Underrail: The Incline Awakens

[Zetor]

The problem with shield emitters vs spiders is that if they crit on their electricity attack, some of it will go past the shield emitter, which will both stun you and (probably) bounce to another nearby spider, electrifying them. Once they're electrified, they'll be hitting a lot harder, which may just drain your shield and/or hp to 0 while you're stunned...

Now if you're just fighting 1 or 2, shield emitter is probably fine. But there are some areas later on where you have to fight 5 or more spiders at once... and one of them is going to get lucky. The only thing that worked for me reliably was setting up a killing field of mines and running the hell away until I could pick them off one or two at a time. Bear traps don't work due to their immunity against immobilizing effects (as a side effect, poisoned bear traps are just as useless).

 

[Zdzisiu]

Holy shit, coil spiders are going to give me nightmares. Too bad im too weak to use it, looks p. OP.

Thats the brofist Styg deserves!

 

[epeli]

I really didn't want to spoil anything regarding Deep Caverns, but since one seems to have figured this out yet I'm starting to drop hints in multi-level spoilers.

Don't read if you enjoy figuring things out yourself instead of trusting in Kodex Konsensus Komplaints!

Spoiler

It's possible to avoid most of the different respawns, you just have to figure out how. Wading through endless respawns is not necessary, and neither is stealth.

Did you really think Styg would just throw MMO-style respawning shit at you with no tricks to work around them? The decline is rooted deep in all of you.

Spoiler

Getting assraped by Tchortlings?

Spoiler

Pay close attention to what is attracting them to you. How can you avoid that?

Spoiler

It's the Creeping Dread. As soon as Tchort's Eye is upon you, tchortlings start appearing around you. There are small bunker hatches and other areas you can hide in. There's also a certain hermit who can help you help yourself...

Not all buddy-buddy with Faceless?

Spoiler

Learn their patrol routes.

Spoiler

Tricky without stealth, but keep in mind that visual aggro radius is shorter than sight radius. Distracting them with noise is also a good trick in a pinch.

WTF shrooms?

Spoiler

Just avoid the turrets until you find something special to destroy. Don't worry about getting too dizzy.

Spoiler

Once the spore infection gets too high, you'll find yourself...elsewhere. Find and destroy Pulsating Roots. That stops the mushroom respawning, among other things.

Metric fuckton of spiders?

Spoiler

If this happens, you've got no one to blame but yourself. Don't give them too much electricity.

Spoiler

A number of spiders inside Caerus residential awaken each time you divert power into it.

Arke security?

Spoiler

This is the sole exception where you have to deal with at least some respawns. That's why there is a checkpoint save when you first enter. You'll have to wade through the powerplant once, but you can redirect power away from the defenses once you have made some progress.

 

[Doktor Best]

Okay i finally came around to play this game a bit and i have a new problem: Everytime combat ends i get an infinite hourglass, aka the game system is calculating something and i cant do shit. Have to forceshutdown the game by task manager.

Is my system fucked or something? i already tried reinstalling the game, deleting all my savefiles etc. Nothing works.

 

[Wolfe]

This has probably been asked dozens of times, but I'll do so once more. Is there any point in raining skills over 100?

 

[Parabalus]

I disagree a bit about the atmosphere / narrative shift in Deep Caverns, though. I find that the minimalistic "Dark Souls"-style storytelling works MUCH better here than in the rest of the game. No, the NPCs aren't much help, and the ones that seem helpful are probably lying and/or insane. There's plenty of information that can be discerned just from the environment, though.
Regarding your questions, I would also like to see some answers. Here are some things I've discovered that may help:

Spoiler

I've only finished Arke so far, and yea it's a huge grueling slog with the constant mandatory backtracking and respawning killbots... on the other hand, it felt kinda fun to be put under such pressure for once, it gave me System Shock 1 vibes. I didn't use stealth, but was still able to do all the lockpicking/hacking needed without getting locked into combat. The robot spawning is on a timer and they're on a fixed patrol route (as long as you don't get spotted by a camera or piss the AI off by trying to disable security).

