NEWS

Hackers in combat

  • 13 Replies
  • 2537 Views

Sphinx

  • *
  • Errata Team
  • Omae
  • ***
  • Posts: 879
« on: <06-21-18/1241:00> »
Prompted by the "bricking guns" thread, I'm curious to know what others think are a hacker's best moves in combat.

Michael Chandra

  • *
  • Catalyst Demo Team
  • Prime Runner
  • ***
  • Posts: 9920
  • Question-slicing ninja
« Reply #1 on: <06-21-18/1242:17> »
Take Cover. Second best imo is taking out guns. You could do Complex for 1 Mark and Free to Eject Clip for example.
How am I not part of the forum?? O_O I am both active and angry!

Checkmate

  • *
  • Newb
  • *
  • Posts: 79
  • -]|[-
« Reply #2 on: <06-21-18/1250:50> »
What Michael said. A Decker who finds himself in the middle of a raging firefight probably made a mistake somewhere. That's less true in this edition than it was in 4th, but still true.

Jack_Spade

  • *
  • Prime Runner
  • *****
  • Posts: 6516
« Reply #3 on: <06-21-18/1300:46> »
Hackers in Combat should use Electronic Warfare with their High End Commlink that they use to slave the team's gear and use Target Device to give them bonus dice to shoot.
Alternatively, they should brick the trodes or data jacks of their opponents to stop them from using wireless boni or calling for help.

But the really very best they can do is having a FA weapon on hand and provide suppressive fire.

talk think matrix

To strive, to seek, to find and not to yield
Revenant Kynos Isaint Rex

Marcus

  • *
  • Prime Runner
  • *****
  • Posts: 2802
  • Success always demands a greater effort.
« Reply #4 on: <06-21-18/1306:05> »
Best move is tricky, I'm pretty well down, with use your sweet cyberarm to shoot the hell out of'em with Stick-n-Shocks.
But bricking the other sides cyber eyes and Wire Reflexes/reaction enhancers with a forked data spike is also a solid option if you really hate the other guy. Dataspike base damage is your attack stat, and is easily raise-able with hammer and the other attack program, so getting something that high enough to to brick most anything that's not a beefed up deck isn't all that hard. Deck build wise Hardwired in VM ware, and extra slot gives even fairly low tier a solid program suit. Yeah tere are risks but it can make a mid stat decks from core and get a pretty solid cybercombat platform. The issue that I think isn't really consider enough, the most common effect of matrix attributes is as limits. Decking pools looks a lot more like magic then combat pools, getting much more than 14 dice and your gonna be into diminishing returns, so having limit for 4-5 just isn't that big a deal generally speaking. Sure there is always an argument for pushing every stat as high as possible, but it's simply going to run your out of resources to fast given the number of skills involved and the non-uniformity of decking specializations it's really more common sense to just make sure your pool is gonna be enough achieve the goal over all. 


If you have lead time HotF does offer bunch of interesting options, go in mess with their cybereyes, or rewire their smartlink commands.
 
*Play-by-Post color guide*
Thinking
com
speaking

SpellBinder

  • *
  • Omae
  • ***
  • Posts: 348
« Reply #5 on: <06-21-18/1325:37> »
What do I think?  "Never bring a deck to a gunfight."

First game in SR5 that a friend ran, in the first fight the decker pulled out an Enfield AS-7 with a drum of APDS ammo.  He didn't provide suppression fire as Jack_Spade suggested (IMO, not a bad suggestion), but instead unloaded short bursts into his targets.

Marcus

  • *
  • Prime Runner
  • *****
  • Posts: 2802
  • Success always demands a greater effort.
« Reply #6 on: <06-21-18/1448:24> »
I think the days of the hacker in the van are past. Combats happen, like S#%^ happens, sometimes you can control it, and sometimes you can't. If your not packing another combat method then bricking is a solid thing to do in fight, that's why it was put in, and that's we have wireless active gear in 5th.  I personally like the cyberarm combat Decker method, but I respect those who prefer purity of purpose, and i think it's good that they have the option to brick stuff.

