So I'm playing System Shock 2 for the first time, and while still at the start (just got into the crew quarters on the second map) I'm totally baffled by the upgrade system. I knew there were going to be many options to fuck your future self but I had no idea, holy shit there's too many options here and nothing is even explained yet.
How bad is it if I just go on a hunch and invest in something wrong at this point? Is it one of those games where halfway in I need to re-roll my character because without level 4 research I can't get into a critical area, or without some psi ability I can't fight a formidable enemy? (i.e., VtMBL where not putting lots in firearms means a fucking nightmare in the sewers). If I invest nothing in hacking can I still succeed? If I don't invest in heavy firearms will I be stuck with pea shooters against the heavy hitters at the end?
I don't need spoilers, just need to know if I should consult a leveling guide or just go with the flow.
Also so far the game is kick ass and hearing a security camera bleeping at me makes my adrenaline run, the atmosphere is thick in this game. Good level design, too.
Standard weapons does have a heavy hitter in its category so you can invest in that alone as far as weapon skills are concerned and do just fine.
You will only need level 2 in research at one point to progress the game and you can easily breeze through the game without ever using psi. I personally didn't bother using psi so I could chug all the alcohol I want to recover HP.
>>3144032
Thanks! Although the thought of going all the way back to the first area from where I am now - crawling in the radioactive zombie-infested tubes in engineering - isn't exactly endearing since enemies seem to respawn and I'm almost out of ammo.
I really like the techno soundtrack so far. Though to be fair I'm playing with the remastered version of the songs through a mod (just the cleaner versions of them).
>>3144096
Enemies do respawn, and some areas have more extreme spawn rates than others.
>>3144017
imo the best way to go through the game for a beginner is to start with a Navy tech hacker with a standard weapons focus. hacking can provide you with everything you need and standard weapons can deal with every type of enemy since there is specialized anti personnel and anti bot ammo.
>>3144032
iirc you only need one level in research since there is only one thing you absolutely have to research in the game. also look out for the research assistant implant.
>>3144032
You don't need level 2 research. There's a research stim nearby that will give you a temporary boost.
I focused on maxing out standard weapons, heavy weapons, repair, maintenance, and hacking
also maxed out strength and endurance
be conservative with any nanites you find
Wow, the game is real stingy with ammo. Also FUCK weapon degradation. Like, fuck it to hell. And making "fix jammed weapon" and "maintain degraded weapon" separate skills is a real dick move.
>>3144595
Use the wrench.
Both of those things become almost irrelevant mid-game.
Some points in maintenance for non-psi is definitely worth it.
>>3144614
>Use the wrench.
On the laser turrets and exploding drones?
Unless you are some kind of apex retard, you're unlikely to fuck yourself over. The game is fairly well designed in this regard.
Since you're whining about weapon repair and ammo I'm guessing you're in engineering. There's plenty of weapons and ammo in hydroponics.
For what it's worth, I always put a couple of points in energy weapons just for the laser pistol. Get one of those and keep it maintained. Their batteries are rechargeable if you don't completely empty them out, so ammo for it is free and limitless, making it the ideal trash cleaner for weak and annoying enemies.
Oh, and the shot charges in power the longer you hold the button. Don't forget that.
>>3144017
>VtMBL where not putting lots in firearms means a fucking nightmare in the sewers
You could have snuck past every single one of those enemies, you know.
>>3144678
say that to any clan that doesn't have obfuscate.
>>3144781
I have done a playthrough with every clan and you can sneak past them as long as you stay as far away from them at all times.
Game's really tense. It's more akin to survival horror than a first person shooter, at the moment.
>>3144674
>laser pistol.
This really. The moment you get a laser pistol your ammo concerns will vanish. You can head to a recharging station anytime you need a refill, and you can harvest batteries off of the occasional dead robot/mech/turret for reloading in the field. From that point onward, unless you are really trigger happy there is no reason to hang onto the shotgun or any ammo for it. Go ahead and unload and drop your pistol as well. Keep the pistol ammo though, the rifle is a decent weapon if you can use it(have enough STR). Other than that, the only other weapon really worth using is the Grenade Launcher.
