Messages

1

Builds / Re: Want to mix PSI and guns

« on: March 04, 2022, 08:20:34 pm »

You can find synergies or aspects where guns and psi complement each other's weaknesses. Or use psi like utilities e.g. grenades, crowd control, buffs/debuffs. A classic example is the metathermics sniper. This follows a known great synergy between sniper's big single target damage and MT's great AoE/CC capabilities. The ability Thermodynamic Destabilization is an AoE that scales with the amount of damage you can do to a single target (without cold abilities), and the feat Cryogenic Induction works better the more damage you can put into a single attack.

In retrospect, this build didn't really need TM but with RR spearhead costing 26 AP that means 5 sniper shots and however many MT spells you can cast for the remaining 7 AP. Ideally that would be destab for 5 AP, psi booster for 2 AP, and premed cryostasis for most scenarios. In case RR gives you its blessing of 10-20 AP you have much more room to work with, but with only 10% proc chance per shot you can't rely on it.

2

General / Re: Ask for advice for new players.

« on: December 23, 2021, 02:31:56 pm »

-The wiki is your bible
-Making a glass cannon requires knowing every encounter. You can learn them the easy way (by not playing a glass cannon first) or the hard way (requires a lot of quickloads and stealth)
-Crafting is nearly always mandatory unless you're playing a meme build.
-Every strong enemy can be cheesed with traps/grenades. The first option requires that you have some damage (grenades always count), the second requires a small skill investment or patience, and alerts other enemies. If they're already alerted it doesn't matter anyways.
-Every weapon type is viable with the right amount of feat and skill investment; most require an investment such that you can only really invest in one weapon for offense and you have a bit left for defense.
-The real combat economy lies in your action points. If something allows you to attack more times per turn, that's comparable to having crits.
-The map's layout can and should be used to your advantage. Every enemy has the same tools as you and you're after outnumbered, so taking 1v1's is optimal. Using chokepoints, closing doors for critters who can't open them, taking cover and power positions are valuable strategic moves.
-In a similar vein, crowd control options are some of the most powerful tools you have. Stuns and incapacitating moves take your enemies out of the battle. Slowing attacks give you a positioning advantage, traps/entanglements are the same but times infinity. Enemies can body block you but you can also make them body block each other.
-Consumables are clutch, food is great and easy to acquire. You can't hunt for food, though, even though most food consumables are made of animals you regularly kill.
-The three shield values determine damage absorption (this is the same as damage threshold in normal armor), conversion factor between energy and capacity, and how quickly it naturally depletes while on. It takes no action points to turn on so ideally you only turn it on just before combat so the last one doesn't matter. Attack velocity is determined by damage source. Your weapon attack velocity can be checked in the combat stat window. General rule: Grenades are very fast, guns are medium (except snipers which are fast), crossbows are slow, melee attacks are very slow. You can tell the enemy's shield type by its color.
-There's no GPS or dotted line that tells you where to go, so pay attention to the environment and what the NPCs tell you. Most of their dialogue tends to be very useful and well written. Sometimes it's a bit long, but most of the long winded speeches are optional.

Feel free to ask for build advice in any of the forums, the community is very helpful.

3

Suggestions / Re: Gun Fu Buff/Rework

« on: December 23, 2021, 01:33:37 pm »

I'm thinking something like options 1 and 2, but offensive passive feats would be proc'ed through an unconditional special melee attack (with no cooldown), given to pistols by this feat, that works the same as unarmed. Some sort of CQC attack, like in MGS. Straight up letting pistol shots proc combo might be a bit too strong but I think this could be acceptable. Admittedly, I haven't played unarmed yet so I don't know how strong or weak this approach might be but it's sort of naturally balanced by the fact that you still have to get the other feats for it and if it's still too strong/weak you can tweak the damage of this unconditional special attack or the gun skill bonus. Maybe it deals less damage than normal unarmed because it's not a straight hit, or maybe it deals more damage because it's the butt of a pistol and it's hard.
As it stands, you can feel the difference in damage Gun-Fu makes in melee range but I would absolutely trade it for other perks that give me gun damage everywhere if that's all it gives me. Gun-Fu should affirmatively change your playstyle or at least give you more options.

