i was idly filliping through the man and machine looking for intelligence improving cyberwear or just plain anything that improves intelligence. in short i did not find anything that actually improves the intelligence attribute.

i was wondering if there is any cyberwear or biowear that improves intelligence that i missed.

you missed the Cerebral Enhancer bioware. improves Int by +1 per level, max 2 levels.

The Encephawhatsits also boosts effective intelligence for certain purposes, in addition to giving you task pool dice for use with int linked skills.

Encephalon helps with learning skills. It's also a favourite of deckers aside from the math SPU.

The Encephelon is a gross example of overcompensation in the name of game balance. The only thing it boosts Intelligence for is in regards to determining how long it takes to improve a skill -- a test that rarely comes up if at all in most games.

The Task Pool and Hacking Pool it grants isn't really worth the Essence or nuyen investment. You can outperform the Hacking Pool with something as simple as a Math SPU 3 and the Task Pool, while a nice boon on occasion, doesn't warrant the cost.

I mean, it's more costly in both areas than a Cerebral Booster, and the CB at least increases your effective Intelligence... that's Reaction, Combat Pool, Astral Combat Pool, Control Pool, Hacking Pool, Perception Tests, Astral Perception Tests, Knowledge Skills, Language Skills (the latter two only if taken during character creation), and etc. The Encephelon pretty much pales in comparison. Cheaper and all-around better... who couldn't ask for more except for maybe a tech junkie or decker with too much cash on their hands and nothing better to do with the Essence?

But yeah, other than the Cerebral Booster, there isn't much else in the game that'll help. Genetech might offer some possibilities, but I don't have SotA:2063 nearby to check.

The Encephalon stacks with the Math SPU's hacking pool, by the way. And reducing karma costs for INT skills is pretty worth it IMHO. YMMV, of course.

I definitely recall that Genetech can strip away flaws, so I wasn't sure if there was a similar technique for gaining edges. That's the only reason I mentioned it. I knew there wasn't any direct Genetech option to increase Intelligence by design.

I was misremembering the wording, but it's all semantics anyway. The benefit it provides is still pretty much a null benefit. Even moreso by the actual wording.

For a cyber-brainiac freak, there is:

Encephalon: underpowered for it's cost and Essense, but adds to Hacking Pool and reduces costs for learning certain skills by effectively raising your Intelligence. Also gives a Task Pool.

Cerebral Booster: Raises Intelligence, and the level: 2 also gives a Task Pool.

Math SPU: improves math skills, adds to Hacking Pool.

Mnemonic Enhancer: raises Language skills, improves rolls to recall information, at the highest level it adds one to Knowledge skills.