Marecki on 26/12/2002 at 13:35
Disclaimer:
The following notes reflect my private approach towards DX and the dillemas it presents to the player. Some of the rules I was following during this game have been formulated into words and posted above, some haven't. Please respect my right to do things the way I feel right and proper, in spite of the fact this is only a game.
This is by no means the one and only way of playing Deus Ex, or even of playing Deus Ex attempting to avoid deaths. Feel free to argue.
I. Weapons
In DX, there are only three weapons capable of rendering an organic opponent unconscious (or dead in case of non-humans):
1. Mini-crossbow loaded with tranquiliser darts
The only ranged weapon among the three, with quite limited range. It is effective but completely non-stealthy - the effect of poison is delayed (by constant time regardless of how many darts you use, so don't waste them) and the wounded enemies attack instantly; for the same reason it is wise to have a place to hide in or to run away to while working with this weapon, otherwise you might get severely wounded or even killed before the other guy goes down.
There are enemies which cannot be defeated this particular way: greasels, karkians, Men/Women in Black, MJ12 Commandos.
2. Riot prod
In spite of being a melee weapon, definitely the best among the three. The target either goes down after one hit or becomes temporarily paralysed, thus leaving time for another hit even if the prod has to be reloaded first; if he/she does neither, JC isn't skilled enough to render such an opponent unconscious yet.
As far as I remember the prod doesn't work on karkians. I'm not sure about greasels, then again it'd just be a waste of charges.
3. Baton
Much more useful than it appears (have you noticed it deals higher base damage than the crowbar, with half of its size?) and a definite must, as it requires no ammo. Problems start if you don't take the target down with one blow, because then you usually don't have time to land another one; therefore, precision is the key here. In sensitive situations stick to the prod.
Note for all melee attacks, lethal ones included: while the ingame notes suggest aiming for the head for greatest results, my experience shows the most effective place is the middle of the back: enemies hit there hardly ever require a second blow. The additional advantage is that this target can be reached from crouch.
When it comes to robotic targets, there is only one means (EMP) and two ways of using it (grenades and the Drone). Although the latter is more effective because it's more precise and doesn't make noise when activated, it uses a lot of energy and requires at least one upgrade to of use; luckily the further you go and the more often the robots occur the easier it is to find enough power.
If you decide to make use of EMP grenades, the technique I have found most effective is planting them on walls and luring targets to them, otherwise there's a significant risk of either missing altogether or just making the bot shoot sparks and remain hostile instead of disabling it.
Last but not least, there are some weapons which can be used to disable opponents temporarily.
For humans:
- gas grenades - good against groups, either for being able to run away or for making them more susceptible to other means of takedown (a gassed man goes down with one strike nine times out of ten with a prod and in about 6 with a baton - but see below); be wary though that wading through gas clouds affects JC's health as well.
- pepper gas (or, if pressed, a fire extinguisher) - a close-range equivalent of grenades with no harmful effects for JC. Useful against opponents very hard or impossible to sneak up on, eg. a pair of guards standing in each other's field of view.
Note: unless you're absolutely and positively sure one blow will suffice, <u>never</u> hit a gassed opponent with a baton standing in front of him. Normally a hit enemy staggers in pain for a few seconds, allowing JC either to hit him again or to run away - in this case however, since the engine already has them marked as off-normal, the moment they get hit the moment they become fully active again - and that usually means a bullet to the head or to the torso at point-blank range, after which the only thing left (on Realistic difficulty) is a reload.
For robots: scramble grenades. Even if the subverted robot doesn't attack anyone (which is actually a good thing if you play observing the "no setting enemies against each other" rule) it still happily ignores JC for some time.
Other weapons useful for JC even if he cannot use them against the enemies:
- Stealth Pistol - for exploding TNT, blowing storage crates open from distance et cetera.
- LAMs, AR grenades, GEP gun - for opening stubborn doors and clearing passages. Of course you don't have to carry all of them around, it's enough to know where to find either of them when needed and to carry them between maps if needed.
<small>Edit: added the fire extinguisher</small>
dormcat on 27/12/2002 at 07:09
Quote:
Originally posted by Marecki There are enemies which cannot be defeated this particular way: greasels, karkians, Men/Women in Black, MJ12 Commandos.IMHO tranq darts are great against greasels and (baby) karkians -- they 'hiccup' and allow you to circle around them; once the effect is depleted, shoot it again. A greasel takes two tranq shots and it will scream and run away, while a baby karkian takes 4-5 shots. Do NOT try this on an adult karkian, however. It just has too many health points.
Tranq darts works on MiB/WiB too, although MiB requires two shots (with Advanced Pistol skill -- one shot with Master). Just aim the head. I never tried tranq darts on MJ12 Commandos though; I always kill them with DT or SR.
Marecki on 27/12/2002 at 21:36
Quote:
Originally posted by dormcat Tranq darts works on MiB/WiB too, although MiB requires two shots (with Advanced Pistol skill -- one shot with Master). Just aim the head.
Good to know that. Previous times I played I dealt with them with other means and this time I probably just lacked the necessary skill - I downgraded Pistol to Untrained at start and never upgraded.
Quote:
I never tried tranq darts on MJ12 Commandos thoughI checked that during one of my previous games; you can put a dozen darts in them and they hardly notice. They're like Gunther, one day he took 40 (ie. all I had) tranq darts and didn't even flinch. However, my guess is that if the "softening up" technique works against Gunthy it'd work against Commandos as well - except it's a waste of time and ammo, Dragon's Tooth and the baton are much more effective here.