4

Builds / Re: Advice on finishing the game (and build help of course)

« on: December 23, 2021, 12:14:39 pm »

I'm in a similar situation where I've reached institute 6-7 times since reaching deep caverns for the first time but every time I feel more enticed to try a different build than actually finish the game. I don't think there's anything wrong with it since the replayability lies on trying different characters and most can reach their full potential before DC even on oddity. The no-turning-back point doesn't help much, though.

5

Builds / Re: Versatility pistol builds

« on: December 18, 2021, 12:39:00 pm »

I made this build because I really wanted to combine Execute and Cut-Throat but you can take those out if you want to be more optimal: https://underrail.info/build/?HgMQBwMHBAZGAADCoAAAwqBZLjcAYn8sXXUAAABGKwBVARcZHivDkQILw5LCoyYREk9ZwrPCiMKH4rWuBuK8ugTivYQF378
It works surprisingly well (I played on Hard) because guns gets a lot of points off melee with Versatility and Gun-Fu, and melee itself gets a lot of points from DEX which I max'd out anyway to reduce AP cost of pistols. As was said above, Hit and Run was a must to get the movement points. Getting next to your target is absolutely necessary because of Gun-Fu and it negates half their dodge stat since we're using pistols. For the targets I can't approach for some reason I got ambush because it's absolutely busted but otherwise my pistol was a noisy knife that proc's different feats. In the early game having melee was great as well because it helped with the ammo economy before 1-tapping everyone and expose weakness is very nice all throughout the game.
Also, if you get 70 guns and 7 perception (which you want for bullet time and I wanted Kneecap Shot to kite and proc Opportunist), it's only really worth to get Versatility at level 14 so that's why it's there.

6

Builds / Re: Help with a spear/shield build

« on: September 02, 2021, 05:14:19 pm »

Hey, I took this build to lvl 22 on hard and it's very consistent: https://underrail.info/build/?HhAGBgUDBAYARADCoAAAAFlVAABgf0NbdQAAAMKgAAB4Jjlhwq8SK8KqwqzCh8KIwpTCgsKrwoYawpPCtnIq4p-EAeKxjAXis44C4ra1AuK2tgPit4oC378

This guy is relatively good at staying alive but he's dead the moment he's stunned or gets incapacitated. Number one enemies are psi users and crossbowers with shock bolts/throwing nets. Snipers can be dangerous if you let them shoot you, but if you use temporal dilation on them it can prevent them from shooting at all. Crawlers can be dealt with caltrops and having their poison availabe is very neat. Meleers with combat gloves and sledgehammers have a chance to stun/incapacitate but they need to reach me to do anything and I just don't let them. Even if they do, I block so much mechanical (melee) damage that I'm not particularly scared.
No throwing spears because I don't really like the concept. Picked Continuum Ripple to experiment with it and I also wanted some cheap ranged AoE. Also I use a shaded visor because it makes bad positioning a bit more forgivable and movement points are at a premium without stealth. Someone talked about having free shield bash and it's really true and you get 2 free shield bashes if you used LTI that same turn. The damage on them is kind of lacking imo but the daze effect is really worth it. Do note that sometimes you need to expose weakness first because if no damage goes through then it's a waste. Having dazed, temp dilation, caltrops, taser, flashbangs, and throwing nets as options means that your enemies have a really hard time getting anywhere and you should always have opportunist. Temporal dilation in particular is very good because it's so reliable and versatile.
Currently finishing up Acid Hunters quest (should've done it way earlier but I got distracted exploring and doing literally everything else). Still haven't done expedition. Still haven't done Free Drones questline, kind of scared of SRO fight but it's probably ok.

