All Jagged Alliance 3 talents traits and perks and what they do

Likes its predecessors, the Jagged Alliance 3 talents traits and perks for your mercenaries in game are a vital mechanic that allow you to optimise your teams. These three types of skills determine what mercs are good at, where their abilities are best suited, and what roles you should aim to put them towards in combat.

In this guide, we’ll cover all the Jagged Alliance 3 talents, traits and perks, returning and new, and explain what they do. This isn’t the only crucial system to understand in the game though. Make sure you’re clued in on how to make money in Jagged Alliance 3 as well, if you want to get anywhere.

Jagged Alliance 3 talents

Talents are a new system in Jagged Alliance 3, working a little differently from traits and perks. Each mercenary in the game has a specific talent, unique to them. Think of it as a special ability. Some talents will grant unique moves to a merc, others will provide particular benefits or buffs under the right conditions.

Here’s a list of all the talents in the game, who has them, and what they do:

• Striking Looks (Fox) – Enemies gain Surprised when noticing this merc, so don’t attack till their next turn.
• Find My Feet (MD) – Can become Inspired and increase team Morale during combat.
• Steroid Smash! (Steroid) – Special unarmed attack that sends enemies flying and damages nearby objects.
• Light-Footed (Mouse) – Ignores enemy Overwatch zones when moving.
• Inevitable Strike (Kalyna) – Special ranged attack that bypasses enemy armour.
• Eyes On The Back (Omryn) – Sets their Overwatch move in a circle around them rather than a cone.
• Inside Dope (Livewire) – Reveals all enemies if you have intel for the sector before entering.
• Vashe Zdorovye! (Igor) – Special ability that grants 25 Grit, a melee damage bonus, at the cost of ranged accuracy.
• Off The Hip(Grizzly) – Can fire machine guns without setting them up without an accuracy penalty.
• Boutique Explosives (Barry) – This merc produces two Shaped Charges explosives every 168 in-game hours for free.
• Double Toss (Fidel) – Throws two grenades at once.
• Top Spotter (Raven) – Setting up Overwatch applies Marked to all targets within, guaranteeing a critical next time they’re hit.
• Nature’s Bounty (Thor) – This merc produces one herbal medicine every 48 hours in-game.
• Jack Of All Trades (Wolf) – This merc completes all operations 33% faster.
• Ice Storm (Ice) – Special attack that shoots a few rounds at each major body part of the enemy.
• Flying Daggers (Blood) – Special attack that throws knives at nearby enemies while moving.
• Hard Feelings (Meltdown) – Last enemy to attack this merc is marked by Vengeance. When they die, this merc will become Inspired.
• Anything You Can Do… (Buns) – Gains an accuracy bonus against targets hit by allies in the current turn.
• Uberraschung (Grunty) – Special attack that shoots at a nearby enemy at the start of combat with a handgun.
• You See, Igor… (Ivan) – Gains 3AP after each kill.
• Elbow Grease (Vicki) – Repairs equipped weapons, armour and items over time automatically. Does +7 damage and has a 15% extra crit chance when wielding fully modified weapons.
• Tag Team (Raider) – Gains bonus accuracy against enemies within an ally’s Overwatch area.
• Dance For Me (Tex) – Special attack that shoots at the legs of all enemies within a cone, then applies Overwatch to the area afterwards.
• Nailed It (Nails) – Deals more damage after their first kill until the end of combat.
• Exploding Palm (Dr Q) – A special unarmed attack that renders the target unconscious.
• Have At Ye (Red) – When activated, this merc will retaliate with grenades when they’re hit during the enemy turn.
• Smarter, Not Harder (Hitman) – Gains Focused each turn. Focused increases damage and grants Grit until the character moves, reloads, or changes weapon.
• Tango Down (Gus) – Grants 10 Grit to all squad members after this merc kills an enemy, once per turn.
• Second Story Man (Magic) – 50% extra crit chance when firing from high ground.
• Shoulder To Shoulder (Scully) – Ending a turn adjacent to an ally grants the ally and this merc 15 Grit each.
• Grim Fate (Reaper) – Special guaranteed crit attack that inflicts Panic on nearby foes when the hit kills an enemy.
• Smug Operator (Sidney) – Starts each round with Smug, a buff that increases maximum AP.
• Fleeting Shadow (Shadow) – Can sneak while standing, and gains 10 Grit on stealth kills.
• Eagle Eye (Scope) – Pin Down is cheaper and applies Exposed debuff to targets, removing all benefits of being in cover from them.
• Heavy Duty (Fauda) – Gains 8 Grit per enemy hit when targeting multiple enemies. Lower AP costs for moving in heavy armour and with machine guns.
• On My Lead (Len) – Special move that makes all allies within sight range attack a selected target at once.

