Welcome to another Developer Update! We’re still all working from home for the time being. We’re getting to know our new co-workers as we interfere with their normal operating procedures and invade their normal working environments.



This week some folks expected an April Fool gag from us, as would be tradition, but we decided that in keeping with the general sentiment that now is not the time for fake news, we would hold off. It’s something we can keep in our pocket for next year all the same, and we’ve had plenty of giggles in the past with some light hearted pranks, some of which ended up being true, either through implementation by the team (in the case of Bar Brawl) or through the hard work of modders like Grimalackt and Zaphio (Deathwish and Mute Kerillian, respectively). If you want a reminder of all our past Vermingags, then look no further:

2015: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9J_19J3257A

2016: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wu9Pe7fp0qs

2017: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2IBtsnkiq8

2018:
https://steamcommunity.com/games/552500/announcements/detail/1655510866867351765

2019: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ll44B-olDzo

At the moment, we’re busy working away on some of the final steps for us to be able to reveal details on Season 3 and what’s to come. We’ve also been working to bring you something a bit different to keep you all busy whilst you may be stuck in the house, and hope to be able to show you all of that in the next developer update.

Keeping with (recent) tradition, at 2pm UT today (that's.. right now!) the Sharks will be invading the Quick Play queues in Vermintide 2. We’ll cover all platforms so look out for those Shark teeth portrait frames. We’re likely to be found in various difficulties as we’re sharks of varying capabilities!



That's it from us. Not a juicy one this week, but soon no doubt!

Take care!

/Team Fatshark

Thanks for checking out this week's developer post. We don't have a huge deal to share this week. We've been thrilled with your reactions to the latest and last Chapter in the Curse of Drachenfels adventure for Vermintide 2, and hope that Nurgloth isn't being too mean to the Quickplay PUB runs out there!

Given most of us are being told to stay inside right now and limit physical interactions with society, we have doubled all XP gains once again and will keep that going until March 29th.



Also, today at 4pm CET the developers will be invading the lobbies of Vermintide 2, so it's a great time to jump in-game, grab some levels or more commendation chests, and hang out with the crew as they work from home (and of course play from home!). We look forward to hanging out and pushing back against the End Times with you.

You can now play the third and final Chapter of the Curse of Drachenfels, Enchanter’s Lair on PC. This update consists of three new missions in total, is part of Season 2 and is free for all owners of Warhammer: Vermintide 2. You can find more information about Season 2 here.



You’ve seen him before. Now go get him, heroes! You can read more about Nurgloth the Eternal here.

Features

• New Map: Enchanter's Lair
  
• A batch of Weapon Skins added to Lohner's Emporium. These may be familiar to some players just previously not available via the store.

Level Fixes

• Righteous Stand: Fixed an issue where the end event would be super bright once the Twitch-mode Darkness mutator expired.
  
• Old Haunts: Fixed some spots where players could get stuck, also where they might 'slip' off the map.
  
• Old Haunts: Fixed some illogical player respawn issues.
  
• Old Haunts: Fixed some culling issues.
  
• Old Haunts: Fixed an issue where players who joined after the gargoyle head puzzle is complete would instantly complete the 'Ahead Of Time' challenge criteria.
  
• Taal's Horn Keep: Fixed some floating props.
  
• Taal's Horn Keep: Fixed performance issue in HUD.
  
• Weaves: Fixed culling issues in various Weaves types.
  
• Weaves: Bots could sometimes remain dead if they died before the Arena and not be available for rescue within the Arena. This shouldn't be possible now.

General Fixes and Tweaks

• Added delay on kill volumes so people with bad connection wouldn't die from touching it when they get extrapolated under the floor on server side. This should dramatically reduce those heart attack moments. Let us know if you experience them still, and specifically where you do if you do.
  
• Torches can now block arrows.
  
• Reikland Reaper - Durations are now refreshed when procced again.
  
• Added a notification for the host that a party member is not eligible for a particular Deed, whilst before it would start the Deed and silently kick the ineligable player.
  
• Fixed a LOD issue that could cause the Ravaged Art pickups to be hidden in very particular situations.
  
• We've made changes so the chat doesn't take mouse wheel input if it's not focused, before it would scroll when it was visible. Chat will now always scroll all the way down when it is unfocused.
  
• Fixed quickplay stats sometimes not getting incremented after finishing quickplay game.
  
• Fixed an exploit where items could be duplicated into the Salvage window.
  
• Fixed various crashes.

We just updated to 2.3.0.1 with some fixes.

• Fixed crashes caused by Ironbreaker’s Gromril Curse talent during the Nurgloth encounter.
  
• Fixed some art issues in the Enchanter’s Lair mission.
  
• Fixed a broken patrol route in the Enchanter’s Lair mission.
  
• More generic crashes fixed.

Welcome to another Developer Update. First we want to announce that this weekend as of now until Monday around midday UTC, we have doubled all XP gains for players on all platforms!

As a studio this past week has been taxing beyond belief. Sending home around 100 people on short notice presents a unique set of challenges that we’ve never had to face until now.

The first challenge is one of ‘understanding’. Having the sharks understand why these changes are happening gives the process of shipping them home a head start and thankfully this wasn’t a problem.

Logistically there have been heaps of challenges that our IT team can no doubt attest to. Every shark needs to be equipped with hardware and software in order to do their daily duties. Every shark needs a different set up. Some sharks have capable PCs at home that can be repurposed from entertainment and home use and turned into workhorses. Some aren’t equipped in their home office to do their nine-to-five, so IT has been ordering in new hardware every day. Then there are licence issues. Sure, something like Steam lets you install your games on 100s of different PCs without concern, but software like Maya for example, is much more limiting and requires licences to be either transferred or replaced, costing time and/or money. Our IT gurus have been putting in some fierce overtime in ensuring each shark’s unique situation is catered for with minimal downtime, and hats off to them as they have risen to and overshot any and all expectations. Big up Frank and Co.!

The next challenge is ‘process’. Switching from office work to remote working presents real changes to daily work flows. Gone are the morning stand-ups where teams huddle in the office, talk about the day ahead and share progress over a coffee or by the water cooler. Now everything you do is behind closed doors, and each and every shark needs to up their game in communicating how and what they’re doing. So far this has been going well and folks have really upped their game. Our producers and team captains have been invaluable in laying out new processes and procedures that keep everyone up to date and clued in on what their colleagues are doing.

One other key challenge is mental health, in fact this is really the most crucial one during these times. At Fatshark we genuinely take pride in doing right by our colleagues, limiting crunch, offering flexibility, and respecting the work/life balance everyone should be afforded. With the current timeline being uncertain, and with the media (both social and journalistic) running overtime, it can really wreak havoc on people and their mindspace. With worries about friends, family and society at large at a potentially all-time-high, we need to take that extra time and caution in making sure our remote sharks are staying healthy in both body and mind. Collectively we have all come together, albeit the furthest apart we have ever been physically, to research and share our tips and experiences with remote working. We’ve scheduled countless base-touch meetings to check in on each other, and we’re getting together in the evenings (remotely of course!) to play different games together, from Tabletop Simulator to Warzone, from DayZ to Minecraft. Obviously this challenge is an ongoing one, and one that will evolve as the situation evolves around us.

As for development turnarounds, we are doing everything we can to make this temporary upheaval have as little impact as possible. We’re still on track to release Chapter 3 of the Curse of Drachenfels adventure for Vermintide 2 next week.

At 14:00 UTC today, to end the week on a light note in the various shark tanks across Stockholm (and beyond in the case of even further remote employees!) we’ll be invading the lobbies of Vermintide 2 to hang out and play some games with you all!

It’s a good time to jump into the game and get buddied up with a shark. We’ll populate all the difficulties with bodies and we’ll be found on Xbox One and Playstation 4 (as well as Steam of course!).

On a side note, we want to mention that we’ve been working in a publishing capacity with Blackfox Studios who have been developing a new title - Dreadlands - a turn based skirmish game in which you control a gang of misfits and mercenaries, battling for survival and supremacy in a lush post-apocalyptic setting. It just went into Early Access, and owners of Vermintide 2 get a nice loyalty discount so if you’re stuck at home and want to get involved in some turn based tactics fun and add to it’s evolution through the Early Access phase of development (and of course beyond!) then it’s right here on Steam:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1054690/Dreadlands/

Lastly, we want to wish you all good health and positive vibes. The situation’s you’re in are likely all very different depending on where you are, but follow advice given by scientific bodies, and do what you can to make positive changes in your communities, be it through isolating or shopping for only what you need!

Big love, folks!

/Fatshark

As the last steamtank noises echoes over the Reikland we wave goodbye to ‘A Quiet Drink’ for this Anniversary. We truly hope you have enjoyed your hunt for the Bugman’s XXXXXX.

Peace and quiet is now settling over Taal’s Horn Keep… Who are we kidding, there are plenty of vermin left to take care of.

Before you set out for your next mission we wanted to take a moment to remind you to look after each other, take care and stay safe. At the moment all Sharks have been recommended to work from home. This extra measure does not affect produtction or future releases, and we will keep you informed if anything changes.

The final chapter of the Curse of Drachenfels update is coming to PC on March 24. This update is part of Season 2 and is free for all owners of Warhammer: Vermintide 2, and consists of 3 new missions in total; Old Haunts, Blood in Darkness and Enchanter’s Lair.

