Heat, Noise & Detection Explained
How the AI detection model actually scores you, beyond the simple alert meter.
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Two separate scores
Nightwatch Protocol tracks a visible Alert meter and a hidden Heat score. The Alert meter reflects what one guard currently suspects; Heat reflects how much the whole map's AI network has learned about your general presence over time.
You can fully reset the Alert meter and still have High Heat, which makes the next patrol react faster than a first-time encounter would suggest.
What raises Heat
Any confirmed visual sighting, gunfire, or a body being found adds Heat that does not decay for the rest of the contract.
Noise alone (footsteps, breaking glass) raises the local Alert meter but contributes only a small, decaying amount of Heat.
- Hiding bodies is worth the extra seconds on higher-Heat contracts — an undiscovered body prevents a large, permanent Heat increase.
- Silenced weapons reduce the Alert-meter spike from gunfire but do not reduce the Heat added by a confirmed kill.
More Nightwatch Protocol guides
Onboarding: Your First Contract
What to do in the first extraction so you don't lose your starting loadout.
Blackwell Docks Extraction Walkthrough
A quiet route through the docks map that reaches extraction with time to spare.