Mercy or Murder¶

A transport plane flies low in the skies of Dubai, its cargo; INTERPOL Task Force 29, its destination; the abandoned Desert Jewel Resort Hotel, its missions; recover undercover agent Arun Singh and stop an illegal arms and augs dealer named Sheppard. Just another day in the life of Adam Jensen.

Before you get started with your first mission you have some choices to make concerning your loadout, whether you want to go with lethal or non-lethal weapons, and in either case, whether you want a long range weapon (Combat Rifle or Tranquilizer Rifle) or short range weapon (Revolver or Stun Gun). Do what you will, but it should be pointed out that this is a stealth-based guide that’ll try to minimize conflict wherever possible - shooting enemies is basically something that will be reserved for when more subtle, refined methods fail… provided you don’t just reload. That’s right, folks - the goal is to aim for the “Pacifist” and “Foxiest of the Hounds” trophies/achievements. If that doesn’t interest you, by all means, shoot away - but you won’t be hurt by knowing the sneakier way through quests/levels.

On that note, the Non-Lethal/Stun Gun options come recommended, as pretty much any shot from said weapon on any enemy in the next level will incapacitate them. Lethal weapons are noisier, require better aim, and really just don’t confer much of a survival advantage on you. Besides, if you really want a lethal option you can pick up plenty of weapons from the goons you take down along the way.

Learning the Basics in Dubai¶

Pick your weapons and Adam Jensen will be dropped off - your immediate goal being to seal off the atrium to ensure the Jinn don’t show up and complicate matter… possibly disabling their sat-com signal booster along the way. After checking in with Director James Miller you’ll finally be in control of Adam Jensen. Head north and loot several corpses for some goodies (Credit Chips, in this case) then turn east and follow the game’s prompt to run [TRIANGLE] / [Y] if you wish.

Drop down a ledge (press [CIRCLE] / [B] to use Icarus Strike - you know, for practice) then turn west and head over to a circular airshaft grate. A smaller, rectangular part of said grate can be removed [SQUARE] / [X], after which you can crouch [R3] and pass under some fan blades to find a dead Construction Lurker and a “Triangle Code #1” on the floor.

Leave the air vent and continue east, then north to find another large, circular air-vent you can enter by crouching down. Pass under another fan and turn east to find a vent cover you can remove to give you access to the air duct beyond. You’ll be passing through an awful lot of vents in this game. Slither east and press [SQUARE] / [X] to destroy a Destructible Vent, beyond which is another air vent. Turn north, crawl under a fan, then climb a ladder.

Go through a doorway and turn east to find another, larger doorway obstructed by some Heavy Plastic Crates. Manipulate them by pressing [SQUARE] / [X] and get them out of the way to reveal the doorway they’re blocking, then head on through. Climb onto some crates to the east, then scale a wall - jumping and climbing both use the [X] / [A] button - and turn west. Jump over the gap in the floor and search an over-turned card to the west to find some Absinthe and a fairly generous Credit Chip. Yeah, this is the kind of loot that’ll often left to your initiative to find throughout the game… call it a freebie. Because we like you. Anyways, jump back to over to the east and continue in that direction until you find a hole in the wall you can crouch under and worm your way through.

Drop onto some scaffolding then down to the floor below, where you’ll be prompted to hold the [L3] button to open the Inventory/Augmentation Wheel. Do so and follow the game’s prompts to assign the Smart Vision ability to your [L1] / [LB] button, then press [CIRCLE] / [B] to exit the menu. Once assigned you can use the Smart Vision ability at any time by pressing [L1] / [LB]… or whatever button it’s later assigned to. Use said ability and look at the eastern wall to find a Structural Weakness in the wall you can messily exploit by approaching and pressing [SQUARE] / [X]. Not the most sophisticate of approaches, but a path is a path.

Restore Power to the Keypad¶

After you’ve convinced the wall to give you passage, head on through the hole you created and search the southern wall of the room you find yourself in to find a locked door and a inactive Keypad nearby. Seems like you’ve got a bit of hacking to do… but first, you’re going to need to restore power. Turn your attention to the north-eastern corner of the room to find some collapsed scaffolding forming a ramp, above which is a metal duct you can climb onto. Run up the ramp and climb onto the vent above, then turn east and crawl under a wall before dropping down to the floor below, where you’ll find a generator. Grab a Biocell on the box near the generator, then turn the device on by manipulating a Breaker.

Power has been restored, but this is both a good thing and a bad thing, as time, neglect and unfinished labor conspire to complicate things. The way back west is now blocked, as some standing water has been electrified by the power chords resting in it. Fortunately, you didn’t take the ground route here, so you have an easy way of bypassing this hazard and returning to the previous room; just climb onto the generator, then back onto the duct make your way back down the ramp.

