SNIPER - OSA Division

[Vokial]

OSA* Sniper
a sharpshooter using Metathermics and Temporal Manipulation


SUMMARY

This build focuses solely on the use of the sniper rifle as a weapon. In combat, it is enhanced with great mobility and psionic abilities providing buffs, cooldown reduction, crowd control and offense to easily handle larger enemy groups on Dominating difficulty without any problem.


HOW IT WORKS

In hostile territories, we are moving around in Stealth by default. Should we find some targets, we can scout the area further to see who else could we alert by initiating combat, then find an ideal vantage point.

We first activate Shooting Spree, then we Snipe any annoyance wearing Antithermic armor that can save them from being lid on fire. After this, we need to target the tankiest one with a Thermodynamic Destabilization and pop'em with an Aim Shot. This is not always necessary, but it can quickly turn the tides in our favor. It's like Corpse Explosion from Diablo 2, 50/50 normal and fire damage. Do mind, that it's important to kill the target with just a single hit as the damage from the following explosion will differ depending on the current HP of the recipient - and sniper rifles are perfect for this scenario. The fireworks likely takes a few of the surrounding unfortunates down to the grave and leave the rest either near death, or - should we have the Pyromaniac feat already - actively burning and in a state of panic.

From here on, we can lay back and casually mop the rest of the now severely weakened group with regular shots or a grenade, maybe just cause even more panic with a Molotov or a Premeditated Pyrokinesis. Setting up favorable lighting conditions for Ambush this way is also a positive side effect worth mentioning.

Should your Rapid Reloader refund (between 10-20 AP) is 12 or more, by casting Contraction and taking Adrenaline, you can shoot your rifle a total of 6 times per round.
You can also cast Increment every second turn and for zero AP to constantly lower your cooldowns, making sure that you can re-stealth fast, use Aim Shot and activate Shooting Spree as frequently as possible. Supplementing psi abilities also have their advantages. Casting Recurrence is nice against some bosses when you dealt a high damage single attack (especially with the mega-bleed of Micro-Shrapnel rounds) Dilate incoming melee's or just freeze them in Cryostasis.



BUILD

https://underrail.info/build/?HgUFBwMNBQjCoF0AAAAAwqBEVAAAWloqMFoAAHbCgTgANAEZHX81An4oSyvCh8K9wog_LipywrXir7wE4q-9AeKxoAXfvg





General information to know at the start:

• The build shown here is like a regular sniper suddenly dual-classing into a psionic - the feats are separated to two columns for an easier view. Yet it is strongly recommended to follow the sequence shown up to level 10. Those are the core sniper feats you need to get early, but you can pretty much tailor this to however you like it after. Could use psionic skills from the start and change the order of feats to your preference from then on.
• You can reroll your game until you get the Mushroom Cove Scavenger quest, involving the Water Treatment Facility random dungeon with Alev and the Acolytes. This is indicated by a body with severe burn wounds in SGS Medical level. What's really cool is that Alev can be looted for a Thermodynamic Destabilization "scroll". Getting that so early is amazing.
• The build has many ways to avoid getting attacked, but be on the look for a Regenerative or at least a Sturdy Vest. Grab it from Gort or anybody who has it and craft a Tactical Overcoat from the highest Black Cloth you manage to find together with a Ninja Tabi + a high Corsair or preferably a Reaper frame. Alternatively, there's two Lurkers holed up in Lower Underrail to the north and one of them wears a very high quality Tac-Vest Overcoat for you to loot. You can access them in the early limited game world already anytime
• Max Guns and Stealth at each level up.
• If you complete everything the game can offer you in terms of all possible exploration, quests and oddities with the only thing left is to venture to Depot A - you should just reach level 10. Which is a huge turning point due to Shooting Spree. setting out to find the drill part should be a casual experience at this point (also, you can always stealth past the mutants).
• Start specializing Shooting Spree at level 16 and spend all 5 points on it, starting with "Shots".
• Make sure to get Future Orientation at level 20, so you can immediately start specializing on it at level 21 without suffering it's disadvantage for long.
• I want to say (before some of you do), that it's totally doable to leave WILL at 3 and still reach effective 140 MT and 150 TM. Having INT at 7 and raise PER up to 18 this way. But that would mean us completely loosing Persuasion for good. And a bit of Throwing/Chemistry (this is fine as basic Molotovs and Flashbangs are enough). But all in all, I like having Persuasion better:)

Level 1
https://underrail.info/build/?AQUFBwMKAwcPDwAAAAAPDw8AAA8AAAAPAAAAAA8AAAEZ374

• Just bump WILL from 3 to 5 during level 4 and 8. It's better to get this over early.

