Character Creation Guide - Wasteland 3

Need help with the fundamentals? Party composition? General gameplay?

I've expanded on this guide continually so it now has even more content, beyond simply character builds.

Character Creation

You start out Wasteland 3 with creating your two starting characters and it might feel daunting.

This is not one of those RPGs where you can switch skills part through the game. Your choices actually matter. Which is why it's only natural to want to do some research and figure out what characters you need in your party.

This is what this guide is all about!

Note: The guide was written before patch 1.2.0 so the recommendations herein might partially no longer be relevant, as there has been some major changes (nerfs/buffs) since. I will update it on my next play-through.

Note 2: I'm currently (June 2021) replaying the game on Ranger Difficulty after patch 1.4.0 so new character builds are coming up!

Note 3: After patch 1.4.1 (July 3, 2021) I had to skip back due to Bizaar not being able to load.

Note 4: Did a game files integrity check and after it re-downloaded 14 files, I can now load the Bizaar Exterior. :)

Note 5: New patches update faster than I play so I'm struggling to keep all stats up to date right now... Will update for 1.5.0 and then probably again when the new DLC releases... >:(

Note 6 (Oct 23): 1.6.1 is out and my biggest complaint right now is that the scaling difficulty doesn't scale very well at higher levels as the game is relatively harder at level 25 than at level 15 and that shouldn't be the case.

Some notes related to 1.6.1, Steeltown and Cult of the Holy Detonation DLC

I am currently not replaying Wasteland 3 due to the scaling difficulty being off-balance, causing the game to be too hard at high levels. I will continue when the scaling is patched.

Crafting

There is a new feature of being able to craft items. This means that the skills of tinkering with Armor and Weapon mods are a lot more useful. It also means you don't need to go to a doctor as often, as you can create Medic Packs and Injury Packs yourself.

Companions

Another one is that companions are a lot more useful these days. They will join the fight and they are sturdy enough (at least with perks to boost them) to not instantly die. Also, the previous bugs where you would loose companions or sometimes be able to have multiple at the same time, seems to now be fixed. You can actually let your companions wait for you at Ranger HQ and that way you can try out different animals without permanently loosing them!

Less bugs (?)

I've only had one major bug so far, where I in a fight got my interface going crazy, blinking and numbers shifting all over the place. I couldn't open menus and I eventually terminated with Alt+F4.

1.6.1.

I currently struggle with the scaling difficulty that at high levels (25+) make the game feel more like I'm on the highest difficulty "Supreem Jerk" than the normal difficulty of "Ranger". Unfortunately, this punishes me for leveling up at this point, and I'm not really happy about the tuning of this. I hope a future patch will correct this, as at this point, the characters that used to do really punishing damage now all die within the second turn of a battle.

Cult of the Holy Detonation

After I finished the first combat inside Cheyenne Mountains, I can't speak to Theodoric Curie, he only screams "Stop this! There's no need for violence!" and I can't open the door. So... Guess I'm stuck?

Reloaded and the second time the battle finished correctly and I could continue. However the second battle with spawning enemies I felt like I was at too low level at level 25, although the DLC is recommended at level 15+. That makes the scaling difficulty feel off in its tuning and it needs further adjustments, which is outside of my control. It needs further patching from the developers.

Overall

My experience from Battle of Steeltown is that the main difference with DLCs is that it gives more experience and hence you will have more levels to gain before the end of the game. That means more skill points and perks. But the enemies also better level with your experience now, so it hasn't meant for me that I can just steamroll through the latter parts.

I really enjoy the continual updates for Wasteland 3 and the game is at least 200% improved from when it was first released!

Skills

In order to cover all roles of a party (and enjoy the game to it's fullest) you need the following skills covered. Almost all of them should be on only one character in order to level them up high enough to reach their maximum and therefore full potential.

More on how to assign them to the correct character later in the guide.

General Skills

• Barter
  
• Hard Ass
  
• Kiss Ass
  
• Leadership
  
• Explosives
  
• Mechanics
  
• Toaster repair
  
• Nerd Stuff
  
• First Aid
  
• Lockpicking
  
• Sneaky ♥♥♥♥
  
• Animal Whisperer
  
• Survival
  
• Armour Modding
  
• Weapon Modding

Let's cover them one at a time to get a better view of what their purpose is.

Barter
Reduces cost and improves value when selling stuff. You need money to buy ammunition which are sparse in this game. Having a character with barter is not useless. But it's not top priority.

Hard Ass
If you've played Wasteland 2 this one is familiar. It gives you extra dialog options and helps you benefit from certain situations. I think it's important because it also makes the game more enjoyable in dialogues.

Kiss Ass
Very similar to Hard Ass, but with other dialogue options. Useful for the same reasons.

Leadership
This one gives you supporting boosters during combat to all your team (if they're not too far away) and is mostly important on higher difficulties.

Explosives
Helps you disarm traps, which are plentiful in the game. Also great for a character with focus on Rocket-based weapons.

Mechanics
Helps you repair broken stuff in the game, helpful for disabling turrets (of which there are many) and also increases damage against robots and similar enemies. Also gives you access to certain areas and computers otherwise unavailable.

Toaster repair
This one could easily be interpreted as a cute gimmick, but it actually gives you access to a skill tree very useful for a character with focus on flame throwers as well as valuable items hidden in various toasters throughout the game. A must for the full Wasteland 3 experience.

Nerd stuff
This is the skill for hacking computers which can be used for turning off turrets, getting access to certain areas, getting access to certain lore and similar. Also gives you access to a skill tree which lets you hack enemy robots. Very useful.

First Aid
As you'll take some damage and individual healing for unskilled characters are expensive, having a healing-character with First aid is important.

Lock picking
What is a RPG without the looting? You'll want to get in everywhere and get everything. There's no argument here, you need this one.

Sneaky ♥♥♥♥
This one is for sneaking, which increases the chance of immense critical hits at the start of combat. It goes very well with a high critical output character. More on that later.

Animal Whisperer
This one is also easy to overlook as just a cute feature for animal lovers, but actually you get boosters from having animal companions. Different animals give different boosters. There are also a few hidden things in the game only available if you have this skill (no spoiling, just a hint).

Survival
This one can be used for avoiding combat when on the large map (why would you want to not get that XP though?) but more importantly it has some benefits to start combat with initiative as well as finding valuables on the large map. So actually not a completely useless skill!

Armour Modding
This gives you access to higher level mods, which will improve your armour. Really valuable, especially on higher difficulties.

Weapon Modding
Similar to the previous one but for weapon mods. Potentially even more important to get that extra edge in combat dashing out damage on your opponents.

Combat Skills

Of course you also need to be able to fight. There's no way beating this game with pure diplomacy (at least not without some genius ingenuity which I don't personally possess). You're going to spend a lot of time fighting, so you need every character to pull their own weight. More on this later.

• Automatic Weapons
  
• Big Guns
  
• Brawling
  
• Melee Combat
  
• Small Arms
  
• Sniper Rifles
  
• Weird Science

Automatic Weapons
This covers Assault rifles and SMGs and opens up their skill tree. Assault rifles have longer reach and higher general damage but less critical hit chance. SMGs have shorter reach but higher chance for critical hits. They consume different kind of ammo so you can have two different characters with this skill as long as you focus one on assault rifles and one on SMGs.

Big Guns
This is for the slow but steady character that brings the big guns to the fight. Heavy machine guns, flamethrowers, rocket launchers and similar. This is the skill for that.

Brawling
This is hand to and combat. Honestly I haven't really seen the potential of this skill yet, but the gist is low general damage, lots of chances for hits (low Action Point cost per hit) and with a decent chance of critical hits. Your character will be mostly useless early on, but potentially quite lethal late mid and game.

Melee Combat
This one is similar to brawling but with higher chance of critical hits and status effects like bleeding. It puts your character in harms way, but is actually a lot of fun and you can dish out some serious damage. As long as you're not killed in the process. Very hard on high difficulty, but super fun on easy to medium difficulty.

Small Arms
This one is for small guns (pistols, revolvers) and shotguns. Pistols have low AP-cost and generally high chance of critical hit. Shotguns have a wide spread and fair chance of critical hits, making it potentially super deadly, especially mid to late game.

Sniper Rifles
I don't know how you survive a RPG without a sniper. And if you could, what fun would it be? This one has high cost of AP but can dish out some serious damage, with one shot kills. Especially if you upgrade the right Attributes to increase your critical hit chance. More on that later.

Weird science
This one is for the loony kind of weapons in the game as well as some special gear. Makes the game more fun and some of the weapons are having status effects which can actually be very useful in combat. Gives access to some really potent weapons in late game.

Attributes

I know, there's a lot to get through here before we even get to the fun stuff of creating our characters, but if you've played RPGs before, you know why and realise its actually part of the charm with this kind of games.

On to the attributes.

• Coordination
  
• Luck
  
• Awareness
  
• Strength
  
• Speed
  
• Intelligence
  
• Charisma

Coordination
This one gives you action points (AP) which decides on how much you can achieve on each turn in combat. Its the main attribute for characters that have weapons that require a lot of shots/hits such as SMGs and Pistols, but almost all characters have use of this skill. It's generally the second most important skill, I would say.

Luck
This one is actually quite useful as it affects a lot of stuff, especially in combat. You can get extra turns, extra damage, extra luck avoiding damage and so on. If you have a character that deals a lot of damage but is a bit soft when it comes to taking damage, luck can be an important attribute.

Awareness
This helps you find stuff. Hidden stuff. Like treasures and traps. And your bullets to find enemies when you aim for them. Especially useful for characters that gives damage from a distance.

Strength
Contributes to your melee damage and your health as well as how much armour you can carry (inventory space is unlimited) and is especially important if you expect to carry heavy guns and armour. Or soak up a lot of damage from enemies.

Speed
This helps you move further in combat with the same amount of Action Points. Especially useful for character that needs to run up close to enemies, or that need to traverse a lot of space for healing other characters.

Intelligence
This one is one of the most important skills. It gives you occasional extra skill points when you level up, but it also increases your chance for critical hits. I think pretty much every kind of build can benefit from this skill, but it might be more or less important depending on if you rely on critical hits or not.

Charisma
This one is actually less important for dialog and more important for supporting roles with the leadership skill up at the top, which boosts your team given certain conditions. Very important on higher difficulties. Not as important on lower ones.

Backgrounds

No, still not there yet. Before we talk about classes we need to talk about the two final parts of your character sheet (other than looks, which are of course fundamental to any character build, but sadly, doesn't improve your chance to finish the game).

(Updated to v1.5.0)

• Bookworm
  
• Desert Cat
  
• Disciple of the Metal
  
• Explodomaniac
  
• Goat Killer
  
• Grease Monkey
  
• Lethal Weapon
  
• Mannerite
  
• Moneybags
  
• Mopey Poet
  
• Paladin
  
• Raider Hater
  
• Sex Machine
  
• Stoner
  
• The Boss
  
• Vicious Avenger

Bookworm
Experience Bonus +5%
This one is especially good the first time you play the game as you will progress in levels faster and that allows for bigger mistakes when it comes to how you spend your skill points, as you will be ahead of the curve. By the end of the game, you will actually have several extra levels over a "normal" character.

Desert Cat
Perception +1
Not super amazing, but not totally useless, especially for a sniper character.

Disciple of the Metal
Fire Damage Bonus +15.0%
If you're building a flame thrower type of character, this one is really helpful.

Explodomaniac
Explosive Damage Bonus +15.0%
There's not a lot of rockets available through the game, but if you decide on a Big Gun character and you want to dish out ridiculous amounts of damage from time to time, this one is a great help to achieve that goal.

Goat Killer
Critical Chance +5%
One could argue this one is more useful for snipers, as you rely on high crit. damage. But SMG characters also benefit greatly from this one.

Grease Monkey
Bonus Damage to Robots +15%
Bonus Damage to Vehicles +15%
With the new DLC and patches there are more vehicles, also robots are quite plenty throughout the game, which makes this background a lot more useful than it has been previously.

Lethal Weapon
Melee Damage Bonus +10.0%
This one is probably useful for a melee character, but I would probably chose higher crit. chance over general damage in order to reach the extreme highs in late game. Will potentially make your melee character more useful early game though.

Mannerite
Kiss Ass +1
Not useful enough skill to chose as background, other than for pure role playing reasons, I would argue.

Moneybags
Barter +1
Same goes for this one. It's not useless, just not useful enough compared to the alternatives.

Mopey Poet
Evasion +5%
Evasion is good if you are close to enemies and want to avoid soaking up a lot of damage. Or far away and want to reduce the risk of a really fragile character being hit, even more.

Paladin
Leadership Range +5M
Crit. Resistance +15%
Crit resistance is mostly important on higher difficulties as the chance of enemies causing critical damage on your are much higher then. But with the new leadership range (v.1.5.0), this is a great background for your party leader.

Raider Hater
Bonus Damage to Humans +10%
This one is mostly helpful in early game or to counter a character that is for other reasons heavily invested into damage towards robots, for some reason.

Sex Machine
Combat Speed +0.20
This helps your character to get initiative in combat. Has been doubled from 0.1 to 0.2 so it has more impact than previously. Might be useful for a melee and/or medic that needs to move a lot on the battlefield.

Stoner
Status Effect Resistance +15%
Not super important, but useful especially on higher difficulties where status effects can really hurt you badly.

The Boss
Hard Ass +1
Similar to Mannerite, this one just isn't useful enough to pick over the alternatives.

Vicious Avenger
Penetration +2
This one can potentially be useful, at least early game, and especially if you have a weapon with generally poor penetration. As the game progresses, 2 points of reduced armour for enemies doesn't make a huge difference. But, again, it's not completely useless.

Quirks

(Updated to v1.5.0)

• No Quirk
  
• Blunderer
  
• Bop Bag
  
• Circus Freak
  
• Death Wish
  
• Doomsday Prepper
  
• Lone Wolf
  
• Medical Marvel
  
• Mime
  
• Poindexter
  
• Prospector
  
• Pyromaniac
  
• Sadomasochist
  
• Serial Killer
  
• Two-Pump Chump
  
• Varangian Blood
  
• Waste Roamer
  
• Way of the Squeezins

No Quirk
No fun. But a safe bet.

Blunderer
Melee Damage Bonus +15%; Critical Chance -50%
I would say the best way of dishing out damage with a melee character is with the chance to cause critical hits. Since this one reduces the chance of that, you're making a less useful melee character.

Bop Bag
Armor +6; Combat Speed -0.4
This one makes a big difference initially, and for a character that is a heavy build tank kind of character, this one might make sense.

Circus Freak
Combat Speed +0.4; Crit. Resistance +25%
Detection Time -2.0 seconds
This one is great for higher difficulties due to the reduced risk of crit. damage from opponents. You also get to wear a clown costume. What's not to like?

Death Wish
Action Points +3
Cannot wear armor of any kind
If you wanna have a glass cannon kind of character that has high evasiveness, high crit. chance but will drop into a useless heap of trash at any crit. this is a good choice. It's not very useful on higher difficulties, because crit. hits from enemies become frequent and this character will spend most of it's time unconscious, not really helping anyone.

Doomsday Prepper
CON +15; Status Effect Resistance +33%
Cannot read skill books
Skill books are not a huge deal for most skills, with the new DLC status effects are more common, which makes this quirk more useful for any kind of character that needs to take on more damage (melee or similar).

Lone Wolf
Initiative +30%; +15% Healing Rate
Leadership has no benefits to you
Initiative is mostly used for being able to react when you're ambushed. You should avoid ambushes anyways. But also, unless you're on a higher difficulty, not getting leadership bonuses is not a huge deal either.

Medical Marvel
Con per level +5
Cannot be revived during combat
This one is a reasonable trade off for a character that is very unlikely to be unconscious during combat, but that still benefits from health points. So perhaps your tank, if you wanna play it risky. On Supreem Jerk difficulty you will likely die a lot, so then avoid this quirk.

