This is the second chapter in my series on strategy advice for combat-oriented cogminds. Here we’ll cover the Alert Level, which is probably the most important mechanic in the game. In fact, the first topic in my series is closely intertwined with this one. To recap, our main goal on each level is to find the stairs and get off the level as fast as possible. Why? Because we’re in a race against time. Over time, the threat level will inevitably rise. If it gets too high, you will die. Horribly. Learning how to avoid raising the alert level (and learning how to lower it once it does begin to climb) are vital skills.
1. For Every Action There Is A Reaction - The Global A.I.It’s worthwhile comparing Cogmind to other roguelikes. In the vast majority of other RLs, all of your encounters and actions essentially exist in a vacuum. Consider DCSS. I can go into the Elven Halls and slaughter every single elf in the entire game. What effect does this have on the rest of the game? The answer is basically nothing.
Of course, by virtue of clearing this branch I’ll have more loot and more experience, although perhaps I had to burn some comestibles in the process. But my (genocidal) actions in Elf do not alter how the rest of the game looks like or reacts to me. I could have leveled up by clearing Elf; I could have leveled up by scumming the Abyss. The end result from either course of action is indistinguishable. My local actions do not have global consequences.
Cogmind does things very differently. There’s a Global AI that tracts your actions as you explore the world. Your actions will determine the game’s reactions to you. Kyzrati has touched upon this mechanic in a blog post here:
http://www.gridsagegames.com/blog/2015/04/living-dungeon/This portion of the above post is worth quoting at length:
“We have … an actual overarching AI controlling the community’s reaction to your presence and actions on a larger scale. You not only have to think about your interactions (combat or otherwise) on an individual robot-to-robot level, but in many cases must also consider the repercussions of your decisions further down the road.
Depending on the circumstances, your unauthorized or hostile actions will be reported, and you will be hunted, or cause enough mayhem and invite a robot army to converge on your position.”
How does this work in practice?
2. The Alert Level.As you play the game, it keeps track of something called the Alert Level. There’s 6 different possible Alert Levels: low security, and Alert Levels 1-5. The game starts at low security. As you do certain actions (usually of the “blowing things up” variety), the Alert level rises. Here is an example from one of my winning runs of what the Alert Level looked like throughout the game:
Maximum Alert Level 2
Low Security (%) 71
Level 1 27
Level 2 1
Level 3 0
Level 4 0
Level 5 0
As you can see, I spent almost three quarters of the game at low security level; never got higher than Level 2; and only spent a mere 1% of the game at Level 2. Keeping the Alert Level low like this is vital to winning.
Easier said than done. As a combat Cogmind, you’re going to be blowing a lot of stuff up and raising the threat level. What does an increase in the threat level result in?
As the alert level rises, enemy squads get sent against you. These are teams of grunts supported by melee bots, protectors, or saboteurs. They also tend to be more advanced bots than what you’d normally find on the level. They’re packed into an ARC, hone in on you wherever you are, and deploy when they spot you. If you’re unprepared, these squads can wreck you.
Around level 4 and higher the global AI will start deploying even worse squads against you. These include powerful and rare robots that you otherwise will not see, including bots armed with explosive weapons (think missile launchers). Once these things begin dropping on your end, it’s effectively game over. You want to avoid things getting to this point at all costs.
What makes it hard to avoid getting to this point is the Alert Level death spiral. Let’s say you’re so buff you’re capable of swatting down an extermination squad. Well, that just raises the threat level even more! You kill stuff, the threat level goes up, more stuff gets sent out against you, you kill more stuff, etc. It’s unsustainable. To avoid this death spiral you need to know what raises the alert level; how to avoid needlessly raising it; and how to lower it once it becomes to climb up.
3. Things That Directly Raise the Alert Level Killing StuffThis one is pretty obvious and it’s the most common way you’re going to raise the Alert Level. Every robot that you (or your allies) kill raises the threat level. The global AI understandably gets concerned when its little minions start exploding.
