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Builds / Need opinion/criticism on my psi-monk build

« on: October 26, 2019, 02:00:44 pm »

Having beaten the game on normal/oddity with smg+stealth

I plan to make an unarmed dex psi-monk for my second playthrough on hard/classic xp. It will be no gloves just fist + TM (70 cap) and Psychokinesis, aiming for a 4ap per hit build at 3 str 10 dex 10 agi 3 con 3 per 5 wil 6 int. Later on it will be 12 dex and either 7 int or 7 wil depending on your opinion.

Looking at the build of one named Ken Molinaro on youtube who's been playing with an unarmed time-monk. He never bothered maxing the dodge and evasion the same way you would normally max out important skills every level up. He is however playing on hard and that I believe he's still investing on them but not prioritizing them.

My first question is this:

Playing on Hard without stealth, obviously, I'd have to brute force my way on every encounters since no stealth investment won't allow me to avoid combat.

Is it essential that I max dodge and evasion every time I level up? To be complemented by dodge/evasion boosting items + nimble or can I make do without doing so and the excess skill points to be invested in other skills? From Ken Molinaro's youtube videos, he maximized avoiding damage by using fancy footwork to create distance against his enemies.

My second question:

Would it be alright, given that I will have points in dexterity and int, to safely invest enough points in lockpick and hacking so that the bonus skill value is at the amount of the maximum base skill allocatable instead of increasing the base skill to max? Basically I'll rely on higher-level haxxor and lockpicks in case I have trouble unlocking them.

My third question:

Despite playing on hard, I still wish to experience what I missed with my first playthrough since it was a no persuasion run. As such, with regard to min-maxing dodge/evasion and lockpick/hacking I plan to invest "excess" skill points in persuasion and crafting skills. Any thoughts on the ratio of persuasion per level that I should have? Is having persuasion at all still viable or a game-breaking waste on hard?

Anyway, this is an idea of the build that I have, it's kinda rough around the edges, I just level it at 12 as I frankly don't have a clue on what feats to get for the next levels, I haven't even placed packrathound in there.

http://underrail.info.tm/build/?DAMMCgMDBQcAFQBGRkYAPC0AAABGAAAOAEYARgAAACskTyggEyoSB9-_ (capped at level 12 atm, for easier consideration, I also think early-mid game build would be important to factor as it makes or breaks how the game would be)

Regarding certain feats, how is improved unarmed combat and cheapshots? Improved unarmed combat seems like a feat to have but seems to be overshadowed early on by the "must-have feats" and unarmed's crit chance of 5% seems low to benefit effectively from cheap shots.

I found my smg-stealth boring in a manner that there isn't a lot of feats to consider as the build is effective already from a select number of feats, after looking at a possible playthrough for this I was amazed with the amount of feats to consider.

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Suggestions / A way to make noise to attract attention for a non-lethal approach, maybe thrown

« on: September 21, 2019, 03:56:25 am »

IDK if I missed this in the game as I'm only 16 hours or so in. Maybe this exists in the game or maybe someone has brought this up before, apologies!

As the title says, this could give the stealth mechanic an improvement. Not being reliant on forcing enemies to get killed via mines and thus giving you an opportunity for a non-lethal approach nor would you be required to say, bait enemies with grenades. Maybe this could be used while in stealth. Therefore with this, you don't have to waste grenades or anything else (not like they're not in abundance, there's a risk of collateral with the item, however).

For a game that's set underground with a near-infinite amount of rocks, throwable pebbles sure are missing. Otherwise, a tool that makes a clicking noise would be nice. While the sound stems from your own character, investing in interloper would be good as it allows you to quickly maneuver away.

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Builds / Smg, trap and stealth, (maybe throwing) bad or viable, too spread out?

« on: September 15, 2019, 09:01:57 am »

I've played this game for 16-17 hours or so on a psi-trap build until the game wiped my save just yesterday. Despite feeling bitter I'm thinking of making a new character that doesn't use psi just to keep things fresh. Depot A was challenging but it felt rewarding when I managed to return with the quest item, it was all possible because of some crafty trap placements. As such I'd love to know how viable an SMG/Trap build is.

I've been browsing builds and discussions about it, was weighing in on Pistol, AR and SMG and decided to probably settle for SMGs. However, I have yet to see a build guide dedicated to playing the game on smg traps and stealth, therefore, I have some clarifications:

1.) Regarding stats for an SMG build I've seen people put more on DEX than PER, is this based on preference or mandatory? I understand that it allows you to do burst 3 times... that's pretty much what I understood.

2.) If I'm not planning on going plate armor, I'm assuming stealth builds still rely on points in both dodge and evasion during encounters, correct? (I went 8 con on my psi and no points to either dodge or evasion, so IDK if dumping con means I have to invest on both dodge and evasion or just have to play smart)

3.) I got used to baiting enemies to traps (my own or theirs, e.g. Depot A) to get the full advantage in an encounter and triggering them with pyrokinesis, what do gun users have that can reliably trigger traps accurately and safely? Does putting throwing to 30 allow me to reliably or at least safely trigger traps? (I'm leaning on wanting to throw grenades as well to get the most out of spec-ops, so I might have to put throwing at some point)

4.) I'm planning to go 3 str, 8 dex, 6 agi, 5 con (safety, I guess) 10 per, 3 will and 5 int. Should I switch Dex and Per? I'm not familiar with the feats for gun builds so I'm open to your recommendations, might take pack rat as mandatory though. I won't be taking pickpocket but I'm wondering if mercantilism is worth the investment? 5 int so I don't get penalties for investing in the technology skills.

5.) Must have feats in the first 10 levels?



Sorry if my formatting sucks, it's my first time lmao, I suppose you could treat me as a noob considering psi and guns are pretty different.