Wasteland 2: Director's Cut

Wasteland 2: Director's Cut

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Starting Rangers builds V1.2
By Uncle Fester
This will be a little guide of starting rangers builds, combining weapons, perks and strategy for different play styles.
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Intro
Hello people.

Here i´m going to post a list of possible ranger builds that you might enjoy playing. All of this build are thought to be finished around lvl 36ish ( i finished th game by lvl 36, an didnt had a problem).

Before the builds there are some thing you have to know. Every character will gain 1 atribute point every 10 levels and 1 perk point every 4 levels, there is no other way to win those, so spend them wisely. skill point are won acording to your INT, 4 INT grants 3 skill points per level, 8 INT grants 4 SP per level and 10 INT grants 5 SP. To reach 10 in a skill you need to spend 44 SP in it, so with 4 INT by lvl 44 (without the use of shrines and statues) you will be able to max 3 skills, but dont worry, it wont take you long thanks to shrines, statues and books. You will find more info about the stats system here.

Here I will describe the starting point distribution with "x" and the points added by leveling with "o". I will put the mandatory perks for the build and leave some space for your own experimentation. Also I will put optional quirks for each build if you want to spice things a little bit.

There are some skills that are not necesary at all (like barter or animal wisperer), i didn´t include those. And btw, I put Lockpicking and safecracking in one of this builds, they are not mandatory for that character but are mandatory for a smooth gameplay. Toaster Repair is an interesting skil but allready comes at lvl 5 in one of the posible recluits, so dont spend point of one of your base rangers on it.

On Supreme Jerk difficulty you will be dealling half of your weapons damage and the enemy will be dealing double damage, so beware of those 200 DMG rocket launchers (or 400 DMG on SJ). Also remember to bring more than one surgeon and more than 2 field medics. Use a lot of cover and kill the enemies in an inteligent way.

GOOD LUCK
Changelog
V1.2
  • Added Skill icons.
  • Added "The Pungilist" build.
  • Heavy weapons build now has Weaponsmithing instead of Hard@ss.
  • Mayor modifications to Sniper´s C.L.A.S.S.I.C. Stats.
  • Added a "Useless Skills" section explaining why some skills are never used.

V1.1
  • Added a little paragraph in the Intro.
  • SMG build now has Demolitions instead of Alarm Dissarming.
  • Heavy weapons build now has Brawling and Hard@ss instead of Perception and Demolitions.
  • Minor attribute points distribution change for Heavy weapons build (+1 Aw -1 Ch).
  • Mayor skill modifications for the Commando build, oriented for SJ difficulty.
  • Skill modification for Sniper build (hard@ss is gone, lockpicking and safecracking is aboard).
The Basher
Attributes
C: xx 2 L: xx 2 A: xxxxxo 5+1 S: xxxxxxxx 8 S: xxxxxxoo 6+2 I: xxxx 4 C: x 1

Skills
Blunt weapons: xxxooooooo 3 to 10 Mechanical repair: xxoooooooo 2 to 10 Brute force: xooooooooo 1 to 10

Perks*
  • Hardened: +1 Armor
  • Healthy: +1 CON per lvl
  • Wheathered: -15% damage taken from crits
  • Hit the Deck: -25% damage taken from explosives
  • Handyman: no crit failure when repairing
  • Charge: +0.5 combat speed on the first turn
  • Slayer: 10% chance of AP free attack
  • Applied Force: +5% chance to stun
  • Stunning Force: +10% chance to stun
  • Staggering Force: +15% chance to stun (all "force perks" are cumulative)

Quirks
Thick-Skinned (must have)
Pros: +2 base armor
Con: -30% base Combat Speed

Trinkets
  • Pair of engagement rings: +3 combat initiative, -1 AP
  • Luchadore belt: +2 Strength, -2 Speed
  • Air jordans: +0.5 combat speed, -5% chance to evade

You will go with a good armour rating and a heavy hammer, you will be able to take a lot of damage and deal even more. This build favours endurance over speed.

*NOTE: You can change Light for Heavy Armor, instead of "Handyman" and "Hit the Deck" pick "Shoulder the Load" and "Armor Maintenance", just beware of Energy Weapons in Supreme Jerk.
The Cutter
Attributes
C: xx 2 L: x 1 A: xxxxooo 4+3 S: xxxxxx 6 S: xxxxxxxxxx 10 I: xxxx 4 C: x 1

Skills
Bladed weapons: xxxooooooo 3 to 10 Weaponsmithing: xxoooooooo 2 to 10 Hard@ss: xooooooooo 1 to 10

Perks
  • Turtle: +10% evasion bonus when in cover
  • Healthy: +1 CON per lvl
  • Hardened: +1 Armor
  • Wheathered: -15% damage taken from crits
  • Tinkerer: +1AP when wearing light armor
  • Self defence: +1 armor in close quarters
  • Samurai: +1 armor penetration with bladed weapons
  • Adrenaline rush: +2AP when under 25% CON
  • Bloodthirsty: +1 AP for killing an enemy

Quirks (optional)
Twitchy
Pro: +20% base combat speed
Con: -10% base hit chance
Psychopath
Pro: +4% bonus Chance to Hit and +2% bonus Critical Chance per successful attack, misses reset the counter
Con: -10% base Chance to Hit -5% base Critical Chance

Trinkets
  • Anarchy patch: +1 AP, -5% chance to hit
  • Anna's eagle feather: +3% chance to evade, -3% chance to hit
  • Inverted four-leaf clover: +5% chance to hit, +5% chance to evade, -1 Luck

Once again, a simple idea, this time by using a modded sword (2AP per attack) you will be able to attack five times per turn (6 when below 25% CON), you wont have as much HP or endurance as the basher, but you will be able to attack a lot, gain AP by each kill or be able to run for your life when thing go sideways.
The Pungilist
Attributes
C: xx 2 L: x 1 A: xxxx 4 S: xxxxxxxxxx 10 S: xxxxxx 6 I: xxxx 4 C: xooo 1+3

Skills
Brawling: xxxooooooo 3 to 10 Brute force: xooooooooo 1 to 10 Leadership: xxoooooo 2 to 8

Perks
  • Healthy: +1 CON per lvl
  • Wheathered: -15% damage taken from crits
  • Free-For-All: 10% chance to inflict random precision strike status effects on enemies while using Brawling attack
  • Taunt: -3% hit chance for enemies in leadership ratius
  • Enrage: -5% hit chance for enemies in leadership ratius
  • Infuriate: -7% hit chance for enemies in leadership ratius (cumulative)
  • Applied Force: +5% chance to stun
  • Stunning Force: +10% chance to stun
  • Staggering Force: +15% chance to stun (all "force perks" are cumulative)

Quirks (optional)
Raised in the Circus
Pro: +5% Evasion
Con: No leadership bonuses can be received

Trinkets
  • Anna's eagle feather: +3% chance to evade, -3% chance to hit
  • Inverted four-leaf clover: +5% chance to hit, +5% chance to evade, -1 Luck

The idea is simple, with Strenght and Brawling at 10 points each you will be allways dealing maximum damage critical hits, also leadership will diminish the precision of your enemis so you will get hit less. The Quirk is optional, it will add more evasion and a nice attire, a clown punching a raider to death is quite funny.
The Team Leader
Attributes
C: xxxxxo 5+1 L: x 1 A: xxxxoo 4+2 S: xxxx 4 S: xxxx 4 I: xxxx 4 C: xxxxxx 6

Skills
Shotgun: xxxooooooo 3 to 10 Leadership: xxoooooooo 2 to 10 Smart@ss: xooooooooo 1 to 10

Perks
  • Turtle: +10% evasion bonus when in cover
  • Healthy: +1 CON per lvl
  • Hardened: +1 Armor
  • Wheathered: -15% damage taken from crits
  • Obliterator: Destroys enemy cover
  • Taunt: -3% hit chance for enemies in leadership ratius
  • Enrage: -5% hit chance for enemies in leadership ratius
  • Infuriate: -7% hit chance for enemies in leadership ratius (cumulative)
  • Radiant Personality: doubles charisma for recluiting

Quirks
none

Trinkets
  • Anna's eagle feather: +3% chance to evade, -3% chance to hit
  • Three-headed snake amulet: +2 Leadership, -3% critical hit chance
  • Spiked collar: +1 Charisma, -1 Kiss@ss

The idea is simple, this character will have to get close to attack, by doing so he will apply the leadership aim penalty to enemies, and when he shots he will destroy their cover.
The Medic
Attributes
C: xxxxxo 5+1 L: x 1 A: xxxxoo 4+2 S: xxxx 4 S: xxxxxxxx 8 I: xxxx 4 C: xx 2

