Re-furbishing for non-firearms.

[Deep Driller]

Everyone knows Myles and the search for suitable quality frames. But the only thing he can and is willing to improve is firearms, with new additions of GL, LMG, and miniguns.

What if there would be a few new semi-quests, to find and please some other NPCs, so they would improve a few selected unique weapons?

Now, some of you might think "those are pretty powerful on their own, they don't need any further improvement". On that I have to say — most of refurbishings either significantly improve the damage output of a weapon (double-barrel, W&S), or give it a couple more attachments (laser sight, extended magazine, et cetera). Not to mention those weapons have really nice niche feats. Take pistols: Rapid Fire, Gunslinger, even Gun-Fu — now that is "no small a boon", as they say. Now what was that for energy weapons? High-Technicalities? Alright, 8-10% in exchange for a costly investment in your INT. Cooked Shot? AoE attack, that's a good start and a good feat. But only a start nonetheless. Add to it the scarcity of chemical ammo and the need to craft Fire and Cold chemical pistols as well.

What about melee weapons? Those have some nice feats and overall feel pretty balanced, if one includes combat enchancements — CACS, poisons, and a few others. Some of those are limited and all have limited number of uses but that I've addressed in my other topic.

Now, the thing is: what if one could change the blade of your Glaive or Kukri or forge a new head for a Balor's Hammer? I'll expand on that below; the point is: there should be a possibility to permanenty change/improve other unique weapons (not all of them, though), and, along with that, add some more life for some named NPC which aren't that memorable or useful.

First things first — the two of four unique ranged weapons that must have an option to be slightly better, if a player wishes to do so. Phase Gun and XAL-001. Why have I excluded Sonocaster and The Stunner? The latter two are immensely good on their own — lore-wise too. Sonocaster is the apex of Lemiruan engineering, which can't be improved further AND there are no sonic experts in South Underrail. The Stunner is a technological wonder, that is hard to hack (in case you looted it) and should have some protection against tampering with its insides.

1. Now, for Phase Gun: that one is an energy weapon. Who would and could improve it? Some of you may have already guessed "Phreak". And you'd be wrong, because Phreak is rarely willing to cooperate, let alone dig into a technology he doesn't really want to explore. I say, there's less "could" but more "would" character and his name is — Constantine.

Don't give me that look, there's a nice explanation for that. You see, Constantine is always bothered with creatures, crawling around the Oculus. Now, as for crawlers — those are everywhere and listening to those buggers frying is Constantine's favorite pastime. But, what if someone were to clear out that Lunatic camp below the Oculus? Now that would be something that would make Constantine happy, especially if that someone would bring Synesthetic Refocus as a proof of killing the Synesthete.

In short — non-markable quest: Constantine asks you to clear out the camp of Lunatics below Oculus and bring Synesthetic Refocus as proof of the job done.

Requirements: completing Azif's quest (and everything preceding that quest), not triggering hostiles with Oculus, talking about Lunatics with Constantine, level 16+.

Outcomes:

1. The player can simply kill every Lunatic in Lunatic Camp zone and bring the Synesthetic Refocus. Reward — 800 charons, a couple of regular consumables or ammo to choose, 1000/2XP, Phase gun improvement with Synesthetic Refocus if asked.

2. The player can get Synesthetic Refocus without killing the Synesthete and bring it to Constantine. Reward — 800 charons, a couple of regular consumables or ammo to choose, 500/1XP, Phase gun improvement with Synesthetic Refocus if asked, but only until player leaves the Oculus. After that, Constantine will mention that Lunatics are still there and refuses to improve Phase Gun.

3. The player can kill Synesthete and bring Synesthetic Refocus, but leave Lunatics (at least one) alive. Reward — 800 charons, 1000/2XP, Phase gun improvement with Synesthetic Refocus if asked, different conversation with Constantine (he will be partly glad, because the hero explains about Transfinity and that Synesthete was the one who "helped" others with this ritual).

Phase gun improvement (finally) — requires Synesthetic Refocus's gem. Pentagon gem — gives Phase gun the ability to burn 15 psi per hit. Hexagon gem — gives Phase gun the ability to reduce target's Perception by 2, for 1 turn. Using the Synesthetic Refocus for that will leave you with a Synesthetic's Headband (misc) that can be mended, if you have any gem. So you can improve the Phase Gun however you like and get to keep the Refocus, if you plan on using it.

2. The second pistol is a whole other thing. XAL-001 is barely a contraption, not a unique technology. With it, a handful of skilled mechanics could fix that, one would say? Yes, and no, since that does require the extensive knowledge of chemistry. Olivia and
Georgis himself would be those people, but then again, the former may be dead/in prison by that time, and Georgis wouldn't agree to that. So, with that, one can resort to... Black Sea Muties/hero themselves. Yes, I'm going to explain:

For muties variant, one would have to be on good terms with them and speak with Doctor M. He would agree to experiment with the acid collector and dispenser, along with a couple other skillful muties, providing you provided them with medicine stuff from Aegus camp.

In order to fix the pistol themselves, the hero would have to have 120+ skills — both Mechanics and Chemistry.

There won't be any quest for that gun, since it is already a quest item, but there would be different outcomes:

1. The player gives XAL-001 to Doctor M. (requirements — not triggering hostilities with them, not intimidating any of them, give them the medicine from Aegis). The resulting improvement would allow XAL-001 to become an omni-chemical gun, allowing the player to use all possible chemical vials with that gun. That way, it still sprays acid on the user and it would have less durability (and look as if it's been covered with goo or something).

2. The player fixes XAL-001 themselves after they pick it up from Georgis (requirements — 120+ both Mech and Chem, three Chemical Pistol frames and one Acid Collector quality 120 or higher). That way the weapon gets +2% chance of entangling the enemy, +10% of critical damage bonus, and stopped spraying acid on its user. Fixing the gun themselves would be the only way if the player has not purchased Expedition DLC.

3. The player fixes XAL-001 on the spot, without leaving the conversation (corresponding option would appear in the dialogue; requirements would be the same). That would close the quest with Georgis, rendering the XAL-001 inaccessible, unless the player later chooses to be the part of Department of Chemistry, while talking with Episkopos Lydia. In that case, along with Chemoinvestigative Belt, the player would get the fixed XAL-001 back.

Note: Georgis would accept the pistol back in any case, even if the player never tampered with it. If the Black Sea muties "fixed" it, Georgis will be angry with the hero for ruining the pistol but high Persuasion (100+) would allow the hero to convince Georgis — about the necessity of the experiments. Still, Georgis would give less charons and XP for that. If the player returns the XAL-001 after fixing it themselves or fixes in via the dialogue, that would result in higher charon award.

Now, the last two of four ranged unique weapons — crossbows. And no, Fusion Cannon is both OP and can be disassembled for following assembling and improvement, so it won't be included.

1. Now, the Jawbome comes first. This weapon does have the highest maximum damage of them all. Therefore it would require surgical precision for its improvement. Completely unexpectedly, I'd say it would be improved, but not in terms of damage. Defence — that would be the result!

After obtaining it, the player can seek help within Camp Hathor. By showing it to Fredd (not Fred and Freddy) and eloquently telling about the battle with the Rathound King, the hero then would tell how insufferable the opponent was and how they hate those "mangy ratmutts". Doing so would open an option for Fredd to help the player to improve The Jawbone, either mockingly decorating it with rathound skin, or any other skin, for better protection.

In other case, the player should seek the help of some certain tribe that has its way with bones, yadda, yadda, go to Yngwar. Yngwar would help with the crossbow, but only for exchange of Rathound Regalia (if you already presented it to him, he won't ask for another). Of course, without Expedition DLC, camp Hathor is the only option.

As for outcomes — both NPC give equal improvement. The difference would depend only on using different leather:

1. Regular leather (+less than 15% armour penalty) of quality 125+ would give the weapon its corresponsive resistance bonus (not threshold); either rathound leather would result in -10 persuasion as well. Weapon's weight is increased by 5.

2. Heavy leather (+15 or more armour penalty) of quality 120+ would give the weapon its corresponsive resistance bonus (not threshold) and increase its base STR requirement to 7 (not the second requirement); rathound penalty to persuasion still applies. Weapon's weight is increased by 7.

3. Any infused leather of quality 110+ would give the weapon its correspondive resistance and +2 mechanical threshold on top of that. But both STR requirements for Jawbone are set to 8. Any infused rathound leather gives -8 persuasion penalty. Weapon's weight is increased by 10.

All leathers also increase the durability of the weapon and allow it to be fixed by both mechanical and tailoring repair kits.

2. Needler. For that one I couldn't think of better solution than to use two NPC. Again. First one is Mykola Young, which would agree to improve Needler if you either pay him enough money or use his help to fix Tunneller and take out Black Crawlers (he should stay alive after that, that is). Second one is Travis of Rail Crossing, which would agree to improve Needler but for a favour — that would help if Mykola dies during the fight.

The quest is the tricky part. Travis would want you to bring him a couple of dishes and drinks. Only after he's sated you can persuade him to experiment with the crossbow.

Non-markable quest: Travis wants you to bring him unusual food and drinks. Be careful not to spoil his appetite!

Requirements: not triggering hostilities with Rail Crossing, level 16+.

The player must bring the following:

1. Food — Bacon and Cheese Sandwich x3, Hardcore Chips x2; Drink — Root Soda x5; Unusual — Pickled Mushrooms x1. That would result in Travis getting very pleased and yield player additional reward in charons(50) and XP(500).

2. Food — Rathound Barbecue/Pentapus Barbecue/Cave Hopper Steak x4; Drink — any alcohol drink (except Mushroom Brew and Absence) x2; Unusual — Psi Beetle Brain Soup x1. That would result in Travis getting mildly pleased and gives no additional reward.

3. Food — Buttery Steamed Clams x3, Crab Sandwich x1; Drink — any Kzozel x2; Unusual — Coffee x2. That would result in Travis getting very pleased and yield player additional reward in charons(50) and XP(500). Additionally, Travis would mention the peculiarity of the food and mentions "that was an unforgettable luncheon for me", as a reference to The Simpsons meme. That option is available only if the player has Expedition DLC installed.

4. If the player brings and talks Travil into eating any "bad" food (Junkyard Surprise or Mutie Stew), this will get Travis mad at you and refusing to help you with Needler.

Note: Jon's Special x2 can substitute for any Food requirement. Absence and Mushroom Brew Travis will refuse, explaining that "I wouldn't want to become like that dude. Well, Dude. From the bar." Cigar and Mystery Candy he won't take, claiming "I prefer to keep a clear mind. I also don't smoke. Bad for my health." For bringing him Lake Mushrooms or any uncooked meat (Cave Hopper Meat, Intestine, Gland, etc) he'll berate the hero, questioning their ability to discern food and living creatures.

