Messages

1

Builds / Ultimate Maximizing Ability Scores Guide

« on: January 01, 2023, 02:29:07 am »

I promised that I'd write another guide before the end of the year, and here it is! This guide is intended to help players maximize the benefit they receive from their ability scores, and to understand the trade offs of dumping one stat for another. This guide is more targeted towards new players, to help them understand how to assign ability scores at character creation, but also contains some useful information for veterans on the benefits of going over 20 in an ability score.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mgaiQGL51dwwFNnxne7f3zLjaZdkvX14-_G8rPg9tbw/edit?usp=sharing

I would love to hear any discussions and comments on the guide, especially if you disagree with any of the assertions I've made. I might make another guide, or I might not, depending on how busy I am. If I do make another guide, it will be on the best side weapons in Underrail, such as the Cleaver, Boxing Gloves, Hoddurform, ect. Have a Happy New Year!

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Suggestions / Re: Burrower carapace suggestion

« on: November 24, 2022, 11:00:49 pm »

I think the main reason nobody uses them is that it’s hard to get a high quality burrower carapace. If there was a high quality burrower carapace with a fixed location people would be singing its praises. Burrower carapace has a small niche with tac vests where you can get 50% armor penalty with a sturdy vest, super steel sheet, black cloth, and burrower carapace. Combine it with Juggernaut, specced hit and run, and some decent quality ninja tabis and you get a tanky mobile build that can stealth effectively against anything with lower detection than a greater coil spider.

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Suggestions / Re: Make Mounted Drill Attack and Shield Bash scale damage with melee skill

« on: October 11, 2022, 05:06:14 am »

I can't speak in complete confidence why the shield bash shouldn't be buffed, but as for the former drill attack I'm guessing for one reason. Technically you have the drill on a dreadnaught which is used for maybe only one mission in the main storyline? (Unless you mean for actual NPCs then sure or glitches) So the short amount of time just doesn't seem to be used as often in relation to player interaction. And NPCs usually use the mounted gun anyways.

Mounted Drill attack is the ability granted by the Industrial Powered Exoskeleton. You're thinking of the drill weapon on Protectorate Dreadnoughts, which already scales with melee skill because it is a melee weapon.   

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Suggestions / Make Mounted Drill Attack and Shield Bash scale damage with melee skill

« on: October 10, 2022, 05:50:50 pm »

Both of these abilities use melee skill for accuracy, but not damage, which doesn't make much sense. They both already have a downside by requiring specific armor that each come with their own drawbacks, and right now Mounted Drill Attack and Shield Bash are massively outclassed by all other combat options. 

5

General / Re: What do you think about an SMG build?

« on: October 09, 2022, 09:38:20 pm »

Interesting points. But don't you get frustrated by playing a 1 cool-down dependant build like this? Out of Bullet-Time, you have 17-18 AP attacks, meaning 2 per round. And you probably already used AP booster during BT, with a high-to-definite chance of 15AP reduction, meaning 1 shot every other round, unless Eel Sandwitch was taken for 19DEX? And all this at level 26 - way worse below that. And then you get the Misses... oh god.. rolling those on high-AP attacks is fun killing for me personally at least.

I tried Pistols. I agree with most of your points. But that dependance on Bullet-Time and in extent Stasis for 2 turns of awesomeness is meta-gaming and roulette playing combined, imo.
There is a reason, people bemoan the 1x4 damage spread of .44 Hammerer's. And the build you posted has no mobility, apart from gear, evasion reduction is either melee range or Ambush (which should be taken earlier).

