Optimal Start - SUPREME JERK

A Guide Outlining an OPTIMAL start for SUPREME JERK

Guide Intro

Hello,
This guide is a work in progress.

I have played alot of Wasteland 2, including the Directors Cut (DC from here on), & own it on both Steam & GOG. Trying Supreme Jerk (SJ from here on) for the first time was imposible, getting murdered by raiders i couldnt even hit as soon as I left Ranger HQ. I found that SJ needed Min/Max builds & ideal skill spread/combat ability across your followers, using ideal weapon choices with very high starting skill level, careful quest order, having a full party asap, ect, ect.

TLDR: SJ needs pretty much one Min/Max party build with the righ use of existing follower you can recruit ASAP to fill skill gaps & needing very high weapon skill out of the gate

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** I have been running my own guide to make sure i have it all correct. I will need to make small additions to smoothout the order of stuff & all small bits I missed. For now I will say that early caches & Rails Nomad Camp will easily get you almost all your "starter" weapons & armour, except for 1x SOSG shotgun & 1x M24 sniper rifle you buy from the random trader, although i always need to buy a few light armours **
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Things I learned include but are not limited to:

- Ascetic characters get the head start they need & trinkets are more for your followers, This is hands down the best quirk on SJ

- You can type in the code (was for kickstart backers) in dialogue with Sefors, to receive skill books that unlock the Southwestern Folklore skill. The code is 61290

- Hover over the blue flag icon of ranger with leadership in combat, the effect radius will be seen

- A Medic is needed in addition to a Surgeon

- Dont level skill past 10 including all combined bonuses from items, trinkets & perks, & use any +1 skill rank books to get your LAST skill rank to max skill points

- Combat Initiative (CI) is prehaps the most important stat in the game!

- A high starting weapon skill (rank 4) will save your life

- Rushing your "starting" equipment will also save your live, thanks Rails nomads & weapons trader (you can get a pulse rifle, 4x FAMAS's, SOSG, M24, migbiight special & atleast 3x Bullet proof shirts, 4x if you have the scrap, before the Radio tower)

- Strip weapons when you can afford it for mods & mod your weapons

- Always start combat yourself, if you can with your lowest CI follower (Ralphy depending on trinket choice) AFTER your party is well positioned & in cover if possible

- Pick your perks carefully, i will try to outline this in the guide as I experiment more

Weapons: *Damage numbers are "max" before armour is factored in

- Melee just wont do on SJ, you'll just get separated & killed

- Melee Caveats: Blunt weapons are significantly worse than the other two melee categories, higher penetration notwithstanding & "The Endgame" blade weapon (Proton Axe) requires Strength 6. Brawling rules melee overall, if going that route.

- Having more AP than your best attack is not helpful 95% of the time

- Armour penetration, range & ammo use matter alot

- Precision shots! head > 200% raw damage for extra 2AP, as long as your hit chance allows it, do it, plus other location options ie legs to hobble enemies

- SMG's & Heavy's both use too much ammo, SMG's lack range & penetration on top of this, Heavy's cant use weapon mods. Both lack too much to be used effectivly.

- Assualt rifles are king of damage per AP, with a non-headshot burst using 7AP on a G41 (best in class) with 51.4 damage per AP with a penetration of 7 & a range of 23m, 80 damage per AP with headshot burts

- Shotguns "appear" second but range, lack of Precision strike & lower penetration hurt them somewhat, only really good on Scotchmo due to his starting investment in shotguns. A burst using the Jackhammer (best in class) with 45.5 damage per AP, penetration of 6 & range of 13m. *Note: the crowd control shotgun is an ideal secondary weapon for a dedicated shotgun user. Jackhammer damage is on par with explosives if used on a character with the Combat Shooting skill.

- Sniper Rifles come in second with a non-headshot using 7AP on a Anti-material rifle (best in class, minus the unique Dragoon rifle, which is very hard to get due to drop ratres/conditions in the DC) with 35.7 damage per AP with a peretration of 9 & a range of 30m, 55.5 damage per AP with headshot

- Energy Weapons appear fairly weak compaired to assault rifles but with careful selection of conductive targets (who take 2.2x damage) & perks they are ok, but the unique Gamma Ray Blaster (best in class) is among the best weapons in the game, but there is only 1 & it only uses 8AP to burst so it is ideal for a leader character to use to take 2 points from coordination & put them into chrisma. Back to the numbers, its burst is 24.4 damage per AP with a range of 20m, to a conductive target its 53.6 damage per AP. (Perks can take non-conductive target damage to 130% or 31.7 damage per AP)

- The M1911 handgun is an ideal secondary weapon for your skill heavy sniper Rose, with a non-headshot using 4AP with 33.7 damage per AP with a penetration of 7 & a range of 15m, Headshot does 45 damage per AP.

Your end game weapons would be:

- Leader: Gamma Ray Blaster/Final Assessment

- Kiss: G41/Truth

- Smart: G41/The Blix

- Hard: G41/Bad Attitude

- Ralphy: G41/The Lariat

- Scotchmo: Jackhammer/Crowd control shotgun

- Rose: Anti-material rifle/M1911

Followers

- Angela Deth is useful for her decent combat ability, free equipment & ability to tank, she is free
& can be picked up in stating area, we also need her chrisma to recruit Scotchmo

- Ralphy has toaster repair (a needed skill) & animal whisper (starts high enough that with a trinket & skill book you only need to invest upto rank 4 or 5 into it) although he has 1 skill in brawling he can be trained into a good assault rifle user. He is easy to get @ level 1 in Rails nomad camp

- Scotchmo is decent although he gets some hate due to shotgunning being under valued, he cracks safes, picks locks & shoots shotguns. He has a party chrisma requirment of 12 to recruit, with the core 4 rangers, Angela & Ralphy you will have exactly 12 party chrisma. He is better than anyone else we could get this early or without investing alot more into chrisma.. he IS your best worst choice for 1 of your 3 followers

-Picking Rose over Vultures Cry is a must due to Roses starting skillset & higher skill points per level. She is needed to skill mule our missing skills (Computer science, Surgeon, Alarm disarm, outdoorsman & mechanical repair) & trained with a sniper rifle/hand gun combo she fills our need for a 10AP sniper.

- Everyone else REALLY sucks or comes too late in game or has poor skillsets/combat ability
* Note: Jamie the robot, Vax the robot & the Night Terror can be useful but get killed fast (robots) or dont do much (Night Terror). Best to let the robots fight & die, to feed the Night Terror Meat "candy" until he sleeps & kill him for a ton of XP ASAP.

Endgame Armour:

-There are 4x Power armours (for rangers) at rating 9
-There are 3x Spectrum Assault Vests (for followers) at rating 7

Best Armour in Arizona:

- Light: Kevlar Vest at rating 5
- Heavy: Combat Armor at rating 5, 1x Mobile Infantry Armor at rating 7

Recruits this Party can get for XP (max 7):

• Ralphy
  
• Scotchmo (Charisma 12+, need Angela Deth & Ralphy)
  
• Radio Tower Punks
  
• Rose
  
• Chisel
  
• Takayuki
  
• Lexicanum
  
• Pizepi (Charisma 22+ need 3x Spiked collars + 2x melons + temp Takayuki)
  
• Gary Wolf (Charisma 25+ need 3x Spiked collars & 3x melons + temp Takayuki)
  
• All 3x California followers (12 total)

MUST HAVE! Fan-Made Patch

TAKE THE LINK BELOW:
Wasteland 2 Fan-Made Patch[www.nexusmods.com]

Fixes numerous bugs, issues & oversights throughout the game. Adds & improves tooltips. Drastically increases moddability.

INSTALLATION

• Download both the 'DC Patch' & 'Localization' files.
  
• Go to your "Wasteland 2 Director's Cut\Build\WL2_Data\" folder, usually found at "C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\".
  
• Go to the "Managed" folder & make a backup copy of the Assembly-CSharp.dll in case you want to revert to it later.
  
• Then extract the contents of the 'DC Patch' file inside the "Managed" folder, replacing the existing Assembly-CSharp.dll.
  
• Go to the "StreamingAssets\Localization\" folder & extract the contents of the 'Localization' file there.

CHANGES

• The Changelogs dropdown above contains the comprehensive list of changes, with the general/gameplay/base game bug fix sections usually the most relevant.

