Please take a look at my guide and tell me what you think

[TroubleProne]

I just published a new Colony Ship guide to cover the new content since last year. I've included gameplay mechanics, build-crafting, and tips and strategies for sneaking, combat, skills, weapons, and more.

Post Release Supplemental Guide (Dec 2024) by TroubleProne

It's my contribution to this great community and the devs. I hope you enjoy it!

Happy Holidays!

[grraf]

Well the guide is highly inaccurate and gives of so much misinformation its not even funny and is pointless to even try listing all of them so ill just mention a few of them:

1) Its pointless to tag a speech skill as even without it and with only skill monkey+zen mutation+two tokens is possible to cleanly reach streetwise7&persuasion6 this allows you access to all quests and desired outcomes while also maxing out your combat rep (unless you got negative cha&took ask questions later and sabotaged your relation with a faction you need to please later(for instance tanking your rep with the mutant mother by siding up with&going for 'Knurl's wrath' path )

2)Computer skills are by no means worth a tag as lvl 8 will grant you everything you need(other then the heavy power armor in the armory) because most of the goodies asking for a 10 comps can either be solved with lockpick or electronics instead, as for having extra combat prowess Romeo gets max AP&accurcy by maxing electronics skill(a comps 8 is enough to get him the goliath heavy non-shielded armor<-- more then enough if you don't need him to tank every single enemy in an encounter)

3)Biotech is almost as wastefull as tagging a speech skill(mandatory for diplomacy only runs) as well since even without tagging it you can still comfortably reach biotech 9(skill monkey+zen mutation)

4)Tagging stealth is pointless AF you can reach at least lvl 9 without it on a skill monkey+zen build

All of the above i have experimented with and accomplished on my previous builds even prior to the anniversary update (feel free to look a few of them up trough the various threads i posted them into)

[Tpau]

Won't get time to read it for a few days, but have put it on my to do list :)

[TroubleProne]

Thanks for the feedback graff. I appreciate it.

In answer to your points:

1. Respectfully disagree. You cannot reach all of the outcomes with Streetwise 7 and Persuasion 6, unless you have a disposition bonus. Stanton allying with Carlos, Convincing Mercy to not ally with Church, and convincing First Daughter to shut off the engines are a few examples. Sure, you can choose other paths, but I am attempting to allow access to all of these in a 4 way hybrid run.

2. Its true that a lot of goodies can be accessed via lockpick, however you cannot access the reactor room in Hydroponics Red, or open the Lander on MC lvl 7. Once again, I'm attempting to allow access to all the content in a 4 way hybrid solo run.

3. Agree somewhat. However Biotech 10 is required for the Predictive Analytics and TAC-Team chips. Also, as stated in the guide, my purpose in suggesting a tag is so that you can access these chips MUCH earlier in your campaign. What good is a chip if you only have it for two fights?

4. I agree with you completely. Don't tag stealth. If you read my section on it you'll see that is exactly what I said. I usually end up at level 7 on my runs, which is more than sufficient to complete any stealth content. The only place I suggested a tag in stealth was on a CHA Cult Leader build because that's his focus. He's fairly useless in combat. You could tag something else I suppose. Just a suggestion.

Thanks again for the response. Sorry you didn't like some of what I had to say.

[grraf]

Umm i specifically remember on a run having streetwise7&persuasion 6 on a 6cha build with neural dampener chiplet(+1initial disposition) being able to:
1)convince the new mother to shut the engines(remember you can start out quite far ahead in disposition for that conversation by killing Knurl&nailing the rebels)
2)convince Braxton to surender the pit to the protectors

As for Stanton helping out the hydros that one is pure fluff with no impact whatsoever(other then some minor knee capping in the Azral&pals combat) and even if that one is a must have for you then ffs let someone else control the factory and then Stanton will assist hydros by default(no check involved just ask the guy)

Don't know about Mercy blowing off the church tho as i never attempted it to know the exact dialogue flow there but unless you more then 2 speech levels below what is asked of you and assuming you start out with some initial good rep with her then by all means i do expect it should be possible

Then we got the reactor room in hydros red... umm sure if you must have what is in there&have biotech 10 otherwise congrats you missed out on a few frogs&worms to blow your hard earned consumables on
As for opening the lander on MC7 umm aren't we forgetting about Faythe's key that bypasses that check entirely ?!

Bruh do yr homework please

[TroubleProne]

You are correct, sir. However you missed the disclaimer in bold that specifically states that
comments were designed around a CHA 4 with a negative disposition modifier.

If you read my guide, grraf, you would know that there are no frogs in that room. And that it contains one of the best chips in the game, TAC-Team. My walkthrough show you how to do it with one stasis grenade and two zen stims. Hardly a loss considering the reward.

Yes, you can open the lander w/Faythe. However, as I stated in my previous post, Bruh, it is intended to allow those who don't have her as a companion to access the lander, i.e. solo runs. As far as I remember, you don't have access to the key unless she is with you.

Thanks again for the responses.

[Pladio]

You're doing well with you polite responses :D

Some comments below for consideration. I am certainly not an expert, but I do pretty well now.

