Some weeks, it really feels like the true shape and form of Cyber Knight's is just out there, obscured by the mist. With big updates like this, sharp corners and clear lines come into view for a second before melting back into the fog. But the shape and silhouette are there and each week they are a little more visible.

This update is a big one, starting the long march of storylines that are tied to missions, special rewards, the advancement of your underworld contacts and your Face's unique place on the team as the sole source of story/strategy/meta abilities.

New Gun Runner Storyline

Update #29 releases the first storyline that is directly tied into a mission! It's a big milestone but there are more crowding the pipeline right behind it. This new storyline can proc with a friendly Gun Runner who pitches you a hard to beat one-time deal to acquire a powerful E-Rifle weapon. In the currently Contact setup, you'll get the storyline from Origami Joe once your team has achieved Power Level 1, so run a few missions first.

E-Rifles are a new weapon released into the game that are mid-ranged armor melters with limited full auto capability (3 shots) and a penchant for Pure Damage and killing drones (more about that soon). However, E-Rifles have a limited number of reloads on a mission (all stages of the mission, not just one) so carrying one is a known trade-off and puts a lot of weight on the other weapon to work in more situations than not. For extra ammo, you can look into the new IO-Charger item (below).

This story also sees the first of the Face's story and strategy abilities coming online. Your team's Face now appears prominently in your Roster, can access their Training and cannot multi-class. The Face is your team's negotiator, fixer and voice in your head during missions. Their special skill tree is dedicated to the strategy layer and has no tactical abilities on it. In this new storyline, you'll have the option to use your "Hard Bargain" ability to drive a sharp bargain.

IO-Charger and Looting

Update #29 adds a new item type which will shake up the item meta for Cyberswords and anyone planning to carry that powerful E-Rifle you now have the chance to earn. The IO-Charger is a mobile battery unit capable of filling the current ammo bar of your weapon. Keep in mind that if you use the IO-Charger when the ammo bar is not empty, you're being wasteful.

For a blade with an IO-Batt, this completely recharges the blade and enables you to use another round of Talents which rely on these critical charges. For an E-Rifle or any other reload-limited weapon, the IO-Charger will refill the current ammo bar only. If you have 2/3 reloads for the E-Rifle, you can empty the first magazine and then reload it with IO-Charge to stay at 2/3 reloads.

We've also generally improved the list of lootable items in game maps. The changes are not overly exciting because you will only find items that you could already purchase but you will now find more items than just First Aid Kits along with the sellable chips and blueprints.

Downed becomes Bleeding Out(!)

Some important changes have arrived for what was "Downed!" -- it is now "Bleeding Out!" Not only is the verbiage clearer, this is a much more fun take on same system. If you take a hit that would potentially kill you (reaching 0 HP), you get a surge of HP (up to 30% of your total) and a nasty debuff, naturally called Bleeding Out. As soon as you receive any healing, Bleeding Out is purged.

Bleeding Out costs you 20 HP a Turn and will kill you if you are not healed - it is only a matter of Turns. The debuff also slaps you with a -2 AP and -2 MP penalty but most importantly allows you to take any action or use any Talent. You can run, shoot, Overwatch or throw a grenade. Our mercs go down fighting, thank you very much. Fun!

But consider healing yourself quickly or calling an ally for help -- if you take another wound that brings you to 0 HP while you are Bleeding Out, you roll your Death Save and are likely to die (see your chosen Difficulty here).

New Market Tab

The new Market tab in the safehouse allows you to quickly access all sellers by category (guns, armor, etc). You do not need to (but still can) go to a Contact's page to see what is for sale in the market. Note, if you do go to a Contact's screen, you are still take to the global market and can see all the items for sale, not just the current Contacts. So, whenever you're shopping items, you're shopping all items. Filters for individual Contacts will appear in due time.

UX Upgrades: Sec Level

With each update now, there are always going to be UX updates. This will be a creeping process that slowly takes over the game, each time things looking a little better and better. We've improved the highlights on the custom cursor, it's now wiser about HUD elements specifically like Talents, weapons and the Init timeline.

So, we've updated to the new security level widget to both the main mission map and hacking. It needs some hovers (woops!) but you can see the Tally per Turn in yellow with the + above the bar and you can see the Tally this turn shown in yellow on the main bar.

While for the main mission map, it is functionally pretty close to the older copy the new addition to hacking makes the gameplay there immediately more understandable. As things are fast in the Matrix, the Quantum Sec Lvl escalations don't wait for the end of Turns like the physical world and the yellow Tally is added every action not every Turn. Escalating in the Matrix gives the host an immediate chance to strike back by drawing a security card from its deck -- perhaps summoning IC, waking disabled IC, changing the node's stats or all sorts of other nefarious moves.