Needler's Improvement (finally number two).

Mykola — will require 500 (1000 if left out of the Gorsky team) charons, a pneumatic reloader, and a laser scope, resulting in +5% precision bonus and -5 AP cost.

Travis — after getting his food and 30 minutes of time, will require any Crossbow frame with quality 120+, a Crossbow Super String and another 30 minutes of time. Instead of any regular bonuses, his experiment will give the Needler a new ability: Double Bolt, along with increasing its weight by 5 and giving it STR requirement of 5.

Double Bolt: allows to use two regular bolts in one shot for -20% (multiplicative) precision penalty. This is an unconditional special attack. Each bolt has it's own 35% of immobilizing the enemy. AP cost — regular. Can be used only once each turn.

Visually, the crossbow will have another string and a second flight groove above the first one. Also, the Myles will comment on that, being all pouted about you asking Travis's help instead of his.

Now that I'm done with ranged weapons, the melee will come... later.

[Deep Driller]

Continuing with the melee weapons. Of course, those are great on its own, and some of them certainly do not require any treatment... but still. I'll exclude some of them, but the majority of melee uniques will get their bonuses, at least in this topic. Starting with...

Swords. That was the first thing that came to my mind. Only three of uniques are worthy of upgrade. Red Dragon is too good to be improved further and Black Blade's nature does not allow to do anything meaningful with it. Now, who or what would help to improve the weapon? Welp, there's not many actual blacksmiths around and Ironheads are never friendly with the hero. That means only one thing: the hero has to do it themselves. With a simple condition of having the mechanics workbench's effect on you, a couple of suitable components, and being handy enough to get the job done.

1. Now here comes the Claymore. Being great on its own... I have nothing more to add except for an Electroshock Generator (100+), or Energy Edge Emitter (100+), along with Plasma Core (110+). That way, if the hero meets the demand of having Mechanics of 100+ and Electronics of 80+, the Claymore will receive the following upgrades:

Electroshock one yields a fixed (40% of Claymore's mechanical) electricity damage per hit to the target and 50% of that electricity damage to any target close to it. That qould result in Claymore's getting +4 to its weight and starting to consume 15 energy per hit.

Energy Edge, on the other hand, should give a certain (depending on quality) energy damage output, but with reduction of the base damage of the Claymore to 11-41. Additionally, the chance of dazing the enemy is reduced to 8%. the durability is decreased to 1200, and its weight increased by 3. Energy consumption is 20 per hit.

The amount of energy on the weapons is determined by Core's quality.

2. Secondly, the Chainsword. A nice weapon on its own but with certain tweaking it would be something slightly different. The two possible ways are not mutually exclusive, as with the case of Claymore.

The first, and major addition would be... a subtraction. Yes, the player can dismantle the sword in order to assemble it back again. But this time, the sword will miss its internal engine. That's right: CVhainsword loses its unique Chainsaw ability. In return, it'll also lose the precision penalty, the STR requirement will be lowered to 6, and base action points will be permanently lowered to 15. This would require only the measly 50 Mechanics and 40 Electronics.

The second addition includes its teeth. Replacing them with spikes (steel, tungsten or TiChrome) will bless Chainsword with +2/3/5 additional min and max damage, along with adding +1 STR to its STR requirement (it can range from 6 to 9, depending on your work on the weapon), and giving it an ability to inflict a bleeding would (10% chance, living targets only) on hit, dealing 50% of the base damage to the target over 3 turns. The requirements this time is: metal spikes of 90+ quality. and 80+ Mechanics skill.

3. So there's only Cutlass left. I'll be brief — one could change the blade of it, but with different outcomes. Only two kinds of metal are suitable for it

If the player is a cheapskate, they could use TiChrome bars (120+) and a Curved Machete Blade Mold, in order to replace the blade. With TiChrone the cutlass becomes less wieldy and heavier, to effectively "swordplay" with it. The crippling chance is halved (10% instead of 20%), minimal STR requirement is increased to 6, and the reduction of chance of getting critically hit is removed. Instead, the minimum damage is increased to 20 (20-60 total), and its durability increased to 1990. The other increase considers its weight — from 2 to 8.

If the player is a moneybag, they could use Super Steel plates (110+) and a Curved Machete Blade Mold. That way the weapon retains its "on hit" effects, instead losing 20% of Parry bonus (+30% from +50%) and some of its critical damage bonus (185% instead of 200%). The damage changes from 5-60 to 15-50. and the weight is increased to 5.

Spears. I'll leave here The Glaive, Lemurian Spear, and Trident. Høddurform is a magic staff, which is beyong the hero's ability to understand its "magic"; Rust Maker does have its shaft replaced and there's nothing that can be done to the tip (every possible upgrade will be dissolved by rusting acid).

1. We'll start with The Glaive. I've only one upgrade for it, and it's the leather-y one. Yes, we're going back to camp Hathor or Yngwar. But this time it'll be different. The Glaive can only be decorated with certain types of leather — both NPC will explain it that they wouldn't want to ruin its beauty.

