Ironman Achievement Full Guide and tips

[Bas da Graca]

When scrolling through all the achievements the 'Ironman' achievement was the most interesting for me. Thats right I have achieved the unachievable.Im one of the currently 0.1% owners of this achievement. ^^
Now I wont lie, this achievement is hard and a nice way to play JA3 if you like a hard struggle. I have also played almost all mercs except for a few of the legendary ones. Around 130 hours played. Some tips are behind spoilers; so if you dont want spoilers dont read them. :)

This discussion I have created so we can share a guide and tips for users that want to get this achievement.


What is the Ironman Achievement?
Finished the game on the highest difficulty settings: “Mission Impossible”, “Dead is Dead”, “To The Bitter End”, “Lethal Weapons” and no “Forgiving Mode”.

But what does it mean?

To the bitter End:
Only 1 savegame (you can restart an ongoing combat battle from the start though when you are in one if you dont like certain results; if you get spotted when in stealth, combat begins and you have only that save; there is also a possibility to quicksave in map view; so technically you can restart failed modifications on weapons or reload after some small screw up). Feel free to do this; modifications and components are expensive and should be successful on the first try in my opinion.
Though that most things that happen on the map view will be permanent very fast. So moving enemy armies is a much more dangerous thing. They can 'caught' mercs that are training militia.

Mission impossible:
(this doesnt seem to affect the number of enemies but rather their health and maybe aim I feel; you have to start thinking in headshots or doing a lot of damage to take enemies down, also really take in account armor). You also only get 20k compared to 40k on normal. This means your start is much harder.

Dead is dead:
This means when you merc dies he/she doesnt get in a 'downed state' its gameover for this merc. Important note: you can restart the combat if you really fancy one merc. It also makes having low damage resistance and low health much more dangerous.
* No forgiving mode (this one is never turned from the start but makes healing a bit more easier over time.

Now for this achievement I advice to finish the game once without To the bitter end and maybe on a lower difficulty. It really helps a lot if you know what is coming. Knowledge is power. This game will be really hard if you go in blind with the ironman settings. As this game can really bring you out of balance without forsight. The game itself tend to lend itself really well for another playthrough. Personally I went the 'noble route' in the first game and in the second game I also recruited mercs with the 'psycho' perk. Fidel is a really great fit, and much more fun than meltdown and Nails in my eyes. Also I tried mercs I havent tried before. So it was more a 'B team'. There was definately a more optimal route to play, but this game is all about having fun! Choose the mercs you like the most.

GIVE ME THE JUICY TIPS!

Good tips for your beginner squad

1 Your IMP
is only $7k once and no recurring fees. This is pretty much a must have. Now for the skills I advice: Leadership 85; it affects squad movement and some skill checks and when looking at the merc roster; you can see its pretty hard to find mercs with high leadership. High agility and markmanship is important. Wisdom, dexterity and strength less so. No mechanical, explosives or medical Health can sustain you longer. The 'negotiator perk' can save you some money in the long run. For my other 2 perks I choose 'CQC combat' and 'night ops'. Also think in terms of perk unlocks. They unlock on thresholds on stats of 70,80,90. With books you can gain some extra points as the max is 85 for an IMP.

2 At least one mechanic
(you need one for all opening lots of doors, containers and for 'disable') advice: Livewire;
3 at least one explosive expert (preferable above 70 explosives; else you have a merc who thinks he can 'disarm' but he/she cant and things blow up :p)

4 At least one 'medic' with 50 medicine
Some mercs have points in mechanic and medicine. Not classified as medic, you can use other mercs for this reason. You dont have to heal every wound but dont get too much wounds..

5 One ranged stealth merc
so you 'might' be able to remove some enemies before you get locked into combat. Stealth perks, dexterity and markmanship are most important. Also a silencer.

6 There are free mercs that can be recruited
I advice to recruit Flay and Larry. Free mercs are really handy to have and they can help out in battles or operations. Smiley is pretty suicidal to recruit and Pierre and Spike are much later in the game.

