Jagged Alliance 3 - Before you start: Things to know! [EN] by Kordanor

Before you start playing Jagged Alliance 3, it might be useful to know about the one or the other game mechanic. In this video I am going to explain some mechanics, which will help you get started and which are not covered by the ingame help. This video is not a full guide with explanations of all mechanics but it concentrates on a few "special" things which also might not be that obvious. I guess you can still call it tutorial or starting tips and at the end you will also get some performance tips. I keep story spoilers to a minimum.
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:16 Ironman?
00:58 Starting Funds
02:10 Agility is King
02:59 XP Distribution
04:10 Logbook
04:43 "Crafting"-Skills
05:50 Operations-Duration
08:04 Misleading Merc Prices
08:52 Sector Inventory
09:23 Performance-Tips
Developer: Haemimont Games
Publisher: THQ Nordic
Developer Webpage: www.jaggedalliance.com/
Game on Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/10...
Overview of all games I played: ndnw.net/GameDB/GameDB.php
Let's Play Permission: General Permission at: www.thqnordic.com/de/company/...
Access to the game was provided pre release for free by THQ Nordic

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

If you want to buy the game and support me at the same time, you can do so via the following Referral link to Fanatical: www.fanatical.com/en/game/jagged-alliance-3?ref=kordanor Important: Fanatical is an official and authorized vendor and NOT a greymarket seller of dubious "china keys".

[@Oddball_E8]

OMG! I didn't know Grunty had his own gaming channel! ;)

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

I am the pre JA3 Grunty though...who is not referring to his mother with every second sentence :D

[@Oddball_E8]

@@KordanorsGamingLair Still haven't played JA3, but if you say so ;)

[@GerritTV187]

Úberraschung!

[@kulimandar]

Exactly what I was trying to test: more merc's - less exp. Thank you for saving time.

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

Hah, you're welcome! :)

[@sethstriker]

Excellent tips! You've earned a new subscriber :)

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

Thanks a lot! I am doing a lot of Dungeoncrawler stuff at the moment, but more JA3 content will also be there :)

[@kalenics123]

Honestly... these are very good tips. Subscribed.

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

Thank you! Doing a lot of Dungeoncrawler stuff here, but more JA related content will also follow :)

[@Masterfrank_MCMLXX]

Many Thanks from Germany, this is the most helpful video for me so far. Especially the "XP-Hack" and the relationship between Leadership and time for travel are very interesting. And I would have never thougt that Train Mercs would be so powerful. I assumed they would gain 1 or at best 2 Points per session and so I did not use it, because everything else already cost so much time. 2 Things about the game that I consider negative: - the "Shop-System" (it is ridiculous) - the small amount of pictures for the IMP-Character. It seems the Developers said to themthelves: "We can be lazy here, the players will do the work."

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

Thank you! Btw: I also got the video over on "Kordanors Reviews" in German :D Training can be powerful, but then again, time is money and once the skill is high it also gets much slower. Regarding your negative Points: Yeah, more options to buy/sell would have been nice. Although, I don't miss Bobby Rays actually. The IMP Character choices are a different story as its not just the pictures. The developers actually went full in: Each picture has a different character model in the game, and I think even a different voice. So essentially they created 6 full characters and put tons of work into that. But I think it would have been a good idea to have like 3 "Face Options" for each of these "characters", which should have been easily doable (just adjusting the head for the model)

[@Masterfrank_MCMLXX]

@@KordanorsGamingLair Thanks for you answer. 1. I miss Bobby Ray A LOT! But they could have at least implemented an actual shop, where you can choose between different items and look at them before you buy them. (And where you dont have to be careful around the shop area to avoid buying something by accident with one wrong click.) 2. Nice explantion. I did not think about the character models and voices, 10 or 20 of those would have been a bit to much to expect. But the "Face option" like same model with/without beard/sunglasses/helmet/bandana etc. would have been nice. But the modders already started to pump stuff out. Lets see how much faces/skins/voices there will be in 6 months. 😏

[@rps215]

The one positive thing about the IMP creation is that each portrait each has their own unique world model, unlike JA2 one. While I don't quite miss Bobby Ray's, I do miss Tony (and Raul).

