Looking to make a Spear build need help/tips

[TheAverageGortsby]

Also what do you recommend I do to farm out money to get the things I need? Because I always get stumped on where to get enough money for these materials/blueprints or where to grind EXP for the points to craft these things.

On Normal, you can get infinity money through crafting if you take your time.  Buy components, craft them on the spot, sell the completed gear back to the merchant for profit.  Early game (Pre-Depot) your best bets are Fixer, Lucas, and Ezra.  You can also make a tidy profit running through the rathounds that respawn, grabbing their hides and turning them into advanced repair kits, and making adrenaline shots from the occasional adrenal gland you get.

This'll require investment in crafting skills, obviously, but also mercantile so your profit margins increase.  Unless you're quite lucky you'll be buying most of your blueprints and that takes a chunk of change upfront.  If you're not sure what to make to maximize your profits, then check out this wiki page: https://www.underrail.com/wiki/index.php?title=Blueprints#Value_multipliers

[TheAverageGortsby]

Taking psy emp and losing max HP does not feel very useful if the next roadblock after dealing with the first set of rat hounds in the generators is the beetles...

I didn't really notice this little tidbit.  If you're going directly from Retake the Outposts to fighting the beetles, then you're rushing content and probably under-levelled, which will also make the game harder.

Right after Retake the Outposts, you've gained a level and are getting better at dealing with rathounds.  That makes it a great time to go out the Level 1 gate of SGS and go kill rathounds in the three screens where they're easy.  You've got the ones right outside where Bisson and gang are trying to clear the cave-in; you've got a group in the map immediately north there, which has - hooray, hooray! - an unlocked gate that you can go hide behind and zap the rathounds at your leisure with your psi powers which reach through gates (Temporal Distortion or Neural Overload); and you've got the group of rathounds outside the GMS Omega compound. 

After killing all those rathounds and exploring the maps you've just opened up, you probably gained another level.  Now you can go and do the easiest parts of the Underpassages.  Go back to the screen right outside SGS and go down those stairs.  There are four Lurkers in that map; two by themselves, two standing together.  Take out the individuals first - because they're easier - and then save the game and try the pair.  If you can't do it, no problem, come back later for them.  But for now, you should go one screen east.  There are several Lurkers in this map - one with a nice aluminized tac vest you might want; one with the first AR you're likely to find; one stealthy one near the gate behind which are locked some rathounds and some loot.  At the very least, kill those three Lurkers and those rathounds, and get all that assorted loot.

You're still not ready to go fight the beetles!  Now you can go talk to Jack Quicksilver and take his delivery quest.  Buy one frag grenade to help with the upcoming fight, then go do the delivery which will be extra easy because you'll have cleared the map of rathounds so you won't have to worry about them adding in to the fight.

Now?  Now, if you want, you can go start Hopper Round-Up.  Assuming you farm a couple cave hoppers for the oddity (it's worth 150xp even on Classic) and turn in the quest to Mordre (100xp, IIRC), you may even be getting close to another level, making those beetles even easier.

Don't rush.  If the game is kicking your teeth in, that's how it's telling you to go explore, level up, gear up, and learn how to optimize your character.

[Tahoefox]

Okay so I have a few more questions for you. If I do change my mind and want Temporal Manipulation in my build How would it look at the start and end?

Let me start by saying that I'm no expert on psi builds. With the exception of psi/monk builds, I don't really enjoy playing it. This is what I would do, but TheAverageGortsby usually has the best answers for getting the most out of psi.

Level 1: https://underrail.info/build/?AQoFBgcDAwYADwAPAA8AAA8AAA8PAAAPAAAADwAAADlVK9-_
Level 30: https://underrail.info/build/?HhAFBgcDAwYAwqAAwqAAwqAAZGQAAGluXwBuABkANwAAZCQ5K1XCryoSwpXCrMKUwpNFwoIAwqsPfMK24qK1AuKligXis44C4rOiA-KzpAPfvw

The idea here is just to reach the minimum requirements for Psycho-temporal Contraction. As long as we have Evasion we aren't going to have too many skill points to play with. It also gives you access to Temporal Distortion, Limited Temporal Increment, and Psycho-temporal Dilation, all of which are useful with very little investment in Temporal Manipulation. You want to make sure you have 40 points invested in the skill by level 6 so you can take Premeditation. It would probably be worth it to find 25 points for Psychokinesis as well, Force Field is super useful. Your crafting skills will be a bit lower, but with the workbench bonus you'll still be able to craft great gear at endgame. Once you have around 80-100 points into your crating skills you can start investing in Hacking and Mercantile.

The build you posted of your psi-less build looks nice but I am not sure where to focus my skill points early game or how to spread them at creation (do I just go with that other starter setup you posted earlier?)

The links from my earlier posts are the same build at level 1 and level 30. Always make sure you're keeping Throwing, Melee, and Evasion maxed out. When you have around 100 in your crafting skills you can start investing in Hacking and Mercantile. If you decide you want Shield Bash then you can absolutely drop Decommissioner. Just carry a few extra EMP grenades and be aware that my version of the build uses a supersteel shield which will not deal as much bash damage as tungsten.

Also what do you recommend I do to farm out money to get the things I need? Because I always get stumped on where to get enough money for these materials/blueprints or where to grind EXP for the points to craft these things. ( I do not plan to play oddity as I did not enjoy that method of leveling up)

TheAverageGortsby had some great advice here, I don't have anything to add.

As for tabi action points reduction, meh. Its's 4 AP per round in your scenario. It helps to achieve 2 attacks + throw, but realistically how many turns are like that? I usually move around, open doors, cast spells, throw grenades in between and use medicines. Also, adrenaline shot and psi haste have different breakpoints. Tabis are good and work in your build, sure, and their movement points bonus is great too, but you can get more tanky instead and achieve similar amount of attacks per round without them (at the cost of mobility).

Almost every turn in the Sormirbaeren village was like that. It's why I specialized in Sprint, so I could reliably retrieve my spear during combat. You won't always need it and sometimes a grenade is a better option. It's less efficient if you're taking Temporal Manipulation, you'll have more AP with Psycho-temporal Contraction and you'll have other psi abilities to use instead of throwing a spear every turn.