Warhammer: Vermintide 2 News

https://youtu.be/fD0p8JcjE2w

[h2]Heroes,[/h2]

Today we are excited to announce that the new support career for Kerillian, the Sister of the Thorn, is available on Steam and Lohner’s Emporium of Wonders! Similar to both the Grail Knight and the Outcast Engineer, the Sister of the Thorn is available with our without the Cosmetic Upgrade.

The Sister of the Thorn is primarily designed to not be a heavy damage dealer, but instead, she is the master of crowd control. The unique career skill ‘Thornwake’ and the passive ability called ‘A Cluster of Radiants’ creates a unique career that you will want to master. You can read and learn more about the Sister of the Thorn below.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1629000/Warhammer_Vermintide_2__Sister_of_the_Thorn/

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/21330/Warhammer_Vermintide_2__Sister_of_the_Thorn_Bundle/

The Sisters of the Thorn are renowned as the handmaidens of Ariel, the life-giving Queen of Athel Loren, but there are those among them who court darker, malevolent powers. Reborn into their mystical ranks, Kerillian engages in battle with spell-craft and javelins, drawing upon nature’s splendour to invigorate and protect her allies.

If you want to find out how Kerillian ended up a Sister of the Thorn, you can read the full story by clicking here to read Rebirth & Regret.




[h3]General Fixes / Tweaks[/h3]

• Added dialogue to Deity Shrines in The Keep.
  
• The lobby browser now shows the Twitch logo for browsers that are connected to Twitch.
  
• All weapon inspects now have third person animations.
  
• Fixed various miscellaneous crashes.
  
• Fixed various miscellaneous localisation issues.
  
• Conversations should no longer start between heroes when they're too far apart and unable to hear each other.
  
• Fixed Grail Knight blessings sometimes not re-activating when bot is replaced by a player, who then leaves the game.
  
• Fixed some cases where Sienna's teleport would move you under terrain causing you to get stuck or fall out of the map.
  
• Fixed an issue where Kerillian could have no footstep audio when using the Repeating Crossbow.
  
• Player movement no longer resets when picking up objects that can be picked up instantly.
  
• Host can now see subtitles while in Twitch mode. Twitch UI has also been slightly rescaled and repositioned to work better with subtitles.
  
• Fixed an issue where Beastmen could still spawn in Bögenhafen maps.
  
• Fixed the 'Faithflight' Weapon Illusion appearing to be the wrong rarity.
  
• Weather related voice lines should no longer be heard whilst in combat.
  
• Fixed some cases of incorrect voice lines in The Keep.
  
• It should no longer be possible to break the 'Difficulty' selector by navigating backwards on the 'Game Type' selector in the lobby browser.
  
• Fixed an issue where certain Traits would not trigger on ranged attacks
  
• Fixed some texture issues in the UI.
  
• Fixed delayed sound effects on equipping Sienna's Fire Sword
  
• Fixed an issue with the landing sound effect when Saltzpyre and Outcast Engineer Bardin would jump.
  
• Kerillian should no longer have an arrow notched when out of ammo.
  
• Most of Bardins shields should now block less of the center of the screen (again!).
  
• World markers now fade out while aiming down sights.
  
• Purchasing a bundle now shows a popup for each acquired item.
  
• Skaven spawners (specifically spawners where they climb out of holes or down a pillar, etc) allow elites to spawn once more.
  
• Outcast Engineer Tinkerer's Coggrund cog is now turning the correct way
  
• Heroes should not trigger last man standing VO when entering the Skittergate whilst other heroes are alive and simply not yet through the gate.
  
• "Changes to Engineer Challenges:
  - 'Stout heart, Steady aim' - Reduced amount of hits required to 12 down from 30.
  - 'Targeting Array' - Reduced the amount of required headshots in a row to 6 down from 20.
  - 'I love the smell of black powder' - Reduced the amount of kills needed from a single powder barrel explosion to 10 down from 20.
  - 'Endrinkuli's War Song' - Reduced the time required to fire the crank gun in one activation to 40 seconds down from 50.
  - 'Patent Pending' - Removed requirement of completing all 'Trial by Plague' and 'Proving Grounds' challenges aswell as removing required completion of 'Interception Barrage'."
  
