Heavy Duty 1st impression

[Fins]

Obviously - SPOILERS. Stop reading if you don't wanna get 'em, ok?

TL;DR: Heavy Duty is an OKish little addition, but there are some non-game-breaking issues and some things i especially liked, too, which i'd like to share.


So here goes, in no particular order.

- there is a rift right before entering the compound - near air vent, past the broken fence. Reachable without doing any combat / skill checks. A rift is very nice - thanks, Styg!

- outrageous Lockpicking skill checks: very 1st side way after arriving is behind Lockpicking 160 door (!!!), air vents require more than 95 effective (110 with Huxkey) to open (massive increase over both DC and Black Sea), about half of locked containers require 120+ skill to unlock. Thing is, i really doubt people are going to get 160 Lockpicking for Heavy Duty only other than on Dex-based (Melee and/or Versatility) builds - especially because the loot quality is quite low for such skill checks:

- most loot is q95...q130 range, with some few items in especially hard-to-get places being q130...159. So, in terms of quality crafting components - Heavy Duty is completely not worth it, shopping for crafting parts is simply better (up to q169 in shops for many parts).

- the exoskeletons are quite nice. Can get one of 4 possible kinds. Of note, Technomedical exoskeleton is a new best-in-slot for boosting Biology and Electronics, and by significant amount, especially Biology as we did not have any +biology body armor until now (afaik). One nasty detail about this one though: in 1920x1080, this exoskeleton's description fails to be completely displayed (no item price visible) - even while it occupies almost whole screen (see attached screenshot). Is this a "new UI, WiP" sort of thing? %)

- a number of locked double doors can only be unlocked when interacting with the "proper" half of the door; trying to hack the other half won't work.

- the fabulous companion can't fight a damn. Gets killed real fast - even couple goons wipe him out in a single turn. It is sure possible to keep him alive using available "tactics" conversation and such, but it is sure unknown - to me, - why would we want to do so. Other than just for a self-challenge of the "baby-sit a stupid weakling NPC" sort.

- there is no "global map" for the whole new area (all of the main compound plus caves plus rail tracks), which is many times bigger place than "no map" part of the spore forest in DC. The only thing this does to me - is irritation. If "unknown remote places" are not supposed to be added to the global map, then why all the caves in the base game and all the "natives" shores in Black Sea are? Don't know if this is intended, though, because:

- 1st quest objective of "Dark Territory" says "Marjorie is the best place to start looking". So i went and repaired Marjorie's "instrument panel", with 4 lithium cells and advanced electronic kit, having well over 100 electronics; repairs were a success, and this objective got completed, and the game said that i "took the time to study the map well" - but "global map" still has nothing, i.e. only displays big fat "?" whenever i open it and press "center on player" button. Even while the 2nd objective - is also completed (it reads: "you've studied the map of the dark territory north of Upper Underrail"). Bugged quest? Or maybe _this_ map only unlocks the way out, back to main game - not sure if it does...

- the puzzle for the Fusion Cannon: it ain't difficult to pass the laser beams without getting caught by any, but it is difficult to figure out why to do it. Can just waltz in and grab the thing right through the lasers, and it's definitely much faster, too. Why bother doing it the "right" way, then? Strange. If the proper "punishment" was disabled by that strange power box in the cave (which i flipped before grabbing the cannon, yes) - then it'd be sorta better to switch off the lasers too, me thinks.

- all the quest objectives, overall - are pretty useless. "Protect the crew" is marked as "completed" as soon as the crew dies - in my book, this should count a failure. Just like "The Gunslinger" quest objective is marked as a failure once he dies. There ain't no follow-up to neither of those, it least wasn't in my game. Next, "investigate the compound" - and again, no follow-up, nothing prior to it, too. Why should i investigate it? What should i be looking for? Any significant things i happened to encounter worth noting as a "job well done investigating: found this, found that" kind of note? Nope, there's just nothing. Next, charging up Marjorie's batteries: the game says these gotta be charged when interacting with 'em, ok, i charge them to full, the battery bay slides in - and then nothing happens. Maybe i failed to figure a way to drive her out, or maybe it's bugged as i really looked for it - in any case, there ain't no quest objective to get her running again. Nor any other objective once i got all the above mentioned objectives completed. There's just nothing to do according to quest log. So i ended up running back to proper Upper Underrail on foot. Feels weird to have this kind of "conclusion" for a quest line. Feels unfinished.

