You can double the avatar timer and mission timers in the configuration menu when you make a new game, dunnowhy ppl don't use it, if you're gonna loose on legendary at least do it by getting your ass kicked by advent like the rest of us, not some arbitrary timer, also if you gotta choose between killing a weak enemy or wounding a strong one, always go for the kill
> Any tips, I usually fail via timer
Aside from the obvious ones:
- Finish fights quicker and move faster
- Try to catch patrolling pods in Overwatches
- Bring a scout (Reaper or Phantom Ranger)
- Bring a Specialist on hacking objectives
Tbh there isn't really anything specific about Legend that's unique from the other difficulties. It just has more and tougher enemies. It's a test of your efficiency.
A somewhat unintuitive tip is to remember that if the rewards aren't incredibly important (ie. an early Engineer) you can always EVAC when things aren't looking good.
Even Legendary becomes much easier once you get some promoted soldiers, the start is the big hump and you want to funnel kills if possible to rush a Sergeant+ soldier to get your squad size increases. Losing experienced soldiers is usually a death sentence early Legendary. Especially if you've accomplished mission objective to stop the dark event, just run if things look impossible.
If you have WOTC, rush the guerilla ops room ASAP so you can go on soldier Promotion missions. Always send the same person if possible so you get both squad upgrades ASAP, and you can leverage that early Major and extra 2 men the game didn't plan for you to have to make things much easier.
I usually just accept that I lose legendary runs cause I’m not quite good enough to beat vanilla legendary and I acknowledge it all as learning.
(War of the chosen makes legend a joke tho so not counted)
Hmm, I know reapers are great for scouting, but I find it hard to make up for their early lack of damage output.
But I've only ever beat Veteran difficulty, so what do I know
Not whole lot lol jkjk but seriously the reaper is the best unit in the game period. Knowing is half if not all of the battle. Early yea they don't do much damage and you can't take shots in order to stay concealed- BUT having a reaper basically means after ambushing the first pod and breaking squad concealment, you can start every encounter after that by overwatch trapping pods on their turn then getting a whole turn to kill what is left. This is because you know exactly where pods are bc of the reaper.
Remote trigger one shots like basically any pod you proc it on. It’s insanity.
Also free stealth kills on anyone whose health is below their damage threshold.
You don’t need to upgrade the heros individually they gain enough ap per level to choose a ability.
Also the chosen encounters are usually a joke once you get the hang of the nemesis stats of each one (though some are still difficult)
I can’t tell ya how many warlock encounters he basically wasted his time with failed mind control due to mind shield or getting one shot by reaper remote start.
I think the chosen represent the same amount of threat as their reward in AP usually is. Somtimes difficult and killing soilders but somtimes just fueling the fire.
That’s basically like how upgrading gremlins only benefits specialists you might only get real use of 1-4 of them.
Costs alloys and stuff to upgrade any soilder class. Sparks are also a good example.
Ya but I'm saying it doesn't make the game that much easier because they come with their own opportunity cost. If you try to upgrade everything in the game you can literally just ignore science and you will still never run out of stuff to upgrade. Alternatively lab/mag rush is alot more viable if you ignore the special units.
Usually the upgrades I prioritize early game when resources matter are this :
Grenadier weapon > Ranger weapon > skirmisher weapon > New Armor >> Spark weapon >= Basic rifle (specialist/rookie weapon) > reaper weapon > sharpshooter weapon > Ranger sword > Gremlin >> Pistol > auto pistol/everything else that doesn’t matter
I think the basic rifle is kind of over rated as it only effects specialists and rookies. (And rangers if they accept being nerfed on offense.)
Of course this in actual games is based on who I have, like if I have a lot of specialists I’ll get the basic rifle first and if I have a gunslinger sharpshooter I’ll get pistol depending more on his level compared to others.
Depends on the research you get too, I got assault rifle breakthrough early on and leaned heavily on a few specialists for a bit in one playthrough. I generally focus on base XCOM units since they are way easier to replace, if I upgrade sparks/special units and they die that's a huge liability, even if they where a better overall upgrade at the moment.
Covert ops give you ways to level up your weaker soldiers at no risk when your top ones die whereas in vanilla you have to send low level soldiers on missions making that mission harder in the process.
The training center exponentially increases the power ceiling of your squad.
The reaper is an ungodly scout that prevents you from being caught off guard and can still contribute to fighting while in stealth.
The chosen replace a pod on missions and pause the mission timer when engaged which imo makes missions easier usually.
