Deceive Inc. News

Operation Overhaul Live Balance Update
Agents, we are dropping our first live balance update for Operation Overhaul effective immediately. This requires no download from your part and will automatically take effect in-game.

Our current mindset with this update is to keep the most oppressive and unpleasant elements targeted by feedback in check while we continue parsing through feedback for larger overarching changes in the future.

With all this said, let’s have a look:

Damage Falloff
Damage Falloff is one of the biggest changes to DI’s sandbox this update and as such, we are monitoring feedback, analyzing numbers and taking a deeper look at where it should go next. While we are having a larger look at the mechanic, we still wanted to make full-auto weapons more lenient in the meantime as this was highlighted by the community as the most difficult aspect of this new reality.

• Changed start distance on falloff for full-auto weapons 10m => 15m
  

Guards Behavior
We are aware of player’s frustration around the amount of guards that can quickly crowd around a duel when guards are in melee only mode. We are reducing the amount of guards actively attacking you when you have no heat to one. This should help reduce the chaos when you add this up to all participants in a fight by cutting the aggro-ed guards by half.

• Max amount of actively aggro-ed guard without a heat level 2 => 1
  

Agents
Ace
Ace received a slew of changes around her passive and we noted a large amount of feedback that the charge now feels clunky because of when it starts when shooting your weapon. We’ll be looking at this in a more in-depth manner in the near future, but we wanted to give Ace players a bit more charge speed to offset this in the short term.

Weapon
Queen of Diamond

• Charge time shortened 1s => .65s
  

Jack of Diamond

• Charge time shortened .45s => .3s
  

King of Diamond

• Charge time shortened 1.3s => 1s
  

Chavez
We received some good feedback on the fact that a tight ammo economy is not a fun gameplay lever, we are moving away from this on two weapons this update, including Chavez’s Duke by giving him a full clip per box.

Weapon
Mod 2: Duke

• Ammo amount gained per box raised 2 => 4
  

Larcin
In the same spirit as Chavez’s change, we are giving a more lenient ammo economy to Larcin’s Violence to allow it to shine more as a unique option in his arsenal.

Weapon
Mod 2: Violence

• Ammo amount gained per box raised 4 => 8
  

Expertise
Grande Finale continues to be a very strong tool for Larcin and his team. We are making its cooldown longer than his other options for now to make its use a bit more of a commitment in a fight, but we are looking at fixing a few issues around its potential interactions that makes it stronger than intended in the near future.

Mod 1: Grande Finale

• Cooldown extended 60s => 75s
  

Red

The oppressiveness and strength of Red’s charm and heartbreak has been a hot topic of discussion recently. We are taking steps to make the ability less annoying to play against while making sure it’s still a useful tool in Red’s arsenal. We are also toning down the Lovebite shotgun which has been highlighted as the most destructive tool in Red’s arsenal in its current state.

Weapon
Mod 2: Lovebite

• Damage 40 => 37
  
• Fire Rate 1.15 => 1.05 shots per second
  

Charm

• Reduced Charmed duration 8s => 5s
  

Heartbreak

• Heartbreak Duration 8s => 6s
  
• Heartbreak additional damage now in line with vulnerable status effect 35% => 25%
  

Squire
Squire’s javelin is in a special position with the release of Operation Overhaul. While it’s one of the weapons that is most affected by recoil in the current state of the game, it’s performing extremely strongly for anyone that can control it. We will look into making the weapon less unwieldy in the future since this is beyond the scope of a live update, but we need to calm down the speed at which it melts opponents in the meantime to level the playing field

Weapon.
Mod 1: Trident

• Damage 11 => 10 per bullet
  
• Burst fire rate 10 => 9 shot per second
  
• Headshot Damage 15 => 14
  
• Reload Speed 2s => 2.2s
  

Maps
Hard Sell

• Fixed a close player spawn on top of the Auction Hall
  

Fragrant Shore

• Buffed ‘drawers spawn pools’ to have items more consistently.
  
• Fixed a keycard spawning behind a bed.
  

Sound Eclipse

• Buffed ‘drawers spawn pools’ to have items more consistently.
  
• Tweaked some close spawn points in the habitation section.
  

Agents, a double XP weekend is starting NOW!

This will last until Monday, March 11th at 11:00 AM EST (-5 GMT)

Operation Overhaul Hotfix 1
Agents, as discussed in our messaging last week, we are pushing a hotpatch for a myriad of issues we have spotted in the wild since the launch of Operation Overhaul Phase 1. Our focus with these tweaks is mostly to get the game in a better state before looking at more gameplay tweaks in the future. Let’s dive in!

General Changes
Vault Printers Audio
Vault printers will now make use of audio occlusion for the printing sound, reducing instances where you can hear a print while being out of the UI indicator range. This should make printing more easily defendable from third parties that are out of sight.

Tap Input Tweak
We have extended the window of time of what is considered a “Tap input” to make it register more consistently. This was a bigger problem with vials being a tap by default input, making it so that sometimes a tap that was too long would not heal you.

Bugfixes
Maps

• Added a missing vial dispenser in the Diamond Spire 4TH floor staff room.
  
• Fixed a collision on top of a glass dome in Silver Reef that could allow players to leave the map.
  
• Fixed a spawn point underneath a staircase in Silver Reef.
  
• Moved the “Royal Orca” mimic in Silver Reef to clear the way a bit more and prevent players bumping in it while leaving the shortcut.
  
