Underrail: The Incline Awakens

[ItsChon]

Phreak's Phones are decoded. This was a fucking fantastic puzzle, and you really get better as you do it. By the third phone, I was able to speed run through it without any mistakes, able to identify each of the three tones with only 1 or 2 replays. This is the kind of shit we need more of.

Eh. I had the same experience, but I would absolutely hate to do it every playthrough (including the spider + electroshock area). It comes down to if Underrail's going to be a murderhobo simulator moving forward or try to shore up its story and atmospheric experiences. An Infusion that had several sequences like Phreak Phones would be fine if I was playing it a couple of times, but not twenty.

The quest is completely optional, and I don't think the specific sounds are something I'll forget for a while. And considering the fact that I did the first two phones on twice the game speed before I realized I could slow down the rate at which they play, I have no issue with doing this every play through from now on.

 

[Trashos]

I wish to report a burglary...

Spoiler

So, in my last (unfinished) playthrough, I reported that now burglars can enter your Core City House. It was one burglar, he came out of the living room and murdered me.

In an effort to avoid paying for home security, in my current playthrough I experimented with locking the outside door every time I went out or came in (since I will be changing screens between ground floor and basement while indoors). Didn't work, a burglar still intruded.

Luckily, I realized quickly that a burglar was in the house, because the doors of my hallway lockers were open. I went stealth, entered the living room, bumped on him (he was in stealth too), and killed him. He had taken some of my stuff from my shelves!

I hope there are always signs I can notice early when a burglar is in the house. We will see. My question is, though, how did he enter? The door was locked, I haven't renovated the 2nd floor, and I do not see any other way in.

 

[Grunker]

I wish to report a burglary...

Spoiler

So, in my last (unfinished) playthrough, I reported that now burglars can enter your Core City House. It was one burglar, he came out of the living room and murdered me.

In an effort to avoid paying for home security, in my current playthrough I experimented with locking the outside door every time I went out or came in (since I will be changing screens between ground floor and basement while indoors). Didn't work, a burglar still intruded.

Luckily, I realized quickly that a burglar was in the house, because the doors of my hallway lockers were open. I went stealth, entered the living room, bumped on him (he was in stealth too), and killed him. He had taken some of my stuff from my shelves!

I hope there are always signs I can notice early when a burglar is in the house. We will see. My question is, though, how did he enter? The door was locked, I haven't renovated the 2nd floor, and I do not see any other way in.

Your character will always say "What was that?" when it happens. As well, if you open a storage locker where you had store stuff, you will say "Something's missing" or something to that effect. The missing items will be on the intruders corpse.

I haven't had any burglaries since paying for home security, but I don't know if that's a coincidence.

 

[Trashos]

Grunker, interesting, I haven't noticed the "What was that?" line. I will pay attention from now on.
Yeah, I saw the "something is missing" line after I killed him, but I do not know how much I can depend on it. It does not affect all shelves, and I also don't know how much time I have before he comes out to kill. The visibly opened lockers saved me this time.

Keep us posted on home security. Currently I am saving my money for super steel and the expensive jet ski, so I would rather avoid the investment.

 

[Grunker]

Grunker, interesting, I haven't noticed the "What was that?" line. I will pay attention from now on.
Yeah, I saw the "something is missing" line after I killed him, but I do not know how much I can depend on it. It does not affect all shelves, and I also don't know how much time I have before he comes out to kill. The visibly opened lockers saved me this time.

Keep us posted on home security. Currently I am saving my money for super steel and the expensive jet ski, so I would rather avoid the investment.

I'm going blind so I don't have the luxury of saving up for stuff I don't know I need :D (super steel I know, but I haven't started the expansion yet. just reached level 20 so I'm posting another status update soon)

I think you at least have close to infinite time as long as you don't leave the screen. And the "Something is missing" line will be stated every time you open a container with something missing from it.

 

[Grunker]

New status update.

Character

Spoiler

Finally reached 14 Dex breakpoint which I got to test in Epione Lab. Build finally feels unlocked (which also has something to do with the fact that I'm finally 5/5 in Bullet Time specialization and have the Contraction + Stasis combo). I killed the whole base, though it did take a couple of reloads.

Even though it is by this point totally clear to me how insane the Versatility build must be, it's actually kind of nice for QoL to have good detection. I spot most traps before I'm hit by them, and even the odd stealth enemy. Not Deathstalkers though, pieces of shit.

