How to properly play Detective?

[gleb09]

Has anyone had success properly playing a detective on main? Does anyone have any stories of actual sleuthing and figuring things out? I feel like the detective has so much potential for thematic rounds and he has so many cool toys to play with. But I struggle to make it work. The rounds move too quickly to be able to figure anything out. What're you meant to do on blob, nuke, and wizard rounds? How are you meant to play effectively in a non valid hunting way? Are there any (in)famous detective players?

[KikiMofo]

Drink bo jacks, smoke cig, shoot gun wildly.

Thats the three detective keys.

[NOOT]

Everything you need to play detective is in your room, therefore, dont leave your room. That way, everybody knows where to find you if they have a problem to solve that they cant take anywhere else. You'll always be available to fingerprint some sneaks contraband and youll be close enough to a security camera station to do some sleuthing between cigarettes and booze. Dont worry, that red door keeps out anyone who may want to make you use force.

[phyvo]

If you try play detective as sec and try to arrest anyone, you better make sure that person is in the process of actively killing people. The crew doesn't trust you and will probably screw up your arrest in every way they can unless the crime is obvious.

Unfortunately doing any kind of sleuthing is really hard on main. Fingerprints and security cameras are all you've really got. In all the rounds that I've played detective I've gotten valid bloodstains from a crime scene for a bloodtrak all of one time and luminol does nothing when no one even bothers to clean up their murder. The amount your sleuthing matters is also directly proportional to the competency of Security. If you have a bunch of new seccies on your team you can shout that someone is being murdered by a ling at QM and by the time sec gets there 5 minutes will have passed. Generally the more chatter on your security channel the better.

If you are actually getting somewhere with fingerprints be sure to have notepad open to copy/paste and compare. If someone is wearing insuls you can get their glove ID just by scanning them. Almost nobody bothers to hide their gloves and then you can compare their insuls to the crime scene from your notepad.

I forget whether it's a verb or an emote, but use "monologue" in different rooms to automatically jabber on in space noir style. You can also listen to some noir audiobooks/watch some film noir, then once you're comfortable do some creative monologuing yourself over the radio, or monologue into a few tape recorders and leave them lying around on loop. Some people will hate you for it. They are naive and don't have enough experience with the criminal underworld to know why the monologue is so important.

Another thing that's fun to do is to get an undercover ID from the HoP so you can pose as a staffie. You won't actually infiltrate anything but you will seem like no threat so when someone busts out the crime you can give them a nasty gun-shaped surprise. Keep your badge on you to flash at important people who question why you "broke" into security.

Also, you can always just get a cyberliver and get drunk. You're the detective, you don't have to help anyone and you can be as jaded as you want without breaking character.

As for those specific rounds:
Blob: Usually blob doesn't spawn on mixed rounds except as random event later. If it's a full on blob round just forget that you're a detective and fight the blob. The round probably won't be long there's nothing detective-y to do. Your gun is useless.

Nuke: If you wear your thermals you can catch cloakers trying to flank in the halls and can approach dark areas pretty safely. You already come armed so you can skirmish with nukies earlier than the rest of the crew can, but approach with caution (e.g. locker blocker) with the intent of getting them to waste their resources more than anything else. If the armory opens you should suit yourself up so you have backup weapons. You can also get meds so bring some. Other than that you're pretty much the same as the rest of the crew. You're not going to be solving cases here.

Wizard: Can appear in mixed rounds so there's a chance for you to do less violent stuff with the other antags. As far as the wizards themselves go though they are either "peaceful" or they are loud and murderous. Use lethals to kill them. Even if they heal the embedded bullets will continue to do organ damage and force them to do self surgery somewhere. You have limited ammunition, make it count and unload it into them when you get the chance. Other than that standard anti-wizard protocols apply (such as breaking into chem to make explosive/lethal glasses). I suppose if your AI isn't good you can help sec by just watching wizards move around on cameras.

edit: oh god I forgot spy stickers

I love spy stickers. I don't think I've figured out the best way to use them but they're just dang fun. Generally, putting them on a person seems to get more information than just sticking them on tile. Tagging medical is a good way to fill your chat with useless rubbish. Instead tag people from more isolated departments like botany, engineering, mining, or sometimes QM. I haven't tried tagging the crusher yet but disposals should be a good target. Might also try tagging the captain, HoP, or secoffs (who always seem to get themselves killed).

