I can't say for sure because i never looked into the specific fixes that Veehementia made, but loading my mod and his repeater fix after one another sounds like a reasonable thing to me.

@DerBk Meant to say Covert Infiltration below.

Also, your [WOTC] Better Attachments includes your Better Repeater, but I think this is the outdated version. I assume I can still use [WOTC] Better Attachments but then ensure the newer version of the Better Repeaters is loaded after and everything will work properly?

@DerBK Oh I didn't even notice that ABA was mentioned in the description whoops sorry about that.

Thanks so much for the reply and continued support of your great mods! I've used ABA in the past and it was a great experience. This will be the first time combining both ABA and LW
Alien pack so it should be a nice challenge on Commander difficulty along with Covert Operations.

Ah, i thought that the linked mod was meant to be used with LWOTC.

On closer look it turns out that ABA is even mentioned in the description of that mod as compatible.

BK, that was not the question. They asked regarding a standalone Alien pack.

Considering what I know, the mods might be adding practically twice the specialist troopers (rocketeers and such), which would behave slightly differently. This is useable, but I can't call it "compatible".

It's not compatible with LWOTC at all.

I assume ABA isn't compatible with this mod?

[WOTC] Standalone LWOTC Alien Pack
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3005345170

I can't give you exact percentages (they fluctuate with forcelevel and hp), but roughly one in thirty to fifty Lost is going to be a Boomer.

What are the odds supposed to be, because outside of Lost World I have never seen them spawn past the first VIP mission

Boomers spawn wherever Lost spawn.

Oh it wasn't the VIP mission resulting in a boomer spawning past the first Lost mission, it was the Lost World dark event.

Are Boomers supposed to only spawn on VIP missions?

Yes, those don't work with each other without issues. There are people that use them together after some ini edits, but i don't know specifics.

does this conflict with Long War of the Chosen?

So i got all Variants implemented, for now i only need to know on which FL each variant can show up so i can determine the difficulty of the checks. Since FL scales from 1-20 and the difficulty is measured in % i thought of just adding 5% difficulty for each FL starting at 5% difficulty for enemies of FL1

Depends on how granular you are with whatever you are doing there. The enemy groups should all stay in play until the end of the game, but as an example while you will always find some sort of Chryssalids around, you will not find any Crawlers after FL11.

You should probably take a look at the EncounterLists.ini files in my mod yourself and confirm that it works like you want it to.

Another question that popped into my head: Are any of the Units missable due to the game may not spawning them anymore in the lategame? Cause than i would need to ensure that no Progressive Items can be behind killing them.

I do take care of Units getting upgraded by grouping them together and tying the Unlock to killing any enemy within that group. But does any group get completely filtered out lategame?

Yes, this is indeed exactly what i was looking for. Thank you very much :) Now on to make my Archipelago Runs a bit more spicy

https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/workshop/filedetails/discussion/1126623381/1520386297688735660/

That should be exactly what you are looking for.

Is there any way to get a quick list of every new enemy/enemy type that is included in ABA. I want to include killing them as Archipelago Randomizer Checks and got it working for the Medi-Drone on the first mission but having a complete list of the internal names of all new enemies/underclasses if they have them would make it much easier because i don't really know where to look for those

Thank you DerBK.

@shodan: It would mean it only appears on that forcelevel.

Ahh, you're right - that'll be Iridar's Vanilla Classes Redux. It allows Return Fire to go off repeatedly.

Sorry to bother you again with another question but if I set the same number for min and max force level, like set min and max to 2. It means the enemy will only appear for that particular Force Level or would not appear at all?

@DerBK
It worked thank you!

@Vlain: Isn't Return Fire only once per turn by default? You might have a mod that changes it? Or maybe i am just misremembering.

@shodanpc: That's going to be a bit of work. The file you want is XComEncounterlists.ini which has the min and max forcelevels for aliens, depending on mission types and other parameters. So they will appear multiple times in those lists. ABA adds to those lists too, with several XComEncounterlist.ini files in its config folders, sorted by alien type.

Hi can someone please lead me to how I can edit which enemies appear in a Force Level. Like I don't want Sectoids in Force Level 1.

Return Fire is a great perk for your sharpshooter, at least until she gets into an unstoppable game of reaction shot ping-pong with a heavily armored Muton Prime.

Gotta' say, I did not see that coming.

