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General / Re: [MILD SPOILER] who wrote the dialogues and the game text?
« on: February 08, 2018, 07:42:24 am »
As Academician Prokhor Zakharov, renowned author of "For I Have Tasted the Fruit"? 
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662
Bugs / Problem with "throwing" attacks
« on: February 08, 2018, 07:38:15 am »
A few times since the patch I've had a thrown attack (once with grenades, once with nets, and once with a Pyrokinesis) disappear. The PC goes through the throwing animation, and any consumable aspect (item, psi, Action Points) is used, but the projectile animation doesn't follow and there's no feedback as to what goes wrong.
I can't predictably duplicate it (because I suspect it requires you to screw up and throw wildly) but each time it has happened I've been standing near a wall and the target I'm throwing to is also near a wall. Maybe there's a problem with destination checking allowing a projectile to miss into a wall tile, but since there's no actual way to target/attack a wall the projectile animation doesn't trigger?
I can't predictably duplicate it (because I suspect it requires you to screw up and throw wildly) but each time it has happened I've been standing near a wall and the target I'm throwing to is also near a wall. Maybe there's a problem with destination checking allowing a projectile to miss into a wall tile, but since there's no actual way to target/attack a wall the projectile animation doesn't trigger?
663
Suggestions / Re: A way to deal doppelgangers without psi.
« on: February 03, 2018, 11:43:15 pm »Anyone with at least 60 Biology can craft and use a Psi Reinvigorator and then a Psi Booster to clear the Inhibited status and restore 75 psi points, so there's an effective countermeasure that's not exactly costly in terms of required skill points. For those without psionics you can only try to run away, tank the damage (not really an option on Hard and above if there are other enemies, except maybe if you have 10+ CON) or rely on Dodge, which does very likely need heavy investment to be reliable. Yes, they are build-specific weaknesses which naturally should exist, but while you can outright eliminate the problem of being Inhibited, the damage from a doppelganger you can only attempt to mitigate. IMHO, that's not a small difference.That's true, but for less than half that investment (and using much more readily-available component materials, too, which isn't a small difference - Statolith is not fun to farm) your non-psi user can create and pop morphine and take an advanced health hypo before it wears off. And on Hard or Dominating, eating the damage from a 300-skill Psicognitive Interruption (that's about the skill of a Goliath beetle with two friends nearby) is most certainly no less difficult than eating the damage from a doppelganger.
No, Hard is meant to be hard. I can't agree that this is an unbalanced scenario if we give non-psi a fairly accessible way to handle doppelgangers. As it is right now, I'm sympathetic to the claims that doppelgangers are not fun or well-balanced. I don't agree with them, from my tanky sledge experience, but I'm also super nitpicky about action management and am willing to load a save if I die. I get that not everyone is.
crossfire's suggestion seems fun. What if psi doppelgangers couldn't be hurt by normal weapons but could be stunned for a turn by electricity? Everybody and their uncle carries a Taser anyway, right?
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Suggestions / Re: A way to deal doppelgangers without psi.
« on: February 03, 2018, 04:18:37 pm »One argument for armor working against doppelgangers is that according to wiki their chance to hit is already affected by Dodge. I've no idea how well that actually works, but it does imply that their effectiveness can be reduced through completely physical means.That seems more like a Touch Attack mechanic. In D&D (and presumably other systems but I don't know of one off the top of my head) there's this mechanic where ghostly attacks, and some magical attacks, just need to touch you - they're not really of this world, so they ignore physical defenses. Your Dexterity bonus still applies to see if you can prevent being touched (Dodge, here, obviously) but your physical defenses don't mean much when a ghostly wraith touches you and the chill of the grave saps your strength. Doppelgangers seem like the ghosts of the UnderRail game world.
I like the idea of dispersing the doppelganger when the creator dies, yeah. But as much as doppelgangers are a pain when you don't have psi, they're the opposite of Psicognitive Interruption/Black Dragon Poison, which is only a pain if you do. Seems fair to have a weakness tailored to each build approach, though I do mostly play psi so the doppelgangers don't bother me much.
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Suggestions / Re: Overcharged Plasma feat?
« on: February 03, 2018, 02:18:56 am »
Chemical pistols were given a nice new feat and belt because they were much weaker than laser/plasma pistols - crit built plasma pistols could one-shot Tchort, apparently, like sniper rifles. Chemical pistols really needed a boost to be brought up even in line with good conventional pistols. Not saying plasma doesn't deserve some love, just pointing out that chemical pistols *really needed* some love just to be remotely competitive.
Thus, if you want extreme heat output, why not carry an incendiary pistol with you? I have to imagine that would fit the bill.
