Cyber Knights: Flashpoint News

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Welcome Knights and mercs! Come right this way, down to mission planning at the command HQ. Please, ignore the mess. It has been an eventful 18 months with Early Access here with Update #255 going live yesterday. But now, the safehouse is going full operational with our full launch. We've got an exciting update with new content to expand further the game and the different options for your full playthrough.

New players - welcome to Cyber Knights: Flashpoint! We and the community are here to help answer questions, give advice and generally help you land on your feet in New Boston.

We recommend starting with the Syndicate Debts storyline as you get your Cyber Knight's quantum rider spliced in and embark on your first heist.

Now, let's take a look at what's new with Launch Update #1!

[h2]New Origin Story: Forgotten Promises[/h2]

Origins stories are the story of how you got your unique Cyber Knight computer - your "quantum rider" - where it came from, how you afford it, what you had to promise to get such a powerful upgrade. Getting a quantum rider spliced into your spine vaults your street-level team of mercs into the big times overnight and changes everything.

We're excited to release "Forgotten Promises," a second origin story to match Syndicate Debts. In this storyline, you - the leader of a street-level merc band- has been kidnapped. Things get dicey when the team mounts a desperate rescue attempt. What happens next will be one of the heist-books.

[h2]New Game Character Options[/h2]

As part of launch Update #1, we've rounded out the options you have as you assemble your crew of mercs at the beginning of the game. With the addition of a new Hacker and 2 new Face backstories, you now have options in every slot and all the possible team combinations just reached a number I no longer think I will be able to calculate. It is big :D

• Meet Remi, a street prodigy who got recruited early by corps but eventually ghosted them when she learned what she was really working to cover up. They don't take well to that.
  
• Meet Midnight, an ex-milsec negotiator who ended up in the Syndicate's pocket. When paying back bad debts meant corruption, Midnight was caught in the act and discharged.
  
• Meet Haze, an ex-corporate hacker who had her MatrixLink burnt out and her citizen card shredded. She's been living on the street by wit alone.
  

[h2]Added New Map: Militarized Waystation[/h2]

We've added a new map to the game with launch Update #1. This one is used in very unique way in the story missions for Forgotten Promises but then it later becomes available for proc-gen missions for the longer tail of content. The new map has some really cool and unique pathing and a centralized bunker that makes for some awesome heisting scenarios. Militarized Waystation can mix with awesome objectives like Scav, Hardened Target, Exfiltrate VIP, Escort VIP, Q-Gap Spike and more, adding a total of +8 new proc-gen combos to the game.

[h2]Raised Level Cap to 42[/h2]
The level cap has floated another 6 levels up to big level 42. This adds an additional Talent max - which is key for multi-class characters up this rare air - as well as a very solid +9 Level Points, as there are multiple levels where you gain +2 at a time. We're excited to see what the newest high level teams look like after this riser!

[h2]Fixed Bugs[/h2]
We're just coming out of Early Access, so there are things to fix. We're hard working team dedicated to improvement, so you'll see a lot of big and small things getting fixed constantly. We resolved an issue with Hackers with nearly burnt out decks trying to go on missions and jamming the UI.

Also, we raised the maximum Heat you can gain in a single mission to 15 from 14, it's a nicer number and it just maths better.

[h2]v2.0.01 - Update #1: LAUNCH UPDATE - 6/2/2025[/h2]
- New Origin Story: Forgotten Memories - when the leader of a street-level merc gang goes missing, things get dicey
- Added 3 new character options to your new game squad selection - Remi the new Hacker, Midnight and Haze the new Faces
- Added 1 new map with +8 new proc-gen combos
- Raised max character level cap from 36 to 42 (+1 Talent Limit, +9 Level Points)
- Raised maximum Heat you can generate on a single mission from 14 to 15
- Fixed bug where hacker with a nearly burnt-out deck could lock up mission deploy

Knights and mercs, what a journey.

This Early Access has been something special. As we cap off the final Early Access Update #255, we want to thank you all for being on this crazy ride with us, sticking with us when there was a bug or a missing piece of content, and supporting us and our work to make this game what it is today. Our team (Andrew, Cory, Jay, Liv, and Viktor) all send their gratitude. A special thanks to every reviewer who posted a review and helped us achieve Overwhelmingly Positive (95%+) review score.

This is the FINAL update of Early Access - so we've dropped an all new hair, beard and eyebrow system, added a new Street Splicer to the Underworld Hub (with the Wetware cybernetics service, hype!), made the UHUB contacts cost $50K, rebalanced Coordinated Charge, improved Opposition Research to list Sec AI type and security devices, and fixed a mountain of F10s too.

[h2]Launch Community Events[/h2]
First, at 8:30am EDT, we'll be doing a brief launch countdown hangout / Button-Press Party in our Discord.

Andrew and Cory will be streaming the big moment when we press the button and Cyber Knights officially exits Early Access! Chat will be sharing memes and memories from the early days, chatting about plans for new playthroughs, showing off favorite character customizations, and more. We'll wrap up the stream soon after launch as I know everyone who's free to will be eager to download and dive in, but the Discord's sure to be hopping all day; always good place to hang out / ask questions / swap builds and tactics, etc.

Then at 1:00pm EDT, through 3pm EDT we'll be live on our Twitch channel with an official Full Launch Celebration Stream. Cory and Andrew will be showing off some of the launch update content, answering questions, and chatting about post-launch plans!

[h2]New Hair, Eyebrow and Beard System[/h2]

We've added an entirely new and higher-detail hair, eyebrow and beard system! This supersedes the existing hair and beard system but does not remove it from the game (see below). We know how much love everyone is putting into decking out their squad to make them look good on heists, and this adds a lot more fun and customization options to every character.

Before we go any further, the hair system upgrade is about improving mesh and texture quality, so it is a lift on performance. If you have performance issues with the new hair or like the old style better, you can swap back to the old hair system, and the entire game will switch over for you. Just go to Options > Graphics > Hair Quality and set it to Legacy. You can even use this trick if you love a specific legacy hairstyle for a character; you can swap to Legacy, set it for your character, and then swap the game back to Detailed Hair.

So what is new?

• There are 32 new hair styles now available to all characters. Every hair style has the option to be double tinted, so you can apply 2 colors to it to a more nuanced or crazy look.
  
• You can compose your facial hair and beard from a choice between 3 mustache styles, 2 goatee styles, 2 full beard looks and the short shave option as well. These can be combined in any way you like to get the full look you want. You can set your beard colors separately from hair now for the best looks.
  
• You can pick from 5 eyebrow styles for every character. You can set eyebrow color separately from hair as you please.
  
• We have more coming - this is what we could get processed, tested and certified for this release but we have a roadmap of additional options to add to the game.
  

We're very excited to get this into your hands before launch so you can check it out and give us feedback! We did not change any of your mercs look, so if you want to use the new styles, you'll need to go into the game and tweak their appearances.

[h2]Underworld Hub: New Street Splicer[/h2]

Update #255 has added a new and eccentric Street Splicer to the offers from the Underworld Hub. This Splicer has access to the Street Wetware service, which was previously only available through a single recruit and a single backstory choice they could make. Now you can get access to it more widely and with it a number of new cyberware you probably have never seen! Enjoy that - the Splicer is eager to get working.

With Update #255, we've also attached a $50,000 cost to getting new Contacts in the Underworld Hub. Making and securing such valuable connections is not free. However, by the time you are using this feature of the safehouse room, you should have enough bankroll that this isn't a huge number, but it is a consideration about when and where to buff your Contact list.

[h2]Coordinated Charge Rebalance[/h2]

We have rebalanced Coordinated Charge - we hope you like it! We shortened its duration by 1 Turn and trimmed its starting range to 10m. We have also moved the +1 Move Point buff right into its default configuration so it's powerful and instantly useful without upgrading it to the gills. The upgrades have lost their +Accuracy % and focused instead of Initiative and Move Speed buffs.

It plays more like a Soldier's version of Tact Surge now - very timely, focused, use it right when you need it instead of an ever-present buff you try to keep up to make everyone just go fast all the time.

[h2]Face's Opposition Research[/h2]

With this update, we've buffed what the Face's Opposition Research Talent can do. Once fully upgraded in its buff line, it can now tell you the exact name of the Sec AI you'll be facing as well as summarize the types of security systems that you'll encounter on a map, such as Prox-Mines and Bio-Scan Fields.

We also fixed a bug with the Talent where it was using map code names instead of the map names shown in the specific mission. That was confusing!

[h2]Pricey Leverages[/h2]
The leverage price curve got raised a bit recently, but it was like $60K, $72K, $885K ... $90K ... Fingers are for typos! We fixed it.

[h2]And More[/h2]
Let's say - today is a busy day! I am going to skip typing up the rest as it is smaller stuff, so check the full log below for specific details. Lots of nice little things. Big thanks to everyone for their F10s!

You know what's next - let's go!

[h2]v1.10.75 - Update #255: FINAL Early Access Update - 5/30/2025 [/h2]
- All new Hair, Eyebrow and Beard system: +32 new hair options for everyone, +5 eyebrow options, build a beard with +11 mix-n-match pieces
- For performance or preference - one-click switch back to previous hair system under Options > Quality > Hair Quality setting
- No mercs were changed, set their new appearance if you want to use the new hair system (or not)
- Added new Contact under "Doctors" to Underworld Hub Contact option - locate a street splicer with Wetware service
- Locating a Contact with the Underworld Hub now costs 1 Token and $50,000
- Improved Opposition Research Face Talent to include specifics of Sec AI (by name) and Security Devices
- Fixed bug with Opposition Research using map code names instead of names seen in mission (Wreckspire instead of District 83 Towers)
- Rebalanced Coordinated Charge (moved +1 MP to base, reduced Duration by -1, removed Accuracy buffs, trimmed starting range)
- Improved some balance of the Sec AI actions it can take in Escalation to better balance against Heat
- Fixed extremely high prices for some Power Levels of Leverages ($885K woops!)
- Added section about shareholders and restricted stock to Journal > Terms
- Fixed small case where Highest Turn could still be wrong in load game list
- Fixed typos and issues with retirement tags
- Fixed issue with combat stats and full buff/debuff block missing from mission display
- Fixed issues with Hacker dialog and Respects tag in the rooftop mission
- Increased physics force some single shot weapons to improve ragdoll

Knights and mercs, we are very near to the end of this Early Access train ride, but everyone here agrees that just means we should update the game even faster! The dev team is cranking hard to make this Early Access ending epic, so please take a moment to leave a review and share the game with your friends. We need that extra boost now more than ever!

With Update #254, we've added a few hundred lootable weapons, mods and armors as well as rounded out the Heat system to its final form. We've added some new game options requested by the community, completed our final tweaks to the Team Power Level and XP system and more - check it all out below.

If you are enjoying the final, frantic days of our Early Access where the updates are coming near daily - please take a moment to drop a review. Our tiny game dev team of 3 is working hard to polish and improve, so hope you can help us spread the word!

Thanks to @ShallowRain Discord for providing the screenshot for the update tonight through the community Photomode event. You can see a list of all of the past community events and challenges on the Cyber Knights wiki.

[h2]New Looting for Weapons, Mods and Armor[/h2]

With Update #254, we've made a major add to the loot system. You can now loot safelocked weapons, mods, and armor from the lootboxes on maps. These physical rewards are immediately ready for use once you get them back to the safehouse and break their safelock (you can't use them in the mission where you loot them). With over 250 pieces of equipment landing in lootboxes near you, this steady drip of new loots will help both your new and veteran team alike have more options to play with when building out their gear and weapons.

Some of the things you can loot overlap with what Contacts can offer to sell, some overlap with what you can find Blueprints for and some are only obtainable through looting.

Go forth, heist and loo!

[h2]Heat burns up Sec Level[/h2]

We've also wrapped up the final and biggest effect for the Heat system in Update #254. This loops Heat back into the Security Level, Sec AI's options with Escalation and into secondary objective challenges as well.

Remember, as you stir trouble in the underworld - with the law and with criminals alike - we produce Heat which makes operating your team harder.

The new rule - when starting a mission, the Sec Level for the Sec AI starts at +1 for every 25% Heat. Therefore, starting with 0% Heat is like you have today (Sec Level 0), 32% Heat is 1 Sec Level and so on up to a maximum of 4 Sec Level. This is less impactful than it might originally sound, but let me detail what effects this has:

• The Sec AI does not get a free Escalation or get to any extra action because of this.
  
• However, the Sec AI's action that it can take during an Escalation are gated by its Sec Level. As the Sec Level goes up, it gets access to nastier cards.
  
• For example, many Sec AI won't buff the Tally per Turn by +1 until the Sec Level reaches 1. If you came in with 26% Heat, that would be an immediate option. Other Sec AI won't start buffing their squads ("Chemical accelerants for combat!") until the Sec Level is 2 or 3, which again, you could bring into play directly
  
• Secondary Objectives that want you to complete missions under specific will be affected by this. If your goal is to stay under Sec Level 6 and you start at Sec Level 2, that goal is going to be harder.
  
• Sec Level has no effect on pure combat missions, so Heat has no effect either.
  

We're very excited here how this opens up a lot more nuance in what the Sec AI might do and we will be balancing and expanding their actions in following updates.

Remember, you have multiple ways to mitigate and reduce Heat outside of missions, including the Counter-Intel Safehouse room and Face Talent Pressure Drop.

If you have a combat loud team that is constantly burning hot, you may need to pace your action a bit more or use more of the mitigation options available to you. Or, honestly, lock and load and plow through like you always do.

[h2]Power Level and XP Tuning[/h2]

As this rocketship of gamedev updates goes screaming into our upcoming release, we've taken a minute to do a final pass of tweaking on the Team Power Level and XP progressions for the game. With this update, we've slightly reduced the number of missions required to move through the mid-game Power Levels from 4 to 7. The tuning is minor, it takes 1 less mission to pass through Power Level 4, a part of the game we don't want to feel like it drags too long.

In addition, we've reduced the XP from missions by 3-6%. For most of the game, you can get pretty solid Handling on your Face with an XP bonus that will more than make up for the tiny bit we've scraped off the top.

[h2]Heavy and Light Weapons Tagged[/h2]

To be sure it is clear which weapons are heavy and which are light, we've added the designation next to their type, Power Level and rarity in all equipment and market screens. You can carry 1 heavy weapon and 1 light weapon or 2 light weapons. Or get cybernetics to carry 2 heavy, you beast!

[h2]Fixed Filter and Buy on Steam Deck / Controllers[/h2]
We've got a steady set of improvements continuing to come online for Steam Deck and controllers, working to really fine tune the experience. Last update improved movement plotting with (Y) and this update fixes an overlapping set of hotkeys in market and inventory that (RT and ... RT) that could cause some trouble. Now you've got RT and Y to take your actions quickly.

[h2]Option for Extended Chat Bubbles[/h2]

The little quips and chat bubbles that the enemy agents have been saying have been a big hit! They say the darndest things ... and we're here with a new option in case they say them too fast. You can now turn on Extended Chat Bubbles, which doubles the amount of time this data stays on screen. Thanks to everyone for suggesting great options!

[h2]Fixed Cybernetic Talent Respec[/h2]

There was a bug where you would lose the Talents granted to you by cyberware if you respec'd. We caught this testing Warmachine but it may have affected your cyber lung implants which have Talents. If that did happen to you, you're stuck removing and then reinstalling the cybernetics. That's going to hurt!

[h2]Fixing F10s[/h2]
The F10 grind continues! We fixed a number of issues with enemy grenades, including one case where they could cheat and throw grenades at mercs that were properly hidden.

[h2]v1.10.73 - Update #254: Heated Loot - 5/29/2025[/h2]
- Added +225 Lootable Weapons, Weapons Mods and Armor to lootboxes (physical item can be used from safehouse, not Blueprints)
- Added new Heat effect - Sec Level of missions starts at +1 Level per 25% Heat (draws better cards faster)
- Tuned Power Level and XP progression for missions / proc-gen
- Inventory now shows Heavy / Light item tag next to name / Power Level / Rarity in the top right
- Added new gameplay option to double the time that quips/pings stay on visible on the map
- Fixed overloading hotkey in market for Filter and Buy (split to RT and Y)
- Fixed bug where cybernetic Talents could be deleted by Respec
- Fixed possible lock-up in enemy's turn when throwing debuffing grenades
- Fixed bug where enemy might throw a grenade at hidden merc as if they knew they were there
- Fixed bug with crafting where weapon mod blueprint could be overcommitted to multiple crafts
- Fixed map issues, broken props, odd Exfiltrate starting points, lootboxes not correctly filled

Knights and mercs, we've got another update hot off the final press runs here. With Update #253, we've boosted the XP bonuses from running Legwork and improved their UI, made a really nice improvement for Steam Deck movement (Y), added 9 new cosmetic options for faces for your characters, fixed FIeld Ops bugs, fixed issues with second stages of missions (Eleventh Hour, Carnivore, Meteoric Hotdrop, etc), gave Dade's backstory his missing 2 Attribute points and more and made a metric ton of small fixes and map adjustments.

If you are enjoying the final, frantic days of our Early Access where the updates are coming near daily - please take a moment to drop a review. Our tiny game dev team of 3 is working hard to polish and improve, so hope you can help us spread the word!

Thanks again to @AlphaFox Discord for providing the screenshot for the update tonight through the community Photomode event. You can see a list of all of the past community events and challenges on the Cyber Knights wiki.

[h2]Legwork XP[/h2]

Legwork can eat up a lot of a merc's time and often includes some risk to each up more of a merc's time with Injury. In order to better reward these risks and the choice to send a merc on a Legwork, we've bumped up the XP bonus from Legwork from 6-10% of the XP you need to gain the next level to 25%. This scales nicely as your mercs become higher level and is a much heftier feeling reward for the risk/reward.

In addition, we are now showing the XP that each merc stands to gain in the legwork offer, so it is clear the amount you stand to gain.

[h2]Steam Deck (Y) Talent Ranging[/h2]

With Update #253, we've fixed an annoyance on Steam Deck. If you set a movement destination with (Y) and then use (X) to move through your Talent bar, you can see all the ranges of all of your Talents. Unfortunately, if you then changed your destination with (Y) the Talent ranges did not update to the new location. Well, thanks as always to @Brian for poking us about these sorts of things, because now it is fixed. Let's go Deck!

Also, if you aren't using the double-press (Y) to move option yet, please try it. We think it makes the Steam Deck control scheme significantly smoother to use and are looking at enabling it as a default if we detect a Steam Deck player.

[h2]Added 9 new faces[/h2]

There are so many ways to expand the options on how to design your characters' appearance so we like to go in a circle, adding to each category as we can. Today we've pushed in 9 new options for your character's faces. New faces can be crossed with every other cosmetic option the set so really open up some new cool looks. Enjoy!

[h2]Dade Attributes[/h2]
Dade was still lagging behind everyone else by 2 Attribute points for the backstory trait - that is resolved in all games now. Harder, better, stronger, faster.

[h2]Friendly-Fire Stun[/h2]

Previously, all mercs were totally immune to Stun effects. This would let you throw Concussion Grenades into groups that included friendly fire and not suffer any negative effects. Watch out, because mercs now fully suffer Stun! Ouch! You lose all AP, cannot use Talents and your Turn ends ... immediately.

Friends don't concussion grenade friends. Or do they?

[h2]Multi-Stage Mission Escalation[/h2]
There was an initialization bug on the second stage of multi-stage missions that would cause the Sec AI to always Escalate at the end of the first Turn. For missions like Meteoric Hotdrop and Eleventh Hour - ouch, this was painful! Thanks to @Lockindal for pushing F10s on this one until we fixed it!

[h2]F10s and Map Bugs[/h2]
We are smashing about 100+ F10s a day - typos, map mistakes, lootboxes, open field spawns, terminals that aren't perfectly positioned. A huge thanks to everyone who is taking the time to help us improve by submitting feedback and bugs ːsteamhappyː At this point, there are too many to type in here but see the full change report for details on the bigger ones.

[h2]v1.10.71 - 5/28/2025[/h2]
- Increased XP bonus from Legwork to 25% of XP required for next level, added XP display to Legwork offer screen inline
- Improved Steam Deck and controller support - Talent ranges always update when changing movement destination with (Y)
- Added 9 new face options for your mercs
- Fixed bug with Field Ops room Delay option always showing 0h
- Fixed issues with multi-stage missions where there might be an inexplicable Escalation on the first turn of second stage
- Fixed story issues with final mission of Daedelus Bloc mission where boss enemies didn't always arrive
- Upgraded Dade's backstory Trait to restore 2 missing Attribute points
- Fixed issue with Warner-Braun Doctor not having their Imported Cybernetics service
- Enabled characters to suffer Stun (0 AP, skip full Turn) - currently watch out for friendly fire from Concussion Grenades
- Fixed issues with lootboxes that could possibly end up empty in some map scenarios
- Fixed bug where 2 different recovery times could be shown in roster for cybernetic surgery
- Fixed mission map bugs, including mission where you might start inside a Bio-Scan Field
- Fixed rare bug where extracted merc still be counted as being inside a Bio-Scan Field