Are you ready to take on a special assignment and start the Rogue Shift, Mercs?
Play Nine to Five from April 19 to 28 to participate in a new and experimental limited-time event -- Rogue Shift.
Corporate has located a case full of compromising evidence that our clients would love to keep hidden, for a hefty sum of course. Your mission is to acquire that case and deliver it to your bosses, but beware, it might not be that easy — other mercenaries are looking to cash in on this opportunity as well.
Overview
Just like regular Nine to Five, up to 9 players can join the shift, but unlike other events and game modes, Rogue Shift is a solo gig, so no pre-made teams, every Merc for himself!
This game mode exists of only one round, which lasts up to 15 minutes, and has one primary objective — find the Media Drive holding the evidence and extract.
At the beginning of the shift, you arrive at a random location in the remote Huxwell Clinic with nothing but a standard sidearm and a tracking device. Your first goal is to explore the surroundings and find more powerful equipment. Loot crates, safes, or fallen enemies to get better weapons, armor, consumables, items, and upgrades. If you are going to survive, you will need every piece of equipment you can find.
Once well-equipped, you are ready to hunt for the main objective — the Media Drive with valuable evidence.
Somewhere on the map lie Keycards, if you were lucky, you have found one while looting. If not, you will need to use your tracker to track them down. Keycards are marked as A, B, or C depending on which Vault they open. Each Vault contains valuable loot: rare weapons, upgrades, or stronger armor, but only one has the Media Drive with the evidence.
If you were lucky and picked the right safe, it is time to extract. Once you get possession of the Media Drive, you will be able to see different extraction points around the map. Just head over to your favorite spot and call in for extraction!
Unfortunately for you, the helicopter does not arrive immediately, and a big red flare will not go unnoticed by the competition. You are prone to defend the extraction area from other mercenaries looking for the drive. Quickly place any defensive items you gathered and prepare to stand your ground!
Finally, when the chopper arrives, just hop on and extract!
Huxwell Clinic
With the launch of Rogue Shift, we want to give you an early look at our upcoming third map — Huxwell Clinic!
You will arrive at the remote Huxwell Clinic, a luxurious clinic hidden between the thriving evergreen forest, rocky mountains, and crystal lakes. This place is designed for intense relaxation and mindful restorations for the wealthiest people in the world.
But it won't be a (re)treat for you! You must find the evidence and get the hell out (preferably alive).
Vaults & Keycards
Vaults are highly secure and protected rooms that hold some of the best loot on the map. There are a total of three Vaults in Huxwell Clinic, each marked with a letter A, B, or C, and each of them requires the respective Keycard to open.
Each Vault holds a locked safe which will automatically open 10 seconds after the Vault has been unlocked. But most importantly, the Media Drive with sensitive evidence is stashed in one of the Vaults. But which one?
Crates
Crates are the main source of loot and gear in Rogue Shift. Crates can hold weapons, armor, placeable and throwable items, BitMercs, and last but not least, Upgrades. There are two types of crates: Regular and Premium.
Regular Crates are smaller boxes that carry up to 3 items and are free to open.
Premium Crates are significantly larger boxes that cost 15 BitMercs to open. These crates hold up to 3 items and have an increased chance to hold items of a higher rarity.
BitMercs
Bye-bye traditional banks—hello to a fairer, more transparent financial system! Hello to BitMercs!
BitMercs is the new currency introduced in Rogue Shift. It is used to complete every transaction in Huxwell Clinic, be it opening Premium Crates, restocking your ammo and armor with the Vending Machines, or ordering your custom Loadout with the Loadout Device.
You can find BitMercs lying around the map, stashed in Crates or in the pockets of your fallen foes.
Vending Machines
Experience the ultimate vending experience with our revolutionary Armor and Ammo vending machines. For just a handful of BitMercs you can easily replenish your missing ammunition and armor plates.
Conveniently located around the map, these vending machines provide merchandising that is unlike anything else on the market. (Sponsored by Farmira Corporation)
Equipment
Loadouts
For the duration of Rogue Shift, your pre-made Loadouts will consist of your Primary and Secondary weapons, but when you enter a shift, you get additional slots for Placeables, Throwables, Upgrades, and the Tracker.
There are no limits on what weapons you can combine in a loadout.
So, do not hesitate to and feel free to bring 2 primary weapons into the field!
