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1

Builds / Is there any reason to get more than 105 effective mercantile?

« on: January 14, 2026, 07:29:40 pm »

I was doing some testing earlier today and, if I'm understanding the wiki correctly right, mercantile only reduces the cost of buying items until you reach 85 effective skill. My own tests did seem to line up with this, but it's a bit confusing because the wiki also says the highest mercantile skill checks in the game require 105 effective skill. Even with 3 INT, you'd only need 117 skill to reach 105 effective without any buffs. With just a Jon's Special and Large Waist Pack you'd be able to unlock all special merchandise and have access to trades at their lowest cost with just 95 skill points in mercantile.

So I guess either I'm wrong, or there is never a reason to put more than 95 skill points in mercantile, even if you really badly wanted to roleplay as a trader and take Salesman & Major Supplier.

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Builds / Real Victory

« on: December 20, 2025, 06:21:46 pm »

To everyone mourning the nerfs on their builds, remember this:
Real victory doesn't come from beating the final boss. It comes from creating a build so powerful even the patch notes must acknowledge it.

Happy holidays everyone.

3

Builds / Build changes in the 10-Year Anniversary Update (v1.3)

« on: December 18, 2025, 07:18:30 pm »

Hey everyone. In case anyone missed it, a new major update has just dropped. Looking forward to seeing what build people make with the rocket launcher, but I mostly want to focus on the feat changes and how they affect our builds.

"Changed the crafting requirement base from fixed 80% of component quality to ranging from 77% to 112% component quality, scaling with the quality itself (curving up); Tweaked the specific modifiers for various components."
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this means that we'll need to put far more points into our crafting skills to get the highest tier equipment. With the new intelligence feats I'd imagine that crafting great equipment will be extremely costly for low int builds now.

I don't know much about a lot of high DEX builds, but I'm pretty sure this tweak is a big deal: "Minimal weapon usage action point cost changed to 5 (up from 4)"

It looks like there's been a lot of changes to the feats we use for melee builds. Expose Weakness, Fancy Footwork, and Cheap Shots have all been given big nerfs. Stasis has also been nerfed (finally.) Looks like my idea of using psi or guns to support melee builds might become much more viable. There'll be a ton to experiment with now that Exothermic Aura can help resist some CC and Psychokinesis is getting buffs.
This might also interesting for melee builds: "High-Technicalities now also increases damage from energy edge and electroshock modules".

Contaminated, and therefore Toxic Gas Grenade, has been nerfed to require 20 stack instead of 10 to reach 100% increased damage taken.

Other tweaks that might interest you:
"Reduced damage of grenade launchers across the board by about 20%"
"Forcefield now has resistances that scale with skill"
"Psychosomatic Predation - killing the target now also resets the cooldown"
"Skill-based damage bonus for light weapons (those that have their AP cost reduced by Dexterity, which are: pistols, SMGs, unarmed, fist weapons, and knives) changed from the standard 0.7% per skill to 0.5% per skill"

Hopefully everyone's handling the nerfs well. Personally I'm happy that hard mode is has more of a reason to exist and dominating might actually feel hard again.

4

Builds / Psychostatic Instincts (Dominating Sword Build)

« on: August 14, 2025, 01:13:35 am »

The build: https://underrail.info/build/?HgsGBgkDBQYAAGQAwqAAAGRVQQAoWlooUFoAwqAARgAAWis5YjHCjAZnEkvCjSrCh8K3X3rin4QB4qe-BuKslwHisogF4rKJAt-8

Survival Instincts (SI) is sometimes thought of as a bit of a meme. It can definitely do some serious damage, but with only ~120 hp to work with by max level, it's not that practical for the majority of players. I've created this build because I believe that swords are the best weapon type to utilize SI.

