46
Development Log / Re: Dev Log #70: Method and Madness
« on: July 01, 2021, 10:00:02 am »
Oh, ready for another playthrough after all this time? 
-Absolutely
-Absolutely
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47
Builds / Re: New player here. Looking for help regarding builds.
« on: June 25, 2021, 02:56:56 am »
The Harper knows what's up. Also, one of the biggest things for a newbie is to realize the panic with all the crap you pick up. Chill, and take time with it. Play on normal, or easy at first and pick it up from where you want to go. Builds are for hardcored dominating fantasists who want to demolish the encounters that bullied them the most when they started few thousand ingame hours ago.
48
Builds / Re: Thoughts on a noob-made fist weapons build
« on: April 01, 2021, 10:50:55 am »
Sheepherder is the specialist when going barefisted with https://underrail.info/build/?Hg0MBwMDAwUAPADCoCgAwqAAAAAAF3UPLWYAwqAAegAAVSsmMWkgE8KoBgdLEgNDPMKHwqnCtuKdjQrip74F378 - which you can use as some sort of guideline. Str multiplier is stronger when not using gloves hence the high str.
Don't wanna spoil all your fun, but check out the highlight. It is pretty insane how far bare fisted goes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDR43ASOrVU&ab_channel=sheepherder
Don't wanna spoil all your fun, but check out the highlight. It is pretty insane how far bare fisted goes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDR43ASOrVU&ab_channel=sheepherder
49
Builds / Re: First Time Player Help(Shotgun/Firearm Pistols)
« on: March 09, 2021, 11:49:03 am »Thank you very much guys. I'll be using your first build Niko, instead of crafting I've gone with Hacking and Lock picking since I'm using Oddity exp for my first play through. Wish me luck!
Hopefully you read this before it's going too late.
Remove premed(not worth for TM only), Ambush(doesn't work with shotgun and Electroshock pistol), and Strafe (Shotgun has no move penalty, and it's bad practice for sniper)
Instead, swap them with Fragmented Chaos (the only way to increase crit bonus above 100% for crit power), Snipe (one-shot wonder for first turn, can be abused with stun grenade / flashbang), and Sharpshooter (even more damage for sniper rifle).
This means, you could - 2 AGI, and put it on either +2 DEX (could swap pack rathound with Grenadier / Quick Tinkering, both are extremely strong feat, I would recommend to use infinite weight + speedhack to make the game MUCH better, trust me on that) or +2 INT for much better crafting allocation. Don't skip on crafting, you'll REALLY need it. Many weapon desperately required self-crafted weapon simply because some "extension / mods" never dropped from random enemies, and available frames are often much better than unique guns.
Heheheh, why so harsh?
The idea for premeditation is for free stasis/cryostasis/slow, when needed. Of course it is not mandatory, but it is still nice to get something for free. Ambush is not meant to work for shotguns, it is for long range sniper shots only, and to hit 100% crit without much investment. I am guessing getting Strafe is a playstyle choice after all, I almost always break LOS so there's moving at start of turn, so I wouldn't want that -accuracy penalty just because I had to move an inch. And if I really wanted to get nitpicky I would point out that Fragmented Chaos and Critical Power don't mix, and that Vindicator already has 120% crit modifier, which does get boosted by Critical Power. But my build was not about using Snipe (with Grenadier/Flashbangs) or going heavy in sniper feats, it is a shotgun build with Sniper fill, with enough feats to feel its usefulness. But true, you could have Sharpshooter instead of Paranoia, maybe. The idea of swapping out Packrat and using mods to have infinite weight is of course solid, but then again, that is a totally different template to build on then. Valid points otherwise though
And PS, I only fill the necessary points in the build, there were some 700+ leftover. Definitely take crafting, enough to build your own guns. Always take crafting.
50
Builds / Re: Dominating crit psi question
« on: March 05, 2021, 03:27:01 pm »
If you like reading; Gortsby's take on psi:
https://stygiansoftware.com/forums/index.php?topic=4149.0
Mindless' (mostly psi related):
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1335455899
https://stygiansoftware.com/forums/index.php?topic=4149.0
Mindless' (mostly psi related):
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1335455899
51
Bugs / The 0-trap-skill-for-enemies-to-disarm-through-sea-of-caltrops -exploit :)
« on: March 05, 2021, 02:46:51 pm »
I remember when the enemies would not jump on the chance to disarm a trap in their LOS even if they could see it and would avoid it in combat. Well the header says what I think about it. Now I am compelled to level up traps skill in every build just to not have enemies disarm them at their first opportunity, or just not use traps all.
