My Psionic DOMINATING mini-guide(with videos)

This is English version(translated from Russian) of my mini-guide for psionic user on DOMINATING difficulty with the build description, Feats selection, skill points distribution, crafting, description of psi abilities and their combos, some shops analysis, the rating of the most difficult battles and a selection of videos from my walktrough. The guide was almost finished but... better late than never.

Introduction:

This is one of the strongest overall builds and intended for playing on DOMINATING difficulty in the first place. He is able to clear even the hardest battles without using of grenades, traps, catrops or game exploits. Also it is very flexible thanks to investment into all three psi disciplines. The main difficulties would be invisible enemies/traps(very low Perception paired with low HP and 25% Psi Empathy penalty) and crit immune enemies. The first problem could be partly solved by using Motion Tracking Glasses and there is not too much enemies with critical hit immunity in the game - Bladelings in the Foundry and Shroomlings in the Mushroom Forest.

Main Information:

http://underrail.info.tm/build/?GQMDBgkDEAYAAAAAAAAoU1wAAEhkADxgwoLCgsKCHgBNK2I5LBQqHGVmIR9oKF8I - build(didn't acquired 25 lvl)
3/3/6/9/3/10(+6)/6 - Really want to have 7 INT, but I can't relocate any stat point: 6 AGI for Sprint(important), 9 CON for Survival Instincts(core)... Almost all the game we will manage our <30% HP threshold and even 9 CON doesn't help much, especially with 25% HP penalty from Psi Empathy. Therefore if we would plan our build without using of Survival Instincts, this 6 precious stat points can be allocated to the INT, DEX, AGI. But Survival Instincts is core of our build and allows to get 50% psi crit on the second level and begin to decimate enemies, and rescue Newton without jumbo-mumbos with 3-4 char level. After we get Locus of Control on the 14 level next 5 Feats can be chosen freely from Telekinetic Undulation, Cryogenic Induction, Ballistics, Last Stand, Pyromaniac, Thermodynamicity, Nimble, Paranoia, Fast Metabolism, Stoicism, Conditioning.

Feats, which considered to be worthy of an attention in my playthrough but in the end I have refused:
-Cryogenic Induction - Increasing the duration of Chilled, Freezed by 1 turn is kinda nice but can't say that I really need it. Honestly, I used Cryostasis only several times during the whole game.
-Nimble - Ineffective. Amount of MP and Stealth we got from this one not worth taking this Feat and additional 15% dodge/evasion bonus we wouldn't get with main equipment.
-Ballistics - Thought about taking this one to buff my defence against enemy bullets, but in the end I almost done all pre DC content and was not much sense to take it, cuz no enemies with firearms there(in DC), and Conditioning would be better choice to protect yourselves against any mechanical damage.
-Thermodynamicity, Pyromaniac - Skipped this cuz I don't use fire based abilities often(except Thermodynamic Destabilization).
-Fast Metabolism - with our 100 Psi capacity this ability would not reveal its potential and additional HP restoration not that important for me.

Taking Last Stand, Stoicism, Conditioning allows to build very serious protective layer, which will help us to survive almost any damage(mechanical/heat/cold for sure). If we use Morphine Shot + Aegis, we would get 65% damage reduction from any source which is calculated after resistances/thresholds/evasion effects and does not matter if it's sledgehammer's strike or psionics. The main problem of using Morphine Shot is debilitation effect afterwards and you can easily die from it. But if you will use Last Stand on your last Morphine turn you would ignore it's debilitation effect completely. Stoicism+Conditioning will strengthen our protection even more. By itself Stoicism is kinda weak, but in this combo it's ok as well as Conditioning with 10 CON(+1 CON buffs), which will add additional 15% mechanical/heat/cold reduction.

Psionics:

Few words about most important psi-abilities:
*Cryokinesis and Cryokinetic Orb - Main casts against living targets during the whole game with great range and damage, so you can even craft Psionic Headband with Metathermic Modulator for this.
*Thermodynamic Destabilization - Mainly used in combo described below. Cold-based abilities can negate this effect(!)
*Telekinetic Punch - stuns and deals high mechanical damage. Very often used in combos. One of the few things in our arsenal against automatons.
*Electrokinesis - Very effective against automatons and also against enemies with high cold+mechanical resistances. Need to be used with caution cuz it can jump onto your allies and made them(and whole faction) hostile, do not jumps onto the player.
*Electrokinetic Imprint - Very important ability. Frankly speaking, this is the trap with high electricity damage without any point single investment into the traps(and Quick Tinkering) with very cheap cost of AP/Psi. Allows you to effectively deal with robots and crawlers(!). Unfortunately, cannot critically hit. At the time of writing a bug was present - while targeting an invalid target, such as a tile that is occupied by invisible enemy, the character does the casting animation with the Psi/AP points being deducted with no effect and ability goes on cooldown.
*Telekinetic Proxy - Mainly used in combos described below, dublicates the Telekinetic Punch, Implosion abilities and it's effects. Also with Telekinetic Undulation feat you can slowdown enemy groups and finish off wounded enemies.
*Implosion - Used only against tough enemies in certain situations/combos. Attack bypasses thresholds and shields but not mechanical resistance, so do not expect a miracle against powerful robots and other heavy armored enemies. Cannot critically hit.
*Force Field - Used for two purposes. First - to gather in one place large number of enemies and then to kill them all in one fell swoop. Second - to buy some time for healing, waiting for cooldowns of abilities/consumables. Very important tactical psi-ability. With right position you can even cast some of psi-abilities through the barrier.
*Neural Overload - While the damage is mild, it's cannot be negated via common sources and allows you to kill those enemies, that can't be harmed with Telekinetic Punch and Cryokinesis or in order to preserve some AP. Works surprisingly well on psionics, even given their high resolve(thanks to additional INT damage bonus). Does not affect automatons.
*Enrage - Frequently used in conjunction with Locus of Control. Strongest ability of Thought Control discipline, other enemies could change their target to ones with Rage debuff. Does not affect automatons.
*Pseudo-spatial Projection - The only fairly reliable way of protection in our arsenal. Allows avoiding deadly Crawlers attacks, Aimed Shots and other troubles.

