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[RAM]

I have no idea what shade does, if it is good, then get it instead of ping.

My vote is to sell rapier and then purchase the following, in order:
Data Blast, Lockpick mk.II, Ping, Oracle.

Data blast is super-good, that is a five-tile RADIUS, so eleven tile diameter, that is generally more than one thing, so you are getting the same value as lockpick2, and is sometimes half-a-dozen things, which is pretty much the best power efficiency that you will get without a timer. The problems are that it only affects visible targets, so you can miss things if you hack as you explore, it is inefficient for solitary targets, or targets that become solitary because you blasted all their friends, and you can hack things that you didn't want to, such as daemons, daemon fodder(I would reserve my praise because it didn't give us a daemon remover, and we needed to come to a server-farm in the first place...), drones, and turrets... It is first because it is obvious that it is selected and should be the first resort and can require some spamming.

Lockpick 2 is just simple and reliable. Dagger or Rapier would work instead, rapier being better on the first alarm(and cheaper because we already have it) and dagger being better occasionally, but lockpick+'s consistency wins the title for me. Somewhat redundant with data blast, but good for those 10-strength firewalls and clearing out a null drone, or a solitary camera that is blocking exploration. Second because to keep your general hacks together.

Ping is there to give a non-agent method of guard removal. If you get lucky you can send a guard to the far-side of a wall and take them out for a few turns that way. The timer is a pain but usually doesn't come up and you can do the same thing with agents, but that is risky or time-consuming, and it only works on sound-sensitives, and may also trigger sound bugs, I am not sure on that point. But a just plain handy long-range option for (de)synchronising patrol patterns or luring a guard away. Third to keep it visible because it is easy to forget as it is highly situational. Shade would be an alternative if that is good but you don't want to spend too many of your five slots on guard programs...

Oracle is really nice. At this point, you are generally getting 2 firewalls for 2 power, but that can change. Daemons on cameras are rare, but that can be a risk. But mostly it is a fantastic method of exploration, especially with seed to pay for it. It only hacks available cameras, so you need to wait until they are turned on for the full effect, but being able to hack something, especially a camera, without getting vision on it, is nice, and four is a manageable cost. Cameras are generally cheap, but their costs can go up and a three-strength firewall for four power would be a bargain... Also, cameras tend to be difficult to hit with E.M.P. weapons... Last slot because it is a big deal early but largely irrelevant late, so you can afford to forget it when that is a risk. Oracle is largely a bonus, leave it behind and there may be some small chance of being able to afford the volt disruptor, or some half-decent agents...

[ATHATH]

I have no idea what shade does, if it is good, then get it instead of ping.

My vote is to sell rapier and then purchase the following, in order:
Data Blast, Lockpick mk.II, Ping, Oracle.

Data blast is super-good, that is a five-tile RADIUS, so eleven tile diameter, that is generally more than one thing, so you are getting the same value as lockpick2, and is sometimes half-a-dozen things, which is pretty much the best power efficiency that you will get without a timer. The problems are that it only affects visible targets, so you can miss things if you hack as you explore, it is inefficient for solitary targets, or targets that become solitary because you blasted all their friends, and you can hack things that you didn't want to, such as daemons, daemon fodder(I would reserve my praise because it didn't give us a daemon remover, and we needed to come to a server-farm in the first place...), drones, and turrets... It is first because it is obvious that it is selected and should be the first resort and can require some spamming.

Lockpick 2 is just simple and reliable. Dagger or Rapier would work instead, rapier being better on the first alarm(and cheaper because we already have it) and dagger being better occasionally, but lockpick+'s consistency wins the title for me. Somewhat redundant with data blast, but good for those 10-strength firewalls and clearing out a null drone, or a solitary camera that is blocking exploration. Second because to keep your general hacks together.

Ping is there to give a non-agent method of guard removal. If you get lucky you can send a guard to the far-side of a wall and take them out for a few turns that way. The timer is a pain but usually doesn't come up and you can do the same thing with agents, but that is risky or time-consuming, and it only works on sound-sensitives, and may also trigger sound bugs, I am not sure on that point. But a just plain handy long-range option for (de)synchronising patrol patterns or luring a guard away. Third to keep it visible because it is easy to forget as it is highly situational. Shade would be an alternative if that is good but you don't want to spend too many of your five slots on guard programs...

Oracle is really nice. At this point, you are generally getting 2 firewalls for 2 power, but that can change. Daemons on cameras are rare, but that can be a risk. But mostly it is a fantastic method of exploration, especially with seed to pay for it. It only hacks available cameras, so you need to wait until they are turned on for the full effect, but being able to hack something, especially a camera, without getting vision on it, is nice, and four is a manageable cost. Cameras are generally cheap, but their costs can go up and a three-strength firewall for four power would be a bargain... Also, cameras tend to be difficult to hit with E.M.P. weapons... Last slot because it is a big deal early but largely irrelevant late, so you can afford to forget it when that is a risk. Oracle is largely a bonus, leave it behind and there may be some small chance of being able to afford the volt disruptor, or some half-decent agents...

+1, but don't buy Oracle. If Shade gives a significant sight reduction, buy it. Otherwise, go back for the volt disruptor.

