Underrail: The Incline Awakens

[Ol' Willy]

I cannot understand why you guys do not like it. I cannot wait to get back there (well, in fact I will wait until I am at an appropriate level, but you get the point).

I like it. Just not four times in a row.

Savages are fun, but dungeons... Kill robots. Check every container. Next floor. Repeat. Gets tiresome after a time.

 

[Sheepherder]

Yo, I made a Carnifex video with the throwing knife build. I didn't want to get copyright striked, so I didn't overlay it with Benny Hill music, so for optimal viewing experience, you have to watch it with Yakety Sax playing in the background.

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[BING XI LAO]

BASED!?!?!?!??!?!?
tfw when stopping natives...

Spoiler

 

[Tigranes]

Any dominating Shotgun builds/ideas? I still haven't done a single shotgun play and curious for ideas, will be cribbing to put together my own.

I'm assuming Sixth Shell, Leading Shot... but is it also again about playing for crits with Frag Chaos and Recklessness? Just haven't studied shotguns in detail. And then with mechanical damage resistance, what? Just grenades as the answer? Or I suppose just bring along energy weapons?

 

[Yaz]

Any dominating Shotgun builds/ideas? I still haven't done a single shotgun play and curious for ideas, will be cribbing to put together my own.

I'm assuming Sixth Shell, Leading Shot... but is it also again about playing for crits with Frag Chaos and Recklessness? Just haven't studied shotguns in detail. And then with mechanical damage resistance, what? Just grenades as the answer? Or I suppose just bring along energy weapons?

Spear Juggernaut Strength based Versatility would do nicely. Spear Guard +2 and good heavy armour goes up to 100 % block. There's high penetration Shotgun shells for mechanical resistances. You could even play something like that with a Sniper on the side.

 

[Fenix]

Six misses in a row with 70% THC. My new record.

Wait for 95% 3 times in a row. And even that is not THAT rare.

 

[Yaz]

Wait for 95% 3 times in a row. And even that is not THAT rare.

When I was playing snipers I made a proper 12.7 with Smart Module and everything. Eager to try it out I missed the first two Snipes at 95 % and had to Adrenaline Shot/Vanishing Powder Grenade out of there.

 

[Fenix]

Any dominating Shotgun builds/ideas?

Try mobile one, it's fun.

 

[BING XI LAO]

I haven't yet tried gas grenades, but I think I have to. My existing tactics won't get me through the final native area necessary to stop their attacks. I can stealth into the initial corridor and lay a triple row of traps, then start blazing with normal grenades, molotovs, Cooked Shot, electro pistol.
It isn't enough, my pistols don't have the range to take out the crossbow users lurking at the back and there's no room to creep up on them or take cover from them either. I can only clip them with grenades but I need those to clear out the melee enemies as well as the occasional psionic who moves closer than the crossbowmen.
It's the only entrance to the area so I don't see a way to cheese this.
I will come back with a cloaking device and see if I can sneak further in and set up my traps and stage the fight elsewhere, but will need the gas grenades to deal with the immense number of enemies on this map. Also, I should remember to use Crawler Poison caltrops.

 

[Tigranes]

Any dominating Shotgun builds/ideas? I still haven't done a single shotgun play and curious for ideas, will be cribbing to put together my own.

I'm assuming Sixth Shell, Leading Shot... but is it also again about playing for crits with Frag Chaos and Recklessness? Just haven't studied shotguns in detail. And then with mechanical damage resistance, what? Just grenades as the answer? Or I suppose just bring along energy weapons?

Spear Juggernaut Strength based Versatility would do nicely. Spear Guard +2 and good heavy armour goes up to 100 % block. There's high penetration Shotgun shells for mechanical resistances. You could even play something like that with a Sniper on the side.

Hrm. Well, that means 5 DEX (needed for other things anyway) and some 55SP on Melee to get Spear Guardian, as well as 7STR/CON for Shield Arm, and probably 10STR to push that as main stat. Leaving little for PER => no Frag. Chaos => no crit maximisation? And then there's a lot of feat starvation going on between Shotgun feats and Spear Guard / Juggernaut / Versatility. We're also talking about the need to hit someone with a spear every turn to activate Guard. Seems really fiddly to constantly run around as a 3 AGI tin can doing spear hits and then shotgunning. Am I missing something?

Any dominating Shotgun builds/ideas?

Try mobile one, it's fun.

I'm sure it's more fun, it's just I've just played mobile energy pistolero and mobile swordsman, so I want to go more tin-canny while trying shotguns properly for the first time. Not sure how it can work, though.

