Content has been edited for clarity from original source.
With work continuing to improve the overall Warhammer 40,000: Darktide experience, developers Fatshark has provided players with new insights into the upcoming patch for the first-person action title.
An Update on the Shrine
The crafting systems in Warhammer 40,000: Darktide have a been a work in progress since launch, and this is largely due to the feedback provided by the community. Throughout the launch period for Darktide, one of the loudest feedback points were the issues with acquisition methods for items.
These issues would be further compounded by the Blessing crafting features that were implemented, resulting in a frustrating experience for players. As such, the team decided to hold back the additional crafting functionality while they revisit the item acquisition systems to alleviate the would-be strain on the crafting system. With that choice in place, Fatshark went about the task of reworking some of the sources for item acquisition.
In Vermintide, crafting was focused on creating, salvaging, and modifying items obtained through reward chests and through the crafting of blueprints. There are some similarities between the two games with the modification options, yet Warhammer 40,000: Darktide will carve its own path when it comes to crafting. It will be centred around modifying weapons rather than weapon creation and will have a heavier focus on acquiring exciting items of different potential through many sources in the game.
Equipment in Darktide
For Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, the team sought a new direction for the items characters will choose to equip. This meant that each weapon and curio players found in Darktide needed to have a distinctive difference of potential within. The foundation set with Modifiers, Perks, and Blessings changes how each weapon can potentially perform, and the combination of these offers an exciting array of variety, setting the stage for interesting build diversity. This build potential exists today, and players can look forward to easily saving and loading preset builds that they can customize in the next major patch.
This direction for items having exciting hidden potential is where the sources for acquiring items in Darktide come into effect. Fatshark considers the armoury Exchange to be an expansion of the mission completion phase, where the dockets players receive allow them to choose their own reward from this store or save them for a more interesting option should they find one later.
In reality, there was a demand for further agency within the Armoury Exchange, and a new feature will be released for the Armoury Exchange where players can acquire any weapon type by its mark (Mk) that has been unlocked by achieving the minimum level required. This will be made available in the next patch for Warhammer 40,000: Darktide.
Acquiring weapons through this new requisition system in the Armoury will give players a common (Profane rarity) weapon of a varying item rating according to their character’s current level. It is worth noting that Profane weapons in Darktide have the most potential of becoming powerful weapons in combination with their base modifiers and via upgrades through crafting. To accompany this new feature, the selection of items in the hourly catalogue will be improved in both the base item rating range and their potential.
Further Changes to Item Acquisition
The Emperor’s Gift, which was occasionally received upon successful mission completion, will now be granted upon every mission completion without any limit by time. In addition, the Emperor’s Gift will be influenced by several factors: The difficulty of the chosen mission and the conditions and side missions completed. Both factors will improve the chances of receiving an item with higher potential.
Sire Melk’s Requisitorium is another source of item acquisition, and there will be some changes in the next patch. The work required for each contract will be reduced, while rewards in the form of Ingots will get a boost. The collection of Grimoires and Scriptures will be collapsed into a single contract for completing these collectible side-missions. There will also be a couple of new contracts for collecting both Plasteel and Diamantine.
More importantly, in addition to these changes to the contracts offered, the quality of the weapons offered by the daily catalogue and through the mystery acquisitions will be given a boost too in Warhammer 40,000: Darktide.
Unlocking Crafting
The first major change from the previous crafting implementation is the removal of the Fuse / Combine blessing functionality. Instead, earning a blessing will permanently unlock the ability to re-bless with that blessing at any time. The expectation is that players will switch and try out new weapons as they discover different and exciting potential combinations and builds. Earning the ability to permanently re-bless allows for a far more enjoyable and less time-consuming experience and an easier time experimenting with interesting builds for characters.
In combination with this, other aspects of crafting are also being tweaked. The implementation of a cost scaling system will change the total material costs required depending on the weapons item rating for all actions at the Shrine of the Omnissiah. The available crafting features present in the next patch for Warhammer 40,000: Darktide include:
- Consecrate
Upgrades the rarity of Weapons and Curios. Upgrading Profane & Redeemed will cost Plasteel, and after that, Plasteel and Diamantine are required. - Refine Perk
Refine a single perk on an item to roll for a new perk selected at random by Hadron. The perk that was not chosen to be refined will become locked for this weapon. - Earn Blessing
Surrender the entire weapon to Hadron, thereby losing it in the process. Players can then select a Blessing to earn the right to permanently re-bless other weapons with the earned blessing. Blessings are shared across different weapon marks of the same weapon type. - Re-Bless
Players can choose to replace a single blessing on the weapon with a blessing of choice they have earned the right to use. The other blessing that was not chosen will become locked.
