Attention Minions!

It seems some of you have been up to no good in lairs of your own, so we wanted to highlight some of your hard work as an inspiration to those other layabouts! Please note that all minions are personally responsible for any loss of property, personal injury, mental injury or fatalities which occur from over-achieving, under-achieving or simply achieving.

Teamwork Makes The Evil Dream Work (Credit: Dexter)
We found a rival genius who had some excellent tips and tricks in this guide which were helpful in our own scheming; covering FAQs, Henchman, Loot and bagsful of other villainy. Last one to take a continent is a super-agent’s best friend!
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2443438168

Agent X For Excellent Assassination (Credit: Kuaikukia)
Speaking of super-agents, except in the case of identification posters and warnings we would like to discourage minions from illustrating or otherwise idolizing super-agents. Super-agents are not your friends. Agent X especially. Heard he said you all lack personal hygiene stands... and would I lie to you?
(Love this art, kuaikukia!)

Red Ivan reimagined! (Credit: MOJO)
This is exactly the kind of artwork we can get behind… art which venerates your overlord! Look at that charismatic dictator!

Fifteen Fists Of Fury (Credit: LAN A)
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2482916197
We personally felt that 15 punches was a little excessive for a single agent… but we certainly like your enthusiasm. Somebody get them into an interrogation chair before they keel over!
---

Stepping out of Red Ivan’s cape for a moment, the Community Team would really like to thank all of you amazing geniuses out there making these beautiful artworks, clips and guides! It’s really lovely to see you getting so hyped about elements of the game and helping one another. We are still listening to your feedback and working with the Dev Team on many of the elements you’ve raised. We hope to make these a regular feature because some of the stuff you’re making is simply villainous and it deserves to be shown off in all its evil majesty.

Until then, get back to being evil!

An Evil Genius is only as good as the equipment they surround themselves with! That’s why we’re delighted to share our In-Genius Items Pack, perfect for taking your villainy to the next level.

As well as this exciting new content, our team have been hard at work addressing improvements and locating and resolving additional bugs raised by the Community since our last patch. Once again, we’d like to thank the Evil Genius Community for their continued support.

The In-Genius Items Pack
It’s time to boost your Lair’s capabilities with this Item Pack – featuring 26 new items, all designed to help your minions and Lair work smarter and harder than ever before!

Included in the In-Genius Items Pack:

• 4 Armoury Items (Agent Disguise Simulator, Melee Trainer, Practice Range, Security Checkpoint)
  
• 2 Control Room Items (Advanced Computer, Communication Array)
  
• 2 Corridor Items (360 Camera, Worker Station)
  
• 2 Prison Items (Secure Holding Cell, Unpleasant Holding Cell)
  
• 1 Staff Room Item (Puncho Bots)
  
• 2 Infirmary Items (Rejuvination Chamber, The Scan-O-Tron)
  
• 2 Archive Items (Further Education, True Crime Documentaries)
  
• 4 Barracks Items (Worker Beds, Muscle Beds, Deception Beds, Science Beds)
  
• 7 New Doors (Inner Sanctum Doors for Max, Emma, Red Ivan and Zalika, Lab Door, Prison Door, Vault Door)

Simply activate these items when you start a new save to start benefiting from their varying evil-enhancing effects.

FREE Minion 2 Statue:
This advisor once dared to tell a Genius what to do and how to do it. That didn’t go so well – but at least she got a statue…

Every player will find this statue added to the Loot section of their Build Menu as standard from launch today!



V1.4.0
General

• Prisoners can be moved from one Cell to another by using the "Escort Prisoner" feature.
  
• Minions correctly attempt to escape after being imprisoned in a Cell.
  
• Combining the Cupid's Arrow Loot item with a Shark Tank no longer results in an inescapable Trap.
  
• Notifications for Minion Salaries more accurately coincide with their respective events.
  
• Sound effects for Henchman abilities play consistently.
  
• Characters' limbs remain in the intended positions when interacting with Lair Items & equipment.
  
• Items placed by Agents, Crime Lords, or narrative Objectives are no longer constructed on tiles that block existing build orders.
  
• Characters consistently navigate Stairs in unusual Lair configurations.
  
• Minions are less likely to abandon useful jobs to play Videogames while their stats allow them to continue working.
  
• The Minion Training Screen now displays training items that are under construction.
  