Skills
Handguns: xxoooooooo 2 to 10 Field medic: xxxooooooo 3 to 10 Surgeon: xooooooooo 1 to 10

Perks
  • Turtle: +10% evasion bonus when in cover
  • Healthy: +1 CON per lvl
  • Weathered: -15% damage taken from critis
  • Zeroed:+2% stacking Critical Chance bonus when repeatedly attacking a target with Handguns. The bonus is lost when changing targets.
  • On the Mend: +10% healing effectiveness when used on self
  • Stimpaks: 2% of your HP automatically healed each combat turn
  • Trained Physician:
  • Expert Physician: -75% post-revival status effect duration (total)
  • Bandit: 4% chance of free attack
  • Gunslinger: 8% chance of free attack
  • Desperado: 12% chance of free attack (non cumulative)

Quirks (optional)
Psychopath
Pro: +4% bonus Chance to Hit and +2% bonus Critical Chance per successful attack, misses reset the counter
Con: -10% base Chance to Hit -5% base Critical Chance

This is more of a support character, handguns are better in DC (max AP cost per shot is 4 now), and you will want a character that wont be missed when he is not shooting. Use a long barrel in the pistol and use it for pressision strikes, leave dealing damage for your other rangers. now healing items use only 2 AP and trauma kits 3 AP, that combined with the handgun perks will allow you to shoot and heal in the same turn.
The SMG User
Attributes
C: xxxxxxoo 6+2 L: x 1 A: xxxxo 4+1 S: xxxx 4 S: xxxxxxxx 8 I: xxxx 4 C: x 1

Skills
SMG: xxxooooooo 3 to 10 Perception: xooooooooo 1 to 10 Demolitions: xxoooooooo 2 to 10

Perks:
  • Turtle: +10% evasion bonus when in cover
  • Healthy: +1 CON per lvl
  • Hardened: +1 Armor
  • Wheathered: -15% damage taken from crits
  • Hit the Deck: -25% damage taken from explosives
  • Limber: -1 AP for crouching and standing
  • Tactical Positioning: +25% damage when attackng from behind
  • Whack-a-Mole: +15% Chance to Hit against enemies in cover
  • Improvised Explosives: 15% chance to recover a grenade-type weapon when disarming mines and booby traps
  • Bomberman: +20% area of effect for explosives


Quirks (must have)
Twitchy
Pro: +20% base combat speed
Con: -10% base hit chance

Trinkets
  • Anna's eagle feather: +3% chance to evade, -3% chance to hit
  • Unusual bow: +3% critical hit chance

Flanking flanking flanking, thas all this character is about. Great speed and a weapon that works like a marvel when you flank an enemy, and its still interesting when you cant do it. The quirk will add even more speed for this purpouse, at a minimun penalty.
The Commando
Attributes
C: xxxxxxoo 6+2 L: x 1 A: xxo 2+1 S: xxxxxx 6 S: xxxxxx 6 I: xxxx 4 C: xxx 3

Skills
Assault rifle: xxxooooooo 3 to 10 Weaponsmithing: xxoooooooo 2 to 10 Surgeon: xooooooooo 1 to 7 Field Medic: oooooooo 0 to 8

Perks:
  • Turtle: +10% evasion bonus when in cover
  • Hardened: +1 Armor
  • Wheathered: -15% damage taken from crits
  • Hit the Deck: -25% damage taken from explosives
  • Limber: -1 AP for crouching and standing
  • Tinkerer: +1 AP when wearing light armor
  • Full metal jacket: +1 Armor penetration with assault rifles
  • Melee Shooting: -35% close range penalty when using assault rifles
  • Gunner: Burst fire accuracy penalty reduced by 5%

Quirks
none

I made some modifications to this build, as it is now you will have 12 AP by lvl 30, that way you will be able to shoot a burst and a single shot each turn or save some AP to shoot two bursts the next turn. Even if this character has medicine skills, it shouldn´t be his main function, consider him as a nurse at best, he is the Ben Stiller of your team, use him only if you have no other choice during combat. (this is only a Supreme Jerk option, in lower difficulties you can put other skill there)
The Heavy Gunner
Attributes
C: xxxxxo 5+1 L: xxx 3 A: xxxoo 3+2 S: xxxxxx 6 S: xxxxxx 6 I: xxxx 4 C: x 1