"Something is lurking in the Castle, and it is not Drachenfels himself."

We're going to pass the mic to Lohner right now, who can tell us about this mysterious inhabitant of Castle Drachenfels -Nurgloth the Eternal.

#Discussions_QuoteBlock_Author

So, what I’m hearing is that Nurgloth the Eternal is the Rotbloods’ chief soothsayer and Burblespue Halescourge’s chief rival. Seems that while Halescourge keeps his squalid little throne because of those rotten little sorceries of his, Nurgloth can see the future … or bits of it, at least. Yeah, because that’s never gone wrong for anyone. My contacts reckon he’s even caught glimpses of the Realm of Chaos, so it’s safe to say that the poor bugger’s mad as a goblin doomdiver, on top of everything else.

Problem is, a seer’s only as good as his last prediction. While Halescourge is busy turning the Reikland’s finest into seeping goo, Nurgloth looks to be losing his status. Which’d explain why he’s looking for a way to get back into his chieftain’s good graces – or possibly his recently-emptied throne. You know what these northlanders are like.

‘Course, Nurgloth could just challenge his rivals and have done, but he’s cannier than that. He’s heard about our old mate Constant Drachenfels’ fascination with daemons. Let’s face it, if you’re a maniacal daemon-cavorting northlander, Old Drachenfels can likely teach you a useful trick or two – probably not in person, mind, but he’s bound to have left some notes about the place. Maybe even the odd captive daemon or two.

Now, much as I’m all for folk bettering themselves, I don’t think we can let this proceed. True, if Nurgloth gets what he wants out of Castle Drachenfels, he’s gonna settle a few scores in the tribe first. But when that’s done? Well, that ain’t gonna end well for the Reikland, now is it? Seems we’d better give him a lesson of our own before that happens.

Thanks for stopping by! This week, Vermintide turns two, and to celebrate we enabled the event special map ‘A Quiet Drink’ so the heroes can get some reprieve! Maybe. Probably not.

With Queen Kerillian out on the town alongside Steam Tank driver wannabe Victor, there’s some notable downtime for Lohner back in the keep. He’s been looking at some of your submitted artworks and creations, and we thought we would share a bunch of those this week!

This anniversary celebration is not so much about us, or Vermintide, as it is a celebration of everyone who’s been a part of this special journey with us. We might make the game, but it would be nothing without all of you lot joining the fray! So we want to take a moment to celebrate all of you and your wonderful creations.

/Fatshark

Due to limitations in Steam embedding, take a look at the new post linked below to view the gallery of cool stuff you lot have made

https://www.vermintide.com/news/developer-update-march-6

It is time to celebrate once more! Another year has passed by and Warhammer: Vermintide 2 is celebrating its 2-Year Anniversary on PC. Between March 5 and March 12 you can enjoy the anniversary in game. The mission ‘A Quiet Drink’ makes a return and of course, the Fatshark Stream on March 6th!

FOLLOW THE HEROES OUT ON THE TOWN
The Ubersreik 5 are heading out to try relax in peace and quiet… Hopefully.


CASQUE-AID
Earn the Anniversary exclusive portrait frame by following the Ubersreik 5 out on town!


During the 2-year anniversary of Vermintide 2’s release on PC it is not only us here at Fatshark that will be streaming. Click the link to find out more about the different Content Creators and when they will be live to celebrate, and we have made sure they are armed with giveaways.

https://www.vermintide.com/news/2-year-anniversary

Thanks for stopping by this brief update! This week saw the experimental PC Beastman-taming-beta come offline and the changes, along with some additional fixes, put out to the live version of the game. Hopefully, you’re finding a better balance of bad guys in your adventures. Thanks to those of you who tested the beta and provided feedback! You rock!

With March 8th approaching, we’re looking forward to celebrating the two year anniversary since Vermintide 2 was released on Steam! We’ve only have you all to thank for the success of Vermintide 2, of course having joined us on the journey so far, or part of it perhaps, yet here reading this post all the same. So again, thank you for being here and we hope you enjoy what we have in store for you for 2020 and Year 3, or ~ 2524 IC!

To celebrate the anniversary we’ll be letting the heroes loose on the streets of Helmgart to have A Quiet Drink (hopefully) and relax a little. They’ve earned it! The special adventure map will be available between the 5th and 12th of March and will be partnered with a limited time Quest reward to mark the occasion.

We’ll also be hosting a Fatshark Stream on the 6th of March where we’ll grab some devs, do some Show & Tells, check out some mods and play some games with you all.

We’ve also partnered with a bunch of Streamers you’ll no doubt know, they’ll be celebrating along with us and all of you over on Twitch where we’ve armed them with some Swag to distribute as they see fit! We’ll get a schedule up and announced next week, but in the meantime chuck them a follow and you’ll be informed when they come online!

