Deacon Ivory's War of the Chosen Configuration Options

Overview: This mod collection  is intended for players with a couple of XCOM 2 campaigns under their belt. So it’s not really recommended for beginners. It will lead to a difficult game on Veteran, a very challenging game on Commander, and a damn near impossible game on Legend. It is meant to create a “marathon” style campaign with the hopes that you will have challenging missions throughout.

Starting with six soldiers is recommended.

I’ve broken the mod list into ten collections This allows players to choose whether they want to include the added difficulty and system requirements of the extra Enemy and Faction mods as well as other optional mods;

The Core Collection
The Deacon’s War Add On  - Enemies, Factions, and SitReps
The Deacon’s War Add On  - Optional Mods
The Deacon's War Add-On - Optional Voicepacks and Customizations
The Deacon's War Add On - Optional Soldier Classes
The Deacon's War Add On - [WOTC] Proficiency Class Pack Edition
The Deacon's War Add On - RPG Overhaul Edition
The Deacon's War Add On - Strategy Overhaul: Covert Infiltration Edition
The Deacon's War Add On - Optional Weapon Mods
The Deacon's War Add On - Optional Difficulty Enhancements

Note 2021.12.01: I am now running a SO:CI campaign with Proficiency Classes.  Grim Horizon, Commander+,  ABC+,  DABFL, YA, and about 500 other mods. Start slow here if this your first heavily modded campaign, you need to match your modded game to your hardware.

Note 2021.10.16: I have returned to playing a straight RPGO campaign and have updated the collections accordingly. There are a few new surprises and changes so take a look. I am currently playing on Commander difficulty with a ton of modded enemies  and factions added. If you want to play on Legend I suggest the [WOTC] Commander+ mod

Note 2021.01.16: I moved a few mods to a new optional mod list. The idea being that it streamlines the Core even more and should result in a much more stable game. It also allows players to add mods as they see fit as opposed to mashing them altogether.

Note 2020.12.08: There have been bugs reported when running the Enemies, Factions, and SitReps collection. That’s my bad, I tried to include everything that I’d been using but in my rush I  didn’t fully test all of the enemies and sitreps with each other. I recommend that unless you are just using these collections as a jumping off point for your own mod list to avoid using the additional collection in its entirety. Picking and choosing mods is probably the best way to proceed.

This collection was inspired by Iridar’s Core Collection and Mr Gruffle’s RPGO Campaign Collections. It shares  many of the same mods as these Collections.

I introduce a few buffs by editing some of the mods’  ini config files, these  are meant to soften the blow a bit, however you are free to disregard them and play as you like. The goal is to create a jumping off point for veteran XCOM2 players looking for a heavily modded playthrough without the commitment of a full Long War of the Chosen or Covert Infiltration campaign.

Backstory: My list had grown to almost 500 mods but my game was laggy and crashed more and more often. So I decided to trim out some mods and get a stable mod list that hovered around 350 mods. You should feel free to add in any customizations that you like, I’d recommend that you  try to limit the number of voicepacks and map mods that you include, while these are some of my favorites they can compound any inherent slowness that running hundreds of mods can cause.

Strongly Recommended  Mod Configuration Edits:  The only real “requirements” are the setting changes for Yellow Alert, Bio Division,  and Mission Overhaul Core. These settings ensure that Rescue missions are not impossible and that every reinforcement pod that drops doesn’t do so with guns blazing. However, it is entirely up to you if you want to turn on Rapid Reinforcements, but be forewarned you will face a merciless onslaught of enemies. I do not touch The Hive but if the Chryssies get too much you can modify their reinforcement schedule as well to prevent them from attacking on the turn they arrive.

Yellow Alert
EnableAItoAIActivation = True
AllowBonusReflexActions = False
DisableFirstTurn = True
bRapidReinforcements = False
bReinforcementsAlwaysDefend = True
EnableAItoAISeesUnitActivation = True

Bio Division - to bring the Reinforcements into line with Yellow Alert
XComEncounters.ini, set the ReinforcementCountdown=1 for the BioLostReinforcements, BioMecReinforcements1, BioMecReinforcements2.

