I just finished Deus Ex.

[WarLocke]

I really don't know what to say. I dont think I can communicate the way I'm feeling right now in words. The closest I could come would probably be a gif of a smiley's jaw dropping ten feet or so. Or maybe this:

:ph34r: :ph34r: B) :ph34r: :o :o :angry: :angry: :huh: :o :huh: :blink: :blink: :blink: :ph34r: :o :D

The game was great, it hooked me right from the beginning, then about half to two-thirds of the way through, things start picking up and the pressure mounts. Then you get to the last two areas, and you're sitting on the edge of your seat as the epic-ness of what's happening finished sinking in... Then you get to the Big Decision, and it's like this giant conspiracy rose unfolding before you, bathing you in the sublime light shed by its petals.

Yeah, it's that darn good. I really wish I could go into specifics without spoilerizing the end for everyone who hasn't played it. I'll just sum up by saying I chose Option C, and the conversation at the end was spine-chilling in relation to one earlier in the game. Deus ex, indeed. :blink:

Now for the old-school stat/item rundown:

Skills:
Rifle - Master
Low-Tech - Advanced (Could have gotten along without it, rifle ammo wasn't as scarce as I anticipated)
Lockpicking - Advanced (Trained probably enough with frugal use - Untrained still too low)
Electronics - Advanced (see Lockpicking)
Computer - Master
Swimming - Trained (Untrained probably enough if you have Aqualung, but I explore everywhere)
Unspent Points - 1,210

Augmentations:
Spy Drone - 4 (Probably could have done without, but explosives would be stretched thin)
Vision Enhancement - 2 (Infrared vision surprisingly useful, sonar imaging not especially)
Microfibral Muscle 3
Cloak 2 (Should have chosen Radar Transparency - didn't use this much)
Ballistic Protection 2 (Must have on Realistic, IMO)
Regeneration 4 (Almost overpowered; I stopped carrying medkits once I had this)
Aqualung 2 (Level 1 probably enough if you have Swimming at Trained, but I'm an explorer)
Power Recirculator 4 (About 50% bioenergy saved at level 4; great aug!)
Speed Enhancement 4
Total Augmentation Upgrade Canisters found - 18

Inventory at Endgame:
Dragon's Tooth Sword
Sniper Rifle (11-round clip, 100% accuracy, .20 recoil, 1sec reload, 2700ft effective range, laser sight, silencer)
Assault Rifle (42-round clip, 100% accuracy, .25 recoil, .9sec reload, 450ft effective range, laser sight, silencer)
Stealth Pistol (81% accuracy, laser sight, scope)
Light Anti-tank Weapon
30x Biocell
15x Multitool
13x Lockpick
6x Light Armored Munitions
6x Gas Grenade
4x EMP Grenade
1x Scramble Grenade

Oh man. Deus Ex is like the Planescape: Torment of FPSes, as far as I'm concerned...

[DralaFi]

I felt the same way after I finished the game.

If you still can, load your game and pick the other two endings. They are quite interesting.

I don't remember what option C is. I don't think the endings were ever catogarized that way. I just remember what the three are.

I think I chose option A, the world in darkness one.

Did you find the explosive ammo for the assult rifle? I love that gun when you have that ammo. A single bullet shot is like throwing a LAM.

[Firestarter]

Congratulations on finishing.

I just finished my fourth run-through this afternoon. Master rifles, master computers, advanced lockpicking, advanced electronics, about three thousand points remaining.

From memory: sniper rifle with all mods, 11 clip, about 20 rounds remaining at end. Sawed-off shotgun, modded only slightly with about 75 buckshot and 85 sabot rounds left, pistol unmodded, crossbow slightly modded mostly for fiddling with tranq darts in prep for next run through, and of course a GEP gun with a scope on it :P . 2 LAMS, 9 EMP grenades, 5 or 6 gas grenades left. 15 each of multitools and lockpicks left due to high skill levels, 25 or so biocells due to fooling around with the cloak towards the end against the creatures on the lower level (since I chose an ending that required me to run around down there a bit), 15 medkits, etc.

4 Healing, 4 Cloak, 4 Power Recirc, 2 Run Silent, 3 Targeting, plus a couple others that didn't matter, I think 16-18 total.


>>> "Ballistic Protection 2 (Must have on Realistic, IMO)"

Not really true, my last two run throughs were Realistic without using this aug, although I did choose to install it in case I got into some trouble somewhere.

Next run through I want to try with pistol class weapons mainly. I suspect the reason I don't use augs frequently is the fact that close combat is minimized almost completely with sniple rifle + GEP gun. I may still take the GEP gun for armor but give away my starting pistol to use the Stealth Pistol and see how I do.

I also suspect the inventory will be easier to manage since I won't be carrying GEP + sniper + shotgun around.


>>> "Oh man. Deus Ex is like the Planescape: Torment of FPSes, as far as I'm concerned..."

Agreed. Now, play it again. B)

[WarLocke]

I don't remember what option C is. I don't think the endings were ever catogarized that way. I just remember what the three are.

I think I chose option A, the world in darkness one.

I just mentally categorized them in the order that they were presented to me. Option C is the "V'Ger" one (still trying not to spoil, argh).

And yeah, your choice would have been my second.

If you choose the ending I did, it makes much more sense if you've talked to Morpheus earlier in the game (just after Paris).

Did you find the explosive ammo for the assult rifle? I love that gun when you have that ammo. A single bullet shot is like throwing a LAM.

Heck yeah, the 20mm HE is great. I didn't find many rounds though (maybe 40 throughout the entire game?), although I don't know whether that's normal or because I was playing on Realistic (I noticed that you don't get "free" ammo from guards in Realistic).

25 or so biocells due to fooling around with the cloak towards the end against the creatures on the lower level (since I chose an ending that required me to run around down there a bit)

I didn't find that part too tough. I just let "R2" out to keep the things busy, then ran past and closed the blast doors in front of the three machines. Much easier than trying to kill stuff. B)

>>> "Ballistic Protection 2 (Must have on Realistic, IMO)"

Not really true, my last two run throughs were Realistic without using this aug, although I did choose to install it in case I got into some trouble somewhere.

Yeah, not strictly necessary, but when a single headshot can kill, it's sure useful. Commandos especially seem to have a nasty tendency of pegging you in the temple.

Next run through I want to try with pistol class weapons mainly. I suspect the reason I don't use augs frequently is the fact that close combat is minimized almost completely with sniple rifle + GEP gun. I may still take the GEP gun for armor but give away my starting pistol to use the Stealth Pistol and see how I do.

Yeah, I found myself sniping alot (infact, I think once I actually maxed out my 7.62 ammo at 300 rounds, I only dropped below 260 or so maybe three times, since everybody and their grandmother carries assault rifles) and as a result I rarely took hits. Of course, get hit on Realistic and you really notice it. I've had enemy snipers take out a limb in one shot several times.

I never really understood the attraction of the GEP gun. You can only carry 20 rockets (and about the same amount of white phosphorous? I never checked) and it's huge, bulky, and slows you down. Or you can carry up to 10 LAMs and an assault rifle with 20+ LAM equivalents for a bit less space. And you don't even need all that much explosives for droids if you have the Spy Drone augmentation (yeah, it's expensive without a Power Recirculator, but I was almost always topped out on biocells).

I think next time I play through I'll play a heavy weapon/demolitions specialist, almost diametrically opposed to my modus operandi the first time. But not yet. It's too early to start over, I think...

[Bolty]

Glad you loved it, WarBlade - now you see what all the fuss was about! :)

My first time through, I chose the Helios ending - I do believe that a machine can run things better than humans ever could, in a way, if it were advanced enough.

-Bolty

[Firestarter]

I guess the attraction to the GEP gun is the fact that it is guided and long range, whereas a LAM is not. I typically used the LAMs in situations where I wanted to destroy multiple non-human objects in close proximity to save other resources, whether it be a row of locked lockers or some other machinery, without fear of soldiers hearing it. Typically I would use the GEP gun on mobile machinery, bots that would get specifically in my way either now or possibly later. Yes, I guess it is unnecessary to eliminate most of them, but on Realistic I felt that I didn't want to take the chance against them in most situations.

Perhaps I need to ditch the GEP and try my hand at some other weaponry, I never did use the Assualt Rifle for any prolonged period of time, but there does seem to be an abundance of this ammo to loot, so I may try. This is precisely the reason I wanted to try the pistol class weapons, there is a ton of ammo to find there too, almost like the game is telling me to try it.

I guess I'll need a few more runs through the game. I'm not complaining. :D

Cheers.

[pakman]

Here is where I am in the game.

Over the past couple days, I have played off and on because of other things, like Real Life ™. I finished the Liberty Island mission but not completely <_< I decided to go upstairs first instead of downstairs to rescue the guy. After that I took the boat to the next mission. with my sniper rifle, stealth pistol, pistol, prod charger, and crowbar for weapons.

This is the mission where you have to save the hostages in the subway. Well, first time through, I didn't know what I was doing and climbed down the vents into the subway and accidently shot a TNT box :angry: and blew up all the hostages along with the NSF agents. Exit, Load Game, Patrick. I try it again and pick my way into the pop machine at the beginning. I find the back way in is much harder than going in the normal way, oh well. I mess up some terrorists' faces and steal a flame thrower. I find an augmentation canister for toxin resistance. I burn the next one, and drop the flamethrower because I'm out of napalm. I cleared the place out and got the vaccine. Then I went back to the subway and cleared it out recieving the sweet, sweet pump shotty and saving the hostages.

I take the subway to hell's kitchen to meet up with Paul. I get there and scare away all the people because I forgot to put my weapon away. I talk to Paul. My mission is to take out the warehouse. I first go to the bar and talk to the pilot, the hotel manager's daughter, and someone else. I then go out and bully JoJo's friend. After that I go to the hotel and prmptly clear them out. I take the elevator shaft to the top and go to Paul's room. I explore, check his email, and gain some lockpicks and multitools and ammo. Then I go and clear the terrorist out of the other open room. Secondary Objective: Complete. I thne check out the clinic and talk to the people in there learning about the warehouse code, and security systems. I take a free heal from the medbot.

After the clinic I go back to the Underworld Bar and learn about Smuggler and his password. I decide to check him out. I easily pass the booby trap and adventure further to talk to Smuggler. He decides to tell me about his friend Ford who was captured, and put into a lab in the sewers. I tell Smuggler I'll help him out. I go to the sewer and open it up, and venture down. I find some lockpicks and multitools to open the sewers. I hack the security console and turn the camera off, and I encounter my first MIJ2 agents. I clear out that big area with the pit of toxic waste. I go into the next area and drop an EMP grenade to make the camera flip out. I get to the area where Ford was being held (I did not know it at the time) but didn't have any multi tools with me to bypass the door. I make some noise to get the guard to open the door, and he was met with a half clip of 7.62 rounds, then his friend gets the other half. I clean that area out and rescue Ford. After this I go and tell Smuggler and buy a scope for my pistol for cheap.

Next I decide to actually start the mission. I find the entrance to the warehosue district. By now I have modded my rifle with two accuracy mods, a bigger clip mod, and have upgraded my rifle skill to advanced, ph34r my l33t rifle skillz :ph34r:. My sister has now decided to start watching me play. She had already done this part and warned me about snipers. I said, "cool, they will fear me." :ph34r: I take out all of the NSF outside alongwith the attack dogs. I make my way down to the warehouse and decide to enter from the top. I make the mistake of sniping one guy. Then I get almost every terrorist in the place to come up to the roof. I drop a gas grenade on the ramp, and eventually kill everyone that decides to cross my path. I clear the place out and destroy the EMP field generator.

I decided to listen to the government agent talk to the prisoners, he didn't like that too much, then I saw him shoot them....hmmm....The arms general doesn't like my style of going in shooting, so he gave me multitools, a weapon mod, and some 7.62 ammo <_<

Next mission, I'm told to find where the NSF is hiding. I make the water run again for the Mole people and I learn the code for the mole people hidout. I also get a free LAM form a junkie for a bottle of zhyme. I go talk to the drug dealer and get some information. Then I go talk to the Rook leader who tells me to take out the drug dealer. I do that and get another free LAM. That is where I stopped for the night.

More later.

[Medicine Man]

I just recently installed this game on my PC and am trying to decide how to set up my first character. My idea is to build a character who is not totally a "stealthy, pacifistic type" nor totally a "hardcore, kill 'em all and let God sort em out type" -- economy of force all the way. I can't quite figure out what skills and weapons to focus on however... handgun and assault rifle perhaps? Does anyone have any suggestions?

[pakman]

Personally I'm both stealthy and "Kill first ask questions later" at the same time. If my crosshairs go red, 9 times out of 10 I will add another notch to my belt.

I would recommend pistol to start (even though I didn't) because you will end up using it when you run out of ammo for everything else. I think your choice of pistol and rifles is a good start. You can pick people off from a distance, yet kill them in close range when it counts. electronics is useful, and so is computers. If you want to be an "assassin" go for simple weapons and crow or stab people to death. It all really depends on how you want to play this character. Pick the skills that you think will best suit you. You could be a swimming demolitionist, or launch rockets from the safety of darkness.

[WarLocke]

My idea is to build a character who is not totally a "stealthy, pacifistic type" nor totally a "hardcore, kill 'em all and let God sort em out type" -- economy of force all the way.

I played through the game this way as well. The thing you have to realize with Deus Ex, is that all weapons are deadly, whether you're trained in their use or not. You can kill with an assault rifle at Untrained just as well as you can at Master -- but at Untrained you won't be able to pull off running snap shots.

Pistols is a nice, useful skill. The weapons covered by this skill (Pistol, Stealth Pistol, Minicrossbow) will be useful throughout the entire game against everything but heavily armored targets (stuff like robots). It also allows you to effectively use trnaquilizer darts, the only way to knock someone unconscious from range (if that's a factor to you), as well as the only ranged weapon that will fire underwater.

Rifles is another good skill. All the rifle-class weapons take up 3 to 4 times the space of pistols, but they make up for it in versatility and firepower. The sniper rifle does a ton of damage, and is even effective at close range. It can also destroy cameras and turrets at Master skill level. The assault rifle has a high rate of fire (useful early on or when you're facing many enemies) and can fire explosive rounds (although they're rare until the latter half of the game). Shotguns are devastatingly effective (I'd say more dangerous than an assault rifle at under 20 feet), buckshot ammo is relatively common, and they can use SABOT rounds (armor-piercing, work great and can destroy cameras/turrets even without being Master-level).

Low-Tech is IMO, an underrated skill. Not only are they useful if you need to conserve ammo, you can sometimes destroy doors or other obstacles with them (seems to be a combination of weapon damage, skill level, and/or Combat Strength level). I haven't tried Demolitions, but it seems a little unnecessary since explosives seem to do the job just fine at Untrained. The added time to disarm explosives might be useful, though.

Computer is a skill that will save you alot of time and/or frustration if you use it. It allows you to dig up storyline info, as well as a ton of other things. For example, you might be able to bypass a camera with your Electronics skill with a multitool or two, but if you find the security terminal running it and hack it, you can just turn it off. There are also numerous security terminals that have special options, like reprogramming robots to attack your enemies. B)

Electronics is a vital skill if you want to explore everywhere (at least have it Trained), but the value lessens a bit if you also use Computer. There are enough uses for this skill that Computer can't make up for that it's still needed though, IMO.

Lockpicking is basically Electronics without the Computer caveat. Everyone should have it at least Trained.

Swimming can probably be done without, as I don't remember any plot-necessary sections that couldn't be done without it. That said though, there are alot of neat little nooks and crannies hidden in underwater areas, so training this or getting the Aqualung augmentation might be useful. You can use Rebreathers to get around either, but they aren't exactly common.

Medicine is virtually useless if you choose the Regeneration augmentation, since it's much more efficient. Otherwise, train it. :P

Environmental Protection seems useless at first, but later in the game there are alot of heated firefights and heavily-irradiated areas, so having Ballistic Armor or Hazmat Suits last longer is probably a good thing. This skill also increases the duration of Thermoptic Camo - I didn't find it of much use, but if you like it this may be a good investment.

For the record, the only skills I trained in my playthrough were Computers and Rifles (Master at end of game), Low-Tech, Electronics, Lockpicking (Advanced) and Swimming (Trained). I usually had no trouble whatsoever in sneaking around, and I could almost always handle things if I was discovered.

[Swiss Mercenary]

I tend to dislike pistols, for a few reasons:

If you choose to use 9mm, you could be using a shotgun.

If you choose the stealth pistol, you could be using a silenced assault/sniper rifle.

If you choose tranquiliser, you will rarely need it. Why dump points into it, then.

Low-tech is ok. I've played through with a sword-swinging maniac - and hey it got the job done.

I never found Demolition useful.

Computers - Trained is usually enough to turn of security/turrets, or get the general gist of an E-mail.

I prefer simply using rebreathers - there are only 2 areas of the game (The first is a short swim), where you can find nice goodies.

I always get Environmental Protection - my inventory is always full, so I don't bother carrying Hazmats.

[WarLocke]

Re: Pistols vs. Rifles

You're right, rifles outperform pistols in just about every way. The only reasons I can think of for choosing pistols (other than a style choice, or for a "variant" type playthrough) would be the space savings (pistol + xbow = 2 spaces, sniper + assault = 8 spaces), and the early abundance of ammunition. Heck, you can't even get an assault rifle/shotgun until Hell's Kitchen, and you probably wouldn't have enough 30.06, 7.62, or buckshot ammo to use them full-time until you get to the NSF airfeild anyway.

Computers - Trained is usually enough to turn of security/turrets, or get the general gist of an E-mail.

True, but at Trained you only get 20 seconds or so to mess around with the computer before the security system kicks you out (and drains your bio energy). At Master you get at least 60 seconds, and maybe closer to 90. It makes reading those long emails that don't get put into your Notes screen much easier.

[Nystul]

Congrats Locke!

I've been playing this game quite a bit, not making great progress but restarting many times and messing around with various things. One time I went through the Liberty Island map with my prod and my mini-crossbow and rendered every enemy unconscious (on easy difficulty). Kind of fun, but I wasn't able to maintain that strategy very well on the next map.

One funny situation happened when I got blocked into a room by two UNATCO dudes in the shanty town. I couldn't get them to move! They just stood there saying crap like "We'll take it from here!". Obviously I didn't want to attack them. Fortunately I was still carrying the stupid pepper spray gun. I sprayed some pepper on the ground in front of them and turned away. That got 'em to move a little :) I think that is the only time to date that I have used the pepper spray.

[pakman]

Maybe I just suck at shooting, but I cannot seem to find any 30.06 ammo at all. Yesterday, I played for about an hour before I went to class. I made it into La Guardia airport and saw the chopper. I found the first can of Ambrosia. Then the camera saw me. Every terrorist in the place came running, it was a long, hard fight. Me and my trusty assault rifle and pump shotty. Then I tried to find my way into where the chopper was. Stupid sniper kept pegging me. I tried to go a different wasy, and he kept pegging me. I decided to go up this little ladder and take out the sniper. So I crouch and climb up the ladder being quiet with my assault rifle out for good measure. I take careful aim at his head and let it rip. I empty half a clip and he whips out his rifle and blasts me in the face :angry:. That is where I stopped for the night.

[Ackpth]

I seem to prefer having a trusty pistol by my side, in addition to my assault rifle/sniper setup. Stealth Pistols are the king of medium range headshots, especially with a scope. A single stealth pistol headshot will kill any NSF trooper, and 2 shots in rapid succession (about the time it takes a sniper rifle to shoot and stop recoiling) will kill any MJ12 soldier, and the SP is a lot faster to acquire a second target. Heck, I've even taken out an MIB with ~7 rapid headshots. Unless I'm facing a huge mass of enemies, when it might just be better to toss a LAM, I found the S. pistol a tad more effective than my assault rifle.

It doesn't hurt that pistol ammo is lying around everywhere in the world of Deus Ex as well :D

[SwissMercenary]

Re: Pistols vs. Rifles

You're right, rifles outperform pistols in just about every way.&nbsp; The only reasons I can think of for choosing pistols (other than a style choice, or for a "variant" type playthrough) would be the space savings (pistol + xbow = 2 spaces, sniper + assault = 8 spaces), and the early abundance of ammunition.&nbsp; Heck, you can't even get an assault rifle/shotgun until Hell's Kitchen, and you probably wouldn't have enough 30.06, 7.62, or buckshot ammo to use them full-time until you get to the NSF airfeild anyway.

You can find an assault rifle off the UNATCO troop that walks up the stairs in the statue, when you get the terrorist leader to surrender. Just prod him in the back, and get a lovely comment from Manderley. Slap on some of the mods, and you are good to go.

You can get a sniper rifle off an NSF patrolling near the statue.

You can get a sawed-off shotgun in the sunken boat, before you even enter the statue. It's kinda like a guaranteed 1-headshot kill pistol, with a smaller clip.

The assault shotgun is a little bit more difficult - you have to tranquilise one of the MIBs that raid the apartment, or just wait untill the armoury. In any case, getting it before that is a waste. The assault shotgun is horrible untill you are Master Rifles.

[Nystul]

Swiss, put a warning before spoilers please. Most of these things I have already found, but some stuff might come up that some of us may not want to know.

[pakman]

Don't read down if you have don't want to know what happens.
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Yesterday I tried the LaGuardia mission again. This time I did much better. I saved my medpacks for the next section of the mission this time :). I finally got to the elevator to go up to the hangar area. My sister warned me about the attack bots that patrol the area. The first time I come out of the elevator, I go to the left, certainly not the direction I wanted to. I promptly got beaten down by a bot. Reload. This time I'm more careful, and I go to the right and avoid both bots in that area. This is the maze of crates area, by this time I have noticed that there are explosive barrels around :D. I use my pistol to exterminate a bot, and everyone comes running...again...I have that problem.so I throw down an EMP grenade and take out my assault rifle and lay the smacketh down upon their rooty poo candy asses. Then I throw out a LAM to destroy the disabled bot, boom. I eventually dispose of all the bots and NSF in the area and find the second barrel of Ambrosia stuff. I open the gate and go into the building that leads into the hangar, I find the secret armory room and pilfer everything except the LAW.

Then I get the shock of my day. Paul works for the NSF?! I go into the airplane and find the thrid Ambrosia barrel thing and an augmentation canister. Then I get to Lebedev. Anna Navarre decides to show up for the party too. I start to interrogate Lebedev and Anna keeps interrupting me. I never found out why Paul joined the NSF or about my parents (in-game :P). So after Anna executes Lebedev, I promptly emty two and a half 7.62 clips into Anna and kill her. I can only wait to see what happens next.

[WarLocke]

Then I get the shock of my day. Paul works for the NSF?!

Heh, it gets better. Much, much better. B)

Regarding those bots at LaGuardia, if you're fast you can run into the little towers that have the cameras and turrets mounted on them (one of the guards near the shack the Ambrosia is in has a nanokey for the doors), hack the security computer up top, and set the turrets to attack Enemies or Everything. Then just wait for the bot to make its patrol and the turrets will take it out.

Also, with Anna, if you want to "cheat", you can place a LAM at about head-height on the wall of the corridor leading to Lebedev; if it's placed right she'll die from the explosion, so you can hear everything Lebedev has to say.

[pakman]

Well I save after that, and I think my other save game is inside the airport, and I don't feel like doing that again :) I can't wait, but maybe for kicks I will. I'll see on Friday after my calc final :) If I do what you suggested and make the turrets take out the bots, I'll have to drop an EMP and run up, hmmmm....the possibilities, I do have one scrambler grenade too....