Is my build hopeless? (minor spoilers)

[Anuovis]

Well, I decided to restart it with a thief that wields lockpicks and guns. Gave up on persuasion, an anti-social thief will have to do for now. But will raise Int to 6 and do some crafting. It's probably still a suboptimal build but I will try to stick with it.

Link

Still rather incomplete and messy, just for the starting stats and feats mostly. I will see how it goes as I play along.

I think I will just skip dodge and raise evasion because I don't plan on getting involved in melee combat ever. Is that a crazy idea?
And should I go with the highest evasion possible then?

[hilf]

Gave up on persuasion, an anti-social thief will have to do for now.

Don't let those min-maxers abandon your dreams!

It's probably still a suboptimal build but I will try to stick with it.

Raise your PER to 10 on lvlups and don't take Snooping.
You put too many points into subterfuge skills, it should be more like:
Hacking, Lockpicking - 120
Pickpocketing - 100 will most likely be enough, just play and you'll see if you need more
Traps - 110

This way you can raise Persuasion to at least 60, which is a sweet spot.
You should also have spare points for Crafting, Mechanics and Tailoring being most useful to you.

I think I will just skip dodge and raise evasion because I don't plan on getting involved in melee combat ever. Is that a crazy idea?
And should I go with the highest evasion possible then?

If you'll take Quick Tinkering dropping Dodge is not crazy at all.
And yes, you want more evasion.
You may also add to Throwing but 127 is maximum effective value for nades.

[Anuovis]

Don't let those min-maxers abandon your dreams!

This was funny I don't see it working with my current build though.

You put too many points into subterfuge skills

Probably so. I doubt I will raise them that high if I see they work fine as they are.

If you'll take Quick Tinkering dropping Dodge is not crazy at all.

I have no idea how the two are related. Could you explain a bit?
Is that to drop traps under the feet of the enemies to run away? Sounds a bit crazy on paper.

[Megaost]

Quick tinkering is to set traps fast, i.e. bear trap to stop the bigger nastier enemies from getting to you.
Lockpicking and the like only needs to be around 120 in the parenthesis by the way. In case you thought he meant 120 points, which gives about 180 adjusted skill in your spreadsheet, which is afaik way, way higher than any lock in the game requires (think the highest ones are 130 or 135).

[mattu]

Does that mean that there will be situations where I absolutely can't rely on stealth whatsoever?

Definitely. There are places where you must fight and those places expect you to be a fairly capable fighter. You can limp but you cannot stagger.

I'm a little sad that you gave up on crossbows, but guns are easier, and also fun. Here too, plan your feats.

I think persuasion makes more sense on a 2nd playthrough. Social skills are a bit of a newbie trap. Pity the poor souls who thought they'd play diplomats.

Be warned, you can really get sucked into crafting. Underrail is a combat/adventuring game but it can become a shopping/crafting game if you let it. I have done.

[Ramen_os]

Just FYI,

I created a crossbow build and I was not able to finish the game. The last part of the last area was too much difficult for my build... So I stopped the game at 96%.

[hilf]

Quick tinkering is to set traps fast, i.e. bear trap to stop the bigger nastier enemies from getting to you.
Lockpicking and the like only needs to be around 120 in the parenthesis by the way. In case you thought he meant 120 points, which gives about 180 adjusted skill in your spreadsheet, which is afaik way, way higher than any lock in the game requires (think the highest ones are 130 or 135).

Exactly.
QT will also help placing traps out of combat. With good enough stealth you can place traps under enemy noses.

Generally skill checks are capped at 135(although some crafting recipes can go beyond that) but there are items that boost some skills. Just play and you'll see.
There's also food that can temporarily boost your attributes (each of them can be boosted that way) and in turn your skills.
But it won't be a big waste if you just raise your effective value (in parenthesis) to 135.

[Anuovis]

Quick tinkering is to set traps fast, i.e. bear trap to stop the bigger nastier enemies from getting to you.

Is it still worth it, even with all the investment in other mobility feats (Hit and Run, Sprint, Suppressive fire)?
Seems like a neat feat to have anyway. I assume you can even drop a mine in the path of your pursuers.

Lockpicking and the like only needs to be around 120 in the parenthesis by the way. In case you thought he meant 120 points, which gives about 180 adjusted skill in your spreadsheet, which is afaik way, way higher than any lock in the game requires (think the highest ones are 130 or 135).

This is so helpful. Thanks a lot!

I'm a little sad that you gave up on crossbows, but guns are easier, and also fun. Here too, plan your feats.

I feel like you have to be really precise and focus a lot on crossbow feats to make it work. But I really lack experience and I want to make a slightly more varied, flexible build that doesn't get useless if I miss a feat or two.

I think persuasion makes more sense on a 2nd playthrough. Social skills are a bit of a newbie trap. Pity the poor souls who thought they'd play diplomats.

I really wanted it for a bit of extra dialogue and maybe extra areas/quests. I know this isn't Fallout 1 or 2.

Be warned, you can really get sucked into crafting. Underrail is a combat/adventuring game but it can become a shopping/crafting game if you let it. I have done.

Sounds like fun I wasn't even planning on doing any crafting but now I see how interesting it is. It really blew my mind when I saw how many different components you can find.

[Anuovis]

Generally skill checks are capped at 135(although some crafting recipes can go beyond that) but there are items that boost some skills. Just play and you'll see.
There's also food that can temporarily boost your attributes (each of them can be boosted that way) and in turn your skills.
But it won't be a big waste if you just raise your effective value (in parenthesis) to 135.

So it's essentially a waste to go beyond 135 in all skills but crafting? Even evasion?

