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Underrail => Builds => Topic started by: Turbodevil on July 25, 2021, 11:00:50 am

Title: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: Turbodevil on July 25, 2021, 11:00:50 am
Have you ever looked at the time played and wondered: 'is there a way to speed up the ingame combat to prolong my lifespan spent on doing other things'? Did your synapses grow tired of memorizing enemy attack patterns? Do you stroke your ego by playing on DOMINATING difficulty only, only to wish 'if only I could have infinite action points and kill everything in a single turn, to show my mad skillz obviously'?



If you answered yes to any of these questions, here's a solution for you:

One Turn Man build

https://underrail.info/build/?HgMOBwMJAwfCoMKgAAAAAFBQMjwyVWRLN1oAAABGAABVKxcZHVkqW1EBw5LChVMnMUvCtcKkM-KgigXio7oC4qi7A-K9hAXfvw

(https://i.imgur.com/KB5fEhp.png)

 - 10k damage per turn
 - ~15 accurate ranged attacks per turn
 - 2k+ crits with 60% crit chance (without food/focus stims)
 - 500+ movement points
 - attacks first: stealth, high initiative
 - ignores most of armor, energy shield and evasion
 


About build

This is a pistol Bullet Time build. It's focused on Most Effective Tactic Available in this game: alpha strike. Attack first, burn your cooldowns and do as much damage as possible before enemy has a chance to react. Best defence is offence, as dead enemies deal 0 damage per turn (except those acid muties). Bullet Time feat synergises absurdly well with this tactic.

We are going to use highest caliber Hammerrer pistols, which have bad reputation for being unreliable due to high damage variance. Which is funny, as they are the most reliable weapon in this game. High average damage, decent range, high hit and crit chance, no penalties for moving/close distance, ignore evasion, pierce armor, damage so high that normal bullet pierces energy shield + high DT, work on crit immune enemies, have low ammo consumption and slow durability degradation rate.

And each shot costs 7 AP.

Point Shot costs 3 AP and it can one shot Naga. Yes, probability of that hapening would be around 5%... But what other build can kill Naga Protector on DOMINATING with 3 AP at all?

Worst case scenario? You shoot at enemy and miss or hit for 80 damage. Wasting 7 AP. Huge hit chance, massive upper damage and powerful crits makes this unlikely. More likely outcome: you spend 7 AP and enemy spend rest of its lifetime contemplating massive bullet shaped hole in a place previously occupied by his flesh. Overkill damage is good for you as it increases probability of one shoting foes.

It has almost no counters, works against every enemy in Underrail.

It kills 10+ enemies per turn. Each kill restores movement points, allowing you to charge well into the opposite end of a map killing targets.

But it only lasts one turn, after which you are defenseless and in the open...
[uses Premeditation][casts Stasis on self][enemies gather around failing to do any harm][new turn begins][Bullet Time is still on]

...but it only lasts 2 turns. Hardly anything is left standing by then.
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: Turbodevil on July 25, 2021, 11:01:10 am
Core setup

- rapid .44' hammerrer pistols
with: laser sight (one hand) and smart module (other hand)
.44' caliber is a must as it deals around twice the damage of lower calibers while costing no more than 50% AP

- Bullet Time
max spec first
Bread and butter, makes foes dead and in the gutter

- high Dex
Bullet Time breakpoints for .44' - Dex(AP) - 9(9) | 12(8) | 14(7) | 17(6) | 20(5)
14 is a sweetspot for this build, effective without dumping all your points and you can reach next breakpoint with All-In or SSD + Eel Sandwich

- Hit and Run
max spec second
Mobility is life. Mobility is range. Mobility is accuracy. Accuracy is damage. Sniper rifles are accurate and have great range, but can they kill enemies hidden behind 3 corners past two corridors? No? Well, pistols can. Seriously, I once killed all 4 Magnar shamans in the first turn, starting at entrance and killing warriors as stepping stones to move forward.

- Stasis
Used exclusively to double Bullet Time duration

- extra AP
Adrenaline, Vitality Powder, Psycho-temporal Contraction, Rapid Reloader

- Crit
Googles, infused rathound leather, 11 Perception for feats

- Bullet Strap belt
You reload twice per turn. Gotta save those AP for more pew pew.


--- optional, but this build is optimized for these ---


- Special attacks
Point Shot, Aimed Shot, Rapid Fire
These attacks are around twice as strong as regular attacks per AP and get ~60% damage bonus thanks to Smart Module. Their usefulness diminishes once you get more normal attacks, but they still work great, are amazing early game and will save your hide during non Bullet Time turns.   

- Premeditation
Mostly used with Stasis at the end of first turn if all enemies are not dead yet. It saves 15 AP. Also helps early game and conserves mana.

- Fatal throw
max spec third
They say huge damage variance is a downside... In reality, most of shots are insta kills, except of few that still pack a punch. Sometimes, enemy will be reduced to low health. Did you waste an action? Nope, throw a knife, kill the enemy, and restore enough AP to shoot twice again.



How to Play

Stealth, engage enemy, initiate combat, activate Bullet Time. Special attacks for special enemies. Laser sight pistol for regular patrons. Kill, move, kill, move (remember, movement = accuracy = damage!) and count survivors. Suvrvivors count > 0? Premeditation + self Stasis. Repeat during next turn. Loot bodies because there is nothing else left to do at this point.