Feats:

Feats are as follows currently. Aimed Shot is a wash, as you warned, as I kindda knew it would be. Hit and Run is... weird. The ceiling of 25 move points means it isn't abusable, but what it does do is exactly what it says on the tin: say you're standing in a narrow corridor with enemies along it. Pistols can't hit shit at range. I got Ambush, so if I have darkness I can throw an Incendiary and compensate, but if not, I'm SoL. With H&R, I can kill one target, melee the next, and move along like that like a string of pearly kills. It is by no means an impressive feat and can easily be replaced, but it is very fun when it works.

I'll let you know once I've specialized in it how it goes.

Ambush continues to impress *big time*. To a point where I am exceedingly glad I took it, so thanks once again to jackofshadows for that piece of advice. Definitely a fun AND useful feat.

I'm also glad I stuck with Premeditation even though I almost took it out. Not having to worry about looking at how many AP I have left before using Stasis is good QoL. With Premeditation you can just fire at will and when you're out of AP - Premed -> Stasis.

Grenadier and Three Pointer are powerful but overkill. I would rather have Pack Rathhound and Paranoia tbh.

Skills:

And there's the skills. Not much to say except I'm still a couple of points of from doing the highest hacks (since tools can't help you with hacking computers), and that my crafting is a bit delayed. Still can't craft Napalm grenades and more importantly: my Infused Rathound Leather. I have a 43 quality leather, 133 quality black cloth and 148 quality super steel waiting for me. I found 3/4 super steel data. So this level and the next all points except 10 for weapon skills go into Tailoring.

Gear

Spoiler

Keep in mind reading this that I'm playing completely blind here - so anything I've done I've learned myself (or from a helpful hint from you guys).

Main Gun, crafted from 158 frame found @ Hanna:

I feel like I was lucky with that find. Basically Hanna is all I got for frame merchants. Theoretically Constantine too (he gave me the 148 for the silenced pistol), but he seems to have them extremely rarely.

Armor:

Yeah, not exactly optimal, but I can't craft Infused Rathound Leather yet, and this gives relevant bonuses.

Boots:

These dropped from an Arena fight I believe.

Head:

Another drop. I don't have much electronics yet, so I haven't looked into Goggle crafting, but these seem decent?

Shield:

Again, not much electronics so haven't started crafting these myself. The shield system confused me quite a bit at first, but I understand it now. I should probably have a shield against melee opponents as well.

Silenced pistol:

Crafted from a 148 frame. The low damage means it isn't very useful except for taking out weak stragglers before you start a fight, but it does take out cameras very well as I recently learned from Jack.

And finally my energy gun:

I've been using this to deal with robots, but now that I have a steady source of crafting W2C ammo, I don't think I need this anymore. In fact I think I deal more damage with just the .44.

I've been played around with some chemical pistols like Parabalus suggested, but tbh I haven't really found them of much use yet compared to just nuking stuff with the .44.

Progress

Spoiler

Level 20 now and finishing up the main game. Just did second mission for Free Drones as well as Balor (latter was easily the hardest fight on this run yet). Plan is to finish Free Drones questline and then I'm off to the expansion. Maybe I'll do the West Wing of Institute of Tchort first. Besides West Wing, I only have two quests left besides the main quest: fixing the TV in Core City (need higher Electronics) and finding that last piece of Super Steel data.

As for my feelings for the game overall, the honeymoon phase i over and I'm still enjoying it very much. A few of the aforementioned niggles have turned into actual grievances though. Especially "merchant touring." I cannot fathom how that must have felt before Riftwalking, because even *with* Riftwalking, it's terrible. I understand why merchants don't just buy all of your stuff, but the fact that basically between every quest or exploration location you have to do a buy-and-sell sweep of every merchant - which even with riftwalking means crossing 10-15 screens on foot, is just the ultimate tedium. I've started turning off the game's volume and putting on some YouTube whenever I do these sweeps now, it's that boring.

I think this could be easily solved without breaking the economy (I really like the limits on what a merchant will buy, that's not the problem) by giving you access to an expensive computer in Your House that acts like Rimworlds communications console: from that PC you can open Barter screen with merchants. Perhaps not all of them, but Constantine, Hanna, Protectorate/Free Drones and your CC faction would certainly make sense. I see no reason not to do this.