• Disabling the "Auto-Follow" option no longer prevents a character from being followed by clicking the profile image on their Side Panel.
  
• The presentation of Research Project costs update correctly based on colour blindness accessibility settings.
  
• The Cost of Organic Samples has been increased to be consistent with other Research equipment.
  
• The Holographic Globe now requires Quantum Chemists and a Super Computer to unlock.
  
• The Computer Array now requires Biologists and a Centrifuge to unlock.
  
• Security Zone modes that have not been unlocked now display correct descriptions.
  
• Geniuses can no longer be ordered to use Weapon Racks.
  
• The durability of Armoury Items now depletes consistently.
  
• Objective images correctly display after opening the Objectives interface directly after the Minion Manager.
  
• End of Campaign cutscenes correctly respect in-game volume settings.
  
• Cover Op Decor items now function as intended.
  
• Decor Items for the Cover Operation are no longer made available before this Room type has been unlocked.
  
• Selecting a Locked minion type, then closing and reopening the Minion Training screen will correctly display a Worker minion.
  
• Weapon racks can no longer be placed with their access points overlapping one another.
  
• Security Cameras no longer have their orientation locked in unusual circumstances.
  
• Generated and consumed Power is displayed correctly in the Stats Screen.
  
• Rotation points have been adjusted for some Lair Items.
  
• Improved gamepad support.
  
• Text and localisation improvements.

Achievements

• The Achievement "Your Very Own Museum" can be correctly unlocked after obtaining the Hubbard Slice before the Flame of Prometheus.
  
• The Achievement "Recruit Them All" can be correctly unlocked without recruiting both Clara Jones and Carl Cafard.
  
• Achievements for firing later stages of a Doomsday Device are no longer unlocked during Test Firing.

Campaigns

• During the "Bury the Hatchet" campaign Objective, Criminal Goons can no longer be captured and brainwashed.
  
• The Board Meeting can be consistently completed in Maximilian's campaign Objective, "War on Krast".
  
• The Criminal Network level requirement has been lowered in Red Ivan's campaign Objective, "Glorious Reclamation".
  
• The aftermath Schemes from firing the M.I.D.A.S. device no longer occasionally suggest you have fired H.A.V.O.C.
  
• The "Great Studies" Research cost is correctly displayed during Zalika's campaign Objective, "Brain Trust".
  
• Emma's "Plotter" ability displays updated visual effects.

Side Stories

• Crime Lords can be targeted using Henchman abilities.
  
• The number of Super Agents assaulting the Lair has been reduced during the Side Story, "The Melting Point of Steele".
  
• Additional Demolition Squaddies will assault the Lair if one or more of them are Brainwashed during the Side Story, "The Brave And the Bola".
  
• Permanently defeated Super Agents are no longer resurrected to be defeated again during the Side story, "The Other Most Dangerous Game".
  
• Incendio no longer gains a trait indicating he is a Super Agent during the Side Story, "Ace Up The Sleeve".
  
• Schemes to Stop Poison Attempts will correctly be removed if cancelled during the Side Story, "Hail To The Chef".
  
• Correct voiceover plays when recruiting Eli Barracuda Jnr in Zalika's campaign.
  
• The correct Threat Indicator is displayed over the "Wing Or Lose" Threat during the Side Story, "Vox Pop-Eli".

Super Agents

• Permanently defeating a Super Agent correctly removes their Threats from the World Map.
  
• Wrecking Bola now arrives at the Lair with a team of Agents when Lured.
  
• Agent Steele's "Smash And Grab" Threats no longer spawn in multiples within a single Region.
  
• Agent X's Hard Boiled Investigators are consistently attributed to the P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Force of Justice.
  
• Agent Steele now gives 20 Intel when successfully Interrogated.

Henchmen

• Espectro no longer becomes trapped in place when interrogating captured characters on Traps.
  
• Sir Daniel can recover his stats at a Conference Table even if his Camouflage ability is activated when sitting down.
  
• Incendio's "Misdirection" ability correctly resets after sitting at a Conference Table.
  
• Incendio's position marker is now accurate when seated at a Conference Table.
  
• After recruiting Full Metal Jackie, her bonus Schemes no longer display overhead VFX.

Loot Items

• The R.A.Y.G.U.N. Laser correctly fires repeatedly on lengthy Interrogations.
  
• The "Taught By a Dodo" Trait is correctly applied after minions interact with the Dodo Educator Loot item.
  
