[Aria]

I've done this in a rush so there are probably things that I've missed on the gear front.  As ever, thoughts and comments very welcome!

<<Riptide>>

I know he'd probably be more effective points wise as an orc but he'll probably play part time face too...

[UmaroVI]

First, you might want to take a look at the Generalist in my sig, if you haven't already, for a similar character.

The main things I would note are:

Cybercombat is a very niche thing, and on a character who's trying to do 3 things, probably not worth a 4 (actually probably not even worth a 1).

You have 0 Data Search, and that is actually fairly important.

What is Codeslinger for?

Nanohive+Neocortical is a cheap boost to a lot of your skills.

Why do you have an Ultimax HMG? That's Heavy Weapons, which you don't have. Get a battle rifle instead.

I'm not a big fan of having a mess of programs at random rating. Generally, it should be Rating 3 or Rating 6 because of how the price structure works. I can understand Rating 5 and a must-have option like Mute at chargen, though.

I think your arm is mostly empty. Slap in Armor and a Nanohive.

[Lethe]

Your GM allows you to shoot with the agility of half an arm? I wouldn't.
 + all what umaro said..

[UmaroVI]

I agree that is somewhat fishy, but if your GM allows it, go hog wild. Although I wouldn't be paying for 4 body on it, since it doesn't get averaged in.

[Aria]

First, you might want to take a look at the Generalist in my sig, if you haven't already, for a similar character.

The main things I would note are:

Cybercombat is a very niche thing, and on a character who's trying to do 3 things, probably not worth a 4 (actually probably not even worth a 1).

You have 0 Data Search, and that is actually fairly important.

What is Codeslinger for?

Nanohive+Neocortical is a cheap boost to a lot of your skills.

Why do you have an Ultimax HMG? That's Heavy Weapons, which you don't have. Get a battle rifle instead.

I'm not a big fan of having a mess of programs at random rating. Generally, it should be Rating 3 or Rating 6 because of how the price structure works. I can understand Rating 5 and a must-have option like Mute at chargen, though.

I think your arm is mostly empty. Slap in Armor and a Nanohive.

Thanks, I'll look at the generalist (I did study your combat hacker!)

Noted on the cybercombat...he'll have to bug out if someone comes gunning for him

I was intending to buy an agent for data searches, but ran out of cash and then forgot   Will switch cyber combat around.

Codeslinger is for hack-on-the-fly, will update that too

Neocortical nanites only work in 'non-stressfull' situations don't they?  I intend to fill up the arm with a nanohive when I get some more cash.

The Ulitmax 70 is a machine pistol from Runner Black Book...no, I don't see him toting a machine gun

The programs were a vain attempt at some variety on the 'all 5s (or 6s)' syndrome.  And again, the cash limit was biting as I don't allow pirate progs at character gen so shouldn't really put them on my characters either

Yes to the nanohive but I'm confused how armour works on just a limb - I assume it's not a straight addition to worn armour?!?

And yes, I really should get a full arm to benefit from the agility for shooting <hangs head in shame>

Thanks for all your comments...more polishing to do as ever

[UmaroVI]

Cyberlimb armor is actually just a straight addition to worn armor. It's very good and is one of the main advantages of being a cybered character rather than Awakened or Emerged.

My bad, I mistook the Ultimax MP for the Ultimax MMG.

It's not necessarily best to get all programs at 6 - it's just that 4 (in particular) and 5 (to a lesser extent) are bad. The formula for program cost spikes right at 4, so generally you should either care (and get 6) or just want to be OK (and get 3).

[Aria]

Cyberlimb armor is actually just a straight addition to worn armor. It's very good and is one of the main advantages of being a cybered character rather than Awakened or Emerged.

I re-read the rules because I couldn't believe this could be true (not that I was doubting you...but)

and this is insane!  There must be some balance?!?  Does the armour on the limbs encumber you?  I would assume not, so there must be something otherwise 2 cyberlimbs could be +8 armour!!!???  I could perhaps accept averaging this to +4??

[UmaroVI]

You can't put on more than 3 armor unless you have a Cybertorso.

Armored hands/feet are generally considered unbalance and cheesy. Some people feel partial and full limbs with armor are broken; I'm of the opinion that no, they aren't, and the balancing factor is that it eats up Essence and is part of what makes being cybered competitive with being awakened or emerged.

[Captain Karzak]

How high does an armor dice pool from cyberarmor get, in practical terms? Like if you replaced as much of your body with armored cyberparts as was feasible, reserving some essence for an initiative booster like Synaptic Boosters 2, how high would that dicepool prabably be before layering on regular armor?

[All4BigGuns]

Never tried myself because I'm not a fan of cyber limbs, but I'd imagine you could get pretty high. Bad part of that is, all that armor technically makes it easier to take you down considering most things will be doing Stun damage to you, and that damage track is smaller.

[Captain Karzak]

Hmmm well eventually you would get a Pain Editor, and then you're totally awesome with taking stun damage instead of lethal, right?

So to take a stab at answering my own question: you can have 4 cyberlimbs, that's 4 armor apiece. Presumably a cybertorso can take 4 more, and 1 or 2 more from a cyberskull. So maybe 21 to 22 extra armor, on top of whatever normal armor you can layer on, which for someone with a big body rating could be around 20 additional armor dice? A fair amount of these dice would have to be added after chargen, due to high availability codes on cyberlimb armor. You'd probably have to take the 10bp cybercompatibility quality to have enough essence to fit all this.

So Armor dice plus bodyrating on a full-replacement 'borg looks to be a soak pool of around 50, maybe +/-2?

That's beefy. I don't think even a gauss-rifle sniper attacking with surprise could drop a guy like that in a single IP.

[Tsuzua]

How high does an armor dice pool from cyberarmor get, in practical terms? Like if you replaced as much of your body with armored cyberparts as was feasible, reserving some essence for an initiative booster like Synaptic Boosters 2, how high would that dicepool prabably be before layering on regular armor?

At the high end, you'll likely see +20/+20 armor.  That's 2 cyberarms, 2 cyberlegs, and a cybertorso all with Armor Enhancement 4.  The head really doesn't have enough space to make it worth its essence cost, but you could squeeze 3-4 more points of armor in a bulky cyberskull.  Now that armor is bulky as all heck, so you might see less than this in practice.  For example, Umaro's Bad Enough Trog eventually hits +16/+16 armor from cyberlimb armor and +4/+4 more from having a raised body score.

As for practically, while the stun tack is shorter than the physical track, you'll almost always just want a larger soak check.  Even if you're stun track is 6 shorter than the physical track like the Bad Enough Trog, the armor lets you absorb enough damage to make the difference. 

Also if your armor is low enough where you're taking physical from physical attacks, you're going to be taken out in two shots (or even one shot which is downright embarrassing).  Since that's at worst the same boat you're in if you have way more soak, you aren't loosing much.  That said, getting a pain editor or a trauma dampeners is a good idea for cyberarmor heavy characters.