Fredd can give you a certain protective layer on the shaft. He will accept only Cave Hopper leather (100+) and a bolt of Black cloth (90+). With that, the Glaive permanently reduces its base action points consumption by 1, and gives you +2 movement points in combat and +2% movement speed out of combat. It'll also increase your stealth by 5. That improvement does not have any conditions, except for 250 Charons or free, if the player killed Rathound King. It can also be done in exchange for an Old Mining Helmet.

Yngwar would require a lot more. Firstly, you have to defeat him in a spear fight, using that very Glaive. Then, when talking to him, the player must bring up the fight and show him the Glaive. If the player were nice to Yngwar, they can ask him to "somehow make it better" and call to Yngwar's pride as a skilled spearman and Serpentborn. Yngwar then requires from you nothing less than any Serpent or Wyrm skin (90+) and an hour of time. After that, he will return you the Glaive with additional decorations. The potential outcomes include:

Leper Serpent skin — Mechanical resistance +6%, Persuasion -7.

Heartbreaker Serpent skin — Bio resistance +3%, Persuasion +3, Dodge +5, Stealth -5, Evasion -8.

Sea Wyrm skin — Acid resistance +6%, Intimidation +4.

All of them will increase durability of the weapon to 1500 and its weight to 7.50. Visually the spear will contain neatly cut pieces of correspinding material used.

2. That was quite a lot, so Trident shouldn't be that hard, right? Right. So there would be the similar requirements as for Swords: mechanics workbench in Your house and having its effect on you, along with compoments and skillful hands to put to work to.

In short, the Trident can get additional Electricity/Energy damage for each of its tips. Requirements (components and skills) would be the same as for Claymore, above. Now, side tips would have their Mechanical damage replaced by Electricity/Energy one, but the middle one always retains its Mechanics damage, be that original or diminished.

That way, Trident may deal the following:

Damage: 30-75 (Mechanical)
    Mechanical: 10-25
    Mechanical: 10-25
    Mechanical: 10-25

Damage: 10-25 (Mechanical), 15-36 (Electrical)
    Mechanical: 10-25, Electrical: 5-12
    Electrical: 5-12
    Electrical: 5-12

Damage: 8-22 (Mechanical), Energy (depending on quality)
    Mechanical: 8-22, Energy: (depending on quality)
    Energy: (depending on quality)
    Energy: (depending on quality)

and everything in-between. Although, any number of additions will be powered by a single Plasma Core, with increasing energy consumption, so a higher quality Plasma Core would be a priority. Of course, every addition will also increase the weight of the spear by 2. If all three tips are modified, Trident changes its durability type from mechanical to electronic, without changing its value. But the major trade-off to that would be the restriction for poison coating for any modified tip.

3. Lemurian Spear. In short: the ability to disassemble and reassemble it, as with Fusion Cannon. The only part that can be replaced is the Plasma Core, which could increase its maximum Energy charge. That's that.

Sledgehammers. Balor's Hammer, Mind Cracker, and Quake. Barbaton is just a bunch of teeth and bones glued together.

1. We'll start with Balor's weapon. Providing the hero could carry it to Your house and has the workbench installed, one could do something with it. Could they?..

The obvious thing is that one should replace the head, or modify it somehow. For that I have a couple of ideas:

If the player is to replace its head, they would need two plates of any metal (130+) and 70+ Mechanics. That way, the head will retain its size, but the following numbers will change:

1. Regular steel head — Damage: 40-60; Base action points: 20; STR requirement: 11; Durability: 2000; Weight: 25.

2. Tungsten head — Damage: 45-70; Base action points: 24; STR requirement: 13; Durability: 3000; Weight: 36.

3. TiChrone head — Damage: 35-75; Base action points: 22; STR requirement: 12; Durability: 2540; Weight: 28.

4. Super Steel head — Damage: 50-70; Base action points: 22; STR requirement: 11; Durability: 4000; Weight: 21.

But what if someone were to work on the head itself, instead of removing it? Let's say, add some spice to it? Well, there is a way, if the player didn't replace the head but instead made it hollow:

1. The hollow head is filled with hot coals and sealed with the lid on top of it. Requirements — one TiChrome bar (any quality), 10 Coals, one lighter, 60 Mechanics, 35 Chemistry. The resulting damage is — 20-45 (Mechanical), 12-27 (Heat).

2. The hollow head is filled with luquid nitrogen and sealed with the lid on top of it. Requirements — one TiChrome bar (any quality), 5 Nigtogen thermoses, 60 Mechanics, 40 Chemistry. The resulting damage is — 20-45 (Mechanical), 10-21 (Cold).

3. The hollow head is filled with toxic waste and sealed with the lid, guess on which side Requirements — one TiChrome bar (any quality), 3 Toxic Sludge barrels, 60 Mechanics, 30 Chemistry, 20 Biology. The resulting damage is — 20-40 (Mechanical), 5-15 (Bio). In addition, there's a new on hit effect — 5% chance to apply a stack of contamination to a living target for 5 turns and 20 max stacks.

Any "hollow" modifications result in diminishing the STR requirement to 9, the weight to 20, and severe reduction of durability — 1570. The base attack cost for "hollow"-head is set to 24. In addition, all modifications on Balor's Hammer remove the penalty for Pummel's AP cost.

