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First Character help? (Thief/Demolitions Expert)

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pokeseeker

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« on: <11-26-12/2000:26> »
« Last Edit: <11-26-12/2004:36> by pokeseeker »

Csjarrat

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« Reply #1 on: <11-27-12/1238:44> »
looks pretty competent, has decent stealth skills and decent demolitions skills.
you will definitely need to get some points diverted into perception, as it is, you wont be able to spot what it is you're trying to steal unless its car sized :-). we'll get to freeing up some skill points later though.
your sheet is showing you as encumbered (your agility and reaction are showing as (1) rather than what you selected) because you have selected to be wearing all of your armour, so if you're gaming off your ipad/laptop rather than paper, make sure you sort that. the armour you have is a bit heavy for you, but we'll get to that in a bit.

also, you have a stack of weapon skills + weapons that are a bit overkill. you've invested heavily into multiple ways of doing the same thing. i would personally just take automatics and heavy weapons. some of these points can go into perception.
you can use machine pistols for stealthy up close work as they can be easily concealed and you can mod an underslung grenade launcher onto an assault rifle for any fire support you might need or just take the mgl6 with you.
you shouldnt need throwing weapons mate, just use grenade launchers for grenades (make sure you take an airburst link) and a suppressed machine pistol with subsonic rounds will do more damage than a throwing knife.

if you get caught, it would be good to be able to negotiate your way out of a tricky situation, and it'd be good to be able to lie your way into a compound or building to get your thief on, so some spare points would be well spent in con/negotiate or the influence group. locksmith isnt too useful a skillset (an autopicker at R6 is as good as you are currently, so you could just buy one and put those skill points into the influence skills)

cant see any points in hardware skill, might just be the formatting though. if you want to take out maglocks/cameras. you'll need some points in this as you'll need this plus tools to be able to get camera shells off and open maglock casing to use your sequencer

as for armour: you have body 3, so can take upto rating 6 armour, more if you take form fitting armour from the arsenal book (it only counts as half rating for encumbrance). with that in mind, i usually take a form fitting full body suit, leather jacket with carbon-boron thread and a few bits of PPP to get to rating 9 ballistic (max you can have with body 3, and a decently high impact armour to boot). i tend to put non-conductivity and ruthenium coating on the form fitting armour for stealth work, and sling colour changing modded normal clothes on over the top as they are cheap enough to bin and meld into the shadows if you need to.

re: cyber, pointless going for one or two little bits of a cyber eye system. either go for the full set of cyber eyes with low light/thermo/smartlink/imagelink etc etc or just stick it all into a set of glasses/goggles and save your points of essence.
my fave load out is:
rating four glasses:
-image link (needed for smartlink and AR viewing from your commlink)
-smartlink
-vision magnification
-vision enhancement R3 (improves perception tests)

as a thief, agility is your main go to attribute, so i would put in a couple of levels of muscle toner, and maybe look at some of the reaction boosting implants as well as your rating is quite low (you wont be able to dodge incoming fire very well)
if you want to fight well, you'll need another initiative pass, so wired reflexes would be good to boost reaction as well as get another pass to help you fight better. (more passes = more chances to shoot)


it'd be a good idea to get some earbuds/headphones with audio enhancement 3 and spatial recognizer on them. its important to hear the guard's footsteps coming down the hallway as you're rantically trying to pick a lock :-) helps for AR as well.
it'd be a good idea to get the pro-user suite for that commlink too, it'll mean you can actually do stuff with it. depending on how your GM wants to play, you might want to get a super cheap commlink to broadcast your fake sin from so you can turn off your wireless on your main commlink without arousing suspicion from police forces and security in institutions.
i'd also equip your main commlink with trodes, a sim module (cold sim is fine) and skinlink it and every other bit of electronics you own (including weapons) this means you can issue commands by thinking, and stops people from being able to hack your guns and equipment. you can also do this through direct connection to your brain if you take a datajack cyberwear implant and a strip of fibreoptic cable.

