Strike team

Strike Teams are elite APEX forces that can be sent on strike team missions via the strike team console to support the Andromeda Initiative.

Overview
Strike teams are a combined feature of singleplayer and multiplayer gameplay. Sending automated strike teams or playing a strike team mission in multiplayer gameplay is completely optional.

Loot boxes and Mission Funds are awarded for completing strike team missions. Mission funds are useful for developing strike teams or for purchasing items for multiplayer mode. The rewards gained from loot boxes are useful only in singleplayer mode.

It is important to understand that strike teams belong to an overall account, not a specific Ryder.
 * Any Ryder linked to the overall account can command the teams or redeem the rewards, as long as they have been authorized via the mission First Strike.
 * The overall account is limited to six strike teams and two hundred loot boxes.
 * While the teams and loot boxes are limited because they are all tied together, this also means one Ryder can send out the teams and a different Ryder can claim the rewards. This is an excellent strategy to transfer a large amount of rewards from a veteran Ryder to a brand new Ryder. This gives the new Ryder an edge at the beginning of the game when levels are low and credits, resources, research data, and items not normally available can be acquired from loot boxes.

Recruiting teams
Players are given one strike team by default. Five additional teams can be recruited from the Strike team console using Mission Funds, for a total of six teams.

Team composition
Teams are randomly selected when purchased. Teams may be composed of a single species or a mix of two or three. Composition has no effect on mission odds.

Retiring a strike team
Teams over time develop positive and negative traits that can't be changed. At a certain point, it may be more effective to start over with a new strike team. This process is known as retiring a team.

Go to the Teams menu on the Strike Team Console, highlight a team, press the appropriate button, and a confirmation menu will appear for "Retire Team". Selecting this option will remove the strike team.

Some key points about retiring strike teams:
 * Any equipment the strike team has equipped will be lost.
 * There is a minimum of one strike team that must be available. Only five teams can be retired at once. To retire the sixth team, a new team must be purchased and then the prior team can be retired.
 * Retiring six teams and purchasing entirely new teams will cost 640 Mission Funds. Unlike the first time the Strike Team Console is activated and the first team is free, all subsequent times the first team will cost 40 Mission Funds. The remaining teams follow the cost structure shown in the table above.

Mission Types and Difficulty
There are two types of strike team missions:
 * Standard - Standard missions are completed using an automated strike team and can't be played in multiplayer.
 * APEX - APEX missions are missions that can be completed either by an automated strike team or by the player jumping into a multiplayer match using whatever characters and equipment they've unlocked previously. Despite the message saying unsaved progress will be lost, progress in singleplayer gameplay will automatically be saved before multiplayer is launched.

There are four levels of difficulty, indicated by a color coded icon:
 * STC Bronze Mission Icon.png Bronze
 * STC Silver Mission Icon.png Silver
 * STC Gold Mission Icon.png Gold
 * Platinum Mission Icon.png Platinum

The only Platinum level APEX mission is the Celebratory Mission. No other missions will appear as Platinum level APEX missions.

APEX missions are indicated by an APEX icon in the center of a mission icon. Most Platinum level missions do not show an APEX icon. These matches can only be played from the Custom Match menu in multiplayer. They do not appear on the Strike Team Console.

Mission difficulty does not vary; Delay Ship Launches is always Bronze and Investigate Facility is always Silver, etc.

Automated strike teams can be assigned in the multiplayer menu, at the Strike Team Console on the Tempest or in the Militia Office on the Nexus, or through the APEX HQ app.

Multiplayer missions can be accessed from singleplayer through Jump to Multiplayer on the Game menu or by selecting Multiplayer from the game's start menu.

The time required for completion of a strike team mission using an automated strike team can vary for a particular mission and is given at time of assignment. For a given difficulty, APEX missions tend to run longer than standard missions.

For a detailed breakdown of the mechanics of the Strike Team Console, see Strike team console.

Rewards
Successful standard missions are rewarded with 5 Mission Funds, one credit loot box, and one material loot box. Successful APEX missions are rewarded with 10 Mission Funds, one item loot box, and one research data loot box.

Loot boxes are awarded as Bronze, Silver , or Gold based upon mission difficulty. Research loot boxes are always Bronze, no matter the difficulty.

There are no platinum-level item loot boxes; gold-level boxes are awarded for successful platinum APEX missions.

The strike team receives XP regardless of mission outcome. The amount is based on a per minute rate, which increases with mission difficulty. Successful Bronze missions award 150 XP per minute of mission time, successful Silver missions award 300 XP per minute, and successful Gold missions award 900 XP per minute. Failed missions award ten percent of the rate for success. See Strike Team XP for more details.

Dual start rewards
It is possible to dispatch a strike team on an APEX mission through the Strike Team Console and then play the same mission in multiplayer mode while the strike team is in progress. This can be done in two ways:
 * Selecting the mission on the Strike Team Console and jumping to multiplayer with the appropriate button choice.
 * Selecting the mission from the multiplayer Custom Match menu.

If the player completes the APEX mission in multiplayer before the strike team completes the same mission, the strike team returns early. The loot boxes and mission fund rewards will be given after the multiplayer match and will not show on the strike team's results. Only the strike team's XP will be displayed when debriefing the strike team.

The results of the multiplayer match are independent from the results of the strike team. The strike team's success is still based on team level, traits, and equipment. Success in multiplayer mode doesn't guarantee success for the strike team. It is still possible for the strike team to fail. Positive and negative traits can still be earned.

Mission parameters
In addition to difficulty and type, all strike team missions have three variable traits. One enemy and two other mission traits are assigned randomly at posting. The non-enemy traits only affect the automated strike teams.

APEX missions will have an additional parameter known as a Modifier. These modifiers may or may not increase the rewards for completing the mission in multiplayer gameplay. Modifiers do not affect the automated strike teams, but may be viewed from the Strike Team Console on the Details screen.

Enemies
There are 3 possible enemy types: Kett, Outlaw, Remnant. The type of enemy is not fixed; Acquire Enemy Research may be assigned with Outlaw in one instance and with Remnant in another.

Mission Traits
Each mission has three traits assigned, including the enemy. Mission traits can vary and are given at time of assignment.

Teams with positive matching traits and equipment will have a better than base chance of success; those with negative matching traits will have a worse chance. General traits and equipment will also affect the odds.

Team Traits
Strike team traits can increase or decrease a team's odds of success. There are two types of team trait: mission-specific and general.

Acquisition
Each team starts with a single positive trait. Additional traits are acquired as the team completes missions and levels up.


 * Traits are permanent.
 * Teams are limited to five positive traits.
 * There are 21 negative traits; it is possible for a team to acquire all of them.
 * Positive traits seem to be assigned randomly. For example, successfully completing missions against kett does not necessarily lead to Kett Specialist.
 * Negative traits may be less random: repeated failure of missions against Remnant may lead to Remnant Hysteria.
 * It is also possible to have matching positive and negative traits. For example, a team may have both Remnant Specialist and Remnant Hysteria.
 * While the Tutorials - APEX & Strike Teams section states that positive traits are acquired through successful mission completion and negative traits are acquired through mission failures, positive traits may also be acquired despite mission failure. Negative traits have not been observed to result from mission success.

Effect
Positive traits always improve the odds. Negative traits cannot reduce the odds below the odds for a Level 1 team.

Mission-specific traits
Mission-specific traits are worth 10 points of effectiveness, or two team levels. These traits match mission traits. For example, Daring increases a team's effectiveness on High-Risk, High-Reward missions, while Timid decreases effectiveness.
 * At Level 1, the base odds of success are 70% for a Bronze mission, 18% for a Silver mission, and 5% for a Gold mission. Daring will increase the odds on a High-Risk, High-Reward mission for a Level 1 team to match those of a Level 3 team. The odds go from 70% to 78% for a Bronze mission and from 18% to 24% for a Silver mission.
 * At Level 12, the base odds of success are 92% for a Bronze mission, 70% for a Silver mission, and 11% for a Gold mission. Timid will decrease the odds on a High-Risk, High-Reward mission for a Level 12 team to match those of a Level 10 team. The odds go from 92% to 91% for a Bronze mission, from 70% to 61% for a Silver mission, and from 11% to 9% for a Gold mission.

Mission-specific traits have no effect on Gold missions until the team reaches Level 3.

