I've been thinking on this a bit and thought I would ask folks their opinion as well.

Basically, which piece of ware is your favorite, and which one is a hunk of garbage or not useful to you

My favorite:

Cyberlimbs.

There is nothing in my mind as essence worthy for a samurai to get. Nothing.

Pros: A cyber limb gives you one box of pain resistance, one extra physical damage box, an easy 2 armor and you can get some goodly stats as well. You wanna max that agility out at chargen? No prob. And the options are awesome.

Cons: All or nothing, you get a couple limbs and you restrict yourself from many bonuses of other ware. It's also kinda essence heavy.

My most disliked:

The Adrenaline Pump.

I love the idea, but I have never seen anyone use it. Why? The drain is deadly even on a level 1 pump and unavoidable. It triggers in an uncontrollable manner and takes 10 minutes before you get the opportunity to take more unresisted stun damage again

Looking forward to seeing others

Favourite:
Move-By-Wire.
Even if a bit watered down it is still awesome. You don't move anymore... you GET moved *g*. But really: you are faster, deadlier, use it as a skillwire and can dodge things you didn't even know were coming. I prefer the 3rd ed ones though... with more disadvantages.

Most disliked:
Hm, tough one... the Adrenaline pump IS bugged (but can be easily fixed by houserules). But i think the Skin Pocket... Really... has anyone ever had skin-pocket implanted? The thing is just emberassingly stupid. I would laugh at anyone implanting it in real life... a POCKET?

Honorable mentions for good thingies: Suprathyroid Gland, Nanitesymbionts, a Mender and Symbionts in a pack: 30% more lifestyle costs due to eating like a pig... but you can cure pretty much any problem with a good nights sleep.

I can actually see that being quite handy for a Michael Westen social infiltrator type. Need to steal the paydata from a secure facility that's isolated from the Matrix and the guards impound your commlink to prevent you downloading anything? No problem. Sneak a datatab (or whatever the 2070 equivalent of a thumb drive is) into the compound in your skin pocket, download the paydata, and stroll out with no one the wiser.

Well to be honest though there's other ways to conceal such devices on your body without an essence hit or expense.

My favorite:

Synaptic Booster

There is nothing that gives you more inititive per point of essence.

Pros: At 1.5E it makes you the fastest thing on the street, while costing less Essence than level 1 Wired Reflexes. And you can still add Reaction Enhancers...

Cons: Money. They are spendy. Most Runners probably won't ever see that much money in the first place.




the rotten tomato:

Muscle Replacement

Pros: None.
Cons: There is absolutely nothing that could ever possibly jsutify their essence loss. Ever. I hated them since first ed.

Back on topic - my favorite augmentation is probably DNA Masking (Genewpe). I tend to be very concerned about people tracking my character down, and it always seemed like, unless you're a mage with Sterlize, DNA could be a serious component in screwing you over - either via tracking or ritual sorcery.
My least favorite, certainly, is the balance tail. It just seems moronic. I mean, a TAIL?!?!

They're a niche item, but they're so cheap that they're honestly not that bad for people who own small but inordinately expensive small objects, like hackers or magicians. That's right: magicians. Basically, it's virtually a mortal lock that any human mage I play will have cybereyes, and as long as you have more cyber than bioware, the skin pocket ends up costing you a grand total of .05 essence, which makes them pretty dang easy to squeeze into a build. If you have high grade stacked or power focus it can really pay to have someplace secure to stow that baby before trying to bs your way through a security checkpoint.

Anyway, I'm feeling lazy so I'll just stick to two favorites, one obvious, one sneaky good.

Synthacardium: These fall under the "obvious" category for dumpshock dwellers and rpg vets, but for some reason new players continue to overlook them at my table. If you cannot afford great physical attributes or the Athletics skill group, these are the next best thing. Shadowrun is an unpredictable game, and Athletics covers dancing (probably won't come up, but still), climbing, swimming and not cracking your head open when you have to jump out a window or maintaining your balance while running through all the dangerous crap your GM might spring on you. And if you are a good athlete? Then these things just might be your ticket to some good ol' fashioned Gymnastic Dodge munchkinry. At worst, being physically fit is a great luxury for any shadowrunner. Hell, I'm a li'l confused as to why they cost only 10k per point of rating. I'd pay 15k and never look back.

