Update 4.5: Ranked Mode + Balance Overhaul

[p][/p][h2]OVERVIEW[/h2][p][/p][p]Update 4.5 marks a major milestone for Deceit 2, introducing the long-awaited Ranked Mode, a sweeping balance pass, and numerous visual, performance, and quality-of-life improvements. This update also closes out the Halloween event and sets the stage for our first full competitive season, launching in December 2025.[/p][p][/p][p]We’re kicking off the Ranked era of Deceit 2 by modernizing Sanity and Shop systems, tuning every Terror and role for competitive fairness, and improving clarity and responsiveness across the experience. On top of that, we’re adding the fiery Hellbreaker’s Imposter Skin: Fireborne, and two stylish new Arcane additions: Mask and Priya.[/p][p][/p][hr][/hr][p][/p][h2]RANKED MODE[/h2][p]Ranked Play has officially arrived in Deceit 2! Each game mode now features its own independent ladder, allowing you to climb in your favorite mode or dominate both.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]We’re starting with what we call a soft-ranked system. From Wood to Diamond, progression is simple: escape the Ritual and earn a Point. Losing won’t lower your rank, so you can focus on improving and experimenting without penalty.[/p][p][/p][p]At Master Rank, the competition tightens — escaping continues to earn you an amount of Points based on your role difficulty, but losses now cost one. Once you’ve reached Master, you’ll remain there.[/p][p][/p][p]Each rank has its own Leaderboard, updating roughly every thirty minutes. This launch marks the start of our Pre-Season, where you can climb and secure your standing before seasonal rewards begin. We’ll gather feedback and refine the system ahead of Season 1 in December, which will introduce full rewards, rank resets, and ongoing tuning.[/p][p][/p][hr][/hr][p][/p][h2]BALANCE PHILOSOPHY[/h2][p]With Ranked Mode debuting, we wanted to bring a significant balance update alongside it. Our goals are simple:[/p]

[p]Refine the game for a more competitive environment while preserving the fun of casual lobbies.[/p]
[p]Improve clarity for new players and highlight key mechanics like Sanity.
Adjust overall pacing and increase Infected success rates in high-skill matches.[/p]
[p]Enhance the flow of play by reducing downtime and emphasizing clear, decisive moments.[/p]

[p]You’ll find all of the details about these changes below in the Patch Notes.[/p][p][/p][hr][/hr][p][/p][h2]PATCH NOTES[/h2][p][/p][hr][/hr][p][/p][h3]GAME UPDATES[/h3][p]Phases[/p]

[p]The first Reality Phase now runs at 75% of its previous duration, pulling players into the action sooner and encouraging faster deduction.[/p]

[p]Dev Note: When looking at many other traditional social deduction games, they often start during their first “Night” or equivalent period. This is used to springboard players into the action and quickly increase the amount of information available for less speculative social deduction. We aim to push Deceit 2 in this direction.[/p][p][/p][hr][/hr][p][/p][p]Sanity System[/p][p]We’ve reworked Sanity to make it a more active, strategic system. Passive regeneration during Reality has been removed. Instead, we’re introducing Soul Surge, a new temporary buff that rewards proactive play.[/p][p]Soul Surge[/p]

[p]Triggers on completing a Task during the Inbetween.[/p]
[p]Grants +50% movement speed and immunity to passive Sanity drain (Terror drain still applies).[/p]
[p]Duration: 5 seconds.

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[p]Additional Adjustments[/p]

[p]Passive Inbetween drain: –0.5/s (from –0.4/s).[/p]
[p]Sanity from Tasks: 15 (from 10).[/p]
[p]Task reactivation time: 12.5s (from 15s).[/p]
[p]HUD and UI updated to better display Sanity state.

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[p]Low/No Sanity Rework[/p]

[p]Players can now sprint while drained.[/p]
[p]Players are outlined to Terrors, improving visibility and interaction clarity. [/p][p][/p]

[hr][/hr][p][/p][p]Shop (Peddler)[/p][p]We’ve modernized the Peddler to create a fairer and more consistent experience:[/p]

[p]The first free item now provides a personalized choice of three unique options.[/p]
[p]Banned items removed from the store.[/p]
[p]Added item categories for improved navigation.

[/p]

[p]UI / UX Improvements[/p]

[p]Revised Peddler menu for cleaner readability.[/p]
[p]Improved highlighting and category indicators when browsing.[/p]
[p]Refined tooltip descriptions for clarity on item effects and durations.[/p]

[p][/p][hr][/hr][p][/p][h3]ROLES & TERRORS[/h3][p]Innocents[/p][p]Human[/p]

[p]New Passive: Humanity — Restores 0.33 Sanity per second during the Reality Phase.[/p]

[p]Dev Note: The Human role has been the “vanilla” role of Deceit 2 for some time. This has had the unintended effect of increasing queue dodging. To counteract this, we’ve changed the previous Reality Passive Sanity Regeneration to be a Human specific passive.

[/p][p]Observer[/p]

[p]Now gains Sanity when completing Tasks, reverting a previous penalty.[/p]

[p]Dev Note: Because now the only Sanity gain is through Tasks and the Sanity Serum, we’ve reverted the penalty Observers now have when completing a task. [/p][p][/p][p]Infected[/p][p]Alien
The Alien has been overhauled for better mobility, control, and threat potential.[/p]

[p]Can now travel through wall cracks.[/p]
[p]Parasite tether speed: 270 → 450.[/p]
[p]Lasso: Minimum drain 40 → 50; missed grab energy 15 → 10.[/p]
[p]Echolocation: Startup 0.35s → 0.25s; energy use 10/s → 5/s; drains 2 Sanity/s in line of sight.[/p]
[p]Hop energy: Min 15 → 10, Max 30 → 20.[/p]

[p]Dev Note: This patch aims to resolve major design blind spots, e.g. the inability to deal with wall cracks, increase Sanity Drain and reduce Energy used in Host form.

