Knights and mercs, we are very near to the end of this Early Access train ride, but everyone here agrees that just means we should update the game even faster! The dev team is cranking hard to make this Early Access ending epic, so please take a moment to leave a review and share the game with your friends. We need that extra boost now more than ever!
With Update #254, we've added a few hundred lootable weapons, mods and armors as well as rounded out the Heat system to its final form. We've added some new game options requested by the community, completed our final tweaks to the Team Power Level and XP system and more - check it all out below.
If you are enjoying the final, frantic days of our Early Access where the updates are coming near daily - please take a moment to drop a review. Our tiny game dev team of 3 is working hard to polish and improve, so hope you can help us spread the word!
Thanks to @ShallowRain Discord for providing the screenshot for the update tonight through the community Photomode event. You can see a list of all of the past community events and challenges on the Cyber Knights wiki.
New Looting for Weapons, Mods and Armor
With Update #254, we've made a major add to the loot system. You can now loot safelocked weapons, mods, and armor from the lootboxes on maps. These physical rewards are immediately ready for use once you get them back to the safehouse and break their safelock (you can't use them in the mission where you loot them). With over 250 pieces of equipment landing in lootboxes near you, this steady drip of new loots will help both your new and veteran team alike have more options to play with when building out their gear and weapons.
Some of the things you can loot overlap with what Contacts can offer to sell, some overlap with what you can find Blueprints for and some are only obtainable through looting.
Go forth, heist and loo!
Heat burns up Sec Level
We've also wrapped up the final and biggest effect for the Heat system in Update #254. This loops Heat back into the Security Level, Sec AI's options with Escalation and into secondary objective challenges as well.
Remember, as you stir trouble in the underworld - with the law and with criminals alike - we produce Heat which makes operating your team harder.
The new rule - when starting a mission, the Sec Level for the Sec AI starts at +1 for every 25% Heat. Therefore, starting with 0% Heat is like you have today (Sec Level 0), 32% Heat is 1 Sec Level and so on up to a maximum of 4 Sec Level. This is less impactful than it might originally sound, but let me detail what effects this has:
- The Sec AI does not get a free Escalation or get to any extra action because of this.
- However, the Sec AI's action that it can take during an Escalation are gated by its Sec Level. As the Sec Level goes up, it gets access to nastier cards.
- For example, many Sec AI won't buff the Tally per Turn by +1 until the Sec Level reaches 1. If you came in with 26% Heat, that would be an immediate option. Other Sec AI won't start buffing their squads ("Chemical accelerants for combat!") until the Sec Level is 2 or 3, which again, you could bring into play directly
- Secondary Objectives that want you to complete missions under specific will be affected by this. If your goal is to stay under Sec Level 6 and you start at Sec Level 2, that goal is going to be harder.
- Sec Level has no effect on pure combat missions, so Heat has no effect either.
We're very excited here how this opens up a lot more nuance in what the Sec AI might do and we will be balancing and expanding their actions in following updates.
Remember, you have multiple ways to mitigate and reduce Heat outside of missions, including the Counter-Intel Safehouse room and Face Talent Pressure Drop.
If you have a combat loud team that is constantly burning hot, you may need to pace your action a bit more or use more of the mitigation options available to you. Or, honestly, lock and load and plow through like you always do.
Power Level and XP Tuning
As this rocketship of gamedev updates goes screaming into our upcoming release, we've taken a minute to do a final pass of tweaking on the Team Power Level and XP progressions for the game. With this update, we've slightly reduced the number of missions required to move through the mid-game Power Levels from 4 to 7. The tuning is minor, it takes 1 less mission to pass through Power Level 4, a part of the game we don't want to feel like it drags too long.
In addition, we've reduced the XP from missions by 3-6%. For most of the game, you can get pretty solid Handling on your Face with an XP bonus that will more than make up for the tiny bit we've scraped off the top.
Heavy and Light Weapons Tagged
To be sure it is clear which weapons are heavy and which are light, we've added the designation next to their type, Power Level and rarity in all equipment and market screens. You can carry 1 heavy weapon and 1 light weapon or 2 light weapons. Or get cybernetics to carry 2 heavy, you beast!
Fixed Filter and Buy on Steam Deck / Controllers
We've got a steady set of improvements continuing to come online for Steam Deck and controllers, working to really fine tune the experience. Last update improved movement plotting with (Y) and this update fixes an overlapping set of hotkeys in market and inventory that (RT and ... RT) that could cause some trouble. Now you've got RT and Y to take your actions quickly.
Option for Extended Chat Bubbles
The little quips and chat bubbles that the enemy agents have been saying have been a big hit! They say the darndest things ... and we're here with a new option in case they say them too fast. You can now turn on Extended Chat Bubbles, which doubles the amount of time this data stays on screen. Thanks to everyone for suggesting great options!
Fixed Cybernetic Talent Respec
There was a bug where you would lose the Talents granted to you by cyberware if you respec'd. We caught this testing Warmachine but it may have affected your cyber lung implants which have Talents. If that did happen to you, you're stuck removing and then reinstalling the cybernetics. That's going to hurt!
Fixing F10s
The F10 grind continues! We fixed a number of issues with enemy grenades, including one case where they could cheat and throw grenades at mercs that were properly hidden.
v1.10.73 - Update #254: Heated Loot - 5/29/2025
- Added +225 Lootable Weapons, Weapons Mods and Armor to lootboxes (physical item can be used from safehouse, not Blueprints)
- Added new Heat effect - Sec Level of missions starts at +1 Level per 25% Heat (draws better cards faster)
- Tuned Power Level and XP progression for missions / proc-gen
- Inventory now shows Heavy / Light item tag next to name / Power Level / Rarity in the top right
- Added new gameplay option to double the time that quips/pings stay on visible on the map
- Fixed overloading hotkey in market for Filter and Buy (split to RT and Y)
- Fixed bug where cybernetic Talents could be deleted by Respec
- Fixed possible lock-up in enemy's turn when throwing debuffing grenades
- Fixed bug where enemy might throw a grenade at hidden merc as if they knew they were there
- Fixed bug with crafting where weapon mod blueprint could be overcommitted to multiple crafts
- Fixed map issues, broken props, odd Exfiltrate starting points, lootboxes not correctly filled