Electroshock Device: This projectile electrocutes all foes within its area of effect. They fall unconscious, as if struck by a stun gun.
Explosive Device: This projectile’s explosion kills all foes within its area of effect. They are killed as if struck by a grenade.
Both these devices are extremely helpful when assaulting restricted areas. They provide ranged projectiles that you can throw in an arc, drop from the ground using the RC Jumper, or drop from the air using the Quadcopter. Of course, you don’t start with these devices; you must purchase (and upgrade) them using Research Points in the Tinkering branch of the ./Research app. After equipping one of the two devices from your Equipment Wheel, hold and aim, then release to throw. Remember you can cancel a throw instead of wasting the device or quickly run to where you dropped it and pick it up again.
Stickiness: Both devices stick to various surfaces in exactly the same manner. Why is this handy? Because it allows you to place a device anywhere you like, from a wall to a ceiling to a corner on an enemy’s patrol path. But get more cunning, and you can drop devices onto vehicles, and remotely drive them into enemies or other vehicles. You can also drop devices from your RC drones, as well as onto them, making them movable bombs! The possibilities are vast. Some of the best plans are discussed next.
Devices: Hacking Them
Detonate the device or hold the Hack button after targeting the device to reveal a hacking module with more hacking options. These offer the same four options as explosive objects (scenery): trigger, proximity trigger, shut down, and attract.
Trigger: This explodes the object, electrocuting nearby enemies caught in the proximity radius (even if the trap wasn’t active). They fall asleep or die in an explosive, depending on the device type.
Proximity Trigger (Trap): This creates a small, dome-shaped field around the object, which you can increase in size in the Tinkering branch of the ./Research app. Any foe (not friend, or drone, or Marcus) that steps into the field automatically triggers the trap. This is a fantastic and often-used technique to remove foes you can’t easily attack at melee range. It also helps “herd” enemies to the source of the trap, while you explore elsewhere. Note you don’t need to trigger the trap, too, just the proximity dome.
Shut Down: This switches off the device temporarily. This isn’t helpful for objects you actively want to detonate in usual circumstances, but it stops the device from triggering if an enemy walks nearby. Why? So you can trigger it later, at a more advantageous moment, such as when more foes are nearby or a specific target (such as an armored foe or one carrying a hard drive or access key) is in the vicinity.
Attract: This attracts any nearby foe to the device. You can do this multiple times (if a foe is too far away). Use this to move a foe away from a route you want to take, so you can sneak past without tussling with the enemy. Better yet, prepare the proximity trigger first, then attract the foe so he walks right into your trap!
Devices: Tactical Placement
Try the following tactical plans when using devices. Realize that explosive devices can kill you, so try these techniques with electroshock devices first.
Object Destruction: Want to create a bigger disturbance than a single detonation? Then place the device close to an object you know will explode, such as a vault transformer or a vehicle you want to incapacitate or destroy. Is a rival hacker running to a vehicle during a DedSec Event? Then lob an electroshock device so it lands on his car and give chase. Detonate the device and blow out his tires while keeping him alive. Think about the other possibilities during Hacking Invasions and Bounty Hunts, too!
Primed Vehicle: Stick a device on the hood of a vehicle. Then drive it into a group of foes or a rival player. Roll out of the vehicle just before it hits its target if you’re using the explosive device. The electroshock device will shred tires but won’t kill you. Tried this with a fast-moving vehicle yet? Or a motorbike? Madness!
Primed Remote Vehicle: Drop a device on the hood of a vehicle you wish to remotely control. Do this via Quadcopter if you want to remain in cover. Then remotely drive the vehicle into an enemy area and watch the fireworks. Control it from the Quadcopter if you need a better view.
RC Jumper (Device Drop): When you purchase the Tinkering ./Research abilities, devices become available when you’re controlling the Jumper. Now you have the remote capability of prepping up to 10 (!) devices throughout an area and then triggering them or using them as traps, via the Jumper, Marcus, or the Quadcopter. This type of flexibility makes infiltrations extremely satisfying and allows you to plan a massive distraction in one area, while Marcus or a teammate heads to an objective elsewhere.
RC Jumper (Bomb): Using Marcus or the Quadcopter, throw a device onto the RC Jumper and prime it to explode as a proximity trap, or leave it alone. Then control the RC Jumper. Now it has a device stuck to it, which can serve as “one more bomb”; it will detonate as either a proximity trap or when you want to detonate it when you trigger it. Move the Jumper to a place where you’ll wreak a lot of havoc, such as underneath an enemy vehicle or under an explosive gas tank. You can also charge a foe and detonate it before they damage the Jumper. This is amazingly useful, as it adds an offensive capability to the Jumper, allowing you to drop foes well away from where Marcus is or those behind problematic cover.
Quadcopter (Device Drop): Imagine all of the flexibility of the RC Jumper’s Device Drop tactics (see previously) but with the additional awesomeness of dropping devices down from height, ideally outside the range of enemy fire (or even detection)! Execute a bombing run with your Quadcopter, and drop devices onto enemy clusters, then detonate using Marcus, the Jumper, or the Quadcopter. Just be careful you don’t start a proximity trap too early, as your Quadcopter can be caught in the explosion. Remember you can fly close to the ground, onto rooftops, and to security doors that require a key or CCT to open. Detonate it to cause a ruckus; foes will open the very doors you need to head through. Have you swooped into an interior of a building through
an open window and wreaked havoc yet?
Quadcopter (Bomb): Have a teammate drop a device on your Quadcopter, or do it yourself using Marcus or the Jumper. Then you essentially have a flying bomb. Use all the suggested tactics listed in the RC Jumper (Bomb) section, but remember you can more quickly reach rooftops and take out snipers using this technique. And with electroshock bombing runs, these are still counted as stealth infiltrations!
Mass Trigger: Have you deployed more than one device in a restricted area (or anywhere else) and want all of them (including both electroshock and explosive devices) to all explode at once? Then press your Hack and Throw buttons simultaneously. Imagine the satisfaction of prepping a warehouse the enemy patrols with four devices, coaxing multiple foes into the area, and then triggering everything to explode at once?
Daisy Chaining: Place several devices close enough to each other, so that over a third of each one’s area-of-effect “dome” is merged; then detonate one. The others also detonate in an instant daisy-chain strike. This is similar to the Mass Trigger but may leave some devices still primed. Use this for bigger explosions.
Shooting Devices: You don’t need to remotely detonate devices; any weapon you have (except the stun gun) can detonate a device. You may need to be quite close, so you risk being damaged by explosive devices, but other armaments, such as grenade launchers, are excellent at causing the same explosive havoc. Add a device explosion into the mix for even greater carnage!