Without the Keypad Hacker its impossible to progress beyond the very early stages of the game, rendering all your hard work purifying water and farming pointless. How do you unlock the keypad hacker? This guide will tell you exactly what you'll need, as well as how to get hold of the rarest materials.
Materials You'll Need for the Keypad Hacker
You will need to combine three items at a powered crafting bench in order to build the keypad hacker. These are a controller, an LCD screen, and an infrared emitter. Each of these items must themselves be constructed as they do not exist as pickups.
In order to build these items you will need the following common materials from around the facility:
- 1x Glowstick (can be built from a test tube and bio scrap)
- 2x Glass Scraps (go break some windows if you don't have any handy)
- 2x Boxes of Screws (either find them or make them from metal scrap)
- 2x Desk Phones (loot offices to find these)
- 2x Keyboards (loot offices to find these)
- 3x Case Fan (smash computers/electronics to locate)
- 6x Tech Scrap (smash computers/electronics to locate)
- 10x Circuit Boards (smash computers/electronics to locate)
If it was this simple that would be the end of it, but unfortunately each of the three hacking device components also requires a Security Bot CPU. These can be difficult to farm without the correct strategy.
How to Farm Security Bot CPUs to Unlock the Hacker in Abiotic Factor
Under normal circumstances the security bots only come out at night, meaning you have to wait through an entire day before you can start killing them for their CPUs. However, if you keep hitting an occupied security bot charging station during the day it will eventually wake the bot and it will attack you.
The easiest one to find and fight is in the level one plaza. To find its charging station turn right immediately at the fountain. The robot can be killed with melee or ranged weapons. However it will take a long time to kill with early game weaponry such as the pipe club or crossbow.
Traps will make this a lot easier. If you prepare the area around it with a shock trap or two, it will be stunned every time it walks on one and allow you to get a few free hits in. Make sure to move away quickly though as it is very powerful when it attacks.
It will always aggro to the nearest enemy so if you are playing co-op you can easily lead it back and forth without it ever getting in range to hit anyone.
Once you've got it down you will need to take it apart with your knife, in the same way you would a fleshy body, in order to get at the components you need. Rinse and repeat at least three times to get the materials you need. Then bon voyage and happy hacking.
How to Use the Keypad Hacker
To use the keypad hacker once built, simply equip it to your hands, and approach a door locked with a keypad.
A warning appears showing the door 'requires hacking'. Click the interact key ('E' by default) and this will automatically hack the door, allowing it to be opened. Remember though, the Level 1 keypad hacker can only unlock doors requiring Class 1 Clearance; you will need to upgrade the hacker to Level 2, and finally to Level 3, in order to unlock doors with higher clearance ratings.
That's all for now, but before you go, check out all the Best survival games from 2023 here on Pro Game Guides.
