[TIPS] Shadowrun Returns: Hong Kong Guide

Character Build Tips

• Far and away, the easiest build (like in previous games) is a ranged street samurai. Focus karma into Body, Quickness and Ranged Combat (mostly rifles, but also some shotgun). Opt for having an automatic rifle, sniper rifle and shotgun. That will cover virtually every combat scenario. There's now a "Cyberware Affinity" which you must also level. It's misleading because it looks like it's for melee cyberware only (e.g. spurs/razors) but you need it for the useful upgrades like Dermal Plating and Wired Reflexes.
• Note that this also allows you to dump excess nuyen into cyberware upgrades.
• Monofilament Whip requires 4 Cyberware Affinity. Wired Reflexes requires 5 Cyberware Affinity.
• The best overall gun in the game, the Vindicator Minigun, requires 5 Strength and 5 Ranged Combat.
• Charisma/Etiquette is not as useful in previous games, and I would not go crazy leveling it unless it's needed for your role.
• Unlike in previous games, combats do not start with your enemies lighting you up on their turn. Instead, enemies get 1 AP worth of movement to get behind cover. This means that your main character doesn't need to be nearly as tanky as before... but note that you'll typically still start near the front.
• The "free" storyline NPCs you get are a decker (with a grenade launcher!), a support shaman, a rigger (with a badass pet drone who can also throw grenades) and a jack-of-all-trades samurai (some crowd control, some melee, rifle skill). Additionally you can optionally recruit a melee samurai.
• Unlike previous games, money is very tight. Even if you complete all optional objectives for nuyen, you still won't be able to buy everything you want in most cases. This is especially true if you went rifles, or went cyberware. (and of course doubly true if you went both).
• Leading up to the final mission, you will have somewhere between 185-200 Karma depending on how you've played the game.

Character Archetypes

• Rifleman
• Assault rifle and Sniper rifle, focus on Quickness/Ranged Combat with enough Body/Cyberware Affinity to outfit yourself with quickness and accuracy mods. Cash should go towards weapons and cyberware.
• Variant: Go for just a sniper rifle and monofilament whip. Sniper rifle deals death at range, and use the whip when they get up close.
• Cybersamurai
• Cyber Spurs or razors. Max out Body / Cyberware Affinity and Strength / Close Combat. Money should go towards the best armor and cyberware upgrades. Consider grenades as well for AOE damage since you already have high strength, and will likely have extra money lying around.
• Fast-talking Mage
• Max Charisma and spellcasting. Money should go towards Tailored Pheromones (0 Essence cost) and spells.

Weapons

• Analysis
• Pistols are flexible weapons with good value. They're good close up and at medium distance, they have free reloads (Pistols 4), and their abilities cover many situations (high armor pierce, multiple targets, and disarm). They're also far cheaper than the other weapons, but will do less damage in general. A good pick if you're pumping a lot of cash into other areas.
• SMGs are great against unarmored opponents as short to medium range. They fire more bullets than an assault rifle at lower damage per bullet, leading to significantly more damage against an unarmored opponent but less against an armored one. Their "aimed shot" gives the worst accuracy bonus of all weapons and doesn't penetrate armor. Their "flush" ability is weak, dealing less damage than the rifle's Full Auto which has the same effect. On the other hand, you can hit multiple targets reliably at both longer and shorter ranges than shotguns. SMGs are a good cheap option if you are already very accurate and can strip armor from the enemy.
• Shotguns are beasts up close and at medium range, but have a very strong falloff at range. Their natural scatter makes it a great group killer when enemies are 6 squares away. They have high per hit damage, minimizing the impact of armor. The Kneecap AP reducer can be a critical ability (preventing enemies from using 2 AP abilities such as AOE spells or grenades) and their final ability Shred Armor is effective against heavy opponents. 
• Rifles are the most versatile weapons in the game. The basic types are assault rifle (medium-high damage per bullet, full auto) and sniper rifle (very high damage per bullet, low capacity, single-shot only). Automatic rifles can't hit multiple targets (this has been changed from previous games) but can put out accurate hits on enemies behind cover, flush them with Full Auto, or shred them if they're out in the open. Sniper rifles allow you to deal consistently high damage every round at a distance, pretty much auto-winning any long-distance fight. They're not great up close, but once you have the deadeye ability you can even use it in close combat. The biggest drawback to rifles is that you'll want an assault rifle and a sniper rifle, and it's a huge expense. They're already the most expensive weapons and having two of them means you'll usually be 1-2 upgrades behind the best weapon available, and likely will not end the game with the best of both unless you spent no money elsewhere.
• The monofilament whip is an insanely good weapon. It's great at penetrating armor (with cyberware affinity) and dealing solid constant damage, and the range is much more than you might expect. It also immediately flushes an enemy from cover, allowing you to land a hit with the whip and then full auto with your rifle. It likely won't critical as often as your primary weapon giving it less damage against a flanked target, but it's invaluable against enemies behind cover.
• Final weapons (all require Ranged Weapons 7)