Remember to hoard ammo, especially W2C bullets.



Watch out for

- Dogs
They tackle you through Stasis, reducing hit chance

- Pseudo-spatial Projections
Why waste bullets shooting mirages? Kill psi users / Goliathusses first



Notable fights

- Carnifex
1 turn

- Lunatics mall upper level
3 turns for section with bosses (needed to hide behind line of sight)

- 4 Naga Protectors
1 turn

- Magnar
Shamans on 1st turn, Magnar on second, incapacitated leftovers on 3rd. Needed SSD. Didn't want to cheese with Gas Grenades

- Natives raid
2 first waves defeated on Bullet Time with no health loss, fallback to allies, kill some more, toss a grenade and easy victory is ensured.

- Faceless Commander
2 turns, used SSD

- 10 Golitathusses guarding DC exit
1 turn

- endgamespoiler boss
Lol, I shouldn't even need to pop Bullet Time



DOMINATING levelling guide

Hoard ammo, poisoned throwing knives, poisoned caltrops, some hexogen, adrenaline potions.

Search for rapid reloaders, laser sights, Image Intensifier Tube.

Collect pistol frames, seeker lenses/googles, high quality rathound leathers and smart modules.

Don't use high callibers from the begining. They are too slow. Since level 20 you should use exclusively pair of .44', use whatever you find comforable on lower levels.


Lvl 1: https://underrail.info/build/?AQMKBwMIAwYPDwAAAAAPDw8PAA8AAAAAAAAADwAAABcZ378

This build starts viable but mediocre. There are two main breakthroughs in its power. Early game, your best friends are stealth, throwing (nets and caltrops), grenades (get 50/69 chemistry asap!), special attacks and traps. Caltrops (preferably poisoned) and High-explosive grenades are your best bet to saving Newton early). To my surprise, Temporal Distortions proved to be extremely effective around robots, as it ignores half of their armor and have high range, allowing you to kite them. Your accuracy at long distance is bad this early so 100% chance to do some damage and not receive any at expense of redundant psi boosters/inhalants is quite effective. For this reason, I recommend picking premeditation early. Lastly, Fatal Throw deals lots of damage and single enemies are often on low health, so pick it asap. You can't clear Silent Isle without patience seasoned in cheese so just go east, kill rats, stealth, pick cargo and run away. Pickpocket ammo and adrenalines.

Your weapon will be whatever you pick in the dumpster, your goal will be lowish quality rapid 9mm pistol with LS. There is no guarantee you will obtain it before finishing Depot A so bring molotovs...


Lvl 12: https://underrail.info/build/?DAMMBwMIAwdGRgAAAAA4PCgtAC0YKAAAAAAARgAAKCsXGR1ZKltRAd-_

Once you clear Depot A, the metro is your oyster. Go to Rail Crossing and learn Psycho-temporal Acceleration. Go to Foundry an buy W2C ammo recipe. Visit merchants for parts and get rapid 9mm pistol with laser sight. Now, your power is more than double than before. You can pick Bullet Time as early as level 12, it's nice to have, but seriously underwhelming. Rapid Fire is more effective, versatile and reliable at this point. Bullet Time shines when maxed spec on level 20 with 14 Dex and .44' pistol and the objective is to get there. We'll also focus on big fat crits and crafting 100+ quality gun. I recommend doing Foundry Faceless quest before Buzzer to save pipeworker's life. Killing Beast is managable once you get high quality .44' as you can pickpocket Saban, he has 90(!) W2C bullets of that calliber. You don't need high level to deal with Beast as you will be levelling mostly around crit now and Bladeling are immune to crits. The final fight is easy if you stock up on Gas Grenades.


Lvl 20: https://underrail.info/build/?FAMOBwMIAwdaUAAAAABQPC0oMlUoMjcyAAAARgAAVSsXGR1ZKltRAcOSwoVTJ-K9hAXfvw

Around level 20-24 you should have high quality rapid guns, fully maxed Bullet Time with 14 Dex, making your .44' shots cost 7 AP and crit gear. Once you finish Oligarch quest line visit Pasqual and learn Stasis. Then forget about everything you learned about enemies because you don't need it anymore. They are harmless lootsacks at this point.

Just max spec Hit and Run so you can reach them faster.

And get moar damage for that 2-3 fights that last longer than 1-2 turns.



Final note

This build was extremely satisfying to play. Early game it wasn't strong, but I got plenty of special attacks and various tools. This forced me into smart, tactical play and allowed to progress without cheesing much. Then, after each significant story progression I received boost of power that elevated me to another power level. It felt great to progressively become stronger up until my power level was over 9000 (literally, I calculated this in Excel) and was able to mow through most difficult encounters using sheer firepower.

Highly recommended, rated 11/10 by independent, objective judge: build creator himself.
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: ShoggothWhisperer on July 25, 2021, 08:50:17 pm
Why not drop per to 6, pump dex to 17 and str to 5, and use versatility? You lose sharpshooter and scrutinous, which isn’t really a problem since you take them very late, and you can replace scrutinous with steadfast aim, which gives a higher crit chance since it scales off base ap (+8% crit with no downside on a rapid .44 hammer). It also help you achieve the 17 dex combo sooner, since you only consistently get 2 SSD before DC. If you spec versatility (at the cost of losing hit and run spec, fatal throw spec, and reckless) you get higher base damage and accuracy then with 11 per, while also boosting throwing damage for fatal throw from the high dex.
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: Turbodevil on July 25, 2021, 09:16:56 pm
I did REALLY want that 40MP Hit and Run, it's a pillar of this build.

Fatal throw spec almost kind off offsets 1 AP higher shooting cost.

Versatility 17 Dex with max spec is only marginally better than 11 Per, and I can raise Per with the Juice and Marsh Honey.

Steadfast Aim gives only 7% crit chance. I know, I know... But it does! Probably rounding issue.

Sharpshooter is massive Damage boost, comparable to Gun-Fu. Works only on crits, but at any range.

Versatility builds are much worse in early to mid game, it's only profitable to take Versatility around level 16 or later. This build starts with 8 Per and it helps set thing off.

Lastly, Perception route has 70 base skill points more to spend.


TLDR: more movement, more skill points, and easier levelling. Versatility is fine too for more shots and throwing

EDIT: I forgot to mention that Perception route uses the same number of feats as yours but you do not take Gun-Fu. Your average damage will be less than mine unless you take Gun-Fu (then the damage per shot is roughly the same) and ensure you are within melee distance of enemy, which will be harder due to 25 MP Hit and Run. So there are another opportunity costs of going Versatility.
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: Kilgore Trout on July 30, 2021, 11:40:52 pm
Hey Turbodevil,

Thanks for sharing this build. I decided to start running it yesterday and I am currently on lvl 5 and having fun.

I just wanted to ask, what is the max armor penalty you went with for this build?

Cheers
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: Turbodevil on July 31, 2021, 11:28:33 am
I was using medium to light armor, Armor Penalty doesn't matter much, it only lowers stealth a bit. Early game I was using tactical vests and occassionally riot gear, later I went for Infused Rathoung leather. Everything in black, so armor penalty was 10%
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: ringring on August 22, 2021, 03:31:24 am
I liked your idea so I made a variation on it that I call the Bruce Willis Build.  Its progression arc is based after the character Jhon Mclaine from all 3 Die Hard movies.  He only gets shotguns and hand grenades towards the end of the movie, and has psychokinesis to cast force punch (to knock guys out in one blow) and electrokinesis (to represent water on the floor and loose cabling among other contrived scenarios) to take advantage of execute and opportunist.  He has gun Fu to show how hes always getting into scraps with low ammo and having to pistol whip a bitch and play ru sham bu (Dirty Kick) when someone gets the drop on him.  Fully specced 6th Shell and Bullet Time.  Shotgun is 25 AP, Rapid Fire is 24 AP, Point Shot + Normal Shot is 24 AP, can kneecap with the shotgun, barrel stare and 6th shot stack, Tyranny is only str 5 and has an extra shot on burst.  He hits with opportunist and can use execute when someone gets hit with tungston round daze and stun effects.  Plus he carries a taser for comedic effect.

https://underrail.info/build/?HgUNBwUHBQR4HgDCoAAAHgAAAADCggAAAAAARgAAAAAAKwEmFw3DkVtZw5IRGRYewrDCj8K1d8KY4rewBeK9hAXfvw
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: CCrocodile on August 23, 2021, 04:54:06 pm
Thank you very much, I'm just starting Underrail and I don't really have tons of hours like I did when I was a kid to restart and figure out what works and what doesn't on my own. I very much appreciate that you took the time and effort to properly explain how the build works instead of just leaving a link to it.

Got a question too - can this be modified to include heavy-ish armor or some other type of direct defense at all or will it result in losing too much damage?
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: Turbodevil on August 23, 2021, 09:33:57 pm
@ringing

Nice, I have soft spot for thematic hybrid builds such as yours :)

@CCrocodile

Yeah, Infused leather armor just gives around ~10% crit. You can go without it. I did not even bother to use Focus Stims (15% crit) or core chips (5% crit) for anything apart select few of most difficult fights. Armor penalty doesn't affect you much, just pay attention to your maximum movement points: this is maximum value of MP your specced Hit and Run can restore. If you wear armor with over 50% armor penalty, your kills may restore less than 40 movement points and you REALLY want that movement points, they are best defence, offence and utility.

If you are not playing on DOMINATING difficulty, I would lower perception by 3 points and put it into Dexterity (use Increased Dexterity instead of Perception feat). This would give you 6 AP per shot during Bullet Time. You would lose some crit feats but these doesn't matter when enemies don't have DOMINATING +50% health.

There are some heavy leaher armor in Expedition you might check out, they can make you extremely tanky, especially against melee. You have Energy shield against bullets. Vest/Riot gear would work too. Steel armor requires too much strength which you don't have stat points for. I would go Infused Bison/Sea Wyrm leather with Skinner feat for tankiness.