Current gear:
-Shaded solid padding steel helmet, or preatorian lawgiver. I made a temporal manipulation headband but never used it.
-A choice between 3 riot shields - one steel shield if I ever need the extra block amount, the other two with psi beetle carapace because spamming PtC and LTI is psi hungry. In terms of vest, one is regenerative, one is galvanic, and one is biohazard. Kevlar cloth is very good when there's bullets involved, otherwise I liked having one with aluminized cloth as an option. All of them have laminated fabric ballisitic panels.
-Kevlar tabis or mutated dog tabis as an option
-Doctor's pouch because I go through many psi bosters mid combat. Alternatively, I have a utility belt and a lifting belt at hand.
-Shock steel spear although I want to upgrade soon. Jacknife in the other hand, which also comes in handy to dispel pseudo-spatial projections.
-For utility, taser, flashbangs, grenades, caltrops, throwing nets, molotovs, toxic gas grenades are all great. The last one was especially good in combination with crawler poison caltrops for the Kill the Beast final encounter. Do take attention to your psi reserves between waves, you can heal and charge battery in combat, but you can't use inhalants at any other time.

Notable hard encounters: Lurkers dog fighting ring, there's a stealthed sniper at the far end, many psi users and a crossbow. I could clear half of the Ironheads but I'm still having trouble with some areas that are very open and I get overwhelmed. Psi beetles are very deadly if they get lots of stacks going, so I have to wait for the group to kind of get all near each other and use a flashbang.
Most of my problems are mainly because I wanted to try having a playthrough without stealth to see what that was like.

Forgot to mention, Carnifex was done in one turn in one try, so that was very gratifying. I usually have to beat him in initiative.

7

Builds / Re: Creation order for builds

« on: August 26, 2021, 06:19:03 am »

    First I pick a unifying theme: a game mechanic like bleed or crit, a weapon, a feat, or a character to roleplay as.

    Then I see all the feats that could work well with this theme, even if I go past the limit. If I pass the limit, I start trimming redundancies or the least effective feats (or focus further on a sub theme if needed). If I go under the limit, I freely pick my favourite QoL feats, or crafting feats if I have Int. After that, I try to fulfill the ability/score requirements at level 30. Then, I put lockpicking and hacking, and check the crafting requirements for the gear I wanna craft. At this point, if I have stealth and spare points I try to turn it into an oddity build (so I add pickpocket and persuasion). Personal preference: I always try to reach 105 mercantile as well, because the economy can be very harsh on hard+.
    The order of feats is based in experience for the most part. Like, some feats are seriously needed ASAP like Expose Weakness on a melee build so that's locked at lvl 6. If I pick Opportunist at level 1, I usually like to pick Sure Step at lvl 2, and so on. Others can be moved further depending on demand like QoL feats, or feats that are circumstancial. Those feats that aren't nailed down are subject to change up until the moment when I pick them in game, because when I make the build I don't really know at what stage I'll be during each level.
    Then when I have to pick specializations I tend to go with the cheaper ones, unless the unifying theme is a feat which happens to have an expensive spec, and then I have to bite the bullet.

    Some DEX builds require extensive consultation of the AP cost reduction table. Sometimes if I'm short on skill points it can be useful to put more points in INT so I save skill points in hacking, crafting and mercantile. The amount of skills affected by DEX and INT is exorbitant compared to everything else, WILL doesn't count because you probably won't heavily invest in more than 2 psi schools after the nerf.

8

Builds / Re: Rate my basic bitch build

« on: August 25, 2021, 11:58:31 pm »

what shield, armor, headwear and footwear i should be carrying around?

If you grab Sure Step, you could make a tactical vest with black cloth, laminated panel, and psi/ceramic plate, and make tabi boots. This would keep your armor penalty relatively low and offer considerable amounts of protection. The reason I suggest psi carapace in the vest as an option is because LTI and PtC can become relatively psi hungry if you start spamming it.

I say this as someone who never really played tin can builds and yours seems to pivot towards being a glass cannon too, so you want all the stealth and mobility you can get.

