Expert Plus Tips

[stefan3iii]

I haven't seen much discussion of strategy and tactics for Expert Plus/Endless Plus, so I thought I'd post some of what I've learned. I haven't played the game to death, but I have beaten it now on Endless Plus Ironman and Expert Plus Ironman.

 

Characters

- Strongest starting character I think is Archive Prism, for both endless and story mode. She rarely needs to stop and wait for a guard to move, or for a camera to be hacked, and so she is the most AP efficient character.

- For Endless Plus I'd pair her with Central. For story mode I'd use Archive Xu. Central is very strong late game endless for generating power, and Archive Xu has an EMP and his Implant to help with power in story mode. Emps also disable heart monitors, so you can take down a guard when you have to without advancing the tracker.

- Non-Archive Xu is also very strong, with his emp attack which can disable heart monitors permanently, in addition to opening safes and disabling drones.

- Decker starts with a cloak, which can make the early game easier. So if you're trying for a high win rate starting with him is legit. I'd actually consider giving his cloak to Archive Prism if you're using her.

- Archive Banks is strong for an econ strategy in story mode, but generally you can't use her and Archive Prism together. So no Archive Banks.

- The rest of the characters starting equipment/bonuses don't matter much, they're nice to haves, or can slightly alter strategy, but none are consequential enough to set them apart.

 Summary:

Expert Plus Story, Trying to Win Once: Archive Prism/Archive Xu

Expert Plus Story, Trying to Win Consistently: Same as above, or Archive Prism/Decker

Endless Plus: Archive Prism/Central 

 

 

Strategy:

 

- Generally it's more important to have fewer powerful characters than many weak ones. Focus on gathering good items and cash before going to rescue additional agents. In expert plus you're knocking guards out much less often, so the weak team member as a paperweight to pin downed guards isn't nearly as useful. Rather you want speed/cloaks to get by patrolling guards as quickly as possible.

- I like to use Seed/Mercenary as my starting pick. Seed is simply very strong, usually saving 2+ power each turn. Mercenary synergizes well with Seed, and is just an overall efficient hacking tool. I do however prioritize going to a server farm early on, so that I can compliment mercenary with something like data blast or parasite, for steady efficient hacking, and leave mercenary to the "this needs to be hacked right now" job.

- Wisp. Wisp is ridiculous, if I find this early enough I consider the game to be won. When everything is going well, wisp isn't all that important, it'll save you some AP from observing guards. When everything has gone to hell and you're on alarm level 5 with 8 guards running around angrily, Wisp will allow you to make perfect moves to avoid detection. It makes the worst situations manageable, always buy Wisp if you see it.

- Final program loadout is something like: Seed, Merc, Secondary Hacking tool (Data Blast, Parasite, whatever you find), Wisp, Secondary Utility (Oracle, Taurus, whatever you find)

- Most important item to find/buy is cloaking rig 3. It's so OP that it sort of breaks the game, especially if you can stack several of them on a character. 

- In story mode I like to buy Buster 1s, since they've very cheap but quite effective. In endless mode buster 3s are great, and will greatly accelerate your hacking in late game when everything has 4+ firewalls or when Paradox daemon is active.

- General buy strategy: Cloaking Rigs > 1 weapon with armor piercing > Strength as needed > Speed to 4 > everything else. In expert plus difficulty you aren't taking out guards nearly as often, having lots of weapons, paralyzers, etc isn't nearly as important or useful as in lower difficulties.

 

Tactics:

- Your most important resource is time, and so exploring and moving through the level efficiently and quickly is the priority. If you have to slow down to sneak by a guard, that's ok, but if it's going to cost you more than a couple of turns, then consider just knocking him out even if it advances the tracker. 

- Observe guards. Always know how guards are going to move, if you know their exact paths and you understand the vision cone rules (and/or Archive Prism) reveal rules, then you'll pretty much never be caught.

- Of course, nobody is perfect and you'll eventually make a mistake and a guard will spot you and get ready to shoot. This is where you need the "oh ****" card, an item or something you've been keeping in reserve just for this situation. Examples: Cloak Rig, Smoke Grenade. When you start the game, you generally don't have any cards to play so you need to be extra careful, and you should be scouring the shops hoping for your first cloaking rig as it is by far the best item for this role.

- Cloaking Rig 3: This item is basically cheating in either story or endless mode, buy as many as you can, I had 11 in my endless run. With 4 cloaks you can stay invisible indefinitely, but even with 3 or so you can use 2 of them liberally and leave 1 in reserve for emergencies and get through a level very quickly.

