Black Bruiser Suit

Complete any Freelancer campaign on Harcode Mode and the Black Bruiser is yours to keep.
“Why take an aspirin after a rough night, when you can flip the coin and make it a look? A classic black suit with a bloody white shirt, to show the world that no one messes with you.”

If you’ve already completed a Freelancer campaign on Hardcore, you’ll automatically complete this challenge and earn the unlock once you launch the game post-patch.

Exploding Pen

As the old phrase goes, ‘explosions speak louder than words’. That’s never been more true with the Exploding Pen you can unlock by heading back into the Patient Zero campaign and eliminating Craig Black under some specific and fitting circumstances.

Contracts Mode – ICA Facility

We’re expanding the offering of Contracts Mode to now include the ICA Facility location. More specifically it’s the Freeform Training mission that takes place on the yacht.

HITMAN Freelancer – Prestige

We’re adding a new ‘Prestige’ feature to Freelancer that will give you more reasons to play.

On the Mission Control table, there’s now a ‘Prestige Laptop, which allows you to progress through five Prestige Levels. Once you’ve collected all the weapons that can be stored in the Safehouse, you’ll be able to use the Prestige Laptop to advance your Prestige Level.

• Increase the Prestige Objective Merces payout and grant an XP bonus for completing missions.
  • These bonuses increase from level 1-5 and do not change once you reach Prestige Level 5.
•  Add a Prestige trophy (a single trophy will display your current Prestige Level)
• Remove all items in your inventory, all Freelancer gear, all weapons on the weapon walls and all Merces.

The design of this feature is very much focused on it being fun to collect all the weapons again, and being able to optimize the way that you collect them, based on your previous experiences.

*Some small details about Freelancer – Prestige listed here are different to what we published in our recent Patch Notes Preview. The preview was accidentally based off old information.

These improvements are all directly linked to Freelancer mode. We’ve added this little paragraph so that we don’t have to put (Freelancer) after each and every one.

Timed Prestige Objectives

All timed prestige objectives will now complete once all targets are eliminated (as opposed to when you exit the mission). This should give players more time and freedom to continue exploring a location, for example to visit a vendor or locate safes.

Item Unlock Identification

We’ve added a small objective marker to the weapon wall to help players quickly find and identify a newly unlocked item.

Redecorate Prompt

We’ve changed the ‘redecorate’ prompt to ensure that 47 can access all Safehouse items and redecorate at his leisure. This was only affecting PC players, where the prompt to redecorate and interact with a nearby item was the same, which could cause the game to softlock in the worst cases. Now, the redecorate prompt has been remapped to Q by default to prevent this.

Fuse and Nail

We’ve made it possible to drop a nail that you have equipped in the Safehouse, so that you’re not forced to take it with you on a mission, or reload into the Safehouse to get rid of it. In the same vein, we’ve also added a fusebox in the garage right next to the fuse, so that you can store the fuse there after you’ve picked it up. For technical reasons, we can’t make the fuse ‘droppable’ but this solution won’t force you to keep it once you’ve picked it up.

Open and Close

In the Freelancer Safehouse, it’s now possible to open and close the wine shelf and the garage door.

Freelancer HUD Options

Under Options>Gameplay, we’ve added four new options for ‘Freelancer’ which allows players to customise specific HUD elements for this game mode.

The following HUD elements can either be toggled ON (default) or OFF:

• Lookout Proximity Indicator
• Assassin Proximity Indicator
• Alerted Territory Indicator
• Merces Indicator.

Safehouse Spruce

We’ve updated the location image for the Safehouse Location in the menu. When browsing the Freelancer game mode, the background image (behind challenges, etc) will display an exterior shot of the Safehouse, rather than the artwork featuring 47.

Lie Down

We’ve made it possible to lie down in (some of) the beds in the Safehouse. We don’t have fitting animations for all of them, so we’ve enabled the lie down animation where it makes sense.

Target Jingle

We’ve removed the ‘target nearby sound effect’ for Showdown missions, to avoid this being an easy way to identify the Leader. It will still play in other missions where you know the identity of the target.

Spycam Improvements

We’ve added an option to “Hide UI” when using the Spycam. This was in response to player feedback that the UI elements can make it difficult to identify the finer details of a character with the elements permanently visible.

Also, we’ve made the Spycam more precise, which should make it easier to target the correct NPC.

