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[Valkyri von Thanatos]

SM02 (cult of personality) is so satisfying on NG+. Hack level 5 door > stun gun to the face > done. Fuck off, Richard.

I actually found a clever way of bypassing the quest without even hacking. I decided I didn't want to go through with it though because it resulted in me not really knowing what was actually going on, so I followed the normal trail afterwards.

If you want to know the method I figures out, read on:

Spoiler

I was checking how difficult the door panel to his room was, and wasn't really worrying about turrets, since I could eventually regain my health with time. I ran up to the door, as the nearby turret shot at me, and found that it had missed a couple of times and hit the door. I then actively stood in front of the door and took a few shots until the door was blown open, and quickly knocked out Richard.

Like I said above though, I decided I wanted to know what was actually going on, and I wouldn't learn that if I didn't investigate the lead with the other guy, Liborio was his name? So I reloaded and went through with the quest the normal way. I'll definitely be doing it on my next run though, and I was pleased I had come up with an out of the box solution.

 

[EmCeeGramr]

I actually found a clever way of bypassing the quest without even hacking. I decided I didn't want to go through with it though because it resulted in me not really knowing what was actually going on, so I followed the normal trail afterwards.

If you want to know the method I figures out, read on:

Spoiler

I was checking how difficult the door panel to his room was, and wasn't really worrying about turrets, since I could eventually regain my health with time. I ran up to the door, as the nearby turret shot at me, and found that it had missed a couple of times and hit the door. I then actively stood in front of the door and took a few shots until the door was blown open, and quickly knocked out Richard.

Like I said above though, I decided I wanted to know what was actually going on, and I wouldn't learn that if I didn't investigate the lead with the other guy, Liborio was his name? So I reloaded and went through with the quest the normal way. I'll definitely be doing it on my next run though, and I was pleased I had come up with an out of the box solution.

I actually did the fast way on NG+ and then reloaded and did it the "proper" way because

Spoiler

the "Lost Souls" actually seem extremely disoriented, confused, and distressed if you knock out Richard vs exposing him in front of them, in which case their responses become more shame and resignation.

 

[Valkyri von Thanatos]

I actually did the fast way on NG+ and then reloaded and did it the "proper" way because

Spoiler

the "Lost Souls" actually seem extremely disoriented, confused, and distressed if you knock out Richard vs exposing him in front of them, in which case their responses become more shame and resignation.

That was another reason I did it as well.

Edit:

Now, if you can show me anywhere in the game that there's only 7 millions augmented people in the world... then sure, it's a more believable scenario (but still far fetched to me) I guess. I'm not sure that's the case though.

Like others have pointed out, Samizdat relays this information. In fact

Spoiler

K tells Jensen in person

, I know because I just reached that part today. What no one here has mentioned is that

Spoiler

he said it had dropped something like 89% since the incident (which would mean the current Aug population is currently about 1/10th of the pre-incident one, making the population about 70 million before) which paints a pretty gruesome picture of the death toll the incident caused. Extremely lethal force was used (somewhat understandably) on rampaging Augs, but that drop is too big for just that event, it sounds like many have died from the oppression that followed.

Another thing to take note of is people who choose to remove their augments, a woman in Prague said people have been known to do that in order to "rejoin society". It's messed up that people had to disable themselves in some cases to be accepted. I still gather much of the 89% drop in population is from death rather than rejection though.

 

[Valkyri von Thanatos]

Oops, double post, meant to include this as an edit above.

 

[Jeffrey]

Man the gunplay kinda sucks, everyone is a tank. nonlethal is way easier.

stun gun is just way too op. They really should have limited the ammo for that gun.

 

[psychotron]

I actually found a clever way of bypassing the quest without even hacking. I decided I didn't want to go through with it though because it resulted in me not really knowing what was actually going on, so I followed the normal trail afterwards.

If you want to know the method I figures out, read on:

Spoiler

I was checking how difficult the door panel to his room was, and wasn't really worrying about turrets, since I could eventually regain my health with time. I ran up to the door, as the nearby turret shot at me, and found that it had missed a couple of times and hit the door. I then actively stood in front of the door and took a few shots until the door was blown open, and quickly knocked out Richard.

Like I said above though, I decided I wanted to know what was actually going on, and I wouldn't learn that if I didn't investigate the lead with the other guy, Liborio was his name? So I reloaded and went through with the quest the normal way. I'll definitely be doing it on my next run though, and I was pleased I had come up with an out of the box solution.

