XCOM 2
RPGO & LWOTC - Compatibility and Balance Patch
Mrvecz 18 Mar, 2022 @ 2:58pm
Further rebalancing discussion (Part 4) - Infiltration item and perks values
As most of you might know if you are remotely even familiar with LWOTC, all items in the game have some sort of infiltration value attached to it that makes the soldier using the item better at quickly infiltrating missions. High stealth oriented squads can infiltrate missions that would be otherwise impossible to lauch above 100%.

SMG for example is the stealthiest weapon you can have, while cannons are the loudest. It works on a semi "well that makes sense" basis. Loud and clumsy weapons will be hard to conceal and use in cities while some specialized items will help you.

Items taken also impact how fast you can infiltrate, so grenadiers are the loudest while Melee classes infiltrate very quickly.

The lower the value, the beter is the item at infiltration.
EXAMPLE
+WeaponCategoryCovertness=(CategoryName="smg", CovertnessValue=80f, CovertnessWeight=1.0f)
+WeaponCategoryCovertness=(CategoryName="cannon", CovertnessValue=168f, CovertnessWeight=1.0f)

SMGs are 88 points better at infiltration

Here is my edited list of all VANILLA items, upgraded or downgraded on RPGO esque thing. Because there are no infiltration perk in RPGO.

+WeaponCategoryCovertness=(CategoryName="cannon", CovertnessValue=148f, CovertnessWeight=1.0f)
+WeaponCategoryCovertness=(CategoryName="sniperrifle", CovertnessValue=110f, CovertnessWeight=1.0f)

+WeaponCategoryCovertness=(CategoryName="sword", CovertnessValue=70f, CovertnessWeight=0.5f)
+WeaponCategoryCovertness=(CategoryName="holotargeter", CovertnessValue=70f, CovertnessWeight=0.5f)
+WeaponCategoryCovertness=(CategoryName="lw_gauntlet", CovertnessValue=110f, CovertnessWeight=0.5f)
+WeaponCategoryCovertness=(CategoryName="combatknife", CovertnessValue=20f, CovertnessWeight=0.5f)
+WeaponCategoryCovertness=(CategoryName="arcthrower", CovertnessValue=80f, CovertnessWeight=0.5f)
+WeaponCategoryCovertness=(CategoryName="grenade_launcher", CovertnessValue=165f, CovertnessWeight=0.5f)
+WeaponCategoryCovertness=(CategoryName="gremlin", CovertnessValue=90f, CovertnessWeight=0.5f)
+WeaponCategoryCovertness=(CategoryName="sparkbit", CovertnessValue=100f, CovertnessWeight=0.5f)
+WeaponCategoryCovertness=(CategoryName="sawedoffshotgun", CovertnessValue=80f, CovertnessWeight=0.5f)
+WeaponCategoryCovertness=(CategoryName="psiamp", CovertnessValue=80f, CovertnessWeight=0.5f)
+WeaponCategoryCovertness=(CategoryName="smg", CovertnessValue=80f, CovertnessWeight=1.0f)

+WeaponCategoryCovertness=(CategoryName="pistol", CovertnessValue=70f, CovertnessWeight=0.2f)


All unspecified items, I ASSUME have infiltration value of 100 as standard.

Changes
1) Cannon is slightly easier to infiltrate
2) Sniper rifle is slightly easier to infiltrate with.
3) Swords are considerably easier to infiltrate because they are silent weapons (well, if we ignore the scream of whoever is getting sliced) but are still hard to conceal.
4) Gauntlent is slightly harder to conceal because its a rocket and flamethrower weapon.
5) Arc Thrower is really small and relatively silent when compared to weapons, so its easier to infiltrate with.
6) Grenade launcher is slightly more lenient to make Grenadiers slightly better at infiltration.
7) Gremlin lets soldiers hack security objects, it is better at infiltration now
8) Spark bit is the same as before.
9) Sawn off is easier to infiltrate because its a small weapon.
10) Psi amp is now easy to infiltrate with as SMG, due to RPGO making psiops heroic classes.
11) Knife has the lowest infiltration value in the game because of how small and easy to conceal it is, it also lets your soldiers take down enemies quietly given they will have their second hand free to grab them by the mouth so they dont scream as they are getting shanked to death.
12) Pistols are also easier to infiltrate with because they are easy to conceal than rifles or shotguns.

Now i guess it would be a good idea to also add infiltration value to certain skills from modded abilities. Supersoldiers for example would be a fine example of loud as hell or super stealthy ones. Spartans are like elephants when compared to Nano Suit operators who would be absolute gods at infiltration due to their stealth mode.

