Sometimes you get lucky

[Joshua]

... and the complex totally destroys your plans.

I started off this run intending to do a trapping build, with some questions in the forums about how rewiring traps work and hopes of finding or hacking schematics for a Trap Extractor. I had seen Valguris use traps to great effect in his stream but more importantly, my gallery is only at 85% and I figure getting all the trap items must be good for at least another percent or two.

Well, my hacking build went pretty much out the window by -5, with my flight units blown off, sensors gone (though I still had the processors to go with them) and I decided to go to a branch that I knew led to more hackware.

The rest is increasingly spoilerific:

Spoiler

Before fleeing to Extension I had grabbed some treads, I think, and a couple guns, which I hoped would be enough to build an army and get through. Normally I use hacking to open the doors there, this is the first time I have brought thermal weapons powerful enough to melt them, and I did quite well, rescuing A7 on the left side and making quite a few other friends, enough to take on the B's and Y's in the middle and win. I had also picked up an Imp. Targeting Computer that, while it reached red integrity quickly, lasted for a surprising number of floors. I picked up more allies on the right side and went to Cetus, knocking out the guards and stealing their treads and Adv. Variable Charge Guns.

At some point in Cetus A7 lost his weapons and his AI became somewhat deranged, running towards the Cetus Guards instead of hanging around back for his Remote Shield to help the rest of the army.

I met another robot at Cetus and decided to head back to factory instead of messing around with archives, since my new army and combat equipment seemed like a more likely way to go than hacking on treads.

The army did not last very long but was enough to take out a few patrols and luck into an exit to Research.

Even more spoilers below:

In Research I was a bit surprised when machinery started exploding and the robot from Cetus reappeared leveled up, asking for/insisting on Cogmind's aid. (I am not sure if he always appears near where you start; I missed him on a previous run when his army invaded from all the exits, but I couldn't find him. That run was flight and hacking so I think I might have left the starting position too quickly to meet him.)

Here I made a big mistake: I was curious whether he and his army would follow me to the next level, so I left when I stumbled onto an early exit near my starting point instead of taking the opportunity to rebuild much. I believe I did find a cache of nice Cmb. Gravmag units either on -4 or -3 though which lasted a long time and helped immensely with the rest of the game.

He didn't appear to follow, though, which was disappointing, and I immediately realized the opportunity I had wasted.

I fought through -2 and stumbled on an exit guarded by a warden and a large patrol of grunts (probably two patrols, actually), which I managed to get through though with hardly any weapons left. (At one point in this game I was reduced to ramming a programmer with hover because I ran out of matter to attach my remaining weapons.) It turned out to lead to Testing!

And another surprise, apparently the robot from Cetus was with me in spirit, because machinery started exploding in Testing... is that normal?

For a while I had had a second Adv. Sensor Array I had found, but no signal interpreter - they are still quite useful even though you can run into hunters without a good signal interpreter. But here is where I lucked out and testing gave me both an Adv. Signal Interpeter and a Lrn. Sensor Array, which lasted the rest of the game. Hurrah! The infowar build was back.

I also picked up some light arms in the form of two two-slot ballistic cannons and also a two slot thermal cannon which I didn't even end up using. One of the cannons is quite hilarious and managed to take care of a number of patrols well into Access.

Nothing very interesting happened in Access. My hover build lasted all this way and made most things easy to handle. I stumbled into several hunter patrols here and aggro'd a Behemoth while perforating one of them (oops), but handily escaped into a Programmer patrol, at which point that weapon died. I ran away until I found the exit, still with almost complete health (I think I had 1586 integrity or so) and the Lrn. Sensor Array, decided to fool around a bit with the Behemoths (following Kyzrati's example) and left.

Surprisingly, though it seemed like I blew up a lot of stuff, I ended up with a lower score than on some of my stealth wins.

[close]

Lessons learned:
Adaptation is the key to victory. It may be fun to try to stick with a certain build but it also makes the game a lot harder. Now that I'm more familiar with what's necessary, combat certainly has many more useful utilities than hacking -- in hacking if you don't find the few things you need you're sunk. In particular hacking suites but for trapping you also need a trap extractor and probably a datajack and significant storage. (I do wonder if disarming traps from a terminal is enough to be able to extract them, but I wasn't able to try it.) And if you lose them your build is busted. In combat all sorts of utilities can make your build more survivable and it is considerably easier to find replacements. I had a couple Imp. Weapon Cyclers that lasted for quite a while and they made a very noticeable difference.

