1. Warhammer 40,000: Darktide
  2. News

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide News

Rather than overhaul gear and crafting systems, Darktide should rip them out

The makers of Warhammer 40,000: Darktide have laid out their plans to improve the co-op shooter's shopping and crafting systems. The gear system changes, due to arrive in the next patch, do sound like improvements to the current state of things. These plans do not sound better than entirely ending the tedious grinds of random rolls and making numbers bigger. Why improve when it would be better to remove?


Read more

Dev Blog: Deep Dive into the Shrine

Rejects,


For today’s blog, we will outline some of the features and changes we are actively working on in our next major patch and discuss how we arrived at making some of these changes in detail.

[h3]An Update on the Shrine[/h3]

Before Darktide’s launch date, we brought an update on the different features we were working on for the game's crafting systems.

The functionality of these crafting features was completed in December, and internally we began playtesting how they functioned, felt, and fit within the game. This led us to identify key issues with our features surrounding Blessings (Earn Blessing, Fuse/Combine Blessing, and Re-Bless). We were not happy with releasing these features to our players in their current implementation. We are going to explain further why we arrived at this decision.

Throughout the launch period for Darktide, we began to receive feedback from players playing the game in its entirety. One of the loudest feedback points we saw was exposing issues in our acquisition methods for items. We identified that these issues for item acquisition would be further compounded by the Blessing crafting features we had implemented. It would result in a frustrating experience for players. We decided to hold back the additional crafting functionality while we revisit our item acquisition systems to alleviate the would-be strain on the crafting system. With that choice in place, we set ourselves upon the task of reworking some of our sources for item acquisition, and we will cover these topics first and then dive into the changes we are making for crafting moving forward.

So, how will crafting change from Vermintide to Darktide? In Vermintide crafting was focused around creating, salvaging, and modifying items obtained through reward chests and through the crafting of blueprints. There are some similarities between the two games with the modification options, yet Darktide will carve its own path when it comes to crafting. Instead it is centred around modifying weapons rather than weapon creation, and will have a heavier focus on acquiring exciting items of different potential through many sources in the game.

[h3]Equipment in Darktide[/h3]

For Darktide, we wanted to set a different direction for the items characters will choose to equip. We want each weapon, and curio players find in Darktide to have a distinctive difference of potential within. The foundation we set with Modifiers, Perks, and Blessings changes how each weapon can potentially perform. The combination of these offers an exciting array of variety, and we want players to continue acquiring many variations in pursuit of interesting build diversity. This build potential exists today, and as a teaser for our next major patch, players can look forward to easily saving and loading preset builds that they can customise!

This direction for items having exciting hidden potential is where our sources for acquiring items in Darktide come into effect. We consider the armoury Exchange to be an expansion of the mission completion phase, where the dockets players receive allow them to choose their own reward from this store or save them for a more interesting option should they find one later. In reality, we acknowledge the feedback that players desire further agency within the Armoury Exchange. We will release a new feature to the Armoury Exchange where players can acquire any weapon type by its mark (Mk) that has been unlocked by achieving the minimum level required. This will be made available in the next patch to Darktide.



Acquiring weapons through this new requisition system in the Armoury, will give players a common (Profane rarity) weapon of a varying item rating according to their character's current level. It is worth noting that Profane weapons in Darktide have the most potential of becoming powerful weapons in combination with their base modifiers and via upgrades through crafting. To accompany this new feature, we will improve the selection of items in the hourly catalogue in both the base item rating range and their potential.

[h3]Further changes to Item Acquisition[/h3]

To accompany these changes to the Armoury Exchange, we will make further changes to the other sources of acquiring items within Darktide.

The Emperor’s Gift, which was occasionally received upon successful mission completion, will now be granted upon every mission completion without any limit by time, as was previously the case. In addition, the Emperor’s Gift will be influenced by several factors: The difficulty of the chosen mission and the conditions and side missions completed. Both factors will improve the chances of receiving an item with higher potential.

Sire Melk’s Requisitorium is another source of item acquisition, and we will also be implementing some changes in the next patch. We are reducing the amount of work each contract asks of players and increasing the reward (Ingots) players will receive for completing the task. The collection of Grimoires and Scriptures will be collapsed into a single contract for completing these collectible side-missions. We will also add a couple of new contracts for collecting both Plasteel, and Diamantine.

