Yo! Frequent lurker, first time poster here.

What does a Rigger really need, skill- and program-wise in order to do his job?

Rigger's about the only character type that I haven't been able to piece together yet. Thanks for the help guys!

-Mickle

Bare minimum, riggers need a commlink, the Command utility, the Computers and Hardware skills, and a vehicle or drone to control. The associated piloting skill is optional (you can leave it all up to the vehicle's Pilot). Plus the Maneuvering and Defense autosofts if he's leaving it up to the machine.

To be any good, they'll also want a Control Rig implant, at least 4's for their commlink stats and skills, the Hacking skill, Analyze, Scan, Encrypt, Decrypt, ECCM, Exploit, Sniffer, and Spoof utilities. The gunnery and piloting skill for whatever vehicles he's controlling. A ground combat-capable drone with an auto-fire weapon, a micro-/mini-drone or some sort, a flying drone (arming optional), and a car/van to haul all that junk around in. At least 3's or 4's on the available device stats on those vehicles (usually requiring upgrades), and the Clearsight and Targeting autosofts. And probably at least one drone equipped with the Electronic Warfare autosoft. Also, both a mechanical and an electronics toolkit.

DRONES:
Surveillance: The Dragonfly (Arsenal) is awesome in this role because its small, aerial, and can cut its way through screen doors and the like. Think of them as roving cameras/mic's.
The CD-Dalmatian (BBB) gets an honorable mention because it is aerial and huuuuge. With an improved sensor array it can use almost every sensor at once although did I mention it was huuuuuge?

Combat: The LEBD-1 drone (Arsenal) is awesome because it is aerial, has a weapon mount, and yet is somehow able permits are available for this flying gun platform. (Availability isn't "F" its "R"). Sniper Rifles allow standoff range and with APDS or anti-vehicular ammo a sniper rifle like the Barrett model 151 is able to completely exterminate most light vehicles and can whittle down a roadmaster/citymaster.

Heavy Combat: The Centaur (Arsenal) wins the bill here. Comes with good armor and two weapon mounts and has plenty of slots left for tasty modifications like Chameleon coating and Improved Sensor array. Not subtle but when you absolutely must have firepower its a good platform.

Transportation: The LEBD-1 is a medium drone so perhaps the size of a trashcan. The Dragonfly's are palm-sized. You could use a sedan in a pinch to carry them around but a van like the Bulldog is most common. If you are going to use Centaur's or its baby brother the Steel Lynx you'd bloody well better have a big cargo van.


SKILLS:
Pilot (whichever type of drone/vehicle you'll be using), Gunnery, and enough hacking skills to electronically protect your drones is the order of the day. The previous poster lists many of these programs and skills.

AUTOSOFTS VERSUS MEAT SKILLS:
This is where a VR-based rigger strongly differs from a puppeteer. A puppeteer cannot be in his horde all at once, only in one, so he relies on autosofts to get the job done. A VR rigger only uses one drone but doesnt need autosofts. Both modes have advantages and IMO a team with one VR rigger for stunts/high risk and one rigger for the horde is a great thing. Having a group of gun drones, for example, is a terrific amount of firepower but a VR-based rigger in a sniping drone with high skills will hit better than a stret sam when sniping. Consider sensor-assisted gunnery, smartgun links, and the single auto-hit from the Control Rig and the upper end of hits when shooting is much higher for the VR rigger. The defensive tests when defending can also be higher and almost all tests use either Gunnery or Piloting.

COMMLINK:
I personally think multiple commlinks is in order. Subscribe all your drones to one commlink then talk to your team on another. Subscribe the two commlinks to each other and you'll be able to have a buuuunch of things subscribed. Take advantage of the feeds and unlimited storage space in SR4 and record E-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. If there is a hostile rigger/hacker/technomancer turning off your drones wireless and having them continue to fight is a good thing. Weapon Watcher software (Arsenal) can identify weapons and engage armed targets. I'm not sure if a drone can use a Pocket Mage as a subscribed device but if it can use that to when they are flying without wireless to identify and geek hostile mages. Implanted commlinks are cheap enough I'd get 3 for a horde-based rigger.

I see...

how hard would it be to combine hacker and rigger? what're the downsides? I've also heard that Technomancers make good riggers... is that true?

Thanks for the help, Dumpshockians!

not very hard, and mostly the disadvantage is that you will be spending a lot on skills and (non-attribute increasing) resources... which means you'll have effectively lower resources, and fewer BPs for other handy stuff elsewhere.



yes, but mostly not for the reasons people think. take a look at the thread "calling out hermit" for a more in-depth discussion of how to make a good technomantic rigger.



no problem