However, not all robots are created equal. All robots in the game (including you) have a rating. (Your scoresheet will let you know what your peak state was and what your rating was at this state). The higher the robot’s rating, the greater the alert level goes up when you kill it. In practice, this means that you can kill the occasional non-hostile robots like serfs and recyclers without much repercussion. Kill a Behemoth and you’ll really get their attention.
This mechanic is how Cogmind gets its food clock. Every so many turns Programmers are dispatched against you. Even if you can kill them easily and manage electromagnetic corruption, you can’t stay on a Factory or Research level indefinitely since eventually the threat level will get too high.
In the past, causing a robot to meltdown or corrupting it to death would not increase the threat level. As of Alpha 5, this is no longer the case – you’ll now get charged for those deaths security-wise.
Blowing Parts of the Complex Up
As you explore the complex, you’ll find machines that you can hack (e.g. terminals) and machines that you can’t interact with (e.g. neutrino reactors). All of these can be blown up. Some of the non-interactive machines will destabilize and explode when shot at. These large explosions are more than capable of killing enemy robots and setting off chain reactions. Unsurprisingly, nuking large swathes of machinery will get you into trouble real quick.
It’s worth noting that blowing up walls and doors does not increase the Alert level. Terraform to your robotic heart’s content.
Allies Allies raise the alert level in two different ways. First, you’re on the hook for any enemy robot they kill. Since large groups of allies are very effective in taking out enemies (for a while at least), they’ll be jacking the alert level up as they go along. Also, having lots of guys around you increases your footprint and makes it more likely than enemy patrol will spot you and your motley crew. You’ll be getting into more fights with lots of bots around you than you would if you going solo.
More importantly, using allies will raise the alert level higher than what it would be without them. The alert level goes up by simply having allies around you. This is understandable: the global AI is going to react differently to a killbot leading a large army as opposed to a single solitary killbot. If you keep lots of allies around, you’ll quickly see the alert level shoot up. Because allies can effectively take out enemy squads (at first), it is very easy to enter an Alert Level death spiral through overuse of allies.
Garrisons (The Map)Entering a Garrison will almost definitely raise the alert level. They’re full of enemies, so lots of killing is inevitable. Even worse, every now and then you’ll get a message along the lines of “Garrison compromised.” Every time you hear this, the alert level has gone up. On the bright side, you won’t face any programmer dispatches as long as you’re in the Garrison.
Garrisons also contain various Garrison-only machines (relays and phase generators). Blowing them up will raise the threat level even more than blowing up normal machinery.
Trojan Hacks With Alpha 4, there are new hacks called Trojan that you can pull off. Even though this malicious little hacks wreak havoc on the enemy, they do not raise the security level. Trojan away to your hearts content!
One Trojan (Trojan(Detonate)) causes machines to become proximity mines and blow up when enemies are near. It is currently unclear whether you're on the hook for machines and enemies blown up by these detonations.
It is currently unclear whether Brute Force hacks raise the threat level.
4. Things That Indirectly Raise The Threat LevelMachine Lockouts If you repeatedly try to use any machine for too long, you’ll eventually be detected and locked out of the machine. This will cause an investigation squad to be dispatched to see what’s causing the trouble. Although I don’t believe lock outs by themselves raise the threat level, more enemies for you to blow up means a rising security level.
Brute Force Hacks
Alpha 4 introduced a new hack type called Brute Force Hacks. These hacks get a machine to do something at the cost of overloading the machine and rendering it otherwise inoperable. I don’t know if this raises the security level, but like a lockout it will definitely cause an investigation squad to get dispatched.
Watchers, Haulers, Alarm traps and Operators
Watchers will emit a distress signal if they see you and a combat enemy is in range. Haulers will emit distress signals when attacked, and higher level ones will call in reinforcements if attacked. Operators will use terminals to call in reinforcements if any enemies are nearby. Alarm traps will dispatch an investigation squad to your position. None of these actions will raise the threat level by itself, but again the more you kill the higher the level goes.
