Jagged Alliance 2 Mercenaries

Welcome to my guide to Mercenaries in Jagged Alliance 2, a cRPG released by Sir Tech in 1999. This post alphabetically tables all AIM, MERC and recruitable NPCs in v1.12 of JA2.

Tabled Merc-related data includes:

Merc starting level
Traits JA2
Attributes JA2
Skills JA2
Likes and dislikes (if applicable)

There are 40 AIM mercenaries, 10 MERC mercenaries and 13 recruitable NPCs in Jagged Alliance 2 (not including quest-based "temps"). Not every merc or NPC will be available in a given game; it depends on player choice, squad composition, social skills and factors out of the player's control, such as mercs being KIA while undertaking non-Arulco assignments.

I have bolded what I consider to be the best starting mercenaries. For example, two of the best starting mercs are Barry and Buns.

The criteria for best merc Jagged Alliance 2 rests mostly on their low level, low upkeep (value for money) and high Wisdom scores coupled with valuable utility skills such as teaching, medical, demolitions and electronics/lockpicking.

Such mercs are eminently useful and capable of quick and satisfying growth; they can also become crackshots. In my humble opinion, rolling with such mercs results in the most entertaining and rewarding experience because we can watch those doctors, mechanics and teachers grow into professional killers.

Experts and Night Ops mercs have been highlighted in the tables below. Blue also highlights outstanding stats or skills, pink highlights a fear or phobia and Red highlights the Psycho personality trait.

Refer to Jagged Alliance 2 Walkthrough for an introduction to and overview of the AIM and MERC recruiting services.

Association of International Mercenaries: A.I.M

An online service available all through the campaign, AIM is where we recruit many of the best mercs.