-Why use Survival Instincts?-

Unlike guns and psi, melee weapons don't have anything like Aimed Shot or Psionic Mania to guarantee critical hits. They also don't have seeker goggles, Ambush, Psychosis, or psionic headbands to increase their critical strike chance.
For most melee weapons that isn't that big a deal, but for the sword it's a real issue. Swords have the highest crit damage of any melee weapon, but mediocre crit chance. They do have an on hit ability that increases the enemy's chance to get crit, but it takes 5 hits to stack.
SI is great for swords because it can be taken at level 1 to carry you in the early game. It also works on Electrokinesis and stacks with Psychostatic Electricity for up to 55% crit chance. Electrokinesis is also great because unlike swords, it can't miss, can deal with multiple targets, and does CC.

-Why put 7 points into WIL?-

Stoicism and Fight Response combo extremely well with SI, and WIL makes psi stronger. Stronger psi means more ranged damage, a more reliable Psycho-temporal Contraction, and more utility from Psychokinesis abilities as you level up.
TBH this build only gets really crazy very late into the game once you've made some Nervosomnifer and Aegis to go along with Stoicism, but if you like big numbers and taking 0 damage, this is your build... But it does struggle a lot in the mid game...

The alternative is to use SI with Flight Response, but then you're making a pretty normal sword build. It'd probably look something like this:
https://underrail.info/build/?HgwGBwkDAwYAAG4AwqAoAGQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABGAABaKzE5wqPCjBIGFkvCjcKHE2J7wrbin4QB4rKIBeKyiQLfvA
You could also add Psychostatic Electricity to a non-SI DEX-based build. You'd probably be taking Ripper, so you'd have 5 WIL and could still do okay damage:
https://underrail.info/build/?HgUQCAMDBQYAAEEAwqAoAGQAAAAAAAAAAAAAwqAARgAAWisxOSTCjBIGFsKHE0vCjUdcZ3vCscKm4p-EAeKyiAXisokC37w
Those builds are both good ideas, but I've never limited myself to good ideas.

-STR vs DEX-

I've taken STR over DEX because so many of our base stat points have been put into CON and WIL, making our base accuracy and damage unacceptably low. We'd only be able to buff our DEX to ~13 reliably, but with STR we can use Bison Milk, Adrenaline Shot, and Rathound Regalia to reach 15. Vitality Powder can further increase our strength by 2, but it doesn't last as long. There's a lot more to go into about the pros and cons between them, but I'll leave it at that for now. If you wanna know, ask.

-Feats-

I've only put notable non-levelup feats into the build. You'll acquire quite a few more than what I've listed.
If you decide to take any level 1 or 2 feats then you have the option of removing Recklessness. The added chance to get crit can be quite annoying, and the bonus crit chance isn't required.
Feats I'd recommend taking with your remaining points:

• Nimble - Always nice to have. Probably wanna min-max your skill points to get 160 in evasion if you take this.
• Taste for Blood & Vile Weaponry - We're taking STR, so you'd have access to bladed metal armor. Just try to keep your armor penalty low. Maybe take Armor Sloping if you're really committing to metal armor.
• Grenadier - Doesn't really fit with the build, but it's OP as hell.
• Opportunist - Good feat.

Don't feel restricted to this list by the way, the base stat points and skills are mostly locked in for this build, so looking through feat list on the builder is recommended.

Feats I'd avoid taking:

• Versatility - Normally taking this and using grenade launcher / blob pistols / electroshock pistols is a great way to get AoE, CC, and more damage types, but with so many points in WIL it's better to just use psi.
• Conditioning - Only affects 3 damage types. Creating a lightweight anti-heat armor set is easy, and cold damage rarely matters. Nervosomnifer + Aegis + Stoicism will easily let you reach Mechanical damage's minimum damage modifier (you can't reduce it past 10%).
• Parry & Riposte - Melee enemies are too easily dealt with by other means to justify these.
• Hemopsychosis - There's no way to fit this into your build without dropping Sprint.
• Weaponsmith - Not worth a feat slot.
• Future Orientation - Tranquillity can't be taken with SI and doubling Limited Temporal Increment's AP cost isn't worth it.

-Skills-

I haven't distributed the skill points all that precisely. Feel free to raise or lower them a bit.

Hacking has been raised to get 120 effective skill to get extra Exoskeletons. Lower it if you either plan on getting the Energizer Glove, or you exclusively want the Technomedic Exoskeleton.

