Need help on a puzzle [potential spoiler]

[usashi]

It's either I shouldn't be playing this game at 3am or I'm mighty incompetent: I would love some advice on how to avoid being encountered by Dekker on the way to the Parallax core. What's his movement pattern? I haven't figured it out.

I'll probably look back at this in the morning and feel really stupid...

[Z-Nine]

I'm not sure if there's an automatic fail state if you encounter him too quickly, but I believe you are almost certainly supposed to run out of charges on your weapon and Turing is suppose to damage himself in attempting to kill Dekker. Until this happened I don't even think there is a way to get to the core. If you are dying from Dekker, I geuss try to shoot him faster? Not sure if there is any more different outcomes to this other than the two. Either you are killed, or the other thing I mentioned in the spoiler.

[SirWallyWombat]

Your main priority is to merely keep as much distance between the two of you as you can. The dialouge will reach a point where what Zolkowski spoiler points out happens.

[usashi]

Thank you both for the reassurance!

[Tyler]

Dev team here, one tip is to try not to box him in, but rather redirect him away from you. It is more of a game of keep-away than "trap him." You just need to keep yourself safe until the end of the dialogue sequence.

[badlymadetraveler]

Even just herding him around he seems to get fed up and blast a wall anyway. Freaked me out actually.

I mean door.

[Triplefox]

If you are having trouble shooting Dekker make sure to aim for a chest shot. I was confused by this for a good hour or so because I succeeded by accident the first time and then spammed head shots to no effect after that.

[draeath]

I had the most luck keeping the doors around him open - boxing MYSELF in on the other side of the area. When he had ample open space around, he seemed to wander more randomly. He seems to prefer to charge a barricade rather than take an open path (his aggressive nature was my clue to try this). I made it through only having to stun him once.

[usashi]

Thanks everyone for the additional help, took all advice into consideration and I got through it!
What a rewarding finish! Thanks for creating such a well-written, visually pleasing game. Looking forward to playing it again (and again.)

Originally posted by draeath:

I had the most luck keeping the doors around him open - boxing MYSELF in on the other side of the area. When he had ample open space around, he seemed to wander more randomly. He seems to prefer to charge a barricade rather than take an open path (his aggressive nature was my clue to try this). I made it through only having to stun him once.

I used exactly this strategy;l I noted how when he knocks down a barricade he gets an extra 'turn' to move around, so I opted to block off areas closer to me than him.

[Tawnyursa]

Tried the "give him something to smash" solution, which only seemed to make it easier for him to... ignore the barricades and find me faster. Is there any logic to his movements?

[dallas.robinson]

this is how i did it. it's actually really simple. once you stun him create a wall between you and him but DON'T box him in. move one space away from him to the left or right,. whichever way you left clear but DON'T move up. he will wander around a bit (usually away from you.) once he's done his dailoge step BACK into the space you were just in! and set up new walls to kinda heard him into the top area of the server room. Also REMEBER you can UNLOCK doors too! if Dekker is far way from you use one of your two door movements to unlock anything that might get in your way if you need to bolt.

doing it this way and avoiding moving up like the plauge i only had to shoot him once. ;-)

[Dizzard]

I'm not sure what to do with this either.

I don't think the gun does anything. I've tried shooting various spots and it doesn't do anything. Seems like you're pretty much screwed if he shows up.

[Muu the Witch Matron]

That's actually a bug, Dizzard. Sucks too, seems people are getting that somewhat frequently.

Originally posted by Django Solare:

Tried the "give him something to smash" solution, which only seemed to make it easier for him to... ignore the barricades and find me faster. Is there any logic to his movements?

Like others have stated, don't box him in. Just gives him a reason to destroy doors. Other than that, keeping him away is relatively easy as long as you guide him away from you.

[Merc]

I just spent a good two hours trying to solve this with a friend and haven't been this frustrated in quite a long time! My stun gun is apparently bugged, so I can't make any mistakes, and no matter what we try he just seems to ignore the blockades when it is conveniant for him.

It feels like the game isn't being clear enough with what we should be doing, and this isn't the first time I've had this issue.

And it isn't "fun" when the enemy wins and gloats about how much "fun" HE is having. It is almost like the developers acknowledge the lack of fun players will have here with a comment like that. Finally, if you truly intend on having the players learn through trial and error rather than clear and concise explanation, don't force them to listen to everything every time they die. I don't even want to know how many clicks I spent just trying to get through the dialog...

EDIT: I've tested it out after this new patch and the bug is fixed for me as well. I'm excited to play again in the future and actually being able to solve it, because we were very close last night.

[Raimyah]

I found a way to work around the ridiculous AI and fool it after a while and I can now do that reliably. Your best bet is to close doors and herd him down corridors where he won't get line of sight on you.

However, it appears that the puzzle relies too much on RNG and not enough on strategic skill. In fact, sometimes I get an unfair attack against me at the very start of this scenario no matter what I do. I feel like the ball was dropped when this encounter was designed.

[zaphodikus]

Um, nope, feels totally bugged after 3 attempts. I only get 2 chest shots and then die. A frustrating puzzle which completely detracts from the great story 5 minutes before this - but now wasted half an hour and why? Where are you supposed to head toward? None of the puzzles of this type make much logical sense. The server farm maze least of all, but use the tips in the thread, and persevere, it does not feel worth it, but humour us, try one more time, and maybe another.

Which might be a paradox, but the developers were not doing themselves a favour at all at this point. What is the point? To frustrate people who bought the game? I know that frustrating people is a technique, but the UI controls give you enough RSI as it is... some clarity on what the server room maze is all about? What is the goal? ... Beat it and you might find out.
(edited)