• Pistol
• Ruger Thunderbolt (¥2000, 2750 with smartlink) DMG 14, Range M, CAP 12, has burst fire
• Remington Roomsweeper (¥1500), DMG 14, Range M, CAP 4, AOE 6, fires as shotgun
• Ruger Super Warhawk (¥1250,  1500 with smartlink) DMG 16, Range M, CAP 6, cannot Chain Shot or Double Tap
• SMG
• HK 227 (¥3000, 3750 with smartlink), DMG 12 / RNG M / CAP 30
• Shotgun
• Defiance T-250 (¥3500, 4250 with smartlink) DMG 20, RNG S, CAP 5, AOE 6
• Enfield AS-7 (¥2500, 3000 with smartlink) DMG 18, RNG S, CAP 10, AOE 6, can burst
• Rifle
• Ares Alpha (¥4000, ¥5000 with smartlink) DMG 16, RNG L, CAP 40
• Vindicator Minigun (¥5000) DMG 20 / RNG L / CAP 42 / AOE 6
• Ranger Arms SM-3 (¥3000, 3750 with smartlink) DMG 20 / RNG L / CAP 6, pierces 1 armor
• Other
• ArmTech MGL-6 (¥1200), DMG 12 / RNG L / CAP 6 / AOE 3, costs 2 AP to reload

Cyberware

• For the classic ranged street samurai, this is your loadout:
• Brain
• Encephalon (2000¥, 1E, +1 int): Unnecessary. Save your essence.
• Head
• Datajack (500¥, .5E): Need a datajack somewhere for the accuracy bonus on weapons.
• Eyes
• Vision magnification (alpha = 1000¥, 0.5E, +6% to-hit): Probably your default choice.
• Eye Datajack (1000¥, 0.5E): More expensive than the head version, and you have better options in this slot.
• Laster Designator (1000¥, 0.5E, Mark Target 0AP / 2CD): Actually gives you a better chance to hit than the Vision magnification, but the cooldown and failure chance make it worse for your primary damage-dealer. Now for a support build...
• BrightLight System (1500¥, 0.5E, blinds opponents for 2AP / 6 CD): You're wasting two valuable action points just to blind someone??? If you're biuilt correctly, that'll be enough to just kill most enemies outright on full auto.
• Right Arm / Left Arm
• Saeder-Krupp Skillwires (1450¥, 0.3E, +1 Quickness, +1 Ranged Combat): Your best option. Improves exactly what you want and has a low Essence cost.
• Yamatetsu Cyberarm (alpha = 1750¥, 1,0E, +1 STR and +6 HP): Not helpful for a ranged samurai but definitely worth considering for the melee build.
• Renraku Skillwires (1000¥, 0.3E, +1 Dodge): Weak benefit overall, but not a bad option if you're out of Essence.
• Transys Neuronet Skillwires (1000¥, 0.3E, +1 Throwing Weapons): ...how often do you throw things?
• Shiawase Magnet Arm (1000¥, 1.0E, automatically throws back grenades targeted at you): Pretty entertaining and very effective in the right situations, but the fact that you 1. need to be close to your teammates, inviting other AOE attacks like spells and 2. require the grenade to be tossed at YOU and not your teammates, makes this upgrade not worth it. Especially for the essence cost.
• Auto-Loader Cyber-Arm (1000¥, 1.0E, +1 Quickness and automatically reloads): Worth considering.  Saves you an AP every couple rounds on average, depends on how often you need to reload. However, I find it's mostly obviated by having many weapon slots (e.g. sniper rifle, assault rifle, shotgun). It can be very valuable if you use low capacity weapons like the grenade launcher or sniper rifle.
• JoltAlert (1000¥, 0E, Stunning brings you to 1AP): Partial immunity to stunning. Too niche to recommend as a primary option, but the essence cost is right.
• Induction Datajack (1000¥. 0.3E): Lower essence cost, but loses out due to way better options in this slot.
• R-Arm Cyberweapon
• 
  
