Shadowrun (Sega Genesis)/Walkthrough

Here's the walkthrough portion of the FAQ. There are two separate walkthroughs in this section: Part 1 is what I call the "Bare Bones" walkthrough. It consists of the absolute minimum information you need to get through the game, start to finish. You could look at it as a walkthrough for people who just need a quick hint here and there, as it contains no directions, advice, or other information -- just the essential moves you need to make to get through.

You could also look at the Bare Bones walkthrough as a kind of abstract for the Full walkthrough. Part 2 is a more traditional (and therefore, very detailed) walkthrough of the game. It contains the exact same layout and information, but it goes into much more depth. It's probably what you were expecting when you wanted to read a walkthrough of the game.

As I just mentioned, both walkthroughs contain the same layout, which I'll briefly discuss here. The four parts are The Beginning, The Big Three, The End, and Side Quests. Shadowrun is technically a linear game, meaning that each time you play, you go through the same steps and get to the same ending. However, the order in which you go through each of those steps is up to you. It's like the Mega Man series, where you can pick the order in which you fight the stages, but you always end up at Dr. Wily's fortress.

In Shadowrun, there are three main plot lines that each need to be resolved before you can finish the game. Each plot line can be done in any order, and you can work on all three simultaneously (which most people do). Since I'm trying to write a somewhat organized walkthrough, though, I've grouped them together and presented them in order. So, for each walkthrough, the layout is this:


 * 1) The Beginning - What you need to do at the very beginning of the game to get started and to introduce the three main plot lines.
 * 2) The Big Three - The three main storylines of the game. Keep in mind that you can tackle them separately, in any order, or all at once. The Big Three are:
 * 3) * David Owlfeather - Dealing with the AmerIndians to find more information on your brother's murder.
 * 4) * Mako Sochou - Dealing with the Renraku corporation to determine their part in the killings.
 * 5) * Caleb Brightmore - Dealing with the elves to gain their support and to reveal the plan behind the killings.
 * 6) The End - What you must do after completing all three storylines to get to the end of the game.
 * 7) Side Quests - There are two major side quests in the game which can be done at any time after you've gotten through the "The Beginning" part. Walkthroughs for each side quest are provided.

One note about the layout: As mentioned in Section XI, Part 1, some of the titles of the steps have numbers in parenthesis beside them. These numbers represent the amount of Karma that you will gain after doing the step.

So, do the Beginning, work on each of the Big Three however you choose, do a side quest or two if you feel like it, then do the End. Simple, right? On with the walkthroughs...

Full Walkthrough
Here's the fully detailed, traditional walkthrough of Shadowrun. When you begin a new game, you will have to decide among being a Samurai, Decker, or Gator Shaman. It's really outside the scope of this section to explain the differences from archetype to archetype, but I do want to mention that you probably shouldn't be a decker. If you're into magic, be a shaman. If you're into guns, be a samurai. Choose your character and watch the intro. Afterwards, you'll walk into Stoker's Coffin motel in Redmond Barrens, where your journey begins.

Go to Stoker's Coffin and get Michael's stuff. (1)
When you enter the motel, you can ask about Michael's stuff if you want. Stoker will ask for 250 nuyen before you can get his belongings back. C'mon, the guy died! Jerk. Anyway, you only have 20 nuyen at the beginning of the game, so Stoker will direct you to the Jump House so you can get some money.

You'll be back out on the street in front of the motel. Walk to the left and up, then left a little more until you see a street terminal. Ordinarily, you'd be able to catch a cab to a different part of Seattle with one of these, but, conveniently, traffic is so bad that the cabby can't get out to you. Bah. Anyway, enter the door to the left of the terminal.

You'll be inside the Jump House. Walk to the booth in the back left corner and you'll meet Gunderson. You can talk to him if you want some basic information, but you're really here for cash. Ask for a job ("I'm looking for some work") and Gunderson will offer you a Shadowrun. At this point, ANY bodyguard or courier run is acceptable, but NO ghoul bounty run is acceptable (see Section IV for definitions). The pay will be bad, but you don't really have much of a choice at this point. If you want to cheat and sell your equipment (Ares Weapon Emporium is next door to the motel), I guess you can, but you need the Karma from these runs just as bad as you need the money.

Besides, if you REALLY want to cheat, though, get a hundred or so nuyen, hire Ricky, and sell HIS stuff. You'll end up with several hundred nuyen. If you do this, I still suggest spending that money on a Predator pistol at Ares. This is the best weapon in the game. That's right, five minutes in and you've already got the best gun. If you don't have enough money after buying the gun, you can always go to Gunderson and earn the money the old-fashioned way.

So, anyway, you'll have to go on runs that are essentially walking from one building to another. This can get pretty monotonous and can actually waste a lot of time if you don't know where the buildings are. So, here's a (very crude) map of Redmond Barrens so you'll know where you're going on these first few runs: +---+--+             ++               +---+   | Jump  | Jackal's |              | Boris'     |               | Abandoned | | House | Lantern |              | Greenhouse |               | Building  | +---+--+             ++               +---+

+--+        |              |       | Hollywood    |          +--+  +--+        +---+ | Correctional |         | Stoker's |  | Ares     |        | Little    | | Facility    |          | Coffin   |  | Weapon   |        | Chiba     | |             |          | Motel    |  | Emporium |        | Chop Shop | |             |          |          |  +--+        +---+     +--+          +--+               +---+             ++               | Rat's |             | Shiawase   | | Nest |             | Nuke Plant |            +--+ +---+            |            |            | Halloweeners | ++           |              |                                                               +--+ Make any sense? Well, at least it's a little help. Anyway, if you run into enemies during your runs (which will probably happen a few times), don't try to fight back. You'll just be wasting your bullets. At the very beginning of the game, you're so weak that you just have to take getting killed at random by street thugs as a fact of life. You'll wake up outside Little Chiba, lose a few nuyen, but will otherwise be fine. Just go back to Gunderson and ask for a new job. No harm done.

By the way, if you're into killing innocent bystanders (and who isn't?), you can pick up decent money and items by mowing down the little pedestrian guys who cross your path during runs. You may have to do a little chasing, but by and large, the occasional clip, medkit, or nuyen is worth spending a few bullets. Don't go out of your way, though. Just shoot if you're doing a run and you happen to come upon a civilian... don't hunt them down. The shadowruns are still your main source of income here.

Once you've got your 250¥, head back to Stoker's and pay him. The game will explain the stuff that you receive better than I could, so just pay attention to the item descriptions. Note also that you'll get 500¥, too, so your balance will be back to what it was before you paid Stoker. Regardless of what the game says, the irony of that STILL hasn't worn off, and it's been years. Those clever Sega designers. I bet the guy who thought that up is still relishing the irony.

2.) Go to the Tarislar City Inn and ask about Tabatha Shale. (1)  First of all, now that you've gotten Michael's stuff, a few things have   changed. Traffic has magically cleared up, so you're free to explore the   Seattle area. You got a cyberdeck, so now you can start hustling the Matrix   as soon as you find someone with a Datajack. Hopefully, you will have gotten   some Karma from doing those runs. You did do the runs, didn't you? Aw, you   just cheated. Oh well. If you have some Karma, you may want to stay at the   motel and upgrade a few stats. There's not much you can do with 5 or 10   points, but early on in the game, I suggest concentrating on Reputation,   Biotech, and Firearms. Magic users may want to work on Sorcery. Characters   who plan on getting cyberware down the road (read: All non-magic-users)   should avoid upgrading the Body, Quickness and Strength attributes -- see the intro to Part 5 of Section VII for details.

You'll also want to buy that Predator if you haven't done so already. You need some protection when you get out into the different parts of the city. If you're feeling extra diligent, you can keep working until you have enough to buy the Vest w/Plates armor, or even better, the Armor Jacket. Even if  you don't get one now, keep it in mind that you do need one or the other before you do any real fighting.