Name	LVL	HLT	DEX	AGY	STR	WIS	LDR	MRK	EXP	MED	MEC	Traits	Skills	Like	Dislike
Barry	2	82	87	72	80	91	29	70	92	20	44	Water	Elect Lock	Red	n/a
Blood	3	84	87	94	82	75	6	78	31	51	23	n/a	Throw Martial	Magic	Cliff Bubba
Bull	2	96	44	59	98	64	23	72	17	10	25	n/a	H2H (Exp)	Nails	Biff
Buns	2	79	87	78	59	93	24	86	4	48	8	Crep	Teach (Exp)	Sydney	Fox Reaper Gumpy
Buzz	4	71	47	84	68	90	13	96	19	0	5	Psych	Heavy Weap Auto Weap	n/a	Lynx
Cliff	4	82	53	60	64	87	33	84	31	84	4	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Danny	3	99	79	99	73	91	10	61	0	88	12	n/a	Ambi	n/a	Steroid Bubba Biff
Dr. Q	3	88	81	92	73	91	26	60	20	87	19	n/a	Martial Night Op	Vicki	n/a
Fidel	3	88	64	83	83	71	1	85	97	3	6	Psych	H2H	Razor	Haywire Flo
Fox	2	77	100	85	55	76	21	69	8	70	15	Crep	Teach Ambi	Wolf Grizzly	Steroid Haywire
Grizzly	2	94	50	69	95	72	16	79	37	8	24	n/a	H2H Heavy Weap	Bull Shadow Wolf	Dr.Q
Grunty	3	82	76	79	71	72	21	78	28	22	44	n/a	Night Op Heavy Weap	Ivan	n/a
Gus	8	75	84	65	82	94	83	97	76	68	80	n/a	Heavy Weap (Exp)	Len Scully	Flo
Hitman	4	75	40	77	69	74	52	88	39	3	11	Water	Throw Teach	Grunty Raven	Raider
Ice	3	90	87	88	84	78	23	86	3	7	42	n/a	Teach Auto Weap	Magic Grizzly Blood	Bubba
Igor	2	91	75	89	82	84	4	77	19	17	36	n/a	Stealth	Ivan Grunty	n/a
Ivan	4	94	95	90	87	83	35	92	55	15	14	n/a	Auto Weap Heavy Weap	Igor Grunty	Bubba
Len	7	89	88	80	77	83	61	83	47	35	54	n/a	Auto Weap Teach	Vicki Dr. Q	Numb
Lynx	4	81	86	79	77	71	39	99	50	34	29	n/a	Elect Night Op	Ice	Buzz
Magic	5	95	98	99	92	80	16	94	27	24	91	n/a	Lock Stealth	Blood Ice	Buns Bubba
Name	LVL	HLT	DEX	AGY	STR	WIS	LDR	MRK	EXP	MED	MEC	Traits	Skills	Like	Dislike
Malice	3	83	97	81	89	55	13	83	16	12	14	n/a	Knifing H2H	Fox Spider Melt	n/a
MD	1	72	78	62	76	94	4	66	0	80	7	Heat	Knifing Teach	Danny	n/a
Meltdown	3	78	84	74	76	82	24	83	40	3	22	n/a	Heavy Weap Ambi	Steph	Biff Flo
Nails	4	72	88	60	90	79	24	84	78	11	63	Claus	Lock	Fox Bull	Biff
Raider	4	80	78	71	80	76	87	88	20	11	12	n/a	Teach (Exp)	Raven	Hitman
Raven	2	85	92	76	68	77	19	94	5	17	5	n/a	Night Op Auto Weap	Raider Spider	n/a
Reaper	6	81	92	92	79	81	37	97	47	2	37	n/a	Stealth Rooftop	n/a	Numb
Red	4	68	81	66	69	79	21	78	99	5	33	n/a	Teach Elect	n/a	Buns
Scope	5	87	76	89	64	81	39	99	21	17	4	n/a	Night Ops Teach	Syd	n/a
Scully	5	90	96	90	85	93	70	92	66	36	61	n/a	Knifing (Exp)	n/a	n/a
Shadow	5	95	83	96	88	77	35	92	22	30	12	n/a	Stealth Camo	n/a	n/a
Sidney	5	80	91	70	76	78	27	92	15	44	2	n/a	Throw (Exp)	Scope	Stephen Haywire
Spider	1	81	76	56	68	90	16	70	0	94	0	Crep	Night Op Stealth	Vicki Static Raven	Buns
Static	4	79	95	66	59	60	15	86	28	17	99	Crep	Elect Night Op	Larry Spider	Larry Stephen Razor
Stephen	5	97	78	71	80	94	59	82	66	15	15	n/a	Night Op Teach	Melt	Static Larry Nails
Steroid	1	99	48	56	97	62	9	89	13	22	76	n/a	Elect Lock	Grizzly	Ivan Igor
Thor	3	96	84	83	89	97	61	74	11	70	35	n/a	H2H Stealth	Ice Static Spider	n/a
Trevor	2	95	98	77	79	97	27	81	88	7	99	n/a	Elect Lock	Thor	Fidel
Vicki	4	79	72	85	72	85	33	84	28	18	94	Claus	Ambi Throw	Spider	Gasket
Wolf	3	90	86	83	85	76	22	79	40	48	65	n/a	Teach Night Op	Fox Lynx	Numb
Name	LVL	HLT	DEX	AGY	STR	WIS	LDR	MRK	EXP	MED	MEC	Traits	Skills	Like	Dislike

M.E.R.C: More Economic Recruiting Center

As of Day 2, five mercs are available initially from MERC (though one or two may be temporarily unavailable due to being assigned elsewhere). This first batch I have marked with one asterisk in the table below. However, M.E.R.C personnel expands as a result of time passing and patronage (hiring the mercs and paying the fees). After a few days, Razor becomes available; after two weeks, Bubba followed by Larry; after a few weeks, Numb; after four weeks, Cougar.

