Hey Everyone, 

The latest Free Update for Darktide, Bound By Duty, is now releasing across all our platforms! Balance changes, new weapons, a new enemy, a new arena, buffs and Memory Echoes for Mortis Trials, and more!

Without further ado, let’s get right into it!

Note: These patch notes were too big to fully fit inside this Steam post. For the full changes, please check out our web post!

New Features

Mortis Trials New Theatre of Mortification & Story Echos

The latest update adds a whole new Theater to the Mortis Trials. The Theatre of Rectitude is a cold and unforgiving arena, reminiscent of the abandoned hallways of Clandestium Gloriana. 

Sefoni has prepared new challenges for you to face while battling the hordes. If you are successful, and listen carefully, you might hear more from Morrow and Zola, and maybe even learn a bit about Proctor-Exactant Zorin.

There are also a swathe of new Indulgences to explore. Make yourself an unstoppable tank with Goliath or focus on precise, critical hits with Emperor's Favoured.

New Enemy

Scab Plasma Gunner: A dangerous new Elite enemy joins Darktide’s roster. The Scab Plasma Gunner wields a powerful plasma weapon, forcing players to adapt their tactics and brace for intense, high-damage attacks. Expect to feel the heat in any mission where this adversary appears.

Havoc Mutators

This latest update will bring new and familiar content to Havoc: with 1.9.0 Rotten Armour will return in the form of a Havoc Mutator in addition to a brand new one.

Contaminated Stimms

Enfeebled by the relentless assaults by the forces of Grendyl, the Cult of Admonition and the Moebian 6th have begun increasing their use of stims to enhance their capabilities in combat.

Rotten Armour

The Blessings of Nurgle return once again, rewarding his followers with the gift of toxicity.

New Patterns & Marks

Power Falchion

“Mazosi, fly us closer!”

Overview

The Veteran Power Falchion is a 1-handed, single-edged sword which pairs elegance with deadly offensive output.

The Special action activates the weapon in a similar way as the Zealot Relic Blade, further augmenting its attack properties at the cost of increasing Heat.

The Power Falchion has a relatively reduced damage in activated mode compared to the existing Veteran Power Sword, compensated however by its ease of use and improved mobility values.

Compared to the Relic Blade, the power source is more reliable, leading to a longer activated total time (but at the cost of a longer cool down period).

Weapon Special

The Power Falchion’s Special action empowers the sword, improving its swings while it is active.

It particularly buffs the weapon’s Cleave values and Damage Multipliers against certain armour types (e.g. Carapace armour).

Activating the weapon Special will start filling a Heat bar. Each activated swing will also increase Heat by a small amount.

When the weapon is deactivated, the Heat bar will passively cool down.

If the Heat bar is completely filled, the weapon overheats. On overheating, the weapon deactivates and cannot be activated until the Heat bar is completely emptied.

The weapon will also deactivate from the following actions:

• Automatically, when swapping out of the Power Falchion

• Manually, when performing the Special action while the weapon is already activated.

After performing the Special activate or deactivate action, the attack chain will not be reset.

Additionally, the weapon will receive Block properties while activating or deactivating.

This will provide flexibility to weave in the Special action in between attack combos.

Aridin Mk I Power Falchion

The default mark of the Power Falchion is simple to approach, with straightforward attack directions and great ease of access to both single and multi target combos.

Attacks

Light 1: Moderately fast, diagonal Vanguard attack with good Cleave.

Light 2: Moderately fast, horizontal Vanguard attack with good Cleave.

Chained into also after a Push.

Light 3: Fast stab Strikedown attack with good damage, Finesse and armour penetration.

Pushfollow attack: Vertical Strikedown attack with good damage and armour penetration. Chains into Light 3 and Heavy 1.

Heavy 1: Slow, vertical Strikedown attack with great damage, Finesse and armour penetration.

Heavy 2: Slow, vertical Strikedown attack with great damage, Finesse and armour penetration.

Chained into also after a Push.

Heavy 3: Slow, horizontal Vanguard attack with great Cleave and good damage also to secondary targets.

Chains into Light 2 and Heavy 2.

Suggested Horde combos

L1 > L2 > H3 > L2 > …

Push > L2 > …

Suggested Single Target combos

H1 > H2 > L3 > H1 > …

Pushfollow attack  > H1 > …

Pushfollow attack  > L3 > …

Push > H2 > …

Lawbringer Mk IIb Power Falchion

This second mark has a slightly more advanced attack chain structure, and a moveset with very particular and different swing directions.

Attacks

Light 1: Moderately fast, vertical Strikedown attack with good damage and armour penetration.

Light 2: Moderately fast, diagonal Vanguard attack with good Cleave.

Light 3: Fast, horizontal Vanguard attack with good Cleave.

Light 4: Fast, uppercut Vanguard attack with great damage and good Finesse.

Light from Push: Moderately fast, vertical Strikedown attack with good damage and armour penetration.

Chained into only after a Push.

Pushfollow attack: Horizontal Relentless attack with good Cleave and Impact.

Chains into Light 3 and Heavy 1.

Heavy 1: Slow, horizontal Vanguard attack with great Cleave and good damage also to secondary targets.

Heavy 2: Slow, uppercut Strikedown attack with great damage, Finesse and armour penetration.

Chains into Light 1 and Heavy 1.

Chained into also after a Push.

Suggested Horde combos

H1 > L2 > H1 > …

H1 > L2 > L3 > L4 > H1 > …

Pushfollow attack  > H1 > …

Pushfollow attack  > L3 > …

Suggested Single Target combos

L1 > H2 > L1 > …

Push > H2 > …

Push > L from push > L1 > …

Locke Mk III Spearhead Boltgun, Godwyn-Branx Mk VI Bolt Pistol

Overview

These new marks of the Boltgun and Bolt Pistol pack an even larger payload, dealing increased damage and impact to the target and everything in a huge area around it.

