Cyber Knights: Flashpoint News

Update #36 is more bristling than most - full of good balance changes, upgraded weaponry, reworked medical items, easier to use Lure, helpful new 0 AP display for Talents, improved Tutorial and some key upgrades to the enemy agent reactions to grenades and spotting dead bodies. Exciting progress on so many fronts - so let's dive in!

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[h2]Gun Runners Refreshed[/h2]
With this update, we're starting to round out a big package of updates and improvements to the strategy/underworld layer for the game. The first focuses on weapon upgrade balancing and Gun Runner contacts.

The main improvement is that Gun Runners now sell a clear upgrade path with Power Level 2 weapons. Overall, a few weapons were removed (for the moment) from circulation (until you Gun Runners can upgrade their weapon services) including weapons like the hromehawk AR, Warthog, Nine-Edge, Stumwhelger M23, K37 Mauler, AutoMag. If you happened to have purchased these before, you'll find they've been upgraded to Power Level 3 weapons, so well done.

For those weapons that are still actively for sale, there is the Power Level 1 tier -- which includes some of your starting weapons -- and a clear upgrade to Power Level 2 weapons. Power Level 2 upgrades are not fancy, they are functional and valuable -- the weapons add to their Damage types, some increase Armor Crit %, others add more Full Auto shots. With more Damage comes more Recoil.

We're glad to have left the previous set behind -- those weapon upgrades were trying to be too fancy, offering lateral upgrades and trade-off specializations. For upgrades from Power Level 1 to 2, this was overkill -- that will be great for Power Level 5+ variations, but for your first weapon upgrade, you want a clear step up.

Still, in terms of combat gear progression, we expect to keep seeing players first upgrade Weapon Mods as the first go to.


[h2]Medical Supplies and Items Rebalanced[/h2]
There have been some key changes to Item rules in Update #36. First and perhaps largest change is that all Items require at least 1 AP. This is a key ground rule -- especially for low Power Level Items -- that will allow cool flexes with cybernetics, Talents and high-powered Items later on. We have established a better floor with the rule, from which we can make cool exceptions. This includes changes to -- all Combat Drugs, Bio-Stitch Bandages and one type of IO-Charger. We know you may be screaming nerf, but this is the best for the future item and item-modifier meta for the long-term.

Second, we've upgraded First Aid kits -- increasing both their HP healing values and granting 2 charges for the Power Level 4 and 5 variations. Alongside the nerf of Bio-Stitch Bandages to require 1 AP, the medical item balance is much better off now. Some of the next steps in this department will be to high Power Level Bio-Stitch options available that grant 4+ charges while still keeping to lower heal-per-charge values.

[h2]Enemy Decision Improvements[/h2]
A few improvements to the enemy agent decision trees have been added to Update #36 to continue to tune up enemy response. First, we fixed a gap where enemies would only spot the body of a dead ally when their Turn came around in the Initiative Timeline. Now, enemies will immediately spot and report dead bodies.

The second set all deals with grenades and Shock Mines. If an enemy is Damaged or Debuffed by a grenade they will correctly upgrade to aggressive (as they have been attacked) instead of standing around confused. If a Shock Mine is thrown like a Grenade (thrown at the feet of an enemy and immediately going off) then they respond as if it was a Grenade and go into aggressive mode. If an enemy walks into a Shock Mine used like a mine (left there and they trigger it while moving) they will upgrade to Alerted (knowing their are intruders but unsure where they may be).


[h2]Talent / Item AP Always Shown[/h2]
Previously, Talents and Items that cost 0 AP did not show any icon or value for AP. This hid their power in a way and also left some confusion about their activation requirements versus other Talents. Now, all Talents show their AP but those with 0 AP cost have a grayed out, easier to ignore version of it. This helps them really stand out -- Talents like Tactical Surge, iron Grip, Marker Sights -- all bring a special extra level of power to the table simply for their surge capability, using at the very end of your Action with 0 AP left or used back to back without cost to gun, grip, aim and gun again.