Internal Airtank: These are just so dirt cheap that I always consider cramming them onto any character for whom essence loss isn't a major issue, since they can let you use breathtaker and nausea gas attacks with impunity. They're not amazing and .25 essence hurts, but at only 650 nuyen the price is right. At that price, jumping up to Alpha grade is hardly an issue-- you could reasonably get 'em as betaware for under 3k in play if you really wanted to. Hell, even getting them as Deltaware would be pretty affordable if it weren't for the trouble of getting an appointment.

Favorite: Pain Editor
Go-Go killing machine!

Least Favorite: Tooth Breakable Compartment
Um, use an auto-injector for less.

My favorite is Enhanced Articulation, it was hit with a nerf bat from SR3 to SR4, but it's still pretty good.

Least Favorite is penile implant, if you can't get it up take drugs don't implant a fake one.

Just Curious Squinky, but it is possible that I may have missed it all these years... where exactly does it say that you get a point of pain resistance for a cyberlimb?

Keep the Faith

Other than what's been said that I've seen:

Best: Wired Reflexes. If you need to ask why, you lose.

Worst: Chameleon Skin. 1 die to infiltration? 3 if you're completely motionless? And that's only if you're completely naked? Good luck.

Please tell me you're making that up.

Radar Sensor: Congratulations! You can now detect any motion within 100 meters, even through multiple walls, up to a total Barrier rating of 20 at sensor rating 4! You can also now see through Invisibility and camouflague, and it also operates as a Signal 2 millimeter wave radar system for detecting weapons and cyberware! Toss in an Orientation system and you can instantly create fully accurate 3D maps of any area you find yourself in, to share with your friends!

Dunno about my least favorite though. Prolly something like the Touch Link, which I don't understand the potential usage of.

~Umidori

I phrased it badly, here it is though:

Pg. 33 augmentation Cyberlimb Sensory Cut-off. Pretty much a point of pain resistance

Glad this thread is going so well, It's cool to see different folks take on things.

Nope. Augmentation p. 34

A full cyberlimb replacement person can have 84.... 85 if the person in question is a male. And if everything is delta-grade and suite'd, it can go higher than that.

But think of how you can have a variable size, bejewelled, vibrating implant, with a built-in go happy drug injector AND a taser if the goings get rough.....

Not exactly the most useful thing during a run I admit, but it makes a great(?) conversation piece...

The penile implant can also be installed with [1]Capacity instead of essence. Meaning you can attach 10 of them to one cyber lower arm. Ladies and gentlemen - Edward Penis-hands!

Auto-injector loaded with brain bleach anyone?

I think I like Dietware best. Think of the impact it has in society; for 2500 you don't have to worry about obesity anymore. Of course, that outlines the difference between social classes even more; the poor can't afford an easy way out.


I understand just how powerful Move by Wire is, but the concept really fills me with revulsion.. spending your whole life in a constant controlled seizure.. *shiver*


As for usefulness, I think the Radar implant is my current favorite. I'm hopeless with directions, so I took this an Orientation System, and I just tell the GM I want automap or no fuss about directions.

That gives a whole new meaning to the term "handjob".

Best: Orthoskin Elektroshock Upgrade.
An implanted weapon undetectable by Cyber Scanners or Assensing (indistinguishable from any, probably cosmetic, skin mod and Orthoskin) that has unlimited charges, works with every part of your skin and deals the best typ of damage in game.

Worst: Increased Sensitivity
Does less than Hearing Enhancement.


The Signal is used for Range and Jamming purposes only (and can be upgraded to 4) - the device itself won't detect cyberware or weapons, it can be used to (it has no database like the cyber scanner, it's just a vision system): You can make perception tests for that.

Any commlink with a mapsoft will do just fine, no need for an Orientation System.