Basically:

1. Start from the main entrance ("central area"), head to eastern area to get janitor keycard
2. Get back to the central area, enter janitor room in SW corner, this should get you some more keycards
3. Go back to eastern area, use your new keycard to enter door in NE corner (...yeah), get past all the production line stuff and take the ladder down
4. Fun times with crawlers, more fun times with spiders (seriously, fuck that room). Eventually you find some more keycards, another hydraulic part (I think) and get to another ladder.
5. Take the ladder up and enter a big assembly line area (I'll just call it "western area"). Kill the industrial robot and dodge the rest, kill them as they aggro. The terminal here opens the backdoor to the facility (to this room) as well as opening a shortcut to the central area and powering the elevator in the northwest. More importantly, take the stairs up and get the keycard before taking the shortcut to the central area.
6. Go to the northwestern part of the central area to unlock the exec's room with the keycard, get the power control thing (finally!)
7. Go back to the western area, take the elevator, deallocate power from security and robot production. This will stop the robot respawns, though you still have to kill the ones that are currently active.
8. At this point you can reallocate power to other parts of the Deep Caverns (needed to enter some areas). Annoyingly it's not possible to kill the AI by depowering the IRIS area, and even though it's possible to enter it now (you can try the "open IRIS main access" option at the entrance and it'll work, allowing you in there), it's just a big room with unopenable doors and constantly respawning robots. Will have to come back later, probably.

Power switches in Arke seem mostly useless. I used the power switch in the eastern area and the one in the central / western areas to disable the shield rechargers for the robots, but it just turned back on by itself (wtf). There's also a power switch in the basement next to some plates that alternate between "electrified" and "safe", but it doesn't seem to do anything either.

I found two hydraulic plumps so far (HS-78, HS-83), and at least one of them was from Arke. The other one was either also in Arke or in the southernmost Tchort area (the one directly adjacent to the deep caverns 'entrance' with a lot of breakable walls). Be sure to search the big assembly room as well as the underground section.

BTW, I really really hope there's a way to punch that HK-47 / SHODAN wannabe in the faceCPU for all the aggravation it caused me.

Thanks, I got through it earlier with that exact route, good to hear I didn't spend any more time there than was necessary. Fuck that AI.
I actually agree about the story telling completely, it's very satisfying to piece everything together while getting shot at.
My build is weak vs robots so that's why I probably had enough grievances to post about it.

I really didn't want to spoil anything regarding Deep Caverns, but since one seems to have figured this out yet I'm starting to drop hints in multi-level spoilers.

Don't read if you enjoy figuring things out yourself instead of trusting in Kodex Konsensus Komplaints!

Spoiler

It's possible to avoid most of the different respawns, you just have to figure out how. Wading through endless respawns is not necessary, and neither is stealth.

Did you really think Styg would just throw MMO-style respawning shit at you with no tricks to work around them? The decline is rooted deep in all of you.

Spoiler

Getting assraped by Tchortlings?

Spoiler

Pay close attention to what is attracting them to you. How can you avoid that?

Spoiler

It's the Creeping Dread. As soon as Tchort's Eye is upon you, tchortlings start appearing around you. There are small bunker hatches and other areas you can hide in. There's also a certain hermit who can help you help yourself...

Not all buddy-buddy with Faceless?

Spoiler

Learn their patrol routes.

Spoiler

Tricky without stealth, but keep in mind that visual aggro radius is shorter than sight radius. Distracting them with noise is also a good trick in a pinch.

WTF shrooms?

Spoiler

Just avoid the turrets until you find something special to destroy. Don't worry about getting too dizzy.

Spoiler

Once the spore infection gets too high, you'll find yourself...elsewhere. Find and destroy Pulsating Roots. That stops the mushroom respawning, among other things.

Metric fuckton of spiders?

Spoiler

If this happens, you've got no one to blame but yourself. Don't give them too much electricity.

Spoiler

A number of spiders inside Caerus residential awaken each time you divert power into it.

Arke security?

Spoiler

This is the sole exception where you have to deal with at least some respawns. That's why there is a checkpoint save when you first enter. You'll have to wade through the powerplant once, but you can redirect power away from the defenses once you have made some progress.

The "tricks" you spoilered are kinda obvious and don't change anything mayor, there is not much to figure out about them.

Spoiler

1. If you zone into an area (with the demons) after you lose the debuff the Tchortlings vanish before your eyes. You still have to take timeouts and even with the hermit feat I didn't have enough time to do the Northern areas in one go. Just a drag .
2. I wiped their base and freed the captives, the patrols are still neutral to me .
They are just supply dropping fodder regardless.

3. It's the same gimmick as Dread ( or vice versa, I did the forest first). Why are the shrooms crit immune tho? I could understand bladelings but this doesn't make sense.

