First Dominating Attempt - Salvage my run

[kamax3]

This is my first play-through on dominating. I've played through on normal multiple times, and it was challenging enough. But this - with this difficulty it feels like a completely different game. I'm stuck on Newton's quest with the psi-beatles. They three shot me. Meanwhile I can't even get one of them to half hp....

This is the build I am going for: https://underrail.info.tm/build/?HgULAwUKAwnCoGEAAAAAZFA-ACFgbklHYAB7AEYAAG0xAStNOsKaWjMWSyY1ESrCh8KzKcKF4qe-CuK0lAXfvw
Its basically an energy pistol focus with sniper sidearm and psi for utility. However I was completely unaware at how crippling the lack of early game resources combined with the sheer toughness of enemies would be. I literally have no money, my SMG does not penetrate psi-beatle carpace at all, and I don't know what to do.

Save file linked for anyone inclined to help a poor soul navigate dominating for the first time. What should next steps be? Or should I just start over and buy better weapon somehow?

https://www.icloud.com/iclouddrive/0PQddoiWfMdtzwQWasmHlDNNw#Dominate_Me_Broh

[destroyor]

Long wall of text warning

As you experienced first hand, dominating early game is brutal on your resources. The 30% npc skill buff and health buff changed a lot of meta for the game (5mm SMG no longer effective, AR is now switch place w/ SMG on class tier, etc).
How to take down early game enemies in general:
majority of you damage will be from psi - mainly kiting w/ Cryokinesis and Temporal Distortion while hiding safely behind a closed fence.
secondary damage: caltrop, bear traps, grenades

A fishing rod is a reliable, if meager, source of income. You can also invest in 50 effective pickpocketing as well.

Now on to your build:
Premeditate comes way too late. If you get it ASAP it really helps out early game (open door, premeditate psi, close door) - that alone would have helped you get past the Newton quest.
Psi is a package deal. You should get at least 35 Metathermics for Cryostasis
You are getting 13 DEX at level 26 which is very late for energy pistol AP reduction. Once you are at level 26 and eating eel sandwich you will get 10AP per laser pistol shot meaning 9 to 10 shots per turn (50 base AP, 20 from PTC, 20 from adrenaline = 90AP total OR 100 AP total when you have Psycho-temporal acceleration + use native cocaine). Plus you choose to use a sniper sidearm (which is also a slow weapon as well).

I think there are three ways to approach energy pistol:
1. Dump PER, get 18 DEX and Versatility, max melee for 8AP laser pistol shot meaning 11 to 13 per turn @end game. This method enjoy high DEX AP cost reduction benefit right from the beginning
2. Galaxy brain - super high INT so even non-critical shot hurts. You will have to take ability points from somewhere. How you setup your char is up to you.
3. Get 11 PER, 9 CON, recklessness, survival instinct, scrutinous, wear infused rathound leather armor + seeker goggle, use focus stim for 100% crit chance

I mean your build as is will still work - you just won't ever feel OP and your gameplay might not be pleasant.

You also over-invest on couple skills - lockpicking, hacking and mercantile just to name a few.

[Vokial]

I don't see why anyone should take up a sniper rifle as a sidearm. It's either main form of attack or nothing. It's a waste without Shooting Spree, and with it makes you use it as your main weapon. Stealth is also too low and it cripples your Snipe. If you don't plan on raising Stealth, it's better to not derail that direction and drop the whole sniper-idea along with Blindsiding. With 3 AGI, it's probably for the better.

If you're looking for crits, just with a single additional point in PER, you could take the Scrutinous feat that will help you a lot.
Throwing is too much as it is. Keep it, but take Three-Pointer, or decrease the skill.



As for the quest with the beetles, just use armor piercing bullets. One should purchase every single one for 5mm, or 7.62mm (maybe .44) armor piercing bullets from day one depending on what weapon you have. Use your molotov too on the ones outside. The outer area is the difficult one as it is too open. Once you managed to kill them and got inside, things get much easier due to the fact that you can use covers while you kite them while falling back from corner to corner. Inside there are more bugs but they are much easier thanks to you making use of your enviroment. You can totally us a bear trap too to stop them as you shoot from a corner and retreat back at the end of your turn. Remember that they take more damage when their carpace is opened.

This will cost you a lot of money though. I mean to buy all those special bullets. I remember so, thanks to the fact that my character was broke, with a lame pistol and everything I sell is accepted on a much-much lower rate.

