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Incline Colony Ship RELEASE THREAD

Jrpgfan

Erudite
Joined
Feb 7, 2016
Messages
2,109
Experiment: 7 Evasion 120 Reaction in Smiles Ambush, solo pistol

Turn 1: 4 reactions, ~25 combined damage
Turn 2: no reactions, because only 2 enemies alive who stayed still and shot Smiles
Turn 3: there is no turn 3

Usefulness of reaction remains unknown
I don't know about pistols, but my Dodge This rifle reaction build lone wolf felt like cheating. Had no trouble doing any encounter in the game. He'd just crit for very high damage everything that moved and/or shot against him. One of the most memorable fights was against Mercy - I just left him standing in the middle of the room and he murdered everyone in like 3 turns without wasting a single AP with movement.

I feel reaction is stronger with solo characters because you have limited AP compared to full party, but it's still useful with a party.
Did you take the +AP on kill feat, and would it trigger on reaction shots giving you more AP at the start of your next turn?
It's supposed to carry over to the next turn, but it's been inconsistent since EA as far as I remember. I hope they fix this.
 

agris

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Apr 16, 2004
Messages
6,925
Experiment: 7 Evasion 120 Reaction in Smiles Ambush, solo pistol

Turn 1: 4 reactions, ~25 combined damage
Turn 2: no reactions, because only 2 enemies alive who stayed still and shot Smiles
Turn 3: there is no turn 3

Usefulness of reaction remains unknown
I don't know about pistols, but my Dodge This rifle reaction build lone wolf felt like cheating. Had no trouble doing any encounter in the game. He'd just crit for very high damage everything that moved and/or shot against him. One of the most memorable fights was against Mercy - I just left him standing in the middle of the room and he murdered everyone in like 3 turns without wasting a single AP with movement.

I feel reaction is stronger with solo characters because you have limited AP compared to full party, but it's still useful with a party.
Did you take the +AP on kill feat, and would it trigger on reaction shots giving you more AP at the start of your next turn?
It's supposed to carry over to the next turn, but it's been inconsistent since EA as far as I remember. I hope they fix this.
so it inconsistently carried over? Elhoim
 

Jrpgfan

Erudite
Joined
Feb 7, 2016
Messages
2,109
Experiment: 7 Evasion 120 Reaction in Smiles Ambush, solo pistol

Turn 1: 4 reactions, ~25 combined damage
Turn 2: no reactions, because only 2 enemies alive who stayed still and shot Smiles
Turn 3: there is no turn 3

Usefulness of reaction remains unknown
I don't know about pistols, but my Dodge This rifle reaction build lone wolf felt like cheating. Had no trouble doing any encounter in the game. He'd just crit for very high damage everything that moved and/or shot against him. One of the most memorable fights was against Mercy - I just left him standing in the middle of the room and he murdered everyone in like 3 turns without wasting a single AP with movement.

I feel reaction is stronger with solo characters because you have limited AP compared to full party, but it's still useful with a party.
Did you take the +AP on kill feat, and would it trigger on reaction shots giving you more AP at the start of your next turn?
It's supposed to carry over to the next turn, but it's been inconsistent since EA as far as I remember. I hope they fix this.
so it inconsistently carried over? Elhoim
That's what I remember.

I've been playing the game since day 1 of EA and I've always had the impression it didn't work as intended. But maybe there's some mechanic I'm not aware of.
 

Stavrophore

Most trustworthy slavic man
Patron
Vatnik
Joined
Aug 17, 2016
Messages
14,439
Location
don't identify with EU-NPC land
Strap Yourselves In
Zrzut ekranu 2023-11-28 173029.png




This game is pretty poor so far, like it doesn't come close to Trudograd or yet alone Underrail.
 

Iluvcheezcake

Prophet
Joined
Aug 27, 2014
Messages
1,824
Location
Le Balkans
Experiment: 7 Evasion 120 Reaction in Smiles Ambush, solo pistol

Turn 1: 4 reactions, ~25 combined damage
Turn 2: no reactions, because only 2 enemies alive who stayed still and shot Smiles
Turn 3: there is no turn 3

Usefulness of reaction remains unknown
I don't know about pistols, but my Dodge This rifle reaction build lone wolf felt like cheating. Had no trouble doing any encounter in the game. He'd just crit for very high damage everything that moved and/or shot against him. One of the most memorable fights was against Mercy - I just left him standing in the middle of the room and he murdered everyone in like 3 turns without wasting a single AP with movement.

