Perk recommendations

[keesio]

Hello all,

This is my first playthrough and after some early struggles (which the community gave me some fantastic suggestion to help me along), I am now in a comfortable mid-game stage. I'm day 52 and finally exploring more aggressively outside the forest area (just set up a little outpost in the snow area). I'm level 34 and trying to decide how to spend 4 available points I have.

 

Some details on my character:

 

• stealth build focusing on precision (7) and agility (5)
• level 4 spear mastery
• level 2 parkour
• level 1 in the following:
  • lockpicking
  • penetrator
  • salvage operations
  • living off the land
  • cardio
  • archery
  • gunslinger
  • hidden strike
  • from the shadows
  • master chef
  • miner 69er
  • mother lode
  • advanced engineering
  • better barter
  • daring adventurer

 

My melee weapon of choice is a spear and I got all the books it (7/7) so I get that bonus of stamina refresh per kill. I feel like I don't need to push Spear Mastery to level 5. I still use a bow at midrange stealth. My main backup weapon is the handgun for emergencies and for fast animals and birds. I did luck out with finding a tier 6 AK-47 that I use for emergencies.

 

Any perks that I am missing out that would optimize my build? Where should I focus next? Maybe penetrator? I'm thinking physician would be helpful to pick up also...

 

Thanks!

[Riamus]

1 hour ago, keesio said:

Hello all,

This is my first playthrough and after some early struggles (which the community gave me some fantastic suggestion to help me along), I am now in a comfortable mid-game stage. I'm day 52 and finally exploring more aggressively outside the forest area (just set up a little outpost in the snow area). I'm level 34 and trying to decide how to spend 4 available points I have.

 

Some details on my character:

 

• stealth build focusing on precision (7) and agility (5)
• level 4 spear mastery
• level 2 parkour
• level 1 in the following:
  • lockpicking
  • penetrator
  • salvage operations
  • living off the land
  • cardio
  • archery
  • gunslinger
  • hidden strike
  • from the shadows
  • master chef
  • miner 69er
  • mother lode
  • advanced engineering
  • better barter
  • daring adventurer

 

My melee weapon of choice is a spear and I got all the books it (7/7) so I get that bonus of stamina refresh per kill. I feel like I don't need to push Spear Mastery to level 5. I still use a bow at midrange stealth. My main backup weapon is the handgun for emergencies and for fast animals and birds. I did luck out with finding a tier 6 AK-47 that I use for emergencies.

 

Any perks that I am missing out that would optimize my build? Where should I focus next? Maybe penetrator? I'm thinking physician would be helpful to pick up also...

 

Thanks!

Well, if you are focusing on stealth, increasing your archery skill would really benefit you as would increasing the stealth skills.

[Krougal]

Yeah, even though you'll want to put a silencer on a pistol. Crossbow with a 4x will be your "sniper rifle", which can be fun but kinda useless in this game anyway. Early game I would say archery but I would prioritize gunslinger at this point.

I have enjoyed the agility build for several alphas (but intelligence tree is godly in A21), but it will make you hate life on horde night in later game stages.

It is fun as hell sneaking through a high end POI just popping sleepers in the head with a silenced 9, especially when you think about how cheap the ammo is. Carry an SMG for your oh @%$#! moments, and spray cheap bullets indiscriminately and not care.

Granted spear used to suck so I never used it, so maybe agility isn't any worse off anymore.

 

Otherwise like Riamus said, you can't go wrong with the stealth skills. Parkour is useful too.

Edited August 11, 2023 by Krougal (see edit history)

[NekoPawtato]

Regarding Physician perk, I don't see much use in it if you aren't also planning on perking into stun batons. While it's nice that you can instantly cure sprains or heal broken limbs faster, you can also negate those debuffs with steroids. At some point you'll already have a good stockpile of medicine that finding plaster casts/steroids is not a problem.

