Cyber Knights: Flashpoint News

[p][/p][p]Knights and mercs, Update #37 is landing on the streets of New Boston while the marketing pods at the megacorps are all blaring the same tune: 25% off this week! Get this puppy while its hot. It's a lot of megacorp nonsense, so let's get into the real stuff on the street, the update. #37 arrives with a few tailored fixes for smoke rules, new rules for Face respec to make it fair for everyone, fixing a bug that was hiding the -25% and -50 Cover penalty from the accuracy breakdown (since Update #35 ːsteamfacepalmː ), fixed bugs with Agent EX Line Crawler when it hit 100% activation, enabled an option to disable the mouse-focused support that made map action buttons clickable, improved enemy usage of Talents, fixed a huge host of map issues.[/p][p]To all of those playing, posting and especially everyone leaving a review this week - thank you! Your support makes what we do as a small, indie studio possible.[/p][p][/p][h2]Our Save Game Policy and Updates[/h2][p]First, since you're going to be seeing a lot of updates around here, we want to share our saved game policy up front so everyone understands our commitment to your games. No saved game will ever be invalidated by an update. All new content and features will be added immediately to all saved games (with the reasonable exception of New Game options). You never have to restart if you don't want to. This is a studio commitment that we have made and kept for many years and games. We stand by it. So do not stress about the deluge of updates that is coming your way - heist on my good heisters.[/p][p][/p][h2]Face Respec[/h2][p][/p][p]For a long time, respec'ing the Face has been an interesting topic. If you did it correctly, especially when combined with the Face's Efficiency Grind Talent, this could create an endless supply of Talent charges. Anyway, those days are over and fair Face respec has arrived.[/p][p]We've implemented the respec-and-retraining cycle as fairly as we could with the Face. Now, when you respec your Face, we just store all the details about all of your Talents - their ready charges, any cooldown time waiting. Then as you retrain these Talents, we just re-apply those values. This includes Talent upgrades - so you have 2 charges of Care and Feeding ready and then respec, you'll have 1 charge when you retrain the Talent (as, it has 1 charge max) but then if you upgrade it to the second charge, you'll get that charge for free.[/p][p]If you have a Talent trained, respec and then do not retrain that Talent and let time pass, the values that you had the last time it was trained are maintained, including any cooldowns.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Restored Cover in Accuracy Calculations[/h2][p][/p][p]Since Update #35 (blame smoke!) the Cover penalties were hidden in the accuracy breakdown in the top right corner. This mistake on our part has created a lot of confusion with the accuracy system, sniper rifles, smoke and just about everything. We are very glad to have your cover penalties back![/p][p][/p][h2]Option to Enable Clickable Action Buttons on Map[/h2][p][/p][p]With Update #36, we enabled the action buttons hovering over the map to be clickable for those mouse-only players in our player base. However, this new feature was not great for players who do like keyboards, so now we have added it as an option. If you want the action buttons to be clickable, go into Options > Controls > Mouse Controls and turn on the option. It is disabled by default.[/p][p][/p][h2]Smoke Tweaks vs. Suspicious Enemies[/h2][p][/p][p]With Update #37, we've fixed a few minor issues with the smoke rules that went out in Update #35. The main issue that was resolved was about how enemy agents acted once your characters had been Spotted. If a character was in a smoke cloud but had Spotted status, then it did not mattter what the status of the enemy agent was - Unaware, Suspicious, or Alerted - they would see and attack your character.[/p][p]The fix to this issue is to ensure that each enemy agent needs their own event to rise up to the Alerted status - perhaps told by another enemy agent with local alert, or seeing a merc who is not hidden by smoke. Once the player is Spotted and the enemy agent is Alerted, then the enemy agent will correctly see and attack the merc through smoke.[/p][p][/p][h2]Many Map Fixes![/h2][p][/p][p]With this update, we've closed about 50 F10s from the community about small bugs with maps. This includes cases where your mercs might start in an enemy sight line, or a lootbox was positioned slightly inside another prop, or a lamp post could be walked through or an exposed VIP started in sight of enemies. This was a really big sweep of small but important map cleanup changes, so thank you for reporting on such details - large and small - to help us improve the game![/p][p][/p][h2]v2.2.25 - #37: Networker Reshuffle - 10/2/2025[/h2][p] - Fixed issue with Suspicious enemies seeing Spotted mercs through Smoke - enemy needs a spotting event to be able to target through smoke[/p][p] - Improved Face Respec rules - all Talents restore their charges and recharge rate from last time they were trained[/p][p] - Fixed value shown for "time to recharge" in Face Talent hover off main Safehouse screen (showed 88 turns means 22 days)[/p][p] - Fixed issue with Cover penalties (-25% / -50%) not appearing in Accuracy log in the top right[/p][p] - Fixed bug with Agent EX Line Crawler not triggering at 100%, improved combat log to reference disabled security device type[/p][p] - Added new option to enable mouse-only style of play for clickable key glyphs in mission map[/p][p] - Fixed bug that could cause a game freeze when a merc was shot to Bleeding Out while hacking[/p][p] - Fixed bug with Matsumoto enemies using H-Series Injector item when not injured[/p][p] - Fixed bug where connecting to a Matrix node the second time could reset its scan level to 1/2[/p][p] - Fixed many map issues where you might have started level with enemies spotting mercs or exposed VIP at start[/p][p] - Fixed issues with some props not correctly tagged for cover / blocking movement[/p]

