Dark Events (LW2)
Dark Events in Long War 2 come in two forms: Counterinsurgency Ops and Military R&D. The former represent ADVENT conducting operations to hinder XCOM's progress and bolster their own on the strategic layer. The latter represents improvements made to ADVENT's deployed troops, increasing their performance on the tactical layer; while some are temporary, most of these are permanent improvements.
Depending on difficulty, the first month Dark Events will begin to generate will be different: June for Rookie, May for Veteran and Commander, April for Legend.
Much like vanilla Dark Events, certain designated missions can be conducted to interrupt and prevent the Dark Event from occurring - but unlike vanilla, you will not be given the opportunity to do so if you do not have contact with the region the Dark Event spawns in. Since the only way to identify them is to increase your resistance network as wide as possible, it is inevitable that some Dark Events will trigger outside of your coverage regardless of how diligent of a commander you are.
Counterinsurgency Ops
ADVENT will attempt to place severe limitations on XCOM operations at the strategic level, in the same way that many Dark Events functioned in vanilla. Fortunately, while they are crippling, they are of limited duration.
These operations will only appear in regions XCOM has contact with. There can be up to two of these being developed in the world, but only one project can happen in each region without an Alien Facility. The cooldown for these operations is 21 days.
| Dark Event | Description | Starting Weight | Weight reduction per attempt | Weight reduction per success | Project time to complete | Project duration after completion | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Air Patrols |
Halves the Avenger's contribution to activity detection. | 5 | -1 | 0 | 8-15 days | 14-16 days | - |
 Rural Checkpoints |
Halves Haven supply gathering. | 5 | -1 | 0 | 10-15 days | 14-16 days | - |
 Counterintelligence Sweep |
Halves Haven intel gathering. | 5 | -1 | 0 | 12-16 days | 14-16 days | - |
Rural Propaganda Blitz |
Halves Haven recruiting. | 5 | -1 | 0 | 14-20 days | 14-16 days | - |
 Haven Infiltration |
Doubles chance of new rebels being faceless. | 5 | -1 | 0 | 10-15 days | 45-60 days | A Faceless needs to have been encountered for this event to happen. |
Midnight Raids |
Doubles cost of new recruits. | 5 | -2 | 0 | 10-21 days | 28 days | In Rookie or Veteran difficulty this event can't happen in March. |
 Alien Cypher |
Increases intel costs by 33% (25% on Rookie). | 5 | -2 | 0 | 21-35 days | 28 days | - |
 Resistance Informant |
Reduces detection chance for haven retaliations by 90%. | 5 | -2 | 0 | 21-35 days | 21-28 days | - |
Hunt XCOM |
A UFO starts hunting the Avenger, triggering an Avenger Defense mission if the interception is successful. | 10 | 0 | -4 | 14-28 days | 6-14 days | The first month this event can happen depends on difficulty: October/September/August/July. The interception has a fixed 50% chance to succeed if the Avenger Defense mission hasn't been triggered before, and 0/25/35/50% chance (Rookie/Veteran/Commander/Legend) if there has already been a successful interception before. |
 Minor Breakthrough |
Adds one point of Avatar Project progress to a random Alien Facility. | 10 | 0 | -2 | 15-20 days | - | If there are no Alien Facilities, the progress will be assigned to the Alien Fortress. |
 Major Breakthrough |
Adds two points of Avatar Project progress to a random Alien Facility. | 6 | 0 | -2 | 21-28 days | - | If there are no Alien Facilities, the progress will be assigned to the Alien Fortress. |
Military R&D
ADVENT will improve the quality and quantity of their deployed troops in ways parallel to Force and Strength levels through these events. Some are temporary, but others are permanent once triggered; over time, ADVENT's ground forces will gain increases in combat effectiveness, as denoted by additional perks and equipment.
Each upgrade applies to a limited set of enemy types, and only a certain random percentage of enemies will actually have the upgrade. This system serves as the Long War 2 equivalent of Long War 1's Alien Research, where aliens gain boosts to stats and bonus perks over time. In this case, however, the bonuses are random and tied to interruptible Dark Events, so you have a chance of encountering powerful upgrades early on or of stopping upgrades from occurring.
