Don’t get greedy and draw unwanted attention.
Failing to manage Heat in Evil Genius 2 will make your attempt to dominate the world infinitely harder than it needs to be. The more Heat you accumulate the more often the Forces of Justice will look into your diabolical deeds, and eventually they’ll start sending their best agents to put an end to your Genius. You’ll want to keep a stern eye on your Global Operations and manage your Heat to keep the good guys in the dark.
Manage Heat by canceling Schemes as needed, and by running Heat reducing Purple Schemes in Evil Genius 2.
Heat in Evil Genius 2 is generated in one of two ways: both slowly over time and by running Schemes. Your Criminal Networks will always passively accumulate Heat over time, though you can research upgrades in the Global Operations Research tree that will help reduce how much Heat they generate.
The second way you generate Heat in Evil Genius 2 is by running Schemes. With the exception of Purple Schemes, every Scheme you run will list how much Heat it will generate over the duration of that Scheme. As a general rule of thumb: the better the rewards the more Heat that Scheme will generate.
Note how I said the Heat generated from Schemes is earned over the duration of the Scheme, and not all at once. This is critical to keep in mind, because your Criminal Networks will each have a Heat cap that will shut down the entire region for a few minutes when reached, and further alert the Forces of Justice to your misdeeds.
The key to managing Heat then is two-fold. You must first understand that it will increase over time and that you need to keep an active eye on your Criminal Networks in your Global Operations. The second is knowing when to abandon a Scheme in favor of a Purple Scheme. Purple Schemes are the most important, since they are how you reduce Heat in any given Criminal Network to zero.
Purple Schemes will either cost Gold (for a quick reduction of Heat), or Minions (for a slower, more gradual reduction). You should always run these when Heat in a Criminal Network is within 20% of the cap, though you can push closer to the cap if you have the Gold to spend on a rapid Purple Scheme.
Remember, even though you won’t earn Gold from these, the temporary reduction of cash beats getting infiltrated every couple of minutes by both agents and investigators from the Forces of Justice. Keep an eye on your Heat, understand the costs of your regular Schemes, and be ready to divert to a Purple Scheme to properly manage your Heat in Evil Genius 2.
As a final note, interrogating or killing enemy agents and investigators that infiltrate your lair will increase your Heat in the region they hailed from. It’s may not seem like much early on, but if you get in the habit of killing everyone from the Forces of Justice you will quickly find yourself overcome by their best agents. Use your Cover Operation to keep Heat low!
Evil Genius 2 is available March 30th on PC.
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