First time player AR tank build viability check

[kardfett]

https://underrail.info/build/?FAcDBQcPAwVuAABubm4AbgAAAG5uAAAAAAAAAG4AAVVEOxVbSgNJSy1S

As the title says, this is my first time playing UnderRail. I actually played a stealthy crossbow person a little bit of the way through like a year ago, but I didn't really get that far, and I found myself annoyed at having to worry about popping in and out of stealth. I've found I don't really care about being as completionist in games as I used to be, as I have much less time to play them. For that exact reason, I would like to ask before I get too far in if this is a viable build. I just want to go in guns a' blazing and tank whatever I can't kill quickly.

I would love suggestions, both on the build specifically or if there's a playstyle/weapon focus that anyone would recommend. I'm a little hesitant to do psi builds because I feel like that's a lot of abilities to keep track of, but I'm open to hear people's recommendations. I made the build up to level 20 because I don't have the DLC (I'd like to see if I can even beat the main game first before putting more money into it), but I honestly have no idea how far out I should plan.

[l0cus77]

If you don't have much time I would recommend playing on normal to start. Build is all over the place, don't mix sledge hammer and AR on your first build, take only AR and support / tank feats. There are plenty of builds around there in this forum you can template from.

Main combo is supressive fire opportunist. Add in commando and full auto and voila! Concentrated fire, critical feats and you maxed your damage output.

For defenses, consider having some CON, with metal armor. If you value mobility there are ways to still be able to poke around (nimble + armor slopping, super steel armor) but that's come later in the game. If you don't care about mobility just forget about it and use max tungsten and you will be like an auto turret during combat.

Adding psi can be helpful, but build complicate your plan if you don't want to investigate too much. Not mandatory for tin can AR tho.

Avoid any single stack feat (aimed shot), you will burst fire all time.

Best of lucks

[DerivativeZero]

https://underrail.info/build/?FAcDBQcPAwVuAABubm4AbgAAAG5uAAAAAAAAAG4AAVVEOxVbSgNJSy1S

As the title says, this is my first time playing UnderRail. I actually played a stealthy crossbow person a little bit of the way through like a year ago, but I didn't really get that far, and I found myself annoyed at having to worry about popping in and out of stealth. I've found I don't really care about being as completionist in games as I used to be, as I have much less time to play them. For that exact reason, I would like to ask before I get too far in if this is a viable build. I just want to go in guns a' blazing and tank whatever I can't kill quickly.

I would love suggestions, both on the build specifically or if there's a playstyle/weapon focus that anyone would recommend. I'm a little hesitant to do psi builds because I feel like that's a lot of abilities to keep track of, but I'm open to hear people's recommendations. I made the build up to level 20 because I don't have the DLC (I'd like to see if I can even beat the main game first before putting more money into it), but I honestly have no idea how far out I should plan.

Hi kardfett,
I'd agree that Opportunist and Suppressive Fire early are great on top of Full-Auto, Commando, Concentrated Fire. Aimed Shot can work, Rapid Fire is bit redundant and Bone Breaker, Pummel, Guard are useless unless you really want to use a Sledge Hammer on top. But bursting the AR is usually enough. Maybe put points in Tailoring to make a heavy tactical vest and you are good to go.

With high CON (and AGI 5 a bit pointless unless I am missing something), you could also think about CON 9 and Survival Instincts, Recklessness and Crit-Chance Goggles to really increase your crit.chances. Adds quite a punch to the AR if you craft ones with anatomically-aware goggles. But makes the build a bit glass cannon as you run around below 30 percent health. (obviously, you can have the feats and only run aound in low health for a difficult encounter where you need more damage)

Hope this helps!

[AN1ME5NIK]

So nobody gonna tell him that investing in dodge and evasion is meaningless because he'll have high armor penalty? Oh, nevermind, I did.

[DerivativeZero]

So nobody gonna tell him that investing in dodge and evasion is meaningless because he'll have high armor penalty? Oh, nevermind, I did.

I don't think that is true. On normal, dodge and evasion can work even with 60% tac vest and take off a bit pressure (it's not like OP is pressed for skill points). For a new player, why not? Also adds the potential to wear a 10% armor penalty vest and be a bit more mobile, so OP could experiment what suits them better. With the investment in melee I'd probably also go for AGI 6 and take Sprint. I don't think OP needs a completely min-maxed build

[kardfett]

Thanks for the feedback all!

If you don't have much time I would recommend playing on normal to start. Build is all over the place, don't mix sledge hammer and AR on your first build, take only AR and support / tank feats. There are plenty of builds around there in this forum you can template from.

In my head, I was thinking that I needed some amount of melee capability for enemies who were really good at sticking on me. I know some games make it so larger ranged weapons, like sniper rifles obviously but sometimes large machine guns too, were really bad at close range, but it sounds like that's not an issue here. What I'm gathering is that I really don't even need to invest in melee skill points, let alone feats.

So nobody gonna tell him that investing in dodge and evasion is meaningless because he'll have high armor penalty? Oh, nevermind, I did.

