Trash my build- mechanical pistol edition

[Karina]

http://underrail.info.tm/build/?HggKAwcLAwTCoCgAAAAAAHc6AADCjHgAwoLCjAAAAABoAFUXATE6WVtVwoIzSyYRDlDCpMKzd-KpogLiqooK4qqeA9-_

Starting stats-
8 str
7 dex
3 agi
7 con
9 per
3 will
4 int (i decided to have 4 int to avoid penalty to crafting skills, i know its not important in the grand scheme of things but it will make gearing up in low levels easier)

Stat level ups order-

4- Dex
8- Dex
12- Per (to access Sharpshooter)
16- Dex
20 - Dex
24- Per (to access Scrutinous)
28- Dex

[dergefata]

Oh, boy.

Well, the good news is that as long as you're playing on Easy or Normal, you'll be fine.

So you're going 8 STR for metal armor. But you're a pistol build, which is going to require some mobility because your range isn't as impressive. And you don't have enough INT for Armor Sloping, so you're not going to have many MP even with tabis. And you don't have Sprint, *or* TM for psi haste. You're going to hate everything about this build.

Dump CON, take PER and DEX to 10 each. Or dump STR instead, abandon metal armor, and stick with Riot Gear (though you'll lose Shield Arm). Since you're going to lose Juggernaut either way, pick up Grenadier. If you dumped CON, you've lost Fast Metabolism (which, since you *must* be playing on Normal or Easy, won't be a problem) and you can pick up Quick Tinkering too by shuffling a few points from Bio and Tailoring, both of which are too high anyway.

I should add in here that if you dump STR to 4, you can still wear Riot Gear + Shield as long as you walk around all the time with Junkyard Surprise +2 STR buff

[Karina]

Originally posted by dergefata:

Oh, boy.

Well, the good news is that as long as you're playing on Easy or Normal, you'll be fine.

So you're going 8 STR for metal armor. But you're a pistol build, which is going to require some mobility because your range isn't as impressive. And you don't have enough INT for Armor Sloping, so you're not going to have many MP even with tabis. And you don't have Sprint, *or* TM for psi haste. You're going to hate everything about this build.

Dump CON, take PER and DEX to 10 each. Or dump STR instead, abandon metal armor, and stick with Riot Gear (though you'll lose Shield Arm). Since you're going to lose Juggernaut either way, pick up Grenadier. If you dumped CON, you've lost Fast Metabolism (which, since you *must* be playing on Normal or Easy, won't be a problem) and you can pick up Quick Tinkering too by shuffling a few points from Bio and Tailoring, both of which are too high anyway.

I should add in here that if you dump STR to 4, you can still wear Riot Gear + Shield as long as you walk around all the time with Junkyard Surprise +2 STR buff

Im not going 8 str for metal armor, im going 8 str for Shield Arm perk. If Shield Arm does not required so much str- i would settled for minimal requirements for riot gear. The point was to utilise shield. I wanted to build robo cop like character. If i dump con and str and juggernaunt- it would just be another glass cannon shooter build that i played many times already. At this point- why even use pistols?

[Karina]

If i go for 10 dex/per with 6 agi for sprint- i only have spare points for +2 strength to wear riot gear with a shield, no con at all. And its kinda defeats the purpose of wearing riot gear- since my health will be so low that armor qualities will not matter.

[razvedchiki]

you can use a tactical vest with its 15% weight and rely on evasion/dodge with nimble.
or add an antimaterial plate into the tactical vest,that would make you almost bullet proof (but not energy-melee proof).

or you can go light armor using a leather siphoner one that pumps your evasion/dodge even more.

[Karina]

Originally posted by gaius germanicus:

you can use a tactical vest with its 15% weight and rely on evasion/dodge with nimble.
or add an antimaterial plate into the tactical vest,that would make you almost bullet proof (but not energy-melee proof).

or you can go light armor using a leather siphoner one that pumps your evasion/dodge even more.

I already done all that with other characters. Im trying to find a niche for firearms pistols, something that only they can do. If i start using normal, fool-proof gear- firearms pistols loose all relevancy since they inferior to everything except bare fists and throwing knifes.

Riot gear restricts you from using 2h weapon, so you must use pistols. Why use riot gear? It has a shield that protects you from melee. Shield Arm augments shields greatly, but it requires high strength, And since it requires high strength- might as well go with 7 con and juggernaut. And since this build is stat hungry- i have no points for int, meaning no points for chem/energy pistols perks. Which once again force me to rely on firearms.

Overall this character has decent amount of offence and defence on paper, and im goint to see how far i can get him on Hard.

[Drokmon]

I see what you're going for.

It's a tricky balance to find since different aspects of this character require different attributes. Firearm pistols are STR, DEX and PER; Riot Armor/Defense are STR and CON.


