X-COM panic reduction woes

Question

So I'm playing the game on classic and panic gets crazy... thus far everything was running smoothly until it so happens the UK is now on 5 bars of panic... and it already has a satellite on it... and at the start of this month I completed the alien base assault... I see no possible way to decrease the panic on the UK since any chance I could have had (UFO over the nation, terror mission, or other mission) doesn't seem to be happening... I'm 11 days from the month's end, is it just a fact that I will loose the UK? cos this will make me grumpy, I wanted to keep everyone in.

(only for those who care: with the way abductions were panning out it was either loosing the UK or china and japan... and 2 nations vs 1 better keep 2... by now it seems it's almost impossible to keep every nation in on Classic unless you go through the game perfectly)

Answer 1

If it already has a satellite and you've destroyed the alien base, that's probably it. Those are the only on-demand ways to reduce panic so the UK will almost certainly leave at the end of the month.

There are events that could reduce panic, but only if you're lucky. A terror mission in Europe (or better still, in the UK itself) would reduce the panic levels if you saved enough civilians. Certain council missions also reduce panic on a continent or worldwide scale.

If you're resigned to losing the UK anyway, there is one thing you could do. Accuse them of harbouring the Exalt Base. If you're right, you find the Exalt base. If you're wrong, you lose a country that you'd lose anyway.

Answer 2

According to this source, a funding nation must be at 5 bars for at least 14 consecutive days by month-end before it will withdraw. Whilst I can't confirm this personally, I have played through at least one instance of a nation reaching month-end on 5 bars and not withdrawing. If the UK only just hit 5 bars then it seems you are in luck - you will get around 40 days to try and fix their panic level. If they hit 5 bars 3 days ago then you need to hope for a lucky council mission. In any case, I wouldn't advise rage-quitting before the month-end report.

More generally, keeping all nations in a Classic game is difficult. Even if you never fail a mission, on average the world gains more panic from the two abduction missions you miss than it loses from the missions you complete - this gives you a tight and somewhat inflexible time-scale to get all of your satellites up and requires that you build your engineer count and bank balance to the exclusion of all else. Satellite placement feels like making a move in chess. Your first priority must always be to defend against panic, rather than secure funding or continent bonuses, but play too defensively and you'll fail to generate engineers, uplinks or satellites quickly enough and simply be outpaced by rising panic. A no-withdrawal condition also leaves your soldiers relatively under-equipped compared to a lossy strategy, calling for greater acts of daring-do on the battlefield. It all calls for a kind of careful audacity and reckless caution.

I've completed the game on Classic Ironman a few times, twice with a full Council, and played several more games where I treated a nation's withdrawal as a game over. If you quit every time you lose a nation on Classic you will fail/abandon more games than you complete - even without failing any missions. A bad start or minor mistake will snowball quickly, and once a nation withdraws, there's no way back. Personally, I like the look of a perfect Situation Room screen, but if you play this way, it's a game you have to expect to lose.

Answer 3

I think that the way it goes, you cant keep everyone happy. I think the best strategy is to pick a number of continents (probably 2/3) then concentrate on protecting them and their bonuses. Also note, the bonus you chose to begin means you do not have to protect that continent to retain that bonus, therefore often it makes sense to start with the larger continents as it means you can concentrate your efforts on the smaller continents.

For reducing panic, check out this thread