 

[Ol' Willy]

I haven't yet tried gas grenades, but I think I have to. My existing tactics won't get me through the final native area necessary to stop their attacks. I can stealth into the initial corridor and lay a triple row of traps, then start blazing with normal grenades, molotovs, Cooked Shot, electro pistol.
It isn't enough, my pistols don't have the range to take out the crossbow users lurking at the back and there's no room to creep up on them or take cover from them either. I can only clip them with grenades but I need those to clear out the melee enemies as well as the occasional psionic who moves closer than the crossbowmen.
It's the only entrance to the area so I don't see a way to cheese this.
I will come back with a cloaking device and see if I can sneak further in and set up my traps and stage the fight elsewhere, but will need the gas grenades to deal with the immense number of enemies on this map. Also, I should remember to use Crawler Poison caltrops.

You mean Magnar's lair? It's fun, but requires some careful preparation.

As soon as you enter the area, there's one guy patrolling the S-N corridor. Shank him. Go north and euthanize some savage women. Now, there's yet another guy patrolling W-E corridor. Shank him as well - you can lay traps at the end of his route, he will step on them again and again; if you have TC imprint then it's easy. Then, there's some savages guarding the W-E corridor. You have to remove some of them. You can shank one and use vanishing powder, or lay down traps and lure them in. In my PSI run I managed to remove so much guys with the imprint that I fought Magnar 1 on 1, but that's not necessary: you need to remove enough guys to sufficiently trap down the eastern side of W-E corridor. After than, fun is on the way: use burrower traps or better, chemical ones; gas grenades (you better start with them, they need time to disperse their gifts), incendiaries (bigger - better), caltrops if needed; use the corner to breaks the LoS and poke down at poor bastards while they choking and burning simultaneously.

Although, to think of it, you can use the northern room as your safe spot - it provides cover, you can break LoS, and it's easier to trap the bottleneck, just north of the intersection. But you still had to shank one patrolling guy and some savage women.

 

[Parabalus]

Do people know which maps exactly are and aren't necessary to clear for this? I killed only the outlying main coastal ones, no bosses and not the island either. yahota now says 'less activity than before the first attack

Magnar, Oyensorm and entire north-western corner of the map. That's enough. If you go along the western shore, just advance north. It's not necessary to go east past JSH - although I do, for sport.

Isn't it enough to kill the four bosses? The rest can be ignored.

 

[Yaz]

Hrm. Well, that means 5 DEX (needed for other things anyway) and some 55SP on Melee to get Spear Guardian, as well as 7STR/CON for Shield Arm, and probably 10STR to push that as main stat. Leaving little for PER => no Frag. Chaos => no crit maximisation? And then there's a lot of feat starvation going on between Shotgun feats and Spear Guard / Juggernaut / Versatility. We're also talking about the need to hit someone with a spear every turn to activate Guard. Seems really fiddly to constantly run around as a 3 AGI tin can doing spear hits and then shotgunning. Am I missing something?

Well, in this case you'd power Guns with Versatility. Personally I wouldn't take any Shotgun feats other than Sixth Shell/Leading Shot, which still makes them very consistent, nonetheless. Mind you, I've used this in the past and enjoyed it. Wouldn't suggest it otherwise. In case you do want to take more ranged weapon feats you could very well play with 9/6/3/7/6/3/6. Bear in mind that Spears have Impale which can do a ton of damage on Tungsten Spears with Cheap Shots and Critical Power which, at least in my opinion, will take away from the need to crit with Shotguns. Armor Sloping, Strider Metal Boots and Super Steel sets can still keep you quite mobile while providing a ton of Mechanical Resistance. With Heavy Armour you wouldn't really need defensive perks other than Spear Block. Even Juggernaut is optional as currently I am using full Tungsten Steel set on a 3 Con Psicher and I find the HP bonus to be enough.

But of course all that is moot if you're not going to enjoy playing it . It is down to personal preference at the end of the day.

 

[Parabalus]

I'm sure it's more fun, it's just I've just played mobile energy pistolero and mobile swordsman, so I want to go more tin-canny while trying shotguns properly for the first time. Not sure how it can work, though.

I ran https://underrail.info/build/?HggFCAMNAwYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMKx378 without much trouble through DOM.

If you wanted more tin-canny I'd go https://underrail.info/build/?HgYFBgoKAwbCoAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHMAAADCtmNiO8KwHh_ClhXCj8KYKznfvw.

With All-In in the game now you can dump INT to 3 comfortably as well.

 

[Black Angel]

I think these two builds can be married in one. You could take the best of each and even make an Assault Rifle/Sniper hybrid. I think you could easily lower Per a bit for more flexibility with other stats.

Yeah, but the reason why I split the build into 2 at the point after lvl 14 is because I want one to be a pure hit-n-runner, while the other one plays around traps while staying still and hiding behind walls once in a while.

