Looks like they didn’t fix defensive/white hacking devices in this edition. Zero pain will never be used as no one will ever choose to hack the zero pain users. Some of them can’t even be targeted by anything other than spotlight due to not even being hackers. I suggest they be allowed to aro when the target of a hacking attack is in their hacking area. Give the poor tohaa a break, you stole all their nullifiers.
I think the only unit I saw Zero Pain on was the Wardriver, but it also got the Hacker skill. So basically they gave it a vulnerability, and a single defense against it - but one that wouldn't be even needed, if it wasn't a hacker in the first place. I strongly agree with this.
okay - but the wardriver is still a hacker for relevant cards and mission objectives. for what it's worth the wardriver pays maybe a point for the hacker/zero pain? not exactly a bad deal
Regarding the actual Program, rather than units that used to have White/Defensive Hacking Devices, Zero Pain is also an upgrade program on Zoe.
They can. Zoe can certainly declare Zero Pain when Pi-well is in a enemy Hacker's Hacking Area. Quite often it's even the right choice. Zero Pain on Zoe is entirely useful at keeping her alive / a pain for enemy Hackers to deal with (particularly when covered by other KHDs). The same is true for Wardrivers and similar: it allows you to take a Hacker for objective duty without needing to worry overly about their increased vulnerability as they have a strong and cheap mitigation measure.
It's the same argument over and again. Everytime the whole "defensive hacking device" argument came up, people forgot to look at what faction they were found it, and it's the same for the zero pain upgrade in N4: you'll mostly found it on hackers in faction who have a very poor hacking game, like ariadna (wardriver) or tohaa/spiral corps (Tagmaa). Only exception I've seen so far is Zoe. Since N3 hacking has been a number game. The best way to keep your hacker safe is to have 3 or 4 of them ready to attack the second an ennemy hacker walks in a repeater, and therefore have repeaters all over the place so that your hackers can protect each other. Obviously factions who have access to little to no repeaters and hackers can't do that, so giving them zero pain help those faction play the hacking game/use hackers for objectives. I don't understand why the wardrivers needs 2 separate profile though. Why not just give zero pain upgrade to the hacking device and be done with it?
As you’ve said, it’s only found where the factions hacking game is week. I play tohaa/spiral corps, and with the loss of nullifiers in N4, our 2 hackable HI have become significantly more vulnerable. I was hoping zero pain would have filled in that gap, rather than “we grant you the rank of hacker, but not a seat in the hacking meta game”.
From your initial post, I thought you were saying that Zero Pain was like the N3 defensive programs where they could not be declared in most cases due to poorly worded timing constraints. This is definitely not the case in N4.
Good, that means it's doing what it's meant to do, being a deterrant for enemy hackers. You have other tools for dealing with enemy hackers, primarily impersonators and Pheroware/symbio-bombs.
It’s not really a deterrent like the old reflector program was though. It’s a mediocre chance to cancel a hack. As far as modern missions go, you’re better off grabbing any other specialist, as this one just has a chance to pull a few extra aros. The defensive hackers were added in the first paradiso, where some missions could only be done by hackers. Infinity has changed and deleting the defensive/white hackers would have gone basically unnoticed as far as competitive games go.
you said yourself; If no-one is hacking them because of the presence of ZP then it is deterring them from hacking that piece, at least on real hackers anyway.
No one choses to fo and drop guided missiles on fusiliers either, I wouldn’t say they deter it, it’s just not the target guided missiles are suited to.
If you move a ZP hacker in my hacking area, I'll still throw a hacking ARO your way and force you to spend your second skill on Zero Pain.
That depends on the mission. If ITS12 has the same ‘get a +3 MOD and make two Rolls’ bonus for having the right kind of Specialist, having a Hacker is going to be useful.