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Builds / Final normal difficulty build question - jack of all trades?

« on: May 02, 2025, 05:18:13 pm »

I've finally had time to run up through end of depot A with a few builds - SMG build, shotgun build, and a hammer wizard (among a few I tried myself that didn't get very far).

I kind of like aspects of all of them, but wasn't sure I fully meshed with any of them either.

I just don't like stealth mechanics in this game, so it feels like high dex stealth builds aren't ideal - the SMG build was fun, but did seem to demand a lot of stealth play.

The hammer wizard was fun, but I felt like I wasn't doing as much damage, and lacked enough mobility to close. Even in heavy armor with good bullet reduction I felt like I was getting peppered before I could engage. Plus I really didn't like the idea of missing out on the perception checks in the game. It's not much, be finding those small doors/rooms/passages was fun on the other builds. What I really liked here was it felt like everything added something to the build - lots of stuns to manipulate enemies (if I could get close), as opposed to 'move, burst, move' like the SMG/shotgun builds.

The shotgun build just felt clunky. Not super high mobility, high cost of shots per turn, kind of melee but not, I don't know. Once I started swapping ammo to meet the target I had a lot more success, but it still felt like it was kind of too much of not enough of anything.

I really enjoyed psi from the hammer wizard as well. And I really like throwing grenades, it's really fun. And, similar to the perception thing, I really like having access to lock and hack at reasonable levels.

So can anyone suggest a build that might click all my notches? I'm scratching my head. High perception to pass skill checks, bit of magic, bit of crafting for grenade toss means mid dex, medium or light armor, still would like to use a gun mostly. I'd like magic to be a useful part of the build, rather than just 'TM for a free adrenaline shot'.

I'd also like to hit most of the reasonable persuade checks (like SGS to help the junkyard). Maybe it's asking too much, but I'm playing on normal, so maybe I don't need to fully spike damage like dominating builds. Would that free up feats or stats?

Maybe a psi primary build with a pistol?

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Builds / Normal difficulty - PK with heavy armor build?

« on: April 28, 2025, 02:02:23 pm »

I got to the end of Depot A with my second build (Shotgun) and since my first two have been really similar (low armor, high mobility), and neither has really used Psi much, I thought doing a Psi primary build that uses heavy armor would be a nice contrast. I want to get to the end of Depot a with this build before settling on one of the three to really push the rest of the game. For reference, both of my runs through depot a so far have been wearing siphoner leather, with high guns, and used most of the same feats. SMG played a bit better I think, where shotgun was sort of a heavy playstyle but lacks the armor to make up for it, and I don't have the mobility bonus stuff yet.

The problem is that almost every guide you can find now is focused on dominating - so you end up with a lot of overlap where everyone takes the same general structure then flops it around a bit (high dex/agi/per, drop con, drop will, take enough strength/int for feats, high stealth, nimble + low armor).

I tried fussing around with the builder last night, but I couldn't really figure out what perks might be good, so I couldn't figure out what to build around. I'd still like to take hacking and lockpicking. I don't really enjoy how stealth works so I'd prefer to skip it. Ideally most damage comes from psi talents, rather than being a gun or melee build that uses stasis and temporal contraction for 'free adrenaline shot' effects.

So questions:

1) What armor feats are good for heavy metal armor builds? What armor feats are traps?

2) For a build like this, thick skull is mandatory I assume?

3) Should I try to fit crafting in, or just let it go?

4) Since we'll be getting hit a lot, will dodge and evasion be worth pumping up at all? The formulas seem really poorly optimized - you lose a ton of effect from your armor penalty, then you lose more on top by fighting higher level enemies?

5) Conditioning, TK Punch, and bodyweight training - seem to be pretty good to take

6) Since we'll be getting hit, I assume psychosis is better than tranquility. Is mania worth taking? What about hemostasis?

7) Seems like I'd be getting a lot of scratch damage, is there a better health management tool than regular hypo + bandage, at lower levels?

