Underrail: The Incline Awakens

[ghostdog]

Holy, how many times did you reroll? I covered all of the content in about 80 hours. Deep Caverns probably took 10 at best.

I've had two re-rolls but didn't spend that much time with them. Also bear in mind that I tend to leave the game running while I do other things. I also crafted quite a bit of super steel. But still, the total play time amazed me too.



About DC and Hollow earth:

Spoiler

About mycocardia, the biggest clue is actually given by Six, who tells you that you'll probably find a way to remove the entanglement in mushroom forest. But of course you could never connect it to the whole mushroom trip idea, since you can only stumble on it by chance. I was about to reload, when I realized that the game hadn't actually ended but it transported me to another location. Maybe there is some hint about the mushroom-trip but I don't recall one.

As for the Hollow earth incident, the faceless are the test subjects of Hollow earth. Only one of them was allowed to move freely, since it was the favorite pet of the head scientist (His best creation as he said) and the other scientists were opposed to it, but he wouldn't listen. When conflict started to rise in the complex, the free subject managed to release the others, they turned against the scientists and threw them into the mutagen tanks and thus they unwittingly created Tchort. Though it is hinted that something more may have been added by chance in the mix, something of possibly alien origin, found in DC.

 

[Nines]

Spoiler

If you repair the AI, as far as I remember, she will say that more than one test subject was allowed to move freely in Hollow Earth. That's why the creator give her the order to increase production and maintain full alert.

Yeah, I get it that they thrown them into tanks, but that's a short story.

 

[Gay-Lussac]

The bit about the mycocardia is ridiculous then. The spores give you a debuff, there's absolutely nothing indicating that something good will come from standing on them for a really really long time (which means a careful player will never trigger that sequence by accident).

Regarding the story

Spoiler

Yes, the AI says more than one experiment was allowed to walk freely. I had never made the connection that they were the faceless, though.

 

[Dead Guy]

Spoiler

The Faceless commander in DC tells you about their origins, IIRC

 

[Gay-Lussac]

Spoiler

Fucker attacked me on sight after mind reading, apparently because I offered to help the DC tchortists. Mind blasted the shit out of them, no regrets. Digging around, I also found that Ezra is actually a former Biocorp member, responsible for releasing mutagen in Depot A (Junkyard)

 

[Nines]

Spoiler

Well, the description Wyatt gave you left little room for guessing, but how did you managed to figure it out? I mean, are there some kind of proofs?

 

[Gay-Lussac]

Spoiler

No, I found a thread about it hahahah. I killed Wyatt on my playthrough, can't resist intimidate checks, but apparently that one is impossible to pass since my skill was maxed out and I had lots of Will. But yeah, the description is pretty spot on, what with the mind control too. Guess I missed out on some of the lore by fighting Wyatt and the Faceless in DC.

What's the deal with the aliens, though? Are Six and Tanner ever better explained and I missed it? When I first entered Oculus I thought the Godsmen were just a metaphor for the top dogs over at Biocorp, fabricating a story to make themselves seem like gods, but I guess not. And the monoliths too, couldn't make out what the fuck those visions were about

 

[Gord]

Nobody gave me an answer yet, how was I supposed to know that you have to sit on the spores in order to reach the area where you fight living roots or whatever and get the substance needed to clear out the weird shit at the Tchort gate?

Spoiler

I think someone said that Dude in RC mentions something in one of his "visions" as well, but since he comes across more like a drunk bum and you meet him relatively early in the game, that doesn't really count as such a good hint, imo.
In DC I only remember Six' hint about how the Tchortlings are afraid of the mushroom forest - that might be understood as a hint to go there and look for something that might help against them, but it doesn't really offer a hint about how you are supposed to get high on those spores, so yeah...

