Author Topic: Build advice (Soldier)  (Read 4203 times)

Hawkknot

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Build advice (Soldier)
« on: August 19, 2018, 10:35:10 am »
Hello. I need some build advice regarding my soldier. I'm going for a Rambo style dude, with a big ass machine gun and grenades aplenty. He also needs to be able to craft his own ammo, grenades and equipment, so I gave him some intelligence at the cost of agility.

Here is a link to the character planner: http://underrail.info.tm/build/?GQcGAwUPAwfCh8KHAAAAAMKHWl8AWmRkZABkAAAAAAAAO09TFhVGSiZJSwJIMSc

The skill values are an approximation. I will place my points "by ear" as I play, but info regarding max values would be awesome, since this will free me up to put some points into biology for combat stims.
I also plan to go for vests and not metal armor, but I don't know if that is the right call since I have very little agility, and will have to eat some lead from time to time.
All stats start at their respective values except for Perception with starts at 9 and gets a bump every 4 levels.
I will be playing on normal difficulty.

Let me know what you think. I'm really tired of starting over and just want a good character to finish the game with. Thanks!

TheAverageGortsby

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Re: Build advice (Soldier)
« Reply #1 on: August 19, 2018, 10:49:08 am »
Take 50 points each out of Chemistry and Throwing.  That'll still be enough to craft your special ammo for your ARs and also MkIV grenades and mines - the difference between MkIV and MkV is not enough to be worth the point investment. Put 15 of those points into each of Mechanics, Electronics, and Tailoring.  You're going to want 160 with housing bonus to make optimally amazing stuff at the top end.  Put 40-45 points into Biology so you can cook your own Focus Stim and Aegis, both of which will be very handy for your build.  That will also allow you to craft Regenerative Vest tactical armor which is probably what you're going to want to use.  With your remaining 10-15 points, put 5 more into Hacking and touch up whatever else you feel like.   If you really want to min/max, bring Chemistry down to 44 and Bio up to 51 so you can also cook Bullhead, which will help you significantly since you won't be able to get Thick Skull with that build..

You in all likelihood do not need 15 Per for an AR build.  If you wanted, you could afford to claw back three or four of those points and put them elsewhere. 

EDIT: I would be remiss not to mention that since you have 7 INT anyway and a lot of crafting skills, if I were playing that character, I would bring Throwing all the way down to 30 (or 30 + whatever you take out of Stealth - 100-110 should be plenty enough since you'll be crafting +stealth gear for yourself, I imagine) and put the rest into Mercantile, which would open up a lot (though not all) of the special merchandise that certain shopkeepers will have.  However, if you really, really hate throwing wild, then you can certainly afford not to go into Mercantile.  There's plenty of money in the game for any character with strong crafting skill.

LAST EDIT, PROMISE: If you ended up putting one more point into STR and swapping Clothier out and replacing it with Armor Sloping, you could make very good Quad Plated Super Steel armor for when you know you're going to get hit a lot.  It's really enormously more protective than a tac vest, and has lower armor penalty (*with* the Armor Sloping bonus) than plated vests.  It also isn't too terribly heavy, so you could carry it around and change into it when the situation presented itself.  The down side is that grinding Super Steel is a PITA like nothing else in this game.
« Last Edit: August 19, 2018, 11:07:59 am by TheAverageGortsby »

Hawkknot

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Re: Build advice (Soldier)
« Reply #2 on: August 19, 2018, 11:23:39 am »
Interesting advice, thanks!

If I understand you correctly then the mercantile skill affects what vendors have in stock in addition to getting a better price?

I'm also a bit hesitant to lower my throwing skill, since the skill also affect damage done right?

I got 15 perception since I'm gonna be burst-firing a lot and the perception boost will allow me to hit with more of the bullets, but if can take 3 points out of perception and still hit with all those shots then maybe I should put them into constitution instead? So screw stealth, put 1 point into strength for metal armor, and 2 points into constitution for some more hit-points. This will also make me able to keep a high throwing skill.

Dropping stealth will also mean disarming traps only. How many skill-points do I need in traps if I'm only disarming them?

EDIT: Here's the updated link based on feedback. http://underrail.info.tm/build/?GQgGAwUMAwfCh8KHAAAAAABfXwBQc3NQc3MAAAAAAAA7T1MWFUVKJklLMSQnCA
« Last Edit: August 19, 2018, 12:23:29 pm by Hawkknot »

TheAverageGortsby

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Re: Build advice (Soldier)
« Reply #3 on: August 19, 2018, 12:26:26 pm »
If I understand you correctly then the mercantile skill affects what vendors have in stock in addition to getting a better price?

I'm also a bit hesitant to lower my throwing skill, since the skill also affect damage done right?

I got 15 perception since I'm gonna be burst-firing a lot and the perception boost will allow me to hit with more of the bullets, but if can take 3 points out of perception and still hit with all those shots then maybe I should put them into constitution instead? So screw stealth, put 1 point into strength for metal armor, and 2 points into constitution for some more hit-points. This will also make me able to keep a high throwing skill.

