Editing Guide to malfunction (section)

==Strategy==
There are several approaches to being a malfunctioning AI, and you should pick your approach based on the crew's collective abilities and personalities, and on the resources you have.
(This part assumes you intend to Doomsday the crew. Other objectives will require different strategies.)

===The Subtle Killer===
This strategy can be very effective if used properly. Hack out-of-the-way APCs, and make sure the engineers are always busy with something else so they don't notice the powernet alarms. If you have an engineering cyborg, have him cut the power network line to each APC you plan on hacking. This will cut the APC out of the powernet alarm system entirely. You can also blame the sabotage on a crew member who had access to the area (assistants, clowns, and mimes are favorites).

Be sure to turn the power output on the solars' SMES batteries to zero. You want to save that power for when you need to kill people.

Hack as many APCs as possible, before the malfunction or takeover is discovered. Bolt the doors or get an engiborg to block off the area if you can do it inconspicuously, so [[Assistant|visitors or intruders]] can't rat you out. 

Being clever and using psychology can be a big boon to the Subtle Killer. Tricking the crew into believing that there is a changeling or traitor among them is a great way to keep them busy, and to explain hacked APCs (an emag can break APCs just like how you hack them). Try bolting the doors to critical locations open and claiming that they must have been emagged. With any luck, the crew will seal them off with a wall or r-wall, thus denying themselves that avenue for that location. If you are discovered, you can then lift the bolts, shut the door, and lock it to force them to waste even more time on it.

A Subtle Killer should sabotage cloning and cryo attempts by messing with the power or adjusting the temperature, to keep the crew population down and encourage them to build more cyborgs. Don't do this in front of crew, wait for them to get distracted, or manufacture a distraction to draw them away.

Subtle killers should not hack their cyborgs on the Robotics Control Console until after the cyborgs' power cells have been upgraded by a friendly roboticist or captain.

Once you have enough cyborgs and hacked APCs, even the Subtle Killer can risk using shocked doors to a limited extent, mostly to kill single isolated targets.

A Subtle Killer can pick any set of modules, but should plan ahead on a grand strategy for their use. Don't take Blackout unless you're planning on making massive fires, for instance.

===The Blitzkrieg===

The hallmark of this strategy is to make what preparations you can and then conduct a very fast assault. Give the crew no time to react to your attacks. If possible, get your starter cyborg's power cell upgraded, but don't waste much time on this. If you do it right he won't need the extra power anyway.

You will always want several uses of Machine Overload as a Blitzing AI. You can afford to buy it six times (90 points of CPU runtime) for a total of twelve uses, and use your last CPU time purchase to buy Disable RCDs.

In a Blitzkrieg the opening moves are fiercely important. Your first move should be to turn the power output on all SMES batteries to max. As soon as you're sure your borg is upgraded, or that he will not be upgraded in a reasonable amount of time, hack him and then blow the robotics console using Overload Machine. If no one has gone to tech storage to get the spare circuit board, lock it down tight. Drop the bolts on the doors to EVA and the Captain's Quarters, and electrify them and all surrounding doors. Blow both Autolathes, and both Circuit Imprinters. Start hacking the Genetics console and turn power there off entirely, to prevent the crew from discovering useful mutations. Electrify the doors to everything you can see. While you're in the area, blow up the chemistry synthesizer so that the chemists can't make thermite to help break into your core. Finish your destruction of station equipment by blowing up the Quartermaster's console.

You should have five uses of Machine Overload left. Use three of these for killing high-ranking crew, along with your electrified doors. If possible, you want all the officers and anyone who is likely to take command in a crisis dead. Save two uses for if you are attacked at your core. The lights and scrubbers count as a machine, as does the airlock. Don't blow them unless you think you can kill whoever is trying to break into your core, though.

During this explosion blitz, your borg should be running wild, either killing or disabling the crew. Neutralizing them by keeping them locked up is good enough to win, so he should be trying to do that if it will take less time than killing them. If he isn't a security bot, he should be disposing of spacesuits by dragging them into unreachable areas.

Remember to keep hacking APCs throughout the event. You need to be constantly hacking to minimize the window the crew has to act.

If your cyborg is an Engineering model, wait until he is done using his RCD (Either for improvements to your defenses, or to frustrate the crew) and then trigger your Disable RCDs module.

While you wait for your hacking to finish, you should be following the crew on camera and frustrating their efforts to get the gear they will need to kill you. Now is a good time to mess with the atmos system and pump plasma into the entire station.

===The Xanatos=== 

Everything is a resource to be spent, even your cyborgs. This is the art of out-maneuvering the other players.

This is beyond subtle, and requires spending one of your most valuable resources early in the round to get more later: your cyborgs. If you are willing to risk the cyborg being damaged irreparably, and if it is a Service droid model, you can have him mix up a potassium-water bomb next to the cloning pod. With any luck at all, the bomb's explosion will destroy the cloning pod. An engineering bot can do this with a welder tank. Even if the explosion doesn't destroy the pod, by making the bombing very public you can risk spending a machine overload to destroy the cloning pod and not arouse further suspicion. The borg will likely be blown by the RD at that point, but you'll have forced the crew to make more cyborgs if they want to bring the dead back.

If you have the borg stun a geneticist and make the bombing look like an assassination attempt, you'll have a useful alibi.