Knights, we're excited to release the Wireghost class, bringing the total class combinations to over 50! The Wireghost dives into the Matrix with the illegally modified Cortex Wetgate, combining meatspace infiltration talents and hacking with ruthless speed and combo power.
This is our second post-launch class and third big content release! We're excited to be hitting another big mark on the post-launch roadmap. If you're enjoying the pace of progress, new content and updates please leave a Steam review to help our team!
Our Save Game Policy and Updates
First, since you're going to be seeing a lot of updates around here, we want to share our saved game policy up front so everyone understands our commitment to your games. No saved game will ever be invalidated by an update. All new content and features will be added immediately to all saved games (with the reasonable exception of New Game options). You never have to restart if you don't want to. This is a studio commitment that we have made and kept for many years and games. We stand by it. So do not stress about the deluge of updates that is coming your way - heist on my good heisters.
Wireghost Talents
This is a hacking plus infiltration class that requires a cybernetic implant. 15 unique talents offer a wide range of build possibilities and totally new synergies with other classes. The Wireghost provides a second style of hacking the global matrix and is a foil to the Hacker's style of methodically sieging a host.
To train as a Wireghost you need to first install a Cortex Wetgate cybernetic (Deep Brain) which you can get from your starting Street Doc or Splicer.
Wireghosts bring an exciting package of stealth and anti-security Talents to the table.
Manifest Trace can reveal the contents of lootboxes at a distance.
Kill Switch can flip Proximity Mines and Laser Wires to ignore your mercs and instead be triggered by enemies (dealing damage to them and stopping their turn).
Radio Silence is an excellent way to set up ambushes or help prevent gunfire reports from propagating while Ghost Distortion lets the Wireghost slip through enemy patrols momentarily undetected.
When it comes to hacking, Wireghost just dives differently. First, they can employ Skipjack to make a fragile connection to a matrix host that is controlling a security device, through the security device itself -- no jacking in to a Matrix terminal required!
Dropping right into the unscanned SCU can be a risky move, especially with your Connection burning up every action. But, disabling the device first with Security Siphon will pre-scan the SCU and prep some of your signature Wireghost Talents to clean up the rest; you may be set up to p0wn the SCU and disable a swathe of devices. The connection is too weak to hope to get to a CPU to spike it, but you can soften up and scout the host with this infiltration.
When it comes to cutting IC in a host, the Wireghost deals death then covers their tracks with Spectral tokens. Spectral tokens can be generated in multiple ways:
using Spectral Dagger - generates Spectral tokens and allows them to be used to silence the Tally generated by an IC that dies without first being disabled.
using Trap Keeper to capture and immediately kill a trap (known or unknown) on a node (think SCU, data nodes, RCU).
if you've got Active IC in your sights, drop Unlink to move them randomly to other nodes in the host while healing your Connection and gaining Spectral tokens by doing so.
The Wireghost also moves differently, using Phantom Slide to move to any node down a connected line of nodes, ignoring all node and IC restrictions to movement. And Pindrop will teleport your randomly into the host, unless you upgrade it to avoid all types of defensive nodes (Access Nodes, Firewalls, etc). In both cases, when using a special movement Talent, you drop in hot like a nuke to the node, dealing (10 x Spectral tokens) damage to all IC inside!
Screaming Multi-Class Potential!
The potential for awesome multi-classing with Wireghost is super high. While you can't combine Hacker and Wireghost due to both classes requiring a cybernetic in the same slot, you can:
add Wireghost to another class-focus for a nice set of meatspace infiltration talents, without touching the Matrix at all.
add Wireghost to another class focusing only on the Skipjack talents, letting your merc hit SCUs to wreak havoc on security devices but not dive deeper into Matrix hacking.
build a deep Matrix diver with Wireghost as your primary class, but dipping into any one of the other classes for added combat or stealth utility.
We can't wait to see what creative builds you put together!