(Continued)

I knew I forgot something. Here's two mods that you can use to more easily view/select your soldiers in the tactical layer. I don't know if they conflict. I personally use Quick Soldier Info, and have not tried the other one:


[WOTC] Quick Soldier Info (-bg-)
[WOTC] Select Soldier Icons Redux (RustyDios)

(Continued)

Armor calculation "fix":

[WOTC] EU Armor Mechanics (Solmyr)


There are other excellent mods especially ones related to configuring class slots, weapon slots/dedicated pistol slot/dual wield, scatter, increasing squad size, limited reloads, etc. but I'll stop there. I think that's a pretty good "core"/curated list. I've run all mods mentioned except for [WOTC] Unarmed Weapons in the same modlist with no apparent conflicts/issues. Have fun :)

(Continued)

Two of my personal favorite mods:

[WOTC] Jet Packs (Iridar)
[WOTC] Dynamic Deployment by Iridar (Iridar)


Map/plot/parcel mods:

Just look up the author "eclipsezr". Here is the collection I am currently using: https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/workshop/filedetails/?id=2822837750


Soldier events/relationship mods:

Look up the author "AgRipnus".

(Continued)

Various excellent mods. Hand to Hand Abilities in particular is realistic in giving everyone a melee option without eating up a slot. TeslaRage's Loot Mod is just too much fun. First Aid/Stabilize for all seems realistic and improves tactical flexibility (do not require Specialist/Field Medic to perform these actions):

[WOTC] Hand to Hand Abilities (Iridar)
[WOTC] Unarmed Weapons (Iridar)

[WOTC] TeslaRage's Loot Mod (TeslaRage)

[WOTC] First Aid by Iridar (Iridar)
[WOTC] Stabilize Me (dotvhs)

[WOTC] Sensible Mission Penalties (Anisotropic)

Chosen Reward Variety (HoneyTheYellowBear)

Improved Rocket Targeting (RealityMachina)

(Continued)

QoL mods:

[WOTC] Fast Forward My Game (davidtriune)
[WOTC] Skip Everything (davidtriune)
Pause World time (davidtriune)
Instant Avenger Menus - WotC (BlueRaja)
Evac All - WotC (tracktwo)
[WOTC] Gotcha Again Redux (RustyDios)
[WOTC] Unit Flag Extended (RustyDios)
[WOTC] More Target Icons 2024 (RustyDios)
[WOTC] New Target Icons (dotvhs)
[WOTC] Cost-Based Ability Colors (shiremct)
Yet Another F1 (robojumper)
[WOTC] Iridar's Loadout Manager (Iridar)


Cosmetic management mods:

[WOTC] Iridar's Appearance Manager (Iridar)
[WOTC] [FINAL] Unrestricted Customization Redux (RustyDios)


Console command mods:

[WOTC] Additional Soldier Console Commands (shiremct)
[WOTC] XpanD's Console Commands (XpanD)

(Continued)

Mods to increase realism in the same vein as Yellow Alert:

[WOTC] Dynamic Encounter Zones (RedDobe)
[WOTC] Complicated Red Fog (RedDobe)
[WOTC] Request Evac (Boundir)


Mods that facilitate stealth/stealthy gameplay:

Simple True Concealment (kregano)
Reconceal After Battle (davidtriune)
[WOTC] Stealth Objective Interaction (davidtriune)
[WOTC] Stay Concealed Using Items (Zelfana)
[WOTC] Hey, Stay Put! (davidtriune)

(Continued)

Mods to somewhat counterbalance harder enemies and larger enemy pods:

[WOTC] Militia Overhaul Plus (No Longer Supported) (Deadput)
[WotC] Configurable Objective Health (TeP)
Timer Tweaks for WotC (Shaska)


Mods to have greater control over your initial soldiers, their classes/stats/loadouts, and development, and a mod to diversity soldier stats:

(WOTC) Starting Soldiers (John)
[WOTC] Point-Based Not Created Equal (shiremct)
ADVENT Not Created Equal WOTC (h4ilst0rm)
[WOTC] Randomized Gatecrasher Loadouts (Iridar)
Commander's Choice [WOTC & Vanilla] (sqparadox)
[WOTC] Rebuild Soldier (TeslaRage)
[WOTC] Soldier Development Redux (beta) (XpanD)

@sum1akaJ

I forgot to do this, but since you said it's your first big modded playthrough and since I noticed the mods you mentioned are all mods I also run, I would like to recommend some additional great mods (I will split in multiple comments because of 1000 character limit per comment).

