UnderRail (isometric post apocalyptic RPG)

I don’t know what it is about this game but I just can’t stop trying out different builds.

Just now I’ve started a new character that will be more or less the same as the one I had back in the Early Access version - a psi monk with no crafting at all. I’m still toying with the details (kinda want to get throwing in) but it’s almost liberating to have so many skill points available.

So I’m in the combat tutorial facing off with 3 bots. I’ve equipped my character with the pistol (it’s in his hand) but I cannot attack…the “Attack” action hotbar slot is red (disabled). My lord, it’s only been 3 minutes and I’m already stuck! halp

In the first room, you are just supposed to hit the bots with an EMP grenade and walk away. There is an exit door in the “southwest” wall you can just leave through. Then you learn hacking and lockpicking and sneaking.

Ahh, ok. I’d actually tossed the EMP before even trying to shoot the pistol… so I got that right!

After getting my crossbow character to Deep Caverns where it choked on some rather annoying sections (I sincerely hope the devs reconsider crit immune mobs in the future) I decided to dust off the psi monk I mentioned above - and I’ve just managed to finish the game with it, so the build definitely gets my seal of approval. Unfortunately it was only on Normal difficulty because I started the character as a proof of concept but I’m confident it could handle Hard as well. The thing I enjoyed the most about it was the versatility, I had maxed out Psychokinesis and Thought Control which made most encounters versus living targets very easy thanks to the Locus of Control + Enrage combination. Fists on their own (using The Claw) and backed by Force Emission were very strong versus vast majority of enemies, but having Expose Weakness was crucial for dealing with targets that had high mechanical resistance. Other than that, not having to visit merchants to hunt down crafting components was a huge relief and a very welcome break from my regular UnderRail routine which heavily revolves around this aspect. I also had enough Persuasion to pass every check in the game which opened up some roleplaying opportunities that would have remained locked otherwise.

Build link if anyone’s curious (note that feats aren’t in order): psi monk

That’s both interesting and great to hear about the psi monk. I remember you cautioning me at one point that psi builds might have some challenges in some end game areas.

Ha, I liked using the claw too. Although the SMG build you clued me to was so effective I didn’t use it much.

Psi is apparently one of the better specs for Dominating difficulty, but there’s some divide on what works best. Some people swear by Tranquility + Meditation, others go with crit route, either with standard psi crit feats or with Survival Instincts. I imagine that some sections can be extremely annoying for psi builds though, especially those versus robots - and on dominating the enemy spawns are downright insane in some places. Have a look at the Foundry Beast encounter for example - http://www.underrail.com/wiki/index.php?title=Kill_the_Beast - 9 bladelings on normal, 32 (!!) on Hard, 49 (!!!) on Dominating. That’s insane. I’ve done the encounter on Hard with a crossbow guy and it was a major pain in the ass, probably went through 40 traps and roughly 60 mk3 shock bolts (for the aoe). There’s a similar encounter later in the Tchort institute, but you can bypass the robot spawns there with Hacking (100 required), which is honestly advisable if you’re not playing on Oddity, because one of the side rooms that open when the robots pour out has a unique 3xp oddity in it.

As for The Claw - it’s very strong, considering how early you can get it. I tried experimenting with Ripper’s Glove but the bleed stacking wasn’t much faster so I went back to the Claw which has the added benefit of Contamination which affects all sources of damage - quite useful for a psi hybrid that can throw something else besides mechanical damage at the enemy.

If you liked the SMG playstyle then you’d probably enjoy the monk too, they’re actually quite similar, despite using a completely different set of mechanics. I have to say that I prefer the monk though, not having to carry metric tons of ammo around was a big relief in the Deep Caverns, and same goes for having all the utility in the form of cooldown based abilities rather than consumables. Not to mention the added benefit of Will and Persuasion, which both open paths to some extra lore if that’s your thing :).

Right now I’m toying with the idea of making either a knife or sledgehammer character, but after putting close to 500h into this game it’s probably a good idea to let it rest until expansion hits.

No Arcanum?

I’m actually modding it this very moment :). I’ll probably go with a charisma/persuasion character that dabbles in magic.

A while back, like a super long while I think, the dev(s?) were working on DLC for this game, and I was sort of waiting for that to hit before diving in again. Does anyone know if that’s anywhere at all? Is it coming soon or has it seemed to have maybe petered out?

