Tutorial

Tutorial
Unmarked quest (No notes)
Quest information
Location	South Gate Station
Given by	Vencel
Rewards	Basic gameplay skills

Underrail starts with an optional tutorial. The tutorial tips are also listed here.

Tutorial tips

All hotkeys presented in the tutorial are default values and can be changed in the options menu.

Basics

Press Tab to highlight all interactable objects, or Z to reverse the order of highlighted objects. Contents of any container can be picked up by either double-clicking them in the container window or dragging them into your inventory, which can be opened in a separate window by pressing I. You can also press A to take all items from a container.

To equip weapons, armor and utilities, open the inventory and double click on any of those items or drag them into their respective slot. You may have up to two weapons equipped at the same time, and you can select the primary weapon by clicking on its icon in the action bar. The left side of the inventory window represents the contents of your belt, and this is where your put your utility items, like grenades or special crossbow bolts.

The lower part of the screen contains the action bar. The left segment of the bar is where you can drag items and abilities for easier use. Certain items can be dragged from the inventory, while abilities and special attacks can be dragged from the quick invoker, which can be opened by pressing F or clicking its icon on the action bar.

The action bar also displays which of the weapons you have equipped is the primary one, and can be seen in player model's hands. Weapons can be switched by clicking on them or pressing X for no cost of action points.

The right segment of the action bar contains belt items. This is where grenades, special bolts and other utilities are displayed. The number of slots can be increased by equipping different belts and/or having certain feats.

Lastly, just above the action bar is the experience bar, which displays how much experience you have gained and how much more you need to level up.

Combat

You can initiate combat manually (either by pressing Enter or clicking the button in the lower right corner of the screen) or when an enemy spots you. Hovering over any characters will reveal their name, remaining health and attitude toward the player in the form of a colored name tag; right-clicking will display more info regarding health and active effects at the top of the screen.

Combat in Underrail is turn-based, which means that different characters take turns at performing their actions. Every time the combat begins, whoever has the highest initiative will get to play the first turn; initiative stat has a base value which can be influenced by both agility and dexterity. However, should the player manually initiate combat, the player will always be the one to move first.

When combat begins, an action point bar will appear in the lower right corner, which can be used for the duration of the player's turn. Movement points are colored yellow and can be used for movement only; action points are colored green, and can be used for attacking, placing traps, using inventory items and game world objects, etc. and if the movement points have been exhausted, can be used for moving as well.

Pressing Space ends the player's turn, while pressing Enter will end combat if all enemies have been defeated, incapacitated or if the player has managed to stay outside of their vision for long enough.

Disabling effects

While both stun and incapacitation are disabling effects that prevent a target from performing any action, they are not the same. Incapacitation effect breaks the line of sight between the player and the target, allowing for stealthing and easier escape or repositioning, but can be removed by any attack. Stun, on the other hand, cannot be removed in almost all cases, but stunned targets do retain the line of sight and will chase the player once the stun effect wears off.

Other disabling effects can prevent targets from moving, slow them down and more. Many human enemies will have similar tools at their own disposal, so learning about all these effects not only helps you use them, but figure out ways how to defend from them.

Reloading

If you are using a weapon which has ammo or needs to be charged, an ammo/energy counter will appear above the action bar and will display remaining ammo/energy. To reload your primary firearm, hold Shift to display all appropriate ammo types you can use with the weapon, and click on the desired ammo type.

You can also reload directly from inventory: Right-click the ammo type you want and use the radial menu to select the desired option (load full magazine, single round, etc.). Then, left-click on the weapon you want to load. A weapon can also be unloaded, which is done by simply right-clicking it while it is in your inventory.

Crossbows do not need to be reloaded, because they use bolts directly from the inventory. Special bolts, however, need to be placed in utility slots before they can be used. Energy weapons are charged in a similar fashion to firearms, with the exception that they cannot be unloaded.

Opening locks

By left-clicking a locked object, the skill necessary to unlock that particular type of lock will be displayed above it. To open mechanical locks you will need high enough lockpicking skill, and for electronic, high enough hacking skill.

Using a lockpick can be done either from the inventory or more easily from the action bar. In the first case, right-click a lockpick and then left-click an object you want to unlock, while in the second, drag the lockpick into an action bar slot, select it and then use it on an object.

Using a haxxor is similar to using a lockpick, with the exception that it needs to be charged first. You can use any battery to charge it. Simply right-click a battery, select "Recharge item" from the radial menu and then left-click the item you want to charge.

Stealth

You can enter stealth mode both in and out of combat, but only if no one can see you while you're activating it. While in stealth mode, all characters, friend or foe, will display an icon above their heads which indicates whether they can see you or suspect that you are sneaking around. Your skill, proximity to a character, illumination and even whether you're in front or behind it all determine how well you remain hidden. Suffering a hit while in stealth mode will instantly reveal you, as will bumping into any characters.

Stealth offers many advantages: You can pick how and when you initiate combat, or even avoid it altogether, which can completely change the outcome of an encounter. Also, certain abilities work only when you are in stealth, and can be used to cause massive damage on unsuspecting targets, for instance. Sound plays an important role in Underrail, since loud sounds can attract characters to investigate what is going on. Using quiet weapons, like crossbows or knives, is a good way to make sure a silent assassin remains truly silent.

Of course, there are drawbacks too, most important of which is armor penalty. Wearing heavy armor can severely reduce your effective stealth skill or even downright make it useless, so being aware of what gear you use is crucial.