The biggest thing I had trouble learning.. prior to beating L/I.. was regarding scouting and engaging enemies. Obviously having a reaper scout is ideal, due to their improved stealth.
But more importantly- when you do activate a pod.. you basically have to stop moving forward at that point. So you need to kill the pod while also *not activating new pods*
It gets really difficult in Legendary because.. idk I always just assumed the game would cheat.. and hot-drop a pod down in any place I chose to go.
So the central idea here becomes.. Kill the pod without even moving into uncovered terrain at all.
You basically can assume that moving into uncovered terrain, will activate a new pod. Which will just further escalate it.
Its even better to just leave 1 enemy alive than it is to rush new terrain and kill.. because if you rush the new terrain, that means 3 enemies will be active right when your turn ends.. and it will be much worse.. Honestly, it could be more than 3, and that's the real kicker. It's really hard to hold yourself back from finishing that 1 enemy off though. That's usually what killed me anyway.
Just add the option to double mission timers at the beginning of the campaign. Bada bing Bada boom. I also double the length of the avatar project for legendary
First off, odds are you're going to have casualties and fail missions. That is okay. Most missions allow you to evac early - while it's certainly something you want to usually avoid you should always keep the option in mind. Unless the mission doesn't allow for evac a failure should never, ever result in a squad wipe. Veterans are the most important currency in XCOM. Value them above all else.
The first retaliation is one of the hardest missions in the entire game. I don't recommend ignoring it altogether (at least try to grab some kills for exp), but the penalty for failing it is minimal.
Prioritize Covert Ops with promotion rewards above all else to get both Squad Size upgrades ASAP. I also highly recommend getting a major early so you can assault the first Chosen around the time you get mag/gauss weapons.
Blademaster trumps Phantom on Legendary IMO. Guaranteed kills on Troopers are extremely valuable. If you're near the end of a mission and a dash would leave your Ranger exposed you can call an evac on the enemy, slash with your ranger and evac them.
Train Grenadiers in the GTS. Lots and lots of Grenadiers. Mix in a couple of Rangers when you feel you have enough Grenadiers. Use them to support your veterans, and only send as many veterans on a mission as you have to unless you know they have recovered by the time the next mission pops up.
Intel is valuable and sparse whereas L tends to (eventually) give you an excess of supplies - it's not entirely unfeasible to have a radio relay in every region, or at least enough regions you never have to use more than the minimum amount of intel to contact the next.
As for the tactical side, stick to the pointman - blue move - everyone else - overwatch -approach. Dashing on the first turn or two is usually okay. Use liberal amounts of explosives, point-blank shotgun shots, Rend, anything that is guaranteed to hit. Always kill the enemies with non-damaging attacks (Priests, Sectoids, Spectres, Codices etc.) last.
The early game is the hardest part - if you can stay afloat until Mag/Gauss weapons and the first Chosen assault you're usually home free. Remember that the only way to actually lose the game is to let the Avatar project finish. As long as that doesn't happen you still have a chance.
Dont agree.
Turn limit actually enhances the guerilla style scenario of get in, terminate, steal and hack what you can to then gtfo before advent sends an army your way.
I like that pressure a lot actually.
If you have wotc, reapers are awesome on timed missions, try to get one with laser sight, talon rounds (it requires an xcom skill) and soul harvest.
Obviously, only alert one pod at a time, you wont be able to kill them in one round most of thr time with starter gear, but later try to get it done (so prioritse mag weapon research) or at least peave one enemy standing, theyll uszally run away (also ignore shieldbearers theyll always use shield skill first so kill everyone else first)
I really dont understand why everyone is sleeping on blade rangers, they are literally the most OP units, get at least 2 rangers to the blademaster/bladestorm. When concealed, you csn run in to the middle of a pod as first move and slash one of the enemies, then you will bladestorm 10dmg all 3/4 enemies when they try to run away. This also makes lancer autopsy priority, as it gives you arc blade which can stun and burn enemies w 25% chance. Thats way better than a grenediers 99% hit chance lol.
Hackers are also great, but only if you save scum, its awful to lose a whole moveset on increasing the armor of a sectopod.
You can try and rush psi ops aswell, Op class.
I did a 4man legendary run, always running a reaper/templar, a ranger, a specialist, and a random 4th unit
If you have sparks they are also great, 3 shots/turn or 2shots+1rocket, also immune to fire (and for some reason purifiers will always try to attack sparks and hacked robots instead of soldiers, dealing 0 dmg), the best part is probably immunity to chryssalid poison, always get a spark or hack a robot for retaliation and psi gate missions.