But the cherry on top should the Balor's eye. Yes, one could install it on top of the hammer (only after any modification performed). That would result in yet another effect: any Ironhead hit with it will get irresistable Fear for 3 turns (not applied unded Aphobia). Additionally, Chief Banner's quest can now be completed with different outcomes:

Additional endings to "Kill Balor" quest:

1. If the player has modified Balor's Hammer with the Eye, Chief Banner will be displeased. With high Persuasion the player can convince them to give reward/or sell the modified hammer to Banner, for 20000*x in Stygian coins (x ranges from 0.1 to 0.9, depending on Mercantile).

1. If the player has Balor's Hammer in their inventory, they could ask for having Balor's Eye back, explaining it with the possibility to run about and scare away Ironheads for good. Chief then asks for any Ironhead-related item, (Iron Head, Claymore or Steyr-Auch) and for any of it (consequently, for deaths of its previous owners) he'll gladly exchange the Eye.

(apply additional XP if nesessary)

2. Yeah, that was a lot and it's not even the half-way done. Next should be Quake. Having your workbench now should be even more beneficial, shouldn't it? It does give a l,ittle aftershocks but what if?..

1. The Quake gets Boot springs x3 (110+) installed. That way it changes drastically — Damage: 60-83; base AP: 27; STR requirement is set to 10; chance to stun and daze are increased to 18% and 70% accordingly. If the required STR is less than 10, for each missing STR there's +10% chance to daze its user for 1 turn, on hit. Most importantly, its weight is increased to 35... and it ignores 10% of mechanical damage threshold when attacking non-organic targers, too. Also it becomes quite noisy (25 volume permanently)

2. The Quake gets Pneumatic hammers x3 (110+) installed. This one gives slight improvement — Damage: 50-77; STR requirement is set to 9; there's an additional on hit 10% chance to stun the living target for 1 turn. The energy consumption of its shockwave effect is increased to 16 per hit. Weight — 29.

Both effects increase its durability to 2230.

3. Finally, the one that is a little peculiar. Mind Cracker. Obviously that weapon is of other world, and it does require specific psi-related knowledge. Of all the users I stopped my mind on two. Ezra and Katya.

1. Ezra's help does require to travel a lot and high enough Persuasion. One should: talk to Wyatt Pear; bring psi-morph to Ezra and ask how he knows all about them; hack the terminal in Oculus in order to read info about Anton Matveev; venture to Hollow Earth and read e-letters regarding Matveev — in Caerus Residential Block. Only after that, and after searching Tanner's room the player can confront Ezra about his past. It will require 150+ Persuasion or presented ACoNR to talk Ezra out of eliminating the hero as unnesessary witness. If Ezra wasn't persuaded, he'll try to wipe hero's mind and it'll take 13+ Will and 150+ Thought Control — to survive his mind attack. Either way, after that Ezra will agree to help you in exchange for your silence.

2. Katya's needs are of a different sort. She wants to experiment with some psi-related stuff.

Non-markable quest: bring Katya 30 Bioluminous Marsh Honey, 5 Spirit Potions, 12 Desaturated Psionic Inhalants, and an unusual medicine (one of the list) — Trance x3/Third Eye x2/The Juice x2/Psionic Accelerator x1.

After that, Katya will agree to listen to you, but will be disgusted with the look of the hammer and refuses to talk unless the hero brings her something to calm her nerves. It'll require 1 Coffee to convince her to help you. The quest itself grants you with 1200/2 XP.

Mind Cracker inprovement (finally number three). Both NPC have the same requirements — 3 Psi Beetle or Psi Crab Carapaces of 100+ quality and 500 charons.

1. Psi Beetle carapaces yield the following: adding on hit effect of 5% chance to inflict a bleeding wound that deals 50% of base damage of 3 turns; burns 15 psi points instead of 50; the penalties when equipped now apply on hit (for 2 turns) instead — the player receives only one penalty of -10 to maximum psi points; weight is increased to 22.

2. Psi Crab carapaces: add the same bleeding on hit effect, same reduction of burned psi points, same change with penalties to on hit effect, but the player receives no penalties from the weapon. Instead, the STR requirement is 9 and its weight is set to 28.

What's left is fist weapons and knives (sorry, Firebrand). I'm gonna tell you all about them... next time.

[Deep Driller]

The final chapter. Once more into the breach!

Knives (out). Now, see, time to get creative, see? I'll keep Rust maker out of it since it's already a weapon that can be upgraded. As for the rest:

Goin back to Camp Hathor.  Either Edgar or Boyd may give you another quest to complete; this time the quest will be "official"

Quest: bring Edgar/Boyd the proof of hunting the most dangerous animals. Requirements: resolve conflict with Rathound King by killing him or making a truce; resolving Burrower infestation problem; not triggering hostilities with Camp Hathor; having Hunter feat; level 16+.

The hero should bring either of: Ancient Rathound leather x3; Hyperallergenic Gland x4; Shielded Bladeling Eye x10; Giant Creeper Poison Gland x8; Psi Crab Hippocampus x4; Heartbreaker Serpent Poison Gland x6.

Reward: 1500/3 XP, 500 charons, option to improve some of your knives.

Now, to the improvements. Only five knives are suitable for improvements: Kohlmeier's Lucky Knife, Jackknife, Bone Handle Knife, Wicked Hook, and, quite unexpectedly, any Boning Knife.

Edgar/Boyd sends you to talk with those three fellas butchering the prey on tables (Michael, Selene and Jebediah), which one will have their thoughts on how to make any knife better. After talking with them, the hero goes back to Edgar/Boyd and gives them findings and conclusions. By doing so, you can now ask Fredd to help you with knife improvement, which will consists of... tying two knives together. To quote Kokoshka — "Ehehe".

