Messages

1

Builds / Re: Newb Sniper/Ar build

« on: November 17, 2024, 05:23:08 pm »

Traps are much-much more useful with Trap Expert. It's a lot more than QoL, like how it seems. Simply placing traps almost immedaitely allows you to set them up a LOT closer to enemies with stealth. Quick Tinkering is perhaps the best CC in-combat ability. Interloper + Hit and Run is a must, Sprint is not needed. Ambush is fundamental too.

In general, I don't see the reason to get feats for two separate weapons that both meant to be used as main source of damage. When an enemy is within AR range (or even a tile close), you can just as well kill them with a sniper rifle. Due to this, taking feats of anything else is a waste. Especially if they involve you wasting stat points too. Also you have to carry more bullets, often different caliber. A pistol can be the only exception as it won't fight the rifle, it supports it with boosting your Initiative and allows you to perform Kneecap Shot with the longest range and the cheapest AP. Excellent CC ability for any incoming melee.

In addition, with high Detection and Stealth, crawlers pose zero danger and are just sitting ducks. Even without Motion-Tracking Goggles with NV, you can easily spot them before they notice you and just pop them. They also cannot open doors. Paranoia helps your bad Initiative and is pretty much the anti-crawler feat for so many reasons. Once you are able to make crawler poisoned Bear Traps and see just how immensely OP those are, you feel like you want to farm these critters. Incendiary Traps are also amazing to trigger Fear and Ambush on demand where you want it.

Any case, here's a tried and tested DOM-proof Sniper build for reference:

https://stygiansoftware.com/forums/index.php?topic=10837.0

2

Builds / Re: SNIPER - OSA Division

« on: August 20, 2024, 10:51:04 am »

I hate to sound like a new player, but I've only played a psionic character so I'm good on the psionic end, but my only experience with sniping was a failed first few attempts at building one ended in failure, so if you could explain what snipers to craft as a psionic character I got very familiar with crafting at least. I really wanna try this build because it sounds dope.

I don't consider the character that much of a psionic, as most Metathermic spells just won't be as effective compared to what a dedicated psi user could do with high WILL stats and maxed skills. What we capitalize on here is the fact that Thermo-D's max damage cap can be attained with 140 effective score. Same with most Temporal spells at the limit of 150. These do come handy when suddenly facing a lot of enemies all at once. Only then one can use Contraction, Increment, Adrenaline. But sometimes, just tossing in a Molotov is enough to lid up the area where the enemy is standing and pick them off due to Ambush-triggered crits. For this reason, choosing a dark spot to initiate battle from is advised.

Some insights after playing the mayority of the game with this build:

It's certainly a lot of fun to combat large groups with this build. Gather the mutants in the Toxic Waste Processing Plant and just lit everything on fire with Thermo-D, some Napalm and maybe another Premeditated Pyrokinesis. I understand how a Cryokinetic Orb can be a nice, satisfying mass slow spell due to the huge area it covers, but the Panic-effect of fire and the fact that it illuminates the area is just much more effective. You can also destroy Hives together with all it's inhabitants by a single shot if you cast Thermo-D from a distance, then quickly enter Stealth and initiate combat before the effect goes away to Snipe. The Locusts will spawn to their immediate death due to the explosion. This could also be a way to use Thermo-D with Snipe to ensure the kill.
Btw, Premeditation is definitely the way to go compared to Grenadier as casting Pyrokinesis for zero AP is better than another molotov for 15AP and several turns later. But even then, once we throw an Incendiary Grenade, we don't really need to anymore - the fire will burn long enough to trigger Ambush and a Flashbang is still separately available if needed.

3

Builds / SNIPER - OSA Division

« on: August 02, 2024, 09:18:05 pm »

OSA* Sniper
a sharpshooter using Metathermics and Temporal Manipulation


SUMMARY

This build focuses solely on the use of the sniper rifle as a weapon. In combat, it is enhanced with great mobility and psionic abilities providing buffs, cooldown reduction, crowd control and offense to easily handle larger enemy groups on Dominating difficulty without any problem.


