(NOTE: This list assumes Shifter or a derivative with the skill points for kills/stealth system.)

At the beginning of the game, I upgrade Computers, Electronics, and Lockpicking to Trained. Computers at Trained removes the need to find passwords ever, while Lockpicking and Electronics at Trained will take 25% off a keypad or a lock with one multitool or lockpick. For all three, that's all you really need for the whole game.

After that, I min/max as much as possible to get Master Rifles by the time I reach Hong Kong, so the Sniper Rifle can one-shot MJ12 Commandos, as well as destroy cameras and turrets. I might stop and take one level of Medicine to make my Medkits more effective, but usually not, because the Regeneration aug makes medkits obsolete.

From there, I basically just upgrade at random.

At the beginning I take computers and swimming (and that's the only time I touch swimming, taken at the beginning helps with some hard to find goodies like sunken ship on the first map). After that max computers, max pistol, upgrade Lo Bruto to the max and after that nobody can stop me.

Haven't finished the game yet, but so far my build is as follows (oh, and this is purely vanilla, no shifter or any other mods installed).

Firstly, I upgraded computers, lock picking and electronics to trained. Then, as I gained skill points, so far, I've upgraded rifles to trained, computers to advanced and swimming to trained (seriously, am I the only one who can't find a single bloody rebreather before I have to tackle those underwater tunnels in the La Guardia stage?) I think in the future I'll focus on maxing out computers, lock picking and electronics.

I know I should sink more points into pistols or rifles, but I want to focus on stealth and keep the gunplay to a bare minimum. It's a roleplaying thing.

I run Shifter AND BioMod (both available at ModDB) but my play style isn't that different from vanilla so this might be helpful to those who haven't played before.

To start I upgrade pistols to advanced, then work on getting 'trained' in the following for the following reasons...

Swimming (atheletics in Shifter/BioMod) so I can survive underwater longer
Lockpicking so I won't run out of bloody picks when I either find a door with infinite strength
or I want to be stealthy
Electronics because when you need the tools--you need the tools and 'trained' level is
enough to ensure I won't run out
Demolition Weapons so I can be more sure I won't get gassed/shocked/blown to tiny
bits when I'm plucking those ever-useful grenades off the walls

Then I turn my attention to computers and try to get that skill to advanced level. That's usually all I need.

After those I work on medicine, which helps dull down the damage. Every little bit helps.

For modding weapons in the vanilla game I max out my mini crossbow first. That gives me a nice medium-range non-leathal attack. Mods I can't use there I generally put on the sniper rifle so by late in the game it's one-shot-one-kill goodness.

For augmentations I go for the following...

Aggressive Defense System which I usually upgrade to level 3 so I get protected and can
still loot the corpses of aggressors when the fun's done
Microbial Muscle because I just find it more useful to manipulate heavy objects--and in
Shifter+BioMod it's combined with combat strength so I can knock out or
kill opponents quicker
Ballistic Protection for obvious reasons
EMP Shield because it's useful when being attacked by spiderbots and in some nasty
'arc and spark' environmental situations
Vision because I'm blind (yes, 'legally blind' but I won't get into that PC greasel flop) and
when upgraded it's quite useful. Guessing it's useful to other players, too as
eventually you can see through walls
Energy Shield which many will disagree with because its alternative is Regeneration,
which heals at the cost of bioelectric cells--but like the EMP Shield there are
times in the game when the energy shield REALLY helps
Environmental Resistance because it helps reduce damage from radiation AND poisons
Walk Silent for stealth
Power Recirculator so I have to spend less time worrying about my power levels and more
time on other things--This is the most valuable mod to me

There are a mix of play techniques I use. Stealth is a big part of it but I also use what Richard Marcinko (The Rogue Warrior) calls, 'violence of action' when necessary. It's worked well for me over the years.


Hope that lot helps. Oh and Hesusio: You don't get your first rebreather until almost the mid-point of the game. General Carter is, let us say, 'well-stocked' for your needs. ;-)

The last time I played, I usually went for maxing out Pistols, and spreading out the rest in Computers, Environmental Training and Low Tech weapons. I stack all my weapon mods onto the stealth pistol and crossbow, and keep the Dragon Tooth. Later on (around hong kong) I'll put a little into Swimming to help out with that part and the ocean labs.

[I haven't installed any mods, so my comments only relate to the vanilla version of the game]

No matter how I build JC, computers are pretty much a must for me. It just makes life so much easier when you don't have to go after a single datacube if you don't feel like it (of course, you could look up the login/password on internet, but that would be just cheating).

In my latest playthrough, the only "master" level skill I had was rifles and it easily carried me through the rest of the game. Even though the game is trying its best to balanace things, I'd say these two skills are way more important than the others.

I don't have Shifter, therefore my vanilla JC Denton currently looks like this:

Augmentations
Leg: Speed (Level 2: Helps me reach normally out-of reach places and help compensates for my choice of arm augment)
Arm: Mircofibral Muscle (Level 4; Lets me use the Dragon's Tooth sword to destroy cameras, alarm buttons, and most doors - useful for saving on rockets and lockpicks)
Torso: Environmental Resistance (Level1), Power Recirculator (Level 1), Regeneration (Level 4; useful for quick regeneration of health in hostile situations)
Subdermal: Ballistic Protection (Level 2)
Eye: Vision Enhancement (Level 1)
Cranial: Aggressive Defense System (Level 1)

Skills
Heavy: Untrained
Pistol: Veteran (useful for tranqing people from long-distance)
Rifle: Untrained
Low-Tech: Veteran (useful for making lethal and non-lethal takedowns; also enhances Dragon's Tooth sword)
Demolition: Untrained
Environmental Training: Untrained
Lockpicking: Trained
Electronics: Trained
Medicine: Untrained
Computer: Veteran (useful for controlling turrets from hacked security terminals, allowing for 'long-distance' termination of foes and general, distracting chaos.
Swimming: Master (vital for navigating all the underwater passageways I keep finding)

*facepalm*

Can't believe I forgot my augmentation set. Again, assuming Shifter.

