Underrail: The Incline Awakens

[Blaine]

going back to a loud build that has enemies rushing you immediately is hard at the very beginning—especially with the new AP reservation mechanic.

Really? I found it much easier since the loud things tend to give you a lot more punch than silent stuff. Plus, if you ignore stealth, you can afford to wear some good protection rather than relying on dodging and evading

The six rathounds all coming around a fence in Crossroads at the same time and reserving 10 AP when it takes 3-4 shots with your starter peashooter to kill one of them is a bit rough, even with flares. Also, their fear of fire wears off suspiciously quickly now.

At that juncture, though, every incendiary grenade you find or buy is essentially an I Win button, so for the first time I can recall, I opted for purchasing victories. Normally, I try to scrimp and conserve in the early game.

After that, I got a new random quest location with terrible dialogue writing that dropped a load of loot on me, and from then on I was mowing things down with a shotgun and SMG while wearing an 11 DT overcoat.

 

[epeli]

Also, I'm playing on experimental and don't even know if epeli's global.dat packing tool will work properly.

At this point I can guarantee it will never stop working for original Underrail, but it is probably the most painful option for editing your character.

 

[fredsteel]

Well lads, I had a brain fart and accidentally rolled with 5 AGL and 3 DEX.

I could load up my hex editor and some form of active memory analyzer, but that seems like a lot of trouble. Also, I'm playing on experimental and don't even know if epeli's global.dat packing tool will work properly.

I really don't want to roll with it, either, as I opted for DEX over AGI for a reason.

I think I'll instead opt to design a new build other than AR tin can and start over, since I'm only just to GMS Compound, and making builds is half the fun anyway.

And let me tell you, after running a stealth build last year, going back to a loud build that has enemies rushing you immediately is hard at the very beginning—especially with the new AP reservation mechanic.

Update is on main branch now, no need for experimental build.

 

[Blaine]

Few questions about the sniper build I'm tinkering with:

• How important is Strafe? Can/should I rely on a sidearm instead, perhaps a shotgun (and perhaps with Barrel Stare in lieu of Strafe)?

• Do I truly need high critical chance (specifically, Recklessness and Scrutinous) when neither Aimed Shot nor Snipe utilize crit chance, and I plan to generally use Smart Goggles and Anatomically Aware Scope?

• Almost certainly going to be wearing goggles, will most likely skip Dodge. Uncanny Dodge seems marginal with low skill. Should I fit Evasion into the build? My Spec Ops SMG guy could easily do without, and shield emitters soak bullets handily.

• Hit and Run would certainly synergize well with feats like Blitz and Strider, for fucking off after converting MP and popping cooldowns. Worth including?

• Mildly considering relying on Traps instead of Throwing for the first time since my Crossbows build, but....

That's about it, really.

 

[roll-a-die]

I'm gonna say this now, if this shits sequel is as good as this shit, I'mma probably play the shit out of it too. I've just made it through Rail Crossing.

My basic build is a DnD rogue. Sneak and stab, and die if I don't kill things quick enough.

0 Crafting skills, some talky skills. Mostly combat and stealing.

 

[Tygrende]

Few questions about the sniper build I'm tinkering with:

• How important is Strafe? Can/should I rely on a sidearm instead, perhaps a shotgun (and perhaps with Barrel Stare in lieu of Strafe)?

• Do I truly need high critical chance (specifically, Recklessness and Scrutinous) when neither Aimed Shot nor Snipe utilize crit chance, and I plan to generally use Smart Goggles and Anatomically Aware Scope?

• Almost certainly going to be wearing goggles, will most likely skip Dodge. Uncanny Dodge seems marginal with low skill. Should I fit Evasion into the build? My Spec Ops SMG guy could easily do without, and shield emitters soak bullets handily.

• Hit and Run would certainly synergize well with feats like Blitz and Strider, for fucking off after converting MP and popping cooldowns. Worth including?