As for the game itself, it really is immensely fun. I love the character system, but I've been pondering what the real MVP of this game is. The combat is kind of broken, at least on a CON 3 build light armor no defences build like mine. You have to kill everything and play with LoS or you die in typically one volley. So while the combat can be fun, it's not what's great here. The quest design? Not really. There are some great quests (murders in the foundry), but by and large there's actually very few quests and they're not anything special. The writing/atmosphere? It's can certainly be fantastic in spots, and I love the mysteries, the Faceless and the Institute, and in any other game The Arena would be just be a standard cRPG Arena, but here it is given true life with an Escape From LA/SLA Industries-esque thematic finish that works perfectly. But no, too much of the writing is run-of-the-mill for this to be the real MVP.

So the real MVP for me is level design. Exploration is of course part of it, but the exploration is so awesome because of the BRILLIANT level design. Whether it's cave mine labyrinths hunting down the Rathound King, dungeonesque research labs with multiple completion routes, the huge Depot A with it's constantly varying threats or something else, every level is just incredible.

Enemy design ties into this. While human enemies might be copy-pasted across factions to an extend, I legitimately can't remember a game with as varied enemy design as this. There are certainly games with more enemy types, yes, but here EVERY SINGLE FUCKING ENEMY has something unique and legitimately interesting going on. Rathounds get scared by flares, Siphoners attach tounges and give unique debuffs, crawlers blocks your consumables, beetles are like tanky spellcasters and throw more devastating abilities with higher numbers, burrowers create spawn and throw poison darts... the enemy variety is just staggering. A massive achievement that should be looked upon as a guiding inspiration for any and all cRPGs going forward. What you have achieved here, Styg, is truly masterful.

So yeah, I kind of love the game. I think my biggest point of criticism is that the combat on Dominating feels like it suffers from the high level D&D problem where offensive actions are more powerful than defensive actions by an order of magnitude so large that fights generally last way too few rounds and Initiative becomes way too important. For that reason alone I'm tempted to play a tanky melee character on my next run, even if Blaine seems to have been very frustrated with his Hoplite build (which was something like the build I was thinking of running on a subsequent playthrough). Maybe with enough tankyness, combat feels more smooth and like an actual series of decisions, rather the nuke-or-kite fiesta I'm going through on this playthrough.

All in all, great game. I'll be back with a report on the expansion, which I hear is controversial?

 

[Trashos]

Burglar: In my previous playthrough, the burglar just came out of the living room and killed me. I do not know whether his presence had been communicated to me in some way, because I didn't know this could happen and wasn't paying attention. I think I had gone to the basement and come back up, not sure if that is what triggered him to start being aggressive.

Expansion: There are indeed some clashing opinions on the dlc. I liked it but was also frustrated on my 1st playthrough, when I didn't know what I was doing. Then I learnt the ropes, and now I just love it and can't wait to get there.

Merchant rounds: Imagine having to deal with the merchant rounds not only before the Juice, but before game speed could even be increased! With the ability to increase game speed, I do not mind them now. The final part of the base game has no merchant rounds, and I miss them then. I find they provide a welcome break from the action.

Enemy variety: Totally agree! The game reaches levels of awesomeness that should not be possible.

Combat mechanics and tactics: Well, you correctly identified that with CON 3 you cannot expect to do much defending. It is OK, that's how most players play. With serious investment in CON, relevant feats/drugs, and paying attention to your armor, defending and drawn out fights are possible. Even extremely drawn out fights are possible for players who invest in defense and CON as their main ability.

 

[Grunker]

I miss them

I can't imagine myself ever missing that shit. Like I said, I now put on YouTube and turn off the game volume while doing them.

Combat mechanics and tactics: Well, you correctly identified that with CON 3 you cannot expect to do much defending

That wasn't really my point though

I fully expect that of course. My point was more that after playing for 20 levels I can see why most players do this, the way offensive actions and defensive actions are balanced (aka one is superior to the other in a number of ways). I fully expect to do an armor-and-defending run next time, but I also fully expect it to be kind of a hassle compared to what I'm doing right now.

 

[Trashos]

I fully expect to do an armor-and-defending run next time, but I also fully expect it to be kind of a hassle compared to what I'm doing right now.

For example, the Assault Rifle in Metal Armor build is one of the most powerful builds in the game (it can both attack and defend). The worst thing we can say about it is that it doesn't force you to be smart most of the time (depending on type of enemies). The combat feel is quite different for tanks. Anyway, you can judge it when you finally see it.

I prefer stealthy glass cannons myself, so we don't necessarily disagree. I am just pointing out that it is a different game for tanks.

