Messages

91

General / Sixth utility slot?

« on: January 17, 2017, 05:31:53 pm »

I have this feeling in the back of my head that what I'm about to ask has a totally obvious answer and my brain is simply malfunctioning, but, uh... how exactly does one get access to the sixth utility slot? Two are available for everyone, the utility belt provides two more and the Quick Pockets feat gives one extra. That's five... and then there's the sixth slot which seems to be impossible to open.

 

92

General / Re: First gate in Core City Sewers to the East

« on: January 17, 2017, 02:30:06 pm »

Uh, all quest lines end up with the eastern gate open. The Claw is in the sector west from the first sewer area.

93

General / Re: Highest hacking required *spoiler*

« on: January 16, 2017, 02:41:14 pm »

I was under the impression that effective skill is the only thing that matters in hacking skill checks. For example, I'm certain I didn't have 110 base hacking skill when hacking the Oculus database clearance level 3 in my current playthrough, because my level wasn't high enough yet. Frankly it would be illogical if this wasn't the case in all hacking skill checks.

Edit: Is the base value of any skill actually even used for anything else than Feat requirements?

94

General / Re: Retrieve ICPD quest - how to talk to Duff?

« on: January 16, 2017, 02:26:16 pm »

Well shit, I talked to Luben and proceeded to do a bunch of other stuff already, like the gauntlet... which by the way is a massive bitch to do in Hard difficulty and with a heavy armor character without Dodge or Evasion. Oh well, good job fixing the bug.

95

General / Retrieve ICPD quest - how to talk to Duff?

« on: January 15, 2017, 10:13:42 pm »

So how exactly does this quest currently work (1.0.2.2 experimental branch), and is it bugged in some way? After talking to Luben and going to the area where Duff is, I can't approach him, instead his girls tell me to beat it. This is how I remember it working before 1.0.2.2, so your options then were either killing them or presumably sneaking and pickpocketing if skilled enough. Going by the patch log there should now be a way to peacefully speak with Duff, but I can't see how that's supposed to be done.

96

Development Log / Re: Dev Log #50: Experimental Branch with Version 1.0.2.2

« on: January 14, 2017, 01:43:38 pm »

Alright, good.

And another question which I suspect I won't get an answer for, but what the hell... will there be energy rifles in Expedition? I remember those were planned for the base game at some point, but were dropped before release.

Because let's face it, who doesn't want a laser machine gun?

97

General / Re: Detecting stealthed enemies

« on: January 09, 2017, 06:51:16 pm »

Detection still helps you with uncovering traps and mines, though, right? There's still a lot of use in that (if you haven't memorized where they are, too, of course).

That's true of course, although in my experience detecting traps rarely requires any extra measures if you're playing with a high Perception character.

Detection works the same both ways. Which means it takes some time until the enemy is actually seen while stealthed. So unless you are stealthed as well in order to have the necessary time to detect them, no you cannot detect them before they attack you.

What annoys me to no end is that there seems to be a point where you will get instantly spotted, if your stealth is low enough and enemy has high enough detection. Two examples from my current playthrough: first is in the Protectorate embassy in Junkyard, where there are three guards, one in metal armor and two in tactical vests in the inner courtyard, just outside the ambassador's office. With zero base stealth, but around 55 effective skill from equipment, the guards with tac vests still spotted me instantly from max range, while the tin can and the ambassador's assistant couldn't. Another one is the smuggler's cove in the caves between SGS and Foundry. There are two stealthed lurker smugglers there waiting. When I entered their vision range while wearing motion detector goggles and stealth gear with an effective skill of 48, I was again instantly spotted, but if I switched the goggles for a balaclava so that my stealth skill went up to 59, I wasn't spotted and I could actually close in and spot the lurkers first. Their detection meters rose very slowly, even though the difference in skill between these situations was only 11 points.

So the questions are, how much does the difference between detection and stealth need to be before stealth is effectively nullified, and how bloody high is the stealth skill of lurkers, crawlers and other such sneaky enemies? Is it even possible for the player to arrive at this instant detection point before he/she is so over-leveled compared to the opposition that it doesn't matter anymore?