Marecki on 27/12/2002 at 22:54
II. Skills
Appropriate skills are vital for this playing stile, get them wrong and you may even be unable to finish the game. To begin with, during character generation, downgrade Weapons: Pistol to Untrained and spend the extra points on Weapons: Low-tech. Now, the detailed analysis:
Weapons: Low-tech
This is the most important skill for you now. Without getting it all the way up to Master you won't be able to stun MJ12 Commandos and stunning MiB/WiB will be a nightmare. Furthermore, from Advanced upwards it takes only one baton hit to open a storage crate.
Weapons: Pistol
Like I said before, I'd downgraded it to Untrained and never upgraded - and never complained. Operating at close ranges makes the crossbow effective even without training, and the more Range Mods you find along the further away you can stay. If in doubt, use a laser sight (for those who don't know it - when you have it on the bullet/dart always hits the point indicated by the spot, provided it is within range).
Weapons: Rifle, Weapons: Heavy and Weapons: Demolition
Useless for this playing style.
Lockpicking and Electronics
Gradually get these two as high up as you can afford, favouring the second one when in doubt: it's much easier to use explosives or a terminal instead of a lockpick than instead of a multitool.
Swimming: I believe Trained is enough here, how soon you should obtain it depends on whether you've got Aqualung installed or not.
Medicine
Useless.
Environmental Training
When playing at Realistic, good to have it at Trained-Advanced. Armour and camo suits burn up way too fast without it.
Computers
Strongly depends on one's preferences. I upgrade it to Advanced as soon as I can, even before I do the same with Weapons: Low-tech, but that's just my "hack everything that blinks lights" attitude.
III. Augmentations
Cranial (Aggresive Defence System / Spy Drone)
Go for the Drone, upgrade it gradually to 3 or 4. You will not regret that in Area 51, with all the bots walking about - it's not particularly useful as a scouting unit but invaluable as a guided EMP bomb.
Eyes (Targetting / Vision Enhancement)
Go for Vision, upgrade it quickly to 4. For a sneaker, seeing through walls is much more useful than knowing the status of someone who is supposed to go down after one blow anyway.
Torso 1 (Aqualung / Environmental Resistance)
This is a matter of personal taste. I prefer Aqualung, making up with Regeneration what not choosing Resistance deprives me of; there are quite a few places ingame where, not having upgraded Swimming yet because of spending the points on more important skills, extra lung capacity is all but useless.
Torso 2 (Regeneration / Energy Shield)
And you're still asking? Regeneration, upgrade up to 3 ASAP and you can walk through radiation fields with no hazmat suit and withstand short attacks from almost every enemy.
Torso 3 (Synthetic Heart / Power Recirculator)
Let's see: on one hand you've got three energy-hungry augs (Cloak, Drone, Regeneration) and you're going to use all of them often, on the other the amount of upgrade canisters lying around is almost ridiculous and what use is a power boost if you keep running out of energy to run augs at all. Simon says: Recirculator. Upgrade it all the way up, quickly.
Arms (Combat Strength / Microfibral Muscle)
This one is tough. On one hand, if you go for Muscles you'll be able to move big metal crates out of the way and won't have to upgrade this aug beyond 1, on the other - Strength will help you with melee combat and even at level 2 you'll be able to bash through many doors, provided your Low-tech skill is sufficiently high (using the Tooth for this doesn't hurt either). I prefer Muscles, for no clear reason.
Subdermal 1 (Ballistic Protection / EMP Shield)
I say EMP Shield (upgrading it to 4 eventually, albeit very slowly), you can always heal yourself with Regeneration and if you let your energy get drained all your augs won't be worth the nanites they are made of. You might disagree though.
Subdermal 2 (Cloak / Radar Transparency)
Cloak, definitely: organics are much more common than bots and the latter can usually be subverted or shut down. Since upgrading reduces these augs' energy drain, the higher the better - don't rush it though, you'll know when)
Legs (Run Silently / Speed Enhancement)
Both are useful, but for a sneaker the first offers much greater possibilities. Level 3 is optimal here.
sergeantgiggles on 31/12/2002 at 19:51
You forgot the Fire extinguisher.
Marecki on 1/1/2003 at 10:21
Indeed I have. Thanks.
santaClaws on 1/1/2003 at 22:26
Haven't we had compendiums like this one before? :rolleyes:
sees BFG pointing at his head
Oh ah erm .. I mean ..
HAIL HAIL PRAISED BE THOU, MARECKI
or the like.
Marecki on 2/1/2003 at 17:13
We certainly have. However, I believe nobody has discussed the no-kills style before - and besides one more part remains to be written and posted.
Umm, the BFG?
lowers his silenced sniper rifle and looks around to see who else is aiming at Santa
dead-cat on 4/1/2003 at 02:38
i wonder if he meant the BFG9000 (Big F*****g Gun) from doom :D
there are some people who claim that BFG stands for BioForge Gun tho, but we all know better :ebil:
santaClaws on 4/1/2003 at 08:41
Quote:
Originally posted by Marecki (..) silenced sniper rifle (..) This is one of the strangest things I've ever seen in DX. How can a high presicion weapon be silenced? A silencer always adds some amount of havoc to the bullets direction .. it's virtually impossible to use a silenced rifle over a distance of like ten meters, not to speak of several hundred (like in the game).
But what the heck, I used it anyway :sly:
