Praxis (DXMD)

Praxis Points are a hybrid system of skill points and augmentation canisters in Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.



At the start of the game, Adam Jensen is fitted with every augmentation he has available in Human revolution, with the sole exception of dermal armor and firmware upgrades to his installed equipment (the MAGPIE smart vision module, Wayfinder chaff support...) All his augs are at max level. However, not long after the operation, his systems suffer significant damage in a terrorist attack, prompting a visit to Václav Koller, who performs a routine check-up, repairs, and a basic inspection. During the procedure, Adam's core temperature dramatically increases, forcing Koller to execute a factory zero override on the agent's augmentations in order to save him from core meltdown, meaning Jensen has to once again manually reactivate his augmentations by earning experience or by utilizing Praxis kits.

As players progress through the game and gain experience points (XP), they are awarded Praxis points, which can then be used to activate dormant augmentations and upgrade active ones. Typically, it costs 2 points to activate an augmentation, and 1 point for each subsequent upgrade, with most implants having two 'tiers' of operation, but some can have as many as four, while some have very specialized branching add-ons, which can see a single aug tree cost a staggering seven or even nine praxis to maximize. Initially, players are awarded 1 Praxis point for every 5,000 experience points they collect, but after collecting enough Praxis points, the amount of experience needed gradually increases. Praxis points can also be obtained by purchasing Praxis kits from the black market, though they are both incredibly expensive and in extremely limited supply, or by finding them in the world. Compared to the previous games, 'free' praxis kits are very uncommon finds.

Overclock
There are two distinct sets of augmentations available to Adam: Sarif brand top-of-the-line stock, and a selection of experimental, proof of concept fits. Every experimental aug unlocked increases the overclock bar by 50%, due to Adam's energy system not being tuned for the load. One can alleviate this by simply disabling augs that have yet to be activated - however, disabling augs is, for all intents and purposes, permanent, and can only be undone through an optional mission later in the game, so think wisely. For instance, it might not be such a good idea to disable your mechanical legs (thus denying yourself both super jump and move silently) to free up power for the implant PEPS gun, whereas a run and gun player might find augs such as the reflex booster, LIDAR system, and CASIE to be good trade-offs for TITAN, the icarus dash, and remote hack.

As your overclock increases, Adam will start experiencing odd glitches and errors. At lower levels (150-250%), the glitches are mostly limited to annoyances, such as temporarily distorting certain HUD elements, scrambling the radar read-out, creaking and cracking noises, visual artifacts, and the vital signs monitor throwing repeated error messages. While bothersome, these glitches are harmless, thus one could think of the first two experimental augs as a sort of freebie. At higher levels, however, the glitches get far more debilitating (complete HUD distortion, slower energy regeneration, increased noise levels for all kinds of movement, full-screen static, erroneous hit markers, short white-outs, infolink failure, augmented reality markers not working correctly...), and once you pass 350%, you're guaranteed to experience red-outs, augs themselves not working properly, loss of control, loss of hearing, reboots and/or 'soft-locking' of augs (for instance, you're sneaking through enemy territory, and your glass shield cloak suddenly shuts down, and stays offline for 5 seconds...), HUD elements going from faulty to outright untrustworthy, inability to regenerate energy without biocells, and should you cross 400%, permanent loss of random augs until overclock falls to 350% or below. The augs, and any praxis you may have put into upgrading them, will simply be lost, as if you'd disabled them manually. While the other glitches are fairly random, the aug loss at high percentages is UNAVOIDABLE, and also prompts lengthy hard reboots of Adam's systems, during which he's completely helpless, and without any of his senses, for an uncomfortably long time, practically guaranteeing death if he was anywhere near hostiles.

Needless to say, it pays to think ahead ever so slightly, as well as not unlocking every implant available.

Even with overclocking itself eliminated, if you chose to pursue that goal, you'll find that the high energy drains and ammunition consumptions of the experimental implants makes them rather expensive and situational to employ. Very deadly and useful, for sure, but best used in moderation.