Importantly, in addition to these changes to the contracts offered, we will be improving the quality of the weapons offered by the daily catalogue and through the mystery acquisitions.

[h3]Unlocking Crafting[/h3]

Shortly after the Winter break, we re-evaluated the direction we were going in with crafting in
the future. This set us up to ensure that any changes we made now in the short term would set us on the best possible path to and synergize with future features and content. A significant part of this work was confirming the direction for weapon blessings and where they will fit in the future. While we are excited about the direction we chose to take blessings, we will save that discussion for another time.
Having the future direction affirmed, we could make the necessary decisions and changes required to release the final parts of the crafting system.

The first major change from the previous crafting implementation we discussed is that we will
not be implementing the Fuse / Combine blessing functionality. Instead, earning a blessing will
permanently unlock the ability to re-bless with that blessing at any time. We made this decision as it compliments where we will take blessings in the future, and it greatly alleviates the number
of items that one would need to acquire, not only the ability to re-bless but also what you can re-bless with. As stated in the previous section about equipment, we expect players to
switch and try out new weapons as they discover different and exciting potential
combinations and builds. Earning the ability to permanently re-bless allows for a far more enjoyable and less time-consuming experience and an easier time experimenting with interesting builds for your characters.

In combination with this, we are also improving the other aspects of crafting. We have implemented a cost scaling system that will change the total material costs required depending on the weapons item rating, for all actions at the Shrine of the Omnissiah. Let’s recap all the available crafting features, including what will be present in the next patch:



[h3]Consecrate[/h3]
Upgrades the rarity of Weapons and Curios. Upgrading Profane & Redeemed will cost Plasteel, and after that Plasteel and Diamantine are required.

[h3]Refine Perk[/h3]
Refine a single perk on an item to roll for a new perk selected at random by Hadron. The perk that was not chosen to be refined will become locked for this weapon.

[h3]Earn Blessing[/h3]
Surrender the entire weapon to Hadron, thereby losing it in the process. Players can then select a Blessing to earn the right to permanently re-bless other weapons with the earned blessing. Blessings are shared across different weapon marks of the same weapon type.

[h3]Re-Bless[/h3]
Players can choose to replace a single blessing on the weapon with a blessing of choice they have earned the right to use. The other blessing that was not chosen will become locked.

[h3]Patch #4: Blessings of the Omnissiah[/h3]

As mentioned previously, the next patch to Darktide will include these changes to the crafting system and item acquisition. We will continue to monitor feedback once it is in your hands, and we will continue to make adjustments and changes if necessary.

There are a number of additional new features, changes, and improvements to come in this next patch which we’ll be discussing in our next Community Comm-Link.

We greatly appreciate both the passion and feedback we have received so far on Darktide. As we continue to work on addressing many of these areas brought up by our community, we will continue to welcome the ongoing discussion to further shape and evolve the game for many years to come.

Thank you all for reading, and we will see you again in the next Comm-Link.

Darktide Team

Hotfix 1.0.26

Rejects,


Here are the notes for Hotfix 1.0.26 to fix some of the issues that arose from Patch 1.0.25:
  • Fixed an issue where players could not complete Basic Training as Skullbreaker.
  • Fixed an issue where Darktide would crash after making changes to the FOV slider in the video settings.
  • Fixed an issue that would cause the game to crash when changing options in the settings while using a controller.

Warhammer 40k Darktide update rebalances characters and weapons

Weapons and characters in Warhammer 40k Darktide have gotten some needed tweaks in the latest update, which is out now. The latest Darktide patch, which updates the Warhammer 40k co-op game to version 1.0.25, fixes and tweaks each of the four Darktide classes and adjusts a bunch of weapons, fixing some visual bugs and balancing damage output.


Read the rest of the story...


RELATED LINKS:

Darktide patch notes PSA: Third-party tools are risky business

Warhammer 40k Darktide will get no new PC content until RPG gets fixed

Best Warhammer 40K games on PC 2023

Patch Notes 1.0.25

Rejects,


Here are the notes for patch 1.0.25 which just went live on Steam. As mentioned in the Comm-Link released last week this patch is focused on fixes for Blessings, and also balance changes for weapons.

Later this week we will also be releasing a Dev Blog talking about changes to Crafting, Sire Melk’s Requisitorium and the Armoury Exchange!