• Mildly considering relying on Traps instead of Throwing for the first time since my Crossbows build, but....

That's about it, really.

• Strafe is almost mandatory on a sniper build. With spearhead it results in 0% move penalty, which is invalueable.
• You need high crit chance because both Aimed Shot and Snipe will be typically used on 1st turn and tere's no time to wait around. Ideally you should replace smart goggles with seekers once your damage gets good enough. With the W2C nerf this will come later. Might even need to put some spec points in crit power.
• Uncanny dodge can be a difference between life and death even at base 3 stacks, I would take it almost always if I had the AGI for it even if I didn't pump dodge beyond the requirement. Evasion is not necessary, but it helps if you have the points for it.
• Hit and Run is not bad but I think Sprint is more valueable and sufficent. You often need MP the most when you are not killing anything on that particular turn.
• Traps are good on any build, just better on crossbows. Quick Tinkering is still as broken as always.

Also worth nothing - while TM benefits any build and is overall pretty broken, it synergises even better with snipers. It offers everything they need, more than other builds - you need AP because you get fewer attacks, you need MP from contraction because you will always start fights out of stealth and possibly restealth to use Snipe again, you need cooldown reduction because snipers are all about getting Shooting Spree faster and reusing Aimed Shot and often as possible.

 

[lukaszek]

never compromise, never pick cave wizardry

 

[Knifegaf]

never compromise, never pick cave wizardry

I went psiless once. The build centered around having 100% mech reduction when at low health without the need for morphine. The downside was that any other type of damage would almost certainly kill me so I opted to go psiless and stack as much con and health as possible to give myself extra buffer. I finally achieved my goal and after one fight the build was nerfed. The lesson here is clear. Psiless is bad and if you try to make it good it will be nerfed

 

[lukaszek]

never compromise, never pick cave wizardry

I went psiless once. The build centered around having 100% mech reduction when at low health without the need for morphine. The downside was that any other type of damage would almost certainly kill me so I opted to go psiless and stack as much con and health as possible to give myself extra buffer. I finally achieved my goal and after one fight the build was nerfed. The lesson here is clear. Psiless is bad and if you try to make it good it will be nerfed

just pick your larp man, plenty of pissless builds for dominating in this thread

 

[Knifegaf]

never compromise, never pick cave wizardry

I went psiless once. The build centered around having 100% mech reduction when at low health without the need for morphine. The downside was that any other type of damage would almost certainly kill me so I opted to go psiless and stack as much con and health as possible to give myself extra buffer. I finally achieved my goal and after one fight the build was nerfed. The lesson here is clear. Psiless is bad and if you try to make it good it will be nerfed

just pick your larp man, plenty of pissless builds for dominating in this thread

The one time I went psiless it was because I saw a reason to. Haven’t found another since and doubt I will

 

[lukaszek]

The one time I went psiless it was because I saw a reason to. Haven’t found another since and doubt I will

psi characters are old/ugly/stinky betas of underrail. Grillz are all over pissless chads

 

[Twiglard]

Then you can steal better parts from empty ray place

How is robbing Ray now possible? If that's the camera jammer item, where did you get it?

Anyway for those who don't know, the best location for pimping out your jet is the Abandoned Waterway Facility. Don't settle for anything but the biggest jets.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

Which battle-ski is best currently? Glow, Shark, Leviator or Devastator? Do those energy weapons work with lemco tesla armor?

Also, I really wish we had shield and pistol related feats like some sort of hunker down ability, where you essentially kneel behind your riot shield like a barricade, and for that turn can't move but your accuracy and rapid fire ability increase significantly as does your blocking from the front.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

Also I want a 2 hander type feat for swords so I can wield the claymore while decked in my tungsten armor like a fucking boss.

2 handed would either increase ability to bypass damage resistance thru sheer force or something similar.