• Body
• Wired Reflexes (2950¥, 1.5E, Passive: +1 movement, Active: +1 AP. 0AP cost, 2 round effect, 4 round cooldown): The winner! Good at killing people? This will help you kill them even faster.
• Suprathyroid (2150¥, 0.5E, +1 to all physical stats): Nifty, but not specific enough for you. More useful on the melee samurai.
• Reflex Trigger (1850¥, 1.0E, Passive: +1 movement, Active: Dodge first attack every round, 0AP cost, 3 round effect, 4 round cooldown): Much more useful for melee attackers who expect to get shot at a lot, with significant enemy success. Ranged samurai sit behind cover and snipe everyone.
• Shiawase Bone Lacing (Kevlar = 1200¥, 1.0E, +1 Body/STR): Useful for the melee samurai, but not for the ranged one.
• Synthacardium (Mk2 = 1750¥, 0.5E, +1 Dodge/Movement/Throwing Weapons): Low Essence Cost but small benefit as well. More useful for melee builds but still not worth it.
• Skin
• Dermal Plating (Ares = ¥3250, 1.0E, +2 Armor, +1 Body): Want people to hurt you less? Get this one.
• Cross Dermal Sheath (¥2250, 1.3E, +1 Body, trigger to regen 6hp/round for three rounds, 1 AP): Marginal value for melee types who get injured frequently. The problem is that combats often do not last three rounds, and losing 1 AP is a huge blow. If in that 1 AP you could prevent 18 damage by killing someone earlier, that's far more valuable than this.
• Tailored Pheromones (¥2000, 0E, +1 Charisma): This is actually a great pickup if you're flush with cash and like the noncombat approach. The 0 Essence cost means you can get it on spellcasters as well.
• Orthoskin (¥2500, 0.3E, +1 Armor): The low Essence version of Dermal Plating with corresponding loss in sturdiness.
• Right Leg / Left Leg
• Cyberleg (Aztechnology  = 1750¥, 1.0E, +6 HP and +1 Quickness): Excellent option for a ranged samurai. Gives bonuses to health and Quickness as it upgrades.
• Hydraulic Jack (Mk1 = 2250¥, 1.0E, +3 Movement active. 0 AP / 6 round cooldown): Not useful for a ranged samurai, but worth considering if you want to get up close and melee them. The difference between being one space short and being in range is basically worth one AP (since you can move and melee in the same action)

Quick note before you begin playing (not a spoiler)

• When you get an email from Strangler Bao saying that he has a "problem", go talk to him IMMEDIATELY. Otherwise if you complete any more missions he'll handle it on his own... and you may not like that.

Mission Tips (Spoilers!)

