With Update #224, we're wrapping up a big series of updates focused on ship component shopping, rebalances and starting to move on to the next series of exciting changes and content adds. We've added a set of new relic gear and the first level 5 gear sold by a Contact with more to come as well as we prep for some very exciting rule changes about gear itself.

If you're enjoying the constant, more than weekly updates, please remember to tell a friend and leave a review!


Update #224 introduces 4 new high level pieces of gear that can be found in Salvage and Explorer. While the new Bladeguide Aegis is combat focused, the other three types of gear are big Attribute boosters for Officers using builds that require high Attributes, such as Charisma. These can make gear more appealing to non-combat officers as well as their battling brethren.

In addition, we've opened up for the first time the ability for Contact's with the Specialist Gear service to sell level 5 gear. The first piece of gear up for sale is the powerful Bexian Deathward which massively increases Resilience (+10!!) and Bleed Resistance (+25!!) making it an interesting piece to consider in the mix. More level 5 gear will be coming online soon after this first toe-dip.


Thanks to everyone in the community continuing to post feedback on the new component categories and their internal balance. We'll be continuing to improve the balance with the goal of raising more components up to the level where they fit a clear and powerful purpose within builds. With Update #224, we've put a target on ECCM Screen to ensure they have a place within the meta. We've both significantly increased their +Escape bonuses but added important Craft Evasion bonuses that can help ensure they can offer better coverage for ships like Smugglers and Spies who are built to disengage and flee combat.

For Reactor Spike Modules, we had to make a price increase to the first level (+$7K) and reduced the fuel stored within that module down to 5. Fine tuning another great component that is now viable for many types of builds. As part of this adjustment, we upgraded the 8000 Mass Broadsword Class to use a RSM 2 instead of an RSM 1.

Hopefully for a while, we've completed the last set of tweaks to category shopping based on all the feedback we're hearing from within the community.

• If you use the "Type Match" filter and there is only one category that matches, then this category is automatically expanded to avoid double clicks.
  
• We fixed both A-Z and Z-A alphabetical sorting when you are browsing categories.
  
• We fixed the remaining duplicate of small slot Mass Reducers when looking at categories
  
• We fixed an issue with faction filtering causing some categories to disappear if the first item in the category was faction locked even if others were not

If you have any other issues or suggestions about the upgraded shopping experience, please share them!

Have you seen -- and wishlisted -- our next upcoming game? Cyberpunk turn-based tactics under the shadows of the crumbling New Boston dome is not something you want to miss.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1021210/Cyber_Knights_Flashpoint/

- New Rare Relic Gear: Bladeguide Aegis, Slindo Trade Slate, Perk Balm, Allistar Edgeweave (Attribute Boosters for Talent Officer Builds)
 - New level 5 Specialist Gear sold by Contacts: Bexian Deathward (Resilience + Bleed Resistance)
- Improved +Escape Bonus on ECCM Screen Matrices and added +Craft Evade to all levels
- Balanced Reactor Spike Module 1 with minor Fuel reduction, minor price increase
- Improved "Type Match" filter in component shopping, if there is only one matching subtype, the subtype is expanded automatically
- Fixed alphabetical sorting when viewing ship components categories
- Adjusted ship build for Broadsword Class 8000M to use Reactor Spike Module 2 instead of 1
- Fixed duplicate small slot Mass Reducer categories showing up in component shopping
- Fixed issues with Faction-filtering making some component categories disappear in component shopping

Update #223 starts to work on filling out the component count and stat bonuses for some of the under-developed categories for ship components, as well as fixing all of the reported issues with the new category system within shopping for ship components.

Thanks to everyone posting feedback and reviews!


In case you ran into any of these issues, here is the full list of what was fixed in Update #223 for ship component shopping:

• Some components, such as small Fuel Tanks and Pulse Boosters, appeared twice on the category list
  
• Some components, such as large Gravcannons and large Barracks, did not appear on the list at all. Across the set of 58 categories and 3 sizes, there were 15 misses in total. All are now resolved.
  
• Some ship weapons were showing the wrong icon for their type of special damage -- showing Ship Ops icon and stating "Causes Radiation". Sounds like an airlock issue to me.

We've also made a few more tweaks to improve the consistency of sorting throughout the set.

