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[Coxswain]

I find it strange people are complaining about having to spend a single praxis point to level up your hacking one time.

I can understand complaining about level 5 hacks, but these are sidequests, a level 2 door is really no big deal. Expecting a player to at least spend ONE point for one sidequest in the entire game is not sloppy. If we were talking about a critical story mission quest that needed hacking 3 or greater, that I could understand.

You'd be missing tons and tons of weapon and item caches throughout the entire game if you didn't at least upgrade to hacking 2.

It's sloppy design in a game of this style to require any one particular skill, no matter how small the point expenditure. Missing out on a few items out of the dozens that you already don't have room to carry isn't nearly as big of a deal as being locked out of several of the game's sidequests.

It would be one thing if this was a game like Fallout: New Vegas, where you have ~80 side quests that aren't related to the main quest (although I'm pretty sure there actually aren't any quests like that in NV). There are only ten fleshed out sidequests in DXHR, excluding the ones that are just "Talk to [x]" and a couple that are basically secondary objectives within larger missions. It's pretty reasonable to expect that you won't be locked out of 30% of the game's sidequests if you don't have one specific skill.

Nobody's claiming that it ruins the game or anything hyperbolic like that; only that it's disappointing that, in a game with such an emphasis on letting the player choose their own style of play, there are multiple quests with only one solution - and that one solution is the exact same one in every example.

 

[Barack Lesnar]

Coxswain: What hacking level did these side quest(s) later in the game (what spoiler-tagged, I'm guessing) require? I'm currently at hacking lvl 3... is that enough? I'd rather spend the points elsewhere, to be honest.

I find it strange people are complaining about having to spend a single praxis point to level up your hacking one time.

I can understand complaining about level 5 hacks, but these are sidequests, a level 2 door is really no big deal. Expecting a player to at least spend ONE point for one sidequest in the entire game is not sloppy. If we were talking about a critical story mission quest that needed hacking 3 or greater, that I could understand.

You'd be missing tons and tons of weapon and item caches throughout the entire game if you didn't at least upgrade to hacking 2.

Well if it's only level 2 he's talking about yeah I don't see the problem at all lol

 

[Castor Krieg]

Edit: Unrelated: They got hugely sloppy on the sidequest design, it's really disappointing. If you don't put points into hacking, there are three sidequests that are, as far as I can tell, just flat-out not completable, before you finish your first visit to Hengsha. That wouldn't be so bad if there weren't only six real sidequests period by that point. The more I play the game (and I still like it a lot, mind you), the more I find that if you try to push the limits or play in a way counter to the way they seem to 'want' you to, the game pushes back, and for the most part, the game wins.
It's a shame, too, because they get it exactly right for about two missions: The first mission is hugely reactive to just about anything you can think to do, and although it's generally a lot shorter, so is the morgue. After that, it's not like the game goes completely linear or anything, and you still have multiple ways to get through the mission itself, but nothing much changes depending on how you complete the thing.

I think you are overanalyzing this. Your argument is like complaining you cannot kill a Deathclaw in Fallout with your 10mm pistol.

Augmentations and upgrading them are a core part of the game. If you look at Augmentation menu you see that Hacking has a total of FOUR distinct augmentation trees, more than any other ability: Hack Lvl., Hack Information, Fortify, Stealth Hack. Hacking has it's own minigame. Even one of the loading screens informs you that terminals above lvl. 1 are impossible to hack without raising your skill. You are arguing for the sake of arguing: it's obvious 99% of players will level up hacking, and thus discover all the passwords/complete the sidequests. If you do not want to do that - fine, but you are making the game harder for yourself for no reason at all. Drop the 10mm, get the Sniper Rifle.

Coxswain: What hacking level did these side quest(s) later in the game (what spoiler-tagged, I'm guessing) require? I'm currently at hacking lvl 3... is that enough? I'd rather spend the points elsewhere, to be honest.


Well if it's only level 2 he's talking about yeah I don't see the problem at all lol[/QUOTE

You are missing out a ton of EXP, credits, and background information by not hacking the terminals. You have way to many points to spend in the game, you can get all the meaningful augmentations by the time you reach mid-game. By the time I left Detroit I had all exploration augs, hacking at lvl. 4, fortify and stealth hacking maxed.

 

[indigo-cyclops]

Without having to search through the thread, unless it is in the OP, was it ever determined if any ALARMED status would still allow for the no alarm achievement? I'm assuming what they mean is when someone actually pulls an alarm.

