Wasteland Wasteland 2 - Character Builds

[Bradylama]

read the thread

 

[Yoshiyyahu]

Most of the thread is old

 

[Bradylama]

http://wasteland.wikia.com/wiki/Wasteland_2_weapons

According to this chart, strength increases the critical multiplier for melee weapons by 1 decimal point, or 0.1. A 10 strength character gets a 3.0 multiplier whereas a 5 strength character gets 2.5. And unarmed gets a 100% crit chance anyways at Skill level 10.

So at this point, the only advantage melee weapons have is for the ones with a diagonal range. A melee weapon user is a decent defensive player, because he will intercept anything that passes into his 1-square range on ambush mode. Unarmed ranges NEVER initiate an ambush unless they're directly attacked.

Spoiler

bladed weapon users do get to use This Is A Knife, which can be modded down to 2 AP and does crazy nasty Damage per AP. That's a VERY late game weapon though. You can't get it until Hollywood.

 

[ehrgeix]

Most of the thread is old

Generic good group - I'm doing a SJ Ironman run with the below with one AR guy swapped out for another Brawler (2 1 4 6 S 4 1), which is stronger when you first hit CA but shitty for the first part of AZ :

EW leader (2 1 6 4 8 4 3 - 8 AP, 16 CI) // SMG[r3], EW, Perception, Leadership
AR combat (4 1 6 4 8 4 1 - 9 AP, 16 CI) // AR, Demolitions, Kiss Ass
AR combat (4 1 6 4 8 4 1 - 9 AP, 16 CI) // AR, Lockpicking, Field Medic
Brawler without int (2 1 4 9 S 1 1 - 9 AP, 14 CI) // Brawling, Comp. Sci [hacking robots is amazing]

Pick up NPCs to cover: Safecracking, Weaponsmithing, Toaster Repair, Outdoorsman, and (optionally) Smart Ass. Try to get 1 melee NPC and 2 ranged NPCs (or 3 ranged NPCs if you're running 2 Brawlers in the party). If you really want Pizepi Joren consider running higher Charisma or prepare yourself to do some awkward stuff with Spiked Collars / Honeydew Melons.

 

[Black]

I guess I should post this here too.
http://www.rpg-gaming.com/

 

[Ninjerk]

I guess I should post this here too.
http://www.rpg-gaming.com/

Everyone should.

 

[Yoshiyyahu]

Most of the thread is old

Generic good group - I'm doing a SJ Ironman run with the below with one AR guy swapped out for another Brawler (2 1 4 6 S 4 1), which is stronger when you first hit CA but shitty for the first part of AZ :

EW leader (2 1 6 4 8 4 3 - 8 AP, 16 CI) // SMG[r3], EW, Perception, Leadership
AR combat (4 1 6 4 8 4 1 - 9 AP, 16 CI) // AR, Demolitions, Kiss Ass
AR combat (4 1 6 4 8 4 1 - 9 AP, 16 CI) // AR, Lockpicking, Field Medic
Brawler without int (2 1 4 9 S 1 1 - 9 AP, 14 CI) // Brawling, Comp. Sci [hacking robots is amazing]

Pick up NPCs to cover: Safecracking, Weaponsmithing, Toaster Repair, Outdoorsman, and (optionally) Smart Ass. Try to get 1 melee NPC and 2 ranged NPCs (or 3 ranged NPCs if you're running 2 Brawlers in the party). If you really want Pizepi Joren consider running higher Charisma or prepare yourself to do some awkward stuff with Spiked Collars / Honeydew Melons.

Thanks, I did something similar except without brawlers. I really don't enjoy melee characters in these types of games.

In my first playthrough, I gave 3 people AR and bodybagged enemies all day. Now I am trying with some shotguns and EW.

 

[Jasede]

From a power-gaming perspective, would it be worth giving all those characters in ehrgeix's post +1 AP (with less CI) in order to equip them all with Engagement Rings (-1 AP, +3 CI)?

 

[ehrgeix]

No, you probably want Choice on your EW guy, and Anarchy Patch on the Brawler (Or Anna's Eagle Feather / Inverted 4 Leaf, if you're giving Ralphy Anarchy Patch + G41 for 9AP HS bursts). You can do it with the two AR guys, but the gains are marginal at endgame (+1 CI total), and it's actually a loss early/mid (-1-2 CI). It's slightly more questionable because Engagement Rings are somewhat limited too - 2 sets at 30 is somewhat unlikely I think?