The other items you got can be investigated later. First, you need to track down Tabatha Shale, who sent Michael the note you got from Stoker. Go to a  street terminal and call a cab for Puyallup Barrens. When you get there, make your way to the far top-right corner of the area and enter the large building there -- the Tarislar City Inn. Once inside, ask about Tabatha Shale. Eventually, you'll meet her and she'll tell you what she knows about Michael's last shadowrun. She mentions how the run was through Caleb Brightmore, whose holopix you have, and that Michael stopped at Boris Errascoe's place. She also mentions that they usually go through Mortimer Reed before giving you a bit more information on both Boris and Caleb.

Then, no matter what you tell her as you're leaving, the same thing will happen: an unknown group will break in and assassinate Tabatha. You don't  have to do any fighting -- when it's all over, Tabatha will be dead and you'll be left with a holopix of David Owlfeather that she left behind.

3.) Go to Boris Errascoe and ask him about Michael. (1)  ---   The last thing you should do to get the ball rolling on the story is to   visit Boris Errascoe, who you may have talked to before. This time, though,   you'll know what to ask him about. Take a cab back to Redmond Barrens and go   to Boris' place. Before you enter, you may want to go on a few more runs   from Gunderson to get some extra Karma because after you complete this step,   you'll have to fight two armed enemies. You'll also need 500 nuyen to give   to Boris, but the enemies are probably your first concern -- you're too weak   in your initial form to kill them. If dying isn't a big deal to you   (nothing happens if they kill you and whether you kill them has no effect on   the story), then you can lay down and take it before being hauled to the   hospital and continuing in the story. If you want to be able to kill your attackers, though, you'll need to improve both your offense and your defense.

Whenever you feel that you're ready, enter the greenhouse. Tell Boris that you're looking for some information and agree to pay the fee. You can ask about David Owlfeather if you want, but it will be an extra 500 nuyen and it won't progress the storyline any. When you ask about Michael, though, Boris will tell you about how Michael came by and was later followed by Mako Sochou, a Renraku executive. After that, a Renraku Strike Team will bust in  and you'll have to fight two of them. Like I said before, whether you kill them doesn't really matter. What matters is that Mako Sochou, the last of  the three plotlines, has been introduced and you now have your choice of how to find your brother's killers.

The Big Three
REMEMBER, each of the three plotlines can be done in any order. See the intro to this section.

David Owlfeather This plotline is the longest and most demanding. You'll need to raise quite a bit of Karma and money to be able to make it all the way through.

1.) Go to the AmerIndian village and ask Owlfeather about Michael. (1)     --      This actually entails a few different things. First of all, you may want      to spend some time doing runs to gain Karma and cash. Even though it'll      only be a short trip when you get there, you're still likely to be      attacked when you walk through the Salish-Shidhe. To avoid multiple trips      (not to mention the increasing costs of making multiple trips) to the      AmerIndian lands, you should be pretty well equipped. If you don't have      the Armor Jacket by now, get it. Same goes for a Predator and plenty of      ammo.

The hard part about getting there is, well, getting there. There are two ways to get into the Salish-Shidhe wilderness. Actually, there are three, but one is so ridiculous that it's not worth mentioning here. For those of you wondering, it involves demon buildings (see Section XII). Anyway, you have two choices for getting into the Salish-Shidhe: The legal way and the illegal way.

THE LEGAL WAY is cheap, but if there's a warrant for your arrest, it will be costly and inconvenient. Another minus is that you have to repeat the same procedure every time you want to visit, which can be kind of a     hassle. If you're early in the game, however, this is probably the way to     go. Take a cab to Council Island. When you get there, walk down and enter the building there (with the "P" sign hanging outside). This is the Passport Lodge. Ask to buy a passport and pay the 500 nuyen. The clerk will run a background check on you and if it's clean, you'll be given the passport. At this point, all you need to do is take a cab to the Salish- Shidhe lands. Remember, the passport is only good for one trip.

If the background check shows that there's a warrant for your arrest, you have a few options. You can get into Salish-Shidhe the illegal way (see     the next paragraph), you can have someone delete your criminal record, or      you can do it yourself, the old-fashioned way -- by turning yourself in. Including all meeting fees, the cheapest you can get your record deleted for is 7,000 nuyen. Ouch. If you actually have that kind of money lying around, though, check out the illegal way. It's simpler and actually a     few hundred nuyen cheaper. If you're pretty much broke, I suggest turning yourself in. You'll lose all your money, which hopefully won't be more than a few hundred nuyen. Then you'll be free to raise 500¥, go back to     Council Island, and buy the passport.

THE ILLEGAL WAY of getting into the Salish-Shidhe costs 6,800¥ plus maybe a little cab fare and the cover at Matchsticks, but it's pretty simple and you don't have to worry about whether there's a warrant out for you. Plus, return trips are only 3,000¥ and you'll make two good contacts along the way. To use this method, take a cab to Downtown Seattle and go     to Matchsticks. From the Space Needle, which is where the cab drops you off, it's a little down and to the right. It's the building with all the "M"s. Pay the cover charge if applicable and go inside. Move to the back booth and you'll meet Julius Strouther. Ask him for information, then ask him about a contact. Pay the 1,000¥ and you'll have Capt. Quinton Jaymes as a contact. Leave the bar and go to a street terminal (the closest one     is the one by the Space Needle, where you just came from). Use the Vidphone to call Jaymes and ask him for a contact. Pay the 2,800¥ and you will then have contact with Sharkey. Hang up and use the Vidphone again to call Sharkey. You will now have the option of being flown into the Salish-Shidhe for 3,000¥. It may seem like a lot if you're early on in     the game, but as you get farther, 3,000¥ is less and less of a big deal and riding with Sharkey will be quite convenient.

Okay, so, one way or another, I assume you've gotten to the Salish- Shidhe. If you haven't been before, try to remember the street terminal near where you are dropped off. It's the only one in the entire wilderness and therefore is your only ticket out, besides dying. From the drop-off point, make your way southeast, as straight as possible. You should come right to a bridge over a stream. Cross the bridge and you'll     be in the AmerIndian village. After crossing the bridge, walk down and you should see a lodge that's much larger and more decorative than the others. This is where Owlfeather is. Enter the lodge and talk to     Owlfeather. You can ask about the AmerIndian lands or Council Island if     you like, but be sure to ask about Michael.

You will discuss things with Owlfeather and he will tell you that he     knows someone who can help. Of course, things are never so simple and he     asks that you find his brother, Aragorn, before he will tell you who can help you. Bleh.

2.) Go to the Big Rhino and ask Mortimer Reed about Aragorn.     First, you need to find out where Aragorn is. Leave the lodge and      backtrack to the street terminal. If you want a little supplementary info      on Aragorn, go to Redmond Barrens and ask Boris about Owlfeather (if you haven't done so already). If you want to just cut to the chase, though,     visit the Penumbra District. From where the cab drops you off, go      straight down until you hit the little cluster of seven bushes, then go      right and you'll be at the Big Rhino. Enter the restaurant and move to      the back booth. You'll meet Mortimer Reed. Tell him you want some info      and that you need some questions answered. Ask him about Aragorn and      he'll tell you that Aragorn screwed up on a shadowrun against Mitsuhama.      He's being held inside the building, which means that you'll have to go      on a shadowrun of your own to find him.

3.) Go to the Mitsuhama building in Penumbra District and free Aragorn.     ---      Easier said than done, right? Actually, it's not that hard if you have      decent equipment. You'll be set if you have corp badges (6,750¥, including Max's meeting fee for Vigore and Jarl) and a Maglock Passkey     (all you need is a Level 2, which you can get for 15 or 20 grand from the Crime Mall, but I still say you should hold out for the Level 5, which is     only a couple thousand more, including Mortimer Reed's meeting fee, if      you get it from Alesandro Hobbs), but you can get by without either if      you have a good (5 or 6) Electronics skill and/or a little bit of luck.      And although no one expects to get caught, you should be pretty tough      physically in case you have to deal with the corp security. If you're      worried that you aren't prepared, it may be worth it to hire Rianna      (located in Matchstick) and/or Winston (located in the Big Rhino), for      some extra Electronics skill and firepower, respectively.

When you feel you're ready, go to the Penumbra District and find the Mitsuhama building. It's the building just above the Big Rhino. The first floor of Mitsuhama is pretty much one long hallway that runs right and then up to the elevator. This makes it simple, but it also means that you'll run into the guard unless you're very careful. If you're confident in your badges and/or your Charisma score, just go through the lobby and follow the hallway right and then straight up to the elevator. You're     pretty much guaranteed to get stopped by the guard unless you're using the Invisibility spell. If you have access to neither Invisibility nor some corp badges, and your Charisma skill isn't good, what are you doing here?!? No, just kidding. You can avoid the guard by doing the following: Wait in the upper corner of the lobby when you enter. Watch the hall to see when the guard passes by. He'll pass by to the left, then turn around and start back to the right. After he passes, go out into the hall and follow him, staying close but not so close that he'll stop you. Try to keep him just off the edge of the screen. Keep following as he turns upward and continues up the hall. When you see the door on the left, make a break for it and wait inside, watching the hall again. After the guard reaches the far end, he'll turn around and start downward again. After he     passes, you'll be home free. Go back out into the hall and continue upward to the elevator.

Take the elevator to the fifth floor. Unless you have managed to disable the cameras, you'll have to deal with a security camera on the wall by     the first door. This isn't as tough as it seems, as long as you follow the directions: Before you get out, hold left on the controller. Then, still holding left, hit start and just continue going to the left toward the camera. Don't change direction or stop moving until you're right up     against the wall. They key is timing and if you did it right, you'll be     sitting right under the camera, but the alert will have not been sounded.

Again, this will be much simpler if you have Invisibility or a corp badge. If so, just go out into the hallway, walk downward into the open room, and continue downward to a door leading down. This is the door to     Aragorn's room. Same as before, expect at least one encounter with the guard. If you'd rather avoid the guard, do this: Wait under the camera until he turns downward. As he goes offscreen, hurry out into the hall, take a couple steps downward, and enter the room via the door (Level 2     Maglocked, hope you brought your passkey or your 5 in Electronics) on      your right. Wait there for the guard to pass again. As he walks up past the room, dart out into the hallway and continue down through the open room to the door to Aragorn's room.

The door to Aragorn's holding room is Level 2 Maglocked -- if you don't     have a passkey, it's still not much of a problem. Enter the room and walk downward. Just past the big table is Aragorn, held between two chairs. Approach him and talk to him (as with extraction runs, you may need to     target him with B -- see Part 8 of Section IV). Turns out Aragorn is a     little punk. He'll insult you and then run away, leaving you to find your way back to the entrance. If you don't mind the 10% fee, you could just set off the alarm, get shot, and die. Hey, it's quicker. Either way, leave the building after you've freed Aragorn.

4.) Go back to the AmerIndian village and talk to Owlfeather. (2)     -      After you're done with Aragorn, you need to go back to his brother,      Owlfeather. As described before, get a ride out to the Salish-Shidhe one      way or another and go back to Owlfeather's lodge. Once there, you'll talk      with him and just as he tells you he hasn't seen Aragorn, the "ungrateful      wretch" will walk in the door. Quite the interesting situation.      Owlfeather will eventually thank you and tell you that the one who can      help you is the "most wise one" at the Medicine Lodge.

5.) Go to Council Island and talk to Spirit Eyes.     -      Leave the AmerIndian village (or just die again) and catch a cab to      Council Island. Once there, walk down and take the wooden bridge to the      right. Pass the first two buildings (the restaurant and the inn) and then      turn up and walk along the edge of the inn. Continue upward and you'll      get to the Medicine Lodge, which doubles as a magic shop. Enter and ask      to speak to the "most high one". You will end up on the other side of the      fence in the 'back yard' of the lodge. Walk to the right and approach the      man sitting on the carpet. This is Spirit Eyes.

Spirit Eyes will tell you that in order to determine the identity of     Michael's killer, he will need to conduct a ritual that uses three items. You are asked to gather the items, the first of which is a gargoyle horn.

6.) Bring Spirit Eyes a gargoyle horn.     --      Personally, I think the next three steps are pretty boring and tedious.      Oh well, the rest of the game is fun. All that you have to do is kill a      gargoyle and collect its horn. If you've fought gargoyles before, this      may strike you as odd, since they don't drop anything when you kill them.      Well, they do now. Make your way to an abandoned building or, if you have      the money to throw around, a cave in the wilderness -- where gargoyles      will appear slightly more often. Then, it's just a matter of sitting in      one place and trying to stay alive until gargoyles attack. When they do,      try to kill one (they can be pretty tough) and pick up the horn it drops.      You only need one horn, and every slain gargoyle is guaranteed to drop      one, so actually getting the horn shouldn't be that tough. As Tom Petty once said, "The waiting is the hardest part."

Once you have collected a horn, return to Spirit Eyes. He'll tell you that next you need to bring him the pelt of a hellhound. Great, this should be fun.

7.) Bring Spirit Eyes a hellhound pelt.     ---      It's the same thing as the previous step, only with hell hounds. The only      real difference here is that while gargoyles will show up in pretty much      any abandoned building, hell hounds will only show up in demon buildings      (see Section XII). Of course, both types will show up in caves, and hell      hounds in particular will show up in the wilderness (i.e. not necessarily just in caves), so feel free to take the trip out to the Salish-Shidhe,     if it's not too much trouble. Just don't wander into a random building      hoping to find hell hounds. And finally, to appease the smartass fanboys      out there, and for the sake of being painfully complete, I suppose I      should mention that hell hounds can also be found in the Renraku      building. It probably goes without saying that to try to get a pelt in      this manner would be a colossal waste of time.

So, anyway, go and wait in your favorite spot for the doggies to come out. The thing that makes this step slightly more tricky is that hell hounds are probably the most dangerous enemies in the game short of the final boss. This is especially true for characters who don't have a lot of Essence, since hell hounds' attacks are all magic-based. So, it may come down to just firing until you kill one and making a mad dash to     collect the pelt the second before you get killed. Remember, there's no     shame in dying. There's also no shame in hiring an extra runner or two to     help you take on some hell hounds. When you have your pelt, return to     Spirit Eyes. He'll tell you that the last thing you need to do is bring him a dragon scale. But where do you find a dragon?

8.) Go to the dragon cave and save Licourtrix from Renraku.     ---      This last step is different from the other two. you need to bring Spirit      Eyes the scale of a feathered serpent, i.e. a dragon. There are no      dragon enemies to kill, though, so obviously you won't be doing any      hunting. Oh, and in case anyone was wondering, the dragon scale that you      occasionally find while helping the AmerIndian boys look for the      arrowhead doesn't count.

I suppose what the game expects you to do is wander around the Salish- Shidhe wilderness until you kind of stumble upon the dragon. Well, screw that. It took me forever the first time I played and other first-time players will probably have a similar experience -- the wilderness is     extremely vast and takes hours to explore fully. So, I'm going to tell you exactly how to get there. Of course, just finding the dragon is half the job. Once you get there, you'll have to face a Renraku Strike Team, some of the toughest enemies in the game. If you didn't already buy a     suit of Combat Armor for the hell hounds (I told you they were hard!), you should probably get one now. Also recommended is some good cyberware and stat boosts, keeping in mind that the cyberware must be bought before you upgrade its corresponding attribute (see the intro to Part 5 of     Section VII). Finally, get some decent runners who are good in combat. If     you don't have Ilene Two Fists (see the "Caleb Brightmore" part of this      subsection) or Stark (see his part in Subsection d), now's as good a time as any to get them. The point is, you need to start developing a serious team because this step will be a long, hard journey culminating in a     fairly tough battle. It's not all THAT hard, but it is a challenge and if     you've reached this point in the game by yourself, you should really start working with a permanent team of runners.

Ready? OK. First I'll deal with how to get to the cave, then what to do     once you get there. There are two routes that you can follow to get to     the cave: If you want to get a passport and take a cab (or if you want      Sharkey to drop you there), you can start from the beginning of the Salish-Shidhe by the highway. Or, if you want to pay Sharkey the extra money, you can start from out in front of the Sinsearach.

