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Underrail => Builds => Topic started by: TheCONMan on January 10, 2024, 02:17:38 am

Title: Paladin - hammer, magic, metal armor
Post by: TheCONMan on January 10, 2024, 02:17:38 am
Build

https://underrail.info/build/?Hg8DBgoDAwYAfQDCoMKgwqBkAAAAAHh4AAB4AC0ARgAATSRjYQ0qK8KHORItRS8AYgjCtnxg4p-EAeKnggLfvg


Overview

Played this on Normal classic difficulty to try out Heavy Duty end game content.

What better to try out Heavy Duty content than with one of the new Heavy Duty weapon types, such as LMGs and Miniguns Psi hammer build. Add in metal armor. A paladin is born.


Hammer

The Paladin smites his enemies with his hammer of justice. 

Being no stranger to magic, the Paladin magically enchants his hammer (with an electroshock generator) to dish out additional magic (electric) damage with each strike.

A crafted end-game TiChrome Shock Sledgehammer is the defining weapon of this build. A shock hammer is the most versatile of weapons; it can be used against every enemy in the game. The high damage per hit means that no enemy mech DT is going to reduce its mechanical damage to 0; any armored enemy, organic or robot, is likely vulnerable to electricity damage; the only enemy type immune to electricity damage, coil spiders, are squishy and easily smashed flat. Meanwhile, a TiChrome hammer, together with Lifting belt and Tabi boots, results in the magical 16 AP hammer attacks (how is this even less than a TiChrome spear), allowing the sledgehammer user to attack 3 times a turn, on the first turn, without any buffs. A TiChrome shock hammer is simply a reliable death delivery machine, dependable when unbuffed, and devastating when used with PTC and adrenaline shot.

However, due to how skill point intensive this build is, this character does not actually get to use a tichrome shock hammer until late game. Until level 20+, this character instead relies on the excellent uniques and non-uniques found around Underrail. Right after completing Depot A, the character can immediately travel to the Mindcracker area to obtain a random durability 1500+ hammer. The area can be traversed to by going to Foundry entrance, then east, north (fight 4 dogs, easy fight), north, north, climb down the rocks, north. There will be a crashed boat in the center of the map with 4 random hammers, and at least one will be of durability 1500+. This can be a steel sledgehammer, a tungsten sledgehammer, or if lucky, an electroshock sledgehammer. And this hammer is essentially free: no hard fights, no requirements, no need to spend charons to buy. Just don't pull out the hammer at the end of this map to avoid swarms of Azuridae Goliaths. In my playthrough, I obtained a durability 1680 tungsten sledgehammer.

The next upgrade from this hammer is Quake: this is an excellent unique hammer that triggers an AOE shockwave on every hit. The shockwave does moderate damage, ignores mech DT and half of mech DR, and dazes enemies so that enemies have less AP to attack with when it becomes their turn. The shockwave also destroys rocks; so no need to purchase and carry around C4 to destroy rocks and other obstacles when adventuring around Underrail. Unfortunately, this hammer is locked behind a hard combat encounter with Gubbins at Upper Underrail. On the other hand, there are no other requirements to unlock this encounter; Gubbins can be tackled at any time after Depot A. I usually get the hammer from level 14 to level 16, depending on the cheese that I employ during the fight. After that, this hammer can essentially be used all the way until an end-game tichrome shock hammer is crafted.

Quake is so good that it alone will win The Beast fight, without any caltrops, bear traps or grenades, on Normal. On Hard a dozen bear traps and a couple of Mark III HE grenades looted from the nearby Ironheads and Lurkers are needed to avoid being pushed all the way to the end of the map with no more space to retreat to.


Magic

The Paladin has a variety of magic spells to aid in his quest. These magic spells are not his main method of slaying foes, but rather, augment his weapon and physical prowess in various ways.

