• Quick Salvage buttons pulls from other characters inventories as well.
  
• Changing weapon illusion no longer requires unequipping it from all of the careers.
  
• Fixed the missing localization for tooltips.

Welcome to Patch 3.2 on PC, bringing you fixes & tweaks and… *Drumroll*, Quality of Life updates! These QoL updates are specially focused on end-of-round, Spoils of War and Crafting. We truly hope you will enjoy these updates, and as always, you can find the full list of all updates and patch notes below.

For Sigmar!

• Added ability to speed up rewards popup by pressing [space]/[esc] on KB/M or on Xbox Pad or [circle] on PS4 Pad while the popup is present.
  
• Sped up results screen summery and chest upgrade animations by 3x while holding space or "confirm" on controllers.

• [space] now is same as pressing "open" button to open chest in spoils of war screen.
  
• [space] now reveals all of the loot from the chest.
  
• [space] now closes the loot preview screen if all of the loot is open.
  
• Chest selection is now preserved when going back to item grid, unless there are no more instances of the selected type of chest, then it goes back to usual behavior of selecting first chest in current active page.

• Sped up crafting animations.
  
• Added quick fill salvage grid with specified rarity.
  
• Added button to clear salvage grid.
  
• You no longer need to re-add the item to the upgrade window to continue upgrading the item.

• Implemented automatic blocking while typing to the in-game text chat, opening the game menu, or while tabbed out of the game.

• While waiting players can now read interesting Lore-Tips that are visible at the bottom of the loading screen.

Known issues: Salvaging QoL only works for PC UI so far, looking into adding it to gamepad UI.

• Fixed several localization issues.
  
• Fixed a sound issue with 'Curse of Comradeship' occuring if a player would leaved the lobby while standing too far from its allies.

• Filled up a hole in the ground by the Helmgart Skittergate control panel.
  
• Rasknitt's arena should now spawn less enemies below ground.
  
• Sienna cannot Firewalk where there's not enough space anymore.
  
• Morrslieb has been told not do create overlapping moons during some weather variations.
  
• Bots should now navigate a particularly frustrating area with far less frustration.

• The Darkness of Heresy is now moon-less.
  
• The Ubersreik 5 will no longer get stuck between a pair of rocks.

• A ladder inside the barn has been adjusted to make Bot movement smoother.

• Fixed a VFX issue in the Metal Weave.

• Longbows with DoT Talent(s) now only apply DoTs when expected.
  
• Fixed an animation bug with the Executioners light-attack chain (specifically the transition between an interrupted light 1 and light 2).
  
• Foot Knight - Rock of the Reikland - No longer removes the damage reduction of the aura.
  
• Grail Knight - Fixed so the Grail Knight health regen buff no longer massively slows or entirely stops temp hp decay.

• Battle Wizard - 'Soot Shield' - No longer applies when attacking a party member.

• Ironbreaker - Rising Pressure - Updated talent tooltip to be more descriptive.
  
• Ranger - Exuberance - Fixed an issue with talent tooltip displaying incorrect duration timer.

• Longbows with DoT Talent(s) now only apply DoTs when expected.
  
• Handmaiden - Power from Pain - Fixed an issue where the talent didn't apply the proper critical strike chance bonus as intended.
  
• 1h Axe - Reverted push attack critical strike chance back to 20%, was reduced to 10% after beta.

My name is Morris, and I am the Lead Animator on Vermintide 2. I have been at Fatshark for a little over half a year now, with the first thing I worked on being the Drachenfels Lord.

When I am not working, I like to read (my latest read was Exhalation by Ted Chiang), participate in GameJams, drink copious amounts of tea, meditate and play any co-op game I can trick my friends into playing with me. Today, however, I hope to share some insight into the animation workflows at Fatshark and how we made some of the Grail Knight features.

In my previous experience as an animator, I have mainly worked on games with ranged modern weapons, and the melee-weapon range in Vermintide 2 was new to me. When we first started discussing the new career and the weapons it would have, our Lead Gameplay Designer Kasper told me that he is playing around with the idea of giving the Grail Knight a Hand-and-a-Half Sword. At this point, I did not know what a Hand-and-a-Half Sword (or a Bastard Sword as I have now learned) was, but I found the idea interesting to work with. Kasper also told me that he wanted it to have a unique feature where it blocks while charging heavy attacks. This made things a bit trickier. How do you charge a strong attack in a first-person view while also showing that it will block incoming attacks? After experimenting with different animation poses for a while and not satisfied, I decided that I needed to do some more thorough research on the weapon.

When I began researching the weapon, the first thing I learned is the remarkable technique of half-swording; the maneuver where you flip the sword, grab the blade and hit with the pommel. Maybe this would be the solution to the charging block stance ? (Spoiler: it was not). As much as I wanted to include the maneuver, it simply would not work without changing the weapons’ behavioral design. The only remaining trace of this research is the small part where the Grail Knight holds the blade in the second stab with Blessed Blade if you have the Virtue of Audacity talent. But not to fret, through this research, I found out about Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA).

Did you know that there is a thriving community committed to studying and practicing historical fighting techniques based on old manuals? I did not, though had I asked anyone at the office they would have, of course, be able to tell me about all of this and more.

One of the most comprehensive and complete sources on how people fought with the bastard sword is a 16th-century book written by Joachim Meyer. While looking through many of his documented guards, I found the Ox guard, which looks like it could fit in to be the charge-up of a heavy attack from a purely visual standpoint. This guard, together with some instructional videos (Big thanks to Blood and Iron HEMA on YouTube), gave me a pretty good idea of where to start.

The Ox guard can be used on both the right and left sides of the body, which is excellent as it makes for a more dynamic looking combo-chain. It is also not too far-fetched that it could block attacks.

In reality, it was used to deflect the incoming attack and then launch a counter-attack, but for many reasons, we would not want that in the game. Mainly, it would remove the control from the players, and we do not want that. We decided to stay on course for the blocking behavior, which we later named 'Riposte.’ While finding this reference for the heavy attacks, I also found out about the High Guard (Tag) and Wrath Guard (Zornhut). Both guards were a perfect fit for the design of the special ability. One is a vertical cut and one a horizontal cut (Disclaimer that the Wrath Guard was most often in a vertical cut, but I doubt Joachim Meyer had the Skaven in consideration when he documented these techniques).


