Author Topic: SMG Jack of all Trades review  (Read 5050 times)

74n4705

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SMG Jack of all Trades review
« on: July 19, 2020, 08:39:44 pm »
https://underrail.info/build/?HgMQBgMIAwfCoDIAAAAAwqBAHDQWRkY9QUYALQBGVRFJOyZPFic3PsKHScKFU0hdKcKzMXdtwp4rwq3CnWwawq7io7oK4qeqA9-_
Hi ppl!
Played the game in 2016, got to the DC zone and my PC died, with the new content I want to play it again and finish it this time. My time is limited so Im trying to do everything in one go. The idea is to hit almost every interactive\skill check there is with ,get almost every aspect of the game (Combat\Craft\Stealth\Psi\Traps) on one playtrough and be viable on high difficulties. Skill check caps are taken from here:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=843557165
A bit of psi for utility with Stasis\Force Field\Electrokinetic Imprint and combat boost from Psycho-temporal Contraction skill and Psycho-temporal Acceleration feat to melt faces with my bursts and later transition to go full crit build with 10 AP Impalas and 10 Recklessness specialization\Infused Rat\Seeker Googles\Drugs etc
The leftover skill points are to top off something that I need in crafting or somewhere else, thinking of dumping all whats left into trowing for grenades crit chance from the Three Pointer feat once I get to the Deep Caverns or traps. Im open to suggestions.
I have 2 points of specialization that I don't know what to do with.
Stealth is maxed out because I want to go in in my combat gear and not rely on switching sets too much.I'm trying to min max without man maxing too much :)
Questions:
Should my build relay more on food for my SMG AP reduction and relocate a stat point somewhere else or even 3 and fully relay on eel sandwich and super soldier stim? How many eel sandwiches are there?
I took Serial Killer at 30, is it a good choice?
Should I use more Psi abilities even with my low Will and mediocre at best skill investments?
Is Body Horror worth losing 30% resolve for 3% crit?
I plan on leveling everything apart from crafting for the first half of the game and only invest in crafting skills when I'll start to take crafting feats, will it work or should I mix it up? As I remember most of the skill checks are in the first half of the game and then then they fall into obscurity by the time I reached Core City and the vendors with the good stuff.
Will I survive on hard mode? Did I miss something?

Thanks for the input

harperfan7

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Re: SMG Jack of all Trades review
« Reply #1 on: July 19, 2020, 09:04:36 pm »
https://underrail.info/build/?HgcQBgMGAwVQMgDCoB4AwqBAHDQWbm4fR24ALQBGVQAAOyZPFsKjN8KHScKFwrMxKwI5FSgNTuKfogXioo0D4qO6AuKktgLip6oD378

Check this out.

You can take whatever you want at 30th; youve basically already won at that point.  I used all your feat slots, though.  Eat hardcore chips as your main food.  Don't count on having many SSDs.  You're gonna get body horror whether you want it or not.  Crafting feats are generally not great (but some are and for some builds they are), and you don't have any particular need for any of them; check out what I got you instead.  The main thing to look at is versatility.  You can handle DOMINATING if you want to; its a very strong build.   One of the bigger changes was removing three-pointer and some of your chemistry; you'll still have grenadier to help with flashbangs which you'll be using a lot, but dont rely on grenades for damage when you have an SMG which is better.  Btw, use a bigger slower smg in your other hand and switch to it for the free burst from commando.  Not too sure about your feat order, just take whatever seems best for where you are.  I fixed your crafting skills, but didnt touch your subterfuge skills.  You had to drop something so I got rid of merc since its mostly a luxury skill.  Those few intimidate points weren't helping you much.  You may not have maxed crit chance, but ambush will help make up for it and Ive been told smgs already melt shit anyway.  As for psi, 3 will is fine for what you're using.

Get rapid reloaders and muzzle brakes for your smgs.

edit:  just added escape artist instead of trigger happy; wont need super high initiative as a stealthy character
« Last Edit: July 19, 2020, 09:24:20 pm by harperfan7 »
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74n4705

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Re: SMG Jack of all Trades review
« Reply #2 on: July 19, 2020, 09:24:13 pm »
Hey, thanks for the help. Intimidation was so low because of all the items that you can get to get the skill way up there but still needed to get all the options in the game.
A few questions.
Whats an SSD? Why 160 Melee, Dirty Kick and Versatility? Will I be able to hit anything with 6 Per on hard\dominating?

harperfan7

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Re: SMG Jack of all Trades review
« Reply #3 on: July 19, 2020, 09:29:34 pm »
A few questions.
Whats an SSD? Why 160 Melee, Dirty Kick and Versatility? Will I be able to hit anything with 6 Per on hard\dominating?

Super soldier drug.  Look at versatility, read what it does.  Melee uses dex; a maxed out melee score with 18 dex gives you more effective guns skill with versatility than maxed guns gave you with 8 per; 210 vs 200.  Dirty kick is there because now you have great melee skills and it doesnt use a weapon slot; nice little stun on occasion.  Per only affects your accuracy by augmenting your effective guns skill, so with versatility its not an issue anymore.  You still have 6 per for suppressive fire and more detection is always better as a stealth character (paranoia will help too).  Actually, now that I think about it, you might want to put some spec points in versatility, but overall its no big deal; you'll do fine.
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74n4705

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Re: SMG Jack of all Trades review
« Reply #4 on: July 19, 2020, 09:53:02 pm »
Sounds like abusing the game mechanics to the max, I love it :) The calc shows that 8 per will give me 214 and your thingie is 210, but I like the idea and will revisit a few things in my build. You think that 15% dmg boost from Gun Nut isn't worth it?

harperfan7

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Re: SMG Jack of all Trades review
« Reply #5 on: July 19, 2020, 09:55:34 pm »
You think that 15% dmg boost from Gun Nut isn't worth it?

