Why wasn't Monowire a stealth cyber-arm, why make all of them offensive

[ShinAkira00]

While I still believe stealth is playable, I think there was a missed opportunity where stealth didn't get the same boost as other more direct combat play styles. Initially when they revealed Monowire for the game it was supposed to be a way to hack enemies from distance without being noticed. Now it spreads quickhacks but in a very direct way. Gorilla Arms, Mantis Blades etc all of them are direct weapon attacks with the only difference being ranged or melee.

Monowire should have been something you use to do stealth kills and having it's own bonuses. If they wanted to incorporate netrunning then they could have just done something like "Doing a take down with the monowire, you wrap the wire around their neck and jacking in directly grants you buffs. You either take the enemy down or hack them and release. The enemy is under your control and sees you as an ally for a duration". Or you hack their eyes and become invisible to them for a longer duration. Or grant you access to the cameras in the network that the NPC is connected to. Use it to grant greater buffs to covert quick hacks. I don't know something like that, I just don't think we needed another melee cyber arm.

I'm still doing a stealth playthrough and so far so good, I just wish I had the added buffs that the other more direct players have. I know stealth isn't an easy thing to build gameplay around and it can seem boring compared to the rest but it's good to have options. The problem isn't that they nerfed stealth/Netrunning because it needed to be balanced, the issue is they didn't replace it with anything or improve on what was already there so it feels less as good as everyone else.

 

[Ironymaiden]

Stealth mechanics are kinda weird in this game. You can one-hit kill almost any enemy in the game, even elites by just grabbing them from behind, but sneak attacks with actual weapons barely do any more damage than normal. The solution is braindead simple too - just give players sneak attack damage multiplyer. It's even been done in games of the same genre so many times! More so - it's in this game right now!!! it's just really low value and global, not separated for projectiles and melee. But instead your only melee stealth option is snapping necks.

 

[moonknightgog]

Uh, interesting ideas. Monowire could've been used for stealth kills from a distance, or for connecting with an enemy and launch exclusive quickhack unavailable through normal netrunning. They could've made it similar to Emily's power in Dishonored 2, using it to get items from the distance or for movement.

Now instead it's the most underdeveloped cyberware. A melee weapon with very little damage and with its most useful ability (uploading quickhacks) locked behind a DLC

 

[ShinAkira00]

Uh, interesting ideas. Monowire could've been used for stealth kills from a distance, or for connecting with an enemy and launch exclusive quickhack unavailable through normal netrunning. They could've made it similar to Emily's power in Dishonored 2, using it to get items from the distance or for movement.

Now instead it's the most underdeveloped cyberware. A melee weapon with very little damage and with its most useful ability (uploading quickhacks) locked behind a DLC

I don't have a problem with that assuming you mean the relic abilities because that applies to all the cyber arms not just Monowire. But that aside, stealth kills from a distance sounds pretty good, they definitely missed the mark with this.

I think they were trying to get more ppl to use Monowire because no one really used it in the base game, it was too awkward to use. If you wanted to do damage the other arms were better options. This update unfortunately doesn't change that, even as a Netrunner I'm not using that, it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense to confront an NPC to spread a quickhack. The whole point of Netrunning is to NOT confront directly.

They could have even used Monowire to infect opponents with a virus so your quickhack effects are more effective in power or duration or spread. There are so many ways they could have gone with it.

 

[tinybham]

Yea, I remember them being able to shoot it like Peter Parker slings his web. I'd use it if it weren't such an ugly cybernetic to look at.

I don't like how we can't even side with a gang in the game, I'd like to ally with the Voodoo Boys and kill off the other gangs but nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo... whatever CDPR.

 

[lockecole777]

Yea, I remember them being able to shoot it like Peter Parker slings his web. I'd use it if it weren't such an ugly cybernetic to look at.

I don't like how we can't even side with a gang in the game, I'd like to ally with the Voodoo Boys and kill off the other gangs but nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo... whatever CDPR.

My biggest complaint, I can get street cred by murdering all of the gangs, but this never comes to bite me in the ass later? Like you're giving me street cred, so you cant feign under the guise that no one knows its me doing these killings.