[hilf]

Generally skill checks are capped at 135(although some crafting recipes can go beyond that) but there are items that boost some skills. Just play and you'll see.
There's also food that can temporarily boost your attributes (each of them can be boosted that way) and in turn your skills.
But it won't be a big waste if you just raise your effective value (in parenthesis) to 135.

So it's essentially a waste to go beyond 135 in all skills but crafting? Even evasion?

By skill check i mean stuff with binary, non-random results so basically all non-combat skills. Combat is more elaborate.

Evasion and Dodge is something you max because of how chance to hit math works (it's a ratio of attack skill to defense).

Combat skills is something you typically raise much more than 135. Some weapons might actually be strong enough to stay at 135 but i didn't try it.
Effective value of 200 is totally enough for all weapons skill, with possible exception of throwing knives. Even chemical pistols are fine with 200.
Strongest options like SMGs or assault rifles can probably do with like 160 skill but if it's your first run go ahead and raise it to 200 just to be extra sure.

[Anuovis]

Well, it seems like I could spend days or weeks asking you all questions and still learn something new. I think I will just give it a go.
Thank you all for so much information.

[Anuovis]

So... I have been a busy bee and didn't have the time to play Underrail but I have fooled around with the character creator.
I realized my perfect character would actually look like this.

It's a stealthy psi thief with good social skills that can spot traps and secrets around him.
Obviously not balanced but would it be possible to finish the game with it on normal difficulty?

If not, any tips on how to tweak it or is it hopeless?

I really don't want to change 7 Per with Snooping.
Also want maximum hacking and lockpicking skills, so Dex has to stay at 4.
Also want to pass persuasion / intimidation checks.

The rest can be changed.

[Lucifuga]

Take a gander

You can leave dexterity at 3
Just eat an Eels sandwich for +1 dex to mitigate the loss for 20 minutes – plenty of time to open/steal stuff
If you are real greedy you can save scum Junkyard Surprises for +2 dex
Can save a few skill points doing this as well

I would suggest putting the remaining base point in intelligence
This lets you take the crafting feat Neurology
You’ll need Biology and Electronics to make the headbands though
Bio is useful for drugs and seeing how you’ll be moving last in each encounter you didn’t sneak into I foresee innumerous health hypos being chugged down
Psi-regen drugs are essential to you build as well
Syncs well with Fast Metabolism
With Electronics you’ll be able to craft your own energy shields to lengthen your life expectancy

I would steer you away from the feats Yell & Cryogenic Induction
Seeing as you’ve yet to play the game I’ll leave my reasoning below in black text as it is somewhat spoilery/opinion based
   
Yell - 3 turn duration / 10 turn cooldown / 8 radius
Success rate based on Will
35% x your effective intimidation = reduced enemy offense skills (guns, crossbows, melee, throwing)
Min scenario    Max scenario
35% x 20 = 7   35% x 80 = 28

When regarding the story persuasion is the essential social skill
Persuasion has actually world impacting checks while intimidation to my knowledge doesn’t

Intimidation has 2 checks that I know of that you cannot pass
You can pass every persuasion check with enough skill though

There exists gear/weapons that raise intimidation so you can save a few skill points on checks if you equip them.
Can net yourself 40 effective points with just 2 mid-game items.

Cryogenic Induction
Chill debuff (-10 movement/stacks) isn’t bad but it ain’t exactly great either
Extending it from 2 to 3 turns won’t change the outcome of the encounter

The only positive I see is that it extends Cyrostasis effect from 2 to 3 turns
One turn can matter but it pales in comparison to Force User’s extension of force field by 2 turns (total 4) which can entrap, block pathways and prevent damage.

The shatter effect is a novelty that gets old quick.
Necessary 5 action/65 psi points needed to see it in use.
Only procs from mechanical or cold damage. Since you have no mechanical damage your only means to proc it is to use offensive psi-ice attacks. Cynokinesis (15 psi) takes 20 action points so you can get off 3 max in a single turn with adrenaline. Max you save yourself 1 attack.
At best the shatter will save you 20 action/15 psi points
If you rolled low on the attack your enemy is free and you’re down 25 action/80 psi points only left with an extended chill debuff to remind yourself of an invested feat point

I’d only pick it up to RP .

If you do away with those 2 feats you can pick up Neurology and a spare

Power Management is great for shields/cloaks/tasers
Also lets you sell crafted electronics at a significantly higher price (0 mercantile might change that aspect)

Since the Huxkey and the Jackknife are revealed in the character creation tool I altered your skill investment in lock picking and hacking
Be warned that for the Huxkey you will need to complete several quests in a particular fashion or else you’ll miss out.

As for beating the game…
Can’t say

[Megaost]

So... I have been a busy bee and didn't have the time to play Underrail but I have fooled around with the character creator.
I realized my perfect character would actually look like this.

It's a stealthy psi thief with good social skills that can spot traps and secrets around him.
Obviously not balanced but would it be possible to finish the game with it on normal difficulty?

If not, any tips on how to tweak it or is it hopeless?

I really don't want to change 7 Per with Snooping.
Also want maximum hacking and lockpicking skills, so Dex has to stay at 4.
Also want to pass persuasion / intimidation checks.

The rest can be changed.

My experience will full psi build is that it is never hopeless, almost regardless of what you do with it. There are some stuff in there that I don't understand the reasoning behind though, such as Nimble feat with agility at 3 and no points in dodge/evasion. If you think that build looks cool though, it should work. My first full playthrough was with full psionics, and it was for the most part a breeze.

[Anuovis]

Thank you for the replies.
It's not that I can explain most of my choices, I just go with the intuition and draw upon very limited understand of the game mechanics. I'll tweak this a little and see how it goes.