- Guns / Heavy Guns synergies being as high as they are: one excellent thing to see. New builds having one of these skills being much higher than level par - will automatically bring the other skill close to level par or even right to it, i.e. to 160 by level 30, etc. Means this "other, just synergy" skill - will allow to use corresponding weaponry as backup / situational weaponry, either saving costs or allowing more tactics, or both. Nice.

- Versatility feat now including Heavy Guns skill: another nice thing to see. With full specialization and a certain belt, 90% Versatility percentage is doable, and now that it gives not 2, but 3 other skills up to that high, Versatility builds are going to shine lots more. Which is good for Versatility-based is usually more complex and rich kind of a build to play.


P.S. These are my thoughts however silly or short-sighted they may be. Hopefully not too much. Good luck working on Fusion, Styg!

[Timevir]

You are right that repairing Marjorie lets you find the way out. Was interesting to see this perspective.

[JirkaK125]

I felt sorry for Buck Nimble and the rest of the crew. He was a good man who liked his job and now wanted to start his own business. He did it for his family. There is no option in the game to avenge him, or perhaps return his personal belongings to his family. He was just left to rot in his train. You can go explore the compound or just go back to Core city right away. Somehow it doesn't feel right.

[Fins]

I felt sorry for Buck Nimble and the rest of the crew. He was a good man who liked his job and now wanted to start his own business. He did it for his family. There is no option in the game to avenge him, or perhaps return his personal belongings to his family. He was just left to rot in his train. You can go explore the compound or just go back to Core city right away. Somehow it doesn't feel right.

I'd rather say that it feels not right, yes. Guess you meant that. But in terms of overall Underrail lore / setting, it does feel right to see such a sad story. Underrail itself is quite a collection of sad stories, and this one is just one more. Just like Wyatt's story, and whole Acid Hunters / SGS merchants story, and whole Institute / Tchort story, the mindless bloodsheed of Freedrones vs Protectorate, the massacre of natives in Black Sea, the freezing hell of the Surface, etc - wherever you look there ain't no shortage of "bad ends". This is why i feel this - Heavy Duty - story is quite right, "nothing wrong with it". It's just that Underrail is not the staple "heroic happy ending" sort of game / lore, and Heavy Duty is a proper part of this kind of a game / lore, me thinks.

[JirkaK125]

I'd rather say that it feels not right, yes. Guess you meant that. But in terms of overall Underrail lore / setting, it does feel right to see such a sad story. Underrail itself is quite a collection of sad stories, and this one is just one more. Just like Wyatt's story, and whole Acid Hunters / SGS merchants story, and whole Institute / Tchort story, the mindless bloodsheed of Freedrones vs Protectorate, the massacre of natives in Black Sea, the freezing hell of the Surface, etc - wherever you look there ain't no shortage of "bad ends". This is why i feel this - Heavy Duty - story is quite right, "nothing wrong with it". It's just that Underrail is not the staple "heroic happy ending" sort of game / lore, and Heavy Duty is a proper part of this kind of a game / lore, me thinks.

Yes, not right. For me, Wyatt's story is not sad. Since he survived, he was able to go find those he blamed for releasing the mutagen. But he chose to stay home and indulge in self-pity. The Bakers made the mistake of going alone through the caves and tunnels back to SGS. I felt no pity for them. On the contrary, it was rather annoying to look for them and find one body so far in the wrong direction. The elimination of the Acid hunters, on the other hand, was satisfying. I disliked the anarchists right from the start when they hijacked the train. I enjoyed working with CAU. It was also very satisfying to report the mechanic who had done the trigger mechanism wrong. But I wanted to take the train north in honor of Buck. It would be more interesting if the story was about trying to get the train through a maze of dark tunnels with many different problems to solve.

[Fins]

So Wyatt's story is not sad 'cause he chose to rot in a toxic dump for eternity, but Nimble's story is sad 'cause he chose to take the risk - which he himself says being of the life threatening kind? The man wasn't escorted to the dark territory under a gun point, you know. He chose to take the risk, and he bit the dust. If Wyatt's choice to indulge in self-pity is not sad, then Nimble's choice to go and risk his, and his employees, lives - ain't sad either. Either both are sad, or both are not.

