Update #203: Lt. Bug, Major Smash Part 3
Contacts now Limit Break in order, fixed Red Mist Event, fixed K-Protocol, fixed broken weapon SFX, improved 3 Pistols
Hello Monday, hello Knights, hello mercs! It is another big F10 smash update, grinding for that polish every day while the team keeps working hard on bigger chunks of content and features back at HQ. With Update #203, we've fixed an issue that was preventing Red Mist Event mission from working, forcing Contacts to Limit Break in a fair order instead of RNG order, fixing issues with K-Protocol not always applying correctly, fixing all the gun SFX sounding so silly (oops!), rebalancing a few Pistols, improving Leverage and ... well, a lot of things. Check the full release notes for all the details!
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Red Mist Assassination Fix
With Update #202 we fixed a bug preventing proc-gen assassination missions from starting and deploying their VIP. Unfortunately, the same bug had wormed its way into some of the story assassination missions. We have now fixed that in Update #203 and you can just play forward, the mission will jump-start into action.
Contacts Learn to Queue Properly
For a long time, there has been a lot of unfair jostling and cutting the line in the Contact Limit Break rules. Contacts might get to 80%+ Influence and be ready to Limit Break but someone else keeps going first if they have bad RNG. With this update, we've corrected the rules to ensure that the queue stays relatively orderly. There can still be a little jostling at the front of the line, but Contacts are now going to reliably Limit Break in a fair order and not get frozen out for extended periods of time.
However, there is a transition period that will now occur between the old rules and the new rules. All Contacts who were over 80% Influence/Exposure before Update #203 are just at the front of the line. They need to all clear their Limit Breaks before anyone who gains 80%+ Influence/Exposure after Update #203 will gain a Limit Break. It is as fair as we could make it.
K-Protocol
For those highly skilled stealth teams or teams trying to use K-Protocol on the first Turn, it was not working as expected. Due to an order of operations bug, K-Protocol was limited in reducing Tally by how many blue tallies you had ... so for the Turn 24 game with 1 blue tally that we checked during testing - we salute you. You're a ninja! And now, K-Protocol will work for you correctly, late or early in the mission.
Finally, we've adjusted K-Protocol's rules to allow it to be used against sleeping devices that haven't been woken up by the Sec AI yet. This is a nice change, as those sleeping cameras and laser wires are still attack surfaces for your pro Vanguard and now you can take advantage of them.
Check out the full rules for K-Protocol and other Vanguard Talents you can use to go full stealth
on the wiki.
Laser Guns SFX!
For a bit there, all of the guns were making strange laser-blaster sounds. That was a mistake on our part and is now fixed - all guns SFX are restored.
Sprint for Siege and Battle Striker
Since sneaking is pointless in Siege and Battle Striker missions, we've ensured that all mercs start in the sprint stance for these missions to avoid the need for any extra keystrokes and to reduce mistake potential.
Pistol Rebalance
We've fixed a broken modifier in the pistol table that has adjusted the balance for Detective Special, Executive, and Heavy Raptor Pistols. The Executive and Heavy Pistols now cause a small amount of Pure Dmg (20 and 40 respectively) making them stand-outs in the Pistol class.
Leverage Improvements Round-up
With this update, we're prepping for a new wave of Leverages that can be obtained by converting certain special items like the Sigma 6 Sploitkit items. In prep for this, we've drastically raised the prices on the Sigma 6 Sploitkit items up to over $100K each.
We have also fixed the descriptions and rules for Suppress Alarm and Alarm Malfunction to make them work clearly and consistently. These Leverages prevent the Sec AI from Escalating, which means that the Tally and Sec Level are increasing but the Sec AI simply does not get to take a special action when it passes the Escalation threshold. This ensure there are no reinforcements, devices re-enabled or any kind of powerful Sec AI reaction.
In the next few updates, we're working on getting the Leverage results all added to the combat log, as these are too "quiet" today.
And More!
And we fixed a lot of other things too :D Check the release notes for the full list.
v1.9.91 - Update #203 - 1/20/2025
- Fixed "Red Mist Event" assassination Power Play mission that could be stuck - job will jump into motion again
- Contact Limit Breaks are now ordered by when they are eligible, removing chance Contact will get stuck waiting and passed by others
- Fixed issue with K-Protocol Talent not always applying fully when the Sec Tally was low / first Turn
- K-Protocol now fixed to correctly target any security device, even sleeping ones not turned on by Sec AI
- Fixed bug with all guns sounding like silly laser weapons
- Adjusted balance for Pistols: Detective Special, Executive, Heavy Raptor
- All Siege, Alpha Striker and other full combat missions start with team standing and in Sprint mode
- Corrected/clarified the Suppress Alarm and Alarm Malfunction Leverage descriptions
- Raised price for Sigma 6 Sploitkit item to over $100K each
- Adjusted coloring of Matrix Finance nodes (now Accounts=Green, Files=Purple, Blueprints=Blue)
- Fixed bug with Radar Array term appearing in Matrix SCU instead of Long-Range Camera
- Fixed cover display on large rising floor lamp
- Fixed missing names and fields in journal entries
- Renamed a few more Files for clear name to set consistency