Companion mods for ABA by DerBK:

A Better Campaign PLUS
A Better Chosen
ABA: Better DLC

Companion mod for ABA by Boundir (there is an error in the default config that Boundir has not corrected yet, so check the comment section where I have mentioned a fix):

[WOTC] A Stronger Advent

Thanks ZJ and DerBK, that's really helpful and I will definitely look into the config and changing the reflex actions. Just went into the Chosen Stronghold and 2 pods activated and shot/psionic bombed me on their turn. Definitely motivated me to change some settings. Anyways, thanks again for the mod!

I think the YA mod is good, but it's default settings are kinda bad. Like ZJ said, definitely dive into the configs and deactivate all the unfair nonsense.

@sum1akaJ

I've run ABA for a long time (a few years) and ABA has never been a problem for me.

I also run Yellow Alert, and Yellow Alert can definitely be a problem with its default config. Try disabling the extra reflex actions (you can do that in on of the config files). There's also a setting for whether pods will activate each other upon seeing each other which you might want to also disable so that Retaliation missions or missions with Raider/3rd party factions don't become ridiculous (and sometimes being impossible).

Ah, yep I'm running Yellow Alert as well for the first time. Thanks for letting me know. Do you recommend not playing ABA and Yellow Alert together? I added a lot of recommended mods for my first big modded play through (Proficiency classes, Mechatronic overhaul, Covert Infiltration, Diverse enemies by force level, others), so am re-learning all the changes.

It is not from my mod, no. Do you happen to run Yellow Alert? That would do it and is a mod whose changes often get attributed to ABA.

Hi DerBK, thanks for your mod! I'm enjoying it a lot, especially all the new enemy types, and I'm about halfway through my first campaign with it.

I just had a soldier who was in cover shot at by a newly revealed pod though so I wanted to ask about the AI. My understanding is that reinforcement troops from dropships won't shoot on the first turn they land (correct me if I'm wrong), so I put a Reaper next to it to be revealed and take an overwatch shot. That part worked perfectly as that pod scattered.

But then a 2nd pod that could now see the Reaper took two shots at her even though she was in cover from their direction. I know the Anti-Beaglerush thing allows newly discovered pods to shoot you if they flank you, but she wasn't flanked by them!

Is this a change in AI behavior from your mod? Or is this in the original as well? Like, if a soldier gets revealed by any pod, then any pod can shoot at them? Just want to understand what happened here as I thought I had a great plan.

You can add this mod mid-campaign. But be aware that you can not remove it once it's in. It also might take a mission or two until you see the new enemies as the ones on the map have already generated their enemy loadouts. You will get the new AI immediately though.

Hello it's me again ! Now, in the game, everything became to easy (even the chosen with "A better chosen", so I think I'll use this mod. Can we use it mid campaign ? And do u recommand to up the difficulty to?

I'm difficulty commander but it's to easy 3 games on 4.
Even the chosen Assassin (I kill her to fast)

What do u recommand?

ABA itself won't be able to touch the final mission, you need to also subscribe to A Better Campaign in addition to get that.

Thing is, i am not sure when the final mission generates the enemies on it. I guess you could do something weird like play the normal game until the Broadcast Tower and only afterwards subscribe to ABA and ABC, but that'd give you a pretty steep difficulty cliff. Doesn#t make much sense imo. But with 12 soldiers, whatever you put on the map is moot anyways.

Can we use this mod only for the final mission?
I wanna play with a squad of 12 to give them a proper ending, but i Still want the final mission to be hard as fuck, but i'm scared with 12 soldiers it'll be easy or if you have another to advise me

Oh, this is for a first play overall? Then i am not sure i'd recommend any overhaul mods at all, but you do you of course.

Why Militia is not to everyone taste? Because the game become harder?

And it's not to difficult to had better advent and better campaign for a first run xcom 2 ever and in commander ?

I'm 100% sure to use better chosen tho
They seem more scary (and that's the point on WAOC)

A Better Militia is a bit of an outlier that is not to everyone's taste. I would definitely recommend a combo of Better Advent, Better Chosen and Better Campaign, though.

Should i use this for the first campaing as long with "a better advent" "a better militia" , "a better chosen" and "à better campaing"?
Want to play Commander with grim horizon or grim horizon lite