Multiple SitReps 2.0:
 If you are using the Supplemental collection and  this mod for the first time, spend some time getting acquainted, there is a lot to unpack. Here is my personal  Multiple SitReps 2.0 configuration. It includes all of the Raider Faction mods from the Collection, if you add or remove any make sure that you update this configuration. A list of SitRep names can be found Here. I have three categories, one for default SitReps, one for modded Enemy and Raider Faction SitReps, and one for allies. I also enable  the “Uncategorized SitReps” setting. This will catch anything that I forget to add to a category. It’s also worth noting that you can manage these however you like, if you want more or less, or want to enable the “Groups” functionality. Also, make sure  that you’ve subscribed to Accurate Situation Report

[WOTC] Dynamic Encounter Zones
 SubtractOffsetAlongLOP = 10

Jane Kelly
set class “UniversalSoldier” and set voice =”Payday2CloverVoicePackWTR” (highly recommended optional voice pack mod)

Rusty’s Chemthrower Addons:
 Iridars Immolator Overhaul Also changes the archetype of Immolators. To get these two mods to work together, you need to make adjustments to this mods config files. XComXenolator.ini needs to be set to NOT update Immolator models (Allowing Iridars Immolator Overhaul to do so instead). If you wish you can use Immolator Overhaul config/template master setups to override all the weapon types.

bUseUpdatedChemthrowerModels_Immo = false
 bUseUpdatedChemthrowerModels_Cryo = false
 bUseTintableChemthrowerModels_Immo = false
 bUseTintableChemthrowerModels_Cryo = false

Ability to Slot Reassignment: https://steamcommunity.com/workshop/filedetails/discussion/2133397762/3048360012553485872/ No Longwatch Bug The currently shipped default config for this mod has a few typo's contained within. This is an oversight that causes your snipers to not be able to use longwatch, amongst other things. The mod's author, Musashi, is currently taking a well earned hiatus from the pressures of modding XCOM2.  Thankfully, fixing this issue is something you can do yourself, with a simple decent text editor like VSCode or Notepad++.

Mechatronic Warfare makes SPARK weapons upgrade with regular soldiers' Cannons. I suggest getting rid of that behavior by going to its XComUpdateSpark.ini configuration file and setting  SPARK_OVERHAUL_WEAPON=false

Facilities+: Everything is set to True except for Psi Lab which is False


Optional Configuration Edits: These are all my personal preferences. Choose to include all, some, or none of them.


Musashi’s RPG Overhaul - LOC change button from Class Icon to Squad Icon:
[XGLocalizedData_RPG]
SelectClassTitle="Class Title"
SelectClassIcon="Squad Icon"
SelectClassDescription="Class Description"
ResetClassInsignia="Reset Custom Class Insignia"

[WOTC] Unit Flag Extended -My personal stripped down configuration is  Here (warning the mod was updated and this config needs to be updated too - 2021.01.16)

System Infiltration – to require the hacker’s laptop in XcomSystemnInfiltration.ini Remove the semi-colon from the beginning of this line: ;+ABILITIES_REQUIRE_HACKER_LAPTOP = "SI_SystemInfiltration"

Dedicated pistol slot - Allow other weapons into the DPS (thanks to Steam User @skrangelben):
+ADD_SLOT=(SOLDIER_CLASS="UniversalSoldier", WEAPON_CAT="pistol", ALLOW_EMPTY=true)
+ADD_SLOT=(SOLDIER_CLASS="UniversalSoldier", WEAPON_CAT="sidearm", ALLOW_EMPTY=true)
+ADD_SLOT=(SOLDIER_CLASS="UniversalSoldier", WEAPON_CAT="ArcThrower", ALLOW_EMPTY=true)
+ADD_SLOT=(SOLDIER_CLASS="UniversalSoldier", WEAPON_CAT="CombatKnife", ALLOW_EMPTY=true)
+ADD_SLOT=(SOLDIER_CLASS="UniversalSoldier", WEAPON_CAT="Holotargeter", ALLOW_EMPTY=true)
+ADD_SLOT=(SOLDIER_CLASS="UniversalSoldier", WEAPON_CAT="SawedOffShotgun", ALLOW_EMPTY=true)
If you use the Rescue Denmother mod add these:
+ADD_SLOT=(SOLDIER_CLASS="Keeper", WEAPON_CAT="pistol", ALLOW_EMPTY=true)
+ADD_SLOT=(SOLDIER_CLASS="Keeper", WEAPON_CAT="sidearm", ALLOW_EMPTY=true)


Advanced Options (aka Second Wave Options) - Click Toggle Advanced Options View
Lengthy Scheme (aka Marathon)- combined with the Avatar Facility Re-Curve [WOTC] and Mission Mania (2021.01.16 Note:I have moved Mission Mania to the Optional mod list. I needed the game to speed up a bit for testing reasons. There is no reason you cannot continue with this mod enabled). This setting will effectively double the length of your campaign, and potentially allow it to go on as long as you are willing to continue attacking the Avatar facilities.
Time Turner (aka “What’s the rush?”) - Clearly this is optional, I just find the timers to be a boring mechanic. and I really enjoy the tiny details that the art and design teams at Firaxis put into the game. Feel free to leave this unchecked for the vanilla timer experience.
Precision Explosives - Re-balances grenades and makes them far more random (as they should be IMHO)
Not Created Equal - enabled
Hero Factions  - I always randomly select one of the Hero Factions to start, I've found that it stabilizes the start of the game.

