Leveling Crafting

[DunderFail]

When is a good time in the game to level the crafting skills, if at all? Leveling biology to 50 to make advanced health stims seem reasonable, but otherwise the investment needed in extreme.

I want to be able to craft psi bands and tac vests for my pure psi character but the point requirements just seem too intense. My current save is pretty busted I think cause I leveled it too early at the cost of other useful skills.

Is it really worth it? should I just focus on crafting either psi bands or tac vests and not both? And is there a character somewhere who can craft for you?

[TheAverageGortsby]

Generally, level crafting last.  There's no need to craft anything before you go to Depot A; once you get there, the only thing you'd really want is a suit of mutated dog leather or siphoner leather, plus perhaps some footwear.  That only requires tailoring and a touch of chemistry.  Once you get past Depot A and the world opens up, that's a good time to start making room for crafting.  About that time, you should have nearly maxed out your world manipulation skills, like Persuasion/Mercantile/Lockpicking/Hacking, so you'll start to have room in your build to put points into crafting.

As far as how many points to invest, I still think destroyor's guide on steam is the best resource for that.  If you're willing to see a few spoilers, the guide has all the answers you will want: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=843557165

Nobody can craft for you**, but you can buy everything you actually *need* to get through the game from merchants, so crafting is not necessary.  It is, however, very useful and will make the game significantly easier for you.  Since I know you're trying to fit some stealth in, you're really going to want Electronics so you can craft your own cloaking device.

I'll point out once again that you're asking questions that have been addressed in my psi guide.  A few days from now, you'll want to start a post asking where to put your specialization points, and that's covered in the questions later on in the thread, too.
https://underrail.com/forums/index.php?topic=4149.0

edit: ** technically, there is one NPC who can craft for you, but he only crafts one thing, and it's for a specialized purpose only.

[Fufuneraire]

And if U can make psi bands, you can also make *BIG* shield emitters :p

[DunderFail]

A better question might be, to what extent should you level crafting? Should you go all-out and level to the point you can make the best possible equipment or is something more middle-of-the-road acceptable?

[Bruno]

A better question might be, to what extent should you level crafting? Should you go all-out and level to the point you can make the best possible equipment or is something more middle-of-the-road acceptable?

Well that depends what you want.

You can do fine with low leveled science skills if you simply wish to craft some low/mid-level stuff out of convenience. Examples: Repair kits, meds like adrenaline/focus stims, a taser, poisined bear traps/caltrops, custom made ammo like JHP or W2C.

Or, you can go all in on one or more skills, to build a devastating weapon, a great piece of armor, an excellent shield, the best grenades or mines etc.
You should then invest a lot, as you want to be able to craft something better than you can buy, and generally stay ahead of the power curve.

You can usually loot or buy some pretty decent stuff, so personally I go all in on a science skill if I have a plan that require very specific gear. Like a crafted crossbow or energy pistol, that benefit a lot from making it yourself because of the feats. Or a gun with very specific mods, or a specialized armor suit.