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Deus Ex Beginner FAQ
By Korasoff (korasoff@hushmail.com)
Version 1.0 8/12/2004


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FAQ history:

1.0, 8/12/2004: FAQ created! The sections are Introduction, General 
Concepts, Skills, Weapons, Augmentations, Items, Enemies, and Security.


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Note: the random strings of 3 characters after each section in the 
Table of Contents are bookmarks for quickly jumping to the 
corresponding section in this FAQ. If you're using WordPad, just hit 
Control + F, type in the relevant string, and press Enter. It will 
highlight the string in the Table and then, if you press Enter again, 
bring you to the section itself.


Table of Contents:

1) Introduction (kzx)
2) General Concepts (ajg)
3) Skills (ioq)
4) Weapons (paa)
5) Augmentations (wrz)
6) Items (uyx)
7) Enemies (mnb)
8) Security (pgh)


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1) INTRODUCTION (kzx)

I keep a handful of games installed on my hard drive for years after 
their release. One of them is Blizzard's StarCraft: at about 130 megs, 
it's not worth worrying about, and whenever I get a craving for the 
best RTS of all time it's there. Same thing with Fallout 2, Quake, and 
the first XCOM. They're the pantheon of gaming in my opinion. And at 
the top of that list is Deus Ex, the best role-playing/first-person 
shooter/adventure hybrid of all time.

The genre was not exactly new when Deus Ex was released in 2000: a 
couple of years earlier Looking Glass Studios had released the 
excellent System Shock 2, a game from which Deus Ex takes a lot of 
pointers. Not surprising, since most of the developers who worked on 
SS2 migrated to Ion Storm to create Deus Ex. Many elements combine to 
make Deus Ex outstanding: a great story that puts the most intricate 
conspiracy theories to shame, tons of quality, well-voiced, and 
interesting dialogue (save for Hong Kong), and a gameplay that revolves 
around stealth and brains more than mere brawn.

In Deus Ex, you play JC Denton, a nano-augmented agent of UNATCO, the 
United Nation's anti-terrorist organization. Your older brother, Paul, 
is already a well-respected top-ranking agent at UNATCO so you're 
hungry for some action. Which, by the way, you *do* get very fast, as 
you have to confront terrorist attacks on New York. Moreover, the 
devastating plague known as the Gray Death looms over humanity and some 
unscrupulous forces would use it to plunge the world into a chaos they 
would then reshape to their liking... How will you stand against them? 
Who will believe you when you discover the truth about the conspiracy?

I've created this FAQ as a helpful document for beginners. This means 
that the FAQ is *not* a complete list of every single tidbit of 
information in the game; it does *not* contain a single spoiler about 
the story, which is the best part of the game; and I do *not* pretend 
to know everything about Deus Ex. Rather, this FAQ is the product of my 
informed opinion regarding what a beginning player should know in order 
to survive in the world of Deus Ex. I've played through the game about 
half a dozen times as thoroughly as I could, not counting all the times 
I began a game without finishing it to try a new combination of skills, 
augmentations, weapons, or to just screw around with new ideas. And 
after 3 years of playing Deus Ex, I'm still finding new stuff in the 
game.

(Oh, a quick note: make sure you download the last patch for Deus Ex 
and install it before trying to play the game. The unpatched version of 
Deus Ex runs like a turd even on today's machines.)


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2) GENERAL CONCEPTS (ajg)

Deus Ex is very different from other first-person shooters, in that 
brute force and direct destruction of your enemies is not necessarily 
the easiest path to victory. Instead, Deus Ex often rewards stealth 
(hiding from your enemies) or alternative solutions (incapacitating 
your enemies otherwise).

This is not readily apparent at the Easy and Medium difficulty levels. 
At these levels, your enemies will deal low damage to you in direct, 
open fighting, enabling you to dispose of them with minimal tactical or 
weapon advantages. On the Hard and Realistic difficulty levels, 
however, enemy damage output skyrockets, with a Realistic NSF trooper 
being able to kill you from 40 feet away with a single lethal Pistol 
shot to the head before you can even react. Needless to say, taking on 
more than one Realistic enemy at a time in a straight battle is akin to 
suicide.

Moreover, the objectives in Deus Ex go beyond "exterminate everything 
and anything that moves." There are a lot of friendly or otherwise 
neutral NPCs whose innocent lives you'll have to consider. The simplest 
way of verifying a person or robot's stance towards you is to use the 
Integrated Friend or Foe (IFF) system, a default augmentation JC starts 
out with. Just drag the crosshairs in the middle of the screen over a 
person, animal, or robot. If the crosshairs turn green, then that 
person/etc... is friendly, in other words an ally (for the moment). If 
it turns red, then that person/etc.. is an enemy, and will therefore 
respond in quite a hostile fashion if it sees you: all enemies in the 
world of Deus Ex obey the old "shoot first, ask questions later" rule.

But back to objectives. Deus Ex rewards what I call "original problem-
solving". Let's say you're faced with the following fictional, 
spoilers-free objective:

*** Make your way to the top of the skyscraper and find the hidden 
explosives cache.***

How would you go around solving that problem? Well, there's always the 
straightforward way: find a staircase and walk up 30 stories or so, 
shooting everything in sight along the way. Then again, since the 
terrorists disabled the elevators, they'll probably expect an attack 
coming that way, so it won't be as easy as it sounds. Getting inside 
the basement and turning the elevator power back on so you can ride to 
the top might be a better solution, provided you can deal with the 
security cameras and gun turrets the terrorists have set up to foil 
that particular plan. But hey, what about climbing up the building next 
door, shooting through a few windows, and then jumping to the 
skyscraper using your Speed Enhancement nano-augmentation? Of course, 
that second building might be alarmed too, and it might contain some 
security robots on patrol for intruders...

As you can see, no matter your style of play, there's almost always a 
solution tailored exactly for it already in the game. This is what's so 
great about Deus Ex: finding new, original, and interesting ways around 
obstacles.

Anyway, here are the five best pieces of advice I can give a beginner.

#1: You don't have to kill or incapacitate every enemy you come across! 
In fact, I strongly discourage it, since it's often a waste of ammo. 
Which leads us to the next tip...

#2: Sneak! Find ways around your obstacles and enemies. There are tons 
of maintenance tunnels, shafts, and ledges in the world of Deus Ex. 
Take advantage of them.

#3: If you need to deal with an enemy, do so intelligently! Wait until 
he's alone and strike from behind. If you have to face a group, then 
deal with all of them at once by using explosives.

#4: Observe your surroundings and explore them! Often, valuable 
Datacubes, computers, or items lie in out-of-the-way locations. It's a 
good idea to stop when you enter a new location and just look around. 
You're almost always bound to find something you hadn't noticed at 
first. This is also true for patrol routes: watch enemies and the roads 
they take to discover the optimal time for striking at them or sneaking 
by.

#5: Use your items! Multitools and lockpicks were meant to open new 
passages for you, not to be collected. Grenades have a variety of 
tactical applications you should remember. Hazmat suits, ballistic 
armor, and thermoptic camouflage can be tremendously useful in 
particular situations. When faced with a problem, check your inventory 
first, there's surely an item that can help you.


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3) SKILLS (ioq)

When you create a new game, the first menu you'll see is the Character 
Creation menu. It lists some very important abilities, called skills, 
which you should grow familiar with in time.

You learn new skills and improve old ones throughout the game by 
investing skill points in them. How do you get more skill points? Well, 
you start out with a pool of 5000 points that you can spend right off 
the bat at the character creation menu, and you earn more by completing 
primary and secondary mission objectives, getting to critical 
locations, meeting important characters, and so on. In other words, as 
JC completes missions and gains experience, he becomes a better, more 
dangerous agent. All skills have 4 levels: Untrained (default), 
Trained, Advanced, and Master. Some skills require a lot of points to 
improve, others fewer. I've listed the number of skill points required 
to improve each skill next to the skill's name. Invested skill points 
are *not* cumulative; in other words, if you want to raise Computers 
from Untrained to Trained, you need to invest 1125 skill points, and to 
raise it to Advanced from there, you need to invest 2250, not just the 
difference between 2250 and 1125.

Note that the Pistols skill starts out at Trained by default. You can 
Downgrade to recoup 1575 skill points, however, which you may then 
spend on other skills. You can only Downgrade skills at the Character 
Creation menu so take advantage of it!

I've divided the 11 skills to which you get access in 3 broad 
categories: Interaction, Support, and Weapons.


a) Interaction skills

These are the skills that allow JC to manipulate certain objects and 
devices in his environment. They are some of the most important skills 
of all: paradoxically, you shouldn't invest too many skill points in 
them because the benefits drop off very quickly. I know, I know. You'll 
understand soon.


*COMPUTERS*
Untrained: Can use bulletin boards freely, and ATMs, security consoles, 
and computers with a login/password.
Trained (1125): Can hack ATMs, security consoles, and computers.
Advanced (2250): Can hack ATMs, security consoles, and computers 
faster. Can now control gun turrets.
Master (3750): Can hack ATMs, security consoles, and computers fastest.

In my opinion, Computers is the single best skill in the game. Not only 
does it remove the tedious search for logins/passwords, but it allows 
you to deactivate security grids remotely, on top of "convincing" ATM 
machines to send some extra cash your way! I often raise Computers all 
the way up to Advanced in the Character Creation menu because of its 
tremendous usefulness from beginning to end. It's also relatively cheap 
to improve compared to the other Interaction skills and most Weapons 
skills.

To use Computers, just find an ATM, security terminal, or computer, and 
use it. When the screen switches to the computer interface, hit the 
"Hack" button in the top-right corner of the screen (shortcut: Alt-H). 
The green bar (which represents the time you have left before the 
computer boots you out) will begin depleting, and random strings of 
characters will appear in the background. When all the characters 
disappear you'll have succesfully hacked this machine and now have the 
run of the place. If it's an ATM, you can withdraw (shortcut: Alt-W) 
money from it up to a certain point that depends on your Computers 
skill. If it's a regular computer, you can read people's email and 
toggle some miscellaneous security options on and off. If it's a 
security terminal, you'll be able to control and disable cameras and 
lock/unlock and open/close doors. If your Computers skill is at 
Advanced or Master, you can also pick gun turrets' new targets or 
disable them.

(For gun turrets: the "Ally" setting causes the turret to shoot you and 
your allies. The "Enemies" setting will have it shoot your enemies. 
"Everything" will... well... make it shoot everything, friend or foe. 
"Disabled" turns the turret entirely off, so that it doesn't respond 
even when an alarm is activated.)

Now, a few random tidbits of info about Computers:

- Hacking takes time. During that time, you are a sitting duck and CAN 
be attacked by enemies. Make sure the computer is in a safe place. Note 
that there's a delay of a second or so between the time when you use a 
security console and when your screen switches to the computer 
interface: you can use that precious time to move back into a shadowy 
hiding spot.

- A quick way to log out is to hit the ESC key. Keep an eye on that 
bar... When it turns red, it's time to get out.

- If you're booted out by a console, computer, or ATM, you'll get 
zapped as an automated defense measure. You'll lose some bioelectricity 
and the computer will be locked out for a time. Both the amount of BE 
you lose and the lock-out time are reduced by a higher Computers skill 
level.

- Computers need some time to "recuperate" from a successful hacking. 
If you try to hack a computer again after just doing it, its bar will 
start out almost empty.

- When hacking a regular computer to read email, you can sometimes 
change accounts. There'll be a window underneath the Hack one with a 
list of usernames. Double-click a username to enter that account and 
see if there's more email.

- ATMs have a finite amount of cash to offer you per mission. Once 
you've hacked an ATM and withdrawn all you can, move on.

- Most ATMs have a legit login/password combination you can find 
somewhere in the world (usually in a Datacube). If you Hack an ATM at 
Trained, you'll have access to less than the amount available by those 
normal means; at Advanced, 100% of the amount; and at Master, slightly 
more than the "usually" available funds.

With this said, it's my personal opinion that you should raise 
Computers to Advanced and no further. Trained does not let you control 
gun turrets, which is a big advantage you get at Advanced. The jump to 
Master is unnecessary since a) the extra ATM cash isn't worth the skill 
points, and b) you already have more than enough time to fiddle with 
computers and security consoles at Advanced, provided you know what 
you're doing.


*ELECTRONICS*
Untrained: 1 Multitool = 10%
Trained (1800): 1 Multitool = 25%
Advanced (3600): 1 Multitool = 40%
Master (6000): 1 Multitool = 75%

Bypassing electronic systems such as cameras, gun turrets, alarm pads, 
and door keypads (among others) is an invaluable skill. You might be 
far away from turrets or cameras' security consoles, or simply unable 
to access it yet: why not use a couple of Multitools to take them 
offline directly? There are also a lot of keypads whose codes are well-
hidden or simply missing from the game, requiring you to bypass them 
with Multitools if you want access to the goodies they protect. (I 
guess you could also find the right combination by trial and error... 
If you have a lot of spare time.)

Every electronic device you can bypass has a resistance value, 
expressed in a percentage. To bypass the device, you must lower its 
resistance to 0% using one or more Multitools. To do so, equip your 
Multitools, highlight the device by facing it, and press the attack 
button. JC will activate the Tool and the device's resistance will 
start dropping. Check the list above to see how much resistance a 
single Tool will deplete for every skill level. Once a Tool has removed 
all the resistance it can, it will disappear, so pack as many Tools as 
you can! If the device still isn't bypassed after using a Tool simply 
use more, since there's no benefit to lowering a system's resistance to 
a value other than zero. Some door keypads have an infinite (INF) 
resistance: that means they simply can't be bypassed, and that you must 
find the relevant code.

Just like Computers, you should make sure you're in a safe location 
when using a Tool: if you turn away from the device while a Tool is 
working on it, the resistance will stop dropping, and you'll have 
wasted part of your Tool.

It's a good idea to raise Electronics to at least Trained. At Trained, 
a Tool will be 2.5 times more powerful than at the Untrained level, and 
all for 1800 skill points. Further improvements are far less efficient, 
but you could make the case for Advanced. Master is a bit of a waste.


*LOCKPICKS*
Untrained: 1 Lockpick = 10%
Trained (1800): 1 Lockpick = 25%
Advanced (3600): 1 Lockpick = 40%
Master (6000): 1 Lockpick = 75%

Besides electronic devices and systems, you'll also meet good old 
doors, lockers, drawers, and safes, which will sadly be locked to keep 
prying hands - such as yours - from removing their contents. Although a 
lot of these doors and locks can be blown open, a more subtle tampering 
of the locking mechanism will often be preferable and much stealthier. 
This is where Lockpicks comes in handy.

Lockpicks works in exactly the same way Electronics does. This time, 
however, instead of hunting for a security console or a door keypad's 
combination, you'll be searching for nanokeys that can open locks. If 
you can't find them, then it's time to resort to Lockpicks. And just 
like some door keypads have no known combinations, some doors have no 
in-game keys. That means you *have* to resort to picking the lock.

Interestingly enough, doors and the like have not one but two 
resistances: lock strength and door strength. The first represents how 
much picking is required to defeat the lock. The second is the door's 
physical resistance to blows and explosions. An INF (infinite) 
resistance means the lock cannot be picked or that the door is blast-
proof.

There are tons of goodies hidden in safes, lockers, armories, and the 
like. As such, just like Electronics, you should really seek to improve 
Lockpicks to Trained, and if you're awash in skill points, maybe 
Advanced. The leap from 10% per Lockpick to 25% is huge, and 25% to 40% 
is not shabby either. In any case, I often save the first 1800 skill 
points I earn to improve Lockpicks.

(Still, if a door has a less than infinite door strength, then you 
should consider a bit of demolition as an option.)


b) Support skills

Support skills enhance some of JC's default abilities. Although far 
from being a necessary set of skills, your style of play might very 
well require the improvement of one or two of them.


*ENVIRONMENTAL TRAINING*
Untrained: Can use rebreathers, thermoptic camouflage, ballistic armor, 
and hazmat suits.
Trained (675): Can use rebs, camo, armor, and hazmats a bit longer and 
more efficiently.
Advanced (1350): Can use rebs, camo, armor, and hazmats even longer and 
even more efficiently.
Master (2250): Can use rebs, camo, armor, and hazmats for very long and 
at maximum efficiency.

Lots of people don't like Environmental Training, and I can understand 
them. At the lower difficulty levels, it doesn't make much of a 
difference. But at Realistic, I found it to be a real life-saver. First 
and foremost, thermoptic camo is an awesome item to lug around, and 
when used makes you invisible to *all* enemy units (organic and 
robotic) and security systems. If you're Untrained in Environmental 
Training it will barely last ten seconds... But if you're a Master, it 
lasts for over forty-five seconds! Since sneaking around undetected is 
tremendously important at Realistic, I found it very worthwhile to 
invest in Environmental Training once I'd already gotten my core skills 
to their desired levels. Higher levels mean a longer duration, but also 
more damage absorbed for Hazmat suits and ballistic armor. My advice to 
you: try Environmental Training at least once and see if it's your 
style. If you do try it, I suggest you improve it to Master since it's 
very cheap and effective.

(Note: Tech goggles are *not* improved in any way or shape by 
Environmental Training. But they suck anyway so we don't care.)


*SWIMMING*
Untrained: Can swim slowly.
Trained (675): Can swim at average speed, increased lung capacity.
Advanced (1350): Can swim faster, greatly increased lung capacity.
Master (2250): Can swim the fastest, humongous lung capacity.

There are a number of underwater areas in Deus Ex, and one way to 
exploit them is to invest in the Swimming skill. Higher levels increase 
the speed at which JC swims, and the amount of time he can spend 
underwater before he starts taking "drowning" damage.

There isn't much else to say about Swimming. I personally prefer to max 
out Environmental Training and depend on Rebreathers. However, 
investing a measly 675 skill points to improve Swimming to Trained at 
the start is never a bad idea. The Aqualung augmentation goes very well 
with Swimming; one level in each can drastically improve your 
underwater performances since they stack.


*MEDICINE*
Untrained: Can use a Medkit to heal 30 damage.
Trained (900): Can use a Medkit to heal 60 damage.
Advanced (1800): Can use a Medkit to heal 75 damage.
Master (3000): Can use a Medkit to heal 90 damage.

Face it, at some point in your adventures, you're gonna get hurt. 
Physical damage in Deus Ex is particularly nasty. Damage to the arms 
lowers your accuracy with weapons, as does damage to the head; and 
damage to your legs or your torso will reduce your movement speed. 
Severe damage to the head or torso will kill you; severe damage to the 
arms will make it impossible to use some weapons; and severe damage to 
both legs will force you to crawl around until you heal your wounds. 
Needless to say, you therefore want to stay in the best shape possible. 
Medicine helps in this regard by making Medkits more efficient at 
healing any damage you sustain.

Once again, a Support skill has to compete with an augmentation: this 
time it's Regeneration. Medkits act instantly but are in limited 
supply; Regeneration takes more time to act, but bioelectrical energy 
is more plentiful. I prefer Regeneration since I'm a BE-saving maniac 
who usually goes for Power Recirculator anyway... But if you intend to 
complete the game by waltzing in and shooting everyone, Medicine is not 
a bad choice. Of course, if your style of play revolves around moving 
through the shadows and avoiding damage in the first place, then 
Medicine will be kind of a waste. Upgrade to Trained or maybe Advanced 
if you want to invest in it. Master is pretty expensive in terms of 
skill points for what you get in return.


c) Weapons skills

Probably the most important category at the beginning of the game. 
Unlike other first-person shooters, your character does not have 
perfect mastery of every weapon in his arsenal right off the bat. 
Couple that with the virtual impossibility of getting enough skill 
points to improve each and every Weapons skill and inventory space 
limitations, and you're stuck having to choose which sets of weapons 
you want to specialize in.

A higher skill level with your weapon of choice makes a tremendous 
difference, as you'll observe with the sniper rifle if you do the 
tutorial. Higher skill level means higher damage, better accuracy, and 
a faster reload time. It also greatly increases the speed at which your 
crosshairs "zero in" when you're aiming. Despite common thinking, a 
higher skill level does *not* directly affect scope stability. That's a 
factor of weapon accuracy, which weapon skills indirectly affect 
because they raise accuracy.

I recommend you pick two complementary skills, such as Low-tech and 
Rifles, or Heavy and Pistols, although I've beaten the game with 
Pistols plus Low-tech, Demolition plus Heavy, and Rifles alone.


*DEMOLITION*
Untrained: Can use LAMs, EMP grenades, gas grenades, and scramble 
grenades. Little time for disarming.
Trained (900): LAMs do more damage. Moderate time for disarming.
Advanced (1800): LAMs do even more damage. Long time for disarming.
Master (3000): LAMs are devastating. Forever for disarming.

Demolition should *not* be your primary Weapons skill. Although 
grenades are quite powerful indeed, they are limited in quantity and 
take a bit of experience to throw adequately. The increase in LAMs' 
damage is almost unnoticeable save when you're facing some of the 
bigger robots... which you should not be fighting with LAMs anyway.

This said, the main reason why you might want to improve Demolition is 
to increase the safety margin you have for disarming already placed 
grenades. But, truth be told, there aren't that many places where it's 
a factor, so feel free to pass on Demolition entirely, or at best, to 
improve it to Trained but no further. I find there are better uses for 
my skill points.


*HEAVY*
Untrained: Can use the flamethrower, GEP gun, plasma gun, and LAW but 
with crouching movement speed.
Trained (1350): A bit more damage and accuracy, crouching movement 
speed.
Advanced (2700): More damage and accuracy, running movement speed.
Master (4500): Eyebrow-singing damage and great accuracy, running 
movement speed.

The heavy weapons are damage-monsters. Unfortunately, they all have 
three serious drawbacks. First, their ammo is rather limited. Second, 
they take *a lot* of your inventory space. Third, while equipped, they 
slow you down.

The GEP gun is perhaps one of the most versatile weapons in the game, 
allowing you to take out troopers, robots, and obstacles with its 
rockets. The rockets will also lock-on and home in on a target if you 
keep the GEP gun aimed at an enemy unit for a few seconds before 
firing. The flamethrower is a close-range "silent" weapon that 
guarantees a kill if you can hit somebody with it: any enemy you douse 
in tasty napalm will keep burning until they die. The LAW is a one-
shot, disposable rocket launcher that can help take out robots or 
doors. Finally, the plasma gun rips unarmored troopers apart with a 
single shot.

If you decide to invest in Heavy, you should save your ammo until you 
absolutely need it and watch your inventory space carefully. Pairing it 
with Pistols is a good idea: you'll get powerful long-range attacks 
with the GEP gun, and silent close-range sniping with the Stealth 
Pistol or Mini-Crossbow. I suggest you raise Heavy to Advanced if you 
plan on using any Heavy weapons at all - the movement speed penalty is 
huge. Advanced offsets it, but Master only adds some damage and 
accuracy.


*LOW-TECH*
Untrained: Can use knives, crowbars, batons, prods, swords, and pepper 
spray.
Trained (1350): Better accuracy, damage, rate of attack, and reload 
time.
Advanced (2700): Even better accuracy, damage, rate of attack, and 
reload time.
Master (4500): Slice and dice, shock and rock.

It's not all about the big explosions. Low-tech weapons are small, 
silent, and almost always lethal if used from behind. Pair that with 
plentiful or even infinite ammo, and you've got some cool gadgets at 
your disposal to abuse. On the flip side, almost all Low-tech weapons 
are melee range, save for throwing knives and the pepper spray (which 
both suck ass), and they don't do a whole lot of damage if it's not a 
sneak attack.

I like Low-tech a lot, but let's face it, a knife through the nape of 
the neck is gonna be fatal no matter your skill level. It's therefore 
smart to not spend too many skill points in Low-tech, unless your plan 
is to run in and wave the the Dragon's Tooth Sword around until 
everyone's been cut to pieces. (Need I mention that's a BAD plan?)

Some Low-tech tips:

-Keep at least one Low-tech weapon with infinite ammo on you at all 
times. Use it to bash open crates or other destructibles. The Dragon's 
Tooth Sword can destroy desk drawers and some doors!

-Sure, the Crowbar, Sword, and Dragon's Tooth Sword are all more 
powerful than the puny Combat Knife... But they take more inventory 
space and don't make a back attack any easier. If you're gonna keep a 
single Low-tech weapon for sneak attacks, then go for the Knife, 
although the Riot Prod is always useful too because of its stun.

-The Riot Prod and the Baton knock enemies unconscious instead of 
killing them. At the beginning of the game, choosing non-lethal 
takedowns will make you more popular with some of the UNATCO crowd.


*PISTOLS*
Untrained: Can use the pistol, stealth pistol, mini-crossbow, and PS20.
Trained (1575): Better accuracy, damage, and reload time.
Advanced (3150): Even better accuracy, damage, and reload time.
Master (5250): Lethal precision and damage with all pistols.

Pistols is Rifles' kid brother. The former's weapons have less range 
and power than the latter, but their ammo is slightly easier to find, 
especially at the beginning of the game. The stealth pistol and mini-
crossbow are also both silent weapons by default, making Pistols a good 
choice for a "sneaky" style.

Investing in Pistols right at the start will definitely make your 
character powerful. Nevertheless, as you complete missions, find better 
weapons, and come to face tougher enemies, Pistols will lose some its 
usefulness. Sure, you can take down a trooper with the Stealth 
Pistol... but a MJ12 Commando is a different matter. Focusing in 
Pistols also leaves you defenseless against armored bots.

I suggest you pair Pistols with another skill that offers long-range 
power - either Heavy or Rifles. Pistols plus Low-tech gets rather 
difficult by the end of the game. Oh, and the Mini-Crossbow's 
tranquilizer darts knock enemies out without killing them, scoring you 
a non-lethal takedown.


*RIFLES*
Untrained: Can use the sniper rifle, assault rifle, sawed-off shotgun, 
and assault shotgun.
Trained (1575): Better accuracy, damage, and reload time.
Advanced (3150): Even better accuracy, damage, and reload time.
Master (5250): Sharpshootin'.

The most versatile Weapon skill of all - and probably the best one too. 
All rifles pack a big punch, both against unarmored enemies and bots, 
on top of having good range. Their ammo is plentiful too. If you're a 
beginner, then you should definitely get Rifles as your main weapon 
skill, you can't go wrong with it.

This said, whipping out an assault rifle or a shotgun is dangerous on 
its own, since you're now fighting openly with your enemies. Same with 
the sniper rifle, though with its terrific range, you'll have lots of 
time to hide after pulling off a headshot or two. I strongly suggest 
you use your first silencer weapon mod on the sniper rifle and the 
second one on the assault rifle. The bottom line with rifles: make sure 
you're ready for a fight. Upgrade this one all the way to Master as 
your main weapon skill.

(Note: The assault rifle and both shotguns have access to two types of 
ammo, a primary one for taking down regular troopers and commandos 
(7.62mm for the assault rifle and Buckshot for the shotguns) and a 
secondary one designed with bots in mind (20mm HE for the assault rifle 
and Sabot for the shotguns). Learn to use both and don't waste the 
secondary ammo, it's much rarer than the primary one. More on their 
effects in the section just below.)


So what's my personal choice when it comes to skills? At the character 
creation menu I usually start by downgrading Pistols to Untrained and 
upgrading Rifles, Swimming, and Demolition to Trained and Computers to 
Advanced. The next 3600 skill points I acquire I spend on upgrading 
both Lockpicks and Electronics (in that order) to Trained. From then on 
I split my earnings between Rifles and Environmental Training, 
upgrading both to Master. The rest of the skill points I get are 
distributed among Medicine, a secondary weapon skill, and maybe 
Computers.


4) WEAPONS (paa)

Ah, the tools of the killing (or incapacitating) trade. Knowing your 
weapons' capabilities is a must if you want to survive. I've divided 
the list of weapons by their relevant Weapons skill category, and each 
category is listed in the order in which you're likely to acquire the 
weapons.

A weapon's base damage is the damage it deals to an enemy upon a 
successful hit. It can be increased by higher skill level, and a hit 
from the back or to the head deals a whole lot more damage than that 
value - usually killing your opponent in one blow. Base accuracy seems 
to affect the starting width of the crosshairs before they start 
shrinking, and thus the precision of your weapon. The accurate and 
maximum range are, respectively, the distance under which you are 
guaranteed a precise shot, and the maximum distance the weapon's 
projectile will travel. Both ranges are measured in feet. Melee weapons 
(all contained in the Low-tech category) must be used when standing 
next to an enemy. Finally, the clip size is how many projectiles or 
charges are loaded and ready to fire before you have to reload. A 
"disposable" marker means the weapon has only one shot and is discarded 
after being fired.

I guess I should also mention weapon modifications here. Weapon mods 
are cool disposable gadgets you can use to permanently increase your 
ranged weapons' effectiveness. There are 8 kinds of mods: accuracy, 
recoil, reload, range, clip, silencer, scope, and laser. An accuracy 
mod improves - what else! - a weapon's accuracy, and it can be used on 
almost all ranged weapons. The recoil mod reduces the kick-back from 
firing rifles and some heavy weapons. A reload mod cuts down on the 
time it takes to reload any weapon. Range mods increase all weapons' 
accurate range (but not their maximum range). The clip mod increases a 
weapon's clip size by 10%. A silencer mod turns the sniper rifle, 
assault rifle, or pistol into a silent weapon. The scope mod adds a 
scope to a pistol, rifle, GEP gun, or plasma gun for zooming in at a 
distance. Finally, laser mods add a targeting laser beam to show you 
exactly where you're aiming. You can find mods in the world by 
exploring nooks and crannies, searching bodies, or buying them from NPC 
merchants. Quite a few MiBs and WiBs carry them: since those guys 
explode on death, you'll have to incapacitate them with the prod, 
tranquilizer darts, or baton to get the mods. Good luck with that. When 
you pick up a mod, select it to highlight in green all the weapons you 
can use it on, then drag the mod over your weapon of choice to apply 
the effect. Needless to say, all mods are disposable.