After completing Depot A main quest we should get as soon as possible Enrage(buy in Rail Crossing), Pseudo-spatial Projection(Hecate Research Outpost), Electrokinetic Imprint(Lurker Base - rather unpleasant place for our blind build, but we won't be near other guaranteed sources in the near future), Telekinetic Proxy(buy in Core City), Cryokinetic Orb(Black Crawler camp - near mutants), Thermodynamic Destabilization(buy in Foundry).

Main combos of Psionic abilities:
*Telekinetic Proxy -> Premeditation -> Implosion(optional) -> Psionic Mania(optional) -> Telekinetic Punch - for killing tough enemies/bosses.
*Thermodynamic Destabilization -> Telekinetic Proxy -> Premeditation -> Implosion(optional) -> Psionic Mania(optional) -> Telekinetic Punch - for killing groups of enemies with almost any HP.
Since % of damage to the near enemies from Thermodynamic Destabilization can achieve very high values, you can target not only the strongest guy in group(if you aren't sure of killing him in one turn)
*Locus of Control -> Premeditation(optional) -> Enrage - Classic scheme, Premeditation optional cuz sometimes you just don't need it. Cast Locus of Control+Enrage, retreat and while enemies will shoot each other, you can finish them and save Premeditation in case of unforeseen circumstances.
*Mental Breakdown -> Psionic Mania(optional) -> Neural Overload - Useful for killing enemies with high cold+mechanical resistances.
*Electrokinesis -> Premeditation/Adrenaline Rush -> Electrokinesis - allows you to stun/kill two nearby standing enemies(including automatons), cast on different targets.

Skills(excluding crafting):

*Stealth - 40 - That's enough for us(not really, but nevermind). Initially, we do not have the opportunity to significantly raise this skill(with equipment), so we need to invest a bit for first locations and a little bit from above. Afterwards we will have good amount of items with Stealh bonus and Cloaking Device, which will help in situations with perceptive foes(can instantly detect) without changing our main equipment.
*Hacking - 90(130) - Enough for all ingame checks, except one 135 Hacking and IRIS console, which doesn't take into account the +15 bonus from Huxkey =(
*Lockpicking - 94(130) - With +2 DEX bonus from food.
*Persuasion - 30(75) - More than enough, but you need to consider that 75 value comes from Will and Mercantile synergy without any further investment. You can save ~5 points and get final 25(65), but doing this will delay completing some quests with high Persuasion requirements or alternatively you could put another 16 points, equip Tchortist Noble Robe(+1 Will) and get 46(111), which will allow to avoid big battle with automatons in DC and pass all ingame skillchecks. Having so much Will it's ok to get the most benefit from it.
*Mercantile - 77(96) - Enough for opening "special merchandise" on all most important merchants: Constantine(Oculus), Ola/Harlan/Stratford(JKK/Coretech/Praetorian), Becket/Fraser(Free Drones/Protectorate). My standard choice - JKK+Free Drones for best oddity selection, which in the other cases we won't be able to find. Coretech is the best Psi-orientated shop for Core City faction choice, but with access to the Oculus store, doesn't matter too much. That's where the largest selection of electronics components can be found (for Psionic Headband, Energy Shield Emitter, Cloaking Device), high quality Balaclava, Ninja Tabi Boots and some other exclusive goodies. We only won't unlock second tier of Efreitor Hanna(Institute of Tchort) shop, but goods there are not interesting to us(except Sturdy Vest) and have 105 Mercantile unlock condition.

