Underrail: The Incline Awakens

[Trashos]

Yeah, I am on DOM. It is my 2nd playthrough on DOM (but I quit the first one before DC, because I wanted to redesign that build). The funny thing is that being on DOM I am missing some of the easier oddities, like drops from sentry bots and giant crabs (as on DOM a lot of them have been replaced by plasma bots and colossal crabs, respectively). Anyway, we are talking about 3 oddities missing in total, so it is not a big deal.

So, I bit the bullet and did one of the native bosses, Eldran. It was a coastal assault and it went well. It often looked like a lot of things could go wrong, but they didn't. Not sure if that's the easiest assault on the natives. If I am told there is an easier one, I might do that one as well.

I am now missing 10 oddity points to reach lvl28, and I haven't finished the Tchort Physics questline yet (that damn Toxic Waste Facility...), so I am sure to achieve my goal of reaching lvl28 before Arke.

Spark Mandriller, cheers. My style in the Forest and the Labyrinth (and DC in general, tbh) is get in-get out ASAP, so I do not even know where most of those oddities are. I think I do not usually get so many oddities there, but we will see what happens this time that I am more conscious about it.

 

[AdamReith]

Really got into this over the last few weeks. This game is truly a masterpiece.

That said, I am now level 14 and so far have not really been able to craft anything better than what I've found. Am still wearing coretech gear, did craft a shotgun with a few more points of damage but other than that pretty poor return for the huge investment of points.

Chemistry definitely made a big impact with the cheap room clearing grenades, but other than that crafting has made a marginal difference at best.

Still, speaks to the flexibility of the game (at least on normal).

Riddle me this, Codex. Meeting these beetle brains lately, is there truly no defense to their psionic bullshit? Alpha strike is the only tactical option for a non psionic build?

 

[Trashos]

OK, I have reached Arke (having already done the Mushroom Forest and the Labyrinth). Arke is known to piss me off out of my mind, so I 'd better give my opinion on Dominating before that happens.

Generally, I like Dominating, and I will not be returning to Hard. Dominating forced me to improve my tactics, and I have definitely become a better/more accurate player. In certain locations I had to take several minutes to consider my tactics anew. I learnt to apply tactics that I had heard of, but had never used before (like splitting a group of enemies by planting traps that one of them can see).

On the other hand, Dominating is not strictly a better experience than Hard. Imo, certain locations play better on Hard. For example, due to the increased number of enemies, it is not possible to stealth through all areas that were possible to stealth through on Hard (or maybe it is possible, but it requires luck). To me, this makes such areas more enjoyable on Hard. An example of this is the 1st level of the Hathor mine. The DC labyrinth requires luck to stealth through on Hard too, but on Dominating it looks impossible to even try to stealth through it. We definitely expect our options to be more limited on a higher difficulty, but when I have 250+ Stealth I would like to be able to use it.

It should also be noted that I do not recommend Dominating for beginners. Beginners 'd better focus on learning the game's elaborate and magnificent systems on lower difficulties.

But in summary, I will be be staying on Dominating from now on.

 

[Trashos]

Riddle me this, Codex. Meeting these beetle brains lately, is there truly no defense to their psionic bullshit? Alpha strike is the only tactical option for a non psionic build?

There is the Bullhead pill, but it requires Biology 80 and one of the ingredients (Nidamental Gel) is acquired by fishing. There is also the Thick Skull feat, but it requires CON 10.

 

[AdamReith]

Riddle me this, Codex. Meeting these beetle brains lately, is there truly no defense to their psionic bullshit? Alpha strike is the only tactical option for a non psionic build?

There is the Bullhead pill, but it requires Biology 80 and one of the ingredients (Nidamental Gel) is acquired by fishing. There is also the Thick Skull feat, but it requires CON 10.

Man, I haven't done any fishing yet. Forgot it was a thing after junkyard.

Guess it's finally time to get my rod out.

Also, keeping all my junk in the private quarters was definitely the way to go. There was a delivery service that moved everything for me when I got the new lair, very handy.

 

[lukaszek]

on Dominating it looks impossible to even try to stealth through it

I did that on Dom. Mind you sometimes critters wander and can enter impossible state, forcing you to wait until they spread again.
I usually try to farm some oddities in that mine by picking lone bugs

as for labyrinth... yeah

 

[Spark Mandriller]

That said, I am now level 14 and so far have not really been able to craft anything better than what I've found. Am still wearing coretech gear, did craft a shotgun with a few more points of damage but other than that pretty poor return for the huge investment of points.