Name	LVL	HLT	DEX	AGY	STR	WIS	LDR	MRK	EXP	MED	MEC	Traits	Skills	Like	Dislike
Biff *	2	73	71	74	41	58	13	57	4	24	0	Nerv	Teach	Larry Flo	Larry
Bubba	4	86	68	54	98	29	5	77	61	0	4	n/a	H2H	Bull Buzz	n/a
Cougar	5	88	79	83	87	75	32	93	46	35	5	n/a	Auto Weap Stealth	Wolf Len	n/a
Flo *	1	58	64	37	45	82	1	38	2	19	7	Nerv	Teach	Biff Lynx	Meltd
Gasket *	1	72	89	61	68	49	3	44	8	0	82	Forget	Lock	Vicki	Ivan Igor
Gumpy *	1	67	67	45	70	94	11	44	57	9	0	Heat	Elect	n/a	n/a
Haywire *	1	65	76	59	71	58	1	48	31	2	8	Psych	Auto Weap Knife	Razor Numb	Biff
Larry	3	69	79	87	67	70	19	70	92	70	3	n/a	Stealth Lock	Biff Flo	Static Steroid
Numb	3	84	61	72	78	70	10	88	15	32	3	n/a	Night Martial	Malice	Sidney Vicki Scope
Razor	2	73	91	88	86	53	4	50	11	12	8	Psych	Knife (Exp)	Hayw Fidel	Flo Biff
Name	LVL	HLT	DEX	AGY	STR	WIS	LDR	MRK	EXP	MED	MEC	Traits	Skills	Like	Dislike

Recruitable NPCs

Recruitable NPCs are so-named because they are recruited in the gameworld (as opposed to the online recruiting agencies, A.I.M and M.E.R.C). Most NPCs will not be able to be recruited until significant progression of the game is made, though in some cases there are ways to fast-track their acquisition through meta-gaming. Some NPCs are native Arulcans (such as the rebels) whereas others are foreigners. With the exception of Madlab's Robot, NPCs improve just like any merc.

Name	LVL	HLT	DEX	AGY	STR	WIS	LDR	MRK	EXP	MED	MEC	Traits	Skills	Like	Dislike
Carlos Rebel Omerta	4	79	61	91	68	71	38	67	20	11	34	n/a	Throw Stealth	Mig Dimit Ira	Iggy
Conrad Soldier Alma	5	76	84	69	81	88	51	95	68	49	22	Water	Teach Auto Weap	Iggy Steph	Larry
Dimitri Rebel, Omerta	1	75	51	73	71	56	21	77	12	17	71	Forget	Throw (Exp)	Mig Carlos	Steph
Devin Merch San Mona	3	73	88	61	71	72	11	67	96	2	34	n/a	Elect Knifing	Red	Buns
Dynamo Prison, Tixa	1	76	67	57	55	78	8	68	9	21	67	Psych	Lock (Exp)	Shank Blood	Bubba
Hamous Truck, Rand	2	68	66	68	69	35	5	78	0	0	19	n/a	Stealth	n/a	n/a
Iggy Soldier San Mona	5	88	79	81	85	71	15	87	21	33	42	n/a	Heavy Weap (Exp)	Ivan	Fidel
Ira Rebel, Omerta	2	76	91	72	55	83	14	55	2	40	8	Water	Teach (Exp)	Dimit Mig	Malice
Maddog Crazy, Estoni	1	91	92	91	78	56	8	66	18	7	68	Psych	Lock (Exp)	Fox	n/a
Miguel Rebel, Omerta	6	88	76	73	83	80	98	85	31	13	22	n/a	Night Op Knifing	Carlos Ira Shado	Iggy
Robot Madlab Random	1	99	39	59	99	5	1	88	0	0	0	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Shank Prison Tixa	1	73	43	36	31	80	7	45	9	17	11	Water	Throw (Exp)	Dyna Ivan	n/a
Vince Doctor Cambr	2	73	92	49	69	94	33	35	3	94	13	n/a	Teach Ambi	n/a	n/a
Name	LVL	HLT	DEX	AGY	STR	WIS	LDR	MRK	EXP	MED	MEC	Traits	Skills	Like	Dislike

