Diving into anything new for the first time sure has its merits. However, sometimes having a little intel before digging in can turn a good experience into a great one. This is especially so for newcomers experiencing the Shadowrun franchise for the first time.
Gamers familiar with the newer XCOM titles will see some similarities in the Shadowrun games and players will be enticed by its sci-fi cyberpunk setting that has fantasy elements. However, with character creation, selection of classes, etiquettes, and skill trees featured within the games, it can be a lot to take in and be very overwhelming to first-time players. Thankfully several tips will allow players to experience the incredible sci-fi fantasy trilogy at its best.
5 Know The Genre
The Shadowrun trilogy consists of 3 games: Shadowrun Returns,Shadowrun: Dragonfall, and Shadowrun: Hong Kong. Based on the science fantasy tabletop RPG franchise from the late 1980s, the game emphasizes reading, choosing dialogue options, exploration, and turn-based combat. Like most trilogies, the game should also be played in order, specifically so that players don’t become frustrated by the quality of life improvements.
Players will enjoy the Shadowrun series if they enjoy reading in their video games and get to choose from a smorgasbord of various options. The reading is not voiced which may put off some gamers and although the game emphasizes exploration, it is mostly linear, with little interaction with the map. Moreover, should players die, they will need to repeat dialogue bits before the engagement in which they lost. If players don’t mind these aspects, they will likely enjoy the experience as it will be like playing a single-player cyberpunk DND campaign.
4 General Advice On Points And Build
With so many options to choose from and limited points, newcomers may be drawn to ensuring that they’re avatars have a bit of everything. However, to progress properly, players will need to specialize in Shadowrun and are advised to not spread their points out too thin. Some general advice would be to select a ranged weapon to specialize in and add points to biotech (around 3) as this will allow players to see enemy HP and open up more interactions. Finally, points should always be added to charisma as players will always be interacting with NPCs.
As for builds, the consensus is to ensure that a player’s avatar has their body at level 6 at the start unless the player opts for a melee character. This is to ensure that the player won’t be too squishy against enemies.
3 Go With The Decker In The First Game
Players diving into Shadowrun: Returns should select the Decker class. As Hairbrained Schemes’ first foray into the franchise, the developers don’t give players the option of including squadmates to do skill checks within the dialogue.
That means players will miss out on doing the decker checks unless they are a decker. Moreover, players won’t have a set team without a decker so players should select this class to get the most out of the first game. This is not an issue in the other 2 games.
2 Be Wary Of The Shaman Class
Summoning spirits and creatures in a cyberpunk setting can be a very intriguing prospect for any player. However, going in full-on as a shaman in any of the games will be a mistake. Though most players don’t know it, the shaman class requires hybridization.
The NPC crews that support the players will tend to benefit from additional damage and are there to support the player and not mop the floor of enemies. Many gamers sharing their Shadowrun experience report that the full shaman spec can be extremely boring. However, should players mix it with another build (with anything else) then the shaman hybrid class can become extremely fun to play.
1 Combat Advice
There are 3 main aspects a player needs to consider to make combat for 3 games smooth. As a turn-based shooter, something to boost aim is extremely important as it can determine life or death scenarios. Fortunately, there are several ways of achieving this. Firstly, players can acquire cybersurgery to get a minor boost and drugs can also temporarily help. Mages and Deckers have an aim spell and mark target ability and should be used as much as possible.
The second aspect is to have the ability to knock enemies out of cover. Cover can be removed by melee attacks, thrown weapons (shurikens/throwing knives), or SMG flush abilities. It’s important to remove enemies from cover to then have the team DPS finish things off. Finally being able to apply critical damage % to enemies is key to winning engagements. Flushing enemies from cover will allow players to apply additional crit damage as any enemy in cover (even light) will give a 0% crit chance to apply high damage. If players want to get crit damage, enemies need to be out of cover.
Shadowrun Trilogy is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.