PROJECT HACK // HELP

Boss Fights

The "Boss Target" system unlocks at level 3. Bosses are fought one at a time, in a fixed order — you always face the next undefeated boss in the list, and can't skip ahead. Fighting is a single-click gamble: no scripting, no combat sequence, just a probability roll against a large reward and a real penalty.

Success chance

if playerLevel < requiredLevel: 0%
ratio = playerLevel / requiredLevel
chance = min(1 - 0.5/ratio, 0.95)

This means you need to be at or above a boss's required level just to attempt it, and even well above it the chance caps at 95% (never a guaranteed win). At exactly the required level (ratio = 1), your odds are 50%. Overleveling raises it from there — e.g. at 2x the required level, odds are 75%.

On a win

  • The boss is added to your defeated list (permanent).
  • You receive its full reward (money + hacking XP, both listed below).
  • Your Trace Level (see below) resets to 0.
  • Triggers a leaderboard score submission if you're signed in.

On a loss

All of these apply simultaneously, scaled to that specific boss:

PenaltyEffect
Money lossfloor(currentMoney * moneyLossPercent / 100) deducted immediately
Boss lockoutCan't attempt any boss fight again for cooldownTicks game-seconds
Hack debuffMultiplies your hack success chance on regular servers by 1 - hackDebuffPercent/100 for hackDebuffTicks
Resource freezePauses all passive hacking-XP gain from hackers/machines for resourceFreezeTicks
Trace Level +1See below

Trace Level (failure escalation)

Every failed boss fight adds a pip to your Trace Level, capped at 3 pips. Reaching the 3rd failure (without an intervening win) triggers a critical penalty instead of a normal one: all server money is wiped to zero across the entire network, and Trace Level resets to 0. Any win also resets Trace Level to 0, so a single successful fight clears the meter.

Boss roster

Rewards are money (DWC) + hacking XP. Penalty columns: cooldown (lockout), % money lost, hack debuff (% / duration), resource freeze duration.

#BossReq. LvlReward (DWC / XP)CooldownMoney lossHack debuffFreeze
1Script Rat35,000 / 2,0001m3%1m30s
2Java Jane512,000 / 4,5002m30s4.2%12% / 3m2m45s
3Proxy Phantom725,000 / 8,0004m5.4%14% / 4m4m
4Cipher Queen11100,000 / 25,0005m30s6.6%16% / 5m5m15s
5Zero Day14500,000 / 75,0007m7.8%18% / 6m6m30s
6Amber Grease18750,000 / 100,0008m30s9%20% / 7m7m45s
7The Architect (Colin Optional)231,000,000 / 125,00010m10.2%22% / 8m9m
82 Billion Virtual Groundhogs281,250,000 / 150,00011m30s11.4%24% / 9m10m15s
9CE Yo381,500,000 / 165,00013m12.6%26% / 10m11m30s
10Sal Anon481,750,000 / 180,00014m30s13.8%28% / 11m12m45s
11Jay Pegg591,900,000 / 190,00016m15%30% / 12m14m
12The Architect782,000,000 / 200,00017m30s16.2%32% / 13m15m15s
13Charles Proxy953,000,000 / 300,00019m17.4%34% / 14m16m30s
14Packet Pete1105,000,000 / 450,00020m30s18.6%36% / 15m17m45s
15Harriet Hub1307,500,000 / 650,00022m19.8%38% / 16m19m
16Steve Switch15210,000,000 / 850,00023m30s21%40% / 17m20m15s
17Ex-GIF17515,000,000 / 1,100,00025m22.2%40% / 18m21m30s
18NewmsGFG20025,000,000 / 1,500,00026m30s23.4%40% / 19m22m45s
19Scarlett Ruby22540,000,000 / 2,000,00028m24.6%40% / 20m24m
20Kotl Keith25045,000,000 / 2,600,00028m27%50% / ~23m~25m40s
21Closure Carl28049,000,000 / 3,100,00033m20s25.6%50% / ~21m40s25m

Note there are two entries named "The Architect" (#7 is "Colin Optional", displayed as "The Architect"; #12 is the actual the_architect boss) — this looks like an in-progress naming overlap in the data rather than intentional design; don't be surprised if it gets renamed later.

Both the hack-debuff and resource-freeze penalties cap out around 40-50% / tens of minutes at the high end — the scaling isn't perfectly linear all the way through the list, so treat later entries as approximate until you're actually there.