Or am I just delirious and this was always the enemy behavior or is it difficulty based.
Or am I just delirious and this was always the enemy behavior or is it difficulty based.
52
General / Re: where the hell is throwing gloves?
« on: March 05, 2021, 02:23:04 pm »
Thanks cypher, I'll reach Oculus first for sure if I don't stumble upon one in a random loot locker before that
53
Builds / Re: First Time Player Help(Shotgun/Firearm Pistols)
« on: March 05, 2021, 01:17:37 pm »
Like cypher said, firearm pistols are hard to combine with shotguns, so you could go pure shotgun, or what I think meshes nicely is shotgun + sniper(spearhead). Sprinkle in some psi abilities for utility if you want.
There are useful temporal abilities for all builds, like dilation for slow, contraction for self-haste and stasis for cocooning yourself. From metathermics, even a 0 skill cryokinesis for on demand slow to proc Opportunist might be handy, or cryostasis for hard CC on a single target. Premeditation is a 6 int requirement feat that is strong for any build that has psi.
For shotguns, sixth shell and leading shot are essential and I recommend shooting spree and strafe for sniper.
How I would go about building a shotgun/sniper:
https://underrail.info/build/?HgUFBQkNAwbCoEoAAAAAUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAI0YAAFgBYivCsCbClip-wodLf8KFAjEnwrXCpCjip74J4q-9AeK3sAXfvw
Only Shotgun with cryostasis/contraction/stasis as psi support:
https://underrail.info/build/?HgUFCwkKAwPCoEoAAAAAUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAI0YAAHI5YivCsB7ClibCh0dLwoUZMScowrHCpXvip74F4rOsBeK3sAXfvw
There are useful temporal abilities for all builds, like dilation for slow, contraction for self-haste and stasis for cocooning yourself. From metathermics, even a 0 skill cryokinesis for on demand slow to proc Opportunist might be handy, or cryostasis for hard CC on a single target. Premeditation is a 6 int requirement feat that is strong for any build that has psi.
For shotguns, sixth shell and leading shot are essential and I recommend shooting spree and strafe for sniper.
How I would go about building a shotgun/sniper:
https://underrail.info/build/?HgUFBQkNAwbCoEoAAAAAUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAI0YAAFgBYivCsCbClip-wodLf8KFAjEnwrXCpCjip74J4q-9AeK3sAXfvw
Only Shotgun with cryostasis/contraction/stasis as psi support:
https://underrail.info/build/?HgUFCwkKAwPCoEoAAAAAUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAI0YAAHI5YivCsB7ClibCh0dLwoUZMScowrHCpXvip74F4rOsBeK3sAXfvw
...what skills should I focus on to experience the most content?This is a really hard to answer question. Multiple playthroughs, and at least one with more Psi focus. Skills themselves don't unlock much content, some dialog choices here and there. Stealth is also always good.
54
Bugs / Acid and Fatal Throw
« on: March 04, 2021, 04:33:02 pm »
Wonder how Acid is specified/worded in the equations, as it definitely works with Fatal Throw (the 100% critical part), but seemingly does not work with Ripper. Feels like it is classed as a throwing knife on some parts. Which feats are supposed to work with Acid? Just curious
55
General / Re: where the hell is throwing gloves?
« on: March 04, 2021, 03:25:51 pm »
Found one on Blaine's normal stock just today on a new run. It is actually really hard to notice because it looks almost exactly like any leather combat gloves. I also have a question about Shuriken fixed locations, are there any?
56
Builds / Re: First time, Shotgun - Psi non stealh
« on: February 27, 2021, 12:53:30 pm »My question is can I drop crit and use shotguns efficiently?
Right now im using Goggles, so mi perception is 6, but can I go with 5 and be fine?
I planned to get both shotgun and psi feasts, also Juggernaut on lvl 8 (with 7 str) as an addition to conditioning and stoicism.
I will use metal armor.
Should i spec into other schools of psi also?
Thanks!
I've played both non-crit and crit shotguns but I always found non-crit very unsatisfactory and lacking in power, even if I had more utility and other types of damage in form of grenades in them. The criticals with even a few of the pellets are too noticeable in what they can do to rip everything to pieces, and it will just get better with Critical Power feat. The attribute scores affect your skill points directly and the value is what determines the damage and accuracy with combat skills (and dmg AoE psi)
I find it hard to fit psi, metal armor and shotguns in the same build so I have never tried to make it work. There are Shield Emitters in the game that you can find and craft later in the game that work as a layer of protection too. And worth pointing out that a little higher quality crafted psi tactical vest can also reach 20 Damage Threshold with 60 vs bullets and shells. Which in many ways is stronger than a metal armor vs a gang of riflers for example, but you are always more mobile. Riot Gear can be crafted against something that attacks you frequently in melee.
And about shotguns generally, you kind of want to craft the good ones, the shoddy or a random rebel found early are not even close to an early ~50q short vindicator with forward grip. The pellet damage is calculated from the shotgun's base damage, so I would say that crafting one yourself early will give you the advantage. You can visit junkyard early to check if they sell vindicator parts. There are three vendors you can find them at.
Also, it is a common, kind of a workaround in hybrids, where you use the strength of psi initially and slowly move towards something else. Psi is doing the heavy lifting early before you find parts to craft and generally get all your tools together with shotguns. In the end they balance each other nicely.
Having multiple psi schools innervated adds to the psi cost of the abilities, so it is up to you if you want it. Early on I would stick to Metathermics only and prepare to add Contraction from Temporal Manipulation to the pool at ~10-12.
...but, these are all my opinions and how I approach shotgun psi, where psi is more invested. There are probably a thousand second opinions about this where non-crit shotguns shine bright, so like always take it with a grain of salt
57
Builds / Re: First time, Shotgun - Psi non stealh
« on: February 27, 2021, 12:22:59 pm »
Hello and Welcome 
*oh darn, you must've updated your build just while I was writing this, anyway. I'll keep the following answer here anyway*
You have some nice ideas for a first time builder. Now I am kinda hoping to throw you in the deep end with what I have in mind for you right away.
But first: this RPG is a lot harder than what you are used to, just for the vast amount of different types of encounters and enemy mechanics you will meet when being thorough, and that is why some builds end up stronger against some of them and possibly pathetically weaker against a few. It is really hard for a new player to acknowledge this and it forces restarts, willingly or not. Especially on higher difficulties it is possible to soft lock yourself from advancing in early game because you were caught completely off guard with something and say you already spent all available cash and resources, or even mess up with not having enough back up saves so that would accidentally screw you over.
Now shotguns and psi are both very forgiving in my opinion and there already is a lot to play around with them in early game, combine them with bear traps if needed. It is fun
I recommend this build based on your ideas and observations on any difficulty under dominating. I would still probably encourage playing this on normal. The difficulty spikes combined with more advanced enemies, mechanics and everything in higher numbers might get demoralizing
I have played something similar to this, with a low perception for shotguns start on dominating to try some harder encounters out and it is still viable. Well anyway, the build's strength and base idea is to sit at <30% health for more pellet criticals and more psi criticals to hugely boost your damage output and position yourself for leading shots every time to better hit your marks. The core feats are are picked 1-14, after that the feats are more QOL and you can just pick what you want more, but the idea there is to boost damage and add comfort. There could be some controversy with 8 int start with this and you could go 6 instead, but the idea was to have one more psi slot and that you would meet the requirement for Psycho-neural Flexibility at 16, and generally have higher effective scores in crafting and hacking earlier. Other than that the attributes meet the criteria; Strength enough for a vindicator and riot armor, Dexterity for leading shots (absolutely critical for any shotgun build), Agility for sprint, Constitution for Survival Instincts, Perception stacking for higher Guns skill, and finally Will is tanked to 3 which we make suffice in non-thought control hybrids.
Start out at 5-5-6-9-4-3-8 with more accessible psi and crafting with Psycho-neural Flexibility and one more psi slot, or 5-5-6-9-6-3-6.
I tried not to meet any specific skill caps, but there is the general idea.
Enough Throwing is what you think is enough, there are no throwing specific feats included so take some.
Stealth (even if unwanted for the core build) to lay bear traps before a tough fight or for those special occasions that you really want it to complete a quest for example. You don't need to invest heavily in it, just add some points in and get high effective stealth from balaclava+stealthy leather armor+ninja tabi boots.
I usually like to get rather high hacking skill early, but would not go over 135 effective.
Effective Lockpicking of 45 is enough for omni-tool to open all ventilation shafts, higher than that gives more access and more loot, but I don't find it critical. A flavor choice.
Pickpocketing is for extra pennies, sometimes in form of ammo, but mainly adrenaline shots and oddities. Completely optional.
Traps would be for setting, detecting and disarming them, also totally optional to put points in. You can blast mines with Pyrokinesis if you know they are there, but cannot spot them.