7 Now normally I recommend to hire for 14 days; but at the start of the game it might be interesting to hire for 7 days so you can hire more mercs.

Later state:
8 You also want at least 1 merc with the 'teaching' perk to train militia.
They can really help defend certain places. Make sure you train all the way to veteran. Recruit militia are really poor at shooting and more squishy. Some recruit mercs are really cheap and have the teaching perk. For training militia you can use max 2 mercs, so double teams are great to move over the round. Train till the max so you get the upgraded militia. Its pretty cost effecive.

9 The starter mercs tend to have less good skills when looking at agility and markmanship. Both really important stats. Agility gives you more movement and action points. And without markmanship hitting enemies becoming a lot harder. Choose one better merc later on and make him/her your alpha killer. Ofc you can train mercs but that takes a really long time; and time you dont have in my opinion in the beginning of the game.

10 You want at least 1 merc with a machine gun.
Also the mod in which you get accuracy bonus when you are prone is really good but expensive. It seems that you hit a lot more stuff than before. Now a machine gun chews ammo; so you will need a explosive expert to make ammo for your machine gun.

Larry as a free merc is a great choice, even with lower stats he can make ammo and explosives for you so your main squad stays together Now mercs with machine guns with good markmanship can rip the enemy apart. Im talking about 3-5 kills easy when they hit. In some battles this is really handy to have.

11 You can become a FREE golden member. This saves you $20k. Now this is also a good time to start recruiting your legendary merc. high markmanship is a must. Agility is really handy. But I think all will legendary mercs can do a great job mostly.


Now I would advice to not to use melee stealth characters.
*looks at Mouse lying dead at the ground*. This doesnt mean melee is a viable option; I did actually pretty well with Nails and Pierre . The risk with melee stealth is that you can get caught and are locked in battle and cant reload an older save except [combat start save]. Its just much better to do ranged stealth kills.


Map overview
* Focus on gaining at least 2-3 mines. Mines equals money; opening up more mercs and when mercs die you can still recruit others.

* Keep your mercs rested. R&R is actually pretty good. In 18 hours you become rested and even get a boost. Also you heal 1 woundpoint. If you are tired you lose 1 AP but also your free movement! This makes your mercs much weaker.

* When you have taking your first mine; it is a good time to also send a merc to start training militia. Remember the ones with 'Teaching perk'. Some starter mercs have those and are great for training and are cheap to hire.

* With the quicksave function you can choose load if you dont like the results of auto resolve of your militia. Now technically this is a bit cheesing but personally I think trained enough militia should hold them own. You still probably lose 1 or 2 militia in the tougher battles so they get nibbled away. This can be handy to keep certain mines. I did it; also I like focusing on important battles and dont want to be dragged all over the map.

* training mercs take 2 days and cant seem to speed up; also you only get like 1-3 points in 1 stat. This might be doable in the endgame but then its not really needed anymore. my advice is to completely forgo training mercs unless it might be to get 1-2 extra points to unlock certain important perks.

* Do you really want to save Biff as it might be toughest battle in the game or Smiley? Also bringing Luigi and Smiley to Boss Blaubert and saving Smiley is a BAD idea. Luigi teams up with Blaubert then. You can actually completely forgo the battle of Biff and not finish the refugee camp battle later on if you sacrifice 1 merc.


Weapons/ammo:
* Ammo is a thing in this setting. Especially if you also use a machine gun which I tend to think you need. In the later game. Its really worthwhile to create amor piercing rounds later in the game when more enemies with armor appears. The reason is because A you wont do enough damage and if you dont do enough damage you will use more bullets. So making armor piercing ammo will safe you ammo.

