So I started with an elf and picked custom with these stats:

Body 4 Quickness 3 Ranged combat 3 Intelligence 4 Decking 3 Drone Control 4 Drone Combat 3 Charisma 4 (Security, Corporate Ettiquettes)

Does this look like a solid start? I just finished the prologue mission and have 7 karma to spend, but I don't know where to go from here. I did buy the Kraftwerk cyberdeck and the medic 1 program. Do I have a basic attack in the matrix or do I need to buy an attack program for that? I also really need to know when to put more points into decking vs. drone control/combat.

When will 4 decking be essential to pass a mission while getting all pay data? Same question for 5,6,7 decking. Should I stop at 6 points in decking and then use gear for +1 decking and still have access to Excalibur deck or will I want to wear rigging gear instead so need to put 7 in decking?

From what I've read ESP is nearly worthless and I think I'll be skipping it. I have read that biotech is useful for conversation checks, but I'm not sure if I'll have karma left for that and 2 more charisma points for gang etiquette while still having 4 AP drones and being able to use the Excalibur deck. Any advice and/or links to a good guide will help, thx.

I know this topic its old as hell, but mayby someon gonna look for some actual advice in this kind of build (like I did feew days ago).

I started game feew days ago, gonna run APEX right after this post.
Decker/rigger is completly valid character, actualy its real good combo, and one of best type to play Dragonfall- its work nice in combat, bring some good dialogue options and let hijack some turrents or skip some security codes. Also, you dont need this drek Blitz in team anymore (huge plus for me).

For the build- all You need for be decent decker is INT and Decking, you can skip ESP skill at all. Also, decker have its ovn basic atack, but its beter to buy some programms- esentialy "Killer", "Heal" and "Degrade" comes very handy. Beside this- focus on Dron Combat and ad some Charisma/ Biotech for dialogue options.
I recomendet to take Human with:
3 BODY (and leav it so, in most cases you will put your fearless character in deep cover, or around corner- far from enemy line of sight.
3 QUICKNESS
1 RANGED COMBAT (just for further upgrade for 2 slots, this character just dont use weapons- and dont realy need it)
5 INT
4 BIOTECH (for some dialogue options and healing utility- its usefull espectialy between fights, whe you cant relay on npc's skils)
4 DECKING (good enough for start)
4 DRON CONTROL
4 DRON COMBAT
2 CHARISMA (Just for first social etiquete. In first run it doesnt mater, you should end up with CHA 6 and 3 choosed etiquetes- i recomended "Street", "Socialite" and and either "Academic" or "Security").

Basic tactics for this build is hide behind cover, use Dron and spam "Mark Target" which play realy well togheter (due to initial dron accuracy) and help rest of team. During play, upgrade CHA up to 6, INT, Decking, Dron Control/ Combat up to 8. After unlock using two drons, bump Ranged Combat up for 3. Considerite using Haste on your character for utilising "Mark Target" which bump whole team efectivenes. Everything else can (and should) stay as in the beggining your adventure, becous you will find out rather short on Karma. After riching 6 in Decking, Focus on Dron C/C- it has biger impact on gameplay. Also, go carefull with casch- i recomend skip lvl3 Deck and stick with Renraku up to Excalibur. For Drones, i use 2 combat insted of combat + support. I give chance to S class suport dron (which have mounted mortat as basic atack) but rest of them is preaty much worthless in compare to second combat drone.

Unfortunately gear/ implant bonus doesnt count for some requirements- as unlocking dron/deck or upgrading skills
(7 INT + 1 or 2 from implant means you steel need upgrade basic INT to 8, if you wanna get 8 in related skill)

If you are playing Dragonfall (with Blitz) then I would avoid the Socialite etiquette. (I haven't finished my latest playthrough, so I can't be definitive at this point, but unless I have missed a conversation option later in the game, it is only used once.) Gang is almost as useless.

A much better choice is Street, which is used a quite a few missions (including Glory's loyalty mission). Better, Academic is very useful for more detail in the narrative in quite a few places, Corporate will avoid some fighting but Security is hands-down the most useful etiquette.