Jagged Alliance 3 traits

Traits are not quite the same thing players of Jagged Alliance 2 might remember. Called Skills in that game, JA3 has a wider menu of traits which work to provide much broader bonuses to mercs. However, a few of those skills are returning from the last game to this one as Traits. Traits cannot be gained or lost by a merc, and can affect personality, combat potential, and other things. The key being that whatever they affect, it will still have an impact during combat. Higher level, more experienced mercs have more traits. Unsurprisingly, Legendary mercenaries carry the most.

Here are all the traits in Jagged Alliance 3, what they do, and who has them.

Returning traits

The returning traits from Jagged Alliance 2 are:

• Ambidextrous – Better dual-wielding accuracy. Fox, Meltdown, Vicki and Tex have this trait.
• Auto Weapons – Better burst fire and full auto fire accuracy. Omryn, Raven, Ice and Ivan have this trait.
• Hand-To-Hand – Interrupt nearby enemies with a melee strike when they attack you. Fidel, Nails and Scully have this trait.
• Heavy Weapons – Attacks and setup with heavy weapons cost less AP. Grizzly, Meltdown, Grunty, Gus and Fauda have this trait.
• Martial Arts – Higher accuracy and defence in melee combat. Blood and Dr Q have this trait.
• Night Ops – Fewer accuracy penalties in dark conditions. Kalyna, Dr Q and Scope have this trait.
• Stealthy – Harder to spot while sneaking, slightly better chance for stealth kills. Mouse, Igor, Thor, Magic, Reaper and Shadow have this trait.
• Teaching – Faster completion of Training operations, grant 10% extra XP to the squad. Fox, MD, Wolf, Buns, Raider, Hitman and Len have this trait.
• Throwing – Higher throwing weapon range. First thrown weapon per turn costs less AP. Blood, Vicki and Sidney have this trait.

New traits

The new traits arriving in Jagged Alliance 3 are:

• Claustrophobic – Less Morale when starting combat underground. Omryn, Vicki, Tex and Nails have this trait.
• CQC Training – Major accuracy bonus for short-range firearm attacks. Tex has this trait.
• Loner – Gain Inspired when starting a turn with no allies nearby. Gus, Reaper and Shadow have this trait.
• Mr Fixit – Major bonus to disarming traps, hacking devices, and picking locks. Unjamming weapons costs 1AP. Steroid, Livewire, Barry and Red have this trait.
• Negotiator – Cheaper sector operations and boat travel. Buns, Raider and Sidney have this trait.
• Old Dog – Cannot increase stats naturally or from training operations. Gus, Fauda and Len have this trait.
• Optimist – Small chance to prevent Morale loss. MD, Kalyna, Livewire and Scully have this trait.
• Pessimist – Small chance to prevent Morale gain. Red has this trait.
• Psycho – Can use more vicious attacks. Fidel, Meltdown and Nails have this trait.
• Scoundrel – First weapon swap per turn is free. Fox, Livewire and Magic have this trait.
• Spiritual – Guaranteed minimal accuracy with hopeless attacks. Omryn, Barry, Thor and Reaper have this trait.
• Zoophobic – Loses morale when attacked by an animal. MD has this trait.

