What will be your first team?

[Solaris_Wave]

I was checking out some behind the scenes images and videos of Commando. Almost every photo of Arnie has him smoking a cigar (and not just reserved for that film). There is an interview on YouTube that has Arnie and Vernon Wells on a talk show for the movie's promotion, which is good to see:

https://youtu.be/1oHMz8okxFE

[RAS]

I.M.P. Merc

Barry

Fox

Wolf

Buns

[Raeven]

It depends on how much money you start with and whether or not elite mercs are available at the start or not.

If they are, then my team would definitely be:

1. I.M.P. , emphasis on leadership

2. Buns

3. Barry

4. Dr. Q

5. Livewire

If they aren't, or if I couldn't afford all of those, then I would very reluctantly swap Fox for Dr. Q.

If I'm able to afford a 6th merc at the start, I'd go with either Igor or Meltdown. Probably Meltdown just for being such a badass.

[MateKiddleton]

Fox
Buns
Mouse

I'm sure they'll get along just fine...

[Hongweibing]

The starting funds are a bit lower in JA3 (compared to JA2) and IMP is much more expensive, so it would be a bit different:

1) IMP - emphasis on leadership. Perks: negotiator, night-ops, stealthy.

2) Hitman - I always hire him 🙂 - good sniper, high experience level, funny personality, plus - good for training militia and teaching. Admittedly, he's not as good as he was in JA1 and DG, especially with the lower agility compared to JA2, but still, can't see myself not taking him.

3) Kalyna - apart from the fact that she's a new character, she seems a fairly good sniper (and one of the only affordable mercs with a rifle, which is especially nice considering her "armor penetration" perk), a decent mechanic (and there aren't many of those, it seems), and has decent leadership - the low wisdom is a bit of a problem, but one has to compromise. If she's unavailable, I'd go for Livewire instead (who is probably the better option in the long run).

4) Mouse - a nice all-rounder - good for stealth and melee (seems more viable here than in the previous games), OK medic (I don't usually use medics anyway, in JA2, on normal difficulty, I usually manage to avoid getting seriously injured, so there's no need for first-class medics - hopefully, the same will apply here), not a horrible shot + good wisdom, which means that aspect could be improved fairly quickly. If she's unavailable, I'd go for Blood instead.

5) Barry - the most affordable explosives expert, high wisdom, OK mechanic, not a horrible shot - what's not to like for a mere 2,990? Though if I had more funds, I'd go for Red instead.

After getting a bit more money, I'd add Ice as no. 6. Or maybe just get an RPC instead.

[Remi1987]

It's easy to load in merc's stats in a spreadsheet in Excel, already done by a forum guy here in another thread, then make some formulas; for example:

stat/cost, example markmanship skill / total cost. If you then set a filter for lets say 80+ markmanship, you find the best skill for your buck. Same for explosives, doctor and medic, mechanic skills, etc.

I think a good Markmanship, at least 80, and a good doc, and average mechanic / explosives, is the minimum to look for.

That's how I first find a cheap but good 3-squad team.

Later make extra small sized squads.

I believe a squad of just 3 carefully selected squad members; 80+ ish for markmanship, one doc, one mech, can be self-sufficient.

Leadership seems rare. Create that with own merc creation system.

I'm planning on making 3 ppl squads, first 1, later 2 then 3, and then work the map with these 3 teams.

For bigger operations these can merge into a 6 ppl squad to hit a sector. I don't like switching between squads in same sector.

Then this;

Dependent on how vendor shops, bobby ray, etc will finally be implemented, a few mule characters (high strenght, to carry and sell stuff).

Edited May 22, 2023 by Remi1987

[Povok]

I'm thinking 4 man squad to start (depends on funds)

Firts playthrough:

1) I.M.P. - maybe leadership-focused, low on mechanic, explosives and medical.

2) Igor - I found him to be such a great (cheap) addition to the team, he's probably going to earn a place in the startup line.

Then probably some characters that weren't in JA2.

3) Livewire looks like a nice option for a dedicted mechanic 

4) Buns maybe to fill the role of a sniper.

[Wigen]

On 5/8/2023 at 10:29 AM, Wigen said:

Buns, Buns and...Buns 😄

And seriously, this:

1. Raven

2. Buns

3. Fauda

4. Ice

Strong team, I know it 😄

Edited May 22, 2023 by Wigen

[Elite77]

I was actually thinking of Igor + Ivan, might be expensive combo but as far as I know it's possible, and probably why they made Ivan elite instead of legendary.

[ninjalex]

IMP, Ice and Wolf. That's my go to starter. We'll see if there is room for a cheap one next to them.

[Jaywalker]

Buns and whoever will agree to work with her. 😂

[Blade]

Well, i love this Question, as much as i am excited for the Game^^ I love to "create" some super MERCS, so i´m definetly looking for good physical Stats and high Wisdom... Marksmanship can be trained very very easy... Strenght can´t 🫡

Will start with:

1) I.M.P, High physical Stats, Wisdom Max, and the lowest score for Marksmanship possible (35?)... With a good Gun and NightOps he will get better very fast

2) Igor: Nice and Cheap Allrounder with good Stats, maybe i will teach him Mechanics. His special Ability could be better, but his Price is too good.