With only 3 Wil, this build does not rely on psi abilities to do damage, but rather to provide CC or buffs. With 6 int, this build has a total of 5 innervation slots. The following psi abilities were chosen:

Psycho temporal contraction (with feat) is the bread and butter in this build, I used it almost every fight. As a melee build, this character is always in need of more movement points, and the extra 20 AP every turn means 1 extra hammer swing per turn. Although adrenaline shot also provided 20 AP per turn, I always used PTC first, because adrenaline shot has no movement point bonus, and adrenaline shot always resulted in fatigue at the end of 3 turns, versus PTC where it has a chance not to. In more hairy situations, I used PTC and adrenaline shot together for 90 AP every turn, equivalent to 5 hammer swings per turn, and it absolutely wrecked.

Stasis can be used to extend the 90AP PTC + Adrenaline shot streak by another one turn.

Electrokinetic Imprint is a low AP, low psi cost stun, useful against melee enemies in particular.

Electrokinesis is often paired with Premeditation for a 0 AP, long range stun.

In my playthrough, I innervated Limited Temporal Increment but did not use it much. In hindsight, I would have gotten more use out of Telekinetic grounding instead.


Armor

What is a knight without his armor? The Paladin deserves no less than a full suit of the most expensive metal armor. 

Metal armor on a sledgehammer user is a bit of a contradiction in Underrail. Thematically it make sense for a high health character who is always in the forefront of danger to wear heavy armor for protection and become a tank in the process, but in Underrail, that heavy armor limits the movement points of the character. The heavier the armor, the less movement points the character has. The less movement points a melee user has, the less he can reach his enemies to hit them, thus lessening his ability to remove the danger. And sledgehammer users need all the movement points they can get. As such, I cheated a bit, and opted for a single plated Super Steel Armor. With fully specced Armor Sloping (2/2), a single plated Super Steel Armor has only 27% armor penalty. With 15% reduction from Nimble and 10% reduction from Body Weight Training, this character manages to reach only 2% armor penalty, while still displaying a metal armor as his avatar. 

Yes, I said expensive metal armor, but I did not specify that it has 95% mechanical DR and 99% energy DR. My quality 171 super steel armor has 58%/21 mech, 32%/13 heat and 55%/14 energy. Not great, but this is still decent protection, and all for only 2% armor penalty, allowing the character to retain almost all his dodge, evasion, stealth and movement points. And I get to pretend to still be playing a metal armor build.

Here's the combat log of my Paladin tanking a Naga Protector for several turns. The super steel armor mech DR + conditioning feat helps mitigate a fair bit of melee damage. The evasion + armor helps with mitigating damage from the Naga's fusion cannon:

Quote
Naga Protector hits Paladin for 91 mechanical damage.
Paladin resists 177 mechanical damage.
Naga Protector hits Paladin for 105 mechanical damage.
Paladin resists 206 mechanical damage.
Naga Protector hits Paladin for 124 mechanical damage.
Paladin resists 242 mechanical damage.
Naga Protector hits Paladin for 85 mechanical damage.
Paladin resists 168 mechanical damage.
Naga Protector critically hits Paladin for 106 damage (35 Energy 71 Electricity).
Paladin evades 181 damage (95 Energy 86 Electricity). 
Paladin resists 43 energy damage.


Build explanation: attributes

17 Str    The core stat of a hammer user. Start the game with 9, end the game with 17.
3 DexThis build really needs the Escape Artist feat, but in order to do that, will have to sacrifice points from Str, thus gimping melee damage and hit chance. It is a massive pain to do without Escape Artist for this build, but will have to make do.
6 AgiFor dodge, evasion, stealth, and the Sprint feat. Would have put more points into Agi for higher effective dodge/evasion/stealth, but alas, there are no more ability points left.
10 Con    All of my builds have 10 Con and Thick Skull. 10 con offers a good amount of health not to die in 1 hit from all the bullshit that Underrail throws at you. Thick skull explained below.
3 PerDump stat. Useless for this build.
3 WilDump stat. Useless for this build.
6 IntFor armor sloping, to achieve 2% armor penalty while in metal armor. Rational explained above.