- Use sprint to distract and draw guards. It is critical that you maintain enough strength to allow yourself to sprint, as this is a tactic you should be using all the time. Turn on sprint, take up to 3 steps, then turn it off and find a place to hide or move on to another room. You can have guards chasing their tails for as long as you like.

- If you're encumbered drop items at the end of your turn until you're not. Then at the beginning of the next turn you have the option of sprinting, you can sprint 1 step, then come back and pick up the items you dropped and move on. Again, very important that you have the option to sprint.

- I generally clear out every level before moving on. But this is more of a prideful thing, it's better to get out early and safely, then spend an extra 6 turns getting some 200 credit safe way off in the corner of the map.

- Opening doors to a new room is risky as it will often draw the attention of a guard. You should only open the door if you have enough AP left to decide to move away from the door into cover if a guard were to come investigate. Alternatively, play with Archive Prism and have her open doors while disguised, it won't draw the guard. 

- If you EMP a guard, it will permanently disable his heart monitor. If you have a clump of guards in a room drop an EMP, disabling their monitors will make it much safer to take one out later if you need to. If you're using Xu, try to emp every guard you come across.

 

Archive Prism

Using archive prism is a whole sub game in itself, as she's so different.

- Understand the rules for Prism being revealed.

- Always have a backup when you make a mistake and get revealed (ex cloak).

- Walking next to cameras is risky. There is a bug, or something I haven't figured out, but 1/10 times or so the camera will break your disguise.

- If there is a new guard, and you don't know his path yet, just assume he's going to walk directly into prism. Always observe guards, or even better tag them.

- Don't leave your disguise on 100% of the time. Use your disguise when you need to, to save time, but try to end your turn in a safe hidden square and turn off the disguise to save power.

- Even in disguise, try to end your turn in a corner or near some cover. You never know when an untagged guard may path into the room. If you're in a corner they're less likely to walk into you, if you're near cover, you can usually step out of their vision safely if they're revealed your disguise.

- Prism works well with buster chips, she can use them efficiently, as she usually moves through a level very quickly and always has something to hack.

- Prism + Net Downlink is really good, as it speeds her up considerably. Usually you wouldn't be installing augments on Archive Prism unless it's endless mode.

 

[warfreak2]

I've played Expert Plus and harder on my YouTube channel, some people have said they've learned from watching.

A lot of my strategy is similar to yours, so I'll only comment on what I disagree with. Most of this is for story mode and early endless mode, but I've found if you get the first 4 days right on endless then getting to day 10 is a piece of cake.

• "Generally it's more important to have fewer powerful characters than many weak ones." I disagree - it can be OK to have a weak agent to stay around pinning a guard or two, but you want agents who are individually capable of exploring part of the map on their own. Early exploration is a big deal, worth splitting up for.
• "Archive Banks is strong for an econ strategy in story mode, but generally you can't use her and Archive Prism together." Why not? I've found them to be a very good team, they can both steal from the first mission, and Prism can use the Econ Chip while in disguise, making it easier to cash in the last couple of consoles. The only issue is that Prism has no weapon and Banks has only two bullets (to start with), so you have to avoid KOing guards. I did a few runs like this and usually didn't have to KO anyone on day 1.
• Wisp is excellent but it is second to Ping - why ask the guards where they're going when you can tell them where to go? On the right map, Ping can send a guard away for 3 or more turns. It also only costs 1 PWR and is one of the cheaper programs to buy.
• "General buy strategy:" Speed is much higher on my priority list - speed does everything, including hacking (get to the devices before the firewalls go up) and strength (drag guards further). Inventory slots are free, you get 3 of them by rescuing an agent - and you won't need to carry many items if you're buying Speed upgrades instead of shopping for Buster Chips. Beware of hidden costs - the Buster Chip itself is cheap, but the inventory slot it occupies costs 400+ credits. (Similarly, a Shock Trap III costs 2500+ credits if you only have Anarchy 2.) Also, some things you absolutely should be buying because they pay for themselves very quickly - Econ Chip (~2 missions), Microslam Apparatus (~2.5 missions), and Vault Access Cards (~0.4 missions if there's a Vault on the map and you don't already have one). Net Downlink, Torque Injectors, and Biogenic Darts are also premium.
• "If you have to slow down to sneak by a guard, that's ok, but if it's going to cost you more than a couple of turns, then consider just knocking him out even if it advances the tracker." I think this is usually wrong, but it depends how many agents you have. The tracker goes up 1 each turn, so knocking out a guard loses one turn for every agent, whereas waiting two turns to get past the guard only loses two turns for one agent - plus, that way the guard doesn't wake up and go hunting, which matters a lot. Also, you don't want to advance the tracker on your own turn if it spawns a guard - you'd prefer the guard to spawn during the enemy turn, so he spends that whole turn in the elevator.
• "it's better to get out early and safely, then spend an extra 6 turns getting some 200 credit safe way off in the corner of the map." Depends what you mean by "early". I'll happily stick around to alarm level 5 for 200 credits, especially on the first two days when money is worth the most.

