Ninja

Space Ninjas are a special type of ninja, specifically one of the space-faring type. The vast majority of space ninjas belong to the Spider Clan, a cult-like sect, which has existed for several hundred years. The Spider Clan practice a sort of augmentation of human flesh in order to achieve a more perfect state of being and follow Postmodern Space Bushido. They also kill people for money. Their leaders are chosen from the oldest of the grand-masters, people that have lived a lot longer than any mortal man should. Being a sect of technology-loving fanatics, the Spider Clan have the very best to choose from in terms of hardware--cybernetic implants, exoskeleton rigs, hyper-capacity batteries, and you get the idea. Some believe that much of the Spider Clan equipment is based on reverse-engineered alien technology while others doubt such claims. Whatever the case, their technology is absolutely superb.

Extended skillset - You aren't held to conventional standards on skills.

Overview
If you are reading this, congratulations! You have been chosen to become a 25th century agent worthy of the title "ninja". You spawn in a high-tech ninja hardsuit that can be equipped with high-tech gadgets that you order through your uplink.

Stealth Suit
The suit is a RIG. RIGs are specialized suits that can equip specialized modules depending on model and have the ability to retract and deploy from certain body parts to facilitate utilizing these modules while wearing other things. Generally, when utilizing the stealth suit, it’s a bad idea to retract the majority of these pieces without good reason as you can easily be found in hostile environments or situations at any point. RIGs ingame have two states; off, and on. When off, none of the modules can be utilized, the RIG is not airtight, and none of the armor is in place. On top of this, your vision is limited and you move quite slowly. This leaves you vulnerable while taking it off or putting it on to apply new modules, so make sure you’ve got everything you need first before you depart to the station.

The RIG modules can be seen in the “Hardsuit Modules” tab at the top right, and the RIG system controls are in their own independent hardsuit tab adjacent.

Operating The Suit
Your card has specific access required to unlock your suit and open it. Use the ID on your suit while it’s on the ground and the crowbar on it to open the panel. From this point, screwdrivers can be used to remove certain modules (with the exception of the inbuilt bomb, or deadman’s switch) or the cell. Modules can’t be removed while it is worn, but the cell can - this is very important for replacing your cell in the event you are stuck without power.

Important note: You should absolutely mess with your hardsuit activation settings. This can be found in the preferences tab, and most people leave it on middle-click. Whatever you press for this will activate any modules you have. For example, if you’ve got a laser gun in your hardsuit, middle clicking on that assistant will shoot it at them, but only when it specifically is selected. You can activate static modules that do not have a target this way as well, or utilize other things like chemical injectors to quickly inject folks with medications.

Your hardsuit itself doesn’t have especially great statistics, and it’s good to get to know them no matter what you intend to do. It has minimal protection against melee weapons and bullets, but decent protection against laser blasts and zero bomb protection essentially. It provides complete radiation immunity as well, and is airtight with the benefits that come from that, including immunity from things like tear gas (if you have internals on). Understanding the limitations these entail will let you know whether it’s appropriate to decapitate a cadet for pepper spraying your mask while it’s deployed or not. It’s usually not. The stealth suit also prevents you from being tracked by the AI’s “Track-With-Camera” verb which often defeats non-crew antagonists, meaning you don’t have to worry much about camera coverage if you’re not in a high-traffic area.

Finally, the suit itself can hold any module type in the game, giving it crazy versatility.

Default Suit Modules
Your default RIG modules are perhaps your most useful assets. Here’s brief descriptions followed by much more complicated ones of each default module you start with in the stealth suit.

VOID-shift Bluespace Phase Projector
An in-built, targeted teleporter. Place your mouse over a tile you have vision over and use your hardsuit activation key, and it will permit you to teleport instantaneously to it, given there’s no solid objects to intercede with it. Countered by bluespace inhibitors found in the vault, the armory, the station authentication terminal, and the station’s AI core. Do not attempt to teleport into these locations unless the inhibitors are destroyed, or you will explode.


 *  Long description: It’s your most powerful tool. With stable power incoming, like quickly switching cells or using the emergency power generator, you can effectively outrun any conceivable force in the game with this thing outside of an angry wizard. You are capable of grappling people and utilizing it to teleport them into objects, instantly exploding one of their limbs. You can teleport through walls once every five seconds. If it’s in your vision and nothing is on the tile, you can instantly be there, and many people underestimate how absurd this power truly is. This is most commonly utilized to run away or baffle security, but it is very important to realize how this pretty much gives you absolute power over any given situation unless you willingly throw yourself into a trap.

Without covering the full extent of what you can synergize with this, the best piece of advice I can share is that this is your best way to involve as many people as possible. It also gives you the ability to pick and choose your fights. For example, if a specific officer is hindering your story and you think it’s best to remove them from the situation, a mixture of force gloves to instantly grab and a quick teleport to some area far away always helps. Alternatively just doing the good old teleporting behind and utilizing weapons found in the uplink, or your wit to incapacitate or kill them in some way. There are many items in the game that can instantly incapacitate individuals from close range available to antagonists, especially ninjas - their downfall being that you must be adjacent to the target in question. With your teleporter, this is obviously not an issue.

It takes quick hands and good reflexes to pull off more complicated stuff, but once you play the role a couple times, you can do amazing things with this device.

Optical Scanners
A very useful asset as it comes with thermals. Use “Enable Visor” to activate, and cycle to “thermals.” For best results, mix with meson goggles worn on the eyes. It’s a trick most people use to see through walls and teleport to targets directly and precisely.


 *  Long description: Way stronger than most people believe. Few antagonists ingame have access to outright thermal vision, and using it is a great way to get control over a narrative. NVGs and mesons are available as well in the situation you’re somehow unable to get normal meson goggles for your eyes beneath the visor.

Voice Synthesizer
A strangely under-utilized tool that you’d really expect to be used more. It’s exactly what you’d think - just a simple voice changer that requires your helmet deployed to use. It’s incredibly simple to utilize. The menu itself is blatantly clear in what it means. All you have to do is press the “configure synthesizer” button.

Integrated Intelligence System
A module you can shove AIs, pAIs, and positronics into. To use it, press “enable dataspike,” and make sure your gauntlets are deployed. Then, simply pick up or switch the hands onto the AI.


 *  Long description: If AI control is toggled, it allows the synthetic to control your hardsuit for you! This usually isn’t very useful, but it’s cool as hell and is amazingly powerful when you’re incapacitated. When you are incapacitated, your AI can continue fighting in the suit while your body serves as the support, or run away and let you heal. This consumes an absolutely ridiculous amount of power, so while the AI can kick ass for you, it won’t be for long. Modules like the emergency power generator coupled with the powersink allow the AI to survive a little longer. Unfortunately this does not make you invincible, but even in death, don’t worry - your corpse is still plentiful support for the AI to defeat your enemies.

Dead Man’s Switch
A really, really powerful bomb built into your suit. Guaranteed to leave nothing behind. Detonates the instant you die, or when triggered.


 *  Long description: This is the only module that can’t be removed from the stealth suit. It vaporizes you and your hardsuit and blows individuals up to a few tiles away into bits. This is generally something you can’t control, but try to avoid using the “succumb” verb early so as to avoid decimating a crowd of people with it. Or do, if they deserve it. Oddly, hardsuit module placement on the menu places them in strange positions and the most common buttons you’ll be pressing are literally directly adjacent to the dead man’s switch “BIG BOOM” button. This means, in using the suit, desperately avoid instantly pressing “yes” on prompts - one of them might just make you explode.

Leg Actuators
Your discount magboots. Permits you to scale z-levels and survive falls from any altitude.


 *  Long description: Very simple, permits a targeted leap and protects against unexpected falls. Leave these enabled 100% of the time. In the event you’re hit by an EMP, make sure to re-enable them first. These will undoubtedly save your life. To jump up Z-levels, try leaping on the tile you’re standing on. You can’t leap directly up, but you can leap onto a ledge if it’s one tile ahead of where you’re facing, and one level above. In a desperate escape, these will prevent you to fling yourself off the asteroid to prevent being chased.