I might also plan a Gun Nut character who can use most, if not all guns, though it won't take the Gun Nut feat because 2-3 extra points into INT is just too much like Wildan from Underrail forum once said.

There's the new Exoskeletal Armour which gives +2 Str when powered on. With Vitality Powder you could start using the Balor Hammer fairly early(as soon as you hit 13 Str, basically.) You could even look into Stoicism +5/Aegis/Morphine for full damage immunity while swinging away. Probably best used with a TM psion as getting two good turns to swing the hammer might not be enough to clean everything up. I don't know how the movement point of the Exoskeleton is calculated exactly - it's a bit unclear. You could still use the Regalia for smaller fights, though.

It's gonna be a bit of a glass cannon hammer, I only put points into Dodge-Evasion as kind of a crutch to help with its defensive capabilities, and also points into the technology skills because I want to craft stuff before getting the wanted equipment and also because I have no idea where else to put those points into.

Still, the build is planned for Normal as I said, so I never really thought deeper than that like you did.

Black Angel, not a big fan of Temporal Manipulation? 70 invested points in it can take you a long way.

Not exactly. I've said it before and I'll say it again: TM is the new crafting. Literally every builds I've seen since its implementation has 70 flat points put into TM, it became kinda boring to see.

That, and the builds are planned for Normal, so I doubt TM investment is a must-have, unlike for Hard or DOMINATING.

I haven't played Sniper in a long time, but that high PE is overkill. I think I used to have it either 12 or 14 on Hard, I do not remember exactly.

Well, it's for maximum damage possible. Not to mention it's an all-out min-maxed sniper archetype, split into a hit-n-runner and a trapper.

 

[BING XI LAO]

You mean Magnar's lair? It's fun, but requires some careful preparation.

As soon as you enter the area, there's one guy patrolling the S-N corridor. Shank him. Go north and euthanize some savage women. Now, there's yet another guy patrolling W-E corridor. Shank him as well - you can lay traps at the end of his route, he will step on them again and again; if you have TC imprint then it's easy. Then, there's some savages guarding the W-E corridor. You have to remove some of them. You can shank one and use vanishing powder, or lay down traps and lure them in. In my PSI run I managed to remove so much guys with the imprint that I fought Magnar 1 on 1, but that's not necessary: you need to remove enough guys to sufficiently trap down the eastern side of W-E corridor. After than, fun is on the way: use burrower traps or better, chemical ones; gas grenades (you better start with them, they need time to disperse their gifts), incendiaries (bigger - better), caltrops if needed; use the corner to breaks the LoS and poke down at poor bastards while they choking and burning simultaneously.

Although, to think of it, you can use the northern room as your safe spot - it provides cover, you can break LoS, and it's easier to trap the bottleneck, just north of the intersection. But you still had to shank one patrolling guy and some savage women.

I meant the area just before Magnar's own area - the first cave area. I couldn't sneak inside (even with 269 effective), or pick anyone off alone. I did however manage to kill the first guy with bear traps which then let me lay a deeper, more forward-placed field of traps in front of me, right next to the next guy using quick tinkering. Then I started things off with cryo and gas grenades, with frag IV to kill the occasional crossbowman and psionic. Very squishy character but survived the crossbowmen by killing them, also thanks to some bolts missing, and having a good shield plus morphine and of course stimpacks.

Thanks for the advice, will finish Magnar off tomorrow after another shopping trip, mostly for another 20 or so bear traps.

two screenshots

 

[Black Angel]

I still had couple of builds I planned that I haven't restored from memory, like a hit-n-run spear girl (inspired by Proxima Midnight), Roland of Gilead, tech-junkie etc etc,

Proxima (hit-n-run spear girl), Roland of Gilead, and Captain America has been restored

Proxima
https://underrail.info/build/?Hg4HC...pNBBksxAMKxwqZ44rOOAuKzmAXis6ID4rOkA-K3iQLfvw

Roland of Gilead (turns out I made this way back in 2018, before Expedition, huh?)
https://underrail.info/build/?HgUNB...kkFwE5HiZZLyhbM0tPOhHCs8Kk4pyaBeKftgXio6YF378

Captain America
https://underrail.info/build/?Hg4IB...AYHS8KCwqrCqyR8wrbCqeKhkAXisKQF4ra1AuK2tgPfvw

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[Ol' Willy]

For those who are not fond of JSH tricks...

 

[Tigranes]

If you have stealth + hacking, JSH can be relatively simple - you can stealth into the northwest room without alerting the camera, close the door, loot the Haxxor and cell (but without going to the left side to wake the strongman), then just hack open the door to your stuff.

Without, it gets... laborious.

