Techno's....I thought I knew Options

[Brol_The_Mighty]

Alright, so here's the thing. I started a thread last week on how to build a TM, that helps against what I had thought the inherent weaknesses of the TM are. However, over the week there've been many responses, and most of them I understood, and some I did not. And it made me ponder, do I actually KNOW what the inherent weaknesses to the TM are, compared to cybered Hackers...and what're the best ways to overcome these. I'm looking for a Good Hacker, and a Fair, if not Good Rigger. I know, I know, a tall order. Here's the reasons I thought that TMs had problems.

Problems
No cyber advantage.
-The TM has no way of physically storing data that it hacks.

HUGE investment of Karma for skills, as well as Resonance rating.
-Whereas the Hacker uses nyuen for new programs, and abilities (like storage, additional DP's, and such) the TM has to use Karma.

No Matrix Condition.
-TM's use their Physical Condition, instead of Matrix. Thus the need for a higher body, for more boxes.

Reliant upon Sprites.
-The TM's greatest strength is in its Sprites. However, each time you compile, you have to resist Fading. That, and compiling a sprite takes a good amount of time.

Limited Dicepools.
- I don't know if I'm missing something, but I'm just having a hard time seeing how a TM can compete with a Hacker in dicepools for Matrix tasks.

Limited use "Meatside."
- With all the Karma costs associated with getting a TM up, its hard to allocate karma for skills and attributes needed for "meatside" operations.

Solutions

"Burning" a point of Resonance for Cyber/Bio.
-From a fluff perspective, i REALLY don't like this option, but it may be the only one. However, I'm not sure what's the best combo, choices. Best bang for the buck.

Overspecialization
-Definately a viable choice, but leaves you lacking on the meatside. That, and is still tricky to pull off. Unless I've missed something.

Threading
-Using threading with a complex form you already know, you can increase your CF's rating by the amount of hits you get.

Sprite Tasks.
-You can use a task, for the Sprite to assist, adding its rating in DP.

Re-registering Sprites.
-You can have (charisma) in registered sprites. And continually re-register them during downtime.

Houserule.
-Suggested at letting TM's buy CF's at resonance like Mages buy spells. Cost would be 5 Karma.

Storage Devices.
-A TM, or a sprite, can just wirelessly transfer the data to whatever storage device he'd like.


That's all I've got. If anyone has any other disadvantages that I missed, or Solutions, I'd LOVE to hear them. I'm fascinated by the TM, and am just trying to learn as much as I can about making mine a fluid, viable character.

This post has been edited by Redjack: Feb 8 2008, 08:42 PM

Reason for edit: Flagged as an SR4 topic