Persuasion is a flavor choice again, but as you had the idea of getting the Shoddy early, my advice is to go with just enough assigned points in it and to have Mercantile synergy boost cover the needed points. More simply, take 18 in persuasion and go 20 mercantile early so you hit (20) in persuasion, that is if you never intend to go higher - you can finish the game with 0 persuasion. For a fast level 2 on classic, you can make your way south from Old Jonas and crush some bugs, and make your way west and bash some hoppers - and then go talk to the quarter master for your shotgun. 20 effective persuasion is required for that. Why I mentioned this is you can also use that 20 Mercantile before you ever go to the Pens level to talk to the Metathermics trainer to get two freebies instead of one.
Higher Mercantile is to open special stocks for some vendors and it is some times used in conversations for discounts and such, never needed to go crazy high, but effective 105 is what I recommend.
Get started with crafting - early game tips for this build:
For your FIRST crafted Tactical Vest, find and buy: Psi beetle carapace, laminated fabric ballistic panel, insulated vest (component) and black cloth - a flavor choice again, but it looks cooler and offsets the stealth penalty by adding some.
For your first Taser: Electroshock generator at lowest quality possible for low energy cost, and Plasma Core at around ~30q.
For your first shotgun: a vindicator shotgun frame, at what quality you can afford to find and have skill for, a forward grip and a short barrel. Prioritize spread and damage, shotguns are lethal even at ~30% to-hit chances if you stack critical chance
Supply of repair kits: 25 or 50 effective in mechanics, electronics and tailoring to craft. Scrap unwanted metal, fabric or electronics for a constant supply.
Stuff is pretty heavy so you can pile them up in any location you prefer. Items won't disappear even if you store them in the middle of a busy street in a city. Bodies however do disappear so if you are undecided if you want to hang on to some stuff, you can loot a body and drop their belongings on them. That way you can preserve them.
Even that it doesn't say it in the build planner, Psycho-temporal Acceleration feat has a prerequisite of knowing either dilation or contraction. It might put you in a tricky situation where your assigned points in temporal manipulation are sub 25 and you are leveling up to 12 and you just reeeally want the feat there and then, but cannot actually learn that.
Anyway there is the feat order I had in mind for you; and this is for the 5-5-6-9-4-3-8 variation. Lower perception early has the disadvantage that you will not immediately spot traps and something hidden, but it does get better as you level up.
https://underrail.info/build/?HgUFBgkKAwjCoDgAAAAAUDweMgBQUA8oUAAAwqBGAABNOWIrwrA9KsKWLsKHS8K9LCYnMcK1wqQo378
*oh darn, you must've updated your build just while I was writing this, anyway. I'll keep the following answer here anyway*
You have some nice ideas for a first time builder. Now I am kinda hoping to throw you in the deep end with what I have in mind for you right away.
But first: this RPG is a lot harder than what you are used to, just for the vast amount of different types of encounters and enemy mechanics you will meet when being thorough, and that is why some builds end up stronger against some of them and possibly pathetically weaker against a few. It is really hard for a new player to acknowledge this and it forces restarts, willingly or not. Especially on higher difficulties it is possible to soft lock yourself from advancing in early game because you were caught completely off guard with something and say you already spent all available cash and resources, or even mess up with not having enough back up saves so that would accidentally screw you over.
Now shotguns and psi are both very forgiving in my opinion and there already is a lot to play around with them in early game, combine them with bear traps if needed. It is fun
I recommend this build based on your ideas and observations on any difficulty under dominating. I would still probably encourage playing this on normal. The difficulty spikes combined with more advanced enemies, mechanics and everything in higher numbers might get demoralizing
I have played something similar to this, with a low perception for shotguns start on dominating to try some harder encounters out and it is still viable. Well anyway, the build's strength and base idea is to sit at <30% health for more pellet criticals and more psi criticals to hugely boost your damage output and position yourself for leading shots every time to better hit your marks. The core feats are are picked 1-14, after that the feats are more QOL and you can just pick what you want more, but the idea there is to boost damage and add comfort. There could be some controversy with 8 int start with this and you could go 6 instead, but the idea was to have one more psi slot and that you would meet the requirement for Psycho-neural Flexibility at 16, and generally have higher effective scores in crafting and hacking earlier. Other than that the attributes meet the criteria; Strength enough for a vindicator and riot armor, Dexterity for leading shots (absolutely critical for any shotgun build), Agility for sprint, Constitution for Survival Instincts, Perception stacking for higher Guns skill, and finally Will is tanked to 3 which we make suffice in non-thought control hybrids.
Start out at 5-5-6-9-4-3-8 with more accessible psi and crafting with Psycho-neural Flexibility and one more psi slot, or 5-5-6-9-6-3-6.
