I would start with the revised core set and add creation and control (mostly for the runner cards, many of which remain essential to the current game). If you enjoy shaper, C&C is a slam dunk. Personally, I think shaper is a great place to start as a runner as I find it’s economy and breakers to be fairly intuitive.
From there I would would consider Terminal Directive, but this will be neglecting Anarch, NBN, and Jinteki pretty significantly. IPO and Marilyn Campaign both help the corp econ enough to open up some options for them to play with.
Down the White Nile has a number of good cards for both sides, so I’d recommend that pack. Note that you won’t have a lot of use for the Adam card until you get Data and Destiny.
I still recommend Blood Money for Paperclip, Beth Kilrain-Chang, Aiki, and Fairchild 2.0. Note that Temujin Contract is banned for being way too powerful.
I’ve probably gone over your budget, but I recommend buying in slowly and seeing what you like. If you get the core set + C&C, but find you are much more interested in Anarch and NBN than Shaper and HB, then come back and ask for more targeted recommendations.
Also, feel free to check out NetrunnerDB’s card lists by pack to help inform your decision as you go. Finally, NetrunnerDB’s published decklists are a great place to go to get ideas of decks and what is popular in the current competitive community.
I’m a returnee having been lured back by the release of the Revised Core Set and the Announcement of a new Deluxe Set. I’m new to Stimhack, but it appears to be the most active Netrunner community, so here I am
I’m absolutely sure this has been asked and answered before, but I’m not sure how to search for it:
How would you characterize the different Netrunner factions if you were to describe them to someone new to the game?
I’d like to give newbies some hints, so they can pick the factions that most appeal to them, based on their general strategy, i.e. how they’re typically trying to win.
If it helps, I’m mostly interested in the Revised Core Set Identities, focusing on the cards that are in the set (and maybe the Kitara cycle). Since some Identities have been replaced, I’m not sure if the recommended play styles for the factions have changed significantly compared to the original Core Set.
It took a while, but here’s what I’ve come up with for the Corporations:
Haas-Bioroid are all about efficiency and like gaining extra clicks and free actions. Their specialty is bioroid ICE, forcing Runners to waste clicks, or take brain damage and get their rig trashed.
Jinteki are all about mind games and like setting traps and preparing ambushes. Their specialty is psi ICE, dealing net damage to discard the Runner’s grip and threaten to flatline them.
NBN are all about economic warfare and like tagging and taxing. Their specialty is tracer ICE, trashing the Runner’s resources and emptying their accounts.
Weyland are all about big money and like fortifying their servers and hunting down trespassers. Their specialty is advanceable ICE, keeping Runners out while making money and dealing lethal meat damage if they become too annoying.
It’s not quite as succinct as the Runner profiles, but it’ll do.
Mostly accurate, but I’d say it needs a little tweaking. Mainly, Weyland focus on the runner’s credit pool a lot, but unlike with NBN it’s not to punish the runner, it’s to further their own game plan (Stinson and economic warfare). Also Weyland is the rush ID, they like making money quickly and scoring fast with gear-check ice.
I think the easiest way to do this is to look at the Identities in the Core sets. Nothing should be a better example of what’s going on than the marquee characters for each faction.
Anarch: Noize and Reina. Both want to run early, and and run often. The more damage you’re doing, the better.
Crim: Gabriel Santiago. Running HQ once every turn to gain money. Running at a reasonable pace for profit.
Shaper: Mac and Chaos Theory. Install as much as possible, and run when it’s safe.
HB: EtF/Stronger Together. Install things, turtle up, and gain resources gradually.
Jinteki: Personal Evolution. Hurt the runner, and get them dead.
NBN: Making News. This one is a little more specific, but keeping them low on cash so the Traces work.
Weyland: Building a Better World. Gain a lot of money quickly, and get rewarded for getting that money.
Thanks for the comments. I think, I’ll add the bits about when / how often to run for the Runner factions.
As I said, the Corporations are a bit harder to pin down. I don’t think you can generally say which Identities are more likely to try to rush and which prefer to ‘turtle’ and build a glacier, but maybe I’m wrong. I felt the selection of Agendas in the Revised Core Set was meant to allow each Identity to try either approach.
I definitely agree about NBN. They like to keep the Runner poor and low on resources, making it hard for them to make runs.
I feel Jinteki isn’t just about trying to flatline the Runner. It’s also about the threat: What they always do is to cause a severe case of paranoia in the Runner: After running into an ambush/trap or two, the Runner will get super-cautious, trying to draw up on cards before daring another run which will give Jinteki windows of opportunity to score agendas, so they can win simply because the Runner no longer even dares to run.
Also, suffering quite regularly from net damage will eventually lead to some important cards getting discarded, throwing a monkey-wrench in the Runner’s plans.
Regarding Weyland, I noticed they have the most Barriers (and thus ‘end the run’ subroutines). They also have a lot of ICE that will earn them credits if they aren’t broken, so it should be rather easy for them to have sufficient funds to rez even more ICE (or advance those agendas). I feel that a longer game will be advantageous for them, especially since their advanceable ICE will get ever harder to get through.
But from your descriptions it sounds more like that’s the preferred approach for HB. Hmm.
What’s imho distinctive about Weyland is that they have few means to tag a Runner (compared to NBN), but if they do manage to get it to stick, they have the means to deal with the Runner in a rather permanent fashion by dealing lots of meat damage.
(I don’t recall at the moment what means of damage prevention are available for Runners in the Revised Core Set? Also, ‘Scorched Earth’ is no longer included, so maybe that’s no longer a Weyland thing?)
Hey there! I too got into the game with the Revised Core after playing a few times off my friend’s collection and the game being on my wishlist for ages.
I work on Thursday nights at Funkatronic Rex in North Phoenix (14th Street & Northern Ave) and have gotten a couple of other players engaged in the game. I’d be happy to get a round or two in with you then, or we can organize another time to play. Just ask for Paul!
How does Nero work with Anansi? Do I still get the 3 net? There’s no ‘jack out’ during 2.4 so I supposedly encounter Anansi triggering ‘When encountered’.
New-ish player here with a 2.0 Core. I’d love to get some regular IRL games going, if at all possible.
Anybody in/near Inland Empire, CA? Specifically Menifee, Temecula, Murrieta?
Hopefully other people can chime in with advice that is more helpful (Southern California is a bit of a mystery to me) but I think the best place to ask is probably on Facebook.
I would start on the group Netrunner Dorks, but also see if there are any groups focused on Netrunner in your area.
I certainly know that people play Netrunner in Southern California, but am unsure how close they are to you.
Are you far from Gameology? There’s a place in Riverside called GMI Games that may have a Netrunner playerbase. Otherwise I think you’re out of luck unless you drive all the way to San Diego on a Thursday night.
BUT Gameology will be hosting our regional tournament in July and that’s a great way to meet a lot of local players who may not be within driving distance but you can play online with ease.
I’m hoping to build or find a group in Fargo, ND, or eastern North Dakota in general. There are a few players locally, but a regular group fizzled out a few years ago. Let me know if anyone’s interested.
