Here comes Update #73, another big polish and improvement update with some nice new things to boot. While we motor toward the next set of major roadmap milestones, we're still hard at work improving every aspect of the game with all haste - as any good Early Access project should! If you're enjoying the pace of updates or think we're just heading in the right direction, please take a moment to leave a review. Every review helps us keep going, go faster and do more.

New Sec AI Escalations

With Update #73, we've pushed some new Sec AI Escalation options that are exciting and dangerous. As we continue to grow the options and deepen the rules for Sec AI Escalations, the differences between the 6 Sec AI (gang, syndicate, Sigma 5, 6, 7 and 9) we have in the game today will become more and more apparent. We've added a new chain of Escalation options for any map that features a disabled minefield of Prox-Mines. The first time that the Sec AI spends an Escalation turning on Prox-Mines it will turn on 3 (as usual). However, now if it is returns to enable Prox-Mines after that it will jump to enabling 5 at a time. This can help situations where - with larger prox-mine fields - the Sec AI could burn Escalation after Escalation slowly turning them on 3 at a time. We've also added an all new Escalation type - the Active Bio-Sweep. This Escalation searches for bodies that have active timers and reduces their timer by 1 to 2 Turns each. The older Sigma Sec AI - 5 and 6 - each only reduce the timer by 1 turn while the new, cutting-edge Sigma 7 and 9 each can reduce the timer by 2 each. The Escalation happens after body timers expire for the Turn, so the worst that can result from this Escalation is at the end of the next Turn, more bodies will have been rushed to expiring their timers. Notably, gang and syndicate Sec AI never do Active Bio-Sweep. We're very excited to keep expanding these catalogs and interlinking them with chains and rules so that the Sec AI becomes more exciting adversary to face.

Added 2 New Eyes

We've added two new types of eye - a Terminator-style eye with a hot glowing center and a glowing eye with only a targeting symbol shown over the pupil without an iris. It's exciting to round out this category with some new options and now that we've hit 8 different eye looks, we'll be moving on to other categories to continue to add new cosmetic options and looks.
We have also fixed an issue with the snake and burning sun eyes that was causing them never to achieve darker hues. They always stayed very light in color. Now you can go deep red or green if you please!

Spoof and Red Dot Talents

With Update #73, we've made some nice improvements to Hacker's Spoof and the Soldier's Red Dot. Spoof - with is a passive buff that can block Matrix Q-Sec Escalation - has gained a new upgrade node costing 2 points that will add a second token. This allows a single use of Spoof to block up to 2 Escalations over 4 Turns, if you're fully upgraded. Red Dot - has not been correctly connected to its upgrade nodes since ... the beginning of the Talent? Anyway, we've fixed the bug and now Red Dot has all of its correct upgrades available. We also increased the distance of the Talent and fixed its text formatter to correctly display the debuff that it hits the target with, which you can also upgrade with the "new" upgrade nodes. If you're using your Soldier as an occasional bait for a trap or to pull a security target off course with Red Dot, you'll find these new improvements helpful.

Death Res Simplification

Death Res (previously called Death Save, but that's confusing as we have Stress Res and Wound Res) has been simplified in this update by removing it from all in-game effects. Death Res is set by your Difficulty setting and only by your Difficulty setting. All buffs, Traits and combat drugs that increased Death Res have had it removed. We've also moved Death Res up into the "Death and Saves" section as this is where it is most relevant and improved the hovers on both Death Mode and Death Save. We've got a thread going on our Discord about further updates and simplifications coming for Death Res if you want to check out the rules change preview and chime in.

Better Traits: Grit and Below the Level

Grit and Below the Level both lost bonuses to Death Res with this update, so they've been improved in new ways. Grit now adds Wound Res and Below the Level adds XP % bonus.

Utility Programs

We've improved the description for Utility programs and fixed a bug that was preventing their hover from showing in the Matrix Talent bar.

Weapon Mods Improvements

With Update #73, we've fixed a mistake with the Ether Reflex Sight for AR/UAR/E-Rifles, where it was reducing the maximum optimal range of the weapon. Now it correctly reduces the minimal optimal range. For changes to the arc fire (Overwatch or Full Auto) we now use a + and - sign to correctly denote bonuses and debuffs. And we've fixed a bug that was preventing certain fields, especially if the value was negative, from highlighting correctly in compare.

v1.5.11 - 4/12/2024

- New Sec AI Escalation option: Active Bio-Sweep all body timers are reduced 1 Turn (Sigma 5 or 6) or 2 Turns (Sigma 7 or 9) - New Sec AI Escalation option: Minefield Pulse (wakes 3 prox mines), if run again then Minefield Surge (wakes 5 prox mines) - Added 2 new eye designs - terminator glow and target reticle and improved tinting of snake and burning sun - Improved Hacker's Spoof passive Talent with a new upgrade node that adds +1 Spoof Token - Fixed bug which was hiding Soldier's Red Dot's debuff ability and upgrade nodes in the class tree, increased range - Fixed issue where Trace Vector and other Utility programs did not show description correctly hovering in Matrix Talent bar - Rebalanced Trace Vector 1 and 2 utility programs - Removed changes to Death Res from all Traits, Wounds and buffs/debuffs - this is a Difficulty-only value - Moved Death Res in custom difficulty to be next to Death Mode, vastly improved hovers - Rebalanced Grit to have +Wound Res and Below the Level to have +XP% bonuses as they lost Death Res - Fixed bug preventing weapon mods to properly show compare colors on some stats like Noise and negative Dmg - Fixed Ether Reflex Sight for AR/UAR/E-Rifle to reduce minimum Optimal Range - Fixed weapon mod display of changing Arc degrees to include +/- - Fixed issue with using Faked Vitals and Body Bag on the same target causing negative numbers in hover - Fixed lingering mention of -1 Point to train multi-class in training screen - Fixed lighting issues in Haven Smokeout mission