Hello there. A huge part of this hobby for me is making complex yet accessible tutorials about making characters & parties in different rpgs. I try to talk about the inner workings of the systems, not to spoil the game too much for the player (so he still has enough space for his own creativity) and warn my viewers about the different hidden traps of the rpg systems (unfortunately, W2 is not an exception here - did you know that, while leadership promises your party +2% accuracy bonus per its level, it actually gives only 1% per level?). And now its the Wasteland 2 time:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A13K3fYckho

Thank you for the guide. It was a little disheartening but also educational. In particular it was good to know leadership is even more terrible than it looks, and you encouraged me to try out shotguns, a weapon class I like thematically but assumed would be stupid and useless like in most games. Game designers often have the idea that shotguns are good for fighting multiple opponents which is a trope that really needs to die.

The best part of the guide is that you explained how attributes relate to skills, or rather how they don't. I was very surprised by this. I think I am quite positive about this though, because I never liked CRPGs where you can not be an efficient melee fighter without going full strength. I'd rather see a sinewy and technically skilled fighter than another muscular giant.

Yeah, shotguns are probably the most interesting weapon to use in the game (but maybe I'm biased because I love flamers - I've once went through the entire Fallout 2 using mostly flamers to kill foes - and shotguns are pretty much the flamers in this game) because it's not just stand & shoot, you actually have to maneuver with them. And, well, while I'm not a big gun expert, from what I understand the police use shotguns because they pack quite a punch without causing great collateral damage inside the cities (unlike the assault rifles) - since I can't really remember a game where you cared about collateral damage, I understand why its hard to implement them properly.

And I too like the attributes being untied because, while that's somewhat unrealistic, this provides for a greater build variety. Realism is cool, but not at the expense of the game (though that is a matter of taste, I guess).

Good video! Thanks for that :)

Thanks for pointing out the issue of getting an action point for every 4 points in strength, speed, and int. I haven't tested this myself, but I saw someone say that there was a noticeable difference in loot between 1 and 5 luck and a big difference between 1 and 10, but that 8 was what you needed to get the best gear. It seems like luck would be the most helpful on weapons that have a low crit rate because it would make the most noticeable difference. Thanks for pointing out that the bonus from cha only was non-combat experience and that you can repair critically failed attempts.

This is my current starting team:

Character #1
Coord: 1
Luck: 1
Awareness: 1
Strength: 4
Speed: 1
Int: 10
Cha: 10

Skills:
Animal Whisper
Leadership
Smart Ass
Kiss Ass
Toaster Repair
1 point in Field Medic
--------------------------------------
Character #2
Coord: 4
Luck: 1
Awareness: 10
Strength: 2
Speed: 6
Int: 4
Cha: 1

Skills:
Perception
Mechanical Repair
Assault Riffle
------------------------------------
Character #3
Coord: 1
Luck: 1
Awareness: 1
Strength: 10
Speed: 10
Int: 4
Cha: 1

Skills:
Brute Forces
Hard Ass
Brawling
Weapon Smith
---------------------------------------
Character #4
Coord: 2
Luck: 8
Awareness: 1
Strength: 2
Speed: 4
Int: 10
Cha: 1

Skills:
Alarm
Demolitions
Lock Picking
Safe
Shotgun

I figure Rose will do computer science, surgeon, medic, and energy weapons, but I put a point in medic to get buy until she joins. Unfortunately, none of these characters get close to the 12 action point sweet spot you were talking about, but I've got the skills covered except bartering and outdoors. I can lower the strength from 10 to 7 (I think I heard that what you need for the best armor), but I do need a mule. I am disappointed that leadership only gives half as much, but it is good to prevent other characters from running around at the wrong time and getting themselves killed. I'm not counting on them doing anything in combat though. Any suggestions?

Luck really doesn't affect your loot. You see people write that all the time, but that hasn't been proven. I've actually tested it and luck 10 and 1 loot proved to have zero difference on what you gain from those boxes. Some people say that maybe there are a couple of specific containers, but even they actually fail to mention what you can gain there. You'll have best equipment even with the 1 luck all around so it's not important. Luck does affect skillchecks, but at a very low rate so it's not that noticeable.