Garrisons
If you fight near a Garrison machine, enemies will periodically pop out of it as combat enemies report your presence. Under no circumstances should you fight near a Garrison if avoidable.
5. How to Reduce and Manage The Threat LevelHack The Security Level Down There are several hacks that can help you manage the threat level. The most important one (and arguably the most important hack in the game) is Alert(Purge). Every time you pull this hack off, the alert level goes down. I try to do this at least once a level if possible. You cannot do this hack indefinitely on a level. Each time you pull this hack off, the chances of pulling it off successfully decreases. This makes camping forever on a Factory or Research level impossible.
Alert(Check) is a fairly easy hack to pull off that lets you know what the current alert level is. Once you’ve played long enough you’ll get a fairly good feeling where things stand at any given point, but this hack can be useful if you’re not sure how pissed they are.
Finally, there’s Recall(Assault), Recall(Extermination) and Recall(Reinforcements). These hacks are hard to pull off, but if it works it’ll cause a dispatched squad to leave the map and spare you the hassle of fighting them.
Get Off The LevelGoing to the next level causes the alert level to drop. This, combined with programmer dispatches and assault squads, is the reason why our primary goal is to get off the level ASAP.
Don’t Get Locked Out Of Every Terminal You SeeWhen I first started playing Cogmind I would hack away at every terminal I came across until lock out. Don’t do this. As noted, this will cause an investigation squad to be dispatched. Unless you’re a dedicated hacker, use level one terminals for your indirect hacking needs, use terminal 2 primarily for direct hacks, and don’t bother with security level 3 (this will probably change around Alpha 5).
Use Transmission Jammers Watchers and enemy combat unites can send enemies to your position; watchers have a greater range then enemy combat bots. If you have a transmission jammer active, no one can hear them scream. Limiting how many enemies attack you will necessarily limit how high the alert level goes. This method will also stop Garrisons from squirting out enemies if you're fighting near them. If you have to fight near a Garrison, attach a jammer if at all possible
Jammers can also be used to jam alarm traps, which means one less squad for you to fight.
Jammers do not stop Haulers or programmers from calling in reinforcements.
Use Sensors and Optic Arrays One of the best things you can do in Cogmind is avoid a fight. Since we don’t get experience for enemies, almost always take damage in combat, and typically find our best items from caches, fighting is usually a net loss experience (without even taking the increase to the alert level into account). Sensors and optic utilities can help you see enemies before you see them. Every needless fight you skip indirectly keeps the threat level down.
Don’t Kill The Survivors If you blow the last weapon of a combat bot, it’ll usually flee (and look for a non combat bot to graft a weapon on). I usually let survivors go. They pose little risk to you at this point, and sparing them keeps the alert level low.
GarrisonsSomewhat counterintuitively, Garrisons can play a role in threat level management. If you go through a Garrison and end up on the same map as where you started (e.g. enter one at -6, and after leaving the Garrison find yourself back at -6), all enemy squads on the level are reduced by one member. Facing smaller squads in late Factory and Research not only means lower increases in the threat level, it also means you’re less likely to die.
Let Them Blow You Up A BitThis is also counter intuitive, but the game keeps track of how many parts you lose from combat. Getting parts blown off can actually reduce the threat level. This represents the AI concluding it’s doing a decent job taking you out and adjusting its response accordingly.
To illustrate, if you have some armor and some spare armor in your inventory, consider letting the 1st armor get entirely destroyed rather than swapping it out for a fresh one before it reaches that point. Item attrition can make the enemy go easier on you.
Allies Getting Blown UpThe security level goes down when your allies die. This helps mitigate some of the downsides of using allies, but probably can’t be realistically used as an independent strategy keep the threat level down.
Super Secret TechFinally, there is apparently a super secret way to set the security level to zero (at a cost). As far as I know, no player has figured it out yet. I suspect the answer is in Waste but that's just a hunch. I’ll add the method to this list with the appropriate spoiler tags once we know.
As we learn new things that cause the alert level to rise and fall, I'll update the guide.