Then again, what do you need armor for? The enemies are dead. You killed them before they had a chance to harm you...
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: Snk88 on August 28, 2021, 11:57:23 am
Great build Turbodevil! Just finished a Dominating playthrough.
A lot of fun and overall very smooth progression - the only hick-up I had was around level 13-14 where you still don't have good guns so you can't really do Balor / Beast / Arena, etc. I'd suggest having your crafting skills ready by that point.
Also not sure about 50 points in traps since I never had the need to use anything beyond basic bear traps and only early game.
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: Dumbo on August 30, 2021, 06:16:50 pm
Hey man, thanks for posting the build :). I was just wondering which xp system were you using while running it?
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: Turbodevil on August 30, 2021, 07:19:11 pm
I took 50 traps just for detection as I did not have any defense against being blown to pieces other than quickload. I probably overinvested too

I was playing Classic during my run, as it allowed me to skip some areas without being penalised for not collecting oddities. I wasn't scared to explore, let's say, Fetid Marsh, I just didn't want to bother :)
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: ringring on August 31, 2021, 04:35:38 am
Does Rapid Fire work with .44 explosive rounds?
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: Turbodevil on August 31, 2021, 06:43:37 am
Yes, but they are very inefective. Extra damage they provide is neglible, much lower compared to W2C or JHP, and AoE is useless as enemies are usually not grouped together in choke points (you attack first and they didn't have a chance to move). You can experiment an find an use case for explosive rounds though, I just didn't find any.
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: CCrocodile on September 01, 2021, 09:10:56 am
So after 75 hours with the build (I had the week free, don't judge me), I thought I'd leave a review or something.

I'm playing on Normal Oddity exp and made very few adjustments. Those might not be viable on higher difficulties, of course. Took Pack Rathound at level 1 and Premeditation at level 16. Didn't use Mercantile or Pickpocketing but had maxed out crafting by level 20, which is the time I was done with most things in the base game. I'm now in DC.

https://underrail.info/build/?FQMOBwMIAwdzRgAAAAA0U0AAAFpnPSloAAAARkMAACsnFxkdAVFbWcOSKlMx4qCKAeK9hAXfvw

The build is very powerful. Everything works precisely as advertised. I actually AM starting to get bored with killing everything in one Bullet Time Stasis combo. Haven't used grenades or traps in ages. However, it takes quite a few levels before you get to this point, so it's fine, and it's an amazing feeling when it all first comes together. That downside is mostly about how the game works, not anything wrong with the build.

I'm very glad I picked Pack Rathound at level 1 instead of level 20 and can't see myself doing it any other way. Early on the build isn't particularly strong and I think it helps a lot with getting your money going and carrying a bunch of consumables for different situations. Not to mention you need to hoard different ammo types, since .44 is unusable at the beginning, as Turbodevil says (I tried).

Speaking of different ammo types, I don't believe it's mentioned in the guide, but I made sure to have my backup pistol cost less AP than the main gun before I crafted two endgame rapid 134 and 135 Hammerer frames. What this means is once I got my hands on a Rapid 9mm, my backup was a 5mm Neo Luger (for highest minimum damage) which actually turned out fairly helpful. It barely costs any AP to finish off enemies that survived with a sliver of health. I would advise going with this setup. I also silenced it (since I had a slot free) and had used it to lurk on more than one occasion. Surprisingly satisfied with it's performance.

Lastly, regarding finishing off low HP enemies. I'm somewhat dissatisfied with the how Fatal Throw worked out for me. I did use it a bunch in the mid levels, but now I'm constantly getting 50% and 70% hit chance when aiming at most enemies and I ended up abandoning it. Now, sure, my Throwing is 45 lower than my Guns, but it's only 10 lower than the level 20 build Turbodevil presented. Moreover, had my Throwing been maxed, according to Underrail Precision tool, it would've only bumped my hit chance against enemies that now have 50% to a 70%. Last but not least, Fatal Throw doesn't restore movements points with Hit and Run and you need to be adjacent to enemies to proc the pistol's ignore evasion ability, so you may end up gaining less AP than you would've just by shooting them.
All in all, as far as "Value per 1 feat" goes, Fatal Throw does it's job pretty well. But if you're looking to free up a feat slot for something you wanna do, it might be a candidate.

Thank you, Turbodevil, this build was a great time.
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: Turbodevil on September 02, 2021, 07:50:37 am
Another satisfied customer :)

I agree Fatal Throw can feel disappointing, that's why I put it in optional category. It requires a lot of investment: 1 feat, max throwing, 3 spec points. You lose MP when throwing: need to move 1 tile away from any enemy (being close to enemy lowers your hit chance by 25%) and it doesn't restore MP on kill. It's also useless against armored enemies and unreliable against evasive ones. as it has lower chance to hit. The reasons I used it is how it work on DOMINATING: 50% more HP means higher chance the enemy, after being shot at, has less than 25% health, and more enemies on that difficulty means there is higher chance that another target will be in vicinity to restore MP through Hit and Run.

Fatal Throw worked only in some scenarios. But it worked great in two cases where I needed it the most: early game it's objectively more damage than shooting with subpar pistol, late game there are some very hard encounters with multiple varied enemies, like Magnar or Faceless Commander, where I need all the advantages I can get. In perfect scenario Fatal Throw finishes 1 enemy and give enough AP for 2 more pistol attacks, which is huge. So it doesn't work that often but when it works, it does wonders.

Then again, I could have taken Three Pointer instead and throw mark 5 grenades with 50-60% chacne to crit, which decimates unarmored foes.
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: Dumbo on September 03, 2021, 05:00:26 pm
Where can you find high quality pistol frames in relatively earlish mid game? Does Ola stock them with mercantile after the oligarch questline? I've picked JKK and I wanna know if I messed up and should have gone praetorian security. First time playing, so minimal spoilers please :) .
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: RewRatt on September 03, 2021, 05:07:48 pm
Where can you find high quality pistol frames in relatively earlish mid game? Does Ola stock them with mercantile after the oligarch questline? I've picked JKK and I wanna know if I messed up and should have gone praetorian security. First time playing, so minimal spoilers please :) .
Before Depot A - Blaine. Has up to Q110 crafting components. Very regurarly Q90+ . Best trader for high qality components until Oligarch quest line is done.