Custom shotguns are much better than found ones. Pump action shotgun can have a foregrip put on (the description says they're for SMGs, but it still works) so it only takes 20 AP per shot instead of 25, so that's cool. Auto shotguns can have extended magazines for +3 magsize so you can spam harder before reloading. Both big upgrades. Also there's a choke which means you do less damage so it's terrible and I don't know why it's in the game. Why is it in the game, Styg? The tighter burst cone is a negative instead of a positive half the time since hitting enemies with stray pellets is good. It wouldn't be worth it even if there was no damage penalty. It wouldn't be worth it even if there was no damage penalty and it had its own slot so it wasn't competing with foregrip or magazine. Why is it in the game?
Also custom armour is way better too.

 

[AdamReith]

That said, I am now level 14 and so far have not really been able to craft anything better than what I've found. Am still wearing coretech gear, did craft a shotgun with a few more points of damage but other than that pretty poor return for the huge investment of points.

Custom shotguns are much better than found ones. Pump action shotgun can have a foregrip put on (the description says they're for SMGs, but it still works) so it only takes 20 AP per shot instead of 25, so that's cool. Auto shotguns can have extended magazines for +3 magsize so you can spam harder before reloading. Both big upgrades. Also there's a choke which means you do less damage so it's terrible and I don't know why it's in the game. Why is it in the game, Styg? The tighter burst cone is a negative instead of a positive half the time since hitting enemies with stray pellets is good. It wouldn't be worth it even if there was no damage penalty. It wouldn't be worth it even if there was no damage penalty and it had its own slot so it wasn't competing with foregrip or magazine. Why is it in the game?
Also custom armour is way better too.

Custom armour is the big disappointment. After pumping tailoring all game and finding >100 quality components I can't make armour better than my coretech suit without jacking up armour penalty to crazy numbers.

You are right about the magazine capacity upgrade on the shotty, that was quite the boon. There are so many shotguns in shops though that you can definitely find a high damage one without crafting.

Weapon crafting seems good overall but tailoring and electronics have been crap so far compared to my sick coretech gear that also makes me look bad ass. Can imagine faceless shitting thselves as I approach. I also found a 600 capacity shield very early and haven't been able to craft anything that comes remotely close so far.

Loved crafting cave ear poisoned caltrops to screw over ranged and melee goons all at once, I wish there was a poison that robbed these pricks of psionic power.

 

[jackofshadows]

Custom armour is the big disappointment. After pumping tailoring all game and finding >100 quality components I can't make armour better than my coretech suit without jacking up armour penalty to crazy numbers.

Without spoiling I can say that you haven't seen all the leather armors yet.

Spoiler

infused rathound leather armor gives 10%+ crit chance and you cannot buy it

There are so many shotguns in shops though that you can definitely find a high damage one without crafting.

Yes you can but it takes immense amount of luck to buy with -ap and tbqh I'm not even sure they're on sale. There's also gun nut feat which allows to craft guns with more damage. Not even nearly necessary on normal though.

I also found a 600 capacity shield very early and haven't been able to craft anything that comes remotely close so far.

W/o craft realistically speaking you can find/buy ~1000 shield with meh threshholds. You can craft ~1500 with much better threshholds or 2k one with power management feat.

I wish there was a poison that robbed these pricks of psionic power.

There is =)

 

[Sheepherder]

Riddle me this, Codex. Meeting these beetle brains lately, is there truly no defense to their psionic bullshit? Alpha strike is the only tactical option for a non psionic build?

Do you mean the damage from the Neural Overload they cast? If so, there's Morphine drug, Aegis drug, Stoicism feat and a Veteran feat against electricity. Neural Overload ignores DR/DT, but is still affected by your damage modifier.

 

[Trashos]

WTH?! Why are there 7 tchortlings outside the gate that leads to Tchort? Is it supposed to be like this on DOM? The debuff has only hit me a couple of times throughout.

 

[Corbin Dallas Multipass]

I want to like this game. I loved fallout 2's combat. I love the build variety. The writing is pretty meh, but it doesn't get in the way either.