*DEMOLITION*

LAM (Lightweight Attack Munitions)
Base damage: 50
Base accuracy: 50%
Accurate (max) range: thrown
Clip: 10

Your standard FPS grenade: lob at a target and take cover. The 
explosion is quite violent and will tear troopers, commandos, and all 
obstacles apart. It will take more than one LAM to blow up some of the 
tougher bots, though. You can also attach a LAM to vertical surfaces: 
face a wall, making sure you're perpendicular to it and as close as 
possible, then press the attack button. JC will stick the LAM to the 
wall and arm it. It will explode if an enemy gets near.

LAMs are cool for killing groups of 2 or more enemies, but they excel 
at creating alternate paths by destroying windows, weakened walls, 
etc... Some enemies carry LAMs; you may also find a few attached to 
walls, armed and ready to blow you to bits. You may avoid those 
entirely or try to disarm them and add them to your arsenal.

Keep in mind the explosion a LAM causes will definitely arouse 
suspicion.


Gas grenade
Base damage: 0
Base accuracy: 50%
Accurate (max) range: thrown
Clip: 10

Gas grenades are much more subtle than LAMs. When thrown, they explode 
and cover an area (approximately a 25 feet square) in tear gas. Organic 
enemies without protection will be incapacitated while under the cloud, 
allowing you to take them down from afar with minimal retaliation on 
their part. The cloud will dissipate over the course of 30 seconds or 
so.

I love gas grenades, particularly when I'm against a group of troopers 
and want to save my other explosives. The tear gas *will* damage you if 
you get too close, but it's not that big a threat. Some organic units 
(commandos, to name them, and a few other "bosses") are immune to tear 
gas. And, needless to say, gas grenades have zero effect on bots.


EMP grenade
Base damage: 0
Base accuracy: 50%
Accurate (max) range: thrown
Clip: 10

The opposite of gas grenades. On explosion, EMP grenades produce an 
electromagnetic shockwave that damages all nearby electronic systems. 
This includes gun turrets, cameras, robots, blue laser beams, and your 
own bioelectrical reserves... but not regular organic enemies. Use 
carefully.

At the beginning of the game, a single EMP grenade can take out a low-
grade security bot if properly aimed. However, as the game progresses, 
the tougher bots you'll encounter require 2 or more grenades to 
disable, and since there aren't that many EMP grenades in the world... 
They're not useless, but I wouldn't depend on them too much. A GEP gun 
is reliable, but not an EMP grenade. Getting close enough to a bot to 
throw a grenade is much too close for me. You may want to save them for 
weaker bots and security systems.


Scramble grenade
Base damage: 0
Base accuracy: 50%
Accurate (max) range: thrown
Clip: 10

Probably the most subtle of all grenades. Scramble grenades project on 
explosion a scrambling frequency that messes with bots' AI, turning 
them into your ally! For a short duration, they will therefore attack 
your enemies and pump as much lead in them as they can while ignoring 
you. Like EMP grenades, scramble grenades have no effect on organic 
enemies.

Frankly, scramble grenades are not terribly useful. They have two main 
uses: either throw one at a lone bot then run past it while it's 
friendly, or throw one at a robot near some hostile targets. The bigger 
the bot, the more havoc it will cause. There's maybe a dozen scramble 
grenades available in the entire game, so relying on them to defeat 
bots is far from a good idea. Still, watching a humongous Delta-2 
Peacebringer turn against its allies is tons of fun.


*HEAVY*

Flamethrower
Base damage: 2
Base accuracy: 55%
Accurate (max) range: 20 (20)
Clip: 100 (Napalm canister)

The flamethrower is one of the funniest weapons, and the only heavy 
weapon with a short range. It fires a stream of napalm that sets enemy 
organic units on fire: enemies on fire will keep burning on their own 
until they die. Not only that, but the flamethrower is considered 
"silent", meaning it won't alert nearby hostiles... Even when they see 
a comrade running around in flames! An enemy burning up will also 
totally ignore you, instead choosing to run around like a headless 
chicken until he dies.

The flamethrower inflicts a humongous movement speed penalty, though, 
and when coupled with the necessity to get close to your opponent to 
kill him, makes it a dangerous weapon to use without a tactical 
advantage or lots of training in Heavy to compensate. Still, it's a 
good asset since it guarantees a kill on normal troopers and the like. 
Some enemies (again, commandos and a couple of "bosses") are resistant 
to its energy-based attack, so you may have to resort to another weapon 
to kill those.

(Note: If you're hit by a Flamethrower, there are three ways to survive 
the burning. First is to keep healing yourself until it dies down - 
turn on the Energy Shield augmentation if you installed it for a bit of 
help. Second is to jump into water if there's any around. Third is to 
equip a fire extinguisher and use it.)


GEP (Guided Explosive Projectile) gun
Base damage: 300
Base accuracy: 75%
Accurate (max) range: 900 (1500)
Clip: 1 (Rockets or WP rockets)

If you're going Heavy, then you *must* carry this weapon. The GEP gun 
is incredibly versatile and powerful. Its rockets deal a tremendous 
amount of damage and can home in on a target if you've got a lock - 
just keep your crosshairs on an enemy unit for a couple of seconds 
before firing until you hear the constant "beep". Bots? What bots?

But that's just the beginning. The GEP gun's secondary ammo, white-
phosporus (WP) rockets, have a smaller explosion radius but set a large 
area on fire! This is quite simply awesome for dealing with large 
groups of organic enemy units since it automatically kills them. Unlike 
regular rockets, WP rockets don't cause your enemies' bodies to 
explode, meaning you can search them afterwards. Good stuff.

Lastly, you can use rockets for clearing passages, blasting open doors, 
and otherwise tampering with your environment. Since the GEP gun has a 
much greater range than a LAM or the Assault Rifle, you can stay away 
from the point of impact. Of course, like all heavy weapons, it takes 
quite a lot of space in your inventory and reduces your movement speed. 
You also have to reload it after every shot, so make sure the first one 
counts. Finally, remember that the explosion radius is slightly smaller 
than a LAM's.


LAW (Light Anti-tank Weapon)
Base damage: 100
Base accuracy: 70%
Accurate (max) range: 900 (1500)
Clip: 1 (disposable)

A one-shot rocket launcher. It lacks the GEP gun's lock-on ability, but 
makes up for it by being smaller. A LAW takes 4 spaces in your 
inventory, but you can only carry one at a time. You probably won't 
need more than that to turn bots into scrap metal, though!

Carrying a LAW is good if you've skipped on Heavy and need a quick way 
of dealing with an annoying bot. The accuracy is not bad, and it's sure 
to do the job on all bots. Its main drawbacks, of course, is that it's 
a disposable and that it greatly hinders your movement speed when 
equipped. Find a secluded camping spot, equip, aim at the offending bot 
for a few seconds, then fire. Try to compensate for the bot's movement 
while the missile is flying. I often carry a LAW around as a way of 
blowing a bunch of lockers or doors open too.


Plasma gun
Base damage: 105
Base accuracy: 70%
Accurate (max) range: 900 (1500)
Clip: 12 (Plasma clip)

The last heavy weapon you'll come across. The plasma gun fires super-
heated slugs of magnetic polymers that deal great damage to regular 
troopers and can go right through enemies. However, some of them (such 
as commandos) have an innate resistance to energy attacks. The plasma 
gun is also far from being silent, uses hard-to-find ammo, and doesn't 
fire all that fast. I would definitely stay away from this one if you 
have no training in Heavy. If you do, though, it's an okay weapon for 
dealing with isolated enemies at close- or medium-range. Aim for the 
head or torso for best effect, and try to wait for your enemy to stop 
since the plasma shot doesn't travel too rapidly. It's nowhere near as 
good as the GEP gun or Flamethrower, in my opinion.


*LOW-TECH*

Riot Prod
Base damage: 15
Base accuracy: 75%
Accurate (max) range: melee
Clip: 4 (Prod charger)

Zap! One of your first two weapons, the riot prod is quite simply 
awesome, and you should keep one on you from beginning to end even if 
you have no Low-tech training. Yes, it's a melee weapon you must use at 
close range; and yes, unlike all the other melee weapons, it has ammo. 
But it *more* than makes up for it by its effects.

See, whenever you hit an opponent with the prod, they will go into a 
"shock" animation and be paralyzed for 4-6 seconds. This leaves you 
lots of time for zapping them again until they're knocked unconscious, 
or, if you're concerned about ammo, for switching to a secondary weapon 
to strike the finishing blow. If you can catch them from behind, 
they're almost guaranteed to go down immediately. Just aim for the 
torso (*not* the head).

Also, note that the prod is a non-lethal weapon, since it knocks 
opponents unconscious instead of killing them. It's sometimes a good 
choice to go gently on enemies at the beginning of the game.


Crowbar
Base damage: 6
Base accuracy: 50%
Accurate (max) range: melee
Clip: infinite

"Hit something or someone with it. Repeat." That's pretty much 
everything it's good for. Unlike the prod, the crowbar does kill, but 
it takes two spaces in your inventory and doesn't stun. Not a good 
weapon for a face-to-face fight, but if you're looking for a cheap 
takedown from behind, it's not bad.

The crowbar can also destroy some destructibles that its weaker 
counterpart, the combat knife, can't. You may want to take that into 
account before choosing your melee weapon.


