Pragmata Hacking Guide — How to Hack Enemies and Terminals

Hacking is a core mechanic in Pragmata and is handled by Diana. Without her, you won’t be able to progress smoothly in fights or while exploring the lunar sectors. With her help, you can unlock closed rooms, disable laser traps, and reveal enemy weak spots to deal much more damage. In this guide, we’ll break down how hacking works in Pragmata, the types of nodes and modes available, and how to use hacking in both combat and puzzles.

To start hacking in combat, just aim your weapon. Diana will instantly bring up the hacking menu with a grid of cells. Hold down the action button and draw a line from the starting point to the green cell. If you complete the hack, the enemy will be hacked and their weak points will be exposed, making Hugh’s weapons deal much more damage. Hacked enemies are marked with a special symbol above their health bar. On the left side of the grid, there’s a timer showing how long the enemy will stay vulnerable.

Hacking itself also deals a decent amount of damage, especially at higher upgrade levels. The higher Diana’s hacking skill, the longer the vulnerability window and the higher the base damage. You can also improve the process with Hugh’s suit mods, like increasing hack duration, range, hacking strength, and other parameters.

The damage from hacking depends directly on the number of blue cells your line passes through. Don’t worry about the arrows on blue cells—they don’t affect the hack’s direction or add any extra mechanics.

With hacking, you can:

In addition to standard hacking, Pragmata has two related combat mechanics—overload and overheat. Both give you more control over enemies, but they work differently and are useful in different situations.

During the first boss fight, Diana will teach you how to use Overload. This is a powerful area attack that disables robots, exposes their weak points, and stuns them for a good amount of time. You can trigger Overload by hacking enemies as usual. In the lower left corner, you’ll see a circular gauge showing your ultimate charge. Use it as often as possible to gain a big advantage against groups of robots or tough single enemies.

Overheat is a hacking mechanic where Hugh can land a critical hit on an enemy once the orange bar under their health is full. You can build up overheat by hacking frequently, using special modes, yellow nodes, and certain types of weapons.

As you progress, you’ll unlock new types of nodes and extra upgrades for Diana. Some boost hacking damage, others help you control enemies, or make the hacking process more challenging.

While hacking enemies, you can come across the following matrix nodes:

Yellow nodes have special effects that activate when you pass through the corresponding yellow cell in the hacking matrix. They have a limited number of uses—usually two or three. Equipped hacking nodes disappear completely after they’ve been triggered a certain number of times in combat. The game gives out yellow nodes pretty generously, so there’s no need to save them for later.

It’s important to learn how to use yellow nodes effectively in battle. Even though you get plenty, you should use them thoughtfully and pick the right targets. For example, a node that hacks multiple enemies at once is best for large fights, while a node that lowers resistance or increases the hacking window is better for single tough robots.

To get the most out of yellow nodes, combine them with the right weapons. Some combos, like net and overheat, can create really powerful effects during fights.

The further you progress in the game, the more hacking upgrades become available. One of the most important is hacking modes, which you unlock at the printer as you level up your shelter.

Modes are equipped in a loadout slot just like regular nodes, but you can only use one at a time. Each hacking mode offers unique advantages:

Hacking in the game world is not just for fighting enemies. Diana constantly helps Hugh move through sectors by opening up new paths. To interact with the environment, look for glowing red triangles or panels: terminals, locks, and doors. Approach them and start hacking in a similar way—this launches a separate mini-game that is different from the standard combat matrix.

There are two main types of puzzles:

These puzzles are almost always timed. If the timer is running out too quickly and you know you won’t make it, just cancel the hack and start over. It’s better to spend a few extra seconds than take damage.

Early in the game, it’s most useful to upgrade vulnerability duration, base hacking damage, and effects that help you control groups of enemies. Later on, you can start customizing modes and nodes to fit your weapons and preferred combat style.