Whichever crooked megacorp you are assaulting, you can be sure at the very end a fierce boss fight is going to await you. Each one is challenging in its own way and while it pays to know your every enemy, it especially pays to know these ones.
The minds of Tora hanchō are traditionally placed inside the most advanced products Tora Heavy Industries can offer. Old and groggy, they’re displeased with anyone interfering with both the zaibatsu's or the gang's ops.
Always in a state of comfort, with a hair trigger temper, these Oyabun are directly tapped into drip feeds of quality sake. They explode at the slightest show of disobedience from anyone, be they their underlings or an interloper such as the CSA Combat Shells.
The Tora Heavy Industries Torantula packs a lot of firepower. You will have to contest it with your own of course, but it doesn't just come down to trading blows and seeing who hits harder. It's where you apply all your firepower that counts! In the case of the Torantula? The rocket pods and the spider's "abdomen". Hit those areas and hit them hard to inflict some massive damage on this massive mech. And keep in mind, that the lasers move slightly slower than the combat shell's movement speed, so the best strategy here is to stay away from panicking.
How did your first encounter with the Torantula go? Did you pick up any tricks while confronting these big boss spiders? Share or brag in the comments below!
Combat Shell Deep Dive #4 - Juggernaut
In the chronicles of Deadlink's unending combats against ruthless corporations, our previous explorations have taken us deep into the Combat Shells – from the agile Soldier and the battle-hardened Hunter, to the ingenious Engineer. These insights have peeled back the layers of strategy and strength that define each shell.
But as the tides of corporate brutality continue to surge, a fresh gust of innovation arrives with the Full Release update – Juggernaut Combat Shell. Stepping onto the battlefield under the endorsement of the CSA and birthed by the audacious minds at CORE, Juggernaut comes throwing a whole lot of flak at your enemies while bending physics for fun and profit offense and defense.
The fourth sanctioned CSA Combat Shell, made to deal with nano-augmented opponents. The Juggernaut Combat Shell is a mix of heavy industry and open sourced components tying together the limits of strength, armor, deceptive speed, and low budget.
Some CSA funds requisitioned from corporations are spent on deepening connections with the CORE makerverse, punks, and anti-authoritarians. This relationship built on mutual corporate hatred allowed the creation of a new class of shell, the holdout sent to finish the job against corruption. Work with tinkerers and open-source nutjobs allowed the CSA to think outside of the box, integrating slipspace technology in new unique ways. Its speed is unmatched for its armor and size, allowing the use of a heavy scattergun loadout.
From a mean bruiser packing a heavy shield, the Juggernaut went on to develop into something a lot more experimental, deflecting bullets not with slabs of alloy, but with theoretical physics!
The Stray Redirector reroutes incoming blasts through slipspace, making the already armored Combat Shell outright invulnerable. Though wherever those blasts are getting rerouted just might mean someone somewhere is going to have a very bad day.
The Combat Shell remains quite punchy as well, specifically with Graviton Punch both bringing the heat and providing for some striking bursts of speed.
While Juggernaut's abilities pack a punch, the weapons have a bit of a kick to them. Rounding off the Combat Shell's arsenal is the beast of a sawed-off shotgun known as Primed Eliminator and the open-sourced GNU+Cluster launcher firing grenades that explode into a front-facing arc of deadly shrapnel.
Did you trust the collab between CSA and the makerverse? Did you become a fan of it? With all four Combat Shells unleashed, let us know if the Juggernaut made its mark!
Full soundtrack now available!
Attention, Agents!
It's time to set your music devices to "cyberpunk" wave! The highly anticipated Deadlink soundtrack is now available as a DLC, providing the perfect pulse-pounding accompaniment to the guns-blazing FPS action. Immerse yourself in over 20 tracks of both ambient and electronic bangers crafted by talented Piotr Stachera & Kacper Kajzderski of Ivory Tower Soundworks. Also keep an eye on your favorite music streaming services - full soundtrack is going to be available on Spotify, Apple music, Soundcloud, Bandcamp and YTmusic very soon!
But wait, there's more! We're thrilled to announce that along with the soundtrack release, we've just introduced Steam trading cards to the game. Now you can collect and trade unique cards as you embark on your thrilling journey into the brutal world of Deadlink!
Special Release Discount Extended!
Remember that fantastic offer for Deadlink we've been talking about? The one we said would last from July 27th to August 4th? Well, guess what? We've got some great news!
Due to overwhelming demand and a surge of positive feedback, we've decided to extend the special release discount for Deadlink! Now, you have time until August 10th to take advantage of this incredible deal.
Don't miss it out, Agent!
Hotfix - August 2023
💬 Dev comment: Last week was a hell of a ride, Agents! Oh, how we love your feedback and the "Very Positive" reception of Deadlink <3 We're aware that the 1.0 release introduced major issues for some players; it even caused soft locks at times. This hotfix resolves the most crucial problems and additionally includes some minor balance changes.
Fixes
Fixed input bug where some actions would not register when playing using the Borderless display mode
Fixed missing cutscenes after 6th and 7th run completed
Multiple localization fixes
Fixed some implants not being able to level up
Ammo counter on the weapon will now respect saved visibility settings
Fixed players not being able to get achievement Hisashi OSHA
Multiple achievement fixes and tweaks
Fixed some of the Carl buffs not transferring from one biome to another
Carl's experiments descriptions will now display proper values based on the run crisis level
Fixed disabled interaction with NPCs in some corridors
Fixed Femto Pincer (spawned during CEO fight) C-Ball collision detection
Fixed players being able to break C-Balls snatched by Interport heavy enemies using damage other than melee
Fixed invisible collisions left by C-Balls destroyed by NPCs
Fixed run timer being active after the final boss battle
Fixed best time stat not displaying properly
Fixed dash stacks infinite recharge sound playing
Fixed passive implants not increasing max ammo count when traveling from one biome to another
Fixed a soft lock when a player dies at the same time as a boss
Fixed Steam stats-related crash on game exit
Fixed chatter soft-locking the game
Fixed possibility of getting stuck under Torantuala
Changes
Added pre-game DirectX version selector
Chatters will now pause when the game is paused
Smoothed out Sawed-off Shotgun fire input with a higher ammo count
Increased max input rate for gamepad analog
Improved looks of Femto offices when playing on low video settings
Balance
Hunter: Handcannon's Precision weapon mod headshot multiplier changed from 3.0 to 4.2
Engineer: Cyberbrain Link Override class perk will now reduce 65% of the Wormlink cooldown rather than 100%
Femto Peace Officer: Max HP reduced from 800 to 650, Max projectiles shot reduced from 7 to 4
CEO: Max HP reduced from 18k to 14k
Only 3 days left of special price!
Remember that very special price Deadlink's available at? The one we said will last from July 27th to August 4th?
Right now Deadlink is available for its best discounted price. You have only 3 days left to benefit from this bargain, whether to get Deadlink for yourself or your friends. The price might never be this low again!
Don't miss out on the action and don't miss out on this very special offer!
Deadlink 1.0 Patch Notes
With the big release comes the big update! Between a brand new corporation to pay a beating visit and a slew of improvements and additions, we have a lot to cover! Let's dive right into the patch note before you dive right into the simulation, agent!
What's new?
"📢" marks the changes suggested by the Deadlink community
Supplements and biodomes, the 20th century technohippy intertwined with modern corporate. The corporate world was always dark, concentrating on short-term. But then, there was Femto. A light in the dark, something to look up to with hope for a post-scarcity future. And if you felt otherwise, their kind, smart-dressed mercs would show you the lit path, and the door, with a boot up your ass.
The largest nanotech corp in the Solar System began as a small startup, created by altruist makers. That dream was abandoned, however, with new management. The new CEO hated the founders, ousting everyone for more power.
Remolded, Femto was soon on every billboard, every office, every TV, and of course, in your home, spying on you with their ubiquitous C-Balls, stealing your data down to your molecular structure. Some say that tech they eavesdropped is the root of their newest product, the one only seen by stock-holders. Some say this new product is her.
New Corporation To Raid
New Enemy Types
Femto Peace Officers
Femto's rise was sudden, unexpected, unnatural even. Whistleblowers either end up doing blows with the CEO or getting blown up “peacefully”.
They wouldn’t like you saying that out loud, but they’re fascists hiding themselves under the burning red banner of peace, the black shirts of investment opportunity. Regardless of sex, they’re darlings of progressive values and big-tech money, enforcing their will with ferocious loyalty to peace, until you become pacified.
8 New Elite Guards
“Seems the other corps and companies don't view Femto as much of a threat. Femto have been hiring mercs and outsourcing tech from other corps. Watch out for familiar faces, these cheap bastards will hurl everything at you.” – Rumiko Usagi
Final Boss Encounter
“I was quite hopeful when Femto started, their stock price was high and they had an optimistic streak I liked. It all went out the door when they went public. We want to know what they might be hiding, what only the investors see.” – Thomas Crusher
The fourth sanctioned CSA Combat Shell, made to deal with nano-augmented opponents. The Juggernaut Combat Shell is a mix of heavy industry and open sourced components tying together the limits of strength, armor, deceptive speed, and low budget.
