ULTRAKILL Patch 17d is a small April 2026 hotfix that focuses on performance, Cyber Grind quality‑of‑life, and a bunch of specific Fraud‑era bug fixes rather than big balance swings. If you’re grinding Cyber Grind or replaying Layer 8 on higher difficulties, this patch quietly makes your runs smoother and less janky. Patch 17d is live on PC via Steam as of mid‑April 2026 and follows the larger Fraud hotfixes from February–March.
For most players, the biggest takeaways are: better performance in regular levels and Cyber Grind, less frustrating Deathcatcher waves, more reliable coin and core tech, and several fixes to quirky 8‑2 and 8‑3 issues.
What changed in Patch 17d?
If you just want the headline changes before diving into details, here’s the short version.
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Performance is improved on non‑portal levels and in the Cyber Grind.
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Cyber Grind end‑of‑run leaderboard is scrollable and highlights your score.
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Deathcatcher cages open sooner and can’t softlock you if they spawn on top of you.
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Several Fraud levels (2‑2, 8‑2, 8‑3) got geometry, spawn, and rendering fixes.
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Weapons like the Sawed‑On Shotgun, railcannons, and core‑based tech behave more consistently.
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Coin beams, Wind state breakables, and size 2 fish all got niche but important fixes.
If you’re mid‑campaign, you can just keep playing; nothing in 17d fundamentally changes how you approach fights. For Cyber Grind and tech enjoyers, though, some of these changes are a big deal.
How does Patch 17d change Cyber Grind?
The Cyber Grind gets the most noticeable quality‑of‑life tweaks in this patch, aimed at making long runs smoother and less annoying.
Short answer: expect better framerates, less awkward hunting for the last enemy to open Deathcatcher cages, and a cleaner end‑screen when you’re comparing scores with friends.
Cyber Grind improvements at a glance
Previously, Fraud Hotfix #2 made Deathcatchers spawn in protective cages that only opened after 75% of the wave was cleared, and the Deathcatchers themselves counted toward that 75%. In practice, that meant some waves turned into a tedious cleanup job where you’d already killed everything in reach but still couldn’t open the cage.
Patch 17d fixes that by excluding Deathcatchers from the 75% requirement, so cages open once you’ve killed enough other enemies in the wave. On top of that, if a cage happens to spawn directly where you’re standing, the game now pops you above it instead of trapping you inside.
Player insight: if you’re pushing high‑wave Cyber Grind runs, this makes Deathcatcher waves feel more like a mid‑wave mini‑objective and less like a bugged encounter you have to babysit. You still have to respect them, but they’re no longer the “I guess my run dies to jank” enemy.
What performance and level fixes should returning players know about?
If you last played around the initial Fraud release, you’ll notice that 17d smooths out some rough edges, especially in Layer 8.
Performance and general behavior
Patch 17d improves optimization on non‑portal levels and in the Cyber Grind, targeting the heavier encounters introduced in Layer 8. It also fixes a long‑standing issue where enemies sometimes survived fatal falls, which could lead to weird situations where a screaming enemy simply refused to die after a big drop.
2‑2, 8‑2, and 8‑3 fixes
Several Fraud maps get specific, grounded fixes:
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2‑2’s first area had broken navigation data, causing Soldiers to spawn in the wrong place; this is now corrected so enemies appear where the encounter expects them to.
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An unintended “crevice” in 8‑2 Reception has been removed, likely closing off a spot where players or enemies could get stuck.
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In 8‑3 Shifting Arena, the right wall was offset by one unit; that wall is now aligned properly.
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Some enemies in the 8‑3 Dimensional Deathcatcher room weren’t rendering correctly; they now display properly.
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A “mysterious black blob” that sometimes appeared on the portal from 8‑3 Split Color Door to Night Street has been removed.
The Earthmover boss also gets a small UI fix: its health bar no longer replays the full intro fill animation every time you hit a checkpoint. It’s a tiny change, but when you’re dying a lot on higher difficulties, not seeing that bar replay every time makes the whole fight feel less repetitive.
What weapon and tech bugs were fixed?
Patch 17d reads like a love letter to people who live in the game’s tech: Sawed‑On shenanigans, core nukes, and dual‑wield rail setups all behave more reliably now.
Sawed‑On Shotgun behavior
The Sawed‑On Shotgun had two specific issues that are now fixed:
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If you launched the chainsaw and it broke, the weapon could still appear broken after it respawned. That visual state now updates correctly.
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A bug stopped you from using primary fire while you were chainsaw‑meleeing with the Sawed‑On. You can once again combine melee and primary fire as intended, restoring some of the old high‑tempo tech.
Core, Wind state, and railcannon tweaks
Several interactions around cores, Wind state, and railcannons have been cleaned up:
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Ejected cores are no longer launched around the arena by random non‑Knuckleblaster explosions, which makes core setups less chaotic when other explosives are going off.
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Malicious Face beams once again trigger proper core nukes, re‑enabling a specific advanced interaction for players who like to use enemy projectiles against them.
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A small buffer safety system has been added to the alt fires of the Core Eject Shotgun and SRS Cannon Rocket Launcher so you can’t accidentally fire a zero‑force projectile on the exact frame you swap to them.
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Wind state now breaks breakables and glass more consistently, smoothing out some of the Fraud‑era movement tech introduced earlier.
Railcannons also get a couple of visual fixes: the electricity particles on the Electric and Malicious Railcannons now display correctly again, and the charge pips behave properly when you’re under a Dual Wield power‑up. If you rely on clean visual cues for timing rail shots in high‑pressure fights, those details matter.
Any enemy or UI quirks I should be aware of?
Beyond levels and weapons, 17d patches several small but noticeable issues with enemies and UI.
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Mannequins no longer inherit a broken version of the Husk chest explosion mechanic, removing an unintended interaction.
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A Power in 8‑3 no longer flashes its health bar for a single frame at the start of its spawn animation.
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The Major Assist game speed option now applies correctly immediately after loading a level, instead of waiting for a hit‑stop event to kick it in.
On the Cyber Grind side, the Mirror Reaper’s non‑boss spawn sound has been made louder, giving you clearer audio warning when it appears during a wave. That extra notice can be the difference between calmly repositioning and getting blindsided while you’re juggling other threats.
The patch notes also call out a fix for size 2 fish being uncatchable, which has been a quiet meme in the community for a while. If you’re the kind of player who goes after every odd challenge and secret, you can finally tick that off without relying on mods or workarounds.
