You know the game is still in development and not balanced yet.
Don't play early-access and complain it's not polished.

Originally posted by normski:

I've tried to like this. I was so looking forward to it after Xeno 1 but constantly getting 1 shotted from off screen even when wearing heavy guardian armour is tough.

So... why did you stop looking forwards to it? That specific issue/"issue" is fixed/"fixed" in Xenonauts 2 - no enemy has greater vision-range than your soldiers, unlike in Xenonauts 1.

Originally posted by normski:

Its very hard to get to see my soldiers as anything other than fodder. Meh.

They aren't "fodder". They're soldiers. Soldiers die. Sometimes "randomly".

But if you're taking more than 1-2 casualties in a mission chances are you're doing something wrong.

The best way to prevent one-shots is to train your soldiers like crazy. And heavy armor, but training matters alot more IMO. First, ditch all soldiers with starting stats under 40. Then capture every enemy asap for research and training efficiency boosts By the end of month 2 in my commander ironman run on the experimental branch, all my guys (minus 2 rookies that died before I had my medical bay in and upgraded) had like 20-30+ extra stats in each category. This means they had 70+ hp, which by itself can stop early one-shots now that weapon variance was lowered. Then add on heavy armor of the best type you can get, and you can almost guarantee no one shots. Cyberdrones are an exception, but you can and should be able to one-round kill them by alternating grenades (or flashbangs) and shooting them in the back.

Just as a test, I kept the STARTING ARMOR until the stealth suit armor was unlocked, just to see how many soldiers would live. In those 2-3 months, I only lost 2 more soldiers out of the 17 I got in the first month.

Couldn't agree more, this has been in beta/early access for 3+ years and its still got basic fundamental issues even being the second game in a series.

Originally posted by Sleazy:

Couldn't agree more, this has been in beta/early access for 3+ years and its still got basic fundamental issues even being the second game in a series.

Something here has issues, and it might be this game, but it is also definitely this poster, based on his post history XD

Originally posted by normski:

I've tried to like this. I was so looking forward to it after Xeno 1 but constantly getting 1 shotted from off screen even when wearing heavy guardian armour is tough. Its very hard to get to see my soldiers as anything other than fodder. Meh.

That was the case more for X1 than X2 imo ...

Guardian armor yes but did you toggle to heavy variant (in armory)?
Some random one shots may happen but it´s rather rare event.
If you keep dying all over again you need to adapt to the situation and use more tools, try different tactics etc.

You can use Shielded soldiers and spam smokes to have better chance to pass through open areas and survive.
Shield is also good to breach UFO´s or building in combination with flash/shock grenades (unless Androns = use smoke)

Hi!
My suggestion: learn from youtube vids! See how others win or die their way through - lol.
I once got annoyed by various comments like: unplayable, too hard, etc. and made my very first youtube video with Xenonauts 2.

I played on “Veteran” in German without comments.
At 1:11:06 the game crashed and I had to reload - no advantage of course!
It was a landed spaceship and of course no one in my squad died!

My Vid++ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLVZ60hig5Q

Originally posted by Magicdancer:

Guardian armor yes but did you toggle to heavy variant (in armory)?

I forget that not everyone puts the heavy variant on (I wish I could set it as default tbh).

Regarding the deaths though, it happens. But ultimately the xenos shouldn't be able to see you or shoot at you without you knowing they're there in the first place if you position your soldiers correctly.
Always check your blind spots and use your safety blinker when driving humanity forward against the alien threat.