While currently, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide rewards players with the choice of a new perk every 5 levels up to a level cap of 30, with the new system, players will get a skill point every level, which they can use to build their way up a skill tree to unlock new passive and active abilities.

According to Fatshark, each one of the four playable character classes in Darktide will feature three main branches. While one of the branches will represent the class how it currently plays, the other two branches will have new skills and abilities that change how the class can play in unique ways.

The skill tree will feature major nodes being separated by a host of smaller passive skills and modifier nodes. Some of the new abilities include a new lightning-styled Smite ability for the Psyker, and a new giant grenade for the Ogryn.

According to the studio, these skill trees were being developed before Darktide was launched, but they weren’t ready for release in the full game.

This major update for Warhammer 40,000: Darktide doesn’t yet have a release date, but is set for release in October.

The Chaos Spawn joins the enemy ranks with quick movements, grab attacks and leaping strikes presenting a new challenge. The update also kicks off the first Community Event, with the player base completing challenges and unlocking rewards. The first two challenges are for a tattoo and helmet, while Ascension Riser 31 is the reward for a third (though players will need to complete 900,000 missions).

Higher difficulties provide bonuses for faster completion (with Damnation providing the most at 5x). Check out some of the patch notes below.

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is available for PC. Check out our review here. It’s still coming to Xbox Series X/S, but there’s no release window. Stay tuned for more updates in the meantime.

Content Drop – Rejects Unite + Patch #10

Updates and Tweaks

• Changed Hunting grounds to spawn 1-2 waves instead of up to 7 waves (on Damnation), with bigger waves and a few normal Pox Hounds added on Heresy and Damnation.

Dev Note: Current hunting grounds have a tendency to slow down the pacing too much and take too long to clear, this tweak should make waves harder while making the triggered event not last as long.

• Tweaked Pox Hound pounce attack to be a bit easier to push.
• Reduced Medical Crate healing speed and cost towards downed players
  – Speed from 100% -> 10%
  – Cost 100% -> 30%.

Dev Note: “We tuned the amount of health, the speed of the healing and the cost from the health pool to heal a downed player from a deployed medical crate. The intention is that downed players don’t drain the entire medical pack in seconds so that alive players can gain some healing, while also making it so that downed players are bleeding out for longer giving a larger time window for teammates to help them up”

• Lowered the timing between wielding and aiming an underhand throw with Frag and Stun Grenades from 1.5s -> 0.9s.

Dev Note: For context the timing from wield to overhand throw is 1.4s.

Bug Fixes

Animation, VFX, SFX

• Fixed an issue where player animations could display incorrectly after being thrown by Mutant.
• Fixed an issue where the Artemia Mk III Purgation Flamer didn’t use ammunition-based sound modulation (mechanical sounds used to indicate low ammunition count).
• Fixed a bug where projectile weapons would not play certain impact sfx.
• Fixed an issue where the plasma rifle overheat warning effect didn’t scale correctly with unusual resolutions.

Gameplay

• Fixed a bug where you could circumvent fire rate restrictions on ranged weapons if used while sprinting.
• Fixed some issues that could occur when vaulting in enclosed spaces.
• Penances
• Fixed issue where “Bring the Hurt” penance would be triggered by using the Rumbler.
• Fixed issue where penance “One in the chamber” could not progress higher than the previous version’s requirement of 5.

Maps/Missions

• Fixed a spot in Smelter Complex HL17-36 where players could get stuck.
• Fixed locations in various missions where players could be unreachable by enemies, get out of bounds, skip mission objectives, and visibly see enemies spawning.
• Enemies can no longer run through the fan while it’s spinning in the mid-event on Relay Station TRS-150.
• Fixed an issue where the elevator at the start of Relay Station TRS-150 was invisible for players joining after the mission had begun.
• Fixed an issue where players sliding into the corners of the first door in Refinery Delta-17 caused them to get stuck.
• Fixed an issue where enemies could run through walls and scenery in the hangar section in Excise Vault Spireside-13.
• The minions of chaos have moved a medicae battery away from the convenient locker at the start of Relay Station TRS-150. You must now look elsewhere to deny their trickery.
• Fixed an issue where areas of the map became invisible to players in Excise Vault Spireside-13
• Multiple players can now interact with the medicae station at the same time.
• Fixed an issue that caused elevators to be blocked from starting with the “Not all players are onboard” message.
• Fixed an issue where players could not pick up a Scripture on Enclavum Baross.

UI

• When switching inputs between controller and keyboard & mouse, the visual button prompts to interact with game pickups will change depending on the input device currently in use.
• The text for Sire Melk’s task for collecting Grimoires or Scriptures will now correctly reference both these pickups.

