Warhammer: Vermintide 2 News

Hotfix Megathread 5.1.x

Heroes!

This announcement will catalogue all the hotfixes we have released for patch 5.1.0 that came in with the Necromancer career, and will be kept current with the latest hotfix release added to the top of the patch notes.

[h2] Hotfix 5.1.5 - November 3rd [/h2]
[h3] Fixes [/h3]

Fixed bug where hordes occasionally stop appearing.

Fixed bug where terror events sometimes got stuck.

[h2] Hotfix 5.1.4 - November 1st [/h2]
[h3] Tweaks [/h3]

Changed it so that instead of being hidden, the FSR 2.2 and DLSS settings are shown but greyed out when playing on an incompatible system.
Dev note: Currently, a generic "Unsupported version" error message is shown. This will be replaced in a future version to show more information.

The Sharpness Filter setting is now compatible with upscaling technology and is no longer greyed-out when upscaling is enabled.

The Necromancer bot is now more restrictive with her ability use. She will not use her ability unless she's down to 4 or less skeletons, or she's being overwhelmed by enemies.

(Chaos Wastes) As Necromancer, having both the 'Dread Seneschal' and 'Barrow Blades' talents will now make Sienna have the army composition of Dread Seneschal, with the added benefits of AoE DoT and DoT on attack from Barrow Blades (as opposed to the Barrow Blades talent overriding the Dread Seneschal talent). The ULTIMATE army of the dead...

Attack commands can now be cancelled by using the Icon of Death's weapon special. This also makes it possible to cancel the attack command when using the 'Dread Seneschal' talent.

[h3] Fixes [/h3]

Fixed a bug where Necromancer skeletons made the game easier by making the AI systems think there were more enemies than there actually were. They are friends, dammit.

Fixed a bug where using a career weapon ability while drinking a potion allowed an infinite career ability exploit.

Patched up breaking changes in damage calculation that made the sanctioned mod Armory no longer work.

Picking up potions & grimoires is no longer possible when carrying the Skull of Blosphoros.

Fixed a rare network related crash when someone leaves the game.

Fix client crash if the player who revives them leaves the game at the same time as they are revived.

(Chaos Wastes) Fixed bug where "Asuryan's Wrath" and "Manann's Tempest" traits dealt friendly fire damage to Necromancer skeletons.

Fixed rare crash when Nurglings get scared. You meanies :(

Fixed unintended change where all free bomb effects causes player to equip the extra bomb. Now the previously wielded weapon is properly equipped after throwing a bomb (except for when under the endles bomb potion effect in Chaos Wastes)

Necromancer is now immune to Blosphoros' shenanigans as intended.

Added more checks at startup to avoid the game booting with invalid graphics settings that could result in getting a black screen.

Added a failsafe so the settings menu does not crash when settings are set to invalid values eg. due to external editing.
Dev note: Please do keep in mind that externally editing settings is not officially supported, but you may do them at your own risk.

The Soulstealer Staff will no longer hit players that are very close to Sienna. You may still choose to hit them, though, if you're evil.

Fixed the Ensorcelled Reaper's weapon special attack not granting THP.

Fixed a bug where the Foot Knight's charge didn't knock down enemies when immediately cancelled.

Fixed a bug where shield skellies could not be commanded to attack if there were no hammer skellies alive.

Fixed an issue where Necromancer could get incompatible boons, such as Ualapt's Cunning, stagger talents, etc.

Fixed a bug where Waystalker's Serrated Arrows was overriding Hagbane's DoT.

Fixed a bug where Waystalker's Serrated Arrows was overriding Moonfire Bow's DoT if the player plays as client.

Fixed FSR2 quality settings not being persisted across sessions under specific conditions, resulting in getting less performance gains than expected.

Fixed a shader issue that made the lava found in some Chaos Wastes and Karak maps flicker.

Temporary health degeneration is no longer affected by damage reduction buffs.

Fixed occasional crash when completing a map or the host leaves while Ranger Veteran's smoke bomb is active.