[p][/p][p]Knights and mercs, lets kick off the Autumn Sale and our 25% offer with a new map! We're at the start of a big rip of new content which we are kicking off with a new map, new proc-gen combos for Hardened Target and new weapon 3D models for your guns. We've also made some improvements to smooth the experience for mouse only players and fixed a number of other bugs reported through the community F10 reporting tool. [/p][p]A huge thanks to everyone playing and especially all of the players who took a moment to leave a review this week ːsteamhappyː[/p][p][/p][h2]Our Save Game Policy and Updates[/h2][p]First, since you're going to be seeing a lot of updates around here, we want to share our saved game policy up front so everyone understands our commitment to your games. No saved game will ever be invalidated by an update. All new content and features will be added immediately to all saved games (with the reasonable exception of New Game options). You never have to restart if you don't want to. This is a studio commitment that we have made and kept for many years and games. We stand by it. So do not stress about the deluge of updates that is coming your way - heist on my good heisters.[/p][p][/p][h2]New Map: Harbor Prison and +11 Proc-Gen Combos[/h2][p][/p][p]We're excited to roll out a new map: the Harbor Prison! Your heist team may soon be off to a new, exciting and challenging area for their heists. The new Prison Harbor is the 5th new map we've released since launch and can play the roll of a active or inactive prison site, as it is connected to 11 proc-gen objectives, only one of which includes breaking a prisoner out of a cell. [/p][p]We're excited to drop this new map but also to say it won't be alone - another is coming on its heels.[/p][p]Built on the fringes of New Boston's crumbling waterfront detention facilities store, recycle and extract information from the corporation's endless list of enemies and malcontents. The map features a central prison block that is open enough to host a hell of a gunfight or even sneak past some patrols. Featuring an additional outer loop, teams looking to find the best approach to the prison block can find another way around or work within the given space to lure out the guards.[/p][p][/p][h2]New Hardened Target Proc-Gen Combos[/h2][p][/p][p]With Update #36, we've wired up 5 more maps that are eligible to be rolled and played whenever you get the Hardened Target proc-gen objective. These new map connections help push the total number of maps Hardened Target can appear on up from 24 to 29. And we have another set coming in the next update to help Hardened Target going the "over 30" club for map combinations.[/p][p]This now raises the total number of proc-gen combos in the system to 342, making it less and less likely that you'll see the same map X objective across playthroughs, with an even smaller chance that the map will be played in the same direction, with the same security/enemy/loot outlays.[/p][p][/p][h2]+5 New Weapon Models [/h2][p][/p][p]Thanks to @ZigZag for the nudge, we've added an additional 5 weapon 3D models to help shake up the look of your weapon catalogs as you progress through the game. The new additions are pretty tilted toward the ARs with 3 new AR chassis being added. ARs were one of the most underserved and most popular category of weapons, so this is a nice bonus for everyone.[/p][p]In addition, there is a new sniper chassis for high level snipers as well as a E-Rifle that is ready to roast some enemy and sizzle some Armor Points into nothing but smoke and a bad smell.[/p][p][/p][h2]Mouse Only and Improved Click-n-Hold Pan or Rotate[/h2][p][/p][p]With Update #36, we've closed the gap toward being able to play complete with a mouse by enabling all of the over-map buttons to be clickable directly with your pointer. This offers a standard way to confirm an action (such as attack) with mouse only, but also to allow you to take other options that previously required the keyboard like switching Firing Modes or turning off snap during move.[/p][p]There is still some work to do to upgrade Grenades to let you click on their alternative options but this is a huge step forward for 100% mouse-only players.[/p][p][/p][p]If you are using the default key bindings, then you'd be clicking RMB to rotate by moving the mouse and clicking middle mouse button to engage panning while moving the mouse. These are pretty popular mouse commands and for many player facilitate faster map navigation or allow for closer to mouse-only play. [/p][p]Now whenever using these functions, your mouse will disappear during the hold. It is magically locked so that you can't stray out of the window, into a UI element, trigger a hover or anything like that. When you release, the mouse will snap back to the middle of the screen.[/p][p][/p][h2]v2.2.19 -#36: New Map "Harbor Prison" - 9/29/2025[/h2][p] - Added new proc-gen map "Harbor Prison": a sprawling prison block that supports +11 new proc-gen combos (Heist a CPU, Steal 3 Files, Scavenger, Kill 3 Captains, Bodyguard, Siege, Battle Striker, Exfiltrate, Hardened Target, Infiltrate and Download) for Power Level 5+ teams[/p][p] - Added +5 new Hardened Target proc-gen combos (map X objective) bringing Hardened Target combos to 29 maps[/p][p] - Added new weapon designs: 3 new AR chassis, 1 new sniper chassis, 1 new E-Rifle chassis[/p][p] - Improved options to play with mouse-only as all keybinding buttons on map controls are now directly clickable[/p][p] - Mouse now freezes when using click-n-hold to pan and click-n-hold to rotate[/p][p] - Fixed bug in smoke rules where Smoke Penalty could be applied if the smoke cloud was *behind* the target[/p][p] - Fixed bug in buying UI where you could not buy an item if the first seller was In Hiding[/p][p] - Fixed bug where Swapping Loadouts did not always update the "Under Equipped" tag in the barrack's list to the left[/p][p] - Fixed bug in victory/defeat screen where an off click could result in the main elements being deselected and inaccessible[/p][p][/p]