HOW IT WORKS

In hostile territories, we are moving around in Stealth by default. Should we find some targets, we can scout the area further to see who else could we alert by initiating combat, then find an ideal vantage point.

We first activate Shooting Spree, then we Snipe any annoyance wearing Antithermic armor that can save them from being lid on fire. After this, we need to target the tankiest one with a Thermodynamic Destabilization and pop'em with an Aim Shot. This is not always necessary, but it can quickly turn the tides in our favor. It's like Corpse Explosion from Diablo 2, 50/50 normal and fire damage. Do mind, that it's important to kill the target with just a single hit as the damage from the following explosion will differ depending on the current HP of the recipient - and sniper rifles are perfect for this scenario. The fireworks likely takes a few of the surrounding unfortunates down to the grave and leave the rest either near death, or - should we have the Pyromaniac feat already - actively burning and in a state of panic.

From here on, we can lay back and casually mop the rest of the now severely weakened group with regular shots or a grenade, maybe just cause even more panic with a Molotov or a Premeditated Pyrokinesis. Setting up favorable lighting conditions for Ambush this way is also a positive side effect worth mentioning.

Should your Rapid Reloader refund (between 10-20 AP) is 12 or more, by casting Contraction and taking Adrenaline, you can shoot your rifle a total of 6 times per round.
You can also cast Increment every second turn and for zero AP to constantly lower your cooldowns, making sure that you can re-stealth fast, use Aim Shot and activate Shooting Spree as frequently as possible. Supplementing psi abilities also have their advantages. Casting Recurrence is nice against some bosses when you dealt a high damage single attack (especially with the mega-bleed of Micro-Shrapnel rounds) Dilate incoming melee's or just freeze them in Cryostasis.



BUILD

https://underrail.info/build/?HgUFBwMNBQjCoF0AAAAAwqBEVAAAWloqMFoAAHbCgTgANAEZHX81An4oSyvCh8K9wog_LipywrXir7wE4q-9AeKxoAXfvg





General information to know at the start:

• The build shown here is like a regular sniper suddenly dual-classing into a psionic - the feats are separated to two columns for an easier view. Yet it is strongly recommended to follow the sequence shown up to level 10. Those are the core sniper feats you need to get early, but you can pretty much tailor this to however you like it after. Could use psionic skills from the start and change the order of feats to your preference from then on.
• You can reroll your game until you get the Mushroom Cove Scavenger quest, involving the Water Treatment Facility random dungeon with Alev and the Acolytes. This is indicated by a body with severe burn wounds in SGS Medical level. What's really cool is that Alev can be looted for a Thermodynamic Destabilization "scroll". Getting that so early is amazing.
• The build has many ways to avoid getting attacked, but be on the look for a Regenerative or at least a Sturdy Vest. Grab it from Gort or anybody who has it and craft a Tactical Overcoat from the highest Black Cloth you manage to find together with a Ninja Tabi + a high Corsair or preferably a Reaper frame. Alternatively, there's two Lurkers holed up in Lower Underrail to the north and one of them wears a very high quality Tac-Vest Overcoat for you to loot. You can access them in the early limited game world already anytime
• Max Guns and Stealth at each level up.
• If you complete everything the game can offer you in terms of all possible exploration, quests and oddities with the only thing left is to venture to Depot A - you should just reach level 10. Which is a huge turning point due to Shooting Spree. setting out to find the drill part should be a casual experience at this point (also, you can always stealth past the mutants).
• Start specializing Shooting Spree at level 16 and spend all 5 points on it, starting with "Shots".
• Make sure to get Future Orientation at level 20, so you can immediately start specializing on it at level 21 without suffering it's disadvantage for long.
• I want to say (before some of you do), that it's totally doable to leave WILL at 3 and still reach effective 140 MT and 150 TM. Having INT at 7 and raise PER up to 18 this way. But that would mean us completely loosing Persuasion for good. And a bit of Throwing/Chemistry (this is fine as basic Molotovs and Flashbangs are enough). But all in all, I like having Persuasion better:)

Level 1
https://underrail.info/build/?AQUFBwMKAwcPDwAAAAAPDw8AAA8AAAAPAAAAAA8AAAEZ374

• Just bump WILL from 3 to 5 during level 4 and 8. It's better to get this over early.

