Question about shutting down the Cults (Spoilers)

[Baton_Shells]

Okay, so first off I love this mod. Just want to mention that. Its awesome and I really want to experience all the content.

Which leads me to my current issue, let me set the scene. The year is 1997. Christmas will soon be upon us, and the Black Lotus HQ is in my sights. I have taken down an Avatar thanks to numerous blunt grenades. I have however missed out on a Black Lotus Party a few months ago (only way I think I could have made that mission was to start with my base in Japan instead of the Black Sea). I'm also about to send in a strike force to take down Master Wo (or Lo?). The HQ hasn't been researched yet, but it will probably be next on my to-do list.

However, I don't really want to take down the cult without experiencing all the missions they can throw at my team at least once. Same for Exalt, Dagon, and Red Dawn. Could someone list out the missions for the cults and note if any of them are hard to get to like the Black Lotus Party?

Oh, two other quick questions that relate to Xcom's budget

1: How long can I make Humvees last? I think I could go out of my way to get a larger transportation but my science lab being fully staffed is pushing my funding into the negatives. I can't afford to suddenly double my agent count.

2: Speaking of funding, when the hell are you meant to establish your other bases? I've reset multiple runs because I keep building my second base too quickly. I've finally got a fully stocked sceince lab and I don't think I can squeeze much more science from the game for a while so it seems like I should be able to get them up and running soon but with my funding as is, I don't know if I can afford to run more bases. I've been keeping my funding up as much as possible, always completing missions (except when the game decides to play a joke on me like with the Vampire Knights or a swarm of Chupes), and I've gotten a very large number of dossiers researched (all the Orison Goon, Westmen, and 1st two ranks of Cultists). Is there anything else I can do to boost that funding?

Thanks for the help folks!

[FishyFin]

I think early game money mostly come from your council and loot. For council money, just get good score rating and they will pay you a few hundred thousands more each month. For loot, I suggest attacking enemy outpost, and safehouse. Those place sometime have money briefcase which worth 100k each. One safe tactic I know is night raid. Simply just hide in the dark, use flare/fire to light them up then snipe them. Positioning is important. If you find yourself surrounded or too close, you may want to abort.

You also don't need so many scientist early game unless you find yourself out tech or in need to rush some important tech. for first year, about 15 will do just fine. first year tech are cheap, spread out your research unless you see poor progress. Since the research progress will count by day not hours, any excessive scientist will waste their time. If you find yourself researching so many dossier or unused guns because you run out thing need to research, it maybe a sign that you are having too many scientists.

I don't find it necessary to rush for a 2nd base. My first base usually somewhere between Caspian Sea and Black Sea. I find it to be a good spot since it can cover entire Europe with radar. Mean while it's not too far for Osprey to reach Japan or any cult HQ except EXALT HQ. But I don't mind not taking down EXALT early. Usually, I build my 2nd base after I have over 3M of saving. Even without the 2nd base before 1999 won't be the end of the world. It's because UFO assault mission worth a lot of money if you can handle them.

For listing the mission I think you can find some in the New Battle/Mission Generator. There's a list of mission after the cult HQ till Enviromental Alert are some of the cult exclusive mission. The only Black Lotus mission that I haven't seen you mention is The Root of All Evil/Black Lotus Temple which may happen somewhere in Indochina.

The Humvee usually good for early game until you can make use of the Osprey, Helicopter, Dragonfly. Osprey is the best early game transport since it can carry 16 agents. The requirement to unlock is to research all 4 cults Operations. Which mean, find each of their Outpost and capture the leaders of those Outpost. But those copters can't cover oversea operation so you will still using Humvee or Van to patrol oversea until you got a Skyranger or something similar.

[Baton_Shells]

Okay, a few more questions.

1: Do cult missions repeat if you miss them? For instance, will I ever see a Black Lotus Party ever again?

2: After you get rid of a cult can their extra missions still pop up? For instance, if I get rid of the Black Lotus before finding Lo Wo  or the Red Dawn before finding Natasha will they ever show up or do I miss them permanently?

[FishyFin]

If the mission won't be repeated, you will see the description said it.
In my experience, beside Natasha, master Wo Lo and some VIP missions, other cult related mission can still be repeated.
Otherwise there's a way to make sure. You can dig into the mod files (/Ruleset/missionScripts_XCOMFILES.rul)
For example if you see something like this on the mission:

Code: [Select]

maxRuns: 1That's mean the mission will only run one time.

Some lines such as:

Code: [Select]

    researchTriggers:
      STR_DOSSIER_NATASHA_MOROZOVA: true
      STR_DESTROY_ZSRR: falseAre the research conditions in which trigger the mission. If STR_DESTROY_(cult name) is false means the mission will only happen when the cult is still around. If true that's mean the mission won't appear after the cult is terminated. Fortunately, Natasha and master Wo Lo can still be found after their cult is terminated.

[Baton_Shells]

You are a godsend, friend. I've very little technical knowhow so being told how to look stuff like this up is awesome. And knowing I can safely bring down the Red Dawn and still get Natasha is awesome. Promotion 3 here I come!

[FishyFin]

You're welcome!
I know a bit of coding and information gather so that at least I can help.
But keep in mind that Natasha, master Wo Lo mission still require you to find their dossiers in the first place. It maybe longer without some cult member to interrogate.

[Baton_Shells]

As my forum name suggests, I have been quite completionist at collecting individuals for interrogation. I won't shut down a cult until I have all the juicy details I can squeeze from them. Gotta fill out that tech tree (Also why I'm sad I missed the Black Lotus Party earlier in the game and hope it shows up again soon, I want to interrogate a mandarin).

[Juku121]

...I want to interrogate a mandarin.

This is just begging to be misquoted.