Also, if you're using Pizepi or Rose, they actually get the full +3 CI from Rings, like 12/13 -> 15/16, or something, instead of going from 20 -> 21. And they finish at 9 AP, which is perfect for AR bursts.

I think the Rings are only really good on a PC, if you're using an EW (or SMG) guy with 1 Charisma, because then you can get him to 23 CI, and use Choice on an AR guy for 25 CI.

It's maybe worth starting 18 CI on the two AR guys, and transitioning to 9 AP later, though. Gives 2 FAMAS single shots (or a burst, it's only 6 AP) into M16 burst. Leader needs 8 for Herbicide. I didn't do this in my hardcore run but I would if I ever played again.

 

[Jasede]

I can't find Choice in my game. What am I missing? I have 10 Perception and 6 Outdoorsman and am wandering around SE of Santa Fe, where I read the shrine is, but it's not showing up for me. Does an NPC have to tell me about it?

 

[ehrgeix]

No, but the Perception circle around your party is apparently just a total lie. You have to walk over the exact location, it's quite picky.

 

[Turan Khan]

Hi guys,

I've been lurker of this forum for some weeks, before and after purchasing Wasteland 2. I must say I still love Wasteland 2. My biggest gripes are more versatile combat (hopefully with patches, melee, dump stats, and dump weapons would become viable, I want to be a Katana Samurai dammit haha) and graphics (an overhaul graphics update would be very welcome). I'm still fine with the present graphics, but it's more the theorycrafting and the encounters that are what is driving the experience. Even at present graphics, I'd say Wasteland 2 > Shadowrun, especially Shadowrun's "exlosives" and other effects. I still love Shadowrun for its setting, and playing that first Kickstarter game gave me a taste for the return of CRPGs that I loved. My First CRPG was actually Fallout 2, then I played Fallout 1, and only then did I play Baldur's Gate Shadows of Amn. What Shadowrun and Divinity have over Wasteland 2 currently... is that in both of those other games, MORE viable gameplay styles are possible.

Anyways, why am I posting here? Through ALL my internet scouring, I'd say that the theorycrafting builds discussed on this thread were the most helpful. Thank you very much ehrgeix, Jasede, Monkeyfinger (nice Shadowrun Troll), Bradylama, Shadenuat, and PopeAmole. Since I'm rolling with JUST four characters, I find PopeAmole's build of "10int, 8agi, 4(+3later) coordination" the best for me, allowing me to cover every skill, mostly for RP/larping and completionist rationale. If doing SJ, I would build more combat characters and rely on the three CNPCs to round out the party's skill set.

I just saw that Patch 2 hit. While I don't notice any significant combat changes, may you please inform me, how if AT ALL, any of these optimal builds change if at all?

Also, I'd really appreciate if with large, combat-affecting patches, somebody would provide a theorycrafted optimal build for 7 with CNPCs but ALSo for a party of 4 custom-built, NOT relying on any CNPCs. I'd like to compare my thinking and choices. I really wanted Bladed to be viable for RP purposes mainly. And also because I find it HIGHLY illogical that BRAWLING deals MORE melee damage than BLUNT or BLADED. I would have thought, at least in my perception, that Blunt or Bladed should do MUCH more damage than brawling. Though then, I don't know how to balance brawling vs. bladed or blunt. One can balance bladed vs. blunt pretty nicely, by for example bladed giving a stronger bleeding debuff while blunt give a mini-bash or mini-stun. TLDR: Wasteland 2 combat can be MUCH more deepened, and if InExile doesn't address this glaring issue, then hopefully enough modding tools would be provided, that modders will.

 

[Turan Khan]

Oh, I just expanded the Patch 2 notes. REALLY loving the Zoom fast speed on map travel. Very welcome feature, almost a requirement. Oh, they do have Combat changes with this Patch 2.

One thing I noticed, on Patch 1, I got The Mangler RPG.... and noticed that it has no AMMO requirement. Ummm, guys doesn't this mean PUMPING into Heavy Weapons is the way to break the game, just firing away that RPG and any other heavy weaponry RPG willy-nilly until everything dies? In a game with AMMO as a limiting constraint, a weapon with NO ammo is King, right? Maybe they fixed it in Patch 2. If they didn't... I'm rolling ALL heavy weapons, all RPGers and just blasting everything to smithereens. It's sort of a joke build, I think... but hey I think it can really work, especially with really high CI, so I blast them before they even have a chance to close the distance.

