Shadowrun Returns

[Avilan the Grey]

Bought this yesterday.
Haven't started yet, just browsed the Workshop and tried to start a character.

A few questions:

1. Elf or Human? In most games I hate Elves, but tattoed elves with piercing, cybernetics and mohawks? I'm in.

2. Is there any difficulty differences between classes?

3. Recommended user made stories?

[Cespenar]

1. Your choice. The stat maximums really don't matter that much.

2. Classes don't really matter much either, because you can spend your karma in any way you'd like. Start a Street Samurai, for example, and put all your incoming karma into spellcasting, and you're effectively a spellcaster.

There aren't many trap skill/stats in the game either. If I had to choose something, though, don't play a decker, since the game can provide skillful deckers at the necessary main plot junctions. Apart from that, go as you wish.

3. "From the Shadows, Run" is the only one I played, and its writing is not bad at all.

[Avilan the Grey]

1. Your choice. The stat maximums really don't matter that much.

2. Classes don't really matter much either, because you can spend your karma in any way you'd like. Start a Street Samurai, for example, and put all your incoming karma into spellcasting, and you're effectively a spellcaster.

There aren't many trap skill/stats in the game either. If I had to choose something, though, don't play a decker, since the game can provide skillful deckers at the necessary main plot junctions. Apart from that, go as you wish.

3. "From the Shadows, Run" is the only one I played, and its writing is not bad at all.

Thanks.

Looking forward to the official DLC Berlin campaign, if they truly are going to make it much more fallout-y (semi open world, both fixed and random sidequests, don't have to follow the main quest to level up and can do it at your pace etc).

I think I will be an Elf Rigger.

[Cespenar]

No prob. I'm looking forward to the DLC as well, hopefully it'll offer a longer gameplay than Dead Man's Switch.

About riggers by the way, they spend 1 AP per round per bot they control, so if you're thinking "I'll support my bots from behind with gunfire", it's a little hard to do that with all the AP starvation.

[Avilan the Grey]

No prob. I'm looking forward to the DLC as well, hopefully it'll offer a longer gameplay than Dead Man's Switch.

About riggers by the way, they spend 1 AP per round per bot they control, so if you're thinking "I'll support my bots from behind with gunfire", it's a little hard to do that with all the AP starvation.

Figured it would be that way... (AP starvation).

I am quite impressed with the portraits btw.

[factotum]

About riggers by the way, they spend 1 AP per round per bot they control, so if you're thinking "I'll support my bots from behind with gunfire", it's a little hard to do that with all the AP starvation.

You still end up ahead of the game, though, because your bots generally have a minimum of 2 AP to spend--so you get more actions with more bots out, it's just the bots get the actions rather than you!

[Avilan the Grey]

You still end up ahead of the game, though, because your bots generally have a minimum of 2 AP to spend--so you get more actions with more bots out, it's just the bots get the actions rather than you!

"That's What She..." Ohnevermind ;)

Sounds fun! It's always temptign to go weapon specialist first playthrough but I want to avoid that.

[JediSoth]

I'm playing a Troll Rigger. I'm almost finished with the game and I get 3 AP base and have two drones. When I have them both activated, they each get 2 AP and I still have one left to set for Overwatch or to just blast things with my shotgun.

Shotguns are wiz in this game, omae. And if you have a runner team all set on overwatch while your Decker is doing his thing in the Matrix and some Lonestar security goon decides to crash your party, BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-KABLAMMO *thud*. Dead Lonestar.

That was great.

[mistformsquirrl]

I played a Human rigger my first time through - Rigger is awesome. < ._.>/

[Cespenar]

Huh, so many riggers around here. Guess I'm bland in going with a gunslinger.

[factotum]

Shotguns are wiz in this game, omae.

Are they still? I know they had to nerf Kneecap because a one-AP skill that does full damage and drains most of your enemy's AP was maybe a fraction overpowered...

[BRC]

I went dwarf rigger, and am kind of regretting it.

Yes I get a lot more AP to play with, but at the expense of more general combat options. I'm sure a rigger is very effective, but I'm not sure I'm having as much fun with it.

