I miss Exile.

Mnemonica at least allows the transfer of wip that ranges from 16/17 and it isn't one use or restricted to rems.

would be interesting if i could be move between living units by a command point expenditure or order (though i can see the later abused)

 

On the one side, I don’t wish for CA to have even more stuff, when their army is so retarded strong at the moment, on the other side I don’t see how Onyx is viable without the Nexus Operative having RemDriver.

 

There's always the sectorial-specific option, like the Gwailo - an OCF specific REMdriver Nexus. Maybe the idea is that, given that Onyx is operating far afield as a spearhead, the Nexus is there to supplement the relatively weaker connection to the EI.

The real question is... how much is a BS12 Unidron worth..?

 

Yeah I have really missed the CA infowar advantage in the games I've played, exile was a big one I used to love that program. Pitcher>exile>preferred method of extermination.

Maestro let you put down interventors and big scary hackers and sucker punch was much used as well, I found in N3 I could hack with the best of them but in N4 with the loss of the general upgrade programs I don't really want to try my luck against anything in the Nomad or Aleph rosters. Unfortunately i've not managed to have enough games of N4 to get much mileage out of hacking at all as yet.

 

I put down so many hackers in ARO with Sucker Punch. Those were the days.....

 

I get that exile cancelled the whole link and Exile was a Combined only thing whereas oblivion is available to all normal hackers, but it can still serve a similar tactical purpose against some of the more scary HI/remote links; drop a pitcher nearby and force the big scary out of the link. In all but the most focused of defensive links, you'll be able to force someone out of link and then target them to remove.

So many links now can have an HI in, or a remote as a mixed link. Sure, we've lost some utility, but still a viable tactic, if. a bit situational. If you're going first, you might luck out and find they've put the HI/Remote as leader...isolating them will break the link. I know it requires poor tactical choices by opponent rather than being entirely within our control, but there you go.

 

Yeah, CA is retarded strong right now. Between effective models, good combinations of skills, and being able to do pretty much anything well, combined with the 15 model limit really allowing CA to shine against factions that would have to rely on mass order spam to deal with it, I'd say CA is one of the 3 strongest armies in the game right now.

Vanilla CA at least. The sectorials all feel a little weaker by comparison.

But I do miss the EI specific programs, not just exile. But that's only because of how they interacted with sub-par stuff like the Morat Killer hackers.

 

Well, the Charontid and Anathematic hackers seem to be better than ever, at least. I dunno how new their updates are, but they weren't there when last I played a few months back.

The Anathematic now has Trinity with Burst 4 and WIP 16, making it an insanely lethal hacker killer. The Charontid gets +1 damage on all its programs, which sure is a pretty neat boost, too.

Edit: The Skiavoro also got a buff, with +1 Burst Oblivion. Pretty neat.

 

Not on the Anathematic, I feel. Because they're your lieutenants most of the time, and are critically vulnerable to being isolated. Therefore, you wanna make sure that you win those face to face rolls, and a great burst is a good way of that.

Sure, I'd rather have Maestro back, but this is a fine compensation.

 

The Anathematic, Charontid, and Kiss all have Oblivion they can use if the need the AP, with the Charontid getting +1 DAM as well.

The Skiavoros even gets +1B on Oblivion.

 

It's just another tool in the box, and you use the one that works best for you. Remember Neuromancer? Main hero was a cyberspace hacker right up till he crossed his employers and instead of killing him they've permanently disabled his ability to enter cyberspace. Which feels very much like hitting someone with a supercharged Oblivion instead of Trinity.

 

There was an argument to be made that too many hacking programs were similar, and that hacking as a whole was a little too complicated.

But the N4 solution practically threw the baby out with the bathwater.

 

I loved what they did to the Anathematic LT hacker in N4. He's a lot stronger than he was in N3, and cheaper to boot.

That being said, stuff like Exile and the other EI exclusive programs are missed on our middling hackers. Bit is cheap, but guys like the Shrouded and Zerat really feel a bit underwhelming in the hacking department nowadays.