Jagged Alliance JA2 is best at its early and mid game.

[Black]

Change my mind and DISCUSS!!!
Late game kinda becomes a pissing contest of who has guns with longer range and Meduna is a slog in general.

 

[hoothoot]

is true

 

[Strange Fellow]

You're right. That makes this pretty weak bait, if you ask me.

 

[Black]

Bait?

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

What makes early game of JA2 particularly good?

 

[Black]

Short range dinky pistols from the 50s force both the player and the enemy to actually reposition and often take risks, like running forward to get into range and pop someone who's behind a cover. As opposed to later game's high powered scopes which just let you lay prone and pop moles as they come out.
Thankfully guy named Sevenfm made some ai tweaks that improve this behavior, so enemies will actually lay traps waiting for you instead, as opposed to being suicidal lemmings.

 

[McPlusle]

I'm sorta in the same boat. Ever since getting Lynx and a scoped SVD I've definitely settled into a rhythm of just trying to lure people into his sights. It definitely lacks the nightmarish tension of the early close-range battles, where a single roll of the dice could completely fuck the tides. Maybe I just need to diversify my strategies. I've heard mortars are fun.

 

[Black]

I'm sorta in the same boat. Ever since getting Lynx and a scoped SVD I've definitely settled into a rhythm of just trying to lure people into his sights. It definitely lacks the nightmarish tension of the early close-range battles, where a single roll of the dice could completely fuck the tides. Maybe I just need to diversify my strategies. I've heard mortars are fun.

Try ja2_7609en+AI_r946 ( https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B_PNaFvHBMdBYTh0NzBvc1c0Ym8 ) and lemme know if that improves things for you.

 

[KazikluBey]

I thought we were supposed to be talking about JA2, not 1.13. The mod strongly increases the efficiency of "high powered scopes which just let you lay prone and pop moles as they come out.", as I recall.

 

[Black]

Thankfully guy named Sevenfm made some ai tweaks that improve this behavior, so enemies will actually lay traps waiting for you instead, as opposed to being suicidal lemmings.

 

[KazikluBey]

I've played with sevenfm's patches, but like you, I've found the game still bogs down in the late game in a way that I don't remember my vanilla run doing.

 

[mondblut]

As opposed to later game's high powered scopes which just let you lay prone and pop moles as they come out.

But that's the fun part?

 

[Black]

I dunno, kinda gets repetitive.

 

[Raapys]

I think you could say "late game is not as good as early/mid game" and be correct for 99.9% of all games. Especially longer games; shorter games tend to stay a bit more consistent.

 

[Covenant]

I'd agree that most games tend to trail off lategame, but I'd say that the earlygame of JA2 has its own problem, and it's the midgame where things really shine. Lategame you have tanks and bullshit scripted 'ambushes' where a soldier will sit in a corner behind a door forever until you walk into his field of view and take a near-unavoidable burst to the head, plus scope issues. But earlygame you have poor gun variety and 'by rote' combats. As someone who plays the game Ironman-style (not the 'can't save in combat' way the game defines it, but in the 'Only save/load when you're turning it off/on' way), I'd really find the earlygame much improved if the liberation of Omerta and Drassen were some kind of skippable tutorial, because it's easy and there's little variety to it.

Not that I'm shitting on JA2 - it's probably the game I'd take with me on a desert island - but it's the midgame where it becomes something special, when you're desperately spamming grenades and trying your luck with mortars and LAWS to push back 20+ elites who are overunning your position. Or when you're forced into an assault on Cambria or Alma that you're not ready for because you dicked around and the Drassen mine just ran out of ore and you spent all your cash at Bobby Ray's.

Pretty much everything after Drassen/San Mona and before Meduna is gold. Though I'd kill for some way to automate the 'Search all the lockers/chests/drawers and talk to the NPCs' stuff after the battles are done.

 

[RK47]

The fun part is when you amassed enough mortar shells to start a secondary artillery team of Grizzly and a cheap strong merc to carry the shells for him.

Alternatively, affording a night ops team of Blood, Shadow and Sydney equipped with just throwing knives and silenced SMGs is also fun.

 

[Black]

Night ops in JA2 is very fun. A single brake light is more of a concern during night time than a nade during the day.

 

[Monkeyfinger]

I'd agree that most games tend to trail off lategame, but I'd say that the earlygame of JA2 has its own problem, and it's the midgame where things really shine. Lategame you have tanks and bullshit scripted 'ambushes' where a soldier will sit in a corner behind a door forever until you walk into his field of view and take a near-unavoidable burst to the head, plus scope issues. But earlygame you have poor gun variety and 'by rote' combats. As someone who plays the game Ironman-style (not the 'can't save in combat' way the game defines it, but in the 'Only save/load when you're turning it off/on' way), I'd really find the earlygame much improved if the liberation of Omerta and Drassen were some kind of skippable tutorial, because it's easy and there's little variety to it.

Not that I'm shitting on JA2 - it's probably the game I'd take with me on a desert island - but it's the midgame where it becomes something special, when you're desperately spamming grenades and trying your luck with mortars and LAWS to push back 20+ elites who are overunning your position. Or when you're forced into an assault on Cambria or Alma that you're not ready for because you dicked around and the Drassen mine just ran out of ore and you spent all your cash at Bobby Ray's.

Pretty much everything after Drassen/San Mona and before Meduna is gold. Though I'd kill for some way to automate the 'Search all the lockers/chests/drawers and talk to the NPCs' stuff after the battles are done.

The ambushes reset if you exit and re-enter the area. Might need to rest for a bit too, I don't recall. There's also a pseudo wall hack item that lets you spot the ambusher, shoot the wall from outside to force the ambusher to turn, then have a second guy creep in around back.

If there's anything I'd wish for to make lategame JA2 go smoother it's easier access to anti tank stuff.

 

[laclongquan]

I dunno.

I do remember pre113 days where if I lay down and popping moles the moles would run over my position with numbers. Also, the outnumber enemies would random fire in my general direction and with their number chances are pretty good I would get dinked. And with number mean I will get more and more dinks until battle end => trooper getting doctored or hospitalized and out of the next fight.

Even if my party sport many good rifles, the outnumber thing can always mean my weapons get degraded after one or two battles to the point of making them ineffective.

And with 113, our position can always be suppressed with mortar fires. You aint playing JA2 until you get hit by mortar fires. Rocket Rifle doesnt count.

 

[Beastro]

I think you could say "late game is not as good as early/mid game" and be correct for 99.9% of all games. Especially longer games; shorter games tend to stay a bit more consistent.

What game's end third is better than the rest?

 

[RK47]

Hentai games obviously. All banal talks over. Grinding battles done. 100% scene unlocked. It's time to claim the prize and fap .