Don't waste time with Exotic crap, it's all garbage.
Keep your eye out for the Recycler item. I forget the exact name, but you can run items through it for nanites, which you can use in the vending machines for ammo. My common strategy is to save up nanites(and recycle fucking everything) all game long, then buy all the ammo I could ever want towards the end when I actually need the ammo.
If you don't invest in hacking, DO NOT USE THE ICE PICKS. Save them. You will need them for Shodan. If you maxxed out hacking, you don't need the Ice Picks for anything, so you might as well recycle them.
Power Armor is awesome, but drains power quickly, and becomes shit when out of power. Just stick to heavy armor. On that note, radiation suit is only really remotely useful in Engineering, you might as well chuck it afterwards.
I'm listening to the audio logs occasionally.
>Find some new life form on a strange planet
>Bring it on board
>Tell no one
Gee, what could possibly go wrong?
>>3146425
It's implied that Korenchkin and/or Diego are already under some degree of telepathic control before they even return to the ship.
That, and since one of them work for Tri-Op and the other for the UNN, both of them are trying get as much of the credit for the discovery as possible for themselves and their bosses, so the UNN team and the Tri-Op team are constantly hiding things from eachother.
>>3144678
I use my special no clip power to get past them, fuck that
>>3148014
How hard is sneak + walking? Did you guys not get the hint that you aren't supposed to fight them in the first place?
I would have enjoyed meeting this Bronsen chick from security who's executing the mind-controlled personnel without trial or prejudice, seriously she sounds like a cool girl.
Also fuck the large arachnids and FUCK cyber assassins.
>>3145025
>The moment you get a laser pistol your ammo concerns will vanish
So far (I'm currently after"meeting" Shodanin the fifth floor, this has been false; I'm constantly struggling to have enough ammo for all my guns and the limited inventory space means I have to either keep a good selection of guns for the trickle of ammo the game gives me for either weapon, or make constant runs back and forth from the recharge station - often on a different deck/map - because the laser pistol only has 120 battery and it takes 2-3 charged shots to bring down a normal shotgun-wielding grunt, let alone a maiden, a cyber assassin or anything else. So I also have to carry a shotgun and pistol (because it takes level 6 normal weapons to use the rifle), and I dare not waste regular grenades in case some huge foe shows up. So no, this hasn't been the case at all, fighting the inventory space to keep versatile ammo and firearms is a difficult (sometimes frustrating) task. Like, I have to ditch research completely because I simply don't have enough room to carry the researched items.
By the way, am I missing anything by not researching the crystal rod? It takes level 4 research, so even with the assistantboost implant I still need level 3, and I'm on 1.
>>3148764
Yeah, whoever told you to bring just a laser gun was smoking something. Conventional weapons will always be useful due to ammo types - everything in the game is weak to at least one type of bullet, even if you do sometimes have to switch them up.
At most of my endgames, I'm usually carrying a rifle and a grenade launcher and that does the trick. Ammo is plentiful (hack vending machines, they're everywhere.)
>>3144017
Why would they design this open ended character system, then require you to put points into very specific skills to get through the game? This is a good game, remember?
>>3148764
Managing inventory space is the tradeoff for the superior firepower of standard weapons. It's where the survival horror aspect of the game shines through.
Do you have any hope for the SS1 remake, or System Shock 3?
>>3148925
You mean this one?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okPLF9Ad9ns
>>3144595
Here is a trick you can do to counter this.
1. Go to terminal and invest points into maintenance,
don't exit out!
2. Repair your guns
3. Undo invested points in maintenance
Just make sure you have repair thingies and a good amount of points.
Maintenance isn't a usless stat though as it also give you higher energy capacity for your mods and power armor.
>>3148925
I already stopped paying attention to the remake after finding out it'll be running on Unity. I know my PC won't be able to run it smoothly regardless of how dated and simple its visuals will be.
>>3148764
if you're finding it hard to carry everything just drop stuff you don't need straight away at the elevator doors on a certain level. You have to keep coming back to the elevator shaft anyway and the game saves all the items you've left behind.
>>3148764
All this talk about ammo/weapon maintenance in SS2..