But don't forget to wear sufficient armor, because the modifiers from Physical Damage are not negated. Not RAW but Sniping (without a smartgun and trigger removal) may also be difficult since you have a -4 to tactile sensations.
I prefer 6-9 points of damage compensators and a Platelet factory.

As for best and worst, MBW and Muscle replacement have already been mentioned

I prefer a Platelet Factory and a Trauma Damper:

Taking less damage mans less modifiers, too - and you'll live longer.

What I meant was, I prefer those, if I want to have some kind of High Pain Tolerance equivalent.

The man with 85 dongs might just have to appear in my current campaign..

I like bone density augmentation. Decently cheap for bioware, completely legal but still adds to damage resistance and punching power.

I dislike cyberfins. I mean, if the plan involves swimming, you can buy flippers.

Hmm let me see. Many good here, but what is good or not depends on

A: nuyen available
B: mission needs
C: essence available

If A is very low then even Muscle Replacement because super good. Wired reflexes is also good in this category.
If A is very high then I agree that Synaptic Booster rocks. But can you really combine it with Reaction Enhancers?


I'd think Reaction Enhancers could be called that. Also This seems to indicate that REs are also considered initiative boosters, since reaction boosts initiative.

Note that Wired reflexes has the same limitation as Synaptic booster, so if one can be used with Reaction Enhancers, so can the other.

So it seems that no initative booster can be combined with REs except:


Well enough about that. I love the Sleep Regulator, a must have for all cybernetic characters and decent even for awakened. Cybereyes are also good, cheap, low essence ware that should be almost standard issue for runners. Sure, glasses can do alot of the same things, but after the SR4a rules cybereyes yet again becomes the optimal choice if you want tons of vision mods.

Tooth compartment doesn't cost essence and I like some last resort (devil may care what happens in half an hour) for my chars.


Personal favourite: Wired Reflexes
Everybody who does physical work loves them, they are basically the definition of a Street Sam and you can hardly get more bang for you buck. Sure, the essence cost if quite heavy - part of you becomes machine, after all

Most useless: The Bioware eyes
Retinal mods still have the fluff advantage that you don't have your eyes gouged out. What's the point of these?

I'm fairly sure the Move by Wire was intended to read that it can't be combined with Initiative Pass enhancements. After all, a lot of Reaction/Initiative enhancement augmentations say that they can be combined with all other augmentations. And all other IP-enhancement techniques also mention they can't be stacked with each other.

C is a constant value and as such your most precious ressource. A LOT more precious than A, which is potentially unlimited.

Now as for Synaptic Boosters and REs: I think you are right. I still had it in my mind that you could combine them, but you are right in that the rules state otherwise. No cluse how I cam eto that conclusion.
However, Wired Reflexes specifically states that they can be used in combination with reaction enhancers:



So yea, that is a minor drawback to the Snyaptic Booster. But considering the Essence cost, it is still my most favorite Implant (even though I can rarely afford it).

If the question was only about affordability, my vote would go to "Radar Sensor". Especially combined with an attention coprocessor and Vision Enhancement 3, you cannot Ambush this character. Ever.

The problem is that Initiative Enhancements were never defined as IP enhancements and the description of Reaction enhancers imply that an increase to any Stat that modifies the Initiative score is called Initiative Enhancer as well.

Another weird thing: Only MBW increases Reaction, the other Enhancements give a Bonus to Reaction that also affects Initiative.

Hmm, so very many choices. I would have to say my favorite is the Neocortical nanoware. It isn't overly pricey at 15k for rating 3 + 10k for nanohive. And if you already have a cyberlimb of some kind it is essence free, and a +3 bonus to all skills that are logic linked can be very sweet. A must have for hacker/rigger types, as well as any sort of 'jack of all trades' type. Plenty of other nanowares are sweet too if you're willing to fork out for multiple hives. Oxyrush lets you hold your breath for two and half hours. Nanotattoos can give you an emergency camouflage or even more useful a disguise by changing your skin color and making your cheeks seem hollow or something.

