* System Shock - Hints and Tips for Level 7 * * Level 7 is a big maze. It is full of robots and cyborgs. Your primary task on this level is to find and blow up the four relays, using the four packs of plastique from level 4. As you exit the elevator, you will have company. There are assassin cyborgs and warrior cyborgs poised in high places, waiting to shoot down at you. Try to look up lots as you go through halls and rooms with high ceilings. One other thing; leave the pistol (or other weapon) by the elevator. I'm guessing that your weapon inventory is full. This level holds a weapon you will not want to miss, and there is only one in the game. Leave space now, and the other weapon will be where you can find it if you have a change of mind about your choice. - You will be back here later, twice. The first relay is west of the elevator. You must get to the upper level. As you head west, a hallway north can be used. Take the ladder on the west end up. Directly ahead of you is the door to the first relay. While you are in the area, there may be one or two cyborg enforcers on the upper walkway to the north. Take care of them now; later, you'll thank yourself. Head into the door above the ladder you used; do the three sec1bots in the corridor. The plastique is to be used in a specific way. As you approach the relay, note the panel. That is where the plastique goes. You should double click on the panel first, to open it. Then, double click on the plastique in your inventory to take it in hand. This is a good place to save your game; if you move too slowly, you may damage or kill yourself. Double click on the relay panel with the plastique; it is now attached to the relay panel. Quickly, walk around the relay pedestal to the far side from the plastique. Use your posture control to squat down as far as possible, and get as close as you can to that pedestal. The explosion will occur in a second or two; you should be unharmed. This procedure should be used in the other three relay areas. One, to the south, is trapped. Shodan locks a force door and you would be caught in the blast if you just tried to run out. The relays are at the far north central, east central, and south central ends of the level. Before you explore much further, there is one thing you really should do. As you leave the relay corridor, turn south. You are standing on a ledge. Look around, shoot anything that moves, and jump down. Head south down the side corridor and turn left (east) just before the door. In this area are some bad guys, the skorpion, and an energy station behind a hidden door. Starting east, there is a cubbyhole to your north. Press that button to open the way to the south. (Note-just east of that button is an ambush; on the north side of the corridor, a door will open up and a sec2bot greets you.) The skorpion is my weapon of choice, assuming I have ammo for it, when exploring this and upper levels. It has great stopping power. As you enter this area, the first hall south is the one you want. Also in this area, in the long hall leading east, is a repulsar. It will lift you up into the arms of a waiting sec2bot. Or, you can lean over the edge of the repulsar, aim up, and maybe get the drop on him. A note on sec2bots: they show up often on this level, along with cyborg enforcers. Both are hard to kill at enemy difficulty levels 2 or 3 (highest possible is 3.) Playing at levels 2 or 3, you will need plenty of ammo, luck, and sneakiness. If you like, see my general hints file for tips on what kills what creature fast, and how to maximize ammo salvaged. A few general notes: if you've gotten this far, you don't need your hand held. I will mention that the north central area of the level is full of cyberg enforcers. Also, there is a corridor from the north central relay which goes straight south. Following it, and jumping from walk to walk in the core so you continue south, you will end up in a room with four small force floors. Use the button on the back wall once, then go back to the room entrance. The button on the column will open each of the four floors, one at a time. This is where the rejuvenation room can be found; there is also an energy station. That central core room, with its four walks, can take you to the armory. The armory is to the east; take that door to the room with ramps, get to the button on the south wall, and the armory opens up. Good stuff in there. From that central core room, the ground floor southwest door leads to a radioactive area. Straight east through two doors and you will find the version 3 biosuit, best in the game. The two floors to the south open to an area close to the south relay. The western corridor south towards the relay has a sec2bot hiding behind a wall. This relay has two side rooms close by. The room to the west has the elevator to level 8. Up in the northwest corner of the level is a forcefloor through which you can see an energy station. Also down there is a set of V3 jump boots. This area is reached by going further north and opening a window in the force floor there. The area below is like a trap; you can get all charged up, but will find you need to use those jumpboots to reach an iris door to get out. This uses all of that energy up. On the good side, you did get the boots, and did those cyborg enforcers earlier. Once you do the relays, you will know that Shodan is foiled for now. You get e-mail alerting you tht permission has been granted to just blow the station up and get out. You should by now have the codes from the six CPU rooms on levels 1 through 6, and know which code goes with which floor. If not, you will need to stop on any floor you don't have the code for. Go to the CPU room, and get the code; note which code goes with which level. You now need to go back down to the reactor level to blow the reactor. Head down there. If you like, look at my reactor level hints file for some tips.