• The "Flying Pig" Trait is correctly applied after minions interact with the Flying Pig Loot item.
  
• The "Egg Head" Trait is correctly applied after minions interact with the Giant Egg Loot item.
  
• Indestructible Loot items no longer display the repair overhead icon after minions interact with them.

Hello Minions!

A huge thank you to everyone who has been busy lair building, agent killing and generally, plotting to take over the world in the last few weeks. We’re so grateful to all of you and appreciate all your comments on our forums, social channels and beyond as we work to support and improve upon the game after launch.

We hope to share a number of top tips over the coming weeks to aid your world domination efforts and shed light on some of the Community topics we’ve seen discussed more frequently. First things first - Heat and Suspicion! We’ve just gone live with a patch that alters the way these two elements function in Evil Genius 2, so let’s clarify exactly how they work and why they’re important to keep track of.

Your actions on the world map generate Gold and Heat and it is Heat that determines the strength of the agents that come to your island. You can keep track of this by closely monitoring your criminal networks.



Heat management will become increasingly important as you become more active on the world stage so expanding your schemes evenly across the world map is a great way of spreading the Heat across the five Forces of Justice. This will mean that the strength of the agents visiting your lair is more evenly balanced and you won’t end up facing one very powerful foe.

Don’t forget, minions, Heat reduction schemes are vital for keeping enemy Agents weakened. Those pesky Forces of Justice will still arrive at your lair, but they won’t test your defences too much.

Suspicion is always running and ticking along underneath the game – sending Agents to your lair periodically to build up a picture of your operations, starting with Investigators. These shifty customers will arrive in waves and when they do, they will build up a picture of the kind of operation you’re running.

When you click on an Investigator you will be able to track their Suspicion levels – the higher that suspicion rises, the bigger the consequences…

If you’re doing very well and keeping those pesky Investigators at bay with various distraction techniques then that suspicion will stay low. However, if you start to ignore those investigators and allow them to infiltrate your lair and escape with precious evidence, specialist Agent known as Rogues, Saboteurs or Soldiers will begin to be summoned.



The type of Agent you get is governed by suspicion, meaning that your actions in your lair will determine what kind of Agents you get. For example, if you were to get Saboteurs in your lair, that means Investigators found something they could potentially blow up. Same for Rogues and things that are steal-able. Soldiers are triggered by numerous Agents becoming MIA – so think twice before leaving that pile of body bags by the entrance of your lair!

All of this really emphasizes the importance of your Valets – if these masters of deception aren’t doing their jobs and distracting those initial waves of Investigators, Suspicion will rise and your foes will fight back with more and more force! (HINT: Keep climbing your way up The Deception Tree to progress your Valets to Socialites, Spin Doctors and Counter Agents)


In our recently released V1.3.0 Patch, we’ve altered Agent behaviours slightly, so it’s going to be easier for Investigators to summon specialists based on their findings, and those specialists will increase in power based on how often they’re summoned to your lair. We’ve also enhanced the Valet’s deception capabilities so Investigators will now have a higher chance of being turned away. In other words minions, your cover operation and Valets are more important than ever to keep Suspicion low.

We’ve also made some changes to the World Map, meaning that managing your Heat is a lot more valuable, and the passive income gained from the World Map is going up – so it will pay to keep your regions Heat-free! Especially at higher difficulties, which will see lockdowns no longer resetting your Heat to zero. So get those screens built in your Control Room and manage that Heat! You’ll be glad you did.

To read more about the changes we’ve made in our recently released patch, Click Here

https://youtu.be/M_bhmhITDOA

A new wannabe Super Agent is on the scene in Evil Genius 2: World Domination’s brand new DLC. Can you defeat the mighty Espectro?
Behind the red mist of his headgear lies a twisted mind fixed on power, all with the singular aim of your annihilation. Not only can he charge up devastating attacks, Espectro can also use forbidden technology to create clones of himself. He must be stopped, but more than that, his incredible abilities must be harnessed for your own…
Out today, The Cabal Pack introduces Espectro as a brand new acquirable henchman, along with accompanying Side Story objectives and plenty more: In full, the pack includes:

• New Henchman - Espectro
  
• New Lair Equipment – the Cabal Indoctrination Chamber. Change the appearances of four other henchmen by giving them the Cabal makeover.
  
