Character creation and development (Wasteland 2)

Games

Category	Games
Canon	Wasteland Wasteland 2 Wasteland 3
Non-Canon	Fountain of Dreams Meantime
Related games	Fallout

Creating a character

Creating a character in Wasteland 2 is a mandatory process. While originally the player could use a pre-made party in Wasteland, the sequel provides pre-made characters for use, but creating own Rangers is still a better choice due to greater flexibility.

There are eight pre-made character available for selection: Bear, Big Bert, Cherry Bomb, Cold-Eye, Fade, Hex, Pills, and Slick.

There's an excellent online tool available, called the Ranger Creation Toolkit, which allows the player not only to simulate party creation, but also check how well rounded it is by factoring in recruits and their skills. The squad view allows you to check which skills your target party makeup has and which ones it does not.

Attributes

Ranger's basic attributes are:

Name	Description	Derived Stats
Coordination		+2 Coordination = +1 Action Points, +1 Coordination = +1% Ranged Hit Bonus
Luck		+1 Luck = +1% Critical Chance, +2 Luck = +1% Chance to Evade
Awareness		+1 Awareness = +1 Combat Initiative, +2 Awareness = +1% Chance to Evade, +2 Awareness = +1m Range of View
Strength		+4 Strength = +1 Action Points, +1 Strength = +3 CON, +1 Strength = +12 lbs. Carry Weight, +2 Strength = +1 CON per Level, +1 Strength = +0.1 Bonus Melee Crit. Mult.
Speed		+4 Speed = +1 Action Points, +2 Speed = +1 Combat Initiative, +1 Speed = +1% Chance to Evade, +1 Speed = +0.1 Combat Speed
Intelligence		+4 Intelligence = +1 Action Points, 1 Intelligence = 2 Skill Points per Level, 4 Intelligence = 3 Skill Points per Level, 8 Intelligence = 4 Skill Points per Level, 10 Intelligence = 5 Skill Points per Level
Charisma		+1 Charisma = +2m Leadership Radius, +1 Charisma = +5% Non-Combat XP Bonus

Together, they form the basis of the C.L.A.S.S.I.C. (CLASSIC) system. Each Ranger starts with a value of 3 in each of these attributes and 7 points to spend, giving you a total of 28 points for 7 attributes. A value of 1-2 is considered poor, 3-7 is varying definitions of average, 8-9 is great, and 10 is exceptional.

Derived Stats

Derived Stats determined by the attributes.

Name	Description	Granting Stats	Base Number
Action Points		+1 Action Points ≡ +2 Coordination, +1 Action Points ≡ +4 (Strength, Speed, Intelligence)	3
Ranged Hit Bonus		+1% Ranged Hit Bonus ≡ +1 Coordination	0%
Critical Chance		+1% Critical Chance ≡ +1 Luck	0%
Combat Initiative		+1 Combat Initiative ≡ +1 Awareness, +1 Combat Initiative ≡ +2 Speed	5
Chance to Evade		+1% Chance to Evade ≡ +2 Luck, +1% Chance to Evade ≡ +2 Awareness, +1% Chance to Evade ≡ +1 Speed	0%
CON		+3 CON ≡ +1 Strength	14
Combat Speed		+0.1 Combat Speed ≡ +1 Speed	1.3
Skill Points per Level		2 Skill Points per Level ≡ 1 Intelligence, 3 Skill Points per Level ≡ 4 Intelligence, 4 Skill Points per Level ≡ 8 Intelligence, 5 Skill Points per Level ≡ 10 Intelligence	1
Carry Weight		+12 lbs. Carry Weight ≡ +1 Strength	45 lbs.
CON per Level		+1 CON per Level ≡ +2 Strength	7
Range of View		+1m Range of View ≡ +2 Awareness, +1m Range of View ≡ +1 Perception	25m
Leadership Radius		+2m Leadership Radius ≡ +1 Charisma	-2m
Non-Combat XP Bonus		+5% Non-Combat XP Bonus ≡ +1 Charisma	0%
Bonus Melee Crit. Mult.		+0.1 Bonus Melee Crit. Mult. ≡ +1 Strength	0