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

@@rps215Yeah, The vendor-system in the game feels a bit unpolished in general. Developers also said that this is something they would have liked to expand on but didnt find the time. So I guess we might still get some better interface and vendors with patches.

[@enx1693]

Thank you.. I'm starting right now and the tip on the shooting AP fixed is MASSIVE and I didn't see it quoted in any of the guides I read

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

You mean that every character has the same AP costs for shooting no matter how much AP they have? Yeah, thats quite a deviation from previous JA titles, leading to a couple of issues with low Agi Mercs.

[@Ccccccccccsssssssssss]

Great video, thanks! Super helpful, straight to the point, love it 👋

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

Thank you! Wish you lots of fun with the game! :)

[@BenchongDy]

Very insightful! Thank you!

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

Thank you! Glad it helped! :)

[@Ty-bz7zx]

Interesting and informative. Das ist sehr gut ! Thanks for the effort!

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

Thank you! :)

[@edinpandzic5838]

very informative...thumbs up!

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

Thank you! :)

[@AkelasanAK]

... very informative video, good job!..

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

Thanks a lot! :)

[@samueldowney2806]

Very useful info thank you! Liked, subbed, and will check out the other JA3 videos soon also. Thank you very much for sharing this info.

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

Thanks a lot! Much appreciated! :)

[@acpcardoso]

Great video man, thanks

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

Thank you! And you're welcome! :)

[@delcien9697]

great guide video! :)

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

Thank you! :)

[@PiecykM]

i'm after 30 hours of JA3 and this video was worth to watch, thanks :D

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

Thank you! Glad to hear! :)

[@uhu4677]

Very helpful. Thx!

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

Thanks for stopping by! :)

[@shanelongest9326]

Very helpful. Thank you

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

Thank you! :)

[@rjculliford]

Thanks for this!

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

You're welcome! :)

[@CH-ml4rz]

Great info!

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

Thank you! :)

[@-bld-]

Brilliant video, I'll be watching your follow up on tactics too. How do you suggest distributing remaining stat points between Health, Leadership and Marksmanship? Thanks!

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

Thank you! There is actually an oversight here, which I did add as sticky note. Oversight, as in: Something I unfortunately didnt mention in the video: Leadership is incredibly important to reduce traveling time. Formula is Leadership-25% being the traveling bonus speed. So with 85 Leadership you got a 60% speed bonus which is massive. So unless you plan to add Raider to your team, I recommend to set Leadership to 85 actually. I would take the points out of Hitpoints or Strength.

[@-bld-]

@@KordanorsGamingLair Thank you, I saw the note. Specifically, how do you allocate between (H)ealth and (S)trength? I'm thinking H=85 and S=40. Then '0' in Mech, Exp and Med. Thanks again and all the best with your channel. : ) Edit: I notice you have S=85 and H=30, but with points still unallocated.

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

@@-bld- Thank you, yeah I would probably do the same. Right now I took the Grenade perk, but I guess I would not take that either then without strength ^^

[@lobonocturno420]

Jagged Alliance 3 🔥🔥🔥 comes finally also for console next week !!! 💚

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

Indeed! And then you got Bobby Ray right at the start! Enjoy! :)

[@SpotOnJ2K]

Thanks for all the tips! How do you think the game compares to JA2? Just going by what little I've seen, the graphics seem very nice but it seems to lack a lot of the personality of the old games. The UI and character graphics seem really sleek and streamlined like an XCOM game, and it doesn't appear that the mercs have talking heads. I know not everyone will care about all that but it's charm like that that really makes a game stand out to me.

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

There are differences and I miss the talking heads as well. But: The game definitely has a lot of personality. Also more in some regard. The characters are much more fleshed out and they interject themselves again and again into conversations. It's super fun to hear all their comments when talking to NPCs. JA3 is clearly more "RPG" than the predecessors were. Graphics are great, and the Music captures the JA2 vibes pretty much 1 to 1, and adds some fantastic african music. In some regards there is certainly place for improvement (like interface and tiredness), and the combat setup is quite important now, stealth as well. You could say, that JA3 is like JA2 meets Commandos meets Wasteland 2, but it keeps its own identity.