One of our follow-on tasks to this major shopping upgrade will be to ensure there are enough good options behind every category. In some cases, this means adding more components and in other cases it will mean rebalancing the bonuses. For Water-Fuel Reclamation systems, we've now added a grade 3 component which increases the Fuel storage, further reduces Jump Cost and provides even nicer Electronics bonus.


With Update #223, we've delivered on the promised addition value for Reactor Spike Modules -- that is the bonuses to both Range Change and Escape. While these are small, they can add up with other components or with stacked RSMs quickly.


We've made two small adjustments to fine-tune the balance of defensive ship modules with this update. The highest level Pulse Boosters came out of the gate a little strong with +4% Defense and +40 Res to its targeted special damage type. To keep things competitive with other defensive options and as there will be higher levels of the Pulse Booster released under a faction flag in the future, we've trimmed this down to +3% Defense.

Finally, the Defense Pattern Matrix has long held on to a +1 Initiative bonus at DPM 4. While this is a minor bonus, when stacked this grants the DPM very powerful sway of Initiative in who fires first in ship combat. This uncharacteristic bonus on a defensive module has finally been removed.

- Added missing +Range Change and +Escape bonuses to Reactor Spike Modules
- Added new Javat-only component Water-Fuel Reclamation 3, minor price bump to WFR 2
- Removed +Initiative bonus from Defense Pattern Matrix 4
- Reduced max Defense % on Pulse Boosters level 3 to 3%
- Fixed issues with certain categories (barracks, gravcannons) not showing in certain component sizes (large)
- Fixed duplicate Pulse Booster and Fuel Tank categories in small slot
- Fixed issues with wrong damage icon showing for some weapon types causing Radiation or Void
- Further fine-tuned sorting of components with shopping lists

Update #222 arrives with a major upgrade to ship component shopping that matches the new ship preview capability of Update #220 in size and scope. Finding and considering components to install on your ship has never been easier or faster with the new browse by category feature. With this update, we've also added 4 Pulse Booster components and improved the entire Reactor Spike Module set to round out the new set of 54 categories. Plus, new Explorer cards, better timing rules for the Jyeeta Era and some critical bug fixes!

If you like the pace of updates, new content and new features be sure to leave a review!


The major ship component shopping upgrade in #222 allows you to quickly browse categories of ship components before drilling down into their specific progression. As you browse the categories offered, you can see a useful summary of what the component type has to offer, what Skills it will boost in your ship and for weapons what Reactor Point range it fires in, how it stacks up against small craft and what types of special damage (Void, Radiation) it causes. This boils the 586 components in the game down to 58 categories and makes searching faster and more efficient. It will also help many players who may have previously overlooked a component type to see the value and goal of the component type and how it might fit into a ship build.

Once you drill into a category, you'll see only the components in its progress and be able to consider what you can afford. If you've finished browsing a category, use the ALL button to hop up to the main list.

Category browsing works with all the other filter types, so you can quickly narrow your categories to Weapons or Weapons that fire at range 4 and still see the summaries.

Of course, if you're just bonkers about the old way of shopping the entire list, you can click the "Expand All" filter to jump back to the old setup.

In addition to adding this new browsing feature, we've increased the consistency of sorting across the board between the different sort types.


With Update #222 we've added 4 new components to extend the Radi-Pulse and Void-Pulse Boosters beyond a single component to a full progression. You can now invest in Radi-Pulse and Void-Pulse Boosters 1 to 3. The first grade of these have had their bonuses to void and radiation increased and the 2nd and 3rd grade have more powerful Radiation and Void resistances as well as +Defense % bonuses. These new levels help push alternative options to other defensive components and open up new build paths for ships of all sizes.


We've expanded the use case for Reactor Spike Modules which are still excellent smaller sources of additional fuel but these high-pressure fuel injection system increases both your Range Change bonus as well as your Escape bonus. In trade for their new bonuses which help them be more relevant in the mid to end game component design, RSM 2 thru 4 have gained in price.

To better even out the component set, we've increased the prices of Defense Pattern Matrixes 2-4 as well.

We've added two new positive cards to Explorer mini-game which can help a crew keep going a bit longer in the wildlands. The first card -- an extreme Experience bonus -- is rare but can help increase the XP efficiency of an exploration crew that is working on zones with high reward percentages. The second card is also very rare -- the discovery of a Zendu ruin -- and restores the Morale of the entire crew as well as possibly causing a positive Trait mutations.

