First Time Player Help(Shotgun/Firearm Pistols)

[Eisenhorn]

Hello Dwellers, I'm new to the game and am looking for a few pointers. I think I'd like to focus on shotguns and firearm pistols for my first build. With the recent changes to Psi, is it possible to sprinkle it into builds like you used too? If not, what skills should I focus on to experience the most content? I have Expedition as well. Thank you very much for your help.

[cypherusuh]

Imo shotgun and firearm doesn't mix that well. Both requires pretty substantial feats, and you generally pump DEX w/ versatility on firearm, and PER for Shotgun.

As for Psi, yeah, it's still possible to mix things up, but you can only pick 2 school max for non "pure psi" build. It's somewhat difficult because you usually can only put 8 INT max, so you're limited to 6 innervated skill between 2 school.
But for many build, picking TM is still viable, with a catch. It's recommended to have as close to 166 effective skill so you'll have soft-cap lowest chance of PTC whiplash, since that combined with Adrenaline will cripple you to death.

[Eisenhorn]

I see. So what would you suggest as a secondary weapon for shotgun? Or should I use shotgun and Psi? Thanks for pointing out the shortcomings with the firearms.

[cypherusuh]

I see. So what would you suggest as a secondary weapon for shotgun? Or should I use shotgun and Psi? Thanks for pointing out the shortcomings with the firearms.

I reckon that going shotgun with TM only is good for support skill. Shotgun is very solid weapon. I'd recommend going for Burst build with Leading Shot. And makes sure you experiment with multiple ammo types (20p,12p,6p,3p) and see which enemies are more efficient with which bullet.

Basically just savescum and shot the enemy, see the bullet damage, and check which ones have better average damage for that type of enemies. If you don't care about optimization and only play on Hard or below, 6p for general use, 20p for rathound and dogs. Hoard 3p for expedition, you'll need them.

[Niko]

Like cypher said, firearm pistols are hard to combine with shotguns, so you could go pure shotgun, or what I think meshes nicely is shotgun + sniper(spearhead). Sprinkle in some psi abilities for utility if you want.
There are useful temporal abilities for all builds, like dilation for slow, contraction for self-haste and stasis for cocooning yourself. From metathermics, even a 0 skill cryokinesis for on demand slow to proc Opportunist might be handy, or cryostasis for hard CC on a single target. Premeditation is a 6 int requirement feat that is strong for any build that has psi.
For shotguns, sixth shell and leading shot are essential and I recommend shooting spree and strafe for sniper.

How I would go about building a shotgun/sniper:
https://underrail.info/build/?HgUFBQkNAwbCoEoAAAAAUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAI0YAAFgBYivCsCbClip-wodLf8KFAjEnwrXCpCjip74J4q-9AeK3sAXfvw
Only Shotgun with cryostasis/contraction/stasis as psi support:
https://underrail.info/build/?HgUFCwkKAwPCoEoAAAAAUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAI0YAAHI5YivCsB7ClibCh0dLwoUZMScowrHCpXvip74F4rOsBeK3sAXfvw

...what skills should I focus on to experience the most content?

This is a really hard to answer question. Multiple playthroughs, and at least one with more Psi focus. Skills themselves don't unlock much content, some dialog choices here and there. Stealth is also always good.

[cypherusuh]

IMO premed no longer a must-have feat for non-pure psi build, since most weapons requires more feats to get it going. Premed have biggest impact on PK due to high AP cost in most of its skills

[Eisenhorn]

Thank you very much guys. I'll be using your first build Niko, instead of crafting I've gone with Hacking and Lock picking since I'm using Oddity exp for my first play through. Wish me luck!

[cypherusuh]

Thank you very much guys. I'll be using your first build Niko, instead of crafting I've gone with Hacking and Lock picking since I'm using Oddity exp for my first play through. Wish me luck!

Hopefully you read this before it's going too late.
Remove premed(not worth for TM only), Ambush(doesn't work with shotgun and Electroshock pistol), and Strafe (Shotgun has no move penalty, and it's bad practice for sniper)
Instead, swap them with Fragmented Chaos (the only way to increase crit bonus above 100% for crit power), Snipe (one-shot wonder for first turn, can be abused with stun grenade / flashbang), and Sharpshooter (even more damage for sniper rifle).
This means, you could - 2 AGI, and put it on either +2 DEX (could swap pack rathound with Grenadier / Quick Tinkering, both are extremely strong feat, I would recommend to use infinite weight + speedhack to make the game MUCH better, trust me on that) or +2 INT for much better crafting allocation. Don't skip on crafting, you'll REALLY need it. Many weapon desperately required self-crafted weapon simply because some "extension / mods" never dropped from random enemies, and available frames are often much better than unique guns.

