Encryption

Encryption
Class	Intelligence Perk
Attribute	Intelligence
Tier	Rookie (4)
Levels	1
Requires	Optimization

Encryption makes V's quickhacks harder to trace. Traceability is the chance that an enemy netrunner works out where a hack came from, and this cuts it substantially. It is an early pick in the Intelligence tree. Builds that hack from hiding rather than from cover need it most.

Effect

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Every quickhack leaves a trail. When a trace completes, V's position is known and the fight begins on the enemy's terms rather than V's.

Cutting the chance of that happening means more hacks can be fired before anything comes looking. For a build that intends to clear a camp without being seen, this is the perk that makes the plan survive contact.

How to Unlock Encryption

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It sits behind the Rookie gate of the Intelligence tree and is bought from Optimization.

Perk Tree

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Encryption is bought from Optimization in the Intelligence tree.

Name	Image	Tier	Effect
Optimization		Rookie (4)	+35% RAM recovery rate.

Character Builds

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It belongs to a stealth netrunner that hacks from hiding rather than from behind cover, which is how a camp is cleared without a fight.

Buy it at the Rookie gate from Optimization. Shadowrunner at the Pro gate wipes trace progress entirely after a quiet takedown, so the two together make V very hard to locate, and the Cool stealth branch is the natural place for a netrunner to spend its second attribute.

Notes

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Shadowrunner higher in the tree wipes trace progress entirely after a silent takedown, so the two together make a netrunner very hard to find.

Covert quickhacks are the ones a stealth build fires most, and they are the ones a trace is most likely to interrupt.

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