Build updated for Expedition. Hard difficulty. I'll try to keep Expedition spoilers low.
I removed original build since it was way outdated and could lead to confusion.Synergistic Glass Cannon of All Trades v 1.1 -
ExpeditionThis build is able to do quite a lot of things. Primary thing it can not do is getting various lore bits that require high WIL.
With Expedition i've decided to add PSI to my repertoire in a form of Temporal Manipulation. We won't be raising it from lvl 1 though, i'll explain later.
Since it's a glass cannon it's not a good build for players who want to minimize number of reloads.
It's not a build for beginners as it lacks defense. Well, passive defense, at least. I've played this build on both XP modes and it's doing fine except some early game pain. Zero passive defense can make us die really fast but our active defense can carry us.
Weapon type that fits best into this build is pistols, specifically energy and chemical.
This has good secret detection, good traps detection, excellent fishing, good active defense, can open any door, hack any terminal and pickpocket many pockets. It's a good build for exploring the game. One inconvenience is that a few secrets need more than 10 PER so it needs extra PER from goggles/consumables to spot them.
ATTRIBUTES
STR 3
DEX 10 (+6)
AGI 3
CON 3
PER 10
WIL 3
INT 8
We're starved for ability scores, hence no Steadfast Aim for us. But it's not too important for this build. We'll manage.
We only need 7 INT for crafting but i've added one more point here since it gives us the most - lots of skill points and extra damage from energy pistols. +1 CON is bad on a build without dodge/evasion. +1 STR is +10 carry which is QoL.
16 DEX is an important threshold for chemical guns' AP cost. It also makes electro gun shoot for 20 AP - mixes well with laser's 10.
130 carry capacity is bad for a trap user but on Hard difficulty i'd rather not pick convenience feats like Pack Rathound especially since we are feat starved due to using both energy and chemical guns. Infused pig boots with +30 capacity will help.
And we're feat starved even with 3 extra from expansion because there are some nice new feats to take.
SKILLS
Guns 160
Throwing 50
Dodge 30 (or 0)
Stealth 160
Hacking 72
Lockpicking 45
Pickpocket 50
Traps 45
Mechanics 50
Electronics 100
Chemistry 71
Biology 80
Tailoring 87
Temporal Manipulation 70
Persuasion 49**
Mercantile 70
99 unspent points. This is a lot but that will be at endgame. At early levels skill points are actually in short supply with that many skills. I put some points into Mercantile and Persuasion at the beginning to save cash. No Temporal at the start because it'd make us too squishy, we don't skill points for that (yet) and because first Temporal ability isn't good for this build. I took a psi pill when i could put at least 35 points into Temporal.
Dodge should only be leveled when/if taking Escape Artist.
Enough crafting for best components found before Deep Caverns.
We harvest some real benefits from our godly DEX: throwing, traps, lockpicking and pickpocketing can be half skills and still effective late game. We get some benefits from synergies as well. We also gain significant combat benefits. Marvelous.
But our INT is just as good as we develop all 7 INT related skills. Enough mechanics to craf adv. repair kits, breaking things apart and using metal plates for traps. Mechanics level, with all boosts, is enough to craft midgame Tactical Vest/Riot Gear and best Seeker Goggles.
Early game we can craft 35 AP sniper rifle, quaff adrenaline shot to have just enough STR and shoot twice per turn. I haven't try this but it's and option to consider.
Enough Hacking and Lockpicking for endgame checks with the best tool. You'll need food for hardest locks.
Bio/Chem get sweet synergy bonus. We'll be able to craft the best stuff. Fishing for components is easy with our DEX (and x5 speedhack). We'll also benefit from crafting chemical pistols. Synergies of this build just don't stop to amuse me.
Pickpocketing to steal some keys, meds and tons of bullets. Bullets sell well at general stores (Foundry, Core City). Expedition has at least one pickpocketing check with interesting consequences.
Traps hints: You need 80 Traps to recover most mines in Depot A. You need 90 Traps to recover Spoiler King's traps. Jackknife and Trapper's Belt can help.