have you thought about how you're going to get around the city? there are some pretty cheap bikes around (check arsenal). always worth having run flat tires, spoof chip, morphing plates and gridguide override on whatever you drive on a mission. its no good running from the cops if they can check your satnav to see where you are going lol!

as for weaponry:
always a good idea to modify weapons, or put on accessories.
best ones are anything that reduces recoil. gas vent 3, foregrip, personalized grip and shock pad are my go-to modifications for assault rifles. this means you can fire full bursts without taking negative modifiers to hit, so you can really hurt what you're aiming at. as in reallife, high recoil weapons are hard to hit with, so these mods keep you shooting straight for longer.
i would also want external smartgun accessories on my weaponry (links with the smartlink and imagelink in your glasses for a cheap +2 dice for attack rolls) and i'd also want skinlink on the gun so i can eject clips, change fire modes etc just by thinking, rather than taking up precious simple actions in the combat phases. skinlink stops the gun from communicating via wifi, so means it cant be hacked by the enemy. you dont want to line up a shot and get ready to pull the trigger, only to find out that the enemy hacker has forced your gun to eject its clip and go into service mode lol!
grenade launchers should always be taking smartgun accessories and also the airburst link, it means the grenades will go off immediately rather than giving your opponents time to get out of the way.

i'm sure i've missed loads but that should get you started mate!

« Last Edit: <11-27-12/1255:09> by Csjarrat »
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pokeseeker

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« Last Edit: <11-30-12/2242:17> by pokeseeker »

emsquared

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« Reply #3 on: <12-01-12/1153:27> »
Csjarrat gave you a fantastic critique, but generally you'll get more input if you don't make people dld a file to look at your build.

JustADude

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« Reply #4 on: <12-01-12/1210:00> »
Csjarrat gave you a fantastic critique, but generally you'll get more input if you don't make people dld a file to look at your build.

Pretty much.

There's an option in Chummer to do a text-file display:

-Go to Print
-Click the "Character Sheet" pull-down.
-Select "Text Only"
-Copy-&-Paste the contents into a spoiler block in a post.
-Click the "Close Window" X to abort the printing.

For ease of reading for everyone else, please also do the following:

-Go to "Tools->Options"
-On the "General" tab, select the "Character & Printing" sub-tab.
-De-activate the option "Print all Active Skills with total score higher than 0"

That will massively cut down on the spam by removing all the skills that you haven't invested any points in.
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Novocrane

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« Reply #5 on: <12-01-12/1243:35> »
Quote
or just stick it all into a set of glasses/goggles and save your points of essence.
my fave load out is ...
Due to the cumulative availability of visual enhancements, I find a set of contacts and glasses in conjunction to work better from the outset; the following works well for me. (with skinlink on the glasses, generally)

Contact Lenses Rating 2
   +Flare Compensation
   +Vision Enhancement Rating 3
Glasses Rating 4
   +Image Link
   +Smartlink
   +Thermographic
   +Vision Magnification

pokeseeker

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« Reply #6 on: <12-01-12/1441:16> »
Here's the updated character sheet with the recommendations that Csjarrat told me:

== Info ==
Street Name: Valkyrie
Name: Melinda Lawson
Movement: 10/25, Swim: 5
Karma: 0
Street Cred: 0
Notoriety: 0
Public Awareness: 0
Human Female Age 26
Composure: 6
Judge Intentions: 7
Lift/Carry: 6 (45 kg/30 kg)
Memory: 7
Nuyen: 0

== Attributes ==
BOD: 3
AGI: 5 (7)
REA: 3 (5)
STR: 3
CHA: 3
INT: 4
LOG: 4
WIL: 3
EDG: 2

== Derived Attributes ==
Essence:                   5.2
Initiative:                7 (9)
IP:                        1
Matrix Initiative:         8
Matrix IP:                 2
Physical Damage Track:     10
Stun Damage Track:         10

