What's a good build that won't overlap the rest of the team?

[Saxton]

I played up to the first mission, but my character seemed to overlap Glory quite a bit. I also noticed that I never seemed to have high enough social stats to open up dialogues with NPCs and felt like I was missing out on side quests.

Is it possible to create a viable Street Samauri with high INT and CHA?

[Talion09]

Yes, but don't expect that same Samurai to have multiple gun skills and melee skills too. Its a tradeoff. But you can still make a great combat build with at least 2 weapon skills maxed, and have a good Charisma with 3 ettiquettes and a decent int+biotech as well.

[Cutlass Jack]

Play whatever you want really. Don't go by the first mission alone. You eventually get one more party member than fits on your team. So you can always leave the one you overlap with the most behind. And you also have number of extra runners you can hire to replace any/all of your main group.

That said, Glory is an incredible combat medic. Largely because she fill up her inventory with medkits you don't have to pay for each mission. Only take Biotech yourself for additional conversation options and to see enemy health. No real need to go higher than 3 Biotech.

There's also usually multiple ways to accomplish any goal. You wont miss out on side quests due to lack of social skills. You'll just miss out on some non-combat paths through things, and some slightly improved rewards.

[Marbur]

I like a decker who is also a rifle expert.
In the guide you can see my skilling:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=315821127

[XcessiveNinja17]

Assault Rifle Decker

This way, you can utilize two deckers in some parts. And nobody else in the party is good with assault rifles.

Although, I personally go with an Assault Rifle Mage.

[Syrris]

Given the amount of karma you'll eventually have, 4-6 Int and Cha are both reasonably within reach even for a combat focused character. You might miss out on one or two top-end pips of some combat skill, but that won't make a big difference to your effectiveness.

That said, Biotech, Decking, Rigging, and Spellcasting/Conjuring also affect social (and nonsocial) interaction options in a lot of places; investing equivalent amounts in all of those will have a hefty karma price tag. If you want to expand your interaction options with a combat focused character, going with Charisma and Conjuring (and maybe Rank 3 summoning so you can invoke a useful spirit power) or with Intelligence and one of Bio/Decking/Rigging can also pay off.

[Xerkics]

Biotech is pretty much a must have skill it seemed to come up all the time through the campaign.

[Mack Yuu]

I've been meaning to do a writeup on this, but the short version looks like this:

Assault Rifle Decker is my recommended first playthrough choice. It gets you into the most "stuff" with the least hassle. And while Blitz is good as a Decker, not being able to choose his programs/ESP means less options. While yeah, Matrix diving is somewhat optional for a significant chunk of the game, I personally enjoyed having my avatar go in instead of Blitz. The only problem is Blitz then becomes worthless (yet still touts his amazing Decking skills despite your being better than him). The AR's full-auto fire with accuracy buffs is easily a showstopper in combat, and you're not stepping on either Glory's toes at short range or Eiger's feet (you should be using her sniper whenever you can).

With that build, however, you'll want Charisma 4-5 ASAP to handle some of the dialogue escapes that come up. Or, you'll find you're playing an unfriendly ♥♥♥♥ who can't fill the former leader's shoes. To be fair, good leaders have charisma, and it's not too far out of your spending range.

Another option is a Charisma-based character, similar to what Detrich is rolling with; possibly a summoner hybrid. I wouldn't recommend a full Charisma (Summoning/conjuring) build. Did it once, did not like how it turned out. Again, you could go AR/Conjuration, Spellcasting/Conjuration; but I wouldn't go 2x support (e.g. Decking/Conjuration). Despite Eiger's big guns, you'll find yourself overwhelmed or hiring combat runners if you neglect your own character's combat skills.

One thing none of the crew has is Chi. The closest would be Glory but...oh god, Glory. Short version is, she's rocking too much chrome to use magic. Harlequin from Shadowrun Returns ran a Chi/Assault Rifle build. Haven't tried it myself, but I'd imagine that your combat potential would be quite sufficient. However, your social options will probably be lacking in this case. Again, shoot for Cha 4-5 to cover your bases.

Other than that, as has been said, Biotech 3 is fun for the medikit utility as well as dialogue options. Push it to 4 and your character starts talking/thinking like a doctor, though. So if you want to play the murderous nerd type, there you go.

[shinigamikitsune]

If you don't want to go hybrid, go for a Mage or Adept. Dietrich's skillset is aimed towards support so he doesn't have the magical firepower like you'd think, and some of the spells have DOT or can shut enemies down.

While Blitz's decking skills drops off, it's still doable - harder but doable if you play it safe and jack him out when needed.

[MEMPHIS]

Assault Rifle Decker is probably the "go-to" maximum efficiency build in this campaign. I base this on one major factor - that's exactly what Monika was. She was the Team Leader and complimented the existing team perfectly.

1. Monika - Assault Rifle DPS, Decker
2. Glory - Heals, Melee Tank
3. Deitrich - Support Magic, Summons
4. Eiger - DPS
5. Player - ??? (Replaces Monika)

As you can see, even without Monika, the "Holy Trinity" is pretty much represented. That means that theoretically, your character can be whatever you want them to be, and it will compliment the team well enough. Unltimately, you're either going to provide more tank, more DPS, more utility, or a hybrid of all three. However, there are 2 functions that, at least to me, are pretty much necessary.

1. Your character is the Face. I realize that being a Face with this system is different than in most games, but ultimately, you're going to need at least 3 or 4 ranks in Charisma. However, to be fair, outside of Ettiquettes, I'm not entirely certain if Charisma has anything to do with anything in a social encounter, so this could very well just be something I do for the sake of having someone with decent Charisma, because that's something I'm used to in these kinds of games. If anyone wants to shed some light on that, I'd be greatful.