I do use Eel sandwich for 19 dex, so 17 ap attacks, and adrenaline for an ap boost. Outside of bullet time I can point shot (8 ap), then attack 3 times, then have enough ap left over to use a drug. With focus stims, crit goggles, infused rat, ect I have a 71% crit chance, and I already have a 200% crit damage bonus, so almost anything that gets hit will usually die in a single shot. I also don't normally usually use stasis or contraction when playing, I just take 70 tm to style on the faceless commander fight and cheese the gauntlet. I usually run commando belt over bullet strap belt, since it increases accuracy, damage, and throwing, so I might replace an attack with a reload when necessary. I can deal with evasion better than an smg build can, since everything that works with smg to reduce evasion works with pistol, and wasteland hawk has a 35% chance to stun for free every time I shoot. I don't need to worry about mobility since I have 10 range, and after the first turn any enemies who would pose a threat are already dead. Also why even bother using a silenced smg on a dex vers build, just use a knife like the cleaver if you really want a silent assassination, you can even poison it with leper poison for more damage. I know pistol builds are very powerful, I did the 3 Masters fight in a single turn, and comfortably did Quad Nagas in 2 (with a little help from my friend All In + SSD), and pistols don't come with nearly as many drawbacks as using an SMG build. Idk, do SMG builds ever get tired of clicking burst over and over again?

6

Bugs / Waterways Dungeon Muties Not Responding to Noise Bug

« on: October 07, 2022, 03:28:30 am »

Enemies don't seem to be correctly responding to noise in the mutie encampment portion of the waterways dungeon. I've fired a 12.7 mm sniper rifle and thrown frag grenades next to enemies who don't have line of sight on me, and I've gotten no reaction from them. I'm not sure if they're intentionally programed to not respond to noise, but it seems weird.

7

Builds / Re: Ultimate Specialization Guide

« on: September 26, 2022, 04:55:39 pm »

Good stuff, but as Paposik said, wrestling spec is not that bad.You can apply debuff on multiple ranged enemies in a single turn, not only they will shoot and attack less, but they will also miss most of their shots if your build has decent evasion. It's not necessary to fully spec it, just 2 or 3 points are enough. The debuff can be refreshed with a single proc, spec reduses the amount of hits it takes to proc. And it stacks with all ranged acuraccy debuffs and penalties. Under the right conditions, a ranged enemy with low CTH is a burden to other enemies.

Also, why paranoia initiative in low priority, but trigger happy in useless? They are literally the same.

Paranoia and trigger happy are not the same, since trigger happy requires 6 dexterity. The minimum initiative you can have with paranoia is 16 (5 base+3 agi+3 dex+ 5 paranoia), while the minimum initiative you can have with trigger happy is 21 (5 base+ 3 agi+6 dex+7 trigger happy). With root soda, those values are boosted to 21 and 26. The most important initiative check in the game is Carnifex, who has 29 initiative. You add 1-15 initiative at the start of combat, so assuming root soda, our paranoia build only has about a 3.33% chance of out speeding Carnifex, while the trigger happy build has about a 36.66% chance (I know the math is funky, I couldn’t be bothered to calculate the exact odds). There are builds out there that run 3 dex 3 agi, such as SI psi builds, and for them paranoia initiative is a low priority spec since it can dramatically increase the chances of winning initiative against high initiative targets. Twitch is also an option to boost initiative, but that either requires 50 bio, which some builds can’t afford, or getting extremely lucky with one of the doctor merchants.

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Builds / Re: Ultimate Specialization Guide

« on: September 26, 2022, 04:16:47 pm »

Generally looks good.
Some stuff i personally disagree:
- I wouldn't call Sharpshooter or Wrestling specs useless. Sharpshooter can be taken on top of Critical Power for sniper rifles and wrestling spec gives 100% chance to apply debuff which allows to proc opportunist non-stop and with all stacks of tackled it acts like stronger daze, removing 40 mp, 15 ap and reducing ranged hit chance by 35%.
- Marksman spec bonus is so miniscule it's rather useless and you almost certainly use nightvision goggles to remove darkness penalty and strafe allows to completely nullify move and shoot penalty for most crossbow types.

Sharpshooter is useless because on a sniper build I’m putting 1 spec points into shooting spree shots, 4 points into shooting spree cooldown, and the remaining 10 points into critical power. I don’t have any remaining points to invest in sharpshooter, but even if I did, I would probably invest them into something else, like blitz max ap if I was a high agility sniper build, opportunist disabled targets if I frequently used traps or flashbangs, or psi related specs if I was a psi hybrid build. 
I value wrestling spec low because I only use it as a means to proc opportunist, and sometimes procing wrestling on the second punch instead of the first usually is a pretty small loss in damage. Usually I’ll kill an enemy before they get to 5 stacks, or I’ll use the incapacitation effect from cheap shots, a pneumatic hammer incapacition, or a combo stun if I want to prevent damage. If I’m a fist build I probably spend 1 point on expose weakness, 4 points on fancy footwork, and 3 on opportunist slowed targets, and the remainder on either blitz ap, recklessness/SI crit chance, bone breaker, critical power, psi specs if you’re a hybrid build, or any of the other niche options your build might benefit from.
Marksman is useful if for whatever reason you have low accuracy on your crossbow build, either from low per, versatility, or from yell. That being said, it does belong in the niche area instead of low priority.