 

[raphier]

I think it's pretty obvious some places are meant to open on your second visit. (Think of them as monsters you can't kill until you reach certain level)

 

[Barack Lesnar]

I think you are overanalyzing this. Your argument is like complaining you cannot kill a Deathclaw in Fallout with your 10mm pistol.

Augmentations and upgrading them are a core part of the game. If you look at Augmentation menu you see that Hacking has a total of FOUR distinct augmentation trees, more than any other ability: Hack Lvl., Hack Information, Fortify, Stealth Hack. Hacking has it's own minigame. Even one of the loading screens informs you that terminals above lvl. 1 are impossible to hack without raising your skill. You are arguing for the sake of arguing: it's obvious 99% of players will level up hacking, and thus discover all the passwords/complete the sidequests. If you do not want to do that - fine, but you are making the game harder for yourself for no reason at all. Drop the 10mm, get the Sniper Rifle.

Well said. The hacking game is pretty fun, too.

 

[Castor Krieg]

Without having to search through the thread, unless it is in the OP, was it ever determined if any ALARMED status would still allow for the no alarm achievement? I'm assuming what they mean is when someone actually pulls an alarm.

Yes, the achievement fails only if the enemy triggers an alarm using a wall panel, or you fail a hack which triggers one. Some missions will have enemies in Alarmed state from the start, thus it would've been impossible to get that achievement.

 

[Barack Lesnar]

You are missing out a ton of EXP, credits, and background information by not hacking the terminals. You have way to many points to spend in the game, you can get all the meaningful augmentations by the time you reach mid-game. By the time I left Detroit I had all exploration augs, hacking at lvl. 4, fortify and stealth hacking maxed.

Well mine is at lvl 3 but I believe I have 2 Praxis points floating. You've convinced me to just put them into lvl 5 to learn more about the story and such. Just in Detroit there's a bunch of terminals that require lvl 4 and 5... Malik's office is lvl 4, the one at the basketball court is lvl 5, a few others as well.

 

[Lostconfused]

I think you are overanalyzing this. Your argument is like complaining you cannot kill a Deathclaw in Fallout with your 10mm pistol.

Well said. The hacking game is pretty fun, too.

You two are kind of missing the point.

Edit: And this is ignoring the fact that the AUD completely invalidates the argument anyways.

 

[toastyToast]

I've discovered it's actually quite possible to be somewhat stealthy and a psychotic maniac at the same time.

All you gots to do is kill someone then move to another location and chill over there while the guards look for the source of the noise. I'm sure this will only get easier once I get cloack.

I'm fucking dudes up now, Sanders got laid out real quick.

And damn I missed Latitia last time and just discovered her now. Holy shit, this is ridiculous lmao

 

[Coxswain]

I think you are overanalyzing this. Your argument is like complaining you cannot kill a Deathclaw in Fallout with your 10mm pistol.

Augmentations and upgrading them are a core part of the game. If you look at Augmentation menu you see that Hacking has a total of FOUR distinct augmentation trees, more than any other ability: Hack Lvl., Hack Information, Fortify, Stealth Hack. Hacking has it's own minigame. Even one of the loading screens informs you that terminals above lvl. 1 are impossible to hack without raising your skill. You are arguing for the sake of arguing: it's obvious 99% of players will level up hacking, and thus discover all the passwords/complete the sidequests. If you do not want to do that - fine, but you are making the game harder for yourself for no reason at all. Drop the 10mm, get the Sniper Rifle.

You can kill a Deathclaw with a 10mm pistol. It's going to take a really, really long time, you'll probably die dozens of times in the process unless you do it from a vantage point where the Deathclaw can't hit you, and it's pretty obvious that you're not really meant to do it, but you can absolutely kill a Deathclaw with a 10mm pistol.

You cannot complete these sidequests without putting points into Hacking: Capture. It's not possible to even attempt.



It's also entirely possible to put yourself in a situation where you cannot gain any more Praxis Points (through experience, exploration, or purchase) and you've spent all of the points available on skills that aren't hacking, locking you out of the quest permanently unless you revert to an earlier save or start the game again. You'll never put yourself in a situation where all you have is a 10mm pistol and you can never walk away to pick up a Sniper Rifle without starting a new character. These are very, very different situations. One is a legitimate issue with game design, and the other holds no water.

 

[wutwutwut]

It's sloppy design in a game of this style to require any one particular skill, no matter how small the point expenditure. Missing out on a few items out of the dozens that you already don't have room to carry isn't nearly as big of a deal as being locked out of several of the game's sidequests.

