Security Guide
0 and I have written this guide to help those new to Hellmoo. Obviously, theft is a large aspect of the game (and one of our favorites) and it can be a little overwhelming to newbies who don't know a damn thing about security, and come home to find their prized shit stolen.
Why was I robbed?:
Robberies happen for one of a few reasons. If you are reading this you were probably robbed and are looking for a way to improve upon security. Here's an outline of the major reasons pickers go out and take things.
You lived in a shitty apartment complex: Sometimes a picker will just wander over to Broham Gardens and rob every single person with a non-barred door. COUNTER: Don't live someplace shitty.
You had a scanlock in the Bradbury: Sometimes if a picker has nothing else to do they'll just look for someone in the Bradbury with a scanlock and break in. It's nothing personal, you're just low-hanging fruit. Buying a better lock will keep this from happening, although a Vox Bronze isn't 100% guaranteed to keep this from happening to you. COUNTER: Buy a Vox Gold.
You own nice things and only have okay security:If you have an apartment full of Exosuits and Shiver Swords and a Vox Gold in the Bradbury pickers with Clairvoyance will eventually notice and take them off your hands. COUNTER: Tinfoil or a major security upgrade (both advised).
You are a jerk: If you piss off a picker, or someone who is friends with/willing to hire a picker there's a good chance they'll break into your house, take everything not bolted down, and smash everything that is. A player named Khornate_Daemon went around joining corps, going into the corp-synched armories, and taking whatever he wanted. As soon as people found out they mobbed his apartment, camping his cocoon and taking back what was theirs (Myself included. - Batt) COUNTER: Don't be a jerk.
No good reason: Honestly, if you don't do any of the things above the odds that you'll get robbed are extremely low. Not non-existent, but low enough that you shouldn't worry about it. The better your security, the less of a chance this will happen.
Who can pick:
There are a pair of skills in this game, Locksmith and Hack. The primary use for these two skills are to pick locks. Locksmith picks physical locks(the type you need keys to open), while Hack picks biometric locks (the ones you open with a hand-print), although if your Locksmith skill sucks it makes picking biometric locks harder as well. If you've been robbed it was because someone with these two skills rolled up to your front door while you were out, picked the lock, and let his friends in to take all of your things. For the purpose of this guide, there are three main types of pickers. The lines between them are fuzzy, so don't take this as hard statistical truth; this is useful but fuzzy truth.
Non-Pickers: Characters with no skill at Locksmith or Hack. Total skill is in the low teens or below.
Shitty Pickers: Characters who really aren't focused towards picking and either have one raw in each skill or have no raws and good picking-related stats (Brains and Reflexes). Total skill in the mid to high teens. Amateur Pickers: Characters who aren't primarily pickers but decided to pick up some skill ranks at Locksmith and Hack for the fuck of it. Total skill in the twenties. Pro pickers: Dedicated pickers, who have their whole character build dedicated to the art of opening locked doors. Probably have 15 raw in both skills. Totals in the low thirties (or higher when they put their game faces on).
Luckily, there are only a few pro pickers active in the game at any one time. At the time I'm writing this I can name three, which I think is actually somewhat on the high side.
There are three main factors that determine how hard you are to rob: your lock, the location of your home, and the security accessories you furnish your home with.
What lock should I use: The lock you use determines how good a picker has to be to pick open your door. There are quite a few different locks in the game, but for practical purposes I've separated them into four levels.
Scanlocks: This is probably what your home came with. Scanlocks suck really badly. They'll keep out non-pickers, but even a shitty picker can blow your door wide open. You're pretty much entirely at the mercy of your apartment complex for security, and a pro picker can probably open the lock faster than security can even respond. Having a scanlock is like posting a gigantic sign on your door saying PLEASE ROB ME.
Decent Locks:Every biometric lock that isn't a Scanlock or a Voxguard Diamond. These will keep out the shitty pickers, but even amateur pickers will have no problem getting past them. If you aren't late-game this is probably what you should use. A nice Vox Gold with a decent apartment complex will keep you from being randomly robbed 99.9% of the time. (A Vox Platinum is strong enough to keep the weaker amateur pickers away, but if you're paying someone to make you one of them you really might as well just jump all the way to Diamond)
Vox Diamonds: The best of the best. Craft-only, and extremely pricey, these are what you should be using once you start picking up some really desirable items. Even a fully decked out pro picker will take a minute and a half to cut through one of these, and anybody with less than 30 total in both skills shouldn't even try.
The Home:
Lets face it, your home is a place for your stuff (ever notice that your shit is stuff and other peoples stuff is shit?), and if somebody breaks in, chances are they aren't going to take that shit you were saving. They are going to take the good stuff, the SHINY stuff, the VALUABLE stuff, not that shit you were saving. That's why you gotta lock up your stuff!
Locks: Every home needs a decent lock. When you get your first place, its going to have a scanlock on the door. Get rid of this immediately and upgrade to a Voxguard Bronze, they are 1200 and show that you are making a concerted effort not to be robbed. I personally have gone through the Bradbury and written down every number with a scanlock on it from time to time.It is also a good idea to put a lock on the inside of your door as well. This prevents somebody who comes in when you open the door from just leaving. The most important piece of advice I can give on this is, if you hear a scratching sound coming from your door, just @quit. if you aren't online they cannot get in.
Peepholes: A peephole is an extremely valuable, common, and cheap tool. It allows you to peek out your door without opening it, to see if somebody is just waiting for you to open up so they can break in. They are installed on the OUTSIDE of the door.(This is the biggest mistake people make, placing them on the inside allows people to look in and see if you are worth robbing). They can be had for a mere $21 at Smoot's, and its the best $21 you'll ever spend. Paranoid: Paranoia is the biggest thing you can have on your side. There are a few ways to accomplish this. The first, is do everything twice. Look out the peephole twice. Lock the door, twice. go down the stairs, and come back up to make sure you locked the door twice. It will eventually become habit, and in the event you lock only once, you'll be fine.
Door Kits: Door kits are optional upgrades you can throw on that, while they wont make a lock require a higher skill, they will improve overall security and waste a pick cycle and no more progress on a lock gets made. You can have one of each on your door. An informer is the most valuable of these, telling you when somebody is trying to pick your door. I would advise getting one of these as soon as possible. Another viable and easy to obtain option is a Trick-or-treat kit. These fun little kits are single use explosives that go off when somebody picks your door and fails. The best door kit by far is a shockmaster. The shockmaster is like a trick-or-treat, but with electric damage, and unlimited uses. The only way to get a shockmaster is through the player economy.
Homecams: A homecam is a last resort item. It wont do a damn thing to protect your stuff, but it will let you know who did and exactly what they took. Not useful beyond knowing who to get your revenge on, but if you want to have absolutely everything, get one, they are cheap. Stickycams: A Stickycam is like an informer, except only more so. Instead of being told when you are being picked, you can see when somebody is inside and exactly what they are doing. An excellent alternative to homecams. I don't advise replacing an informer with this, but using it in addition to. They are tricky to get as the store selling them only has a 30% chance of having them in stock.
Tinfoil: Tinfoil can be installed on your walls and gives a massive chill penalty, but prevents people from using clarevoyance to search inside your apartment for good things to steal. This can backfire though, giving people the idea that you do have good stuff on the inside when you really don't. Personally, I tinfoil every room I have, even though you only need it in the first room. I'm paranoid like that.
Securing your items:
What any robbery comes down to is that the picker is after your things. The most important thing you can do, is make those things harder to pick out, or harder to get to.
Stashing: The poor mans safe. You can stash an item in a room to have it require a search to find it. In an extended robbery, this is even better than a safe, since if the picker doesn't think to search, the item will not be found. The downside is trying to find it yourself if you have a crappy scavenge, but it is worth doing.
Safes: Keeping your best items in a safe is generally a good idea. It's pretty common that the picker will have to run from security before checking out the whole house, so having your really nice things in a locked safe is a pretty good idea. You dont need to put anything fancy on it, just a bronze and locking it up should be sufficient. Corp HQ: If you have a reliable enough corp with a good Jack Shitt tower suite, then it may be worth asking to keep your good stuff there. The stars at Jack Shitt add up quickly, as the troopers tend to swarm and each one that goes down adds more stars. If that wasn't enough, the traps inside will hurt someone pretty badly. A corp HQ isn't impenetrable, but it requires another corp to make a concerted effort to rob them, so much that HQ robberies are nearly unheard of. A trustworthy corp HQ could be your surefire place to store things if you don't have a sufficient place.
Safe Deposit: Safe Deposit (SD on the map) is located in Freedom City. If you have a valuable item that you aren't going to be using, and you dont want it stolen, it goes here. You get 10 slots to store items (no bags) for a slight fee. I paid 70 for a fullmod fork and 700 for a fullmod plasma rifle. It costs nothing to remove the item. There is no way an item in SD can be stolen.
Homes:
There are several different locations you can rent an apartment in Hellmoo, and if you have the funds, you can even buy your own custom house. I'll go down the list describing the pros and cons of each place.
Broham Gardens: This is the cheapest apartment available thats a better place to quit in than Anyport. That's all the good I can say about it. The security is weak gorillabots that most can kill with one hand tied behind their back. I dont advise living here, but if you have no other choice, don't keep anything valuable inside. If you live here, and somebody wants to rob you or if its found out you are keeping something half valuable, it will most likely be stolen. If you live here expect to get randomly cleaned out every few weeks, since it's easy just to kill the two gorillabots that live there and just empty every apartment there at a leisurely pace.
The Bradbury: The Bradbury is the de-facto newbie apartment. Its got security that can kill weaker players, but most experienced players can kill them. Its not too much better than living in Broham Gardens, but I'd say 75% of all robberies happen in the Bradbury. This is due to the fact that so many inexperienced people live here, with crappy locks. If you get a voxguard bronze and an informer, it is a good place to start out, but not for long term living. Additionally, if you get enough Bradbury stars it spills over and gives you FCPD stars, as well, which nobody wants, so that's some added security right there. If someone decides they want to rob you they probably can, but if you have a good lock it won't be easy for them at all.
Sweaty Palms: If you have the option between this and the Bradbury, I would advise Sweaty Palms. The reason behind this is, if you rob somebody in the Bradbury, you get Bradbury stars. However, if you rob somebody in Sweaty Palms, you get Freedom City stars. This alone is enough to deter most robbers, but a determined thief with a decent sneak skill will still be able to get in. Overall Sweaty Palms is an excellent choice, almost on par with Helliday except for the lack of electrified floors and distance from the police station.
Helliday Inn: This is where I live. It costs 2000 to move in and 500 a month for rent, but it is definitely worth it. Like Sweaty Palms, Helliday is located in Freedom City, but unlike Sweaty Palms, you will get a faster police response.. If that security wasn't hard enough, the floors are electrified, so on a failed pick the picker recieves a nice jolt. A diamond with a shockmaster and informer in the Helliday Inn is near-unassailable. All of this combined pretty much requires a pissed off corp to come together rob you, and even the best pickers are hesitant to pick Helliday. Generally it is hard to find vacancy here, but if you get a chance dont hesitate to move in. Halliburton Arms: Halliburton Arms is located in burbclave, and is significantly more expensive than Helliday (500k to move in). The security here are swarms of robotic spiderlings. If spiderlings engage the picker while they're picking, anyone involved in killing it gets stars. The spiderlings will engage whoever has stars, not sure if they have a preference, but really anyone they attack, regardless of if they attack them back or not, will get stars when the police unit dies, and while that may sound nice, a smart player can get rid of them and still rob you. A step up from Sweaty Palms Helliday, but the price is generally enough to keep most people from owning one, and it draws a lot of theft due to this (rich people have nice things). HA is more secure than HI because unless the picker has an abomination kill all the spiders before robbing they will have to evacuate the condo before robbing the whole place since they will run out of supplies to kill the spiderlings with. If shit gets too ugly the picker's HA stars will spill over into Burbclave ones, which spill into Corpclave ones, which spill over into FCPD ones, but it requires a completely botched picking attempt for the FCPD to get there in a. Burbclave Mansion: Burbclave Mansions are the best housing available. They have the best defense for a detected picker - An Orbital Defense Cannon, which is tricky to sneak by and are completely defensible - you can kill yourself, reclone, and logout to stop any pick attempt. They cost 1.5 millon, and robbery is extremely rare and luck dependant. Worth the price tag, they are large and spacious to boot. If you have top notch locks and door kits and wish to live in absolute luxury, this is for you.
Lurleen: Lurleen is the apartment complex for a Hideous Freak or loner. In all honesty, its security is on par with Broham Gardens and is nothing more than a safe place to log out. It gets robbed less, but this is due to it being further away from Freedom City, and generally people aren't dumb enough to keep nice things The Rodger Young: A pirate ship located in botany bay. Security is decently strong, and it just got buffed. On the down-side, RY stars will never spill over into FCPD stars, so you aren't completely safe.
Vault 4: Vault 4. Its a vault. Be a vault dweller. The security is an angry robot that kills everybody on sight. This makes living here tricky, but nobody comes here for anything aside from the twitchy nerves mutation anyways, so if you are slick enough to slip by the bot, it might be a good place to hide an unexpected home. Be warned though, if somebody finds out, it wouldn't be hard at all to get in.
Necropolis: Hideous Freak housing only. Chances are if you are a freak, you probably arent a picker. Just throw on a bronze and live your freak life worry free. I personally haven't heard any stories of theft on freak housing, but there may be isolated incedents.
Custom Housing: Custom Housing is generally a bad idea. Back in the older days, you could get your house placed pretty much anywhere (Gehenna, The Marked of Caine's custom HQ, was originally deep in necropolis and required liberal application of explosives to reach), but nowadays it has to be within reason. With a bit of begging you might be able to get it a decent hiding spot but security is a different story. Custom homes have pretty much identical concepts of security to mansions in that you do the kill yourself but they are less safe by a long margin since there's no penalty for attempting to pick it, no stars or anything. So you could keep it completely unpickable, by killing yourself and going back if they try to pick it, but it may end up costing you a lot of money if your foe is determined. Stealth is your friend here, think of a sneaky place to hide it. I dont advise custom housing because if you have good enough stuff to a determined enough picker, you can kiss it goodbye.
The Field:
Well, everybody goes out (Except Zaylin but that's another story). And when you go out, your stuff is vulnerable. Be it a player killer, your plane, or a random bypasser who sees an opportunity, your stuff is at risk. Cocoons: Always carry a cocoon. Type 'help cocoons' to find out which works best for you. I prefer to keep a stash at home as well for when EO is closed, and I need to go open mine. I never open my cocoon without having a backup on me.
Situational Awareness: Keep an eye out for your enemies with the 'who' command. If you see somebody who likes to kill you and tends to find you rather fast, keep aware, dont get into long fights, and keep moving. If somebody else is in the area, know how tough they are, if they like to kill players, and if they would be willing to help you. Knowing your surroundings can save one hell of a lot of trouble. If you can, fight by a short climb down, so in the event you are attacked, you can just jump down and begin your escape.
Stickycams in the field: If you are fighting in a secluded area, placing a stickycam on the path will help you see an approaching enemy and start moving along. The downside is stickycams can be hard to come across and leaving one behind isn't something you can afford to do everyday. Vehicles: If you use a plane or motorcycle to get around, I'd advise a couple things. Make sure you have a lock on it, and attach a stickycam to it. If you land/park right, not only can you use a stickycam to see if your aircraft/bike is being stolen, you can use it as an early warning system for others in the area. In the event of cessnas, Make sure to put a lock on both the outer door and the cockpit, and trick-or-treat/shockmasters if you can afford it. Don't forget insurance either.
Stars: Be careful when you are screwing around outside. If you get stars where you live, your home security is forfeit and you just have to depend on your locks and door kits to keep you safe. Example: If you get FCPD stars yourself pickers can hack your door all day without getting any stars or security response if you live in FC, and most pickers keep on eye on their police scanners. If you have a FC apartment and get FC stars you WILL be robbed.
Where to Buy:
Smoot's Security Shack (Freedom City, FC on map)
a peephole $ 21 a homecam $ 360 a scanlock $ 720 a schematic for a complex lock assembly $ 1,020 a VoxGuard bronze $ 1,200
Security Entiere (Corpclave, SE on map)
a super scanlock $ 2,700 an Informer door kit $ 3,000 a TrickorTreat door kit $ 3,900 a VoxGuard silver $ 6,000 a VoxGuard gold $ 18,000
Botany Bay (30% chance of being in stock)
a stickycam $ 100
Player Economy: The guy I use is Nous. He can make it, and generally has it in stock if you want it and have the money. He charges 100k for both Diamonds and Shockmasters.
VoxGuard Diamond $ 100000 Shockmaster $ 100000