[p][/p][p]Knights and mercs, we're rolling out an upgrade to the smoke system that has been a long time coming. With a change to an important system like this, we took our time, worked with the community to discuss the exact rules update on Steam and on our DIscord to ensure that we kept the intention and soul of Smoke Grenades and Smokescreen Talent while balancing out the parts that could be used to make this fun heisting tool broken. We've also improved and clarified a number of other Agent EX Talents, fixed some map bugs, improved hit reactions to Shock Mines, fixed a bug with late stage Jupiter Decks Power Play and more.[/p][p] [/p][p]From here, we are turning a corner from features and balance and going on a mad content rip. Let's go![/p][p]Thanks to everyone leaving a review this week! We're a tiny team of 3 game dev working hard to get you as many updates as possible and we need you to help us spread the word, so please take a moment and leave a review and tell a friend![/p][h2]Our Save Game Policy and Updates[/h2][p]First, since you're going to be seeing a lot of updates around here, we want to share our saved game policy up front so everyone understands our commitment to your games. No saved game will ever be invalidated by an update. All new content and features will be added immediately to all saved games (with the reasonable exception of New Game options). You never have to restart if you don't want to. This is a studio commitment that we have made and kept for many years and games. We stand by it. So do not stress about the deluge of updates that is coming your way - heist on my good heisters.[/p][p][/p][h2]Smoke Grenades and EX's Smokescreen[/h2][p][/p][p]Heisting is most fun when you have a lot of tools in your toolkit, giving your team lots of ways to approach challenges at different points throughout the level's flow. [/p][p]Smoke Grenades and Agent EX's Smokescreen were added as powerful tools for obfuscating your movements, delaying your enemy and covering your maneuvers (retreat, charge, etc). Due to some of the "absolutes" in their rule implementation, they became easy to abuse in different ways, and they could often become a kind of "temporary fortress" from which your team could fight, kite and exploit the enemy to death. [/p][p]The following adjustments to Smoke rules remove the absolutes and angles for abuse while keeping Smoke valuable and exciting for its original purpose - confusion, delay and temporarily covering movements. [/p]