SGS Armory trader after Depot A, more so after Oligarch quest done. Has high range in quality (from 20 to 155) so harder to get what you need, but can stock good items.
Otherwise - Core City Weapons Trader, Kevin in Foundry and Scavanger Trader north-west from Core City Station in Upper Underrail.
Mid-Game Best is of-course Constantine in Oculus. Best until end-game too.
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: Dumbo on September 03, 2021, 05:49:28 pm
Where can you find high quality pistol frames in relatively earlish mid game? Does Ola stock them with mercantile after the oligarch questline? I've picked JKK and I wanna know if I messed up and should have gone praetorian security. First time playing, so minimal spoilers please :) .
Before Depot A - Blaine. Has up to Q110 crafting components. Very regurarly Q90+ . Best trader for high qality components until Oligarch quest line is done.

SGS Armory trader after Depot A, more so after Oligarch quest done. Has high range in quality (from 20 to 155) so harder to get what you need, but can stock good items.
Otherwise - Core City Weapons Trader, Kevin in Foundry and Scavanger Trader north-west from Core City Station in Upper Underrail.
Mid-Game Best is of-course Constantine in Oculus. Best until end-game too.

Thank You! :)
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: Dumbo on September 14, 2021, 12:44:20 pm
I did a full playthrough on normal with this build with some alterations and it is indeed op as hell. I do think however that fatal throw, while very cool, is a waste of a feat. It's better to put only ~50 in throwing, since you won't be doing any throwing past lv 17-20 anyway and spend them somewhere else.
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: Kilgore Trout on September 16, 2021, 06:20:51 am
Hey Turbodevil,

Want to add my 2 cents. I have played many builds (have been playing Underrail since 2015) and this is by far the build I have had the most fun with. This will definitely be my go-to build for future runs. There are a couple of things I would tweak, but that is just due to personal preference.

Great build = Great fun!

Thanks Turbodevil
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: Kiruha on September 24, 2021, 09:24:42 am
This build is fantastic and I really like it!

I moved to this build from laser pistols build (because Critical Power was nerfed and energy damage vs some type of enemies (Nagas)  is meh).

I was dissapointed by Fatal Throw and Interloper (Interloper IMHO is kinda useless and Fatal Throw was not reliable for me). I decided to drop them and took Grenadier and Three Pointer instead. Silenced Rapid 5mm Neo-Luger pistol is a fantastic secondary weapons in some situations, I recommend to craft it too.

Also I decided to use Infused Pig Striders (-90 to stealth, + speed, +30 carry weight, ) instead of ninja Tabi Boots, so I need to max out stealth to overcome this (not a problem, because of 7 AGI + Black Padded Infused Rathound Armor we will have high stealth anyway).

Why I think that this build is soo good and versalite? Let's see:
We have 7 AGI (We can use cave hopper armor, boots and hopper stake to temporary boost it to 10, or even more if we use All In. We can pass AGI checks, we can use infused pig striders and still be stealthy.
We have 14 dex, so we have high lockpicking and other DEX based skills
We will have 11 PER to spot all secrets
We have 7 intelligence, we can craft with no problems, we have high bonus to mercantile too.

About Min Maxing and Metagaming - If you want, you can use hypercerebrix + All In (to get +5 INT) + Craft Benches, and you can save up some points for crafting skills. I recommend these numbers (hard points, not the effective skill level! For 160 quality components):

Mechanics - 74 (Hypercerebrix + All In + Craft Benches to craft striders and pistols)
Electronics - 87 (Hypercerebrix + All In + Craft Benches to craft Dual Low Efficient energy shield emitter, cloaking device and seeker googles. Hypercerebrix + Craft Benches will be enought to craft MK3 plasma grenades and mines.
Chemistry - 66 (Hypercerebrix + Craft Benches to get 112 effective skill for MKV Greandes)
Biology - 43 (To craft Hypercerebrix with Craft Benches Bonus, Hypercerebrix + Craft Benches to craft bullhead drug)
Tailoring - 80 (Hypercerebrix + All In + Craft Benches to craft Infused Rathound Armor (padded and black cloathed with 160 quality parts) and Infused Pig striders.

You can optimize these numbers even more because of new belts (15 to one crafting skills). So, you end up with some free points even if you decide to max out stealth. You can max out Temporal Manipulation to reduce the chance to be debuffed from haste.
 
