Curious about my builds viability

[Helix Mantis]

Hi. So after seeing so many people mention how characters tend to specialised towards a specific archetype, and how important this is, I started to get a little worried. Currently, I'm finding the game challenging, but fair. My mistakes are really just that, mistakes, and I've been able to beat a few encounters that I'm fairly sure I was technically too low level for. However, given the ramp up I found nearing the end of Junkyard, I am thinking I may be doing something wrong. I'm level 7, oddity XP. My stats:
STR 6
DEX 7
AGI 5
CON 5
PER 7
WIL 3
INT 8

With my skills being:
Guns 45
Dodge 27
Evade 20
Hacking 45
Lockpick 45
Mechanic 45
Electronics 30
Chemistry 28
Biology 32
Tailoring 23
Mercantile 20

Feats:
Doctor
Pack rathound
expertise
Snooping
Sure step


I know My stats are a bit loose, but I was unsure how the crafting initially worked, so wanted all my bases covered.
This is all without modifiers though, not sure if that would be relevant info or not.
Equip wise I'm using a Galvanic overcoat, A scoped 8.6 Marauder (got the parts to make a good Huszar and plasma pistol when I return to my quarters), Kohlmeier's knife (If my assumption that the passive works while equipped is correct) or a 7.6 Jaguar smg depending, Cave hopper boots, groin guard and balaclava. I could easily get the recipes and make better boots/helm, but my understanding of the armour system is limited, and by my nature I dislike negative stats, so I'm not sure.

Will I run into more problems down the line, or could I be okay with a bit of tweaking? And If anyone has insight on how defenses/base abilities work optimally, I'd be greatly appreciative.

[Toast]

What weapon do you see yourself specializing in? Typically people pick their stats based on their weapon of choice--sniper and assault rifles require 6-7 Strength, while pistols technically require none but there is at least one pretty nice pistol feat requiring 6. There are also certain Dex "sweet spots" that enable you to fire small weapons an extra time per round, which mean that going hard into Dex is recommended for SMG and pistol--take a look at the Dexterity page on the wiki. Perception is another one you may want quite high for certain feats. You were right to dump will since you are not using any psi or talking skills. There are no crafting feats that require more than 7 Int so technically you have a "wasted" point there, but it's not the end of the world.

 I recommend that you take a look at all of the feats and see what stats you will need for the ones you eventually want to take. Then decide whether your current build is close enough to what you want for you to keep going with this character. From what I see right now, I think you'd be best specializing in assault rifles since you have more Str than Dex, and not quite enough Perception to make use of some of the snipey feats. You also have enough Strength to wear riot armor with a shield, which is a decent choice for someone with no stealth skill--you'll be facing enemies head-on and will need to soak up damage rather than avoid it through maneuvering, so don't worry too much about the mobility loss, which is all the armor penalty does. Since you have 5 Con, consider Conditioning to help with this as well.

The end of Depot A is definitely a difficulty spike and I think most non-stealth builds probably struggle there. The enemies are simply very tough for what level you probably are at that point.

[Jamolotl]

Bearing in mind I'm still learning myself, at first glance the main issue seems to be two things:

First (as you suspected) you're spread very thin. You don't really have enough perception to use assault rifles well and you don't really have enough dexterity to use pistols well. The second issue is a similar one - because you've spread yourself thin and haven't specialised you seem to have gone almost entirely for utility feats, with your only damage feat being expertise.

Depending on the difficulty you could probably salvage the build by committing to assault rifles, starting to take feats that synergise with them and pumping the rest of your stat gains into perception. Personally I would also think about using heavy armour and forgoing dodge/evasion for something like throwing to give you extra crowd control.

Hopefully someone else with a bit more experience will show up to help you.

[Keydim]

if you play on hard ,  you are doomed !

you seems have not really  much clue about game mechanic , most problem not your stat  but feats !
to reach higher level will be difficult  because of XP , so choosing "right" feats at the beginning is very important !

well Snooping with Perc of 7 is useless  (IMHO) , sure steps is less usefull as well  , Pack rathound with str 6  = useless

i would start over bevor venturing forward and be stuck in later in game ! (IMHO depend on difficulty)

!) but  before starting over devide what playstyle you want ! Close or Range . 

2) Crafting is fun  but raising  Explosiv  and not having  Traping or Throwing skills is absolutly useless (What do you want to craft with it Granade + Mines = you dont have these skills  )

3) INT of 8 is to hight for CRAFTER as well ,  such higher INT is only for PSI -user usefull
INT of 10 give a bonus +10 to crafting = means you can craft things wich are normaly 10 Points higher than normal ,  you need INT of 7 if you whant Feats  wich raise  Energypistol = crit dmg +25% ,  Acid = dmg *2 .
A lot of Feats requere  INT of 6 - it is optimal , but look for them if you dont need them just dump your INT = 4 , even with that low INT you dont get penalty to crafting and  may be a Crafter-Master.