• Generic Terror Events will no longer wait for players to kill any special to be completed. (Sorceror, Leech, Gutter Runner, Ratling Gunner, Packmaster, Warpfire Thrower, Poison Wind Globadier, Standard bearer)
  
• Fixed an issue where clients could not tag Beastmen banners.
  

[h3]Levels[/h3]

• Against the Grain - Fixed a case where bots could become stuck on a haybale inside a barn.
  
• Athel Yenlui - Fixed an issue where Specials could spawn at the Bridge of Shadows.
  
• Athel Yenlui - Bots should have an easier time grabbing the first Grimoire.
  
• Athel Yenlui - Fixed some funkiness with the ley lines on the end event.
  
• The Blightreaper - Fixed a hole in the bookcase found in the end event.
  
• Blood in the Darkness - Fixed a destructible blockade that was considered still blocked for players who had hotjoined, despite being destroyed by the team, causing the player to be unable to proceed.
  
• Blood in the Darkness - Fixed a respawn where waiting players could not be interacted with properly by the team attempting to rescue them.
  
• Convocation of Decay - Adjusted the end event to be slightly less punishing. Feedback welcome in the usual channels!
  
• Dark Omens - Fixed some terrain weirdness.
  
• Empire in Flames - Fixed a case where players could re-spawn behind the team beyond a point of no return.
  
• Empire in Flames - Fixed a case where enemies would regularly spawn silently.
  
• Empire in Flames - Fixed a case where Minotaurs could not break down a wall.
  
• Engines of War - Fixed Specials spawning too closely to players during the end event.
  
• The Enchanter's Lair - Random hero banter should no longer interrupt the introductory banter at the beginning of the level.
  
• The Enchanter's Lair - Fixed a case where a player who joined during the statue event could not pick up the gargoyle head(s).
  
• The Enchanter's Lair - Fixed a spot where patrols could get stuck.
  
• The Enchanter's Lair - Bots should no longer be able to pick items up through the gate in the blood pool room.
  
• Festering Ground - Fixed a case where the escape event could become blocked off for a last man standing attempting a clutch under certain circumstances.
  
• Festering Ground - Removed an invisible wall.
  
• Festering Ground - Fixed an issue where the map exit could become blocked.
  
• Festering Ground - Fixed an issue where the first Grimoire chest could not be opened easily.
  
• Fort Bobsburgers - The "Load the Cannon" objective marker should now appear for players who join the map during the event.
  
• Fortunes of War - Fixed a cheese spot.
  
• Garden of Morr - Fixed some spots where players could skip large chunks of the level.
  
• Garden of Morr - Fixed an issue where bots could become stuck on a ladder.
  
• Halescourge - Fixed over-extended collision on one of the houses.
  
• Horn of Magnus - Barrels thrown upwards towards the sky should no longer be despawned or be considered out of the play area.
  
• Hunger in the Dark - Fixed a number of locations in which Rattling Gunners could shoot through the environment.
  
• Into the Nest - Fixed some holes in geometry/terrain.
  
• Into the Nest - Fixed an issue where bots would not die when knocked out-of-bounds.
  
• Into the Nest - Fixed an issue where heroes could respawn too far ahead.
  
• The Pit - Fixed an issue where heroes could respawn too far ahead.
  
• Righteous Stand - Fixed some holes in geometry/terrain.
  
• Screaming Bell - Fixed an issue where bots would not always enter the end arena.
  
• War Camp - Fixed some spots where players could get stuck.
  
• War Camp - Fixed bots becoming stuck on the battering ram.
  
• War Camp - Fixed a case where patrols could spawn in plain sight.
  
• Weaves - Fixed some spots where players could get stuck, and some holes in geometry.
  

[h3]Chaos Wastes - General[/h3]

• Chaos Wastes - Fixed an interaction between Bardin's 'Parting Gift' talent and the 'Artillery' boon in which he would be left without a grenade when throwing his double grenade from within the smoke shroud, as opposed to being left with one as expected.
  
• Chaos Wastes - Fixed an issue where players could spawn in to the Chaos Wastes after host migration with their adventure weapons equipped (traits etc) included.
  
• Chaos Wastes - Valaya's Brew now uses the pseudo-random distribution system to smoothen the randomness of it.
  
• Chaos Wastes - Fixed an issue where some Pilgrim’s Coins would not carry over between runs since 4.3.0.6.
  
• Chaos Wastes - Fixed an issue where players could not view the 'Item Inspect' UI in the Chaos Wastes if 'Inspect Weapon' was bound to the mouse.
  
• Chaos Wastes - Fixed a scaling issue with player frames in the map Shrines.
  
• Chaos Wastes - Fixed an issue where Talent Boons were not being properly granted in the map Shrines.
  
• Chaos Wastes - Grail Knight duty talents no longer appear as Chaos Wastes powerups, things got kind of weird with those interactions.
  
• Chaos Wastes - Increased the bonus coins obtained when playing with bots.
  
• Chaos Wastes - 'Stromfels’ Savagery' no longer applies it's visual effect to all players.
  
• Chaos Wastes - Using Bounty Hunter career skill with 'Valaya's Brew' and 'Potion of Endless Bombs' no longer interrupt the career skill.
  
• 
  
• Chaos Wastes - Levels
  
• Chaos Wastes - ALL LEVELS - All the locations have had an optimisation pass, and should suffer less performance dips than before.
  
• Chaos Wastes - Citadel of Eternity - Fixed an issue where Specials could continue to spawn after event end.
  
• Chaos Wastes - The Foetid Gorge - Fixed a spot where players could get stuck.
  
• Chaos Wastes - The Forbidden Trail - Fixed an issue where enemies could be instantly killed on spawn.
  
• Chaos Wastes - The Forbidden Trail - Fixed several spots where players could get stuck.
  
• Chaos Wastes - Lost City of Marakza - Added a ledge that was previously missing.
  
• Chaos Wastes - Pinnacle of Nightmares - Added a failsafe timer to the end event in-case of incidental soft-lock.
  

Kerillian’s been a bit stranger than usual (these things being relative). Fortunately, Franz Lohner’s pieced together part of the puzzle. Might be he has more questions than answers, but we’ll see what happens.

[h2]Rebirth & Regret - Kerillian[/h2]

So our elf’s not quite what we’ve come to expect from her, is she? In fact, I’m not entirely convinced she’s entirely an elf any longer. Fun times, eh? Just when you think you’ve got someone figured out they have some kind of transformative life experience. Selfish, is what it is.

… Don’t you dare repeat that to her, Kruber. I’ve got enough problems right now as it is …

So yeah, I thought we’d better have a little chat and straighten out what’s going on. Can’t guarantee accuracy, but between me, Olesya and Sienna, we’ve got most of the bases covered.
I’m not sure when all this began, not exactly, but Kerillian’s been in a strange mood for a while. First obvious sign was back during the Night of Masks - not that I’d expect any of you lot to remember, given what you was drinking until the small wee hours. Mirrored masks, crows and horrible spirits rattling the windows of the keep. Took some time for the mental cogs to start biting, but it did finally start to add up. Seems Kerillian’s faith in Lileath has taken the odd knock of late, and she’s been looking for guidance from elsewhere in the elven pantheon. Problem is, when you start looking for gods, they often start staring right back at you.

Then, of course, there’s the business of the Citadel of Eternity. You’ve all been a mite evasive about what you’ve seen and heard in there - and I’m not prying, believe me - but I’ve a suspicion that whatever it was Kerillian heard? Well, it kind of sealed the deal. Up and vanished shortly after that without a word, and by the time she came back? Well. You know as well as I do.

Near as I can tell, Lileath never answered our elf at the Citadel - or at least, if she did, she didn’t say anything Kerillian wanted to hear. Sent her packing back to Athel Loren looking for answers - Sienna’s vouched for part of that, even if she’s being tight-lipped about the details.

… I’m not blaming you for that, Sienna love. No one needs a bunch of homicidal asrai looking for them in connection with spilled secrets …

Looking for guidance, Kerillian rededicated herself to the Weave. Lots of wood elves do that over the course of their lives, or so I hear. Gives them a new perspective. A new purpose. Only Kerillian got more than she bargained for. She offered up her uncertainty and regret, and the forest gladly took it. However, it also scooped up a chunk of the rest of her for good measure, and gave something of itself back to fill the void.

As I said before, plenty of elves rededicate themselves to the Weave, and it ain’t unusual for them to come back more spirit than flesh as our Kerillian has done. Outsiders - what few there are who claim to know asrai secrets - say the men emerge as “Wild Riders of Kurnous”, the equerries of King Orion, and the women as “Sisters of the Thorn”, handmaidens to Queen Ariel. But there’s a whole parcel of assumptions bound up in those labels - mingling of status and vocation. Let’s face it, if Kerillian were truly a queen’s handmaid, she’d not be up here messing around with the likes of us, now would she?
There’s something more going on here, mark my words.

Maybe it wasn’t the forest who patched the holes in Kerillian’s troubled soul - or at least not the forest alone. Like I said, she’s been courting goddesses other than Lileath of late. Atharti, Lady of Desire. Morai-Heg, the crone of Fate. Isha, the Mother. Hekarti, the Mistress and Magic. And Ereth Khial the … Well, let’s just say you’ve got to be in a pretty bad way to want to draw Ereth Khial’s attention.
There’s a good mix of the generous (the Cadai) and the wicked (the Cytharai) in among that lot, but that’s nothing new for the asrai. Of all the elven nations, Olesya reckons they’re the closest branch - if you’ll forgive the pun - to what elves used to be, back in the day, balancing light and dark, and putting both to use as they see fit. Not that any of that should be news to you lot. You’ve hung about with Kerillian long enough to know that she’s a study in contrasts. Carefree and bitterly serious. Selfless and spiteful. Your best friend and your worst enemy. Well, I’ve a feeling those contrasts are about to get a lot sharper. At the very least, whatever handbook we had for dealing with our homicidal elf has just seen some hefty rewrites. At the worst, there might not be one any longer.

Now, I can’t tell you what to do, but I’ll be treading a lot more carefully around Kerillian until we know more. I suggest you do the same.

And let’s just keep this little chat between us, shall we? No sense antagonising her.

An absent-minded man of mysteries, Franz Lohner relies on his bulging journal to keep track of occurrences, intrigues and arguments around Taal's Horn Keep. Sometimes his notes are even useful, believe it or not. The Franz Lohner Chronicles are extracts from that journal.



It's all gone a bit quiet around here again. I mean, that's relative of course. Between Bardin's ongoing – and not entirely successful – experiments in musicality, Saltzpyre's newfound rededication to prayer and Catrinne's complaining, it's never what you'd call tranquil. But it's definitely quieter. I put it down to the fact that Kerillian's gone on another wander.

This time she's gone back home, as I understand it. Athel Loren, realm of the asrai lords and ladies, forest spirits, and sudden, inexplicable death from the shadows. Never been, myself. Well, not inside the forest proper. You don't really hear of outsiders doing that and coming back alive.

It's peculiar, though. Last I heard, Kerillian wasn't a popular sort in Athel Loren. You remember that business with Etrian, I'm sure. You know the whole "elven mage dabbles with forbidden magic, and pins it on an innocent waywatcher" type of affair? I got the definite impression that the words "on pain of death" had been involved … though now I think on it, I don't actually recall Kerillian saying them, as such. It was more a feeling she conveyed through delivery and dead-eyed stare.

So yes, now she's headed homeward, on pain of death or otherwise. I just wish I knew why, but even after all this time she's a closed book. Half the things she says about herself bear at least a second reading, and most of them could stand a third or a fourth. That's not to say I think Kerillian distrusts us, not as such. I just think she was alone so long there are pieces of her she'll never readily share.

I've seen something like this coming for months. Kerillian's not been herself since the Night of Masks, but that doesn't mean I had the first blessed idea what to do about it. The past hangs heavy on us all, and the future? Well, I can't help feeling that there's a lot of black clouds hanging on the horizon, and Kerillian sees further ahead than I ever will. I just wish she'd talk to us. Being ruthless about it, five operatives is better than four, and we're gonna struggle without her.

Kruber's taking it hardest. "The Ubersreik Five stand together" and all that. I've asked Bardin to keep an eye on him, on account of that thing about sudden inexplicable death. There's a bit of an accord between Bretonnia and Athel Loren, but that's not the same as letting a grail knight stomp about your woods unmolested. I only hope she comes back. Won't be the same without her.

Welcome to Year 2, Season 1 of the community-run Onslaught Tournament Series!

Pre-tourney show: 28th of May, 4-7pm UTC (12-3pm ET // 6-9 CEST // 5-8pm BST)
Tier 1 (Cata 1 Deathwish Onslaught) games: 29th of May, same times as above.
Tier 2 (Cata 3 Deathwish Onslaught) games: 30th of May, same times as above.

