I'm pretty new to SR4, we just started to try it out in my gaming group. I'm playing the Drone Rigger sample character from the Anniversary Core Rulebook (which I think is the latest version of the rules). I know the rigger is hard, but really it's not that hard if you are actually willing to read the rules and think about it. So I played my first session recently.

The question:

The Drone Rigger sample character has Reaction Enhancers rating 2. When I first read the character, I assumed that this helped him pilot drones. But it doesn't, does it? I mean, in the first few combats, he spent all his time in full VR and never used his own reflexes once.

Does anyone know, from a practical perspective, why this guy has wired reflexes? Where does it come in useful, other than being the first to run for cover if I make the mistake of being near a gun fight?

Just looking for experienced rigger players to chime in on how a rigger uses wired reflexes.

Thanks

Wired Reflexes and Reaction Enhancers are different things.

Wired Reflexes give + Reaction + IP

Reaction Enhancers give + Reaction

A rigger when "jumped in" will use the AR/VR IP rate, so does not need extra initiative passes. THey get extra initiative passes by being in VR mode.

However, the rigger will benefit from having higher Reaction in two ways, one is when piloting a vehicle directly, the test is Rea + Pilot. The other benefit is regardless of the number of IP you have, you still benefit from having a high REA when it comes to when your turn comes up during the phase.

Basically what Dire said. And the fact that the pre-generated characters are utter crap. I suggest changing characters or reworking your current one once you have a basic understanding of the rules.

I only ever use the pre-gen characters if at least half the group is new, & then for no more than 2 game sessions.

also, most groups house rule it so reaction enhancers and all other ini stuff are compatible with each other . .

Thanks for the clarification re: wired reflexes vs. reaction enhancers.

I wanted to point out to you guys a big change in the latest Core Rules.

On page 245 of the 20th Anniversary Core Rulebook, it says that for a drone controlled by a jumped in rigger, "Any tests are
made using the rigger’s skills and the drone’s attributes (substituting Response for Agility and Reaction and Sensor for Intuition)." This is in contrast, I believe, to all previous versions of the Core Rules where the rigger's attributes are used.

I was using this new rule and thus never used my reflexes for anything (initiative was matrix initiative, all drone tests use drone attributes).

It's not really a new rule. It's been in the FAQ and errata (and, presumably, subsequent reprintings) for a couple of years. Though it can certainly be new to you, if you've got an older printing of the core book.

But, yeah, reaction is more or less a physical stat, and not particularly useful when you go full-immersion. But it's always good to have in those instances where you can't go catatonic and let your toys speak for you.

Well one interesting thing, in SR4 the increase reaction spell does not include the disclaimer this does not stack with any other form of reaction enhancement. On the other hand there's a hard cap of 4 IPs (and I think the rules state the everyone in the Astral gets the 3 IPs regardless of how many they would normally have). Not a big deal but still its there.