Current playthrough progress:
I discovered the Rifts, but did not yet research them properly. Live captures and armor have priority.
It turns out that the grenade launcher is great against blue shields. Sometimes I drop an outcast mage in just one hit.
A rift did open once out of my reach, but since the despawn penalty is just 10 points (as opposed to the 50 points from dead civvies if you look and run), it was not so bad.
The interrogation roulette is quite annoying. It was the second-to-last Marauder Boss that gave me the Magic Items research, finally allowing me to research Shielded Lab. I had similar issues with Savage Magic, but runed weapons are not quite as necessary as proper research.
Edit: I am currently chasing something that, at least in the interception window, looks like a medium scout. I suspect bugginess.
Edit2: It landed and is actually a medium scout with sectoids. But since their plasma weapons have different sprites, they might be intended foes?