Character plans

Common stats of squad members (level 40 stats given in () brackets):

Role	C	L	A	S	S	I	C	AP	CI	EVA	CON	WGT	CO/L	SP/L	Skills
medic1	1(2)	1	1(4)	4	10	10	1	9(10)	11(14)	10%(12%)	26	93	9	5	AR / EW / SR, SU
medic2	2	1	4(8)	2	8	10	1	9	13(17)	10%(12%)	20	69	8	5	AR / SR, SU
carry1	4(6)	1	6(8)	4	8	4	1	9(10)	15(17)	11%(12%)	26	93	9	3	AR / EW
carry2	4	1	2(6)	6	10	4	1	10	12(16)	11%(13%)	32	117	10	3	SH / EW / SMG / HW
leader1	2	1	3	2	4	10	6(10)	8	10	5%	20	69	8	5	SR, LE, SU
leader2	2	1	3	4	8	4	6(10)	8	12	9%	26	93	9	3	AR / SR, LE
leader3	6	1	2	2	10	4	3(7)	10	12	11%	20	69	8	3	SR, LE
leader4	2	1	6(10)	2	10	4	3	8	16(20)	13%(15%)	20	69	8	3	SR, LE
sniper	4	1	6(10)	2	10	4	1	9	16(20)	13%(15%)	20	69	8	3	SR
melee1	1(2)	1	1(4)	10	10	4	1	9(10)	11(14)	10%(12%)	44	165	12	3	BW / BL
melee2	2	1	4(8)	8	8	4	1	9	13(17)	10%(12%)	44	141	11	3	BW / BL

Skills

Skills are also expressed in a range from 1 to 10 and are divided into three separate branches: Combat Skills, Knowledge Skills, and General Skills. The the player only has 12 skill points to distribute. Purchasing the first level in a skill costs 2 points. Levels 2 and 3 cost a further 2 points each, while 4 and 5 require 4 each. The skills are divided into separate branches:

Combat Skills

Name	Description
Assault Rifles
Bladed Weapons
Blunt Weapons
Brawling
Energy Weapons
Handguns
Heavy Weapons
Shotguns
Sniper Rifles
Submachine Guns

As expected, combat skills determine the base chance to hit with a given weapon type, weapon range, chance for a critical hit and critical damage, bonus to area of effect attacks, reduce reload costs, shotgun range damage falloff, and incidence of jamming, increase the number of shots fired per burst, and damage with energy weapons.

Knowledge Skills

Name	Description
Alarm Disarming
Computer Science
Demolitions
Field Medic
Lockpicking
Mechanical Repair
Safecracking
Surgeon
Toaster Repair

General Skills

Name	Description	Derived Stats
Animal Whisperer
Barter
Brute Force
Hard Ass
Kiss Ass
Leadership
Outdoorsman
Perception		+1 Perception = +1m Range of View
Smart Ass
Weaponsmithing

Special skills]

Name	Description
Southwestern Folklore	This skill only available to Kickstarter backers

Personal data

The final step is determining the character's personal data, including the gender, name, age (anywhere from 16 to 99 years), religion (irreligious, atheist, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Indigenous, Jewish, Mormon, Muslim, or Sikh), nationality (American, Chinese, Mexican, Native American, or Russian), and the favourite brand of cigarettes (Bones, Coffin Nails, Nico-Pops, Red Rooster, Styx, or none at all). Wasteland 2 also allows for writing a short biography, though without the possibility to break it down into paragraphs.

The final step is determining the character's 3D appearance. The player can select between different skin tones, types of hair and head gear, face textures, as well as torso, leg, and backpack models. The final touch is the portrait, which can be one of the pre-made ones, a screenshot of the 3D model or a custom one.

Wasteland 2 also permits exporting characters for later use.

Custom portrait

Custom portrait is a feature allowing the player to upload their own portrait for use by Rangers in the game. Consult this article for more information.

Deployment

Once accepted, the character is added into the party. Their initial loadout will greatly depend on their skills.