60 in Persuasion is enough to pass many checks in this game. There's one 110 check in DC but it only allows to skip a fight that is easy for this build anyway.
Mercantile synergises nicely with Persuasion and fits name of this build very well. With Under-Pie it's enough to unlock best mercantile only equipment.
Unspent points can go into other psi schools for extra options, e.g. 45 Psychokinesis for Force Field and Imprint or 35 Metathermics for Cryostasis. Note that Cryostasis can't be learned in Deep caverns since there's no Mentor for it.
FEATS
Core:
Aimed Shot - Our bread and butter ability. Useful for energy guns and nerfed pyro pistol if you want to get decent damage per turn with it.
Opportunist - There will be many opportunities to use it coming from traps, taser, cryogun/acidgun/shockgun, crawler poison, net and Temporal Dilation.
Nimble - Good for our sneak and movement points.
Quick Tinkering - Great active defense, will save our butt many times. Limited Temporal Increment wil help with its cooldown.
Ambush - Crucial feat for our primary tactics.
Mad Chemist - Mandatory for cryogun as 2 turns of iceblock are MUCH better than 1. For pyro it increases duration which isn't very good but at least we'll be able to Ambush returning enemies.
Cooked Shot - AoE and short cooldown. Great for hitting hard to hit enemies.
Power Management - Makes reloading energy pistols more managable and also gives us better energy shields.
High-Technicalities - Let's make use of our high INT.
Critical Power - An obvious choice for energy pistols.
Practical Physicist - An obvious choice for energy pistols.
Psycho-Temporal Acceleration - big boost for our 'Haste' and 'Slow'.
Escape Artist - It's mandatory for using a unique chemical pistol. If you don't want to use it you may skip it together with 30 Dodge but it's a good defensive feat.
Other considered feats:
Sharpshooter - Take it if you find your pistols' crit damage still lacking. The only way to increase chemical pistols' crit damage bonus.
Grenadier - We can make good use of this one. Works good with Quick Pockets and Three Pointer but it's also good on its own.
Skinner - To craft some badass leather armours. Skip if you prefer regen tac vests but leather armours is what i recommend. Expedition has new leather armours to craft which adds value to this feat.
Quick Pockets - We can certainly make use of extra utility slot and reduced cost of switching weapons. Handy, but second tier.
Blindsiding
Paranoia
Three Pointer - Works with incendiary nades too but it's mostly for 1HKO from frag/HE.
Pack Rathound - Useful for someone with 3 STR and traps in his backpack. But with speedhack i've managed without it. Once i got Infused Pig Boots i was doing just fine.
Increased Dexterity - Together with +1 DEX from food it allows us to fire our pistols even faster!
Increased Perception - Or go with higher damage and chance to hit.
Scrutinous - Nice bonus but requires taking Increased Perception.
SPECIALIZATIONS:
Cooked Shot 4/5 (or 5/5 if you find yourself lacking that 1 AP)
Critical Power 5/10 (or more if you don't have any better idea)
Quick Tinkering 2/2
Escape Artist 3/3 is pretty good if you want to use unique chemical pistol often
Build example in epeli's tool:
https://underrail.info/build/?HgMQAwMKAwjCoDIAAB4AwqBILTItMmRHUFcAAABGMQBGJCYBMALCkVYWS8KaTlopXSvCh8K1wq3CncKF4qOwAuKnvgXiqJwD4rK7Bd-_ITEMS
Weapons:
Our weapon of choice is Amplified Laser Pistol, either Efficient or with new module from Expedition. Others will be Smart Amplified Electroshock, three chemicals and perhaps Smart Plasma. Of course we will be using SMGs early game because they just roflstomp pistols that much. We'll be using chem pistols once we'll craft them at Junkyard. We'll keep using SMGs for some time due to fast attacks, burst and plentiful ammo.
Armours:
Our target armour is Padded (high density) Infused Pig Leather Overcoat + Infused Pig Tabi Boots. That's a lot of extra health and good mechanical resistance. It's sick for glass cannon luke us. You can also use normal Infused Pig Boots for better mech resist or ninja tabis for more stealth.