Uplink Suit Modules
You can access new modules by going to the “infiltration items” tab in the “request items” category of the infiltrator uplink you should have available. These range from being just as useful as your default modules to being very situational.

Energy Blade and Dart Launcher (8TC) One of the strongest melee weapons in the game. Armor penetration, VERY high brute, and a built-in dart launcher that instantly stuns unarmored targets on hit.


 *  Long description: Really power consuming, so only use it when you absolutely need it. It’s useful for cutting through walls, people, windows and more, and when paired with force gloves, it can be turned into an instant-kill device against any armor in the game. The possibilities are really endless. Keep in mind that, while utilizing it, middle click becomes your ability to shoot darts. They’re ultimately useless against armored targets but they give minor toxins. When spammed, they can be rather awful to deal with. You can keep this dart launcher selected by selecting the energy blade projector, but you don’t have to project a blade. Switching off of the selection of the blade will not retract it, so don’t worry about that.

Try to understand that, paired with teleporting, you can pretty much target and instantly kill anybody in the game with this device. It is absolutely a bad idea to abuse it without very good reason, especially if you’re robust enough to bring multiple folks down with it. The blade also has a high chance to deflect incoming projectiles passively, and reflect lasers (sometimes back at whoever fired them!).

Stealth Field (6TC) A very useful tool if you get your hands on a higher capacity power cell. When activated, you become invisible to normal detection means and the naked eye. Super important: utilizing any hardsuit modules instantly decloaks you. When you decloak, there’s quite a loud noise as well, so try to be careful!


 *  Long description: It’s a staple of ninjas! Some important notes follow. Idle glows like the IPC screen lighting and meson goggles, as well as flashlights will still project when cloaked, so avoid using those when you intend to cloak. Attacking and firing guns does not decloak you (though it should), and is once again overpowered especially when combined with things like the blade.

Grenade Launcher (6TC) Very strong in the right hands. Comes with three flashbangs, three EMP grenades, and three smoke bombs. While the smoke bombs are pretty ineffective due to silly lighting and directional vision systems, they’re good for confusing crowds. Flashbangs are very strong area-of-effect stuns that are diminished by bigger, better armor, with REALLY heavy armor being completely immune to them. EMP grenades are good for disarming security in a rush. Don’t get caught in the blast, though.


 *  Long description: Flashbangs are good for getting out of sticky situations and can be quickly, easily reloaded by popping open your hardsuit and just clicking on it with the grenade in hand. EMP grenades are a different story, and you’ll need quick reflexes to get out of the AOE in time - usually utilizing your teleporter to do so safely. Otherwise, without EMP prevention, you probably will lose at least one module to the EMP’s damage, if not more. Be cautious of where you send EMP grenades flying, as one misfire or silly move can easily take several IPCs, cyborgs, or people with augments out of the round. On the other hand, it’s good for instantly killing robots, draining an entire security force’s energy weapons, batons, tasers, disabling APCs, disabling lights, sparking lockdowns, shocking doors, and more. If someone has NVGs or thermals, EMP grenades temporarily blind them as well.

EMP grenades are VERY large radius, taking up your entire screen’s worth of tiles. The inner four or so tiles are affected by a “strong” EMP, which does a ton of damage to mechanical things. The outer tiles are “weak” EMP, which has very diminished effects. For mechanical hearts, any sort of EMP is an instantaneous death. Try to know your targets as best you can before throwing these around with that in mind.

EMAG Hand Module (5TC) A limited use cryptographic sequencer in the gauntlets. Good for messing with machinery, but with your ability to teleport, not much else.


 *  Long description: Not the most useful thing practically, but in the event you need more uses than a normal cryptographic sequencer for less TC, this is a good pick. Cryptographic sequencers unlock various secrets in machinery, like giving ED209s lasers, and permitting command consoles to call an unknown, mysterious force…

Emergency Power Generator (4TC) Amazing source of power income, especially when paired with the powersink. Rapidly injects around 1,000 power into your suit instantly upon activation, and recharges in about 30 seconds.


 *  Long description: It may as well be a default module with how useful it is. You’re able to sustain teleporting every few seconds nigh infinitely with this utility, and become a true speedster zooming around everywhere with no regard for your own suit’s power. At higher cell capacities, you’re no less than a God in tight spandex.

Energy Net (4TC) It’s a ranged immobilizer which can instantly put a stop to any mob for no less than a second or two before they’re able to claw their way out. Against someone without sharp items, however, this is drastically increased. Lets you create sitting ducks for very little effort!


 *  Long description: Good for hostage taking, dramatic effect, and especially capture gimmicks. You can produce a hand-held net that has less accuracy but fits in your hand, to combo with your hardsuit net projector, ensuring your target doesn’t escape.

Active EMP Shielding (4TC) As the name implies, it’s a toggleable EMP shield that prevents the RIG from taking EMP damage. It does not protect IPCs or prosthetics from EMP damage.


 *  Long description: Fantastic if you’ve got no prosthetics or aren’t an IPC. Toggle it on, and you won’t have to worry about ion rifles or EMP grenades in engagements, as all incoming EMP damage is nullified entirely. It is very power consuming - so be certain you’re able to end a fight fast or get the heck out. Large cells obviously help this a lot.

Power Sink (4TC) A decent source of power if you’re unable to get the emergency power generator. Very loud, very slow, very risky. To use it, keep gauntlets deployed and click on an APC or a revealed wire. Ensure it’s got power connected or it won’t work!


 *  Long description: Really, really slow and generally ineffective. Barely sustains, if at all, any form of ninja moves you can pull across the station. Taking this is either a bad omen or a sign that the user is playing on hard mode. It is very loud, making high-pitched sparking noises audible up to a full screen’s worth of tiles away as long as it’s active.

Matter Fabricator (4TC) Makes shurikens in whatever hand you have active, which can then be thrown. Using the hardsuit activation key with it selected fires a star as well.


 *  Long description: Scary robust in the right hands. It’s able to pin mobs of any shape or size to walls, making it hilarious and effective against heavily armored opponents. They also get stuck in the flesh, and act as very good shrapnel equivalents.

Combat Injector (6TC) A strong module that, when activated, injects you with ten units of various ridiculous combat stimulants. Generally ensures you literally never go down until you’re dead, or out of chems.


 *  Long description: A must for any prolonged plan where you can expect to get shot, a lot. This has four chemicals loaded into it, being-
 * Synaptizine - A stimulant that increases endurance, allowing you to shrug off paralyzing stuns and run indefinitely so long as it’s in your veins.
 * Hyperzine - A stimulant that makes you go extremely fast, increases your stun resistance, and makes you really hungry.
 * Oxycodone - The most powerful painkiller in the game, it’ll keep you standing until somewhere around 180 damage or so, which is 20 short of total death. You’re dead at that point most of the time anyway.
 * Glucose - Basically replenishes blood, really, really quickly. It’s iron, but better.

Chemical Injector (3TC)

A variant of the combat injector which can be selected and must be targeted with hardsuit activation keys and the mouse to work. Generally has a higher reserve of chemicals and focuses on actually healing damage, rather than ignoring it.

 Long description: Even better for long-term shootouts than the combat injector. This has nine reloadable chemicals loaded into it, being-


 * Tricordrazine - A moderate fix-all which cures burn and brute damage at a decent pace. Mends bleeding, given time.
 * Tramadol - A decent painkiller. Won’t keep you up long in a firefight, but will definitely let you shrug off an extra laser blast or two.
 * Dexalin plus - Instantly cures all oxygen damage upon a single injection. Good for sustaining yourself in the event you’ve accidentally popped your lungs or have lost a lot of blood.
 * Thetamycin - If you have an open wound for a while, injecting thirty units or more of this will stop infections and kill any you may have. It’s great for stopping infections from pesky lasers.
 * Anti-toxin - Exactly what the name says. Removes toxins rather slowly but surely.
 * Glucose - Basically replenishes blood, really, really quickly. It’s iron, but better.
 * Potassium hydrophosphate - Nutriment, in injector form. Yum.
 * Hyronalin - This cures the majority of the effects of radiation rather quickly. Considering your suit is entirely immune to it, this may be useless in most scenarios.
 * Radium - Not good for you, but can produce antibodies for diseases in high quantities.

