Enemies

Guards and Drones are collectively known as enemies. Enemies rely on sight and sound to detect intruders. They may be posted in a specific location, sometimes turning to scan an area, or they may be assigned to a patrol route. Patrol routes are fixed--an enemy will loop through a route repeatedly. Guards and Drones have an Alarm Level indicating how aware they are of intrusion. Guards and Drones will also attack intruders. They are critical components in the Security AI's active and passive defense systems.

If an enemy detects something, they will engage or investigate. If they hear something, their Alarm Level will rise to Suspicious. Pending security tally will increase one or more points. The enemy will send a report to the Security AI at the end of the turn.

The Security AI may send instructions to a guard or drone, for instance to investigate a report or look for a missing guard. This will raise their Alarm Level to Alerted. They will leave their assignment to follow the instructions.

Enemies can take a variety of actions. The action(s) that an enemy takes during their turn is usually displayed to the right of the enemy as they begin their action. The possible actions available to enemies includes but is not limited to:

• Guarding.
• Patrolling.
• Investigating!
• Security AI in my Ear!
• Hunting.
• Returning to Post.
• Got 'em in my Sights!
• Advancing!
• Charging!
• Flanking!
• Holding Position!
• Taking Cover.
• Taking Direct Cover!
• Defend the Asset!
• Attacking (this does not get displayed next to the enemy but is reported in the log)
• Using a Talent (this does not get displayed next to the enemy but is reported in the log)
• Using an item (this does not get displayed next to the enemy but is reported in the log)

There are many different types of enemies. Enemies will vary in Weapons, Hit Points, Talents, Special Abilities, and preferred tactics. Each Faction maintains a selection of unit types, some of which may be unique to that Faction.

Drones

The term Drones encompasses any mechanized enemy. This includes humanoid Drones (e.g. Mecha Infantry), Turrets, flying Drones, and others. Drones are not vulnerable to some types of attacksː poison, stun, etc. But they are vulnerable to certain Talents which specifically target Drones.

Drones might be remotely controlled by a human, or remotely controlled by an AI. The most dangerous drones are those controlled by an on-board AI.

Mecha Infantry

Mecha Infantry are humanoid Drones. They look like armored and helmeted humans with thin mechanical legs. From a distance they may be mistaken for human. There are several variations in Mecha Infantry. Some factions have their own version. Brave Star, for instance, has military-grade Mecha Infantry. Free Streets Compact has perfected the art of refurbishing old Drones for their own purposes, which they call Po-Bots.

The Head Hunter Le Sidewinder brings a crew of Po-Bots along on his bounty hunts. His mechanized team is a formidable threat when they show up.

Mecha Infantry do not have internal weaponry. They are designed to carry and use the same Weapons that their flesh-and-blood cohorts use. Mecha Infantry of various types are known to carry Assault Rifles, Shotguns, and E-Rifles.

The heavy Armor and high Hit Points of a Mecha Infantry make it difficult to bring them down. Weapons which shred Armor are quite effective against the Drones. Blades are not recommended against some types of Drones - Turrets, for instance, explode when destroyed. But against Mecha Infantry, Blades are a good choice. Pure Damage Weapons are also a good idea.

As with other types of drones, a Mecha Infantry will instantly report their own destruction to the local Sec AI. Drone remains do not have a body timer because the report has already been sent. Certain Talents may be able to block the destruction report, preventing the Sec AI from learning of the equipment loss.

Turrets

Turrets are stationary weapon platforms that can be activated by any SIGMA series Sec AI. These new Enemies are Drones (a category describing all mechanized enemies) so they can be targeted by Drone Talents and instantly report their death like all Drones. Further, Turrets will explode when they are destroyed, causing potentially deadly damage to anyone nearby!

Turrets can appear:

• Once your team reaches Power Level 3+
• Only in certain objectives (Alpha Strike, Exfiltrate VIP etc do not include Turrets)
• On Larger maps that have space for them
• Only on 15-33% of heists - when they do, they generally force you to plan and approach the heist differently, so they are not a constant threat but a spicey spice.

