What Dark Events do you prioritize over others?

[RainingMetal]

I always try to prevent Avatar Breakthroughs whenver possible; since I take my time I can't afford to let that timer go any faster. I also put Alien Cypher at the top as well, since Intel's precious, especially in the early game.

Hunting XCOM and Rural Checkpoints are also pretty high, the former at least when I don't have an upgraded Defense Matrix. I learned this lesson the hard way when I couldn't escape a UFO early in the game.

I hardly ever hire more soldiers than I need to, so Midnight Raids is something I can completely ignore. Strangely I never run into Viper Rounds or the Alien Infiltrator, so I tend to brush those off too. Rapid Response is just another "bring it" moment where I get to kill more enemies and give my soldiers more experience.

[Chitoloco]

Vigilance, Alien Cypher, and Infestation. Depending on where I am on the doom tracker and the main story I might prioritize Avatar Breakthroughs but most of the time it's not that high on my list.

[gimmethegepgun]

Breakthroughs just throw the progress onto a facility. Not a terribly high concern.

Alien Cipher is the absolute worst though. Definitely counter that. Rural Checkpoints (that's the half next supply drop right?) is also awful, however a supply reward on a different op will usually cover the loss.

Infiltrator, Rapid Response, and Infestation are just more corpses and experience for you (and Infiltrator gives you immensely helpful Faceless corpses)

[Chitoloco]

Originally posted by gimmethegepgun:

Breakthroughs just throw the progress onto a facility. Not a terribly high concern.

Alien Cipher is the absolute worst though. Definitely counter that. Rural Checkpoints (that's the half next supply drop right?) is also awful, however a supply reward on a different op will usually cover the loss.

Infiltrator, Rapid Response, and Infestation are just more corpses and experience for you (and Infiltrator gives you immensely helpful Faceless corpses)

Agree about the extra xp and usefulness of having faceless corps however I'll take a pass on having chryssalids on timed missions.

[Kunovega]

Originally posted by Prismbox:

Originally posted by gimmethegepgun:

Breakthroughs just throw the progress onto a facility. Not a terribly high concern.

Alien Cipher is the absolute worst though. Definitely counter that. Rural Checkpoints (that's the half next supply drop right?) is also awful, however a supply reward on a different op will usually cover the loss.

Infiltrator, Rapid Response, and Infestation are just more corpses and experience for you (and Infiltrator gives you immensely helpful Faceless corpses)

Agree about the extra xp and usefulness of having faceless corps however I'll take a pass on having chryssalids on timed missions.

Oddly enough I don't think I've ever intentionally prioritized the Chryssalids but I've been lucky to never have them be a problem. I either countered them on months where the other projects were pointless to me (like late game I don't care about getting more rookies), or the last time I had Chyssalids active the game went almost a month without giving me a mission and the one mission I did with Chryssalids in it went by with only a couple of them popping up and they died to overwatch fire instantly. And than the event was over *shrug*

Maybe I've just been lucky, I can imagine the mess they could potentially be in a VIP escort mission, but I haven't had to face that.

[Chitoloco]

Originally posted by Kunovega:

Originally posted by Prismbox:

Agree about the extra xp and usefulness of having faceless corps however I'll take a pass on having chryssalids on timed missions.

Oddly enough I don't think I've ever intentionally prioritized the Chryssalids but I've been lucky to never have them be a problem. I either countered them on months where the other projects were pointless to me (like late game I don't care about getting more rookies), or the last time I had Chyssalids active the game went almost a month without giving me a mission and the one mission I did with Chryssalids in it went by with only a couple of them popping up and they died to overwatch fire instantly. And than the event was over *shrug*

Maybe I've just been lucky, I can imagine the mess they could potentially be in a VIP escort mission, but I haven't had to face that.

If it's a pod of chryssalids that patrols then I wouldn't worry about them. My fear is that it's the burrowing kind which can activate from clear across the map and make it to one of my troops and attack all on the same turn. If that happens once I'm already engaged with a pod it's likely I won't have anyone on overwatch. And in general I think it would make me much more paranoid about maneuvering around the map. I've never gotten that event so I'm not sure how they work on regular missions.

[Bullett00th]

I almost always go for the ones that increase the Avatar timer, but if there's a possibility, I prevent faceless and zerkers.
Both are really, really bad surprises.

Zerkers themselves aren't too bad, but they have a ton of HP which is a problem when facing a full pod, especially if triggered during battle.

[Kunovega]

Originally posted by Bullett00th:

I almost always go for the ones that increase the Avatar timer, but if there's a possibility, I prevent faceless and zerkers.
Both are really, really bad surprises.

Zerkers themselves aren't too bad, but they have a ton of HP which is a problem when facing a full pod, especially if triggered during battle.

Faceless are easy to counter, you just don't walk near humans; and I almost want that one on, it's free XP and corpses

Same with the advent reinforcments. Free xp and corpses.

[JaegerBane]

Originally posted by Kunovega:

Faceless are easy to counter, you just don't walk near humans; and I almost want that one on, it's free XP and corpses

Same with the advent reinforcments. Free xp and corpses.

