System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster guide: Character creation and recommended builds

Nightdive Studios' System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster is finally here. The anniversary is a great excuse to revisit the late ‘90s immersive sim, and Nightdive has not softened its classic edge. While the remaster incorporates many of the changes from the fan-made System Shock 2 Community Patch—including several balance passes and quality-of-life bonuses like improved signage—it’s still one of the toughest games you’ll ever play. 

Worse: If you go in blind, it’s quite possible to build a character that can’t handle the first couple of hours of the game, or who eventually hits a wall because you invested in all the wrong skills.

Better to be prepared. Our System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster guide will walk through character creation and recommended builds. Without any real spoilers, this guide will help you make a character that’s got half a chance of surviving the first few hours aboard the Von Braun. 

 

System Shock 2 Remastered character creation explained

You start System Shock 2 at a military recruitment center, where you’ll decide which branch of the military to join, then select your character’s first three duty rotations before the real game begins. Broadly, this gives you the chance to select your character’s area of expertise and then pick up a few free points in attributes and/or skills.

Unlike many of the games it inspired, System Shock 2 doesn’t give you any baseline competencies. You start with 1 point in every attribute and no skills—but all of the equipment has a skill requirement. For example, if you have 0 points in Standard Weapons, you cannot equip a pistol.

You can improve your stats or pick up new skills with Cyber Modules. These aren’t quite as rare as System Shock 2 initially suggests, especially on lower difficulties, but you can’t count on finding many. While it may be tempting to try and spread your points around, it’s a dead end. You’re better off picking an approach—straight-up combat, hacking, Psionics—and specializing.

• If you’re interested in fighting, pick Marines.
• If you’d like to specialize in hacking, pick Navy.
• If you want weird psychic powers, try the O.S.A.

Regardless of what branch you pick, you'll want 3 points in Hack and 1 point in Research as soon as possible.

Hack 2 lets you open security crates that would otherwise be permanently locked, and with Hack 3, you can eliminate or vastly reduce the prices at vending machines. In a game built around resource scarcity, that makes Hack an easy pick. (You also need to hack several consoles towards the end of the game, so it’s useful to have the required skill.)

Research 1 is required at one point to complete a mission objective. It’s also used to gather information about mysterious objects like exotic technologies and alien organs, so most character builds will get some mileage out of Research.

Most fans of System Shock 2 will recommend skipping the Repair and Modify skills entirely, as there are easy-to-find items that render them obsolete.

Your best weapons for most of the game are in the Standard and Heavy categories. Both Navy and Marine characters will want to get Standard Weapons to 4 to be able to use some of the better guns, and just 1 point in Heavy Weapons will pay off. Conversely, Exotic Weapons show up very late in the game and Energy Weapons are only really useful against robots.

Finally, all guns degrade when used. You can keep them in good repair for “free” by using the Maintenance skill.

Note: It’s significantly cheaper to buy the second rank of a skill with Cyber Modules than it is to learn it from scratch. Save some Cyber Modules by learning the first rank of every useful skill during training, then upgrading them in-game.

 

System Shock 2 Remastered Marine build guide

The Marine is the most straightforward path, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the easiest. Ammunition is rare in System Shock 2, so you’ll only want to shoot when you absolutely have to.

Still, it's a solid pick for your first run. Go with bonuses to Strength, Standard Weapons, and Maintenance, then spend your first Cyber Modules on Hack and Research. That should give you the melee damage output and firearms proficiency to get through the first stretch, though you’ll have a harder time dealing with anything you can’t bash or shoot.

Note: Marines get 2 free points in Standard Weapons.

Year One

• Supply Ship Gallo Ordnance Master’s Mate: Strength +2
• Io Survival Training School: Endurance +2
• Guadalcanal Zero-G Training: Agility +2

Year Two

• Antigua Gunnery Mate: +1 Energy Weapons, +1 Cybernetic Affinity
• JM-432 Asteroid Picket: +1 Heavy Weapons, +1 Cybernetic Affinity
• Port MacArthur Weapons Range: +2 Standard Weapons

Year Three

• UNN Honor Guard: +1 Maintenance
• Polides Training Station: +1 Modify
• Antigua Ship’s Systems Consultant: +1 Repair

System Shock 2 Remastered Navy build guide

Navy characters lose out on some of the Marine’s early combat potential, but make up for it with flexibility. Spend your first Cyber Modules to get Hack 2, which lets you disable security systems and open locked crates, and you’ll be off to the races. You also get 1 free point in Standard Weapons for picking Navy.

