The Space Birthday Update: Contractors

This post is about a feature of the free Space Birthday Update, out now! See this post for the details. Our philosophy with enemies in Heat Signature was to allow every combination possible, so a Glitch-Dash guard can also have Heat Sensors and can also have Shields and so on. It leads to a huge number of possible configurations, some of which have interesting consequences, but it sometimes lacks flavour. Contractors came about when trying to come up with enemies that would be a challenge even if you had the best kit in the galaxy, and we designed them with the opposite philosophy: there are just 4 types, and each one is completely different from the others. We want you to know exactly what each one does and not have to check a kit list each time. They each have a single specialty, but each one is something so formidable you'll need to rethink your usual strategies. You'll only encounter Contractors on harder missions, and only a few per ship. But when ships call in Reinforcements, it's these guys who show up on the telepad. In order of how much they should worry you:

The Defender

A contractor who generates an impenetrable, uncrashable, unhackable shield for all guards near them. The only way to bring these shields down is to take out the Defender who, in one of nature's cruel ironies, only has a conventional shield.

The Jammer

A contractor who moves through the ship installing jamming devices that prevent any of your gadgets from working while you're inside their square of effect. The field also scrambles incoming teleportation, so glitching into it is not advised. The jammers can be destroyed up close if you can get to them. Crashing a Jammer prevents them from placing any more jamming devices. Subverting them... does something else.

The Tracker

A contractor with specialised sensors that track your exact location on the ship at any range. They will hunt you relentlessly, their reactions are instantaneous, and their high velocity rifle is virtually impossible to dodge. Watch for the red tracks leading to you. Crashing a Tracker disables their sensors, subverting scrambles them.

The Predator

The most lethal contractors in the galaxy. Step into their pulsing sensor range and they will instantly detect you, teleport to you, and kill you in the same move. Shields don't help, their blade is already in you when they glitch. Good luck. Crashing a Predator disables their sensor and teleporter. Subverting them... does something else. This post is about a feature of the free Space Birthday Update, out now! See this post for the details.