• New Lair Equipment – the R.A.Y.G.U.N. Interrogation Device
  
• Accompanying Side Story objectives

All of the Cabal Pack content will be available in new campaigns.
The Cabal Pack is available as additional content for Evil Genius 2 as part of the Evil Genius 2: Season Pass. It’s also available to buy separately, priced £4.19 / $4.99 / €4.99 on Steam.
The Cabal Pack is the first drop from the Evil Genius 2: Season Pass, with plenty more lair-building content on the way to satisfy supervillains everywhere.
As detailed today in the Season Pass roadmap, The Cabal Pack will be followed by:

• A lair items pack
  
• Another henchman pack
  
• Two minion packs
  
• A campaign pack

The Evil Genius 2: Season Pass is available now, priced £22.99 /$24.99 / €24.99 on Steam

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1545860/Evil_Genius_2_Season_Pass/

We've been listening, and we've been busy. With this update we have addressed core areas of feedback from you, the Evil Genius 2 community, ranging from progression issues to game pace, and as a result the length of a campaign can be significantly shorter for those of you who want to play more aggressively.

On the World Map, we've increased the amount of Gold earned from longer running Schemes, and ensured that this is earned over the Scheme's entire duration, allowing you to set a Scheme in motion and reap the rewards while your attention is turned elsewhere. These Schemes still add Heat to the Region, but you'll know how much to expect up front, allowing you more effectively manage the strength of the Agents you're willing to face.

Longer "Heat Reduction" Schemes still remove all Heat from a Region, but once they have done so they can either be cancelled, or allowed to continue running for an increased amount of time, preventing Heat from rising in the area. This keeps the Forces of Justice off your back while the Criminal Network continues to bring in its passive income of Gold. We've also increased the variety of Schemes at Tier 1 Criminal Networks, which will allow you to earn increased rewards for sending specialist minions out into the world earlier in the game, so while you'll still be able to rely on workers to bring in Gold in the early game, it can be beneficial to keep a supply of advanced minions on hand.

Additionally, a brand new Scheme Type has been added in the form of Intel Only schemes, representing activating contacts in your existing Criminal Networks by using Intel generated by Computer Consoles, or sourced from Agent Interrogations. These schemes can be run without sending additional minions from the Lair, allowing you to start a scheme instantly and reap enormous rewards. Be aware that setting some of these Schemes in motion will add a substantial amount of Heat to your Region, so be prepared for strong Agents if you activate one at the wrong time.

In the Lair, the first thing we changed was the speed that vehicles arrive and depart from your Island. This allows minions to get out into the World with greater haste, helping you keep your efforts of World Domination ticking over more readily. We've reduced some key training times for specialist minions to reduce stalls in the training room, and we've also taken a look at the messaging of some items of Lair equipment and added some key information, especially in relation to which items of furniture the Forces of Justice are going to be on the lookout for.

Your more valuable minions - despite being inherently less valuable than your own, nefarious Genius - will still expect to be paid for their time...while they're alive, of course. You'll need to keep a keener eye on your income and outgoings from now on, as the penalties for not doing so will be more readily apparent. We've added additional status effects and minion overheads to help you identify the problem cases in your Lair.

The Forces of Justice have also had some attention, with more dangerous Agent specialists now regularly visiting your Lair if you fail to turn away Investigators before they delve too deeply, and some rebalancing of Super Agents and the squads that accompany them. Be wary - the specialists sent by Investigators will always pose a more dangerous threat.

We've also taken care of a range of bugs too of course, addressing known problem areas with stuck or vanishing Super Agents, troublesome Schemes that decided a Region was too crowded to spawn in, and ensuring more players across the world are able to play out their dreams of dominating it, to name just a few. See the bulleted lists below for a few more details of the balance changes and bug fixes.

As always, thank you for your continued support of Evil Genius 2.

The Evil Genius 2 Development Team

General

• Vehicle speed and responsiveness have been significantly increased, resulting in a faster game pace, and more rapid travel for all characters to and from the Lair.
  
• Body Bags have been made less punitive, by increasing the duration of the negative status effect, but lowering the Morale drain that results, giving minions more time to reach stat restoring equipment.
  
• Minions operating furniture will no longer ignore Executions.
  
• Minion Salaries have been increased in line with the increased income available from the World Map. Evil Genius discounts still apply.
  
• Specialist minions who are not paid will suffer increased penalties to their Morale, and the messaging of these penalties has been improved.
  
