How many agents do you have?

[cat_minim]

i ended up with about 30 in the end and it was a bit difficult to manage but used low level agents for the running around and high level for the missions. i was wondering if i did this wrong and should have kept a smaller team but i didn't know what was going to happen next so just kept them all

[Zyxpsilon]

Well.. everyone has taken some relatively direct decisions for their own optimal Crew Quarters.

In my case, it was all based on World-Map scanning minimal speeds. Always grouped (low levels too) such Agents in pairs to be able to Recon asap once the target city has been reached.
There are key distances to maintain SIX pairs worldwide.. Two in North America (Chicago + Houston) & Four in Europe + Middle-East + Asia (likely idle in .. Geneva, Baku, Aleppo, Irkust, etc).
Others are assigned to HQ tasks (mainly into Forger + Comms + Workshop) while a core of 6/10 best are just kept in reserve for most Missions.

Anyone else might take a different approach. What matters is HOW you want your gameplay to progress -- rapidly, carefully, whatever!

[Dorok]

It depends on how you are looking at it. If you want allocate an agent at all tasks, It's already 8 for com analysis and forging. And eventually you can even add 2 more for crafting, and 2 more for an extra reserve, and 2 more for other tasks as body building, training.

Then you can choose scout only with pairs, and even if it's possible with agents traveling alone, it's hard and a lot more micro management. So it depends, 8 pairs should be rather safe, plus you can anticipate a full team healing, that is 6 more in reserve

That would be 8 + 6 + 16 +6 = 36. So with 30 you already optimized your roster for end game.

But the game let enough freedom to use different point of views. You can consider you never need have any agent on any full tasks, only when some in reserve are available. And those could be the reserve for injuries. So it's 6 agents for tasks and in case of injured agents.

And you can probably optimize the number of agents spread on world to do scouts and use them also for missions. In my opinion 6 pairs should be enough, like 4 on continent where is the base, 2 on the other continent. And then 2 agents in reserve for other tasks (training/body building) or urgent need. This would make a roster of 6 + 12 + 2 = 20. But this roster would hardly have any non used agent. So at end, it's more for the fun than for efficiency, and eventually with more character building choice than with a bigger roster with less agents used on missions.

So at my first play, I had also 30 agents at end, but go over it before the final, but without to reach the max. Moreover I didn't focused on a subset of agents for missions, so the roster was a bit too much spread, but fine enough to finish the game without grinding during chapter 7.

[Cahos Rahne Veloza]

Currently at the midpoint of chapter 3 with 20 Agents in total :)

[Garca]

I had more than 42 at the end of the game. If you can have more agent it is more easy. Use the low lvls for farm money, investigate and craft. Use the best agents for mission and travel.

[RexEviL]

Forger 4, Comm 4, 4 Assault Agents, 4 Travelling Agents.
16. I play the game with least possible agents.
I did have 20-25 agents before but I needed them for achievement and they were pretty much sitting in hq. I never thought about sending 1-2 agents to every city, it feels bothersome and less secretive.
4 Agents enough to cover entire continent by mid game and I keep 2 Assault Agent idle always for quick assault in case something goes wrong.

I don't really like having too many agents, it also makes me play a bit more cautious since losing even 1 agent affects combat.

[Cahos Rahne Veloza]

Nearing the end of chapter 3 and just have unlocked the next crew quarters upgrade, bringing my total agent capacity to 28. However I'm still only at 23 Agents for now.

Also wishing I never took that "lower the number of false positives" upgrade as I'm now literally just wasting time with very little to do workd map wise.

[kingts]

Originalmente postado por RexEviL:

Forger 4, Comm 4, 4 Assault Agents, 4 Travelling Agents.
16. I play the game with least possible agents.
I did have 20-25 agents before but I needed them for achievement and they were pretty much sitting in hq. I never thought about sending 1-2 agents to every city, it feels bothersome and less secretive.
4 Agents enough to cover entire continent by mid game and I keep 2 Assault Agent idle always for quick assault in case something goes wrong.

I don't really like having too many agents, it also makes me play a bit more cautious since losing even 1 agent affects combat.

Nothing wrong with that brotha, its all in how you like to play. The issue really is all the agents are the same. They really need stories, and job titles, and I think maybe 20 classes added, so your agents are unique to their skill, like a master martial artist, a deadly sniper, a knife assassin,a quick information gatherer, yes add knives, and many more. Fit the actual jobs with the perks you have. To be honest even with all those agents, never used hardly any of the skills, focus, heartbeat etc. All I did was take downs. Silence shots. The main flaw for me is many of the abilities, perks, guns, and excess facility options are useless or not needed.
I did the first game on easy with 55 agents all above level 12, boring yes, but I wanted to see how the game worked covering everything.

Now playing Ironman mode with a harder setting, huge difference, so like you keeping my agents lower. You really get exposed it hurts big time in a harder setting.

Play and murder how you wish people...wow that really is the game isn't it. Your murdering people...yes its a game, but...
Listen amount of agents to me do not matter if they all do the same thing. Does it. We will see how this game changes in the year. Mods coming now, but a lot has to improve

[IRMcG]

20-odd, varies according to campaign/difficulty. Never needed to build the maximum crew upgrade.