3) Barry: Already mentioned above, Good Physical, good Explosives, High Wisdom (91!) and the cheapest of all Mercs.

4) Buns: Cheapest Sniper with Wisdom 93 and some Medical Skills... Will be at Marksmanship 90+ very early... Compared to for example Raven, they are nearly the same, for half the price

5) Can´t decide if its Wolf or Thor... Both are possible with starting Money... Normaly Thor ist one of my Favorites 🤩... German, perfect Physical Stats, incredebly High Wisdom... Will be a Sniper soon, is a Medic, and his Leadership ist very high with 61?! But unfortanely he looks very shitty in the Game^^ So i think i will choose Wolf, who is looking very cool! Nice Stats, Wisdom is okay with 75 and i can use him as Mechanic (65).. His Ability is nice too, where he does all the Training 33% faster, and as a Teacher, the Team will get 10% more Exp. If Wolf had higher Marksmanship (and he will go for the 90+ during Game), he will be as good as Reaper and much better than Sidney for example, for a much lower Price!

 

Other Ones I´m thinking about are Steroid (Doesn´t like Igor, and low Wisdom, but good Shooter and Mechanic), Blood (very good, but not Excelent), Ice (Good Stats, but don´t like him that much).... Lifewires Ability is interesting too, will try it out^^

Later and with more money, of course we talk about Ivan and Shadow, maybe Raider for Militia. And let´s see what RPC and other M.E.R.C.S will come 😙

 

[KM131]

Grunty as alrounder and Fox as a medic, because they were always on my starter teams.

Explosive expert is a bit tricky, since Barry is the only affordable one at the start.

Mechanic will be covered by the I.M.P.

[Remi1987]

I throw the (I expect by then updated merc stats) in the spreadsheet, make some calculations for "markmanship per usd", best value/cost doc / medic / mechanic, not on the compromise of ending up with a wankass character, and go from there as a starting point. 2 or 3, not more,  as a start (less inventory management).

Raven prime candidate for mm.

Hitman as well.

As of now, leader of the 2nd squad is likely gonna be Raider (high leadership for quicker sector traveling)

[LoboNocturno]

As i commented in this topic before, though the question was which would be your first team (A-Team), so the headline should be what will be your starting team ?

 

I shortly finished playing JA2 Wildfire (Will give my opinion about it soon in Off Topic) and started few days ago with OG JA2 (Vanilla) and made starting team like this :

 

Back to the question, how would be my JA3 starting team ? Very possibly with IMP, Grizzly (Igor) & Vicki (Ivan or Fidel). My 6 er first team (A Team) would be something like I.M.P., Fauda, Fidel, Ivan, Vicki and maybe Flay & Pierre. But it can also change depending the recruitable characters we didnt see as yet in Jagged Alliance 3 or the addional DLC`s mercs that will come later on.

[Lunokhod]

Dudes. I have a question about legendary mercs. One guy in Steam said u cant hire them at the start of the game. How long u need to wait exactly? U need to take some location or finish some mission? Anyone know?

[Flowable]

i would go for an IMP character and M.D. for sure.
at one point i would to hire Scope.

can't actually believe that Sidney is more expensive than Shadow...

[Carmine]

2 hours ago, Lunokhod said:

Dudes. I have a question about legendary mercs. One guy in Steam said u cant hire them at the start of the game. How long u need to wait exactly? U need to take some location or finish some mission? Anyone know?

I guess hiring legendary mercenaries requires getting some gold.

 

[Lunokhod]

11 minutes ago, Carmine said:

I guess hiring legendary mercenaries requires getting some gold.

I thought they were just locked in beta. And half of map. Actually this is strange, u have enough of money for Shadow at the start. Why not?

[Stuurminator]

3 hours ago, Lunokhod said:

Dudes. I have a question about legendary mercs. One guy in Steam said u cant hire them at the start of the game. How long u need to wait exactly? U need to take some location or finish some mission? Anyone know?

From what I've seen from streamer footage, your AIM account gets upgraded to a "gold account" at some point, allowing you to recruit Gold-level mercenaries. In the case of the streamer I watched, the email implied that Kalyna (one of his recruits) gave him a good review, but I don't know what the exact mechanism is.

[Claudius33]

If I remember correctly from a stream, you need 20k to buy the gold account when its gets available, I don't know what are the exact conditions.

[Solaris_Wave]

Is it just money that unlocks availability of high level mercs or does your overall reputation affect it too?

The overall reputation is a tricky one because there would be things like, how good you are as an employer, your successes in the campaign and whether you have tried to gain favour with any gangs in Grand Chien.

Edited June 2, 2023 by Solaris_Wave

[Claudius33]

You get the offer by mail. I don't know what conditions trigger the mail

[Xeth Nyrrow]

Yeah it could be an event like liberating Drassen gives access to Bobby Ray's

[Remi1987]

10 hours ago, Carmine said:

I guess hiring legendary mercenaries requires getting some gold.

 

Yes, but what for Gus?