That's awesome! I went the long way and had the best outcome for all involved. NG+ I'm trying your method.

 

[Trojan]

Man the gunplay kinda sucks, everyone is a tank. nonlethal is way easier.

stun gun is just way too op. They really should have limited the ammo for that gun.

I regretted picking up tranq gun instead of stun gun, but i soon realize that the stun gun is bauss

 

[mbpm1]

I'm a simple man.I see an area marked red on the map and I go into it.

 

[Jeffrey]

I regretted picking up tranq gun instead of stun gun, but i soon realize that the stun gun is bauss

there are a lot of those around if you havne't found one yet.

 

[Robot Carnival]

I asked this a while ago but didn't get an answer, so figure I'll try my luck again. where can I get the PC collector's edition right now? SE store is sold out and I don't see it anywhere else.

 

[tearsintherain]

I asked this a while ago but didn't get an answer, so figure I'll try my luck again. where can I get the PC collector's edition right now? SE store is sold out and I don't see it anywhere else.

PC CE is not really sold anywhere in the US. However you can just pick up a collectors console edition, there is no unique digital content in the CE, its just the figurine, art book, and steelbook that are extra, and just sell/trade the console edition. Gamestop will give you $30 (in trade credit, but can buy a steam card) for it for example.

Honestly its a CE that feels heavily overproduced and I'm 99% sure it will be on a 60-75% discount in a few months. For example Doom CE is $40 at amazon for consoles at the moment, Hitman CE has been at that sort of price a few times, and I can't see any reason why Deus Ex won't do the same in a few months since gamestop, best buy, and amazon all have tons of units in stock.

 

[malfcn]

I am the slowest player ever.

Between wanting to inspect every pixel and never knowing if I am playing "right" - I think I am at 20 hours and ready for the TF29 mission.

 

[Trojan]

I am the slowest player ever.

Between wanting to inspect every pixel and never knowing if I am playing "right" - I think I am at 20 hours and ready for the TF29 mission.

There's no "right" way to play Deus Ex...whatever you have the most fun doing! I play real slow too but I enjoy it more that way. I tend to break into every apartment I find before doing most of the main story.

 

[shiba5]

Finished my "I never asked for this" run. It was a pain in the ass only having one save.

 

[Robot Carnival]

PC CE is not really sold anywhere in the US. However you can just pick up a collectors console edition, there is no unique digital content in the CE, its just the figurine, art book, and steelbook that are extra, and just sell/trade the console edition. Gamestop will give you $30 (in trade credit, but can buy a steam card) for it for example.

Honestly its a CE that feels heavily overproduced and I'm 99% sure it will be on a 60-75% discount in a few months. For example Doom CE is $40 at amazon for consoles at the moment, Hitman CE has been at that sort of price a few times, and I can't see any reason why Deus Ex won't do the same in a few months since gamestop, best buy, and amazon all have tons of units in stock.

that's interesting. definitely a way to go about it I guess.

 

[ramuh]

Debating on picking this one up. Playing through hr. I feel if I wait a few months I can grab a full copy of everything. ugh.

 

[JBwB]

Finished the game but there's something I don't get...

I thought I fulfilled all the requirements to get the 'Foxiest of the Hounds' achievement in where you don't set off a single alarm the entire game. It never popped for me despite not setting off any alarms

Do failed hacks count as setting off an alarm? Because that's the only thing I can think of preventing me from getting it. I've never gotten an alarm, panic or hostile state, only suspicious states.

 

[ramuh]

Finished the game but there's something I don't get...

I thought I fulfilled all the requirements to get the 'Foxiest of the Hounds' achievement in where you don't set off a single alarm the entire game. It never popped for me despite not setting off any alarms

Do failed hacks count as setting off an alarm? Because that's the only thing I can think of preventing me from getting it. I've never gotten an alarm, panic or hostile state, only suspicious states.

Damn. That sucks if you didn't trigger any alarms.

 

[Snacks the sober sea lion]

Man the gunplay kinda sucks, everyone is a tank. nonlethal is way easier.

stun gun is just way too op. They really should have limited the ammo for that gun.

