Combat Techno Master Revised

[Blanco Kislev]

This my personal shotgun wielding hacker/rigger build which I used in DMS and in SR Unlimited

[Blanco Kislev]

Combat Techno Master Revised Guide

Note: There is one cheat I mainly use when required: the Nuyen cheat. Even playing to get as much money as you can Runners get quite expensive later on and this Campaign does not support Independent Runs to make the money. WYSIWYG. So feel free to use Nuyen cheat if you need money to hire a full team. Although this is for the DMS Campaign, this is the character I Import to other Campaigns like Shadowrun Unlimited. When hiring I pick a team based on best close combat Street Samurai, best Shaman based on spell selection and best Mage based on spell selection.

Karma 197/230 Spent
Use extra Karma where you see best. But I tend to pump Ranged Combat 7, Shotgun 7 and Drone Combat 7 if possible and an extra point in Body.

Your End Skills would look like this:
Quickness 6, Ranged Combat 6 and Shotgun 6

Intelligence 7, Decking 6, ESP Control 6, Drone Control 7 and Drone Combat 6

Charisma 2 Choose Any etiquette of your liking. I tend to choose Academic for an early economical boost explained later.

Body 4

Your equipment will end up looking like this:
High Grade Street Armor for +10 Armor

Fuchi VirtuaX (I found the other deck unnecessary.)

Guardian S-Drone

Defiance T-250 (Smartlink)

Programs
Levels III Programs
Erosion- Deals damage and applies DoT
Killer- Delivers high damage to the target.
Medic- An invaluable skill that heals your IP.
Shield- Another invaluable skill that reduces incoming IP Damage on you.
ESP Attacker Can cast Tar Bomb- Acts like Blaster dealing AoE damage and roots all enemies in place for a round.
ESP Optional (Assassin or Shield can be very good for this Slot

Level I Program
Suppression Every 6 turns use it to lower Matrix Alertness, which if triggered tends to draw in Black IC.

Cyberware
Datajack (Free)
Ares Dermal Plating Any
Aztechnology Cyberleg Any
Vision Magnification Eyes Any
Alpha recommended whenever money allows them to be purchased.

Build Tactic:
You are practically a master in the Matrix but also a powerhouse in the real world so long as you know how to work your strategy. First turn on your Drone. On your turn find suitable cover. Then focus fire on an enemy with your shotgun and drone. The amount of Quickness gives you a good defense in the means of missed attacks. And the fact you will always be using the best armor money can buy in conjunction with Ares Dermal Plating means you will benefit from high armor. The shotguns tend to deal heavy damage and after range 6 tend to have an AoE effect to adjacent enemies. Your attack drone tends to deal high damage as well and works very well as a decoy as well. You will usually have three attacks between you and the drone until you get your third AP. Then it's usually four attacks per turn. Your usual items should be Med Kits, Doc Wagons and Repair Kits. Drugs that give you +AP are also another good choice. Being Hasted is also a good tactic.

Best Runners
Street Samurai (Close Combat, I usually hire Iron Liz)
Close Combat Street Samurais tend to gain Wired Reflexes. Have this up at all times as it will automatically dodge the first attack and lasts 3 rounds. They tend to have equipped with a Katana or Hellforged Katana. This means they will usually leave their targets helpless and rooted in place with their -AP attacks. They make extremely good candidates for Haste spells and tend to work wonders with a Shadow + Haste combination. Close Combat Street Samurai tend to not just work as your decoy and tank, whom you can keep hasted and armored but also tend to dish solid amounts of damage, remove AP and are difficult to take down. When they get Wired Reflexes they are that much harder to take down and they usually have high health which usually makes attacks by the enemy be wasted attempts on them.

Shaman (Best Shaman you can find based on skills and spell selection for this game it was usually Lamia Lee)
A Shaman can turn your team into a force to reckon with. Their Barrier spells tend to make excellent choke points and kill zones. The Silence spells turns your close combatant into a stealthy assassin while the Quiet Bomb will make all your characters attacks within that area affected make no sound, therefore not calling attention if enemies in other rooms. Slow-mo and Mana Static are are also quite useful for crowd control as they increase AP usage for actions or magic respectively thus punishing their usage. Cover + Fog makes it that much harder to hit you. And the Shadow + Haste combo can be quite lethal. Use Shadow, have a Hasted character at the edge. Use 1 AP to pop out. 1-2 AP to shred/blast something within range and final AP to pop back into Shadow cover. Their +Movement and -Movement spells are very good for controlling maneuverability of allies and enemies. Totems can be useful in the right circumstances. Do NOT use your fetishes on a whim, save them for difficult spots. Wait for strategic moments were there are many enemies. Stick to feeding them 2-3 AP only as it makes them last quite a long time. Also keep an eye out for free summons that look like small skull icons which grants you a free random Summon without need of wasting Fetishes.

Mage (Best Mage you can buy based on spell selection I ended up using Nicolo )
Mages get some nice buff spells, some good debuff spells and even spells that affect AP while dealing damage. Blindness can shutdown an enemy pretty hard. Ball Lightning 1 deals solid damage while also affecting AP. Acid Stream is a decent DoT. Armor is a good buff to have your decoy/tank out there longer. The heal spell is a bit situational but at least it will remove damage from the most recent attack so save it for those occasions. Manaball targets Willpower and does ongoing damage. All in all Mages are powerful glass cannons. If you are in a situation where there is already a member in the team you can safely drop Mage from the group. Since Shaman's can add an additional team member as well as tend to have spells that make choke points and kill zones easier for. me.