There are some great quests

Uhm... remind me to talk to you about this after you finish your playthrough. I can't say any more without very heavy spoilers. For the time being, I suggest that it is early to judge the quest design (crazy as it sounds).

Writing/Narrative: While it is buried under tons of combat, I believe very strongly that UR's writing is very underrated. It is also OBJECTIVELY extremely nuanced, and often demands from the player to connect dots or being observant (and good luck being observant if you are still trying to figure out how stealth works or how to break up parties of enemies, eg). On my first playthrough I didn't even notice 30% of the narrative elements I can notice now. Not everybody likes this style, but I love it.

 

[Trashos]

Btw, the most controversial part of the game (in terms of gameplay) is not the expansion, but the last part of the base game (AFTER the Institute of Tchort). But you should do the expansion before that.

 

[Grunker]

I have nothing against the writing. It can be very blunt to the point of being childish in some spots - clearly because it was hastily written. But when he tries, Styg does very well, and best of all: he is brief. Something something brevity something something wit etc etc

My point wasn't "writing bad", my point was: what is it that stands out about this game and makes it *great*? And that's not the writing.

I fully expect to do an armor-and-defending run next time, but I also fully expect it to be kind of a hassle compared to what I'm doing right now.

For example, the Assault Rifle in Metal Armor build is one of the most powerful builds in the game

I was talking melee or at the very least melee-adjacent, in case that wasn't clear

 

[Trashos]

My point wasn't "writing bad", my point was: what is it that stands out about this game and makes it *great*? And that's not the writing.

Right. I disagree with that. While we agree on most UR's strongest points as you laid them out, I find that its writing/narrative is also very strong. I wouldn't put it at #1, but to me it is one of the things that make UR great.

Note that I am talking about writing in the general sense. I am including in it narrative, fit with atmosphere/setting, characterizations, mystery, nuance etc.

For example, a character that you surely haven't missed is Ezra (the electronics merchant in SGS) who I think is fantastic. But I don't think someone gets a good picture of him early (if ever). As for narrative and its construction, in order to talk about it briefly I am going to need a character that many people miss in their early playthroughs and another one who you haven't met yet, so I will keep it for later.

(There was a part that I too found childish in Camp Hathor, but hey, it is a very big game.)

 

[Grunker]

I think we're talking about two different things. I like the atmosphere, mysteries, characters and narrative more than the writing itself - that is, the prose. Styg can actually write quite well when he puts effort into it, but some of the hurried writing is almost childlike in its "and then..."-nature. I also detest the overt "taking it too far" lulzyness of some things. I don't mind a tongue in the cheek, but this game veers into Wasteland territory too much, and it doesn't suit it. The humor is best when it relies on the reader to catch a clever joke than when it is zany for an entire dialogue session or even questline.

(Again, this is except for the brevity, which is a strong suit in nearly every aspect of the writing)

 

[Grunker]

As a side note, God it feels good to finally fuck these Deathstalkers sideways. Drawing them out with Stasis feels like I'm doing to them what they've been doing to me for 20 levels

 

[Grunker]

TRIPLE POST BITCHES

To expand on my praise of enemy design, what is so fucking cool is that these enemies aren't just different stat blocks and abilities taking up a square on the battlemat. They are entirely different challenges requiring entirely different approaches. It feels like you're not just fighting them in a contest of turn-based RPG stat rolls, you're taking precautionary measures or abusing their weak points or being careful in different ways. So if I see a Coil Spider web it's an entirely different sensation than if I see an empty room (hurr Deathstalkers I see you Styg!!) or a dog and some humans, or a stone-hurling mutant. I fucking love it. It really shames RPG monsters on a whole

 

[grumf]

As a side note, God it feels good to finally fuck these Deathstalkers sideways. Drawing them out with Stasis feels like I'm doing to them what they've been doing to me for 20 levels

Look out for the Black Crawler around Rail Crossing.

 

[Hag]

