The team at Arkane Studios has released the second free update for Dishonored 2, this time adding custom difficulty settings and the ability to go back and replay any mission.

The new update, which continues the "play your own way" theme that has made the series so popular, will offer 20 difficulty sliders that will let players adjust things like how quickly tranquilizer darts will take effect, to how many enemies respond to alerts. There is also a new Iron Mode that eliminates manual and auto saves, forcing players to be extra careful in what they try as permadeath lurks around each corner.

“Iron Mode adds even more teeth to Dishonored 2,” Lead Designer Dinga Bakaba said in a blog post. “You will have to live with the consequences of your actions, or die permanently because of them.”

In addition to the difficulty sliders, there is now a Mission Select option that lets players go back after completing a game and choose specific missions to try again, perhaps with a different tactic or style of play. This should make it easier for Ghost or Clean Hands achievements.

The update also adds a huge number of bug fixes on all platforms:

FIXES

PC

• Fixed a bug where Switching off the V-Sync for the second time set the FPS Limiter to 30 instead of 60 by default
• Fixed a bug where changing the settings from TXAA to FXAA and not applying the change made the TXAA Sharpness turn to 1 instead of its previous value
• Fixed a bug where turning off TXAA Anti-aliasing does not visually disable TXAA Sharpness slider
• Fixed a bug where the changes made to V-Sync were reverted to the previous setting when turning on then cancelling
• Fixed bug where the volumetric lightning is not turned on by default at launch if it was set to off on a previous version and it can't be turned on manually anymore
• Fixed a bug where the "Fog Quality" setting is set back to low after restarting the game
• Fixed a bug where Keyboard/mouse shortcut UI could show up during possession & keyhole peeking
• Fixed a bug where Emily’s feet can be seen floating during the throne room cutscene with high FOV settings
• Fixed a bug where the Low Chaos Sokolov epilogue slide will have black windows if Volumetric Lighting is off
• Fixed a bug where the screen post processing persists in Ansel mode

PlayStation 4

• Fixed a graphical distortion on top / bottom of screen when forced from past to present at front door
• Fixed a bug where attempting to start a New Game Plus off of a corrupt epilogue save twice would start a regular new game and delete the corrupt save without confirmation.
• Fixed a bug where a save data could become corrupted while regularly reloading auto-saves and deleted without notifying the user
• Fixed a bug where pressing the Power Wheel button during active gameplay on a PS Vita caused an indefinite non-interactive screen