Also, the decker/drone-specialist combination is a good mix, but the drone ability tree is very specific and not used anywhere else unlike, say, Quickness (which helps avoid physical attacks, as well as contributing to the character's probability of shooting an opponent) Wisdom and Charisma (for avoiding magical attacks and convincing NPCs, respectively, even if your avatar has no specific need of them for their main profession) are better options, even if its just a single point increase.

A minimum intelligence of three is a very good idea (which is approximately an IQ of 100) especially early on in the second mission (it unlocks otherwise-secret conversation choices that are only revealed when this minimum criterion is met).

Note that most of the important security dialogue options can also pass with Easy /Medium Charisma tests - as a result, it's not that important for high charisma builds. Sotialite only appears 3 times in the game, but is worth roughly 1.4K extra nuyens.

The whole point of combining Drones with Decking is that it creates some synergy - both of these abilities are related to INT. There is not enough karma to get high Quickness + Ranged combat + Weapon skill for combat efficiency AND combine it with INT and Decking - and even if you build it that way, a Character built this way will lose some flexibility. Without some investment in Body, it will be rather glassy, ​​but unlike Riger-Decker , Decker/Gunner needs to be within enemy weapon range to do some damage. The combination of Decking and Rigging left some room for Charisma and Biotechnology. Also - late game rigging is arguable the best combat option - you have 2 drones, both with 4 AP - that's up to 8 attacks in one turn - in my game they give even better damage than Glory or Eiger. Also, don't ignore the fact that these are two additional, separate targets for enemies.

I stand corrected on socialite; I would maintain that, given a meagre charisma score that allows for only one or two etiquettes, I would rank security high. (My play has become fragmented after I completed the game a few times; usually, now, I just go back for a battle or to prep for one.) Yes, that is the best-case for a rigger, and your observations are, again, spot on. Extra targets mean less attacks on the rigger (especially if she is out of the sight her enemies, though this can hamper the operation of the drones) and being a specialized cyberneticist obviates the need to develop independent martial skill, or even physical resilience, as you correctly identify.

Lately, I have been exploring the advantages of dual-classed (ranged) samurai complemented with magic. Hermetic magic has all the offensive spells plus heal, whereas conjurers can buff and protect well; so both branches of magic assist the fighter class. Originally I was draw to experiment because of the different attack vectors: the ranged attack ability doesn't seem to affect (projectile) magic attacks at all, which I would have designed differently. (I suppose the rationale, advocato diabolo, would be that magic operates on the astral plane and acts like a fundamental physical force but, like dark matter, doesn't interact with them.)

i agree. If your going a full decker/rigger that is an intelligence based character. You don't want any combat skills yourself, ALL your skills should go into your non-combat abilities, your decks, and your drones. THOSE are your combat in the game. Get enough body so you aren't killed easy in a fight and let your decker/drones do the work. Since they are all based on intelligence, even easier you don't need strength, weapons skills, and so on.

A decker/rigger is probably the most expensive build, needing money to fuel all those drones, decks, and cyberware. The best weapons for a rigger is unarmed/fists because your inventory will be full with 2 drones/deck and you won't have weapon slots, but you can still use fists, but that is too many skill points for pretty much being worthless in combat.

I always go with 4 starting charisma and 3 spirit summon for your totem (usually healing or accuracy). You'll want 6 charisma for the extra ettiquette and thats it.

4 intellignece, drone, drone control, decking (forget ESP, i've never used them at all in the game, just regular deck skills) You can raise Esp if you want later, but i find it worthless. Same with Bioetch. Those 4 are your main skills. Intelligence, Drones, drone control, and Decking. Ignore the other 2.

Get a couple points into quickness and dodge, maybe 2/2. Eventually you'll want 3 quickness/3 ranged/3 dodge to get the extra inventory space for your 2nd drone later.

After that, just your intelligence skills and your body and you'll be fine. Charisma max at 6, 3 into quickness/dodge/ranged for the inventory space, ta da. Your good. Your decking will handle the matrix, your drones will handle your non-matrix fighting.