• [p]Smoke no longer absolutely prevents being Spotted. If an enemy gets within 5m of a character will Spot them in or through smoke.[/p]
• [p]Smoke no longer absolutely prevents ranged attacks. Any ranged attack originating in, passing through or into smoke suffers a Smoke Accuracy Penalty based on the distance (sliding from 25% at 5m up to 60% at 25m or higher).[/p]
• [p]A character who is Spotted can be targeted by an combat-active enemy in, through or out of Smoke. If a character has not been Spotted, enemy agents do not know they are there and therefore cannot attack them.[/p]
• [p]Enemy reaction to Smoke has been improved, they will report it to the Sec AI and then often be assigned to go close, seeking to discover or flush out anyone hiding inside.[/p]
• [p]The duration of all Smoke Grenades has been reduced by 1 Turn.[/p]
• [p]Melee attacks in Smoke are unchanged.[/p]
• [p]Agent EX continue to not suffer any Accuracy penalty from their own Smokescreen.[/p]
• [p]Smokes interaction with security devices like Cameras is unchanged - Smoke block security devices absolutely,[/p]

[p]For a small slice of players who use smoke liberally, this might mean some strategy adjustments. But most of the advantages are the same, but they are less absolute. [/p][p]A merc can still use Smoke to hide their movements, but more momentarily, as enemies are likely to approach and Spot them through the smoke. [/p][p]A merc can still use Smoke to disrupt or slow down a firefight, but once they are Spotted any combat active enemies will fire on them. This means relying on the Smoke Accuracy Penalty instead of the absolute blocking of sight.[/p][p]Remember that at 5m, regardless of Smoke or Accuracy, any attack is guaranteed a Glancing Hit at least.[/p][p]A big thanks to all the community members here on Steam and on Discord who helped review and shape these exciting rules updates.[/p][p][/p][p]Agent EX Smokescreen Talent has kept its special ability - the EX can shoot through, into or out of their own Smokescreen without suffering any Smoke Accuracy Penalty. As this is not as powerful / absolute as it was before, we've added a minor buff to anyone standing inside the Smokescreen area, with a +10% Built-In Armor to help soak damage and a +10% Damage buff to help anyone attacking out of it.[/p][p]Agent EX Smokescreen has also gained a new color tint to help is stand out if it is used alongside regular Smoke Grenades.[/p][h2]
Agent EX Rebalances[/h2][p]With Update #35, we've made some clarifications and improvements to Agent EX Talents.[/p]

• [p]We have updated the language for Aimlock and Dual Reload to be clear that you are firing a single SMG at a time, but these talents require that you are carrying 2 SMGs. [/p]
• [p]For Line Crawler, we have rebalanced and improved the % chance that an additional device is knocked out the next turn. The base chance has raised from 40% to 50% and now the 4 level point upgrade chain adds +10%, +10% and finally +30% (for 2 pts) giving you a guaranteed additional device per Turn. It is an expensive set of upgrades, but very worth it![/p]
• [p]For Shuriken Wave, we have increased the power of the Damage upgrade node so that it adds +25 Pure Dmg instead of +12. Also, we've pushed the area of effect bonus out by +1m so it is +3m total instead of +2m.[/p]

[p][/p][h2]Shock Mines Flinch[/h2][p][/p][p]It was always disconcerting when the enemy agent who got Stunned by the Shock Mine didn't react. Especially if there is a crowd in the zone, the visual flinch of getting hit is super useful. Now - when they get electrocuted, you know it![/p][p][/p][h2]Map and Story Fixes[/h2][p][/p][p]A few salient map and story fixes are worth nothing:[/p]

