Jagged Alliance 3: How to increase loyalty fast

Haemimont Games and THQ Nordic’s Jagged Alliance 3 is a complex tactical strategy game in which players control a group of mercenaries as they seek to liberate the fictional West African nation-state of Grand Chien from the occupation of an oppressive warlord known as “The Major”. In addition to managing different squads of mercenaries and their unique personalities, players will also have to manage the territories they occupy, such as Diamond Mines and Settlements, in order to generate income and loyalty.

Loyalty is a measure of how well the player relates to the local population in a given area. This will influence the production of nearby diamond mines, and could also have implications for how certain stories play out in the given settlements. There are two main ways players can quickly generate Loyalty: by winning battles against the Legion and completing any Side Quests for characters in the settlements.

To start earning loyalty from any settlement, players will first have to free it from Legion control. This is done simply by defeating any occupying groups in a given zone. This will automatically give you a basic loyalty figure, which will change depending on the players’ actions later on. Defeating other groups of Legion soldiers in the surrounding Zones will also help increase a settlement’s loyalty.

Just as settlements can be liberated, they can also be attacked. Players will need to ensure that their mercenaries are present or that a strong militia has been trained to defend them. Players will be notified when a settlement is under attack via Satellite View, and being there to defend it will help increase the target settlement’s Loyalty. Increased loyalty will lead to increased income from any nearby diamond mines, and this effect is stackable across multiple settlements around a single diamond mine.

While the main focus of Jagged Alliance 3 may be recovering President LaFontaine, there are many other objectives to complete in Grand Chien. The world is full of interesting and unique NPCs with different stories, often with additional quests for players to complete. These characters are represented by a large green icon above them, indicating that they can engage in proper discussions with the mercenary group.

Some side quests can be tricky and will contain moral dilemmas for the player. This can often affect a settlement’s Loyalty, either positively if the player makes a choice that is in line with the community’s values, or negatively if the player chooses something that is likely to offend the community. While it’s often hard to tell where things will go, players can redeem themselves for making a bad choice by completing new quests in that area and ensuring the settlement is adequately defended.

Jagged Alliance 3 is now available for PC.