With Update #222, we're dusting off the Jyeeta BROOD era and making some improvements base on player feedback. We're prepping for some bigger changes and the first tweak here is the better improve the era's timer's reactivity. You will now consistently extend the era's timeline as you are battle the Jyeeta, the extensions were previously limited to doing missions but now you can gain through any victorious encounter with the Jyeeta (ship or ground).

We're cooking up a mighty mix of turn-base tactics, cyberpunk and grimy, gritty, nano-radioative story from New Boston 2231 in our next game, Cyber Knights: Flashpoint. Check it out and wishlist today --
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1021210/Cyber_Knights_Flashpoint/

In addition to CK's Facebook page and the @TreseBrothers twitter, we now have a twitter account you can plug into to keep updated *and* get your regular cyberpunk fix. Sharing concept art, gameplay previews, news & interviews, highlights from the forums & discord, shout-outs to other awesome cyberpunk creators, and more. Follow us here: https://twitter.com/CyberKnightsRPG

- New "Extra Large Experience" Explorer Card
- New "Full Morale Recovery" Explorer Card
- Major upgrade to ship component shopping - browse categories first and then drill down to specific components
- Read quick summaries of 58 component types to find what you need
- Use "Expand All" filter within ship component shopping to access the old setup
- Improved consistency of sorting in all cases for ship component shopping
- Added 4 new components, Radi-Pulse and Void-Pulse Boosters 2 and 3, opens up new defensive build paths
- Improved Radi-Pulse and Void-Pulse Boosters rank 1 with more void/radiation resistance
- Improved Reactor Spike Modules to add +Move and +Escape bonuses, reduced to 100 Mass, increased prices significantly
- Increased prices of Defense Pattern Matrix 2-4
- Improved reactivity of Jyeeta Brood Era timer to your actions -- better extending timeline as you keep fighting
- Fixed issues clicking through the filter UI on some screens
- Fixed combat keyboard selection issue with Talents like Steadfast Aim not being able to target first slot

Update #221 follows up on the Groundshaker #220 with a big release of new story content, new story components and contact types, an upgrade to the Talent manifest, changes to fuel consumption on social tests during travel and a number of additional fixes and small improvements requested by the community.

Starting on any Cadar world in the mid-game, the latest story vignette begins with an introduction to the Exodus Research, Jon Kaytyn. As with all the vignettes, we don't want to spoil any of the exciting story, but we do share this starting point so that everyone knows what to keep an eye out for. Join with Jon Kaytyn and you'll get tangled up in a tale far older than the Exodus which reveals new lore about the Guild War, Exodus and old grudges between the factions.

Depending on how the story plays out and which ending you get, multiple story ship components can be unlocked, including some very powerful offensive components and a truly unique large slot weapon.

As always a huge thanks to the Kickstarter backers who helped us create this awesome content, we can't wait for everyone to see the Star Traders history from a new angle.

One thing we were extremely pleased to see during testing, is that the conditions of the new vignette are very likely to get a legendary bounty hunter sent after you. Of course, that's up to the proc-gen simulation system, but the last 3 times we tested the ending of the story, a different legendary was on our case within a few years! So, make your choices wisely!


The Smuggler's Hideout Talent has now joined the Talent manifest under the Ship Encounter's grouping. In the request to add this one, we've received a few more great suggestions on how to improve the Talent Manifest and will continue to make minor adjustments and adds to it as requested by the community. Stay tuned for a few more changes here soon!


We've updated the travel test matrix slightly to move two social test types -- Tactics and Intimidate -- out of costing extra fuel. They may still burn more turns, damage Morale and possibly even health, but unlike all of the ship tests, they do not cost additional Fuel any longer.


Coming out of #220, there were a few lingering things to fix. One issue related to certain situations in which the cards for Patrol, Blockade and Spy could be rerolled if the right Conflict was in place. This is now fixed. Another issue cropped up around reviewing recruits, a certain click pattern that could lead to issues with repeating recruiting. Finally, many of the Stealth Talents stopped displaying that they engaged Stealth Mode (while they still did) we we have fixed now.