Level 10
https://underrail.info/build/?CgUFBwMKBQc8EwAAAAA8MC4AACgAAAAoAAA1IzMAHAEZKx1_NQJ-374

• The character has 60 in Hacking and Lockpick (with the Jackknife) to crack everything in Depot A, from safes to turrets.
• 60 in Persuasion to convince SGS instead of the Cans to aid the Black Eels (+ lure Elwood outside) and 45 Mercantile to get the full stock of Blaine.
• 50/50 in Mechanics and Tailoring to craft repair kits
• Enough skill points to cast Increment and Thermodynamic Destabilization, should you got lucky with the Water Treatment Facility.
• Taking Strafe later at level 12 in favor of Paranoia is also a viable way to go. You probably won't find a Spearhead frame this early anyway, but it's nice having the Initiative bonus early.
• At level 12, you can raise INT to 8 and from then on, all stat points can go to PER.

STATS

STR: 5  - Enough to wield our instruments.
DEX: 5  - As required for Strafe.
AGI: 7  - To have Interloper, have good numbers in Stealth, enough MP and get past fences.
CON: 3  - We barely ever allow the chance to get attacked, so going glass cannon is appropriate and armor mostly serves as utility.
PER: 15 - For good damage and detection.
WIL: 5  - To have enough skill points for our psionic and social abilities + being able to wear Hypno Goggles. We can also get the Outer Visions feat with a Tchortist Noble Robe.
INT: 8  - Pretty much to have enough skill points for everything. Crafting, Hacking, Mercantile and might as well take Psycho-neural Flexibility. It's also handy in some dialogue checks.




SKILLS

Everything is nice and rounded, satisfying all OCD levels:)

• Guns maxed.
• Throwing at a reliable 100.
• Stealth maxed for effective prowling, Snipe damage and Ambush crit chance.
• Hacking and Lockpicking at a natural effective 100.
• All Crafting skills are boosted enough to make top quality gear using bench and Hypercelebrix. Also enough Chemistry for Napalm Grenades, enough Biology for Hypercelebrix.
• Metathermics at 140 for to reach 100% target health damage cap. It's advised to invest in this skill to raise this percentage with every other level up. 100% will only happen at level 26.
• Temporal Manipulation at 150 to reduce the chance of getting Dilated after a Contraction to the possible minimal 30%. This will only happen at level 28, so you can leave this be after for a while upon reaching base 60 for Future Orientation. But it's best to start boosting it a few levels before 27.
• Persuasion at a natural 70. Can reach 90-100 depending on a Hypno Goggles and JKK jacket can boost this with an additional +15. Siding with JKK is strongly advised with this build.
• Mercantile at a natural 80. Can be raised to 95 with Large Waist Pack for Constantine and 107 with Hypercelebrix + Under Pie for Hanna.

Some of the FEATS explained

• Interloper is a must for anyone using Stealth for it's move speed bonus and is crucial for us to be able to use MP to step out of a corner after restealthing the previous round.
• Hit and Run + Strafe can mean an extra attack when you took down an enemy but cannot shoot the other behind cover despite having the AP to perform an attack, not enough to move a bit to have visual on them. It's also handy to have the MP to step back to cover after coming out from stealth.
• Paranoia is important. We perform the alpha-strike in most fights due to stealth, but having 22 is the bare minimum so that we can achieve 27 with an occasional Root Soda should we need to. JKK jacket also adds another 5, which is enough even to win against the Arena boss and the Detection bonus is welcome (417 with Fine Tuned).
• Tranquility is amazing to have as it reduce our Increment cost to zero AP and lowers anthing else with -5.
• Premeditation is not as useful, but can help when casting some other spell with an expensive AP cost, like Pyrokinesis or... maybe Stasis - but I've yet to cast these. No wonder I saved this feat for last as I didn't really miss it. Nimble can be a good alternative.
• Psycho-neural Flexibility is handy as it offsets the cost increase of using dual psi-schools early in the game, as Advanced Psi Empathy only becomes available at level 26 earliest. And the cheaper we cast spells the better. This way just by opening with Thermo-D and casting Contraction every 4th round and Increment every second, we can keep doing this for quite a while if needed.

