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Builds / Re: Help Crafting a Comprehensive Sword Guide
« Last post by dddmemaybe on August 24, 2025, 03:58:32 pm »Am I wrong for thinking the Swords should be considered good against armored enemies since you can use the electroshock generator and crit against their very low dodge, of which, dodge is actually the very worst weakness for sword builds? Crafted, a Tichrome shock machete actually has way higher electric damage than mechanical, it's not even close. I think it's likely better to min-max around options that remove enemy dodge to 0 like an extra utility slot for taser + throwing net + flashbang, ect. If you have a lot of combat utilities and/or psi powers to overcome enemy dodge, then limited temporal increment (probably without future orientation) could help to sustain lock-down availability for extended fights, although not strictly a priority.
Also, I played a dedicated tank temporal distortion build that was solo TM. I think continuum ripple is not good here as its best advantages would be lost if you're not doing 90% of your damage on the build from temporal distortion explosions alone. Distortion will never be good aoe as a back-up weapon, even with continuum ripple, just use it to help snipe one enemy (or build pre-damage and run about in annoying boss encounters) in addition to grenades and whatnot.
If you have a rough time versus robots and metal armor foes, I think Grenadier + base LTI is the strongest idea (especially since you're typically already DEX 6+) as the emp grenade goes from 6 turns to 3 turns without LTI, and 2 turns with LTI. If you have any other effective stalling tools on that robot, you can dance around them and chip away at them (EMP stuns are long and can go to 3 turns at MK III). The metal armor enemies can be left there with flash bang which helps a lot if you can out-maneuver and re-flashbang later too, effectively ignoring them until fully isolated.
Also, if you're taking INT 10, DEX 16, and versatility, you should probably take High Technicalities for laser pistol as it would deal 40% more damage for just 1 perk slot and works good as bonus 5% accuracy ranged back-up compared to other options in general. The electroshock pistol only stuns the primary target, at optimal range: 5, so you'll often be better off just using something else as the second-hand slot is really expensive to eat up for just 1 turn ranged cc that will have way worse accuracy and ap cost than throwing net, taser or flashbang
. For example you could equip both the Chainsword to ramp up your Onslaught and Taste for Blood, then slam enemies with an option that ignores mechanic threshold while still being fully ramped like an energy or shock sword (probably carry all 3 at once with you in general). In any case though, I would always dodge INT above ~6 unless it's a crossbow (bowyer), full PSI, or dedicated laser pistol min-max build. If you put those 4 points into Agility you could have Blitz, Fancy Footwork, +12 MP, and easier stealth. +4 in CON, you'd have like 60% more health. +4 STR would be like 21% more sword damage.
This demo build I made should be reasonably easy to deal with Depo A acid dogs and scale to deal 219% damage from strength alone (23 with vitality powder + strength food) even though it sucks at crits. I think dropping all of the crit perks is a good idea if your dex isn't high as you'll be missing like ~13 raw crit chance as well as Ripper access. Cheap Shots also the incapacitation will be interrupted by flurry re-hitting a lot. As well as Flurry just killing without a crit with high strength.
https://underrail.info/build/?HhAHCgMDAwQAeADCoCgAbhkyUADCh8KHKSZkAEYARgAAajlhKxnCjBNOLxY8RybCh8KNwovCtiR84qeXA-KxvwXisogF4rKJAt--
Also, I played a dedicated tank temporal distortion build that was solo TM. I think continuum ripple is not good here as its best advantages would be lost if you're not doing 90% of your damage on the build from temporal distortion explosions alone. Distortion will never be good aoe as a back-up weapon, even with continuum ripple, just use it to help snipe one enemy (or build pre-damage and run about in annoying boss encounters) in addition to grenades and whatnot.
If you have a rough time versus robots and metal armor foes, I think Grenadier + base LTI is the strongest idea (especially since you're typically already DEX 6+) as the emp grenade goes from 6 turns to 3 turns without LTI, and 2 turns with LTI. If you have any other effective stalling tools on that robot, you can dance around them and chip away at them (EMP stuns are long and can go to 3 turns at MK III). The metal armor enemies can be left there with flash bang which helps a lot if you can out-maneuver and re-flashbang later too, effectively ignoring them until fully isolated.
Also, if you're taking INT 10, DEX 16, and versatility, you should probably take High Technicalities for laser pistol as it would deal 40% more damage for just 1 perk slot and works good as bonus 5% accuracy ranged back-up compared to other options in general. The electroshock pistol only stuns the primary target, at optimal range: 5, so you'll often be better off just using something else as the second-hand slot is really expensive to eat up for just 1 turn ranged cc that will have way worse accuracy and ap cost than throwing net, taser or flashbang
. For example you could equip both the Chainsword to ramp up your Onslaught and Taste for Blood, then slam enemies with an option that ignores mechanic threshold while still being fully ramped like an energy or shock sword (probably carry all 3 at once with you in general). In any case though, I would always dodge INT above ~6 unless it's a crossbow (bowyer), full PSI, or dedicated laser pistol min-max build. If you put those 4 points into Agility you could have Blitz, Fancy Footwork, +12 MP, and easier stealth. +4 in CON, you'd have like 60% more health. +4 STR would be like 21% more sword damage.This demo build I made should be reasonably easy to deal with Depo A acid dogs and scale to deal 219% damage from strength alone (23 with vitality powder + strength food) even though it sucks at crits. I think dropping all of the crit perks is a good idea if your dex isn't high as you'll be missing like ~13 raw crit chance as well as Ripper access. Cheap Shots also the incapacitation will be interrupted by flurry re-hitting a lot. As well as Flurry just killing without a crit with high strength.
https://underrail.info/build/?HhAHCgMDAwQAeADCoCgAbhkyUADCh8KHKSZkAEYARgAAajlhKxnCjBNOLxY8RybCh8KNwovCtiR84qeXA-KxvwXisogF4rKJAt--