ADVENT's Agenda (LW2)

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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 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 Alert (GV/GA) values:

  • After 3 Facilities are built, ADVENT will only build additional ones if the GV level isn't too superior to the Global Alert value (not safe to build new installations)
  • If the GV is superior to the GA 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/GA 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), Alert (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 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'. This ADVENT build-up of more powerful and dangerous units cannot be stopped or even delayed.

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. 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 and the automatic increases are applied to all regions at once.

  • 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

Alert Level

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. ADVENT will also regularly increase its Alert numbers by bringing regularly emergency offworld reinforcements. The Regional Alert (RA) values are on Geoscape on each region's name, as 'ADVENT Strength', and 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.

The RA determines the baseline difficulty regarding the number of ADVENT units encountered on missions in each region: each level of alert increases base mission activity level by one category, in addition to mission and activity-specific modifiers.

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 Alert to a zero - ADVENT can always summon more troops than the Resistance can destroy them, and the AVATAR project will eventually be completed.

Alert Mechanics

  • All regions start with a Regional Alert of at least 1, except on Legendary where RA is level 2.
  • Global Alert 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 Alert level between regions if the activity is completed successfully. ADVENT will not reinforce a region through this method if its Alert level is already 15 or superior.
    • The Emergency Offworld Reinforcements Activity is made by a UFO and will raise the Alert 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 Alert on the region and +1 Alert on 2 adjacent regions. This activity is triggered when the Global Vigilance exceeds the Global Alert value by 20 points.

Missions and Alert Level

  • If XCOM detects and prevents the Troop Maneuvers Activity/Mission, will reduce the region's Alert level by +1.
  • Liberating a region will destroy up to 4 points of the RA 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 Alert 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 Alert on the region and +1 Alert on 2 adjacent regions.
  • The Alert 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 alert level, regardless of the Global Alert level
    • Rendezvous -2
  • Certain ADVENT Activities will also require specific Alert 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 Alert (GA) level. That is: NetGV = GV - GA. 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 Alert points.
    • TODO: Does this replace the normal reinforcement activity or does it allow two reinforcements at once?
  • 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 7 days, so if a region is empty of any XCOM activity it will eventually return on a less alarmed status.

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 Alert 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 & Alert Modifiers - the effect the activity will have on the ADVENT Regional Force and Alert 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 Alert - the range of Regional Alert 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

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 Alert Mod Mission Tree Mission Families Duration Infiltration Modifier 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 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 Mod Alert Mod Min/Max Vigilance Min/Max Alert Mission Tree Mission Families Duration Infiltration Modifier Notes Internal Name
Protect Data 55 5 35 0-12 0 Hack, Recover, Destroy Object, Rescue, Extract 216+96
High Value Prisoner 55 60 18 0-12 0-6 0 Extract, Rescue 216+96
Political Prisoners 55 40 28 0-12 0-7 0 Jailbreak 216+96
Propaganda 55 20 32 0-8 0-6 0 Sabotage CC, Neutralize 216+72 -12 Creates 3 extra Vigilance points.
Find Facility Lead 50 120 17 0-10 0-10 0 Hack, Recover, Rescue, Extract 216+72 Protect Research
Troop Maneuvers 55 20 10* 3-15 4-15 0 Troop Maneuvers 216+72 -24
Logistics 55 90 60 0-12 0 Smash N Grab 216+96
Snare 26 0 85 1 -1 6+ 8+ 0 Hack 216+72

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 Mod Alert Mod Min/Max Vigilance Min/Max Alert Mission Tree Mission Families Duration EVAC Modifier Infiltration Modifier Notes Internal Name
Troop Transfer 40 75 3.5 1 0 Supply Line Raid 144+144 Moves an Alert 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 Alert 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 Alert points in its region and one in each of two adjacent regions. Requires 20+ excess global vigilance. 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 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 dark event activity. COINOps
Build Research Facility 10 850 13 0-5 0 Supply Line Raid 1080+72 Requires Alert >= Vigilance.
Regional Avatar Research 15 Unlocked by Facility Lead Sabotage Infinite 3 96 Makes Doom

Alien retaliation activities directly harm the resistance if not stopped or prevented.

AI Activity Priority Rebel Income Discovery Force Mod Alert Mod Min/Max Vigilance Min/Max Alert Mission Tree Mission Families Duration Infiltration Modifier Notes Internal Name
Invasion 15 50 70 0 Supply Line Raid 96+96
Automatic 1 Invasion 24+0 Success on the first mission skips this one.
Super Invasion 3 0 70 18** 12** 0 Secure UFO 96+24 -60 Requires all regions liberated. 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 Requires 3+ rebels working on Intel. Faceless count double.
Supply Convoy 42 Automatic 1+ 4+ 0 Supply Convoy 24+5 Requires 3+ rebels working on Supply. Faceless count double.
Recruit Raid 43 Automatic 2+ 4+ 0 Recruit Raid 24+5 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 Mod Alert Mod Mission Tree Mission Families Duration 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.
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