Underrail: The Incline Awakens

[Spark Mandriller]

You can, as the shield. It adds 1 less armor penalty than a TiChrome shield and blocks noticeably more damage.

Only if it's way higher quality. 160 quality super steel blocks up to 45 damage as a shield. 129 quality titanium blocks up to 46. And Expedition buffed Leonie so she regularly sells metals in the 140-150 quality range, so it's not hard to get high quality titanium now either.
Super steel is in a sad position these days. It's good for infused leather and good for sheets in tactical vests/riot gear and that's about it. Not really that super.

 

[Blackmill]

You can, as the shield. It adds 1 less armor penalty than a TiChrome shield and blocks noticeably more damage.

Only if it's way higher quality. 160 quality super steel blocks up to 45 damage as a shield. 129 quality titanium blocks up to 46. And Expedition buffed Leonie so she regularly sells metals in the 140-150 quality range, so it's not hard to get high quality titanium now either.
Super steel is in a sad position these days. It's good for infused leather and good for sheets in tactical vests/riot gear and that's about it. Not really that super.

I think it's still very good for metal armor. It's mechanical damage reduction is much better than TiChrome. And the smaller armor penalty versus Tungsten steel can make it the better choice of metal if you have high evasion, since evasion reduces the damage your shield takes from grenades, but armor does not. I would probably do a 3/1 or 2/2 split between Super Steel and TiChrome unless I'm playing a stationary AR soldier.

 

[Spark Mandriller]

I think it's still very good for metal armor. It's mechanical damage reduction is much better than TiChrome. And the smaller armor penalty versus Tungsten steel can make it the better choice of metal if you have high evasion, since evasion reduces the damage your shield takes from grenades, but armor does not. I would probably do a 3/1 or 2/2 split between Super Steel and TiChrome unless I'm playing a stationary AR soldier.

But the nature of DR means you need to get it pretty high for it to be worthwhile, so you're going to end up with like 50% penalty anyway. You're going to need a whole lot of evasion just to lower grenade damage vs shields a little. I don't know if that's worthwhile. You'd be able to laugh off energy so that'd be good though.
And even if it is good for armour then it still sucks for weapons for some reason. I don't know what's up with that. It's not even close to competitive with the other metals.

 

[Parabalus]

For this mission you don't need persuasion (unlike the previous ones) to do them solo. Just destroy it before you report to Cruzer, that's it.

The dialogue is extremely disappointing, he barely gives you a nod. I stealthed through it and blew it up with TNT, you could prob just genocide them all alone.

What and where did you blow it up? I can't find it and I don't feel like spending forever stealthing around the Rig with my shitty leather stealth gear.

The sonar itself, you pass through the crawlspace and basically loop around two areas, until you get to the other side of the locked gate of the initial area, the sonar is past the area transition on that side.

You can, as the shield. It adds 1 less armor penalty than a TiChrome shield and blocks noticeably more damage.

Only if it's way higher quality. 160 quality super steel blocks up to 45 damage as a shield. 129 quality titanium blocks up to 46. And Expedition buffed Leonie so she regularly sells metals in the 140-150 quality range, so it's not hard to get high quality titanium now either.
Super steel is in a sad position these days. It's good for infused leather and good for sheets in tactical vests/riot gear and that's about it. Not really that super.

What Styg did to super steel infusions is really a disgrace. You get a q160 super steel and can't get over >q130 on several leather infusions because of the nerf.

The coolest part about SS was that it brought up to par the early leathers to late game drops, that's gone.

 

[Blackmill]

I think it's still very good for metal armor. It's mechanical damage reduction is much better than TiChrome. And the smaller armor penalty versus Tungsten steel can make it the better choice of metal if you have high evasion, since evasion reduces the damage your shield takes from grenades, but armor does not. I would probably do a 3/1 or 2/2 split between Super Steel and TiChrome unless I'm playing a stationary AR soldier.

But the nature of DR means you need to get it pretty high for it to be worthwhile, so you're going to end up with like 50% penalty anyway. You're going to need a whole lot of evasion just to lower grenade damage vs shields a little. I don't know if that's worthwhile. You'd be able to laugh off energy so that'd be good though.
And even if it is good for armour then it still sucks for weapons for some reason. I don't know what's up with that. It's not even close to competitive with the other metals.

Yeah, I don't think there's any weapon I'd use super steel for. Anyways, the super steel armor won't always be a better choice, but you can have effectively 31% armor penalty with a 3 super steel + 1 tichrome armor if you take nimble, bodyweight training, and specialized armor sloping. I was considering this for a melee build. I figured with 7 agi I could still reduce incoming grenade damage by about a half, keep most of my mobility, still stealth effectively, and have as much protection as Tungsten armor versus aimed shots since the mechanical damage resistance really isn't too far behind (maybe 2% lower). But I went with a low strength melee build instead. I like that super steel isn't obviously better than other metals, since sometimes I get unlucky with the plate quality, but there are a few builds where I think it's by far the best choice.

