Help with hacking?

[PaBLoX]

I'm finding hacking quite hard (even having lv3 there). When trying access from Holm computer, I barely damage the strctures and in a couple of seconds the screen is full of those strange red thingies. Or that big round thing with knives (?!), gets close really fast and kills me in a couple of seconds.

Is there any way to accelerate the "hacking" process (when you interact with the data for example)?

Any suggestion would be appreciated :)

[The Average Rook]

It's always best, when starting the game from scratch, to invest in Hacking early in order to have an easier time. Earn enough money and experience to upgrade the rate-of-fire in Cyberspace/AR, and the strength of your Pulsewave secondary (the wide attack). At level 5, the Pulsewave will be a blessing to use against little enemies and spawner points. It can even go through laser grids. The Pulsewave can wipe things out quite efficiently.

The spinning blade targets have a vortex capability, which will draw you in if you get too close. It's best to fire from a distance.

Always remember that if a node is surrounded by a red shield ring, you need to keep shooting the thing to oblivion. It's not a one-shot deal, it requires whittling.

If you know where a stationary enemy is, you can still fire in its direction and kill it, even if the enemy is off-screen. You can also just shoot without knowledge that someone is there, and just listen for a defeating sound.

In terms of the Hacking time, unless you're maxing out the Hacking trait, the best thing you can do is just hover around while still being in the vicinity of tha Hacking ring. Continually pressing the hack key or holding it down doesn't accelerate the process.

If all else fails, sometimes it's best to just go back to the enter/exit point, recharge your Cyber-health, and go back in. The enemies don't respawn going back in (not counting enemies coming from spawning points, if you haven't wiped those points).

[PaBLoX]

Thanks for your comprehensive answer! :)

Which wide attack? :$

Right now I have 3 levels in hacking, and I'm scared to spend money in cyberhealth (neurostims), because it looks to me that xp (and money therefore) has a cap, since there are no random enemies (or I haven't been able to find them). I'm constantly around 1k or 1,5k, while most weapons are around or even more than that, so I try to be as conservative as I can.

Thanks again!

[The Average Rook]

There are 3 secondary attacks you can get in the game. They are:

1. Wedge (the arrowshot)
   
2. Pulsewave (the wide shot)
   
3. Spammer (I forget what this one looks like)

Each of these secondaries are unlocked when you first use their appropriate software disk, which can either be found or purchased from certain merchants (Georgij and Tony, for example). You can upgrade each of these secondaries to a maximum level of 5, until the game tells you you can't upgrade that secondary any further.

Do not confuse the "software disks" with the similarly-named "software chips". The chips just offer last resorts for when your back's against the wall. There are only 2 chips available: the Shockwave (which wipes out all enemies currently on-screen) and the Cyber Shield (which gives you a red shield like some nodes and enemies you may have seen, which lasts until it is shot to pieces). The chips are one-time use only, and each chip you put in your inventory adds another use to the corresponding last-resort ability.

As for XP and Currency, technically there's no cap. If you run out of enemies, you do run out of XP to add to your build, but technically it's not capped. For money, there's practically no cap. And even if you do run out of enemies to kill and boxes to loot, you can still AR-hack the numerous vending machines around Harbour Prime for more money. (I think if you switch between areas, the option to re-AR-hack the machines comes back. I'll need to look back into that.)

If you plan your exploration, investments and quest completion well, you shouldn't have too much trouble getting what you nead to survive. You just need to ask yourself what is worth investing your skillpoints and money into.

[PaBLoX]

Thanks!, I didn't know that there were secondary attacks ._. ... I'll look into it. In fact at the side of the screen it says "Wedge", but I don't know how to use it :/. I don't know if that happened in the tutorial, but I dunno how to do it nolw. I'll start smashing buttons :P. Also I didn't remember about software disks.

(I stopped playing for a couple of weeks, so there's no "tutorial" anymore).

Thanks again, I'll see what can I do!

[Candy Witch]

Check your options menu; the controls tell you how to switch between different attack types in Cyberspace. The default should be 1, 2, 3 if you play with keyboard/mouse; can't remember right now what it was on the gamepad.

You didn't forget this; the tutorial doesn't teach you about the alternative Cyberspace attacks because you only start out with Wedge. On your own, you need to find Pulsewave and Spammer, and learn how to use them.