Super Agents - Anyone Else Confirm?

[Severeign]

Okay so, veteran of EG1 to start with, loved that game (I still have the original install CD). Feel this one has a lot of promise but a lot of glaring issues.

That aside, I keep seeing people saying in the forums that Super Agents won't attack your base if you don't initiate any schemes in the area they are guarding... This is patently false in my experience. Knowing the mechanic from EG1 (If you try running a scheme while a Super Agent is present, your casualty rate increases dramatically) I have NEVER... I repeat... NEVER run a scheme while a Super Agent is present on their own turf.

Again... Never. Yet, I see people claiming repeatedly that if you don't runs schemes while a SA is present, they won't attack your base. I feel like people are playing by two different rulesets because I have had up to 3 Super Agents in my base simultaneously while having never actually run a scheme on the global map in a territory where they are present.

So which is it? Are people here having the experience that Super Agents will only come when challenged/invited? Are other people having the same experience that I am?

Additionally, for veterans of EG1 you might remember that if you paced yourself and kept your notoriety relatively low... you could dispatch each Super Agent in turn, while (usually) only having 1 other that could visit your base concurrently. (I/E by the time you get Jet Chan, you could have dispatched Mariana... by the time the Rambo dude was coming, you could have dispatched Jet, etc.)

This seems to be completely absent in this game. I tried my best to mitigate heat and to keep my criminal footprint low, but to no avail. I know it's not related to the number of schemes you do or the number of criminal networks you establish. It's not related to the game's main quest progression, or any optional quests... near as I can tell it's purely related to the amount of gold you steal and after you pass a certain threshold, one by one the Super Agents will spawn in and near I can tell... whatever means you will use to permanently disable them isn't available until late game.

Sorry for the length of the post, but this has been bothering me since I really started making progress.

[James]

I feel like the game ends up playing very different for everyone that plays it. I've also seen multiple posts about how even investigators can wipe your entire base on the lowest difficulty, but in my game that aren't much of a threat at all.

So far the only time a SA has shown up is when I did a scheme to call them over.

[Severeign]

When I tried the first few times brute forcing the agents, I had high casualty rates. After that I switched to get my deception going strong first and I have no issues with regular agents unless I forget to tag them for distraction. They rarely make it past the casino and when they do, minions just usher them back out.

[Silyon]

Far as I've seen, Super agents do only come to your island when you do something in the region they're occupying. Remember that the Heat reduction schemes are still schemes and will trigger an investigation from them.

Currently I have all the super agents visible on the world map, but have only actually encountered Agent X and Steele on the island, because most of my activity has taken place in Patriot (Thanks mostly to Eli). So far, none of the others have made a move on me, and the only reason I can see is because I immediately cancel a scheme if they switch regions to one where I was operating and avoid doing anything at all in regions where they're present.

Which isn't much opportunity cost either. Money is incredibly easy to come by in this game and most of my criminal networks are sitting idle or doing Heat control because I literally cannot spend enough money to make the cash schemes worth running. There's just not enough base buildings and traps to play around with.

[Aina]

Can confirm i have had super agents show up in a medium no tutorial game when I was not in their area of operation. its possible they switched to an area i was operating in. But yeah Agent X showed up kinda at random once.

I think its odd that they show up even if you destroy a network to avoid lockdown in their area. I guess that leaves minions behind.

[Siatru]

Super agents only come when you finish a scheme that they are watching. Which is basically a scheme activated in the territory they are currently present in.

Unless some sort of side-mission or campaign mission scripts them to visit your base or something. Not sure about this one. They never visit my lair unless I finish a scheme they're observing.

[Darth Glorious]

Originally posted by James:

I feel like the game ends up playing very different for everyone that plays it. I've also seen multiple posts about how even investigators can wipe your entire base on the lowest difficulty, but in my game that aren't much of a threat at all.

So far the only time a SA has shown up is when I did a scheme to call them over.

Even at easy difficulty, if you choose to turn off the tutorial, the difficulty spike is higher than normal with the tutorial turn on because you start the game and in 5 mins, the agents already start to come to your island in group of 5. So if you don't manage them well, this can be a disaster because the investigators in EG2 are much more stronger than the ones in EG1.

If you play with tutorial on, you can have even hours without any agent coming to your base if you abuse the triggers of those tutorial missions.

[GwynnTheGreen]

There was an instance in where Symmetry was preparing to attack my base, so I destroyed the criminal network in the sector she was in. It stopped her attack, but she is now frozen there. I've even gone back to performing schemes right in front of her face, and she still won't do anything, just frozen in investigation mode.

[Roberto]

I've noticed if you let areas get locked out on the world map it also has a chance of calling super agents to your base. Also if you finish (not start) a scheme in an area where there's a super agent present it's a 100% chance they'll come. I've noticed heat is constantly growing in each area on the map as well as speeding up if an agent is there. So basically if you ignore them and never interact with them, they'll still eventually get to your base.

[Emanouche]

No, they only come when I do a scheme or invite them... for me at least, can't speak for others. I still haven't gotten that luchador supe in my base yet, because I haven't triggered him in his areas yet. Actually, I don't think I had agent Steele either yet for that matter. I'm 21 hours in doing ton of sidequests.

[Siatru]

Originally posted by GwynnTheGreen:

There was an instance in where Symmetry was preparing to attack my base, so I destroyed the criminal network in the sector she was in. It stopped her attack, but she is now frozen there. I've even gone back to performing schemes right in front of her face, and she still won't do anything, just frozen in investigation mode.

Happened to me as well but never built a network there again. So you saying she's stuck there forever? That's some karmic justice there. She wrecked my base before.

[Darth Glorious]

My strategy to bait the SA from the region that I want to do scheme:
Step 1: Destroy all the networks in his/her territories to reset heat there to 0
Step 2: Re-scout and upgrade one region that you do not want to do scheme to lv2 to lure the SA come there. He/she will stay there waiting for you.
Step 3: Than re-scout all other of his/her territories. You can do scheme safety in those regions. When you finish the scheme that you want and want to lure him/her away again, rinse and repeat from step 1

[RainyDay]

I am not sure it's wise to tear down networks to avoid them. If you build your networks slowly to begin with, you can learn to manage your map as it grows. From all my testing I have found that you can move Super Agents around to your will once you learn how they move. If you check my post history, I did quite a long write up on interacting with the world map. I'd rather not retype.

One point I will make though: From everything I can tell, lockdown alone will not send an agent. However, 3 or more lockdowns at the same time prompts a warning that stronger agents are coming. The one thing I can't confirm (because my overall heat levels have never gone above low), is if you have many regions in lockdown while already having high level overall heat. Perhaps if you were already triggering lots of soldiers and such, the next highest agents are going to be the big boys.

[MischievousPylon]

Nah, Sometime they can come on their own too. I think there is the heat level that trigger them. Sym, Olga and Steele had come for me when I'm didn't run any schem or side story.

[SoULLeSs]

I specially hate Symettry, I even put a 3 table guard room near my gold stockpile so my minions would have a better fight against her but every damn time, she takes a lot of my mercs and guards down before I kill her, she can be really annoying though, anyone knows if there is a way to get rid of the super agents? I've tried some side missions before but I'm not even sure if they'll do anything against them so I don't even bother to try them again, in my first playthrough I tried to take these missions but didn't made it and had to begin from 0 again

[DarkenDragon]

based on what I've seen, SAs have 3 different status, idle, watching, preparing. if they're idle, then they wont do anything and wont come to your base. the moment you start a scheme, they become watching. at this moment they will focus on that scheme and wont leave until that scheme disappears. if you cancel the scheme, they will either go back to idle if its a normal scheme since they tend to disappear when you cancel them, or if its side or main mission scheme, it stays there and the SA will keep monitoring that scheme as well. at that point, you're kind of screwed. once the mission is completed, they'll prepare to attack your base. you can do another scheme to help disrupt their team, but that mission is on a short time limit, and you will most likely wont be able to complete it before they come to attack you.

also they only move to other territories that are not doing a scheme, but they will move to an area if you're upgrading the network. though they wont attack you if you complete that upgrade. not sure if upgrades are omitted from this or not, didnt bother trying.

so yes, it is true that they will not attack you if you dont do scheme in their area (at least at 2 star difficulty, not sure about 3 star). but they are difficult to see sometimes. a good way to check is click on the region network and see if there is an agent idle there. their portrait should be in that info box. do this before running any scheme.