Ox Guard


Wrath Guard


High Guard

Before we dig into the animations, let me explain what I mean when I say “animation chain.” An animation chain is when one animation transitions into another animation smoothly, creating a chain of animations. In this case, the first heavy attack should chain seamlessly into the second heavy attack, or into the second light attack, which is also a possibility.

Having all the references I needed, all that was left was to create the weapon’s animations. The main bulk of the effort was put into making the first-person animations look smooth and believable. To give the chain a bit of variation, I learned that the Ox Guard could be held with the blade either horizontally or vertically (with the thumb on the blade) depending on the cut you block. I added this detail to the third chained charge. After completing the charges, I began working on the attack animations.

Instead of setting the attack pattern this early in production, we create a library of attack-animations for our Game Designers to make their vision of the weapons behavior come true. This way, they can pick and choose from all the animations and easily try them to find the best chain.

Heavy Attack Chain (too big to embed, so click!)

https://youtu.be/MQXsF56GDQo

Here you see Autodesk Motionbuilder, the tool we use to make all of our animations. To the left, we have an approximate view of how the animations will look in the game. The right side is how my viewport looks when I animate the characters. Getting the first person to look good while working from a third-person view is probably the trickiest part of animating. The list to the far right is all the different animations we have for this weapon type, many of them remain unused - but can always be picked up by another weapon that shares similar properties. One example would be that the light attacks swings with the one-handed sword on this weapon are borrowed and modified from another weapon.

After our designer chooses the weapons animations, I add a couple of final touches to the weapon. I make sure that the attacks transition smoothly into each other and give it that little extra flair. Here is an example of a transition/flair: when holding block and walking, the weapon does a custom walking-block animation instead of just remaining static (this one is mainly for all of us who turn off the head-bob-setting). Another detail was the charge sway - have you noticed that while you are holding the heavy charge attacks and moving your aim quickly, the weapon will lead the motion instead of just being static on the screen? For this final polish effect, I got the weapon to react to camera movement, a feature inspired by another project.

As a final note, as I did not mention anything about working with the third person animations, let me tell you this: you feel ridiculous in a motion capture suit, pretending to be a noble knight with a foam sword, a kickboxing pad on one arm, in a room all by yourself. But as ridiculous as you feel, it is always worth it. If you are interested in the third-person animations, I would gladly make another Developer Blog about that. All in all, this was an enjoyable feature to work with - and I hope you found this look at the making of the Grail Knight features interesting!

For the Lady!

/Morris

Welcome to Patch 3.1 and the patch that brings you the recent balance changes from the Big Balance Beta. Thank you for your participation and feedback during the Beta. We are grateful for your contribution to Vermintide 2.

Below you will find the Patch Notes, and as always, if you want to discuss the latest patch, leave feedback here in the Forums!

• Fixed a crash in Spoils of War.
  
• Fixed a Store related crash.

• Added psuedo random distribution to critical strikes and procs.
  
• Generic damage reduction is now calculated multiplicatively rather than
  additively.
  
• Headshots and critical strike no longer automatically apply the lightest level of
  stagger to enemies, regardless of their stagger resistance.
  
• Buffs now appear in two rows in the UI, displaying a maximum of 10 buffs instead
  of 5.

1H Sword - Kruber & Sienna

• Finesse multiplier (headshot/crit multiplier) increased to ~2 for all attacks, up
  from 1.4 for light attacks, 1.5 for heavies.

1H Mace / 1H Hammer

• Light attacks 1 and 2 and push attack now have Tank hit mass multiplier.
  
• Light attacks 3 & 4 now have the same single target damage profile.
  
• Light attack 3 now has 10% bonus crit to compensate for being an uppercut
  animation.

2H Hammer (Kruber + Bardin)

• The push attack now has the same damage profile as the heavy attacks. No tank hit
  mass count.
  
• Heavy tank attacks now properly puts enemies into stagger level 2 (fixes a
  bug).

2H Sword (Kruber + Saltzpyre)

• Move speed charging heavy attacks increased to 60% from 20%
  
• Light attack animation speed sped up by approximately 10%

Mace + Shield / Hammer + Shield (Kruber + Bardin)

• Light attack 3 has 10% additional critical strike chance.
  
• Heavy Chain now begins with shield bash.
  
• Light attack 3 now has single target armour piercing damage profile. Same as push
  attack.
  
• Push attack now chains into light attack 3.

Mace + Sword

• Lights 1 and 2 now have the same damage profile as 1H Mace.
  
• Lights 3 and 4 now have the same damage profile as 1H Sword.
  
• Each weapon in the heavy attack now has the same damage profile as the original
  Falchion Heavy.
  
• Heavy attacks and light attacks 3 & 4 now have Linesman hit mass count.
  

Halberd

Heavy chain order reversed, the first heavy is now the Heavy Stab, and the second heavy is now the Heavy Sweep.

• Intact Attack Chains:
  • Light chain and push-stab chain remains intactLight 1 -> Light 2 ->
    Heavy stab, Lights -> Heavy stab chain intact
• New Attack Chains:
  • Light sweep (L1) chains into Heavy sweep (H2) -> repeat
    
  • Heavy stab (H1) chains into light stab (L2) into light overhead (L3) ->
    repeat
    
  • Heavy stab (H1) chains into light stab (L2) -> repeatLight sweep (L1)
    chains into Heavy sweep (H2) -> repeat
    
  • Heavy sweep (H2) chains into Light sweep (L2)
• Heavy Linesman added to Heavy Sweep (H2) Armory mod will not reflect the change
  in heavy attack order.
  
• Dodge range increased from 0.95(-5%) to 1.0 (0%)

Executioner Sword

• Reduced animation speed by 8.5% for all attacks.
  
• Light attack 3 now has 10% bonus critical strike chance.

Tuskgor Spear

• Now has normal block cost modifier instead of shield modifier.