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Builds / Normal difficulty, Shotgun build + time build

« on: April 24, 2025, 02:58:04 am »

I played up through the end of the tutorial with a cool SMG build, and a guide. But what I really wanted to play through as was a shotgun build.

https://underrail.info/build/?AQUGBwMJAwcPAAoAAAAACg8PAAAPAAoACgAAAA8FAAAkKxnfvA

Here's my idea of a starting block. 5 strength means I won't use the burst shotguns, but I wasn't planning on that, so I think I'm OK. 6 Dex because I like grenadier, 7 intel because I plan on doing a decent amount of crafting and wanted gun nut. I can be talked out of either if they are traps. But this is just normal mode, so I figured I was probably OK. I may not have the feats to do those anyway.

Plan to take psi empathy and just do temporal.

For defensive skills - should I take dodge and evasion? It seems like no one does, and they just suggest using massive damage, traps, and breaking line of sight instead.

For stealth - I didn't really use it much in my SMG play. I preferred to use traps, line of sight, and other tools. It just didn't mesh much with me. I tossed 10 points in with the intention of boosting it with gear on top of that if I really need to, but maybe that's a waste?

Level 4
https://underrail.info/build/?BAUGCAMJAwceAA8AAAAAChkZAAoZABkAGQAAAB4UAAAkKzkZwrDfvA

Level 9 - I push for 45 effective persuasion to convinces SGS to help in the Junkyard. Max out chemistry for Mark 4 grenades and such, prior to doing Depot A. Same for mech and tailoring, intention is to go in with decent crafted gear. Should I just skip the SGS check and avoid using persuasion?

https://underrail.info/build/?CQUGCQMJAwc3ABQAAAAACjIyAA8yADcAKAAAACgzAAAkKzkZwrDClt-8

Level 10 - probably where I enter the depot, or I gain it during the depot.

https://underrail.info/build/?CgUGCQMJAwc8ABgAAAAACjc3ABQ3ADcALQAAADIzAAAkKzkZwrDClsKQwoffvA

I'm struggling with where to focus on shotgun feats, and where to put in psy feats.

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General / new player content checklist?

« on: April 22, 2025, 02:25:37 am »

I've been using a guide for the tutorial section. Honestly I've really enjoyed it, just because it helped me find quests I would have missed, and helped me keep locks/ hacks about at appropriate level ranges. It also suggested good times to make new weapons and armor.

Is there anything similar for the full game? I don't need a handholding exercise, but the game is so huge I get lost and overwhelmed. And just knowing to take acid armor into depot a was so useful. A lot of the time I get somewhere and then understand what the clues meant, but backtracking, and vendor fishing, isn't a ton of fun.

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Builds / Starting the game - build advice?

« on: April 20, 2025, 12:29:28 am »

So...I haven't played this game since 2015, according to steam. I had about 30 hours. I remember playing a tinker/crossbow build I guess? Never made it much past Depot A if I remember correctly.

I'm just going to play on normal - a lot of people say 'you can beat the game with anything on normal', but I'd like to smooth things out a bit more than just riding the idiot train all the way home, you know?

Been looking around, and it seems a high dex, high int, no con build with psi empathy is kind of the go-to.

Am I likely to screw myself on normal if I just do that, without going to the hammerer build? Just do pistols, throwing, some crafting, and kind of mess around? I generally like to see as much content in a game as possible on one playthrough. But I also don't find it very fun to alt-tab and go 'ok, the build said I need to spend these points at this level here' every level. On the flip side, most people seem to say that if you don't follow a build at all you won't finish the game on your first run, and I'd really like to do that.

Normally I like to play around with crafting, lockpick/hack type characters, which to me says high dex/int, which I thought would work well with pistols too. I'm OK with using stealth but I'd love to not have to start every encounter stealthed without fail.

Can I run normal with a different pistol, or do I need the hammerrer to make it through as a pistol build? Same question for psi-empathy I guess. I see why everyone takes it, for that bonus AP skill. Just feels kind of meh to take an entire feature but only use one aspect.