Blackout

Blackout is confirmed as exactly what its name promised: an area power-cut on demand — Ctrl+F on PC — that shuts things down around Michael without a walk to the breaker. In a kit built on darkness, it's the tempo pick: manual sabotage as an ability cast.

What it does

• Cuts power / shuts down systems in an area around you — instant Shape Jump terrain where there was a lit defense.
• The confirmed party trick: used next to a bike, it knocks the rider off. Reported (Dr. Loomis rides a bike. Draw your own conclusions.)
• Exact radius, cooldown, and whether it destroys versus disables the lines it hits are unread so far.

That last question matters because of the sabotage economy: manually, Michael can switch off a line (civilians flip it back) or destroy it (needs a repair kit — strictly better). Where Blackout falls on that line decides how hard its darkness sticks. Unverified

Using it well

• Cast it as a door-opener. Lit houses block Shape Jump entry; Blackout converts a defended house into an enterable one mid-approach.
• Cast it as a fight-changer. Lights drain the value of every civilian stand; killing the room's power mid-standoff flips the terrain under their feet.
• Save it for defended ground. Spending it on an empty block a breaker-walk could have darkened is wasting the tempo that makes it a pick.

If you're a civilian

The counter is the light war fought properly: repair kits in someone's slot, re-light sweeps after his casts, and the knowledge that a sudden local blackout is Michael announcing himself — treat the dark as a knock on the door.