The bolt is set to explode on impact, causing it to trigger the full explosion also when hitting terrain, but removing any Cleave property.

Additionally, the explosive will be primed after only 3m, instead of the minimum 5m of the default marks.

However, the projectile direct hit offensive properties will be reduced, especially in their damage and Finesse scaling.

Also, the magazine and reserves will contain less ammo compared to the default marks.

For the Locke Mk III Spearhead Boltgun, the hipfire mode remains full-auto, but with a reduced rate of fire compared to the default mark. While this will make the damage potential less spiky when mag-dumping, it will also allow for an easier control of recoil and spread on continuous fire.

Fixes & Tweaks

Tree Reworks & Class Balance

When we first released Darktide almost 3 years ago, we had clear goals for what each class should be and where they should shine. However, over the years the specialties and niches that we envisioned have slowly spread out across all classes, and it is most noticeable with the Zealot. The Zealot was supposed to be the melee class, but over time and with the Ogryn Rework and release of the Arbites especially, the Zealot has fallen behind. We’re looking to reinvigorate the Zealots tree with more build diversity, and increase its offensive capabilities in melee, while at the same time adjusting the power of the Ogryn and Arbites.

We’re taking a closer look at the Veteran and Psyker Trees as well. We have pruned some talents and consolidated others, done adjustments to the layouts to provide more interesting choices and reduced unwanted travel nodes. We’ve also given each of them a couple of new talents and done changes to existing ones.

Class Balance is an ever ongoing challenge, but we intend to take a slightly different approach as we want to increase the cadence of balance adjustments.

Worth noting: this means that Veteran, Zealot and Pskyer characters will see their talent trees reset.

Zealot

The Zealot’s Talent Tree is getting a facelift, with plenty of talents removed, even more talents added, and the entire Layout has been rebuilt from the ground up. As mentioned in the previous section, the main goal is to increase build diversity. We have a secondary goal however, and that is to give the Zealot a strong identity in terms of where it shines.

Base Toughness

We’ve lowered the amount of Toughness obtainable through Stat Nodes, and have increased Base toughness to make up for it.

• 70 -> 100

Abilities

To more easily balance the Abilities against each other, we’ve decided to reduce the effectiveness of the general Ability Cooldown Talents while adding cooldown mechanics into the Fury of the Faithful ability as well as the Shroudfield ability.

• Fury of the Faithful

  • New Talent: Unrelenting Fury - Killing an Elite or Specialist within 5s of using Fury of the Faithful restores 20% Ability Cooldown.

• Shroudfield

  • Backstab Damage 100% -> 150%

  • Finesse Damage 100% -> 150%

  • New: 100% Melee Rending

• Perfectionist

  • Reworked - Stealth Kills restore Ability Cooldown. Monstrosities 50%, Ogryns 30%, others 15%.

• Invigorating Revelation

  • Reworked - Replenish 50% Toughness upon entering Stealth, gain 30% Damage Resistance for 8s upon exiting Stealth.

• Master-Crafted Shroudfield

  • New: Upon leaving Stealth, gain -75% Threat and 50% Backstab Damage for 5s.

• Chorus of Spiritual Fortitude

  • Banishing Light - Removed and made baseline

Keystones

• Blazing Piety

  • Fury Rising - Removed and made baseline

• Martyrdom

  • Max Stacks 7 -> 5

  • Melee Damage per stack 8% -> 10%

• Maniac

  • Melee Attack Speed 4% -> 6%

• I Shall Not Fall

  • Toughness Damage Reduction 6.5% -> 7.5%

• New Talent: On the Brink

  • Gain +10% Corruption Resistance per stack.

• New Talent: Restorative Verses

  • Gain +5% Toughness Replenishment per stack

• Inexorable Judgement

  • Max stacks 15 -> 20

• Retributor’s Stance

  • Reworked: Replenish 2% Toughness Per stack on activation -> Replenish 0.4% Toughness per second, per Stack during activation.

• New Talent: Eternal

  • Increase the duration of Inexorable Judgement to 10s.

Coherencies

• Loner - Removed

• New Coherency: Zealous

  • -15% Stamina Costs for you and Allies in Coherency.

Talents

• Backstabber

  • Damage 20% -> 25%

  • New: Now also increases Flanking Damage

• Desperation

  • Reworked: Up to 20% Melee Damage based on missing Stamina.

• Enemies Within, Enemies Without

  • Reworked: Replenish 2.5% Toughness per Second while within 5m Range of an Enemy, increased by 1% per Enemy. Monstrosities count as 5. Max 7.5%

• Enduring Faith

  • Damage Resistance 50% -> 40%

• Duelist

  • +50% Weakspot Damage and +50% Critical Hit Damage -> +50% Finesse Damage.
    Note: Finesse Hits include Weakspot Hits and Critical Hits. Duelist would previously go up to 100% Damage on hits that were both Critical hits and Weakspot hits. Now it will instead stay at 50%.

• Shield of Contempt

  • Cooldown 10s -> 8s

• The Master’s Retribution

  • Cooldown 10s -> 8s

• Invocation of Death

  • Ability Cooldown Regeneration 200% -> 100%

  • Duration 4s -> 3s

• Martyr’s Purpose

  • Reworked: Up to +50% Ability Cooldown Regeneration based on Missing Health. Max at 25% Current Health.

• Pious Cut-Throat

  • Reworked: +100% Ability Cooldown Regeneration for 2s after Backstab Hit or Weakspot Hit.

New Talents

• Abolish Blasphemers

  • +15% Damage vs Elite enemies

• Against the Odds

  • For each 2 enemies within 5m, gain +2% Damage and +10% Cleave. Max 5 stacks.