 

[Marten Broadcloak]

It's funny how enormously easy - and enjoyable - it is to kill the pirates' boss and his lieutenants while "negociating" with a psi character. However, the real challenge comes after, when you try to exit the boat. Open space, crossbowmen, snipers, men that surround you and prevent you to move. That's perhaps the most difficult fight I ever had in this game. I recommend it.

 

[Blaine]

Never had an issue with this before. I solved Jack Quicksilver's missions in the optimal way—no doubt about it; I've done this many times before, and I double-checked the wiki—and he just vanishes after the final bits of dialogue, ending the entire quest line.

Spoiler

Specifically, I solved the murder with a laundry list of clues to Lenox' full satisfaction, convinced the Chief that what's-his-face was innocent so that he'd be released from Foundry Prison, and finally I broadcast the Hercules data over the Core City vidscreens to Ohad Xander's satisfaction.

Only thing I can think of is that more pitfalls have been added to this quest line, which frankly is absurd. Maybe it's yet another related bug.

 

[ciox]

Suddenly I feel an overwhelming urge to play a Bare Fists With Shield build, that uses low AP attacks to immediately build Boarding Up stacks to maximum, then use a specialized Shield Bash for 0 AP to smash someone with a sloped tungsten shield and hopefully deal some decent damage with all the shield block amount bonuses.

There's some serious growing pains in there as I also want to go Dex and low armor penalty for mobility and crits and Lightning Punches, while Shield Bash requires 6 Str and Shield Arm requires no less than 8 Str for some goddamn reason.

Current theorizing
Level 1 - http://underrail.info.tm/build/?AQgKCAMDAwUADwAPAAAPAAAPAA8PAAAPAAAAAAAADyTCgt-_
Level 30 - http://underrail.info.tm/build/?Hgg...8xA8KpecKz4qGQAuKnggHisKUC4ragBeK2tQLitrYD378

 

[Blaine]

Right, nothing's changed with the expansion, then. I'm no longer working for Oculus.

If anyone has a save file with the Meet Azif quest active, I'd like to see it. Then again, I should probably give up on seeing the Oculus this playthrough, because it's probably too much trouble.

If you guys at Stygian Software could fix this shit so that one of the most oversensitive quest lines in the entire game doesn't bug out and act retarded constantly, that'd be great.

I don't give a shit about the Huxkey or anything else, by the way. Finding the Oculus was my favorite moment back in the day, and now I can't revisit it because fuck you.

 

[ciox]

Strength and high armor penalty version of the bare fist + shield build: http://underrail.info.tm/build/?HhA...KqwqtST0sDVMKpecK2wq3itqAF4ra1AuK2tgPitr4F378

Right, nothing's changed with the expansion, then. I'm no longer working for Oculus.

If anyone has a save file with the Meet Azif quest active, I'd like to see it. Then again, I should probably give up on seeing the Oculus this playthrough, because it's probably too much trouble.

If you guys at Stygian Software could fix this shit so that one of the most oversensitive quest lines in the entire game doesn't bug out and act retarded constantly, that'd be great.

I don't give a shit about the Huxkey or anything else, by the way. Finding the Oculus was my favorite moment back in the day, and now I can't revisit it because fuck you.

The team is on break until sep 9th so I would make a thread on their forums around that time, or bump it around that time if I wanted to be sure they see it.

 

[ciox]

Ok, I've done this before but I've completely forgotten, where do you go to upgrade your microchip implant's access, it must be one of the science complex areas in the black sea but I can't find it.

 

[epeli]

If anyone has a save file with the Meet Azif quest active, I'd like to see it.

I don't, but try changing this:
old: 20 66 61 63 74 69 6F 6E 5F 77 61 74 63 68 65 72 73 5F 6E 6F 4C 6F 6E 67 65 72 57 6F 72 6B 69 6E 67
new: 21 6E 70 63 5F 6A 61 63 6B 51 75 69 63 6B 73 69 6C 76 65 72 5F 73 65 6E 74 59 6F 75 54 6F 41 7A 69 66
It should move Azif to hanging rat. Won't add the quest to your notes, but might work otherwise.

PS. What bug? I'm not aware of any in the questline. It's just very easy to fuck up.

 

[Blaine]

If anyone has a save file with the Meet Azif quest active, I'd like to see it.

