Deceive Inc. Adjusts Guard Behavior So They’re A Bit Less Aggro-y During PvP

As the game's combat overhaul continues, it seems that PvP in Deceive Inc. can get a bit hairier than the developers may have intended thanks to how the guards respond to what’s going on. This is due to their relationship to the heat system – which is how NPCs know that players are up to no good. The problem has been that due to their scaling on the heat system, guards were getting involved faster and responding more strongly – read “dealing more damage” than was good for PvP.

This is changing now. Of course, that doesn’t mean the guards will look the other way when players are busy shooting each other, but their response will be scaled differently. When a player involved in PvP has no heat, the guard will need to be closer to them to attack – and they’ll begin with melee attacks rather than shooting.

As the heat level increases, the guards’ response will increase. A heat level of 1 will result in the guards doing 25% more damage and will start using firearms. At heat level 2, damage will be increased to 50% and the guards can aggro from further away. Finally, at heat level 3, damage will be increased to 75% with players taking even more damage from shots.

Other adjustments to guards include a change to melee so that they’ll be less likely to punch from behind and a buff to their weapon damage – for PvE purposes.

As for the shooter's heat system, the buffer to gain no heat after hitting a spy has been extended. A buffer has also been introduced for passive heat gained from aggro for players that recently gained heat from hitting an NPC. The idea is to keep players from getting double heat from an action on a guard.