New Player: is my goofy roleplay build salvageable?

[Obe4ken]

Hi all, I got the game years ago and was intrigued but couldn't get into it.  I picked up Expedition yesterday and started a new game on Normal with Oddity xp and I'm loving it.  Unfortunately I'm having what seems to be a common experience in getting my ass handed to me by Depot A.  I've attached images of my stats, skills, and feats.  My idea going in blind was to try make a sneaky dodge tank mad scientist, but I mostly just seem to die.  Stealth seems less useful than I hoped since I haven't leveled lockpicking or traps.  I met Fixer in the Junkyard and crafted myself a cool chemical pistol!  Unfortunately the mutants in the depot resist half the damage and I can't get many attacks off anyway since I didn't invest in Dex.  I bought some MK2 Frag Grenades for aoe dmg and flashbangs for cc, but I can't seem to finish off one group of enemies before reinforcements arrive.  I've crafted morphine and adrenaline for even more survivability, but the simple fact is I just don't output enough damage.

I would appreciate tips for getting through the depot with the resources currently at my disposal as well as advice on where to take my character going forward.

[PaposikG6]

The build is bad, like real bad. Your stat allocation makes no sense.
You can't really tank anything with 4 CON and 9 INT is way too high, you only need 7 INT to unlock special chemical pistol feat, and your dexterity is just terrible.
You can probably brute-force your way through the Depot by sneaking around most of the enemies rather than fighting them and cheesing the ones you have to fight but i'd suggest you to make another character.

Here is an example chemical pistol setup:
https://underrail.info/build/?CAUMBgMGAwcyHgAAHgAoIxkeABQeKB4UAAAAAAAAFAE5JCbCkVbfvw
High dexterity is essential and you really want to put any stat point you have when levelling up into DEX so your attacks cost less AP. You level up guns until 70 base to unlock execute, then around level 14 you can grab versatility and put skill points into melee. The way versatility works, you can put points into melee (which scales with DEX) and then it will be later converted into points in guns (which would normally scale with PER) if it's higher, so you can lower AP cost of your attacks and level up your guns skill at the same time. With high Perception and on lower levels, versatility doesn't really do anything.
You can make incendiary/cryo chemical pistols to deal with the mutants but the parts are rare to come by before depot a, mostly it can be found randomly sold by gort, colton and blaine.
Cooked Shot feat is also very important for chempistols because it gives you AoE.

In regards to Traps skill, it's useful but if you don't mind dying a lot then you can simply memorize where the mines are and don't step on them or use Detection goggles to find them.

[Obe4ken]

My stat allocation makes no sense b/c I had to make irreversible decisions with no foreknowledge of how the game works.  This is why it pisses me off when RPGs like this don't have a respec option.  I have less free time than I used to and I don't appreciate entertainment products that waste it.  But whatever, that's a separate issue.

I appreciate you taking the time to create an example build and I have a couple questions.  Why did you level dodge but not evasion?  On the surface, it looks like the Versatility strat you mentioned wastes a bunch of skill points.  Do you eventually get more bang for your buck in effective guns level by levelling melee with high Dex even with the initial 70 point investment into guns?

Thanks for your help

[PaposikG6]

The dodge is here only so you can pick Escape Artist later. It can be useful when you inevitably shoot yourself on accident with cooked shot aoe and get stuck in an acid entanglement and is also useful against any net throwing enemies late in the game. You can grab evasion later in the game once you got some spare skill points.

Versatility uses up lots of skill points, however with 7 INT you should still have enough skill points later on. With Versatility and max Dexterity(18 with increased dexterity feat) and max Melee skill you reach 210 effective guns skill (280 effective if you fully specc it later). For comparison, to reach 210 effective guns you'd need 8 perception, costing you some points for dex and to reach 280 you'd need 13 perception. In the long run, it is more effective to invest in DEX and versatility to both shoot more times and harder.

Side note: You can later grab Dirty Kick feat which scales with melee and makes a good combo with Execute ability which requires target to be stunned.