1H Axe (Bardin + Saltzpyre)

• Animation pause after Light 3 reduced from 0.42s to 0.3s
  
• Light attack animation speed increased by roughly 8%
  
• Move speed while performing light attacks increased (from 75% to 80%)
  
• Heavy attack charge time reduced from 0.6s to 0.5s
  
• Heavy attacks now share a damage profile with 2H Hammer light attacks

2H Axe

• Heavy attacks now have linesman hit mass count.
  
• Light attack 3 now has the same damage profile as light attacks 1 and 2.
  
• Push attack now has linesman.
  
• Light attack 3 has 10% additional critical strike chance.
  
• Now has 6 stamina (3 shields), up from 5 stamina (2.5 shields).

Axe + Shield

• Light attacks sped up slightly.
  
• Charge time required for heavy attacks decreased slightly.

Dual Axes

• Finesses multiplier on all attacks increased to ~ 2.0 (up from ~1.5).

Warpick

• Linesman hit mass count added to light attacks.

Elven 1H Sword

• Light attack Finesse multiplier increased to ~2.0 from ~1.4.
  
• Heavy 2 changed to the damage profile of Crowbill Heavy 1.
  
• Light 3 armor damage increased by 20%.

Elven 2H Axe (Glaive)

• Reverted WoM nerf. Linesman added back to light attacks.
  
• Now has 6 stamina (3 stamina shields), previously 4 stamina (2 shields).

Elven Axe

• Heavy attacks now share a damage profile with 2H Hammer Light Attacks.
  
• 10% bonus critical strike chance added to push stab.

Elven Dual Daggers

• Removed bonus 10% crit from lights 1 and 2.

Elven Sword and Dagger

• Removed bonus critical strike chance from Light attack 1 and Light attack 2.

Elven Dual Swords

• Dual swords light attack damage increased by 25% against infantry.
  
• Push-stab armor damage increased by 20%.

Elven Greatsword

• Light attack animation speed increased ~10%.
  
• Light attacks have 10% additional critical strike chance.

Elven Spear

• Push attack, Light 3, & Heavy 1 now all have Linesman hit mass count.
  
• Reverted 25% nerf to light stabs that came with WoM, (base damage up to 0.25 from
  0.2).

Elven Spear + Shield

• Light 3 changed from a poke into a sweep, added linesman to light 3.

Axe + Falchion

• Removed heavy linesman and bonus 20% crit from push attack.
  
• Increased dodge count from 3 to 4.
  
• Increased dodge distance from 1.1(10%) to 1.2(20%).

Falchion

• Now has 6 stamina (3 stamina shields), previously 4 stamina (2 shields).
  
• Heavy attacks 1 & 2 now have the same damage profile as Elf 1H Sword Heavy
  1.
  
• Light attack 3 now has the same damage profile as Heavy attacks 1 & 2.

Flail

• Lights 1 & 2 now have Tank hit mass count.
  
• Damage of Heavy attacks increased by 30%.

Billhook

• Increased dodge distance to 1.15(15%) from 1.1(10%).
  
• Decreased dodge count from 99 to 3.
  
• Special pull action now costs 0.5 stamina.

Dagger

• Now has 6 dodge count instead of 3.
  
• Added 10% critical strike chance to light attack 4.

Mace

• Max dodge count increased to 4 from 3.
  
• Heavy 1 now has the same damage profile as 2H Hammer Light attack (23% buff to
  damage).
  
• Animation time of Heavy 1 sped up slightly.
  
• Range of Heavy attacks increased slightly.
  
• Damage of Heavies 2 & 3 increased by roughly 30%.
  
• Animation speed of Heavies 2 & 3 increased slightly.
  
• Light attack 1 damage profile changed to Halberd L3 Damage profile (30% buff to
  infantry damage, 60% buff to armor damage).
  
• Range of all light attacks increased slightly.
  
• Animation speed of all light attacks increased slightly.
  
• Move speed during all light attacks increased to 80% from 60%.

Flaming Flail

• The explosion of Heavy 1 now deals direct explosion damage.

Beam Staff

• Overcharge generated by shotgun blast reduced significantly (~33%).
  
• Weapon switching while charging the weapon is reduced from 0.2s to 0s (matching
  all other staves).
  
• Weapon switch window after a shotgun blast reduced from 0.4s to 0.3s to match the
  0.31s animation time of the shotgun blast.

Drakefire Pistols

• Overheat of the shotgun blast reduced ~33%.
  
• Dodge range buffed from 85% (-15%) to 100% (0%).

Empire Longbow

• Forced zoom delay is now 2s instead of 0.4s (allows full charge without being
  forced to zoom in).
  
• 25% move speed while holding a full charge (increased from 0% previously, 25% is
  similar to the full charge move speed of bolt staff).

Handgun

• Reload time reduced from 2.0s to 1.5s.
  
• Max ammo=16, up from 12.
  
• Cleave buffed 50% to match crossbow.

Repeater Pistol

• Linesman is now on the bullet spray ( linesman on ranged weapons gives shotgun
  mass reduction).

Swiftbow

• Increased armor damage by approximately 100% on charged shots.
  
• Increased monster damage by 30% on charged shots.
  
• Increased cleave by 75% for quick shots and 50% for charged shots.

Throwing Axes

• Increased monster and berserker damage by 30%.

Volley Crossbow (Saltzpyre)

• Ammo pool boosted by 50% (from 30 max ammo to 45).
  
• Cleave increased by 75%.
  
• Reload time reduced from 5s to 4s.
  
• Dodge count increased to 3 from 1.

Volley Crossbow (Shade)

• Cleave increased by 75%.
  
• Max ammo capacity increased to 45 to match Saltzpyres crossbow.

Blunderbuss

• Increased max ammo from 12 to 16.

Grudgeraker

• Increased max ammo from 14 to 16.

• Taal's Champion - (Reworked)
  • New name: Tag Team
    • 'Kruber gains 10% power. The closest ally to Kruber gain 50%
      damage reduction and 10% increased power. Passive aura no longer affects
      allies.'
• Rock of the Reikland (Modified)
  • Now also doubles the radius of Kruber's Aura.
• It's Hero Time - (Reworked)
  • Resets the cooldown of Charge when an ally is incapacitated.
• That's Bloody Teamwork! ( Reworked)
  • Merged with Defensive Formation into 'Increase damage reduction of Protective Presence by 5% per nearby ally.' Moved to tier 4 mid
    row.
• Inspire Action - New talent
  • Staggering an elite enemy grants Kruber and his allies 100% increased
    cooldown regeneration rate for 0.5 seconds. Replaces That's Bloody Teamwork
    in tier 5.
  
  
• Trample - (Reworked)
  • New name: Battering Ram
    • Doubles the width of Krubers charge and allows him to charge through
      great foes.

• Maim - (Reworked)
  • New name: Keep it Coming
    • Every third ranged hit causes the next shot to consume no ammo.
• Master Huntsman - (Reworked)
  • New name: Tough Hide
    Killing a special or elite enemy reduces damage taken by 10%. Stacks 4 times. Taking a hit removes one stack.

• Ready for Action - (Modified)
  • No longer removes Temp Health. Cooldown reduction reduced to 20%.

• Scavenger - (Modified)
  • Scavenger Ammunition Caches now drop at Bardin's feet instead of at the
    killed specials location.
• Share and Share Alike - (Reworked)
  • New name: Field Rations
    • Killing a special has a 50% chance to drop an Ale that increases attack
      speed by 3% and damage reduction by 3% for 300 seconds. Stacks up to 3
      times.
• Exuberance - (Modified)
  • Bardin takes 30% less damage from the back. Headshots reduce damage taken by
    30% for 5 seconds
• Ranger's Ambush - (Reworked)
  • New name: Exhilarating Vapors
    • Allies inside of Bardin's smoke gains 8% increased attack speed and
      recovers 3 Temporary health every second

• Drakki Wrath - (Reworked)
  • New name: Rising Pressure
    • Increases drake fire damage up to 120% and reduces attack speed down to
      -50% depending on overcharge.
• Crushing Counter-Blow - (Reworked)
  • New name: Rune-Etched Shield
    • Blocking an attack grants Bardin and his allies 2% power for 6 seconds.
      Stacks 5 times.
• Ironbreaker's Resolve - (Reworked)
  • New name: Vengeance
    • Periodically generates stacks of rising anger every 7 seconds while
      Gromril is active up to a max of 5. When Gromril is removed Bardin gains 10%
      attack speed per stack of rising anger.

• Ariel's Benison (perk) - (Reworked)
  • Increase revive speed by 50% and grant 20 health back to the revived
    hero.
• Asrai Grace - (Reworked)
  • New name: Asrai Alacrity
    • Blocking an attack or pushing an enemy makes Kerillians' next two
      attacks 30% faster and deals 10% more damage.
• Shadow Step - (Reworked)
  • New name: Shifting Seasons
    • Dodging while blocking increases dodge range by 20%. Dodging while not
      blocking increases damage by 10% for 1 second.

• Cloak of Mist - (Modified)
  • Now grants 100% critical strike chance for 4 seconds after breaking
    stealth.

• Necessary Means - (Reworked)
  • New name: Steel Crescendo
    • Upon firing his last shot Victor gains 15% attack speed and 15% power for
      15 seconds.
• Inspired Shot - (Reworked)
  • New name: Blessed Combat
    • Melee strikes makes up to the next 6 ranged shots gain 15% power. Ranged
      hits makes up to the next 6 melee strikes gain 15% more power. Melee kills
      reset the cooldown of Blessed Shots.
• Hunter's Pursuit - (Modified)
  • New name: Rile the Mob
    • Ranged critical hits grant Victor and his allies 10% increased movement
      speed for 10 seconds.
• Duty's Gift - (Reworked)
  • New name: Dual Action
    • Melee kills reload Victors ranged weapon. Killing an elite enemy with a
      melee attack while out of ammo restores 20% of your max ammunition.
• Just Reward
  • Cooldown reduction increased to 20% from 15%.
• Buckshot - (Modified)
  • New name: Return on Investment
    • Added shield penetration to the blast.
      
    • Added effect: Each kill with the blast increases the amount of pellets of
      the next blast by 1 up to a max of 20.

• Searing Grasp - (Modified)
  • New name: Outburst
    • Increased duration of DoT effect to 4 seconds. Heavy attacks increase the
      push angle of the next push by 70%.
• Chain Reaction - (Modified)
  • Increased chance of explosion to 40%
• Numb to Pain - (Modified)
  • Added effect: Venting decreases the amount of overcharge generated by Blood
    Magic by 16%. Stacks up to 3 times.
• Burning Dregs - (Reworked)
  • New name: Abandon
    • Overcharging makes Sienna start rapidly exchanging 6% of her health to
      10% cooldown.
• Flame Wave - (Reworked)
  • New name: Wildfire
    • Adds a burning aura that ignites nearby enemies when activating Living
      Bomb. Massively increase the stagger power of Living Bomb.
• Fuel for the Fire - (Modified)
  • Increased duration of the power bonus to 15 seconds from 10 seconds.

Since we launched Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide, fans have wondered why in the name of Sigmar they could not grab some official Tees or Hoodies to display their fandom to others. Well, Games Workshop have come through and you can now grab a sweet T-Shirt, Hoodie, Poster, Mug or even a Phone Case from their new and lush Merch Store!

Where is this store you might ask? Well, of course, it's over on the Warhammer Website:

merch.warhammer.com/vermintide-ii

What's even cooler is the logo tees are 20% off right now, so if you're going to dive in then now's the time! The discount won't be around for ever, so don't miss out the chance to avail of the savings on offer.

When we first launched Vermintide 2, we knew we had something special, but the truth is, it has surpassed any of our expectations with us now eclipsing over 5 million players across all platforms. Simply put. We are humbled, and eternally grateful. For you, the community is what has continued to push us by providing feedback and helping us make the game better than it ever has been. Thank you for being a part of the journey, and for playing and loving Vermintide & Vermintide 2.

With the announcement of Darktide, we understand that you might have a lot of questions - mostly surrounding our commitment to Vermintide 2. The answer is simple:

We remain committed to Vermintide 2.

We are looking forward to the continuous development of Vermintide 2, and the next major DLC update coming is Warhammer: Vermintide 2 - Chaos Wastes. We are also already working on the next career following the positive reception of the Grail Knight… and of course, so much more that we are not ready to announce.