Mikolau Bresprezenku, colonel of the First Division of the Gray Army, twice decorated for his bravery and his stubbornness, was not having a very good day. Trying to maintain the composure his rank and honor required, he walked to the toilets for maybe the tenth time of the day. His bowels were on fire, he felt acid was burning his moving guts and he clenched his bottom as strongly as he could to prevent yet another spell of noisy gas, or worse. Was it some weird disease out of hell or some laxative trickery by one of the numerous soldiers he disciplined daily he could no say, nor he had the clarity of mind to ponder the problem right now - more urgent matter to attend. He navigated the large halls of the outpost, dodging his comrades, and reached the bathroom unnoticed. With a sigh of deep relief he noticed he was alone, took the last stall and crashed more than sit on the bowl, releasing the painful boiling liquid he had barely managed to hold.
That was bad.
All alone, he allowed himself a brief moment of relaxation and closed his eyes, leaning back. For one minute he did not have to struggle anymore. Then he felt he heard a faint noise and opened his eyes. His day went from terrible to worse. The toilet stall door was open, and starring at him was the most disgusting creature even begotten.
A woman.
With the instinct of a warrior of a dozen wars, he went to reach for his gun but his trousers were still down, and during the second it took for him to pull up his belt he received such a massive kick in between the legs he felt his balls hitting his ribs. Were an ordinary man would have fallen on the ground he barely stumbled, but it was enough for the curvy intruder to send a couple powerful punches in his painful abdomen. He bent forward defenseless, it was over, he did not even see the strike that broke his neck and he slipped on the cold floor. That was it. With his last strength he clutch his teeth in rage. And as he let out his last breath, his final vision was the large bottom of his assassin closing to his face as she squatted over his body to search his uniform in the cramped space.

They say a man die twice. First as he passes away. Secondly as his name is said for the last time. Luckily for Mikolau Bresprezenku, he was not forgotten and for a long time, several human lives actually, he was remembered as the colonel that was found dead in the bathroom with a broken neck and a dirty behind, so well that "pulling a Bresprezenku" became an idiom for dying an unexplained, sudden and humiliating death.

Pics or it didn't happen

That fucking mission. Spent hours trying to infiltrate the whole damn base before looking for help and discovering that you could disguise a soldier. Tried every approach before finding the right one, which was quite easy when you know what to do.

 

[Trashos]

I think there are at least 2 people writing, could be more. Styg and Phrygian Dominant both have written for UR, as far as I know.
Right, if you are only talking about the prose, I will leave that to people who have English as their 1st language. I am not talking about the prose. But I will point out that there are great writers (eg, Kafka) and storytellers (eg, Kubrick) who are not known for their prose.

 

[Grunker]

before looking for help and discovering that you could disguise a soldier.

ohoho

not if your character's got tits m8

 

[Hag]

ohoho

not if you're character's got tits m8

Well, if you stay at a distance it does work. Only way I could do it, since my stealth couldn't allow me to pass the soldier guarding the stairs.

 

[Grunker]

ohoho

not if your character's got tits m8

Well, if you stay at a distance it does work. Only way I could do it, since my stealth couldn't allow me to pass the soldier guarding the stairs.

I tried it and had to be waaaaay away or they'd initiate dialogue.

 

[lukaszek]

ohoho

not if your character's got tits m8

Well, if you stay at a distance it does work. Only way I could do it, since my stealth couldn't allow me to pass the soldier guarding the stairs.

I tried it and had to be waaaaay away or they'd initiate dialogue.

as female, you can(and should) use disguise to walk safely around cameras.

 

[Grunker]

ohoho

not if your character's got tits m8

Well, if you stay at a distance it does work. Only way I could do it, since my stealth couldn't allow me to pass the soldier guarding the stairs.

I tried it and had to be waaaaay away or they'd initiate dialogue.

as female, you can(and should) use disguise to walk safely around cameras.

Doesn't work (at least it didn't for me). I think I might have a save so I can show you.

 

[Parabalus]

I've been played around with some chemical pistols like @Parabalus suggested, but tbh I haven't really found them of much use yet compared to just nuking stuff with the .44.

Did you just gun down bladelings and industrial robots/nagas?

I found chem useful against them at earlier levels, before your damage really ramps up and you can instagib them.

Also against some living enemies, like DOM bosses and other HP sponges, since you can perma CC them. You do need the chem belt though.

 

[Grunker]

I've been played around with some chemical pistols like @Parabalus suggested, but tbh I haven't really found them of much use yet compared to just nuking stuff with the .44.

Did you just gun down bladelings and industrial robots/nagas?

I found chem useful against them at earlier levels, before your damage really ramps up and you can instagib them.

Also against some living enemies, like DOM bosses and other HP sponges, since you can perma CC them. You do need the chem belt though.

What’s a naga? (Don’t answer that please )

Industrial bots I avoided, but I can kill them just fine with the pistol now. On Bladelings I used a combination of gas grenades and an acid pistol, true. But I didn’t say no use, just much use

For bots I used energy weapons for a while. They seemed to one shot most

EDIT: note that I use W2C ammo on heavy targets