NOTABLE CHANGES

• additional tooltips & more informative tooltips, including a breakdown of bonuses; some (such as Attribute/Skill) did not display all their effects
  
• improved loading times
  
• extra settings for camera zoom & behavior during combat; found in Options -> Gameplay
  
• can disable intro logo playback; 'Play InXile Intro' setting in Options -> Gameplay
  
• game can continue to run while minimized instead of always pausing; 'Run in Background' setting in Options -> Gameplay
  
• expanded portrait selection during character creation
  
• can return to shrines & skill statues with new companions so they can receive the bonus; 'Allow revisting shrines' setting in Options -> Gameplay
  
• far more moddable; base game only had rudimentary support

• improved positioning of overhead health bars; status effect indicators added; non-hostile NPCs now have blue health bars
  
• Glancing Strike line of perks show ambush overhead icon when active & will attack enemies passing near the PC rather than only if they started their turn adjacent to the PC
  
• 'Ruined Weapon' effect from arm precision strikes now also destroys melee weapons
  
• Father Enola & Malediction Mayweather never dropped their unique weapons; the sniper rifle Dragoon had a one-time 10% drop chance
  
• restored door puzzle in Highpool underground that was in the non-DC version of the game

• weapon field stripping drop chances now match the values displayed in the popup; in the base game, actual mod drop chances were half the listed values
  
• physics update rate fixed; NPC death explosions no longer slow & stuttery
  
• adjacent NPCs were giving each other under pressure penalties while a Ranger next to them would do nothing
  
• Glancing Strike line of perks for blunt weapons was not working with many blunt weapons
  
• rabbit leap animation would often bug out, preventing the attack from completing
  
• if the target of an ambush was moving, they would sometimes immediately teleport to their destination after the attack finished
  
• Ranger Citadel & Prison maps were missing level music
  
• a double hyphen in the dialogue text would cause a hiccup in conversations
  
• Mysophobic quirk was preventing the use of most items on the character, instead of just healing items as intended
  
• never informing Mr. Manners of the plot against him would break the kill Tori quest
  
• accepting Sadler's quest meant Gary "NaCl" Wolfe could never be recruited

Arizona Ideal Area & Quest Order

Order taken from a much more knowledgeable wiki

Link to source[gamefaqs.gamespot.com]

I Suggest following linked guide on your 1st SJ run, Maximising XP by killing all possible
Do all non-conflicting quests, or if conflicting, do ones with most gainful outcomes

1. IN THE BEGINNING is ARIZONA
o The Ranger Citadel
o Exploring the Outside of the Citadel for a Bit (Recruit Angela Deth)
o The Wasteland & Travelling on the World Map (Get the 3 close loot caches)
o A Temporary Excursion to the Rail Nomads Camp to Recruit Ralphy & Scotchmo
o Return to the Ranger Citadel (This is when wandering weapon trader is encountered)
2. The Radio Tower - Your First Mission (Recruit the punks, leave shrine until you have Rose)
o The Radio Tower
o Return to the Ranger Citadel
4. Saving the Ag Center Instead of Highpool Only way to get Rose & The Blix, 5% more XP
5. Save the Ag Center
o Find the Central Complex
o Ag Center Central Complex (Recruit Rose)
o The East Field
o Find Fungicide in the Mushroom Caves
o The West Field
o Inspect an Infected Farm
o Infected Pump Station
o Infected Village
6. The Destruction of Highpool
7. The Citadel after the Ag Center
o Enter the Ranger Citadel
Best XP outcome: KILL DELTA TEAM when they walk by (no one reacts), My map ends here
o Buying & Selling in the Citadel (Mercaptain: type "Ag Center", then "Matt Forrestal" for Blix)
8. Eliminating the Wrecking Crew
o Travel to & enter Ruins of Highpool (Save 1x survivor, kill rest)
o Wrecking Crew Stronghold
o Traveling to The Prison Valley & The Prison
9. The Prison Valley (Kill the tax man, his party & any Red Skorpions. Password: rosebud)
o Exploring the Prison Valley
10. Getting A Good Rad Suit
o Talk to Rick Baychowski about Rad Suits
o Find a Good Rad Suit for Free
11. The Prison Valley Again (Do all XP, before Red Skorpions kill locals later)
o Encounters with the Rad Skorpions
o Auwaerter's Farm
12. The Rail Nomads Camp
Best XP outcome: Peace then kill all Bandits, Addicts & "Hostiles" (ONLY), recruit Chisel
o Helping the Citizens of Rail Nomads
o Meet Kekkahbah, the Leader of the Topekans
o Getting to the Atchison Camp
13. The Atchison Camp
o Exploring the Atchison Camp
14. Distillery for Snake Squeezins
Best XP outcome: Scotchmo dialog, then Kill hobo's before they go
o Return to Citadel after Rail Nomad
15. The Village of Darwin
Best XP outcome: Peaceful cure xp so Pizepi Jorenthen appears, then kill all, turn in to Rangers
o Exploring Darwin Village
16. Exploring the Arizona Wasteland
o Leve L'upe Mine (Recruit Takayuki)
o The Abandoned Railway
17. The Canyon of Titan
o Exploring the Canyon of Titan
18. The Temple of Titan
o Paying your Tribute
o Father Enola
o Finding the DBM Stronghold (Do All DBM Quests, pretended to side with DBM)
o Exploring the Temple Underground
o Getting to Damonta
19. Damonta (Recruit Lexcanium)
o Clean up Damonta
o A Radio Tower & a Werewolf
o The Damonta Radio Tower
20. Next Stop, Silo 7
Best XP outcome: Side with both factions > Kill monks > give DBM nuke > kill all DBM
o Exploring Silo 7 (Safe code: Joshua)
o Temple of Titan Aftermath
o Trouble at the Prison
Best XP outcome: Do peaceful dog cure xp, Get skill book, Then kill all Red Scorpians
o Minor Undone Quests, Etc (Kill Dave Oshry, Etc)
21. On your Way to Santa Fe, or Someplace Like It
o Find Vargas & Lose Angela
o Going to California

Temple of Titan Best XP Outcome Note:

Its best to just wipe out both sides, more loot & XP

• Enter the valley area, get your monk escort asap, loot & clear the 2 maps, you can kill any DBM troops you see (you'll side with them later. DO NOT enter DBM secret base right now).
  
• Do all monk stuff, agree to help so Father Enola unlocks door gives Silo 7 location.
  
• Once done, wipe out all the monks, search & loot everything in both maps.
  
• NOW go to the secret DBM base, they will be mad at you but you can still get the scrambler.
  
• Go attach it to the silo missile controls & exit the underground.
  
• The DBM come & take over the Monk base.
  
• You wiped out all monks but 4 or so spawn when the DBM enter the base.
  
• Once that is over, just wipe out all the Militia also, here & in the secret base earlier.

There you go, both sides dead, lots of XP & loot, no worries about either side controlling the nuclear warhead, Rangers win.

Quirks Note

All Rangers in my guide used Ascetic (+5 skill points, +1 Attribute point, Can NOT use trinkets)

IMHO the ONLY useful Quirks are:

Ascetic (IMHO the best. Generically useful, with careful follower choices & trinket use)

• +5 skill points, +1 Attribute point, Can NOT use trinkets

Brittle Bones (Good if making a "Sniper" build" if using Rose for other weapons)

• +2 base action points, -50% base combat speed
  
• Ideal sniper = ranger build with 11AP (12AP at level 20) + Brittle Bones (+2AP) + Tinkerer (+1AP) & Deadeye Perks (-1AP Sniper Rifle use) + Anarchy Patch (+1AP) = Shoots 2 to 3 shots per turn!

Thick Skinned (Good for making ideal melee builds)

• +2 Armor Rating, -30% combat speed

Raised in the Circus (IMHO 2nd best. Clown suit! Low charisma parties tend to skip leadership)

• +5% Evasion, No leadership bonuses received (Leader cant give themselves bonuses anyways)
  
• Also, CAN STILL "give leadership bonuses" to others, so IDEAL for a leader character
  
• Ideally pairing Leader build in guide using Energy Weapons/Smart Ass/Leadership, using a Spiked Collar (+1 Charisma) trinket & the Blix offhand (+1 Leadership & +1 Smart Ass)
  
• Clown Suit CAN NOT be removed (fan made patches menu can), but makes leader easy to spot.

You look like this, forever!

