Difference between revisions of "ADVENT's Agenda (LW2)"
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=== Strength Level=== | === Strength Level=== | ||
− | + | ''Also known as Alert or Alertness'' | |
Strength refers to the number of troops available for ADVENT to use in missions, or to move to between regions by using the Reinforce Activity. ADVENT will also regularly increase its Strength numbers by bringing regularly emergency offworld reinforcements. The Regional Strength (RS) values are on Geoscape on each region's name, as 'ADVENT Strength', and the Global Strength (GS) level is the sum of all RSs and it is displayed as 'ADVENT's Legions' on the Resistance Management tab on the Commander's Quarters on the Avenger. | Strength refers to the number of troops available for ADVENT to use in missions, or to move to between regions by using the Reinforce Activity. ADVENT will also regularly increase its Strength numbers by bringing regularly emergency offworld reinforcements. The Regional Strength (RS) values are on Geoscape on each region's name, as 'ADVENT Strength', and the Global Strength (GS) level is the sum of all RSs and it is displayed as 'ADVENT's Legions' on the Resistance Management tab on the Commander's Quarters on the Avenger. | ||
− | The RS determines the baseline difficulty regarding the number of ADVENT units encountered on missions in each region: | + | The RS determines the baseline difficulty regarding the number of ADVENT units encountered on missions in each region: the base level of Strength, plus modifiers such as [[Infiltration_(LW2)|Infiltration]] or specific mission ones, determines the total pod composition and number of enemies the mission will start with, which is partially indicated by the [[Missions_(LW2)#Enemy_Activity_Level|mission activity level]]. |
While XCOM might be able to contain or even reduce ADVENT's numbers by detecting and winning specific missions, it is impossible to win by trying to reduce Global Strength to a zero - ADVENT can always summon more troops than the Resistance can destroy them, and the AVATAR project will eventually be completed. | While XCOM might be able to contain or even reduce ADVENT's numbers by detecting and winning specific missions, it is impossible to win by trying to reduce Global Strength to a zero - ADVENT can always summon more troops than the Resistance can destroy them, and the AVATAR project will eventually be completed. |
Revision as of 12:25, 7 October 2020
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 its agenda, and how it will react to XCOM's attempts to stop the project. The major difference now is that ADVENT will conduct specific operations, or Activities, on any of the 16 world regions that will result in missions for XCOM. Each Activity has specific requirements and different results, depending on if ADVENT completes the activity or if the Resistance is able to detect and win the missions generated.
AVATAR Project
The AVATAR project's progress is unknown to the player initially but has been increased from 12 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.
In order to generate the necessary research to complete the AVATAR project, ADVENT will build facilities throughout the world that will generate additional pips. XCOM can stop this process by either detecting the initial construction missions and winning them, or by assaulting the facility after it is build. However, the detection of an existing alien facility now requires either receiving a Facility Lead as a mission reward, or by the Resistance personnel on the havens generating enough intel.
ADVENT's progress on completing the AVATAR project can be delayed or accelerated by the Global Vigilance/Global Strength (GV/GS) values:
- After 3 Facilities are built, ADVENT will only build additional ones if the GV level isn't too superior to the Global Strength value (not safe to build new installations)
- If the GV is superior to the GS it will also delay by 10 hours the completion of a new 'pip' to the AVATAR progress bar for each 1 point of the difference between the GV/GS values
ADVENT's Strategy
When determining the Activities that it will conduct on any of the 16 world regions to advance its goals, ADVENT's has 3 main variables determining its actions: Force (unit quality), Strength (unit quantity), and Vigilance (alarm caused by Resistance activities). These are further explained below. Each variable can also be expressed as global, reflecting the general situation, or as regional, representing the local values for each of the 16 regions.
Force Level
Force represents how powerful the units that ADVENT can deploy during missions. At very low levels, only the most basic unit types (ADVENT troopers, officers, sectoids, vipers, etc.) will be seen, but as force level increases, more powerful (MECs, mutons, archons, etc.) enemies will start to appear. 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'. This build-up of more powerful and dangerous units by ADVENT is almost impossible to stop or even delay.