We could not be more excited about the future - both for Darktide, and Vermintide 2. We are Warhammer fans at heart, and the ability to grow the studio, learn, and deepen our efforts in the Warhammer universe - well, that is our passion.

For Sigmar.

Martin & The Vermintide 2 team.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1361210/Warhammer_40000_Darktide

https://youtu.be/Zp44GNRzvCc

My Lord Inquisitor.

I’ve reached Atoma Prime and begun our investigations. A recon squad has been sent in to sub-level 6 of the hive to determine the full extent of the unrest. I’ll know more when they make it back.

If they make it back.

Ever since we developed and published both Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide, and Vermintide 2, fans have written us emails, sent us messages, tweeted us, made forum threads and even sent us postcards asking us to create a 40K game in the same vein as Vermintide.

Who were we to say no?

Introducing Warhammer 40,000: Darktide.

We’re sticking with what we know. A co-op game first and foremost, with the same tight melee combat that not only are we proud of but also that we’re known for. However, we’ll be giving ranged combat more complexity of its own to really bring it up to par with the hands on stuff. Our hope is that we can really deliver on some truly hybrid combat that’s both accessible yet boasts a high skill ceiling, offering the same opportunity for mastery regardless of whether you’ve got a lasgun or a chainsword in your hands.

When it comes to the co-op, expect a similar four-player experience that encourages you to work with your friends, or maybe even with new friends you just haven’t met yet.

Much like Vermintide, we want Darktide to be full of detail and respectful of the rich and spectacular world(s) that Games Workshop has crafted over the decades. We’re madly in love with all things Warhammer here at Fatshark (if you didn’t already figure that out!). It will be our mission objective to craft a truly unique take on the Warhammer 40,000 universe and we do believe that we have the experience to bring you a ‘boots on the ground’ 40K adventure that’s unrivalled.

There will be plenty of opportunities to get hands on with Darktide before release so be sure to sign up to our newsletter and add the game to your Wishlist for all the news, reveals and testing opportunities to come.

With all that said, and with heaps more details to come as we move through development, all that’s left is to welcome you to Atoma Prime, convict. The Emperor protects.

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is set to release in 2021. Learn more and subscribe to our newsletter on http://www.playdarktide.com.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1361210/Warhammer_40000_Darktide

For this beta we are aiming to shake up the meta that has settled in the game. The primairy goal is to focus on bringing up weapons that are struggling with a low pickrate where they have a hard time to perform their role compared to existing competition. Some of the weapons with an overwhelming pickrate (>25%) has seen a slight reduction in their performance. We have taken the same approach with the talent trees of a selection of careers. Looking at data and investigating community discussion indicates that these careers struggle compared to the options and needs to find a better niche. Specific low pickrate and problematic talents have been targeted and reworked throughly to allow for new interesting build options. The goal is to be able to give each career a similar treatment in due time. We made an evaluation regarding with careers needed the change most immediately and started out focusing on them.

The core of the Weapon changes for this Beta comes from a really cool mod created by a group of highly dedicated players in the community. Thank you to Pershing, Sleezyrats, Core, Incandescent and RwAoNrDdOsM for their work on this.

Please be aware that this is a highly experimental Beta and everything subject to change - particularly with talents! Nothing here is set in stone, and we really look forward to seeing your feedback over in the Fatshark Forums!

Access Details

• Right Click Vermintide 2 from your Steam Library
  
• Select 'Properties'
  
• Select the 'BETAS' tab
  
• In the dropdown, select:
  balance_beta_summer_2020

You may need to restart Steam if the download does not automatically trigger.

PROGRESSION WILL PERSIST BETWEEN THE BETA AND LIVE GAME

The patch notes and commentary are too long for a Steam Announcement, so you can find those over on the Official Fatshark Forums, along with dedicated feedback and bug categories:

https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/t/pc-big-balance-beta/40115/2

https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/c/bbb/BBB-Bugs/64

https://forums.fatsharkgames.com/c/bbb/BBB-Feedback/65

Today is a smaller fix patch, and also activates a summery themed keep for the U5 to hang out in.

Patch 3.0.0.3

• Into the Nest: Fixed an awkward Globadier spawn point.
  
• Into the Nest: Fixed a location after the boss fight where bots can get stuck.
  
• Into the Nest: Fixed a spot where players might drop dead without aparent cause.
  
• Grail Knight Activated Ability: Dimmed the brightness of the effect by about 50% based on community feedback.
  
• Horn of Magnus: Adjusted some player respawn points to mitigate funky/illogical respawns.
  
• Fixed a crash that could manifest in rare cases at the end of a match.
  
• Added some logic to try and prevent a crash caused by trying to open a box for Grail Knight when you are playing as another character (this was only possible when using the UI Improvements mod).
  
• Grail Knight bots should now use their activated ability on Chaos Warriors.
  
• Fixed Grail Knights passive texts overflowing in DE/IT locales in the talent window.
  
• Fixed some cases where Grail Knight subtitles did not match audible VO.
  
• Okri’s challenges should now show which DLC is required to activate DLC limited challenges.
  
• Kruber’s (Foot Knight) Talent ‘Bull of Ostland’ should now work as host or client.

We have released four hotfixes recently for the Season 3 Release! Details to follow:

This fixes a bunch of the broken spawn points in a selection of maps widely reported to have issues since 3.0.0.x.

• Into the Nest: Fixed an awkward Globadier spawn point.
  
• Into the Nest: Fixed a location after the boss fight where bots can get stuck.
  
• Into the Nest: Fixed a spot where players might drop dead without aparent cause.
  
• Grail Knight Activated Ability: Dimmed the brightness of the effect by about 50% based on
• community feedback.
  Horn of Magnus: Adjusted some player respawn points to mitigate funky/illogical respawns.
  
• Fixed a crash that could manifest in rare cases at the end of a match.
  
• Added some logic to try and prevent a crash caused by trying to open a box for Grail Knight when you are playing as another character (this was only possible when using the UI Improvements mod).
  
• Grail Knight bots should now use their activated ability on Chaos Warriors.
  
• Fixed Grail Knights passive texts overflowing in DE/IT locales in the talent window.
  
