So I have over 1000 hours on underrail and tried various builds but only played on intended difficulty so I figure some of these insights don’t hold on masochist playthroughs but still here is my two cents after spending too much time with this game.
Better helmets:
Psi-bands and goggles are really god damn powerful but helmets give less protection then boots on top some heavy armour penalty and perception penalty. Head slot is pretty much useless for melee builds and most of the time I end up with using Psi-band or goggles anyway for the sake of “Versatility” or cheaper Psycho-Temporal Contraction. On my nearly 30 level character who had 12 Strength and 10 Constitution I ended up with Though Control psi band solely for the sake of dealing with ghosts as It was hard to ran out of psi using only PTC and I had to put my skill points somewhere after there was no longer any point into upgrading crafting skills so I put these into Though Control where I did not use that Psi-Tree for almost entire playthrough until the very end. Even with armour slopping helmets are not really worth it. ( That, plus I figured incendiary grenades work simmilary to flares when it comes to fighting in caves )
Better plates:
I don’t see any point using any other armour plates apart from Psi-Beatle Carapace unless you like having no movement points and dying. You can get way better results with armour sloping and actual full metal armour.
Better Vests:
I don’t see a point in using any other vest apart from regenerating one, unlike other vests it gives a huge advantage against all types of enemies when other vests will be only useful like 15% of the time and with limited carrying weight it’s not like carrying around spares is an option. The one which increases HP could be argued to be working on a same principle if not for the fact that one tick of healing of a regenerative vest is equal to around 40% of what a sturdy vest gives.
More boot types:
I don’t see any point in using different boot types apart from armoured slopped tungsteel galvanic striders or blast cloth tabis. I suppose you could use some kind of enchanted skin to make different tabis but you could also grab a 120+ quality blast cloth from that dude in the upper metro and be done with it with similar results to what other tabi boots give with little to no effort. Question if you will be using stealth or not also answer the questions of what 33% of your armour will be (not counting belts I guess).
Item upgrading:
Be it that you need to have 30%-40% more skill points of what the recipes require but replacing singular elements in an item would be nice. I hate sitting on top-notch muffles because I can’t find a proper Psi-Crit-Glass for my psi-band. I know that would be too easy, so that’s why I propose a way higher skill requirement.
Item ordering:
I know it might not be easy to come by 100+ Quality high efficiency energy converter but I’m certain If I were to post an announcement in Core City that I’m willing to pay 2000 charons for a piece some piperwoker would find it for me. It might be argued that It would make the game too easy but the sad fact is that a proper way to tackle this problem is letting your game run idle and wait for merchants to reset their stock. Hardly a skill issue. Or worse, have fun with farming these beetles since you need a good quality carapace as this is where most of the mechanical threshold of the vest is. Pro Tip: Quick save before entering the location north of Rail Crossing I think this when the loot is determined. It’s not hard, it’s stupid.
Change Nimble:
You want to spec into dodging? Well I hope you enjoy not being allowed to use 90% of armour types in the entire game. ( I almost always take Nimble anyway but it fells very limiting for dodge/evasion builds )
Intimidation and Persuasion are useless:
Apart from striking a deal with pirates which you can put out of the picture by killing two specific Jacks I can hardly think of any situation which would make it worth it to put skill points into these. Mercitale at least gives an option to get more items from vendors ( see “Item ordering” ) and Ferry-Man perk is hidden behind intelligence checks and not like helping Abram actually ever helps him. At least not to my knowledge. I would say remove it since It’s three years and I really want to play that game so I’m not in favour of adding more work to it.
So these are my thoughts at least, like I mentioned only played on normal so I expect some of these points may be invalid in total meta min-maxing but these things make replaying the game way less enjoyable. I’m happy to hear any one's thoughts on this. Tchort is evolution brothers, stay apex and dominating.
