Home » PLAYER'S HQ 1.13 » v1.13 General Gameplay Talk » Need tips for new but not new player
icon1.gif  Need tips for new but not new player[message #355032] Sat, 22 September 2018 18:41 Go to next message
BassWarrior is currently offline BassWarrior
Messages:1
Registered:September 2018
So I am sort of new but not at the same time.

I have played 1.13 multiple times, specifically the first 1-5 hours, then stopping because of a drop of interest or difficulty. I love the concept of JA2 and the balls to the walls crazy amount of weapons and detail in 1.13. I want to sit down and blast through Arulco and take out Deidranna this time, I have never finished the game before but I want to make a real go of it. I understand the basics of the game such as control and the basics of gameplay/mechanics. I normally turn off the counter attack and I understand that you need to get mines going to get an income. The things I really need help with are the do's and don't's of the game, good tips, good starting mercs, good tactics. I will list some questions off the top of my head, or topics I need advice on and anyone who can give me an answer would be great.


  1. I often feel like mercs should be able to make certain shots but always fail to despite the fact with any realistic logic they would. Is this a skill issue or a gear issue? or a combination of both?
  2. What are some good gear progression tactics for a beginner? Pistols, SMG's, shotguns at the start due to availability and cost and then what? BR's? AR's?
  3. Is it a good idea to stick to a certain type of ammunition that everyone can pool to? e.g 5.56, what are the most common ammo types for arulco soldiers?
  4. Is it always superior to stick to stealth and ambush like a special forces team rather than breaking out LMG's and going head on or can this work?
  5. When should I begin training militia and when is a good time to start heading south more and more?
  6. What are some good all round weapons that well priced, effective and can easily be obtained?

Naturally, I have probably forgotten plenty of questions and queries I have, I will mention anymore I think of. I am really looking for some help, if there are some really well made guides out there for beginners I welcome them or a list of hidden tips and tricks new players should know, then please share them.

Thanks

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Civilian
Re: Need tips for new but not new player[message #355039 is a reply to message #355032] Sat, 22 September 2018 22:31 Go to previous messageGo to next message
LatZee is currently offline LatZee

 
Messages:185
Registered:December 2015
For many of those questions, the answer is, what do you want them to be. Give yourself 100 million starting money, raise Bobby Ray to max and equip everyone exactly the way you want them to be. Or play the poor guerrilla way, scavenge everything, count every bullet, have a party whenever some good weapon or a bit more rare ammo you need drops. Or something in the middle, whatever you find is fun for you. Have small counterattacks, or big, or none. That is what I would call the best thing about 1.13, great amount of customization and flexibiilty. Unfortunately, it can sometimes lead to the point where base game is not the best balanced due to default options being kinda messy.

For some more detailed answers, you'd need to tell us whether you use old or new chance to hit system (try them both and see which one you like more, they are a bit wrongly named, they are not old and bad vs new and better or anything like that). Generally, if your mercenaries have some weapon skills (auto weapons, marksman, gunslinger, whatever) try to give them that kind of weapons. For others, it depends. In OCTH, generally, the longer range weapon will be better than the shorter range one. Ability to have auto fire can be useful, but is not crucial. In NCTH, precision rifles and like are really good only in hands of experts, everyone else should use some kind of auto weapon (or a shotgun with buckshot, it is very decent in hands of poorer mercs combatwise, like Ira). Generally, pistols are not really the weapon you want to use in either system. Unless you stick to night fights, additional range gives you more tactical options and more safety. If the range is close, every mistake (or bad fortune) can be very expensive. So try to upgrade from pistols in any possible way as soon as possible.

Training militia can be very useful. Or it can just slow you down. Depends on how you play. Generally, try not to waste time and money training militia if you're gonna produce 2 guys or something like that. Get someone who can train as close to max number as possible (10 is max, and needs a merc with 60 leadership, unless he has teaching or is a rebel). Ira gets both bonuses, teaching and rebel one, and can be excellent militia teacher in the long run, but is a bit raw at the start. Cheap option would be grabbing Rev from MERC, for example. He is not much use for anything else, and is an annoying thief, but he is cheap and very good militia teacher.

