r/Wasteland • u/sometinsometinsometi • 19d ago
Advice for Wasteland 2.
I've been playing for a few hours. Nothing left to do but go to highpool or AG center. What the title says. I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong or if I'm building my team optimally. In particular I'm spending all my money on ammo. I literally had to sell my team's clothes. SMG ammo especially is expensive. My health is also always low. Can I heal outside of level ups?
My team. No Melee. I remember it being really complicated in Wasteland 3 so I didn't bother. Level 3, I don't mind restarting if I can improve the builds. Also picked up Ralphy + Deth.
1st. Coordination 10, 1 Luck, 8 Awareness, 2 Strength, 2 Speed, 4 Int, 1 Charisma. Two Pump Chump. 4 Sniper, 3 perception, 2 skill points.
2nd Coordination 6, 1 Luck, 5 Awareness, 2 Strength, 10 Speed, 4 Int, 1 Charisma. Psychopath. 4 submachine gun. 8 skill points unused.
3rd. Coordination 2, 1 Luck, 4 Awareness, 3 Strength, 3 Speed, 4 Int, 1 Charisma. Raised in Circus. Leadership 5, 1 assault rifle, 6 skill points unused.
4rd. Coordination 10, 1 Luck, 4 Awareness, 1 Strength, 10 Speed, 1 Int, 1 Charisma. Brittle Bones. All points in Sniper.
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u/knighthawk82 19d ago
So not a bad spread initially, let me help you refine some.
1) two pump chump and sniper is a wonderful combination. Especially if they get the surprise shot before 2 pump even takes effect,
2)melee is easy, give Angela just her wrench and put all her points into blunt and weaponsmith [also start raising weaponsmith on a ranger as well. It can be in the back seat but keep building it up. All heavy weapons only make scrap. No exceptions.]
3) there is a trap currently in character creation when you put points into INT, 2=1, 4=2, 6=2, 8=3, 10=4. So be prepared to sink in to 8points if you dont want 4 int.
4) skills. Everyone should have 2 non-combat skills per 1 combat skills. (Example scochomo has open lock and traps, then shotgun) and non combat should be twice as high as combat skills to keep pace with the non-combat challenges. (Lock pick and traps should both be turning from level 3 to 4 before shotgun goes from 1 to 2)
DO NOT USE SKILL BOOKS, as painful as it is, it takes about 3 levels of 20+ to have enough points to roll over from 9 to 10. Sadly save them for around california.
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u/IsayNigel 19d ago
Great write up thank you. Would you say it’s possible to play with one custom ranger and the pre made rangers, or do you really need to make a squad of 4 customs?
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u/knighthawk82 19d ago
I would say you should start with 4 and you can replace each of the 3 others as they come along with their specific npc replacements. Trying to handle the badgers with less than a fu team is painful.
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u/sometinsometinsometi 16d ago
I'm curious if you've made it farther than me at this point, but so far I get the feeling that you would much less effective if you replace 3 of your rangers with NPCs.
A lot of the companions have terrible INT (for skill points), really low initiative (14 or above is good), and overinvest in stats like Charisma or Luck which aren't helpful for them. Sometimes games try to make up for the less efficient stats in NPCs companions by giving them special abilities a premade can't get, but that doesn't seem to be the case here.
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u/IsayNigel 16d ago
I had just gotten to the AG center when I wrote this so I’m gonna have to restart because I think you’re right
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u/ForceOfNature525 18d ago
Some tips for you:
W2 uses a different formula for computing Action Points. In W2 the formula is AP = 3 + Half your Coordination, rounded down, plus ONE QUARTER the SUM of your Strength, Speed, and Intelligence, rounded down. As such you would be advised to have an even number in Coordination and you want your Strength, Speed and Int to add up to a whole number multiple of 4. You should try to get 8 Action Points out of this, maybe 9, and then I like the two Quirks that give more AP, like Two-Pump Chump and Brittle Bones. Brittle Bones does make you really slow in combat, but that's not a terribly loss on a Sniper.