[h3]Fixes[/h3]
[h2]Hotfix 5.1.3[/h2]

Berserkers and Plague Monks no longer track players when they’re invisible.
Specials no longer track players when they’re invisible.
Fixed a bug that made certain enemies deal less damage than they’re supposed to (Notably, Plague Monks/Berserkers and Infantry).
Fixed a crash that could occur when hotjoining a mission that had a javelin or throwing axe with an illusion applied, but the player’s inventory had not fully synced.
Fixed a crash when hotjoining into the end event of Tower of Treachery.
Fixed a crash on Wizard’s Tower due to scripted projectiles. Olesya is up to her old tricks again!
Fixed rare server crash when leaving a mission when Necromancer is in the game.
Fixed a crash when grabbing the Necromancer’s ability information scrollbar on the hero selection screen with your mouse.
Fixed a re-introduced frame-perfect host crash. The game would crash when skeletons ran out of valid enemy targets the frame before they finish an attack.

[h2]Hotfix 5.1.2[/h2]

[h3]Tweaks[/h3]

The Necromancer’s Icon of Death is no longer shown in the ally frame UI thingie, it’s now back to only showing whether the ally has a potion or not.

[h3]Fixes[/h3]

Fixed the dummies in the Keep being too fat and having big collisions.
Fixed hot join crash if a Ranger Veteran with the ‘Exhilirating Vapours’ used their ability that session.
Fixed Bardin being able to stealth infinitely with the ‘Surprise Guest’ talent by re-entering the ability.
Fixed Ranger Veteran with ‘Exhilirating Vapours’ talent showing the wrong amount of ability stacks.
Fixed small enemies swallowing bombs when thrown at them.
Fixed occasional frame perfect host crash when a defend command is issued the frame before an attack command swing finishes.
Fixed bug where Necromancer lost Icon of Death upon drinking a Potion of Endless Bombs. You can all play Chaos Wastes again!
Fixed Necromancer not losing Grimoire on death.
Fixed Engineer not losing additional bombs on death.
Fixed Handmaiden bleed dash talent damaging Necromancer skeletons. She’s now fully accepted that they are friends. :)
Fixed a crash in Fort Shakalaka related to the end event cannonballs.
Fixed a bug where Necromancer would keep her potion when giving it away.
Fixed that bug where the challenge “Unrestful Bonefire” could only progress one point per level.
Fixed a crash when hotjoining into the end event of Tower of Treachery.

[h3]Fixes[/h3]
[h2]Hotfix 5.1.1[/h2]

Added more failsafes for Twitch mode not working.
Fixed occasional host crash from skeleton targets dying
Fixed Soulstealer Staff not benefiting from the “Heat Sink” trait
Fixed a crash when hotjoining into game with a Sienna that has the ‘Lost Souls’ talent.
Fixed crashes related to French localization.
Fixed crash when Necromancer bot used the Soulstealer Staff’s ‘Soul Rip’ attack.
Fixed a crash from throwing Morgrim’s Bomb on enemies.
Fixed a crash when the Necromancer commanded her skeletons to defend in the exact moment they died.
Fixed frames from Chaos Wastes challenges being hidden unless you own the Forgotten Relics
Fixed a crash that happened when hotjoining while a resumeable interaction is in progress.
Fixed a crash that could happen while starting a resumable interaction as a client related to latency and prediction.
Fixed a crash with the souls from the Necromancer’s ‘Lost Souls’ talent when targeting Wizards Tower skulls.
Fixed the souls from the Necromancer’s ‘Lost Souls’ talent having issues hitting targets.
Chaos Wastes: Fixed Rhya’s Thorns boon crashing upon breaking shields.
Fixed crash for when a Necromancer left the game while a projectile from the Soulstealer Staff was chasing enemies.
Fixed rare crash occurring when a player hot-joined into a moving elevator, while a Globadier made a charge run towards the player.
Fixed some crashes related to Sister of the Thorns’ walls.
Fixed a crash when Morgrim’s Bomb stuck to an enemy.

Warhammer Vermintide 2's Geheimnisnacht is back, and it's 80% off

With the Warhammer Vermintide 2 Necromancer now out in the world, developer Fatshark gives us yet another reason to dive back into the hordes of Skaven and Chaos, axes swinging and spells slinging, as the Vermintide 2 Geheimnisnacht event returns. Boasting double XP and special in-game events, this Halloween special is the ideal excuse to grab your friends and dive back into the grim battlefields of the Warhammer universe.

Read the rest of the story...

Geheimnisnacht & Double XP are Live from October 26 - November 5!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Heroes!

Geheimnisnacht is the most ill-omened night of the year and with both Mannslieb and Morrslieb full in the sky only the strong and brave dare venture into the dark. During Gehimnisnacht it's said that the veil between the living and the dead is thinner, and it's the perfect time to visit the Gardens of Morr to pay homage to the ancestors.

