Shadowrun: Dragonfall character creation

[Jeivar]

Shadowrun: Hong Kong is around the corner, so I guess now is the time to finally play the director's cut for Dragonfall.

On my first and only playthrough of the basic game I did a rifle-and-agility-focused elf with a little bit of utility magic, and it worked fine though I never managed to max anything out. I'm not interested in hacking or controlling drones, and combat magic doesn't really seem all that great to me. If I don't end up doing another rifle-elf, that leaves me with either a different gun or melee.
I tried to do a balanced blade-and-gun character for Returns, but that just wound up spreading the karma points too thin.

Does the director's cut add enough new karma points that learning two different weapons (for different situations) is viable?

And what about melee? Is THAT really viable when everyone else is packing heat?

[Calemyr]

Thrown weaponry is strength based, so it can be used to give you a valid ranged option for a fighter. Plus grenades - always a handy option.

Haven't won Dragonfall, but the quests I've seen added don't add that many karma points. A worthy amount, but by no means game changing. Good quests, though. Without a doubt.

That said, a good pistol combined with a rifle is a cheap option (only one extra skill tree) that allows you a short range option with free reloads at Pistols 4. There are some darn good pistols, after all, as early on as Dragonkippe.

[heronbpv]

@Double firearms:
By the late game, sure. But you will sufer early on with the miss chances and watnot.
No idea if there will be enough to have two firearms decent Dodge/Body for defense though. That is, if you plan to max ou Quickness/Ranged Combat/both weapons.

@Meele:
Definitely viable, but depending on your points distribution, early game can be a pain. Bringing in the Shaman is essential in this case.
Also, at least Willpower 4/Chi 4 for the powers you can get (magic cover + movespeed, unarmed damage if you are going for it as well) is definitely helpful through the whole game.

[GungHo]

Melee works, but you're going to need to both hit hard and have enough initiative and movement to actually reach someone, so it's kind of an expensive investment stat-wise. As Calemyr notes, thrown weapons are a good "bridge" that allows you to actually be able to contribute early on as opposed to watching your team do everything. You still gotta move to get in range, but it's better than just running up to someone and then running out of AP to only get shotgunned innaface.