I feel reaction is stronger with solo characters because you have limited AP compared to full party, but it's still useful with a party.
Did you take the +AP on kill feat, and would it trigger on reaction shots giving you more AP at the start of your next turn?
Afaik reaction kills do not trigger second wind....
 

newageofpower

Novice
Joined
Feb 6, 2017
Messages
21
Sup dexers.
So, I'm going to d 10/10 Dex/Per Dodge This build, but not sure what skills should be tagged. With +1 tagged feat, possibly with Skillmonkey.
If you have exp with this build some tips are apprecited.
Evasion works best in conjunction with armor/gadgets/regen. Pure evasion doesn't work late game, esp if solo.

Skill but do not tag Evasion at start. You want to eat hits to train Armor LP; very difficult to train if you have too much evasion early game. If you magically find yourself with another tag (implant/overclock pushed int over the line, or you took Educated) its probably fine to tag Eva after 7-8 Armor Skill.

Dodge This is is the enabler for crit builds, which works best with Rifles or Shotguns IIRC. Would prioritize weapon, then crit since there's lots of Crit LP possibilities in conversations
 

flushfire

Augur
Joined
Jun 10, 2006
Messages
781
Finished after restarting a few times. Overall even though there are bits I didn't like, I think this is the best RPG I've played this year. I just wish the writing was more concise in places, and the world and characters had a bit more contrast. The game needed more Jeds. Mission Control was the highlight of the game for me, loved exploring it. Sad that it didn't have more levels.

Some stuff that I would've wanted to know beforehand:
No reason to tag Impersonate. Most speech checks use Persuasion or Streetwise. I think it's an oversight by the devs. Didn't even come across a check higher than 7.

Wasn't able to reach Electronics 10 on Faythe even with a tag, NPC training, Skill Monkey and a training token. I think I was short 60 pts while Computer and Lockpick exceeded level 10 by 20%. Should've prioritized Electronics checks.

Also wasn't able to reach Biotech 9 on Jed with just a tag & NPC training.

Master Trader is nice for a Rifle user but not for everyone else. I made 16 or 18k by the end of the game without it and spent most of it on overclocking. The discount doesn't amount to much unless you make it a habit to clear grenade inventories.
 

lukaszek

the determinator
Patron
Joined
Jan 15, 2015
Messages
13,157
did revisit few encounters.

Last fight in front of armory. If you drop all human enemies, with only robot remaining, you get an option to bring romeo over.
Won't tell you whats sneak/cloak requirement, with 9 sneak and mk3 cloak I was able to do it after few tries(need to have right pathing as enemies come investigating). Interestingly enough, 5 CS was enough to take down even enemies with full suspicion level. Also I think something was changed at one point, you no longer need to take down enemies from behind? Can even do it from side or front, provided you stay on valid field(like with cloak device).

Keeping pit independent is annoying. Only reason I couldnt do it is that I went with protectors earlier. My non combat guy wasnt able to get full rep. And its locked only behind full rep, no sweet talking checks, nothing.

Its annoying how end game encounters are copy pasted, with choices being minuscule. Protectors vs brotherhood? Only difference would be garett vs cobra in fights. Enemy placement/types of enemies/etc would be the same. Ending fuses into single point like aod ziggurat.

thought im clever to drop monks early but looks like if you side with cyborg girl early, you can no longer switch sides in front of armory? Feels like missing path to reduce their numbers and prepare for ship earth return.

flushfire from my tests, on PC, you need to prioritize electronics all the way AND go sneaky route everywhere to get even more electronics checks. At the same time tagging sneaking is not required, nor CS
 

Fenix

Arcane
Vatnik
Joined
Jul 18, 2015
Messages
6,515
Location
Russia atchoum!
What about tagging Comp/Elec/Lockp?
How important it is for solo to get high values?
Also why rifles? pistols seem's just as good - less dmg but less AP also.

Alos I'm curious about quest outcomes - Pickpoket - you can get 500 creds or 250 - what's the difference? Like, checked wiki - no diff at all? wooooooooot?
Or Little Shop of Horrors - to kill or not to kill, pro vs contra.
 

lukaszek

the determinator
Patron
Joined
Jan 15, 2015
Messages
13,157
What about tagging Comp/Elec/Lockp?
hard required to unlock shuttle landing ending. At least comp/elec. Not sure about lockpick

How important it is for solo to get high values?
as in above 3 skills? It depends on your build in general. Good values give you upgraded romeo which can be a big deal

Also why rifles? pistols seem's just as good - less dmg but less AP also.
myself i like pistols. In most games i prefer to hit often to spread output, not hit super hard but once per round. With pistols you can aim hands on multiple enemies for example, blaster can do eye shots too.
Energy revolver can snap shot pew pew robots, very important feature. And in general its very cost effective allowing you to use it in more fights.

Or Little Shop of Horrors - to kill or not to kill, pro vs contra.
was looking into that one as apparently you get followup quest if you dont kill, but it requires perception(which i didnt have at that time)

Alos I'm curious about quest outcomes - Pickpoket - you can get 500 creds or 250 - what's the difference? Like, checked wiki - no diff at all? wooooooooot?
pickpocket is in really weird spot... probably should be removed from the game. Its like impersonate, you dont tag it, dont care much about it, yet its always high enough when needed. Actually im not sure if its needed at all. AFAIK there is a single instance for 6 stealing as one of quest solutions, thats it.
 

Tigranes

Arcane
Joined
Jan 8, 2009
Messages
10,350
Sup dexers.
So, I'm going to d 10/10 Dex/Per Dodge This build, but not sure what skills should be tagged. With +1 tagged feat, possibly with Skillmonkey.
If you have exp with this build some tips are apprecited.
Evasion works best in conjunction with armor/gadgets/regen. Pure evasion doesn't work late game, esp if solo.

Skill but do not tag Evasion at start. You want to eat hits to train Armor LP; very difficult to train if you have too much evasion early game. If you magically find yourself with another tag (implant/overclock pushed int over the line, or you took Educated) its probably fine to tag Eva after 7-8 Armor Skill.

Dodge This is is the enabler for crit builds, which works best with Rifles or Shotguns IIRC. Would prioritize weapon, then crit since there's lots of Crit LP possibilities in conversations

I'm not sure about tagging Evasion/not. Equally, if you can't dodge anything, you'll never improve evasion, so it falls off the growth curve. When I go for evasion, I am usually OK with medium armour - my Dodge This pistolero is thus in endgame with 9 Evasion (tag) and 5 Armor for all the reaction shots.

What about tagging Comp/Elec/Lockp?
How important it is for solo to get high values?
Also why rifles? pistols seem's just as good - less dmg but less AP also.

Alos I'm curious about quest outcomes - Pickpoket - you can get 500 creds or 250 - what's the difference? Like, checked wiki - no diff at all? wooooooooot?
Or Little Shop of Horrors - to kill or not to kill, pro vs contra.

Comp/Elec/Lockp trio are the most important for exploration so a serious explorer wants them pretty high. 6 by end of pit gets you almost everything. Of course possible to dump and go more of a combat or talk bro.
 

Fenix

Arcane
Vatnik
Joined
Jul 18, 2015
Messages
6,515
Location
Russia atchoum!
How does Educated's and Skillmonkey's "works retroactively" actually work?
Does that retroactive part mean only combat/quest exp or skill exp too?
In other word do I need to try to skip for now all LP for skill like lockpicks untill I get Educated or that completely doesn't matter?
 

Saduj

Arcane
Joined
Aug 26, 2012
Messages
2,584
You don't need to skip lockpicking for the reason you stated. The only reason to skip would be if you want a character you don't have in your party yet to be your lockpicker.
 

agris

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Apr 16, 2004
Messages
6,925
You don't need to skip lockpicking for the reason you stated. The only reason to skip would be if you want a character you don't have in your party yet to be your lockpicker.
That’s true of all checks though. Passing a skill check with a character who is not your ultimate practitioner of said skill is wasted LP, in a sense.
 

flushfire

Augur
Joined
Jun 10, 2006
Messages
781
Also why rifles? pistols seem's just as good - less dmg but less AP also.
I'm not sure if this is addressed to me, but if it is, I was just commenting on the feat. Master Trader allows you to buy a unique energy rifle which is pretty good. I don't think it's worth it otherwise. Little Shop of Horrors, decent armor set and battery for Romeo later on vs squad leader early, I think the implant is the better reward only for a full party.
pickpocket is in really weird spot... probably should be removed from the game. Its like impersonate, you dont tag it, dont care much about it, yet its always high enough when needed. Actually im not sure if its needed at all. AFAIK there is a single instance for 6 stealing as one of quest solutions, thats it.
Yeah, also speech felt like just 1 skill, I think they went overboard with offering both Persuasion and Streetwise in most dialogue, it resulted in 'different text, same outcome' a lot. Would've been better if there were more times where only one worked depending on the NPC's personality.
 
Last edited:

Humanophage

Arcane
Joined
Dec 20, 2005
Messages
5,436
Beat the game with a tanky build. Was going solo until Harbinger.
I'm trying a dedicated murderhobo: Juggernaut + 10CON blade, blade & evasion tag, combat option nearly every time.

One question is whether evasion is worth investing in combination with armour, or you might as well only do armour, and for me the key is how much Reaction contributes. So far, evasion's been important since getting some good reactions is the key to solving the turn economy problems for 1-v-many fights, but we'll see for later game. About to try Bart.

I'm pretty convinced blade and pistol are the kings of weapon types for solo, but am hoping to try SMGs again, etc.
I'm also doing a murderhobo with blade.

