Cyber Knights: Flashpoint News

[p][/p][p]Knights and mercs, we just shared a big recap of the crazy last 6 months of updates and just how much we've expanded the game together - so we thought, why not moar? Let's take these heists to the top of the towers, let's go luxury, let's go Skyrise! So without any more messing around, let's do this. Let's add another major milestone update![/p][p]The NEW HEIGHTS expansion adds the Skyrise mission location, an entirely new type of map environment, prop set, and set of map design rules. The Skyrises are the cloistered, isolated enclaves of the rich and powerful megacorporate citizens. Only a Cyber Knight and their quantum rider stand a chance pulling off a job here, but they better do it fast. [/p][p]This NEW HEIGHTS expansion starts with the new Skyrise mission environment, 2 new mission maps, 2 new multi-stage proc-gen jobs that send you into the Skyrise, 2 new Skyrise-only security devices, new Skyrise soundtrack, a new Sec AI for Skyrise and a cool new dynamic decal setup that lets locations be tagged by faction to help identify and strengthen the sense of place and faction ownership.[/p][p]Our small team works really hard to bring you all these free updates and expansions. If you'd like to give back, we'd love for you to take a few minutes to leave a review. Thank you![/p][p][/p][h2]Our Save Game Policy and Updates[/h2][p]Since you'll always be seeing a lot of updates around here, we want to reiterate our saved game policy so everyone understands our commitment to your games. No saved game will ever be invalidated by an update. All new content and features will be added immediately to all saved games (with the reasonable exception of New Game options). You never have to restart if you don't want to. This is a studio commitment that we have made and kept for many years and games. We stand by it. So do not stress about the deluge of updates that is coming your way - heist on my good heisters.[/p][p][/p][h2]Skyrise Location and 2 New Maps[/h2][p][/p][p]The New Boston Dome is nearly a mile high at its apex, and is held up over the crumbling mega-city by massive towers rising across the dome, built by the megacorporations as part of the city's founding charter. While some of these towers are architectural in nature, many play a dual purpose, acting as a home, playground or gilded cage for the wealthiest, reclusive or most protected corporate citizens. [/p][p]Only a Cyber Knight has the chops, the gumption and the quantum rider capable of pulling off a heist against such rare territory. The skyrise towers are hard to even access - they will always be at least the second stage of a mission - and have their own unique map theme set, props and design rules.[/p][p]Skyrise towers are large locations, defined by wide open spaces and hallways, more dead-ends than you are using to dealing with, and littered with highly advanced security devices and threats. You will want to arrive, move quickly across the dangerously open territory and get your job done before ghosting into the night.[/p][p]With the NEW HEIGHTS expansion, we've dropped the first two Skyrise maps - Skyrise Haven and Skyrise Data Site. The haven features a tower-side hoverpad balcony for those clientele and visitors who would never dream to use something as dingy as an elevator, and features a set of wide, interconnected hallways between private rooms, entertainment spaces and tucked away security rooms and HQs. The Data Site is a mix of working-residence, where the most heavily guarded and important megacorporate citizens (scientists, quants, etc) are both employed, pampered and protected.[/p][p]We can't wait to hear your feedback on this new map paradigm![/p][p][/p][h2]Skyrise Multi-Stage Jobs[/h2][p]Skyrise comes with special set of proc-gen mission and objectives and more will be coming online as more maps are added to the Skyrise set. First, Skyrise locations are never accessed directly. They are always the second stage of a multi-stage mission, with the first stage acting as a gatekeeping stage. In the current Skyrise jobs that are coming online with NEW HEIGHTS, that means your first stage you may need to kill a powerful military commander who has been tasked with protecting the upper levels of the towers or hack and spike the CPU of a quantum network that is slaved to preventing access to the towers themselves. Either way, you've got your work cut out for you and need to try to minimize Security Tally and Level during this first stage to reach the Skyrise with as little trouble as possible (see below, Sigma 9 Sec AI!)[/p][p]The future for Skyrise jobs is bright - new maps, new unique objective types, more multi-stage proc-gen missions and then inclusion in stories and Power Play storylines as well. But for now, we're rolling out the multiple new proc-gen combos that draw up on the small pool of Skyrise maps to deliver strong starting replayability. [/p][p][/p][h2]Moving Cameras and Shock Fields[/h2][p]The sleek halls of the most opulent towers are not blocked by glowing laser meshes, teethless pressure sensors or pedestrian rotating cameras. Oh no, their halls are guarded by electrocuting Shock Fields and cameras sliding along rails to surveil large swathes of the corporate zone.[/p][p]The Skyrise updates introduces two new Skyrise-only security devices:[/p]