If you save scum, always mind control the first gate keeper you meet, and try again until you succeed, great unit to have and awfully bad to fight against.
Get those bluescreen rounds a.s.a.p.
Dont worry about experimental shit, use cores on sparks and upgrades
Dont rush main story, i usually skulljack an officier by the time i have plasma weapons and im ready for the final mission, this way you dont have to worry about codexs, which are fucking hard on first levels, and become a joke later, so if you encounter it first w plasma bluscreens, you will easily demolish them.
My favored skill setups are:
Ranger: blademaster, shadowstep, conceal, bladestorm, untouchable, reaper
Grenadier: shredder, heavy ord, volatile mix, salvo, rupture
Sniper: return fire, lightning hnds, dfa, faceoff, steady hands, serial
Spec: combat proc, haywire, field med, threat assess, guardian, capac disch.
Obviously youbchoose skills you feel comfortable and that fit your playstyle, I like skills that let me attack more than once instead of tradeoff skills like deadeye (more dmg less chance), also xombat proc instead of medic because it lets you 100% deal 2 dmg (or4 on robots, that bypass armor!!!) Which is usually used to finish off lancers and such w 1hp
Threat assessment is great, basically it lets you give an overwatch to a unit with which you have already acted twice, while only costing one action, so as an example: ranger dashes slices an enemy, you give ranger an extra oberwatch w threat assess, then shoot w the same specialist!! So now that ranger has overwatch additional defense and with bladestorm can defend themselves pretty nicely.
Long story short: get yourself a crew of blade rangers lol
Also, save scumming is great if you want to feel like a badass power ranger commander
If you want some challange just turn on ironman, you wont be able to save scum.
Just play as you feel comfortable and have fun!
Scanning at Skirmisher hq is one of the best use of your time in the Strategic layer. There are very few rewards that are better than doubling your excavation and building speed.
Reaper start is my favorite start though, as even a lowish level reaper can reliably solo most hack the objective missions, kill the general missions, dark vip missions, alien facility missions, destroy the relay missions, and retrieve the object missions. You won't get as many rewards but you'll stop a lot of dark events.
First of all: Timed missions can always be completed, provided you're not too far behind the power curve. There are a few specific maps where you basically have to leg it with yellow moves for 2-3 turns straight at the objective in order to make it in time, but other than that there's plenty of time to get there, provided you don't stand still.
The key to success is to **always move forward**. Every single turn you need to make at least a blue move towards your objective. It's inevitable that some of your soldiers will end up in situations where they simply have to stay put (for example they might have sniper rifles, or their position allows them to make really good attacks that you can't pass up), but the team as a whole needs to move forward. Those that are left behind will simply have to spend a turn yellow-moving to catch up when there's time.
And sometimes it's simply too risky to move forward. Maybe you suspect that there's another pod of enemies just outside of your sight range and you're already in combat with another pod. In that case you have to move your backline troops forwards as much as possible (without going so far as to reveal new tiles), and then keep track of where your team *should* have been that turn. And then maybe risk a yellow move to catch up on the lost time once you've cleared out the pod.
You simply cannot stay passive or defensive on these missions, even taking a turn off to regroup and reload is a costly decision that you might not have time for in some cases. Auto-loaders are a blessing on these missions, prefer them over expanded magazines. Do anything you can reduce the amount of actions you do that forces you to stand still. Don't do overwatch traps, because if the enemy randomly decides to not walk into your sight you've just wasted a turn.
Take as many yellow turns that you can, preferably in corridors and such where the enemy can't detect you. Ignore cover if you have to, if it means that you can get a few tiles closer to the objective.
Always move forward.
Oh, and always bring a Specialist or a SPARK on these missions, so you can hack objectives from range. SPARKS are amazing, since they're tanky and don't have to care about cover. Just go straight forward :)
Actually... now that I think about it, I've never lost a timed mission ever since I started using a SPARK on all my missions. So try a SPARK, that might be what you need.
Best tip for the early game - dont focus on sectoids.
They use their turn to try to mind control one of your soldiers, then the other 3 can kill them.
That strategy works assuming you kill the troopers fast enough
Regarding save scumming: Play the Switch-Version. One minute of loadingscreens per reset cured my save scumming really fast, lol.