In my view, you need both evasion and armor. Do you mean picking the feats for evasion over armor? I think early on you need high evasion so that it continues to grow.

But evasion is not enough on its own. Even with extremely high evasion (90+ early on) you'll still be getting hits fairly often if it's a big group of opponents. You'll only start evading in earnest with the force field, but it doesn't last long for you to cull the enemies. Maybe in the future when you get the cloaking device, it will be better. Although a smoke grenade makes things easier.

Also even with all the armour, you won't be able to straight up kill everyone in face to face combat. For example, my guy has to resort to sneaking for favourable positioning. I don't want to make him pure solo in the long run though, so I'm not picking lone wolf. I want him to be solo until advanced companions, then I'll get one. I did consider doing a melee duo with Jeb, but decided against it because he is a Negro, so it clashed with the theme. I also considered a duo with a tanky Faythe, but she just isn't strong enough, so she'll end up getting killed all the time and I wouldn't be able to make use of staying power.

zAzGybf.png


In terms of armor, the church companion was built around that and he was very strong.
Completed the game as a two-man team (everyone is doing lone wolf so I thought I'd do something different). It's a tanky strong knife fighter. Somewhat suboptimal (didn't take educated, for example, so didn't get a free tag). I also took the regeneration mutation. Ultimately, I regenerated over 15 HP per turn and had about 16 bullet armor. Harbinger isn't that great because she hated my guts at the beginning (-35% skills), and she is too brittle. Cobra worked better because she is somewhat defensive.

Being a tank generally doesn't work so well. Even a very tanky character with solid regeneration will get penetrated relatively easily, even with high evasion. It only works with smoke grenades and the cloaking device (shields deplete too fast).

Notable fights I was able to beat head on:
- Azrael. That was easy with a pulse grenade.
- Ol' Bub. Trivial since panic doesn't work on invisible characters. Hitting him for 20 HP with melee crits was satisfying.
- Great Mother. Fun fight, really tanked surprisingly nicely.
- 1 robot and 2 turrets fight.
- The late game Armory fight. Had to take a sneak feat to kill Garret though, too much penetration.

Unable to beat:
- Detroit fight. Really aching to kill this uppity Negro with another build.
- Mission control 2 robots and 4 turrets fight (no Romeo).

Unsure:
- Back to Earth fight. I don't have enough lockpicking/electronics for it, or whatever. I assume I'll be able to beat it though since I have industrial amounts of pulse grenades.

1qCBiOT.png
 
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Tigranes

Arcane
Joined
Jan 8, 2009
Messages
10,350
Back to Earth just seems like you have to unload 3x pulse / disruptor + couple stasis or so just since any unhampered enemy can take you out in a single turn. Or are Healing Factor supertanks able to stand their ground?
 

oscar

Arcane
Joined
Aug 30, 2008
Messages
8,057
Location
NZ
Got my first ending.

Combat got a bit much for my party by the very end so I had to bitch out and betray Cobra (damn going back to wimpy Faythe after her felt like a huge step down). Then betrayed the Brotherhood too and basically got strong-armed by the monks. Would there have been any change to the ending if I'd convinced the faction leaders to play ball with the monks (doesn't seem like it'd make much of a difference with the monks now leveraging ship oxygen supply)? Sort of feels like there should be a negative consequence for failing that.

Probably should have just bought more stasis grenades instead of overclocking implants. I was only late level 5 (with two party members) by the end, wonder if I missed a lot of XP somewhere? I got through the red zone without too much trouble but the armory fights proved impossible without surrendering. And this was with a combat focused party (my melee-focused juggernaut/berserker protagonist with lockpicking, Evans as a rifle/bio and Faythe as pistol/electronics) and basically picking as many fights as I could to keep my skills high.

I could never get Faythe very useful in combat despite speccing her mostly for that. By mid-late game she just ended up more of a nuisance, dropping dead in the first round most fights. Evans was reliable with the sniper perk and quite tanky. My melee character was quite tough (stacked DR) but again tanky. Think I needed a more offensive-based party to truly do well. Hence Cobra was a perfect addition to the team, wish I'd be been able to keep her around.
 

flushfire

Augur
Joined
Jun 10, 2006
Messages
781
I was only late level 5 (with two party members) by the end, wonder if I missed a lot of XP somewhere?

I could never get Faythe very useful in combat despite speccing her mostly for that. By mid-late game she just ended up more of a nuisance, dropping dead in the first round most fights.
Level 5 is pretty low to end the game with, even without Educated. My Int 6 main got to level 6 with a full party while exploring Hydro Yellow/Red iirc. Educated pushes that to 7. Maybe you missed exclusive stealth sections?

Give a cloaking device to Faythe and she won't die so much. Her crit potential with Pistols is pretty high.
 

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