[SoulGambit]

I was building test Technomancers / Deckers. I was thinking of ways to get around them being so Skill heavy. It got me thinking, with the existence of Sprites, is there really a point to the Technomancer grabbing the Cracking skillgroup at all? I feel like  Technomancer could just Compile a Fault or a Crack Sprite and send it off to go Hacking again. Keep up with Software for the sake of shooting the odd Complex Form out.

What are other people's thoughts on this?

[firebug]

It depends on how much time you have.  If you can always rely on having enough registered sprites, then yeah I guess so.  Though I have to say I hate the idea.  Personally I think having sprites do stuff for you is lame, unrelated to their usefulness.

If you can't always have enough services though, then having to summon them constantly can be too much fading, I'd feel.  Especially since they start to accumulate OS immediately when unbound, and being converged upon leads back to you.

I wouldn't be surprised though if you can just always keep all your sprites at super high services owed so you never have to worry about it, though....  (also lame)

[Marsyas]

If you prefer a "spirit-summoner" focused Technomancer, by all means, spec that way.

[SoulGambit]

I'm just wondering if a Technomancer really... loses anything by doing so? The only thing they really can't do through Resonance is remote control things (seize control of turrets, et cetera) and use the Crack File action. Sprites can do both of those things, freeing the Technomancer to do other things.

[Mirikon]

Well, Cybercombat and Electronic Warfare are both in that group. If you have a sprite off hacking, then it can't also fight for you or jam enemy transmissions. Having the skills yourself gives you options, which is a Good Thing^TM.

[Unahim]

I agree that it's a Good Thing^Tm to be able to hack yourself, but going for a Technomancer who is focused on other stuff and uses sprites to do the occasional hacking definitely works. Isn't this the best of both worlds? Two divergent builds using the same basic character type being viable, I mean.

[RHat]

I'm just wondering if a Technomancer really... loses anything by doing so? The only thing they really can't do through Resonance is remote control things (seize control of turrets, et cetera) and use the Crack File action. Sprites can do both of those things, freeing the Technomancer to do other things.

Given the ludicrous Fading codes on a lot of things, exclusively using Resonance actions could work against you.

[firebug]

If you decide to focus on sprites, be sure to buy a deck as soon as possible.  It's likely to have comparable attributes to your ASDF ratings if you're able to save up like 200k (not a small feat) but with the added bonus that you can use your Machine Sprites to give it a boost via Diagnostics.  A Level 6 Sprite rolls 12 dice (Hardware equal to Level, plus Level again) for an average of 4 hits, meaning it's a +4 with a +1 Limit to everything you're doing through the deck, and to repairing any matrix damage on it.  And the bonus lasts forever unless the deck gets fried (forcing the Machine Sprite to...  I dunno, does it even have to be in there?  I guess not) or you tell it to target something else, since sustaining powers don't use up tasks over time and it's not something the sprite will gain OS for.

[Unahim]

If you decide to focus on sprites, be sure to buy a deck as soon as possible.  It's likely to have comparable attributes to your ASDF ratings if you're able to save up like 200k (not a small feat) but with the added bonus that you can use your Machine Sprites to give it a boost via Diagnostics.  A Level 6 Sprite rolls 12 dice (Hardware equal to Level, plus Level again) for an average of 4 hits, meaning it's a +4 with a +1 Limit to everything you're doing through the deck, and to repairing any matrix damage on it.  And the bonus lasts forever unless the deck gets fried (forcing the Machine Sprite to...  I dunno, does it even have to be in there?  I guess not) or you tell it to target something else, since sustaining powers don't use up tasks over time and it's not something the sprite will gain OS for.

Telling it to target something else is a new task, though. But otherwise I guess it works, and that is indeed very potent. You could also just get one of the hacking-oriented sprites to use Teamwork on you though, I'm sure your Gm could be convinced that "one cybercombat worth of actions" or "one matrix hacking session worth of actions) are largely interchangeable.

The "one combat turn worth of matrix actions" thing weirds me out a bit. I'd apply that for non-combat-ish situations, so not for infiltrating, but for things like cracking files at home and stuff.