The tournament format tests consistency and skill, giving teams of four players three hours to complete four maps in a specific order with three attempts each map. Each failed attempt deducts points from a team’s overall score, with forfeited maps deducting the full amount of points for that map. There will be an optional score modifier for teams in either tier to adopt at their own discretion, which is earned by completing the same maps on Onslaught+ instead of regular Onslaught.

The map pool will be announced on May 15th in the Onslaught Series Discord.

There are two tiers to compete in: Tier 1 (Cataclysm 1 Deathwish Onslaught) and Tier 2 (Cataclysm 3 Deathwish Onslaught).

There's also a prize pool accrued by the tournament organiser and donations from FS, up for grabs by the winners and runner-ups for each respective tier:

Tier 1:

• 2 Vermintide posters
  
• 2 Warhammer 40k: Space Marine collections
  
• 2 Forgotten Relics codes
  
• 2 VT2 Collector's Edition codes

Tier 2:

• 2 VT2 hoodies or tees
  
• 4 serpent frames
  
• 2 character packs

There is a comprehensive set of rules which can be found in the Discord, but two notable rules worth mentioning here are as follows:

• All teams MUST be able to produce a recording on the same day as the tournament, or stream it and have an accessible vod to review, or risk disqualification.
  
• Shade is banned for this tournament.

On top of this, as normal there will be a shoutcast on all 3 days of the event streamed at https://www.twitch.tv/fightthetide, with shoutcasters ScareCrowClock (previously known as Rain Guy), and the original creator of Onslaught, Grimalackt.

The signups are now open! In the appropriate channel in the discord, please state your team name, the names of each of your players and which tier you'd like to compete in.

Hope to see you all there!

An absent-minded man of mysteries, Franz Lohner relies on his bulging journal to keep track of occurrences, intrigues and arguments around Taal's Horn Keep. Sometimes his notes are even useful, believe it or not. The Franz Lohner Chronicles are extracts from that journal.



I finally had a chance to have a natter with Sienna the other day. What with the Drachenfels business, the Citadel of Eternity and all the other nonsense that’s going on, I don’t feel like we’ve had a proper chat in absolutely ages. Haven’t seen the need, if I’m honest. For all her idiosyncrasies, Sienna’s probably the most level-headed of the lot. 

Which ain’t to say she doesn’t have her moments. She’s been a bit withdrawn of late, and some of the lads say she’s been romping around in the catacombs beneath the keep. No idea what she thinks she’s going to find down there that generations of looters haven’t. Possibly she just wants a bit of peace and quiet. Bardin’s discovered the joy of brass instruments, and if you thought “Over the Mountain” carried far and wide when sung, you don’t know the half of it.

Anyway, the thing I really wanted to ask Sienna about was her newfound worship of Myrmidia. Well, I say worship, but all told I think Sienna sees it as more of a meeting of equals – you know, one incandescent ball of light to another. I’ll be honest, Estalians always seem a bit that way: happier to walk beside the gods than to kneel before them. 

What it all comes down to, apparently, is justice. Our Sienna’s never been one to stand by and watch while inequity turns to insult. Half the items on that docket of charges Saltzpyre insists on keeping around relate to her taking a stand on behalf of the wronged. Myrmidia’s a bit the same, at least in some stories – never afraid to side with a valiant but doomed cause.

I mean, we’ve all heard the story of the Battle of Magritta, haven’t we? You know, how a handful of Knights Panther were saved from certain defeat by a plunging statue of Myrmidia? Crushed the enemy warlord and his elite guard flat as a Stirland pancake, turning the tide of the battle. Now, you and I might think that was just a convenient tremor did the work, but those knights didn’t think so. Founded the Order of the Blazing Sun that very day, they did. 

There are others, too. Captain Johan Brecke. He held the bridge at Brannicksdorf alone against three hundred roaring orcs, until the wheatfields caught flame and roasted the greenskins alive and set the rest to flight. Or how about Venassa, Countess of Talabheim, who escaped execution on false charges of treason when the sun burst from behind the clouds and blinded the headsman with the reflection from his own axe? And there are hundreds more.

Could be these are all embellishments or straight up delusions. Of course it could. But Sienna believes them, and I confess I’m tempted to myself. Got a bit of a mind to be a folk hero, does our Bright Wizard, turning back the unrighteous tide of an unhappy world. Can’t argue with that – I’m not made of stone – but it has got me wondering what happens when it dawns on her that you can only hold back the tide so long.

I mean, drowning aside, obviously.