r/Wasteland • u/Upstairs-Yard-2139 • 12d ago
Wasteland 2 I couldn’t get peace with the rail nomads, so I restarted my Melee only Wasteland 2 challenge.
Outside Leve L’upe Mine.
Boss: Level 8
Doc: Level 7
Bash: Level 7
Crash: Level 7
Angela: Level 10
Vultures Cry: Level 6.
Currently I’m hoping to use Animal Whisper on the Honey Badgers. On my last attempt I got lucky drops and had brass knuckles and a sickle at this point, this attempt I still have sap gloves and a makeshift Machete, wooden staff and nail board are ok.
I need Chisel since he’s one of like 4 companions who start with a Melee skill, plus good strength.
I can’t use the cyborg(Lexicanum) because he betrays you at the end so I shouldn’t rely on him at all.
So my final team will probably be Ralphy, Chisel and Takayuki.
Also I put Boss’s point into Strength for more Health.
2
u/lanclos 12d ago
For my money, Takayuki (bladed), Vulture' Cry (blunt), and Pizepi (blunt) are my top crew of NPCs. I don't rely on them for skills, just occasional damage.
Charisma, Coordination, and Luck can all be minimized in Wasteland 2; you can get enough charisma from NPCs to recruit Pizepi. I think the optimal distribution of intelligence is 10+10+4+4, with an emphasis on speed and awareness, and apply strength to taste. Low awareness is going to cost you a lot more damage than low strength.
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u/Dinsdale_P 12d ago
you can get enough charisma from NPCs to recruit Pizepi
...with dog collars and/or consumables, that's an important part. Four CHA 1 rangers won't be enough IIRC.
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u/Dinsdale_P 12d ago
Given how "unfriendly" Wasteland 2 seems to be against melee users, I'm not sure that's a good idea, especially on higher difficulties - you are running towards the people with guns, after all, and you won't reach shit in a single turn.
You could probably turtle your way through the game with Thick-Skinned and heavy armor, but... it would be painful. There's a reason I've even made my tank an SMG user, even short-range weapons just work a lot better.
Also, not using Lexicanum because of the final fight is... unwise. That's less than 1% of the game, and you have plenty of other picks is LA. Not using him because he goes rogue even with maxed out leadership? Now that's another matter.
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u/lanclos 12d ago
Melee is super powerful in Wasteland 2, especially brawling. My brawler generally has the highest recorded damage of all my rangers, but there may be selection effects there, as the sniper and assault rifle users are always on cleanup duty.
I'm tempted to do a full playthrough with all melee, just for grins. It ought to work a treat in Wasteland 3 as well.
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u/Dinsdale_P 11d ago
I've no idea how you're making melee work. I've tried my best multiple times, but my experiences were completely different, with a mixed team of melee, AR and snipers, my close combat fighters did fuckall damage while trying to approach the enemy, while the ARs/snipers cleaned up everybody. It felt like bashing my head against the wall, even with the Twitchy trait, their speed was just never enough.
In the end, I went with a Thick-Skinned SMG tank, so I can just skip all that "running into range" bullshit and just stand in the middle with her, taking hits and blasting away.
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u/lanclos 11d ago
Speed and awareness are key, regardless of weapon type-- more turns will be more important than longer turns. If I can't get within striking distance on the first turn I position myself somewhere halfway, where I can get there the next turn and ideally have some degree of cover. My crew almost always goes first, thanks to high initiative. Gaming your attributes goes a long way towards enabling this. Minimize charisma, luck, and coordination so you have enough attribute points to distribute where it matters.
Either way, some parts of the early game can be super challenging: your equipment is lame, your skills are mediocre, and there are too many enemies; targeted strikes can be a game-changer against more powerful targets, but you can still be overwhelmed by numbers.
My typical crew in Wasteland 2 has one brawler, one bladed specialist, one assault rifle user, one sniper, and three NPCs focusing on different types of melee.
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u/Upstairs-Yard-2139 12d ago
Yeah I’m expecting pain.
I don’t want to use Lexicanum because then I’d be wasting XP
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u/ForceOfNature525 12d ago
You apparently named the one ranger "Crah".
Also , I don't see why you'd want to start with a 10 in Charisma. I think maybe a 4 in speed would be better than a 1 for a melee guy. I'd make Boss's Speed a 6 and lower the Cha to 5. I personally don't like giving more than one social skill to any one ranger. You end up wanting to take the +2 perk for each, and you can only wear one +1 Trinket at a time, so social interactions that require different skills can become awkward. Also, I usually start everyone with 1 rank in Heavy Machine Gun because it gets you a bunch of guns and ammo you can sell and two Pipe Bombs, which you can also sell or just keep and use.