[Blanco Kislev]

Here is how I generally grow my character in DMS. I then import him to other campaigns.

Skills by Return to Union
Quickness 4, Ranged Combat 3 and Shotgun 3
Intelligence 4, Decking 3, ESP Control 3, Drone Control 3 and Drone Combat 3
Charisma 2
Body 4

Equipment you should have by now:
You should have bought Alley Punk as soon as you had time to be in the Union. On your return you should get the following things and its possible if your make use of your money wisely and chose Academic as you etiquette for 2000 from the stones. Probably the only reason I chose that Etiquette is to get a good early start:
Benelli Rafaello Shotgun
Renraku Kraftwork-1
Ares Dermal Plating

Optional to get:
Erosion I
Killer I
Medic I
Shield I

The decking will come in handy during Coyote's Crusade where you can use a Matrix node to get rid of the Yakuza Decker on the other side of the room as well as deactivate the BTL's Chip heads making life much easier for your team. Having Decking 3 at this point is good enough. I mainly used my points to get Drone Control and Drone Combat to 4. Start a fight so you can get the book Charlie has for some extra Nuyen. M

Skills by Return to the Docks
After eliminating the opposition you should have:
Quickness 4, Ranged Combat 4 and Shotgun 4

Intelligence 4, Decking 3, ESP Control 3, Drone Control 4, Drone Combat 4

Equipment you should have by now:
Before coming to the Docks I usually get:
Vision Magnification
Aztechnology Cyberleg

Talk to Delilah and hire a team.

Skills by After Hours
By now you should have:
Quickness 4, Ranged Combat 4 and Shotgun 4

Intelligence 5, Decking 4, ESP Control 4, Drone Control 4 and Drone Combat 4

Equipment you should have by now:
Sell the Paydata and all your old programs. Then buy the following:
Erosion II
Killer II
Medic II
Shield II
Execute Attacker ESP

After finishing Digital World your skills would look like this:
Quickness 5, Ranged Combat 4 and Shotgun 4

Intelligence 5, Decking 5, ESP Control 4, Drone Control 4 and Drone Combat 4

Talk to Johnny to get some much needed cash and sell your old shotgun, drone, armor and deck. Upgrade your equipment as follows:
Remington 990
Strato-9 Attack Class B
Ganger Mask

Then talk to Delilah to hire a team. By now you should have used 110 Karma.

After doing all of Mercy Mental Hospital and returning to the Union in Loose Ends your skills should look like this:
Intelligence 5, Decking 5, ESP Control 4, Drone Control 5 and Drone Combat 4

Quickness 5, Ranged Combat 5 and Shotgun 5

There isn't much to do here. If your kept the Gold Ring from the previous mission you can fence it. Whereas the Buyer Records found in a short Matrix run serve to give you some more Karma.

When Moving Parts begins your skills should look like this:
ntelligence 5, Decking 5, ESP Control 5, Drone Control 5 and Drone Combat 5

Quickness 5, Ranged Combat 5 and Shotgun 5

By now you should have used 135 Karma.

Hire a team. You get Coyote for free.

Skills by The Union after the Brotherhood Missions:
ntelligence 56 Decking 5, ESP Control 5, Drone Control 5 and Drone Combat 5

Quickness 6, Ranged Combat 6 and Shotgun 6

Equipment you should have by now:
High Grade Street Armor +10 Armor
Defiance T-250 Best Shotgun at the moment
Steel Lynx Attack Drone-A

Programs
Levels III Programs
Erosion- Deals damage and applies DoT
Killer- Delivers high damage to the target.
Medic- An invaluable skill that heals your IP.
Shield- Another invaluable skill that reduces incoming IP Damage on you.

Level I Program
Suppression- Use it every 6 turns use it to lower Matrix Alertness, which if triggered tends to draw in Black IC.

ESP
ESP Attacker Can cast Tar Bomb- Acts like Blaster dealing AoE damage and roots all enemies in place for a round.
ESP Optional (Shield can be very good for this Slot)

By now you should have used 159 Karma. Hire a team and do Corporate Extraction.

After this your skills should look like this:
Quickness 6, Ranged Combat 6 and Shotgun 6

Intelligence 6, Decking 6, ESP Control 6, Drone Control 5 and Drone Combat 5

About 171 Karma should have been used by now.

Hire a team and do Telestrian Industries.

By The Estate the build should be complete

[Wise Joe]

Thanks for sharing. I just finished with a Decker/Pistoleer.

I figured I would try out the other careers by hiring the different types for the teams. I was getting ready to come on here and ask about Riggers. Because, the rigger I hired for the assault on the Corporation was pretty useless.

The robots missed 90% of the time, and always seemed to have a low hit chance, even if they were three tiles away from their target. One was a Doc wagon that launched mortars. I could never figure out how it was supposed to act as a healer. Maybe it isn't supposed to, but that was the impression I got from the description. And the Rigger themselves had a MG, and hit maybe twice out of the entire mission. The rigger and their robots couldn't hit the inside of the walls from inside the room. So, I was wondering if they ever get any good.

I had put some points in to rigging with this Decker. But, after the second mission with my robot I gave it up because it seemed to be the same thing. My robot couldn't hit anything. Then, when it got hit and I tried to repair it, it said it was immune to my repair kit, but consumed the kit anyway. I was like "whut????" *scratching head*

But, it sounds like from your description that there is hope for riggers?

[Blanco Kislev]

Never used the support types. Only used One Attack Type drone. As tempting as two drones may sound I really prefer to take care of business with a shotgun and not be helpless relying only on drones. However if you follow that build you will find your drone is as deadly as your shotgun.