Mime
Detection Time +2.0 seconds
Con -10; Throwing Range -0.5X
I never did play a super sneaky character, but if I had, I guess this is a useful quirk to have. You're also forced to dress as a mime. So you'll hate your character the entire game. Since mimes are weird and scary, unlike clowns. And french.

Poindexter
+1 bonus Skill Point every 2 level-ups
Con -8; Con per level -3
This is sort of like double up of intelligence, but even better as you get it no matter how fast you update your intelligence attribute. You will need to put some points on Strength to counter the reduced con though, or you'll be a very weak potato on the battlefield.

Prospector
Occasionally discover valuable gold nuggets while digging
Quick Slots -1
This one is especially useful for the first time you play the game, as you will have a lot more money and be able to buy more ammo and other gear, catching up for any mistakes you might make due to inexperience playing the game. Put it on a character that does not throw stuff or heal people, as those need the quick slots.

Pyromaniac
Fire Damage Bonus +25%; Explosive Damage Bonus +25%
15% chance to catch on fire when using explosives
Remember how I talked about building a character optimized for flame thrower? This is the quirk for that character. You'll burn, so what? So will everyone else...

Sadomasochist
Melee Damage Bonus +33%; Ranged Damage Bonus +33%
Receive +33% damage
This one is good for short fights when you kill most enemies on the first turn.
Its kind of scary for every other fight. So maybe not a good option for your first play-through? Unless you like it rough. You like it rough, don't you?

Serial Killer
Gain +3 AP for each kill in combat (once per turn)
Action Points -1
This one is nice for snipers, which usually don't have AP for two shots per turn anyways, but when you get a crit. you might be in for a roll...

Two-Pump Chump
Start combat with +2 AP and +25% Hit Chance for the first 2 turns
After the first 2 turns, lose -1 AP for 6 turns
Most fights will last more than 2 turns. But usually less than 8. So, I don't think this is a wise choice.

Varangian Blood
When an ally is Downed in combat, enter Berserker Rage, gaining +100% Critical Chance, +100% Critical Damage, and +3 AP for 1 turn
After Berserker Rage has ended, -20% Evasion for the next 2 turns
You typically want to avoid allies going down. But I guess if it happens, you're at the end of combat and this might be what helps you finish it and coming out on top. Put it on a damage dealer, such as SMG.

Waste Roamer
Resistance to Bleeding, Poisoned, Shocked, Burning, and Frozen +100%
Experience Bonus -15%
I'd say you have more use for XP than for resisting status effects, but maybe this is useful on higher difficulties? ...Maybe?

Way of the Squeezins
Gain +50% damage while drunk
Melee damage bonus -20%; Ranged damage bonus -20%
If you wanna do the micro management of consuming alcohol before each battle, then this is a good quirk for a brawler.

Classes

You did it. We're finally here. The classes.

Typically in RPGs you want to have a party of characters specialised in different skills, in order to maximise their usefulness. If you want to go really hardcore, you should min/max your characters, which means reducing their least wanted attributes to below 2 (which usually has some negative effects, while 2 is mostly neutral) and save those extra points for increasing your most useful attributes.

So, let's have a look at some potential classes.

• Sneaky Sniper
  
• Helpful Meleennial
  
• OMG-SMG-CRT-WTF
  
• Firestarter Mechanic
  
• The Hobo Hippie
  
• Assault Insulter

Sneaky Sniper

(Update for v1.5.3 in progress)

This character stays at the back during combat but initiates combat as often as possible, in order to get that extra damage and crit. chance you get from shooting someone while unseen. Non-combat skills are lockpicking and animal companions which are useful mostly outside of combat.

Note from 1.5.0 replay: I switched the Nerd Stuff-skill to the OMG-SMG-CRT-WTF because the sniper ends up never being close enough to the robots to use any of the perks against them. Instead, the Sniper gets the Animal Whisperer-skill.

Primary skills: Sniper Rifles, Sneaky ♥♥♥♥, Lockpicking, Animal Whisperer
Primary attributes: Awareness, Intelligence
Secondary attributes: Luck
Background: Goat Killer
Quirk: Serial Killer / Death Wish / Sadomasochist

Level 1

Coordination: 2
Luck: 2
Awareness: 5
Strength: 2
Speed: 1
Intelligence: 8
Charisma: 1

Sneaky ♥♥♥♥: 2
Sniper Rifles: 4
Animal Whisperer: 2
Lockpicking: 2

Level 2

Animal Whisperer: +1 (3)
Lockpicking: +1 (3)
Sneaky ♥♥♥♥: +1 (3)

Level 3

Intelligence: +1 (9)
Lockpicking: +2 (5)

Level 4

Intelligence: +1 (10)
Sniper Rifles: +1 (5)
Sneaky ♥♥♥♥: +1 (4)
Perk: Masterful Precision

Level 5

Awareness: +1 (6)
Animal Whisperer: +1 (4)
(1pt remaining)

Level 6

Awareness: +1 (7)
Sniper Rifles: +1 (6)
Perk: Animal Training
(1pt remaining)

Level 7

Awareness: +1 (8)
Sniper Rifles: +1 (7)
(1pt remaining)

Level 8

Awareness: +1 (9)
Lockpicking: +1 (6)
(1pt remaining)
Perk: Concentration

Level 9

Awareness: +1 (10)
Sniper Rifles: +1 (8)

Level 10

Luck: +1 (3)
Lockpicking: +1 (7)
Perk: Mark Target

Level 11

Luck: +1 (4)
Sneaky ♥♥♥♥: +1 (5)
(1pt remaining)

Level 12

Luck: +1 (5)
Lockpicking: +1 (8)
Perk: Weathered

Level 13

Luck: +1 (6)
Sneaky ♥♥♥♥: +1 (6)

Level 14

Luck: +1 (7)
Animal Whisperer: +1 (5)
(1pt remaining)
Perk: Spirit Animal

Level 15

Coordination: +1 (3)
Animal Whisperer: +1 (6)
(1pt remaining)

Level 16

Coordination: +1 (4)
Animal Whisperer: +1 (7)
(1pt remaining)
Perk: Vengeful Bond

Level 17

Luck: +1 (8)
Sneaky ♥♥♥♥: +1 (7)
(1pt remaining)

Level 18

Luck: +1 (9)
Sneaky ♥♥♥♥: +1 (8)
Perk: Hardened

Level 19

Luck: +1 (10)
(3pts remaining)

Level 20

Coordination: +1 (5)
Sniper Rifles +1 (9)
(1pt remaining)
Perk: Healthy

Level 21

Coordination: +1 (6)
(4pts remaining)

Level 22

Coordination: +1 (7)
Lockpicking: +1, Book +1 (10)
(2pts remaining)
Perk: Quick Reflexes

Level 23

Coordination: +1 (8)
Sneaky ♥♥♥♥: +1, Book: +1 (10)
Sniper Book: +1 (10)

Level 24

Coordination: +1 (9)
(3pts remaining)
Perk: Chain Ambush

Level 25

Coordination: +1 (10)
Animal Whisperer: +1 (8)
(2pts remaining)

------------------------------ Current progress

Level 26

Strength: +1 (3)
Perk: Lights Out

OMG-SMG-CRT-WTF

(Update for v1.5.3 in progress)

This is a critical hit, SMG-wielding loony, that runs up close and deals a crazy amount of damage and then runs into cover again.