Crafting(except consumables) - part 1:

Highest values, we need:
Blueprint: Tactical Vest - Biology 20, Mechanics 96, Tailoring 141
Blueprint: Psionic Headband - Biology 45, Electronics 128
Blueprint: Energy Shield Emitter - Electronics 166
Blueprint: Tabi Boots - 128
Blueprint: Cloaking Device - Electronics 128

Blueprint: Infused Leather - Tailoring 128, Mechanics 32 (Super Steel Fiber)
Blueprint: Extract Humour - Biology 70/80
Blueprint: Process Plant or Fungus - Biology 40
Blueprint: Recycle Item - Tailoring/Mechanics/Electronics ??
Blueprint: Repair Kit - Electronics 50, Mechanics 50, Tailoring 50

Good to have:
Blueprint: Balaclava - Not necessary, you can buy some high quality Balaclava in different places(with 19 Stealth bonus).
Blueprint: Taser - worst Taser will do (only for stunning purpose).
Blueprint: Leather Armor - For Leather -> Repair Kit transformation or high Stealth armor.
Blueprint: Goggles - Motion Tracking Lens to increasing our cripple detection level, You can also integrate Night Vision to reduce difficultis of dark area walking. And again, you can find pretty good 90+% Detection googles, but crafting is more reliable.

Getting the house in Core City and buying the appropriate workbenches will give us a 15% craft bonus and that's where we will craft our best gear. Based on this, any of the top quality components found in the DC will only cause a headache. Also worth noting what components we can actually buy/find/already have. The fact that the highest value of component ~160Q doesn't mean that you will find it. Forget about getting 145Q+ components(excluding Super Steel) before DC.

*Biology 80(60) We can even lower to 70(53), 80 - rather a nice bonus in the form of additional Bullhead crafting and a bit earlier Trance crafting. While taking Biology 70(53), You can forget about Bullhead crafting and Trance crafting will be possible only at your home. 100(75) will allow the creation of Super Health Hypo.
*Electronics 133(100) - This is enough for all top things, except Energy Shield Emitter with second Shield Modulator, which raises the requirements for Electronics by 30% of its quality. We can save 16 points here - 112(84), which will limit our craft with 140Q components(still need to find them, which isn't trivial task) and you can forget about second Shield Modulator. Probably, it's good to make decision based on the situation at near the end of the Institute of Tchort questline.
*Mechanics 93(70) - No hard decisions here. High values only needed to craft Tactical Vest and 93 is more than enough for this. The second option is to use the Super Steel Sheet instead of the Laminated Fabric Ballistic Panel in the Tactical Vest, which will significantly increase Mechanics requirements in our build, up to 128(96), that's another 26 skill points(!). You can save 6 points with limiting Laminated Fabric Ballistic to 140Q - 85(64).
*Tailoring 128(96) - We will sacrifice a bit of Black Cloth quality for our armor. Most likely we won't even have it. Additional investment for the sake of few more Stealth points is not worth it at all, it would be wiser to put some additional points into Stealth itself. If you don't get top quality Super Steel Plates (for crafting Infused Leather), you can save up to 120 (90).
With the optimal option we would have 18 sp left, which can be allocated into Persuasion + Mercantile, Stealth or Crafting (if there are suitable materials).

Maximum option: Biology 100(75 skill points), Electronics 166(124 skill points), Mechanics 128(96 skill points), Tailoring 142(106 skill points). Total: 401 skill points
Optimal option: Biology 80(60 skill points), Electronics 133(100 skill points), Mechanics 93(70 skill points), Tailoring 128(96 skill points). Total: 326 skill points
Economy option: Biology 70(53 skill points), Electronics 112(84 skill points), Mechanics 85(64 skill points), Tailoring 120(90 skill points). Total: 291 skill points

Crafting(except consumables) - part 2:

Choice of components:
*Blueprint: Tactical Vest
Carrier Vest
-Biohazard Vest - Requires Chemistry and is quite useless(especially with Irongut), any toxic place can be passed with special suit/mask.
-Galvanic Vest - The rarity of Electricity damage and the additional +5% of Armor Penalty(we already have 30%) make it a bad choice for our main armor.
-Insulated Vest - good for the very beginning, until we find normal Sturdy Vest. Protection from Cold damage is very weak, of course.
-Regenerative Vest - Won't work well with our build, we need to control our HP level + how I hate these 100500 devices/things that need to be constantly recharged.
+Sturdy Vest - Best option, additional HP that will help us in any situaion, although as part of Tactical Vest it gives smaller amount of HP than in other armors.
Ballistic Panel
-Reinforced Fabric Ballistic Panel - worst Mechanical threshold and best Mechanical resistance. Not using, cuz the main point of Tactical Vest is to get highest treshold possible.
+Laminated Fabric Ballistic Panel - good Mechanical threshold and bad Mechanical resistance. Our main choice if you decide not to invest in additional Mechanics.
+Super Steel Sheet - best Mechanical threshold and worst Mechanical resistance with additional 35% protection against knife attacks and +5% Armor Penalty. Not bad, you could get 150-160Q Super Steel much faster/easier than 140Q Laminated Fabric Ballistic Panel. So you need to take into account the additional quality gap between these components and the investment in Mechanics.
I had in my possession Super Steel 160Q and Laminated Fabric Ballistic Panel 131Q, 22%/16 vs 24%/11. I decided to choose second option, saving 26 skill points.
Armor plate
+Psionic Vest - +20% Armor Penalty, good enhancement of our armor and psionics, the rest isn't even worth noting. Psi Beetle Carapace of high quality (up to ~102Q) are looted from Azuridae Goliathus.
Overcoat fabric
-Aluminized Cloth - +5% Armor Penalty and negates all the Stealth investment, not for main armor, obviously.
-Blast Cloth - Pretty meh, +15%(!!!) Armor Penalty paired with questionable usefulness.
-Kevlar Cloth - +10% Armor Penalty and additional protection against bullets. We already have very good bullet protection and even with this enhancement it won't stop a sniper shot.
+Black Cloth - Additional Stealth is an excellent option without any disadvantages.
As a result, our main armor will have 30-35% Armor Penalty, which is acceptable, considering the availability of Sprint + Jumping Bean.