[Nxf7]

I get the feeling most people struggling with Expert Plus are still leaving a trail of bodies in their wake. The most important mechanic of this game is that guards that don't spot an agent will follow their predictable patrols until they get KO'd or alarm level 5. You have 25 turns until alarm level 5 puts all guards on alert and only then should you have been in any danger. Hopefully you can clean the map and get out in 25 turns.

 

And speaking of trails of bodies, do NOT copy the Klei stream. And they claim that Internationale is "basically required" to beat Expert Plus which is bollocks.

[stefan3iii]

 

I've played Expert Plus and harder on my YouTube channel, some people have said they've learned from watching.

A lot of my strategy is similar to yours, so I'll only comment on what I disagree with. Most of this is for story mode and early endless mode, but I've found if you get the first 4 days right on endless then getting to day 10 is a piece of cake.

• "Generally it's more important to have fewer powerful characters than many weak ones." I disagree - it can be OK to have a weak agent to stay around pinning a guard or two, but you want agents who are individually capable of exploring part of the map on their own. Early exploration is a big deal, worth splitting up for.
• "Archive Banks is strong for an econ strategy in story mode, but generally you can't use her and Archive Prism together." Why not? I've found them to be a very good team, they can both steal from the first mission, and Prism can use the Econ Chip while in disguise, making it easier to cash in the last couple of consoles. The only issue is that Prism has no weapon and Banks has only two bullets (to start with), so you have to avoid KOing guards. I did a few runs like this and usually didn't have to KO anyone on day 1.
• Wisp is excellent but it is second to Ping - why ask the guards where they're going when you can tell them where to go? On the right map, Ping can send a guard away for 3 or more turns. It also only costs 1 PWR and is one of the cheaper programs to buy.
• "General buy strategy:" Speed is much higher on my priority list - speed does everything, including hacking (get to the devices before the firewalls go up) and strength (drag guards further). Inventory slots are free, you get 3 of them by rescuing an agent - and you won't need to carry many items if you're buying Speed upgrades instead of shopping for Buster Chips. Beware of hidden costs - the Buster Chip itself is cheap, but the inventory slot it occupies costs 400+ credits. (Similarly, a Shock Trap III costs 2500+ credits if you only have Anarchy 2.) Also, some things you absolutely should be buying because they pay for themselves very quickly - Econ Chip (~2 missions), Microslam Apparatus (~2.5 missions), and Vault Access Cards (~0.4 missions if there's a Vault on the map and you don't already have one). Net Downlink, Torque Injectors, and Biogenic Darts are also premium.
• "If you have to slow down to sneak by a guard, that's ok, but if it's going to cost you more than a couple of turns, then consider just knocking him out even if it advances the tracker." I think this is usually wrong, but it depends how many agents you have. The tracker goes up 1 each turn, so knocking out a guard loses one turn for every agent, whereas waiting two turns to get past the guard only loses two turns for one agent - plus, that way the guard doesn't wake up and go hunting, which matters a lot. Also, you don't want to advance the tracker on your own turn if it spawns a guard - you'd prefer the guard to spawn during the enemy turn, so he spends that whole turn in the elevator.
• "it's better to get out early and safely, then spend an extra 6 turns getting some 200 credit safe way off in the corner of the map." Depends what you mean by "early". I'll happily stick around to alarm level 5 for 200 credits, especially on the first two days when money is worth the most.