Also

For the final mission when you're character is carrying the insecticide gun. I'm now down to 2 people who can hurt the insect spirits, and it's somewhat tedious to get them both into bug-zapping position. I find that only one bug-zapper usually can't kill the spirit before it regens. Meanwhile my 1-AP rigger generally can't get into position in time to shoot.

[Cristo Meyers]

Huh, so many riggers around here. Guess I'm bland in going with a gunslinger.

I went in with an elven gunslinger that started branching out into decking.

Think I might just go straight decker next time, but I'm kinda waiting around for the Berlin DLC even though I've got about a half-dozen UGC runs that I haven't even looked at yet...

[JediSoth]

Are they still? I know they had to nerf Kneecap because a one-AP skill that does full damage and drains most of your enemy's AP was maybe a fraction overpowered...

I've only used Kneecap once, but every single one of my one-shot kills was done with a shotgun, whether it was on Rocky (my rigger) or one of the runners I hired to accompany me.

[Mikeavelli]

Am I the only one that went full-on spellcaster?

It's pretty lame to start out with, but eventually you go to the point where you can just blast everything that moves, stun the stuff you can't immediately kill, etc.

Haste is the single most effective support spell. Haste IV specifically gives you 2 more AP rather than 1, and there aren't any NPC's that can cast it at all.

Lastly, you should definitely invest in some guns skills for the sake of the final few missions.

[Cespenar]

Am I the only one that went full-on spellcaster?

Maybe. :smalltongue: I did have a favorite mercenary mage that I got for my every mission, though (named Echevierre Eve or something like that), who kicked some serious buttocks. Heal, haste, and numerous area spells all in one package.

[Avilan the Grey]

Dang it!
I can't come up with a name...!!!
I am too anal for this... Always have to find the perfect name

Oh and a question: If you pick the archetype you get a free droid; is there a way to get that if you pick your own skills from scratch?

[factotum]

Am I the only one that went full-on spellcaster?

No, I went that approach too. The main disadvantage with it, of course, is that you don't really get the opportunity to try out cyberwear because doing so makes your spellcasting worse--may play through again at some point with a different character just to check that out.

[Octopus Jack]

So I remembered this game from a kickstarter, last year I think and was interested in it but then utterly failed to follow it. Picked it up yesterday and having a blast as a Human Martial Adept.

I've got a favourite combat mage and favourite support mage hirelings for missions and I've decided the most fun way to deal with situations is to get buffed then punch/axe everything to death.

However I have had one odd/frustrating thing happen at the funeral, will spoiler tag in case I accidentally spoil anything:


So my team lived through the ambush and then the zombies/ghouls attacked. That was all fine until I accidentally put Jack in my cleave arc leaving him on low health, he got hit by their dot but that round we wiped them all out.

Jack leaves the party, me and Coyote start to leave then I get a 'MISSION FAILED' screen saying I had to keep Jack and Coyote alive. :smallmad:

[SevTai]

I wanted to play a decker, but seemed a bit 'complicated' for first char(since I was new to the Shadowrun universe) and went for a Street Samurai.
I ended up maxing only ranged combat/rifle and every fight was a cakewalk ~especially the last boss(having 5AP hasted).
That was when it came out though, so many changes since then.

Generally, it was absolutely amazing. In-depth characters, nice plot and a falloutesque feeling to it. Although too few context.
How do you like it so far Avilan? Or are you still stuck at the name part? :smalltongue:


Long live isometric RPGs <3

[Avilan the Grey]

I wanted to play a decker, but seemed a bit 'complicated' for first char(since I was new to the Shadowrun universe) and went for a Street Samurai.
I ended up maxing only ranged combat/rifle and every fight was a cakewalk ~especially the last boss(having 5AP hasted).
That was when it came out though, so many changes since then.

Generally, it was absolutely amazing. In-depth characters, nice plot and a falloutesque feeling to it. Although too few context.
How do you like it so far Avilan? Or are you still stuck at the name part? :smalltongue:


Long live isometric RPGs <3

Still stuck, or rather haven't started it since. Was too tired this morning to play before work, I just watched Damo's latest Skyrim episodes and then went to work :smallsmile:

[Cikomyr]

I like the game. The combat system is sound. Not incredible, but sound. The story is all right so far; the RPG system is interesting as well.

