You need the right tools to complete any task, and when your job is war that means you need guns, armor, and supplies.
To work as an effective unit, the entire squad needs to be well armed and fully stocked. Also, it is important to know what your crew is equipped with so you can play to the strengths of the merc and his gun.
Unless you go out of your way to equip the entire squad with the same guns, you will always be faced with a variety of weapon types. Each category of guns has its pros and cons, and it is important to use each merc to take advantage of their current weapon.
The important factors for any gun are range, damage, clip size, and rate of fire. With a variety of weapons, getting into an effective range is essential to accurately hit your target.
For example, a shotgun does great damage, but from long range it won’t be very useful. Also, its ammo is not very effective against heavily armored enemies.
To boost the effectiveness of your squad, you need to get most of the group into a range they can accurately shoot at or split up the focus of your attacks.
This doesn’t mean you have to creep into shotgun range with the entire team. You can use long-range attacks to draw the enemies out and, as they rush towards you, use mid- and close-range weapons to amplify your damage output.
This is not easy to do unless you use Command Mode to specifically pick which enemy each merc is firing on.
Another method is to position the squad so that long-range shooters are a lot farther back and the mid- or close-range mercs use cover or ambush foes when they’re in range.
Another aspect to keep in mind is that weapons have different clip sizes. It tends to even out a bit with the automatic weapons firing in burst mode, but it is important to keep an eye on guns that only carry a few rounds. Standing in the middle of combat trying to reload is a bad situation. Hopefully, the squad can cover someone that is reloading but make sure that merc is in a low stance or behind cover to protect him from incoming fire.
Upgrading
Money is the primary factor in the game. The more cash you have, the better the equipment you can buy. Hardware prices might seem high initially, but after a while you will have plenty of expendable income.
Also, the price of a new toy is not as much because you can sell your old weapon. Because the trade-in value is pretty good, you should always look to upgrade your mercs' gear when you can.
To make it easy to compare guns, unequip your current weapon so it is in an inventory slot, then mouse over your current gun and the one you are thinking of buying. Just make sure you have the right ammo to accompany a different caliber weapon.
Remember that any slight edge you can get on the battlefield will have an impact for your entire squad.
This also applies to attachments that can silence your weapons or improve its accuracy. A new gun with an excellent scope will have a pretty large impact on how well a merc performs.
Whenever possible, try to buy your gear locally. Bobby Ray’s online store has an excellent selection but not only do you get hit with a shipping charge, you have to wait for it to arrive, and go pick it up.
Until you get a faster method to travel on the World Map, it can be a real pain trekking back to the airport. Before you buy a gun locally, check Bobby Ray’s to compare what items he has in stock.
The prices are all the same, but Bobby tends to get the really good stuff and his inventory changes as you progress through the game. Most of the local wares are not as good as Bobby Ray’s, so it may be worth holding off on a local purchase.
However, before you go buying new gear for the entire troupe, make sure you scour each area. There are tons of great guns and attachments that can be found without spending a cent.