Also, combat can be a lot more fun for some reason.

I certainly lucked out with several nice caches of hover units.

Paying attention to your integrity, energy, and matter is quite important. The warnings flashing in the middle of the screen are nice but I find them hard to read before they disappear in the middle of everything else going on in a combat. I paid more careful attention to what I had equipped and how well it was doing this time, and it appears it paid off.

Spoiler

Some of the things you find in Testing are more practical than others. The Perforator is awesome (matter usage aside, but when you can take out a patrol in a few shots and claim their matter...), the Omega Cannon, not so much. And the Potential Cannons are not nearly as practical since they take so much energy and produce so much heat.

[close]

Scoresheet:

Spoiler

Cogmind - Beta 5 @@@ ROGUELIKE MODE

Name: Joshua

---[ ESCAPED! ]---

Performance
-------------
Evolutions (9)             4500
Robots Destroyed (171)     855
Value Destroyed (7738)     7738
Prototype IDs (32)         640
Alien Tech Used (0)        0
Bonus (13604)              13604
              TOTAL SCORE: 27337

Cogmind
---------
Core Integrity             1372/1600
Matter                     300/300
Energy                     352/2395
System Corruption          12%
Temperature                Cool (
Location                   To Epsilon Eridani

Parts
-------
Power (2)
  Micro Fission Core
  Antimatter Reactor
Propulsion (6)
  Improved Antigrav System
  Improved Antigrav System
  Cooled Antigrav System
  Cooled Antigrav System
  Combat Antigrav System
  Combat Antigrav System
Utility (13)
  Experimental Heat Sink
  Advanced Cooling System
  Advanced Coolant Injector
  Large Storage Unit
  Experimental Energy Well
  Experimental Energy Well
  Advanced Signal Interpreter
  Advanced Targeting Computer
  Advanced Armor Integrity Analyzer
  Experimental Transmission Jammer
  Heavy Reflective Plating
Weapon (4)
  Gamma Rifle
  Multirail
  Omega Cannon
Inventory (10)
  Micro Fission Core
  Micro Fission Core
  Improved Antigrav System
  Advanced Heat Sink
  Gamma Rifle
  Long-range Proton Cannon
  Improved Potential Cannon
  Gamma Bomb Array
  Nanosword

Peak State
------------
Power
  Micro Fission Core
  Antimatter Reactor
Propulsion
  Improved Antigrav System
  Cooled Antigrav System
  Cooled Antigrav System
  Cooled Antigrav System
  Combat Antigrav System
  Combat Antigrav System
Utility
  Experimental Heat Sink
  Advanced Cooling System
  Advanced Coolant Injector
  Large Storage Unit
  Experimental Energy Well
  Experimental Energy Well
  Advanced Signal Interpreter
  Advanced Targeting Computer
  Advanced Armor Integrity Analyzer
  Improved Weapon Cycler
  Experimental Transmission Jammer
  Centrium Medium Armor Plating
  Advanced Force Field
Weapon
  Phase Gun
  Multirail
  Omega Cannon
Inventory
  Micro Fission Core
  Micro Fission Core
  Advanced Heat Sink
  Long-range Sensor Array
  Gamma Rifle
  Long-range Proton Cannon
  Improved Potential Cannon
  Gamma Bomb Array
  Nanosword
[Rating: 200]

Favorites
-----------
Power                      Micro Nuclear Core
  Engine                   Light Ion Engine
  Power Core               Micro Nuclear Core
  Reactor                  Light Quantum Reactor
Propulsion                 Combat Antigrav System
  Treads                   Centrium Heavy Treads
  Wheel                    Compact Wheel
  Leg                      Flexi-carbon Leg
  Hover Unit               Combat Antigrav System
  Flight Unit              Cesium-ion Thruster
Utility                    Advanced Heat Sink
  Device                   Advanced Heat Sink
  Storage                  Medium Storage Unit
  Processor                Advanced Signal Interpreter
  Hackware                 System Shield
  Protection               Centrium Medium Armor Plating
Weapon                     Axe
  Energy Gun               Advanced Variable Charge Gun
  Energy Cannon            Cooled Nova Cannon
  Ballistic Gun            Light Assault Rifle
  Ballistic Cannon         Perforator
  Launcher                 Proton Missile Launcher
  Slashing Weapon          Axe
  Special Melee Weapon     Datajack

