Messages

16

General / Re: XP for quests in Oddity

« on: June 18, 2020, 06:11:07 am »

You have a chance of spawning the 2-headed mutant in Depot A north every 30 minutes.  The last time I saw him, he came out of that small shack on the north side with the cloth door.  I don't know if he can be encountered twice, however.

I plan to go back ome other time, maybe to collect some free mines I did not recovered while I'm there. Problem is, first time I focused on sneaking past every enemy, so even if I saw this poor abomination, I probably just left it behind. Really hope that's not the case.
Although I had the impression of random events only occuring when you visit an area for the very first time, at least that's how it was for me.

Getting 30 before DC is quite a feat though, and depending on your build/faction choices it might be impossible. Siding with the protectorate will make you miss 2 oddity points (one of the Protectorate Can) and not siding with JKK is very likely to make you miss 1 oddity point (one of the Train Logs). Not having stealth will make it impossible (or at least extremely hard) to get both the Sword Handle and the Tri-Monitor Blueprint, unless you're willing to antagonize core city factions. Not having pickpocket will probably cost you some oddities too. And of course, non optimal quest resolution costs xp.

That's good to know, was planning to side with JKK anyway (for their goggles), but it really made me to check those oddities in the wiki and plan ahead. Thanks for the info, both of you. Still, since I plan to do a run where I'm collecting all oddities (at least attempt to) and while only being at the beginning of the game, I might consider exporting my character, start anew and savescum that mutant. My oddities carrie over, and if the xp I got from quests too up until this point... well, then I might just reach level 30 before DC after all
Now to decide what items I'll be carrying with me - only the bare necessities. Perhaps that tabi to walk faster in order to quickly get back to where I left off. Maaaaaybe the tac-vest and that newly made RR Falchion LS too.

17

General / Re: XP for quests in Oddity

« on: June 17, 2020, 06:20:37 pm »

The problem is there's already too much oddity exp in the game.  Unless I missed some, you can get at least 89 oddity exp PAST lvl 30, and you can be lvl 30 before you set foot in the endgame area. 

The gangwar gives you TONS of loot, it gives you Blaine, and it affects the ending slides.  It can give you a shield emitter if you're lucky.

That's reassuring. It should be ideal to reach level 30 by entering DC for those who stole and looted all oddities possible.
One question, for those oddities that are only accuirable through a random event (like the very rare two-headed mutant in Depot-A), is it possible to get them even later if returning to the location? Or if we did not encountered them or passed them by, they're lost forever?

18

Bugs / Re: Spearhead's hidden move and shoot penalty

« on: June 16, 2020, 06:27:48 am »

Wow. Allright... I mean it's kind of reasonable if I think about it. One needs to be focused to look through a scope.
Thanks, that clarifies it.

19

Bugs / Re: Spearhead's hidden move and shoot penalty

« on: June 15, 2020, 11:44:42 pm »

What scope?

The regular one, giving 10% accuracy. Together with Commando this is a low-tech, quick and easy to use Spearhead, no fancy electronics yet, just aimed to be as precise as possible in all situations.

20

Bugs / Spearhead's hidden move and shoot penalty

« on: June 15, 2020, 10:11:53 pm »

So I have a Rapid Spearhead Commando and by hoovering the mouse over the weapon, it says "move & shoot penalty: 15%". However it is clearly 25% in effect for some reason.
Aim at a stationary target from a specific spot while being focused and you'll have X%. In order to measure our accuracy with the same distance, but while losing focus, we have to step away a bit, then back again to the same place. So we move away, then hit enter to initiate combat. Start our round by returning back to the same spot we checked our aim earlier, but by moving of course we'll loose our focused state. And somehow our accuracy is X-25% instead of X-15%.

21

General / XP for quests in Oddity

« on: June 15, 2020, 04:01:25 pm »

Ok, so I helped the Eels against the Scrappers. In order to accomplish that, I had to do the following SEPARATE quests, FOUR in total:

 - Find out where Blaine is hiding and get the info out of him
 - Plant the explosives in Depot-A tunnels
 - Convince SGS (or Protectorate) to lend a hand in the battle
 - Actually wipe out an entire map of the Scrappers base

all that for a SINGLE XP at the end.
One xp was the reward for all those above. I am level 9 and need about 20 to reach the next level. So that whole questline got me 1/20th ahead. The same as killing my first rathound for it's ear. Basically you can get 4 times that much from killing a few dogs and get their collars, there' a few at the Scrapper's base too.
This made me convinced that the Oddity's side needs some serious rework in relation to how much XP it provies after quests, especially knowing that a lot of stand alone quests doesn't even give any XP at all. At least provide 1 point for each segment for the above, but a single one for all that chain of quests kinda worries me, as one needs about 718 oddity xp to reach level 30.