== Active Skills ==
Animal Handling            : 0                      Pool: 3
Animal Training            : 0                      Pool: 3
Archery                    : 0                      Pool: 6
Armorer                    : 0                      Pool: 3
Artisan                    : 0                      Pool: 3
Automatics                 : 0                      Pool: 6
Blades                     : 0                      Pool: 6
Climbing                   : 3                      Pool: 6
Clubs                      : 0                      Pool: 6
Computer                   : 0                      Pool: 3
Con                        : 3                      Pool: 6
Cybercombat                : 0                      Pool: 3
Data Search                : 1                      Pool: 5
Demolitions                : 4                      Pool: 8
Disguise                   : 4                      Pool: 8
Diving                     : 0                      Pool: 2
Dodge                      : 0                      Pool: 4
Escape Artist              : 0                      Pool: 6
Etiquette                  : 3                      Pool: 6
First Aid                  : 0                      Pool: 3
Flight                     : 0                      Pool: 2
Forgery                    : 0                      Pool: 6
Gunnery                    : 0                      Pool: 6
Gymnastics                 : 0                      Pool: 6
Hacking                    : 0                      Pool: 3
Hardware                   : 4                      Pool: 8
Heavy Weapons              : 4 [Grenade Launchers] Pool: 11 (13)
Infiltration               : 4                      Pool: 11
Instruction                : 0                      Pool: 2
Intimidation               : 0                      Pool: 2
Leadership                 : 3                      Pool: 6
Locksmith                  : 0                      Pool: 6
Longarms                   : 0                      Pool: 6
Navigation                 : 0                      Pool: 3
Negotiation                : 3                      Pool: 6
Palming                    : 4                      Pool: 11
Parachuting                : 0                      Pool: 2
Perception                 : 4                      Pool: 8
Pilot Ground Craft         : 0                      Pool: 4
Pilot Watercraft           : 0                      Pool: 4
Pistols                    : 4 [Semi-Automatics]    Pool: 11 (13)
Riding                     : 0                      Pool: 4
Running                    : 3                      Pool: 6
Shadowing                  : 4                      Pool: 8
Survival                   : 0                      Pool: 2
Swimming                   : 0                      Pool: 2
Throwing Weapons           : 0                      Pool: 6
Tracking                   : 0                      Pool: 3
Unarmed Combat             : 0                      Pool: 6

== Knowledge Skills ==
English                    : N                      Pool: 0
Gaming                     : 3 [Miracle Shooter]    Pool: 7 (9)
Music                      : 3 [Powernoize]         Pool: 7 (9)
Security Design            : 5 [Corporate]          Pool: 9 (11)
Security Tactics           : 5 [Corporate]          Pool: 9 (11)
Underworld                 : 3 [Fencing]            Pool: 7 (9)

== Contacts ==
Police Detective (4, 4)

== Qualities ==
Allergy (Common, Mild) (Pollen)

== Lifestyles ==
Middle  3 months

== Cyberware/Bioware ==
Muscle Toner Rating 2
Reaction Enhancers Rating 2

== Armor ==
Form-Fitting Full-Body Suit6/2
   +Nonconductivity 6
   +Ruthenium Polymer Coating
Leather Jacket            3/4
   +Carbon-Boron

== Weapons ==
ArmTech MGL-6
   +Sling
   +Skinlink
   +Smartgun System
   Pool: 13 (15)   DV: Grenade   AP: -   RC: 1
Beretta 200ST
   +Concealable Holster
   +Smartgun System, Internal
   +Stock
   +Extended Clip
   +Silencer
   +Skinlink
   Pool: 13 (15)   DV: 4P   AP: -   RC: 1
Minigrenade: Flash-Bang
   Pool: 11   DV: 6S (10m Radius)   AP: -3   RC: 0
Minigrenade: Fragmentation
   Pool: 11   DV: 12P(f) (-1/m)   AP: +5   RC: 0
Minigrenade: Smoke
   Pool: 11   DV: (10m Radius)   AP: -   RC: 0
Unarmed Attack
   Pool: 6   DV: 2S   AP: -   RC: 0

