Machete wielding sneaky dude + PSI (Psychokinesis + Temporal manipulation)

[Dirty Pottah]

Hey guys,

For my next playthrough I would like to play a machete wielder with some PSI affinities to support his deadly blows. Im thinking of Psychokinesis and Temporal manipulation.

Here is the theory build : http://underrail.info.tm/build/?HgcMBgUEBQcAKADCoMKgwqBkAAAAKHh4RkZkAEYARgAAACQxOcKMwpkGwovCjlxLwo0rKsKHwobCiMKzAOKdjAXinY0D4rKIBeKyiQLfvw

I don't want to dump any points on any of the social skills nor in lockpick/hacking skills so I can be more craft effective.
If any of the more experienced players would take a look at it and tell me if this is viable or if it is an absolute potatoe build, that'd be much appreciated.

Thanks a lot and have a nice one!

[cypherusuh]

Idk much about sword in particular, since I hate the RNG-dependant of sword, but I'll comment in general
The feat seems good enough, other than Continuum Ripple. Even on pure psi, it's not that good, since there's other much better and more reliable option. 70 psychokinesis is fine for skill dump, although idk if it's worth it, since if you play it right, your sword alone should be enough without implosion. It's better to leave at 45 for Electrokinetic Imprint and divert the points somewhere else. Also, Static (TM 70) is actually not that good. I never really use it since, on hard run. It only gave you breathing room if you're 1v1 or fighting bosses, which is quite a few scenario

For crafting, you can cut back on Mechanic and Electronic, refer to in-depth FAQ on Steam Forum for its maximum requirement. I recommend putting them -10 from max, unless you' re willing to either use Cheat Engine to force-refresh merchant, or afk for hours until you found perfect quality.

If you want to further min-max, there's +2 INT drug on Expedition, which will helps you a lot. And don't forget +15% House crafting bonus, unless you want to craft your end-game gear on DC.

If you do decided to divert skill points, some suggestion is Biology 115 / 130 for regenerative mixture and supersoldier drug (makes sure to have effective skill without any buff, since it's DC crafting) and 112 Chemistry for Tier 5 explosives. 80 throwing skill is also good, you'll get 90% chance on 4-5 tile. Mercantile is also a good pick, even though you don't want to put any on Social. It indirectly helps your combat capabilites from much higher chance to find 150Q+ parts. 105 effective is the cap. It's practically free pick for me so far, due how extremely easy to find really high quality items, basically almost every refresh you could find it on oligarch shop vs 5-8 refresh outside of their special shop.

As for alternatives feat, Expose weakness is a must for any mechanic damage melee. Opportunist, Quick Tinkering, grenadier, Fast Metabolism (-1 Per, +1 CON). 4 Per won't give you anything. If you want to be a little bit more glass cannon, (-1 PER, - 1 CON, +2 AGI) and grab Uncanny Dodge is pretty good, and since you have both dodge and evasion maxed, high agi will gives you better mileage on it, since it requires all-in effort if you want to utilize it on DC (full infused great siphoner).

[HulkOSaurus]

Wearing heavy armour would reduce your effective Dodge and Evasion, so I don't think this will be a ''Tin Can.''

On a side note - swords/machetes seem like they need quite a few feats in order to become great. Alternatively, you could try to make a full Dex Psi Hybrid that uses fist weapons. That will open up a few more points for skills and be less heavy on the feats, even allowing you to go into Versatility. It would also, potentially, either allow you to max Psychokinesis(very strong melee attacks) or go into Thought Control with 10 Will.

[cypherusuh]

Oh right, didn't read the tin can part. Then it won't worked out. If you do tin can, makes sure you have 7 Con for Juggernaut and 6 Agi for sprint. Dump your dodge, evasion, and Nimble, it will be useless.
My previous comment still works well if you go light armor, though. Makes sure you have less than 15 armor penalty, that nimble bonus is needed to give additional push to dodge/Eva.

[Dirty Pottah]

Wearing heavy armour would reduce your effective Dodge and Evasion, so I don't think this will be a ''Tin Can.''

On a side note - swords/machetes seem like they need quite a few feats in order to become great. Alternatively, you could try to make a full Dex Psi Hybrid that uses fist weapons. That will open up a few more points for skills and be less heavy on the feats, even allowing you to go into Versatility. It would also, potentially, either allow you to max Psychokinesis(very strong melee attacks) or go into Thought Control with 10 Will.

Sorry for the confusion. English isnt my mother tongue and I didn't realise a Tin Can would be a tank lol. I'll edit topic's subject.

Oh right, didn't read the tin can part. Then it won't worked out. If you do tin can, makes sure you have 7 Con for Juggernaut and 6 Agi for sprint. Dump your dodge, evasion, and Nimble, it will be useless.
My previous comment still works well if you go light armor, though. Makes sure you have less than 15 armor penalty, that nimble bonus is needed to give additional push to dodge/Eva.

Since I won't be using heavy armor I will follow your previous advice and redistribute some points here and there to fit the skills thresholds. Dumping Continuum Ripple and picking Expose weakness instead also seems like the best thing to do since I won't be picking psi empathy from the start but rather after I get all sword related feats.
Thanks a lot anyway

[cypherusuh]

Tbh, it's fine to pick Psi Empathy from the start. Max psychokinesis up to 45 points and taking basic Cyrokinesis could carry you until Depot A. Especially Cyrokinesis. It helps a ton for reliable long-ranged attack (usually for hitting barrel and initiate combat) and it slows enemies. Although you'll delay your other feat, since it's quite necessary to auto pick Premeditation at level 6, since it's mega strong and allows you to have free stun from TK punch / electrokinesis

Although doing so, will makes you questioning if any build other than full psi is sub-optimal, since it's so OP early on

Also, depending on how you distribute early stats point, if you have 7 Str from the get-go, I recommend either buying, keeping or craft Sledgehammer and at least 8 DT Tac Vest (the more the better) to fully counter any robot and turrets early on