 

[Turan Khan]

Aw shucks. The Mangler got "used up" in just one hit on the poor Toad, killing it instantly, but also removing The Mangler from my inventory, not even possible to reload with another Rocket like back in Fallout 1 and 2. So, RPGs here are more like Explosives, useables. Odd.

Well, my Heavy Weapons cheese with unlimited Rocket RPG got cut short haha. It was too good to be true for game-break haha.

Also, Patch 2 runs noticeably SMOOTHER and with somewhat crisper visual graphics for me. Just had a rainy encounter against Bandits which was quite immersive, actually.

 

[Azrael the cat]

We should start a spoiler build guide to collate and debate evidence of unmarked stat/skill checks. There's been some fairly convincing demonstrations that charisma opens up dialogue options (independently of the dialogue skills - so you can have charisma on your speaker, get the dialogue option, then switch to another ranger with the -ass skill if needed), and I've wondered anecdotally whether awareness affects drops or coordination affects some skill-checks (on a specific instance basis - i.e. built into the specific encounter, not the skill code itself).

 

[McElio]

Hello Everyone.

I Am thinking of doing a second run on "Supreme Jerk" difficulty and here is my team composition :

My Wasteland 2 Squad

(Above party is at lvl 9 to show sklill point distribution/expected progression)

Resoning behind my choises is simple :

1) 9 AP for Assault Rifles headshot bursts or crouch/stand/movement and normal burst.

2) Assault rifles on (almost) all squad members sinci imho AR on burst is the best DpAP (Damage per AP) weapon in every part of the game (Arizona/California).

3) Assault rifles range with correct mods (Long barrel/High Powered scope in Arizona)(Flashlight Suppressor/Tactical scope in California) has incredible range and hit chance.

4) The ranger named "A" will eventually get energy weapon skill. She will get 4 speed at lvl 20 gaining 8 AP thus being able to use Gamma Ray Blaster burst.(U will be arounbd lvl 20 when u get it).

5) Since Angela Death leaves the party at some point i dont plan on reqruting her.

6) Scotchmo Ralphy and Rose are ALL reqruitable right from the start (Simply take a small detour right from the start loop around the radiation going west from Ranger Citadel then north then East to reach Rail Nomads Camp reqruit Ralphy and Scotchmo then return).

7) Forget Rose's handgun and Ralphy's brawling and train them in Assault rifles also.

8) Since i am expecting to rach 40+ lvl (but not 50)(based on my first playthrough)
Get Ralphy + 1 Int at 10 + 1 Coord at 20 +1 Speed at 30 and +1 AW at 40.
Rose +1 Coord at 10 +2 Speed at 20, 30 and +1 AW at 40.
Scothmo gets +1 Int at 10 and +3 on Speed at 20, 30, 40
A gets +4 in Speed at 10,20,30,40
B,C,D +4 in AW at 10,20,30,40

9) You can eventually train scotchmo in Assault Rifles or any other weapon of your choise since lockpicking and Safecraking soft cap is 7 (+1 from skillbooks)(+2 from Cat Burglur Mask)just swap trinkets before skilll use if needed.

10) Forgoing all "Ass" skills since they are very expencive to maintain (44 * 3 = 132 SP) and they offer minor gameplay rewards.

11) Since 3 of my main rangers have 2 skills they are easyly modifyable to fit personal playstyle. U could distribute the 3 "Ass" skills between them, or have each one learn a melee weapon skill, or concider the barter skill(see 13), or mayby give them some surgeon/medic skills(my personal choise).

12) My main concern is the low strength of my party meaning i will probably have to make many trips to Ranger Citadel(on the flipside: more outdorrman XP)(for Loot Selling and generally low strength will make loot managing anoying.

13) My secondary concern is Ammo/money issues. Since 5 members in my party use Assault Rifles (any mayby 6 end game) ammo managment might be an issue but in my personal expirience scrap is abundant in Arizona due to "weapon makings" RC quartermaster quest. And since u can leave and reenter RC so the quartermaster restocks Ammo i dont think it will be a major problem. Also u could give one of my 2 skill rangers the Barter skill to help with economy

14) Low Con can be an issue but since my party has great range (and new patch 2 fixes enemies infinite move bug) good evasion and really high initiative (20 by endgame) i dont think it will be a problem. Also if u give them field medic skills as i suggest (see 11) Con will not be a problem. Finally since u have 2.0 combat speed and incredible range u will be using power armor giving u a nice survivability boost.