 

[Nines]

Spoiler

What's the deal with the aliens, though? Are Six and Tanner ever better explained and I missed it? When I first entered Oculus I thought the Godsmen were just a metaphor for the top dogs over at Biocorp, fabricating a story to make themselves seem like gods, but I guess not. And the monoliths too, couldn't make out what the fuck those visions were about

Spoiler

I wasn't able to infiltrate Oculus because of the solution I choose in Foundry. The first time you meet Six is in the abandoned wing in the Institute, near the capsules. He won't hesitate to kill you if you refuse to cooperate, and won't say much due to incoming Faceless attack. There are 4 capsules, which means there must be 2 other "aliens" (I don't think any human is capable of killing them), with 1 active, which means Tanner probably used it (I still don't get what they do though). Considering that Institute was owned by Biocorp, these "aliens" apparently have a connection to it (Godsmen as you say).

The second time you will meet Six near the entrance to Mushroom Forest, and the third time on the elevator. Both times he says little about himself, other than that "even if I tell you something important, you won't understand shit bro". Apparently Tanner did some kind of "crime" he won't tell you about, and he's looking for him to execute (thus forcing him to hide among humans), but decided to help you with Tchort instead, and let Tanner escape. And you probably already know that Tanner hired Oculus to get the cube for himself, to "increase his power" as Six said.

 

[epeli]

Spoiler

There are 4 capsules, which means there must be 2 other "aliens" (I don't think any human is capable of killing them), with 1 active, which means Tanner probably used it (I still don't get what they do though).

Spoiler

No, I don't believe the number has any significance. There are more of those. But more importantly: there are only three "Godmen" remaining, according to one of the monolith visions. Six, Tanner and probably Eidein.

 

[Nines]

Spoiler

No, I don't believe the number has any significance. There are more of those. But more importantly: there are only three "Godmen" remaining, according to one of the monolith visions. Six, Tanner and probably Eidein.

Spoiler

Godmen or not, I still don't get why he lied to everyone about Tchort's origin. He described it as a primordial creature, something "natural" that lived long before humans, when in truth, it's a result of a bad experiment. And if he's one of Godmen, then there are even less reasons to worship something like this.

 

[hell bovine]

Spoiler

No, I don't believe the number has any significance. There are more of those. But more importantly: there are only three "Godmen" remaining, according to one of the monolith visions. Six, Tanner and probably Eidein.

Spoiler

Godmen or not, I still don't get why he lied to everyone about Tchort's origin. He described it as a primordial creature, something "natural" that lived long before humans, when in truth, it's a result of a bad experiment. And if he's one of Godmen, then there are even less reasons to worship something like this.

Guessing here, but:

Spoiler

if Eiden is one of the aliens, then he could be playing the same game with tchortists, as Six is with Faceless and Tanner with the player character, which is using others to achieve their own goals (whatever they might be). This would fit the "godmen" concept: playing gods with less advanced species.

 

[Jack Dandy]

Spoiler

They specifically stated "Godmen" ain't a compound word, tho.. They aren't godly men or some such.

 

[Gay-Lussac]

Spoiler

I'm not sure if there only being 3 godmen left is consistent with what Six says at the elevator, which is basically that Tanner commited a very crime serious enough for a powerful dude like Six to be hunting him down (you can say as much with enough intelligence and he basically confirms it). This seems to imply that they're part of some sort of civilization.

Then again it could be that it was Tanner that led them to near extinction, and that's why he's hunted, or maybe they have a very small society rather than a big civilization.

Hell, who knows. I'm pretty sure that if the game was more popular someone would've pieced the information from the monolith visions together into something a bit more coherent by now, but they happen so far apart it's very hard for the average player to make any sense of them.

About Eidein, I'm a bit more skeptical about him being an alien rather someone just an old biocorp scientist with an artificial life span like Wit Nosek or Ezra or something of the sort, but his body does disappear though. Six is also far more powerful than he is in game (might just be a gameplay convention).

Something else I found weird was that Six took the McGuffin from me in the elevator and all my dialogue options explaining things back in SGS had me telling that the Faceless took it back or I gave it to them. Maybe it means Six has a connection to them, but more than likely it was just another bug.