How to get a Wireghost
A new Wireghost, Bondai, has been added to the Matrix Specialists column (1st column) in the Advanced Start option for New Game, allowing you to choose between him or one of the Hackers, Dade or Remi.
A second Wireghost option has been added to the Underworld Hub for immediate recruitment by existing merc squads.
You can also multi-class your other characters into the Wireghost class if they haven't taken a class yet (or just Respec). Multiclassing into Wireghost requires cyber surgery to install the digital infiltrator's Cortex Wetgate. The only class that can't be multiclassed with Wireghost (due to their required cybernetic occupying the same slot) is Hacker.
New Matrix Challenges
In high Power Level hosts or when the host rating is a dangerous color, you will start to see some of the new 6 IC that we've added with this update. These nasty varieties start arriving at Power Level 5 and can cause new level of havoc on a hack. Poison Tiger can smack your Deck with 25% Dmg (get some Armor!) while a Black Diamond Trap will take 20 Matrix AP at a pop, and the Trace Viper will add +15 Sec Tally.
Keep an eye out for these nasty varieties of IC, so you can prioritize lagging or disabling them first - Poison Tiger, Jackhammer, Searchlight, D-Jammer, Black Diamond, Trace Viper.
Some Hacker Improvements
In building out the Wireghost, we found some places where we wanted to buff and streamline the Hacker so that the two classes are better matched foils of each other.
The first and the biggest bump is to the Hacker's Scapegoat buff, which now starts with 3 Tokens to block IC (who have not been lagged or disabled) from increasing Security Tally. With upgrades, you can reach 6 tokens in a single use of the buff, making it much more viable for Scapegoat to cover Nuking 2 nodes without carefully disabling the IC resident there.
Second, we have upgraded the Dumpshock Res % and Matrix Dmg Bonus % granted by the small upgrade nodes in the Hacker's class tree, bumping up by a few points to make sure that the total you can achieve by taking all the nodes is more meaningful.
Finally, we extended the duration of Spoof and Scapegoat to 6 Turns so that they are far beyond the length of any given hack. As the buffs are cleared whenever their tokens run out, duration is not a key factor here.
Recasting former "Wireghost" Contacts as "Netwraiths"
In order to have a clear distinction between the character class of Wireghost (who have the illegal street adaptation of the Cortex Wetgate and are trained operators capable of running a heist) and the old Contact "Wireghosts" (who have a different cybernetic implant, are not on-the-ground operators like your mercs, and only do remote hacking) we have renamed "Wireghost" contacts to "Netwraiths".
Sorry for any confusion this might cause, but in the long run it will be better not to have a Contact and merc class sharing a name.
v2.1.59 - #29: New Class WIREGHOST - 9/5/2025
- Added new class: Wireghost, boasting a Cortex Wetgate implant allowing stealthy infiltration, hacking through security devices and a rapid, wild hacking style
- Added new Wireghost character, Bondai, to the Matrix Specialist options of Advanced Start in New Game
- Added new Wireghost character to the Underworld Hub for recruitment
- Added 6 types of new IC (Poison Tiger, Jackhammer, Searchlight, D-Jammer, Black Diamond, Trace Viper)
- Improved Hacker class tree with more Dumpshock Res % per node and more Matrix Dmg Boost per node
- Improved hover in Matrix over character's effects that have Tokens so the active Token count is shown in text
- Improved Hacker's Scapegoat talent starting point and upgrade path to have more tokens (start with 3, upgrade to 6)
- Extended duration of Hacker's Spoof and Scapegoat talents duration to 6 Turns (beyond length of most hacks) - they expire when all tokens used
- Agent EX Line Crawler recharge rate reduced to 4 from 5, range bonus increased from +4m to +6m
- Proximity Mines and Lasers Wires will now damage enemies of another faction (Head Hunters, invading Brave Star, etc)
- Fixed issues with Sellers filter being remembered across cybernetic slots in install screen
- Recast existing "Wireghost" Contacts as "Netwraiths"