The most ill-omened time of the year has returned to Vermintide 2, and this year it is more menacing than ever before, with old favorites and new challenges to conquer. Geheimnisnacht is live on all platforms between October 26 - November 5.

[h2]All players playing during Geheimnisnacht will also earn Double XP![/h2]

Challenge yourself and your fellow heroes during Geheimnisnacht. Visit a ritual site, collect the Skull of Blosphoros, and survive the remainder of the mission(s) in order to earn time-limited rewards. Good luck!

[h3]This Geheimnisnacht, you will find the following in-game:[/h3]

Disrupt the Disruptors: The word from Lohner's scouts is that the pactsworn are conducting rituals centered on a particularly animated skull. Lost in whatever it is they were up to, they didn't pay the scouts any heed at first. Then one lass chucked a rock at a celebrant and the rest flung themselves at her, eyes aglow and murder in their vicious hearts. It all went downhill from there. According to the survivors, the pactsworn were stronger than normal, like the skull was empowering them ... There was some mention of a mocking voice as well, though that is probably the least of anyone's worries.

The ritual sites can be located in; Festering Ground, War Camp, Blood in the Darkness, Wizard's Tower, and Khazukan Kazakit-ha! It’s on you if you want to get involved or just … leave it all the hell alone.
The Skull of Blosphoros: Disrupt the ritual and secure the Skull of Blosphoros for an extra challenge. Select your courier with caution as there is no second chance of picking up the Skull during that mission once it has been lost.
Defeat the Ritual Guardian: Be careful when you interact with the ritual sites, as not all Pactsworn take kindly to it. Disturbing the ritual might find you on the receiving end of blade of 'eavy Metal with a grudge to bear.

During Geheimnisnacht you can earn five new unique time-limited rewards by completing the themed quests. New weapon illusions and portrait frames are awaiting those brave enough to complete the challenge. Curious what these weapon illusions might be? Take a look at the preview below from Jellynx.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Watch your step! While traversing the Reikland, you might encounter Nurglings. They're known to cause mischief, giggle, and rarely come in small numbers. Hopefully, they scatter quickly!

[h2]Hotfix 5.1.3[/h2]

Berserkers and Plague Monks no longer track players when they’re invisible.
Specials no longer track players when they’re invisible.
Fixed a bug that made certain enemies deal less damage than they’re supposed to (Notably, Plague Monks/Berserkers and Infantry).
Fixed a crash that could occur when hotjoining a mission that had a javelin or throwing axe with an illusion applied, but the player's inventory had not fully synced.
Fixed a crash when hotjoining into the end event of Tower of Treachery.
Fixed a crash on Wizard’s Tower due to scripted projectiles. Olesya is up to her old tricks again!
Fixed rare server crash when leaving a mission when Necromancer is in the game.
Fixed a crash when grabbing the Necromancer’s ability information scrollbar on the hero selection screen with your mouse.

Necromancer is Out Now & Patch 5.1.0 Patch Notes

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h2]Heroes![/h2]
We are incredibly excited to announce the launch of Patch 5.1.0 and with it, the release of Sienna's new Career: the Necromancer! Just in time for Geheimnisnacht...

On top of the Necromancer, this patch introduces some bugfixes, feature tweaks, and optimization improvements, including a massive shrink to the install size of the game!

The Necromancer is a new Career for Sienna Fuegonasus. This DLC contains the new playable career with its own talent tree and abilities, two new weapons, cosmetics, and more!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2585630/Warhammer_Vermintide_2__Necromancer_Career/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2585640/Warhammer_Vermintide_2__Necromancer_Cosmetic_Upgrade/

Necromancers raise the dead to fulfill their every command. Drawn to the Dark Magic following a battle with her twin sister Sofia, Sienna now strides into battle at the head of a company of skeletons, wielding a Soulstealer Staff and Ensorcelled Reaper to bestow the gift of death upon her foes.

As a Necromancer, Sienna will be able to slay her foes with most of her existing arsenal, as well as the two new, unique weapons!

The Ensorcelled Reaper is a threatening two-handed weapon with fantastic cleave and powerful impact. Its special attack causes Sienna to slam the weapon into the ground, releasing a blast of energy around her. This weapon is useable by all of Sienna's careers.

