Cyber Knights: Flashpoint News

Knights and mercs, we've got another screaming hot update touching down in the New Boston Zone! Update #252 adds a introductory slide show to help set the lore context for your team, improves enemy agent ability to follow through on security events, rebuilds Dade to be much better, adds a Withdraw button to immediately fail a mission, improves some Traits, adds Face Handling Attribute effects (+Team XP and Stress Res), and fixes a metric ton of community suggestions and F10s!

If you have enjoyed the progress on the game during Early Access and our small team's relentless pace of updates, please take a moment to drop a review!

Thanks to @AlphaFox Discord for providing the screenshot for the update tonight through the community Photomode event.

[h2]New Game Slides[/h2]

To help better tell the starting story of your team and to give new players a better sense of their place in the world and what it means to become a Cyber Knight, we've added a set of 6 introductory slides before the start of every New Game. We hope you like them, that is all.

You can easily skip and turn these off, skip them, or hit space to move through them faster - lots of options for veteran players who don't want to see them every time (also see Options > Gameplay > Tutorial and Intro to change it manually).

[h2]Better Enemy Agent Follow-Through[/h2]

After the High-Stakes Heist update a few updates back where the AI security/stealth game got a lot better, we've still been hunting a few last issues. We've closed one of the most important ones tonight - vastly increasing the enemy agent's ability to pursue a security event across longer distances. In the past, if the event was far enough away, they'd usually quit moving toward it after 1 to 2 Turns and start to hunt locally. This reduced pressure on the action point of the event, on your team to keep moving, and reduced the chance that a body would be found, etc.

With Update #252, unless they are interrupted, the enemy agent will move all the way until they are near the event before starting to hunt around. This is a great boon for anyone using security events to distract enemies (Prank or just leaving a trail of events to throw them off) but also more pressure for everyone trying to avoid being seen.

Also, just more fun and immersive, as an agent might cross the map, chatting to other agents as they go and warning them of their Suspicions.

[h2]Dade Retooled[/h2]

We've completed a project to rebalance and improve the starting Hacker, who starts as "Dade" in default games. In all games, your starting Hacker (be it Dade or your own designed character) will have an upgraded backstory Trait "Digital Thief Ex-Con" that now comes with better bonuses (+HP instead of -HP) and a set of specific Hacking bonuses.

In addition, any new starting Hacker who is created after Update #252 will have a Digital Rush Trait along with the Calm Trait, giving them even more Hacking-focused bonuses while still keeping them as a more combat-viable Hacker option than you're likely to find elsewhere (+HP, Ignore Recoil, Stress Res).

[h2]Withdraw from Heist[/h2]

With Update #252, we have added a new option for aborting and throwing in the towel on missions that are going to be a loss. Instead of forcing you to duke it out with your enemies until your entire team is dead, you can now use the Withdraw button in the pause menu to declare defeat and immediately drop out of the level. Of course, there are other ways to achieve this as well with restart turn, level and restoring to the safehouse before the mission so you don't take a loss.
 
[h2]Face's Handling[/h2]

We have wrapped up the missing bonuses for the Face's Handling Attribute. This team-focused Attribute now adds XP bonus % for the entire team as well as Stress Res % for the entire team.

We've also fixed all the Attribute icons in the Face's class tree and ensured that the face will trigger a "Training" tag on the Roster in the main Safehouse view.

[h2]Load Game Turns / High / Low[/h2]

With Update #252, we've improved the load game UI to always show the exact Game Turn. Each Turn is 6 hours, so 4 Turns is a day. The game date (like May 26, 2231) is still shown but the turn is included now as well to make comparison of slots easier and faster. We've also fixed all reported bugs with the Highest and Lowest markings to ensure they are useful for their original purpose.

[h2]Mission Cleanups[/h2]
With Update #252, we've hit a couple important mission issues - first up we've fixed Fadelight Blades mission that was always reporting you didn't find the valuable loot files -


Next up, we fixed Meteoric Hotdrop to correctly show that there is no hacking in this multi-stage mission -


And finally, we fixed Face's Handpicked Talent to work with recruits like the Eleventh Hour Scourage.


