Author Topic: Advice on a Stealth Sniper + Temporal Manipulation Build  (Read 3363 times)

feliix42

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Advice on a Stealth Sniper + Temporal Manipulation Build
« on: February 16, 2022, 02:43:44 pm »
Hi fellow Zoners,

After not touching the game for a few years and realizing that my most recent savegame somewhere mid-Expedition got lost, I want to start over. Since I've never finished the main story with the DLC enabled, I'm not 100% positive how to incorporate the new content into my build. Here's my idea so far:

https://underrail.info/build/?GQUHBwQKBwbCh0EAAAAAWm5UUDxnGjsAAAAAADxaAE4rBBcBNignJR0WMjUCM2zCht-_

It's based on my last export after beating the main game, with a few modifications. My main idea was to have a character relying on heavily on Subterfuge and using a Sniper with a (chemical) pistol as side arm. To use some DLC content I wanted to throw Temporal Manipulation in the mix as well. The build won't have to hold up for a DOMINATING run, I was contemplating either going for Normal or Hard difficulty.

I only crafted grenades, mines and new arms in the last run, hence the skill set there.

Do you think this build is viable? I'm always open for optimization ideas. As I said, I did beat the game before once, but most of the build just grew organically over time, so there may very well be some nonsense in there. I'm mostly worried about the 4 CON though, because I drained a point there for more will and drained Dodge/Evasion for Temporal Manipulation. Not sure what to do with the remaining 40 points. It's not exactly enough to invest into something completely new, but on the other hand there's still 5 levels to come from the point this build starts at.

KnifegaF

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Re: Advice on a Stealth Sniper + Temporal Manipulation Build
« Reply #1 on: February 16, 2022, 03:13:33 pm »
Viable sure but it’s pretty all over the place and could be optimized greatly. You take a lot of QoL feats before core damaging feats. Lots of QoL feats that really aren’t worth the feat slot in general. 7 will is way too high if all you are using psi for is TM, it can be left at 3. I also don’t understand why your WILL is that high if you just left TM at 60. 70 for stasis or max it for less chance to be hit with the debuff after contraction. Low electronics means bad goggles and you can’t use smart module for your sniper. PER is quite low for a sniper build.

Hacking and LP are a little too high considering there are boosts that can get you the extra bit you need but that’s getting nitpicky. I am just trying to find you more skill points by doing that though. You want at least 50 bio for focus stim. Continuum ripple is bad for your build and you should get cooked shot. Also I don’t have experience with Chem pistols but from the description it sounds like gunslinger only works with firearm pistols. I can keep going but again if you are just playing hard or normal this will work, you just are going to give yourself a harder time with some of these choices.

feliix42

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Re: Advice on a Stealth Sniper + Temporal Manipulation Build
« Reply #2 on: February 16, 2022, 05:13:33 pm »
Wow, thanks for the thorough analysis, that was just the amount of nitpicking I was looking for to advance my build a bit.

Quote
You take a lot of QoL feats before core damaging feats. Lots of QoL feats that really aren’t worth the feat slot in general.
Yeah, as I said, most of the build just evolved over time and I sometimes just picked feats that seemed the most straightforward or convenient pick. I'll reconsider the feats again I think.

Quote
7 will is way too high if all you are using psi for is TM, it can be left at 3. I also don’t understand why your WILL is that high if you just left TM at 60. 70 for stasis or max it for less chance to be hit with the debuff after contraction.
I didn't know that Will basically doesn't matter for TM, then I'll drain that again in favor of more perception. 3 Will will actually reduce the effective TM, though. Maybe 4 is better then? Until now, the synergies between Will and TM gave me enough points for Stasis, but maybe it's a good idea to dump my remaining points into TM anyway.

Electronics actually worked out for me like this because with skill synergies it's just enough to use a Smart Module and I wore a Balaclava for stealth most of the time anyway and I managed to loot a decent pair of night vision goggles last time.
Gunslinger is just a leftover from my original idea to go with a normal as side arm, Cooked Shot will make more sense here then.

Bio for Focus Stim seems like a neat idea, didn't consider using that so far but that could give me certainly an edge in combat. I'll see if I can grab some more points from different sources for that. 32 points schould be enough thanks to skill synergies.

KnifegaF

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Re: Advice on a Stealth Sniper + Temporal Manipulation Build
« Reply #3 on: February 16, 2022, 05:56:59 pm »
No problem. You still want to dump will to 3 on TM hybrids since effect TM really doesn’t matter much for the spells you should primarily be using. LTI and stasis are unaffected and contraction just means you’ll have less of a chance of getting hit with withdrawal. NVG goggles be it smart or seeker should be a priority. In darkness your hit chance can be reduced by ~30% which is huge any build but particularly snipers where you need your big damage CDs to land do they can snow ball into more damage with shooting spree.

Also take note that learning psi spells goes by base investment not effective so that’s another reason why you don’t need/want to go more than 3 will most of the time for TM hybrids.

The electronics being that low can be done but the smart modules you’ll be able to use will be pretty bad quality that low. Either glad I could help. Have fun

feliix42

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Re: Advice on a Stealth Sniper + Temporal Manipulation Build
« Reply #4 on: February 16, 2022, 07:05:34 pm »
I thought a bit more about your feedback and now drained both CON and WIL for more points in PER. In turn I removed a number of nonsense traits for some more offensive ones (how did I not select Shooting Spree before?):

https://underrail.info/build/?GQUHBwMPAwbCh0EAAAAAX25UUDxnGjsAAAAAAEZzAE4rFwEoJx0WMjUCM2zCh37ChSbinJoJ4q-9Ad-_