Cogmind > Strategies
Super Hacking For Suicidal Robots
Arseface:
This isn't a sure-fire win, or in a lot of cases even a good way of doing things. But it's fun. If you manage to get past the initial difficulty hump and fabricate your loadout things get very funny very fast.
The idea is to use only two weapon slots, Datajack and Remote Datajack. Once you get 3-4 Hacking suites you should be able to consistently reboot threats. Solo threats you can even try to assimilate! The Remote Datajack takes a hefty amount of matter to use, so overload non-hostiles when you get low.
Floor -11
Make darn sure you get a matter storage unit off the roaming ks. If possible, a regular storage unit off the rs.
Aside from that everything else is self explanatory.
Floor -10
This is probably the most important floor in getting set up.
Combat
Normal, kill every G, Y, s, o, and r you come across. If you can kill the ws, but they're annoying so don't feel it's necessary.
Every other unit you want to keep alive in case you get a datajack. When/if you do make sure to bump into them whenever they happen to be adjacent. Parse them for fun, the important bit is increasing familiarity.
Terminal Use
The important part of the level. Avoid getting locked out at all costs.
Commands should be input in this order.
Schematic(Hacking Suite) till success
Schematic(Remote Datajack) till success
These commands can take 2 floors to get. Don't sweat it if you don't get both by the end of the floor. If you happen to make it this far you can either try to fabricate on this floor or collect more useful schematics.
Useful commands in no particular order.
Schematic(Imp. Datajack) If you want to beef up your hacking game earlier
Schematic(Imp. Hacking Suite) Hard to download before you get hacking suites, but the upgrade is nice.
Schematic(Hcp. Matter Storage Unit) If you don't have one yet
Schematic(Hcp. Storage Unit) If you don't have at least a medium yet
Schematic(Insert propulsion here) If you want easy access to your preferred propulsion
Index(Fabricators) Getting the initial hacking suites helps a lot
Index(Scanalyzers) Scanning is easier than downloading schematics, if you have something you want on tap use these
Item Management
Until you get your bot army up to haul things for you, you'll need a storage unit.
Matter storage units are mandatory for any fabrication-based strategy. Thankfully everything you're making is cheap, Hcp. is ideal but you can make do with a med. More than one of anything but small is a waste.
When to ascend
Stay on this floor as long as possible hitting the terminals and non-hostiles as much as you can to increase familiarity. Get out when you hit double digit core integrity, not before.
Upgrades
If you feel like you'll get the remote jack by the end of -9
Utility x2
If you're a pansy
Power
Propulsion
Floor -9
The hard part. You won't have your hacking potential fully realized yet and ambushes can really mess you up.
Fabricating is the focus on this floor, make sure you find the fabbers fast and make sure you don't get locked out. You need at least 2 hacking suites by the end of this floor as well as a remote jack. If you've got those you should be set for the road ahead. A backup jack and spare matter are absurdly helpful as well
Avoid combat at this point, clearing the floor of hostiles is no longer a priority since you don't want to camp this floor. Reboot hostiles since the overload chances will be super slim, kill them with an off-weapon while they're down. Melee weapons tend to be the cheapest, but anything works. You have around 20 turns of them not hitting back.
Choke points are your friend. You can reboot something in a doorway to act as a roadblock for non-fliers if swarmed.
Upgrades
If you didn't take the power/propulsion before you can take it here. If you have enough hacking suites utility is better, but if you're running on empty go safe.
You should have either
Power 1
Propulsion 2
Utility 6
Weapon 2
or
Power 2
Propulsion 3
Utility 4
Weapon 2
Beyond Floor -9
At this point you can start branching out. 4 hacking/improved hacking suites are the goal, keep that in mind. If you have the hacking parts you can start building an army out of hijacked robots. Non-hostiles become walking matter storage and hostiles become your weapon slots. If you've got the 6 utility slots you can opt for power armor or a scanner.
I wouldn't delve into weapon upgrades/utilities unless you have to rebuild. 2 spare weapons is more than sufficient for most combat when your jacks are down, and the extra utility slots will save your like more often than a gauss rifle will.
You want a spare remote datajack in your inventory if possible. Matter storage units are helpful since it chews through matter. Make sure to overload non-hostiles when you run low.
biomatter:
I totally have to try this at some point! For now, though, I am still perfecting stealth runs.
FYI, a 'Deep Network Scanner' boosts the strength of indirect hacks by 10%. I actually read the manual (gasp) and found out that 'indirect hacks' basically means any time you use a manual command to pull something not off the given list. I am not sure if Hacking Suites affect indirect hacks, given that knowledge. I really don't know, though they probably help.
Also, more Data Jacks = more better. If you fire off multiple jacks in a volley, you get a bonus to hacking. That's... that's in the manual too... It's pretty neat, actually.
ironpotato:
--- Quote from: biomatter on May 28, 2015, 12:52:03 PM ---I totally have to try this at some point! For now, though, I am still perfecting stealth runs.
FYI, a 'Deep Network Scanner' boosts the strength of indirect hacks by 10%. I actually read the manual (gasp) and found out that 'indirect hacks' basically means any time you use a manual command to pull something not off the given list. I am not sure if Hacking Suites affect indirect hacks, given that knowledge. I really don't know, though they probably help.
Also, more Data Jacks = more better. If you fire off multiple jacks in a volley, you get a bonus to hacking. That's... that's in the manual too... It's pretty neat, actually.
--- End quote ---
I became about 2x better at the game after reading the manual. There's a lot of nifty info in there, and reading between the lines, like on the indirect hacks thing, also helps fill in some holes.
I've been going terminal hacking heavy already I should really try this. I haven't had much luck with the gaining of minions, but maybe that's my next task.
Arseface:
--- Quote from: ironpotato on May 28, 2015, 02:23:06 PM ---I've been going terminal hacking heavy already I should really try this. I haven't had much luck with the gaining of minions, but maybe that's my next task.
--- End quote ---
Assimilating is super risky. If you're below a 35% chance to do something to a robot, chances are you shouldn't do it. Rebooting is a lot safer and almost as good as an overload if you're carrying a spare weapon.
One of the benefits of hacking builds is later on you get to fabricate combat allies. Terminal hacks are for schematics, robot hacks are for reboots unless they're non-combatant. Then you can assimilate them to act as roaming spare parts.
jpka:
I developed this same strategy on my own, actually. It's really fun. A tip: Playing it safe can make a single interactive machine (terms, fabs) last forever and give you all that your heart desires. If you disconnect before trace is complete and wait 50 turns you get another shot at it. After the first time you access a machine you can get a new trace going as soon as you reconnect, but you can always wait 50 more turns and try again if that happens. You still can't get the best stuff on -10 because the fabs won't let you make stuff with high rating (above 4 I think), but you can sure download pretty high tier schematics (don't know if there is a limit on this as well).
A burning doubt, tho: Footprint analyzers? What do they DO exactly??? From the description it will seem they do exactly the same thing you do on your own, but that is impossible, right????
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