UFOs (EU2012)

UFO Types

The UFOs deployed by the aliens range in size and the mission profiles they are most commonly seen on, and have other parameters yet to be determined. The exact aliens each craft carry can vary considerably due to timeline, story progression and difficulty level.

The amount of aliens on a crashed UFO mission will always be lesser than on a UFO that Landed UFO on its own. Usually you get the least possible amount on your first time you get a mission, and it goes up from there (for example, first Large Scout landing will usually have 3 groups of aliens, while latter ones will have 4. Difficulty levels seem to act as a limit on how far this can go - for example, on Classic you will never get more than 5 enemy packs on a Supply Barge mission, however on Impossible it may as well go up to 7.

Salvage is also highly variable, so the numbers below reflect a heavily damaged UFO (lower numbers) versus a pristine UFO (higher numbers). Take note that destroying UFO walls by use of explosives or stray shots will further deduce from the amount of salvage you're going to get, as well as fires started by weapon fire or Cyberdisc explosions will eat up walls and even destroy UFO Flight Computers or UFO Power Sources they come in contact with, also reducing the amount of salvage you will get, so act accordingly.

First appearance information (in which month UFO appears for the first time) is based on Classic/Impossible difficulty (may be different on lesser difficulties) and on the assumption that player handles every UFO that appears (intercepts every flying UFO and assaults every UFO landed on its own will). Failing to handle a UFO may spawn a larger UFO on Destroy Satellite mission, which will allow larger UFO's to appear earlier than usual. UFO's first appearance is always in its flying state, and its second appearance is mostly in its grounded state, meaning, that your second detected Small Scout, Large Scout, Abductor, Supply Barge is usually grounded. However, Battleships seem to never land naturally.

• Groups of alien troops refer to any alien other than Outsiders, Sectoid Commanders and Ethereals. Number before slash is the number of groups when UFO crash landed after being shot down, number after slash is when UFO landed on its own.
• Command (or 'bridge) aliens are Outsiders, Sectoid Commanders or Ethereals with Muton Elite guards. These will vary depending on whether you have assaulted the Alien Base or Overseer UFO, respectively.

For additional information, check the links below and the maps section for the appropriate UFO.

• Small Scout
• Large Scout
• Overseer
• Abductor
• Supply Barge
• Battleship
• Temple Ship - the final challenge. For more details see the Storyline page (massive spoilers!).

UFO Missions

UFOs came on a variety of types and some will only perform specific missions, with their generation determined by the A.I. game objectives. Each mission will be generated by the A.I. and then a UFO will be assigned, either predetermined or random. It is possible to see the UFO's specific objectives after building the Hyperwave Relay in HQ.

Each month the A.I. will create several missions in order to achieve the following :

A.I. Objectives

Objective	UFO type	UFO detection
Scout Target Harvest Live Specimens	Any UFO, except the Overseer	Yes
Destroy Satellite	Large Scout or Battleship	Yes
Abduct Specimens	Abductor	No1
Terrorize Populace	Battleship	No1
Final Preparations	Overseer	Yes2
Reconaissance	None3	?
Target Reconnaissance	None3	?

¹ By changing the value of ShowUFOSonMission from 0 to 1 on the DefaultGameCore.ini file it is possible to detect UFOs on Abductions or Terror missions.
² Only after Hyperwave Relay is built on HQ.
³ These objectives appear listed on the game files but they appear to be legacy code.

Mission Generation

To achieve the previous objectives, the Aliens (a.k.a. A.I.) make a monthly plan of missions that is checked and updated every half hour of game time. This includes generating a country list to determine possible Abductions targets, along with any countries marked for a Terror Site. The aliens schedule also includes all the missions where UFOs can be detected, or ones taking part in Harvest Live Specimens, Scout Target or Final Preparations missions.

Abductions

• Before the Alien Base mission, there will be 2 Abductions each month, regardless if there's 3 or more countries left in the Council without a satellite. After the Alien Base is assaulted it can be none or up to 2 monthly missions, depending if there's still 3 or more countries remaining on the Council without satellites.
• The aliens will target any countries still in the Council that don't have a satellite deployed and avoid any country already marked for a Terror Site during the month.
• The number of countries with abductions is 3, but it can be less, depending on the number of countries without a satellite.
• Each country marked for Abductions has a Large Scout sent first for reconnaissance and afterwards an Abductor that carries the mission. In case either UFO is detected and shot down (possible through changing the ShowUFOSonMission value), the Abduction mission over that country will not take place.
  • It is also possible to mod the AI so that it will choose countries with satellites as Abduction targets.

Terror Site

• Before the Alien Base mission, there's 1 Terror Site every even month (April, June, etc.). After the base is destroyed, it takes place every month.
• There's a 75% chance that the aliens will choose to terrorize the most panicked country. If not, the aliens will prioritize countries in continents with the most panic levels.
• The targeted country will also be removed from any Abduction missions that take place.
• This mission is consists of undetected 2 Battleships on a Terrorize Populace mission, the first one for scouting, the second to carry the actual mission. If they are detected (possible through changing the ShowUFOSonMission value) and the 2nd Battleship is shot down the Terror mission will not take place.

Detected UFOs

• Detected UFOs can be conducting 4 types of missions: Scout Target, Destroy Satellite, Harvest Live Specimens, and Final Preparations.
• Each month there's a limit of 2 UFOs being detected either landed (Harvest Live Specimens mission) or Flying (Scout Target mission), but more UFOs can appear in case a Destroy Satellite UFO mission is generated. The UFO type will never be the one of the last mission.
• If any Harvest Live Specimens or Scout Target missions are completely ignored the aliens will send quickly a Large Scout/Battleship on a Destroy Satellite mission. If the first mission is ground assaulted or intercepted, regardless of the final result, the 2nd mission will not be generated.
• If the last mission has been a Crashed UFO, there's a 66% chance that a UFO will appear on a Scout Target mission. Otherwise it will be a Landed UFO mission. This value is defined on the UFO_INTERCEPTION_PCT setting at DefaultGameCore.ini.
• The game will make a pool of available UFOs for either the Harvest or Scout Target missions, adding new types each month and randomly selecting a type for the mission. The exceptions are in the two first months, where the aliens will send predetermined UFO types on Scout Target missions (Small Scout in March & Large Scout in April).

Scout Target

The UFO will roam around in the region it is patrolling. If left unattended (no interception attempt is made), it will trigger the arrival of a UFO on Destroy a Satellite mission in the following several days.

This mission is initially performed by the Small Scout, and at certain month the aliens will add another type to be randomly chosen when the mission is generated: Large Scout (April), Abductor (May), Supply Barge (August) and October (Battleship).

Notice that the following UFO will be a larger-class UFO. This can be used to your advantage: by letting scouting UFO get away on purpose, you are increasing amount of loot you can get from a successful crash recovery mission. However, be prepared to take down the larger UFO and win a harder tactical mission.

Harvest Live Specimens

All landed UFO missions will be of this type and it can be taken by any UFO, from Small Scouts to Supply Barges, with the exception of the Battleship. Sending a squad to assault the craft will result in a Landed UFO ground mission.

If this mission is ignored (if no tactical mission is launched, regardless of a victory or a defeat) it will later generate a UFO on a Destroy Target mission.

Destroy Satellite

This mission can only happen if you let go an airborne UFO or ignore a Landed UFO on a Harvest mission, and is a good way of getting more battleships in order to harvest more Fusion Cores for Blaster Launcher production. If the UFO is shot down, it is possible to launch a Crashed UFO ground mission to recover the craft.

Only two types of UFOs are used on this mission

• Large Scout
• Battleship

The Large Scout is replaced by the Battleship in June (Easy/Normal difficulties), May (Classic) or April (Impossible).

The UFO will hunt for and destroy a satellite in the country it is patrolling. You will be told by Bradford that there's a new contact that gives off a distinct signature, "as if it is looking for something". Completing the Stealth Satellites Foundry project reduces chance of the UFO to succeed from 100% to 25% on the first pass, and from 100% to 50% on its second pass (source: DefaultGameCore.cfg).

If the satellite is destroyed, panic in the country will rise to level 5 and it most likely will leave the Council at the end of month, unless the panic level is lowered.

Final Preparation

Final Preparation is the mission undertaken by the Overseer UFO. This UFO only appears after the Hyperwave Relay is built. If the UFO is shot down, it is possible to launch the Assault Overseer Storyline mission, the Crashed UFO ground mission to recover the craft alien.

See Also

• Alien Life Forms
• Alien Artifacts
• Hangar
• Missions
• Storyline