 

[Ol' Willy]

Without, it gets... laborious.

Yeah, there's TNT in the room to the north, but it's guarded by two robots and you still need lots of stealth. Also, with my PSI build I was able to kill one robot (in the room with Haxxor) completely naked. Funny stuff.

But my way is the easiest one.

 

[Black Angel]

Proxima
https://underrail.info/build/?Hg4HC...pNBBksxAMKxwqZ44rOOAuKzmAXis6ID4rOkA-K3iQLfvw

if you boost agi that high one should take veteran sprint no?

if movement pts is what you are after, there is fancy footwork and sweep.

but then... why bother with blocking and uncanny dodge when you have so much movement?

Well, it's based on Proxima Midnight. Specifically the one from Marvel mobile MOBA, where she's very mobile with lots of dashing skills, and an innate ability to attack from range every time she cast an ability. But yeah, I took Fend and Spear Guardian because they felt like mandatory spear feats. I'll ditch Fend for Blitz, but Fancy Footwork would feel underwhelming considering with spears I could only attack twice a turn, three with Adrenaline Shot. Once again, since it's planned for Normal, I won't be investing any points into TM.

Good idea with taking Expert Sprint, though. Guess I'll ditch Monster Slayer for that. It now looks like this:
https://underrail.info/build/?Hg0HC...HQQZLMQDCscKmwqXis44C4rOYBeKzogPis6QD4reJAt-_

here is my meme brutality mobile spearman/spearwoman/spearchild that i hope to try one day
https://underrail.info/build/?GgwHD...AAAAAAAAAAMKMVTkkHRZEBsKswpVHEsKBwpRLwoXCpd-_

I think its either about expert sprint or fancy footwork that one should go for.

You should name it Vlad the Impaler, instead.

 

[ItsChon]

I must say, I've been very underwhelmed with Temporal Manipulation after the Psi nerfs. The debuff you get from the AP/MP boost ability is a big negative, and it hits super often when you stop putting points into TM after 70. Think it's a skip for a lot of my builds now. I'll be posting this as a placeholder for my hyper mobile, run around and stab people Spearmen.

https://underrail.info/build/?FAwGCgMDAwcAbgBuAABuS0oAAGBgNwBXAAAAAEMAADlPGcKVFsKUEkfCrMKTHSnfvw

 

[Parabalus]

Proxima
https://underrail.info/build/?Hg4HC...pNBBksxAMKxwqZ44rOOAuKzmAXis6ID4rOkA-K3iQLfvw

if you boost agi that high one should take veteran sprint no?

if movement pts is what you are after, there is fancy footwork and sweep.

but then... why bother with blocking and uncanny dodge when you have so much movement?

Well, it's based on Proxima Midnight. Specifically the one from Marvel mobile MOBA, where she's very mobile with lots of dashing skills, and an innate ability to attack from range every time she cast an ability. But yeah, I took Fend and Spear Guardian because they felt like mandatory spear feats. I'll ditch Fend for Blitz, but Fancy Footwork would feel underwhelming considering with spears I could only attack twice a turn, three with Adrenaline Shot. Once again, since it's planned for Normal, I won't be investing any points into TM.

Good idea with taking Expert Sprint, though. Guess I'll ditch Monster Slayer for that. It now looks like this:
https://underrail.info/build/?Hg0HC...HQQZLMQDCscKmwqXis44C4rOYBeKzogPis6QD4reJAt-_

here is my meme brutality mobile spearman/spearwoman/spearchild that i hope to try one day
https://underrail.info/build/?GgwHD...AAAAAAAAAAMKMVTkkHRZEBsKswpVHEsKBwpRLwoXCpd-_

I think its either about expert sprint or fancy footwork that one should go for.

You should name it Vlad the Impaler, instead.

I'd take Escape Artist over Weaponsmith or Recklessness, the slight loss is damage is worth not tearing your hair out.

Also a lot of crafting, the max bonuses now are +5 INT + benches.

I must say, I've been very underwhelmed with Temporal Manipulation after the Psi nerfs. The debuff you get from the AP/MP boost ability is a big negative, and it hits super often when you stop putting points into TM after 70. Think it's a skip for a lot of my builds now. I'll be posting this as a placeholder for my hyper mobile, run around and stab people Spearmen.

https://underrail.info/build/?FAwGCgMDAwcAbgBuAABuS0oAAGBgNwBXAAAAAEMAADlPGcKVFsKUEkfCrMKTHSnfvw

You still get access to Stasis which is extremely powerful. Still worth taking, but using more as a last resort, than as a standard opener in every fight.

What surprised me about the nerf is that casting a new instance of haste doesn't remove the slow debuff (happens when the slow is 6 turns).