Before doing this quest, perhaps you should visit the upper underrail, after the 3 bandits with Jack's box, continue north, past the rathounds. Then on the right there is a small fenced area with a guaranteed weapon to loot that's usually the best you could find at that point. One time there was a sniper rifle there and it was awesome to have one so early and being able to one-shot those bugs.

[kamax3]

Awesome, thanks for the replies. Definitely some good ideas going forward. Definitely going to "newgame" this one and pickup some AP ammo and cryostasis. I did see that "blind stormtrooper" dex/versatility build. Looks fun. I might try that out if my build doesn't work. You do have a valid point that my early low dex will prevent this build from picking up until late game.

Not sure I agree with sniper sidearm comment. I used Sniper as a sidearm in my first build with AR for close/medium range and sniper for distance. It really only would use it to start fights off with free kill. Then go AR from there. Was thinking of doing the same with this build, so we'll see. Its not the worst thing, but I see how maybe its not the best use of skill points.
Scrutinous - wow, I completely missed that. Definitely picking that up.
Premeditation - Yep. Think I'll swap out steadfast aim at to pick it up.

[DerivativeZero]

I've written a guide here on laser pistol that allows to play laser pistol nearly from the get go (before Newton ideally!) and for dominating. I think it has one shot less than the build you mentioned but allows for laser pistol all the way. Second post in this link is how to make a quick detour to Junkyard before even starting with the quest chain and that should solve your money issues.

https://underrail.com/forums/index.php?topic=5086.0

Hope this helps!

[kamax3]

I've written a guide here on laser pistol that allows to play laser pistol nearly from the get go (before Newton ideally!)

Amazing! This will help a ton. Do you have an underrail.info.tm/build link for it by chance? How much did you invest in psi?

[DerivativeZero]

Glad this helps!

I don't have a link in the builder, as I don't think the additional info on exact skill values is that helpful (many builds need exact skill values at specific levels, and the builder doesn't allow that). The feat progression and mentioned skill levels should be fairly transparent in the description though.

As for PSI: You need psychotemporal contraction and acceleration, so Temporal 55 (please refer to the guide, it's easy to make a mistake in this one area, which would force you to take the acceleration feat a bit later on impact the feat selection order). Otherwise I only had Psychokineses to 45 for the Imprint. Imprint you can get with TNT from a Lurker base near GMS/SGS after Depot A but is a bit hard if you don't know the meta: lots of strong Lurkers on your way, ideally just sneak past some if you can and don't engage the people in the proper base. It's stun is a massive boon to a build that tends to need such crowd control before getting Critical Power.

In general, prioritize Guns, Stealth and your Crafting skills apart from the above PSI.

One random thought on a first run in dominating difficulty: I know you can't do it with Newton (which I'd consider the only hard barrier in dominating difficultywise), but after Depot A you can go many directions, so don't be afraid to sneak past hard enemies in the beginning and come back if necessary later.

[kamax3]

Following up... this is the build I restarted with https://underrail.info/build/?HgULAwQLAwnCoGEAAAAAZFA-ACFgbklHYABYI0YAAG0xASsmTcKaWhYqSxEzwodnKcKzwqRd4qe-CuK0lAXfvw

I ended up getting the plasma pistol instead of the energy pistol from Elwood's house in Junkyard. At first I was bummed, but then realized it still works AMAZINGLY as a side-arm with Aimed Shot. Its basically a free insta-kill every 3 turns. Especially after re-building with smart module and practical physicist.

The run was still relatively challenging however, even with that. I'd heard that this energy pistol builds don't come online until mid-late game, but once you hit that mid game stride... holy shit. Specifically, once you hit 14, grab Critical Power and get your hands on a decent Circular Wave Amplifier, its a game changer. Its hard to believe I'm playing on Dominating anymore. To the point where the game literally feels easier than it ever did while playing my last three runs on normal... My energy shots crit for 350+, my plasma executions crit for over 2k, I have tons of CC with psi support and crafted grenades (+Grenadier), stealth and traps. Its super satisfying to play, but just funny at how easy it is now compared with my days trying to save Newton vs psi beetles. Haha seriously, f%$@ those beetles man.

[DerivativeZero]

Absolutely, once you got Critical Power and the Circular Wave Amplifiers, it's a different world.

I think not going for higher critical chance is something that makes the game harder with energy pistols. If you have the high critical damage, an additional 30% from survival instincts, or ambush in some situations, really makes a difference IMHO.

Anyways, congratulations for salvaging your run