These happen in any region regardless of contact, but only one will be developed at the same time, and only in regions that don't have an Alien Facility. The cooldown for these is 12 days.
| Dark Event | Description | Starting Weight | Weight reduction per attempt | Project time to complete | Units Affected | Chance for each Unit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vigilance | Enemies have increased detection range. | 5 | -2 | 21-35 days | - | - | This lasts for 28 days. |
| Alien Infiltrator | Adds Faceless to missions. | 5 | -2 | 21-35 days | - | - | A Faceless needs to have been encountered for this event to happen. This event can happen a maximum of 3 times. This lasts for 28 days. |
| Infestation | Adds Chryssalids to missions. | 5 | -2 | 21-35 days | - | - | A Chryssalid needs to have been encountered for this event to happen. This event can happen a maximum of 3 times. This lasts for 28 days. |
| Rapid Response | Reinforcements arrive more often in missions. | 5 | -2 | 21-35 days | - | - | An Advanced or Elite ADVENT Officer needs to have been encountered for this event to happen. This lasts for 28 days. |
| Show of Force | Increases the number of enemies in missions. | 5 | -2 | 21-35 days | - | - | This event can only happen in Legend difficulty in June or after. This lasts for 28 days. |
| Alien Conditioning | Increases HP by 1. | 100 | 0 | 7-9 days | All Enemies | 75% | This event can only happen in June or after. |
| Alien Adaptations | Increases HP by 1. | 100 | 0 | 7-9 days | All Enemies | 75% | This event can only happen in September or after. |
| Alien Survivability | Increases HP by 1. | 100 | 0 | 7-9 days | All Enemies | 75% | This event can only happen in December or after. |
| ADVENT Scopes | Increases Aim by 5. | 5 | 0 | 21-28 days | All ADVENT Units | 33% | - |
| ADVENT Laser Sights | Increases Crit Chance by 10. | 5 | 0 | 21-28 days | All ADVENT Units | 33% | - |
| ADVENT Firewalls | Increases Hack Defense by 15. | 5 | 0 | 21-28 days | All Robotic Units | 33% | - |
| Veteran Units | Increases Aim by 5. | 5 | 0 | 12-15 days | All Enemies | 25% | - |
| ADVENT Alloy Padding | Increases Armor by 1. | 5 | 0 | 21-35 days | All ADVENT Units | 33% | A Codex needs to have been encountered for this event to happen. |
| Viper Rounds | Grants Venom Rounds. | 5 | -2 | 21-35 days | All ADVENT Units | 12% | This event can only happen in May or after. |
| Greater Faceless | Increases HP by 4, Mobility by 2, and Aim and Defense by 5. | 5 | 0 | 10-14 days | Faceless | 75% | A Faceless needs to have been encountered for this event to happen. |
| Tactical Upgrades: Defense | Increases Defense by 5. | 5 | 0 | 12-18 days | All Enemies | 33% | - |
| Tactical Upgrades: Advanced Servos | Increases Mobility by 1. | 5 | 0 | 18-21 days | All ADVENT Units | 60% | Any ADVENT MEC needs to have been encountered for this event to happen. |
| Tactical Upgrades: Aggression | Grants perk: Aggression |
5 | 0 | 14-21 days | Elite Lancers Archons Mutons |
60% | A Muton or Berserker needs to have been encountered for this event to happen. |
| Tactical Upgrades: Center Mass | Grants perk: Center Mass |
5 | 0 | 18-24 days | All Enemies | 16% | - |
| Tactical Upgrades: Close Combat Specialist | Grants perk: Close Combat Specialist |
5 | 0 | 12-16 days | Archons | 100% | An Archon needs to have been encountered for this event to happen. |
| Tactical Upgrades: Combat Awareness | Grants perk: Combat Awareness |
5 | 0 | 14-18 days | ADVENT Sentries | 50% | An ADVENT Sentry needs to have been encountered for this event to happen. |
