Messages

1

General / Re: Critique My Psychokinetic Sniper/SMG Guy

« on: January 09, 2016, 04:28:13 pm »

Loving all this input I've gotten, folks.

Since there are a couple guys here who've done some serious work with psi powers, can anyone weigh in on the electrokinetic imprint thing? Do enemies see the trap and actively avoid it (thereby making it a chokepoint-only kind of thing), or could I drop it right in front of someone's feet and stand a reasonable chance of having him walk right into it?

2

General / Re: Critique My Psychokinetic Sniper/SMG Guy

« on: January 08, 2016, 10:12:00 pm »

I guess I worry about close quarters combat. I'm only level 5, and I've yet to enter GMS, but I've cleared the two passageways maps and the caves south of the SGS upper platform, and there were a few instances where sniping alone (even with cc) would probably have been super unwieldy.

Gotta admit that some of those Thought Control powers look pretty great, especially with Locus of Control. I should look into that line on a second playthrough, though melee might be tempting as well. Any idea if both can be combined?

3

General / Re: Critique My Psychokinetic Sniper/SMG Guy

« on: January 08, 2016, 04:32:25 pm »

If you go for assault rifles, you need Str 7 even more and Full Auto as soon as possible to make burst remotely useful.

Good point! I'll work on getting str to 7 first, then int, and later per.

Your build is poorly optimized, and will have some trouble in the late game without permastealth-alpha strike shenanigans. If you enjoy walking everywhere at a snail's pace, having to save scum, and occasionally dying anyways in 1 hit from a sniper, you can continue and still clear.

Otherwise, I reccomend you restart.

Well it's a stealth build, so yeah, the whole idea is to sneak around and rely on alpha strike shenanigans (then stunning and critting down anyone who follows me). A 30% move reduction is fine when I'm exploring; I tend to take my sweet time on new maps anyway, and I'm a habitual quicksaver.

Also, to reiterate, I'm switching over from smg's to assault rifles and picking up blitz.

Even worse, you have a 3 WILL psi build. Splashing in some psi-based CC on a high-CON Juggernaut build is okay, but on a 3con build you'll die to almost anything for minimal gains. Most psi-spells are not very good on correctly optimized SMG builds anyways, because you will kill all your opponents in 1-2 turns (6 bursts in one turn if blitz or adrened with 7.62).

I could splash psi on a 3 constitution run, but not for my first game, not for Psychostatic electricity, and most definitely not on a 3 willpower build.

How big do encounters tend to get in this game? I'm probably beating a dead horse here, but my thinking is that I can take 1-2 guys down with the sniper round, and then another 2 (maybe 3?) down with the assault rifle round, after they've been softened up with electrokinesis. Any leftovers after that will, hopefully, be manageable. Are there points in the game where I'm mobbed by a half dozen or more strong enemies?

4

General / Re: Critique My Psychokinetic Sniper/SMG Guy

« on: January 08, 2016, 08:36:34 am »

I'm taking strength up to 7 by level 24, no higher than that, so metal isn't in the cards unless I move some attribute points around.

I've noticed that metal armor is the standard pairing for sniper+assault rifle, but I'm trying to focus on avoidance and stealth instead, so it's not really a good fit here. I need to be at max health to fire off 3 Electrokineses, and that'll pretty much never happen if I'm in metal armor, since I wouldn't dodge anything and I'd never start first. Similarly, the point in dex is a marginal increase in initiative, which is helpful if I get ambushed. Putting it in con doesn't really do me much good, since I'm trying not to get hit in the first place.

5

General / Re: Critique My Psychokinetic Sniper/SMG Guy

« on: January 08, 2016, 07:35:24 am »

Yeah, but the hornet's an assault rifle and thereby ineligible for the spec ops bonus. Pretty sure Wildan does mean that two bursts are available only with adrenaline or blitz.

Anywho, based on the input I've gotten here and elsewhere, I've decided to shuffle some stuff around. SMG's are getting replaced with assault rifles, dex is getting bumped down to 4, agility is going up to 10, and int is getting a point traded in from perception so that I can pick up gun nut. Spec ops is getting switched out for full auto, recklessness is getting replaced with blitz, and a few of the feats are getting shuffled around.

The 7.62mm Spearhead with RR gets me two opening shots, which hopefully down 1-2 guys, then I sprint out of the way to avoid return fire. Turn two has me popping back and shooting sparks at everyone, same as before. On turn three, I use blitz, which even without the sprint conversion should give me enough AP for two bursts of that RR'ed 7.62mm Hornet. Commando probably pops here and gives me a third burst. If the scene's kind of sketchy on this turn, I can also slam some adrenaline into my guy's system for a third burst that way (plus, again, the fourth from command).