14)Also SPOLER:

Spoiler

Since there is a reason to not want Rose in party , Vulture Cry is a decent 8 int early substitution (again forget sniper and go AR IMHO) just abjust ranger skills accordingly

Here is a sample of my expected squad at 30 lvl for late game reference :

My Wasteland 2 Squad

Please keep in mind skills here are with no skillbooks(that is why most non weapon skills are at 9 max) and no bonus skill points from shrines so expected skill distribution will be a bit better.

Thanks for reading my post and i hope u found it helpfull/informative. I would love to hear your opinion and suggestions on my build since i am going to start this playthrough soon.

Edit 1 : some typos

 

[McElio]

Hello Again.

For some reson i am unable to edit my previous post.

I wanted to add a section as theorycrafting for a 10 AP goal(instead of 9) for my above Assault Rifle using squad composition(energy weapons leader still being kept at 8) and the merits of it. 9 AP is mostly the sweet spot for AR headshot bursts. 10 AP gives far more flexibility though.
You can easyly reach 10 AP in the party of my previous post by swaping 2 points from AWareness to COordination for rangers B,C,D either on character creation or on level ups.
Rose already has 10AP if build the way described in previous post.
Ralphy is stuck at 8 (9 with "Anarchy patch" trinket).
Scotchmo will reach desired 10 AP at lvl 40 if build as described on my above post.

As for the benefits of 10 AP except of the obvious more mobility in a turn.

1) You can still BurstHeadshot for 9 AP and either save 1 AP fro next round so u can crouch/stand next turn and BurstHeadshot.

2) You can double single shot. That is usefull for really hard to hit enemies behind cover or on higher elevation and especially usefull for finishing 2 enemies in 1 turn that previous burst shots left with very low CON.

3) You can burst shot in one turn saving 3 AP for next (10-7 = 3). This will give you 12 AP next turn that u can use to both burst shot and single shot. This is usefull when BurstHEadshot has really low hit chance.

4) You can SingleHeadshot in one turn saving 3 AP for next (10-7 = 3). This will give you 12 AP next turn that u can use to bothSingleHeadshot and single shot. Limited usefullness mostly for ammo conserve on easy fights.

Swapping 2 AW for 2 CON nets u the 1 AP needed for 9 to 10 and adds 2% hit chance while loosing 2 Initiative and 1% Evasion. As stated above this can be done in character creations or from lvl ups. After giving it some thought i think that is a better choise overall.

On a small sidenote 10AP build from character creation (6 CO, 1 LU, 4 AW, 2 STR, 10 SP, 4 INT, 1 CHA) is also good for a Sniper specialist. Most if not all early game snipers cost 5 to shoot so u get 2 shots per round. And if you add +4 CO on 10,20,30,40 u get to 12 AP witch is the exact ammount needed to fire the most powerfull sniper rifle ingame twice per round(Anti-Material Rifle 6AP per shot). I still think Assault Rifles are better overall though but if u have ammo concerns swaping one or two of my suggested rangers to sniper foqus might be a solution.

Again thanks for your time reading my post and for your tips and suggestions.

 

[ehrgeix]

A few comments:

10 Int/Cha guy is unnecessary, 4/3~ leader is way better because he can contribute in combat, you gain very little from the extra Cha and don't need the extra skillpoints in your party (and if you do really want them, it's better to have a 4/3 leader and a 10/1 skillmule, so you have two combat effective characters).

The GRB is incredible, so you actually want it on a guy who is good combat, rather than a guy who has 8 CI. if you don't modify your party at all, it'd be way better for you to use that 10 Cha to replace an NPC with Pizepi early and give her the GRB.

ARs are worse than the GRB at all stages of the game before Hollywood (and mostly worse vs actual hard fights even then, because Armor), and worse than Brawling pretty much as soon as you hit California (disregarding Choice, since you probably want that on a ranged guy). In my (SJ) Ironman run the #1/2 damage guys are the Brawlers (I screwed up and got Choice pretty late, though - I think if I got it asap in California the AR or EW guy with it would be #1).

