This page is designed to answer all the questions that I see floating around
the internet about people having trouble with progression. I got 100%
completion and here's what I discovered.

Table of Contents:
1. How do I know what to do for each mission?
2. How do I unlock new locations (and quickly)?
3. What if I can't get back to a location?
4. When do I see chatter on the bottom screen?
5. How do the random encounters work?
6. What if I don't want to walk around?
7. How do I play the stealth missions?
8. How do I play the wormhole missions?
9. I missed some of the chatter! How do I read what already scrolled off the
screen?
10. My charge shot is having trouble killing the big ghosts. Why?
11. How to look for signals safely and without staring at the screen.
12. What's a good strategy for fighting multiple shade types in a wave?
13. What if I have low health and another wave is coming?
14. How do I play the phasing minigame to make an invisible shade visible?
15. Uses and Upgrades of each Primary Mod.
16. Uses of and Upgrades of Each Support Mod.
17. Uses of and Upgrades of Each Basic Mod.
18. How do I destroy shade shields?
19. How do I defeat Brawns (the big tanky guys)?
20. What is a good ordering for leveling up your mods?
21. One More Tip.



1. How do I know what to do for each mission?
When you select a mission in the email tab (by double tapping it or tapping the
checkbox), there will be a symbol in the top right corner of the top screen.
Most missions require a new location, while some require you to revisit a
location. Safe locations and reinfected locations can be seen in the map. Safe
locations are a percentage of your total locations and are chosen seemingly
randomly each day.


2. How do I unlock new locations (and quickly)?
I played this game entirely within a few blocks radius, so finding new
locations is really not difficult. The game looks for unique wifi signals, so
go near buildings of any kind. My main play area was right around my house in a
small suburban neighborhood. The second area was downtown. I found on average
about 4 locations on every block. I actually seemed to find more in my suburban
neighborhood than downtown. Most signals are strong and I never had to leave
the sidewalk to find them (which I recommend because of cars). I understand
people not wanting to play in a grocery store or whatnot but you really don't
have to. Trust me, there is no shortage of wifi in most places.

Something very important to pay attention to is the the signal in the top left
corner. This indicates the proximity to a wifi signal. When it's filled in and
red, you are very close so wander slowly in the area as it takes a good few
seconds for the wifi detection to update.


3. What if I can't get back to a location?
No worries. Every day the safe locations and reinfected locations change. I
think this only happens if you turn the 3DS off, so don't keep it asleep and
hope for it to change. It does seem to be slightly buggy so if it didn't change
the next day, try turning the 3DS off and on again. If it still didn't change
for whatever reason (which didn't happen to me) there's always the next day :)
Also, it seems to favor the locations I visited most recently.

If you started the game on vacation or something and can't get back to any
previous locations, play some random encounters. These new locations will most
likely be used for missions the following day.


4. When do I see chatter on the bottom screen?
Most missions have chatter before the mission starts and after it ends. The
first chatter is separate from the mission and will pop up rather immediately.
I'm not positive on this point but it may not appear until you find a signal.


5. How do the random encounters work?
Random encounters are another great way to earn ectoplasm besides the VR
missions (see below). They activate whenever you are in a known location but
don't have a mission there or are in a new location but don't have any active
missions that need a new location. In other words, whenever you are in a signal
that you don't currently need. However, they do occasionally activate in new
locations, even if you do have an active mission that requires a new location.
Also, a bit of a warning, generally try to farm in known locations because if
you keep farming in new locations, each one is one less new location you can
use to progress in actual missions. That's going to increase your play radius.


6. What if I don't want to walk around?
If you are feeling particularly lazy sometimes, play a few VR missions to get
some extra ectoplasm. There's a plethora of VR missions by the end of the game
and you can play from the comfort of your own home. Plus, you'll certainly
appreciate the extra ectoplasm. But afterwards, stop being so lazy! ;) Of
course another thing you could do is only pull out your 3DS when you are in a
new location. You'd be surprised how often that is.