On the other hand, seeing you enjoyed working with CAU - well man, we two are definitely two mighty different kinds of a player, so it's quite natural we probably wouldn't agree on lots of things. It's ok, to me. Different opinions are what keeps conversations interesting, i say.

[JirkaK125]

So Wyatt's story is not sad 'cause he chose to rot in a toxic dump for eternity, but Nimble's story is sad 'cause he chose to take the risk - which he himself says being of the life threatening kind? The man wasn't escorted to the dark territory under a gun point, you know. He chose to take the risk, and he bit the dust. If Wyatt's choice to indulge in self-pity is not sad, then Nimble's choice to go and risk his, and his employees, lives - ain't sad either. Either both are sad, or both are not.

On the other hand, seeing you enjoyed working with CAU - well man, we two are definitely two mighty different kinds of a player, so it's quite natural we probably wouldn't agree on lots of things. It's ok, to me. Different opinions are what keeps conversations interesting, i say.

Buck was proactive and worked for years. He got his own locomotive and got a team of people to cross the dark territory. He was a visionary. That's why it's sad that it didn't work out. Wyatt just sits at home thinking that one day the one he wants to take revenge on will return. Maybe it's sad too, but in a completely different way.

I would like to work more for CAU. There are never enough targets for my predator minigun loaded with contaminated ammo.

[Fins]

Except, Wyatt was working for years too, and he got his own enterprise going, and he also got a team of people - just some hundred years before Buck did. Quite similarly, Wyatt's years of work and doing his best - did not help to prevent the big trouble. Both were hard-working folks far as i can read, both did everything right, and both were screwed big-time - Wyatt's fate even worse than Buck's if you'd ask me, Buck just had it quick and pretty much painless. Both stories are hella sad to me, yep.

Anyhow, i said above i didn't know why exactly we should keep the Gunslinger alive - well now i do! And it's one hella awesome reason: the Stunner! See, that's Gunslinger's energy pistol, which is bio-coded to only work when he's handling it, nobody else. So if he dies, we can't use it. If he disappears (which he does as soon as we tell him to "wait here" and take any red transition zone) - obviously, we won't be seeing it ever again, too. But, if we keep him alive and bring him back to Upper Underrail in once piece - he may end up giving it as a gift and authorizing player character to use the gun. He just did that after i played through Heavy Duty one more time.

And this Stunner - is properly unique and awesome. Especially for a sniper using 36 AP 12.7 sniper rifles (which my sniper sure does). The screenshot is it - obviously, spoilers. You've been warned.

P.S. Frankly, it feels like Styg knew what kind of build i'm playing lately and just decided to make me a neat gift. Can't be true, but still. Wild. %)

[Fins]

Another correction to the above: i said it's possible to get one exoskeleton of 4 possible kinds - but having 121 effective Hacking skill (probably 120 would also suffice, but 115 does not work for sure) - it's possible to hack exoskeleton assembly station and make one more, for a total of 2. Then it runs out of components.

[JirkaK125]

Except, Wyatt was working for years too, and he got his own enterprise going, and he also got a team of people - just some hundred years before Buck did. Quite similarly, Wyatt's years of work and doing his best - did not help to prevent the big trouble. Both were hard-working folks far as i can read, both did everything right, and both were screwed big-time - Wyatt's fate even worse than Buck's if you'd ask me, Buck just had it quick and pretty much painless. Both stories are hella sad to me, yep.

I enjoy the discussion with you. I will add that the events with Buck are personal. We went into the unknown together. It is appropriate to feel sadness. Wyatt's story is an old one. I don't even have to trust him. Maybe he's a schizophrenic homeless person who made it all up. Ezra didn't confirm anything. There are more D5 canisters at the BioCorp naval base. And Wyatt lives in the cave next door. No one knows what the truth is. Too bad there's no way to tell Eiden about Wyatt. I believe a series of different medical experiments would determine if Wyatt lives this long and never sleeps. And Eiden was looking for immortality, wasn't he?

[Fins]

If you're interested about such things, i know that Abram takes interest in Wyatt's existance, hoping to find cure for Abram's rather problematic condition based on Wyatt's much better results - provided you pass a persuasion check talking with Abram inside Oculus, iirc (when talking to Abram about his bad health). Of course, this requires keeping Wyatt alive when doing Depot A. Whether or not this conversation with Abram about Wyatt has any further development, though - i never managed to notice, but Abram says he's going to go visit Wyatt as soon as he can, iirc.