IMP character: Specialist or all rounder?

[Sonic Boomer]

I'm about 4 hours into my first campaign and I'm thinking of starting over. I made my IMP character into an all rounder and realized some of his stats are too low. Namely, Strenght and HP. I didn't think strenght had such an effect on carry weight and my guy can't carry anything. xD

Did you guys make a specialist? If not, how did you spend the stats?

[PVA]

Originally posted by RainmakerLTU:

wisdom about 80

You can learn any stat except for wisdow, so why not 85.

[Dorok]

I didn't quote 20 points even when training 95 wiz merc. But ok a training session is 2 days and can be interrupt at any time you still keep all stats increases already obtained. Moreover you can as well train quietly some mercs in a B-Team when an A-Team will do the job fine without loosing any time.

I would say (with later training in mind so more for first parts) :
- Wiz 85 because it can't be trained and make training faster.
- For Leadership 80 mini is a must to have on start, 85 why not but not necessary either.
- Marksman and Agility min 80 to have a fairly well efficient IMP combat merc since start.
- Too low HP is annoying I won't suggest dump it, even less if you aim make IMP closer range in first parts. You lost 10 Hp for each injury and don't want a too fragile iMP, so i'd advise 60/70 min.
- Dumb STR is ultra annoying i don't suggest it, I'd suggest a min of 60. But for sure be annoyed is manageable along first parts so if you ensure high some mercs with high STR so they are the mules for the team then dump it is ok.
- Medic dump it, there's too many mercs with a fair Medic support.

Past it it's very open. First you need decide if you dump or not Explosive and Mechanic:
- Explosive 40/50 ensures have very soon IMP able to throw thing with a fair chance of success, not mandatory but not bad either. Explosive 75/80 should allow make IMP the explosive specialist in first steps. For example if Barry and Red aren't available. But Barry is clearly a better option.
- Mechanic is only if you want skip good Mechanics Mercs at first. Then target 65/75, you won't be able make a noticeable skill check in first parts, but there's no hurry, you can do it later when hiring Lirewire or Vicki.

So for example:
- Wiz 85
- Agility, Cmdmt, Marksman 80. You'll polish with training Agility and Marksman
- HP, STR 60. You'll improve them later with training.
- Either Mechanic 65 Dex 40. Either Explosive 75 Dex 30. Either Explosive 45, DEX 60. You'll improve later DEX with training, eventually Explosive too.

Or when dumping Mechanic, Explosive, Medic, just one example:
- Wiz, Cmdmt 85
- Agility, Marksman, HP 80.
- DEX, STR 70.

EDIT:
For perks it's very open because many are already supported by multiple mercs. So if Teaching is a great skill, from a team perspective it is more a good skill because xp bonus doesn't stack but militia training bonus does, plus many good mercs has this skill. Also Negotiator skill seems not stack and many good merc has it. I don't see any perk sort of mandatory and clearly superior.
- Pycho isn't bad because not many merc has it and some are hard to manahe. And the extra dialog options are good to take even if not necessary.
- Scoudrel is useful for one free weapon swap at each turn, but will be very useful only for some builds.
- Negotiator is supported by multiple merc but to manage multiple teams later it can be handy has it with IMP too.

For other perks, some are more linked to some builds like melee or help burst, but I didn't notice any bad nor any much better for any build. For example, Mr. Fixit, consider pick it if you build an IMP with explosive or mechanic.

[OZZO]

if you want my advice, do not make an all rounder. Especially if you play in a team of 4-6 mercs. Bump something to the max that other mercs don't have or what suits your playstyle.
P.S. Dorok above said Wisdom can't be trained. It totally can. The merc that discovers loot gets his wisdom trained gradually. So, run ahead with the merc for whom you wanna train charisma. Now I'm keen to see if I get from 85 to 100 in Solo Wolf mode

[BitSizedGamer]

Check out my guide here:

https://youtu.be/OF55FDMskoE

[stretch]

Honestly I find that I don't use it in my team. For all it 'seems' great I just find that there are others that have really nice unique perks and personalities and those ones don't.

