So I've played in the beta for a very long time, and I see a lot of people having trouble designing builds for the game. Underrail is has a very in-depth character build system, and it's very min/maxy, so a poorly designed build can even have trouble on easy mode. So here's some of the basics to help you guys figure it out. Attributes in particular are a big way to screw up, so I'll talk about that first.
--DEFENSE--
Your defensive attributes pretty much dictate how you will play the game. A psionic tank is not so much different from an assault tank in the way you fight battles. There are 3 main defense setups:
Heavy tank:
Strength- 7 to 9
Constitution- 10+
The tank build puts a lot of attributes just into defense for high hit points. The variability in strength has to do with which armours you can wear. If you're willing to lose a few AP by sitting in steel armour with 7 strength for a while, you can save an extra stat since excess strength is not very good. I wouldn't recommend going below 9 if this is your first time playing.
Assasin-
Agility 6+
Constitution 3-5
Assasins are probably the most fun to play, and many quests in the game have this theme to them. The idea behind the assasin is that many offensive builds are much better with higher attributes, so you stealth before battle and hit them so hard they can't fight you back effectively as you run away.
Many feats even work around this concept like hit and run, tranquility, and psionic mania. Agiilty is mostly for stealth and some barebones defensive feats like sprint, evasive maneuvers, and uncanny dodge, but you should probably not bother going very high in those skills at all (particular dodge which kinda sucks), as mostly you don't want anyone standing when it comes time for them to hit you.
Hybrid-
Str- 5+
Agility 7+
Constitution: 10+
Dex: 5+
I wouldn't recommend this playstyle, but you can mix constituion with high evasion and dodge to have some pretty good defense. One problem with this is that while you can avoid stun with thick skull, you can't to my knowledge avoid all immobilization even with the feat for it, which will leave you a sitting duck in many cases with poor armour.
--OFFENSE--
Psionics:
Will 12+
Using psionics as your primary offense requires enough so that you rarely if ever fail which requires a large investment.
Knife/unarmed
Dex 13+
Dexterity lowers action point costs by a flat amount, which becomes very powerful as that amount approaches 1 AP. If you're going dex, go all in.
Pistol:
Dex 8+
Perception 10+
Sledgehammer:
Str 10+
Agility 6+
Hammer builds require a lot of attributes all over the place, but also need high strength since you get a whole 10% extra damage per strength above the requirement. You should definitely have 6 agility for sprint regardless of armor choice.
Assault:
Strength 7
Perception 8+
Assaults need 7 for various assult weapon feats, and a high perception as perception affects your ranged damage. However, very high perception is debatable in worth. You can go very low if you supplement your offense with some other offense
Sniper
Perception 10+
Basically needed for, of course, the sniper feat.
--GENERAL BREAKPOINTS--
Much of the reason for having a certain amount in attributes is to get a particular feat. In some cases, there is little point in progressing past the stat because there aren't many good feats left.
Strength:
7, 8 ,9
Basically, 7 for full auto, some defensive feats, and some end game armour. 8 or 9 for steel or titanium armor
Dex:
6-7 for extra grenades and many crossbow feats. Mostly, however, dex is an all or nothing stat.
Agility:
6-7 for defensive and stealthy stats
Constitution:
5 for conditioning, 10 for thick skull
Will:
7 for many psionic abilityes, 10 for locus of control. You can use psi with as low as 3 even, as certain psioinic abilities do not fail.
Perception:
6 for aimed shot, 10 for snipe
Intelligence-
There's really only 2 values you should ever choose. 3 or 7. 3 if you don't craft, 7 if you do.
--EXAMPLES--
Heavy Assault:
Strength 7-9
Constitution 10+
Perception: 10+
Intelligence 3 or 7
^ Probably the easiest build to play. Assault rifle things to death. Optionally add on psionics, but I wouldn't raise will at all.
Cuthroat:
Dex: All in
Consitution: 5+
Agility 7
Intelligence 7
Perception: 6
^ perception for machine gun for some special ammo
Light Psiker:
Will: All in
Agility: 7
Intelligence: 7
Con 7 (extra con for stoicism)
Heavy Psiker:
Will 13
Con: 10
Strength 7-9
Intelligence 3 or 7
Hammer:
Strength: 10
Consitution: 10
Agility 6
Intelligence: 3 or 7
Dex 5 (or whatever is for the feat)
--SKILLS--
Honestly you can write a book on skills so I won't :D Get the skills for the feats you need, max at least one combat skill, and put high levels in the crafting skills you want, and the rest is very subject. Tanks should not bother with evasion/dodge, and assasins should probably not have much dodge if any.