Mercenary Stat Modifiers

You may have noticed, as an example, how some mercs move faster than others outside of combat even though they have comparable physical stats. That is because there are hidden stat modifiers assigned to certain mercs. Let's give a few examples:

Runspeed is useful for exploring in-sector. Gus is the slowest runner with a modifier of -20%. With a speed mod score of +10%, Numb and Hamous are the fastest runners. Danny comes in second with +6%.
However, Danny has various wilderness terrain-based AP bonuses (+3 to +6%), climbing and swimming bonuses (+6% to both), stat modifiers to STR, AGY, and DEX (+3%, +6%, +3%) as well as incredible scores in HLT, DEX, AGY and STR (99, 79, 99, 73) which make him more mobile in tactical combat than anyone else; truly, an incomparably elite athlete and (potentially) a super-soldier of the highest order. Thanks to his Wisdom score of 91, Danny can grow to fill any utility role except for Explosives and social approach.
Dr. Q inflicts the most melee damage (+6%) unless Larry is stoned (+10%).
Bull and Bubba both have carry strength mods of +50% and Strength scores of 98. Thus, they are the best mules for hauling heavy gear.
Dr. Q and Thor have the highest Wisdom modifiers (+5%). Coupled with Wisdom scores of 91 and 97, they are the fastest learners; very versatile.
Miguel has a Leadership modifier of +10% coupled with a Leadership score of 98. Gus is second with +8% and 83. However, Buns is an Expert Teacher (+60% to militia training) with a high Wisdom score. She is also versatile and cheap, and her recruitment and upkeep isn't reliant on campaign progression.
Scope, who is aptly named, has a Marksmanship modifier of +3% and a Marskmanship score of 99. Thus, she is the most accurate sniper. However, Hitman is the only merc with increased max chance to-hit (+3%). Vs. creatures such as bloodcats and crepitus, Lynx gets a bonus CtH of +10% (a big game hunter). Many mercs can become crackshots, but none can match Scope in terms of pin-point accuracy.
Arulcan natives such as Miguel, Carlos and Dimitri have the highest sector exploration scores (+5%). Ira as well. But we need to take into account energy points which are governed by HLT as well as breath restoration from energy regen drinks (quaffing canteens). So again, Danny comes out on top with an energy regen modifier of 66, which is 3 times that of the nearest competitors.
Larry and Nails have Explosives modifiers of +6%. Larry's Explosives score is 92, Nails' is 78 and Red's (who gets no modifier to Explosives) is 99.
Maddog has a Mechanical modifier of +5% and a Mechanical score of 68, but only 56 in Wisdom. However, Trevor and Static have scores of 99 (but no modifiers). Steroid is one of the few mercs that comes with a Tool Kit, which CAN be rare depending on RNG and game settings. And also Steroid is cheap (but not versatile like Barry and Trevor). Same goes for Dimitri and Gasket.
Spider, Cliff, Vince and Steve have Medical modifiers of +10%. However, Vince has a Medical score of 94 coupled with a Wisdom score of 94 and speed-bandaging modifier of +20%, making him the ultimate surgeon and battlefield medic.
Lynx, Magic, Reaper and Razor are the steathmasters (+5% to +6%).
Camouflage king is Shadow (+15%).
Raider is best at breaching charges (+70% chance of breach charge success). Second are Trevor and Raven with +50%. For disarming traps, Trevor and Red are best (+25%).
Approach Friendly: Best are Cliff, Hitman, Thor, Vince and Steve (10). Worst is Buzz (-25).
Approach Direct: Best is Gus (15). Worst is Razor (-50).
Approach Threaten: Best is Razor (50). No mercs have penalties and only a few have bonuses.
Approach Recruit: Best is Gus (15). Worst is Razor (-50).