Jagged Alliance 3 perks

Perks are earnable bonuses that mercenaries can acquire over the course of a playthrough. They’re subdivided by the first five attributes in Jagged Alliance 3:

• Health
• Agility
• Dexterity
• Strength
• Wisdom

These are the most common attributes used as skill checks when performing certain actions as well. While there are five more specalised attributes like Marksmanship and Explosives, perks all fall under one of these first five main attributes. They’re also divided into three tiers. The lowest tier requires a character to have 70 attribute points or more to invest in one of those perks, and are coloured bronze. The second tier requires 80 points, and are coloured silver. The third tier requires 90 points, and are coloured gold. This helps keep the system balanced, meaning you’re best to optimise mercenaries who are good at certain things by assigning them certain perks. As a merc levels up, they can unlock more perks, one per level.

Here are all the perks in Jagged Alliance 3. We’ve broken them down by their name, their assigned attribute, their tier, and what they do.

Perk Name	Attribute and Tier	Perk Description
Full Body Contact	Health, Tier 1	Gain 15 Grit on successful melee attack (Grit absorbs hits in place of health).
Hit The Deck	Health, Tier 1	Going Prone costs no AP. 20% less damage from explosives when Prone.
Beefed Up	Health, Tier 1	Extra 20% Max HP.
Rage	Health, Tier 2	Deal 10% extra damage per wound on an enemy.
Revenge	Health, Tier 2	Make an Interrupt attack during enemy turn when badly damaged.
Vanguard	Health, Tier 2	Gain 15 grit when ending turn out of cover or next to an enemy.
Calm Under Fire	Health, Tier 3	Carry up to 3 AP over to next turn on end turn, gain 5 Grit per AP carried over.
Hold Position	Health, Tier 3	32% damage reduction while using Overwatch or Pin Down moves.
Battle Focus	Health, Tier 3	Gain 2 AP when first hit in combat.
Hit and Run	Agility, Tier 1	Gain Free Move (no AP cost) after landing a melee attack
Flanker	Agility, Tier 1	Deal 15% more damage to flanked enemies
Fast Runner	Agility, Tier 1	Free Move range increased when unarmoured or lightly armoured.
Vantage Point	Agility, Tier 2	Better accuracy from high ground. Moving on ladders costs less AP.
Frogleaping	Agility, Tier 2	Increased Free Move range when starting a turn behind cover.
Lightning Reactions	Agility, Tier 2	Dodge first enemy attack by dropping Prone. Once per combat.
Lucky Streak	Agility, Tier 3	Become Inspired (free lump sum AP) when hitting two crit shots in one turn.
Anatomical Precision	Agility, Tier 3	Deal 50% more crit damage.
Total Concentration	Agility, Tier 3	Attacks deal 30% more damage after a kill until you miss.
Untraceable	Dexterity, Tier 1	Harder to detect while sneaking.
Opportunistic Killer	Dexterity, Tier 1	Enables crits during Interrupt attacks. Automatic reload if Overwatch was used last turn.
Deadeye	Dexterity, Tier 1	Gain 5% crit chance per Aim level (AP spent to increase accuracy).
Fire Routine	Dexterity, Tier 2	Gain Inspired after landing 2 hits with Overwatch.
Reactive Fire	Dexterity, Tier 2	Make an Interrupt attack when an enemy misses you on their turn.
Ambusher	Dexterity, Tier 2	Better chance for stealth kills while sneaking.
Sharpshooter	Dexterity, Tier 3	Gain 2 Aims on your first attack each turn. 27% extra damage on first attack each turn.
Killzone	Dexterity, Tier 3	Make a bonus attack whenever you perform an Interrupt attack.
Assassination	Dexterity, Tier 3	Increased stealth kill chance on 3+ Aim levels.
Recoil Management	Strength, Tier 1	Increased accuracy on subsequent attacks against the same target.
Breach And Clear	Strength, Tier 1	Gain Free Move after making grenade or shotgun attacks.
Killing Spree	Strength, Tier 1	Melee attacks against different targets in the same turn deal 21% more damage.
Shock Assault	Strength, Tier 2	30% extra crit chance for point-blank attacks.
Ironclad	Strength, Tier 2	Retain half of your Free Move range when in heavy armour.
Sudden Strike	Strength, Tier 2	Won’t trigger Interrupt with melee attacks. Successful melee attacks will cancel Overwatch and Pin Down.
Collateral Damage	Strength, Tier 3	Deal extra 30% damage to objects and 15% damage to enemies behind cover when using heavy weapons.
Line Breaker	Strength, Tier 3	Become Inspired after a point-blank range kill.
True Strike	Strength, Tier 3	Successful melee attacks are crits, and apply Marked (which guarantees a crit next attack) to targets.
Savior	Wisdom, Tier 1	Heal 20% more HP with bandages, and gain Free Move when bandaging an ally.
Distracting Shot	Wisdom, Tier 1	Special attack. Removes Overwatch and Pin down.
Arterial Shot	Wisdom, Tier 1	No damage penalty when hit in arms or legs.
Stress Management	Wisdom, Tier 2	Gain Inspired after first debuff in combat.
Dire Warning	Wisdom, Tier 2	When Morale is High or Very High, gain 15% chance to inflict Panic on enemies with each successful shot.
Inspiring Strike	Wisdom, Tier 2	Increase Morale when dealing more than 50 damage with a strike.
Painkiller	Wisdom, Tier 3	Grant 2 Grit to an ally when bandaging them.
Shock And Awe	Wisdom, Tier 3	High Morale when starting combat. Deal 10% more damage when Morale is High or Very High.
Trick Shot	Wisdom, Tier 3	Apply severe debuffs to targets when hitting limbs or groin.