I imagine most of my problems are over by this point. If not then I dunno, maybe throw a grenade at something? Reload the rifle and keep bursting? Reload the game and try again? The world's my oyster, I guess.

6

General / Critique My Psychokinetic Sniper/SMG Guy

« on: January 07, 2016, 06:51:20 pm »

Jack of all trades 

Thinking of running a game with this little dudebro. I like the idea of starting fights on my terms, so Sniper Rifles are very tempting. Some battlefield control would be nice as well, but I'm a little too lazy to set up a million traps before every dicey encounter, only to recover half of them in preparation the next fight. Magic is nice too: everyone likes wizards, and mana is a renewable resource.

This build tries to incorporate all those thoughts into something halfway coherent, though I'm not sure whether it's really viable in the long run. Damage resistant enemies and ambushes worry me.

Level: 25

BASE ABILITIES
___________________________

        Strength:    7 (+2 by lvl 24)   
       Dexterity:    7   
         Agility:    7   
    Constitution:    3   
      Perception:   13 (+4 by lvl 16) 
            Will:    3   
    Intelligence:    6   

SKILLS
___________________________

   OFFENSIVE
            Guns:  135(238)
        Throwing:    0     
       Crossbows:    0     
           Melee:    0     

   DEFENSIVE
           Dodge:    0 (13)
         Evasion:  135(169)

   SUBTERFUGE
         Stealth:  135(169)
         Hacking:  115(135)
     Lockpicking:   87(120)
   Pickpocketing:    0     
           Traps:    0 (19)

   TECHNOLOGY
       Mechanics:  113(132)
     Electronics:  113(132)
       Chemistry:    0     
         Biology:    0     
       Tailoring:  112(131)

   PSI
 Thought Control:    0 (13)
    Metathermics:    0 (13)
   Psychokinesis:  135(121)

   SOCIAL
      Persuasion:    0     
    Intimidation:    0     
      Mercantile:    0     

FEATS
___________________________
 1  Sprint
 1  Aimed Shot
 2  Interloper
 4  Tranquility
 6  Snipe
 8  Spec Ops
 10  Premeditation
 12  Psychostatic Electricity
 14  Commando
 16  Expertise
 18  Nimble
 20  Critical Power
 22  Recklessness (Ambush? Sharpshooter? Opportunist?)
 24  Full-Auto

Psychokinesis is there for crowd control and buffing, both via the two Electrokinetic abilities. If I have distance on the enemy, I drop an Electrokinetic Imprint, back up a little and open up with a Snipe. If there's somewhere for me to duck behind, or if a nice bottleneck has formed due to the Imprint, then on turn 2 I take an Aimed Shot with the Sniper Rifle and get behind cover. On turn 3, I do a premeditated Electrokinesis on whoever's following me. If there are more than one, I follow up with two more Electrokineses. That gives me anywhere from 1 to 4 guys stunned on this round. They've also taken a little bit of damage, and they're up to 25% more likely to be critically hit, thanks to Psychostatic Electricity. On turn 4, I switch to an SMG, do two bursts, and probably trigger Commando for a free third burst. Hopefully that solves most of my problems, and the following turns are just cleanup.

If I don't have the drop on the enemy, or if someone's super close to me, then I could just start straight with the turn 3 Electrofest and see where that gets me.

7 Str for Full-Auto.
7 Dex strictly for the SMG portion of the fight. With Spec Ops, I can get two 7-round bursts out of a 7.62mm Smart Steel Cat XM before relying on Commando or consumables.
3 Wis because damage alone isn't my goal with Psychokinesis, and the Electro stuns seem pretty reliable even with the handicap.
6 Int for Premeditation and skills.

Speaking of, I'm a little unclear on how to distribute those. Hacking could probably be a little lower, since I could rely on the huxkey for the really tough prompts (they cap out at 135, yeah?). Likewise, I'm unsure on how to best distribute the crafting skill points. Should tailoring be a little lower if I'm just doing the rathound stuff and some nice spring boots? If so, I might dump the surplus into Chemistry so that I can pad out my fancy bullet stock. Or maybe throwing so that I can lob some grenades or flashbangs if things get hairy. Is it worthwhile to splash into that skill? Also, is Electrokinetic Imprint hidden like bear traps, or visible like caltrops? If it's hidden, does the camo value depend on Psychokinesis?

I'll probably round this off by wearing Infused Rathound Leather Armor. Unsure about goggles. Does Burst count as a special move for the purposes of the Smart enhancements? If so, then Smart is a steady damage increase, but Seeker might be nice for the spikes.

Any thoughts on all of this?