Tips for Endless?

[JamesTheLimey]

So, I've finished the game on Expert and I'm trying Endless, but with no success yet.  I've seen the various threads on starting agents, but does any one have any good general advice for Endless?  My primary aims when playing are to be careful (not be greedy or impatient), prioritize stealth over muscle, and focus on better gear over stat upgrades, but other general strategy suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Things like -

• Are there good mission types to prioritize over others?
• Are there corporations to focus on (or avoid)?
• Are there any equipment or implant "must haves" to progress to the mid- or late-game?
• What is the main thing you focus on during the game (and does that change as things progress)?

I realize that the answers might be personal preference, and also that the nature of the game will likely mean that one strategy will never always be the "right one" - after all, that's one of the things that makes the game so challenging.  however, any general tips would be appreciated.

 

(If I've missed another thread that addresses this, I apologize in advance.)

[HumanKirby]

I have my own playstyle, but I can give you the following tips (they are red in your quote)

So, I've finished the game on Expert and I'm trying Endless, but with no success yet.  I've seen the various threads on starting agents, but does any one have any good general advice for Endless?  My primary aims when playing are to be careful (not be greedy or impatient), prioritize stealth over muscle, and focus on better gear over stat upgrades, but other general strategy suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Things like -

• Are there good mission types to prioritize over others?
• I would say first get an Vault Card, go into an Vault and Steal as much as you can, go into an Server Farm and get some programs. After that, depending how much money you have, get more via a Vault or go into a Security Dispatch or go into an Nanofab. If youve got some eqipment, get an new agent at an Detention Center. From here, you should go the way which fits your team and tools/programs the best (Sharp=Cyberlabs, Banks=Security Dispatch, etc..)
• Are there corporations to focus on (or avoid)?
• Plastek is really easy at low Levels (1-2) and high Levels (upwards 9 I believe) since the Moded MK1s are away or there are only some. If you have some good hacking programs and power household skills, Plastek is super easy
• K&O has some good enemys, but some armour piercing is enought to deal with them
• FTM is just annoying in my opinion, not hard if you trick them while they scan
• Sankaku gets later hard if you not buyed enought good programs, but hacking drones can save your life easyer than running from a guard
• Are there any equipment or implant "must haves" to progress to the mid- or late-game?
• Easy Answer: No 
• Long answer: No, but Stim 3 with the augment which makes you by using stims invisible is great, since it compines an extra Attack, extra MP and Invisibility, so much awesomeness for 1 inventory slot and 1 augment slot, can be a lifesaver. Normal Stims and Cloaks are great too
• What is the main thing you focus on during the game (and does that change as things progress)?
• Upgrading Anarchie to Level 2 after the first mission and as soon as I can to Level 5 for the extra items. Dont be to fast or to slow, thats it (also, try to use all your mp and learn effecting sounds as much as you can)

I realize that the answers might be personal preference, and also that the nature of the game will likely mean that one strategy will never always be the "right one" - after all, that's one of the things that makes the game so challenging.  however, any general tips would be appreciated.

 

[Nerava]

Well, I guess I can give you my advice as well.

• Are there good mission types to prioritize over others?

I personally prioritize detention centers, followed by a nanofab, then getting and using cards to build up augments/money.

• Are there corporations to focus on (or avoid)?

I've always found FTM and Sankaku quite easy, since both have specials that are easy to deal with without needing any special equipment.

• Are there any equipment or implant "must haves" to progress to the mid- or late-game?

Hmmm... Hard to say, other than getting everything you can to the highest tier it comes in. Cloaks can be quite useful if you happen to stumble into a bad spot, but that's more a concern on endless plus. Stims are pretty darn useful, even if just for the AP. EMPs actually fizzle out somewhat towards the late endless game, since almost everything gets magnetic reinforcement, which means EMPs only knock off 2 firewalls instead of disabling. Shock traps are good if you haven't found any good disablers, or if you have shock trap 3, since it can deal with a large search party if used right. Traps, cloaks, and stims are probably my favorite items. 

• What is the main thing you focus on during the game (and does that change as things progress)?

Anarchy to 2 immediately, then specialize characters until they reach five in their specialty. Making sure Incognita has some influence over the guards is nice as well. Ping is a very useful program, since guards respond to the last alert they are given.

[JamesTheLimey]

Thanks for the input so far.  It's appreciated.

[Spider1011]

Missiions:

I find that flight time is the most crucial factor. a financial suite and a vault is less profitable than 4 vaults. this is an oversimplification but it should get the point across. there are guards and safes to loot on every mission! Because of that I try to get 2 executive terminals ASAP so that I can get mission clusters early.

Aside from that on endless you should try to get your 3rd and 4th agent fairly fast if you can.