• Minions will abandon a wider range of Lair activities to travel to the World Map, speeding up Scouting of Regions, Upgrading Criminal Networks, and running Schemes.
  
• Muscle minions will respond to combat at a slightly increased range, and their base armour and damage values have been increased.
  
• Suspicion required to attract a wave of Specialist Agents has been lowered.
  
• The cost of the Bonus Minion Capacity Research Projects has been lowered.
  
• Agents will spend less time on individual items in the Cover Operation, and are less likely to revisit them.
  
• The number of Tourists arriving at the Lair will increase with campaign progress.
  
• Additional categories have been added to the Minion Manager for Guard Posts, Armoury Staging Posts, and the Laboratory.
  
• Advanced minions types are now available earlier in each campaign.
  
• Main and Side Story tasks that require minions to be trained now take into account those already present in the Lair.

Difficulty Modes

• When playing on Easy difficulty, free Worker minions are auto-hired at a rate of 6 every 60 seconds, increased from 2 every 60 seconds.
  
• When playing on Easy difficulty, Worker minions can be manually recruited at a cost of 1,000 Gold per minion, reduced from 2,000 Gold per minion.
  
• In Hard mode, Agents have had their combat stats increased to ensure they remain a challenge in the face of tougher Muscle minions.

World Map

• Increased duration on long Gold and Heat schemes, and cost adjustments made to allow for more hands-off World Map play.
  
• Criminal Networks now generate more Gold as a passive income at each level.
  
• New Scheme Type Added: Intel Only. These schemes do not require minions and have a very short duration.
  
• Increased variety of Schemes at Tier 1.
  
• Super Agents and other Antagonists on the World Stage can be attracted to the Lair directly by selecting the character on the map, and then using the "Lure" option on their side panel.
  
• After exiting Lockdown, residual Heat in a Region remains at 0%/20%/30% when playing on Eay/Medium/Hard difficulty.
  
• Broadcast Strength required to upgrade Criminal Networks has been reduced.
  
• The time required to upgrade Criminal Networks has been reduced.
  
• Super Agents ignore Heat Reduction Schemes.

Lair Building

• Gold earned from excavating Gold Tiles has been increased.
  
• Furniture Modes have additional descriptions.
  
• Muscle minions now prefer Advanced Guard Posts over Armoury jobs.
  
• Training time has been reduced for Biologists, Quantum Chemists, Counter Agents, Socialites, and Spin Doctors.
  
• Internal door access times have been modified to favour shorter times for minions and longer times for agents. The Evil Genius and Henchmen can pass through any door unimpeded.
  
• External doors to the Lair now open automatically for minions on lower security levels, but not for Agents, cutting down on the time it takes minions to travel to the World or collect new items.
  
• Minions gain improved benefits from the "Well Fed" Trait, gained by eating at specialised Food Counters in the Mess Hall.

Campaigns

• Scheme durations have been reduced to 10 seconds for the overwhelming majority of Objective Schemes.
  
• Doomsday Device Fuel Scheme costs have been adjusted to cost only ONE thing: Gold, minions or intel, and had their durations reduced to 10 seconds.
  
• Doomsday Device Fuel Schemes now require only a level 1 Criminal Network at all stages, making gathering fuel much easier throughout each campaign.
  
• Schemes spawned from Red Ivan's Doomsday Device reward a number of Muscle minions in addition to a significant quantity of Gold.
  
• Heat generated by Objective Schemes has been lowered so that Schemes can more reliably be run without being cancelled by the Criminal Network entering Lockdown.
  
• Intel costs have been reduced for Main Objective Schemes, and entirely removed from Side Objective Schemes.
  
• The Objectives "A Moment's Calm", "A Moment's Respite", "A Moment of Preparation", and "The Final Respite" have had requirements for Loot, Schemes run, and Research completed entirely removed.