The Soulstealer Staff is a vile conduit of Necromantic magic. The primary attack fires a cursed bolt that bounces between enemies, staggering and applying a damage over time effect. The secondary attack earns the staff its namesake, by letting you target an enemy and ripping at its soul, dealing massive damage. This weapon is only useable by Sienna's Necromancer career.

[h3]PASSIVE ABILITY: MALEDICTION OF NAGASH[/h3]
Sienna’s flames now burn with a cold, unearthly light that saps enemy vigour, causing them to suffer 20% additional damage from Sienna and her Servants.

[h3]PERKS:[/h3]

Mistress of Death: Sienna can command her servants to Attack or Defend. She can also Release them to ventilate Overcharge.
Lifetaker: Killing an enemy grants 2% crit for 4 seconds. Max stacks 5.
Cold Flames: Sienna’s damage over time effects last 100% longer.

[h3]CAREER SKILL: RAISE DEAD[/h3]
Sienna calls the dead to do her bidding, raising a company of 6 Skeleton Warriors to fight at her side. They last until destroyed, or until Sienna casts Raise Dead again.

[h3]COMMAND ITEM: ICON OF DEATH[/h3]
Wielding this Icon, Sienna can issue commands to her skeletal minions! This Icon is stored in Sienna's potion slot when playing as a Necromancer. Don't worry, she still has room for a potion, as well!

Attack Command: Orders your skeletons to attack target enemy and increases their damage by 60% for 8 seconds.
Defend Command: Orders your skeletons to defend target area and reduces the damage they take by 80%.
Death's Release: Release a Skeleton from its servitude, instantly Ventilating 70% Overcharge.

[h3]LEVEL 5[/h3]

Corpsemaker: Damaging multiple enemies in one swing with a melee weapon grants temporary health. Max 5 enemies.
Deathdealer: Melee killing blows restore temporary health based on the health of the slain enemy.
Life Leeching: Healing yourself with a First Aid Kit or a Healing Draught also heals your nearby allies for 20.0% of their maximum health. Clears any wounds.

[h3]LEVEL 10[/h3]

Vanhel's Danse Macabre: +12% attack speed when 4 skeletons are alive.
Death Ascendent: Casting spells grants 5% ranged power for 6 seconds. Max stacks 5.
Reaping: Critical attacks have +25% power and unlimited cleave.

[h3]LEVEL 15[/h3]

Mainstay: Deal 40% more damage to staggered enemies. Each hit against a staggered enemy adds another count of stagger. Bonus damage is increased to 60% against enemies afflicted by more than one stagger effect.
Smiter: The first enemy hit always counts as staggered. Deal 20% more damage to staggered enemies. Each hit against a staggered enemy adds another count of stagger. Bonus damage is increased to 40% against enemies afflicted by more than one stagger effect.
Enhanced Power: Increases total Power Level by 7.5%. This is calculated before other buffs are applied.

[h3]LEVEL 20[/h3]

Cursed Blood: Critical attacks against enemies afflicted by the Malediction of Nagash cause them to burst, damaging nearby enemies based on the damage of the attack.
Soul Harvest: The Malediction of Nagash rips the soul from targets that die. Harvesting 8 souls causes the next attack to be a guaranteed Critical Hit.
Withering Touch: On releasing a Skeleton, all Sienna's attacks for the next 15 seconds ignite enemies, causing damage over time.

[h3]LEVEL 25:[/h3]

Spirit Leech: Killing an elite enemy restores 15% cooldown.
Curse of the Undeath: Casting Raise Dead reduces damage inflicted on Sienna by 80% for the next 3 hits.
Lost Souls: Venting 20% overcharge unleashes a soul that steals health from a nearby enemy restoring 2 temporary health.

[h3]LEVEL 30[/h3]

Army of the Dead: Raise Dead now causes Skeletons to remain for 20 seconds before decaying.
Barrow Blades: Skeletons now carry two cursed blades. When raised, and when attacking, they ignite enemies, causing damage over time.
Dread Seneschal: Increase Skeleton health and damage by 50%. Command Attack now orders a charge. Command Defend can be issued simultaneously.

[h3]GAME FILES REBUNDLING[/h3]
With this patch, we are reworking how we store assets in the game files. Previously, each level kept a copy of each asset it would use in its own file, so even if the same asset was used in different levels, each level would have its own copy. This was done to optimize loading times on HDDs, as storing assets this way would make loading into the map much faster.