Also, small suggestion: if you really want trigger happy you can leave it for later; with stealth you can start 90% of encounters in your own terms so initiative isn't a huge issue. I think that getting Premeditation or Future Orientation Right after P-t Acceleration is worth more (i.e. lvl 22 -> lvl 24 instead of lvl 24 -> lvl 28). Something similar could be said regarding Quick Pockets. I guess the utility slot economy can me a bit tricky sometimes with flashbangs/emp/nets/taser/explosives/molotov/caltrops/chemical grenades, etc; but I think you only ever really need 3 of those at any given encounter.

9

Builds / Re: New player looking for crossbow builds

« on: August 21, 2021, 02:25:40 am »

I have this build lying around for my next playthrough: https://underrail.info/build/?HgMHBQMQAwkAAMKgAAAAwqBMSWBiUWooT2AAAABGNwBRASYiYTA1K8KHwohMasKASzPChcK1azjio7EF4qe-Ct-_
I'm optimizing for oddity so I'm really trying to avoid combat as much as possible. That being said, when faced with violence the best plan for this build is using crowd control to tell them to hold their horses and getting extra damage from doing so (and also, some oddities are only obtained by killing critters/robots).

Base Abilities:
DEX 7 for quick tinkering
AGI 5 for Quick Tinkering
PER Max.
INT 7 for Bowyer
I put the two remaining points in INT as well to boost related skills. If you don't want to play oddity, you could put those 2 ability points in CON, AGI, or maybe WIL, and take the missing skill points from persuasion and pickpocketing, the latter being more important.

Feats:
Opportunist, Sure Step, Deadly Snares, and Quick Tinkering all go together really well. The idea is to get the most out of bear traps, acid blob traps, EMP mines, caltrops, and many other stuns/slows. Marksman and Special Tactics help with special bolts; Bowyer, Critical Power, and Sharpshooter help with crit damage (from Aimed Shot and Deadly Snares). Elemental Bolts because more damage is always good (and, in harder difficulties, non-negotiable).
I threw in Snipe and Blindsiding because they're always useful and powerful.
Psycho-temporal Acceleration and Future Orientation allows you to cast psycho-temporal contraction again as soon as it runs out (by spamming limited temporal increment) with the added benefit of perpetually reducing cooldowns and buffing psycho-temporal dilation (the one that slows).
I threw in Concussive Shots because I didn't really know what else to put and more slows are always welcome. Kneecap shot is a valid alternative. Having multiple sources of slow is amazing because you can get many high-priority targets or just stack everything on one dude and ruin his day like that.
Left out ambush because traps kind of made it redundant, both in terms of crits and evasion. I would've like to put in Strafe but I feel like you to keep your character in focus anyway for sharpshooter.

Optionally, you could drop Bowyer, Blindsiding and maybe Conscussive Shots/Sharpshooter in favor of Versatility, Cooked Shot and maybe Mad Chemist In order to use an Acid Pistol. But that would require dropping the low AP crossbow, and putting 35 points in guns. I never really used Chem Pistols so isk how it would play out.

Skills:
Maxed crossbow. No throwing because traps and bolts fill a similar role.
Enough stealth, hacking, lockpicking and pickpocketing to get everywhere and everything.
Crafting has enough points to make anything this character could ever need (albeit sometimes needing the crafting table buff and hypercerebrix - but realistically it's not feasible to get materials with such high quality that you would need those).
70 TM to get that combo I mentioned before, use every TM ability.
Enough mercantile to get every merchant's hidden stash and enough persuasion to avoid most instances of combat where that is an option.
A few select hacking and mercantile skill checks will need a hypercerebrix as well. Couldn't budget enough skill points to make tier V explosives in any capacity, but with mines that just means placing more of them to make a bigger chain reaction.

Gear:
-Night Vision Goggles (preferably adaptative, I think smart could help with Snipe damage but that's very circumstantial)
-Tactical Vest/Leather Armor
-Bolt Quiver
-Tabi for stealth
-Jawbone - before rathound king a Zephyr with super string and anatomically aware scope would be ideal.
-Cyclone with pneumatic reloader and anatomically aware scope.
-Jackknife in inventory
-Any electrical device you can think of.
-Hacking/Lockpicking tools.