SPECIALIZATION

• Shooting Spree needs to be maxed ASAP
• followed by Future Orientation
• The remaining 5 points is up to you. Putting it on Critical Damage is a safe bet as you'll be critting reqularly with frequent Aim Shots and the exploitation of Ambush.

GEAR

At the beginning we are just going to use whatever guns we find, depending on which has some ammo and durability left... Make sure to persuade a .44 Hammerer from Lucas at the start.

HEAD:

• Smart (Night Vision) Googles - boost the damage of special attacks like Snipe and Aim Shot. Have a Motion-Tracking version also around against the occasional Crawlers.

ARMOR:

• Infused Pig-Leather Overcoat - boosts HP and CON with pretty decent defense stats. Make sure to use the 120+ quality leather you got from Fatso with some good Super Steel Fiber. I took the Black Crawler tattoo to boost my stealth further.
• Alternatively, you can also wear a good Regenerative Overcoat with the Abomination tattoo. Those two will passively heal you up to 100% everytime, so Tranquility will always be in effect. Very convenient.
• The Rathound Regalia while not really protecting you from anything, it has some serious mobility and stealth bonuses due to it's stats and the fact that it has zero armor penalty.

BELT:

• Bullet Strap Belt for faster reloads
• Doctor's Belt for heavy chem use
• or Large Waist Pack to carry more are all viable choices depending on the situation.

BOOTS:

• Ninja Tabi for extra stealth and mobility
• or Infused Pig-Leather Boots to extend your carrying capacity and enjoy another +1 CON.

WEAPON:

• Smart-Rapid Spearhead in the main hand
• with a Smart-Rapid 12.7mm Corsair in the off-hand (8.6mm Reaper is also nice btw)
• Have some armor piercing ammo with you. Micro-Schrapnel also works wonders due to the high damage per bullet and Contaminated Rounds are OP.

UTILITY:

• just Molotovs / Flashbangs / Vanishing Powders
• with a Taser and occasionally a Cloaking Device.
• Once every blue moon I toss in some Crawler-poisoned Caltrops or EMP if the situation demands it. I never have Frag or HE as they do far too less damage in my opinion, especially compared to Plasma Grenades which are actually good. Wanted to like Nail Bombs, but ended up not using them.

*appendix:
OSA is the psionic branch of Tri-Optimum Security in System Shock 2, still by far the best FPS/Survival Horror RPG in existence.
...They do have access to Psychokinesis as well, but it is voluntary and two schools are more than enough here:)

Should you have any question or feedback, feel free to reach out. Enjoy!

4

Builds / Re: "Ghost" - triple-psi sniper build

« on: June 20, 2024, 05:11:35 pm »

>Triple School
>3 will

People should not post builds that aren't normal difficulty viable.

I agree, people shouldn't.

In this case, though, all the psi skills in use do NOT require high psi skills - they do the things they do not based on resolve or fortitude checks by targets. Which is the whole point of the build.

P.S. Oh, also forgot to mention one more especially cool feat for the build, above: Pyromaniac. Thing is, Thermodynamic Destabilization triggers Pyromaniac alright, even while wiki says nothing about it. Meaning, if you take the feat, then whatever secondary target lucky enough to survive your TD'd Snipe-more-like-a-bazooka hit - is often set on fire, and that fire deals major damage to their already badly ruined health. Very situational though very fun feat to go with - potential alternative to Sharpshooter.

The wiki about Pyromaniac mentions Thermo-Destabilization and even states the percentage of it triggering.
Tapping into 3 different schools is probably a bad idea, two should be the most. If you use Thermo-Destabilization, Contraction and Increment, you exhausted all your psi points anyway. I think as a Sniper, you're not supposed to do that much casting to validate dipping into 3 schools. Even 2 is far fetched. All things considered, I think the overall best is a sniper solely focused on Temporal Manipulation and Traps. Having Tranquility with fully focused Shooting Spree and Future Orientation to cast Increment every second round consistently for no AP, thus being able to use Shooting Spree as much as possible while keeping the enemies at bay or lid up on fire with traps. This also require a certain intent of psi point conservation, which kinda rules out using even more spells. Also we should be using our AP to shoot things with their rifle, not slinging spells, because most of the time it does not even worth-; sometimes we're not even able to use both. Psionic abilities should only function to enhance and frequent our shooting performance, to elevate our original, main ability.