However, as the game kept expanding, and specially after the addition of Chaos Wastes, the resulting install size was becoming a bit much. We've rebundled the game so that now we only store a single copy of a good chunk of our assets. The result is that we've managed to shrink the install size from 100.89 GB (pre-Necromancer install size) to 58.87 GB for this patch! Hell yes.

[h3]LOADING ALGORITHM CHANGE[/h3]
The above mentioned change should mean that while the install size got smaller, the load times for HDDs might've become worse (SSDs should be unaffected). However! With the same patch we're also introducing changes to our loading algorithm (particularly in the compression part of the loading process) to improve our loading times. We're expecting a slightly longer loading screen when booting up the game, but much faster loading screens when loading into levels, overall reducing loading times.

Overall, according to our tests, this should mean that HDDs should not see any changes to load time speed despite the rebundling change, while SSDs will load faster!

[h3]PATCH REBASING[/h3]
Some of you may already be familiar with this. Usually when we patch the game, we essentially add files on top of the existing files, which does mean that the game increases in size as we keep patching (even if it's just changes to existing features) and every now and then we need to re-base (we've sometimes called this a re-master). This means deleting all of the 'extra' files and updating the core files so that they contain all the changes, thus reducing the install size to the minimum possible.

Well, we've done that with this patch but ALSO, we're re-working our patching strategy so that we don't need to do the whole extra file thing again. This should mean that, moving forward, patches won't result in the game taking up more and more space.

Fair warning, though, because of this rebasing, the patch might take a while to download and install, as you're essentially downloading the entire game again.

[h3]MEMORY IMPROVEMENTS[/h3]
We've updated some in-game systems to consume less RAM memory while in game. While these might seem somewhat minor for players who have plenty of it, systems such as consoles or PCs with lower RAM should have a more stable experience.

We've implemented both Nvidia's DLSS and AMD's FSR 2.2 technologies into the game's options, allowing players with lower end hardware to enable them to greatly improve performance at minimal loss of graphical fidelity. We've seen several requests to add these in the past few months so we're glad to be able to deliver there! Please note that these options are only available in the DirectX 12 version of the game.

Unfortunately, we've realized that the introduction of DLSS will mean that the game will cease to be compatible with Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1. As Steam is going to cease supporting these operating systems in January, we've decided to go ahead with the implementation and cease support of these operating systems ahead of time. We're sorry if there's any fans we're disappointing with this change.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

It's probably no coincidence that Sienna's spooky new outlook on (un)life coincides with the return of Morrslieb and with it, Geheimnisnacht! Our Geheimnisnacht event will be live again for all platforms, running from October 26 to November 5.

We'll have more info to reveal about the event when it drops! There will be goodies, and it will be spooky!

-------

We've heard a lot of comments worried that Necromancer will be the last piece of content we release for Vermintide 2. We want to take the opportunity to put you guys at ease! While we can't mention any specifics, we can confirm that there is more content being developed for this game, and we can't wait to be able to announce it to you all! But for now, enjoy Necromancer, enjoy the upcoming Geheimnisnacht, and look forwards to our next announcement!

Without further ado...

[h3]IMPORTANT[/h3]
With the addition of DLSS, the game will cease to be compatible with Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1. As Steam is going to cease supporting these operating systems in January, we've decided to go ahead with the implementation and cease support of these operating systems ahead of time. We're sorry if there's any fans we're disappointing with this change.

[h3]OPTIMIZATION IMPROVEMENTS[/h3]

Added a system to dynamically load projectiles into memory, rather than always load them, to save memory.
Various tweaks to the way player animations work that saves some memory and simplifies things internally.
Implemented DLSS.
Implemented FSR 2.2.
Rebundled the game to take up much less space.
Improved our level loading algorithm.
Re-based our game files and changed our patching strategy to prevent file size bloat from future patches.

[h3]FEATURES & TWEAKS[/h3]

Added visual effects for players who are on fire!
Chaos Wastes: Outcast Engineer's 'Bombardier' talent now works with Morgrim's Bomb. Hehehehehe...
Chaos Wastes: Potions of Endless Bombs no longer replaces a player's incendiary grenade with regular bombs.
For Winds of Magic owners, Minotaurs are now an option for the Barn monster in Against the Grain. Surprise!
Enemies set ablaze by a shot from the Moonfire bow now have an appropriately colored on-fire effect.
Added a voice chat indicator that highlights which player is currently talking, when using ingame voice chat. This was added several updates ago, but it was missed in the patch notes so it's being mentioned here!

