Hacking (DXHR)

Contrary to other games in Deus Ex: Human Revolution, hacking is become a minigame and it's one of the major minigames in the game, although unlike the dialogue challenges, hacking is mandatory.

Overview
Jensen can hack security terminals and computers throughout the course of the game and, by doing so, unlock doors and new areas, disable or reprogram cameras, turrets, and robots, gain extra credits and EXP, and view emails, which can further provide him with access codes and item locations.

This is accomplished with a minigame where the player needs to capture a critical or security node, by moving from node to node, capturing along the way. Capturing nodes however, will alert the enemy security, which will also begin capturing nodes, attempting to reverse-trace Jensen. If Jensen's starting node is captured, the terminal will lock him out, and possibly sound an alarm, alerting enemies in the area to Jensen's location.

Detailed
The goal of the minigame is to hack either the critical nodes, represented by the green balls, or the enemy's security node, represented by the red tower. However, the security node will not be able to be captured all the time. Often there will also be more than one critical node - all critical nodes on a system must be captured to fully hack the system. Once Jensen has been detected however, it becomes a race against time as the enemy security system will begin tracing Jensen, capturing nodes starting from the security node. Each captured node will become fortified, making it much harder for Jensen to hack them.

As Jensen can only hack nodes that are adjacent to already captured nodes, the player must move from node to node, advancing from the starting location to all critical nodes on the map. Hacking each node however, has a chance of alerting the enemy security, which will start the timer before Jensen is detected and locked out. This chance can be lowered with the Hacking: Stealth augmentation. Jensen can increase the amount of time he has to work with before being locked out by fortifying already captured nodes, making them take longer for the enemy security to capture them - the Hacking: Fortify augmentation will be helpful for this.

Jensen can hack multiple nodes simultaneously and can hack every available node at the same time, provided the player is fast enough. This unlocks multiple routes, but if the chance of detection is high, sometimes working along only one path is a better option. Jensen can also fortify and capture nodes simultaneously. Not all nodes can be captured however - nodes have different security levels, with each subsequently higher level taking longer to capture and carrying a higher chance of detection. Terminals and computers themselves will also have a starting level of security that Jensen must meet before being able to even access the hacking map. Jensen will only have Level 1 access to begin with, further levels must be unlocked with the Hacking: Capture augmentation.

Aside from critical and security nodes, there are also many other types of nodes. The following nodes are represented by gears and serve to assist the player in hacking: In addition to whatever bonuses Jensen gets from captured datastores, he will also always gain an experience bonus from hacking, as well as additional bonuses from other feats of hacking. All of these gains can stack, often providing a massive cumulative bonus. To make hacking easier, Jensen will also come upon hacking software that can be used during the minigame. These come in two varieties. Nuke viruses will instantly capture any node with a 0% chance of detection. Stop worms will temporarily freeze the enemy security trace, even if it is currently in the middle of capturing nodes. These worms can be stacked for a consecutive duration. There are also auto-hacking devices, available in certain preorder editions of the game, that can be thrown like grenades onto terminals or computers to hack them instantly without need for the minigame.
 * Blank nodes, represented by monitors, serve only to provide a pathway for the player to travel to critical nodes.
 * Datastores, represented by hexagons, provide a bonus to the player when captured. This bonus can be additional EXP, credits, or hacking software.
 * Clearance nodes reduce the security level of all datastores on the map by 1.
 * Soften nodes reduce the security level of all adjacent nodes by 1.
 * Transfer nodes will increase the security level of a random node by 2, and decrease the security level of another random node by 2.
 * Spam nodes will slow down the enemy security trace, giving the player additional time.
 * Successfully hacking any system will grant the Grey Hat bonus (50 EXP).
 * Successfully hacking a Level 3 or above system will grant the Black Hat bonus (75 EXP).
 * Using a nuke virus or stop worm while hacking will grant the Script Kiddie bonus (50 EXP), once for each software usage.
 * Successfully hacking a Level 4 or above system while triggering the security will grant the L33t Sk1llz bonus (100 EXP).
 * Successfully hacking a Level 5 system without ever being detected will grant the Master Hacker bonus (100 EXP).

While hacking, Jensen will become visible and exposed, regardless of his position when first accessing the terminal or computer. Enemies can and will fire upon Jensen in this state, and sustaining any damage will knock him out of the hacking map. It is therefore advisable to work extremely fast when hacking in dangerous areas.

Hacking is a required skill in the game as Jensen will encounter many Level 1 terminals throughout the course of the main storyline, and higher levels of hacking unlock new areas, items, and a high quantity of credits and EXP. Even after obtaining access codes and passwords that would allow Jensen to bypass hacking, it is still advisable for the player to hack whenever possible, as this will always obtain additional EXP and often credits and software as well.