Jagged Alliance 3 from Haemimont Games

[raeven]

In that starting squad, you would have no mechanic (Barry is not good enough from the start). Mechanics are important/useful, even early on. There are many options for starting mercs but without explosive experts and mechanics, you're always missing out on some content or on additional options.

Wolf would be the mechanic. His score of 65 is sufficient.

Thor would be the leadership merc, with 61.

Another reason why I like this squad is that Thor likes Ice, and Ice likes blood. the morale advantages for merc relationships are significant because they grant additional AP.

 

[Papill0n]

I guess you skip modding any guns until later when you have guns that are actually worth it and a better mechanic?
Does 65 reliably open chests and doors? The mechanical checks for quests are indeed not that important (but still nice to have), so missing these is not a big deal I guess.

Agree on the merc relations. And then you get Meltdown for the psycho perk? because without it, you miss out on content. And scoundrel? Fox later on?

 

[raeven]

I guess you skip modding any guns until later when you have guns that are actually worth it and a better mechanic?
Does 65 reliably open chests and doors? The mechanical checks for quests are indeed not that important (but still nice to have), so missing these is not a big deal I guess.

Agree on the merc relations. And then you get Meltdown for the psycho perk? because without it, you miss out on content. And scoundrel? Fox later on?

I didn't have a problem with chests between Wolf and a crowbar on Thor. He was able to do mods just fine too as I recall.

You could go with meltdown. I think I went with buns for the sixth merc so I would have a 'sniper' character. She also has the negotiator perk. You're right that that squad of 6 lacks mercs with at least two of the three conversation perks. I still think it's very strong overall, but an argument could be made for Livewire instead for the scoundrel perk. She's squishy as hell though, and wisdom doesn't carry weaker characters to nearly the extent that it did in JA2.

In my third playthrough I made a second squad that provided the conversation perks I was missing in this one.

 

[Strange Fellow]

You also want to avoid Livewire because her unique trait actively makes the game worse.

 

[raeven]

You also want to avoid Livewire because her unique trait actively makes the game worse.

Agreed, it's OP in a way that makes encounters less fun.

 

[3 others]

Can confirm that it's possible to download JA3 mods from Steam Workshop with the SteamCMD tool using an anonymous login.

Here are the steps for Windows:
1. Download SteamCMD (it's an official CLI tool provided by Valve)
2. Unpack the zip
3. Run steamcmd.exe. It will install a bunch of stuff on the first run
4. Enter 'login anonymous'
5. Enter 'workshop_download_item <game ID> <mod ID>'. The game ID for JA3 is 1084160 and the mod ID you can find when browsing Steam Workshop
6. SteamCMD notifies you where it downloaded the mod files. JA3 mods are packaged into Haemimont's identically named ModContent.hpk archives so you'll need to keep track of which ModContent.hpk was which, if you're downloading multiple mods.
7. Create a new subdirectory for each mod in C:\Users\<homo_gaymer>\AppData\Roaming\Jagged Alliance 3\mods\ and move the ModContent.hpk file in there.
8. Launch JA3 and enable the new mods

 

[destinae vomitus]

and wisdom doesn't carry weaker characters to nearly the extent that it did in JA2.

That's because natural stat/skill leveling is heavily throttled behind the scenes, and for no good reason IMO considering how powerful training is compared to JA2 on the other hand, which is why I'd recommend this mod.

 

[Papill0n]

yeah stat increases sounds like another intersting aspect to look into. I'm kinda modding a few simple things these days and the relation between traning stats gains and experience stat gains is indeed odd.

As for wisdom: it's still a very important stat. There are many wisdom checks in conversations, spotting objects and figuring clues/hints is wisdom-related and of course the perks that are available.

 

[Papill0n]

I guess you skip modding any guns until later when you have guns that are actually worth it and a better mechanic?
Does 65 reliably open chests and doors? The mechanical checks for quests are indeed not that important (but still nice to have), so missing these is not a big deal I guess.

Agree on the merc relations. And then you get Meltdown for the psycho perk? because without it, you miss out on content. And scoundrel? Fox later on?

I didn't have a problem with chests between Wolf and a crowbar on Thor. He was able to do mods just fine too as I recall.

You could go with meltdown. I think I went with buns for the sixth merc so I would have a 'sniper' character. She also has the negotiator perk. You're right that that squad of 6 lacks mercs with at least two of the three conversation perks. I still think it's very strong overall, but an argument could be made for Livewire instead for the scoundrel perk. She's squishy as hell though, and wisdom doesn't carry weaker characters to nearly the extent that it did in JA2.

In my third playthrough I made a second squad that provided the conversation perks I was missing in this one.

Oh your starting squad is very strong no doubt about it. Good take to fill the gaps with another squad, though, so not to miss out on content (i played it through a few times now and there's still lotsa stuff in the game files that I didn't activate).

Some of the character traits come in handy as early as tutorial island, though. Then, the longer the game lasts, the less... I guess devs ran out of steam to include silly stat and character checks and intejections the longer they had to write :D
I'm actually modding in some extra characters to hire on the spot to reduce the limitations that otherwise come with the heavy need for specialisation even early on. I want to have more freedom in team composition

 

[raeven]

yeah stat increases sounds like another intersting aspect to look into. I'm kinda modding a few simple things these days and the relation between traning stats gains and experience stat gains is indeed odd.

As for wisdom: it's still a very important stat. There are many wisdom checks in conversations, spotting objects and figuring clues/hints is wisdom-related and of course the perks that are available.

yes, but you can get those benefits by having a single high wisdom character in the party.

 

[Papill0n]

yeah, true. My bad is that I play more of a strategy game with many squads all over the place and rearrange squads here and there... High wisdom mercs are rare. I guess it's easier for those who play the game more like a classical RPG with just one squad that always sticks together so that all the checks are always met.

 

[deuxhero]

What mods should I use for first playthrough? Intended hardest difficulty and drop everything.