Topics

1

Bugs / Echoing Soliloquy high persuasion bug?

« on: November 09, 2022, 08:02:42 pm »

From patch notes: Echoing Soliloquy now gets a buff from persuasion (applied at the moment you obtain the feat and remains constant afterwards)

Wiki suggests the buff is 5% per 30 effective persuasion. (ofc wiki may be wrong)

I made a DOMINATING character and pumped persuasion to 150 for maxing this buff (25% bonus) so I can trivialize DC by slowing down creeping dread stacks, but buff proved to be unnoticable.

Napkin math:
- on DOMINATING I get 3-5 creeping dread stacks, average 4, per turn/6 seconds
- 75% chance per stack to not have it applied, so out of 4 stacks only 1 should get appied on average
- of course this is random, so I can get any amount from 0-5 stacks, but expected result should be 1 stack per turn on average, and frequent 0s and 2s.

Actual situation:
- consistent frequent 1-3 stacks per turn, 0s or 4s sometimes happen, 5s happen very rarely
- this is the same expected result as fully unbuffed (0 persuasion) Echoing Soliloquy, as it has expected stacks per turn equal to 2

Random is random, sample size is low and wiki can be wrong. Then again, if I can't see effect of 150 persuasion which should double my time to get Eye of Tchort debuff, I think it is a bug

2

Suggestions / Feat idea: Controlled Burst

« on: September 22, 2022, 01:24:39 pm »

I have some problems with playing ARs and SMGs:

- consume ammo like crazy
- accuracy falls considerably with range, I melee enemies with my guns half the time
- boring to play (burst, burst, burst, reload, burst...)
- all that for pointless overkill damage

So I suggest the following feat to stir things up:


Controlled Burst

Unconditional special attack that costs as many APs as your burst attack. Fires half the normal amount of bullets rounded up. Lessened Accuracy penalty from distance. Cannot suppress enemies.


This would allow me to choose whether I want to empty half the clip at the enemy or rather conserve my ammo, while knowing the bullets actually hit distant target. 3, 4(Full Auto) or 5 (Full Auto + muzzle break) bullets per burst would lessen the amount of ammo wasted per fight (and I could reload less often). Each time I shoot I would need to decide how I want to deal with each enemy, so the gameplay would be less brain dead.

Also, consistent with how guns operate in real life

Thoughts?

3

General / PSA: Pistols ignore up to 40% evasion at close range and it is good.

« on: August 30, 2021, 03:15:24 pm »

Old news but I decided to test how it works and how good it is.*

It is good.

It ignores 40% evasion at point blank, 32% at 1 tile away, 16% at 2 tiles away and has no effect on further distance. These values are not discreete, distance can have fractions of tiles as line between you and enemy is in most scenarios not parallel to ingame grid.


Now how good it is? Base chance to hit is 70 + 30 * (att - def)/att. Enemies have varying evasion depending on their type, level, stats, gear and difficulty. But we can reasonably expect that during our playthrough we will encounter lots of evasive enemies where their def = our att. In that case, each 16% of their evasion translates to 5% chance to hit. So, the final chance to hit is as follows:

Tiles away	Hit chance
3+	70%
2	75%
1	80%
0	82%

Pistols can use laser sights, it's very effective addon when you are not currently using special attack. It gives flat 10% hit chance. Laser sight against enemy with evasion matching your guns skill gives 80% hit chance further away, up to 92% at point blank, which almost caps the hit chance. 92%/80% = 1.15. 15% more shots will hit these annoying evasive enemies as long as you move up to them.

*No zoner was dominated during research.

4

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

« on: July 25, 2021, 11:00:50 am »

Have you ever looked at the time played and wondered: 'is there a way to speed up the ingame combat to prolong my lifespan spent on doing other things'? Did your synapses grow tired of memorizing enemy attack patterns? Do you stroke your ego by playing on DOMINATING difficulty only, only to wish 'if only I could have infinite action points and kill everything in a single turn, to show my mad skillz obviously'?



If you answered yes to any of these questions, here's a solution for you:

One Turn Man build

https://underrail.info/build/?HgMOBwMJAwfCoMKgAAAAAFBQMjwyVWRLN1oAAABGAABVKxcZHVkqW1EBw5LChVMnMUvCtcKkM-KgigXio7oC4qi7A-K9hAXfvw



 - 10k damage per turn
 - ~15 accurate ranged attacks per turn
 - 2k+ crits with 60% crit chance (without food/focus stims)
 - 500+ movement points
 - attacks first: stealth, high initiative
 - ignores most of armor, energy shield and evasion
 


About build

This is a pistol Bullet Time build. It's focused on Most Effective Tactic Available in this game: alpha strike. Attack first, burn your cooldowns and do as much damage as possible before enemy has a chance to react. Best defence is offence, as dead enemies deal 0 damage per turn (except those acid muties). Bullet Time feat synergises absurdly well with this tactic.

We are going to use highest caliber Hammerrer pistols, which have bad reputation for being unreliable due to high damage variance. Which is funny, as they are the most reliable weapon in this game. High average damage, decent range, high hit and crit chance, no penalties for moving/close distance, ignore evasion, pierce armor, damage so high that normal bullet pierces energy shield + high DT, work on crit immune enemies, have low ammo consumption and slow durability degradation rate.

And each shot costs 7 AP.

Point Shot costs 3 AP and it can one shot Naga. Yes, probability of that hapening would be around 5%... But what other build can kill Naga Protector on DOMINATING with 3 AP at all?

