Jagged Alliance 3 Speedrun 1h40m Solo Ironman Melee

[@pultsari9036]

And here I am, doing a slow play. Gathering money and wishing I could hire more than 15 mercs to counter the "world flip" event. Very eye- opening and amazing playthrough, thanks. I clearly need to pay more attention to perks choices and synergies.

[@Teknikaali]

Thanks! ...and I feel your pain. My first playthrough was honestly a mess of bad perk choices and non-optimal builds for my mercs. Too bad you can't reset perks after confirming the decision...

[@ihatethatyoutubedisplaysyo8106]

I fought 5 squads in lys rouge with 6 mercs. 40mm fun time

[@daymandox2784]

What a proof of concept and actual understanding the mechanics of the game. I guess the side quests on D6 and D8 are only for xp values. You said in the comment section there are a few strategies you tried out. Interested in seeing more of this beautiful game. So far you nailed it :)

[@Teknikaali]

Thanks and yes! D6 and D8 quests are purely for the XP. The run could maybe be done quicker by leaving out D8 (AI turns really slow down the pace...), but I didn't really figure out if you'd just have enough levels and perks to face A20/Major afterwards... 🤔 Most of the different strategies I tried ended up the solo merc being too low lvl, just taking too much time or being more dangerous overall compared to this path shown on the vid. My first idea was to split up multiple mercs across the map and hit the key points as fast as possible. But it was actually harder to run multiple low lvl mercs equipped with weapons than a single melee merc. "Too many moving parts to figure out", so to say 😁 I don't say it couldn't work, but the time I spent getting it right with a single merc... I can't think of how many hunderds of hours it would take to get multi-merc run done "safely"!

[@FORLOSTANT]

Impressive Speedrun! I never thought it would be possible to clear JA3 so quickly until I saw this video.

[@Teknikaali]

Me neither! 😄 Glad you enjoyed it 👍

[@wyprutas]

I was looking for JA3 speedrun since it's release 😄Good job!

[@Teknikaali]

First I was surprised there was no speedrun done after a year of release. But when I realized you couldn't finish the game in under 5 minutes, I started to see why nobody else had ran it yet... 😂

[@zioncore]

Good work, good work. You see how a well thought through melee player is better than all beefed up sniper with beefed up rifle I guess.

[@Teknikaali]

Thanks! One key aspect of going melee is that you don't have to repair a melee weapon whereas a rifle requires maintenance. So you can skip the mechanical attribute entirely and spend the points elsewhere 👍 I did try taking out Major at A20 using duo sniper mercs (M82 + M24 I think), but it didn't yield as steady results as a single melee merc for example.

[@zioncore]

@@Teknikaali Gotcha, would just be very interesting seeing how fast you could pull off a sniper run! 🙃 Repairs is still a pain in the butt though thats right.

[@sewonpak1004]

That was a great play. I'm very impressed, and I learned different ways to play. Thank you for the video.

[@stevegreen8144]

Never knew it worked like this. Pretty cool.

[@Teknikaali]

It was quite fun figuring out how the enemy AI reacts to this kind of gameplay. Each failed run improved my understanding of the mechanics and how to turn them into my favor 👍

[@wilhelmfruchte7245]

good job buddy, i enjoyed watching it! give us some more of that stuff ;-)

[@Teknikaali]

Thanks! I did JA: Back in Action roughly 12 years ago, so maybe I'll do JA4 the next time... Don't hold your breath! 😁

[@franktower9006]

Like watching a Terminator mauling everything in it's path.

[@Teknikaali]

Unstoppable force 💪

[@maxvconsult]

Феерично, смотрится на одном дыхании

[@Teknikaali]

(translated: "It's fantastic, it takes one breath away.") - Thanks!

[@jeffreydardenne4588]

I thinked that Ivan come's back :)

[@Kevin-rz8vx]

You just RP'd as Jason Voorhees, running around murdering everyone you come across with a machete and shrugging of hits through sheer willpower alone. Imagine seeing this from the NPC perspective, this isn't a coup it's just a stock standard serial killer.

[@Teknikaali]

Absolutely terrifying sight indeed. Oh. Make sure to have "Machete Kills" next up on your movie playlist... 😉

[@fruBayun]

​​thanx for the playthrouth)

[@Teknikaali]

Glad you liked it!

[@kirbyis4ever]

Crazed merc slaughters their way through Grand Chien

[@Teknikaali]

...without saying a single word 😶

[@dukex123]

Even the great Biff Apscott would be impressed! 👍

[@Teknikaali]

👍 If only there was a way to save him in the run though... [39:41]

[@vasilystarostin4697]

I have finish watching your great run. The last fight is much more easier if you don't rush. Just stay behind the first gates and slash incoming opponents. During your turn, you can run forward and kill approaching enemies, especially with knives. But, before your turn ends, you must return back and be behind gates again.

