[minor spoilers] The Faceless at Rail Crossing

[Akimbo]

I can't seem to find any definite clarification here.

If I smashed their plasma sentries and killed all the faceless except the mindreader will I incur a negative penalty? Is it based on saving Buzzer?

There's a check to see if you're at "war" with them at RC, but they're hostile by default? (First time I've encountered them.)

My understanding of the DC Faceless' dialog is as follows:

* Start with 0 attitude points
* Add 1 point if you finished the Faceless recon mission near Foundry, unless the Faceless near Foundry are at war with you
* Add 1 point if you did not kill the Faceless mindreader in Buzzer's shop, unless the Faceless near Buzzer's shop are at war with you
* Add 1 point if you released the captured Faceless in the Black Crawlers' hideout, did not drop him, and did not attack him
* Remove 1 point if the Faceless group in Buzzer's shop are at war with you(for example, if you attacked them)
* Set the points to -5 if you released the Black Crawler Faceless and then attacked him
* Set the points to -5 if you killed the Black Crawler Faceless by dropping him
* Set the points to -5 if the Faceless group near Foundry are at war with you(for example, if you attacked them)

The dialog files themselves are kind of annoying to read by hand, so you should distrust this next part. But I think I see checks for:
* If the attitude points != 3, then something
* If the attitude points > 0, then something
* If the attitude points > 1, then something
* If the attitude points > 3, then something(this might refer to negative numbers? Or there might be one other way to get a +1 point to attitude that I didn't catch)

If you unpack your save file, the bytes immediately to the right of 'loc_dc_flo_attitudeCalculation' should have the value of the attitude points above after you talk to the commander.

In other words, I don't see a direct reference to checking whether Buzzer was allowed to die. It's possible that saving him marks those Faceless as being at war with you, in a manner that escaped my casual inspection, which would have the same effect.

Suggests I'll never be able to become allies with the Faceless on this run through?

[Akimbo]

They're hostile, yes, but it's possible to avoid killing them. Sneak your way into Buzzer's shop upstairs (doable even without stealth through the burrower tunnel) and talk with the mindreader. Doesn't matter if you can save Buzzer or not. Disabling or destroying the robots also should not matter.

Since you killed faceless in Buzzer's shop you probably won't be able to get allied with them. But you should be able to stay on neutral terms, depending on your future interactions with the faceless.

Thanks, yeah I could have easily got past them, but xp is xp... Oh well, guess them's the breaks!

Will this change the story in a significant way or is it just some extra allies for the end game?

[YawaUR]

I killed all the Faceless in and around Buzzer's shop (also I didn't let the Mindreader get a chance to speak to me), saved Buzzer and I had them ally with me. I didn't disable the plasma walkers. I have to admit it was a surprise to have the commander call me a friend after that but I won't argue with him.

E:
For the other checks, I saved the injured Faceless with an advanced health typo, I did their little recon quest.
I also fought and killed a group of Faceless I found wandering seemingly independently in Core City (or near enough, the area has a few tents, I believe an old man psi user and you follow a metal path into a cave to find the Faceless).

[Altos]

In my last playthrough I disabled the bots and killed all of the Faceless in Buzzer's shop except for the Mindreader, who I talked to and persuaded to let Buzzer live. When I went to DC, the Commander allied with me. Of course, I also saved the injured Faceless w/ an advanced health hypo, helped them out at Foundry, and was diplomatic with the Faceless in the Institute. Granted, I also slaughtered the Faceless party southwest of the merchants in Core City.
So unless this is unintentional, I believe that as long as you talk to the Mindreader and either a.) let them kill Buzzer or b.) persuade them into letting him live, you should be able to become allied to the Faceless in DC assuming you perform well in the other checks.