Difference between revisions of "ADVENT's Agenda (LW2)"

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(Major rewrite based on posts at the Pavonis forums and LW's config files - still incomplete)
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ADVENT's primary goal hasn't changed since vanilla X2: complete the AVATAR project.  Of course, in the beginning, XCOM won't know what this project is or how to disrupt it - but that doesn't mean that the aliens can't complete it without your knowledge and end the campaign. In addition to their primary goal, they also respect the threat that XCOM poses: there is an Advent strategic AI that attempts to respond to the Commander's decisions and playstyle on the strategic layer.
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While ADVENT's primary goal of completing the AVATAR Project is the same in LW 2 as the vanilla game, a number of changes have been introduced on how ADVENT (a.k.a. Strategic AI) will achieve this objective, and how it will react to XCOM's attempts to stop the project. For this propose, ADVENT can activate several different Activities, each with specific requirements to be triggered, and each with different results, if the Activity is completed successfully. XCOM can stop ADVENT's progress by detecting and/or winning the missions spawned by its Activities.
  
 
== AVATAR Project ==
 
== AVATAR Project ==
  
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The Avatar project's progress is unknown to the player initially but has been increased to 20 'pips' before it's game over. To uncover the 'Doom Meter', a player must complete a series of missions to [[Missions (LW2)#Liberation Missions|liberate]] a region for the first time.
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The Avatar project's progress is unknown to the player initially but has been increased to 20 'pips' required before ADVENT can win the game. To uncover the 'Doom Meter', a player must complete a series of missions to [[Missions (LW2)#Liberation Missions|liberate]] a region for the first time.
  
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== Advent Strategic AI ==
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== Strategic AI ==
  
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ADVENT Strategic AI takes the form of three variables in each region: Strength, Vigilance, and Alertness. Strength refers to the overall quantity and quality of forces ADVENT has available in a given region.  Vigilance refers to the attention XCOM has garnered due to its activity.
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When determining its actions, ADVENT's considers 3 main variables: Force, Vigilance, and Alertness. Each variable can also be expressed as Global, reflecting the general situation, or as Regional, representing the local values of each variable for each of the 16 regions.
  
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=== Strength ===
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===Force===
  
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Each region has a 'strength' value that represents how many troops ADVENT have stationed there. This value determines the baseline mission difficulty in each region: each level of strength increases [[Infiltration (LW2)#Enemy Strength | base mission activity level]] by one category, in addition to mission-specific modifiers.  Strength also impacts the likelihood and frequency of spawning missions which pit XCOM against a large contingent of enemy soldiers and which award loot, corpses, and supplies upon completion.  Successful completion of these missions not only awards XCOM with resources, they also reduce ADVENT strength by 1 in the region.
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Force represents the type of units that ADVENT will deploy during missions. This value has a defined range of 1-20 and it will periodically increase by +1 when ADVENT completes the Activity called 'Scheduled Offworld Reinforcements'.
  
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=== Vigilance ===
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* The Force level is always the same for all regions. All regions start with a Regional Force (RF) value of 1, and the Total Force level is the sum of all regions, or 16 at start.
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* A low Force level gives a bonus the detection of missions at the start of a campaign on Rookie and Veteran difficulties, although this advantage doesn't last long as the Force level increases.
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* The Force level determines when additional soldiers appear on the Black Market, with the 2nd soldier available when Force level 7 is reached and the 3rd soldier unlocked at level 15.
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* The cost of Black Market personnel is also increased by 7.5% for each Force level raise of 1.
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* Scheduled Off World Reinforcements appears 21 days after the start of a campaign on Rookie, 12 on Legendary. This activity lasts 5-8 days and there's a cool down period of 16 days.
  
