Home » SIRTECH CLASSICS » Jagged Alliance 2 » Favourite Mercs & NPCs » Your Core guys?
| Re: Your Core guys?[message #356040 is a reply to message #356038]
|
Thu, 29 November 2018 22:36  
|
|
| townltu |
 |
Messages:384
Registered:December 2017
Location: here |
|
|
LatZee wrote on Thu, 29 November 2018 19:25...
I'm not 100% certain, but I think that Manuel is not placed on any map in Wildfire, so although he is technically there, you will not actually bump into him and so won't be able to recruit him :p
If "already" supported by the code,
mercs present in data can be placed on sector map via strategicEventHandler.lua like Max in Flugente's additional mercs pack (topic)
Copy&paste the related part, change to desired sector and merc.
I dare to guess that placing mercs via lua script works in a running game and also in already explored sectors,
while i would also dare to guess that placing a merc the classic way on already explored map wont make him appear in the running game(unless hacked in save or ram)
Report message to a moderator
|
Master Sergeant
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Re: Your Core guys?[message #359442 is a reply to message #163273]
|
Tue, 07 April 2020 15:22
|
|
 BlobBlobbedy |
 |
Messages:5
Registered:August 2019 |
|
|
I was doing a dead-is-dead game on experienced recently and was really loving my team until unfortunately the savefile got corrupted. I went for mercs cheap for their experience level, with high wisdom:
(on 1.12 by the way)
Starting team was Barry, Stephen, Ira, and my IMP. After the first mine was conquered I also took on Grunty and these 5 made a fantastic team for taking the first couple of towns.
IMP had night ops \ stealthy though I would probably pick up night ops expert in retrospect. The goal was to make a team good at taking over city sectors during night time by stealthily getting to strategic roofs and then barreling down on the enemy; this worked very well for the towns I took over before save was lost. IMP started out with maxed wisdom, nearly maxed health and agility, marksmanship at 50 and EXP, MEC, MED at 35. In the past I've gone the route of lowering secondary skills to 0 and starting with a high marksmanship, but I've decided I like the jack of all trades approach better as the IMP will become a very good shot eventually anyway and can contribute to both doctoring and repair without having to hire more specialized mercs. Ira and the IMP can both improve quickly on the medical end of things and take care of all the doctoring needs. I had Barry doctor a bit too to improve his MED because he is such high wisdom and dexterity anyway.
I always like to have a high level character as a scout to minimize enemy interrupts so I found Stephen to be the ideal candidate to start with: he has night ops for a night ops team, he is extremely cheap for his level (17,000 for 2 weeks, level 5), starts with high marksmanship and will quickly compete with the best marksmen due to his ridiculous WIS (94). He also has a super high leadership AND teaching skill so is excellent for quickly training militia in the early towns, not to mention can quickly catch up a high wisdom IMP and Ira on marksmanship during down time training sessions here and there. Salary of 17,000 for level 5 means he won't level up for a while and won't increase his salary before you have enough of a bankroll to extend his contract for several weeks or months ahead before a pay-increase (I insured him playing dead-is-dead because his insurance is very cheap also).
I loved this team for many reasons, it just felt like they had amazing synergy and everyone had multiple tasks they were getting very good at:
-Stephen was the scout during night operations as I mentioned, but a night ops expert IMP would become an even better scout once high enough level. IMP and Grunty came next \ were toward the front lines or watching any flanks because of night ops, while Barry and Ira hung back at least a tile or two to provide fire support and sniping as needed.
-Barry is a ridiculously good character who can be used loot everything \ get into anything because of his combination of electronics \ lockpicking \ explosives expertise. I can't think of any other Merc who has the same capability of disarming all types of traps and unlocking every place with impunity. Not to mention he has that insane WIS, almost as good as Stephen's, so he soon becomes an expert marksman, excellent mechanic (even has very high dexterity) and is a seasoned explosives expert. All this for a very low price to begin with and no medical deposit...almost too good to be true and overpowered : ) Because of his lack of night ops, and ability to learn marksmanship quickly I used him as a backline sniper \ support when he was not needed for technical tasks; outside combat, he repairs, and I even had him dabble into doctoring because his high DEX aids him there and his high wisdom means he will get better at it very quickly. he is also a good guy to keep all keys on since likely he is the one trying to go through a locked door anyway.
-I think my last run or 2 I learned a lot more about how much potential Ira has. I tried as much as possible when it was safe to give the killing blows to Ira and my IMP to encourage them to improve as quickly as possible, because they both have very respectable Wisdom scores and....who doesn't want mercs without a salary that become killing machines? When my save was corrupted I had the IMP at level 5 and Ira at level 4 closing in on 5 with both of their marksmanship having gone from the mid 50s to the mid-high 80s. To that end, I like to give these 2 characters (followed by Barry) the best and highest range weapons, like the first scopes etc. to encourage them to improve as much as possible, because you really get the most bang for your buck in the long run.
