n0mel

Thanks for the reply Lt.Havoc. I have actually made it to the last mission without a medic or an engineer. However, this requires a careful style of play. I guess the weapon familiarity then is the biggest advantage, in addition to the freely chosen skills tree (like you mentioned). Oh well, I did take Toki with me for several of the missions towards the end of the game. I will have to familiarize myself with the concept of weapon familiarity! My Scout had familiarity 10 with the silenced SMG. Not much later (after using the Ray gun or a PK) it had dropped to zero. Annoying! Great game though, regardless of some of the problems with it.

I was surprised to find such an active Silent Storm community. Impressive! I played S2 long ago, but now wanted a dose of nostalgia. Feels good! I have been reading the forums here but there's so much to read! I made my squad on Axis. My main character is a Scout. The others in my team are Klaus, Tadas, Rocco, Ahmad and Eagle. I was doing fine. The last mission I completed was the German Manor. My characters are level 12. The three snipers have been helpful. Ahmad uses a machine gun. Rocco is trying his best to throw grenades, but I might have realized the value of grenades too late. Good to open some doors and walls, and also to damage large groups of enemies. However, I went to the character screen in the HQ and realized that all the other unpicked characters have much higher stats, even though they are all level 9. For example, my main character has a shooting skill of 54. I have been using the silenced Beretta SMG, once clearing a whole map with her alone. But then I check the stats of level 9 Toki, whose services I have not used, and he has a shooting skill of 79. The difference for e.g. Rocco and another grenadier is even larger. I realize that using a certain weapon increases familiarity with it. But what am I missing here? Simplified questions: Simplified question: Should I stick with the same original squad, assuming it's realistic (i.e. I can make it without an engineer, as I have so far) or should I switch around my squad? Why do the unused characters have much higher developed skills than the characters I have used? I have been having a lot of fun so far, and my original squad has been good. But I'm wondering, if perhaps I am missing out on something. When missions get tougher, will I hit a wall? Perhaps you experienced players can help me with this.