Ambidextrous got a major nerf

[Raeven]

Ambidextrous got nerfed *hard* in this game compared to JA2, which is funny because it was always one of the weaker traits to begin with.

Before, ambidextrous gave you 2x the shot for the same AP (I believe, anyway - can anyone confirm that it doesn't cost more than a single handgun?)

In JA3, ambidextrous dual shot only costs one less AP than two single shots. It's preeeetttty much useless, even more so than before 😕

another nerf, though unintentional, is throwing - again one of the weaker traits in previous games. This one is arguable, but basically what it comes down to is that in JA3, if your Merc doesn't have decent explosives skill, you don't want them to be throwing grenades. So if you have mercs with this trait that lack explosive skill, it's pretty useless.

I'm not sure if the team is interested in balancing this sort of stuff, but imo it could use some tweaking. Maybe throwing skill lowers your mishap chance with grenades in addition to its other benefits.

[Grim]

Well, it's nit really ambidextruous that is nerfed, but dual pistols. As you said, it costs too much APs to shoot 2 guns simultaneously, and the chance to hit is really low.
I don't know exactly what bonus (or malus negation) ambidextruous does, but in my experience it wasn't enough to make dual pistols viable. The only benefit of having two guns in hand is versatility. You can choose which one you use, so you can mix and match different weapons, mods and ammo to adapt to your current opponent.

Throwing. Yeah, they tied grenades way too much to the explosive skill. The throwing part should have been tied only to attributes, str for distance, dex for accuracy... They only kept str in.
However, throwing serves other purpose too, like throwing knives. I'm not sure for other throwables like flares, if their mishap depend on explo.

Try Blood one day, he's impressive with his knives!

[GODSPEED]

1 hour ago, Raeven said:

if your Merc doesn't have decent explosives skill, you don't want them to be throwing grenades. So if you have mercs with this trait that lack explosive skill, it's pretty useless.

Maybe throwing skill lowers your mishap chance with grenades in addition to its other benefits.

1 hour ago, Grim said:

Throwing. Yeah, they tied grenades way too much to the explosive skill. The throwing part should have been tied only to attributes, str for distance, dex for accuracy... They only kept str in.
However, throwing serves other purpose too, like throwing knives. I'm not sure for other throwables like flares, if their mishap depend on explo.

In JA3, flares are considered "explosives" when it comes to throwing them, select them, and the "explosives" stat is highlighted in the merc portraits. Mishaps happen based on your explosives skill. So, Vicki, with her Throwing Trait, is useless with grenades and flares, because her explosives are low... So all she can throw are knives??

Throwing grenades in JA2 is among my biggest pet-peeves in the game. I usually modified the .ini files to put grenades into the Throwing category instead of Explosives.


I get it, a grenade IS an explosive. But, for the game, it should be considered a "knife", same for flares. Explosives is the handling of C4, TNT, arming and disarming explosive traps, etc.. that is so different from pulling a pin on a grenade and throwing it.


Grenades should be a mix of Dexterity/Wisdom (mishaps chance), Strength (distance) and Dexterity (accuracy).
It's simple in my mind: In combat, it requires good handling and focus not to fumble the pin or drop it. You need to have a good arm to throw it, and very good precise movement to throw it accurately.

ie:
Mishaps = Dexterity + Wisdom /2 for an average
Distance = Strength /by wtv scale they use for distance stuff
Accuracy = Dexterity /wtv they use to calculate it +/- various envrionmental or visual or buffs debuffs

That's among the things I wish they would have fixed from JA2.

Edited July 17, 2023 by GODSPEED