As for specific weapons, don't get too bogged down by details. Zillion different weapons are here more for completeness/flavour sake, they will generally be pretty same as other weapons of same class. For example, assault rifles can be roughly divided in three main categories:
1) carbines like M4 Commando or micro Galil or shorter AK variants (like AKS-74U or whetever is in base game, can't remember now)
2) mid range standard rifles like M16, AKs, G36s and a zillion more
3) older battle rifles like G3A3 or FN FAL

usually, within the group there will be small differences, but rarely will they be all that important. Maybe the only exception is whether thay have a burst or full auto capability, or both, if that is important to you. So whatever you can grab, and whatever fits the attachments available to you. So for example if you have (or can get your hands on) an old Aimpoint projector that only fits old HK rifles and you want to use it, then G3 is better than FN FAL that can't mount it. Examples like that are pretty rare, though. Availability of ammunition can also be a factor, depending on how rich/poor game you want to have.

Try things out and find out what works for you. There is really no one correct way to play this, even with same settings many of experienced players would play the game differently.

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Staff Sergeant
Re: Need tips for new but not new player[message #355043 is a reply to message #355039] Sat, 22 September 2018 23:47 Go to previous messageGo to next message
silversurfer

 
Messages:2793
Registered:May 2009
Maybe we should change the translation of OCTH. Instead of "Old Chance to Hit" we should call it "Original Chance to Hit" system because that is what it is. NCTH is a new chance to hit system that is very different and takes some getting used to.

In addition to the advice to carry the right weapon for the merc's traits I would advise to always have a backup weapon for short ranges. Your sniper with his nice Dragunov rifle is a sitting duck at night or in close range combat. In addition to their primary weapon my mercs always carry a small SMG with AP ammo (except for my gunfighter who already uses two machine pistols as primary weapon). Small SMGs like the HK MP5K are quick to handle and can put a lot of bullets into an enemy at close range.

For auto weapons if possible I try to get those that have burst mode for my mercs that don't have the auto weapons trait. It sucks when they accidentally fire 10 bullets instead of the intended 3...

Oh and if you haven't played JA2 1.13 for a long time and want to start with the current development build it can't hurt if you check Ja2_Options.INI for features that you want to turn on or off and read a bit in the forum about them.



Wildfire Maps Mod 6.07 on SVN: https://ja2svn.mooo.com/source/ja2/branches/Wanne/JA2%201.13%20Wildfire%206.06%20-%20Maps%20MOD

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Lieutenant
Re: Need tips for new but not new player[message #355585 is a reply to message #355043] Fri, 02 November 2018 04:44 Go to previous messageGo to next message
ZedJA2

 
Messages:202
Registered:January 2018
I'm going to try and stick to this thread for some interesting gameplay questions, for an experienced player, but who has a Noobish sort of question because he doesn't know the answer, and every player would want to know the answer.

1) QUESTION: What is the average length and max/min length of time you can KNOCKOUT an enemy?

You can knock out (KO) an enemy in various ways. Fist, Knuckle Dusters (Brass Knuckles), blunt weapons, Stun Grenade, effects of some explosives, and Dart Gun (provided it penetrates armor (unclear the rule on that) and injects into the body of the enemy. Actually, it is supposed to be related to bringing the enemy's stamina down to zero. In the original JA2, usually 2 to 3 punches put them to the ground. One of the benefits of KNOCKING OUT an enemy, is that you can steal items of that KO'd enemy much more easily. In the original JA2, you could steal everything at once, for the cost of one Steal attempt. That seems to be changed in current v1.13, but I'm not clear if it also effects a KO'd enemy from the comments in various INI and XML files. That was a summary of what I know.

In the original JA2, I believe the average KO time was between 2-4 turns, with some variation.

The QUESTION is what is it now? WHY DO I ASK? I was just reading thru the Skills_Settings.INI, which controls the various Traits boni in v1.13. I read this in the section on Martial Arts skills:

<<
; This option controls how long it takes the enemy before they start to regain their lost energy
; when hit by your martial artist. "100" means they are knocked out and the enemy can stay down even 12
; turns before getting up.
LOST_BREATH_REGAIN_PENALTY = 100
>>

Wow, 12 turns KO'd. Now, provided Martial Arts taken twice is the reason for a 200% bonus, then 1/3 of the maximum 12 turns is 4 which would compare fairly to the original JA2. But, not sure that is what is going on.

-----

2) QUESTION: How do I CONVERT a BENELLI CONVERTIBLE SHOTGUN and what is the result?

The Benelli Convertible is a shotgun that supposedly can convert from PUMP ACTION to SEMI-AUTO mode of fire in the game. I've never quite succeeded in getting it to work when I tried it a year ago or so in v1.13. It says it converted but I still seemed to need to PUMP the SHOTGUN in order to RECHAMBER A ROUND AFTER EVERY SHOT FIRED. I have not tried it recently, but I will in my next session with 8633 SCI.

