Tracking aliens ?

[Skywalker]

I started as a servant faction and the aliens landed.
Turns out an alien lifeform is running around somewhere , but where are the aliens?
A surveil location mission in the area would bring more clarity, but where to start with this mission

[gimmethegepgun]

Ideally you want to start Surveil in the region that they were in on the previous turn, since they can only move one region at a time at the start. When they land a ship, they'll begin in the region that the ship landed in, and at other times, Alien Activity shows detected activity by them in that turn.

You can also determine likely places that they are at by looking at public opinion. If there's a large amount of Protectorate and Servant opinion in a country that doesn't have those factions in it, it means there's been an alien there affecting public opinion at some point, so you'll likely find them there.
And, of course, if you get a free CP suddenly as Servants, it means there was an alien in the capital of that nation.

[Skywalker]

Thanks, have only started at the beginning of the game and those tips are for when you are further into the game I guess.
There is no alien tracker in the game, so I went back the history of actions, when there was the first report of aliens on sde earth and then went to do a surveil there.

[mk11]

Fairly sure there is something you need to research before you can ever detect an alien.

[Skywalker]

Yes, the alien Signature project is done in order to detect alien abductions and next project is Alien flora is partially researched

[Mistfox]

Originally posted by Skywalker:

Yes, the alien Signature project is done in order to detect alien abductions and next project is Alien flora is partially researched

I think the next one would be Alien Methods to detect their actions. Flora is a different line that's more related to growing xenoflora and megaflora monsters.

[Skywalker]

Thanks, that looks better, because i could not find another project yet about aliens
Already thought it was strange that there were only 2 projects showing for the aliens, how and when new projects like Alien Methods show up in the tech tree ?

[Mistfox]

Originally posted by Skywalker:

Thanks, that looks better, because i could not find another project yet about aliens
Already thought it was strange that there were only 2 projects showing for the aliens, how and when new projects like Alien Methods show up in the tech tree ?

IIRC it happens when the abducted people start returning to society so wait a bit for them to reappear.

[gimmethegepgun]

It's part of your faction missions.
Different kinds of Alien Activity have different icons, indicating what kind of activity it was that was detected. Each of the story step researches unlocks more types that you're capable of detecting, and the next step requires Investigating one of the newly-unlocked kind.
There's not really very much you can do to try to get specific kinds, so you might as well just Investigate all of them to increase your chances of detecting them. Just keep enough Ops in reserve so that you can use it if the kind you actually need shows up.

[Dr. Electrocutioner]

Putting xeno research labs in low Earth orbit increases your chance of finding them.

[Mistfox]

Originally posted by Dr. Electrocutioner:

Putting xeno research labs in low Earth orbit increases your chance of finding them.

Though putting stations in Earth orbit itself is a risk, they are too easily taken over by Councilor actions.

[gimmethegepgun]

Originally posted by Mistfox:

Originally posted by Dr. Electrocutioner:

Putting xeno research labs in low Earth orbit increases your chance of finding them.

Though putting stations in Earth orbit itself is a risk, they are too easily taken over by Councilor actions.

Level 1 stations are almost risk-free since they can only be taken by councilors with Undercover, which pretty much means just Spies.

[Pawleus]

Originally posted by gimmethegepgun:

Originally posted by Mistfox:

Though putting stations in Earth orbit itself is a risk, they are too easily taken over by Councilor actions.

Level 1 stations are almost risk-free since they can only be taken by councilors with Undercover, which pretty much means just Spies.

And it is easy to disincline them from even trying.

[Mistfox]

Originally posted by gimmethegepgun:

Originally posted by Mistfox:

Though putting stations in Earth orbit itself is a risk, they are too easily taken over by Councilor actions.

Level 1 stations are almost risk-free since they can only be taken by councilors with Undercover, which pretty much means just Spies.

It works both ways. Don't forget you are working on 1v6 odds and when just one of them gets grabby, you need a Spy of your own just to get it back, failing which, all you can do is hope they build it up. Play long enough and those buggers will definitely try. Lost too many stations to even consider it any more. Beyond Earth orbit or forget it. I have little interest in my shipyards changing hands, especially if there is a queue of ships.

[Pawleus]

Originally posted by Mistfox:

Lost too many stations to even consider it any more.

Hasn't it occured to you that you need to learn how to prevent it?

[vine]

Originally posted by Mistfox:

Originally posted by gimmethegepgun:

Level 1 stations are almost risk-free since they can only be taken by councilors with Undercover, which pretty much means just Spies.

It works both ways. Don't forget you are working on 1v6 odds and when just one of them gets grabby, you need a Spy of your own just to get it back, failing which, all you can do is hope they build it up. Play long enough and those buggers will definitely try. Lost too many stations to even consider it any more. Beyond Earth orbit or forget it. I have little interest in my shipyards changing hands, especially if there is a queue of ships.

you'll eventually want all the LEOs so why not start and populate them right away. secure them of course, LDA and Marines are there for a reason. plus marines generate OPS to use down on ground. T2 habs is where it starts to be useful, so get them asap.