The reading of the rules is fairly clear, what isn't clear is where or what on the profile indicates this characteristic. I thought that the lack of a cube would be the indicator, but the seed-soldiers now show cubes but have the characteristic per ARMY 7. Meanwhile, the Krakot Renegades, for example, have no cube, but lack the non-hackable characteristic: ...or is all of this simply moot because most Hacks have specific targets, Li aren't one of them, and the only one that affects models directly - Spotlight - specifically states the model doesn't need to be hackable to be affected? M.
Whether or not something is hackable is indicated this brown-yellow USB icon looking thing below the order characteristic icon. If something doesn't have this icon, it's unhackable.
Worth noting that the troopers without the symbol are not "unhackable", they just don't have the "Hackable" characteristic. So they can still be hacked, they're just not valid targets for Carbonite or Oblivion which explicitely need the "Hackable" characteristic.
For historical context - in previous editions of the game, most hacking programs were able to target HI, REM, and TAG troops, unless they were non-hackable. N4 has flipped that around and instead marks troops which can be affected by these programs. This gives them a bit more flexibility to mix up unit types, such as the Dawon which you included a shot of; they’re robotic troops, which is why they are hackable, but they’re classed as LI instead of REM. Compare them to Dakini or Unidron Batroids (Combined Army).
Couple of confusing issues: 1: Unidron Batroids are TAGs, so already fall under the targeting requirements of hacking. 2: Dakini Tacbots are Remotes - which, again, already qualifies them. 3: Going through the factions using ARMY 7, sorting for the "Hackable" characteristic leads you to units that either already fit the targeting criteria (TAG, HI, REM) or LI profiles which have peripheral units attached - who would qualify as hackable as they are REM or HI. It seems to me, and please correct me if I'm wrong, that the "hackable" characteristic isn't something that a profile would indicate, it simply highlights units who have components which are hackable, even if the unit itself is not. An example of this is the ALEPH Arjuna Troops who are MI and therefore not an acceptable target profile, but have Kiranbots (REM's) along who are. Or, in PAN-O, the Order Sergeants (Not hackable) who have an attached Auxbot (Hackable). So, again, it seems to me that the "Hackable" vs "Non-Hackable" aren't profile marked characteristics, but rather are characteristics dependant upon other profile elements (such as a cube). EXCEPT...the Shasvasti Cadmus and Seed Soldiers. Seed Soldiers, being LI, wouldn't fit any of the hacking criteria anyway, but the Cadmus has a Hacker profile. Does the Non Hackable characteristic only apply in Seed-Embryo state, or does it carry to the Developed state despite being a Hacker? M.
Carbonite and Oblivion specifically need the "TAG, HI, REM, Hacker" classification/load out in order to decide valid targets. I haven't yet found an LI or MI profile which is "hackable" that isn't a Hacker... M.
Carbonite and Oblivion explicitely need the Hackable Characteristic... "The target must be an enemy with the Hackable Characteristic (HI, TAG, REM...) or an enemy Hacker." https://infinitythewiki.com/Oblivion "The target may only be an enemy Trooper with the Hackable Characteristic (HI, TAG, REM... or an enemy Hacker)." https://infinitythewiki.com/Carbonite Like tacos and toadchild mentioned earlier, the new Dawon Tacbots are LI and have the Hackable characteristic, so they're valid targets for Oblivion and Carbonite. Though being TAG, HI, REM or Hacker usually have the Hackable characteristic by default (which is why they list them in the Oblivion and Carbonite pages) outside of the few (only?) Ariadna exceptions.
So, essentially, HI, TAG, REM and Hacker is synonymous with "hackable". The symbol is confirmation. Still unsure about the Cadmus Hacker - is that profile unhackable or just the Seed-Embryo? Perusing the vanilla lists I didn't find any tags outside of Ariadna that were unhackable... As for the Dawon - how did that get classed as LI vs REM seeing it has the STR attribute and is literally a "Tacbot"???? Was it intentional mislabeling that necessitated the "Hackable" characteristic being added? M.
Minor point of clarification; unidrons are REMs, overdrons are TAGs. We don’t know for sure if Dawon being hackable LI is a data error, but it works fine in the N4 rules.
Quite right... How about the Cadmus Seed-Soldier? It is listed as Non-Hackable if you sort traits, but it has a hacker option...is the Non-Hackable trait only applied to the Seed version or is this the games best Hacker? M.
Per the FAQ only the developed shape has the equipment listed on the profile. This means the Embryo is unhackable, but the developed shape is a Hacker so it will be Hackable.
I'm staring at the screenshots in your first post and I genuinely don't see where you're getting non-hackable off of the cadmus profile. Here's a Cadmus hacker vs. a Dartok hacker, and I can't see any meaningful difference between hackability of the two. They both have the same icons (cube, regular), and neither has a skill or equipment other than hacking device that would have any impact on hackability.
https://infinitythewiki.com/Seed-Embryo The Jan 2021 FAQ says... Q: If you pick, for example, a Seed Soldier with Forward Observer and Combi Rifle, does the Seed-Embryo Profile have them, or only the Developed Profile? A: Only the Developed Profile. So based on this, only the Developed Profile has the Hacking Device. So the Seed profile would not be Hackable as the Hackability of Cadmus is based on being a Hacker. Probably the only time in the history of Infinity where Seed-Embryo is actually a benefit, and the 100th time where that rule is jank .
If you go to the CA section of the Infinity Army app and search by the CHARACTERISTIC of "Non Hackable" two profiles appear - the Cadmus and the Shasvastii Seed-Soldiers. My assumption was that the non-hackable was implied for the seed soldier, but with no visual indicator of such, I figured I'd ask... ;) M.
Overdrons should be REMs. It's weird that they aren't; why can they be controlled by the enemy but Unidrons can't?
Why should Overdrons be REMs? They're size 6. And from what I see, both can be controlled/hacked by the Enemy... Could you clarify what your asking? I feel I'm missing something obvious.... M.
Time and a place for discussions of logic, dude's already confused as hell and this ain't helping. TAGs are vulnerable to the possession state from a specific hacking program which causes a player to literally take control of the TAG, REMs are not able to be targeted by that hacking program.