Subdermal: Ballistic Protection and Cloak.
Rationale: Ballistic Protection and Cloak cover the most ground, as it were; almost all enemies use ballistic weapons, and the majority of enemies you'll encounter are human.

Cranial: Aggressive Defense System
Rationale: Provides defense against explosives, and I think it can also stop plasma bolts. I'm also just not a fan of Spy Drone; uses too much energy for what it does.

Arms: Microfibral Muscle
Rationale: Greater lifting ability is extremely useful in the base game; I'd take this even without Shifter's blending-in of the Combat Strength aug.

Legs: Speed Enhancement
Rationale: The hit to speed from crouching to move silently does not justify taking Run Silent. Furthermore, Speed Enhancement flat-out does more. Better movement speed, jump height, and fall survivability.

Eyes: Vision Enhancement
Rationale: This is mostly personal preference, but I like being able to see through walls more than I like being able to target enemies from greater distance. That's what scopes are for.

Torso: Aqualung, Regeneration, Power Recirculator
Rationale: Regeneration and Power Recirculator are no-brainers, in my mind. Aqualung is just personal preference.

Shifter-Specific Note: There are two extra augmentation cannisters in the game; one during the escape form UNATCO, and one if you fight and kill Gunther Hermann (i.e. without using his killphrase) at the Cathedral of the Knights Templar. I usually manipulate luck at the first one to get Power Recirculator early, and at the second one to replace Aqualung with Energy Shield.

About to head off to Hong Kong for the first time.

Rifles, computers, and Lockpicking are what I put my points into. I mostly rely on my shotgun and sniper rifle to take things down, and have a pistol for backup. Which I need to put more points into.

Because my skills are based somewhat offensively, I make my augmentations defensive

Still getting the hang of the game though. It's a lot of fun

As you upgrade the spy drone, it becomes faster and its EMP attack becomes more powerful. This actually makes it a very useful weapon against bots.

If you're getting that augmentation cannister from the place at UNATCO where I THINK you are that gives me hope. I get one of mine from the same place and have to save/reload LOTS of times to get anything good. Always wanted Power Recirculator but NEVER got it. At least I know it's a possibility. Thanks!

To Jouzou's point about the Spy Drone it's been improved even MORE in BioMod. Now as you level it up you can operate more and more complex things like datacubes, security terminals and computers with the spy drone. It can do that AND be a great emp-based bot killer.

In the vanilla game gimme ADS every time. In BioMod...It's the Spy Drone all the way, babeh!

I have no shame, so, I'll tell you all something absolutely horrifying...

I upgraded... Swimming.

Yes, I know, it's pointless, but I wanted- no, NEEDED to find out why it was so awful.

And so I did.

The effects were negligible.

*laff* That, my friend is called experimenting in Deus Ex and if you're new to the game get ready to do a LOT of it.

Good thing, though is you'll learn things about the skills, augmentations and equipment combos that will mesh with your own gaming abilities and make the whole experience more enjoyable...and one you'll want to repeat for years to come.

While checking for some other thread, I found this one and I'm necroing it for the heck of it. The one I'll describe is my favorite build, out of all the ones I've tried. I'm a real miser with items, so I make my build according to it.

I always get myself swimming, computers, electronics and lockpicking from the get go. 5000 points is not enough, so I either downgrade my pistols or wait a bit for activating either electronics or lockpicking. But I have all of them by the time I enter Unesco HQ, and that's all I've ever needed for the game (without making some effort, that is). So the rest I upgrade for the lulz, basicaly. Computers lvl 3 for some turret fun, rifles lvl 4 to make my silenced sniper useful on something other than breaking doors. Some demolitions too, to reduce the stress of deactivating them. But nothing vital for my play style.

I used to upgrade lockpicking and electronics further, but by now I know where to find both codes and extra multitools/lockpick, so I never run low on them. Regarding swimming, I find training it to lvl 2 is perfect, it's just enough for any underwater tunnel in the game.

Regarding augs, I take spy drone lvl 3-4 (no EMP grenades needed anymore), human invisibility & bullet protection for subdermal, leg speed, heavy lifting for arms, vision enhancements and finally regeneration, power recirculator and syntethic heart for the torso. Unfortunately, this means I can't get syntethic heart (and full torso augs) until late game, but since that one aug has no upgrades it kinda works for me.

After 5 or 6 playthroughs, I don't bother micromanaging the stats any more. I just take advantage of all the "freebie" glitches to make life easier (unlimited lockpicks/multitools/medkits/cells/LAMs etc., unlimited weapon mods and aug upgrades from the right people, duplicate pickups). I do max out the pistol first thing, though. And after the Vandenberg skill point bonanza glitch it doesn't matter.
The point of the game is not so much in completing it any more, but finding MOAR interesting bugs =)