 

[lukaszek]

Which battle-ski is best currently? Glow, Shark, Leviator or Devastator?

depends on your build, whether you need both balance things, how much you value movement etc.

Then you can steal better parts from empty ray place

How is robbing Ray now possible? If that's the camera jammer item, where did you get it?

Anyway for those who don't know, the best location for pimping out your jet is the Abandoned Waterway Facility. Don't settle for anything but the biggest jets.

it was always possible to rob parts from shelves in his shop. Granted those are RNG and on my last run I found only junk.
Jammer is given by phreak during his quests. It basically doubles the time before camera goes red.
It doesnt allow you to steal quality jets, as I stated its not enough to open the gate. It does allow you to steal few more jets in front of the shop.
With jammer its possible to steal parts from some of the quality jets

 

[Major_Blackhart]

I do wish there were random encounters on the water where the devastator was the most optimal, like some sort of situation of encountering protectorate scum on well armored and armed skiffs, etc.

 

[lukaszek]

I do wish there were random encounters on the water where the devastator was the most optimal, like some sort of situation of encountering protectorate scum on well armored and armed skiffs, etc.

That would have to be pretty special encounter indeed. Take for example that pirates vs protectorate armored cruiser battle. With ultra light jet, turbo mode on, my stabby guy could board the ship and kill/disable all the defenses for a turn. All so that pirate named npc would survive.

I guess devastator could make some sense in encounter where you are surrounded by weak wildlife and you cant rely on movement to keep out of harm way.
Or some dark entity that can only be harmed by its gun(besides torch)?

 

[random_name]

How much do you have to min-max on normal difficulty? It seems like the game really begs you to stealth but at level 2 I have no points in it.

 

[ItsChon]

How much do you have to min-max on normal difficulty? It seems like the game really begs you to stealth but at level 2 I have no points in it.

You don't need to min-max but you do need a cohesive build. And you don't need stealth. Post your stats/skills?

 

[Blaine]

Thanks Tygrende, great advice.

I was hoping to avoid Strafe in order to sidestep being restricted to one primary weapon type that I'm specialized into to the exclusion of all others, just like (almost) every other primary weapon I've ever used since the beta. Ah, well.

However, I will never use psi again until the game stops receiving regular updates and it becomes feasible to mod the D&D-style Vancian spell slot system (which I've never liked) and all related gear and dialogue out of this science fiction game. Not only is it thematically inappropriate, it makes psi feel much more like a magic spells system, AND it fucks up the actual mechanics of psi powers.

I'm aware that TM is most suited to and especially OP for snipers, which is why I went on a rant about it earlier whilst I was contemplating playing a sniper.

It truly boggles my mind that Styg claims to be happy with the state of psi powers when TM works its way into nearly every min-maxed build and greatly empowers its offense. He nerfed pure psi builds but OP'd so many others, and it's just so annoying.

How much do you have to min-max on normal difficulty? It seems like the game really begs you to stealth but at level 2 I have no points in it.

The lower the difficulty, the less you have to min-max. On Normal, 10 in any important stat is as high as you generally need to go, or 12 if you really want to pump it (or meet a feat prerequisite).

This is partly why I never play above Hard. The inability to make lots of shekels is the other major reason.

 

[roll-a-die]

The difficulty spike at Carnifex's fight is INSANE. Like I went from literally steamrolling to dead first round 9/10 times.

 

[Blaine]

The difficulty spike at Carnifex's fight is INSANE. Like I went from literally steamrolling to dead first round 9/10 times.

I think you meant to say DOMINATING!

 

[jackofshadows]

I was hoping to avoid Strafe in order to sidestep being restricted to one primary weapon type that I'm specialized into to the exclusion of all others, just like (almost) every other primary weapon I've ever used since the beta. Ah, well.

Eh, it's more than possible. I did a DOM run without strafe and have been using shotgun as a side weapon, was all fine except for a few cases when the "left overs" were too far for shotgun to use (with sprint and contraction it's easy to manipulate the distance though).