Permanent forger/comms that double as mission support in Assaults (since they just go back to their day jobs automatically), six-agent team for missions/"red alerts" held in my base until needed and usually four teams of two on each continent for investigations/backup (with skills geared to that as I spot suitable recruits) plus any recruits with useful skills/perks i'm training up.

[IRMcG]

Originalmente postado por kingts:

.....maybe 20 classes added, so your agents are unique to their skill, like a master martial artist, a deadly sniper, a knife assassin,a quick information gatherer, yes add knives, and many more. Fit the actual jobs with the perks you have. To be honest even with all those agents, never used hardly any of the skills, focus, heartbeat etc. All I did was take downs. Silence shots. The main flaw for me is many of the abilities, perks, guns, and excess facility options are useless or not needed.

You can already tailor skills and gear to roles like that, many backgrounds give particular skills, levelling skill picks are mostly multiple choice and then you've got training unlocks that add a bunch more. You fit the skills to the perks instead of hoping RNG does it for you :)

Doesn't matter if you just savescum every time your Actor/Disguise guy gets spotted of course, but as you seem to be noticing you need to use all the tools you get on Ironman.

[kingts]

Originalmente postado por IRMcG:

Originalmente postado por kingts:

.....maybe 20 classes added, so your agents are unique to their skill, like a master martial artist, a deadly sniper, a knife assassin,a quick information gatherer, yes add knives, and many more. Fit the actual jobs with the perks you have. To be honest even with all those agents, never used hardly any of the skills, focus, heartbeat etc. All I did was take downs. Silence shots. The main flaw for me is many of the abilities, perks, guns, and excess facility options are useless or not needed.

You can already tailor skills and gear to roles like that, many backgrounds give particular skills, levelling skill picks are mostly multiple choice and then you've got training unlocks that add a bunch more. You fit the skills to the perks instead of hoping RNG does it for you :)

Doesn't matter if you just savescum every time your Actor/Disguise guy gets spotted of course, but as you seem to be noticing you need to use all the tools you get on Ironman.

Yes Ironman different game. Again, by the time you have all those abilities unlocked. It is pretty much the same agent. I totally get the different roles, and yes the skills should fit the perks, but I disagree because you don't use them is my point. To me not much different between the pistol handler with silencer and a shotgun with a silencer. There is no flavor to the agents, they are all bland and the same sorry.
What is the point of having abilities you don't ever use. What is the point of high tech weaponry if your at the end game already. Now that is easy mode and normal. Hard maybe different we will see.

Agents need diversity, need skill trades. I can have 4 with dogge, actor, bigger overwatch, solid cover, all with 2 AP and 4 moves...all the same and invinsible.

They have even acknowledge to their credit in the comments prior to this patch with the developer's comments.

However all that being said, I am just starting hard ironman. We will see.

[RexEviL]

Originalmente postado por kingts:

I am just starting hard ironman. We will see.

As long as your leader is alive you won't lose, feel free to abandon agents when necessary. They will either come back or will be interrogated. You can save them later anyway.

[kingts]

Originalmente postado por RexEviL:

Originalmente postado por kingts:

I am just starting hard ironman. We will see.

As long as your leader is alive you won't lose, feel free to abandon agents when necessary. They will either come back or will be interrogated. You can save them later anyway.

Well the only bad tactic I have to get around is early game when you have no support yet and you try and sneak a peek into a room, open and close move and your spotted, when you go two agents or three, early game is brutal because even if you win that encounter, not in your best interest to lose stealth and get into a slug fest, bad things happen in hard mode. I mean bad, like overwhelmed dead.
Otherwise I hear you brother. I like a challenge.

[Jhones]

Just started chapter 5 and i've got 42. Should probably stop soon lol

[frankie60]

Originalmente postado por Jhones:

Just started chapter 5 and i've got 42. Should probably stop soon lol

Why stop now, lol? Not like you gotta pay them... I just got "control phrase" and I'm getting new agents pretty much every mission. Last mission I got two. I'm up to 15 agents in chapter 3 and I've only hired one.

I capture an agent or two on a mission, throw them in the tank and apply control phrase and let them go. Next time I see them, I whisper the phrase and I get an instant disguised agent...

[Dorok]

Originalmente postado por frankie60:

Originalmente postado por Jhones:

Just started chapter 5 and i've got 42. Should probably stop soon lol

Why stop now, lol? Not like you gotta pay them... I just got "control phrase" and I'm getting new agents pretty much every mission. Last mission I got two. I'm up to 15 agents in chapter 3 and I've only hired one.

I capture an agent or two on a mission, throw them in the tank and apply control phrase and let them go. Next time I see them, I whisper the phrase and I get an instant disguised agent...

The only reason to not do it is you have a lot more choices through hiring. So you can make a much better selection based on origin and skills already learned from level up. Alas you can't for attributes because chemicals will hide it.

If the game had a more hard difficulty level, with a more strict difficulty management, this could be very useful to optimize better the quality of your roster. If it's not really useful, it's just because the game favor freedom at depends of difficulty management and control.