Primary Skills: Automatic Weapons, Leadership, Nerd Stuff
Primary Attributes: Coordination, Intelligence
Secondary Attributes: Awareness, Charisma
Background: Paladin
Quirk: Circus Freak

Level 1

Coordination: 6
Luck: 1
Awareness: 3
Strength: 2
Speed: 3
Intelligence: 3
Charisma: 3

Automatic Weapons: 2
Nerd Stuff: 2
Leadership: 2

Level 2

Automatic Weapons: +1 (3)
Nerd Stuff: +1 (3)
Leadership: +1 (3)

Level 3

Awareness: +1 (4)
Automatic Weapons: +1 (4)
(1pt remaining)

Level 4

Intelligence: +1 (4)
Automatic Weapons: +2 (6)
Perk: Gopher Hunter

Level 5

Intelligence: +1 (5)
Leadership: +1 (4)
Nerd Stuff: +1 (4)

Level 6

Intelligence: +1 (6)
Automatic Weapons: +1 (7)
(1pt remaining)
Perk: Reckless

Level 7

Intelligence: +1 (7)
Automatic Weapons: +1 (8)
(1pt remaining)

Level 8

Intelligence: +1 (8)
Automatic Weapons: +1 (9)
Perk: Stormer

Level 9

Intelligence: +1 (9)
Leadership: +1 (5)
Nerd Stuff: +1 (5)

Level 10

Intelligence: +1 (10)
Nerd Stuff: +1 (6)
(1pt remaining)
Perk: Demoralize

Level 11

Charisma: +1 (4)
Leadership: +1 (6)
(1pt remaining)

Level 12

Coordination: +1 (7)
Nerd Stuff: +1 (7)
(1pt remaining)
Perk: Targeting Override

Level 13

Speed: +1 (4)
Nerd Stuff: +1 (8)

Level 14

Coordination: +1 (8)
Leadership: +1 (7)
Perk: Overclock

Level 15

Awareness: +1 (5)
Automatic Weapons Book: +1 (10)
(3pt remaining)

Level 16

Awareness: +1 (6)
Nerd Stuff: +1 (9)
(1pt remaining)
Perk: Trigger Happy

Level 17

Charisma: +1 (5)
Leadership: +1 (8)

Level 18

Charisma: +1 (6)
Animal Whisperer: +3 (3)
Perk: Animal Training

Level 19

Charisma: +1 (7)
(3pts remaining)

Level 20

Charisma: +1 (8)
Leadership: +1 (9)
(1pt remaining)
Perk: Weathered

Level 21

Charisma: +1 (9)
(4pts remaining)

Level 22

Charisma: +1 (10)
Nerd Stuff: +1 (10)
Leadership Book: +1 (10)
(1pt remaining)
Perk: Quick Reflexes

Level 23

Coordination: +1 (9)
Weird Science: +3 (3)
(1pt remaining)

Level 24

Coordination: +1 (10)
Weird Science: +2 (5)
Perk: Hardened

Level 25

Strength: +1 (3)
Weird Science: +1 (5)
(1pt remaining)

Firestarter Mechanic

(Update for v1.5.3 in progress)

This is the big tank that steps up front and then makes everything burn or explode. Preferably both.
Can also throw in robotic guns, robots and grenades to assist in battle.

Primary Skills: Big Guns, Explosives, Mechanics, Toaster Repair
Primary Attributes: Coordination, Strength, Intelligence
Secondary Attributes: Awareness
Background: Disciple of the Metal
Quirk: Pyromaniac

Level 3

Coordination: 6
Luck: 2
Awareness: 2
Strength: 3
Speed: 2
Intelligence: 6
Charisma: 1

Big Guns: 4
Explosives: 3
Mechanics: 3
Toaster Repair: 3
(1pt remaining)

Level 4

Strength: +1 (4)
Explosives: +1 (4)
Mechanics: +1 (4)
Perk: Terrorizer

Level 5

Strength: +1 (5)
Big Guns: +1 (5)
(1pt remaining)

Level 6

Awareness: +1 (3)
Big Guns: +1 (6)
(1pt remaining)
Perk: Duck And Cover

Level 7

Awareness: +1 (4)
Mechanics: +1 (5)
Explosives: +1 (5)

Level 8

Strength: +1 (6)
Big Guns: +1 (7)
Perk: Structural Weakness

Level 9

Awareness: +1 (5)
Mechanics: +1 (6)

Level 10

Awareness: +1 (6)
Toaster Repair: +1 (4)
Perk: Handy

Level 11

Awareness: +1 (7)
Big Guns: +1 (8)

Level 12

Strength: +1 (7)
Explosives: +1 (6)
Perk: Steady Shot

Level 13

Strength: +1 (8)
Toaster Repair: +1 (5)
(1pt remaining)

Level 14

Awareness: +1 (8)
Toaster Repair: +1 (6)
(1pt remaining)
Perk: Weathered

Level 15

Speed: +1 (3)
Toaster Repair: +1 (7)
(1pt remaining)

Level 16

Awareness: +1 (9)
Explosives: +1 (7)
(1pt remaining)
Perk: High Impact

Level 17

Awareness: +1 (10)
Explosives: +1 (8)

Level 18

Intelligence: +1 (7)
Mechanics: +1 (7)
(1pt remaining)
Perk: Heating Element

Level 19

Intelligence: +1 (8)
Big Guns: +1 (9) + Book (10)

Level 20

Intelligence: +1 (9)
Mechanics: +1 (8)
Perk: Wide Spread

Level 21

Intelligence: +1 (10)
Toaster Repair: +1 (8)

Level 22

Speed: +1 (4)
(3pts remaining)
Perk: Toaster Expert

Level 23

Speed: +1 (5)
Mechanics: +1, Book +1 (10)
(1pt remaining)

Level 24

Luck: +1 (3)
(4pts remaining)
Perk: Deep Pockets

Level 25

Coordination: +1 (7)
Toaster Repair: +1, Book +1 (10)
(2pts remaining)
Perk: Toasty

Helpful Meleennial

(Being updated for v1.5.3)

This is a melee and healer character that goes up towards the enemy and has speed enough to run to heal comrades that are injured.

Primary Skills: Melee Combat, First Aid, Weird Science
Primary Attributes: Coordination, Strength, Intelligence
Secondary Attributes: Speed
Background: Lethal Weapon
Quirk: Varangian Blood

Level 3

Coordination: 7
Luck: 2
Awareness: 1
Strength: 3
Speed: 3
Intelligence: 5
Charisma: 1

Melee Combat: 4
First Aid: 4
Weird science: 3
(1 pt remaining)

Level 4

Coordination: +1 (8)
Melee Combat: +1 (5)
First Aid: +1 (5)
Perk: Striking Distance

Level 5

Coordination: +1 (9)
Melee Combat: +1 (6)

Level 6

Coordination: +1 (10)
Melee Combat: +1 (7)
Perk: Hack n' Slash

Level 7

Intelligence: +1 (6)
Melee Combat: +1 (8)

Level 8

Strength: +1 (4)
First Aid: +1 (6)
Perk: Pursuit

Level 9

Strength: +1 (5)
First Aid: +1 (7)

Level 10

Strength: +1 (6)
Weird science: +1 (4)
(1pt remaining)
Perk: Physical Therapy

Level 11

Strength: +1 (7)
First Aid: +1 (8)

Level 12

Weird Science: +1 (5)
(1pt remaining)
Perk: Overhealing

Level 13

Strength: +1 (9)
Weird Science: +1 (6)
(1pt remaining)

Level 14

Strength: +1 (10)
Weird Science: +1 (6)
(1pt remaining)
Perk: Microwave Research

Level 15

Speed: +1 (4)
Weird Science: +1 (8)

Level 16

Speed: +1 (5)
(3pt remaining)
Perk: Deep Pockets

Level 17

Intelligence: +1 (7)
Melee Combat: +1 (9)
(2pt remaining)

Level 18

Speed: +1 (6)
First Aid: +1, Book +1 (10)
Perk: Bloodsport

Level 19

Awareness: +1 (2)
(3pt remaining)

Level 20

Intelligence: +1 (8)
Weird Science: +1 (8)
(2pt remaining)
Perk: Hypocritic Oath

Level 21

Intelligence: +1 (9)
Melee Combat: +1 (10)

Level 22

Intelligence: +1 (10)
(4pts remaining)
Perk: Shrug it off

Level 23

Charisma: +1 (2)
Weird Science: +1, Book +1 (10)

Level 24

Awareness: +1 (3)
Leadership: +3 (3)
Perk: Conductive Beams

Assault Insulter (Kwan)

(Update for v1.5.3 in progress)

This is the character that uses assault rifles to bring damage from a medium distance in combat, and that helps you with good conversations in dialog. He also does some armour modding as a hobby.

