Asking for suggestion to improve my energy pistol build.

[NiceHair]

Hello, as the title suggest, I need some of the more experienced player's tip and to review my build. I wanted to roleplay as Gunslinger with Time Manipulation skill, to enhance his gunslinging skill with the power of time control, then I got some idea from this thread: https://stygiansoftware.com/forums/index.php?topic=6154.0 , to shot as many projectiles with big pp gun, such as plasma, and electroshock pistol, but with high crit, instead of depended on aimed shot. but I fear there's a critical mistake on my build that will force me to start over again. So I think it is wiser to ask around the forum for your guy's opinion and what to improve.

Build: https://underrail.info/build/?HgUPAwkGAwUeUADCoAAAwqA7Higeb29QRigAACNGAABhK2IxwqMWWQLChzpLwogfwoMoMMKz4qWUBeK1rgXfvw

Gear:

JKK Tactful Jacket
Seeker Goggles
Black Cloth Tabi Boots
Doctor Pouch
Plasma Pistol/Electro Pistol/Laser Pistol
Shield Emitter

PSI Slot:

LTI
PTC
Statis
Cryostasis(i like to pretend that instead of freeze the enemy, he stop time around them instead lol)

Some of the tactics that I would apply are to use point shot twice a turn, taking advantage of reduced ap % from high ap cost guns such as EP and PP. I like to not draw as much attention with this build, so using flashbang is more of a last resort(maybe I should replace grenadier with something else?). Instead, I will use Cyrostasis to CC not dead yet enemies that have their sight on me. And I wonder what else? oh, and some late-game stuff that I yet to explore because I restart the game frequently to fantasize about my roleplaying char, need some tips about that too.

[ShoggothWhisperer]

For starters, I would drop trigger happy and paranoia. You already get a big initiative boost from dex and the JJK jacket, and drinking root soda will consistently let you outspeed enemies with high initiative like Carnifex and death stalkers. Future orientation is probably not worth it due to the action point cost increase, and you can't use tranquility on this build due to being at 30% health. Last stand only lasts for a single turn without specialization points, and cancels out the survival instincts bonus, so I'd either put specialization into it or drop it from the build. I'm not much of a fan of cryostasis since it costs 10 ap just to incapacitate a single target, and I feel like most of the time you would be better off taking cheap shots and stabbing them with a knife to try to incapacitate them, but it's up to your preference I suppose. I would highly recommend putting more points into tailoring, since infused rathound leather is an easy way to increase crit chance and it lets you craft high quality tabis to increase movement points and stealth. Overall it looks like a solid foundation for a build.

[NiceHair]

For starters, I would drop trigger happy and paranoia. You already get a big initiative boost from dex and the JJK jacket, and drinking root soda will consistently let you outspeed enemies with high initiative like Carnifex and death stalkers. Future orientation is probably not worth it due to the action point cost increase, and you can't use tranquility on this build due to being at 30% health. Last stand only lasts for a single turn without specialization points, and cancels out the survival instincts bonus, so I'd either put specialization into it or drop it from the build. I'm not much of a fan of cryostasis since it costs 10 ap just to incapacitate a single target, and I feel like most of the time you would be better off taking cheap shots and stabbing them with a knife to try to incapacitate them, but it's up to your preference I suppose. I would highly recommend putting more points into tailoring, since infused rathound leather is an easy way to increase crit chance and it lets you craft high quality tabis to increase movement points and stealth. Overall it looks like a solid foundation for a build.

Yeah, I'm not putting a lot of thought into a feat beyond LVL 14, any suggestions on what feat should I take?.

On changing the last stand, what's your thought about it, what should I do after I have done my alpha strike? with the last stand, I guess my chance of survivability much higher than none, or do the shield is enough?. About cryostasis, I thought it could really help, especially since I depended on few bullets, when I miss some at least I could have a chance to get another shot without alerting many enemies near em since the noise is much lower than flashbang, plus I could save it for another horde of an enemy, that yet be killed. If I would replace cryostasis, what your suggestion on the vacant psi slot?.

About tailoring, I plan to use JKK armor till late game, and buying tabi boots from JKK merchant, I don't know if it viable late game, but think it's not much of a problem?

BTW, I plan to play the game on Classic Hard difficulty, and psi beetles are kind of ass on early game. any tips regarding that?

[ShoggothWhisperer]

Opportunist and nimble are good feats to take, since opportunist gives bonus damage to enemies stunned by the electroshock pistol and nimble improves you stealth by reducing armor penalty. Blindsiding is a good general purpose damage feat, since it helps improve your alpha strike. Aimed shot is a guaranteed crit that benefits from special attack bonus, so I think you should take it as well at some point. A good quality shield will save you from everything short of a sniper rifle shot unless you use a high frequency shield, but I prefer to use a low shield to stop crossbow bolts. I usually have leftover psi slots since I only use stasis, acceleration, and Limited temporal increment, but you can use other TM abilities like entropic recurrence if you want to.

For early game psi beetles, I recommend using throwing nets and stabbing them with melee, so you can avoid alerting other beetles. For rescue newton in particular there is a method to cheese the facility with Molotov's, you can find it easily if you watch any underrrail speedrun.

[TheAverageGortsby]

I'm not sure I'd go with Steadfast Aim, even though you plan to make good use of electroshock and plasma pistols.  It's the only feat you've got with a Strength requirement, and I'm not sure it's worth losing out on those two points.  I'd much rather slip an extra point into Int and get Premeditation, for any build with psi.  That would also let you max Dexterity for the additional small gains in weapons skill, or, better yet in my opinion, get 7 Int and get some nice crafting feats to make your energy weapons much better.  Practical Physicist and Power Management will make a really big difference in this build, and they both have a stat requirement of 7 Int.  I'd much, much rather lose Steadfast Aim and gain Premeditation, Practical Physicist, and Power Management; it's not even close.

[NiceHair]

I'm not sure I'd go with Steadfast Aim, even though you plan to make good use of electroshock and plasma pistols.  It's the only feat you've got with a Strength requirement, and I'm not sure it's worth losing out on those two points.  I'd much rather slip an extra point into Int and get Premeditation, for any build with psi.  That would also let you max Dexterity for the additional small gains in weapons skill, or, better yet in my opinion, get 7 Int and get some nice crafting feats to make your energy weapons much better.  Practical Physicist and Power Management will make a really big difference in this build, and they both have a stat requirement of 7 Int.  I'd much, much rather lose Steadfast Aim and gain Premeditation, Practical Physicist, and Power Management; it's not even close.

Hmm, without Steadfast Aim, I lose >10% crit chance from my main gun, and this build aims to get more high crit chance so I could reliably crit, especially since I probably not going to use infused rathound that give more crit chance, and lower shot per round which lead to less opportunity to trigger crit. Premed sound really nice, but I think I could manage without it, since my build isn't psi heavy, and I probably use PTA out of combat, which may follow up with psi booster. I don't know if I want more crit damage, isn't it quite overkills? and I rather have more consistent crit than higher damage that may not trigger, especially on the build that depends on it. But yeah, i could see the appeal to it.

[NiceHair]

Opportunist and nimble are good feats to take, since opportunist gives bonus damage to enemies stunned by the electroshock pistol and nimble improves you stealth by reducing armor penalty. Blindsiding is a good general purpose damage feat, since it helps improve your alpha strike. Aimed shot is a guaranteed crit that benefits from special attack bonus, so I think you should take it as well at some point. A good quality shield will save you from everything short of a sniper rifle shot unless you use a high frequency shield, but I prefer to use a low shield to stop crossbow bolts. I usually have leftover psi slots since I only use stasis, acceleration, and Limited temporal increment, but you can use other TM abilities like entropic recurrence if you want to.

For early game psi beetles, I recommend using throwing nets and stabbing them with melee, so you can avoid alerting other beetles. For rescue newton in particular there is a method to cheese the facility with Molotov's, you can find it easily if you watch any underrrail speedrun.

Definitely take opportunist and blindsiding, don't know about aimed shot, I think it's not going to benefit me as much on mid-late game when I have >70% crit chance, and I think my LVL 1-14 feat already pretty good since I wanted to craft plasma and electro pistol ASAP when I capable to craft good quality pistol with amplifier. if I wanted to replace one of my feats with aimed shot, I think it should be recklessness right?

Thanks for the tips.

[TheAverageGortsby]

Premed sound really nice, but I think I could manage without it, since my build isn't psi heavy, and I probably use PTA out of combat, which may follow up with psi booster. I don't know if I want more crit damage, isn't it quite overkills?

Premeditation lets you take an action for 0AP.  The psi cost reduction is just icing on the cake; the cake is an action for 0AP.  That's huge.  Screwed up a throw? RNG fed you three misses in a row?  Got enemies right in front of you and no AP to save your life?  Well, well, well, if it isn't Premeditation to save the day.

You've got Critical Power.  There's no such thing as too much crit multiplier.  You want all of it.  Your crit chance will be pretty high anyway, especially if you use food and drug buffs.
edit: and don't forget about Ambush.  With crafted stealth gear, you're going to have awfully near 100% crit chance if you're standing in shadows, even without Steadfast Aim.

[NiceHair]

Premed sound really nice, but I think I could manage without it, since my build isn't psi heavy, and I probably use PTA out of combat, which may follow up with psi booster. I don't know if I want more crit damage, isn't it quite overkills?

Premeditation lets you take an action for 0AP.  The psi cost reduction is just icing on the cake; the cake is an action for 0AP.  That's huge.  Screwed up a throw? RNG fed you three misses in a row?  Got enemies right in front of you and no AP to save your life?  Well, well, well, if it isn't Premeditation to save the day.

You've got Critical Power.  There's no such thing as too much crit multiplier.  You want all of it.  Your crit chance will be pretty high anyway, especially if you use food and drug buffs.
edit: and don't forget about Ambush.  With crafted stealth gear, you're going to have awfully near 100% crit chance if you're standing in shadows, even without Steadfast Aim.