*Blueprint: Psionic Headband - Best tactic is to carry several sets of headbands for different situations/enemies. At least we need 2 - Universal Psionic Modulator+Psionic Mufflers+Stable Neural Amplifier as main and Psychokinetic Modulator+Psionic Mufflers+Stable Neural Amplifier as anti-automatons, because the use of a specialized modulator has stronger effect(about 50%). At the beginning of the game I only used Metathermic Modulator+Psionic Mufflers+Stable Neural Amplifier.
About Proximal Neuroscopic Filter - The cost of invoking psi abilities is already increased by 20% thanks to Psychosis, and if Trance is used, by another 20%, it will be very sad, which is especially crucial in complex/prolonged battles. The overall effectiveness of Psionic Headband with Psionic Mufflers is higher than with Proximal Neuroscopic Filter.

*Blueprint: Energy Shield Emitter - I prefer Medium Frequency Shield Modulator + High Efficiency Energy Converter, as the most versatile option.
The Low Frequency Shield Modulator has little common use, cuz it will decrease our general protection from the most dangerous weapons, and we still won't get good protection from Low/Very Low (knives and fists ignore 60-80% shields, and the sledgehammer's damage is just too high) and in general, the enemy shouldn't approach the melee distance during normal play. You can even take the High Frequency Shield Modulator, which has the best Medium/High/Very High ratio to protect yourself from the biggest trouble - plasma/snipers and grenades that can deal big spikes of damage.

*Blueprint: Tabi Boots - There are several good options here. While we have no access to Super Steel crafting and high Tailoring, you shouldn't be bothered with crafting and just buy Ninja Tabi Boots. In Oculus you can buy ~124Q. After gaining access to Super Steel it's worth to look into these options:
+Infused Cave Hopper Leather Tabi Boots - +1 AGI and nice bonus in the form of reducing the cooldown of Sprint by 5 turns. This means that we could sprint for 2 turns and after 3 turns sprint again.
+Infused Pig Leather Tabi Boots - +1 CON(nice synergy with our build) and some Fortitude bonus, which don't mean much for us, but still better than nothing.
+Infused Siphoner Leather Tabi Boots - Higher Evasion/Dodge bonus and immunity to slows. Good one, but I very rarely get caught in slowing effects to appreciate it, and the increased Evasion/Dodge bonus will be cut by Armor Penalty. However, there is still a small resistance bonus to Heat/Acid.
+Infused Ancient Rathound Leather Tabi Boots - 5% mechanical damage reduction and small bonus to Cold/Heat. Lol bonus, but another 5% reduction will do.
After all, I have chosen Infused Pig Leather Tabi Boots as my main footwear.

Crafting consumables analysis:

General Rule: If consumables can be bought in the store or looted from the enemies in sufficient quantities, then you shouldn't be bothered with crafting, excluding the beginning of the game, while there is no money or Mercantile skill. Based on Biology skill req.

