MERCS and You

The Basics
Every single human on Corporate Mercenary (even non-Mercenaries) has their own set of MERCS values. This serves as a summary of their training, knowledge, and capabilities; basically, it determines how good a role is at doing any kind of job. They are, in order, Muscle, Endure, Reflex, Clever, and Speed. For the most part, the values range from -1 to +1, but armor and certain chemicals can increase or decrease each of these stats for as long as they're in effect. Understanding MERCS is an important part of understanding what your job is as a specific role. For a list of MERCS values for every Mercenary on the Saltshaker, use this page: Mercenary Roles. If it matters, U.S. Marines have a Muscle of 2 and a Clever of -1, while locals have a random distribution. You can always check your current MERCS score at the top left of the screen.

Other Tips
- The effects of Stats scale up the higher they are, with 1 stat being a small but visible increase, 2 being a much higher increase, with 3 and 4 being vast, major increases. Effects can be incredibly visible on some kits like the US Marines, who's 2 Muscles makes any melee weapon almost twice as deadly, allowing them to almost always knock people down and nearly kill them in just a few swings, including their own rifle.

- Base health is 200 (where 0 is crit, with -100 being death), While this might sound minor when you consider Endurance is -20/+20 for the initial stages, this is way more major than one thinks, as Predators/Swarms 4-shot people at Claw 5, and 6-shot at Claw 3 without Vet or better armor. Having -3 Endurance can easily open you up to being nearly killed by anything, and Acid Sprays + Spits will hit way harder and force you retreat fast.

- The Fairy suit is best avoided unless you have a very specific plan in mind. Deep negative Muscle makes aiming almost impossible on any weapon that isn't single-fire, low Endurance means you'll die from only one or two hits, and you might as well not bother with any Clever tasks. You'll also take over ten seconds to climb a ladder, to say nothing of trying to get over a barricade - and sometimes flying isn't an option.

- Negative Clever makes self-healing much, much harder. As a normal Merc, make sure there are active medics on the Saltshaker before picking White Castle armor, and always be mindful of the situation before taking Ketamine.

- Though Hyperzine has no drawbacks, it's in short supply, and lasts for a short enough time that you'll never stay dosed throughout the mission no matter how much you buy. Save it for pushes or retreats.

- Veterans and Squad Leaders often have much better things to do, but they're just as capable at healing and fixing as the specialists. The improvements that higher Clever grants are universal.

- Non-humans, even player-controlled ones like Overwatch Screeches, have no MERCS score whatsoever. If they can interact with the environment, they're treated as though their scores are all 0. Zurganids have a CARE score instead.

- Stay out of melee range of U.S. Marines. Even though they lack proper melee weapons, their exceptional Muscle score will knock you flat and kill you almost as fast as their guns.