Is there any way to make this overpriced card suck less?

It's actually not all that bad. Even taking into account the click cost for every piece of ice, it's STILL decent. It'd be bad if it was a single-type icebreaker but it's a generic (so it can break any kind of ice, including normally unbreakable ones like Data Mine)  and it's Neutral (so it can easily fit in any deck). Oh, and it's a virus so it synergizes with the anarch identity Noize.

I can see the synergy with Noize, but each type of ice has a better icebreaker than Crypsis. Even with a limited cardpool, I don't think it's worth playing with. 

Knapik said:

It's main function (other than random synergy) is as a universal fix-it. You're trading efficiency for utility. Heck, in most situations you aren't even losing much efficiency, it's only ~2 ecc more expensive on the average.

It's all about oppertunity cost. If you are trying to keep your deck as close to 45 cards as possible, and you should be, saving space is always appealing. Instead of running up to 9 cards to cover all ice eventualities (3 for each type of ice), instead you can run with less since you have a card that can fill multiple roles. This lets you use the card space freed up for other things, such as situational cards (Femme Fatal) or luxury cards that aren't required for the deck to function but still help a lot (Icecarver and most consoles).

signoftheserpent said:

If there's nothing coming out of the stack and this is the only icebreaker you have (believe me, I've seen many games like this), then it suddenly becomes the best thing you've got. 

I think Special Order is the answer if you're not getting the ice you need, not playing with a sub-par icebreaker. I play with a couple of each type of breaker and 3 x Special Order, and hitting the type I need rarely is a problem. I can see how Crypsis is decent as it is just slightly worse than the best breakers for each type (not taking into account the wasted click), just not my style.

Toloran said:

radioactivemouse said:

signoftheserpent said:

That's assuming you are using ONLY crypsis. Special Order helps but if you can only get once icebreaker and there are multiple types of ice on the field (which is very possible even in the early game), you are kinda out of luck. This is especially true if you don't know what ice is in play yet. It's strength is in the early to mid game not the late game. If you only have one ice on the field in the early game, you want crypsis since it'll work on any ice. In the mid to late game when you have a full suite of icebreakers, it's no longer needed. Also, running all those different icebreakers means you have less space for other spiffy programs like Magnum Opus and all those tasty virus cards.

Toloran said:

If you are running other icebreakers, you won't need crypsis.

I wouldn't run crypsis asd well as magnus opus because of the cost.

Crypsis is a Joker card, and as such, can be quite useful under the right circumstances. It is expansive sure, but it also breaks everything and has no limitations whatsoever. As a result, Crypsis can be the difference between win and loss if you know when to use it.

Rince said:

Under the right circumstances, sure. Under other circumstances, the clicks used to power Crypsis in addition to the extra credits for using this instead of using better icebreakers can be the difference between winning and losing. I think using the best cards available along with Special Order to get those cards is the way to go.

Knapik said:

I'm fairly certain that this statement can prefix discussion of just about any card in the stack. They all play a role, but aren't universally and efficiently applicable in any situation.

IMO, Crypsis is a nice card to include in the core, as it fills in the holes where each runner faction is lacking; the duct tape of icebreakers. But as more cards are being released to take up some of that slack in a more cost efficient manner, it will become less desirable over time.

riastradh said:

Messenger said:

It's also an AI and although there aren't any cards that interact with AIs specifically yet, I don't doubt there will be some in the future.

Excellent point, Toloran.

Mechanically speaking, the only real problem with Crypsis is its need to be loaded with a virus counter beforehand, and that's only if you want to save it from destroying itself. If you only need to crack one ICE with it in order to win the game, then there's no issue.

That said, a player is more than likely to need to keep it around to break more than just one piece of ICE, whether in a single run or in multiple runs. That's when the virus counter's cost in clicks becomes painful.

As a Criminal player, I can tell you that such is the only drawback to Crypsis. Its installation cost, memory cost and operating cost is cheaper and/or more efficient than almost anything Criminals now have. Crypsis' zero strength isn't even an issue given that or when compared to Criminal icebreakers simply because the former won't cost you as much as the latter would. What stops it from completely replacing Criminal icebreakers is how it slows down the Runner player, which goes against the Criminals' speed advantage.