Dimension UFO Combat (Apocalypse)

General Suggestion and Hints when fighting in the Alien Dimension, unless its Mega-Primus combat you want.

Aerial Combat

The Alien Dimension contains all the UFO craft built in the preceeding weeks which did not get sent to Mega-Primus, and the alien craft that escaped the city and made it back home. If a particular craft from early encounters in the city has not yet been recovered (and researched) try to avoid shooting it down in the alien homeworld. A mission may be scheduled with that craft soon.

• Do not send any agents on the first visit (nothing to do there).
• When first planning to visit the 'other side', either use one expendable hybrid vehicle (usually the Dimension probe) or assemble a large strike force of all your hybrid combat craft prepped for a difficult air battle. The place is swarming with alien ships!
• A strike force composed of your hybrid craft should be split up into three loose squads and be sent through each dimension gate, with the most powerful attackers going first. On the new day, your craft will appear in threes because three gates were used back home. The first craft sent, is the first to arrive.
• The alien buildings and tube structures are invunerable.
• UFOs patrol the alien homeworld in a random fashion but will target the nearest craft if it gets too close. Tactical planning of your movement around the barren, hostile landscape should limit exposure to being overwhelmed. This is relevant still, when destruction of all hostile craft is your goal.
• Use the buildings to hide behind (and sneak out every so oftern) until most of the alien craft have expended their supply of missiles. Although a defensive tactic, offense is usually the best defense. Kill 'em quick.
• Terrain can be used to limit the threat of missiles.
• Combat can be easier if your craft move to the side of oncoming UFOs. The aliens shoot directly at your craft and don't lead-the-target but your craft usually hit the hostile becuase it is coming head-on. This depends on the type of weapon equipped on your hybrid craft due to the firing arc.

• If the Mothership and/or the Battleship aren't present (assuming they haven't been shot down yet) it means that they have been sent to Mega-Primus on missions, giving early warning to X-COM forces on the city.

• The buildings on the Alien Dimension can be used by X-COM craft to land there and recharge their shields without being harassed by UFOs. However, they will take value time to land and take off from the building (it can only recover/launch one craft at a time, and only one building at a time is available for landing).

• X-COM transports should be escorted by armed craft. It is very risky to only send a single craft.

• When starting a tactical mission never move the soldiers from the craft from the alien building or you might lose all your soldiers if the building is destroyed and your craft take off (they can't return to the destroyed building once they leave it). Likewise, always make sure your Bio-Trans is all the way down in the launch tube before beginning a mission, and wait for the building to finish collapsing before taking off - otherwise, it is likely to be destroyed by debris, killing all your soldiers.

• When fighting the bigger UFOs if X-COM craft are kept at a distance and moved parallel to the UFO they will still fire at the UFO but it won't fire back.

• Load up your craft with as many Disruption Shields as possible.

• Once you take the down the Battleship, the Mothership and the Control Chamber the alien ships will cease to be a significant threat to your missions.

See Also

• Alien Ships
• Alien Dimension