There are two types of Turrets today - the heavy machine gun turret and the directed energy weapon turret ("E-turret"). Each have their own set of stats, weapons, armor and talents. Turrets can appear in different missions from Power Level 3+. The challenge they present will start low but scale aggressively into the end game by PL 10. Watch out, Turrets love to use Overwatch!

The Mission Planning screen shows whether a heist has the potential to have Turrets; the Mission flags will contain a highlighted "Turrets" warning. Also, once on the ground in the heist, the locations that Turrets might appear are shown clearly, each one marked by a large and threatening looking turret spawning location.

The Sec AI - the overarching enemy during most heists - has the power to activate Turrets from their underground encasements. Until the Turret is activated from its underground lair, it is invulnerable and cannot be targeted. This new and dangerous type of Escalation is available to the entire SIGMA line of Sec AI - including Sigma 5, Sigma 7, Sigma 9 and Sigma BLACK.

The more dangerous the Security AI the team is facing, the lower the minimum Sec Level required to activate Turrets. Escalations that activate Turrets can be executed at Sec Level 2 (Shadow Sites), 3 (Sigma 9 or X-TECH) and 4 (Sigma 5 or 7). These Escalations do count as a type of reinforcement which can be blocked by some Leverage.

Turrets are heavy weapons platforms with no need to move which allows them to be built with heavy plating and stacked with massive weaponry. Armor-shredding is key for any attacks against Drones; these are high HP Enemies. E-rifles in particular are an excellent Weapon to take them on, but other Weapons with a high chance to shred Armor (possibly extended by Weapon Mods) can be effective as well.

Several Classes have Talents that specifically target Drones. The Cyber Knight and Cybersword have the most anti-drone Talents, with Hacker and Agent EX characters also having several available.

Most importantly, keep in mind that Turrets are stationary. Using hard cover where a merc can step out, shoot them, then step back to where they can't target back is a significant advantage. Any Class's Talents that can cancel Enemy Overwatch or move through Overwatch without triggering it can be helpful, as Turrets have a wide field of fire and can lock down a significant area with Overwatch.

Hover Tank

Hover Tanks

Hover Tanks are powerful new drones available only to megacorporate armies (different types of drones will be more or less locked by faction); they represent the arrival of heavy-elite off-site reinforcements instead of the run-of-the-mill regular soldiery. As the Security Level rises and the Sec AI calls upon more and more powerful reinforcements to try to face the threat they discover you are, it is possible that a pod of reinforcements (typically 3 soldiers) will instead contain 2 soldiers and a Hover Tank. The specific criteria for arriving as reinforcements are as follows:

• In a mission against a megacorporate faction
• Your team is Power Level 4+
• The Sec Level on your mission has reached 5+

Additionally, once your team is above Power Level 8, Hover Tanks may appear as part of the starting-enemy patrols set on missions against megacorp factions.

Today, there is a single type of hover tank used by all 6 megacorps. It has powerful Talents that allow for Full Auto, Overwatch, a directed energy invulnerability field and a shock field that can reorganize its adaptive armor after it has suffered an Armor Critical (making the Hover Tank capable of repairing 1 Protection Point).

Their cannon has a max range of 30m, and does suffer accuracy penalties against enemies too close for them to quickly adjust targeting against. If you have effective short-range weaponry, look for areas you can use this difference against them. Or use a fast-moving character to break their armor and run to safety, while squad mates with long-range weaponry assault it from afar.

Unlike most other enemies, Hover Tanks will not be stopped in their tracks by overwatch shots against them. They also have a 75% chance to break Stun effects applied to them. These tanks are juggernauts, and will require different tactics than other enemies to deal with.

Hover tanks are expensive assets and a megacorp can only commit so many to a single facility or battle at a time, so don't expect to see more than one at a time.

The standard Leverage to block reinforcements also blocks the arrival of Hover Tanks. Keeping a leverage like this in reserve for Sec Level 5+ can buy you valuable time to avoid their arrival or get distance from their likely arrival points.

