Author Topic: Pure Psi, Pure Noob  (Read 5986 times)

DunderFail

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Pure Psi, Pure Noob
« on: April 29, 2020, 05:40:51 am »
I've had this damn game sitting in my library for so long, but never played it despite rave reviews since I kept getting chewed on by rats in the starting caves and quit from frustration.

Now with the expansion and Sseth's glowing review, I want to make an actual go of it.

I want to go pure Psi, and this is the build I came up with only a little more than 0 experience.

http://underrail.info.tm/build/?GQMIAwMDEAoAAAAAAAAAR1BaAFVXCShmwofCh8KHLwBAKz8oFCM9Vy4cKmcKIWYF

Some notes:

1. I want to be able to pass every speech check, open every door, and pick every pocket.

2. I have no idea what I'm doing in terms of crafting ability. I just based them off of what I was told you need to get the best psi headband and psi tactical vest.

3. While an endgame build is nice, if you could also give me an initial level 1 build in addition to whatever you come up with that would be great as well!

4. I'd like to spec into stealth, but that means diverting points to agility and making it harder to pick locks and pickpocket.
« Last Edit: April 29, 2020, 05:51:31 am by DunderFail »

TheAverageGortsby

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Re: Pure Psi, Pure Noob
« Reply #1 on: April 29, 2020, 06:18:22 am »
Mental Subversion and Hypothermia are extremely weak feats.  Neurology instead of Meditation is strictly the inferior choice.  Psychostatic Electricity and Neural Overclocking are typically better for Psychosis builds than Tranq.

Why not try one of the builds in my guide? https://underrail.com/forums/index.php?topic=4149.0

Black Angel

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Re: Pure Psi, Pure Noob
« Reply #2 on: April 29, 2020, 07:52:05 am »
1. I want to be able to pass every speech check, open every door, and pick every pocket.
This means you're going to need WIL and DEX. However, since PSI skills AND Persuasion/Intimidation are strictly WIL-based, you're going to want to put all the bonus stat points you gain every 4 levels into WIL, which means not only the psi skills are greatly boosted by synergy with WIL, but also the social skills. This means you don't really need to put as much skillpoints into the skills as you would normally have, though I'd still recommend maxing your psi skills for maximum damage output.
You see the numbers in the bracket right next to the amount of skillpoints you allocated into the skills? That's the effective skills you have which would almost always be checked by the game, except for requirements to gain access to certain psi abilities and other stuff. Pay attention to the effective skill, and for Persuasion/Intimidation you generally want the effective number to be somewhere around 130-140, and with synergy with WIL you only really need to put half of those numbers into the actual skillpoints allocation.

But don't get too much DEX, 4 is fine for neither bonus nor malus, from what I heard putting Pickpocket into a little bit above 100 is enough to get as many pocket picked as you want, while as for Lockpicking you don't need higher than 120 or even 110 effective number thanks to certain items in the game that can help you. 

Quote
2. I have no idea what I'm doing in terms of crafting ability. I just based them off of what I was told you need to get the best psi headband and psi tactical vest.
Since INT benefit psi builds by increasing your psi regen, you generally want high INT, though 7 is suffice if you want to get some of the crafting feats. And as Gortsby said, Neurology *instead* of Meditation is an inferior choice, but having *both* would greatly benefit Tranquility-based psi characters so long as you keep your HP full. And it synergize even better when paired with stealth, where you get almost always get the alpha strike.

Quote
3. While an endgame build is nice, if you could also give me an initial level 1 build in addition to whatever you come up with that would be great as well!
This might sound harsh, but I'd recommend asking for less advice and play more for yourself. It's actually fun to put in the effort to learn and master the system by yourself, and then see if you can pull off different builds later on.

Asking too many questions might spoil your experience as you might narrow-mindedly try to attempt other's suggestions to you, when it would be generally better for you to learn and flexibly adapt as you on your own sees fit.