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Builds / Re: Balor's Hammer Dominating Build No Psi.

« on: September 26, 2022, 03:41:53 pm »

It’s possible, but you’re better off using a crafted Tichrome hammer, Super Steel Hammer, Mind Cracker, or Quake over Balor’s Hammer. Tichrome and Mind Cracker can swing 3 times at 50 ap if you’re wearing tabis, and Super Steel and Quake can swing 4 times with adrenaline. Balor’s hammer can only swing 3 times when using vit power, and can’t use pummel for 0 ap when fully specced, unlike other hammers. If you have high enough strength you’ll instantly kill most enemies even without Balor’s hammer, so it really isn’t worth it over other hammer options now. Check out Pigman’s ultimate hammer guide for some ideas for building a hammer build.

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Builds / Ultimate Specialization Guide

« on: September 19, 2022, 11:19:56 pm »

Hey, I've written an exhaustive guide on every specialization and whether or not they are worth taking on a build. I wrote this because I feel that too many builds neglect their specialization points, which can turn a good build into a great build with the right specializations. This is targeted towards new players and old players, using my knowledge gained from 800+ hours playing Underrail.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1D0h2BRsGJXLjO0Bj9KhjIoVLpzrUd349p9vUmcVzjNE/edit?usp=sharing


I would love to hear any discussion and comments on specializations, especially if I overlooked any good specialization combos or synergies. In the coming months I will be posting more guides similar to this for overlooked gameplay mechanics, and the next one is probably going to be about maximizing ability scores.

11

General / Re: What do you think about an SMG build?

« on: September 19, 2022, 07:00:31 pm »

Every weapon is viable in Underrail, as long as you have the proper build for it. My personal opinion is that SMGs are just worse ARs, since they don't get concentrated fire and deal less damage. They benefit from dex, which is good, but they shoot so many bullets that you frequently have to reload and repair your guns. If I were to rank the guns it would be AR>Pistol>E-Pistol>SMG>Shotguns>Chem Pistol>Sniper.

Why do you rank Pistol so high? Just because of .44 Hammerer and Bullet Time + Stasis? In my experience they are quite bad vs. enemies with Pseudo-spatial Projection, and damage range is horrid - only becoming somewhat reliable late game. I can get 9(!) 300+ damage crits with a single burst from 8.6mm Muzzled Rapid Steelcat from a single unconditional burst at similar cost to a single .44 Hammerer shot. SMG's cut through PSP like its not there and burst down crowds easily. With new refurbished Tommy Gun and Better crits, you can reach 210% crit damage. SMG damage output is honestly insane and not reliant on a small window of action or Special Attacks as Pistols are.

So why do you think pistols are better?

I use this build for firearm pistols:
 https://underrail.info/build/?HgUQAwUHAwdGMADCoAAATmM5AABnZw83ZwAAAEZoAF8BFzE6HlvCo8OSSybDkVkSEcKzAgvin4QB4rWuCeK9hAXfvw
I usually prefer refurbished wasteland hawk since it dazes and stuns enemies in melee range, and lets you proc opportunist. It has good enough damage to where most enemies die in a single shot, and it's a guaranteed kill on anything except tanky robots and bosses when using a special attack. I also carry the Butcher's Cleaver coated in leper poison in my off hand, to apply expose weakness and broken ribs. I run special attack boosting goggles since I have 5 special attacks (aimed shot, point shot, kneecap shot, rapid fire, and execute), and since I get 9 ap shots from bullet time I can kill at least 5 enemies on the first turn. A close range Rapid Fire has a 73% chance to stun, which can be followed up with an execute to kill basically any enemy in the game (I used this exact combo to repeatedly kill abomination). I usually kill TC enemies first since they are very dangerous due to bilocation, and I can throw a grenade to kill if a TC enemy ever gets PSP up. With Expose Weakness and W2C ammo, I can kill a Naga in a single rapid fire. E-pistols have a similar reasoning for their high placement, since electroshock pistol can kill 4 enemies with each special attack (aimed shot, point shot, kneecap shot), if you have a smart module and special attack goggles. My main gripe with SMGs is that the you require constant reloading (8.6 steel cat only has 20 max ammo, and with a 9 shot burst that's 2 bursts before reloading), which locks you into bullet strap belt. SMG's are also very high maintenance, since they chew through ammo and repair kits very quickly. Pistols just feel more satisfying to use, while also not being a pain in the ass to maintain.