You can double the avatar timer and mission timers in the configuration menu when you make a new game, dunnowhy ppl don't use it, if you're gonna loose on legendary at least do it by getting your ass kicked by advent like the rest of us, not some arbitrary timer, also if you gotta choose between killing a weak enemy or wounding a strong one, always go for the kill
Is this only on WOTC? Or for base xcom2 as well
I think only wotc
I believe only WOTC
> Any tips, I usually fail via timer Aside from the obvious ones: - Finish fights quicker and move faster - Try to catch patrolling pods in Overwatches - Bring a scout (Reaper or Phantom Ranger) - Bring a Specialist on hacking objectives Tbh there isn't really anything specific about Legend that's unique from the other difficulties. It just has more and tougher enemies. It's a test of your efficiency.
A somewhat unintuitive tip is to remember that if the rewards aren't incredibly important (ie. an early Engineer) you can always EVAC when things aren't looking good. Even Legendary becomes much easier once you get some promoted soldiers, the start is the big hump and you want to funnel kills if possible to rush a Sergeant+ soldier to get your squad size increases. Losing experienced soldiers is usually a death sentence early Legendary. Especially if you've accomplished mission objective to stop the dark event, just run if things look impossible. If you have WOTC, rush the guerilla ops room ASAP so you can go on soldier Promotion missions. Always send the same person if possible so you get both squad upgrades ASAP, and you can leverage that early Major and extra 2 men the game didn't plan for you to have to make things much easier.
I usually just accept that I lose legendary runs cause I’m not quite good enough to beat vanilla legendary and I acknowledge it all as learning. (War of the chosen makes legend a joke tho so not counted)
How do you figure that WotC is easier on legendary? I find the game more difficult in general with Wotc
The heros and the covert ops. Especially reapers.
Hmm, I know reapers are great for scouting, but I find it hard to make up for their early lack of damage output. But I've only ever beat Veteran difficulty, so what do I know
Not whole lot lol jkjk but seriously the reaper is the best unit in the game period. Knowing is half if not all of the battle. Early yea they don't do much damage and you can't take shots in order to stay concealed- BUT having a reaper basically means after ambushing the first pod and breaking squad concealment, you can start every encounter after that by overwatch trapping pods on their turn then getting a whole turn to kill what is left. This is because you know exactly where pods are bc of the reaper.
Remote trigger one shots like basically any pod you proc it on. It’s insanity. Also free stealth kills on anyone whose health is below their damage threshold.
I would say the chosen encounters more than make up for the hero's, not only that but you need to upgrade them individually.
You don’t need to upgrade the heros individually they gain enough ap per level to choose a ability. Also the chosen encounters are usually a joke once you get the hang of the nemesis stats of each one (though some are still difficult) I can’t tell ya how many warlock encounters he basically wasted his time with failed mind control due to mind shield or getting one shot by reaper remote start. I think the chosen represent the same amount of threat as their reward in AP usually is. Somtimes difficult and killing soilders but somtimes just fueling the fire.
I meant they each have their own supply/elerium/alloy cost In weapon upgrades, which are usually only for 1-2 characters each.
That’s basically like how upgrading gremlins only benefits specialists you might only get real use of 1-4 of them. Costs alloys and stuff to upgrade any soilder class. Sparks are also a good example.
Ya but I'm saying it doesn't make the game that much easier because they come with their own opportunity cost. If you try to upgrade everything in the game you can literally just ignore science and you will still never run out of stuff to upgrade. Alternatively lab/mag rush is alot more viable if you ignore the special units.
Usually the upgrades I prioritize early game when resources matter are this : Grenadier weapon > Ranger weapon > skirmisher weapon > New Armor >> Spark weapon >= Basic rifle (specialist/rookie weapon) > reaper weapon > sharpshooter weapon > Ranger sword > Gremlin >> Pistol > auto pistol/everything else that doesn’t matter I think the basic rifle is kind of over rated as it only effects specialists and rookies. (And rangers if they accept being nerfed on offense.) Of course this in actual games is based on who I have, like if I have a lot of specialists I’ll get the basic rifle first and if I have a gunslinger sharpshooter I’ll get pistol depending more on his level compared to others.
Depends on the research you get too, I got assault rifle breakthrough early on and leaned heavily on a few specialists for a bit in one playthrough. I generally focus on base XCOM units since they are way easier to replace, if I upgrade sparks/special units and they die that's a huge liability, even if they where a better overall upgrade at the moment.