Starting 4 Rangers + NPCs

"Team Gunslinger" Build

We are getting the best character/party combo build so everyone has:
- Min/Max attributes
- Maxed out skills dont include Skill books, Trinkets, Items, Perks & Skill Statues use
- Separate Surgeon & Medic
- AP needed for their best attack & as good of CI as they can get
- Highest weapon skill level we can while still using their build at level 1

Due to Quirk:

- Level 35 Rangers have 7 skill points left (not shown 2)
- Allows 10 in Weapon skills, 1 in Surgeon PLUS 2x skills at 7 & 1x at 8 leaving 0 skill points
- Put 8 in duped Rose skills
- + Books/Items/Perks = 10/10/8/8/1


Ranger 1: Sgt Sparky
Skills: Leadership 1, Energy weapons 3, Perception 2 (will take 1 Surgeon)
Classic: C: 2 L: 1 A: 6 S: 2 S: 10 I: 4 C: 3
Quirks: Ascetic: add atributte point to awareness, & skill points to Energy weapons
Level 10/20/30 attribute points: all into awareness
Level 1: AP 8 CI 17 (CI +1 every 10 levels)
Sgt Sparky's Maxed Out Skills



Ranger 2: Pvt Hard
Skills: Assault rifles 3, Hardass 2, Brute force 1 (will take 1 Surgeon)
Classic: C: 4 L: 1 A: 6 S: 2 S: 10 I: 4 C: 1
Quirks: Ascetic: add atributte point to awareness, & skill points to Assault rifles
Level 10/20/30 attribute points: all into awareness
Level 1: AP 9 CI 17 (CI +1 every 10 levels)
Pvt Hard's Maxed Out Skills



Ranger 3: Pvt Kiss
Skills: Assault rifles 3, Kissass 2, Weaponsmithing 1 (will take 1 Surgeon)
Classic: C: 4 L: 1 A: 6 S: 2 S: 10 I: 4 C: 1
Quirks: Ascetic: add atributte point to awareness, & skill points to Assault rifles
Level 10/20/30 attribute points: all into awareness
Level 1: AP 9 CI 17 (CI +1 every 10 levels)
Pvt Kiss's Maxed Out Skills



Ranger 4: Pvt Smart
Skills: Assault rifles 3, Smartass 2, Field Medic 1 (will take 1 Surgeon)
Classic: C: 4 L: 1 A: 6 S: 2 S: 10 I: 4 C: 1
Quirks: Ascetic: add atributte point to awareness, & skill points to Assault rifles
Level 10/20/30 attribute points: all into awareness
Level 1: AP 9 CI 17 (CI +1 every 10 levels)
Pvt Smart's Maxed Out Skills



Ralphy:
Skills: Assault rifles/Animal whisper/Toaster repair (will take 1 Surgeon & 2 Weaponsmithing)
Classic: C: 3 L: 5 A: 4 S: 4 S: 5 I: 3 C: 4
Level 10/20/30 attribute points: 1 to intelligence, 1 to coorodniation, 1 to speed
Required perk: Tinker for the +1 AP in light armour (total 9AP)
Required trinkets: Inverted four leaf clover -1 luck/+5% to hit//+5% to evade (if you want headshot burst) *OR Pair of engagement rings -1AP/+3 CI (if you are ok with non-headshot bursts), Akita figurine (Animal whisper), Tool kit (Toaster Repair), Matt Forrestal's Ranger star (+1 Barter)
When recruited: AP 7 CI 11 @ level 30: AP 9 CI 12 *OR* AP 8 CI 15 with engagement rings
Starting Perk: Junk Diver
Note: With highest Charisma + Trinket + Skill book, Ralphy is parties main trader
Ralphy's Maxed Out Skills



Scotchmo:
Skills: Shotguns/Safe cracking/Lockpick/Demolitions (will take 1 Surgeon & 2 Weaponsmithing)
Classic: C: 6 L: 8 A: 1 S: 4 S: 5 I: 3 C: 1
Level 10/20/30 attribute points: 1 to intelligence, 1 to speed, 1 to awareness
Required perk: Tinker for the +1 AP in light armour (Total 10AP, 9 with Pair of rings)
Required trinkets: Pair of engagement rings -1AP/+3 CI, Eye of providence > cat burglar mask + Dowsing rod
When recruited: AP 9 CI 8 @ level 30: AP 10 CI 10 *OR* AP 9 CI 13 with engagement rings
Starting Perks: Careful Hunter, Hoarder
Note: Jackhammer damage on par with explosives used with Combat Shooting skill.
With Luck 8 he is party looter
Scotchmo's Maxed Out Skills



Rose:
Skills: Sniper/Handgun/Surgeon/Computer science/Alarm Disarm/Mechanical repair/outdoorsman (will take 2 Weaponsmithing)
Classic: C: 5 L: 2 A: 4 S: 2 S: 2 I: 10 C: 3
Level 10/20/30 attribute points: 2 to speed, 1 to coordination
Required perk: Tinker for +1 AP in light armour (Total 11AP, 10 with Pair of rings)
Required trinkets: Pair of engagement rings -1AP/+3 CI, Plus anything for Surgeon/Field medic (Clerics Cross), Computer science/Mechanical repair (PDA), Outdoorsman (Lark O'Matic 420), Share Tool Kit for +2 Mechanical Repair
Starting Perk: Cyber Scrounger
Rose's Maxed Out Skills


Perks 1 per 4 levels (total of 8 at level 32) Ralphy starts with 1 Rose/Scotchmo start with 2
- Everyone: Turtle, Weathered & Hardened for +1 Armour
- Assault rifles users take: Full Metal Jacket, Melee Shooting, Gunner & (Ralphy skips) Tormentor
- Leader: Tactical Positioning, Overcharge, Overload, Atomize & Tormentor
- Ralphy, Scotchmo, Rose take: Tinker for +1AP in light armour
- 3x XYZ-Ass Skill users: Should take the 1st perk for +2 to XYZ-Ass skill, after reaching 6 (= 8)
- Scotchmo takes: the other 2 "Hunter" perks
- Rose takes: Roboticist, Zeroed & Deadeye

Party Skills & Skill Books, at MAX LEVEL, which is level 35:
- Rangers: Weapon to 10, XYZ-Ass Skill to 6 (+2 = 8), Surgeon Skill to 1
- Leader: Leadership & Perception skill book use to reach 8, Energy Weapon 10
- Each XYZ-Ass Skill Ranger uses skill book for their skill to reach 7 (9 with +2 perk)
- Main Weapon Smith uses skill book for their skill to reach 8
- Main Field Medic uses skill book for their skill to reach 8 (must kill, Dr Baum for book)
- Main Brute Force user will use skill book for their skill to reach 8
- Ralphy, Scotchmo, Rose take main Weapon to 10, Pistol to 10 on Rose
- Scotchmo uses the Demolitions, Lock picking & Safe cracking skill books to reach 6 (Trinket = 8)
- Ralphy uses skill books: Animal whisper to 7 (8 with trinket), Toaster repair to 6 (8 with trinket)
- Ralphy also uses skill book for Barter to reach Barter 7, Barter 8 with trinket use
- Rose uses other Skill books for reaching 6, 7 or 8 in listed skills (trinkets = 8, save scum pass)
- I suggest Scotchmo uses Combat shooting skill book
- Few if any skill checks cant be passed with skill 8 by save scum (dialog ones only)
- There are XYZ-Ass skill checks in dialog that need as high as 9 (10?)
- The Blix, Bad Attitude & Truth add +1 to XYZ-Ass Skill, respectfully (for 10)
- The Blix also adds +1 Leadership (= 9)

Saving Skill Points Using Items, Trinkets, Skill Books & Perks

Saving Skill Points Using Items, Trinkets, Skill Books & Perks

• +3 items + +1 skill book + +2 perk (+6), saves 34 SP (smart ass only)
  
• +2 items + +1 skill book + +2 perk (+5), saves 30 SP (hard & kiss ass)
  
• +3 items + +1 skill book (+4), saves 26 SP (demolitions, leadership & perception)
  
• +2 items + +1 skill book (+3), saves 20 SP (computer science, mechanical repair, toaster repair, outdoorsmen, lockpicking, safecracking, surgeon & brawling)
  
• +1 item + +1 skill book (+2), saves 14 SP (field medic, Animal Whisperer & barter)
  
• +1 skill book (+1), saves 8 SP (alarm disarm only)
  
• Skills without bonus example: Combat skills other than brawling, need 44 SP to reach rank 10

So Whats The Intelligence Needed to "Max" 3 Skills?