As for most useless? There are so many out there that are very circumstancial, and plenty that are basically always useless... I'll go for the spidersilk gland, just to pick something new. I admit it is kind of cool to be able to always have rope on hand, but not for 40k and .3 essence. If it was 5k or 10k and .1 essence it might be cool, or if you could shoot them like spiderman so you don't need a grappling hook, or even if it just stuck to surfaces (so you don't need an anchoring point) that would help.

Not my favourite nor the most immediately exciting, but a special mention here for Adapsin. You can't get it a chargen but it makes for a nice character goal in a campaign expecting long-term advancement, even if you give up a few Essence points for your starting augmentations.

Under the heading of least favourite, a special mention for the degradation of nanoware. Nice idea, but a point per week? That makes buying them without an imminent need a foolish expenditure and even if you know you're going to want it soon you'll probably only get one or two uses before it dies out and they're far too expensive for that. I'm more generous with the degradation rate in my game.

Best: Cybereyes or Eye Mod. Best bang for you buck and usually first purchase on any npc I'm modding. Besides handy image link and vision enhancements its essence friendly for the mage looking for a permanent optical vision mag.

Worst: Eye Dart gun, just because were still waiting to find out which set of rules were supposed to use with darts and how.

Personally, I'm going with Sleep Regulator. It's one of my favorite pieces of ware. It may be totally useless most of the time, but when you can be awake when others can't, it sure gives you a leg up on your "companions" if you're sharing a safe house. Plus you don't suffer the crash of longhaul.

My least favorite is muscle replacement. It's so horrendously expensive (essence) for the gain you get.

How do you reload the eye dart gun? Shoving a dart in your eye has to be a counter-intuitive process....or is there a clip that you shove in to the side of your head.

Both of these ideas are awesome.

I'm brought to mind of the skull guns in The Diamond Age... except for how the hell did you reload those? That's not much of a help.

Not necessarily USEFUL... but my personal favorite piece of Cyber, since Man and Machine came out in 3e, is the Balance Tail. Maybe it was just the artwork for it that sold me... but I like it.
(Or maybe because it's hilarious amazing to make a char with the tail, kid stealth legs, and cyber skates...)

As for the stinke? Obvious choice go to muscle replacement and adrenaline pump... but really, I think MBW are too much as currently ruled. Back when they gave you TLE-X and were terribly damaging to your nervous system they were fine. The loss of drawback on them killed them for me.

Completely forgot about that one. Like you said, useless most of the time, but it'S a piece of equipment that rationally every character (and my RL self ) would want to have.

I absolutely adore the reverse jointed legs. +50% move speed and +2 str for kicking? Plus I love reverse jointed legs period. Also, although not RAW, a pair of Internal Release Chemical Glands with K-10 and Dopadrine make for an amazing pair, and give you better stat bonuses than any of the alternatives.

The worst? Many of the new stuff from Augmentation are useless, but to pick one out from the rest I'll choose Chloroplast Skin. 0.1 Essence and 2.5k nuyen for no benefit whatsoever?

I've often thought of muscle replacement as the poor mans strength booster. It conjures up images of warehouse workers spending there taxes or bonus on a lvl 1 set and getting a huge boost in ease of life, less injuries, etc. Kind of like we used to picture all the office worker types in shadowrun as having data jacks.

But for most runners, no, it has no use beyond fluff.

Although, it could save you some bp. You only need one restricted gear quality to get it to 4, the same boost in stats the bioware route would take two

Hmm well that must be a rules change/clarification from SR4a then, it lacks the "stacks with reaction enhancers" line, while MBW in augmentation has it.

I'm beginning to think that the original text was just poorly worded and that the SR4a wording is intended for all IP boosters. Thus Reaction Enhancers become useful, if not mandatory for Street Samurai. Reaction is probably the best attribute to boost for any kind of character.

AGI is at least on par with REA.

Depends on whether you're shooting or being shot.

Seeing all the posts make me smile. Many of the things listed as most useless I've gladly used. When Man & Machine came out I also made fun flavor build based on the Raptor legs & Balance Tail; however instead of skates I went for the Hydraulic Jack and named him Kaptain Kangaroo. (Hey, when you GM and never play you get to make funky builds for the fun of it). When I moved to SR4 Kaptain Kangaroo benefitted greatly from the Skin Pocket.