• General
• This should seem obvious by now to people familiar with the franchise or the previous games, but ALWAYS BRING A DECKER ALONG. You will miss out on a lot of alternate solutions, optional paydata, and just great flavor text. If you're on a second run feel free to try without one though for the challenge.
• After completing missions, check in with Maximum Law. You can often get free nuyen for just telling him about your mission (200¥ each).
• City of Darkness
• If you can't talk your way past the Yellow Lotus guards, run southwest and find an alternate path to the lower levels. The burning tire is also in this direction.
• Killing ANY Yellow Lotus member nullifies the optional "don't kill the crew" objective. The most likely thing that will trip you up is killing the Yellow Lotus member after he beats up the old man, due to failing to fit any of the other dialogue critiera (etiquette: shadowrunner, strength 4, etc.).
• The code to Strangler Bao's door in the Lotus Den (NOT the door panel in the lower level) is 7881, obtainable from hacking the terminal.
• You don't need to return to the student after completing the Feng Shui objectives, as there's no benefit other than some short dialogue. Note that you get 1 Karma the moment you complete the objective.
• Outsider
• Getting past the Red Spears in the garage is mandatory to collect the armor piece if you want to complete the mission without having to kill the Whampoans and keep Gaichu alive. Once you have it, go back into the boat mall (where the elders are) and see the materials/armor dealer, who can identify it for you if you didn't have the Etiquette required. Note that you also need the silver necklace from the sewers, among other pieces of evidence, to convince Porter Lam.
• To clarify: you need all of the evidence in order to get Porter Lam to side with you in the final confrontation. Otherwise you are forced to kill them all. This is assuming that you didn't attack Gaichu, obviously.
• The Dig
• The best value items are hidden behind the bookshelf in the office. Generally, only smash cases that contain items worth 900¥ or more to avoid tripping the alarm. Feel free to grab 10k before heading downstairs, as there are no nuyen items there. Excess amounts of stealing past 10,000 will not gather any further benefit.
• The Shipping Terminal in the basement contains a new spell (a buffed version of Aim that also applies to the nearest ally) and a shipping manifest, worth paydata (432¥) and +1 karma.
• When leaving the dig, you are faced with a "save or kill the mummy" choice. Killing the mummy gives you a great sword: 5 damage, 10 reach (it casts lightning bolt as one of its abilities), armor reduction -2, cooldown 2. For comparison, Gaichu's first sword does 3 damage, has 1 reach, and no AR reduction. The sword is not sellable.
• Bad Qi
• You can easily bypass security if you have Etiquette: Security and talk to the employee in the north room.
• The lobby matrix jackpoint is not just used as a way to get past the guards. It also contains "Wuxing Delivery Data" paydata (150¥), though it takes quite a bit of hacking to get there.
• A prototype pistol is available if you have Pistol: 4 or Intelligence: 5.
• The wall safe in the north room on the upper floor contains 150¥. You can open it with the correct code, Etiquette: Security or Quickness: 5.
• Once you past 25 Qi disruption, spirits will spawn and attack you. Their damage is no joke and they have great range, so I'd suggest hiding in a room and forcing them to come to you. Gobbet's Rat Totem steal/destroying spirit ability works on them.
• 50% is the most disruption you can do on the upper floor, before you go to the temple. They'll tell you in game when it's complete.
• Exit, Stage Left
• The jackpoint by the restaurant will give you Neville Ma's apartment code (1635), a party invitation and hotel expansion plans (paydata worth 350¥). It also allows you to punch in a maintenance code, which you will find later after you explore the apartment. It'll tell you that Neville, Penelope and Victor Wang have keys.
• Getting into the party (an optional objective) gives you 1 Karma.
• Like most such decisions, you get 1 Karma for the non-violent option with Ku Feng.
• It's possibly to turn Neville's female companion into a future ally.
• Uninvited Guests
• Killing the Talon (optional) gives you 2 karma.
• The matrix jackpoint by the getaway car also contains matrix paydata (250¥).
• Retribution (1500¥, 8 Karma, +1 optional)
• There's no way to sneak this mission, so make sure you're "packing heat" and also take advantage of the new combat initiation feature (click the holstered pistol icon on the top right to surprise your enemy)