There is a lot of build availible in Forum as well but i prefer to find it by yourself (it's most fun part for me)

[Helix Mantis]

So thanks for all the replies guys, to answer you toast, I see myself going mainly for assault rifles, as I'm enjoying the damage and range they have, but would like something I can use after moving without penalty, hence the off hand SMG. And thanks for the reference on armours, I'm sure the info was there, but theres something about red text that just really throws me off.

Jamoid, you think I would be best off going into PER for my base stats? I was really unsure where to go after 6 STR for assaults, so that would be a good step. As far as accuracy goes, I've not had too much issue so far, with most shots being 60-80% at most times. I had intended on taking the suppressive fire and point shot feats, but my base damage was starting to drop off, and I thought expertise would've been better early. I think I screwed up by taking sure step early, but I wasn't sure what to expect, and It seemed like It could be something helpful. And would dropping points in throwing still be relevant now? My stats are so thin as it is, so having to blow a load on getting it to a solid level would further reduce my already limited skills.

Epeli, I think I covered most of what you said previously, but as far as acid resist goes, will that be a large concern? I have a few siphoner leathers I could make some gear with, I had planned on crafting-selling them, but If I need it I'll definitely hold them. As far as the wiki goes, I find a lot of info I wanted lead to dead pages, or mentioned something from alpha. I know it will be updated, but for now, I'll probably only use it for stat references and mechanics.

Keydim, I am on hard, but I've only died to higher level area's so far, like when I stumbled on level 10 psychic enemies at level 5-6. Snooping I wasn't sure how high the cap would be, and I really dislike missing loot, so figured a 10 for detecting area's would be helpful. Definitely agree on sure step, but like I mentioned earlier, I wasn't sure what to expect. And for pack rathound, I carry a lot of loot, and I dislike leaving items, which so far, I've had no problem with. Only one time did I go encumbered, and I just had to head back to my room to dump it. I agree with explosives in hindsight, but as I enjoy crafting, figured It may have other uses like ammo types, (i went into the game blind) but definitely made a mistake there. I may leave it, or try to buff traps, as I've found them very handy even with low skill.

So the general consensus is that I should go for heavier armour, and focus on aggressive perks to help my damage. The only real thing I have a major issue with is stun, I saw the perk for removing that, but are there other ways to nullify this, or should I just stick to the perk? Thanks for the help guys, and any more advice you have would be super handy!

[Keydim]

keep in mind Heavy armor , reduce AP if you have not  STR = 8-9 and  have Armor fatique ap to 90%(metal armor) = reduce stealth, evasion +dodge !  In heavy armor you will be hit more offen = reduce durability = cost money !

Stun = caused by not so many enemys try to take them out before they stun you , in my opinion its waste as a Feat for Ranger

Sure step is not bad perk if you know how to use it  ( In your build it es useless)
Example = crossbow + trapper build  you max out your  offence=low HP
lay caltrops every where on map (1 caltrap take approxymley 3*3 field or so , use stealth to beginn fight and then step on caltraps and go backwarts,  enemy will follow and take dmg + movement reduce  for steping in every caltrap. They are cheap and may be crafted but have some weight !  You may add poisen to make them more deadly !

[Toast]

I'm pretty sure Thick Skull and Locus of Control are the only ways to avoid/remove Stun. It is a hell of a status effect, but fortunately only a few enemy types use it regularly.

As far as I know there are no secrets in the game that require more than 10 Perception, and many require 8 or less. You can temporarily buff Per +1 with goggles and, if you don't mind reloading a bit, +1/2 with Junkyard Surprise--and many detectable secrets don't lead to loot, but rather reveal alternate paths/doors often suited to those sneaking around. Just some info to help you decide about Snooping. I do know what you mean about not wanting to miss anything.

As food for thought here's an example of how I would build an AR user/crafter:

Str 7 --enough for ARs, a nice feat, and riot armor, should be higher if you want to wear metal armor
Dex 4 --enough not to harm your lockpicking/throwing/traps skill (4 is the "average, no benefit or loss to skills" number)
Agi 3 --not used
Con 5 --enough for Conditioning
Per 10 --helps greatly with Guns skill, no need for Snooping
Will 3 --not used
Int 7 --as much as any crafting perk needs

This leaves 1 point left to spend on Str or Con, depending on whether you see yourself in metal armor or not (needs 8-9 Str, best protection but quite slow and you look like a walking toaster ).