Even a ranger with intelligence 1 gets 96 SP by level 35 using all skill statues, maxing out a 44 SP combat skill (to 10) + a 14/18 SP XYZ-Ass skill (to 5/6 + 5/4) + a 18/30 SP "other" skill is 72 SP best case to 92 SP worst case.

Ideally maxing out 3x skills by level 22, at worst by level 32 (with intelligence 1)

Combat Initiative OR "CI" Notes

Combat Initiative determines not only when, but how many times you get to act.

Rangers, Followers & Enemies (everyone), takes actions, per turn, in order of highest to lowest.

The Chart below outlines "turns per round".

Handy chart

• CI 6 to 9: 1x Turn (1x Stack of AP) per round
  
• CI 10 to 18: 2x Turns (2x Stacks of AP) per round
  
• CI 19 and 20: 3x Turns (3x Stacks of AP) per round

Three trinkets effect CI in a positive way:

• Pair of engagement rings (+3 Combat Initiative, -1 AP)
  
• Choice (+5 Combat Initiative, -15% Chance to Evade) unique, found at Schachinger shrine.
  
• Luminox watch (+1 Awareness, -0.5 Combat Speed), +Awareness is 1 to 1 tied to +CI

The only followers able to have CI19+ are Corran Cain & Ertan (CI14), either require using the unique trinket Choice (+5 Combat Initiative, -15% Chance to Evade) found at Schachinger shrine.
Lexcanium also, but he requires the addition of a goat pet with Choice trinket.

Important Perks & Skills Progression Note

The skill point cost of leveling up skills is non-linear. Higher levels cost more points to take, as follows:

Level	Cost
1	2
2	2
3	2
4	4
5	4
6	4
7	6
8	6
9	6
10	8

There are a finite number of skill points you can acquire in the game, depending on your Intelligence score. The values shown in the following assume 34 levels-up (i.e. ending level of 35) & take into account the 12 skill points on character creation & the 16 skill point statues that you can find on your travels.

Add 20 to the total if you take the Delayed Gratification quirk or 5 if you take Ascetic.

Intelligence	Total Skill Points
1-3	96
4-7	130
8-9	164
10	198

If we assume that you spend 44 points on mastering your primary weapon & that non-weapon skills require 36 points to master (because you buy one level using the relevant skill book), a ranger with 4 Intelligence will master her primary weapon & two non-weapon skills around level 34.

Keeping Up With Current Area/Quest:

• If you follow the outlined area/quest order, you should have the skills & skill levels required to pass all encounters/etc.
  
• XYZ-Ass skills (& Perception) are slightly hard to keep hovering at the required level for current area/quest.
  
• XYZ-Ass skill users "3rd Skill" also "just" keeps up with the current area/quest.

The First Perk You Should Take on Each Character

Rangers, at level 4: Weapons skill should be 5, XYZ-Ass skill 3, other skill 3 (Surgeon 1?)

• Leader: Turtle, +10% Evasion bonus when in cover
  
• Pvt Hard: Turtle, +10% Evasion bonus when in cover
  
• Pvt Kiss: Turtle, +10% Evasion bonus when in cover
  
• Pvt Smart: Turtle, +10% Evasion bonus when in cover

Followers, 1st selection (Ralphy/Rose level 8, Scotchmo level 12):

• Ralphy: Tinker, +1AP in light armour (need Weaponsmithing 2 rest of Assault Rifles)
  
• Scotchmo: Tinker, +1AP in light armour (need Weaponsmithing 2 rest to Demolitions)
  
• Rose: Tinker, +1AP in light armour (need Weaponsmithing 2 rest to Mechanical Repair, Outdoorsmen & Sniper Rifles)

The Second Perk You Should Take on Each Character

Rangers, at level 8: Weapons skill should be 6, XYZ-Ass skill 4, other skill 4 & Surgeon 1

• Leader: Hardened +1 Armour rating
  
• Pvt Hard: Hardened +1 Armour rating
  
• Pvt Kiss: Hardened +1 Armour rating
  
• Pvt Smart: Hardened +1 Armour rating

Followers, 2nd selection (Ralphy/Rose level 12, Scotchmo level 16):

• Ralphy: Turtle, +10% Evasion bonus when in cover
  
• Scotchmo: Turtle, +10% Evasion bonus when in cover
  
• Rose: Turtle, +10% Evasion bonus when in cover

The Third Perk You Should Take on Each Character

Rangers, at level 12: Weapons skill should be 7, XYZ-Ass skill 5, other skill 4 & Surgeon 1

• Leader: Weathered, -15% damage taken from critical hits
  
• Pvt Hard: Weathered, -15% damage taken from critical hits
  
• Pvt Kiss: Weathered, -15% damage taken from critical hits
  
• Pvt Smart: Weathered, -15% damage taken from critical hits

Followers, 3rd selection (Ralphy/Rose level 16, Scotchmo level 20):

• Ralphy: Hardened +1 Armour rating
  
• Scotchmo: Hardened +1 Armour rating
  
• Rose: Hardened +1 Armour rating

The Fourth Perk You Should Take on Each Character

Rangers, at level 16: Weapons skill should be 8, XYZ-Ass skill 6, other skill 5 & Surgeon 1

• Leader: Overcharge, +10% damage against non-conductive (light) armour
  
• Pvt Hard: RUSH Hard-Ass to 6 with all skill points up to level for Intimidating, Hard-Ass +2
  
• Pvt Kiss: RUSH Kiss-Ass to 6 with all skill points up to level for Affable, Kiss-Ass +2
  
• Pvt Smart: RUSH Smart-Ass to 6 with all skill points up to level for Know-it-All, Smart-Ass +2

Followers, 4th selection (Ralphy/Rose level 20, Scotchmo level 24):

• Ralphy: Weathered, -15% damage taken from critical hits
  
• Scotchmo: Weathered, -15% damage taken from critical hits
  
• Rose: Weathered, -15% damage taken from critical hits

The Fifth Perk You Should Take on Each Character

Rangers, at level 20: Weapons skill should be 8, XYZ-Ass skill 6, other skill 7 & Surgeon 1

• Leader: Overload, +20% damage against non-conductive (light) armour
  
• Pvt Hard: Full Metal Jacket, +1 Armor penetration with assault rifles.
  
• Pvt Kiss: Full Metal Jacket, +1 Armor penetration with assault rifles.
  
• Pvt Smart: Full Metal Jacket, +1 Armor penetration with assault rifles.

Followers, 5th selection (Ralphy/Rose level 24, Scotchmo level 28):

• Ralphy: Full Metal Jacket, +1 Armor penetration with assault rifles.
  
• Scotchmo: Precise Hunter, -50% friendly fire chance with shotguns
  
• Rose: Roboticist, +20% damage against robots & synths

The Sixth Perk You Should Take on Each Character

Rangers, at level 24: Weapons skill should be 9, XYZ-Ass skill 6, other skill 7 & Surgeon 1

• Leader: Atomize, +30% damage against non-conductive (light) armour
  
• Pvt Hard: Melee Shooting, -35% close range penalty when using assault rifles.
  
• Pvt Kiss: Melee Shooting, -35% close range penalty when using assault rifles.
  
• Pvt Smart: Melee Shooting, -35% close range penalty when using assault rifles.

Followers, 6th selection (Ralphy/Rose level 28, Scotchmo level 32):

• Ralphy: Melee Shooting, -35% close range penalty when using assault rifles.
  
• Scotchmo: Master Hunter, No friendly fire with shotguns.
  
• Rose: Deadeye, -1 AP to fire a sniper rifle if the character did not move during the turn.

Even grinding, its unlikely party reaches level 28 before California

The Seventh Perk You Should Take on Each Character

Rangers, at level 28: Weapons skill should be 10, XYZ-Ass skill 6, other skill 7 & Surgeon 1
Rest of Ranger skills in to "Rose Dupe" skills

• Leader: Tactical Positioning, +25% damage dealt to enemies from behind
  
• Pvt Hard: Gunner, Burst fire accuracy penalty reduced by 5%.
  
• Pvt Kiss: Gunner, Burst fire accuracy penalty reduced by 5%.
  
• Pvt Smart: Gunner, Burst fire accuracy penalty reduced by 5%.

Followers, 7th selection (Ralphy/Rose level 32, Scotchmo No Perks Left):

• Ralphy: Gunner, Burst fire accuracy penalty reduced by 5%.
  
• Scotchmo: No Perks Left, came with 2x perks
  
• Rose: Zeroed, +2% stacking Critical Chance bonus when repeatedly attacking a target with Handguns. The bonus is lost when changing targets.

