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No, I don't mean your CPU. Chances are if you're running a lot of small missions early on you're going to build up a nice pile of Intel to spend. Now you can spend this at the Black Market for rushing tech, sure, but there's another use for it. Boosting Infiltration.

This extremely simple yes-or-no choice takes an initial sum of intel and uses it to significantly boost your infiltration rate. ADVENT moving a Supply Convoy into your territory with 4 days to spare? Well, it's a Supply Convoy, it'll be well guarded -- but mustering a good team to take it out on short notice isn't easy.

4 days before that Supply Convoy expires and the team you want to send would take 9 days to prepare? Boost it! Even if you can't hit that 100% sweet spot or even go higher, you might be able to curb enemy counts until they're low enough to safely engage.

Yup, intel doesn't appear (at least so far) to be used for much other than making contacts and boosting missions. It seems to me after you've maxed out your initial 3 contacts you will be swimming in intel with no contacts to spend it on, so don't horde it. Of course you don't need to boost every mission but if it's mildly important (engi/science reward) or risky (missions where you can't evac) you might as well make your life easier with intel boost.

I've seen five uses for intel so far barring that one plot use right near the end in vanilla;

1. Research. Certain topics flat-out require Intel to start, like Resistance Radio.
2. Rushing Research at the Black Market: You can burn a chunk of it at the BM to halve time on a topic as in vanilla- most BM purchases are tied to Supplies now instead.
3. Boost Infiltration: As mentioned, burn some intel to increase infiltration rate.
4. Contact New Region: You know this one by now.
5. Intervention: GTS-trained Officers can now burn 10 Intel for a 2-turn extension to mission timers. This can be used several times per mission, depending on the officer's rank.

Are you sure rushing research isn't from a different mod? That's not a mechanic in LW2... Not that I know of, anyway. LW2 market should deal all in supplies.

black market has always had a way to rush research for intel that is vanilla game play. just most people ignored it cause it was a waste in vanilla.

mattprice516 wrote:Are you sure rushing research isn't from a different mod? That's not a mechanic in LW2... Not that I know of, anyway. LW2 market should deal all in supplies.

As warbrand points out, it's a vanilla mechanic. It's pretty expensive intelwise but it can occasionally be worth it if you need to speed up your research to get something out in time.

That mechanic doesn't exist in LW2 - the Black Market operates entirely on Supplies (not Intel) and doesn't have research rush options. If you're seeing it, another mod is likely messing with your Black Market.

Hey I have the option to spend intel on the blackmarket to reduce research times aswell. Haven't tried it yet but I will see if it works later. Not running nay additional mods apart from LW 2.

mattprice516 wrote:That mechanic doesn't exist in LW2 - the Black Market operates entirely on Supplies (not Intel) and doesn't have research rush options. If you're seeing it, another mod is likely messing with your Black Market.

I don't think it's a mod messing with it, indeed the black market (contrary to what the devs have stated and the tooltips in game) offers you research reduction at the cost of intel. It's rather easy to reproduce just load up any game go to the black market and spend intel on research. If you say otherwise then you are simply going on the dev's words instead of taking 2 seconds to confirm it yourself.

I have looked myself and it isn't in my game, unless it's cleverly hidden.

Can you post a screenshot showing where the button is?

It's not even a special magic button or anything. Just go to Buy in the Black Market, and there may or may not be a handful of "Rush <Tech>" options at the bottom of the list. I think the default is 3. Intel costs are pretty steep (~100 on Rookie) and it only knocks off 50% completion instead of autocompleting it on the spot, so it doesn't seem especially gamebreaking.

FWIW I have basically no mods that alter market interactions. I have one that indicates what corpses/items are useful for (very nice to avoid selling those drone wrecks you might want for making gremlins) and that's about it.

I very specifically burnt my configs to the ground and rebuilt before touching LW2 at all, and I have very few mods that touch the Market, so not sure what's going on if LW2 is supposed to have removed it.

Arcalane wrote:I have one that indicates what corpses/items are useful for (very nice to avoid selling those drone wrecks you might want for making gremlins) and that's about it.

Would you please post a link to this mod? It sounds very useful. I looked through the Steam Workshop but there are so many mods now

Here - Blackmarket Usage.

Arcalane wrote:Here - Blackmarket Usage.

Great, thanks!

mattprice516 wrote:I have looked myself and it isn't in my game, unless it's cleverly hidden.

Can you post a screenshot showing where the button is?

nothing hidden, it is right there. normally the bottom three items on the buy page are intel use boosts. vanilla or modding.

^ what he said, if you missed it maybe you are the one with mods problems or just not trying to look (I don't mean this disrepectfully so don't take it that way ), it's plain as day the rush techs are intel costed. I think it's intentional because the prices seem fairly appropriate (the expensive ones cost like 200 intel).

I do not have any rush techs in my campaign. Everything in the black market is supply based. Pretty sure that's a glitch.

it is in the base game, and even if I remove all mods it is still there. so I think not having it might be a glitch. or that having it is a glitch... either or. yeah.

Disable everything but LW2, purge your configs, and try a new campaign maybe?

As trihero says, the prices seem appropriately scaled (most of the time) so it doesn't seem excessively gamebreaking. Tygan is sitting around whining at me because I keep asking him to make Viper Gumbo and Trooper Casserole instead of doing "important research" that I can't because I don't have enough elerium fragments*.

*And before you say "Render Cores!" that doesn't work if I destroy all of my cores. I need cores and fragments to do anything!

Ah - looks like this is base-game functionality that was removed from all difficulties in LW2 besides Rookie. Sorry, it's been a really long time since I played Vanilla.

It IS supposed to cost Supplies in LW2 though. Hrm... are y'all that're seeing this playing on Rookie? If so, only 1 bug here. If not, maybe more. O_o

I am playing on Rookie, yes-- this is my 'training wheels' campaign so I can get a feel for all the horrifying things you've done before I crack open a character pool full of actual people to sacrifice in the name of RNG.

Worst case scenario I have to start over when 1.1 drops, but by that point I think I'll have found my feet/legs/tentacles/etcetera.

The intel thing still seems kinda fair though. Supplies are hard to come by but you can easily pull in a decent pile of intel. I've honestly had too much of it sometimes (I think I broke 400(!) at one point) so having extra stuff to spend it on besides infiltration boosting isn't always bad.

Tygan is sitting around whining at me because I keep asking him to make Viper Gumbo and Trooper Casserole instead of doing "important research" that I can't because I don't have enough elerium fragments*.

I lol'ed.