Level 10
https://underrail.info/build/?CgUFBwMKBQc8EwAAAAA8MC4AACgAAAAoAAA1IzMAHAEZKx1_NQJ-374

• The character has 60 in Hacking and Lockpick (with the Jackknife) to crack everything in Depot A, from safes to turrets.
• 60 in Persuasion to convince SGS instead of the Cans to aid the Black Eels (+ lure Elwood outside) and 45 Mercantile to get the full stock of Blaine.
• 50/50 in Mechanics and Tailoring to craft repair kits
• Enough skill points to cast Increment and Thermodynamic Destabilization, should you got lucky with the Water Treatment Facility.
• Taking Strafe later at level 12 in favor of Paranoia is also a viable way to go. You probably won't find a Spearhead frame this early anyway, but it's nice having the Initiative bonus early.
• At level 12, you can raise INT to 8 and from then on, all stat points can go to PER.

STATS

STR: 5  - Enough to wield our instruments.
DEX: 5  - As required for Strafe.
AGI: 7  - To have Interloper, have good numbers in Stealth, enough MP and get past fences.
CON: 3  - We barely ever allow the chance to get attacked, so going glass cannon is appropriate and armor mostly serves as utility.
PER: 15 - For good damage and detection.
WIL: 5  - To have enough skill points for our psionic and social abilities + being able to wear Hypno Goggles. We can also get the Outer Visions feat with a Tchortist Noble Robe.
INT: 8  - Pretty much to have enough skill points for everything. Crafting, Hacking, Mercantile and might as well take Psycho-neural Flexibility. It's also handy in some dialogue checks.




SKILLS

Everything is nice and rounded, satisfying all OCD levels:)

• Guns maxed.
• Throwing at a reliable 100.
• Stealth maxed for effective prowling, Snipe damage and Ambush crit chance.
• Hacking and Lockpicking at a natural effective 100.
• All Crafting skills are boosted enough to make top quality gear using bench and Hypercelebrix. Also enough Chemistry for Napalm Grenades, enough Biology for Hypercelebrix.
• Metathermics at 140 for to reach 100% target health damage cap. It's advised to invest in this skill to raise this percentage with every other level up. 100% will only happen at level 26.
• Temporal Manipulation at 150 to reduce the chance of getting Dilated after a Contraction to the possible minimal 30%. This will only happen at level 28, so you can leave this be after for a while upon reaching base 60 for Future Orientation. But it's best to start boosting it a few levels before 27.
• Persuasion at a natural 70. Can reach 90-100 depending on a Hypno Goggles and JKK jacket can boost this with an additional +15. Siding with JKK is strongly advised with this build.
• Mercantile at a natural 80. Can be raised to 95 with Large Waist Pack for Constantine and 107 with Hypercelebrix + Under Pie for Hanna.

Some of the FEATS explained

• Interloper is a must for anyone using Stealth for it's move speed bonus and is crucial for us to be able to use MP to step out of a corner after restealthing the previous round.
• Hit and Run + Strafe can mean an extra attack when you took down an enemy but cannot shoot the other behind cover despite having the AP to perform an attack, not enough to move a bit to have visual on them. It's also handy to have the MP to step back to cover after coming out from stealth.
• Paranoia is important. We perform the alpha-strike in most fights due to stealth, but having 22 is the bare minimum so that we can achieve 27 with an occasional Root Soda should we need to. JKK jacket also adds another 5, which is enough even to win against the Arena boss and the Detection bonus is welcome (417 with Fine Tuned).
• Tranquility is amazing to have as it reduce our Increment cost to zero AP and lowers anthing else with -5.
• Premeditation is not as useful, but can help when casting some other spell with an expensive AP cost, like Pyrokinesis or... maybe Stasis - but I've yet to cast these. No wonder I saved this feat for last as I didn't really miss it. Nimble can be a good alternative.
• Psycho-neural Flexibility is handy as it offsets the cost increase of using dual psi-schools early in the game, as Advanced Psi Empathy only becomes available at level 26 earliest. And the cheaper we cast spells the better. This way just by opening with Thermo-D and casting Contraction every 4th round and Increment every second, we can keep doing this for quite a while if needed.

SPECIALIZATION

• Shooting Spree needs to be maxed ASAP
• followed by Future Orientation
• The remaining 5 points is up to you. Putting it on Critical Damage is a safe bet as you'll be critting reqularly with frequent Aim Shots and the exploitation of Ambush.