The game doesn't require any skills, actually, given how people have completed no-aug runs. The sidequests do but they aren't compulsory. Guess what, you can screw yourself into not being able to complete the game too: for instance, if you delete all your saves except the one in the middle of a boss fight with 1 health, no health packs, no ammo, no grenades and none left lying around. Just... don't be stupid and the game will work for you.

edit:

It's also entirely possible to put yourself in a situation where you cannot gain any more Praxis Points (through experience, exploration, or purchase) and you've spent all of the points available on skills that aren't hacking, locking you out of the quest permanently

There are plenty of other ways to lock yourself out of quests permanently, even to the extent of not getting them at all. Say the wrong thing to the wrong person and you're screwed. That's fine -- as I said, you need to not be stupid.

 

[Lostconfused]

The game doesn't require any skills, actually, given how people have completed no-aug runs. The sidequests do but they aren't compulsory. Guess what, you can trap yourself into not being able to complete the game too: for instance, if you delete all your saves except the one in the middle of a boss fight with 1 health, no health packs, no ammo, no grenades and none left lying around.

But it's still poor/bad/sloppy design. Which is even more egregious when the point of this game is to facilitate various play styles.

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

You can kill a Deathclaw with a 10mm pistol. It's going to take a really, really long time, you'll probably die dozens of times in the process unless you do it from a vantage point where the Deathclaw can't hit you, and it's pretty obvious that you're not really meant to do it, but you can absolutely kill a Deathclaw with a 10mm pistol.

You cannot complete these sidequests without putting points into Hacking: Capture. It's not possible to even attempt.



It's also entirely possible to put yourself in a situation where you cannot gain any more Praxis Points (through experience, exploration, or purchase) and you've spent all of the points available on skills that aren't hacking, locking you out of the quest permanently unless you revert to an earlier save or start the game again. You'll never put yourself in a situation where all you have is a 10mm pistol and you can never walk away to pick up a Sniper Rifle without starting a new character. These are very, very different situations. One is a legitimate issue with game design, and the other holds no water.

They're sidequests, they aren't on the critical path. It's maybe undesirable, but it's not even close to a big deal. If you haven't invested a single point into hacking capture by those points in the game, then too bad.

 

[Sullen]

I was wondering when the love would come full circle and the thread would start getting filled with people nitpicking about minor bullshit in a very amazing game.

 

[wutwutwut]

But it's still poor/bad/sloppy design. Which is even more egregious when the point of this game is to facilitate various play styles.

Are you seriously saying that screwing yourself by deleting all your saves except the one where you're basically fucked is poor design?

 

[Lostconfused]

Are you seriously saying that screwing yourself by deleting all your saves except the one where you're basically fucked is poor design?

Are you just trolling?

 

[tiff]

I was wondering when the love would come full circle and the thread would start getting filled with people nitpicking about minor bullshit in a very amazing game.

Ah yes the "Your complaints don't matter la la la la la this is a great game!" defense.

 

[whalleywhat]

You can kill a Deathclaw with a 10mm pistol. It's going to take a really, really long time, you'll probably die dozens of times in the process unless you do it from a vantage point where the Deathclaw can't hit you, and it's pretty obvious that you're not really meant to do it, but you can absolutely kill a Deathclaw with a 10mm pistol.

You cannot complete these sidequests without putting points into Hacking: Capture. It's not possible to even attempt.



It's also entirely possible to put yourself in a situation where you cannot gain any more Praxis Points (through experience, exploration, or purchase) and you've spent all of the points available on skills that aren't hacking, locking you out of the quest permanently unless you revert to an earlier save or start the game again. You'll never put yourself in a situation where all you have is a 10mm pistol and you can never walk away to pick up a Sniper Rifle without starting a new character. These are very, very different situations. One is a legitimate issue with game design, and the other holds no water.

Yes, you make choices which impact your gameplay options. It's not just 'stairs or ladder'. As everyone has pointed out, there's nothing that prevents you from critical pathing the game one way or another.

 

[Coxswain]

Are you seriously saying that screwing yourself by deleting all your saves except the one where you're basically fucked is poor design?

Are you seriously saying that "deciding that there is one skill you don't want to invest in" is on the same level as "deliberately deleting every save except for the one you know screws you over, including the two Auto-save slots that are created to deal with that exact problem"?

 

[Lostconfused]

Yes, you make choices which impact your gameplay options. It's not just 'stairs or ladder'. As everyone has pointed out, there's nothing that prevents you from critical pathing the game one way or another.

