Long War 2 feature announce: Strategy layer changes

[Gallion]

I still can't believe this is going to be free. Thanks to everyone involved!

How is the difficulty going to be? Will there be a gentler intro difficulty or is it going to be lw1 hard?

We left in a rookie difficulty this time around. Veteran is probably a good starting point for most players; it took several campaigns but our testers have gotten pretty good at it. Commander and Legend are increasing levels of nasty.

Does "probably a good starting point for most players" mean aimed to be similar to LW normal, or somewhere below that?

Just to confirm, no controller support for LW2 right?

[No1currz]

We left in a rookie difficulty this time around. Veteran is probably a good starting point for most players; it took several campaigns but our testers have gotten pretty good at it. Commander and Legend are increasing levels of nasty.

It took several campaigns for your testers to be good at veteran level? Just asking... for a friend

[johnnylump]

I still can't believe this is going to be free. Thanks to everyone involved!

How is the difficulty going to be? Will there be a gentler intro difficulty or is it going to be lw1 hard?

We left in a rookie difficulty this time around. Veteran is probably a good starting point for most players; it took several campaigns but our testers have gotten pretty good at it. Commander and Legend are increasing levels of nasty.

Does "probably a good starting point for most players" mean aimed to be similar to LW normal, or somewhere below that?

Just to confirm, no controller support for LW2 right?

No controller support.

I'd personally recommend veteran for players who found Long War normal most to their liking. Rookie is probably better for those who were happiest using cinematic mode or the training inis for Long War-EW.

[Zerikin]

Veteran it is then.

[mattprice516]

We break it into parts. You really only have to liberate one region to win the campaign; the rest are optional (but still useful to do).

In vanilla you were encouraged to develop a worldwide network as it would keep spawning missions that progressed the story line in undiscovered(?) regions. Are you saying that we could win the game by just focusing on one region? is that viable and/or encouraged?

Note that Liberated =/= Contacted.

[Amineri]

Veteran it is then.

I generally play on Veteran too. The last time I tried on Commander, it didn't go so well for me...

[Yopt(bI)4]

Ah, what about different bonuses from Rebel HQ start positions like in LW1? Is there? Or is it no mattter cuz we have flying HQ?

[deaconivory]

Is there any information on how Long War 2 will work with other mods? In particular, would mods that change or otherwise remove the Avatar Clock be completely incompatible with this mod?

I'm assuming that you mean "avatar project" and "avatar project reworked" mods, both of these mods are approaching a year since their latest update, and there are quite a few reports that they do not work properly in vanilla.

This means that they will need to be fully tested by their creators for compatibility, in general a mod that affects gameplay that dramatically is not recommended. If there is enough demand I'm sure that someone will come up with a fully compatible, and balanced "Avatar Timer" mod.

My comment in this post lays out my mod recommendations for your first play through of LW2: http://www.pavonisinteractive.com/phpBB ... 15&t=23365

[deaconivory]

We break it into parts. You really only have to liberate one region to win the campaign; the rest are optional (but still useful to do).

In vanilla you were encouraged to develop a worldwide network as it would keep spawning missions that progressed the story line in undiscovered(?) regions. Are you saying that we could win the game by just focusing on one region? is that viable and/or encouraged?

Note that Liberated =/= Contacted.

And that Liberated =/= Permanently Liberated.

[Frozen Shepard]

One thing I noticed in vanilla XCOM 2 was a lack of propaganda missions. The only real ones were the first mission where you destroyed the elder statue and the second to last mission with the broadcast. Will there be any missions like that added in LW2?

I'm also curious how loot and retaliation missions will work.

I almost forgot, will armor stop injuries like they did in EU/EW or will it still behave like it does in Vanilla XCOM 2?

[rakoon79]

In vanilla you were encouraged to develop a worldwide network as it would keep spawning missions that progressed the story line in undiscovered(?) regions. Are you saying that we could win the game by just focusing on one region? is that viable and/or encouraged?

Note that Liberated =/= Contacted.

And that Liberated =/= Permanently Liberated.

If the liberated region becomes not liberated, do we have to liberate it once again to beat the campaign?
or as long as we have history of liberating 1 region, it will be fine?

[deaconivory]

Note that Liberated =/= Contacted.

And that Liberated =/= Permanently Liberated.

If the liberated region becomes not liberated, do we have to liberate it once again to beat the campaign?
or as long as we have history of liberating 1 region, it will be fine?

I will have to defer to JL, I'm not sure how much I can say.

[rakoon79]

And that Liberated =/= Permanently Liberated.

If the liberated region becomes not liberated, do we have to liberate it once again to beat the campaign?
or as long as we have history of liberating 1 region, it will be fine?

I will have to defer to JL, I'm not sure how much I can say.

Fair enough I had a feeling I was taking a long shot anyway

[Edumesh]

Im dont think that Xcom and the Resistance having the ability to take an area from Advent makes sense.

Advent has city centers, outposts, bases, strongholds, and many many reinforcements to call for.
Xcom and the Resistance dont have the manpower to conquer those.

Also, taking large amounts of territory as a guerrilla movement is suicide, as it reveals your position and leaves you exposed and vulnerable. Once the enemy finds your position, they overwhelm and crush you through numbers alone.

Lets say that the Resistance liberates Western Europe and establishes a forward operating base there. Advents sends a full army, xcom cant defend the base with just 20 soldiers. The Resistance either retreats and loses all of western europe, or they die.

Though maybe "liberating" a region in lw2 doesnt mean wrestling control from Advent.

[dethraker]

This question relates to the access other modders will have when working with Long War assets. Will there be a separate mod or mod package that includes all of the added art assets in Long War 2 or will modders be required to work off Long War if they want to utilize anything new that was added?