Primary Skills: Automatic Weapons, Kiss Ass, Hard Ass, Armour Modding
Primary Attributes: Awareness, Coordination, Intelligence
Secondary Attributes: Strength
Background: Goat Killer (if not Kwan)
Quirk: Serial Killer (if not Kwan)

Level 4

(if Marshal Kwon)
Coordination: 4
Luck: 2
Awareness: 4
Strength: 4
Speed: 3
Intelligence: 2
Charisma: 4

Automatic Weapons: 5
Kiss Ass: 3
Sneaky ♥♥♥♥: 3 (don't upgrade this one)
First Aid: 1 (don't upgrade this one)

Level 5

Intelligence: +1 (3)
Hard Ass: +3 (3)
(1pt remaining)

Level 6

Intelligence: +1 (4)
Automatic Weapons: +1 (6)
Hard Ass: +1 (4)
Perk: Gopher Hunter

Level 7

Intelligence: +1 (5)
Automatic Weapons: +1 (7)
(1pt remaining)

Level 8

Intelligence: +1 (6)
Automatic Weapons: +1 (8)
(1pt remaining)
Perk: Double Tap

Level 9

Awareness: +1 (5)
Kiss Ass: +2 (5)

Level 10

Awareness: +1 (6)
Kiss Ass: +1 (6)
Perk: Healthy

Level 11

Awareness: +1 (7)
Hard Ass: +1 (5)
(1pt remaining)

Level 12

Awareness: +1 (8)
Kiss Ass: +1 (7)
(1pt remaining)
Perk: Emergency Response

Level 13

Awareness: +1 (9)
Hard Ass: +1 (6)
(1pt remaining)

Level 14

Awareness: +1 (10)
Kiss Ass: +1 (8)
Perk: Weathered

Level 15

Intelligence: +1 (7)
Hard Ass: +1 (7)
(1pt remaining)

Level 16

Intelligence: +1 (8)
Automatic Weapons: +1 (9)
Perk: Hardened

Level 17

Intelligence: +1 (9)
Hard Ass: +1 (8)

Level 18

Intelligence: +1 (10)
Animal Whisperer: +3 (3)
Armor Modding: +1 (1)
Perk: Animal Training

Level 19

Luck: +1 (3)
Armor Modding: +2 (3)
(1pt remaining)

Level 20

Luck: +1 (4)
Armor Modding: +2 (5)
Perk: Stormer (works for Assault Rifles since v1.5.3)

Level 21

Luck: +1 (5)
Armor Modding: +1 (6)

Level 22

Luck: +1 (6)
(3pts remaining)
(1 perk remaining)

Level 23

Coordination: +1 (5)
Kiss Ass: +1, Book: +1 (10)
Perk: Trigger Happy

Level 24

Luck: +1 (7)
Armor Modding: +1 (7)
(1pt remaining)

Level 25

Strength: +1 (5)
(4pts remaining)
(2 perk remaining)

The Hobo Hippie (Lucia)

(Update for v1.5.3 in progress)

Primary Skills: Small Arms, Survival, Weapons Modding, Barter
Primary Attributes: Coordination, Intelligence
Secondary Attributes: Awareness
Background: Goat Killer / Raider Hater (if not Lucia)
Quirk: Serial Killer (if not Lucia)

Level 4

(if Lucia Wesson)
Coordination: 2
Luck: 3
Awareness: 6
Strength: 1
Speed: 4
Intelligence: 5
Charisma: 2

Small Arms: 5
Weapon Modding: 3
Barter: 2
Survival 2

Level 5

Strength: +1 (2)
Small Arms: +1 (6)

Level 6

Intelligence: +1 (6)
Small Arms: +1 (7)
Perk: Draw!

Level 7

Coordination: +1 (3)
Small Arms: +1 (6)
Weapon Modding: +1 (5)
Survival: +1 (3)
Barter: +1 (3)

Level 8

Coordination: +1 (4)
Weapon Modding: +1 (6)
Perk: Scrounger's Touch

Level 9

Intelligence: +1 (7)
Small Arms: +1 (8)

Level 10

Intelligence: +1 (8)
Weapon Modding: +1 (7)
(1pt remaining)
Perk: Devastation

Level 11

Intelligence: +1 (9)
Small Arms: +1 (9)

Level 12

Intelligence: +1 (10)
Weapon Modding: +1 (8)
Perk: Expert Disassembler

Level 13

Coordination: +1 (5)
Survival: +1 (4)
(1pt remaining)

Level 14

Coordination: +1 (6)
Survival: +1 (5)
(2pts remaining)
Perk: Powder Packer

Level 15

Luck: +1 (4)
Weapon Modding: +1 (9)

Level 16

Awareness: +1 (7)
Survival: +1 (6)
Perk: Big Game Hunter

Level 17

Awareness: +1 (8)
Survival: +1 (7)

Level 18

Awareness: +1 (9)
(3pts remaining)
Perk: Opportunist

Level 19

Awareness: +1 (10)
Small Arms: +1 (10)

Level 20

Coordination: +1 (7)
(3pts remaining)
Perk: Counter-offensive

Level 21

Coordination: +1 (8)
Survival: +1 (8)
(2pts remaining)

Level 22

Luck: +1 (5)
Survival: +1, Book: +1 (10)
Perk: Explorer's Instinct

Level 23

Coordination: +1 (9)
(3pts remaining)

Level 24

Coordination: +1 (10)
Weapon Modding: +1 (10)
Perk: Weathered

Party Composition

Spoilers ahead.

You start out with two characters that you made yourself (unless you chose the ready-made one, in which case this entire guide is useless, stop reading and return to the game you pleb). Then you will run across characters that wants to join your party. They will already have some points spent in their attributes and skills. So you might want to align your own characters built from scratch to complement theirs. Or you accept the lost points and transform these characters to a role of your choosing. Just mind that they will not remain in your party indefinitely if you make decisions that they strongly disagree with.

I mostly stayed with the first two characters that joined my party early on in the main story and if you do that as well, you can use them for The Hobo Hippie and Assault Insulter with some minor modifications.

The first two characters you make should possibly be the Sneaky Sniper and the Helpful Meleennial or the OMG-SMG-CRT-WTF. It doesn't matter super much, because the part of the game you play with only two characters is fairly short.

General Game Play Tips

Save often

Use quick saves often and save manually when you enter new areas. That makes it easier to load and adjust if you make a silly mistake. And we all make silly mistakes at some point...

Dedicated Masters

Since you can create new custom characters at any time (Head Quarters) and change people in your party at any time (Menu/Manage Squad) you don't actually need to have all the skills in your party at any time. You can create dedicated Barter, Weapon Moddingand Armour Modding-characters. This will of course take some extra management of your team, but it will save skill points for more needed skills. This is usually more important on higher difficulty.

Give these characters the Poindexter Quirk and the Bookworm Background to max out on Skill Points and then put all your Attribute Points in Intelligence. That will maximise the skill points.

If you can't pick it, blow it up

If you can't pick a lock, you can always try to blow it up to access it's inner.

If you can't disarm it, blow it up

This also goes for mines. Be sure to keep a safe distance though.

Disney Princess

You can tame animals and they will give you different kind of benefits. Cat's give improved critical hit chance, so that's a good one if your Animal Whisperer is a sniper.

Let it to the professionals

Don't heal injuries if you can wait until you meet a doctor. That way you won't waste injury-kits.

General Combat Tips

1. Tank up front!

Don't leave your weakest characters in the front. If they need to get close up to guarantee a hit, make sure you have enough AP to run back. Invest in Speed for more movement per AP.

2. You can't control me!

You don't have to use the characters in the order they are selected. Once combat starts, you can pick any character in any order you want. Use this to your advantage. Avoid friendly-fire by moving friendly characters away from the target-zone before you fire with a flamethrower or explosive, for example.

