XCOM 2/ADVENT Officer

"The officers seem a little more capable than the grunts. We're not sure whether to chalk it up to training or stricter mind control." ~Central Officer Bradford

Throughout the game, many alien pods are led by ADVENT Officers. These deep red enemies have more HP and higher aim than the troopers they frequently lead. They also possess a single grenade and a single supportive ability: Mark Target. On Commander and Legend difficulties, they have innate 10 crit on their weapon. They are sometimes referred to as ADVENT Captains.

Skulljacking an officer will kill it instantly and spawn a codex. Doing so at least once is required if you want to win the game.

Stats[edit | edit source]

Assume unlisted values are 0 or N/A. Unless otherwise specified, all damage ranges are uniformly distributed - each outcome is equally likely.

Types: Humanoid, ADVENT

The Grenade has an 80% chance to deal 2 damage and a 20% chance to deal 3 damage

The Grenade has a 66% chance to deal 3 damage and a 34% chance to deal 4 damage. It also now shreds 2 armor instead of 1 armor.

The grenade has a 51% chance to deal 4 damage and a 49% chance to deal 5 damage. It also now shreds 3 armor instead of 2.

Abilities[edit | edit source]

Mark Target: Costs 1 action and does not end turn. The Captain marks an XCOM unit within its squadsight vision range. Can only be used on a target which is not already marked. Shots taken against a marked target have +10 aim. The Mark lasts for 2 turns and has a 2 turn cooldown. A mind-controlled ADVENT Officer cannot use this ability.

Appearance[edit | edit source]

ADVENT Officers can only appear as pod leaders except on retaliations, where they may be led by stun lancers.

Behavior[edit | edit source]

Enemy behavior is processed one action at a time. Figure out what they will do in the first action, and then figure out what they will do in the second action from their new position with their last action point. Actions are bolded. Actions higher on the list are always attempted first if the conditions are met. The conditions are italicized.

The ADVENT Officer may take on one of many AI jobs. These generally affect their behavior in extremely minor ways, such as causing them to attack civilians in retaliations, attack the device in protect device missions, or randomly enter overwatch when they could have shot at you.

Action 1

• Retreat
  • Only if last surviving member of a pod, another pod exists, and the objective is not completed. 50% chance
• If flanked, Move
• Mark Target
  • May only be used if Mark target is off of its 2-turn cooldown. Will only use if at least one alien and two XCOM units are visible. Will not use if any XCOM units are already marked.
• Move according to job
  • If its job or default AI considers its current square to be the optimal square, go to next step. The trooper also uses this when moving while the pod is inactive
• Move to throw grenade
  • Requires being able to hit two XCOM units with a grenade. Regular ADVENT Officers will not throw their grenade on Rookie or Veteran difficulties. Advanced and Elite Officers will
• Overwatch, Multiple possible triggers, checked in the following order:
  • If two or more aliens are already overwatching, do not overwatch, even if the below conditions are true.
  • If it can see any XCOM operatives in a zone targeted by a two-turn attack (Psionic Rift, Wrath Cannon, or Blazing Pinions), 100% chance to overwatch. If one alien unit is already overwatching, 50% to overwatch.
  • If all available shots have less than 50 hit and nobody else overwatching, 25% to overwatch.
  • If the VIP is visible, 75% to overwatch. If at least one other alien unit overwatching already, 15% instead to overwatch.
  • If the EVAC and at least one XCOM unit is visible, 100% to overwatch. If at least one other alien unit overwatching already, 75% to overwatch.
• Shoot
• Reload
• Hunt XCOM, staying in cover
  • Called whenever it cannot see any XCOM units, or if the attacker cap has been reached for this turn.

Action 2

• Mark Target
  • May only be used if Mark target is off of its 2-turn cooldown. Will only use if at least one alien and two XCOM units are visible. Will not use if any XCOM units are already marked.
• Throw grenade
  • Requires being able to hit two XCOM units with a grenade. Regular ADVENT Officers will not throw their grenade on Rookie or Veteran difficulties. Advanced and Elite Officers will
• Overwatch, Multiple possible triggers, checked in the following order:
  • If two or more aliens are already overwatching, do not overwatch, even if the below conditions are true.
  • If it can see any XCOM operatives in a zone targeted by a two-turn attack (Psionic Rift, Wrath Cannon, or Blazing Pinions), 100% chance to overwatch. If an alien unit is already overwatching, 50% to overwatch.
  • If all available shots have less than 50 hit and nobody else overwatching, 25% to overwatch.
  • If the VIP is visible, 75% to overwatch. If at least one other alien unit overwatching already, 15% instead to overwatch.
  • If the EVAC and at least one XCOM unit is visible, 100% to overwatch. If at least one other alien unit overwatching already, 75% to overwatch.
• Shoot
• Reload
• Hunt XCOM, staying in cover
  • Called whenever it cannot see any XCOM units, or if the attacker cap has been reached for this turn.
• Perform job move
  • Mostly called only to shoot a civilian or the device after moving while inactive

Sources[edit | edit source]

Force level appearance found in configs \steamapps\common\XCOM 2\XCom2-WarOfTheChosen\XComGame\Config\DefaulttEncounterLists.ini

Character stats found in configs steamapps\common\XCOM 2\XComGame\Config\DefaultGameData_CharacterStats.ini

Enemy damage stats found in configs steamapps\common\XCOM 2\XComGame\Config\DefaultGameData_WeaponData.ini

AI behavior found in configs steamapps\common\XCOM 2\XComGame\Config\DefaultAI.ini

Mark Target data found in configs steamapps\common\XCOM 2\XComGame\Config\DefaultGameData_SoldierSkills.ini as well as source code \Development\SrcOrig\XComGame\Classes\X2Ability_AdventCaptain.uc and \Development\SrcOrig\XComGame\Classes\X2StatusEffect.uc and steamapps\common\XCOM 2\XComGame\Config\DefaultGameCore.ini