You need 150 effective biology for Nervosomnifer.

-Psi-

Grab Psycho-temporal Contraction as soon as you can.
In the late game, fill your 5 psi slots with Psycho-temporal Contraction, Stasis, Limited Temporal Increment, Electrokinesis, and Electrokinetic Imprint.

-Items-

We'll be using a ton of Adrenaline Shots and Focus Stims.
In the late game, grab Infused Rathound Leather Armor,

The Nervosomnifer blueprint is in the deep caverns, and it'd be nice to get it early, so I'd recommend beating the vanilla game's final boss before going over level 25, the vanilla level cap. You will not struggle to kill the final boss with this build. Also, make sure you heal before Nervosomnifer kills you.

-Tips-

Start with 9 STR, 3 WIL, and 4 INT. Raise INT to 6 first, STR to 11, then WIL to 5. After that, take Increased WIL to get a total of 7. The rest of your base stats should stay the same for the whole game.
Remember that you don't need Survival Instincts to be active 100% of the time. Sometimes it's better to go into a fight with full health and let them take you down to 30% hp.
Captain's Cutlass can cripple enemies, making it easy to deal with most human melee enemies, even without parry. (Sørmirbæren Sabre also has cripple and has a better minimum damage of 15.)
If you're not sure what feats you want, make a save before leveling up and test them! It's often faster than trying to look for info online.
Don't ignore poisons. Coating your sword in Leper Poison is extremely effective.

-Swords-

The Claymore is still good late game. Hell, I've killed the final boss with the Claymore.
Get the Chainsword if you're using an STR build. It's great as a secondary weapon for using leftover action points, and it can proc the bleed from bladed armor.
Flurry gets cancelled if one of your attacks deals no damage. This means that swords with a low minimum damage, such as curved machetes, have a higher chance of getting flurry cancelled.
A max quality super steel sword is better than a tungsten one due to super steel's higher minimum damage and greater accuracy. It's also lighter and doesn't require 6 STR.
Red Dragon is the best sword. It's also the hardest one to get.
A Sørmirbæren Skærder Sword can deal more damage than the Claymore, but only when your minimum damage won't be blocked by the enemy's threshold. The bleed's total damage is equal to the amount of damage the enemy took multiplied by 0.6. That means that if your weapon deals 80 damage, the enemy blocks 30 and takes 50, then the bleed that's applied will deal a total of 30 damage. That 30 damage is split between 3 turns, so the UI will say "Bleeding for 10 damage every turn."


Now, if you'll all excuse me, I have to go test my Cryo-Metathermic & Taste for Blood sword build, laser pistol SI build, and my non-flurry Chainsword build... All while I ignore that riot armor and shields exist.

5

Builds / Help Crafting a Comprehensive Sword Guide

« on: July 05, 2025, 03:56:30 am »

Hey there, I've recently beaten dominating for the second time with a sword build that uses no psi or crafting. I've created and tested 4 sword builds in total, though the first two weren't that great. I think I'm ready to create a decent guide for the sword, but it's hard to feel qualified to give advice in a decade-old community that has people that can beat the game without dying a single time.

With the amount of experience I have with swords I'm confident that my guide would be mostly correct and helpful to plenty of players, but I still feel like there's a ton of sword builds I haven't tried. If I tested every build I had in mind to make the guide I'd be spending 300 hours playing builds that feel really similar, and I'd probably just be confirming my own biases.

My guide would mostly be made for people who want to play dominating for the first time, so I'd would really appreciate some feedback so I can avoid misleading newer players. Swords make good use of all the OP tools a new dominating should use, such as traps, stealth, crafting, and TM. They also have lots of damage for those 400% HP bosses. The final boss is an absolute cakewalk when you use the sword, though the weapon tends to struggle against groups of armored enemies.

Sorry if I gloss over some stuff. I'm assuming that if you're reading this you've either played a sword build on dominating before or have enough experience playing melee to get what i'm talking about.