FUPLAAYZ
https://www.twitch.tv/fuplaayz

WARWITCH TV
https://twitch.tv/warwitchtv

GOOFGUY https://www.twitch.tv/goofguy

HELLOFLOWER
https://twitch.tv/helloflower

ISHKA TV
https://www.twitch.tv/ishkatv

MOOPSHARK
https://www.twitch.tv/moopshark

WALKERTRIPS
https://www.twitch.tv/walkertrips


Yesterday we pushed out a bunch of fixes for the console versions of Vermintide 2. With a bunch of crashes fixed, players should also experience much better connection stability with other players and be dropped far less frequently from matches where the host as unfortunately crashed out. Thanks for reporting these issues to us and bearing with us as we get these things patched up!

The process on consoles is much more complex than the relative freedoms we have on Steam to push updates more frequently, so we genuinely feel for you during times of instability. It’s never our goal for you to feel alienated or left behind and we do appreciate it can feel that way. We just want you to know it’s neither malice or lack of care, just things (processes mostly), are very different on these platforms.

Thanks for checking out the experimental beta this past weekend and giving us your thoughts and feedback on the changes.

Overall the changes were received well and as such we're putting those changes live, including the reintroduction of the unintended mechanic which allows for some customisation of Heroic Deeds. The full patch notes for this release are below.

• Changed how enemy faction populations are determined in the missions. Skaven and Chaos now have a higher chance of appearing in a mission compared to Beastmen. Should mean less Beastmentide across the board.
  
• Beastmen can no longer spawn in Blood in the Darkness. They don't like being inside spooky castles.
  
• Polished Ungor and Gor attack damage triggers. Should now feel more fair with the attack animation.
  
• Added an exploit that allows players to customise their Deed difficulties and map choices.
  
• Fixed a crash in the dialogue system when a client joins an on-going game.

Added since Experimental Beta closed

• Added VFX to the end event fight in Blood in the Darkness.
  
• Fixed some broken ledges before the end event on Blood in the Darkness where bots with weak knees kept faling off from.
  
• Fixed an issue with being able to lock out teammates in the first event on Blood in the Darkness.
  
• Fixed enemies not being able to path to players through the door during the end event on Blood in the Darkness.
  
• Fixed an issue with not being able to join or matchmake in to a Weave lobby queued for ranked play.
  
• Fixed a crash that could happen during Lord fights.

Hope you've had a groovy week. We've not got it all right have we. But hats off to you for letting us know where we misstep. We genuinely appreciate it.

Today we're putting an Experimental Beta out to Steam, available for all owners of Vermintide 2, but with particular emphasis on the Beastmen available for Winds of Magic enabled lobbies.

[BETA ACCESS DETAILS ARE AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST]

You've fed back to us that there seems to be a disproportionate amount of Beastmen in your Vermintide. For some time now we've been fettling with Beastman presence throughout the game on an internal version, and are ready to bring those changes in to a beta for your feedback. There's also changes to Ungor and Gor attacks damage triggers, we're hoping these are more in line with their animations so there's less chance of them getting off cheap shots.

We also heard that we really shouldn't be fixing the Heroic Deed exploit that some folks used to spice up their Deeds before we have improved the Deed system for players. And yep, we agree that removing that was tone deaf (feel free to blame Hedge!). In the meantime, we've reintroduced that to the game.

• Changed how enemy faction populations are determined in the missions. Skaven and Chaos now have a higher chance of appearing in a mission compared to Beastmen. Should mean less Beastmentide across the board.
  
• Beastmen can no longer spawn in Blood in the Darkness. They don't like being inside spooky castles.
  
• Polished Ungor and Gor attack damage triggers. Should now feel more fair with the attack animation.
  
• Added an exploit that allows players to customise their Deed difficulties and map choices.
  
• Fixed a crash in the dialogue system when a client joins an on-going game.

To install the 2.2.1 Experimental beta, please:

• Right-click Vermintide 2 in your Steam library sidebar 
  
• Select 'Properties' 
  
• Select the 'Betas' tab
  
• Expand the dropdown and select:
  2.2.1_experimental

A 12mb download for the patch Experimental branch should then start downloading. If the download does not start automatically, please restart the Steam client. It's also around 12mb to switch back to the LIVE version.

PROGRESS WILL BE PERSISTENT BETWEEN THE TEST AND LIVE GAME

If you're playing the experimental beta and wish to provide feedback or report a bug, please do submit those to the dedicated categories on our official forums:

https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/c/V2-Exp/EXP-feedback/60
https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/c/V2-Exp/EXP-Bugs/61


Join Tim, Tom and Tuva over on Twitch today at 13:30 UTC where they’ll be talking about the Experimental Beta.

https://www.twitch.tv/fatsharkgames