-Grunty is also all around pretty solid, though not as high Wisdom as all these other mercs, he still has an excellent starting cost for a level 3 and pretty decent at a lot of things. Definitely a great addition to a night ops team especially and the natural choice to carry a 40mm grenade launcher because of his heavy weapons. Out of combat he can join Barry and the IMP in repairing while Ira and Stephen train new troops and it just feels like a beautifully synchronized concerto : ) ...and when you need to be a bit more flexible because of people needing doctoring, Grunty can fill the roles of militia training or even an extra doctor comfortably enough because of his jack of all trades skillset.
The only downside of this team is Dimitri disliking Stephen, but I didn't find this to be such a big deal. I'm not too concerned about Dimitri over time because his low Wisdom means he has much less potential of improving over time. Also, the dislike only goes one way so there is no risk of Stephen becoming upset. I just got Dimitri a walkman eventually, he never quit (not sure if he ever does, anyone?) and I figure once you can get Carlos and Miguel, whom are liked by Dimitri, you can just keep him near them if you want to have him around the same sector as Stephen ever.
So yeah, very sad I am not able to continue this savegame likely...I had just picked up Scope Sterling since I had a whole lot of saved funds with all these cheap guys and things were going well...: (
Report message to a moderator
|
Private
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Re: Your Core guys?[message #360897 is a reply to message #360889]
|
Mon, 10 August 2020 23:08
|
|
| gougluinn |
|
Messages:383
Registered:September 2018 |
|
|
i envy you because i have never used cheap mercs except barry in my games (and the reason was barry's inventory items). my die-hard mercs were ivan and shadow and sometimes one of following lads; lynx, scope, raven and buzz.
i also didnt understand your explosives love. i believe explosives are useless in this game. tell me what can you do with tnt other than blowin up a wall to get in some locked room in early game?
i only remember other guys from demo version. i first played this game from cd which came with LEVEL game magazine. it was demo and the map was little bit different than estoni (junk section was same while there was military camp instead maddox's fuel-shop). i still remember my team were consist of ivan, lee, dr. q, vicki, gasket lol. maybe another one but i only remember these ones. there was small building in the military camp with enemy on roof using dragunov.
i'd have given anything to go back those days. this game was my very first pc games i have ever played after test drive 5, age of empires 2, fifa 99, half life and need for speed 2:se. my computer had PIII 450, 8MB s3d trio GPU, 64GB hdd and only 64MB 128mhz ram looooool.
[Updated on: Mon, 10 August 2020 23:39] Report message to a moderator
|
Master Sergeant
|
|
|
|
| Re: Your Core guys?[message #360922 is a reply to message #360897]
|
Thu, 13 August 2020 06:17
|
|
| systemfehler |
 |
Messages:117
Registered:September 2007
Location: Hanover, Germany |
|
|
Explosives are very useful when setting up a defensive position before a counter attack. Place explosives with remote detonator at an expected chokepoint and wait for some five to ten enemies to pile up and let them have it. You can also litter the ground around one charge with some surplus grenades for more impact or chain the explosions, depending on what is available. I think you can even add mustard gas grenades which blow up and fill that area with gas after the explosion damaged the gasmasks. Combined with landmines you can also lure the enemy into such a death trap.
I also use explosives to get rid of walls so my mercs can move more freely from house to house once an attack comes or have a better firing position from inside the house. Windows are too much of an invitation for headshots.
I once leveled most of the mine sector in Alma to have a better field of fire and negate cover because combat between all those small houses can be quite irritating. So I got rid of them as best as possible and opened it up. Also detonated quite a few of those big rocks in the mine sector in Grumm for the same reason. Too bad we can't chop down trees as well.
Report message to a moderator
|
Sergeant
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Re: Your Core guys?[message #363568 is a reply to message #360940]
|
Thu, 05 August 2021 06:09
|
|
| Taurean |
|
Messages:15
Registered:August 2020 |
|
|
It is a difficult question to answer, because i always play on hardest, so i have to make good progress quick, and then it says itself i have to build a team quickly. So there really is no core team that i rely heavy on.
I usually start out with Lynx to get the mini-14 rifle, for one day. I ususally also hire MD for his medical ability. The IMP merc, i try to give balanced stats, but i may give very high health, strength, dexterity, mid-high agility and 85 leadership, and expert teaching, and set all the other stats to minimum, but trainable. That way you have a very strong milita trainer early on, which usually is very expensive. I also usually pick Fox, which is a good shot, ambidextrous, which can be very valuable early on to have as an extra shooter to help out the mini-14 wielder. With that, on hardest, that ususally is all you can afford that early on. One bonus reason for picking Fox, is that after liberating Drassen, you can send her stripped for gear (not clothes though, that would be cool, huh huh  ) down to Estoni to recruit Maddog, which is fascinated by Fox from the dirty magazines and will join up without as much as a peep. Maddog is my favorite merc in the entire game because of his personality. He is exactly what you want in a mercenary. He is also the best lockpicker in the game, maybe behind Trevor, but i found Maddog to be able to pick any door in the game, maybe except one door.