Nines you should try to get into Oculus on your next playthrough, you can meet Six there before the Institute (though he doesn't say shit). There's also a bunch of cool info in there, but sadly only one quest.[/quote]

 

[Nines]

I will most certainly get there, if someone could recommend me a good psi build. Should I go full psi, or only choose 1 of 3 psi skills? What about weapons? I read somewhere that melee/psi build is pretty awesome.

 

[ST'Ranger]

Nobody gave me an answer yet, how was I supposed to know that you have to sit on the spores in order to reach the area where you fight living roots or whatever and get the substance needed to clear out the weird shit at the Tchort gate?

Spoiler

I think someone said that Dude in RC mentions something in one of his "visions" as well, but since he comes across more like a drunk bum and you meet him relatively early in the game, that doesn't really count as such a good hint, imo.
In DC I only remember Six' hint about how the Tchortlings are afraid of the mushroom forest - that might be understood as a hint to go there and look for something that might help against them, but it doesn't really offer a hint about how you are supposed to get high on those spores, so yeah...

Spoiler

Since no one has brought it up yet, the real answer is in two parts:

First, Six hints strongly that the shroom maze holds the key to defeating the infestation on the gate.

Secondly, there's an NPC somewhat hidden in an area nearby the power station. He hints at a strange effect when breathing in too many fumes in the shroom maze.

These are the only hints I've found, and imo were poorly done, though sufficient enough that I figured it out without spoilers on my first playthrough. Really everything about the shroom maze should have been done better.

 

[ghostdog]

Spoiler

Secondly, there's an NPC somewhat hidden in an area nearby the power station. He hints at a strange effect when breathing in too many fumes in the shroom maze.

Spoiler

Sheeet... I never found this guy. I knew the answer was somewhere with the mushrooms, but I would never figure it out. I was simply lucky that I overdosed on the spores by accident.

 

[Gay-Lussac]

I will most certainly get there, if someone could recommend me a good psi build. Should I go full psi, or only choose 1 of 3 psi skills? What about weapons? I read somewhere that melee/psi build is pretty awesome.

I went full psi on my playthrough. There are basically two optimized options for Psi users:

1) Metathermics + Thought control

2) Telekinesis + Unarmed

I say this because both Psi and Action points are soft-capped. Considering you won't be able to just spam your skills whenever off cooldown, investing in more than a reasonable amount of versatility in your skills is just a waste.

My character was of the Metathermics + Thought Control variety, so this I only offer real advice for that route (produced with http://underrail.info.tm/):

Spoiler

UNDERRAIL BUILD (ver. 1.0.1.4)

Level: 25

BASE ABILITIES
___________________________

Strength: 5
Dexterity: 3
Agility: 3
Constitution: 10
Perception: 3
Will: 12
Intelligence: 10

SKILLS
___________________________

OFFENSIVE
Guns: 70 (63)
Throwing: 66
Crossbows: 0
Melee: 0

DEFENSIVE
Dodge: 0
Evasion: 0

SUBTERFUGE
Stealth: 0
Hacking: 80(130)
Lockpicking: 134(120)
Pickpocketing: 0
Traps: 0 (13)

TECHNOLOGY
Mechanics: 0
Electronics: 100(151)
Chemistry: 0 (10)
Biology: 100(151)
Tailoring: 60 (90)

PSI
Thought Control: 135(226)
Metathermics: 135(226)
Psychokinesis: 0 (26)

SOCIAL
Persuasion: 100(168)
Intimidation: 100(168)
Mercantile: 0

FEATS
___________________________
Psi Empathy
Opportunist
Conditioning
Psychosis
Thermodynamicity
Stoicism
Pyromaniac
Last Stand
Cryogenic Induction
Psionic Mania
Neural Overclocking
Locus of Control
Execute
Neurology
Premeditation

Some considerations: Persuasion, Intimidation, Lockpicking and Mercantile are all somewhat fluff. You can remanage those points as you like with little harm done.

The same can be said for the Guns skill, along with the Opportunist and Execute feats; they're mainly there to provide a stylish way to finish off isolated enemies at the end of a fight by trapping them in cryostasis and executing with a high damage/high AP cost pistol. This scenario presents itself often, but cryokinesis will do the job almost as cleanly with psionic mania. If you want to replace the feats, I'd recommend Hypothermia, Power Management, Disassemble, Cerebral Trauma or Mental Subversion.

