This guide covers a route through Citadel Station that should allow you to clock in comfortably well under the time limit for the Mission 3 difficulty. That includes enough breathing room to take any particular section a little bit slower than is shown and to do some additional backtracking to recharge, heal, or salvage as desired.

This isn't meant to be a speedrun guide, so the path charted and resources collected should be more accessible than trying to get the quickest clear possible. So if you're wondering why there's a stop to pick up additional medpatches on a given path despite only using food and one medkit per level to heal, that's to allow for more give and take there. I've tried to highlight sections on each path that can be skipped if you're doing well, as well as areas where more resources can be collected if you need to.

The particular run here goes for 0% security on every floor, which is not required unless you're going for the relevant achievement. That can give a little structure and let you explore each level a little more fully rather than feeling like you've "skipped over" anything in a run, but be aware that this is entirely optional. Reactor in particular is one to consider not going for 0% security, as the camera in the armory requires an otherwise skippable trip to cyberspace.

There is a YouTube playlist of the gameplay videos available, with the individual videos linked below.

Here is a high level outline of the route taken throughout the run:

• Medical
  
• Research
  
• Reactor (Laser)
  
• Maintenance (First Visit)
  
• Flight Deck
  
• Storage
  
• Travel (Through Maintenance)
  
• Executive/Groves
  
• Maintenance (Eject Beta Grove)
  
• Executive (Eject Beta Grove)
  
• Travel (Optional stop to Maintenance)
  
• Engineering
  
• Travel (Through Maintenance)
  
• Reactor
  
• Travel (Through Maintenance, Executive)
  
• Security
  
• Bridge

To highlight the choices that were made for the path:

• The first trip to Reactor is minimal, visiting the Regen Bay but otherwise doing the minimum to prep for the laser.
  
• The laser rapier is picked up in the first pass through Maintenance, which does clear out security to the extent possible (55%).
  
• Of the remaining levels, Flight Deck is tackled first to obtain the V2 boots.
  
• Storage is tackled next to grab the Enviropack and plastique for later.
  
• Executive is cleared along with the Alpha, Delta, and Beta groves, in that order. Groves are done pretty quickly using the boots, avoiding some unnecessary encounters.
  
• Maintenance is cleared fully during the eject sequence, and returning to Executive avoids the cluster of Security 1 bots that spawn where Diego was fought.
  
• An optional stop is done at Maintenance to consolidate inventory and get the cargo elevator prepped for Security. Obviously not 100% necessary, but also pretty brief.
  
• Ammo for the Shotgun is nearly exhausted by the final Reactor trip so that it can be left behind when going to security. Likewise, teflon ammo is exhausted during Security so that the Skorpion can be ditched for a fresh Railgun.
  
• The Ion Rifle and Plasma Rifle are both skipped over entirely. The Sparq is also left behind when going to Security. YMMV, but in late game ammunition based weapons are powerful enough to deal with enemies while leaving energy reserves for movement and shields.

This run takes some time on Medical in order to leave with a good stock of supplies. That includes the three medkits found in the level along with the magnum, a pile of medpatches, assorted grenades, and enough credits for a couple of mods.

You can get all of that done in under 25 minutes, and it puts you on a pretty good footing to tackle the following levels.

Here there's a little more focus on getting objectives completed over collecting everything in sight. The sparq mod will prove useful, while skipping over some additional shotgun ammo seems like a good idea.

No early grab of the laser rapier, particularly since minimal time is spent on Reactor. And there's no need to scrounge for more resources on Reactor rather than just prepping for the laser.

Just a little bit more than a quick pass through. One thing of note is that you can grab enough Dragon's Breath ammo on site to easily clear out the Alpha Strain lurking in the corridors.

Obtaining the laser rapier and V2 sensaround will be useful going forward. Sensaround may be overlooked in how well it allows you to spot enemies around corners and gauge when they're close enough for a quick rapier takedown.

Grabbing the V2 boots from Flight Deck early is a very solid choice. And destroying the CPU node can be done very quickly. This route goes a step farther than that in obtaining all 3 weapon mods from the level.

The lifepod bay, cyberspace sequence, and executive office ambush are all skipped over. None of those have irreplaceable loot, and the plan is to go straight to Security after Reactor, skipping the optional attempt of using the lifepods.

This route grabs a lot of the resources available on the Storage level, as you can keep a fairly good pace even while visiting most places on the level. The ending visits to Storage 4 and Storage 6 can be cut out pretty easily to save additional time. But picking up heavier weaponry and additional inventory space is probably worth the minimal amount of time needed.

Though Beta Grove most clearly puts you on a timer, all of these can be buzzed through pretty quickly with the V2 boots. The mutants don't have loot drops for you, and cameras can often be sniped from a distance in the more open spaces.

The V2 shield, second inventory expansion, and magpulse mod are really the only pickups worth noting unless you want the Ion Rifle as well.

Executive is a larger, more sprawling level and has multiple places that need to be visited. But it's not as interconnected as it might appear at first, so there's a pretty straight line that can be traced through it. Particularly if you're set on avoiding the lengthy cyberspace sequence.

Skipping over the executive suites in Beta as well would be an easy way to take this below 15 minutes.

Only once you attempt to use the Master Jettison Enable can you really explore the full Maintenance level. Crawling through the tunnels infested with Security 1 robots can be a real showcase for a now-upgraded magpulse.

Dealing with the hide-and-peek corridor shooting there and subsequent ambushes on the return to the Executive level isn't anything too hazardous, but you can definitely feel the number of combat encounters start to ramp up from here on out.

Engineering is certainly one of the more involved levels to tackle. But you can greatly simplify things by heading to the core straight away, where you can activate the Regen Bay, disable the core locks, and make your way to the CPU nodes and administrator's cyberjack. You don't even need to pick up the V3 boots first, as standing on the ladder handrail allows you to make the jump with the V2 boots.

NOTE: To give a little more detail on that core jump, it's best to stand on the raised handrail of the ladder and then crouch as you get up to the walkway to make it up to the 3rd level using the V2 boots. If you do both of these things you should be able to make it up there reliably. If this gives you too much trouble, you can make a detour to pick up the V3 boots first.

Reactor is a fairly brief stopover on your last trip. Even in this visit, where I go for 0% security after doing near the minimum on the first trip, clocks in at under 10 minutes.

There are a couple of ambushes from a Security 3 Robot and Mutant Cyborg to fight through, but the Hoppers that populate the level are a lot less threatening than they used to be. And the Death Roombas aren't a sneaky surprise any more.

This is the start of the final stretch. While not as large as Engineering, Security has the start of heavy resistance. But it still can be completed fairly quickly, even if going for 0% security.

Between the weaponry stockpiled through a run and the large caches on the level, SHODAN's forces don't stand a chance.

Here we have the final level. The level of resistance ramps up again, with a number of gauntlets to face. But the Hacker can plow through each one of them.

Notwithstanding what you bring with you, there's a generous amount of resources on the level. More than enough to end things.

2023-07-26 Guide posted, sections complete through Executive.
2023-07-28 Updated with Engineering map and video.
2023-07-30 Updated with Security map and video.
2023-07-31 Updated with Maint/Exec Beta Grove ejection maps and video.
2023-08-01 Updated with Bridge map and video.
2023-08-02 Finished off with the Reactor video.
2023-10-16 Added note regarding the Engineering jump for those having trouble.