Regardless of that, I am now currently playing with a Sniper/PSI hybrid using two schools.
5 WILL is a good idea even with a single school - if you want to boost it to 140-150. Otherwise, you have to invest way too many skill points above 100. Not to mention that reaching effective 140 is pretty much impossible - the penalty due to the low WILL stat will barely allow that even if you pour 160 points into it (which is a waste) and the cost of spells are also going to be higher. I use two schools and I have WILL at 5 so that I'm able to get both raised to the necessarily amount with adequate points. Also to level Persuasion cheaper to 70 which can be boosted to 100 with Hypno Goggles (requiring 5 WILL to wear). JKK Vest is handy too.
With two schools, 8 INT is indeed nice here for the above mentioned reasons of OP - otherwise with single innervation, INT can even be 6 or even 5 as we don't even need that many slots.

According to my experience, Thermo-Destabilization is fine but only at high levels. Even if you pick the tankiest Lunatic to pop, the others will likely survive even at effective 100. Making this a late game ability. Pyromaniac is a must to somewhat mitigate that and the panic effect is perhaps even more useful. It's nice to have another Molotov that also happens to be a lot more powerful too yet without burning (thus lighting) the area. But the nature of the spell itself and reaching effective 140 will actually make this a quite situational ability to use. I let go of the idea of using Traps for this and still hold up my original opinion that Traps are better overall - they are just more versatile, the effects are guaranteed and also a LOT more fun to use them, but I'm not complaining. Burning enemies are sitting ducks for Ambush, and due to the lowered HP of survivors, even non-crit shots that follow up are often end up being lethal.

5

Builds / Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)

« on: June 11, 2024, 07:16:54 am »

Question!
How did you take "snipe" at lvl 8, if it needs 10 perception?

Looking at your lvl 30 planner, I see 11 perception. With Increased Perception feat, taken at lvl 28, it means that base perception is 9 in the end, right?

So how is it possible to take "Snipe" with 9 perception then? Or am I misunderstanding something?

That's a good question - I did not take that into account.
If one does not want to take it at level 28 (which would defeat the purpose), then INT needs to be lowered to 6 in order to get PER to 10, like so:
https://underrail.info/build/?HgUMBwMKAwbCoE4AAAAAwqBfPgBKZ2cvP3AAAABGZQA0KxcBHRkqNX7DkjE6HlszS8KFwrXCpOKgigXio7oE4q-9AeK9hAXfvg

This is fine, as some crafting skills were unnecessarily high anyway. One could also use Trap Expert/QT instead of Blindsiding too if they really want to utilize Traps, but a build about 1 turn might not find the opportunity to use them, so that skill can be lowered. It's just that they are really powerful and we have the point capacity with high DEX.

6

General / Re: 2 question for those who beat the game (multiple times)

« on: June 06, 2024, 01:42:39 pm »

Info from seasoned players like you is what I hoped to get, so thank you both.

I started on Dominating/Oddity and finished GMS. Had a good couple of savescumming here and there, but it was doable. I play as a sniper, now heading to Junktown with Vera's papers and about to hit level 8. While the bandits of GMS were weak, I am no match against multiple enemies above 200 HP (basically what doesn't die from either Snipe or Aim Shot). This is definitely due to me having bad gear, but for some reason I can't seem to find ANY sniper frames above q30... Zero. Which is really not how I remembered, since at level 7 and this much main progression, I should get better shop options than when I was level 1. On the lookout for ANY Sturdy or Regenerative Vest parts too. None so far - regardless of quality (however I fished out a Rapid Reloader near Mushroom Cove). Certainly hope to stumble into some usable parts before Depot A, but despite investing a good deal of skill points into crafting, I am still wearing 100% looted equipment - with one exception of a black cloth Balaclava, nothing was crafted yet because there's just nothing to craft from. However, I just did Silent Isle and it was an absolute breeze by simply stealthing past everything from one Mindshroom to the next.