Yep, it's simple as that. But simply tying them up won't do much good so you gonna need Bonding Agent x2 and Dirty Rag x3 for any possible knife improvement. Which, finally, leads us to the descriptions and new weapons' names:

1. KLK (Kohlmeier's)+ Jackknife = Lucky Jackknife. Numbers — damage: 10-20; base AP: 11; crit. chance: 15%; crit. damage: 100%; durability: 900; weight: 2,5. "Equip" perks are retained from both knives. New "On hit" effect — 12% chance to inflict a bleeding wound on a living target, dealing 150% of base damage over 3 turns. Range, bypassing shields and damage increase from STR are the same.

2. KLK + BHK (Bone Handle) = Old Timer's Luck. Numbers — damage: 12-27; base AP: 13; crit. chance: 25%; crit. damage: 110%; durability: 1400; weight: 3. Old "Equip" perks are lost; instead, there's a new "Equip" perk — chance to get critically hit reduced by 3.00%; if the wielder has HP less than 30% of maximum, adds another 3% chance to completely avoid any AoE damage received. "On hit" effect from BHK retained. Range, bypassing shields and damage increase from STR are the same.

3. KLK + Wicked Hook = Wicked Luck. Numbers — damage: 12-28; base AP: 12; crit. chance: 9%; crit. damage: 100%; durability: 950; weight: 1.5; bypasses — 60% of shield. Old "Equip" perks are lost; instead, there's a new "Equip" perk — if, at the start of the turn, the wielder attacked the enemy first (with hit landed), the target's first melee attack will always miss; the effect lasts for 1 turn and/or until the wielder goes away from the target (farther than the range of the weapon). Wicked Luck also gives the new ability: Mutilate — performs a special melee attack that attempts to cripple the enemy, by tearing out a piece of them with the hook. Successful attack result in a permanent (until they are fully healed) Cripple effect against any living target and a bleeding wound that deals 250% of base damage over 3 turns; wielder can also perform Cut-throat special attack without restrictions on any Crippled humanoid target; if the target is a robot, there's a 25% of it getting short-circuited for 1 turn but no additional damage is done. The attack has cooldown of 2 turns, deals 50% of base damage and doesn't apply any of its additional effects on any Turret, Industrial Robots, Protectorate Dreadnaughts, and Chop-Chop. Range and damage increase from STR are the same. Mutilate is the only attack that suffers from Wicked Hook's precision penalty; other Wicked Luck's attacks have no penalty.

4. Jackknife + BHK = JackStyle. Numbers — damage: 12-25; base AP: 11; crit. chance: 7%; crit. damage: 120%; durability: 1250; weight: 0.5. Old "Equip" perks are lost for Jackknife, but BHK retains its bonus. New "Equip" perk — +10 Persuasion and +5 Evasion. Range, bypassing shields and damage increase from STR are the same.

5. Jackknife + Wicked Hook = Double Trouble. Numbers — damage: 7-9 (Mechanical) and 10-16 (Mechanical); base AP: 13; crit. chance: 12%; crit. damage: 105%; durability: 750; weight: 0.5 bypasses — 60% of shield. Both "Equip" perks are retained. Jackknife's bonus to traps and lockpicks is increased to 12 (both skills). A new "On hit" perk — 20% to influct a bleeding would for 50% of base damage (10-16) over 3 turns and 10% to carve up a living target (same as machete and swords). Only one chance can proc on one target each hit. Chance to carve always procs first. Range and damage increase from STR are the same.

6. BHK + Wicked Hook = Butcher's Delight. Numbers — damage: 15-26; base AP: 14; crit. chance: 8%; crit. damage: 100%; durability: 1550; weight: 2 bypasses — 70% of shield. Old "Equip" perks are lost. New "Equip" perk — 15% increased damage against non-insectoid and non-human organic targets. New "On hit" effects — 10% chance to instill Fear for 1 turn (2 for animals) into a living target and 10% chance to cripple the living target for 2 turns. Range and damage increase from STR are the same.

7. Boning Knife + any of the above = any unique knife with "Surgical" added in its name. All the abilities and bonuses of those four are the same, but there are some additions: another damage instance of 5-10 (Mechanical) with each hit, Crippling Strike damage increased by 25%, Intimidation increased by 10.

There's also one more knife I left out (actually three but one more to make a pair). Fredd will not work with Dehimanizer, explaining it that the knife has bad vibe. But Fredd can be persuaded to teach the hero how to tie knives together (lol); only with such option the hero can work with Dehimanizer (and the rest):

1. D + KLK = Misery. Numbers — damage: 13-27; base AP: 13; crit. chance: 13%; crit. damage: 130%; durability: 1320; weight: 1.3. Old "Equip" perks are lost. New "Equip" perk — -13 to resolve; +1.00 chance to get critically hit; +1 turn to all Mind Control effects duration applied on enemies. "On hit" effects from D are retained. Range, bypassing shields and damage increase from STR are the same.