The Eighth Perk You Should Take on Each Character

Rangers, at level 32: Weapons skill should be 10, XYZ-Ass skill 6, other skill 7 & Surgeon 1
Rest of Ranger skills in to "Rose Dupe" skills

• Leader: Tormentor, +10% damage to enemies in cover.
  
• Pvt Hard: Tormentor, +10% damage to enemies in cover.
  
• Pvt Kiss: Tormentor, +10% damage to enemies in cover.
  
• Pvt Smart: Tormentor, +10% damage to enemies in cover.

Followers, 8th selection (Ralphy/Rose/Scotchmo No Perks Left):

• Ralphy: No Perks Left, came with 1x perk
  
• Scotchmo: No Perks Left, came with 2x perks
  
• Rose: No Perks Left, came with 1x perk

If modding the 1x bad follower perk, each, replace with Tormentor

Best Loot Area in ALL of Arizona

Abandoned Railyard:
The hidden buried random weapon in the corner of slicer-dicer spawn area which spawns a California only type weapon (Up to Tier 5) & is the only one of its tier you find get in Arizona, as far as I know.

This is the same area where you can recover Vax the robot.

Getting the party together with the right starting gear

Easy Arizona Trinkets you can get before AG Centre: Dont activate shrines without Rose!

• 3rd left dirt pile at Ranger Citadel (%5 chance of tier 1: Spiked Collar or Shiny Ranger Star)
  
• Akita figurine sold by Solveig Sefors outside Ranger Citadel (+1 Animal Whisper)
  
• The 3x trinkets found at Rails Nomad Camp
  
• Tan Shrine has Lark O'Matic 420 (+1 Outdoorsman)
  
• Heyman shrine has Broken toy robot (+1 Computer Science, -1 Charisma)
  
• Taner shrine has Shaft of prayer (+3% Critical chance, +5% Chance to Hit, -2 Coordination)

Arizona Weapon mods can max at tier 3, with Best In Slot (BIS):

• Do not mod weapons before you buy M16's, M24, Midnight Special & SOSG
  
• Assault Rifles: High capacity mag > Underbarrel Flashlight > Long Barrel > High powered scope
  
• Energy Weapon: Underbarrel Flashlight > High powered scope
  
• Handgun (pistol): High capacity mag > Underbarrel Flashlight > Long Barrel
  
• Handgun (revolver): Underbarrel Flashlight > High powered scope
  
• Shotgun: Full Choke
  
• Sniper Rifle: High capacity mag > Underbarrel Flashlight > Long Barrel > High powered scope
  
• Full Choke, High powered scope & Long Barrel are save scummed at tier 2 safes, >5% chance

Tier 3+ Safes in Arizona: can RNG Tier 4 weapon & items (>5% chance)

• Distillery
  
• Darwin Village
  
• Abandoned Railway
  
• Canyon of Titan
  
• Temple of Titan
  
• Damonta
  
• Silo 7
  
• Inner-Prison (?)

Ideal T3 Safe Loot:

• 3x Pair of engagement rings (2x are set Damonta Buried stash & Abandoned Railway safe)*
  
• 1x Inverted four leaf clover (silo 7 safe is best RGN)
  
• 4x AUG's (4-2 weapon)
  
• 1x 45 Peace Keeper (4-2 weapon)
  
• 1x SV-V (4-2 weapon)
  
• 1x+ Kevlar Vests (T4 Armour)
  
• *Note: Ideally buy 3rd Pair of engagement rings from Patrick Klempner (random merchant)

Arizona Weapon progression max at tier 4-2, with Best In Slot (BIS):

• Assault Rifles: M1 > FAMAS > M16 > AUG
  
• Energy Weapon: Phase Blaster > Pulse Rifle > WOPR Blaster > Gamma Ray Blaster
  
• Handgun (pistol): FFS Benetto (?) > Click 17
  
• Handgun (revolver): Midnight Special > .38 Revolver > .45 Peace Keeper (?)
  
• Shotgun: Coach Gun > SOSG > Street cleaner (secondary: Mississippi Mule)
  
• Sniper Rifle: M24 > Charged round Sniper Rifle > SV-V
  
• At AP3, Final Assessment is the ideal backup Energy Weapon

Arizona Random Merchants:

• Female wastelander who sells BIS T3 weapons, ONLY APPEARS ONCE (from testing)
  
• Female wastelander who sells ammo & supplies, REPLACES ABOVE after 1st meeting
  
• Dave Oshry, threatens you for not buying, sells explosives (may attack, trigger for XP/Loot)
  
• Patrick Klempner, sells T4 trinket: 1x Pair of engagement rings & other trinkets

Requisition & Special Items Needed:

• The Blix (talk to Mercaptain about "Ag Center", enter manually, then "Matt Forrestal")
  
• Bad Attitude (Aces Star, Radio Tower)
  
• Tactical vest (Athelwulf's Utopia, Rails Nomad Camp)
  
• Street Cleaner (Bushnell Ocelot, Damonta)
  
• Gamma ray blaster (Depleted uranium, Temple of Titan)
  
• Charged round sniper rifle (Preparation G, Prison)

** Only for the early phase are save scumming for best possible start **

* Note: Left most cache is ET Atari cartridges, gives a steam achivement

Basic map of trip made in paint: Black > Orange > Red > Blue > Yellow


1. Pickup shovle, Talk to Citadel door guard, use hard ass option, get Mississippi Mule + 10x shotgun ammo, Leave map to wasteland & immediately return to Citadel (makes Aces's Grave mourners go inside).

Loot Aces's grave 1st
Recruit Angela Deth.

Loot Ranger Citadel exterior, save scum to maximize loot/profit… best results seem to be:

Each 4 dirt piles: 20 scrap, a deck of cards, 8x 5.56 ammo (each, 3rd pile has trinket & mod)
3rd dirt pile on left when facing the exit of Ranger Citadel: Spiked Collar & Sturdy Mag
Weapon box: bren & 10x energy cell ammo
Ammo can: 5x .30-06 ammo
plus junk tin from goat & Aces note

Special:
Talk to Solveig Sefors in dialog type in the code 61290, to receive 4 skill books that unlock the Southwestern Folklore skill, each book adds +10 to the skill.

Sell all your new loot + hats + Styx cigarettes + (backpacks?)… you should have 350+ scrap
Buy radsuit (then right click on it & "equip" it) + TNT this will leave you with 100 scrap
* you will need a total of 1400 roughly by the time you meet the travling arms merchant to buy M24, Midnight Special & SOSG

2. Head to RNC via north-west moutain pass. Get 3 or 4 close caches if you can, the one NW of Rails nomad camp seems to be hardest to find of the close ones (perception rank 3 or 4+ check?), at the game cartridge cache take a SINGLE cartridge to trade at arcade in Rails nomad camp, for 1000 scrap & a Clay Wizard Figurine (trinket).

Save & Recruit Ralphy

Get your level 2 on your core team
Save Jenny by shooting bomb
Dig swing loot stone
Loot grave yard before you get Scotchmo
Fix toaster

Recruit Scotchmo

Get as much as you can here without combat or getting to much XP. (save for Rose to share later),
Fenched off chest: TNT fence to loot tier 3 chest for pulse rifle,
2 Train cars by bar: Loot for 3x FAMAS's, 2x bullet proof shirts, trinket & 2x weapon mod.
Swing loot: Dig up 1x Midnight Special
Get Athelwulf's Utopia
Turtle by hobos: Animal whisper it & get its loot: FAMAS, bullet proof shirt, trinket & weapon mod.
Dig up loot in area, DONT get into fights or do quests, save xp for Rose
Other tribes camp, Sneak ONE highest perception ranger, dig up Farsight Rifle & buy CD-i, sneak back to party ALL WITHOUT FIGHTING & Talking too much (ruining future quests)!
Sell all loot & old weapons, buy nothing here NOTE YOUR CURRENT SCRAP AMOUNT
Fill Canteens & Head home.