• Behind the Lines

  • Heavy Melee Backstab Kills suppress enemies within 8m. 5s Cooldown.

• Blinded by Blood

  • Bleeding enemies take +15% Damage for 5s.

• Hubris

  • +15% Damage Resistance after Weakspot Kill. Lasts 4s.

• Impassible

  • Gain +25% Block Cost Reduction while Dodging and for 2s afterwards. Perfect blocking an attack restores 3 Dodges. 8s Cooldown.

• No Respite

  • Replenish 10% Stamina on Melee Critical Hit. 1s Cooldown.

• Out of Pocket

  • Melee Backstab kills replenish 5% of your Missing Ammo from your Reserve when swapping to your Ranged Weapon. Max 5 Stacks.

• Prime Target

  • +10% Damage and Replenish 15% Toughness over 5s, on Elite kill.

• Providence

  • +25% Revive Speed. In addition, Allies you Assist / Revive, get +10% Movement Speed and +15% Toughness Damage Reduction for 5s.

• Punish Impiety

  • Push followup attacks grant 10% Melee Attack Speed for 5s.

• Relentless Fervor

  • +10% Sprint Speed and -10% Sprint Cost. Sprinting for 1s grants Slowdown Immunity.

• Retaliatory Defense

  • On Block Break, you are no longer Stunned and instead restore 50% Stamina. 12s Cooldown.

• Riposte

  • +4% Melee Damage after Successful Dodge. Stacking 5 times. Lasts 8s.

• Time to Kill

  • +50% Melee Backstab Damage. 8s Cooldown.

• Unfaltering

  • Become Uninterruptible while charging Melee Attacks. Remove 100% of Heavy Melee Attack Movement Speed penalties.

• Unseen Blade

  • +15% Damage vs Enemies not targeting you.

Removed Talents

• Fortitude in Fellowship

• The Emperor’s Bullet

• Unremitting

• Hammer of Faith

• Sainted Gunslinger

• Ambuscade

• Swift Certainty

Psyker

The Psyker was in a decent state before, but there were still improvements that we could make to the layout to make buildcrafting a bit easier. We also added some new talents, three of which are defensive options, as the Psyker could at times be a bit too squishy compared to the other classes. Along with the new talents we did some minor reworks and quality of life updates to existing ones, with the goal of making them play better.

Abilities

• Telekine Shield

  • Cooldown 40 -> 45

• Bolstered Shield

  • New: Reduces cooldown to 35

• Scrier’s Gaze

  • Endurance - Removed and made baseline.

• Reality Anchor

  • New: Now also increases Quelling by 30%

• Brain Rupture

  • Damage increase is now calculated as a Multiplier (will increase all subsequent bonuses)

• Kinetic Flayer

  • Chance 10% -> 100%

  • Cooldown 15 -> 12

  • Now Excludes Poxbursters

• Smite

  • Lightning Storm - Removed and made baseline.

  • Charged peril cost per second: 18% -> 22.5%

Keystones

• Disrupt Destiny

  • Improved Re-targeting after target death

• Warp Siphon

  • Empyrean Empowerment - Removed and made baseline.

Talents

• Battle Meditation

  • New: Peril Generation -10%

• By Crack of Bone

  • Duration 5 -> 4

  • Reduction 25% -> 20%

• Channeled Force

  • Damage to Force Staff Primary after fully charged Secondary 30% -> 20%

  • New: 10% Damage to Force Staff Secondary after Primary. Lasts 5s.

• Crystalline Will

  • New: +100% Overload Damage

  • New: +25% Overload Radius

  • New: If overload kills an Elite Enemy, you don't take corruption damage.

• Mettle

  • Crits Replenish 5% Toughness -> Crits replenish 10% toughness over 4s

• Mind in Motion

  • New: Now also includes Reloading

• Penetration of the Soul

  • 10% Rending at 75% Peril -> Up to 20% Rending, based on peril.

• Perfect Timing

  • Warp Damage -> All Damage

• Psykinetic's Aura

  • Reworked: 4% Ability Cooldown on Elite / Specialist Kill from you or Ally in Coherency -> 100% Cooldown for 3s on Elite / Specialist Kill from you or Ally in Coherency

• Puppet Master

  • Radius 50% -> 75%

• Souldrinker

  • 5% Instant Toughness -> Restores 15% Toughness over 5s.

• Warp Expenditure

  • Reworked: Melee Weakspot Kills restore 15% Toughness over 3s. Melee Attacks restore 2.5% Toughness.

  • Previous functionality added to Quietude

• Quietude

  • Replenish 5% Toughness for each 10% Peril Quelled -> Replenish 4% Toughness for each 10% Peril Quelled or Generated

New Talents

• Immaterial Focus

  • +10% Damage Resistance, in addition, while at Critical Peril and for 4s afterwards, you are Stun Immune.

• One with the Warp

  • Gain Toughness Damage Reduction of +10% to +33% based on your current Peril.

• Just a Dream

  • While below Critical peril, 25% of Damage Taken is converted into Peril.

• Warp Ghost

  • -80% Passive Quelling, +2 Stamina, and +25% Toughness Replenishment.

• Vulnerable Minds

  • +20% Damage vs Ogryns and Monsters.

Veteran

We’re trying to achieve a wider range of ‘viable’ playstyles with these changes. Both Executioner’s stance and Infiltrate see a drastic drop in pick rates once players step into Auric difficulty, and we hope that these changes make them more attractive options. Along with those changes we’re doing a bit of work to the tree. Increasing flexibility in builds, as well as trying to ensure that every choice you make feels like an actual choice (less dead nodes).