Skills
Heavy weapons: xxxooooooo 3 to 10 Brawling: xooooooooo 1 to 10 Weaponsmithing: xxoooooooo 2 to 10

Perks
  • Hardened: +1 Armor
  • Healthy: +1 CON per lvl
  • Wheathered: -15% damage taken from crits
  • Limber: -1 AP for crouching and standing
  • Turtle: +10% evasion bonus when in cover
  • Tinkerer: +1 AP when wearing light armor
  • Bullet-Ridden: -1 Armor reduction on enemies when attacking them with Heavy Weapons
  • Battering Fire: +1% chance of inflicting precision strike effects per bullet when using HW
  • Overwhelming Fire: +3% chance of inflicting precision strike effects per bullet when using HW
  • Devastating Fire: +5% chance of inflicting precision strike effects per bullet when using HW (cumulative)

Quirks (optional)
Psychopath
Pro: +4% bonus Chance to Hit and +2% bonus Critical Chance per successful attack, misses reset the counter
Con: -10% base Chance to Hit -5% base Critical Chance

Trinkets
  • Rabbit's foot: +1 Luck, -2 Animal Whisperer
  • Anarchy patch: +1 AP, -5% chance to hit
  • Unusual bow: +3% critical hit chance
  • Air jordans: +0.5 combat speed, -5% chance to evade

Say what you want, but a chance to aplly a precision strike without the aim penalty is great. Add to that damaging your foes armor and HW look awesome. Since this ranger has no way to reduce aim penalties when enemies get in melee range, brawling is a good option as their weapons dont weight a lot, and are AP cheap to use.
The Sniper
Attributes
C: xxxx 4 L: x 1 A: xxxxxooo 5+3 S: xx 2 S: xxxxxxxxxx 10 I: xxxx 4 C: xx 2

Skills
Sniper rifle: xxxooooooo 3 to 10 Lockpicking: xxoooooo 2 to 8 Safecracking: xooooooo 1 to 8 Outdoorsman: oooooooo 0 to 8

Perks
  • Turtle: +10% evasion bonus when in cover
  • Healthy: +1 CON per lvl
  • Hardened: +1 Armor
  • Wheathered: -15% damage taken from crits
  • Limber: -1 AP for crouching and standing
  • Watchman: No accuracy penalty when using Ambush
  • Deadeye: -1 AP to fire a sniper rifle if the character did not move during the turn
  • Focused shooter: -15% under pressure penalty
  • Confident Shooter: -15% under pressure penalty
  • Zen Shooter: -15% under pressure penalty (cumulative) (usefull but not mandatory)

Quirks (optional)
Brittle Bones
Pro: +2 AP
Con: -50% base combat speed

Trinkets
  • Choice: +5 combat initiative, -15% chance to evade

As all snipers, once you find cover you wont move from there, thats how long range works. The idea is to start with 15 combat initiative (19 by lvl 10), and increase it with a trinket, this way you will be the first to shoot when combat starts, killing an enemy who is most likely going to be out of cover. Mod the rifle with everything that gives you chance to hit, a laser sight, a good scope, and the barrel is up to you, supresor or long barrel. With the new pressicions strike mechanics, headshots do a 35% more damage and you can crit them. If you use the quirk be sure to position your sniper before combat starts, because when it does he will have 1.2 combat speed at lvl 30 (that means one square per AP of movement). Also outdoorsman doesnt affect combat but it will be useful if you go to AG center (losing Vulture cry) and you dont want to recluit Pistol Pete.

NOTE: by the second half of the game try to get a "Cat Buglar Mask" trinket, (+2 LP +2 SC)
The Tech Expert
Attributes
C: xxxxoo 4+2 L: x 1 A: xxxxo 4+1 S: xxxx 4 S: xxxx 4 I: xxxxxxxx 8 C: xxx 3

Skills
Energy weapons: xxoooooooo 2 to 10 Computer science: xxooooooo 2 to 9 Field medic: xooooooooo 1 to 10 Surgeon: xoooooo 1 to 7 ????