Heavy armor, btw, is also quite disappointing so you shouldn't worry about it too much. As well as about having mules in your party - plenty of NPCs fill that role nicely. So 10 str on your fighter is usually an overkill - 6 will be enough.

You also need to put more active, experience bringing skills on your 10 CHA character or said investment goes to waste. It's not like charisma affects the Ass skills, unfortunately. And animal whisperer is not that frequently used.

At the official forums I found this very helpful thread with tips for playing on the highest difficulty Supreme Jerk.
https://forums.inxile-entertainment.com/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=9087

This was a great video, but one thing I noticed once I started playing was about the perception skill. You noted that the person with all the speech skills should also have the Perception skill to unlock certain dialogue options. However, when I tested it out it didn't matter who had the skill, the person initiating the dialogue would succeed at a perception check as long as someone had the skill high enough.

To test this I had a group with no perception talk to Angela Deth in the beginning and no one noticed her tattoo. When I had a second group talk to her, my tech/demolitions member had 2 perception but my team leader with speech skills did not. When my team leader initiated dialogue, it actually said the leader succeeded at the skill check, without any perception ability. I tried it with everyone else as well, and whoever initiated dialogue was noted as being the one to succeed at the skill check.

So you only need to have one member of the team with good perception, and you can save those skill points for something else on the member with speech skills.

I'm finding that the best setup is three Rangers with:

C 4
L 1
A 2
S 2
S 10
I 8
C 1

And a fourth mule/melee/brawler type:

C 4
L 1
A 2
S 5
S 7
I 8
C 1

All characters get 10 AP. Between 10 and 12 Combat Initiative. 4 skill points per level.

Split the utility skills (Doctor / First Aid / Lockpick / Safecrack / Ass / etc) - across all the characters to distribute the XP more evenly.

The brawler gets the choice of upgrading to Heavy Armor with his bonus attribute points (ST 7) - although with the extremely flawed way in which armor "works" in Wasteland 2; that may be a bad idea =X

If I could only get 4 skill points per level for 6 intelligence I could drop 2 more points into Awareness getting that magic number of 14 Combat Initiative that people are talking about.

Build up those primary weapon skills to the 6th rank asap - if you wish to hit anything reliably. Hold on the skill books to maximize the point savings.

Granted it's more min-max and not very larpy...

Having 8 int is not a very good idea. If you bump two of your characters up to 10 and two down to 4, then you characters will still generate the same number of skill points, but you'll have spent 4 more points to have gained 8 back.

Yes I can see what you're saying. 5 + 5 + 3 + 3 = 16 = 4 + 4 + 4 + 4

An interesting dilemma...

Two characters might end up looking like:

C 6
L 1
A 4
S 2
S 10
I 4
C 1

For 10 AP and 14 CI

What about the other two though? Something like?

C 4
L 1
A 2
S 2
S 8
I 10
C 1

For 10 AP and 11 CI

They look a bit gimped with that average CI. They'll likely level-up quicker than the other two as well.

I suppose if I was tweaking it further I'd have to factor in each characters weapon firing costs. Then I could lose some AP and gain some CI.

I like having 10 AP for some reason; probably because it's two rifle shots or five brawling attacks oO

Or maybe it's a throwback to Fallout with 9 AGI + Implant (+ 2 x Action Boy)

The only differences in the rate that they level up will be what they gain from using the skills that you give them. If you want more CI, they you might consider dropping 4 from speed and putting it into awareness. Having 9 AP will be good for a headshot burst from an assault rifle. Plus, it's good to have at least one character with high awareness to spot things (also give this character perception). Depending on the weapon that you give someone, they might not need a lot a speed, such a with assault rifles or sniper rifles. You also might want to consider whether to have a character who has high charisma for leadership bonuses and for recruitment purposes.

Thanks! I'm starting over.
Once I get past my blue screen issues.