Build Advice - Knife TM or Spear MT

[scalymanfish]

Hey guys, I'm new to the game and the community and have so far played a couple builds to Depot A. I used both an AR tin can and TC/TM pure psi build and both worked well. My issue is that I didn't find them fun because lack of variety in gameplay. My Tin Can spamming burst and my TC/TM spamming neural overload. I'm looking for a build that's more engaging, both in game play and also using the crafting system. I've tried to research knife builds, and most conclude that they aren't very good and lack AoE, but the poison/bleed mechanic seems kind of fun and I'd get to use stealth to my advantage. I also saw KnifeGaf's youtube vid on a spear/MT build that seemed fun, relying on many cool-downs to play which seems more engaging then my previous builds. Can any of you maybe link some builds that you've played that would satisfy this need of engaging gameplay and build strength that would also need to craft gear to maximize effectiveness? Thanks.

[harperfan7]

Knife builds are actually fantastic; you smoothly float through the game handling everything that comes at you.  They are boring, however, because you just click click click click and thats it.  MT spear has a buttload of variety; that's the one you want.

[Valor]

Build that has imho most interaction with crafting and has most engaging combat are crossbows. They are weak vs armour but have good versatility in special bolts that will force you to craft. Usually coupled with traps to guaranteed criticals when ambush is not available. Some people use versatility and pair them with chemical pistols for entaglement.

They are by no means strongest in underrail, but still good enough to complete the game (if you prepare well).

[scalymanfish]

Thanks for the info lads, I'll probably choose the Spear MT build for my first completion. Sounds like it has it all, melee, psi, damage potential, survivability (through kiting) and some TM for the cooldown reduction ability to keep me in a sustained fight. However, a crossbow build utilizing traps/chem pistols sounds pretty cool and might be more of a second playthrough once I understand enemies and crafting reagents a bit better. Is there a popular build guide for the Spear MT build or am I just going to have to wing it? I tried to find some, and I found stat points and feats, but no gear guide. I'm guessing I want to have lighter armor so I can run around and stay out of range or close distance with targets, but I dont know what gear I should be aiming for as I progress.

[harperfan7]

Here's mine.  Makfar has a spear guide somewhere: "spear enchiridion".

[scalymanfish]

Wouldn't cryokinetic orb be worth a slot due it it proccing chill and bleed in an AoE? I feel this would synergize with nail bombs for better use of taste for blood. Also getting 35 TM for LTI would be super beneficial due to all the cooldowns the spear abilities have, and you barely have to invest those points for such a huge pay off. Is psychosis not worth a feat slot to make your spells hit harder? I'm kind of confused with this build lol.

[harperfan7]

The point is using spells for utility, not direct damage.  You're right about cryo-orb; thatd make more sense than plasma beam for the build.  I don't want to dip LTI and pay a penalty, but yeah that is also a good idea.  The build's whole point is being an mt spear hybrid, so it tries to synergize those two things.  I also wanted to make tacvests work; theres a bit of a theme going on here.

>TM sword, siphoner leather
>PK hammer, tungsten armor
>TC knife, stealthy leather
>MT spear, tacvest
riot would be more thematic but riot spear is just garbage imo
tacvest makes more sense I think; spears have melee defense, tacvests have bullet defense (though this one has little DT); the nanocomposite gives it some serious xbow/sniper protection and synergizes very well with all-in, which in turn boosts the kind of spread-out stat points this build has
The build looks like its all over the place, but it works as intended. 
Btw, id wear stealthy infused pig leather armor until you find a good-enough nano

[scalymanfish]

That does make sense. How much of the game am I missing out on if I dont grab any lockpick/hack/pickpocket skills? I'd guess I'd want to play on classic so I dont have to worry about grabbing every oddity. If I wanted 35 TM, which skills should I take away from, stealth? Thanks for helping me with this build, it's a little bit complicated for me to formulate this on my own due to my lack of experience with the game.

[harperfan7]

You can still get almost all the oddities without those skills, you'll just get them later than otherwise.  The main drawback is you'll have a lot less money, consummables, and crafting components.  I'd draw points from stealth if I needed to; its not necessary to max it.  Oddity exp is fine; you'll still be able to hit max level long before the end of the game. 

[scalymanfish]

I'm about to start this build. Going to use the build you posted as a general guide, take some points from stealth to supplement 35 TM. Do I want to keep my tungsten spear and switch to a javelin in my offhand to chuck or just chuck either? Also, how important is dodge and evasion? I'm playing on normal difficulty, but debating going hard. I play a lot of RPG's so i'm not entirely new to these kinds of games.

One last question harper, how would you rank the strength of the aforementioned melee builds in terms of fun and strength? I see you made your own indepth build guide for the sword one, so i'm assuming you're probably a bit biased with that one. I might try it out once I get a couple playthroughs under my belt.

[harperfan7]

You can throw the tungsten spear if you want/need; it will do a lot more damage, but the idea is to throw the javelin if you need to throw; with the spec you can throw it for 1 ap.  On normal you can basically do what you want; its very easy.  Hard isnt much harder. 

Those four hybrids are all very strong fun builds, or at least the specific builds I have in mind.  Pigman has his hammer wizard, knifegaf has a TC knifer, and this is the MT spear.