GarfunkeL
Racism Expert
So chummer, you've finished Shadowrun and are now looking for extra challenge? How about keeping Kitsune alive and with you all the way to the end? IMPOSSIBRU? NO!
Quite like Fallout, it is entirely possible to finish the game alone and trying to keep a companion alive to the end actually gives you an extra challenge. Even though Kitsune is a Foxgirl, at least she's smarter and more useful than Dogmeat, so it's not quite as difficult to keep her alive. Read on for my take on it. Spoilers ahoy, obviously.
Firstly, the pros:
So, while you cannot use karma to improve her, you can Give her the Leather Armour you find in the first neighbourhood. To really save money, wear that until you find the Mesh Armour at Dark Blade, then pass Leather to Kitsune. It's not very difficult to keep going though she's unarmoured and you only have shitty Leather at that point. Giving her guns is useless. Giving her any other armour is possible but she cannot wear them. It is possible to give her targeting orders in combat but this is, in most cases, not necessary.
Then, the "dungeons":
Rat Shaman Sewers:
Very simple and straightforward. Just remember to use Select key to check on her HP occasionally and use the Use icon on her to make her cast Heal on herself if she gets low, <20. When you hit the Shaman, have Kitsune cast Summon Spirit. This should kill all the rats and weaken the shaman. You can then finish him off with your trusty shotgun. If you have Body 6 and Firearms 6, this place is easy enough.
Darkblade Club:
Ground level is easy enough, though the Samurai Warriors love to target Kitsune. To minimize her death risk, have her cast Invisibility immediately after entering a room. She can keep fighting while invisible but all the enemies will target you instead. Note that Invisibility is cancelled when you change zones/screens, so there's no "pre-buffing" in Shadowrun.
When you get to the dungeon, just keep running through, don't engage the ghouls. Kitsune will teleport to you once you've moved far enough. On the lowest level, immediately have her cast Invisibility, as the ghouls will otherwise zero on her, finishing her off quickly. When she is invisible, they will all target you but you can just step back on the stairs as their reach isn't long enough and they can't climb. If Vladimir doesn't show up quickly enough, re-cast Invisibility. Otherwise handle as normally. If you want to harvest Karma, have Kitsune use Summon Spirit on the ghouls while invisible. Just be careful she doesn't run out of MP.
Bremerton:
The first place where you might really have some trouble. The ship areas aren't difficult at all, just remember to heal Kitsune yourself. Heal 2 heals her for 30 HP, so you can save her MP for healing yourself and summoning Fox. Careful with the oozes though, Kitsune does not know to run away from them, so if she teleports to you when you are next to one, she can get easily killed.
The astral plane is where the difficulty kicks in. Don't let the zombies chew her while you deal with the Naga, unless you have the Reflex implant and high enough Firearms skill so that the Naga goes down quickly. The bubbles are easy enough - Kitsune will stop safely away from them and hurl Powerballs, so you can run through at the proper times. Heal up afterwards, as it's time for Jester Spirit. You can avoid most of the flames coming your way and as you get close enough, cast Invisibility and then have her spam Summon Spirit - it does 17-20 points of damage, whereas your shotgun does 3-5 points!
Drake Tower:
If you have been frugal, you should have enough money now to get Dermal Armour from Dr.Maplethorpe. Which will help since your shotgun will not take the baddies down in Drake Tower very quickly, so you'll end up soaking quite a bit of damage. Again, the main problem is that the enemies will happily target Kitsune over you. So, on floors 1-4, it's best to immediately run around the corner, so that most, if not all, enemies can't target either one of you. Then, heal Kitsune and yourself if needed, cast Summon Spirit, cast Invisibility and mop up. On levels 5 and 6, the layout is slightly different, so just run ahead and get Kitsune invisible ASAP. Remember to heal her up before progressing to the next level, including the roof - it sucks getting to the roof and having Kitsune gunned down by the sentry guns and then having your last save state before clearing level 6.
Drake Volcano:
Now this place is truly a challenge to keep Kitsune alive. The trolls can kill her in under five seconds. If you can afford it, after buying HK.277 and Partial Body suit, bring other bullet sponges along, like Hamfist and Orifice. There's nothing very special about clearing the levels - keep Kitsune invisible as much as possible, gun the trolls down and use Summon Spirit to deal with the scientists manning the big guns, especially if have trouble targeting them.
Drake is a bitch to kill. Casting Armour on yourself helps you to avoid the Freezes. Keeping Kitsune invisible at all times is a must. Augmenting Jester Spirit's attack with Kitsune's Summon Spirit while you blast him with your assault rifle is the way to go. After Jester is finished, switch to dropping max-level Freeze on Drake. This can be a very frustrating fight, but keep at it!
Aneki Building:
Nothing special here. Just keep Kitsune invisible at all times, heal her up when necessary and spam her Spirit Summon. Bringing other Runners along is also a good idea if you can afford it after buying the Assault Cannon and the Full Bodysuit. Just like in Drake Tower, heal before progressing to the next level.
Happy Running with Kitsune!
PS. No, no sex scenes with her, not even a kiss. It's a Nintendo game, remember.
Quite like Fallout, it is entirely possible to finish the game alone and trying to keep a companion alive to the end actually gives you an extra challenge. Even though Kitsune is a Foxgirl, at least she's smarter and more useful than Dogmeat, so it's not quite as difficult to keep her alive. Read on for my take on it. Spoilers ahoy, obviously.
Firstly, the pros:
- She's the 2nd best magician you can hire in-game
- Killing the Rat Shaman while she's with you will make her stay with you, for ever, as long as she's alive
- Her default attack costs no MP, so while it's not very effective, she can always help out a little
- Her Heal spell is very, very effective
- Her Summon Spirit is very, very effective as it's non-LOS and thus hits every enemy on that level/screen
- Foxy shapeshifter girl in miniskirt and tank top! What else do you want?
- She only has 50 HP
- Her strength of 1 means she can only wear the weakest armour
- She doesn't heal herself on her own
So, while you cannot use karma to improve her, you can Give her the Leather Armour you find in the first neighbourhood. To really save money, wear that until you find the Mesh Armour at Dark Blade, then pass Leather to Kitsune. It's not very difficult to keep going though she's unarmoured and you only have shitty Leather at that point. Giving her guns is useless. Giving her any other armour is possible but she cannot wear them. It is possible to give her targeting orders in combat but this is, in most cases, not necessary.
Then, the "dungeons":
Rat Shaman Sewers:
Very simple and straightforward. Just remember to use Select key to check on her HP occasionally and use the Use icon on her to make her cast Heal on herself if she gets low, <20. When you hit the Shaman, have Kitsune cast Summon Spirit. This should kill all the rats and weaken the shaman. You can then finish him off with your trusty shotgun. If you have Body 6 and Firearms 6, this place is easy enough.
Darkblade Club:
Ground level is easy enough, though the Samurai Warriors love to target Kitsune. To minimize her death risk, have her cast Invisibility immediately after entering a room. She can keep fighting while invisible but all the enemies will target you instead. Note that Invisibility is cancelled when you change zones/screens, so there's no "pre-buffing" in Shadowrun.
When you get to the dungeon, just keep running through, don't engage the ghouls. Kitsune will teleport to you once you've moved far enough. On the lowest level, immediately have her cast Invisibility, as the ghouls will otherwise zero on her, finishing her off quickly. When she is invisible, they will all target you but you can just step back on the stairs as their reach isn't long enough and they can't climb. If Vladimir doesn't show up quickly enough, re-cast Invisibility. Otherwise handle as normally. If you want to harvest Karma, have Kitsune use Summon Spirit on the ghouls while invisible. Just be careful she doesn't run out of MP.
Bremerton:
The first place where you might really have some trouble. The ship areas aren't difficult at all, just remember to heal Kitsune yourself. Heal 2 heals her for 30 HP, so you can save her MP for healing yourself and summoning Fox. Careful with the oozes though, Kitsune does not know to run away from them, so if she teleports to you when you are next to one, she can get easily killed.
The astral plane is where the difficulty kicks in. Don't let the zombies chew her while you deal with the Naga, unless you have the Reflex implant and high enough Firearms skill so that the Naga goes down quickly. The bubbles are easy enough - Kitsune will stop safely away from them and hurl Powerballs, so you can run through at the proper times. Heal up afterwards, as it's time for Jester Spirit. You can avoid most of the flames coming your way and as you get close enough, cast Invisibility and then have her spam Summon Spirit - it does 17-20 points of damage, whereas your shotgun does 3-5 points!
Drake Tower:
If you have been frugal, you should have enough money now to get Dermal Armour from Dr.Maplethorpe. Which will help since your shotgun will not take the baddies down in Drake Tower very quickly, so you'll end up soaking quite a bit of damage. Again, the main problem is that the enemies will happily target Kitsune over you. So, on floors 1-4, it's best to immediately run around the corner, so that most, if not all, enemies can't target either one of you. Then, heal Kitsune and yourself if needed, cast Summon Spirit, cast Invisibility and mop up. On levels 5 and 6, the layout is slightly different, so just run ahead and get Kitsune invisible ASAP. Remember to heal her up before progressing to the next level, including the roof - it sucks getting to the roof and having Kitsune gunned down by the sentry guns and then having your last save state before clearing level 6.
Drake Volcano:
Now this place is truly a challenge to keep Kitsune alive. The trolls can kill her in under five seconds. If you can afford it, after buying HK.277 and Partial Body suit, bring other bullet sponges along, like Hamfist and Orifice. There's nothing very special about clearing the levels - keep Kitsune invisible as much as possible, gun the trolls down and use Summon Spirit to deal with the scientists manning the big guns, especially if have trouble targeting them.
Drake is a bitch to kill. Casting Armour on yourself helps you to avoid the Freezes. Keeping Kitsune invisible at all times is a must. Augmenting Jester Spirit's attack with Kitsune's Summon Spirit while you blast him with your assault rifle is the way to go. After Jester is finished, switch to dropping max-level Freeze on Drake. This can be a very frustrating fight, but keep at it!
Aneki Building:
Nothing special here. Just keep Kitsune invisible at all times, heal her up when necessary and spam her Spirit Summon. Bringing other Runners along is also a good idea if you can afford it after buying the Assault Cannon and the Full Bodysuit. Just like in Drake Tower, heal before progressing to the next level.
Happy Running with Kitsune!
PS. No, no sex scenes with her, not even a kiss. It's a Nintendo game, remember.