![Darktide's mercenaries hold their weapons.](https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,g_center,q_60,w_645/f05c76ca673577d81a2cf896c1869d90.jpg)
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide was considered one of my most anticipated video games of 2022. I couldn’t wait to play Fatshark’s first-person shooter evolution of the rat-infested melee frenzy that was Vermintide 2. Sadly, it had its justifiable share of points at launch, from efficiency frustrations on PC to a lackluster development system and loot economic system. Now, the studio is engaged on a type of fated live-service recreation turnarounds, and it apparently begins with a giant revamp of its RPG ability tree.
Fatshark instructed PC Gamer it’s presently engaged on releasing a significant replace in October that can add extra nuance and customization to character builds. Darktide is a darkish fantasy loot shooter about repeating the identical missions time and again as they get remixed via procedural era, random spawns, mutators, and your individual arsenal. However with solely 4 courses at launch and a smattering of ability upgrades, the squad-based dungeon crawler ran out of gasoline actual fast. The October replace is meant so as to add a bunch extra passive and energetic talents with new choices for the way to combine and match.
“We wished gamers to get a bit extra company into the courses, a bit extra experimentation, assist much more completely different play kinds,” Darktide recreation director Anders De Geer instructed PC Gamer. “Principally what we’ve accomplished is reimagine what a category in Darktide is. That is our large replace: we’ve expanded the expertise bushes, added a ton of recent choices and skills, passives and actives.”
As an alternative of getting one perk level to experiment with each 5 ranges, every level-up will let gamers progress via the brand new ability tree and tinker with one thing as they progress. Examples of recent talents embrace a dome defend for Psyker (the mage class) and extra taunt and grenade choices for Ogryn (the tank class). From the look of the ability tree it looks like a extra Borderlands method to construct crafting, with different paths that increase the underlying class position in additional methods. Backside line: leveling up ought to really feel extra rewarding and offer you extra possession over your character.
Whether or not or not that in the end finally ends up being the case stays to be seen, however hopefully it will possibly assist pave the way in which for a Darktide turnaround. The co-op shooter was supposed to come back to Xbox Collection X/S someday in 2023 after being delayed. It’s presently free to strive with a paid PC Sport Move subscription, although at this level it’s most likely price ready for the October replace.
Replace 8/23/2023 4:09 p.m. ET: Fatshark confirmed at Gamescom 2023 that the sport fill lastly come to Xbox Collection X/S and Sport Move on console on October 4. Right here’s the announcment trailer: