Why does the new Matrix suck so bad?

[Psychoward]

It could be the complete lack of a tutorial but the fact that there's some real time twitchy stealth gameplay and then a confusing trace system.... I have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing here.

[Rob'sEvilTwin]

I found it confusing at first, but now I actually prefer it to the previous versions of the matrix.
I feel more like a decker sneaking into a system than I did previously, and Blocker IC presents an actual challenge.

[Psychoward]

I have no idea what I'm doing even after reading the help :/

[Rob'sEvilTwin]

This guide might be handy - it was for me :D

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=505000024

[steelcoresoviet]

The trace system is all about staying out of the vision cones of the watcher ic.
So you move in realtime, to try to evade them. Sometimes there are fixed defenes like black or white IC, and once you reach a data node, you do the hacking minigame outlined above.

[frdnwsm]

We have had discussions about this before on these forums. I've rescued Raymonf from ASSIST mchine 4 times now, three times with Is0bel and once with my decker-rigger build. Not once have I bothered with that ridiculous minigame. Just crash through eveything, and kill off the Black IC when it shows up. Is0bel is perfectly capable of doing this, and it's even easier for a player character using a Fairlight.

Not exactly tactically elegant, but it works. Some people enjoy the minigame, mind you. If that's what floats your boat, have fun. But it's totally not mandatory.

[Psychoward]

lol I haven't even gotten to the minigame, I just know I have no idea what I'm doing and would prefer the Matrix system of old to return.

[frdnwsm]

Originally posted by Psychoward:

lol I haven't even gotten to the minigame, I just know I have no idea what I'm doing and would prefer the Matrix system of old to return.

Just ignore the blocker IC and pretend you are back in Dragonfall. Kill anything that moves. All that happens if you trip the alarm is that Black IC appears; kill it. If it tripped an alarm in meatspace as well, so that Knight Errant elite response teams rushed to your Matrix terminal, that would be another story, but no such thing happens. "What happens in the Matrix stays in the Matrix", or something like that.

[Psychoward]

Isn't it possible to get wounded in the meatspace though from decking? And i'd do the hacking mini game if I even understood what it wanted me to do....

[frdnwsm]

Ah; yes, if the Black IC hits you it can give you a wound in meatspace. But their accuracy is pretty pitiable. Is0bel's ESPs are invaluable here. On round 1 of combat, I have her summon both of them, then use her last AP to hit the assassin with Sniffer. With it's accuracy buffed, it can usually take out one IC on round 1. The shield uses it's shield on her to reduce incoming damage, then uses it's last AP to make an attack.

Round 2, Isobel puts Sniffer onto herself and the Shield, then all three start attacking. Move the ESPs out first, keeping Is0bel towards the rear. Enemy IC will still tend to concentrate on her, but at long range they rarely score a hit, leaving the assassin and shield free to attack at will. Note that if either of them do get hit, Is0bel's heal program works on them as well as herself.

Also, be sure to pick her Boost program as one of her item/skill upgrades. There isn't a lot of cover available in most Matrix combat, but this increases her movement, making it easier for her to duck into whatever cover is available.

Now, as you progress doing runs, the Black IC tends to get more numerous and obnoxious. If Is0bel (or you, if you're decking) does happen to take significant real damage, I would have her run back to the jack point and jack out, heal up, and go back in. Other than freeing Raymond from the ASSIST machine, there really is no time constraint on the Matrix runs. As I said, no local security troops show up to oust you from the terminal, even though logically they should be alerted. But I think I only had to do that once in all the runs I have done.

Also note that on the ASSIST run, if Is0bel does take real body damage, you can have a crew member heal her with a medikit during their meatspace turn without her having to jack out.

[Psychoward]

I haven;t gotten to the assist run yet, is that mandatory for decking?

[frdnwsm]

You MUST have a decker to free Raymond from the ASSIST machine, yes.

And you need to hack the system in Prosperity Tower prior to that in order to get the code words for the Blockers in the ASSIST matrix.

You really want to get the 4 code words; the ASSIST machine is the one Matrix run where there is a serious time limit. If time runs out, Raymnd gets brain wiped. Game over. The code words let you get by the Blocker IC there, without playing the minigame, so you can see that getting them makes it a lot easier.

[steelcoresoviet]

You know, if I were a new player, and people posted plot spoilers like that, I think I'd be pretty upset with them.

[frdnwsm]

Originally posted by steelcoresoviet:

You know, if I were a new player, and people posted plot spoilers like that, I think I'd be pretty upset with them.

Arg! I seem to have a very specific definition of spoiler. To me, what I posted was just a general answer to the question asked. I would consider a spoiler to be something like actually giving out the passwords in question, since that would eliminate the need for the player to actually get the information for himself.

I suppose the safest thing would be to use spoiler tags on everything, since definitions of what constitutes a spoiler apparently vary. OK, I added tags to the above post.

[steelcoresoviet]

Well, I think there's definately a gradient. Knowing there are levels where tactics have to be changed isn't so bad, but the fact that a character like RB is actually in the game could be. Or what their condition is when you find them. The fact that there's a run on prosperity falls somewhere in between.

But I mean, that's mostly for new players. Discussion of the events and themes of the game are a different story than advice to get people through the game.

[Jeff Kaos]

Originally posted by Psychoward:

lol I haven't even gotten to the minigame, I just know I have no idea what I'm doing and would prefer the Matrix system of old to return.

I agree. While I get how the matrix works I don't like it. The thing that bugs me the most is that the only program that lowers a trace has an ungodly cooldown that only seems to work when you're in combat. So in order to lower a trace by 50 points I have to wait 8 turns and try to beat a program that increases trace by 20 each turn. If I could trigger Supression in real time or at least have it automatically cool down between combats then that might be cool. And Is)bels deck is complete crap. 4 programs? Seriously?