feedback about my last build

[MirddinEmris]

A critical hit from an X-bow, like MirddinEmris mentions, or a grenade hitting you right in the body, means instant death if you have so low HPs, no armor or evasion.

Well, at least shield CAN protect you form a grenade, and that what i was talking about.

What bothers me with this build most of all is the though about him fighting in the arena with 11 initiative, no evasion/dodge and 3 Con + psionic health reduction. I mean, it would be a massacre. Especially with Carnifex. Actually, i don't think it is even possible for this build to win at all. Initiative 11 against 29 is 100% loss, since random component goes only as far as 15 (if wiki doesn't lie). Even if he takes Paranoia it's like less than half of a percent chance to win it. Maybe, if he creates some sort of super armor and tries to survive the first round (most probably suffering penalty for not having enough Str fof this armor), but even that is a long shot. I don't think that this build is actually viable for full playthrough)

P.S. Oops, been looking on different build. His has 16 initiative, giving him a wooping 0.44% chance to go first. It'll go up to 9.33% if he takes Paranoia feat.

[TheAverageGortsby]

No Premeditation tho...

I would actually go so far as to say any psi build without Premeditation is wrong.  Not saying it's unwinnable, mind you, but if you have psi and use it pretty much every battle, then there is no single perk that is better than Premeditation.

[lewis_cb]

Wait, dieing in one turn against Carnifex sounds ridiculous. So in 1 turn he gets to close all the distance and kill you? Dex based with steel gloves..like 7 attacks per turn, raw 150 dmg each?

From what I read, he's mechanical melee dmg, in that case shield only blocks 20% of its normal capacity. Then I am wondering..even if I wear Infused Ancient rathound leather & metal boots & helmet I die? wow that's insane.

Besides, if my initiative is 17 (+1 dex) and his is 29, and roll is -+15, that leaves me with -12, so I win 3/15 of the times and he 11/15 (tie 1/15), meaning ~20% chance for me to start? Dunno if I got it right.

At this point, this build offers little variation, except for additionally sacrifying 2 points of Per into Con (+50HP). This made me even more interested in playing it hehe 

[MirddinEmris]

Wait, dieing in one turn against Carnifex sounds ridiculous. So in 1 turn he gets to close all the distance and kill you? Dex based with steel gloves..like 7 attacks per turn, raw 150 dmg each?

Quite a bit more than 150, he also will entangle (he throws nets) and debuff you with yell. He also has a chance to incapacitate you. He also has 700 health and pretty high dodge/evasion. You don't get to be a legendary champion of the Arena by collecting coupons, you know) Overall he can do what a optimized unarmed build can.

From what I read, he's mechanical melee dmg, in that case shield only blocks 20% of its normal capacity. Then I am wondering..even if I wear Infused Ancient rathound leather & metal boots & helmet I die? wow that's insane.

Less. Combat gloves ignore 80% of your shield additionally. For the most part, shield will do close to nothing against melee opponents. Depending on the quality of the leather and components, you maybe has a small chance of surviving first round.

Besides, if my initiative is 17 (+1 dex) and his is 29, and roll is -+15, that leaves me with -12, so I win 3/15 of the times and he 11/15 (tie 1/15), meaning ~20% chance for me to start? Dunno if I got it right.

You have to refresh you memory on how probabilities actually work, mate) You have 1.33% chance of winning the initiative with additional +1 dex. You have to roll at least 14 while he has to roll no higher than 3 (a bit more complex in actual equation, i'm simplifying here) at the same time. Also, i think he wins on tie since he got higher base bonus, but i'm not sure about that. If he doesn't, you get 2.66% of winning initiative.

At this point, this build offers little variation, except for additionally sacrifying 2 points of Per into Con (+50HP). This made me even more interested in playing it hehe 

Mate, you are still squishy as hell, and he still gonna kill you in one round, most probably. You also reduced your chances of hitting stuff and damage you are gonna deal. At which point you are better playing regular psion.

Also, i already gave you an advice - take Paranoia feat. At the very least, you gonna have reasonable chances of winning initiative (1 in 11), meaning that you can actually have a drop on him and having less reload screens in total in your playthrough (way less).

You are not gonna enjoy it, really, unless you enjoy reloading every fight several times over. Build with no health, no armor, no evasion/dodge, no initiative and little to no stealth....well, you are in for a ride. I think you gonna drop this game way before even getting to Arena.

[Tygrende]

Also, i think he wins on tie since he got higher base bonus, but i'm not sure about that.

I did a lot of tests and it feels totally random, but enemies tend to go first if a tie happens. Safer to assume it's 1.(3)%.

I agree he will have a really hard time with a build like this. 3 CON + Psi empathy means HP will be as low as it can possibly be, no stealth or high initative means he won't be able to reliably act first. Crafted infused siphoner leather tabis (immunity to immoblization so no bonus damage from Opportunist) and infused pig leather armor with high-density padding (relatively high mechanical DR and bonus DR vs. melee, +1 CON and up to 100+ flat HP bonus on top of that) *might* be enough to make him survive the first turn against Carnifex, not sure though.

[MirddinEmris]

Crafted infused siphoner leather tabis (immunity to immoblization so no bonus damage from Opportunist)

Those are must not even because of opportunist, but because without them, he's gonna get entangled on first turn (no evasion) and then die on a second because with him standing in one place, he can't use Quick Tinkering and this is one way for him to keep good old Carni at a distance.

I agree he will have a really hard time with a build like this.

I'm not sure he will even pass first part. Most OP psi skills will not be available yet and with his defense and stealth...oh, well.