Also re: ARs, running an entire party of pressureable ranged guys with very little EW/Shotgun/Brawling coverage will make you hate your life in fights where a ton of shit runs up to you and have to move a bunch of Under Pressure AR users.

Angela Deth is important to carry you through the early game with minimal resource consumption, even if you later replace her. She can drop a FAMAS burst + single shot in one turn, wowow. Also, wrenching raiders near oasis for an early level 2-3~.

The low Strength is fine for survivability, but yeah it'll be awful for carrying stuff. You could fix with a Brawler. Power Armor is not really a relevant thing I think, I'm using 0 armor in California because so many EW guys. (Maybe if not trying to do a no reloads run I would equip/de-equip power armor for some fights? But uh, pretty sure it's irrelevant for everything except SMG/Shotgun enemies, and they still don't do enough damage to cause problems).

Scrap is abundant enough for you to make the ammo work, but you'd delay upgrading weapons for some time. I think that some variance in weapon selection is probably better (GRB on a high CI guy, Brawlers, maybe a Shotgun user).

edit re: your edit. Starting the game with 10 AP seems good, but uh, then you realize you lose something like 20-28% damage (vs starting with 8 AP) through acting less (and take a bunch more damage/don't always go first etc). I'd start AR guys with 8, then progress to 9 at 20 (or even 30).

 

[ehrgeix]

Hm, can't edit post after 15m. For absolute clarification, I think that 10 AP is unnecessary because while you can do all of the things you listed, really on SJ you just pump AR skill asap, and then 90%~ of the time in combat the action you want to take is actually just burst firing your AR, not doing any of those other things. So getting to burst fire your AR more often, is better than being able to do other things.

 

[Turan Khan]

Woa, nice build McElio.

Yet, I agree with ehrgeix that the CHA is still underwhelming, having a maxed out Leadership skill with high Int at like 10 with Speed at 8 and having that Leader go EW is much better, imho. That's what I'm doing for my leader. For completionist sake and loving to read dialogue, i almost HAVE to take the Ass-talkery skills, but for an SJ run, those are completely unnecessary.

Also, I'm going to run 2 Brawlers (Computer Science on one since it's a Combat skill as well haha and Surgeon/Field Medic on the other), 1 EW Leader, 1 Sniper for Ranger difficulty. For SJ, still 2 brawlers, 1 EW, 1 AR. I'm focusing on 4-man parties, no CNPCs. I just wish that Bladed and Blunt were viable as well, but they simply are not.

Since running just a 4man team, int at 10 is almost a necessity for me. I understand that you can get away with 2 or even 3 of your guys at Int 4 (thus pumping Speed up to 10 and Awareness up to 6) IF you're using the CNPCs, since then those cover the rest of the skills.

 

[Jasede]

Why run brawlers at all? Aren't AR users the 'safer' choice?

 

[ehrgeix]

No, Brawlers do good damage from ToT and monster damage from California. Also it's near impossible for them to die. One of mine is l35 with... 400? Con, and near 2x the damage per AP of my AR guy, though that will drop to more like 1.5 when I pick up G41s. Also, having them means my AR guys basically never get pressured. And one has comp sci, and is in melee range to use it, so can instantly trivialize any fights vs robots if required. They're really fucking good, and super safe for playing ironman with.

 

[McElio]

Thanks for the replies.

Brawles have arguably the most dmg per turn once they are close to the target. Brawling at 10 has 100% crit chance and it gets +1 dmg per lvl. A brawler with CLASSIC : 4,1,2,10,10,4,1 (including 4 points from lvl so at lvl 40) has 12 Combat Initiative and 11ActionPoints (12 with "Anarchy Patch" trinket). Best brawling weapon is Dragon's Claws (http://wasteland.wikia.com/wiki/Wasteland_2_weapons). With perma crit and 10 STR that is a 3.5 multiplier and 4 attcks per round on 12 AP dmg is (15-19+lvl)*3.5*4 per round if no move is nessesary.

So for example at lvl 40 it is : (15+19)/2=17 17+40=57 57*3.5=199.5 199.5*4 = 798 BEFORE ARMOR of opponent is apllied. Also half that dmg for Supreme Jerk difficulty.