*Play-by-Post color guide*
Thinking
com
speaking

Xenon

  • *
  • Prime Runner
  • *****
  • Posts: 6467
« Reply #7 on: <06-21-18/1518:56> »
Decker is probably one of the best archetypes in SR5 to take a right arm with 9 agility and either 6 in pistols with a specialization in semi automatics or 6 in automatics with a specialization in machine pistols. 15 dice right out of chargen. Not too shabby for a character with agility 2. The arm can also be used to implant your cyberdeck... and hide your pistol. gg

Having said that; if you get the drop on your opponent (or if you can stall for a few seconds while you hack from AR) then you can use the new Garbage In/Garbage Out to rewire the firearm (one example given was to rewire the firearm so that whenever the trigger is pulled -either mechanically or via DNI- the magazine would eject rather than firing a bullet). Being a Sleaze Action rather than an Attack Action mean that you will not expose yourself (unless you fail of course).

Also, by having a mark on the owner (which you get as soon as you mark any of his slaved devices) can also be used to spoof commands (acting as the instruction came directly from the owner) directly to any piece of gear he own without spending action economy to first gain a mark on them.

But I don't know... shooting three guards in the back (defender unaware) using a semi automatic burst complex action from short or medium range is a lot more efficient than pretty much anything you can do from the matrix ;-)

Hobbes

  • *
  • Catalyst Demo Team
  • Prime Runner
  • ***
  • Posts: 3078
« Reply #8 on: <06-21-18/1652:48> »
Cyberarm with an implanted full auto shotgun has been the most effective thing I've found for a Decker to do in combat.  I've also had luck with a Savalette Guardian.

Deckers have expensive needs, stuffing in a little combat 'ware and picking up a Firearm shouldn't be much of a stretch of their resources.  Combat Deckers are pretty standard builds, and are a heck of a lot more useful than the guy in the Van, IME.  YMMV and all that.

Marcus

  • *
  • Prime Runner
  • *****
  • Posts: 2802
  • Success always demands a greater effort.
« Reply #9 on: <06-21-18/2107:01> »
Not including initiative stuff, I think my last combat decker build hit 20 dice in pistols for something like 80k. 9 Agi arm, 6 skill plus spec, smartlink and a reflex recorder, and of course a built in gun. I think it's a pretty reasonable value for the resources.
*Play-by-Post color guide*
Thinking
com
speaking

Bamce

  • *
  • Omae
  • ***
  • Posts: 396
« Reply #10 on: <06-24-18/0918:39> »
Take Cover. Second best imo is taking out guns. You could do Complex for 1 Mark and Free to Eject Clip for example.

One offensive action per target per pass.

It is also trivially easy for people to just insert a new clip.

Mirikon

  • *
  • Prime Runner
  • *****
  • Posts: 8986
  • "Everybody lies." --House
« Reply #11 on: <06-24-18/1119:41> »
First, Cover is your friend. Stay with your friend.
Second, try to find a way to disable enemy comms or local cameras to keep more drek from raining down on your heads.
Third, let your combat-types like Street Sammies do the heavy lifting.
Fourth, get some overwatch, so you can let the sammy know where to shoot, and whether there's reinforcements incoming.

Hacking guns and the like is possible, but for most opposition where it is necessary the individuals in question will have their gear protected, either with decent firewalls and maybe IC, or with their own hacker, or they'll go wireless-off, specifically to keep you from doing things like that.
Greataxe - Apply directly to source of problem, repeat as needed.

My Characters

Redwulfe

  • *
  • Catalyst Demo Team
  • Omae
  • ***
  • Posts: 770
« Reply #12 on: <06-24-18/1139:02> »
Take Cover. Second best imo is taking out guns. You could do Complex for 1 Mark and Free to Eject Clip for example.

One offensive action per target per pass.

It is also trivially easy for people to just insert a new clip.

My GM always said you had to have a clip readied for you to insert, making it two simple actions one to ready a clip and then a second one to insert it. Always made since to us. Free action eject clip, simple to pick up object (clip), simple to insert clip.

It made the montra of "conserve ammo" very important in our combats.
« Last Edit: <06-24-18/1142:39> by Redwulfe »
There are 10 kinds of people in this world, those who understand binary and those who don't

Red

*Play-by-Post color guide*
Thinking
com
speaking

Stainless Steel Devil Rat

  • *
  • Errata Coordinator
  • Prime Runner
  • *****
  • Posts: 4572
« Reply #13 on: <06-24-18/1236:51> »
Something I get a ton of combat mileage out of when I play my Decker is Flash-Paks.

Dealing 4 dice penalty to the NPCs is something the rest of the team pretty well appreciate, even those times they don't buy/have their own flash suppression eyeware/implants.
RPG mechanics exist to give structure and consistency to the game world, true, but at the end of the day, you’re fighting dragons with algebra and random number generators.