Messages

16

Builds / Re: A discussion on a few melee builds

« on: October 22, 2019, 05:07:42 am »

Good topic! I have a few questions about spear and melee in general:

1) Yes
2) Not sure, probably DEX
3) You are mostly safe with 30% hp through the game, it really depends on armor&shield and what you are fighting.
4) You don't need it but it is the best feat in the game. Place 45 points in Psychokinesis for stuns. Future orientation is a waste, all it does is give you 10 more AP total if the fight lasts 5-7 turns.

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Builds / Re: A discussion on a few melee builds

« on: October 20, 2019, 06:24:21 pm »

For the sword, 2 points into Flurry specialization and 25 in Temporal reduce the CD to 1 round, so it's not so bad.

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Builds / Re: (kinda) tin can AR burst w/ temporal manipulation and general utility

« on: October 20, 2019, 08:29:00 am »

You cant take 75 in mercantilism until level 14, if you put points in it every level, you really need to start crafting before so realistically level 18. At that point, persuasion checks will be higher, and the main draw of persuasion in the early game. Also if you are not playing dominating you are not at any point in the game hurting for money, you only take mercantilism to unlock higher quality merchandise, and for that, you have to finish Oligarch questline. Put 35 in persuasion early or drop it completely. Everything else looks good, for specialization points, I would put 10 in Critical Power.

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Builds / Re: (kinda) tin can AR burst w/ temporal manipulation and general utility

« on: October 19, 2019, 05:37:58 pm »

it goes over my head, I thought that all temporary int booster got removed, that'll helps a lot to saves some crafting points, although I wouldn't count for Under Pie, it seems to be a chore to stock up, and 3 skill points aren't that much anyway

It's really not that bad, also you are not crafting all the time, you will upgrade your weapon&gear 3-4 times max during the game. And it's not really 3 points, its 3 x (mercantile, hacking, lockpicking, mechanics, chemistry, biology, electronics, tailoring) so a whole level of points. Enough to get you an Electrokinetic imprint. Not needed, but if you want to min-max its there. Your build is not hurting for skill points so just ignore it.

extra stun might comes in handy, electrokinetic imprint is quite cheap and it doesnt need trap + quick tinkering, and force field would be neat. idk about Thought Control, though. Trap doesn't sound good on the overall theme, plus I need to swap to stealth gear to do setup before going combat. does "wasting" stealth point for some stealth result worth it, compared to just relies on gear / straight up kill everything? since I have 3 agi without nimble, it would get reduced quite a lot isn't?

Thought control is reeeally nice, but ofc not needed at all. Bear traps are extremely useful at the start but again, not needed. You can stealth no problem with 0 points in stealth and 3 AGI with proper gear even on dominating and with just 50-100 points invested you are a ghost. It is nice to have that option if you find yourself in a sticky situation, and especially nice in the last "level" of the game. I would seriously recommend 50 points here, and get some half-decent stealth gear and keep it at all times.

I thought the cap are 130 lockpick and 135 hacking?

You have armor that gives +10 to both, also easy to get in early Expedition. There are ~10-15 130 skill checks in-game, so you can count in Under Pie if you really want to min-max. 135 hacking check is a computer console so you cant use your +15 bonus from Huxkey (or any hacking tool) and all it does is removes one of the best fights in the game. I somehow checked your skills with +2 INT turned on that's why I made that comment, your build is not hurting for skill points so there is really no need for such min-max.

it might be better to just balls deep with 95% armor penalty w/ 3x tungsten plating, I guess. even if I could reduce a bit w/ 3x super steel plating and armor sloping, it only gives me less than a step. I picked aimed shot because its good to kill some critters without spending more bullets. I could also use sniper rifle for opening (although idk if its good enough without snipe + max stealth) I just like it in general unless I'm feat hungry. wouldn't Future Orientation good enough with 70 TM point invested? I put premeditation a bit later because I dont want to instantly took the pill, since I'm focusing more on the fighting, and less on psi. the plan was to pick the pill after depot 1, then invest on TM and get Haste. although it might be better to go usual psi route if I take Psychokinesis. for thick skull is it better to start with 7 CON 10 PER -> 10 CON lv 12 or focus on PER and left the last 3 CON points on veteran? idk how much impact PER on accuracy, since it'll be frustrating if I have to deal with <80%. scrutinous sounds pretty good, but idk if my PER is enough as is