• Splitting up is definitely important to speed up exploration, no question. But just from my experience there usually aren't enough directions to explore in for 4 agents to be very efficient. Getting the third and fourth agents is an opportunity cost, you could've gotten more money/augments/items instead that could make your first two agents faster. That said, if you can equip 4 agents well then that's of course what you should do
• Archive banks + Archive prism, I've never tried it. Just assumed the anti-synergy with having no decent weapon and converting power into money would be problematic. But I could see how it could work out since power is plentiful early game.
• I like Ping a lot, but it has a very long cooldown, and a sprint can often work just as well. Would definitely buy it if I see it and had a slot open.
• I agree speed is the most important stat. But if I'm encumbered then strength is more important so that I can sprint. The first level of strength is also very cheap (300).
• Agree that knocking out vs sneaking is all about how much the tracker has advanced when you get beyond that guard. I should add that I'm more likely to knock out guard at higher alarm levels, since they will be going into hunt mode soon enough anyway, or I'll be finishing the level soon enough.

[warfreak2]

You can control guards to some extent by running, but only to make them move onto a square you started your turn on, and only if you can get into cover. If a guard is on overwatch and you have only one square of cover to retreat to, you can retreat and then Ping the guard away. You can Ping stationary guards so they'll be looking away from a door when you want to go through, so they won't come to investigate it, or into the guard elevator (or make them stay there an extra turn) where they'll see nothing. Then there are occasionally moments like this.

 

I think Ping and Wisp are both auto-buys (buy them if you can afford them, whatever else is for sale), but Ping has won more games for me than Wisp has.

[Kuirem]

Some really good tips but there are a couple I disagree with :

For story mode I'd use Archive Xu. Non-Archive Xu is also very strong

On-File Xu is far stronger than Archive Xu, his EMP has no cooldown and can easily save tons of PWR on Safe. Plus you do not have to wait for the end of the turn to disable hearth monitor. Archive Xu augment need a lot of item before it can give a reliable amount of PWR. EMP Pack are not really hard to get.

 

General buy strategy: Cloaking Rigs > 1 weapon with armor piercing > Strength as needed > Speed to 4 > everything else.

I have something close to that but do not forget Anarchy 2! I know you got it on Archived Prism from the start but it is worth to get on other agents so if they are separated you do not have to cross the whole map to steal from guards. It is super important for Expert + where you can not afford to stun guards just to steal credits/access cards. Also you can get free Buster Chip from drones.

 

For characters my opinion for each in Expert Plus :

 

On-File :

 

Decker : The cloaking is a huge help in early story mode and the daemon detection can be useful to avoid surprise. He will lose a lot of his interest in Endless plus where you can easily get Cloaking, Hunter, Daemon Sniffer or Scan Chip.

Tips : Give him Stimpack, Cloaking and Tag Gun, boost his speed and make him your scout. If you got some ranged weapon (lethal or not) give it to him, if things start to get hot he can pass through Guards in Cloaking and knock them down from a cover.

 

Internationale : A really good agent for both Story and Endless, she gives extra information with her augment on device location and you save lot of AP by avoiding detour to consoles.

Tips : Make sure to have good hacking tools with Internationale to quickly take camera she detect with her augment so you can have information quickly. If you have spare CR do not hesitate to invest some into her Hacking.

 

Shalem : A risky choice, starting with 2 armor penetration can save you from tricky situtation (notably against K&O) but if you are careful enough you should not need to kill anyone. His starting equipment and augment are quite good for the last mission in Story Mode.

Tips : Shalem can use his starting augment with a Biogenic Dart to stun guard with 3 armor so he is still useful even if he does not kill anyone. Pair him with Dr. Xu (or use EMP Pack) to kill guards without worrying about Alarm Tracker. Also do not forget that you can destroy cameras with a gun if needed.

 

Banks : I really like this character for both Story and Endless. What Banks does is reducing a lot the influence of RNG in map generations, you no longer need to find the guard with Security card to get through red doors. Depending on the map she can save a lot of turn from going around those doors. The +1 anarchy is always nice to have.

Tips : Nothing much to say, she pair well with anyone. Don't hesitate to give her extra mobility since she will often be in the front to open doors.

 

Dr. Xu : Despite his -1 AP Dr. Xu is a really strong choice. He makes hacking Safe useless since he can EMP all of them saving PWR and avoiding Daemons.

Tips : Try to explore with your other Agents and make Dr.Xu go directly to safe location to limit the impact of his lower mobility.

 

Nika : Strong in Expert, Nika lost a lot of her interest in Expert Plus where running around and stunning agents is not as good. It is still worth to have her as a fighter in case you reach Alarm level 6 but I would rather get her in a Detention center than as a starting Agent.

Tips : Nika can do wonders with T.A.G. and Flurry guns, don't hesitate to give her those along with Piercing Scanner and Stim III.

 

Sharp : Sharp is actually pretty good for Endless Plus, maybe better than Nika, because when you have to knock down a Guard you want him to stay down as long as possible. It might be a bit hard to get the right equipment in Expert Plus though.

