Warhammer 40,000: Darktide News

[h3]Welcome to PART 1 of the patch notes.[/h3]

[h3]Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4.[/h3]

Welcome to the Unlocked and Loaded update! We’re excited for everyone to get their hands on this one. Here are the patch notes for the update. It just went live on Steam and it will shortly be live on our other platforms.

(Note: It takes a little bit of time after the release before the old servers are completely disconnected and players are migrated over to the new one. Try reloading the game to switch sooner.) 🙏

(Additional Note: To ensure a smooth release across all platforms, the Armory Exchange and Melk’s Requisitorium are currently closed for maintenance while the new update is being rolled out.

We’ll notify you once the maintenance has been completed! Thank you for your patience, Acolytes. You can follow the update on Twitter or Discord.)

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1361210/view/4653997209641366647


We’re finally ready to unveil the Itemization Overhaul we’ve been working on for players. 

The Itemization Overhaul reinvents weapon progression, giving players more freedom to experiment and progress with weapons. The overhaul introduces two new systems, Mastery and Power, that provide players with clear avenues to get the weapons and gameplay they want.

• Mastery: Players simply have to use their weapon of choice through missions which will result in gaining experience in that weapon’s Mastery track. As players gain experience, they will unlock three different types of rewards and unlock more power: Blessing Points, Weapon Marks, and Perks.
  
  • Blessing Points: Allow players to unlock different tiers of Blessings.
    
  • Weapon Marks: Players will unlock various weapon marks attached to the Mastery track of the weapon’s family they are progressing in.
    
  • Perks: Perks tiers unlock automatically as players advance in a given mastery track.
    
• Power: With the new Power system, players will be able to see and improve their weapon's stats, by spending resources at the Shrine of the Omnissiah. The new power system gives players the possibility to increase the base stats of any weapon allowing it to reach its maximum potential.
  

Dev Note: We will not be removing any existing weapons. Existing weapons will remain exactly the same. The only difference is that players will be able to see their weapons’ stats potential. If a player’s weapons are not at their maximum potential, they will be able to upgrade them accordingly. We will not be removing any Blessings, Perks or anything else. 

There is a LOT to it, and if we included it all in the patch notes here, there would probably be at least 5 parts to these notes on the Forums / Steam. We’ve written everything down in our latest dev blog: the Itemization Overview. We hate to ask you to go to another page, but it’s quite long on its own. 

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]



Introduces a new type of mission, Operations, which provides a shorter and more cinematic experience. In Rolling Steel, players are thrust into a high-octane adrenaline scenario where they must stop a moving train hijacked by the cultists. The mission also introduces a timer as an overarching objective, providing a new challenge and elevating the gameplay’s intensity. Players can read more about this mission in our dev blog. This operation will be live on the regular mission board (as well as on Auric).




Darktide is built to be enjoyed with others and our Party Finder feature makes teaming up with like-minded players easier! Players will be able to find each other based on four criteria: Game Mode, Difficulty, Language and assorted Tags to define what the group is about. This will be an evolving feature that will improve alongside community feedback. Players can read more about the Party Finder in our dev blog, too.



A platoon of Moebian 21st soldiers has been infected by the Blight. Their armour will make them harder to deal with than the usual hordes you encounter.

Rannick's sure there is something afoot. Keep your eyes peeled for any clues as to what the Cult are doing.

Play missions with a set of new Special Conditions, “Infected Moebian 21st”, and as a team collect Grimoires or Scriptures to earn rewards.* This condition will only be available during the event and will appear on both the Standard and Auric mission terminals.

*Similar to past events, the progress will be shared across all members of the strike team.

This event will start on Thursday, September 26, 2024. The rewards will be Ordo Dockets, Plasteel and Diamantine.




For this update, we’ve also added new Penances related to the new Itemization, and new rewards to the Path of Redemption Progression Track, increasing it to a new Maximum of 5000 Points.

[h2]Extended Availability of Weapon Families for Human Classes[/h2]
As part of this update, we will extend the availability of specific weapon families to all human classes (Veteran, Zealot, Psyker).
These weapons were previously locked to only one or two of the three classes, but will now be usable by all of them.
However, we made sure that the weapons that are key to the identity of each class will remain uniquely available to that class.
We hope that this will expand the gameplay experience and open up new interesting builds for players!

Detailed list:

• Turtolsky Heavy Swords
  • added also to Veteran and Psyker
• Maccabian Duelling Swords
  • added also to Veteran and Zealot
• Orestes Assault Chainaxes
  • added also to Psyker
• Braced Autoguns
  • added also to Psyker
• Accatran Recon Lasguns
  • added also to Zealot
• Combat Shotguns
  • added also to Psyker

[h2]Bulk Actions[/h2]
One of the major quality-of-life features coming with the Itemization Overhaul in the Unlocked and Loaded update revolves around Bulk Actions. We have included the option to Discard/Sell weapons in bulk. We have also implemented a filter system that allows players to get rid of certain weapons in bulk right away. For example, players could set a filter to remove all Redeemed rarity weapons in their inventory.



[h2]Favourite Weapons[/h2]
Since bulk action is always a bit of a risky operation that could see a player lose their best weapon, we also implemented a “favourite” feature. Players will be able to set weapons as their favourites through the Loadout menu. When listing a weapon as a favourite, it will never show in the Bulk Actions menu or in the Sacrifice menu at the Shrine of the Omnissiah. Players will know it is their favourite as it will have a recognizable icon. In addition, there is no limit to the number of weapons players can set as their favourite.



