Did you not have telepathic boosters in your suit, or maybe a lower Strength of Mind stat? It also could have something to do with the impressions you made while Argent was under your control the first time and also when you were in her mind at the Rangers’ station, though I’m not sure how much that factors into it.
My strenght of mind is 55% and sublety 74%, Daring 71%, no telepathic booster, put an ace in the hole when I was in her head and used it against her.
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Okay (possibly crack) theory time! So what if the MC is being controlled by another stronger telepath or, more likely, they are suffering from the effects of some kind of experimentation on the Farm creating some kind of weird split personality. They wanted a weapon, MC didn’t comply, so they set out to force the MC into being one, thereby inadvertently creating the current MC who is hellbent on destroying them. The main reason I’m coming up with this is because of something I realized during the Herald fight:
[spoiler]"Herald has it easier than you ever did though, the light crouch erupts in a sudden burst of speed as he takes to the air. How would it feel to be able to fly? It must be nice to look down on things, to always have an avenue of escape open. To never feel trapped.
That is a line of thought that you don’t need to pursue, envy is one thing, daydreaming is quite another. You’ve already got more freedom than he does, the freedom of the mind. The freedom to not be tied to one body. Why would you ever wish for anything else? "[/spoiler]
This could just be the MC reassuring themselves that they are better than Herald after feeling a moment of jealousy, but due to constant comments like this throughout the game I can’t help but focus on it. Every time the MC hesitates and thinks about not wanting to do something or just generally feeling inadequate they immediately come back with some kind of validation for what they are doing or why they are great. Sure it could just be them, but I can’t help but think about when the MC possesses their victims and how they keep control over them. If its not something that completely deviates from their normal patterns (i.e. Argent stealing nanovores and fighting Herald), they will make the victim think that they are doing something that isn’t too abnormal a task for them (i.e. withdrawing money from an ATM, calling someone then accidentally dropping the phone in the water, moving at a faster pace than normal because the victim recalls being late to a meeting).
The MC is a strong telepath but in the case of a stronger telepath (or some kind of split personality which would have the same abilities in the same body) they might have been able to subtly manipulate the MC over the course of the past 2 years to the point that they are now. In the quote above, the MC is revealed to feel trapped, even despite the current situation and with access to so much power. I just felt that the quick transition to reassurance that the MC had the best freedom of all was reminiscent of whenever they were controlling/reassuring someone else.
Another thing that got to me was at the end in this latest update’s cliffhanger: [spoiler]"Climbing into the driver’s seat you steal a glance in the mirror. Your eyes has a strange gleam to them and you…
You blink. Hard.
It’s weird thinking that the person staring back at you just went toe to toe with the Rangers and came out on top. Strange but wonderful. "[/spoiler]
Again this could just be the MC not recognizing the person that they have become but it could also support my theory of someone controlling the MC.
There is some bias as I enjoy playing as a high empathy MC but these are just my thoughts on a (possibly crack) fan theory.
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So it must be the telepathic booster. Try again but with the boost this time, and maybe with your Strength of Mind at at least 60% if you want, just as an extra precaution. Or make sure to knock her out or kill her during your fight, though I see why you wouldn’t want to do that since I left her fighting a holographic double while I got out of there as quickly as I could. Plus I’m not too keen on killing anyone/hurting them too badly or sticking around long enough to overexhert myself/have my ass handed to me because I got cocky. Good luck! 
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This keeps happening to me. 
You just gotta know when it’s time to bounce, get out of there as soon as you can and don’t waste time explaining your whole scheme to people who are irrelevant to it or would have a harder time stopping you if you didn’t tell them anything. Or yknow, utilize the strengths of your suit to the best of their ability.
Will there be special scenes written for MC’s that like to stay in the grey areas? As in ruthlessness/empathy scores at a perfect 50. If there already are, I’m sorry. 
[details=mini rant]In games I like to be good and bad; in Mass Effect 1 I maxed out paragon and renegade which was soooo satisfying but the next game still said my Shepard was “paragon”. But in a lot of games it’s impossible to play that way. You have to either be a goody two shoes boot licker or a evil sob dog kicker. Like in KOTOR I had to play on easy because my powers never got really good, gameplay standpoint you have to make all the choices good or all bad because you can’t level up your skills properly… Is that really a choice then? And then there’s Infamous Second Son where the only choice that matters on what ending you get is the very last one… Fallout 3 karma special mention, giving water to the homeless to even out your murder-kleptomaniac rampage.
The “proper” CoG I’ve noticed are the same as well. The Heroes Rising series and the second one in particular the only way you can get a good ending is by being consistently consistent which is something I find very boring. Especiially seeing as unlike Guenevere you can’t [Lie]. Don’t get me wrong it’s a great series, it’s just a bit irritating… [/details]
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I do. I just replayed it and I skipped kicking Herald’s face in so that Ortega wouldn’t be able to damage my suit and dealt with her as fast as possible, but when I fought Argent in the sewers I tried to use my suit’s strength and armour to beat her in melee combat but I still got shanked and had to crumble to wall and wash her away to escape. Not the ending I’m looking for.
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Your Daring isn’t high enough to knock out Argent physically. If you want to KO her, you need to attack her mentally and have either 70 Subterfuge or 70 of Force or the Thelepatic Booster.
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@deusvult - This is a really interesting question which touches on a lot of things other people have issues with, so allow me to go on a maxi rant on my own!
I hate MinMaxing!
I’m an old wargamer/miniature gamer and I absolutely loathe the very notion of minmaxing and the way that it is often used in games. I just can’t stand it. I want to play a character, not a statistical analysis.
That being said, how have I thought about stats in my game (also known as ‘why can’t I beat Lady Argent?’).
I have many kinds of stats, the simplest ones are the hardcoded ones in your armor. There are certain things you only can do if you have a specific upgrade, though a lot of the time I use it for style purposes, to tell me how I should write the fight. A ‘strengthfight’ is differently written from a ‘speedfight’ for example, you can knock Argent out with both the speed, the strength and the telepathy upgades, of which everyone should have at least one. Still, you can only get a sample from an unconscious Argent if you have super strength for example.
Then there are the Percent ones, your psychic powers, force and subterfuge. As you might have noticed, these are NOT opposing stats. And they are that for a reason. These are more like what you might be used to in other choice games that have played. If you have a high subterfuge stat you will be better at being sneaky, while a high force stat lets you be brutal and strong. This is a time when you are rewarded by looking at your stats and thinking ‘I want to be sneaky, but am I good at that?’. The bull might not be good at tip-toeing into a china shop, but charging in? Hell yeah. But, to complicate matters, sometimes things can only be done in a certain way without repercussions, and the ceiling for being ‘good’ at something is generally lower. For example, you might be considered ‘good enough’ at 60 in one of these stats, while it might take 75 in one of the opposed ones, and yet a the same time if you got to 75 in one Subterfuge you would be able to do some really freaky shit later on. So, depending, focusing on one or keeping it balanced are all valid choices at different times in the game.
Opposed stats are a different thing, and let us start with the Daring/Cautious one since that one comes up in the Argent fight. This is your main tactics stat, how much risks you like to take. Depending on the fight/situation, they are going to be very important. For example, if you choose to fight it out with Argent and has either the speed/strength to do it, you still need to go all out. Argent is a high daring fighter, which means that if you’re going to deal with her on her terms, you can’t hesitate even a second. There will be no time to plan and be sneaky (if you are, you should have done that already.) . There will be another fight, later on, where a very high caution is needed not to make a fool out of yourself. And, there are also fights where you will benefit from being balanced, so all your characters will not be able to be good against every situation.
In contrast, Ruthlessness/Empathy is a purely descriptive trait. Anyone can choose to kill someone (though not always because I need them for the plot), the repercussions and writing will just be different. A ruthless mc killing someone might just get a normal description, it is not a big deal for them. A balanced mc might get a text about the end justifies the means, and an empathic one might have a lot of agonizing of how it was necessary and how bad they will feel, and take a hit to their empathy in the process. A lot of the time I use this one to try to stay true to what you have chosen your character to be, to help with immersion. There is SO MUCH alternative text in this game you guys…
Arrogance/Anonymity is a fun one. How dedicated are you to keep a low profile and stay hidden? How much will you be seduced by the supervillain bwahaha? This is one of those stats that on one hand lets you choose options if you are arrogant enough to dare the risk, and also will be helpful in keeping people from finding out your identity and adding up the dots.
Infamy/obscurity is just your villain rep. This will influence how people treat your villain persona.
Aaaand then we go to the more freeform stats, your stamina, willpower and health. These are text based, which gives me a lot more freedom, though I usually stick to a formula. They influence a lot of my text, if you are bleeding, I will write a different scene than if you are fine. They also means you might fail at something if you are injured, which you would have managed if you are fine. Sometimes you can get small bonuses, like if you defeat your main rival in a fight you might end up ‘determined’ which might give you an advantage later on if you need it and so on. Keep an eye on these stats, because while I have been nice with them up until now, during the Argent fight and onwards they will start to matter a lot more.
This also means that you can end up in bad situations due to combinations, let’s say you have a high Daring stat and is used to being gung-ho. If you are injured, all of a sudden maybe you can’t press your body that hard anymore and you would have to be cautious, but oh no… So yeah, a high daring is fun, but if you start messing up, things go south VERY fast.
Hidden stats is something I also use a lot to keep track on what you have done. For example, if you steal the money, you have a bag to manage through all the fights, and you can end up losing your hard-earned loot if you are not careful. Who is your rival doesn’t just affect the text, it can also affect outcomes. For example, if Herald is your rival you can use some tactics others can’t against him, if you beat him you get a mental boost, but you might also been daydreaming about it in the sewers allowing Argent to get the drop on you. This shit is complicated! Everything has consequences. People add up clues to see if they will start to suspect who you are, some might stat to respect your villain persona, some things you do will be remembered later and so on. Some things are super minor, there is one single outcome in the sewer fight where Argent can end up getting away with your cape for example…
So, once these things add up, you can see that it will be hard to predict how things will go and try to minmax it.
For example, let’s see if you will notice Lady Argent following you in the sewer!
-
- If you have telepathy boosters or a calm mind, no problem. You pick up her thoughts.
-
- If you have a high caution, no problem. You’re always on guard.
-
- You have a slighter lower caution, but your mental state is ‘rattled’, you are so nervous you are ready for anything.
- - If you have rival ortega or herald however, you go around daydreaming about winning that fight, so she can get the drop on you.
-
- If you are completely unhurt, you’re not distracted by pain and will notice her.
- - Otherwise, she will get the drop on you.
This is how I often use various stats to interact, as you can see it is not quite as simple as a single stat.
Relationship stats: They are easier to describe. A high relationship means that the person likes and trust you. A friendship path is equally valid as a romantic path, and there will be times when you will get to change the type. For example, at the start it is Dr. Mortum’s ‘goodwill towards’, which can turn into ‘romance with’ or ‘friendship with’ or even ‘rivalry with’. High stats can mean many things, but above all they mean that the person cares about you in some form. This also makes it harder to fool them however, if you have a high Ortega friendship in the discussion in the park they will see through you if you are pretending that everything is fine for example.
Hope this answered some of your questions about how I think about stats.
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… That must be a lot of alternative texts.
Allow me to applaud thee and any other author/coder with enough perseverance to code and write THAT much text for what is, in essence, the same scene with a dozen different variables… And then keep track of it all.
Hell, I can barely keep track of the stats on certain character generating systems. Keep up the good work.
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There is… especially when you consider the alternative paths, like in that bloody gala scene. And the coming hospital scene… so many variables!
Still that is the fun bit, otherwise I might as well write a book.
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I’m just going to throw a personal theory about the MC out there, based on my interpration of what I’ve seen so far.
I think that the PC is a Re-Gene, maybe some kind of experiment in telepathic abilities. It explains their aversion to the government and some of there dreams they used to have before they were changed to the Heartbreak incident dreams. It also account for the fact that they imply they are not boosted or modded. But the kicker is this line, when Ortega hugs them for the first time “Ortega has no idea what she is hugging” (emphasis mine). Not who, but what.
Changing the subject somewhat I do like Lady Argent as a character. She’s an interesting mirror to the PC, strong in a physical match-up but weak in a mental one. And like the PC, the persona she presents to the world is rather different to how it’s implied she actually feels, that of a freak being paraded around (demonstrated both in her spat with Herald at the gala and how she gets ticked off with you if you admit she’s intimidating whereas if you joke a little she’s amused during the mental retrival session.) Now I’m wondering if the PC can play off that sense of dissatifcation to bring her over to the dark side.
Oh and I caught a gender typo “You and Yasmin both in fact, though his place is a bit more flashy.
There is more of a chance that someone might get invited there
eventually.”
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Good theory, my dear friend. But I must mention that you might need to put up spoiler tags…
Crap, will get right on fixing that.
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Also… Pulling Lady Argent to our side…
I like how you think.
Tell me how it feels when you pull it off. I’ll be here on my quest to be the unquestioned most powerful being in the world.
There shall come a time when gods tremble by my feet and the heavens make way wherever I walk.
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Intresting theory, but I’m going to stick with my Re-Gene theory if it’s all the same to you.
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Ha I just realized that the main character has taken up the role of the quirky friend, the love interest , AND the villain all in one go. Kinda feels like there wasn’t enough in the budget to afford new people.
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Repeating myself here
i love the Sidestep villain name.
such hidding in plain sight. Rofl
Ortega reaction is what really self it throught.
anyway
will it be possible for my MC to pretend freakout if ortega mentions
it. as in make him and others think that someone si gunning for him out
of grudge. and that he barely survived ?
Anyway just how did you got idea about this ? i love how its so insane it just might work. 
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If I remember correctly it was because someone used the villian name Sidestep for a joke, and then noted in the comments that none of the Rangers noticed the oddness of that.