From the highway: Head to the AmerIndian village to the southeast as before. Once in the village, continue southeast until you're at the far lower-right corner of     it. You should see a cave entry. Enter the cave. When inside, walk down to the lower edge and go right until you come to the exit along that bottom wall. Take it and you'll be in another outdoor clearing, close to     the western edge. Follow that edge down to the far southwest corner and you'll see another cave entrance. Enter and make your way down-left, then continue to the left until you see another exit in the bottom wall. Take this and you'll be in another section of the cave. Now just follow the wall a little bit down-left until you see another exit in the left-hand wall. After going through this you'll be in another section of the cave. Go down-left and follow the wall around to the left until you come to the exit in the bottom wall. Take it and you'll be in another outdoor clearing. Follow the dirt path downward but ignore the bridge that you'll     see to your left (incidentally, this bridge leads to the Sinsearach). Instead continue southeast, where you'll see a cave entrance. This is the dragon's cave.

From the Sinsearach: It's considerably easier to get to the dragon's cave if you're starting from the Sinsearach. From the front gate, follow the dirt path south until it splits. At this junction, take the path leading east and continue DUE east (ignore the next two branches that lead south and     north, respectively) and you'll reach a bridge. Cross the bridge and then go as far southeast as you can, where you should see a cave entrance. This is the dragon's cave.

From the dragon's cave: Once you enter the dragon's cave, stay along the bottom wall and walk to     the right until you reach the exit. Take it and you'll be in another section of the cave. From here, follow the wall down and to the left and you'll see another exit in the left-hand wall. Take it and in the next section, walk straight across the cave to the left, sidestepping the rocks and lava pits. Take the exit that you'll come to in the far left side of the cavern, and repeat the process one more time: walk straight left, edging around the lava pits and miscellaneous debris. You'll see another exit in the left wall. Before you enter, heal up and get ready for a battle. As you enter the next section of the cave, you'll discover a Renraku Strike Team. After a moment of surprise, they'll come at you. There are a total of five members, and they all have good armor and high-powered weapons. I don't have any special advice for this fight, just keep moving, as always.

After you finish off the Renraku agents, walk to the left-hand side of     the cave. There will be a lot of obstacles in the way, but there's only one exit, so just keep going left until you find it. When you enter the next room, you'll meet the dragon, Licourtrix. The two of you will talk for a while after you help him defeat the Renraku forces, then he'll ask you why you're here. For the record, telling him about the dragon scale is the 'correct' answer, but in the spirit of Dragon Warrior for the NES, he'll just keep asking you if you give the 'incorrect' answer.

So, finally, Licourtrix will bind himself to you (something worth     remembering for the end of the game), give you a scale, and leave. You've     got the last ingredient; now all you need to do is bring it back to      Spirit Eyes.

9.) Go to Council Island and talk to Spirit Eyes. (3)     -      Backtrack all the way out of the dragon cave (it'll be right, right, right, up, left). If you have 1,000¥ to spend and want to save a little     time, walk northwest across the bridge and continue northwest, following      the dirt path, until you get to the Sinsearach. Enter and then leave. The      guard will offer to fly you back out to the highway for a grand.      Otherwise, continue backtracking until you get out to the terminal, then      call a cab to Council Island.

Once there, go back to see Spirit Eyes one last time. He will perform the ritual and tell you that your enemy is a demon with the head of a jackal named Thon. I don't know if there are any other Mystery Science Theater 3000 fans out there, but Thon kind of reminds me of the 'monsters' in the movie "The Killer Shrews." Just a thought. Anyway, you now know who the murderer is, and that completes this part of the game. Congratulations.

Mako Sochou ---     This plotline isn't really that tough. You'll just need to buy decent equipment to fight the battles and make the run against Renraku, but it's     not very long or complicated.

1.) Go to the Big Rhino and ask Mortimer Reed about Mako Sochou.     If you're at the beginning of the game, do some runs for Gunderson to      earn enough money for a Predator and Armor Jacket. You should also buy      some clips and Medkits, and upgrade some of your basic attributes.

When you're not so much of a weakling, catch a cab for the Penumbra District. When you get there, walk down to the cluster of seven bushes, then take a few steps right and you'll be at the Big Rhino. Enter the restaurant and make your way to the back booth, where Mortimer Reed is. Approach the booth to talk to him and tell him you're looking for some information. Say you need some questions answered and ask him about Mako Sochou. He won't give you any terribly useful information about the guy, but will mention that he's been spending a lot of time in Club Penumbra.

2.) Go to Club Penumbra and talk to Mako. (3)     -      If you're at the beginning of the game, you may have to spend some time      getting ready for this step. If you've already done some other stuff and      have decent characters, then you should be alright. I'll tell you now:      You'll have to kill three Renraku Strike Team members plus Mako, who's      about as tough as the rest. In other words, you'll basically have to kill      twice as many of the guys who jumped you after talking to Boris. I      recommend hiring a decker to get you 10,000¥ for some Light Combat Armor,      as well as spending time upping your physical and weapon stats with the      help of Karma and cyberware. I should also mention that in order to get      into Club Penumbra in the first place, Joshua needs to have a Reputation      rating of 4 or higher.

When you think you're ready, head to Club Penumbra (it's in the lower     right corner of the Penumbra District) and ask to go in. Hope you brought 75¥ for the cover. As soon as you enter, you'll confront Mako. Before anything can happen, though, another Renraku Strike Team will burst into the club and start firing at you. Despite what the narration says, Mako will also grab a gun and attack. Hopefully you brought some good equipment and maybe a friend or two.

As soon as you kill the last enemy, you'll approach Mako and act like a     jerk to him in his final moments. Tough love, I guess. Mako will tell you that his Renraku team was assigned to monitor Michael's team, not to kill them. He'll also give you some information about Caleb Brightmore, mentioning that Caleb was the Mr. Johnson behind Michael's last run (although you already knew that from Tabatha) and that he hangs out in     Icarus Descending. Finally, he'll tell you more about Renraku's     involvement before saying that his replacement in the project was Ito Ogami, who may be staying in an area hotel. After everything is done with, you'll pretty much leave Mako for dead while you start looking for Ito Ogami.

3.) Go to Gates Undersound.     ---      If you didn't pay much attention to the exchange with Mako, you may not      have noticed him mentioning that Ito is in a local hotel. The clue that      you have in your notebook makes no note of this and the only other clue      that even hints at it has to be found on Gates Undersound's Matrix      network. Maybe I'm the only one who had trouble figuring out what to do      next when I first played, but if others are confused, all you have to do      is walk into the Gates Undersound hotel in Downtown Seattle, next door to      the right of the Space Needle (where you get dropped off if you take a      cab). Enter the hotel and the man there will tell you that Ito just left      for Matchsticks.

4.) Go to Matchsticks and kill Ito Ogami. (3)     -      The title kind of gives it away, but if you wanted suspense, why are you      reading a walkthrough? Go to Matchsticks -- it's the building directly      below Gates Undersound -- and prepare for another battle. If you got      through the battle with Mako and the Renraku Strike Team okay, then you      should be fine for this one.

There is one thing worth mentioning, though: after Ito is dead, Vigore and Jarl will vanish. This introduces a few significant points: - You can't do any more runs with them. I don't like using them anyway, because of the Karma penalty, but if you enjoyed using them, then you need to do all the runs you want to with them before you kill Ito. - Also, if you are under contract for a run from them at the time of       Ito's death, you won't be able to get paid. You're not stuck without a       job, forever, though -- visit their now-vacant booth at the Wanderer to        have your run contract terminated. - Perhaps most importantly, you won't be able to get the contact with Max the fixer from them after they're gone. If you haven't done so, you need to get that contact before you go after Ito. Although Max mostly sells ridiculously overpriced items, the one good thing that he alone can provide are the corp badges. Be sure to make contact with Max while you can; those badges are extremely useful.

Enter the club and you'll be shown a narrative as Ito sees you and calls to his cronies to help fight you. You'll have to deal with three pistol- wielding thugs -- two tough ones and one weaker one -- as well as Ito himself, equipped with good protective armor and an SMG.

After you kill the last one, you'll see a cutscene of the gunned-down Ito as the events unfold. You'll get a Holopix of Michael and Stark, another of the crime scene, a surveillance paper detailing Renraku's activity in     relation to Michael's team and with mention of Vigore and Thon, and finally, 10,000 nuyen. You'll also find Ito's passcode, which will let you get into his Matrix system. His system has some of the toughest ice in the game, but on the other hand, it has a very simple layout and contains a lot of interesting information. For details, see its entry in     Section XI.

While it's not specifically mentioned, the game kind of hopes you see the opportunity you have to raid Renraku and find out more. If you check your Tips & Clues, you'll see that a run against Renraku may turn up     something. Indeed it will.

5.) Go to Renraku HQ and get the map overlay. (3)     -      Unlike other runs where you can get by with mediocre stats and equipment,      this run will be genuinely tough even though I'll tell you exactly where      to go. You'll want to spend some time making money for the best equipment      so that this will go as smoothly as possible. You may just want to put it      off until you've gone through some other parts of the game. I recommend      having at least two runners in your team, each with fully modded      Predators and Light, if not Heavy, Combat Armor. Plenty of ammo and      Medkits will help, as will good weapon stats and cyberware. High      Electronics ratings and corp badges will help a lot, and a Level 5      Maglock Passkey is almost essential.

When you've got everybody all ready to go, head to the Renraku Arcology and make your way to the upper part of the area, taking the escalators. The entrance is in the central part of the upper level. Take it and you'll be inside. Now, if you don't already know how to do this, I     COMMAND you to read the notes in Part 7c of Section IV. They will explain how to get through the first floor without being detected and how to shut down the security cameras -- two keys to getting through this run with minimal trouble. Go ahead, read it, I'll wait.

Done? Okay, after you've gotten to the second floor and have shut off the cameras, go back to the elevator. Note that there are two elevators side by side. Coming up, it didn't matter which one you used because they both led to the same place. To get to where you're going next, though, you need to make sure you take the elevator on the LEFT. Get in and take it     to Floor 6. When you get out, walk down a little bit and take the first door you come to. In the next room, head up to the door, which is Level 4 Maglocked. Enter the room through that door and open the safe there.

You'll see a cutscene showing Joshua getting a strange transparent map overlay. Apparently the corresponding part of the map has not been found yet, but it looks like that's what Renraku is after. Things are starting to make sense, but as the narration mentions, your immediate concern is     to get out of the building alive as you've set off an alarm.

The sixth floor has no security terminal to turn off the alarm, but if     you have a hotshot (and I do mean a serious badass) decker, you can go to      the lower left room and jack into the Matrix in an attempt to silence the alarm. All told, though, it's probably better to just wait it out. Backtrack to the elevator and wait for the alarm to stop. Then get in and take it back down to the first floor. Hopefully, you shut off the cameras earlier, or else you'll probably have to wait out another alarm as you pass by the original one you had to sneak by. So, when all is said and done, you should be safely out of the Renraku with their precious map in     hand. Congratulations, you've found out why Renraku was involved and are now done with this part of the game.

Caleb Brightmore This plotline may cost you the most money, between the contacts, the equipment, and all the rides from Sharkey. Besides that, though, there's     not a lot of action. With the exception of the prison escape, this plotline is basically just running from one place to another.

1.) Go to Icarus Descending and talk to Caleb Brightmore. (2)     -      Icarus Descending has some restrictions (6+ Reputation or an Elf in your party) on letting you in, but they only apply before you ask Boris about     Michael at the very beginning of the game. So, as long as you've done      that, you should be able to go in. Take a cab to the Renraku Arcology and      go left to the next section of the city when you get there. You'll now be      in Downtown Seattle, right in front of Icarus Descending. Enter and move      to the back booth to meet Caleb. He'll tell you about your brother's last      shadowrun and give you some info on Frosty, the elf who was partly behind      the run. Caleb says she hangs out in the Tarislar City Inn in the      Puyallup Barrens, the same place that you found Tabatha Shale in at the      very beginning of the game.

2.) Go to the Tarislar City Inn and ask about Frosty.     -      Go back to the Tarislar City Inn, this time asking the man there about      Frosty. He'll tell you that she joined the elves of the Sinsearach.

3.) Go to Sinsearach, speak to the elders, and agree to be tested.     --      As the guy at the Tarislar City Inn tells you, the Sinsearach is a part      of the Salish-Shidhe wilderness. If you've been there before, great. If      you don't know how to get to the Salish-Shidhe, read Step 1 of the "David      Owlfeather" entry in Part 2b of this section. That'll explain it in much      greater detail, but basically you can either get a passport or have      Sharkey drop you off. If you choose the latter, just save up an extra 2      grand and have her drop you right at the Sinsearach's front door. If you      are forced to start out from the beginning of the Salish-Shidhe by the      highway, though, I'll tell you how to get there.

Before I do, though, you should know that you need some decent equipment if you expect to survive in the wilderness. It helps to have an extra runner or two, and all characters should have at least an Armor Jacket, but preferably some Combat Armor. Get Predators (or strong magic) all around and bring plenty of ammo and Medkits. If you're still going down to the demons that live out there, I suggest upgrading your characters' defense-related attributes through cyberware and/or Karma. And finally, I suggest you make contact with Sharkey before going and bringing along an extra 10 or 11 grand. This will let you skip the walking and just be     flown back and forth to where you need to be.

From the highway, walk southeast around the logs and trees and you'll     find a bridge leading east. Cross it and you'll be in the AmerIndian village. Go to the far southeast corner of the village and enter the cave at the opening. Once inside, follow the cave wall down and then to the right. You'll come to an exit which you should take. You'll be outdoors again. Move to your southwest until you find another cave entrance in the western edge of the map. Go in and follow the wall down and left until you come to another exit. This will take you to another cavern, where you should walk a little bit down-left until you see another exit. Take this and you'll be in a third cavern. Walk down-left and keep following the wall as it goes left until you see the final exit in the bottom wall. Take it and you'll once again be outside.

From here, follow the dirt path south until you reach the first bridge. Cross the bridge and continue following the path. You'll see an upward branch, then a downward branch, then another upward branch. Take that one upward and keep following the path until you get to the Sinsearach gates. When you get there, go ahead and enter. You can ask the elf at the gate about Caleb Brightmore and Frosty, but you won't get much useful information. When you ask him to see the elders, though, he'll show you in to see Lady Gillian and the rest of the elders.

After you ask Gillian about Frosty, she'll say that you have to be tested before she'll help you. What is it with people and tests in this game? Doesn't anybody take people at their word any more? I guess not. Anyway, say "yes" when she asks you if you are willing to be tested. The first part is simply to deliver a package to Red Buffalo Woman who lives in the AmerIndian village.

4.) Go to Red Buffalo Woman.     After you speak with Gillian, the guard will offer to fly you back to the      highway for 1,000¥. You brought that extra cash, right? If you did, take      the ride and head back southeast from where he drops you off to get to      the village. If you don't have the money, you'll just have to backtrack.

When you get to the village, go to Red Buffalo Woman's house. There are a     lot of lodges in the village, but only two that you can actually enter. The big, tall, decorative one at the southern end of the village is the ranger station, and the small, squat, plain one a little north of that is     Red Buffalo Woman's. Simply enter the lodge and she'll accept the package, giving you another one. Now you have to take this back to     Gillian.

5.) Go to the Sinsearach and ask to speak to the elders. (1)     So... you still have 5,000¥ hanging around, right? If so, go back to the      street terminal and get Sharkey to drop you off at the Sinsearach. If      not, you gotta walk all the way back. When you get there, ask to speak to      the elders again. This time Gillian will ask you to find a fellow elf,      Ilene Two Fists.

6.) Go to Icarus Descending and ask Caleb about Ilene Two Fists.     You know the drill... if you have a grand left over, fly back out to the      highway. If not, backtrack. Either way, get to the terminal so you can      call a cab to the Renraku Arcology (or Downtown Seattle, if you're not fond of shortcuts) and walk to Icarus Descending. Once inside, talk to     Caleb and tell him you're looking for information. Ask him about Ilene      and he'll tell you that she's locked up in Hollywood Correctional.

7.) Go to Hollywood Correctional and rescue Ilene. (2)     --      In case you forgot, Hollywood is in the left end of Redmond Barrens,      surrounded by a concrete fence. Before you go, though, you need two      things: a way to get inside, and a way to open the jail cell that holds      Ilene.

The second one is easy. Her cell is Level 5 Maglocked, so you need either a Level 5 Maglock Passkey (20,000¥ from Alesandro Hobbs, whose contact     you can purchase from Mortimer Reed for 1,500¥) or a high Electronics skill (6 or 7 is good). In this case, you can even use a Frag Grenade, since the prison has no alarm system to speak of and setting off the 'alarm' only affects in guards that happen to be on screen at the time.

The other thing, getting into the prison in the first place, may be     slightly tougher, but still isn't much of a challenge. The game comes up     with several creative ways to get you inside, but most are too expensive. If you'd rather throw money around than fire a gun, though, I guess I     should at least let you know that including meeting costs, Sgt.      Chillicutt can get you into Hollywood for the least amount of money (2,000¥ for the contact from Caleb and 3,000¥ for access). Henry J.     Culver (6,500-7,250¥ total) and Sgt. Macklemann (14,500¥) aren't worth bothering with.

As I said, though, these ways are too expensive. As far as costs go, you can't beat free. All you have to be able to do is to kill -- at the most -- six moderately armed enemies. To do this, just walk right up to     Hollywood (making sure you have decent weapons and equipment first) and go in. When the guard stops you, choose to open fire. If your stats are good enough to score a direct hit, you'll get inside, immediately attacked by two (weak) prison guards. If your shots "miss the mark," as     the game says, you'll end up out front of the building, under attack by      two security guards and a mage. If this happens, STAND IN ONE PLACE and fight them. After you polish them off, try again. Hopefully, all three bodies will still be on the screen. This way, if you miss again, you'll     only be fighting one or two enemies because of the Genesis' limitations on rendering sprites. If you miss a third time, you won't be fighting any! Repeat this process until you finally get in. Take care of the aforementioned prison guards and make your way downward.

After going down through the two open doors, turn left and work your way up and to the left. That's where Ilene is -- the cell all the way in the upper-left corner. When you get there, open the cell door one way or     another and talk to her. As I've mentioned elsewhere in this FAQ, you may need to target her with B in order to be able to talk to her.

Once you meet her, you'll exchange a few words before she makes her escape. She mentions that she'll be at the Jump House. As the game says, it looks like you'll have to risk the front door again. Not that it's a     risk of any kind, since the guards here won't attack unless provoked. Oh     well.

8.) Go to the Sinsearach, speak to the elders, and join them. (2)     -      After you've backtracked to escape from Hollywood and are back out on the      street, the only thing left to do is return to the Sinsearach. Make your      way back (you shouldn't need me to tell you how by now) and ask to speak      to the elders one last time. In another Dragon-Warrioresque question (see Step 8 in the "David Owlfeather" part of this walkthrough), Gillian will     ask if you really wanna join. Say "yes" and the ceremony will begin.

Afterward, Gillian will answer questions about Ellisia, the elf who Caleb or Ilene may have told you about, and Thon. She says that Vigore and Jarl are working for Thon... interesting. Finally, you'll ask about Frosty. In     kind of a half-assed attempt to write dialogue that complements the plot mechanics, Gillian will refuse to tell you about Frosty until you have attained "wisdom," which is really just a way of saying you have to     complete the Spirit Eyes quest (see the "David Owlfeather" entry in this      subsection) before you can go on to beat the game. Bleh.

On the other hand, if you've already done that, Gillian will skip to Step 1 in Subsection c below. Either way, you've completed this part of the game, picking up a very good runner in Ilene along the way. Congratulations.

The End
After you've done all three plotlines listed in the previous subsection, do  these to get to the end of the game. Note that you can do the first step or  so without having done any of the "Mako Sochou" quest, but soon you'll be   forced to go back and do the things you missed. So, to keep things as easy as possible to follow, you should just try to do things in the order listed. If nothing else, it's fun to have Harlequin give you a little clue, only to  have you say, "Oh, yeah, I already took care of that. Where have you been?"

Since this is the end of the game, I suppose I should tell you that the type of stats and equipment it takes to get to this point is a far cry from the type of stats and equipment needed to beat the game. In other words, you may be able to make a killing selling data and you may be able to use that money to get otherwise mediocre characters to the end of the game, but money can't  compensate for the surprisingly high levels you'll need to be able to stand in against the final boss. Unless you have over-leveled your characters along the way (i.e. spending way too much time building money and stats in  in order to steamroll over the challenge at hand), you should expect to   spend a lot of time with everything done, just working for more Karma and more money so you can have your characters armed to the teeth for the final fight.

1.) Go to the Sinsearach and ask to see Frosty. (3)  ---   As is mentioned in the previous subsection, this will happen automatically   if you've already done the Spirit Eyes quest when you complete the   Sinsearach quest. If that's not the case, return to the Sinsearach whenever   you're done with all three plotlines and ask to see the elders again. When   you see Gillian, you'll ask her about Frosty again and she'll let the two of   you meet.

Frosty will tell you a little bit about Thon, Renraku, and Michael before telling you about her master, Harlequin. Harlequin was the one behind Michael's last run and Frosty believes that you should meet with him. She'll  tell you that he's at the Tarislar Garden Apartments in the Puyallup Barrens and that he is looking to defeat your archenemy, Thon.

2.) Go to the Tarislar Garden Apartments. (2)  -   After the meeting with Frosty, you'll be escorted back out of the   Sinsearach. Get back to the highway one way or another and take a cab to   Puyallup Barrens. Go to the Tarislar Garden Apartments and you'll meet   Harlequin. He'll tell you a whole bunch of stuff that I'm not going to   mention here because a.) it's very spoily and b.) you're going to be reading   it, after all, so putting it here would be kind of redundant.

Harlequin tells you to seek out Vigore and Jarl, who have since split town.

3.) Go to the Jump House and ask Gunderson about Vigore.  Yep, that's pretty much it. Catch a ride to Redmond Barrens and ask Ol'   Gunderson about the pair. You may have asked him that question before, but   this time, he'll give you some new information about Vigore being holed up   in the Rat's Nest.

4.) Go to the Rat's Nest. (2)  -   Walk down the street to the Rat's Nest. After what you've been through, you   may expect some epic battle here, but no, you just get a screen telling you   that voila, you found the map. Hmmmm, was there perhaps a little bit of a   rush to get this game out the door? Oh well. The next step is to take the   map back to Harlequin.

5.) Go to the Tarislar Garden Apartments.  -   Go back to the apartments and show the map to Harlequin. He'll say that the   final plan is to go to the tomb where Thon must be and to defeat him once   and for all. Harlequin tells you to go assemble your final party and report   back to him when you are ready. This is just what you should do. Now is your   last chance to prepare for the final battle of the game. Get your best three   runners together and just run them like crazy to get the nuyen and Karma   that you need. Here's a rough list of what you should have going into the   final battle to ensure victory:

- Three runners. - Each character with a set of Heavy Combat Armor. Hopefully, you haven't    chosen to side with the Mafia. If you have, well, Light Combat Armor will have to do. - Each character with an Allegiance Shotgun. Yes, that's right, an    Allegiance Shotgun. Most of the advantages the Predator pistol has (able    to be silenced, holds more ammo) are irrelevant at this point. You want all-out power. - For magic users, the highest-level offensive spells they can use and the Level 4 Power Focus. Again, I hope you didn't align with the Mafia. - Each character stuffed to the gills with Medkits. Perhaps the most important detail. - All Attributes totally maxed out and boosted with cyberware. Well, maybe not Charisma or Strength, but definitely all the others. - The following Skills as high as possible (shoot for the 9-12 range): * Sorcery (for all magic users) * Shotguns (or Pistols, if you prefer to use them) * Biotech (for at least one character)

Note that if you have ALL of the things listed, the final battle will probably be a breeze. If you don't want to do a lot of leveling, just make sure that you have at least two runners, one of whom has a decent Biotech rating. Buy each an Allegiance Shotgun and a full supply of ammo and Medkits. Make sure each gets a suit of Light Combat Armor and good Attribute ratings, and send them in. Even with a relatively weak team, you can hold your own against Thon if you manage your Medkits wisely.

Once you feel you're ready for the final battle, all you have to do is give Harlequin the word.

6.) Go to the Tarislar Garden Apartments and tell Harlequin you are ready.  --   When you're ready to take on Thon, return to the Tarislar Garden Apartments.   Harlequin will ask if you're sure you're ready. This is your last chance to   back out. Tell him "Yes" and you'll be whisked into Ellisia's Tomb to do   battle.

7.) Go to the inner part of Ellisia's Tomb and defeat Thon.  ---   You'll start in the outer part of the tomb. Well-armed henchmen will be   attacking from all over -- six in all. You MUST kill all six henchmen before   the door will be opened to the inner part of the tomb. Once they're dead, do   whatever healing you need to do and prepare for the real battle. When you're   ready, walk all the way to the top of the area and go through   the door.

Inside, you'll see Thon with two henchmen. Although it doesn't specifically say so, I'm pretty sure that these two are supposed to be Vigore and Jarl. Anyway, you'll see a cutscene showing Thon talking about how he's going to  rule the world... same old stuff. After the Council starts channeling their powers into the tomb, Thon will be susceptible and the battle will begin.

I only have two points of advice for the final battle. First, get rid of  Vigore and Jarl before attacking Thon. They're not that tough to kill and it'll be much easier when you only have one attacker instead of three. Second, while fighting, keep a very close eye on the health meters of your party. I know it sounds obvious, but seriously, watch those bars like a  hawk. As soon as one dips down to 30 percent or so, pause and heal everyone. Don't wait until someone dies to heal them, and don't be afraid to draw out the battle by pausing and healing every few seconds.

Other than that, just hit 'em with your hardest stuff. Magic is good, but if  there's a difference in damage between magic and the guns, it's probably due to the differences from character to character. Grenades work rather well, but the splash damage can be tricky and more importantly, they take up too much room in the inventory. You really can't go wrong with 16 or 18 Medkits, so don't sacrifice any inventory room for grenades or otherwise.

After you've done some considerable damage to Thon, Licourtrix will show up. yay! Remember him? He'll burst through the wall and attack Thon, then speak to you. At this point, you've effectively won, so sit back and enjoy the great ending. Well, not great. Not even good, in fact. The ending is really a letdown. Sorry. But the rest of the game was good, wasn't it?

Side Quests
These can be done at any time after the Beginning part.

Stark -     Finding Stark is a very important part of the game. It's totally optional to go through with it and you can certainly finish the game not having done it... but if you do it, you'll get a lot more plot info, a fun corp run to do, and the best runner in the game will work for you for free. Pretty cool, I think. Stark is a really good character to have, and it's     actually not that tough to get him.

As the 'bare bones' counterpart of this section says, the order of steps one and two can be switched. If you did step two first (which is common     since a lot of people ask Dr. Haversheen about the Holopix when they      first see the question appear), just remember that in order to get the corp run assignment in step 3, you have to go back to Seattle General after finding Stark.

1.) Go to the remote hut in the Salish-Shidhe.     --      Anyway, you need to find Stark, who is in a remote hut in the Salish-      Shidhe wilderness. If you don't know how to get to Salish-Shidhe, read      Step 1 of the "David Owlfeather" entry in Part 2b of this section.      However, I must say that if this will be your first visit to the      AmerIndian lands, it doesn't sound like you're far enough along in the      game to be strong enough to do this quest. The quest essentially boils      down to a trek through the wilderness (which can be tough, with all the wild monsters that will attack) and a moderate-level corp run (for which you need a Maglock Passkey and corp badges, or high Electronics and Charisma ratings). It's up to you, so keep in mind that you can always     come back and finish the quest later. Despite what people tell you during      this quest, there is no time limit to complete it.

When you're ready to go, head out to the Salish-Shidhe. From the highway where you start out, walk southeast through the trees and such until you get to a bridge leading east. Cross the bridge and you'll be in the AmerIndian village. Work your way to the far southeast corner of the village and you should see a cave entrance. Enter the cave.

Once inside, stay along the bottom wall and move to the right a screen or     two and you'll see the exit leading downward. Take it and you'll be     outside again. From here, follow the dirt path you see. After a couple twists and turns, it will split into two paths leading east and west. Take the east path and it will lead you to a bridge. Cross the bridge, walk a few steps south, and take the other bridge that you see. After crossing, just take a step or two north and you'll see the remote hut. Enter it.

After a little bit of dialog, you'll be taken to see Stark, where you will find out that he's badly injured and needs medical help in order to     move him. You'll have to go to Seattle General.

2.) Go to Seattle General and ask Dr. Haversheen about her Holopix.     ---      After you leave the hut, backtrack all the way back to the terminal (or if you don't mind losing your runners plus 10% of your money, just die).     Go to Seattle General Hospital, which is in the far lower-right corner of      Downtown Seattle. Once inside, ask Dr. Haversheen about her Holopix if      you haven't already done so. After you tell her of Michael's death,      she'll give you some information about him and Stark, at which point you      will say that you've found Stark. Haversheen will go out and transport      him to the hospital and do work on him. Finally, she'll tell you that      Stark's heart is failing and he is in need of a new, prototype cyber-      heart that's being stored in Fuchi's headquarters. Now it's up to you to      run Fuchi and get the heart to save Stark.

3.) Go to the Fuchi building in Penumbra District, get the cyber-heart.     ---      If you know where to find the heart, this run is a piece of cake for      runners with decent levels and equipment. After you exit the hospital and      feel ready to take on Fuchi, go to their office in the Penumbra District.      It's in the far upper-left corner of town, just a step or two down-left      of where you get dropped off if you take a cab. Once inside, you'll be in      a small lobby. Note that the room next door to the left has a security      terminal which will shut off any alarms, turn off the cameras, and tell      you which floor the goods are on. However, since you probably won't set      off any alarms, and you won't have to deal with cameras, and I'm already      telling you where to find the heart, the terminal may not be of any use.

Anyway, exit the lobby and head straight up through the huge main hallway. You'll probably get stopped by security if you just walk up     through it, so you'll need a badge, a good Charisma score, or the Invisibility spell. If you have none of these, just do a little bit of     sneaking. The hallway is so vast that you shouldn't have a problem evading security.

So, at the top of the main hall is the elevator. Enter it and ride it to     the third floor. Each of the doors out of the first room there are level 2 maglocked, just so you know. Take the door on the far right that leads out into the hallway. You'll be facing another door, but don't take it. Instead, walk down the hall, passing the next door, and take the door after that one (in other words, the third door down). Notice that it's     level 4 maglocked, which is quite high for only the third floor. Hmmmm...     Enter the room and open the safe. You'll find the cyber-heart.

4.) Go to Seattle General.     --      After you have the heart, leave the building and return to Seattle      General Hospital. Dr. Haversheen will kiss you (which is totally uncalled for, coming from a Janet Reno lookalike who dresses like Elvis) and go to     work on Stark. Later, she'll come out and tell you that the heart works      fine and that Stark split town to go to Underground 93. Guess he couldn't      wait to start drinking again. Anyway, from this point on, you'll be able      to visit Underground 93 in the Puyallup Barrens and see Stark. When you      first meet him, you may want to talk to him about Michael for some more      information. Then you can ask him to sign on, which he'll do, for life,      free of charge! What a guy! You can even get him killed, fail runs, or      dismiss him and he'll keep coming back for more. And, of course, he's the      most advanced runner in the game, coming with a full set of cyberware and      very good stats (for more details, see Section IX, Part 3j).

CHERNOBYL -     Okay, the upside of this side quest is that it's pretty simple if you know where to look for the clues and you get a cool 50,000¥ in your bank account for accomplishing the task. The downside is that you have to go     against some serious Matrix systems and you'll probably spend most, if      not all of the 50 grand just getting your deck and its programs up to the point where they can take on the corp systems. So, if you want to do     this, I hope you're doing it for the glory and the congratulatory note in      your notebook, because you don't stand to gain much, materially speaking.

As mentioned in the previous part, the order of steps 1 through 5 is     arbitrary and you can tackle them in any order that's convenient. The systems are pretty equal in terms of challenge, except perhaps for the Ares system whose linear path filled with Tar ice can be very tough to     wade through.

As for your deck, you need to be running high-end versions (at least     Level 5) of Attack and Deception on a deck with good Masking and in      general, a high MPCP. You don't necessarily need to be running a     Fairlight Excalibur, but I would advise against trying to take on these systems with the old Allegiance Alpha, no matter how good your decker is.

And speaking of deckers, a Computer rating of at LEAST 6 or 7 is a must. Make sure also that your decker has good ratings in each of his or her Attributes, especially Combat. When you feel you've got a pretty strong setup, you can go ahead and start hunting for the clues.

Where to start? Well, you need to have access to each system. You could keep trying random systems with the System Search option, but that would take entirely too long. Your best bet is to visit Caleb Brightmore and keep asking him for jobs. He gives out a fair share of expert matrix runs and most of these will be against the systems of the corps involved in     this quest. Remember that as soon as you accept a job, the system passcode is stored in your deck if it's a named system. Remember also that there is no penalty whatsoever for backing out of a run. With these things in mind, your best strategy is to keep asking for jobs until you are offered a Matrix run against one of the corps. When this happens, take the job and immediately cancel it (or go through with it, doesn't     matter). The corp's passcode will be stored on your deck and you'll be     able to visit the system whenever you want. Repeat this process until you have the codes for all the systems you need stored in your deck. Then all you have to do is get to a terminal and run through each system, picking out the clues.

So, assuming now that you know how to get into the systems, the following steps will deal with what to do once you're inside:

1.) Get the clue from the Aztechnology system.     --	The Aztechnology SAN is pretty weak. Punch through it and move on to the      next Node, an SPU. This one doesn't pose any threat either. After you      defeat this one, you'll have a few choices to make. To get to where you      need to be, you can choose to go to one of two SPUs: the one straight up      or the one to the far left. I strongly suggest going straight up as the      one to the left has a nasty Barrier/Tar Pit combination.

After getting through the second SPU, go to the next SPU to the left, which is only guarded by an Access and a Trace & Dump. After this, you'll     have access to the CPU. Go on in, and don't be too scared. It has BlackIce, but no Tar Pit and the BlackIce is only Level 4 anyway. After you take out the CPU, go to the DS directly to the right (not the one a     little bit down and right). Be careful, because this one has a Tar Pit. If you didn't use the double retreat maneuver (see Section XII) to get into the CPU, you may want to use it now. Once you're inside, just choose Transfer Data and you'll have the clue.

2.) Get the clue from the Renraku system.     -      Despite the Renraku system being tough in general, the road to the clue      is actually pretty simple. The SAN only has a Trace & Dump and the next      Node isn't much tougher. After you get through that one, continue      downward to the next SPU, which has Tar Paper. Just be careful and hope      you don't trigger the Tar Paper because the CPU is next and you don't      want to have to deal with it under Active Alert.

After disposing of the SPU, continue downward to the CPU. This one has Barrier and BlackIce, but shouldn't be too much trouble as long as you have a good deck and a talented decker. After you get inside, go to the DS that's just down and to the right. Be careful, this one has Tar Pit. If you didn't use the double retreat (see Section XII) to get into the CPU, it might be a good idea to use it now. On the other hand, the DS is     only guarded by a Blaster, so one shot of Deception is all it takes. Once you're inside, just get the file and you're done.

3.) Get the clue from the Fuchi system.     ---      This one is probably the easiest of the runs. The SAN has no ice, so go      to the next Node, which is an SPU guarded by only Access and Blaster.      After you get inside, you'll have a whopping six choices for where to go.      Go to the SPU that is far up and to the right. It has a lone BlackIce      which shouldn't be that tough. From there, go up to an easy green DS,      then all the way over to the DS on the far right side of the map. This      one has BlackIce, but the primary ice is an Access, so just run Deception      and you should get in relatively easily. Once inside, just Transfer Data      to get the clue.

4.) Get the clue from the Mitsuhama system.     ---      This one can be a little tricky. First off, the SAN is weak, so get      through and go to the first SPU. That one's a pushover too, so get inside      where you'll have a few choices. Go right to the next SPU, which is armed      with only a Trace & Dump, so it won't be much tougher than the Nodes      you've seen so far. After you get in, continue straight to your right.

You'll come to another SPU which still isn't that much of a challenge. After this one, go to the SPU that's down and to the right. This one is     slightly more difficult with Access and BlackIce, but still not that big of a deal. Get through and then move to the SPU that's up and to the right. This one can be kind of tough, but you should be able to take it. Finally, when you get in, go down to the DS below. It's another Node with Barrier and BlackIce, which I guess the game thinks is scarier than it     really is. Get inside and get the clue.

5.) Get the clue from the Ares system.     --      This system can be a real pain in the rear, even for the best character      using the best deck. For one thing, its layout is very linear, forcing      you to go through a long, narrow path. For another thing, the Nodes along      the path are very tough, and a lot use Tar Paper and Tar Pit. My only      advice is to save your game before you go in, and not to be afraid to use      the double retreat move (see Section XII).

The Ares SAN starts you right off with a Tar Paper. Don't do anything stupid because if you trip it, there's no way you'll make it through the rest of the system on Active Alert. The next Node you get to, an orange SPU, gives you a break with only a Blaster. After you get through that one, go to the SPU far to the left. Be careful, as this is an     exceptionally tough Node that uses Tar Pit. Hopefully, you'll be able to     get by somehow. From inside the Node, go to the SPU straight up from where you are. This one's another break, guarded only by a Trace & Burn.

Go to the SPU to the far right and it's back to the grind, this time in     the form of a high-end red Node with Killer and another Tar Pit. Hopefully, this will be a bit easier than the last Tar Pit Node, since you can use Deception to get by in one shot. After you beat it, go to the SPU that's straight up. This one is as tough as you seen, another red 5 Node that uses Barrier and Tar Pit. If you managed to legitimately get into the last Node, it would probably be a good idea to use the double retreat here. Regardless of how you get inside, your next move will be     straight left to the next SPU, which is a bit of a break since it has no      Tar ice.

After that one, continue to the left and you'll come to a red SPU with Access and BlackIce. Not too tough. From this Node, you'll see the CPU straight below. This is where you need to go, but it's one of the toughest Nodes in the entire game. Be VERY careful and use the double retreat if at all possible. After you manage to get inside the CPU, go to     the DS just to the right of it. This one has Barrier and BlackIce, so it     may be tough if your stats are on the low side, but otherwise shouldn't      be too much trouble. After you finally get inside, pat yourself on the back and get the clue.

6.) Get the clue from the UCAS system.     --      After you've gotten each of the five clues, you should be able to piece      them together to find out that the corps are trying to sabotage the      computer at a nuclear plant somewhere! Or something! Oh no! Actually, I      don't think the notes make it very clear exactly what you need to save      the world from, but the point is that you need to enter the Matrix system      that uses the password that you've just pieced together: CHERNOBYL.

If you made it through the Ares system okay, then you shouldn't worry about CHERNOBYL. Go to a terminal and choose the password from your screen. It turns out that the passcode is for the UCAS Federal Government system. All you need to do is go to a certain DS in the system and get the clue inside, and you'll be done. Here's how:

The SAN is pretty easy -- just a Blaster. From the SAN, go to the first SPU, which is fairly easy as well. From that SPU, you're going to go     straight down to the next one which can be tough. It has an Access and can therefore be defeated by a single shot of Deception, but beware if     you fail: there's a Tar Pit lurking behind. After you get inside this Node, go left to another easy SPU. From here you'll need to go up and to     the left to the next SPU. This one has Tar Paper, but the only other way to get to your destination involves going through a Node with Tar Pit, so     you'll just have to tough it out.

After that Node, continue to the left to yet another SPU. This one is     pretty simple, and after you're inside you'll have access to the final Node, which is... one of the weakest Nodes you've had to face in the entire quest. Oh well. Head down and to the left to the green (!) DS, guarded by a single Trace & Burn. Dispose of it, enter the Node, and download the clue. Congrats, you're done! Feel free to jack out and enjoy the cash and props from Sega.