Quote
4. I'd like to spec into stealth, but that means diverting points to agility and making it harder to pick locks and pickpocket.
Again, you don't need to put as much point into DEX and even AGI. If you want to sneak reliably, you might want at least 7 AGI to get Interloper feat which helps increase your sneak speed while also adding a bit of Movement Points while in stealth to help during combat. And you generally don't need to allocate many points into stealth because gears can help you there. And even then, sneaking also largely depends on your ability to point-n-click, and if you know how it works you can also divert attentions if you're also fast enough.

DunderFail

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Re: Pure Psi, Pure Noob
« Reply #3 on: April 29, 2020, 05:05:21 pm »
1. I want to be able to pass every speech check, open every door, and pick every pocket.
This means you're going to need WIL and DEX. However, since PSI skills AND Persuasion/Intimidation are strictly WIL-based, you're going to want to put all the bonus stat points you gain every 4 levels into WIL, which means not only the psi skills are greatly boosted by synergy with WIL, but also the social skills. This means you don't really need to put as much skillpoints into the skills as you would normally have, though I'd still recommend maxing your psi skills for maximum damage output.
You see the numbers in the bracket right next to the amount of skillpoints you allocated into the skills? That's the effective skills you have which would almost always be checked by the game, except for requirements to gain access to certain psi abilities and other stuff. Pay attention to the effective skill, and for Persuasion/Intimidation you generally want the effective number to be somewhere around 130-140, and with synergy with WIL you only really need to put half of those numbers into the actual skillpoints allocation.

But don't get too much DEX, 4 is fine for neither bonus nor malus, from what I heard putting Pickpocket into a little bit above 100 is enough to get as many pocket picked as you want, while as for Lockpicking you don't need higher than 120 or even 110 effective number thanks to certain items in the game that can help you. 

Quote
2. I have no idea what I'm doing in terms of crafting ability. I just based them off of what I was told you need to get the best psi headband and psi tactical vest.
Since INT benefit psi builds by increasing your psi regen, you generally want high INT, though 7 is suffice if you want to get some of the crafting feats. And as Gortsby said, Neurology *instead* of Meditation is an inferior choice, but having *both* would greatly benefit Tranquility-based psi characters so long as you keep your HP full. And it synergize even better when paired with stealth, where you get almost always get the alpha strike.

Quote
3. While an endgame build is nice, if you could also give me an initial level 1 build in addition to whatever you come up with that would be great as well!
This might sound harsh, but I'd recommend asking for less advice and play more for yourself. It's actually fun to put in the effort to learn and master the system by yourself, and then see if you can pull off different builds later on.

Asking too many questions might spoil your experience as you might narrow-mindedly try to attempt other's suggestions to you, when it would be generally better for you to learn and flexibly adapt as you on your own sees fit.

Quote
4. I'd like to spec into stealth, but that means diverting points to agility and making it harder to pick locks and pickpocket.
Again, you don't need to put as much point into DEX and even AGI. If you want to sneak reliably, you might want at least 7 AGI to get Interloper feat which helps increase your sneak speed while also adding a bit of Movement Points while in stealth to help during combat. And you generally don't need to allocate many points into stealth because gears can help you there. And even then, sneaking also largely depends on your ability to point-n-click, and if you know how it works you can also divert attentions if you're also fast enough.

I see what you're saying about not researching your character too much, but what I think is worse is hitting a wall you can't crack after 20 hours cause you built your character wrong.

Anyways. how does this look? Assuming I wear black tac vests and tabi boots will my stealth be effective?

http://underrail.info.tm/build/?GQMIBAMDDwoAAAAAAAAxSFFaAEtMAB5ZwofCh8KHMQBAKz8oFD0uKgohZgVkJzY

Black Angel

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Re: Pure Psi, Pure Noob
« Reply #4 on: April 29, 2020, 11:11:12 pm »
I see what you're saying about not researching your character too much, but what I think is worse is hitting a wall you can't crack after 20 hours cause you built your character wrong.
If that's your worry, then worry not. Simply keep multiple different saves at many, many points in the game. Before leveling up, before a combat encounter, before talking to NPCs, etc etc. It's one way to play RPGs if you worried too much about doing the Right Thing