And this game is supposed to be about having multiple solutions to problems instead of just the one solution.

 

[wutwutwut]

Are you just trolling?

I'm not trying to, no.

OK, back up. What do you think is poor design? If you think not being able to complete sidequests without some sort of requisite skill is poor design, why? The game provides you plenty of ways to screw yourself out of sidequests, and that is just another.

 

[indigo-cyclops]

Yes, the achievement fails only if the enemy triggers an alarm using a wall panel, or you fail a hack which triggers one. Some missions will have enemies in Alarmed state from the start, thus it would've been impossible to get that achievement.

Alright thank you! That's a huge relief.

 

[whalleywhat]

And this game is supposed to be about having multiple solutions to problems instead of just the one solution.

If you want to very particularly define what the game is supposed to be, then you can say it's flawed for not fulfilling that, but all of the story missions can be solved multiple ways. Not having certain augs locks you out of some side missions, and this doesn't bother me. Choice. Consequence.

 

[wutwutwut]

And this game is supposed to be about having multiple solutions to problems instead of just the one solution.

It simply does not follow from that that you should be able to complete everything in the game with any possible build.

 

[Lostconfused]

OK, back up. What do you think is poor design? If you think not being able to complete sidequests without some sort of requisite skill is poor design, why? The game provides you plenty of ways to screw yourself out of sidequests, and that is just another.

Because the game is supposedly about giving the player a variety of options and facilitating various play styles. If that is the basis for the game then it's poor design to have quests where there is only one single solution. But this wouldn't even be a problem if the AUD wasn't locked away as a dumb pre-order bonus.

If you want to very particularly define what the game is supposed to be, then you can say it's flawed for not fulfilling that, but all of the story missions can be solved multiple ways. Not having certain augs locks you out of some side missions, and this doesn't bother me. Choice. Consequence.

Ok so we agree that its flawed then.

 

[Coxswain]

I'm not trying to, no.

OK, back up. What do you think is poor design? If you think not being able to complete sidequests without some sort of requisite skill is poor design, why? The game provides you plenty of ways to screw yourself out of sidequests, and that is just another.

Name me every instance in the game where you fail/miss a sidequest without being given ample warning that what you're about to do will fail the sidequest, and/or are not told in no uncertain terms that you have failed/missed the sidequest as soon as it happens.

Because here's my list:
- Motherly Ties, Shanghai Justice, and Bar Tab all require investment in Hacking: Capture. Not Hacking: Stealth or Hacking: Fortify or Hacking: Analyze, or even the Hacking: Capture skills that give you control over turrets and robots, let alone any of the fourteen non-hacking skills/skill trees.
- Forgotten Acquaintances is unavailable if you don't go to your office and read your e-mails in the 2-5 minutes between the time when David Sarif tells you that the helicopter is waiting to take you to Shanghai, and the time when you get on the helicopter to go to Shanghai. There's no warning that you won't get another chance to read it until the opportunity has passed you by, and there's no indication that it was attached to a sidequest.


In both cases, I would argue that the game design is pretty sloppy and not up to the standards of the rest of the game (or several other games that also push player choice and multiple solutions to problems).

Edit:

It simply does not follow from that that you should be able to complete everything in the game with any possible build.

Let me turn this around: Which other skill besides Hacking: Capture will render you completely unable to complete any major (ie: main or subquest objective) in the game? (Not having Icarus Landing prevents you from getting an achievement, but that's as close as I can think of.)

 

[Kworn]

So who threw the basket ball in the net for 5 achievement points???

 

[Enco]

So who threw the basket ball in the net for 5 achievement points???

I tried but damn that thing is bouncy.

Not worth the hassle.

 

[Lostconfused]

- Forgotten Acquaintances is unavailable if you don't go to your office and read your e-mails in the 2-5 minutes between the time when David Sarif tells you that the helicopter is waiting to take you to Shanghai, and the time when you get on the helicopter to go to Shanghai. There's no warning that you won't get another chance to read it until the opportunity has passed you by, and there's no indication that it was attached to a sidequest.

But he does tell you to go read those emails.

So who threw the basket ball in the net for 5 achievement points???

I practiced that shot in the leaked build so I got it on the second or third attempt in the game.

