Intel (Recon)

Gathering Raw Intel
 Destroying Assets | 5 per destroyed asset

Intelligence involves the collection of information such as details on friendly and neutral forces in the operational environment, hostiles, and the civilian population in a specific combat area. This can include information about enemy troop positions, future intentions, and/or plans of enemy defensive emplacements. The information is then processed, analyzed and disseminated to help provide guidance and direction to commanders to support the decision and planning process. In Recon, it is pretty much what you are seeking and gathering to progress to the next phase in order to reach the endpoint of your mission. Intelligence doesn't just grow on trees; it is gained by observing the enemy and gathering information off their bodies and assets. Every time you gain intel points, you add them to your intel base score. In Recon's previous incarnation, this base score resets between each mission and phase transition, with the exception that intel gathered in the second phase of a mission carries on to the third phase. The more intel you have the better you are positioned to move forward in your operation. Whenever you want to move to the next phase of your mission, each intel point gathered increases the chances of success by 1%. For the third phase of a mission (HVT phase), each intel point gathered increases the spawn chance of the HVT by 1%, capping at 100%.

## Collecting Intel

**Recce'ing the AO (Or grinding the bushes):** Covering the ground will help you and your chain of command gain a better understanding of the enemy. It is the slowest way to gather intel, netting the player 1 intel point per 10% of the AO covered. However, it is also the safest and most reliable way to gather intel, since all it involves is walking around and does requires the least amount of close contact with enemy troops or emplacements.

**Observing the enemy:** Observing the enemy at his daily tasks will give you clear insight on what's going on within the AO. As such, each observed enemy will net you 1 intel point, quickly adding up when the player is observing enemy tracks or HQ's. That said, killing enemies nullifies any intel gathered this way.

**Hard/Raw intel:** Another way to obtain intel is by searching for dead enemies or enemy assets. Depending of the type of emplacement (or dead person) you are searching, you may recover objects that contain strategically valuable information such as plans for defensive positions, orders, or even handheld radios. This method of gathering intel serves as a recourse for enemy kills, as simply killing the enemy nets 0 intel on its own.

**Denying the enemy:** The riskiest way of gaining intel is by destroying hostile assets, granting 5 intel per asset destroyed. A guaranteed way to gain intel at the cost of increasing the heat in the AO (by a factor of 5) with a chance of alerting the local VC forces and possibly triggering the QRF.

Now an important balance must be struck between killing enemies and scouring their bodily remains and assets for intelligence or merely standing back and observing them. Both have the potential for casualties: killing enemies involving riskier situations for more prepared troops while standing back allows enemies to engage you first (potentially catching you off-guard) but involves less risk. The general consensus has indicated that the former method appears to be more effective at gathering intel points but also generates significantly more heat, so it may not be the best option when you only have a few days left in an AO.

## Usage

Prior to the mission, the commander is provided with an intel file that details local force strength, QRF readiness and numbers, the prevalence of traps in the area, radio signal strength and the weather in the AO. Information provided may not always be available or might prove to be inaccurate, though the amount and accuracy increases as the commander gather additional intel. 5 intel points can be spent to clear unavailable sections of the intel report prior to mission deployment.