This isn't a sure-fire win, or in a lot of cases even a good way of doing things. But it's fun. If you manage to get past the initial difficulty hump and fabricate your loadout things get very funny very fast.
The idea is to use only two weapon slots, Datajack and Remote Datajack. Once you get 3-4 Hacking suites you should be able to consistently reboot threats. Solo threats you can even try to assimilate! The Remote Datajack takes a hefty amount of matter to use, so overload non-hostiles when you get low.
Floor -11
Make darn sure you get a matter storage unit off the roaming ks. If possible, a regular storage unit off the rs.
Aside from that everything else is self explanatory.
Floor -10
This is probably the most important floor in getting set up.
Combat
Normal, kill every G, Y, s, o, and r you come across. If you can kill the ws, but they're annoying so don't feel it's necessary.
Every other unit you want to keep alive in case you get a datajack. When/if you do make sure to bump into them whenever they happen to be adjacent. Parse them for fun, the important bit is increasing familiarity.
Terminal Use
The important part of the level. Avoid getting locked out at all costs.
Commands should be input in this order.
Schematic(Hacking Suite) till success
Schematic(Remote Datajack) till success
These commands can take 2 floors to get. Don't sweat it if you don't get both by the end of the floor. If you happen to make it this far you can either try to fabricate on this floor or collect more useful schematics.
Useful commands in no particular order.
Schematic(Imp. Datajack) If you want to beef up your hacking game earlier
Schematic(Imp. Hacking Suite) Hard to download before you get hacking suites, but the upgrade is nice.
Schematic(Hcp. Matter Storage Unit) If you don't have one yet
Schematic(Hcp. Storage Unit) If you don't have at least a medium yet
Schematic(Insert propulsion here) If you want easy access to your preferred propulsion
Index(Fabricators) Getting the initial hacking suites helps a lot
Index(Scanalyzers) Scanning is easier than downloading schematics, if you have something you want on tap use these
Item Management
Until you get your bot army up to haul things for you, you'll need a storage unit.
Matter storage units are mandatory for any fabrication-based strategy. Thankfully everything you're making is cheap, Hcp. is ideal but you can make do with a med. More than one of anything but small is a waste.
When to ascend
Stay on this floor as long as possible hitting the terminals and non-hostiles as much as you can to increase familiarity. Get out when you hit double digit core integrity, not before.
Upgrades
If you feel like you'll get the remote jack by the end of -9
Utility x2
If you're a pansy
Power
Propulsion
Floor -9
The hard part. You won't have your hacking potential fully realized yet and ambushes can really mess you up.
Fabricating is the focus on this floor, make sure you find the fabbers fast and make sure you don't get locked out. You need at least 2 hacking suites by the end of this floor as well as a remote jack. If you've got those you should be set for the road ahead. A backup jack and spare matter are absurdly helpful as well
Avoid combat at this point, clearing the floor of hostiles is no longer a priority since you don't want to camp this floor. Reboot hostiles since the overload chances will be super slim, kill them with an off-weapon while they're down. Melee weapons tend to be the cheapest, but anything works. You have around 20 turns of them not hitting back.
Choke points are your friend. You can reboot something in a doorway to act as a roadblock for non-fliers if swarmed.
Upgrades
If you didn't take the power/propulsion before you can take it here. If you have enough hacking suites utility is better, but if you're running on empty go safe.
You should have either
Power 1
Propulsion 2
Utility 6
Weapon 2
or
Power 2
Propulsion 3
Utility 4
Weapon 2
Beyond Floor -9
At this point you can start branching out. 4 hacking/improved hacking suites are the goal, keep that in mind. If you have the hacking parts you can start building an army out of hijacked robots. Non-hostiles become walking matter storage and hostiles become your weapon slots. If you've got the 6 utility slots you can opt for power armor or a scanner.
I wouldn't delve into weapon upgrades/utilities unless you have to rebuild. 2 spare weapons is more than sufficient for most combat when your jacks are down, and the extra utility slots will save your like more often than a gauss rifle will.
You want a spare remote datajack in your inventory if possible. Matter storage units are helpful since it chews through matter. Make sure to overload non-hostiles when you run low.
