Difficulty (LWR)

Long War Rebalance is designed for players of all skill levels, offering a greater range of difficulties and even more Second Wave options to customize your experience. In general, Normal difficulty is easier and Impossible is harder. Veteran Long War players who are new to this mod should seriously consider dropping their difficulty a level or two as the mod can take some experience to get used to. The difficulty curve is also adjusted so that the game starts off easier and gets more difficult as it progresses: expect to find the game easy in the beginning and significantly harder as the game progresses. Captures and interrogations are now required research and getting them early is important to not slow down research. Destroyers are more difficult to shoot down and attempting to in the early-mid game is not advised. As well, large UFOs and swarming abductions are more challenging -- treat them with respect and do not rule out retreating. Expect to have satellites shot down, expect to not be able to stop a lot of UFOs, and expect to lose around 1 country per month to panic (give or take).

Regarding the first mission

The first mission is challenging. It is intended to act as a litmus test to guide you in selecting a difficulty. If you fail the first mission you may consider dropping the difficulty a notch. Injuries and even deaths on the first mission are not unreasonable as it is intended to mimic the difficulty you would experience in some of the tougher battles in the mid-late game.

Difficulty levels

In general, higher difficulties cause you to have less resources at your disposal, while there are stronger Aliens present on tactical missions. Aliens also advance their research faster, granting them extra abilities, stats and stronger alien types earlier in the game.

Normal

Tactical

• First mission has 9 aliens
• Aliens have:
  • -50% HP
  • -20 defense
  • -1 damage
  • -20 aim
  • -50% leader and research stat bonuses

• 25% Outsider Growth rate

Strategic

• Funding: 100%
• HQ Power: 50
• Starting Cash: 100%
• Starting Panic: 200
• Alloys/Elerium from UFOs: 100%
• Weapon Fragments: 150%
• Meld: 200%

• UFOs have -50% HP

Classic

Tactical

• First mission has 11 aliens
• Aliens have:
  • -25% HP
  • -10 aim
  • -33% leader and research stat bonuses

• 50% Outsider Growth rate

Strategic

• Funding: 80%
• HQ Power: 40
• Starting Cash: 80%
• Starting Panic: 400
• Alloys/Elerium from UFOs: 80%
• Weapon Fragments: 125%
• Meld: 166%

• UFOs have -40% HP

Brutal

Tactical

• First mission has 12 aliens
• Aliens have:
  • -10% HP
  • +10 will
  • -17% leader and research stat bonuses
  • 50% chance to Overwatch when revealed or after using Launch

• 75% Outsider Growth rate

Strategic

• Funding: 60%
• HQ Power: 35
• Starting Cash: 60%
• Starting Panic: 600
• Alloys/Elerium from UFOs: 60%
• Weapon Fragments: 115%
• Meld: 133%

• UFOs have -20% HP

Impossible

Tactical

• First mission has 13 aliens
• Aliens have:
  • +1 damage
  • +10 aim
  • +20 will
  • 100% chance to Overwatch when revealed or after using Launch

• 100% Outsider Growth rate

Strategic

• Funding: 50%
• HQ Power: 30
• Starting Cash: 50%
• Starting Panic: 800
• Alloys/Elerium from UFOs: 50%
• Weapon Fragments: 100%
• Meld: 100%

See also

Long War Rebalance: Overview
	Mod Information • Change Log • New Hotkeys • Difficulty Levels • Second Wave • Troubleshooting Guide • Dev Console