Like turrets, hover tanks are heavy weapon platforms and are built to be layered with thick plating and mounted with major weaponry. The tradeoff to the hover tank's thick armor is its ponderous speed; it can be outrun! (But be careful what you might be running into.)

Armor-shredding is key for attacks against any drones; these are high HP enemies and much harder to wear down if you don't crack their armor. E-Rifles in particular are an excellent weapon to take them on, but other weapons with a high chance to shred armor (possibly extended by weapon mods) can be effective as well.

The Cyber Knight and Cybersword have the most anti-drone talents, with Hacker and Agent EX characters also having several available.

Lance VTOLs

Lance VTOLs are faster and lighter drones employed by the milsec companies - Brave Star and Arrowhead - compared to the megacorporate Hover Tanks. The Lances still represent the arrival of powerful, rapid-response elite reinforcements instead of regular milsec soldiery, as they can more rapidly pin down or neutralize threats. As the Security Level rises and the Sec AI calls upon more and more powerful reinforcements on your heist team, a pod of reinforcements (typically 3 soldiers) will instead contain soldiers and one or more Lance VTOLs. The specific criteria for arriving as reinforcements are as follows:

• In a mission against a milsec faction
• Your team is Power Level 4+
• The Sec Level on your mission has reached 4+

Additionally, once your team is above Power Level 6, Lance VTOLs may appear as part of the starting-enemy patrols set on missions against milsec factions.

Today, there is a single type of Lance VTOL used by both milsec companies which has access to Full Auto, Overwatch and an energy field for temporary invulnerability. As we continue to expand the drone offerings, we will be separating these VTOLs, their look and their abilities per company.

Unlike most other enemies, Lance VTOLs will not be stopped in their tracks by overwatch shots against them and they have a 75%+ chance to break Stun effects applied to them. Unfeeling, nothing but metal, armor and guns - these VTOLs swoop in for the kill relentlessly.

VTOLs are expensive assets and a milsec company can only commit so many to a single facility or battle at a time, so don't expect to see more than 2 at a time.

Watch out - like Hover Tanks before them, VTOLs explode when they go down and cause damage to anyone nearby.

The standard Leverage to block reinforcements also blocks the arrival of Lance VTOLs. Keeping a leverage like this in reserve for Sec Level 4+ can buy you valuable time to avoid their arrival or get distance from their likely arrival points.

Unlike Turrets and Hover Tanks, Lance VTOLs are built for speed and firepower over heavy armor. You will be less likely to be able to outrun a VTOL and may need to consider the best position from which to fight one instead of trying to outright flee.

Lance VTOL have less over all Hit Points but Armor-shredding is still key for attacks against any drones; while less of an damage sponge than a Hover Tank, the VTOLs still have high HP and are easier to wear down with E-Rifles, Shotguns and other high Shred weapons (or weapon mods).

The Cyber Knight and Cybersword have the most anti-drone talents, with Hacker and Agent EX characters also having several available. Check any of the character classes on the Cyber Knights Wiki to easily see a full list of their available talents and CTRL+F for "drone" to review.

Comparison of Known Enemy Classes

A wide range of enemy classes can be encountered during missions. The images are those displayed on the Mission Initiative Indicator. Many enemy classes are common across 'corp', 'street' or 'syndicate' Factions. Some Factions have custom classes which replace the usual common classes; these are marked as 'corp [UltraTek]', 'street [FSC]', etc. Field of View (FoV) indicates the size of their vision cone.

Hit Points and Armor increase with level, so all rows are listed with the HP and Armor at Power Level 1 (PL1) so that they can be compared easily. Some classes do not appear at PL1 or have not been confirmed at PL1; in these cases, the HP and Armor values for PL1 are estimated based on the progressions of other classes, and are displayed in italic font.

