Cyber Knights: Flashpoint News

Knights and mercs, it is Sunday in the New Boston zone, and you know a heist is happening somewhere. Actually, quite a few heists ːsteamhappyː Update #206 rolls out expanded save slots (now 10 instead of 4), three big changes to how Contact Limit breaks pace, order and roll their options, really fun up-balance for E-Rifles and Shotguns and some F10 fixes to boot.

If you are enjoying the relentless pace of updates around here, and think perhaps this is how Early Access should be, please do take a minute to leave a review. We are working hard to keep this EA period a constant stream of improvements and hope you'll help us share that widely!

[h2]Expanded Manual Saves to 10[/h2]

With the UI split out into dedicated save and load menus, it is a good time to follow up with some extra improvements. With Update #206, we've expanded the count of Save Slots you can save into from the starter 4 to a big set of 10. You can scroll in the UI to save wherever you like!

Looking forward from here, remaining Early Access improvements in this area will allow for rapid quick-save and quick-load hotkeys, as well as deleting and renaming slots.
 
[h2]Contact Limit Breaks - Logjammer[/h2]

With Update #206, we've followed up on the good work from Update #203 and a lot of player feedback we've been hearing recently. This boils down into 3 important changes for Contact Limit Breaks.

• We have improved the prioritization and weighting of the options rolled for the Limit Break. This vastly improves the chances of getting Service upgrades as soon as you spend any Favors to steer their decision.
  
• We have tuned up the underworld simulator that schedules Limit Breaks for Contacts so that it will increase its pace if a logjam is detected. If there are more than half a dozen Contacts all waiting to complete their Limit Break, they're going to hit faster until it clears the jam.
  
• In Update #203, we enforced a nearly-strict order of the queue to be first-in-first-out (FIFO). This put a priority on the timing of getting above 80% Influence or Exposure but did not differentiate between 80%, 90% and 100%. With Update #206, we've tightened up these rules so that it is FIFO within Influence or Exposure bands. Therefore, anyone at 100% queues in FIFO order, and if there is no one at 100%, then 90%, etc. So, pushing a Contact to 100% Influence is the sure way to help them get to their break fastest.
  

Looking forward from here, we'll continue to expand the options of choices that Contacts can tap for friendly and unfriendly Limit Breaks as well as built out more Power Play storylines and service upgrade opportunities.

Check out the Contacts page on the wiki for more details about other Contact rules.

[h2]E-Rifle Ammo Switcheroo[/h2]

E-Rifles starting ammo configuration has been 3 Ammo per Reload and 4 Reloads total. We are excited to swap these two numbers, with all E-Rifles now upgrading to 4 Ammo per Reload and 3 Reloads total. This is still 12 shots total for your E-Rifles but has major advantages to Full Auto fighters, to anyone using Ion Batteries (getting 4 instead of 3 out of each use), and for weapon mods as well that add to Reload total, getting more for each addition.

[h2]Shotgun Ranging[/h2]

We've addressed some balance issues with Shotgun to help them be an overall more appealing class. They are very effective today at what they do well (Armor Shredding, some like to say melting!) and in-your-face damage. The rebalance is all to their advantage, compressing the progression of Max Range so it happens faster (adding +1m at Power Level 2 and 4) as well as tightening up the Optimal Range value for all levels of Shotguns so it simply is 3 less than Max Range.

[h2]v1.9.97 - Update #206: Pinnacle - 1/25/2025[/h2]
- Expanded number of manual save slots from 4 to 10
- Fixed issue with keyboard or mouse sometimes not working when loading save slots
- Improved priority weighting to highly prioritize Service upgrades for Limit Break offers granted by spending Favors
- Contact Limit Breaks will occur more rapidly if a crowd is all waiting
- Exact ordering for Contact Limit Break out of the queue now prioritizes 100% over 90% over 80%, then sorts by ready date
- Improved E-Rifles to have 4 ammo and 3 reloads (vs. 3 ammo and 4 reloads) - still 12 shots but better for Ion Charger, Full Auto, Mods
- Increased Max Range by +1m for Shotguns Power Level 2 and 4 to speed up their range progression
- Increased Shotgun Optimal Range up by +1 at a number of levels so it stays consistently 3m below Max Range and keeps low Accuracy penalties at so called "long" shots
- Fixed issue with Zombie Origins Legwork not applying injury if failed
- Fixed report map issues

Knights and mercs, we are back with another weekly map release for Update #205 and a heap of really nice improvements to the Cold Storage File and File Sets tab, as well as 12 adjusted high-Rarity weapon mods, Steam Trading Cards releases, reworked Syndicate Debts Legwork flow, adjusted mission payments offers and more.

If you are enjoying the game and our relentless update schedule to keep this Early Access phase alive and happening, please take a moment to leave a review. We are a tiny studio and every review helps!

[h2]New Weekly Map: Hovertruck Repair Depot[/h2]

At this point, we're feeling very much like clockwork. For 13 weeks with only one fail, we have delivered a new mission map! This week, the clock has completed Hovertruck Repair Depot which presents some new level design and challenges.

• This industrial center is split into a three-lane design with the center lane featuring multiple smaller chokepoints at strategic bridges.
  
• The Hovertruck repair platform gives a high point that grants a commanding view over the main lane, either for defense or in support of a push through that area.
  
• In the variations where a Gold Key room is available, a matrix host may appear in the Gold Key area, presenting a rich looting opportunity, but tied to the challenge of hacking.
  
• While it is a medium-sized map, the Hovertruck Repair Depot plays like a smaller map as your action is compressed into one of the lanes once you leave the open areas at either end.
  

The new Hovertruck Repair Depot brings us to a grand total of 25 proc-gen maps added during Early Access. This hits another major content goal on the dev Roadmap. let's see what can we do to celebrate? More objective types?

With an additional +8 proc-gen combos, we're now at 137 combinations of objective type and map ni the proc-gen system. Very exciting!

[h2]Syndicate Debts Legwork Flow[/h2]

We are edging closer to completing the Syndicate Debts storyline; another precursor is fixing its early Legwork flow. With Update #205, we've wrapped up that part of the work and are releasing it today.

• Improved conversation flow with Octane in the first discussion
  
• The Legwork options after the first discussion are no longer mutually exclusive (you can do both)
  
• You can choose to delay one or both of the Legwork options until a later date and pick them up when ready
  

You can read more about all the storylines currently in the game on the Storylines page of the Cyber Knights: Flashpoint wiki.
[h2]File Set and File List Improvements[/h2]

Files that are included in a set are now highlighted with a green "In Set" tag. This helps these Files visually identifiable and perhaps even more helpful, makes those without the tags instantly visible.


In the same way, we've added a yellow tag that identifies those Files that have a Use Action. These are often the most valuable Files or Files that you are want to use for their result, so having them tagged can help you locate them or avoid accidental sales.


When considering what Files to feed into a File Set for minting, the price of each individual file is now shown in the pick lists to make it easier for you to gauge the range of values that the File Set is offering.

If a File Set cannot be Minted due to your Cold Storage level, we're now making this much more obvious early in the process by graying out the File Set's progress bar and putting a text warning at the top of the File Set's description. This can help you avoid making all the decisions about what Files to slot into your Mint only to discover (far too late) that you cannot Mint the set.

We have also fixed some crashes and Ui oddness that could occur if you Minted the same File Set twice in a row without reselecting anything in the UI. And we fixed some simple round-off errors where your % chance of getting a specific Rarity might have added up to 99% (33% x 3) instead of 100%.

[h2]Scav, Siege and Battle Striker Pay[/h2]

We have fixed a bug that was causing Scav missions to be offered a hefty payment from the Contact. We have also rebalanced the mission payment for Battle Striker and Siege to be more generous, considering the danger of these missions.

[h2]Weapon Mod Fixes[/h2]
We've completed a full sweep of Weapon Mods that are above Rarity Common to ensure that they are all properly differentiated. We found 10 more mods that had been missed, including the Blackout Magazine, Phaser Magazine, Excalibur Drum, Fang Heavy Magazine, Throngler Drum, Oppressor Magazine, Anvil Recap, Rapier Recap, Atlas Recap, Heavy Ion Booster, Nimbus Ion Booster, Pangolin Ion Booster.

Now we can really appreciate their Rarity ːsteamhappyː

[h2]Steam Trading Cards[/h2]

We're excited today to publish the Steam Trading Cards, Emojis, Badges and Profile Backgrounds. You'll get cards automatically for playing, so start collecting today! Steam Achievements will be next on the list.

[h2]v1.9.95 - Update #205: - 1/22/2025[/h2]
- Added new proc-gen map "Hovertruck Repair Depot": a three-lane zone featuring a Gold Key area, special matrix host, and one shortcut lane locked behind a Blue Key that supports +8 new proc-gen combos (Heist a CPU, Steal 3 Files, Scavenger, Kill 3 Captains, Bodyguard, Assassinate, Siege and Battle Striker)
- Improved flow of Syndicate Debts Legwork - no longer mutually exclusive, allows delay
- Files in Cold Storage now include tags for "In Set" and "Use Action" to help make this more clear at a glance
- File Set UI that allows you to pick the Files you want to mint now shows the estimated price of each file inline
- File Set list indicates which File Sets cannot be Minted due to Cold Storage limits by graying out the Set
- Fixed crashes that could occur when minting two of the same File Set back to back
- Fixed roundoff errors in File Set calculation (where 3/3 Epic in a File Set could result in 99% instead of 100%)
- Steam Trading Cards Released!
- Improved mission payment offers for Siege and Battle Striker proc-gen mission objectives
- Fixed bug where Scav proc-gen missions were being offered payment
- Improved high Rarity AR mods: Blackout Magazine, Phaser Magazine, Excalibur Drum, Fang Heavy Magazine, Throngler Drum, Oppressor Magazine
- Improved E-Rifle mods: Anvil Recap, Rapier Recap, Atlas Recap and Melee Mods: Heavy Ion Booster, Nimbus Ion Booster, Pangolin Ion Booster
- Improved balance with Doorkickers and Tremors Traits
- Fixed issues with reinforcements not always appearing when called on Hospital Rooftop (first level)
- Minor reducing in XP granted for Power Level 3 and 10 missions to smooth curve
- Fixed status box in Safehouse pause menu showing Mission Turn instead of Game Turn

Knights and mercs, we've got another update hovertruck coming in hot! The pilot says he can bounce this one right across the deck and into your Steam library, so let's see what we've got! Update #204 breaks out the save and load menus into dedicated sub-menus, visually differentiates the higher level data nodes (Fortress and Vaults), adds Contact Trust % as a bonus to all mission pay, fixes issues where Contact Traits around mission pay and deadline were not always being applied, improves some long-range weapon Traits, fixed bugs with Prox-Mines and well ... we fixed a lot of F10s, so check the full changelog for all the details!

If you're enjoying the relentless (and sometimes daily) updates for Early Access, please take a minute to leave a review! We're working hard on some big content additions for the game next, and while we're grinding on that, we've got steady pace of polish and improvement updates coming out!

[h2]Save and Load Separated[/h2]

To help generally reduce the potential for costly misclicks and hotkey pushes, we have completed the work to separate out the Load Game and Save Game menus. These are now both buttons on the main pause menu and each one opens up a dedicated sub-menu that allows only loading or only saving. Nothing revolutionary, but it is a cleaner and more classic UI ːsteamhappyː


[h2]Matrix Data Fortress & Vault - New Looks[/h2]

To continue to differentiate matrix nodes by sight further, we have followed up on Update #203's change to make Finance Nodes styled green (like U-Dahs!). Update #204 now adds small glowing and rotating satellites to all of the second level data nodes - the Data Fortress, Manufacturing Vault and Financial Fortress. These more dangerous data nodes will disconnect you if your end your Turn there but also have the best loot concentrations in the host, so it is nice to be able to spot them quickly.

We have heard from a lot of players the desire to have data nodes give a visual cue if they have been fully looted. We'll be working on that soon!

[h2]Contact Mission Pay & Deadlines[/h2]
With Update #204, we've fixed some bugs with Contact Traits that were not always ensuring that their bonuses or penalties to mission pay and mission deadlines were being applied correctly. This should help Greedy, Impatient and Generous Contacts stand out more.

In addition, we have added a new effect of Contact Trust - that their Trust value is added as a % on top of any mission payment. This will help reinforce the value of working with Contacts repeatedly throughout a career and puts some more bite into that key Contact status, beyond denying services and preventing Favors from being spent in Limit Breaks.

[h2]Anti-Alias = None[/h2]

If your screen or setup is such that you don't want the game to apply AA, you can now disable it in options.

[h2]Syndicate Debts Rumblings[/h2]

We are working hard on Syndicate Debts! It is our first Origin story and one of the first stories we coded into the game's story system, so it has some rough spots that we are buffing right out before we expand and wrap the storyline. Here is the punch list for #204, and we expect to be making some other changes (like allowing delayed Legworks and not mutually exclusive Legworks) very shortly as well.

• We have shortened the timeline on the Legworks related to the Snitch after the events at the hospital to help ensure you're not committing too many mercs to long Legwork right out of the gate
  
• We have fixed the terminal hover in Loophole Heist so that it is clear that this is a Knight-only terminal. We've also fixed the terminal in Ricksham Drips so that it indicates it is VIP-only.
  
• We have improved all loot tables and matrix terminals for all missions in the Syndicate Debt's storyline.
  

 
[h2]Tag and Traits Improvements[/h2]
With Update #204, we've improved the stat lines for Marksman and Longshot Traits, adding and increasing their Attribute bonuses. We have also tightened up the language used in Faction Tags for characters like "Faction Barred" (which only prevents Legwork) and "Hates Faction" (which prevents taking a job for that faction) and others as well to make the lines clearer. Some of these were criminally vague!

[h2]Sleeping Prox Mines[/h2]
After Update #203, you could use your Knight's Talent to target sleeping Prox-Mines. Oops, that was not expected, but it is now fixed.

[h2]v1.9.93 - Update #204: Hovertruck Bounce - 1/21/2025[/h2]
- Added dedicated Save Game and Load Game menus to avoid mistakes with hotkeys and save slots
- Differentiated Data Fortress, Manufacturing Vault and Financial Fortress matrix nodes from their lesser counterparts
- Contact Trust is added as a % bonus directly to the $$ reward offered for any job
- Fixed issue preventing Contact Trait bonuses/penalties to Mission Pay and Deadline from correctly applying
- Added graphic option to turn off Anti-Aliasing entirely (AA = None)
- Shortened timelines for early game Legworks: Clinic Snitch and Thumb on Snitch
- Improved hovers over terminals in Loophole Heist (Knight-only) and Ricksham Power Play (VIP-only)
- Improved all loot tables and matrix host creation for Syndicate Debts mission chain
- Improved Traits Marksman and Longshot with Attributes, better progression
- Fixed bug where Faction for Hack 3 Files proc-gen missions was always Warner-Braun incorrectly
- Clarified rules for Faction Insider and Faction Barred - these do not prevent missions, only Legwork
- Clarified rules for Loves, Hates, Deserted Faction and what jobs they interfere with
- Fixing bug allowing K-Protocol and other Security Talents to target hidden Prox-Mines

Hello Monday, hello Knights, hello mercs! It is another big F10 smash update, grinding for that polish every day while the team keeps working hard on bigger chunks of content and features back at HQ. With Update #203, we've fixed an issue that was preventing Red Mist Event mission from working, forcing Contacts to Limit Break in a fair order instead of RNG order, fixing issues with K-Protocol not always applying correctly, fixing all the gun SFX sounding so silly (oops!), rebalancing a few Pistols, improving Leverage and ... well, a lot of things. Check the full release notes for all the details!

If you enjoy our relentless pace of updates and our dedication to keeping this Early Access moving forward and getting better constantly, please share it in a review! Remember you can always edit your review later.

[h2]Red Mist Assassination Fix[/h2]
With Update #202 we fixed a bug preventing proc-gen assassination missions from starting and deploying their VIP. Unfortunately, the same bug had wormed its way into some of the story assassination missions. We have now fixed that in Update #203 and you can just play forward, the mission will jump-start into action.

[h2]Contacts Learn to Queue Properly[/h2]

For a long time, there has been a lot of unfair jostling and cutting the line in the Contact Limit Break rules. Contacts might get to 80%+ Influence and be ready to Limit Break but someone else keeps going first if they have bad RNG. With this update, we've corrected the rules to ensure that the queue stays relatively orderly. There can still be a little jostling at the front of the line, but Contacts are now going to reliably Limit Break in a fair order and not get frozen out for extended periods of time.

However, there is a transition period that will now occur between the old rules and the new rules. All Contacts who were over 80% Influence/Exposure before Update #203 are just at the front of the line. They need to all clear their Limit Breaks before anyone who gains 80%+ Influence/Exposure after Update #203 will gain a Limit Break. It is as fair as we could make it.

[h2]K-Protocol[/h2]

For those highly skilled stealth teams or teams trying to use K-Protocol on the first Turn, it was not working as expected. Due to an order of operations bug, K-Protocol was limited in reducing Tally by how many blue tallies you had ... so for the Turn 24 game with 1 blue tally that we checked during testing - we salute you. You're a ninja! And now, K-Protocol will work for you correctly, late or early in the mission.

Finally, we've adjusted K-Protocol's rules to allow it to be used against sleeping devices that haven't been woken up by the Sec AI yet. This is a nice change, as those sleeping cameras and laser wires are still attack surfaces for your pro Vanguard and now you can take advantage of them.

Check out the full rules for K-Protocol and other Vanguard Talents you can use to go full stealth on the wiki.

[h2]Laser Guns SFX![/h2]
For a bit there, all of the guns were making strange laser-blaster sounds. That was a mistake on our part and is now fixed - all guns SFX are restored.

[h2]Sprint for Siege and Battle Striker[/h2]

Since sneaking is pointless in Siege and Battle Striker missions, we've ensured that all mercs start in the sprint stance for these missions to avoid the need for any extra keystrokes and to reduce mistake potential.

[h2]Pistol Rebalance[/h2]
We've fixed a broken modifier in the pistol table that has adjusted the balance for Detective Special, Executive, and Heavy Raptor Pistols. The Executive and Heavy Pistols now cause a small amount of Pure Dmg (20 and 40 respectively) making them stand-outs in the Pistol class.

[h2]Leverage Improvements Round-up[/h2]

With this update, we're prepping for a new wave of Leverages that can be obtained by converting certain special items like the Sigma 6 Sploitkit items. In prep for this, we've drastically raised the prices on the Sigma 6 Sploitkit items up to over $100K each.

We have also fixed the descriptions and rules for Suppress Alarm and Alarm Malfunction to make them work clearly and consistently. These Leverages prevent the Sec AI from Escalating, which means that the Tally and Sec Level are increasing but the Sec AI simply does not get to take a special action when it passes the Escalation threshold. This ensure there are no reinforcements, devices re-enabled or any kind of powerful Sec AI reaction.

In the next few updates, we're working on getting the Leverage results all added to the combat log, as these are too "quiet" today.

[h2]And More![/h2]
And we fixed a lot of other things too :D Check the release notes for the full list.

[h2]v1.9.91 - Update #203 - 1/20/2025[/h2]
- Fixed "Red Mist Event" assassination Power Play mission that could be stuck - job will jump into motion again
- Contact Limit Breaks are now ordered by when they are eligible, removing chance Contact will get stuck waiting and passed by others
- Fixed issue with K-Protocol Talent not always applying fully when the Sec Tally was low / first Turn
- K-Protocol now fixed to correctly target any security device, even sleeping ones not turned on by Sec AI
- Fixed bug with all guns sounding like silly laser weapons
- Adjusted balance for Pistols: Detective Special, Executive, Heavy Raptor
- All Siege, Alpha Striker and other full combat missions start with team standing and in Sprint mode
- Corrected/clarified the Suppress Alarm and Alarm Malfunction Leverage descriptions
- Raised price for Sigma 6 Sploitkit item to over $100K each
- Adjusted coloring of Matrix Finance nodes (now Accounts=Green, Files=Purple, Blueprints=Blue)
- Fixed bug with Radar Array term appearing in Matrix SCU instead of Long-Range Camera
- Fixed cover display on large rising floor lamp
- Fixed missing names and fields in journal entries
- Renamed a few more Files for clear name to set consistency

Knights and mercs, it's another late update but some good things feel like they can't wait. Update #202 arrives just in time to fix all the issues with Assassinate VIP missions that popped up this morning (the VIP now arrives!), rebuild the outlining tool in the game to do a better job, especially with faces and complex geometry, improved how Leverage pop outs work, fixed map issues across the board and completed the rename sweep of Files so that Files that are not in sets drop the Roman numerals (I, II, etc).

Thanks to everyone supporting us with a review this week - we appreciate it. We can repay you with a relentless update schedule :D

[h2]Assassinate VIP Fixed[/h2]

A bug crept as we've been quietly adding new proc-gen objectives for the dev team to play, that broke Assassinate VIP. In this case, the VIP never arrives! This is now resolved and any game that is stuck in one of these missions can just reload the level and play forward - the VIP will come in hot!

We've also fixed the issue where there were multiple dialogs played upon killing the VIP (again!) and are working on a long-term solution to this seemingly recurring issue.

[h2]New Outline Tool[/h2]

We've upgraded the game's outline capability to do better with character heads (now the head is actually fully outlined ːsteamhappyː !!). The upgrade also has better more obvious line weight and does better with complicated geometry and the outline visibility as you zoom out and rotate. It is very nice to have some of these old, not fully ready for prime-time components upgrade to the shiny.

[h2]Leverage Reasons[/h2]

We've improved the logic for the Leverage reason pop-outs. If they came from Tokens, we are no longer incorrectly showing a bogus pop-out. And in the case that you have no Contacts who can provide the Leverage, we've explicitly stated that in the pop-out.

[h2]Cameras + Rotation + Reload Bug[/h2]

If a camera rotated at the end of a Turn and spotted a merc and then you later retried the new Turn, the spotting would be lost in the old system. With this upgrade, we've ensured that spotting is properly saved to the game database and the game log so it can't be lost or removed.

[h2]File Naming[/h2]

We've adjusted all names for Files that are not in a set to stop using Roman numerals like I, II, and III. Also, we've adjusted the names of all sets to use sequential Roman numerals (I, II, III, etc.). This should help cut down some File Set confusion (as some of the files combined II, III and IV for the Set, ignoring I) as well as encoding obvious clues about each File name as to whether it is part of a set or not.

Tags to clearly denote Files that are in sets or have use actions are coming next week, so this naming step helps but is not really the full solution to this issue.
 
[h2]Dialog Lines[/h2]
We've fixed an issue where some dialog lines were just being displayed as empty box. These were caused by the game narrator trying to explain rules about Obligations or Favors. Now fixed!

[h2]Map Bugs Fixed![/h2]
We've fixed a lot of map bugs again - new maps drive lots of little fixes. Route 5 Bypass had some issues with certain lower areas blocking sight around the edge - now fixed. The second stage of Eleventh Hour never spawned reinforcements - now fixed.

[h2] v1.9.85 - #202: - 1/17/2025[/h2]
- Fixed bug with Assassin VIP where VIP does not appear - job will jump into motion again
- Fixed bug with repeated 4 segments of dialog upon killing a VIP in Assassinate VIP missions
- Rebuilt outline component - better outlines around character faces, better outline on complex geometry
- Fixing Leverage pop out incorrectly showing when the Leverage is purchased or gained by Field Ops / Hacking Station Token
- Fixed missing mission art for the new Route 5 Bypass mission
- Fixed intermittent issues with empty lootboxes
- Fixed issue with camera rotation and reloading a Turn sometimes losing a character being spotted event
- Fixed missing reinforcements in the second stage of Eleventh Hour
- Fixed certain areas blocking sight into lower areas in Route 5 Bypass
- Fixed the missing dialog lines that should have been spoken by the narrator in some stories
- Fix File names within sets (to be I, II, III, etc) and File names for Files not used by set (removed II, etc)
- Fixed backward Terminal in Decommissioned Core