[h2]Clearer Lure[/h2]
Lure continues to be a Talent that has some confusion when players first try to use it, so we're working to improve that situation still through basic UI cues. With Update #36, a small red circle now appears under an enemy agent who would be affected by the Lure, helping reinforce the idea that the inner circle that follows your mouse is the area that the Lure will draw from and help make it clear if an enemy is near the border of the Lure's area, whether or not they will be targeted. In short, it's very similar to Grenades but without the damage indicator.


[h2]Tutorial Upgrades[/h2]
With Update #36 we've made another round of improvements to the tutorial and the Gameplay Basic sections.

First, in the tutorial we've started to push the guiding text into highlights of actual HUD elements instead of through more clunky character dialog that doesn't play at the same time as the UI. The first prompt suggesting Jamkit be used to knock out a security camera is now explained with Jamkit directly highlighted. If this improvement pans out, we'll be sweeping the rest of the tutorial to move everything into HUD highlights.


Second, we've added annotated images to and updated the Gameplay Basics section on Action Points. For any players checking the Gameplay Basics for help, this section provides a ton more very clear and pointed explanation.

[h2]Hover Priority[/h2]
Up until now, attempting to hover over any interactive element -- a merc, enemy, terminal, lootbox, security device, etc -- would just give hover priority to the nearest element. With Update #36, we've improved the hovering situation to put priority on players and enemies. if an enemy is behind a Laser Mesh, the hovering will now prioritize the enemy's hover and focus over.

[h2]v1.2.21 - 12/30/2023[/h2]
- Updated Gun Runners Diego and Origami Joe to sell clearer set of weaponry upgrades
- Street weapons for Sale Power Level 1 and Power Level 2 are clear upgrade, less weapons for sale, better offering
- Check your weaponry, some weapons have been upgraded to higher Power Levels
- Some weapons previously for sale (Chromehawk AR, Warthog, Nine-Edge, Stumwhelger M23, K37 Mauler, AutoMag) no longer immediately available
- Enemies now correctly spot a dead body falling into their sight cone, don't wait until their turn
- When damaged or debuffed by a grenade, enemies now correctly upgrade to aggressive
- Enemies getting hit by a Shock Mine will emerge in Alerted state
- Non-passive Talents always show AP cost even if it is 0 AP for clarity (of their high value)
- Improved and rebalanced Item Action Point costs - all items cost AP to use
- All Combat Drugs and Bio-Stitch Bandages now cost 1 AP to use
- First Aid Kits at Power Level 4 and above gain a second charge and higher HP healing totals
- Power Level 3 IO-Charger now costs 1 AP to use but adds a buff
- Fixed bug where Talents and Items targeting dead bodies could not next/previous targets
- Fixed bug sale prices with Bio-Stitch Bandages
- Added glossary entry explaining Pure Dmg Upgrade rules
- Fixed incorrect message about witnessed vs. heard grenade explosion

Update #35 keep the Winter Sale running hot with still the best price of the year, new appearance options for your mercs, new items for sale from your underworld corrupt cop friend, improved Contact Traits Indebted and Partner and more fixes and improvements straight from your F10s!

If you're enjoying the pace of improvements and the speed of support for issues, please leave a review! You're always able to update your review later but if you feel like we are on the right track a 👍 helps immensely!


[h2]New 'Dues, New Hues[/h2]
The marketing department made me write it; I swear. But its true - we've added 6 new haircuts total for your characters to check out and try. And we've also added a new row of browns to the color picker for any appearance item's colors.


[h2]New Military Items for Sale[/h2]
During the Carnivore storyline, it is referenced multiple times that the corrupt cop is willing to sell military gear under the table for a higher price. This contact service was never correctly connected to the contact in the story. With Update #35, we've resolved that for existing games (it will immediately appear) and new games running Carnivore.

The new milsec item options include higher power IO-Chargers, Frag Grenades and access to other rare items like Echo Jammers and Patch X-Kits. It's good to have a corrupt cop on the payroll, indeed.


[h2]Indebted and Partner Traits[/h2]
Those Contacts who get the Indebted or Partner Trait are now delivering on their promise of +1 Favor per 30 days. These are added with a new Timeline Log but otherwise quietly. In existing games, they will add on the next 30 day tick, and new games they'll just add from the start. Especially for the Doctor, this is a nice way to pile up some free good will and a nice reward for your investment in the clinic.


[h2]Clarity on Passive Talents[/h2]
Passive Talents (and all Talents actually) were hiding their charge count when they had no more charges ready for use in the character pop-up mid-mission. We've now fixed that issue so that the charge count is always displayed and you can see also the number of turns to recharge. This can give you a lot more clarity about the coming and going of passive Talents.

If you have questions about Passive Talents, the best place to check is your character's pop-up in the middle of a mission. Click once on the portrait in the Initiative Timeline to focus the camera on them and the second time to open their status.


[h2]Loading Lock Up, Passive Talent Lock Up[/h2]
Thanks to the awesome F10s coming in from the community, we've fixed two more issues that could cause mid-game freezes requiring a Turn restart.

The first could effect a number of Passive Talents like the Sniper's Fleeting. If the Talent activated (for Fleeting, you killed an Unaware target) but then failed in a secondary check of its more complex requirements (for Fleeting, you can't currently be standing in an enemy's sight cone) the game could lock up on this case. Very excited to have this fix deployed to the field as it undoubtably will help other Talents too.

The second could occur if a minor map change was made that might affect a character and they end up in a non-playable area. This is now always checked when reloading a mission and characters are moved to the nearest playable area.


[h2]Class Tree Cleaning Continues[/h2]
Even with only 6 classes currently active in the game, the class trees are immense data structures. We've got an entire bucket of F10's dedicated to issues with them, but the list getting shorter and shorter and into small and smaller issues. With this update, we've:

• Fixed redundancy in
  
• Fixed Hacker's Null Op munging up the damage values
  
• Fixed Sniper's Skullshot was stating a buff was going to an enemy when really it is yours
  
• Fixed one node in Splatt-Patt that was giving multiple effects
  

[h2]v1.2.19 - 12/28/2023[/h2]
- Added 6 new haircuts for new appearance options
- Added brown color scale to the appearance color pick list
- New items for sale if you make friends with corrupt Brave Star cop
- Added new items - power level 3 Frag Grenade and IO Charger
- Fixed missing item sales services for corrupt Brave Star contact from Carnivore
- Contact Traits "Indebted" and "Partner" now grant +1 Favor every 30 days
- Fixed bug that could cause character to be unable to move after loading level that was modified
- Fixed bug that could cause game freeze after failure to use some passive Talents like Sniper's Fleeting
- Fixed Sniper's Fleeting description to be clearer, adjusted upgrades for more Accuracy against Unaware/Suspicious targets
- Fixed bug in character status pop up during missions that did not show Talent charge pips if none were left ready
- Fixed display of Null Op Hacking Talent previewing damage of upgrade nodes
- Fixed text in Skullshot upgrades to be clear about who is getting the +25% Critical buff
- Fixed multi-effect upgrade nodes in Soldier's Splatt-Patt
- Fixed odd position of Select/Options button in appearance selection
- Fixed all reported typos - thank you!

Let's keep the Winter Sale cheery with another update! Update #34 hits on a ton of F10s and requests from the community -- fixing a critical story issue that was reducing story content available in the game, adds dark mode to the F10 menu, improves multiple reactions and decisions from the enemy agents, correct the special rules for Revolver mods, making Matrix AP clear and always visible in hacking and more.

If you're enjoying the updates, we've got more coming! We hope you'll tell a friend and leaving a review. You're always able to update your review later but if you feel like we are on the right track a 👍 helps immensely!


