PP has an answer to that - infinite reinforcements. Unfortunately, balance issues seem to prevent it from being a genuine threat.
I don’t think the way XCOM2 handled timers was good (especially in vanilla, slightly better in WotC). It rewards too much a very limited gameplay style.
Having escalating threat is a good mechanic, but it’s a bit too easy to be a killing machine to make it impactful. PP should grab things an run, not clear the map and tediously extract all that is in it.
Best threat escalation and risk vs. reward system I have seen is Invisible Inc. though it is not a system that can be easily imitated.
Am I right that you now have to carry every piece of loot from all the crates with you before evacuation? It was not so in some previous version (Darlerh or Danforth). This thing annoys me as it requires extra time and my soldiers get encumbered.
Yes it is like that since scavenge missions have endless reinforcements. You need to collect what you can and then evacuate.
I’m not sure where you had item crates on evacuation missions before, but I’m almost certain crate content was never collected automatically on such missions.
Yep and its not the most fun mechanic, especialy since its not timed event. Enemies are not able to force you to retreat at some point because reinforcements are just a nuisance ( if they grew stronger and stronger that would definitelly change dynamic of the game)
Right now those crates are just there to slow you down unnecessairly and make you click around map more.
My way to deal with those maps fastest is to run everyone to the box cluster, located furthest from extraction zone, loot it first and work my way back from there
Is it the same with all missions (the need to carry out all the loot in inventory)? I recall I used to cleanse missions without even opening crates and get back all the loot in the end screen.
I’m not sure if there are any missions where you have crates and you don’t need to evacuate.
Previously scavenge missions (bofore resource crates were implemented) and haven defences (if you have opened item crate) worked like that.
If you mean other cases then probably you talk about drops to the ground from enemies (Tritons and human opponents) which were collected in haven defence missions and sometimes in scavenge missions. There were also cases where haven gave you items for defending them (if it wasn’t a bug).
If mission objective is to evacuate soldiers you’ll keep only things, that your soldiers carry.
In other cases you can leave items on the ground and will still get them when mission is done
I dont think the food production is meant in any other way then to give you a supply of food to prevent your soldiers from starving. Not to say you cant use it for passive income, but still…
Also I dont think ive ever seen a 1 for 1 trade option available. I think 8 food for 1 tech (or materials) or somesuch is alot more common. But I have also seen that it varies from haven to haven. Considering that the other 2 currencies (I guess) are alot more important in most cases I think its fair. It gives players less of a headache by removing the need to hunt down food. And if they want to invest in lots of food production for trading they can also do that.
It gives the players options. I would only remove the insane requirement that you need to ally with Anu for it. That part makes no sense to me… I get that making it available at the start would make the early game to easy but why have it be tied to research from a faction?
I agree that there are far too many haven defense missions, and frankly the stakes are too high - from the beginning of the game each one is a make-or-break event for that haven.
If they are going to continue with the frequency the game presently offers - I’d suggest a change in Pandoran tactics. Early game the Pandorans are not exterminating havens - the havens are too strong and Pandorans too weak. Early game the Pandorans should be seeking to weaken havens. A successful attack on a haven reduces population / population growth. Mid game the goal is to eliminate a building, and then , after the haven is weakened, late game the Pandorans are finally running missions for exterminating the havens. The rewards would be commensurate with the level of attacks. This way also protects plyers from losing Havens on the opposite side of the globe whcih they are helpless to stop during the early game.
Also - instead of the Haven giving the rewards - the rewards should be from scavaging the dropped items. Dead Pandorans and their items can be converted to materials…