Determined

Removed and made into Base Passive

Base Stamina Regeneration Delay

1s -> 0.75s

Base Critical Strike Chance

5% -> 10%

Abilities

Abilities should no longer interrupt sprinting

• Infiltrate

  • Surprise Attack - Removed and made baseline

• Executioner's Stance

  • New: Replenish 10% Toughness every 1s while active

• The Bigger They Are …

  • New: Outlines Monstrosities and Captains

  • New: Increases the duration of Executioner’s Stance to 8s

• Krak Grenade

  • Max Charges 2 -> 3

  • Fuse Time 2s -> 1s
    

Keystones

• Marksman's Focus

  • Stacks refresh duration on Weakspot hit

  • Stacks decay one at a time

  • No longer removes stacks on movement

  • Camouflage - Removed

• Tunnel Vision

  • Toughness per Stack 5% -> 4%

• Weapon Specialist

  • Fleeting Fire - Removed and made baseline (2% per Ranged Stack)

  • Conditioning - Removed and added into Invigorated

  • Ranged Specialist Duration 5 -> 10

• Focus Target!

  • Stacking Interval 2s -> 1.5s

  • Max Stacks 5 -> 4

  • Damage per Stack 4% -> 5%

  • Focused Fire

    • Max Stacks 8 -> 6

Talents

• Agile Engagement

  • Duration 5 -> 6

• Born Leader

  • New: Coherency Radius Increase: 50%

• Covering Fire

  • Range 5 -> 8

  • Damage 20% -> 15%

• Exhilarating Takedown

  • Stacks Decay one at a time.

• Exploit Weakness

  • Reworked: 10% Brittleness on Melee Critical Hit -> Melee Critical Hits increase Damage by 20% for 6s.

• For the Emperor - Removed

• Get Back in the Fight!

  • Cooldown 30s -> 20s

• Grenade Tinkerer

  • Krak Damage 50% -> 75%

• Keep Their Heads Down!

  • Suppression 50% -> 75%

• One Motion

  • Swap Speed 25% -> 50%

• Redirect Fire!

  • Damage 1.5% -> 2%

• Skirmisher

  • …Sprinting or Sliding

• Smoke Grenade

  • Reduced chain time of instant throw 0.9s -> 0.2s

• Tactical Awareness

  • Reworked: 6s Cooldown Reduction on Specialist Kill -> 100% Cooldown Regen for 3s on Specialist Enemy Kill.

• Twinned Blast

  • Removed and added to Grenadier

New Talents

• Covert Operative

  • Ranged Backstabs have +30% Damage

• Lock and Load

  • +15% Clip Size, rounded up

Ogryn

Out of all the Classes, after its rework the Ogryn was one of the strongest. The main issue being how the Ogryn could deal immense amounts of damage without sacrificing much in the terms of defense.

Base Stamina Regeneration

1 -> 1.5

Abilities

• Loyal Protector

  • Cooldown 45 -> 50

• Bullet Bravado

  • Per Shot 2% -> 2.5%

  • Reload 10% -> 15%

• Trample

  • 2% -> 2.5%

  • Stacks 25 -> 20

  • Duration 8 -> 10

Keystones

• Carapace Armour

  • Toughness Regen 2.5% -> 3%

  • Toughness Damage Reduction 2.5% -> 3%

• Great Cleaver

  • Cleave 15% -> 12.5%

• Impactful

  • Impact 10% -> 7.5%

• Don't Feel a Thing

  • Toughness Damage Reduction 1.5% -> 1.25%

Talents

• Bash and Blast

  • Damage 2.5% -> 3%

  • Stacks 6 -> 5

  • Duration 8 -> 10

• Batter

  • Bleed Stacks on Light Attacks 2 -> 1

• Furious

  • Damage 2.5% -> 3%

• Lucky Streak

  • Crit Damage 50% -> 75%

• Lynchpin

  • Coherency Regen 50% - 100%

• Massacre

  • Crit Chance 1.5% ->  2%

• Mobile Emplacement

  • Damage 20% -> 25%

• No Hurting Friends

  • Strength 2.5% -> 2%

• Pumped Up

  • Damage Reduction 15% -> 12.5%

• Simple Minded

  • Corruption Resistance 30% -> 40%

• Soften them up

  • Damage Taken 15% -> 10%

• Too Stubborn to Die

  • Health Threshold 33% -> 50%

• Tower Presence

  • Coherency Radius 50% -> 75%

• Valuable Distraction

  • Damage Taken Increase 25% -> 20%

Arbites

The Arbites entered the Mourningstar and quickly dominated in terms of pick rate and win rates. Similar to the Ogryn, the Arbites can be tanky without building towards it, and can deal great damage without building towards it. We’re taking it a bit slower when it comes to tweaking it though, as it's still quite new and we don’t want to accidentally overadjust.

Base Toughness

For its defensive capabilities, we’ll start by reducing its Base Toughness, and if that isn’t enough we’ll take a look at the individual talents as well.

100 -> 80

Abilities

• Break the Line

  • New: Now count as Blocking during use.

• Remote Detonation

  • Max Charges 3 -> 2

  • Cooldown 60s -> 50s

Keystones

• Execution Order

  • Damage 15% -> 10%

Coherency

• Ruthless Efficiency

  • Reload Speed 7.5% -> 12.5%

Talents

• Razor-Jaw Augment

  • Bleed stacks 8 -> 6

• Justified Measures

  • Damage per stack 3% -> 2%

Weapon Balance & Changes

Ogryn Power Maul

The “Paul” was left behind in the latest big revamp of the Ogryn arsenal, but in this release we are giving it some extra polish.

The Special attack of the weapon was somewhat underwhelming, as it needed to create space and time for the activation only for a relatively mild payout.

