Cliff

CONTRACT

HIRING COST : $16,000
EQUIPMENT COSTS : $5,095
TOTAL COSTS : $21,095

STARTING GEAR

GEAR	IMAGE
MP5K SMG
9mm Parabellum x15
9mm Parabellum x15
Large MedKit
Glasses
Light Flak Jacket
Coat
Trousers - Gray
Casuals

ATTRIBUTES

SKILLS

TRAITS

Athletic: Slower decrease in stamina when running

Explosives: Skilled at using explosives

Short sighted: Morale decreases when not wearing any glasses

Strengths/Weaknesses

Cliff is a pretty perfect combat medic, with his high starting medical and marksmanship ratings.

Unlike Red, he also remembered to bring his glasses on the trip to Arulco, effectively rendering that short-sighted trait meaningless.

The athletic trait helps offset Cliff's low stamina, but his low strength/health could be a problem if you send him up to do some healing on your front lines.

Cliff also, somewhat bafflingly, gets a boost to explosives checks thanks to his trait, though that won't do you much good until he starts to level up.

Tactics

It’s important to give Cliff some quality armor and keep him clear of the front lines until his healing skills are needed. His 64 health isn't terrible, but it's not nearly good enough for him to be taking point.

Instead, swap out that starting SMG with an assault rifle rather than an MG because you'll use--and have to cart around--that much less ammo, leaving more room in your inventory for healing supplies.

This should go without saying, but also make sure that Cliff is wearing his glasses at all times. There is no reason at all why he should have to take a morale hit for something like that.

Long-Term Play

Cliff's intelligence is already very high, which means two important things: Medical checks will succeed more often, and experience will accrue much more quickly than it will for the dumber mercs.

Spread the skill points you get into dexterity and medical; the former will make Cliff a much better shooter and the latter will help him preserve those valuable healing resources.

Boosting his explosives may seem like an attractive prospect, but don't fall into the trap! Just ask yourself if you really need another merc that can make things go boom.

By the time you pick up Cliff, and by the time you've leveled him enough for his explosives skill to mean something, chances are you'll already have at least one other squad member who is much better at such things.

If you really want to put points into something other than dexterity or medical, make it strength. That extra health will do Cliff far more good than the ability to set a bigger bomb.