Yeah, I don't know what they expect you to do when literally every enemy other than mob henchmen, even basic police, have helmets that deflect multiple headshots. And you're lucky to have even 2 spare magazines of assault rifle ammo, let alone enough armor piercing to use it consistently. Pistol with armor piercing upgrade was obscenely overpowered in the first game, but in this game it feels like they instead made every lethal gun underpowered. Revolver headshot with armor piercing should kill an armored enemy instantly. Otherwise what's even the point?

 

[BaraSailey]

Finished the game but there's something I don't get...

I thought I fulfilled all the requirements to get the 'Foxiest of the Hounds' achievement in where you don't set off a single alarm the entire game. It never popped for me despite not setting off any alarms

Do failed hacks count as setting off an alarm? Because that's the only thing I can think of preventing me from getting it. I've never gotten an alarm, panic or hostile state, only suspicious states.

This also happened to me, so I feel your pain. Failed hacks apparently count, sadly :/

I'm hoping to get mine on my second playthrough, if not I'll just get it in permadeath mode. I was not happy when that trophy didn't pop though, haha

 

[Q8D3vil]

I have a question, whats the best way to play the game ?
- Non lethal stealth.
- Lethal Stealth.
- Gun blazing.

 

[Timeaisis]

Man, mission 13 was hard. I got spotted for seemingly no reason sometimes. Kind of frustrating.

Ohh, merciful me. If only I had the will to kill.

 

[mbpm1]

I have a question, whats the best way to play the game ?
- Non lethal stealth.
- Lethal Stealth.
- Gun blazing.

Being flexible. Stealth or guns as you like/situation required

 

[malfcn]

There's no "right" way to play Deus Ex...whatever you have the most fun doing! I play real slow too but I enjoy it more that way. I tend to break into every apartment I find before doing most of the main story.

I dunno. When I start breaking into places and finding story items before I'm supposed to..

 

[tearsintherain]

Finished the game but there's something I don't get...

I thought I fulfilled all the requirements to get the 'Foxiest of the Hounds' achievement in where you don't set off a single alarm the entire game. It never popped for me despite not setting off any alarms

Do failed hacks count as setting off an alarm? Because that's the only thing I can think of preventing me from getting it. I've never gotten an alarm, panic or hostile state, only suspicious states.

There are a few story choices I believe that auto trigger an alarm and you don't even hear the alarm. I don't want to spoil it but it involves Talos, GARM, and the second to last level. Basically to get some of these trophies you have to read ahead the trophy spoiler sites and learn exactly what NOT to do, like its impossible to get 75/75 eBooks if you make the wrong story choice.

Thats one of the biggest disappointments in the game, they really needed a status panel in your suit with "alarms triggered: 0. enemies killed: 0. enemies subdued: 0. etc" as you play each level, so you can quickly double check your pacifist ways are intact and save scumm if something went wrong. Requiring you complete the entire game without any clue if something fucked up along the way is ridiculously dumb.

 

[Springfoot]

Like others have pointed out, Samizdat relays this information. In fact

Spoiler

K tells Jensen in person

, I know because I just reached that part today. What no one here has mentioned is that

Spoiler

he said it had dropped something like 89% since the incident (which would mean the current Aug population is currently about 1/10th of the pre-incident one, making the population about 70 million before) which paints a pretty gruesome picture of the death toll the incident caused. Extremely lethal force was used (somewhat understandably) on rampaging Augs, but that drop is too big for just that event, it sounds like many have died from the oppression that followed.

Another thing to take note of is people who choose to remove their augments, a woman in Prague said people have been known to do that in order to "rejoin society". It's messed up that people had to disable themselves in some cases to be accepted. I still gather much of the 89% drop in population is from death rather than rejection though.

Yeah, I had remembered reading that only about 10% of the original aug population was left but couldn't remember exactly where it was stated. There's also one of the shop keeps who had a neural aug removed (and is left with a visible scar and patch of missing hair on his head). The 7 million number is only the surviving augs:

The projected capacity of Santeauland -- sorry, Rabi'ah -- is 101,500. There are 7.1 million augmented survivors since the tragic incident. By my reckoning, that's roughly one for every daily dollar spent building a paradise most can't afford. Will Brown make them pay to dig their own graves next?