[h3]FIXES[/h3]

Fixed a client crash when players join a lobby while Sister of the Thorn is moving. Damn elves can't stand still, can they?
Fixed rare crash that causes joining client to occasionally crash if the team transitions to another level while client is joining.
Fixed a visual bug which kept the Grauber's Arms illusion from displaying the proper glow.
Fixed our heroes not always being chatty enough on the start of banter of Convocation of Decay, Skittergate & Blurblebla Haylesplurge
Players won't get punked on by other Heroes for healing themselves when they have low permanent health, but a lot of temporary health.
Chaos Wastes: Outcast Engineer no longer loses his stacks of bombs when drinking a Potion of Endless Bombs.
Fixed the following weapon illusions having the wrong icon:
- Kruber Spear and Shield:
  • Grauber's Arms
  • Weave-Forged Spear and Shield
  • Dantov's Guard
- Trollhammer Torpedo:
  • Grobbok
  • Bugritbok
- Coruscation Staff:
  • Elvarin's Rod of Destruction
  • Aqshy's Lament
- Moonfire Bow:
  • The Voice of Lileath
  • Cadai-galand
- Griffon-foot:
  • Meffler's Never-Fail Crowd Controller
  • Gunner's Judgement
The elf-thing's ricochet projectiles now ricochet properly for clients.
Fixed Huntsman Kruber not complaining about a lack of ammo when using his longbow.
Fixed missing voicelines for clients when gaining Overcharge.
Fixed a bug where the Trollhammer Torpedo illusion "Bugritbok" left particles in the air if swapping weapons quickly back and forth.
Chaos Wastes: Fixed a bug where Morgrim's Bomb would ricochet when thrown by a Waystalker with the ricochet talent.
Fixed Beastmen sometimes not playing their landing sound when jumping down from a height.
Fixed a purple thingie in a level that shouldn't have been visible, but was visible. Blame Tzeentch.
Fixed issues with occlusion culling in the Garrison section of Righteous Stand.
Fixed bug where using Disengage as Bardin Ranger Veteran with "Exhilarating Vapours" before another smoke bomb disappears would not give stealth. Bardin can now have multiple smoke screens out without losing the effects of the older ones.
UI: Fixed the Input Method Editor (IME) being opened when receiving a chat message, causing the game input to freeze. Now the IME only opens when typing a message. (Thank you Iskierka for the detailed report!).
Fixed perk names in the old talent menu being the career name instead of the respective perk names

Dev Blog: Sienna the Necromancer - Gameplay

Hello there, my name is Karl and I'm one of the designers on the v2 team. My task is to follow up our glorious leader's post on general necromancer production with some insight into some of the challenges and decisions we made on the gameplay level.

-----

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Creating a career starts with a fantasy plucked from the Warhammer universe that we want to translate into our game. Usually the fantasy gives you a hunch about what tools the career possesses, how it is going to play and what role it will fill. The Necromancer deviated slightly from this. We knew that she was going to summon skeletons and throw death magic around. How exactly she was going to play and what role she would fill was a bit more of a uncertainty as player minions as a concept was completely new.

Raised skeletons in Warhammer lore are not known to be the most kill-y unit. They serve as a vanguard to keep their master and their more important units safe. A replenishable undying frontline. We drew inspiration from this and decided that this is what Sienna's skeletons should achieve at a base level. A sorcerer summoning their own frontline.

To keep this post to a reasonable length I won't go into detail about every iteration that the skeletons and AI versus AI fighting went through. Every aspect about the skeletons saw intense iteration, aspects such as summoning, formation, combat, health and duration to mention a few. The skeletons bounced between being her career skill and passive multiple times but finally landed as the career skill at the center of the necromancer kit. 6 summonable Skeletons that engage enemies near Sienna.

Process of tweaking aggro and leash range of skeletons when Sienna is not actively fighting.

As the skeletons grew into proper minions assisting Sienna in combat we could start to consider questions that a lot of summoner classes in games have to answer to. How are the minions tied into the second to second gameplay? Summoner control has two extremes with each their own audiences. One side being the micro intensive extensive control over the available minions, high skill floor and satisfying skill ceiling with a lot of expression. The other side is the more passive way where the summoner does little to impact the actual behavior of the summons but rather supports them with things like debuffs and control, letting their servants do the work for them. We wanted to place the Necromancer somewhere in between, allowing for some level of control to gain more from your skeletons without making it a barrier of entry to the career.