[h2]Discarding AKA. Selling Weapons[/h2]
Players used to only get Credits when selling weapons, and the amount of Credits was determined by the item’s Rating. This will still be the case once Unlocked and Loaded is deployed. But in addition to the Credits, players will get additional crafting resources based on the rarity of the weapon sold. From Profane (Grey) to Anointed (Blue) rarities, players will only get Credits back; at Exalted (Purple) players will get Plasteel in addition to Credits; and finally, at Transcendent rarity (Orange) players will get Diamantine added to the mix.



[h2]Mourningstar Improvements[/h2]
With her initial research on the Clandestium Gloriana findings complete, Hadron has unveiled the improvements to her Shrine of the Omnissiah. This brings some much-needed (according to Commissar Dukane's Quartermaster) improvements to the armaments and options available to the Rejects.

Swagger makes an appearance on the Mourningstar, whose presence adds an air of mystery and tension to the already gloomy atmosphere. "I know Rannick and Hadron seem to trust him. They must have their reasons, I suppose, but there's something not right about that Swagger fellow hanging around on the Mourningstar if you ask me."

Commissar Dukane has started making herself comfortable aboard the Mourningstar. Make sure to mind your manners around her and don't go eavesdropping!

[h2]AMD FSR updated to 3.1[/h2]
AMD FidelityFX™ Super Resolution 3 (FSR 3.1) is the latest evolution of AMDs advanced open-source upscaling technology. FSR 3 introduces cutting-edge frame generation technology, delivering significant framerate boosts in supported games, and a new "Native AA" quality mode for enhanced image quality.
[h3] KNOWN ISSUE [/h3]
[h3]The Game Crashes When Switching Between Fullscreen and Windowed Mode and With Upscaling Disabled While FSR3.1 Frame Generation is Turned On[/h3]
FSR 3.1 Frame generation is unstable when used in combination with exclusive Fullscreen Screen mode or with upscaling disabled. Specifically switching between screen modes is prone to crashing.

If you want to use FSR 3.1 frame generation it is recommended to use it with Borderless Fullscreen or Windowed screen modes and with FSR 3.1, DLSS or XESS upscaling enabled. We are working on a fix to ship.

[h2]Miscellaneous Changes[/h2]

• A notification dot will now appear on the Penances and Commodore’s Vestures buttons in the pause menu when something new has happened since the last time you visited.
  
• A button for the Commodore’s Vestures is now available in the pause menu while in the Mourningstar, similar to the menu in the Operative select screen.
  

[h3]Penances Shown As Not Completed[/h3]
While migrating to the new Itemization system, there is a chance for a visual bug to occur where players with a lot of progression on their weapons might not see their Penances displayed as complete. This is only a visual issue which might occur when opening the Penances menu for the first time. Closing and opening the UI again will update it properly.

[h3]Misaligned Weapon Skins in the Penance Preview Squares[/h3]
There are some weapon skin rewards in the penance previews that are misaligned or don’t fit in the square.

[h3]Crash When Selecting Marks/Cosmetics/Inspect After Selecting To Delete An Item
[/h3]When using a controller, after discarding a weapon the game may fail to correctly reobtain the focus on the list of weapons.

While in this state, the game will crash when trying to access the Marks/Cosmetics/Inspect screens, as no weapon would be selected.

As a momentary workaround, please make sure to have a weapon in focus before accessing the above screens immediately after having discarded any item.

(We intend to ship a fix in 1.5.1.)

[h3]Some Weapons May Show Their Max Stat Potential Incorrectly[/h3]
On rare occasions when looking at a weapon card, the max potential stats distribution shown might not correspond to the actual values.

This will be usually signalled by a total potential stats value lower than 380.

The issue is only visual; the weapon card will update to the correct values once the first Empower operation is done on a weapon with incorrect values.

(We intend to ship a fix in 1.5.1.)

[h3]UI Remains Greyed Out After Going Through All The Mastery Help Tiles[/h3]
Looking at the help functionality that is available in the Blessing menu, the screen will remain dark after the help closes.

While navigation in the menu will not remain available, the only way to remove the darkened UI will be by going back on that screen and re-entering it.

(We intend to ship a fix in in 1.5.1.)

[h3]Mastery Level Value is Missing in The Marks Swap Screen
[/h3]When in the Marks swap screen, the Mastery level value required to obtain locked Marks may fail to be correctly displayed.

The issue is only visual, and the locked Marks will be correctly available upon reaching the required Mastery level in the weapon family.

[h3]Incorrect Information in the Sacrifice Weapon Screen Tooltip
[/h3]The tooltip in Sacrifice Weapon screen incorrectly states that only Anointed (blue) rarity weapons (or higher) are able to be sacrificed.

The issue is only in the tooltip text, as the minimum rarity level required for the Sacrifice procedure is Redeemed (green).

[h3]Incorrect Visual Rounding of Weapon Stats
[/h3]On uncommon occasions when looking at a weapon card, the total value of the potential stats distribution shown might add up to 1% higher or lower than the maximum (380).