Ideal Rails Nomad Camp:
4x FAMAS's (tier 2-2), 1x Pulse Rifle (tier 3-1), 3x Underbarrel Flashlights & 3x bullet proof shirts.
It is possible to get 1x tier 3-1 weapon & 3x tier 2 armour (listed above) at rail nomad camp.
Tier 2 trinkets seem to be the max also (tier 3-1 weapon / tier 2 armour/trinket chance >5%)

Rails Nomad Camp Trinket Loot: (3x, up to, Tier 2 Trinkets)

• Sunbrella is most valuable (120 scrap)
  
• Ship in a Bottle is most useful (+1 Mechanical repair, Should keep)
  
• Also Clay wizard figurine for ET cart: (+2 Perception, -5 Armour)

3. Grind a few encounters on world map to get rangers to level 3 to heal & for more loot.
Get the 4 or 5 close caches if you like (if perception is under 3 or 4 you may not find them all)
Be sure you will have 1400 scrap after totaling all loot including Scotchmo's coach gun & your noted scrap amount. Get ET cart 1st, for the Clay wizard figurine (+2 Perception, -5 Armour)

4. Return to Ranger Citadel, save scum for weapon trader encounter on the way (sell all loot & junk here & buy a M24 & SOSG there if possible),
At Ranger Citadel fill Canteens, buy as much 5.56 ammo as you can
save scumming is over at this point

5. Head to Radio Tower. Do that. loot all
Fix Toaster
Dont do shrine leave for Rose to share in
leave

6 Head to Ag Centre
Get oasis on the way to fill canteens

Recruit Rose **This is now your full team until end game**

7. Get all shrines in the Citadel/AG Center/Highpool area

8. Get into Ranger Citadel, Turn in any toaster/requisition stuff… Get 4x M16’s & best light armour you can

9. Then Rock the rest of game

NPC Effectiveness Chart

* Note: Combining this with starting level, skill sets, when they can be recuited our choices are made for us

NPC Companion Locations & How To Recruit Guide

Great, fast & to the point. Correct info!

Detailed Wiki of all NPC companions[wasteland.fandom.com]

Known Animal Companions

Known Animal Companion Bonuses:

Note: Anyone with skill Animal Whisper or able to use its +1 trinket can get an animal follower.

• Goat [Squishy, 1HP] (1 Aberforth, Ranger Citadel, + 6 Happy Valley + 2 Temple of Titan): Devil Eyes (+1 Awareness)
  
• Chicken [Squishy, 1HP] (4, Highpool): Bawk! (+1 Luck)
  
• Cow [Squishy 1HP] (5+ AG Center, 4 Infected Farm + ? Canyon of Titan + ? Damonta + 6 Cerritos + 4 Brentwood Dentist): Cattle Drive (+1 Coordination)
  
• Feral Dog [Combat, 25HP] (2, Ranger Citadel, 2nd Visit if recruited radio tower punks + 4 Prison): Puppies! (+1 Charisma)
  
• Rat [Combat, 15HP] (1 Rail Nomads Camp, Statue near rails NNW from main hall): Secret of NIMH (+1 Intelligence)
  
• Opposum [Squishy, 1HP] (1 Can be stolen from Pistol Petes wifes farm in Rodia) Opposum My possum (+1 Speed)
  
• Pig [Squishy, 1HP] (3 Happy Valley + 4? Angle Oracle) +1 Strength

Limits:
You can have THREE (3) animal followers per character, bonus to different attributes continue to work, but do not stack (you CAN NOT have 3 goats for +3 awareness)

IMHO: Goats are the "best" overall for any ranger or follower with under 10 awareness for the awareness for the +1CI it gives.

Squishy Pets: Have 1 HP and thus die really easily. One explosion near party and all your squishies are gone. Also some enemies seem to have tendency to attack squishies and usually kill them instantly if they hit.

Combat Pets: Dogs have 25HP & Rats have 15HP, both tend to Zerg-rush enemies and die in the process. These are even harder to keep alive than the Squishy Pets, who at least can be positioned behind the party and just stand in place until combat is over.

Get Them Back:
Aberforth the goat seems to have tendency to move back to Ranger Citadel if dismissed.
Others, the places where you have found them seem to regenerate the supply when you enter the place again.

Rat "Skill Point Hack":
Note: The rat dies easily but it appears to respawn a few times back at the shrine.
Basically, the most effective use of the rat is to have a character with one stat point short of extra skill, and have him/her call out the rat before each level up (+1 Animal Whisper Trinket helps here). This way you can milk several skill points out of it, making it a very powerful shrine indeed.
Best used on Ralphy & Scotchmo before each hits level 10, when they will even out their intelligence from 3 to 4. Scotchmo will get +2 bonus skill points, and Ralphy will get +5.

Follower Animal Companions:

• Always have a goat & cow if possible, best 3rd is a pig (Opposum for Scotchmo)
  
• Rose at before level 30 & Ralphy before level 10, should have a cow for +1 coordination
  
• Scotchmo benifits most all game long from a goat + cow + opposum

Ranger Animal Companions:

• Always have a goat & cow if possible, best 3rd is a pig (dog for leader)
  
• Goats until awareness is a natural 10, then cows for +1 coordination for +1% ranged to hit
  
• After you have awareness 10 & are done with goats, follow up with cow + pig (+ dog on leader)

Mysterious (XP) Shrines Location Guide

Great, fast & to the point. Correct info!

Statues (Skill Shrines) Locations Guide

Great, fast & to the point. Correct info!

Locations & codes of Harder Doors/Safes/Chests

Arizona - Locations and codes of Doors/Safes/Chests

Agricultural Center

• Matt Forrestal's office 80085 (BOOBS, lol, cant be hacked)
  
• East gate 85303 (More XP = you can use Computer skill, to hack the door)
  
• West gate 71484 (More XP = you can use Computer skill, to hack the door)

Infected village

• 62923779

The encrypted translation of MAYBERRY

The village of Darwin

• 7768387
  
• 2355662
  
• 47946
  
• 4232374

In order: entrance to the lab - chest at entrance of the lab - door in the basement - door to the cell of Night Terror

Ricks RV

• 733

He normally gives it, whether you betray your word or not.

Titan Canyon

• 7222664

Temple of Titan

• 60845 underground pass door

Silo 7

• Joshua (entered into the console)

Damonta

• 152260

In the water company building.

Los Angeles - Locations and codes of Doors/Safes/Chests

Cerritos

• 78622

Normally it is openable with skills, but in case…

Rodia

• 123456
  
• 2369
  
• 72779673
  
• 793789
  
• 5386346

The chests in the bank, but they are open quite easily with the skills.

Angel Oracle

• 5309
  
• 76779

The first is the chest of the chips very difficult to open. The second is next to Roger Yee.

The cache of Fletcher

• 79684

Hard to open, the code can be useful.

Hollywood - Los Feliz

• 24278375

In the hotel

Captain Mercaptain All Requisition, Plus Bonus/Hidden Requisition

Great, fast & to the point. Correct info!

Shows AG Center "bonus" requisition process

Wiki Links

Medic Packs, Trauma Kits, Pain Relievers & Misc Medical Items

• Medical Equipment[wasteland.fandom.com]

ALL Ammo. Armor & Weapons

• Weapons[wasteland.fandom.com]

• Detailed Weapon Compairsons[gamefaqs.gamespot.com]

• Ammunition[wasteland.fandom.com]

• Armor[wasteland.fandom.com]

• Armor Rating vs Penetration[gamefaqs.gamespot.com]

• Weapon Mods[wasteland.fandom.com]

• More Weapon Mods Info[gamefaqs.gamespot.com]

Other equipment

• Trinkets[wasteland.fandom.com]

• Clothing[wasteland.fandom.com]

• Flintlock Eggleston Museum Items[gamefaqs.gamespot.com]

• Ethil Mercaptan Requisition Items[gamefaqs.gamespot.com]

Other items

• Consumables[gamefaqs.gamespot.com]

• Skill books[wasteland.fandom.com]

• More Skill Book Info[gamefaqs.gamespot.com]

• Toaster items[wasteland.fandom.com]

• Junk[wasteland.fandom.com]

NPC Followers

• All NPC Followers[wasteland.fandom.com]

Lore Entries

• Lore Entries[gamefaqs.gamespot.com]

Lexcanium's Bionic Arm Glitch - How Too Get 2x To Use

Lexcanium has 2x Bionic arms, they give +2 Brawling skill, but DO NOT STACK.

You can get 3 to use, 1 on Lexcanium, and 2x additional by:

• Ensure you go to Damonta before entering DBM hideout bunker
  
• After finishing Damonta go back to Ranger HQ to swap in Lexcanium (swap out Ralphy for task).
  
• Make sure Lexcanium is holding no weapons in either hand.
  
• Enter the DBM hideout with Lexcanium in your party and they will confiscate his arms. :)
  
• When you leave, his arms will be placed in his inventory
  
• You can give them to other party members to use, as Lexcanium "regrows" another pair.
  