Also, since we seem to be having the same discussion here as was going on in the spoiler thread, I'll just quote what I posted there:

Regarding the discussion about the portrayal of invasive augmentations going on above, even as a huge fan of both games I was in the camp that found it a bit over the top in both HR and MD. I understand and think the idea of corporations encouraging their poorer employees to get augs to compete in the modern labor force (and thereby making them even more dependent on their employer) works just fine, especially since MD goes out of its way to show how corporations have become as large and powerful as local governments. Having those in the competitive but lucrative entertainment industry (everything from athletes to sex workers) opt for beneficial augs also makes sense. I also liked the side story in HR that showed how the corporate and political elite had turned to (largely hidden) neural augs to give them an edge in making deals. But there still seemed to be plenty of average middle class people who apparently had gone in for invasive, clearly mechanical and aesthetically clunky augmentations purely of their own volition, which never really tracked for me. Even a lot of the in-game advertisements in HR during the height of the aug boom were aimed at the middle class, showing invasive body part replacement as something the average person was supposedly open to, almost as if people today in 2016 would be open to lopping off their legs below the knee to replace them with Oscar Pistorius style running blades (while also committing to a lifelong dependency of a drug produced and sold exclusively by a single corporate monopoly).

Then in MD somehow the entirety of the business and political elite who had gotten these mental and social augs apparently fall victim to and allow their powerful corporations and governments to push the narrative that all augs are dangerous and should be quarantined while only naturals can be trusted. Although MD in general kind of ignores that elite class of augmented individuals established in the corporate side story from HR. And that's not to mention that apparently *everything* is considered an "aug" including medically necessary, minute stuff like a liver replacement or a cochlear implant for doing nothing more than improving balance, but if someone has one of those "augmentations" they're classified the same as someone whose arms are capable of punching through tank armor. I absolutely love both of these games as they're two of my favorite games from the past decade, and I understand they're portraying things dramatically to help convey their message, but even as a major fan I feel some of it came off as a bit forced.

 

[Brian_FETO]

Finally got a chance to dive back in and play a good chunk further, love this game

Love how open ended one of the objectives was in the Rucker Extraction.

Spoiler

My gang friend gave me a ring, so I threw a smoke bomb in the store and stabbed the three of em, then used a multitool on the door

The conversations battles are so fun too. Maybe the choices are obvious or something but it's really satisfying

 

[mbpm1]

I kinda wanted more time with the secondary characters overall

 

[Valkyri von Thanatos]

Yeah, I had remembered reading that only about 10% of the original aug population was left but couldn't remember exactly where it was stated. There's also one of the shop keeps who had a neural aug removed (and is left with a visible scar and patch of missing hair on his head). The 7 million number is only the surviving augs:



Also, since we seem to be having the same discussion here as was going on in the spoiler thread, I'll just quote what I posted there:

Sorry, I don't dare look at the quoted post, since you say it is from the spoiler thread? I haven't even gotten to Golem City man.

Edit:

@Brian_FETO

I also really love the persuasion/conversation "boss battles", especially because I challenge myself by refusing to use the CASIE aug, the same I did for HR the first time through. I really love trying to interpret how best to resolve a situation peacefully. As far as I know, it's still something no other game does, most persuasion systems are too simple, only ever offering like two options or something. Mass Effect 2 did it the worst, you only got better at resolving situations verbally by either being only good or only bad, because they stupidly decided to include just an "evil persuasion" option and a "good persuasion" option, that only got better depending on your alignment. More games need to take inspiration from HR and MD's example.

 

[CertifiedFP]

Weren't most of Invisible War's problems a result of Warren being too hands-off and the whole thing being directed moreso by corporate focus-testers?

 

[matrix-cat]

I'm a simple man.I see an area marked red on the map and I go into it.

If I can hack something, it's getting hacked, no matter what other mission I happen to be on at the time. If that leads to me getting sidetracked for like three hours while I explore tunnels and uncover a whole new area, so be it.

 

[Valkyri von Thanatos]

If I can hack something, it's getting hacked, no matter what other mission I happen to be on at the time. If that leads to me getting sidetracked for like three hours while I explore tunnels and uncover a whole new area, so be it.

I'm the same way, though I do sometimes restrain myself to hack something later when I've already upgraded my hacking enough. I just can't get enough of exploring every nook and cranny, learning everything I can and being a weird kleptomaniac as I do it.

I've probably spent 15-20 hours and I haven't even gone to Golem City yet, in fact I was going to do it, got the option to go, then went off to finish some business and accidentally spent more than two hours before coming back. Just remembered I have another thing to do before I go, lol.

