Questions about Detention Center Missions

[BuzuBuzu]

I've started a new Endless Plus game with Sharp and Archive Banks (solely for her Econ Chip which I aim to use to make Sharp into a demi-god).  I dumped Banks on the 2nd day when I found Internationale in my first Detention Center mission.  I want to fill out the rest of my squad with Dr. Xu and Nika, but have had no luck at all in that regard.  I found Archive Banks twice since then, Decker once, and Shalem once in the most recent Detention Center (I'm keeping him temporarily as the designated shooter).  My questions are:

• If you start with an archive version of an agent and leave them behind on a mission, does that mean you won't ever find the on-file version of that agent in the same playthrough?  Finding archive Banks twice after I dumped her seems to support this.  Also, do agents you leave behind on a mission have an increased chance of appearing in a Detention Center?
• What happens in Detention Center missions when you have four agents in your squad?  Do you only find prisoners after reaching your squad size limit?  Or do you still find agents but must make a decision regarding who to keep at the end of the mission?

I also ran into what's probably a bug.  The archive Banks I found in Detetnion Center missions would already be equipped with the gear she had on the mission that I left her behind on (even though I made sure to clear her inventory of all items before dumping her).  I got a duplicate of a Drilling DART, a Hand Cannon, a Neural Disruptor II and a Charge Pack that I equipped her with on the mission that I left her behind on.  So in theory, if you let her start a mission with her unique Econ Chip, and dump her (afer taking the Econ Chip off her) in a mission, you may be able to get two of her unique Econ Chips if you subsequently find her again in a Detention Center.

[Barleytree]

Interesting findings. It is my understanding that leaving an agent behind guarantees that you find them in the next detention centre. However, if you leave them behind again on that mission, they will be added to the 'pool' of available agents and have as much chance of being found again as anyone else.

 

The wording of the May 21st update suggests that, were you to perform this trick with archive Banks, you would simply throw archive Banks back into the agent pool. But I haven't tested this. She might morph into on-file Banks.

 

I've never tried a detention centre with a full squad.

[Spider1011]

afaik going to a detention center with 4 agents always results in finding a 'high value prisoner'. so it's basically a high risk low value cash grab mission.

[Nxf7]

When I found a 4th agent I dumped archive Banks as well, then the next 7 detention missions gave:

A.Banks (guaranteed)

Prisoner

A.Banks

Prisoner

A.Banks

Prisoner

Dr Xu

 

It's a strange pattern but I think I was just very unlucky. Finding a Prisoner when you're looking for a 4th agent is soul-crushing. When I found Banks I never unlocked the door for her, but her coat was green instead of red so she was always the archive version.

 

I really dislike the fact that we need to ditch agents. I'm usually not one to care about immersion but intentionally getting an agent caught is just ridiculous. I'd prefer xcom style or the like; can rescue as many agents as you want but only select 4 per mission. I hope they rework detention center mechanics soon.

[BuzuBuzu]

I really dislike the fact that we need to ditch agents. I'm usually not one to care about immersion but intentionally getting an agent caught is just ridiculous. I'd prefer xcom style or the like; can rescue as many agents as you want but only select 4 per mission. I hope they rework detention center mechanics soon.

 

Yeah, this does sort of bug me as well.  But I guess the developers didn't think they'd actually have maniacs like us being so picky with agents that - mission objectives be damned - we'd ditch our entire squad just to get the roster we want.

 

I think a neat idea to remedy this would be to have an option to "retire" a single agent.  The retired agent would go sip pina coladas at some posh corporate resort and consequently would never surface at a detention center again.

[Snows]

I definitely agree with the idea of collecting agents and then choosing to 'deploy' them for each mission. That way Detention Centers wouldn't be made obsolete upon gaining a fourth team member, and for long endless runs, players could continue to optimize their team builds. 

 

Also (and correct me if I'm wrong here) I don't think you can find archive agents in DC's (unless you abandoned one). I have yet to stumble upon one. 

[KazaaakplethKilik]

I think that implementing a whole new mechanic regarding "Deploying" agents may require quite a bit of code and maybe several new textures(Not that hard,compared to code), so in my mind I mark it as "unlikely, On the other hand, "retiring" an agent, would need like a couple of lines. Firstly, deleting an agent (and asking if you sure), then just remove the line regarding that agent and pretty much all.

[StaypuftMMM]

I agree with most people here that having the ability to "collect them all" and then decide who to use each mission would be an excellent addition to the game (however, probably would make it a lot easier).  

 

With this idea, having the option of running into all versions of characters (original and archive) would be a great update as well.

 

Lastly, I'd like to see the inclusion of having the option of finding a rescued agents gear (this idea is mentioned many times by others).