So, just had a game where my TR remotes got pitchers dropped next to them, and them immobilised, my Fireteam big gun spotlighted and guided missiled, and my TAG possessed, twice. How are people coping with the new strength of hacking?
Dozers, Brawler Engineers, basic Kameel, Rafiq and Traktor Muls have Deactivator, if you don't want to shot the Deployable Repeater. You just need to pass a WIP roll to remove it. https://infinitythewiki.com/Deactivator?version=n4 Zuyongs (and their Fireteam as extension) have Tinbot: Firewall (-6) that is a good deterrent, even if a passive one. Dashat has a grand total of ZERO KHD, so you need to suit up and shot down the enemy hackers.
Set up defensive pitchers and deployable repeaters when going first, so advancing hackers will eat AROs on their way towards you. Their linked pitchers will invariably have to make a few move orders to get into position, so try to focus on their most likely route to make them waste orders. Use Zhencha BSG to cripple their advancing fireteams, even risking the infiltration roll whenever necessary. When going first, try to cripple their fire team with alpha strikes from Zhencha/Kum. Even if you make a bad trade points wise, you might still reduce/take away their ability to project their hacking zones, which is invaluable against those lists. Alternatively, try to alpha strike their Missile REM. Zuyong Core seems to be favourable against these kinds of lists due to the Tinbot [Firewall -6], which synergises nicely with Valerya. Spotlight is B1 in active turn, so it's rather inefficient when faced with a firewall. Bashi can also create some distraction by holomasking/holoechoing key units in your DZ when going second, so your opponent is more likely to choose the wrong target. Maggie is also worth a mention in this context, as she's inherently resistant to both hacking and guided missiles. Coupled with an EVO REM and Fairy Dust, she'll put [-6] on both.
@Knauf made all the great points I was intended to make so the only thing I'll add is that Hulang can be used for alpha striking as well since his CrazyKoalas can be surgically placed right next to the enemy hacker so that they can only affect him and no one else.