I don't, but try changing this:
old: 20 66 61 63 74 69 6F 6E 5F 77 61 74 63 68 65 72 73 5F 6E 6F 4C 6F 6E 67 65 72 57 6F 72 6B 69 6E 67
new: 21 6E 70 63 5F 6A 61 63 6B 51 75 69 63 6B 73 69 6C 76 65 72 5F 73 65 6E 74 59 6F 75 54 6F 41 7A 69 66
It should move Azif to hanging rat. Won't add the quest to your notes, but might work otherwise.

PS. What bug? I'm not aware of any in the questline. It's just very easy to fuck up.

Someone PMed me a relevant save file, so I have that to work with, too.

In principle, I don't mind the Oculus being notoriously hard to reach. That adds to its value as a hidden area, even if (and partly because) that means some players may not even realize it exists. Still, there's such a thing as going too far.

I'm 100% sure I completed the three tasks optimally. The only possibility is that I asked too many questions (I did once or twice, just to see what they'd say), or that there's a bug. There was a bug in the past, as you may recall, where Azif wouldn't even show up even when people had the quest. There was another in which the Free Drones recruiter wouldn't show up when she was supposed to. These types of bugs are especially annoying given how oversensitive both of those quest lines are to pitfalls.

Well, I also chose to fight Patrick's killer, but I did so in the fashion allowed by the quest parameters and dialogue, after the killer had confessed. It didn't screw anything up at the time.

 

[Goromorg]

If anyone has a save file with the Meet Azif quest active, I'd like to see it.

I don't, but try changing this:
old: 20 66 61 63 74 69 6F 6E 5F 77 61 74 63 68 65 72 73 5F 6E 6F 4C 6F 6E 67 65 72 57 6F 72 6B 69 6E 67
new: 21 6E 70 63 5F 6A 61 63 6B 51 75 69 63 6B 73 69 6C 76 65 72 5F 73 65 6E 74 59 6F 75 54 6F 41 7A 69 66
It should move Azif to hanging rat. Won't add the quest to your notes, but might work otherwise.

PS. What bug? I'm not aware of any in the questline. It's just very easy to fuck up.

Someone PMed me a relevant save file, so I have that to work with, too.

In principle, I don't mind the Oculus being notoriously hard to reach. That adds to its value as a hidden area, even if (and partly because) that means some players may not even realize it exists. Still, there's such a thing as going too far.

I'm 100% sure I completed the three tasks optimally. The only possibility is that I asked too many questions (I did once or twice, just to see what they'd say), or that there's a bug. There was a bug in the past, as you may recall, where Azif wouldn't even show up even when people had the quest. There was another in which the Free Drones recruiter wouldn't show up when she was supposed to. These types of bugs are especially annoying given how oversensitive both of those quest lines are to pitfalls.

Well, I also chose to fight Patrick's killer, but I did so in the fashion allowed by the quest parameters and dialogue, after the killer had confessed. It didn't screw anything up at the time.

I think you shouldn't confront assassin at all. Just gather all clues and report to Lenox - that's the optimal solution.

 

[ciox]

Ok, I've done this before but I've completely forgotten, where do you go to upgrade your microchip implant's access, it must be one of the science complex areas in the black sea but I can't find it.

Help a guy out, brahs, this is specifically the thing you need to do before you can even enter Joint Security.

 

[Tigranes]

Ok, I've done this before but I've completely forgotten, where do you go to upgrade your microchip implant's access, it must be one of the science complex areas in the black sea but I can't find it.

Help a guy out, brahs, this is specifically the thing you need to do before you can even enter Joint Security.

Health Centre, one of the medical terminals.

 

[Tigranes]

Suddenly I feel an overwhelming urge to play a Bare Fists With Shield build, that uses low AP attacks to immediately build Boarding Up stacks to maximum, then use a specialized Shield Bash for 0 AP to smash someone with a sloped tungsten shield and hopefully deal some decent damage with all the shield block amount bonuses.

There's some serious growing pains in there as I also want to go Dex and low armor penalty for mobility and crits and Lightning Punches, while Shield Bash requires 6 Str and Shield Arm requires no less than 8 Str for some goddamn reason.

Current theorizing
Level 1 - http://underrail.info.tm/build/?AQgKCAMDAwUADwAPAAAPAAAPAA8PAAAPAAAAAAAADyTCgt-_
Level 30 - http://underrail.info.tm/build/?Hgg...8xA8KpecKz4qGQAuKnggHisKUC4ragBeK2tQLitrYD378

Zero defences, 3 CON, completely reliant on riot armour & shield, right? The same issue as a spearman - you're only blocking certain types of damage, no? I thought I read Blaine say something about riot shields not blocking ranged damage properly, as well.

lv16 for Boarding Up also means that you get your signature move when basically half the game is over, but you may be OK with that.

 

[ciox]

Ok, I've done this before but I've completely forgotten, where do you go to upgrade your microchip implant's access, it must be one of the science complex areas in the black sea but I can't find it.

Help a guy out, brahs, this is specifically the thing you need to do before you can even enter Joint Security.

Health Centre, one of the medical terminals.

I just revisited that place, is it just a basic computer console?

Also, what's with this door in that place that never opens? Even if you're done with the main thing and can leave.
https://imgur.com/a/FJq1uMu

Zero defences, 3 CON, completely reliant on riot armour & shield, right? The same issue as a spearman - you're only blocking certain types of damage, no? I thought I read Blaine say something about riot shields not blocking ranged damage properly, as well.
lv16 for Boarding Up also means that you get your signature move when basically half the game is over, but you may be OK with that.

It's tough to balance survivability with all the things this build is supposed to do. The strength version is probably more sensible.
Using the shield properly kinda requires spec points anyway, so yeah that will be a somewhat late thing, though as it is you can easily reach lvl 23 just by doing Black Sea content, not even doing anything with the institute, oligarchs, acid hunters, etc, incomplete quests all over the place, so it depends on whether you want to do Black Sea content or not.

 

[toro]

If anyone has a save file with the Meet Azif quest active, I'd like to see it.

I don't, but try changing this:
old: 20 66 61 63 74 69 6F 6E 5F 77 61 74 63 68 65 72 73 5F 6E 6F 4C 6F 6E 67 65 72 57 6F 72 6B 69 6E 67
new: 21 6E 70 63 5F 6A 61 63 6B 51 75 69 63 6B 73 69 6C 76 65 72 5F 73 65 6E 74 59 6F 75 54 6F 41 7A 69 66
It should move Azif to hanging rat. Won't add the quest to your notes, but might work otherwise.

PS. What bug? I'm not aware of any in the questline. It's just very easy to fuck up.

Matrix 4 was just announced. I guess you guys are now ready to understand the Code

The team is on break until sep 9th so I would make a thread on their forums around that time, or bump it around that time if I wanted to be sure they see it.

Good for them. May the Locust God protect them

 

[Blaine]

If anyone has a save file with the Meet Azif quest active, I'd like to see it.

I don't, but try changing this:
old: 20 66 61 63 74 69 6F 6E 5F 77 61 74 63 68 65 72 73 5F 6E 6F 4C 6F 6E 67 65 72 57 6F 72 6B 69 6E 67
new: 21 6E 70 63 5F 6A 61 63 6B 51 75 69 63 6B 73 69 6C 76 65 72 5F 73 65 6E 74 59 6F 75 54 6F 41 7A 69 66
It should move Azif to hanging rat. Won't add the quest to your notes, but might work otherwise.

PS. What bug? I'm not aware of any in the questline. It's just very easy to fuck up.

This worked, thank you. There were some screw-ups at first, failures to load or severe bugs, and it required some trial and error—I had to append "01" to the end of the new string after overwriting, since the new string is one numeral longer than the old, and my hex editor automatically overwrites additional unselected numerals in order to fit whatever's being overwrite-pasted. I used your online unpacker and repacker, and repacked into the custom unknown version that's automatically added to the drop-down.

I think you shouldn't confront assassin at all. Just gather all clues and report to Lenox - that's the optimal solution.

Nonsense. No solution can be optimal if it means not getting a cigar. Haven't you heard the old saw "Close, but no cigar?". Well, I got the cigar. Optimal solution, case closed.

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[Blaine]

in faundry when bragging about your success, did you say that you are sure prisoner didnt share any info? I think its required

Yeah, I did.

maybe you asked stupid questions to guy in core city instead of being professional?

Yeah... yeah, I did. I only asked a couple, and I knew that what I was doing was wrong, but I couldn't help myself. I wanted to see them bitch about me not acting like a robot.

It's okay, because I solved an IRL hacking minigame and will get to see the Oculus anyway.

 

[Goromorg]

Nonsense. No solution can be optimal if it means not getting a cigar. Haven't you heard the old saw "Close, but no cigar?". Well, I got the cigar. Optimal solution, case closed.

Believe it or not, Oculus medic has unlimited supply of cigars

 

[Blaine]

Believe it or not, Oculus medic has unlimited supply of cigars

STYYYYYG!

 

[Goromorg]

I can't force myself to begin expedition without top-end gear and all psi spells that I want.
Which means I'll have to start it at lvl 20+ and be disappointed at low content difficulty