Also, you can lower Lockpicking and Hacking skills too to get even more free points. You can drop pickpocket too (fun skill but useless in combat)
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: Massacre_Wurm on January 04, 2022, 12:02:40 pm
Just curious why Interloper as lvl 2 feat ?
You can take Aimed shot and use .44 for it.  I mean its a sizeable damage boost early on and you are going to take it anyway.
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: Turbodevil on January 04, 2022, 12:36:15 pm
I like Interloper more than it deserves, but I also think it works nicely on DOMINATING difficulty. I stealth a lot during early sections so ability to do it faster and have 15 MP more after opening salvo which hits like wet noodles (yet) is helpful. But that's my preference, Aimed Shot could be better, Sprint could be better, I just dislike the sluggish movement (and don't use speed hack)
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: Vokial on January 14, 2022, 10:18:01 am
Interloper is a great feat to have. If you finish a turn moving behind cover to avoid getting hit and going into Sneak, you can start your next round with the ability to step out of cover with all your AP's intact.
It also allows you to place your traps better. You can place traps much closer to the enemy while sneaking as you can close distance faster, drop a beartrap with QT and leave more quickly from it's vicinity before they notice you.
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: apollounderrail on January 19, 2022, 06:29:58 am
Amazing build. Playing on Dom, oddity, and enjoying the challenge/power.
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: Eothas on January 24, 2022, 10:07:09 pm
How would you join the Oculus without 7 points in Will ?
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: KnifegaF on January 24, 2022, 10:39:09 pm
How would you join the Oculus without 7 points in Will ?

Oculus doesn’t require Will. Maybe it’s because I’ve been doing Oculus the same way for awhile and just go through the motions but I don’t even remember a will check being involved in any of the quests
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: Eothas on January 24, 2022, 11:41:37 pm
How would you join the Oculus without 7 points in Will ?

Oculus doesn’t require Will. Maybe it’s because I’ve been doing Oculus the same way for awhile and just go through the motions but I don’t even remember a will check being involved in any of the quests

Oh so do you nee 7 Will only for "Vision" ? - https://www.stygiansoftware.com/wiki/index.php?title=Oculus
I thought without vision you can't go to oculus main base.
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: KnifegaF on January 25, 2022, 12:28:54 am
I go 3 will with many of my builds and get into oculus every time
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: Eothas on January 25, 2022, 02:09:03 pm
I go 3 will with many of my builds and get into oculus every time

 :D Okay, guess I was wrong! Thanks!  :P
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: Ravager on February 06, 2022, 12:46:55 am
How has this build been affected by the recent update?
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: Turbodevil on February 06, 2022, 08:43:20 am
How has this build been affected by the recent update?
Not much. W2C ammo was nerfed but the nerf wasn't that big. Worst case scenario (Naga Protector, 90% mechanical resistance) -> you deal 25% less damage, so chances are you would need *gasp* 2 turns for 4 Nagas. Ammo crafting quantity nerf is not big deal to pistols which are ammo efficient. On the plus side, high quality super steel fibers are easier to access (and cap is raised), so you may squeeze 1-2 crit chance out of this.

And the mid game after Depot A got easier if you kill Wyatt and his dogs and then rob his still warm, twitching body for that sweet 23% crit chance .44' gun which now gives you one free attack every fight. You monster.
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: Djpuffnstuff on March 10, 2022, 12:28:25 am
the one thing I'm really curious about is the pickpocketing. Is there a point? Is there something you need pick off someone that can't be bought or killed for?
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: andvare on March 10, 2022, 06:42:58 am
It´s usually taken on Dominating to offset the money issue in the early game.
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: PaposikG6 on April 04, 2022, 12:02:24 pm
Can confrim, build is still OP.
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: Bier on June 05, 2022, 11:46:46 pm
Hey guys,
600 hours in the Game but dindt play for some years.
A lot of things just seem complete new to me :D

This build is working great so far!
Not like the pure psy i did last time before the nerf but maybe that was why it got nerved.

Just one question:
Best fraction with this build is Coretech, right?

Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: PaposikG6 on June 10, 2022, 11:56:56 am
Hey guys,
600 hours in the Game but dindt play for some years.
A lot of things just seem complete new to me :D

This build is working great so far!
Not like the pure psy i did last time before the nerf but maybe that was why it got nerved.

Just one question:
Best fraction with this build is Coretech, right?
Coretech is good with everything.
Anyways, you can join other factions if you want, the differences are not that impactful. JKK gives you very good free armor for your lower levels before you can craft a good infused rathound leather armor. Oculus merchant covers more or less everything Coretech has, although he sells those items less regularly.
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: Bier on June 12, 2022, 06:24:49 pm
Thx for the answer :)

This build is fantastic and I really like it!

I moved to this build from laser pistols build (because Critical Power was nerfed and energy damage vs some type of enemies (Nagas)  is meh).

I was dissapointed by Fatal Throw and Interloper (Interloper IMHO is kinda useless and Fatal Throw was not reliable for me). I decided to drop them and took Grenadier and Three Pointer instead. Silenced Rapid 5mm Neo-Luger pistol is a fantastic secondary weapons in some situations, I recommend to craft it too.

Also I decided to use Infused Pig Striders (-90 to stealth, + speed, +30 carry weight, ) instead of ninja Tabi Boots, so I need to max out stealth to overcome this (not a problem, because of 7 AGI + Black Padded Infused Rathound Armor we will have high stealth anyway).

Why I think that this build is soo good and versalite? Let's see:
We have 7 AGI (We can use cave hopper armor, boots and hopper stake to temporary boost it to 10, or even more if we use All In. We can pass AGI checks, we can use infused pig striders and still be stealthy.
We have 14 dex, so we have high lockpicking and other DEX based skills
We will have 11 PER to spot all secrets
We have 7 intelligence, we can craft with no problems, we have high bonus to mercantile too.

