Help with high making CON build?

[Bruno]

Hi, while eagerly awaiting the expansion, I'd like to play a game with a moving hulk of a man. Max HPs and/or damage migitation.
(Kind of tired with all con 3 squishy buids.)

I am thinking this:
10 CON, all increases go here (I know this is not munchkin optimal).
7+ STR for Juggernaut feat, wearing 50%+ armor.
Feats like Conditioning, to add damage migitation to make HPs last longer.
Also some Biology for drugs like Aegis/Morphine.
Other feats could be Doctor/Last Stand, for more and more HPs.
Probably not Dodge/Evasion as the Armor kind of negate it, although it would help even more.

For offense probably Sledgehammer and STR ->10, as Super Slam is the only feat I know of that can make use of a high HP pool.
Assault rifles could be another option, but would not be very impressive with mediocre PER, and that build is kind of over-hyped.

If anybody want to give suggestions or laugh at this idea, I'd appreciate it.
I could just need some ideas or help in making this character work somehow decently.

[MirddinEmris]

If you are starting with 10 Con and putting all stat boost there, then taking Sledgehammer is not a good choice. AR would be a much better choice, since even with Per of 8-10 you would can give a lot of damage dues to burst + commando. Sledgehammer deals damage in several large spikes, meaning that without making Str as you main attribute you would miss much more and you damage per round will be a lot lower.

It's much harder to make sledgehammer build with a very high con, due to the fact that it need a lot more attributes to work. Agi 6 for Sprint (without it, you can waste you whole turn trying to get to opponent), also feats like Expose Weakness (Int 5) and Cheap Shots (Int 5, Dex 6) are very useful. On the other hand, AR is so much simple in the attribute distribution. 8 Str, 8-10 Per and you already solid.

[hilf]

If you're going to put so many points in CON you can go PSI and still have a lot of HPs. You'll also gain:
Stoicism - stack nicely with other damage reduction sources, including Lifting Belt;
Fast Metabolism - more healing;
Force Field - 25 Psychokinesis (you don't need more to make good use of it); a barrier that can shield you from ranged attacks and make your enemies close distance so you don't have to; good for slow melee;

Other PSI abilities that can help with survivability are Disruptive Field, Cryo-Shield and Pseudo-spatial Projection. Not to mention crowd control.
You can also support your hammer strikes with Psychostatic Electricity. You'll need 30 Psychokinesis for Electrokinesis.

I'm not posting exact build because i'm lazy i believe building character yourself is very fun.

[TheAverageGortsby]

I did a 12 STR 14CON sledge build on Hard and won.  It was pretty stress-free, though I did save often and reload quite a few times when I made mistakes and died from them.  I'm not sure, if I went back and did another tanky sledge, that I'd go with 12 STR.  It's not that the damage was unsatisfactory, but rather that the difference between 10 and 12 wasn't really enough to make it a good use of stat points.  I think I'd do a higher dex+agi build.  Good heavy armor plus high-CON conditioning is going to be enough damage mitigation for everything up to and including Tchort.  I think having some extra mobility and snare removal would have been really handy.  Several reloads were from not making it up to melee range, or out of LOS from, snipers in time.  Even with good mitigation, those sniper crits can take the wind out of you.

Oh, and Balor kicked my butt bad like five times.  He's a beast when you're toe-to-toe.  I had gotten cocky from my previous psi character who just set the world on fire then threw a 4-turn forcefield and re-burst when it dropped.

Anyway, since sledges do a lot of mechanical damage, you might benefit from Expertise to add a bit more there, and if you can get 7 AGI I feel like Hit and Run would be highly useful for most of the game, since even with a lower STR like 10-ish you're going to be one-shotting a bunch of things and you'll always wish you had a few more MP to close distance.  If you end up with 6INT for Armor Sloping it's possible you'll have a low enough penalty to make Deflection worthwhile but that's just wild speculation.  You're right to want some Bio to cook your own drugs.  You'll have so much health even on Hard that you'll need those super hypos to get you back up into regen range after you tangle with a few damned coil spiders ^_^

[Bruno]

Thanks for replies, many good tips here.
In the interest of migitating damage, what exactly does Uncanny Dodge work from, what decides how many attacks you will dodge?

