I need some advice on strategy for early, mid, and late game.

[Arthanor]

Later in the game, ghost outfit makes a hell of a scout. I'm loving it, especially against mercs and targets with high powered weapons where normal scouts (either parrots or gals) can get taken out quickly.

[Dioxine]

One thing you definitely want to do if at all possible is get an early Mercenaries Contacts.

This will allow you to hire an early Mercenary Commando who will solo/robocop pretty much everything up until Gauss weapons start showing up (which he is merely highly resistant to) while your Gals provide background fire support with aimed shots and grenades.

If you hire him on too late, his value drops off a cliff though. Also never use him where enemy VooDoo is present (large Academy and Church ships/Star Gods obviously/Hideouts) as he is hella vulnerable to mind control.

Wow, what a 180 turn! You said they were useless, and now, after they started to require monthly pay, you're advertising them Shocking!

[ivandogovich]

Wow, what a 180 turn! You said they were useless, and now, after they started to require monthly pay, you're advertising them Shocking!

+100!! LMAO!!

[Surrealistik]

Wow, what a 180 turn! You said they were useless, and now, after they started to require monthly pay, you're advertising them Shocking!

Actually, if you look closely at my prior statements, my opinion on them never changed.

If you consciously _rush_ Mercenary Commandos, and get them early, yeah, they're great.

If you miss their window of utility (i.e. the point I was at when they were available to me) they're pretty much crap, which is even stated in the quote you just cited.

My view is and has always been that they should be in some way upgradable or scalable so that they have a role beyond the early game, and that giving them an upkeep further diminishes their already questionable value beyond the early game.

[BetaSpectre]

Was there a research change for the mercs? I seemed to have gotten them right after smugglers early on.

[Dioxine]

My view is and has always been that they should be in some way upgradable or scalable so that they have a role beyond the early game, and that giving them an upkeep further diminishes their already questionable value beyond the early game.

Then we're in agreement. While I don't plan to make higher tiers, I'm content with their limited window of utility.

As for Contact research, you need to learn about Mercs or Mercenary Contract mission from someone (it's fully random).

[KanjiFX]

I finally had my first Enemy Hideout fight, and it was brutal!      I had a few casualties, but all the the rest were wounded.   Are there any buildings that reduce the amount of time of wounded hands?     

[Surrealistik]

Then we're in agreement. While I don't plan to make higher tiers, I'm content with their limited window of utility.

As for Contact research, you need to learn about Mercs or Mercenary Contract mission from someone (it's fully random).

They always struck me as being way too front loaded; broken if you get it early, mediocre to worthless if you don't.

For a threat that's credible out till the late game (assuming you don't mindfuck them with VD), they sure are bad at that point. Again, I think you should be able to adjust their gear; early game you're probably not going to want to replace their boom gun so no real difference (sure, you'll have them use grenades, but at this point they're _already_ shaming your gals so no big difference), mid-late you're going to have to for them not to be shit.