Ralphy or Takayuki?

[jnericsonx]

Right now my 3 extra people are Angela Deth-who I understand isn't with me the whole game, Vulture's Cry, and Takayuki. All my guys are around 10-12, I just got Ralphy, he's level 5, Taka is 14/15. Just wondering what to do, who to stick with in my permanent squad.

[neil]

Ralphys pretty dumb
Hard to upgrade, as he gets min skills each level
But hes a blank slate. You can make him into anyone you want him to be
Just takes time

Neil
Australia

[red255]

Not sure your question.

replace angela. probably with chisel

[jnericsonx]

I'm basically just wondering if I had to choose one, Ralphy or Taka?

[Rookie-31st]

I would choose Ralphy just because of his father. Not sure if Taka has any role anywhere, but he is decent character and taking him to LA might be good choice

[Harrison11106]

I tended to go Ralphy for pretty much the same reasons Neil stated. In my case I made him "Mr Lucky". In the original WL2 I had his Luck at either 9 or 10 when I ended the game. He wasn't getting hit & would get constant crits with his melee attacks (he had Blunt Weapons). In my WL2 DC version, his luck is currently 6 & lwevel-wise he's in his mid 20s. I have Brawling as his melee skill & handguns for ranged. Taka is tougher to upgrade skill-wise simply due to his low Int.

[Salamander]

Both on my case. Ralphy is prob the most mouldable npc and bump his int at level 10 gets decent skill points, besides he is great at toaster repair to start. Taka is real dumb but if you keep him focused he can get good at brute force and replace Angela and keep his blunt weapon skill high. Also threw cheap points in rifle and HW.
Worked for me anyway.

[red255]

Taka you max his blades, you put 10 skill points into blunt for CHARGE! and then he just runs around stabbing things with his 10 STR crits.

his demo and mech repair skills allow you to put off kitting a ranger out with them for the first half of AZ. not really good enough growth in skill points to maintain them. but he's a solid blade user.

the proton axe does an absurd amount of damage, particularly with good mods in it.

regarding Ralphy, why would you give him Brawling? he's starts with a couple points in it sure but its hardly significant. you could spec him in what ever you want.

[Cryme Tyme]

both, but if i have to choose 1, i'd go with teriyaki, hes you melee/heavy rocket guy. ralph is really good in the beginning with his 5 toaster skills, i gave him either handgun or submachine gun.

[Chatrapati]

I replaced him with the guy you get after the Children of the Citadel because I got frustrated with Taka's lack of skill. Particularly as he was supposed to be my explosives expert.

In your position I'd go with Ralphy. I would have, but my team already had specialists who covered his skills. If you really want a guy like Taka, I'd wait until you get to the Citadel and get the guy with more intellect.

Edit: Taka's really slow as well! I could never get him into battle before all the enemies died.

[red255]

Taka's fine if you take off his heavy armor and don't give him a heavy weapon to main.

I mean yeah he starts slow with like 8 AP, but with 1 point in STR he'll go to 9 AP another in Coord and one perk on tinkerer we are at what 11 AP? Charge! and Air jordans and the guy can cross the map easily enough.

Allright so I did a game with Ralphy in it. he's weak so you probably want to train him on a gun. Assault Rifles or snipers are a choice. tried both think I prefer him with snipers.

Takayuki is a tank, most things have lines of melee that charge you, later on with charge! and air jordans he can cross a map easily enough

[Denimdude]

Ralphy in my play through had maxed out brawling and dragon claws.

He could actually had a higher chance to hit than my ranged guys. Though i only really used him to punch things or carry things.

The only real negative was he was a glass cannon, if he got hit hard a few times he was out. Though i countered this with a blunt weapons/shotgunner with over 500 health by the end of the game.

It actually worked somehow, i don't really know how or why but it worked.

[red255]

yeah I don't see making someone 4 STR to be melee or to carry stuff.

he got 10 AP eventually in my games which is enough to shoot a PSG1 twice good enough to get things done I suppose but not really a team favorite.

He eventually starts saying random things like we got to LA and hollywood and he starts talking about how he wants to be a junkie and a ♥♥♥♥♥. and I'm like Ralphy where is this coming from?

[Stuurminator]

Originally posted by jnericsonx:

I'm basically just wondering if I had to choose one, Ralphy or Taka?

It'll really come down to personal preference. Takayuki's a pretty tanky melee fighter, but he'll probably never be more than that. Ralphy's build is pretty crap, but at least with some effort you can take him in pretty much any direction you want.

Both of them can contribute if you use them properly, but neither one is going to win the game for you.

[red255]

Ralphy can be taken early and he can cover a weapon of your choice, toaster repair and a third skill of your choice.

Taka comes a tad later and can carry more stuff but is tied mostly to to bladed and maybe mech repair.

[Wane]

If you give Ralphy +1 Intellligence on his level 10, he will have 3 skill point per level-up, which is not that bad. Because of his low starting level, he can quickly master any weapon of your choise (my choise was energy weapons). Also, if you give him level 2 in Weaponsmithing, it will unlock perk Tinkerer (+1 AP when wearing light armor). With total 8 AP, he can fire some energy weapons twice in his turn, which makes him a pretty decent damage dealer against enemies with heavy armor.
I wouldn't level up Brawling for him, though, because of his low combat speed.