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[WOTC] Start at Force Level 5

Force Level is a mechanic that XCOM 2 uses to determine and scale the difficulty of what the player encounters tactically. Force Level usually starts at 0 and slowly progresses up to 20, each level unlocking more advanced and numerous opponents. This mod makes that Force Level start at 5, meaning that Aliens and ADVENT achieve one quarter of their overall progression from the start of the game.

For reference:
Force 1-2: Sectoids, Officers or Troopers can be leaders. Troopers are the only available follower.
Force 3: Stun Lancers added to the follower pool.
Force 4: Vipers added to the leader pool.
Force 5: MECs added to the leader pool.
Force 6: Mutons added to the leader pool.
Force 7: Troopers removed, Codexes added to leader pool, Advanced Troopers and Sectoids added to follower pool.
Force 8: Officers upgraded to Advanced Officers, Vipers and Shieldbearers added to follower pool.
Force 9: Sectoid removed from leader pool.
Force 10: Lancer upgraded to Heavy Lancer, Muton added to follower pool.
Force 11: Viper and MEC removed from leader pool, MEC added to follower pool, Archon added to leader pool.
Force 12: Heavy MEC added to leader pool.
Force 13: Muton removed from leader pool, Codex added to follower pool, Codex leader chance reduced, Advanced Trooper upgraded to Elite Trooper.
Force 14-15: Andromedon added to leader pool, Advanced Officer upgraded to Elite Officer, Shieldbearer upgraded to Elite Shieldbearer
Force 16: Sectopod added to boss pool (at this point any non-story mission has one forced boss pod, two on facilities), Heavy Lancer upgraded to Elite Lancer
Force 17: Archon added to follower pool
Force 18: Gatekeeper added to boss pool, MEC removed from follower pool, Heavy MEC added to follower pool

There are so many amazing mods coming out constantly that I keep starting new campaigns and facing the same basic ADVENT troopers, and I never get to see the brilliantly terrifying modded enemies that come in late-game, so this is one solution I thought up to that problem, as well as yet another way to revel in my tactical and narrative masochism.

Difficult Campaign Start WARNING: The intro mission Gatecrasher is slightly affected by this change, and you may encounter a few advanced enemies among the original roster of basic ADVENT troopers and captains depending on your difficulty setting. If this becomes too difficult, I suggest using mods such as Starting Spark to give you a Spark mech unit during Gatecrasher or Robojumper's Squad Select to increase your squad size and begin the mission with more than 4 Rookies.
ALTERNATIVELY: If the difficulty spike for Gatecrasher is too much, you can use the console command "endbattle xcomwins true" to instantly bypass the combat and get into the campaign.

This mod really only uses one or two lines of text in an XComGameData.ini to make this change, so it should be compatible with all other mods that don't make the exact same change. This mod is also customizable, so you may choose exactly which Force Level you start the game with by editing this mod's XComGameData.ini.

The Chosen are unaffected by initial Force Level, they will still appear and level up independently.

I highly suggest using this mod together with Pyrrhic Victories so as to give you proper tactical options against the increased threat, and, you know, to not go insane. This mod was made with my other mod, the Superclasses, in mind, so if you need supersoldiers to combat the new threat I also highly suggest that mod.



The forces of ADVENT have fought hard to establish their domain over Earth, and the Resistance has fought even harder to liberate the world from their totalitarian reign. Now, after 20 years of brutal conflict, the awakening of the Commander was the final straw for the Aliens. As the renewed presence of the Commander draws in hopefuls to the Resistance, so too does it draw the ire of ADVENT as Alien-led task forces are mobilized and new technologies are field-tested. The Elders intend to snuff out the Resistance once and for all with redoubled efforts, but now with the legend of the Commander Reborn, the Revolution might reunite and form a force to rival the Alien's global domination.