Cyber Knights: Flashpoint News

This major milestone unlocks another major part of the game's strategy layer as the New Boston underworld and its Contacts come alive in all new ways. It is great to see the roadmap design advancing with this - now your favored Contacts thrive while those you hate or work against wither.

Up until now, most of your actions have focused on their inward impact - money for equipment, Experience for Training, new recruits. And while you've been able to meet new Contacts and alter their Traits and Services through storylines, all of your game decisions weren't also echoing into the wider underworld and into your network of Contacts. Now, your decisions regarding Contacts, running or ignoring their missions, selling them high Rarity Accounts and following their storylines all have [i[outward impact and will feed their dynamic evolution - changing their Traits, Services and more in ways unique to your game.

Exciting times to be alive in New Boston! Let's check it out -


At the beginning of June, we threw down the gauntlet to ourselves to try to wrap up this ambitious set of roadmap milestones before the end of the quarter. We are smashing away now with the Agent EX recently out and the Contact Limit Breaks dropping today ... we're still in this fight with 10 days to go!

If you like our style of Early Access and how hard our team is working to deliver improvements, gameplay depth, new features and content to you on a very regular basis, we hope you will say "Thank you" to the team by leaving a review! It doesn't have to be long, and you can always edit it later.


[h2]Contact Limit Breaks![/h2]
Contact Influence and Exposure Limit breaks work in similar ways to your merc's Hype and Stress Limit Breaks. Through your actions, story choices, relationships and changing Eras of the game, your Contacts will gain and lose Influence and Exposure and as their Influence and Exposure top 80%, they will have have a Limit Break and change for the better or the worse.

• Contacts can upgrade their services - like the Power Level of Weapons, Armor or Items - that they sell. With this update, a bunch of services can now be upgraded by Limit Breaks, with a sum total of over 30 new pieces of equipment coming into the game. This will be a rapidly expanding area as well with new upgradable services coming online for other disciplines as well.
  
• Contacts can upgrade their positive or negative Traits. Your Partnerships can deepen, their issues and hardpoints can grow and worsen.
  
• Contacts can get temporary positive or negative Traits, like the Hi-Priority Trait that adds +25% to all mission payments for 30 days.
  
• Exposed Contacts might duck into hiding for a while, disappearing off the scene for up to 30 days and unwilling to buy or sell anything.
  

[h2] Accruing Influence and Exposure[/h2]
With LImit Breaks coming online, you'll naturally have more interest in the ways your Contacts gain Exposure and Influence. With this major milestone update, we've also plugged in some systems that were waiting for this day, so the new ways to get Exposure and Influence have come online:

• Completing missions for Contacts has always given Influence
  
• Mission secondary objectives have been expanded to include possible boosts to Influence (more on this below)
  
• Failing missions for Contacts now causes Exposure
  
• Ignoring a mission offered by a Contact now has a chance of causing Exposure
  
• Accounts of Rarity Epic or Legendary will grant a +1 Influence boost to the Contact you select
  
• More storylines include Influence and Exposure changes depending on how they play out
  
• Contact's Exposure Res Trait bonus directly reduces the % chance of gaining Exposure
  
• Contact's Influence Boost has been upgraded to be at % chance to double all Influence gains (huge!)
  

[h2]Contact Service Clarity[/h2]
To help with making this clear, we've improved the Contact display of services to include their maximum level. This lets you compare, for example, Dr. Ashe to Dr. Knife to see who is selling higher level medical gear or that your recently upgraded Gun Runner who got a cool Limit Break for gun sales is now selling the best weapons on the street.


This also works well with the Sellers filter we added in the last update, so if you see a Limit Break from Origami Joe for Weapons, you can go check out specifically what he is selling today.


[h2]High Rarity Accounts[/h2]
Consider carefully where your Epic and Legendary Accounts are sold these days as each one will add a +1 Influence bonus to the lucky Contact, whether sold for money or for favors.

[h2]High Power Level Mission Payments[/h2]
As crafting is cresting the horizon (in June!?!?), the late game economy needs work. In order to begin to bring the late game economy into balance, we're cutting some of the mission payments to help bring them inline. The $2m and $5m missions in the late game throw things a bit out of whack.

For missions at Power Level 5 and above (meaning, Team Power Level 5+ if you're on a balanced difficulty) the payments start to take a dip. Where you used to get $600K as the starting point for a Power Level 5 mission, you'll now start calculations at $500K. For PL 7, you've dropped from starting $2m to starting $1.2m and Power Level 10 went from a (whopping!) $25m to $4m.

Storyline bonuses, conditions, secondary objectives, Contact Traits all still apply, so these are just the starting points of the negotiation :D


[h2]Secondary Objective Reward Update[/h2]
With this major milestone update, we've improved the variety of secondary objective reward offerings, which previously only included extra money or extra XP. Now these secondary objectives can include gaining Favors from your Contact, additional boosts to their Influence or their Trust % with you.

This extra variety is great to mix up the rewards, and it plays to the new Contact Limit Break feature that is rolling out with this update as well. The next set of updates for secondary objectives fill focus on expanding the types of goals you are asked to achieve beyond "go fast" and "go quiet" with a lot of exciting other options that will add cool complications.

[h2]Item Sales in the Underworld[/h2]
For a little while, Item sales in the underworld have gotten pretty twisted around. Doctors were selling Grenades, Gun Runners were selling Bandages and no one was selling Bio-Recyclers or Dazzlers.

In prep for the Limit Break update and the ability for these sellers to upgrade what they sell, we've cleaned house and straightened everything out nice. We've also cleanly split Street Military Gear (sold by Gun Runners, Gang Bosses, etc) and MilSec Military Gear (sold by Corrupt cops, security officers, etc). These distinctions are especially important as each service will evolve differently as the Contacts hit their limit breaks, and MilSec Military Gear heads off into more techy gear while Street Military Gear focuses on more boom-boom grenades.


[h2]Fixed "Kill All Enemies" Objectives[/h2]
There has been a nagging issue with any objective that was to kill all of the enemies. Your victory was never registered until the end of the Turn which might mean you missed a secondary objective or just had to click End Turn a bunch of times. This is now resolved - your victory will be swift and it will be severe. Before the last ragdoll thumps on the floor, the game knows and is ready to award you victory.

[h2]v1.7.1 - 6/20/2024[/h2]
- Contacts now achieve Influence Limit Breaks and suffer Exposure Limit Breaks (either at 80%+)
- Contact Limit Breaks can increase levels of positive and negative Traits
- Contact Limit breaks can grant Temporary Traits (+25% Mission Payment, +25% Price of buying Files)
- Contact Influence Limit Breaks can upgrade services, like upgrading weapons sold or items sold
- Limit Breaks can add 10 new weapons, 13 new weapon mods, 4 new Armors, 5 new/upgraded items
- Contact Exposure Limit Breaks can send Contacts into hiding for up to a month
- Selling Epic or Legendary Rarity Accounts to a Contact will increase their Influence by +1
- Complete Missions and Stories with Contacts to increase Influence, more options to feed Influence are coming
- Failing missions or ignoring missions from Contact has chance of causing Exposure increase
- Improved Contact Trait bonus Influence Boost to be % Chance to gain extra Influence
- Expanded rewards possible for secondary objectives in proc-gen missions to Favors, Influence and Trust
- Reduced money rewards for Missions at Power Level 5 or above - bringing late game economy toward balance
- Fixed all Items Services to make a lot more sense and separated Street Military Gear from MilSec Military Gear
- Fixed issue with battle missions with "Kill All Enemies" not immediately ending when last enemy is dead
- Fixed issue with swapping weapons where second equipped weapon would not be shown
- Fixed issues with Leverages Lazy Shift, Bribed Shift and Unexpected Fly-over showing that they buff enemies
- Improved description of Legwork "Under our Thumb" to be more clear - +1 Favor per month
- Removed useless Reo-Flexsuit Armor from sale

Update #96 is another big bundle of improvements straight from the communities F10s. We are keeping the updates flowing and starting to pull in the big dev branches for our June roadmap milestones. Next up will be Contact Limit Breaks, and this update specifically paves the way for that and pushes some needed improvements to systems in advance of its arrival.

Thanks to everyone posting F10s, posting feedback to the community and to everyone leaving a review as we march to 300 reviews!


[h2]Improved Filters[/h2]
To help with filtering in all cases, we've improved the clarity of the grouping UI, making the titles really pop and adding space between the groups. They are much more readable now, thankfully. We've also improved weapons filter specifically by removing 3 dead-end filters for dogs, cats and drone weapons.


[h2]Sellers Filter[/h2]
We've added a new filter to the market to allow you to filter specifically by a seller. If you've ever wanted a clear view into what Origami Joe is selling versus your other weapons dealers, or you want to know what a new V-Chip Contact is offering, now it is easy to slice and dice the market by one or more sellers with a filter.

This will be really helpful shortly with Contact Limit Breaks and Contacts upgrading their service offerings.

[h2]Salvage Job Bug[/h2]
We fixed an issue with the Salvage Job sibling who might have suddenly started demanding that you recruit him or her AGAIN. Sorry about this issue, should now be cleaned up as of this update.


[h2]Melee Weapons and Recoil[/h2]
A very, very old rule was hanging around in the combat engine that made blades and all melee weapons ignore 50% of the Recoil your character currently had. This was from before the time of Glancing Blows and greatly reduces the importance of Recoil for melee weapons, reduces the value of Strength, and all Talents, Traits and Cyberware that help compensate for Recoil.

We had to remove the rule - melee weapons now use the standard Recoil rules that all weapons use. Before you reach for your pitchfork, keep in mind that melee weapons always get a Glancing Blow, so this change may cause you to get more Glancing Blows at the worst.


[h2]More Agent EX Fixes[/h2]
We've improved the VFX for the EX's Smokescreen Talent as well as Smoke Grenades. it just looks cooler now with more dense smoke in a shape that more clearly fills the area as well as not disappearing after a few second!

We've removed a confusing combat log about using Glitch Talent, which wasn't needed.

[h2]Looting Updates[/h2]
Big changes to looting will be coming very soon with crafting release. Along with this we're working improve the looting tables and setup for many missions. In this update we hit a number of proc-gen missions and the starter Forward Op mission.

[h2]v1.6.43 - 6/18/2024[/h2]
- Upgraded UI styles for filters to clearly separate groups and make headers pop
- Added new filter for market to filter by Contact Seller (what does Origami Joe sell?)
- Removed unused weapon filters for dogs, cats and drones
- Improved visuals for Smoke Grenade and Agent EX Smokescreen Talent and no longer disappear
- Removed combat rule that caused melee weapons to use 1/2 Recoil penalty for attacking
- Improved loot in Forward Op early game mission and proc-gen missions using the same map
- Fixed bug forcing repeat recruitment offer to Salvage Job sibling, even after recruited
- Removed confusing combat log after using Agent EX Glitch Talent

We're excited to be back with another day of fixes and improvements to catch up on the week of no updates. Update #95 hits the streets with some important upgrades to Account and File pricing, improvements to Contact Traits to make them be more impactful, a nice new File Set minting preview that helps clarify what swapping files is doing for your result chances, and a big set of improvements to Agent EX and other areas of the game based on your F10s for the day!

If you're enjoying the pace of Early Access around here and the on-going improvements to your game, please do remember to leave us a review. We're a tiny studio and we live on the things. You can always edit it later :D


[h2]Improved Digital Prices & Contact Traits[/h2]
For files and accounts, we've fixed a number of pricing bugs that were preventing Power Level from having the correct impact on the prices of each type. These should now be more reactive to higher Power Level and offer increased prices from your Contacts should be forthcoming.

In addition, we've fixed a number of bugs in how Contact Traits were handled that were causing a lot of the price change Traits still not to work as expected. We've been grinding on these and getting everything working right because we're playing the Contact Influence/Exposure Limit Breaks, so these are going to be getting even more important. But for now with Update #95, they're going to help you see even more divergent prices between your Contact offers.


[h2]Minting Preview[/h2]
When changing the files going into Minting a File Set, you can now see a preview of the possible ranges of value for the resulting file - for example, from $35K to $139K. This depends on the inputs (their Rarity and Power Level) and the output they could create (which is randomly selected from the input Rarities and Power Levels).


[h2]Stuck Agent EX Roster[/h2]
For any players who were having their new game Agent EX's roster not load completely, we fixed the issue with their relationship tag to the Wireghost Dancehall that was causing the bug. You can now see all of their tags and their correct equipment.


[h2]XP Bar Relative[/h2]
The XP bar in the roster used to be a progres bar relative to your total XP to your next level, showing a percentage from 0 to your next XP goal, like 1000. We've fixed the bar to work like every XP ever LOL :D and be relative to your progress toward completing your current level (say, from 800 to 1000). Winning!

[h2]v1.6.41 - 6/17/2024[/h2]
- Improved File and Account pricing to be more sensitive to Power Level
- Improved File Set minting UI to include the range of prices possible from the mint based on your Rarity/Power Level inputs
- Fixed bugs with Contact Traits that were preventing Contacts from offering significantly different prices
- Fixed bug with loading Agent EX Sören's roster page due to misformatted relationship tag with Dancehall
- Improved Cybersword's Adaptive Restruct Talent description
- Fixed possible story dead-end in Salvage Job that leaves sibling as Recruit in roster but cannot talk to them
- Fixed XP bar percent in roster to be relative to the current level (800-1000) of all XP (0-1000)
- Fixed tutorial issue where sometimes non-tutorial characters (like Emille) would be referenced in dialog

Welcome back New Boston! We had a short break here so this is the first update since the Agent EX was dropped. Update #94 focuses fully on patching EX issues, so thanks to everyone for putting in F10s. We've been pleased just how stable the new class has been, how much play time the EX are getting and just how fun the class is to play and integrate into both new and existing teams.

So thank you for playing, posting to the forums, hitting F10 if you see something and especially to everyone who left a review this week!

[h2]Underworld Hub Recruit Levels[/h2]
With Update #94, we've resolved the issues that were leaving all recruits at level 1 all the time. Now, Underworld Hub safehouse room will accurately predict the level of the characters it can find and any recruits introduced by other members of the squad or contacts will also have a higher level. This level is based on some math related to your Team Power Level, so as that increases expect to see improved recruit level options.


[h2]Full Auto in the Class Tree[/h2]
Soldier and Agent EX both have +X% Full Auto Damage nodes but these were not displaying or actually elsewhere, like in the combat stats summary block or when damage by Full Auto was estimated or applied. So, this is a nice new bonus you weren't getting before.

Also, we've improved 2 of the Soldier's nodes to go from +2% to +3% Full Auto Damage.

We've also fixed one of the bottom left Agent EX class tree nodes that only gave +1 Reaction, it now grants +1 Reaction and +2% Evasion.


[h2]Other Agent EX Fixes[/h2]
We've improved the VFX for Shuriken Wave to give it a feeling of a wave and individual enemies getting hit. We've also simplified the damage calculations for it - S-Wave was incorrectly applying cover and distance reductions to damage like a Grenade and making it quite weak.

We fixed a bug that could cause Agent EX to lock up when trying to re-use certain Talents (due to their VFX being badly cleaned up).

And finally, we fixed a bug where Glitching across different elevations could result in odd rotations and positioning.

[h2]v1.6.39 - 6/16/2024[/h2]
- Fixed starting level of recruits offered by Underworld Hub and by other characters/contacts - no longer always Level 1
- Improved some bonuses in class tree small nodes for Agent EX, Soldier gains 2 X +1% Full Auto boosts
- Fixed issue with Full Auto Dmg bonuses from class tree not appearing in Combat Stats block
- Fixed bugs where repeated use of some Agent EX Talents could lock game randomly
- Improved VFX for Shuriken Wave, fixed issues reducing Pure Damage to targets incorrectly
- Fixed bug with Agent EX Glitch where changing elevation would cause odd final rotation
- Fixed reported typos, thank you!

Update #93 brings the second new character class to the game, Agent EX, a high-tech killer with phenomenal mobility, tech-warping cybercontrol, and bonuses for dual SMGs. For new games, the Agent EX can replace the Vanguard in your squad, giving you a character with more limited options for dealing with security systems and manipulating enemy guards, but greater offensive capability and a more specialized set of stealth options.

Players that want to run and gun will find the Agent EX can thrive chaotic combat, but may need to invest more in other squad members’ sec-device-disable talents to deal with laser wires or mines. Players that enjoy using the element of surprise will find it harder to stealthily clear the way for their entire squad with Agent EX, but with clever use of their abilities can frequently position the Agent for deadly ambushes.

[h2]The Talent Tree[/h2]



Like the Scourge, Agent EX is the second and final class to require a type of Nano-Hive implant. At the forefront of dangerously experimental cybernetics, the Nano-Have infuses and links the Agent’s body to a nanite swarm.

This allows the Agent to “glitch” short distances at undetectable speeds, gives them a variety of infiltration talents, and makes them a nightmare for enemy drones.

Mobility is a core focus of Agent EX, with 12 nodes of +1 Reaction bonuses available throughout their tree, their Glitch talent, and passive talents like:

• Adrenaline Flow - When taking damage from an attack, instantly reduce damage by 50% and gain +1 Move Points.
  
• Supremacy - When the Security Level rises, gain +10% Evasion, +1 Move Points and +10% Move Speed for remainder of the turn.
  

SMG specialization is assisted through node bonuses of up to +6% Pistol/SMG accuracy, +15% Full Auto damage, and talents like:

• Dual Reload - Fully reload both of your carried Dual SMGs for 2AP.
  
• Aimlock - If this Dual SMG attack hits, start an Aimlock Streak so that the next attacks gain +25% Ballistic Pure Dmg upgrade, +25% Armor Shred.
  

Destroy drones with node bonuses of up to +6% accuracy vs drones, +25% damage vs drones, and two powerful talents:

• Leech - Designate an area (10m radius) within 15m, and while any drone is inside the area they are debuffed with -50% Move Speed and suffers 25 Pure Dmg per turn, which is recouped by the Agent EX.
  
• N-Coat Bullet - Delivered by bullet, nanites burrow into and infect drone systems. If this attack hits the enemy drone, debuff your target with -100 HP / Turn and -25% All Ranged Accuracy until end of the next turn.
  

And finally, cloak and corrupt your way past enemy defenses with talents including...

• White-Noise - A hissing, popping White-Noise zone that is 8m across is created within 2m. The zone will slowly move in the direction it is initially released but will not pass through walls. Any enemy within the field is debuffed with the inability to hear the sounds of any movements (but can hear gunfire) for up to 2 turns.
  
• Line Crawler - Disable a Level 1 Security Device within 12m for next 2 turns. At the start of the next 2 turns, there is a 40% chance of disabling the next nearest Security Device (of any level).
  
• Shuriken Wave - A whirling, searing cloud of nanites strike all enemies within 10m of your current position, causing 50 Pure Dmg and debuffing with -10% Evasion and -10% Move Speed for remainder of the turn. Cancels enemy Overwatch.
  

...and more!

[h2]How to Get an Agent EX[/h2]
Existing squads can multiclass a squad member into Agent EX by undergoing cybersurgery to install a Nano-Hive implant. For now, this option is immediately available without investing any extra in Dr. Ashe’s clinic. Keep in mind you can't respec out of cyber-classes at this time.

New squads can select an Agent EX in place of a Vanguard at squad creation. This new character template, Sören, comes with a unique set of traits, starting contacts, and background that the story engine can hook into as we continue to add more content.

And we’ll add more Agent EX characters as recruits down the road.

We’ve had a ton of fun with Agent EX in playtesting, and can see many ways it could shake up the “meta” for how our most experienced players are building their squads. Thank you to the players in the Steam forums and our Discord who offered feedback on the class preview!

As always, during Early Access we may tweak talents to balance as data comes in. And if you spot any bugs, please F10 to report in-game; in-game reports help us prioritize and fix them quick.

[h2]v1.6.37 - 6/10/2024[/h2]
- Added new class: Agent EX (EXpiremental, EXtreme!) uses their nano-hive implant to create a tech-warping cloud of DNA-bonded nanites
- Higher Loyalty results in higher Hype left over after Hype Limit Break
- Improved Vanguard Glasswalker Talent icon, Smoke Grenades
- Smoke Grenades now have a clear border shown around their hazy smoke area
- Fixed bug where moving map buff/debuff zones like Tox-Cloud could blip through walls or out of bounds after 2 Turns
- Improved calculation of damage shown when making attacks to be more accurate around Pure Dmg
- Clarified rules for Vanguard's Lure and Soldier's Red Dot - enemies immediately become Suspicious
- Fixed issue with Soldier's Iron Grip granting Kinetic Pure Dmg Upgrade bonus
- Vanguard's Projection Talent buffed to 4 AP movement as starting point, can upgrade from there
- Fixed issue with Vanguard's Synapse Short debuff reducing Pure Dmg Upgrades instead of Ballistic/Kinetic Dmg directly
- Renamed Vanguard's "Static Spectre" Talent to "Counter Static"
- Fixed hyper repetitive Combat log about "Starting Preplan Turn" that was a dev-only message
- Fixed bug that could allow a Hype Limit Break to appear over top of a dialog sometimes