Chem/Stealth hybrid possible

[hellion126]

So im pretty new at the game, played once with crossbow/stealth build and would love to go for a sneaky chemist build, how should i approach it, every time i start putting points in it does not seem very optimal, some help would be greatly appreciated

[Kiruha]

Not so many feats there are  for chem pistols - Mad Chemist, Cooked Shot and that's all. Also you should use advanced catalyzing belt. High dexterity will reduce ap cost for chem pistols. Chem pistols are great with another weapons, for example there are some builds for laser pistol - chem pistols hybrid, crossbow and chem pistols hybrid. I can't recommend playing with only chem pistols, they are good for crowd control, but damage is weak, their range is too short to be reliable in most fights.

[chimaera]

Well, I'd disagree that a chemist is a chemical pistoleer only. To me a chemist (and that's how I've played one) is someone who utilizes all the chemistry crafting can provide. As such I had no problems between chemical pistols, mkv frag grenades and traps.

Now I don't remember the details of that character anymore, but here is what I'd go now with:
str 3, dex 8, agi 6, con 5, per 10, will, int 5 - the non min-maxed verion
or: str 3, dex 10, agi 6, con 3, per 10, will 3, int 5 - if you feel comfortable with playing a 3 con character
The first two level up stat points go into intelligence, so that you can get mad chemist eventually, rest into dexterity. Obviously you will want to pick upn pack rathound at some point, because encumbrance is an issue.
 
Starting feats: aimed shot, sprint, then: opportunist, grenadier, quick tinkering, cooked shot, mad chemist. And that's it for starters. When planning your battles, take into account the fact that grenades and explosive traps are very noisy. Sometimes it's better to drop a poisoned bear trap or two instead. Also, carry a single-target pistol as a back up, because the allied ai isn't very nuanced. Scratching someone for even 1 hp will turn them and their entire faction hostile, which makes using aoe weapons very problematic in some fights. But most of the time my chemist run around gleefully melting people.

[hellion126]

Well, I'd disagree that a chemist is a chemical pistoleer only. To me a chemist (and that's how I've played one) is someone who utilizes all the chemistry crafting can provide. As such I had no problems between chemical pistols, mkv frag grenades and traps.

Now I don't remember the details of that character anymore, but here is what I'd go now with:
str 3, dex 8, agi 6, con 5, per 10, will, int 5 - the non min-maxed verion
or: str 3, dex 10, agi 6, con 3, per 10, will 3, int 5 - if you feel comfortable with playing a 3 con character
The first two level up stat points go into intelligence, so that you can get mad chemist eventually, rest into dexterity. Obviously you will want to pick upn pack rathound at some point, because encumbrance is an issue.
 
Starting feats: aimed shot, sprint, then: opportunist, grenadier, quick tinkering, cooked shot, mad chemist. And that's it for starters. When planning your battles, take into account the fact that grenades and explosive traps are very noisy. Sometimes it's better to drop a poisoned bear trap or two instead. Also, carry a single-target pistol as a back up, because the allied ai isn't very nuanced. Scratching someone for even 1 hp will turn them and their entire faction hostile, which makes using aoe weapons very problematic in some fights. But most of the time my chemist run around gleefully melting people.

Great thanks for that, yet there are 2 other things i`m not sure about, first one is what about crafting, mechanics and chem sure but how much can i invest into biology and tailoring for it to have use, having biology really helped first time i played and id imagine tailoring for regenerating vests and such would be beneficial? Aditionally since im going with CON 3 stat, should i invest in evasion and dodge and how much would that be?

[chimaera]

Evasion: depends on the difficulty. On normal it could be worth maxing, because with the right gear (greater siphoner tabi boots have the biggest bonus, I think?) and the jumping bean pill you can get it high enough to provide protection. But on hard I've found it too unreliable with just 6 agility, so I didn't bother. Just throw a flashbang at the end of your turn, or hide behind a corner with sprint. Dodge isn't worth it, immobilize melee enemies with acid blobs & bear traps to keep them away.

In general the biggest advantage of the chemist is the aoe damage, which makes it possible to kill entire groups in one turn. The trick is in getting enemies into one big group. And that is relatively easy, actually, once you get access to tnt (due to how loud it is it makes for a great noise lure). Drop a few bear traps to to create chokepoints, drop a tnt and wait stealthed for the cavalry to arrive. 

Carfting: biology and tailoring are worth it. But I'd say only chemistry needs to be high enough that you can craft ammo, grenades and traps reliably without any bonuses. For everything else, make sure that you utilize the house benches, underpie (buy it at shops whenever you can and stash it, it's not that rare) and hypercerebrix. Pirates should be your group to go for shopping, because with high enough mercantile Katya sells rare biology ingredients and acids.