[h2]Missing Story / Recruits[/h2]
Some players have been reporting less-than-expected story counts and a lack of recruits. Due to holiday travel, we haven't been able to address this quickly enough but it is now fixed with Update #34. About 50% of the game's stories and all recruit options could possibly be effected, depending on the age and stage of the game when the bug was introduced. Stories like Sibling Breakout and Cube Run were on the skip list.

In all cases, all games are now fixed and regardless of age or stage, the stories/recruits will begin to appear as the timeline is run. Sorry for this ugly bug!

[h2]Enemy Agent Improvements[/h2]
Update #34 includes a sweet set of changes for enemy agents. These changes always require a lot of vetting and testing, so they've been percolating here for a while as we need to make sure the decision tree changes are good for the AI in all its forms over a lot of scenarios.

This work is in preparation for allowing you to skip or fast forward enemy turns, so that is coming but not ready yet.

For Update #34, we've -

• Resolved some issues that would cause an enemy agent to repeatedly skip turns at an investigation point once they had reached it.
  
• Resolved some issues that would cause an enemy agent to suddenly teleport to an investigation point.
  
• In some cases, enemy agents could end up lying down on the ground in a bugged state that made them really hard to deal with. Fixed.
  
• Enemy agents were really silly when hit by a grenade and not already aggressive. Their reaction is much more reasonable now, in that they will head toward the point of grenade tossing to investigate. If you're throwing grenades from out of sight, you still have a chance to scoot and lead the guard Alerted instead of Spotting you.
  

[h2]F10 Dark Mode[/h2]
Dark mode FTW - F10s now have a far more pleasing dark mode styling, easy on meat eyes and easy on cyber eyes too.


[h2]Matrix AP[/h2]
In Update #34, we've made two changes to make your Matrix AP more clear. We've labeled in the center screen where you've got the action options like Scan and Hack. We've also added an ever-present AP bar to the top left that shows your Matrix AP at all times. These changes should help make it more clear as you're burning through your AP and your turn is starting to dwindle down to only a few last actions.


[h2]Revolver Special Mod Rules[/h2]
While they are able to equip regular Pistol Mods for their scope, barrel and body mod - Revolvers still have a few special rules that limit their mod options. Specifically, they cannot attach a barrel mod suppressor that reduces the noise of their shot and they cannot attach a body mod that increases their ammo capacity. These rules are now correctly enforced during weapon modding.

[h2]Loadout Bugs[/h2]
There were a few issues with loadouts when changing carried items from the roster. These could lead to have more items than you were supposed to be allowed to carry for certain characters. These issues have now been resolved - thanks to the group of players who all sent in highly detailed F10s.

[h2]v1.2.17 - 12/26/2023[/h2]
- Fixed Casting Director bug blocking about 50% of stories and recruitments ːsteamfacepalmː
- Fixes issues with Revolvers equipping mods that silence/suppress or extend ammo max
- Fixes issues with loadouts, item assignment and roster
- Fixes issue where enemy agents would sometimes go to an investigation location and just skip turns there
- Fixes issue where enemy agents were clueless when investigating a grenade thrown as the opening attack
- Fixes issue where sometimes enemy agents teleport suddenly to an investigation point
- Fixes issue where sometimes enemy agents could end up lying down and bugged
- Improved Matrix hacking label of Matrix AP and added AP bat to top right
- The F10 Feedback menu converted to dark mode
- Multiple items of the same type carried by a character are grouped in backpack dropdown
- Further improvements to motion detectors and radar arrays
- Fixed issues with missing strings in movement alerts for security devices
- Fixed certain types of 4m fences that could resist being jumped in some levels (like Tutorial)
- Fixed typos in Gameplay Basics section

Merry Winter Sale, mercs and Knights! It's the best time of the year to jump into the New Boston Zone with the best deal of the year. These heists won't heist themselves!

Update #33 brings some updates to your class trees, a new Talent for the Soldier and the Hacker and a pile of class tree fixes from your F10s. Thanks to everyone playing, posting feedback and sharing the game with a friend.

