Alien Level (LWR)
In General
Alien Level increases the power of the alien air and ground forces in a variety of ways. Specifically:
- Make UFOs stronger
- Allow stronger UFO types to be fielded at lower Alien Resource levels
- Allows aliens to field stronger alien types
- Grants alien ground forces increased stats and bonus perks
- Increases the size of pods
Aliens increase in level by gaining research. Every 50 alien research gained increased the Alien Level by 1. The aliens gain 1 research every day; this ensures a baseline progression for the aliens that can't be halted or stopped short of ending the campaign. That said, aliens can also gain Bonus Research via a variety of other methods, so under-performing at the strategic or tactical level can accelerate their progression.
The formula for alien Research is: Research Points = Bonus Research + Days Passed
The formula for alien Level is: Alien Level = INT(1 + Alien Research/50)
Aliens start at Level 1 and can progress to Level 15
Bonus Research
Bonus Research starts at 0. It is always clamped between [0.1 * Days Passed] and [0.5 * Days Passed]. Thus, it will always grow by at least 10% of the days passed and can never exceed 50% of the days passed. It can be increased by the following events:
- +2 per month per country under alien control
- +5 for a successful abduction mission (DW modified)
- +20 for successful raid on XCOM HQ
- +2 for a successful research mission by a landed Scout (DW modified) (increases by 10% per month)
- +3 for a successful research mission by a landed Raider (DW modified) (increases by 10% per month)
- +4 for a successful research mission by a landed Abductor (DW modified) (increases by 10% per month)
- +5 for a successful research mission by a landed Terror Ship (DW modified) (increases by 10% per month)
- +1 per lost XCOM soldier on a failed mission (killed or left behind) (DW modified)
- +50 per incorrect accusation of a country of harboring the EXALT base
- -10 per successful assault on an Alien Base
- -3-12 per Combat Patrol sent out by XCOM
Pod Size
The number of aliens allowed in each pod is directly dependent upon current research points:
- Small (Alien Level 1+): 2-4 aliens per pod
- Medium (Alien Level 3+): 3-6 aliens per pod
- Large (Alien Level 6+): 4-8 aliens per pod
Meld Rewards
Alien Level helps determine the rewards obtained from meld canisters.
Meld Reward = 30% of Alien Resources (min: 10, max: 30) * (1 + Alien Level/3) * Difficulty Modifier[1, 1.3, 1.6, 2.0]
The amount of meld per canister is set to a minimum of 10 and is affected by Dynamic War.
UFOs
All UFOs gain a additional HP every Alien Level. Some UFOs will also gain upgraded weapons over time:
UFO Type | Initial Weapon | Alien Level | Upgraded Weapon |
---|---|---|---|
Fighter | 1x Single Plasma | 6 | 2x Single Plasma |
Raider | 1x Single Plasma | 11 | 2x Single Plasma |
Destroyer | 1x Single Plasma | 5 | 1x Double Plasma |
Abductor | 1x Double Plasma | 8 | 1x Double Plasma 1x Single Plasma |
Terror Ship | 1x Double Plasma | 8 | 1x Double Plasma 1x Single Plasma |
Assault Carrier | 1x Double Plasma 1x Single Plasma |
11 | 2x Double Plasma |