While I manage with this low initiative, I tried Sprint and no matter how much I wanted to like or found use to it, still found it worthless. Should I wear a Tac-Vest with Ceramic Plate it could be useful due to the high Armor Penalty, but I intend to keep that low. So after reloading I'm leaning towards Paranoia (earliest from level 12) which I can spend my single leftover spec-point too, ending up at 23 Initiative. Meanwhile, I'm discreetly stacking those Root Sodas. On the other hand, build itself is pretty ok. My dilemma now is

• either start using Traps - aside from whatever I find littered all over the game, mainly Crawler-poisoned BT to root and Incendiary Blob to set up Ambush,
• or focus more on PSI and level Metathermics solely for Thermo-Destabilization.

I do remember loving Traps and strategically placing them in certain key points before group fights was a very enjoyable process for me. Also, there's an abundance of BT, Frag and HE mines to freely harvest everywhere - enough to use these quite generously, let alone if someone is actually crafting a few like the above. It feels like a missed asset I leave on the table even without the very alluring promise of crafted EMP or Plasma mines. The questions is either to take the undenyable advantage of freely setting them up using all the time I want before battle, vs one D2 Corpse Explosion in every 3 rounds at best - yet knowing that a single opening with that might just be all I ever need in most cases. Anyone had any experience with Thermodynamic Destabilization? It seems very devastating, yet I don't know actually how useful it is in practice. Leaning a bit towards it, just to try something new.

So yeah, basically my build is purposefully barebone yet (very export friendly in case I change my mind and restart) - without sprint or Paranoia yet, and without Traps or Metathermics, yet at a certain level already. So far I focused on fewer abilities to just excel on those (which is also reflected on my stats so far) and this allowed me to progress. Eventually (somewhere after level 12) I have to make choices though.

7

General / 2 question for those who beat the game (multiple times)

« on: May 31, 2024, 07:56:56 pm »

• Knowing what fights you can expect and tailor your build for, what do you think - as a ranged character wearing light protection and having CON 3, how screwed I am with an Initiative of merely 17? Does it even make sense to raise that to 22 (which is still kinda low) with Paranoia at the expense of Sprint? My DEX remains at 5, so no other feats can be an option. Btw, if I keep Sprint I will use the Infused Hopper Tabis for sure. I definitely intend to have Hit and Run already, so already have some mobility. But then again, I intend to max out Stealth, so already can alpha-strike in most battle - excluding those resulting from dialogue. So it's about being more mobile at the expense of reaction time or the other way around under these conditions. Did anyone play a glass cannon character with low Initiative yet and how much struggle that involved? Does raising it from 17 to 22 even make a difference?

• Secondarily, how much sense it makes to raise TM to effective 149, just to reduce the chance of getting Dilated after a Contraction from 60% to 30%? This of course ultimately matters on how many occasion is there throughout the game when you find yourself in a situation where you have to keep fighting a stream of enemies continuously for around 6-8 turns or perhaps more. Like Depot A when if you throw a grenade, it aggro's the whole map - or a fight against hordes of robots being released in a sequence. I know the general consensus is to just leave it at base 70, so you can pretty much only use it once per battle - but then it better be over within 3 turns or you're pretty much screwed. 149 would allow not just to avoid the debuff, but enjoy the full benefit of freely spam Contraction with Future Orientation without worry.

I would like to hear some of your opinions, but ideally with proper reasoning why this move is better and why the other is a waste.
After that, I will grab Heavy Duty and return to this game after a very long pause, to finally beat it for good. Thanks for all the insight in advance!

8

General / Re: Ambush or Recklessness + Scrutinous?

« on: May 19, 2024, 09:08:14 pm »

Appreciate the prompt replies.
Now that you mention it - since I initiate Snipe from Stealth, the base 25 MP gained from Hit and Run can allow me to return to cover at the end of my turn. I plan to take either that OR Sprint, but heavily lean towards Hit and Run as I think even if I would use a Hopper Tabi and casting an Increment, some cooldown turns are still there, while H&R could likely yield MP every turn of a fight.