*Blueprint: Psi Booster(15) - Can be bought from many merchants, but crafting is very easy, Mindshrooms grow in every corner, and we will use them very often. 15 Biolody from the start allows us to craft them, which is very useful at the beginning of the game. Later, when there will be enough money, just buy boosters, and use Unsaturated Psionic Catalyst for Trance and Psi Reinvigorator.
*Blueprint: Health Hypo(25) - Won't learn/craft it, there are enough of this junk in game + we won't use it often since the beginning, cuz we need to maintain <30% HP, and hypo will restore much more, later we will have a big amount of these hypos. Moreover, Blood and Insectoid Saliva are needed for more interesting things. Doubtful value for crafting.
*Blueprint: Morphine Shot(25) - A very controversial medicine and with this build could be a suicide, until we get Last Stand, and this is the 16th level, crafting in advance have little use for me, except for the sale (you can start buying Morphine/Lake Poppy already in Junkyard or stealing in SGS).
*Blueprint: Jumping Bean(35) - Nice, but we can get it blueprint only after doing Depot A, so there is no point of boosting Biology past 15 before. 3 pills at go, almost no weight, easy to acquire components(especially with some nice fishing) and if the dodge/evasion bonus isn't particularly noticeable, additional movement points mean a lot for us. In general, with Doctor's Pouch, we will trade 2 AP -> 10 MP(4 turns), very good exchange ratio.
*Blueprint: Adrenaline Shot(40) - By itself Adrenaline Shot is very good thing with simple crafting, but for some reason I didn't craft it, sometimes bought it from shops, sometimes looted/stealed,
as a result I had a stable stock without creating it, but in general the recipe isn't bad with a bit overpriced Biology requirements. Before ~10 level I don't want to raise Biology to such value.
*Blueprint: Advanced Health Hypo(50) - Can be crafted, but all the ingredients are used for other cool things, so I just skipped. Sold in shops.
*Blueprint: Focus Stim(50) - Another 15% crit chance is great addition to our build. It's worthwhile to bump Biology to 50 only for this one, 10 turns duration, can be found/bought in a very limited quantity. No problems with components, just craft at will.
*Blueprint: Aegis(60) - Good, 8 turns duration, slightly improves survival rates works well in combo with Last Stand and Morphine Shot. Can be found in exploration, rarely sold in Free Drones/Oculus shops. The only unpleasant moment is Gizzard Enzymes, which are extracted only from Borers/Latchers and also used in Irongut and Bullhead recipes.
*Blueprint: Irongut(60) - Produces 3 pills, uses rare Gizzard Enzymes, but some small amount(9-12) is worth keeping, taking into account it's low weight, in case of problems with Poison. While toxic places are safer to pass with Bio resistant armor. Can be rarely found in the game.
*Blueprint: Psi Reinvigorator(60) - Uses 5(!) Unsaturated Psionic Catalyst and 1 Statolith when crafting, which can be obtained from Pentapus(fishing). You can go through the whole game with psionic build and won't use this thing, because the only sources of Psionic Inhibition are psionics with Psi-cognitive Interruption (in most cases you're a dead body after taking that) and Black Dragon Poison. I keep a few in reserve.
*Blueprint: Trance(70) - Last important element for the Biology investement. Black Vitreous - a slightly problematic component which is obtained only from Bladelings, but after completing the Foundry Beast quest we will have minimum 20 pieces, and that's enough until the end of the game to use for the difficult battles, even without further grind. Significantly increases the critical damage bonus of Psionics and its cost, with our build, where we rely on crits - the best consumable we can use during the battle. You can occasionally find it on sale at Free Drones/Oculus shops.
*Blueprint: Bullhead(80) - Create after receiving a 15% bonus from the workbench in your Core City home, because with our tight skill point allocation we don't have any spare to go into more Biology and with Locus of Control, its value slightly falls. But nevertheless, immunity to stun/incapacitation is very good, especially with such a low weight and 2 pills crafting. Nidamental Gel can be obtained from Demon Squid(fishing).
*Blueprint: Super Health Hypo(100) - The strongest health restoration medicine with a decent amount of crafting components. We will not craft it, and it's not worth to be sad about this. The recipe can be obtained after full main Core City questline(can be randomly found at Free Drones/Oculus shops) and requires 100 Biology (this is 15 extra sp, considering that we will craft it at home with a 15% bonus). 5-6 hypos can be found in Deep Caverns. It was enough for the most difficult battles.
*Blueprint: Regenerative Mixture(115) - This is certainly not the most useful consumable: Very expensive, on Dominating without corresponding Feats restore only 20 HP/turn, the components are quite problematic and the recipe can be obtained only in DC, making impossible to get 15% craft bonus from home. But still the additional possibility of healing is always good, especially with the opportunity to "skip 4 turns" with Force Field. A several pieces can be found in the random encounter with Jax and in one "secret" place in DC.
*Blueprint: Supersoldier Drug(130) - Not worth it. The components are scattered throughout Deep Caverns locations, getting a recipe will be possible only in DC, and not immediately, and 130 Biology, which couldn't be achieved with help of 15% house buff only aggravates the whole situation. Roughly speaking, to craft it up we need to spend another 52 (!!!) skill points (60 -> 112). And without any WILL or Psi bonuses it's just a waste. A several pieces can be found in the random encounter with Dandy Jack and co.

As a result, we have 4 important stages for Biology improvement - 15/35/50/70. I prefer to play with 15(13 skill points) Biology until doing Depot A, then up to 50 (43 skill points), and after finishing Foundry, another up to 70(60 skill points). This is enough for all the tastiest things for the Psi user, which I would like to get - Trance, Focus Stim, Jumping Bean and Aegis. And also as bonus we can make Bullhead at home. The most important thing you need to do is to buy/find Doctor's Pouch as soon as possible, which will reduce the cost of using medicine from 10 -> 2 AP. In the current game, for example, I wasn't lucky enough and only got it during the middle of the game, thus delaying the completing of The Beast in Foundry.