[Thexor]

I have no clue how strong Shade is; at 1 power and 2 cooldown, it's either totally useless or brokenly powerful. Lockpick 2.0 is a flat necessity at this point (Rapier has long since outlived its purpose, and using Lockpick 2.0 will also help our power needs considerably). I've never used Ping, but it sounds potentially awesome and works well with our stealthy strategy. Dagger is awesome if power is a concern, but we'd still need the Lockpick thanks to Dagger's hefty cooldown.

I'd vote for Lockpick 2.0, Shade (for science!), and Dagger, which would run us 1650 CR and all our empty slots. I'd keep Rapier to deal with level 3 firewalls more efficiently, though selling it for Ping (or getting Ping/Oracle instead of Shade) is also tempting.

[ATHATH]

I have no clue how strong Shade is; at 1 power and 2 cooldown, it's either totally useless or brokenly powerful. Lockpick 2.0 is a flat necessity at this point (Rapier has long since outlived its purpose, and using Lockpick 2.0 will also help our power needs considerably). I've never used Ping, but it sounds potentially awesome and works well with our stealthy strategy. Dagger is awesome if power is a concern, but we'd still need the Lockpick thanks to Dagger's hefty cooldown.

I'd vote for Lockpick 2.0, Shade (for science!), and Dagger, which would run us 1650 CR and all our empty slots. I'd keep Rapier to deal with level 3 firewalls more efficiently, though selling it for Ping (or getting Ping/Oracle instead of Shade) is also tempting.

+1, but sell Rapier and take Ping instead. Ping is quite good.

[ATHATH]

After some research, I have discovered that Shade is quite rare.

I thought of a combo:
Shade
Overdrive
Overdrive
Charge
Charge

This should allow you to spam Shade an unlimited number of times per turn, reducing the guard's vision cones by an incredible amount. This does take up five slots, which I believe will require you to be unable to hack things, but that doesn't matter much, because this combo renders even the reinforcement guards as blind as bats.

[FallacyofUrist]

Brilliant. Two problems:
1. We can't buy Charge from this terminal.
2. I don't think Shade's effect stacks.

[ATHATH]

Brilliant. Two problems:
1. We can't buy Charge from this terminal.
2. I don't think Shade's effect stacks.

Yeah, it'd only be feasible on endless mode. I think it does stack, though.

[EnigmaticHat]

I don't know how Shade works, but Overdrive can't bring program cooldown below one.

I must say, I'm disappointed at how well this run has gone.  I swear this game can be hard.  Like Plastech is super annoying, and people who haven't played the game won't even be able to see why from reading this.

[ATHATH]

I don't know how Shade works, but Overdrive can't bring program cooldown below one.

I must say, I'm disappointed at how well this run has gone.  I swear this game can be hard.  Like Plastech is super annoying, and people who haven't played the game won't even be able to see why from reading this.

I know. Normally, I go with Dr. Xu and stick around Sankaku.

It turns out that Fusion was nerfed recently.

[EnigmaticHat]

Alright, it was difficult for me to tally up all those suggestions into a concensus, but I think I got it:

Spoiler: The purchases (click to show/hide)

We are now program rich.

So, now to do some science on shade:

Spoiler: Guard LoS before shade (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Guard LoS after shade (click to show/hide)

I didn't notice any difference while I was playing, but... it looks like instead of changing the vision arc, what shade did is turn a large swath of "main" vision into peripheral vision.  I should try to find a guard with a more visible LoS arc so I can show off the effect more fully.

All that's left to do is for Decker to loot two safes and then get out.  The first safe is already unlocked, the second one has a daemon so he waits to activate his EMP.  Except it turns out, according to Decker's augment, the daemon is...

Spoiler: My favorite daemon type (click to show/hide)

Mask.  It does nothing because we already know where every daemon is.

There is nothing of note between the Prism/Banks duo and the exit.

Spoiler: Like, one tagged guard (click to show/hide)

And that's it.

Spoiler: Look at the alarm level (click to show/hide)

I am really disappointed with Plastech.  Like... that was the best you could do?   Augh.

Anyway, its day three now, so every mission on the map gets harder and new, also more difficult missions are added.

Spoiler: Map (click to show/hide)

At this point, we should probably be building a plan for what our final 2-3 missions will be.  The last flight we take can go over the time limit.  So with one hour left, we can fly twelve hours to anywhere on the map and we still get to do that mission before the final one.

Monst3r has something for us, but its... a bit out of our price limit.

Spoiler: "A bit" was not sarcasm (click to show/hide)

Here are the agents:

Spoiler: Not much has changed (click to show/hide)

So, where do we go, what do we buy?

[RAM]

Sell med-gel and charge-pack and buy a point of speed for Decker.

If the FTM security dispatch is less than 10 hours, do that, otherwise just do whatever is closest...

[ATHATH]

Hm. Can we hit the agent holding area, the cybernetics lab, and somewhere else before the final mission? If the answer is yes, do that.

[EuchreJack]

Hm. Can we hit the agent holding area, the cybernetics lab, and somewhere else before the final mission? If the answer is yes, do that.

+1, lets get another brave soul to assist, then take our souls away for more cyber.

[EnigmaticHat]

Hm. Can we hit the agent holding area, the cybernetics lab, and somewhere else before the final mission? If the answer is yes, do that.

No, although we could do JUST those two things.

[Twinwolf]

+1 to the agent holding area. Hopefully there'll be a shop somewhere where we can get them a weapon.