Into the Breach - The CURRENT game from the developers of FTL - Catch All

I unlocked the Steel Judoka first. I didn't do very well, but had fun failing as it were. Learned a lot due to their particular abilities.

There's a discernible difference between easy and normal. Normal defeated me, twice. Easy has not.

Jonman wrote:

And the third mech is less useful artillery.

With the ability to block spawns... might be close to the best artillery.

EriktheRed wrote:

Be sure to buy the upgrade to prevent chain lightning damage to buildings. Also the friendly fire damage isn't so bad on the grapple tank, since it has armor. Also you can use the boulders from the artillery tank to extend the chain.

I understand the theory, it just never pans out that way. Takes numerous missions to get the reactor upgrade to get that upgrade. Then a combination of webs and enemy positioning means I'm rarely in a position to actually use the chain lightning without zapping my own dudes.

Zenith Guard are a good squad. The defensive bubble ability on the little mech has been a life saver.

Embarrassingly, I forgot about the repair icon and was playing on without it for 8 hours. How that happened I do not know.

Started on a fourth island tonight. Didn't get very far. I didn't start with a maxed out previous timeline pilot, so I'm hoping that will give me the edge on my next run.

RnRClown wrote:

Zenith Guard are a good squad. The defensive bubble ability on the little mech has been a life saver.

Embarrassingly, I forgot about the repair icon and was playing on without it for 8 hours. How that happened I do not know.

Honestly there are usually better things to do with your action than repair, so it probably didn't hinder you too much not to use it. I mostly use it for times where I am sitting on a vek spawn and don't want to move.

I think it took me 6 tries to win with the first squad, the Rift Walkers. I must have learned something because it took 2 tries with the Rusting Hulks. I'm only going for the sort game of winning 2 islands + the final battle.

Got a win on hard with Frozen Titans (3 islands, 2 perfect).

I think I could have gone for the 4th but I needed the 3 island achievement. Hard definitely require more thought. Really had to have a good assessment of what missions to take. The "kill 7 enemies" bonus isnt good for Frozen titans, neither are the "Protect the Train" assignments.

Only assembled this combo on the final mission after receiving a pilot for a perfect 3rd island but:

Spoiler:

Bethany Jones on Ice Mech is sweet and OP. The shield negates the freezing and doesnt cause the shield to pop.

On to try and get the rest of the achievements.

Tyops wrote:
Spoiler:

Bethany Jones on Ice Mech is sweet and OP. The shield negates the freezing and doesnt cause the shield to pop.

Yeah, I just discovered that one today. It's a pretty sweet combo

Buzzrick wrote:
Tyops wrote:
Spoiler:

Bethany Jones on Ice Mech is sweet and OP. The shield negates the freezing and doesnt cause the shield to pop.

Yeah, I just discovered that one today. It's a pretty sweet combo

Yeah I just got a 4 perfect island win on Normal with this combo.

Oh for F***'s sake.

Steam says I'm 17 hours in, albeit that some of that is idle time.

I just now realized (because it was pointed out in an RPS article about the game) that there is a "RESET TURN" button. This could have gotten me out of a good portion of my prior deaths had I known about it.

< infinitefacepalm.gif >

*nelsonpointing.jpg*

I've spent the last day watching you lot post about beating the game, and feeling like I must suck at games.

Jonman wrote:

I've spent the last day watching you lot post about beating the game, and feeling like I must suck at games.

The end bit is fun. I'd suggest just going for it as soon as you can since it scales well. I put it off for awhile because I was unsure of that aspect.

So, I may have found a way to easily "cheat." Last night, I closed the game in the middle of a battle out of frustration. It was going badly.

I loaded it up at work while bored this afternoon, and it started me before the battle. So, I think you can save scum if you really want to.

You may have not realized that you can move all 3 mechs and undo every move, not just the last mech. Taking any actions will kill the undo option for all of them, though. I didn't know that until it was mentioned on Giant Bomb.

Jonman wrote:

Oh for F***'s sake.

Steam says I'm 17 hours in, albeit that some of that is idle time.

I just now realized (because it was pointed out in an RPS article about the game) that there is a "RESET TURN" button. This could have gotten me out of a good portion of my prior deaths had I known about it.

< infinitefacepalm.gif >

You can feel good knowing the fact that you were't the last person to know...

Some random thoughts:

After putting about 10 hours (on Normal) in I feel like this game has a lot of the same heart and soul as FTL. If you get some good maps setups early that fit your squad you can roll if you play it smart. However, you can sometimes get screwed early and play a game where you are always teetering on the edge of survival. Once you are there it is tough to get out because it is easy to get stuck in a limited reward loop. Although, unlike FTL, I'm finding the end level pretty easy. Making it there past 4 islands is the hard part.