Future Orientation reduces CD of Temporal Spells by one turn, you are only going to use one Temporal ability that really does not benefit at all from it. If the fight lasts 5-7 turns you will have 20 extra AP total, that is the whole benefit, really not needed. Its a great feat for heavy CD builds because it also reduces CD of Limited Temporal Increment that in turn reduces the CD of everything else, but AR Tin-can is the exact opposite of that, especially your variant that is basically just focused on high precision with burst. As for sniper rifle, you will use 2 Assault rifles at all times and Aimed shot might save you a bullet or two doing mop-up when you are finishing off one or two low-hp enemies.

I was thinking about SI QoL, I guess on end-game, my DR should be high enough to reduce everything to not quite fatal, and with high CON, it should be manageable. does suppressive fire no longer slows and combo with Opportunist? it seems like a good pick.

Opportunist is a great pick, especially if you pick it early. Specialization points in Opportunists are a waste because all passive bonuses are additive, and by that point you already have a lot, especially with a couple of Concentrated Fire procs. So that 9% damage increase is probably closer to <1% damage increase.

for weapons >
7.6 Marauder with Rapid Reloader&Muzzle brake or Anatomically Aware Scope

why this? the AP cost doesn't fit enough compared to the other 2 w/ haste and adrenaline shot

You can fire marauder with rapid reloader 2 times with 70AP, and that's all there is to it.

My revised build
https://underrail.info.tm/build/?HgkDAwoMAwbCoHAAAAAAMl9tAABtbVpLVAAtAEYRAEwrASZiOyoVSlVJUMKHY0sxwrUI4p-iBd-_

At least replace Recklessness with Scroutinous, the same benefit no downside, but I would take both. Also, 17 persuasion is a waste, it is 30 effective with synergies but you will not level up mercantilism until much later, at the point where 30 persuasion won't help you at all. You should level up persuasion first in the builder and then mercantilism. Think about some pickpocket its really nice, 50 effective and you can steal one item from everyone. Everything else skill-wise seems good. Keep in mind that it is possible to find higher quality components so its always nice to have some points in reserve if you get lucky.

You should invest your specialization points into crit, even ignore Full-Auto. Just with 5 points in crit SI, Focus drug, Recklessness and Scroutinus you have 70% chance to crit, 90% if you switch your helmet for Goggles. And with 10 points into Critical Power, each crit from your Huszar will do ~5 times more damage. If you want damage this is the way to go. If you want utility, reduce CD of Premeditation is your first pick. Also speccing into Commando for 9 extra AP is nice on AR, it will raise your leftover points enough so you can move a couple of spaces and use a drug/heal.

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Builds / Re: (kinda) tin can AR burst w/ temporal manipulation and general utility

« on: October 19, 2019, 08:59:41 am »

1) It is, you also have +2 intelligence drug and the Blueprint is fairly easy to get early in the expansion (if you know where it is and how to get there). But for Chemistry and Biology, I generally ignore those bonuses because you craft expendable items constantly and it is a pain to go to your house and use boosters all the time. Also, don't forget Under Pie food(+3 skills)

2) For tin-can your cap for Mechanics is 167 (for 160q plates) and 128 Tailoring for 160q vests. 167 Electronics for dual 160q modulators, 112 Chemistry for Mark 5 Frag grenades (or 60 for incendiary), 130 Biology for SuperSolider drug (or 100 for best healing hypo).

3) On normal/hard definitely not. On dominating probably but not required. You can not use your workbenches when you get the Blueprint and that is also a big consideration.

