Mods to make diamond mines not run out

[Larco]

Tend to prefer a slower game without too much time pressure. I know there's a mod called Evermine which adds an option to make mines never run out but it looks like you have to start a new game for it to work? Are there any mods you can install on an existing save to remove mines running out?

Edit - For bonus points, is there any way to turn off the quest pop ups in the top right corner? They're incredibly annoying and immersion breaking but don't give me any useful information at all.

[Kernest]

Just to be clear, when the mines "run out", on normal difficulty they drop to 50%, not 0.

So unless you picked a higher difficulty, you'll still have plenty of money from just a few mines, plus all the diamonds you can find and sell.

Only thing worth noting it that the Fleatown mine, that you typically capture first, runs out fastest. Other mines could take months before you get the email about production dropping off.

As for the quest pop ups, try going to the quest log and click on the "active" quest to turn off tracking.

[Larco]

Thanks, that's handy to know. I started normal but I think may restart, change options, raise difficulty etc - having being trying to play the game the way i did JA2, I'm realising that JA3s seems to be all about stealth sniping. And that strapping a scope and silencer on a gewehr thingy is like night and day compared to using usual tactics and the other weps

On the pop up, thanks, Ill try that. Damn thingy stuck like glue.

[Rhapsody]

So long as you focus on capturing and holding mines, it shouldn't be any trouble even in hardest difficulty settings. It takes forever for the final 3 mines to run out, never happened to me, but I could see it happening maybe after a year has passed in time. So the biggest challenge of bankrupting is hiring too expensive mercs early on.

[Kernest]

Originally posted by Rhapsody:

never happened to me, but I could see it happening maybe after a year has passed in time.

Each mine has a slightly randomized timer after which they start losing production to whatever % they drop to based on your difficulty.

None of the timers are that long, but the thing is that they don't start ticking down until you actually capture the mine. Not 100% what happens if you lose the mine, presumably the timer stops.

[orochiart]

Originally posted by Larco:

Tend to prefer a slower game without too much time pressure. I know there's a mod called Evermine which adds an option to make mines never run out but it looks like you have to start a new game for it to work? Are there any mods you can install on an existing save to remove mines running out?

There is no need for mod. Once they reach the threshold, mines will produce 50% of income.
Mfumu mine is smallest mine. When you capture it it will start a timer and it will reach threshold after 25 days. Other mines produce more income and they need 3 months to reach the threshold. One specific one needs 6 months and one more specific needs 2 months.

After Ernie if you rush Mfumu, near Fleatown and Old mine near Cacao you are golden. When you clear those two towns you can go take Diamond Red in the north. With those 2-3 mines you will drown in income.

Originally posted by Larco:

I'm realising that JA3s seems to be all about stealth sniping. And that strapping a scope and silencer on a gewehr thingy is like night and day compared to using usual tactics and the other weps

Early game gewehr makes life easier but it costs a lot of AP to shoot. When there are multiple enemies it isn't action efficient. Even with quick scope you can only shoot it once per round.

assault rifles with quick scope, compensator and vertical grip allow you to shoot twice per round. In addition 5.56 FAMAS and 9mm MP5 allow your mercs with lower AP to also shoot twice per round because they require less AP than regular assault rifles.

[Larco]

Originally posted by orochiart:

Originally posted by Larco:

I'm realising that JA3s seems to be all about stealth sniping. And that strapping a scope and silencer on a gewehr thingy is like night and day compared to using usual tactics and the other weps

Early game gewehr makes life easier but it costs a lot of AP to shoot. When there are multiple enemies it isn't action efficient. Even with quick scope you can only shoot it once per round.

assault rifles with quick scope, compensator and vertical grip allow you to shoot twice per round. In addition 5.56 FAMAS and 9mm MP5 allow your mercs with lower AP to also shoot twice per round because they require less AP than regular assault rifles.

Do they do more damage as they scale, relative to snipers? The problem Ive been finding early game is that, while I can shoot an AR twice - or smgs even 3 times - a) theyve got less range b) they're less accurate and c) even if I do hit, they do hardly any damage.

It looks like they've done the usual game thing of deciding a) that the same 7.62 round does far less dmg fired from some guns (ARs) compared to other guns (snipers) and b) applied a malus to auto fired bullets compared to single shot.

Coupled with fairly long initial engagement ranges and (as far as I can tell) no penalty for using a sniper point blank, the balance feels a bit out of whack. You'd sort of expect that snipers would dominate long range, ARs mid range, SMGs/ shotguns short.