Engine

• Support for Intel XeSS.
• Various bug fixes and improvements.

Other Tweaks and Changes

• A new option, under the Interface settings, has been added that will disable the 3D rendering of operative portraits for the strike team HUD.

Dev note: This option has been added to allow players an additional toggle to help reduce potential crashes in Darktide.

• Added an error message to the storefronts (Armoury Exchange, Commissary) when a list of items cannot be fetched from the server.
• Added IPv6 Network as an option in the launcher.

Dev note: This option enables the use of IPv6 and requires IPv6 connectivity. Enabling this option without IPv6 connectivity may prevent you from playing the game.

Known Bugs

• We are aware of an issue where VoIP isn’t working as intended in a strike team when you return to the hub after a mission. If the players leave the strike team while in the hub after the mission and rejoin the same people voip works again. We will be fixing this issue in a future hotfix.

It will specifically “focus on delivering a complete crafting system, a more rewarding progression loop, and continue to work on game stability and performance optimization.” The release of premium cosmetics is also suspended since the developer felt it hadn’t addressed “many feedback areas in the game today.”

Warhammer 40K: Darktide launched on November 30th last year for PC, with the Xbox Series X/S version to be released shortly after (until now, that is). It has a “Mixed” rating on Steam with 56 percent positive user reviews out of 51,739. However, the recent reviews are “Mostly Negative.” Despite praise for its gameplay and aesthetic, the lack of crafting functions at launch, performance issues, microtransactions and so on have been heavily criticized.

Time will tell how Fatshark addresses this, so stay tuned in the coming months. You can also check out our review of the PC version here.

pic.twitter.com/QdzJskxqvI

— Warhammer 40K: Darktide (@Darktide40K) January 24, 2023

Two new weapons are also available – the Indignatus Mk IVe Crusher for Zealots and the Achlys Mk I Power Maul for Ogryns. Players can also refine weapons and curios with the crafting system. It allows for refining a single perk, increasing its Tier in the process. The overall cost of resources will decrease with refining, but other perks are locked in the process.

New conditions are available in the Hunting Grounds, which involve fighting off increased Pox Hounds. Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is available for PC via Steam and the Microsoft Store. It’s also playable on PC Game Pass. Stay tuned for details on other updates in the coming weeks.

It was especially odd afterwards when the developer said other crafting features would roll out through December. Speaking PC Gamer, head of designer Victor Magnuson revealed that a different crafting system was in place, but it wasn’t good enough and subsequently replaced.

“We had another crafting system that we realized just wasn’t good enough. So we ripped it out, started over, and created a completely new crafting system, which will be much, much better. When we took that decision, it was not a happy day in the office. But we felt that we had to do it. And it’s going to come, and it’s going to come very soon.”

He added, “If we release a system and it’s in there, and people are using it, it’s really, really hard to rip that system out and replace it with another system. People have already invested in the previous system. And from a backend perspective, it’s going to be a nightmare. From the player’s experience, it’s going to be really bad.

“So if we released the game with a borked crafting system and decided we needed to redo it, that’s major surgery, and we don’t want to do that. It was a really tough call, but I think in the end, players will agree it was the right call. Of course, they’re never going to know how bad the original crafting system was, but it wasn’t as good as this one.”

Game director Anders de Geer also provided more details on the other crafting features. Along with Consecration, you can Refine an item, which rerolls the perks (like a 20 percent damage bonus against enemies with armor). Earn Blessing is about removing a special trait from a weapon and swapping it between others.

“You can actually extract traits and move them between weapons. So they are, in a sense, like gems. You can take a trait out of a weapon and place it on another weapon. So that’s a way for people to get the combination of traits that they want. And traits have rarities, with three tiers,” said de Geer.

You can also Combine Blessings, which allows for combining lower rarity traits into higher rarity versions. “It’s a way of upgrading if you find the right trait, but it’s not rolled to be the highest tier. Then you can put it on your favorite weapon.” Finally, there’s Re-Bless which places a high-level trait onto your weapon of choice.

There’s no roadmap for when all the crafting features will release, so stay tuned for more details. It’s also coming to Xbox Series X/S, though no release date has been confirmed.

There are four classes to choose from – the Zealot, Veteran, Ogryn and Psyker. Each has different playstyles, weapons and subclasses which can help in combat, whether it’s the Sharpshooter’s extra headshot damage or the Skullbreaker’s increased melee damage. You’ll work your way up through the ranks, earning better gear.

