Post 8b- BOSS Battles, level redos, and odd panels galore

"Oh hey boss, why you got those metal limbs for? And why are you aiming that gun at m-......oh crap the dude is being a total JOKER and trying to fire me.....quite literally in fact"

*Big Spoilers*

When you do all the groves from the prior post, one then has to go to the sw of the level to click a lever and finish the second main objective, but first one must fight a pretty tough boss/bullet sponge to get to it and the lift to the upper floors.

Once that is done hit the lever near where he was and you'll see it is now time to go back to level 3(via a nearby black iris door and a teleporter to the start of level 6[plus one bot along the way]) and finish it up properly.

(You can also get inside the SE office once you break enough cameras on level 3 that you missed before)

Points of interest(level 3 again):

Beta Maintenance(to the east/right of the level), mostly bots and ammo/etc to pick up, plus a camera to break.

Alpha Maintenance(to the north of the level), more bots(have magpulse handy) and one camera, plus one audio log in an eastern tunnel in this section.

Gamma Maintenance(to the south of the level), again more bots, and one camera.

Delta Maintenance(to the west/left of the level), more bots and a camera. Also a Rail Gun is found here on the floor near a corpse, in case you ran out of ammo for the one found on level 6 or didn't pick it up & want it now.

Second Main objective: Read the newly made audio log on a shelf near where the level 3 CPU was, then take one of the odd looking devices found at the top of a grav lift in the Beta/East maintenance areas and drag it to the proper panel in the correct maintenance area's tunnels and left click to install it.

Once done go back to level 6 and use the teleport to get back to the big red lever. Use it, then go back through the nearby vents to Beta Grove(southern grove entrance) and kill the swarms of enemies then hit the lever in one side room there.

Then go back to the SW room where the lift to level 7 is.

Big note: You can also)while on level 3) go into the sw office once all cameras are destroyed and the level security percentage is at 0%. Inside is a switch that needs that head you picked up the first time you came to level 3....you simply right click to pick it out of inventory and then left click it on the retinal scanner panel.

Once the door opens you will find a rad suit/bio suit in a crate or on the floor, which you will need later on.

*End spoilers*

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Personal Aside: The sight of watching that video that plays when you finish main objective#2(and also main objective#1) always hold a special place in my memories.

I also love the robotic sounding voice that plays when you do some things or enter some areas, and that elevator musak is very catchy as well. :)

Post 9-Engineering Insanity.....Or How I stopped fretting and learned to LOVE the Maze

Just as the title says, this level is a bit of a maze......with many paths connecting back to others/many dark rooms/lots of enemies to ambush you for your efforts.

"Look at all the shiny metal and tech....the engineers must love it all...and the MAZES too. Whatever they get paid should be doubled....NO....tripled."

Save early on this level and save often, and be ready to run back to the level starting area/lift to go back to level 6 if you drop too low in health so that you can die & regen there UNTIL you get the regen machine activated.

*Spoilers*

Doors: One door n/nw of the level start/lift(when checking the map) needs to be opened and NOT entered UNTIL you click a panel beyond it(while on the south side of the door) and solve it's puzzle, or it will close behind you and you won't be able to open it from it's north side.

Enemies: One new enemy comes in the form of a Security-2 bot(which is the tougher cousin of the Sec-1 bot from lower floors), which looks sort of like the exec bot but with more color to it. There is also a mutated cyborg in the central hub.

Besides that there are bots/cyborgs of all types, but many tough ones for the most part. Keep your magpulse handy for tight spots and tough bots, and other weapons loaded and ready.

Weapons: An RF Skorpion(A sort of cross between the flechette and the assault rifle) can be found by going south from the door for antenna 1(listed below) and off the balcony and then a bit south & then east down a small dark lower path. You then hit a button on the wall in a small dead end to the north of the entry to that lower path and the path to the south will open up. Also down that same path is a hidden door with a power charger.

Items/access cards: A new shield plugin is found on the floor of a radioactive room reached via the se hub area door(lower hub level). Be aware the room is a bit radioactive and filled with a few bots on both sides and in the middle path.

Engineering cards(for Level R) can be found either in the admin room off of the CPU room(on a body), or on a body in a small room sw of/near the door to the northern antenna.

Points of interest: The closest door to the level "hub" is just east of the starting position down a small ramp. Some doors within it are broken and do not work while others do. The NW door works, the sw door is broken, the west(upper hub level) door is also broken.

The regen machine is reached via the NE hub door(lower level), then going down the hall to the north, then west a bit & south through what I call "the cloverleaf paths" until you enter the hub from the upper level. Once there you go across the hub(by jumping to each catwalk) to the southern(upper) hub entrance, solve a panel puzzle, and enter a room with forcefield floors/a button/an exec bot. Once the bot is dead push the button until either the forcefield floor to your left or right is open and go down those paths until you find the regen machine, a power charger, AND a healing machine.