• Immediately go to Ranger HQ swap party member left there back in

The Melee Moron - Ideal Melee Build

If you really want this, Brawling is king of melee, but beware, no diagonal attacks!

Notes:

• Requires use of Lexcanium's Bionic Arm "Glitch" to be Ideal. (Keep it in off-hand, once getting a better weapon for the +2 Brawling bonus)
  
• Requires use of perks: Tinker, Hardened, Glancing Strike & Rush 'N Attack
  
• Required Quirk: Thick Skinned for +2 Armor Rating, -30% combat speed (2.4 - 0.72 = 1.68)
  
• Requires use of trinket: +2/+3 Trinket to max out skills, Optionally Air jordans (restores +0.5 combat speed to = 2.18) & Luchadore belt (+2 Strength, -2 Speed - wear on level up for +maxcon)

Attributes:

• 4 Coordination
  
• 1 Luck
  
• 6 Awareness (+1 at levels 10, 20 & 30)
  
• 5 Strength
  
• 10 Speed
  
• 1 Intelligence
  
• 1 Charisma

Why let me break it down for you

• Coordination for the cost of 3 skill points you gain 2 AP. There is no other way to reach 9 AP
  
• Luck is worthless, 1 is fine, its a dump stat.
  
• Awareness 6 gives you 16 combat initiative at the start, allowing +1 combat initiative per 10 levels
  
• Strength 5 gives you 29 maxcon & 9 maxcon per level (since you will likely take the most damage)
  
• 10 Speed gives you max combat speed to close enough of a gap to be useful
  
• Intelligence 1 this gives you 2 skill points per level, at the cost of 0 points... for a total of 96 skill points by level 35, enough to max out the 3 easiest trees before level 25: Brawling & 2x of: Outdoorsmen, Demolitions, Mechanical Repair & Weaponsmithing, each of which have a +1 skill book & +2 trinket or item (+3 to each, meaning only a skill 7 is needed or 24 total skill points each, or 72 total.)
  
• Charisma is also worthless, 1 is fine, its a dump stat.

Stats are:

• AP 9
  
• Critical Chance 1%
  
• Combat initiative 16 (17 at level 10+, 18 at level 20+, 19 at level 30+)
  
• Evade chance 13%
  
• Con 29
  
• Combat speed 2.4 (- 0.72 = 1.68)
  
• Carry weight 105
  
• Con per level 9
  
• Skill points per level 2

The Brain-Dead Bladester - Ideal Blade Build

If you really want this, solid, hyper high AR in light armor most allow diagonal attacks!

Notes:

• Requires use of Grip tape, Diagonal strike weapon & off hand AP3 weapon (AP2 with Grip Tape)
  
• Requires use of perks: Tinker, Hardened, Glancing Strike, Self Defence & Samuari
  
• Required Quirk: Thick Skinned for +2 Armor Rating, -30% combat speed (2.4 - 0.72 = 1.68)
  
• Requires use of trinket: +2/+3 Trinket to max out skills, Optionally Air jordans (restores +0.5 combat speed to = 2.18) & Luchadore belt (+2 Strength, -2 Speed - wear on level up for +maxcon)

Attributes:

• 4 Coordination
  
• 1 Luck
  
• 6 Awareness (+1 at levels 10, 20)
  
• 5 Strength (+1 at level 30, for Proton Axe use)
  
• 10 Speed
  
• 1 Intelligence
  
• 1 Charisma

Why let me break it down for you

• Coordination for the cost of 3 skill points you gain 2 AP. There is no other way to reach 9 AP
  
• Luck is worthless, 1 is fine, its a dump stat.
  
• Awareness 6 gives you 16 combat initiative at the start, allowing +1 combat initiative at levels 10 & 20
  
• Strength 5 gives you 29 maxcon & 9 maxcon per level (since you will likely take the most damage). Reaching Strength 6 for Proton Axe use at level 30, and a slight boost to maxcon.
  
• 10 Speed gives you max combat speed to close enough of a gap to be useful
  
• Intelligence 1 this gives you 2 skill points per level, at the cost of 0 points... for a total of 96 skill points by level 35, enough to max 3 the easiest trees before level 35, Bladed, & 2x of: Outdoorsmen, Demolitions, Mechanical Repair & Weaponsmithing, each of which have a +1 skill book & +2 trinket (+3 to each, meaning only a skill 7 is needed or 24 total skill points each & 44 for Bladed, or 92 total.) Demolitions suggested on blade user, as it has a +3 trinket, saving 6 skill points. Outdoorsmen pairs well, as the least important of used skills.
  
• Charisma is also worthless, 1 is fine, its a dump stat.

Stats are:

• AP 9
  
• Critical Chance 1%
  
• Combat initiative 16 (17 at level 10+, 18 at level 20+)
  
• Evade chance 13%
  
• Con 29
  
• Combat speed 2.4 (- 0.72 = 1.68)
  
• Carry weight 105 (117 at level 30+)
  
• Con per level 9 (10 at level 30+)
  
• Skill points per level 2

Level Up "Breaking" Items/Etc.

Rat "Skill Point Hack":
Note: The rat dies easily but it appears to respawn a few times back at the shrine.
Basically, the most effective use of the rat is to have a character with one stat point short of extra skill, and have him/her call out the rat before each level up (+1 Animal Whisper Trinket helps here). This way you can milk several skill points out of it, making it a very powerful shrine indeed.
Best used on Ralphy & Scotchmo before each hits level 10, when they will even out their intelligence from 3 to 4. Scotchmo will get +2 bonus skill points, and Ralphy will get +5.

Luchadore belt:
Adds +2 Strength, so if worn for a level up, character will receive bonus maxcon.
If you rush to California, you can get one by level 24, possibly allowing +20 maxcon by level 35.

Cat Burglars Mask & Dowsing Rod:
NEVER wear either for a level up, they have minus attributes that will effect maxcon & skill points, respectfully.

Most Current Run "Updated Notes"

Basically a bullet guide for order & loot before getting access to Ranger Citadel interior.

Ranger Citadel:
- Leave to wasteland & return immediately to make Aces mourners go inside
- Aces grave = shovel + aces note
- 1st, 2nd & 4th junk piles = 20 scrap + 1x deck of cards + 8x 5.56 ammo (each, 3rd also plus below)
- 3rd junk pile = 1x Tier 1-2 weapon + 1x tnt or 1x Tier 1 trinket or 1x Tier 1 weapon mod (go for 1x M14 + 1x tnt)
- Range weapon box = 1x Tier 1-2 weapon + 1x tnt + 10x energy cell ammo (go for 1x M14 + 1x tnt)
- Range ammo box = 5x .30-06 ammo
- Goat's tin
- Door guard, use hard ass = Mississippi Mule + 10x shotgun ammo
- Sell junk (you should have $350+ scrap)
- Buy Radsuit & Animal whisper trinket (cost $265)
- Angela Deth

5x Caches:
- ET Cache 1: take 1 cartridge
- Cache 2: 1x PP-81 SMG + 1x Steel Plate Armor + 1x Monocle + 80+ scrap + .38 ammo
- Cache 3: Similar value to above (generally nothing worth keeping)
- Cache 4: Similar value to above (generally nothing worth keeping)
- Cache 5: Similar value to above (generally nothing worth keeping)

4x Shrines (for trinkets):
- Tan Shrine has Lark O'Matic 420 (+1 Outdoorsman)
- Heyman shrine has Broken toy robot (+1 Computer Science, -1 Charisma)
- Taner shrine has Shaft of prayer (+3% Critical chance, +5% Chance to Hit, -2 Coordination) *can be skipped for now
- Herbert shrine has PDA (+1 Computer Science & +1 Mechanical Repair, -1 Coordination) *can be skipped for now
- Thats 800XP free & 4x random weapons (tier 2-2?)