General Fixes

• Fixed various crashes
• Fixed various save issues
• Fixed various localization issues
• Fixed various rendering issues
• Fixed various audio issues
• Fixed various collision issues
• Fixed various UI issues and added new UI for Game Update 2
• Fixed a bug where the player will instantly die if he possess a Gravehound
• Fixed a bug where a "8" could appear on the screen
• Fixed the LOD of the watchtower
• Fixed a bug where walking down stairs while a wolfhound runs up would cause the hound to bounce backwards
• Fixed a bug where pickpocketing Jindosh's pistol may cause him to throw nothing during combat
• Fixed an audio issue while loading save games
• Fixed a bug where NPCs can suddenly be seen standing during the recover from ragdoll animation
• Fixed a bug where Far Reach pulling a guard that is mantling will have no effect on the guard
• Fixed a bug where NPCs can be involuntarily dropped from a choke, causing their AI to break
• Fixed a bug where making a quick save behind a NPC while using controller configuration C would cause the player to choke the NPC instead of creating a save
• Crushing an unconscious enemy in the safe door will no longer count as both lethal and nonlethal in the stats page
• Fixed a bug where using Domino and Shadow Walk in combination will kill Hypatia without her ever transforming into Grim Alex
• Fixed a bug where the awareness feedback is triggered again when loading a save made after NPCs gained attention
• Fixed a bug where performing slide tackles or ground kicks on NPCs in moving elevators causes them to float or fall through
• Fixed a bug where the witches will idle if the player exits and re-enters a hideout during upgraded Bend Time
• Fixed a bug where guards that see a door opened by a possessed NPC ask who opened it
• Fixed a bug where the facial animation was not launched during key target assassinations
• Fixed a bug where a Sleeping Overseer may face the chair upon waking up despite knowing where the player is
• When sprint and lean mode are set to "hold", the change is now reflected in the tutorials
• No awareness is now used for corpses spotted
• Fixed a bug where Clockwork Soldiers were triggering a Snap Reaction when player is undetected
• Fixed a bug where causing an explosion during Stop Time can stretch out and break NPC models
• Fixed a bug where the gameplay thread was not updated every frame and can miss input
• Fixed a bug where physic objects go active when using the Spyglass although they're far from the player
• Fixed a bug where NPC heads do not appear on screen when picked up and cannot be thrown
• Fixed a bug where Guard NPC heads with helmets have unnatural physics when beheaded and thrown
• Deactivated Redirective Blink when swimming up/down
• Fixed a bug where the player can choke an NPC from very far away if they pull them with Far Reach while Bend Time is active
• Fixed a bug where the player is able to duplicate items by Far Reach pulling and picking up at the same time
• Fixed a bug where the Guard by Ramsey disappears shortly then returns ignoring the player when attacked from above
• Fixed a bug where the player could fall OOW when exiting a rat tunnel
• Fixed a bug where Past Stilton does not alert to the player properly after he panics once
• Fixed a bug where the game will black screen if the player dies during the transition to Long Day in Dunwall: Streets
• Fixed a bug where the player may become control locked and see OOW if they use the Timepiece and a key hole at the same time
• Fixed a bug where the player will fall OOW if they use the Timepiece during a kill move
• Prevented the player from grappling the crossbow in Edge of the World to avoid a weird retargeting if the player is far from the door or blocked by a collision
• Fixed a bug where the Gravehound skull can sometimes go through walls/ground when killed
• Fixed a bug where the amount of available traits is incorrect when replacing a trait during a craft by the same trait
• Fixed a bug where the Watchtower red light projector flare was drawn behind environment elements
• Fixed a render issue on Corvo during character selection
• Fixed a bug where a bright light during transition in time remains if the Timepiece is used to interrupt picking up a corpse
• Fixed a bug where the effects of the Dust Storm can be seen inside the Silvergraph Studio
• Fixed a bug where the living highlight sometime stutters when using Dark Vision
• Crafted Bonecharm list is now sorted
• Fixed a bug where Doppelgangers will instantly despawn on particular spots
• Fixed a bug where using Shadow Walk takedowns on Meagan and Sokolov will have the wrong animations
• Fixed a bug causing the watchtower’s position to reset
• Fixed a bug where the FOV changes during jump or sprint
• Fixed a bug where walking with a possessed NPC into water doesn't count as a kill
• Fixed a bug where the player's weapon is automatically switched when restoring health using the D-pad
• Fixed a bug where the Weapon Wheel was not slowing the duration of Bend Time
• Fixed a bug where Catfall is triggered when using Far Reach after vaulting into water
• Fixed a bug where enemies are still active after the player has killed them right before using the Timepiece
• Fixed a bug where the player is unable to switch quick select items using D-pad while the Health Elixir prompt appears
• Fixed a bug where the game terminates while entering connected standby at the end of mission cutscenes
• Fixed a bug where returning to the initial interactive screen via established user sign out while in active control areas will not present the Main Menu Load Screen
• Fixed a bug where the NPCs are ejected in the air after being shot with a sleep dart
• Fixed a bug where the player can fall from a great height onto the cliffs and survive
• Fixed a misaligned animation for an Adrenaline kill
• Fixed a bug where the player was able to fly if they Far Reach pull and picked up a whale oil tank at the same time
• Fixed a bug where Far Reach pulling NPCs then assassinating them near edges pulls the player over the edge
• Fixed a bug where NPCs are unable to be pulled with Far Reach while they are falling asleep from a sleep dart
• Fixed a bug where canceling Far Reach mid pull drops the body or object that the player is holding
• Fixed a bug where the Doppelganger appears in a T-pose when the player summons her
• Fixed a bug where Redirective Blink does not affect sitting or cowering NPCs
• Fixed a bug where jumping after using a jump Blink will cause the cooldown of Blink to return
• Fixed a bug where changing the resolution or display mode can break the rendering as if everything was rendered twice
• Fixed a bug where speakers don't play any announcements
• Fixed a bug where the player can view the Adrenaline/Blood thirst meter while looking through a keyhole
• Fixed a bug where exiting Pause Menu, Weapons Wheel, or Journal while holding The Dealer targeting or Piercing Insult charged shot auto fires
• Fixed a bug where player may become control locked and see out of world if they use the Timepiece and key hole at same time
• Fixed a bug where with 5 traits of the Bonecharm "Strong Arms"; no longer possible to grab an NPC since it's instantly choked
• Fixed a bug where the player can repeatedly initiate a combat choke on Grim Alex with no prior actions required
• Fixed a bug in Medium difficulty where Health Regeneration is set to Limited by default
• Fixed a bug where NPCs could be put into walls when using Doppleganger Swap during a corpse throw
• Fixed a bug where choking any NPC then immediately pushing them off may cause the chokehold audio to persist
• Fixed a bug where the UI Post Process isn't blurred in Pause Menu
• Fixed a bug where Player's hands have a broken texture in some spots during a dust storm
• Fixed a bug where striped shadow lines can be seen on Outsider and other NPCs
• Fixed a big offset in animation during a drop assassination on the Clockwork
• Fixed a bug where throwing a bottle at Mindy's head after completing her quest breaks her model and can lag the game
• Fixed an occlusion issue outside Jessamine's hidden chamber
• Fixed an occlusion issue across from Galvani's apartment
• Fixed a hole in Addermire building during carriage ride scene
• Fixed too loud footsteps SFX
• Fixed the marker "investigate about Sokolov" which was misplaced
• Fixed a bug where after looting unconscious Paolo player may kill Paolo and loot him again for a second Risky Parry Bonecharm
• Fixed a bug where picking up the rune in the flooded basement awards 1 coin in no powers instead of 200 coins
• The Outsider and Jessamine are no longer factored in the Global Kill Ratio
• Outsider Shrines are no longer factored in the Global Kill Ratio on the Current Stats Screen
• Meagan is no longer factored in the player’s Global Kill Ratio on the Playthrough Stats Screen
• Delilah is no longer counted towards the player’s Global Kill Count each time she appears
• Unkillable NPCs are no longer factored in the Global Kill and Global Non-Lethal Ratios on the Stats screen
• Fixed a bug where the player may never transition to the Epilogue if they chose to take the secret passage to the Throne Room
• Fixed a bug where black Occlusion walls are visible around Jindosh's mansion when red buttons are pressed consecutively
• Fixed a bug where the player may never finish the Non-Lethal resolution cinematic if a witch or a Gravehound interrupts the scene

The first update in December added the Game Plus mode, which essentially unlocks all powers and found bone charm abilities after one playthough. This allows powers from the start of the game as well as the overlap of abilities between Corvo and Emily.