3. Shot first, ask questions later

If you suspect the character you're about to talk to will end up with a fight, you don't even have to bother talking to them. Initiate combat with your sniper from a distance. You might take out one enemy character, and you will have the upper hand, as you initiate combat, you get to act on the first round, before the enemy. Of course, you'll miss out on the conversation...

4. Generosity is a virtue

Some characters have a higher chance of making a lot of damage via critical hits. Sometimes it's better to spread this damage out with attacks on multiple enemies, instead of finishing them off, one at a time. Especially if you have a character with Leadership, having them do the killing blow/shot, will grant you bonuses to the entire team. So, consider what order you act with your characters.

5. Armor matters

Some enemies have a lot of armor. You can break their armor by using certain weapons and by using aimed shots, at their body. Some weapons also have a lot higher penetration, typically electric and plasma weapons.

6. Finish them off

At the end of your round, favor finishing enemies off, over reducing health, as each enemy alive when it's their turn, will be one more enemy causing you damage. This is the opposite to tip number 4, so consider the situation. Is it worth taking damage from one more enemy to be able to kill more of them the next turn with area damage for example?

7. Herd immunity

Winning battle is partly a numbers game. The more NPCs you can get on your team to soak up damage, the better you are off. Recruit animals and anything else you can find on your travels, to help you spread out that damage on more individuals. The fact that they don't make a lot of damage is less important than the fact that they give the enemy one additional target to waste their ammo on.

8. There's a fight going on?

Speaking of which, the NPCs won't always understand they're in a fight before it happens close enough to them. To make sure they're not just sitting back being completely useless the entire fight, you sometimes need to bring the fight closer to them, by putting your other characters closer to them to draw fire. This is super annoying and hopefully it will be improved upon in future patches.

9. Lagom

Not too many, not too few, just right - that's what "lagom" means. And you should aim to have "lagom" amount of AP (Coordination) for each characters needs. That way you can cause maximum amount of damage in a fight, will still having other attributes helping you out with other important things, like Strength (health) and Intelligence (critical hit chance).

10. Aim Carefully

You can control the aim with area damage weapons by holding down Ctrl. It will snap to targets by default, but controlling the aim is very important when you want to avoid friendly fire, or when you want to make sure you hit all the potential enemies in your cone of aim with your shotgun, flamethrower or any other weapon with area damage.

Animal Companions (and similar) [spoilers]

You can recruit a bunch of different animals that are a bit special throughout the game. This is a list of some special NPCs and how to attain them. Contains spoilers.

Major Tomcat

This little Ranger mascot is available at the end of the first map. You need Animal Whisperer 1 for him to trust you.

Cyborg Chickens

Collect five cyborg chickens by using Animal Whisperer, lead the to the chicken coop in Ranger HQ, and they will conspire to build one super cyborg chicken (triggered by game progress, so be patient).

1. Garden of the Gods
The first cyborg chicken is next to the pit of fire. You need Animal Whisperer 4 to convince him to follow you.

2. Sans Luxe Apartments
There's a cyborg chicken hidden in Apartment 1, you need to fix a broken generator to open the door, then you need Animal Whisperer 3 to convince the cyborg chicken to join the Rangers.

3. Broadmoor Heights
In the Church of the Final Deluge there's a little room to the right of the entrance where a little Cyborg Chicken has made his nest. Mrs Know has kept him well-fed. You need Animal Whisperer 4 to convince him he's a Ranger now.

4. Forth Cyborg Chicken can be found in the hidden bunker under Broadmoor Heights. You need Animal Whisperer 5 to convince it to follow you.

(5. You start out with one chicken, so you actually only have to collect another four.)

When you visit HQ to talk to Angela, you will be attacked by Scar Collectors. This is when Poultron will spawn, like a cyborg chicken transformer.

Clone

There's three clones in one of the room in Sans Luxe Apartments. Step on the two plates and access the computer to find out that Irv is a clone, trying to make clone-friends! Irv is at the book seller. You can convince him to join you at Ranger HQ and he will make a clone out of any of your (human) companions. The clone damage output is abysmal actually improved in later patches, and it can soak up a lot of damage over time. Remember to collect the pink goo from it when it dies, or you won't be able to make a new one.

Toaster (work in progress)

There's a magic toaster that you can get, late game, if you collect all the golden parts (and don't sell them). The parts are found in these locations (and you need Toaster Repair to get them).

1. Hoon Homestead - Molded Gold Toaster Case (Toaster Repair 1)
2. Wesson family home kitchen - "Gold-Insulated Power Cord" (Toaster repair x)
3. Paint Mines - "Gold-Infused Mica Sheeting" (Toaster repair x)
4. Aspen - "Gold-Plated Nichrome Filament" (Toaster repair x)
5. Knox Bison Ranch - "Bi-Metallic Gold Alloy Filament" (Toaster repair x)

Billy and Jean

This two-headed ram (or two rams sharing one body?) will give you Critical Damage +0.2x and can be found in Hoon Homestead (given that you get there before the place is raided). There's an achievement if you bring them to the end of the game.

Supreme Jerk Difficulty

Note: This was done on versions previous to 1.2.0. Replay for Supreme Jerk might come in the future.

• Smack (Brawler)
  Brawling: 2
  First Aid: 1
  Barter: 1
  
• Pain (Fire SMG)
  Automatic Weapons: 4
  Weird Science: 1
  Toaster Repair: 1
  
• Rocketman (Rockets)
  Explosives:
  Sneaky ♥♥♥♥:
  Nerd Stuff:
  
• Two-Face (Death Wish, Sniper)
  Sniper Rifles: 4
  Animal Whisperer: 1
  Survival: 2
  
• Kwon (First Aid, Leader)
  First Aid:
  Leadership:
  Mechanics:
  Hard Ass:
  
• Lucia (Pistol + Shotgun, Leader)
  Small Arms:
  Leadership:
  Lockpicking:
  Kiss Ass:

Smack (Brawler)

High critical damage brawler.

Primary Skills: Brawling, First Aid, Barter, Nerd Stuff
Primary Attributes:Strength, Intelligence
Secondary Attributes: Coordination, Speed
Background: Goat Killer
Quirk: Circus Freak

Level 1 (6AP)

Coordination: 2
Luck: 1
Awareness: 1
Strength: 10
Speed: 4
Intelligence: 2
Charisma: 1

Brawling: 2
First Aid: 1
Barter: 1

Level 2

Brawling: +1 (3)
First Aid: +2 (3)

Level 3

INT: +1 (3)
Brawling: +1 (4)
Barter: +1 (2)

Level 4

INT: +1 (4)
Barter: +2 (4)
Perk: Shaolin Surprise

Level 5

INT: +1 (5)
Brawling: +1 (5)
First Aid: +1 (4)

Level 6

INT: +1 (6)
Brawling: +1 (6)
Nerd stuff: +1 (1)
Perk: Overhealing

Level 7

INT: +1 (7)
Nerd Stuff: +2 (3)

Level 8

INT: +1 (8)
Nerd Stuff: +2 (5)
Perk: Weathered

Level 9

INT: +1 (9)
Nerd Stuff: +1 (6)

Level 10 (6AP)

INT: +1 (10)
First Aid: +1 (5)
Nerd Stuff: +1 (7)
Perk: Targeting Override

Level 11

COO: +1 (3)
Brawling: +1 (7)

Level 12

COO: +1 (4)
First Aid: +1 (6)
Perk: Deadly Combo

Level 13

COO: +1 (5)
First Aid: +1 (7)

Level 14

COO: +1 (6)
Explosives: +1 (8)
Perk: Handy

Level 15

COO: +1 (7)
Perk: Physical Therapy

Level 16

COO: +1 (8)
Nerd Stuff: +1 (8)

Level 17

COO: +1 (9)
Nerd Stuff: +1 (9) Book: +1 (10)
Perk: Deep Pockets

Level 18 (11AP)