The Scheduled Off World Reinforcements activity appears 21/18/14 days after the start of a campaign, depending on difficulty level. This activity has a cool down period of 16 days, which means that the maximum Force level 20 is reached between 325-316 days after game starts.
Force Mechanics
The Force level is always the same for all regions.
- 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, making those appearances as reliable indicators for when those two Force levels are reached, if XCOM hasn't faced those new improved ADVENT units on the field yet.
- The cost of Black Market personnel is also increased by 7.5% for each Force level raise of 1.
Missions and Force Level
- A low Force level gives a bonus to 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 gradually increases.
- The Force level for each mission can also be modified by certain ADVENT Activities:
- Scheduled Offworld Reinforcements +1
- Snare +1
- Foothold always generates missions with 18 force level, regardless of the Global Force level
- Rendezvous -2
Strength Level
Also known as Alert or Alertness
Strength refers to the number of troops available for ADVENT to use in missions, or to move to between regions by using the Reinforce Activity. ADVENT will also regularly increase its Strength numbers by bringing regularly emergency offworld reinforcements. The Regional Strength (RS) values are on Geoscape on each region's name, as 'ADVENT Strength', and the Global Strength (GS) level is the sum of all RSs and it is displayed as 'ADVENT's Legions' on the Resistance Management tab on the Commander's Quarters on the Avenger.
The RS determines the baseline difficulty regarding the number of ADVENT units encountered on missions in each region: the base level of Strength, plus modifiers such as Infiltration or specific mission ones, determines the total pod composition and number of enemies the mission will start with, which is partially indicated by the mission activity level.
While XCOM might be able to contain or even reduce ADVENT's numbers by detecting and winning specific missions, it is impossible to win by trying to reduce Global Strength to a zero - ADVENT can always summon more troops than the Resistance can destroy them, and the AVATAR project will eventually be completed.
Strength Mechanics
- All regions start with a Regional Strength of at least 1, except on Legendary where RS is level 2.
- Global Strength starting level is 15/20/30/40 for each difficulty level.
- There are 3 activities that ADVENT uses to create new legions and move them, although all can only appear from April onwards:
- The Reinforce Activity, made by land which results in a Supply Raid if detected by XCOM, will transfer 1 point of Strength level between regions if the activity is completed successfully. ADVENT will not reinforce a region through this method if its Strength level is already 15 or superior.
- The Emergency Offworld Reinforcements Activity is made by a UFO and will raise the Strength level by +1 in the region they take place and also +1 on an adjacent region. Despite its name, this activity happens regularly and has a cool-down period of 14/12/10/8 days depending on the difficulty level.
- The Super Emergency Offworld Reinforcements has a cool-off period of 21 days for all difficulty levels and it will give +2 Strength on the region and +1 Strength on 2 adjacent regions. This activity is triggered when the Global Vigilance exceeds the Global Strength value by 20 points.
Missions and Strength Level
- If XCOM detects and prevents the Troop Maneuvers Activity/Mission, will reduce the region's Strength level by +1.
- Liberating a region will destroy up to 4 points of the RS value, but any remaining troops will be distributed by the other regions still under ADVENT's control.
- The Emergency Offworld Reinforcements Activity has a cool-down period of 14/12/10/8 days depending on the difficulty level. It will raise the Strength level by +1 in the region they take place and also +1 on an adjacent region.
- The Super Emergency Offworld Reinforcements has a cool-off period of 21 days for all difficulty levels and it will give +2 Strength on the region and +1 Strength on 2 adjacent regions.
- The Strength level for each mission can also be modified by certain ADVENT Activities:
- Liberation: Rescue a Defector and Liberation: Hinder ADVENT Operations missions have a +3 modifier
- Reinforcements (Supply Raid missions) +3
- Scheduled Offworld Reinforcements (UFO mission) +1
- Emergency Offworld Reinforcements (UFO mission) +1
- Super Emergency Offworld Reinforcements (UFO mission) +2
- Snare +1
- Foothold always generates missions with 12 Strength level, regardless of the Global Strength level
- Rendezvous -2
- Certain ADVENT Activities will also require specific Strength levels (min and/or max) to be activated
Vigilance Level
Vigilance represents ADVENT's concern about XCOM/Resistance activities. This indicator is the most affected by the results of missions, since XCOM's successes will raise regional (and global) Vigilance, which will then trigger additional ADVENT Activities to deal with the Resistance, such as Counterinsurgency which result in Defend/Terror missions. High Vigilance levels will also stop missions from appearing like Jailbreak or free VIPs, as ADVENT increases its security measures on the alarmed region.
Vigilance Mechanics
Vigilance is represented by the Global Vigilance (GV) level, consisting of the sum of all Regional Vigilance (RV) levels. This is then converted to Net Global Vigilance by subtracting the Global Strength (GS) level. That is: NetGV = GV - GS. Conceptually, the net global vigilance is a measure of whether the aliens have over-extended by focusing too much on the resistance: high values mean ADVENT is dealing with more problems than they have troops, while low values means ADVENT has plenty of troops to deal with the rebel threat.
Net Global Vigilance is indicated on the Resistance Management tab as 'Global Resistance Threat'. This provides a general range of the net global vigilance, and thus the raw global vigilance (by simple math). These labels correspond to the NetGV level, with each step representing +10 additional Net Global Vigilance:
- Low (NetGV value below -10)
- Guarded (NetGV between -10 and 0)
- Elevated (0 to 10)
- At Elevated and above, i.e. when Net Global Vigilance is above 0, the AVATAR project progresses more slowly. Each point of Net Global Vigilance increases the time to generate a new AVATAR point by 10 hours.
- High (10 to 20)
- Severe (20 to 30)
- At Severe and above, the aliens gain access to a "Super Reinforcements" activity which creates twice as many Strength points.
- The normal reinforcement activity continues to operate, and both types can even target the same region simultaneously.
- Extreme (above 30)
The initial value of the GV is determined randomly at start and it can vary between 16-39 points, and the starting values for each regional RV can vary between 1-4.
Additional Information
- Regional Vigilance decays automatically by 1 point every 5-9 days (depending on active rebels, minimum 5, +12 hours per active rebel above 5), so if a region is empty of any XCOM activity it will eventually return to a less alarmed status. This decay timer is reset every time XCOM successfully completes a mission in the region. Failed missions have no effect.
Missions and Vigilance Level
- XCOM successful missions in a region increase RV by +1, failures have no effect
- If the mission was created by ADVENT's Propaganda Activity, such as a Destroy Monument or Neutralize Target missions, completing it will increase the RV value by +3
- 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
- Success in Troop Maneuvers will decrease RV on the region, but there's a 50% chance of increasing RV by +1 on an adjacent region
- If a region's Vigilance value exceeds the its Strength value, then ADVENT will try to bring additional troops into the region, either through the Reinforce or the Emergency Offworld Reinforcements activities.
- Certain ADVENT Activities will also require specific Vigilance levels (min and/or max) to be activated
- Liberating a region removes all vigilance from the region, increases vigilance by 3 in each adjacent region, and increases it by 1 in every other region.
ADVENT Activities
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 & Strength Modifiers - the effect the activity will have on the ADVENT Regional Force and Strength levels during any mission(s) it generates
- Min/Max Vigilance - the range of Regional Vigilance values required for ADVENT to activate the Activity in a region
- Min/Max Strength - the range of Regional Strength values, as the previous setting
- Mission Tree - the number and sequence of missions generated by the Activity. In some cases (Liberation) it is required to complete the initial missions to unlock the rest of of the missions on the tree, while in other Activities like Invasion, detecting and completing the first mission will prevent the other missions on the tree from taking place.
- Mission Families - the type of missions that can generated (chosen randomly) for each step of the Mission Tree
- Duration - the amount of hours that the mission can be detected, once it is active. After it is detected the remaining time is the time available to infiltrate the mission (if infiltration is possible).