* Now lots of people say to go with ranged stealth snipers; and yes is really effective and cost efficient. In the beginning it can be hard to find sniper guns. And the beginning is the hardest part in the game in my eyes. So my advice is to use multiple different weapons also to diverse your ammo. This way you will use all your different ammo. SMG's can be pretty effective with run&gun. Be wary with pistols though. The range and damage is a problem. Headshots with shotguns can deal a nice amount of damage.

* You want 1 machine gun and mass produce ammo for it.

* Be careful with burst and auto as it also takes more ammo than you expect.

* Making explosives is also great. Explosives are a great way to deal guaranteed damage.

* You never have enough parts. Weapons you find and wont use; salvage them for the extra parts and sometimes extra modules.

* There is a sniper mod that give you the ability to make 'graze' shots hit like real shots when +3 aim. This is important. Sometimes you get fog and smoke; and it is a quick way to lose a lot of ammo if you keep grazing stuff.

* Endless knives on Blood might be the best way to conserve ammo with his run&knife ability. And they ignore ammo. ^^

* The melee route: Now if you give your melee guys gas masks they can use tear mustard grenades. This way they will 'choke' -30 hp enemies and protect them with grazing shots. Also normal smoke grenades and the blinding grenades help a lot. The melee still hits directly. Sometimes its good to use +1 aim so you dont miss.
Also the merc Nails might be overlooked but he is a beast with melee. He has this ability to auto attack people that come to close with him. I have had him guaranteed 1 slash kill multiple enemies that pass him when he is around a corner.

* Proximity grenades suck. Dont use them, they hardly trigger.


Armor:
* Light armor with the perk to move freely with light armor [agility] is pretty good for free movement.

* Medium armor and heavy armor can be combined sometimes with extra items. This will give +70% damage reduction on medium instead of 40%. For heavy you get +80% damage reduction instead of 50%. Use the heavier armors on the ones that have guns that are cumbersome.

* Grit is pretty good to safe your life.


Combat:
* You can bring multiple squads to 1 battle. Check the traveling time and let them move as '1'. In the beginning of the game you want to have 1 full squad as fast as possible. More actions means you have higher chance to succeed.

* You can select all your mercs and move around as one. The sneaky ranged guy/girl I had in front and do the stealth attacks. If they get caught then they are close together.

* You can overwatch some mercs before initiating combat.

* crouching and proning can help a lot to avoid being hit. Also try to use cover.

* Melee enemies (the one with knives) keep 1 hex distance. Also be careful of shotguns as they can retaliate with it.

* Rocket guys, those are really dangerous, take them out as fast as possible.

* save 1-2 action points so you can crouch or prone.

* Hidden is your friend. In combat you can still stealth sometimes for 2 AP. This can cause another stealth attack. This is really powerful.

* Sniper Head shots are really good with enough aim. You can usually insta kill enemies, especially in stealth.

* 3 enemies close together is great to use explosives for.

* When you overwatch; sometimes you move out of cover; you arent covered then.

* Explosives; stick grenades, grenades, shaped grenades, rockets are great to use (by somebody who can handle it) because you can reload combat to start some mercs might also use them. Now the best explosives are 40MM grenades. You can shoot them really far and is almost a guaranteed way to kill enemies. I highly advice to bring grenade launchers to the tougher battles. You can also mod certain weapons with a grenade launcher extension. use those 40 mm grenades in the big main battles (the golden objectives) Personally I think 40 mm grenades are even better than sniper guns. ^^

* Overwatch gives a lot more attacks than normally attacks. Especially with a machine gun!

* The stealth perks are really good. And some mercs have an 'extra stealth perk' those are great for stealth.

* Don't forgot to prone if you have the prone mod on your weapon, it helps a lot.

* If one merc is prone and the other merc is kneeling behind it they wont hit eachother.

* keep durability high on your weapons; jamming is bad and it also damages the weapon further.

Perks
* Look at your mercs if they have stats close to 90. This is usually the 'tree' to build your merc.

* The ones that give extra movement or actions are usually pretty good.

* There is a perk in the agility tree that make you dodge your first hit. That is pretty good.