Rogue Ninja
As a crewmember, your best chance is to catch the ninja while they're trying to recharge their battery. Ganging up may also work, especially if you have projectile weapons. If all fails, suicide bombing may be your only option. Or hiding in a locker until the death squad shows up.

As the ninja, don't let your fancy-shmancy gadgets cloud your judgment. Aliens(can try to infect you, however, you are immune to the buggers. The Spider Clan invested well in the mask), wizards, and changelings, all pose a very real threat to your safety, if you are not careful. Do not confront high-risk targets directly. Instead, either await an opportunity for when they are distracted, or lure them into a trap. Mechs are also very dangerous; it's possibly best to avoid anything other than a Ripley but really depends on your battery capacity. Your biggest advantage is your ability to appear unannounced and the variety of gadgets at your disposal. Always ask yourself, what would Space Batman do in my situation?

Another tactic is to get crew members on your side. This will not always work, it all depends on your talking skill. You can spout out some lie about you being peaceful and that you're here to kill a changeling, or stop a wizard, etc. Comfort and smooth talk them until they feel comfortable around you. They may also spread the news and you may have a little ninja-army going on.

Tips

 * Avoid combat if you can. You're the only antag, and you can't do easily surgery on yourself. If you get internal bleeding because of a lethal shotgun slug, you're screwed. Luckily, your ninja hardsuit braces bone breaks and fractures.


 * Laser weapons do high damage but are more survivable than bullets, due to not leaving lasting wounds (Tricordazine will fix you no matter what). Your suit also has better armor values against lasers than bullets.


 * Have a backup plan in case you run out of power. Keep a battery in your suit storage if you can. You can switch batteries while still wearing your hardsuit, by unlocking it from "Hardsuit Interface", then crowbarring and screwdrivering to remove the old battery.


 * Don't be afraid of using guns and other traditional antag methods. Ninja powers are scary and can take a lot of getting used to, but you've probably had a chance to learn how to use a gun before. If you break into the armoury and steal all the stuff, don't be afraid to keep a gun for yourself.


 * Remember to RP your kills as much as you can. If you have a single person at swordpoint in maintence then you can afford to roleplay a lot before you kill them, but if security is chasing you then nobody's going to blame you for fighting back without emoting first. On that note, however, if you're in a combat situation and can't emote, try not to kill them either. Aim for the chest or legs instead of the head, and you'll be fine.


 * Stealing the captain's (spare) ID will help you immensely in the long run. Or using a net on the Captain or HoP and forcing them to give you their ID.


 * Stealing a blank PDA in the bridge will allow you to view the manifest at any time, useful to determine how beefy security is.


 * Get a toolbelt from maintenance or engineering, find a toolbox and fill the belt. Sometimes some engineers learn the wires and post them in the breakroom. A crowbar will let you recharge outside maintenance. A t-ray may be useful if you can't remember where wires are.


 * If you plan to hack doors, steal some insulated gloves. Your hardsuit gloves won't protect you from shocks (which is a bug). The most important wires are the main power wire, bolt wire, ai control wire, and perhaps shock/safety wire, if you're more into traps.


 * You can teleport through walls if your visor is set to mesons


 * If science exists, wait awhile, then go to RnD, print the biggest cell you can, then find a safe place to upgrade your powercell.


 * Your suit lets you store any gun in your exosuit slot, including large ones such as Ion Rifles, LWAPs, and Bulldogs.


 * Your suit has access to Thetamivir, so infections should not shut you down, if you are quick to inject it.


 * Grenades can be reloaded by shoving them into the suit module while it's open. The same is true for chemicals.


 * You can subvert the AI while cloaked.


 * A pAI can be placed inside your suit. Sadly they can't press any buttons due to presumably a bug.


 * A subverted AI inside your suit can save your life, if given access to your suit. For example, if you get critted, the AI can teleport you out and then inject medicine. There is a risk of the AI killing you if it gets reset, however, as you have radium in your suit.


 * Substations are a nice hiding place to recharge. Just keep the thermals on.