(minor spoilers) Why monowire can be a netrunners best friend...

[ShelLuser]

Hi gang!

Small backstory / context

I'm playing as a female streetkid and right now I'm a bit of an allrounder. Because I got quickly intruiged with the overal Asian influences you get at the start I quickly focussed on using a katana and later on moved towards the Mantis blades.

Right now I'm before the "point of no return" at level 50/50 with 20 reflexes, 15 tech (mainly for crafting), 13 on body and intelligence and finally 10 cool (from mind, could be one or two points off).

Having eddies to burn (300k+) I decided to try the monowire to see what it's all about and honestly? I'm sold :) So I wanted to share my experiences.

Also... I know this subject has been addressed multiple times already... meh, I just felt like sharing my own.

What is Mantis & monowire all about?

For the newer players amongst us: both are cybernetic arm implants which you can use to get an extra weapon aka means of defense. Mantis blades, as their name implies, are basically two huge "knifes" that have been attached to your arm thus allowing you to hack and slash away at enemies as well as fend off melee attacks by crossing them before you.

The monowire then is a small attachment to your arms which contains, well, a powered wire. You can use the wire to reflect incoming melee attacks by holding it between both of your hands and of course also use it to attack enemies.

So what is a "netrunner"?

This is actually an important detail... A netrunner is someone who is capable of using the Net to hack into enemies through the use of "quickhacks". These can be installed if you have a so called cyberdeck set up. Quickhacks can vary between trying to overheat someone right down to doing a full system reset (this will render 'm unconcious) and/or making someone commit suicide.

There are many perks available, some can actually make a quickhack "jump" onto 1 - 2 other enemies nearby so making it effective against small groups as well.

However, you always have some limitations to work around. RAM size, RAM replenishing and of course... the time it takes to upload a quickhack.

Simply put: quickhacks are very useful against (semi) single enemies but they won't save you from an full scale onslaught by a whole horde of enemies.

Monowire vs. Mantis blades....

The main and most important difference is that the Mantis blades are useful against single enemies. Yah, you can have nice perks which allow you to quickly leap towards a new enemy but even so: you'll always be fighting enemies one on one.

Meaning that while you slash away others will most likely be emptying their guns at you, thus probably causing you quite some damage over time. Nothing which some pushback or other meds can't fix, but... from my experience it's easy to get carried away and focus more on neutralizing enemies than keeping an eye on your healthbar.

If you have high reflexes this doesn't have to be a problem perse, but if you get swarmed then things can turn sour really quick. Also depending on your build of course....

Monowire then has several advantages.... first it can be used to attack both single but also groups of hostiles. When some enemies are standing relatively close to each other one sweep with the wire can severely hurt (sometimes even kill!) several at the same time. Another huge advantage is that it can be used as a ranged weapon too!

So if an enemy who is a few feet away is about to spot you while you need to replenish RAM... then you may just as well slash at him with the wire. It can actually become a relatively quiet kill too (especially if you behead someone ).

It also has some cosmetic advantages!

Now, this is a non-issue of course but... I like to roleplay a bit in this game. When I go to bed I actually take off some of my clothes or hop into other more comfy ones, stuff like that. When it makes sense for a mission to slip into something else, even if this has a negative impact on my overall armor, then I'd still do it.

Like how I posed as an escort at one time, I made sure to have some kind of sexy outfit to match it too ;)

So... the thing about Mantis blades is that they always stick out. Here, just see for yourself:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2942750157
Always fun in bed... "Sorry hun, I acccidentally sliced the bed in half again. I'll make it up to you! ".

Monowire on the other hand is always fully hidden underneath your clothes, unless of course you take it out to activate it ;)

In conclusion....

Now, don't pick up my post in the wrong way. I'm not saying that monowire is good and Mantis blades are bad, it just doesn't work like that in this game. There truly is no right and wrong, everything has their (dis)advantages and it'll be up to you how to handle all that.

For example: some players don't enjoy playing with an all-round character and instead prefer to max out several stats to their max. of 20. Whereas others like myself have no issues with just one maxed out stat and keeping the others a bit the same.

All I'm saying is that - in my opinion - there are huge advantages to monowire vs. Mantis blades, assuming that you play a Netrunner who relies on stealth. Because when push comes to shove and a whole group is suddenly coming at you then the wire can help you get them off your back all at once, and that can become way more trickier with Mantis.

Trickier, but not impossible!

Alas, felt like sharing. Thanks for reading, I hope you could put this to some good use!

[#FRH#MA BOY#2]

wtf

[Tokenn]

Cool. You have obviously discovered that putting some thought and analysis into the game really pays off. I like monowire better than Mantis blades. which I found quite underwhelming. I generally go with Gorilla Arms however...they are more versatile during gameplay generally.