Here you can see the major effect of the IC, adding +5 Tally per action in bright yellow


After knocking the IC out with Deception, I've paid the high Tally per action cost but have cleared the yellow Tally back down to reasonable

In smaller changes, we've hid the Firing Mode toggle if the weapon doesn't have it and improved the listing of filters when shopping for Weapon Mods so it is more clear what combinations you need for each weapon type -- for example an SMG shares Barrels and Body Mods with Pistols but Scopes with AR / UA.

Mission Abort Option

For the Alpha, we've added a Mission Abort option to the game menu. This is a quick way to pull a defeat. At the moment, there are no repercussions, you simply are considered to have lost the mission. We'll get into more complicated Abort scenarios a bit later.

Strategy Layer Refinements

We're continuing to refine the Contact relationship part of the strategy layer, which will be a key aspect of the game -- who you know in the New Boston underground and illegal circles is big. We've adjusted some important labels -- the personal relationship between you and your Contacts is "Trust" now instead of "Reputation" -- Rep is something you have with Factions. The Contact's Influence has been renamed Faction Influence for clarity as well. We've adjusted the Contact display for Power Level to match your personal Power Level an include decimal points, so a 2.32 PL is no longer rounded off to just 2.

The victory screen on a mission is now more detailed -- specifically calling out any team and Contact Power Level, Trust or Influence changes that are the results of your win.

Everything in the game needs a tag so we can remember and use it :D So, we've added new tagging for Dr. Ashe and Origami Joe to indicate that they are associates you had from before the surgery that turned you into a Knight.

Mission Bugs

We fixed a huge host of mission bugs reported by your F10s! The door in Biospike is now really a Blue Key Door and not a red key door hiding in disguise. The exit in the Three Switch level can now be reached and isn't blocked by the large hovercraft. The movement paths in the Hover Theft level have been improved. The Initiative score free-for-all going on in levels like Dock Trouble and Ward Run has been smoothed out -- your Knight always goes first, most of your mercs go next but they might mingle with a few fast enemies.

We also fixed a series of issues that could cause corporate guards to show up at random during levels where you're clearly facing off against gangs or street-level enemies.

And there is more ... so, check the list!

v0.6.51 - 11/9/2022

- Added new story - Power Level 1+ merc teams can encounter special story offer from Origami Joe for rare E-Rifle
- E-Rifles are short-range melters against armor and all enemies but have limited reloads during a mission
- Added new item for sale, IO-Charger which will reload the current ammo capacity of a Sword, Railgun or E-Rifle
- Cyberswords carrying IO-Chargers can now double down on their special talent use
- Added 2 new Charge Pack weapon mods for E-Rifles
- Upgraded rules for "Downed" to "Bleeding Out": deadly debuff that will kill you over a few turns, -AP, -MP but allows you to act normally
- Added new Market Tab, options presented their focus on shopping (don't need to go to Contact)
- New UX for Security Level, Tally and Escalation in main mission map and hacking
- Change Weapon Firing Mode toggle is hidden if weapon has one firing mode
- Improved listing of Weapon Mods in Filter to be clear what mods go with what classes of weapons
- Added Abort / Fail button to mission menu, at least for alpha. Immediately retreat to safehouse, no further losses
- Added better tagging for Origami Joe and Dr. Ashe, "Old Associates" who were with you since before the Knighting
- Improved labels in Contact screens, "Reputation" is "Trust" and "Influence" is "Faction Influence"
- Contact Power Level now shows 2 points of precision (2.42) like team's PL
- Improved post-Mission to include specific Power Level gain for the team
- Improved post-Mission gains for Contact to list Power Level, Trust, Influence and Favors individually when applicable
- Improved item looting variation to include other items for sale (not just First Aid Kits)
- Fixed Vanguard Jamkit, default duration is now "until end of next Turn" but only starts with 1 charge
- Fixed bug with Biospike Mission where the exit door was still really a Red Key door instead of Blue Key
- Fixed bug in weapon comparison for Full Auto Optimal Range sometimes incorrectly showing equals
- Fixed exit area in Three Switch playtesting level to be easier to access
- Fixed issues with Clinic Expansion storyline, fixed double events and double Traits
- Fixed sometimes faulty hovers over Matrix / story terminals
- Fixed bad links in Hacker Class tree for Attr Booster 1 & 2, missing description on Attr Booster 4
- Fixed Damage estimates were not taking +Dmg % Buffs into account
- Removed nonsense -2 Initiaitve from Domeshot Talent boosters
- Fixed issues with starting Initiative on first turn of Dock Trouble / Deaddrop Job
- Fixed issues with corporate guards spawning into street / gang levels randomly