When comparing Hit Points and Armor, remember that the vales accelerate at high Power Level, so the small differences in HP at PL1 become large differences at PL10. For instance, at PL1 the Guard has 200 HP and the Guard Captain has 240 HP. But at PL10, the Guard has 330 HP and the Guard Captain has 500 HP.

Newer classes may not have all data entered yet. In addition, the table does not include special classes, such as VIP and Defector, which are usually targets for assassination; and it does not include unique characters, such as Brauk Executioner and Sniper Survivor.

IMAGE	Class	FACTION	WEAPON	PL1 HP	PL1 Armor	FoV	SPECIAL ABILITIES
	Rook	Brave Star
	S-Class Brakka	Brave Star	AR	420	74% 3PP	120° 20m
	Star FWD	Brave Star	UAR	250	33% 0PP	90° 18m
	Star Longshot	Brave Star	Sniper	250	33% 0PP	90° 18m
	SWAT	Brave Star	AR	250	33% 0PP	90° 18m
	SWAT X	Brave Star	Shotgun	250	74% 1PP	90° 18m
	Divergent	corp	SMG	200	40% 0PP	90° 22m	By deploying a cloud of deflective nanites, Divergents are able to gain significant, if temporary, boosts to Evasion, known as a Divergent Field
	E-Medic	corp	UAR	250	65% 1PP	120° 20m	E-Medic can throw N-Stim healing canisters up to 16m and release restorative nano that will get both a corporate soldier or a merc caught in the cloud back on their feet.
	FireCOM	corp	UAR	250	74% 1PP	90° 18m	FireCOM will target multiple mercs with Full Auto if given the chance, so be careful to avoid their firing lines.
	Guard	corp	AR	200	33% 0PP	90° 18m
	Guard Bladesman	corp	Blade	250	65% 1PP	90° 18m
	Guard Captain	corp	UAR	240	65% 1PP	90° 20m
	Guard Shotgun	corp	Shotgun	250	74% 1PP	90° 18m
	Guard Sniper	corp	Sniper	200	40% 0PP	90° 22m
	Mecha Infantry	corp	AR	420	74% 3PP	90° 22m
	Sentinel Exec	corp
	Suppressant	corp	Shotgun	250	65% 1PP	90° 22m	Suppressants hurl non-lethal concussion grenades up to 16m, creating a shockwave that disorients and incapacitates anyone caught in the blast radius, reducing both Action Points and Move Speed.
	KEM Captain	corp [Kemco]	Shotgun	240	74% 1PP	90° 18m
	KEM Doc	corp [Kemco]	Shotgun	270	74% 1PP	90° 18m
	KEM Guard	corp [Kemco]	AR	200	33% 0PP	90° 18m
	2x Raptor	corp [UltraTek]
	T-Assault	corp [UltraTek]	Shotgun	250	74% 1PP	90° 18m
	T-Capt	corp [UltraTek]	Revolver	240	65% 1PP	90° 18m
	T-FireCOM	corp [UltraTek]	UAR	250	74% 1PP	90° 18m	FireCOM will target multiple mercs with Full Auto if given the chance, so be careful to avoid their firing lines.
	T-REX	corp [UltraTek]	AR	200	33% 0PP	90° 18m
	WB Assault	corp [WB]	Shotgun	250	74% 1PP	90° 18m
	WB Captain	corp [WB]	Revolver	240	65% 1PP	90° 18m
	WB FireCOM	corp [WB]	UAR	250	74% 1PP	90° 18m	FireCOM will target multiple mercs with Full Auto if given the chance, so be careful to avoid their firing lines.
	WB Guard	corp [WB]	AR	200	33% 0PP	90° 18m
	Bloodright	street
	Grunt Captain	street	SMG	200	65% 1PP	120° 20m
	Street Skipjack	street	SMG	150	36% 0PP	90° 18m	Skipjacks rely on a release-and-capture cloud of nanites that instantly form together to create a deflection edge, which is just enough to cause a bullet to 'bend' around them. In a deadly gunfight, missing a Skipjack on the first shot can be a quick road to the grave.
	Street Berserk	street	Blade	250	36% 0PP	90° 18m
	Street Charger	street	Shotgun	150	65% 1PP	90° 18m
