Armor vs mitigation and general defense qu's

[Larco]

So is VH basically about killing them before they kill you - and not getting hit? Or is it possible to tank up (a bit) using cyberware, perks etc? If so, do you prioritise mitigation or armor, and what's good?

For info, I'm (so far) mainly running reflex - cool - tech that sort of stuff. Relatively low body. Not staggeringly optimised or anything, just what's fun. Not even running a sandi - still using a deck. With 4 int cough.

Anyway, just hit 40 and the last few levels I've felt pretty squishy - snipers wreck me if I don't get them first - so thought Id play around with different cyberware configurations now the orange stuff opened up. Thing is, just testing different set ups with the cops outside the ripper doc, I'm not noticing much difference even going from something like 300 armor to over a thousand.

Is armor just worthless (at least on vh)? Is full body where it's at - I looked at the perks and they didn't look that strong tbh. Or is mitigation worth building into? What are people doing to get a bit of staying power.

[Mist of Majora]

So I can only speak for a run my friend and I have made:
My Build: I'm currently a tech/cool build that's slowly working up the body tree now, and am mostly just grabbing mitigation when I can. I'm currently sitting at roughly 35% mitigation and 75% mitigation strength, and it helps by itself, but I think there's better main focuses.

That being said, when paired with Adrenaline Rush in the Body tree that I got recently, I don't think I've seen my health dip below 130 (and I only have 400 health). Every time I get in trouble at 130, it seems they can barely hit me, and then I get my Rush and my health doubles. The two pair really well for me.

My Friend's Build: Pure Armor. Apparently has over 1000 armor and literally just face tanks everything. It's really OP, but with that kind of invincibility, your mileage may vary as to whether that's fun for you.

[Larco]

Thanks, that's good to know. I think I may have been a wee bit guilty of thinking, I've got 1000+ armor and I'm going to just face tank maxtax. Prob not a good idea anytime.

Ive ended up going for a mix of armor and some more mitigation. I mainly rely on mobility but yeah (when not charging a bunch of max tax) it does feel significantly less squishy now.

Kind of umming and ahing about body. Tbh Id rather put pts into damage stuff, play a fast paced run and gun game. I got so tanky my first run you're right, it just wasn't fun. We'll see though. Seems like body is almost meta now.

[zpc]

I always go for high armor, high mitigation, high mitigation strength, adrenalinem body 20, tech 20, cool 20. Pretty tanky if combined with some additional cyberware. Something is always triggering to save V's ass while recklessly gunning everyone down

These days I also skip the cyberdeck for berserker / sandevistan. It's yet another oh-♥♥♥♥-button - berserker even makes you invinsible.

[Mist of Majora]

Originally posted by Larco:

Thanks, that's good to know. I think I may have been a wee bit guilty of thinking, I've got 1000+ armor and I'm going to just face tank maxtax. Prob not a good idea anytime.

Ive ended up going for a mix of armor and some more mitigation. I mainly rely on mobility but yeah (when not charging a bunch of max tax) it does feel significantly less squishy now.

Kind of umming and ahing about body. Tbh Id rather put pts into damage stuff, play a fast paced run and gun game. I got so tanky my first run you're right, it just wasn't fun. We'll see though. Seems like body is almost meta now.

Just as an afterthought to what you and zpc said, the only thing I think is 'meta' right now is getting enough Tech for the Cyberware abilities, like you alluded to in your OP. In general, the new update is tailor-made to revolve around the different types of cyberware.

As an example, I started this run as a throwing knife build, then i started cleaning up the gangs solely with quickhacks with 4 points in Intelligence like you (something that was definitely NOT possible pre-2.0 haha), then tried blades and the projectile launcher, then fists, and now im using tech guns and grenades. I maxed Tech & Cool first, and finally went into Body and maxed that the other day - it definitely wasn't needed for survival, but it definitely helps (especially on the highest difficulty) haha.

Basically my point is... cyberware can give you a LOT of flexibility if you want to try out different builds, and if you really need to max your stats, you still have your free skill/attribute reset too. Hope that helps!