• [p]If you got stuck on the last level of the Jupiter Decks Power Play, try to restart before the level or reach out to us. This is now fixed but for a minute, it was broken.[/p]
• [p]One level that required Blue Keys for exit has had a few of its proc-gen objectives adjusted to ensure that the Blue Key is present and/or there are other options available for extraction.[/p]
• [p]We've fixed a few cases where multiple victory or defeat conditions could all fire at the same time within the game and cause the game to kind of hang on your final extraction / defeat.[/p]

[p][/p][h2]v2.2.17 - #35: Cloud of Smoke - 9/25/2025[/h2][p] - Updated Smoke Grenade and Smokescreen rules - smoke continues to be a tactic for delay, hiding movements and providing cover[/p][p] - Agent EX Smokescreen how provides a buff to any teammate inside it's area[/p][p] - Improved Agent EX Line Crawler - starts at 50% chance to disable nearby, upgrades to 100%[/p][p] - Improved Agent EX Shuriken Wave - upgrades for more Dmg (+25 instead of +12) and more range (+3m instead of +2m)[/p][p] - Improved Agent EX Aimlock and Dual Reload rules description to be clear - Requires you to carry 2 SMGs.[/p][p]- Fixed bug where enemy agents do not react correctly (flinch) sometimes to Shock Mines[/p][p]- Fixed issue with prisoner proc-gen combo in certain levels not having a Blue Key[/p][p] - Fixed some issues with hanging victory or defeat where game gets stuck instead of changing screens[/p][p] - Renamed "Surrender" to "Abandon Mission" for clarity[/p][p] - Fixed bugs with 3rd mission in Jupiter Decks Power Play[/p][p][/p]

[p][/p][p]Knights, mercs and matrix divers - this one is for you. With Update #34, we've added new IC to help improve the smoothness of the IC progression across the game, tuned up the navigation maps for a number of different matrix maps, added new matrix templates for prison break missions, and fixed the display for a number of types of Leverages tied to Legwork and Linked Missions.[/p][p]I'm traveling at the moment, so this will be briefer than normal! Feel free to post follow-up questions in the comments.[/p][p]Thanks to everyone playing and posting F10s and especially big thanks to everyone who posted a review this week![/p][p][/p][h2]Our Save Game Policy and Updates[/h2][p]First, since you're going to be seeing a lot of updates around here, we want to share our saved game policy up front so everyone understands our commitment to your games. No saved game will ever be invalidated by an update. All new content and features will be added immediately to all saved games (with the reasonable exception of New Game options). You never have to restart if you don't want to. This is a studio commitment that we have made and kept for many years and games. We stand by it. So do not stress about the deluge of updates that is coming your way - heist on my good heisters.[/p][p][/p][h2]New IC + Improved IC Progression[/h2][p][/p][p]With Update #34, we've added 8 new matrix IC types that help fill in the gaps in progression across the set. These 8 new IC don't add any new capabilities or powers, but they do help fill out the IC catalog so that there can be a smoother scale for new players (IC upgrade to really hard IC slower) and also at the high end (new options for IC to get even meaner at the end of the progression).[/p][p][/p][h2]New Matrix Map Templates for Prison Breaks[/h2][p]With Update #34, we've added new high difficulty matrix templates to ensure that prison breaks and other missions that involve doors as part of their core objective have a better progression of matrix host difficulty through the game.[/p][p][/p][h2]Improving Legwork and Linked Missions Display[/h2][p][/p][p]With Update #34, we've fixed and improved a number of issues with how Leverages that are dependent on Legwork or on a linked mission are display. Each of these cases had odd hovers appearing when you clicked to select the Leverage, sometimes as confusing as just hovering "Text Common". In addition, if a Leverage was tied to the reward of a linked mission (like in the Truck Job) the text for the Leverage was displayed twice.[/p][p][/p][h2]v2.2.15 - #34: Glittering Streams - 9/21/2025 [/h2][p] - Improved IC allocation tables to make early game easier and late game harder[/p][p] - New IC: Red Hammer, X-Scrambler, Death Snake, Red Tarpit, Jackhammer, Searchlight, Black Diamond[/p][p] - New Matrix Hosts: Added two new high difficulty matrix hosts for Prison missions & door control hacks[/p][p] - Fixed double print of Leverage rewards in TRUCK JOB and other missions with cross-mission rewards[/p][p] - Improved Leverage hover when looking at Leverages that are linked to other missions and Legwork (no longer "Text Common")[/p][p] - Fixed issues with several hosts that included invalid links[/p][p] - Improved several matrix host maps to include better layouts and navigation[/p]

