Underrail: The Incline Awakens

[Blaine]

Well, you should definitely have more than one save.

Also, if there's an Oddity there, how did you know? You cheatin', son?

 

[oneself]

Well, you should definitely have more than one save.

Also, if there's an Oddity there, how did you know? You cheatin', son?

2nd playthrough.

I do but I have to backtrack a lot. I deactivated autosave so zone transition is quicker and it is blowing up on my face.

 

[ST'Ranger]

What's the

Spoiler

Mutagen Puzzle

that people have been referring to? I think I completely missed it even though I finished the game.

Spoiler

There are a total of sixteen mutagen canisters designated Echo-1 through Solis-2 scattered around Deep Caverns, usually in groups of two to four, and two crucial terminals/consoles containing hints: the first explaining how to combine the mutagens based on their atom sequences (using negative atoms to eliminate positive, etc.), the second explaining that one particular combination is lethal to any organism. Once the player figures out what the puzzle is all about, uses scientific equipment to discover the mutagens' sequences, and has an idea what the target sequence is, he can solve it.

In fact, I have all the pieces of the puzzle assembled and decoded and am preparing to gas Serbia right this moment. All that remains is some trial-and-error.

Massive puzzle spoiler

It's not much of a spoiler because it's different every time you play through .

 

[Blaine]

Well heck, half the puzzle is figuring out what the puzzle actually is and then how to even go about solving it, let alone all the legwork needed to prepare. Actually solving it with all the pieces in place is just about the easiest part.

I really, really appreciate these sorts of puzzles. Some may argue that there's too much searching through random shelves and barrels for DC's puzzles, but it's worlds better than the "match these three animals on the spinny blocks using this obvious clue that spells out the solution" elementary school garbage in, say, Skyrim.

 

[Eyestabber]

Hi guise plz rate my rifle

Just because I had a very high quality frame. I'd prefer a reaper with a regular or high resolution scope but I can't find a good reaper frame.
Possibly a spearhead too, with the same attachments as the one in the screenshot. That would reduce the AP cost to 24. Hmmm

No smart module? You don't like 50% or more additional damage on every Aimed Shot?

Also Corsair is the worse Sniper Rifle frame. Harbinger for the extra damage/caliber or Reaper for juicier criticals.

You should specify, however if your character is primarily a sniper or if you keep a sniper rifle as a backup long range weapon/one-shot button (best strategy, IMO). The way I see it going for higher critical chance and fishing criticals with the sniper rifle is not a great strategy.

 

[Nines]

Can somebody tell me what the hell is this?

Spoiler

I guess that if

Spoiler

you saved Buzzer it's mostly ok, since you are directed towards CC.
Personally I think the integration of the Arena into the MQ is not very elegant, as there might be players that don't consider their Char an potential Gladiator and thus wouldn't consider doing something that by all means looks like a typical side-quest to earn some money (yeah, sometimes I larp a bit around character concepts, sue me).
But Arena aside, it's all pretty clear.

The real problem happens when Buzzer dies. Unless you do get a hint after all that Foundry is where you should go (and I just missed that hint), the MQ will likely come to a halt at that point (it sure did for me). CC might seem obvious at first, but you can't continue the MQ there, as the whole Cornell/Acid Hunter plot will not trigger if Buzzer is dead.
Instead you need to go to Foundry, talk to the Mayor and the Chief (twice actually, since they will refuse anything the first time) and then solve their little Faceless issue to pick up the loose thread of the MQ again.
The quest in Foundry itself is fine, but the connection needs to be improved.
Something like a dialogue with inhabitants of RC how Buzzer did some business with a group of shady people that afterwards travelled to Foundry or something (and a journal entry) might suffice.

Spoiler

Come to think of it, it's funny how no one in Rail Crossing noticed anything strange before the attack. A gang with chemical pistols and some strange box come to deal with Buzzer, but no one remembers that.

 

[Blaine]

Having to search around and explore to find the thread of the main quest again (or any quest, for that matter) really isn't a huge issue, though. That's pretty solidly in the incline camp.

Having said that, the Notes don't update in any way as you progress through quests, in most cases. The empty checkbox typically just sits there like a gaping asshole until you finish the entire quest. If the game includes a journal, it should at least update the quest entry from time to time, if for no other reason than to show that progress has been made. When the entries don't change at all, I can see how it may be potentially confusing and even misleading.

It's never bothered me, but apparently I have a genius-level memory compared to most people bumbling haplessly through the game, wailing about the lack of a map and comprehensive journal.