• Fixed an issue that caused the “Change Agent” prompt to no longer show in the training range.
  

Characters

• Fixed an issue where Yu-Mi’s EMP flock visual effect would stay stuck after the pre-game lobby.
  
• Fixed an issue where Yu-Mi’S EMP flock sound would stack.
  
• Fixed an issue with Marquis Larcin’s skin breaking some 1P animations.
  
• Fixed an issue that caused Yu-Mi’s EMP flock to inflict a small slow effect.
  
• Madame Xiu’s “decoy NPC” left behind after an expert can no longer open the doors to the objective room, allowing a printer skip.
  

Controls

• Fixed an issue where aim-assist would apply to bodies on the ground, throwing off your aim.
  

Misc

• Can no longer use a healing vial while charging a weapon (Yumi’s Slingshot for instance).
  
• Vault Printers, Vault doors and terminals UI widget will no longer be visible during the result screen.
  

In addition to the hotfix, we are currently sifting through the top balance concerns to put together the first live balance update of this patch cycle which we hope to release next week. Stay tuned for more news on its content and when in the near future!

Operation Overhaul Short Term Focus
Agents, we are delighted to see you all jump in Deceive Inc. for the free weekend and we are beyond thrilled to finally have the first phase of Operation Overhaul out in the wild. Things are still quite fresh with the update dropping yesterday, but we wanted to keep you in the loop on what we are looking at in the short term. Let’s have a look!

Hotpatch and fixes
Our first order of business is to deliver a hotpatch in the coming week to address a variety of issues as well as some quality tweaks to keep things tidy. This will include tweaks to occlusion for sound on vault printers, a fix for aim-assist sticking on dead bodies and toning down sound effects for victims of Yumi’s new EMP flocks amongst other items. We’ll keep you updated on what we will make in this initial release and will assess further fixes as needed in the following weeks.

Feedback and balance
We are keeping our ears close to the ground and gathering feedback around the update. We want to let things simmer a bit to choose our next steps, but we expect to make a few balancing tweaks to start things off around the hotpatch. We are currently mostly looking at updating some characters that did not get as much changes in the weapon department like Octo who’s been left in the dust for a little bit given his newer status.

Please continue giving your feedback on the forums and discord to let us know your highest priority items. We will communicate upcoming changes.

Thank you once again for all returning and new players jumping in Operation overhaul. We are grateful for your support and we are excited to forge the future of Deceive Inc. together with you as we continue to work towards Operation Overhaul Phase 2 and its goal of making stealth and trickery more viable. Spy on!

To mark the successful launch of ‘Operation Overhaul’, DECEIVE INC. is available to download and play for free on PC via Steam, including full compatibility with Valve’s Steam Deck, from Feb. 29 through March 4. Throughout the free weekend promotion the game will be available at a 60% discount, quite the steal for intrepid young agents.

The changes in ‘Operation Overhaul’ are so extensive that the team at Sweet Bandits and Tripwire joined forces to create a detailed walkthrough on all the quality of life updates. Agents can tune in to get the full mission specs or read through the written report in the patch notes.

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DECEIVE INC. ‘Operation Overhaul’ update highlights include:

● Vault Printers Attract Attention: These new devices bring changes to the gameflow and open up new combat opportunities and reasons to explore the vault! Unlocking golden doors and accessing the objective room now requires spies to bring their 10 intel to one of the new Vault printers, where they can exchange them for a golden keycard. Agents are advised caution, there is a 30 second wait to print a new golden keycard and the process alerts all nearby spies so they can close on the vault printer location.

● First Aid Vials On The Go: Granting agents more flexibility in the field, players can find first aid vials throughout the maps or purchase them for intel. Each agent can hold a maximum of three at once, restoring 20 health with each use.

● Combat Improvements:] A variety of visual improvements to animations and behind the scenes tweaks to numbers have improved the look and feel of combat from moment to moment. Other mechanics have been added or enhanced including out of cover spy collision, the reliability of melee combat, and the addition of contextual pings to improve team communication.

● Updated Controller Handling: Improvements to controller experience include remappable inputs, addressing feedback in overall management of analog sticks and a completely new and smarter aim assist system. Players using controllers should find the experience much more flexible and intuitive than before.

● Strategic Map Enhancements: Maps have received a number of design updates based on player feedback and data to create new combat and stealth opportunities, including team and item spawn reworks. Examples of changes include additional cover opportunities from the vault area in Hard Sell to Diamond Spire’s interior, exterior scaffolding added to Diamond Spire to create high profile escape options, further Silver Reef flow changes to the vault and surrounding themed hotel space, and better visual identity for Fragrant Shore buildings.

● Private Lobby Sandboxes: With two or more players, agents can now start a private lobby in a new sandbox mode allowing them to experience the full array of weapons, gadgets, expertises, and passives of every spy in the game.

● Rookie Agent Onboarding: A variety of changes have been made to help beginner agents familiarize themselves with the unique intricacies of espionage. Enemy “spy bots” have been added to the game and will be spread throughout the matchmaking experience, allowing new opportunities to learn the tricks of the trade they’ll need to survive against veteran agents. Opportunities for surprise turnarounds, and some security for players with bad luck in the first phase, have been expanded with the addition of blue keycards to the vault. Do pay attention and try to make it out alive. Only one spy may complete the mission and earn their paycheck, it’s company policy.