Mod Configuration Menu (MCM) Settings
Squad Select: Primary Only Upgrade icons - false
[WOTC] Extended Information: Show Aim Assist - False
All Soldiers Gain XP – Set it however you like just remember to uncheck “soldiers can  level up outside of missions”

Optional Configuration INI Edits: You can also  create your own config edit mod. These are all QOL edits and have no balance implications (except possibly for modifying the number of starting soldiers).

Tip: After making the changes to the XCom and Default configs once save a copy of the files, and then download and Install winmerge.  From then on you can merge your edits into  your config files easily every time you have to ‘Validate Your local Files’ in Steam.

Default Ini files are located here: \Steam\steamapps\common\XCOM 2\XCom2-WarOfTheChosen\XComGame\Config
XCom Ini files are located here:  \My Documents\My Games\XCOM2 War of the Chosen\XComGame\Config

DefaultInput  [Changes for Mouse Scroll Zoom in/out] (this edit must be done in the DefaultInput.ini it won’t work if you do it in the XComInput.ini)
; Zoom In
;.Bindings=(Name="T", Command="T_Key_Press | onrelease T_Key_Release", bPrimaryBinding=True)
.Bindings=(Name="MouseScrollUp", Command="T_Key_Press | onrelease T_Key_Release", bPrimaryBinding=True)
; Zoom Out
;.Bindings=(Name="G", Command="G_Key_Press | onrelease G_Key_Release", bPrimaryBinding=True)
.Bindings=(Name="MouseScrollDown", Command="G_Key_Press | onrelease G_Key_Release", bPrimaryBinding=True)
; Zoom Toggle
.Bindings=(Name="Z", Command="Z_Key_Press | onrelease Z_Key_Release", bPrimaryBinding=True)
; Zoom Range
.Bindings=(Name="MiddleMouseButton",Command="Middle_Mouse_Button_Press | onrelease Middle_Mouse_Button_Release", bPrimaryBinding=True)
; Center camera on current unit
.Bindings=(Name="Home", Command="Home_Key_Press | onrelease Home_Key_Release", bPrimaryBinding=True)
; Change Cursor Altitude
;.Bindings=(Name="MouseScrollUp", Command="F_Key_Press | onrelease F_Key_Release", bPrimaryBinding=True)
.Bindings=(Name="F",     Command="F_Key_Press | onrelease F_Key_Release", bSecondaryBinding=True)
;.Bindings=(Name="MouseScrollDown", Command="C_Key_Press | onrelease C_Key_Release", bPrimaryBinding=True)
.Bindings=(Name="C",     Command="C_Key_Press | onrelease C_Key_Release", bSecondaryBinding=True)

XComGameData
VeteranSoldierRank=0

 Note the changes bellow simulate the WOTC Without The Lost mod’s changes but toned down a bit, so there will be Lost but with No Lost Headshots I think that it works.
LostSpawningDistance=22

MinLostSpawnTurnCooldown[0]=10
MinLostSpawnTurnCooldown[1]=10
MinLostSpawnTurnCooldown[2]=10
MinLostSpawnTurnCooldown[3]=10

MaxLostSpawnTurnCooldown[0]=100
MaxLostSpawnTurnCooldown[1]=100
MaxLostSpawnTurnCooldown[2]=100
MaxLostSpawnTurnCooldown[3]=100

MinLostSpawningLevelWhileConcealed=1
LostLoudSoundThreshold=100
LostMaxWaves=-1


XComCamera
MaxTilesCameraCanMoveOutsideLevelVolume=25 ; how many tiles outside the level volume is the camera allowed to move
 ZoomedDistanceFromCursor=4400;  in Unreal units.  Distance from look at target at maximum zoom.
CameraShakeIntensity_Large=0.01
CameraShakeIntensity_Medium=0.01
CameraShakeIntensity_Small=0.01
[XComGame.X2Camera_OverTheShoulder] ; The camera anim that will be used for the overall "handheld shake" effect while in the OTS cams
CameraShake=(AnimPath="CIN_CameraAnims.Shakes.Handheld1_Low", Rate=1.0, Intensity=0.1)

XComAnimation
 HitReactDelayTimeToDeath=0.1; Seconds, when playing the hit react before death delay death by this amount (play hit react for this duration then death)
 MaxUnitRunRate=1.25; Max animation play rate for units running
MinUnitRunRate=0.7; Min animation play rate for units running
bUseRunRateOption=true; Whether to use/allow the run rate option or not.