For 10 years, we've honed our craft creating turn-based tactics and simulation games, and we are extremely excited to be coming back around to the world and story of our second game, Cyber Knights. Our next title is Cyber Knights: Flashpoint and its waiting for your Wishlist on Steam. Get hype!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1021210/Cyber_Knights_Flashpoint/

- Added new story vignette "Spirit of Cadonya" starting on Cadar worlds with Jon Kaytyn -- thanks KickStarter backers!
- Get tangled up in galaxy-wide hunt for a lost legendary Exodus era battlecruiser
- Multiple possible unique story Ship Components unlocked by story -- top tier new offensive small slots, large slot level 8 torpedo array!!
- Story includes new high powered Contact type, so called "Exodus Researcher"
- Added Talents reducing hostility with spies to Talent Manifest under Ship Encounters group
- Added "Hideout" Smuggler Talent to Talent Manifest under Ship Encounters group
- Fixed bug allowing re-roll of some orbital card games for some captains
- Fixed repeat issue recruiting from Contacts while reviewing stats
- Fixed issue with Talents like "Gliding Advance" not stating that they enable Stealth Mode
- Improved message for saved slots on high difficulty when loading games
- Failed Intimidate/Tactics saves during travel no longer incurs extra Fuel cost
- Fixed 2 inaccurate ship buff names in hovers (Wild Flying, Bandit)

Every now and again, an absolutely massive update comes off the assembly line. A certain alignment of timing of features coming out of testing, balance updates and community feedback converge and you get ... Update #220. This one is big with a ton of exciting changes -- from new hotkeys to play combat exclusively with the keyboard, to previewing ship's component build before you buy, to new Scout Bridge 5 options, repriced ships, better Behemoth Engines, upgraded Cauleta Titan and just more, more, more.

If you enjoy the pace of updates, the constant improvements and our dedication to our games, please leave a review and tell a friend!


With Update #220, you can now play crew combat entirely with the keyboard. With hotkeys to pick a Talent and new hotkeys to select your enemy or friendly target, you can whir through battles as never before. The default hotkeys are Z, X, C, and V and are laid out so that they overlap the friendly and enemy slots. Therefore, Z is the 4th slot of your own crew but the 1st slot of the enemy crew.

As with any high speed option, you'll need to be sure not to enter a trance mode and get your crew killed :D But, combined with the recently added high speed combat option and toggle, crew combats have never been smoother.


Update #220 delivers on the top request from all quadrants about the ship buying experience -- the ability to fully preview the ship and all of its default components as if you were flying it *before* you purchase! This full preview power enables you to check on absolutely any detail of interest -- would my crew fit, what size bridge is installed, how many mass reducers are in use, what would my skill pools look like, do I like the color? In short, it prevents dedicated shoppers from having to drop off and look at the wiki before making a ship decision.


We've also modified the display during ship purchase to separate the ship hull's intrinsic base values for Armor, Shield and Fuel from its summed values that take the component build into account. With these base values exposed, you can now be sure what you're getting out of your new hull specifically.


Three new Scout Bridge 5 options have arrived with Update #220, each from a separate faction and each with their own custom-built purpose. The Rychart Scout-Stealth Bridge 5 is the first cloaking bridge to arrive on the scene, reducing enemy encounters by 10% and bumping defense against craft. The Alta-Mesa Scout-Skirmisher Bridge 5 is perfect for combat-ready small ships and also bumps defense against craft. Finally, the Zenrin Scout-Hauler Bridge 5 is for captains looking to extend their options in other components slots and provides the value of reducing Mass and Jump Cost.

All ship's in the 7000, 8000 and 9000 Mass classes have had their prices increased with the levy of a new "component tax". Base on their Mass and component slot setup, these high value hulls have all seen a bump in price. Jumping into a Sword Battlecruiser or Cauleta Titan is going to be a bit more difficult as they are now both priced over $2,000,000 credits for the default setup and most of the rest of the 7000+ Mass hulls are hitting above the $1,000,000 mark.


In addition to this re-price, we've adjusted the component build out of the 9000 Mass Cauleta Titan to make it more of a competitive option against the Sword Battlecruiser. By gaining +1 Medium slot, it becomes a much more viable option for certain types of builds that are looking for variety of pure combat versatility of 14 Small slots of the Sword Battlecruiser.

In the repricing, we've also pulled the expensive and end-game Behemoth Engines off of all 3400 Mass ships to ensure their default patterns are still viable for purchase.