Mercenary Themed Squads

As can be seen, themed squads are possible due to the depth and breadth of the character-pools. Want a Night Ops squad? You can. Want an all-female squad? Go for it. Want a crazy crew? You can do that, too. You can also form squads based on nationality. Unless you're an expert who knows exactly what you're doing, though, you're going to want a balanced core squad, as detailed in Part I of my retrospective. Lock that core squad in early, and off you go.

Merc pairs that work well together (get a morale boost): Ira & Dimitri (and Carlos & Miguel), Raider & Raven, Flo and Biff, Haywire & Razor.
Badasses: Shadow, Magic, Ivan, Reaper, Conrad, Gus.
Russians or Soviet Bloc: Ivan (barely speaks English), Iggy, Barry, Conrad, Steroid.
Germans or Germanic: Grunty, Thor, Buns.
British or British Commonwealth: Sidney, Scully, Malice, Scope, Devin, Blood, Ice, Cliff, Trevor.
Mercs that comment on sectors: Ira, Dimitri, Carlos, Miguel.
Funniest mercs (subjective): Maddog and Steroid.
Most hated mercs: Bubba (6 hates) followed by Biff (5). Honestly, it's easy to see why.
Worst speech impediment: Bubba followed by Gumpy.
Highest base morale: Blood, Fox, Miguel (80), Scully (70). Everyone else has 50.

Intra-squad Mercenary Quarrels

Squad composition can cause us trouble. Basically, as in Baldur's Gate, some A.I.M, M.E.R.C and in-campaign recruits simply don't get along. There are personality clashes and beefs based on nationality, race and sex. This can be very costly but also part of the fun and laughter. With a few exceptions, we can only know who likes and doesn't like who through experience and foreknowledge.

Take the following example: Monica "Buns" Sondergaard. She's a top-tier teacher and a good marksmen. But then, when M.E.R.C mercs became available, I enlisted the services of Tim Gumpy.

Now, Gumpy is... not the most attractive guy in the world. He's a slob. Plus, he's got a ridiculous speech-slur as well; we can imagine him drooling and in need of a baby bib. But he's a good guy and he's got a fair bit to offer.

Still, Buns immediately remarked:

Then, she refused to renew her contract while Gumpy was in the squad:

She seems petty, doesn't she? But many mercs turn petty when they can't stand the sight of someone: they seem as cool as a cucumber until they spot someone they just can't stand. For Buns, that's Gumpy. For Gus, it's Flo. And so on. And these feelings are not usually mutual (though, in the example of Flo and Meltdown, they are).

Of course, it's hard to imagine a situation in which one would eschew the talents of Buns in favor of... Gumpy. So I got rid of Gumpy immediately. I wasn't going to reload and keep him in another sector; that's cheap meta-gaming.

That's right, those remarks only seem to happen if incompatible mercs are in the same sector. If Gumpy was assigned to another sector, and kept away from Buns, she would still have renewed her contract. In almost all cases, mercs only refuse contract renewals if they spot the object of their dislike in the same sector.

Arulcan rebels such as Dimitri, Carlos and Miguel, who are not under contract, will never leave even if they dislike someone in the squad. For example, Carlos and Miguel dislike Iggy because he once worked for Deidranna. They will complain each and every day while he is in the squad, but they will not crack. Their morale fluctuates due to his presence (it drops but does not stay dropped), and that's it. This is because they're desperate: their lives, their families' lives, and the future of their country, is at stake.

The other exception is Dynamo: he will not leave the squad even if we don't get rid of Bubba.

On the A.I.M site, Grizzly will refuse to sign a contract if Dr. Q is in the party. He won't even get on the chopper.

In addition, and this is entirely random, A.I.M members may be unavailable due to being assigned elsewhere; moreover, as-yet-unrecruited members of A.I.M may end up KIA during the campaign (killed while undertaking some other assignment). Thus, it can be wise to lock down a core squad as early as possible, and stick with them. That isn't by any means "a rule", though. As in Baldur's Gate, there are also merc pairs such as husband and wife, Ron and Raven (Khalid & Jaheira). From memory, they dislike Hitman.

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