@Vlain I believe so. It's been a while, but as I recall a soldier is always created at a base level and then "leveled up" by the game, so it would theoretically call the modified random stats for each level the soldier goes up.

The game doesn't really store soldier stats at each level, so it would have to level the character up from Rookie to Colonel. Unless the Colonel had exactly the base game stats, I would be inclined to think the character just got a series of bad rolls. :(

That, or it is a custom class from another mod, which would use its own stat progression.

Does this work on soldiers that are gained as a mission reward, already ranked up to Colonel?

I ask because I received a colonel as a reward, and after distributing Ability Points he still had low base stats in everything, so I wasn't sure if he just got really bad rolls, or the mod somehow overlooked this type of soldier.

@The_Minge_Mangler Hey, sorry to say, the only way I can suggest would be to manually add similar adjustments to the modded classes' mod files.

It's not too hard, and you can even look through this mod's files to see how it is done, but you would still need to go in and change things yourself. Also, any updates from the mod creators would risk reverting those changes.

is there any way to get this to work with modded classes?

Hey, thanks a LOT for coming back to me so quickly. I thought you might have just ported it 1:1 from EW despite different progression tables because you wanted to. Otherwise you probably would have changed it in the last 4 years. :D
So sorry if I came off as ranting, I appreciate anyone who mods. I took "Squaddie level Progression will remain the same as Vanilla WotC" as meaning that the mod takes a vanilla Squaddie and then applies its own rules in 6 subsequent level-ups to Colonel. I checked the (Rand)StatAmount in aStatProgression but apparently didn't bother to count what level they are applied, which is my bad.

@Dixie Normus
All of that said, this mod in particular is to bring back the EW stat rolls. There are other Hidden Potential mods specifically balanced for XCom 2 alone. This is because I personally preferred the older ranges.

It is also why I specifically recommend the “SWR: Alien Range Bonus” mod, as it gives alien units back the Range Bonus they had in XCom:EW, and which normal XCom soldiers have. With their average engagement distances, this leads to about an equivalent buff to the alien’s aim in return (+10).

Lastly, I am probably not going to do any major overhauls involving custom configs or anything like that. These are simple mods specifically to keep them lightweight and with a low-conflict chance. Plus, I honestly don’t think I’d have time anymore.

@Dixie Normus Hmm… Outside of faction soldiers, all units should start randomizing at squaddie and have 7 ranks of progression.

I re-checked the numbers, and the Colonel Offense and HP breakdown is as follows:
RangerOff= +15/80 vs +21/86, Diff:6
RangerHp=+6 vs +3.5, Diff: -2.5
SharpshooterOff=+26/91 vs +42/107, Diff:16
SharpShooterHp=+4 vs +3.5, Diff: -.5
GrenadierOff=+10/75 vs +7/72, Diff: -3
GrenadierHp=+6 vs +7, Diff:1
SpecialistOff=+15/80 vs +28/93, Diff:13
SpecialistHp=+6 vs +3.5, Diff: -2.5
PsiOff=+10/75 vs +14/79, Diff: 4
PsiHP=+4 vs +3.5, Diff: -.5
SkrimOff=+12/80 vs +12/80, Diff:0
SkirmHp=+5 vs +6, Diff: 1
ReaperOff=+16/91 vs +15/90, Diff: -1
ReaperHp=+3 vs +3.5, Diff:.5
TemplarOff=+12/80 vs +12/80, Diff:0
TemplarHp=+5 vs +6, Diff: 1

AvgOffDiffNoFaction: 7.2
AvgHpDiffNoFaction: -1
AvgOffDiff: 4.4
AvgHpDiff: -.3

All in all, this actually meets what I was expecting, with about +10 average aim.

Grenadier and Psi have the same progression vanilla with 1.33 per level, but 1 and 2 modded, instead of a 1-2 range, resulting in a fair 1.5.

So even with the suggested ranges above, the averages generally favor the player, making a series of bad rolls not feel too terrible. But the way it is now, it's a cheat mod. I loved Hidden Potential in EW, but it's just too much with these numbers.

Could you create a proper config to allow quick adjustments without having to go through the whole XComClassData?

Some stats are way off from the normal class progression and Health in particular is a problem, as the main difficulty-defining stat:

Sharpshooter and Psi end up with 8 HP vanilla, everyone else with 10. All Squaddies have 5. Randomized progression starts at leveling up to Corporal. That's an average of 0.833 for everyone but Sharpshooter/Psi, which have 0.5. So your 0-1 progression is correct for only those two, while all others should get 0-2, closer to the 0.833 in vanilla.

