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Deus Ex Official Game Guide

Chapter 2: The Art of Stealth

Attempting to sneak around enemy troops provides quite a challenge but lets you divert skills and augmentations you would otherwise use for weaponry to stealth and hacking. This section describes the benefits of remaining stealthy and how to improve your craft with augmentations, weapons, and equipment.

The Importance of Keeping Quiet
The enemy troops you'll encounter in Deus Ex are powerful and quite intelligent. Make a racket and an enemy soldier may trigger an alarm, and soon an entire squad of troops will be searching for your position. Try not to rustle crates, disturb loud pigeons, break windows, or enter the view of security cameras for a prolonged period of time. Look for opportunities to remain crouched as enemies pass by; seek out stacks of crates or other obstacles to conceal yourself from cameras and enemies.

If you are spotted, either by a camera or a guard, you do have a few moments to mount an escape before you're detected. Guards will stop in their place and look closely in your direction (or in the direction of the noise); cameras will start a pre-alarm sequence; and bots will stand still and scan for your presence. If you can return to a hiding place during any of these sequences, you can remain hidden from enemy detection.

As you learned in the training mission, you can use objects, such as plants, jars, boxes, and basketballs, to distract enemies. Toss the object away from your position (or your desired position), and with the guard or bot distracted, resume your course to your intended destination.

By maintaining stealth, you will not only remain healthy and conserve medical kits, but you'll also be able to save valuable ammunition for other - and perhaps even more dangerous - situations. A player relying on stealth should always look for two things: a route past the current problem and an escape route in case of problems. Most hazardous areas contain alternate means of escape, such as swimming, leaping onto stacked crates, or hiding behind walls and structures.

The Augmentations of a Stealth Artist
It's important to use the augmentation canisters to improve your desired role, though they can also be effective to help offset weaknesses. There are enough augmentations to satisfy both needs. Below are some suggestions on which augmentations to select if you plan to avoid combat rather than fight:

Microfibral Muscle
This augmentation enhances your arm strength, enabling you to pick up larger crates and items. This can prove effective for the stealth player. You can position crates to look for routes above a dangerous area; you can quickly move crates (without needing to slide them) to an area providing better cover; or you can pick up large crates and stick them in front of doorways, security-bot hatches, or cameras to provide additional cover and protection.

Run Silent
Run silent's application is obvious. Because crawling to keep quiet can be aggravating, run silent lets you move more quickly while maintaining stealth. Its alternative, speed enhancement, is also incredibly useful for the stealth player - it lets you run faster and jump higher, increasing your chance of escaping and/or discovering alternate routes.

Radar Transparency
This is a must-have if you want to remain undetected by powerful bots and security cameras. It uses a ton of bioelectric energy, however, so it should be used only in emergencies. Its alternative, cloak, is also effective because it keeps you out of sight of organic enemies. Either can assist the stealth player, though bots and cameras often possess more damage potential than human foes.

Aqualung
Effective swimming can give you another escape option - just jump into water and stay concealed. There are also several areas in the game where effective swimming can help you bypass difficult areas.

Regeneration
Arguably the "no-brainer" of the augmentations, regeneration basically converts bioelectric energy into health, giving you a new form of both medical kit (bioelectric cell) and medical bot (repair bot). Regeneration does an excellent job in keeping JC Denton healthy, and it is effective for all types of players.

Spy Drone
A unique augmentation, spy drone allows JC Denton to create a small, controllable drone to explore ahead. Use the drone to scout upcoming hallways or rooms. It uses bioelectric energy very fast and can even cause EMP damage to spider bots and the like once upgraded.

Vision Enhancement
Its alternative, targeting, isn't as useful to the stealth player; you gain information on your target, but you should be trying to avoid combat! Vision enhancement, with its ability to see through walls, is more worthwhile and an obvious choice for the stealth player.
 
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