Gun nut only increases the upper damage range by 15%; maybe worth a feat, but not if you need to dump 2 ability points to get it.
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74n4705

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Re: SMG Jack of all Trades review
« Reply #6 on: July 19, 2020, 10:04:42 pm »
About Sprint, my logic was that if I'll take psi and have the Psycho-temporal Contraction and free myself a feat slot.

harperfan7

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Re: SMG Jack of all Trades review
« Reply #7 on: July 19, 2020, 10:08:49 pm »
About Sprint, my logic was that if I'll take psi and have the Psycho-temporal Contraction and free myself a feat slot.

You don't need it, that's true, but its always nice to have.
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74n4705

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Re: SMG Jack of all Trades review
« Reply #8 on: July 19, 2020, 10:27:54 pm »
With Merch, I wanted it to open up top quality things for my crafting, will I be able to get them somewhere else?

harperfan7

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Re: SMG Jack of all Trades review
« Reply #9 on: July 19, 2020, 10:47:05 pm »
With Merch, I wanted it to open up top quality things for my crafting, will I be able to get them somewhere else?

Theres always a chance you can find some super high quality stuff in stores (or as random loot), just less of a chance.  Merc does sometimes let you buy things that can't otherwise be bought, however, but not crafting components.
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74n4705

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Re: SMG Jack of all Trades review
« Reply #10 on: July 19, 2020, 11:30:40 pm »
With Merch, I wanted it to open up top quality things for my crafting, will I be able to get them somewhere else?

Theres always a chance you can find some super high quality stuff in stores (or as random loot), just less of a chance.  Merc does sometimes let you buy things that can't otherwise be bought, however, but not crafting components.

From my research for the build, I found this and decided to take 105 merch.
https://steamcommunity.com/app/250520/discussions/0/1700541698690775246/#c1700541698692536638
"With 105 Mercantile, you can get up to 139Q components from Constantine(Oculus), Investigator Kiro(IoT), JKK/Coretech, Becket(Free Drones). 140-150Q Carrier Vest, Gun, Crossbow Parts and Chemical collector from Efreitor Hanna(IoT).
And there is some random encounter with Jax in Core City Upper Metro(my case) where you can get 160Q components... "

harperfan7

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Re: SMG Jack of all Trades review
« Reply #11 on: July 19, 2020, 11:31:54 pm »
You can get q150+ components from SGS merchants towards the end of the game, without merc.
« Last Edit: July 19, 2020, 11:37:10 pm by harperfan7 »
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Bruno

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Re: SMG Jack of all Trades review
« Reply #12 on: July 20, 2020, 06:17:24 am »
About mercantile skill and expanded merchant inventory:

I have still never seen any hard evidence that extra merchandise is of higher quality, only that it widens the selection and by that increases the odds of something of good quality appearing?

TheAverageGortsby

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Re: SMG Jack of all Trades review
« Reply #13 on: July 20, 2020, 01:43:02 pm »
You can absolutely get 172 quality gear from Hannah and Frasier with their second tier unlocks.  I've seen it several times since Expedition's full release.  You absolutely cannot get 170s (or even 160s, that I've seen) quality gear from them in their base inventory.

But even if in the code there's nothing preventing that highest-quality stuff from showing up (and I do believe there is; I've checked enough inventory restocks to be awfully close to statistically significant) then getting the unlocks still does increase the quality of gear you get, because that's how mathematical averages work.  Player time is a finite set and over the course of two or three playthroughs nobody's going to approximate infinite restocks so they won't get a nice pretty Gaussian distribution of qualities.  Having more opportunities gives you a better chance of seeing the unicorn at the very top end, and you're working with probabilities rather than amplitudes.  More rolls of the dice gets you better stuff except for the very luckiest of players.

Stavrophore

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Re: SMG Jack of all Trades review
« Reply #14 on: July 21, 2020, 11:28:39 pm »
This is my build
https://underrail.info/build/?HgMNBgkJAwPCoGAAAAAAwqBwNQAAwpfCl2ohwo0AAAAAAAB1JjtiKDk3JzFLSRY-woUCwqTCteKijQLip6oD4qulCt-_

It goes very well with 8.6 steel cat, with rapid reloader and muzzle brake. With rapid reloader you get 13 AP per burst, with spec ops thats 26 AP, thanks to reduction from dexterity[8*3=24% reduction] you get 19 AP per burst. With commando spec you get 59AP per round that will yield you 3 burst. With adrenaline you get 4 bursts. Build has pretty strong critical chance
5 from weapon, 40 from survival insincts, 7 from recklessness, 7 from scrutinous, 10 from infused rathound armor, 15-20 seeker lens = 84-89 critical chance, and then you get focus stim for 100 critical chance.

I havent decided on last feat.