Traits

• Feels No Pain, Good Reflexes / Thick Skin / Owns Armour damage reduction to 10% / 15 / 20% / 25%
  
• Decent Uppercut / Good Cross Punch / Strong Left Hook / Strong Right Hook / Strong Left Jab / Strong Left Jab bonus melee damage increased 10 / 10 / 15/ 15/ 20 / 20
  
• Crack Shot / Good Shot bonus damage increased 25 / 10 Ranged damage, and no longer stack with Poor Shot
  
• Ex-Force of Justice Spotting Power bonus increased against the appropriate Force of Justice
  
• Perceptive Spotting Power increased against All Agents
  
• Loves Sleep / Loves food bonus stat restore increased to 10 per minute on affected jobs
  
• Bad Back Vitality drain while carrying body bags and furniture lowered to 5 Vitality per minute
  
• Sees Dead People spawn chance lowered slightly. Now restores additional Morale when disposing of bodies
  
• Thrifty / Cheap Salary Reduction increased to a 50% / 75% discount
  
• Loves 80s Ballads Morale Restore boost on Karaoke Machine doubled
  
• Hates Needles Morale drain reduced while operating equipment in the Infirmary.
  
• Embarrassing Tattoo Willingness to train into a minion type who does not have sleeves on their uniform further reduced

General

• Crash fixes and stability improvements.
  
• Evil Genius 2 can now be played and saved if your Windows username contains non-latin characters.
  
• The setting to "Share Game Information" is reliably saved between games.
  
• Agents and minions will no longer refuse to die in unusual combat or trap combinations.
  
• Characters will no longer become stuck in place after triggering Traps in unusual circumstances.
  
• Geniuses and Henchmen will no longer fail to enter combat with disguised Agents when given a direct command.
  
• Minion Salaries are correctly removed after desertion.
  
• Commitments are correctly updated after canceling or rearranging build orders.
  
• Agents will brazenly don their Disguises in front of minions if those minions lack the Smarts to remove them.
  
• Interrogating Force of Justice Agents of any quality will correctly generate Intel.
  
• Research progress on the HUD is displayed consistently.
  
• IRIS will no longer erroneously advise that the Vault is empty on starting a new game.
  
• Minion Manager performance has been improved.
  
• Minions with Traits which recover their stats can be captured correctly.
  
• Minions will upgrade their weapon after training to become a more advanced minion type, provided better weapons are available for them to do so.
  
• Event Logs for characters arriving at the Lair now trigger when the vehicle they are in has arrived.
  
• The Cruise Ship will wait for significantly less time before departing.
  
• The cooldown on specific IRIS Event Log messages has been increased.
  
• Loot Items do not indicate one is available to place in the Build Menu after they are stolen by Rogues.
  
• Causes of death remain on Body Bags after loading a save.
  
• Dropped Rogue sacks now have a standardised appearance, regardless of their contents.
  
• Minions can correctly be assigned priorities in the Minion Manager whilst Training.
  
• Overhead icons for wall-mounted Traps now appear in the correct location above the trap.
  
• Luxury Beds have had their passive durability decay removed.
  
• Brainwashing Saboteurs/Rogues/Soldiers will more reliably add Technicians/Valets/Guards to your workforce. Brainwashing higher level Agents will add higher level minions to your workforce.
  
• Muscle minions now prefer to use Advanced Guard Posts over the Guard Tables / Staging Posts in the Armoury.
  
• When playing as Maximilian, multiple Conference Tables can be built.
  
• The area near the Helicopter Tower on Crown Gold is no longer autotagged.

World Map

• Schemes necessary for progressing Objectives spawn more reliably.
  
• Super Agents no longer become stuck in the "Investigating" state on the World Map.
  
• Schemes that provide rewards over time have had their presentation modified to improve messaging.
  
• Criminal Networks can no longer be destroyed while a Region is in Lockdown.
  
• Super Agents will travel to the Lair after a Scheme has been run in their Region, even if that Scheme is cancelled.
  
• Super Agents will respawn more rapidly on the World Map after leaving the Lair without being defeated.

Campaigns

• Running Doomsday Fuel Schemes will correctly progress Objectives which require it, even if the Doomsday Device is fully fuelled.

Side Stories

• In the Side Story, "Cunning as a Foxworth", killing any Steele Agent will correctly progress the task to "Kill J. Steeles in the Lair".
  
• Full Metal Jackie is now easier to recruit.
  
• The Side Story, "The Other Most Dangerous Game", can no longer be started if one or more Super Agents have been permanently defeated.
  
• Minions will correctly move away from stat restore equipment during Objectives which impact their maximum stats.
  
• The Rayguns stolen from Area 51 list the correct minions that can use them.

Sandbox Mode

• All Tech Tree nodes are correctly accessible in Sandbox Mode.
  
• Research which costs more than 40,000 Gold can now be unlocked in Sandbox Mode.
  