[Rhapsody]

Originally posted by Larco:

Do they do more damage as they scale, relative to snipers? The problem Ive been finding early game is that, while I can shoot an AR twice - or smgs even 3 times - a) theyve got less range b) they're less accurate and c) even if I do hit, they do hardly any damage.

As you progress in the game, automatic weapons become much more potent (kinda how they do in real life) in the hands of skilled mercs, especially for weapons with recoil booster mod available (which bumps burst fire damage to double damage up from +50% compared to single shot firing).

Late-game weapons like Commando and AK-74 also have higher inherent armor penetration than their early game counterparts. A competent user of PSG-1 or some other sniper rifle can still deliver excellent damage per bullet, but not per action point consumed. And even weapons like Glock or MP5 can be deadly for particular builds or mercs, like Vicki, Shadow or a certain late game hire who can empty a weapon's clip and deal guaranteed high damage to enemies even with MP5.

There's a handful of early game weapons which have direct upgrades in lethality:

Peacemaker -> Anaconda
Browning/Uzi -> Beretta -> Glock
AK-47 -> AK-74/AK-SU
FAMAS -> AR-15/M16 -> AUG/G36/Commando/Minimi
Gewehr -> M14/M24 -> PSG-1
M42 -> HK-21

So to make effective comparisons, you need to look at each merc in their build, your own ammo economy situation as well as the encounter and the enemy before coming to conclusions... basically apply the Art of War and forget simple answers. :)

[orochiart]

Originally posted by Larco:

Do they do more damage as they scale, relative to snipers? The problem Ive been finding early game is that, while I can shoot an AR twice - or smgs even 3 times - a) theyve got less range b) they're less accurate and c) even if I do hit, they do hardly any damage.

It looks like they've done the usual game thing of deciding a) that the same 7.62 round does far less dmg fired from some guns (ARs) compared to other guns (snipers) and b) applied a malus to auto fired bullets compared to single shot.

early game AK-47 are okay weapons. Benefit they have is that enemy drop them frequently, WP ammo is common loot and that vertical grip is easier to install and costs half as much when compared to other weapons with that modification.

M14, FAMAS, M16A and MP5K/MP5 are very accurate.

Get those weapons Quick Scope and compensator. Take Recoil Management perk (Most male mercs have enough Strength so they can pick that perk or they already have it)

Quick mag is also a good mod so you can manually open the inventory and drag desired ammo type and reload the weapon for only 1 AP instead of 3AP.

Mercs with auto-fire perk also halve the penalty when using burst fire and auto-fire.

Depending on the merc you can do a quick scope shot to torso and then do a followup attack as burst attack on same enemy. You will get bunch of bonuses. (Same target, compensator, recoil management, auto-fire.)

for MP5 I prefer quickscope, extended barrel and red dot. That way that merc, that has 11 AP, can tag two enemies per turn and mark them so that next attack that ignores armor will do crit damage (most higher calibers automatically bypass flak armor,) so mercs with assault rifles will attack marked targets.

Originally posted by Larco:

Coupled with fairly long initial engagement ranges and (as far as I can tell) no penalty for using a sniper point blank, the balance feels a bit out of whack. You'd sort of expect that snipers would dominate long range, ARs mid range, SMGs/ shotguns short.

I agree with this statement. SMGs, pistols and shotgun gain bonus for point blank range (I think it is 3-4 squares distance between you and enemy) but there is no penalty of using rifles. Except that they are not AP efficient early game in a way that you only get a single attack per round.

Assault rifles open few possibilities.
attack once and try to kill the target with the 2nd attack.
wound the enemy and then aim for groin, arms or legs so they have penalties next round.
if merc has decently high AP and/or marksmanship try finishing of multiple enemies.
blow up pipe bombs, timed and proximity bombs that are thrown by your explosives expert.
install grenade launcher on your assault rifle. Launch the grenade, destroy cover or wound multiple enemies and then try to finish the target with followup attack.

[Larco]

Thanks guys, that's all really helpful advice. Finally got a couple of FNFALs and they're a marked improvement. I've actually ditched my rusty old ww2 rifles ... :) More generally, a bit further in the game, it feels like weapon choices are opening up - Drags for sniping, decent ARs and even the AKSU isn't too bad on Ice. Plus ofc MGs and grenade launchers :) Actually getting more of a mixed squad now. Lot's of fun.