 

[MasterSmithFandango]

Well heck, half the puzzle is figuring out what the puzzle actually is and then how to even go about solving it, let alone all the legwork needed to prepare. Actually solving it with all the pieces in place is just about the easiest part.

I really, really appreciate these sorts of puzzles. Some may argue that there's too much searching through random shelves and barrels for DC's puzzles, but it's worlds better than the "match these three animals on the spinny blocks using this obvious clue that spells out the solution" elementary school garbage in, say, Skyrim.

I agree - I love the fucking puzzle. It's not super difficult, but it requires some leg work and you get a nice feeling in your belly when you finish it.

 

[Shadenuat]

Finally new credit card, so I got to play game a little. By little I mean 20 hours non stop with only wine and coffee supporting my biological existence. I just got some sleep, by some I mean 12 hours, and I am eating a yogurt. I feel sorta funny.

what was I talking about
game, right

Played beta many years ago but no further than south station.
Ignored all threads or wiki. Began reading wiki when was lost at what do you put into enhancement slots when crafting items, like, what do I even search for when making vest or sniper rifle.
I basically went into the game completely blind and also LARPed. So played without any metagaming or foreknowledge. No re-rolls or dropping because I thought perk I've picked turned to be shit or things are "too hard". I picked normal difficulty and Oddities as experience.
Rolled a russkie parody character named Slav. The idea was he's that guy who makes weapons from junk, goes around and bullies people, and keeps his favorite tracksuit the best one around. So I rolled something like 4 STR (which turned out to be a total bitch, since who knew I'd want 6-7? but thanks to constantly chewing on Kebab and +1 STR from one of level ups, problem got solved), 8 DEX, 4 AGI, 4 CON, 8 PER, 4 WILL, 8 INT. Why 8? Well, because on character creation you get a jump in extra points when going to 8 (2 vs 1) - that's the only logic or what actually stats do I could find on character generation screen
Skills are Guns, Evasion, Lockpicking, Traps, Mechanics, Tailoring, Intimidation & Mercantile. Perks Packrat and Recklesness.
No psi. Slav said no to dis mambujumbo cause roleplaying.
Later I added Throwing & Chemistry because what is a russian with no molotovs
Through the game I used pistols, SMGs, rifles and sniper rifles, bear traps, mines and explosives. Items are goggles for +crit chance with ranged weapons, tacvests & tabi boots. My tactics was to either burst enemies with SMG/rifle, kite around, or ambush them in my castle of bear traps & mines, while hitting them with guns and using grenades on them. I also squatted in ventilation shafts a lot.

So far I finished "act" 1&2, up to invasion of Faceless, and now I am dicking around 2 new cities and using TNT to open passages.

So here are things I liked/disliked about the game. I'll start with what I didn't like as I was playing.

- No introduction into setting of the game. Even static screens like in AoD would have helped to establish what the world is about.
- Didn't like orange font in main menu. It breaks in the middle and hard to read. Thanks that main font in game is just white.
- Bad character generation screen. Can't see what stats increase, like in Fallout you could pump luck and see your critical chance increase, or in AoD pump stats and see action points, health and skills rise. You can't seen numbers correlate to anything in the game until you begin the game.
- Overall somewhat sloppy UI design. It seems to collapse under the pressure of the items and options that were added to the game through years. Becomes tedious when you reach part where you begin exchanging currencies and crafting, and carry lots of stuff around, including quest items. Inventory, barter screen and crafting screen could all use some work, as well as Journal.
I'd also want to know what bonuses or penalties I have when attacking (like do light sources even do anything?).
- All money gained from sales should be forwarded to running animation department.
- Sometimes poor sprite recognition. I ran into my own traps at least half a dozen of times because I misclicked on enemy, or rushed onto enemy instead of shooting him. At least a few times I had to pixelhunt to, say, shoot a dog which standed behind opened door. Maybe it comes from how isometric view is done in the game and high camera position.
- Gameworld is "underrail" yet there is no map, even map of actual metro stations - that's pretty nonsensical. There can't be underworld without maps or schematics. It doesn't really make game harder or means game is hard to navigate, because location design is fairly tight and there are fast travel options & signs around. Still it's strange. There is so much electronics, yet from navigation only thing avaible is compass, when there should be many other things (like metal detectors, geiger counters or whatever).
- No story to talk about before mid-lategame. The introduction is really long when you concider it has no connection to what is happening around.
- Writing is just serviceable so far. Junktown was cool enough compared to other places.
- Somewhere around mutated toxic dogs and going through another 5 rooms full of shelves, chests and turrets game becomes monotonous. "Dungeons" don't feature a lot of NPCs and so there are long, very long pacing sections where you just loot, loot, loot, maybe kill a monster or a turret, loot, loot, kill rathounds, loot, etc.
Non-Music that generally never breaks it's tempo or pacing adds a lot to this.
- Speaking of Matt, there are a lot of rathounds in this game, which not only are strategically placed to make you think evading enemies is not meant to be, but also respawn, like some other enemies. I am not big fan of respawning enemies, even if it makes some sense for animals.
It doesn't feel like game was really designed for characters without damage dealing options in mind.
- Spend a lockpick to open chest that has a lockpick in it. Level up guns to find 3 unique hammers with bonus elemental damage in a row.
There should be more hand placed loot for various characters.
Although concidering per level you get almost 1/3 of max skill value possible, it's not hard to "respec".
- Speaking loot and items, as well as balance between items, it doesn't feel like there is really a progression where you begin with something simple yet end with something complicated (from knife and crossbow to 10 mm pistol to a plasma caster). Guns really don't feel like an elite thing you are trying to get to in a postapoc world, and bullets are abundant. Heck, everything is quite abundant, really hard to run out of even healing items.
Maybe also has to do with local metagame where you seem to fear melee and crossbow bolts more than a burst from an SMG. But maybe it's that thing of green grass relevance Blaine was talking about (but I swear, these electrical crossbow bolts and psi crap I dealt with, makes rifle-wielding enemies pale in comparison).
- Crafting is sometimes overcomplicated. For example, healing stims that are easy to hoard require you to track 4 items if you actually want to craft them. It's also hard to understand what can you put into upgrade slot unless you've seen actual item and read a discription.
Can't upgrade "uniques"(
- Instant healing items seem to exist just so enemies would shrugg of your first volley and could reach you and hit/shoot you.
- Cooldowns on various stuff sometimes leads to a bit nonsensical situations (end combat bleeding, can't use heal item because already used in combat, die from bleeding or something else).
- Every dog in this game is as strong as Dogmeat in Arcanum
Overwatch fire would be a nice option.
I wish I could have a companion in the game, to break up the pacing sometimes and add some options to combat (like tamed animal or crafted robot).
- There is fishing in this RPG

Now to what I liked about the game. In codex tradition it would be twenty times shorter.

- It's fun
Gameplay is really addictive for some reason. It's just very addictive to play mix of murderhobo and arcanum trashbin hobo. Scout and navigate levels. Avoid, ambush or kick monsters. Sneak in vents. Kite robots. Burn burrowers in multiples. Get oddities! Face overwhelming odds and win. Just survive. After 15 hours of play finally collect enough stuff to craft rifle that you can't use cause low strength, but which kills everything in one burst. Or a Matrix-coat that makes you go "lolbullets". Fun to go where you shouldn't go, fun to connect tunnels and realise that that tunnel leads to that city, and you thought it was just a random location with lunatics.
Fun to pick perks and fun to realise you could play a doctor with chemical gun, or nuGarret with crossbow and stealth, or spacemarine with 2 power fists with different types of damage.
- It's challenging, at least if you're going in without knowledge and care not for minmaxing.
- Lots of possible builds, no option feels useless.
- World map is detailed and locations connect to each other in interesting ways.
- Enemies are varied and can be hard.
- Systemic design and elegant design decisions everywhere, from fighting to sneaking or pickpocketing.
- Never I spent so much time in my inventory since Arcanum

Questions.
Actually there is only one question I wanted to ask so far:
- Is there a way to protect from bio damage of burrowers? So far I just gulped antidotes in packs. I tried gasmask but /bio resist didn't do anything. Would Chemsuit work better?

 

[Nines]

Spoiler

 

[MasterSmithFandango]

Best way to protect against burrowers is to just have a shield. It's a high speed (or medium speed?) attack, so a shield will block it unless it crits. By the time you're fighting burrowers you should have access to shields.

Also - I think calling this post-apoc creates the wrong image. This isn't Fallout or Wasteland. A few lore spoilers below, but I'll get to my overall point without them if you want to just read the end:

Spoiler

I mean, there is over 100 years of history outlined, and plenty of organization and buildings. And with the spelled out history, there is a clear undercurrent of even more before it when Biocorp was still big shit.

So basically - it's post apoc, but not close in time. Civilization exists in the Underrail, including building, developing, etc. There isn't much to imply that it's a society that is suffering from extreme scarcity.

