Aaron,
Phew. Data Tap was in the important thing, that means Technomancers can play with the big boys. The Persona / Icon split is interesting, and something I was not aware of. This also implies that a Persona must always use its own stats when defending except when part of a PAN, which clears up another bit of dissonance I was having.
Regarding dicepools, you're missing a few things. That said, before diving into this, I want to make things clear--I'm comparing a Living Persona hacking something in a mundane fashion to a Decker hacking something in a mundane fashion. Technomancers have Resonance Abilities on top of that, and I'll discuss that at the end.
First, a Decker can slave their Deck to their 5k Commlink and then put that 2 into Firewall. This immediately means their stats are effectively 6 5 4 4. Then stack programs on top of that to increase your stat, or Fork, or what-have-you. The best programs really vary by mission. On top of that, 'ware Deckers have one to three points of Noise Reduction and +2 Logic. The Decker is also more freedom to purchase the Codeslinger quality / specialties, and if they choose to go balls out speccing for Matrix they can get an even better deck--setting their stats above the Living Persona's. On top of that, they have easier access to Wired Reflexes / Reflex Enhancers, which means they have a better initiative in AR mode (arguably the mode you want to be in most often). Going forward, the Decker nabs better Decks with better stats with Nuyen and increases their key skill (likely Hacking) up to 12.
Meanwhile, the Technomancer has absolutely everything competing for their attention. Your example of 6 5 5 5 for stats is only tenable at Priority A. Since we need tons of skills to function as a Hacker, we need Skills at Priority B. That gives us Magic C, Metatype D (Human, everything going into +Resonance) and Nuyen E. That's actually what I'd consider to be the "average" Technomancer--the example in the book is pretty close to this. Grab a 6 in the relevant Skills (7 Skills, to the Hacker's 4 or 5). Technomancers are actually fantastic at defense because of Infusion of [Willpower / Sleaze], but they want Focused Concentration 5 or 6 to run it reliably (they're also choosing to protect themselves -or- their team's devices, no both). We'll need 5~10 Karma in Nuyen on top of that just to be a contributing member of (Shadowrun) Society. We're hyper-Matrix focused, so lets nab Codeslinger on top of that for 44 Karma in qualities, leaving 6 to spend on Complex Forms, Sprites, and fleshing out the character. And... done.
2 Edge compared to the Decker's 5; 16 Dice compared to the Decker's 18; 8+1d6 AR (10+1d6 with enough dumpstats) Initiative to the Decker's 9+2d6 (or 14+2d6 if they really care); 10+3d6 VR Initiative vs the Decker's 9+3d6; 0 Noise Reduction to the Decker's 1 to 3; No DNI vs the Decker's DNI; No Satellite Uplink vs the Decker's Satellite Uplink; 6 5 5 5 Matrix stats vs the Decker's 6 5 4 4; No Programs vs Decker's Programs; Wound Penalties in a pure Matrix situation vs the Decker's no Wound Penalties in a pure Matrix situation. Going forward the Technomancer has a choice between getting Resonance stuff, Programs through Submerging, and increasing their key skill, meaning they are more likely to fall behind.
It's not really one thing. Its just that the Technomancer feels just mildly subpar and have fewer options in every area except Infusion of [Firewall / Sleaze]. The real turn of the blade, though? That's a Combat Decker. That Decker is going to be useful in situations outside of the Matrix, while the Technomancer is almost completely focused. A focused Decker could go Nuyen A, Attributes B, Skills C, Metatype D, Magic E if they want to focus even more (and even then they wind up more versatile than the Technomancer). A Chrome Adept Decker can go Attributes A, Magic B, Nuyen C and then split D and E between their Metatype and Skills (picking up the slack with Adept) and outdo either the presented Technomancer or the Combat Decker.
Now, Technomancers do have Resonance powers. But that circles back to my previous statement that the game discourages a classical Hacking Technomancer over one who just sends Sprites out while supporting with the occasional Complex Form. Its fewer Skills, you and drop Logic and Charisma down to 3 each, freeing up Priority A, and ultimately your Sprites are going to do a better job than you anyways.
All of that said, I hadn't realized Machine Sprites work on Skillwires when I made my previous post. Skillwires bring a classical hacking Technomancer back up to snuff at the cost of being mutually exclusive with spending Edge (a huge blow... but you -do- have Sprites). So... Skillwires fix to the rescue?