What makes the game really stand out, IMHO, is the effort put into the atmosphere. The music, the setting, the conversations. My Dwarf Samurai; Johnny Axe, is a REAL character to me by that point; because of the conversation choices I can get. Some of them are more about Roleplaying than story progression.

My favourite moment was, after coming from a difficult Run during the night, the Japanese Hostess tells me I look like ****. I grudgingly admit it was a rough night, but it was worth it. She asks me if I found evidence that would tell me who the Ripper is, and I was given the option to just tell her: "We'll see soon enough. Is the crew downstairs?" (which, in my opinion, was the professional thing to answer. I don't spill the beans before I close the deal, but I clue her in that I'm getting there). and then... you ask if you can have a sausage she's been grilling.

"Take the whole plate"

:smallbiggrin:


This whole scene felt... real. Like I was part of the setting, rather than just playing into it.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

I'm intrigued by this, but I've already got plenty of gaming on my main computer. I think I'm gonna wait until it hits Android (eventually) so I can play it on my work commute.

[Cespenar]

My favourite moment was, after coming from a difficult Run during the night, the Japanese Hostess tells me I look like ****. I grudgingly admit it was a rough night, but it was worth it. She asks me if I found evidence that would tell me who the Ripper is, and I was given the option to just tell her: "We'll see soon enough. Is the crew downstairs?" (which, in my opinion, was the professional thing to answer. I don't spill the beans before I close the deal, but I clue her in that I'm getting there). and then... you ask if you can have a sausage she's been grilling.

"Take the whole plate"

:smallbiggrin:


This whole scene felt... real. Like I was part of the setting, rather than just playing into it.

That's good writing, which is an altogether different beast than a good story. Felt the same thing there though. Nice scene.

[Octopus Jack]

This whole scene felt... real. Like I was part of the setting, rather than just playing into it.

The world as a whole feels very alive during the game. The part where I noticed that the most was trying to get into the Brotherhood and picking up the blank keycard then going with it to Brother Christopher I think his name was and telling him I had a blank keycard.

All he says back to you is 'You shouldn't have that.' And takes it off you.

That entire non-combat section made the world feel like it had a real pulse and I just loved those little interactions you could do for it.

[vendur]

It's a great little game, but i was a little saddened it was far more like the scene-driven SNES version than the open-world version produced by the genesis. Still a great game and I've heard that the Berlin(i think it's in Berlin-- some place in germany) "expansion" of the game is going to be much more genesis-like.

[Calemyr]

So far, I've really liked this game. But the last level I reached is ticking me off.

I'm playing a human with a virtual PhD in drone combat (7/7/7) and both S-Class drones, plus a decent dip in Rifles and Decking. I'm just this side of unstoppable in conventional combat. But I ran into the same problem most riggers do in this game: the finale is very unconventional in style, and the "AP Starvation" that was previously just an annoyance ("It's... *huff* *huff* okay, guys! I'll catch *wheeze* up to you in ten or so rounds! Take care of my drones, they'll be doing most of my damage anyway!") is now crippling.

So I've got some questions for you guys.
1) Is there any cyberware that actually helps a rigger? Wired reflexes is a minor temptation (+1 move isn't great, but when you've only got one AP to spend, it helps), but I can't think of any cyberware that would actually give me a real edge.

2) Is the Drone Combat(6) bonus broken? I thought my drones had 3 AP before taking it (against the ghouls), but they had 3 AP afterwards as well while I still had 1. What's the +1 AP supposed to mean?

3) Do the bug guns count as shotguns? Is there any way to boost your accuracy with them (when it takes four shots to kill a bug and only six shots max in a round, accuracy would really help...) beyond (I assume) ranged quickness and ranged combat?

4) Is there any more useful 4th member than Coyote? She's awesome, don't get me wrong - kick ass with a shotgun and willing to work for half price - but the fourth member in the last fights is almost completely useless. Now, if I could give Coyote the bug gun... dude, I'd be ripping these fights rather than crippling half my crew.

5) Is there anyone who can stand using the "Mechanic" outfit? How does something that stupid looking give you a +1 INT? I tend to stick with the "Golden Boy" outfit, despite the fact that it's got half the armor on it. Not a big deal because my boy's rarely actually NEAR the fight, but still irks me.

Loved the game until this point, but the current mission is just taking the air out of the sails.