Some CSA funds requisitioned from corporations are spent on deepening connections with the CORE makerverse, punks, and anti-authoritarians. This relationship built on mutual corporate hatred allowed the creation of a new class of shell, the holdout sent to finish the job against corruption. Work with tinkerers and open-source nutjobs allowed the CSA to think outside of the box, integrating slipspace technology in new unique ways. Its speed is unmatched for its armor and size, allowing the use of a heavy scattergun loadout.
Juggernaut’s Abilities
Graviton Punch
A high-velocity kinetic impact coming from your fists, it launches the Combat Shell in the direction of the crosshair. Stuns enemies.
Stray Redirector
Defensive mode, absorbs incoming damage whilst maintaining mobility. On ability reactivation or after a fixed period it explodes outward, dealing damage and marking nearby enemies.
New Arsenal
Prime Eliminator
A sawed-off shotgun of ungodly and unseemly power. The recoil alone will knock a Combat Shell back. Every trigger pull results in two shots, on press and release.
GNU+Cluster
A cannon shooting a 40mm grenade that explodes mid-air, throwing shrapnel in a frontal arc.
SMRT Coil
A coil creating short-range arcs, dealing electric damage in front of the user.
Blaze Mode
A short-range jet burner dealing fire damage, its damage output increasing with proximity to the target.
Goob Launcher
An industrial-grade toxic goob launcher. Damages enemies over time, hindering their movement. Goobjectiles stick to horizontal surfaces.
Also new in Deadlink
New Implants
11 brand-new implants are available during runs.
The Plot Thickens
Dive into new captivating story elements that delve into the Agent’s work for the CSA, revealing intriguing revelations about their true identity.
Chatters and Voice-overs
Experience the ultimate immersion, featuring mesmerizing voice-overs and a chatter system that brings your runs to life, fully immersing you in the thrilling world of the Deadlink megacorporations.
HUB Upgrades Rework
The HUB upgrade tree is no longer a work in progress. We analyzed tons of runs done by streamers and our Discord community. Some of the upgrades got removed, others reworked, and, of course, some of them are completely new.
📢 Rutger’s Casino
Rutger needed some love; we all know that. But here's the thing: if you dig through trash piles, you'll discover more than just implants. Prepare for an epic journey, delving into the world of scrap in a quest to find useful (or maybe not so useful) treasures. And guess what? With the ever-increasing inflation, XPs have become an absolute must for running a thriving trash business.
📢 Weapon Inspect Animations
We saw that you really like the new animations, and honestly, we love them too! That’s why we added more. You can now also play the inspect animation directly using the X key by default.
New Steam stuff
Achievements
You asked for them; you got them. Some of them are hard, like really hard. But that’s why they’re called achievements, right?
Localization
Die Toten Link ++ Lien Mort ++ 死链接 ++ Enlace Muerto ++ デッドリンク ++ Ölü Bağlantı ++ Martwe Łącze ++ Мертвая Cсылка
Steam Cards (soon™)
It’s not Magic: The Gathering, but on the other hand, you can collect `em all!
Balance Changes
Armor calculation
The armor has been completely overhauled. Instead of acting as a second health bar and one-shot gating, now it is reducing incoming damage. The more armor, the more damage reduction. On top of that, every elemental damage will provide some armor-stripping capabilities, although the most efficient way to do so is still with Toxic/Corrosive damage type.
📢 Difficulty
With the new armor system in mind, we have made adjustments to its values across higher difficulties. This change is aimed at encouraging our Agents to be more thoughtful in their choices of Implants and weapons. Addressing the concerns raised by hardcore players who found Neuromancy too easy, we have enhanced the challenge by making enemies stronger, with increased shooting speed and quicker reactions.
However, we haven't overlooked our non-hardcore players who simply want to enjoy the game. To provide a smoother experience, VR-Orientation will now feature less spongy enemies and reduced armor in later biomes. This way, you can freely experiment with different builds before taking on the challenges of Deep Dive and Neuromancy.
Furthermore, we have made slight adjustments to the XP gain from door rewards, allowing you to obtain your upgrades a bit sooner. We hope these changes will enhance your overall gaming experience.