• [p]Moving Cameras - capable of sliding to different positions and rotations along rails affixed to the top of walls, moving cameras cast their threat over a much larger area. As they are also capable of spotting a merc while sliding at the end of a Turn, they feel more unpredictable (where will they slide next!?) and sometimes can catch more than one team member in a single movement. They do expose their track with the physically visible rail and are just as weak against disabling Talents, Items and Leverages, so be sure to pack your bags correctly when heading up into the glittering heights.[/p]

[p][/p]

• [p]Shock Fields - guard an area of floor and any unauthorized access is greeted with a friendly - really? deadly! - arc of electricity. Unlike Laser Wires that give you a single point of damage when passing through their mesh, Shock Fields dole out damage the longer you are moving across them. If you have to cross one, look for the shortest route, skirting corners or dodging through doors. Especially if the Sigma 9 Sec AI bumps these fields up to Lethal mode, they can put a major hurt on your team. They only electrocute moving targets, so if you are forced to stop in the middle of one, you'll be damaged again whenever you start moving. These Level 1 Security Devices can be hit by Talents, Items and Leverages as well, but can rapidly take out a merc who isn't careful so pack both your disables and your healing gear.[/p]

[p][/p][h2]New Music: Skyrise Soundtrack[/h2][p]We're super excited to roll out a major expansion to the game's music with the Skyrise Soundtrack expansion. This one goes all the way back to the Kickstarter and was part of the Skyrise stretch goal. So a huge thank you ːsteamhappyː to all the Kickstarter backers who helped fund the creation of this new reactive music.[/p][p]The new Skyrise soundtrack expands the reactive music in the game by about 20% and while the music was designed and produced under the budget of the Skyrise Soundtrack stretch goal for the Kickstarter, we will be using it across the game to increase the variety of music. So, keep your ears open for new tracks and riffs![/p][p]We will get the Cyber Knights Soundtrack updated with the new songs from the Skyrise soundtrack soon. They aren't up yet, but in the next week or two we will finish that addition and update the track list with 4 new songs.[/p][p][/p][h2]New Sec AI "Sigma 9"[/h2][p]With the Skyrise update, we've pushed the previously extremely rare Sigma 9 Sec AI into regular rotation. The previous chances of running into Sigma 9 AI were so low, we're not sure most of you have encountered this beast. Sigma 9 is more security-, matrix- and drone- focused than other high challenge Sec AI (like Sigma BLACK) and does not have the double reinforcements Escalation that Sigma BLACK has but still is a nasty Sec AI, generally getting really angry really fast if you aren't careful.[/p][p]Only the second stage of the Skyrise jobs have the Sigma 9 Sec AI, the lower facilities and entry levels feature either Sigma 5 or 7 depending on faction and Power Level of the mission.[/p][p][/p][h2]Dynamic Faction Signage[/h2][p][/p][p]With the Skyrise update, we've added a new system for signage and decals that allows the game to dynamically swap out decals depending on the faction. Rook facilities can now be decorated with Rook faction logos, signs and wall marks and then later the mission map can be redecorated if you're facing Warner Braun or Brave Star. [/p][p]This new dynamic decal system is only in Skyrise maps at the moment, but we're working on the scheme to allow maps to have different graffiti and Syndicate tagging if they are street and then a different set of official looking signs and marks for milsec and corporate. More on that soon![/p][p][/p][h2]Mountain of F10 Fixes[/h2][p]With this big update, we've also completed a large number of F10 fixes. Big thanks to all the community members hitting F10 to send in bugs, suggestions, balance ideas and more. [/p]

• [p]Targeting for medkits (etc) is better! It now sorts nicely to the character most in need of healing and refuses to select characters who are at 100% HP.[/p]
• [p]"Run Behind" stealth exploit is fixed! There was an exploit where you could run at an enemy at a certain angle and they would start to turn just as you passed them... in this way, you'd end up behind their new turned angle, still Hidden. Sorry, fixed![/p]
• [p]Fixed Grenade calls everyone! There was a mistake where grenade explosions were too high priority and might draw every guard in a level, especially if used early. Now only nearby guards will immediately investigate and the rest is left up to the discretion of your local friendly Sec AI.[/p]
• [p]Matrix Talents like Spoof not getting/keeping Tokens! There was a mistake where matrix Talents like Spoof sometimes didn't start with the enough tokens or sometimes their tokens were used too fast. Both bugs are now fixed.[/p]
• [p]Fixed Hover Tanks and VTOLs might freeze game on fast forward! If you had the always fast forward option selected, some scenarios with flying drones might cause the game to freeze. These are now resolved.[/p]
• [p]Fixed Jammed Drones still showing movement alerts! If a drone is jammed and below Spotted alert level, they won't see your mercs. However, the movement alerts were still showing. Lies, all lies. Fixed![/p]

[p][/p][h2]Best deal yet on all of our games for the Steam Winter Sale [/h2][p]If you're new to Trese Brothers Games and enjoy our in-depth systems, long-lifespan support, and extreme replayability, we hope you'll consider picking up a few of our previous games as well.[/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p]Our previous top-down turn-based tactics title, Templar Battleforce, has you lead a squad of powerful Leviathan mechs defending the last remnants of humanity in exile across a 55+ scenario campaign. Specialize your mechs across a massive skill tree and face off against terrifying Xenos, rogue human factions, and the ancient Narvidian threat.[/p][p]Our award-winning sci-fi captain RPG, Star Traders: Frontiers, is set in the same universe as our Templar series, much later in the timeline as the now re-settled human exiles have expanded across countless planets once again, and still suffer the challenges of their deep divisions. Bounty hunter, explorer, smuggler, pirate, merchant, starfighter commander... play as any kind of captain in this open universe and discover stories across 8 possible eras.[/p][p]Heroes of Steel, our first game on Steam, is an old-school fantasy RPG, with a story-driven campaign learning the secrets of the old gods' fall and helping usher humanity into a new era. Choose four of nine possible party members to take this quest, build their skills and gear from thousands of possible combinations, journey through the literal depths of the world and see if you can overcome the darkness.[/p][p][/p][p]The Best of Trese Brothers Bundle shown above includes all of these and Cyber Knights RPG (pay only for the games you don't already own) at an extra discount on top of each game's Steam Winter Sale discount. It's an amazing deal for an incredible amount of entertainment, and helps our studio keep making deep, replayable RPGs with years of support. Enjoy![/p][p][/p][h2] v2.4.1 - #59: NEW HEIGHTS milestone - 12/20/2025[/h2][p] - Added new mission map environment: Skyrise luxury corporate towers with all new map design patterns, new props, new locations [/p][p] - Added 2 new Skyrise luxury maps - the Skyrise Haven and Skyrise Data Site[/p][p] - Added 2 new multi-stage mission objectives for Skyrise maps (one does not simply walk into Skyrise in Stage 1!)[/p][p] - New proc-gen multi-stage missions, now expanding the proc-gen combo count in new dimensions [/p][p] - Added 2 new Skyrise only Security Devices - sliding cameras on rail, Shock Field causes damage while crossing it (longer move, more Dmg)[/p][p] - Added new Skyrise soundtracks, increasing total amount of reactive music in the game by 20%[/p][p] - Upgraded Skyrise only Security AI "Sigma 9" with new capabilities[/p][p] - Added new dynamic system for wall signs and faction markings (megacorp logos appear and change based on faction who owns the map)[/p][p] - Improved medkit and healing targeting to refuse to target fully healed characters and better sort targets who can be healed by need[/p][p] - Fixed incorrect movement alerts for Jammed Drones, was showing that you would be seen/heard even though drone is jammed[/p][p] - Fixed stealth exploit where you could run at an enemy on a certain approach and they would turn toward your noise but not see you[/p][p] - Fixed bug where grenade explosion sound would draw too many security guards to investigate[/p][p] - Fixed bug with Matrix Talents like Spoof not generating correct number of tokens or using them too fast[/p][p] - Fixed bug that might cause Hover Tank or other flying drone to freeze up when enemy turns fast forward automatically[/p][p] - Fixed bug where Special Codes pasted in from Backerkit were not working due to extra spaces included in copy-paste[/p][p] - Fixed bugs with certain Hardened Target proc-gen combos where you could extract without killing target[/p][p] - Fixed bug where sometimes AP pips in Talent hover would not show correctly if a grenade had recently been canceled[/p][p] - Fixed bug where selecting when changing Face backstories in New Game could result in extra starting medkits in your inventory[/p][p] - Fixed bugs with game locking up in some defeat or win conditions (extracted 1 merc, other merc dies, there is a story event, etc)[/p][p] - Improved camera position and angle in mission deploy for better squad look[/p][p][/p]

[p][/p][p]Happy Steam Winter Sale, Knights! As the year comes to a close, we're looking back at what might be the busiest year we've had in our studio's 15 years of game development. We full-launched Cyber Knights in June, and thanks to your enthusiastic support we've added more than 50 free post-launch updates, most of them packed with new content, the equivalent to three or four expansion-size DLCs if we were that kind of studio.[/p][p]Hope you'll spread the word about Cyber Knights in Steam Winter Sale discussions; we're 34%-off, our deepest discount since full launch! This sale will be the best deal on Cyber Knights for quite a while to come.[/p][p]Some of the highlights from all our post-launch updates include:[/p][h2]New maps & nearly 400 proc-gen mission combos![/h2][p][/p][p]Cyber Knights launched with more than 30 maps, and we've added six new ones since then! Militarized Hoverport, Delta Clinic, Nanofacture Hub, Harbor Prison, Q-Compute Core, and Containment Site each bring their own atmosphere and challenges to the mix. [/p][p][/p][p]Combined with an expanded range of proc-gen mission objectives, there are now almost 400 combinations of maps and primary mission objectives! And in the next few days, we'll release the first maps part of an all new environment category: Skyrise.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Increased enemy variety & challenges[/h2][p][/p][p]We created more faction-specific enemies, added 3 new Head Hunter teams, and most recently made some major expansions to the drone category of enemies, featuring all new types: turrets, hover tanks, and Lance VTOL drones.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]We also increased variety in the Matrix, with 14 new IC to oppose your hackers and new matrix host maps to slice through! And, our new Skyrise maps will come with their own unique security devices.[/p][p][/p][h2]All-new mission types & expanded storylines[/h2][p][/p][p]In July we added new Power Play storylines -- mission chains you can unlock from the Contacts you've invested most into -- help your contacts make big moves in the New Boston Zone and unlock new services for you to take advantage of.[/p][p]Later in October we added a new type of storyline driven by your own mercenaries, Shadow Site Raids. If your mercs grow in loyalty to you, some may be willing to share a secret they've held onto for a long time. The high-risk raids you gain access to contain over 50 unique and valuable rewards... and pit you against one of the toughest security AIs in the game![/p][p]With all the expansions to the proc-gen system, Cyber Knights offers hundreds of hours of play time for those who want it. Our hand-crafted storylines are interspersed throughout; we expanded one of these, the Taylor Strizek storyline, with a new 3-stage mission to help her defect from her megacorp employer. Adding new storyline missions & legworks to the 70+ already in the game will be a big piece of our expansion plans for 2026.[/p][p][/p][h2]Two new character classes, quick start squad options, & tons of new gear![/h2][p][/p][p]Keeping it real, the Warmachine class was meant to be part of our launch update, but we ended up wanting more time to make sure their unique, cybernetic-driven abilities all played nicely with all of the games' other systems. The extra time also made it so that when we did release Warmachine, we were able to roll it out with a whole truckload of cybernetics.[/p][p]Our second new class, Wireghost, was added in September, bringing the total number of possible multiclass combinations to over 50 -- and with talents, traits, gear, and cybernetics, your character class is just the start of your character build possibilities.[/p][p]We know that for first time players all those possibilities can be a little overwhelming, so we made a change to the New Game process to give players the choice of choosing one of two "Quick Start" squads -- Quiet Killers or Run & Gun -- or Advanced setup letting you choose each starting squad member individually.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]New character classes (each with their own extensive talent tree) aren't the only advantages we've added for players; we've added hundreds of new weapons, weapon mods, cybernetic implants, cyberdeck programs, and armors into the game. We've particularly focused on building out higher-level gear options available through Contact services or crafting, and increasing weapon variety with new kinds of weapon special rules like First / Last shot bonuses, Splinter Strike, Overwatch Lockdown, and increased Full Auto max targets.[/p][p][/p][h2]Tons of Quality-of-Life improvements[/h2][p][/p][p]Early Access helped our small team put a lot of polish on the game, but nothing compares to the amount of feedback a game gets at launch. We've listened, prioritized, and grinded to make the game even better based on what you've told us.[/p][p]Steam Deck fine-tuning, a vertical camera rotation option, better filters, a more streamlined Matrix tutorial, better pacing of starting missions, improved SFX, highlights on by default, loot balance, eliminating little delays between camera movements, a breakdown of what added to security tally, and so much more![/p][p]A special shout-out to every player who's used the in-game F10 system to report any bug or share their feedback. The automatic screenshot & game save info that system gives us, plus the way we're able to sort & categorize feedback coming through it, makes it so much easier for us to fix issues & prioritize common requests.[/p][p][/p][h2]Thank you! Your reviews & spreading the word keeps CK:F growing.[/h2][p]It's been a great year! Thank you all for playing, for recommending Cyber Knights to other gamers, for sharing your hype and feedback and stories with us (we read every comment on these news posts). [/p][p]Please make sure to leave a Steam review (or if you already have, take a minute to rate which recent ones are helpful) to keep these updates coming! [/p][p]We'll see you with another big one soon.[/p][p][/p]

[p][/p][p]Knights and mercs, we are going to keep this one short as it is the weekend - but we've got an exciting package of improvements, fixes and expansions that we had to get into your hand on this (snowy, for some) Saturday.[/p][p]With Update #58, first we've fixed the bug that was causing all Shadow Site missions to be against Warner Braun enemies. Second, we've added 7 new maps that can match with the Shadow Site objective to make a unique proc-gen combo, and we've added turret support to 4 extra maps to be sure that the Shadow Sites have 100% coverage with potentially including turrets. We've improved some Hacker class tree node and fixed a text formatting bug in Downed Shields, and redid all the names for Mecha Infantry, Flying Drones and Turrets so they each use their own unique format.[/p][p]If you like the updates, please consider leaving a review for Cyber Knights: Flashpoint! Our small team is working hard to bring you a constant stream of improvements and expansions and we need your reviews now more than ever ːsteamhappyː[/p][p][/p][h2]Our Save Game Policy and Updates[/h2][p]Since you'll always be seeing a lot of updates around here, we want to reiterate our saved game policy so everyone understands our commitment to your games. No saved game will ever be invalidated by an update. All new content and features will be added immediately to all saved games (with the reasonable exception of New Game options). You never have to restart if you don't want to. This is a studio commitment that we have made and kept for many years and games. We stand by it. So do not stress about the deluge of updates that is coming your way - heist on my good heisters.[/p][p][/p][h2]Shadow Sites Not All Warner Braun[/h2][p][/p][p]We fixed an insidious little bug that was forcing the enemies you fought (but not the rewards you got) to always be Warner Braun even though that didn't match your merc's Shadow Site tag.[/p][p]This can only help with newly created Shadow Site missions, so if you already have a mission sitting in your mission list, unfortunately this cannot fix it, but thankfully you do get the right rewards in the lootbox (Rook rewards, etc).[/p][p][/p][h2]Shadow Site Maps[/h2][p][/p][p]With Update #58, we've added 7 new maps for Shadow SIte objective, bringing the map total to 18. This will help increase the cool options for the second stage of the multi-stage Shadow Site missions. By getting to 18, we've hit every major interior corporate map that feels right for the objective, so we'll park it here until we add more maps that fit the objective visually.[/p][p][/p][h2]Shadow Site + Turrets[/h2][p][/p][p]In the 11 maps that you could get for Shadow Site before Update #58, there were 4 that lacked turret support. With Update #58, we've pushed turret support into all of these maps to ensure that the Shadow Site map set has 100% turret coverage. Turrets are very likely to appear in the second stage of your Shadow Sites, but only if the map supported them. Now, every map on the list does. [/p][p]There are now 23 maps that support turrets across the proc-gen map set.[/p][p][/p][h2]Better Naming for Drones[/h2][p][/p][p]We rolled out drones without adjusting the naming rules for them completely and so for while, turrets, mecha infantry and flying drones all pretty much used the names for the human guards. This has been adjusted now to break out separate patterns and rules for each type of drone so that they can stand out from each other - and from their human counterparts - better.[/p][p][/p][h2]Hacker Class Tree[/h2][p]We fixed one odd node in the Hacker class tree that only add +1 Will - now it includes an extra +5% Stress Res. We also fixed a text formatting error with Downed Shields if you upgrade it to be AOE - now it nicely explains its rules.[/p][p][/p][h2]And More F10s[/h2][p]We also fixed a black screen that was occuring at the start of some Brave Star missions, a number of other minor map bugs and places where navigation was whacky (enemies going in walls) and where you might start spotted by an enemy.[/p][p][/p][h2]v2.3.21 - #58: Shadow Site Round-Out - 12/14/2025[/h2][p] - Added +7 new proc-gen maps that can match to Shadow Site objective for challenging corporate looting fest (now 18 map combos)[/p][p] - Added Turret support to 4 additional maps and achieved 100% coverage on Shadow Site maps[/p][p] - Fixed issue with Black Sites always ending up as Warner Braun faction[/p][p] - Improved enemy naming by doubling variety for human enemies and now Turrets, Mecha Infantry and Flying Drones all have unique name formats[/p][p] - Fixed description of Hacker's Downed Shields description once it is upgraded to AOE[/p][p] - Fixed Hacker class upgrade node that only adding +1 Will to add +5% Stress Res as well[/p][p] - Fixed black screen lock up that could occur at the start of some Brave Star missions after #57[/p][p] - Fixed report map bugs and typos[/p]

[p][/p][p]Knights and mercs, you knew it in your heart of heisty-hearts that the milspec factions were not going to sit long the on the side lines while the megacorps got to play with their Hover Tanks! Now, milspec factions are adding Lance VTOLs to their ranks of reinforcements and starting patrollers at higher Power Levels. These VTOLs are fast and easier to kill but ... still packing powerful heavy machine gun on their hardpoint. [/p][p]With Mecha Infantry, Turrets, Hover Tanks and now VTOLs in the game, the heat is getting turned up on your squad's ability to handle drones by mid game (Team Power Level 4+). Considering doing a few strategic respecs to get some drone jamming or other anti-drone Talents - they can really help save a heist as the tension rises.[/p][p][/p][h2]Our Save Game Policy and Updates[/h2][p]Since you'll always be seeing a lot of updates around here, we want to reiterate our saved game policy so everyone understands our commitment to your games. No saved game will ever be invalidated by an update. All new content and features will be added immediately to all saved games (with the reasonable exception of New Game options). You never have to restart if you don't want to. This is a studio commitment that we have made and kept for many years and games. We stand by it. So do not stress about the deluge of updates that is coming your way - heist on my good heisters.[/p][p][/p][h2]New Enemy: Lance VTOLs[/h2][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]Lance VTOLs are faster and lighter drones employed by the milsec companies - Brave Star and Arrowhead - compared to the megacorporate Hover Tanks. The Lances still represent the arrival of powerful, rapid-response elite reinforcements instead of regular milsec soldiery, as they can more rapidly pin down or neutralize threats. As the Security Level rises and the Sec AI calls upon more and more powerful reinforcements on your heist team, a pod of reinforcements (typically 3 soldiers) will instead contain soldiers and one or more Lance VTOLs. The specific criteria for arriving as reinforcements are as follows:[/p]

• [p]In a mission against a milsec faction[/p]
• [p]Your team is Power Level 4+[/p]
• [p]The Sec Level on your mission has reached 4+[/p]

[p]Additionally, once your team is above Power Level 6, Lance VTOLs may appear as part of the starting-enemy patrols set on missions against milsec factions.[/p][p]Today, there is a single type of Lance VTOL used by both milsec companies which has access to Full Auto, Overwatch and an energy field for temporary invulnerability. As we continue to expand the drone offerings, we will be separating these VTOLs, their look and their abilities per company.[/p][p]Unlike most other enemies, Lance VTOLs will not be stopped in their tracks by overwatch shots against them and they have a 75%+ chance to break Stun effects applied to them. Unfeeling, nothing but metal, armor and guns - these VTOLs swoop in for the kill relentlessly.[/p][p]VTOLs are expensive assets and a milsec company can only commit so many to a single facility or battle at a time, so don't expect to see more than 2 at a time.[/p][p]Watch out - like Hover Tanks before them, VTOLs explode when they go down and cause damage to anyone nearby.[/p][p][/p][h2]How to take on Lance VTOLS?[/h2][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]The standard Leverage to block reinforcements also blocks the arrival of Lance VTOLs. Keeping a leverage like this in reserve for Sec Level 4+ can buy you valuable time to avoid their arrival or get distance from their likely arrival points.[/p][p]Unlike Turrets and Hover Tanks, Lance VTOLs are built for speed and firepower over heavy armor. You will be less likely to be able to outrun a VTOL and may need to consider the best position from which to fight one instead of trying to outright flee.[/p][p][/p][p]Lance VTOL have less over all Hit Points but Armor-shredding is still key for attacks against any drones; while less of an damage sponge than a Hover Tank, the VTOLs still have high HP and are easier to wear down with E-Rifles, Shotguns and other high Shred weapons (or weapon mods). [/p][p]The Cyber Knight and Cybersword have the most anti-drone talents, with Hacker and Agent EX characters also having several available. Check any of the character classes on the Cyber Knights Wiki to easily see a full list of their available talents and CTRL+F for "drone" to review.[/p][p][/p][h2]Other Drone Improvements[/h2][p][/p][p]With Update #57, we've also improved a number of other areas for drones. We've completed a rebalance of Hover Tank armor to make it weaker against melee (watch out, they explode!). We've fixed a number of missing animations like aiming up, aiming down, hitting and missing.[/p][p]Also, we resolved some mistakes in the flight path generator for Hover Tanks that were ignore intervening cover. This could lead to the tanks flying through things like fences where the medical stretcher and VTOL would fly over them. Now, everyone goes over everything they should![/p][p][/p][h2]Enemy Skip Turn Bugs[/h2][p]We fixed a number of bugs with far away enemies skipping their turns and therefore skipping some important event - like spotting a corpse or walking into a laser fence that has been turned yellow by Kill Switch. These are now resolved and an enemy - no matter how far away - will always simulate their path correctly and check for any events before skipping.[/p][p] [/p][h2]Update Size Note (now 3 GB)[/h2][p]We've made some good progress on the last series of updates for the maximum update size. While some of the updates we have been pushing are still large the regular "max size" that will now be pushed has come down from the high 5 GB to 3 GB. This is a big improvement and we're excited to have completed this re-org but we know we have more to do.[/p][p]We are dedicated to trying to keep update size small and would prefer updates to stay under 1 GB on average. Here's to smaller updates in the future![/p][p][/p][h2]v2.3.15 - #57: Milspec Lance VTOL[/h2][p] - Added new faster and lighter hovering drone - the VTOL Lance low-flying jet rigged with a machine gun and lighter armor[/p][p] - VTOL Lances may now appear in milsec and Brave Star as reinforcements at Power Level 4+ and Sec Level 4+[/p][p] - VTOL Lances may now appear as starting patrollers at start of any milsec mission at Power Level 6+[/p][p] - Less hard to kill, VTOLs are offensive focused and capable of swooping in fast, flying over most obstacles and unleashing deadly firepower[/p][p] - Rebalanced Hover Tank armor stats (weaker protection against melee)[/p][p] - Improved animation for Hover Tank when aiming up or down at a target[/p][p] - Fixed bugs where skipping a far away enemy's turn might lead to missing events (find body, Overwatch, Kill Switch Laser Fence)[/p][p] - Fixed issues with Hover Tank gliding through low types of cover like fences or edges of crates[/p][p] - Fixed issue with missions where you could walk "behind" the large red walls along the map edge[/p]

[p][/p][p]Knights and mercs, the fun with drones continues with Update #56 improving and fixing issues with the recently released hover tank, adding another big community-based UI request with colored bookmarks for rapid filtering for Contacts & mercs, and working through this weeks' F10s from the community to keep improving the game at every turn.[/p][p]If you are enjoying the improvements and free expansions to the game, please take a minute to thank our small team and leave a review![/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]With the addition of the colored bookmarks, we are now one more UI update away from completing the Roadmap list of goals we had set for "Player-Driven UX Improvements" - for which we've made over 80 enhancements big and small. If you want to see what else we've got cooking - check out the full Post-Launch Roadmap![/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Our Save Game Policy and Updates[/h2][p]Since you'll always be seeing a lot of updates around here, we want to reiterate our saved game policy so everyone understands our commitment to your games. No saved game will ever be invalidated by an update. All new content and features will be added immediately to all saved games (with the reasonable exception of New Game options). You never have to restart if you don't want to. This is a studio commitment that we have made and kept for many years and games. We stand by it. So do not stress about the deluge of updates that is coming your way - heist on my good heisters.[/p][p][/p][h2]Bookmarks for Contact & Mercs[/h2][p][/p][p]With Update #56, we've completed a common request for improvement from players, especially those who have played Star Traders: Frontiers. We've now added the colored bookmark system, which allows you to mark any contact or character with a bookmark - one of 6 colors - and then rapidly filter later by those bookmark colors.[/p][p]The nicest thing about this system is there are 6 colors and you can do whatever you like with them. And you can change them all the time. Bookmark mercs who need equipment upgrades in Red and when they get them, set them back to gray. Bookmark all the Contacts you like to Co-Conspire with in Blue and all those with Cybernetic Services in Yellow. Or ... just however you like to do it! [/p][p]Then filter by selecting all Bookmarks or specific colors.[/p][p]Oh and tell us how you use them too![/p][p][/p][h2]"More than 1" Hover Tank[/h2][p](this shouldn't happen anymore ^^^)[/p][p]With this update, we've fixed a problem that was occurring in high Power Level games where you might start a map with more than 1 Hover Tank already on patrol. We saw F10s where there were 4 somehow appearing! Bad! Bad! Run now! We've resolved the bug for patrollers and reinforcements, now keeping the tank count to a nice far "one" all the time.[/p][p]We've also reduced the overall chance that a Hover Tank will appear as a patroller at the start of a mission. As they were set, it was basically guaranteed (as you often have 10+ patrollers at start). We've cut the rate by over half, so hover tanks appearing is a "sometimes" event and not an "always" event above Power Level 8+ when facing a megacorp.[/p][p][/p][h2]Hover Tank Improvements[/h2][p]With the first big release of flying drones, we've worked on a lot of little minor improvements and fixed a couple of critical bugs as well with Update #56.[/p]

• [p]The flight path that a drone plots no longer has so much required vertical (up-move-down) unless it has something it needs to get over. If the drone is traversing open ground, it will just quickly hover to its destination without such an awkward and immediate "up" phase of flight. [/p]
• [p]Rotation after attacking and after Overwatch are now corrected, preventing the hover tank from "snapping" back and forth between rotations during a series of attacks or after Overwatch.[/p]
• [p]Further improved movement destinations and enemy arrival locations so that there is less visual change to overlap between characters and tanks.[/p]

[p][/p][h2]Other F10 Fixes![/h2][p][/p][p]We fixed a bug in Forward Op (the start scav mission) where sometimes the Loot objective (Loot 7/10 Lootboxes) was not appearing. We fixed issues with weapon mods that added Pure Dmg displaying that as Kinetic Dmg instead.[/p][p]Also, while it is invisible to you our players, we fixed a number of minor warnings and errors (about 100) that could be spewed at different times when loading different maps or during new game and when trying to find hotkeys. These were all invisible and had no actual negative consequence to the game play, but they continued to clog up the F10 logs we receive, so we've taken the time to put them all to bed.[/p][p][/p][h2]v2.3.11 - #56: Bookmark the Future 12/5/2025[/h2][p] - Added bookmarking capability for Contacts and Characters - sort them by up to 5 bookmark colors[/p][p] - Added filtering by bookmark color - first organize, then filter to get your personal quick pick lists[/p][p] - Improved drone movement animation to only rise vertically when needed - smoother, more natural now[/p][p] - Improved Hover Tank rotation between shots, overwatch and how it tucks in against cover/walls[/p][p] - Reduced % chance that Hover Tank can appear as a patroller at the start of mission (PL 8+)[/p][p] - Improved rules for moving too close to other characters, turrets or drones to reduce overlap[/p][p] - Fixed bug when switching weapons while hover is up was not correctly updating reload AP[/p][p] - Fixed bug where weapon mods that added Pure Dmg would incorrectly display in some UIs as having Physical Dmg[/p][p] - Fixed bug with Forward Op Scav raid missing lootbox count objective[/p][p] - Fixed new game and loading map issues invisible to play but choking up F10 logs [/p]