Basic Tips?

[obliviondoll]

Medigel can be a difficult tool to use in many situations, but if you can use it well, it is really powerful.

 

It isn't always a viable option, but it's much more powerful than first impressions might lead you to believe.

[N3KroMancer]

Medpack is essential, to the point that it should be nerfed somehow or raised in price. I've revived people over and over after death, even with level 6 alarm. You just have to be patient and either wait guards out or lure them away.

 

Well, Medpack is an item that allows player to correct that mistake but it costs time and increase the risk on existing agent with the item to revive downed agent.

 

Imo, it's simply not economical to keep this item in the inventory (which costs money to expand). Keep something else that allows your agent to be more efficient in the first place would be more economical. If you don't have anything else then it's fine to keep it in your inventory.

[Catweaselcrow]

If I see a medigel in a vending machine, I'm buying it.

 

It's too easy to make one tiny mistake that puts an agent down. Without medigel, it's pretty much over at that point.

[the truthseeker]

Remember, if you focus on planed evasion first and do NOT ko the guard that means they are NOT hunting for you.

 

Try NOT to KO the guard until necessary. (As what is "necessary" in regards to their inventory takes game playing experience.)

 

Also, closing doors in regards to all of this helps. 

[yossarian]

Yeah, never, ever miss a chance to close a door. Leaving them open will come back to haunt you in surprising ways.

[obliviondoll]

Also, unlocking a door (a free action) in front of an overwatching guard?

 

Not such a free action any more...

 

I learned that the hard way today.

[yossarian]

It is kind of hilarious that you can slam a door in a guard's face to escape his overwatch, though.

[SonMoekel]

Not sure if it has been said already, but you can pin 2 guards at the same time, by dragging one and simultaneously standing on top of another one. Made plenty of games much easier for me, keeping 2 essential guards down, while using my 2nd (and 3rd) operative to get remaining goals in the level.

Also your save file is located at C:\Users\USER\Documents\Klei\InvisibleInc\saves. Making a backup and having a fallback point, so you don't have to start over completely if you are unlucky, prevents a lot of frustration.

 

Also I find any item that prolongs knock-out time rather useful, as it gives you more freedom to move around.

[yossarian]

Not sure if it has been said already, but you can pin 2 guards at the same time, by dragging one and simultaneously standing on top of another one. Made plenty of games much easier for me, keeping 2 essential guards down, while using my 2nd (and 3rd) operative to get remaining goals in the level.

Also your save file is located at C:\Users\USER\Documents\Klei\InvisibleInc\saves. Making a backup and having a fallback point, so you don't have to start over completely if you are unlucky, prevents a lot of frustration.

 

These sound like a bug and an exploit respectively.

 

[obliviondoll]

I'm now imagining a pile of unconscious guards with Deckard sitting on them and tipping his fedora at the other agents as they drag more KOed guards his way.

[SonMoekel]

I'm now imagining a pile of unconscious guards with Deckard sitting on them and tipping his fedora at the other agents as they drag more KOed guards his way.

 

Hehe, that would be fun, but no, you cannot stack bodies on top of one another.

 

Also, in regards to the save game, had a black screen once after alt-tabbing which wouldn't go away even on restarting the game. So it's more of a necessity being able to save your progress, than anything else in my opinion. 

[Shelf]

Medpack is essential, to the point that it should be nerfed somehow or raised in price. I've revived people over and over after death, even with level 6 alarm. You just have to be patient and either wait guards out or lure them away.

 

Add in something like Ping and it's honestly extremely simple to make space to get up and use it.

[reinhart_menken]

Here's an important one, something stupid I missed early on and face-palmed so much - you actually have to take stuff out of the safe after you unlock them. Because I didn't need to do any follow-up action for servers after hacking them, I just assumed that safes are the same and you just get money added to you after the mission - not so.

 

Some other points:

 

Feel free to spend your early money on inventory space. The better items and upgrades come later in the game, you need the space to carry keycards, corporate intel, and other items you find on the way.

