Mercenary Guide

The five Bar mercenaries

You can field four allies at once. The Wasteland Bar sells one unique mercenary per bar level, and each is rarer and more expensive than the last. Building the bar costs 100 Scrap, 100 Wood and 100 Scrip. Upgrading to levels 2, 3, 4 and 5 costs 100, 200, 300 and 400 of both Scrap and Wood, and each level also needs your base at that level or higher. Bar mercenaries have no reputation requirement, only Scrip.

Allies grow with you. Each fight their HP is base plus the scaling multiplier times (20 per level above 1, plus 5 per day), and their damage bonus is 3 per level above 1 plus half the day number, plus the mercenary's own bonus. At level 10 on day 15 that gives roughly 300 HP for Mira, 350 for Tadeusz, 315 for Lena, 583 for Viktor and 497 for Anya. Allies get 2 AP per turn and act after you, in squad order.

What every skill does

Each mercenary has a 1 AP attack and a 2 AP signature skill. "Bonus" is the damage bonus above, which is about 36 to 50 in our example.

Two quirks matter. First, Execution has no boss exception: once Utopek-7 or Lady Midday drops under 35%, Anya ends the fight in one action. Second, ally damage skips your own talents (crit, damage percentages, armor piercing) but still suffers a boss's damage reduction. Radiation contamination does not reduce it either, so a contaminated player can lean on allies.

Hiring order by budget

Hiring always spends the full price, even if you dismissed that person before, so avoid hiring someone you plan to drop.

• Under 3,000 Scrip: Mira. A heal and fresh cover every turn is the strongest defence available this early. The Trained K9 (1,000, no reputation needed) is the cheapest ally of all.
• By 3,800 total: add Tadeusz. Cave-In is the best answer to packs of wolves, hounds and raiders.
• By 8,600 total: add Lena. Her Deadeye is the best opener against a boss with escorts.
• By 17,100 total: add Viktor as your anchor.
• Late game: Anya costs 15,000 and the squad is full, so decide whom she replaces. A squad of Mira, Viktor, Lena and Anya costs 29,500 in total. If you already know that is your goal, skip Tadeusz and save his 2,600.

Classic companions

These are hired from the Mercenary Roster and need reputation instead of a bar level (Known Mercenary is 20, Respected Commander 50, Wasteland Legend 100). Their damage rolls use the same bonus.

The Defector deserves attention: ordinary enemy attacks only ever deal 1 to 2 damage to him. The Hacker's Overload is a guaranteed stun where Tadeusz's is a coin flip. The Frag Grenade, Panic Spray and Barrage subtract HP directly, so they ignore boss damage reduction.

Placement and roles

Positions only decide who gets shot, because allies can attack from anywhere. Enemies hit a taunting ally first. Otherwise, if anyone stands in front, ordinary attacks go to the front line 85% of the time and to you the other 15%. With nobody in front, about 90% come to you and 10% reach a back-line ally. The roles from Squad Strategy add to this: Vanguard (+15% HP, taunts in round one, 3 less damage), Striker (+20% damage, at least +3, but -10% HP) and Guardian (you start in cover, 2 less damage). Moving someone mid-fight costs you 1 AP. Full rules are in the formation guide.

If you have Viktor, make him Vanguard in front. If you have Anya, make her a Striker in the back, since her damage scales with her bonus and she never needs to tank. Mira belongs behind you, because losing her means losing your turn-by-turn cover.

Squads that work

• Packs of melee enemies: Viktor (Vanguard, front), Tadeusz, Lena and Mira. Cave-In stuns half the pack each cast, and stunned enemies lose their attack.
• Single boss with special attacks: Mira, Viktor, Anya and Lena. Both Mira and Viktor put you in cover every turn, and Anya finishes the boss below 35%. With 122 sickle damage from Lady Midday cut to 49 by cover, this setup survives mistakes.
• Armored targets (Silica Reaper, Abattoir Warden): add a Demo Expert, whose grenade ignores reduction, and Lena for her heavy Deadeye hits.
• Boss with escorts: open with Deadeye so escorts miss, then Cave-In or Overload the boss.
• Tight budget: Mira, Trained K9 and Rookie Gunner (needs Rep 20) for 3,700 Scrip combined.

Turn order is part of the plan. Allies act in squad order, and you can reorder them in Squad Strategy. Put Lena and Tadeusz ahead of Anya, so their damage pushes a boss under 35% before Execution is used. Put Mira early, so cover and healing are in place before the enemy phase. The Guardian role only gives cover in round one, while Mira renews it every turn, so a Guardian is worth it mainly for squads without her.

Worked example: you meet Captain Zhor-Kaal and three Vanguard Scouts at level 10. If you have Lena, open with Deadeye on the captain, because the scouts then have a 75% chance to miss their next attack. If you also have Tadeusz, Cave-In next round to hit all the scouts and stun about half of them. If the captain falls below 35%, Anya's Execution saves several rounds of his x1.6 damage.

Related: squad formations, combat, survival and economy and survivors.

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