[Yogi]

I'm kind of new to playing a character that hacks and I have a question about Agents. 

I'm playing a Combat Hacker and I'm wondering what I should be looking at? 

I have two comlinks.  A generic one for public and a loaded one that I use on runs.  I know that the public one can be slaved to the private one and either can run an agent keeping an eye open, so to speak, on anyone trying to gain access to your comlink/PAN.  What comlink should the Agent run on?   Would I just have it run Analyze or other programs so it can attempt to take care of the problem or trace it back.   

I would be purchasing the agent after character creation to the rating would not be limited to 4.   

There's quite a bit to hacking and I'm still trying to get a firm grasp on things.  Any and all help would be appreciated. 

[rasmusnicolaj]

Agents are fine for Analyze to make sure you are not hacked.
You can also get several agents with attack options and use them to lay waste to enemies i cybercombat (while you yourself grap the paydata and log out).

Rasmus

[Railstar]

I'm kind of new to playing a character that hacks and I have a question about Agents. 

I'm playing a Combat Hacker and I'm wondering what I should be looking at? 

I have two commlinks.  A generic one for public and a loaded one that I use on runs.  I know that the public one can be slaved to the private one and either can run an agent keeping an eye open, so to speak, on anyone trying to gain access to your commlink/PAN.  What commlink should the Agent run on?   Would I just have it run Analyze or other programs so it can attempt to take care of the problem or trace it back.   

I would be purchasing the agent after character creation to the rating would not be limited to 4.   

There's quite a bit to hacking and I'm still trying to get a firm grasp on things.  Any and all help would be appreciated.

Your agent is also a program and counts against your system load.  If you have an agent (rating 3 let's say) running Analyze 3 and Blackout 3, then it counts as three programs loaded, not one.  Therefor, if you want to have an active agent always running to boost your Analyze or what have you it would be better to keep it on a slaved node (a second commlink) so that it doesn't interfere with your programs and hacking.  If it's working from another node then it's taking up a subscription slot, but not active program slots.

That said, I think IC is a better solution for passive defense.  IC are basically just Agents that have been scripted to do something when an alert is triggered on a node (either the one they reside in or one slaved to it).  You could buy a Firewall software upgrade and a good Analyze program and just leave it running in the background of your commlink.  If it detects an intrusion by some punk hacker, your IC would then be loaded and run its script (trace and report, attack, etc.).  The IC is not taking up slots for running programs that way since it only loads if an alert is triggered.  If you are actively hacking and watching your own commlink's status, then you also have the option to trigger the IC manually whenever you wanted.  Sic it on a rival hacker's node.  Maybe download it into a node you've hacked and use that's node's resources to run it.

Personally, I am a little confused as to why the book makes a distinction between IC and Agents.  One is running a script and the other is being actively commanded, but they are both basically the same thing and can perform similar tasks.

[Curmudgeon]

Personally, I am a little confused as to why the book makes a distinction between IC and Agents.  One is running a script and the other is being actively commanded, but they are both basically the same thing and can perform similar tasks.

I've always assumed IC were just Agents with a special name, you can just get Agents to do more than guard your 'link.

@Yogi, running an Agent will complicate your turn. It acts on a separate initiative order, and you'll have to remember that it's got a dog brain, essentially. It will keep doing what you tell it until you tell it otherwise. That's bitten me in the ass before, as I've basically forgotten to command my Agent on my turn and so it's kept doing something stupid for another pass. Invest in the Adaptability program option and the GM is likely to give you a little wiggle room.

[Yogi]

Would the rating of the agent and IC be limited to the System of the comlink?

Logic would say yes as it is a program.   Makes running it on a my second (inferior) slaved comlink not such a good idea as its effectiveness would not be as good. 

As far as my team does slaving their comlinks to my comlink so I or my agent/IC can watch out for potential hackers when on a run make sense?  Since their comlinks are not running a high Firewall or Analyze like I am. 

This matrix  aspect of the game is a lot to take in.  Since 1st edition I've never played a hacker.  I've decided to take a step out and try something new. 

[Tsuzua]

Would the rating of the agent and IC be limited to the System of the comlink?

Logic would say yes as it is a program.   Makes running it on a my second (inferior) slaved comlink not such a good idea as its effectiveness would not be as good. 

As far as my team does slaving their comlinks to my comlink so I or my agent/IC can watch out for potential hackers when on a run make sense?  Since their comlinks are not running a high Firewall or Analyze like I am. 

This matrix  aspect of the game is a lot to take in.  Since 1st edition I've never played a hacker.  I've decided to take a step out and try something new.

Agents and IC both are capped by the System of the Node they run on. 

As for slaving and security, you don't need to worry about it as much as normal.  Hacking attempts (technically all commands) have to go though the master node first.  Therefore, you can focus on defenses there.  You do have to worry the slaves being spoofed however.

[All4BigGuns]

Would the rating of the agent and IC be limited to the System of the comlink?

Logic would say yes as it is a program.   Makes running it on a my second (inferior) slaved comlink not such a good idea as its effectiveness would not be as good. 

As far as my team does slaving their comlinks to my comlink so I or my agent/IC can watch out for potential hackers when on a run make sense?  Since their comlinks are not running a high Firewall or Analyze like I am. 

This matrix  aspect of the game is a lot to take in.  Since 1st edition I've never played a hacker.  I've decided to take a step out and try something new.

Agents and IC both are capped by the System of the Node they run on. 

As for slaving and security, you don't need to worry about it as much as normal.  Hacking attempts (technically all commands) have to go though the master node first.  Therefore, you can focus on defenses there.  You do have to worry the slaves being spoofed however.

And all the programs the Agent or IC runs count with the Agent/IC itself and all the other programs for Response degradation.