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The aliens will move around troops from one region to another in response to XCOM activity, transferring strength from regions with low XCOM activity to regions with high XCOM activity; their propensity to do so is represented by the Vigilance variable associated with each region.
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=== Alert ===
  
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Vigilance is a hidden value and is not visible to the player directly.  ADVENT will attempt to reinforce a region so long as current Strength is below Vigilance, continually moving new troop columns in from adjacent regions and even pulling in troops from across the world. Vigilance decays by one point per week and most missions which XCom is victorious for increase vigilance by one. Monument demolition deliberately increases ADVENT vigilance by substantially more.
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Despite its name, Alert refers to the number of troops available for ADVENT to use in missions, or to move to between regions by using the Reinforce Activity.
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* The Regional Alert (RA) levels are displayed on Geoscape on each region's name, as 'ADVENT Strength'
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* The RA determines the baseline mission difficulty in each region: each level of alert increases [[Infiltration (LW2)#Enemy Strength | base mission activity level]] by one category, in addition to mission-specific modifiers
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* All regions start with a Regional Alert of at least 1, except on Legendary where RA is level 2
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* The Global Alert (GA) level is the sum of all RAs and it is displayed as 'ADVENT's Legions' on the Resistance Management tab on the Commander's Quarters on the Avenger.  
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* Global Alert starting level is 15/20/30/40 for each difficulty level
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* The Reinforce Activity, which results in a Supply Raid if detected by XCOM, will transfer 1 point of Alert level between regions if the activity is completed successfully
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* If XCOM detects and prevents the Troop Maneuvers Activity/Mission, will reduce the region's Alert level by 1
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** It is impossible to win the game by trying to reduce Global Alert to a minimum - ADVENT can always summon more reinforcements than XCOM can destroy them
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* Liberating a region will destroy up to 5 points of the RA value, but the remaining will be distributed by the other regions still under ADVENT's control
  
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Vigilance also affects ADVENTs propensity to run [[Missions (LW2)#Retaliation Missions|retaliation missions]] against XCOM, such as attacking and disrupting the activity and operations of XCOM's local resistance agents or even the Haven itself.
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=== Vigilance ===
  
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=== Alertness ===
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Vigilance represents ADVENT's concern about XCOM/Resistance activities.
  
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''To do.''
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* The Global Vigilance (GV) level, consisting of the sum of all Regional Vigilance levels, can be accessed through Resistance Management, where it is displayed as 'Global Resistance Threat', with different labels:
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** Low (GV value of -10)
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** Guarded (0)
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** Elevated (10)
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** High (20)
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** Severe (30)
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* GV is determined randomly at game start and it can vary between 16-39
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* Regional Vigilance (RV) decays automatically by 1 every week
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* XCOM successful missions increase RV by 1, failures have no effect
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** If the mission was created by ADVENT's Propaganda Activity, such as a Destroy Monument mission, completing it will increase even more the RV value
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** Some missions, like Supply Raids, Troop Maneuvers or Retaliations, will also reduce RV by 1 if completed successfully, cancelling out the automatic RV increase
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** XCOM failure on the Retaliation missions will also reduce RV by either 2 or 4 points, depending on the mission
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* If a region's Vigilance value exceeds the its Alert value, then ADVENT will try to bring additional troops into the region, either through the Reinforce or the Emergency Offworld Reinforcements activities.
  
 
==ADVENT Activities Table==
 
==ADVENT Activities Table==
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* Rebel Income - amount of detection collected by rebels with Intel jobs for the mission to be detected
 
* Rebel Income - amount of detection collected by rebels with Intel jobs for the mission to be detected
 
* Detection - daily pct of the mission being detected, once the Rebel Income requirement is achieved
 
* Detection - daily pct of the mission being detected, once the Rebel Income requirement is achieved
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* Force & Alert Modifiers - the effect the activity will have on the ADVENT Force and Alert levels
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* Force & Alert Modifiers - the effect the activity will have on the ADVENT Force and Alert levels during the mission
 
* Min/Max Vigilance - the range of Vigilance values were the activity is available for ADVENT to perform in a region
 
* Min/Max Vigilance - the range of Vigilance values were the activity is available for ADVENT to perform in a region
 
* Min/Max Alert - the range of Alert values, as the previous setting
 
* Min/Max Alert - the range of Alert values, as the previous setting

Revision as of 20:21, 15 February 2017

While ADVENT's primary goal of completing the AVATAR Project is the same in LW 2 as the vanilla game, a number of changes have been introduced on how ADVENT (a.k.a. Strategic AI) will achieve this objective, and how it will react to XCOM's attempts to stop the project. For this propose, ADVENT can activate several different Activities, each with specific requirements to be triggered, and each with different results, if the Activity is completed successfully. XCOM can stop ADVENT's progress by detecting and/or winning the missions spawned by its Activities.