Baton
Base damage: 7
Base accuracy: 50%
Accurate (max) range: melee
Clip: infinite

Meh. Like the crowbar, the baton is a melee weapon that doesn't require 
any ammo: but instead of killing enemies outright it knocks their 
lights out and renders them unconscious. Still, color it useless for a 
face-to-face fight with anyone. Use it from behind and aim for the 
head. I never carry this weapon, prefering to rely on the prod for my 
non-lethal melee takedowns and the knife, crowbar, or swords if I run 
out of prod chargers.


Combat Knife
Base damage: 5
Base accuracy:  
Accurate (max) range: melee
Clip: infinite

Simple and effective. Sure, the combat knife won't kill an enemy in a 
straight-up fight, but it's always good for a stealthy takedown from 
behind, and since it only takes one space in your inventory it's 
definitely worth carrying around. Use it to open crates and bash other 
destructibles. You may eventually want to graduate to a Sword or the 
Dragon's Tooth Sword if you specialize in Low-tech, though.


Pepper gun
Base damage: 0
Base accuracy: 65%
Accurate (max) range: 6 (7)
Clip: 100 (Pepper cartridge)

In my eyes, useless. The pepper gun is a kind of miniature gas grenade: 
aim and fire to launch a stream of tear gas that will incapacitate your 
opponent. It sounds good in theory, but in practice, the effect lasts 
just a second or so, hardly enough time to strike a killing blow. On 
top of that the gas may fly in your *own* eyes, damaging you and 
messing with your aim. The ammo for it is also pathetically scarce. Not 
worth the one space it takes in your inventory.


Throwing knives
Base damage: 15
Base accuracy: 55%
Accurate (max) range: thrown
Clip: 25 (Throwing knives)

It's too bad such a cool weapon is actually so bad. Throwing knives 
should only be used for stealthy headshots from behind, and even then, 
their lousy accuracy and slow flying speed make for many misses. The 
best angle for using them is from above, where you *can't* miss a 
trooper's head. Don't fight anyone head-on with those unless you like 
missing a lot. Oh, and there's approximately 50 of them in the game, so 
don't waste them.


Sword
Base damage: 10
Base accuracy: 50
Accurate (max) range: melee
Clip: infinite

A step up from the crowbar. Takes three inventory spaces but deals more 
damage. Slice an enemy from behind for a sure takedown. It's still not 
recommended to fight someone face-to-face with just a sword, however.


Dragon's Tooth Sword
Base damage: 20
Base accuracy: 50%
Accurate (max) range: melee
Clip: infinite

The last and most powerful of the melee weapons. It's so powerful you 
don't even have to use it from behind, provided you're attacking only 
one trooper - though a takedown from the back is still the way to go. 
On the flip side, four spaces in your inventory is a lot of room. When 
activated (use the Force, Luke?) it also lights up your surrounding in 
a very faint blue hue, making it a flashlight of sorts if you're low on 
BE.


*PISTOLS*

Pistol
Base damage: 14
Base accuracy: 65%
Accurate (max) range: 150 (300)
Clip: 6 (10mm ammo)

Your other starting weapon, along with the riot prod. Deals okay damage 
and is accurate enough. Still, you should always aim for the head. 
There's also 10mm ammo all over the place, so you won't be short unless 
you depend only on the pistol. I prefer to wait for its silent 
counterpart, the stealth pistol.


Mini-crossbow
Base damage: 25
Base accuracy: 60%
Accurate (max) range: 50 (100)
Clip: 4 (Tranquilizer darts, Darts, or Flare Darts)

Gotta love that crossbow! Tranquilizer darts (green) inject an opponent 
with a tranquilizer that deals its damage over time and eventually 
knocks them unconscious. Regular darts (gray) are your standard death-
dealing projectile. Flare darts (orange) have just about the same use 
as regular ones, but they also illuminate the area when shot at a wall. 
I only use flare darts as back-up, when my regular darts count gets a 
bit low.

The crossbow has quite a few advantages. First, it's a totally silent 
weapon, meaning it doesn't produce a sound when fired so that nearby 
enemies won't know where you are. Second, it's the only ranged weapon 
you can fire while underwater. Third, it can be used for both lethal 
and non-lethal takedowns. On the flip side, its accurate range is short 
and the clip ain't that big. Still, I carry a crossbow with me 
throughout the game as a utility weapon and for taking on some of the 
mean-spirited fauna you meet later on. Not to mention hitting a regular 
trooper with a tranquilizer dart is a guaranteed takedown! Your target 
may have enough time to sound the alarm or alert his nearby comrades, 
though.


PS20
Base damage: 25
Base accuracy: 100%
Accurate (max) range: 900 (1500)
Clip: 1 (disposable)

Definitely underrated because it's a disposable. The PS20 is a one-shot 
plasma pistol that is lethally precise (see that 100% accuracy?), has a 
good range, and can kill or maim an opponent who isn't expecting it. 
Not exactly easy to find or depend on, but it does a fine job if you 
come across one. Aim at a poor bastard's head for a one-shot kill. Like 
the LAW, you can only carry one of the these at a time.


Stealth pistol
Base damage: 8
Base accuracy: 60%
Accurate (max) range: 150 (300)
Clip: 10 (10mm ammo)

The silent version of the pistol. Yes, it deals less damage and is less 
accurate, but to compensate it has a bigger clip (much appreciated) and 
is much sneakier. A head shot is bound to severely injure or outright 
kill a regular trooper, and with the built-in silencer, it won't give 
away your position. Like the pistol, though, it's still useless against 
bots, and with its inferior damage is even worse for fighting toe-to-
toe against enemies. If you didn't go with Pistols, then consider it a 
utility weapon for shooting explosive barrels and TNT crates from afar, 
although the crossbow is overall cooler.


*RIFLES*

Sniper rifle
Base damage: 25
Base accuracy: 75%
Accurate (max) range: 1800 (3000)
Clip: 6 (30.06 ammo)

Arguably one of the best weapons in the game. The sniper rifle has 
*humongous* range and a scope by default, making it the weapon of 
choice for cleaning out an area before moving in. Nevertheless, it 
doesn't really come into its own until you fit it with a silencer mod 
and increase its accuracy to stabilize the scope's "wandering" effect - 
so use all the accuracy mods you find on this one! A single headshot 
will kill almost any enemy, including commandos. The 30.06 ammo is also 
not that hard to hoard. No use against bots, sadly, but hey, nothing's 
perfect, right?


Sawed-off shotgun
Base damage: 25
Base accuracy: 70%
Accurate (max) range: 75 (150)
Clip: 4 (Buckshot or Sabot shells)

A basic pump-action shotgun, very effective at close range. 
Unfortunately it's not silent, has a tiny clip, and reloads slowly. If 
you can get close enough to kill an enemy unit with it you can probably 
do the job with a silent melee weapon too or a better rifle from 
further away. As far as ammo is concerned: Buckshot hurts regular 
organic enemies but not robots. Sabot shells damage anything that's 
armored, whether they're bots or special organic enemies with an 
intrinsic resistance to regular bullets.


Assault rifle
Base damage: 3
Base accuracy: 65%
Accurate (max) range: 300 (600)
Clip: 30 (7.62mm ammo or 20mm HE ammo)

Another one of those all-around great weapons: the assault rifle is so 
versatile you can kill anything with it, and it takes all weapon mods 
too! Its primary ammo, 7.62mm rounds, is incredibly easy to find and 
deals very well with the regular troopers and such. Just watch the 
recoil, which will have a tendency to "kick" your aim up if you keep 
firing. Although the clip seems huge, at 10 rounds a second, you'll 
empty it pretty fast. Clip and reload mods are much appreciated.

The assault rifle's secondary attack, with the 20mm HE ammo, is a 
devastating short-range grenade launcher. The ammo is very scarce, so 
don't waste it, but it rapes bots and anything else so well, it's 
reason enough to carry an assault rifle. I'd use all my LAMs before 
wasting some 20mm HE to clear a path, though.


Assault shotgun
Base damage: 20
Base accuracy: 60%
Accurate (max) range: 75 (150)
Clip: 12 (Buckshot or Sabot shells)

Much better than its sawed-off cousin, in my opinion. Although damage 
and accuracy are lower, the clip is bigger (thanks!)... but more 
importantly, the assault shotgun fires faster than the sawed-off. 
There's a reason why the assault shotgun got the nickname "street 
sweeper". Its biggest drawback is the long reload time, but you should 
be wary of its recoil too.

Buckshot takes care of troopers very well, and pumping Sabot shells 
into the weaker bots from behind is never a bad idea. I'd stay away 
from the bigger bots however, and use some heavy weaponry or the 
assault rifle's 20mm HE for those. A great weapon for dealing with 
troopers, commandos, and the low-grade bots you'll doubtlessly 
encounter (such as security and spider bots).


5) AUGMENTATIONS (wrz)

JC isn't just your run-of-the-mill spy - he's one of the only two nano-
augmented agents of UNATCO, along with his older brother, Paul. This 
gives him special powers called nano-augmentations, which range from 
superhuman speed, strength, endurance, and senses to being able to turn 
completely invisible or detonate explosives at distance. However, 
unlike skills, which are passive in nature, you must activate 
augmentations to benefit from their effects; and while active, an 
augmentation will drain your bioelectricity (BE) reserves. If your BE 
drops to zero then all augmentations are turned off and you can't use 
any until you recharge. You can do that by using Bioelectric cells, 
which you may carry with you and recharge 25 BE points each, or by 
finding a Repair bot who'll helpfully give you a boost of 75 BE points 
every 60 seconds. Keep in mind that EMP attacks can drain your BE, as 
will getting booted out of a computer if you hack it.