We significantly increased the damage and impact values of the activated attack, both for the hit and the explosion, but also the explosion's outer radius and the damage inflicted within it.

To balance the additional power, the weapon will now enter a cooldown period before the Special activation can be performed again.

The cooldown is 12s, and the status of the Special will be conveyed by new visual and sound effects.

We also took a look at the general moveset and attack profiles of the weapon, with the goal of making it more well rounded with both easy to use and more advanced attack chains.

To strengthen the single target capabilities of the weapon, we added a new Heavy Strikedown attack with good damage and Finesse multiplier, which can be reached from Push, Special activate and Light 2.

You can use it to deal massive damage after the Special activation, but also to create simple Strikedown combos (e.g. Light 1 > Light 2 > Heavy > Light 1 > …)

Additionally, the Light 3 and Light 4 attacks will now gain a 10% attack speed bonus when looped (i.e. when continuing the Light attack chain after the first Light 4), simulating the increasing momentum of the combo.

Finally, we improved the Heavy Relentless profile properties and lowered the chain times of the Heavy 1 and Heavy 2 attacks both for the windup and when initiating following attacks, and did some  fine tweaking on other chain times and actions.

Ogryn Power Maul detailed changes

• New Special activate behaviour

  • Significantly raised the damage and impact for the direct hit and close radius explosion on the Special activated attacks

  • Raised the damage and impact for the outer radius explosion

  • Added a cooldown period of 12s before the Special activation can be performed again

• Raised the “Supercharge” blessing Brittleness stacks scaling from 1/2/3/4 to 10/12/14/16

  • This is due to the introduction of the cooldown on the Special action

• Added a new Heavy Strikedown attack

  • Reached from Push, Special activate and Light 2

• Added new Light 3 and Light 4 looped attacks, with faster attack speed and shorter chain times

  • These attacks are reached when continuing the attack chain after the first Light 4

• Heavy Relentless attack profile:

  • Raised 1st target Finesse multiplier from 0.25 to 0.45

  • Raised damage on most targets

• Slightly lowered chain times for Heavy attacks

• Added buffer time 0.4 for the Start Attack and Wield inputs

• Removed chain time to Block for Light 1 and Light 2

• Pushfollow attack chain time from Push from 0.35 to 0.3

• Push radius from 2.5 to 2.75

Helbore Lasguns

In this release we are aiming to improve the Helbore Lasgun family by adding a brand new rear ironsight, installed at the back of the attachment rail.

We also tweaked the camera position when going into aim-down-sights mode to align with the new sights.

Let us know what you think about it, and if you have any feedback for further changes!

Lucius Helbore Lasguns detailed changes

• Added a new rear sight and realigned the camera position in ADS mode

  • Affecting all weapon skins aside from ‘“Last Stand” Vostroyan Lasgun’, which already had bespoke ironsights

    • However, the ‘“Last Stand” Vostroyan Lasgun’ skin has been further tweaked to place the aim position at the very top of the front sight

Chain weapons Special

In this release we are tweaking the behaviour of the Special activated attacks for Chain weapons (Assault Chainswords, Assault Chainaxes, Heavy Eviscerators).

The damage curve will now be more differentiated depending on the armour type of the enemy:

• On armoured types, the damage will be skewed more towards the final instance, simulating the chain blade finally ripping through the enemy defences (e.g. Flak or Carapace armour)

• Conversely, the damage will be immediately much higher on less-armoured types as the chain teeth immediately bites into the flesh (e.g. Unarmoured, Maniac, Unyielding)

The overall damage compared to the previous live version should be similar against armoured enemies, but higher against the rest of the opposition.

For the full list of changes, check out the full patch notes on our website.

Assault Chainswords

We are introducing multiple changes and improvements for the Assault Chainsword family, to raise one the most iconic 40K weapons up a bit.

Several attack profiles have been improved in damage, finesse and/or impact properties.

We have also widened the hitboxes of most attacks, tweaked them to be more aligned with their animations, and allowed all attacks to be performed while sprinting instead of resetting the combo chain.

For the Mk IV, we added a new Heavy Strikedown attack, which can be reached after Light 1 to create an easy to access single target chain.

(Note that this will mean that Heavy 2 will no longer be reachable after Light 1)

For the Mk XIIIg, we changed the combo structure after a Heavy 2 attack to allow for an easier crowd control attack direction: it will now chain into Light 2 / Heavy 3 instead of Light 4 / Heavy 3.

We increased the power level multiplier of the Light 4 attack to reward it being further into the attack chain.

Finally, we tweaked several windup and chain timings to make the weapon more responsive.

For the full list of changes, check out the full patch notes on our website.

Assault Chainaxes

For the Assault Chainaxes, we performed targeted tweaks to specific profiles to make them more reliable in controlling enemies, both singularly and in groups.

We also did a pass on all attacks to make sure that their hitboxes are correctly aligned to their animations, and allowed all attacks and windups to be performed while sprinting (however, still with a considerable movement speed penalty).

For the full list of changes, check out the full patch notes on our website.

Duelling Swords

The Duelling Swords are highly effective weapons, offering excellent mobility, a strong staggering Special attack, and decent horde-clearing, while also being able to quickly eliminate key threats. This rebalance aims to rein in the power of the weapon family while enhancing its 'duelling' aspect.

The Mk IV and Mk II marks featured an exceptionally powerful Heavy Strikedown Stab attack. This attack's high Finesse multiplier led to excessive damage scaling, so we have reduced the multiplier to align it with other weapons. We are also adjusting its armour damage modifiers. Despite these changes, it will remain one of the most impactful weapons in the game.