Maximise XP in chapter 1 by not doing the companion quests to hire them until later
Evans is a waste of time anyway, so it doesn't matter what you do with him -> So you can still do the Abe one and then leave Evans there forever.

In skill levels, you can get an extra feat later on by going to Eli to double the Int Implact, so you could do 6 Int, Educated and then +2 from implant. So you can tag Electronics later in your example

I disagree on Pistol crit builds. Garett is the epitome of high crit pistol build and destroys most opponents as it's low AP high damage.
Check out the build Garett has and use him in some fights or build similar and you'll see how good it is.

Shotguns actually are pretty sweet with sharpshooter feat (+2 range) and helps scale into late game with extra aim through cover too. Especially with high crit too, you can do very well late game with double shot/crits

Rifles are very good in solo actually too - I played 10 Dex 10 Int character and destroyed easily. Finished the game with 10 pulse grenades, 8 disruptors, 6 stasis

I still need to play SMG build

What's the church of the covenant bunkhouse ? Do you mean Temple of the Reborn ?

I disagree on end comments - you can build a true powerhouse of a tank with 14DR/15DR + 5 Shield DR meaning you can't get hurt for a long timer.

[TroubleProne]

Thanks you! I appreciate your thoughtful responses.

Agreed on Evans. I usually leave him at Abe's too.

The weapons comments are all really good. I should probably edit that section to include some of your good thoughts. I really didn't mean to play down any of the weapons, they are ALL good. Especially if built right.

That said, please play an SMG Dodge This run. I felt the same way you did until I gave it a shot. I can't believe how much more you can get out of it...especially with a good crit percentage, second wind, and a decent amount of reaction.

There's a Sneak 6 opportunity just next door to the Mutant Church where you can get the quest to run the other church out of town. I didn't know what to call it and there's a person sleeping inside so I did my best to name it. Sorry!

Agree on the tankiness. You can build it but it takes a lot of Str investment or a tag or feat. I just feel like it's better to go high offense with a cloak. I never had issues killing the board in a few turns or less, especially with the SMG. Just my opinion, however it's very viable to go tank. I will edit my comments there as well.

[wizard1200]

Originally posted by grraf:

Well the guide is highly inaccurate and gives of so much misinformation its not even funny

1) Its pointless to tag a speech skill

3)Biotech is almost as wastefull as tagging a speech skill(mandatory for diplomacy only runs)

Writing something pretentious as this and posting contradictory information afterwards is really weird in my opinion.

[grraf]

Originally posted by Pladio:

You're doing well with you polite responses :D

Some comments below for consideration. I am certainly not an expert, but I do pretty well now.

Maximise XP in chapter 1 by not doing the companion quests to hire them until later
Evans is a waste of time anyway, so it doesn't matter what you do with him -> So you can still do the Abe one and then leave Evans there forever.

In skill levels, you can get an extra feat later on by going to Eli to double the Int Implact, so you could do 6 Int, Educated and then +2 from implant. So you can tag Electronics later in your example

I disagree on Pistol crit builds. Garett is the epitome of high crit pistol build and destroys most opponents as it's low AP high damage.
Check out the build Garett has and use him in some fights or build similar and you'll see how good it is.

Shotguns actually are pretty sweet with sharpshooter feat (+2 range) and helps scale into late game with extra aim through cover too. Especially with high crit too, you can do very well late game with double shot/crits

Rifles are very good in solo actually too - I played 10 Dex 10 Int character and destroyed easily. Finished the game with 10 pulse grenades, 8 disruptors, 6 stasis

I still need to play SMG build

What's the church of the covenant bunkhouse ? Do you mean Temple of the Reborn ?

I disagree on end comments - you can build a true powerhouse of a tank with 14DR/15DR + 5 Shield DR meaning you can't get hurt for a long timer.

This^ is pretty much bang on based on my own experiences so far(clocked in a few hundred hours myself, tho haven't yet had the time to do a new run post anniversary update yet sadly, hopefully i will get the chance now that the winter holly-days are round the corner)

A few other things i feel like adding to the conversation:

1)On the topic of solo runs... great if you just wanna waste your time for no good reasons(standing in smoke behind a crate for cover and peeling off toons one by one isn't my idea of fun) so all that i have referenced before is from the perspective of a team run(in my opinion the optimal way to experience the game) to put it bluntly unless you want to burn time there is nothing to really see/do as a solo as both evasion&armor handling are quickly getting derailed to the point where anybody but the monks are nothing more then cannon fodder...