Is it unmodified dodge skill, modified skill after AGI and equipment bonuses (possibly very high), or final skill after armor %-penalty (possibly very low)?

[destroyor]

I agree w/ MirddinEmris you should get at least 6 AGI for sprint or 7 for hit and run as you will need those MP to get into melee range; 5 INT for expose weakness is essential as well.

Alternatively you can go the unusual route and try my throwing build. Critical demolition expert w/ throwing knives finisher using quad plated super-steel armor and I finished a hard classic game w/ it.

[Fenix]

While I see Bruno's request, heavy tin cans were never my cup of tea.

So, I made stealth one-shotter with hammer. Balor's hammer.

http://underrail.info.tm/build/?AwGlEYQJgVhcBsIkA4QGYNYOxjxdOcdCcIwkFUFOUCYeu+B5pt-PJcNWaAThAAWUIIExBIGLgRxscFBL7ogA

There are few variation - not sure how to use last feat.
Is it Opportunist, or Deflection (which should give +100 dodge), or Evasive Maneuvers, or Pummel (how useful it is at all, tell me who played hammerers?)
I concidered Bone Breaker and Super Slam as a waste and overkill.

Also I took both Sprint and Hit and Run, ans it can be overkill too, so possibly we can throw out one of them.

[Bruno]

If you're going to put so many points in CON you can go PSI and still have a lot of HPs. You'll also gain:
Stoicism - stack nicely with other damage reduction sources, including Lifting Belt;
Fast Metabolism - more healing;
Force Field - 25 Psychokinesis (you don't need more to make good use of it); a barrier that can shield you from ranged attacks and make your enemies close distance so you don't have to; good for slow melee;

Other PSI abilities that can help with survivability are Disruptive Field, Cryo-Shield and Pseudo-spatial Projection. Not to mention crowd control.
You can also support your hammer strikes with Psychostatic Electricity. You'll need 30 Psychokinesis for Electrokinesis.

I'm not posting exact build because i'm lazy i believe building character yourself is very fun.

After some thinking, I decided to be inspired by hilf, and go with psionics as second power.
Specifically metathermics and freeze abilities, supported by basic psychokinesis.

It is unfortunate that we must give up ~25% of our HPs to do so, but it is a lot more fun to use various psi instead of only sledge, and we gain much needed range, for a slow tank. Also, Stoicism kind of makes up for lost HPs.

Stats:
STR 10
DEX 3
AGI 3
CON 10->14
PER 3
WIL 7
INT 4->6

Skills:
Melee
Hacking
Lockpicking
Mechanics
Electronics
Biology (some)
Tailoring
Psychokinesis (30, for forcefield/electrokinesis)
Metathermics

Feats:
1- Opportunist
1- Stoicism
2- Conditioning
4- Thick Skull
6- Juggernaut
8- Cryogenic Induction
10- Premeditation
12- Armor Sloping
14- Super Slam
...

Basic idea is to be a walking freezing tank, crushing everything to bits that is close enough, using mainly cryokinesis for long range.
Cryostasis+Cryogenic Induction=Shatter
Super Slam+Huge hit pool (Sturdy vest heavy armor, juggernaut, high con)=shatter everything to tiny ice cubes.

Currently in depot A, and it is very fun so far
Criticism of build is welcome.

[hilf]

You can also grab Survival Instincts to boost your crit chance if things go wrong (or if you make things go wrong on purpose). It synergises with Stoicism.

With SI you might be able to use certain trick - use morphine when on low life (<30%). Sounds crazy but:
- you'll be immune to mechanical damage and highly resistant to others;
- Fast Metabolism boosts healing received;
- you only need  over 1/3 HP to survive;
- lower max HP from PSI pill is actually an advantage here;
- mechanical damage reduction (Stoicism, Conditioning etc.) works on Morphine withdrawal effect!
It's possible to do this even on hard with Adv. Health Hypo.
Oh, you'll need enough Biology to craft Aegis, 60 IIRC.

Blast Cloth works vs Thermodynamic Destabilization. Can be useful for melee.