Turn your attention to the Keypad, which you can now interact with. At such devices (there are many of them throughout the game, so get used to them) you generally have three options; 1) find another way into the room these Keypads lock, 2) hack the Keypad or 3) guess the password (most can be found on Pocket Secretaries or overheard in conversation). Or… the super-secret fourth option - use this guide. Passwords and codes for these objects will generally be provided as you come across them. Case in point, the code for this door is 0451, and if you enter this code into the Keypad you’ll get the Trophy/Achievement “A Heated Combination”.

Hacking¶

Of course, sometimes it makes more sense from a quest-flow and/or continuity perspective to seek out the locations of these codes… plus, you might genuinely want or need to hack once in a while, so that will be covered now, too. The hacking minigame at a glance appears trivially simplistic in Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, with your goal being to navigate a maze, connecting your starting point (the blue I/O Port) to all the green Registry nodes. Different nodes are connected by paths, some of which (solid lines) allow the transfer of data both ways along the linear path, while others (dotted lines, direction indicated by three chevron arrows) only allow you to progress only one way.

Along the way, however, there will be several types of gray nodes which must be captured [X] / [A] en-route to linking your blue node with the network’s green node(s). Unfortunately, each node you capture or fortify [SQUARE] / [X] along the way risks detecting by the system’s red Security Diagnostic node. If your intrusion is detected, the red node will start moving node-by-node through the network, much like you, and if your blue node is discovered, you’ll be locked out of the system and an alarm will typically be raised. Yikes. Of course, red nodes aren’t only security - if you hack a red node you’ll capture the network, including any Datastores on it. Just the game’s way of acknowledging that by disabling the security you would have basically been free to plunder the network at your leisure. Something worth keeping in mind, since there are a few networks where going after the red node(s) is easier than going after the green one(s).

Each node you claim has a Security Rating (again, level 1 to 5), which will increase how long it takes you to capture a node (and how long it takes the diagnostic (red node) program to bypass). Additionally, the higher the Security Rating of a node, the more likely you are to be detected while hacking. In large part, then, hacking in Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is a crap-shoot - every node you claim is a roll of the dice, and much can be done by just rushing to connect your blue node to the network’s green node(s), relying on a bit of luck to see you through, and backing out if you get caught by the network’s diagnostic security… assuming you’re not close enough to finishing the hack before your blue node is traced, of course. Backing out of a hack while you’re being traced will cost you a hacking attempt (each network has a limited number of intrusion attempts before it’ll lockdown, varying depending on level), but otherwise you’re free to try again provided you quit before the timer runs out. The only other defense the network has are Firewalls, which are hidden from view and automatically trigger a trace if you trying to bridge from one node to the next without first using Stealth Software (more on that in a bit).

Not all gray nodes are vanilla directories which just serve to impede your hacking, however, some have additional effects. Datastores will, when hacked, provide you additional bonuses (usually bonus Credits, but rarely XP or software instead), Spam API will hinder the diagnostic system’s attempt to trace you, Capture Clearance APIs will reduce the Security Rating of all Datastore nodes by two levels, and the Transfer API will reduce the security rating of one adjacent node and boost the security rating of another, adjacent node.

Fortunately, however, you have more tools than that at your disposal. First and foremost you have the ability to Fortify captured nodes. Doing this will increase the security rating of captured nodes, and hence the time it takes for the diagnostic program to trace you. You can also buy or find various software which will aid in hacking, which they can be used up (one time use consumables) during hacks to assist you in various ways. The Datascan Software [UP] will reveal various hidden elements of the network - the location of Firewalls and the contents of Datastores, for example. Overclock Software [RIGHT] will speed up capturing and fortifying nodes. Nuke Virus Software [TRIANGLE] / [Y] will instantly capture a node regardless of level, but it’ll also automatically trigger a trace. Reveal Software [DOWN] will dispel the “fog of hacking” and reveal the network’s nodes (note that moving too far into the “fog of hacking” will disconnect you). Finally the Stealth Software will reduce the detection chance of your next nodal interaction to 0% and allows you to bypass Firewalls.

