'High Quality Runner' - Possible bug?

[Alex Fury]

Just yesterday I saw the rumor that a certain zone had the higher-quality runners. So hoofed it over and hit the VIP lounge. Quite an expensive dude. Seemed about 25-50% more expensive than usual.

The massive letdown was that he was just as newbie as anyone else. 1's in all AP-figure stats (dex, int, per), only a 2, maybe 3 tops in the firearms (I either went for gunslinger or sniper, don't recall now.

Basically, a waste of money. ARE they supposed to start with higher stats? Or at least more xp off the bat? He only had about 10.. Pretty minimal.

And to tack on one other bit of wondering I've been doing: I can see why a merc (gang wimp) would start with health/mental 5/5 or such.. But you'd think an actual runner would keep themselves in a BIT better shape. I've had more than once where I rent a runner, leave the bar to an encounter that goes sour, and he gets killed off the bat, because he literally cannot take a hit.
This goes triple for if I actually pre-purchased gear for him, equip him up, and he still dies almost instantly. ARGH (and even not when on Brutal. though I'm fearing that)

[fallen]

Alex Fury - thanks for the bug report! I have added #CK-2164 to take a look at this, and the balance of Runners starting stats in the near term!

[Cory Trese]

Like everything in CK, it's a dice roll. The runners get much much bigger dice rolls.

We're working on some new options for recruits, but right now the Rumors, some luck and a bit of Cyberware will give you *great* results.

Thanks!

[Cory Trese]

Couple of points here.

#1 - The SUPERIOR PERSONNEL Rumor type does not increase the cost of the Runners. There is a note in the game "don't ask for extra money, might be a waste." I bet you were getting a cross-impact from other rumor or your difficulty setting.

#2 - It rolls dice to see how superior they are. There was a chance they were not very superior. I've buffed that roll a bit, so you always see some impact.

#3 - I've increased the starting HP and MP for Runners on the lower difficulties.