7. How do I play the stealth missions?
The first stealth mission just requires you to walk (although really it just
picks up on up and down movement if you don't want to walk while staring at a
screen. Still, I personally found walking up and down a sidewalk to be overall
easier.) The later stealth missions require you to keep the tuner bar in the
white mesh area while walking. You do this by sliding the meter on the touch
screen, which indirectly affects the tuner. Keep your thumb on the slider the
whole time for best results.


8. How do I play the wormhole missions?
Essentially, shoot ghosts, shoot rocks, avoid barriers. There are three power
ups. The diamond looking one is health, the green one is a booster that makes
you temporarily invincible, and the red one is a bomb. You have all your main
weapons, but the support weapons have been replaced by bombs, so once you
collect a bomb, press B to fire. It will destroy all rocks onscreen.


9. I missed some of the chatter! How do I read what already scrolled off the 
screen?
The chatter is a scrollable window. Just scroll it up to see any previous
chatter that popped up since you entered the scanner.


10. My charge shot is having trouble killing the big ghosts. Why?
You probably just need to charge it slightly longer. It needs to be fully
charged to kill them when they're stunned and for higher rankings the meter
shows it's fully charged just before it actually is.


11. How to look for signals safely and without staring at the screen.
You can glance occasionally at the screen to check your proximity to a signal,
but besides that, make sure you keep the sound on because there will be a beep
whenever text pops up or a mission starts. Always play on the sidewalk and
don't stare at the screen when crossing the street. When playing the stealth
game, make sure not to enter the street. If you run out of room, turn around
and head back the way you came.


12. What's a good strategy for fighting multiple shade types in a wave?
Since you can't take many hits within a mission, unless you get really
proficient at blocking, the trick is to figure out how to avoid taking hits. At
the beginning of the game, you mainly just have to be quicker than them, but as
the game progresses, there are increasingly necessary strategies. The shield
(polarity repellant) is critical for success and I recommend putting it rather
high on your upgrade list. Make sure you unlock it as soon as possible. When a
mission starts, wait a few seconds for the enemies to get into attack range
before activating the shield. Then, generally try to re-activate it as
frequently as possible. About two thirds of the way through the game you will
be able to unlock the pulse wave, which is also critical for later missions.
This mod knocks all enemies back and they take a few seconds to move back into
range before being able to attack again. I recommend switching to this as soon
as you activate the shield. It is most important to activate frequently when
the shield is down. Of course, don't forget to switch back to the shield when
the cooldown is over.

As far as the ordering to take out shades, the sneeks (kamikazes) are a decent
starting point because they have minimal health and inflict high damage if they
fly into you. The large spherical ones are another high priority because they
are easy targets and inflict the most damage. The little guy with six arms who
spits at you is the lowest priority because they do minimal damage and slowly.
The rest is a matter of preference, but brawns (big tanks) and the flyers both
do high damage so should probably be taken out before the skeletal melee
shades.

One more note, invisible shades are also invinicible, so if your radar is empty
but the mission is not over, try finding an invisible shade with the
Pyschotronic Phaser mod. The mix of visible and invisible only happens near the
end.


13. What if I have low health and another wave is coming?
Restore system integrity with the last shade, preferably a brawn. They are the
easiest to block because they have the longest tell and they also restore a lot
of integrity. Thus, saving one for the end of a wave is not a bad idea.


14. How do I play the phasing minigame to make an invisible shade visible?
See below under Phaser.


15. Uses and Upgrades of each Primary Mod:
Plasmatic Disruptor (starting single-shot weapon): your best all around default
weapon throughout the game that becomes incredibly powerful at max level

Fluxal Irradiator (Shotgun): most effective for one-shotting enemies that don't
move around a lot but also probably the least necessary of the weapons

Sonic Cacophocanon (Charge Weapon): the only way to kill the brawns until you
unlock the missile. Once they are stunned, a fully charged blast will kill
them. Works well in conjunction with stun shot (stun them then shoot)

Vorpal Atomizer (Homing Missile) – destroys enemy shields and instantly kills
all stunned enemies (except for the two main bosses).  Also, deals massive
damage. Mostly replaces the charge weapon since it shoots instantly and
destroys shields. 

