Jagged Alliance 3 from Haemimont Games

[gooseman]

you're powergaming, you don't have many attractive options. But why would you want them? You're going to pick the best one and not worry about the rest, doesn't matter if they're a little worse or a lot worse.

I feel I'm punishing myself by not powergaming. The power gap between some mercs is just really huge. And it's really easy to do. I don't like when games make me feel that.
Kalyna has the lowest iq of any merc in the game. A "little bit more" (over 3 times more) for Vicky over Livewire? 25k out of starting 40? You can get an expensive starting merc, but spending that much on a mechanic to have them sit around fixing guns.. meh. And if you already got a different expensive merc... well, you're out of options.

 

[Yosharian]

Yeah the mechanic selection is trash

 

[Strange Fellow]

A "little bit more" (over 3 times more) for Vicky over Livewire? 25k out of starting 40? You can get an expensive starting merc, but spending that much on a mechanic to have them sit around fixing guns.

That's what I did for my first playthrough. She's not just good for mechanics, she is also good at shooting bad guys, and her eternal lockpick is worth its weight in gold. Good starting merc.

Again, I don't understand why you want options if you're just going to pick the optimal one anyway. The character system is basic, there's very little skill involved in finding a good squad configuration. Unless what you want is for every merc to have an explicit class within which everyone has the same stats and price, which would be extremely boring.

To each his own, I guess. I think you need a degree of LARP to fully enjoy this series.

 

[gooseman]

Again, I don't understand why you want options if you're just going to pick the optimal one anyway

I said I dont powergame. The game makes this very hard, because your options are a merc that's objectively broken, a merc that's objectively shit and a merc that's ok,but expensive and wont always be an option. These are not fun or interesting choices. Then there are roles, personality conflicts, traits and unavailability that further limit your already non existent options.

 

[Gilius Thunderhead]

Some mercs aren't available in the beginning, and there are personal conflicts(they could do even more with this), so the idea is you end up with a different roster every time, as you become limited by your choices. It doesn't really work that way, because there's no reason you wouldn't eventually get, say, Barry or Livewire, even if they're not available in the beginning.

In some aspects it's better. If you want a medic, for example, there's an interesting choice between MD and Fox. The latter is more versatile(heh), but is hated by Buns and Mouse, who you can also use as medics in a pinch(later on there's a quest where you must have either MD or Q). Some other skills(Mechanics, Explosives, Leadership) should be more like this.

It'd also be cool if you had special hiring options for mercs who like you, like month long contracts; mercs who left you temporarily for personal reasons or simply left due to disagreements(I think this exists, but I haven't seen it yet); stronger personal quirks that affect gameplay like in classic JA and maybe the ability to hire militia in special cases.

 

[Strange Fellow]

the idea is you end up with a different roster every time

This is the thing. The idea that you'll replay the game using the same characters as before, with the same voice lines and the same strengths and weaknesses, in order to have a slightly easier time beating a game you've already beaten is completely insane to me.

 

[Zombra]

To gooseman's point, the small roster is a low key issue at first but it turns into one of the (few) major disappointments of the game. In JA1, DG, & 2, the roster is so huge that you can feel your way through it. You're expected to begin by hiring individuals and combinations that aren't going to work out; and proceed by switching up your team, making sacrifices to fine tune an overpriced person here, someone with hidden weaknesses there, two mercs who are both great but refuse to work together, etc. until you've finally built a group you can afford, who can function as a team, and who have sufficient skills to achieve your objectives. The first two games even have an "informant" system (which sadly disappeared in JA2) to help you identify trouble spots and make decisions about team management. In JA3 the cast of characters is simply too small for this level of depth to exist.

 

[Virgulto]

What's a good stat distribution for the custom Merc? I used to max wisdom and have average marksmanship and mechanic but it was a pain early game and i abandoned the game.

 

[razvedchiki]

max everything exept medicine/explosives/mechanics. you will cover those skills with the mercs you will hire ( livewire/barry etc).
you need leadership because it dictates travel speed in the strategic map, dex+mark to shoot properly and agility for action points. str/health depends if you will melee or not. wisdom to learn faster.

 

[Gilius Thunderhead]

If we're minmaxing, you can safely dump your IMP's wisdom as long you're planning to give him all your magazines. It's 40-50 points you can put somewhere else directly. You'll still gain field experience, just at a slightly slower rate.

Whatever you do, just give him high Leadership because there are very few options for high Leadership mercs and they're expensive.

 

[Yosharian]

What's a good stat distribution for the custom Merc? I used to max wisdom and have average marksmanship and mechanic but it was a pain early game and i abandoned the game.

AGI 65
DEX 85
LDR 85
WIS 85
MRK 85
MEC 85

max AGI, HLT and STR later with training

this allows you to skip using Livewire completely and instead use OP combat mercs like Blood, Ice, Barry, Buns, etc

I have gotten to lategame on this team fairly easily

 

[Gilius Thunderhead]

Does anyone play with Audaki's Training Overhaul? Vanilla training is beyond broken and I'm not coming back to it, but I'm still rattled by how opaque the traning mechanics remain. I renewed Grizzly's contract, hoping to get his Dexterity up by letting him train with Fox, but I can't get him to raise one single point, despite Fox having 100 Dex and the Teacher perk. I was able to raise Buns' leadership with Hitman, and MD's to an extent(although it's unclear to me why one learned better than the other if they have similar wisdom).

Another thing I noticed of late is that militia fight better with Auto-Resolve than manually. Lots of time Auto-Resolve will take care of enemy squads without casualties, while if I send a merc and fight manually a couple of militia will usually get killed due to suicidal tactics. This may be an issue with Tactical AI Project in particular. The militia fights quite aggressively now, but they have no notion of friendly fire and don't seem to take any precaution against melee fighters.

I love this game, but there are so many little quirks. I don't think I'll ever muster the courage to play this Iron Man.

 

[gooseman]

What's broken about vanilla training?

 

[Gilius Thunderhead]

What's broken about vanilla training?

Any character can become an expert in whatever in a couple of days training, from my experience. No reason to use expensive mercs at all.

 

[Virgulto]

What's a good stat distribution for the custom Merc? I used to max wisdom and have average marksmanship and mechanic but it was a pain early game and i abandoned the game.

AGI 65
DEX 85
LDR 85
WIS 85
MRK 85
MEC 85

max AGI, HLT and STR later with training

this allows you to skip using Livewire completely and instead use OP combat mercs like Blood, Ice, Barry, Buns, etc

I have gotten to lategame on this team fairly easily

Thanks, i'm trying this build with buns, MD, grunty and Barry. About to clear the starting island