• Photo Mode stability has been improved in Sandbox Mode.

Hi, I’m Rob Myall, lead coder on Evil Genius 2 and I’d like to update you on what’s going on behind the scenes here at the moment. We’re aware of all your feedback and many of the team have been reading your discussions and review comments, even if we generally leave responding to our hardworking Community team so that we can focus our efforts on addressing your feedback in the game itself.

We’re pleased to confirm that we’ve got a fairly substantial patch coming in the next week. We’re just finalizing the last few fixes and ironing out any new bugs our fixes might have introduced but we want to give you some highlights so that you know we’re here, we’re listening, and that more updates are coming.

• Rich Edwards and his design team are finishing up a complete rebalance pass to address pacing concerns some of you have mentioned. This hasn’t been a small change and has touched nearly every system in the game. We’ll give you more information in our patch notes but you should find the pace of the game much improved, with less micromanagement of the World Map required, and less waiting for campaign progression. You can still take your time if that’s your preferred playstyle, but those of you who want swifter campaigns should find we’ve sped up the core areas where you’re currently required to wait.
  
• We’ve eliminated the cause of a number of progression blockers, simplifying the method of summoning Super Agents to your Lair and making sure that critical Schemes have room to spawn.
  
• We’ve exposed a bit more information on Lair equipment that attracts specialist Agent types and made sure Investigators summon those Agents more readily.
  
• We’ve toned down the consequences of Body Bags but we’ve ramped up the importance of minion salaries. So although you’re still at risk of desertions, it’s now more likely to be a result of training too many higher-level minions or running out of Gold at a bad time, rather than it being because everyone’s cleaning up after the last Agent attack.
  
• And we’ve fixed a lot of bugs (and where possible, fixed up existing saves to account for them).

Obviously, we’ll save a more complete list for our patch notes, but we wanted to speak to you directly ahead of the full update reaching you next week. We’ve still got a list of improvements we’d like to make in the future as our post-launch support continues, and we’ll continue to read your feedback once this patch is released to make sure we’re making the right changes for you to get the most out of Evil Genius 2.

With this update we've improved overall game stability, improved detection of audio devices, addressed a number of issues which could cause progression to become blocked, and made it simpler to see which of your Criminal Networks have no Schemes running.

We're continuing to listen to your feedback about balance and the desire for a swifter game pace, and are hard at work on further updates to these areas. Thanks to everyone who has got in touch, and thank you for your continued support of Evil Genius 2.

• Crash fixes and stability improvements.
  
• Audio device detection has been improved, and manual audio device selection has been added to the Launcher Options.
  
• Radio Tower VFX has been disabled where a Scheme is running in the Region.
  
• Narrative Characters can be successfully brainwashed if Objectives require them to be, even if the Lair is already at maximum minion capacity.
  
• Trap effects no longer remain on minions or Agents indefinitely in unusual circumstances.
  
• Stairs place on Gold tiles will be constructed correctly.
  
• On the Crown Gold island Lair, the bridge from the Helipad is no longer autotagged for Distraction.
  
• Improved gamepad support.
  
• Various text and localisation improvements.

• Tamara Krast can no longer be executed before the Task requires her to be in Max's campaign Objective, "Gold Fingers, And Toes, And...Well, Everything".
  
• Narrative characters can no longer escape the Lair under unusual circumstances during Emma's Campaign Objective, "The Sound of Science".
  
• Scientists consistently die after being Interrogated during during Emma's campaign Objective, "The Sound of Science".

• Addressed issues where several Side Stories could be started without having the advanced minion types they required.
  
• Loot items cannot be stolen by Rogues before their Side Stories are complete.
  
• Side Story "Hail to the Chef" can now be completed correctly even if fewer than three Forces of Justice have at least one scouted Region.
  
• Fugu Furakawa's Heat Reduction and Gold Schemes will no longer spawn multiple times simultaneously within a single Region.
  
• Crime Lords will correctly become full Henchmen when their final Side Story Objective is completed, even if the reward has not yet been collected.
  
• Arms Dealer Bodyguards have had their strength reduced during the "Up In Arms" Side Story.
  
• Julius Bird can no longer be killed after Interrogation in "The Man With The Silver Gun" Side Story.
  
• Completion rewards have been added to to the "Poisin' Ivy" Side Story.

• John and Jane Steele can no longer be brainwashed.
  