If i can afford anyone else in the beginning, it is usually Igor, he is a very good all-rounder with high health.
When i start getting on with the game, liberating three or more cities, and maybe the sam sites, recruiting Biff and Flo as militia teachers can be a very good and cheap option. Gasket is a great mechanic, which you can keep in one spot (i use one spot in Cambria) to repair all the gear you find. One other use for him is to keep him in Estoni, to constantly bother Jake, to buy ceramic plates and compound 18. But one other use for him too, is to buy all the cheap beat-up guns Jake sells, give him a repair kit, and have him repair those guns to 100%, then transfer them periodically to the logistics spot in Cambria, and then to Flo which i sometimes keep in San Mona to trade with Tony. That way you can make a nice little side income, while stocking up on ceramic plates and compound 18.
Razor is someone you can keep with you to train up, he has great physical abilities, but does require extensive training to be a worthwhile member. But is very cheap and as long as the gun has bipod, sniper scope and laser scope, he will hit most things as long as it is not a very difficult shot. He is also strong and can carry a lot of stuff, like mortars.
I also do hire Gus 90% of the time as soon as i can afford him. He seems to bring up everyone's level, and you also treat him and then your own team with more care since he is so bloody expensive And he almost never misses shots, even difficult shots seems to hit more often than not. He is just a guy that needs to be on larger teams. The same goes for Len. Those two drags up the level of the team. Len is very cheap for the traits and experience you get.
I have one fundamental philosophy that i stick to, and that is that the main team *must* be able to be trained in all things. I keep everyone with a repair kit, medical kit, and i use everyone to train militia as i see fit. Worrying about someone doing this, and someone that cannot do that, takes so much extra time and energy, that i cannot be bothered doing. So that limits some of the mercs i am able to hire.
[Updated on: Thu, 05 August 2021 06:18] Report message to a moderator
|
Private
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Re: Your Core guys?[message #363979 is a reply to message #163273]
|
Tue, 16 November 2021 00:07
|
|
| Shideh |
|
Messages:5
Registered:November 2021 |
|
|
First of all, my first post. I played JA2 as a kid in the early 2000s and dived back a few months ago, almost 20 years later. What a masterpiece! Playing around with the different merc personalities, synergies, voices, attitude is by far my favorite aspect of this game.
My favorite vibe team is Fox/Vicki/Blood/Ice/Magic.
In 1.12 I swear by
Barry - cheap and does it all, gets all the locks to increase his low mechanics, eventually becomes a great shooter too
Fox - armed with two MAC-10s, shoots anything that gets too close, otherwise just sits back to heal and train militia
Wolf - does it all, likes/liked by Fox, secondary repair/militia/medic/night time scout.
Blood - I just love this guy, best personality, San Mona money earner, backup medic, 1-man map cleaner at night with a couple throwing knives in the first half of the game.
Razor - cheap, deadly, never sleeps... time to carve some turkeys!
I get Buns, Biff and Flo just to train militia. Once I have 3 mines, I add Ivan and Magic.
In 1.13 7609, with technician instead of engineer I feel like Barry isn't worth it long term anymore. I get Jimmy Upton instead who starts with 90+ mechanical and is immediately effective. Later on I switch him for Trevor.
I replaced Blood with Grizzly because heavy weapons matter a lot more in 1.13. He's the only heavy weapons who's cheap and can actually carry the heavy weapons, unlike Meltdown and Buzz.
Leadership is also a lot more important in 1.13 so Stephen almost always now makes it into my team and brings Deputy. Compared to Raider, he's cheaper, 1 level higher and a better fighter. But lower leadership and only 1 level of Deputy/Squadleader.
Rev just to train militia.
I feel like the new skill system weakened generalists like Wolf and Thor. Ice (Machinegunner) becomes much more attractive and takes Wolf's backup trainer/repair role.
And with no expert teacher in 1.13, I don't get Buns anymore.
I like all my mercs to have something to do when there's nothing to do:
Fox can train militia when she has no one to heal or spend some quality time with Grizzly to increase his dexterity ;)
Ice is training militia or repairing. The only one who doesn't have anything useful to do during downtimes besides training his own dex is Grizzly.
[Updated on: Tue, 16 November 2021 16:05] Report message to a moderator
|
Private
|
|
|
|
Goto Forum:
Current Time: Sat Apr 20 02:57:47 GMT+3 2024
Total time taken to generate the page: 0.01372 seconds
|
Blog
Search
Help
Members
Register
Login
Home