You will always start a shift carrying nothing but a default sidearm and a Tracker device, which will show you the locations of Keycards and the Media Drive. You will need to find better weapons or collect 30 BitMercs and call in your pre-made loadout using the Loadout Device.
Tracker
The tracker is a brand-new device introduced in Rogue Shift, and it is a Merc's best friend! Accessible by pressing the “3” key, the Tracker displays heaps of vital information.
By default, the Tracker shows locations of any nearby Keycards and Media Drives and tracks which Keycards you have already collected. Whenever you get close to a Keycard or Media Drive, your Tracker will make a subtle ping sound, and its icon will flash.
You can improve your Tracker with the Heartbeat Tracker upgrade, which will allow the tracker to show the heartbeat signatures of any nearby enemies.
Weapons
Every Merc's bread and butter.
In Rogue Shift mercenaries can obtain weapons from Crates, Loadout Devices, or fallen enemies. Each weapon has a rarity level ranging from Common to Mint. Higher rarity weapons are equipped with better attachments and have higher weapon stats.
Weapon slots do not limit which type of weapons you can equip, so you can easily carry two primary weapons if you wish to do so.
It is important to note that the amount of available ammo is tied to a particular weapon. If you pick a weapon that was just dropped from a crate, it will have the maximum amount of ammo available for this weapon. However, if you pick up a weapon previously used by another mercenary, its ammunition might be depleted.
Armor
Mercs should always use protection.
For this event, we have significantly simplified the armor system.
Armor is no longer a part of the Loadout, but it is an upgrade you can find during your shift. There are three different armor levels, each providing more durability to the prior.
Secondly, armors no longer have A.S.S. or the Companion Drone, and finally, armors now have two fixed item slots, one for Placeable and one for Throwable items.
That being said, you can still pick a cosmetic armor skin in the Loadout menu. The skin won't influence the gameplay but will make you look fresh.
If your armor was damaged in a fight, you can replenish it with Armor Plates.
Armor Plates
It is a new item that replenishes armor HP when used.
Armor Plates can be found lying around the map or purchased from the Armor Vending Machine.
Items
Rogue Shift has a significantly reduced list of items compared to the regular Nine to Five game. There are only two types of items: Placeables and Throwables.
Placeable items are limited to Laser Trip Mines — placeable proximity-activated explosive mines. Throwables have slightly more options: Frag Grenade, Firestarter, and Scanner Flashbang.
Frag Grenade is an explosive grenade that produces lethal shrapnel.
Firestarter is an incendiary grenade that produces a growing pool of fire upon impact.
Scanner Flashbang is a grenade that blinds and disorients targets while scanning for hostiles and highlighting their location.
Mercenaries can carry two instances of the same item and one item of each type at a time regardless of the armor they are wearing.
For example, they can carry two Firestarters and two Laser Trip Mines at once. However, picking up another item of the same type will replace the old one.
Upgrades
Upgrades are extras that give players powerful passive abilities. They can be found in crates, safes, or looted from fallen enemies. There are two types of upgrades: Ammo and Survival. You can only equip one upgrade of each type at a time, if you pick up another upgrade of the same type, the old one will be dropped.
Ammo upgrades
Fire Ammo
With this upgrade equipped, all ammo becomes incendiary and deals additional damage over time. Additional hits to the same target don't multiply the overtime damage but will reset its duration.
All shots fired with the Fire Ammo upgrade have visible tracers and impact effects.
Corrosive Ammo
With this upgrade equipped, each hit to enemy armor has an increased damage multiplier. Shots fired with the Corrosive Ammo upgrade equipped have green tracers and impact effects.
Explosive Ammo
With this upgrade equipped, a large damage multiplier is applied to every bullet you shoot.
Explosive Ammo comes with some nice visual tracers and impacts.
Survival upgrades
Self-Healing Composite Armor
Self-Healing Composite Armor upgrade slowly replenishes the missing armor over time. The effect is interrupted when the player takes any damage.
Heartbeat Tracker
Heartbeat upgrade allows the player's Tracker to display the heartbeat signatures of nearby enemies.
Life Insurance
With this upgrade you get a second chance! If you were killed while carrying Life Insurance, you will respawn in a secret VIP cabin with complimentary loot from the corporate. This upgrade is single-use and cannot be retrieved from the enemy body.
Progression & Rewards
Progression in the Rogue Shift is very similar to regular Nine to Five, for each kill and successful extraction, you will receive Experience and Credits.
Any XP and resources earned during Rogue Shift will carry over to Nine to Five after the event.