Who is you favorite new merc and why is it Kalyna?

[Frank]

No-brainer choice as an all-round merc in the early parts of the game and still a solid soldier once her experience level goes up. She's ditsy and quirky, but not over the top, just the right balance between adolescent naivety in her speech and battle-hardened sang froid in her attitude. Love her esthetic, and the voice is just perfect. I don't know why, but the line "If you need me I'll be reading my book" gets me every time.

[username55]

I don't like her at all. Only upside is the rifle she starts with.

Her attitude is completely bonkers, I mean did I hire a child or what?

Her voice drives me nuts, as do her lines.

I only ever take her to train / repair, away from front lines so I don'T have to listen to her 🤬

[LXant]

She is a good choice in the beginning, because she has high marksmanship, the rifle and a cheap price tag going for her.

The downside is her low wisdom, which means she won't become better as fast as other mercs, and will gradually fall behind. Which is not as bad as it sounds, because as a sniper she remains stationary anyway, so no need to level her dex/agi. The low Str (small inventory space) is the main problem I see, and her low wisdom means she can't be trained fast.

But she is a solid and cheap choice and if money is tight, she is a good alternative to many of the more expensive high marksmanship mercs. I usually take her with me.

[D13]

She comes equipped with a rifle that she knows how to use, and she makes funny noises (tak, bik, plop?) instead of yawning like a certain other merc. Whether or not one likes the character, it is well done and consistent.

In small teams I found Omryn and Livewire quite annoying. Kalyna is more tolerable. Once the team gets larger, I find it does not make much of a difference anymore as comments become less repetitive.

No opinion on Fauda yet. According to Steam achievement stats, just 25% of players have hired a "Legendary" merc as of today, and only a small share of those will have hired Fauda. So I guess she's still relatively unknown.

I consider IMP mercs as new mercs as well, and I like what they've done there. A bit more variety would be nice though, even just customizable colors (hair, skin, clothes) would make a difference.

[sandman25dcsss]

Livewire is clearly the best, being able to see positions of all enemies is overpowered. I trained her during 2 days and then gave her golden rifle, and she persistently kills 1 enemy per turn.

Edited August 6, 2023 by sandman25dcsss

[LoboNocturno]

Hands down Flay, at least he brings some seriousness with him and he has a original French accent and also throws in some French words, his look is also ok as a hunter and his stats is also a lil above average, with some progress he can become 1 of the best snipers of the game, only his agility is low but with some training and usage, around mid game you can get him to a high level. Wish there were more characters like him in the game.

[LoboNocturno]

7 hours ago, username55 said:

I don't like her at all. Only upside is the rifle she starts with.

Her attitude is completely bonkers, I mean did I hire a child or what?

Her voice drives me nuts, as do her lines.

I only ever take her to train / repair, away from front lines so I don'T have to listen to her 🤬

Totally agree her voice and speeches are like a teen but Livewire is a lot worst and more annoying imo like a 14 year old, wish there was a option like in JA2 where we ca mute the mercs we want to.

[Frank]

16 hours ago, D13 said:

She comes equipped with a rifle that she knows how to use, and she makes funny noises (tak, bik, plop?) instead of yawning like a certain other merc. Whether or not one likes the character, it is well done and consistent.

 

"Так" is actually a word found in many Slavic languages and it means as much as "like that." In this context, she is confirming your order.

[sandman25dcsss]

Tak is "yes" in Ukrainian.

[wilku]

The ONLY disappointing merc in the game is exactly Kalyna. Wisdom level of barn door, she just doesn't progress at all. Useless as a mechanic, requires a LOT of time to become a decent marksman and the armor-negating attack is not relevant if you understand what AP ammo is. She has no advantages at all.

[sandman25dcsss]

1 minute ago, wilku said:

The ONLY disappointing merc in the game is exactly Kalyna. Wisdom level of barn door, she just doesn't progress at all. Useless as a mechanic, requires a LOT of time to become a decent marksman and the armor-negating attack is not relevant if you understand what AP ammo is. She has no advantages at all.

Shotgun does not have AP ammo...

[wilku]

Yes, it does: the breacher type.
But more important: why would you build a marksman towards a shotgun usage?

[sandman25dcsss]

23 minutes ago, wilku said:

Yes, it does: the breacher type.
But more important: why would you build a marksman towards a shotgun usage?

I didn't know, but treating all ammo as AP can be powerful, especially for non-basic ammo.

The whole system is stupid, I prefer games where units need to train different skills for different weapons. Here having high marksmanship means you are expert in every ranged weapon.

[MisterSlanky]

My favorite mercenary depends on what we're assessing.  Wolf is my favorite all-rounder who brings something to nearly every team he's part of (including great interactions).  Meltdown is my favorite for lines and world interactions.  Barry is my favorite for being so grossly overpowered it's not funny.  Thor is my favorite doctor.  So we're working on a continuum here.

