I'm writing this again: this guide is not spoiler free. If you are afraid of the phenomenon called spoilers you may take your leave.
This is a rough sketch, I wanted to post it as soon as possible so there's no screenshots or any other references, I will add it later.

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Accessible from Mines branch at -10 or -9. To know if there's an entrance to the branch look at your log after entering Mines, it should be saying Something is scanning the area. The entrance itself is hidden behind dirt walls which will disappear after you close by (insert screenshot there). After entering the branch step into the machine one of the robots offers you (insert screenshot there).

• Farcom, the sensor ability granting you the power of Lrn. Sensor Array with Exp. Signal Interpreter only for hostile 0b10 robots for free in every 0b10 floor (so you are missing on caves branches and several others).
  
• Access to Vault which has 3 very strong items, one from each EX robot you met in the branch. Some may appeal as bad, some are insanely good and some are questionable. You can grab only one type (so if there are several sentries grab them all) if you don’t want to meet consequences (see Cons). This condition is only applied to vault items.
  
• Further to the west there are several stashes of matter pods and storage units, you can grab it for free.

• Farcom locks you out of Imprinting and adds significant challenge to Research branches. You can safely enter Zion but no Imprinting. Enter Research branches with Farcom only if you prepared for pain and despair.
  
• If you decide to betray Exiles by grabbing more than one type of vault item you will lose Farcom. Moreover, in every type of cave (Lower, Upper and Proximity) special robots, Master Thieves, will be sent at you. They have special weapons with the ability to steal your equipped items. If they succeed they will run away from the map. On the bright side, you can Imprint and visit Research branches again.

Powerful item~less sensor ability with powerful item allows you to get basic wins with ease. Choosing Farcom is a great option for new players and those who want an easy time playing the game. At the same time, players who are confident in their abilities can grab every Vault item, suffer the penalty and play as if nothing happened.

Accessible from Zion which is accessible from Lower Caves at -7 or -6. To get there you need to enter caves from Factory floor, the general rule of cave branches is go west. You need to travel through two caves levels (so the route looks next: Factory -> Lower Caves -> Lower Caves -> Zion).
Sometimes in Caves or even Mines, you can meet a robot who will open the shortcut for you. After entering Zion you need to go bottom left and step into the Imprinting machine.

• Quarantine array at the base entrance will purge corruption.
  
• Right after Imprinting you get free allies in Zion.
  
• Powerful imprinting hacks at terminals. You can get non-controllable allies (they are purple), Haulers with items (you can order them to drop their loot) and various information about floor you are on and Complex in general.
  
• You ping terminals nearby.
  
• You will get allies from the seals on Command.

• You are no longer able to use normal hacks on terminals. That means things as checking and lowering alert, revealing traps and exits is not possible for Imprinted Cogmind. Other machines (Repair stations, Scanalyzers and etc) are not affected.
  
• After some time you used the first terminal on the floor you will be cut off meaning every new terminal you find will be disabled (can't interact with it).
  
• If there are operators near terminals pinged by you they will lock it and call reinforcements thus rising alert.
  
• You will lose the Imprinting if you enter ZDC.

Imprinting is a powerful toolkit for the player offering flexible solution be it combat, flight, hacking or whatever your run is. Not as powerful for new players as Farcom, even nerfed Imprinting will remain a solid option to play with.

Accessible from Upper Caves at -5 or -4. To get there you need to enter caves from Factory floor, the general rule of cave branches is go west. You need to travel through two caves levels (so the route looks next: Factory -> Lower Caves -> Lower Caves -> Warlord).
Sometimes in caves, you can meet a robot who will open the shortcut for you. After that, you need to find Warlord himself in the base and talk with him.

• Quarantine array at the base entrance will purge corruption.
  
• In the Warlord room you will find a big door with terminal nearby, you can break the door or wall or input the code you've got from Data Miner for the goods.
  
• If you didn't imprint after talking with Warlord you will be aligned with him, leading him to help you at -2.
  
• There's a special lab room containing vortex weapons, it has a unique entropic damage type and disposable integrity mechanic.
  
• Various items on the floor, explore and learn lore.
  
• You will get allies from the seals on Command.

• Warlord map will be attacked after some time spent on it, expect some attrition and resistance, you may even die if cards fell wrong.
  
• Attack on -2 will shut down every machine on it and spawn various 0b10 squads to fight back the Warlord attack. This, however, can be a pro.

The Warlord stash and vortex lab have really powerful items for end game and Warlord attack on -2 can relieve the stress of combat player on that floor. At the same time, however, flight players could regret the inability to hack on -2 and attack can mess their scheduling. 0b10 prototypes on the floor have decent items so choosing Warlord for looting isn't a bad idea either. In general, I think Warlord suits combat players more than flight, however, Warlord can give both final pushes for the victory.

To get RIF you must enter the Garrison by unlocking the door in the hacking menu. The earliest garrison available is located at -8, or at -9 Storage. You are, however, allowed to RIF at any floor with Garrisons.

• Real time influence (alert) monitoring.
  
• Easier time with Garrisons, you ping it if it's nearby, have 100% chance to unlock or seal the door and alert doesn't passively increase in the Garrison.
  
• Access to powerful robot hacking tools. RIF itself gives you access to new hacks but you gain more hacks by using couplers (new hacking utilities for RIF players). Couplers can be found in Garrisons, both internally and externally (you can break the Garrison to get some or use special hack).
  
• You can combine Farcom with RIF (drawbacks are also combined).

• You are locked out both of Zion and Warlord, and if with Farcom you could at least enter the Zion with RIF you can't.

While being locked out both of Z and W can be disappointing RIF tries to overcome that by giving the player powerful, flexible and replenishable hacking options. If that's not enough you can combine it with Farcom to be the ultimate robot hack lord. Recommended if you like robot hacking.

Warning! This is the end of light spoiler zone! If you don't want to spoil yourself further rate the guide and close it! If you want spoilers read further!

Warning! This is the heavy spoilers zone! If you don't want to spoil yourself further rate the guide and close it! If you want spoilers read further!

To get Core Reset Matrix (next CRM) you need to enter Research branch Quarantine and find Alien Artifacts. CRM can also be found in the Lab. Alien Artifacts (next AA) are randomly spawned, but you can identify some of it by inspecting its mass or slot usage. (insert screenshot there)

• Your UI color is blue now!
  
• Purges corruption.
  
• You will gain the knowledge of every alien entity in the game, both location and name.
  
• One per floor If your core drops below 25% you will emit a signal to summon a squad of assembled to help you. After that, you will get two more pings marked on the floor. After you get there you will summon more assembled!
  
• You will get assembled from seals in Command.

• You will lose every piece of knowledge you had after CRM. This includes map, components, schematics and analysis information. The items on you will keep being identified.
  
• Most of the times you don't want to CRM but sometimes you just trap yourself into it. Try to scanalyze every AA you find.

• CRM makes you allied to assembled, GOLEMs count too. That means you can also understand what Sigix Containment Pod says.
  
• CRM overrides Warlord alignment, meaning you will get assembled from the seals in Command. This doesn't affect Imprinting, however, meaning that you will get same Zion allies after unlocking seals. One the top of that CRM will make some of those allies controllable (Z-lights, Z-heavies and Z-experimental).

Let's be fair: most of the times you didn't choose CRM, CRM chose you! I hope you learned your lesson and will scanalyze most of the AAs before using them. CRM gives you the information about every AA on the floor, this can help if you are looking for a certain AA. If you don't care about map information feel free to CRM, however finding only unknown items can be annoying. Assembled from pings carry impact and kinetic weapons, they can help to make the final push for victory.