* For melee the ones that ignore retaliate is pretty handy. Also the one that gives guaranteed crits is really strong [Str]

* For stealth characters go with the stealth perks. [Dex]

* There is also a perk that automatically reloads after overwatch. Pretty nifty.

[Bas da Graca]

2/2
Some of mine mercs died in this playthrough: Mouse, Barry, larry, Fox, Kalina, Hitman, MD, Tex.
Mouse: stealth melee made her out of range of my other mercs when the combat started in Fleatown. Then trying too much to use her on her own she got killed alas. Poor mouse got eaten alive.
Kalina: She was an ok sniper but she got hit by multiple bullets. Now I didnt like her that much, so was ok that she stayed dead. This was also on the Fleatown battle. I think the problem with Fleatown battle is that I got overrun with good enemies and had to take some casualties. This is JA3 baby!
Tex: I did like him a lot, but his main perk did got him a bit in trouble. A bit too much trouble. :p
Barry, Hitman, MD, Larry : Now during the big event with all the armies; you know what Im talking about they got caught alone in combat and died as heroes.
Fox: I send her alone to the wrong camp; I thought I could let her wait on the others. I couldnt.. Oopsie. ^^


Now these are all handy tips but what are the most fun mercs to play with great lines? Now this is personal but the most fun mercs to play from my personal experience. In order of most funny. Could I have skipped this overview; ofc but remember JA3 is a game about fun! Dont forgo fun mercs just to have the best min max. Have fun!

1 Fidel (this guy is hilarious; he wants to blow everything and has a lot of lines with great twisted humor; he is also a great explosive guy that is a bit expensive, but still affordable enough. This guy has the most personality I think of all mercs together with Spike He was much more fun than expected and he has the 'psycho trait' that can give some nice benefits. I mention him as this merc might be missed because people usually go with Barry.

2 Steroid (this guy is also pretty funny focused on being strong but he is bit useless later on because of his really low agility that also impacts his melee ability. Still he is a mechanic so...

3 Fox (oversexist in a good way; she is also pretty handy; I never used her as my main stealth ranged but as a normal shooter/ambidexterity; but I heard some really good experiences about it; she has a dex of 100!)

4 Livewire (annoying in a good way) She is also a really good merc with high stats in mechanic and medicine. her intel ability to see all enemies in a battle all the time is really handy.

5 Thor (This is your guru and a great healer) His pills are really good and I used those with my melee guys to give extra Grit.

6 Larry This guy is one of the free mercs. He is totally into drugs and weird stuff. He is pretty usefull with his explosives and medicine skills.

7 Spike This is a badass; it also gives a lot of lines in the end game. He really creates a different route in my view. I thought it was worthwhile to recruit. I warn you though he is the hardest to recruit of all mercs; but worth it! Use the 75 influence points strategy. And is a great way to make the ironman game even more harder.


Yeah Yeah I dont want the fun Mercs I want the GOOD mercs! From my personal experience. The fact that people will contest this; is what shows JA3 is a really good game. Not in a particular order.

1 Fox: After what I have heard Fox might be the best to start stealth battles. She retains all her action points. With multiple actions saved actions you can sometimes end fights before it begins. Cheap merc.

2 LiveWire: She has the ability to show all the enemies in a battle. You need intel on the sector, but usually you have intel about the more important sectors. Knowing where all the enemies are is really handy. Also she is a very good mechanic. Cheap merc.

3 Barry: A great explosives guy and free shaped grenades. These things have longer range which are really good. Also he is really really cheap. Remember you also need a explosive guy to make ammo and explosives later on.

4 Blood: His run&gun with knives is pretty good and dont use ammo. Also he has great agility. Next to this the knives tend to be pretty accurate and saves ammo. Even though he is in the next page of mercs; he is still pretty cheap. Make sure you dont get surrounded by enemies.