2)Regarding the companions i do believe some alterations need to be made because as things stand you have the following situation:
In the pit you have two stellar companions: Jed excellent team player that can provide sarge&armor handling in addition to performing as a tank+melee(blunt seems best)/ranged(shotguns seem best but he can do anything well besides the more AP intensive rifle class really)/hybrid(can have both shotguns&blunts tagged) and Faythe(either as a skill monkey or a grenadier&sniper(with pistols tagged&right feats she will always bull's eye crit... enough said)
In the habitat you got Knurl&faction companions as top notch dmg dealers and all around great performers but with a few regional lock limitations that you may need to be mindfull of... either way theyr well worth having in the party
Then comes the hall of the lame duo: Harbinger, this gal is not a great team player(only cult leader can make her cough up the team bonuses) and her rifle spec is redundant(if by the time you get her you rolled without a high initiative team sniper(either rifle or pistol) then you have my sincere condolences AND there is Evens a text book example of a mediocrity wrestler, while hes not dead weight per say he ain't anything worth looking at till his mid game identity crisis but by then its soo late and you can have Knurl or a faction companion instead or the MC itself that get to better fill hes role.
My point being the Harbinger&Evens duo are in need of some overhauling to not get overshadowed by the others(but its rather late, and not sure if the devs got the time&willingness to refurbish them now that the game is pretty much done)

[grraf]

Originally posted by wizard1200:

Originally posted by grraf:

Well the guide is highly inaccurate and gives of so much misinformation its not even funny

1) Its pointless to tag a speech skill

3)Biotech is almost as wastefull as tagging a speech skill(mandatory for diplomacy only runs)

Writing something pretentious as this and posting contradictory information afterwards is really weird in my opinion.

Yeah the wording ain't stellar but the point still stands: unless you plan to do a diplomacy heavy/only run there is no point in tagging a speech skill as you can reliably&reasonably reach lvl7 in streetwise/persuasion with just chats &speech related tokens(there are like 5 of them now and a trainer) and that pretty much seals the deal on almost anything you may need opened up via dialogue unless you are tripping on your own decisions(as in doing things to ruin your rep with factions you plan to work with in the future and having ask question later)

Either way you are in this regard a much less credible source then i am , as one can dig up the actual screenshots i posted in threads proving the exact things i mentioned , on the other hand your last documented play trough this game was when exactly ?!

[TroubleProne]

Thanks for the feedback, again.

I agree with all of your points on the companions. Faythe has always been my fav, tho Jed comes in a close second. I don't know if we'll get an overhaul on the companions now that the devs are in post production. Personally, I just hope they studio stays around to give us Colony Ship 2.

I see your point on the Speech/Civic skills. You can manage without a tag, much like you can forgo tagging in Electronics and Computers, however that means you give up some great early loot in Mission control, and the feat that gives you bonuses against robots. I prefer to have it before I tackle First Law of Robotics, however you could manage without if your build is strong enough. I'm a completionist at heart so I wanted to show how one could get access to all of the content, not just 85%, and early enough that it would make a difference.

I looked into the hardest speech checks and you can't manage them without either super high skill or a positive disposition modifier. Unless I'm going Cult Leader, I usually never put points into CHA. With no disposition modifiers, talking Mercy into not allying with the church in Chapter 4 requires you to kill Mother in the Shuttle Bay -and- have either persuasion or streetwise level 9 -and- be allied with the church or convince Mercy to partner up with Riggs. Convincing the First Daughter to shut off the engines flat out requires level 10 in one skill and or level 9 in both because you'll have burned your convenant reputation putting her on the throne.

I see your point on solo build combat. Like you I despised it and found that kind of gameplay a waste of my time. I wrote the guide so that you don't have to stand in smoke plinking away at your enemies. I hope that some of what I wrote can help folks avoid that.

I have a lot of respect for you grraf. Your comments are usually spot on and your builds are tremendous. That we differ in some theory crafting is ok. I can live with that. Anyways, enough said.

Cheers.

[TroubleProne]

Also, I updated the Speech section to include your comment on the tag.

[grraf]

Regarding the first daughter i can tell you based of a previous run its possible to convince her(or it was possible unless it was recently altered)

https://colonyship.fandom.com/wiki/Quest_for_Freedom <--as you can see the highest check you need here is a 9 so this gives us the minimum needed speech skill of 7 to score partial success and as such we have:
1)killing the original mother is a net -10rep BUT killing Knurl then the rebels give +5rep each so those cancels each other out.
2)Having the neural damper +1 disposition and +1(from cha) starts use off at +2 disposition by default
3)Partially succeeding twice nets you +5(vs 8 check) and +3(vs 9check)
So +2 initial disposition from(dampner&cha)+5+3=10 so the engines get shut off...

Also if i recall properly(i may not as it been a whilee and i'm not all that much into diplomacy runs there is bonus disposition gained by having/using above lvl4(6?) speech skills...

This^ is what i accomplished in one of my 6cha runs as far as i can recall...

[TroubleProne]

Yup, the math works out.

But honestly, who wants to knock off the coolest guy on the ship? Also, killing Knurl locks you out of his new mutant quest and the only way to get a Spitfire DLX. Plus the extra XP for running the other church out of the heart. Lol.

So you either have to get your disposition modifiers up to 2 and kill Knurl or you have to use a speech tag along with several tokens and a whole bunch of speech LP.

I'll update the guide with your comments tomorrow morning. I'm too tired tonight.

[TroubleProne]

The guide has been update to include your comments regarding passing the First Daughter speech check. Thanks again.

Cheers!