Worst case scenario? You shoot at enemy and miss or hit for 80 damage. Wasting 7 AP. Huge hit chance, massive upper damage and powerful crits makes this unlikely. More likely outcome: you spend 7 AP and enemy spend rest of its lifetime contemplating massive bullet shaped hole in a place previously occupied by his flesh. Overkill damage is good for you as it increases probability of one shoting foes.

It has almost no counters, works against every enemy in Underrail.

It kills 10+ enemies per turn. Each kill restores movement points, allowing you to charge well into the opposite end of a map killing targets.

But it only lasts one turn, after which you are defenseless and in the open...
[uses Premeditation][casts Stasis on self][enemies gather around failing to do any harm][new turn begins][Bullet Time is still on]

...but it only lasts 2 turns. Hardly anything is left standing by then.

5

Suggestions / Prequel idea: Descent

« on: September 06, 2020, 10:19:10 am »

First off, I understand it's not going to happen anytime soon as the development team is busy with sequel and add-on.

But whatever, ideas are fun so I wanted to give my opinion on what could Underrail prequel be like and why it would be awesome

WORLDBUILDING SPOILERS AHEAD!






I would like to see an Underrail game about times just before humanity moved below the surface. Game is giving nice setting/explanation of what the cataclysm was and how the political structure of world above functioned. We have 6 megacorporations/factions that took over the role of nations (while it's possible previous nations survived in some state, as evidences by multiple langauges existing - Grey Army, snake people). Cataclysm itself is also interesting because, rather than cliche 'humanity doomed us instantly all with their weapons!!1!', we have creeping terror of surface slowly becoming impossible to habitate, possibly because Earth is moving too far from the Sun.

Corporations reacted rationally to this fact by building vast, underground complexes where survivors could hide and continue their existence. Additionally, these complexes were seemingly built in areas where mysterious, alien technology can be found.

This is perfect setting for cRPG game. We start with conflict between 6 factions, need to cooperate during extended period of time for humanity sake, need to build and maintain Underrail as we know it, possibly other axes of conflict (nations vs corporations? Poor people against corporate oligarchs?). Also, world in rapid, inevitable decline.

A highy believable and interesting setup.

Example: Corporations, as any other company, would operate mostly based on egalitarian model. You work for them as long as you are useful for them, and in return they give you employment, money and status. And most importantly: shelter. Most likely, pre cataclysm they had retirement plan for their members, as noone would commit all their life for someone only to die in poverty in the old age. But, all these loyal members would be a liability during hard times. Only most able would be given a spot down below. You could tell such story by introducing subfaction of old rebelled people who fear they will left behind, using their accumulated knowledge and connections to prevent it. But they are at odds with younger, more practical majority concerned about humanity, and their own, survival. As you do tasks for both sides conflict escalates over time, and you eventually are forced to join one of these groups, or perhaps abuse them for your own best interest.

Another example: creating Underrail, which could just as well be main questline of the game. Obviously such large secluded, well equipped area would not happen to exist on its own. Someone needs to build it. What if the game was splitted into time periods/years where you work towards reating this space? In first year you would do recon in old metros and caves. Then you would need to expand the area by drilling, maybe using nuclear weaponry just so the space is huge enough. Then you help setting up camps and protect them from disturbed land life. Eventually you move resources down there and assist your faction with building facilities. Next thing you know it, you built the core of Core City. And in the meantime, you witness gradual decline of world above and raising tensions between desparate groups of people. Game would end the moment you seal the door shut and begin new life as a morlock.

Just a rambling, again I'm fully aware I won't see such game anytime soon. But wanted to signal that I would love to see it and hear what you guys think


Cheers!

6

General / PSA: Statis is good

« on: August 07, 2020, 05:24:52 pm »

Easily the most OP spell in Temporal Manipulation psi school. Took me a while to understand how good it is so here's brief explanation for why it beats other, more iconic spells by huge margin, when cast on yourself. Tldr:

- gives more AP than psi haste
- gives 1 tour of cooldown reduction, like LTI
- gives 2 tours of immunity
- extends all status effects by 1 tour
- lures enemies to your line of sight

What is important to note is how long does it last, which was not obvious to me at first. It says the statis effect last for "2 turns". What does it mean? After you cast it, it's the first 'your' turn it is active. You cannot act during that time so it's best to cast it at the end of your turn. Statis is in effect now, so when you end your turn, all existing status effect will NOT progress/expire, even when they were at their last turn. Then there is enemy turn. Normally, enemies would attack you. Now, they still attack you, wasting their cooldowns and such, but you are immune to all the damage. Then it's another 'your' turn when you cannot act. Doesn't really matter as no harm can happen to you and no status effect can be applied to you. Then there is another enemy turn, where possibly another bunch of enemies from offscreen come to attack you, wasting their cooldowns and dealing no damage to you. Then, it's your turn again, statis is gone but your status effect did not progress.

It's as if you continued your last turn before statis, but with full AP, with exact same status effect as previously (Adrenaline shot did not expire, PSI haste did not expire) with 2 less turns for cooldowns and no damage dealt to you since the end of the turn when you cast statis. I repeat: you get another turn (50AP) + all the buffs you had on your last turn, which means one extra turn of psi haste, adrenaline shot and sprint, and tons of other buffs you aplied to yourself.

Immunity, -1 to cooldowns (on top of -1 to cooldowns which you would get anyway if you just ended you turn without statis, so -2 total), +1 turn to every status effect you had and nicely grouped enemies for your AoE attacks.

As a bonus: for some reason regenerative vests work during statis. Easy +100hp

Best spell in game. Beats two of other temporal spells combined and gives ton of additonal benefits.