XComEngine
XComEngine: bAllowMatureLanguage=True

Launch Arguments:
 -allowconsole -log -autodebug -nostartupmovies -noRedScreens -review

But, it isn’t deadly enough . . . Some suggestions for a more hardcore game: You are on your own once you go down this path. the research required is on your shoulders and keep in mind that  some require ini edits to be compatible, and a few have potential  bugs that can be exacerbated by a large mod list. You have been warned. READ THE MOD DESCRIPTION PAGES BEFORE ATTEMPTING TO ADD THESE MODS TO THE GAME. Except for A Requiem for Man (which requires almost exclusive control of the Chosen) most will not need you to remove any mods from the list


The Lightweight Strategy Overhaul  mod: I ran a campaign with this core collection plus 90 or so other mods including LSO and it was a blast, however it is a very long campaign and your loading time will increase by a few minutes as the campaign progresses. LSO is a fantastic mod and I absolutely recommend it! I’ll definitely be adding it back in at some point, but I would suggest playing through a campaign without it first to see where you might want to make personal tweaks.
Alien Side Goals - reportedly it is buggy, so be careful with this one.
Configurable Pod Sizes - “The Bigger the Better” as Gruffle always says.
[WotC] Mission Overhaul: Mercury - Buggy. Be Very Careful.
[WOTC] Chosen Avenger Defense Revamped
A Harder War: A Requiem For Man (BETA)
A HarderWar Advanced Alien Missions
No Lost Headshots - this is hilariously difficult.
The Hive More . . .  you get the idea

But, it’s too deadly . . . If on the other hand it feels too difficult and dropping down to Veteran difficulty is not your style, here are a few  small edits that you can make as buffs to XCOM while staying at Commander or Legend difficulty.

You can force  Puma_the_Great’s Raider Faction: SCP Foundation Mobile Task Forces  to be an XCOM ally by making the changes detailed in his mod description (changing a zero to a one). This is a buff to XCOM and every once in a while it makes an early game mission a bit too easy, however it will also balance out later as enemy pods are  activated much earlier than normal as SCP skirmishes with the Ayys out of range of your concealed soldiers.  Note that the “Foundation” SitRep will block all Advent forces and you’ll be fighting SCP MTF forces exclusively, this is the one exception to the Allies designation.
If you want Puma’s modded factions to be friendly: “change TeamChangerValue=0 to TeamChangerValue=1 in XComGameData.ini of this mod. It will change the requirements of GOC Datapad research, since you won't be able to get it even if your friendlies die. It will then require an alien archive to complete new research projects, and activate goc weaponry”

XComGameData - Delete these lines. This allows your soldiers to equip more than one Mediket or Grenade:
UniqueEquipCategories="heal”
UniqueEquipCategories="grenade"

XComGameData_CharacterStats - Buff to civilians and Militia member’s HP
[Civilian X2CharacterTemplate]
 CharacterBaseStats[eStat_HP]=5
[HostileCivilian X2CharacterTemplate]
 CharacterBaseStats[eStat_HP]=5
[CivilianMilitia X2CharacterTemplate]
 CharacterBaseStats[eStat_HP]=7
[CivilianMilitiaM2 X2CharacterTemplate]
 CharacterBaseStats[eStat_HP]=8
[CivilianMilitiaM3 X2CharacterTemplate]
 CharacterBaseStats[eStat_HP]=11
[VolunteerArmyMilitia X2CharacterTemplate]
 CharacterBaseStats[eStat_HP]=7
[VolunteerArmyMilitiaM2 X2CharacterTemplate]
 CharacterBaseStats[eStat_HP]=8
[VolunteerArmyMilitiaM3 X2CharacterTemplate]
 CharacterBaseStats[eStat_HP]=11

XComGameCore - Each Medikit has two charges, similar to XCOM EW LW1
MEDIKIT_CHARGES=2
NANOMEDIKIT_CHARGES=2

“Super Soldiers”:  I add HP for All along with Not Created Equal and Always Bleed Out to give my Squadies a fighting chance.  if you find that your soldiers are too ‘tanky’ you can remove any one of those mods. I also run Mission Mania and if that causes your soldiers to become OP too early try the -50% Reduced XP Gains  mod by the same author. It slows down Soldier’s  leveling progress. I have not checked for incompatibilities with All Soldiers Gain XP - WotC so be careful.