Build explanation: skills

Throwing 125 (112)      110 effective throwing enables throwing grenades with 90% precision. 
Melee 160 (336)Of course, it is a melee build.
Dodge 160 (187)Good passive defense throughout the game, this little dodge would not drop enemy hit chance to 10%, however, 30% reduction in hit chances is still 30%.
Evasion 160 (187)Good passive defense throughout the game, reduces damage from explosions too.
Stealth 100 (116)100+ is my personal benchmark to be able to stealth effectively in all areas.
Mechanics 120 (140)For crafting an end-game tichrome hammer and super steel armor.
Electronics 120 (140)For crafting an end-game electroshock hammer and a 1.5k capacity energy shield.
Tailoring 120 (140)For crafting an end-game super steel armor and tabi boots.
Psychokinesis 45 (47)For Telekinetic Grounding (30), Electrokinesis (30), and Electrokinetic Imprint (45)
Temporal Manipulation 70 (66)    For Limited Temporal Increment (35), Psycho-temporal Contraction (55), and Stasis (70)
Merchantile 77(90)For unlocking end-game components for crafting. Wear Large Waist Pack to reach 105, the highest necessary to unlock Efreitor Hanna.

The order of skill point investment is very tight for this build, as this build needs points for everything: offence, defense, crafting, psi, stealth! It is not possible to invest evenly into every needed skill every level up, especially when there are skills that demand full investment every level up (melee, dodge, evasion). Fortunately, sledgehammer users are blessed with good non crafted hammers that can simply be looted around Underrail, as explained above, so crafting skills can be prioritised last. 

The priority of skill point allocation as follows, from highest to lowest:

This skill order implies that early and mid game has to be done entirely without crafting, but in return, the character can obtain all his psi abilities by level 12, and can stealth and throw stuff reasonably well from early-mid game onwards. In my playthrough, the only equipment that I crafted were the best in slot items (tichrome shock hammer, super steel armor, 1.5k capacity shield emitter).


Build explanation: feats

NimbleUsed to achieve 2% total armor penalty while wearing Super Steel armor. Explained above.
Thick SkullAll of my builds have 10 Con and Thick Skull. Getting stunned in this game is a death sentence, and I don't like using bullheads because my fights typically last longer than 3 turns, and crafting them requires fishing. 
Sure StepA nice QoL feat that I take on my builds when I have feat points to spare. Caltrops is a very good tool that I abuse, and Sure Step saves me the headache from having to traverse my own caltrop filled corridor after winning a fight, or traversing through the caltrop corridor to chase down an enemy. Sure Feet also lets me survive Depot A, with its mutants spilling huge puddles of acid everywhere during and after a fight.
Dirty KickI love this feat on melee builds. Its a very good CC move that uses up no utility slot. Lasts 2 turns on human males, which occurs more often than not, because a huge chunk of enemies in the game are human males. Also, I always use this feat to cheese the arena. The arena consists of only human males for the gladiator fights, and a 2 turn stun is a guaranteed death sentence for all of them.
PremeditationPairs very well with Electrokinesis to become a 0-AP, long range stun for 1 turn. On other smaller fights where I knew I would not be using Electrokinesis or Stasis, I would use Premeditation on PTC to save some PSI points.
Psycho-temporal AccelerationThis feat was chosen as soon as it became available, it is too good. With this feat PTC becomes a mainstay of the build, used in almost every fight. 
SprintA staple on melee builds. When situations call for it, I would use PTC and Sprint together. With 2% armor penalty, the movement points from tabi boots, PTC and Sprint, this character reaches well over 120+ movement points.
Expose WeaknessOnly for very armored targets such as Dreadnaughts, Industrial Bots and Naga Protectors. Moderately armored targets such as heavy armor users, plasma sentries, and handmaidens do not need Expose Weakness at all. Even against Strongmen, this feat was not needed as the electricity damage from a electroshock hammer will decimate them. As such, this feat can be taken later in the game, and even postponing its acquisition to level 20+ is possible.
Pummel (5/5 spec in AP reduction)A fully specced Pummel works like a free attack every 3 turns, and is great for finishing off foes with just a little health remaining. Pummel works best with electroshock hammers, as Pummel's 50% reduction in damage does not apply to the electricity damage.
Armor Sloping (2/2 spec)Used to achieve 2% total armor penalty while wearing Super Steel armor. Explained above.
Quick PocketsLifting belt is mandatory for sledgehammer builds, but it does not provide any additional utility slots. For sledgehammer users, Quick Pockets is a good QoL feat, as the character can have 3 utility slots instead of 2.
ConditioningWith 10 Con, condition provides 15% mechanical, cold and heat damage reduction. This damage reduction is applied after armor. Not great, but not insignificant either. Many claim this feat is useless, but personally I like this feat a lot, I won many encounters with only a sliver of health left, and would have died if not for this feat. I only take Conditioning if there are spare feat points though.
Weaponsmith, Survival Instincts, Super SlamThere are the dump feats; this build does not rely on crits, so Weaponsmith and Survival Instincts are simply bonus damage from time to time. I took Super Slam at level 30 on my playthrough, but by then the game is already over. Should have swapped one of these feats for Fast Metabolism though.
Increased StrengthNecessary to reach 17 Str total.
Body Weight TrainingUsed to achieve 2% total armor penalty while wearing Super Steel armor. Explained above.