 

Usually locked doors are only convenience entries. Almost always a door that requires a keycard has another that doesn't, so you don't need to carry a keycard if you're really short on space. (I don't know if this is always, as I've not risky my agents to check often enough.)

 

Sell extra items to make money. This is actually not a bad way to make money if you can do it. Sell stuff you pick up off guards.

 

(Very Risky) When you know there's no one nearby, just run. And if you're not sure if someone's safe for you to run to, just stop short of that area and hide until you can walk next turn. It just saves time.

 

If your downed agent has revive medgel, just "steal" it off them, and then revive them.

[Xiran]

Do drag KO'd guards out of others' line of sight.

 

As in Mark of the Ninja, other guards will go on the hunt if they see a KO'd or dead guard; if you have the AP and know their patrol routes, drag them to hidden locations. 

 

Do use stims on non-agents.

 

When rescuing prisoners, they tend to be short on AP. Give 'em a boost so they can keep up with your team. Stand next to them to apply the stim.

 

Don't close the both doors to guard boxes to use them as cover.

 

In the temporary final mission in story mode, I thought I could brazenly outwit the guards by hiding in one of the empty guard boxes they teleport into. I closed both doors and couldn't open them again. Neither Banks nor a console hack granting access to secure doors could open them.

 

Other notes:

The max security level is 6. If you don't mind the cleanup cost at the end, well...

[Shelf]

I'm surprised no one has brought up that Power is constant between missions. First mission you will start with 10/20, but for every mission after, you begin with what you ended in the previous missions. Therefore it is advantageous to stall as long as you can in the elevator simply to give yourself more power to work with during your next mission. This allows you to not get caught up waiting for Power Drip or Fusion to disable that pesky camera; or be forced to go out of your way to find a console to hijack.

[Nbadallas]

Well, I've compiled a small list of basic advice. This is based on 11 playthroughs. (In my last playthrough I've somehow managed to get through the sixth infiltration with all agents alive, with good upgrades and great equipment...)

 

My basic tips would be:

 

1) (Most important tip): keep off fighting the guards until the last possible moment of your infiltration. 

 

It is better to make it with all agents back in the elevator in the last round of an infiltration by stunning guards at that point, then attacking them early on. Since they will start patrolling more aggressively making it even harder to do anything in the infiltration.

 

2) Also do NOT kill guards.

 

It steps up alarm as soon as a corpse is discovered and since the killing is most likely done by gunfire the noise WILL attract new guards.Use it really as a last resort, like when you escape. But the attention plus the step up in the alarm will wreck havoc on any strategy you had up until the point the first guard dies.

 

3) Closing doors cost no AP(!),

 

So use it all the time, keep closing doors behind you and you will not be found as fast by a guard who happens to walk by an open door.

 

4) Use the electronic device search from Banks often

 

In the beginning I found I never used it. What a shame! Here you have a tool that looks through walls, in multiple rooms and shows where all the 'good' stuff is hidden. There is almost no better way to scout out new areas then by using this device carried by Banks.

 

5) Try to hack as much as you can in the early stages of a level

 

Especially early on you when you find multiple electronical devices to hack and they will be available at a relatively low power cost. In my first few turns I try to scout as much as possible and then unlock vaults and camera's just before the alarm raises one level. Because it is better to disable 3 cameras now with 3 points then having to spend 6 a turn later. Also in the last stages of the alarm on a level you should be heading towards the exit, you won't have time to clear out vaults anymore and camera's and turrets are way to expensive to hack at that point.

 

5)  Disable camera's, instead of avoiding them

 

in the beginning I tried to find ways around them but - unless there are obvious roundabouts visible - don't even bother. They will get in your way soon enough, disable them early on (see tip 4)

 

6) Don't forget you have multiple agents.

 

I often had them go their own way, try to get as much assets as possible and find the elevator. This is good strategy, but as soon as one of your agents gets trapped by patrols or aggressive guards, use the other agent to make some noise (open a door nearby or just run) to lure that one away and allow the trapped agent to escape without having to stun or kill (see tip 1 and 2).

 

7) Do not avoid risk.

