Traps/chemistry build?

[Kostura]

Hello, I bought this game a while ago but never got into it. I'm trying to use the character builder to come up with something but frankly I have no clue what I'm doing. I'll be playing on normal difficulty.

I'm shooting for something along these lines: traps, grenades, chemistry, stealth, large AP pool. A character who can move very quickly, do a lot of things in a single turn, and craft his own traps and explosives. Basically the idea is to plant enough traps and throw enough grenades to blow up the entire map in a single turn without enemies being able to catch me.

I'll need an alternative source of damage since it isn't feasible to rely entirely on traps and throwables, but I'm not sure what that should be. Guns? Crossbow? Melee?
Like I said I have no clue what I'm doing, so any advice would be appreciated.

[KnifegaF]

You can 100% get away with doing traps and nades only. Both are incredibly strong. Nades in this game will often one shot groups and with certain feats and Temporal manipulation you can constantly chuck them. I’ve done traps only on dominating and I’ve played with enough throwing to know it would be an easy time if I did a throwing only build. That said the best way to maximize nade damage is maxing Dex which helps out light weapons if you did want to go with another source of damage. Knives, pistols, fists, and smg fall under that category.

[Kostura]

How about stealth, is that worth taking? I've been re-thinking that one. I'm more concerned with killing enemies quickly than remaining undetected.

[KnifegaF]

Stealth is pretty helpful when setting up your death field. It will allow you to lay traps within a few tiles of the enemy which is sometimes necessary depending on the how much space you are given in a fight. Scouting is also nice so you can know how many traps are necessary if any and what types since certain enemies will resist certain types or be less effected by them. Not to mention it allows you to prepare whatever utilities are best for the situation. Positioning is one of the most important factors in a fight. A great position can make up for a builds shortcomings or weaknesses.

I’ll tell you about a mechanic that isn’t obvious or outright told to you that has to do with nades. They will deviate no more than 3 tiles from their original target tile.. Tomake sure you are throwing on a specific tile hold alt. This should minimize how many times you blow yourself up and also how many times you chuck a nade completely away from your target. I wouldn’t have told you this but like I said this isn’t communicated to the player and it’ll play a significant part in your run specifically.

[Kostura]

How about the social skills, persuasion/intimidation/mercantile? Are any of those critical to a playthrough? Are they worth diverting skill points away from offense/defense/subterfuge/technology?

I'm also unsure of how to allocate points as I'm leveling up. Should I focus on dexterity at first? How far should I pump it up? Same questions about skills, which skills will I want in the early game and which skills will I want to put off until the late game? Is there a soft cap for certain skills, at which point you begin to see diminishing returns?

[KnifegaF]

Critical? No. They can be helpful though. Dex should be fairly high if not the max. Aside from chem, traps, and throwing it’s all pretty open. You will need a little mech to make your nades, I think 10 and you also need 10 tailoring for incendiary grenades. I highly recommend stealth and TM but neither are required. Regarding soft caps I would stop when I see that I’m constantly passing checks. Destroyor made a guide on steam if you really want to know all of the soft and hard caps.

[Kostura]

I'll check out Destroyor's guide. Thanks for the help.