Potentially you could also tag yourself and/or one sticker in sec next to an intercom with the mic on. Then there's backup in case you die/your radio gets removed, and if security/AI wants they can tap into your network any time using the intercom mic.

[Rmeaper]

Has anyone had success properly playing a detective on main? Does anyone have any stories of actual sleuthing and figuring things out? I feel like the detective has so much potential for thematic rounds and he has so many cool toys to play with. But I struggle to make it work. The rounds move too quickly to be able to figure anything out. What're you meant to do on blob, nuke, and wizard rounds? How are you meant to play effectively in a non valid hunting way? Are there any (in)famous detective players?

Detective is my favourite bit of sec to play, but you have to be willing to RP a little (I play on Main).

One of my favourite detective rounds, someone had bombed medbay with a beaker bomb. It had one set of fingerprints on it, so it seemed like a one and done case. The guy was a scientist so me and another sec went out to arrest him. However instead of just stunning him and shoving him in the brig for a few minutes, I decided to interrogate him. He denied all charges saying he had just seen the beaker and picked it up before running away. He said that another scientist had made it and armed it. So we grabbed the other one and interrogated him. He said that he had made the bomb and given it to the first scientist and that he had used it. So one of them was lying! Me and the other sec went around medbay trying to find more clues. Just then a janitor piped up and said that he had witnessed it. He said that he'd been at the explosion and the beaker had been thrown at the first scientist! He'd then cleaned up after the explosion (probably accidently removing the thrower prints). It was really satisfying to solve even a little mystery. 

For blob, and wizard rounds your investigative abilities don't really apply but you can serve similar to a normal sec without the arrests, so helping people, fighting the blob, getting drunk with the polymorphed captain, valid hunting Cluwnes, that sort of thing. Nukies interrupt a lot of jobs, but tracking an infil is really fun.

I guess my tips are to find one case/person and focus on it/them. The round moves too fast for you to really do any in-depth investigation if you try and spread out your efforts. Also too avoid valid hunting don't use your gun outside of self defence and not to make arrests, Its fun to cite damning evidence against someone, only for them to whip out a weapon and for you to have a shoot off, but its also fun to have them protest and to interrogate them. Also you have a ticketing machine for non-serious offences, so uncover the mystery of who killed Stir Stir and hit em with a fine for unlicensed executions. Or take bribes to cover up who destroyed the cap's bonsai.

Also pro-puffs best cigarettes and being drunk only improves your investigating abilities.

[Frank_Stein]

Collect intelligence. Use the cameras to check rooms of interest like Atmos periodically. Scan doors and check prints and cross reference who used it and if they are supposed to have access to that area or not. Take photographs of people. Slip spy stickers into prisoners gear.

As a Detective, your generally supposed to serve a more investigative role. You should be looking for crimes occurring, but focus more on the discovery than enforcement. That means keeping in contact with the Sec Team and letting them know which leads you're chasing, and when to call them in to take care of the arrest while you act as their backup.

Though, there are times when you have to go hardboiled. Unlike Sec's tasers, your revolver has lethal rounds that can pretty effectively kill a target. When it comes to beefier antags like Werewolves or Changelings, you can really put a dent in them. Still, you shouldn't be a loose cannon and only fire when absolutely necessary, or else the HoS might have to ask you to turn in your gun and your badge.

[Mrprogamer96]

A really under used thing detectives can do wile smoking is type in *monologue in some places and you will do a monologue.

[kyle2143]

Smoke. A lot.

[Danger Noodle]

If you don't have respiratory failure or cyberlungs by the end of the shift are you really a detective?

[KikiMofo]

The most dangerous part of the round for a detective is when they have to stop smoking to use a breath mask because the station has no air. THen you get the shakes and shit and start dropping your gun because of the nicotine addiction

[Lady Birb]

The most dangerous part of the round for a detective is when they have to stop smoking to use a breath mask because the station has no air. THen you get the shakes and shit and start dropping your gun because of the nicotine addiction

Can't you smoke a cigarette by putting it in your pocket?

[KikiMofo]

What? Can you? How does that work

[Mouse]

Smoking just checks to see if you have a cigarette equipped IIRC.  This includes pockets and hands, so you can smoke five cigs at once if you want.

[KikiMofo]

Wow. I guess I know how Im going to fucking get blasted on ageinum propuffs to sound like a fucking banshee