- Evac Modifier - the number of turns added to Skyranger evacuation during missions spawned by this Activity
- Infiltration Modifier - the number of hours added/removed from infiltration requirements for any missions generated by this Activity
- Regional Cooldown - the number of days before this Activity can appear again in a region. Cooldown timer starts when Activity is spawned.
Activity Tables
Liberation activities allow XCOM to free a region from the aliens' control. Every alien-controlled region has a liberation activity present at all times: if the mission expires without being detected (or is attempted and failed) then it will immediately respawn.
AI Activity | Priority | Rebel Income | Discovery | Strength Modifier | Mission Tree | Mission Families | Duration (hours) | Infiltration Modifier (hours) | Notes | Internal Name |
Liberation (part 1) | 3 | 110 | 40 | 0 | Recover, Hack | 216+24 | Protect Region Early | |||
Liberation (part 2) | 4 | 135 | 35 | 1 | 0 | Extract, Rescue | 192+48 | Protect Region Mid | ||
Liberation (part 3) | 5 | 160 | 30 | 2 | 0 | Neutralize, Destroy Object | 192+24 | ProtectRegion | ||
1 | Assault Network Tower | Infinite | 24 | Requires 100% Infiltration | ||||||
2 | Assault Alien Base | Infinite | Requires 100% Infiltration |
Rebel activities (guerilla ops) are common missions that help build the resistance. They tend to be easier to detect than other types of activity. Nothing happens when these missions expire so there is no penalty for ignoring them.
Each region can have up to two of these activities at once. Each activity can be present in up to two regions in the world at any given time.
AI Activity | Priority | Rebel Income | Discovery | Force Level Modifier | Strength Modifier | Min/Max Vigilance | Min/Max Strength | Mission Tree | Mission Families | Duration (hours) | Infiltration Modifier (hours) | Regional Cooldown (days) | Notes | Internal Name |
Protect Data | 55 | 5 | 35 | 0-12 | 0 | Hack, Recover, Destroy Object, Rescue, Extract | 216+96 | 14-19 | ||||||
High Value Prisoner | 55 | 60 | 18 | 0-6 | 0-12 | 0 | Extract, Rescue | 216+96 | 18-24.5 | |||||
Political Prisoners | 55 | 40 | 28 | 0-7 | 0-12 | 0 | Jailbreak | 216+96 | 14-19 | |||||
Propaganda | 55 | 20 | 32 | 0-8 | 0-6 | 0 | Sabotage CC, Neutralize | 216+72 | -12 | 28-45 | Creates 3 extra Vigilance points. | |||
Find Facility Lead | 50 | 120 | 17 | 0-10 | 0-10 | 0 | Hack, Recover, Rescue, Extract | 216+72 | 14-19 | Protect Research | ||||
Logistics | 55 | 90 | 60 | 0-12 | 0 | Smash N Grab | 216+96 | 14-19 | ||||||
Troop Maneuvers | 55 | 20 | 15* | 3-15 | 4-15 | 0 | Troop Maneuvers | 216+72 | -24 | 21-28 | *Extra 0.25% chance per Strength point in region. | |||
Snare | 26 | 0 | 85 | 1 | -1 | 6+ | 8+ | 0 | Hack | 216+72 | 21-32 | Requires at least one Faceless in region. |
Alien progression activities advance the aliens' goals or increase their power. These activities tend to be very difficult for XCOM to detect. Completing these missions (if detected) should be a high priority, as this is the only way to slow the aliens' progression.
