XCOM Wiki
Register
Advertisement
XComEW Mission - Deluge

Deluge is one of the unique Council Missions introduced in XCOM: Enemy Within. This mission carries a randomized Operation designation and takes place outside a random French city.

Acquisition[]

Deluge becomes available 7 days[1] after completing the XCOM Base Defense mission (Operation Ashes and Temples) provided that Operation Progeny was enabled via the Advanced Options when beginning the game and the first mission was completed. This mission is initiated by a Council transmission received at the Situation Room:

The surviving EXALT operative has provided additional intel on the location of our missing transport vehicle, and not a moment too soon. It appears the aliens have cornered the truck on a dam in eastern France. If we're going to recover the cargo, we'll need to act fast.

– Council Transmission, XCOM: Enemy Within

Mission Brief[]

The transport is stopped on a dam in France; it's likely the aliens have sabotaged the structure. They clearly consider this transport to be high value. Expect substantial opposition.

– Mission Brief, XCOM: Enemy Within

XComEW Mission - Deluge arrival

The Skyranger approaches the mission site

Objectives[]

Preliminary[]

▪  Secure the dam by any means necessary
▪  Locate and secure the convoy and its contents
– Mission Objectives, XCOM: Enemy Within

Mission[]

▪  Open the bypass valves to delay the dam's collapse.
▪  Locate the transport vehicle carrying the hijacked weapon.
▪  Approach and secure the transport vehicle.
– Mission Objectives, XCOM: Enemy Within

Mission Site[]

This mission takes place on a unique hydroelectric dam map. The map is linear and the dam is not very "wide", but there are numerous abandoned vehicles on the road which can be utilized for cover.

Enemy Types[]

Overview[]

XComEW Mission - Deluge truck with Annette

Transport truck objective

This mission has a timer not unlike that of a bomb disposal mission, and soldiers must get to relief valves located on both sides of the dam to reduce the pressure before it fails. There are five valves in total, and the activation of each one increases the timer by two turns. The time limit at the beginning of the mission is six turns.

As the squad pushes forward Mutons will airdrop onto the dam. When the squad reaches about 1/3 of the way through (there will be a valve in the middle of the dam rather than on the sides) two Mechtoids airdrop in. Another two will also be airdropped near the end.

It should be noted that moving a unit into the target area near the transport truck will end the mission regardless of how many aliens are still alive, unlike every other mission that requires the player to move a unit into an area.

The dam begins to shake as time runs out. If the timer expires, the mission objectives change to "All soldiers report to the EVAC zone," and an additional six turns are allocated to make an escape before it collapses. The mission is considered a failure at this point, and if the secondary timer is allowed to expire, the entire squad perishes (even those who made it to the Skyranger).

Tactics[]

XComEW Mission - Deluge squadsight sniper

Squadsight Snipers can cover the entire mission site

Snipers with Squadsight perform extremely well on this map due to its linear characteristics. Camping in the air (via Archangel Armor) or in the tower with the first "upper" valve will allow the Sniper to have LoS on most enemies for the entire mission.

It's possible to get tangled in a heavy firefight with Mutons and Mechtoids until the timer runs out, especially if the squad rushes ahead too fast. Therefore, soldiers with good movement range such as MEC Troopers upgraded with Advanced Servomotors or Supports with Sprinter are recommended to reach the relief valves more easily. If Archangel Armor isn't available, the Squadsight Sniper can be used to reach the elevated valves on the right side.

Dialogue[]

Status Updates[]

The following status updates are received from Central Officer Bradford during the mission:

Event or Condition Update
Mission begins "It looks like the transport came under attack while attempting to cross that dam. Judging by the damage, the aliens must have strafed the entire area trying to slow the truck down. If they want this thing that badly, there's no telling what else they might send in to try and retrieve it. That dam is in bad shape though; we'll need to move quickly if we're going to secure the truck before they do."
Approach a valve "The dam has already taken heavy damage, but it looks like we can delay the collapse if we open the bypass valves positioned along the way to the transport."
Activate a valve "That valve is running wide open, but we still need to secure the truck before it's too late."
"That bypass valve is open, but we're not done yet. Keep moving, Strike-One."
"Good work, Strike-One; that'll buy you some time to get to the truck."
"Pressure on the dam is dropping; keep it up."
"All the valves are open; good work, Strike-One. Now get to that truck and secure that weapon."
Aliens arrive "Commander, we've got hostile aircraft moving in the vicinity of Strike-One's position. It looks like the aliens are bringing in reinforcements to go after the truck."
"Looks like the aliens are sending in reinforcements, Commander."
"Hostiles are inbound, Commander."
Locate truck "That looks like our target. Get over there and extract the weapon before that whole place goes down."
Two turns remaining "We're almost out of time; we need to get to that truck on the double!"
One turn remaining "That dam won't hold much longer, Commander. We need to secure that truck before it's too late!"
No turns remaining "We are out of time, Commander! We're going to lose the entire squad if they don't start heading back to the Skyranger right now!"
One evac turn remaining "It's now or never Commander! Strike-One needs to get to the Skyranger on the double!"
No evac turns remaining "We've lost them, Commander. The dam is gone."
Mission complete "Great work out there, Commander. It looks like the weapon everyone was after may be even more valuable than we thought."
Source: In-game dialogue, XCOM: Enemy Within

Annette Durand[]

The following dialogue is spoken by Annette after being released from the truck:

  Dialogue
  "Please; you don't understand. I have to get to the others!"
  "You can't... I... you don't get it! Do you know how many of us they've killed?!"
  "You... you can kill them? But how? Please! You have to help me find the others!"
Source: In-game dialogue, XCOM: Enemy Within

Mission Debriefing[]

Failure[]

The Council is concerned by this setback, but we are confident you will adapt your tactics accordingly.

– Council Transmission, XCOM: Enemy Within

Success[]

We safely recovered Annette Durand from both EXALT and the aliens, but she's already indicated that there may be more civilians of interest in the invaders' custody. We'll debrief her and see if we can locate them as well. Incidentally, she has expressed interest in training as an XCOM operative.

– Council Transmission, XCOM: Enemy Within

Rewards[]

The Council rewards XCOM with §100, and Annette joins the project as a Sergeant-ranked soldier. Her class is randomly assigned, but she is guaranteed to be Gifted when tested in the Psionic Labs.

Completing the mission also rewards the "Solid Prospect" achievement.

The next Operation Progeny mission, Furies, is offered the following month.

Notes[]

  • Annette's class is determined when the truck is located. The player can repeatedly reload a save game performed before the "Approach and secure the transport vehicle" objective was obtained until the desired class is acquired (unless playing in Ironman mode). (Tested and completely false.)Annette's class is determined when the mission ends.
  • Despite whether or not XCOM has discovered Psionic soldiers prior to Annette's extraction, Dr Vahlen will still refer to the power that Annette has as "previously unseen".
  • When the cutscene triggers, the first person to approach the truck/fire at Annette will always be the squad leader (star attached to the rank icon).
  • The sounds of a standard pistol firing will be heard after Annette attempts escape regardless of the weapons your soldiers are equipped with; the soldier who "fired" will been shown holding their current weapon as if it were a pistol, even a Heavy class who don't equip pistols.

Trivia[]

  • In the "Security Breach" trailer of Enemy Within, the body of a regular army soldier instead of an EXALT operative falls out of the transport during the mission completion cutscene for this stage.
    • In the same trailer, the XCOM soldiers approaching the transport are seen equipped with basic Body Armor and ballistic weapons. This, coupled with the fact that the soldier who stops Annette uses a basic pistol in the cutscene, imply that the mission was originally intended to be available much earlier in the game.
  • According to achievements removed from the game, Deluge was originally intended to be the first Operation Progeny mission, followed by Portent and Furies, before it was remade for Enemy Within.
    • Another removed achievement relating to this mission is named "No Sweat", which requires the mission to be completed without activating more than two valves. This achievement was not present in Enemy Within for unknown reasons.

References[]

  1. XComStrategyGame.XGFundingCouncil, DefaultGameCore.ini, game file, XCOM: Enemy Within (2013).


Advertisement