But everytime I finish up the junkyard depot quest, and the world opens up, I completely lose interest. I've done the arena fights, clearing the mines, stuff like that, but the game just feels totally aimless at that point.

I've done the assault rifle/sniper rifle tin can, stealthy knife guy, shotgun and assault rifle guy, psi monk guy, psi wizard... Some were clearly better than others, but once I got into act 2, I just quickly lost interest.

Does the game pick back up after that?

 

[jackofshadows]

Does the game pick back up after that?

Like the description on Steam claims, it really is a game with focus on exloration and combat. Sure, it has some awesome quests, remarkable even (a few aside from tons of others, which mostly are designed to send you to some cool dungeon like in M&M series) but if you aren't hooked already, if you aren't eager to explore the game's world, to find exciting locations (and to say there's plenty would be understatement, especially if we count the expansion) and if you aren't eager to see the more or less full potential of your current char, then - hardly, I'd say. A shame.

 

[Trashos]

Does the game pick back up after that?

That's the best part of the game for me.
It is open world, but what do you mean "aimless"? You have a main quest to do. Do the main quest. If you feel underleveled for it, then that's your motivation for the other quests: level up!

Then again, if it is not inviting you to explore it or challenge your build, it could be that it is not the game for you.

 

[AdamReith]

For me, I was getting intimidated the moment I left the Junkyard. Core city wrecked my head and just felt too big and aimless.

When I restarted to focus on crafting something clicked, wandering down endless tunnels scrounging garbage, jumping when a crawler ambushes you; this stuff is the meat of the game. It does have fun Fallout style combat encounters but this game is more like the sections you explore the glow or an abandoned vault, endless bunkers full of bastards and hostile wildlife. I think this allows it to sit alongside Fallout without it really attempting to be the same thing.

Also I really recommend finding somebody to have a few drinks with at Rail Crossing before making any kind of judgement on this game. That sequence could have been from Fallout for sure.

 

[Twiglard]

I also found a 600 capacity shield very early and haven't been able to craft anything that comes remotely close so far.

It's the best complete shield you're gonna get. Mid-game crafted shield is 1200 hp. Mid-late game shield is 1600 hp. Late game is some ~2200 hp.

Also make yourself some night vision goggles with either critical chance or a smart module. Add a good power core so you don't have to reload them with 30 energy batteries.

 

[ItsChon]

That said, I am now level 14 and so far have not really been able to craft anything better than what I've found. Am still wearing coretech gear, did craft a shotgun with a few more points of damage but other than that pretty poor return for the huge investment of points.

Crafting armor and weapons picks up once you get to around level 16+ I'd say, as it's only then that you get enough skill points to truly make some dominating gear that is better than what you can find on the market. And that's not even mentioning a lot of the custom armor that you can only craft and not buy when it comes to leather armors and such.

Riddle me this, Codex. Meeting these beetle brains lately, is there truly no defense to their psionic bullshit? Alpha strike is the only tactical option for a non psionic build?

If you're a tank, you can deal with up to four goliathus's fairly comfortably I'd say, but larger numbers than that and you're going to have a hard time surviving their massive damage output.

I want to like this game. I loved fallout 2's combat. I love the build variety. The writing is pretty meh, but it doesn't get in the way either.

But everytime I finish up the junkyard depot quest, and the world opens up, I completely lose interest. I've done the arena fights, clearing the mines, stuff like that, but the game just feels totally aimless at that point.

I've done the assault rifle/sniper rifle tin can, stealthy knife guy, shotgun and assault rifle guy, psi monk guy, psi wizard... Some were clearly better than others, but once I got into act 2, I just quickly lost interest.

Does the game pick back up after that?

If you rush to core city right away than I'd say no. Once the world opens up I like to go Camp Hathor, Rail Crossing, Foundry, and then Core City in that order, and the game flows really well that way. It's possible you're overwhelming yourself by rushing Core City early and this will help put some structure into the game to keep you motivated, but chances are the game just isn't for you if you've tried so many builds and just can't stay motivated.

I personally think the world building is quite excellent, and the writing pretty damn good, so those things kept me interested, along with the great combat and so on.

 

[Ol' Willy]

An example of this is the 1st level of the Hathor mine.

Did that - I sneaked around but killed them all after regardless. So, possible, but tedious.

The DC labyrinth requires luck to stealth through on Hard too, but on Dominating it looks impossible to even try to stealth through it.

