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I just won my first game and I don't know why

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machinist:
Hi!

I just won my first game (adventurer mode) and I couldn't be more ecstatic. I watched the Pwning the Early Game stream by the dev and used a similar build - legs for propulsion, semi-random assortment of EM, kinetic and thermal weapons and launchers for getting out of sticky situations. I stayed away from all branches and managed to traverse most floors by sticking to the edge of the map and hacking terminals to find the exits.

Fast forward to Access -1. This was my first time reaching this level. I started at the top of what seemed to be relatively narrow and high map, so I decided to head south to find the exit. After a lot of unsuccessful hacks I finally managed to hack the location of the final exit from a low security terminal. Luckily, it wasn't far so I headed straight there, fighting some programmers on the way without much trouble. Before I knew it, I found the final terminal. I tried hacking it to open the doors and of course, miserably failed, locking up the terminal and dispatching an investigation squad. After some head scratching I came up with a brilliant strategy - I went to the room north of the exit and started digging my way in (after some research I found I was not the only one thinking that this would work :) ). While I was desperately trying to dig the final wall, a squad of enforcers came into the room, probably investigating who the hell was trying to open the door to the surface. I finally decided to check how tough the wall was and realized that my brilliant strategy was not so brilliant after all. I welcomed the investigation squad with few volleys of proton missiles and realized I was out of ideas of how to reach the final exit. Naturally, I resorted to the almighty internet.

So it turns out you can just blast your way in from the other side. Great, a corridor south of the exit seemed to lead to the other side so I headed that way. At the end of the corridor - a behemoth. I thought for sure this was the final boss, I must defeat it and then I win, simple! So I equipped my two enhanced nova cannons and started blasting. After a prolonged fight and many lost parts the boss was finally defeated. Only then had I realized that the only thing it was guarding was an empty corridor, leading the opposite way I was trying to go. Frustrated, I started digging my way to the right side of the exit. After a short tunnel I was greeted by the real final boss - two behemoths. I was not prepared. I burned through almost all my parts when dealing with the last behemoth and to top it all of, a programmer was closing in from the tunnel I just dug. I decided to rush for the exit and started blasting my way through the force shield. With all the fire heading in my direction I was in full panic mode and after some semi-successful volleys I managed to dig through three layers of the force shield. And then my weapons got destroyed. All I was left with was some EM weapons, linear accelerators and quantum rifles, all of which couldn't penetrate the shield. Ready to give up I drove into the hole of the force shield I just made and continued to fire my remaining weapons at it, to no avail. I was sure this was my final resting place.

And then suddenly the force shield was lowered. I could see the stairs. I could also see that the two behemoths now had even better line of sight of me than before. Panic mode kicked back in and I limped behind the access shell, trying to shield myself from the oncoming fire while I figure out how to get through the shell. As I turned the corner, the shell lowered and just like that (after a few knockbacks from behemoths) I was out!

I'm so happy! And little confused, that's why I came here, seeking answers (I don't really mind spoilers).


* Why was the force shield lowered? I was sure (at the time, not so sure now) that my remaining weapons couldn't penetrate it further.
* Why was the access shell lowered? Is this done automatically when you come close or did behemoths accidentally destroy it for me?
And, if you don't mind a generic question: Where do I salvage more armor? I managed to find a bunch of it laying on the ground in the lower levels of Research, which lasted me a good while. After that I tried salvaging it from sentries by firing EM weapons at them but they only seem to drop threads and weapons.

Lastly, I hope the story wasn't too confusing. I didn't take any screenshots because I was busy biting my nails. I found this in the scores file and annotated it a bit, hope it helps  :)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Scores file: https://pastebin.com/raw/VafYa8Xh

(Edit: added scores file as a pastebin link)

Joshua:
Congrats on your first win!

I haven't seen the force shields lowered like that but guessing it may be related to this changelog entry from 9.2:


--- Code: ---* MOD: Complex 0b10 capable of remotely opening blast doors under certain additional circumstances

--- End code ---

The access shell usually does open automatically once you get close to it though. It's also quite a bit weaker so standing in front of it can cause the behemoths to blast a hole in it, too. I think that they are also strong enough to blast holes in the force shields since I've had them cut through for me before, but that wouldn't make the entire thing lower at once.

There's more than one way to get in, that's for sure.

Joshua:

--- Quote from: machinist on December 10, 2019, 03:38:31 PM ---And, if you don't mind a generic question: Where do I salvage more armor? I managed to find a bunch of it laying on the ground in the lower levels of Research, which lasted me a good while. After that I tried salvaging it from sentries by firing EM weapons at them but they only seem to drop threads and weapons.     

--- End quote ---

I forgot to answer this question before.

It's possible to find armor lying around or in haulers. Barring that, you need a way to destroy sentries / behemoths without beating up their armor too badly. Using EM to corrupt them is an effective way, especially with 4 gamma rifles. Others would be to use armor integrity analyzers or core analyzers (or piercing melee weapons) to bypass damaging the armor too badly to salvage it. Finally, Plasma Cutters / Imp. Plasma Cutters can be easy to miss but adding one at the top of your weapon volley when fighting at close range makes a big difference in salvage. Hope this helps.

Kyzrati:
Congratulations, machinist!

Note that you can also attach your full scoresheet since the new format is too long to copy the entirety to a post--it cut the rest off. (Also if you're uploading scores, at the end of your scoresheet would be a link to its online version.)

Nice to see an annotated map of your surroundings at the end, first time I've seen someone using that new scoresheet content like that :D

The inner access shell generally automatically opens when you approach it. It's the outer barriers on either side which require you to find other ways through, either by blasting or hacking.

machinist:
Thanks Joshua and Kyzrati for helpful tips. I can't wait to explore more of the game.

Kyzrati, regarding the scoresheets: I noticed but didn't want to add it as an attachment as I always found forum attachments a little janky. And I doubt I can upload the scores online as I'm playing the DRM-free version. So here is a pastebin link instead: https://pastebin.com/raw/VafYa8Xh

Btw, I love the scoresheet feature and the game in general, great work!

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