Messages

31

General / Re: skill point / build ? for a relative UnderRail noob

« on: January 31, 2018, 01:02:09 am »

As far as I know, 135 effective skill should be enough for any static skillcheck in the current game, matching the current level cap of 25. Since Expedition will bump level cap to 30, I think skillchecks could go up to 160.

that's lovely!  thanks very much

I'd love a skill by skill list of the max skillcheck for each skill for 1.) dialogues and then 2.) in-world usage

if only that guide didn't have spoilers!

32

General / Re: skill point / build ? for a relative UnderRail noob

« on: January 30, 2018, 05:16:07 pm »

I was going to give some constructive criticism, but noticed you are onto an interesting playstyle.

Stick to the shadows, hit the enemy with pyro, then ambush for a healthy dose of critical hits.

You already have critical power and elemental bolts, but man you should take the premeditation feat. AP free pyro in turn 1 is gold for you. Also you really should take sharpshooter, it will give those criticals a whole new meaning.

EDIT: Ah, forget about it, you also need pyromaniac to make those pyros burn - and chance is not guaranteed. But you should still consider premeditation and sharpshooter, with your build.

Yep!  You have the idea.  and put up traps as a bit of damage doing defense

and yep!  Those are pretty much the other 2 main feats on the table for consideration.  I had had premeditation chosen for a while but then decided on, hmm something else I forget atm.  Sharpshooter didn't seem to have enough % to be worth, but premeditation is very tempting to add.

33

General / Re: skill point / build ? for a relative UnderRail noob

« on: January 30, 2018, 04:11:48 pm »

but you're not making a truly powerful character with such a wide and shallow stat and skill spread.

thanks for the big post!  it was all helpful

This quoted bit is the sort of thing I'm looking for - I'm not looking to make a truly powerful character, simply one that isn't tedious to play / is fun to play.  Sure, some people argue more powerful is more fun, but that isn't how it is for me.  But with that, I do worry (which is why I made the post), that I'm spreading myself too thin to make the selected skills effective or worthwhile having (and therefore should either pump them up or drop them and pump up others)

I really don't want to put many points into crafting.  I'm mostly doing the mechanics+electronics both so I can make flashbangs.  For a long time I was simply doing ZERO crafting, but having learned more about crossbows (which I definitely want to use), it seemed like I'd have more fun with some crafting, and am seeking a balance (of effectiveness vs. skillpoint usage vs. fun)

I also don't care for most of the abilities in the 2 other psi schools aside from metathermics.  I mean, not for how I want to play the game that is.  I did spend a good amount of time poring over stuff and considered doing psi-heavy build and whatnot, but it's just not what I want to do.

I want metathermics to be a 2ndary source of damage output.  I feel like with crossbows (and the feats I have with it) and traps where I have them are going to be effective with metathermics as a 2ndary.  At 70 I get Exothermic Aura and wasn't seeing any need to take it beyond that.  Sure, more points gets more out of the tree, and I had initially maxed metathermics but then decided to use those points for crafting.

Oh, and I'm not so much asking about the post-expansion viability of the persuasion+intimidation and am more expressing my intention for there to be reason to have them so high / more things done through the game with them, and am trying to plan accordingly.  If I could get a confirmation of something like "persuasion 100 (142) will grant you access to all dialogue options that have a skillcheck for persuasion" for the current version, I'd have a point of reference.

34

General / Re: skill point / build ? for a relative UnderRail noob

« on: January 30, 2018, 02:59:02 am »

yeah, better questions to ask are:

what are the max skill check #s for persuasion and intimidation, so I know exactly what to do with each skill point

and things like:

at where one approximates to be using the oddity XP system at lvl 20, is 95 (135) persuasion + intimidation enough to access all skill checks for those skills at those areas

and, how high do I want to take the 2 crafting skills in light of the other skills?

at level 20 I'm looking at something like:

str 3, dex 3, agi 7, con 3, per 10, will 9, int 10 - are the per, will and int level high enough to get all dialogue options still, or should I be puting the points from agility into those 3 if I want more dialogue (talking post-expansion + refining after expansion)

crossbow 110 (166)
stealth 110 (138
hacking 100 (150)
lockinging 96 (100)
traps 96 (100)
mechanics 50 (75)
electronics 48 (72)
metathermics 70 (99) - is there any reason to want to bump the base to take it to (100) ? - these are the sorts of things I don't know if matters
persuasion 100 (142)
intimidation 100 (142)

with the feats:

paranoia, aimed shot, kneecap shot, bowyer, concussive shots, thermodynamicity, pyromaniac, snipe, ambush, critical power, deadly snares, elemental bolts, echoing soliloquy

35

Suggestions / Re: Serrated Bolts Mk II & III?