4) Yes. You can take 45 Psychokinesis for stuns and force-field, or even max Thought Control, with synergies it will work against a lot of enemies even on Dominating. 70 Temporal for Stasis. You can raise your trowing, effective 123 is required for 90% chance 10 squares away, or put some into traps early, bear traps are extremely useful. 50 Stealth + Ninja Tabi + Balaclava + Cave Hopper leather and you can finish all sneaky stuff in the game. With the cloak generator, you are a ninja. Evasion is a total waste, you will literally see no benefit at your armor penalty.

Also, you are over-capped on lockpicking and hacking, you don't really need Metathermics you will detect all traps with that perception (and can easily tank them for 0 damage). Mercantile, you don't need 105 effective all the time just to pass the check so you can lower it too, don't forget +2 INT drug and +3 skills food.

You don't need Armor Slopping, I think that in tungsten you are going to be at a 95% armor penalty no matter what, also 30 movement points from Psycho-temporal Contraction are not affected by it. Aimed Shots will get you really low mileage at the start of the game, later you will never use it. Future Orientation is a weak pick for this build. Drop PER for CON and take Thick Skull. Take Premeditation at level 6, the best feat in-game. You can take Scrutinous for more crit. Take a look at Ambush, its great on AR if you pour some points into stealth.

For specialization points don't take SI health threshold, you are not going to be one-shootable trough shield and armor even at 30% hp. Armor slopping is a total waste. Opportunists Slowed Target as well, passive damage bonuses are additive with each other and you have Concentrated Fire. You can take increased crit chance from SI, or Critical power, also Premeditation CD is a great pick.

For weapons >
9mm Chimera with Anatomically Aware Scope&Muzzle Brake for Commando procs
and either
7.6 Hornet with Anatomically Aware Scope&Muzzle brake
8.6 Hornet with Rapid Reloader&Anatomically Aware Scope
7.6 Marauder with Rapid Reloader&Muzzle brake or Anatomically Aware Scope
depending on the quality of frames you find, your crit chance and ammo stockpile.

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Builds / Re: Crossbow Dominating Build (without Aimed shot and snipe)

« on: October 18, 2019, 08:51:31 am »

Hello, really like the build but a couple of things confuse me

1) Marsman specialization, with 18 perception and maxed skill is it really needed? In some of my melee builds I used Special Tactics as support to stun an enemy at the start of the combat and with just 200 effective crossbow skill with Versatility and had no trouble hitting things (but from close range). Didn't play this on dominating but I did play Versatility SMG and had no major trouble with aiming (but again, melee range)

3) No specialization in Quick Tinkering, are you not using it in combat or you just take the AP cost when you have to?

2) Why no tailoring? There are some really good infused leather armor options. Didn't want to save-scum Super steel?

3) Why so much stealth, nimble, cloaking generator, gear, etc. it just seems way too much.

4) Are Recklessness and Scroutinus really needed, with Ambush and Deadly Traps? Even without them you still have ~40% base crit, more if you went tailoring?

5) If you wanted Premeditation in first 10 levels what feat would you remove?

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Builds / Re: An Average Explanation of Outstanding Psi Builds

« on: October 18, 2019, 05:16:49 am »

It just takes too long, bandages heal for nothing and hypos are on CD. It easier to just spec into stoicism and aegis+morphice+last stand when you fuck up.

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Builds / Re: An Average Explanation of Outstanding Psi Builds

« on: October 17, 2019, 08:22:44 pm »

Yeah but healing on dominating is a pain

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Builds / Re: An Average Explanation of Outstanding Psi Builds

« on: October 17, 2019, 07:14:31 pm »

Either one is fine. Tranquility is more powerful if you're a skilled player; Psychosis is more powerful if you're still making mistakes. The reason for that is once you make a mistake and take damage in combat, you lose your Tranquility bonus (though if you can heal back to full, you can get it back) but the Psychosis bonus doesn't care.

