Best units to collect?

[=яενєηąŋŧ=]

Got nostalgic and decided to reinstall, but I feel like most of the systems are completely different from when I did 99% of my playing. I stopped playing right after they nerfed max-level Militia into the ground with the stat scaling rebalance that made them useless with assault rifles. They were 90% of my force, so that was a rough hit.

So what unit types do you focus on early/middle/late game if you're trying to make an elite force? And did they make it any easier to get Faction troops?

[marijn211]

recruiting hubs are still separate from factions, I have no good idea what the best balanced units would be

[JohnBart]

IMO captured faction troops and mercenaries with animal names (e.g. Owl, Sea Lion, Snow Fox troops) are the way to go.

Pozna troops make great long-range fighters, while FCA and outlaw cossack rebel fighters excel at close-range combat. VFA and Atov soldiers are great all-round assault rifle users. During the endgame, however, you really want to replace your casualties with captured Alpha troops. Frankly, during the early game, you can recruit/convert any type of unit to help bolster your army, but once you take on named factions, you probably want to relegate town hires and outlaw gunslingers into fodder/diversion squads, and use faction troops or mercenaries as your mainstay.

Owl snipers, Sea lion troops, snow fox soldiers and other, similarly named mercenaries are typically geared towards a specific combat role, and have notable strength + speed differences. However, all of them accept high-level armor, so I typically used them either as elite snipers or elite assault rifle troops.