About Min Maxing and Metagaming - If you want, you can use hypercerebrix + All In (to get +5 INT) + Craft Benches, and you can save up some points for crafting skills. I recommend these numbers (hard points, not the effective skill level! For 160 quality components):

Mechanics - 74 (Hypercerebrix + All In + Craft Benches to craft striders and pistols)
Electronics - 87 (Hypercerebrix + All In + Craft Benches to craft Dual Low Efficient energy shield emitter, cloaking device and seeker googles. Hypercerebrix + Craft Benches will be enought to craft MK3 plasma grenades and mines.
Chemistry - 66 (Hypercerebrix + Craft Benches to get 112 effective skill for MKV Greandes)
Biology - 43 (To craft Hypercerebrix with Craft Benches Bonus, Hypercerebrix + Craft Benches to craft bullhead drug)
Tailoring - 80 (Hypercerebrix + All In + Craft Benches to craft Infused Rathound Armor (padded and black cloathed with 160 quality parts) and Infused Pig striders.

You can optimize these numbers even more because of new belts (15 to one crafting skills). So, you end up with some free points even if you decide to max out stealth. You can max out Temporal Manipulation to reduce the chance to be debuffed from haste.
 
Also, you can lower Lockpicking and Hacking skills too to get even more free points. You can drop pickpocket too (fun skill but useless in combat)

I dont unterstand how All in can help with craftig. It reduces Intelligence by 3 so all crafting skills are lowered?
Am i missing something?
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: PaposikG6 on June 12, 2022, 09:43:45 pm
Thx for the answer :)
I dont unterstand how All in can help with craftig. It reduces Intelligence by 3 so all crafting skills are lowered?
Am i missing something?
All In increased intelligence in previous version of the game. This is no longer is the case and hypercerebrix is the only way of increasing INT now.
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: Bier on June 12, 2022, 10:27:32 pm
Thx for the answer :)
I dont unterstand how All in can help with craftig. It reduces Intelligence by 3 so all crafting skills are lowered?
Am i missing something?
All In increased intelligence in previous version of the game. This is no longer is the case and hypercerebrix is the only way of increasing INT now.

Ty for the fast answer.
So the numbers for the crafting skills in the originel build should be the right ones, right?
https://underrail.info/build/?HgMOBwMJAwfCoMKgAAAAAFBQMjwyVWRLN1oAAABGAABVKxcZHVkqW1EBw5LChVMnMUvCtcKkM-KgigXio7oC4qi7A-K9hAXfvw
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: PaposikG6 on June 13, 2022, 01:41:27 pm
With Crafting bonus of benches and Hypercerebrixes it should be fine
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: Grone on July 12, 2022, 08:45:37 am
Thanks a lot for the build, I am strongly considering it for my first run (Dominating). I did a couple of test runs to level 4-6 or so with this and a Versatility version, and I think I'll end up liking this better.

Any thoughts given to Ambush? You have the Perception for it, and it seems an good bet for replacing some of the feats people have been 'meh' on. With Hit and Run you should be able to set it up easily.

EDIT: More specifically, I'm considering these changes to feats and skills but otherwise sticking to this build. Anything I should worry about doing so (keeping in mind I am a noob)?:

https://underrail.info/build/?HgMOBwMJAwfCoMKgAAAAAFBgQgAAVWRLN1oAAABGZgBgKxcBGR0xAhY-w5LChSpLU8KHwrXCpDPioIoF4qO6BeK9hAXfvw
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: PaposikG6 on July 13, 2022, 12:12:44 pm
Thanks a lot for the build, I am strongly considering it for my first run (Dominating). I did a couple of test runs to level 4-6 or so with this and a Versatility version, and I think I'll end up liking this better.

Any thoughts given to Ambush? You have the Perception for it, and it seems an good bet for replacing some of the feats people have been 'meh' on. With Hit and Run you should be able to set it up easily.

EDIT: More specifically, I'm considering these changes to feats and skills but otherwise sticking to this build. Anything I should worry about doing so (keeping in mind I am a noob)?:

https://underrail.info/build/?HgMOBwMJAwfCoMKgAAAAAFBgQgAAVWRLN1oAAABGZgBgKxcBGR0xAhY-w5LChSpLU8KHwrXCpDPioIoF4qO6BeK9hAXfvw
Ambush is good if you can afford a slot for it. Of these feats, Interloper is probably the least useful.
I would lower hacking and lockpicking and maybe persuasion/mercantile and get some pickpocketing. Highest hacking check outside of one place in Deep Caverns is 110 effective and you are very unlikely to need more than around 100 lockpicking
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: Grone on July 22, 2022, 10:37:45 pm
So I did my first full playthrough ever (Dominating difficulty) using pretty much this build. Thank you very much for the thorough guide. The main thing I did differently was swapping out Point Shot and Rapid Fire, which I definitely think was a good call (and I would have swapped out Aimed Shot as well, knowing what I know now), and swapped in Ambush *which is amazing*. It ramps up the crit rate, is very fun to set up, and is pretty reliable.

I did a write up of my Tchort fight which ended up being way harder than advertised because a) I'm bad and b) I hadn't bothered with electronics or biology much at all, so I was missing some key gearing bits:

https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads/underrail-the-incline-awakens.105387/page-797#post-8038051

Also contains my thoughts on the game. Anyway, thanks a lot for steering me through my first playthrough of this great game.
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: jthibtoo on July 26, 2022, 03:53:48 pm
Do you use the TM PSI at all during early levels? I have tried using Temporal Distortion on various enemies, but it seems to have no affect.