Tips : Optimal equipment for Sharp include : 1 Penetration Scanner, 1 Predictive Brawling, 3 Titanium Rod, 1 Neural Disrupter 3. This will give him around 8-9 turns of KO (not sure of the actual value in Expert Plus). If you really wish for maximum stun duration you can get a Ventricular lance and skip Penetration Scanner and Predictive Brawling but the extra AP is really too good to pass.

 

Prism : Not too bad, not too good. The extra PWR is easy enough to activate and good to have early game but late game it will not make much difference. You should probably get Central if you want a PWR generation agent for Endless Plus.

Tips : Since Prism is already tied with Incognita Hacking giving her a Net Downlink can be interesting since to increase this strength. Internationale is a good choice with her to find new device to hack quickly. Parasite is also a good program with Prism, it will provide some extra PWR to fuel the other costly programs such as Oracle or Hunter.

 

Central : Excellent for both Expert Plus and Endless Plus, Central augment will help a lot against Daemon and she starts with Anarchy 3 and will get extra money from guards. Be careful in Story mode, if you pick central as a starting Agent you will have one less for the final mission.

Tips : Anarchy 5 can quickly pay off itself. If you manage well you might be able to buy it after the first mission resulting in a good investment even in Story mode. When playing with Central try to find the Daemon Database quickly so you know what Daemon you can afford to activate (Mask and Siphon mostly).

 

Monst3r : Decent choice in story mode since he will save some CR and start with a really good weapon. The CR saved matter less on the long run in Endless but it is always possible to switch him for an other Agent. Starting with 3 Hacking means that you should not have trouble with PWR for a while.

Tips : Make sure to always buy from Nanofab with him or you will waste his augment. Monst3r pair well with Sharp who tend to need some extra CR for all his augments. An Echon Chip is a must with Monst3r starting Hacking, buy one if you can or start with Archived Banks.

 

Archived :

 

Decker : Archived Decker is really good for Expert and Endless Plus. The extra AP when you step in guards vision is useful since it is easier to step accidentally into one, it can also be used to lure Guards away from stationary position. The Gun can be used to stop a Guard in Overwatch or destroy a problematic camera.

Tips : Same as On-File Decker.

 

Internationale : Not really good unless you are planning to increase the alarm tracker quickly (usually by killing guards).

Tips : Mercenary and Dynamo seems to be two natural programs to use with her. Do not hesitate to use lethal weapons (Shalem?) or stun guards if needed since she benefits from it.

 

Shalem : Similar to On-File Shalem. Note that his equipment is expensive but can easily be found in game contrary to the unique weapon of On-File Shalem.

Tips : Can be used like On-File Shalem but he does not have a starting augment so you can give his weapon to an other agent (Nika for example) and follow an more peaceful path.

 

Banks : Custom Econ Chip will generate a lot of CR allowing you to buy pretty much anything you want. The Chip CR generation will increase with the Hacking stat. She does not start with a Neural Disrupter but with a Neural D.A.R.T.

Tips : Shalem is probably the character that benefits the most from Banks Chip since he use more money but also start with an extra Hacking. Monst3r can also turn into a Cash Machine with his 3 Hacking start and Augment. Try to invest into Hacking as early as possible (on her or an other Agent), it pay off quickly.

 

Dr. Xu : I found Archived Xu a bit underwhelming compared to On-File version. His augment require a lot of equipment to be worth it and is limited to 2 PWR per turn (same as a Portable Server III) and EMP pack are not really hard to get. Not a bad agent but nothing amazing either.

Tips : Torque Injector is a must on almost everyone but even more so for Archived Dr. Xu.

 

Nika : Same as On-File Nika, Archived lost a lot of her interest in Expert Plus where you have an extra downside while stunning Guards. She is more versatile than On-File Nika since her Augment is not fully combat oriented.

Tips : You will probably want to focus on one stat and give Nika all the items linked to that stats. Then use a Neural Disrupter III and stunlock a Guard to abuse the item cooldown. Speed to use Speed and Cloaking and explore the map quickly. Hacking to use EMP Pack, especially in Endless Plus. Anarchy for Buster Chip for easy Hacking or Paralyzer to stun Guards forever.

 

Sharp : I am not fan of Archived Sharp. With a Neural Disrupter III you do not need more than 1 Penetration Scanner since the maximum non-hackable armor is 3. I will probably go for On-File Sharp.

