No question about it. The standard Deus Ex level design was “really tough frontal assault, with a vent to get around to the rear.” There are probably more vents in total in DE than in HR.
Raife
3342
I never played either DX or DX2, but it doesn’t invalidate my point…
JZigish
3343
I didn’t mind the hidden vents. When I had to move a vending machine out of the way, punch a hole in the wall, or sneak around behind a building to find a vent I was cool with it. When there was a vent completely visible that bypassed all challenge it did feel cheap.
Raife’s scenario seems likely. They probably had someone play through the game with 0 aug points to make sure it was possible, and added vents where it wasn’t.
Finished a second playthrough on Hard, which wasn’t really hard. Since 95% of the combat I end up doing is takedowns, tranqs, or stun guns, which always take down the target regardless of health, the increased difficulty didn’t change much. It’s not that I’m exclusively nonlethal, it’s that those are often the most effective choices. Headshots with the 10mm and Armor Piercing still kills all non-bosses. Which is really essential, since you can’t maintain stealth otherwise.
It took me 45 hours, 1 hour longer than my first playthrough. Probably because I was making an effort to explore every cranny I missed the first time. Or maybe I’m just really slow.
Hacking / Stealth is not required at all if you know what you’re doing. I only started putting points into it when I was out of other choices, but in any case, I had so many viruses available that it wasn’t an issue. I got an awful lot of the viruses by hacking the easier stuff that’s somewhat irrelevant (alarm panels, random computers) but which can be solved even near the end of the game without viruses if you’re playing right.
malkav11
3346
Not all non-boss enemies. If they have a helmet, they take two headshots to put down, by which time you’ve lost stealth. (You can still takedown them, though.) There aren’t many, but they exist.
pg1
3347
Agree, seems like a total waste so far. I might drop mine soon (about half way done).
I do, after I learned there aren’t really any reinforcements coming it was an easy choice. Most areas only have a handful of enemies in them say 2-7 at most and usually on the smaller side. As long as I used a silenced weapon, typically the 10mm, and do head shots it’s not too bad. If you can attack from behind it’s even easier. The key is having laser sights so you can actually aim. The 10mm seems like the best weapon in the game once you put a bunch of upgrades on it and there is a lot of ammo.
I prefer the regular non double barrel shotgun. It has more upgrades and has a bigger clip. It is great for corner camping once the enemies are triggered, you just sit around a corner then blam they come around, works like a charm.
I actually used the rocket launcher on the first boss but that was all. Takes up way too much inventory space. DEHR reminded me how much I hate limited inventories. All those cool (maybe) guns, and I can’t carry them. :(
This is only true if you haven’t added the Armor Piercing upgrade. That, per the description, totally negates helmets and dermal armor. I have personally killed dozens of helmet-wearing enemies in one shot with the 10mm while remaining stealthy.
WarrenM
3350
Yes, same here. I was surprised when those guys were dropping with one shot but then I remembered the armor piercing upgrade…
I’m beginning to wonder whether the designer that swore up and down that you couldn’t get all the Praxis done in one game really tried. I just finished the second Detroit not-really-missions-in-the-sense-that-there’s-no-closed-box-full-of-enemies-but-instead-you-just-disarm-a-shit-ton-of-mines and I’ve got 8 unallocated points, and I don’t even know where I’ll put them at this point. Further, I know for a fact that there are at least 4 more that I can purchase, and that’s not counting however many I’ll earn between now and the end of the game. There aren’t even that many 2 point buy-ins that I still have to make. I’m pretty sure it’s just the Typhoon and Smart Vision that I don’t have at least the first tier of.
Moral of the story - don’t bother going back to knock dudes out for experience. Once you get past maybe the first trip through Detroit, you’ll have enough. I mean, that doesn’t stop me, because I am Batman and any of these guys could have pocket secretaries on them with stuff, but at least now I know that the only thing I achieve by doing this stupid thing is satisfying my own crazy brains.
In my second playthrough, I didn’t quite max it out at the end. I didn’t care about the stuff I hadn’t bought (Hack / Analyze, upper levels of Mark and Track, etc.) but I wasn’t maxed out. I did miss out on 2 free Praxis kits lying around, but I obviously didn’t do as good as job as you did at farming the experience. I certainly never had 8 unallocated points. Every time I’d get up to 2 or 3, I’d get the impulse to buy something.
Exactly. In fact, playing DEHR -> DE -> DEHR for a second time makes me think I should play Arkham Asylum again.
Effidian
3353
I tried on my second playthrough and got within 3 praxis (just needed 985 xp for another praxis) of getting all augmentations. I know I missed enough XP to get that 3rd one, leaving only 2 praxis needed. No idea where I could have gotten the last 2, but who knows.
malkav11
3354
I had a fully upgraded 10mm pistol. Armor piercing, laser sight, silencer, all the miscellaneous upgrades. It even got me the Gun Nut achieve. There were enemies that took two headshots to down in the late game, and I was playing on easy.
Miramon
3355
Yeah, I think the late-game heavies don’t go down with one headshot. Still, you can always reverse uppercut them in the face through the steel-plated helmet, and it takes them down. Glass nose, I guess :)
jeffd
3356
Going Rambo really is opening the game up, at least relative to my stealth playthrough. I missed a lot of terminals and exploration due to the relative inability to hang out hacking stuff while surrounded by bad guys.
What’s your choice of weaponry for the rambo style? I’m assuming the rifle and maybe shotgun?
Batman solves this problem by subduing all enemies everywhere. I have yet to find an area full of hackable crap that I can’t empty out through aggressive tickle fighting and studious use of tranquilizers.
delirium
3359
I think the Magnum is pretty great for going Rambo. Especially once you get a particular awesome upgrade for it. Unlike most other games that have a similar gun, I always seem to have plenty of ammo for it, too.
Giaddon
3360
I’m halfway through a replay, but I’ve fallen into old habits (= stealth, non-lethal). I think I’ll start a new game where I only kill people. Shotgun, revolver, blades, grenades. The louder the better.