The Special action has been changed from a quick poke to a Parry-Riposte mechanic, similar to the 'Devil's Claw' swords. Activating the Special input now initiates a Parry state, blocking enemy attacks. Successfully blocking a melee attack in Parry state triggers an automatic Riposte attack. This Riposte attack deals significant damage to the first target hit, with good Finesse scaling and armour modifiers against all enemy types. Due to the weapon's low base Stamina, investing in Stamina or Block Cost reduction is recommended for consistent Parry usage. Performing a Perfect Parry (blocking within 0.2 seconds of initiating the Parry) greatly reduces Stamina cost. Psyker players have an extra unique bonus due to them being the original carriers of this weapon: at the cost of 4% Peril, they gain significantly increased Riposte attack strength.

The new Riposte attack is comparable in strength to the previous Heavy Strikedown Stab, preserving the weapon's high burst damage while demanding precise spacing, timing, and Stamina management.

Finally, specific changes were made to the Mk V mark. Since it lacks the Heavy Strikedown Stab, its Heavy Strikedown attack power has been increased, particularly against Unyielding armour. The Mk V also benefits from a stronger Riposte attack compared to its siblings.

For the full list of changes, check out the full patch notes on our website.

Spearhead Boltgun

The Bolter's extreme firepower was paired with a very generous ammo reserve, allowing it to be used too liberally over the course of the mission.

We are slightly toning down the amount of ammo, while keeping the magazine size and the overall power of the weapon unchanged.

(Also now the reserves amount will be an actual multiple of the magazine size)

For the full list of changes, check out the full patch notes on our website.

Crusher

The Crusher will no longer reset its attack chains while sprinting during attacks and attack windups. However the hefty movement speed penalty while charging an Heavy attack will remain present.

Also, we added a small amount of minimum time to the Block action to reinforce the feeling of handling a very much not nimble two handed bludgeon.

For the full list of changes, check out the full patch notes on our website.

Vigilant Autoguns

Vigilant Autoguns have received a significant update, primarily focused on improving their handling: Recoil, Spread, Sway, and accuracy have all been adjusted for ease of use. Previously, these characteristics made the Vigilant Autoguns difficult to utilize effectively.

While damage and armour penetration have seen minor adjustments, the main improvements mean players will land shots more reliably in all situations.

Highlights:

• Recoil

  • Reduced direction randomization

  • Significantly reduced horizontal recoil

DevNote: Previously, weapon recoil was unpredictable, causing the gun to kick in various directions, which made it difficult to control. The updated version primarily kicks upwards, allowing for easier control through recoil compensation and paced shots.

• Spread & Sway

  • Reduced initial and movement accuracy-penalty when going in aim down sight mode.

  • Reduced weapon sway to more accurately match the animation.

DevNote: The Vigilant Autogun, when aiming down sight (ADS), had a persistent spread penalty that required a "settling" period for accurate aim.

This penalty has been significantly reduced, allowing shots to hit where aimed as soon as ADS is engaged. Also, players will be less penalized when shooting while moving.

• Damage

  • Increased base damage

  • Reduced Finesse and Critical Hit multipliers

  • Increased Maniac adm

  • Reduced Flak armour adm

    • For details, See detailed notes below

DevNote: The intent is to increase overall consistency and to be less reliant on weakspot hits. To get best value players should still aim for weakspot hits.

• Impact 

  • Tweaked Impact values and enemy Stagger behaviour

    •  For details, See detailed notes below

DevNote: The initial high Impact would cause instant hit-reaction flinch, which made it hard to hit follow up shots (particularly for the burst marks).

• Bullet Hitscan size

  • Increased bullet hitscan size (specific for each mark)

    •  For details, See detailed notes below

DevNote: A small size increase to help more consistently hit headshots. Larger increase for the burst-shot marks. 

• Ammo 

  • Reductions and adjustments to Magazine and Reserves

    •  For numbers, See detailed notes below

DevNote: Minor reductions to compensate for the fact that the weapon is a lot more accurate.

• Audio

  • Added new shooting sound effects to properly convey the power of each bullet.

DevNote: Big buff.

For the full list of changes, check out the full patch notes on our website.

Blessings

"Ceaseless Barrage"

Fixed an issue where the bonuses from the blessing were not scaling through tiers, and tweaked the damage bonus.

"Ceaseless Barrage" blessing detailed changes

• Suppression bonus from 20% to 12.5/15/17.5/20%

• Damage against suppressed enemies from 6% to 4/5/6/7%

"Superiority"

Changed the trigger from Elite enemies only to Elite and Specialist enemies.

The change will make the blessing more competitive for the Blaze Force Sword family by adding reliability in its upkeep time

Dodge Counter and Stamina Bar

Dodging is a core mechanic of Darktide, but it was often hard to grasp its intricacies during active gameplay without any visual representation.

In this update, we added the Dodge Counter to the HUD.

This new UI element displays the currently available Effective Dodges and their replenish cooldown, while also informing the player when out of Effective Dodges by flashing.

Alongside the implementation of the Dodge Counter, we reworked the Stamina Bar UI to improve its readability.

We also added multiple new settings in the Interface Options to tune the Dodge Counter and the Stamina Bar to your individual preferences.

Reworked HUD UI details

• Added Dodge Counter

• Added “depleted” effect for both Dodge Counter and Stamina Bar

• Reworked Stamina Bar

• Added settings in the Interface Options for Dodge/Stamina UI:

  • Dodge Counter / Stamina Bar visibility

  • Show Dodge Counter with Stamina Bar

  • Show Stamina with 25% dividers

  • Show Stamina percentage text

Pacing & Enemy Balance

Pacing changes:

• Mutated poxwalkers and Moebian 21ths will now have a chance to appear in normal missions as part of their respective horde types

• Auric Maelstrom and Auric HI-INS will now have timer based hordes

  • Dev note: This change was made in an effort to allow these two modes to further act as stepping stones to higher Havoc

Enemy Changes:

• The health of several enemies has been increased from Heresy Threat and up

  • Dev Note: This change is part of an overarching effort to differentiate the two factions further from one another. Long term our goal is to ensure that the Moebians feels like the Elite regiment they are versus the more numerous but worse equipped Admonition cultists

• For the full list of changes, check out the full patch notes on our website.