An 85 cap just means that they suck. There is a mod to remove it though.
85 is not enough for any of the good skill checks. You are going to have to invest so much time and effort getting it to 90+ that it's just useless compared to ones that already have something 90+.
It's virtually free which probably really helps on the highest difficulty and if you want to spend most of your game with a seriously handicapped character who cannot carry their weight by covering it's own specific skill check then have at it. Not me though. I tried it and it was a waste of a slot.
It just trains militia with the other free characters because it has no rehiring fee. Every one of my Mercs is chosen for a unique factor. It might be ultra high explosive skill or an awesome perk that they get right from the start and I don't have to invest any skill books in them to make them desirable. IMP gets none of those and needs to be able to choose one thing, a special item, a unique weapon, one of the perks that are not trainable or just something, anything to make them special and not just generic trash.

[Salinga]

What do you think about the idea of creating an IMP with Wisdom, Leadership, Explosives and Teacher?

This way you would have a char to get ammunition and militia very early and cheap.

[Dorok]

Originally posted by OZZO:

P.S. Dorok above said Wisdom can't be trained. It totally can. The merc that discovers loot gets his wisdom trained gradually. So, run ahead with the merc for whom you wanna train charisma. Now I'm keen to see if I get from 85 to 100 in Solo Wolf mode

Training is meaning training session allowing fast increase.

What you quote is not training, it is increase from practicing, but a low wiz merc won't notice much thing because of low wiz and will have a very slow increase from practicing.

So your comment is valid only with solo because there won't another merc to find stuff before, and even then you'll suffer a lot to find thing with low wiz.

The point is high wiz merc trains a lot faster and increase from practice faster and for anything. Clearly it's irrelevant in solo as there's no training operation.

[stretch]

Originally posted by Salinga:

What do you think about the idea of creating an IMP with Wisdom, Leadership, Explosives and Teacher?

This way you would have a char to get ammunition and militia very early and cheap.

If anything it might be worth getting one with 85 explosives and 85 mechanical as that combination can save you getting zapped on traps and also means you don't need two different characters to disarm and unlock/open something. IIRC I don't think there is a premade merc with both of those. Plenty with one or the other but not both. Is there?

[Dorok]

Originally posted by stretch:

Originally posted by Salinga:

What do you think about the idea of creating an IMP with Wisdom, Leadership, Explosives and Teacher?

This way you would have a char to get ammunition and militia very early and cheap.

If anything it might be worth getting one with 85 explosives and 85 mechanical as that combination can save you getting zapped on traps and also means you don't need two different characters to disarm and unlock/open something. IIRC I don't think there is a premade merc with both of those. Plenty with one or the other but not both. Is there?

That's a lot of points on explosives and mechanical as with iMP they start at 0.

If you put 85 on Leadership, Wisdom, explosives and mechanical, everything else 30 or 0, it lets only 60 point to spend, that would be a very weird MERC.

It's wrong not use a perspective first areas + later some training + team. Ok if solo it's different there's no training and practice will work rather differently.

[Cpt.Charname]

high leadership is most useful since there is not much merc with leadership higher than 85, and u wants to pick trainer and get ur agi/dex high to train bunch of merc to be superb.

[Hymzir]

Plenty of options. Depends on your play style and how you approach the game. For most roles you can hire decent and cheap specialists. So use the IMP to fill any slots your team roster doesn't cover. There isn't any right way to do it. Yo can go explosives, be a machine gunner sniper, ninja or militia trainer. You wont have a special talent however, so you wont be the best in that role. The difference those special talents make isn't super huge, though, so don't fret too much over it. Well for the most part. Some, like Shadow's, or the one Fox has, can be down right game breaking, when you plan your tactics sound them.