 

[Blaine]

Oh, I disagree. The world of Underrail is post-post-apocalyptic, that is, there was an apocalypse that rendered the surface uninhabitable, then there were decades or centuries of "happy times" below ground, then there was another huge disaster, and so we arrive at the post-post-apocalypse.

 

[MasterSmithFandango]

Oh, I disagree. The world of Underrail is post-post-apocalyptic, that is, there was an apocalypse that rendered the surface uninhabitable, then there were decades or centuries of "happy times" below ground, then there was another huge disaster, and so we arrive at the post-post-apocalypse.

Might be true - but I don't think it's a scarcity-based society. So the "HOW ARE THERE SO MANY BULLETS" question isn't super relevant.

 

[Doctor Sbaitso]

It's a strange place where some seemingly high tech shit is considered antiquity - such as the battery tech for SGS. Salvage and scrap vendors next to people selling rat sandwiches, next to peddlers with lots of high tech.

 

[ST'Ranger]

Spoiler

Come to think of it, it's funny how no one in Rail Crossing noticed anything strange before the attack. A gang with chemical pistols and some strange box come to deal with Buzzer, but no one remembers that.

Spoiler

It's funny you say that, actually. Rail Crossing is the librul sanctuary-city gun-free zone in Underrail where one imagines people are routinely robbed at gunpoint and called racist for giving weird looks to large dark-skinned men with chemical weapons. Those young men were just trying to culturally enrich that touring couple.

Best way to protect against burrowers is to just have a shield. It's a high speed (or medium speed?) attack, so a shield will block it unless it crits. By the time you're fighting burrowers you should have access to shields.

The tests I've been able to accurately do yield that burrowers hurl medium speed projectiles at the fastest. Almost certainly not high. You'd kind of expect them to be low to be in line with crossbows.

It's a strange place where some seemingly high tech shit is considered antiquity - such as the battery tech for SGS. Salvage and scrap vendors next to people selling rat sandwiches, next to peddlers with lots of high tech.

It's not that it's considered "antiquity" in the popular sense of the word, it's that the organization which presided over the design and construction of such technology imploded many years before - and lots of their brainpower, manpower, and facilities went up in flames effectively putting a halt on technological progress in the Underrail. There is absolutely lots of quite advanced technology kicking around, but there's no replacement waiting in line for it when it goes bust - unless something interesting happens in the near future.

 

[Doctor Sbaitso]

That's a good way to put it.

 

[MasterSmithFandango]

It's not that it's considered "antiquity" in the popular sense of the word, it's that the organization which presided over the design and construction of such technology imploded many years before - and lots of their brainpower, manpower, and facilities went up in flames effectively putting a halt on technological progress in the Underrail. There is absolutely lots of quite advanced technology kicking around, but there's no replacement waiting in line for it when it goes bust - unless something interesting happens in the near future.

So basically the first part of the Foundation trilogy.

 

[circ]

What the fuck is up with Execute? Does it not consider bear trapped mobs as incapacitated? I've had the skill before but didn't get around to testing it around until with this character. After about a dozen uses, the highest damage has been a fourth of the damage the avg crit does.

edit: oh.

 

[Blaine]

I've checked, double-checked, and triple-checked, and I'm fairly sure the mutagen puzzle is broken and unsolvable for me.

Spoiler

Dr. Mali's correspondence states that there can be only one unique, positive atom in a compound, and no negative atoms. To quote, "I remember that reagents can consist of both positive and negative atoms, while compounds only from positive" and "Mutagen compounds can only consist of UNIQUE positive atoms. You cannot have two of the same in a sequence."

My Exitus-1 compound calls for one "08" atom in its sequence, and no "BZ" atom.

• Exitus-1: MZ CE 08 YJ PI ER J7 L7 WA JX 05 00 ZZ CL BK

Only two of my reagents contain the "08" atom:

• Echo-3: JX WA 08 QG BZ -05
• Helicon-2: CE 08 MZ YJ -BZ -BK -05 -LR

Echo-3 and Helicon-2 are not only the only two of my reagents containing the "08" atom, but they are also the only two reagents that contain a "BZ" and "-BZ" atom, respectively. The other thirteen reagents lack any of them.

Thus if I inject only Echo-3, I end up with a "BZ" atom ruining my compound. If I inject only Helicon-2, I end up with a "-BZ" atom ruining my compound. If I inject both Echo-3 and Helicon-2, I end up with a duplicate "08" atom, thus ruining my compound as there are no "-08" atoms elsewhere to remove the extra. Finally, if I inject none of them, I lack the required "08" atom and my compound is incomplete.