Thus, if you want extreme heat output, why not carry an incendiary pistol with you? I have to imagine that would fit the bill.
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Suggestions / Re: Serrated Bolts Mk II & III?
« on: January 31, 2018, 05:28:24 pm »Not to mention his laughter.That's what gets me each time. "Let me show you its specifications!" and then manic laughter on and off for 5-10 minutes. Nice to know I'm not the only one who aged out of childhood but didn't really grow up, strictly speaking
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General / Re: skill point / build ? for a relative UnderRail noob
« on: January 31, 2018, 04:55:03 pm »damnit I wish there were more skill points!
at lvl 19 I've currently got it set to / where I'm at with it:There are more skill points. You get more skill points by allocating your stats better. Given your stubborn refusal to hear what several of us have been saying, maybe it's time for blunt to the point of rudeness. This is, of course, my specialty.
agi 7, per 10, will 8, int 10
hacking 90 (135) - hopefully this is high enough to get all optional content related to hacking? anyone willing to check that guide would be much appreciated!
metathermics 70 (93) - forgetting proc / skill after effects like catching mobs on fire, is exothermic aura effective towards near end-game enemies with (93) ? do I bump this +20 and mechanics +20 and drop electronics?
and desire to know things like: at lvl 19 doing a build like this will I be at a place where the 90 (120) for persuasion+intimdation is all I need / is it too much, but, I won't sweat not knowing too much and will just enjoy the game and hope I get the most out of it (:
thanks to you all for all the feedback, keep it coming, if you have it
Your build sucks. Here's what you're doing wrong, and why it's wrong.
You have 10 INT for a build that only has 80 total points into crafting. That's ridiculous. That's a total waste of either 4 or 7 stat points (4 if you're going to take premeditation, which if you're using psi, you are)
You have too much Persuasion and far too much Intimidation. You need exactly 110 effective Persuasion and exactly 75 effective Intimidation. You can get those both with fewer than 120 real points allocated if you pump up your Will slightly, which will also make your Metathermics almost useful.
Exothermic Aura is only highly useful in two fights. It's otherwise often useful if you carry a lot of molotovs and drop them at your own feet and then want to walk through the fire but aren't wearing aluminized anything. Exothermic Aura does not scale with skill.
I know this build isn't how you want to play and thus am not recommending it to you, but look at this specialized psi build. http://underrail.info.tm/build/?GQMIAwMDEAoPHgAAAAAAUDwAPFpkIzxaS8KHwocyAEEXKyg_FCoWLj0hZGdmClc
See how many effective skill points it has? If you will focus your build and not allow so much wasted potential, you'll be able to do the things you really want to do. Because you're splitting between crossbows and psi, you won't have *quite* as many points, but there are a *lot* of skill points in the game if you make a lean build.
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General / Re: skill point / build ? for a relative UnderRail noob
« on: January 30, 2018, 11:20:30 pm »I'm mostly doing the mechanics+electronics both so I can make flashbangs.Just three more points here since it looks like you either don't know what I'm saying or don't care, and if it's the former I need to clarify. If it's the latter, feel free to skip this post =)
I want metathermics to be a 2ndary source of damage output.
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.
1) If you're mostly just doing crafting for flashbangs, then you obviously need to drop the Bowyer feat, and also have a few too many skill points already in the skills. Pull out points until you have 40 effective Chemistry and 5 effective Mechanics. Put all the points you've freed up into Metathermics, because...
2) With 99 skill, Metathermics won't be a secondary damage source. You've picked up Thermodynamicity, which means unless you're wasting feats, you intend to do things like open with Cryokinesis (20AP since you don't have Tranquility), follow with a faster Pyrokinesis (17AP) and then do shooty pewpew stuff. You've also got Pyromaniac which means you're hoping your Pyrokinesis will set enemies on fire. It won't, at 99 skill. See, extra effects like burning are resistable. Enemies resist extra effects via Resolve or Fortitude (Fort for fire). Their resist are overpowered in large part by your effective skill with your psi ability. So at high enemy levels in the later game, 99 effective skill means you'll often not set enemies on fire because they'll resist your secondary effects because you don't have the skill to suppress their Fortitude.
You also need to get Premeditation. You just need to. If nothing else, you Premed your Cryokinesis, take it for 0AP, then get a Thermodynamicity proc on your Pyrokinesis, and have done a targetted shot plus a fiery AoE for 17 total AP. Or switch it around and get the extra range and 0AP on your Pyro and chill someone if they didn't catch fire. Whatever.
