I haven't met a Sectopod yet, but I think you need lasers to hack them apart very easily, otherwise, use every explosive you have, I guess...

Supposedly you can capture mechanical enemies, but every mission I've been on that had any was too dicey to really try. You might need the upgraded stun gun which I've been either too materials or cash poor to get so far.
Sending a Rookie out without good armor is mostly just using them as fire bait. On one UFO crash I had so many team mates down with injuries I had to bring 3 Rookies, only one came home...
Taking "In The Zone" is painful, since the other option rocks so hard, but it's still the right choice.

In the zone together with a plasma sniper makes short work of any crysalids. They are never in cover.

Right, I forgot about the laser vulnerability. The heavy feat that does double damage to mechanicals is also very handy.

One of the very useful benefits of capturing aliens alive is that the equipment doesn't explode. Very handy in stocking up on those plasma rifles/heavy plasma.

Also, I was just at the most boring party in the last five years. Normally I would ask for the drunk thread, but I'm not even drunk!

Yeah, I thought about what I wrote afterwards and realized, well, they must hear and see the ship landing when the team arrives. So if the game were too realistic, the aliens would already know we are there. They would probably be shooting before the skyranger even lands. Ah well.

And my friend Chris said there was no way to sell the normal pistols in the game what an Idiot. He was like nope no way to sell em can't get rid of most of the things I have for better stuff I thought to myself after playnig the original from 1993 that he had to be either really stupid or his game was buggered

Damn, dude, you're probably right, I should upgrade that fucking Arc Thrower and use it more often!
Well, your friend is sort of right, someone has to randomly request a stockpile of specific items and you have 20 days to claim the bounty they offer should you supply them.

But yeah, having 10 of everything around is damned smart, some of those bounties are serious cash.

Cashish could there be anything good come of it! Also upgrade that arc thrower to the HILT!

Yeah, I finally got to super charge my med kits, you would not believe what my Colonel Support can heal for now:)

It's important to note, I've never played XCOM before, so I don't know some of the more "obvious" things, I kind of have to figure them out or be told (I haven't read many online guides, beyond looking up 1 or 2 things on a wiki).

FREE GAME

UFO: ALIEN INVASION

http://ufoai.org/wiki/index.php/Download

Exactly like Xcom : enemy unknown but you can move and Pan the maps something you couldn't do in Xcom

Wow, near the endgame now and my A list squad kicks massive Alien ass. Need to pimp a second sniper into "in the zone" and fire at others line of sight.

The game feels very short, but still, I got already 19 hours into it. And the combat is so much fun, I will keep it around for several more playthroughs.

I have a feeling E.T. would be fucked in my game too:

http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2012/10/12

If I'd moved my sniper that turn he's get a plasma pistol to the face... unless I was planning to arc gun his ass, bring him back to my base, and torture information out of the bastard.

Yeah, so far, great game, I can see SimonG is still a solid day or two ahead of me, though.

My A-List squad, now that they're pimped the hell out, can bring down a small army of charging aliens. Three of them have psi powers, only one with psi isn't at max-psi rank, everyone is at max military rank (or whatever it's called), and they're all walking around with plasma weapons (and a few lasers by choice, though I didn't see any Sectopod resistance to plasma either).

I do have a backup, second sniper, but I really don't find him necessary for any mission. I have a hard time wanting to equip anything but the armor with the grappling hooks on most missions though. Reaching high ground fast is extremely useful.

I'm at a dead end somewhat. I need an A-class psyker to advance but my highest tier psyker isn't enough. Unfortunately my psykers regularly end up in sick-bay, therefore levelling them is a chore.

Btw, Mind Control is no longer a game breaker like it was in the old games. Very good game design.
The Ghost armor rules above all. Great stats, grappling hook and ghosting. Unfortunately, he is so damn expensive.

Ironically, the best heady armor in the game is the one that flies. I got my heavies in flying and the rest in ghost armor. Haven't used psyker armor yet.

Oh, and I finally had a Excellent/Excellent/Excellent Terror mission!

Still downloading :(
(Can only download during the night, as my gaming PC is a high noise machine and my wife hates it to have noises in the room) :)

So, 32 hours into the game so far (after 2 restarts), I'm currently at the point were I just need to build up my forces and assault (I think). I do have the psykers, which I'm currently leveling up a bit more, and I hope I'll be able to finish it in the next few days, since I'll be at a conference starting Thursday, and I fear my play time will be diminished.
So far, I've done all the research available, but I've never managed to capture a robotic enemy. Also, Archangel + Plasma Sniper + Double tap seems to work really fine against sectopods, assuming of course it's an open mission (like a UFO Crash). 2 crits of 19 damage each leave the sectopod with low enough health a pistol can kill it.
Seems like most of the abilities though are useful, even if I still have my doubts about the +4 healing one.