I've pored over my screenshots of each scan (the fifteen reagents and Exitus-1) and my lists, and confirmed that they are correct.

 

[ST'Ranger]

'Incapacitated' is a very specific condition, one that is most commonly caused by flashbangs. 'Immobilized' is what bear traps do.

I've checked, double-checked, and triple-checked, and I'm fairly sure the mutagen puzzle is broken for me.

Spoiler

Dr. Mali's correspondence states that there can be only one unique, positive atom in a compound, and no negative atoms. To quote, "I remember that reagents can consist of both positive and negative atoms, while compounds only from positive" and "Mutagen compounds can only consist of UNIQUE positive atoms. You cannot have two of the same in a sequence."

My Exitus-1 compound calls for one "08" atom in its sequence, and no "BZ" atom.

• Exitus-1: MZ CE 08 YJ PI ER J7 L7 WA JX 05 00 ZZ CL BK

Only two of my reagents contain the "08" atom:

• Echo-3: JX WA 08 QG BZ -05
• Helicon-2: CE 08 MZ YJ -BZ -BK -05 -LR

Echo-3 and Helicon-2 are not only the only two of my reagents containing the "08" atom, but they are also the only two reagents that contain a "BZ" and "-BZ" atom, respectively. The other thirteen reagents lack any of them.

Thus if I inject only Echo-3, I end up with a BZ atom ruining my compound. If I inject only Helicon-2, I end up with a -BZ atom ruining my compound. Finally, if I inject both Echo-3 and Helicon-2, I end up with a duplicate 08 positive, thus ruining my compound as there are no -08 atoms elsewhere to remove the extra.

I've pored over my screenshots of each scan and my list, and they are correct.

Spoiler

The reading is slightly ambiguous, but what happens is that doubling up on a positive has no effect - there can only be one atom present so the "extra" is rejected by the process. Additionally negative atoms do not contribute except to remove currently-present positive atoms. Try messing around with the machine rather than solving it purely on paper - you'll see what I mean.

Slightly Stronger Hint

If that's not clear, consider the following.

Echo-1: AA BB CC DD EE -FF
Echo-2: WW KK FF -DD -AA

If you inject Echo-1 then Echo-2, you'll get

BB CC DD EE WW KK FF

If you inject Echo-2 then Echo-1, you'll get

WW KK AA BB CC DD EE

If you inject Echo-1 then Echo-2 then Echo-1, you'll get

BB CC DD EE WW KK AA

 

[MrBuzzKill]

I've never found shields higher capacity than about 300, and I search every containter in every area.
Blaine, could you share your mutagen explanation screenshots, please?

 

[Blaine]

ST'Ranger Oh, I understand completely now without needing to mess with the machine. I had a feeling misleading and/or ambiguous wording might something to do with it, if it wasn't broken.

Unfortunately, as I received outside help, I have essentially lost the puzzle, even though I can now solve it. I'm sad.

Blaine, could you share your mutagen explanation screenshots, please?

What do you mean, the sequences?

 

[ST'Ranger]

ST'Ranger Oh, I understand completely now without needing to mess with the machine. I had a feeling misleading and/or ambiguous wording might something to do with it, if it wasn't broken.

Unfortunately, as I received outside help, I have essentially lost the puzzle, even though I can now solve it. I'm sad.

I didn't read it the way you did myself, but I can see how there's room for it to be misinterpreted. The Dr. is saying you can't have AA BB AA, not that you can't combine AA BB CC with DD EE AA. I'm curious now how many people read it the way you did.

 

[Blaine]

My mistake was trying to solve it purely on paper, should have mashed buttons first. Instantly clears things up.

Remember, kids: When in doubt, mash buttons, jiggle the handle, and punch the side of the casing for good measure.

 

[Inf0mercial]

Ah, that place. I used Hacking to deactivate the alert.

I could've. Didn't do it because I wanted the oddity. Can't do it anymore.

Also there is no exit unfortunately and Nevil is of no help whatsoever.

Praying for a miracle.

You could try what worked for me when i was there as a gun/psi build/ go down to the first door that opens with robots as soon as it open emp and go full smash on them, you should be able to kill them all fast enough to go to the second door and repeat, may want to save between doors then 2 doors cleared you probably should be able to clear the rest.

When they start in their rooms they are clustered together enough one emp can take down the entire room, focus on sentry bots flashbangs will fuck your shit up here.