Be AWARE/warned, however, to NOT click or go too near the live land mines near the healing machine.....as doing so will blow up the machine and likely kill you. Simply click the machine from a distance to use it when needed.

The SE hub door(lower level) leads past the previously mentioned radioactive rooms and then goes(eventually) to the CPU room for this level. Once they are blown up you can use the door in the nw corner of the CPU room to enter a set of halls which wind west-east past another antenna room(which you cannot do until you activate the regen machine) and eventually to the other side of a previously locked door(locked by shodan security).

There is also the lift to level 8 in one of the side halls near that antenna room(the southern one on the level), past another mutated cyborg(who is carrying a new plugin for target analysis). Don't bother going there yet, though, as the level is locked off until you complete a few more objectives.

A path in the NE of the level east of the doorway/hall leading to the northern antenna is a hallway(with bomb bots coming into it on occasion) with some crawlspaces with some heavy explosives and another Engineering Card. The east end of the hall has a small hall leading south which has a button on the wall which opens a back entrance to the level's armory & a way to the eastern antenna entrance.

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Main Objective Locations: You need to carefully blow up 4 antennas with the plastique from level 4. Once it is planted you should run away a good distance and not stop until you hear it blow up(it can hit you from a good distance when it does). Here are the locations for each and some info on each:

1. The closest one to where you start is the western one, and is reached by going west/then north/then west & up a ladder and through a door marked with a blue circuit board symbol. Plant the plastique and run far far away, like as far back as the doorway into the room/hall.

2. The northern antenna is SWARMING with bots of various types, as well as some bots in side rooms next to/overlooking the path to the northern antenna. A good strategy here is to use emp grenades/magpulse on them while using your shield/ducking behind a nearby wall/hallway section....or even using the RF Skorpion gun to wipe them out with carefully timed bursts.

3. The eastern Antenna is reached via a room in the east of the level which is covered is mainly red walls. Beware the path to the antenna has live land mines on part of it, so take them out from a distance before blowing up the antenna.

4. *Save this one for last/after regen machine has been activated* It is in the southern area of the level and is blocked by a force field opened by a panel near the field, but it is ALSO a TRAP. If you rig it with explosives before activating the level's regen machine you will be trapped and die/lose the game.

Once all 4 antennas are down and you regenerate you will get some emails to tell you what to do next.

*End Spoilers*
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Personal Aside: I always disliked this level's complexity and undue toughness, and the first time I played it was daunting compared to prior levels. All that combined with respawning bots/cyborgs, assassin cyborg perches in some spots, and a hard to get at(initially) regen room make this level very challenging & it might dissuade some from going further. It is worth it, though, if one perseveres.

Post 10-Destroy, escape, boss fight Part Deux

Now you need to do some more main objectives(listed below) on prior floors, and it is a bit challenging(a ton of enemies are spawned to stop you and a boss returns to fight you once more). All I can say is: Good luck.

*Spoilers*

"Dammit, after all that work cleaning the place up the execs want to blow the joint up.....and they expect ME to do it, and I don't even WORK here. Oh well, at least it'll give me something new to do before my eventual cyborg conversion."

Main Objectives: The newest main objective spans a few levels you need to revisit in a certain order. First off, you need to go to Level R(Go to level 6, then use the teleport nearby in diego's office to get back to the level 6-3 lift and go to level 3, then take the other(southern) lift to level R.

Once there prep your shield and your RF Skorpion(it works well if you don't spray full auto) or magpulse & have your shield up(right click the shield and set it to level 2 shields as that is good enough and doesn't drain your shields as fast as level 3 does). Inside you will come across more bots(Sec-2 and a new one called a Flyer for the most part), and there is an audio log in the SE central upper room near a body.

Go up the central shaft(between some orange columns) by hitting a button slightly above you on the red walls inside the shaft, and you will float to where you can enter the codes you got from the LEVEL 1-6 CPU rooms(first the 1st 3, and then the second 3). Then just hit the nearby red lever and click the button to float back down and get the hell out of dodge.

Big Note: Once you do this a bunch of robots will spawn on & near the lift back to level 3, including many Sec-2 bots & also one mutated cyborg. Be ready for them and mow them down along with any other robots along the way, then go to level 3 while being ready(as there are MORE robots in the central halls/center room there as well). From there you take a short trip via the central lift to level 5 where a boss battle will be coming up shortly.

Go to hangers 2-3, but be ready as many Sec-2 bots fill the hangers and the boss awaits in the connecting hall between the two hangers(near the escape pods). Once they are defeated go to any one of the pods(but enter both to get their health kits) and hit the lever within.

"Well...drat"

Now that that is over go to level 8(the quickest route is going via the exec lift to level 6, then going to the teleport near the other level 6 lift & using it to reach diego's office/the lift to level 7. Once there hustle back to the southern are of the level and the lift to level 8.