AI Activity | Priority | Rebel Income | Discovery | Force Level Modifier | Strength Modifier | Min/Max Vigilance | Min/Max Strength | Mission Tree | Mission Families | Duration (hours) | Evac Modifier | Infiltration Modifier (hours) | Notes | Internal Name |
Troop Transfer | 40 | 75 | 3.5 | 1 | 0 | Supply Line Raid | 144+144 | Moves an Strength point between regions. | Reinforce | |||||
Add Force Level | 25 | 100 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Recover, Hack | 72+96 | One in the world, 16 day cooldown. Always in the safest alien region (uncontacted, if possible). | ScheduledOffworldReinforcements | ||||
1 | Secure UFO | 144+24 | ||||||||||||
Add Troop Strength | 38 | 100 | 30 | 1 | 0 | Recover, Hack | 120+96 | Creates one Strength point in its region and one in a random adjacent region. | EmergencyOffworldReinforcements | |||||
1 | Secure UFO | 144+96 | ||||||||||||
Super Add Troop Strength | 37 | 80 | 34 | 2 | 0 | Recover, Hack | 120+96 | Creates two Strength points in its region and one in each of two adjacent regions. Requires 20+ excess global vigilance. Can target a region that is already receiving a regular Add Troop Strength mission. | SuperEmergencyOffworldReinforcements | |||||
1 | Secure UFO | 144+96 | ||||||||||||
Tactical Dark Event Research | 45 | 95 | 7 | 3+ | 0-8 | 0 | Recover, Hack, Destroy Object, Neutralize, Rescue | Varies | Two in the world. Cannot be in the same region as research facility or other tactical dark event activity. | COINResearch | ||||
Strategic Dark Event Research | 50 | 65 | 11 | 3+ | 3+ | 0 | Recover, Hack, Destroy Object | Varies | One in the world. Cannot be in the same region as research facility or other strategic dark event activity. | COINOps | ||||
Build Research Facility | 10 | 850 | 13 | 0-5 | 0 | Supply Line Raid | 1080+72 | Requires Strength >= Vigilance. | ||||||
Regional Avatar Research | 15 | Unlocked by Facility Lead | Sabotage | Infinite | 3 | 36 | Makes Doom |
Alien retaliation activities directly harm the resistance if not stopped or prevented.
AI Activity | Priority | Rebel Income | Discovery | Force Level Modifier | Strength Modifier | Min/Max Vigilance | Min/Max Strength | Mission Tree | Mission Families | Duration (hours) | Infiltration Modifier (hours) | Regional Cooldown (days) | Notes | Internal Name |
Invasion | 15 | 50 | 70 | 0 | Supply Line Raid | 96+96 | 36-45 | Can only occur 21+ days after liberation. | ||||||
Automatic | 1 | Invasion | 24+0 | Success on the first mission skips this one. | ||||||||||
Super Invasion | 3 | 0 | 70 | always 18 | always 12 | 0 | Secure UFO | 96+24 | -60 | Requires all regions liberated. 10-16 day global cooldown. | Foothold | |||
Automatic | 1 | Invasion | 24+5 | Success on the first mission skips this one. | ||||||||||
Haven Defense | 30 | 60 | 31 | 4+ | 4+ | 0 | Destroy Object | 144+48 | Requires 5+ working rebels. | Counterinsurgency | ||||
Automatic | 1 | Terror, Defend | 24+5 | Success on the first mission skips this one | ||||||||||
Intel Raid | 41 | Automatic | 2+ | 3+ | 0 | Intel Raid | 24+5 | 21-28 | Requires 3+ rebels working on Intel. Faceless count double. | |||||
Supply Convoy | 42 | Automatic | 1+ | 4+ | 0 | Supply Convoy | 24+5 | 21-28 | Requires 3+ rebels working on Supply. Faceless count double. | |||||
Recruit Raid | 43 | Automatic | 2+ | 4+ | 0 | Recruit Raid | 24+5 | 25-28 | Requires 3+ rebels working on Recruit. Faceless count double. |
Rendezvous is a special activity. Normal rebels don't contribute intel towards the detection of the Rendezvous missions, only soldier advisors do. 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.
AI Activity | Rebel Income | Discovery | Force Level Modifier | Strength Modifier | Mission Tree | Mission Families | Duration (hours) | Evac Modifier | Notes |
Rendezvous | 2 | -2 | -2 | 0 | Placeholder | 504+168 | No actual mission, immediately advances to second stage. | ||
1 | Rendezvous | 24+5 | 2 | Automatically detected. Force Level is first halved before applying modifier. |