As requested through feedback, this time we will be trailing a slightly different format to the patch notes with the notes sorted by class where possible. Please let us know how you feel about this change and if you have any further feedback on our Patch Notes.

Now onto the patch notes:

[h3]OGRYN[/h3]
Blessings, Feats and Abilities:
  • Fixed an issue where Skullbreaker's ‘Intimidating Presence’ was a multiplier instead of modifier.[\list]
  • Skullbreaker tweaks:
    • Reduced the damage reduction from ‘Hard as Nails’ per nearby knocked down or incapacitated ally from 25% -> 20% (Max 75% -> Max 60%)
    • 'Hard as Nails' now only counts allies within 20 meters.
    • Fixed an issue with ‘Raging Bull’ where only the second attack was empowered, and now it will trigger on all melee attacks.
    • Reduced the bonus damage from ‘Raging Bull’ from 5% -> 2.5%
  • Added a HUD Icon to Skullbreaker feat 'Hard as Nails'.

[h3]ZEALOT[/h3]
Blessings, Feats and Abilities:
  • Preacher tweaks:
    • Increased the toughness bonus from ‘Purify in Blood’ from 50% -> 75%.
    • Reduced the toughness damage reduction from ‘Faith Restored’ from 75% -> 50%.

[h3]PSYKER[/h3]
Blessings, Feats and Abilities:
  • Fixed an issue where ‘Warp Charge’ cost would incorrectly increase when using ‘Brain Burst’.
  • Fixed issue where Psykinetic abilities sometimes would get interrupted by being stunned.
  • Psykinetic tweaks:
    • Increased the damage bonus gained from ‘Warp Siphon’ by 3% -> 4% per Warp Charge
    • ‘Warp Siphon’ charges will now fall off gradually
    • Increased the damage and stagger of ‘Brain Burst’ by 10%.
    • Increased the damage taken by the target from 15% -> 25% when using ‘Cerebral Lacerations
  • Fixed issue where 'Kinetic Overload' could target dead enemies.

[h3]VETERAN [/h3]
Blessings, Feats and Abilities:
  • Fixed issue where 'Counterfire' didn't increase weakspot damage by an additional 25%.
  • Fixed issue where 'Counterfire' and 'Sustained Fire' would refresh 'Volley Fire' on Ogryn kills.
  • Raised the reload speed received from blessing 'Speedload' from 0.04 -> 0.14 on the highest rarity.
  • Sharpshooter tweaks:
    • Increased the amount of toughness replenished from ‘Exhilarating Takedown’ and ‘Covering Fire’ from 10% -> 15%
    • Increased the amount of stamina restored by Duck and Dive from 20% -> 30%
[h3]Weapons[/h3]
  • Smoothed out the animations and removed the jitteriness from Columnus Mk II Braced Autogun, Graia Mk IV Braced Autogun and Agripinaa Mk VIII Braced Autogun transitions between weapon special and hip-fire.
  • Fixed a bug where the Lawbringer Mk VI Combat Shotgun would be unaffected by weapon stats when firing directly after reloading.
  • Fixed an issue where the damage stats for primary attacks with M35 Magnacore Mk II Plasma Gun showed lower values than the actual damage.
  • Fixed an issue where the Orestes Mk IV Assault Chainaxe wouldn't trigger 'Bloodthirsty' on all attacks.
  • Fixed an issue that could cause a crash when doing a Push Follow-up Attack with Obscurus Mk II Blaze Force Sword and rapidly switching to your Ranged Weapon.
  • Tweaked damage output from all Rippergun weapons against Carapace Armour from 0.01 -> 0.05.
  • Tweaked the damage output of the Foe-Rend Mk V Ripper Gun and the Foe-Rend Mk VI Ripper Gun from 200,400 -> 250,500.
  • Increased the ammo count of the Foe-Rend Mk V Ripper Gun to be in line with the Foe-Rend Mk II Ripper Gun and Foe-Rend Mk VI Ripper Gun.
  • Changes to the Lorenz Mk V Kickback:
    • Increased reload speed base value by 35%
    • Increased damage modifier against Carapace Armor from 0 -> 0.05
    • Increased damage against Maniac enemies from x0.9 -> x1.0
    • Increased ranged cleave from 1.5 -> 2.5.
    • Increased ammo reserve base values by 5
    • Increased minimum effectiveness range to 5-> 8 and maximum effective range 8 -> 15.
  • Krourk Mk VI Cleaver and Krourk Mk IV Cleaver's stab attacks now deal increased damage to Flak Armor (from 0.8 -> 1) and Carapace Armor (from 0.05 -> 0.25). Stab attack damage to Flak Carapace and Resistant increased from 1 -> 1.1.
  • Increased the sweep speed on the Krourk Mk IV Cleaver’s 2nd heavy attack by 30%. Chain time into 2nd heavy attack from other actions is decreased by 0.15s.
  • Fixed a bug where weapon special couldn't be used while blocking for all Cleavers.
  • "Brunt Special" Mk I Bully Club 2nd heavy attacks sweep speed increased by 30% and chain time into it from other actions is decreased by 0.15s.
  • Tweaked the Orestes Mk IV Assault Chainaxe so that the first heavy attack is slightly more horizontal so you can cleave through more enemies.
  • Changes to Vraks Mk III Headhunter Autogun, Vraks Mk VII Headhunter Autogun and Agripinaa Mk VIII Headhunter Autogun:
    • Raised damage vs Flak Armored enemies from 0.75 -> 1.0
    • Raised damage vs Unyielding enemies from 0.75 -> 1.0
    • Toned down horizontal recoil and made all three rifles easier to handle
    • Raised impact for Agripinaa Mk VIII Headhunter Autogun from 9 to 15
    • Increased average clip size for Vraks Mk III Headhunter Autogun and Agripinaa Mk VIII Headhunter Autogun to 40
    • Increased average clip size for Vraks Mk VII Headhunter Autogun to 30
  • Increased damage and impact to heavy attacks with the Orestes Mk IV Assault Chainaxe and allowed it to damage one more target while cleaving.
  • Increased sweep speed of push follow-up attack by 20% and decreased chain time to block by 0.33s and to attack by 0.05s.
  • Fixed instances with the Krourk Mk VI Cleaver, Krourk Mk IV Cleaver and the Blastoom Mk III Grenadier Gauntlet where on certain attacks you could miss an enemy with a swing when standing extremely close to them.
  • Increased Lorenz Mk V Kickback damage range from 850-1150 -> 900-1350.
  • Fixed issue where Cadia Mk IV Assault Chainsword stab push attack applied 'Bloodletting' more often than it should.

