On my last bunch of runs I have actively tried to steal an electrical kit from the Sleeping Fangs in the Sewer Hideout. I mentioned this to Al, who then proceeded to attempt stealing at least seven times with no kit to show for his pains. This made me think that a re-evaluation of this strategy is in order. Is Al an outlier case? Is this worth doing even if things fall your way?
What I Do
When I get to the Waterfront day 1, my first smuggle is a wicked knife. As long as I managed to grab a dirty old trenchcoat for the 1 Stealth Power, I can guarantee the smuggle by unequipping everything else (and holding off on getting Gunslinger until after, if I was rich enough to get the Eddie's training ticket already). I don't equip the knife until I'm ready to "Creep quietly" through the Security Hole. Then I keep it equipped while I'm looking for Dr. T's contact info, in hopes of stealing an electrical kit from the Sleeping Fangs. With Gunslinger, winning fights with the knife equipped is not generally a problem, and it's doable even without that most of the time.
Pros
Having a wicked knife comes in handy in a couple of places:
- It guarantees that you can "Creep quietly" through the Security Hole
- It lets you steal the electrical kit (duh)
- It guarantees you can pickpocket Southside lab notes in the low-alert Buried Lab
- If all else fails, you can salvage it into a steel ingot to make a retro assault rifle or other useful equipment
The main point of stealing the electrical kit is to free up funds. This makes it a lot more likely that you'll be able to afford an Omnitech learntop and a utility blowtorch, both because you won't have to buy a kit and because you'll gaffle a decent number of credits (45-60) each time you steal even if you don't get a kit. This is more than you'd get from begging a a fresh cred chip (20-50) off of the Slimy Man (which is what I generally do if I find myself short of funds later on).
A (minor) advantage of having an electrical kit is that if your day 2 smuggle is medical supplies and you get a biomonitor circuit, you can make a monitoring vest very early. A biomonitor kit is also a possibility if you get both the circuit and a first aid kit and no autodoc.
(Having the kit early also makes it possible to get a tracer eye from the Gang Boss. This is sort of a "points for style" thing, though, which you shouldn't risk doing in a speedrun unless you have no useful gadget.)
Cons
Using your day 1 smuggle on a knife means you're passing up a shot at medical supplies or a roomsweeper/cycle chain. This particular season you might want to have the abstract domino mask instead of a reinforced surgical mask in your hat slot, and the black tablet shard instead of a First Aid-providing gadget in that slot. But ordinarily those are great items to have for the Sewer Hideout and just in general.
Running around with the knife does increase the risk that you will lose fights.
If you get the electrical kit before you get the contact info for Dr. T, then you're not slowing yourself down very much, although attempting to steal costs one energy instead the 1/5 of an Energy you'd spend from walking away. But if you are still trying after you get the contact info, you're going out of your way, and also passing up a chance to kill 4 Fangs all at once.
So?
Is this a good idea? A bad idea? Something that it makes sense to try and do, but that you should give up on if you don't get a kit by the time you get Dr. T's contact info?