4. Meh

5. The burrowers before the area also respawn.

It's just a stark contrast to the rest of the game. It's not hard but annoying. Thankfully I've gotten through the worst part, it's enjoyable again.

Since you seem to be in the know, would you mind answering the story related (especially about the NPCs and elevators) stuff from last page?
A lot is left in the air and I don't think it'll get cleared up.

Okay i finally came around to play this game a bit and i have a new problem: Everytime combat ends i get an infinite hourglass, aka the game system is calculating something and i cant do shit. Have to forceshutdown the game by task manager.

Is my system fucked or something? i already tried reinstalling the game, deleting all my savefiles etc. Nothing works.

I had this happen to me every time I lost sound by accidentally unplugging my headset, might be related.

This has probably been asked dozens of times, but I'll do so once more. Is there any point in raining skills over 100?

I found locks up to 135 and the highest use of crafting was a shield emitter with req 156 electricity, I'm guessing this could go a bit higher. Psionics have no cap and there seems to be little reason not to stack them to 300+ .

I'd be interested to learn how high the persuasion checks go for future playthroughs, I made all with 160ish, but how much lower would be viable?

 

[Fenix]

Energy pistols

• Lower damage potential than an average firearm of the same quality
• Light weapon (dexterity reduces AP cost)
• Low-medium range
• Increased precision compared to firearms

From wiki. Is it outdated? Because I see opposite.

Well, somebody?

 

[markec]

Ok finished it, end points to sequel or expansion which I hope we wont need to wait another 7 years. Played as stealthy knife wielding assassin, I rushed it a bit so I feel like I missed a lot so a replay will be in order.

Overall the game is fucking great, one of the best games I played in years and easily GOTY 2015.

 

[Sodafish]

I've run into a persistent crashing bug in the station at the east end of the mushroom caves fighting the psibugs. When hitting them with the crossbow I keep getting a CTD with the following message:

"timelapsevertigo.game has stopped working"

What do?

 

[Zetor]

I really didn't want to spoil anything regarding Deep Caverns, but since one seems to have figured this out yet I'm starting to drop hints in multi-level spoilers.

Don't read if you enjoy figuring things out yourself instead of trusting in Kodex Konsensus Komplaints!
(snip)

Um... thanks, I guess.

Spoiler

My issue isn't really with difficulty or challenge, it's tedium. Specifically:

• The tchort spawns tied to the debuff thing was obvious (I only had them spawn when I got the debuff to max, even when I was in a secluded area), it was just annoying to keep running out whenever that happened. I figured there had to be a way to slow down / avoid the debuff, but before that, traversing the areas is just annoying (the enemies aren't really challenging, just time-consuming to keep killing them), so I just stay out of those areas entirely until I find the mcguffin (whether that's an entity or item).
• The faceless were never a problem to begin with since they're neutral, and I actually haven't run into the spiders yet (plus they aren't really infinite-respawn anyway, so I'd say these are actually fine as they are. Pissing off faceless in their own tunnels is a stupid idea, and so is electrifying an electrospider lair. C&C!
• Now regarding the shrooms... the debuff decreases max hp, so allowing it to keep stacking is counterintuitive. I kept dumping the debuff stacks as I got them, figuring it'd just kill me when it got to max (there was no indication of anything else happening, from debuff text or pop-up messages or anything like that), it just looked like a typical hazard to be avoided. So again I just rushed through the area avoiding combat after exploring each zone and waiting out the debuff as needed, figuring I'd need to come back later once plot point x has been reached and maybe one of the shrooms would become interactable. I'm not asking for quest markers here, but where did I miss the indication that I should actually succumb to the deadly spores infesting the mushroom forest (and Six's comment about Tchort not liking that stuff doesn't count)?
• The killbots were actually OK... they really did provide a tense System Shock-like scenario at first, the problem was during the mandatory multiple backtracking to areas and having to deal with them over and over and over again. Once I figured out an optimal way of killing them in any possible configuration without using any bullets on my gimpy PK/guns character, it just became a drawn-out borefest. Maybe other builds find this part more fun, but I wouldn't mind the respawns toned down by a lot here as the player progresses, maybe by 25% the player manages to pull one of the power switches in the building for the first time. I'm also not liking how the console in the IRIS room is completely inaccessible... again, probably needs some plot mcguffin so it'll happen later, it just seems gamey. Maybe the AI could taunt the player (once in the IRIS room) saying they can't do anything against their impenetrable defenses or something.
• Like Parabalus above, I'm not a fan of respawning trash enemies (like the burrowers in front of Arke)... also in earlier parts of the game. These combat encounters are trivial at this point, and not really interesting to do. Yeah, I guess they do the job of draining the player's consumables, but doing them once is enough...