For sneaking we'll have Padded (soft) Siphoner Overcoat. Light, good for sneaking around, for Ambush and protect us from acid puddles and burning ground we create. What a package. Complement it with ninja tabi.
Another notable armour is Regenerative Psionic Overcoat. 20% armour penalty with Nimble - for defensive capabilities it provides it's not much. Regeneration is BIG on Hard+. It can be crafted early into the game, i got my first regen vest by infiltrating Junkyard embassy. Good vs bullets but also vs Crawlers if used with low frequency shield emitter. And with high quality components even vs Death Stalkers.
There's an awesome leather armour to craft in Expedition. It's bad for our primary strategy but it's got other qualities.
For jet ski combat we'll have Antithermic Laminated Tactical Vest with a new component in shield slot.
Other:
For exploration and placing traps we'll use Trapper's Belt. For combat - Doctor's Pouch or Advanced Catalyzing Belt when using chemical pistol. Sadly the latter doesn't add utility slot.
Cloaking Device for extra stealth.
Seeker Goggles by default. Smart Goggles for alpha strikes with electroshock pistol.
Faction Shops:
We'll join Religuous Scientists, they have some of the best shop electronic and chemical shops. Their armoury can roll very high quality chemical collectors but it's rare.
Anarchists' shop offers high quality black cloth regularly so it's a fine choice. If you choose the other faction then keep visiting Lucas and Derica - they have a small chance of rolling q140+ black cloth.
How to play:
Use your stealth to start combat on your own terms, use bear traps to disable melee and hide behind a corner to avoid getting attacked.
More on that later. With Quick Tinkering you can place mines right under enemy noses. You can also throw various things at your enemies, nets can be really helpful. Eat eel sandwiches if they grant you extra attacks. You can use gas grenades to lure human opponents and kill them without starting combat with others.
Initiative of this build isn't good but it grows as we level up and there's Root Soda for those situations where you need to win initiative roll.
Strategy 1: Ambush!
Stay in shadow and Ambush! enemies who are 'enlightened'. If they are not then throw a molotov and make them! I can't stress enough how much i love this feature of molotovs. Underrail rocks for allowing creative gameplay like this. Here's why laser rules: your range allows you to ambush enemies at the other side of fire zone, you also don't need to move much and will get Sharpshooter bonus more often.
Ambush is rather tricky. Sometimes it wont work where you think it should. Sometimes it's the opposite. But incendiary nades were pretty consistent at enabling it. Pyro pistol and flares may enable it as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hEIzls7qPcStealth threshold for Ambush feat:
- 150: +65% crit chance; with good Seekers and Focus Stim we will cap crit chance
- 200: +80% crit chance; we will cap with either Stim or Seekers, this is our target value
- 250: +95% crit chance; possible with stealth gear and top combat gear with cloaking device
Strategy 2: Chemical pistols
Use chemical pistols and catalyzing belts. Acid + fire is a good combo. Melee gets owned by acid entanglement, shield emitters are mostly bypassed and Opportunist is easily enabled. Entangled enemies can be treated with pyrogun - if they catch fire they won't run away, will probably die from DOTs and maybe even enable ambush for you
Fun!
Acid + cryo isn't bad either, many human enemies are immune to burning. Remember that pyro and cryo pistols cancel each other's effects (except belt debuffs).
For jet ski battles best pistols are cryo followed by pyro. For sea creatures use cryo/energy.
When fighting robots equip acid and some energy gun.
When fighting Goliathi equip zapgun and pyrogun. Start combat with zapgun Aimed Shot to kill at least one. Cooked Shot bypasses 'Mirror Image' and burning makes them run away. Use also caltrops since beetles are slow.
SPOILER SECTION
**55 Persuasion is enough to save Buzzer. You might need to deal with Faceless group near Foundry first tho.
This build can pass Persuasion checks higher than 60 but it needs something from Expedition.
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