My comments:

- I feel like the special ammo (acid 9mm rounds or explosive .44cal rounds) would help firearm pistols to stand out. You've got the spare skill points for Chemistry so I would go for it. Although explosive rounds against a target at melee range might be unwise... :P

- Do you really need 12 DEX? I suppose it depends on which weapons you plan to use. At full spec points into Point Shot / Rapid Fire, you don't lose any shots per round when using any .44cal pistol (whether using Rapid Fire or not) until you go below 9 DEX. For 9mm pistols excluding the Gluck, you don't lose any shots per round until you go below 10 DEX.

- If you bring DEX down to 9 or 10, you can drop 2 more points into CON and pickup Survival Instincts for a massive crit chance boost. That, plus goggles with all the usual feats and Steadfast Aim, could bring you up to ~75% crit chance (even more if you drop specialization points on it). Decent CON, Riot Armor made with a Sturdy Vest, Juggernaut feat, riot shield blocking and a decent energy shield would help keep you alive and mitigate the low health requirement. In this case, get the Doctor feat sooner so that you can patch yourself up to 30% health when needed.

- You can pickup the Guard feat (maybe drop Fast Metabolism) for an extra chance to block melee. Both it and the Riot Armor shield block can occur together as well. If you're gonna justify using Riot Armor shields, may as well go all the way, eh?

Hope it goes well for you!

[Karina]

Originally posted by Drokmon:

I see what you're going for.

It's a tricky balance to find since different aspects of this character require different attributes. Firearm pistols are STR, DEX and PER; Riot Armor/Defense are STR and CON.


My comments:

- I feel like the special ammo (acid 9mm rounds or explosive .44cal rounds) would help firearm pistols to stand out. You've got the spare skill points for Chemistry so I would go for it. Although explosive rounds against a target at melee range might be unwise... :P

- Do you really need 12 DEX? I suppose it depends on which weapons you plan to use. At full spec points into Point Shot / Rapid Fire, you don't lose any shots per round when using any .44cal pistol (whether using Rapid Fire or not) until you go below 9 DEX. For 9mm pistols excluding the Gluck, you don't lose any shots per round until you go below 10 DEX.

- If you bring DEX down to 9 or 10, you can drop 2 more points into CON and pickup Survival Instincts for a massive crit chance boost. That, plus goggles with all the usual feats and Steadfast Aim, could bring you up to ~75% crit chance (even more if you drop specialization points on it). Decent CON, Riot Armor made with a Sturdy Vest, Juggernaut feat, riot shield blocking and a decent energy shield would help keep you alive and mitigate the low health requirement. In this case, get the Doctor feat sooner so that you can patch yourself up to 30% health when needed.

- You can pickup the Guard feat (maybe drop Fast Metabolism) for an extra chance to block melee. Both it and the Riot Armor shield block can occur together as well. If you're gonna justify using Riot Armor shields, may as well go all the way, eh?

Hope it goes well for you!

Interesting idea. I taken doctor and fast metabolism mostly for bio-regenerative vest, if i go for survival instincts i can safely drop both of them since bio vest will interfere with low health crits.

Guard is low priority since it requires 50 in melee.

[Karina]

New version- http://underrail.info.tm/build/?HggJAwkLAwPCoB0AAAAAAHM-AADCoMKGNsKIwoYAAAAAXwBhFwExOllbVcKCM0smYhEIwqTCtXfiqaIH4qqeA-KrpAXfvw

starting points

5 strength (since i wont be takin juggernaunt and shield arm untill level 10 and 12 i decided to start with lower strength for a better early game, first 3 stat increases go in strength)
9 dexterity (good enough to fire 2 .44 shots in the early game)
7 con (after im done with strength- i level up con two times)
10 per (after im done with con and str- all remaining points will go here)
3 in everything else (penalty to crafting is painfull, im used to playing characters with int ranging in 5-7, this doofus wont be able to craft anything until much later in the game)

[Fatemoe]

High str tanky pistol character sounds horrible to me.
My pistol character has only 3 str and focus on throwing and pistol.
Play style is high agility shoot and run with grenade throwing
Kneecap shot and throw knife pin down synergy incredibly

Flash bang + pistol execute combo is pretty neat and fun to play

[Karina]

One more way to optimise it- i dont need 9 dex. I can keep dex at 8 and eat eel sandvichers. Free point goes into constitution instead, it allows me to take Survival Instincts at level 16 or 12 instead of level 20.

[Drokmon]

Originally posted by Esteban Failsmore:

Interesting idea. I taken doctor and fast metabolism mostly for bio-regenerative vest, if i go for survival instincts i can safely drop both of them since bio vest will interfere with low health crits.

Guard is low priority since it requires 50 in melee.