5 Wolf: With around 10k he is a bit more expensive but for training militia he is the best.

6 Ivan: He has really high agility and markmanship. As one of the legendaries he is definitely one of the stronger ones. With a sniper gun or machine gun he will reck the enemies. And still pretty affordable. Personally I think this actually a legendary merc considering how good he is.

I hope this helps! Feel free to leave more tips below so we can help each other!

[Rhapsody]

You don't actually need to produce your own ammunition if you don't overuse any single cartridge. Upgrading existing plentiful ammo like 9 mm to 9 mm AP is a better idea since AP conversiont only takes a few parts and gives you 2 levels of armor penetration. And since Blood is mentioned... knives save ammo, that's true. But True Strike saves the whole world.

I think I'd restart the whole darn game or just reload the battle start save if Barry died so kudos for going through that tragedy.

[amedeevause]

Hey, I've got a question. Can you still get the Iron Man achievement if you turn off the "to the bitter end" difficulty setting? Because if you don't it creates a lingering save at the beginning of each combat thus defeating the purpose of Iron Man.

[KAMJAH]

Just one question, you can get the acheivement if you are using mods ?
Wanna bring my hyena imp, but i m sure no mod would be allowed

[Bas da Graca]

Originally posted by amedeevause:

Hey, I've got a question. Can you still get the Iron Man achievement if you turn off the "to the bitter end" difficulty setting? Because if you don't it creates a lingering save at the beginning of each combat thus defeating the purpose of Iron Man.

I dont believe so as the achievement mentions 'to the bitter end' very precisely. (I got the achievement by playing the whole game with to the bitter end turned on)

[Bas da Graca]

Originally posted by KAMJAH:

Just one question, you can get the acheivement if you are using mods ?
Wanna bring my hyena imp, but i m sure no mod would be allowed

I believe some mods still allow for achievements. Usually it is mentions on the mod page or in the comments. Hyena imp sounds awesome. ^^

[Twelvefield]

I didn't follow what you said about moving multiple squads as one. With the exception of a couple of narrative missions, you can move one squad into combat, close the combat window and move any other squads onto the same square. There's no special timing involved, you could take a week between moves if you wanted.

Now ask me how far I got into the game before I figured that out. Too far.

[amedeevause]

Originally posted by Bas da Graca:

Originally posted by amedeevause:

Hey, I've got a question. Can you still get the Iron Man achievement if you turn off the "to the bitter end" difficulty setting? Because if you don't it creates a lingering save at the beginning of each combat thus defeating the purpose of Iron Man.

I don't believe so as the achievement mentions 'to the bitter end' very precisely. (I got the achievement by playing the whole game with to the bitter end turned on)

Thanks... well that's kinda sad. I'll still go for the achievement though and try to resist temptation. But we all know that if there is an opportunity to cheese, there will be cheese!

[Trolleur_Durden]

Regarding early game, it's perfectly fine to hire 5 mercs for 3 days + IMP, since it's easy to get at least 30k on Ernie island and extending all contracts for 2 weeks.

I'm currently doing an ironman run and started with Livewire, Barry, Fox, Blood, Meltdown and an IMP. I recruited everyone for 3 days and was able to extend their contracts for 2 weeks with the money I got by going directly to I3 => Rust => Ernie village.

[Otto Abnormalverbraucher]

If you're fast enough (or the enemy is surprised, i.e. battle hasn't started yet, not quite sure as it seems a bit inconsistent), you can load a savegame before the battle, so quick saving is often very handy, then you don't have to go back too far.

As soon as you find your first Galil or FN-FAL, upgrade them completely, with range and aim bonus in mind (quick prism scope is a *must*). Also silencer. Makes your life much easier from then on.

I went with Barry as explosive expert, Livewire as mechanical, MD as doctor and my IMP as sneaky melee char with good aim, so I can also go with silenced weapons later on. Also gave her strength and throw perk so I can actually make use of grenades without having to almost go into close combat (srsly, that regular throwing distance is ridiculous even with max strength). Also helps with throwing knives. Barry's shaped charges are also very op.