• As usual, the matrix jackpoint has paydata (540¥) available as well. It also allows you to unlock the elevator door, which leads to a lower area with medical supplies (and +1 Karma for exploring it). Nothing actually happens down there, despite the explosive barrels. It's not entirely clear what the purpose is.
• It's a bit confusing what the "front door" is. The front door is where you came in (the southwest exit). One member of their team will be instantly killed by going through the locked off, northwest quarantine area. The final member will come in from the southeast exit (the separate, narrow room). I'd personally suggest you instakill the heavy gunner, since snipers and mages are very squishy and die quickly.
• Misdirection (2000¥, 8 Karma)
• Bring Racter on this mission, of course.
• (Matrix jackpoint: ground floor) Before you start jacking, some of the blocker codes are available from a computer terminal west of the jackpoint.
• The matrix jackpoint you run into will likely have the hardest matrix host you've faced so far. After passing through the first room, you'll reach a fourway interaction. The other exits are northwest, northeast and a southwest portal. The northwest leads to gas valve control, but there's nothing you can do there yet (you'll need those later). Go to the northeast portal instead. It leads to elevator control, and some paydata (792¥).
• Taylor's door code: 98144
• Hardingham's door code: 23847
• Once the gas is launched, immediately run back to the camera server room to jack in, to disable the gas.
• When you get down to the abandoned metro station, you can use the console to disable alternate entry points (requires Intelligence: 5, Racter can do it) which also gives you 1 Karma.
• There is a super dumb interface issue down here. When you grab the advanced medkit, you may be full on space and it'll ask you whether you want to move it to stash. However, you can't see the button to do so if you have the other team with you in your party. You need to click the center of the screen and drag down to reveal it.
• The first Ares squad you see (the ones talking about how you were spotted upstairs) is completely skippable for no loss. In fact, fighting them will trigger guard dogs to spawn in the elevators behind you.
• Whistleblower (1600¥, 8 Karma)
• Sneaking past the guards is not particularly hard, especially since you've been doing the same thing all game in the matrix. Only the patrolling guard in each area is a problem. Just follow behind him and stay out of his line of sight. The stationary guards won't do a thing unless you get in front of them.
• Getting to the lower level without the alarm going off gives you 1 Karma.
• Avoiding combat on the lower deck is much harder. Many of the rooms are "open and get screwed immediately". The key is to head north from the start and enter rooms on the outside ring going clockwise. Use the alarm console to draw some guards away, and then patch into the camera feed (intelligence: 5 or Isobel/Racter).
• As a rare exception, the jackpoint in Ho Chung has no paydata! It only has the video feed tipping you off as to the ambush.
• If you end up going for the hilarious but dangerous "kill 'em all" approach, it's critical that you hack into the utility grid next to you and short out both wires. It does 20 damage and -1 AP to anyone standing in the water. You get 1 Karma if you manage to pull off this option.
• Deckcon 2056 (8 Karma)
• This mission is only available after you talk to Is0bel enough.
• I'd strongly suggest you bring Gaichu along, as the interaction between him and other convention goers is hilarious.
• If you have Decking: 5 or bring another decker along (besides Is0bel), that can make this mission significantly easier. A drone can also bypass some social interaction to get the uniform.
• The man in the men's restroom (across from Is0bel) sells Hyper Ex, a drug that gives +5% to attack and +2 movement for 5 rounds. He's the only vendor of such in the game.
• There's a lot of fluff dialog with people around the convention that you can do as much or as little as you want while you wait for Is0bel.
• Gamege, at the north side of the room, is a shadowrunner. You can start a conversation with him if you have Etiqutte: Shadowrunner.
• At the northwest corner, you can get the guard out of the way with high Body or Decking and pickpocket the convention members for about 200¥ total.
• There's a fun reference to the Allegiance Alpha in some of the dialog, a throwback to the starting crappy cyberdeck from Shadowrun on the Sega Genesis.
• The Extraction
• Don't let Xiaozhi get away! From the very beginning she will try to run out of the combat. Don't let her get out of sight. Killing her gives you the broker's code (00006) for the locked northern door.