Bio vest would mess with Survival Instincts requirement, yes. That said, I'd still keep Doctor feat so that you can bandage up with 30% health whenever you're lower. You'll still be getting hit in combat and taking damage. Energy shield should protect you from guns and grenades / PSI, and the riot shield from melee, but you'll still want a buffer to not die from a strong gust of wind.

Whoops, my bad on Guard requirement. Nice catch.

[Drokmon]

Originally posted by Esteban Failsmore:

New version- http://underrail.info.tm/build/?HggJAwkLAwPCoB0AAAAAAHM-AADCoMKGNsKIwoYAAAAAXwBhFwExOllbVcKCM0smYhEIwqTCtXfiqaIH4qqeA-KrpAXfvw

starting points

5 strength (since i wont be takin juggernaunt and shield arm untill level 10 and 12 i decided to start with lower strength for a better early game, first 3 stat increases go in strength)
9 dexterity (good enough to fire 2 .44 shots in the early game)
7 con (after im done with strength- i level up con two times)
10 per (after im done with con and str- all remaining points will go here)
3 in everything else (penalty to crafting is painfull, im used to playing characters with int ranging in 5-7, this doofus wont be able to craft anything until much later in the game)

I like it. The starting stat setup will certainly help for the early game, both in terms of killing power and not dying. You can always use the W&S .44 Magnum for a while until you get your crafting up (a toxic gas grenade and a bear trap might help you to obtain it). I think with all the feats and gear, you could hit ~95% crit chance with that gun. I just wish that the explosive ammo damage could crit, as well.

I see what you mean about 3 INT and crafting. I've never done anything less than 5 INT, for crafting and feat purposes. That would be painful for me. Might also screw with moneymaking, since it's not as easy to buy weapon/armor parts, whip something up and sell it back for a big profit.

I like the Robocop idea and the attribute point progression. It's like a gradual transition into Robocop (STR and CON). Think I might give the build a whirl, name him Alex Murphy :P

One weird thing I noticed on the character builder: do we not get an attribute point increase at level 28, like we do at all other levels with a multiple of 4? I don't have any character at level 28 so I can't confirm if this is a mistake or not.

[Karina]

Originally posted by Drokmon:

Originally posted by Esteban Failsmore:

New version- http://underrail.info.tm/build/?HggJAwkLAwPCoB0AAAAAAHM-AADCoMKGNsKIwoYAAAAAXwBhFwExOllbVcKCM0smYhEIwqTCtXfiqaIH4qqeA-KrpAXfvw

starting points

5 strength (since i wont be takin juggernaunt and shield arm untill level 10 and 12 i decided to start with lower strength for a better early game, first 3 stat increases go in strength)
9 dexterity (good enough to fire 2 .44 shots in the early game)
7 con (after im done with strength- i level up con two times)
10 per (after im done with con and str- all remaining points will go here)
3 in everything else (penalty to crafting is painfull, im used to playing characters with int ranging in 5-7, this doofus wont be able to craft anything until much later in the game)

I like it. The starting stat setup will certainly help for the early game, both in terms of killing power and not dying. You can always use the W&S .44 Magnum for a while until you get your crafting up (a toxic gas grenade and a bear trap might help you to obtain it). I think with all the feats and gear, you could hit ~95% crit chance with that gun. I just wish that the explosive ammo damage could crit, as well.

I see what you mean about 3 INT and crafting. I've never done anything less than 5 INT, for crafting and feat purposes. That would be painful for me. Might also screw with moneymaking, since it's not as easy to buy weapon/armor parts, whip something up and sell it back for a big profit.

I like the Robocop idea and the attribute point progression. It's like a gradual transition into Robocop (STR and CON). Think I might give the build a whirl, name him Alex Murphy :P

One weird thing I noticed on the character builder: do we not get an attribute point increase at level 28, like we do at all other levels with a multiple of 4? I don't have any character at level 28 so I can't confirm if this is a mistake or not.

Luckily expansion added a drug that boost int by 2 for a little bit.

[Karina]

I managed to complete Depot A on Hard with this build. It required unorhodox tactics though-

1) Central area has overwhelming amount of mutants. No matter what i did- they swarmed and killed me. Then i remembered that this area had to no less then 3 entrances on opposite sides of the map, 2 of which lead to areas i already cleared. So i enter from one side, do as much damage as i can and then leave and enter from another side.

2) Northen area had less mutans but it was still very tough. I solved it by placing two basic mines close together which i then detonated with molotov.

[Karina]

Shield were a huge mistake. It does not contribute anything against ranged enemies, riot gear is good enough on its own at absorbing melee hits, shield can only absorb occaisional crits. It would be a much stronger character if i taken survival instincts at level 12 and used heavy tactical vest with high bullet threshold. Im at level 14 currently, doing dude quest. All the enemies are ranged, shield does nothing to defend me against them.