This is only a visual rounding issue, as the actual stats total will always effectively be 380 for every weapon.

[h3]Minor Typos in the Description of Specific Blessings
[/h3]The “Showstopper” Blessing has an additional “%” character.

The “Penetrating Flame” has an additional “%” character, and an incorrect additional “that apply” in the sentence.

[h3]Auspex Tooltip in Rolling Steel Localization Issue
[/h3]The “Move” text in the HUD tooltip when using an Auspex for the new hacking minigame in the Rolling Steel will appear localised in English but is missing in other languages.



[h3]Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4.[/h3]

[h3]Welcome to PART 3 of the patch notes.[/h3]

Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4.


[h2]Psyker[/h2]
When we started overhauling the Classes for Patch #13, we did it one Class at a time. The first one we tackled was Psyker. As a result, the Psyker ended up with a lot less Passive Nodes available compared to the others, resulting in less room to Customize your preferred build. In this Patch, we hope to remedy that.

[h2]Psyker Talent Updates[/h2]
Scrier’s Gaze
To further define this Ability as the go-to choice for those wielding non-Force Staff Ranged Weapons.

• Now also grants Suppression Immunity for its initial Duration.

Malefic Momentum
To incentivize weaving between Warp Attacks and Regular Attacks

• Now also grants +4% Damage to non-Warp Attacks for 8s after a Warp based Kill. Stacks 5 Times.

[h2]Psyker Talent Tree Updates[/h2]
With more nodes having to fit into the tree, we’ve restructured it a bit. All builds you have been playing up until now should still be available for you, but you might have to take a slightly different path to get there.
Inspiring Presence

• Removed.

[h2]New Psyker Talents[/h2]
Warp Unbound (As a modifier to Scrier’s Gaze)

• Scrier’s Gaze prevents you from overloading from Perils of the Warp during its lingering effect.

Charged Strike (As a modifier to Smite)

• Your Heavy Melee Attacks electrocute enemies, damaging them, without stunning them.

On the Left Side of the Tree:
Perilous Assault

• Up to 50% Weapon Wield Speed (based on Peril).

Channeled Force

• +30% Damage to Force Staff’s Primary Attacks after Fully Charged Force Staff Secondary Attacks. Lasts 5s.

Empyric Shock

• 6% Warp-Damage Taken by victims of your Force Staff’s Primary Attack. Max Stacks 5. Lasts 10s.

On the Right Side of the Tree:
Lightning Speed

• +10% Melee Attack Speed.

Warp Splitting

• Up to 100% Cleave, based on Peril.

By Crack of Bone

• Melee Weakspot Kills Quell 5% Peril and Reduce further Peril Generation by 20% for 4s.

Souldrinker

• Killing an Enemy with Soulblaze restores 5% Toughness and grants 5% critical Hit Chance for 5s.

On your way to the Warp Siphon Keystone:
Penetration of the Soul

• +10% Rending on Warp-Attacks when above 75% Peril.

Empyric Resolve

• -40% Peril Generation. -30% Toughness Replenished.

On your way to the Disrupt Destiny Keystone:
Tranquility Through Slaughter

• Non-Warp Ranged Critical Hits Quell 4% Peril.

Surety of Arms

• +25% Reload Speed while below 75% Peril. On Reload, generate up to 25% Peril based on the Percentage of the Clip Restored.

Above Empowered Psionics:
Crystalline Will

• Overloading through Perils of the Warp no longer knocks you down, but you still take the appropriate Corruption Damage.

[h2]Veteran[/h2]
[h2]Veteran Talent Updates[/h2]
Skirmisher

• Duration 5s to 8s.

Opening Salvo

• First Percentage of Ammo: 10% to 20%.

Kill Zone

• Ranged Damage: 15% to 20%.

[h2]Veteran Talent Tree Updates[/h2]
Vanguard

• Removed. Replaced by ‘One Motion’.

Dev Note: Vanguard wasn’t performing as we wanted, and it was mostly viewed as a blocker to the talents below it. One Motion

• +25% Weapon Swap Speed.

Relentless

• Removed. It is now included in Executioner’s Stance per default.

Dev Note: Relentless was pretty much a must pick for the viability of the Ability.
[h2]Zealot[/h2]
[h2]Zealot Talent Updates[/h2]
Invocation of Death

• Changed from 1.5s Cooldown reduction on Melee Critical Strike to: +200% Cooldown Regeneration for 4s on Melee Critical Strike.

Dev Note: We missed the mark on the last change to ‘Invocation of Death’, leading to frustration. We hope this brings it to a satisfying and balanced state. In the previous patch notes, this was set to 175%, but we have increased it to 200%. Sainted Gunslinger

• Reload Speed per Stack: 3% to 6%.
• Max Stacks: 10 to 5.

Dev Note: The purpose of these changes is to allow the talent to reach its full potential faster. Vicious Offering

• Toughness: 7.5% to 10%.

The Voice of Terra

• Toughness: 2.5% to 4%.

Fortitude in Fellowship

• Toughness Coherency Modifier: 25% to 50%.

Ambuscade

• Damage: 20% to 30%.

Stalwart

• Now also provides 25% Toughness Damage Reduction while ‘Fury’ is Active.

Perfectionist

• Ability Cooldown Increase: 50% to 25%.

Master-Crafted Shroudfield

• Duration: 6s to 5s.

I Shall Not Fall

• Toughness Damage Reduction per Stack: 5% to 6.5%

Restoring Faith

• Heal 25% to 20%.
• Time for Full Heal: 5s to 4s.

Dev Note: These changes were made because Restoring Faith made taking stray damage a bit too forgiving. Swift Certainty

• Sprint Speed: 10% to 5%.

Dev Note: The Dodging effect of Swift Certainty is already a very strong effect. We’re lowering the movement speed slightly.

[h2]Ogryn[/h2]
[h2]Ogryn Talent Updates[/h2]
No Pushover

• Reworked. New Description:
  • Your Pushes have +250% Stagger. Can only trigger once every 8s.

Dev Note: The Old ‘No Pushover’ was frankly not up to par. Maybe this spices things up a bit? Big Boom

• Explosion Radius: 22.5% to 27.5%.

Reloaded and Ready

• Ranged Damage: 12% to 15%.
• Duration: 6s to 8s.

Bruiser

• Combat Ability Cooldown: 5% to 4%.

Massacre

• Duration: 6s to 10s.

Steady Grip

• Toughness: 3-5% toughness regeneration per second.

Delight in Destruction

• Damage Resistance per Stack: 10% to 8%.

Too Stubborn to Die

• Health Threshold: 25% to 33%.

[h2]Ogryn Talent Tree Updates[/h2]

• Swapped places of Toughness Damage Reduction Operative Modifier, and Suppression Boost Operative Modifier, on the Bottom Right part of the Tree.

Thick of the Fray

• Removed. It is now included in Point-Blank Barrage per default.

[h2]Additional Miscellaneous Talent Changes[/h2]

• Fixed an issue where the Zealot class base Aura “The Emperor’s Will” remained active after selecting the “Loner” Aura talent.
• Fixed an issue where an additional stack of the Psyker “True Aim” talent was gained when inflicting stagger to an enemy during the cast of “Brain Rupture”.

Dev Note: A stack of the talent will still be gained when completing the cast.

• Changed the Psyker “Mettle” talent to only receive a maximum of 1 stack for each Critical attack, regardless of the amount of enemies hit by the attack.

[h3]Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4.[/h3]

[h3]Welcome to PART 4 of the patch notes.[/h3]

Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4.


[h2]Weapons[/h2]

• Fixed an issue where Zarona Combat Shotgun special attack damage was not affected by the Damage stat.
• Solved an issue with melee weapons push-follow attack not entering the sprinting state.
• Fixed an issue where the windup animation for the Heavy 2 attack on the Turtolsky Mk VI Heavy Sword would be incorrect when chained from a Light 3 attack.
• Removed the snap of the camera when swapping weapons while recoiling for Double-Barrelled Shotguns.
• Fixed the Agni MK Ia Shock Maul and the Indignatus Mk III Shock Maul having odd animation blendings between specific attacks, and solved an issue in which their hitstop animations were not properly playing when hitting an armoured enemy during push follow-up attacks.
• Added a small amount of chain timing to cancel into Blitz or Ability after connecting with a Special activated attack on the Ogryn Brute-Brainer Mk XIX Latrine Shovel and Brute-Brainer Mk V Latrine Shovel.

Dev Note: This is to prevent an immediate cancellation of the backswing of the Special activated attacks.

• Fixed an issue where the ‘Brute-Brainer Mk XIX Latrine Shovel’ and ‘Brute-Brainer Mk V Latrine Shovel’ didn’t get attack speed bonuses from Talents and Blessings for the majority of their attacks.
• Fixed an issue where the ‘Brute-Brainer Mk III Latrine Shovel’ didn’t get attack speed bonuses from Talents and Blessings for its first Heavy attack.
• Fixed an issue where the ‘Indignatus Mk III Shock Maul’ and the ‘Agni Mk Ia Shock Maul’ didn’t get attack speed bonuses from Talents and Blessings for their Special attack.

[h2]Fixes for Talents, Abilities and Blitz Abilities[/h2]

• Veteran’s Shock Trooper: The talent is now correctly not working when ammo is completely expended.
• Fixed an issue where entering Veteran’s ‘Executioner’s Stance’ wouldn’t activate ‘Weapons Specialist’.

[h2]Tweaks to Weapons, Talents, Abilities and Blitz Abilities[/h2]

• Attack speed from Celerity Stimms now increases the speed of Force Staff attacks.
• Terrifying Barrage now proc when killing enemies with secondary attacks for Voidblast Force Staff (formerly: Trauma Staff) and Electrokinetic Force Staff (formerly: Surge Staff).
• Run ‘n’ Gun blessing: incremented weapon spread reduction for the Double-Barrelled Shotgun (formerly: Assault Shotgun) from 0% to 10%.

[h2]Combat[/h2]

• Kills from fire barrel explosions and resulting fire on the ground will now contribute to the “Situational Awareness” Penance.

[h2]Missions[/h2]
[h3]Transit Hub HL 16-11, “Chasm Terminus”[/h3]
Hab Dreyko

• Fixed out-of-bounds exploits.
• Fixed an invisible collision.

Chasm Station HL-16-11

• Fixed out-of-bounds exploits.
• Fixed an issue where players would clip through the floor after being rescued from a hang ledge.