| Tactical Upgrades: Cutthroat | Grants perk: Cutthroat |
5 | 0 | 12-16 days | ADVENT Stun Lancers Faceless |
67% | An ADVENT Stun Lancer needs to have been encountered for this event to happen. |
| Tactical Upgrades: Damage Control | Grants perk: Damage Control |
5 | 0 | 14-21 days | ADVENT MECs ADVENT Turrets Codices Gatekeepers Sectopods |
20% | A Codex needs to have been encountered for this event to happen. |
| Tactical Upgrades: Grazing Fire | Grants perk: Grazing Fire |
5 | 0 | 18-21 days | Elite Officers ADVENT Gunners Muton Elites ADVENT Avatars |
25% | - |
| Tactical Upgrades: Hard Target | Grants perk: Hard Target |
5 | 0 | 14-21 days | Archons Codices Vipers & Sidewinders |
25% | A Viper, Naja or Sidewinder needs to have been encountered for this event to happen. |
| Tactical Upgrades: Hunter's Instincts | Grants perk: Hunter's Instincts |
5 | 0 | 14-18 days | None | None | A Viper, Naja or Sidewinder needs to have been encountered for this event to happen. |
| Tactical Upgrades: Infighter | Grants perk: Infighter |
5 | 0 | 8-10 days | ADVENT Stun Lancers ADVENT Avatars |
50% | An ADVENT Stun Lancer needs to have been encountered for this event to happen. |
| Tactical Upgrades: Iron Skin | Grants perk: Iron Skin |
5 | 0 | 12-16 days | All Robotic Units | 100% | Any ADVENT MEC needs to have been encountered for this event to happen. |
| Tactical Upgrades: Lethal | Grants perk: Lethal |
5 | 0 | 18-21 days | All Alien Units | 8% | A Gatekeeper needs to have been encountered for this event to happen. |
| Tactical Upgrades: Lightning Reflexes | Grants perk: Lightning Reflexes |
5 | 0 | 14-18 days | ADVENT Stun Lancers Chryssalids ADVENT Avatars |
20% | An ADVENT Stun Lancer needs to have been encountered for this event to happen. |
| Tactical Upgrades: Resilience | Grants perk: Resilience |
5 | 0 | 10-14 days | Codices | 100% | A Codex needs to have been encountered for this event to happen. |
| Tactical Upgrades: Shadowstep | Grants perk: Shadowstep |
5 | 0 | 14-21 days | Codices | 100% | A Codex needs to have been encountered for this event to happen. |
| Tactical Upgrades: Shredder | Grants perk: Shredder |
5 | 0 | 14-18 days | ADVENT Gunners Muton Elites ADVENT Avatars |
16% | An Advanced or Elite ADVENT Officer needs to have been encountered for this event to happen. |
| Tactical Upgrades: Tactical Sense | Grants perk: Tactical Sense |
5 | 0 | 18-21 days | ADVENT Officers | 50% | An Advanced or Elite ADVENT Officer needs to have been encountered for this event to happen. |
| Tactical Upgrades: Will to Survive | Grants perk: Will to Survive |
5 | 0 | 14-21 days | Sectoids Vipers, Najas & Sidewinders |
15% | - |
Disabled Events
These upgrades are meant to be disabled in the latest version.
| Dark Event | Description | Starting Weight | Weight reduction per attempt | Project time to complete | Units Affected | Chance for each Unit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tactical Upgrades: Deadshot | Grants perk: Deadshot |
? | ? | ? | Vipers, Najas & Sidewinders ADVENT Avatars |
33% | The code for this event does not exist. |
| Tactical Upgrades: Formidable | Grants perk: Formidable |
5 | 0 | 18-21 days | ADVENT Officers ADVENT Grenadiers Advanced/Elite ADVENT Rocketeers Advanced/Elite ADVENT Shieldbearers Muton Centurions and Elites ADVENT Avatars |
15% | This event is coded to never be picked, but it may be picked anyways. |
| Demolitions Experts | Grants perk: Sapper |
5 | 0 | 12-15 days | Elite ADVENT Officers Mutons |
25% | This event is disabled in the code. |