About fishing: With low Dexterity this process will be quite sad, often failing to catch fish. Therefore, before receiving the Fisherman feat, you shouldn't focus on this. Catch before Depot A - Blue Eel, Minihead, Yellow Puckerfish, Anglerfish, Black Dragon, Pentapus, Shrimp, Walking Fish. After in new locations - Slackjaw, Demon Squid, Phantom Jelly and in Core City Sewers(in one place) - Ghostface. In medicine crafting we need Blue Eel (caught in large quantities in Siphoner Pools), ~5 Demon Squid and... that's all. From Minihead, Yellow Puckerfish, Slackjaw you could extract Blood, which is very needed in Focus Stim crafting, but there will be plenty of it anyway, couple of Pentapus will be enough. The rest of the fish aren't needed at all.

Useful items:

*Jackknife - for Lockpicking +7 bonus; in the GMS, from the bandit on 3rd floor.
*Boxing Gloves - Chance to get critically hit -2.00%, Dodge +15%; should wear in battle, better than nothing.
*Huxkey - Lockpicking/Hacking +15; after Oculus quest, should get this as soon as possible.
*Biohazard Boots + Biohazard Suit - good protection from Acid/Bio/Acid Puddles; Most useful in DC, rarely sold in Oculus HQ.
*Chemical Assault Unit Armor - protection from Acid/Bio; can only be looted from the corpses of the Chemical Assault Unit (by the Free Drones questline in the Epione Lab) or obtained after the last Protectorate quest, but it's worth it. Unlike Biohazard Suit, it doesn't have such terrible drawbacks and together with Biohazard Boots gives the awesome protection from Acid/Bio, which is much needed in DC.
*Doctor's Pouch - Medicine consumption AP cost reduced from 10 to 2; get it as soon as possible. Rarely sold by Old Jonas(SGS).
*Lifting Belt - 10% mechanical damage reduction; useful in some situations to maximize protection against mechanical damage.
*Balaclava - to maximize Stealth.
*Rathound Regalia - to maximize Stealth without any Armor Penalty or crafting.
*Tchortist Noble Robe - +1 Will(also used to enhance Persuasion); can be looted from Tchortist Minister corpse in the Institute of Tchort physics lab, with help of luring him into tesla coil.

Deep Caverns(SPOILERS):

I advise you to walk through DC in this order to avoid unnecessary backtracking and other inconveniences:

Mushroom Forest(use Biohazard Suit; monsters are immune to crits)
-> Hollow Earth(only to take Bone Handle Knife)
-> Talos Station(talk with Faceless Commander, loot 4 Super Health Hypos)
-> Arke Power Station(Power up Warehouse Block 2 + Caerus Residential Block)
-> Shack(give the knife to Leo, Creeping Dread stacks per turn 3/4 -> 1/2)
-> Warehouse Block 2
-> Caerus Residential Block
-> Labyrinth(use Chemical Assault Unit Armor + Biohazard Boots)
-> Arke Power Station(Power up Mutagen Tanks A + Research Complex)
-> Cytosine Outpost(complete Scout Faceless positions quest, shop access, 1 Super Health Hypo)
-> Hollow Earth(клепаем Psimorphic Biocide Grenade)
-> Tithonus Laboratory -> Bio Facility -> Mutagen Tanks -> ...

My final gear:

All equipment was created in the Core City house with 15% bonus:
Uni-Psi Headband: 139Q Universal Psionic Modulator, 136Q Psionic Mufflers, 138Q Stable Neural Amplifier
Psychokinesis Headband: 135Q Psychokinetic Modulator, 136Q Psionic Mufflers, 133Q Stable Neural Amplifier
Metathermics Headband: 136Q Metathermic Modulator, 129Q Psionic Mufflers, 131Q Stable Neural Amplifier
Cloaking Device: 139Q Electromagnetic Deflector, 133Q Electromagnetic Field Stabilizer, 134Q Plasma Core
Energy Shield Emitter: 139Q Medium Frequency Shield Modulator, 137Q Plasma Core, 82Q Medium Frequency Shield Modulator, 137Q High Efficiency Energy Converter
Tabi Boots: 131Q Infused Pig Leather
Tactical Vest: 131Q Laminated Fabric Ballistic Panel, 136Q Sturdy Vest, 95Q Psi Beetle Carapace, 134Q Black Cloth

Oddity and Experience(SPOILERS):

The total surplus of experience is 110 EXP, which is enough for only ~3.5 extra levels. In сomparison with Classic, the amount of experience gained is much lower and is not infinite.