9

General / Re: Ambush or Recklessness + Scrutinous?

« on: May 19, 2024, 08:36:02 pm »

The ambush package for sure.

I know Snipe and Aim Shot don't make use of my crit chance and if I play my cards right, I might be able to use Aim Shot the next round too, so I'm leaning towards here myself.

Now I encoutered another question - does His and Run make sense in a build like that? I plan to wield a Spearhead with Strafe. If so, is it worth to spec it? On the other hand, I suppose I'll be mostly shooting from a corner or using Ambush might mean that I might not need it that much.

Same goes for Premeditation. I'll be mostly using Contraction which is fine without it, maybe Increment here and there. Thank you for your insight!

10

Builds / Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)

« on: May 19, 2024, 07:18:05 pm »

So the net gain is 18 points.
So IF the constallations are right, the planets are align - meaning the target is alive, but below 25% HP and it's getting killed by the throw... you get two pistol shots for free.
2 pistol shots are on one side of the scale (that might happen, might not) and 2 sniper shots in the other thats guaranteed.

Let's say you are fighting the 4 Nagas. With this - it's just 2 Nagas. How better you are with 2 extra pistol shots against 4 Nagas? (if you successfully drop one with Fatal Throw)
Of course that's not the entirety of the trade here as you get about one less pistol shots in general due to the increased AP cost of the lower DEX, but it's still a no-brainer in my book - especially when you crit more with Steadfast Aim and save 2 spec point.

11

Builds / Re: One Turn Man | .44' pistol Bullet Time | DOMINATING | OP(aF)

« on: May 19, 2024, 05:48:11 pm »

Shameless necro as this build is pretty timeless and good in conserving it's relevance.
I fiddled around in the character planner, trying to set up a pistol build and eventually arrived here. With a specialized Hit & Run, it was very tempting to make one with Versatility, Gun Fu, Dirty Kick and Execute, but I had to come to the conclusion that it just doesn't worth to give up a lot of feats and the convenience of being able to precisely land shots from afar.



So, the main thing I thought I would change is to remove the Throwing skill and Fatal Throw altogether.
It would not only save us some skill and specialization points, but the main reason behind this is that it's simply not that useful being a free finishing move for those below 25% health - not to mention it can only happen once.
Instead of this, with a heavy heart, we drop 2 DEX in order to raise STR to 5. This would make Bullet Time shots cost 8 AP instead of 7... a dire price to pay.


However by dumping Fatal Throw and the now even less useful Pack Rathound, we can take Snipe and Shooting Spree and specialize the latter for 1 point in order to get two completely free shots from a sniper rifle.
That's TWO surekill attacks for free - instead of a single, very situational finisher that might still not even kill it's target.



So for +1AP cost of each pistol attack, you can alpha-strike with a free Snipe and Aim Shot from a 12.7mm sniper rifle. That's making each battle having -2 contestants of your choosing throughout the game - and now you can also add Steadfast Aim.

https://underrail.info/build/?HgUMBwMJAwfCoEgAAAAAwqBXPQA9eHAsO3AAAABGYQBBKxcBHRkqNX7DkjE6HlszS8KFwrXCpOKgigXio7oE4q-9AeK9hAXfvg


PS: I also switched Point Shot with Kneecap Shot - just made more sense with our mobility, but leaving Gun Nut instead or Psycho-temporal Acceleration for +5AP can also work I guess.

12

General / Ambush or Recklessness + Scrutinous?

« on: May 19, 2024, 01:57:55 pm »

Allow me to provide more detail as the decision is not just what to choose between these two feats. First, a little context - I mainly use a sniper rifle while having a pistol to boost my Initiative and occasionally perform Kneecap Shots. Dominating run. Stealth is maxed out with each level up. 3 CON. The choice I'm contemplating is to choose between these two packages:

• Scrutinous - flat +7% crit chance.
• Recklessness - another flat +7% crit chance.
• Infused Rat Hound Leather Overcoat - armor granting about +11-13% crit chance. Weak protection, but that's fine.
• Seeker Goggles - eyewear providing +18-20% crit chance.