« on: January 30, 2018, 12:52:44 am »

is there an ability to shoot multiple bolts at once?  that is something serrated bolts could do if they don't currently - maybe require a crossbow upgrade to be able to do it?  3 bolts coming from the bow with the potential to spread and hit multiple targets, and of course stack damage if more than 1 hits an individual target

36

General / Re: skill point / build ? for a relative UnderRail noob

« on: January 30, 2018, 12:40:56 am »

If you completely want to avoid spoilers at this point, just get that 110ish effective Persuasion and Mercantile, and maybe 130 Hacking, 75 Intimidation, and 100-110 Lockpicking (lockpicking is nice on Classic XP mode, but is more important on Oddity)

EDIT: Oh, and if you want to max out some very early-game opportunities, get 15 base Mercantile and Persuasion on character generation.  That'll pay dividends before you leave the SGS on your first training mission

thanks this is the sort of thing I was absolutely looking for!!! I am avoiding all spoilers so looking at that skill guide is out, but this helps a lot

OH and yes, of course I'm going to be playing in oddity XP system!

I figure 3 damages come from crossbows+traps+metathermics will be plenty of offense, with aimed shot and a few other feats I think will be loads of fun, mixed with high dialogue influence, and hacking+lockpicking, and fucn crafting

yesyes, I'm psyched and more than ready to GET STARTED, but, patience patience and in the meantime, poring over how I want to do my build (:

I did play with mercantile a bit but ultimately decided to drop it for more crafting skills.  I look forward to potential upgrades in the implementation of mercantile, persuasion, and intimidation in/after the expansion, and won't be playing until all that happens, so, I might reconsider doing mercantile at that time if it seems more viable.

37

General / Re: skill point / build ? for a relative UnderRail noob

« on: January 30, 2018, 12:39:32 am »

couple notes:

I have played the game for about 30 hrs total, but by replaying the first 5-15 hrs a handful of times experimenting with different skills to see how things worked and what I wanted to do.  So I am aware of how leveling up works and getting skillpoints to add more skills and whatnot, so I'm asking what I am about the starting spreads to see if choosing those skills only, with the basic idea behind them in "keeping these maxed and keeping these a little less tha maxed", is spread out too much, or if there's any glaring issues with making that many starting skills at 10 and spreading up the used skills that much while still being able to get the most out of using them (like having hacking not always maxed isn't going to run me into missing the option to do certain things in the game, is a concern, or having put too many points into persuasion+intimidation that aren't at all necessary because I'm outpacing any dialogue needs by enough points that more points can go into other skills.)

I'm probably just overthinking it all, and it's all in excitement to GET PLAYING, because:

I don't plan to play more until after the expansion is out.  After I played the beginning a handful of times (partway through the junkyard a few times is about all? and a few shorter runs), the expansion was announced and I am waiting for it (and 1x patch after it is out) to start anew and sink my teeth into it fully.

38

General / skill point / build ? for a relative UnderRail noob

« on: January 29, 2018, 12:15:37 am »

I'm not generally one to ask questions about builds.  I don't care to make a powerbuild in the slightest, just one I enjoy playing and to me that means having using skills I like, and the skill implementation in UnderRail is (some of?) the best I've seen, making me want to play the game numerous times to see what differences the game has to offer with the different skills (whereas in a lot of RPGs there tends to be less of an appeal for me to utilize so many skills that the game has to offer.) - but I don't really have time for that, so I'm looking to get the most bang for my buck time.

Anyway, I've been gaming a long time and am pretty comfortable with making characters and doing well in games, so I'm not really looking for that standard "how's this build" feedback (though I imagine such will be unavoidable with my pumping up of will and int but not doing a psi heavy build, etc.), I'm more looking for specific information in regards to skill-usage via the skillpoint# in a kind of 'how low can you go' to retain viability that doesn't make the game tedious. 

