Welcome back, redpill. Previously we discussed what "crafting" is within the Matrix, and explained the basic abilities and tools required to become a crafter. This time, we'll actually do some crafting, plus explain how to repair broken items and decrypt encrypted codes.
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SO LET'S MAKE SOMETHING ALREADY! |
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At this point you are probably eager to get started, if you haven't been experimenting already. The first step is to make certain you have the right abilities in your loadout. Before you can even think about crafting something, you need to have Write Code on board, because this allows you to equip the Code Analyzer tool and other necessary crafting tools. Drag your Code Analyzer, Item Decompiler, and Code Compiler tools onto your hotbar somewhere when you plan to craft, because you will be using them a lot.
>When you have Write Code loaded at level One and your Code Analyzer equipped via clicking its icon on your hotbar, you will notice that you have very few recipes available through the Code Analyzer. Take a moment to explore the various dropdown menus. For some categories such as clothing, you don't have any recipes! However, if you have some code bits, you should be able to get started. By the time you improve Write Code to level Five, you'll have enough Ability Code recipes to make the rest of your crafting abilities.
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Let's walk through writing a new weapon code. The first thing to notice is that the Code Analyzer tool divides recipes into groups for easier sorting. The leftmost dropdown box lets you pick a major recipe group, and the middle dropdown lets you pick a subgroup within that major recipe group. Finally, the rightmost dropdown lets you pick the difficulty level of the recipes you want to look at. For this example, pick Weapons as your major group, Handguns as the weapon subgroup, and 1-5 for the difficulty level.
You'll see at least two handguns here: a Redpill Special, the same gun you were issued in the Tutorial Construct; and a Royer Snub Nose, a step up from the Redpill Special. Select the Royer Snub Nose entry, and a set of code fragments will be listed in the lower-right window. These fragments are the ingredients needed to create a code version of the Royer Snub Nose.
Mouse-over the code fragments, and you'll notice that they comprise three different types: a Class Routine, a Function Subroutine, and two Variable Fragments. Other recipes follow this pattern, but more complex items require additional fragments. Some recipes require Uncommon Variable Fragments, which can be crafted, but very complex recipes require rare Interface, Object, Patch, or Subroutine Fragments which can only be acquired by killing gang or mission enemies.
For now, though, you only need the Items Class Routine, the Weapons Function Fragment, and two variable fragments. The Code Analyzer draws these fragments from your inventory or code archive. If you're missing a fragment but have the code bits to make it, you can right-click on the fragment in the recipe and choose the "Craft this item" option. Make sure to have at least one free slot in your inventory before you do this. As a last resort, you can always find a fragment vendor and buy code fragments there.
Once you've got all the necessary fragments, hit the Write Code button, and wait. Recipes with low difficulty levels will be created more quickly than recipes with high difficulty levels, and when the process is done, the system chat window will show you the margin by which you succeeded (or failed) to craft the item code. If you find that you're having a lot of trouble crafting a particular code, check your results. You may need to increase your Write Code ability level (or another ability which adds to your Write Code skill) to succeed. If you succeed, then you'll also get some experience and have a shiny new Item Code in your inventory. Now you can upload that Item Code to your code archive, and compile it either in the Loading area or with the Compile Items ability, as explained in Part One.
This same process is used to make Ability Codes and code fragments. However, these creations can be used immediately (although Abilities will need to be uploaded first) and do not need to be compiled.
By now you probably want to add some more codes to your recipe book. Buy some clothes or items from a vendor, select one of them in your inventory, and use your Item Decompiler. If your Decompile Items ability is high enough, you'll be rewarded with some experience and a new code recipe. Activate your Code Analyzer now, go to the proper section for the item you just decompiled, and you'll see an entry in green for the item, signifying that its recipe has been added by decompiling instead of by leveling an ability. Ability codes and code fragments cannot be decompiled. If after learning a recipe you successfully decompile the same item again, you'll recover some of its code bits. This can be a useful way to turn your extra Redpill Specials into other, more useful, items.
Decompiled Recipe
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REPAIRING DAMAGED AND BROKEN ITEMS |
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Items that get used decay. Clothing gets damaged in combat, and weapons and tools degrade from use. Fortunately, you have two abilities that help reverse the process.
- Minor Repairs: Minor Repairs is a part of the Coder branch. Having this in your loadout makes your items more resistant to stability loss, and allows you to make repairs to damaged items.
- Repair Items: Repair Items is part of the Programmer branch. This ability allows you to repair an item's stability, at the expense of its code purity.
Using either one of these abilities is similar to using the Item Decompiler. Open your inventory and target the item you want to repair, and then use the ability from either the Actions panel or hotbar.
A final ability of interest is the Cryptography ability, which is also part of the Programmer tree. During your time in the Matrix, you may run across encrypted code items. Decrypting these codes may reveal an Item or Ability Code of great value. This is done using the Cryptography ability and a Crypto Tool.
The process of decrypting an item is similar to decompiling an item, only using the Crypto tool instead of an Item Decompiler. Select the encrypted code to be decrypted and use the Crypto tool. If your Cryptography skill is high enough, you will decrypt the item! It is also possible to encrypt code items through the same process, but at this time in the Matrix there's really no reason for you to have to do that.
You now should have knowledge of how to use the basic crafting skills. If you've looked at the Code Crafter tree, you've noticed that more advanced crafting abilities become available once your character is level Fifteen. In a future article we'll explore these advanced abilities, what they can do for you, and other topics such as the relationship between item stability and purity.
Posted by Shadowborn