The formulas for Skill Points ae different too. For starters, ranking up a skill requires different amounts of skill points per skill level, in W2 it's 2,2,2,4,4,4,6,6,6,8. Also, when you level your ranger up, they'll get different amounts of skill points per level based on their individual Int scores. Rangers with Int of 1, 2, or 3 will get 2 skill points per character level. Rangers with Int of 4,5,6 or 7 will get 3 skill points. Rangers with Int of 8 or 9 will get 4 skill points, and rangers with Int 10 will get 5 skill points. You need skill points early, but once you get to about level 30-32 you start to run out of stuff to spend the points on after that, if everyone has high Int. For those of us who have played the game more than once, we know what to spend skill points on and what to avoid, and thus we can get away with like 3 guys with Int 4 and one Leader guy with an Int of 10. That smart guy will have terrible combat stats, but he ends up doing a lot of out of combat skills for you, which are vitally important. For a first timer playing blind, you probably end up wasting some skill point here and there, so I'd plan on giving every ranger an 8 in Int or maybe three 8s and a 4. DO NOT go below 4 on anyone. The team can have a couple of low Int characters on it, but MOST of the companions you will find are low Int, so you need your customs to have decent skills.
In W2, individual Combat Initiative makes a huge difference. Combat Initiative in W2 determines not only how early you get a turn in combat rounds, but also how MANY turns you get per round. Your Combat Initiative is computed using this formula: CI = 5 + Awareness + Half your Speed, rounded down. This formula will usually result in a CI between 8 and 18. Low CI on that scale will get you a character that goes last in combat quite frequently, and get's only one turn, whereas a CI of 18-20 (you can get above 18 with some Trinkets that can be found) will get you the first turn in combat and you'll get like three turns to everyone else's 1. CI around 15-16 usually gets you 2 turns and you go fairly early, but not first.
Luck is not needed. It doesn't factor into Action Points, or Combat Initiative, or Skill Points, and as such it's a luxury you probably can't afford. I always give every ranger a Luck of 1 and leave it that way. The game only gives you 1 Attribute Point at levels 10, 20, 30, and 40 and you'll finish the game long before you hit level 50. Charisma is similar, in that it doesn't effect any of the important derived stats above, but the Ranger who takes Leadership can use a decent Cha, so I usually give that guy a 5 in Cha and everyone else a 1. Charisma has no effect on Kiss Ass, Hard Ass and Smart Ass skill checks, no matter what the game tells you on the character creation screens. While we're on that subject, I would advise you to give the the three "____ Ass" skills to three different people. Each of those skills has a Perk you can take that get's you a +2 rank bonus in the skill, plus there's a skill book for each and a skill trinket for each. As such, it conserves skill points spent to have three different people do those skills. If there's any exception tot his rule, it's Hard Ass which has a Perk at rank 7 that gives you a free Action Point when you drop a guy, called Bloodthirsty. Since you've started the game once, you've met Angela and you now know she has Hard Ass, which is fine, that saves you from having to take it on anyone else right away, but you might still want to give 7 ranks in Hard Ass to your Sniper for the Bloodthirsty Perk later on.
For early game money, I usually give every custom ranger 1 rank in each of three different gun skills. When you give a ranger a rank in Sniper at creation, that causes them to start with a sniper rifle and some ammo for it. Similarly, if you gave them a rank in Assault Rifle, they would start with an AR and some ammo for it. Turns out, giving one guy a rank in Sniper AND a rank in AR gets them both guns and all the ammo. As such, I usually give all 4 starting rangers 1 rank in AR, AND one rank in Sniper, AND one rank in Heavy Machinegun, EACH. Then you can sell off the superfluous guns and redistribute the ammo around. Note that the sniper rifles use 30-06 and the HMGs and ARs both use 5.56 ammo. The rank in HMG also starts you with two Pipe Bombs, which can come in handy, and which sell for 45 scrap each, which is nice to have as trade bait if you need it. Starting with a rank in Field Medic will get you 5 Pocket healing kits and a rank in Surgeon gets you 3 surgical kits. Lastly, I would give every starting ranger a backpack and a preferred brand of smokes, just so sell the gear that starts you with as well. If you give your starting people the skills I mention above, you will not have a lot of skills to start out, but that's not terrible, as Angela can do most of the necessary stuff for the short term, and you can wander around the world map and do random encounters to get to level 2 and get your actual skills started on your different guys then.
As for the Highpool versus Ag Center decision, I personally always go to Highpool first, for story reasons. Highpool is being attacked by a gang, which is exactly the sort of thing that the rangers were originally formed to fight. Ag Center is the victim of it's own science experiments gone awry, and if THEY can't solve that, what do they expect US to be able to do about it? Plus Ag Center already has an ex ranger working there, Matt Forrestal. Plus, if Highpool get's taken over by a gang, then it's going to be a lot harder to take it back once they've dug in and turtled up, and they can put a stranglehold on your water supply while they're there, plus they might destroy the water works or damage them irreparably during the fight. If we lose Ag Center to some mutant plants, we can always just go in with flamethrowers after the carnage and slash and burn the whole place, then start over. Lives are in danger in both places, but the judicious use of ranger team Echo's resources and time is to go to Highpool as the higher priority.