Rails Nomad Camp:
- Ensure you have Smart Ass 4, Kiss Ass 4 & Angela Deth with +1 Hard Ass trinket (you get needed trinkets here) for your visit. Angela Deth must have leveled once to have perception 2
- Fenced off weapon box = 1x Pulse Rifle (fence needs 1x tnt or BF4+)
- Lootable box cars = 3x FAMAS's + 1x Ship in a Bottle + 2x Bullet proof shirts + 2x Small scopes (1x safe needs 1x tnt or SC3+)
- Tortose loot = 1x FAMAS + 1x Shiny Ranger Star Trinket + 1x Bullet proof shirt + 1x High capacity mag
- Arcade = Sell for ET cartridge for $1000 scrap + take small scope
- Library box car = demolitions skill book
- Bike Bomb area = Across road by the trapped bicycle/tire swing, between stand & tree, Dig inspectable stone = 1x Midnight special
- Clay wizard figurine + Do Androids dream about electical sheep + Athelwulf's Utopia + Giant rat (after Ralphy says bye to Jesse)
- Bomb rigged shop box car: Sell junk (you should have 1700+ scrap) & buy 2x Bullet proof shirt (you should have 1100+ scrap)
- Sneak Angela Deth post level up, with perception 2 using +2 perception Clay Wizard trinket (for perception 4, she has exactly 4sp on level up to do this) to other tribes camp, dig up Farsight Rifle & buy CD-i, sneak back to party ALL WITHOUT FIGHTING!
- Angela Deth talks to Samual Haas at bar & uses Shiny Ranger Star trinket for Hard Ass 4 option, kills him for achievement
- Kiss Ass Ranger talks to bar owner with Kiss Ass 4+ to get distillery map location
- Ralphy + Scotchmo

Randon Wasteland Vendor Encounter:
- Sell: Coachgun + other uneeded stuff
- Buy: 1x SOSG + 1x M24 (costs aprox 1040 scrap)
- WS3+ strip 1x Phase blaster + 4x M1's + 4x cache weapons for: 1x Small scope + 4x Underbarrel flashlights + 3x High capacity mag)
- if you saved the 2x weapons found at ranger citadel, strip for 2x Underbarrel flashlights (or you RNG'ed 1x mod & 1x weapon)
- Strip Farsight for 1x High capacity mag

1st Return to Ranger Citadel:
- Buy exterior merchants small scope

Radio Tower:
- Recruit punks with kiss ass
- Weapon box: 1x Navy revolver (strip for 1x small scope)
- Weapon box: 1x Navy revolver (strip for 1x small scope)
- Weapon box (trapped, have Angela Deth tank damage): G43-W (strip for 1x High capacity mag)
- Ignore hidden cave if you have perception to find it, do it later (fight is too hard for now, IMHO)
- Kill 2x Raider Gunslingers for 2x .38 semi-automatic pistols & 1x Raider cutter for 1x Makeshift Machete. Strip pistols for 10x junk parts each, 1x sturdy mag each or just sell them later.

Do AG Center:
- Sell junk, only thing worth buying is ammo
- Get 1x Herbicid, strip for 1x Underbarrel flashlights
- Get +1 Barter trinket
- Rose

IF RUNING FAN MADE PATCH: Do Highpool also:
- Get Vultures Cry stuff back, G43-W (strip for 1x High capacity mag)
- Get contact lenses from toaster
- Vultures Cry (IMHO: send back to Ranger Citadel, dont use)

2nd Return to Ranger Citadel for interior access to buy "good stuff"

Clean up Infected Farm, Infected Village & Infected Pumphouse

Clean up Wrecking Crew Stronghold

Items you should have & save for ranger citadel interior (M16's)

Load out 2x Energy weapons, 4x AR's, 1x Sniper, 1x revolver, 1x pistol & 2x shotguns
- 7x Small scopes
- 7x Underbarrel flashlights
- 6x High capacity mags
- (need 1x Underbarrel flashlight, strip tier 1 AR for it, Wrecker Rust Bucket's are an ideal source)
- (need 1x Small scope, strip tier 1 revolver for it, random Navy revolver's are an ideal source)
- (need 6x Long Barrels, strip tier 3 AR, sniper & pistols for them)
- (need 2x Full Chokes, Strip tier 3 shotguns for them)
- (need 2x Bullet proof shirts or better armor)

Skill note:
- Level 1: Weapon Skill 4 (10SP) & XYZ-Skill 3 (6SP). Angela Deth does other needed early skills.
- By the time you hit level 4 for your 1st perk you want XYZ-Ass skills to be 6
- Using RNC skill shrine, you can have 4 weapon skill & 6 XYZ-Ass skill by level 4 with no SP spare
- This lets you take the +2 XYZ-Ass skill perk & forget about skill until you see its book & weapon
- Skill 6 + +2 perk + +1 skill book + +1 special weapon bonus = skill 10
- Level 5 & AG Center Skill statue takes Rangers "3rd skill" to 2, using 4SP (no spare SP)
- Level 6 & Highpool Skill statue allow you to take Weapon skill to 5, for 4SP (no spare SP)
- So by level 6 = Weapon Skill 5, XYZ-Ass Skill 6 (8 with +2 perk) & "3rd" Skill 2 (no spare SP)
- Finishing Highpool/Wreckers will give you level 7 & Wrecker Skill Statue, allowing "3rd Skill" of 3 (no spare SP)
- Finishing 3x "Infected Areas" will give level 8, 3SP & 2nd perk, Hardened (3SP spare & 1x perk)
- Returning to Ranger Citadel Interior, Killing Team Delta, turning in requisitions & using Ranger Citadel Interior Skill Statue will give you at least 1SP more, allowing "3rd Skill" of 4 (no spare SP)
- Now is likley an ideal time to return to Rails Nomad Camp & Distillery to finish all there.
- After that is likely an ideal time to return to Radio Tower "hidden cave" + synth part to finish it & get Radio Tower Skill Statue for 1SP. You should hit level 9 for 3SP more, allowing Weapon Skill 6 (no SP spare)
- Heading to Happy Valley (prison) for Happy Valley Skill Statue for 1SP & quests there. Should get level 10 for 3SP more & 1x Attribute Point. IMHO this is an ideal time to take Awareness +1, Surgeon 1 & Animal Whisper 1 (no spare SP)
- At level 10 Skills = Weapon Skill 6, XYZ-Ass Skill/Perception 6 (8 with +2 perk), "3rd Skill" 4, Surgeon 1 & Animal Whisper 1 (no spare SP). Rangers have CI19 with a Goat pet each
- Level 11 & next Skill Statue SP should get "3rd Skill" to 5 (no spare SP)
- Level 12 & next Skill Statue SP should get "3rd Skill" to 6 (no spare SP) & give 3rd perk
- At level 12 Skills = Weapon Skill 6, XYZ-Ass Skill/Perception 6 (8 with +2 perk), "3rd Skill" 6, Surgeon 1 & Animal Whisper 1 (no spare SP). Rangers have CI19 with a Goat pet each
- Taking Skills from 6 to 7, 7 to 8 & 8 to 9 takes 6SP, each (9 to 10 takes 8SP)

M-16's
- Once you can enter Citadel, you can buy an M-16 from Melson. He pays $14 per broken weapon part, so for 35 weapon parts ($490) you can buy yourself an M-16.
- Strip 4x .38 Semi-Automatic Pistols = 40x parts

[Aazard]

Completed another run, updated skills, skill books, trinket details. Cleaned up order and various details. Confirmed that other than XYX-Ass skills (which need skill 10 with perks and bonus from off hand weapon), all skill checks are passable with skill 8, regardless of how 8 is reached.

[Duke☢Nukem]

LEARNED ALOT

[abilger]

Thanks so much for this guide!
I've gone a slightly different direction on SJ based on several playthroughs, and may post about that in a separate guide. I learned a lot from your guide though, and especially the NPC effectiveness chart is invaluable.
After multiple tries with Vulture's Cry - and even sequence-breaking attempts to get Pizepi, Chisel, or Takayuki 'early' - I agree you nailed the optimal NPC combination with Ralphy, Scotchmo, and Rose.

[Babbles]

No Pizepi? Madness, pure madness ... :)

[Sir Jia Xing]

@Aazard Thanks for the help i've gotten from your guide, by the way.

i really don't remember what i meant since it's been a while since i've played this, and as it's evident, i rarely get on Steam as well.

i was probably just agreeing with them that more guides will be good, and that will allow for people to experiment/mix and match different weapon types for different characters.

Thanks again!

[Reklawenalp]

but... we all know what will happen to rose in the final battle.

[Aazard]

Surgeon will be limited to rose and 1 "spare" (low skill) skill of your main "core" group

[Malus]

When do put points in surgeon?

[Aazard]

@Sir Jia Xing...what you want? team melee/brawler, .....or just, not all 1 energy, 1 snipe, then all AR's?

I can do a "weapon spread" party (1 weapon type each) or w/e you request, but SJ will be HARD!

[Aazard]

Deth is a early helper/filler, she eats XP, so ditch for full party asap