Most difficult fights I had were the minefield on ernie island and the bunker right north of it. No way to stealth kill some of the enemies, no good position, and no good weapons yet. Tougher ones will come but for the mid-game I'm probably already free of most trouble (though I shudder thinking about the villa north of Fleatown).

As to saving Biff. On my first playthrough I intercepted the squad that moved in on them. And then I took my very sweet time before I went there. I did the refugee camp, Pantagruel, Chalet de la Paix, two outposts before I then finally went for Biff. At that point the battle wasn't all too difficult anymore. I didn't do that on purpose, I was just next sector intercepting my first diamond shipment, and thought why not take them on as well; didn't even realize it was *that* attack squad, as there were multiple around at the time. So, that really takes the pressure off of Biff's quest and the battle.

[Otto Abnormalverbraucher]

Originally posted by Bas da Graca:

Originally posted by KAMJAH:

Just one question, you can get the acheivement if you are using mods ?
Wanna bring my hyena imp, but i m sure no mod would be allowed

I believe some mods still allow for achievements. Usually it is mentions on the mod page or in the comments. Hyena imp sounds awesome. ^^

Oh ♥♥♥♥... I have some mods on to make it even more difficult ... also some just for more realism or options. I better check them all now before continuing.

[KAMJAH]

Originally posted by Otto Abnormalverbraucher:

Originally posted by Bas da Graca:

I believe some mods still allow for achievements. Usually it is mentions on the mod page or in the comments. Hyena imp sounds awesome. ^^

Oh ♥♥♥♥... I have some mods on to make it even more difficult ... also some just for more realism or options. I better check them all now before continuing.

Hey, give us a feedback please

[amedeevause]

Originally posted by amedeevause:

Originally posted by Bas da Graca:

I don't believe so as the achievement mentions 'to the bitter end' very precisely. (I got the achievement by playing the whole game with to the bitter end turned on)

Thanks... well that's kinda sad. I'll still go for the achievement though and try to resist temptation. But we all know that if there is an opportunity to cheese, there will be cheese!

Well I just got the Iron Man. Hard in the beginning, really easy in the end. And yes, some cheesing has taken place but that's life... This game really brought back the original JA atmosphere and flavor. I liked it a lot. Might even leave a review if I get around to it! Thanks for the advice Bas da Graca.

[Trolleur_Durden]

Originally posted by amedeevause:

Originally posted by amedeevause:

Thanks... well that's kinda sad. I'll still go for the achievement though and try to resist temptation. But we all know that if there is an opportunity to cheese, there will be cheese!

Well I just got the Iron Man. Hard in the beginning, really easy in the end. And yes, some cheesing has taken place but that's life... This game really brought back the original JA atmosphere and flavor. I liked it a lot. Might even leave a review if I get around to it! Thanks for the advice Bas da Graca.

I did it too recently, not hard overall but a couple of nasty surprises. I came close of losing half of my A team on unexpected mines near a vehicules, and sadly lost Barry to the teddy bear killer, who spawned right near my team and one-slashed him with a machete critical. Besides that, everything went smoothly. Livewire for the win once again.

[amedeevause]

Originally posted by Trolleur_Durden:

Originally posted by amedeevause:

Well I just got the Iron Man. Hard in the beginning, really easy in the end. And yes, some cheesing has taken place but that's life... This game really brought back the original JA atmosphere and flavor. I liked it a lot. Might even leave a review if I get around to it! Thanks for the advice Bas da Graca.

I did it too recently, not hard overall but a couple of nasty surprises. I came close of losing half of my A team on unexpected mines near a vehicules, and sadly lost Barry to the teddy bear killer, who spawned right near my team and one-slashed him with a machete critical. Besides that, everything went smoothly. Livewire for the win once again.

The main objective battles could have been a lot tougher though. I remember Meduna and the Queen's palace being a real challenge, even for experienced players