[squee_nabob]

If you really do want a hybrid, though, then you really want to be a mundane hacker, not a technomancer.

I agree. If you don want to wokr in meatworld, get Command 6 and remote control drones. Why snipe with a sniper rifle, when you can use a vehicle weapon?

Because you can do both at the same time? Personally, I prefer technomancers to normal hackers, for the fact that they can adapt on the fly. Plus, sprites > agents, by a long shot.

False dichotomy, you could use two vehicle weapons at the same time if a sprite/pilot was working one of them. If you didn't have a sprite/pilot on one, how are you working the vehicle weapon and the longarm at the same time?

[Black Sheep]

Well I believe that ware will drop your max and current Resonance (it works that way with Magic, but I haven't touched Technomancers in a while). Which means you'd have to hardcap (25 BP) to get Resonance to a six and  then drop it to a 5, if you wanted to start with a five and ware. Personally, I'm against it, but that's just because a lot of the ware, you can pick up equivalents later as you progress.

Technomancers, Adepts, and to a degree Mages, all pick up a lot of power advancing while the augmented tend to come out the door slightly more powerful. If you want to play one, I recommend being patient rather than jamming in ware.

I hadn't even thought of that, but you're right... by dropping the hard cap to 5, it costs 25 to go from 4 to 5. Best to do no ware at all, then.

As far as the stepping on toes goes, the most devastating team I've ever played in was a one-shot that a friend of mine ran once. We had all made characters for it, but none of us really had contact with each other during that process. Turned out we had three riggers and a mage (would have been four riggers, but the eventual mage had been banned from playing anyone with access to explosives after three consecutive TPKs in three separate systems, all accidental of course). It was SR3, but nothing lasted longer than one combat round. More drones is always a good thing. 

The game I'm playing in with the experienced GM is kind of that way. We have a mage who is summon-focused who is the faceman, a very competent hacker with a couple drones, and me playing a dedicated rigger/backup hacking role. Between the three of us, nothing lives very long.

Also, hackers can be quite good together as well if played smart. You have the best one hack in and set up two admin accounts (one for him and one for the other hacker). Then the second just logs in and they work together to get what they need.

Yeah, I've seen that in action. Nasty stuff.

[Mirikon]

Indeed. I think an ideal team for me would be Street Sammy/Heavy Weaps, Combat Mage/Close Combat, Face/Adept, Technomancer/Sniper, Rigger/Hacker. All the basic roles are covered, with some overlap, meaning that if one person goes down, then you aren't screwed. If you only have one awakened character or hacker, what do you do if they get dosed with Laes or blasted with black ice?

[Black Sheep]

Indeed. I think an ideal team for me would be Street Sammy/Heavy Weaps, Combat Mage/Close Combat, Face/Adept, Technomancer/Sniper, Rigger/Hacker. All the basic roles are covered, with some overlap, meaning that if one person goes down, then you aren't screwed. If you only have one awakened character or hacker, what do you do if they get dosed with Laes or blasted with black ice?

I agree, but with only three people, even at 500 points it's hard to have a lot of overlap, especially where magic is concerned.

[Mirikon]

With three, yeah, you have to each handle a couple roles in order to survive. I'd go with Technomancer/Rigger, Combat Mage, Street Samurai with skillwires.

[baronspam]

Some general thoughts on technomancers-

First off, if you are going to play one you MUST have the Unwired book.  The technomancers in the basic rulebook suck circuits.  They are much, much better with some of the forms and Immersion in Unwired.  Better sprites too.

Technomancers are very versatile with online activites, but at least a creation very limited with non-matrix activities.  There really is no good option to give a technomancer a second meat space IP at creation.  Generally secondary skill sets are typically either vechicles or drones. 

Techomancers are vastly better with a fair amount of karma behind them.  Purely from a mechanical point of view, I would run a technomancer in a long campaign and a hacker in a short campaign, a campaign that played infrequently, or a one-off.

Hackers are vastly better at having a secondary focus in physical combat, and are better at AR hacking.

[FastJack]

Of course, saying the basic Technomancers in the Core book suck is strictly a matter of opinion. In fact, I have a player that is doing quite fine with the basics (hasn't even spent any Karma on Submersion) and so far he's having a blast (near as I can tell).

So, once again, take opinions on the boards for what they are: opinions. And if the idea of your character doesn't mesh with what everyone else says is a "good" build, forget them.

[baronspam]

Of course, saying the basic Technomancers in the Core book suck is strictly a matter of opinion. In fact, I have a player that is doing quite fine with the basics (hasn't even spent any Karma on Submersion) and so far he's having a blast (near as I can tell).

So, once again, take opinions on the boards for what they are: opinions. And if the idea of your character doesn't mesh with what everyone else says is a "good" build, forget them.

Suckage is relative.  Once you see the stuff in Unwired you will not want to play just the basic rules book. 

[Mirikon]

Two other 'secondary' skillsets that TMs can fill besides rigging: Face and Sniper.

The sniper role is obvious. Multiple IPs are most important for people in the thick of things. Snipers, on the other hand, are working from a long way off, and under cover. And there is a certain psychological effect that snipers have on people. Someone's head turns to mist, and hardened combat troops dive for cover. Period. The downside is that there are limited sniping opportunities in the interior of corporate compounds (though I'd carry a combat shotgun for closer work).

The Face role isn't something you'd think of off the bat, but since the Technomancer already focuses on mental stats, that means they have more points in CHA than others (especially since CHA serves as their biofeedback filter). Add on the right skills, and an emotitoy, or empathy software, and you've got a healthy dice pool.

As for TMs in the core book sucking? It all depends on how you play. I've played them straight out the core book, before SR4A came out, and did it well. Of course, I was playing as a hacker/rigger. The trick is to play the 'swiss army knife' angle to the hilt. You focus on one or two forms to put at 5, and get between 2 and 4 on the other ones you pick up. Then you thread as needed, and summon sprites. For instance, when breaking into a node, I may have a Crack sprite working to cover my trail and remove evidence of my intrusion while I focus on hacking the cameras, and my Machine sprite is riding the drones in with the team.

Now, hackers or riggers can be better at any one thing than the TM, but TMs can be very good at ANYTHING, given just a bit of preparation.