[@Teknikaali]

Ha! Actually I did that exact thing when I was originally planning to do my run with Blood+Raider. His special ability to throw infinite knives worked really well in that exact situation by switching from side to side behind the main doors.

[@lawofthewest1983]

At 1:45:04 why don't the enemies do anything after you end yor turn? Looks like you are taking 2 turns in a row

[@Teknikaali]

That's a very good question I don't have an answer to - sadly... What I figured out is that they usually get "activated" if you advance further ahead into the room. Other times if you position yourself in the wrong place they'll get activated also. There is something strange happening for sure and it is surprisingly consistent. If you look at 1:33:59 I happen to move her to a "wrong" position and the enemies get instantly activated. Is it the door? Is it the healing? I'm not sure... 😅

[@lawofthewest1983]

@@Teknikaali at 1:33:59 they do their turn, what I do not understand why they do not move at 1:45:04 at all, as if they don't feel like moving in that turn

[@Teknikaali]

@@lawofthewest1983 I don't understand it either. Maybe opening up the sector in the included map editor could reveal some "trigger zones" or such...

[@lawofthewest1983]

@@Teknikaali all good. The run is amazing, keep up the good work!

[@АлексейСон-п1у]

Hi, tell me please. Machete 7:25 -random loot ?

[@Teknikaali]

Yes it's totally random! I managed to find one before entering Pantagruel maybe 1 out of 30 times or so. So droprate is quite low. You can manage it with knife only (if you're a bit more careful) until you get the Composite Machete from Wlad the Tinkerer (30:39) by trading 10 parts + 1 Combat Knife to him 👍

[@karinyman3436]

At Ille Morat, opening and closing the door multiple times for killing, it seems you force the enemy to spawn in that location. Also going out and back in to sector for spawns, made me wonder if you are in a maiden team.....?

[@Teknikaali]

Exactly! The enemies have specific spawn points. They get filled in some order or priority, until there is not enough enemies to fill all of them - hence the back and forth shenanigans 👍 Also closing the door before leaving the sector plays an important part: it's much easier to approach that said hut when the door is closed. I've not heard the specific term "maiden team" before, but Alpaca did clean up the sector pretty well, yes... 😅

[@p4tholog1st]

How do you that quick melee takedown. After marking the enemy and running up to them my character usually slowly repositions before executing the melee takedown and most of the time the enemy gets to reposition. Your melee takedown is instant. How?

[@Teknikaali]

Do you mean like in the first takedown at 1:08? It's the "Hand-To-Hand" trait I chose during the IMP creation. If enemy moves or attacks from melee range, the merc will automatically attack that enemy 👍 Other than that I sometimes smash "1" on my keyboard to do repeated melee attacks quickly. ...also if the enemy doesn't notice you before you attack, you get that "quick first swing" in before entering turn-based mode.

[@thealldayspecial]

While I get the cadence and strategy can be pretty straight forward in most places, it's interesting watching this run because there was a number of times you could've gotten RNG'd pretty badly.

[@Teknikaali]

...and oh boy did I got RNG'd pretty badly before making this video! Many times. Too many times. There were many other routes I tried multiple times before settling on this one being the most stable one (even though this one is still too high on RNG). I kind of hope someone would find a more reliable and stable route or an overall strategy to run this game in under 2 hours - be it solo or not.

[@thealldayspecial]

@@Teknikaali Even with some stuff getting sketchy for sure, I do feel like your video for the confines of a true Iron Man, with an emphasis on melee and speeding , this probably is how it more or less would go really anything else is just RNG(finding machete I imagine is a big one ). I do recall seeing hardest difficulty Iron Man solo Ivan guides that did dip into melee but often people would be getting other weapons, the playthrough would be like 7-8 hrs, a bit too much thought and conventional play involved for really speedrunning. Also it seems like most people who do a solo finds some spot to hunker down in and let the bad come to you especially on Fort Brigand and all that. Speaking of that moment of you surrounded at 1h 10 mins is so absurd, how you kept any composure when you're staring down a possible end is impressive. The gas grenades and that degree of AOE is always gonna be massive for buying you damage. I get this game series is beloved more for building the team and all that so info feels a bit limited, but I feel like your efforts give some of the better if not best insight for doing the task in the confines. I've seen easier mode speed runs that go quick but I feel the sport is taking out because of how much is in your favor and generous. At best I think it would be minor shaving time but the rng element is always gonna be there. It's all the reasonable parts. More chars, idk how much faster it would go and it could get annoying to worry about cash

[@Teknikaali]