Styg (lead dev) recently posted on their forums that there are going to be at least a couple more dev diaries between now and release. Dev diaries are posted about once every two months so we probably won’t see the expansion before fall or end of the year.

Okay, so mebee now is the time. I tend to like to play point based character creation games “by the seat of my pants”. Basically, putting my points into things that sound fun at the moment rather then having a build from the get-go. (Personally, I find having a build sort of detracts from my leveling experience, because instead of getting new toys I feel like I’m checking off boxes.)

I vaguely remember struggling with this game being hard (almost certainly in part because I was not leveling up efficiently) – What sort of difficulty should I play on if I want to be challenged but don’t want to pre-plan out things like the perks?

Try normal first, especially if you plan on building around stealth. I’d recommend you at least read all the feat descriptions (and their requirements) on the character creation screen (don’t forget to check ‘show all’), maybe it will give you some ideas or an inspiration on how to build a character.

edit: Couple pointers - do not double down on primary weapon skills. For example, melee + guns is a waste, as is melee + crossbow, or guns + crossbow. Traps and Throwing are both great as secondary offensive skill but neither needs to be maxed out. Exception to this rule are psi disciplines where you usually take all 3 if you’re building a pure psi character.

Primary offensive abilities are all in or bust, do not half ass them. Same goes for defensive abilities, particularly evasion. You can skimp on dodge, especially if you rely on traps or have the Uncanny Dodge feat. For example, if you put 50 points into evasion you’ll be only marginally more effective at evading in the end sections of the game than a character with 0 evasion would be.

Crafting disciplines generally don’t need to go higher than 128 effective - for some you should factor in a crafting bench bonus, while others, chemistry and biology in particular, need a natural skill level to be taken into account for crafting some of the high end stuff.

@Bernie_Dy recently finished the game for the first time so maybe he can give you a more fresh perspective on how strict you need to be with the build plan to make things work in the end.

I would second the recommendation on specialist vs generalist characters. I like to have a variety of skills in RPGs but in Underrail for combat you need to focus on a primary. But I also agree about throwing as a supplemental skill because especially in the early going grenades can tip the tide of battle when things are tough. Stealth is really handy and often helps you get the first shot or avoid some encounters. I’m not sure how I’d have done without it; I’d like to try a loud assault rifle or sniper build sometime for kicks.

Pay attention to stats that affect action points and also take care in selecting weapons by their action cost because an extra shot per turn with a more agile weapon is better than fewer shots with higher damage per shot.

Also mind the game’s encumbrance system, weight matters and since the crafting model is deep you’ll find yourself lugging around a lot of crap. In my play though, I didn’t have enough points in the skills to be really good at crafting so I only did a moderate amount and I was able to get through with a fair portion of my gear being found or purchased inventory.

This might be the best fucking game I’ve played in years. I’ve sunk 40 hours into it in the last four days.

Builds? Pfft, I just dove in. Threw two points into Agi because I like being stealthy and two into Int because being smart always helps. Scattered my skill points all around because I didn’t know what I was going to be doing and grabbed the Feat that lets you find hidden stuff better because hidden stuff is always good, right?

Anyway, after 40 hours I’m putting all my ability points into Wil because Psionics are cool.

I’m really kinda pissed off that the devs never bothered to implement a sort-by-weight function. I’m always struggling with encumbrance. I’m currently “stuck” at Rail Crossing, over-encumbered with nothing to really drop. I haven’t unlocked their fast-travel yet, and I’m going to have to limp all the way back to SGS to dump everything in my stash. Good thing the game keeps running while backgrounded.

I had been avoiding crafting, because crafting sucks, but I’ve started slowly putting some points into Tailoring. Who knows, maybe eventually I’ll be able to craft something that isn’t shit.

Once you get that out of the system I suggest you look for a proper build, otherwise you’ll have a lot of trouble later on.

I posted a psi-monk up above, it doesn’t have any crafting and mixes unarmed with psionic abilities, lots of fun.

Guess I’d better give this one another go. I found it brick-wall difficult very early in.

That’s one of the attractive things about this game is that every encounter is hard, it just varies in how hard it is. I spent an hour rescuing the stolen train that was bound for Rail Crossing before I finally got everything to go just right.

This is kind of a bummer to hear. You can’t just casually have fun with the game building what you want?

I apparently own this, I’ll give it a go tonight, as I am just in the mood to play something different.