[Eisenhorn]

Thanks, I haven't gotten out of SGS yet, so it's not a problem to restart. I've talked myself out of oddity XP for my first playthrough, so I'll have crafting skills. I'll sink the extra 2 into int.

[Niko]

Thank you very much guys. I'll be using your first build Niko, instead of crafting I've gone with Hacking and Lock picking since I'm using Oddity exp for my first play through. Wish me luck!

Hopefully you read this before it's going too late.
Remove premed(not worth for TM only), Ambush(doesn't work with shotgun and Electroshock pistol), and Strafe (Shotgun has no move penalty, and it's bad practice for sniper)
Instead, swap them with Fragmented Chaos (the only way to increase crit bonus above 100% for crit power), Snipe (one-shot wonder for first turn, can be abused with stun grenade / flashbang), and Sharpshooter (even more damage for sniper rifle).
This means, you could - 2 AGI, and put it on either +2 DEX (could swap pack rathound with Grenadier / Quick Tinkering, both are extremely strong feat, I would recommend to use infinite weight + speedhack to make the game MUCH better, trust me on that) or +2 INT for much better crafting allocation. Don't skip on crafting, you'll REALLY need it. Many weapon desperately required self-crafted weapon simply because some "extension / mods" never dropped from random enemies, and available frames are often much better than unique guns.

Heheheh, why so harsh?
The idea for premeditation is for free stasis/cryostasis/slow, when needed. Of course it is not mandatory, but it is still nice to get something for free. Ambush is not meant to work for shotguns, it is for long range sniper shots only, and to hit 100% crit without much investment. I am guessing getting Strafe is a playstyle choice after all, I almost always break LOS so there's moving at start of turn, so I wouldn't want that -accuracy penalty just because I had to move an inch. And if I really wanted to get nitpicky I would point out that Fragmented Chaos and Critical Power don't mix, and that Vindicator already has 120% crit modifier, which does get boosted by Critical Power. But my build was not about using Snipe (with Grenadier/Flashbangs) or going heavy in sniper feats, it is a shotgun build with Sniper fill, with enough feats to feel its usefulness. But true, you could have Sharpshooter instead of Paranoia, maybe. The idea of swapping out Packrat and using mods to have infinite weight is of course solid, but then again, that is a totally different template to build on then. Valid points otherwise though 

And PS, I only fill the necessary points in the build, there were some 700+ leftover. Definitely take crafting, enough to build your own guns. Always take crafting.

[herbertstencil]

Hey all, equally new and trying to get my head around this stuff. This game is relentless!

I have made a lightly-armored shotgun build by cobbling together some advice from all over the place. How does it stack up? What critical things have I missed? I feel like I'm short on secondary weapons but was thinking grenades etc. would fill that gap...

https://underrail.info/build/?HgcGBgUMAwfCoHgAAFBQwqAAZAAAeHgAZHgAAAAAAAB4JDnCsBYZHsKWFcKPwpjCkA9NO8KxQcKk378

[Eisenhorn]

Hey Niko, thanks for the interest. I did end up dropping 2 points from agility and putting them into INT. I'm thinking of swapping Strafe and Ambush for Snipe and maybe Sharpshooter. Or Disassemble. I managed to find a sniper super early, need strength 5 though.

[Djpuffnstuff]

Hey Niko, thanks for the interest. I did end up dropping 2 points from agility and putting them into INT. I'm thinking of swapping Strafe and Ambush for Snipe and maybe Sharpshooter. Or Disassemble. I managed to find a sniper super early, need strength 5 though.

Personally would avoid Snipe, it doesn't crit and requires over investment into stealth while aimed shot does just fine especially with critpower.

[Eisenhorn]

Got it. I'll definitely take Disassemble asap then.

[cypherusuh]

Hey Niko, thanks for the interest. I did end up dropping 2 points from agility and putting them into INT. I'm thinking of swapping Strafe and Ambush for Snipe and maybe Sharpshooter. Or Disassemble. I managed to find a sniper super early, need strength 5 though.

Personally would avoid Snipe, it doesn't crit and requires over investment into stealth while aimed shot does just fine especially with critpower.

bruh Snipe is insanely strong. legit you could one-shot Naga with around ~100 effective stealth investment. With strong tabi, balaclava, and leather armor, it could goes up to 240 effective, meaning you deal ~465% damage. now thats a lot of damage, my dudes.
And imagine how strong it is if you put dump points on stealth with high Agi