Perfect Shooter Tweak

We’ve made a change to the ‘Perfect Shooter’ objective (Do not miss a shot, you will fail if any shot misses a person), that will make an exception for security cameras or recorders. The objective text has also been updated. In short, you can now shoot security cameras and recorders and still earn the Perfect Shooter objective.

Do Not Change Suit

We’ve changed instances where we use the “Do Not Change Disguise” wording to “Suit Only” to remove confusion and revert to established terminology.

SA Reward

We’ve adjusted the Payout objectives and Prestige objectives to make Silent Assassin (SA) SA, Suit Only (SASO) and Silent Assassin / No Firearms (SANF) objectives more rewarding. These objectives are now rewarded as follows, with values in Merces:

• SA: 5,000
• SANF: 5,500
• SASO: 6,000

On a related note, we’ve adjusted the parameters of SANF, so that firing dartguns will prevent players earning the NF rating.

Alternate Function Four

When playing Freelancer, quitting the game through the menu or by the use of Alt+F4 on keyboard will result in a Mission Failed status upon restarting the game.

SA Recorder

We’ve updated the Prestige Objective description for SA/NF and SA/SO to mention “Destroy Surveillance Recorder” if the player gets recorded. Previously, this wasn’t mentioned and the objectives would be failed on mission completion if the player was recorded but didn’t destroy the recorder.

Walk the Bulldog

We’ve added the “Walking Cane” item back into Dartmoor. It was unintentionally excluded from the ‘FreelancerificationTM’ of the location and has an impact on navigation and certain gameplay possibilities in the location.

Not-so-safe House

We’ve added a small delay to when players can exit a Freelancer mission after starting it, to prevent several issues including lost items. In brief terms, this is down to the fact that player gear is ‘loaded’ at the start of the mission. In rare cases, it’s possible to exit the mission before the gear is fully ‘loaded’, which results in the game thinking that the items haven’t returned to the safehouse and are therefore lost.

Crate Shot

We’ve added a slight delay to when 47 can fire a weapon after closing a crate. This is to prevent accidental deaths that can occur if a player opens a crate with a weapon equipped and then ‘double clicks’ to pick up an item. This would result in them retrieving the chosen item and potentially firing their weapon into the crate and possibly setting off an explosive (if the crate contained an explosive item) and killing themselves. And we don’t want that.

Vault Trigger

We’ve adjusted the vault security in the New York Bank so that it’s no longer triggered by NPCs, even when disabled.

Nobody Shot

We’ve resolved an issue where some characters in Freelancer missions could only take damage from headshots.

Prestige Objective Picks

We’ve tweaked the logic of Prestige Objectives to ensure that you cannot get more than one from the same category (Silent Assassin, Timed, Multikill).

Urgent Call

We’ve resolved an issue where some characters would ‘teleport’ to Agent 47’s location in certain circumstances. It’s now impossible to arrange a meeting in places that are inaccessible to AI characters. We’ve also fixed a related issue where the ‘Arrange Meeting’ Prestige Objective would not complete under certain circumstances.

Bat Crazy

We’ve resolved an issue where the Collectors Baseball Bat found in Santa Fortuna would not complete the ‘Pacify – Baseball Bat’ Prestige objective. Now, it will.

No Silencer For You

We’ve removed a couple of Silenced Pistols from guards in Dubai and Dartmoor. It’s not in their remit to have silenced weapons.

Cleave Knife

We’ve made a change to allow Cleaver kills to progress the “Knife Kill” objective, either melee or thrown.

Collateral Kills

We’ve made some backend changes to make the “Collateral Kill” Prestige Objective variants complete more reliably. This includes broadening the window of opportunity across ballistic kills, accident kills, fire kills and explosive kills to register.
Extra note: A collateral kill won’t register if two targets are eliminated together. A non-target kill as ‘collateral’ with the target is required for this to complete.

Illegal Gold Idol

We’ve made it ‘legal’ for 47 to pick up the Gold Idol after first retrieving it from a stash crate and then dropping it.

Tattoo Tweak

We’ve resolved an issue where some tattoos on possible Leaders would disappear during certain animations, making it difficult to identify them.

Breaking Bread

We’ve resolved an issue in Dartmoor where it was impossible for 47 to interact with the bread on the table in the Library.

Train Exit

We’ve removed the moving train exit in Mumbai (Freelancer mode only) to prevent an issue where the game would softlock following the cinematic and then consider the mission to have failed upon a forced restart.

Slipped Past You

We’ve resolved an issue where the “Make Target Slip” objective was not completed when a target would slip on a puddle after moving a ‘wet floor’ sign. These particular puddles were being tracked with a different identifier, but now both count towards completing the objective.