Do you guys not use the wrench for most enemies? Why waste ammo on stuff you can easily beat down for free 90% of the time? Why would you even think about using a Laser Pistol against a Hybrid?
>>3149029
>using melee in an FPS
Why play in a such ridiculous boring fashion? It isn't amusing, and you'll take extra hits. Good luck wrenching a suicide robot.
>>3149035
But the wrench is a lot of fun because of the actual collision detection
>>3149029
>Do you guys not use the wrench for most enemies?
OP here. I can't use the wrench on the turrets, the assassins, the big spiders when they come in groups, the suicide drones, the big yellow drones, the maidens or the little snake things (good luck even hitting those on the ground), and those that I can use it on are just a hassle. Sure, if I get one/two pipe-wielding hybrids it fine, but any more and it's just taking too long. So yes, I need to constantly cycle my shit-grade weapons.
>>3149075
Are you certain you use the right ammo for the right enemies? Also, buy ammo from hacked shop terminals.
Personally I autistically unloaded the one shell that shotgun hybrids carry in their broken guns but that's just me. Also get the recycler.
>>3149076
I guess so - AP ammo for robots/turrets, anti-pers for fleshy things, regular for anything else. I don't actually buy ammo from the replicators since I save my nanites for hacking, repairs and the healing injectors.
>>3149075
You should consider getting few psi abilites, like strength and adrenaline overproduction. Also research organs of enemies, you will get nice 25% bonus when you inflict damage to them.
Timing and reading your enemy movement is important. So paid attention to them.
Use the wrench, young padawan.
>>3149085
It's much easier to just pump your standard weapons, maintenance and hacking skills, buy ammo from hacked vending machines and shoot everything on sight.
>people advising psi wrench runs in SS2 for first playthrough
>people fighting abominations in the sewers in VtMB
I miss the old /vr/ where people actually knew their shit.
>>3149029
Because of how the Dark Engine works you can cheese enemies with melee weapons which is actually safer than engaging at range. I found this out when messing around with the PSI melee construct.
>>3144138
This. Hacking and weapon usage and maintainance are essential
>>3149085
I would also recommend the healing psi-ability. Fairly cheap in energy and points terms and kinda useful, too
Not recommended for a first-timer, but try playing a pure PSI user some time, it's very fun. Wrench is necessary of course, but you've got all kinds of helpful PSI buffs that compliments it very well. Here's my PSI/melee character just before the last boss, on Hard difficulty.
I've always wanted to play through this game with the psi powers but I don't think I could make it.
Anyone did no upgrades run?
>>3148764
>I would have enjoyed meeting this Bronsen chick from security
Afterfinding her deadjust now I'm sure of it, it would have been cool seeing this story evolve through her own eyes.
Is there rule 34 of Shodan? There must be.
> "You perform well -- for an insect..."
Holy shit, I just now realized the Surgical Unit Activaion Key activates the inactive surgical beds that heal you 100% for like 10 nanites. I AM IN THE COMMAND TOWER, holy fuck I made so many useless trips to the one active bed in MedBay. I have like 5 of these cards, I feel so bloody stupid.
>>3148764
>am I missing anything by not researching the crystal rod?
yes. It will rape anything in close combat in a few hits. reks arachnids and cyber assassins, and various other enemies. Well worth investing in.
Pic is my current playthrough, doing a "strong" psi guy. Got enough weapon skill to use pistols, but not maintain them, just use disposable maint kits and the endless supply of fresh pistols to pad out my psionics.
to be honest psi past tier 3 isn't all that great. Pyrokenesis on Tier 3 is all you need, blows shit up.
Apart from that, this run has heavily relied on smashing things with the crystal shard. Its a quick effective way to deal with most enemies, as long as you can dance close to them and deliver a hit without getting smashed.
Things that require long range dealing with like turrets and droids can be shot with pistol, or grenades, or pyrokinesis (or even cryokinesis if you dont want to invest in psi).
Having a good mix of psi and pistol usage, combined with crystal shard and enough research to use wormblood implants (get health back from piles of worms) makes for a pretty manageable play through.