	Street King	street
	Street Shockstick	street	Club	250	36% 0PP	90° 18m
	Street Sniper	street	Sniper	150	40% 0PP	90° 22m
	Street Warrior	street	SMG	150	30% 0PP	90° 18m
	Wildfire	street	UAR	150	65% 1PP	90° 18m
	Brutewain	street [Blue Ox]	SMG	150	65% 1PP	90° 18m	Brutewain hurl grenades up to 18m, splattering targets within the larger blast radius with enough of the blueish substance to debuff both their Move Speed and Initiative.
	Bulwark	street [Blue Ox]	Shotgun	150	36% 0PP	90° 18m	Bulwark can throw Hardskin Cloud canisters up to 16m which release defensive buffing clouds that help a gang grunt or a merc who is caught in the cloud major Damage Reduction and Cover Bonus.
	Detonator	street [Fenian]	SMG	200	65% 1PP	90° 18m	Detonators hurl their street boomers up to 14m, causing a major spike of Pure Damage to anyone caught near enough to get hit within the smaller blast radius.
	F-Duster	street [Fenian]	AR	150	30% 0PP	90° 18m	F-Dusters can throw Redmist Cloud canisters up to 16m which release aggressive buffing clouds that send a gang grunt into a fury, boosting Damage and Critical %.
	Free Gunner	street [FSC]	SMG	150	30% 0PP	90° 18m
	Po-Bot	street [FSC]	Shotgun	400	65% 1PP	120° 20m	Po-Bots have heavily reinforced armor plating and can soak up a ton of punishment. If they can close, their targeting systems rarely miss with their assault shotgun.
	Phalanx	street [FSC]
	Z-Edge	street [FSC]	Blade	200	35% 0PP	90° 18m
	Z-Rusher	street [FSC]	Club	225	36% 0PP	90° 18m
	Patchmax	street [Los Z]	SMG	150	36% 0PP	90° 18m	Patchmax can throw Hi-Puff cloud canisters up to 16m which release adrenaline pumping buffs to give extra Action Points, Move Speed and Initiative to any so lucky to get a deep breath of the noxious yellow designer chem.
	Slagga	street [Los Z]	SMG	150	65% 1PP	90° 18m	Slaggas hurl their armor melting grenades up to 20m, which cause both punishing Pure Damage and immediately Shreds 1 Protection Point of your armor.
	Blooder	syndicate	UAR	150	36% 0PP	90° 18m	Blooders hurl shrapnel grenades up to 16m, nicking and ripping up flesh and armor and inflicting ongoing damage, unless healing of some kind is applied. Stock up on bandages.
	Chopshop	syndicate	Blade	225	65% 1PP	90° 18m	By deploying a cloud of street-cooked nanites, Chopshop are able to create a classic sheathing effect without the expensive cybernetic implants. The nano Chop Shield is capable of completely nullifying a few attacks before disintegrating.
	Grunt Captain	syndicate	SMG	200	65% 1PP	120° 20m
	Havoc Jackal	syndicate
	Shocktop	syndicate	Club	225	65% 1PP	90° 18m
	Street Sniper	syndicate	Sniper	150	40% 0PP	90° 22m
	Street Berserk	syndicate	Blade	250	36% 0PP	90° 18m
	Street Warrior	syndicate	SMG	150	30% 0PP	90° 18m
	Whistler	syndicate	SMG	150	36% 0PP	120° 20m	Whistlers employ a mysterious nano-coating recipe for their bullets, a closely guarded secret within their cult. These coated Whistler Bullets inflict ongoing damage, unless healing of some kinds is applied. Stock up on bandages. Whistlers will target multiple mercs with Full Auto if given the chance, so be careful to avoid their firing lines.
	Wildfire	syndicate	UAR	150	65% 1PP	90° 18m	Wildfire will target multiple mercs with Full Auto if given the chance, so be careful to avoid their firing lanes.