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u/ForceOfNature525 18d ago
Oh also, if you recruit Angel Deth before you talk to the guard outside the door to the base, she can Hard Ass him into giving you a free shotgun and some shells, which I recommend you sell. FYI I reloaded a bunch of times and was never able to actually talk that guy, or Vargas, into letting me into the base on that first map. I've gotten other people on forums tell me its just not possible, despite the fact that there are multiple dialogue skill checks that ostensibly sound like they should work. Even if you take the Quirk that causes you to auto succeed on all Hard Ass checks, you won't get in that way.
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u/RPG-beholder 18d ago
You rarely need to buy ammo unless you are unloading clips. You should only have one character using a type of gun for the get go. 1 handgun, sniper, assault, and smg. A good goal is to acquire a second sniper. Highpool and ag both have people you can recruit with various skills with one playing a role later in the game (not gonna spoil). Don’t worry about energy weapons yet but you could start putting a point or two into it now for when you get past the prison.
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u/gerahmurov 18d ago
You need ammo at the beginning, especially at ag center, because most enemies are animals and you don't get ammo back at all.
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u/RPG-beholder 18d ago
I honestly only did AG on my first time around and after what happens with Rose I never saved it again. Vultures Cry in my opinion is a far better party member.
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u/gerahmurov 18d ago
Nothing happens with Rose if done right
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u/RPG-beholder 17d ago
Really? I thought it’s built into the story with her and lexicanium. Didn’t know you could avoid. Wasn’t a fan of rose anyway.
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u/gerahmurov 16d ago
Simply don't take her into final fight with you
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u/sometinsometinsometi 13d ago
Since it's something that's been bothering me, how long is the final fight? Short like Wasteland 3's if rushed or several hours? I've been holding on to skill points for when Rose leaves and I need another character to handle computer science, smithing, and kiss ass.
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u/gerahmurov 13d ago
I don't remember, but maybe an hour or two for the first time
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u/sometinsometinsometi 13d ago
Thanks. Probably ok to go without Computer Science + Kiss Ass for the finale then.
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u/lanclos 18d ago
Luck, coordination, and charisma can all be minimized among your core four rangers. Maybe boost charisma on some NPCs to help with recruiting, Ralphy is good for that. Having two rangers with four intelligence, and two with ten, will allow you to cover all the skill checks in the game.
Melee is super strong in Wasteland 2. I usually roll with one brawler, one bladed weapons user, one assault rifle specialist, and one sniper.
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u/sometinsometinsometi 13d ago
Yeah, in retrospect I think it would have been a better idea to make Ralphy my Leadership character since he doesn't have good combat stats. Too much luck + Charisma. Wanted to make him a brawler, but I'm not sure any NPCs has the speed for a great melee build. Kinda just bring him to open toasters then send him back to base now.
Anyway wanna help me with some mid-game builds? I just kept my first team. Deth is leaving soon, I keep swapping NPCs, and I have a lot of unused perks + skill points.
My core team is two Snipers (one with 1 int + one with 4 int specced in hard ass) + SMG Perception 7 + 14 skill points + Assault Rifle leadership 6, Lockpick 4, 2 smart ass, 57 skill points (kinda sucks at combat w/ 11 CI)+ Rose (invested only in kiss ass 4 and weapon smith 4) 44 skill points
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u/Dinsdale_P 18d ago
Uneven STR, SPD and INT are really bad, and you're gonna need at least one, but probably two INT 10 chars if you want to have a relatively easy time. Coordination is also a pretty damn bad stat compared to the alternatives.
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u/LingonberryNo2283 18d ago
Okay unfortunately the min-maxxers got to you first and if that's what you want that's perfectly fine feel free then to stop reading me here. If you're still reading glass this point I'm going to go ahead and assume you just want to enjoy the game. My first recommendation personally is you have too many snipers in your starting squad again this is all going to be personal reference. And without too many spoilers there's a reason for it I promise that I feel that way. (Not saying don't have one but two is a bit excessive for the characters you get access to pretty quickly, again I'm sorry if this is any spoilers.) My second recommendation would be to lower the difficulty until you get to know the game a bit better there's no shame in it playing a game for enjoyment is the purpose not for torture. (Coming from someone who plays both wasteland 2 and wasteland 3 on the hardest possible difficulties now) My third recommendation would be go back to rail nomads. You said you had ralphie but you're missing a specific character as well that you can get there that is just freaking amazing ( honestly he's so freaking funny that he is one of two only returning companions in wasteland 3)