[GloriousRuse]

We all know magic has plenty of "I wins" against technology. How do you level the playing field against those remarkably common allegedly rare magicians using toys and trinkets?

Topics of note:

Infiltration: How do you stop the "hah ha, you have an aura, so screw you and your infil skill?" And other tips and techniques

Surveillance: Detecting those Invisible, Concealed, Masked SOBs..using portable tech.

Survivability:

Spirit Defeat

Operational Level Evasion

Killing the feckers

[foolofsound]

Infiltration: Drones don't have an aura, and mages tend to have better things to be doing that constantly observing astral.
Surveillance: Ultrasound defeats anything but Silence. Ultrawideband Radar defeats most forms of stealth. Olfactory Sensors can detect them though virtually anything.
Survivability: Not sure what you mean here. Tanking their attacks? Not easy. Better just to detect and shoot them first.
Spirit Defeat: Shot them. Shoot them lots. With Full Bursts and Assault Cannons.
Operational Level Evasion: Again, not sure what you mean. Avoiding wagemages? Just come by when they aren't around. They usually have better things to be doing. You can detect and kill watchers with FAB III grenades.
Killing Them: Shoot them. Shoot them lots. Stay hidden until you can ambush them, or use indirect fire. If they can't perceive you using natural/magic senses, they can't target you. Remember that a mage perceiving astral can't see that drone you have sneaking up on him.

[GloriousRuse]

For infil, I was thinking more of getting a runner in some place, not specifically killifying.And obviously whacking a spirit tends to produce interest.

[Decade Rider]

Even if the mage "is" astrally percepting he still got a blindspot aka attack him from behind be fast and hit hard. If heavy melee or weapons aint an option for you go for stun damg aka taser with a good shot there isa good chance he will cast weaker spell rather then risk knocking himself out

[foolofsound]

A mage simply seeing your aura doesn't mean that your cover is blown. Auras don't tell identity unless the mage gets at least 2 hits on his assensing test, which requires them to be currently perceiving astral; something mages are not always doing. You can also hide in greenery or amongst other living things to avoid notice. Watchers are pretty stupid, only useful for keeping people out of restricted areas. They are very unlikely to recognize auras, or even faces.

[White_Knight]

For Spirit Defeat: Lasers, Gauss, Stick and Shock ammo, APDS, silver or other exotic material bullets

[Decade Rider]

Laser and Gauss? What you think you can pick those at wal-mart or something

[JustADude]

Laser and Gauss? What you think you can pick those at wal-mart or something

In the context of Missions, you should always find an excuse to have a 6/6 contact that can get you that kind of stuff... so, yeah, you can, with a bit of a mark-up on the list price.

In regular play, it's just a matter of grinding out the availability test and tipping your Face for the legwork.

[foolofsound]

For Spirit Defeat: Lasers, Gauss, Stick and Shock ammo, APDS, silver or other exotic material bullets

Actually, none of these (except maybe silver, against some things) are particularly effective. Spirit armor on the physical plane comes from Immunity to Normal Weapons, granted by Materialization. Immunity armor is hardened.

[JustADude]

For Spirit Defeat: Lasers, Gauss, Stick and Shock ammo, APDS, silver or other exotic material bullets

Actually, none of these (except maybe silver, against some things) are particularly effective. Spirit armor on the physical plane comes from Immunity to Normal Weapons, granted by Materialization. Immunity armor is hardened.

It's still affected by Armor Penetration, though, and Lasers, Gauss Weapons, and SnS all apply AP 1/2 (1/2 - X for Gauss) against it.

[foolofsound]

It's still affected by Armor Penetration, though, and Lasers, Gauss Weapons, and SnS all apply AP 1/2 (1/2 - X for Gauss) against it.

Huh. So it does. I wonder where I got the idea that AP doesn't work on hardened armor...

[TheNarrator]

Immunity to Normal Weapons works like all other armor. With powerful weapons, called shots for +4 DV, lots of hits on the attack roll and high AP ammo, you can punch right through it.

As for Infiltration, while Astral Perception will negate the advantage of a reuthenium stealth suit, they still can't see through solid objects and they still need to succeed at a Perception test to spot you. Mages don't always keep their Perception skill and Intuition stat up to snuff, whereas the infiltrator might have very good Stealth skills and enhancements to Agility. Mages and spirits can be snuck up on or snuck past. You just don't get as many advantages as you do against mundanes.

Surviving a mage attack without a mage on your team to provide counterspelling is probably the hardest part. Direct Combat mana spells are low Drain and you only get Willpower to resist. Really easy to get popped in one hit.

[foolofsound]

Pain Editors allows you to stay conscious at maxed out Stun track, giving some resistance to Stunbolt cheese.

[Mirikon]

Infiltration: As was stated earlier, mages can't always be on the prowl, and even roving spirits must have some kind of search parameters to key on. That means legwork is your best friend there. Once you know what the mages and spirits look for, the best way in is to blend in, and not give them a reason to assense you.

Surveillance: Ultrawideband Radar or Ultrasound sensor. Explicitly works against Invisibility.

Spirit Defeat: Big guns, APDS ammo, going off weaknesses, overlapping grenades, MRSI, whatever it takes. In other words, put a big enough hole in it to overcome ITNW.

Killing the feckers: See above, except without the reference to ITNW. Remember, geek the mage first.

[Mäx]

Even if the mage "is" astrally percepting he still got a blindspot aka attack him from behind be fast and hit hard. If heavy melee or weapons aint an option for you go for stun damg aka taser with a good shot there isa good chance he will cast weaker spell rather then risk knocking himself out

Or he'l overcast very powerfull spells, as that doesn't cause stun damage

Pain Editors allows you to stay conscious at maxed out Stun track, giving some resistance to Stunbolt cheese.

Well all it does is that you wont go unconscious in the first IP, but die from overflow in the second IP