How to use Shadows of Doubt upgrades and SyncDisks

Sep. 23, 2024

Character upgrades in Shadows of Doubt are done in Sync Clinic with Disks and Vials

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The Shadows of Doubt upgrades to your character require SyncDisks, special cyberpunk chips slotted into your neck that grant new abilities. On top of that, SyncDisk Upgrade Vials can further enhance the effects of certain disks, increasing the modifier or chance of bonus that the disc grants you. However, despite SyncDisks and upgrades being some of the most significant rewards in Shadows of Doubt, installing them and how that’s done isn’t made especially clear - so we’ll explain how it’s done below.

How to use SyncDisks in Shadows of Doubt and upgrade your character

If you have a SyncDisk in Shadows of Doubt and want to upgrade yourself, here’s how it’s done:

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There are 18 types of SyncDisk found throughout the game, and while you can have them all installed at once, the fact that you can only have one of the several upgrades each one offers means that you can’t have every upgrade active, sorry to say.

SyncDisk upgrades provide all kinds of bonuses - from new ways to earn money to better chance to convince people to cooperate, to immunity to certain status effects. If you regret the choice you made when you had one installed, you can uninstall it at the same Chamber, then make a new selection of upgrade when you find it again.

SyncDisk and upgrade locations in Shadows of Doubt are somewhat randomised, meaning that finding a specific type is difficult, though there are consistent methods to finding them generally.

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Joel Franey is a writer, journalist, podcaster and raconteur with a Masters from Sussex University, none of which has actually equipped him for anything in real life. As a result he chooses to spend most of his time playing video games, reading old books and ingesting chemically-risky levels of caffeine. He is a firm believer that the vast majority of games would be improved by adding a grappling hook, and if they already have one, they should probably add another just to be safe. You can find old work of his at USgamer, Gfinity, Eurogamer and more besides.

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