Your initiative sucks and you won't be sneaking or dodging, but you won't need to, because you're going to face enemies head-on and use armor and shields to soak damage. Pump guns skill every level without fail. You will make your own guns and armor with mostly Mechanics and some Tailoring and Electronics. High Electronics if you want to make your own energy shield. Biology to make yourself good drugs and health hypos. If you want crowd control you're going to need at least some throwing or traps for stun grenades, caltrops, bear traps, etc., and if you're playing on Hard I would really recommend at least one of them. Your level-up stat points will be spent mostly in Per to help your gun accuracy and damage.

Feats to consider: Expertise, Full Auto, Concentrated Fire, Commando. That gives you a really solid damage base with your weapon bursts. Crafting/utility feats at your own discretion.

That's just one possible example.

[Helix Mantis]

@toast I guess stun was only really an issue when I was underleveled, the few times I've seen it at a sensible level it wasn't much of an issue. Never really sure what to expect, but I'm glad I don't need to use a feat there then anyway. The build looks very much like how I should have set myself up in hindsight, and should I run AR's again I'll definitely stick closer to that. Seems like my sort of way of doing things generally, though I may reserve the whole metal armour deal for a more melee range build, I do enjoy having a bit of maneuverability. Definitely given me some good idea's towards my next builds anyway!

@epeli Ha, cheers bud. I have been RPG'ing since my wee days, grew up on Fallout, syndicate and Shadowrun, So Underrail has been right up my alley. Though I'd probably attribute my current success to sheer luck most of the time, good crits, kiting mobs over burrower caltrops (even with low skill they are super helpful) and a bit of good trading management really. Thanks for the heads up on the acid resist, I breezed through the mutants with pretty much no issue, only the human mutants could really hurt me, and it turns out sure step was pretty handy with all that acid everywhere! Oh and for hoarding, you should see my personal quarters. I love holding as much as possible to experiment with combinations, though I may have to refer to the wiki for a few things here and there to save some money.

Currently just about to hit level 10, and having very little issue with any mobs. I made an acid gun, and the thing is just beautiful. Stacking burrower caltrops with acid pools is making short work of hordes, and the entanglement allows me to pick off targets with my Huszar very easily. Made a plasma pistol too, but using that has been pretty much overkill.

I would like to know how people acquire insect saliva as well. Farming psi beetles has been less than profitable in that regard, and I need large quantities to fuel my habits. Lake poppies too, as I only know of a few spawns so far, and they are only single plants.

Thanks again for all the help, got a really friendly and knowledgeable forum here, love you guys!

[Fenix]

Check out Agronomy lvl, there plenty of lake poppies.

[Helix Mantis]

I'm a non stealth character, so I don't think I can steal them in front of those guys. And as far as saliva goes, I immediately found a decent supply around camp Hathor. Clearing out the burrowers gave a good amount too. Also, I've had a shield emitter for a little while, and hadn't turned it on after putting batteries in it. I assumed it wasn't absorbing specific types, turns out, I'm an idiot. Along with a new rifle, near helmet and armour, I'm not having any issues. Taking suppressive fire really gave me a big boost too.

[hilf]

If you travel to Rail Crossing metro station and go north you can grab, like, 5 poppies. But be careful, there are crawlers at the end of this cave.

[player1]

Pack rathound with str 6  = useless

Well, that is really relative.
For example my STR8 character has around 130 weight of inventory with just basics (this includes couple of armors for different resistances). With total inventory limit of 180, it was painful to play, but with limit of 230 it really improved quality of play.

Sure, pack rathound will never help in "power level", but quality of play is important too.

Same for doctor feat. Power level increase is minimal with 25% better syringes, but being able to always use bandages is really useful and made me possible to save a lot healing items.

[GerbilSchooler]

@Player1 Yeah. from a powerplay perspective Pack Rathound is useless no matter how you slice it. But considering most RPG players are Al Fabet's to their core it's a useful feat for the ocd in us all

[ShadowRun]

^^ hmm - cryptic!

Same for doctor feat. Power level increase is minimal with 25% better syringes, but being able to always use bandages is really useful and made me possible to save a lot healing items.

  As well as saving healing items, you can save Cliff. Aww!

I'm a non stealth character, so I don't think I can steal them in front of those guys.

There is one poppy in the South West corner of the SGS hydroponics where the hover cursor is not red, so you can loot it safely. There are reports of this on the bug forum, if confirmation from a screenshot will check you're looking at the right one. If it's red in your playthrough, I guess it's been patched.