Lean into your strengths as a Navy character by investing in Hack, Strength, Cybernetic Affinity, and Research right out of the gate, then farm the Hybrids in the first area for an organ sample. Once researched, that gives you a handy +25% damage boost against Hybrids that will be consistently useful throughout the rest of the early game.

Year One

• UNN Lucille Ship’s Ops: +1 Hack, +1 Strength
• UNN Lucille Engineer’s Mate: +1 Repair, +1 Strength
• UNN Lucille Military Police: +1 Modify, +1 Strength

Year Two

• UNN Carfax Navigator’s Mate: +2 Cybernetic Affinity
• UNN Pierce Ordnance Master: +1 Maintenance
• Laverne Tactical Training School: +2 Standard Weapons

Year Three

• Marie Curie Research Facility: +1 Research
• Io Survival Training School: +2 Endurance
• Yamamoto Zero-G Training: +2 Agility

System Shock 2 Remastered OSA/Psionics build guide

O.S.A. Agents play a different game than everyone else. You receive significantly fewer opportunities to gain skills during your O.S.A. orientation (and no free skill points), but you do get several Psionic abilities and the second tier of Neural Capacity. You also begin your run without any weapon skills, so you can't equip anything other than the wrench and Psionic Amplifier.

A “pure” Psionic run is possible in System Shock 2, but isn’t particularly effective. Many of the early Psionic powers provide simple combat or exploration buffs (i.e. damage resistance, accuracy boosts, radiation shielding), so you’ll want to invest some early modules into Standard Weapons and Hack like everyone else. Since Psionic powers all scale in damage, duration, or effect with your Psi stat, it’s also worth raising that whenever you can.

If you’re able to get past the rough opening hours, your reward for playing a heavy Psionic character is access to the Tier 4 and 5 powers. These include invisibility, remote hacking, transmuting your Nanites directly into useful items (and vice versa), and turning enemies against one another. You start off relatively weak and end as a walking nightmare.

Note: Drinking alcoholic beverages restores health but lowers Psi points. If you go O.S.R., you’ll also want to go straight-edge.

Year One

• TOS Shao Ling Sensory Deprivation Tank: Second Tier Neural Capacity, Cryokinesis, and Psychogenic Cyber-Affinity (+2 Cyber for 2 minutes, duration scales with Psi stat)
• TOS Ru Nang Sensory Deprivation Tank: Second Tier Neural Capacity, Cryokinesis, and Kinetic Redirection (limited telekinesis, as seen in the Advanced Training area)
• TOS Chu Lun Sensory Deprivation Tank: Second Tier Neural Capacity, Cryokinesis, and Psycho-Reflective Screen (15% less damage for 20 seconds, duration scales with Psi stat)

 Year Two

• Telepathic Interrogation/Engramanalysis: +2 Psionic Ability
• Ki Luan Research Lab: +1 Research
• Io Tactical Psionic Training: +2 Endurance

Year Three

• Anti-Terrorism Field Operations: +1 Strength, +1 Agility, +1 Cybernetic Affinity, Psychogenic Agility power (+2 Agility for 2 minutes; duration scales with Psi)
• Selections Group Field Operations: +1 Strength, +1 Agility, +1 Cybernetic Affinity, Neuro-Reflex Dampening power (guns have no recoil/kickback for 1 minute; duration scales with Psi)
• Deep Cover Field Operations: +1 Strength, +1 Agility, +1 Cybernetic Affinity, Remote Electron Tampering power (activate to time out alarms faster)

Tip: Do not take Deep Cover Field Operations. Even in the remaster, Remote Electron Tampering is one of the worst powers in the game.

 

Beginner tips: Combat, hacking, and survival

• Melee never goes out of style. Even in the late game, you need to conserve every bullet you can. Get used to dropping vulnerable enemies with your wrench.
• Every time you reach a new area, your first priority is to find and reactivate the local regeneration suite. This allows you to respawn there in the event of your death. It costs a few Nanites (unless you’re playing on Easy), but that’s better than losing progress.
• Robotic targets are virtually immune to standard ammunition. You’ll need armor-piercing rounds or energy weapons to deal with them. Be careful—many robots explode on death.
• You can unload firearms in System Shock 2. There’s a specific button for it on your inventory screen. If you find duplicate or broken weapons, be sure to empty them.
• You will never have enough inventory space. Make a habit of dropping all your surplus items in or near the elevator and returning as needed.
• Enemies slowly respawn after a period of time.
• Use the lean to peek out from behind cover and around corners without exposing yourself to enemy fire.
• If you’re interested in playing the original System Shock 2 as it was in 1999, you can disable the SCP patch and improved textures in the Mods menu at the start of a new run.

Good luck out there.

System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster is available now on the Epic Games Store.