Stats
-------
Bonus Breakdown            13604
  High Alert Combat Kills  971
  Follower Combat Kills    2549
  Met Imprinter            300
  Built Enhanced Grunts    300
  Met R17 at Cetus         500
  Met R17 at Research      2000
  Win                      3000
  Win Speed                4004
  Friendly Fire            -20
Classes Destroyed          15
  Worker                   12
  Builder                  6
  Hauler                   7
  Recycler                 14
  Mechanic                 1
  Operator                 3
  Watcher                  11
  Swarmer                  22
  Grunt                    26
  Duelist                  3
  Protector                1
  Sentry                   19
  Hunter                   18
  Programmer               25
  Behemoth                 3
Major NPCs Destroyed       0
Best Kill Streak           14
  Combat Bots Only         7
Best States                0
  Heat Dissipation         128
  Coolant Potential        100
  Energy Generation        45
  Energy Capacity          2395
  Matter Stores            300
  Matter Capacity          300
  Sight Range              22
  Robot Scan Range         20
  Terrain Scan Range       18
  Terrain Scan Density     210
  Jamming Range            22
  EM Shielding             2
  Armor Coverage           600
  Resistance: TH           25
  Core Shielding           30
  Weapon Cycling           40
  Phase Shifting           20
  Evasion (%)              81
  Targeting Accuracy       16
  Core Analysis            10
  Armor Integrity Analysis 66
  Recoil Reduction         4
  Energy Filtering         50
  Salvage Targeting        1
  Datajack Penetration     35
  Offensive Hacking        10
  Defensive Hacking        24
Matter Collected           6605
  Salvage Created          9253
Parts Attached             312
  Power                    25
  Propulsion               54
  Utility                  134
  Weapon                   99
Parts Lost                 77
  Power                    13
  Propulsion               19
  Utility                  22
  Weapon                   23
Average Slot Usage (%)     92
  Naked Turns              0
Spaces Moved               11744
  Fastest Speed (%)        357
  Average Speed (%)        165
  Slowest Speed (%)        14
  Overloaded Moves         0
  Propulsion Burnouts      0
  Targets Rammed           3
  Targets Kicked           0
  Targets Crushed          0
  Cave-ins Triggered       0
Heaviest Build             109
  Greatest Support         160
  Greatest Overweight (x)  35
  Average Overweight (x)   1
Largest Inventory          16
  Average Capacity         9
  Most Carried             16
  Average Carried          9
  Final Capacity           10
  Final Carried            10
Damage Taken               13183
  Core                     1778
  Absorbed by Shields      2736
Average Core Remaining (%) 79
  Depth 11 Exit            100
  Depth 10 Exit            88
  Depth 9 Exit             41
  Depth 8 Exit             67
  Depth 7 Exit             81
  Depth 6 Exit             83
  Depth 5 Exit             57
  Depth 4 Exit             92
  Depth 3 Exit             96
  Depth 2 Exit             81
  Depth 1 Exit             85
Volleys Fired              475
  Largest                  4
  Hottest                  381
Shots Fired                861
  Gun                      334
  Cannon                   507
  Launcher                 20
  Special                  0
  Kinetic                  169
  Thermal                  443
  Explosive                6
  Electromagnetic          243
  Secondary Targets        0
Shots Hit Robots           624
  Core Hits                364
  Critical Hits            96
  Critical Kills           24
  Critical Parts Destroyed 61
Overload Shots             3
  Energy Bleed             0
  Heat Surge               0
  Short Circuit            0
  Meltdown                 0
Melee Attacks              194
  Impact                   0
  Slashing                 194
  Piercing                 0
  Sneak Attacks            3
  Follow-up Attacks        0
Damage Inflicted           22754
  Projectiles              16559
  Explosions               3546
  Melee                    2617
  Ramming                  32
  Kinetic                  4702
  Thermal                  9415
  Explosive                925
  Electromagnetic          5063
  Impact                   0
  Slashing                 2617
  Piercing                 0
Overflow Damage            176
  Projectiles              50
  Explosions               74
  Melee                    52
Self-Inflicted Damage      429
  Shots                    12
  Rammed                   3
Highest Temperature        608
  Average Temperature      108
  Received Heat Transfer   1478
  Shutdowns                6
  Energy Bleed             5
  Interference             10
  Matter Decay             1
  Damage (minor)           1
  Damage (major)           5
Highest Corruption         12
  Average Corruption       4
  Corruption Purged        0
  Message Errors           30
  Matter Fused             35
  Heat Flow Error          21
  Energy Discharge         15
  Parts Rejected           2
  Data loss (database)     13
  Misfires                 4
  Alerts                   1
  Misdirections            7
  Targeting Errors         26
  Weapon Failures          4
  Depth 7 End              2
  Depth 6 End              1
  Depth 5 End              6
