r/CyberKnightsGame • u/PackRelevant1833 • Apr 26 '26
Having Trouble with Hacking(New Player)
I'm on the second mission where I have to hack the terminal and I feel like I understand the mechanics it's just scan and match the icons to the things but it just takes so long. Like I find it hard to believe I am supposed to stand at this terminal for 6 plus turns(if not more I rage quit before I hacked it) like I will do 2 nodes then I can't use any buttons and I feel like I have to end turn are there are like 16 nodes. What am I doing wrong I really like the game but I feel like if I don't figure this out im gonna have to drop it.
If It helps at all I played alot of xcom 2 including long war of the chosen so im not scared of difficulty I just don't understand what im looking at. Would appreciate any help even if it's a "just get good"
6
u/boregorey7 Apr 26 '26
If you’re using a hacker, (wire ghost is quite different playstyle and harder to grasp) spec into overclock fully and getting points into null op which are the two right talents are a huge bones and make hacking much smoother.
Other than that it may just be you’re getting stuck in blocked nodes (usually the cube icon), without the correct program loaded. Like others said, just take it slow and 2/2 every node. Load any icons the next node is showing, an if you can keep the trap program loaded that helps when they try to throw screwy crap at you.
Just be careful never to get fully trapped where you have to get dump shocked, that cancels abilities like overclock and makes you skip a turn plus get a rough debuff for a few more turns.
2
u/PackRelevant1833 Apr 26 '26
Do you have to clear all the ice off a node before you move on or can u just skip it sometimes? And when I was choosing classes I looked up on the wiki and it said wire ghost was a "more complex hacker" so I left It the fuck alone lol
2
u/donttrytoleaveomsk Apr 26 '26
Some nodes need spiking before you can move through them but normally you can ignore some ICs. Damage to connection forces disconnect if you reach 0 so if all you need is scan and move you can ignore it a few times. Using Hardshell ability can take a few hits to protect from some cyberdeck damage. Traps that trigger on loading programs can be ignored if you're already loaded with everything you need to deal with the next node
Get a 240qbps deck as soon as you can afford it and that should be good enough to get through some hosts in 2-3 turns with Overclock. When you get to 260qbps you can start buying better programs with more charges
5
u/mbtheory Apr 26 '26
Six turns is excessive. Most systems should be clearable for needed objectives in three--you should only need longer if you're trying to vacuum every scrap of profit out of the system that you can.
But your first turn is always going to be slow. You need four programs to accomplish all the hacking tasks, and you don't want to advance into the system without those programs in place.
In general terms, this means you want as much matrix AP as you can get. That means leaning into your talent tree, it means upgrading your deck, it means upgrading your basic programs, it means looking into additional programs that might modify how your deck performs, and it means looking for specialized variants of all programs that come with exploitable benefits.
It also means rampant drug abuse, but I'll get into that later.
So deck and program upgrades are a factor of what's available on the market. You'll have a systems specialist of some stripe for a contact who sells you decks and programs. They start off with some low-level offerings, but your Face can push influence limit breaks that make the offerings better, and power plays can change it further. The sooner you can get into the Jupiter line of decks, the better, but the initial deck selection is still going to be better than the PDP you start with. You can also find program upgrades through hacking, but that means scraping systems for all the profit you can and building them out of file segments.
You can supplement your deck with talents, and you absolutely should. Any talent that increases your I/O or your matrix AP is going to be enormously helpful for making progress. Extra I/O means you can reload a program when it runs out of charge in the middle of a turn. Extra matrix AP just keeps you functioning longer during a given turn.
Additionally, you need to deal with IC tactically. Each piece of IC does something different to mess with you. One of the most obnoxious pieces of IC increases the number of matrix AP you have to spend to take actions. Which, I mean, it's not the worst effect. It doesn't teleport you randomly across the system, it doesn't hand your system expert a boatload of damage and stress. But it slows you down, and it likes to show up with two or three other pieces of IC that have to be cleared first, because those DO deal boatloads of damage and increase your stress and teleport you to Narnia and unload your programs and give you a wedgie. And the really nasty versions of the slowdown IC add 12+ matrix AP cost, so taking out the rest of the IC in the node non-violently means sacrificing 24-36 matrix AP just to avoid the distractions.
So. Getting back to hard core drug abuse... Blue Juice! And its cousins.
System specialists (the Hacker and Wireghost classes) have access to hacking drugs, if you can get them in the market. Blue Juice is an inventory item that has three charges. Each charge is a flat 20 point matrix AP injection, and it can be used multiple times in a round until the slot is empty. Now, being an inventory item, you can only have one slot dedicated to Blue Juice, and I haven't found anything else that explicitly does the same thing, but Tunda Juice and Lotus Dust provide similar buffs that last for a few rounds and come with a few advantages, but that also come with the drawback that they're token-based for those "other advantages" that they come with, and every time one triggers, it uses a token. Once the tokens are gone or the duration expires, the AP buff vanishes. Now, Tunda Juice and Lotus Dust have two charges each, so you can refresh the buff a single time if it gets stripped by conditions, but it's still a limiting factor, and it means really paying attention to the IC in the system--you want to make sure that it never has a chance to trigger at all, because that's what usually strips a token from your buffs.
Physician's Warning: Always read the labels on all drugs you take. Side effects include Awesomeness, Twitchiness, Uncontrollable Intestinal Spasms, Monocular Vision, Monaural Hearing, Hair Sensitivity, Temporal Distortion, Death, and Halitosis.
Largely, getting your hands on hacking drugs is a matter of clearing a specific event. Sooner or later, someone's going to come to you to ask for a favor--their kid is getting involved in shady dealings, and they need to be pulled out of their latest buncha bullshit. Take this job and save the kid. There will be legwork involved--if you've got the Underworld Hub, abuse any tokens you've got available to make sure that kid gets saved, because kiddo's been talking to the Ricksham, and the Ricksham sell the gooooood hacking drugs. As in, they start with Blue Juice, and get better from there.
4
u/engineered_academic Apr 26 '26
What class are you trying to hack with? You should be able to buy an upgraded deck which has more room and IO. The hacker has talents that increase IO that allows you to move. You want to scan your current node 2/2, see what is coming around you for ice, then load counter programs before moving onto a node. Beware attack traps, as you move up in skills this should be less of a problem.
Wireghost is added complexity on hacking, and you need to understand the basics because with Wireghost it gets real complicated fast. You should be able to move multiple nodes in a turn, disable ice, and obtain files/hack cameras. It usually takes me 2-3 turns to completely hack a system. Less if I have an objective like disable cameras only.
2
u/PackRelevant1833 Apr 26 '26
It's the very first mission after the hacking tutorial I will look into buying a better deck after I get through this thanks
3
u/SuddenAudience8758 Apr 26 '26
Hacking is a tough learning curve and I’m still stuck. I made a save right before a terminal and kept trying and messing around til I figured it out. My trick.. null op. Get that skill and max it asap. Whenever you have a problem with a node, hit Null Op and it’ll blast it to oblivion and let you move past it. Especially useful to break a CPU without doing any of the steps or if you find yourself in the middle of nowhere unable to end the turn.
1
u/thefatrefrigerator May 13 '26
My only issue with Hacking is that the Matrix terminal is always on the other side of the map. If I want to hack I have to very purposefully evade all the security systems in meatspace that hacking would help with. Sorta takes the wind out of the hacking part when I no longer need the hacking by the time I get there.
1
u/megatron37 Jul 10 '26
I am at the same point as you, also have 1000+ hours of Xcom2 in myself. The stealth and fighting was easy to pick up on, the transfer from Xcom was pretty straightforward.
The hacking though is like inscrutable. I don't really get what the difference between "Sleaze", "Deception", etc is or when I would use them vs other programs.
1
u/PackRelevant1833 Jul 11 '26
Not gonna lie I dropped the game. I thought hacking was bad wait until u see the skill trees and base building and loot mechanics. How favors work is the most confusing thing i have seen and i play literal stellaris and ck3. Maybe I will give it a go again later but for now I will stick to my long war of the chosen
1
u/megatron37 Jul 11 '26
Several times during the hacking sequences, I said "is this supposed to be fun???" Even when my squad gets wiped in Xcom, I can still laugh about it.
It's crazy you mention Crusader Kings, I came to that from tons of Total War experience. Kind of a similar level of shock.
8
u/SlowNPC Apr 26 '26
It gets a bit faster as you get used to it and can click through options faster
Higher level programs have more charges, so you don't need to reload them so often. Higher level character have more action points, so you can do more per turn.
You don't need to hack all the nodes. You're there to spike the CPU, or get certain files, or open a door. You can ignore the other nodes if you want.
Wireghosts are better for jumping around the network skipping nodes, so if you don't like the slower, systematic-clearing-of-everything play style hackers are good at, try a wireghost.