First time player in 2020

[supersimontherevenge]

Started playing since korona virus

Hello guys, I started playing this game half blind, didn't read up on what was the best builds. I just saw a video of a "Time Monk" on youtube and that build was cheatingly good, even if it was legal. I felt like my character was a complete gimpfest.

Right now I'm in Core City, after getting the drill parts. I really started this game blind so I wasn't even 100% sure that a single ability would determine my AP points, went with pretty wild stats based on its description.

I went with perception, now 12, as my main stat, and crossbows as my main weapon. I picked up while playing that energy weapons were good and that you could get amazing criticals on them, but all I've seen so far is a 125% buff, and Im raising Guns to a 2/3 of my Crossbow skill.

I have psychokinesis, using punch for stun, blocking with wall, and electricity to stun/aoe.

Using eletroshock pistol with aimed shot, snipe and knee shot for shots on groups of enemies.
Using a lot of the speciality bolts (incendiary and shock bolts)

I'm not a role player or anything, I'm usually min maxing
Used caltrops a lot early game
User laser pistol against robots
Hit-n-run with xbow vs turrets


I maxed hacking, crossbows and lockpicking, dont raise dodge/evade.

Stuck now at the point in the arena where I have to fight the pulverizer.
I dont do a lot of damage to him, and can only root him with nets
and a psychokinesis stun or electricity. I dont have a lot of movement
and he can kill me in 2 rounds. Normal difficulty afaik.

Im wondering if this character is fucked

[DerivativeZero]

Well, the build is not exactly min-maxed

Your stats are all over the place, so that's a bit of wasted potential. On normal, it doesn't have to mean you are f****ed, though.

Usually it's better to focus on one combat skill, i.e. guns (energy pistols) or crossbow. Each comes with a set of feats to acquire.

Given what you have, and what you like, here are some pointers:

For xbow go Critical Power (feat, lv14) and elemental bolts (same). Special tactics gives an extra free shot, marksman reduces AP cost of special bolts. All very useful feats. Try and go for a crafted cyclone crossbow with pneumatic reloader and find a quiver (belt) for AP 14 hits, which maximizes your shots per round.

For crit laser pistols, Critical Power is key, too, and high technicalities helpful (given you have the INT). High crits are only achieved by crafting your own pistol, you cannot find ones with crit. high damage. You need to install circular wave amplifiers, which you get in the faction shop from CoreTech very easily. (Learn mercantile to effective 90 for this). Sharpshooter can help for both weapons. Speciliation points also go into Crit Power for both weapons.

Both for xbow and energy pistols, learn crafting, add critical power enhancing stuff. The forum is full of good build guides for both a crossbow build and and energy pistol build (there's one I wrote just five or so topics down in the build subsection).

I think you might be ok with your build and if you like the game, you will come back after the first playthrough and try and optimize on your second build, maybe increasing difficulty etc.

[supersimontherevenge]

Hello DerivateZero

Just back from fighting against "The pulverizer" for 1 hour. Real old school fighting. I have to win initative so i can drain his shield with a EMP grenade.
Then I have to stun him. Then I have to use my level 1 chill ability to build up stacks to kite him while he's stun immune. During aldrenaline rush
he sometime's still catches up, and gets the hits in. 4 hits I'm positively dead.

Managed to get him down to 30% a few times, but still no kill

Compare to that time monk killing him in the first round of combat...

I got a appropiate ql circular wave modifier, and I can build a laser pistol - Is that where the 400% critical damage is coming from?
Is it from the higher quality of the item? Mine capped out at 220%

[DerivativeZero]

Yes, higher quality components (circular wave amplifier) increase crit. In conjunction with the feat Crit Power and Spec Points. See here for more detail: https://underrail.com/forums/index.php?topic=5086.0

Arena battles are tough, you could lots of other things before coming back to them. Using nets, stun grenades, emp grenades, tazer can all help. Crossbow with shock bolts also stuns. If you use flashbangs you could exit combat, hide behind a pillar and lay a lot of bear traps. This allows for a lot of cheese to succeed.

You only have to go past Master Exploder to advance the story, all other opponents are optional. Arena really is tough depending on who gets initiative and most glass cannon builds have a reload fest there.

hope this helps.