General Tweaks & Quality of Life changes

• Players now will find a “Campaign Playlist” option in the Mission Terminal, where they can see an overview of the Battle for Tertium campaign and replay previously completed Campaign Missions.

• Headgear color bundles have been added to the Commodore’s Vestures. You can still get one headgear for its original price or get the whole bundle for a discounted price.

• The Commissary has now been stocked with additional “Fire Wastes Camo” and “Crucis Nightshade Camo” cosmetic weapon skins for the following weapons:

  • Bolt Pistol

  • Double-Barrelled Shotgun

  • Shock Maul

  • Ogryn Delver's Pickaxe

  • Ogryn Heavy Stubber

  • Blaze Force Greatsword

  • Relic Blade

• The industrial tunes of Jesper Kyd are now available on your PlayStation Welcome Hub

• Added 1000 new bonding conversations across all player characters.

• Bot behaviour improvements:

  • Bots will no longer take charges from the Medicae station in Mortis Trials missions

  • Bots will no longer target Poxbursters

  • Hits from Bots will now ignore ignitable and explosive barrels

  • Improved Bot code for attempting to rescue players when the Bot is attacking in melee

• Revive Speed and Assist Speed now both affect the speed of which you Rescue, Revive, Help, and Pull Up allies.

• Updated the weapon Cosmetics menu with the same UI features that the player Cosmetics screen have, and addressed some issues with navigation and what cosmetic was shown as selected in the list.

• Updated the “Mortis Elite” Penance to include newly released Indulgence Archetypes

  • The Penance has been reworked to require completing Mortis Trials missions using any 5 Indulgence Archetypes

  • An additional Penance has been added, requiring to complete Mortis Trials missions using all 7 Indulgence Archetypes

• The weapon cards are now more compact to allow more text information to be displayed in them.

• Head gear is now the default selected option in the Inventory menu when using a controller.

• Added ability to select region manually in the Mourningstar's Havoc menu.

Bug Fixes & Changes

General Fixes

• VO Fixes:

  • Fixed Masozi's Pox Gas condition lines

  • Fixed some broken VO lines

  • Fixed Nuncio Aquila VO being spammable

  • Fixed warp echo dialogue not playing

  • Thanks kqgee, Rabs, bumner, crappshet, Dolt and Harridas for submitting bug reports on the Fatshark Forums.

• Fixed an issue where “Battle for Tertium” Campaign missions would count as Special Condition missions for the “Adapt to the Environment” penances

• Fixed a crash that could occur while using List mode in the Penances menu

• Fixed sort orders in the Penances menu

• Fixed level sound issues in the HL-16-11 Chasm Station, HL17-36 Power Matrix and HL17-36 Consignment Yard missions

• Footprints and pawprints have been added and can be seen in places that have snow or dirt terrain.

• Fixed an issue where the Ogryn's Power Maul “Power Surge” blessing could fail to trigger when hitting multiple enemies

• Fixed an issue where Taunted enemies visual effects would disappear when used on enemies affected by the Havoc “Rampaging Enemies” modifier.

• Fixed Aura effect icons in the HUD being displayed with the wrong colour.

• Updated Veteran Frag Grenade and Ogryn Box of Grenades explosion effects to address FPS drops.

• Fixed explosions not interacting with enemy ragdolls.

  • Can be disabled via the Ragdoll Interaction setting inside the Video Options.

• Fixed multiple Toughness Regeneration effects included in class Abilities not working while standing in fire.

• Fixed an issue with players being teleported while hanging from a ledge at the end of Mortis Trials missions.

• Arbites Cyber-Mastiff will now retain its attack command when tagging an enemy after having double tagged a different one.

• Arbites Cyber-Mastiff will now stop attacking an enemy if the player moves away and the tag expires

• Fixed an issue where enemy ranged weapons would float when being pounced by an Arbites Cyber-Mastiff

• We fixed some visual glitches, removed frustrating obstacles, and improved respawn points on some of our missions. We’ve also made small interaction tweaks and polished up environments.

• Fixed an issue where the Arbites Voltaic Shock Mine coils looked displaced.

• Fixed some End of Round animation for the Arbites that were not looping correctly

• Fixed an issue where Commissar Dukane could be teleported (sliding) into position at the Havoc Terminal.

• Fixed an issue that was causing the server to crash when players would step in specific locations in several missions.

• Fixed an issue where one of the objective markers could remain stuck on the screen even after completing the objective in Hab Dreyko

• Fixed an issue where weapon icons would fail to be displayed in the notifications

• Fixed a crash when trying to look at the Penances menu through the character selection menu without having a character selected

• Fixed an issue where players could get the same Curio equipped in different slots

• Fixed text spacing in the Psykhanium UI menu

• Fixed an issue where an empty message could still be seen when navigating through different item lists tabs in the same menu 

• Added small UI tweaks to alleviate issues with overflowing localized texts

• Fixed an issue where Curios providing damage reduction against Pox Hounds, Dreg/Scab Flamers, Dreg/Scab Grenadiers, and Mutants didn't provide damage reduction against variants of those enemies.

• The Operative menu can now be opened in the Meat Grinder using the same hotkey as is used in the Mourningstar

• After being assisted by a teammate, players will now have 1 second of damage immunity and 3 seconds of 50% Toughness and Health damage reduction. 