• You get 2 karma for opening the door. Also there is a Cram, 266¥, and an Advanced Medkit.
• Prosperity Tower
• Getting the Wuxing shipping data from earlier gives you an alternate approach.
• Keeping Bull and his runners alive previously ("Misdirection") gives you the location of security nodes in the Matrix.
• The code for the lockers with the uniforms is 2627. You get +1 Karma for suiting up.
• Fixing the turbine gives you nothing. Breaking the turbine gives you access to the security room, and the jackpoint in there.
• Floor B3: Secure Datastore
• Gives you access to the locker code (2626, unsure if this is a typo)
• Give you the first aid station code (4990)
• Security Network Node: B3
• Allows you to weaken the building security (part of your optional objectives)
• The First Aid room (4990 code) contains a Docwagon Platinum kit, and a Premium Medkit.
• You ultimately need to end up in Lab Twelve. The codes are 44526 and 25301 if you want to skip the other levels.
• Sales and Acquisitions Floor:
• You'll need either Etiquette: Shadowrunner, or Charisma 5 to get past the front desk without a fight.
• There are two jackpoints on this level. One is to the west (careful, the door entrance is hard to see) and the other is in the Tsang VP's northeast office.
• The west jackpoint has the other Lab Twelve access code (25301) and the security network node for this floor, which is part of the optional objective to weaken security.
• Once you step into the Tsang VP's office he forces you to jack in for him. Whether you choose to go in loud or with his blessing is up to you.
• This jackpoint has the optional blackmail info on Josephine Tsang, the foreign account records, and ¥2,124.
• Note that the VP will insist on the embezzlement data and the money when you jack out. He will not let you leave the room without giving it to him.
• There are nine enemies total on this floor. Four inside the VP's office (including the VP, a mage) and five in the hallway (including a grenadier and a summoning mage). It's very difficult to kill all of them within three rounds to prevent the alarm going off unless you initiate combat. Due to the fact that the alarm almost assuredly will go off, if you're inside the VP's office you may as well hunker down in there and jack in to disarm the alarm immediately when you get the chance.
• When the alarm is on, two guards will spawn every round for three rounds.
• Thaumaturgical Research Floor
• Need Charisma 7 to get past the guards.
• The security jackpoint has the equipment room code (8974) and a security node to disable in the optional quest.
• The equipment room (right off the security jackpoint room, 8974 to enter) has 1x DocWagon Gold Trauma Kit, 3x Advanced Medkits, a Remington 990 Smartlink Shotgun, a special Steyr Aug-CSL (unique rifle, 15 damage, higher chance to hit on successive shots), 2x Renraku Flashbang Grenades, 1x HE Phosphorus Grenade
• The magic labs has a Spell Focus: Life Siphon 2, a Strip Armor 3 (removes 5 armor)
• The "Core System Access" terminal has two datastores.
• Passcodes:
• Special Operations Blocker: Scion
• Device Operations Blocker: Prodigal
• It also gives you the Blocker IC passcodes for the ASIST interface.
• The containment lab door code is 1915. Releasing the monster gives you 1 Karma.
• Lab Twelve
• Your System Trace score resets before you do anything on this floor in the Matrix, which is very important.
• City of Death (Final Mission)
• Outer Ring
• The Street Shaman being harassed by the Yellow Lotus can be saved with either Body 7 or combat. Once you save him, you can either turn him in for the bounty or coerce him into giving you a free item. He also sells medkits and trauma kits. You don't get any Karma for playing the nice route.
• Ku Feng the vampire queen shows up at near the start of this mission, and you can get her to be in your party or cover the area for you. Bringing her into your party allows you to exceed the normal four-person limit, and you get the "Monster Squad" achievement if you have her and Gaichu together. You will lose her before the final fight, so feel free to let her health get low.
• Mid Ring
• Killing the Ranged Servitor in the southern room gives you 1 Karma.
• Rescuing the citizens from the guards by detonating the explosives (this is before leaving the area) is a losing endeavor. The citizens are already possessed/zombified and will attack after you cross over, and you're forced to kill them all.
• The Fortune Engine, final fight
• AOE spells (like Gobbet's Toxic Fog) are extremely effective against Qian Yu, since her 2x2 size results in multiple hits.