Experience
The player is awarded different amounts of XP by completing mission objectives, indicated by the Getting things done (Main quests) and Completionist (side-quests) bonuses. However, there are also some fixed XP bonuses awarded for certain actions.

Combat Against Humans
Neutralizing a humanoid enemy typically results in XP being granted under several different titles. These titles are grouped by their criteria, namely: The combat bonuses from different categories are cumulative (so you can get both Expedient and Merciful Soul), but bonuses from the same category are mutually exclusive.
 * Enemy Tier
 * Lethality
 * Headshot
 * Method of Neutralization
 * Number of Targets

Enemy Tier
The amount of XP granted from this criteria depends only on the enemy's designation.

Lethality
XP is granted from this criteria only if the method of neutralization used was nonlethal.

Headshot
XP is granted from this criteria only if the enemy is neutralized with a headshot from a either a lethal or non-lethal weapon or augmentation. The enemy can be headshot or even bodyshot several times, as long as the final blow is a headshot.

Method of Neutralization
The title and the amount of XP granted from this criteria depends on what method the player used to neutralize that enemy. The "default" method of shooting them with bullets until they die grants no bonus.

Number of Targets
This XP is granted if the chosen method of neutralization affects multiple targets at once. Note that unlike with other criteria, this bonus is given on a per-attack, rather than a per-target basis, that is, a grenade multi-kill will only grant a single Collateral Damage bonus, whether it hit two or five targets. Also, killing two enemy with the same shotgun blast grants no bonus.

Mechanical Enemies
Mechanical enemies only grant a single chunk of XP upon destruction, regardless of circumstances. Note that there are other ways of extracting XP from these enemies, see Remote Hacking and Armor sections.

Armor
Certain enemies wear armor pieces which, when enough damage is dealt to them, fall off and grant XP. Different pieces of armor grant different amounts of XP, although they are still granted in 5 XP chunks. For example, shooting off the thigh armor of a SB-71 walker bot results in the " 5 XP: Piece by Piece" notification popping up four times, for a total of 20 XP. Enemies that would give no bonus upon neutralization will give no bonus for destroying their armor either. Damaging the armor of a bot or a turret while they are stunned (from EMP damage of from remote hacking) won't give any bonus, although damaging them while they are shut down via security terminals will.

Different enemy types wear different configurations of these pieces. In the base game, all exo-suit users are police, which means they don't give any XP bonuses. The only exos that grant XP are found in the DLC. NOTE: The removed armor pieces linger in the environment until the death/neutralization of their original wearer. If these loose armor pieces are damaged, it results in the XP bonus being granted again. This allows the player to acquire theoretically unlimited amount of XP (as long as they don't run out of the ammunition used to damage the pieces.) For example, shooting off the armor of a lobotomized walker bot and using carefully placed explosions (e. g. charged nanoblades) centered on the armor pieces and avoiding the bot can allow a player to rack up hundreds of points before the scratch damage from the explosions finally destroys the bot and the armor pieces with it.

Stealth
The player gets XP bonuses for completing storyline mission objectives through stealthy measures. Not every objective awards stealth bonuses. For example, Smooth Operator bonus is not available for the objectives where no alarm-triggering equipment is present.

Hacking
For every security level there is an increasing bonus for successfully hacking a device. Additional XP bonuses may also be awarded by fulfilling certain conditions during the hacking mini-game.

Using keycodes/passwords
Using a keycode or a password to unlock a device grants a bonus corresponding to the device's security level. Note that this method is still typically inferior to hacking, since it forfeits the potential First Try and Data Extraction bonuses, not to mention the credits and hacking programs in the device's datastores. However, there are a few occasions when a device can be re-locked, then unlocked again. Unlocking the device twice --once by hacking and once by entering the keycode/password -- will grant the XP bonus for both methods. There is also a glitch where using a keycode/password gives a slew of different bonuses instead of just one. This seems to be related to previously using hacking on other devices that have keycodes/passwords.

Remote Hacking
Objects that can be manipulated by Remote Hacking belong to two groups. Environmental devices just need the first part of the Remote Hacking aug. Security devices require the Security Domination upgrade. While reactivation of these devices allows the player to hack them again, this won't result in further XP.