Ascension Riser 31

• Fixed collision issues around the train cars in the Locomotive Storage Bay area.
• Fixed collision issues at the start of the mission.
• Fixed a respawn location that could cause players to fall through the floor.
• Fixed minor gaps in the geometry in Ironside Alley / Refector’s Quarter
• Moved a spawn location for Scriptures

[h3]Habzone HL-19-24, “Throneside”[/h3]
Comms-Plex 154/2f

• Fixed an unreachable pickup.

Archivum Sycorax

• Fixed some locations where players could fall out of the map.
• Fixed an issue where players could sprint past gates before they closed and get locked.

Enclavum Baross

• Fixed an issue where players would spawn outside the final event and be unable to enter the arena.
• Fixed out-of-bounds exploits.

[h3]Freight Port HL-32-2, “The Hourglass”[/h3]

• Fix an issue where some environmental pieces used in The Hourglass had the wrong collision setup

Relay Station TRS-150

• Fixed a collision-related exploit.
• Fixed several stuck spots.
• Fixed an issue where players would end up in the falling state when close to the edge of an elevator.

Refinery Delta-17

• Fixed respawn point priorities.
• Fixed several out-of-bounds exploits.

Vigil Station Oblivium

• Fixed an unreachable pickup.

[h3]Habzone HL-70-04, “The Carnival”[/h3]
Warren 6-19

• Fixed several out-of-bounds exploits.
• Fixed an issue where Snipers were able to shoot through certain walls.

Mercantile HL-70-04-510

• Fixed several out-of-bounds exploits.
• Fixed an issue where enemies could open an airlock gate.
• Fixed issues with elevator collisions.

[h3]Manufactory HL-17-36, “Metalfab 36”[/h3]
Consignment Yard HL17-36

• Fixed several out-of-bounds exploits.
• Fixed several out-of-bounds collision issues.

Power Matrix HL-17-36

• Fixed several out-of-bounds exploits.

[h3]Inter-Zone Void Sector Omega-12[/h3]
Clandestium Gloriana

• Fixed several out-of-bounds exploits.
• Fixed several collision issues in some indoor areas.

[h3]Orthus Offensive[/h3]

• Fixed an issue where Crusher enemies would run away after breaking the wall to the gas tutorial room.

[h2]VO and Audio[/h2]

• Both Swagger and Commissar Dukane have arrived aboard the Mourningstar, setting the ship’s rumour mill in motion.
• New mission briefing for Smelter Complex HL17-36:
  • Following the rediscovery of the Clandestium Gloriana and the secret of Moebian Steel, Enginseer Kayex is attempting to replicate the process in Manufactorum Hl-17-36. But the Traitorous 6th have other plans …
• New player VO when tagging Stimms.
• New player conversations when facing the Beast of Nurgle and Chaos Spawn.
• Player characters will now comment when giving other players utility items.
• Player characters will no longer call out void shields as hitting armour.

[h2]UI/UX[/h2]

• Weapon names have been updated to a new scheme to simplify naming conventions throughout the UI. (Please see the section above for all the changes.)
• Added filter options on the Armory Exchange’s Requisition Weapons and Curios store to select between item types (melee, ranged and curios).
• Crafting operations now tell why an operation is not available to be performed.
• Added new backgrounds to weapon inspect and weapon cosmetics screens.
• Fixed an issue where the Heavy 3 attack was missing in the detailed breakdown screen of the Inspect menu for the Indignatus Mk III Shock Maul.
• Fixed an issue where the Vanguard Light attacks were displaying incorrect details in the breakdown screen of the Inspect menu for the Ogryn Power Maul.
• The progress bar for decoding objectives now blinks in orange when stalled.
• Fixed an issue where the extraction UI marker could be visible when joining the mission after it started.

[h2]Cosmetics[/h2]

• Fixed an issue where the nose would clip through the bandana on several cosmetics:
  • Zealot “Cowl of the Avenger” headgear.
  • Veteran “Recon Company Beta Vanguard Helm” headgear.
  • Veteran “Militarum Issue Helm (1st Mancunio Campaign)” headgear.
  • Veteran “Memento Mori Flak Helm” headgear.
• Fixed an issue where certain beards would clip through the Zealot “Mortis Rag Mask” cosmetic headgear.
• Fixed a black texture patch on the Zealot “Dedicated Mendicant’s Vestments” upper body cosmetic.
• Fixed an issue where the cloth appeared invisible from the back on the Psyker “Empyrean Surcoat (Ice Mourn)” upper body cosmetic.
• Fixed hair clipping issue on the Veteran “Munitorum Issue Mark III Garrison Cap” headgear cosmetic.
• Fixed eyebrows clipping on Ogryn “Grox-Hide Eye Patch” headgear cosmetic.
• Fixed eyebrows clipping on Zealot “Magistratum Scrivener’s Helmet” headgear cosmetic.
• Fixed the screen on the right arm displaying inverted information on the Veteran “Militarum Battlegear (Sun Scorch Camo)” upper body cosmetic.
• Fixed an issue where the elbows could clip through the backside of the arms on Psyker “ “Timeworn” Psyker Jerkin (Taros Tan)” upper body cosmetic.
• Fixed an issue where the items on the belt of Psyker “Kinetic Witch’s Redemption Raiment” upper body cosmetic would appear warped.
• Fixed some small clipping issues on the Ogryn “Headscarf with Goggles (Taros Tan, XXXXL)” headgear cosmetic.