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General / Re: What do you think about an SMG build?

« on: September 15, 2022, 05:24:20 pm »

Every weapon is viable in Underrail, as long as you have the proper build for it. My personal opinion is that SMGs are just worse ARs, since they don't get concentrated fire and deal less damage. They benefit from dex, which is good, but they shoot so many bullets that you frequently have to reload and repair your guns. If I were to rank the guns it would be AR>Pistol>E-Pistol>SMG>Shotguns>Chem Pistol>Sniper.

13

Bugs / Boarding Up Feat Bug

« on: September 11, 2022, 04:14:14 am »

The feat says it grants a stack every time an attack hits, but it actually grants a stack every time you make an attack, even if that attack misses.

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General / Re: Tabletop

« on: September 09, 2022, 04:50:27 pm »

There's no reason you can't, its not like there's any repercussions to adapting some else's work. I've been working on an Underrail tabletop conversion myself for personal use based on 3.5e D&D, and I've never felt any moral doubts while working on it.

15

General / Rework Riot Armor for Infusion

« on: September 08, 2022, 05:49:03 pm »

It's no secret that riot armor with shields is the worst armor option in Underrail. If you want mobility, you go for a lightweight tac vest or leather armor suit. If you want protection, you go for a suit of metal armor. These armor sets don't require any feats to operate, and metal armor's only requirement is having 8-9 strength. To get the full use of riot armor, you need the shield arm feat, 5-6 strength, and you are restricted to only using one handed weapons. Riot armor is more restrictive and offers less benefits than conventional armor and needs to be reworked for infusion to stay relevant. Below are some ways riot armor could be reworked to be a viable alternative to other armors.

1. Remove the armor penalty from adding a shield- Being restricted to 1 handed weapons is already enough of a drawback to adding a shield, increasing armor penalty on top of that is overkill. Melee builds use lighter armor because they need the extra mp to run up and hit enemies, so they usually can't afford to run high armor penalty without a feat like hit and run.

2. Condense riot armor feats- Riot armor currently has 4 feats it exclusively benefits from, which is significantly more than any other set of armor. Shield Arm, Shield Bash, Boarding Up, and Iron Grip are all riot armor exclusive, and contribute to the feat bloat that makes riot armor unattractive. Shield Arm and Iron Grip's benefits should also be added to riot armor, but only have their effects active if the character has more than 8 strength. This would allow characters to use riot armor effectively without having to dedicate several feats to it. Alternatively, the benefits of shield arm could be completely removed, and you could have block chance and block amount scale with strength in a similar manner to parry.

3. Allow riot armor to block projectiles/ reduce damage from ranged attacks-It always seemed odd to me that a heavy metal shield would provide no protection from bullets, shells, and explosions. If the riot shield could block things like bullets, crossbow bolts, and cryokinesis projectiles, it would make it an interesting alternative to tactical vests. Maybe it could loose the DT increase against bullets and shells as a trade off. You could have this be an innate feature of the riot shield, or you could lock it behind a feat to require investment for the benefit.

4. Allow riot armor to block more damage types than just mechanical- Depending on the material used in the shield, riot armor could block differnt types of damage. Tungsten and burrower could block heat, Tichrome and Super Steel could block energy, psi crab could block electricity, ect.

I really like riot armor with shields conceptually, but in practice they just require too much investment for too little payoff. I'd love to hear other people's opinions on how riot armor could be reworked to make it a more appealing option.