At what skill level do you start to use this skill? If anyone has the time, can you provide tips on how to use TM with this build? What to use, when and how?

Another question I have is concerning the Premeditation skill. When you use that, are you able to perform multiple TM casts with no AP cost? Is that how that works?

Also, any tips for surviving the early levels? The 5mm Hawker pistol is so weak and ineffective (yes, I'm a noob at this game). What is the weapon progression for this build?
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: Ravager on August 24, 2022, 12:35:15 am
That's a good question, and I can't answer it off-hand, having not restarted the game in a while.

But I remember I started a game on Dominating when it first came out, with an SMG character. He was doing alright, until I came to having to fight the PSI Beetles in the early rescue quest.

5.56 just wasn't cutting it against them, and there weren't enough Molotovs on hand. I had already spent money getting a 5.56 SMG or something.

What I should have done is go for 7.62 SMG - they are more effective on armoured insects. I didn't know 5.56 would be so ineffective against low-tier enemies when I started the playthrough.
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: Turbodevil on August 24, 2022, 08:22:49 am
Do you use the TM PSI at all during early levels?
Yes, A LOT, and I recommend taking premeditation as soon as lvl 6 for this reason while keeping TM maxed until reaching 70 hard skill points. Main use cases:

- high armor enemies (dominating robots). Pistols won't hurt them at this stage, distortions are long range armor piercing 100% chance to hit thing
- kiting strong enemy thanks to dillation, with premeditation (and taking few steps back) you can disable one enemy per fight for free
- LTI when you want to throw another grenade, or use special attack

TM is cheap (both in terms of action points and in game money) so keep casting!

Quote
Another question I have is concerning the Premeditation skill. When you use that, are you able to perform multiple TM casts with no AP cost? Is that how that works?
No. Your next one cast costs 0 AP and less mana. That's it. Practically it's one free cast every fight. Which makes huge difference.
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: Kujo qtaro on September 15, 2022, 08:19:09 pm
Right now im playing a similar build, and role-playing Jacket.
Currently im in depo A, and am yet to start with psi.
Difference: im going with versatility+gun-fu.
Wrong choice?
I shall see...
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: ycaruz14 on September 28, 2022, 11:21:38 am
hi! i saw this build, now i'm at lv20, seeing that this build, like u said, is not that powerful on early encounters, is really good, not bulldozing enemies from the start to mid. It really made me think how to approach every single enemy, up until i got stasis. I followed the character build from your guide, lv1, lv12 and lv20. Will you be making a character build for max lv? I would like to see what would be the full potential of this build before I make my own.
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: Turbodevil on September 28, 2022, 08:01:20 pm
Lvl 30 build link is above the meme picture in first post. After lvl 20 you should have maxed Bullet Time specialization so next step is maxing Hit and Run spec and getting crit feats.
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: DashingRabbit on September 29, 2022, 01:39:26 pm
Is a pistol build without TM viable for hard or dominating?

I've taken this build through Deep Caverns on Hard, and I really loved its high mobility, extremely high initiative, and power.
Now I want to try a build that doesn't use TM, but I really relied on the Stasis + Bullet Time combo to carry my previous run.

Is there a variant of this build that could work (on Hard+) without TM?
Would I be better off trying SMG or melee builds instead?
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: Turbodevil on September 30, 2022, 08:30:49 am
^ I Don't know, I never tried it but Temporal Manipulation triples pistol's power.

That being said, ability to dominate everything in sight during 1 turn is so good in this game so such build should work. It would require some additional tricks to handle content, fortunately high Dex means you can get most of your grenades. I would add Grenadier, Three Pointer, possibly Sure Step, and Sprint. Typical fight would start with grenade or two, caltrops, Aimed Shot to the face, hide from line of sight, enemies come closer, next turn activate Bullet Time. I would reduce either Int or Perception and max Dexterity, possibly going into Versatility (probably not though, I hate Versatility, but still...)

As for SMGs, they are extremely viable with or without magic but I hate them as much as Versatility. Low hit chance + extremely high ammo consumption + low range + boring 'burst burst reload burst burst' playstyle = not fun for me.
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: ycaruz14 on October 01, 2022, 04:17:03 pm
oh, it is up there, i'm sorry i'm so excited to try out this build that i didn't even noticed that lv30 build was there, thank you for pointing that out! again, thank you for this build ;)
Title: Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)
Post by: PaposikG6 on October 05, 2022, 03:48:22 pm
Is a pistol build without TM viable for hard or dominating?

I've taken this build through Deep Caverns on Hard, and I really loved its high mobility, extremely high initiative, and power.
Now I want to try a build that doesn't use TM, but I really relied on the Stasis + Bullet Time combo to carry my previous run.

Is there a variant of this build that could work (on Hard+) without TM?
Would I be better off trying SMG or melee builds instead?
I am currently playing psiless DEX versatility pistol on dominating. It's still good but obviously worse than variant with tm. With high dex you can shoot stuff more times so the lack of stasis and contraction hurts less.
Here's what i am using atm: https://underrail.info/build/?HgUQBwMHAwVGOgDCoB4AZFoeLQBuwoIsMm4AAAAAAABOARcZWR5bOibDksKjw5ENEU7CszHita4K4r2EBd-_

Basically almost everything is viable on Hard+ but it may require some metaknowledge or cheesing for certain areas.