Jagged Alliance 3: Major Mistakes to Avoid as a Beginner

Here are the major mistakes to avoid in Jagged Alliance 3.

Most early losses in Jagged Alliance 3 trace back to four habits: skipping the custom merc, ignoring action points, fighting without cover, and leaving Overwatch unused. All four are easy to fix. This guide covers them in that order.

Create a Custom Merc First

In Jagged Alliance 3, open the I.M.P. site on your laptop and build your own mercenary before you hire anyone else.This merc costs a one-time fee, takes no daily salary, and needs no contract renewal. That cuts your running costs, which matters most early on.

Buy the merc early. The sooner you start, the sooner you can train their stats, and they end up worth more than what you paid.

Skip past the questionnaire and go straight to the screen where you set stats. You can take the quiz for fun, but don't let it decide your build. Put points into whatever your hired mercs lack.

You can pick perks too, for example ones that help with close-quarters combat or throwing range. Some picks also open extra conversation options. Get this merc into fights early, so they train through operations and on the battlefield.

Watch Your Action Points in Jagged Alliance 3

Action points, or AP, decide what a merc can do each turn. Several things change the total, so keep track of them. A merc's base AP comes from Agility.

Rest changes it. A merc with the Well Rested status has maximum AP raised by 1, and tired mercs lose AP. Take a merc to a friendly settlement and use the R&R operation, which stands for Rest and Recreation, to get the status.

R&R costs money for each merc you send. For example, a squad of five can cost 700 in total, so check the price before you confirm.

Morale changes AP too. Taking damage lowers morale, on the team level and the individual level, while kills can raise it. High morale adds AP, and low or very low morale removes it. For example, a merc with Very Low morale loses 2 AP, and the tooltip shows it when you hover over them.

That sets up a loop. A bad fight lowers morale, which lowers AP, which means fewer actions and more missed shots, which lowers morale again. The loop has a limit, but don't test it.

Suppression matters as well. In Jagged Alliance 3, full-auto fire and other suppressing weapons cut a merc’s AP by 4, which is a large drop. You can use the same tool against enemies.

Match each weapon to the AP the merc has. Hover over a weapon in your Inventory to see what each action costs, and check again after you assign it, since costs change with stats. For example, an AK-47 can show 5 AP for Single Shot, 6 for Burst Fire, and 13 for Auto Fire, so a merc capped at 12 AP can't fire a full-auto burst.

Use Cover and the Take Cover Action in Jagged Alliance 3

Cover helps with AP as well. In Jagged Alliance 3, Take Cover works only when you stand next to cover. It spends all your AP, sets your stance to Crouched, and gives better protection against attacks from the other side of the cover.

Leftover AP carries into your next turn. The action needs at least 4 AP, and the carry-over caps at 5. For example, a merc with 6 AP sees a 4 AP cost and carries 2 AP forward.

That carried-over AP can offset suppression, low morale, or low energy. It also lets you move farther, shoot more, or swap items next turn.

The cover benefit holds only on the covered side, and you lose all of it if you become Exposed. The carried-over AP stays either way. Don't hesitate to use the action.

Change one setting too. Open Settings, go to the Gameplay tab, and set Show Covers Shields to Always. It defaults to Combat Only.

You then see cover markers while you walk in real time, and they respond to your posture. That helps when a fight starts without warning, since you already stand in cover and don't have to guess whether a rock will protect you.

Set Overwatch Before the Fight in Jagged Alliance 3

Overwatch is an Interrupt action. It makes a merc fire at enemies who enter the area you set, and it can stop an enemy's shot or move on their turn.

The number of Overwatch shots depends on the AP you have left when you set it. Shots in Overwatch cost less AP than normal shots, so a merc can sometimes fire two or three times where a normal turn gives one or two. The tooltip shows the maximum, for example 3 attacks. You can't aim these shots, but the trade favors you.

The strongest use in Jagged Alliance 3 comes before combat starts. Set Overwatch out of combat to prepare an ambush, and enemies don't trigger it until combat begins. Your mercs then fire first, which can kill some enemies and leave others bleeding.

Mercs in Overwatch start combat without AP, so place them well before you commit. Sneak into position before a fight you expect. Put the cones where enemies stand now or where you think they will run.

Stack several cones on dangerous enemies to remove them early, or spread cones across weaker ones to balance the action economy. Keep your mercs out of the line of fire. If the line is fully blocked, Overwatch shots are skipped, and spray from a shotgun or automatic fire can hit friendlies inside the cone.

Done right, a fight ends before it begins.

What to Do Next

Create your I.M.P. merc at the start of the game, and set Show Covers Shields to Always. Check AP and morale before each fight, and use R&R in a friendly settlement when your squad is tired. Set Overwatch before you open any door.

To avoid the major mistakes in Jagged Alliance 3, you create a custom merc, manage action points and morale, use Take Cover, and set Overwatch before combat starts.

FAQ

Q. Does the custom merc cost a salary in Jagged Alliance 3?

A. No. You pay a one-time fee at the I.M.P. site, and there is no daily salary.

Q. How many action points does suppression remove?

A. Four. That is a large cut, so keep suppressed mercs out of fights until they recover or take cover.

Q. What does Well Rested do?

A. It raises a merc's maximum AP by 1. You get it from the R&R operation in a friendly settlement.

Q. When should you use Take Cover?

A. When a merc is low on AP, suppressed, or tired, and stands next to cover. Part of their AP then carries into the next turn.

Q. Can you set Overwatch before combat starts in Jagged Alliance 3?

A. Yes, and it is the strongest use. Enemies walk into your cones as the fight begins.