There are however couple of key point to consider when setting up your IMP. First is the personality trait. Negotiator is by far the most universally beneficial, though Psycho is an option too, since it has limited options. Both Fidel and Nails are kinda expensive at the start of the game, though Meltdown is reasonably priced and quite entertaining, and does good work when given a MG. She's my go to option for Psycho, Scoundrel can be easily filled with either Fox or Livewire, both are really cheap and have decent skills and awesome special abilities.

Negotiator, which in my experience has also the most impact in dealing with NPCs, is only available on three mercs. Sidney is a Legendary and grossly overpriced. The second options is Raider, who is also quite expensive, but at least worth the cost due to his other abilities. Just not a reasonable option at the start of the game. Which leaves only Buns. She is solid, and I know she is popular among many players, but I've never been able to stand her personality. Besides she hates Fox and that ability Fox has is too good to pass on.

Anyway, the point is, that you should aim to get all three traits in your team as soon as possible, so base you choice for the IMP around which mercs you are gonna recruit.

Second thing to keep in mind is that Wisdom can't be trained. You can gain it through exploration by discovering stuff, doing Intel operations and reading magazines. So it's not really something you can reliably learn as you go, It also influences the speed you learn stuff, though based on my experience, I don't really see a huge difference between Wisdom scores of 70, 80, or 90. Even Kalyna, the most air-headed of the recruitable mercs, has had no difficulty learning stuff on the field. She has just as many stat gains as Livewire in my game. To top that off, my Wisdom 85 IMP still fails a lot of Wisdom checks and I find myself relying on Livewire for those. So I'm not sure how important it really is. It certainly seems less important than it was in JA2. So maybe 80 is enough?

Lastly, and most importantly, the one crucial thing that the IMP offers you at the start of the game, that can't really be done by any of the other mercs, is to provide you with high Leadership.

Your movement speed on the strategic map is tied to your Leadership, and with a really high score, the effects are nothing short of astonishing. I strongly encourage you to watch this video, if you aren't familiar with how it works:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-hFBcLfWD8

Besides the IMP, only other options for high Leadership are Legendary mercs (which are not available at the start of the game), or hiring Raider who is also really expensive and not really an option if playing on Mission Impossible. I'd still suggest hiring him later, after you have secured a steady income. Not only is he hands down the best militia trainer, he also comes with an ungodly high Leadership. And having two team leaders on your roster that can ferry mercs fast around the map is super useful.

So set your IMP's Leadership to 85. You wont regret it.

[FatalException]

Originally posted by PVA:

Originally posted by RainmakerLTU:

wisdom about 80

You can learn any stat except for wisdow, so why not 85.

You do in fact train wisdom as you use it. 80 is enough to pass wisdom checks for herbs and use them to train you further. and the difference between 80 and 85 isn't all that much.

[JaM]

Leadership is extremely useful, as it increases campaign map movement speed... LDR 85 and you make sector trip in 6 hours instead of 12... its a huge force multiplier, as you can cover distance a lot faster, respond to attacks etc... so having IMP with highest leadership possible is extremely beneficial.. Raider can have it more (90) but he is costly..

[ChaosKhan]

Originally posted by RainmakerLTU:

IMP has to be leader with teacher perk and wisdom about 80, so he could learn fast himself and after that teach others even faster. he does not need to know any Mechanic, Explosives or Medicine - set them to zero. he can learn that later. All other skills should be about 80 or higher evenly.

This is probably the most optimal build to build your IMP. Leader mercs are very vew, very expensive, and none of them is an especially good combattant. If you therefore create an IMP with teaching, wis 85, leadership 85 and all relevant combat attributes 80+ (feel free to tank str since it's only really relevant in melee unless you really want some specific str perks), you will technically have the most optimised combat leader in the game.

That said, you will then lose out on tons of interesting dialogue, because high wis and leadership characters are usually the ones who say the most and IMP doesn't talk.

[[ScrN]PooSH]

I set MED/EXP/MEC to 0. Just be sure NOT to unjam weapons with MEC 0 - it breaks them a lot.