[@henkhenkste6076]

its an insult to JA2

[@lenni-hazels]

@@henkhenkste6076 I guess that means no JA3 for you? To each their own as they say.

[@tankerock]

One protip from me would be to hire the free mercs Larry, Flay & Smiley as soon as you can. I use Larry to make ammo, Flay & Smiley are used for training militia while my main squad is going around kicking ass.

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

But that also goes into spoiler Territory, so..but I agree, that they are of great help. Not that you really "need" them though. That said, Larry is probably the coolest character in the game :D

[@DrRESHES]

Very nice.

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

Thank you! :)

[@ExeErdna]

The way this game works it seems like it really wants you to run a small team but many squads. That's why the IMP this time is really strong. Eventhough I will say if you're running those small teams you kinda want your Imp to be an explosive expert since it helps you spot mines. Which synergies with a melee fighter since they want maxed strength for throwing nades and carrying other explosives. I think that's why they added co-op so they can be a terror especially if one is using a silenced weapon.

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

Hrm, I don't see the intention here. Especially as there are only very few characters with high leadership. Then again leadership might not work as intended. Dropping a video about that soon, possibly today.

[@homiefromgw]

That's the thing that got me in the beginning. Only the mercs that are in sector will gain xp from quests...

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

I actually expected that only the active squad gets XP, but nope, everyone in the sector.

[@threestars2164]

Thanks!

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

Hope it helps! :)

[@johnsamu]

I'm playing this JA3 for a few days now and it's a GREAT game even better than JA2. But it's rather challenging even on the "easy mode", the AI is quite good and sneaky, so a great game.

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

Yeah, it's a great game, but still got some rough edges. But seeing how successful the game is, I think its safe to say that lots of the issues will also be patched out in the future. I am not sure if the AI is really that good but I would consider the AI as possibly the weakest point in JA2, so I am glad that it's not as easy to abuse here. ^^ Some of the rough edges are also around lack of info given to the player, which is also why I made this videos. The game isn't really hard I would say, but it does have a bit of a learning curve. First time I was at the Bunker on Earnie Island I took some serious damage. With better tactics however it's relatively easy to demolish the enemies.

[@rps215]

Also to avoid frustation, when you start a new game, make sure the mercs you want are available before you do the IMP creation.

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

Yep, thats also a good idea ^^

[@seanjones1821]

How do u rank up your merca or is it automatically done

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

Not sure exactly what you mean. From doing stuff like quests you get XP, these will lead to level ups. On top of that there is a learning by doing system for the attributes and skills. But the level ups allow you to select perks. However it will also increase the cost of mercs.

[@Dunleap]

8:50 Discount for 14 days highering do not apply to "Kalyna". Seems she always take same amount per day. I also thing when you make new character you should add +1 point to Medicine. I belive if its at "0" it do not lvl up on its own when you patch yourself. But when its at +1 it lvl up seems to lvl up when you use bandages.

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

Yeah, some characters have no time discount. Next to Kalyna that's also Scope and Shadow. Regarding medicine: I am not aware of any limitation here. However, the way field training works, you wouldn't actually want to increase medicine for these characters as these are "wasted" training budget points. Besides of that, you can just train them via an operation and they will skyrocket, and since the latest patch you don't even need a trainer for that. I made a different video regarding the character system: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aqCXfJxvm9Fqd9k

[@Dunleap]

geat I will have a look at this video @@KordanorsGamingLair

[@tankerock]

I just finished the game on Mission Impossible difficulty and it was fun but felt very short.

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

I think the length is fine if you compare it to JA1 and JA2. However it was far too easy, even on MI. On my German Let's Play Channel (Just called "Kordanor") I am currently doing a solo Playthrough with just one character. And so far, it has been quite fun and challenging, but still easier than I expected. Imho it should be impossible to solo the game at all at MI.