My best game was played when taking some calculated risks and just really going for it. In the first few playthroughs I played risk adverse, sometimes waiting several turns with my agent on full AP for a patrol to pass by or get through a room I needed to pass (it is bad strategy see tip 9). In those cases you get quickly owned by increased patrols and elite guards hunting you down. In my last playthroughs (the more successful ones) I've often passed behind a guard or hid in the same room, making shrewd use of cover or make another agent lure him away. It will enable you to pass a guard patrolling without wasting valuable AP's.

 

8) Spend, spend.. 

 

Invisible, inc doesn't actually encourage you to save up credits for later. Especially when you start out you should spend credits as much as you can. I found the edge I got from obtaining extra equipment and that extra inv. slot outweighs the fact that I sometimes couldn't buy an expensive upgrade later on. But at that point I did have all my 3 agents alive and I was getting more credits from a level then I did in the beginning, so it was always within reach on or after a next infiltration.

 

9) AP unspend is a waste of valuable resources

 

This one is closely related to tip 7, but I do want to mention it anyway. Like with the credits you got to spend to survive. Not moving and progressing means the guards get stronger. Stronger guards win. In my last playthrough I only once had an agent end his turn with full AP. It was because he was that close to the elevator and a guard passed by, so I didn't want to compromise the location for the other agents still in the building. Other then that I've put my full AP to use on every turn, scouting, obtaining and helping out other agents (see tip 6).

 

So, those are my 'basic' tips. For what they are worth, other players might find totally different strategies working better for them. As for me: I have really made progress in this game by abiding to the 9 tips above. Even though some of them seem obvious, make sure you really are AWARE of all of them when making decisions.

 

Good luck, don't let the difficulty get you down, once you manage your own strategy (with some flexibility) you will be top agent in no time.

 

Great tips, I'll try and see if I follow more than 800 points

[shigad]

 

invertere, on 21 Aug 2014 - 06:04 AM, said:

I've found that getting a third agent first has been my best decision. I've had much more success handling missions when I have more options.

 

how do you get a third agent?

[Shelf]

Additional agents can be acquired through Detention Center missions. You don't know if you'll find a prisoner or a captured agent. Prisoners grant a small cash bonus, agents are clearly the luckier find.

[Raaaahman]

Ah, another one: 

 

Run to the elevator: Guards don't turn themselves when they hear noises, they'll investigate next turn. So run if you can catch the elevator in one turn.

[Xiran]

 

Do use stims on non-agents.

 

Oops, was a bug. Can't do this anymore.

 

[JamesFactory]

My tips for a new player would be:

 

Do a huge amount of testing,

For example,

1) guards can only hear you running if they are 5 blocks from you, sound traps can hear reloads and running from the same distance,

 

2)experiment with the cover system, a good spot to do this is as shown by my handy dandy ASCII diagram: where X is cover, and there is a guard that patrols the room, aggro him and get behind cover then see where you can walk to hidden squares by checking them one at a time.

X  X

X  X

X  X

 

3) Learn what items you should always buy in the shop if you don't have them and experiment with items.  I have a bit of a running tier list/priority list of items in my head usually.

 

4) Learn what each mission offers and take them accordingly, you can find more info on the types of missions on the lower left box that pops up when selecting a mission. Early in the game you want to maximize your missions.

My Mission priority without a four member team is: Detention > Executive > Nanofab (with 1200$ or more in bank) > Security = Vault > Server Farm > Nanofab (with less than 1200$ in bank).

 

5) Be very careful leaving the starting room on the first turn, if 3 guards patrol into the 1st room you entered and you're not behind cover, you can send your agent(s) to an early retirement they may not have deserved.

 

6) Close doors. It doesn't cost an actionpoint, and stops enemy line of sight, there's really no reason not to close doors, and it helps you more than you might think or notice.

 

7) Remember which rooms have guards, and at least have an estimate of which tiles are safe if you have the opportunity to observe them or peek a room they patrol through.

 

8) You probably don't use the run button enough, try it, it's amazing.

 

9) Items can be given to other agents, dropped, used on other agents, used on prisoners from your agent's inventory (Yeah, I'm looking at you Stim).

