Vanilla Redux: Weapons, Mercs & Progression Rebalance
Vanilla Redux is a comprehensive rebalancing of Jagged Alliance 3. At its core this mod is intended to take what vanilla Jagged Alliance 3 has to offer in terms of itemization (weapons, attachments etc.) and rebalance it to make a little more sense – much more sensible weapon stats; no arbitrarily different damage numbers for weapons using the same calibers, and more coherent and realistic (as far as JA3 goes) attachments across all the weapons.
Moreover, weapon progression in Vanilla Redux generally shifts from acquiring guns with better stat numbers to acquiring guns with wider customizability – more or less reflecting on the contemporary state of small arms. For instance, the old AKM you found on Ernie island will remain a perfectly viable assault rifle throughout the game in terms of range and damage, but that AR-15 you can buy off Bobby Ray’s will have the edge over it thanks to the plethora of available attachments. That said, in general, weapon attachments cost significantly more in parts and Mechanical skill.
Perks have also been significantly rebalanced or redone entirely, creating a very fresh build environment. Many of the changes bring less popular perks to viable state, opening up more fun and diverse build possibilities. The balancing in general is painstaikingly maintained and prioritized in every aspect of the mod.
Lastly, Vanilla Redux alters gear and loot tables of all NPCs, quest rewards, item containers and etc. to correspond with the itemization changes, as well as modifying many game mechanics for the same reason.
WHAT THIS MOD DOES?
Most notable changes, full list of changes coming soon:
1. Vanilla weapon numbers rebalancing. Damage and range now depend on ammunition caliber, i.e. 7.62x51mm weapons will do more damage and have longer range than, say, weapons in 5.56mm, unlike in vanilla JA3, where range and numbers varied widely between same (or regardless of) calibers and made little sense realism-wise. There are still variations in range in weapons of the same caliber depending on barrel length, but damage will remain unchanged.
2. Accurate magazine sizes, rewritten and informative weapon descriptions, new weapon variants with unique UI icons: PM MD. 80, Galil SAR, M1A, M14A1, FN FAL Para, Remington M. 725 and more!
3. Reimagined ammunition. There are now main 7 groups of small arms ammo:
– common pistol caliber group: 9x19mm, .40 S&W, .44 Special
– Warsaw Pact ammo group: 5.45mm, 7.62x39mm, 7.62x54mmR
– intermediate NATO ammo: 5.56mm
– full-power NATO ammo: 7.62x51mm
– shotgun ammo group: 12 and 16-gauge
– exotic ammo group: .45 Colt, .41 AE, .50AE, 8mm Mauser, .30-30, .30-06, .32-40
– heavy machine gun ammo: .50 BMG
Remember that even if two weapons use the same group of ammunition, their numbers may vary depending on their actual calibers. For instance, 9mm Beretta 92F will have 18 damage and 12 range, while Colt Peacemaker in more potent .44 Special will have 21 damage and 14 range despite both pistols using the same "common pistol caliber group" ammunition. Same goes for 5.45mm AK-74 (26 damage, 22 range), 7.62x39mm AKM (30 damage, 21 range) and 7.62x54R Dragunov sniper rifle (35 damage, 28 range) – all in "Warsaw Pact group" of ammunition. Armor Piercing ammuntion also now does 10-15% less damage.
4. Significant Weapon Component rebalancing. While the general idea of the changes revolves around game progression shift from acquiring better stat guns to acquiring more customizable weapons, most Vanilla Redux’ weapon components now allow for more meaningful decisions.
5. Significant rebalancing of AIM mercenaries in terms of stats, perks, price, hiring availability and starting gear. The changes made to both compliment the new balance environment and improve the appeal of the less popular mercs. Stat changes especially are made with as much reason and reserve as the lore and gameplay reasons allow, i.e. if a stat is lowered, other of the merc’s stats (or on a rare occasion – of other mercs) are increased by the same amount – no additional numbers are injected into the environment. Starting gear is updated according to Vanilla Redux changes, still reflecting upon merc personality, individuality and background. Salaries and levels are adjusted accordingly and within reason.
6. Perk reworks and rebalances:
– "Old Dog" lost Stat learning restriction and +10% squad experience. It now applies increased Range penalty with Ranged weapons, and 15% chance of becoming Slowed at the start of every Turn.
– "Ambusher" (Tier 2 Dexterity) perk was replaced by "Pistol Savant", which reduces Attack AP costs of all pistols by 1 and has +35% Crit rate against Wounded enemies.
– ‘Ironclad’ renamed to ‘Support Weapons Specialist", now retains half of your FreeMove Range while using cumbersome weapons.
– ‘Collateral Damage’ renamed to ‘Heavy Assault’, now retains half of your FreeMove Range while wearing cumbersome gear, and giving -1AP with cumbersome machine guns when standing and crouching.
– New "Damage Control Surgery" perk – allows medics to completely heal some Wounds in combat.
– And many, many more!
6. Body armor (nonelight, medium, heavy) vizualization, excluding helmets and pants, to preserve merc visual recognisability and character.
7. Bobby Ray’s is more expensive, but some top of the line weapons like HK21, PSG-1 etc. can now only be ordered on-line with little to no chance of finding them in Gran Chien.
8. Changes to some core mechanics:
– No silent guns. Suppressed pistol caliber weapons get 80% sound reduction, intermediate caliber weapons – 60%, and full power rifle calibers only 40%.
– Automatic fire system overhaul: the number of shots with BurstFire and AutoFire is now weapon dependent. All automatic fire now deals 67% of total damage instead of vanilla 50% (20% for vanilla AutoFire). Cumbersome machine guns now have reduced AP costs when firing while prone or when set up. Long Burst now also applies Suppression, same as Autofire. All automatic fire and Dual Shot are not aimable. 7.62x51mm NATO battle rifles such as M14 and FN FAL now do not have 3-round Burst fire, only Autofire.
– BurstFire Overwatch is only available for Machine Guns, the rest of the guns will OW with Single Shots.
– Night combat aim and sight penalties noticeably increased.
– Re-stealthing during active combat is disabled.
– And more!
9. Enemy and NPCs gear now makes a bit more sense. Legion is a ragtag militant group and uses a mishmash of mostly Soviet firearms and Grand Chien’s WW2 legacy weapons. The Army one the other hand relies on European equipment such as Famas and FN FALs. The gangsters can have some weapons smuggled over the border, and a certain secret organization will be armed with exclusively WW2 German weapons. Militia now too uses most widely available small arms in the country: AKs.
MOD RECOMMENDATIONS:
Nocturnal Beauty – night penalties are higher in Vanilla Redux and this mod supports them visually.
Special thanks to:
Grendelin and sgtzimm – for testing, feedback and discussions!
Revisions:
Old revisions of this mod are available below. Click the link to download.