Biotic amp should also provide faster infiltration because element zero lets your soldier fly and weaken things like locks and walls with element zero which lets the squad do things like literally punch through walls with their mere hands because the structural integrity of the wall becomes brittle as glass. Biotics could also do things like lift objects and drop them on enemies and cause "accidents" that would confuse Advent. Since element zero is more of a physical power than psionic so it would be also hard for Advent to spot it. So its easy to infiltrate with (70)

Necromancer staff given it leaves no casings around and fires foreign energy blasts would be also easier to conceal than firearms (90 points)

Supercomputer (Xenologist) would be super sneaky given it lets them manipulate Advent troops and they would be using their minions to confuse the hell out of advent (30 points), it should be this low cuz you are still giving away your primary weapon and the ability to attack and having to rely on your pet or a pistol.

Shields are bulky and hard to conceal, they should have a value of around 150

Iridars rocket launchers are extremely hard to conceal and firing such things in a populated area is like painting a bullseye on your entire squad (180). So gauntlents are a viable choice for more sneakier aproach given they have 70 less points !

I guess thats all extra items i have with my RPGO addons.

I... tried to write it by reverse engineering what is there already, but i guess you should actually test if it it works. I also included some things that werent present in LWOTC file.
- Claymore is pretty much a sneakier grenade given it can be remotely detonated so soldiers could use it during their infiltration to set up ambushes or distractions.
- Bullpup is easier to infiltrate than assault rifle, but SMG is still sneakier.
- Vektor rifles are equivalent to rifles, much faster to infiltrate with than sniper rifles.
- Ripjack (wrist blade in configs) is easier to conceal than swords, but knives are still better.
- Chemthrowers (Flamethrowers primary) are large and loud and leave alot of devastation so they are hard to conceal.
- Chem canisters could be disguised as civilian items so they are slightly easy to infiltrate with.

+WeaponCategoryCovertness=(CategoryName="shield", CovertnessValue=150f, CovertnessWeight=0.5f)
+WeaponCategoryCovertness=(CategoryName="supercomputer", CovertnessValue=30f, CovertnessWeight=1.0f)
+WeaponCategoryCovertness=(CategoryName="necrostaff", CovertnessValue=90f, CovertnessWeight=1.0f)
+WeaponCategoryCovertness=(CategoryName="bioamp", CovertnessValue=70f, CovertnessWeight=0.5f)
+WeaponCategoryCovertness=(CategoryName="iri_rocket_launcher", CovertnessValue=180f, CovertnessWeight=0.5f)
+WeaponCategoryCovertness=(CategoryName="claymore", CovertnessValue=50f, CovertnessWeight=0.5f)
+WeaponCategoryCovertness=(CategoryName="bullpup", CovertnessValue=90f, CovertnessWeight=1.0f)
+WeaponCategoryCovertness=(CategoryName="vektor_rifle", CovertnessValue=100f, CovertnessWeight=1.0f)
+WeaponCategoryCovertness=(CategoryName="wristblade", CovertnessValue=60f, CovertnessWeight=0.5f)
+WeaponCategoryCovertness=(CategoryName="chemthrower", CovertnessValue=180f, CovertnessWeight=1.0f)
+WeaponCategoryCovertness=(CategoryName="canister", CovertnessValue=95f, CovertnessWeight=0.5f)


NOW ON TO ABILITIES THAT GIVEs INFILTRATION

(This all can be located in the LWOTC/Infiltration_Settings)
- First things first, these can exist in 2 different types, either individual (for the soldier only) or squad wide. Ill add to those class mods i have.
- I will actually make certain perks make you MORE louder and harder to detect if it makes sense, think twice ! (or use items and different weapons to compensate)

