Well that was a fun playthrough (:
48 steam regeneration! Too bad its actually closer to 13 since the generators dont really scale atm.
Love the new implant mechanic. Unless you find the perfect implant you basically make a choice between flexibility and the potential to kill yourself by wasting charges and the higher powered infusions with their lower cooldowns. Also healing takes a turn with implants.
This was the first character since forever who didnt use a teleport rune. Thinking back i probably melted the torques down out of habit.
With this new expansion ive unveiled new previously hidden depths my skill could sink to and 4/5 deaths were probably avoidable.
The first was in the shop when i got surprised by two uniques (or 1 and a rare) and had no way to flee. This is the only one where i cant blame myself completely since i didnt know what would actually happen. I expected one special guard to appear not two >.>. I probably shouldnt have initiated combat through dialogue with the merchant.
The next two were from a patrol that kept instakilling me.
Aeryn somehow managed to get me twice. After easily making her flee the first time i mustve underestimated her (yes two times /= ). Wish i had checked how she managed to do so much dmg so suddenly. Maybe that new buff i couldnt get rid of with Spinal Break?
Had pretty bad luck with gear at the beginning and it was at lvl 30 or so that i found my first decent implant. Also maybe give us a few wild trolls in earlier zones so we can make healing salves.
Also got stuck in a vault near the end. It was one with secret doors and nothing diggable. Of course i got teleported in the inaccessible part and after finding a few doors and methodically trying every single tile i gave up and could to my surprise leave the vault via rod (that was in the last dungeon). Im not sure there was supposed to be a mountain part inside it.
Now on to the new prodigies i selected. In case you missed what the Pain Enhancement System did ->
Strength 332 (base 60)
Dexterity 206 (base 29)
Constitution 226 (base 60)
Magic 158 (base 10)
Willpower 167 (base 10)
Cunning 230 (base 60)
All stats 132 increase @_@. Maaaaaybe its not intended for the effect to stack. Since it increases Strength as well you need a few criticals to hit the maximum value but thats exceptionally easy for a sawbutcher.
I took that prodigy to work together with Subcutaneous Metallisation and ... it worked perfectly -> 340 flat damage reduction whenever my hp reach 50%. With no cooldown! And Vitality boosted by massive con! Add the steampowered armor for more flat reduction! Afraid of getting hit for 50% of your massive hp? Grinding shield prevents that! 53% res all and you get more by killing stuff! Add 30% less melee dmg received and 30% chance to avoid projectiles and finish it off with a 40% chance to avoid all damage.
I was completely unkillable after it all came together.
I regret putting any points in the Battle Machinery tree since i didnt use it often. The two turn delay and the random status effects really dont work together with fights that last 1-2 turns of me gently walking past the enemy. Maybe on higher difficulties. The bomb did get used a few times. For example when the stargazers played ping pong with me. Another reason i didnt use it often was because the passive dot did no damage at all.
The tinker stuff confused me only mildly when i starting out. I was surprised to be able to make items higher than my effective tinker level at first. That should probably be mentioned somewhere even though its obviously the only way the lower talent levels arent worthless.
I stuck with the amazing +crit enhancements for all of the game. While they become pointless after the PES boosts my Cun by 132 they help with getting to that point asap. I would have switched out the mainhand one for a winterchill edge (the one that slows) but i didnt have the skills when i found the schematic at lvl 50 or so.
The Spring Grapple was very useful despite the low range.
Fungal Web was found very late as well and wouldve helped immensely earlier. With the at least perceived scarcity of shops and no farportal you might miss essential schematics for most of the game /=
Also i almost left my first three shopdrones where they were because i thought "go to kruk pride" meant me going with them.
After choosing to reprogram them to go there i thought they would take a while to move there and that was just an option to follow them.
The new artifacts are just awesome. The power armor set seemed tailor made for my needs and Dethzaw was incredible.
The orc racials are very good as well. Wouldve maxed skirmisher if i had any points left.
The sawbutchers debuff abilities are great which is surprising given how good the rest of the skills are. Mow Down ensures permanent brainlock in case you somehow get yourself in a fight that lasts more than a few turns. To The Arms is good. Spinal Break combined with a weapon of crippling is very good. It seemed a bit buggy though since im almost 100% sure it never disabled two sustains despite saying so (and yes im pretty sure those were all magical/physical sustains).
Tremor Engine might help with groups if you can take the time to hold them in place for a few turns to make sure they dont leave the aoe and get the status effect you want.
Goresplosion though seems completely pointless considering you can already silence and it drains 10! steam per round (or maybe just per use?). Especially compared to Goresplosion Explosive Saw is a really useful silencer.
Oh and Tech Overload DOES reset your implants!
Loved the new lore. Also that ring. I knew something "good" was going to happen when i saw the description and kept it in the inventory ^^. Wonder what you get if you dont kill him.
I was kinda disappointed by not finding a corrupted wyrm equivalent. Maybe i missed a yeti but i kept expecting one last cat point to turn up from somewhere.
Also no Atamathon or Lina equivalent to test yourself against after beating the main game. Maybe somehow weakening the god? Or just let the Eidolon use one of your last winners. Or someones.
Also during the boss fight you can get dragged back toward the "battle" even if the boss is at the exit. Had to wait a while to lure him back. Maybe just close off the area?
I found a friendly orc guardian in the ruined dungeon. Might not have been intended.
Oh and my habit of stupid names really paid off at the end. "I ... am Gorkul the Regurgitator. Of the seed of Garkul the Devourer" or something