2. D + BHK = Death's Tool. Numbers — damage: 14-22; base AP: 12; crit. chance: 20%; crit. damage: 80%; durability: 2000; weight: 2.0; bypasses — 80% of shield. Old "Equip" perks are lost. New "Equip" perk — +13 Intimidation, Taste for Blood and Crippling Strike effects last an additional turn. New special attack "Death Sentence" — attempts to perform a finishing blow (guaranteed critical hit) on a living target with less than 10% of its HP left. If the attack kills it, all living creatures in area of 25 blocks and non-obsctructed vision (including being under crowd control effects) have their resolve set to -100 for 2 turns. Attack takes 25 AP and has the cooldown of 8 turns. Range and damage increase from STR are the same.

3. D + Jackknife — impossible to combine. The result will be: wasting the components and getting both knifes damaged (less current durability). The hero will comment on that.

4. D + Wicked Hook = Terrifier. Numbers — damage: 16-25; base AP: 15; precision: -10%; crit. chance: 8%; crit. damage: 90%; durability: 700; weight: 1.0; bypasses — 70% of shield; range — extended melee (same as Claymore; basically it'll become a semi-flail in appearance, with knife attached to the hook). Old "Equip" perks are lost. New "Equip" perk — +25 Intimidation, all bleeding wounds dealt with this weapon last for 5 turns instead of 3, critical chance and damage increased by 0,5% and 5% respectively with each bleeding wound on the enemy. New "On hit" effect — 3x10% chance to inflict a bleeding wound that deals additional 100% of base damage over 5 turns. Additionally, the weapon increases its damage by 2% for each point in STR above 8 and by 1% for each point in DEX above 7.

5. D + Boning Knife = Lurker's Hallmark. Numbers — damage: 20-29; base AP: 13; crit. chance: 9%; crit. damage: 120%; durability: 1800; weight: 0.3. Old "Equip" perks are retained. New "On hit" perk — 30% chance to inflict a bleeding wound (basically doubles the ability of that on Dehumanizer). New special ability "Slice and Mince" — attempts to perform a regular attack that deals its normal damage and leaves a living target with a bleeding wound (150% for 3 turns); attack has a 25% chance to cripple the target. If the attack is performed from the stealth, it applies 2 stacks of Taste for Blood (even if not taken) for 1 turn and puts target in Fear for the duration of the bleeding. Range, bypassing shields and damage increase from STR are the same.

Fredd will require 100 charons for each upgrade, the hero requires to have 60 Mechanics and 10 Chemistry.

Phew! Only two knives left.

Butcher's Cleaver. The hero can do upgrade themselves, with 70 Mechanics and 50 Electrics. It'd require two stages of upgrading:

1. Firstly, the hero needs to find any alcohol (Boolean, Mindshroom Martini, Scrapperac, or Slackjaw) x1, Coal x3, and Dirty Rag x3. That way they can clean the Cleaver, making it lose its intimidation bonus but increase its base damage to 19-32.

2. Only after that the hero can add an Electroshock Generator (100+) and Plasma core (any) to it. That will result in additional (depending on Generator's quality) Electicity damage and the special ability "Cleave" will be improved. Now it deals 200% of its melee damage and 100% of its electrical damage additionally, stunning or short-circuiting the target for 1 turn if the hit landed. As a downside, the weapon now requires 7 STR in order to both wield it effectivcely and use Cleave ability. The ability itself now has a cooldown of 4 turns and uses 30 energy. Weight is set to 4.

Alright, what's left is Kukri. Now that one has a surprise on which I'm going to finally expand below. For now it should stick to the handle replacement — Machete Handle x1 and help of Fredd or themselves with 50 Mechanics. That is not everything I had planned for Kukri, but the new handle yield in -1 base AP reduction.

Fist Weapons. Only three here are the lab rats. Spiked Chrome Brass Knuckles is already upgraded by Duff, and Power Fist is a thing that doesn't require any improvement.

Which leaves us with "the mostest betterest" combination so far. Again, two NPC could help you with that. But now, they are from rivaling factions. Luka Giotto from Fort Apogee and Rocksteady from Free Drones. Both have their own requirements.

Luka can help you if you bring him extensive news about goings in Drop Zone or have completed "Gas the Drones" quest. The latter is self-explanatory; the former requires to speak (at least once) with: Jon the Beautiful, Gene, Kupusije, Guzomir, Ljubostanka, Oinko (while under Motion), and clear out the Black Crawlers. The player can bring one piece of news at a time or all of them in one visit — it doesn't matter.

Rocksteady can help you if you armwrestle with him and win (Wrestling feat/STR 10+/Melee 120+) or have completed SRO assault (Rocksteady should stay alive, duh).

Now, after talking with any of them about pugilism and how it helps in the streets (or in Drop Zone), both agree to have a sit over and help you with the weapons. For that you have to have Boxing Gloves and either one or both — The Claw and Ripper's Glove. Yep, those are the weapons you gonna combine.

1. BG + The Claw = Stinky Trick. Numbers — damage: 12-19; base AP: 13; crit. chance: 6%; crit. damage: 100%; durability: 600; weight: 0.9. "Equip" perks of Gloves are retained. "On hit" effect of Gloves is halved (15% chance to daze). New "On hit" effect — each other hit adds 3 fixed Bio damage that bypasses resistances and shields and adds a stack of contaminated to a living target (5 turns duration, 20 max stacks). Range and bypassing shields are the same. Damage increased by 10% for every point in STR above 5.