  • Dev note: This is a variant of the 5 second damage immunity that is granted when joining a game. The intended purpose is to give a grace period to get out of danger when assisted in chaotic circumstances, such as preventing being insta-gibbed by an over-eager Crusher. 

• Updated Curio UI presentation to better match the weapon look

• Fixed an issue where the Arbites Subductor Shotpistol and Riot Shield model would be incorrectly displayed in the Inspect menu.

  • Thanks to player doombo for reporting this bug!

• Minor Level Art bug fixes in Clandestium Gloriana

• Minor Level Art bug fixes in the Gut Bucket area in Mercantile HL-70-04-510

• Fixed a spot where enemies could jump through a wall in Clandestium Gloriana

• Fixed a specific spot in a Clandestium Gloriana airlock where the whole environment could turn invisible

• Fixed several spots in Archivum Sycorax where players could walk/crouch through a wall.

• Fixed a chest in Excise Vault Spireside-13 where pickups spawned under the ground and could not be picked up.

• Fixed an issue where some Portrait Frames and Insignias could show stretched pixels in the inventory preview.

• Fixed an issue where the game could crash when starting to sprint.

• Fixed an issue where some weapon icons were slightly misaligned or out of frame.

• Fixed an issue where icons for using Stimms were using wrong icons.

• Fixed an issue where the "Gore Settings" header did not show under the Video Options menu.

• Fixed an issue where some Damage Taken Modifiers, such as 'Target the Weak', were calculated multiplicatively, instead of additively.

• Fixed an issue where the 'True Grit' talent didn't reduce Corruption Damage.

• Fixed an issue where the 'Crunch' talent values didn't match the description.

• Fixed an issue where the 'Great Cleaver' talent also granted Ranged Cleave.

• Fixed an issue where the Ogryn’s default Aura granted Heavy Melee Damage instead of Melee Damage.

• Fixed an issue where the  'No Hurting Friends' talent also activated on Allies not in Coherency.

• Fixed an issue where the Arbites Cyber-Mastiff could move through objects in the Mourningstar.

• Fixed a crash which could be triggered by a player leaving while changing the content of their nameplate.

• Fixed a crash which could occur when a Veteran player left a mission while having max stacks of the Markman’s Focus keystone.

• Fixed an issue where the Mastery rewards track could fail to correctly update the small reward icon when a player navigated through an entry with multiple rewards.

• Fixed issue where the Ogryn talent 'Slam' triggered on Ranged Hits.

• Fixed mission vote view chevrons misinforming rank 40 Havoc players that they will gain 1 level after a rank 40 mission.

• Fixed a crash caused by the Twins' Tox Gas grenade.

Cosmetic and Animation Fixes

• Fixed some strange deformation on the cape of the Veteran “Veteran Honours Shroudwrap Warplate” upperbody cosmetic while certain body types

• Fixed jittery satchels on the Psyker “Shroudwrap Carapace” upperbody cosmetic

• Fixed visible seams on the Ogryn “Ripper ‘Hawk” headgear cosmetic

• Fixed clipping with straps and artifacts around eyes on the “Arges Pattern Augmetic” headgear cosmetic

• The chain on the Veteran “"Arrogance" Judgement Hood” headgear cosmetic should now look more natural

• Fixed stretching issues around armpits of Veteran “Pilfered Flak Plate” upperbody cosmetic

• Fixed deformation issues occurring when using a specific body type on the following Psyker upperbody cosmetics

  • Black Medusa Psykana Collar (Morlox style regalia)

  • "Protectus" Psyker Cuirass

• Fixed clipping and odd deformation on the “Voicebox Rebreather (Osclum III Pattern)” headgear cosmetic

• Fixed black spot texture the Zealot “Ganger Trews (Septic Green)” lowerbody cosmetic

• Fixed face clipping through scarf on the Ogryn “Krourk MK IIIB Brutehelm” headgear cosmetic

• Fixed clipping on Veteran “Ocular Augmetic And Blue Face Mask” headgear cosmetic

• Fixed clipping issues on Veteran “Veteran’s Sentry Uniform” upperbody cosmetic

• Fixed instance of floating backpacks on Veteran “Arlo Tohmasson’s Battledress” upperbody cosmetic

• Fixed arm straps clipping issues on Ogryn “Brute’s Battle Armour (XXXXL)” upperbody cosmetic

• Removed incorrectly applied voice filters on the following Psyker headgear cosmetics

  • Illissi Mk XVa Resolver Harness

  • Catechizer's Sanctum Hood

  • Obscurus Mk Xd Psykana Coven Collar

• Fixed issues where the augmetic part of the following Ogryn headgear cosmetics would look odd

  • Theta-Level Cranial Augment (XXXL)

  • XXXXL Chem-Safe Rebreather
    

New In-Game Live Event: Smuggled Munitions

Forces of the Traitorous 6th have raided local plasma weapon caches. Root out these dangerous squads and dispatch them.

To make progress in the event, complete missions with the Outgunned condition.

This event will start on Tuesday, September 23. The rewards will be Ordo dockets, Plasteel and Diamantine. Those who complete the last tier of the event will receive a cosmetic portrait frame.

Regimental: Starstriders

There’s a new rotation in the Commodore’s Vestures, and a new Regimental pack to go with it: Starstriders! Make sure to check it out!

Known Issues

There’s a few known bugs that we hope to fix as soon as possible in the next hotfix, please keep them in mind while playing!

• Mission board tiles may disappear after changing difficulty in Campaign replay screen

• The Campaign Playlist cannot be navigated with Left Stick on controllers

• The Event Objective for the Plasma Smugglers event might be floating in some missions.

Thank you for reading about our latest update, Bound by Duty. We’ve worked hard on this update for our community. It’s exciting to finally be able to share it with all of you!

We’ll see you on the Mourningstar. 

– The Darktide Team