Happy holidays - hope you'll leave a review on Cyber Knights this season!

[h2]New Soldier Talent: Plaster-Cross[/h2]
Your Solider now has a new option to handle heavily armored targets with Plaster-Cross. Parallelling Splat-Patt as a firing technique enabling more powerful and wider range of Full Auto fire, Plaster-Cross is a special firing technique for Burst First firing mode that greatly increases drilling through and destroying the reactive materials of modern combat armor and increases the Armor Crit % significantly against targets. Got a hard nut to crack? Lay into them with your AR and Plaster-Cross to soften up their armor before unleashing Full Auto destruction.


[h2]New Hacker Talent: Upchain[/h2]
Your Hacker can now exploit in the last seconds of an enemy drone's existence as its circuits and systems collapse under gunfire or slicing blades with their Upchain Talent. The unauthorized burst into the drone control system can send out shockwaves of disruption to all nearby drones and hit all nearby drones with a powerful debuff reducing Initiative and AP. The Hacker's new passive Talent is the sole Talent to activate on the death of an enemy drone and is helping to continue to build out the options your team will have to face off with dangerous enemy drones as they prepare to become more prevalent in the enemy's security forces outlay.


[h2]Simplified Soldier's Red Dot[/h2]
The Soldier's Red Dot Talent had an overly restrictive clause that needed a Full Auto weapon to use. This didn't make a lot of sense, so we've reduced the restriction to only require a ranged weapon.


[h2]Cybersword's Lightfoot[/h2]
There were cases where the Cybersword's Lightfoot Talent was incorrectly disabled in the Talent bar even though you had the charges and the AP/MP to use it. We've resolved the situations so that it's always enabled when it should be.

[h2]Class Tree Cleanup[/h2]
In Update #33, we've done some cleanup for the class trees to help ensure all the icons and text are fully correct. We've fixed a few places where the wrong icon was used in upgrade node. We've also worked on correcting some of the text for the upgrade nodes, where the wrong syntax was listed -- where a buff was being upgraded but the text would say the "target(s) suffer X effects" as if it was a debuff.

[h2]v1.2.15 - 12/23/2023[/h2]
- New Soldier Talent: Plaster-Cross Talent, now adds Armor Crit % and Ballistic Dmg to single Burst Fire attack
- New Hacker Talent: Upchain debuffs nearby drones whenever an enemy drone is killed by the team
- Removed hidden Full Auto requirement from Soldier's Red Dot Talent, now simply requires a ranged weapon
- Fixed incorrect Strength icons to Reaction icons in Knight's class tree
- Fixed issues where Cybersword's Lightfoot Talent was wrongly disabled in Talent bar
- Fixed issues where upgrades in class tree would state "target(s) suffer X effect" when the Talent was a team or self buff
- Fixed mistakes and typos in new Gameplay Basics sections

Welcome to the Winter Sale and our best discount of the year - save 33% on Cyber Knights: Flashpoint today! You'll get the game and a river of free updates, coming fast and shiny.

Update #32 officially cracks into the Tutorial Roadmap milestone (a good start but more coming), improves and adds the rest of security devices to movement alerts, fills in missing item descriptions and Smoke Grenade rules, gets Overwatch visualization to respond correctly to sight blockers and cover and more. It's a huge QoL patch straight from your F10s! So, let's get to it.

If you're enjoying the pace of updates and improvements to the game, be sure to leave a review!


[h2]Tutorial Starter Refresh[/h2]
While our work is far from done with improved tutorials, with Update #32, we've officially started on the road and have marked the item as "underway" in the roadmap. For both the tutorial level (below the rooftop) and the rooftop there is now an ever-present button for players of any skill level to access "Gameplay Basics" which gives access to the top 6 basic gameplay features you'll need to know to get started, including movement, movement alerts, using items, Action Points and Initiative.