Thanks for the info regardless, though, especially about the shrooms! I'll probably still restart if only because I really dislike my build's performance at lategame (psi/guns hybrid with points spread way too thin) and I want to see how playing on hard changes things.

edit: BTW don't get me wrong, I like this game a lot (I certainly wouldn't have marathoned it otherwise!)... I just don't agree with some of the design decisions in the endgame areas.

 

[Fenix]

Overall, I think crossbows are one of the trickiest weapons to utilize well, if not the most tricky, but also the most satisfying. Their synergy with stealth assassin playstyle shines brighter than ever before thanks to the new noise system.

What are you doing to me!
All right, I'll start my second playtrough as crossbowman.

 

[Sodafish]

nm, I got the latest patch and it fixed the crashing.

 

[Donaroriak]

Ok, I stealthed my way into Inner Depot A from wormhole, avoiding all mutie fights. Now two doors with lockpicking 75 (i am capped around 50) stand between me and my drill parts. Can I find a key somewhere without activating a mutie clusterfuck?
Edit: clisterduck to clusterfuck

 

[Lhynn]

Unless im reading it wrong, does Critical power feat have no effect on unarmed attacks?

 

[Wolfe]

Spoiler question about the Arena and the main quest.

Spoiler

From what I undestand, the only way to attract an oligarch's attention in order to find the Acid Hunters is to make yourself known by advancing ranks in the Arena. Is this truly the only way? No option for non-combat focused characters?

 

[Zdzisiu]

Unless im reading it wrong, does Critical power feat have no effect on unarmed attacks?

"For each 1% of weapon or unarmed attack critical damage bonus above 100%, you gain an additional 1.5% critical damage bonus."

 

[Lhynn]

Unless im reading it wrong, does Critical power feat have no effect on unarmed attacks?

"For each 1% of weapon or unarmed attack critical damage bonus above 100%, you gain an additional 1.5% critical damage bonus."

 

[Immortal]

 

[Excidium II]

Blind niggas.

 

[Canus]

So, need a bit of help at with an investigation division quest.

Spoiler

It's the quest to get the protoin research from Hectate Research, east of Core City. I've gone into the basement, killed the spiders, and turned the power off and then on, but I still can't access the server room. The floors are no longer electrified, and the ladder room seem to have power, but the console in the server room just says 'No Power'.
I assume I'm missing something exceptionally basic, but I can't figure out what it is.

 

[Zdzisiu]

Unless im reading it wrong, does Critical power feat have no effect on unarmed attacks?

"For each 1% of weapon or unarmed attack critical damage bonus above 100%, you gain an additional 1.5% critical damage bonus."

Basically, check the stats tab "C"

 

[Ein Axt]

I really didn't want to spoil anything regarding Deep Caverns, but since one seems to have figured this out yet I'm starting to drop hints in multi-level spoilers.

Don't read if you enjoy figuring things out yourself instead of trusting in Kodex Konsensus Komplaints!

Spoiler

It's possible to avoid most of the different respawns, you just have to figure out how. Wading through endless respawns is not necessary, and neither is stealth.

Did you really think Styg would just throw MMO-style respawning shit at you with no tricks to work around them? The decline is rooted deep in all of you.

Spoiler

Getting assraped by Tchortlings?

Spoiler

Pay close attention to what is attracting them to you. How can you avoid that?

Spoiler

It's the Creeping Dread. As soon as Tchort's Eye is upon you, tchortlings start appearing around you. There are small bunker hatches and other areas you can hide in. There's also a certain hermit who can help you help yourself...

Not all buddy-buddy with Faceless?

Spoiler

Learn their patrol routes.

Spoiler

Tricky without stealth, but keep in mind that visual aggro radius is shorter than sight radius. Distracting them with noise is also a good trick in a pinch.

WTF shrooms?

Spoiler

Just avoid the turrets until you find something special to destroy. Don't worry about getting too dizzy.

Spoiler

Once the spore infection gets too high, you'll find yourself...elsewhere. Find and destroy Pulsating Roots. That stops the mushroom respawning, among other things.

Metric fuckton of spiders?

Spoiler

If this happens, you've got no one to blame but yourself. Don't give them too much electricity.

Spoiler

A number of spiders inside Caerus residential awaken each time you divert power into it.

