| Sniper vs Autoweapons Skill[message #242661]
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Wed, 27 January 2010 20:54
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Frank Zappa |
Messages:4
Registered:January 2010 |
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First off, hi everyone!
I just recently stumbled across JA2 (I had heard of it before but stuck to the Fallout series).
So while I'm pretty much a newbie, I still understand the basic game mechanics.
I had a short first try (JA2 Gold w/ v1.13 Mod/Experienced) and chose Sniper and Autoweapons as my IMPs skills. That was before I knew what those two were doing. I want to start over with v1.13 again, this time on Expert difficulty. I've read a lot about the skills on this forum since then.
So here are my questions:
1. Is it a good choice to mix those two in general or should I go for Sniper (Expert)/Autoweapons (Expert)?
2. If I go for Sniper (Expert), will I have a big disadvantage in close quarters?
3. Is Burst or Autofire Mode necessary in close quarters later on to be able to kill enemies quickly enough or will a few headshots w/ an Expert Sniper still do the trick?
Thanks in advance, hope you can help !
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Civilian
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| Re: Sniper vs Autoweapons Skill[message #242675]
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Thu, 28 January 2010 07:04 
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usrbid |
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Messages:1502
Registered:December 2008 |
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Quote:Sniper and Autoweapons as my IMPs skills
My IMP almost always uses the same combo, looks like we think alike.
Quote:Sniper (Expert)/Autoweapons (Expert)
Usually the additional bonus from choosing an expert level skill does not feel "double as good" in the game, I believe because the in game effect may diminish the higher your skill is. One example is aim clicks and how much you get in return in CTH, the more aim clicks the less CTH is added (maybe nothing in some situations).
It "feels" like the most benefit you get when you have anything instead of nothing (e.g. 20 LDR instead of zero, or electronics instead of none, etc.) I played a game with sniper expert and I didn't feel much of a difference, it was definitely not "oh my god this is so awesome".
Quote:big disadvantage in close quarters
The way you phrased your question the answer is definitely *NO* because auto fire (or burst) always performs well at very short range e.g. up to 10 tiles distance to target (also HAM makes auto/burst a little better if you use tracers). The auto skill really starts to kick in when engaging targets at what I call short range 8 to 18 tiles (see my gameplay advice here). These are situations where you have a small team e.g. 6 guys and engage enemies at close distance e.g. heli drop at night, where you have 20+ enemies advancing from all directions and you are in "area denial" mode to maintain your "safety bubble" (again check my gameplay notes to see what I am talking about how the AI works and how to beat it).
Quote:Burst or Autofire Mode necessary in close quarters later on to be able to kill enemies quickly enough or will a few headshots w/ an Expert Sniper still do the trick
You will need burst/auto in situations where your kill ratio has to be more than 1-to-1, like the night heli drop I described above. You may still need to aim with sniper rifles in the 8-18 tile range (using HAM your first aim click costs half of your ready AP in addition and sniper rifles usually have a high ready AP). The result will be that you get 1-3 shots with the sniper rifle, but only 1 aimed one, the rest is unaimed to the torso. If *each* of your mercs needs to kill 2-3 enemies every round, the only way to do this is burst/auto. You get this high kill ratio requirement when you play on Insane, maybe Expert.
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| Re: Sniper vs Autoweapons Skill[message #242928]
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Sun, 31 January 2010 03:45 
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Frank Zappa |
Messages:4
Registered:January 2010 |
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It looks like I should better check back with that HAM Wiki to make sure I enable the advantages the mod brings and disable all of the changes I'm not interested in.
For wisdom, I was planning on maxing it out (85). I read something about being able to raise wisdom in an older guide by having at least 35 points in explosives, although I can't remember how that was supposed to work, and if it's still possible^^ ...
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Civilian
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| Re: Sniper vs Autoweapons Skill[message #242962]
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Sun, 31 January 2010 23:10 
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| Headrock |
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Messages:1757
Registered:March 2006 Location: Jerusalem |
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Quote:
Just to be very accurate, HAM is a mod which can be installed on top of 1.13 (or other mods like WildFire), it is technically not part of the 1.13 mod (e.g. HAM uses it's own EXE).
HAM 2.8 is part of 1.13. You can use HAM Suppression and tracer enhancements, which were part of that HAM version. Please note however that HAM Suppression 2.8 is not optimal, and may seem a bit quirky, especially in the early game.
Quote:I believe the latest HAM INI has the majority of features in an activated state (older HAM versions had the INI settings set to inactive)
If you use JA2 1.13, 99% of HAM features are turned off by default, so INI editing is essential. The INI Editor makes this process a lot simpler, of course.
In HAM 3.5, there are two separate JA2_Options.INI files you can use to turn HAM all-off or all-on as you please (or use one and THEN edit it with the INI editor to your heart's content).
HAM 3.6 comes with all features activated. The INI can then be edited to tone them down (or up!) as necessary.
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