Sharpshooter Aim is another issue: Vanilla they get 16 points from 6 level-ups to Corporal. 2.67 average. Modded they get ~6, which puts them a whole 20 points on average ahead of vanilla. A better range would be 2-4 at a fair ~3.

Support/Specialist should get ~2 per level (68 Squaddie, 80 Corporal) but gets ~4. Same for Ranger/Assault, who gets ~3. Proper range would be 1-3.

@Captian Rekt The Will change should be for everyone, since it is a global change. It's a random adjustment per level, following the expected WotC values.

Is the WIll change affected for everyone or just the faction soldiers...i didnt get that

@Derp Effectively yes. It's been a while, but IIRC, StatAmount=5 sets the stat increase to 1 initially, then RandStatAmount=5 rolls 0-4 (x<5 rather than x<=5) and then adds it to the stat increase.

so StatAmount=1,RandStatAmount=5 means min 1 aim max 5 aim? So changing it to StatAmount=2,RandStatAmount=4 means 2-4 aim for that promotion?

@Derp You'll need to find the mod's folder (in C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\workshop\content\268500, assuming your Steam is on your C: drive), and go into the XComClassData.ini file. Once there, you will see a series of segments with "+" in front for each level. Look for "aStatProgression," which should have all the various stats in it!

For example, you should see something like this:
aStatProgression=((StatType=eStat_Offense,StatAmount=1,RandStatAmount=5,CapStatAmount=150),

Just change the RandStatAmount and you are golden. :)

how do you edit the random stats per level up?

I see. That makes more sense. I appreciate your response. Thank you.

@Kyrox Unfortunately the nature of the mod means that it will not affect custom or modded classes, and generally won't work well with mods which alter or replace the XComClassData.ini file. Stock classes may continue to receive the effect, but modded classes definitely won't unless similar changes are made within their .ini files.

Does this work with custom proficiency/modded classes?

@oceansoul Ahh, I see. Well, thank you for letting me know which one it was! Hopefully, if anyone else runs into this issue, I can pass this info along! :)

Answer turns out to be the Tactical Rigging mod, with the game generating the Brigadier rank automatically then shoving the tactical rigging skill and a copy of launch grenade there when used in conjunction with this mod.

Well this is going to be a fun debugging session then as the only mod I can think of that should conflict is one one that gives them tactical rigging at squaddie to compensate for giving everyone a grenade pocket. Guess I'll try levelling one of them up first and see if the perk names can provide a clue. Though were I a betting man I'd put money on some random interaction between a raider mod, a new alien mod, and the phase of the moon being the cause while this just happens to enable it somehow.

@oceansoul Yes, this does modify the progression of Grenadiers; however, it only does this with base classes and progression. IIRC, Brigadier is not a standard rank in XCom 2, so IMO this is likely a conflict between this mod and another introducing these ranks.

Is this meant to screw with the progression of grenadiers? With this enabled they end up with a Brigadier rank for some reason, and it's definitely this mod doing it.

@[DG] Z Type Knight Mhmm, I would not recommend it. This mod won't automatically impact other modded classes, and adding the classes to this mod could potentially lead to conflicts.

Rather, I would suggest editing the class mod's XComClassData.ini file, since that would be guaranteed to work with the mod, and would be easier to edit! :)

Question: Can I add modded classes into this mod? (Say, the base soldier from RPGO)?

@Mertius Thanks for the reply. I'll try on next playthrough coming by the end of this or next week and I will definitely let you know if it works. Would be an awesome narrative bit to my campaigns and would justify releasing or retraining soldiers or selecting them for covert actions to re-raise stats.

@videogamerlink Sorry for my delayed reply, but I've honestly not tried it!
Theoretically you could do something like

aStatProgression=((StatType = eStat_Offense , StatAmount = -2 , RandStatAmount = 5)

to get a range of -2 to 2, since it would add a -2 base, and then add a random number 0-4.
Still, I've not tried it personally. It could be fun if it works though! :)

@Mertius I haven't tried to implement this idea yet, as I am currently in-campaign right now; however, is it possible to have a negative range such as -5 to +5?

Or is the RandStatAmount fixed to <= 0?

I wanted to see if soldiers' stats could decrease from ranking up to further randomize my campaigns, especially so I can yell at "that" officer who gets worst due to paper pushing and setting behind a desk.

@13Crusader13(TWW2019Top8Winner),@Kazzap Unfortunately, since each class is sort of hand-tailored in the XComClassData.ini, anything that changes the file or adds additional classes will stop this from working.

New classes won't really get any benefits from the mod, and any overlapping changes to existing classes will likely leave portions of one or both mods inoperative. The only option would be to implement the changes from this mod into the other mods directly.

Any way to get this working with long war of the chosen? They do have a built in Hidden Potential but its not working for me.