Neuralboosts
Neuralboost reward got shifted to the regular reward pool, so it's not handed out before every implant selection anymore. This is a big balance tweak for the build's power consistency. Now players can decide whether they want to boost their combat stats vertically or broaden their progress by adding a new shell and weapon upgrades horizontally.
📢 Soldier’s Shotgun
Number of pellets decreased (20 ➡️ 10)
Shotgun damage increased (5 ➡️ 12)
Detection radius for shotgun pellets increased, and the detection radius curve changed to be less aggressive (projectiles will have a bigger detection radius of up to 20 meters). This should improve the shotgun feel and damage delivery.
Reload and Fire Rate Shotgun’s mods properties increased to make them a sensible alternative to other Shotgun mods.
Heavy Weapons’ Stats
We noticed a major disproportion in terms of Heavy Weapon damage outcome. This change equalizes each of the secondary weapons to be as viable to play as any other.
Fixed Geisha's never-ending challenge on certain Tora maps
Fixed Torantula being able to immobilize the player
Fixed gamepad issues on all UI windows
📢 Fixed aspect ratio for better handling of the 16:10 and ultrawide resolutions
📢 Experiments are now displayed in the loadout and summary screen
Shell selection screen clarity tweaks
Added elemental effects display for boss HP bar
Added icons for keyboard and mouse bindings
📢 Added selection of the gamepad icons type (Xbox or PlayStation)
Added death animations to heavy enemies
📢 Added weak points to the Iskra boss
📢📢📢 Iskra is less talkative now (and more quiet)
Apex cutscenes rework
Added handling for the nVidia DLSS
Increased values of the XP doors
Added HUD notifier for the incoming enemy’s melee attack
Added more environmental audio
Improved performance of the NPC’s dialogue windows
⚠️ Save Data Reset ⚠️
Excitingly, the full release brings a plethora of incredible changes. However, this means that the EA saves won't sync with the current version, leading to a reset of progress on the affected save slot. To compensate for any inconvenience, you will receive a partial refund of XP and Turing Tokens. Get ready for an enhanced gaming experience, and thank you for being part of our journey!
Note from the Devs
The past nine months have been one hell of a ride! Since we dropped the Early Access version in October 2022, we've been on fire, delivering six content updates and five crucial hotfixes. And now, brace yourselves because we're beyond thrilled to unveil the Deadlink v1.0 release!
Every single change made during the Early Access period was heavily influenced by the incredible Deadlink community, who've been actively engaging with us on our Discord server. They're like an extra team of game designers, and we can't thank them enough for their invaluable contributions!
As for the post-release roadmap, we're keeping things flexible. We'll be focusing our efforts based on the reception from Deadlink's players and critics. So, make sure to share your feedback on the Steam forums, Discord server, and our social media channels. Rest assured; we read every single word!
Now, it's time to dive in and have a blast, Agents! Let the excitement begin!
Deadlink 1.0 - Full version out now!
The time has come, Agents! It's been a hell of a ride with a six-pack of updates from Early Access to now. It is time to greet Deadlink in its full glory. Deadlink 1.0 is out today. Link to a new Combat Shell, lock and load your new weapons and test CSA's newest deadly toys against a new vile corporation.
Keep your optics in focus for a full giant patch note coming your way very soon and listing everything now added to Deadlink.
Last but not least, what better way to celebrate the full release than by offering the full game we've all been anticipating for a special release price? So just as soon as you're through watching the release trailer pick up Deadlink and don't miss out. Time is short, the discounted price will only be available from today (17:00 UTC) to August 4th. Last chance for a bargain this good!
See you in the combat sims, Agent!
[CLASSIFIED] Target List Update in progress
The Deadlink Protocol is nearing a decisive stage, agents. That means another step in our mission at the CSA as well. We are working on identifying another corrupt corporation begging for a surgical strike. We should have our answers very soon. In the meantime, take a good look. Is there anything you can glean from the unsorted data?
Beta Test extended. Thank you, agents!
We would like to start with a great big thank you to all of our wonderful beta testers! It's been a wild week with many agents answering the call and helping us test the game!
With more than 200 of you playing the game and reporting on your experience, we are now able to feel even more confidence in the game's full release. And to give you all just a bit more time to put your feedback and impressions together, as well as to give a chance for more prospective agents to join us, we're extending the closed beta until July 26th!
Join us if you still haven't! You can find all the info on our Discord in the 📢announcements channel!
We look forward to seeing you and hearing all of your feedback!
