Part 8: New missions, new software, new hardware

New missions, new software, new hardware

AKA grinding until I have some stuff to show off.



Like a new program! This datastore held a rating 1 Reflect program, which - like Armor - is a passive defense program. Rather than make us harder to hit, Reflect actually tries to send some damage back to the attacker! It still keys off our Defense skill and hardware, and it's one of the few indirect damage sources in the game. A sufficiently high result can reflect all damage done back on the attacker; a sufficiently low one will make Reflect crash and have to be loaded back onto the deck.

It goes on the bench for now, because of Load issues more than anything else.



Meanwhile, here's a new kind of mission: Run Program. It's pretty straightforward: you are given a program by the client, told to go to a certain node on the server, and run the program (which takes time). Sit there until the program finishes running, and you're done!

For those of you playing at home: be sure to quick-save before accepting a Run Program mission!



Then, as soon as you enter the Matrix, hit the Load Program button and make sure you actually have the Client Supplied Program. For whatever reason, sometimes a contract will bug out and never give you the program, meaning you WILL fail the contract. Quick-loading and accepting the contract again does not fix the bug. I don't know what causes it, but this was the third time I tried to take a Run Program mission for this LP and the first time it actually worked.



Anyway, once you load the program, you can run it from any node to find out where the target node is. Note that the client supplied program counts against your Load, so you might want to unload it between identifying the target node and actually going to the target node.



When you get to the target, just run the program again, and the message box will inform you of how long you have to sit there and when it finishes running. Then you're free to go after paydata or just take your fee and go home.



I opted for paydata, and got another new program: a rating 1 Stealth Boost. There are Boost programs for all four main skills: Attack, Defense, Stealth, and Analysis. How much they boost the given rating depends on your level of success in running them (testing the skill that the program boosts). How long they last, however, depends on their rating: like Medic, these are degrading programs. The Boost program drops a rating point each turn it's active, so this Stealth Boost 1 program would only boost our Stealth for one second.

I'm of the opinion that if you need to use your Load to have this program going, you shouldn't be in the difficulty of server that you're in. That's just me, though. I hate micromanagement.



Anyway we got paid a bunch yay.



In fact, we got paid enough over the grind to be able to afford a rating 3 CPU and still cover rent. Not only will this increase our deck's Load, but it'll support any chips we design ourselves if we ever get a chip burner.



Holy shit, would you look at that! Our max Load at every level just doubled! We can actually get away with running some of this software we've nicked!



Look at that, we've got Reflect up, the rating 2 Medic program we stole, even the Stealth Boost just for laughs! We are free from worry for a little big longer!



Or at least for two days longer, at which point we'll have to scratch together rent again. But that's two days hence, so let's celebrate by spending skill points! To make the voting easier, I'll lay out some options:

A - Raise Analysis and Chip Design to 3 apiece!
B - Raise Stealth to 4!
C - Raise Programming to 4!
D - Raise Attack to 3 and Defense to 2!
E - Raise Attack to 2 and Defense to 3!

I'm also going to spend some downtime making some new programs, but what I make and how high they go depend on whether option C wins or not. I'll probably increase Hide first again, so if you want the new Hide program to have a different name, suggest something! Other names for other programs also welcome!