General traits
General traits are worth 5 points of effectiveness, or one team level. General traits apply to all missions. For example, Elite will improve a team's effectiveness on all missions, while Unlucky will decrease effectiveness on all missions.
 * At Level 1, Elite increases the odds on all missions from 70% to 74% for a Bronze mission and from 18% to 21% for a Silver mission. Unlucky decreases the odds.

General traits have no effect on Gold missions until the team reaches Level 4.

Equipment
There are two types of equipment, general and mission-specific. A team can only use one piece of equipment at a time; new equipment replaces the old.
 * General equipment increases effectiveness in every type of mission; there are ten types of general equipment.
 * Mission-specific gear improves odds for specific conditions; there are five types of mission-specific equipment with four tiers (I-IV).

Five points of effectiveness is equivalent to one team level. The highest available bonus from general equipment is +20; the highest available bonus for specialized gear is +40.

Each piece of equipment has a colored circle around it:
 * STG Electronic Countermeasures.png Blue - Enough Mission Funds available and the level requirements have been met.
 * STG Electronic Countermeasures - Red Circle.png Red - Not enough Mission Funds available but the level requirements have been met.

Equipment Mechanics
The general equipment Adrenaline Shots and Crate of Specialized Ammo give less than one level of benefit. There is no significant difference in the odds of success on Bronze missions at any level.
 * The greatest effect of general equipment is on Silver missions. N7 Armor becomes available at Team Level 5 and increases the odds by two levels.
 * Electromagnetic Pulse Device becomes available at Team Level 8 and increases the odds by three levels.
 * Exceptional Human Intelligence becomes available at Team Level 10 and makes a significant difference—four levels. The value of general equipment drops as the team levels up.

As with General equipment, there is no significant difference in the odds of success on Bronze missions at any level.
 * Mission-specific equipment is most effective on Silver missions.
 * Tier I and Tier II mission-specific equipment become available at Team Level 5.
 * Tier III and Tier IV become available at Team Level 10.
 * If mission funds are not in short supply, it's worth buying the higher tier. Tier IV equipment makes a significant difference in the odds on Gold missions.
 * The utility of mission-specific equipment for Silver missions drops as the team levels up, but increases for Gold missions.

Chance of Success
The base odds of a team successfully completing a mission depend on the team's level, as shown in the tables below.
 * Traits raise or lower the odds. Each mission-specific trait is equivalent to two levels; each general trait is equivalent to one level.
 * Equipment always increases the odds. The assessed odds will never be lower than 5% or higher than 94%, regardless of team traits or equipment.

Strike Team XP
Strike teams earn XP for every mission, regardless of outcome. The following table shows the XP required to move from one level to the next and the cumulative total for each level.
 * The Strike Team Console displays the amount of XP a team needs to reach the next level.
 * No XP information is displayed once a team reaches Level 20.

Strike Team Strategy
Since the player has no control over which traits a team acquires, developing an effective team roster is all about equipment. A full roster has six teams, but there are only five types of specialized equipment. Having five teams of specialists and one general-purpose team will maximize the number of successful missions without spending mission funds to switch gear.
 * Teams with mission-specific traits that have matching gear should get the matching gear.
 * General equipment should go to the team with the highest number of general traits.
 * No two teams should have the same gear.
 * It may be necessary to change equipment as teams level up and acquire new traits.
 * The best odds for a Level 20 team of specialists—two positive general traits, three matching mission-specific traits, and matching Tier IV equipment—are 94% for Bronze and Silver missions and 92% for Gold missions.
 * The best odds for a Level 20 team of generalists—two positive general traits, three matching mission-specific traits, and top-tier general equipment—are 94% for Bronze and Silver missions and 88% for Gold missions.
 * The worst odds for the same Level 20 team of generalists—two positive general traits, three non-matching mission-specific traits, and top-tier general equipment—are 94% for Bronze and Silver missions and 70% for Gold missions.

List of Missions
New missions are posted every four hours, starting at midnight, Eastern Standard Time (-5:00 UTC).

Achievements and trophies
The following achievements and trophies can be earned related to strike teams:
 * Explorer.png Explorer
 * Teamwork.png Teamwork
 * Top Talent.png Top Talent
 * Veteran.png Veteran