Crafting is also available, albeit in limited form. At launch, players can perform Consecration to upgrade their gear to the next tier, adding a random blessing or perk. Regular missions yield Plasteel, while Diamante is awarded at higher difficulties. The remaining crafting features will release throughout December.

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is also coming to Xbox Series X/S. However, a release date still hasn’t been announced.

Crafting materials like Plasteel are found in various missions, but to get the rarer Diamantine, you need to play on higher difficulties. It sounds good if you ignore the developer’s intent to avoid randomization in crafting despite having Consecration randomly add perks and Blessings. However, players will have to wait longer for the remaining crafting features.

In a recent Steam post, Fatshark said, “We are excited to bring you the rest of the crafting features, which we’ll gradually be rolling out throughout December. And we look forward to building upon this system in the future.” It hasn’t said much about the other crafting features, but not having them at launch feels odd.

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is out on November 30th for PC via Steam and the Microsoft Store. It also launches day one on PC Game Pass. The Xbox Series X/S version doesn’t have a release date yet, so stay tuned for further updates.

Only a few items are available, specifically for the upper and lower body, weapons, and head slots, but more unlock as the player levels up. Crafting is also available in a limited form. Players can use Consecration to upgrade the tier of a weapon or curio, adding a random perk or Blessing. As the tiers increase, so too does the crafting cost.

You’ll now find crafting materials throughout Tertium’s various missions. Plasteel is a common material, while Diamantine is rarer and only found in higher difficulties. In terms of other changes and quality-of-life improvements, end-of-round cards are available to highlight unlocked weapons and feats. For more details, check out some of the update notes below and the full notes here.

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is out on November 30th for PC via Steam and the Microsoft Store. It’s also available on day one on Game Pass for PC. The Xbox Series X/S version is due to arrive later.

1.0.8 UPDATE SUMMARY

The 1.0.8 update focuses on continuing to improve the stability of the game along with the introduction of new features. Below is a complete outline of the changes in this update.

New Features

Crafting Feature

• UI for interacting with the workshop is available
• Consecrate functionality is available for players.
• Players can earn crafting materials from missions via pickups.
• Hadron’s Workshop as an interaction point is also available.
• Armoury Exchange updated – Buy Character and Weapon Skins in the store!

Quality of Life

• Added EOR (end-of-round) Cards to show better what you unlock.
• Sire Melk’s Requisitorium should provide better items overall by only having pristine/mastercrafted items.
• Made Zealot’s Penance tier 1 and 2 pants more distinct.

UI/UX

We’ve added better interfacing for some cases where invalid names are entered during character creation, making it clearer that the chosen name/input is not accepted.
Fixed unlocalized strings in the settings menu.
Fixing some localization on some cosmetics items.
Improved item sorting by rarity – should now consider item rating too (shouldn’t crash now either!).

Fixes and Tweaks

• Fixed an instance where players could not use weapon special when ADS with the Lucius Mk III Helbore Lasgun.
• Fixed issues with some audio on the Excise Vault Spireside-13 mission.
• Turned down the light emitted by the Zealot. The Zealot calmed down, and their overly bright aura will serve as a flashlight no longer.
• Fixed it so the Convict Garb no longer clips when having a specific face.
• Fixed an issue with some gloves not looking correct while sprinting.
• Fixed an issue where several of the enemy stagger animations clipped a lot.
• Can now use weapon special when ADS on Headhunter Autoguns and Braced Autoguns.
• Fixed some flickering in some prologue cinematics.
• The camera would jump through geometry when switching between players in spectator mode. Now, it’ll jump between players to remove those unsightly geometry collisions.
• Weirdly, ammo increased indefinitely when reloading during the prologue, which could cause a crash. This was fixed, and you can reload as much as you need.
• Fixed some issues with buffering melee attacks when playing as Ogryn. No attack was triggered when players held the button “too early” in a chain. We have now adjusted this a little to make the overall feel better.
• Better Variety of grunts when pushing multiple enemies. We know you love a good grunt.
• Some voice-over was unintentionally canceled by players placing world markers or using the comms wheel – we fixed that for ya.
• Players can no longer stand on top of the elevator in Chasm Logistratum and render the mission impossible to complete.
• Re-entering an airlock after using it no longer triggers the ‘group up’ VO, as this is no longer the objective.
• Fixed an issue where stacking crit bonuses would break the crit calculation, rendering the weapon unable to crit. Say “crit” one more time…
• Fixed the Force Staff sometimes having a +x% reload speed property – despite not being reloadable. It’s a staff, after all—no need to reload it.
• Fixed an issue with the Accatran Mk VIIa Lasgun, where shots would disappear after traveling around 45 meters / 147.6 feet / 49 yards / 0.0045 Swedish Miles.
• Made some minor tweaks to the minion melee movement.
• Tweaked ranged minions range switch from melee to ranged override when players are kiting them not to occur too close to players.
• Fixed some broken stagger animations for various minions and some sound tweaks.
• Fixed animation on fuel hose NPC character being frozen at the beginning of the level 18 Path of Trust cutscene.
• Prologue cinematic fix for Zolas wound not looking like a wound, but something…else.
• Made some voice-over tweaks so that we always play a line when deploying a health pack or ammo crate.
• Fixed issue causing two, or sometimes fewer, items to appear in the credits store on refresh.
• Improved stability of end-of-round rewards finalizing.