Other brawler build is CLASSIC 2,1,4,10,10,4,1 (again at 40 lvl) for 14CI 10AP and free trinket slot to use (Air Jordans , Spiked Bracers) 649,8 total dmg with 3 attcks and Spiked Bracers BEFORE ARMOR of opponent is apllied. Also half that dmg for Supreme Jerk difficulty.

http://wasteland.gamepedia.com/Trinket

Brawler could be something of a defence line making short work of enemis charging your AR/Snipers to aply the "Under Pressure debuff on them so they can unload their rain of bullets to enemies. If he is also a good field medic he can act as a doctor when nearby enemies are dead or be a kind of meat shield moving a bit forward soaking up bullets and healing himself. No need to headlessly charge with him so he can be a safe choise.

Also a Brawler can be a mule helping with party loot managment.

About my suggested party. The reson i had the 10/10 Int/Cha leader is because i thought that Leadership need high CHA to be effective due to CHA affecting leadership radius. I also assume that to make BurstHeadshots a working choise u need every bit of bonus +hit u can get so the +10% from leadership is a must. I also think that for NPC to be "calmed" by leaderhip they need to be in the leadership radius. So i deliberatly made 1 character combat innefective to make all others better at shooting things in the head and not going "Banzai" :D

About the 10 INT. Since i had 10 CHA for leadership i thought to combine the +50%xp bonus with many usable skills (Demolutions,Weaponsmithing,Filed Medic,Outdorsman) to get skill using XP and get ahead in lvls. (Safecraking, Lockpicking were unfortunatly covered by Scotchmo and since he is a good early reqruitable NPC i want him in my party). I also though of one char covering many non-combat skills to add foqus and flexibility to my other 3 rangers. With 1 character covering 5 non-combat skills the other 3 can foqus on only 2, getting Assault Rilfes really high really fast. Also after the other 3 ranger have their 2 starting skills(Weapon plus 1) at a desired lvl they can branch out to a 3rd skill as needed. You could add another field medic or give them a secondary weapon skill(melee/handguns) to take care of charging enemies or mayby the "Ass" skills.

Finally using Choise on my leader at Hollywood will help make him combat viable (GRB and 12 CI).

Thanks for the idea of adding a Brawler and giving GRB on one of combat specialist rangers Its a really good choise. i Dont think i will have a "Under Pressure" issue since with 10 AP i can move and burstfire in the same turn leaving the "Under Pressure" radius. Also with leadeship and really fast AR progression due to only 2 skill foqus at game start for my combat rangers i will up my hit chance really fast.

About Blade Weapons, Blade can do respectable dmg but they dont come close to a Brawler. Consider "This is A Knife" weapon. A Blade Specialist with CLASSIC 2,2,3,10,10,4,1 (at 40 as always) Using a modded "This is A Knife" weapon(-1 AP cost and +15% crit chance) has 60+15+2(luck)+3(bow trinket)=80% crit chance(4 out of 5) and attacks 5 times per turn (10/(3-1(mod))=5) so his dmg in a round is : 24-25 * 4(Attcks that crit) * 3(crit multiplier) + 24-25(1 attck noncrit) = 318,5

And unfortunatly blunt weapons suck :S

And two questions: How exactly does CI affect turn frequency? Lets take the 2 Brawler characters i mentioned above. One has 12 CI other has 14 how many more turns will the 14 guy get and when? if we add 2 enemies with 10 and 18 theoretical CI how will the turn sequence turn out? And finally how much CI do opponent have?

And about leadership skill does it have a starting base radius? Does it calm NPC outside its radius?

Again thx for reading and for replies.

 

[Jasede]

Neat! I might replay the game with some brawlers! Some kind of stupid run with 0 lockpicking and 0 safecracking and no NPCs.

Might be fun to kill everyone in the game (but it might give too much XP)

 

[McElio]

Doing a Melee playthrough now and its ill advisable. Playing on ranger difficulty and using 2 Brawlers 2 Blade weapon specialists (didnt do the math i described on my last post)(posted it at the same time as u Jasede hope u saw it last on page 6). You need ranged coverage for some anoying mobs (honey badgers70+ crits). Pod Persons make starting with only melee party kind of impossible on SJ. Scorpitrons cone flame on melee could be a problem (still in Arizona atm) and those Mad monks going kaboom are a problem also. Finally some encounters with enemies in good entrenched/elevated positions can be a real problem if u run an all brawler parrty. I would advise a 3(brawlers) 4 ranged with companions or 1(Brawler)/3(ranged) if no companions are taken.