As for Kalyna, she is my favorite for being my least favorite.  I find her entirely awful in every way.  She's the worst "mechanic" available (unless we count Wolf, who has 2 fewer points but points everywhere else).  She's the worst "leader" available.  She's the quantitatively dumbest mercenary in the game.  Her voice acting is terrible, and I'd argue that it's pretty immoral to bring somebody who has the emotional age of a 10 year old into combat.  Sure she can shoot, but so can everyone else since marksmanship is the quickest increasing skill in the game.  Even her rifle is near worthless since you don't need it for the first three battles and as long as you send in somebody immoral to dig up a few graves where you'll wind up with a trove of 3-4 rifles by the fourth sector.

[CersaisAdvocate]

I like livewire. She is very useful and has a lot good lines. I can even live with her civilian clothes better when with a of other mercs 

[CersaisAdvocate]

I really do not like Kalyna. The 10yo sniper theme does not get me. Fauda is just too bad for her costs and I don't like the old dog trait.

[wilku]

My absolute favourite is Larry, because of his lines. Larry asking if Luigi is a plumber blew my mind 😄 Plus the sobriety bear theme (and his comments on anything related to bears, not to spoil too much).

I seriously don't understand people's enthusiasm for Kalyna. Dumb as brick, childish, mediocre marksman, crappy leader, and.... no long-term contract bonus! I jsut discovered in my 3rd pplaythrough she's damn expensive! She costs more than for example Meltdown, if you hire her for 14 days. 600$ is a lot for a milita-trainer-wannabe-mechanic-who-can't-open-any-locks.

 

 

[sandman25dcsss]

@wilku

Some mercs scale much worse than others. For instance, Buns costs me 27k for 14 days while Grunty costs just 9k. Both are recruits and have the same 8th level.

[D13]

28 minutes ago, wilku said:

I seriously don't understand people's enthusiasm for Kalyna. Dumb as brick, childish, mediocre marksman, crappy leader, and

For the early game she has a useful combination of marksmanship, mechanical, and an armor bypass perk, she brings a rifle, and is affordable.

The JA3 world has elements that are or seem supernatural, and Kalyna's obsession with these sorts of things allows for many fitting dialogue interjections, in that regard she's right at home in the "Cursed Forest" region (and she interacts well with some of its inhabitants).

[MisterSlanky]

23 hours ago, D13 said:

For the early game she has a useful combination of marksmanship, mechanical, and an armor bypass perk, she brings a rifle, and is affordable.

But that's just it.  She's not.  Her marksmanship is reasonable, I'll give you that - but without wisdom to help improve it, that's where it always will be.  She can train, but again - without wisdom you'll be stuck there forever.  Hell, MD is a better trainer once you factor in the training perks.  She has literally the second worst mechanical for any of the early game mercs (and Wolf, who is a better choice in every way, is the only one - at two points lower at that).  The armor bypass perk is either not needed in the early game (I've never struggled with or without it), and late game it's overshadowed by weapon penetration and AP ammo.  You're essentially paying for an unneeded rifle, because you'll be waist deep in a minimum of 4 not even half-way through the first island (again, at a time where rifles aren't even required).  And to top it all off, she's NOT affordable.  Due to her lack of an insurance policy, her on-screen cost is deceptive; she doesn't come with a 14-day discount (or even 7-day discount), and she raises her prices faster than most.  She winds up being OUTRAGEOUSLY expensive in very short order.

Early game I'd rather have nearly every other merc.  Except Omryn, screw that guy.

Edited August 12, 2023 by MisterSlanky

[wilku]

On 8/11/2023 at 6:28 PM, D13 said:

For the early game she has a useful combination of marksmanship, mechanical, and an armor bypass perk, she brings a rifle, and is affordable.

 

Actually not: her mechanical is too low for most locks and traps, so she is effectively uselss as a mechanic.

[D13]

Low Mechanical - it's all relative though. She has the 4th highest Mechanical stat from all the mercs available at the start of the game, and JA3 even categorizes her as a "mechanic" with the gear icon. Other than her, there's Vicki (too expensive unless squad built around her), Steroid (pricier despite no medical deposit either), and Livewire. I can see why some may prefer Steroid or Livewire, but it doesn't seem completely unreasonable to pick Kalyna to bridge a MEC skill gap.

As for the rifle not being needed - perhaps so, but one doesn't know that at the outset of the (first) campaign. And by the time I had made it to A20, one of my squad's rifles was still the one Kalyna had brought with her.

I would also argue that the primary use of a mechanic is to repair and modify equipment, especially early in the game when gun choice is still based more on availability and condition rather than purpose and weapon stats.

Anyway, I think Kalyna is a great addition to the series if only because she gets people talking - on the Steam forum, there aren't many (any?) threads with as many replies as the one about her 😄