Here is what I expect to see if it works:

a) Starting off the Benelli Convertible is in PUMP ACTION MODE and will REQUIRE A RECHAMBER COST AFTER EACH ROUND FIRED. This is like what is needed with the early Remington 870 found in Father Walker's stash. No issue there.

b ) After Converting the Benelli to SEMI-AUTO, I'd expect that after EACH ROUND FIRED, I'd have NO RECHAMBER COST (No need to pump the next round in), but maybe the AP per single shot would go up, dunno.

I've never succeeded in achieving the SEMI-AUTO experience. However, I wonder if it is going to maybe take a second shot to clear the mechanism of the gun and make it work. So I'll test for that next chance I get.

c ) I wonder if there are any attachments that can further modify the Convertible guns, such as the old Rod and Spring for pistols, etc. I also wonder if there are any other convertible weapons.

-----

Anybody who knows the answer to these questions/comments, please advise. I thank you ahead of time.

[Updated on: Fri, 02 November 2018 04:50]

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Sergeant 1st Class
Re: Need tips for new but not new player[message #355594 is a reply to message #355585] Fri, 02 November 2018 13:38 Go to previous messageGo to next message
townltu

 
Messages:384
Registered:December 2017
Location: here
some cents on knock-ing/ed out enemies,
as I tend to steal > 1000 items from hundreds of enemies during a campaign of "normal" duration,
note ~ 8+ of 10 campaigns are on insane, the others on hard, never "drop all".

Usually the process starts by either dropping people with crits in legs respectively wherever the malicious pc decided to hit,
or a stun gun attack at the legs, rarely by punching enemies,
that is only "safe" if a single fresh enemy runs into a couple of mercs,
AND no militia is nearby to kill your merc(s) while missing the prone enemy.


Best as in "most effective" way to knock em out is the stun gun, a single hit usually takes all breath out of the target,
unless you meet a bodybuilder where it may take 2 hits,
NPCs will require up to 4 if the related switch in the .ini is true/on, add 2 more if these also have bodybuilder trait.
(btw, dmg resistance of that trait is imo op, better give more HP bonus and lower dr to 1/3 or 1/4)


Regarding the time they require to recover I cant say very much as I only reload for testing purposes, bugs, or if the game does really cheat.
I usually prefer exaggerating the stamina drain to safely maintain the "ko" condition, so they cant spot for their buddies.
(use vision overlay to ensure soldier is really ko and not only regaining AP to later steal mercs weapon and blast her/him)
Anyway based on experience I rarely take the risk to not punch a knocked out enemy at least 1 time/turn,
or 2 times with strong non hth merc, that may go up to 4 hits/turn for weak persons.

Enemy ko for 12 turns is imo impossible to achieve, even with a full overkill of 4+ stun gun hits on a single weak person.
(may be related to difficulty setting on game start)


Besides, from time to time (1-20/each campaign) i get those enemies which are either nearly immune to punching,
they either require 6+ hits from str melee merc like Razor,
then there are the "really" immune guys which i think are buggy,
as they wont go down until they are nearly dead, some even only drop to the ground with the last and lethal hit,
i have seen weak persons hitting such enemies 30+ times in a single turn(with cheat) before they drop to the ground.
A stun gun hit usually brings even the bugged targets down instantly, unless trait or NPC bonus prevents that.

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Master Sergeant
Re: Need tips for new but not new player[message #355595 is a reply to message #355594] Fri, 02 November 2018 14:44 Go to previous messageGo to next message
ZedJA2

 
Messages:202
Registered:January 2018
@ TownLTU

Very interesting stuff about KNOCKING OUT enemies. I had planned to use the STUN GUN, but not tried it yet.

1) Does the STUN GUN REQUIRE BATTERIES?

I believe that Batteries have been phased out, but I'm not certain in actuality. One of the items that used to use batteries, seems to say it comes with them anyway. Can't remember if it is the Radio, the Flashlight, or the Stun Gun. Probably the Flash Light.

Any info on Batteries and what items still need them, if any, would be great to have as a reply.

2) Still looking for information on Converting the Benelli Convertible Shotgun

[Updated on: Fri, 02 November 2018 14:45]

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Sergeant 1st Class
Re: Need tips for new but not new player[message #355596 is a reply to message #355595] Fri, 02 November 2018 15:10 Go to previous message
townltu

 
Messages:384
Registered:December 2017
Location: here
Iirc stun gun & flashlight required batteries in my last playthrough usin r8517, radio set did not.
Dunno whether that was changed in later releases.

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Master Sergeant
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