JC starts with 3 default augmentations: the IFF (Integrated Friend or 
Foe) system, the Infolink (through which a plethora of characters will 
contact you), and Light (which turns JC's eyes into flashlights when 
activated). To acquire new augmentations, you must find installation 
canisters. Each canister gives you access to two different and specific 
augmentations, which you must install with the help of a Medbot. 
Unfortunately, you can only install one with a single canister, so if 
you want both augmentations you'll have to wait to acquire that same 
kind of canister again (except for Synthetic Heart or Power 
Recirculator - there's only one in the game). Every canister is also 
linked to a particular body part that can sustain a set number of 
augmentations: 1 for Legs, Arms, Cranium, and Optics, 2 for Subdermal, 
and 3 for Chest.

The canister combinations are:

Subdermal #1: Ballistic Protection or EMP Shield
Subdermal #2: Cloak or Radar Transparency
Cranium: Aggressive Defense System or Spy Drone
Arms: Microfibral Muscle or Combat Strength
Legs: Speed Enhancement or Run Silent
Optics: Targeting or Vision Enhancement
Chest #1: Environmental Resistance or Aqualung
Chest #2: Energy Shield or Regeneration
Chest #3: Synthetic Heart or Power Recirculator

But that's not all. Every augmentation (save the 3 default ones) have 4 
levels of effectiveness. To improve them, you must find upgrade 
canisters. You don't need a Medbot to use those: if you have one or 
more upgrade canisters in your inventory, just go to your Augs Menu, 
select an already installed augmentation, and click the Upgrade button 
at the bottom of the menu. Like installation canisters, each upgrade 
canister can only be used once, but the benefits of higher-level 
augmentations are definitely worth seeking these babies out.

I'll tackle augmentations by body part, analyzing each augmentation on 
its own and then giving my opinion on what are the best choices for 
that body part (or combinations if there's more than one slot). I've 
also included the hotkeys for each body part's slots: these are 
assigned in the order in which you install augmentations.


*SUBDERMAL* (F3, F4)

Ballistic Protection (60 BE units/minute)
Level 1: Slightly reduces bullet and blade damage.
Level 2: Fairly reduces bullet and blade damage.
Level 3: Moderately reduces bullet and blade damage.
Level 4: Highly reduces bullet and blade damage.

A pretty good augmentation, all things considered, especially if you're 
into fighting enemies. The BE cost is manageable, but more importantly, 
it could save your life if you're caught unprepared by a bunch of 
enemies hunting you. Try using Ballistic Protection while wearing some 
ballistic armor too; the results are impressive. Consider it even if 
you're playing sneaky, and remember to upgrade it. I like to be *real* 
sneaky, though, so I often skip it in favor of getting both Cloak and 
Radar Transparency.


EMP shield (10 BE units/minute)
Level 1: Slightly reduces the drain of EMP attacks.
Level 2: Fairly reduces the drain of EMP attacks.
Level 1: Moderately reduces the drain of EMP attacks.
Level 1: Highly reduces the drain of EMP attacks.

Pffff. Useless. What's the point of reducing the BE drain of EMP 
attacks by using an augmentation that itself drains BE? Plus, I can 
count on my fingers the number of times you encounter threatening EMP 
attacks in the whole game. Skip this one, trust me.


Cloak (300 BE units/minute)
Level 1: Makes you invisible to organic enemies. Power drain is normal.
Level 2: Makes you invisible to organic enemies. Power drain is reduced 
fairly.
Level 3: Makes you invisible to organic enemies. Power drain is reduced 
moderately.
Level 4: Makes you invisible to organic enemies. Power drain is reduced 
highly.

Invisibility is a big plus when the time to be sneaky comes. Cloak's 
power drain is terribly prohibitive, though: at Level 1, that's 5 BE 
units a second! And it only works on organic enemies, such as troopers 
or commandos, not bots or security cameras. Worth upgrading to Level 4 
if you decide to use this one.


Radar Transparency (300 BE units/minute)
Level 1: Makes you invisible to bots and cameras. Power drain is 
normal.
Level 2: Makes you invisible to bots and cameras. Power drain is 
reduced fairly.
Level 3: Makes you invisible to bots and cameras. Power drain is 
reduced moderately.
Level 4: Makes you invisible to bots and cameras. Power drain is 
reduced highly.

Identical to Cloak in terms of cost and improvement, save that it makes 
you invisible to electronic systems such as cameras or robots instead 
of organic enemies. I like it a lot, to be honest: you can kill organic 
units easily but getting rid of cameras or big robots is another 
matter. Another "sneaky" augmentation you should definitely consider if 
this is your style. Upgrade it to Level 4.


Verdict for Subdermal: EMP Shield is right out. This leaves you with 3 
augmentations for 2 slots. Ballistic Protection is always good when 
paired with Radar Transparency, although if you're afraid of troopers 
and commandos, Cloak will serve you well. I myself like to pick Radar 
Transparency/Cloak, but that second installation canister comes rather 
late in the game. Keep in mind that all the subdermal augmentations 
require a lot of upgrade canisters to be useful.


CRANIUM (F5)

Aggressive Defense System (10 BE units/minute)
Level 1: Detonates rockets and grenade from a bit further.
Level 2: Detonates rockets and grenade from moderately far away.
Level 3: Detonates rockets and grenade from far away.
Level 4: Detonates rockets and grenade from really far away.

If I were you, I'd try to avoid fights with people totting rocket 
launchers in the first place! Not a very good augmentation, at least 
not before you get it to Level 3. Some bots and the MJ12 commandos use 
rockets so you may want to turn it on just in case when you encounter 
those enemies. It's pretty cheap to use anyway.


Spy Drone (150 BE units/minute)
Level 1: Creates a Spy Drone.
Level 2: Creates a slightly tougher Spy Drone with a weak EMP attack.
Level 3: Creates a tougher Spy Drone with an average EMP attack.
Level 4: Creates the toughest Spy Drone with a strong EMP attack.

Bleh. Remember EMP Shield? Spy Drone is worse. It has the second-
highest BE cost of all augmentations (first is a tie between Cloak and 
Radar Transparency). It makes you immobile while you control the Drone 
around. And that Drone is so slow and useless! Install Vision 
Enhancement (see below) to check *through* corners instead of *around* 
them.


Verdict for Cranium: Honestly, it's a toss-up between two fairly 
useless augmentations. In the end, I usually pick ADS because the icon 
looks cooler.


ARMS (F6)

Microfibral Muscle (20 BE units/minute)
Level 1: Can lift medium crates and push large crates.
Level 2: Move faster when carrying medium crates.
Level 3: Can lift large crates.
Level 4: Move faster when carrying large crates.

This augmentation is cooler than it sounds. A lot of crates either 
block your passage or are needed to climb up to goodies or alternate 
paths. Microfibral Muscle allows you to manipulate them to your 
advantage! However, I don't think it's worth upgrading at all, since 
lifting large crates isn't terribly useful. Install it but save your 
upgrade canisters for other augmentations.


Combat Strength (20 BE units/minute)
Level 1: Slightly increases melee weapons' damage.
Level 2: Fairly increases melee weapons' damage.
Level 3: Moderately increases melee weapons' damage.
Level 4: Highly increases melee weapons' damage.

More damage sounds good in theory, right? In this case though it's 
misleading. First of all, you should *always* use melee weapons from 
behind, where they'll take out enemies in one hit. Second, to see any 
difference in effectiveness you need to upgrade this augmentation. Not 
a good choice at all.


Verdict for Arms: Microfibral Muscle all the way. Combat Strength 
doesn't help you at all when performing a takedown from behind, and 
running up to enemies from the front to strike them is begging for a 
lead sandwich. Moving crates is cool!


LEGS (F7)

Speed Enhancement (40 BE units/minute)
Level 1: Run, walk, and crouch slightly faster. Jump a bit higher. 
Falling damage is slightly reduced.
Level 2: Run, walk, and crouch faster. Jump rather higher. Falling 
damage is fairly reduced.
Level 3: Run, walk, and crouch pretty fast. Jump pretty high. Falling 
damage is moderately reduced.
Level 4: Run, walk, and crouch the fastest. Jump like there's no 
tomorrow. What falling damage?

Speed Enhancement has tons and tons of uses. Window above leading a 
cool room? Jump up. Gotta get down in a hurry? Jump down. The increase 
in movement speed is also great if you need to make a run for an exit 
or have to escape a hazardous situation. It even works when you're 
crouched! I'm not sure exactly how much you should improve Speed 
Enhancement; Level 3 sounds about right.


Run Silent (40 BE units/minute)
Level 1: Running and walking noise is slightly reduced.
Level 2: Running and walking noise is fairly reduced.
Level 3: Running and walking noise is moderately reduced.
Level 4: Running and walking noise is absent.

Bah. Run Silent is another augmentation that sounds really cool in 
theory. In practice, it requires a lot of upgrading to signifcantly 
reduce the amount of noise you make. If Run Silent were a passive skill 
or some such I'd jump on it, but as it is, activating it when you 
*think* somebody's around the corner listening is just too much of a 
hassle.


Verdict for Legs: Speed Enhancement 100%. There's no reason to get Run 
Silent at all: if you want to move silently, just crouch and turn on 
Speed Enhancement! Not to mention Speed Enhancement lets you do other 
things that Run Silent can't, like getting to hard-to-reach places.


OPTICS (F8)

Targeting (40 BE units/minute)
Level 1: Slightly increased accuracy. Basic info about enemies.
Level 2: Fairly increased accuracy. Info about enemies' body parts.
Level 3: Moderately increased accuracy. Info about enemies' weapons.
Level 4: Highly increased accuracy. Telescopic vision.

This is a pretty low-profile augmentation. When I finally decided to 
try it I was pleasantly surprised with its usefulness. The information 
about enemies is not too fascinating, but the increase in accuracy is 
more than welcome - especially if you're using a scoped weapon, such as 
the sniper rifle, and are less than a Master at the relevant weapon 
skill. Targeting also reduces the time it takes for your aim to 
tighten. This lets you use weapons you have little training with at 
greater efficiency.


Vision Enhancement (40 BE units/minute)
Level 1: Night vision.
Level 2: Adds infrared vision.
Level 3: Adds short-range sonar imaging.
Level 4: Adds long-range sonar imaging.

Let's get one thing straight: if you install this augmentation you 
*must* upgrade it to Level 3 and *should* upgrade it to Level 4. If not 
it will be useless. The "night vision" effect is terrible in actual 
low-light conditions, one reason why I never bother with Tech Goggles. 
The IR vision (which lights up units and bots in your field of vision) 
is marginally useful but not enough to justify installing this over 
Targeting. However, short- but especially long-range sonar imaging 
translates into the ability to see enemies through walls! That's a 
tremendous asset for planning attacks or sneaking by. Short-range sonar 
imaging detects enemies about 10 feet away and closer; long-range sonar 
imaging's detection radius is approximately 30 feet.


Verdict for Optics: I think Vision Enhancement is better than 
Targeting... *if* you upgrade it to level 4 almost as soon as you 
install it. If you won't or can't do that, then install Targeting 
instead. The increase in accuracy allows you to wield weapons you don't 
have any training with better.


CHEST (F9, F10, F11)

Environmental Resistance (20 BE units/minute)
Level 1: Slightly reduces damage from toxins and radiation.
Level 2: Fairly reduces amage from toxins and radiation.
Level 3: Moderately reduces damage from toxins and radiation.
Level 4: Highly reduces damage from toxins and radiation.

Environmental Resistance does the same job as a hazmat suit at a low BE 
cost. Of course, the first couple of levels don't reduce damage by 
much; but do you want to invest 2-3 upgrade canisters in an 
augmentation that's only useful at a handful of locations in the game? 
I personally prefer to upgrade my Environmental Training skill to 
Master and depend on hazmat suits, which are usually available near 
those toxic, dangerous areas anyway; it also allows me to use 
rebreathers, ballistic armor, and thermoptic camo efficiently. Do keep 
in mind Environmental Resistance reduces the damage you suffer from 
toxic attacks such as venom or tranquilizer darts.


Aqualung (10 BE units/minute)
Level 1: Extends lung capacity slightly.
Level 2: Extends lung capacity moderately.
Level 3: Extends lung capacity highly.
Level 4: Extends lung capacity indefinitely.

I admit it: I'm a fan of Aqualung. I always install it whenever I 
decide to skip on the Environmental Training skill. Needless to say, 
it's a bit of a waste to upgrade an augmentation that's not useful at 
all in combat to Level 4, but if you upgrade your Swimming skill to 
Trained and use Aqualung at Level 1 or 2, you'll be able to stay 
submerged long enough to explore all the underwater areas in the game. 
Its BE cost is also terrific.


Energy Shield (40 BE units/minute)
Level 1: Slightly reduces damage from energy attacks.
Level 2: Fairly reduces damage from energy attacks.
Level 3: Moderately reduces damage from energy attacks.
Level 4: Highly reduces damage from energy attacks.

Energy-based attacks include electricity, plasma, and fire attacks. The 
latter two are particularly nasty so you might think that Energy Shield 
is a good idea. You're partly right. The problem is that there are very 
few enemies who use these attacks at all, and a lot of them can be 
avoided or disabled by other means. To add insult to injury, it's in 
the same install canister as Regeneration, a truly kick-ass aug you 
should always get over Energy Shield anyway. If you happen to find that 
canister again and still have a free torso slot then go for it, but 
otherwise I'd advise you to pass.


Regeneration (120 BE units/minute)
Level 1: Heals 5 hit points per second. (2.5 HPs/BE)
Level 2: Heals 10 hit points per second. (5 HPs/BE)
Level 3: Heals 25 hit points per second. (12.5 HPs/BE)
Level 4: Heals 40 hit points per second. (20 HPs/BE)

Healing on the go? Awesome. Regeneration has a high BE cost (2 units 
per second) but allows you to heal even the most grievous wounds given 
time and a sufficient BE reserve. Face it, you're gonna eat a bullet or 
two in your adventures or fall from a rooftop a bit higher than you 
gauged. Since Medkits are in limited supply and depend on investing 
skill points in Medicine to become more efficient, Regeneration makes a 
lot of sense. Pair it with Level 4 Power Recirculator to almost double 
the amount of hit points healed per BE unit.


Synthetic Heart (100 BE units/minute)
Level 1: All other active augmentations have their level increased by 
one.

I honestly don't consider Synthetic Heart a worthwhile augmentation. 
First of all, its BE cost is rather prohibitive, and is added to the 
cost of whatever aug(s) you've already activated and want to improve. 
Second, its very nature is self-defeating: since it has only one level, 
it frees up upgrade canisters to improve other augmentations... but 
that's its job in the first place! Considering there are some 
augmentations you'll never use (*cough*Cranium*cough*) and others you 
don't need to use at high levels (like Microfibral Muscle), and 
provided you make a thorough search for all the upgrade canisters, 
Synthetic Heart will be useless. I suggest you get the next 
augmentation instead.


Power Recirculator (10 BE units/minute)
Level 1: Power drain of other active augmentations is reduced by 10%.
Level 2: Power drain of other active augmentations is reduced by 20%.
Level 3: Power drain of other active augmentations is reduced by 33%.
Level 4: Power drain of other active augmentations is reduced by 50%.

I love this little sucker. It's a life-saver if you're constantly using 
other costly augmentations - Cloak, Radar Transparency, Regeneration, 
or even Vision Enhancement. However, to get a noticeable effect, you 
need to upgrade this augmentation all the way to Level 4, and fast. 
Remember that Power Recirculator has a BE cost too, and that it doesn't 
affect itself: therefore, only use it when the reduction to other 
augmentations is greater than 10 BE units per minute.


Verdict for Chest: Three slots means a lot of options. I tend to stay 
away from Environmental Resistance and Energy Shield. Regeneration is a 
must. Take into consideration that you can't get both Synthetic Heart 
and Power Recirculator since there's only one installation canister in 
the whole game. Aqualung is useful but not overly so. Bottom line: 
since I myself often max out the Environmental Training skill, which 
removes the need for both Environmental Resistance and Aqualung, I go 
with Regeneration, Power Recirculator, and Energy Shield. If you don't 
invest in Environmental Training then drop Energy Shield and get either 
Aqualung or Environmental Resistance. I've personally never seen much 
use for Synthetic Heart.


6) ITEMS (uyc)

There are lots and lots of items in the world! Most of them have an 
obvious use, which I will chronicle here. Every item in this list takes  
one space in your inventory: remember, you have 30 spaces (5 by 6) to 
carry these things around, so select your weapons and gear carefully.

I've organized the item list in 3 categories. A value in parentheses 
next to the item name is how many items of that kind you can carry at 
once - but don't worry, they all stack in the same inventory space.

Disposables are items that disappear after you use them, either in a 
menu or in the game world. Equipment are items you must use to grant JC 
a bonus for a certain period of time, and which also disappear when 
their effect expires. Finally, Miscellaneous items are just that: 
random items, some useful some not. Needless to say, I didn't list all 
the items you'll come across: gotta leave some surprises...


*DISPOSABLES*

Multitool (20)
Reduces an electronic system's resistance, allowing you to bypass it. 
The lowered resistance is a factor of your Electronics skill. You 
should seek those out and use them with enthusiasm.


Lockpick (20)
Reduces a lock's resistance, allowing you to unlock it. The lowered 
resistance is a factor of your Lockpicks skill. Like Multitools, 
collect those and use them when you can't find a key or blow up a door.


Medkit (15)
Heals injured body parts to restore functionality. There are 2 ways to 
use Medkits: either consume them directly in the Inventory screen, or 
switch to the health menu and click the "Heal" buttons by each body 
part to use a Medkit on that particular body part. The "Heal All" 
button at the bottom will use as many Medkits as needed to heal all the 
damge you've suffered. This allows you to use your Medkits to maximum 
efficiency: if you use the standard "Heal" button on an arm with 90 
health, the 20 extra healing will be lost, but if you use "Heal All" 
that extra healing will carry over to the next damaged body part. A 
higher Medicine skill will increase the damage each Medkit can heal.


Bioelectric cell (30)
Restores 25 points of bioelectricity per cell. Use them directly in the 
Inventory menu or in the Augs menu.


*EQUIPMENT*

Ballistic armor
When equipped, reduces the damage you suffer from blades or bullets. 
The higher your Environmental Training skill, the more damage ballistic 
armor absorbs and the longer it lasts.


Thermoptic camouflage
A truly kick-ass item: wearing camo makes you totally invisible to 
*everything*, organic and robotic alike! It barely lasts ten seconds, 
though, so you really want to improve your Environmental Training skill 
to get more mileage out of these babies. Oh, and while camo makes you 
invisible, it doesn't affect the noise you make by running or jumping. 
Enemies can pinpoint you by sound so be smart.


Hazmat suit
Makes wading into a pool of radioactive materials easy as pie! The 
hazmat suit protects you from toxins and radioactivity. Again, 
Environmental Training makes hazmat suits much better.


Rebreather
A mask that replenishes your O2 constantly for a short period of time. 
Doesn't last too long at first, but with Master in Environmental 
Training, grants you 200 seconds of underwater time! If you plan to 
swim a lot carrying a rebreather around is a good idea.


Tech goggles
Grant you night vision for a short while. Truth be told, goggles are 
useless. Night vision actually doesn't do much in truly dark areas, 
since all it does is amplify already existing light sources. It's also 
*not* improved by Environmental Training. Don't bother.


*MISCELLANEOUS*

Binoculars
Quite nifty! Equip them then press the attack button to zoom in. This 
lets you observe targets and areas from far away. If you carry a weapon 
with a scope throughout the game, you might not want to waste 1 
inventory space with Binoculars.


Flares (30)
For the dedicated tactician, Flares can be useful. When you throw them 
they light up a small area for a period of time, and also produce a bit 
of smoke. However, if thrown from far or high enough, they make a sound 
upon landing that will draw enemies' attention. Not a necessary item by 
any means but still useful at times.