• Fixed some cases where Grail Knight subtitles did not match audible VO.
  
• Okri’s challenges should now show which DLC is required to activate DLC limited challenges.
  
• Kruber’s (Foot Knight) Talent ‘Bull of Ostland’ should now work as host or client.

• Fixed an issue where Grail Knights were switched to Mercs if hosts they were quickplaying in to did not own the DLC.
  
• Fixed the broken "1000 Kill" Okri's Challenges.
  
• Fixed a crash when buying the DLC through ingame store.
  
• Fixed a crash when trying to upgrade through the Athanor without owning the Grail Knight.
  
• Fixed a crash related to the Grail Knight's Virtue of the Penitent talent.

• Improved Grail Knight 'Duty' UI, now showing tracking of Duty progression in missions.
  
• Fixed a crash when launching game on Windows 7 (Xinput)
  
• Fixed a shutdown crash
  
• Fixed a crash when hitting training dummy as Grail Knight with a specific talent
  
• Fixes a crash for players having "Grandmaster of Illusions" equipped, aka frame for completing
• FoW on Legend
  
• Updated some talent descriptions for Grail Knight
  
• Fixed the EAC popup appearing in the modded realm
  
• Fix players experiencing backend errors when ending missions on the modded realm.

Welcome to update 3.0 and Season 3 on PC. This update contains the new Weather Variations, more shilling and new premium cosmetics to Lohner’s Emporium of Wonder, and of course, the new career for Markus Kruber (or should we sway, Markus de Mandelot), the Grail Knight. The Weaves have been reshuffled and Season 2 rewards are no longer available. Oh, and we also added three Wind’s Mutators to Twitch Mode!

Rain, snow, or maybe fog? All missions with outdoor settings now have a chance of changing weather. Venture into the great outdoors in Vermintide 2 and see Helmgart in a new light.

Lohner’s Emporium of Wonders will through Season 3 be updated frequently with more Shilling Cosmetics and new Premium Cosmetics. The first shipment of Shilling Cosmetics will arrive at launch and the next is said to arrive early July together with new Premium Cosmetics.

The Grail Knight is a new Premium Career for Markus Kruber. It contains the new playable career complete with a new talent tree, new weapon types, new abilities, a whole new Bretonnian Knight skin, and more.

The Grail Knight is available on Steam and in Lohner’s Emporium of Wonders.

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/15358/Warhammer_Vermintide_2__Grail_Knight_Bundle/

You can read more about the abilities of the Grail Knight, and his history, here in our release post over on https://www.vermintide.com/news/season-3-out-now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ia1YMZbOzxo

• The Grail Knight career for Markus Kruber (de Mandelot) is available now!
  
• Weather Variations added.
  
• A new Seasonal Weave order is in place for Season 3 - Season 2 rewards are no longer available.
  
• Added three Wind Mutators to Twitch Mode (Heavens, Death & Fire).
  
• New items have been added to the Emporium that were not available there prior. New items, both premium and shilling items, will be added throughout the Season at a regular cadence.

• Scrounger and Conservative Shooter Traits could result in non mag-fed ranged weapons being left with no ammo if their last bit of ammo scored a headshot. Weapon switching would solve, but this fix should force a 'reload' next frame so QQ shouldn't be needed to restock.
  
• Fixed broken block animation loop with dual daggers & adjust blendtime between push attack and block.
  
• Fixed some cases of Phantom hits with Kruber's 'Tuskgor Spear'.
  
• Repeating Pistols - Tweaked repeating pistols fire time to avoid an issue where the shot would become inaccurate.
  
• Kerillian's Rejuvenating Lotus caused issues within Wind of Fire Weaves and lots of Friendly Fire issues. This has been solved.
  
• Made bolt staff light attack trigger while holding the action key before the player switches to that weapon.
  
• Fixed an issue where Bardin would secretly have a throwing axe hidden, even though the interface said he didn't. This hidden axe could be viewable if you just pressed R quickly or took damage from an enemy whilst having no ammo left. Also polished up the animation when catching more than one axe.
  
• Quickly doing Kruber’s Push attack into Heavy attack with the Sword and Shield causes the animation to go wild for a fraction of a second. This has been resolved now.

• The sounds of the flies during either Nurgloth encounters are no longer heard inconsistently between host and client(s).
  
• You now 'Talk' with Lohner instead of "Opening" him :|
  
• Fixed a crash caused when AI attempted to push a dead enemy.
  
• Fixed a plethora of other various, uncommon crashes.
  
• Fixed an issue in the Russian localisation where text would overlap in Twitch Mode.
  
• Fixed an issue that caused UI Improvements mod to render some item backgrounds in Okri's Challenges outside the window.
  
• Fixed an issue were graphics quality were not correctly being set to "Custom" when customised.
  
• Fixed an issue where Bunghole Herniaface's plague wave damage did not scale properly on Cataclysm.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Bardin Great Axe illusion "Skruffsmakaz" used the icon for the Uzkulaz illusion.
  
• Fixed an issue where the billhook would play the wrong animations in 3p during heavy attack charge.
  
• Fixed an issue where Volley Crossbow Bolts became visible if you climb a ladder while holding right mouse button to aim.
  
• Fixed an issue where you could see through Kruber's arms during his first heavy with the spear.
  
• Fixed an operator precedence bug found by modders. Thanks folks!
  
• Fixed incorrect VO order in a Kruber/Sienna hub conversation.
  
• Fixed some cases where the revive highlighting on a downed player persisted after the downed player was captured/KOd.
  
• Packmasters should no longer slide in to action after being hurled by a Blightstormer.
  
• Quickplay weaves now count for progression in the WoM challenges to Complete Weaves.
  
• Reduced speed of Swarm of Flies used by Bunglezippy Hornrimmedglasses and Nurgloth.
  
• Removing Headbob now removes idle head movement as well.
  
• Kerillian's Aspect of Adhanu headpiece should no longer clip in to her face.
  
• Kills in Weaves now contribute towards 1000 kills Challenge progression
  
• Made some improvements to situations where players could appear in chat to have left a lobby, despite not leaving the lobby. This could cause end of round issues where players were then fully disconnected (but still obtained any rewards). This whole situation should be more graceful now.
  