Now that you mentioned it, finding that machete was one of "highlights" for me in the run. It really improves the likelihood of survival until you get the Composite Machete from Vlad. The other route of getting The Thing machete relies even more on RNG: you have to get lucky to get a crowbar from the docks. Otherwise you just can't bust through the cell door at the prison. Time-wise it was quite the same though... But it sure was fun to find a doable route in the end! I noticed that splitting up the team with multiple mercs (hitting those key points as fast as possible) you really start struggling with cash, like you mentioned. It takes roughly 12 in-game-days to complete the run, so one would have to figure out optimal spending strategy also. Even so, you'd still be quite low lvl to survive the final showdown. I don't say it'd be impossible, but it surely requires more thought work to put in. Compromises, compromises... 😌

[@thealldayspecial]

@@Teknikaali True true time with RNG(especially on hardest difficulty) can just throw a lotta wrenches in things and you're right, you end up being too low of level and you're really gonna be paying for it in the late game and you gotta do whatever it takes to keep RNG on your side. Even if you went best value mercs(praise be Barry Unger) or took the time to get Larry(which even then idkkk) that still is gonna require some money management and training that eats into time since you're not gonna have much of the natural level ups via just playing tons of sectors and quests, and more importantly gearing out people to keep up with the hardest challenge and speed in mind can be a pain and lead to some dead ends. I again want to say I think what you pulled off is very impressive and close to how the general idea would go especially with keeping time on the low side and the emphasis on melee. If you had kept a non grenade weapon on hand and played the usual, idk how much would've changed given where the AP and RNG would be going. I do like unconventional challenge and when I realized the added advanced rules when you can have Legendaries auto unlocked I kinda wanted to do a solo iron man with an Old Dog like Fauda and see how far I can get given the various challenge in play and how she functions with certain stuff.

[@elyasaf3387]

Wow very impressive

[@vasilystarostin4697]

A game-changing guide, thank you. A few questions: 1. Why do you set a Leadership to 85? Global map movement time seems irrelevant since you don't need to pay salaries. 2. Which stat is the best to increase instead of Leadership? 3. Why don't you heal between fights?

[@Teknikaali]

Thanks and good questions! 1. The 85 Leadership is exactly for that: To make the global map movement speed faster to finish the game in the shortest possible amount of time. It also affects how often you could get Morale events to gain extra AP for example. 2. I'd probably pick Explosives instead of Leadership (for this kind of run), if I didn't care about when or where rests happen or how many in-game days it takes to finish the game (12 days for this run). It's really important you don't MISHAP with the gas grenades when clearing the Major's zone. High Explosive stat helps there at least. You don't really need to fix anything (Mechanical), heal yourself (Medical) or shoot at anything (Markmanship), so that leaves Explosives as the only suitable alternative for Leadership. 3. It takes time to heal. If I wasn't doing a speedrun, I definitely would have healed to full health after each fight and taken it cool and easy 👍

[@vasilystarostin4697]

@@Teknikaali Thank you much for the answer. You inspired me to run a new game with a single melee merc. I just swapped Leadership for 20 Mech and 45 Expl. 20 Mech is enough to repair items, so you can always wear the best armor you got; and have no need to carry additional armor. 50 Expl is enough to craft explosives. I didn't find crafting useful yet (at least after taking Major and Fosh), but improved success chance and damaged are both very suitable.

[@vasilystarostin4697]

​@@Teknikaali I should add, I took down Major and saved the President without any grenades (also impossible difficulty). I have to kill as much as possible with stealth and then leave sector and go back, because of 3 shields and lots of people near the tent. Then I sneaked until detected, then run into the tent, and then just smash incoming soldiers. However, this method is not so stable as yours, since the President is stupidly walking around and can be killed occasionally. And my merc was 9 level with a Strength-build which is too powerful for such encounter.

[@Teknikaali]

It's definitely a bit different way to play the game, but good to hear you're liking it so far! Before my final run I also tried multiple times that "leave sector" strategy you mentioned for the President. I took out the enemy standing on the hill left side, then the enemy in the middle near the spawn zone and then the sniper next to him. But as you said it already, it isn't as stable as the gas grenade tactic which I ended up using. I can't remember for sure, but I suppose you couldn't craft gas grenades? That is the only drawback I could think of about investing more into Explosives. But if you go the long route and capture some mines you should have enough $ to afford them from Bobby Ray's more than easily. Just if you feel like tossing them around every now and then in a pinch ofc... 😁

[@vasilystarostin4697]

@@Teknikaali You can craft tear and smoke grenades, but not toxic. However, I have found that explosive's crafting doesn't worth its points. During the game, I found only one piece of C4 and zero pieces of Dynamite. So you cannot actually craft common grenades - only smoke/tear ones or molotovs. Molotovs have some utility but I used them very rarely. When you play slowly (with quests etc), the character become powerful very soon.

