Messages

91

Builds / Re: finally starting! unusual build? (bow, stealth, thermics, persuasion+intimidat)

« on: July 28, 2019, 08:59:15 pm »

but then, you ask why another offensive in metathermics - it's because it gives me different damage type/attack options (along with some AoE) and effectively supplants that damage you are saying I'm missing out on from the lower PER xbow, doesn't it? (that's how it has seemed so far in playing, when I encounter an enemy that doesn't get hurt so well by bolts, I use more thermics.)  My will+int are high and thermics is pretty effective so far - add on traps and I barely take a scratch if I am smart when going into combat.

You can achieve the same just by using grenades, except they are a much cheaper than psi because:
a) you save on skillpoints, about 50 points in throwing is enough,
b) you save on stat points, because you need only 7 dexterity for grenadier,
c) flashbangs are a great aoe disabler,
d) molotovs don't require a feat to set things on fire,
e) emp grenades stun all things robotic & drain shield emitters. And later in the game plenty enemies run around with high shield emitters. And much later in the game you get to visit places crowded with hostile robots.

Effectively with grenades you exchange one damage type (cold metathermics) for three other types (emp, bio & expedition added plasma). It's not that metathermics doesn't work. It's just that by investing in psi for your character you are overpaying, because you could get more bang for far less buck.

92

Builds / Re: What will be your first build in Expedition and why?

« on: July 28, 2019, 11:46:30 am »

Because I've already played a mage with metathermics. This character is about trying to avoid fighting, so he needs high thief skills including pickpocketing on top of diplomacy. I just wanted something for the times you absolutely need to fight, and from what I remember thought control is a good choice against the final boss. I'm alright with not being able to finish every quest / defeat every baddie in the game.

On a side note, my previous run was just blasting through the opposition, it's kind of funny how you notice more details when stealthing by. Those zerglings burrowers have some mad detection skills, for example. 

93

Builds / Re: What will be your first build in Expedition and why?

« on: July 27, 2019, 04:24:21 pm »

Thanks everyone for the mage advice, lots of interesting info here!
Ended up going with a stealthy cave wizard minus metathermics; maybe it will be a showstopper, but for now he's managing through diplomacy, sneaking, and if all else fails, running away.

94

Builds / Re: What will be your first build in Expedition and why?

« on: July 19, 2019, 05:17:24 pm »

Permastealth-Psi builds probably abusive. The coupling of Thermodynamic Destabilization + doubled TK punch and/or Cryo Orb will massacre 99% of opponent clumps in the game, if you build correctly.

Nice to see mages are still overpowered, lol. Some things never change.

95

Builds / Re: What will be your first build in Expedition and why?

« on: July 19, 2019, 02:27:30 pm »

Brave Sir Robin: a stealthy character who avoids combat whenever possible, playing on oddity. No idea what to take for weapons for the occasions when a fight is unavoidable.

Anyone could recommend something? I haven't played in some time, so I have no idea what has changed and is/isn't viable for a stealth character. I just need something for the boss battles, he'll be running the other way most of the time. 

96

General / Re: tanner - endgame (spoliers)

« on: March 08, 2016, 08:45:07 pm »

Oh, come on, leave at least one way to kill the annoying bugger! For therapeutic purposes. 

97

Suggestions / Re: Model Customization

« on: February 29, 2016, 10:24:26 am »

On the other hand, NPC portraits match character models pretty well.

That's what I meant by NPCs having proper avatars. It makes your character stand out like a sore thumb.

PS I don't expect the same level of detail as with NPCs, but I'd rather have some basic customization.

98

General / Re: Freeing Sharp and the boys unseen (spoilers)?

« on: February 28, 2016, 02:07:50 pm »

You can avoid detection this way but rejects will still get killed.

On the other hand, if you kill all the tchortists, the rejected won't even acknowledge that. You still have to discover the secret vent for them to "sneak out", otherwise they won't leave. 

99

Suggestions / Re: Model Customization

« on: February 28, 2016, 09:28:19 am »

It might be just aesthetic, but I'd say it's still part of content.

Personally, I don't care about details such as every armor or weapon being displayed properly on the sprite model, but I do find it annoying if the sprite doesn't match the portrait at all. In an RPG, where other NPCs have proper avatars and only your character is a special snowflake who doesn't, it feels a bit immersion-breaking.

100

General / Re: Freeing Sharp and the boys unseen (spoilers)?

