Messages

436

Builds / Re: Start a new run for the extension : Psy build help

« on: July 09, 2019, 10:47:33 am »

I'm going to make a new char to play the dlc, but I dont know until where I need to go on to enjoy the DLC.
I fear being too strong or weak for it.

Anyone have a hint which level is the best do fully enjoy there ?

The official recommendation is level 15+.  I can tell you that on DOMINATING, I didn't start the DLC content with one character until level 29, and I still didn't feel the least bit like I had out-levelled the content in several locations.  Starting anywhere from 15-20 should be just fine to keep the challenge high in the Black Sea.

437

Builds / Re: Start a new run for the extension : Psy build help

« on: July 06, 2019, 09:55:24 pm »

In brief, no. A solid psi build requires heavy investment in Will and doesn't leave much for Perception. Even if you put four of your six ability points into Perception, your Guns score isn't going to be high enough to really be a strong damage source for you.  Then, of course, you'd only have at most 12 Will, which isn't great for psi since psi scales pretty heavily off of your stat.

If you really want to do both psi and SMGs, then I'd suggest you shoot for 12 Per and 14 Will, starting with both of them at 10 at level 1.  That'll give you fairly strong effective skill levels throughout.  The problem with that of course is that it doesn't leave much room for Dexterity, so your AP cost for using the SMGs will be high. But assuming you're not playing on the hardest difficulty, you'll be fine.  (edit: Still, on reflection, I can't recommend it.  The problem with SMG builds is that they require two high stats, and neither of those are any use for psi.  So you'd need three high stats, and it's just not possible to have three high stats in UnderRail.  If you absolutely must have guns as a backup for psi, go with ARs.  They're much more forgiving.  You just need a little bit of Str and some Per; no need to take Dex above 3.)

Classic mode is fine.  Oddity mode is fine.  Play whichever one you think you'd prefer more.

438

Suggestions / Re: tacvest x3 DT for other projectiles

« on: July 06, 2019, 05:09:04 pm »

It bothers me that JHP incurs a penalty vs DR/DT and gets a boost after, but w2c penetrates and does the same damage after; shouldn't w2c have less base damage?  Like against heavily armored enemies (anti-rifle tacvests, robots, full metal armor, bladelings), you could net more damage, but otherwise they're weaker.

From a realism perspective (which I dislike), W2C shouldn't do less damage than a normal bullet.  Against soft tissue, FMJ or AP is going to make more or less the same wound channel; the bullet will not deform a whole lot, so the bullet damage is going to be mostly the same.  Hollow point should make a larger wound channel.

From a game balance perspective, I think JHP and W2C are okay, because W2C requires the more expensive and less common tungsten plate to create, in addition to graphite.  That's a lot more cost for the same number of rounds.  And it's OK for JHP to fade out from frequent use to specialty use by late-game.  There are still plenty of enemies with very low DR/DT that you want to pick off quickly, all throughout the mid and late game.

439

Suggestions / Re: tacvest x3 DT for other projectiles

« on: July 06, 2019, 01:07:48 pm »

You'd have to nerf W2C as well as JHP to the ground before the weaker special ammo types start to look good. They need significant boosts, though you're certainly well aware of that.

For mass use, sure, but special ammo is already situationally quite useful.

Burning folk never gets old. It's OK to do less damage (especially on DOMINATING, fighting bosses which you aren't likely to one-shot/one-burst anyway) when the result is likely to be a panicked enemy - a 9-round long burst is about 98% likely to set the target on fire, and I like those odds.  The micro-shrapnel ammo makes for a great crit opener, putting a big debuff on an enemy - Ancient Rathounds are a favorite of mine for that since they're so very resistant to other useful CC abilities.  And contaminated ammo is nice for the stacking +damage debuff, especially on more resistant enemies; I like tagging Balor with a round while he's stuck in a trap or stunned, then going to town with the W2C.

Sure, for general use, the general use ammo is absolutely better.  But I think there are enough special cases that special ammo is still worth crafting and carrying a couple magazines' worth.

440

Builds / Re: So enjoyed what I played a long time ago, but dropped due to life. Build help!

« on: July 04, 2019, 12:55:08 pm »

Mania is lvl 8 xD but I am trying to do side stuff in hopes of finding enough oddities.

I've never had any difficulty at all getting to level 10 before going to the Depot, the times I played Oddity.  I don't know why you're having trouble.  You just need to explore more, I suspect.

