Starting character opinions please

[CornishRatBeard]

Hi all, just bought this and gonna start wasteland for the 1st time! 😊

Could you all post your favourite starting builds, I'd really appreciate if you took the time to do that. 👍

Thanks all

[Radiac]

There's a patch coming, and it contains some nerfs. That being the case, it's hard to recommend anything specific. I made a team of 4 that had a Sniper, a Big Gunner, a Small Arms guy and an Automatic Weapons guy. The very first mission is a little light on ammo for the sniper as of right now, but they said they addressed that in the patch. Both of my starting 2 guys started with the following CLASSIC stats:

C 4
L 1
A 1
S 2
S 1
I 2
C 10

That's right, TEN Charisma to start. It gives you massive XP bonuses and causes your Strike meter to fill faster. I eventually maxxed out Charisma on all 4 of my starters, and Jodie Bell jusr for the Strike rate. I recommend taking a Big Gun guy and maybe an Automatic Weapons guy to start, unless you want to save Jodie Bell the "clean" way, in which case you'd likely want a Sniper to start. I think Snipers are the best anyway, but not right at level 1. My Sniper had a different CLASSIC breakdown to start, because I wanted him to have 12 AP at level 1 (to be able to shoot the 6-AP sniper rifle twice in one round), so I gave him a Coordination of 8 and the Two Pump Chump Quirk. This will not work when the patch hits, because they're upping the AP for Sniper rifles from 6 to 7. It's still possible to get to 14 AP per round, but you need a Utility item or Rally for that now, so never at level 1. My Sniper's starting stats were:

C 8
L1
A 6
S 1
S 1
I 2
C 2

I avoided putting points into Luck because of the unpredictability of it. I mean, sure, if all 6 guys have high Luck, you're probably going to get stuff to proc enough that it doesn't matter, but I'd rather invest points into stuff that I can plan on using ahead of time.

[Mork]

The pre-made rangers Punk Lovers are probably the best choice as starting rangers. But only for the prologue and so that you can get their 2 utility items.
+10% critical chance
+4% Strike rate

(Be careful to give major Tom to your sniper before dismissing them)


If the above is ignored, then i think a Leader + a skill monkey is a very good choice as ranger number 1.

Goat killer + PoinDexter
Small arm (Shotgun)
Lockpicking
Mechanic
Leadership
First aid (low)
Nerd Stuff (maybe)

C: 1
L: 1
A: 1 ­
S: 2
S: 1
I: 1
C: 10


(Fictional later attributes)

C: 4-10 (What ever is enough to shoot at least 3 times)
L: 2+
A: 6-10
S: 4+
S: 4-5
I: 10
C: 10

[Heau]

I wouldn't do Poindexter if you play on higher difficulties. particularly not on anything that isn't a sniper and there are other better options for sniper imho.

If you chose to do custom characters, you can go to the skills before the attributes. The game recommends 3 main attributes in the description of each of the weapon proficiency skills. You don't have to follow them strictly speaking but they're pretty good guides. My first playthrough was on max diff with 1 char of each weapon specialty and I followed that guide and it went fine. With experience I might have prioritized the 3 stats in a different order or possibly even swapped one out, but it was a reasonable allocation.

I know a lot of people really like to go charisma 10 early on in these forums, because of the EXP boost. I'm not sure it's as viable on max difficulty. Charisma has a few breakpoints and usually the break that makes your character stats Strike rate jump from >20% to >25% is hardly worth the 3 points investment in charisma in terms of combat impact. It's also rather underwhelming as an early stat on characters with high AP cost weapons like snipers and HMG. Especially snipers since they have high base strike on weapon. It's fine with the short arms build suggested by Mork. The EXP boost levels you up faster early but over the length of the game, it's maybe 1-3 levels difference in the end game because of the increasing level cost. Good but not game breaking.

My current 2nd playthrough I built all 4 characters with the -15% exp quirk and didn't prioritize charisma on anyone (slowly built it up to strike 20% on my brawlers), and I don't feel underleveled at all. The only struggle was that I was like 100 exp from leveling when it came down to getting recruits #3 and #4 at the HQ and so I had to force 2-man a HQ cleaning encounter to level up so that my recruits #3 and #4 wouldn't be stuck a full level down because of how level/exp of new recruits is built.

[CornishRatBeard]

Thanks for thr replies so far. Now the new patch is out are they any new ideas for starting builds and optimal teams? 👍 😊

[Mork]

A serial killer + SMG will still be my go to guy to kill everything on the battlefield.

Only shotgun Jackhammer build seem to have gotten a big nerf and it might be slightly harder to shoot twice with sniper rifle.

[CornishRatBeard]

Publicado originalmente por Mork:

A serial killer + SMG will still be my go to guy to kill everything on the battlefield.

Only shotgun Jackhammer build seem to have gotten a big nerf and it might be slightly harder to shoot twice with sniper rifle.

