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One of the strongest points in Jagged Alliance 3 is the depth of combat and other in-game mechanics but some of the information was unfortunately not relayed all that well.
That said, Haemimont peppered the game with helpful little secrets, most of which we will not be spoiling here but with these few tips, you should find it easier to get into the game and enjoy the best of it.
L-Alt is your best friend
This one is quite simple but somewhat easy to miss. Pressing Left Alt key will highlight interactable and lootable objects around your mercs, along with enemies that would otherwise be harder to spot.
This way you will avoid missing out on vital supplies and if you are sneaking into conflicts, which you should, the highlight will help you figure out whether the enemies are far apart enough to not register the other one getting killed.
Take the IMP / PET test
This one is absolutely easy to miss even though it's invaluable. When you open the in-game browser where you can recruit the regular mercenaries, switch to the IMP tab.
Pay the $7000 fee and take the PET test.
Answer the questions in any way you like, although I did have a hard time picking my favourite answers because they are all a box of fun. When you finish the test, you will be given a few notes about the type of character you are getting and then you can customise their stats via sliders, name them and choose one of the portraits.
The portrait will determine the character's appearance. When you're done with that, you will have recruited a merc with stats tailored to your liking and even better - they don't have a weekly wage, saving you a ton of money in the process.
Keep five tiny diamonds in your inventory
Tiny diamonds will come into your possession either through looting enemies or through interactions with other characters. One easy way to get some is to extort Bastien, who will be the first non-hostile NPC you meet.
The reason you are keeping them is Lalee Leewaylender, who will trade loot boxes for them. Considering the quality of loot in those boxes, it is well worth spending five diamonds for them.
One especially valuable thing in the boxes is Metaviron, which will allow you to recruit Larry, another merc who will work for no weekly wage.
Modify your weapons
Some mercs will start off with terrible Marksmanship but they are invaluable for having a lot of Wisdom, Medicine or Mechanics so you need to compensate for the lack of their shooting skills in other ways.
Modifying your weapons is a great way to do it and you can do it from the get-go. All you need is to loot some parts and some mods become available. Others will require specialised parts like Lens or Chip but the gist here is that you shouldn't miss out on this feature in the early hours of the game. It could mean the difference between offing an enemy or them offing one of your mercs.
Bags of Grand Chien Franks are not useless
Despite the in-game description and the inability to cash them in, bags of Grand Chien Franks have their uses. Multiple quest items can be obtained with them on top of magazines that will improve your mercenaries overall.
You will never need more than a handful of them so if you loot more than 10 and they spill into another stack, you can delete that one with no worries. Just keep the initial 10 on hand.