Did you farm the siphoners at the Siphoner Pools for their oddity?  There's at least one lootable oddity there, too.

Did you buy (or make, or steal, or disarm&keep) a bunch of traps, and go hit up the easier of the two Lunatic groups that you can get to?  There should be three oddities, I think, in the map screens you "unlock" by killing off that group.  And that group can be managed quite handily if you load up on bear traps, Mk 1 frag mines, caltrops, and grenades.

Did you go poke around in Junkyard and do the first two quests for both Eels and Scrappers?  Great xp from doing those quests.

If you did do those quests, and decide you want to help the Eels, did you do the first few steps of the new quest line?  Finding Blaine, and all that?  There's some xp in that for you.  If you're feeling froggy, there's no reason you can't jump all over the opportunity to wipe out the Scrappers before you go into the Depot.  There's at least one oddity in the Scrappers camp, if you ddin't get it elsewhere, and man so much loot.

Did you farm cave hoppers for the three minutes it'll take to get their droppable oddity?  Then give Mordre some meat (I think that's worth one Oddity xp as well, maybe?)

How about going into the three easy Depot maps and killing off the Junkyard Muties and the dogs?  You might want to leave the central depot for last, since those real mutants can be a pain, but the Junkyard Muties are not hard at all.  There's a bunch of Oddity xp in those three easier maps, and another huge pile of loot.

Did you go run around in the Underpassages and gank all the Lurkers?  Did you go back into the GMS compound, take the caves to the east, and kill off the larger group of bandits there, with the named guy?  There's so much stuff to do before you *have* to hit the Depot.  You just must be skipping all of it.  So, don't.

441

General / Re: Heavy Punch is useless?

« on: July 03, 2019, 09:09:18 pm »

Minimum AP cost is 4 so 12 attacks is your maximum.

That's a pretty bold (and limiting) assumption, that you only have 50AP.

442

Builds / Re: So enjoyed what I played a long time ago, but dropped due to life. Build help!

« on: July 03, 2019, 09:08:18 pm »

Okay I am level 7 and I am starting to hit swarms of enemies. [...] My next level up what should I focus on and how do I get better defense?

Is this your Psychosis-built psi character?  You should have premeditation by level 7 and be about to pick up Psionic Mania.  So from about level 8 to about level 16, all you have to do is manually start combat, walk just close enough to see the bad guys, Premeditate, Psionic Mania, Pyrokinesis. That'll kill a lot of the easier enemies right there.  You've still got your 50AP at that point so you can follow up with an electrokinesis stun if that's appropriate, or a pair of cryokinesis casts, or start lobbing grenades.  Once you pick up Pyromaniac, your alpha strike may well set a bunch of enemies on fire, making it all the easier to manage them.

Down the line, you're going to want to change out your alpha strike.  Psionic Mania + Cryokinetic Orb is ludicrous.  Following that up with Locus of Control + [something] just feels frankly unfair to the poor enemy NPCs who never had half a chance.

Basically, for Psychosis, the only defense you need is MOAR OFFENSE.  qaStaHvIS wa' ram loSSaD Hugh SIjlaH qetbogh loD !!

443

General / Re: Heavy Punch is useless?

« on: July 03, 2019, 02:46:51 pm »

This absolutely works, but combo triggers on the third hit, so it takes some management to get them to line up.

High Dex builds can still get 12 or more attacks a turn without too much trouble.  It's pretty nice when it all comes together.

444

General / Re: Any way to use my skills/can I wait to autoheal, or some other free way?

« on: July 02, 2019, 02:39:09 am »

What about that discount? Does that affect cash, or selling prices? (on my end)

Just the prices that you pay to buy things.  The selling price of items doesn't seem to change except by game difficulty.  If you stored up a couple levels and threw 40 or even 80 points into Mercantile, you could see that your selling prices don't shift a jot, but buying prices come down a good bit for most merchants.  There's a point where there's no real return on additional Mercantile, though (somewhere around 150 effective, and if you assume you're buying mostly from vendors who like you, it's more like 80-120 because they have a more favorable base rate).

445

General / Re: As my crafting skills are low, how else can I repair?