The Behemoth Void Engines are even more worthy of their names now with some updates that increase some of their Speed values, increase Safety Rating across the pack and hit an all new high of 11 Reactor Points for the Mass 8000 and Mass 9000 engines. In addition, their prices have been trimmed slightly, from 10% to 20% across the board.

We have also retuned Dual Field Engines a bit for the M2400 and M3400 variations, further trimming Mass off of these critically useful Void Engine variations.

Finally, we've improved Interlocking Sensor Matrix 2 through 4 with more Damage and more Critical bonuses. Going aggressive? Check out these powerful Matrix components and slot them today.

The rules for all of the card game expiration dates have been improved with card hands dealt now usually expiring anytime between 1 to 2 years after they were drawn. While this extended timeline will most often force you off the dime if you can't overcome a risk in the hands, it does mean that triple-Xeno draw you got in 214 AE won't be sitting there smiling at your in 220 AE.

A long-time OP ability of Mechanics arriving in boarding combat or boarding from range 1, Thrown Wrench has had a 3rd of its power knocked off. The mighty -3 Reactor Point debuff has been knocked down to a -2 Reactor Point debuff. The core value of the Talent is still the same -- and still extremely powerful and unique -- but it will take a little more work for your mechanics to slip onto the enemy ship and *completely* disable their capabilities.

For 10 years, we've honed our craft creating turn-based tactics and simulation games, and we are extremely excited to be coming back around to the world and story of our second game, Cyber Knights. Our next title is Cyber Knights: Flashpoint and its waiting for your Wishlist on Steam. Get hype!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1021210/Cyber_Knights_Flashpoint/

As we mentioned at the top, this one was huge. There is more to check out in the change notes below that covers all the bugs we fixed as well.

- Added new hotkeys for crew combat targeting, now play crew combat only with keyboard (default Z, X, C, V to target friend/enemy crew)
- Now preview all stock installed components on a new ship before purchase with "Preview" button
- New Ship screen includes base ship scores for Fuel, Armor, Shield as well as final scores with components calculated
- Added 3 new Scout Bridge 5 variations: Scout-Stealth 5 (Rychart only, reduces ship encounters), Scout-Skirmish 5 (Alta Mesa Only, most battle ready!), Scout-Hauler 5 (Zenrin only, mass reducer)
- Applied "component tax" to ship hulls over 7000 Mass, increasing price from +10% to +50%
- Sword Battle Cruiser and Cauleta Titan now cost over $2m to lift off the starport in their default configuration
- Upgraded Cauleta Titan to gain +1 Medium Slot bring it to 12 Small, 13 Medium, 6 Large
- Increased the Mass Reducing power of Dual Field Engines for M2400 (-40 Mass) and M3600 (-100 Mass)
- 10-20% Behemoth Engine price reduction, improved stats -- better Engine Speed, higher safety ratings, and M8K and M9K variations now boast 11 RP
- Rim Exocruiser and Wolf Vector M3400 ships are sold with Warhammer Engines, priced in the half million range
- Improved Interlocking Sensor Matrix 2-4 (more Damage, more Critical)
- New game template contact list now includes mission type (Diplomatic Missions, Espionage Missions, etc)
- Improved rule and timers for expiration of all card game hands, ranging from 40 weeks to 2 years depending on zone
- Reduced "Thrown Wrench" Boarding Talent's -3 Reactor Points to -2, increased damage to components/turn by +10
- Fixed issue where Talents learning Traits when paying the crew were not firing as often as they should
- Fixed issue in galactic map opening multiple quadrant dialogs
- Fixed ship combat scaling with ultrawide monitors (5120x1440)
- Fixed 2 Buried Demons Era story missions that started "Overdue"
- Fixed occasional mismatch with Patrol "Bounty Hunters" card driven by Conflict mismatches
- Fixed issue with Wolfheart Gene gear showing Stealth sometimes
- Fixed swapped label in Star Atlas when using multi-jump filter
- Fixed some issues where HUD warnings would not updated after paying / spicing crew raised low Morale

The requests for new filters and features on the Ship Buyer's screens have come in fast and furious since we debuted Update #218 earlier this week and we're excited to roll out the first set of community-driven enhancements as of today. We've got more coming, some of which we are sharing below! We've also followed up the rank 5 Salvage Bay with an Armored variation for those who know that orbital salvage is a risky business and asks for ship to ship combat.

