[Arrowman11]

Ive made a combat expert character for my part, and im not sure what i should prioritize raising as i gain karma. My attribute arrangement is

B5 A7 R5 S2 C3 I5 L1 W3

and my skills are currently

+6 automatics, +5 pistols (as a backup weapon), and +1 throwing with specialization in non-aerodynamic grenades. I also put 2 points into pilot groundcraft with specialization in motorcycles, but we have a better driver on the team.

I also have 1 point each in palming, perception, stealth, and locksmith for when covert ops are necessary.

So what should i prioritize putting karma into over time? Are there any contacts (besides weapon and cyberware dealers) i should make sure to have at game start? Any skills i absolutely need to add or remove?

Thanks for your time.

[Arrowman11]

Edit: I am still in character creation and my group is only using the core book. I have the distinctive appearance, quick healer, and predujased (despise police) qualities.

[Kincaid]

You have no social skills at all?  If that's true, that needs to be rectified.  Con and Etiquette should cover the basics of what a shadowrunner needs.

Perception is fairly easy to improve with gear/cyber, but more ranks are always welcome.  Assuming you have some form of vision enhancement that adds to your Mental Limit for Perception checks, I'd look there as well.

[Tecumseh]

I'm guessing you took Attributes B and are an elf.

I'm only counting 20 skill points. That's too low unless you took Skills E. You're either missing some skill points or you're Awakened (if you took Skills E), probably as an adept. If so, we need to know what you spent your power points on. If not, we need to know where your missing skill points are and what sort of gear you bought with your Resources.

What did you spend your karma on? If you bought those 1-point skills with skill points, it might more sense to buy them with karma and to consolidate your skill points in other skills. Stealth and Perception are your top priorities. As Kincaid says, Perception dice are easier/cheaper to acquire with gear than Stealth dice, so put points in Stealth first. Besides, your Mental limit is so low (4) that you'll need gear to raise your limit for Perception tests anyway.

[Pap Renvela]

If you're still in chargen...post the entire character plus which priorities you picked.
This will help you get more tailored feedback to the character.
BTW, are you limiting your chargen to core because you guys don't have other PDFs or because the GM wants to stick to core for now?

Of the top of my head, you don't need the pistol skill- automatics let you use machine pistols...
So I'd suggest automatics[SMG] 6[+2]...
use the Ingram Smartgun most of the time.
A machine pistol holstered for backup.
And an assault rifle in a hidden compartment of the wheelman's vehicle- for when things get hot and heavy.

I'd use the points from pistol and pilot to get stealth 5 or 6 with specialization in Urban.
And I'd gather all them 1 point skills and get perception[visual] 4[+2]
Finally 4 karma for a point of Etiquette and Con.. 4 dice is still better than 2 in these must have skills.

[Slipperychicken]

Of the top of my head, you don't need the pistol skill- automatics let you use machine pistols...
So I'd suggest automatics[SMG] 6[+2]...
use the Ingram Smartgun most of the time.
A machine pistol holstered for backup.
And an assault rifle in a hidden compartment of the wheelman's vehicle- for when things get hot and heavy.

I prefer specializing in assault rifles myself. When you're using an SMG, you probably weren't serious anyway. The times when you have your AR out, that's when you need every die you can get.

But then again, most of my runs quickly devolve into gunfights anyway. So unless I would absolutely need to get my weapon past security, and for some reason they're cool with a silenced machine-gun but not a rifle, why miss out on 2 points of damage? My AK has the same R-rating as any other firearm, so I might as well take advantage of that.

[drakir]

I will repeat what some of the others have said. To give good advice, we need more information (like priorities and all skills). I would personally ditch pistols and put the points in Perception. All your rating 1 skills should be bought with karma.

10 karma to raise Logic to 2 is also a good deal. You can then default on a lot of skills and you get more and better knowledge skills.

Do you have any augmentations and/or are you an adept? The Improved Reflexes Power or perhaps Synaptic Boosters/Wired Reflexes would raise your Reaction and give more initiative dice. Very important for combat experts.

Muscle Toner/Augmentation or Muscle Replacement raises Agility and Strength. Common augmentations for combat experts. Even if you are an adept, it can be worth it to get some augmentations like smartlink, datajack and maybe some  bioware like orthoskin.