Pavonis Interactive Forums

1.- When a Dark Event is countered, does it be countered forever or they just try reload it once and again until I fail?

2.- Is there any way to know what DE are timed and what are forever? And for timed can we know how much time it will last?

3.- Is there any way to know what DE we have countered when have won a mission with "DE hidden"?

4.- We have a list of DE preparing and another with DE active, there is any place where we can see what DE we have countered?

josna238 wrote:1.- When a Dark Event is countered, does it be countered forever or they just try reload it once and again until I fail?

Countering only stops it for now, it can be picked up again later.

josna238 wrote:2.- Is there any way to know what DE are timed and what are forever? And for timed can we know how much time it will last?

I believe most of the ones that are timed will have some text at the end being something like 'for a month'. The 'month' is not really true, they vary typically between 2-4 weeks with some going as high as 6 weeks. You'd have to dig into the code to get all the real values.

josna238 wrote:3.- Is there any way to know what DE we have countered when have won a mission with "DE hidden"?

You'd have to spend the 5 intel from the Dark Event UI before launching the mission.

josna238 wrote:4.- We have a list of DE preparing and another with DE active, there is any place where we can see what DE we have countered?

No you'd have to keep track yourself. I'm not sure if the save file even has this info.

Just completed my first successful campaign, 7 Feb end date on Veteran (1.2 -> 1.4). I had 23 active dark events by the end. Is it normal to have this many? I was trying to prioritise countering them (pulling teams off other missions where necessary to make sure I was attempting every Dark Event missions I saw, I did fail twice I recall) and yet it still feels like there were way too many.

Here is my list of 23 *active* events as at 7 Feb:
Tactical upgrades: advanced servos
Tac upgrades: shredder
Alien conditioning
TU: defence
TU combat awareness
TU iron skin
TU lightning reflexes
Veteran units
TU tactical sense
Alien adaptations
TU aggression
Alien survivability
TU formidable
TU infighter
TU center mass
Greater faceless
Advent alloy padding
TU damage control
TU hunters instinct
TU cutthroat
TU will to survive
Advent laser sights
Counterintelligence sweep

Plus all the temporary DE that have been and gone - rapid response (twice?), two? UFO hunt events, (+ one from mission is that right?), recruiting/supply/intel crackdowns (once each)....

mudhut79 wrote:Just completed my first successful campaign, 7 Feb end date on Veteran (1.2 -> 1.4). I had 23 active dark events by the end. Is it normal to have this many? I was trying to prioritise countering them (pulling teams off other missions where necessary to make sure I was attempting every Dark Event missions I saw, I did fail twice I recall) and yet it still feels like there were way too many.

The intention is for the Dark Events to serve as a sort of secondary alien progression, extending the three more concrete tiers of enemies (like Basic -> Advanced -> Elite ADVENT) into more like 6-ish (Basic -> Basic + Early DEs -> Advanced -> Advanced + Midgame DEs -> Elite -> Elite + Endgame DEs). They are all supposed to be online by the end of the campaign, more or less.

OK, understood. It really did feel overwhelming having that many though, even if it is an intended difficulty mechanism.

Still it would make a difference how many you manage to stop. Had I let through more than average? Or had I stopped more than average, such that normally it gets even worse (shudder).

fowlJ how many active dark events would you have 11 months in? (not sure if you play on veteran or what though)

Having a whole page of active DEs near the end isn't weird at all. Like others said, the game was balanced around the aliens having all of them, eventually. It's like the tech upgrades from Longwar1, except that it comes in discrete packets and you are given a chance to intercept some of those packets.

josna238 wrote: 2.- Is there any way to know what DE are timed and what are forever? And for timed can we know how much time it will last?

Everything is here:

http://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Dark_Events_(LW2)

All these tactical dark events seem bad on paper but the more I play the less I notice most of them. Except hunters instinct, that one is nasty. Remember not every enemy even gets the buff from a dark event.

The strategic dark events, though temporary, have a much bigger effect on gameplay. Stuff like rapid reaponse, vigilance, ufo hunt avenger have all had a much tougher challenge than the tactical DEs. But even these seem manageable on commander difficulty.

deducter wrote:All these tactical dark events seem bad on paper but the more I play the less I notice most of them. Except hunters instinct, that one is nasty. Remember not every enemy even gets the buff from a dark event.