The Armored Salvage Bay 5 trades some of its cargo and fuel in exchange for a hefty armor package while still providing the powerful utility expected at that component level. Sold exclusively at Thulun starports, its up for sale now for a pretty price.

We've also made some tweaks to the Salvage Bay 5 component, increasing its Ship Ops skill as well as its cargo capacity by +5.

Perhaps the mostly rapid fire feedback we got about the new ship screen was the swap to sort to the largest ships first by Mass. We've swapped it back to the way it was, starting with small Mass ships and down to the big hulls. We've also split out the Mass sorting so that you can sort Mass from high to low or low to high.


When you're shopping for a ship, if you're looking for a hull that will fit your current crew and officers you can now use the easy Exact Crew Match filter which only shows ships that match your exact maximums. If you're looking to upgrade without changing crew sizes up or down, this filter will be a big help.

To help narrow in on certain bands of ships, you can now filter on Mass class. The filter works with an "AND" mentality, so you can select Mass 5000 and Mass 6000 ships and see both sets. Then filter by Exact Crew Match, and sort by price and you've got a pretty nice looking shopping list to eval!

To address some of the other most hotly requested features, we are working on:

• Allowing you to preview the full component build of a ship before purchase. This will prevent any need from checking the wiki and expose all values for components like Engines.
  
• Indicating the base values for Armor, Shield, Fuel, etc as well as the values with all the components installed
  
• Providing a summary of each ship's design based on its default component setup

- New Component: Armored Salvage Bay 5, less cargo and fuel by +5 armor, Thulun-only
- Minor improvements to Salvage Bay 5, +1 Ship Ops, +5 Cargo
- Added new ship filter: Exact Crew Match, only shows ships that have the exact max crew/officers as current ship
- Added new ship filters: by mass class, filter to show ships in 3400 Mass and 5000 Mass, etc
- Improved sort by Mass feature to sort either direction low/high

Update #218 delivers a new ship component, clarifies a Talent rule, improves default sorting for the crew list and most importantly delivers on the start of a much needed set of quality improvements when it comes to shopping for a new ship. As always, there is more work to do, so we'll be listening closely to the community for suggestions.

If you enjoy the pace of updates, new features and new content please be sure to leave a review!


Update #218 adds a new level 5 ship component for those orbital scavengers who are truly dedicated to their work. Weighing in with a hefty price tag over $600K, the Salvage Bay 5 boasts the best salvage bonus available at 54% along with 25 Fuel and 25 Cargo. Capable of doubling as your cargo bay, this large component can fill a lot of needs on the right salvage ship.


This update also delivers the first wave of much needed updates to the ship purchasing screens. As the variety and options of new ships have grown in the game, this list has become more difficult to navigate and to find the ship that properly fits your needs.

This round of changes is basically the opening salvo. We know that we need more, but we wanted to hear from the community what types of sort, filter and metadata about the ships they need. As we've previewed the screenshots of the features to the community, we're already hearing ideas we hadn't thought up yet that will help us drive the second round. So, please post your thoughts after checking it out!

With Update #218, we've added sorting and filtering to the ship purchasing screen. First, this suppresses any ship you can't buy due to faction restrictions. If you want to see specific factions or all the ships, then you can enable that in the filter ("Only Cadar" or "Cadar and Thulun", etc). Sorting currently allows you to sort by Mass, Price and Name. We know we'll need both more sorting and filtering, but we're still working through which are best as filters (filter by M3400, M5000, etc) and which should be sorts (sort by cargo, fuel, small component count).

Also, we'd like to use this time to prompt for more metadata requests from the community. What else do you need to see on the left and right side in order to make better decisions. P.s. we already know we need to enable a component preview, working on that! :D


Since the beginning of the game, all counter-attacks have been able to use the Swordsman's Balanced Blade Talent, if it is trained, as their counter-attack. If you use Sharp Counter and someone attacks you, if you know Balanced Blade that is your riposte and you get the buff. These are Talents matched like a glove, but it was never clearly spelled out in the rules. We've added this clarification to all counter-attack Talents (Swordsman, Wing Commando) in the right hand sidebar of the Talent's screen.