I honestly thought that quests will be my main way to level in this mode, to get involved and do as much as I can, even dumpster diving for propaganda leaflets or half eaten food will come as secondary to that. It turns out that quests are so far behind, that even on Oddity you'll be much more ahead for killing critters like a mere hopper and such than accomplishing feats like playing a key role in a gang war or any other main questline that moves the whole story ahead.
The problem with this, is that players become demotivated to do quests, when in oddity that should be even more encouraged than in classic mode. One can think twice if he really wants to embark on some engrossing questline, when he can get the same xp for finding some junk on a shelf for zero effort.

I love this game and I still think that Oddity is better than not, but sometimes it can completely take away the feeling of accomplishment. You feel like you basically did all that for nothing and it barely made any difference other than wasting a lot of time, ammo and other resources and that's not how it should be in a game belonging to the RPG genre.

22

Bugs / Interloper feat without the MP bonus

« on: June 15, 2020, 06:40:09 am »

Exploring an area in stealth while having Interloper, you are free to initiate combat with Snipe for example. If you hit ENTER first, so switch to combat mode in advance before doing any attack, you get your 15 MP no problem.
But if you just hit Snipe without stopping time, the game of course only switches to combat mode as soon as you perform the shot. But this way you won't give you your 15 MP regardless if you're having Interloper or not.

23

Builds / Re: Noob questions: Building an "Inventor"/"Engineer"

« on: June 11, 2020, 06:44:20 am »

The way I imagine this guy is either a laser / chemical pistol wielder with focus on all kinds of grenades and traps from the improvised to the exotic and scientific. With all the necessary feats involved on using such weaponry. OR a crossbower with a good selection of different bolts, one for each situation. A  build where the enjoyment comes from carrying around a lot of throwable and deployable contraptions and projectiles - using them a lot and constantly crafting them from everything we find, regardless if it's gasoline, mushrooms or poison glands.
Also being a heavy user of self-mixed drugs to boost performance, always high on something with different effects.
Naturally all self crafted gear and mostly of the gimmicky kind: regeneration vest, some heavily pimped-up crossbow or energy pistol with night vision googles. Low and High frequency shield emitters and cloaking. Power Management feat is a must an of course siding with Coretech.
Not using psi at all. This guy is a mad doctor unbound by his vows, driven by curiousity, a talented McGyver and a man of science. Fascinated by psionics, but confident that knowledge is the true merit of a man.



Still, if your main goal is to live out this roleplay, then ARCANUM is the best game for you, there you can invent all kind of guns, pyrotechnics, steam engine powered spider robots and various tonics. Electricity deflecting top-hats and who knows what. It's a great game and while you can't go wrong with UnderRail, I had to mention Arcanum after reading your preferences.

24

General / Re: First Dominating Attempt - Salvage my run

« on: June 10, 2020, 06:18:34 am »

I don't see why anyone should take up a sniper rifle as a sidearm. It's either main form of attack or nothing. It's a waste without Shooting Spree, and with it makes you use it as your main weapon. Stealth is also too low and it cripples your Snipe. If you don't plan on raising Stealth, it's better to not derail that direction and drop the whole sniper-idea along with Blindsiding. With 3 AGI, it's probably for the better.

If you're looking for crits, just with a single additional point in PER, you could take the Scrutinous feat that will help you a lot.
Throwing is too much as it is. Keep it, but take Three-Pointer, or decrease the skill.



As for the quest with the beetles, just use armor piercing bullets. One should purchase every single one for 5mm, or 7.62mm (maybe .44) armor piercing bullets from day one depending on what weapon you have. Use your molotov too on the ones outside. The outer area is the difficult one as it is too open. Once you managed to kill them and got inside, things get much easier due to the fact that you can use covers while you kite them while falling back from corner to corner. Inside there are more bugs but they are much easier thanks to you making use of your enviroment. You can totally us a bear trap too to stop them as you shoot from a corner and retreat back at the end of your turn. Remember that they take more damage when their carpace is opened.

This will cost you a lot of money though. I mean to buy all those special bullets. I remember so, thanks to the fact that my character was broke, with a lame pistol and everything I sell is accepted on a much-much lower rate.

Before doing this quest, perhaps you should visit the upper underrail, after the 3 bandits with Jack's box, continue north, past the rathounds. Then on the right there is a small fenced area with a guaranteed weapon to loot that's usually the best you could find at that point. One time there was a sniper rifle there and it was awesome to have one so early and being able to one-shot those bugs.

25

Bugs / Re: SGS Introduction quest

« on: June 06, 2020, 06:28:18 am »

Geez.... no XP from returning the digital watch to Jonas either. It's in the quest log, there's a decent amount of activity involved, he acknowledges it  zero XP. Oddity is not supposed to reward experience for killing, but it never said that you don't get anything for solving quests either. Actually it states the opposite, according to the in-game description, quests being the main source of XP. Hopefully this won't be the tendency through the game. Oddity eliminated the need to kill, but doing the same with quests leave very little motivation for the players. I mean those are the two things people play games. If they are taken away, that leaves them collecting used metro tickets from dustbins to be the MAIN way to grow. Not so epic.