Yeah, Crit power is kind of essential especially with high crit damage gun, on the other hand, practical physicist only gives 25%, 50% with critical power makes it not really essential, since like I said, it's not really hurt for plasma or electro pistol to leave that feat aside, and it would hurt me to lower the crit chance just for that little damage that I would not trigger. Or maybe I am too obsessive with crit? now if I would go main laser pistol, it will help.

Certainly could see the utility it offers, but then again if I go without steadfast aim, I might as well go laser pistol, since at least I could get more opportunity to trigger it. If I would take premed what psi do you recommend to use along with it?

Ambush is interesting, I pick it just cause of that sweet crit chance, I don't really understand it. Is it really reliable? with this build my preference is to go close and personal since point shot accuracy will drop drastically on the longer range. Probably for more options, but with versatility, could I really get that high precision for a longer range ?.

[TheAverageGortsby]

If I would take premed what psi do you recommend to use along with it?

Ambush is interesting, I pick it just cause of that sweet crit chance, I don't really understand it. Is it really reliable?

Whatever psi you need to use at the time, really.  I like to spend spec points on cooldown reduction; if you know you're going to start a fight, then trigger Premeditation and let the duration start ticking down.  When it's under 5 seconds, manually start turn-based mode and get to killing.  If you use LTI at the end of the first turn, then you can use Premeditation two turns in a row - or use it on turns 1 and 3 of combat without the LTI. Half psi cost, 0 AP, extended range - you'll find all sorts of good uses for it.

Ambush is fairly reliable.  As long as you're in shadows, it's easy to make your enemies stand in lighted tiles - just set them on fire with molotovs.  While you do need to be a little bit close, you won't need to be point blank range.

Still, these are just suggestions.  Your original concept will work fine if you don't like the idea of giving up Steadfast Aim.

[Koveras]

I've played a versatility/survival instinct laser pistol, these builds are very fun glass canons. So yes, it should work very well as long as you don't get hit.

That being said, I think you're worrying too much about critical chance. With just Survival Instincts, Recklessness, good goggles and focus stim you are already at 75% crit chance. Add infused rathound and that's 85% (JKK armor is really not that good, though it looks WAY better than infused rathound ^^). Counting specialized Steadfast Aim (no infused rathound) you have 97% crit chance. I'd say Ambush is wasted.

Personally I would drop either STR or PER to get more INT. The crafting feats are great, it saves skill points, and High Technicalities is quite a strong feat.

Also, plasma pistols are fun but laser pistols are just better in most situations, because plasma waste a ton of overkill damage. I'm not saying you should change your build, just a fair warning.

[NiceHair]

I've played a versatility/survival instinct laser pistol, these builds are very fun glass canons. So yes, it should work very well as long as you don't get hit.

That being said, I think you're worrying too much about critical chance. With just Survival Instincts, Recklessness, good goggles and focus stim you are already at 75% crit chance. Add infused rathound and that's 85% (JKK armor is really not that good, though it looks WAY better than infused rathound ^^). Counting specialized Steadfast Aim (no infused rathound) you have 97% crit chance. I'd say Ambush is wasted.

Personally I would drop either STR or PER to get more INT. The crafting feats are great, it saves skill points, and High Technicalities is quite a strong feat.

Also, plasma pistols are fun but laser pistols are just better in most situations, because plasma waste a ton of overkill damage. I'm not saying you should change your build, just a fair warning.

Yeah, I've read about how laser pistol become pretty overpowered mid to late game, it's insane.

Actually, one of the reasons why I made this build is because JKK Tactful Jacket looks cool lol, and I decided to make the most of it by using a big ap pistol such as PP and EP. I agree about ambush, but I guess that evasion reduction is pretty cool?. Either way, don't really know what should I pick to replace ambush.

I'm quite aware of the fact that PP is overkill, and that's the reason why I don't wanna pick practical physicist/high tech.

[cypherusuh]

+1 on removing 2 STR and put it in INT.
You could swap Trigger Happy and Steadfast Aim with PP and Power Management. It's easily the best crafting feat in the game. Don't worry about overkill damage, some enemies will resist energy/electricity/heat.
7 INT will allows you to reduce some of the crafting skill, so you could max TM. Keep in mind that they changed PTC https://www.stygiansoftware.com/wiki/index.php?title=Psycho-temporal_Contraction.

Also, I would recommend removing Metathermics. 5 INT only allows you to innervate 4 psi (2+ INT/2). And dual school will destroy your Psi, practically makes you consume psi booster each time you cast anything. And with low WIL/INT, you won't have enough psi regen to sustain it. Cryostatic also have huge psi cost. Plus, you can't shatter enemies with Cryogenic Induction because you didn't deal any Mechanical or Cold damage.
If you want to roleplay, Static quite literally do that. It froze the enemy in time.

And be wary with Last Stand. You only have 1 turn for max HP, and after you end your turn, your health will goes down to 1. Although this can be somewhat mitigated by casting Static on yourself, and hopefully you could inject hypo and morphine after it wore out.

And in case your feat plan is in order, I would put Quick Tinkering on level 4, and delay everything but Critical Power and Increased Dexterity. QT is such an amazing ability, that and grenadier could carry you through Depot A, in which point, your pistol might not strong enough to kill mutants reliably, and it's very expensive to repair energy pistol this early.