Too many faceless

[Undershaft]

I just played a moderate assassination mission where suddenly 4 (!) faceless revealed themselves after my squad had just engaged the troops inside the target buidling. That's too much and definitely not fun - I'd consider throwing grenades at large groups of civilians from now on, just to see if they are hidden enemies, if that weren't such an un-XCOMy thing to do. My vote: No more than one or two faceless on a regular mission, or get rid of them entirely there.

[trihero]

I think it's awesome actually. It's also I believe the result of a dark event (says something about them putting faceless in cities), so check your active dark events before going into city missions.

I initially thought it was just a thing when advent strength gets high enough that all their cities get armed with faceless, but I *think* it really has to do with a dark event.

[Lumberjacques]

I have had it happen to me as well. Had 7 Faceless spawn on a Liberation-Dark VIP mission. I'd be fine with it if they weren't able to move and attack the turn they reveal, and in the absence of battlescanners/high ranked specialists it's impossible to deal with it.

Honestly, what are you supposed to do to counter this (at a stage before even lasers)?

[Undershaft]

It isn't an active dark event, at least in my case - I checked. Just four faceless randomly hanging out in front of the mission objective.

Thing is, the mission was a pretty close affair to begin with. I had just positioned my guys to deal with the activated pod inside the building, when suddenly - during the aliens turn! - four guys transformed into faceless just next to my troops. One stepped over, hit a soldier and the car he was taking cover behind, which exploded, killing my already wounded soldier (that, btw., is not entirely sensible either).
That's a bit heavy.

At least, they should transform during the player's turn, after one of the troops getting close enough, so that you can at least react to the mortal danger in your immediate vicinity.

Also, I think hidden faceless should be part of the maximum number of enemies for the mission, not added on top. On a moderate mission, you should face 21 enemies at the most - not 25, 4 of which you can't even see when you stand right next to them.

[GavinRuneblade]

You will eventually start meeting chrysalids that burrow underground and attack without warning.

Use overwatch for the month and beware of cities.

[Undershaft]

Yeah, but with the Chrysalids, you at least know that they are there, somewhere in the ground - and they are part of the maximum number of enemies for the mission, aren't they?

Apart from that, since it isn't a dark event, it's not a month-related problem, but a general one. Also, overwatch is no reliable option when you face a full pod of entrenched enemies plus four melee-monsters who suddenly appear right next to you and can make your cover explode.

[cerebrawl]

You will eventually start meeting chrysalids that burrow underground and attack without warning.

Use overwatch for the month and beware of cities.

And chrysalids have lightning reflexes, so overwatch creeping doesn't even help that much. Best bet is having gunners/shinobis with combatives and/or bladestorm perks up front, preferably both.

[GavinRuneblade]

Yeah, but with the Chrysalids, you at least know that they are there, somewhere in the ground - and they are part of the maximum number of enemies for the mission, aren't they?

Apart from that, since it isn't a dark event, it's not a month-related problem, but a general one. Also, overwatch is no reliable option when you face a full pod of entrenched enemies plus four melee-monsters who suddenly appear right next to you and can make your cover explode.

Overwatch still helps, they trigger at range if you bluemove and stop nearby but not adjacent. Then teammates who moved first and are on overwatch will fire before they close and attack.

When it happened to me it was from a dark event, but it may also happen later in the campaign too.

The other option is to hit them with a grenade before they shift.

And yes as stated chryssalids need different tactics. I just mentioned them because they're worse (IMHO).

[Daergar]

It is part of the dark VIP mission.

You have battle scanners. You can have scan on the Specialist. You can be cruel and throw any type of grenade on a cluster of civilians. You can use aoe projectile/explosive effects on civilians.

There are so many ways of detecting faceless, not to mention ending in overwatch with a few guys. This is one case where the answer to your problem is simply "play better and use the tools at your disposal".

Certainly, it would be easier if there were not so many faceless during that mission and we could just run free across the meadows (pavement) without a care in the world. Same could be said for the entire experience of LW2, though then we could just play vanilla.

[trihero]

Aside from tools like battle scanners, they only have a certain range in which they can activate and hit you in the same turn. You'll have to figure out exactly what it is, but learn to stay away from civilians. And yes, it is clearly a dark event I've seen it before "aliens put faceless in the cities." I think it's also part of a special trap vip mission that's separate from dark events, but it also certainly is a dark event.

[Undershaft]

It is part of the dark VIP mission.

OK, good to know. If it is a special feature of a certain mission type, you can plan accordingly. Might even be just a special feature of the Liberation chain, now that I think of it. I was just saying that having to expect so many faceless on every mission would be too much of a ...erm...good thing?

Certainly, it would be easier if there were not so many faceless during that mission and we could just run free across the meadows (pavement) without a care in the world.

Yeah right, like a regular Long War mission would be a walk in the park without a whole extra squad of faceless hidden somewhere on the map. Don't you think there's such a thing as overkill?

And yes, it is clearly a dark event I've seen it before "aliens put faceless in the cities."

It might be, but not in this case.

[GavinRuneblade]

. Don't you think there's such a thing as overkill?
.

There is no overkill. There is only kill and reload.

Or my favorite variation: nuke 'em till they glow them shoot 'em in the dark.

[UraniumOverdose]

Sounds like a trap mission.

Some VIP missions are traps set by ADVENT. They end up having a ton of faceless and reinforcements.

Because of Trap missions, I now will spend extra rounds sneaking to the EVAC area first. Then, if I have a chance to bag the VIP then I will, but if the reward is only some extra intel, I will smoke him and run.

[Undershaft]

Sounds like a trap mission.

Now THAT was the right answer regarding my problem.
I never even knew those existed. This time around, I encountered more than 8 faceless in addition to the regular pods.
So much for the people who suggested bringing battle scanners and "getting good".

So what's the deal with trap missions exactly? When do they happen? Which mission types are affected?
I now recall a hacking mission where endless reinforcements came in - is that the type of trap for hacking missions and swarms of faceless the one for assassinations?

[Devon_v]

Traps are missions that are very easy to find and seem really good. Long timers, high rewards. Especially beware of great missions you find in areas with low Intel. They're quite literally traps set by ADVENT, hoping you'll take the bait, and then they hit you with everything they've got.

Some ways to detsct them are:

They can have longer durations than normal missions. If you see something with like 11 days to infiltrate...probably a trap.
They're not legit missions. If the mission objective is something specific like Unhindered Operations or Counter Dark Event, it's not a trap.

There's no foolproof way to detect them, but you can look for little slip ups that might give them away.

[trihero]

If the mission objective is something specific like Unhindered Operations or Counter Dark Event, it's not a trap.

Well a guy in a similar thread posted that this is false, since he had a trap mission that countered the ufo dark event.