*Oddity - Acid Cyclopean Eye(4 EXP) - Two-headed Mutant didn't spawn, what a pity! It appears as random encounter in Depot A, meh solution from devs for the 4 EXP oddity.
Especially sad when playing on Oddity, and while playing on Classic I couldn't care less about this.
*Oddity - Broken Motion Detector(1 EXP) - Need 7-8 Perception for this.
*Oddity - JKK Pen(3 EXP) - Kill/Rob JKK member, but since we have 0 Pickpocketing, only killing will do. It makes not much sense to do this with 25 level cap, because all JKK members will become hostile, Ola, for example, one of our best merchants. Unless before leaving to the Deep Caverns.
*Oddity - Praetorian Security Insignia(3 EXP) - Similar situation but with Praetorian members. However, everything is much worse - too many of Praetorian forces located in the Core City and I don't want to waste my time with killing/stealthing.
*Quest - Liberate rassophores(2 EXP) - At this point, it makes no sense cuz of Faceless friendship.
*Quest - Kidnap Sarine/Kill the Rathound King(1 EXP) - I usually ignore the peaceful solution with Rathound King for the sake of a good fight at that stage of the game.
*Quest - Train heist(1 EXP) - Failed quest to joining Free Drones. With the Protectorate choice, this quest would be completed.
Total: 15 unearned EXP(if I haven't forgotten anything). There is no more EXP in the game when playing on Oddity.

Merchants and their stock:

Based on the results of my walkthrough with 95 Mercantile(Only 110Q+ components and rare items):
* - usually 2-3 components in stock;
** - usually 4+ components in stock;
~ - sometimes sold in this shop;

Constantine(Oculus):
Laminated Fabric Ballistic Panel ~116
Sturdy Vest ~124
**Psionic Headband Modulator ~139
*Stable Neural Amplifier ~138
*Psionic Mufflers ~136
*Proximal Neuroscopic Filter ~138
**Plasma Core ~136
Electromagnetic Deflector ~134
Electromagnetic Field Stabilizer ~131
**Energy Shield Modulator ~139
High Efficiency Energy Converter ~117
Motion Tracking Lens ~127
Ninja Tabi Boots + Balaclava
~Biohazard Suit + Boots
~Aegis, Trance
~Random Psionic Mentor
~Blueprint: Bullhead
~Blueprint: Super Health Hypo

Becket(Free Drones):
**Black Cloth ~134
Psionic Headband Modulator ~117
Electromagnetic Deflector ~123
Electromagnetic Field Stabilizer ~124
*Energy Shield Modulator ~138
High Efficiency Energy Converter ~113
Motion Tracking Lens ~115
~Ninja Tabi Boots + Balaclava
~Aegis, Focus Stim
Boxing Gloves

Ola(JKK):
*Laminated Fabric Ballistic Panel ~131
Psionic Headband Modulator ~118
Proximal Neuroscopic Filter ~132
Electromagnetic Deflector ~111
Electromagnetic Field Stabilizer ~123
Energy Shield Modulator ~116
Motion Tracking Lens ~119
**Ninja Tabi Boots + Balaclava

Ezra(SGS):
*Psionic Headband Modulator ~126
Proximal Neuroscopic Filter ~118
**Plasma Core ~110
*Electromagnetic Field Stabilizer ~110
Motion Tracking Lens ~114

Fixer(Junkyard):
*Psionic Headband Modulator ~110

Investigator Kiro(IoT):
*Psionic Headband Modulator ~133
Stable Neural Amplifier ~126
Psionic Mufflers ~111
**Plasma Core ~137
*Electromagnetic Field Stabilizer ~117
*Energy Shield Modulator ~121
*Motion Tracking Lens ~113

Efreitor Hanna(IoT):
*Sturdy Vest ~142 //105 Mercantile(save/load)
Energy Shield Modulator ~119

Derica(Core City):
**Black Cloth ~114

Halim(Core City):
**Plasma Core ~123
Motion Tracking Lens ~113

Difficulty rating of fights (SPOILERS):

My rating with Faction choice: JKK + Free Drones.

1. Faceless Commander(Cube fight) / Fort Apogee(condition: frontal assault)
I couldn't decide which fight was more complicated. Both battles are very complex and I wasn't able to complete any of them on the first try. Fort Apogee have an enormous amount of enemies, Plasma Turrets with True Sight, which prevent us from Stealth and taking a good position, and 3(!) Protectorate Dreadnoughts. I had to use the all possible resources, which only exists in my arsenal. But the real problem is Protectorate Dreadnoughts(Enrage doesn't work for them, huge amount of HP, very good armor and Immobilization immunity), cuz they can't be killed fast enough with Psionic. With Protectorate walkthrough, you can stealth kill a certain number of enemies before starting the main battle and take more advantageous position, making the main battle easier and less prolonged, but still 3 Protectorate Dreadnoughts aren't going anywhere.
Faceless Commander(on Dominating) is very questionable battle cuz of it's overall complexity. In addition to the fact that all Faceless have serious Infusion buffs, it also includes the Faceless Commander himself with very serious damage output, something like Laser Assault Rifle(which Styg doesn't want give to the player), Thick Skull and a large amount of HP. Also in this location are several Acid Blob Traps set and if you disturb at least one of them - you are dead. Worth considering that the starting position is very vulnerable and can't be changed. And, of course, the most unpleasant surprise - Faceless Gaunt, which suddenly materializes out of nowhere after certain number of turns to strike you down.

2. Foundry Beast(condition: Dan + Saban survive)
Nothing wrong with this being 2nd place: A LOT of enemies, the very long battle, Bladelings have immunity to critical attacks, high resistances to mechanical/fire/cold and the additional buffs(Taste for Blood + Adrenaline Rush) and You can't just run away from Bladelings to killl them one by one, because they will eat your allies.

