I continued with the Institute shenanigans.
Finding the vent does not require any Per from your character - only that you start the quest. I actually wasn't completely sure of that.
I forgot about the Coil Bugs here. Wasn't prepared with the usual 100 % Electric resistance stuff.
Lucky for me and despite them being very perceptive, I was able to somewhat sneak around them.
Found a lone bug here.
Took it out, but right after walking a tile to the back I got trapped in one of those electric cob web trap-things. The bugs get alerted if this happens.
One of them, however, blocked the choke and spent it's entire AP pool on an EMP. That makes the whole fight incredibly easy.
After that not-so-smooth experience Nerfed Old Man found Nevil.
The whole place goes alert and the swarm of bots comes to wage some high-tech warfare.
Used a Laser Pistol at first, but switched to the Acid Pistol after that. It both entangles them and does very good damage with the Advanced Catalyzing Belt.
Nevil, in the mean time, got set on fire and ran in the opposite direction.
An EMP, HE 'nade combo did a ton of work here.
Also, Nevil ran to me this time.
Seeing that I might get a shot at saving him, I decided to go full bodyguard on his ass.
The only way to do this, I think, is to completely prevent him from doing stupid stuff... like, you know, fighting the bots.
Despite my best effort, an Industrial Bot went around me and ignited Nevil from a tile next to me while Force Wall was on.
There's no saving him now, plus Nerfed Old Man had to take a step back because shields had taken a beating, as well.
The rest of the bots weren't that big of a problem. Dancing around the corner and throwing an EMP or two, Nerfed Old Man cleaned house pretty well.
Got this for his effort.
Interesting weapon. Don't think it can stand up to the 6 AP, +2 bullet per burst custom Impala he had made for himself, though. I think you could make this work on a crit build.
That was the last task I had form the Institute. After that Median Samuel invited Nerfed Old Man to meet Eiden, but he had something else to do before that.
Namely, collect more oddities.
One thing I left for pretty late in the run were the Lurkers. I find them to be a very dangerous bunch, and usually go about very carefully when fighting them.
This is, however, the first time I do a stealthy melee character, and I have to say that it really has it's benefits.
Basically, all around the tunnels there are these small groups of Lurkers which won't get alerted if there are no gun shots. I was also moving around a tile at a time to try and spot and ones who are stealthed.
I used Morphine, Bullhead here - entirely unnecessary. Still, better be safe than sorry.
Sneaking further in the tunnels, Nerfed Old Man found the main Lurker Base.
Also learned this little trick, although it might be a little too late in the run to make good use of it.
In the room to the east the suspicion bars were filling too quickly on the enemies, so instead Nerfed Old Man threw a bag of Caltrops and hid behind that barrel over there, thinking it would provide cover.
He was, instead, wide open for the whole gang to shoot him, but he also had the shields up.
That, however, also makes the entire gang come together in one tight spot.
Just look at them... begging for a 'nade.
An egg, flashbang, egg combo wiped them completely.
The Butcher was nothing.
After looting the area of Oddities - quite a few around here, mind you, Nerfed Old Man boarded his Protectorate Cruiser and head back to the Black Sea. I just wonder, though... is the Black Sea and the whole Native, Pirate, Aegis stuff somehow related to the real Black Sea...?
He did some more Oddity hinting.
And tested some new Laser Pistol he had made for himself.
It was doing alright, even without being a build fully focused on energy weapons.
The whole wildlife thing in Expedition is very important for Oddity XP. Make sure you always collect everything.
He found the Submarine.
Snuck past all the crabs without any problems.
And without engaging in any combat, put the power back on.
While the crabs and the statues were having a go at each other, Nerfed Old Man just ran past them with all the haste and adrenaline he had. Didn't want to deal with them anymore, although, he still threw a flashbang on his way out.
Next, he head a little to the west and landed on a busy shore, bustling with Natives.
He made a complete mess out of the place.
Every Psi user was bombed - MK V 'nades with Three-Pointer on one shot them. The shields completely tanked the crossbowmen's shots, and between the punches and the SMG the rest of the natives were no problem at all.
Observing a bit of Native aesthetics, he noticed that skull which might have a wig.
Nerfed Old Man made his way to the Shrine of the Serpent Eyes.
Sneaking in was filling their suspicion bars too quickly, plus there are Sea Wyrms in the water beneath. So instead, Nerfed Old Man barricaded the corridor to the entrance with Crawler Caltrops and Toxic Gas.
Took out the few isolated shamans close to the entrance, alerting the whole shrine in the process.
Using SMG single bullet fire and 'nades, he had no problem cleaning the natives coming through the gas cloud. Serpent Eyes himself took a ton of damage with a single 'nade.
BTW, how much Thought Control do you need for 21 images...?
I blocked him with a net and Force Wall combo to prevent Psi shenanigans and wait the images out.
Hunting Nets land on a Psi user with Pseudo Spacial Projection on... neat, although logically I think it shouldn't. I am sure it was made deliberately for balance reasons.
After the images went away, Serpent Eyes was a sitting duck.
Deeper in the Shrine we find an interesting piece of lore for Expedition.
Lvled up to 27 during this run:
http://underrail.info.tm/build/?GwMQBQkDAwcAwpEAwpEyalAAAAAAZWdGVWUALQA3AABKJy9hFiBOBsKjBysMPiRLwq3Cm8KewqDCh8Kz4qGQA-KilgTita4F378
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