[Qiox]

Hello DerivateZero

Just back from fighting against "The pulverizer" for 1 hour. Real old school fighting. I have to win initative so i can drain his shield with a EMP grenade.
Then I have to stun him. Then I have to use my level 1 chill ability to build up stacks to kite him while he's stun immune. During aldrenaline rush
he sometime's still catches up, and gets the hits in. 4 hits I'm positively dead.

Managed to get him down to 30% a few times, but still no kill

Compare to that time monk killing him in the first round of combat...

I got a appropiate ql circular wave modifier, and I can build a laser pistol - Is that where the 400% critical damage is coming from?
Is it from the higher quality of the item? Mine capped out at 220%

Hello, I'm the one who posted the Time Monk videos

Well the first thing to point out is that I was level 19 in that video!   That is a huge difference from your level 12 character.

Personally, I don't do any questing in the Core City Area until around level 18.

After finishing the Depot quest for the drill parts I follow this order of quests:

- Battery Plant
- Camp Hathor Mine
- Rathound King
- Rail Crossing Buzzard's Shop
- Rail Crossing Missing Train
- all of Foundry area quests
- Dude's quest

Then I go to Core City to finish it all off.   This typically has me right at level 18 at this point.   However, depending on the build, and current crafting investments, and crafting related feats taken so far, I sometimes do enough Core City stuff to unlock the faction vendor, but even that is generally never before level 16.

Just because you can go somewhere does not mean it is the right choice at the time.  Repeated failures is the game's way of telling you to come back later.

[supersimontherevenge]

I'm back with vengeance.

Hello time-monk. Thank you for your timely reply, haha.

Hope everyone is enjoying yourself in this quarantine.

Since last time, I managed to beat the pulverizer. We have to get this character through man!
This is a very blind playthrough from a traditional min maxer type of person, who this time
is trying to slam this noobish crossbowcake character through the rabbit hole.

Been really close to rerolling, but been doing the right thing, giving up when I can't proceed and doing quests and other areas to get more levels.

Right now I'm standing next to 300 lbs of components cramped into barrels outside the weapon shop in in Core City, I just gave up on a gauntlet run, got eletrocuted in the last room

 I've been tasked to find Cornell's gang, Got the last Arena Fight left, Thinking I have to make infused leather siphoner tabi boots to get immunity against his nets? Dont see any other way for my character to beat him.

- Battery Plant
- Camp Hathor Mine
- Rathound King
- Rail Crossing Buzzard's Shop
- Rail Crossing Missing Train
- all of Foundry area quests
- Dude's quest

All these are done.

Quests left to do in core city:

- Find cornells gang
- Tunneller for gorsky
- Gauntlet (failed once)
- Become the invictus (final boss kills me with his net)

- All the jack quicksilver quests are available
- Kill olivia quest, serial killer quests
- Fishing run quest
- Deliver electronic device to rail crossing (skipped it)

Thats what I know about, and I've been doing zero TRUE farming, as in
going to random areas to kill mobs. Im wondering if I should try doing that
since I want body parts, leather and stuff for my crafting.

So the way forward, if you guys dont have any suggestions,
will be checking this thread later tonight in six hours,
is to finish up all the quests I see I can finish,
and level up tailoring enough to my siphoner tabis

Questions:

A - is there any point in getting sloped armor for the armor plates you use in tactical vests?
B - where do i get more ancient rathound leather?
C - are you supposed to fish eels for nidomental gel? srsly?

[supersimontherevenge]

I'm trying to prepare for the Garry fight, and I'm considering my options armor wise.

I can choose to level up tailoring and get the 20% quality perk for leathers, to create some really good afaik tabi shoes from the infused siphoner leather. If I raise tailoring 2 points I can make infused tabi leather shoes with a +45 movement buff and immunity to net immobilization, and bear traps as well I guess. I'm on a old install.

Catch: I am currently using a anti rifle vest with 65% armor penalty.
And I'm trying to prepare for the invictus fight.
I need the infused siphoner immobilized immunity.
I got two more pieces of super steel. One I can make into another infused leather for my chest piece.
Not sure what to go for. Looking to build something that gives me maximum melee resist, because i need to tank him for a least parts of the fight.

Riot gear seems like the way to go vs a melee enemy, but as a crossbow player, facing a fist user, super steel sheets doesn't reduce his damage extra, and a shield would take my crossbow away..



This is my current armor, and it's not good enough. I need to get something else.
Whats the ideal riot armor / tactical vest setup for me?

I got super steel, I can infuse another leather, I have a ql 79 regen vest and a shield with 16 very low resist