« on: February 28, 2016, 09:19:21 am »

This is just a guess (because I have solved that quest by killing the guards) but have you tried blowing something up to create a diversion? Some NPCs will run to investigate if there was an explosion within their hearing range.

101

General / Re: Al Fabet

« on: February 22, 2016, 09:33:32 am »

Chimaera - Let's say you are fighting in depot A, the underground, clearing room by room working your way forward and sudenly. inventory is full, there is more good stuff you want... Depot A respawns enemies so storing stuff to pick up later is not an option. Option A, you nearly get nothing out of it and you do it all in one go. Yes you didn't broke immersion. Option B ad most often chosen by players who are by nature greedy cause human beings are by nature greedy. Stop doing the quest, go to the seller, sell quickly the loot that you can, stash what you can't sell nearby, continue the quest. Rinse and repeat as many times as necessary and for Depot A, I'm guessing a lot. Game immersion broken.

Now some players like to play with much worse rules than this. It is after all their choice, some people are masochists too and who are we to judge?

What I consider immersion breaking is acting opposite to what a character would do; e.g., if I create a goody two-shoes paladin, then making him greedy makes no sense for me. My Underrail character got through Depot A with no problems: she was a mage, whose main motivation was making things go boom, and didn't care much about a career as a merchant. That' is why immersion is a subjective concept - it depends on what a player is looking for in games.

Btw, if you call other players masochists simply because you dislike their playing style, then you are being judgmental. At which point I have to concede that Eliasfrost was right.

102

General / Re: Al Fabet

« on: February 21, 2016, 11:22:20 pm »

That is where you are wrong. You can define things as being objectively right or wrong.

Saying that you prefer one or another system is subjective. Pointing out what different system do for a game is objective.

Not if you post statements like "Breaks game immersion by forcing the player to stop several times to dump loot."
Immersion is by its definition subjective. What is immersion-breaking for one player is not so for another; some people consider lack of realism to be immersion breaking. Heck, I've met RPG players who imposed far stricter rules on themselves in games than in Underrail.

Having a preference for a game mechanic is one thing, but you are trying to pass your own preferences as objective truths. In the end you just manage to sound obsessed.

103

General / Re: Al Fabet

« on: February 21, 2016, 03:06:28 pm »

But that's the thing: for me, spending time fighting re-spawning critters in a game that has easy (and to be honest, a bit boring) combat is the very definition of a pointless action.

Btw, Arcanum isn't Diablo, where indeed you get the "explore once, see everything" experience. My evil wizard took a different path from my goody two-shoes scientist, and as a result, the outcomes of their choices were very different.
edit: have you tried playing with the Unofficial Arcanum Patch? I used it in my games and had no problems finishing.

104

General / Re: Al Fabet

« on: February 21, 2016, 10:53:04 am »

Is it. Let's look at it this way. You do a quest to gain absolutly nothing. I look to do a quest to gain something. This counting that you had already done it in the past at least once to see the outcome so simply seeing the outcome of a quest is no longer the issue here.

In my case I am doing it to gain something thus I've not wasted my time.

In your case you are doing because you can do it but there is no reward (we'll assume you throw the reward away and that this is not underrail but a game with a proper economy system) for doing so thus you've wasted your time.

Now, you may be one rare case that considers that doing something for nothing in a game it's no waste of time and if that's what gets you going then more power to you, but doing quests for no reward is for the majority of people a waste of time. So is exploring and getting no rewards.

The reason I consider obsessing about loot (like you are doing) a waste of time is very simple: I play games to be entertained. If I play Monopoly with friends, the reason I enjoy is not because I can win fake paper money. Similarly, if I enjoy a cRPG it is not because my character can accumulate virtual loot. It's the quality time spend I can spend with friends, or the fun things I can do with a character in a cRPG that matter to me.

Btw, I have played Arcanum too. You spent your time "farming" all that loot and XP in a game that doesn't even have challenging combat. At the same time if you never finished it, you missed out on some of the best features, like the conversation with K., or the various endings where you can see how your character influenced the world.

Playing Arcanum like Diablo, now that's what I'd call a waste of time. 

105

General / Re: Al Fabet

« on: February 20, 2016, 07:08:48 pm »

Funny, because I consider your approach to playing a cRPG a waste of time. Like I wrote before, if I want to play a buying & selling game, I'll play Monopoly.