Just finished the game and wanted to share my build and my general thoughts about it. For my first run I based my build on this guide (Glass Cannon Regular Shotgun [Dominating] htt ps://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2820750003) but made some changes. Basically removed stealth and psi for dodge/evasion. Despite some bad decision did not have much troubles in DLC or Deep Caves.
Here is a build
htt ps://underrail.info/build/?HAUGDQMJAwfClmQAAF7ClgBZXwAAWl4xal4AAAAACgBPJBk5T8KwHiYaRyfClhbCnsKtwphBwoPCpTHioL0C4qG4BeKjugHit7AF378
Wasted FeatsSo lets begin with Feats where most of mistakes were made. Biggest one is Expertise as it does not work with shotguns, made me sad when I learned about it around level 16. It helped me in earlier game before I got my firs shotgun and later I used SMG for long range, but ultimately – waste of a feat. Second wasted feat, I think, is Hit and Run. With this build I usually hit or I run, but rarely did both, and with Sprint and so much Agility mobility was not an issue. It was convenient but I never relied on it. Instead it could have been other shotgun Feats, crafting or Escape Artist and Three-Pointer (with point in Dex instead of Int).
Bad order of FeatsOther Feats was great but Uncanny Dodge and Triger Happy came way too late. Playing all game with no stealth and no initiative was bad idea and required a lot of jumping around a corner. With 30 initiative you can go in and go in like US marshal. Ending conversations with “Fight!” or just go to enemy and just shoot, it felt amazing. Should have got it like level 4. Dodge as a skill did not work well for me. I must confess I did not max it out every level. But anyway in my experience I never miss a hammer to a face, which is death. With Uncanny Dodge their adrenaline sprint just become your convenience. Should have got it earlier and put 30 less points in the skill.
Dodge/Evasion skillsAs I said Dodge is not that impressive, with 270 effective I could feel safe against rats but not much else. And with 3 Con and all debufs that melee attacks do even one or two hits end a fight for me. So I would get enough points for 6-7 Uncanny Doges and forget about it.
Evasion on other hand is pretty cool. Enemy gunners become non enemy basically, they will hit from time to time but not enough to even deplete a shield and grenades don’t do anything. In final battle I killed psi tentacles and just stood there for 6 or 7 turns shooting, did not even need to heal. Fighting Faceless when I did not give them the cube I ate a Bean and stood among 10 enemies not braking a sweat (until sniper got a lucky crit and one-shot me
).
Basically only treating enemy in endgame was psi-users with stun.
Other SkillsNo Stealth and no Psi, also no Persuasion/Intimidation left me with more points than I have use for. So I got 150 Biology and crafted Super Drug and “mega morphine” but forgot to use it in final fight. Other crafting was necessary though. Overall I probably would have stripped some points from Biology, Dodge and Trowing and put it in Persuasion for more role-play options or earlier Stealth for Abram and Dude quests. With end game gear I had enough Stealth to sneak past enemies I did not want to fight anyway.
GearShort Tactical Vindicator. More damage, more crit damage, more shots. Less precision is not important – shotguns don’t miss. Bigger spread angle may be even good, it is nice to catch borrower egg in a cone or get two for one with weaker enemies. 20p as main ammo. 6p for armored. 3P for super armored (musrooms, industrial robots), did not find much use for stun - enemies enter dead in three sots or immune (like crabs). DLC gives a lot of 12p ammo and I find it’s damage/penetration works fine on serpents and spiders.
Auto shotguns underwhelming. Three shots for 50AP instead of 60AP but with lower damage and precision – not worth it.
K&H MP6 for secondary. Some times longer range than shotgun is needed.
Antithermic Padded Siphoner Overcoat (with greatness and infusion as time goes on). I came for Evasion, I stayed for Acid resistance. So much enemies left acid puddles, walking over them with no damage is a convenience I don’t know how to live without. Same with antithermic, throwing napalm grenade under your feet and just looking at that Crawler face – priceless. Padded just cause I can.
Also had
Rathound coat for crits but did not use it much.
Siphoner tabi.
Efficient medium/high shield. Don’t get hit by melee so no need for low. Rarely get hit with Aimed shots so high damage threshold is unnecessary. Efficiency is convenient.
Doctor’s Pouch in confined spaces and hard fights to eat a lot of stuff.
Shell belt for everyday use.
Crit googles/Gas mask.
GameplayHigh damage/high mobility is nice. Before getting high initiative I started combat around a corner, go to position to get a good shot or grenade and have enough points to get back to cover and save AP to another round. If I manage to get psi and trappers can just stood around killing gunners Star Wars style
. Other wise kiting – always had enough MP to get to another corner. With some enemies, like Strongmen, had enough MP to shoot twice and walk away, they did not have enough to reach me and hit.
Biggest problems Death Stalkers. In mid game after getting singed did not have enough health to use antidote without dying. So a lots of reloads, trying to detect with fire and so on. Unpleasant in late game too.
Trappers/Psi-users/Coil spiders. Stun grenade, telekinetic punch, electroshock – death next turn.
Fetid Marsh.
Overall fun game, fun build. Felt overpowered in the end like it should
. Did not seen everything, did not resolve every quest as I wanted for lack of Persuasion. So gonna play as talkative stealthy char next.
Ps.
What is the common name for the world's tallest tree specie?