At the beginning of the tutorial we use a new highlight system to point out the button to make sure players know to start there with that button. This is the first of use of the HUD / UI highlighter but the next steps for the tutorial improvements will for this new feature to creep across all of the content and replace (disconnected) character dialog to directly highlight and detail the parts of the screen and actions you can/should be taking.

We also did a big pass of improvements on the dialog tutorial and sequencing. It's a bit tighter and highlights more important points but is still due more improvements.

Finally, this let us remove all of the tutorial video content from the game which was getting no play time but soaking up more than 1 GB of game size. A nice bonus!


[h2]Overwatch and Full Auto Indicate Lines of Sight[/h2]
For enemies and players alike, your Full Auto and Overwatch cones displayed on the map now respond correctly to environmental elements that block line of sight and to cover as well. While you can shoot targets in the yellow hashing, this sometimes can explain why you may have reduced accuracy if the target is near cover-granting element.

This is especially helpful for just showing areas that are completely out of sight so you can shift through enemy overwatch where possible without getting tagged.


[h2]Movement Alerts Cleanup[/h2]
With Update #32, we've fixed a few gaps in the movement alerts system. This system has been a huge success and we're pushing to have full coverage over all security types and to close some gaps where things are not all working as expected.

• Motion Detectors, Pressure Plates and Laser Mesh all now give movement alerts
  
• All movement alert icons are now shown in yellow to get off the overloaded red color and to match the alerts shown in the enemy hovers
  
• We've fixed issues where "You may be seen" was incorrectly reported when you were crouching and would be staying low behind cover.
  
• We've fixed issues where you could be reported that you'd be shot even outside of the range of an enemy overwatch cone.
  
• Sometimes multiple movement alerts at the exact same location would stack, this is now improved to be more clear.
  

[h2]Smoke Grenades and Item Descriptions[/h2]
We've fixed Smoke Grenades broken description making it clear they created a sizeable cloud of smoke that blocks sight and security devices alike. No attacks can be made out of, into or through smoke except for melee attacks which are not effected. Go cyber ninja, go!

A tip for smoke grenades, turn on highlight (default H)!

Sorry, other grenades no longer bounce off smoke grenade's smoke. ːsteamfacepalmː

Also, for a number of items we fixed places where their rules had been entered into their themed description and have now included their proper in-world explanation.

[h2]v1.2.13 - 12/20/2023[/h2]
- Improved tutorial / rooftop access to "Gameplay Basics" with updated top 6 items in Basic Gameplay
- Added "Gameplay Basics" button to HUD in Tutorial and on Rooftop for quick access to explanation of movement, combat and gameplay fundamentals
- Reduced total game size by more than 1 GB
- Overwatch and Full Auto area of affect display now take into account cover and blocked sight
- Added movement alerts for Motion Detectors, Pressure Plates and Laser Wires
- All movement alerts are recolored yellow, red is overloaded in visual
- Improved "You may be seen" movement alerts to be more accurate in regards to cover
- Fixed movement alert bug that could indicate you'd be shot out of range of enemy Overwatch
- Fixed issue where multiple movement alerts stacked vertically but was unclear
- Fixed issue with Knight's Sync Talent not clearly updating Initiative Timeline
- Fixed issue with grenades bouncing off smoke grenade clouds
- Improved use of mouse in appearance, removed constant flickering as mouse moves between items
- Improved display and readability of Combat Log, clearer fonts, stronger background gradient
- Fixed issue where mission stage options were not red even when locked in Victory/Defeat
- Fixed Custom Difficulty pop up window to correctly respond to screen scaling
- Fixed issue with Zero Interrupt Talent in Matrix printing names of unscanned IC to the logs
- Fixed Talent description of Smoke Grenade to be clear about it rules, duration effect
- Improved item descriptions in game, removing places where rules were listed in themey description section
- Reduce number of items in inventory/market where names were cut off by ellipsis
- Removed confusing numbers on the end of some First Aid Kit item names