« on: July 02, 2019, 02:34:01 am »

Buy repair kits.  It's an expensive way to go, but you only need 25 tailor/mechanical/electronics to make the basic repair kits.  Unless you use energy weapons, you probably don't need to worry much about the electronic repair kits, so just try to get whichever of tailoring/mechanics is more important to you up to 25 effective relatively quickly.  For high-Int builds, you can usually do that by level 2 if you try.  Personally, I like to get mechanics up to about 50-60 fairly quickly (because things that needs mechanical repair kits tend to wear out quickly and it's helpful to be able to scrap those giant, heavy sledgehammers) and then pull up tailoring.  By the time I have 50 tailoring, I've got a chest full of rathound leather waiting to be turned into leather armor, then recycled for scraps.

446

General / Re: Ventilation Shafts has a skill check? (spoilers)

« on: July 02, 2019, 02:30:12 am »

Yea the dude died even though I stayed down and saved Jenny. Lammmmeeeeeeeeeeee. Game is still great but that is kinda irritating that I need a feat (not a skill check) in-order to save that dude.

You must have taken too long.  You absolutely do not need the feat to save the guy.  Once upon a time, many versions ago, you did; but now you can just hop on down, clear a path to Jenny, get her out, and they both bicker their way off into the sunset. The caveset. The neverchanging gloom of meager subterranean existence.  The bleak darkness of the post-post-apocalyptic future.  See?  It's a happy story. >.>

Assuming you don't save them for the XP and then gank them for their loot.

447

General / Re: Ventilation Shafts has a skill check? (spoilers)

« on: July 01, 2019, 05:31:56 am »

Oh I reloaded when I was two maps north and just went back to town. I can't manage swarms of bugs (or even the thugs in that shack one map north of the dude bleeding out). xD

Is this character your psychosis build that you were asking about on the forums not so very long ago?  If so, you certainly can handle the burrowers, you're just not going at the problem the right way.

I can probably walk you through a successful clear of that floor if you want.  All you really need are a couple loud things like explosive traps or grenades.  Since you can't pick the vent and get to the perfect staging room (which is almost due east of the ladder you drop in from) you just need to get to the unlocked doored room immediately north and west from the ladder.  Once you're in a room with no entry except doors, all you have to do is cheese Premeditation - make some noise, gather up a bunch of bugs, Premeditate, open a door, fireball, close the door.  Wait five turns and repeat the last four steps.  Is it fun? Not really.  But if they can't open the door, then you'll eventually kill them all.

448

General / Re: Ventilation Shafts has a skill check? (spoilers)

« on: July 01, 2019, 12:58:45 am »

To use the Omnitool to open a vent, yeah, you have to have a certain (fairly low) Lockpicking skill.  Similarly, to force open a vent with a crowbar, you need to have a certain amount of Strength.

Once you talk to the guy and he starts bleeding, you need to find his lady friend right away or he can bleed out, IIRC.  It used to be worse; the only way you could reliably save him was with Doctor feat and a bandage, at one point.

449

General / Re: a few questions about perks

« on: June 24, 2019, 06:24:19 am »

about tailoring, looks like im gonna switch from bio to tailoring. i guess  i could always buy my drugs/buffs.

Buying food is easy, but buying drugs is not so common. Still, knowing that you can get a skill boost from crafting in your player-owned house, if you've got enough stat points to get at least 5 or 6 Int you should probably be able to find enough skill points to do both Tailoring and Biology.  As you work on your build concept, you may find that with careful consideration you can pull a lot of points back from where you first thought you'd need to be.  You want to do a thing, all you need is to touch the threshold; there's no bonus for over-skill.

450

General / Re: a few questions about perks

« on: June 24, 2019, 03:39:29 am »

1) Expertise is generally a good feat if you're going to hit a bunch of times.  So, it's really great for SMGs and ARs.  Incidentally, a pistol build is one of the weakest in the game (by which I mean bullet pistols; energy pistols and chemical pistols are both superior) and if you play on a high difficulty you may have some trouble in parts.  Pistols can be nice sidearms but they're not great primaries.  If I had to pick between Expertise for a pistol build, and Quick Tinkering, I'd pick QT in a heartbeat.  But Expertise has no requirements so all you'd need is a free feat slot for it, unlike QT which requires both stats and skills.

2) If you play stealth, yeah.  If you plan to facetank hits, then Recklessness == reloads.

3) Tailoring will help you from the beginning of the game all the way to the end.  Super Soldier drug will help you only at the very end of the game.  I'd take tailoring, play the game a while, learn from your mistakes, then restart with another character, personally.  But Super Soldier is amazingly powerful for the few seconds it lasts.  It's just very, very, very, very, very, very scarce and getting the ingredients for it is a giant PITA.