Build Priorities

Every time I start thinking of a new sword build I use this template. It primarily contains feats and skills I consider mandatory on a sword build, such a as flurry and critical power. I usually remove a skill or feat here or there though (Usually TM). I always increase strength or dexterity to at least 12 for psi builds and 14 for Versatility builds. Template: https://underrail.info/build/?HgUGBgMDAwYAADwAwqAAADIyMgAAAAAAAAAAAABGAABQKzE5wowSBhZLwo3Ch-KyiAXisokC37w

The sword has a few weaknesses you'll want a secondary weapon to deal with:

• Accuracy issues.
• Little to no AoE.
• Bad vs armor.

These are the best secondary weapons/abilities that I've found to mitigate these weaknesses:

• Grenades and traps (obviously)
• Electrokinesis with Psychostatic Electricity.
• Versatility with the Thumper, or the Punisher for strength builds.
• Temporal Distortion is good early on. Haven't tested Continuum Ripple yet.
• Knives are helpful early if you're playing a dexterity build. They don't need to commit to a single target and don't require a 95% chance to hit to function.

I'm certain you can beat the game using only the sword for damage, but it'd be a lot more tedious. Most of the weapons above don't require heavy investment to be useful.

Testing

Here's some of the builds I've been wanting to test. Keep in mind that these builds are very much in the works. Most of my crafting skills are temporarily set to 90 when I'm prototyping. I also haven't ordered the feats super well for each level. Didn't fiddle around with the Special points much.

Taste For Blood + Bladed Metal Armor + Chainsword: https://underrail.info/build/?Hg4HCgMDAwYAAGkAwqAAAABkZABGWlpaWloAAABGAABaKzE5wqPCjBIGFkvCjcKHPEJFMCR8wrbisogF4rKJAt-8
I have confirmed that the chainsaw specially ability can proc the bleed. Might be the only decent non-flurry sword build, though I'd still say there's no reason not to take flurry.

Sword + Energy Pistol/Chem Pistol: https://underrail.info/build/?HgUQBgMDBQgjADgAwqAAAGRaNwAyWlpaWloAAADCoAAAWisxOcKjwowSBjAWS1zCjcKawocpWsK04rKIBeKyiQLfvA
In theory, energy pistols should cover all the main weaknesses of the sword. The electroshock pistol can stun and do AoE, and having electric and energy damage will help bypass armor. Blob pistols should also help with the accuracy issues due to their ability to root enemies.

Sword + Crossbow. No build for this one. I've never used the crossbow so I have no idea if it'd be good with the sword.

There's also some feats that could be good that I haven't played with much:

• Continuum Ripple
• Decapitate - The exposed head things kinda always kept me from taking this.
• Hit and Run - Doesn't proc from psi kills. Could be really good with blitz.
• Fancy Footwork - If this works with chainsword it could be pretty amazing. I'd worry about killing enemies too quickly and not getting enough movement points.
• Dirty Kick - Only just thought of this, but the stun could be really useful. Because unarmed damage scales with melee damage this should do decent enough damage to get the stun past the enemy's mechanical threshold. (As I recall, stunning attacks have to deal damage to enemies to apply the stun, but don't quote me on that.) Might be useful if you're not using the taser.
• Blindsiding - Doesn't look like a very significant damage boost, but I've seen it in a few people's builds.
• Monster Slayer - There are a few creatures that swords can struggle against. This one is hard to evaluate due to the sheer number of creatures in the game. Doesn't work with psi.
• Decommissioner - Swords really struggle against robots, so this could be somewhat useful. Doesn't work with psi.

What doesn't work

There's a ton of sword builds I've written off.
If you've used a decent sword build that used any of the firearm-type guns effectively then let me know. I didn't see any way to make a good build with them. This includes LMGs and miniguns. None of the other melee weapons seem useful in a sword build. Metathermics isn't great vs robots and has no CC. I really wanted to use Thought Control, but I don't see a way to make it good.

As for feats, here are some that I really don't think are any good:

• Parry and Riposte - Having only the chance of blocking SOME of the damage coming at you isn't great. Riposte definitely isn't worth it without Captain's Cutlass, but even then you need to get hit by 3 melee attacks to get as many attacks as a single flurry. Might be okay in long fights if you miss.
• Future Orientation - Good in theory, but when I got stasis it became irrelevant. Might be good if you're using TM with stasis banned.
• Serial Killer - The sword doesn't struggle so much against humanoids. Only does 10% extra damage. Doesn't work with psi.