 

[cleveridea]

The idea that you cant access sidequests is part of the "agony of choice" in RPG's and what makes you have meaningful and viable options. there is a high opportunity cost of using any tree.

so yes not putting points into hacking sucks for missing content, but it should hurt. There is a high opportunity cost for putting points into hacking trees, which is why its such a difficult choice. If I could access the same content without putting points into hacking, it would be a no brainer to me to put points into combat elements e.g. armor would help tremendously in survivabilit. it makes me think about where to invest points and I like that.

is the penalty for no hacking too high (missing quests?) that can be debated, but I think its justifiable game design.

 

[Nugg]

So who threw the basket ball in the net for 5 achievement points???

I piled barrels next to the net and just dropped the ball in there. I feel like I cheated.

 

[Castor Krieg]

Let me turn this around: Which other skill besides Hacking: Capture will render you completely unable to complete any major (ie: main or subquest objective) in the game? (Not having Icarus Landing prevents you from getting an achievement, but that's as close as I can think of.)

You are contradicting yourself. Sidequest objective is not a major one by definition. All the major objectives can be completed with basic hacking, as all the terminals you have to hack require Hacking Lvl. 1.

 

[Marco1]

Isn't it great that these devs took the time to really make a deus ex game instead of attaching it to a poorly put together FPS ?
Great game eidos and it deserves the praise, long may it live.

 

[Zeliard]

I piled barrels next to the net and just dropped the ball in there. I feel like I cheated.

Naw, you Deus Ex'd it.

 

[Enco]

I piled barrels next to the net and just dropped the ball in there. I feel like I cheated.

Can't believe I didn't think of that!

Eidos are rising to be my favorite devs. First Just Cause 2 and now this. Two of the best games this gen.

 

[FrontalMonk]

I was wondering when the love would come full circle and the thread would start getting filled with people nitpicking about minor bullshit in a very amazing game.

Seriously. Took a full week for that to happen. to call almost anything in this game out as an "egregious design fault" is just plain silly. Unless you're talking about the boss fights.

With that said, in defense of the boss fights, too many games these days don't even have bosses anymore...ever since CoD took hold it's like people would rather throw waves upon waves of the same nameless mooks at the player than have a challenging, interesting boss fight.

 

[darkpaladinmfc]

How far did the leaked build let you play up to?

 

[Coxswain]

But he does tell you to go read those emails.

Yeah, but you're not really given any indication that there are going to be negative ramifications to not reading the e-mails. They could have made it one of the minor "oh yeah PS do this" sidequests like "Talk to Greg Thorpe" or "Go see Zeke in the alley" to give the player more of an indication that it was something important and time-critical.

It's not nearly as bad as the Hacking requirement; I probably wouldn't have thought of it if I weren't racking my brain for anything that was even remotely comparable.

 

[wutwutwut]

Name me every instance in the game where you fail/miss a sidequest without being given ample warning that what you're about to do will fail the sidequest, and/or are not told in no uncertain terms that you have failed/missed the sidequest as soon as it happens.

Other than the ones you mentioned, off the top of my head.
- You can miss the sidequests given by the

Spoiler

hooker

if you don't go there and talk to her.
- You can miss the

Spoiler

Tong

sidequest if you sneak in rather than

Spoiler

talk to the bartender

. (This happened to me!)
- You can miss the sidequest given by the

Spoiler

scientist in the Hengsha LIMB clinic

if you don't wander there.

In both cases, I would argue that the game design is pretty sloppy and not up to the standards of the rest of the game (or several other games that also push player choice and multiple solutions to problems).

I'm sorry, I simply see nothing wrong with sidequests that you can miss or not be able to complete with your build.

Let me turn this around: Which other skill besides Hacking: Capture will render you completely unable to complete any major (ie: main or subquest objective) in the game? (Not having Icarus Landing prevents you from getting an achievement, but that's as close as I can think of.)

You're treating main quests and sidequests similarly. I disagree.

 

[Lostconfused]

The idea that you cant access sidequests is part of the "agony of choice" in RPG's and what makes you have meaningful and viable options. there is a high opportunity cost of using any tree.

so yes not putting points into hacking sucks for missing content, but it should hurt. There is a high opportunity cost for putting points into hacking trees, which is why its such a difficult choice. If I could access the same content without putting points into hacking, it would be a no brainer to me to put points into combat elements e.g. armor would help tremendously in survivabilit. it makes me think about where to invest points and I like that.

is the penalty for no hacking too high (missing quests?) that can be debated, but I think its justifiable game design.

No. There is a penalty for deciding to not pre-order from gamestop. There is no penalty for not putting points into hacking because there is an item that can bypass any hackable object in the game that you don't have the required skills to hack.