Best talents, traits and perks in Jagged Alliance 3

With so many stats to look at, it’s also helpful to have a breakdown of the best in the game. Here are our picks.

Best talents

Our picks for best merc talents are:

• Livewire’s Inside Dope. Intel isn’t hard to come by. Having the locations of all your enemies is perfect for planning stealth kills, ambushes, and flanking attacks before combat.
• Reaper’s Grim Fate. The crit attack does devastating damage, and the Panic debuff on nearby enemies seriously undermines their performance for the next turn, making it excellent crowd control.
• Red’s Have At Ye. While it’s more late-game since you need plenty of grenades, the retaliation means that as long as he’s well armoured, Red can potentially inflict serious damage on scores of enemies for free with the right tactical placement. It’s also togglable, which is handy.

Best traits

Our picks for the best traits are:

• Auto Weapons. Most mid-end game weapons will have auto or burst fire modes, making this trait widely applicable and extremely useful for hitting consistently high damage.
• Stealthy. This trait is crucial for any successful stealth-based merc. It makes targeting and hitting these sorts of kills much easier, and stealth kills are a fantastic way to thin out the ranks of your enemies.
• Mr Fixit. You gain major bonuses to a number of common and highly useful skill-check activities in-game with this trait.

Best perks

Our choices for the best perks are:

• Vanguard. Grit works like an overshield in this game, and this perk makes it easy to build up a lot of it, supplementing merc’s health pools when they’re not in good positions to get to a medic or heal.
• Lightning Reactions. More often than not, this perk will save a merc from being hit on a turn, and make successive hits against them harder for the enemy.
• Total Concentration. Combined with a high-accuracy weapon and a high AP merc, this perk essentially means most of your attacks will deal almost a third more damage than usual – easily the difference between a severe wound and a kill.

That covers everything you’ll need to know about Jagged Alliance 3 talents traits and perks. With this information in hand, you should be better prepared than ever to optimise your mercenary teams, and build your squads to work around strategies and tactics you favour. If you’re still struggling with the challenge, you can always turn on Forgiving Mode. Alternatively, you can take a look at Jagged Alliance 3 mods to further tailor your experience.

What are talents in Jagged Alliance 3?

Talents are special skills, moves or attributes that are unique to each mercenary in Jagged Alliance 3.

What are traits in Jagged Alliance 3?

Traits are special fixed modifiers that mercenaries carry in Jagged Alliance 3. They cannot be earned, but more than one merc can have a particular trait from the start of the game.

What are perks in Jagged Alliance 3?

Perks are earnable skills in Jagged Alliance 3 that give mercenaries a variety of different bonuses once unlocked. They fall into the five main attribute categories, and have three tiers.