[h2]Other Miscellaneous Fixes[/h2]

Since June, we’ve been talking about the Itemization rework which is coming in the Unlocked and Loaded update this month. We’ve been working toward an open dialogue with players to receive feedback. We released an Introduction to Itemization dev blog, as well as two Q&A dev blogs answering your questions along the way (Q&A Pt.1 and Q&A Pt.2). Now it’s time for the big one.

The goal of this blog is to put it all together and to provide everyone with an overview of the Itemization rework! There is a lot to talk about so grab your favourite drink and dive in.

As a recap, the new Itemization rework consists of two systems: Mastery and Power.




Mastery is a new system that was created to bring more player agency to Warhammer 40,000: Darktide. More specifically, we wanted to provide a stronger sense of progression when using weapons and ensure that we respected the time our fans invested into the game when tinkering and improving their gear.

Mastery thus became the central system to open the array of options available to players surrounding a weapon’s progression. This new system will make the players’ life easier: players simply have to use a weapon they like, which will result in the player progressing further in the Mastery track of said weapon’s family.



[h2]How Does Mastery Work? [/h2]
Blessing Points: While progressing through the Mastery track of a weapon (or weapon family), players will receive Blessing Points. Blessing Points received through the Mastery track will allow players to unlock the Blessing of their choice. Each Blessing is split into four different Tiers. **CORRECTION**: In order to unlock Tier 2, players will have to spend 5 Blessing Points. For example, if a player has a weapon with 8 Blessings, they will need to spend at least 1 point in 5 of those Blessings. Then, they’ll be able to access Tier 2 blessings. They’ll need to spend 7 points to access Tier 3 and 8 points to access Tier 4. At the end of the Mastery track, players will be able to raise all blessings to Tier 4.





Unlocking Weapon Marks: Gone are the days where players needed to sift through a long list of weapons before finding the weapon Mark they were looking for. By progressing through the Mastery level of a given weapon family, players will unlock the various weapon Marks attached to it. Once players unlock access to a new Mark, they will receive the corresponding weapon. From there, players will be able to freely change from one Mark to another, to experiment more easily with their playstyle, and possibly discover their new favourite weapon.

Unlocking Perks: Perks are a bit different from Blessings. Whilst Blessing Tiers require players to invest Blessing Points to unlock, Perks will unlock as players progress through the Mastery track of a weapon family. Once players have unlocked the Perks, they will be able to change their weapon’s perks for a cost at the Shrine of the Omnissiah. (A maximum of two Perks per weapon at any time.) 

Increasing the Power Cap: The Power Cap is something that brings together both new systems: Mastery and Power. (More details on the Power System discussed further below.) The Power Cap tells players what is the maximum amount they can increase their weapon’s stats at that point in their Mastery Progression of that weapon. The further a player is in their Mastery of a weapon, the more they can increase the weapon’s stats towards that weapon’s maximum potential.

Players will always be able to see the Power Cap, and they’ll want to keep a keen eye on this,  as it will be directly linked to their capacity to upgrade their weapons through the Shrine of the Omnissiah (our crafting station). 

To put it all together,  players will be able to experiment with all the different aspects of a weapon through the Mastery system. Naturally, Darktide being a looter shooter, players will still have to hunt for the weapon with the optimal profile, but the surrounding experience of the thrill of the chase - such applying Blessings and Perks - has been overhauled to increase the player agency and provide players with the freedom to experiment. Once unlocked, Blessings and Perks will be able to be changed and interchanged, without being locked away. It is up to players to try things out and build the weapon of their choice. 

[h2]Sacrifice - An Alternative to Mastery Progress[/h2]

We have created the Sacrifice feature to help veteran players get value out of the hoards of weapons in their inventory, but also as a way to empower new players to catch up more easily with the rest of the playerbase. Sacrifice is a way to further gain experience on the Mastery track of a given weapon family, and (a bit of a) shortcut for the Mastery track. 

Let’s say that a player wants to play a shotgun and improve its Mastery track. The player will go to the Shrine of the Omnissiah, where they will have a new option called “Sacrifice”. Players will ask Hadron (the NPC managing the Shrine, for the uninitiated), to teach them about a weapon family in exchange for weapons they do not wish to use, granting them experience for the Mastery track within the shotgun family. Players can give any type of weapons to Hadron from Redeemed Rarity (Green) onward, in order to progress in any given Mastery track. That said, if they sacrifice the right weapon family (i.e. the weapon family that they are trying to gain experience in), they will get extra experience. 

All of the options above provide various choices for players to think about. Say a player gets a Transcendent rarity weapon with stats reaching their max potential that they do not have use for, will they sell it to get more resources? Or will they Sacrifice it to improve their Mastery track? All these systems are intertwined and interconnected to provide a more exciting experience to players.





[h2]How Do Players Access the Masteries Menu? [/h2]
The Mastery menu will be found as a tab within the Operative menu, in between the Cosmetics and Talents tabs. When clicking on the Mastery menu, players will be greeted by a list of all the weapons available for their operative’s class (when starting a new class for the first time, players will have to unlock their unique weapons as they level up in Darktide). Once they have selected a weapon in the Mastery menu, they will get to a screen displaying Blessings and the Mastery progression track, the latter displaying rewards (which will unlock automatically as players gain experience with a weapon). On the left of the screen they will have the Tiers of Blessings they currently have access to. Once a player has unlocked and distributed Blessing Points, they will merely have to go to the Shrine of the Omnissiah to apply their Blessings in exchange for crafting materials. 