Tips : Similar to On-File Sharp except that you do not need to rely on RNG to find a Penetration Scanner. May be better for Story Mode since you can give him any Augments you find and you are sure he will be able to get at least 2 Armor Penetration.

 

Prism : A really good character with unique mechanism. stefan3iii pretty much said everything you need to know. Be careful of her PWR consumption!

Tips : Pair well with all character that will ease PWR generation/Consumption : Internationale, On-File/Archived Dr. Xu, Central, Monst3r. Try to get Portable Server, Accelerator Chip or invest in Hacking to sustain her unique item. Do not forget that she can use any items except weapons without being revealed. She can also drag Agents or Guards but that may catch the attention of a Guard (still not revealing as long as he does not get too close).

[warfreak2]

"On-File Xu is far stronger than Archive Xu, his EMP has no cooldown and can easily save tons of PWR on Safe. Plus you do not have to wait for the end of the turn to disable hearth monitor. Archive Xu augment need a lot of item before it can give a reliable amount of PWR. EMP Pack are not really hard to get."

On the other hand, if Xu uses his subdermal tools to take out a heart monitor, he can't then zap the guard, whereas Archive Xu can plant his EMP potentially taking out multiple heart monitors, and still go on melee to zap a guard (who can be lured towards him by the EMP's sound - or you can just use the EMP as a sound distraction in a pinch). The subdermal tools save PWR on safes, but Archive Xu's augment can generate 2 PWR/turn on demand, even on the final mission.

Honestly, though, I think loadout choice is more about synergy than good individual agents - all of the agents and starting programs are about equally good if you use them well. Maybe Nika and Shalem are a bit worse than the other agents on Expert Plus because each KO costs a hit on the alarm level.

[stefan3iii]

I do think On-File Xu is stronger than Archive Xu in a vacuum, it's just when paired with Archive Prism and Seed the power generation is helpful, even if not triggered very often. Late game when he's carrying many items, you'll be triggering it all the time for steady power generation. Note you can even trade with other team members to get fresh items off cooldown to trigger the power generation effect.

 

Archive Prism is so powerful, that other agents' usefulness is usually defined by how well they pair with her.

 

If I have On-File Xu it can be good to prioritize giving him a stim 3, so he can EMP a guard, stim, and then take them out with the second attack.

[Nxf7]

I don't find comparing file to archive Xu to be all that useful. File Xu has free, instant EMP's that you can't get anywhere else in the game and can be used at least once a turn. Archive Xu just generates power. The EMP pack he starts with doesn't particularly concern me since it's not unique to him; you can buy one for any agent and still AOE-EMP heart monitors.

[Sampsen]

I think on-file Xu is stronger, that free emp every turn is amazing, and even once the safes become magnetically reinforced, he can still chip away 2 firewalls per turn.

 

That said, my favourite starting loadout is on file banks and prism with seed and parasite.  Banks has an amazing start with her augment and the paralyzer, and prism is free power.  Seed and parasite have fantastic synergy, allowing you to play with pretty very little power.

 

As the game progresses, I add Oracle, Hunter, and something like Dagger, Lockpick, or Data Blast, depending on what I can find.  The items I go for on every agent are Cloaking Rig III, Stim III and Shock Trap III, so speed and anarchy are musts, but I never upgrade skills until I need the skill to use something.  I like Buster Chips, but don't prioritize them over other items.

 

 

This is my best run to date, and I got a bit lucky my last few runs. I feel like I've fallen behind the difficulty curve and the next mission or two will be the end of me.

 

 

 

[yossarian]

Sampsen, your avatar freaked me out for a second as that was the portrait I used in Hong Kong.

[Kuirem]

That said, my favourite starting loadout is on file banks and prism with seed and parasite. 

Consider trying Central instead of Prism especially for Endless run. Past day 5, Prism PWR generation will does little while Central will give a bonus starting 5 PWR from the archdaemon at the beginning plus all you will get from other daemon. Also +1 Anarchy for extra CR, always good to take.

[bobthe]

On Endless Plus, where KOing guards raises the alarm, I like to combo EMP and Shock Traps. Ideally Shock Trap III, but the point is that normally you can't EMP and then attack the same turn but if you use the EMP noise (or another distraction like opening/closing a door) to lure a guard through a trapped door you can take out a bunch with no alarm easily.

 

I also like to make heavy use of the augment that prevents the alarm from raising for kills at the cost of 3 power on Endless Plus. Unfortunately it only works on kills and no KOs, but it's still very handy in a pinch.