I love the timeline mechanic so I can keep my war hardened pilots. It makes it even more soul crushing when you lose them but at least you can always build them back up.

Oh, and F*** blitzkrieg. So many ways to get crushed early, with a rookie pilot, until you can do a couple upgrades.

Overall, I love the game and am in complete awe that they were able to strike that "one more turn" lighting twice. Really looking forward to unlocking all the squads and pilots.

Jonman wrote:

Oh for F***'s sake.

Steam says I'm 17 hours in, albeit that some of that is idle time.

I just now realized (because it was pointed out in an RPS article about the game) that there is a "RESET TURN" button. This could have gotten me out of a good portion of my prior deaths had I known about it.

< infinitefacepalm.gif >

YO WHAT?! I DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT THIS EITHER.

That , the movement thing mentioned by tuffalo, and pressing Alt to see turn order were essential things in my finally grokking certain mech squads and how they can do well.

Jonman wrote:

I've spent the last day watching you lot post about beating the game, and feeling like I must suck at games.

Right there with you! I've played a number of hours now and still haven't even come close to beating it. I'm still only two islands in, too!

tuffalobuffalo wrote:

You may have not realized that you can move all 3 mechs and undo every move, not just the last mech. Taking any actions will kill the undo option for all of them, though. I didn't know that until it was mentioned on Giant Bomb.

And this proves my point! I did know you could undo one mech's moves, but not all three if you don't do an action.

Still, I'm loving this game. I haven't played a game where I needed to sit there and stare at the screen just thinking for a long time. And then when it just clicks and you see what you need to do and you take a really successful turn, that's some super satisfying stuff.

I haven't beaten normal as of yet. I'll be putting some more time in today. Victory shall be mine.

I picked up most of the mechanics from the wee tutorial, brief as it was. Still I managed to forget a few, mind you.

d4m0 wrote:

I haven't played a game where I needed to sit there and stare at the screen just thinking for a long time. And then when it just clicks and you see what you need to do and you take a really successful turn, that's some super satisfying stuff.

I was thinking exactly this myself just the other day. Satisfying indeed!

I'm definitely not liking the Zenith Guard. Laser guy is fairly powerful, but ramming guy taking damage on his attack limits his use. The 3rd guy can save your bacon with the shield and move. As a whole they seem like a difficult bunch.

Well, I was doing fine until I parked laser guy next to the satellite launch. I thought the shield would protect him, but it didn't. Things went downhill after that. Still, they seem like a weaker bunch than the first 2 squads.

Well, it took ten hours, and I may have gone at it the hard way (Normal difficulty, standard squad, all four islands), but I got my first win . As with FTL, I love that it's something I can just pick up and play for 15 minutes or so when I have a moment, which slots it into places that games like Civ 6 and Witcher 3 don't fit into. The overall speed of the campaign, combined with getting to keep a pilot from play through to play through makes failing feel like a productive learning experience rather than a punishment, which I really dig.

With this one out of the way, I look forward to activating and playing around with the other squads!

Apparently this just came out on Xbox as well. It seems like something that ought to be played on pc or iPad, but with my poor vision the big ass HD display of the Xbox might be quite enjoyable.

I’ve read enough here to be confident that it will be money well spent. It will also be a nice diversion from Fortnight BR. Which I really suck at, but can’t stop playing. Into the Breach will be a great pallet cleanser.

It should work fine with a controller since it's all turn based. That said, the mouse interface is kinda perfect. Can't wait for it to get on the Switch.

I just tried Flame Behemoths and did a break the dam mission. No way to break it unless you force enemies to do it for you.

tuffalobuffalo wrote:

It should work fine with a controller since it's all turn based. That said, the mouse interface is kinda perfect. Can't wait for it to get on the Switch.

Has it been announced?

That's all that has kept me from buying it so far, knowing I'd rather have it on Switch. But all the good talk here is convincing me

EvilDead wrote:

I just tried Flame Behemoths and did a break the dam mission. No way to break it unless you force enemies to do it for you.

You can always push your own units into it with the titan or artillery guy, but yeah that's one of the trickier ones for the flame guys.

I finally toppled normal. I rolled with the Rift Walkers. And all four islands. It was great fun. I was within one pylon of losing my mechs, and thus the battle, for the final three rounds, with the reset already utilised! Some tense moments were had.

Awe, darn it. I was wrong. There is some other game called pit people that I mistook for this.