Starting character advice?

[thorvindr]

I remember in the first two games, the party was missing a specific class, so it made sense for my starting character to be that class (in SR it was a Decker; I don't remember what it was for Dragonfall).

Is there a similar hole in this game? I'm sure whatever class/build I choose will work just fine, but is there a certain class or function that none of the party members can properly fill?

[billy911bjj]

Not particularly, I typically find the npc deckers to be the weak link as you can't build them out the way you would want. I also seem to remember specing into some basic magic for heals and so forth.

[wendigo211]

For all the HBS shadowrun games, the easiest starting character is probably an Elf with Rifles and enough conjuration to cast Haste 3. That said Hong Kong gives you enough Karma that you can try some crazy combos, my last game I had a Decker/Adept using cyberweaponry and it worked.

Is0bel, the NPC decker, is fine though. You just need to buy some better programs for her and have her equip them during matrix sections. As long as you have a good Sniffer, Medic and a couple of good attack programs, matrix combat is pretty easy in this one.

[Heau]

After the intro mission, you'll have a rifle user, a shaman(with a touch of spellcasting for the utility stuff) and a decker.

Then pretty early in the game, you will further unlock a rigger and may(depends on choices) unlock a street samurai (katana)

One of them can get a magnet arm late game so you don't even need to feel like you have to fill that niche.

TL;dr - there aren't really any missing key roles. At least from where I'm standing, good party comps are decker+shaman+any 2 damage focused units so you have your bases covered with the npcs.

[Mauman]

The only kind of character missing is a combat mage much like Dragonfall (yes, Dante exists for DF but that's late game).

Being a mage in this game SUCKS though due to money issues.

Easiest character is a rifle character. There are also enough really good rifle weapons with a strength requirement (including a really, REALLY good free one) so Troll is the most efficient character to take karma wise. Being an elf won't do you much good because you're going to want to take cyber affinity at some point so stat caps won't matter much.

Do agree with picking up a passive totem however. Rifle users get a lot of value from cobra.

Also, getting 4 int and getting a drug mule is pretty good. As a bonus it also allows you to pass an annoying skill check in Isobel's personal mission. It also allows you to fulfill most drone challenges as well without Racter. There are exceptions but most drone checks boil down to "do you have a drone that can go in this vent?". Put one point in drones at the beginning of the game and you'll get a free jack (allowing the use of smartlink weapons) and a drone you can either keep for said vents or sell for a few hundred nuyen. Every little bit helps in this game.

[wendigo211]

Stat caps matter because cyberware bonuses don't let you increase skill levels past unmodified maxima. Granted this game doesn't have a very hard difficulty setting (and not everyone plays on the hardest difficulty), but the bonus campaign at the end is tough enough that, IMO, you'll want better than a 9.

[Mauman]

Originally posted by wendigo211:

Stat caps matter because cyberware bonuses don't let you increase skill levels past unmodified maxima. Granted this game doesn't have a very hard difficulty setting (and not everyone plays on the hardest difficulty), but the bonus campaign at the end is tough enough that, IMO, you'll want better than a 9.

What? Are you trying to say that cyberware can't get you above racial maxes? Because if that's so I'm pretty sure you're wrong (with cyber affinity)

edit - just checked. Any stat you get above racial max via cyberware affinity allows any skill to get up that high as well. You're wrong, sorry.

2nd edit -

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3248795947

and yes, that's a troll.

[Clockwerks]

I'm a little late to the party but here's a suggestion, OP. Be different from everyone else. Be a shotgun wizard. There's a guide in my profile showing what to do. Have fun!

[antiworld]

A class that doesn't need much nuyen. Hong Kong has very low income and item drops compared to dragonfall. Hack, the first quest to Green Winters in Dragonfall already gave more free consumable than Hong Kong the whole game gave.

I played a decker/rigger who does not spend anything and do every quest including sell all data other than 1. Near the end I've only around 3800 nuyen + 2 S level drones + Novatech Slimcase (armor is default 1). The fixer took way too much cut.

[Shinno]

Originally posted by antiworld:

A class that doesn't need much nuyen. Hong Kong has very low income and item drops compared to dragonfall. Hack, the first quest to Green Winters in Dragonfall already gave more free consumable than Hong Kong the whole game gave.

I played a decker/rigger who does not spend anything and do every quest including sell all data other than 1. Near the end I've only around 3800 nuyen + 2 S level drones + Novatech Slimcase (armor is default 1). The fixer took way too much cut.

For the first time in my life I feel proud of being a low-income adept.