Advent Civil Protection Unit?

[Surrealistik]

Would be nice to see an honest to god actual Advent policeman/law enforcement beat cop/street officer armed with non-lethals; essentially a min-tier stunlancer.

Would have a stun baton that deals minimal damage (0-2), but always upgrades the level of disorientation by 1 on a glance, 2 on a hit, or 3 on a crit (Disorientated being level 1, Stunned being level 2, Unconscious being level 3). Ignores armor on mechanical units.

Ranged weapon would be an arc-thrower; again minimal damage, (0-2), but acts like the stun baton, except it's ranged with pistol type falloff. Ignores armor on mechanical units.

Also has hand-thrown flashbangs.

Often comes paired with Advent Surveillance drones.

Pod leaders or more advanced/elite versions (Advent Pacifiers?) might have Lightning Reflexes, Bladestorm and Bladestorm to reinforce their melee role besides the usual stat/armor bumps.

Tactical role would be eroding X-Com action economy and pinning soldiers down in vulnerable positions so that pod/squad mates with the lethal abilities can finish them off.

[Arcalane]

Between Actual Stun Lancers, Surveillance Drones, Sectoids, Viper poison/grab, and who knows what else, I feel like even more action-fuckery against players is just going to be absurd. The AI already has numerical advantage, stripping even more actions away from the player is terrible. DerBK has held off on reintroducing his Trauma Lancers (basically Lancers with Arc Throwers) for the exact same reason.

I mean it's a cute idea but there's enough control on the field as it is.

[Surrealistik]

Between Actual Stun Lancers, Surveillance Drones, Sectoids, Viper poison/grab, and who knows what else, I feel like even more action-fuckery against players is just going to be absurd. The AI already has numerical advantage, stripping even more actions away from the player is terrible. DerBK has held off on reintroducing his Trauma Lancers (basically Lancers with Arc Throwers) for the exact same reason.

I mean it's a cute idea but there's enough control on the field as it is.

Given that these would be 3 HP, one shot wonders as they're basic beatcops, I doubt whether they'd be much of a problem beyond the early game in terms of control. If you don't deal with them via AoE or shooting, they will still be a problem though, which is desirable.

[Devon_v]

ADVENT has scanners, drones, and turrets everywhere. Everything is military, there is no "civilian" law enforcement.

They don't need cops, they just air drop soldiers, and they don't have any civilian authority to answer to.

[Surrealistik]

ADVENT has scanners, drones, and turrets everywhere. Everything is military, there is no "civilian" law enforcement.

They don't need cops, they just air drop soldiers, and they don't have any civilian authority to answer to.

The preponderance of even military dictatorships and totalitarian societies have standard police units, whether or not they're formally segregated from the soldiers/broader armed forces.

[Devon_v]

ADVENT troopers.

Obey or die. If they shoot you, you were a terrorist. Bradford says it himself that Stun Lancers were peacekeepers in the early days, but they don't bother anymore.

They have no reason to care. The remaining human population is dependant on them, and they're melting them all down into AVATAR juice anyway.

[Surrealistik]

ADVENT troopers.

Obey or die. If they shoot you, you were a terrorist. Bradford says it himself that Stun Lancers were peacekeepers in the early days, but they don't bother anymore.

They have no reason to care. The remaining human population is dependant on them, and they're melting them all down into AVATAR juice anyway.

Yet they still invest vast amounts of resources in propaganda?

Honestly the lore on this front is pretty inconsistent.

[Arcalane]

Because a complacent and compliant populace is easier to control and renders more useful Avatar Juice than a resisting, violent one.

The idea is cute and all but it's super redundant. There's no role it does that other units don't already do.

Also keep in mind that it would probably be a child of the Stun Lancer, and the Stun Lancer lets you access the T2 sword. Having earlier access to those corpses means earlier access to those weapons, when a lot of the economy is built around that rarity of corpses.

[Surrealistik]

Because a complacent and compliant populace is easier to control and renders more useful Avatar Juice than a resisting, violent one.

Sure, but when you're making the argument per Devon that ADVENT doesn't care about the good will of the populace, the extensive utilization of propaganda runs contrary to that. Again, even brutal dictatorships had standing police units because you generally don't want to be killing people wholesale in the routine process of law enforcement and breeding resentment that way.

The idea is cute and all but it's super redundant. There's no role it does that other units don't already do.

I don't know of any existing unit that actually occupies the role; I know of existing units that occupy _fragments_ of its role, but then there are other instances of partial overlap throughout existent design.

Also keep in mind that it would probably be a child of the Stun Lancer, and the Stun Lancer lets you access the T2 sword. Having earlier access to those corpses means earlier access to those weapons, when a lot of the economy is built around that rarity of corpses.

Should be able to make it count as a Trooper corpse when it drops, unless that sort of thing is hard coded.

[Devon_v]

I think the key difference is that totalitarian regimes on present day Earth have to brainwash people into thinking that living there is a good idea, and they have to keep people from leaving. ADVENT is actually the best place on Earth. It's the only civilization left. You can scrounge around in the slums and the wasteland, or you can come to the city centers and get food, a warm bed, medical treatment beyond anything previously available, and all you have to do is behave.

What XCOM calls propaganda is more like an advertisement for paradise. If it weren't for that little AVATAR Project hitch it would be a great deal. Tygan and Bradford have a random conversation on the Avenger about this, he mentions that the only cost for all that bounty is obedience.

[Surrealistik]

I think the key difference is that totalitarian regimes on present day Earth have to brainwash people into thinking that living there is a good idea, and they have to keep people from leaving. ADVENT is actually the best place on Earth. It's the only civilization left. You can scrounge around in the slums and the wasteland, or you can come to the city centers and get food, a warm bed, medical treatment beyond anything previously available, and all you have to do is behave.

What XCOM calls propaganda is more like an advertisement for paradise. If it weren't for that little AVATAR Project hitch it would be a great deal. Tygan and Bradford have a random conversation on the Avenger about this, he mentions that the only cost for all that bounty is obedience.

Yes, but they still want a compliant, ruly and obedient populace as both you and Arcalane have noted, and propaganda is prolific even within ADVENT civilization and to people who already bought and settled in. The value of propaganda in any totalitarian state is primarily not in convincing people to stay (though that's certainly a benefit, without question), but in manipulating them to obey and not overthrow their horrible regime or otherwise cause trouble by convincing them it's not so horrible; when the grip on propaganda and misinformation fails, the consequences can be disastrous for the ruling party as seen in both the game and IRL. Part of working towards such a obedient populace is not murdering them in cold blood for routine, non-political crimes that don't challenge the state.

I suspect stun lancers were heavy crowd control during a time when the political dominance of ADVENT was not yet established, protests were abundant and the aliens had to tightrope between consolidating power, and not alienating the people; even if those people had political differences. Now that power is fully in ADVENT's hands, and political dissidents are a tiny minority, there's no need to humour them. However, you'll still probably need a beat cop to deal with theft, assault, and other mundane things that probably don't warrant a burst of magrifle fire to the face.

[Devon_v]

That's a fair point.