  Depth 4 End              3
  Depth 2 End              5
  Depth 1 End              12
  Impact Corruptions       0
Haulers Intercepted        7
Robots Corrupted           8
  Parts Fried              48
  Impact Corruptions       0
Robots Melted              0
  Parts Melted             22
  Heat Transferred         9894
Parts Sabotaged            0
Parts Stolen               0
Parts Stripped             0
Parts Self-Destructed      17
  Prevented                3
Power Chain Reactions      13
Communications Jammed      5
Times Spotted              329
  Peak Tracking Total      14
  Tactical Retreats        41
Parts Field Recycled       0
  Retrieved Matter         0
Parts Merge Repaired       0
Drone Launches             0
  Drone Recoveries         0
Traps Triggered            11
  Indirectly               0
Trap Hack Attempts         24
  Triggered                0
  Disarmed                 0
  Reprogrammed             1
  Reused                   0
Traps Extracted            0
  Installed                0
  Triggered                1
Machines Disabled          36
Machines Sabotaged         0
Data Cores Recovered       1
  Used                     1
Machines Hacked            69
  Terminals                52
  Fabricators              3
  Repair Stations          3
  Recycling Units          1
  Scanalyzers              3
  Garrison Access          6
Total Hacks                208
  Successful               88
  Failed                   118
  Catastrophic             25
  Database Lockouts        1
  Manual                   114
  Unauthorized             79
  Terminals                157
  Fabricators              13
  Repair Stations          4
  Recycling Units          4
  Scanalyzers              16
  Garrison Access          12
Terminal Hacks             30
  Part Schematic           2
  Robot Analysis           2
  Open Door                4
  Level Access Points      1
  Branch Access Points     1
  Terminal Index           2
  Alert Level              3
  Unreport Threat          6
  Locate Traps             3
  Dispatch Records         1
  Recall Investigation     2
  Recall Reinforcements    2
Hacking Detections         63
  Full Trace Events        7
  Feedback Events          0
  Feedback Corruption      0
  Feedback Hackware Fried  0
  Feedback Blocked         0
Trojans Installed          38
  Terminals                34
  Fabricators              3
  Repair Stations          1
  Recycling Units          0
  Scanalyzers              0
  Garrison Access          0
Fabricators Overloaded     0
Fabricator Schematic DLs   0
Garrisons Disabled         2
Garrisons Compromised      0
Fab Network Shutdowns      0
Robot Schematics Acquired  0
  Robots Built             0
  Total Robot Build Rating 0
  Robot Fabrication Matter 0
  Robot Fabrication Time   0
Part Schematics Acquired   9
  Parts Built              2
  Total Part Build Rating  6
  Part Fabrication Matter  255
  Part Fabrication Time    109
Parts Repaired             0
  Part Repair Time         0
Parts Recycled             0
  Recycled Matter          0
  Retrieved Matter         0
  Retrieved Components     0
Parts Scanalyzed           8
  Part Schematics Acquired 7
  Parts Damaged            0
Robot Analysis Total       2
Robots Rewired             15
Robots Hacked              0
  Non-combat               0
  Combat                   0
Robot Hack Failures        0
Allies Hacked              0
Hacks Repelled             0
Total Allies               27
  Largest Group            13
  Highest-Rated Group      710
  Highest-Rated Ally       156
Total Orders               4
  GOTO                     2
  FOLLOW                   2
Terraforming Orders        0
  Walls Tunneled           0
Ally Attacks               409
  Total Damage             10755
  Kills                    64
Allies Corrupted           1
Allies Melted              0
Peak Influence             1486
  Average Influence        326
  Final Influence          151
Maximum Alert Level        4
  Low Security (%)         38
  Level 1                  32
  Level 2                  19
  Level 3                  5
  Level 4                  5
  Level 5                  0
Triggered High Security    0
  Turns                    0
Squads Dispatched          38
  Investigation            11
  Extermination            12
  Reinforcement            11
  Assault                  4
  Garrison                 0
  Intercept                0
Derelict Logs Recovered    7
Scrap Searched             5
Exploration Rate (%)       32
  Regions Visited          18
  Pre-discovered Areas     4
Garrisons Visited          0
  Relays Disabled          0
  Generators Disabled      0
Network Hubs Disabled      0
Actions Taken              14421
Turns Passed               12484
  Depth 11                 3
  Depth 10                 453
  Depth 9                  839
  Depth 8                  560
  Depth 7                  996
  Depth 6                  2140
  Depth 5                  2988
  Depth 4                  875
  Depth 3                  409
  Depth 2                  1264
  Depth 1                  1957
  Scrapyard                3
  Materials                1852
  Factory                  2732
  Research                 926
  Access                   1957
  Lower Caves              1266
  Proximity Caves          798
  Zion                     579
  Extension                1290
  Cetus                    334
  Testing                  747

