Shadowrun (Sega Genesis)/Contacts

Your contacts are people who you'll only see via vid-phone (and even then, some will refuse to turn the video on when you speak with them), but they can be of tremendous help to you. As soon as you get a contact, his or her name will show up in your pocket secretary and also in the vid-phone menu when you use a street terminal. On the vid-phone, choose the person's name to call them and carry on a conversation as usual. By talking to contacts, you can arrange the sale of rare items, gain information, or secure other helpful services. It would really be worth your while to try to get hooked up with as many contacts as you can, as soon as you get the chance.

This part lists all the contacts in the game in the order that they appear in the pocket secretary and vid-phone menus. Contacted Through gives the person who gives you the contact (as well as a reminder about who the person is) and how much you'll have to pay. Title is part of the pocket secretary description of the contact -- it's just what occupation the contact is. Description is the other part of the pocket secretary description -- it lists all the goods, services, and information the contact has to offer, and how much you'll have to pay to get each one. Notes has my notes on each contact, as well as additional info on parts of the description that may need clarification.

Capt Quinton Jaymes

 * Contacted Through: Julius Strouther (Johnson) - 1,000¥
 * Title: Ex-Merc
 * Description
 * Has info on Hollywood
 * Sells Frag Grenades for 400¥
 * Sells stripped HK227-S for 1,000¥
 * Offers Rigger contact for 2,800¥

Pretty worthwhile. The info and the grenades are equally worthless, but the cheap SMGs are nice, and Sharkey, the Rigger contact, is one of the most useful contacts in the game.

Alesandro Hobbs

 * Contacted Through: Mortimer Reed (Johnson) - 1,500¥
 * Title: Company Man
 * Description
 * Has info on paranormal creatures
 * Sells Lvl 3 Maglock Passkey for 10,000¥
 * Sells Lvl 5 Maglock Passkey for 20,000¥
 * Offers Hollywood contact for 8,000¥

Hobbs is useful only for his level 5 Maglock Passkey, which he sells for less than half of what Max asks for it. You should definitely get this contact, but don't expect much out of his info, his other passkey, or the contact he offers (Sgt. Macklemann).

Sharkey

 * Contacted Through: Capt Quinton Jaymes (contact) - 2,800¥
 * Title: Rigger
 * Description
 * Offers passage to Salish-Shidhe for 3,000¥
 * Offers passage to Sinsearach for 5,000¥
 * Sells Smart Goggles for 3,000¥

Probably the most useful, if not the most essential, contact. In my opinion, the thousands of nuyen you spend on her rides are well worth not having to trudge through the dangerous routes to the Sinsearach by memory, and not having to jump through all the hoops and pay all the money to get a visa to Salish-Shidhe. on top of all that, Sharkey is the only one who sells Smart Goggles, which can be a very useful item in itself.

Kipp David

 * Contacted Through: Caleb Brightmore (Johnson) - 2,000¥
 * Title: Corp Decker
 * Description
 * Info on Corp Matrix
 * Sells Lvl 6 Rebound for 30,000¥
 * Sells Lvl 6 Degrade for 30,000¥
 * Sells Excalibur cyberdeck for 185,000¥

Kipp David is a decent contact for deckers. He's the only source of the highest-level versions of Rebound and Degrade (see Part 3b of Section III). His offer of the Fairlight Excalibur is pretty good, with a decent price break over the one available at the Crime Mall for characters with a Negotiation skill of 8 or lower. However, if you have a 9 or higher, or if you got the Crime Mall discount from Mr. Faradouchi, Kipp David's offerings probably won't help you out very much.

Wilma Temmenhoff

 * Contacted Through: Mr. Gunderson (Johnson) - 1,000¥
 * Title: Street Decker
 * Description
 * Info of Matrix
 * Sells Lvl 3 Rebound for 5,000¥
 * Sells Lvl 3 Degrade for 5,000¥

Pretty worthless. Sells low-level versions of marginally useful programs and has information that probably won't help you much.

Sgt. Macklemann

 * Contacted Through: Alesandro Hobbs (contact) - 8,000¥
 * Title: Hollywood Security Guard
 * Description
 * Info about Corp Security
 * Info to avoid Corporate Detection
 * Offers access to Hollywood for 5,000¥

The other two contacts that offer to get you into Hollywood can do it for cheaper than five grand, but Macklemann isn't a total bust since he's one of the few contacts whose information is actually worth listening to. Check out what he has to say for a few decent tips for when you go on corp runs.

