Why so little ammunition?

[curtio rico]

I ran completely out of ammo and money while fighting the giant bugs and things at the mutant farm, so I quit. The game is just too stingy with ammo.

[SnapSlav]

You probably have a crappy team? Sorry to be so blunt, but I've been swimming through ammo all the time. My very, very first time playing the game I ran a little bit low when I reached Highpool (alternate option from Ag Center), but I NEVER ran out, and never ran low ever again.

Is this your first time playing the game?

[curtio rico]

Hmmm. Maybe I just need to know how to build a better team. Yes. First time.

[Gillsing]

Shoot straight, conserve ammo, and never ever cut a deal with a dragon.

If your chance to hit is too low, don't take the shot. Don't use a heavy weapon to waste seven bullets in one go against a target that doesn't need to be shot that many times. Early on it's usually a good idea to rely on melee as much as possible.

[Boneyard Bob]

You're just now going through AG center? Yeah, ammo is gonna be pretty slim at first. Conserve as much as you can for now, once you finish AG ammo will be a little more pleniful.

[Amanoob105]

Keeping in mind whats been said before, one advantage of ag center is it's full of stuff (or junk if you like) all of which can be gathered up and sold/traded, often in turn for more ammo/healthpacks at the store (guy in the wheelchair).

*Rant incomming*
I think I lucked out with my first game of this when I (for no other reason than "narrative reasons") gave my heavy guy a blunt melee weapon with high constitution. Early game when he couldn't hit the broadside of a honey badger, he could just hit them over the head instead while acting as a team tank (guy that got shot at the most).
Then mid to late game while he was still good at that could also open up with a minigun with plenty of ammo.
*Rant over*

[SnapSlav]

Originally posted by ccrice:

Hmmm. Maybe I just need to know how to build a better team. Yes. First time.

Well, the game isn't exactly going to shower you in free ammunition no matter how well or how poorly you play (but you will find an abundance of random ammo throughout the game), so the obvious solution is to either be so clever with your money that you can buy all the ammo in the world between/during missions, or you can plan out combat (or save/reload if you don't like how it went) so that you waste as little ammo as possible.

For example, it's your sniper's turn, he's going to deal about 40 damage, there's 3 enemies, one with 15 hp, two with full hp at about 60, don't finish off the guy with 15 hp (unless it's his turn next, and he's right next to someone he's going to hurt) since that's 25 "wasted" damage that you can unleash on one of those 2 fresh targets! Then next turn your assault rifle guy finishes one (or both) off. Often combat isn't about focusing all your attacks on one enemy at a time until they die, one by one. Sometimes it's much more efficient to plan your attacks so you safely and expediently end the fight taking as little damage as possible and using up as little ammo as possible.

Or do BOTH! Be able to afford everything and STILL waste very little, and find yourself awash with cash and bullets! =D

There's also the "use melee weapons cause they don't cost ammo" route, but that's less useful in Ag Center due to all the exploding enemies, so you don't wanna be in melee range of them when they die. But also there's that thing I mentioned where you'll be absolutely tripping over all the ammo eventually (unless you have a gift for wasting it) so don't feel shy about taking a shot.

Originally posted by Amanoob105:

*Rant incomming*
I think I lucked out with my first game of this when I (for no other reason than "narrative reasons") gave my heavy guy a blunt melee weapon with high constitution. Early game when he couldn't hit the broadside of a honey badger, he could just hit them over the head instead while acting as a team tank (guy that got shot at the most).
Then mid to late game while he was still good at that could also open up with a minigun with plenty of ammo.
*Rant over*

That was a rant? =]

[SMJSMOK]

At the beginning, I had problems with sniper ammo as well (and it got even worse once I recruited the Indian girl, who is ALSO a sniper :-D ). It got better after that though and by the time I went to L.A., I had so much that I didn't know what to do with it.

[SMJSMOK]

It also helps to get 50% discount in the Rail Nomads shop. That took care of my sniper ammo needs. During the early game.

[The Cunning Fox (raZoleg)]

By the time I reached Titan I had so much ammo I had to constantly go back and drop it off playing my first time on Ranger. I was taught by Gorky 17(18) what it means to have ammo, so I hold on to any bullet as long as I can and always have a CQB specialist or two (out of 4 guys in my ranger team I had two who started with CQB weapons like blunt and sharp).

[curtio rico]

Thanks everyone. I will give the game anotrher try.

[red255]

Ag Center is more low on ammo.

Highpool is shorter and has more shots and ammo. you are fighting raiders and you can loot ammo off their corpses.

Ag Center isn't so bad if you know what you are doing, like where everything is. bunnies are pretty hard to hit, so you should club them.

everyone should have some minor points sunk into melee so they can club things early on. really just a couple points is enough, +35% from the first point +20% leadership bonus, some grip tape on the weapon, making it cost 3 AP or so. a shot is like 6 AP, so if you can afford to miss more with melee. its mainly for hitting people hiding in cover and things like rabbits.

before you get loads of skill and can just 100% shoot people in cover.

[Shug Dynamite]

What is your team composition? If everyone is using, say, AR's, you may run out of ammo more quickly than if everyone was using a different type of weapon.

[curtio rico]

All comments were gratefully recieved. I have some medical time off soon and I am looking for a way to fill the time.

[SnapSlav]

Originally posted by red255:

Ag Center
[...]
+20% leadership bonus

You're not gonna have Level 10 Leadership by the time you visit Ag Center for the first time you ever played. For the sake of argument, MAYBE it could be level 5 if the character started out with level 4 Leadership and the SP from ranking up were sunk into 5 before they got there. But that's pushing some next-level meta gaming that I wouldn't expect newbies to be planning out ahead of time. XD

[Incunabulum]

Originally posted by ccrice:

I ran completely out of ammo and money while fighting the giant bugs and things at the mutant farm, so I quit. The game is just too stingy with ammo.

Its not too stingy with ammo - stop using it willy-nilly on low-end enemies. That's *why* there are melee skills in the game. Bash bugs with sticks, don't shoot them with rare bullets.