Missions (EU2012)
Tactical missions are XCOM's main operations and can be generated through either Mission Control or the Situation Room. Each mission will have a codename, and will have a Brief and Objectives for XCOM to achieve. At the end of the mission the XCOM Commander will be shown an After Action Report detailing the success/failure of the mission.
Mission Factors
Response Times
Each mission will have a window of opportunity of 1-2 days, specific values below:
Mission | Deadline (Hours) |
---|---|
Abductions | 48 |
Terror Site | 30 |
Crashed UFO | 30 |
Landed UFO | 30 |
Council | ?? |
Mission Difficulty
- Certain missions (Abductions, Terror Sites) appear with four levels of Difficulty: Easy/Moderate/Difficult/Very Difficult.
- These indicate the number of alien "packs" (also named "pods") present on the mission, with Easy usually having 2 packs and Very Difficult around 4.
- Keep in mind that the actual number of aliens may vary since packs can have 1-3 aliens, depending on game stage. Usually the aliens will deploy a maximum of 12 units on a Very Difficult setting on Terror sites or Abductions.
Mission Types
Alien Missions
Missions envolving the aliens are the bread and butter of XCOM. You'll be asked to either stop alien activity in specific countries or to recover landed/crashed UFOs. Ignoring any of those missions will increase Panic levels on the country where they occur, with the exception of Crashed UFO sites.
Council Missions
These missions will appear periodically and you'll be given resources (credits, soldiers, etc.) in exchange for completing these missions, in addition it may also reduce the panic level of the country where it takes place. Council missions may be ignored without any effect on your monthly score but if you accept any mission, its results will affect the Council's score. The most difficult Council missions are usually the Bomb Disposal sites because of the time window involved to deactivate the alien bomb. After a player has reached the mid/late game the Council missions will turn into training runs since your advanced weapons and armor will be more than a match for the usual Thin Men found in those missions.
In the game's scheduling for a month, there are two dates for "Council Events" in place. When one comes around, there is a chance to receive a mission, a request, or nothing at all. If a mission is gotten for the first event, a second mission will not be given for the second, with the exception of Slingshot and Progeny missions.
Slingshot DLC Missions
Slingshot is a DLC available for Enemy Unknown which consists in a series of 3 missions that unlock a playable soldier Zhang along with additional resources. The Slingshot missions will only be offered once in the first month of the game. After each mission appears available on the Situation Room it is possible for the player to delay it indefinitely by choosing the 'Not Now' option.
Enemy Within DLC Missions
Covert Operations Missions
Progeny Missions
XCOM Base Defense
Council Missions
Storyline Missions
These are special missions that you'll need to complete in order to progress in the storyline. Failure to complete certain missions will be considered a game loss. For more details see the Storyline Missions page (massive spoilers!).
Progeny vs. Slingshot
- Portent first appears in April, but the other two missions in this side plot won't take place until the aliens have done their assault on the XCOM HQ, which only takes place after the assault on the Alien Base.
- Friends in Low Places takes place after Portent and the whole Slingshot campaign is usually finished before the rest of Progeny.
- Annette and her fellow abductees' stats, recruited months into the game, won't be as useful as getting Zhang in just a few weeks in, especially since pre-leveled recruits (such as from Abduction/Council rewards) don't benefit from OTS's Iron Will.
- This also includes having your later-game soldiers in mind, if Hidden Potential and Not Created Equally are chosen, and you have already begun farming and raising for your Psi Squad; they can easily get higher stats than pre-leveled soldiers.
- Pre-leveled soldiers are not a priority reward in general: generic Abduction/Council Reward soldiers will always be one level below your highest-ranked solider for that class, and Zhang was the one exception as he would be the only one that could be of higher rank than any soldiers you'll have at the time, at least in vanilla EU, where he could be gotten in March.
- What you can sell and research from Slingshot's Battleship mission in (as early as) April, has now been moved to May.
- At the very least, the Council rewards of the first missions are more profitable from Slingshot.
Slingshot | Progeny | ||
---|---|---|---|
Friends in Low Places |
Council Rewards:
Enemies:
Note:
|
Portent |
Council Rewards:
Enemies:
Note:
|
Confounding Light |
Council Reward:
Enemies
Note:
|
Deluge |
Council Rewards:
Enemies:
Note:
|
Gangplank |
Council Reward:
Enemies:
Note:
Spoils of Victory:
|
Furies |
Council Rewards:
Enemies:
Note:
|
(Spoiler) Alien Species Deployment Table
Enemy Unknown
Mission | Sectoid | Thin Man | Outsider | Drone | Floater | Muton | Chryssalid | Sectoid Commander | Heavy Floater | Muton Elite | Cyberdisc | Berserker | Ethereal | Sectopod |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Abductions | YES | YES | NO | YES | YES | YES | NO | NO | YES | YES | YES | YES | NO | YES |
Terror Site | NO | NO | NO | YES | YES | YES | YES | NO | YES | NO | YES | YES | NO | YES |
UFO Crash Site | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES |
UFO Landing Site | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES |
Council | YES | YES | NO | NO | NO | YES | NO | NO | NO | NO | NO | NO | NO | NO |
Slingshot | YES | YES | NO | NO | NO | YES | YES | NO | NO | NO | YES | NO | NO | NO |
Storyline | YES | YES | NO | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES |
Enemy Within
Mission | Sectoid | Thin Man | Outsider | Drone | Floater | Muton | Chryssalid | Sectoid Commander | Heavy Floater | Muton Elite | Cyberdisc | Berserker | Ethereal | Sectopod | Mechtoid | Seeker |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Abductions | YES | YES | NO | YES | YES | YES | NO | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | NO | YES | YES | YES |
Terror Site | NO | NO | NO | YES | YES | YES | YES | NO | YES | NO | YES | YES | NO | YES | ? | ? |
UFO Crash Site | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES |
UFO Landing Site | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES |
Council | YES | YES | NO | NO | NO | YES | NO | NO | NO | NO | NO | NO | NO | NO | NO | NO |
Slingshot | YES | YES | NO | NO | NO | YES | YES | NO | NO | NO | YES | NO | NO | NO | NO | NO |
Progeny | YES | YES | NO | NO | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | NO | YES | YES | YES |
Storyline | YES | YES | NO | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES |
See Also
- UFOs - For more information regarding salvage from landed/downed UFOs.
- Maps - For details on the types of terrain for each mission.
- Managing Panic - For more information regarding country and world panic.
- Mission Names - For a list of the names used while generating missions.