3) According to destroyor's FAQ, which seems to be highly accurate, there's no Persuasion skill check in the base game higher than 110 effective. Unless someone with some deep knowledge comes down and calls me out for being wrong, I'd suggest you go ahead and trust destroyor's FAQ. It's very thoroughly researched and probably about as solid as you'll get without access to the actual game files. So get your effective Persuasion skill to 110 and you'll be good for the base game. Given that skill checks are always - thus far - a bit lower than the raw skill cap, you might be okay keeping effective at or under 150 in the expansion content. Might be.
EDIT: Oh, epeli suggests capping. Well, he's one of the people who knows way more than I ever will about this game
Do what he says, it's probably right.
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Suggestions / Re: Serrated Bolts Mk II & III?
« on: January 30, 2018, 05:11:01 am »
I have to leave this link here since you brought up multiple bolt firing crossbows. I hope YT links aren't a violation but I'll eat the ban for this crazy man and his contraptions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbKGjRoSofA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbKGjRoSofA
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General / Re: skill point / build ? for a relative UnderRail noob
« on: January 30, 2018, 04:32:07 am »what are the max skill check #s for persuasion and intimidation, so I know exactly what to do with each skill pointOK. First of all, what a mess. You need to refocus pretty substantially. Let's start with the super obvious ones.
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)
paranoia, aimed shot, kneecap shot, bowyer, concussive shots, thermodynamicity, pyromaniac, snipe, ambush, critical power, deadly snares, elemental bolts, echoing soliloquy
Echoing Soliloquy can't be picked on level up. It's a special feat that you have to do a thing for. So you most assuredly won't have it at level 20 since if you're where that feat comes from at level 20, you'll be too busy being dead.
Metathermics is the worst of the three psi schools to go halfway in on. Most psi builds assume you'll have nearly 300 effective skill if you're making regular use of metathermics. So either plan to max the base metathermics skill AND p[ump Will several points, or accept that you're going to be using Psi as strictly support (there are a few useful Metathermics abilities in support roles, but that's generally the high-damage output school and with low effective skill you'll find enemies don't much care about your psi output). In which case, you should be going into either of the other two schools. Mind control gets you Locus of Control (and at least one interesting dialog option) and as a result a few amazing AoE effects though with ~100 effective skill near endgame enemy resolve may be high enough to give you some small trouble.
That might be too much Persuasion and Intimidation, but the crux of your questions is that you're asking us to tell you thresholds for the expansion content which - unless I've missed something - none of us have or know any such details about. <sneaks sideways glance at epeli>
Your crafting skills are uselessly low. Either get them 50 points higher or don't bother levelling them at all - there's no sense crafting something worse than the loot you're going to find laying around. Bowyer is a terrible choice with such a low Mechanics score since you won't be able to make a good crossbow, even with the feat bonus. The only crafting skills that probably make a lot of sense to level but keep low are Chemistry (if you want to mix your own incendiary grenades but not high quality explosives) or Biology (if there's a specific thing you want to cook then you hit that threshold and stop). Tailoring, Mechanics, and Electronics are certainly not good choices for partway levelling. (EDIT: Of course, in the edge case that you want to make improved repair kits but nothing more, then you get 50 effective skill in those three and stop. While that would be an odd character build choice, it wouldn't be objectively wrong.) (SECOND EDIT: It's late. It would also make sense to level Electronics only a tiny bit if you wanted to make a Taser and some specialty bolts but not a shield or cloaking generator or high-quality goggles)
You aren't specialized nearly enough. On easier difficulties, that's not a problem that you can't manage, but you're not making a truly powerful character with such a wide and shallow stat and skill spread. It's good to see that you're maxing your crossbow and stealth - and your Agi and Per are high enough to be alright for those skills - but you've got some odd decisions there and I don't think you'll be terribly happy with the character that results from them.
If you're slow-playing your crafting and plan to dump points heavily into them from 20+, then mostly ignore my paragraph about your crafting. Levelling crafting last is a perfectly viable approach given that you don't end up finding really good components regularly until you get pretty close to the point where you stride boldly into the final unknown.
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General / Re: skill point / build ? for a relative UnderRail noob
« on: January 29, 2018, 11:15:44 am »
Keep in mind that level cap is 25, and you gain 40 skill points per level (and 1 stat point per 4 levels), so your starting spread is really only a very small part of your character. You will probably level up in less than an hour of gameplay - maybe less than 15 minutes if you rush but you sound like you take your time with games like this.