26

Builds / Re: Help with High Caliber Gunslinger Build on Normal

« on: June 05, 2020, 07:17:49 am »

Is that WITH the -3 from the Gunslinger perk? I did the math and I think I should have enough cost reduction to fire two shots with 7 DEX.

Well, a shot with that gun costs 32 AP by default, - 3 from Gunslinger = 29. To reduce that 29 to 25, you'll need 9 DEX according to the chart on the wiki-page about Dexterity. If you plan on having that, than decreasing 2 stat points from PER won't be such a big deal compared to what you gain. Also more DEX mean less point needed for lockpick, traps and the like.

God dammit... I made it to the gun, before I saw your post, and you're right. I do need more Dex. Now to restart from the beginning. That's what I get for doing my own math...

Wait, are you sure you need to restart? I mean if you still did not hit level 20 you can still allocate 2 stat points, even choose improved DEX feat instead of PER at level 26 as a last resort.

27

General / Re: Sniper sidearm (why pistols are underrated)

« on: June 05, 2020, 06:14:58 am »

Especially on DOMINATING, which throws really big swarms of enemies at you. Smart A-A spearhead can easily 1-shot almost everything in the game, with the exception of only a few boss enemies on DOMINATING, so you will be essentialy cutting the amount of enemies killed each turn in half. And there will be a lot of them on DOMINATING. Really, a lot.

*This* is actually why I prefer a SMG or Shotgun as the sidearm; when 10 Burrower spawns show up the sniper rifle with it's multi-thousand damage aimed shot is worthless, but a single burst can kill 3+.

The build discussed here is not wielding only a sniper rifle, having a pistol of the same 7.62mm caliber cost 12 AP even with the minimum 7 DEX and can one-shot 6 of these these critters per turn, no problem. No wonder you brought up Burrower spawns, they are the perfect, ideal enemies for SMG builds. Low HP small fries in packs. But they were never a threat anyway, even at early game. I mean their damage can be resisted by the DT of even some decent tac vest.
This build can shoot 10-11 times within 4 turn and each bullet takes a life regardless if it's a spawn or a full grown Burrower. That's the beauty of this rifle. Once it finds a target, it doesn't wound it - it takes care of it. With the first draw, so it won't cost you another attack to finish the enemy. There's no unreliable spray and pray here where you don't even shoot at the enemy, you merely shoot in the direction of it. And against single targets, that's not the best way to go, especially when they are tanky. With the rifle, it's another pull of the trigger and another mob to forget. Each action delivers results. Something you can count and therefore plan with.
Then there's the often underrated advantage of attacking from a safe distance. The luxury of outranging even the guns of the enemy, safe oppurtunities to restealth and allowing better use of covers - instead of the close range requirement of a burst, which often involves to be hurt by anything you leave standing.

28

Builds / Re: Help with High Caliber Gunslinger Build on Normal

« on: June 05, 2020, 06:04:18 am »

Is that WITH the -3 from the Gunslinger perk? I did the math and I think I should have enough cost reduction to fire two shots with 7 DEX.

Well, a shot with that gun costs 32 AP by default, - 3 from Gunslinger = 29. To reduce that 29 to 25, you'll need 9 DEX according to the chart on the wiki-page about Dexterity. If you plan on having that, than decreasing 2 stat points from PER won't be such a big deal compared to what you gain. Also more DEX mean less point needed for lockpick, traps and the like.

29

Builds / Re: Help with High Caliber Gunslinger Build on Normal

« on: June 04, 2020, 06:38:38 am »

If you plan to shoot the Magnum twice per turn, you have to have 9 DEX.
However if you happen to have 11 DEX and specialized on Psycho-temporal Acceleration, then you can shoot a Rapid .44 Hammerer 4 times each round.
Or have just 8 DEX, no specialisation and make 2 regular + 1 Rapid Fire with Contraction (or Adrenaline if you're psyless).

30

Builds / Re: Is spending on STR stat enough to wield AR stupid for SMG build?

« on: June 03, 2020, 05:49:31 pm »

Well, he's using an SMG build, so chances are, it's with high DEX. And that feels a little wasted, as AR's don't benefit from them.
AR's are enough with DEX even lower than the starting amount of that build. For that reason, converting seems like a bad idea to me. It's better to stick with the original idea, or restart completely and focus on AR from the start.

I think part of the main draw of using an smg is saving stat points and skill points by gimping str and having massive bonuses to tons of skills.

High DEX might save you some points on Throwing ans dome Subterfuge skills, but AR builds definetly have more stats to spend elsewhere. They need a few points higher STR, but nowhere near as much as SMG's need DEX compared to AR's. So stat-wise, you'll definetly better off with AR and can have way higher PER for example amongst other things.