[Cikomyr]

My street Samurai is also getting stonewalled by the final battle. quite annoying of the sudden change in combat style. It's just one stupid chaos fest while up until then, it's been methodical clean battle (with surprises)

Do the baddie just spawn more bugs as she goes?

[Calemyr]

My street Samurai is also getting stonewalled by the final battle. quite annoying of the sudden change in combat style. It's just one stupid chaos fest while up until then, it's been methodical clean battle (with surprises)

Do the baddie just spawn more bugs as she goes?

My stonewall was a little before that, but I eventually overcame it by sticking to one drone, allowing me heavy firepower and bug spray at the same time.

Here's what I learned during the final fight:

* Don't focus on the bugs. They take too long to kill and require too much focus fire as well. You're much better off focusing on the pillar first and the boss second.

* Get one particularly powerful fellow (I used my Guardian drone) to do take out the whatever pillar is open. It takes about 40 points of damage to close a pillar, so keep that in mind. (Taking down a pillar also does 15 points of damage to anything insect related, both bug spirits (corporeal and incorporeal) and the boss.

* Once the pillar is down focus fire on the boss. Throw everything you have at her, full auto, burst fire, anything you have.

* Harlequin's Stride spell is helpful here, allowing him to easily get to the pillars if you main pillar killer isn't sufficient to the task.

I think, all told, it took me five rounds to kill her. Without killing any, I only had three bugs to kill once the boss went down (cleanup becomes your new objective), but they were dispersed enough that it wasn't a problem.

Also, I've learned that pistols get the same stats as a rifle (which is stupid), with the main difference being that pistols get free reloads while other weapon styles get burst fire and full auto. As a rigger, free reloads are infinitely more useful.

[Hawriel]

The world as a whole feels very alive during the game. The part where I noticed that the most was trying to get into the Brotherhood and picking up the blank keycard then going with it to Brother Christopher I think his name was and telling him I had a blank keycard.

All he says back to you is 'You shouldn't have that.' And takes it off you.

That entire non-combat section made the world feel like it had a real pulse and I just loved those little interactions you could do for it.

What I got a kick out of on that mission is realizing the names in the database are all kickstarter backers. I recognized one of the names. It was one of the devs of a game I play. So naturally I used his ID to get into the brotherhood.

[Deathkeeper]

Bought this game and booted it up today. Color me impressed. The only thing that bugs me so far is the PC character portraits. I know that Runners are supposed to have a street feel but I wish I could have a human one that doesn't look psychotic or silly (or both). For that reason I loaded up an Ork for my mage and gosh is this fun. I mean, the answer to most of my problems seems to be "shotgun it," but the spells work out alright when I need a buff or AoE, they've got armor, or are just too far away for buckshot. so far totally worth my money.

[Avilan the Grey]

Went so far as to restart completely... Played a Rigger up to after offing the um... ugly elf.

Realized I had much more fun killing stuff with guns than with drones... So started over, custom class.
Focused on Gun combat (Pistols and SMGs, to be different), Body, Dodge, Charisma.
Will pick up one Drone at some point, good to have.

Called her Chains after the golden nose to ear chain she is wearing.

[Cespenar]

The only thing that bugs me so far is the PC character portraits. I know that Runners are supposed to have a street feel but I wish I could have a human one that doesn't look psychotic or silly (or both).

The male street samurai types had some cool ones, IIRC.

[Avilan the Grey]

So the Berlin DLC will NOT feature character imports. People are wigging out at the official forums. This is the one thing I was afraid of with such a small studio...

I guess I'll have to redo the same character from scratch and hand-wave the Karma loss.

[factotum]

I thought it had been confirmed for ages that you weren't the same character in Berlin as you were in Dead Man's Switch? Seems a bit late to be wigging out about it *now*...

[Avilan the Grey]

I thought it had been confirmed for ages that you weren't the same character in Berlin as you were in Dead Man's Switch? Seems a bit late to be wigging out about it *now*...

True. I still don't like it, but then I guess I just recreate the same character, I guess.

[otakuryoga]

Bought this yesterday.
Haven't started yet, just browsed the Workshop and tried to start a character.

A few questions:

1. Elf or Human? In most games I hate Elves, but tattoed elves with piercing, cybernetics and mohawks? I'm in.



you can dress em up however you like...but they are still elves
/pass

[Calemyr]

you can dress em up however you like...but they are still elves
/pass

True, but this is a setting where they refer to them as "dandelion eaters". They're not set above other races in Shadowrun, which is really pretty nice.

[Choyrt]

Personally I'm fine with rolling a new character for any DLC. Despite the story being great, at no point did I feel that my character made enough choices or had been customized enough to where I was attached.

The writing of Dead Man's Switch is top shelf, however. I gobbled it up and was deeply impressed. Loved the shamman that was in multiple places at once.

Combat disappointed me, overall. I love the approach and the general system, but melee is severely under-powered and I found the game unbalanced. I solo'd it first try on regular, and on hard I pulled off soloing the game until the offices overrun by Lonestar. That hallway with the two turrets finally made me hire someone.

But yeah, I love the atmosphere. I'm played some of the user generated DLC, but typos and obvious choices have put me off for it for a bit. I'll wait until more community work is produced and I will see what rises to the top thereafter.

Oh, I tend to lean toward a decker with a rifle and a drone.

[Mikeavelli]

Personally I'm fine with rolling a new character for any DLC. Despite the story being great, at no point did I feel that my character made enough choices or had been customized enough to where I was attached.

The writing of Dead Man's Switch is top shelf, however. I gobbled it up and was deeply impressed. Loved the shamman that was in multiple places at once.

Combat disappointed me, overall. I love the approach and the general system, but melee is severely under-powered and I found the game unbalanced. I solo'd it first try on regular, and on hard I pulled off soloing the game until the offices overrun by Lonestar. That hallway with the two turrets finally made me hire someone.

But yeah, I love the atmosphere. I'm played some of the user generated DLC, but typos and obvious choices have put me off for it for a bit. I'll wait until more community work is produced and I will see what rises to the top thereafter.

Oh, I tend to lean toward a decker with a rifle and a drone.

Some of the hireable Shadowrunners are pretty useless. Especially the half-gun/half-magic casters who have outdated spells and can't hit anything. The easy combat helps out with this, because you want to branch out and hire a few dudes you've never run with before, and they turn out to suck, you don't want to have to restart the mission.

[Cikomyr]

I always liked the Dwarf Support Mage. His spell list is actually darn good; Haste, + Precision, + Armor, - Armor.

[Octopus Jack]

I always liked the Dwarf Support Mage. His spell list is actually darn good; Haste, + Precision, + Armor, - Armor.

He's one of my favourites as well, just so useful in any situation. He's one of my go to runners now.

[Avilan the Grey]

Starting over again. Because that's what I do.
I have my build but want the look.

Going with the tall redheaded elf with green glasses. Her name will be "Legs".
Street samurai, basically, but with slightly reallocated points. So custom build.

Pistols and SMG, because it looks cool. Surface > Substance any day in 80ies Zeerust Future.

[Deathkeeper]

So, I think I've gotten pretty far in the made campaign. Doing a certain retrieval mission for a certain hatted gentleman. I'm kind of disappointed, though. The recommended NPC Decker turned out to be pretty awful, and I had gotten pretty far through with quite the hassle until mid-Matrix dive my decker hits an invisible tripwire, six enemies spawned, and they each got two turns to rip him to shreds. Laaame.
Still, one hard mission shouldn't break anything too much. I'm currently deciding on what my second character to try out will be. I love my mage, but I don't think I'd enjoy shaman. Adept seems rather limited due to the game's weak melee choices. I don't really know how I'd play the other three. Anyone have recommendations?

[Destro_Yersul]

So, I think I've gotten pretty far in the made campaign. Doing a certain retrieval mission for a certain hatted gentleman. I'm kind of disappointed, though. The recommended NPC Decker turned out to be pretty awful, and I had gotten pretty far through with quite the hassle until mid-Matrix dive my decker hits an invisible tripwire, six enemies spawned, and they each got two turns to rip him to shreds. Laaame.
Still, one hard mission shouldn't break anything too much. I'm currently deciding on what my second character to try out will be. I love my mage, but I don't think I'd enjoy shaman. Adept seems rather limited due to the game's weak melee choices. I don't really know how I'd play the other three. Anyone have recommendations?