 

[Springfoot]

Sorry, I don't dare look at the quoted post, since you say it is from the spoiler thread? I haven't even gotten to Golem City man.

Nothing in it is a spoiler, I wouldn't do that in an open thread like this without wrapping it in spoiler tags. Rather it was just the same discussion was happening in both threads about the believably of average middle class people choosing to chop off limbs so they could run like Usain Bolt or punch like Mike Tyson.

Like I get the neural augmentations that aid people's memories or the stuff that improves balance, or medically necessary artificial organs (all of these things are considered "augmentations" within the game's universe and enough to get a person sent to Golem), but even as a big fan of the series I thought the degree to which it appeared average middle class folks were apparently interested in getting limbs replaced with plastic, metal, and carbon fiber was a bit hard to believe. But on the flip side I understand that as a videogame it's portraying a heightened reality, and it's far easier to show people with metal terminator arms and legs than with subtle Bob Page forehead dots indicating powerful brain implants.

I also really love the persuasion/conversation "boss battles", especially because I challenge myself by refusing to use the CASIE aug, the same I did for HR the first time through. I really love trying to interpret how best to resolve a situation peacefully. As far as I know, it's still something no other game does, most persuasion systems are too simple, only ever offering like two options or something. Mass Effect 2 did it the worst, you only got better at resolving situations verbally by either being only good or only bad, because they stupidly decided to include just an "evil persuasion" option and a "good persuasion" option, that only got better depending on your alignment. More games need to take inspiration from HR and MD's example.

Yes! The conversation 'battles' are one of my favorite things in this series. Both HR and MD have especially natural writing that sounds like two intelligent people verbally sparring and trying to win one another over and 'winning' them is entirely possible to do by listening to what things they emphasize and find important along with their disposition towards aggressiveness, flattery, or logic. I mentioned it earlier in the thread but my only mild disappoint was that MD makes the 'correct' choices static regardless of whether you save and load. It was an unexpected and pleasant surprise in HR that they had something like 3 or 4 variations on each conversation battle in which the correct choices were slightly different (although I'm sure a ton of work for the devs and it seems most people never noticed). It all felt very natural, and I remember thinking that the first battle in HR with the police officer could feel like trying to persuade someone who had stepped in gum on the way to work while other times the same conversation played out like he had found a $20 bill on the ground and was in a better mood. He was written to be the same person in all variations but the shifts in mood meant he was more responsive to slightly different verbal tactics.

 

[Brian_FETO]

Sorry, I don't dare look at the quoted post, since you say it is from the spoiler thread? I haven't even gotten to Golem City man.

Edit:

@Brian_FETO

I also really love the persuasion/conversation "boss battles", especially because I challenge myself by refusing to use the CASIE aug, the same I did for HR the first time through. I really love trying to interpret how best to resolve a situation peacefully. As far as I know, it's still something no other game does, most persuasion systems are too simple, only ever offering like two options or something. Mass Effect 2 did it the worst, you only got better at resolving situations verbally by either being only good or only bad, because they stupidly decided to include just an "evil persuasion" option and a "good persuasion" option, that only got better depending on your alignment. More games need to take inspiration from HR and MD's example.

Definitely

I will admit, there are occasionally options that seem like obvious dumb choices (like "you're a coward, and I DEMAND this"), but for the most part it's more subtle in each answer's approach. It's just fun to constantly try and stay on their good side

And yeah as you said, it's morally grey. I can impose certain beliefs/law, sympathize, or find somewhere in between. The focus isn't for me to be a good robot man or bad robot man, I'm just trying to get them to comply through whatever means

 

[Orin GA]

I started over. i was abusing the quicksave/quickload button way too much and just unbinded it.

 

[Alessandro]

I got lost in the sewers after having completed a side mission. While i was wandering to find my way out I met a cult leader which opened a new, and bonkers, side mission.

This game is awesome.

 

[d00d3n]

Can

Spoiler

Talos Rucker

be saved during the Golem City mission?

 

[thenexus6]

Non lethal stealth for me.

I ran with silenced 9mm (EMP bullets for cameras) and stun gun only.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=215786787

Spoiler

No he can't

 

[Dan]

Can

Spoiler

Talos Rucker

be saved during the Golem City mission?

Spoiler

No, pretty sure. You can make him agree with your reasoning for coming in peacefully and he still does.

 

[d00d3n]

Spoiler

No, pretty sure. You can make him agree with your reasoning for coming in peacefully and he still does.