2. BG + Ripper's Glove = Nefarious Fighter. Numbers — damage: 10-22; base AP: 12; crit. chance: 5%; crit. damage: 90%; durability: 720; weight: 0.7. "Equip" perks of Boxing Gloves are retained. "On hit" effect for both are retained. New "Equip" perk — any proc from Wrestling and Combo and landed Crippling Strike and Heavy Punch hits apply 1 Taste for Blood stack (even if not taken) for 1 turn; +8 to Intimidation. Range and bypassing shields are the same. Damage increased by 10% for every point in STR above 5.

3. BG + The Claw + Ripper's Glove = Street Menace. Numbers — damage: 10-22 (Mechanical), 1-3 (Bio); base AP: 12; crit. chance: 5%; crit. damage: 90%; durability: 720; weight: 0.7. Old "Equip" perk of Gloves are lost. New "Equip" perks — any living non-insectoid target in melee range suffers from resolve penalty of -25; +15 Intimidation. Old "On hit" effects of all three are lost. New "On hit" effects — every first hit applies a stack of contamination (5 turns, 20 max); every other hit has 2x30% chance to inflict a bleeding wound for 100% damage over 3 turns. New special ability "All-In" — thrusts both gloves into the opponent. If the hit lands, the target suffers a huge bleeding would which deals 200% of Mechanical damage and 300% of Bio damage over 3 turns. If the target is below 50% of its maximum HP, the attack also carves it up (same as machete and swords) for 2 turns. Attack costs 200% of its regular AP and has cooldown of 1 turn. Range and bypassing shields are the same. Damage increased by 8% for every point in STR above 5.

For helping you, both Luka and Rocksteady will ask for a small sum of 150 charons. If you've merged one Boxing Glove with any of the unique fist weapon, it excludes the ability to improve it with another one; you have to either bring all three or bring two pairs of Boxing Gloves and upgrade them both.

The last but not least piece of technology I had in mind. Remote Control Energizer Glove. Oh boy, what could be done with that gadget? You. Can. Break it!

That's right, zoners. The hero has to do it themselves, and even purchase electronics workbench from George West. With that thing installed the hero can open a certain option to rage a little (after a few hours of unsuccessful attempts) and smash the glove a few times. That results in:

Broken Energizer Glove. Changes: additional instance of damage: 5-8 (Electricity); base AP — 14; crit chance — 16%; durability — 800. Bypassing shields completely. Both INT requirements and "Equip" perks are lost. Special ability "Energy Siphon" is lost. New "On hit" effect — 60% chance to hit the enemy with 1-35 Electricity; when it procs, it consumes 20 energy. A new special sbility "Discharger" — performs a regular attack that deals base damage but also drains the energy from the enemy weapon and shield, as well as drains the energy from itself; if the target is an automaton, it is short-circuited for 2 turns and its shield is also drained. Attack has a cooldown of 8 turns and required 200% of regular AP. Range is the same. Damage increased by 9% for every point in STR above 5.

With all said above, I have only one thing I had in mind — for Kukri in particular and for some other weaponry in general. There's a certain reference-zoner who lives in Core City and makes all the graffiti over the city. Mac. That one is available to talk, but nothing else.

Although, with enough persuasion, Mac can be convinced to express his thoughts and expand his horizons. In-deedly-doodley, I'm talking about asking him to decorate the outer walls of your house, while Jyles and pounding-a-beat Praetorian should be bribed with a handful of charons to let that happen (if you are a senior, you can just order the Praetorian to go along their route). After this, the hero can allow Mac to chill in their kitchen (you should have freezer, TV, and any chair or stool purchased beforehands, otherwise he says that your house ain't cool for chilling out). Mac should chill for an hour or so, after which you can ask him if he wished to express himself on a smaller scale. With enough Persuasion (120+) Mac will agree to your terms and bring a couple of enamel paints which he has had hidden in his place since immemorial. And now, I present you the last list of upgrades for certain weapons:

1. Kukri (any type). Mac will paint it aboriginal style. That gives Kukri "Equip" perks — +15 Resolve; +15 max HP; -5 Stealth; 8% (additive) bonus to Naval Combat's stability and maneuverability.

2. Balor's Hammer (modified only). Mac can paint that with two styles of your choosing — blood and fire. Fire one results in -1 base AP cost while Blood gives you unique "On hit" effect — if you kill a living target with that hammer, you replenish 16 HP over 2 turns (8+8).

3. Claymore and Chainsword (any type). Both can be dipped in black paint, which gives you +5 stealth on "Equip".

4. Glaive (base only). That Mac paints with gold and red, which grants you with a small "Equip" perk of +9 Persuasion and -6 Evasion. Or, with Expedition installed and B11 hammer with rune seen (hero should stand on the next tile to it), Mac can paint the same rune on the weapon, which will grant +5% bonus damage to all Black Sea fauna.

5. Mind Cracker (modified only). Now that has its requirements. Mac can either help with any psi ability, by painting a correspinding pictogram (icon) over all carapaces (that gives +6% to base effect of that ability; abilities with no numerical effect can't be used for this weapon); player also have that psi ability imprinted and used at least once. Or Mac can paint it with antracite black, resulting in increased "On hit" penalties applied (+10% each) and +5 to stealth on "Equip".

6. Cleaver (modified version). Mac can paint blood over it, to partially return "Equip" bonus — +10 intimidation.

With that, I have finally finished. Till next time, dear bloodthursty maniacs, zoners and pipeworkers.

[Eidein]

Too long didn't read.