It cares more, after all you are running around with 1HP most of the time

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Builds / Re: The crafting question

« on: October 17, 2019, 06:55:36 pm »

That is a really old video, 2015, you should not follow that guide. Knives are bad in general, and that guide is for trowing knives specifically, so if you are using melee knives with 4-year-old throwing knives guide you are going to have problems

Start over, use swords as the main weapon, use PSI, grenades, traps, crossbows as support. Be a real ninja.

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Builds / Re: Regrouping your most fun builds in this topic

« on: October 17, 2019, 06:40:37 pm »

Here is a template for a versatile melee build that uses crossbows, traps, grenades and also has PSI support that you could easily remove/ignore but I would not recommend it.

LVL 10 https://underrail.info.tm/build/?CgMHBwMDAwYAMjw8AAA8AAAAMgAUFAAAACgAGQAAACsmORkWKjgw378
Notice 10 unspent ability points. You will use those depending on what weapon you choose.
You can craft Shock Bolts and Molotovs, have PSI abilities Limited Temporal Increment, Force Field and Electrokinesis. Buy Tabi Boots. All of these you can get from shops and trainers as SGS and another town you visit during "tutorial".

With Premeditation+Electrokinesis and Special Tactics+Shock Bolts, you can stun 2 enemies at the start of the fight and do some nice AoE for 0 AP. You can wall yourself with Forcefield, when it expires you will go first again, effectively gaining 2 turns at the start of the battle. With Grenadier and Limited Temporal Increment you can throw 2 grenades in the first two rounds. You can place bear traps in combat to create choke-points. Then just mop up with basic melee attacks.

When you finish SGS missions and world map opens up you can find/buy the other two important PSI abilities relatively soon (Electrokinetic Imprint and Psycho-temporal Contraction). The last PSI ability, Stasis, comes much later.

LVL 30 https://underrail.info.tm/build/?HgMHBwMDAwYAMkvCoAAAwqAAAAAyABQUAAAALQBGAAAAKyY5GRYqODASBkvCo8KzImrio7EF378
14 free ability points and 3 free feats between Quick Tinkering and Increased Dexterity (that you actually take at level 26).
Pick a weapon, fill the weapon feat and STR requirements and pour the rest into DEX, or put a point or two into CON if you don't want to be paper-thin. Ignore defensive weapon feats, you are playing to not get hit at all, also all RNG based defense sucks. Be sure to check the wiki Dexterity page for AP reduction on light weapons (knives and unarmed / fist weapons).

Expose weakness in mandatory to deal with super tanky enemies, Cheap Shots and Critical power are general damage increase abilities, and Versatility is there to raise crossbow skill. The last two feats are Marksman and Elemental bolts (level 28&30), at that point in the game you should have good gear and you can even play this as Elemental CB build, just spam Shock Bolts, Premeditation+Electrokinesis, stun everything and mop up with melee or grenades. Other elemental bolts are great too. Every melee weapon can work with this but unarmed (pure unarmed) and knives are much weaker than fist weapons and hammers. I don't have experience with spears, and swords are by far the best.

Specialization points only Quick Tinkering AP reduction is mandatory, the rest spend on CD reduction of important abilities or just pour everything into Critical Power/Versatility.
For gear Infused Rathound Leather Armor, Tabi Boots (check the wiki page and pick infused leather that has a bonus you like, does not really matter), Doctors/Lifting/Quiver belts as situation demands, best energy shield you can get your hands on, Blast Cloth Balaclava/Seeker Goggles, melee weapon of choice and crafted crossbow.

I don't know if you played the game so I didn't want to spoil anything, there are a lot of things that raise crafting, lockpicking and hacking, and also they are synergies to each other so I left that part for you to figure out as you play, or just check the wiki and forums and play around. If you want I can post finished build.

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Builds / Re: An Average Explanation of Outstanding Psi Builds

« on: October 16, 2019, 08:34:19 am »

All builds have trouble in Depot A on dominating, it is just a matter of preparation. In my opinion the hardest part of dominating run. Have 20 molotovs, Doctors belt and enough PSI boosters to eat them like candy. Do everything else before entering Depot A, you need to be level 8+ for this.