[p][/p][p]Knights and mercs, we've got Update #33 hitting the streets of New Boston today. With this update, we've added the option to start your Knight multi-classed into Wireghost, added 4 new cosmetic options, increased the pace of Contact Limit Breaks, and continued to make small but important adjustments and fixes to the Wireghost class and its set of unique Talents.[/p][p]If you are enjoying the pace of improvement around here and want to help our small studio keep going, please take a moment to leave a review![/p][p][/p][h2]Our Save Game Policy and Updates[/h2][p]First, since you're going to be seeing a lot of updates around here, we want to share our saved game policy up front so everyone understands our commitment to your games. No saved game will ever be invalidated by an update. All new content and features will be added immediately to all saved games (with the reasonable exception of New Game options). You never have to restart if you don't want to. This is a studio commitment that we have made and kept for many years and games. We stand by it. So do not stress about the deluge of updates that is coming your way - heist on my good heisters.[/p][p][/p][h2]Starting Knight + Wireghost[/h2][p][/p][p]Ok, ok ... OK! We heard you ːsteamhappyː Knight start as Wireghost! The F10 mountain was large, we have finished the work per your many requests! [/p][p]You now have the option to start your Knight as a Wireghost as well as a Hacker, giving you the full suit of cybernetic options. The install of a Cortex Wetgate implant grants you the Wireghost class as your second class. You can later choose to remove this cybernetic implant if you want and revert to a pure Knight or multi-class into another option. [/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]4 New Cosmetic Options[/h2][p][/p][p]With Update #33, we've added 2 new hair options, a new set of round glasses and a new sleek rebreather face mask. The new hairs help round out some of the longer hair options to give your many characters more options. The glasses are classic big rounders with thick rims and the new sleek rebreather mask has a medical style to it that can fit extremely well with some other comsetics or looks.[/p][p]We are always working on expanding the overall set of cosmetics and different types of options you can deploy. There will be a few more drops in this vein over the next few updates.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Improved Messages, Class Nodes and Typo Fixes[/h2][p]For the Wireghost, we've made some good improvements with Update #33. We've fixed the hard disconnect message that gets shot out when you are kicked off a matrix host from Skipjack Connection Burn. It used to blame an IC, the IC started rioting, we folded. Now you know![/p][p]Second, we've improved the messages around Phantom Slide to try to make the conditions for where you can and cannot slide more obvious.[/p][p]Finally, we've fixed 2 nodes on the left-side of the tree ("Havoc") that only had an Attribute bonus of Will or Tech. Now they have the small bonuses you'd expect to find there.[/p][p][/p][h2]v2.2.13 - #33: Starting Wireghost - 9/16/2025[/h2][p] - Added New Game option to start your Knight with Cortex Wetgate and a Wireghost class instead of Hacker[/p][p] - Further increased pacing of Contact Limit Breaks as the number of Contacts are waiting for their chance [/p][p] - Improved Dumpshock pop up for Wireghost when kicked off by your own Connection Burn[/p][p] - Fixed 2 Attribute only upgrade nodes in the Havoc part of the Wireghost class tree[/p][p] - Added new 2 cosmetic hair options: big pulled back bun and long straight pony tail[/p][p] - Added new cosmetic accessory option: sleek rebreather [/p][p] - Added new cosmetic accessory option: round glasses[/p][p] - Fixed some clipping in accessories, especially around eyebrows, glasses, knit beannie[/p][p] - Fixed but with Prague Connection Cyberdecks Power Play where first stage of second mission might end instantly[/p][p] - Fixed odd rarities for Weapon Mods for Blades - they were all set to Common[/p][p] - Fixed issue with Talent recharge rate sliding off edge of UI when font scaling was increased past 10%[/p][p] - Improved description of some Wireghost Talents (Loot Manifest, error message for Phantom Slide)[/p]