Dropping stealth will also mean disarming traps only. How many skill-points do I need in traps if I'm only disarming them?
In order, then:

Some (but not all) merchants have a special stock that can only be accessed by a character with sufficient skill in Mercantile.  If you're willing to see mild spoilers, then this page of the Wiki will tell you what the thresholds are: http://www.underrail.com/wiki/index.php?title=Mercantile

Throwing skill does not have any effect on damage done for grenades, only for knives.  Since throwing knives are really not very good weapons unless you build specifically for them (and you have not, since your Dex is so low) I would seriously encourage you to throw mostly grenades and perhaps nets, and only very rarely use knives, if at all.  Thus, for your build, higher throwing skill only will improve your accuracy, not your damage - though obviously if you hit more often, you're going to do more damage.  But I play with 30 Throwing on my characters, just enough to get Grenadier, and the accuracy is almost always acceptable.

12 Per will be just fine.  In all likelihood you'll be wearing goggles that will give you +1 to that, so you likely will have 13 effective.  Things that are hard to hit, well, that's what bear traps and flashbangs are for.

On Normal difficulty, you can probably get by with about 70 real points in Traps, if you're also going to have a Trappers Belt and the Jackknife.  120 or so should let you disarm just about everything.

If you're going to go with metal armor, then you won't need quite as much Tailoring as you have. 90 points with your Int will give you 128 with housing bonus, and that's the "magic number" you want your Tailoring to hit for making metal armor, since that's the highest you could possibly need, in the event you luck out and get the highest quality carrier vest possible.

EDIT: Ah, I missed your edit.  Let's see.  You will never need a Bio skill higher than 130 effective, so you can pull back some of those points.  Conditioning *sounds* really really good, but the way it applies, it's at best only "not bad".  My suggestion would be something perhaps more like this: http://underrail.info.tm/build/?GQgHAwYMAwfCh8KHAAAAAABfXwBQc3MpY1oAAAAAAAA7T1MWFTBKJklLMUUkJw   As you can see, this leaves you 80 points to invest in whatever you like.  Also, Nimble isn't any use for your build, now. If you think you might be willing to go down to 11 base Per, you could get one more point in CON and that would allow you replace Nimble with Juggernaut, which would be much more helpful for you.

Because you have no passive defenses (Dodge, Evasion, Stealth) you're going to find yourself in a lot of situations where enemies are right in your face and you would prefer they not be.  Quick Tinkering is a godsend for builds like yours.  You just drop a bear trap and take a couple steps back, then on their turn they run right into it.  Not only can they not stab/punch/smash you, but they're also much, much easier to hit.
« Last Edit: August 19, 2018, 12:39:03 pm by TheAverageGortsby »

Hawkknot

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Re: Build advice (Soldier)
« Reply #4 on: August 19, 2018, 12:37:54 pm »
Allright! I'll be putting the excess points into mercantile then. Thanks a bunch for your help! :D

TheAverageGortsby

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Re: Build advice (Soldier)
« Reply #5 on: August 19, 2018, 12:41:23 pm »
Allright! I'll be putting the excess points into mercantile then. Thanks a bunch for your help! :D
I know this is super nitpicky, but if you could just take 4 points out of Throwing (or anywhere, really, but Throwing is the place you can most afford it) and put them in Mercantile, you'll get to 105 effective, which is the "magic number" you need to unlock the best stock at the best merchant in the game. :/  Sorry to keep harping on Mercantile.

LAST EDIT: That leaves me with this as my final suggestion for your build: http://underrail.info.tm/build/?GQgHAwYMAwfCh8KDAAAAAABfXwBQc3MpY1oAAAAAAFQ7T1MWFTBKJklLMUUn

And with that last feat spot, either take Fast Metabolism and leave your stats as they are, or (especially if you don't think you're going to end up using a Regenerative Vest in your armor) pull one final point from Per and put it into Con, and take Juggernaut.  Fast Metabolism is great, but Juggernaut isn't shabby either.
« Last Edit: August 19, 2018, 01:02:12 pm by TheAverageGortsby »

HulkOSaurus

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Re: Build advice (Soldier)
« Reply #6 on: August 19, 2018, 03:12:25 pm »
Might I advise OP to read another thread that is currently just underneath his ;D.



TheAverageGortsby

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Re: Build advice (Soldier)
« Reply #7 on: August 20, 2018, 09:34:42 am »
Might I advise OP to read another thread that is currently just underneath his ;D.
Pssh, he clearly said "big ass machine gun" in his OP, not "30 rounds of .223."  Plus he decided on metal armor.  I *think* what you meant was:

HulkOSaurus

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Re: Build advice (Soldier)
« Reply #8 on: August 20, 2018, 11:40:01 am »
Too bad there ain't no thing like this in Underrail :c

would totally use it, otherwise.
« Last Edit: August 20, 2018, 08:12:10 pm by HulkOSaurus »