However, I will never use psi again until the game stops receiving regular updates and it becomes feasible to mod the D&D-style Vancian spell slot system (which I've never liked) and all related gear and dialogue out of this science fiction game. Not only is it thematically inappropriate, it makes psi feel much more like a magic spells system, AND it fucks up the actual mechanics of psi powers.

Untill then (if that ever happens) you do realize that all the psi enemies and the lore is still there, right? To me however it feel much more appropriate on a contrary: to justify how the fuck MC is able to pull off what he's pulling off. And hybrid psi use like TM or say kinesis for imprint don't feel like juggling around "vancian magic" at all as well. Just inhaling "some stuff" occationally.

 

[Blaine]

I was hoping to avoid Strafe in order to sidestep being restricted to one primary weapon type that I'm specialized into to the exclusion of all others, just like (almost) every other primary weapon I've ever used since the beta. Ah, well.

However, I will never use psi again until the game stops receiving regular updates and it becomes feasible to mod the D&D-style Vancian spell slot system (which I've never liked) and all related gear and dialogue out of this science fiction game. Not only is it thematically inappropriate, it makes psi feel much more like a magic spells system, AND it fucks up the actual mechanics of psi powers.

Untill then (if that ever happens) you do realize that all the psi enemies and the lore is still there, right? To me however it feel much more appropriate on a contrary: to justify how the fuck MC is able to pull off what he's pulling off. And hybrid psi use like TM or say kinesis for imprint don't feel like juggling around "vancian magic" at all as well. Just inhaling "some stuff" occationally.

Psi itself I have no issue with. I loved my pre-nerf pure psi build. The dialogue I'm referring to is anything that mentions or refers to innervation slots.

Simply put, once the game is in a stable and finalized state, I will be ecstatic to see innervation, all related feats, and all related dialogue exorcised.

"Vancian magic" is a term that refers to magic styled similarly to that portrayed in the fiction of Jack Vance, as seen in D&D. Specifically, the notion of "spell slots" in the brain or soul filled with discrete memorized spells that are then discharged as they're used, emptying the slots, is very Vancian. The slots aren't emptied in Underrrail, yet there are even fewer of them than in, say, D&D.

Aside from my gripe with how innervation slots make psi powers "feel" to use, I've always hated them in RPGs. Tell me, how am I supposed to prepare for a scenario I haven't even encountered yet? Some psi powers are close to useless in one scenario, but near-mandatory in others. No doubt most players now either only use a few powerful, general-use powers, or else use meta knowledge, reloading, or a sneak peek to enter the scenario with exactly what's needed.

 

[Blaine]

I can already tell I'll be raging hard whenever I'm forced into some scripted gank box while playing this sniper. That's because I already have been: the "you didn't take Intimidation" punishment box beneath GMS Compound, complete with grenade-prohibitive grandpa. You know the one I mean. I swear there's nowhere else in the game across all of my playthroughs spanning >1,000 hours that I've had to reload more times total (couple of times, this time around) than this single, specific encounter. It's always a bit hard on stealth characters wearing pajamas, anyway.

The real punishment, of course, comes if you pass the super-easy persuasion check, because then you get gangbanged for certain.

Nevertheless, I'm determined to persevere. I have finished the game with a sledgehammer, a spear, a (pre-buff!) crossbow, pure psi, an SMG, and an assault rifle. That's six completed playthroughs that I can definitely recall. There have been partial others.

I will finish this game with the RNG rifle, I swear to fucking Christ, and I'm doing it on Hard. I don't think I can ever bring myself to do a sword build, since it's one of the most RNG-dependent weapons in computer RPG history, but someone must have accomplished it, and I truly can't fathom how.

Now to be fair, once I was past the punishment box, this build ran the table with the raiders perhaps more easily than any other, due to being able to deal a truckload of damage from all the way across the screen then vanish into a vent or doorway (when needed).