One good thing to remember is that with all the sweeping changes coming with Itemization Overhaul, we have been rethinking the in-game currency economy. This means changing a Blessing, Perk or even Consecrating (i.e. upgrading) a weapon will be cheaper than it was in the past. Since we are introducing the Empowerment mechanic that increases stats of weapons to their allocated maximum potential, we wanted to decrease the price of all other options at the Shrine of the Omnissiah. 

An Important Note: We’ve mentioned that when playing a new class for the first time, players will have to unlock the Mastery of weapons by levelling up their characters. However, Blessings are also tied to player accounts, not characters. If a player has been progressing with a Zealot and they move to a Veteran , the progress on the Blessings of the weapon these classes share will already be unlocked, and the Mastery progress will remain the same. 

[h2]What Will Happen to My Current Weapons? [/h2]
We will not be removing any existing weapons. Existing weapons will remain exactly the same. The only difference is that players will be able to see their weapons’ stats potential. If a player’s weapons are not at their maximum potential, they will be able to upgrade them accordingly. We will not be removing any Blessings, Perks or anything else. 

[h2]How Do Blessings Migrate into the New System?[/h2]
We made a direct translation of the Blessings players have learned from the previous system into the new system. This will translate directly into the Mastery track of their relevant weapon family. What does that mean exactly? This is going to get mathy, so put on your glasses and take out your calculators. 

For the sake of example, let’s say we have 10 Blessings available in a given weapon Mastery. (Note: The amount of blessings available per weapon will vary.) We take the experience from this specific Mastery Track from 0 to the Maximum, and we divide its progress bar by the amount of Blessings attached to it - in our case, 10. Since each Blessing has four Tiers, each of the 10 segments is then divided by 4, giving a total of 40 segments. This is when we go into the collection of Blessings from a player. 

Continuing with the example above: If a player has all of the 10 Blessings unlocked at a given Tier, we will look at each Tier obtained by the player for each Blessing and allocate its corresponding segment of experience to the Mastery track. If a player has obtained a Tier 4 Blessing, the player will gain ¼ of the Blessing’s subdivision on the Mastery track. That said, we wanted to ensure that our migration felt generous; if a player knows a Tier 4 but not Tier 1, 2 or 3, the migration system will automatically grant a bit over two additional segments, bringing it to over 75% of the segment’s progress for that Blessing. In a nutshell, if a player has a Tier 4 Blessing they will automatically get a bit over 75% of the progress corresponding to the Blessing on the Mastery track. Similarly if a player has a Tier 3 Blessing they will receive exactly 75% of the progress. And if they know Tier 3 and 4 of a Blessing (but not Tier 1 and 2), then they will get 100% of the progress for that segment. 

Continuing with the example above (of a weapon with 10 blessings): if a player has obtained 6/10 Tier 4 Blessings, the players should then be able to fully unlock (3x) Tier 4 blessings right away. The interesting thing with this migration system is that it acts a bit as a reset (in a good way). Sure, players might want to simply repick the Blessings they previously had, but it also grants players the opportunity to unlock Blessings they might have had on their radar, but never unlocked with the previous system. 




In past communications, we have already touched base on Power as it is tightly interconnected to the Mastery system, but we are here taking a deeper dive into this new system. (Note: This is called the Power system, and the action of raising a weapon's stats is to Empower the weapon.)



Similarly to the current system in Darktide, the Power System outlines the weapon and its stats. But the novelty is that players will also be able to see a weapon’s maximum potential, i.e. how far players will be able to push a given weapon's stats.

The Power menu is where players will go if they want to increase the five statistics of a weapon, i.e. if they want to attain the maximum potential of their weapon. For example if they have a weapon displaying 70 damage but has a maximum potential of 75 damage, they would use the Power menu to increase the weapon’s power to its maximum potential.

By simply clicking on Power, players will progress toward the maximum potential of their weapons. All stats are raised equally. Players do not choose which stats to increase. By raising the power level of a weapon, all the stats will increase. As mentioned before, players will need to check if their Mastery is high enough in order to Empower their weapon further (check the Power Cap).

The weapon rating in itself will not comprise Blessings and Perks as in the previous Itemization system. It will instead focus on the stats themselves.

Depending on the Power of the weapon itself, the cost for Empowering it will increase. The cost will increase by increments of a 100 Power, which means that costs will increase when a weapon will go from 100 to 200, and 200 to 300 etc. Therefore, the resources needed to Empower a weapon will also change depending on where a player is on the Power curve of a weapon, e.g. if a player has a weapon at Power 500, they will have to pay a higher cost in diamantine than in credits.

The Power system is located at the Shrine of the Omnissiah (the crafting station), where players will be greeted by the traditional “Entreat Hadron” or the new “Sacrifice” menu we spoke about earlier in this dev blog. Players will find the Empower menu below the Consecrate option.