[@nabibobettau]

nice vid!

[@Teknikaali]

Thank you!

[@anonimoo2158]

How do you remove the speedrun from the game??

[@Teknikaali]

That is quite a philosophical question right there... 😅 Once you speedrun it you can never go back! 🥲 Do you mean by default the mercs run too fast for your liking?

[@anonimoo2158]

@ damn😂its a really good game

[@stanislavkk2808]

Impressive!

[@CalderaXII]

i thought she was called alpaca because shes running around stabbing people to death, but carl was a llama wasnt it 😅

[@Teknikaali]

Apparently in "Llamas with Hats" Carl indeed was more of a llama than an alpaca! 😁 For some reason I thought of "Chile" the instant I saw her model in-game. Alpacas live in Chile, so I wanted that to be her nickname. AL-yssa PACA-la 😉 I might have given that way too much thought now that I think about it... 😂

[@PreguicaDaRocha]

Machete kills!

[@Teknikaali]

Danny Trejo merc mod in Steam Workshop when? 😉

[@TheOldMan-75]

They really dropped the ball when it comes to custom merc customization.

[@Teknikaali]

It has its ups and downs for sure. One thing I'd have wished for is the ability to personalize the appearance a bit more (clothes etc.) and add at least some more character portraits 👍

[@TheOldMan-75]

@@Teknikaali Custom portraits and a VERY basic model editor would've been enough. Just let us cycle through some clothes, hair and skin colour option and that's it. This would've been more than enough.

[@zakeros]

Nice. But your run finished at 1h 34min 30sec. What's the point of IronMan mode if you load a saved game just before you die? ;-)

[@Teknikaali]

"Lethal weapons" setting is also redundant now that I think of it: Nobody can save the solo merc from the downed state anyways... There is also a load even sooner at 1:31:12. I'll allow loading during Ironman runs if the game allows it 😉

[@BuzzKirill3D]

@@Teknikaali why did you load the game at 1:31:12?

[@Teknikaali]

@@BuzzKirill3D The load repositions the first 3 enemies in a very specific "triangle" formation allowing easier entry to the bunker 👍 There might be other sectors where loading could reposition enemies in a similar way, but I didn't research that topic any further other than the bunker.

[@elk6008]

played through twice and never once used a flare lol

[@Teknikaali]

Luring enemies out was the only sensible use case I could figure out for them... Otherwise I deemed them not worth teh AP cost 99% of times 😅 If they had lower AP consumption (e.g. 1 AP) they could be at least somewhat useful in some veeery specific situations. Usually it's just more worthwhile to take cover or take that desperate shot than start throwing stuff around the enemies will surely move away from the next turn... 😁

[@Milosikucingku44]

London simulator

[@Teknikaali]

Still waiting for Fallout London... 🤭

[@viperviper7775]

ja3 has very strange balance/difficulty. its extreme difficult when u start u first playthrough, but when u understand basic mechanics/perks/builds etc - its VERY easy, even on mission impossible level. u NEVER have lack of money, u dont have ANY time limit. lone wolf is special case, which has nothing to do with complexity, only with u perseverance. nevertheless i absolutely love this game, already did 3 complete walkthrough.

[@Teknikaali]

I have very similar observations as you do! The most exciting part of the game must be the early Ernie island and the west side of the map when you don't have good perks or gear on your mercs yet. It's still a great game, even though balancing is a bit off here and there! 😄

[@makalelepl]

I have the same feeling. On my first run I struggled a lot on the beginning. Then, after I had few perks plus sniper rifles, game became very easy and I steamrolled the whole game. Funny enough, I left Major for the last thing to do and it was super easy. Now, I tried second game on meele and it’s a nightmare when being on level 1 when you have like 6 enemies in the same place. I checked out this video to see how should be done, but the problematic areas was just avoided 😂 until the late game when you have perks and gear.

[@stormlah]

bro JA2 gold 1.13 i never completed hahaha, i mean at least the game itself isnt broken or anything, just not hard enough i guess

[@Teknikaali]

JA2 was a good game. It's nice we got JA3 finally 👍 Too bad (in a way) the speedrun of JA2 can be so much faster than this one though...

[@stormlah]

@@Teknikaali ooh yeah i remember theres a short cut to kill queen D, something about being imprisoned with the shirt on?

[@Teknikaali]

I can't remember that far back, but maybe it is time for a replay then!

[@stormlah]

@@Teknikaali yeh i do remember there was a thing wheere you got caught with an "i love dedreianna" shirt on and you`d end up in prison, she would come to inspect you, and there was something youd do ie get in combat and you could get her in that prison and end the game early

[@gulaschMitSuppe]

Impressive!