[/p][p]Experiment
We’ve adjusted Experiment’s pace and threat to align with other Terrors.[/p]

[p]Redistributed Rift Eyes more evenly across Manor and Circus.[/p]
[p]Rift Eye drain: 1 → 0.5.[/p]
[p]Chokehold: Min drain 40 → 50.[/p]
[p]Rage: Dash speed 675 → 700; LoS drain 4/s → 3.5/s.[/p]

[p]Dev Note: As our default terror, we feel that the Experiment needs a little bit of love with the recent increases of other terror movement speeds over the last few patches. We would like to bring it inline with some of the other more well performing Terrors.[/p][p]With this we’ve nerfed the Rift Eyes, a point of frustration brought up by many players.

[/p][p]Monkey[/p]

[p]Go Bananas! Sanity drain 10 → 5. [/p][p][/p]

[p]Vampire
Smoothed out its 1v1-oriented assassin playstyle.[/p]

[p]Base movement 725 → 735.[/p]
[p]Flash recovery 2.5s → 1.25s.[/p]
[p]Bat form speed 1000 → 1050.

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[p]Werewolf[/p]

[p]Immobilized stun duration 1s → 1.25s to make punish windows more meaningful.[/p]

[p]Cursed[/p][p]Voidstalker
Improved visibility and readability.[/p]

[p]Voidblast now creates a visible explosion on detonation.[/p]
[p]Voidblast shrinks while traveling, reducing visibility while planted.[/p]
[p]Players are no longer globally notified when Voidblast is cleansed; notification now appears only when the detonation bubble activates.

[/p]

[p]Audio Improvements[/p]

[p]Updated Terror ability sounds for better distinction and locational clarity.[/p]
[p]Adjusted transformation cues to improve detection during close-range encounters. [/p][p][/p]

[hr][/hr][p][/p][h3]ITEMS[/h3][p]We’ve adjusted item durations to better fit Ranked pacing.[/p]

[p]Handcuffs: Duration 10s (from 20s).[/p]
[p]Heat Goggles: Duration 20s (from 30s).[/p]
[p]Muzzle: Duration 45s (from 90s).[/p]
[p]Player Tracker: Duration 45s (from 90s). [/p]

[p]UI / UX Improvements[/p]

[p]Added duration timers to item HUD icons.[/p]
[p]Improved screen effects for Heat Goggles and Muzzle to reduce visual clutter.[/p]
[p]Updated item outlines for clearer feedback during activation. [/p][p][/p]

[hr][/hr][p][/p][h3]MAPS[/h3][p]Millhaven Asylum[/p]

[p]Lighting has been fully updated for improved visibility and atmosphere.[/p]
[p]Rebalanced shadow intensity for cleaner sightlines across dark areas.[/p]
[p]Adjusted ambient brightness to match current map standards.[/p][p][/p]

[p][/p][p][/p][p]Dev Note: We’ll be reviewing feedback on these new Millhaven lighting changes and then rolling out similar lighting tweaks to the other ritual sites.[/p][p][/p][hr][/hr][p][/p][h3]QUALITY OF LIFE[/h3][p]HUD & Interface[/p]

[p]The lower-left HUD now glows blue when completing a Task and red when activating a Weak Point.[/p]
[p]Task interaction prompts respond faster and display phase-specific icons.[/p]
[p]Button prompts and hover states standardized across menus.[/p]
[p]Enhanced readability for role and phase transition banners. [/p]

[p]Audio[/p]

[p]Adjusted reverb and occlusion effects between floors for consistency.[/p]
[p]Improved audio cues for footsteps, Tasks, and transformations. [/p][p][/p]

[hr][/hr][p][/p][h3]BUG FIXES[/h3]

[p]Fixed map exploits on Wurgen, Circus, and Space.[/p]
[p]Fixed Alien walls not highlighting correctly when transformed.[/p]
[p]Fixed Wurgen doors failing to open during the Inbetween.
Fixed delayed health bar updates under certain latency conditions.[/p]
[p]Fixed interaction prompts occasionally disappearing after being stunned. [/p]

[p][/p][hr][/hr][p][/p][h2]COSMETICS & STORE[/h2][h3]Hellbreaker’s Imposter Skin — Fireborne[/h3][p]The flames of deception spread once more. Fireborne introduces the first-ever skin for the Imposter Terror, complete with its own emblem. Available now for 600 Shillings.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]Arcane Store[/h3][p]Two new additions are available in the Arcane Store: Mask and Priya, each featuring unique visual and audio effects.[/p][p][/p][hr][/hr][p][/p][h2]SEASONAL NOTES[/h2][p]The Halloween event has concluded!
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[p]All Ritual Sites have returned to their normal visual look[/p]
[p]Event items can now be aquired through the crypt with the exception of Ceremonial Cultist Jak[/p]

[p][/p][hr][/hr][p] [/p][h3]UNTIL NEXT TIME[/h3][p]That wraps up Update 4.5! We’re thrilled to finally launch Ranked Mode and can’t wait to see how you climb the ladders during this Pre-Season. Your feedback continues to shape Deceit 2 every step of the way.[/p][p]Thank you for playing, sharing your thoughts, and helping us make each update better than the last.[/p][p]— The Deceit 2 Team![/p][p]
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