Where is the safest place to hide in this room?

[Qh5]

Assuming there could be any number of guards behind all four doors, what move is the least likely to get you shot?

[Hekateras]

Well, there's a version of tic-tac-toe I haven't seen yet.

I'm not sure what you're asking. The room is completely symmetrical, as are the risks behind the doors (all unknown). Every move you make is utterly equivalent since there's no spot that would keep you covered without also being exposed to potentially other doors. Especially when you consider that one guard who spots you will alert other guards, so they will path to try and get you in their sights.

Practical solution i.e. what I would actually do in that situation, most likely: that room is a terrible place to hide. No good cover and too many unknowns. You have enough AP to leave the room. Leave it. Pick a door at random (costs you 4 AP to get there, 1 to peek), that leaves you 3 AP to get to some cover item near the door.

[Nxf7]

Under the assumption that this is a starting room and you spawned in with 1 agent, this is what I'd do after some thought. Also assuming default expert+ setting which is enemy vision hidden if source is hidden, which affects door approach.

Sprint to 3,0. Preferably 1 tile at a time. Chance that a guard hugging the wall in the north or south room hears as well. Better that you know where they are going rather than not know they were there.

If no guards alerted: 4,1 open door. If guard sees door open and you guess they can reach it within 8 AP, move to 2,3

If no guards alerted: peek room. If no guards + no visible doors in that room, move in and shut door.

If guard in that room: observe. Use last 1 AP to move to 3,1 (if guard won't enter starting room) or 4,2. 4,2 is a turning blindspot for default guards if they are attempting to patrol into the north room.

[Qh5]

@Hekateras Thanks for noticing the noughts and crosses  

@Nxf7 In the interest of Jewish Wisdom, I have more questions!

On 1/3/2019 at 3:25 PM, Nxf7 said:

4,2 is a turning blindspot for default guards if they are attempting to patrol into the north room.

To clarify:

1. "peripheral vision". The guard's peripheral vision is turned off while turning, i.e. at (4,0) and (3,1), hence failing to see Agent 1 hiding at (4,2).
2. "adjacency". However, Agent 2 hiding at (4,1) would get spotted, not because of peripheral vision but because she is adjacent to the guard at (3,1).

On 1/3/2019 at 3:25 PM, Nxf7 said:

Sprint to 3,0.

I really like this idea of sprinting to provoke a reaction from the guards; better to know where they are going than to not know where they are. Suppose I draw the attention of guards at (3,5) and (3,-5) by sprinting to (3,0). Where should I move now?

[Nxf7]

Probably just move back to -2,0 with the goal of checking the west door next turn. It's not ideal to be there because either west or east door could have a 3rd hero guard coming through. If it was only 1 guard on the (3,X) column then you could move to 1,-3 or the opposite one, but having 2 guards north and south there is very unlikely as it is.

Perhaps the best statistical play if you want to avoid that is to not sprint the 3rd tile if at least 1 guard heard top/bottom. If there's already one guard each side after taking 2 steps then you have enough AP to go to -3,1.

If only 1 guard heard and he's on 2nd column, you can probably approach door like I described above. This is because he'll finish his next turn on 1,0 angled up or down diagonally, assuming he's a guard with default AP of course.

If only 1 guard on column 1 or 3, then you can't approach door with the Expert+ vision setting. Just move to the side opposite the guard (like 1,-3) to prepare for scouting a door next door.

[Qh5]

But sprinting to (3,0) is so cool!

6 hours ago, Nxf7 said:

Probably just move back to -2,0 with the goal of checking the west door next turn. It's not ideal to be there because either west or east door could have a 3rd hero guard coming through.

How about...?

1. Sprint to (3,0), drawing the attention of guards at (3,5) and (3,-5).
2. Toggle sprint off.
3. Instead of moving back to (-2,0), move to (-1,0).
4. Set melee ambush. [I know it's cheating to mention a Neural Disrupter this late, but I'm interested in whether this could work.]

Wishful thinking:

1. Guard 1 (North) paths to (0,0), i.e. between cover; you KO him.
2. Guard 2 (South) paths to (3,-3), i.e. around cover.
3. West Guard opens the door, spotting you, stopping at (-5,0).
4. East Guard opens the door, spotting you, stopping at (5,0).
5. You escape to (1,0). [(-1,0) is also possible.] ALARM +2, sure, but you live to fight another day.

Crazy? Or godlike?

 

[Nxf7]

2 minutes ago, Qh5 said:

Crazy? Or godlike?

Crazy . Worst case scenario is a guard from west/east moves in first and overwatches, then a north/south guard paths through the middle, you ambush and then promptly shot. Other than that the chances of more than 2 guards in this one area are slim enough as it is. So you'd just be triggering alarm for free and then however you want to deal with the body.

A guard on 3rd column wouldn't path through the middle anyway, it's a shorter path for them to take the outside. Also they don't land on 3,-3, they would make it to 3,-2 if it's a default guard with 8 AP.

[Qh5]

9 hours ago, Nxf7 said:

Worst case scenario is a guard from west/east moves in first and overwatches, then a north/south guard paths through the middle, you ambush and then promptly shot.

Damn! Turn order.  

9 hours ago, Nxf7 said:

A guard on 3rd column wouldn't path through the middle anyway, it's a shorter path for them to take the outside

Whoops! Of course both guards would take the outside.

Hang on, though - if they both take the outside, you don't have to worry about melee ambush in the first place. Both north and south would miss you; east and west would spot you, but you can dodge their Overwatch by moving directly from (-1,0) to (1,0):