Long War 2 - Dealing with Reinforcements

Understanding how the RNF Timer works will help you beat it.

The RNF Timer can seem brutal to beginners of LW2. Before you even reach the objective you will have Advent soldiers raining down on you. Then you are running to the evac, with more Advent dropping in. It is often unfair, punishes caution, and results in many a failed campaign.

The first thing to know is that the RNF Timer will be faster and more deadly in regions where Advent has more strength, or when the Rapid Response Dark Event is active (which has about the same effect on the RNF Timer as +4 Advent Strength). At Advent Strength of 6+ it is not advisable to attempt missions in which the RNF Timer begins right away. These will be extremely difficult, often impossible.

IMPORTANT: The RNF timer does not work the same on every mission type. You should approach each mission differently depending on how the RNF Timer works on that mission.

The following is a list of mission types grouped by how the RNF Timer functions on those missions, and some comments on how to cope with it.

RNF Timer is Super Dangerous:

• RNF Timer starts immediately; never stops: Extract VIP, Rescue VIP, Neutralize Target, Jailbreak all begin with the RNF Timer ticking. As I already mentioned, these missions will be much harder in high strength regions, and also if the Rapid Response Dark Event is active. Even when Advent Strength is low, you need to move fast. Push forward every turn. Do not waste a turn setting up a perfect ambush. Good is usually good enough. Especially important when the first enemy pod you see is moving away from you. Just get to fighting. Stalling will only help Advent. A scouting Shinobi can help you move faster, enabling double moves after you break concealment, when no enemies are nearby. Don’t set up too many overwatch traps, unless RNFs are inbound, then overwatching is very effective. Keep fighting and don’t panic… until it is time to panic. When that time comes, run.

• RNF Timer starts when you break concealment: Hack Workstation, Recover Item, Hack Vehicle, Destroy Relay, Network Tower all begin with the RNF timer off. It does not start until you break concealment. So, you should try to stay in concealment longer. Sneak your team all the way to the objective if possible. Often it is. A key to moving fast in concealment is Leapfrog Movement. This is where a soldier in the back moves to the lead, then another soldier in the back moves to the lead, and so on. This exposes fog of war more slowly; thus lowering the risk of running into a pod’s detection range before seeing it. After you break concealment, throw the evac flare so that you can evac sooner. On the Network Tower you don’t evac; hacking the objective halts the RNF Timer. If something goes wrong and you break concealment on the first turn, or when you are still far from the objective, it may be good idea to throw the evac flare and abort.

• Recruit Retaliation: RNFs begin immediately, but gradually slow down in pace. There are also enemies on the map, so don’t move away from your starting position. Instead take defensive position, and deal with the first couple RNFs and any pods that patrol into your position, before trying to move towards the objective. Then proceed slowly. Pausing when RNFs are about to drop.

• Snare: The snare mission is a trap. It looks like a simple hacking mission, but the RNF timer is vastly increased in speed. Once you break concealment, RNFs will land in 2 turns, then every single turn. It is brutal. This trap only occurs in regions with Advent strength 8+. So don’t run Hack missions in strength 8+ regions.

• Hidden Doom Reinforcement Timer: Sabotage Monument, Facilities, Blacksite, and Forge all have a hidden Doom Reinforcement Timer. They all work differently. For Sabotage Monument, it activates when you break Concealment, and gives you 20¹ turns before triggering the RNF Timer. For Facilities, it is 35 turns after breaking concealment. On the Blacksite and Forge missions the timer begins at the start of the mission, and are 45 and 50 turns respectively. Once the timer elapses, you are in deep trouble. The RNFs arrive at an increased pace and size, much like a Snare mission. It will be almost impossible to continue moving forward, and you will be lucky to get back the evac zone unscathed. On the Blacksite mission there will also be a single RNF drop on the evac zone when you pick up the vial.

RNF Timer is not a big issue:

• There is no RNF Timer: Troop Ambushes, Haven Retaliations, Sabotage Monument, Rendezvous, Advent HQ, and Psi Gate all have no RNFs. The absence of the RNF Timer means that you can approach the mission much more cautiously.

• RNFs begin immediately; no other troops on map: Haven Defense, Supply Defense. On these missions there are no Advent troops on the map. Instead RNFs will drop in regularly. Haven Defense has a single RNF every turn that slowly gets larger, until you evac. Supply Defense has RNFs on every other turn, and those alternate between 2 and 1 pod at a time, for a fixed number of cycles determined by Advent Strength in the region.

• Smash N Grab: On this mission you have 12 turns with no RNFs; then RNFs on every turn. Advent Strength and Rapid Response have no effect. You should head to the evac zone (with or without loot) when you have 1-2 turn left on the mission timer, giving you 2-3 turns before RNFs begin.

• Data Tap: There is a timer that starts immediately, but there will only be a single RNF drop, and then no more.

1. 20 turns at Impossible difficulty. 24 at Commander; 28 at Veteran.