Hah, that mission. I think the NPC Decker got kicked out of the Matrix four or five times when I did that one. Once to black IC, and I thankfully had one of those docwagon kits, and then a few more times to enemy deckers and IC that followed him around through the Matrix. It was just White IC, though, and my mage had Heal, so once all the meatspace enemies were gone it was easy enough to just zerg the matrix bit with avatars and heal him whenever he got dumpshocked.

[Deathkeeper]

Yeah, there are a few Matrix bits that seem kind of impossible to do in one go.
So, I think I'm going SS for my second character. Rifles, because rifles are cool. I know melee is kind of underwhelming, but is it viable as a backup weapon? Because unless I go elf (eww) I'm probably going to max out Rifles pretty fast if that's the only thing I'm leveling.

[Choyrt]

Is there an ironman mode in this game? I would LOVE that. No reloads...

[Destro_Yersul]

I wouldn't. Some of the missions can be terribly, terribly RNG. Like, every guy ever decides to shoot at your shadowrunner, ignoring everyone else. It's super easy to get screwed over by chance.

[Cespenar]

I think it can be done. Combat is pretty easy compared to other turn based tactics games, even to a first timer.

[Avilan the Grey]

I wouldn't. Some of the missions can be terribly, terribly RNG. Like, every guy ever decides to shoot at your shadowrunner, ignoring everyone else. It's super easy to get screwed over by chance.

Never noticed that. They tend to be fairly evenly spread in their attacks.

[Destro_Yersul]

man, you have no idea how many times I had to re-do the sodding graveyard mission because everyone decided to shoot at me, and you can only heal the most recent injury. I did, admittedly, have fairly low HP as a mage, but still.

[Avilan the Grey]

man, you have no idea how many times I had to re-do the sodding graveyard mission because everyone decided to shoot at me, and you can only heal the most recent injury. I did, admittedly, have fairly low HP as a mage, but still.

Are you provoking attacks? Or using your fellow runners to provoke attack? Leave a droid in the open, for example, and it's very likely it will get shot / blasted / kicked a lot

[Destro_Yersul]

I didn't have any of those, because Mage, and nobody else had any of them either. There's not a lot of cover in that mission, and even when everyone was in cover they had a preference to all shoot at me.

[Choyrt]

Hmmm, we called that Sulik-syndrome. The art of getting blown apart by an NPC that should help you. you put an SMG in Sulik's hands and you gonna DIE.

http://0.media.dorkly.cvcdn.com/59/47/3b569733c053099653f7a455dc8ef844-sulik-fallout-2.jpg

I didn't notice that myself, and honestly I might enjoy knowing I'd better watch my line of fire. I completely understand the concern, though.

[LibraryOgre]

I started as an Adept, but switched to a mage/shaman/decker/rigger. I went with as little weapon skill as possible to get a 3rd slot weapon slot, letting me load up Powerbolt, a combat drone, and a deck. I was a shaman of the Bear (healing), with my spells being Powerball (for auto grenades), Heal, and a couple of back-up spells. summoning had the ancillary benefit of letting you use summoning points.

I found being a decker to be very useful. You could buy street meat and wizardry, but you weren't allowed to use your runners skills on conversation events... including "Use Decking to bypass this problem", even though that's why you brought a damn decker.

[VexingFool]

Now available for iOS and Android.

Picked up the game for my ipad (already had a backer copy on PC) and it works pretty good on the ipad. There are some occasional stutters and the loading screens are a bit long. But overall I think I like playing it on my ipad better.

Not sure if the game is getting stutters due to iOS7 as that does not seem as smooth as the previous version OS. I am using an ipad3. Hopefully when the new ipad's launch they will be using a dual-core processor like the iphone 5s and boost the RAM to 2 gigs.

On my new game I am running a Human spellcaster/shaman on very hard. Previousy I have run an elf charismatic/quick decker/pistolier, a dwarf shotgun/decker/rigger/spellcaster and a troll dumb as a box of rocks body and strength all the way melee guy.

[Asheram]

Hmmm, we called that Sulik-syndrome. The art of getting blown apart by an NPC that should help you. you put an SMG in Sulik's hands and you gonna DIE.


Sulik? I thought the crown of "shooting the PC in the back" is held by Ian. :smallbiggrin: