Shadowrun: Hong Kong — Extended Edition: cyberware that earns its Essence

Shadowrun: Hong Kong — Extended Edition: cyberware that earns its Essence For the PlayStation Extended Edition and PC Hong Kong, including Shadows of Hong Kong. Install with Ten-Armed Ambrose. Hong Kong changes implant slots and stats from Dragonfall, so use this game's shop and cyberware table: https://t.co/qUwcfZZ5xr. Hong Kong gives chrome builds a real skill tree: Body → Cyberware Affinity. It opens restricted implants, improves cyberweapon critical chance, and adds an Essence point at ranks 3 and 6. That makes a heavily augmented Street Samurai or hybrid viable, but the Karma spent on Affinity must still compete with accuracy, Body and a weapon skill. Essence and slots You start with 6 Essence and cannot install below 1. Essence spent on an implant is permanent; replacing it with a lower-cost alpha unit creates a buffer for later installations, not a refund to the character sheet. For magic, Essence is rounded down. At Affinity 3 you can reach 7 Essence; at Affinity 6, 8. A Mage can use the extra headroom, but getting there costs a deep Body/Affinity investment. Hong Kong also splits more body locations, so Bone Lacing and Dermal Plating can coexist. Essence rules and developer example: https://t.co/qUwcfZZ5xr; Affinity ranks: https://t.co/o7v0KZrle1. The gates worth remembering: Affinity 1 opens Platelet Factory, basic Dermal Plating, skillwires and first cyberweapons; 2 opens better support implants and Twin Slash for hand razors; 3 opens alpha plating, Auto-Loader and the first extra Essence; 4 opens Monofilament Whip and Yamatetsu Hand Razors; 5 opens Wired Reflexes and Yamatetsu Spur; 6 grants the second extra Essence and changes racial-max behavior with cyberware; 7 gives cyberweapons two extra armor piercing. Affinity unlocks: https://t.co/o7v0KZrle1. Head, brain and eyes - Datajack: ¥500 and 0.5 Essence. A basic requirement for Deckers, Riggers and smartlink guns. The Induction Datajack fits an arm, costs ¥1,000 and 0.25 Essence; its lower Essence cost can be worth the extra cash. - Encephalon: +1 Intelligence for ¥2,000 and 1 Essence. Encephalon NEXT gives +1 Intelligence and +1 Decking, requires Affinity 2, costs ¥5,000 and 1.5 Essence. A Decker should buy it for a specific Matrix threshold or accuracy gain, not because a brain implant sounds obligatory. Cerebral Booster gives +1 Intelligence for ¥2,500 and 0.5 Essence, an efficient alternative. - Pain Editor: +1 Willpower, −1 Intelligence, zero Essence and ¥1,000. The trade is good only if the Intelligence loss does not break your Decking, Biotech or drone plan. - Vision Magnification Eyes: basic +3% to hit for ¥750 and 1 Essence; alpha +6% for ¥1,000, 0.5 Essence and Affinity 2. If you are a committed shooter, alpha is a much cleaner purchase. - Laser Designator: 0-AP target mark on a two-round cooldown for ¥1,500 and 0.5 Essence. A team accuracy tool. BrightLight System attempts a blind but costs two AP and has a longer cooldown; both rely on ranged accuracy. - Toxin Exhaler: a close-range poison attack for ¥1,500 and 0.5 Essence. Fun on a frontliner, but decide whether you can afford to stand that close and spend an action when a normal attack is available. Head, brain and eye data: https://t.co/qUwcfZZ5xr. Body and skin - Shiawase Bone Lacing Plastic: +1 Body, ¥650, 1.5 Essence. Kevlar: +1 Body and +1 Strength, ¥1,200, 1 Essence. The Kevlar version is both stronger and cheaper in Essence; saving for it is sensible if Strength helps your build. - Reflex Trigger: +1 movement and an activated first-attack dodge each round for three rounds; ¥1,850, 1 Essence. A defensive option for a mobile shooter or frontliner. - Wired Reflexes: Affinity 5, ¥2,950, 1.5 Essence, +1 movement and an activated +1 AP per round for two rounds. An extra AP changes your attack sequence, so this is a real late-build goal, not a decorative stat boost. - Platelet Factory: Affinity 1, ¥1,500, 0.5 Essence. A one-AP ability to heal the most recent wound, with a two-round cooldown. Use it immediately after a large hit; it is not a general full heal. - Synthacardium Mk 1: +1 Throwing Weapons and +1 Dodge, ¥1,100, 0.5 Essence. Mk 2: adds +1 movement, requires Affinity 2, ¥1,750 at the same Essence. Good for a mobile grenadier. - Suprathyroid: Affinity 3, ¥2,150, 0.5 Essence, +1 Body, +1 Strength and +1 Quickness. A strong value when you use all three stats; watch racial limits before buying. - Ares Dermal Plating Basic: Affinity 1, +1 Armor, ¥1,750, 1.25 Essence. Alpha: Affinity 3, +2 Armor and +1 Body, ¥3,250, 1 Essence. Alpha is a clear target for a tank; installing basic first never returns spent Essence. - Cross Dermal Sheath: Affinity 2, +1 Armor and activated regeneration of 6 HP per turn for three turns; ¥2,250, 1.25 Essence. It spends an AP to trigger, so activate before a prolonged exposed exchange. - Orthoskin: +1 Armor, ¥2,500, only 0.25 Essence. A compact defensive buy. Tailored Pheromones: +1 Charisma, ¥2,000, zero Essence; a strong social threshold tool that does not punish magic. Body and skin data: https://t.co/qUwcfZZ5xr. Arms, legs and utility - Saeder-Krupp Skillwires: Affinity 1, +1 Quickness and +1 Ranged Combat for ¥1,450 and 0.25 Essence. This is efficient for a gun build, especially if it clears an equipment gate. Other skillwires give +1 Throwing Weapons or +1 Dodge for ¥1,000 and the same Essence. - JoltAlert: Affinity 2, zero Essence and ¥1,000; if stunned, it automatically restores you with one AP. A niche but clean defense against stun-heavy fights. - Shiawase Magnet Arm: Affinity 2, ¥1,000, 1 Essence. Reflects incoming grenades targeted at the user. Powerful when the condition occurs, but a large Essence bill for a narrow trigger. - Yamatetsu Cyberarm Alpha: Affinity 1, +1 Strength and +5 HP for ¥1,750 and 1 Essence. Muscle Augmentation gives +1 Quickness and +1 Strength for ¥2,750 and only 0.25 Essence, better for a hybrid who uses both stats. - Auto-Loader Cyber-Arm: Affinity 3, ¥1,000, 1 Essence. The item description says it eliminates manual reloads and the table lists +1 Quickness; verify the in-game tooltip for your installed version before buying it solely for a particular reload interaction. - Universal Omnitech Cyberleg Alpha: +8 HP, +1 Quickness and +1 Dodge for ¥3,000 and 1 Essence. More efficient than the basic Aztechnology leg's +6 HP/+1 Quickness at the same Essence. - Hydraulic Jack Mk 1 / 2: temporary +3/+4 movement for a turn, zero AP to activate, six-round cooldown; Mk 1 costs ¥2,250 and 1 Essence, Mk 2 needs Affinity 2 and costs ¥3,250/1.25 Essence. Enhanced Articulation gives +1 Dodge/+1 Quickness for ¥3,250/0.5 Essence without an activation window. Arm and leg data: https://t.co/qUwcfZZ5xr. Cyberweapons: build for their accuracy rule Most installed blades use Close Combat for accuracy and Cyberware Affinity for critical chance. Ares Hand Razors need Affinity 1, cost ¥600/0.5 Essence and deal Strength +3 with bleed and one armor piercing. Yamatetsu Hand Razors at Affinity 4 reach Strength +5, more bleed and two armor piercing. Cross Cyber Spur at Affinity 2 is Strength +4 with one armor piercing; Yamatetsu Cyber Spur at Affinity 5 reaches Strength +6 and three armor piercing, but spurs do no AP damage. Razors may do AP damage. Cyberweapon table: https://t.co/qUwcfZZ5xr. Shock Hand requires Affinity 2, costs ¥699/0.5 Essence and gives a stun attack; it uses Close Combat accuracy but Unarmed for critical chance. For the God Puncher trophy, use bare fists; player reports say Shock Hand does not count. Cyberweapon table: https://t.co/qUwcfZZ5xr; trophy solution discussion: https://t.co/Ui9Sg9Lydw. Monofilament Whip needs Affinity 4, costs ¥2,000/1 Essence, and reaches seven tiles. It deals fixed 14 damage plus bleed and no AP damage. Unlike the blades, its accuracy uses Ranged Combat; Affinity handles critical chance. A high-Strength, low-Quickness melee runner can buy it and then wonder why it misses. Build the attack chain first. Cyberweapon table: https://t.co/qUwcfZZ5xr. Three practical shopping plans Use the extra Hong Kong slots deliberately. These plans list every location and the table's: https://t.co/qUwcfZZ5xr nuyen/Essence totals. They are eventual shopping targets, not items all available at creation. Cyberware-granted attributes can help checks; train the underlying skill tree from base attributes in the Karma screen. - Smartlink rifle Samurai, Affinity 5: head Datajack (¥500/0.5 Essence); brain empty; eyes Vision Magnification Alpha (¥1,000/0.5); body Wired Reflexes (¥2,950/1.5); skin Dermal Plating Alpha (¥3,250/1); arms Saeder-Krupp Skillwires (¥1,450/0.25); legs Enhanced Articulation (¥3,250/0.5). ¥12,400 and 4.25 Essence of implants. Affinity 3 has already raised the ceiling from 6 to 7, leaving 2.75. Wired Reflexes consumes the body slot, so Reflex Trigger, bone lacing, Synthacardium and Platelet Factory cannot join this loadout. - Cyber-spur melee fighter, Affinity 5: head empty; brain empty; eyes empty; body Suprathyroid (¥2,150/0.5); skin Dermal Plating Alpha (¥3,250/1); arms Yamatetsu Cyber Spur (¥2,250/0.25); legs Universal Omnitech Alpha cyberleg (¥3,000/1). ¥10,650 and 2.75 Essence of implants. Starting 6 plus Affinity 3's bonus leaves 4.25. The spur occupies the cyberweapon arm choice; do not budget Hand Razors in the same arm. Bone Lacing or Wired Reflexes would replace Suprathyroid in the body slot. - Caster who needs social checks: head, brain, eyes, body, arms and legs empty; skin Tailored Pheromones (¥2,000/0 Essence). ¥2,000, no Essence spent. This grants +1 Charisma without losing a spell slot. Spend Karma on casting before adding an Essence-cost implant. Hong Kong's split body and skin locations allow Dermal Plating with a body implant, unlike Dragonfall. Check the clinic's actual arm and leg positions before buying two implants of the same location type. Avoid buying an alpha replacement expecting Essence to return: only a future-use buffer is created. Gunner: Saeder-Krupp Skillwires, then alpha eyes and Enhanced Articulation. Add the Induction Datajack if you are committing to smartlink. Affinity 1/2 is enough for many of these; push to 5 only if Wired Reflexes is your actual goal. Melee chrome fighter: Body and Close Combat first. Aim at Affinity 3 for alpha plating and an Essence point, then 4/5 if you really want advanced razors, spurs or Wired Reflexes. Suprathyroid and Muscle Augmentation feed the attack stats. Do not buy every blade: each slot and Essence point should improve the final kit. Caster with a little chrome: Tailored Pheromones has zero Essence; Orthoskin has a small cost. Calculate spell effects before adding any Datajack or eyes. Affinity's extra Essence can support a deliberate hybrid, but is an expensive detour for a pure Mage or Shaman. Source: Hong Kong cyberware and item numbers: https://t.co/qUwcfZZ5xr, Cyberware Affinity gates: https://t.co/o7v0KZrle1.