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First time playing 4th edition Shadowrun, previously just played 5th, and I've decided to take up the mantle of hacker like I did for the 5e campaign. My idea is to build an augmented technomancer with a pocket hacker to assist him/hack while he's distracted.

I'm fairly sure I have the right complex forms (and can always just thread new ones), but I have no clue what equipment I should get for the agent.

Currently I have a fairlight caliban (+hot sim module, +response 5, + system 6, + firewall 6, + response enhancer 3, + novatech Navi, + r3 Fetch Module (Does that come with an Agent?))

And for programs I have Edit Rating 3, Shamus, Homewrecker, and Iris antivirus.

Am I on the right track for building a pocket hacker, or have I completely missed the mark?

Also, what are some things that definitely should be on my gear wishlist?
Augment-wise I have Pain Editor, Sideways, Qualia, PuShEd, Cerebral booster (r2), datajack, math SPU, R1 nanohive, and an adrenal regulator.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Are you aware that any augmentations will decrease your resonance rating and directly affect all dice pools you will use in the matrix, correct? Even if some augs increase your abilities, that is something to consider, as it might affect how strong your sprites are, for instance. \$\endgroup\$
    – ShadowKras
    Commented Apr 10, 2018 at 11:41
  • \$\begingroup\$ Yes I am, and am willing to sacrifice several points of essence for it, after all I can always buy back the resonance. Even if I weren't doing it for character reasons, I still think it's a choice I won't regret \$\endgroup\$
    – Spieo
    Commented Apr 10, 2018 at 18:52
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    \$\begingroup\$ page 62, under Attribute Ratings > Essence Rating. You lose a point of both Resonance and max resonance. You cannot, in fact, just "buy back" the resonance, and while you can increase that max through submersion, the submersion costs keep going up. \$\endgroup\$
    – Ben Barden
    Commented Jul 26, 2018 at 19:14
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    \$\begingroup\$ Beyond that, this seems like a "should" question - general optimization without specific goals. Isn't that sort of question supposed to be closed? \$\endgroup\$
    – Ben Barden
    Commented Jul 26, 2018 at 19:15

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Technomancers are Trixters. They don't approach problems head on. Hackers will always have higher skill rolls. Technomancers on the other hand can do thigns that Hackers just can't. they cast and Distract.

There is rarely any need for a Technomancer to have an Agent, as Sprites are far far more useful. I would also not get much in the way of Ware, it's like playing a mage, Cyber and bioware lower your Resonance, and make you not as good of a technomancer.

so i would go in a very different direction. all cash would go to high end goggles, and high end customized armor and vehicles, or drones. lots of guns that can fire themselves that i can have my sprites rig, or boost with complex forms.

XP would go towards submergence, so i could pick up the abilities in unwired that let me duplicate the effects of cyber-ware, and eventually let me thread skills.

if you are dead-set on your current direction though, Agents are programs and must be bought separately. they're just high rating programs, that can use other programs. they can't have a rating higher than the Commlink they are running on.

And they can only run a number of programs at a total rating, equal to their own rating. so you're basically just designing a single custom sprite that isn't as flexible or as powerful.

I once played a HAcker who pretended he was a Technomancer by doing that, and buying a bunch of com-links, each with a different agent and program suite in it.

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