Barry

CONTRACT

HIRING COST : $9,500
EQUIPMENT COSTS : $3,865
TOTAL COSTS : $13,185

STARTING GEAR

GEAR	IMAGE
.38 W&S Revolver
.38 Special x18
LockSmith Kit
Defuse Kit
C4 with Remote Control
Light Flak Jacket
Shirt
Kevlar Pants
Military Boots

ATTRIBUTES

SKILLS

TRAITS

Explosives Expert at using explosives

Team player: Morale rises when working in a full squad

Wimp: Morale decreases when health is low

Strengths/Weaknesses

Barry is the cheapest merc you can hire who is capable with explosives. More than that, he's got an expert trait with them, meaning you'll want to fill his inventory with your team's heavy ordnance.

The wimp trait isn't a big deal because you'll generally be keeping Barry off the front lines and close to the doc. Just be sure to heal him up as soon as he starts taking damage, or you'll see his performance start to suffer.

Tactics

Keep Barry away from the front as one of your rear-guard mercs, preferably with a medic at his side to offset the drawbacks of the wimp trait, should the need arise. You'll want to eventually replace his default revolver with something that has a bit more range.

An assault rifle is best because its range can keep him out of harm’s way. You'll want to keep Barry's inventory space relatively clear to make room for explosives. Once you develop his skills a bit, you'll also need to fill some of that space with mechanical skill tools.

Barry can be hired from the very beginning and none of the other mercs dislike him, which means that adding him to your team won't prevent you from bringing on someone else.

Long-Term Play

The key with Barry is that high starting dexterity. That attribute informs explosives, mechanical, and aiming checks, the three highest skill ratings that he starts out with.

Although it will never hurt to put points into explosives or dexterity, they start out high enough that you might be better off building up Barry's lower skill ratings with the initial helpings of points you receive for leveling up.

Mechanical is the more critical of the two because Barry won't be able to access the highest level tool kit until his rating is at 50. After that, scatter your points between mechanical and dexterity, maybe dumping one or two into marksmanship and/or explosives every few levels.

Favor dexterity over marksmanship, though, as the higher attribute rating will boost Barry's shooting abilities while also making him a more effective mechanic and explosives guy.

All in all, Barry is a great merc to have on your squad because he can start filling the dual role of explosives expert and mechanic pretty much from moment one. Just keep him well protected and preferably on a full squad as early as you can, to take advantage of the team player trait.

Not only does he get a morale boost for that, it can also offset the temporary hit Barry's morale takes if his health drops too low.