Hacking

• Hacking in the new Shadowrun is quite different than before. First, you have the stealth portion, where you need to avoid tracer programs moving on a set path. To bypass locks you need to enter several multi-digit combinations on a keypad. This unlocks the next section: picking a multiple choice pattern from among many patterns. The key here is to wait, as it will briefly reveal random parts of the correct combination.
• Each numpad combination successfully completed on the left side increases your total hacking time by 10 seconds, giving you both more time to examine the correct symbols and also a buffer for incorrect guesses.
• The pattern matching section on the right is actually fairly easy. You can usually solve it with plenty of time remaining even if you only do a few solves on the numpad portion.
• Note that failing a pattern resets the pattern.
• Somewhat of an exploit: you can jack out from anywhere by spamming AOE spells on yourself in combat until you get dump shock. Note that logging back in maintains your trace status.

Character Backstories (Spoilers!)

• Ten-Armed Ambrose used to be a shadowrunner in UCAS, who got terribly crippled on a run. His teammate Karen saved his life, and then convinced him not to kill himself when he was upset at his permanent, nearly-paralyzed condition. He eventually recovered and became a great doctor, but his Karen never got over their team dying and ended up killing herself (ironic). Finishing his Karen backstory gives you 1 Karma.
• Ambrose has a complicated additional history that you can't access without very high stats. You'll need either Intelligence 6, Drone Control 7, Biotech 6 or Astral Perception to get more hints.
• Racter is a former Russian drone researcher interested in a future where metahumans can shed their mortal bodies and move into machines. His drone self-repair research was stolen by two colleagues and sold to megacorps (this is an optional mission you can do). He was severed in half as a child in an accident and is missing his body below the hips, and also self-diagnoses himself as a psychopath. He believes he suffers no Essence loss from augmentation due to his psychopathy.
• Gaichu is a former Renraku Red Samurai, who was bitten by a ghoul on a mission and turned into a ghoul. His squad expected him to commit suicide at this point due to his impurity, and he refused and ran, killing two of them in the process. You later work him to ambush and kill the rest. He regularly struggles with embracing his primal, ghoulish side or exercising human, samurai restraint. In his climactic encounter with his old team lead, you can guide him to either intentionally infect his pinned leader or to merely kill him. Completing his storyline gives you an achievement.
• Is0bel is formerly from Somalia. Her parents were upper-class Somalians and fled from there, looking for a better life for their family. They ended up in the Mansion District of the Walled City, a complete hellhole. She watched her own brother die of a heroin overdose. She eventually fled the district with Gobbet's help, who met her while exploring. Is0bel intentionally left her parents behind when she fled because she knew she wanted her traumatic childhood memories removed, and couldn't have done that if her parents had been around her. After she gets her memories back, she feels guilt over their eventual death after she left.
• Gobbet is a Rat Shaman who grew up in Hong Kong, but outside of the Walled City. She started running from a very early age, and two of her former teams have had their members killed. For a while she lived on the "Sinking Ship", a floating mass of shipping containers in the bay, along with other Rat Shamans. She was tricked by a fellow team member into stealing a powerful and evil magical that unleashes demon spirits into the world, who brought it back to the Sinking Ship and killed many of the people aboard. She helped her friends kill her former teammate, but left the Sinking Ship after that.
• Duncan Wu
• There's a bunch of annoying repetition and daddy issues in his backstory, but the short summary is that Raymond took in both of you off the streets of the Barrens. You used to run together in a gang, but Raymond forbid you to see them after you came under his care to prevent criminal relapsing. One day an old gangmate, Lockjaw, came asking for your help, and you went with him to save your other gangmate. A local group of ghouls had moved into where your friends had been squatting and eaten/killed some of them. Lockjaw died, but you managed to rescue your other friend.
• Reliable Matthew is a drone dealer on the southern side of Heoi. He doesn't own any of the drones that he sells, and is pushed hard by his supplier to make sales. His cheeriness is just an act: he slots BTLs (better-than-life chips) to keep up his happy attitude. You get a miniquest to pick up his BTLs from Ambrose and can confront him on his habit, but you end up needing to give it to him no matter what. He lives a depressing, sad life and only BTLs help him get through the day. You get 1 Karma for finishing his story.
• Ka Feis
• Callum Ka Fei is the intellectual son, always hoping to move away from his family's business and work in a corporate structure. He chafes against his parents' restrictions and constantly seeks a more interesting life. You eventually find out that his mother had an affair, and that Callum is not Henry's son.
• Frederick Ka Fei is the burly bouncer son who can bench press 700kg. He also chafes against his parents' authority, confident that he'll be happier if he can leave. He wrpmg;y believes his father was a bigtime pirate instead of just a smuggler, and tries to join a pirate crew until found out and thoroughly rebuked by his father.
• Ermine Ka Fei is the gun running, brains-of-the-operation mother.  She used to work for the corporation Baihu.
• Henry Ka Fei is the reluctant father, who loves his family but misses his younger days as a smuggler and fisherman at sea. He ends up with a serious crisis that you help him resolve, as to whether he should leave his family and go back to sea, or to stay with them.