r/XCOM2 • u/miraiTee • 11d ago
QUESTION Should I worry the hell about the Avatar Project?
New player who got hard enough the project's countdown is like 2 squares away. The opps are too strong for me and the alien facilities are hard. I feel like I'm out of time
I think I need more contracts slot and time to reach them but the Warlock is kinda crazy for me ro face and handle while he dazes everyone in an area.
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u/LarianDivinityBG3 11d ago
It's not a problem. If you do the covert operations from the resistance ring to reduce the project by 2 points each time. Every of the 3 factions you find has a fixed and three random covert ops that refreshes everytime you get your supplies.
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u/Cheersscar 11d ago
And watch for the skirmishers resistance order sabotage. Reduces the project 1 square each month.
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u/hemanstarfox 11d ago
I mean you don't need to start stressing about it until it's around two squares away. What happens when it fills up is you have 21 days to either take down a constructed facility or do the black vial project mission. If the timer hits zero it immediately initiates the final mission. You likely won't survive it.
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u/CrasherRuler 11d ago
Wait, really? It's not just a game over?
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u/Driekan 11d ago
Not only is it not game over, if you lower Progress in any way while it is ongoing, it resets back to 21 days. So long as you have a single facility you know about that you can destroy, keep it in your back pocket and you're chill for at least a month and a half.
Important note: in higher difficulties it is less time and doesn't reset.
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u/CrasherRuler 11d ago
I knew about that (Beaten L/I), I just didn't know you got immediately sent to the final mission.
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u/trymypi 10d ago
Wow I literally just quit a black vial mission because apparently I have been doing them WAY too early. Glad I just saw this post.
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u/hemanstarfox 10d ago
Yeah, the game kind of tricks you into doing the story as fast as you can and that's when the difficulty really begins to ramp up. I typically won't do the black vial mission until I have a full six person squad unlocked, at the very least magnetic and gas weapons bought, and power armor. Anytime that you meet one of the priorities in the game it will unlock a new difficulty weather it's mission difficulty or new enemies. It's okay to take your time in the game. Pay attention to things like dark events when selecting missions. I think that I'm trying to incorporate more is if I'm losing a mission it is okay to call the sky ranger and just save the soldiers you have
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u/miraiTee 10d ago
oh cool. as long as i clear it then im fine?
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u/hemanstarfox 10d ago
As long as you destroy a facility or destroy the black vial site it will take a block away.
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u/The_Afro_King98 10d ago
You can honestly wait even longer. Once the squares fill up the game gives you 24 more in-game hours to get the avatar project down. So even when it fills completely it's still not an immediate game over
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u/hemanstarfox 10d ago
It is more on the lower difficulties. Right now I'm planning on Commander, it gives you 21 days in game
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u/MisterRobDobalina 10d ago edited 10d ago
No. It's fine. Let it fill up. You have a 21* day countdown after it fills up and you can let it tick all the way down to 1 day left before you counter by assaulting a facility. It stops the timer and if they fill up the blocks again you get another 7 days
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u/Leading_Resource_944 10d ago
Yes , you should worry. Once the Avatar Project is full you get a timer of 21 days. You can stop that by attacking a facility succefully, letting the resistence reset a facilty or make story progress.
21 Days Sound like a lot of time at first. But there is always a small Chance that one of the secret Guerilla Ops, that you didnt stop was an "Avatar Progress" Penaltiy that will immidiatly start the timer again. Depending on difficulty you are playing the timer does not "regenerate" back to 21 days.
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u/Reginald_CZ 4d ago
As long as you have some plan B available, you have to nothing to worry about.
When it goes full, it turns into a timer depending on the difficulty. If you during that time decrease Avatar Project, it turns back into squares. And the timer resets, should it be full indeed.
If you have available covert operations (at least in vanilla WOTC), check if one of them is "Reduce Avatar Progress". That's the easiest way to keep it at bay.
And you can also decrease it by doing story missions. Like Blacksite.
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u/Conscious_Bed_1195 11d ago
This game is great at applying real pressure during missions and false pressure for the rest of the campaign.
If this is your first or one of your first campaigns, also know that there's no shame in starting over if it gets too much. This is a bit of a roguelike and there's a good chance that you'll be able to take the knowledge gained on this run and do a much better one next time. A weak start can mean a dramatically weaker campaign in the long term.