== Commlink ==
Novatech Airware (3, 0, 0, 3)
   +Skinlink
Transys Avalon (4, 4, 4, 4)
   +Glasses Rating 4 [Image Link, Low Light, Skinlink, Smartlink, Vision Enhancement 3]
   +Earbuds Rating 3 [Audio Enhancement 3, Skinlink, Spatial Recognizer]
   +Suite: Pro User [Analyze 4, Browse 4, Command 2, Edit 4]
   +Skinlink
   +Mapsoft (Boston) Rating 6
   +Sim Module (Cold)
   +AR Gloves

== Gear ==
Ammo: Stick-n-Shock (Light Pistols) x150
Ammo: Subsonic Rounds (Light Pistols) x150
Autopicker Rating 6 x2
Catalyst Stick
Cellular Glove Molder Rating 3
Certified Credstick, Standard Rating 2505
Chisel
Climbing Gear
Commercial Explosive Rating 3 x15
Datachip x50
Detonating Cord Rating 8 x20
Detonator Cap x15
Fake License (Cyberware/Bioware) Rating 4 x3
Fake License (Motorcycle License) Rating 4 x3
Fake License (Beretta 200ST) Rating 4 x3
Fake SIN Rating 4 x3
Flashlight x2
Foam Explosive Rating 10 x2
Gecko Tape Gloves
Glasscutter
Grapple Gun x2
Keycard Copier Rating 6 x2
Lockpick Set x2
Maglock Passkey Rating 4
Maglock Sequencer Rating 4 x2
Minigrenade: Flash-Bang x20
Minigrenade: Fragmentation x20
Minigrenade: Smoke x20
Miniwelder x2
Radio Detonator x15
Rappelling Gloves
Spare Clip (Beretta 200ST) x10
Stealth Rope (100 m) x4
Tag Eraser x2
Tool Kit (Electronics)
Tool Kit (Demolitions)
Wire Clippers x4

== Vehicles ==
Thundercloud Contrail (Racing Bike)
   +GridLink Override
   +Morphing License Plate
   +Run Flat Tires Rating 5
   +Spoof Chip
   +Vehicle Sensor

emsquared

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« Reply #7 on: <12-01-12/1536:15> »
Take advantage of the BP you can get from Neg Qualities. You only have 10, you could get up to 35. i.e. if you're playing under a 250 karma retirement cap, you're missing out on 10% of your potential.

rasmusnicolaj

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« Reply #8 on: <12-02-12/0232:24> »
Cerebral Boosters and PuSHeD will add to your Logic/ Logic skills and that is good for your build.

Rasmus
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Csjarrat

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« Reply #9 on: <12-03-12/0907:27> »
looks better mate,
bike only needs 2 tires though (chummer is weird with tires. its 250 per tire (rating), so you've actually bought enough for 2 1/2 bikes :-)

re: cyber, the reaction enhancers are about 10K iirc, and wired reflexes are about 11.5k. for the extra cash, you might as well take the wired reflexes because it grants another initiative pass. it is a lot more essence to burn but more passes means you have more chances to stay alive in a combat round by killing/stunning/evading your foes.

re:weapons, pistols skill is pretty damn good tbh. its big bonuses are;
a) access to heavy pistols. if you're going with one IP and one IP only, then whatever you hit, you're gonna need to kill/knock out. consider the ruger super warhawk for this. 6DV with -2AP, its a hand-cannon!!! stick some APDS or EX-EX rounds in that and you will tear through opponents. the savalette guardian is also strictly better than the berreta you chose from the light pistols section, as it is higher strength and has better AP whilst retaining burst fire mode. it comes with smartgun too.

b) tasers. tasers are awesome. this because they are cheap, totally legal, and they give generous amounts of stun damage that most opponents will struggle to resist. electricity damage uses half of the enemy impact armour rating (which is usually much lower to start with than ballistic), whereas bullets get resisted by full rating of ballistic armour.

as it stands, you're not utilising either of the big benefits of the skill, so you'd be better off taking the automatics skill with those precious BP and just using a machine pistol with the necessary modifications for the quiet/concealable work and an SMG/AR for the heavy stuff.
if you're not using multiple IP's then you can use full auto weapons to provide suppressive fire for your team mates to help out. long wide bursts are also very hard for the enemy to defend against so they can be particularly useful in tight spaces
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