*End Spoilers*

Personal aside: This part, while tense, is one of my favorite bits as it is tense yet with all regen machines activated on the other floors it is not too difficult even if one dies a few times.

Post 11-Run Like Heck, and blast stuff some more

"Oh Vertigo, my old dear friend.....how much I have missed thee."

This is the security level for the station, and is situated in a narrow shaft connecting the station proper with the bridge. Most rooms are reached via grav lifts and using the jet boots(hopefully you have them and have them upgraded).

Note: There is no regen machine on this level, so if you are near death go back to level 7 ASAP and die/regen there and come back if need be.

*Spoilers*

Advice: Save your batteries(especially the I-cad batteries) for later on when power chargers are harder to come by....ditto with saving any 1st aid kits for later during the endgame.

Points of Interest: A power charger is found in a room on the lowest level of this floor in the nw corner of the central shaft, along with one audio log and some supplies.

The NE & SW grav lifts(from the lwr lvl) are both locked until you get the level security down low enough, the SE grav lift has a Sec Card locked door at the top, and the western grav lift leads to a platform for a deactivated force bridge, so the only real choice one has to go up(at the start) is the NW grav lift. This leads to the interrogation hallway and more bots/cyborgs. One door is locked(grp-b), and the card for it is in a nearby white paneled room on a body.

Another power charger can be found by pressing a switch in a small side hall near the "experimental" armory listed below. It opens part of the central column nearby, revealing a charger(but you need to reduce shodan security below 80% to access it).

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The cyberjack and CPU rooms are found via the door to the south of where you get the command card, and some audio logs can be found in a nearby cabinet next to some very fancy walls(platinum...wowzers). There is also a small room with some ammo/etc in the same hall.

The cyberjack leads to a scant few cyber rooms, with the first having many enemies to kill & the second having nothing but one game software & some mines.

Take note that the halls between cyber rooms on this jack do NOT propel you forward to the next room....you need to move forward on your own this time. The mines here also do MAJOR DAMAGE so avoid them as much as you can....especially when going through the mine filled hall between room 2a/2b(they are connected) and the 3rd room.

As you travel through the mine filled hall, you need to avoid them entirely and also duck below the exit portal in that hall to get to the 3rd room & the enemies within it. Inside that 3rd room is a switch to open the detention cells(found a bit later when back on the station) and another log from rebecca telling you about level 8.
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More points of interest: Up past the lift beyond the grate in the robot bay is the holding cells area. Within are a few rooms with virus mutants & a few tough cyborgs(the center door on the east wall is the one you unlock in cyberspace, but note that not all doors within are openable). Past that area to the north is a supply closet with more stuff & an iris door leading to a room with a power charger and some more bots. Beyond that to the west through a door is a room with a ramp going to a small closet with the switch for the lower level west side force bridge into the central shaft. Flip it and head to the lower part of the level and across the force bridge once are ready.

Big note: At this point you should have found a bunch of med kits/batteries, which you will need for the final level. Move them(I threw them from the balconies to the floor below near the central shaft to not have to move them manually) to the force bridge you activated and be ready to drop some of them in the room just before the point of no return(when the station seperates from the bridge) so that you can take what you cannot hold in your inventory with you to the final level.

I usually keep some 1st aid kits, 3 logic probes(or 4 if you want), some i-cad batteries, etc on me and the rest I throw in the room just before the point of no return.
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Weapons: Another rail gun(useful if you don't mind watching for the splash damage from the rounds it fires off) can be found with another weapon(an LG Plasma Rifle that chews through ammo quickly and is a danger to the player if fired in close qtrs., locked behind a shodan security field) in a room marked experimental, which is just past the top of the next grav lift beyond the interrogation hallway.

Items/cards: A new red/bio suit(v3) is found in the same room as the rail gun/other weapon listed above.

The command card(which gives you Mnt, Sto, and Sec access levels) can be found in an office reached via the grav lift in the south of the room with the doors to the armory & surveillance in it. Once up the grav lift go across a force bridge and drop a few enemies, and enter the ne iris door to reach an office with the card on the floor.

You can use the above card to get into the room reached via the lower SE grav lift and the rooms beyond, which include a ton of Sec-2 bots(as this is the robot bay). Kill a few of them carefully as they will all activate after you kill around 3-4 of them, then flip a switch in on of the bays along the western wall(near where you entered) to turn the lights on and unlock the door at the far end of the room. Another power charger can be found near the switch you flipped.

Supply closets(with cyborgs guarding them) are found behind energy fields(with buttons nearby) in the east and ne doors of the lowest level of the central shaft. A new head lamp(v3) is found in one of those supply closets behind a blue door.

Enemies: Flyer bots fly around the upper areas of the central part of the level, so take them out quickly, along with the mutated cyborgs and assassin cyborgs at the corners of the level & on some of the balconies above you.

*End Spoilers/More to come as I work my way through the throngs of enemies*

Personal Aside: This level is one of my favorites due to it's unique layout(more vertical oriented).