@Mertius - Its all good. Ill look into it and if I find something ill let you know.

@MMNo9 Hey, sorry for the delay again. I have to get ready for work, but I did a quick check, and I could not reproduce the issue. Again, it's likely another mod is conflicting with this one, but I couldn't find anything in your mod list which appears to be the source of the issue.I checked a few likely culprits, but didn't find anything concrete.

It's a long list, and unfortunately, it could be any mod altering the ClassData.ini, whether it is adding abilities, altering progression, changing base classes, etc. Without knowing the internals of each mod, I cannot say at this time what's causing it.
All I can advise is further testing. :(

@Mertius - No, Long War was not enabled as I have the non WOTC version

@MMNo9 Mhmm, I am more inclined to believe it is the interaction of mods rather than the mod itself, since the issue has never presented itself before.

That's a long list, so I can't say for sure. Honestly, anything that changes the XComClassData.ini is a potential culprit.

That said, I do see Long War 2 on that list. Was it enabled?
It's been a while, but IIRC LW2 does overwrite a lot of that information, which could cause the issue. That said, I was also under the impression they had a built-in HiddenPotential option as well? If not, one could add this mod's additions to their .ini to effectively "merge" them.

Nevermind heres a list

https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2185577947

I have may too many mods to list but when I did this mod it did fix it

@MMNo9 That's....strange. I've never encountered that issue, and I don't even touch that line in the .ini file. 0_0

Mod conflicts can happen if another mod touches the same area, however. May I ask what the other mod was, or when you noticed the issue?

So I was looking at the XcomClassData.ini file and because there was a conflict from a different mod. I think that there's something in the file that removes Rend from Templars and even removes their ability to fire their autopistols.

@Magic Turtle OH, alright then. XD
Well, at least it is fixed! Again, sorry it took so long!

Just... have fun! :D

but yea, that mightve been faster XD

i had made a fix already.
1. deleted all ini files, unsubbed (and faved) all mods.
2. verified, took 2 hours.
3. reinstalled all mods, also fully deleted alternative mod launcher, and reinstalled it.
4. wait another hour for my 166 mods, yours included.
5. been 4 days since doing above, all works :)

@Magic Turtle Hey, sorry I haven't had a chance to reply. Work is super busy. Wait, what happened? Huh. Well... so the mod is downloaded, just not showing as an option in the launcher? Surprised the reinstall didn't fix it, or a cache verification.

Well, you may need to clean up the override configurations. Let me take look...
Ah, here: https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=625230005

That should have instructions on fixing the XComEngine.ini file, and it may have survived reinstall by not being in the Steam folder. It also looks like WotC may have an issue stopping mods as well, so you may have to look into the XComModOptions.ini

Check out the link, and if the fixes don't work, let me know. :)

post#5
used file shredder to remove all the folders, re subbed, still not showing in AML :(

Post # 5
i found 3 files of the same mod folder
1 in my normal mod folder for xcom in the d drive,
1 in c:\users\(My name)\AppData\Roaming\Micrsoft\Windows i cant see the rest but looks like \Recent Irems
1 in c:\users\(My name)\recent

Post# 4 reinstall still no fix

Post# 3 i did realize that when i tried to delete folder, it said the folder is not at that destination, i had that same issue when my hard drive crashed and i had the escape from tarkov launcher on one drive and the game itself on another.

Post #2, i have decided to reinstall xcom 2, will see if that fixes it.

Hey so i made a boo boo, i deleted all of the faction info, which ended up completely removing all faction abilities and weapons, so i pasted a copy of the og text, which fixed the problem, but when i looked in my alternate mod launcher, i could not find your mod at all, unsubing and re subbing did nothing. i even verified before and after removing the config file. i am so lost

Ah, ok; so you are trying to match XCOM 1, not XCOM 2 progression. Therein lay my confusion!

And yes, I did notice that most soldiers have higher average aim than XCOM 2 soldiers, but lower average HP ;)

@Lampros Well, the point of this was to match the XCom: Enemy Within random progression. In that, Grenadiers (Heavies) gained 0-2 HP per level, and all other classes gained 0-1. Likewise, the Aim ranges are similarly balanced, with high-damage Assaults getting less aim than more-consistent Supports, and all higher than the Heavies who predominantly rely on explosives. The only ones who don't match are the Psi and Faction Soldiers, and their Aim tends to average near the XCom 2 norm due to the powerful abilities they have available.

Keep in mind, this does still lead to most non-special soldiers having higher average aims than normal XCom 2 characters, which is why I suggest SWR Alien Range Bonus to ensure Aliens get the same bonus when being near to a target.

That said, at the end of the day, feel free to edit the .ini to suit your preferred ranges. :)