• Ambush - very situational, setting up the stage for it is not always easy, sometimes not even an option. But when it happens, it guarantees crits so no further gear or feat required.
• An extra feat I can take instead of Recklessness. There are quite a few that are good contenders.
• Infused Pig Leather Overcoat - one extra CON and lots of additional HP on top with good protection.
• Smart Googles - can boost our special attack damage with +40%.

So on one hand, I have to devote everything to boost crit chance. Yet it's a quite substantial with around +45% passive increase that I can rely on regardless of the lighting conditions, enemy placement and I can also move freely without having to root myself to a dark spot. Or get Ambush and have a nice boquet of various other bonuses that can benefit make my character in different ways. What route should I take? Any rifle or crossbow users who took Ambush, how would you rate the usefulness of this feat based on your playthrough? Sharing your Ambush-tactics are also welcome.

13

General / Re: Anybody know how to craft this gun?

« on: May 05, 2024, 09:33:05 pm »

Despite seen it in different games, a scope on a handgun is ridiculous to me. Anyway, in weapon shops one can see various weapons on different surfaces out of reach that might not resemble guns you can craft. They serve as decoration. A pistol dropped on the ground by the player looks like some package (so as everything else). This tells me that what we see here is non-interactable.

But the closest to crafting it, is a pistol with the laser sight. Which pretty much does the same thing as the regular scope - increasing precision. And it also looks cooler than a scope.

14

Builds / Re: Help Improve My build

« on: April 29, 2024, 08:27:54 pm »

140 (or 130) in TM is a waste. You should either get (effective) 55 for Contraction (or maybe 70 for Stasis I guess, although I never once used it) or 100, or 150. The latter two are the thresholds for better Dilation + Recurrence (and Rewind, which I didn't use either). While at 150, you can enjoy spamming continuous Contraction (with Future Oriented Increment) as the chance of getting Dilated is merely 30%.

Same with your Crafting skills. I would either increase Machanics and Tailoring, or just do not invest in them. 100 points will not result in anything substantial (I would recommend increasing them). While Chemistry and Biology are a complete waste in my opinion. With Chemistry, you pretty much only need 60 at max if you want Napalm Grenades (and a min of 20 for Gas Grenades and Molotov), but Frag and HE sucks on all levels. They just barely dent the enemies.
Same for Biology. You will be drowning in various drugs you loot, allocating points to Biology only makes sense if you want Crawler-poisoned Bear Traps (50 effective points) or Regenerative Vest. But since you don't have points in Traps at all, you can leave it at 20 for Gas Grenades. But aside from the usual stuff you find on literally every corpse, there's no point in crafting any drugs - especially the high-end ones. Those usually require you to spend hours on the wiki to track down and travel to the most hidden Expansion locations or in DC at engame level when the game is about to be over anyway and try your luck fishing for rare aquatic creatures with a 1 to 232342345435345634 chance and congratulations, you can craft like 3 of these super drugs during the whole game for fights you should win without these anyway - but now you won't, because you wasted all your skill points on Biology instead of something useful.

Crawlers are easy if you spot them. With high PER comes high Detection, put on a Motion Tracking Goggles (Night Vision recommended due to the usual darkness). The problem is, without Stealth they will notice you and come forth to attack. With Stealth they are oblivious to your presence and with Detection, you can see their shadows in the near distance. It's a race of who notices the other first. Once you won the match, you can initiate attack and with your Paranoia (which is pretty much the anti-Crawler feat for it's boost to Detection and damage) you can finish them by attacking first. I would not go glass cannon without maxed Stealth (and preferably a ranged approach), but why these builds are so powerful is that not raising CON saves you an immense amount of stat points.
Coil Spiders are even easier. I always scout ahead in Stealth, notice them in the distance and can leasurely initiate alpha-strike, so they won't shoot me. Stealth is your best solution against these critters and aside from this, there are tons of other benefits involved with it (especially with Interloper). In general if your Initiative is low (sub 30), then you pretty much have to be a tank or have Stealth.

15

General / Re: Why Amber UI?

« on: April 23, 2024, 09:03:23 am »

This is why the player character in Castlevania NES is also in amber. It's what POPS OUT the most from the dark blue, grey, green color palette.