Charisma and luck. Do I need either?

[someguy216]

So from what I've seen from other threads luck is a dumpstat but correct me if I'm wrong.

Charisma however can be useful as it allows recruitment of some NPCs and boosts leadership radius. So the big question is, is it worth it and if so how much combined charisma is recommended?

This game has been out almsot 2 years and I still can't get a straight answer on this, seriously thousands of people must've completed this game by now so you must know the application of this stat right?

[red255]

Charisma helps you recruit certain NPC other NPC have no Charisma stat and you can easily fill out your party with NPC who don't require one.

it also increases the leadership radius and experience gain. if you aren't the leader, its easily the dump stat.

Luck increases chance to crit by 1% per point, it also increases skill rolls by 1% and has a bonus AP and HP roll

the bonus HP I worked out to be worse per stat point than just putting the stat points in STR.

As such sure you can go ahead and dump luck.

[New Moon On Monday]

Five Attributes directly help combat. Two do not. The two that do not are Luck and Charisma.

It is never worthwhile to take away points from other Attributes to increase Luck. Nothing that Luck does makes up for the loss of Action Points and Combat Initiative. Luck should always be 1. It is rare for gamers to agree 100% on anything about a game. However, every guide and piece of advice I have read on Luck in Wasteland 2 is that Luck is worthless, with 100% agreement.

Charisma is the same as Luck here- except, Leadership is an awesome Skill, and increasing the Leadership radius is highly worthwhile. So it is worth it for your one characters with Leadership to have Charisma higher than 1. Keep in mind that because your leader has put points in Charisma, your leader is the least combat-effective character in the game. So don't give your Leader a premium weapon (never Sniper Rifle or Assault rifle). I think the Leader is a good candidate to be a Medic and Surgeon, since you don't miss much if he has to holster the pistol to head a Ranger.

I do not think that Charisma XP bonus is significant enough to consider giving extra Charisma to any character other than the leader.

You do need high total party Charisma to recruit some NPCs. Remember that the NPCs already in your party help (so you can bring high Charisma associates with you for recruiting purposes). Also, if you give your leader the Smart Ass Skill, you can take the Radiant Personality Perk, which effectively doubles that character's Charisma score for purposes of NPC recruitment.

I haven't done the specific math, but if you start your leader with at least Charisma 5, take Smart Ass, increase Charisma on level-ups, take Radiant Personality ASAP, keep your party full, and use any +1 Charisma trinkets you find, you should not have any problem recruiting any NPC when you find them. (Make sure you have Radiant Personality before you go to Darwin for Pizepi, to be safe, if you want to recruit her.)

[red255]

meh I'd say go 10 CHA on your leader because he's not going to be that good in combat anyways might as well make him sexy.

Luck isnt worthless, its just worth less than any other stat for the same purpose.
also you know those skill rolls that are 11%? with higher luck you could get them to 20%. Yeah if you could raise skills higher its a better bet so INT is better, but in LA you can't do that. because the skill check is higher than 10.

[someguy216]

Well tbh the main Concern I have with not using charisma is losing out on story content and extra NPCs.

So are any of the charisma locked NPC's any good? Would I miss out on story content/options if I go for a minimum charisma part?

I know leadership is good but surely its better just to have one extra combat orientated person then make one person useless at combat but offer good leadership?

[New Moon On Monday]

Personally, I like sticking with the NPCs I find early and building them up rather than swapping out frequently. Radiant Personality has worked out for me to get everyone I want in Arizona- not just the ones I want to keep, but the ones to count for XP bonuses as the Citadel. I have had no problem recruiting Pizepi who supposedly has notoriously high Charisma requirements for recruiting. I think Pizepi needs 22 total party Charisma, there are a few in the mid-to late game requiring 25. Pizepi is the last one I have ever recruited and kept in the party.

A lot of NPCs you recruit near the beginning of the game have no Charisma requirments to join- but they themselves have decent Charisma that had to your party's total for recruiting.

At the higher levels of Leadership, the bonuses are very good. The actual Leader is not effective, but significantly helps the 6 other Rangers in the group. I think it's a good trade-off to increase the chances your other Rangers hit with their premium weapons. By the time you hit California, with the help of the Leadership bonus, you'll be able to do a lot of Precision shots, or nail enemies in full cover consistently.

Plus, it is a pain when your NPCs recruits go rogue. They screw up your tactical plan.

[red255]

yeah leadership is +20% chance to hit. the reason why your leader isn't going to be very good in combat is he's not going to get his leadership bonus.

leadership raises a 40% chance to hit to 60%.

that takes 4 shots out of 10 and makes it 6 shots out of 10, a 50% increase in damage output. across 6 party members. it also reduces the chance for the AI to go rogue which .... generally gets them killed.

if you were already at 100% chance to hit, it allows you to take a headshot for a 35% increase in damage. across 6 party members... or a 2 round burst with your assault rifles which is 100% damage increase for 2 more AP.

so 12 AP would be 4 shots instead of 3 with a 4 AP assault rifle. 25% increase in damage.

Point is its worth it.

[New Moon On Monday]

I don't think you encounter any NPCs requiring Charisma to recruit before your Rangers are 10th level. By that time, barring disaster, you have at least 2 NPCs in your party, very likely having the chance at a third plus excess.

Let's say your leader starts with Charisma 5. At 10th level your leader goes to Charisma 6. By this time, let's say by 12th level, your leader can have Smart Ass to 4 to take Radiant personality. By this time, you have probably also found at least one (very likely as many as three) trinket to increase Charisma by +1. With that trinket, your leader is contributing an effective 14 Charisma to recruiment. The other 3 unattractive, uncouth duds you created are contributing 1 Charisma each, so that gives you 17 party Charisma. If you have been thorough in your looting, you may have two more trinkets to go around to increase Charisma +1 each, potentially 19 party Charisma. Now, the other NPCs in your party (and you most likely have 3) just need to make up the difference to get to 22 or 25.

I think you most likely won't encounter Pizepi, needing 22 Charisma, until your Rangers are well past 12th level. I think you aren't going to encounter someone needing 25 Charisma until you hit Canyon of Titan, which probably means your Rangers are around 20th level or in striking distance. (Meaning your leader will have the chance to take another +1 Charisma at 20th level, increasing party Charisma by +2 with Radiant Personality.)

[red255]

Yes and? I mean you can probably get by with Vulture's cry, Tatsuki and Chisel/Scotchmo/Ralphie.

Not sure your point. Pizepi is the only high charisma character I was tempted in taking.

the ones that require charisma:
Scotchmo/Lexicanum 12+ (with 6 other party members this is hardly a challenge to get to.)
Corran Cain/Dan Q 18+
Pizepi Joren 22+
Gary Wolfe 25+

Now you aren't getting Gary without a guide and he's not really worth getting anyways. Corran/Dan and Lex are kinda near the end of AZ

So the only character who requires a CHA check you will possibly require is Pizepi.

You get Pizepi by doing darwins village without killing too many mutants and having Cha >22. you can do darwin's village pretty early (just ask the doctor about his cancer and agree to hunt down a cure)

The place itself isn't too hard especially since you should have two M16's by that point and tons of long barrels. least I did because I Bought those cheap weapons with a high chance to jam and broke them down for their barrels. (got the first M16 from the first encounter you get which is a random merchant, seriously start all your characters with backpacks and hats, and sell them for scrap you should be able to buy it.)