I tried not to meet any specific skill caps, but there is the general idea.
Enough Throwing is what you think is enough, there are no throwing specific feats included so take some.
Stealth (even if unwanted for the core build) to lay bear traps before a tough fight or for those special occasions that you really want it to complete a quest for example. You don't need to invest heavily in it, just add some points in and get high effective stealth from balaclava+stealthy leather armor+ninja tabi boots.
I usually like to get rather high hacking skill early, but would not go over 135 effective.
Effective Lockpicking of 45 is enough for omni-tool to open all ventilation shafts, higher than that gives more access and more loot, but I don't find it critical. A flavor choice.
Pickpocketing is for extra pennies, sometimes in form of ammo, but mainly adrenaline shots and oddities. Completely optional.
Traps would be for setting, detecting and disarming them, also totally optional to put points in. You can blast mines with Pyrokinesis if you know they are there, but cannot spot them.
Persuasion is a flavor choice again, but as you had the idea of getting the Shoddy early, my advice is to go with just enough assigned points in it and to have Mercantile synergy boost cover the needed points. More simply, take 18 in persuasion and go 20 mercantile early so you hit (20) in persuasion, that is if you never intend to go higher - you can finish the game with 0 persuasion. For a fast level 2 on classic, you can make your way south from Old Jonas and crush some bugs, and make your way west and bash some hoppers - and then go talk to the quarter master for your shotgun. 20 effective persuasion is required for that. Why I mentioned this is you can also use that 20 Mercantile before you ever go to the Pens level to talk to the Metathermics trainer to get two freebies instead of one.
Higher Mercantile is to open special stocks for some vendors and it is some times used in conversations for discounts and such, never needed to go crazy high, but effective 105 is what I recommend.
Get started with crafting - early game tips for this build:
For your FIRST crafted Tactical Vest, find and buy: Psi beetle carapace, laminated fabric ballistic panel, insulated vest (component) and black cloth - a flavor choice again, but it looks cooler and offsets the stealth penalty by adding some.
For your first Taser: Electroshock generator at lowest quality possible for low energy cost, and Plasma Core at around ~30q.
For your first shotgun: a vindicator shotgun frame, at what quality you can afford to find and have skill for, a forward grip and a short barrel. Prioritize spread and damage, shotguns are lethal even at ~30% to-hit chances if you stack critical chance
Supply of repair kits: 25 or 50 effective in mechanics, electronics and tailoring to craft. Scrap unwanted metal, fabric or electronics for a constant supply.
Stuff is pretty heavy so you can pile them up in any location you prefer. Items won't disappear even if you store them in the middle of a busy street in a city. Bodies however do disappear so if you are undecided if you want to hang on to some stuff, you can loot a body and drop their belongings on them. That way you can preserve them.
Even that it doesn't say it in the build planner, Psycho-temporal Acceleration feat has a prerequisite of knowing either dilation or contraction. It might put you in a tricky situation where your assigned points in temporal manipulation are sub 25 and you are leveling up to 12 and you just reeeally want the feat there and then, but cannot actually learn that.
Anyway there is the feat order I had in mind for you; and this is for the 5-5-6-9-4-3-8 variation. Lower perception early has the disadvantage that you will not immediately spot traps and something hidden, but it does get better as you level up.
https://underrail.info/build/?HgUFBgkKAwjCoDgAAAAAUDweMgBQUA8oUAAAwqBGAABNOWIrwrA9KsKWLsKHS8K9LCYnMcK1wqQo378
58
Development Log / Re: Dev Log #69: Crossing the Styx
« on: February 26, 2021, 02:30:02 pm »
Oh, when just yesterday I was planning a new firearm pistol play through. Styg this is pure gold. Thanks 
59
Builds / Re: New-ish player, looking for build advice
« on: February 21, 2021, 05:37:15 am »
There is a guide about general stuff that helped me out when I was starting out and it has some valid points about crossbows. It does include some spoilers (but it does say *spoilers* or is generally blacked out) so up to you if you want to take a peek:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=843557165
Crossbows section has useful info about attribute distribution. I just mention it for the reason that you generally want to either dump a stat completely or have it meet a certain required threshold for a feat you pick.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=843557165
Crossbows section has useful info about attribute distribution. I just mention it for the reason that you generally want to either dump a stat completely or have it meet a certain required threshold for a feat you pick.
60
Builds / Re: Most viable dex melee build?
« on: January 13, 2021, 12:01:14 am »
For knives and unarmed/fist the base idea could be something like: 3/10+/7/9/3/3/5