When deciding how many Mercs to take into battle based on their pay, contract duration and skills can leave you with more questions than answers and whilst we can point out to you our recommendations on who best to take based on budget and beginner choices, there is one crucial tip that many sources are avoiding in their tips – the custom Merc. The custom Mercenary is available from the beginning of Jagged Alliance 3 and should be utilized throughout your playthrough. But with many possibilities for Builds centred around a particular skill, your custom Merc can make or break your team. Whether you are looking for a great leader or someone with a specific expertise in the field, you may not need to look further than the person sitting in the gaming chair. This is Vincent’s guide on everything you need to know about custom Mercenaries in Jagged Alliance 3.
How to Make a Custom Mercenary in Jagged Alliance 3
When choosing who to recruit as your starting Mercenary squad in Jagged Alliance 3, you will have an option that appears hidden on the surface of the Merc Lists. On initial viewing, the Mercs are divided into Tiers – Recruit, Veteran, Elite, and Legendary. But you can switch page via the open tabs underneath the site URL which is called I.M.P Web. By clicking on this you will see a page all about Mercenary Profiling. You need to click ‘Log In’, ‘OK’ and then ‘Skip the P.E.T Test’ so that you can go straight into the custom Merc Build that we recommend.
If you want to try out the Personality Test feel free as you may uncover a Build that is more suited towards you playstyle rather than what we recommend. The following page outlines each skill and stat relevant to Jagged Alliance 3’s core gameplay mechanics. It is up to you on how you wish to set these dials and then choose the relevant Perks that suit the skills you chose on the previous screen. After you have set the Build, confirm and pay $6,999 which has no further costs to pay upon creating your Merc and will stay with you throughout the game so long as you keep them on your assigned squad. The custom Merc is a great asset and with no further costs for extending the contract or making any adjustments to the Build, you will find that it works out much better for you in the long-term for finances.
Related: Best Weapons in Jagged Alliance 3 – Tier List
Best Tips We Can Offer for Building your Custom Merc
Whatever you decide to assign with your attribute points will determine who you decide to bring with you to make up the remainder of your squad. We highly recommend always having 4-5 Mercenaries recruited at all times, regardless of how far you are into the game. When setting up each skill and their corresponding stat, you should place either Medical, Explosive and Mechanical to zero based on your other chosen Mercs. Because of this, we highly recommend that you pick who you want to recruit based off playstyle and finances. You should prioritize having each of these skills with a Merc that specializes in that specific field. For example, a squad with Fox (Medical) should have teammates such as Steroid (Mechanical) and Barry (Explosive) alongside either your custom Merc or another Mercenary to fill that space with another speciality.
Mercenary relationships are incredibly important in this game as they can unnecessarily increase your Merc’s demand of pay or result in your recruits having to work separately. Because of this, you will want to assess whether your team have any problems and if so, could a member be replaced by your custom Merc? For example, if you want high Wisdom and Medical expertise, M.D is the perfect choice but his hatred towards Steroid can damage your squad’s dynamic and funds. Therefore, you may wish to create a Strength Build with Mechanical expertise for your Merc to fill that much needed void in battle and exploration.
Best Custom Merc Build
Agility is incredibly important, if not the most important skill in Jagged Alliance 3 as the majority of battles and winning them is dependant on your positioning, fast calls in intense situations and being able to utilize cover whenever possible. A lot of players have found success in stealthy squads such as utilizing Fox’s 100 Agility in combination with Blood’s Dexterity. With the limited resources of ammo and gunpowder to match, you may find that melee is a great way to go for the majority of your playthrough.
But when assigning points to your custom Merc Build, you should prioritize Wisdom over everything else. This is incredibly helpful in Leadership and Intelligence Builds for training up your Mercenaries and improving their overall stats whilst having the increased chance of finding Medical Herbs throughout your journey. Another incredibly important skill to have is Marksmanship as this will determine your ability to connect shots. Everything else should have an averaging amount of 60-70 points. With all of this in mind, this is our recommended custom Mercenary Build for Jagged Alliance 3.
- Health – 70
- Agility – 85
- Dexterity – 70
- Strength – 70
- Leadership – 80
- Wisdom – 85
- Marksmanship – 85
- Mechanical – 0
- Explosives – 50
- Medical – 0
- Personal Perk – The Negotiator
- Tactical Perks – Auto Weapons/CQC Training/Heavy Weapons/Hand-to-Hand (Perk 1) and Teaching/Throwing/Night Ops (Perk 2)
We have listed multiple Tactical Perks as this really comes down to your playstyle. Each Perk is relevant to a particular setting of battle. For example, having the Night Ops Perk is incredibly helpful when operating at night, whilst each weapon Perk specific to the type you primarily use (Assault, SMG, Pistol or Melee) will determine which Perk you choose out of these. The same is said for Perk 2 as those who want to go all-in on Wisdom should prioritize Training, whilst having the ability to throw weapons further where explosives provide an incredible amount of damage on the field.
That was our custom Mercenary Build we recommend for Jagged Alliance 3. For more on the latest video game releases, check out all new and incoming content written by the Gamer Journalist team here. Thank you for reading.
Published: Jul 25, 2023 04:01 pm