If you have STR for it you can just tin-can tank dogs with mutated dog leather boots and metal armor&helm.

Have some points in traps, stealth and trowing.
Stealth does not need to be high, just enough to be over their detection threshold so you can initiate fights from distance and have the first turn, you could do in with 3 AGI and no hardpoints in stealth with gear but that's expensive and time-consuming. Just put 50 points in stealth and use cave hopper leather armor.
Put some points into traps and use bear traps. Since you probably have PER 3 some points in traps are good to help with detection, I don't know exactly how much you need on dominating but I don't consider it "wasted" points in the long run.
Have some skill in trowing, you don't need it but it will cut on your reloads significantly so skip it if you really want super-optimized build for the rest of the game since after Depot A you don't really need to use grenades/molotovs with PSI.

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Builds / Re: An Average Explanation of Outstanding Psi Builds

« on: October 15, 2019, 11:13:00 pm »

In my experience going agility is a waste. You are not a melee fighter or SMG user, you don't want to sneak up to melee range. You don't need to skip fights. Even with 3 agility and just 100 hardpoints in stealth with Hopper leather, Ninja Tabi, and Balaclava you have over 200 effective stealth with mediocre quality components, more than enough to start every fight on your terms, finish sneaky quests and evade a lot of stuff with careful navigation, cloaking device, and left-clicking skills.
Dodge and evade are terrible on dominating. You don't need Sprint feat. Interloper is nice and only thing worth considering but its 4 ability points for a QoL skill.
Going full tin-can with high strength and the constitution is really not that big a penalty to stealth playstyle, just switch some gear around. On the other hand, going agility blocks you from doing OP stuff like total immortality with drugs and specced Stoicism feat, metal armor with ES for practically the same, etc. There are fights that you cant start from stealth and have a really low chance to go first even with 7+ agility.

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Builds / Re: Regrouping your most fun builds in this topic

« on: October 15, 2019, 05:07:23 am »

What difficulty are you planning to play on? I really don`t recommend dominating for first playthrough, but hard is doable and arguably more fun if you are experienced in similar games.
Also what would you consider fun, does the build need to be thematic? OP? Tanky or sneaky? Have a lot of abilities that you use constantly or a lot of oh-shit options? Dependant on cooldowns for maximum damage? Crit or minimize RNG?

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Builds / Re: 19DEX SMG build, dominating difficulty need advice

« on: October 14, 2019, 07:56:55 pm »

For build examples with Guns/SMG/Melee, there are possibilities to go to the crit road: 30% with SI, 15% with Focus Stim, 7% with recklessness, 3% with Body Horror, 15% with Seeker Google, 10% with Impala = 80% crit chance (you could reach even more on melee)

I don't like crit builds, I always try to minimize RNG, especially in paper-thin builds like these where you have to plan what enemies to take out and where to GTFO. And even in crit build, I would never drop Expertise on SMG, 20 x 50+ bullets per round is serious damage, and you cant play every fight with SI, etc.
I had terrible experiences in this game with builds like these, you miss one-two 95% shots, you don't crit for a while, you roll low damage on weapon and you are reloading for 10th time.

But I could drop Interloper or Blindsiding for Recklessness and go with Infused Rathound and crit Goggles for a nice damage bonus when it happens, I'm gonna restart this build from level 10 save and try it when I finish the expansion, some crit will definitely make thing better and more interesting.

With your current build, are you struggling to hit high evasion enemies?

Not really, even if I don't stun/incapacitate/trap them. My effective guns skill is equivalent to having guns maxed with ~14 perception, and I almost never attack out of melee range. Also, I spray such ridiculous amounts of bullets each round that it does not really matter.

I found your build very good I would only change premeditation for critical power, giving an even greater boost to SMG damage, without modifying your build much

Premeditation is the most powerful feat in the game, I don't think I could finish dominating without it. At least not with minimal save/reload. Also, only SMG that would benefit from Critical power is Steel Cat, and it has high AP costs.