how the effing hell do you hack?

[Leper Messiah]

Confusing as hell game, quite liking it despite it's quirks. But hacking is an arse. Any guides on hacking?

Basically I'm trying to reduce the targets damage, whilst increasing my defense and attacking the target, is this right?

[The Tear Collector]

yeah.. that's the way i do it, too^^

[Leper Messiah]

I'm early in the game, so is my character crap at hacking?

[Zergem]

That too. Harder targets are probably going to stay hard for a while.

I tend to stick with just reducing their damage which forces them to waste time increasing their damage up from 0 again, and attacking them while they're doing that.

[Leper Messiah]

ah gotcha, just gotta get my head around the game mechanics! Thanks for the help

[Eujo]

What you gotta do is this:

Mask>Mask>Mask (until their attack is 0) and then

Mask>Overflow>Mask>Overflow>Mask>Overflow until their defense is 0 and your attack is 100+

And then attack several times and you should be good to go.

Also make sure you keep their attack at 0 because you won't have any defense with this strat.

[Leper Messiah]

many thanks for the strategy advice! :)

[preshrunk_cyberpunk]

Only game I've ever played in which I got hacked by an inanimate object @_@

[Leper Messiah]

Originally posted by preshrunk_cyberpunk:

Only game I've ever played in which I got hacked by an inanimate object @_@

me too...bloody cash dispenser! LOL

[Zenbe]

I usually just used:
Shield>Shield>Shield(>Shield)>Overflow>Overflow>Overflow>Overflow>Attack until hacked.

Is there any reason to do it in a different order/ to reduce their attack with Mask instead of tanking it with shield?

[Leper Messiah]

Originally posted by Enzbe:

I usually just used:
Shield>Shield>Shield(>Shield)>Overflow>Overflow>Overflow>Overflow>Attack until hacked.

Is there any reason to do it in a different order/ to reduce their attack with Mask instead of tanking it with shield?

No idea! I'd also like to know if one strategy is better than another, although by reducing their attack you are effectivly increasing your shield in comparison to the damage they can inflict. So probably two sides of the same coin.

[Insano-Man]

My experience with the masking strategy is that it takes forever to hack anything with it. Both parties spend so much time with a lot of defense and zero attack strength that it has more to do with endurance than skill.

It's worth noting that you can catch your opponent off-guard with your opening move by switching mid-upload. Say you start with a shield, your opponent will usually counter with overflow/scan (it's consistently one of the two, but I'm too rusty to remember which). If you slam a button right away before your upload's done, you can immediately counter their counter with a scan or mask, then attack them with that boosted hit to start out on top.

NPC and static object opponents are completely incapable of switching viruses mid-upload, so it's pretty easy to fake them out. Even still, poor hacking skill might make it a lot more difficult as you have to contend with a slower upload speed and reduced starting stats.

[Leper Messiah]

Originally posted by Insano-Man:

My experience with the masking strategy is that it takes forever to hack anything with it. Both parties spend so much time with a lot of defense and zero attack strength that it has more to do with endurance than skill.

It's worth noting that you can catch your opponent off-guard with your opening move by switching mid-upload. Say you start with a shield, your opponent will usually counter with overflow/scan (it's consistently one of the two, but I'm too rusty to remember which). If you slam a button right away before your upload's done, you can immediately counter their counter with a scan or mask, then attack them with that boosted hit to start out on top.

NPC and static object opponents are completely incapable of switching viruses mid-upload, so it's pretty easy to fake them out. Even still, poor hacking skill might make it a lot more difficult as you have to contend with a slower upload speed and reduced starting stats.

Cheers for the info!

[stryx]

Always start with lowering their defense and an attack. Than just cycle between giving yourself armor, lowering their defense and lowering their attack. when he has ♥♥♥♥♥♥ up his own defense for attack just do 1 to 3 overflows to up your dmg (when his defense is low) and bombard him with an attack or 2. rinse and repeat.

[Taffer]

It may be just because i have semi decent hacking stats, so I can get away with this, but I usually just spam the crap out of overflow until my attack is 200-250 or so. Then I just attack until I win. The AI screws around with shielding and other stuff, not bothering to capitalize fully on my 0 defense, until I already have their health almost completely gone. Might not work, but its worth a shot, and hasn't failed me yet.