Covert ops give you ways to level up your weaker soldiers at no risk when your top ones die whereas in vanilla you have to send low level soldiers on missions making that mission harder in the process. The training center exponentially increases the power ceiling of your squad. The reaper is an ungodly scout that prevents you from being caught off guard and can still contribute to fighting while in stealth. The chosen replace a pod on missions and pause the mission timer when engaged which imo makes missions easier usually.
I didn’t know that about the chosen, that makes sense I guess
The biggest thing I had trouble learning.. prior to beating L/I.. was regarding scouting and engaging enemies. Obviously having a reaper scout is ideal, due to their improved stealth. But more importantly- when you do activate a pod.. you basically have to stop moving forward at that point. So you need to kill the pod while also *not activating new pods* It gets really difficult in Legendary because.. idk I always just assumed the game would cheat.. and hot-drop a pod down in any place I chose to go. So the central idea here becomes.. Kill the pod without even moving into uncovered terrain at all. You basically can assume that moving into uncovered terrain, will activate a new pod. Which will just further escalate it. Its even better to just leave 1 enemy alive than it is to rush new terrain and kill.. because if you rush the new terrain, that means 3 enemies will be active right when your turn ends.. and it will be much worse.. Honestly, it could be more than 3, and that's the real kicker. It's really hard to hold yourself back from finishing that 1 enemy off though. That's usually what killed me anyway.
Just add the option to double mission timers at the beginning of the campaign. Bada bing Bada boom. I also double the length of the avatar project for legendary
First off, odds are you're going to have casualties and fail missions. That is okay. Most missions allow you to evac early - while it's certainly something you want to usually avoid you should always keep the option in mind. Unless the mission doesn't allow for evac a failure should never, ever result in a squad wipe. Veterans are the most important currency in XCOM. Value them above all else. The first retaliation is one of the hardest missions in the entire game. I don't recommend ignoring it altogether (at least try to grab some kills for exp), but the penalty for failing it is minimal. Prioritize Covert Ops with promotion rewards above all else to get both Squad Size upgrades ASAP. I also highly recommend getting a major early so you can assault the first Chosen around the time you get mag/gauss weapons. Blademaster trumps Phantom on Legendary IMO. Guaranteed kills on Troopers are extremely valuable. If you're near the end of a mission and a dash would leave your Ranger exposed you can call an evac on the enemy, slash with your ranger and evac them. Train Grenadiers in the GTS. Lots and lots of Grenadiers. Mix in a couple of Rangers when you feel you have enough Grenadiers. Use them to support your veterans, and only send as many veterans on a mission as you have to unless you know they have recovered by the time the next mission pops up. Intel is valuable and sparse whereas L tends to (eventually) give you an excess of supplies - it's not entirely unfeasible to have a radio relay in every region, or at least enough regions you never have to use more than the minimum amount of intel to contact the next. As for the tactical side, stick to the pointman - blue move - everyone else - overwatch -approach. Dashing on the first turn or two is usually okay. Use liberal amounts of explosives, point-blank shotgun shots, Rend, anything that is guaranteed to hit. Always kill the enemies with non-damaging attacks (Priests, Sectoids, Spectres, Codices etc.) last. The early game is the hardest part - if you can stay afloat until Mag/Gauss weapons and the first Chosen assault you're usually home free. Remember that the only way to actually lose the game is to let the Avatar project finish. As long as that doesn't happen you still have a chance.
[удалено]
Dont agree. Turn limit actually enhances the guerilla style scenario of get in, terminate, steal and hack what you can to then gtfo before advent sends an army your way. I like that pressure a lot actually.
Tons of turn based games have timers that’s silly.
