How should I advance my crew?

[Ishiirou]

I just got the option and am not sure if it's as obvious as it seems.

Dietrich i utterly useless with his ridiculous little throwing weapons but quite useful as mage.

Glory's razors has pitiful damage, but with a gun she's pretty good.

Eiger always has pathetic hit with a sniper rifle but is decent with the shotgun.

I know sniper rifles get higher hit at long range but all maps so far were narrow and I can't leave people isolated when enemies can always come from every direction and if some enemies come from behind when she's alone she'll get taken down quickly ande I might not even be fast enough to use a trauma kit on her.

So
Dietrich > magic
Glory > pistol
Eiger > shotgun
Is that good or are other options better?

And how about Blitz, he just joined but I haven't used him much in the fight and don't know what to give him (once he actually gets the advancement option).

oH and since I really don't like Eiger, is there an easy way to replace her or would I have to leave her in a corner / hire a new runner for every new mission?

[alexshiro]

Glory's razors are actually pretty great for armor and AP damage. Eiger's goodish at all ranges and gets an assault rifle later. Blitz is also pretty good.

You only have 4 spots at most so don't worry about using people you don't like, most of the time you won't have room to use all the people you like.

I assume you're not playing at hard, so don't worry about optimizing and use whatever seems cool.

[Ishiirou]

Actually, I'm playing on hard mode.

And I love minmaxing anyway.

[v0]

Good thing is everyone advances irrespectively of whom you take to missions. Regarding "upgrades", I typically push medkit/revive and pistol for Glory, shotgun / reload / reflexes for Eiger, SMG and armor and deck for Blitz, and at lvl 6 attack AoE for Dietrich (forgot what was on offer earlier for him).

[Watchman]

You get Blitz in what, the first actual story mission or so. And by the sounds of it, OP, this is your first playthrough so... some rather hasty conclusions there.

Personally I find Glory far more useful as melee specialist, since that path gives crowd control, DoT and armour-stripping abilities - the pistol is kinda puny IMO and if you need to gun stuff down just bring Eiger already.

Blitz is pretty much obligatory to take along if you're not a Decker yourself so eh. I tend to give him mostly meatspace-related upgrades (except for the points where you can upgrade his deck) as that's where you'll be in most of the time anyway, and that improved target-designation ability is very useful. Didja know its armour degradation is fully cumulative over repeated applications?

IMO Eiger should be focused mostly on shotguns since most fights happen at ranges too short for the sniper rifle to be useful, but there are exceptions. The HTI shot ability in particular comes in handy for finishing off priority targets in several later missions that feature longer hallways or open spaces.

[Ishiirou]

Oh, thanks.
Just tried Glory's claws and they were better than her gun. I was just put of by the 2 damage tag early on that made them look pointless.

[steelcoresoviet]

Some good advice here. Build Glory for melee, Blitz for matrix, and Eiger for close range.

Always Always Always get the 1AP electro core spell.

[Watchman]

Originally posted by Ishiirou:

I was just put of by the 2 damage tag early on that made them look pointless.

PROTIP: melee-weapon damage notation is fully cumulative with the user's Str stat.
Because well, duh.

[Ceit]

Eiger also has high enough ranged weapons skill for a decent hit chance with the taser pistol at the short ranges you can use it for. Not as flexible as the shotgun, but on Very Hard it's useful when an adept runs right up to her or you've pulled a couple of enemies out into a trap. She's also pretty good with the grenade launcher and it's a long-range weapon.

[Meeg]

Whoa, Eiger's the best "big gun" IMO. If you're not having much luck with her sniper rifle its because you're too close to the enemy.

[DA REEL NANCY BOI]

Originally posted by Meeg:

Whoa, Eiger's the best "big gun" IMO. If you're not having much luck with her sniper rifle its because you're too close to the enemy.

Dis right heeeerrrr. You probably don't like Eiger because, I assume, you're early game and she's being a prick. She really opens up later on and actually, she may be my favorite character. They're all so good I can't honestly decide.
But she IS damn good in a fight, definitely moreso than anyone else in the party.

My advice for building your allies is pick what you like, aside from the 1AP electro core mentioned earlier.

[alexshiro]

Originally posted by DEAD The Real Nancy Boy:

You probably don't like Eiger because, I assume, you're early game and she's being a prick. She really opens up later on and actually, she is still a prick.

I fixed that for you :D Imo she's not as cool as Glory and german guy, and isn't a hilarious wreck like Blitz, plus she can't heal or deck like those three. Sucks that they gave us 4 in the crew, plust 2 more plus mercs and only 3 party slots.

[v0]

Originally posted by alexshiro:

Originally posted by DEAD The Real Nancy Boy:

You probably don't like Eiger because, I assume, you're early game and she's being a prick. She really opens up later on and actually, she is still a prick.

I fixed that for you :D Imo she's not as cool as Glory and german guy, and isn't a hilarious wreck like Blitz, plus she can't heal or deck like those three. Sucks that they gave us 4 in the crew, plust 2 more plus mercs and only 3 party slots.

Entire point in these games you're forced to make choices you don't totally like. You've to live with some tradeoffs.

[Meeg]

I feel like by the end I had a really nice working relationship with Eiger. The turning point may have been the Arms Dealer's mission that we went on together.

The game is indeed all about making choices and choosing who to bring with you on a run pales in comparison to the moral dilemmas you are faced with: i.e. to do something morally reprehensible for a paycheck (which is what being a shadowrunner is all about) or to do the right thing and go home empty-handed.

[Sordos]

Dietrich's the only one who doesnt feel completely useless when playing on very hard since his buffs+heal unless i can get Eiger stand on the other side of the map sniping it up.

Shame i dislike Dietrich personality wise... drekkin anarchists belong in the ground 6 feet under.

[v0]

Originally posted by Sordos:

Dietrich's the only one who doesnt feel completely useless when playing on very hard since his buffs+heal unless i can get Eiger stand on the other side of the map sniping it up.

Shame i dislike Dietrich personality wise... drekkin anarchists belong in the ground 6 feet under.

Funny I actually like Dietrich most since he has most mature view of things. As for gameplay I find Eiger+Dietrich combo most useful. Given advantage decker brings unless I'm decker next on board'll usually be Blitz and that's it for team of four (sorry Glory). I took Dietrich even with shaman character - double barriers, double haste, double heal pretty awesome :) though lack of firepower makes for longer fights.