Thanks

 

[SJRB]

Jesus, it finally arrived.


edit: this book is a goldmine. Malik's mole/beauty mark is actually a piercing. I had no idea.

 

[Vic_Viper]

Jesus, it finally arrived

How is it!? Any word yet if Square is going to do a new Play Arts Jensen figure? I really wanted to get the first one but it just doesn't look as good as some of their most recent stuff.

 

[Fledz]

Mission 5 Spoilers

I've been playing through non-lethal, and at the end of this mission when

Spoiler

I returned to HQ, I spoke to smiley, and I'm pretty sure the conversation seemed to insinuate that I'd killed some of the police guarding the evidence. I remember Jensen saying something like "Well, they shot first."

Spoiler

Now that I think about it, I do think I remember seeing a red skull instead of the sleeping icon, for one guard, but it didn't register with me for some reason.

I'm almost positive I've only ever performed non lethal take downs, and the only weapon I've ever fired is the tranquilizer rifle.

Are there known issues with non lethal take downs? Apart from this issue, I've been really enjoying my time with the game, but I feel like this is going to really sour the experience for me.

A number of us had this, despite being 99% sure that everyone was still alive. It's just shitty writing/coding on their part. Call it lazy if you will.

I got really annoyed and it broke my immersion when I got back to HQ and it seemed like I'd gone and killed people, when I definitely didn't.

 

[Mesharey]

I finished mission 5 without killing or alerting anyone, the conversation had no issues, he said like they didn't notice me.

Probably if you used a gun to make them sleep you'll have issue?


Anyway, finished the game, really enjoyed it a lot, I wanted to make it an action run (finished 1 without killing or alerts), but ended doing most mission by sneaking.


Regginator
Thanks!

 

[Ashtar]

Okay so I made a huge mistake I finished the golem city mission and accidently sold 2 of my neuropozyne! I though it was beer! How valuable are these? Ugh I'm so mad! I'd basically have to start the game over since I didn't realize until someone asked me!

 

[rtcn63]

Is there a trick to the (end-game spoilers)

Spoiler

final boss fight, or is it just a straight shoot until dead? I'm having a hard time because I didn't prepare for it. I do have extra praxis points and enough healing items to just stand there and shoot, but this is just so wrong overall. The whole last mission was lackluster for me.

Okay so I made a huge mistake I finished the golem city mission and accidently sold 2 of my neuropozyne! I though it was beer! How valuable are these? Ugh I'm so mad! I'd basically have to start the game over since I didn't realize until someone asked me!

I've got over 20 of these near the end.

 

[CHC]

Okay so I made a huge mistake I finished the golem city mission and accidently sold 2 of my neuropozyne! I though it was beer! How valuable are these? Ugh I'm so mad! I'd basically have to start the game over since I didn't realize until someone asked me!

There's quite a few of them if you're diligent about exploring. The good news is that they sell for 1000 bucks so at least you got some value.

 

[rtcn63]

There's quite a few of them if you're diligent about exploring. The good news is that they sell for 1000 bucks so at least you got some value.

This I did not know. I've been selling extra guns and ammo to bankroll praxis purchases.

 

[Gozer the Gozerian]

I don't feel the need to buy any Praxis points, I'm like 2/3? through the game and I have 4 points just sitting there unused because I've already unlocked everything and more I have any interest in using.

Would've preferred an old school branching path either/or style to the power trees

 

[rtcn63]

I don't feel the need to buy any Praxis points, I'm like 2/3? through the game and I have 4 points just sitting there unused because I've already unlocked everything and more I have any interest in using.

Would've preferred an old school branching path either/or style to the power trees

Oh I actually had to force myself to use praxis points, that "9+" flashed for me throughout most of the game. Still had 5+ by the end. I just bought them because... well, doing a stealth run, there's nothing else to buy. All the improve weapons could be found and were for damage builds.

I agree, the game did itself a disservice by giving you access to practically all of your skills at once.

Spoiler

The experimental augs aren't all that interesting and borderline redundant barring the icarus dash and remote hack, so even once those become available without penalty, there's nothing really necessary by that point. You'll have all the basic augs, weapons, and ammo you need.

But I get it. Like many open-world games, it's balanced around doing pretty much just the story missions, where you'll likely end up with just enough points to get what you want. But still they could've done the trees better probably.