Gregory Wilns

 * Contacted Through: Prof. Jefferson (contact) - 2,000¥
 * Title: Corporate Mage
 * Description
 * Info on Corp security
 * Offers Lvl 2 Power Focus for 50,000¥
 * Offers discount at Merlin's Lore for 4,000¥

Probably the best contact that a magic user can have. The Power Focus is simply wonderful, right up there with the one you would get from Agira Tetsumi, and the discount can be very helpful too. Even Wilns' info on corp security is pretty good.

Mr. Faradouchi

 * Contacted Through: Mauler (Eye-Fiver boss) - 10,000¥
 * Title: Mafia Don
 * Description
 * Gives free stay at Wylie's Gala Inn
 * Gives discount at Crime Mall
 * Keeps Lone Star at bay.

You won't be allowed to speak with Mr. Faradouchi unless you have a Reputation rating of 5 or higher. Then, when you call him, you'll have to align with the Mafia before he will give you any of his offers. Aligning with the Mafia prevents you from taking Yakuza benefits, and vice versa. For more info on how the two main gangs work, see Part 6 below. Also, Faradouchi is one of the three contact you won't be given if you use the Contacts cheat (see Section XII).

Agira Tetsumi

 * Contacted Through: Ratspike (Halloweener boss) - 10,000¥
 * Title: Yakuza Boss
 * Description
 * Gives discount at Little Chiba
 * Offers Hvy Combat Armor for 30,000¥
 * Offers Lvl 3 Power Focus for 80,000¥

You won't be allowed to speak with Agira Tetsumi unless you have a Reputation rating of 5 or higher. Then, when you call him, you'll have to align with the Yakuza before he will give you any of his offers. Aligning with the Yakuza prevents you from taking Mafia benefits, and vice versa. For more info on how the two main gangs work, see Part 6 below. Note that Agira Tetsumi is one of the three contacts you won't get when you use the Contacts cheat (see Section XII).

Henry J. Culver

 * Contacted Through: Roadrash (Ork boss) - 5,000¥
 * Title: Seattle City Official
 * Description
 * Offers to delete Lone Star record for 2,500¥
 * Offers access to Hollywood for 1,500¥
 * Offers Weapon Permit for 8,000¥

There are a couple misleading things about this guy. First, regardless of what Roadrash tells you, you don't have to pay Culver to talk to him, or anything like that. Second, the game will tell you that Culver notices your Ork armband even if you haven't bought one. Anyway, when you consider the money it takes to get this contact, it may not be worth it, depending on how you play. His prices are the lowest around for all three services he offers, but then again, the services aren't really that important. It's really your choice whether you want to spend the extra money for a little less hassle from Lone Star and the Hollywood guards. Finally, it's worth mentioning that Culver is one of the three contacts not present when you use the Contacts cheat (see Section XII).

Max

 * Contacted Through: Vigore & Jarl (Johnson) - 750¥
 * Title: Fixer
 * Description
 * Sells Corp Badges for 6,000¥
 * Sells HK227 for 1,500¥
 * Sells AK-97 for 2,000¥
 * Sells Lvl 4 Maglock Passkey for 30,000¥
 * Sells Lvl 5 Maglock Passkey for 42,000¥

Max is really only worth having for his corp badges, which he alone sells. They are a must for anyone doing a corp run (as long as they don't go away after each run -- see the notes at the beginning of Part 7 of Section IV). The SMGs and Maglock Passkeys are nice, but you can get them cheaper elsewhere. This isn't very likely to happen, but I just thought I'd remind you to establish this contact before killing Ito. If you haven't bought the contact by the time Vigore & Jarl skip town, you won't have access to Max or his badges for the rest of the game.

Sgt. Chillicutt

 * Contacted Through: Caleb Brightmore (Johnson) - 2,000¥
 * Title: Lone Star Detective
 * Description
 * Offers to delete Lone Star record for 5,000¥
 * Offers access to Hollywood for 3,000¥
 * Offers Weapon Permit for 10,000¥

Not very useful. You probably won't find yourself using his services. If you do need your record deleted, or access to Hollywood, or a weapon permit, though, just get in touch with Henry J. Culver. He can do all three for less money than Chillicutt.

Prof. Jefferson

 * Contacted Through: Trent Delisario (runner) - free
 * Title: University Mage
 * Description
 * Info on paranormal creatures
 * Offers discount at Riannon's for 1,500¥
 * Offers Corp Mage contact for 2,000¥

Pretty decent contact for mages and shaman. The info is somewhat useful, the discount is good, and he offers a contact with Gregory Wilns, who is even more useful to magic users. Plus, Jefferson's contact price is free, so you really have no excuse for not having his number.