AVATAR Project

The Avatar project's progress is unknown to the player initially but has been increased to 20 'pips' required before ADVENT can win the game. To uncover the 'Doom Meter', a player must complete a series of missions to liberate a region for the first time.

Strategic AI

When determining its actions, ADVENT's considers 3 main variables: Force, Vigilance, and Alertness. Each variable can also be expressed as Global, reflecting the general situation, or as Regional, representing the local values of each variable for each of the 16 regions.

Force

Force represents the type of units that ADVENT will deploy during missions. This value has a defined range of 1-20 and it will periodically increase by +1 when ADVENT completes the Activity called 'Scheduled Offworld Reinforcements'.

  • The Force level is always the same for all regions. All regions start with a Regional Force (RF) value of 1, and the Total Force level is the sum of all regions, or 16 at start.
  • A low Force level gives a bonus the detection of missions at the start of a campaign on Rookie and Veteran difficulties, although this advantage doesn't last long as the Force level increases.
  • The Force level determines when additional soldiers appear on the Black Market, with the 2nd soldier available when Force level 7 is reached and the 3rd soldier unlocked at level 15.
  • The cost of Black Market personnel is also increased by 7.5% for each Force level raise of 1.
  • Scheduled Off World Reinforcements appears 21 days after the start of a campaign on Rookie, 12 on Legendary. This activity lasts 5-8 days and there's a cool down period of 16 days.

Alert

Despite its name, Alert refers to the number of troops available for ADVENT to use in missions, or to move to between regions by using the Reinforce Activity.

  • The Regional Alert (RA) levels are displayed on Geoscape on each region's name, as 'ADVENT Strength'
  • The RA determines the baseline mission difficulty in each region: each level of alert increases base mission activity level by one category, in addition to mission-specific modifiers
  • All regions start with a Regional Alert of at least 1, except on Legendary where RA is level 2
  • The Global Alert (GA) level is the sum of all RAs and it is displayed as 'ADVENT's Legions' on the Resistance Management tab on the Commander's Quarters on the Avenger.
  • Global Alert starting level is 15/20/30/40 for each difficulty level
  • The Reinforce Activity, which results in a Supply Raid if detected by XCOM, will transfer 1 point of Alert level between regions if the activity is completed successfully
  • If XCOM detects and prevents the Troop Maneuvers Activity/Mission, will reduce the region's Alert level by 1
    • It is impossible to win the game by trying to reduce Global Alert to a minimum - ADVENT can always summon more reinforcements than XCOM can destroy them
  • Liberating a region will destroy up to 5 points of the RA value, but the remaining will be distributed by the other regions still under ADVENT's control

Vigilance

Vigilance represents ADVENT's concern about XCOM/Resistance activities.

  • The Global Vigilance (GV) level, consisting of the sum of all Regional Vigilance levels, can be accessed through Resistance Management, where it is displayed as 'Global Resistance Threat', with different labels:
    • Low (GV value of -10)
    • Guarded (0)
    • Elevated (10)
    • High (20)
    • Severe (30)
  • GV is determined randomly at game start and it can vary between 16-39
  • Regional Vigilance (RV) decays automatically by 1 every week
  • XCOM successful missions increase RV by 1, failures have no effect
    • If the mission was created by ADVENT's Propaganda Activity, such as a Destroy Monument mission, completing it will increase even more the RV value
    • Some missions, like Supply Raids, Troop Maneuvers or Retaliations, will also reduce RV by 1 if completed successfully, cancelling out the automatic RV increase
    • XCOM failure on the Retaliation missions will also reduce RV by either 2 or 4 points, depending on the mission
  • If a region's Vigilance value exceeds the its Alert value, then ADVENT will try to bring additional troops into the region, either through the Reinforce or the Emergency Offworld Reinforcements activities.

ADVENT Activities Table

The missions in Long War 2 are defined through ADVENT activities, which are performed by the aliens on each regional to achieve their goals, which will then result in tactical missions, if the alien activity is detected by the Resistance.