[h2]F10s by the Oodles[/h2]
We also just fixed over 100 user F10s with this update. Many were small map changes, typos, little Talent description updates and more. We're working hard to improve the game on every single piece of feedback you send in so thank you! Check the changelog for the big list of changes.

And remember to drop a review to tell a friend about our hard work.

[h2]v1.10.69 - Update #252: - 5/25/2025[/h2]
- Added short introductory slide show before New Game to help set context (easy to skip/disable)
- Improved enemy agent ability to follow through on a far away security order, will get closer before hunting
- Rebuilt Dade's Traits Digital Thief Ex-Con (adds HP, Matrix Dmg, Deck Armor) and Digital Rush (now granting more Matrix AP as well as IO)
- Added withdraw button to ESC menu - immediately forfeit any mission and take a loss
- Increased Stress Res granted by Calm Trait at each level (1-4), boosted Endurance Trained Trait to include +HP
- Finished Face Handling Attribute effects - adding to Mission XP and Stress Res for entire team
- Fixed class node icons for Face to match their icons (Cunning, Persuasion, Handling)
- Updated load game list to directly include game turn number to help improve clarity
- Fixed Highest and Lowest Turn notes on load game lists being incorrect (only considers Game Time/Turn now)
- Fixed bug with Eleventh Hour recruit and a few other recruits who were not getting the Face's Handpicked Bonus
- Fixed issue with Fadelight stolen Faked Citizenship Files always failing to be counted in mission victory
- Fixed bug with Meteoric Hotdrop mission incorrectly showing tags that it had hacking optional
- Improved dialog in some of the legwork stories
- Renamed Neural Accelerator to Synaptic Accelerator for entire cyberware line
- Further down-balanced Eleventh Hour, swapping 2 Long-Range Cameras for regular Cameras
- Fixed bug where Face would not trigger the "Training" tag on the safehouse Roster tag list
- Fixed bug with Eleventh Hour if restored mid-mission after update 1.10.67
- Fixed bug with enemy agent sometimes getting stuck in an elevator

Knights and mercs, another update is touching down on the streets of the New Boston Zone. With Update #251, contacts who dislike you have gained more teeth to try to hurt you during their Influence Limit Breaks, we've added double-click or double-press for controllers to confirm move, fixed an issue where Dr. Ashe was not appearing at the start of every game, improved the balance of the Eleventh Hour storyline, smoothed out gameplay timing to avoid delays during use or buffing by map area of effects like Sniper' JTAC and fixed a pile of bugs around Limit Breaks and your Face's Care and Feeding Talent.

If you are enjoying the pace of improvements and our focus on responding to community suggested improvements, we hope you'll help us share the game by leaving a review!

Thanks to @jotwebe Discord for providing the screenshot for the update tonight through the community Photomode event.

[h2]Enemy Contacts Strike Back[/h2]
As we continue to expand the sharpen the claws of the underworld simulation, we're excited to bring online more Limit Break options for Contacts. Update #251 releases 2 new options for Contacts who are your enemies - those with negative Trust, Enemy or Burnt status. These new options allow a Contac to either leak intel and lies into the underworld to raise your team Heat by +25 as they try to make your heist-life harder, or they might instead try to harm your network by going after a vulnerable allied Contact, spiking their Exposure by up to +80%.

These new results are sure to help you hate your enemies much more actively. Which is good, because more options to hurt them in return are coming too!

[h2]Double-Click or Double-Press to Move[/h2]

With Update #251, we've added the option to enable double-click to move with a mouse or double-press to move with a controller. For mouse players, this allows you to play the game more actively with only a mouse, possibly speeding up movement. For controller players, this allows you to plan movement with (Y) and execute your movement with double-pressing (Y).

For starters, we've left the option off by default but we're interested to see everyone's preference after seeing it in action. You can turn on double-click or double-press to move under Options > Controls > Mouse and Controller Options section.


[h2]Paging Dr. Ashe ...[/h2]

We had an issue with that last release where your friendly starting doctor, Dr. Ashe was in hiding. We pushed a hotfix for it earlier today, but it is now resolved fully in this update. If you had a game without a starting Doctor, just reload the save and Dr. Ashe will appear.

This was also exposing an unfortunate issue where if you tried to pay for Treatment for a merc but there were no providers available, it could result in a lock-up in the Roster. We've fixed this too while we were figuring out the Dr. Ashe issue.

[h2]Map Area of Effect Delays[/h2]
Some very old code caused a nearly 2 second delay after using some Talents like Sniper's JTAC. We've resolved this delay and cut it down to nothing - play faster, heist more my friends!

[h2]Limit Break and SImStream Issues[/h2]
With Update #251, we've fixed up a number of popular F10 and confusion points around Limit Breaks.

• The Face's Care and Feeding Talent was not actually rerolling negative Limit Break options and just offering you the same thing.
  
• Sometimes the SimStream Detox couldn't reduce your Stress, because your Stress had (invisibly) moved up past 100% to like 120%. Then putting that merc into the Detox still didn't make a visual difference.
  
• Mercs could be put into the Detox even after they had started a Limit Break which could cause issues with their status. This has been resolved and if your merc is pending a Hype or Stress Limit Break, they cannot be shoved into a detox. This is a rare case, but always led to issues.
  

[h2]v1.10.67 - 5/23/2025[/h2]
- Enemy Contacts with Influence Limit Breaks have new options - bringing the Heat on you or causing Exposure to your friendly Contacts
- Double click to confirm and move on the map with option to disable under Options > Controls > Mouse Options
- Fixed issue with Dr. Ashe not always appearing at the start of a new game (sorry!) - she will immediately appear on game reload
- Improved enemy setup in Eleventh Hour map, reduced 2-3 starting patrollers per map instance, added +1-2 Turns for Assassin's walk
- Enabled 2/4 cosmetic options for face plates from last release which we failed to turn on
- Tweaked rules for fighting over elevation, giving less disadvantage to attacker on low ground
- Fixed bug allowing you to commit a merc to a SimStream Detox session when they had a Limit Break pending
- Fixed bug where SimStream Detox chamber might fail to remove Stress
- Fixed bug that could lock up Roster or other screen if there were no available Doctors for Treatment
- Fixed bug where hidden or extracted characters could be buffed / damaged by moving map areas or Leverages
- Fixed odd delay after character used or triggered map AOE like JTAC, Poison Cloud or other
- Fixed bug where Face's Care and Feeding did not successfully reroll Stress Limit Breaks
- Improved UI for cyber surgery screen to avoid hover for implants you have installed going out of screen
- Improved UI for Mission List to be large enough to show 3 rows of tags without overlap

Knights and mercs, as we close in on the big launch day (June 2!) we've got another update for you! Update #250 arrives with a boost to the max level cap (and with it, Talent Limit!), 15 new proc-gen combos split between Boosted VIP and Exfiltrate objectives, stability fixes for crashes in Counter-Intel Pod and freezes on enemy movements on the map, new appearance cosmetics for cybernetic plates on the side of the year, some controller-focused fixes for Matrix IC List, and another round of tweaks to make the "Can Hear" and "Can Shoot" values shown during plotting movement even more accurate.

A huge thanks to everyone leaving a review just this week! We're pushing updates relentlessly to improve the game, so we appreciate you taking a minute to share if you enjoyed the game!

Thanks to @Bubblegum on Discord for providing the screenshot for the update tonight through the community Photomode event.

[h2]Max Level Cap to 36[/h2]

With Update #250, we've raised the max character level cap from 32 to 36. This increases the Talent Limit by +1 and adds a total of +5 Level Points for 4 levels. If you've been grinding already at Level 32, you might have accumulated enough XP to suddenly have one or more of these levels instantly, so don't be surprised by that.

[h2]+15 New Proc-Gen Combos[/h2]

The proc-gen system has really blown up in the last months as we pushed the map count out to 30 and the objectives count out to 14. The proc-gen combos in which a map can be played with a specific objective are now up to 246 possible! Update #250 really pushes on Boosted VIP, which was available on so few maps, ensuring now that it has a wide pool of maps to pull from and should no longer appear repeatedly on the same small set of maps.

We've also just improved and refined VIP start points, paths and extraction points across the extensive set of combos for these 2 objective types, as they need a bit of extra time and balancing to make them as awesome as they can be, since there are so many dynamics at play.

[h2]Counter-Intel Pod Lock up[/h2]

We fixed an issue that could cause a lock-up in your Counter-Intel Pod if you tried to trade Tokens for Favors but don't have any viable Contacts. in this case, you should look at training your Face's Insider Hustle Talent.

[h2]AI Improvements[/h2]

In the last few updates, we dropped some major improvements to the enemy AI - with local alert, being able to fast forward everything, more accurate enemy prediction and more. Of course, there are bugs that have fallen out of that and with this update we're dealing with the first wave of them we've been tracking. We've fixed multiple places where the enemy agents could get stuck trying to go somewhere, or VIP Hunters that might lock up a turn upon finding a body. Some enemy agents could get stuck trying to reach a hunting destination and lock up the turn as well.

[h2]New Appearance Options[/h2]

With Update #250, we've added 4 new appearance options with cybernetic plate or trio of plates on either side of your dome. For the right chromed up look, these add a great bit of extra metal and we're excited to keep adding more cybernetic face adjustments to the characters in weeks to come.

[h2]Improved Can Hear and Can Shoot Measurements[/h2]

We found and fixed some issues in the calculation for how many enemies can hear or be shot from a movement destination when planning. The planner was using a slightly different location than was being used once you had arrived. This should help close up any edge case issues for this system and make it more reliable than ever.


[h2]An Update on Translations[/h2]
For the past few months we've been working on translating Cyber Knights into a starting set of five additional languages: German, French, Spanish, Italian, and Brazilian Portuguese. Cyber Knights is our first game with translation support and we've learned it is absolutely as complicated as everyone says it is. 😅

We've made significant progress, but it currently isn't good enough to be launch-ready. And on top of that, we've run into an issue that may force us to change the software we're using to manage the translation workflow process. So we need to go ahead and announce that translated versions of the game will now be a post-launch addition, likely later this summer. Our apologies to the folks who have been looking forward to these! We've been doing our absolute best to get these ready, but with 11 days to go until launch we have to make a decision and we would rather delay translations than give you bad ones.

We'll plan translations' release to coincide with a future sale. In the meantime, if you're bilingual and willing to help give us feedback on early versions of the translations, please let us know!

[h2]Matrix HUD IC List[/h2]

We've improved the UI behavior for controllers and Steam Deck in the Matrix IC List. If you are taking actions there - like using a program to disable an IC - the selection will not reset to the top of the list. This is a major boon for controller players, we hope you enjoy it!

[h2]Other F10s[/h2]
We're grinding F10s every day to improve and polish. We re-fixed the issue with Warner-Braun Eleventh Hour so it really only appears after PL3, improved Contact Limit Breaks with Enemies or Burnt Contacts to make their messaging more clear, fixed issues with disabled security Tally display and more!

A huge thanks to everyone supporting us in these final days.

[h2]v1.10.65 - Update #250: Cap Raiser - 5/22/2025[/h2]
- Raised max character level cap to 36 (+1 Talent Limit, +5 Level Points)
- Added 11 new proc-gen combos with new maps offering Boosted VIP objective
- Added 4 new proc-gen combos with new maps offering the Exfiltrate objective
- Fixed issue with Counter-Intel Room freezing if you have no Contacts you can trade Tokens for Favors
- Fixed issue with enemy agents sometimes getting stuck hunting
- Fixed issue with enemy VIP Hunters getting stuck on certain security events like discovering bodies
- Added 4 new appearance options for side of head cybernetic plates and tri-plates
- Fixed issues with forehead jacks not always removing cleanly
- Updated cybernetic "Heart" slot to more widely applicable "Chest" slot
- Improved UI behavior in Matrix IC List - now last selected is maintained after taking action if possible
- Fixed more cases where a sight line or weapon number (can shoot, can hear) could be wrong during movement planning
- Fixed bug that could result in a hidden IC list panel even though there was 1 IC
- Improved display of Contact Limit Breaks for Enemies and Burnt relationships
- Improved display when Sec Tally is disabled for any reason (hacking, pitched battle, etc)
- Refixed Eleventh Hour story start at to Power Level 3+
- Fixed box colliders on some props to avoid sight line interference (big wall screens)

Knights and mercs, we've got another update for you this evening - landing with all sorts of new content. Update #249, adds a new proc-gen (repeatable) Legwork storyline that sees you working down on the underground Mystic River, a new Underworld Hub Contact type to connect with, fixes issues with the Plan B rooftop oddly re-appearing mid-game, adds +4 new cybernetic implants, fixes the Move Speed display bugs, rebalances Soldier's Savagery and Vanguard's Jamkit, adds new hovers to the Matrix HUD and fixes the cursed "hacker moves when I move another character bug" that was lurking out there, and more! So let's dig in!

Thanks to @Bubblegum on Discord for providing the screenshot for the update tonight through the community Photomode event.
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1021210/view/542231772987917457

A huge thanks to everyone who left a review this week - our tiny team of 3 is working hard to earn them, so if you enjoy the relentless pace of updates, please share the game by reviewing it.

[h2]Mystic Legwork[/h2]
We've added a new Legwork story that will repeat over time as a contact needs help down on the underground Mystic River watching over a dock in advance of a high-risk smuggling delivery. Don't get shot by river pirates and whatever you do, do not go in the drink!

[h2]Underworld Hub: Corrupt Official[/h2]

With Update #249, we've added a new category of Contact that you can connect with through the Underworld Hub with Tokens. With the new Corrupt Official category, you can get access to a Arrowhead Security Chief who can offer you some interesting services and military-grade gear more reliably or earlier than you might otherwise get access to. Don't snooze on upgrading that UHUB!

[h2]New Cybernetics and Move Penalty Mitigation[/h2]

First up, we've fixed the display issues around Move Speed buffs and debuffs, and Move Speed Penalty Mitigation - once you had all 3, things were starting to get weird in the buff/debuff breakdown. We have also upgraded Move Speed final value to show in the Combat Stats block alongside AP/MP as it is so critical and hard to chase down if its spread across 3 buff/debufs.

Along with the change make Move Speed display clearer, we're working to balance out any Move Speed buffs from cybernetics to ensure that they have a nice chunk of Move Speed Mitigation as well, so we can be sure to differentiate different types of implants.

In addition, Update #249 continues to fill out the options in the existing cybernetic services with new options and ensuring that every cybernetic slot has exciting, different things for you to consider. The Warner-Braun cybernetic service - coming from a megacorp know for their biomed - now offer the ADVX Filter and Trache-Vitaflow, upgraded versions of the ADV Filter and Trache-Lifeflow.

In new cybernetics land, the Street Wetware cybernetic service is added some new options with 2 new Leg implants, the Thunders-X which are for heavy carry characters - offering major Move Penalty Mitigation, Strength and some HP to sweet the deal.

[h2]Savagery and Jamkit[/h2]

With Update #249, we've made some adjustments to the rules for Vanguard's Jamkit and the balance of Soldier's Savagery.

First, for Jamkit, we've added it to the list of Talents allowed to target previously disabled devices. This can allow you to bump the duration of a device, keeping it disabled for longer periods of time. We've also improved the description of the Knight's Security Scramble and Vanguard's Jamkit to be clear they have this capability.


For Savagery, we've made some sizeable balance changes to this very powerful passive Talent. It's recharge rate has been slowed to every 6 Turns but we have increased its base Duration from 1 to 2 so that it always is useful. No one enjoyed getting a "until end of Turn" Savagery buff with their last AP! In addition, we've focused Savagery on what is about - adding % of Ballistic Dmg as Pure Dmg and Critical %. We've dropped the errant Long Range Accuracy buff, and reduced its starting buff but made all upgrade nodes add to both to Ballistic as Pure Dmg and Critical %.

[h2]Matrix HUD: Colors and Snakes[/h2]
We've made a few final changes the host scales for matrix with this upgrade, modifying the color scale to be Gray-Green-Yellow-Orange-Red-Ultra. We've improved the hovers in the HUD over both the Q-Sec AI and the host Security Color so that you can see the entire scales of both Colors and Snakes and get a sense of what you facing.

[h2]Eleventh Hour Push-Back[/h2]
We've pushed the Warner-Braun Era storyline Eleventh Hour back from minimum of Power Level 2 to minimum of Power Level 3, as this has been rated one of the harder mission sets in the early game. While it will push back the availability of a great recruit, it also makes it more fun/possible to take on the challenging multi-stage mission and pull it off.

[h2]Fixing Co-Conspire Issues[/h2]

Co-Conspire was creating missions that had no linked Contact. You'll have to run or ignore the ones on your timeline if you have any from this bugged period, but any new ones created by Co-Conspire will be good to go.

[h2]Other F10s[/h2]
We are fixing huge numbers of F10s daily right now, as polishing and bug fixing is a big part of our focus in these final weeks. We can't list every little thing here, but a ton of minor map changes were, navigation tweaks, typos, etc etc.

We also fixed the issue where your Hacker might start moving during someone else's Turn. Sorry about that! Bad Hacker!

[h2] v1.10.63 - Update #249: On the Mystic - 5/19/2025[/h2]
- Added new proc-gen Legwork offered by Contacts in drugs, smuggling or hi-tech to protect a underground dock
- Added new Contact category "corrupt official" to Underworld Hub Contact finder option - locate corrupt milsec security chief
- Fixed bug with a confusing "Plan B" appearing sometimes in storylines as a scav mission
- Added +2 new cybernetics to Warner-Braun service - ADVX Filter, Trache-Vitaflow
- Added +2 new cybernetics to Street Wetware service - Thunders-X with heavy Move Penalty Mitigation, +Str, +HP
- Better aligned service level and implant levels in Warner-Braun cybernetics service
- Adjusted all cybernetics that directly add Move Speed to split their bonus between Move Speed and Move Penalty Mitigation (power to +Reaction)
- Fixed issue with Move Speed buff/debuff printing incorrectly in roster screen, added final Move Speed to top line stats
- Rebalanced Vanguard's Jamkit Talent - can now target disabled devices, improved description for Knight and Vanguard security Talents
- Rebalanced Soldier's Savagery (+1 base duration, removed +1 duration node, recharge rate 6 Turns, removed Long Range Accuracy, reduced Pure Dmg buffs)
- Adjusted Matrix color scale to start with Gray instead of Blue
- Added Matrix color scale to the Matrix HUD hover (Gray, Green, Yellow, Orange, Red, Ultra)
- Added Matrix Response scale to Matrix HUD hover (Boa, Sidewinder, Timber Rattler, Pit Viper, Diamond Cobra)
- Fixed issue where Hacker start suddenly moving after end their Turn after matrix disconnect
- Fixed bugs with Co-Conspire not successfully linking mission to a Contact
- Fixed issue where you could use Co-Conspire Face Talent with Missing or Dead Contacts
- Renamed street gang enemy Benders to Skipjacks
- Pushed Eleventh Hour story start back to Power Level 3+ instead of 2+

Knights! The countdown to launch continues and this week we are hosting a photo mode event, both here on Steam and over in our Discord. We want to see your shots from in game!



Anything goes! Cool poses, photos of your mercs in action, big whole level shots, your team before they head off for a heist, whatever you want. You can share your screenshots here through the Steam screenshot system and/or you can hop over to our Discord to join our thread there!



Any screenshots you share during this event could be used as the cover image (or otherwise used) in an update post between now and launch!

To jump start things, we've included some recent photomode images and screenshots in this post from our community members jotwebe and y0w1d! Hopefully they provide some inspriation for you! Can't wait to see your coolest, funniest, or most over the top shots!



We’ve opened up a discussion here on Steam in the General Discussion forum for aIl of your posts. If you post in our Discord, head to the Photo Mode Event thread to join in on the conversation!