In the context of the thread, I'd agree - Faceless are are a band of b*stards on retaliation missions as you're not only actively approaching civilians, you're also doing it under time pressure. On any other mission you're actively avoiding civilians so they typically only shed their disguise later on and it's all just Mimic Beacon mats.

People say that the Avatar timer ones don't need countering - I'd argue this would depend on how many facilities you have accessible, which is largely RNG dependent (early on in particular). I can certainly see situations arise where you'd want to counter them.

My personal ones I counter tend to be the supply drop and Intel penalties - they hurt. I leave the UFO one alone once I have the Defence Matrix and I always leave the Chrysalid and Faceless ones, because I like fighting freaky monsters.

My fave derp one is the increased cost of recruits one. They cost so little that a breathe a sigh of relief every time I see it come up, as it's basically like having only two Dark Events on the cards that month.

[Kunovega]

Originally posted by JaegerBane:

Originally posted by Kunovega:

Faceless are easy to counter, you just don't walk near humans; and I almost want that one on, it's free XP and corpses

Same with the advent reinforcments. Free xp and corpses.

In the context of the thread, I'd agree - Faceless are are a band of b*stards on retaliation missions as you're not only actively approaching civilians, you're also doing it under time pressure. On any other mission you're actively avoiding civilians so they typically only shed their disguise later on and it's all just Mimic Beacon mats.

Retaliation missions technically are not timed. Once you realize that known aliens will almost never walk behind you; you can actually safely ignore and avoid the humans as you move forward.

As long as you move forward and kill the aliens, there's none behind you to kill the humans you ignored; and you save all of the standing humans once the aliens are dead (which you were required to do anyway).

The faceless will trigger after all other aliens are dead (if you didn't stumble on them already); but if they are the last ones on the board, very easy kill.

My fave derp one is the increased cost of recruits one. They cost so little that a breathe a sigh of relief every time I see it come up, as it's basically like having only two Dark Events on the cards that month.

Yep, I've never countered that one unless I wanted the bonus reward it came with (+intel or something) and only if the other options were going to be mostly harmless

[Bullett00th]

Originally posted by Kunovega:

Faceless are easy to counter, you just don't walk near humans; and I almost want that one on, it's free XP and corpses

Same with the advent reinforcments. Free xp and corpses.

I just don't like unpleasant surprises and being restricted in my movement by the simple fact of civilians' presence.

Also the Faceless are a problem not so much because of direct damage but because their attacks destroy cover and they can do that on the reveal turn. Meaning that if one gets activated at the beginning of an alien turn when I'm fighting another pod, it can and likely will destory cover for at least one soldier, dealing damage as well.

[RainingMetal]

I don't think Berserkers are affected by the Dark Events, are you thinking of Chryssalids?

[Bullett00th]

Originally posted by RainingMetal:

I don't think Berserkers are affected by the Dark Events, are you thinking of Chryssalids?

No, but I forgot that it's a non-default dark event.
I use the Additional Dark Events mod that has the advent unleash berserkers on random non-retaliation missions in packs of 4

[Gnome Boy]

I prioitize infiltrator and avatar breakthrough. The third place goes to the one that reduces your supply drop; at least in the beginning.
The least concerning for me are midnight raids, the one that triggers terror sites earlier and hunter UFOs. I realy like the UFO shotdown missions, they are a lot of fun (eventhough they are hard).

[Nu-men von Kryt !!XD]

My priority list:
1) intel costs increase - intel is the one of the if not the most important resource
2) Avatar breakthrough - doomclock ticking faster that you want
3) UFO/terror mission - ufo until i have quad turrets after that the terror missions since nothing more sucks then a freaking terror mission when you have some othe more important mission to do
4) Poison rounds - well for obvious reasons

My i dont give a ♥♥♥♥ list:
1) facility construction - sabotage is the easiest type of mission with no freaking timers and if doomclock is ticking then we dont have to do story progression missions
2) infiltrator - more stuff to kill
3) Rapid reinforcement - see as the above
4) infestation - see above
5) alloy padding - enemies melt slightly slower
6) income reduction - early game maybe it is pain but in mid & late game intel is bigger priority since you can aquire supply by other means -> excavation, black market etc.
7) recruitment cost increase - not that much of a problem if you survive first 3 months without having a single soldier dying

[gimmethegepgun]

Originally posted by Nu-men von Kryt !!XD:

My priority list:
1) intel costs increase - intel is the one of the if not the most important resource
2) Avatar breakthrough - doomclock ticking faster that you want
3) UFO/terror mission - ufo until i have quad turrets after that the terror missions since nothing more sucks then a freaking terror mission when you have some othe more important mission to do
4) Poison rounds - well for obvious reasons

My i dont give a ♥♥♥♥ list:
1) facility construction - sabotage is the easiest type of mission with no freaking timers and if doomclock is ticking then we dont have to do story progression missions
2) infiltrator - more stuff to kill
3) Rapid reinforcement - see as the above
4) infestation - see above
5) alloy padding - enemies melt slightly slower
6) income reduction - early game maybe it is pain but in mid & late game intel is bigger priority since you can aquire supply by other means -> excavation, black market etc.
7) recruitment cost increase - not that much of a problem if you survive first 3 months without having a single soldier dying

You forgot to put Vigilance on your "who cares" list.