Getting Started
You start with one machine, a few empty folders and nobody who knows your name. Ivy will walk you through your first job. This page is the same route, so you can come back to it.
Your First Ten Minutes
- Open MISSION in the sidebar, tab Available, and press Start Mission on First Hack.
- In the mission, the target's IP is red. Click it: a Host Scan opens, press Add Target.
- Back on HOME, press + next to the new host, then CONNECT, then Crack.
- Once cracked: take the target's Bits with Collect Miner, open Logs and delete your line.
- Press Disconnect before the trace hits zero. The mission pays 10,000 Bits.
- Go to HOST and spend them: one software upgrade (the Cracker) and one hardware upgrade (the Miner), both at once.
TIP
Upgrades take real time. Start them before you log off and let the game ping you when they finish: say yes when Ivy asks about notifications.
Your Rig in One Rule
Your host has 11 components: six hardware (CPU, GPU, RAM, Storage, NET, Miner) and five software (Firewall, Antivirus, Cracker, Back-tracing, AI). Your level is the level of your weakest one: to reach level 2, all 11 must be at level 2. Details in Host Components.
A Good Day on the Network
- Claim the daily login reward (it pops up on HOME).
- Start the three daily missions: hacks, Bits, log cleaning. See Missions.
- Claim your miner in HOST before it fills up, and empty other people's miners while you are in.
- Run your hacks: each success can drop Bits Packages, items and lore.
- Before you go, make sure both upgrade slots are busy. An empty slot is wasted time.
Where It Goes From Here
Phase 1
Boot Sequence
- Follow the missions: they teach files, logs and databases, and they pay for your upgrades.
- Upgrade the Miner early: it fills up while you are away.
- Learn to read logs and to route your connection through relays. See Bounces & Logs.
Phase 2
Pick Your Wars
- At level 3 the Dungeons open: PvE runs with loot and fragments.
- Join a faction on the HEX page and take territory in Nexus Control.
- Shape your build: offense, defense or evasion. See Archetypes & Builds.
Phase 3
Incorporate
- Join or found a corporation: shared hosts, payroll and the only factories in the network.
- Push components to level 3 to open their module sockets. See Modules & Fabricator.
Phase 4
Run the Network
- Lead your faction to win a Nexus cycle.
- Hunt Engineered modules and the rare Prototypes.
- Take on Hard and Hell dungeons. Something is down there.
WARNING
Don't grind like a bot. The network notices inhuman patterns: your system overheats, you get forced pauses and your rewards dry up. Play like a person and it never happens.