Do you happen to like turn-based RPGs? Complex storylines? Job systems featuring combining Jobs? Base building? Stealth, combat hacking!? If you haven't seen Cyber Knights -- our next upcoming game -- take a look and give it a wishlist.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1021210/Cyber_Knights_Flashpoint/

- New Component: Salvage Bay 5
- Added filters and sort to New Ship list, filter by faction, carriers and sort by mass, price
- New Ship list filter starts by hiding ships that cannot be sold (other factions), filter "Any Faction" to see all
- Improved display of each ship in table with Mass/Hull/Fuel/Armor/Shield
- Default starting crew list sort is now by Job instead of Level
- Clarified rules in right side bar for all counter-attack Talents, which use Balanced Blade if it is trained

Update #217 comes quickly on the heels of #216 to provide a hotfix for one issue related to replacing officer cabins, to improve the warnings about those component swaps and to provide proper coverage to specialist component types that provide officer living space. In addition, we've improved the Contact list search options, addressed an issue with maximum repair times not lining up on high value components, added a new Explorer -5 risk card "Time Dilation", improved power levels on faction-specific Contacts and turned how the Coalition contacts use their actions in the simulation.

So, let's look in detail!

You can now search in the contact list by the type of zone they live on, such as "mining". Keep in mind that search uses an AND syntax, so you can't search "mining refinery" but you can use one at a time in combination with other filters such as Black Market. This can definitely help in smoothing out paths, and I've found it useful in quickly checking the opportunity to complete multiple tasks during a visit to a contact.


We've rebalanced the amount of time that can be wasted in the "Lost" card to ensure that it lives up to the threat of "weeks". In addition, we've added another time related negative card, "Time Dilation" which threatens that your expedition can wander into some time rift, possibly related to the hyperwarp dimension.

The power levels of the Contact types Trade Czar, Mining Samrak, Red Lion, Naval Commander, Ranking Executive Contacts have all been bumped up with Update #217, putting more power into the hands of these rarer but awesome faction-specific Contacts.

We've also changed how the Coalition Liaison Contact fits into the world, buffing their starting Influence. Finally we've tweaked the Contact AI for all Coalition Contacts when it comes to how to use their influence and turns in the simulators -- they now have unique Rumor buying logic focused on Tax, Civil and Starport Rumors. The Coalition will now more directly support the faction economic status quo.


Thanks to the captains who posted on Steam, emailed, tweeted and dropped this bug into Discord. We've now fixed the issue where officer cabins could not be replaced, which was related to #216 but also had its in much older code. With this update, we've made 3 improvements to how officer cabins work. First, we've fixed the bug -- they can now be removed. Second, we've improved handling of those components that are not cabins directly -- such as medical bays -- which were not properly participating in the rule set around officer cabins. Finally, we corrected an issue that was preventing a red warning from appearing if a captain installed a cabin that went over the ship's officer max.

Our next upcoming title is waiting for your wishlists here on Steam. Cyber Knights is a tactical RPG that plunges you and your team of hackers, mercs and thieves into the neon-soaked future of 2231. Smash that wishlist button!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1021210/Cyber_Knights_Flashpoint/

- Zone Economy Type ("refinery") now searchable in Contact List
- Adjusted maximum repair times for any single component -- be sure to repair at high level starports
- Rebalanced "Time Lost" Card in Explorer, a -1 Risk
- Added new "Time Dilation" Card in Explorer, a new -5 Risk
- Increased the power levels of Trade Czar, Mining Samrak, Red Lion, Naval Commander, Ranking Executive Contacts
- Improved the "Coalition Liaison" starting power level and Contact AI
- Coalition Era Contacts now have unique Rumor buying logic that prefers Tax, Civil and Starport Rumors
- Fixed issue with replacing officer cabins
- Fixed issue where some non-officer cabin components (medical bays) failed to print warnings when being replaced
- Improved warning message about installing more officer cabins than your ship's max capacity

Update #216 drops some retrofits, improvements and major changes on to some of key components in the starport catalog -- Warhammer and Behemoth Engines and Mass Reducers. Thanks to everyone posting reviews, sharing feedback and discussing strategies here on Steam! We're lucky to have a great community of captains sailing the void together. Tell a friend, leave a review!


