After playing a bit, what are the REAL best traits? (Rant)

[Jaden (AceAngel TTV)]

I thought Introvert would be OP, but turns out a lot of quests need a companion, and their AI is actually not a problem, unless you want to stealth, which I don't, hasn't ever been an option to really. And they are free carry space. Extrovert is top quality.

Spaced is useless, there is zero space "ground" combat so far. Terra Firma is a MUST have. It not only does what Extrovert does (better oxygen useage) but also gives a HP bonus.

Taskmaster isn't that bad, you get so many free companions, hiring crew isn't something I have even considered yet, maybe it becomes a problem later on? Still, there is very little space combat so this doesn't seem worth getting if you are speed running, but if you want to exp farm in space it might actually be top tier. But, I think by the time you are hiring crew you will be WANTING a credit sink, and having to bother with repairs is just annoying. The fact is, this WILL make your ship better at combat, an instant module repair could make or break a fight, or just make it faster, requiring less hull repairs. Hull repairs are not cheap, and if you plan on playing this long enough it WILL pay for itself. (maybe this is copium) Also if you are just pushing for NG+'s then this has no downsides, you will NG+ before you hire a single crew member, I am fairly sure, making this potentially an S Tier trait with "no downside" (again more copium).

I thought Wanted would be great for bonus damage, but it turns out I found a suit that auto uses medkits when I get low health, so I have had zero benefit from this. Might be useful if I find a more powerful suit that doesnt do auto healing. Still not a bad trait, the free loot from bounty hunters isn't bad. Although the bounty hunters did proc once during dialog and it bugged out a quest for me. Had to save scum. But at the end of the day, who plays this game at low health? Everyone is going to heal when under 50% hp so this seems useless. Unless you are playing a once shot stealth sniper, maybe not really worth getting this (and I don't know if that will even work on bosses or clustered enemies). Then again, if you are in extreme combat maybe you will want to get the killing blow before pausing to heal. Kinda weird the game even allows you to pause to heal, really lowers how good this trait is, but I still think it's S Tier because the downside is you get more loot and exp.

Hero Worshipped turns out to be pretty good, the Adoring Fan has really good stats for ground combat (scavenge, weight lifting and concealment). Companions are really bad at combat so it isn't worth using someone with say rifles 4, they still wont shoot anything. Yet to get any gifts from him though. Poor trait at first glance, but with no down side actually makes this a fairly top tier trait. Then again, Todd lied, companion stats are not carried over to the player, I have had mines go off on me (concealment) and his weight lifting doesnt increase MY capacity at all, although surely scavenge is helping me? Hard to test that though.. But why would he have scavenging at all if it didn't. Weird game design choice tbh, be honest about mechanics. This actually makes the trait kinda mid, and surely some companion or crew will replace him as top choice eventually anyway. At the end of the day, hard stats are better than a replaceable companion so this is an avoid.

I don't see any of the faction or religion traits worth it, as I've been focusing the main story and they just don't seem worth doing, let alone their down sides.

Alien DNA isn't worth it, healing effectiveness is more important than max hp imho.

Dream Home and Kid Stuff are useless, but fun to watch on youtube.

Empath not worth it. The few minutes a boost last for once off character interactions will barely impact anything, they happen like once every few hours.

All things considered, if I was going to reroll I would go, in the order of how good they are:
1) Terra Firma
2) Extrovert
3) Wanted

If I could pick a 4th it would be Taskmaster, I don't care about the extra cost of crew, it's just that the game barely has any space combat, giving up bonus damage at low health just isn't worth it.

I hope you enjoyed my Ted Talk. Take care of yourself, and each other.

[-shhfiftyfive]

what about traits / starting skills...

[Jaden (AceAngel TTV)]

Oprindeligt skrevet af -shhfiftyfive:

what about traits / starting skills...

Backgrounds (starting skills) are virtually pointless, it is only 3 set skill points, level up 3 times and you have that amount again. But I will say, I went Bounty Hunter, and I rarely used the jetpack, never used thrusters, and system targetting doesnt seem worth the time.
That said, I did need security fairly fast, although I don't think it is worth taking Cyber Runner as stealth seems useless, and I cannot be bothered with the save scumming required to do pickpocketing.
Therefore the best background I think is Bouncer, they get better oxygen, lock picking, and melee damage.
You might be thinking "ill never use melee", but there are often situations where you can do a quick melee attack to knock someone back.
Also, that gives a 2 point headstart going for Rejuvenation, which is totally OP (passive health regen).

[-shhfiftyfive]

i've found that leveling up is quite slow so far.


tier 1 skills i've invested in and wished i hadn't... (so i could reach tier 2 skills sooner)
- commerce rank 1. (5% of nothing is nothing)
- the booster (jetpack) is really trash at rank 1. but required for some quests.
- surveying rank 1 was pretty worthless.
- weight lifting rank 1 will not solve carry weight issues early game. better to put more cargo modules on your ship with the npc on the landing pad at new atlantis.


things i would probably have taken earlier from leveling up / starting skills:

tech:
- 1 rank of piloting, for better ship building
- 2 ranks of security to reach tier 2 skills
- 3 ranks of shield systems
- starship design for better ship modules (not sure if i can find a random crew member to cover this)

science:
- geology i think is good for 3 ranks to reach the 2nd tier of skills.
- weapon engineering (though you'll have to find many types of ingredients for research, meaning visit many planets, probably best doing main quest?

combat:
--- nothing early game

social:
- scavenging rank 4 i guess

physical:
- fitness rank 4
- gymnastics



as for traits.
- i chose kid stuff, and deal with my parents.
- i chose raised enlightened but i haven't even made any use of it yet and would probably not choose it (not sure what's in the chest though)
- i chose wanted

i would pick extrovert, terra firma, ...



background:
i chose the homesteader background (geology, surveying, weight lifting). its not bad. helps reach rank 2 in physical and science faster.

i would probably pick homesteader again. not sure.

[-shhfiftyfive]

ship building has been a real pain. i was testing what the hab modules each did. and running into bottlenecks on thrust (need higher skills for rank B modules, skill = starship design and piloting rank 1)

i took 76,000 money and built some improvements and more cargo.

the hab modules you want are workshop 2x1 (has weapon, suit, and fabrication work benches). control 2x1 has room for 4 crew. you want to keep the main hab (all-in 1 2x1) because it has a bed.

i find that having a 2nd/3rd floor is annoying because of the time required to use the ladder (required when returning from docking if using top entry docking) i'd probably flip that docking upside down and enter from below. in that case the 2nd/3rd floor is then only annoying if you're trying to track down an npc on ship for conversation. i put a control station 2x1 on 2nd floor.

if you think the default captains locker storage is pointless (40 carry weight) and want a bunch of lockers, weapon cases, ammo cases, and a couple armor mannequins, add the armory 2x1 hab.

science and infirmary habs are both similar to main all-in one, but without a bed (has cooking and research and pharma crafting. if you really want pharma crafting you'll add a science 2x1.

that engineering 3x1 has no function.

so i put workshop 2x1 behind the main module, and control module above, along with 1 other 2x1 above. 4 landing gear. 4 engines. 2 missile, 2 cannon, 2 lasers. 2 largest cargo and 1 largest shielded cargo. (need piloting 1 to get better cargo) (need tier 3 tech skill - starship design - to get better modules to support bigger ship)

[Mad Max]

One Point in Booster Pack is Mandatory. Just being able to break your fall from big falls is huge.