Cautions:
ABA bosses are insanely OP, stay mobile they can kill your team before you even know what hit them
Be patient, loading this modlist can take a little while. I suggest downloading Notepad++ and opening the log in a tab and choose View > Monitoring (tail -f) option. It will stream the game’s log so you can monitor its progress. Typically it takes 5-8 minutes to load.
I rather enjoy the ambiance and narrative of each XCOM 2  mission so this mod list is built for players who likewise are not in a hurry.  There are plenty of opportunities for a run and gun battle (e.g. The Lost), but many missions will reward you for your patience. More often than not rushing headlong into battle will probably end badly.
A Note about the [WOTC] Militia Overhaul Plus mod: On the mission where you see civilians all huddled together with a white star icon, you do not get credit for rescuing them until all of the Enemies protecting them are dead. So, don’t rush up to ‘save’ them, just kill everything.
A full campaign can be long, in general I wipe out all three Chosen, fight at least some of the Raider Faction Base missions, and assault many of the Avatar Facilities. before finally doing the Tower and WaterWorld. You might be able to compete sooner, but the goal of the collection was to provide a longer game.
Tips:
Always back up your  mod config files. When mods are updated it can wipe out your edits.
Always save your game before you make your first move on every tactical mission, this is “Bronzeman” mode and is meant to prevent losing everything if your game crashes.
Likewise, immediately save when you return from a mission.
Delete (or move)  your old save files, I keep about 20 in my \My Documents\My Games\XCOM2 War of the Chosen\XComGame\Saves. More saves can mean slower launch times.
Every time I load AML I sort my mods by the “Updated” column to see the latest updates, then open the change log in any updated mods to see if the changes will affect my  game.
If you find your game lagging during missions consider reducing the number of Voice Pack mods that you are running. They can be a huge memory hog. They are not the only issue but I’ve found that reducing the quantity definitely helped my in-mission lag.
Get in the habit of reading your mod’s Steam  description pages, three is a lot of information there and most questions can be answered by returning to the mod pages and re-reading the entire description.
Mod Notes:
Mod’s I’ve removed as not compatible or need more testing:
EU Aim Rolls - an excellent mod but it seems to cause some lag in soldier movement increasing mis-clicks. When combined with this collection it  generates a HUGE amount of log spam as well
Unpredictable Force Level Increase needs to have a fair bit of config editing to work properly. You can make your game incredibly hard or easy using this mod. Make sure that you understand how to set it up properly.
A Better Chosen has been replaced with a few smaller mods. With ABC Chosen would basically sit around waiting to be killed.
Maps. Map mods are wonderful additions and painstakingly created, however when you are running 400+ mods they can just get seriously buggy. Use with caution.
Voicepacks. Keep your voice pack total under 20 unless you have a seriously powerful PC with tons of RAM.  This mod list with 15 voice packs maintains a steady 12GB of RAM usage on most missions. This is because all subscribed voice packs need to be loaded into memory at the beginning of every mission and then they are accessed throughout all team’s turns.
Narrative Control has been reported to cause some issues, I’ve not seen this myself but be forewarned.
Quick Soldier Info is one of my favorite mods but it can cause some lag on missions. If you have lag or stuttering  issues try disabling it.
In Closing: This mod list was built to my tastes, and I am inclined to choose  exciting narratives and ‘skin of my teeth’ escapes over min/max gaming. Therefore you should feel free to trim the Collection down or substitute as you like, for example I chose Diverse Aliens By Force Level WOTC  but you can just as easily choose Diverse Alien Pods. I played many hundreds of hours with all of the great weapons mods, and Grimy’s Loot,, and Augmentations, and dozens of other mods. They all work fine with this mod list. I’ve also played with every one of the RPGO class mods, they all work great, simply pick and choose which classes you want. The one place to tread lightly is swapping out overhaul mods, i.e. switching ABB for RPGO,  you are free to do this but I can’t guarantee compatibility and as I mentioned above maps and voicepacks are amazing, but in a mod list this big they will be the first places to look if you suffer degraded performance.
 This all started when I took a break from LWotC and subbed to  Mr Gruffle’s Season 14  RPGO modlist and ran with it .The bottom line is that you are  only limited by your hardware specs,  your ability to troubleshoot mod conflicts, and your imagination.

Good Luck Commander



Appendix:
XCOM 2 Modding Discord
XCOM Discord
Mr Gruffles Discord
XCOM 2 Modding SubReddit
Grimy’s Modding Tips