Without any player input the skeletons will stay near Sienna, attack nearby enemies and soak up enemy threats. To give players control (and tying in the skeletons in the second to second gameplay), we created three commands: attack, defend and release, granting players the ability to issue targets, reposition and even sacrifice their skeletal servants.

The nature of being a spell caster with 6 extra bodies around to soak enemy attention gave way to her two main roles. A backline spell caster using her personal frontline as a buffer while dispensing death and a control focused summoner utilizing the great threat soaking potential of minions to grant the party breathing room. This we felt slotted into the Sienna career lineup.

To reduce vision blocking when controlling a lot of skeletons only 4 are forced to move in formation in front of Sienna.

Regarding her weapons, one side was already solved. The Scythe, a staple to necromancers in any rpg and Sienna's first proper two handed weapon. Great weapons with great cleaves are nothing new to Vermintide and Sienna was missing out on the fun.

The Soulstealer Staff required a bit more pondering. Here the challenge was to find gameplay in the form of spells that were different from her other staves but still befitted the Warhammer lore of necromancy. The staff saw many iterations and we decided on the flavorfully on point soul drain which is slow but tackles even the biggest of brutes. Building on the theme of control we also gave the staff a haunting curse allowing the necromancer to keep multiple elites under control as they are brought low by her Necromantic magics and servants.

Trying out the Soulstealer Staff with the “Cursed Blood” talent.

To go along with her weapons and calcium crew, Sienna's main passive Malediction of Nagash causes her Necromantic magics to increase the damage the enemy suffers from her. The intent behind this passive is to transform Sienna's damage over time effects into a way to enable other parts of her kit whilst also tying in the fantasy of necromantic magics draining enemy vigor.

Which brings us the Necromancer’s talent tree. The main purpose of the Vermintide talent trees is of course offering different ways to play the career within its allotted gameplay space, but also to extend the career into more specialized versions of the power fantasy. The challenge then is to provide the players relevant options for specialized playstyles that slots appropriately into the lore. The identities we selected that would serve as guidelines were summoner, caster and melee.

[h3]The summoner works with their undying servants and their talents affect skeleton numbers, strength and how often they can be summoned. Suggested talents for a summoner build.[/h3]

Vanhel’s Danse Macabre: Sienna gains 12% attack speed when 4 or more Skeletons are raised.
Spirit Leech: Killing an elite enemy restores 15% cooldown.
Army of the Dead: Raise Dead now causes Skeletons to remain for 20 seconds before decaying.

[h3]The caster sees their skeletons as shambling batteries of magic to be used as sacrificial pawns in their flurry of magical spells, their talents affect ranged power, overcharge management and damage over time effects. Suggested talents for a caster build.[/h3]

Death Ascendent: Casting spells grants 5% increased Ranged Power for 6 seconds. Max Stacks 5.
Lost Souls: Venting 20% Overcharge unleashes a soul that steals health from a nearby enemy, restoring 2 temporary health.
Barrow Blades: Skeletons now carry two cursed blades. When raised, and when attacking, they ignite enemies, causing damage over time.

[h3]The melee fantasy is for necromancers who prefer to utilize their instruments of death at close range, their talents affect melee prowess, control and survivability. Suggested melee build talents.[/h3]

Reaping: Critical strikes have Unlimited Cleave and 25% increased Power.
Soul Harvest: The Malediction of Nagash rips the soul from targets that die. Harvesting 8 souls causes the next attack to be a guaranteed Critical Hit.
The Curse of Undeath: Casting Raise Dead reduces damage inflicted on Sienna by 80% for the next 3 hits.

-----

While the goal is to create talents that enhance the tools and feeling of a specialized build, the aim is to create talents that don't pigeon-hole players too much and are useful on their own to allow for tinkering and mix-and-matching.

So whether it is halting the enemy advance with shambling walls of bone, shriveling the enemies life essence or swinging big scythes around we hope that you will enjoy bringing death to the enemy in one way or another and we look forward to your response on the necromancer. As we pick up on our efforts to balance and evolve the game, we will keep a close eye on the numbers as the necromancer and her bad to the bone crew of restless dead enter the fray.