[h2]Modification Points [/h2]
Players might’ve seen from the early WIP screenshots where Modification points were initially part of the design of the Power system. The logic was to have a budget on each weapon combination, and that budget would increase each time players Empowered the weapon until a maximum was reached. We have decided to remove this feature.

[h2]Switching Marks[/h2]
As mentioned above, Marks will be unlocked by progress through Mastery. To equip a Mark, players will simply have to go to the Loadout menu (which has also received a bit of a facelift!) With Unlocked and Loaded, players will be able to see the weapon families in the weapon selection menu with the following options: Cosmetic, Inspect and Mark. By selecting Mark, players will get access to a menu that will allow them to swap from one Mark to another. As a reminder, once a player has unlocked a Mark, they will get the default Mark of that newly unlocked Weapon Family.





Extended Availability of Weapon Families for Human Classes
As part of this update, we will extend the availability of specific weapon families to all human classes (Veteran, Zealot, Psyker). 

These weapons were previously locked to only one or two of the three human classes, but these will now be usable by all of them. As an example, the Veteran will be able to use the Saber. We took the opportunity with the Unlocked and Loaded update to reinforce the different player fantasies and provide more choices to players. If a player plays a Veteran and they want to be a Squad Leader, and they feel that the Saber is part of the tool kit of the Squad Leader, they can now lean more into their fantasy and equip it! 

However, we made sure that the weapons that are key to the identity of each class will remain uniquely available to that class. 

We hope that this will expand the gameplay experience and open up new interesting builds for players!

Detailed List:

• Turtolsky Heavy Swords
  • Added also to Veteran and Psyker.
    
• Maccabian Duelling Swords
  • Added also to Veteran and Zealot.
    
• Orestes Assault Chainaxes
  • Added also to Psyker.
    
• Braced Autoguns
  • Added also to Psyker.
    
• Accatran Recon Lasguns
  • Added also to Zealot.
    
• Combat Shotguns
  • Added also to Psyker.
    

The Itemization Overhaul coming with Unlocked and Loaded was also the occasion for us to revise several features and elements, and improve the experience of Darktide for players.

[h2]Discarding AKA. Selling Weapons[/h2]
Players used to only get Credits when selling weapons, and the amount of Credits was determined by the item’s Rating. This will still be the case once Unlocked and Loaded deployed. But in addition to the Credits, players will get additional crafting resources based on the rarity of the weapon sold. From Profane (white) to Annointed (blue) rarities, players will only get Credits back; at Exalted (purple) players will get Plasteel in addition to Credits; and finally, at Transcendent rarity (orange) players will get Diamantine added to the mix.

[h2]Bulk Actions[/h2]
One of the major quality of life features coming with the Itemization Overhaul in the Unlocked and Loaded update revolves around Bulk Actions. We have included the option to Discard/Sell weapons in bulk. We have also implemented a filter system that allows players to get rid of certain weapons in bulk right away. For example, players could set a filter to remove all Redeemed rarity weapons in their inventory.



[h2]Favourite Weapons[/h2]
Since bulk action is always a bit of a risky operation that could see a player lose their best weapon, we also implemented a “favourite” feature. Players will be able to set weapons as their favourites through the Loadout menu. When listing a weapon as a favourite, it will never show in the Bulk Actions menu or in the Sacrifice menu at the Shrine of the Omnissiah. Players will know it is their favourite as it will have a recognizable icon. In addition, there is no limit to the number of weapons players can set as their favourite.



[h2]Changes in Existing Menus[/h2]
Similarly to the Loadout, the Armory Exchange’s Requisition Weapons and Curios is now segmented between Ranged, Melee and Curios. This segmentation will allow us to increase the amount of items to be sold in each category.

[h2]Changes to Weapon Generation and Acquisition [/h2]
Edited: 23 September, 2024 - 15:25 CEST
We have changed the way weapons are generated in certain areas of Darktide. Now that players will have more options to Empower and upgrade weapons, some stores such as Brunt’s Armory will display slightly lower weapon quality by default - i.e. weapons from Brunt’s Armory will not be immediately at maxed power, but a set range of weapons will be available instead. On the other hand, weapons from Sire Melk’s Requisitorium will all have been maxed.

On that note, the Emperor's Gift will also be handing out better weapons than with our previous system. With the Itemization Overhaul, receiving a good weapon after a mission will not mean that players will not be able to use it - on the contrary. We want to encourage players to tinker and try out other weapons.



[h2]Miscellaneous Questions[/h2]
Question Looks good! Genuinely hope there are cosmetic rewards for fully mastering a weapon. Come on FatShark! Just one free skin, just a scrap. Answer
Yes! There will be one cosmetic weapon to be earned per weapon after unlocking the penance by finishing a weapon’s mastery track. 

Question Is there going to be an option to lower the stats on a weapon?
Answer
No, we can not remove stats from weapons.

Question Ballpark Estimate, if we start completely fresh on a weapon group Mastery/empower level, approximately how many normal damnation runs would it take to start getting choice tier 4 Blessings and Perks? 5-10 games?  20-50? 100+? Answer
Numbers can be tricky there because there are so many factors to account for, but yes, around 5 to 15 games would be enough to have access to T4. (That would be starting completely from zero, and without using the sacrifice feature.)



Alright, let us know if you have any more questions below. Thank you for reading and we’ll be going through the comments.

For the Emperor!

-- The Darktide Team