If you're playing on easy or normal difficulty, then really all you need to do is make moderately good tactical decisions and almost any build will work fine. You want to max your dialog options? Then get to an effective Persuasion of about 110 - until the expansion comes out, whenever it does, there's no need to really max that skill. Also, if you like your non-combat options, get a little over 100 effective Mercantile. You've got a stat profile that strongly reinforces Psi so you may want to seriously consider getting at least 75 points into Thought Control, and picking up Premeditation (just do that, regardless of your decision on Thought Control, trust me) and Locus of Control.
If you really want detailed help regarding skill thresholds in the game (which will also come with a few spoilers so beware) you should look up destroyor's FAQ. He's got a substantial build section and explains what might work best for various characters, and why. But you may find the section on skill minimums to be more what you need to make up your mind. 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
If you're playing on easy or normal difficulty, then really all you need to do is make moderately good tactical decisions and almost any build will work fine. You want to max your dialog options? Then get to an effective Persuasion of about 110 - until the expansion comes out, whenever it does, there's no need to really max that skill. Also, if you like your non-combat options, get a little over 100 effective Mercantile. You've got a stat profile that strongly reinforces Psi so you may want to seriously consider getting at least 75 points into Thought Control, and picking up Premeditation (just do that, regardless of your decision on Thought Control, trust me) and Locus of Control.
If you really want detailed help regarding skill thresholds in the game (which will also come with a few spoilers so beware) you should look up destroyor's FAQ. He's got a substantial build section and explains what might work best for various characters, and why. But you may find the section on skill minimums to be more what you need to make up your mind. 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
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General / Re: Sledgehammer build
« on: January 10, 2018, 10:32:49 pm »Are you playing some sort of sledg build?Ah, no. Must have misread your comment, sorry. I thought you meant in general, Dominating can't be won without stealth. I'll try a sledge run once I win with the current character, but the current one is psi with traps and grenades.
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General / Re: Sledgehammer build
« on: January 10, 2018, 09:12:28 pm »You can't win dominating without stealth.Oh, I have to disagree. I've died a few times (three, maybe?), so it's not an Ironman run, but I'm 100% certain that I'm going to win with my zero-defense, zero-stealth character. It's just going to be a while since I can't pour hours into the game like I could have a while ago. At the very least, I'm finding DC manageable and for my other character, Tchort was easier than DC.
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General / Re: Has the Beast encounter been buffed?
« on: January 09, 2018, 09:01:45 pm »How can I do? I can not do it. I want to know how to do it.Well, you should prepare. Without knowing what your character can do, it's hard to say, but here are some suggestions:
1) Buy or create a lot of bear traps. They don't require any traps skill to use, and the bladelings do a very poor job of finding traps. Before starting the encounter by turning on the device, lay down traps all over the stairs, and back around on the path toward where your friends will be. Use at least 30 traps. If you have Traps skill on your character, consider using even better traps mixed in with bear traps.
2) Come with a lot of grenades. If you have crafting skill, buy or find toxic waste barrels and make ten gas grenades. If you do not have the ability to get/make gas grenades, then make/buy at least 20 grenades (molotovs don't do a lot of damage but the Magnesium/Napalm grenades are fine, as are higher-tier HE/frags. If you do use incendiaries, try to keep throwing them in the same place so the fire intensity becomes very strong. Even with their high fire resist, bladelings do take a bit of damage from intense fire). Wear a Utility Belt so you have plenty of slots for grenades. Throw grenades whenever possible. As the bladelings are stuck in traps, they will take extra damage from being stuck in toxic gas or pools of fire.
3) Let the waves of enemies come to you, through traps and poison and flame. The first four or five waves shouldn't even cause you to move. They should just all die in your killing fields. Then, with some meds from your inventory and some use of whatever skills your character has, you should be able to finish off the rest of them. If you have Grenadier and/or Quick Tinkering, the fight becomes much, much easier.
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General / Re: No-crafting exploration build?
« on: January 08, 2018, 08:07:12 pm »I'm extremely inexperienced with both psi and unarmed melee (specifically AP cutoff points) so I'd love some feedback -My only feedback is that I honestly don't believe a psi-heavy build without Premeditation is correct. There is no feat that's as valuable to a psi user as Premeditation. It's a free action, and it also extends the range of most abilities and halves their psi cost. You'd only need 1 more point in Int to open it up, and it's enormously powerful. I would trade out Pack Rathound in an instant for Premeditation. The QoL of greater carrying capacity won't match the benefits of Premeditation, and your AoE mind abilities like LoC+Enrage or LoC+Bilocation are expensive enough that it's a huge help to get them for half cost, especially since you're not going to have Meditation or Neurology to give you a slightly deeper pool of psi. Plus if you eventually find yourself making use of TK Proxy + (TK Punch and/or Implosion), you're going to be burning through an awful lot of psi.
Get Premeditation.