GEAR

At the beginning we are just going to use whatever guns we find, depending on which has some ammo and durability left... Make sure to persuade a .44 Hammerer from Lucas at the start.

HEAD:

• Smart (Night Vision) Googles - boost the damage of special attacks like Snipe and Aim Shot. Have a Motion-Tracking version also around against the occasional Crawlers.

ARMOR:

• Infused Pig-Leather Overcoat - boosts HP and CON with pretty decent defense stats. Make sure to use the 120+ quality leather you got from Fatso with some good Super Steel Fiber. I took the Black Crawler tattoo to boost my stealth further.
• Alternatively, you can also wear a good Regenerative Overcoat with the Abomination tattoo. Those two will passively heal you up to 100% everytime, so Tranquility will always be in effect. Very convenient.
• The Rathound Regalia while not really protecting you from anything, it has some serious mobility and stealth bonuses due to it's stats and the fact that it has zero armor penalty.

BELT:

• Bullet Strap Belt for faster reloads
• Doctor's Belt for heavy chem use
• or Large Waist Pack to carry more are all viable choices depending on the situation.

BOOTS:

• Ninja Tabi for extra stealth and mobility
• or Infused Pig-Leather Boots to extend your carrying capacity and enjoy another +1 CON.

WEAPON:

• Smart-Rapid Spearhead in the main hand
• with a Smart-Rapid 12.7mm Corsair in the off-hand (8.6mm Reaper is also nice btw)
• Have some armor piercing ammo with you. Micro-Schrapnel also works wonders due to the high damage per bullet and Contaminated Rounds are OP.

UTILITY:

• just Molotovs / Flashbangs / Vanishing Powders
• with a Taser and occasionally a Cloaking Device.
• Once every blue moon I toss in some Crawler-poisoned Caltrops or EMP if the situation demands it. I never have Frag or HE as they do far too less damage in my opinion, especially compared to Plasma Grenades which are actually good. Wanted to like Nail Bombs, but ended up not using them.

*appendix:
OSA is the psionic branch of Tri-Optimum Security in System Shock 2, still by far the best FPS/Survival Horror RPG in existence.
...They do have access to Psychokinesis as well, but it is voluntary and two schools are more than enough here:)

Should you have any question or feedback, feel free to reach out. Enjoy!

[GamingGamerGirlQueen]

I hate to sound like a new player, but I've only played a psionic character so I'm good on the psionic end, but my only experience with sniping was a failed first few attempts at building one ended in failure, so if you could explain what snipers to craft as a psionic character I got very familiar with crafting at least. I really wanna try this build because it sounds dope.

[Eidein]

He shows the gear, including the weapons at the bottom section of the guide.

[Vokial]

I hate to sound like a new player, but I've only played a psionic character so I'm good on the psionic end, but my only experience with sniping was a failed first few attempts at building one ended in failure, so if you could explain what snipers to craft as a psionic character I got very familiar with crafting at least. I really wanna try this build because it sounds dope.

I don't consider the character that much of a psionic, as most Metathermic spells just won't be as effective compared to what a dedicated psi user could do with high WILL stats and maxed skills. What we capitalize on here is the fact that Thermo-D's max damage cap can be attained with 140 effective score. Same with most Temporal spells at the limit of 150. These do come handy when suddenly facing a lot of enemies all at once. Only then one can use Contraction, Increment, Adrenaline. But sometimes, just tossing in a Molotov is enough to lid up the area where the enemy is standing and pick them off due to Ambush-triggered crits. For this reason, choosing a dark spot to initiate battle from is advised.

Some insights after playing the mayority of the game with this build:

It's certainly a lot of fun to combat large groups with this build. Gather the mutants in the Toxic Waste Processing Plant and just lit everything on fire with Thermo-D, some Napalm and maybe another Premeditated Pyrokinesis. I understand how a Cryokinetic Orb can be a nice, satisfying mass slow spell due to the huge area it covers, but the Panic-effect of fire and the fact that it illuminates the area is just much more effective. You can also destroy Hives together with all it's inhabitants by a single shot if you cast Thermo-D from a distance, then quickly enter Stealth and initiate combat before the effect goes away to Snipe. The Locusts will spawn to their immediate death due to the explosion. This could also be a way to use Thermo-D with Snipe to ensure the kill.
Btw, Premeditation is definitely the way to go compared to Grenadier as casting Pyrokinesis for zero AP is better than another molotov for 15AP and several turns later. But even then, once we throw an Incendiary Grenade, we don't really need to anymore - the fire will burn long enough to trigger Ambush and a Flashbang is still separately available if needed.