For instance, the Zealot’s toughness feats have seen some fixes, and bleed has been overhauled to allow for stacking. The Psyker’s Force Sword push has seen a slight nerf to the range, but its Peril cost has been removed (though the follow-up retains a Peril cost). The Ogryn Shovel has increased mobility, while the club now deals increased damage against some enemy types.

There’s also Oska Krall, who can change one’s appearance. For more details on Update 1.07, check out the notes below. The pre-order beta ends on November 29th, with the full game launching on November 30th on PC via Steam and Game Pass. For more details, check out the recent overview trailer here.

1.0.7 UPDATE SUMMARY

Stability/Bugs/Fixes

• Fixed a significant amount of crashes – matchmaking crashes both on server and client.
• Fixed “stuck in position 1” queuing issue
• Addressed many of the lack of XP in progression issues
• Fixed crashes that could occur when tabbing out while watching a cinematic
• Fixed crashes when a player fell out of bounds
• Fixed issues in the credit store where it was impossible to buy things with in-game currency
• Fixed issues where the third-person camera would follow the player when falling out of bounds.
• Fixed issues where the Tigrus Mk II Heavy Eviscerator damage stat did not work as intended, damage defaulted to 50%. Now should scale damage properly.
• Fixed issues where the start animation of a heavy attack with the Thunder Hammer could get stuck.
• Fixed multiple crashes caused by the Beast of Nurgle.
• Fixed crashes that could occur when leaving the Mourningstar to head on a mission when having a specific trait equipped.
• Fixed crashes that could occur with certain weapon traits.
• Fixed issues where a player could complete the ‘Up Close and Personal’ Penance without meeting the appropriate criteria.
• Fixed issues where Veteran Sharpshooter’s ‘Covering Fire’ did not work correctly.
• Fixed issues with Zealot’s talent descriptions not matching what they actually do.
• Fixed various issues where if you look straight down, the third-person character’s head will twist and rotate 180 degrees.
• Fixed an issue where players would sometimes spawn with both weapons in hand.
• Fixed an issue where the Ogryn’s Grenade Box collides with the primary weapon on block.
• Fixed an issue with the Armory where the stock may occasionally be refreshed prematurely before the timer should have elapsed.
• Added codes to be displayed alongside errors.
• Fixed an issue where “Toughness damage reduction” effects didn’t work vs. melee damage. (both talents and coherency effects)
• Fixed an issue where Zealots “Regain toughness while in melee” talent didn’t trigger properly.

Rebalancing/Gameplay tweaks

• Veteran talent balance pass, bleeding.
• Zealot talent balance pass, toughness, and bleeding updates.
• Ogryn balance pass and grenade amounts adjusted.
• Ogryn club, attack combo adjusted. Damage values increased against certain enemy types.
• Ogryn shovel increased mobility
• Adjusted pacing w/ enemy characters, hordes, and spawns
• Additional Psyker gameplay adjustments, including removal of a ‘push’ charge cost for the Force Sword
• Bump up for autoguns and autopistols
• Ranged Minions attack attributes adjusted

Player Interactions

• Changed revive/rescue/pullup states to be 3rd person

Deepening Customization

• Added Chirurgeon of the Mourningstar

The Psykinetic class is about crushing enemy heads with Brain Burst. They’re good against Elite enemies and start with a Combat Sword and Stub Revolver. They lack strength and durability and must keep a safe distance from the hordes of enemies.

Using their abilities generates Peril, and if you don’t meditate to Quell it, death by explosion is likely. Slain foes generate Warp Charges, increasing Peril quickly. However, these can be discharged to knock enemies back, serving as a defensive measure.

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is out on November 30th for PC, with the Xbox Series X/S version arriving later. A pre-launch beta begins on November 17th for those who pre-ordered the game.