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General / Best Merchants for 0 Crafting Builds?

« on: June 19, 2025, 05:53:58 pm »

I've recently been trying to beat the game without using psi or crafting. It's been going well so far, but there's still a few items I haven't been able to find a renewable source for that'd be extremely helpful.
I've already found some great meds sold by the Formedicator (Turns out Persuasion IS truly useful for something.) He sells Focus Stim and Bullhead, along with stuff I don't need, like psi meds and Hypercerebrix.

Here's a list of what I'm looking for:

• Irongut from the Ferryman at Port Ceto. I'm not sure whether I have to join the pirates to have a renewable source of Irongut. Does the Ferryman still go to Ceto if I get rid of the pirates?
• Jumping Bean. Not critical, but my build uses evasion so it'd be nice to have.
• Aegis. The wiki says this can be found as random loot, but if anyone knows a merchant that sells it please let me know.
• Toxic Gas Grenades. This might be the most painful thing to be missing. I got in the habit of spamming these in my last playthrough because of how cheap and OP they were. I'm sure I won't be able to spam them anymore, but just having a few for the hard fights would be great.
• I could use a source of rare bullets. Haven't found anyone that sells many of them.
• Taser. Can't seem to find anyone that sells these, which is too bad because they're absolutely fantastic.

7

General / Am I Crazy for Thinking Pack Rathound Is Good?

« on: April 01, 2025, 04:27:15 pm »

I first started thinking about this when I noticed that I almost never take off my large waist pack once I get it. Unless a belt was perfect for my build, having extra carry weight let me carry items into combat that were more useful than any other belt.

That got me thinking about all the things Pack Rathound could let me carry INTO combat, not just how much loot I could carry out. In most games (fallout) I think about carry weight as simply being how much loot I can bring back, but I've realized how flawed this is after playing my first high strength build.

It's not that I think it belongs in many builds, I just don't think it belongs in the same tier as truly useless feats like Snooping and Shield Arm. I can certainly imagine playing a build that has 3 strength and a filled belt slot and really needing that extra 50 carry weight.

EDIT:
I just remembered that it's April 1st XD.
This post isn't an April fools joke though. I'd actually like to hear your thoughts on the feat, or any other feats you think are underrated.

8

Builds / First time playing dominating. Survival Instincts sword build. Feedback welcome.

« on: February 02, 2025, 02:29:14 pm »

Hey there, I'm relatively new, having only really made two characters and beaten the game once. I have played on hard before, but the game got too easy by the late game and I decided to try dominating. I decided to make a sword build because even if I'm terrible I can still crit flurry 6 times in a row and win anyway, even if I have to save scum like crazy.

I'm past junkyard and am level 11 now, but I've been struggling to figure out where to spend my skill points first.
The build I went for is a bit strange, and uses survival instincts with the sword's high crit damage.
I've also put some points into temporal and psychokinesis with psychostatic electricity for even more crit and damage vs robots.

The build has conditioning and stoicism in it so I can achieve -100% damage modification with aegis and morphine (Irongut and Mutie Stew also). The problem with that idea is that I'm pretty sure mechanical damage has a -95% damage mod cap, and I'll only be invincible for a few turns, so stuns are a serious issue. I'm debating whether I should take Iron Will or just kill any psionics before they stun me and use the extra feat for something else. I know that a lot of attacks need to damage a target to stun, but if there's any exceptions I'd like to know.

I knew this build would take a while to really go online, but it's been a struggle. I wanna get powerful enough to take Maclander's Claymore, but I just don't have the gear to take him on yet, so I've also been trying to find easy quests I can do to level up. I also want to finish phreak's quests for the Chainsword, but I don't know whether I can acquire the blueprint for aegis before finishing the oligarch questline.

Apparently, I can't post a link to my build on underrail info, so I've attached a picture of it instead.