Build explanation: equipment

Weapon 1 – Random hammer looted around Underrail (early game), Quake (mid game), TiChrome Shock Hammer (end-game)


Weapon 2 – Jackknife 

Used as a low AP attack to eat away Pseudo-spatial projection or uncanny dodge stacks if any enemy casted it.


Headgear – Tchortist Bioscrubber

Very good Bio protection, bonus health, bonus healing, 0% armor penalty. The bio protection is great against toxic gas clouds and enemies in the Black Sea (locusts, cough cough). This headgear and a super steel armor offers decent protection against a variety of combat encounters (except foes with acid damage), resulting in the character needing less armor sets to carry around and change into.


Armor – Sturdy Super Steel Armor

As explained above, a single plated Super Steel Armor for total 2% armor penalty. Super Steel Armor offers modest protection against mechanical, heat and energy damage. Sturdy vest was chosen over other vests primarily because it adds no additional armor penalty. Could have chosen insulated vest for protection against one more element (Tchortist Bioscrubber covers Bio, Super Steel Armor covers mech, heat and energy), but cold damage is rare, and the health bonus from Sturdy vest is not insignificant.


Belt – Lifting Belt

The only belt for sledgehammer users.


Footwear – Infused Greater Siphoner Tabi Boots 

Infused greater siphoner tabi boots would be the best footwear for this build, due to the slow immunity, more heat and energy resistances to compliment the super steel armor, acid resistance which is lacking from the other armor pieces, and extra dodge and evasion higher than other tabi boots. Unfortunately I was too lazy to craft one during my playthrough and I ended the game with a black cloth tabi boots.


Energy Shield Emitter  - 1.5k capacity shield emitter

With high electronics skill this character is able to craft a 1.5k capacity end-game shield emitter.

...continued in next post
Title: Re: Paladin - hammer, magic, metal armor
Post by: TheCONMan on January 10, 2024, 02:18:09 am

Pros



Cons

Title: Re: Paladin - hammer, magic, metal armor
Post by: ben on January 10, 2024, 07:44:22 am
I am extremely impressed by the formatting of the text in your post.
I don't think i have seen a post that has been formatted and written so well. Great job.

Haven't actually read the build yet, so no feedback on that yet.
Title: Re: Paladin - hammer, magic, metal armor
Post by: ben on January 11, 2024, 10:19:55 am
The build is well planned and well explained, and the cons you mentioned are on point.
That said, it's going to be a very difficult game to play, especially on dominating, because of the nature of sledge hammer builds.
The build lacks hacking, but i can understand you need to invest that in evasion for survivability.

Unlike knife build, where you have access to "hit and run" feat, which can grant you many movement points, the sledgehammer build will be much less mobile.
Most your movement points will be spent reaching enemies, and then you are a sitting duck.
You will have to have a very good understanding of game mechanics and tactics, utilizing corners, doorways, traps, using decoys, cc, and so on..

I would not recommend this to any player who has not completed the game on dominating at least a couple of times.
Only take this build if you really want a challenge.