Any tips for the electric prod and crossbow?

[Tomix]

I'd prefer to take a more stealthy, non-lethal approach but the prod seems to be very inconsistent in regards to its effects. The tranq darts are also touted as a silent takedown, but they seem to just aggro my target before taking him out 10 seconds later.

[Francisè von Spitroast]

Crouching behind an opponent getting them in the belt area with the baton or electric prod is always an instant, non-lethal takedown. If you upgrade your pistols skill enough a single shot to the head will render a target instantly unconcious with the crossbow, but atm, they're good to use when people are gassed using the gas grenade (they do get one shot off before gonig back to being gassed tho so watch out) but the crossbow isn't as useless as it may seem at first. It's good more for shooting someone and then running off behind cover and waiting.

[Tomix]

Originally posted by IAmTheWalrus!:

Crouching behind an opponent getting them in the belt area with the baton or electric prod is always an instant, non-lethal takedown. If you upgrade your pistols skill enough a single shot to the head will render a target instantly unconcious with the crossbow, but atm, they're good to use when people are gassed using the gas grenade (they do get one shot off before gonig back to being gassed tho so watch out) but the crossbow isn't as useless as it may seem at first. It's good more for shooting someone and then running off behind cover and waiting.

Okay, thank you for the tips! I've had Deus Ex in my library for a while, but I suppose modern game mechanics have dumbed me down a little.

[EnabledAcorn]

Also be aware that this game uses the same engine as Thief, so you are able to hide in the deep shadows and basically become invisible. Beyond that, just take your time and watch the enemy patrols, try to use the crossbow when the guards are spaced out so that they can't get help.

[Second Duke Revier]

Originally posted by Medulla:

Also be aware that this game uses the same engine as Thief..

False. Deus Ex was made using Unreal Engine, Thief was made using Dark Engine. The Dark Engine was an in house engine developed by Looking Glass Studios, and there are lots of differences between them. Do better research next time.

[EnabledAcorn]

Oops, for some reason I was sure that Deus Ex was part of the Thief / System Shock 2 line. Anyway, my point about the shadows stands. Also, Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica.

[CrumbleCat]

The police baton is definitely the best weapon for stealthy takedowns (and it costs no ammo). The only problem is that you have to be up close for it. :P

[Tomix]

Originally posted by MasterCrumble:

The police baton is definitely the best weapon for stealthy takedowns (and it costs no ammo). The only problem is that you have to be up close for it. :P

I remember finding one of those somewhere on the Statue level, but I neglected to pick it up. Will I be able to find more in New York?

[CrumbleCat]

Late reply, but yeah there should be several. If you wanna cheat you can just spawn one. The gamefaqs section for the game should have a spawn list with instructions.

Eventually you will get tired of going non-lethal, and that's when the stealth pistol with a scope comes in handy. Or you can just stuff a silencer on your weapon of choice.

[spectre_of_woe]

With the prod, you can get an instant take down on anyone but the men in black and the power armored troopers if you sneak up and hit em in the small of the back. You can take out those in one hit, as well, if you level your low tech skill to advanced. You can also run up and stun someone, other than the power armor guys, just to get them to stop shooting at you, but it's risky, and it uses a lot of battery charges before you knock them out that way.

With the crossbow, normal hits have them running around, alerting all their friends and firing at you before they pass out. Don't use it unless you plan on hiding afterward, with something solid between you and all of their friends. Head shots with the crossbow tranq darts are possible, and will knock out opponents, except men in black/power armored troopers. It's difficult to set up, though. Some enemies may get spooked if your dart hits a wall nearby, which can be useful. Flare darts are a good alternative to your light aug. They don't give away your position, they travel a lot farther than plain flares, and you can pick them back up after using them. I usually use lethal darts on animals, especially underwater, as knocking them out takes more time and will kill them anyway.

Adding a scope to a weapon makes that weapon slightly less accurate when not using the scope. It's usually worth it anyway, but with a crossbow, before you've found a lot of accuracy mods and trained up your pistol skill, it can have a small effect. It may be a good idea to use your first scope on a regular pistol (for animals and some boss fights if you don't plan on skipping them) and the second that you find on the crossbow.

More ranks in pistol skill will increase the poison damage, knocking out opponents faster. Even with master skill, however, it takes several darts and a lot of waiting to knock out men in black or power armored troopers. Having it at "trained" is necessary to knock out the mercs and regular mj12 troopers, but not NSF, with one dart.

If you're going non lethal, you may want to start practicing with pepper spray. It's finicky to get the stuff to work right, especially if your target is moving around, but it will stun them for a while if you get it to work. It gets slightly easier with low tech skill. The stuff is handy for single targets or small groups that you know are about to turn hostile, or if you're running up to someone and only have a second before they will fire at you. I usually use a lot of it before and during paris.

Tear gas grenades work great. I'm fairly sure that they don't affect the power armor guys in any way, but they will affect men in black. Hitting someone in a cloud with a tranq dart is risky, but will make them pass out more quickly.

Most walkthroughs suggest going with the anti missile system for a head augment, but for stealthy runs, I usually pick the spybot. If you get it upgraded to rank 3, it moves a lot faster, and can disable any robot in one shot. Rank 4 increases the speed even more, so I usually upgrade it all the way. It also makes a bit of sound when it goes off, so it's good for distractions. And I've used it to temporarily disable cameras and laser grids. Multiple emp hits to a camera do not add any duration, though, so if you're disabling one to run past, move fast.

Also disliked by many walkthroughs, I consider environmental training to be the most effective skill in the game, and the first that I max out on any playthrough. It will increase both the effectiveness and duration of the ballistic armor up to 81% protection and 300% duration at master level, has the same effect on the hazmat suit, increases duration for the camo and water breathers, and is tied for the cheapest cost to upgrade with swimming. It will stack multiplicatively with the ballistic protection aug, but I usually skip that aug on stealthy runs so I can have both types of cloaking, and rely solely on master level ballistic armor for when stealth isn't possible.

If you're not using it already, get the v2 unofficial patch. It fixes many bugs, but the most obvious one for a stealthy run is that the crossbow doesn't sound like a silenced pistol any more. It won't make the hazmat suit protect against emp and electrical, though. I had to add that myself on my copy.

[spectre_of_woe]

Hmm. I may have gone overboard on my advice. Sorry about that.