Jagged Alliance 2 - Tutorial for new players

Jagged Alliance 2 is a fantastic turn-based strategy game where you command mercenaries trying to liberate a small island nation from a tyrannical queen.

The game was originally made in 1999, so the interface is definitely rather hostile for the modern gamer, but if you get over the hurdle of getting over the complexity and learning the basics of the game I'm sure a lot of people can have a great time with the game.

[skaruts]

This game is among the best games ever made. From the scenery to the characters to the gameplay, to the humor and the drama, everything has such an impressive level of depth...
<3

[WorldOfConsequence]

My favorite game of all time. I want to make a film based on this game one day.

[TcpIpNut]

Saw the trailer for JA3 and found JA2 in my GOG library so I'm using this to help me get started. Thanks!

[u-ux]

Easiest method for a vanilla experience in modern PCs in 2023 is the "Stracciatella" mod. Like you said, 1.13 changes a lot of things. Stracciatella has some new shortcuts and features you can disable and mostly just updates the resolution. Also it's super easy to install.

[Machiavei]

Am I the only one who memorized XEP624. I've played this game so many goddamn times now.

[Mimirai]

I remember always maxing Dexterity instead of marksmanship, as well as picking correct questions in the questionaire for night ops and throwing/stealth, ending up with a character that was able to clear the entire city at night time with nothing but throwing knives. The only problem was if the enemy had better night vision googles than I did... which they usually had. x3
Good vid, after over 2 years. Cheers.

[Nobody-vedh]

Thanks for taking the time to make this. I play a lot of old games and it can be a real challenge to find any useful info about them sometimes. Even just a video or forum post about what mods/patches/fixes to get a game running on a new PC can save an entire day(s) of trying to get it working.
As someone who has never played or seen this game before (I've only ever heard great things about it) I do wish there was some more very basic info in the video. Maybe going over and explaining the UI or explaining the basic flow/goals of the game. Of course that's all stuff I'm sure I can get from reading the manual so I can't complain, I'd just rather watch a video. Thanks again.

[kemita]

Very good video to get you started playing JA2. Straight to the point to understand the basics and explore the rest on your own.

[IanTBH]

Thank you! I bought this game at a Dollar Store as an odd-ball find, This definitely helped.

[hekilightbringer]

Dexterity is important for hit chance, it is actually more important to max it instead of marksmanship, because you will train marksmanship easier

[robertroberto]

Great game, I am playing it every 2-3 years for almost 20 years. I am also playing Fallout Tactics every few years. Why such games can't be created today with 10 times better technology!!??

[Ezakimake]

Thanks for advices, now starting JA 2 for first time :D
I'm surprised that you got so few subscribers, the intro/outru is great, you are describing cool aps and you played lot's of games, but only minus that canal is little in disorder, and hard to find stuff, GL in next videos.

PS. Someone told you ever you look like StarLord ?:P

[robbyfrank]

Thanks for the great tutorial! Just bought the game on GOG. You helped me a lot :)

[anonimo]

my first hour:
first 2 minute: oh cool, windows 98's internet explorer
3 minute later: cool character creation
5 minute later: ok, i've hire a squad of super mercenaries, now is time to kick ass
2 second later: why they land in front of the enemy?
reload reload reload...

[jamesgrames]

No no no. Don't go for 85 marksmanship in the character creation, because marksmanship is the easiest stat to improve. Even if you start with 50-60 you'll be fine. I wouldn't recommend going lower because those are actualy the % so with 4 stages of aiming each giving extra 10% you could be missing shots even from the closest distance. And those saved points you can spend on your ability stats like strenght and dexterity which are really hard to improve.

My favourite starting mercs are: Grizzly, Igor, Buns, Blood and Wolf (I hire them for 1 week I know its not so money efficient, but extra merc when you have 5 (including you) is more less 20% boost to your firepower. Also non of those are psycho like Meltdown or Fidel.

My favourite perk is night ops (each stage giving +1 square of view range at night) combining that with UV googles gives you +4 view range advantage. Sometimes you can literally kill enemies without being shot back and even having the first shot or two advantage is massive because when your or your enemies HP drop the action points (AP) drop also so even if your enemy survives your first two shots he often "isn't in the mood to fight anymore" :p

Combine spotters with snipers (1-2 snipers are enough). Snipers don't have to see targets themselves!!! Use dragunov with a scope and dipod(works only when merc is prone) and you can have awesome headshots from half of the map distance :)

With that night ops tactics (hey when you attack you can chose the time) you don't need guns with huge range in most night fights those with 20-25 range (its in squares in game) guns are enough like 'commando" or 'FA-MAS'

Don't forget to talk with mine headmasters, because this is your income in game.

Oh and first thing you do after you liberate a city TRAIN MILITA.

[ThatDjinn]

This video is fantastic. Older games can be a btch to play with how much industry have progressed in ways of teaching the player how to play, but that difficulty also carried a design that's much more immersive if you can get over the initial hurdle. I hope this video helped someone get into this game, because it's one of those gems that wouldn't get released nowadays.

I especially like how it treats things like knives or martial arts. You CAN make them work, especially with stealth, but bringing a blade to a gunfight will most likely end in you getting shot to death. Compare it to modern sRPG's like X-COM 2 where you literally have a class that's a ninja running around and slicing enemies with a sword. And I like X-COM, I just think we could also use more games like Jagged Alliance too.

[wojciechgasiorowski]

Monica Sondergard was my game time sniper, she was the one who made my game easy, so yes BUY HER! :)

[muaythaibachatero]

I like Danny as his medical, agility, health, and wisdom are high level. Marksmanship is initially low but he can quickly become one of your best men. Just don't have him handle explosives lol.

[jenkemsniffer]

What do you think of JA2 Stracciatella? I generally prefer it over 1.13 due to it being much more of a vanilla experience as well as being really easy to install.

[dennissinned]

If anyone is interested to get into JA2 Vanilla (should try it at least once to get your bearings before delving in the various mods, 1.13 is recommended), a great starting team is your I.M.P which for me is a night ops expert usually, Steroid for his Tool Kit and Lockpicks, he can also kick down doors since he is a bodybuilder and very strong, if he can't lockpick. And finally Shadow, for a lot of reasons. Camouflaged and therefore harder to spot if lying among trees, on grass, especially at night, etc. Stealthy, agility already in the 90's, very fast on getting interrupts and he comes with an HK MP-5 which is sporting a 20 range, versus the 12-13 range the pistols have. Still not a long range so during day wait in ambushes around corners or inside buildings, during the night he can crawl close to enemies, within shot range, kill one then wait for others to come investigate . During the early game he does most of the killing till the team starts getting weapons with longer range.

When i started playing JA2 in 1999, i hired many low level mercs and made a mess. Got very frustrated. Tried a new playthrough with the above team and it was smooth sailing. During the early game it's much easier to fight at night. The enemies can't see far so you can use the environment to your advantage.