-

feats:  snooping, paranoia

stats: STR 3, DEX 3, AGI 4, CON 3, PER 7, INT 10, WILL 10

skills:

crossbows: 15 (18)
stealth: 15
hacking: 10 (15)
lockpick: 10
traps: 10
mechanics: 10 (15)
electronics: 10 (15)
metathermics: 10 (15)
persuasion: 10 (15)
intimidation: 10 (15)

at this point ^ I have 10 points left, and the question becomes, where do I get the most value for those 10 points?  I keep waffling between a few different variants of this build trying to figure "what is best" or what are the advantages or drawbacks to each or whatever else about them I might not be aware of in my noobness.

My desire in RPGs are always to have the most dialogue options possible that have the most sophistication/intelligence about them, so my initial inclinations are to make persuasion and intimidation both at 15 (22) - but I don't know if that is simply overkill.  I also wonder if about puting hacking up to 15 (22) [keeping persuasion at 15(22) but intimidation at 10(15), if I should perhaps make it 15 for traps or lockpicking, or both and leave the persuasion+intimidation at 10(15), OR, maybe I should put those 10 points into another crafting skill to increase the crossbow bolt potential and get some other cool stuff going on in game?  again, priority is dialogue impact, and even so I'd probably rather more trap options than bolt options, and so does that mean I want to put traps up to 15 to start, or into crafting capabilities that make traps, or whatever else is relevant.

OR, are all those 10s in the skills too many / too spread regardless of any of the above ^ / regardless of the (#) ?

okay thanks for reading if you did...

39

Suggestions / Psionics - meditation method

« on: March 02, 2017, 06:07:32 am »

I'm not sure if I made this suggestion here before or not but a search has me thinking I did not.

-

The doc at the beginning mentions this method that has been "lost" and so you just take a pill if you want to do psionics.  Very interesting but what if:

you could wait just a little while to unock psi powers and go about it differently, simply for the option to do it differently because flavor and options are fun. 

Something like, find an old shaman type guy hiding in an ancient sacred cave area, inquire about his knowledge in unlocking mental depths.  And then he gives you a simple quest like "Collect 10 mindshrooms", then you bring them back and consume them in the cave, trip out, and unlock the psi-powers that way.

A delayed gratification for an alternate choice in doing something not the 'easy take a pill chemical way."  I'd love it.

40

Development Log / Re: Dev Log #51: New Weapon Types

« on: March 02, 2017, 06:00:42 am »

We experimented a bit with increasing the range for spears but that did not work out satisfactory.

maybe something you could do to simulate the benefit spears might have is, instead of increase the range, simply decrease the to-hit chance of enemies attacking you if you have a spear equipped ?

41

Suggestions / Re: Combat A bit too hard?

« on: June 24, 2016, 03:25:03 pm »

I recommend making sure you have at least 2 ways to deal damage (1 weapon + 1 other method - I use traps and metathermics in addition to crossbows.)

Could be your character build could use some tweaking?

42

Suggestions / Re: Lets talk about font changes

« on: February 23, 2016, 08:01:26 pm »

I liked the old fonts better but what I really wish they'd change for traders/merchants is the layout of the "looking to buy."  Rather than have it be:  "I'm looking to buy 4 leather armors, 2 weapons, 4 utility items" it should be:

"I'm looking to buy:

4 leather armors
2 weapons
4 utility items

for ease of reading/understanding

43

Suggestions / Re: Psi abilities - meditation method

« on: February 22, 2016, 12:21:12 am »

It would essentially be the same thing, just achieved differently and taking a little more time (to find the mindshrooms and then the cave in which to do them in) - it just would allow another option!  I think it'd be very cool, and would forgo the immediate ability to have psi powers for being able to do it this alternate method that for RP purposes could be fun.

Maybe they could do something more with it like reveal more lore about psi abilities/history to some degree to have a payoff for choosing the "longer method", but I'd be happy with no differences other than the time+choice in the matter.

I hate taking pills (well, I actually don't ever take any pills, personally), and find the "immediate gratification" method not to my liking.

44

Suggestions / Psi abilities - meditation method

« on: February 18, 2016, 10:50:30 pm »

I'd love to have the option to activate the PSI abilities via the meditation method actually implemented into the game somehow.  It's suggested to be a method by the doc., and could be a viable play-option for people.  It could easily work as a quest or just a different way than "taking the pill" immediately upon being given the opportunity.  "It takes longer" could mean that you have to collect 10 mindshrooms and once you have the 10, go to a special cave somewhere, dose the shrooms, and then become "unlocked."  It would be really cool!  I definitely would forgo the ability to immediately be able to begin training psi abilities for a delay like this that simply adds flavor and depth and option.