When I was building a street-doc type I looked at the spider-silk gland. I only said no because it was rope sized, and not sticky. Had it been something I could have used for stitches and the like I'd have been all over it.

For me, its the theme and background and feel of the character that determine what I love. However, prior to the wonderful uses of contacts and glasses I can honestly say that cyber-eyes found their way into almost every cybered build I made. Now, its all about theme and space. If the .5 essense and slightly higher nuyen cost isn't an issue, then I gladly go that way over exterior mods. So, on the whole I'd have to give Eyes the big thumbs up.

Also, I started playing hardcore shortly after 2E came out. So I was spoiled by the pressence of Bioware. This means that as others above have already said, muscle replacement has always been right out.

I've always been a fan of trauma dampers and suprathyroid glands (not that the two really go together, mind). I haven't used 'em in SR4 yet, but they were some of the first gear I bought on anyone it was remotely appropriate for, in previous editions. Neither was ever game-breakingly awesome (though a TD on a mage was pretty nice, if you were so inclined) or anything...but I just liked them.

Least favorite? SR4 notwithstanding -- because, again, I haven't really had the chance to play with 'em yet -- cyberlimbs were always too craptastic to be worth it. It's a shame, because they're awesome as an idea, very cyberpunky, love the image, the fluff...but the one character I ever had in SR1-3 that had a cyberarm and was still a decent Shadowrunner, well, it was despite the arm, not because of it. Everything I've read shows they got a heck of a makeover in SR4, though, which makes me happy in my tummy.

In a low-cash campaign (eg, rescticted resources and maybe low points for character creation) Muscle Replacment is a BARGAIN. Get the used version. Its not like you'd have enough cash to buy 5+ essence worth of gear. And, to boot, you can get the used stuff at rating 3, I think. +3 agility in a low-resource game is KILLER.
When you get more cash later on, you rip out the Muscle Replacement and put something better in the (rather large) essence hole. Which explains why there's lots of used Muscle Repalcement floating around...

Platelet Factory is an amazingly good item, much better than the trauma damper. The trauma damper is OK, but simply taking fewer boxes beats shifting them to stun by a mile. Platelet factory is a bit cash intensive for some folks; a cheaper option might be artificial skin.

Dumbest item(s) by far are the cyberarm dodads that replace your hands. Not that they are bad items, per se, but why are they NOT available as non-cyber items baffles me. Are we to believe you can by a welding laser that repalces your cyber-hand, but not one you can pick up and use with a normal human hand?

It would make more sense to grab used wired reflexes 2 in that case. Beats the hell out of +3A/S. Unless you are trying to tell me the player won't have the nescessary 3BP for his gear...

I just love Cybereyes. Absolute must-have for every character who's not Awakened or Emerged. To hell with glasses!

That said, I'm not at all excited with all the stuff that's too obvious. An obvious cyberarm may be ok, but reverse jointed legs? A tail? Do you really want each person you meet to remember you?



In a good deal of cases, if you're shot at, you're already a goner.

I'm surprised at all the mad love for cybereyes.

Personally I used them all the time when I first started playing (Fully tricked out they cost like, what, 2 BP?) but then I noticed you can get the exact same benefits from some contacts for about 1/10th the price and no essence cost. Sure, with 4A they're a little less useful since you can only put three things in them, but still, after a smartlink, vision enhancement, and ultrasound, the other things are just icing. And if you really need you can use goggles for tons of different enhancements when you go into mission mode (And they have the added bonus of helping cover your face).

So really the only reason I could see for wanting cybereyes is for mages because they can't use the vision enhancements to cast spells otherwise.

Do you know all the crap you can throw into a cyberlimb? I have a mage with two cyberhands and he has the following:

• commlink
• Radar Sensor
• Olfactory booster
• Orientation system
• Biomonitor
• Auto-injector with 6 extra doses (for meds like Trauma Patch, Savior nanites, cram, etc)