Each Activity can have several settings or requirements for it to be activated:

  • Priority - weight for mission to be chosen
  • Rebel Income - amount of detection collected by rebels with Intel jobs for the mission to be detected
  • Detection - daily pct of the mission being detected, once the Rebel Income requirement is achieved
  • Force & Alert Modifiers - the effect the activity will have on the ADVENT Force and Alert levels during the mission
  • Min/Max Vigilance - the range of Vigilance values were the activity is available for ADVENT to perform in a region
  • Min/Max Alert - the range of Alert values, as the previous setting
  • Mission Tree - the number and sequence of missions generated by the Activity
  • Mission Families - the type of missions generated
  • Duration - the amount of hours that the mission can be detected, once it is active
  • EVAC Modifier - the number of turns added to Skyranger evacuation
  • Infiltration Modifier - the number of hours added/removed from infiltration requirements
AI Activity Priority Rebel Income Discovery Force Mod Alert Mod Min/Max Vigilance Min/Max Alert Mission Tree Mission Families Duration EVAC Modifier Infiltration Modifier Notes
Protect Region Early 3 110 40 0 Recover, Hack 216 + 24 1
Protect Region Mid 4 135 35 3 0 Extract, Rescue 192 + 48 0
ProtectRegion 5 160 30 3 0 Neutralize, Destroy Object 192 + 48 0
1 Assault Network Tower Infinite 0
2 Assault Alien Base Infinite 0
Counterinsurgency* 30 60 31 4/NA 4/NA 0 Destroy Object 144+48 COIN*
1 Terror, Defend 24+5 Force Activity Detection
Reinforce***** 40 75 4 3 0 Supply Line Raid 144+144
COIN Research 45 95 7 3/NA NA/8 0 Recover, Hack, Destroy Object, Neutralize, Rescue Infinite
COIN Ops 50 65 11 3/NA 3/NA 0 Recover, Hack, Destroy Object Infinite 1
Build Research Facility 10 850 13 NA/5 0 Supply Line Raid 1080+72
Regional Avatar Research 15 Sabotage Infinite 96 Makes Doom
Reinforcements*** 25 100 5 1 1 0 Recover, Hack 120+96 1
1 Secure UFO 144+24
Emergency Reinforcements 38 100 30 1 0 Recover, Hack 120+96 1
1 Secure UFO 144+96
Super Emergency Reinforcements 37 80 34 2 0 Recover, Hack 120+96 1
1 Secure UFO 144+96
Invasion 15 70 0 Supply Line Raid 96+96
1 Invasion 24+0 Force Activity Detection
Propaganda 55 32 NA/8 6/NA 0 Sabotage CC, Neutralize 216+72 -12
Protect Research 50 120 17 NA/10 NA/10 0 Hack, Recover, Rescue, Extract 216+72
Protect Data 55 5 35 NA/12 0 Hack, Recover, Destroy Object, Rescue, Extract 216+96
Troop Maneuvers 55 5 20* 4/15 NA/15 0 Troop Maneuvers 216+72 -24
High Value Prisioner 55 60 18 NA/12 NA/6 0 Extract, Rescue 216+96
Political Prisioners 55 40 28 NA/12 NA/7 0 Jailbreak 216+96
Logistics 55 90 60 NA/12 0 Smash N Grab 216+96
Intel Raid 41 2/NA 3/NA 0 Intel Raid 24+5 Force Activity Detection
Supply Convoy 42 1/NA 4/NA 0 Supply Convoy 24+5 Force Activity Detection
Recruit Raid 43 1/NA 4/NA 0 Recruit Raid 24+5 Force Activity Detection
Snare 26 0 85 1 1 5/NA 7/NA 0 Hack 216+72
Foothold 3 0 70 18** 12** 0 Secure UFO 96+24 -60
1 Invasion 24+5 Force Activity Detection
Rendezvous 2 -2 -2 0 Placeholder 504+168 Special (see below)
1 Rendezvous 24+5 2 Force Activity Detection

Notes.

  • Rendezvous. Normal rebels don't contribute intel towards the detection of the Rendezvous missions, only soldier advisors do. This mission's entry doesn't specify the required Intel Income before you can start detecting it so maybe it's immediate, however the very low discovery chance (the lowest of any mission) makes it quite hard to detect. It's coded as a 2 part mission where you detect the first part (it has the longest duration of any mission) but then the mission immediately moves to the second part which is automatically detected. The final mission is that second part which explain why you never detect Rendezvous with long durations.
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