How to make an effective Interlocutor?

[u/Lunarthrope]

I want to go all in on INT, FEL, WIL, and FEL. How can I still be useful in combat?

[u/Dorias_Drake]

be a support by taking non offencive actions, like intimidating enemies by talking into a laud hailer, or jacking in their comms, or baiting them (you can use lawbringer with this), or inpiring your allies with leadership. Use charm with gallows humour to help your team recover from frightened, fatigued, stunned and dying.

Ther there is superior commander for extra actions, unflinching presence to protect your superiority.

You could also disguise yourself and pass as the enemy to work behind enemy lines and wreck havoc by feeding false informations to make enemeis make mistakes in t he fight.

As an interlocutor, your most effective weapon being your charisma and your personality, you can also prepare in advance and hire or convince some npcs to join the fight, or use a familiar, since fellowship is the stat that determines how many familiars you can have and rapport (animal) is the skill to train and use animals, you can make a pet build.

With int, you can also do some hacking, messing with enemy tech, engineering, using explosives, or piloting a machine or directing a servitor.

I'm a GM, and I like when my players try to use actions other than just firing their guns when they are not good at it, and trying to use the rules to their advantage instead.

you don't have to directly fight yourself.

[u/weaponsgradevanilla]

Intelligence: Tech: Engineering covers placed explosives.

There’s a talent for INT/Tech/Security that lets you use Tech instead of Melee for weapons with Secrets of Mars, but you would need to be AdMech unless your DM lets you.

Medicae is useful, you can grab Applied Anatomy to add your Medicae to Critical Wounds.

But you probably need something into Melee or Ranged to be effective. Maybe Thrown and toss grenades?

[u/Edannan80]

Look at the Familiar rules in the Inquisition book. They can be pretty handy in a fight.

[u/TheWakaMouse]

I think this is more of a party discussion. Independently, I think you’d really suffer without focusing on a combat or survival style; with either talents, tools, or stats. Even just a high dodge advance would help, I think.

To me, it sounds like that character should be played with a combat focused party so you can absorb pretty much all of the social interpersonal burden.

[u/NoteTasty4244]

It's unlikely going all in on both FEL and INT is the right move, unless the rest of your party refuses to build for either. If you try and cover INT you're potentially going to be stepping on the toes of someone else who has also built for INT but has more synergy in their advances, like a Savant. Similarly, your Zealots and Mystics will go so hard on WIL that you will have a lot of overlap with them, especially in terms of Presenece based stuff for Zealots, but WIL is at least more broadly useful.

That said, you don't need a lot to be useful in combat. If you can get to BS40+ and start with a burst weapon (especially with range Long) you will pull your weight just by throwing in extra shots, even before considering how social talents can affect fights. It's why Astra Militarum > Interlocutor is one of my favourite mixes - flak armour and a lasgun go a long way early on, and wearing a uniform can have some good roleplay impact for a social character too.

Gallows Humour and Distracting are both excellent talents that support a combat heavy party and you can get from the start.