Prototype IDs
---------------
Advanced Myomer Leg
Cooled Antigrav System
Improved Flight Unit
Improved VTOL Module
Experimental Heat Sink
Improved Energy Well
Experimental Energy Well
Precision Energy Filter
Experimental Actuator Array
Experimental Transmission Jammer
Centrium Medium Armor Plating
Experimental System Shield
Gamma Rifle
Improved Spread Laser
Cooled Plasma Rifle
Warp Gun
Heavy Quantum Rifle
Advanced Beam Cannon
Long-range Phase Cannon
Potential Cannon
Cooled Nova Cannon
Improved Potential Cannon
Improved Assault Rifle
Enhanced Coil Gun
Multirail
Perforator
Omega Cannon
Ionic Axe
Nanosword

Fabricated
------------
1x Hacking Suite (-4/Factory)
1x Hacking Suite (-4/Factory)

Alien Tech Used
-----------------
None

Route
-------
-11/Scrapyard
-10/Materials (discovered 2 exits: *Mat / [*Min])
-9/Materials
-8/Materials
-7/Factory (discovered 7 exits: *Fac x3 / *Sto x2 / *Low x2)
-6/Factory
-6/Lower Caves
-6/Lower Caves
-6/Zion
-5/Proximity Caves
-5/Factory (discovered 3 exits: *Upp x2 / *Ext)
-5/Extension (discovered 2 exits: *Fac / *Cet)
-5/Cetus (discovered 2 exits: *Fac / [*Arc])
-4/Factory
-3/Research
-2/Research
-2/Testing
-1/Access
To Epsilon Eridani

Challenges
------------
None

Game
------
Seed: DirtyStasisRegulator
  Manual?: 0
Play Time: 368 min
  Cumulative: 13863 min
Sessions: 18
Easy Mode: 0
Game No.: 154
  Easier: 0
  Easiest: 0
Win Type: 0
  Total: 17
  Types: 13/0/1/3/0/0/0
Lore%: 88
Gallery%: 85

Options
---------
ASCII: 0
Keyboard: 1
Movement: Vi
Kebinds: 0
Fullscreen: 1
Font: 12/Smallcaps
Map View: 83x54
FOV Handling: Fade In
Map Filters: NONE
Filters: NONE
Steam: 0

U=405710321
R=201220482

[close]

[Kyzrati]

Combat has its perks in terms of fun . Regarding your score, it's lower because you didn't destroy that many robots compared to a normal full-combat win, less than 200 as opposed to the usual 400~800. That and you can also really rack up bonus points by doing a lot of the destruction at higher alert levels, but you got less than 1k bonus points there.

decided to fool around a bit with the Bs (following Kyzrati's example) and left.

I love doing that, since you're already relatively safe and get to play with them when in general they're usually best avoided

Regarding your special weapon finds, while P is good and I agree the OC is not great, once you learn how to use PotCan they are easily one of the best weapons in the game, preferable over even P.