[lewis_cb]

I checked the probability and you're right, I oversimplified it I'll be forced to drop some offensive stuff, damn, I'll think what to leave behind (or ditch it completely).
Thnx for the feedback, you rock !

[lewis_cb]

Wait, both fist/knife and crossbow enemies suffer 125% damage resistance & treshold.
So if I could somehow achieve 60-80% mechanical resistance I would actually resist 75-95% of the dmg? metal armor for those combats? skinner?
Would I get near that by the time I get to the Arena? 35 AP ocassionally might not be that bad

Actually I would like to understand Skinner/crafting better:
If I had Q120 Ancient Rathound leather and Q160 fiber, would I get Q200 Infused Ancient leather? and need:
Tailoring:    0.8*120+0.8*160 = 224 ?
Mechanics:               0.2*160 = 32 ?

Then, would I get Q240 Infused Ancient armor (due to Skinner)?
I couldn't get it clear from Destroyor's encyclopedia.

[destroyor]

On Skinner and crafting:

If you have Q114 Ancient Rathound leather and Q160 SS fiber, you would get Q196 Infused Ancient leather. At this point, it doesn't matter if you have Skinner or not as the quality of your infused leather is unaffected by Skinner. The quality is strictly based on your source materials.

Now on the next part: Infused Ancient Rathound leather armor:
You won't see any quality # on your leather armor. Your leather quality will determine various bonuses, for example:
With Skinner:
Q187 Infused Ancient Rathound leather => leather armor = Resistances: Mechanical: 51%/25 Cold: 37%/15 All heat (and cold) damage taken reduced by 23%
Q196 Infused Ancient Rathound leather => leather armor = Resistances: Mechanical: 53%/26 Cold: 38%/15 All heat (and cold) damage taken reduced by 24%
Without Skinner:
Q187 Infused Ancient Rathound leather => leather armor = Resistances: Mechanical: 45%/21 Cold: 34%/13 All heat (and cold) damage taken reduced by 19%
Q196 Infused Ancient Rathound leather => leather armor = Resistances: Mechanical: 46%/22 Cold: 35%/13 All heat (and cold) damage taken reduced by 20%

@lewis_cb - theorycrafting is fun and all, but you should start and play a game for real so you'll see how some combo just won't work and/or work very poorly.

[lewis_cb]

Many thanks Destroyor.
Yes. I will soon try this out myself, to see if it would be doable to play it my way.
I already ditched 2 playthroughs midgame. I want to maximise the chances of completing the game this 3rd time.

I decided to make CON3->5 at the cost of PER12->10. I'd like to increase the survivability without dumping a skill for Evasion/Dodge.

Lastly, in your opinion, which 2 feats would you pick earlygame between Conditioning, Power Management, Skinner & Opportunist?

[destroyor]

Without question - Conditioning

The others will depends on your build and play style, but in general:
Opportunist > Skinner > Power Management.

[ironicman]

Is it possible to properly use Balor's hammer in the game currently? I know I can get up to 19 strength with the rat hound regalia, power fist, and bbq. I was thinking of trying a sledgehammer build centered around this

[TheAverageGortsby]

If you scum Junkyard Surprise or just cook a bunch of Super Soldier drug you don't even need to wear the fairly crappy Rathound Regalia to get 19 STR.  The penalty for using Balor's Hammer with 19 STR is very small.  There are some posts with detailed analysis of the damage breakdown, but the general wisdom seems to be that Balor's Hammer is about as good as a high quality TiChrome shock hammer, but the advantage to the shock hammer is that it doesn't require so much micromanagement to use properly.  I can attest from playing a hammer build that a good TiChrome shock hammer with lifting belt deals a very impressive amount of damage, even with a relatively measly 12 STR.

[MirddinEmris]

There are some posts with detailed analysis of the damage breakdown, but the general wisdom seems to be that Balor's Hammer is about as good as a high quality TiChrome shock hammer

You mean way better than TiChrome hammer, right?)

The main problem with Balor's is required investment and being able to use it properly only after lvl 16-20. Main idea is to put maximum amount into Str and when you have at least 14 you use rathound barbeque and adrenaline. Adrenaline is mostly known for giving you +20 AP for 3 turns, but it's less known property is giving you +2 Str. You suffer -5% accuracy (on top of final calculation) for each point of Str lacking. With 19 Str it's just 5%, meaning 90% maximum accuracy. Don't bother wearing stuff like rathound armor, you will loose much more than you gain.

I can provide some numbers if you want, but overall Balor's damage output is just WAY more even with the loss of 1 hit per turn compared to TiChrome. It also will leave you with 10 additional AP per turn free which you can use for medicine or taser (you have to wear lifting belt of course).

I did heavy sledge playthrough and used both TiChrome and Balor. For any serious battle i used Balor's and by the time Adrenaline wore off, either all or most enemies were dead, at which point i switched to TiChrome if there was a need to. Balor Hammer is difficult to use, but if you can, it will be very effective. It's actually one of the rare cases when unique weapon doesn't suck balls (rest of the unique hammers do, unfortunately).

[TheAverageGortsby]

You mean way better than TiChrome hammer, right?

No, I don't.  The raw damage output is noticeably higher with Balor's Hammer, but there are several significant drawbacks as well.  If all you care about is theorycrafted output, then it's a very simple comparison. But for many encounters, the drawbacks exceed the raw damage value of Balor's.  So I mean it's about as good.  Ideally, you'd carry one of each because sometimes one is better than the other; and it's not always Balor's Hammer that shines.