98

Development Log / Re: Dev Log #50: Experimental Branch with Version 1.0.2.2

« on: January 09, 2017, 01:14:11 pm »

A question concerning the upcoming expansion: will it be compatible with existing saves?

99

General / Detecting stealthed enemies

« on: January 08, 2017, 09:37:20 pm »

Is it just me, or is it basically impossible to detect stealthed enemies before they attack without being in stealth mode yourself? My current character is level 12 with Paranoia, 13 Perception and +50,5% detection goggles. Together these add up to a detection value of 222, but I'm still unable to spot anyone in time before they initiate combat. As far as I know, there are no other ways to boost the detection stat any higher apart from leveling up, so it kinda seems like high detection alone is utterly ineffective.

100

Builds / Re: New Player looking for SMG build

« on: January 06, 2017, 04:18:24 pm »

EDIT: For example, even if you have a base Chemistry stat of 0, the synergies and Intelligence bonus (alongside other items or locations that boost your Intelligence stat) can give you even up to 60+ effective Chemistry skill, allowing you to crafting awesome grenades and decent Mutant Dog Leather Armor.

According to Epeli's character build tool, this is not true. You can only get 13 effective Chemistry if you max Biology, no matter what your Intelligence is.

101

Builds / Re: New Player looking for SMG build

« on: January 05, 2017, 03:45:53 pm »

I wouldn't take Conditioning, it's pretty bad with only 5 Constitution. The damage reduction it gives doesn't stack with armor resistance, instead it affects the damage that gets through your other defenses. It does become useful if you plan on actively using most of the other sources of damage reduction, like Morphine, Aegis drug, Lifting Belt and some others I forgot, then you can stack the reduction high enough that it becomes very good.

102

Builds / Re: New Player looking for SMG build

« on: January 05, 2017, 02:23:41 pm »

I haven't played with an SMG build, so I don't have a recommendation right off the bat here. However, the most important thing in building an effective character is to consider what feats you want to take, as that tells you how you need to allocate your ability points at the start and what you're going to do with the one extra point you gain every fourth level.

103

Suggestions / Re: Spec Ops for assault rifles?

« on: January 05, 2017, 10:24:54 am »

You can get 9 shots out of an SMG as well. That's probably not optimal use of ability points, but anyway, with 14 Dex, Adrenaline and two Rapid Muzzled 5mm Jaguars, you can get 7 bursts of 9 shots in one turn. That's effectively 60 shots potentially spread over 7 or more targets, versus a 7.62mm Muzzled Hornet or 8.6mm Rapid Muzzled Hornet which can fire 18 shots against 2 or more targets, depending on whether or not the bursts hit secondary targets. Obviously assault rifles have much, much more damage potential per burst with Concentrated Fire, but is that as useful as being able to spread your damage over many more targets?

I suppose range and accuracy is where it gets interesting, but I don't have any practical experience with SMG builds so I can hardly comment on that.

104

Suggestions / Spec Ops for assault rifles?

« on: January 04, 2017, 12:22:07 pm »

I've been wondering, would it be horribly overpowered if Spec Ops reduced assault rifle burst cost from 300% to 250%? If we ignore Commando, this would allow smaller caliber rifles with Rapid Reloader 2 bursts in a turn, even 3 with an Adrenaline Shot and 2 bursts for some higher caliber ones when paired with Adrenaline. A substantial increase, but SMGs could still get way more lead down range... I haven't thought about this very thoroughly though, so feel free to shoot the whole thing down.

105

General / Re: Confused about Protectorate access to Lower Underrail (spoilers)

« on: April 10, 2016, 02:00:04 am »

Could be that Upper Underrail, if it is as expansive as Lower Underrail (i.e. much more than what is shown in the game), doesn't follow the layout of Lower Underrail and the way between North and South is a lot longer there than it is on the lower level. Or perhaps the northern parts of Upper Underrail are so dangerous that even the Protectorate doesn't want/isn't able to use it as a regular supply route due to attrition. This is obviously pure speculation, but if Biocorp had any part in the apocalyptic event that forced humans to Underrail in the first place, the surface might be chock-full of things that make the local flora and fauna in Deep Caverns pale in comparison, some of which might have found their way to Upper Underrail. After all, it is at least a little closer to the surface.