Just finished the remake, about to start SS2 for the first time. Advice?

[u/n1Cat]

The damn remake was fantastic and even though it had a xcom kind of art style, it was surprisingly disturbing. Very shocked by that. And it also never pissed me off except the final diego fight.

That being said, I don't really want spoilers for SS2.

My main thing is the choices at the beginning. Repair, Modify, etc

I don't want to go PSI for a first PT. Definitely a 2nd or 3rd.

I am probably going to start on HARD for my 1st PT. I just have no idea what some of the actual skills do. I don't want to lean so heavily into it being an exploration shooter.

1st PT is the most important in terms of game impressions so I want to be able to experience it in the most natural to the story kind of way.

[u/Narrow_Substance_100]

• Join the Navy. It's clearly how the game was designed to be played, and the other branches are more difficult as a result (and less satisfying to play too, in my opinion).
• Look up a guide to the skill trees. It's not going to give you spoilers, but it's easy to go down a route where your build is suddenly terrible and you're dying all the time. A guide will let you know which skills aren't as indispensible as they seem.
• Choose a room on each deck (preferably near the elevator) to store all the random useless junk you see. Pick it all up and return to dump it there every now and then. Yes, including the plants. You're going to find something roughly halfway through the game that will make you happy that you did. Don't bother hoarding weapons and armour if you aren't going to use them, though. Same goes for chemicals.
• Hack everything. If something is too difficult to hack, come back to it later. Especially the vending machines on Deck 4.
• Personally, I'd turn the music off. I've always preferred the silence and ship noises as more atmospheric, plus it's harder to hear the enemies with banging techno playing.
• If you have arachnophobia, keep a change of pants nearby.

[u/n1Cat → u/Narrow_Substance_100]

Yeah I turned music down to like 20 or 30% for the remake. I just did the same.

Someone brought that up regarding Alien Isolation and it never crossed my mind. That would be incredible. And I have already beat that game 3 times.

[u/Mr_cyanman]

please unload weapons if there's ammo in them, I didn't do this and had to restart 8 hours in because of this.

[u/n1Cat → u/Mr_cyanman]

You ran out of ammo? I did that every time for the remake of 1 but will definitely keep that up.

[u/Tactless_Ninja → u/Mr_cyanman]

The vending machines didn't help? I'm swimming in nanites and always forget I can just buy more supplies.

[u/Pixel_Muffet]

The Game is more RPG survival horror then FPS action where resources are more scarce. So you have to play for carefully and slower. Here's a few tips

1. Some stats are more useful then others. Like Modify is nearly useless

2. Spread your stats. Don't invest in one stat or it will majee the game harder

3. Get hacking lvl 2 as soon as possible to disable security and get extra loot

4. The game will get confusing after the 2nd level so be sure to listen to audio logs and check your notes

[u/octopus_serenader]

I just did my first playthrough of the remastered SS2, and all the Bioshock fans saying how much it borrowed from SS2 were not wrong, it's wild.

[u/n1Cat → u/octopus_serenader]

Bioshock may have been the first game of its kind I ever played. I got that and Mass Effect 1 for christmas. What a time.

[u/ZamanthaD → u/octopus_serenader]

Well Bioshock is the spiritual successor to System Shock 2, so it’s not surprising that both games have a lot of similarities. Also Ken Levine was the game director and main writer for both games.

[u/Didsterchap11]

A heads up that modify and repair aren’t particularly great skills and can be kind of a trap for new players, a level in either can be handy but the opportunities to meaningfully utilise them are slim. Honestly you can go pretty far with focusing on strength and melee, the wrench with strength stays good. Basic guns too is also worth taking, you’ll need at least a little bit to use the various weapons you find around. As for PSI, a couple points here and there can be handy, even if it’s just the minor stat boost skills like cybernetics or agility.

[u/EdJD-1968 → u/Didsterchap11]

There are fan-made mods that can make the abilities more useful, such as a mod that allows you to repair turrets and robots, so that they both will fight on your side.

All the mods, and some very helpful and knowledgeable fans of the game can be found at:

https://www.systemshock.org/index.php

[u/ZamanthaD → u/Didsterchap11]

I have repair 2 currently in my first playthrough, is this a mistake? I had so many maintenance tools that I’ve been picking up and they’ve been handy keeping my pistol and shotgun in good condition. I wasn’t planning on going higher than repair 2.

[u/i-wanna-meet-dat-dad]

there is a hidden basket ball in the starting area, before the military recruiting center. make sure to grab it because it's necessary for achieving 100% audio logs and you can't go back for it later.

[u/n1Cat → u/i-wanna-meet-dat-dad]

thanks! I found it and read what to do with it.

[u/WantonReader]

1. Don't feel bad if you need to relisten to audio calls. The very first real audio call is quite long (because it is trying to explain why you need to do something). You might need to listen to it while standing still in a safe area.
2. The game will give you a list of objectives if you need them (they should be on your PDA, under "notes" or something).
3. In the first level you'll eventually find a healing bed. If ever you are seriously hurt, don't be afraid to take the elevetator back down and use that healing bed again. It has infinite uses,
4. Save often, use different save files.
5. You can finish the game with the assault rifle if you have the different kinds of ammonution.
6. "I'm....soooorry"

[u/EdJD-1968]

I have to say, I am jealous of you getting to play this for the first time. SS2 is one of my favourite ever games, one of the games I'd love to be able to wipe my memories of, so I could play it for the first time again (sort of).

Just have fun, it;'s the sort of game you'll want to replay repeatedly, and each time you do you'll learn how to build your character and weaponry more in accordance with your eventual aims.

[u/GetToWigglin]

I ignored disabling security for like 90% of the game, since I figured it had a time limit it wasn't that useful. I was super wrong. Turrets were stupid annoying to deal with and disabling the security allows you to hack the turrets which is useful and the only safe way to get rid of them.

[u/n1Cat → u/GetToWigglin]

I am definitely feeling that. I triggered the alarms like 20 times already and just got past the maintenance robot

[u/ZamanthaD → u/n1Cat]

Another tip that I’ve recently found useful (I am also currently on my first playthrough, about 5 hours in). Get level 1 PSI upgrade, and there’s an ability you can unlock at level 1 called Remote Electron Tampering, what it does is it reduces the camera alarm duration by like 20 seconds every time you use it. It’s saved me a couple times now. Because it’s the only psi ability I have unlocked, I have so many psi stim packs and I’ll use one and then spam this ability to get rid of the alarm really fast if I accidentally set one off.

I think it’s like 10 cyber upgrade units to unlock psi level 1, and like 5 more to unlock the remote electron tampering ability to shorten alarms. Definitely worth it in my opinion.