Excess Alcohol

We’ve resolved an issue where certain targets, who interact with drinks, would duplicate the bottle they were drinking from, making it difficult to poison them.

Possible T?rget

We’ve resolved an issue where a potential target in Miami had a question mark in their name when viewed on the map.

Open Safe

We’ve resolved an issue where the “Open Safe – Explosive” Prestige Objective would not complete once all clues have been scanned and an explosive was used to open it.

Poison Trap

We’ve updated the definitions for the “Poison Guard” payout objective to include poison used in ventilation traps.

Correction Recuired

We’ve updated the item text written on some pill bottles. They now read “refill requires prescription” whereas before they read “literally unplayable”.

Stuck

We’ve resolved an issue where 47 could get stuck between the safe in the Morgue Security Room when taking cover there. We’ve moved the safe a bit to give him some more wiggle room.

Hook, Line and Hammer

We’ve resolved an issue where changing some decoration options in the Safehouse would make certain items appear that were not there before. Changing the Pier from default to the Mastery 69 cosmetic and back to default, would make a fish and fishing line spawn on the pier. That’s now removed.

Also, when loading the Safehouse with the Mastery Level 42 or Mastery level 87 cosmetic in the Garage, a hammer was not spawning. Now, it will.

Heli Heli Copter

We’ve resolved an issue where using the Passport Exit could result in two helicopters being visible in the cinematic.

Bedroom Lock

We’ve locked the Bedroom door from the inside to prevent Mastery Level 12 players from sliding their way into the Mastery Level 31 exclusive area.

DeathHouse

We’ve fixed an issue where it was possible for 47 to die in the Safehouse by collecting gunpowder from the garage, dropping it near the shooting range and shooting it. Now, the gunpowder won’t react to gunfire or explosions.

Down but Not Comfortable

We’ve resolved an issue where 47 would return to the Infirmary in a Wounded state and not even make it back to the bed. In reality, it was possible for players to briefly control 47’s movement during the start of the scene, thus resulting in his starting position to be slightly askew.

Ancestral Discount

We’ve adjusted the price of the Ancestral Sniper Rifle to meet current market inflation rates. This 9,900% increase is now in effect, raising the price from 389 to 38,900 Merces.*

To offset this price increase, we’ve made it more clear that this rifle comes equipped with the “Piercing Damage” perk, even though the description doesn’t tell you.

*Jokes aside, this weapon was erroneously excluded from the pre-launch change in prices, where we added a few 00’s to all currency values. This fix is just about bringing it to the level it should have been at launch.

Potato Potato

We’ve resolved an issue where a safe clue on a bag of potatoes in Santa Fortuna could not be scanned, causing the safe to be impossible to open.

Tell You What

We’ve resolved an issue where the ‘Eliminate Leader – During Tell’ Prestige Objective would not unlock if the Leader was a smoker and eliminated using an oil trap. The trick here was that the target would start burning and would then stop doing their ‘tell’, which lead to the inaccurate calculation of the challenge completion. We’ve now added a grace period after they stop their Tell animation, within which the objective will still unlock.

Stash Dump

We’ve removed the option to ‘dump’ a target in a very specific place on the Pier in Sapienza to prevent an issue where 47 could get stuck or fall into the abyss. There will be dump options either side of where the stash is.

Campaign Bonus

We’ve added a small delay between opening a reward crate and interacting with the Campaign Map to ensure that the Campaign Completion Bonus is correctly awarded.

Target Text

We’ve resolved some issues with overlapping text on the screen displaying opt-in objectives.

New York Sweep

We’ve adjusted some parameters of the New York location in Freelancer to balance several areas, including reducing the amount of Merces that can be collected from the vault, removed the button to turn off the lasers, replaced legendary items in lockboxes with Merces, removed some NPCs from spawning if they are not targets and fixed some issues with NPCs pathing.

How to Play

We’ve added the ‘How to Play Freelancer’ video into the game for PS4 and PS5 players.

Stock Market

We’ve changed the prompt on the Stock Market computer from “Check the Stock Market” to “Play the Stock Market”, to imply an element of risk involved. Whilst this is only a minor change, we’re exploring more options to improve this experience and prevent player frustration.

Shed Load

We’ve resolved an issue where the “Check Gun Parts” (Mastery Level 76) animation isn’t always available in the Shed.

Not Worthy

We’ve resolved an issue where the “A Worthy Sacrifice” challenge does not unlock in Hardcore Mode.