 

Oh and I'm not sure if it was mentioned in your other thread, there is an item you can buy from the trader called the forgetting elixir that allows you to reset and redistribute the points. I think it's like 6k dukes? So if you find that there are some points you put into for skills that you no longer use mid/late game, you can always drink that and use those points elsewhere. (For example I'll usually perk into melee weapons early on but as I start getting good guns and decent ammo, I'll reset and put those points somewhere else)

 

Regarding perks, I personally like explosives when working with the perception tree, mainly for blood moons because of the AOE benefits. I usually start with pipe bombs/molotovs and save explosive arrows or bolts for cops and eventually really late game I move onto grenade launcher (though grenade launcher ammo is pretty expensive to make so I only save those for demolishers)

 

Edited August 11, 2023 by NekoPawtato (see edit history)

[keesio]

1 hour ago, Krougal said:

Otherwise like Riamus said, you can't go wrong with the stealth skills. Parkour is useful too.

 

I have Parkour level 2 already. I love being able to jump two blocks. Is Parkour maxing out though?

24 minutes ago, NekoPawtato said:

Oh and I'm not sure if it was mentioned in your other thread, there is an item you can buy from the trader called the forgetting elixir that allows you to reset and redistribute the points. I think it's like 6k dukes? So if you find that there are some points you put into for skills that you no longer use mid/late game, you can always drink that and use those points elsewhere. (For example I'll usually perk into melee weapons early on but as I start getting good guns and decent ammo, I'll reset and put those points somewhere else)

 

I've seen that elixir. It is still a bit pricey for me but nice to know down the road when dukes are not an issue I can respec.

[Krougal]

5 minutes ago, keesio said:

 

I have Parkour level 2 already. I love being able to jump two blocks. Is Parkour maxing out though?

So never getting a broken leg is pretty nice. Granted it isn't as bad as it used to be and is kinda trivial by the time you've got a motorized vehicle.

It used to last like forever and most of us would just eat broken glass if we got a broken leg instead of dealing with it and waiting for it to heal.

The extra fall height is handy, couple that with impact bracing mod in your boots and you can do some stupid things and live to brag about it.

 

There really are no bad perks in the agility tree (few bad perks at all really)

 

Of course I just realized spear is perception tree and so you're because of the rising costs of abilities you are better off sticking within the tree. That's something I hate and I wish they would just do away with the trees. roll the bonus into the weapons skills directly and let us mix and match the skills we want without having to spend the extra points.

 

[NekoPawtato]

49 minutes ago, keesio said:

I've seen that elixir. It is still a bit pricey for me but nice to know down the road when dukes are not an issue I can respec.

One thing I like to do to get easy dukes, is repair anything before selling them back to the trader (value decreases as durability decreases). Also if you have a bunch of mods you don't use and want to sell to the trader, it's worth a lot more to put the mod(s) on the items you're selling than to sell the mod separately. I always look for the most expensive equipment/tool/weapon that I'm about to sell and put as many useless mods that I have on them to increase it's value.

Edited August 11, 2023 by NekoPawtato (see edit history)

[Riamus]

48 minutes ago, NekoPawtato said:

One thing I like to do to get easy dukes, is repair anything before selling them back to the trader (value decreases as durability decreases). Also if you have a bunch of mods you don't use and want to sell to the trader, it's worth a lot more to put the mod(s) on the items you're selling than to sell the mod separately. I always look for the most expensive equipment/tool/weapon that I'm about to sell and put as many useless mods that I have on them to increase it's value.

This can be nice except that you really have no need for money in this game.  I'll have a whole crate of dukes by the time I start a new game.  And that is after spending a ton on solar.  😁

[Krougal]

7 minutes ago, Riamus said:

This can be nice except that you really have no need for money in this game.  I'll have a whole crate of dukes by the time I start a new game.  And that is after spending a ton on solar.  😁

 

Late game sure. Except he needs to get there. Remember OP is a noob, I mean a quick total of his perks he's like level...what 34? You or I would have a lot of dukes by then (well maybe you, I spend on consumables & materials I don't feel like gathering myself like it's going out of style....I @%$#ing hate making cement). If he is concerned about a few k for an elixir he is obviously broke AF.

 

It is sound advice for the poor. Don't ever buy repair kits either, they are purposely way overpriced for some nerf, it is far cheaper to make them, so yes, repair those items before you sell them.

Edited August 11, 2023 by Krougal (see edit history)