I don't think that is true. On normal, dodge and evasion can work even with 60% tac vest and take off a bit pressure (it's not like OP is pressed for skill points). For a new player, why not? Also adds the potential to wear a 10% armor penalty vest and be a bit more mobile, so OP could experiment what suits them better. With the investment in melee I'd probably also go for AGI 6 and take Sprint. I don't think OP needs a completely min-maxed build

I appreciate both of these lines of thought. I wasn't sure if having no dodge/evasion would absolutely screw me early game before I could get good armor. I'll probably try dumping my AGI completely for more CON to get some better tank/support feats. DerivativeZero is right though, I'm not terribly concerned about min maxing, so long as I'm not so far off the mark that I can actually complete the game.

Adding psi can be helpful, but build complicate your plan if you don't want to investigate too much. Not mandatory for tin can AR tho.
 

I am curious, are psi abilities worth it when trying to make a tank character? Doesn't it reduce your HP by 20%?

Thanks for the suggestions and feedback all,

KardFett

[Furion26]

I don't recommend to anyone unless absolute beginners who wont use forums or wiki to play below hard difficulty, you don't get to feel the game (you can just go through the entire game just using burst and that's it, which will get boring really fast).
ATM I'm playing on hard with an AR with Sniper build and I'm mid expedition and the whole game went very smooth and easy, cant even imagine if I played on normal how fast I would have became bored but as it is I had to plan and learn to use utilities more.
Even more a tank build on normal would be just like cutting through butter. I'm playin with just 10% penalty armor with little protection and I rarely find myself dying and that's when I'm really reckless and over encumbered.

[DerivativeZero]

Thanks for the feedback all!

If you don't have much time I would recommend playing on normal to start. Build is all over the place, don't mix sledge hammer and AR on your first build, take only AR and support / tank feats. There are plenty of builds around there in this forum you can template from.

In my head, I was thinking that I needed some amount of melee capability for enemies who were really good at sticking on me. I know some games make it so larger ranged weapons, like sniper rifles obviously but sometimes large machine guns too, were really bad at close range, but it sounds like that's not an issue here. What I'm gathering is that I really don't even need to invest in melee skill points, let alone feats.

So nobody gonna tell him that investing in dodge and evasion is meaningless because he'll have high armor penalty? Oh, nevermind, I did.

I don't think that is true. On normal, dodge and evasion can work even with 60% tac vest and take off a bit pressure (it's not like OP is pressed for skill points). For a new player, why not? Also adds the potential to wear a 10% armor penalty vest and be a bit more mobile, so OP could experiment what suits them better. With the investment in melee I'd probably also go for AGI 6 and take Sprint. I don't think OP needs a completely min-maxed build

I appreciate both of these lines of thought. I wasn't sure if having no dodge/evasion would absolutely screw me early game before I could get good armor. I'll probably try dumping my AGI completely for more CON to get some better tank/support feats. DerivativeZero is right though, I'm not terribly concerned about min maxing, so long as I'm not so far off the mark that I can actually complete the game.

Adding psi can be helpful, but build complicate your plan if you don't want to investigate too much. Not mandatory for tin can AR tho.
 

I am curious, are psi abilities worth it when trying to make a tank character? Doesn't it reduce your HP by 20%?

Thanks for the suggestions and feedback all,

KardFett

The price in HP for PSI is always worth it IMHO (1.1.1.6. even more than new experimental patch, but there as well) as PSI adds so many different helpful things, if only PSI haste (psycho-temporal contraction). But you can also pop adrenaline and ignore PSI. Other stuff: E-Imprint as a PSI stun trap (45 Psychokinesis needed), Electrokinesis, Force Field (all from Psychokinesis). Others too, but they cost more investment. 55 Temporal, 45 Psychokinesis is standard in all my build for instance.

You'll often read here: min max and specialize and for harder difficulties this is true. On normal, it wouldn't really matter to also play with a sledge or melee even though generally one sticks with one weapon and maxes or increases that corresponding stat. Builds with more than one weapon are more varied, but you get all their potential through feats later. Your AR is complete basically at Lv16 for instance.

To be frank: AR can be boring but is very newcomer friendly and allows you to just play a bit and check out what is what. Instead of listening to us to optimize your build, just experiment a bit. One truly amazing thing about the game is how many different play styles are possible. Once you went to the different places, see how traders offer different stuff, do a bit of wiki cross-checking and experimenting is half the fun.

Let me add: AR plus sledge can work, then your feats can help, but check the STR requirements for different sledges on the wiki. Same for AR, crafting for instance a Hornet with Rapid Reloader allows multiple bursts per round, crafting a powerful Chimera for the "free" Commando burst could be worth it. All not strictly necessary, but part of the fun to discover for yourself.


Edit: The game is a bit stingy giving out your first AR, it takes a couple missions; if you click on this link there's a mini guide how to find one very soon. But a bit cheesy (and your skill for it isn't that good in the beginning anyways, just in case you are impatient). https://underrail.com/forums/index.php?topic=5086.msg27706#msg27706