The Latest Devlog Is Here Bringing News About Perks, Promotions, and More
I have high hopes for Overhype Studios’ new project—the creators of Battle Brothers. More specifically, I’m counting on it to be a worthy successor to XCOM and to keep us engaged until, hopefully one day, we get a new entry in the legendary human-versus-alien strategy series. That’s why I don’t miss a single update on MENACE, and just a few days ago, a new Dev Diary dropped—the ninth one, to be exact., shedding light on how Squadleaders and Pilots progress throughout the game.
Unlike traditional RPGs and tactics games that rely on experience points, MENACE introduces a promotion-based system, putting the player in full control of character development. As usual, before introducing the new details, just below you will find the previous dev logs:
- How the Strategy Layer works.
- New details about the combat system.
- Information on weapons and their associated skills.
- Squad Leaders, Stats, Supplies, and Equipment.
- Suppression And Ship Improvements.
Promotion Points & Mission Rating
Progression in MENACE revolves around Promotion Points, which are earned by completing missions, hitting bonus objectives, and performing well in combat. Even if an operation is unsuccessful, players still gain Promotion Points, ensuring a sense of progress after every mission.
Mission Rating is influenced by several factors:
- Persistent Factors: Logistics management, casualties, and mission difficulty.
- Optional Factors: Speed, civilian and collateral damage, and enemy destruction.
Higher ratings yield more Promotion Points, which accumulate like a resource, allowing for tactical investment after each mission.
Promotions & Demotions
Promotions are player-driven decisions rather than automatic level-ups. Each character’s rank can be increased from Lance Corporal (Rank 1) to Master Gunnery Sergeant (Rank 8), but each successive promotion costs more points, encouraging players to distribute leadership wisely.
Notably, a comeback mechanic allows new recruits to catch up, ensuring that high-ranking veterans don’t create an insurmountable power gap. If needed, characters can even be demoted, though this only returns a fraction of the spent points—at the cost of their morale.
The Perk Tree: Customizing Your Leaders
Each squad leader and Pilot in MENACE has a unique Perk Tree, allowing for specialization without rigid class restrictions.
Perk Structure
- Unique Perks: Exclusive to individual characters.
- Regular Perks: Shared among multiple trees, but uniquely arranged for each leader.
- Four Tiers: Unlocking higher tiers requires a set number of perks but doesn’t necessarily mean stronger abilities—just different strategic options.
Perks can be passive (stat boosts, tactical advantages) or active, unlocking powerful combat abilities. With over 40 perks already implemented and more on the way, MENACE offers deep build variety and high replayability.
This system aligns with the game’s military setting, reinforcing the player’s role as commander of the Impetus—choosing who advances and how teams evolve. The deliberate promotion system fosters strategic thinking, rewarding careful squad management over brute force XP grinding. MENACE is expected to be released in Early Access in Q3 2025 on PC via Steam.
