlder

Quote from: milon on January 06, 2015, 12:54:11 PM
Lighting, cover, etc.  Would be helpful to see a screenshot.

Definitely this. Shooters get several accuracy penalties for things like darkness, rain, light hypothermia, etc.

For a screenshot, just hit F10 in game, and that will save a pic to C:\Users\[your username]\AppData\LocalLow\Ludeon Studios\RimWorld\Screenshots. I'd recommend hosting the picture on Imgur instead of attaching to forum posts here, since those file size limits are often too small.

Like everyone is saying, also check his health. I have a level 9 surgeon, for example, who has a nearly 0% success rate because of his two cataracts.

One last factor is blunt weapons are one of the best weapons to use against armor (just like they were used historically). Of course the downside to using a club is getting shot by turrets and colonists before getting in melee range.

Quote from: HalinderBlunt weapons, namedly the club and mace, hit in decent succession as well as deal blunt/brute damage. This surpasses most armor considerably better than sharp damage, and while it may not cause the enemy to bleed to death, chances are you'll bludgeon them first anyway. They have a tendency to damage bone which leads to extra devastation. So uh. That.
more reading: Halinder, "RE: A jolly good punch up" 27 December 2014.

Vonholtz

Quote from: erdrik on January 06, 2015, 02:14:08 PM
I always put him behind cover.

I just checked, yea he is missing a finger and got a crushed eye.
I guess that accounts for his bad shot.
:(

Still don't know why power armor sucks so much tho.
How can a neolithic club take out a dude in power armor?
Is 47 really too old for power armor to be effective?
Where is the 'powered' part of the armor if it can't make up for that...

Power armor dose not realy help counter for damage eyes or limbs. Give him a bionic eye and a arm. He will be kick ass after.  I have found the bionic bring back my best people. I alway keep a few on hand when I have the money to buy them. Anyway I hope it give you back your your best fighter.

erdrik

Quote from: Vonholtz on January 06, 2015, 03:22:24 PM
Power armor dose not realy help counter for damage eyes or limbs. Give him a bionic eye and a arm. He will be kick ass after.  I have found the bionic bring back my best people. I alway keep a few on hand when I have the money to buy them. Anyway I hope it give you back your your best fighter.
Never claimed it did. (tho a targeting helm would be a pretty badass glitterworld gear. )
I was mostly just wondering if the powered component of power armor would help with taking a hit or countering the frailty of old age.
(manipulation / mobility / general durability ect...)

@REMworlder: ok so blunt weapons are good at breaking armor... I could understand breaking armor vests, but glitterworld power armor?!
Is this intended or just a balancing issue that hasn't been gotten to yet?
(Halinder had a nice bit of info, but he isn't the dev... )

christhekiller

Quote from: erdrik on January 06, 2015, 05:16:37 PM
Quote from: Vonholtz on January 06, 2015, 03:22:24 PM
Power armor dose not realy help counter for damage eyes or limbs. Give him a bionic eye and a arm. He will be kick ass after.  I have found the bionic bring back my best people. I alway keep a few on hand when I have the money to buy them. Anyway I hope it give you back your your best fighter.
Never claimed it did. (tho a targeting helm would be a pretty badass glitterworld gear. )
I was mostly just wondering if the powered component of power armor would help with taking a hit or countering the frailty of old age.
(manipulation / mobility / general durability ect...)

@REMworlder: ok so blunt weapons are good at breaking armor... I could understand breaking armor vests, but glitterworld power armor?!
Is this intended or just a balancing issue that hasn't been gotten to yet?
(Halinder had a nice bit of info, but he isn't the dev... )

Nah, this isn't MJONIR from the halo universe. It's basically just beefy armor. Even slows down their walking speed a bit.
Also, try to get someone whose good at melee to defend your colonists from melee attacks.
Or even getting autoturrets up and the attackers will focus on those first.