COO: +1 (10)
Brawling: +1 (8)
Perk: Emergency Response

Level 19

SPD: +1 (5)
First Aid: +1 (8)

Level 20

SPD: +1 (6)
Perk: Flurry of Blows

Level 21

SPD: +1 (7)
First Aid: +1 (9) Book: +1 (10)

Level 22

SPD: +1 (8)
Animal Whisperer: +4 (4)
Perk: Extreme Combo

Level 23

SPD: +1 (9)
Animal Whisperer: +1 (5)

Level 24

SPD: +1 (10)
Barter: +1 (5)
Perk: Hypocritic Oath

Level 25

LCK: +1 (2)
Barter: +1 (6)

Level 26

LCK: +1 (3)
Animal Whisperer: +1 (6)
Perk: Animal Training

Level 27

LCK: +1 (4)
Animal Whisperer: +1 (7)

Pain (Fire SMG)

Primary Skills: Automatic Weapons, Weird Science, Toaster Repair
Primary Attributes:Intelligence, Coordination
Secondary Attributes: Luck, Awareness
Background: Disciple of the Metal
Quirk: Pyromaniac

Level 1

Coordination: 6
Luck: 1
Awareness: 1
Strength: 1
Speed: 1
Intelligence: 10
Charisma: 1

Automatic Weapons: 4
Weird Science: 1
Toaster Repair: 2

Level 2

Automatic Weapons: +1 (5)
Toaster Repair: +1 (3)

Level 3

STR: +1 (2)
Automatic Weapons: +1 (6)

Level 4

STR: +1 (3)
Automatic Weapons: +1 (7)
Perk: Toaster Expert

Level 5

STR: +1 (3)
Toaster Repair: +1 (4)
Weird Science: +1 (2)

Level 6

COO: +1 (7)
Weird Science: +2 (4)
Perk: Gopher Hunter

Level 7

COO: +1 (8)
Weird Science: +1 (5)

Level 8

COO: +1 (9)
Weird Science: +1 (6)
Perk: Microwave Research

Level 9

COO: +1 (10)
Toaster Repair: +1 (5)

Level 10

AWR: +1 (2)
Toaster Repair: +1 (6)

Level 11

AWR: +1 (3)
Toaster Repair: +1 (7)
Perk: Heating Element

Level 12

AWR: +1 (4)
Automatic Weapons: +1 (8)
Perk: Stormer

Level 13

AWR: +1 (5)
Weird Science: +1 (7)

Level 14

AWR: +1 (6)
Weird Science: +1 (8)
Perk: Spray 'n Pray

Level 15

AWR: +1 (7)

Level 16

AWR: +1 (8)
Automatic Weapons: +1 (9) Book +1 (10)
Perk: Trigger Happy

Level 17

AWR: +1 (9)
Toaster Repair: +1 (8) Book: +1 (9)

Level 18

AWR: +1 (10)
Perk: Weathered

Level 19

STR: +1 (5)
Weird Science: +1 (9) Book: +1 (10)

Level 20

STR: +1 (6)
Perk: Conductive Beams

Level 21

LCK: +1 (2)
Animal Whisperer: +5 (5)

Level 22

LCK: +1 (3)
First Aid: +3 (3)
Perk: Animal Trainer

Level 23

LCK: +1 (4)
First Aid: +1 (4)

Level 24

STR: +1 (7)
First Aid: +1 (5)
Perk: Spirit Animal

Level 25

SPD: +1 (2)
First Aid: +1 (6)

Level 26

LCK: +1 (5)
Animal Whisperer: +1 (6)
Perk: Healthy

Level 27

LCK: +1 (6)
Animal Whisperer: +1 (7)

Fang (Death-Wish Sniper)

Attempt on new character on Supreme Jerk difficulty.

This character is a sniper that can tame animals, sneak for extra damage when initiating combat and lockpick for getting into all those tempting places with nice loot.

Primary Skills: Sniper Rifles, Animal Whisperer, Lockpicking
Primary Attributes:Intelligence, Coordination
Secondary Attributes: Luck, Awareness
Background: Goat Killer
Quirk: Death Wish

Level 4 (10AP)

Coordination: 4
Luck: 2
Awareness: 1
Strength: 2
Speed: 1
Intelligence: 10
Charisma: 1

Sniper Rifles: 4
Animal Whisperer: 4
Lockpicking: 5
Perk: Mark Target

Level 5

COO: +1 (7)
Lockpicking: +1 (6)

Level 6

COO: +1 (8)
Sniper Rifles: +1 (5)
Perk: Masterful Precision

Level 7

COO: +1 (9)
Lockpicking: +1 (7)

Level 8 (14AP)

COO: +1 (10)
Animal Whisperer: +1 (5)
Perk: Spirit Animal

Level 9

LCK: +1 (3)
Sniper Rifles: +1 (6)

Level 10

LCK: +1 (4)
Sniper Rifles: +1 (7)
Perk: Concentration

Level 11

LCK: +1 (5)
Lockpicking: +1 (8)

Level 12

LCK: +1 (6)
Sniper Rifles: +1 (8)
Perk: Animal Training

Level 13

LCK: +1 (7)

Level 14

LCK: +1 (8)
Sniper Rifles: +1 (9)

Level 15

LCK: +1 (9)
Animal Whisperer: +1 (6)

Level 16

LCK: +1 (10)
Perk: Chain Ambush

Level 17

STR: +1 (3)
Lockpicking: +1 (9)

Level 18

STR: +1 (4)
Animal Whisperer: +1 (7)
Perk: Weathered

Level 19

STR: +1 (5)
Animal Whisperer: +1 (8)

Level 20

STR: +1 (6)
Perk: Quick Reflexes

Level 21

STR: +1 (7)
Animal Whisperer: +1 (9)

Level 22

STR: +1 (8)
Weird Science: +4 (4)
Perk: Healthy

Level 23

AWR: +1 (2)
Weird Science: +4 (5)

Level 24

AWR: +1 (3)
Weird Science: +1 (6)
Perk: Microwave Research

Level 25

AWR: +1 (4)
Weird Science: +1 (7)

Level 26

AWR: +1 (5)
Weird Science: +1 (8)

Level 27

AWR: +1 (6)

Level 28

AWR: +1 (7)
Weird Science: +1 (9)
Perk: Conductive Beams, Hardened

Rocketman (Rockets)

Attempt on new character on Supreme Jerk difficulty.

This character is a sneaky rocket-propelling killing-machine.

Primary Skills: Explosives, Sneaky ♥♥♥♥, Small Arms, Mechanics
Primary Attributes:Intelligence, Strength
Secondary Attributes: Awareness, Coordination
Background: Explodomaniac
Quirk: Pyromaniac

Level 3

Coordination: 1
Luck: 1
Awareness: 2
Strength: 6
Speed: 1
Intelligence: 10
Charisma: 1

Explosives: 6
Sneaky ♥♥♥♥: 1
Small Arms: 1

Level 4

AWR: +1 (3)
Mechanics: +3 (3)
Perk: Duck and Cover

Level 5

AWR: +1 (4)
Mechanics: +1 (4)
Sneaky ♥♥♥♥: +1 (3)

Level 6

AWR: +1 (5)
Explosives: +1 (7)
Perk: High Impact

Level 7

AWR: +1 (6)
Mechanics: +1 (5)

Level 8

COO: +1 (2)
Sneaky ♥♥♥♥: +2 (5)
Perk: Mortar Blast

Level 9

COO: +1 (3)
Mechanics: +1 (6)

Level 10

COO: +1 (4)
Mechanics: +1 (7)
Perk: Weathered

Level 11

COO: +1 (5)
Sneaky ♥♥♥♥: +1 (6)

Level 12

COO: +1 (6)
Sneaky ♥♥♥♥: +1 (7)
Perk: Structural Weakness

Level 13

AWR: +1 (7)

Level 14

COO: +1 (7)

Level 15

AWR: +1 (8)
Explosives: +1 (9) Book: +1 (10)