[@Bambeakz]

I am so lost in this game..I played some Xcom in the past but this is another beast. And why would you give the player a tutorial in game? 😂 If a character is KIA is he/she gone for the rest of the game? I play the first difficulty without forgiveness but I thought my recruits couldn’t die on that difficulty 😅

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

Yeah, the Iterations Firaxis did on XCom simplified a lot of things and also made other stuff rather unintuitive. The issue is, that some players also got used to it. A bit like "If you push on the breaks of your car all the time you will be faster". You can learn to do that...but when you are then going back to a more realisitc system, and try to use what you learnt at Xcom, you might end up with a problem. That said the tutorial and the info in JA3 could be far better. And yeah...characters who are dead, stay dead ^^

[@thesurfinsuricate]

Would love to know the whole healing mechanic

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

I was actually telling the support about the duration jumping around and it was said that this is probably a bug. So I don't think there is much more to it than I mentioned int he video.

[@thesurfinsuricate]

@@KordanorsGamingLair sorry dont understand duration hopping around? What does that mean? e.g. should you let time pass. R&R. The healing from satellite view consumes health kits when they run out what to do?

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

@@thesurfinsuricate Check the video regarding healing and the time hopping around the duration displayed there makes no sense. You can potentially go into a city with a hospital.

[@Fhyrne]

Is there cool characters like Gus tarballs and magic in this title?

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

Hey, yeah, there are actually both in. Their personality is made a bit more..."present" though.

[@Fhyrne]

@@KordanorsGamingLair "Prime"

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

Updates: Comment by Capieluky: You can also disable autosave, this way you have a normal manual save and quicksave during the "Dead is Dead" game. Update via Patch 1.02: "Operations now refund crafting fee on cancel/abort" Further Updates: Leadership decreases the traveling time massively. The formula is Leadership -25% = Bonus. The only good Charakter in that regard is Raider. So its worth a thought to have this on the main character. The minimal attributes for operions are the following: 30 Medicine (to treat wounds) 20 Mechanics (to repair) 50 Explosive (to build bombs/ammo)

[@cameronsabin8950]

Thor is also a good choice for Leadership at 62.

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

@@cameronsabin8950 While he is obviously better, unfortunately he is not great for that either. I will explain in more detail in the next video which will be all about leadership.

[@dontanton7775]

9:04 You can transfer items to another squad. Right click on the item, You can even see it at 9:16. "Give to squad".

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

@@dontanton7775 Nice catch. Didnt notice. I am usually playing the German version, and in there it's also called "Give Unit", which makes it more obscure.

[@FamKielczewski]

gut erklärt

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

Danke dir! Einen deutschen Kanal hab ich übrigens auch :D kzbin.info/door/kxgQnnyuRxotg34KmFuUdw

[@FamKielczewski]

@@KordanorsGamingLair MEGA, abonniert .. danke

[@handcannon9814]

Can u make a video how to recruit the last guy in black. Hehe

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

You mean Gus? Hrm, not planned at the moment but will consider it ^^

[@handcannon9814]

@@KordanorsGamingLair no the leader of the legion hehe big spoiler

[@jorgelopezromero9622]

I’m a JA2 veteran and also around 20hrs into JA3 and still found a lot of these tips massively useful and clarifying. Great work, my dude!

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

Thanks a lot! Also check the update I posted in the comments here as the 30 requirement for the operation wasn't quite complete.

[@Nederlansoldat]

I didnt even know you can make your own character and im 12 hours in lmao

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

Haha, yeah, you are not the only one. Also some streamers before release didn't know, which is why I added it to this video :D

[@sakura7431]

Knowing too much, kills the fun😂

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

This shouldnt be too much. Its just basic (albeit not well explained) mechanics, no story spoilers and not too much "cookie cutter"

[@Todestelzer]

Even my 3080 can’t maintain 60fps with everything maxed out. Sadly no DLSS available.

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

But "everything maxed out" should not be the standard anyways. If the game falsely does so, then it's not ideal ofc. I would just try to lower options and see if they increase the performance. Just because you can select max, it doesnt mean you should. I remember a time when Games implemented graphical options no PC at the time could max out and expect even 30 fps.