Maybe it is just weakness in my tactical game (or RNG, always easier to blame that than your own shortcomings!) but I found many of the tactical DE were as bad as I feared. Hunters Instinct you note, but other examples off the top of my head:

• -Tac Sense made Advent Officers a lot more difficult, they have high HP to begin with and tend to hang back in full cover so the additional defense meant even my snipers were missing them! (though on reflection I had this hit before 1.3 I think, and 1.3 reduced the Tac sense defense buff I think?). Then they mark a target and the aliens all focus fire...
  -Damage control made Mec balls nigh on impossible for me (I had it roll on 6/8 Mecs once including both superheavies - that UFOpedia page says it should only be 20% chance but maybe it is a higher % chance for the higher tier MECs?).
  -Shredder almost took the option of using a Spark tank off the table (in part cause it took 50? days to repair him after we met two advent gunners one mission)
  -Lightning reflexes, another example, had it roll on one stun lancer -> result was one unconscious soldier and cascade to mission fail

As you note above, not every enemy gets the buff - but you still need to treat them all as if they do, right!? That last example, instead of taking low % shots at the lancer in high cover, I overwatched x 2 (only needed a graze to kill IIRC) and hoped he didn't have lightning reflexes. He did... that's Xcom baby (I did carry him home though). But I think this is why (imho) the tactical DE have a bigger effect on our options (really, ruling out options for dealing with enemies) than the % applications would indicate.

mudhut79 wrote:

• -Tac Sense made Advent Officers a lot more difficult, they have high HP to begin with and tend to hang back in full cover so the additional defense meant even my snipers were missing them! (though on reflection I had this hit before 1.3 I think, and 1.3 reduced the Tac sense defense buff I think?). Then they mark a target and the aliens all focus fire...
  -Damage control made Mec balls nigh on impossible for me (I had it roll on 6/8 Mecs once including both superheavies - that UFOpedia page says it should only be 20% chance but maybe it is a higher % chance for the higher tier MECs?).
  -Shredder almost took the option of using a Spark tank off the table (in part cause it took 50? days to repair him after we met two advent gunners one mission)
  -Lightning reflexes, another example, had it roll on one stun lancer -> result was one unconscious soldier and cascade to mission fail

To be fair I haven't run into these particular DEs yet, so perhaps my statement is premature. I've ran into stuff like the Advent Vanguard or Advent Commando which are like buffed up officers. They are dangerous but manageable. I did fight and destroy in 2 turns a command pod of 8 on a supply raid including two superheavy mecs, a longbow, and a muton elite with 6 soldiers and coil weapons. Admittedly 6 GSGT and MSGTs. These superheavy mecs already seemed to have damage control, but it was manageable.

I find MECs quite easy to handle with bluescreen bombs, they make MEC balls much less dangerous. Also shutdown + trojan (which is also admittedly vastly overpowered right now) is very effective.

I also play with Robojumper's Yet Another F1 mod: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/f ... =934236622. This gives you the LW1-style way of knowing if a unit actually has a DE active or not. Perhaps this is a bit cheating, but I loved F1 from LW1. I still remember Iago van Doorn's impressive list of a bazillion perks.

I found this mod was pretty cool:

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/f ... htext=dark

You can modify it so that although tactical dark events are still permanent, HQ assaults remove a tactical DE.

It also has an ini setting if you want DE's to only spawn in contacted regions. This doesn't guarantee that you will detect the mission but it at least gives your rebels a chance to find it.

deducter wrote: These superheavy mecs already seemed to have damage control, but it was manageable.

Ah well there you go, I was blaming the Damage Control Dark Event when it appears it is innate. My mistake.

deducter wrote: I also play with Robojumper's Yet Another F1 mod: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/f ... =934236622. This gives you the LW1-style way of knowing if a unit actually has a DE active or not. Perhaps this is a bit cheating, but I loved F1 from LW1. I still remember Iago van Doorn's impressive list of a bazillion perks

foreverdead wrote: I found this mod was pretty cool:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/f ... htext=dark
You can modify it so that although tactical dark events are still permanent, HQ assaults remove a tactical DE.

Thanks for these suggestions, I might even do both!

mudhut79 wrote:Tac Sense made Advent Officers a lot more difficult, they have high HP to begin with and tend to hang back in full cover so the additional defense meant even my snipers were missing them! (though on reflection I had this hit before 1.3 I think, and 1.3 reduced the Tac sense defense buff I think?). Then they mark a target and the aliens all focus fire...

I believe Tac Sense is disabled when a unit is disoriented, so Flashbangs and Arc Throwers can help with these guys.

RantingRodent wrote: I believe Tac Sense is disabled when a unit is disoriented, so Flashbangs and Arc Throwers can help with these guys.

It is - flashbangs are my default solution to Tac Sense.