Level 16

AWR: +1 (9)
Perk: Blast Radius

Level 17:
AWR: +1 (10)
Mechanics: +1 (8)

Level 18:
LCK: +1 (2)
Mechanics: +1 (9)
Perk: Quick Reflexes

Level 19:
LCK: +1 (3)

Level 20:
LCK: +1 (4)
Sneaky ♥♥♥♥: +1 (8)
Perk: Healthy

Level 21:
LCK: +1 (5)
Sneaky ♥♥♥♥: +1 (9) Book: +1 (10)

Level 22:
LCK: +1 (6)
Small Arms: +2 (4)
Perk: Lights Out

Level 23:
LCK: +1 (7)
Small Arms: +1 (5)

Level 24:
LCK: +1 (8)
Small Arms: +1 (6)
Perk: Opportunist

Level 25:
STR: +1 (7)
Weird Science: +3 (3)

Level 26:
STR: +1 (8)
Weird Science: +2 (5)

Level 27:
LCK: +1 (9)
Weird Science: +1 (6)
Perk: Microwave Research

Level 28:
LCK: +1 (10)
Weird Science: +1 (7)
Perk: Hardened

Kwan (Leader)

This character is a healer with strong leadership for additional bonuses. He doesn't need to do much damage as he is mostly focused on boosting others and healing them.

Primary Skills: Leadership, Mechanics, Kiss Ass, Hard Ass
Primary Attributes:Coordination, Charisma
Secondary Attributes: Speed, Luck, Strength
Background: Sex Machine (if not Kwan)
Quirk: Prospector (if not Kwan)

Level 2 (if not Kwan)

Coordination: 2
Luck: 1
Awareness: 1
Strength: 6
Speed: 4
Intelligence: 1
Charisma: 6

Level 4 (if Kwan)

Coordination: 4
Luck: 2
Awareness: 4
Strength: 4
Speed: 3
Intelligence: 2
Charisma: 4

Automatic Weapons: 5
Kiss Ass: 3
Sneaky ♥♥♥♥: 3

Level 5

Coordination: +1 (5)

Leadership: +3 (3)

Level 6

Coordination: +1 (6)

Leadership: +1 (4)
Hard Ass: +1 (1)

Level 7

Coordination: +1 (7)

Leadership: +1 (5)
Hard Ass: +1 (2)

Level 8

Coordination: +1 (8)

Kiss Ass: +1 (4)
Hard Ass: +1 (3)
Perk: Demoralize

Level 9

COO: +1 (9)
Kiss Ass: +1 (5)

Level 10

COO: +1 (10)
Kiss Ass: +1 (6)
Perk: Gopher Hunter

Level 11

STR: +1 (5)
Hard Ass: +2 (5)

Level 12

STR: +1 (6)
Automatic Weapons: +1 (6)
Perk: Weathered

Level 13

SPD: +1 (4)
Automatic Weapons: +1 (7)

Level 14

CHA: +1 (5)
Hard Ass: +1 (6)
Perk: Double Tap

Level 15

CHA: +1 (6)

Level 16

SPD: +1 (5)
Kiss Ass: +1 (7)
Perk: Healthy

Level 17

SPD: +1 (6)
Leadership: +1 (6)

Level 18

SPD: +1 (7)
Leadership: +1 (7)
Perk: Hardened

Level 19

SPD: +1 (8)

Level 20

SPD: +1 (9)
Hard Ass: +1 (7)
Perk: Quick Reflexes

Level 21

SPD: +1 (10)
Automatic Weapons: +1 (8)

Level 22

CHA: +1 (7)
Kiss Ass: +1 (8)

Level 29 (if not Kwan)

COO: 10
LCK: 10
AWR: 1
STR: 6
SPD: 10
INT: 1
CHA: 10

Lucia (Pistol + Shotgun)

Lucia is a gunslinger, with some survival skills as well as bartering. We're not going to use the Weapon Modding-skill.

Primary Skills: Small Arms, Leadership, Survival
Primary Attributes:Charisma, Coordination
Secondary Attributes: Awareness, Strength, Speed
Background: Sex Machine (if not Lucia)
Quirk: Prospector (if not Lucia)

Level 4

Coordination: 2
Luck: 3
Awareness: 6
Strength: 1
Speed: 4
Intelligence: 5
Charisma: 2

Small Arms: 5
Weapon Modding: 3 (No more points in this one)
Barter: 2 (No more points in this one)
Survival: 2

Level 5

COO: +1 (3)
Small Arms: +1 (6)

Level 6

COO: +1 (4)
Leadership: +3 (3)
Perk: Opportunist

Level 7

COO: +1 (5)
Small Arms: +1 (7)

Level 8

COO: +1 (6)
Leadership: +1 (4)
Survival: +1 (3)
Perk: Rally

Level 9

COO: +1 (7)
Leadership: +1 (5)

Level 10

COO: +1 (8)
Small Arms: +1 (8)
Perk: Draw!

Level 11

COO: +1 (9)
Leadership: +1 (6)

----------------------------Current level

Level 12

COO: +1 (10)
Leadership: +1 (7)
Perk: Devestation

Level 13

AWR: +1 (7)
Survival: +1 (4)

Level 14

AWR: +1 (8)
Survival: +1 (5)
Perk: Big Game Hunter

Level 15

AWR: +1 (9)
Small Arms: +1 (9)

Level 16

AWR: +1 (10)
Survival: +1 (6)
Perk: Weathered

Level 17

CHA: +1 (3)
Survival: +1 (7)

Level 18

STR: +1 (2)
Perk: Quick Reflexes

Level 19

STR: +1 (3)
Leadership: +1 (8)

Level 20:
STR: +1 (4)
Leadership: +1 (9)
Perk: Healthy

Level 21:
STR: +1 (5)


Level 25:
COO: 10
LCK: 1
AWR: 10
STR: 6
SPD: 6
INT: 1
CHA: 10

[HannaS]

Thank you @Unsold_Guest672
I haven't updated the guide in quite a while, and since the game is not getting any new content I probably will not play it in a while. So I appreciate your contribution, keeping it accurate.

[Unsold_Guest672]

Hi I've been using this guide for my recent playthrough and I just wanted to confirm that Gopher Hunter does only affect Assault Rifles, but i've found that having my SMG'er actually use a AR as a backup (and Kwon the AR'er with a smg as a backup) has been good in JiC scenarios, like if I need extra range or happen to run out of ammo

[HannaS]

@phamtrinli: thanks for the list!
@bedlambetty: Good suggestion! Haven't tried that but it makes sense.

[BedlamBetty]

The whole guide is still valid, even if you take pre-made characters.
Technically, it's better to start with pre-made rangers, for the items and get rid of them to create the squad of four core rangers you want when you get access to ranger HQ.

[PhamTrinli]

Secondary skills ranked in order of usefulness:

1. Lockpick/Nerd Stuff
2. First Aid
3. Mechanics
4. Kiss ass
5. Armor modding
6. Leadership
7. Barter
8. Explosives
9. Weapon modding
10. Hard ass
11. Sneaky Shit
12. Survival
13. Toaster repair
14. Animal whisperer

[Yasko]

Is this guide still valid? Newbie here and planning to use this.

[HannaS]

I think they changed it in a patch so it also applies to smg but I might be mixing it up?

[Jeslis]

Hi Hanna,

I may have worded my question wrong;

You recommend a .. perk? 'Gopher Hunter', which applies to assault rifles only.. on the SMG build (a character using SMGs) -- and I Was trying to figure out why, especially if I'm supposed to be using SMGs.

[HannaS]

Thanks for the feedback Jeslis!

The omg-smg-wtf is intended for smg (sub machine gun) not assault rifles. It's implicit from the name I guess, but it would probably help writing it out. I'll add it. 🙂

There's also a really good smg you can get fairly early on from a vendor on the map, although they might have parched his inventory to not keep that weapon if you're on a lower level. I don't remember the name but it's a uzi-looking smg. Adding explosive rounds to that weapon will make it quite overkill.

[Jeslis]

Sneaky Sniper appears to be missing attribute for level 10