Tips on Reducing # of Enemies and Frequency of Reincforcements

[GarageGuy]

Hi there,

So, I'm still finding this mod too difficult, even after switching to Rookie and removing the mission timers. Can anyone tell me what I need to change in the config file in order to reduce the number of enemies in missions and also the frequency with which reinforcements arrive? (Especially the latter)

I have a pretty good idea which things to change, as I poked around when I change the mission timers, but I'm new to this sort of thing and don't want to foul up my game. Any advice would be appreciated

[Gas Head]

Enemy spawns:

In XComMissions.ini:

"MaxSpawnCount=" Defines how many enemies may spawn per pod.

Reinforcements:

in XComLW_Overhaul.ini:

; Overall reinforcement speed modifier by diffiuclty
+DIFFICULTY_MODIFIER[0]=-0.2
+DIFFICULTY_MODIFIER[1]=-0.05
+DIFFICULTY_MODIFIER[2]=0
+DIFFICULTY_MODIFIER[3]=0

I think these values determine how fast reinforcements arrive. I haven't tested these yet, so I am not sure.

[GarageGuy]

Thanks for your reply! I tried increasing DIFFICULTY_MODIFIER[0] to -0.5, and I still had reinforcements show up on the same (third) turn. I'll try playing with it some more, though.

[GarageGuy]

Changed DIFFICULTY_MODIFIER[0] to -1 and no reinforcements showed up at all. Fine by me, although hopefully that won't happen on all missions. We'll see.

[gauge235]

For those reading... go into steamapps/workshop/content/268500/844674609/config
From there open XComLW_Overhaul

In this file you have a few choices to edit for reinforcements...
Scroll the slider pretty much to the bottom of this file to find the edits you need. Ill show you what I changed.
So I changed the amount of reinfocements that were dropped, you will see a list like this:

+ReinforcementList=( \\
ScheduleName=Default, \\
EncounterList[0]=ADVx3_RNFStandard_LW, \\
EncounterList[1]=ADVx3_RNFStandard_LW, \\
EncounterList[2]=ADVx3_RNFStandard_LW, \\
EncounterList[3]=ADVx4_RNFStandard_LW, \\
EncounterList[4]=OPNx4_Standard_LW, \\
EncounterList[5]=OPNx5_Standard_LW, \\
EncounterList[6]=OPNx5_Standard_LW, \\
EncounterList[7]=OPNx5_Standard_LW \\

Where is says ADVx3 at the top (which I changed it to, the default is ADVx4) controls how many enemies will be dropped per reinfocement increment. So "EncounterList[0]=ADVx3_RNFStandard_LW" will be the first drop and the second one will be the next one down and so on...
Changing ADVx4 to ADVx3 will drop the amount of reinforcemnts from 4 to 3.... same with OPN or anything that has that "x" next to it. This will not fix the mission you are on, but will apply on your next missions. Ive tried it and it works. Moving on......

The following is the frequency of reinforcements. Found just above the encounterList. If you want to delay reinforcements by 2X as long, then cut these values in 1/2. There is also another value that will effect this which I will show below.

"Reinforcements will trigger when the bucket reaches 1.0,
; then the bucket is reduced by 1.
+ALERT_MODIFIER[0]=0.20
+ALERT_MODIFIER[1]=0.20
+ALERT_MODIFIER[2]=0.225
+ALERT_MODIFIER[3]=0.25
+ALERT_MODIFIER[4]=0.275
+ALERT_MODIFIER[5]=0.30
+ALERT_MODIFIER[6]=0.325
+ALERT_MODIFIER[7]=0.35
+ALERT_MODIFIER[8]=0.375
+ALERT_MODIFIER[9]=0.40
+ALERT_MODIFIER[10]=0.425
+ALERT_MODIFIER[11]=0.45
+ALERT_MODIFIER[12]=0.475
+ALERT_MODIFIER[13]=0.50
+ALERT_MODIFIER[14]=0.525
+ALERT_MODIFIER[15]=0.55
+ALERT_MODIFIER[16]=0.575
+ALERT_MODIFIER[17]=0.6
+ALERT_MODIFIER[18]=0.625
+ALERT_MODIFIER[19]=0.65
+ALERT_MODIFIER[20]=0.675"

This is the value that will also apply:

; Overall reinforcement speed modifier by diffiuclty (The 4 difficulty levels, beginner, veteran..ect are represented by [0],[1] respectively) so the [0] means easiest.

+DIFFICULTY_MODIFIER[0]=-0.2
+DIFFICULTY_MODIFIER[1]=-0.05
+DIFFICULTY_MODIFIER[2]=0
+DIFFICULTY_MODIFIER[3]=0

So as far as I can gather, I could be wrong on this and I know people will correct me if thats the case. You can see the +ALERT_MODIFIER above, as the turns go by (after being revealed) the numbers add together till they reach a vaule of 1.0. At which point the reinforcement drops. So cutting those values in 1/2 should make it take twice as long. But that number is also modified by the
+DIFFICULTY_MODIFIER shown above. So say changing this vaule from +DIFFICULTY_MODIFIER[1]=-0.05 to +DIFFICULTY_MODIFIER[1]=-0.5 would mean this:
Lets say the +ALERT_MODIFIER reaches 1.0 (which is a drop reinforcement condition). But with the +DIFFICULTY_MODIFIER[1]=-0.5 that would mean the alert is actualy at 0.5 (1.0 - 0.5) and no drop would occur.

Hope this makes sense.

[happy]

your problem comes from the fact you go into firefights way too early.
timers and numbers are not the issue as you ve discovered yourself.

and...reinforcements arent either.

they only come in after 3-5 turns of gunfight, so if you stop engaging enemies early on, if you stop camping during firefights, you wont even see them.

the way you play greatly affects lw2's difficulty.
for example, on my first run i did a liberation3 mission, it became hell and ended up having 4 pods dropping on my back: i had a awesome spot where i camped all mission.
over 30 ennemies, and the mission was timed of course.
a few casulaties on my side.

on my second run, lib3, same(ish) map: 16 aliens, no reinforcements, ended the mission with 7 turns left: i stealthed, opened the fight near the objective, and only killed 5 aliens before evac.
no wounds.

[=)]

The only issue with the way its calculates is... its bollocks and doesnt make sense.
if its a case of alert level going up to 1 triggers a reinforcement then resets to zero..... why in the hell are their "vulnerable" state missions which trigger 3 reinforcement turns in a row (and using the jammer skill just means 2 appear in the next turn). I hate hack missions because they are amongst the worst for reinforcement spam.