[@MutantMaggotX]

DLSS is hiding in Anti-Aliasing options. it supports DLSS, FSR, and XESS. The resolution scale is where it hides the Ultra Quality, Quality, etc presets for upscaling.

[@Todestelzer]

@@MutantMaggotX oh have to take a look at it 👍

[@MutantMaggotX]

@@KordanorsGamingLair I'm surprised you didn't mention where Upscaling was hiding. But your 1070 should help a bit more with AA set to FSR2 and resolution scale for those presets.

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

@@MutantMaggotX Just adding to this. DLSS is only available for cards which support it. (Which the 3080 should. My 1070 does not)

[@ericmoreau4568]

I wonder if there's a pain lover out there who finished the game on Mission Impossible Iron Man mode...🤯

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

As mentioned in the Video Ironman doesnt really exist in the usual sense, so its well doable. But you gotta love pain anyways: I think the most frustrating thing in JA3 is accidentally opening fights by screwing up stealth. And while on "Ironman" you can still reload most stuff, this is something you cannot reload.

[@ericmoreau4568]

@@KordanorsGamingLairI'm just about to settle down for a leisurely (not too stressful) hand of JA3 and need to coordinate my split up squads somehow, but yeah, the game is amazing! I agree with you about stealth; so may times I've reloaded to get it right...

[@moonsong92]

I don't know about good optimisation. Ryzen 5 5600g can barely squeeze out 30 fps on low settings. And this level of graphics we've seen in Starcraft 2 ten years ago.

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

You are playing with an APU? And no, the graphics are nowhere near SC2

[@Heatx79]

Title is Things you should know before you start. Video starts by talking about Ironman mode….. ohhhhhhhhhhh, here I was thinking Ironman was for people who wanted a more challenging run all these years…

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

Yeah, not in this game... Actually in JA2 the Ironman was already non-standard and just deactivated saving in combat. ^^ But as it was posted in the comments: There is even another thing with Ironman mode: You can just disable autosave...that way you basically have no limitation with the ironman mode...just that you are limited to 1 manual and 1 quicksave slot. So if you want to go for the achievement, thats actually super easy.

[@eba6230]

Dude you sound like Grunty

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

Well, I AM German :P

[@petrirautiala3038]

Good vid, just please don't talk so fast. Calmness goes along way :)

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

Thank you! Yeah, its always a balancing act. But usually I think people want as much possible as quick as possible...and the attentionspan isn't he longest either. Mine certainly isn't ^^

[@marcusperry7461]

Before you start. Game has NO Accessibility options. So if you have bad eyes, dont buy.

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

Yeah, there is not much in that regard. No colorblind mode, no mode to "read the screen" like Wasteland 3 has.

[@marcusperry7461]

@@KordanorsGamingLair It doesnt even have increased text sizes or a dark mode. I get that this is not a trple A developer but come on, its 2023 ! Some accessibility and keybindings is the bare minimum for ANY game !

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

@@marcusperry7461 Yeah, I thought it would have Interface scaling, then checked again after your comment, but couldnt find it. Thats a bit weird. Keybindings are customizable though. Although some keys are fixed.

[@marcusperry7461]

@@KordanorsGamingLair Oh, thats my bad. I actually did not mean keybindings in JA3 but rather keybindings in general. I have had two instances in the past few months where new games did not have full customisable keybindings wich I find unacceptable in 2023. I returned them all, just like JA3

[@capieluky]

If you choose dead is dead (i did it for achievment- iropn man) and if you disable autosave you just have one normal save and one quicksave. (version 1,03)

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

Oh, wow, ok, that basically removes the whole Ironman aspect completely then. Thanks for the comment!

[@capieluky]

But no saves during combats is fun, because i played this game save load, load load and now i playing it more fluently and cost me more brain activity 😀@@KordanorsGamingLair

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

@@capieluky Yeah, saving during combat is something I always deactivate. If you can save during combat, you can basically just savescum through every encounter ^^ I also played that way in JA1 recently

[@HarryXPS8300]

Jaggoff Alliance ❤😊

[@KordanorsGamingLair]

Wait, what? ^^