Fire extinguisher
If you catch on fire, using this on yourself will put it out. But I 
suggest you avoid getting doused in napalm in the first place!


7) ENEMIES (mnb)

Okay, so you've got your gear, your skills, and your augmentations. 
That doesn't mean it's gonna be a walk in the park, though! Between you 
and your objectives stand a couple of armies of terrorists and 
conspirators hell-bent on taking over the world. In this section I'll 
give you some pointers for dealing with them.

The advice I gave in the General Concepts section still stands: in 
general, you should avoid confrontation altogether. Sure, it's tempting 
to shoot everything that moves to be able to search the bodies and 
clear the streets... But often you won't find much in terms of ammo or 
cool items, and are putting your life in great danger - especially at 
the Realistic difficulty level. If you're on Easy, feel free to fight 
the largest security bots if you so desire, but otherwise you're better 
off staying put.

The first thing you'll notice about enemies is that they either have a 
patrol route or stand in the same spot without budging. If the latter, 
then they're pretty easy to sneak by or surprise. If the former, you 
must observe their movements and get a feel for when will be the best 
time for action. Some guards have extremely short patrol routes that 
take them from one side of a small room to the opposite one; other 
enemies' routes can cover half a base's grounds. Again, observation is 
key.

There are two classes of enemies: organic and robotic. Organic enemies 
include animals (such as guard dogs) and regular humanoid soldiers, 
such as troopers, MJ12 commandos, and Men/Women in Black. Organic 
enemies are unaffected by EMP attacks but most can be incapacitated by 
gas. They can be killed with regular ammo, or knocked unconscious with 
tranquilizer darts, the riot prod, or the baton. Lastly, the Cloak 
augmentation can render you invisible to them.

Overall, organic enemies are easier to deal with than bots but are much 
more common in the world: there's more than ten organic enemies for 
every bot in the game. Nevertheless, organic units can be killed rather 
quickly. The first and easiest way to deal with them is with a melee 
weapon at close range from behind: a knife, sword, or prod strike to 
the torso from behind will dispose of regular troopers in one blow 
guaranteed, but not MiBs or commandos. For those guys you should resort 
to the second method, the headshot: aim at an enemy's head with a 
ranged weapon that deals lethal damage (i.e. not tranquilizer darts). 
Again, one hit from pistols and rifles will kill troopers. A sniper 
rifle shot might kill commandos and MiBs too, but definitely not a 
pistol one - you'll need at least 2 of those. Lastly, pumping anyone 
full of 7.62mm or Buckshot for a couple of seconds always does the 
trick, but be wary of the response.

The second class of enemies are none other than robots. Robots are 
invulnerable to gas and nearly invincible to low-grade ammo. However, 
they can be hurt by EMP attacks and affected by scramble grenades. 
Secondary ammo such as 20mm HE and Sabot shells will hurt them, as will 
any explosives - LAMs, LAWs, GEP rockets, TNT crates, you name it. 
Robots can be "incapacitated" by frying their internal circuits with 
EMP attacks (usually via EMP grenades), but otherwise they always 
explode on death. Lastly, the Radar Transparency augmentation will 
completely defeat their sensory equipment, allowing you to sneak by 
undetected. (In some levels you might discover security consoles or 
computers that allow you to tamper with nearby security bots - take 
advantage of any such opportunities!)

Robots are far tougher to deal with than organic enemies. They have 
near-perfect aim and are very resistant to regular bullets, not to 
mention Low-tech weapons. They also lack "body parts" like the ones 
organic enemies have.

The best way to tackle robots depends on their power. The weakest bot 
of all, the security bot, looks like a miniature tank with 4 guns. It 
can be destroyed with one well-placed explosive or EMP grenade. You'll 
see those guys a lot in the early missions. They should still be 
avoided but won't kill you outright the moment they notice you.

The other low-grade bot is the spider bot. Need I describe what it 
looks like? All it has is a close-range electric attack, so it's not a 
big threat. LAMs, grenades, or a couple of Sabot shells will take care 
of those. Listen for quick metallic steps.

The medium bot, the Bravo-3 Peacebringer, is a bipedal military-grade 
bot equipped with a 7.62mm gun that *will* put the hurt on you if 
you're not careful. You'll need two EMP grenades or LAMs to kill those, 
or a single GEP rocket or LAW. They're definitely a bigger threat than 
the puny security bot and present from beginning to end.

The heavy bot is called the Delta-2 Peacebringer. It's a humongous 
monster reminiscent of ED-209 from the movie RoboCop. Its armaments 
include a rocket-propelled grenade launcher and twin chain guns 
designed to make minced meat out of any target in seconds - that 
includes you. Avoid facing this guy at all costs. On the flip side, due 
to its slow movement and turning speed, you can very easily sneak by a 
Delta-2 by crawling after it until it reaches the end of its patrol 
route and turns around. Just make sure you stay in its six and don't 
make any noise! Terrible things will ensue if other units spot you 
while you're pulling off this stunt, so plan ahead. Lobbing LAMs or EMP 
grenades at a Delta-2 isn't the best idea, since it will take quite a 
few direct hits to disable or destroy them. I suggest dealing with them 
at the longest possible range with a GEP gun or a LAW. (Although using 
scramble grenades on a Delta-2 does make for hilarious results.)

Lastly, I should mention the topic of detection. Enemies have two ways 
of detecting you: by sight or by sound. Enemy units have a field of 
vision roughly 120 degrees wide and approximately 40 feet long. Stay 
out of it whenever you can by hiding behind obstacles. If an organic 
enemy gets a glimpse of you, it will pause for a few seconds to verify 
the threat then either open fire or run to sound the alarm. Nearby 
enemies will be automatically be alerted to your position too, whatever 
the detecting unit does.

The detection range for sounds is much shorter; I'd say it's about 20 
feet in all directions. Sounds that will get you detected include 
running, walking, jumping/landing, dropping items on the ground, and 
firing a non-silent weapon. Reloading or turning augmentations on/off 
will *not*. When an enemy hears a sound - any sound at all you made - 
it will turn to face the sound's direction and pause for a few seconds 
to find its source. If it sees you, it will open fire or sound the 
alarm. Paradoxically, sound is both more and less forgiving than sight: 
while you can distract enemies with well-placed sounds (such as 
throwing an object far away to divert their attention), enemies can 
hear you through walls, floors, and ceilings, making even the slightest 
movement dangerous. I suggest you spend a lot of time crouched, which 
does not produce any noise and makes you a smaller target.


*************************


8) SECURITY (pgh)

Besides enemies, you'll also have to tackle security systems on the 
lookout for you. Security systems are much harder to outsmart but 
easier to bypass. If you want to make security your forte, then I 
suggest you improve your Electronics and Computer skills. The Radar 
Transparency augmentation is also wonderful since it makes you 
invisible to cameras, although you should also consider Ballistic 
Protection (protects you from gun turrets) and Speed Enhancement (zip 
by cameras before they can sound the alarm).

All security systems start with the basics: a security console 
terminal, one or more cameras, one or more gun turrets, and alarm pads 
scattered around. The security console is like a regular computer: to 
use it you need to either find the correct username/password 
combination or hack it with your Computers skill. Once you're in, 
you'll have control over the console's dependent cameras, gun turrets, 
and doors. You might also get special security options that enable you 
to tamper with security bots or other features of the environment.

It's a *very* good idea to seek out security consoles in order to turn 
off cameras and turrets. Otherwise, you'll have to resort to avoiding 
the areas they cover, using augs or items to bypass them, or risk 
setting off the alarm.

After the security console, the most basic device is the camera. All 
cameras have two states: On (characterized by a green hue surrounding 
its lens and a tell-tale sound you'll soon recognize) and Off (no green 
hue, no sound). You can turn cameras off by finding their security 
console or bypassing them with Multitools.

A camera's field of view is slightly narrower than an organic unit: I'd 
say it's about 90 degrees. Some cameras are immobile, always covering 
the same area, but others pan left and right (or up and down). Immobile 
cameras can be bypassed simply by avoiding their field of view 
entirely; panning cameras can be bypassed by staying in their "blind 
spot", i.e. out of their field of view, as they pan back and forth. An 
easy way to bypass a panning camera watching a room from overhead is to 
run to the spot right underneath it. Then wait for it to pan away from 
your destination, and make a break for it!

When a security camera spots you, it will go into "confirmation" mode. 
Its eye will start tracking you (even if you go into one of its 
previous blind spots) and blink red and green. This lasts about 5 
seconds; the only way to stop "confirmation" is to run away from the 
camera's possible field of view, such as by hiding behind something, or 
to quickly bypass it with a Tool or console. "Confirmation" mode 
activates any gun turrets near the camera, so be careful about being 
spotted.

If the camera still sees you after 5 seconds of "confirmation" mode, it 
will sound the alarm. Needless to say, that's *bad*. All gun turrets on 
the level will activate and shoot you whether a camera sees you or not. 
Organic enemies will also investigate the threat so try to find a good 
hiding spot until the alarm passes. Alarms usually last about 30 
seconds or so, sometimes longer.

Alarms can also be triggered by organic enemies if they see you; 
instead of shooting you, they'll run for the nearest alarm pad. You can 
either shoot the offender before he gets there or, if you're feeling 
*real* sneaky, deactivate the alarm pad with Multitools beforehand.

Lastly, all of those electronic systems I've mentioned above - cameras, 
turrets, and alarm pads - can be blown up with explosives or messed 
with by using EMP grenades. Have fun finding out what works with what!


*************************


Well, that's it! Thanks for reading. If you have any questions not 
answered in this FAQ (***READ IT FIRST!***), then feel free to email me 
at korasoff@hushmail.com.

The original content of this FAQ is copyrighted to me, Korasoff. The 
name Deus Ex and the names of games, characters, etc... are copyrighted 
to Ion Storm. You can distribute this FAQ in its entirety and for free 
without my permission; all other distributions are prohibited.