Update #216 has rebuilt the massive Behemoth void engines to live up to their name. Built around battle-pattern void reactor cores, these engine are truly mighty and put a defining mark on any ship that can afford to install them. Depending on size, these engines are capable of generating 9 or 10 Reactor Points per turn. As a trade off, they guzzle fuel at unbelievable rates.

The Warhammer engine pattern is the next-step up from standard engines, built around a similar combat pattern and costing in the range of half a million credits.

The newly retrofitted Behemoth engines are truly over-engineered to extremes and can pack some of the highest shield and armor of any component on a ship. Bringing such an engine aboard can change the landscape of other components you need drastically, all while devastating your fuel economy. Not to mention their multi-million credit price tag!

Those ships that already start with the Behemoth installed have all had their prices corrected for the new massive power and cost adjustments. These ships have vaulted into some of the most expensive positions on the starport.

What's more -- for those pirates seeking prize ships to capture, you've gained a new list of priority targets with Update #216: Wolf Vector, Lockwood Defender, Azurite Cruiser, Obsidian Carrier, Rim Exocruiser, Larimar Battlecruiser!

Every component above level 1 within the mass reducer category -- from Mass Modulators to Mass Reducers and back again -- has had some rebalancing done with Update #216. This package of changes has been in testing for a while but its the right time to roll it out. These higher level components are more expensive to install and some have had their jump costs increased as well. The components have also gained more Skill pool opportunity, making them both more demanding but more valuable in providing strong dice for your ship.

We fixed an unlock issue that was linking the Larimar Battlecruiser to the wrong unlock, it is now correctly dependent on the Antique Collector unlock.

Our next upcoming title is Cyber Knights: Flashppoint, a turn-based tactical RPG set in 2231 under the New Boston dome. The cyberpunk story will take you from meanest streets far beneath the street level to the lux towers and maybe even up to a gleamer and back again. Smash that wishlist button!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1021210/Cyber_Knights_Flashpoint/

- Fixed Larimar Battlecruiser Unlock Duplication Bug
- Rebalancing Engines -- Massive Buffs to Behemoth Engines, Revised Warhammer Patter Engines
- Rebalancing Mass Reducers -- Increased Jump Costs, Ship Ops Requirements, adjusted higher level Reducers
- Repriced: Wolf Vector, Lockwood Defender, Azurite Cruiser, Obsidian Carrier, Rim Exocruiser, Larimar Battlecruiser

With a week left to go in the Steam Summer Sale, we're dropping another quick release to add a new control switch option for combat speed, fix a repair time issue in starports, update the fields shown in the new game screen and clarify one of the Sniper's Talent abilities. It's a smaller update, but its go some nice things in it as well as the critical fix to starport.

Introduced in Update #214, a bug has been effecting starport repair times, forcing them to run around 25 weeks all the time. We've now resolved that with Update #215! Our apologies.

While an toggle in the options screen is nice, it does not provide for easy mid-combat toggling of combat speed. Often, you'll find yourself wanting to play slow during hard combats or the start of combats and then ready to speed it up as you claim dominance on the field. A new configurable keybinding -- defaulting to "F" -- has been added to toggle between combat speeds. It will put a message up to the screen when it swaps and notably only accepts input when its y our turn.

Press F for fast!

We've added a ship's engine speed and agility to the listed fields in the new game captain template builder. This can be a big help to pick among ships of the same or similar Mass class as you consider how quickly they traverse the map and their different values as a mission runner versus a close or long ranged combat ship.

We're constantly monitoring the data and listening to the community about the story pacing. We've made many adjustments and tweaks and want to share that with Update #215, we've picked up the pace of the later half of the game a bit to help compress the story content a bit and reduce long stretches of purely free sandbox play without the option to engage in story.

Finally, we've tweaked the description of the Sniper's "Target Acquired" Talent which does not require your character to already be in Stealth Mode. Simply the presence of a backline sniper bearing down on them hinders the enemy front rank target with this awesome On Init debuff.

- Fixed bug causing all Starport repairs to take 255 turns
- Added new configurable keybinding 'F' toggles high speed ship or crew combat during combat
- When customizing new game templates, ship speed and agility are shown during selection
- Improved the pacing of late game story eras and events to ensure less story downtime late in the game
- Improved talent description of Sniper's "Target Acquired" to be clear it does not need Stealth



Check out our next upcoming game and wishlist today
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1021210/Cyber_Knights_Flashpoint/