3. Empоrion Shopping Mall(Lunatics)
Psionics = bad. Whole place is crowded with psi users, only psi users. The nastiest of them are Lunatic Psychopaths and Lunatic Barbers. They strike from the Stealth, when you definitely don't want to find them near yourself, cast Mental Breakdown -> Bilocation/Neural Overload and... that's it.

4. RAF 013(condition: Nevil survives)
Automatons = bad. Automatons that spawns from different sides through a certain number of turns and you need to keep up with everyone running around like wind. And you still need to watch over the local fool, who just want to break into the thick of the battle and die.

5. Arena(condition: all gladiator fights in a row, no save/load after each one)
Main difficulty of these fights is to play with these conditions, without any savescumming. Skipped Pulverizer on video, but he is not important anyway. During Arena fights I haven't taken Paranoia yet and for which I suffered. This is the moment, when the Initiative plays the crucial role. Enemies you should watch out - Chemical Agent(high Acid damage, can kill player with 1 turn) and Carnifex.

6. IRIS
The most important thing is not to stand still and immediately run away from the Shock Turrets attack range. Kill ordinary robots first, then carefully take out Shock Turrets one by one.

7. Rathound King
A serious opponent at that stage of the game, when it usually happens. It's better to gather everyone closer to each other, cuz Ancient Rathouns are very tough dogs with Stun/Incapacitation Immunity and could tear apart your poor guy even after Rathound King death.

8. Jax(Random encounter)
Met him in Core City Upper Metro along with 4 Industrial Robots(!). The whole difficulty is that the meeting is random and can be triggered when your char is too weak to handle this encounter.
But after defeating the enemies you could recieve some top quality components from Jax(in my case it was 162Q Seeker Lens).

9. Epione Lab(condition: triggering alarm with Chemical Assault Unit squad battle)
Chemical Assault Unit - tough guys armed with Acid Blob Pistols and EMP Grenades, which will appear after alarm triggering and can come into our back as a big surprise to the unprepared player.

10. Elevator Battle (Insitute of Tchort)
Although some people may consider this battle to be hard, it is not. You can skip 5-6 turns standing near the allies and just calmly step into the elevator, or you can bomb the enemies from afar or lay traps carefully. The real difficulty is to be fast(and lucky) enough to loot the corpses for Faceless Mask Fragments and Empty Infusion Tank when playing on Oddity.

11. Balor(Ironheads) / Simon Peres(Ironheads) / Gubbins(Bandits) / Lurker Butcher(Lurker's Base)
These battles are similar in amount of meat and tactic, and do not pose any special difficulty due to the fact that enemies can be killed either by small groups, or simply by hoarding them in one place and striking with Mass Enrage or Cryokinetic Orb.

12. Pulsating Roots(Deep Caverns)
With the Biohazard Suit this battle is actually easy, but can be slightly prolonged, because you have less AP amount. Just prioritize Shroomling Chompers first.

13. Black Crawler camp(condition: Gorsky, Sneaky and Dan survive)
Mediocre fight, just watch out with AOE attacks that can turn allies hostile and not letting them die.

Videos(SPOILERS):

Find Newton

Silent Isle

Rathound King(without Force Field)

Rathound King(with Force Field)

Foundry Beast(Dan+Saban survived) + char/inventory view

Arena(all important fights in a row)

Lunatic Mall(1st floor)

Lunatic Mall(2nd floor)

Fort Apogee(frontal assault) + char/inventory view

RAF013(Nevil survived)

IRIS

Last Boss(1 turn win) <- forgot about char/inventory view

Last Boss(2 turns win) + char/inventory view

Faceless Boss Battle(hardest fight in the game)

Crossbow Last Boss(bonus #1) + char/inventory/oddity view

Sledgehammer Foundry Beast(bonus #2)

[Legion]

Does this build still work or is it axed from updates?

[Honest]

Is any of this still viable or is it just destroyed now due to the updates?

[GamerRoman]

Rest in piss.

[RaccFoxx]

I got bored and looked around various guides around the game and your setup and skills are pretty impressive

[CaramelChaos]

@mindless How does that not agro all the lunatics though?

[mindless]

CaramelChaos, with grenades.

[Pharod]

I was confused how to actually start off with the build but investing into the punch was worth it to get going early on. Anyways its all Gucci now I gotta take a shit now I havent done so in 3 days and I fear that its color will be a vanta black and I will die as soon as it rips through the walls of my intestines and finally out my rectum

[CaramelChaos]

Also another quick question/suggestion there is a pretty common spear in the expansion called Sørmirbæren Spirit Staff which when held: increases psi crit damage by 40%, decrease psi cost by 15% as well as some other nice things.

[CaramelChaos]

How do you lure the Tchortist Minister into the tesla coils?

[mindless]

Pharod, I don't understand your question. And btw with expansion some sections need to be updated but I'm just too lazy to do it.