Hacking is a critical skill in Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, available now for PS4, Xbox One and PC. You’re going to have to break into lots of computers, terminals and security panels during your adventure—especially if you take a stealthy path—so it’s worth taking some time to figure out how to do it properly. In our hacking guide, we take a look at how to hack… and how to hack well.
Use The Software!
There’s lots of software to help with hacking, and you should make good use of it. Two hacks of the same level can have widely varying difficulty based on the layout and strengths of the nodes, and sometimes your level alone can’t guarantee you’ll have a good shot of getting through. That’s when the software really comes in handy.
All of the software has value, but a few stand out. Stealth is the most obviously useful: it lets you take a node with no risk of detection and skips over the invisible firewalls that automatically trigger a trace. Obviously, only use these before a trace is triggered. Afterwards, if you’re close to the goal but need a little boost, use nukes—these have 100% risk of detection, but take over nodes far more quickly than normal.
The overclock software, relatively rare, boosts your speed without increasing risk of detection, so it can be handy for particularly tricky networks. The reveal software is immensely helpful. It clears the fog of war on a layout, so you don’t have to guess the best route to the registries—which, in practice, means you don’t have to try out two paths at once. It’s best used in hard, high-level hacks where you have few attempts.
APIs and Datastores
APIs offer little bonuses to help you out on your way to the Registries, but they aren’t all that useful. The Transfer API can be a lifesaver by lowering nearby nodes by 2… or it can be devastating by raising them instead. Spam’s benefits are countered by its 100% detection rate, and the other API only reveals hidden datastores, so it’s not that useful.
Datastores, on the other hand, are quite useful. A lot of them just give you credits, which is moderately useful. The real value comes from replenishing your software stores; capturing lots of datastores lets you use virus software more regularly, since you’ll have more of it. Quick tip: Unless a datastore is directly on the path, wait to take them or move toward them until you’re in a position to take the registry. Then, you can work your way toward them and if a trace is triggered, just close out the registry. If not, you end up with phat lewt. You don’t need every datastore and it’s not worth giving up on an attempt to try to get them, but they’re certainly handy when you can pop ‘em.
Fortify Judiciously
Fortifying a node you already control plays a vital purpose: to slow down the trace on its route to boot you out of the system. Only fortifications along the route the trace takes do anything, though, so don’t just fortify willy-nilly—fortifying the IO port always slows down the trace, but other nodes need to be on that path. Fortifying carries risk of detection, so it’s worth waiting to do it until you’re getting closer to the registries or run into a tough node. Level zero nodes, though, can be fortified at zero risk of detection, so you can always do those. Personally, I like to fortify the home node if detection risk is 30% or less, because it really adds a lot of value. Two special notes: first, always be taking a directory at the same time as you fortify; don’t just fortify on your own, since that doesn’t move you closer to the actual end goal. Second, once a trace is triggered, fortify along the expected route with wild abandon, starting with the home node. Not all of them may come online on time, but if they do, it could save your hide.
Don’t Forget Multitools
Lastly, don’t forget about multitools, which you can make from just 120 crafting parts. Although they’re single use, multitools can automatically hack a terminal for you—it’s especially handy for those who’d rather shoot everybody than waste time stealthing, but even us master hackers can use them sometimes too. They’re especially handy early on if you find a level 4 or 5 terminal before you’re able or willing to handle those, or for particularly difficult layouts. You may as well use those crafting parts for something, so don’t be afraid to use a multitool if you need one.
Any other great hacking tips? Also, check out our Deus Ex stealth guide. Mankind Divided is out now.