EMC – Electromagnetic Cauterizer (Laser): unlocks once all side missions are
completed. Kills everything, destroys shields and has unlimited energy. Once
received, there is no reason to use any other primary mod. The earliest it can
be received is after the third to last mission.


16. Uses of and Upgrades of Each Support Mod:
Cross-field Tether – drains shades for capture. It is the only way to get rid
of the brawn until the charge shot is unlocked.  When there is only one enemy
left, it is recommended to use this because all enemies drop twice the amount
of ectoplasm when drained and scanned. Upgrading this makes it drain enemies
incredibly faster. Scanning only works when this is active and a drained shade
is onscreen. Some missions require this to be used by disabling all primary
mods. Additionally, it prevents a shade from attacking so you may find it
useful to hold a shade with the tether and then continue to shoot at it.

Ectoplasm Sensor (Phaser) – the first mod that can reveal invisible shades but
is rendered useless once the Pyschotronic Phaser mod is unlocked. With this mod
you must turn in place, using the hot cold sensor to find the purple cloud that
indicates an invisible shade and then press the fire button to trigger the
minigame. To complete, first move the slider on the Touch Screen until the
colors of the two waves match. Then, rotate the circle pad until the heights of
the two waves match.

Polarity Repellant (Shield) – an incredibly useful mod that renders the player
invincible while it is active. Use and upgrade often.

Pyschotronic Phaser (Reveal Invisible) – Effectively replaces the Ectoplasm
Sensor. Use the hot cold to find the purple cloud and then shoot it to make the
shade instantly visible. On the first rank, it is fairly hard to shoot targets
that move quickly, so upgrading this is very useful, as it makes the weapon
fire faster. At max level, it fires like a machine gun, making it very easy to
reveal any target.

Phantomatic Stunner – Stuns an enemy for a few seconds. The duration of the
stun is dependent on the level of the weapon as well as on the enemy. This is
most useful against brawns, as brawns can be instantly killed when stunned,
making the stun shot/missile combo devastating against them.
Pulse Discharger (Pulse Shockwave) – Knock enemies back, out of attack range.
Great for buying time so that enemies cannot attack. Frequent use is very
important in later missions. 


17. Uses and Upgrades of each Basic Mod:
Ecto-zorber – Sucks in ectoplasm. At max level, it will suck up all ectoplasm,
even if it is not onscreen. This is critical for not missing ectoplasm in the
middle of an intense battle.

Spectral Shield – Hold to activate and release to allow it to recharge. Reduces
damage from attacks based on how long it has been up. If it is activated just
before an attack lands, it will restore the amount of system integrity that the
attack would have dealt if not blocked. Easiest to restore system integrity
against brawns.

Dissolution Scanner – activates when triggering the tether whenever a drained
shade is visible onscreen


18. How do I destroy shade shields?
Shields can be destroyed by latching on with your tether and then jerking in
one direction, then back in the opposite direction quickly.


19. How do I defeat Brawns (the big tanky guys)?
Either shoot them until they are stunned or shoot them with the Phantomatic
Stunner to instantly stun them. Then, before the stun runs out, shoot them with
a fully charged Sonic Cacophocanon or Vorpal Atomizer.


20. What is a good ordering for leveling up your mods?
This is largely a matter of opinion but the top of my upgrade tier list is
plasmatic disruptor, polarity repellant, Tether and Psychotronic Phaser. After
those would probably be the missile and Ecto-zorber. Besides those, just choose
what you like best. Every mod has its useful functions.


21. One More Tip:
When you enter the scanner, the bottom screen will show how many active
missions you have and will have symbols to remind you what type of locations
you are looking for.

And one more thing, enjoy! The later missions get crazy intense.