What stats would you give your smg guy and what would you partner him with? Including skills etc.

[Mork]

I will partner him with the sniper or a leader / mechanic at the start.


The SMG ranger will need to end with something like this

Weapons: PDW-01 (explosive SMG) / Lancer (Explosive assault rifle)

SMG as main damage weapon and assault rifle as very long range (scope) easy kills and also free AP. (Those 2 weapons are relatively easy to get)

Attribute:
C: 10
L: 1
A: 10
S: 4
S: 2-5+
I: 10
C: 1

Skills:
Automatic weapons
Lockpicking (Optional)
..............
Explosion (Not the explosion expert of the group, but ONLY for synergy with the weapons)
Mechanic 3 (for the perk)
First aid 1 (useful but optional)
Animal whisper 5 (double head goat or goat)

..............................................................................................

At level 1

Goat killer + Serial killer

C: 8
L: 1
A: 5 (Probably the first skill i get to 10)
S; 2
S: 2
I: 2 (2nd to 10)
C: 1

Automatic weapon 2
Lockpicking 2

[CornishRatBeard]

Publicado originalmente por Mork:

I will partner him with the sniper or a leader / mechanic at the start.


The SMG ranger will need to end with something like this

Weapons: PDW-01 (explosive SMG) / Lancer (Explosive assault rifle)

SMG as main damage weapon and assault rifle as very long range (scope) easy kills and also free AP. (Those 2 weapons are relatively easy to get)

Attribute:
C: 10
L: 1
A: 10
S: 4
S: 2-5+
I: 10
C: 1

Skills:
Automatic weapons
Lockpicking (Optional)
..............
Explosion (Not the explosion expert of the group, but ONLY for synergy with the weapons)
Mechanic 3 (for the perk)
First aid 1 (useful but optional)
Animal whisper 5 (double head goat or goat)

..............................................................................................

At level 1

Goat killer + Serial killer

C: 8
L: 1
A: 5 (Probably the first skill i get to 10)
S; 2
S: 2
I: 2 (2nd to 10)
C: 1

Automatic weapon 2
Lockpicking 2

Very nice, I see the lock picking will go with the luck quite nicely! 😁

How are u gonna kit your 2nd one (sniper/leader) out and which one do you think your go with? 👍

[Mork]

They are 2 different rangers...

The sniper has been slightly nerf and personally i will not try to make them shoot twice with AP. Instead i will go with luck.


End Game (safe) sniper build

C: 8* (or 9 AP should be enough to mark and shoot)
L: 10 (3rd)
A: 10 (1st)
S: 2
S: 1+
I: 10 (2nd)
C: 1

Skills:

Sniper rifle
weird science (6 is enough to pass most skill checks, but has synergy with energy sniper rifle)
+1 Skill (see bellow, personally i will choose nerd stuff)
...........................
3rd main skill
Nerd science (No synergy with sniper)
Sneaky ♥♥♥♥ (Synergy with sniper, but i prefer my explosion expert to have it)
Or anything else your group is missing
...........................
Mechanic 3 (for perk)
Animal whisper 5 or max (Major Tom or cat)

............................................................................

At level 1

To have the best sniper possible, starting with the pre-made rangers Punk Lovers to ''steal'' their utility items is wise. 4 customs rangers can be created after the prologue and be careful to pass Major Tom to your sniper before dismissing the Punk Lovers.

Goat killer + Sadomasochist

C: 4
L: 2
A: 7
S: 2
S: 1
I: 4
C: 1

Skills
Sniper rifle 2
Nerd stuff 2
Animal whisper 1
Weird Science 0 (not important at level 1)

[Mork]

As for the leader / mechanic build

The shotgun Jackhammer and mechanic summons has been nerf, so not sure how good they still are, but probably still quite strong.


C: 8? (??? very not sure on how much is actually needed atm)
L: 4+
A: 10
S: 4+
S: 4+
I: 10
C: 6+

Skills
Small arm (mostly shot gun, but long range pistol is also quite good)
Mechanic
Leadership
...........................
First aid 1
xxxxx
.....................................................................

At level 1

Goat killer + serial killer

C: 4 (Increase if you need AP)
L: 2
A: 3 (Probably 1st to raise to a 6+)
S: 2
S: 2
I: 2 (2nd)
C: 6

A build that like to increase all attributes relatively equally. They all have a role to play, but Intelligence is probably the most important overall. So items that give +1 to all attributes should go to him.

Skills
Small arm 1
Mechanic 1
Leadership 1
First aid 1

[Rayman.]

It's best to learn for yourself what and how. So far I will not share my squad on the SJ level because a new patch and i have to test before showing what builds I use the latest version of the game.
But the smg leader is the best what this guy wrote above. I use shotgun pistol leader. Sado sneaky sniper also does the trick. I'm testing AR because they got a buff. My Heavy remains unchanged. Still strong. My Cordite and Pizepi won't suffer too much, but I haven't recruited them yet to test them