 

Corporations:

HumanKirby laid down the difficulties of the corps so I'm mainly going to list the cash factors.

the FTM scanners can be looted for valuable tech. both K&O and FTM field support guards which can carry lootable flashbangs. they have a good chance to drop and sell for 300C a pop.

sankaku fields robots which don't carry cash. very late every corp has mainly omni guards so this is negated.

 

Must Haves:

You need to get some way to penetrate armor and you need to improve your program suite to keep up with the difficulty curve. there are different ways to do so.

for late game the only thing I'd say is a must have is a couple of Portable Server III. otherwise you'll be hard pressed for PWR.

 

Progression:

Imho it's about maximizing cash gains while keeping up with the difficulty curve. Anarchy II after the first mission and level 5 as soon as you can.

Avoid Server Farms and Nanofab Vestibules for as long as you can since they are the least profitable. Often times you can get by with the small Nanofabs and the Secondary Server Terminals. but of course the RNG can force your hand. and if one of them is on your path anyway it doesn't hurt to save some money.

[JamesTheLimey]

Missiions:

I find that flight time is the most crucial factor. a financial suite and a vault is less profitable than 4 vaults. this is an oversimplification but it should get the point across. there are guards and safes to loot on every mission! Because of that I try to get 2 executive terminals ASAP so that I can get mission clusters early.

 

This is a very good point that I hadn't really thought about that way.  I usually consider executive terminal missions to be low priority, but explained like this I can see their greater potential importance to saving time between missions in the long run.

 

One thing that has been bugging me is that it seems, more often than not, that my first mission is a 12 hour flight from my starting point.  Has anyone else noticed this?  For a game with a three-day limit and daily difficulty escalation to almost always start halfway into the first (easiest) day seems a bit much.  Especially when the subsequent missions don't crop up close to your location.  you can be on Day 2 before you've even started (or so it seems).  Maybe I've just been unlucky.

 

Avoid Server Farms and Nanofab Vestibules for as long as you can since they are the least profitable. Often times you can get by with the small Nanofabs and the Secondary Server Terminals.

 

I have been doing this more often than not, the only exception being if I somehow luck into a huge amount of credits - the range of things on offer in a Nanofab Vestibule sometimes makes me feel like a kid in a candy store.

[Doctor H. Derp]

"Are there good mission types to prioritize over others?"

 

Mission type is not nearly as important as difficulty level and location on the map. Far better to string as many missions as you can in a single day as opposed to flying half way across the world and wasting 12 hours to an arguably "more valuable" mission type. You should probably also prioritize the higher leveled missions whenever possible because their jump in difficulty on the next day is going to be a much greater threat than the lower difficulty missions that "catch up" so to speak.

 

As for a tier list, my personal list is as follows:

1. Detention Centers (before I acquire 4 agents.)

2. Chief Financial Suites/Vaults.

3. Server Farms (before I get 5 programs that I'm fairly confident in)

4. Nanofabs

5. Executive Terminals

6. Server Farms (After I get 5 programs, but want to min/max)

7. Cybernetics Labs

8. Security Dispatch

9. Detention Centers (after I have 4 agents. I rarely go to these unless they're en route.)

 

I'm sure there are a lot of people that swear by cybernetic enhancements, but when you're just starting out there's no guarantee you're going to find implants that match your gear. I'd much rather prioritize programs and gear now and then pick up cybernetic implants or new slots for them later.

 

 

"Are there corporations to focus on (or avoid)?"

 

It mostly depends on what agents/gear/programs you have and where you're at in the game, but I think it's probably Sankaku that always gives me caution to pause before I infiltrate. Consider what assets I actually have first, y'know? Plastech I know, worst case, I can most likely brute force through, and something as simple as a level 1 shock trap can get me through some of the curve balls in FtM and K&O, but I really can't say the same for Sankaku. If I'm working with a funky program layout, or all I really have going for me is a neural disrupter or 2 with armor piercing, I'm probably not going into Sankaku.

 

 

"Are there any equipment or implant 'must haves' to progress to the mid- or late-game?"

 

You need something that can get you out of trouble. A cloaking rig mark 2 or 3 can be put on any agent as an easy get-out-of-jail-free card assuming they have a high enough speed stat -- and speed is most certainly a stat you want to put at least half a focus on because you'll never know when that extra point of AP was the difference between getting into cover and knocking out that guard or not.

 

Shock traps ignore armor. Even a level 1 shock trap is more than a match for an Omni corp guard with an energy shield of 9 strength.

 

EMPs are great for the early to mid game, but late game they get nerfed hard. They're still quite useful, but be prepared to hit a wall if you rely heavily on them.