[h3]Curios[/h3]
  • Fixed an issue where Curios with Stamina perks would apply +1 instead of the correct amount.

[h3]Enemies[/h3]
  • Tweaks to Scab Shooter:
    • Reduced damage from shots by 20%
    • Increased base aim duration before shot from 0.2 - 0.45 to 0.3 - 0.5 (scaled down by difficulty)
    • Increased base cooldown after shot from 2.0 - 2.5 to 2.25 - 2.75 (scaled down by difficulty)

[h3]Cosmetics[/h3]
  • Fixed clipping issues with the Nomanus Mk VI Surge Force Staff.
  • Fixed issues regarding trinket orientations.
  • Fixed clipping and texture issues with female veteran cosmetics.

[h3]Fixes and Tweaks[/h3]
  • Fixed an issue where the 'Untouchable' and 'On Overwatch' pennances didn't unlock as expected.
  • Added a change so that players with faster machines will no longer have to wait for players with slower machines to finish loading before starting the mission.
  • Tweaked bots to not prioritize reviving other knocked down bots if there are too many enemies around them.
  • Improved the client settings surrounding subtitles for getting set up correctly on start up.
  • The "Completed" state is now properly localized in all languages for Sire Melk's contracts.
  • Fixed Warzone Conditions being shown a bit too eagerly.
  • Conditions that have extra rewards are now shown on the Mission Board (added to the total reward for the mission objective).
  • Implemented additional guards to resolve the case when HUD markers for items and interaction points would not be aligned to their correct location.
  • Lowered the input hold time for skipping cutscenes.
  • Added a popup dialog that explains if you need to restart the game after applying new settings.
  • Bartering Items (Discarding) now requires re-pressing the hotkey button for each item.
  • Recently played with users on Steam now show up in the Recent Games within Steam.
  • Improved button hints for Controllers for actions inside the loadout view.
  • When in the Inventory Screen, equipping a weapon will no longer send you back to the Loadout view.
  • Notifications for new items added during the mission end will now be shown when returning to the Mourningstar.
  • Fixed a bug that leaves players in slow motion if they skip a slow motion cinematic shot while it is playing.

*edit made for formatting