I would kill myself if I would be forced to stealth through the labyrinth at any difficulty. Why do that when you can get 100% immunity?

 

[Trashos]

An example of this is the 1st level of the Hathor mine.

Did that - I sneaked around but killed them all after regardless. So, possible, but tedious.

How? I do not see how it is possible.
Both times I did this area on DOM there were always several burrowers and spawn right at the ladder. I would stealth kill the ones that would move away to thin out their numbers, but there were still several.

I would kill myself if I would be forced to stealth through the labyrinth at any difficulty. Why do that when you can get 100% immunity?

Right, I do it by going 100% Acid resistance myself. But this dungeon has obviously been designed to have a stealth solution too, and I do not think it works very well. Too small room for error for a long time, and too much luck needed.

lukaszek reported above that he did it by stealth with a lot of patience. I respect that, but I still believe it needs luck regardless of patience. There is very little room with all those creatures around.

 

[Fenix]

Fetid Marsh

Just not this.

 

[Sykar]

game is crap now when it comes to builds that ignore crit damage.

I disagree. Pure TM builds can't even crit to begin with and do just fine. Hammer (especially Balor) builds don't particularly care about crits since their base damage is obscene to begin with and they have no reliable way of getting them. Everything else benefits from crits more or less but can also be played without heavy focus on them, like ARs, SMGs or any tranq psi.

Pure Tranq PSI still wants Psychostatic Electricity and in fact max Specialization points in it to deal with robots. It is doable without but having 70% crit and Tranq crit bonus helps a lot against them. Continuum Ripple is workable but waiting 2 turns and hope that RNG is merciful is not much fun tbh.

 

[Trashos]

I have started a TC/PK build on DOM. This is my 2nd effort at a psi build with the new system (the first one was TC/TM). While I prefer the new psi system to the old one, here are some suggestions that I believe would improve it.

- Introduce a feat that increases psi slots. If the developers would rather not increase psi slots for psi support builds, the feat could have a minimum requirement of Will 8 (and maybe INT 8 too).

- I believe that psi inhalants should be usable in combat. If the developers are with two minds over this, maybe they can make them usable in combat with a huge AP price (40-50 AP), so that there will still be reason to use a psi booster instead, depending on the situation.

- There is the issue with Neurology and the Psi Circuit Extension mod losing their bonus when momentarily replacing the psi headband with something else. Psi builds do a lot of headband replacing, be it for trap detection or stealth. This is downright annoying, and it has made me avoid psi extensions and the Neurology feat. I believe the bonus should return when the headband is put back.

 

[Wunderbar]

Version 1.1.4.5

Bugs

• Hopefully fixed the multiplying ghosts
  
• TNT will now properly destealth targets
  
• You'll now be able to activate Bullet Time while on jet ski or immobilized, and it will no longer use Blitz specialization cooldown reduction
  
• Spikes and blades will now properly add to the sledgehammer value
  
• [Expedition] Fixed the value of Stabilization Wings
  
• Fixed Hypno Goggles and other variable rares starting durability
  
• Bullet strap belt will not longer help with acid vial reloading
  
• Fixed the glitch with the stun animation of some hunchback mutants
  
• Frigid Environment debuff will now be able to reduce from 100% resistance as well
  
• Fixed several nonfunctional ventilation shafts in a random early game dungeon
  
• Fixed numerous unintended faction relations with mutated player which were happening upon reloading the game
  
• Minor dialog and map fixes

 

[Major_Blackhart]

I actually started using different armors, messing around with stuff and solutions and such with a pistol fighter, and HOLY FUCK the Fetid Marshes and huge chunks of Expedition became a NOTHING after using the Chemical Assault Armor and Biohazard Boots.

 

[ItsChon]

I actually started using different armors, messing around with stuff and solutions and such with a pistol fighter, and HOLY FUCK the Fetid Marshes and huge chunks of Expedition became a NOTHING after using the Chemical Assault Armor and Biohazard Boots.

I went through them on Dominating with Tungsten Metal Armor on my Psi Sledgehammer Build and it was honestly a fun location. Perhaps this whole time, Styg has wanted to encourage using various different armors throughout one playthrough, to adept to your enemies. Maybe he was right all along...

EDIT: But there is one fight where you aggro like 6-10 Sea Wyrms all at once on Dominating which is just fucking ridiculous, like come on Styg.