Is Luck ever worth taking?

[Radiac]

I'm plotting out my 4-member team comp for when I eventually buy Wasteland 3 right now. From what I can tell, it looks like Luck is as much of a dump stat in W3 as it was in Wasteland 2. Is there a type of character that really needs/wants high Luck? Because between Coordination being a must have 10-rank attribute, and the other options, like Awareness giving a whopping ranged damage bonus at level 10, etc, I doubt I'd have room for high luck one any one guy. Then again, maybe if they all have high luck the luck bonuses just pop so often that you have to make a whole team of Lucky Stiffs to make it work in your favor in any real big way, I don't know.

Does luck affect the loot you get when you open containers and safes? If so, does the guy with Lockpicking skill have to be the high-luck guy on the team to be able to make that work, or does it not matter who has high luck, as long as any one person does?

[augustus c a s e y]

if luck is high enough sometimes you think it was your skills or perceptions that won the fight. but it was the luck. always the luck. its likely the only skill that actually matters. and maybe int. i think i sit everyone at 2-4 of everything except luck and int. maybe 6 strength on a few front line folk

[Rob DiGiorno]

megacrits and free actions are nice. pistol users seem to be good with luck in my experience. many chances due to low pistol ap cost.

[Commander Gorda]

I would say for small arms and smg its quite important for Armor penetration.

[Radiac]

As far as I can tell, an SMG user wants Coordination for AP, just like everyone else, Luck for Armor Pen and random Lucky goodness, Awareness for accuracy and damage (and the Perception is fine, but probably not necessary), Strength for hit points because the range is not great, so you have to get close where they can hit you back, so you need hit points and better armor, Speed for the ability to move around cover and flank before firing, Int for crit chance and damage, and Charisma for increased Strike fill rate.

As such SMGs want basically everything. So if you only get say 47 total attribute points by the time the game is over, and you have to put one in each Attribute at level 1, that leaves you 40 points to play with. What do you dump in that case? Or are we putting 7 points in each Attribute and going for the Even Steven build? I'm curious what people would recommend. Because I had thought of that.

[Commander Gorda]

Something like 4 strenght 4 speed maybe 6 luck Max coordination, 6 awareness and rest int. Something like that.

[1ttffsse]

Luck is good on a sniper and brawler. The reason is you want the extra 10% on crit chance and mega lucky crits which deal bonus damage on top and some times through "lucky" actions you get free extra attacks as such attacks do not consume ap. It is good on a brawler (1 ap attack cost) or any 2-3 ap attack cost toon as well because again, lucky action = free attacks, more dps. And brawlers do like 10-13 attacks per turn so more chances of getting those lucky actions.

But yeah on smg as pointed above luck is not a priority as you need awareness more.

[SnapSlav]

Yes, LCK is a great stat. It is NOT at all a dump stat, as it was in WL2.

The drawback to investing in LCK is that Penetration as a mechanics can be easily circumvented by dealing Elemental damage, thus Armor does not matter, so neither does Penetration. So the +6 Penetration from 10 LCK won't matter.

However LCK gives amazing megacrits, it gives extra CON from heals, it gives you free actions (NOT just free AP), and yes, it DOES impact loot. It doesn't give higher drop tables, so the individual loot sources that may give up to X or Y mod will still give up to the same mods, but you will have a rare chance to get extra scrap and extra cash. So cumulatively, LCK is very useful.

In practice, you ALWAYS want your Sniper(s) to max out LCK eventually. INT, AWR, COR, and LCK are the only Attributes a Sniper wants to invest it. 2 CHA, 1 STR, and 1 SPD is all you need in the remaining Attributes. So 44 points across your 7 Attributes can be finished by level 24, easily.

Because Snipers only take 1-2 shots per turn in most cases (but stronger builds can take up to 5 shots AND Chain Ambush in a single turn, when fully optimized) then you'll rarely see free actions when taking shots. But when it happens, this gives you an extra shot to take, so that can be the equivalent of an extra 6 AP for that turn.

Characters which attack more frequently will experience free actions more often. Hence the suggestion that Pistols and Brawlers may like maxed LCK. It also helps that these weapons have low Penetration, so if you don't deal Elemental damage with them, the +6 Penetration will seriously benefit them, as well.

It's not something to max FIRST, but it is very strong to max on certain builds.

[Iry]

Originally posted by SnapSlav:

It's not something to max FIRST, but it is very strong to max on certain builds.

This. Luck is a good 3rd stat, and can allow you to do some positively insane things, like shooting a Sniper Rifle four times in a row. The cumulative effects are quite powerful over time, but it is exactly what it says on the tin. RNG.

My best Luck streak was an effective 31 AP in a single round.

[Uncle Boss]

Max Coordination, Then Awareness, Then Luck. Do this for all your characters, except Melee/Tank--Max their Strength first, then Coordination, then Luck

[Steve Warris]

When Low on Luck IT Seems that you miss to often then 90%er

[Tattoo Dude]

Having high luck on my weaker party members (sniper and small arms) has been great. They get free shots every once in a while (huge for the sniper) and free movement (huge for small arms). And that lucky evade can keep them alive! Not a go-to like coordination, but definitely a worthwhile stat.

[valium]

Intelligence is the single best attribute for damage dealers, 2nd attribute will most likely be coordination. After that, it depends on your weapon. Snipers will want luck because they rely almost entirely on crits the later the game gets. SMGs/ARs will want awareness for consistency. Strength for melee damage dealers. Charisma for pistol/shotguns because of strike.

[LoneWolfLegend]

yes. just yes. do it. wont regret

[Radiac]

I've now done like 4 complete start to finish runs of this game and I am of the opinion that Luck is nice, but not necessary. I generally max out Charisma on the two starting rangers, Coordination, and Awareness on the gunners, and Strength and Speed on the melee guys, and I usually plan on needing a 10 in Int just get get enough Skill points by level 20. The benefits of Luck are nice, but not reliable. That is, you cannot plan out your combat turns by saying "Ok, Ill shoot that guy with this guy and get the Luck to proc, then..." so you have to fly by the seat of your pants and whatever happens happens. And I got the Combat Shooting on my Sniper for the Crits.