• Made some minor adjustments to the Anvil of Doom hat so it sits better on our boy Bardin's head.
  
• Gas Clouds on elevated terrain should no longer allow enemies to pass through objects. Weird one this. But it's solved!
  
• Bardin (Ranger Veteran) bot should no longer get stuck in his Activated Ability animation.
  
• < full_server > errors should now only be displayed if a players is truly trying to join a full server, or when the last spot was taken at the same time the player tries to enter a lobby. Previously this error could be shown to all players trying to join, without either succeeding to occupy the remaining slot.
  
• Bots can now revive players while on elevators.

• Against the Grain: Bots should no longer be able to get stuck in the Barn.
  
• Against the Grain: Bots should no longer get stuck inside the Sawmill.
  
• Athel Yenlui: Reduced faction mixing.
  
• Athel Yenlui: Fixed bots struggling with the third tome.
  
• Athel Yenlui: Specials should no longer spawn in the Bridge of Shadows at the end.
  
• The Blightreaper: Fixed a spot on the escape route where Sienna could get stuck if using her activated ability to navigate.
  
• The Blightreaper: Fixed a spot where Blightstormers could cast through walls.
  
• The Blightreaper: Fixed a spot where bots could get stuck.
  
• Blood in the Darkness: Fixed a spot where bots could get stuck if told to pick up the first tome, or items in that general area.
  
• Blood in the Darkness: Fixed an illogical and highly inconvenient respawn location that players could be moved to if captured.
  
• Blood in the Darkness: Fixed some sticky spots.
  
• Convocation of Decay: Fixed a spot where the packmaster could hook and drag you through a wall causing map progress to softlock.
  
• Convocation of Decay: Fixed an exploit where players could cheese the end event by sacrificing one of their own whilst the remaining players stay safely outside of the event.
  
• Convocation of Decay: Made sure there are no Beastmen and no zones with a mix of Skaven and Chaos.
  
• Dark Omens: Fixed a spot where players could fall to their death without entering a ledge hanging state first.
  
• Dark Omens: Fixed an Out of Bounds exploit spot.
  
• Empire in Flames: Reduced amount of mixed roamer factions.
  
• Empire in Flames: Fixed various spots where bots and players could get stuck.
  
• Empire in Flames: Tweaked enemy spawning during the cart event to be more randomized (and to not end before the event is over!).
  
• Enchanter's Lair: Fixed some spots where players could yeet themselves off the map without hanging from a ledge first.
  
• Festering Ground: Fixed a pile of wood that didn't destroy visibly when intended (it could still be passed through, so didn't soft-lock the mission).
  
• Festering Ground: Fixed a spot where players could spawn behind the boss wall.
  
• Festering Ground: Fixed an issue with bots pathing to the first tome.
  
• Festering Ground: Fixed some out of bounds bits.
  
• Festering Ground: Players should no longer be able to fall through the bridge across the river when charging/dashing.
  
• Festering Ground: Randomized the waves during the end event and minimized mixed roamer factions.
  
• Fort Basingstoke: Fixed a spot where players could fall to their death without entering a ledge hanging state first.
  
• Fort Brusslesprouts: Reduced mixing of roamer factions.
  
• Fort Blunderbuss: Stopped some chaos roamers from chilling out on roof tops. Wasn't very practical for them to be there.
  
• Fort Bradleycooper: Fixed a spot where bots couldn't path to a player who was hanging from a ledge.
  
• Fort Brannigansbeefcrisps: Tweaked end event spawning - added possible Chaos wave and tweaked the first waves when entering the Fort.
  
• Fort Branstonpickle: Fixed up some illogical respawn points.
  
• Fort Breadbaton: Fixed an issue with a stuck patrol.
  
• Fortunes of War: Fixed an out of bounds bit.
  
• Garden of Morr: Fixed some out of boundsy bits.
  
• Garden of Morr: Fixed some sticky spots.
  
• Garden of Morr: Fixed some terrain and spawning issues, as well as made some small optimisation tweaks.
  
• Garden of Morr: Made some adjustments to help bots and enemies from getting stuck in terrain.
  
• Halescourge: Fixed various art issues, sticky spots and funky ledges that the heroes just fell off of without any opportunity for rescue.
  
• Halescourge: Reduced mixing of roamer factions.
  
• Horn of Magnus: Fixed a location where players could get stuck.
  
• Horn of Magnus: Fixed issues in the end event where stuck Plague Monks could halt event progress.
  
• Horn of Magnus: Fixed some cases where players could get beat up during the intro cinematic.
  
• Horn of Magnus: Moved a bunch of misaligned manhole covers.
  
• Hunger in the Dark: Fixed a spot where bots couldn't path to a player who was hanging from a ledge.
  
• Hunger in the Dark: Fixed a spot where very sudden light transitions could be seen.
  
• Hunger in the Dark: Fixed barrels in the cart appearing ghosted for clients.
  
• Hunger in the Dark: Fixed some holes in geometry.
  
• Hunger in the Dark: Fixed some sticky locations where players/bots could get stuck.
  
• Hunger in the Dark: Reduced mixing of roamer factions.
  
• Old Haunts: Fixed a frustrating respawn point.
  
• Old Haunts: Fixed a ladder where bots could get perma-stuck.
  
• Old Haunts: Fixed a spot where bots just yeeted themselves into the abyss.
  
• Old Haunts: Fixed an issue where bots would sometimes struggle to exit the church area.
  
• The Pit: Fixed a spot where bots could get stuck.
  
• The Pit: Fixed an area where enemies would unecessarily bunch up, instead of swarming at and around the players.
  
• Righteous Stand: Fixed a spot where players can become stuck atop an Ammunition Crate.
  
• Righteous Stand: Fixed some holes in geometry and a spot where bots would just jump at a wall.
  
• Righteous Stand: Removed Beastmen and reduced mixed Skaven and Chaos factions.
  
• Screaming Bell: The end event has beeen fettled. Skaven should flow more evenly, from more locations, with a wider variety of special spawns. Limiting Plague Monks to Cataclysm.
  
• Screaming Bell: Fixed a spot where bots couldn't path to a player in order to pick them up from a downed state.
  
• Screaming Bell: Fixed some sticky spots.
  