One small comment on your advice, which is otherwise sound: apart from Dodge (combined with Quickness), there is no benefit in the third rank placed in Quickness. Therefore, in order to open the extra inventory slot, it would be better to get three ranks in close combat rather than ranged combat (since you won't have a weapon to shoot!) so then at least you can thump someone in close proximity.

there isn't any reason to ever pick close combat because you should never be in close combat with your decker/rigger punching someone with minimal close combat skill and damage. Better that AP is used to move to safe areas or out of gunner sight. Like i said, the only combat ability that would work on a rigger/decker is unarmed because you don't have any inventory space to hold a weapon, so you can only use your fist, and that pretty much is worthless.

Dodge 3 at least has some uses, and you'll need either range 3 or close combat 3 to open the other inventory slot. Going with quickness 3/range 3/dodge 3 is the best benefits. Plus you'll probably have cyberware legs, etc that add more quickness and such anyway.

3 aps on your decker rigger later.. 2 used for your 2 drones activated, last AP used to get under cover while your drones do the work, that way your not just standing in the middle of the room as a big target with no aps. If you want to use that AP to try and move closer to the gun toting/sword swinging enemies to punch them in the face at 30% chance doing 1-4 damage, sure. I'll ignore close combat and get behind cover. You should also. If you want to punch someone, make up a close combat warrior.

Agreed, better use your third AP for mark target so your drones hit better. Not having to fight yourself is the whole point of being a rigger.

Thanks for the thread - I'm playing a Decker/Rigger for my first playthrough (Dragonfall) and it's great.
As well as both being cool jobs in themselves, there's a certain amount of synergy between them. You can interact with terminals via your drones, so at one point recently, I sent a drone through the duct-passage to behind enemy lines so it could reach a terminal, reprogram turrets and turn them on the enemy (I think I needed the decker skill to access the terminal, then the rigger skill to reprogram the turrets).

Close Combat is superordinate to Unarmed and Melee subordinate skills, so you cannot increase unarmed without first improving Close Combat. By focusing on Close Combat, you gain the advantage you mentioned by keeping all weapon slots for drones and the deck, plus a third weapon slot provided by the Close Combat, which improves what little unarmed skill the character has. Contrarily, improving Quickness is the better option if you are opting for firearms skills for distance kills. It only affects the character's chance of being struck by physical damage (i.e., not magical attacks; I'm not sure off-hand if lasers are included as physical, but assume they are) and is supported by the Dodge ability, which is subordinate.

So, for your desire to min-max a power-rigger-decker, or is that a power-decker-rigger? A decker-powered rigger with no weapons other than her bare fists, would best invest her karma in close combat for those fists to matter, even a little, and also deliver a third weapon slot for to use to deploy maximum drones with a deck, too. :)

But more quickness does allow one to run further per turn, so you can either hide behind cover or better still, get out of line of sight completely.

Personally, when I go Decker and/or Rigger in DF, apart from the obvious INT increases it's definitely worth it to pump some points into CHA as others have said - especially for getting security, which combined with a high enough CHA should allow you to avoid all fights in one map in particular until the end - which is important not so much for not having to do the combat earlier, but because you get about 2-3 extra karma for achieving that!

Actually in that particular mission, it's possible to get the bonus karma for not triggering a fight until you get your objective, and also getting extra karma for achieving another side mission at that point too.

Street is possibly the second-most useful.

The others I believe tend to generally allow one to gain a bit more cash in various places - from memory socialite has 1-2 places where you can make a bit extra, corporate possibly as well? The others are mainly for lore, or provide possible alternatives if you don't have one of the others (e.g. gang?).

TBH I wouldn't bother much with Wisdom for avoiding magical attacks, since the most dangerous ones tend to be AOE attacks and they'll tend to hit you anyway. However, I believe a minimum level of WIS + high INT is required to unlock some cool lore + bonus karma in one of the maps on the final mission. I can't recall if that helps unlock extra bonus options/dialogue or not?

I did wonder about that. (Just as Clockwork used to say, it's better to outrun the defence than outgun them.)

That's another good point.

I still think my best build was a magical sharpshooter; my rationale was the ability to damage all types of foe, with either/both magical and physical wounds.

Is dodge any use at all? Whenever I replay a mission with more dodge than earlier (rather than some other ability) it never seems to change the bullseye that seems to be painted on my character. :|

As an aside, the elf has affinity with quickness, but the best magical race is the dwarf. I have a dwarven monk started and waiting for me to explore the power of maximum wisdom. :)