Completed both DLC for XCOM
- Play the Shen DLC mission once, then leave the option off when starting a new game. You still get the Spark if you leave the mission off, its just instead of doing a mission that kills your squad, you can get the spark by doing a simple Proving Ground project. You even get a free spark upon completion
- Always leave the Alien Hunter mission option on. As long as the mission isn't completed, Rulers will not spawn. On the other hand, you won't be able to upgrade the Hunter weapons, but it beats a bad Ironman run getting worse due to Rulers appearing when you aren't ready.
If you do want to tackle the rulers, some pointers
- Take the hunter weapons and upgrade them. With the possible exception of the pistol (which is still really good), they all have a feature that helps greatly; the axe throw doesn't cost an action, the bolt caster has an increased stun chance against rulers (apparently), and the frost bomb renders them immobile, allowing you to wail on them a bit
- The Rulers all have something called a ruler reaction, where every action spent by a soldier gives them an action during your turn. Its a bit bullshit, especially with the archon king's devastate ability which can't be avoided as you probably won't have any actions to avoid it, but it also means that anything that gives free actions is ideal, as they don't trigger the reaction. So take auto loaders, the axe, lightning hands, ect.
- Whilst the shadow chamber doesn't outright tell you that there is a ruler, it does leave a hint; missions that have a ruler tend to have fewer enemies then they normally would. A difficult mission, for example, usually has 10 enemies. If a ruler is present, it would be 8; 2 pods of 3 + ruler + ruler's follower.
- Rulers keep the damage you've inflicted upon them the last time your encounter one. Once you reduce it to half health it will try to escape. If it succeeds, it will show up in a later mission with a follower; Archon King will have a Archon, Viper King will have a Viper and Berserker Queen will have a muton
- The Berserker queen as an odd habit of freaking out and attacking nearby enemies. It was funny.
- Rulers can appear on story missions. Keep that in mind when raiding the Psi-gate and the Forge
- Damage over Time effects tick every time the ruler as his reaction, and they seem to last their full duration ie over X complete turns. This makes them really powerful, and can knock the Archon King and Viper King out of their grabs.
- Berserker Queen and Archon rulers are bullshit. They both have AoE abilities that deal little damage, but destroys cover and have a chance of rendering a soldier unconscious (so basically one hit kills), as well as having a chance of inflicting stun and disorientation. Take revival protocol.
- For some reason, the Frost Bomb counts ruler reactions as a turn. So if it says frozen 1, it really means that it will be gone after the next ruler reaction. I'm not sure if that's intended, but keep that in mind.
Some notes on the weapons
- None of the hunter weapons can receive attachments, though you can upgrade them to the next tier.
- Bolt Caster rounds cannot be dodged. So fuck you Elite Stun Lancers.
Select some guys, select target, watch them slug it out. Seems like the only challenge is to lead the targets when casting AoE spells, and that strikes me as a design flaw.
