Pragmata: Every Hacking Mode, Ranked

1 hour ago 3

Pragmata Combust Mode, Hacking Grid, Hugh and Diana

Published May 3, 2026, 5:18 PM EDT

Aden Carter is a Freelance Writer at DualShockers who has been covering games professionally since 2020. He specializes in lists and guides, with a focus on RPGs, horror games, survival horror, Soulslikes, cozy/sim games, and action-adventure titles.

Before joining DualShockers, Aden contributed to GameRant, XDA, Gamepur, Impulse Gamer, and WePC. He currently also works with GameSandwich and VideoGamer, where he handles guide content, news, and reviews for the latest games. Across his games writing career, he has worked as a freelance writer, staff writer, and editor, with experience reviewing around 40 games and interviewing multiple indie developers. Aden holds a B.A. in Creative Writing for Entertainment.

A big part of the combat in Pragmata is being able to hack into the systems of the various bot types, opening them up and allowing you to damage them. Throughout the game, you will unlock various means of increasing your hacking ability.

One way that your hacking will get enhanced is through Mode Chips. These chips will allow you to access different hacking modes, giving your hacks special bonuses that will further the damage you deal, open enemies up for longer, or even increase the amount of heat you generate.

Let's break down every hacking mode in Pragmata, and rank them based on how much they help in combat.

5 Hybrid Mode

Opening Robots Longer

The third hacking Mode Chip you will unlock in Pragmata is the Hybrid Mode, and it is the first entry on the list. This Mode Chip makes it so open nodes and offensive nodes generate equally when hacking enemies that are exposed. It also increases your damage and extends the open duration.

While this ability seems great at first, it is not the best when compared to the other Mode Chips. It slightly increases the open duration of enemies, giving you more time to shoot them before they close. It also gives you offensive nodes that deal damage.

Since it is split between the two, you don't get the full benefit of either, making your hacks deal less damage than the Strike Mode Chip. You can easily replace this mode with a mod, and it will help you out more.

4 Strike Mode

Enemies Close Their Armor

Strike mode is pretty great, but it has one slightly annoying flaw. For starters, this Mode Chip turns all the open nodes into strike nodes that deal damage when hacking enemies that are exposed.

Gunfire during the hack will increase the damage of the next hack. This is great, and it can deal a lot of damage when you hack an enemy while they are exposed. The downside to this Mode Chip is that enemies automatically close their armor when you complete the hack.

This drawback is a bit annoying, as it makes it so you have to hack an enemy to expose them again. You are better off using a mod to keep enemies exposed longer and then using your weapons to deal more damage.

3 Offense Mode

Go on the Offensive

The first Mode Chip you can unlock in Pragmata is Offense Mode, and it is a great starting Mode Chip. It turns open nodes into offensive nodes whenever you hack an exposed enemy. Passing through these offensive nodes or shooting an enemy will increase the damage of the next hack.

Basically, this Mode Chip is like Strike Mode, but better, since it doesn't make enemies automatically close their armor after the hack. This means that you can consistently hack an exposed enemy while shooting them to deal more damage with your next hack.

Combine this with mods that keep enemies exposed for longer, and you will be able to deal even more damage via your hacking abilities, thanks to having more opportunities to hack enemies that are exposed.

Boost Your Abilities

Throughout the game, you will unlock different hacking nodes. These are extremely useful, as they allow you to alter your hack, giving it various effects on enemies like freezing, confusing, or exposing them.

The Boost Mode Chip allows you to enhance these abilities, making them last longer or have more potent effects. For instance, you can allow the multihack node to affect more enemies, or the decode node to further increase the damage you deal to affected enemies.

The benefits of this Mode Chip cannot be understated, as all the hacking nodes are extremely useful during combat, and if you choose the correct ones, you can more efficiently take down enemies.

1 Combust Mode

Catching Fire

As you shoot enemies, you will notice that there is a bar that fills up. The more you hit them, the more this bar fills up. Once full, the enemy will be overheated, shutting them down, exposing them, and allowing you to deal even more damage.

The Combust Mode Chip turns open nodes into heat nodes when hacking exposed enemies. Gunfire or passing through heat nodes boosts the heat gauge buildup, making it much easier to overheat enemies.

This is incredibly useful when dealing with larger enemies, or even large groups of enemies, as you can quickly overheat your foes, giving you space to move and damage them.

Combining this with the multihack node or even combining it with the Skirmisher mod will further enhance the capabilities of this Mode Chip, making it the best one to use.