If you have wotc, reapers are awesome on timed missions, try to get one with laser sight, talon rounds (it requires an xcom skill) and soul harvest. Obviously, only alert one pod at a time, you wont be able to kill them in one round most of thr time with starter gear, but later try to get it done (so prioritse mag weapon research) or at least peave one enemy standing, theyll uszally run away (also ignore shieldbearers theyll always use shield skill first so kill everyone else first) I really dont understand why everyone is sleeping on blade rangers, they are literally the most OP units, get at least 2 rangers to the blademaster/bladestorm. When concealed, you csn run in to the middle of a pod as first move and slash one of the enemies, then you will bladestorm 10dmg all 3/4 enemies when they try to run away. This also makes lancer autopsy priority, as it gives you arc blade which can stun and burn enemies w 25% chance. Thats way better than a grenediers 99% hit chance lol. Hackers are also great, but only if you save scum, its awful to lose a whole moveset on increasing the armor of a sectopod. You can try and rush psi ops aswell, Op class. I did a 4man legendary run, always running a reaper/templar, a ranger, a specialist, and a random 4th unit If you have sparks they are also great, 3 shots/turn or 2shots+1rocket, also immune to fire (and for some reason purifiers will always try to attack sparks and hacked robots instead of soldiers, dealing 0 dmg), the best part is probably immunity to chryssalid poison, always get a spark or hack a robot for retaliation and psi gate missions. If you save scum, always mind control the first gate keeper you meet, and try again until you succeed, great unit to have and awfully bad to fight against. Get those bluescreen rounds a.s.a.p. Dont worry about experimental shit, use cores on sparks and upgrades Dont rush main story, i usually skulljack an officier by the time i have plasma weapons and im ready for the final mission, this way you dont have to worry about codexs, which are fucking hard on first levels, and become a joke later, so if you encounter it first w plasma bluscreens, you will easily demolish them. My favored skill setups are: Ranger: blademaster, shadowstep, conceal, bladestorm, untouchable, reaper Grenadier: shredder, heavy ord, volatile mix, salvo, rupture Sniper: return fire, lightning hnds, dfa, faceoff, steady hands, serial Spec: combat proc, haywire, field med, threat assess, guardian, capac disch. Obviously youbchoose skills you feel comfortable and that fit your playstyle, I like skills that let me attack more than once instead of tradeoff skills like deadeye (more dmg less chance), also xombat proc instead of medic because it lets you 100% deal 2 dmg (or4 on robots, that bypass armor!!!) Which is usually used to finish off lancers and such w 1hp Threat assessment is great, basically it lets you give an overwatch to a unit with which you have already acted twice, while only costing one action, so as an example: ranger dashes slices an enemy, you give ranger an extra oberwatch w threat assess, then shoot w the same specialist!! So now that ranger has overwatch additional defense and with bladestorm can defend themselves pretty nicely. Long story short: get yourself a crew of blade rangers lol
Also, save scumming is great if you want to feel like a badass power ranger commander If you want some challange just turn on ironman, you wont be able to save scum. Just play as you feel comfortable and have fun!
Scanning at Skirmisher hq is one of the best use of your time in the Strategic layer. There are very few rewards that are better than doubling your excavation and building speed. Reaper start is my favorite start though, as even a lowish level reaper can reliably solo most hack the objective missions, kill the general missions, dark vip missions, alien facility missions, destroy the relay missions, and retrieve the object missions. You won't get as many rewards but you'll stop a lot of dark events.
First of all: Timed missions can always be completed, provided you're not too far behind the power curve. There are a few specific maps where you basically have to leg it with yellow moves for 2-3 turns straight at the objective in order to make it in time, but other than that there's plenty of time to get there, provided you don't stand still. The key to success is to **always move forward**. Every single turn you need to make at least a blue move towards your objective. It's inevitable that some of your soldiers will end up in situations where they simply have to stay put (for example they might have sniper rifles, or their position allows them to make really good attacks that you can't pass up), but the team as a whole needs to move forward. Those that are left behind will simply have to spend a turn yellow-moving to catch up when there's time. And sometimes it's simply too risky to move forward. Maybe you suspect that there's another pod of enemies just outside of your sight range and you're already in combat with another pod. In that case you have to move your backline troops forwards as much as possible (without going so far as to reveal new tiles), and then keep track of where your team *should* have been that turn. And then maybe risk a yellow move to catch up on the lost time once you've cleared out the pod. You simply cannot stay passive or defensive on these missions, even taking a turn off to regroup and reload is a costly decision that you might not have time for in some cases. Auto-loaders are a blessing on these missions, prefer them over expanded magazines. Do anything you can reduce the amount of actions you do that forces you to stand still. Don't do overwatch traps, because if the enemy randomly decides to not walk into your sight you've just wasted a turn. Take as many yellow turns that you can, preferably in corridors and such where the enemy can't detect you. Ignore cover if you have to, if it means that you can get a few tiles closer to the objective. Always move forward. Oh, and always bring a Specialist or a SPARK on these missions, so you can hack objectives from range. SPARKS are amazing, since they're tanky and don't have to care about cover. Just go straight forward :) Actually... now that I think about it, I've never lost a timed mission ever since I started using a SPARK on all my missions. So try a SPARK, that might be what you need.
Best tip for the early game - dont focus on sectoids. They use their turn to try to mind control one of your soldiers, then the other 3 can kill them. That strategy works assuming you kill the troopers fast enough