It should also be noted that you can be capturing/fortifying an unlimited number of nodes at a time, provided there’s a path to them from an adjacent captured node, you’re otherwise only limited by your speed. Of course, wasted action increases you chances of being detected, so take that into consideration. Hacking into more difficulty networks (those with a higher security rating) requires that you invest into the “Hacking Capture” augmentation tree - a network with a level 2 security rating requires “Hacking Capture LV.2”, while a level 5 network requires “Hacking Capture LV.5”, and so on. Furthermore, to have a realistic chance of hacking some of the game’s more robust networks you’ll need to invest in the “Hacking Stealth” and “Hacking Fortify” trees, each rank of which lowers your detection chance by 15% (three ranks per tree, not counting the base augmentation, which is free). This adds up to quite a few Praxis (levels) worth of investments.

That’s a lot to take in, but to try and succinctly recap; your goal is to capture the gray nodes standing in between your blue node and the network’s green nodes. Each capture has a chance (based on the security rating of captured node) to be detected by the networks security diagnostic program (red node). Fortify captured nodes on the path between your blue node and the network’s red node to buy you time, be wary of Firewalls, and capture Datastores and take advantage of APIs along the way, using software only when necessary. There’s some know-how involved, knowing what to do, planning your path, but mostly it’s playing the odds. Each network you can hack will not be detailed in this walkthrough, but if you want the XP or Datastore rewards from a network, you might just want to give hacking it a try or two (or four) before resorting to a password, if you’re willing to invest the Praxis into buying the augmentations. Above all else, the best bit of advice you’ll get when dealing with this hacking minigame is… save your game before trying.

Cover Tutorial¶

Now that that’s been explained, bypass the security on the Keypad by whatever means you find most convenient… or save, use the combo, get the trophy, reload, and hack for some XP. Best of both worlds. Through the doorway you’ll find your first hostiles! Goodie! Unfortunately you’ll also be burdened by another tutorial. D’aww… Oh well, best to just get on with it - there’s another trophy/achievement in it for you if you endure all the tutorials in this place.

Your ultimate goal in this - and in every tutorial here - is to just move from location to location and pantomime the green holograms. Even if you “botch” the tutorial (this one is about stealth and cover), as long as you hit every hologram you’ll complete the tutorials just fine. Like the game says, there’s no consequences for anything during a tutorial, so don’t worry about wasting ammo, squandering energy, being detected, killing guards… it all reverts when you restart the tutorial or exit.

Start the tutorial and head over to the first bit of cover, behind which you need to press [L3] to stick to cover. Follow the on-screen prompts to learn how to roll between cover, shift around cover, vault over cover… and basically do every interaction with cover a human body could need to do, mostly consisting of looking at green holograms and pressing (or holding) [X] / [A]. Once you reach the sixth hologram the tutorial will end and you can get to business.

To the Penthouse Level¶

Sneak up to the Jinn guard to the east and press [CIRCLE] / [B] to incapacitate him (or hold [CIRCLE] / [B] to kill him, but this of course pointlessly voids the Pacifist trophy/achievement), then loot his body. Be sure to pick up the weapons these foes drop, as you can sell them later, and multiple copies of the same weapon stack. You’re just leaving Credits behind if you don’t. It’s honestly good incentive to try to knock out Jinn, if you can manage it. You can also hold [SQUARE] / [X] to drag his body away, but there should be no need to do this yet.

To the east is another, larger room with two patrolling Jinn inside. For the first one just pay attention to your minimap, as it’ll show his location and line of sight. Just wait until he turns around and sneak behind him - you should catch up to him near the middle of the next room. Take him down and drag his body back to the western room before his friend further east can notice. Once done, return to the eastern room, not by the door this time, but instead by crawling under an incomplete section of wall in the north-eastern corner of the western room. Crawl under some shelves and jump onto an elevated concrete slab and continue east. The whole approach up to this point is pretty well concealed, all you need to do now is pay attention to your mini-map and sneak up behind and eliminate the last Jinn guard when he turns east.

Once the Jinn are napping (temporarily or permanently) turn your attention to the south to spot an elevator and a caged-off area which can be accessed via a locked door, whose attendant Keypad [CODE: 4801] must be hacked. Or, if you’d rather avoid hacking for whatever reasons you can just head into a room south of the western room (the tutorial room), then turn east and climb a ladder then scale a ledge. Crouch and turn north to squeeze under some bars, then walk east along some concrete supports before dropping down into a caged-off area to the south-east.

However you manage it, once you’re in the caged-off area look a HypoStim Injector on the table, then turn your attention to various lockers lining the room, some of which must be busted into to get at the goodies inside. All in all you’ll get some Revolver Regular Ammo, some Stun Gun Ammo, some Tranquilizer Rifle Ammo, a 10mm Pistol, some Combat Rifle Regular Ammo, a Credit Chip and some Nye’s Rye. Loot this generous stash, then head into the elevator and ride it down to the penthouse level.