2. This team build needs a Decker. Decking is sort of one of those things with this system, it appears. It's a very unique activity that only 1 "Class" can do. What I mean is, there are multiple ways to deal damage, heal, provide support, or tank damage, etc. There's only one way to do Decking, and that's with those specific skill lines. This kind of sucks if you ask me, because it sort of forces you to build around it, or you miss quite a bit of potential game options. If you don't have this in your character's build, then you'll pretty much have to use Blitz or hire another Runner - but that costs money... so...

3. If you decide not to be a Decker, and instead would rather use Blitz or hire another Runner... that means that one of the three listed above is going to be sitting out this adventure. Essentially, the issue here is that that means one of your "Holy Trinity" characters isn't present. What that means is that if you roll a Shaman and remove Glory from your team so that Blitz can tag along - you have essentialy given yourself a team build of 2 parts support, 1 part DPS, and 1 part Decker. Damage is going to be spread around a lot more, and things are, generally speaking, going to be harder for you. My point is, if you're not going to have Decking as part of your build, then you're going to have to decide which main support character you aren't going to use, and build your own character to fill that role. Or... you could just not worry about Decking altogether.

4. People say Assault Rifles are the best bet to go when it comes to choosing a gun, followed closely by Shotgun. Overall, people generally avoid Pistols and SMG's, though between the 2, Pistols seem to be a bit more popular because they have more options. Honestly, they all have their advantages and disadvantages, so I wouldn't worry about this too much. However, the AR covers the most range bands, has a decent magazine size, good damage, and plenty of attack options, whereas the other weapon types generally are a lot more niche.

5. Most important of all, however, is that if you're playing on Normal or Easy... frankly... none of this ultimately matters. The game isn't going to beat you into submission for not being a power gamer on these difficulties. What that means is you could really just do whatever you want and have a successful campaign. I still recommend having some Decking in there somewhere, just because (again) it's the only skill set that can access Decking. But, it's not the end of the world. Putting the game on Hard, however, will complicate things a great deal, and will probably require you to min/max a little more. Normal and Easy are simply more RP friendly. Also, I would presume that Easy and Normal are better suited difficulties for Jack-of-All-Trade builds.

Pro Tip: When creating a character, selecting the option to "Build your own Class" or whatever it's called will net you 1 additional Skill Point at character creation that you will lose if selecting a Pre-Built class. I forget the exact numbers, but all in all, a Pre-Built Class has like 63 starting Skill Poiints and a custom has 64. The tradeoff, at least from my estimation, is that the Pre-Built classes will generally have a much better starting loadout of spells/abilities than a custom class. For instance, starting with a Mage class will grant you one less Skill Point, but in the game, you'll already have the Healing Spell, whereas the same build in a custom class will give you one more Skill Point, but you won't have the Healing Spell. I wouldn't frak out about this though. One Skill Point isn't going to nerf your character.

My starting build for Normal difficulty goes something like this: (I'm having trouble remembering it off the top of my head, but this is close enough. It changes slightly depending on if you start as a Mage or a Custom Class.)



Body 3


Quick - 3

Ranged - 3
SMG - 2
Dodge - 2


Str - 2


Int - 3

Bio - 2
Deck - 3
ESP - 3


Will - 3

Spell - 3


Cha - 3



Hope this helps.

[Mack Yuu]

Memphis is pretty spot on; however, one point of contention.

I just beat the DC, and can attest to there being enough Charisma 4-5 checks to warrant the Face (that is, the PC) getting at least Charisma 4, if not 5, just to pass the checks.

Bear in mind, if you're not playing a die-hard mage, there is a body bioware option that gives you +1 Charisma, so if you're really playing min-max karma, you could go Cha 4 for the etiquette and install that bioware mod to pass the few checks that Cha 4 won't net you (or wear +1 Cha armor).

[Mauman]

There's a +2 charisma armor now. It's available in one of the new missions.

[Gloomseeker]

Originally posted by jgmaurer:

There's a +2 charisma armor now. It's available in one of the new missions.

Indeed, unfortunately you need to have some cash to buy it during the mission (it's a bit expensive early on for 1,500 nuyens).

Regarding weapons there is one advantage with pistols that hasn't been mentioned so far and that's the fact that you don't have to worry about reloading. That may sound a bit trivial but not having to waste precious AP is rather enjoyable (and it also means that you don't have to worry about the size of the clip of your weapon of choice).

I'm playing on Very Hard and in my experience some low level magic is handy even if you're not going for a full time mage. With two ranks of spellcasting it's possible to have healing, aim and armour. Since I've invested in Charisma I decided to pick up a totem and went for the one that grants an area healing spell (the Mother/the Bear). Being able to heal your entire team after being hit by a grenade can be a real boon on higher difficulties.

[Mauman]

Throwing weapons got a buff in a sense.

They knock enemies out of cover. This has many applications of abuse.

Currently running a troll T. weapons expert. It's working very well.

[Royal_Tenenbaum]

I've now run my Street Samurai twice. I wanted to go decker, but Blitz wouldn't have been as useful. I may run again and use Lucky Strike instead.

[Mack Yuu]

Playing Dragonfall as an Assault Rifle Decker has a real "coming of age" feel to it, since you are, quite literally, replacing Monika in every way, shape and form. It's got a Megaman X/Zero kind of feel to it ("You'll be stronger than me one day. AND THEN WE FIGHT." Yeah, you lose out on Blitz, and some of his dialogue doesn't make sense because he insists that he's the only/best Decker on your team (even sarcasm only goes so far), but...eh. I enjoyed that playthrough thoroughly.