Arke security?

Spoiler

This is the sole exception where you have to deal with at least some respawns. That's why there is a checkpoint save when you first enter. You'll have to wade through the powerplant once, but you can redirect power away from the defenses once you have made some progress.

I haven't read your pro tips as this is my first time playing the Caverns and trying to actually finish the game. The thing is there might be a trick or two to avoid those super fast insta respawning death hoards. but to LEARN those tricks you have to explore, explore, explore, and encounter, encounter, encounter, those hoards.. At least for your first playthrough. And it's not very fun. I can't imagine playing on this area THE FIRST TIME without stealth AND melee. If I went in with my tin-can assault rifle guy I would probably have shelved this run and maybe this game for a while. Just imagine bringing a few hundred ammo and only realizing there is a trick(not a trick itself) to avoid these hoards after when you realize you have 20 rounds left. You would be completely stuck unless you camp the shops for hours and hours to try and buy enough ammo to advance.

This area really felt like it was made with STEALTH in mind. Cavern-virgin players with no stealth who enters this hole unprepared and uninitiated will most likely do a long reload of before they entered(which will cost them a good few hours of progress), stop their game and read a walkthrough online, or just shelf the character.

 

[Doktor Best]

Okay i finally came around to play this game a bit and i have a new problem: Everytime combat ends i get an infinite hourglass, aka the game system is calculating something and i cant do shit. Have to forceshutdown the game by task manager.

Is my system fucked or something? i already tried reinstalling the game, deleting all my savefiles etc. Nothing works.

I had this happen to me every time I lost sound by accidentally unplugging my headset, might be related.

I found a workaround by running the game in windowed mode. Also seems like my game is lacking some combat sounds when im running it fullscreen mode so that would reinforce your theory that it has something to do with sound.

Also in windowed mode i have less mouse lag, only downside is that i have to scroll with my keyboard as somehow the edge scrolling becomes fucked.

 

[Lhynn]

Im asking because im lvl 16 and ive picked up every feat i wanted.

Right now im torn between
- Pack rathound - I dont use consumables or anything, so its very meh, tho im often encumbered because of str 3
- Crippling strike - My base damage per fist is low, but unnno, you get to use it every turn, tho my fist damage is like 1/3rd of my damage per hit.
- Evasive maneuvers - Im not exactly getting hit by proyectiles, plus if i had any movement left after the end of the round id rather spend it getting close
- Critical power - My crit chance is barely 12% and my crit power is 150%, doesnt seem like much benefit, and again, most of my damage comes from force emision, which doesnt crit, or telekinetic proxy that also doesnt crit
- Uncanny dodge - this one may be nice, i dont get hit often either way tho. Because i tend to act first, and murder everything before they ever get the chance to move, and if the other side goes first i dont exactly get to use this ability.
- Escape artist - looks weak as shit considering infused siphoner tabi boots exist.

Or pump int to 6 from 5 and get premeditation, but this wont allow me to get Blitz down the line, as id be 1 point short by lvl 24.

Im an unarmed psychokinesis user, more on the unarmed and dodge side of things.

EDIT: Is taste for blood good? im not a mechanical crafter but if i could get nice serrated gauntlets it looks like it could be boss.

 

[circ]

So I r stuck in Depot A kinda. I exited at the part with the acid dogs, which were pretty much a cakewalk, kept getting wrecked by some turrets until I found some secret door. Aanyway. The second area has a bunch of regular dogs and muties. I finished off one dog as it was stupid enough to walk into a mine, and am trying to get past the other crew but is no go. Sneak 75+ or something.

I thought there were supposed to be sneaky solutions to quests, but eh guess this isn't one of them. I'm supposed to unlock a door that leads north I think, but it's lockpick 80. Am level 6 or 7 and lockpick is just 60+ something. The other way is to kill every motherfucker because one guy has a keycard apparently. Is that it? I'll maybe try finding a doorway, setting off a distraction or something and taking them down one by one, since my accuracy is kinda shit due to the darkness apparently. Plus getting hit by some shit from the dogs kills your accuracy even further.

In the previous area with the acid dogs there was some console you could hack which unlocked a gate it said. What gate? The 'electronic lock' thing is still locked and so is the 80 lockpick one.

EDIT: ok I kilt everything. One guy, figures it had to be the last one, had 'old key' on him. The earlier gate that requires 80 lockpick doesn't open, fuck this, and the electronic lock I don't know. The fuck is the entrance at?