• Screaming Bell: Fixed Gunners spawning outside the play area and opening fire on players during the event.
  
• Screaming Bell: Made sure there are no Beastmen and no zones with a mix of Skaven and Chaos.
  
• Skittergate: Reduced roamer faction mixing (and tweaked navmesh around Helmgart gate to fix special issues).
  
• Skittergate: Fixed a floating torch that could be seen when the environment around it was destroyed.
  
• Skittergate: Fixed up some inconvenient and illogical re-spawn/rescue points.
  
• Skittergate: Fixed various AI pathing issues in the cave in Norsca.
  
• Skittergate: The Bridge of Shadows should no longer open up until players have defeated Rasknitt.
  
• Taal's Horn Keep: Fixed situations where the timer was getting stuck on screen if someone joins while players are in the Bridge of Shadows.
  
• War Camp: Fixed cases where the 2nd Grimoire does not always spawn
  
• War Camp: Fixed a location where patrols could get stuck.
  
• War Camp: Fixed a spot where players could get stuck.
  
• War Camp: Fixed miss-aligned hanging corpse, in battering-ram area.
  
• War Camp: Fixed poles penetrating rocks, in battering-ram area.
  
• War Camp: Fixed some out of bounds bits.

THE IDEA THAT MARKUS KRUBER (ALL-WEATHER MERCENARY, POACHER AND OCCASIONAL KNIGHT) HAS LINKS TO BRETONNIA HAS TAKEN PLENTY OF FOLK BY SURPRISE. NOT LEAST KRUBER HIMSELF, WHO KEEPS MUTTERING INTO HIS TANKARD SOMETHING FIERCE. FORTUNATELY, LOHNER’S DONE A BIT OF DIGGING, AND RECKONS HE’S GOT A HANDLE ON THE MATTER.

"So Kruber’s a Grail Knight, is he now? Can’t say I’m surprised. Well, a little bit surprised, but you don’t last long in my trade if you go around raising eyebrows at the slightest thing. Don’t worry. Let Uncle Franz set you straight.

Truth is, there’s a lot more trading of bloodlines back and forth across the border than you might think. Sure, those frog-courtin’ fancypants might hold pretty strange notions about warfare and religion, but when it comes down to it we’re all human. When your back’s against the wall, it’s a lot easier to go looking for help from your own kind – even if they do talk funny – than the likes of elves. No offence, Kerillian.

…well, maybe a little offence. You’ve earned it…

Anyway, same’s true of what you might call ‘local trouble’. Plenty of our scoundrels slip through Axe Bite Pass and make a new live for ‘emselves in Bretonnia when the law comes a-knockin’. And there’s plenty come the other way, too. There was a village up by Eilhart where every other family had a Bretonnian name – better than average bone structure too, come to think of it – descendants of some outcast baron’s servants, or so I heard.

Not that our Kruber’s descended from peasantry, or even disgraced nobility. I’ve been asking around. I’ve got one or two mates across the border – never you mind who – and they reckon he’s the only living heir of one Foricarl de Mandelot."



"Big old hero in his day, was old Foricarl. Saved Parravon from a dragon in righteous style. There were tapestries, and everything. Something of a hit with the damsels, so I hear. When he rode to tourney, you could barely see his lance for the weight of the ribbons of favour. Problem was, some of Foricarl’s knightly brethren didn’t hold quite the same esteem. Jealousy, you know.

Worst afflicted by the green-eyed daemon was the Duke of Parravon’s son, Willibald. He wasn’t exactly a coward… but who wants to cheer on a killer of beastmen when there’s a genuine dragon-slayer holding court in Parravon’s best tavern? There was even talk of the king insisting the duchy of Parravon pass not to Willibald, but to Foricarl. That king hated dragons something fierce, on account of having lost a daughter, an arm and a good mess of pride to one some years before.

And then the old duke ups and dies in mysterious circumstances, and all evidence points to Foricarl, doesn’t it? Poor sod’s forced to flee the city or lose ‘is head. Willibald was found out in the end – that Fay Enchantress of theirs got herself involved. Turned ‘im into a frog. She likes doing that.

…what do you mean, who’s the Fay Enchantress? I thought you’d travelled. I suppose you could say she’s the Lady of the Lake’s herald. Does all her dirty work. Bretonnians revere her, at least to her face. Don’t want to end up as frogs, I suppose…

Anyway… When the truth comes out, everyone’s looking for Forical, only he’s nowhere to be found. And now we know why, don’t we? Despairing of ever proving his innocence, he came tripping across the border and continued the monster slaying business as a hermit in the Ubersreik Hills… though I guess he must have come out of hiding occasionally, seeing as he’s got a descendent shacked up in the keep with the rest of us.

Time passes. Name dies out, and along comes our Markus.

See? Simple. But that’s only half the story."



"‘Grail Knight’ ain’t just a rank. It’s a holy station, earned in battle with some ghastly monstrosity, or a whole mess of ‘em. Supposedly the Lady of the Lake – assuming she’s real, I ain’t exactly a believer – sends visions to worthy candidates, guiding them on a righteous path of carnage. If they survive, she lets ‘em sup from the grail and blesses them with holy strength.

That’s what happened to Kruber. He’s got the bloodline. He’s thrown down with plenty of ghastly monstrosities, sure as pumpkins is pumpkins. So more power to his elbow, says I. Especially if it gives us a bit more oomph when it comes to dealing with the Pactsworn. Like I said, when backs are against the wall, and all that.

So yeah, I reckon we keep an eye on Kruber and see what develops. That means no accusations of heresy and witchcraft, Victor. He’s still our Markus, even if he does keep attempting that dreadful accent. The Lady of the Lake might not be our goddess, but a goddess she remains… and she hates Chaos something rotten, so the stories go. We’d be mad to put her pretty nose out of joint, don’t you think?

Then again, if she’s putting the ‘fluence on old Kruber, then I’ll be looking to the rest of you to make sure it doesn’t lead him into harm’s way. Risking your lives is my job, and I won’t have any sodden spirit muscling in on my territory, d’you hear?

Good. Glad we had this chat. Best you keep it from Kruber. No sense ‘im getting upset, is there?"