- Biotic Traversal lets you fly, in mass effect games, in cinematics (not in gameplay though) it could be used to literally fly around like if you had a jetpack, albeit more slowly. It also lets you take no fall damage give you literally control mass with element zero, you can make your entire body weight nothing when you land so this makes you UBER sneaky.
- Rupture field literally makes you walking apocalypse as you deform everything around you.
- Biotic barrier has very noticable flashing effect as the barrier defuses projectiles (only partially in XCOM, but works like that in ME), not only that, the barrier surrounds your soldier so its possible for bullets to be catched by it that wouldnt have actually hit the soldier. So its slightly harder to hide with, every biotic starts with it, i just thought it will be cool to actually have this even if it gets drowned by other bonuses. In ME, barrier only also reacts to fast moving objects, not melee attacks.
- Warp weakens structural integrity of objects, making them extremely easy to shatter, Biotics can weaken things like walls, locks and doors and your soldiers could breach them without explosives so its quite sneaky, its only 2 points better because this is SQUAD WIDE ability and will stack with more biotics.
- Phasewalk is a freakin teleport and its not THAT loud, albeit quite flashy during the night.
- Stormriders rage makes your entire squad LOUDER because your Stormrider cant control himself and goes on a unessesary bloodbaths constantly.
- Martial arts lets your Stormrider take down Advent with his bare hands and feet, much quieter than other weapons and you wont leave such massive puddles of blood given your Stormrider could take down guards with one kick to the side of the head.
- Your Chaplain could use turn undead to slay patroling zombies, this is way quieter than using firearms.
- Using binoculars gives the whole squad superior range when it comes to making their plan, the whole squad infiltrates better when officer can spot Advent when they cant do the same.
- Light ordanance makes your grenades less boomy, so they are slightly quieter...you know, as quieter a grenade can be.
- Blend makes your soldier...blend in the enviroment so they are harder to spot.
- Anatomist could represent that your soldier knows how to strike most effectively with as little ammo or noise as possible, this perk would represent your soldier having precise knowledge of organs of alien species.
- ECM would confuse security towers and drones, letting your ENTIRE squad sneak by much more quickly.
- Being able to make holograms that would draw Advents attention is quite handy to sneak past enemies, so your entire squad can make a run for it while Advent is distracted.
- Decrypted is like your soldier was actually the one who designed all Advents mechs given he knows exactly how he should hit them, as such he will be very good at fighting those pesky security drones in cities.
- Bullet time would let the soldier do inhumane things, and when it comes to infiltration he could use his super fast reflexes to quickly take down guards so he helps with infiltration slightly.
- Sniper rifles with silencers would be scary, lets make this perk the one that carries the infiltration bonus (Ambush, quite fitting name)
- Failsafe is a no brainer, although in universe logic, Advent would still see the Gremlin, albeit this wouldnt atleast cause alarms and things like that so it makes the hacker more sneaky.
- Phantom, the very basic stealth ability should make your soldier sneakier given Advent doesnt notice him but does with the rest of your troops.

+AbilityCovertness=(AbilityName="RM_BioticTraversal", IndividualMultiplier=0.70)
+AbilityCovertness=(AbilityName="RM_RuptureField", IndividualMultiplier=1.20)
+AbilityCovertness=(AbilityName="RM_BioticBarrier", IndividualMultiplier=1.05)
+AbilityCovertness=(AbilityName="Warp", SquadMultiplier=0.98)
+AbilityCovertness=(AbilityName="IRI_PhaseWalk", IndividualMultiplier=0.90)
+AbilityCovertness=(AbilityName="BerserkerRage", SquadMultiplier=1.05)
+AbilityCovertness=(AbilityName="IRI_Rider_MartialArts", IndividualMultiplier=0.85)
+AbilityCovertness=(AbilityName="MZTurnUndead", IndividualMultiplier=0.95)
+AbilityCovertness=(AbilityName="OfficerBinoculars", SquadMultiplier=0.97)
+AbilityCovertness=(AbilityName="GrimyLightOrdnance", IndividualMultiplier=0.95)
+AbilityCovertness=(AbilityName="F_Blend", IndividualMultiplier=0.96)
+AbilityCovertness=(AbilityName="ShadowOps_Anatomist", IndividualMultiplier=0.96)
+AbilityCovertness=(AbilityName="ShadowOps_ECM", SquadMultiplier=0.97)
+AbilityCovertness=(AbilityName="MNT_IllusionProtocol", SquadMultiplier=0.97)
+AbilityCovertness=(AbilityName="MNT_Decrypted", IndividualMultiplier=0.95)
+AbilityCovertness=(AbilityName="MNT_BulletTime", IndividualMultiplier=0.95)
+AbilityCovertness=(AbilityName="F_Ambush", IndividualMultiplier=0.95)
+AbilityCovertness=(AbilityName="FailSafe", IndividualMultiplier=0.95)
+AbilityCovertness=(AbilityName="Phantom", IndividualMultiplier=0.95)
Last edited by Mrvecz; 19 Mar, 2022 @ 12:53am
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Showing 1-2 of 2 comments
wNb  [developer] 20 Mar, 2022 @ 11:16am 
Amazing ideas, will added most of this 1:1 into the mod in the coming days. Thanks for all the work again! I will make sure to update the mod description to give credit for all your work in the next update as well.
Mrvecz 20 Mar, 2022 @ 11:23am 
Originally posted by wNb:
Amazing ideas, will added most of this 1:1 into the mod in the coming days. Thanks for all the work again! I will make sure to update the mod description to give credit for all your work in the next update as well.

If it is feasible, description of all effected perks and items should be mentioned in description so players know that items were changed and most importantly,the perks.

Saying " you can infiltrate 3% faster" means nothing to average player since the math behind this is rather complex, so when it comes to perks, we could just stick with " ECM also makes your entire squad slightly better at infiltrating"

Slightly better, slightly worse and maybe some justification with it why is that.

We could also make traits have bonus or penalties to infiltration, something like Brute should make the soldier louder, while something like Athlete slightly faster.
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Showing 1-2 of 2 comments
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