 

You'll also need a method of getting serious amounts of power quickly to counteract Modulate 2.0 and Blowfish 2.0. Modulate is obvious but Blowfish takes you right up to alarm level 2 from the start without even having moved a single agent, and it's amazing how much faster you can blow through power when all the firewalls have been bumped up a mere single point.

 

If you find a microslam implant early, jump on that bandwagon. It quickly pays for itself and it very well might just bump up your revenue to a point to where you can afford that item in the nanofab when you were otherwise just out of reach. It might not be min/maxing as you're sacrificing an implant slot for it and money isn't nearly as much of an issue when all your agents are outfitted decently and fully upgraded, but I find it worth it more often than not.

 

 

"What is the main thing you focus on during the game (and does that change as things progress)?"

 

Countermeasures to Blowfish 2.0 and Modulate 2.0 and the deleterious effects they cause because, IME, they're the real killers. The other archdaemons are like the flu, which can be serious, but more often than not you can muddle through. Modulate 2.0 and Blowfish 2.0 are like HIV. You need to find a passcard to unlock the door to the exit teleporter in the later stages of the game. This passcard can be in any safe or in the pocket of any guard, and you have to get through each one of them until you find it or you can't leave the level -- moreover the agent actually has to take the card manually to the locked door to the teleporter room to boot which can be much harder than it sounds. Modulate 2.0 can easily make this process deadly because all your programs cost quite a lot to use for 20 turns. Combine that with the fact that safes, along with practically all other electronics, get magnetic enhancements and you can't use EMPs to quickly comb through the safes either. Blowfish 2.0 on the other hand jumps the alarm level straight to 2. Not a big deal save for the electronics costing an extra PWR to hack, but the thing is you only have a precious 5 turns until you hit alarm level 3 and more guards come and the corporation installs a countermeasures daemon... well you get the idea. The archdaemons don't kill you themselves, but they certainly make it easier for something else to, especially those 2.

 

 

 

Edit: I could've sworn I've stolen an exit teleporter passcard from a guard... but after playing some more these last couple nights... I think I might've gotten my passcards mixed up because I've noticed I've looted exit teleporter passcards from safes 5 out of 5 times. My bad.

[StaypuftMMM]

A lot of people have already included some really valuable info which I will try to not repeat.  So I will cover some random things I learned during my Endless run.

 

Don't be afraid to spend money.  

I waited too long before buying another program besides my starting two (Fusion/Rapier).  I had a "dream" configuration and wouldn't settle for anything less.  This actually hurt me though because there are plenty of useful programs out there.  It's ok to buy something knowing you'll sell it off eventually when something better comes along in a couple days. 

At the same time, don't spend all your money.  You never know when something great will pop up and you may not have the funds for it.  I tried keeping about 1500 credits on me at all times.

 

Power is important.  

Firewalls can get out of control really quickly.  Finding programs and items which can mitigate these roadblocks early on is great.  If I could go back I would have chosen Seed over Fusion.  It would have made my early game more difficult but would be wonderful after the first 5 days.  

 

Fill out the map as soon as possible.  

The quicker you know where everything is the better.  It can save you from sending agents to dead ends or making their way to the elevator first and realizing the mission is on the other side of the map.  Additionally, firewalls will be lower and you can minimize guards being added as the alarm and other obstacles begin mounting up.  

Filling out the map quicker can be done by boosting your agents AP through stats, augments, and/or stims.  There is also the Oracle program (which I learned about much later then I should have) and Internationale's starting augment which help show parts of the map you shouldn't be able to see yet.

 

KO guards in mass.

I prefer to play each mission undetected as long as possible.  However, there's often a point where things get hairy and when that happens, I don't just have one unhappy guard but many.  So for me, being able to drop several guards at once is the best solution.  Shock Trap III is an amazing tool and each agent gets equipped with in my load outs.  Along with that, the two agents who take the most risks in my group are outfitted with Cloaking Rigs and Holocircuit Overloader augments.  So when things go bad they don't just get away but knockout the guards that surrounded them.  Knocking them all out also allows me to stay another round in the area and finish cleaning up safes, looting bodies, etc that I otherwise wouldn't be able to do if I cloaked and snuck away.  The only down side to these two options is the loud noise it makes which may bring even more guards to that location.  This can be used

 

Getting "caught" can be a strategy.

Sometimes an agent will capture the attention of a nearby guard (triggered safe or something like that) and does not have enough AP to properly hide once the guard investigates.  By having another agent get spotted and/or trigger an alarm (safe, sound bug) the heat from the first agent can be diverted to the new area.  

 

 

Sorry if this doesn't make sense.  It's almost 6am and I haven't been to bed yet tonight/today.