Also, after reading the other questions I just want some clarification, is there any sort of reinforcements for XCom in tactical play or do reinforcements still exist only for the enemy components?

Are the "rebel forces" and XCom separate entities or do the rebel forces only exist as a general "people around the world are fighting with us" and not receive representation in tactical missions or strategic decisions?

[Matanui3]

What changes have you made to the weapon mod system to account for the increased number of weapons you will need and the single-item-buying system? I'm worried about tying up all of my upgrades in ballistics that I eventually won't use, and not having enough to modify most of my weapons anyway.

[johnnylump]

This question relates to the access other modders will have when working with Long War assets. Will there be a separate mod or mod package that includes all of the added art assets in Long War 2 or will modders be required to work off Long War if they want to utilize anything new that was added?

Also, after reading the other questions I just want some clarification, is there any sort of reinforcements for XCom in tactical play or do reinforcements still exist only for the enemy components?

Are the "rebel forces" and XCom separate entities or do the rebel forces only exist as a general "people around the world are fighting with us" and not receive representation in tactical missions or strategic decisions?

Our XCOM2 stuff is "free for noncommercial use." In terms of packaging various files to get at it, we can post them on the Nexus if necessary.

There aren't reinforcements for XCOM during tactical missions (except in the Avenger mission, like vanilla.)

Last question can't answer yet.

[johnnylump]

What changes have you made to the weapon mod system to account for the increased number of weapons you will need and the single-item-buying system? I'm worried about tying up all of my upgrades in ballistics that I eventually won't use, and not having enough to modify most of my weapons anyway.

You can swap weapon mods at any time, and all weapons can take three at the campaign's start. To help with management of that, we've added a "strip weapon" button that removes all mods and un-uniques the weapon (returning it to your pile of unmodded weapons of the same type).

Oh, and we've mixed up looting so you can have several drops in a mission, usually of only one item.

And finally weapon mods can be built in the PG if you reverse-engineer enough of the same type.

[roberdjp]

...weapon mods can be built in the PG if you reverse-engineer enough of the same type.

Ha! Does that mean you have to destroy n drops in order to build the same thing yourself? That would be amusingly brutal.

[johnnylump]

...weapon mods can be built in the PG if you reverse-engineer enough of the same type.

Ha! Does that mean you have to destroy n drops in order to build the same thing yourself? That would be amusingly brutal.

Yeah, three scopes let you build as many scopes as you want, and unlocks the project to build advanced scopes (which also requires 3 advanced scopes).

[mattprice516]

we've added a "strip weapon" button that removes all mods and un-uniques the weapon (returning it to your pile of unmodded weapons of the same type).

Just chiming in to mention that this is truly an amazing and wonderful button. Really helps with managing tech-ups.

[No1currz]

What changes have you made to the weapon mod system to account for the increased number of weapons you will need and the single-item-buying system? I'm worried about tying up all of my upgrades in ballistics that I eventually won't use, and not having enough to modify most of my weapons anyway.

You can swap weapon mods at any time, and all weapons can take three at the campaign's start. To help with management of that, we've added a "strip weapon" button that removes all mods and un-uniques the weapon (returning it to your pile of unmodded weapons of the same type).

Oh, and we've mixed up looting so you can have several drops in a mission, usually of only one item.

And finally weapon mods can be built in the PG if you reverse-engineer enough of the same type.

When you say un-uniques a weapon, are we talking about unique weapons similar to Grimy's loot mod?

[johnnylump]

What changes have you made to the weapon mod system to account for the increased number of weapons you will need and the single-item-buying system? I'm worried about tying up all of my upgrades in ballistics that I eventually won't use, and not having enough to modify most of my weapons anyway.

You can swap weapon mods at any time, and all weapons can take three at the campaign's start. To help with management of that, we've added a "strip weapon" button that removes all mods and un-uniques the weapon (returning it to your pile of unmodded weapons of the same type).

Oh, and we've mixed up looting so you can have several drops in a mission, usually of only one item.

And finally weapon mods can be built in the PG if you reverse-engineer enough of the same type.

When you say un-uniques a weapon, are we talking about unique weapons similar to Grimy's loot mod?

I'm not sure. Every time you add mods to a weapon (like a scope to a laser rifle) it takes that weapon out of the pile of generic laser rifles and creates a separate version of it. In vanilla play if you remove the mods the unique version remains even if you strip the mods. This also returns it to the pile. (The pile was infinite with the vanilla schematic system, but limited with LW2)

[johnnylump]

It's great to see that the XP system has been overhauled. That way, people who choose to run small, stealthy squads don't get punished.

What does the "Vega" stand for in this screenshot: https://cdn.2kgames.com/xcom.com/XCom2+ ... -12-32.jpg ?

Is that the name of the squad doing the infiltration? And what is that XCOM-looking symbol to the left of it?

Sorry I missed this q till now. Vega is the name of the squad doing the infiltration. The symbol is the symbol for that squad.

We've got a squad manager where you can build and save permanent squads and give them a symbol, name and a short bit of text. In squad select you can assign them to missions all at once. It makes managing the leadership mechanic a lot easier. (We have a display for who has gone on missions with each officer, but it's a lot easier to organize them this way). We've got a bunch of symbols to choose from and it's pretty easy for modders to add more.

[Frozen Shepard]

We've got a squad manager where you can build and save permanent squads and give them a symbol, name and a short bit of text. In squad select you can assign them to missions all at once. It makes managing the leadership mechanic a lot easier. (We have a display for who has gone on missions with each officer, but it's a lot easier to organize them this way). We've got a bunch of symbols to choose from and it's pretty easy for modders to add more.

How much is a "short description?" A paragraph or so? Also, this may be one of my favorite new features you've added.