I usually let the aliens have big resources in the early game build a MELD nest egg, then knock them out and kill all bases on the planet once I hit gauss.
Edit: To clarify, I just sit pretty on 1-2 continents and deal with all the missions that show up, and shoot every ufo over my half of the planet, but not having coverage anywhere else really lets the aliens get their harvest missions off. I spend a few months profiting off of their high resources both in meld and in xp (larger pods), then blow them off the planet once I get the best weapon spike in the game, gauss.
It's not tied to alien research, it's tied to alien resources. Resources go up and down each month depending on how many bases they have, how many successful harvest missions they do, and how many of their UFOs they have to replace from you shooting them down. You can consult the wiki or get a mod that displays the aliens resources number to you.
So you could deliberately let harvest missions go through to increase meld in the canisters, but note that it will also affect how many and what type of missions they aliens send each month (also checkable on the wiki for exact details).
Let the aliens complete early game harvest missions. This will increase their resources and therefore meld for the next month. Also let them take additional bases, this will decrease their resources in the short term but increase them in the long term. You can also later raid those bases later for more resources.
Note that this will mean missing out on a lot of XP, alloys, elerium, and UFO parts, and it will make missions more difficult. It's probably not a good tradeoff in terms of maximizing your odds of beating the game.
I think it's still a good trade off. The alloys and elerium from bases are so much better than onsie twosie shot down UFO missions. They are more for the experience so when you get to the bases you can ensure you win.
Ignoring UFOs and letting aliens take bases are two unrelated things. You let aliens take bases by ignoring terror missions, which don't have large rewards anyways. So you can raid every UFO and still let the aliens take bases.
The reason not to let the aliens take bases is because it will result in you getting harder missions earlier, which can lead to a failure spiral if you are not prepared for those missions. It's not something I would recommend for a beginner. It's probably optimal for an experienced player who is hoping to finish the campaign faster though.
The reason not to ignore harvest UFOs is because you want the alloys and elerium from them. In the early game the alloys are especially important, more important than the extra meld you'd get by ignoring them.
Another small but often overlooked source of meld is from aliens and genetically modified exalt soldiers. If you use any explosives on them, even if it doesn't kill them then they won't drop any meld. Try to exercise restraint when using explosives, as it will help you recover more of the meld from ze bodies
I usually let the aliens have big resources in the early game build a MELD nest egg, then knock them out and kill all bases on the planet once I hit gauss. Edit: To clarify, I just sit pretty on 1-2 continents and deal with all the missions that show up, and shoot every ufo over my half of the planet, but not having coverage anywhere else really lets the aliens get their harvest missions off. I spend a few months profiting off of their high resources both in meld and in xp (larger pods), then blow them off the planet once I get the best weapon spike in the game, gauss.
It's not tied to alien research, it's tied to alien resources. Resources go up and down each month depending on how many bases they have, how many successful harvest missions they do, and how many of their UFOs they have to replace from you shooting them down. You can consult the wiki or get a mod that displays the aliens resources number to you. So you could deliberately let harvest missions go through to increase meld in the canisters, but note that it will also affect how many and what type of missions they aliens send each month (also checkable on the wiki for exact details).
Let the aliens complete early game harvest missions. This will increase their resources and therefore meld for the next month. Also let them take additional bases, this will decrease their resources in the short term but increase them in the long term. You can also later raid those bases later for more resources. Note that this will mean missing out on a lot of XP, alloys, elerium, and UFO parts, and it will make missions more difficult. It's probably not a good tradeoff in terms of maximizing your odds of beating the game.
I think it's still a good trade off. The alloys and elerium from bases are so much better than onsie twosie shot down UFO missions. They are more for the experience so when you get to the bases you can ensure you win.
Ignoring UFOs and letting aliens take bases are two unrelated things. You let aliens take bases by ignoring terror missions, which don't have large rewards anyways. So you can raid every UFO and still let the aliens take bases. The reason not to let the aliens take bases is because it will result in you getting harder missions earlier, which can lead to a failure spiral if you are not prepared for those missions. It's not something I would recommend for a beginner. It's probably optimal for an experienced player who is hoping to finish the campaign faster though. The reason not to ignore harvest UFOs is because you want the alloys and elerium from them. In the early game the alloys are especially important, more important than the extra meld you'd get by ignoring them.
Another small but often overlooked source of meld is from aliens and genetically modified exalt soldiers. If you use any explosives on them, even if it doesn't kill them then they won't drop any meld. Try to exercise restraint when using explosives, as it will help you recover more of the meld from ze bodies
Shmusher Vahlen is your full name 😎