 

10) Stealth and Stim are probably the best things to invest in after armor piercing.

 

11) You can use the EMP item to K.O. drones.

 

12) The Bioshot pistol is worth saving 1200$ for, as well as the armor piercing augment (350$ I think?)

 

13) Shalem 11 is a great team member if you have trouble with drones, though I favor Banks+Internationale personally.

 

14) Find which programs you want and don't buy one you could do without, I personally use Fusion/Parasite to start, buy the first lockpick 1.0 I see, and end up wanting a  daemon sniffer(tells you what the hidden daemon will do) and dagger(-3 firewalls for 1 PWR on a cooldown).  You can't have more than 5 programs, and once you get them you can't change them.

 

There's a bit more rattling around up here, though most of it is subjective.  I hope any of this helps newer players, the main thing I would stress is experimentation, find out what limits there are, and what you can and can't do.

[Shelf]

My tips for a new player would be:

 

Do a huge amount of testing,

For example,

1) guards can only hear you running if they are 5 blocks from you, sound traps can hear reloads and running from the same distance,

 

2)experiment with the cover system, a good spot to do this is as shown by my handy dandy ASCII diagram: where X is cover, and there is a guard that patrols the room, aggro him and get behind cover then see where you can walk to hidden squares by checking them one at a time.

X  X

X  X

X  X

 

3) Learn what items you should always buy in the shop if you don't have them and experiment with items.  I have a bit of a running tier list/priority list of items in my head usually.

 

4) Learn what each mission offers and take them accordingly, you can find more info on the types of missions on the lower left box that pops up when selecting a mission. Early in the game you want to maximize your missions.

My Mission priority without a four member team is: Detention > Executive > Nanofab (with 1200$ or more in bank) > Security = Vault > Server Farm > Nanofab (with less than 1200$ in bank).

 

5) Be very careful leaving the starting room on the first turn, if 3 guards patrol into the 1st room you entered and you're not behind cover, you can send your agent(s) to an early retirement they may not have deserved.

 

6) Close doors. It doesn't cost an actionpoint, and stops enemy line of sight, there's really no reason not to close doors, and it helps you more than you might think or notice.

 

7) Remember which rooms have guards, and at least have an estimate of which tiles are safe if you have the opportunity to observe them or peek a room they patrol through.

 

8) You probably don't use the run button enough, try it, it's amazing.

 

9) Items can be given to other agents, dropped, used on other agents, used on prisoners from your agent's inventory (Yeah, I'm looking at you Stim).

 

10) Stealth and Stim are probably the best things to invest in after armor piercing.

 

11) You can use the EMP item to K.O. drones.

 

12) The Bioshot pistol is worth saving 1200$ for, as well as the armor piercing augment (350$ I think?)

 

13) Shalem 11 is a great team member if you have trouble with drones, though I favor Banks+Internationale personally.

 

14) Find which programs you want and don't buy one you could do without, I personally use Fusion/Parasite to start, buy the first lockpick 1.0 I see, and end up wanting a  daemon sniffer(tells you what the hidden daemon will do) and dagger(-3 firewalls for 1 PWR on a cooldown).  You can't have more than 5 programs, and once you get them you can't change them.

 

There's a bit more rattling around up here, though most of it is subjective.  I hope any of this helps newer players, the main thing I would stress is experimentation, find out what limits there are, and what you can and can't do.

 

Aside from one minor detail in #9 I really like this list. The detail is that stim can no longer be used on prisoners or the courier. It was pretty recent so many people have yet to realize the change has occurred.

[Nbadallas]

I just do not understand, how do I get another agent? I still do not see any detention area or anything.

[obliviondoll]

I just do not understand, how do I get another agent? I still do not see any detention area or anything.

 

The missions you have available on each playthrough are randomly generated. Detention Centres are one mission type that can show up. Sometimes you'll see them, sometimes you won't. If you can't get a detention centre, look for Executive Terminals. The latter mission type unlocks new missions for you, which means you have another chance for the game to provide you with a Detention Centre as one of your options.

[ParadigmBlender]

Run. Run everywhere. Especially in the early missions I run most of the time.