• Agent Steele will no longer arrive at the island dressed in scuba gear. Instead, one of a variety of John or Jane Steeles may arrive.

• Carl Cafard can now be killed after being recruited as a Henchman when playing on Hard difficulty.

• Trading cards have been added to the game! Get collecting minions.

• Players who observed dead henchman in their lair should find them healthy once more.

It has been just over a week since Evil Genius 2 was released into the world, and what a week it has been! With this hotfix we've addressed several issues which could cause progress to become blocked, and have made Deception-focused playstyles more viable by significantly reducing Force of Justice Agents' chance of fighting back, which should result in fewer brutal murders of your humble Valets...provided you keep an eye on your Heat!

Thank you all for your passionate feedback, and we'll continue listening as we address areas where balance and pace can be adjusted to reduce waiting times and further improve your World Domination experience in the weeks ahead.

General

• Agents of "Average" quality and below will no longer fight back when being distracted and escorted out of the Lair. The chance for higher quality Agents to fight back has been reduced.
  
• The Spotting Power bonus for minions on duty at Guard Posts has been improved.
  
• Killing characters as soon as they disembark from the Cruise Ship will no longer prevent other characters from disembarking.

• Crime Lords dying outside of combat will no longer block progression.
  
• Gas clouds of all types, including those seen in the Sword in the Stone Side story, will correctly disperse on completion of the Side Story.

Hey everyone,

Here is our second hotfix which dropped a few minutes ago. Rest assured we have larger and more substantial updates and fixes coming very soon!

Thank you to everyone who has helped us locate, test and further investigate any issues so far.

Side Stories

• The Side Story "Meteor Not, Here I Come" can no longer be unlocked before completing the Tutorial.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf-VbYMb_YI

The end is no longer nigh, it’s right here! Evil Genius 2: World Domination is available NOW to buy and play via Steam.

Developed by Rebellion, one of Europe’s largest independent studios and the creators of Sniper Elite and Zombie Army series, Evil Genius 2 lets you live out your dreams of being the bad guy. Build your evil lair in intricate detail. Recruit and train a workforce of loyal minions and powerful henchmen. Defend your base from the meddling Forces of Justice. Dominate the world stage by unleashing your own unique brand of super-villainy upon humanity.

Evil Genius 2: World Domination features:

• Four unique campaigns – play as narcissist despot Max, heavy-muscle madman Ivan, manipulative ex-spymaster Emma or scientist zealot Zalika. Guide your chosen evil genius through their own distinct story-based campaign as they impose their twisted vision upon an unsuspecting globe.
  
• Three island locations – choose where to build your supervillain HQ from three island paradises, each with their own gameplay challenges. From the outside your base looks like a beautiful casino resort, but behind closed doors lies all manner of unimaginable evil.
  
• Intuitive lair-building – design, build and customize your lair as you see fit. With modern base-building mechanics and loads of gameplay features totally new to the series, including multiple-floored lairs, strategy fans will feel right at home with Evil Genius 2.
  
• New rooms, henchmen, agents, contraptions, traps and more – Evil Genius 2 features tons of menacing characters and devilish devices to use to your advantage. From the deliciously fatal Sushi Chef to the always famished Venus Spy-Trap, you have a huge number of ways to stop the Forces of Justice from foiling your dastardly plans.
  
• World domination 2.0 – Take to the world stage and execute your campaign of total supremacy. Send your minions and henchmen on missions across the globe as you exert your influence and control over world regions. Complete lucrative schemes, expand your criminal network, recruit new henchmen and steal all manner of useful loot – from the Doors to Fort Knox to a living, breathing dodo.

For the supervillain who must own everything, there’s the Evil Genius 2 Deluxe Edition. In addition to the base game, this includes the Evil Genius 2: Season Pass, the Fountain of Youth and Trojan Horse items, and the Aurora Borealis in-game bonus item as well.

The Evil Genius 2: Season Pass grants you access to everything from the announced Season of content as it becomes available post-launch; this will include:

• A campaign pack,
  
• Two henchmen packs
  
• Two minions pack
  
• A lair item pack

The Evil Genius 2 Season of additional content will be available to acquire separately, and will feature both paid and free content. Look out for more details in the coming weeks.

General:

• Crash fixes and stability improvements
  
• Dropped Lair Builder attachments no longer block navigation

Achievements

• Achievements for recruiting new minion types now unlock correctly