Other builds I've run:
First time:
Hardened merc who knew all the guns, maxed out weapon skills, maintenance and repairs and used assault rifles and grenade launchers. Completed the game without too much of an issue
Second Time:
Hard core researcher. It was my duty to research everything I could. Anything else was secondary. Challenging playthrough. Not sure how I managed but I think there was a lot of wrenching and I discovered the crystal shards awesomeness on this playthrough. Also things like wormblood implants and the various exotic weapons you get (like the viral proliferator)
my inventory ended up full of worms in beakers, and my life consisted of visiting all the chem rooms scrounging for chemicals and researching.
And then this time I was the "lets max out Psi!" guy. Thankfully what i learned from the research playthrough helped a lot.
>>3153880
Don't worry about it, Anon. I got through about 70% of La Mulana before I realized that the grail teleports you.
>>3153943
>rape anything in close combat in a few hits
The light sab--- err, laser rapier does that as well.
>>3153993
oh yeah I always forget about that. its pretty nice. both good melee weapons.
WRENCH
God dammit.
I'm now inside The Many, and these tunnels are a Mother-cuntingbitch to traverse - there's no minimap, everything looks the same, it's just one big maze and I've been looking for the second ganglion to open some sphincter for the past 15 minutes, and it's not like I'm a Valve playtester or something.
I would agree that the atmosphere here is thick and it feels like the end game is near, but there should really have been some visual feedback to guide the player, compensating for the lack of a minimap (or any map for that matter).
>>3154965
the body of the many is pretty short so once you find your way you should be able to get through pretty quickly
>>3154974
This was also somewhat of a problem in the previous area, crawling through the spaceship looking for the escape pod - there's no map and looking for all the black eggs was a chore.
Also there apparently IS rule 34 of Shodan and it's not great.
>>3148764
I'm the one who said your ammo concerns would vanish.
I never bother with charged shots, since I don't feel the damage increase is worth the additional charge it takes. I use the pistol for everything except spiders, turrets, large mechs, and assassins. I use either the shotgun or regular grenade rounds for the larger enemies. This way I can save up pistol ammo for the rifle, which comes in handy late-game. Shotgun ammo is plentiful, and a few normal grenade rounds will down most larger enemies, so you really don't need to carry a ton with you.
Also, a protip with the laser pistol, carry two of em. They both get recharged every time you visit a recharging station. As long as you aren't trying to use it as your only weapon, you shouldn't use up all that much ammo.
>>3154965
Don't feel bad anon, everyone considers The Many and everything forward from that point to be the low point of the game.
So this is rather off topic and I apologize in advance, but this seems to be the only horror-related thread present at the moment.
Basically, I'm trying alone Alone in the Dark for the first time, and was curious as to what I was getting into. Is it like Resident Evil where the protagonist I choose at the start alters the actual game (in terms of gameplay or story) or is it simply a model switch with different endings?
>>3148019
Sure, tell yourself that in a bunch of narrow corridors all alike, with no space for manouvering nor chances to replenish your health/bloodpool/ammo. VtMB has abysmal level design, and design in general after that part.
>>3156275
the texture pack is fine, it's very faithful to the original look, just higher resolution
some of the models in rebirth are abysmal
>>3155693
Nah, it's pretty much the same experience.
>>3153943
I thought the entire exotic skill tree was pretty useless...the worm guns were only useful against flesh types and very weak compared to a maxed out assault rifle with red bullets. It also degrades faster than any other gun and ammo is extremely scarce.
Instead of putting points in the crystal shard, put points in standard and strength, both of which increase wrench damage to comparable levels.
>>3156094
Dude, let it go - you can and are supposed to sneak past them, this should be completely obvious.
Reminds me I'm about halfway through that game. I need to finish it.
Yeah the upgrade system is convoluted and shitty, but the soundtrack is killer, the atmosphere blows bioshock out of the water and hitting psionic monkeys with a wrench is a blast.
It feels awesome to actually move faster when you put points in agility. If I'd realized this at the start, I would've just been a shard-wielding super ninja.
>>3145025
Ice picks aren't necessary for shodan. Assault rifle is so op its only like two ap magazines.
>>3153975
Nope
