EDIT: DO NOT FOLLOW THIS GUIDE. The Passive Abilities at Skill Ranks Survival and Criminal 150 do NOT count towards Perk requirements and thus screw your build. Strangely enough, the Prodigy Trait and Stat increaases from your choice of Wing both do count towards Perk requirements so Im not sure if either behaviour is caused by a bug.

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Hello all,

after the last pre-release 'Content Patch 4', I prepared for creating what I think is the best possible character.

Now, there is a choice you have to make that alters your character towards a specific variant of this min-max build of mine and this choice is your selected Trait.

These are your 3 (best) options and their impact:

- Don Quixote (+AP inside Servoshells, -AP outside Servoshells)
This will lock you into using Servoshells at a considerable benefit when doing so as well as having Perception / Charisma at 10 plus all other Stats at 7. This is the Servoshell Build.

- Prodigy Trait - Brain Stat (+4 BRA, -50 Learnability)
This will lock you into having Perception / Charisma as well as Brain at 10 plus all other Stats at 7. Naturally, it has a faster Skill progression over choosing to have a non-Brain Stat at 10 instead. This is the Skill Point Build.

- Prodigy Trait - non-Brain Stat (+4 BRA, -50 Learnability)
Essentially, this allows you to have 1 extra Stat at 10 instead of 7 as well as having Perception / Charisma at 10 plus all other Stats at 7. This is the <insert your chosen Stat and that Stat-based gameplay> Build.

For the Prodigy - non-Brain Stat guide Ive used the Muscle Stat. Its the Stat that gives no bonuses to any of my Tagged Abilities and doesnt increase Learnability so if you select a different Stat, you always have the same or a better progression than when using Muscle. If you select a different Stat, just remove the +4 from Muscle and add it to your chosen Stat. Keep in mind that this exclude Charisma and Perception because they are already maxed out.

See attached image for their progression.
(Edit: Had to upload to Dropbox cause ~8000 pixels height apparently was too much.)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/8l3nikrl72cc0zl/Encased%20MinMax.jpg?dl=0

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While NOT recommended, there is a 4th option which starts out good but gets worse with each new level.

- Slacker (+2 Perk Points, -6 Skill Points / Level)
This will net you a faster Perk progression which, in addition to the benefits extra Perks bring, also ups the Skill Points / Level a few Levels earlier but does not lessens the whopping initial -6 Skill Points / Level in the long run. This will lock you into having Perception / Charisma at 10 plus all other Stats at 7.

If youre unsure, you can look at the attached image and see how much this Build fails in the long run compared to the oither 3.

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Keep in mind I dont know if there are Perks that permanently add Stats outside of the system at hand. I didnt play the game to not get spoilered so dont know if that is the case. However Encased is based on Fallout and some of this series had Implants for as many as +1 to EACH Stat.

If true, you can safely reduce ALL affected Stats by 1 and use these points to get some extra Stats to 10 or even higher or just keep them at the suggested-by-me values but mind if you remove Brain you get less Skill Points / Level so reserve some extra Skill Points and get that Implant, if these things exist, first. Of course this guide is based on the Content Patch 4 and if the Perks etc. change for release then the guide is moot.

Sincerely.

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Edit: To make it a bit easier to choose your desired Stat for one of the Prodigy builds, here are the major benefits of each choice.

Muscle
Muscle 8 Perk: Imposing (passive +15 threat generated each round for main character)
Muscle 8 Perk: Strong Armaments (+25 Learnability for ALL companions)
Muscle 10 Perk: Commando (-1 AP cost for Burst Fire)
a 10 instead of 7 worth of Muscle Stat benefits

Guts
Guts 8 Perk: Wastedlander (+8 to ALL resistances while in Tipsy state, +16 in Wasted state)
Guts 10 Perk: Tireless (25% chance to not activate a cooldown)
a 10 instead of 7 worth of Guts Stat benefits

Brains
Brains 10 Perk: All as Planned (+100% Crit Chance in 1st round of combat)
Max Saved AP / round: 4 instead of 1
Max AP: 11 instead of 10
a 10 instead of 7 worth of Brains Stat benefits

Deftness
Deftness 10 Perk: William Tell (Distance Penalty halved)
Action Points / round: 9 instead of 8
a 10 instead of 7 worth of Deftness Stat benefits

Fortune
Fortune 8 Perk: Evil Eye (active ability to debuff enemy Fortutude + Resilience)
Fortune 10 Perk: Winning Streak (double damage for 1 round after killing enemy)
Action Points / round: 9 instead of 8
a 10 instead of 7 worth of Fortune Stat benefits

Psyche
Psyche 10 Perk: Child of Entropy (+25% damage per enemy < 25% HP)
a 10 instead of 7 worth of Psyche Stat benefits

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When using one of the Prodigy builds, you will always get access to Perks of one of these in addition to the following.

Perception
Perception 10 Perk: Rising Star (+25 Reputation with ALL wings)
Perception 10 Perk: Tacticians Eye (+20 Inspiration = +20 Evasion for ALL companions)

Charisma
Charisma 10 Perk: Rising Star (+25 Reputation with ALL wings)
Charisma 10 Perk: Lead by Example (on Critical Hit: +25% Crit Chance for 2 rounds for ALL companions)

Perception 9 / Charisma 9 Perk: Divine Favor (-1 to Perk Rate)

Sincerely.