 

[FrontalMonk]

Yeah, but you're not really given any indication that there are going to be negative ramifications to not reading the e-mails. They could have made it one of the minor "oh yeah PS do this" sidequests like "Talk to Greg Thorpe" or "Go see Zeke in the alley" to give the player more of an indication that it was something important and time-critical.

It's not nearly as bad as the Hacking requirement; I probably wouldn't have thought of it if I weren't racking my brain for anything that was even remotely comparable.

The same could be said for

Spoiler

letting the hostages die in the first mission

but nobody minded that; most of the comments I read were along the lines of "that's so cool!"

 

[Zenith]

If you didn't pre-order from gamestop. They don't exist in your game. Which is dumb.

really? how stupid.

for people who have the regular edition, how does the game handle the missing story quest? it felt naturally inserted.

Spoiler

2nd time in Hengsha when you're tasked with tracking the GPL signal you go into the Harvester's lair and find Tong with the new arm. Before he'll tell you about the shipping port he says his son is being held by Belltower as insurance to ensure his cooperation. You go to an abandnoned noodle factory and rescue him. Later on when you set off the bomb in the port you learn it was also a distraction for Tong's son to allow him to get to Hong Kong.

There were enough emails and pocket secretaries outside of the downloaded level talking about it to make it feel like it'd always been part of the game.

 

[Commanche Raisin Toast]

i actually find it kind of charming and 'cool', if you will, that the game features quests you can't do at all without certain augmentations. i think a lot of people are just getting so complacent with being able to get 100% completion in all their games that they are unable to see the fun in selective restrictions. this game IS about paths and replay, so it doesn't seem out of place that you'd start a new game and gain access to new areas and discover things you didn't previously.

they give you enough praxis over the course of the game to get most things, but not completely max out every aug and every weapon. they want you to choose a play style (a path) and stick to it. then try the game again with a different path. you should be happy at all that you can switch play styles throughout the game. calling it lazy sounds like exaggeration as a result of frustration from being used to the way other games work.

 

[wutwutwut]

No. There is a penalty for deciding to not pre-order from gamestop. There is no penalty for not putting points into hacking because there is an item that can bypass any hackable object in the game that you don't have the required skills to hack.

This I can certainly get behind! Apologies for not fully understanding your argument.

 

[Randy]

It's like DX and Metal Gear made sweet love.

 

[xandaca]

Finished this last night, fantastic game. It took me about twenty-six hours, doing all the side-quests (I think) and a whole lot of exploration and dossing around. Even though there is a pretty sharp dip in quality for the last quarter, it's a worthy sequel to the original game that captures everything special about it whilst intelligently updating all the stuff that might not sit so well with modern gamers. A shame there are areas where the game is a bit too restrictive in terms of exploration or deviating from the plot (no out-of-sequence shooting of important characters this time), but certainly one of the best games of the year.

Here's my full review for anyone interested.

 

[Sotha Sil]

i actually find it kind of charming and 'cool', if you will, that the game features quests you can't do at all without certain augmentations.

Me too. I really like it, actually.

 

[Coxswain]

You are contradicting yourself. Sidequest objective is not a major one by definition. All the major objectives can be completed with basic hacking, as all the terminals you have to hack require Hacking Lvl. 1.

It's not a contradiction. "Major" is not the same thing as "Part of the critical path". In a game with ten fleshed-out sidequests, total, it is in fact pretty fair to call each one 'major'!

There is a high opportunity cost for putting points into hacking trees, which is why its such a difficult choice.

No, there is a negative opportunity cost for investing in hacking. For every point you put into hacking, you earn back enough experience through hacking to gain about two Praxis Points. Not to mention the fact that two of the three quests in question give Praxis Points as rewards, meaning that putting the... seven, I think, points into Hacking: Capture and Hacking: Stealth results in you gaining somewhere in the area of 14-16 points.

Your two options are quite effectively 'do I take these skills, gain extra levels for having done so, and open up 90% of the game's blocked-off areas in one fell swoop' versus 'do I not take these skills, end up with fewer points to put into other skills, and render myself completely incapable of completing several of the game's small number of sidequests'.

It is the opposite of the RPG "agony of choice".

 

[Zenith]

The shotgun in this game is really practical, especially with the burst system. And once you upgrade the SMG with silencer and auto-tracking and movement-accuracy augs you can do quick charges down corridors with the fire button held down. And of course the 10mm is my personal sidearm.

I wanted to keep all of them so I made the unusual choice of not having the assault rifle even though I'm a "soldier class". Next run through I'm going to use a revolver-assault rifle combo.