Perks
  • Turtle: +10% evasion bonus when in cover
  • Healthy: +1 CON per lvl
  • Hardened: +1 Armor
  • Wheathered: -15% damage taken from crits
  • Solar Powered: 15% chance Energy Weapon attacks use no ammo
  • Roboticist: +20% damage against robots and synths
  • Overclocker: Hacked enemy robots automatically gain the Overclocked buff
  • Overcharge: +10% damage against non-conductive armor
  • Overload: +20% damage against non-conductive armor
  • Atomize: +30% damage against non-conductive armor (cumulative)

Quirks (almost a mandatory)
Way of the Squeezins
Pro: +3 Action Points and +25% Damage when drunk on Snake Squeezins
Con: -100% Critical Chance and -0.6 Combat Speed when sober

Trinkets
  • Broken toy robot: +1 Computer Science, -1 Charisma

Energy weapons never do criticals, so half of the quirk penalty wont affect you. If you are shooting under the influence and leave some AP for the next turn you will reach a mighty 16 AP. If you see more convenient to hack an enemy robot then do it, sometimes a cannon fodder is more worthy that taking a few shots.
As this char gets 4 SP per level it leaves some room for experimentation, I recomend a second medic (and surgeon on SJ), since EW dont do to much damage to non conductive enemies, this will be a good support too.
Useless Skills

John
Toaster Repair: this skill will give you certain items that you can exchange for Skill Books or unique weapons, but most of those weapons are not worth investing points in this skill, some toasters can easily be missed depending on the decisions you make, also Ralphy comes with this skill at five points.
Gitte
Kiss@ss: With Smart@ss or Hard@ss you can get the same results most of the times and their perks dont suck, dont invest in this one.
Sussie
Barter: 10% discount at lvl 10, really not worth it, even more considering that by end game Scrap wont be a problem.
Sussie
Animal Whisperer: First of all, the bonus that the animals provide is negible and you cant stack three of the same animal. Second, they die really easy. Third, its almost useless in combat.
Sussie
Alarm Disarm: Combat wise is useless, it might be nice in certain ocasions but you can play the whole game without needing this one.
43 Comments
Gorlite 15 Mar, 2024 @ 8:45pm 
you are one of the most epic people to grace this world
Uncle Fester  [author] 5 Mar, 2024 @ 10:13am 
Yes, look at the perk list for every build
Gorlite 4 Mar, 2024 @ 2:34pm 
does this apply to Director's Cut as well
SpoonMan 26 Dec, 2022 @ 11:52pm 
nice guide, will follow on my next game
:steamhappy:
Uncle Fester  [author] 12 Jun, 2021 @ 10:20pm 
Glad to hear you liked the guide, I try to make my teams as mixed as possible, having only one or two chars with high Int, just for the sare of roleplaying
clarkeveritas 12 Jun, 2021 @ 5:31pm 
What I love about this game is that my builds are radically different but we've both had success in the game. I love games that don't necessarily force you to go a certain way. I tend to go super-high in INT to get those extra skill points... but as I said- there are quite a few ways to go.
Good guide btw. I might try out some of these builds when I do my next run.... which will be a "Do everything the opposite of how I would in real life" run.
Uncle Fester  [author] 20 Mar, 2021 @ 6:31am 
The thing with pungilism is you can get a 100% critical chance, so damage wise you become very consistent. If you look the build, it has raised in the circus, the Team Leader build doesnt.

Also, your choice of quirks and stats for Sinpers is good for short fights, the most difficult ones in the game are quite long.
Radiac 19 Mar, 2021 @ 10:23am 
Pugilism is bad, in my opinion. Eventually, Proton Axes and Plasma Hammers are better than Dragon Claws. Don't get me wrong, everyone needs a combat skill, but I'd avoid Pugilism and give two guys sniper rifles or assault rifles instead. You may get enough Plasma Hammers and Proton Axes by the late game that you'll be selling off extras. I use Takayuki and/or Chisel for the high-strength work.

If you're going to give anyone Raised in the Circus, give it to Leadership guy. Leadership doesn't actually buff the Leader himself, it only buffs others. Thus, losing out on Leadership buffs doesn't actually cost him anything.

I would give the Sniper a Coordination of 10 and Speed of 4 and Two-Pump Chump instead of Brittle Bones, personally.
Uncle Fester  [author] 12 Jan, 2021 @ 10:08am 
As long as you go to AG center instead of highpool it will be fine, but you will really need a medic, the medic is not optional. Now for the team leader, i would suggest you try to put two levels to shotgun and smartass for each point in leadership, dialogue skill checks are done by skill level, not by chance like safecracking.
Eldrane 12 Jan, 2021 @ 9:52am 
I've gone in with your Team Leader, Cutter, SMG and Sniper builds for my first game, will that work? Thanks