We're excited to bring you a major new content update today, Update #112, the launch of the Head Hunters system. If one of your squad members earns the hatred of a powerful contact, that contact may hire Head Hunters to bring you down. Head Hunters create high-pressure situations that are forced to resolve over a short period of time, one way or the other. Once a Head Hunter has been given a bounty on your head, you're in a pressure cooker - it is you, or them, or dodging them enough times that the Contact relinquishes the bounty. From the moment the bounty is set until the moment is ends, you have to be on your A-game to stay one step ahead of them and always ready for hard fight for your life.
Head Hunters are unique enemy squads that have a % chance to appear mid-mission and try to terminate your squad. They're independent from other enemies on the map and will quite happily cut through them to get to you, potentially throwing your heist into chaos and setting off security escalations that add to your difficulties. You might be able to make use of the distraction to quickly wrap up your objectives and get out, but Head Hunters are relentless in their pursuit of you and will only try again on some future heist. There are two ways to stop a Head Hunter - kill their leader or avoid them enough times that the Contact cancels the bounty. If you chose to fight, their second-in-command and other henchmen will still fight on for the rest of the mission, but you'll end the threat of them ambushing you on future jobs, and burn the contact that hired them with additional Exposure as well. If you choose to flee, you may be able to escape them a few times and end the bounty without being forced into a high-stakes battle.

The first of hunters to come

We're starting out with three possible teams that can be sent against you, with more to come. Head Hunter teams have a unique leader, a second-in-command, and several goons. Head Hunters each have their own unique flair, with a combat style to match. You can end up with multiple Head Hunters hired to go after you, though you'll never see more than one team within a single mission.

Macha Gold

Two highly trained sniper teammates cover Macha Gold and his second, Ostrek, while they advance to close-range so they can corner and kill their bounties personally. Relying on Cybersword techniques, Aegis Shield and a powerful cocktail of combat drugs mixed up for their team by Ostrek, these Head Hunters close quickly, mixing long and short range death. Arrogant, in love with his name, and sure that he is the top of the heap, Macha Gold loves to talk trash.

Razorback & Armistice

The roar of shotguns follow Razorback and Armistice wherever they lead. The two were corporate soldiers in the Pacific Rim during the Quiet Wars and have continued their career in the private head-taking sector. Backed by Gego and Sledge, this 4-member team is extremely fast moving and all carry assault shotguns, ready to lay waste to their enemies' armor and health. Ex-corporate, these two are buttoned up, serious and grim. They aren't having any fun but they're making bank.

Baby Jack

Leading a company of ex-special ops milsec soldiers who are out to make a living, Baby Jack doesn't take anything too seriously except the tactics. His squad is a balanced mix of weapons, armor and abilities that forms a cohesive unit, capable of fighting in a wide range of configurations and ranges. Baby Jack likes to have a laugh and brag about his kills. We're looking forward to seeing Discord and Steam discussions on your strategies for handling each of these teams.

When hunted, stay speedy.

Be warned, if you have Head Hunters after you, it's more important than ever to move quickly in missions. Heists that require completing objectives before unlocking exits can become unescapable if you get too tied down fighting to ever accomplish those objectives. We're working on adding cut-and-run options into the game to choose to abandon a heist early, but in the meantime, play smart. If Head Hunters intercept your mission, you won't know until they spawn in 4-6 turns into it. Don't be afraid to use the Restart Level option to try again if the fight doesn't work in your favor, or Restore Before Mission (which will reset the chance of Head Hunters appearing on that mission) if you find yourself trapped in a game-ending scenario.

Use Counter-Intel

Some times you're on a really high-stakes heist and you simply can't afford disasterous interruption. To stay one step ahead of Head Hunters, you work on building a Counter-Intel Pod in your Safehouse which will give you options for temporarily throwing them off your trail. High Heat increases the chance that a Head Hunter will strike, so use your Tokens to mitigate Heat. And, you can also spend Tokens to gain yourself short windows of time when Head Hunters are completely blocked by your blast of misinformation and counter-intel chatter. So, if you're going on a mission with a Head Hunter looming, be sure to have your team up to full strength for the challenge or rely on your Counter-Intel pod to buy you some time.

Cyberdecks and Intrinsic Blueprint Details

We've added extra sections to the inventory screens for cyberdecks and Weapon Mod Intrinsic Blueprints. Cyberdecks now list all their installed programs and Intrinsic Blueprints list exactly to which weapon types they can be attached.

We're featured in TactiCon this week, and on sale to celebrate!

We're very pleased to be a featured game in this week's TactiCon festival, celebrating strategy and tactics games of all kinds. They have a schedule of talks and panels worth checking out.
And in case you missed it, you can find one of our own interviews talking about Cyber Knights, our studio, tabletop RPGs and more with game reviewer ACG here: [previewyoutube=lbk_V6OfckA;full]https://www.youtube.com/live/lbk_V6OfckA[/previewyoutube] If you're up for it, click through and give the video a or leave a comment; it helps us out!

v1.8.19 - 7/18/2024

- Added new infamous Head Hunters system! - If you cross the wrong Power Player in New Boston, Head Hunters may be sent after you - Once a bounty has been set, an infamous Head Hunter may interrupt your missions and try to take your head - Head Hunters will fight their way through local security if they have to reach you - chaos, gunfire, loud! - Kill the Head Hunters or escape them 3+ times in order to cancel the bounty and weak the Contact who sent them - 3 infamous Head Hunters added today with more clamoring for a chance: Macha Gold, Baby Jack, Razorback - All previous Head Hunters assigned by Octane, Henninger or others will now swing in to action - Cyberdecks now list their programs installed in their inventory detail and hover - Blueprints for Intrinsic Weapon Mods list the types to which they can be applied - Improved and fixed typos in event logs