Build strategy is pretty simple, one shot enemies with psionic mania crits and CC what you can't oneshot through the Thought Control skills, Pyromaniac fear and Cryostasis. Locus of control empowered enrage is absurdly powerful against large groups of humanoids.

End game gear should be infused siphoner leather boots, Riot gear or tactical vest with a psi beetle carapace and regenerative vest, psionic headband with enhanced crit damage and reduced psi cost, a fat ass shield and the highest damage pistol you can find.

Oh, regarding robots, they're not that much of a nuisance: throw an EMP and wear them down cryokinesis or you can literally one shot any of them by landing a psionic mania empowere cryikinetic orb right next to them.

 

[toro]

My build was Metathermics + Telekinesis. I rolfstomped until Tchort institute where I gave up out of boredom.

Persuation is not fluff. It's a must if you want to see more of the story.

The build options are: (1) max all 3 psi branches, (2) max 2 psi branches and 1 combat and (3) max 1 psi branch and 2 combat.

The thing is: you can choose any combination and still have a viable build. That's why Underrail is awesome.

 

[Gay-Lussac]

Persuation is not fluff. It's a must if you want to see more of the fluff.

 

[Nines]

Thanks guise. I was thinking of some sort of stealthy paranoid assassin mage build, but we'll see. What about armor though, wasn't it suppose to give penalties for the psi skills?
Persuasion is somewhat useful if you want non-violent solutions, but Intimidation and Mercantile are just waste of points. They should've come as perks, or better just one Speech skill. Hacking is also much more useful than Lockpicking, considering that lockers and stuff are heavily randomized and you usually get something like two empty bottles, an old rag and the middle finger from the end game chests instead of some shinies.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

finally new fonts, it was time to give it a try.
they're not that good, but still better than before. i could play a couple hours. i spent those hours reloading, because groups of rats are overwhelming, resources are so rare that the only viable healing option is going back to the hospital (through countless loading screens) and straying one screen too far means instant death.
the interface is still bad (trading is the single most excruciating experience i've ever had, also thanks to ->), the tiny icons are still extremely hard to distinguish or even just to understand.

i see absolutely no reason i should suffer this instead of playing fallout 2 again.
yes, the combat system may have more tools, but i have countless tools in my toolbox already, still they're no fun to play with.

 

[toro]

Thanks guise. I was thinking of some sort of stealthy paranoid assassin mage build, but we'll see. What about armor though, wasn't it suppose to give penalties for the psi skills?
Persuasion is somewhat useful if you want non-violent solutions, but Intimidation and Mercantile are just waste of points. They should've come as perks, or better just one Speech skill. Hacking is also much more useful than Lockpicking, considering that lockers and stuff are heavily randomized and you usually get something like two empty bottles, an old rag and the middle finger from the end game chests instead of some shinies.

Gay-Lussac already answered.

End game gear should be infused siphoner leather boots, Riot gear or tactical vest with a psi beetle carapace and regenerative vest, psionic headband with enhanced crit damage and reduced psi cost, a fat ass shield and ...

Psi beetle carapace is the only one which give psi bonus.

 

[toro]

finally new fonts, it was time to give it a try.
they're not that good, but still better than before. i could play a couple hours. i spent those hours reloading, because groups of rats are overwhelming, resources are so rare that the only viable healing option is going back to the hospital (through countless loading screens) and straying one screen too far means instant death.
the interface is still bad (trading is the single most excruciating experience i've ever had, also thanks to ->), the tiny icons are still extremely hard to distinguish or even just to understand.

i see absolutely no reason i should suffer this instead of playing fallout 2 again.
yes, the combat system may have more tools, but i have countless tools in my toolbox already, still they're no fun to play with.

I never used the hospital. You are doing something wrong.

You cannot see the icons!? ... fuck me, not this shit again.

Do you have the mental and physical skills required to change the resolution? Well, do you?

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

lovely *_* another one for the ignore list.