Exploration
By finding certain areas or taking routes other than the most obvious ones, the player is also awarded bonus XP. The first four bonuses are awarded by simply entering a certain area. The amount of XP awarded is tied to the specific area. Areas towards the end of the game tend to award the higher XP bonuses, but often require augmentations to reach.

Social
At some points in the game, the player will have to try to persuade an NPC in order to meet a certain objective. This triggers a persuasion mini-game where the CASIE mod can be of value. These minigames come in three variations: major, minor and QTE. The first two is navigated through the usual conversation interface, while the QTE requires the player to press one of two buttons appearing on he screen while the conversation partner is talking.

Praxis points
Unless one uses microtransactions to buy Praxis kits or uses mods, there is no way a player can earn the 91 Praxis kits needed to acquire all augmentations in the first playthrough (95 with the DLC exclusive augs). However, with careful planning, a player can get all augmentations using New Game +. The amount of XP needed for the next Praxis kit to be awarded depends on the player's total XP. For every 10 Praxis kits awarded from XP, the amount of XP needed for the next Praxis point goes up by 500 points (up to 7500 XP). The total XP counter resets upon entering New Game+.
 * 29 Praxis kits are available in the game through exploration, buying, and as side quest rewards (not accounting for the one-time Praxis kits from microtransactions, pre-order bonuses, DLCs, and Deus Ex GO cross-game rewards).
 * Praxis kits reappear on a New Game + so if the player is vigilant about getting as many as they can in the first playthrough, they should be able to get the rest in the second.

Maximizing XP
Tips for maximizing XP (in order of impact):
 * 1) Complete main storyline mission objectives.
 * 2) Complete side mission objectives.
 * 3) Hack every single hackable device encountered, capturing any data stores, always reloading upon the first failure.
 * 4) Explore the entire map for area bonuses and eBooks.
 * 5) Complete objectives while remaining undetected and without setting off any alarms.
 * 6) Use remote hacking on every single compatible device encountered. In case of security devices, always quit and retry after the first mistimed button press.
 * 7) Neutralize all enemies, using non-lethal augmentations. Try to take down two enemies at once whenever possible. Destroy turrets and bots, but only after used remote hacking on them.
 * 8) Destroy the armor of turrets and bots.

Farming XP
Normally, the amount of XP available in the game is finite. Every interaction (i. e. completed mission objective, neutralized enemy, hacked object) that grants XP can be used for this purpose only once. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule: courses of action that allow the player to repeatedly acquire XP from the same interaction.
 * 1) "Armor juggling:" Damaging detached armor pieces keeps giving Piece by Piece bonuses. While rather resource intensive and not infinite (there is only so much ammunition in the game, and if using exposives, scratch damage will destroy the originator of the armor sooner or later, and the armor pieces disappear upon its destruction), this still allows the player to extract a larger than normal amount of XP from a robotic/armored target.
 * 2) Repeated non-lethal neutralization: Humanoid enemies eliminated by non-lethal method can be roused by their allies and subsequently eliminated again. These further neutralizations won't give more XP by themselves, but if a "Number of targets" criteria is fulfilled, it will grant its XP bonus.
 * 3) The door of Jensen's apartment: By locking the front door via the house AI, leaving through the bathroom window and circling back, it is possible to repeatedly hack the lock of the front door. The hack itself won't grant further XP, but capturing a datastore during it will net you 100 XP per cycle.
 * 4) The storage unit of Tech Noir: This unit is initially locked by a level 2 lock. After hacking it and leaving the area, the lock will be upgraded to level 4, and a new camera and 5 EMP tripmines will be placed inside the storage unit. Hacking them (Remote Hacking and Smart Vision is recommended) and leaving the area makes them revert to their unhacked state. Grants 445 XP per cycle.
 * 5) Infinite Reset: Enter the gated door near Paulina in the sewers, you will find a drone firing. Go right and jump up, go under the metal grate, move left and right and you will see that you are receiving a lot of reset XP bonus. This is also the fastest possible XP farming known. Moreover, you can still save Paulina after farming enough XP.