Welcome back to part two of our Early Balance Look for our upcoming release, Nightmares & Visions (coming out March 25, 2025).

In case you missed Pt. 1, you can read about the Ogryn Talent Tree rework on this previous post.

Now to pass the mic over to Matteo to discuss some other Balances and Tweaks coming in the upcoming patch.

• Part 1 (Ogryn Talent Tree Rework)
  
• Part 2 (Ogryn Weaponry Balancing)
  
• Part 3 (Additional Weapon Changes and Tweaks)

In this upcoming update, we are looking to address some of the outliers in the Darktide arsenal, whether over or under-performing.

We approached this objective by tweaking values, but also by adding new features and attack chains, or by shifting the power budget of the weapons, with the goal of giving each of them clear strengths and weaknesses.

In all cases, we made sure that the fantasy of each weapon was maintained or even reinforced by the changes.

“Otherwise? –
Otthr… Otews… Or! We get mad, Sah!”

Alongside the giant Talent tree rework, we looked at the weapon selection available to the Ogryn class to spice up some of those that fell a bit out of vogue.


The Ogryn Grenadier Gauntlet melee move-set was often not powerful enough to fulfill its role in this hybrid weapon type.

Conversely, on the ranged side, the ammo magazine and reserves became very punishing in target-rich environments, especially when paired with the longer-than-average reload speed.

We significantly increased the damage potential of the Strikedown melee attacks, while also changing the attack chained after the Light > Heavy string to Light 1 / Heavy 1 to add an easy-to-use Relentless combo.

We also significantly raised the ammo reserves of the weapon and brought the ammo in the magazine up from 4 to 5, and slightly sped up the reload timing.

We slightly raised the fuse timer of the grenade to increase the effective range on longer distances, and made the projectiles ignore the damage reduction multiplier when hitting an enemy on a limb.

Finally, we increased the offensive properties of the Special attack, both for the direct punch hit and the following explosion.


Melee

• Melee attack chains
• Light > Heavy > … chain from Light 3 / Heavy 2 to Light 1 / Heavy 1.
• Reduced chain time from Wield to Start Attack from 0.9 to 0.8.
• Melee Light Strikedown damage profile
• adm vs Carapace from 0.2 to 0.5
• Finesse multiplier 1.0 on the 1st target
• Finesse multiplier 0.5 on the 2nd target
• Impact distribution from 12 to (6,10) on default target.
• Melee Heavy Strikedown damage profile
• attack distribution from (130,250) to (175,350) on 1st target.

Ranged

• Projectile direct hit damage profile
• added ignore_hitzone_multipliers = true.
• Grenadier Gauntlet projectile template
• fuse_time from 0.75 to 1.00.
• Added time scale 1.05 to the Reload action (sped up).

Ammo

• Ammo magazine
• from 4 to 5.
• Ammo reserves
• from (lerp_basic = 3*6, lerp_perfect = 5*8) to (lerp_basic = 4*8, lerp_perfect = 5*11).
• from 35 to 50 at 80% Ammo stat.

Special

• Added ignore stagger reduction to the Special punch attack.
• Changed the damage profile of the Special punch attack from Relentless to Strikedown.

Dev Note: More damage on the direct hit of the Special attack, even when out of ammo.

• Special Explosion close range damage profile.
• adm vs Unarmoured from 1 to 1.25.
• The Special Explosion radius now scales with the Blast Size stat.

We significantly increased the damage of the Special punch, meaning it can now be used as an actual attack in combos, opening up effectively new attack chains.

While the damage against more heavily armoured enemies remains low, the Special uppercut will still be a reliable tool to stagger any target due to its high Impact values.

For all three marks, we fine-tuned the chain timings of different actions and increased the offensive properties of the Strikedown and Vanguard profiles.

We also slightly improved the dodge distance and speed and the timings related to Block and Push to make the weapon snappier.

For the Krourk Mk VI, we changed the Light 2 damage profile from Strikedown to Vanguard, which gave a small speed increase to the Heavy attacks, but also added a bespoke Heavy Strikedown attack chained only from Push.

This attack chains into Light 3  / Heavy 1, granting the weapon a new short but useful single target combo.

For the Bull Butcher Mk III, we changed the Pushfollow attack damage profile from Light Vanguard to Light Strikedown and added a unique Light Strikedown Stab chained only from the Pushfollow attack.

The new Light Strikedown Stab has a power level multiplier of 550 and chains into Light 1 / Heavy 1, for a quick and easy to use single target combo.

The Krourk Mk IV was already in a good spot after the overall changes to the weapon family, so we only slightly increased the power level multiplier of the Pushfollow attack to make it more useful as the opener for a horde control combo.


Damage Profiles

• Special Uppercut 
• 1st target
• damage from (30,70) to (190,290).
• Removed 4th target.
• Added adm table for targets 1 to 3:
• adm vs Flak from 0.75 to 0.6
• adm vs Unyielding from 1.0 to 0.2
• adm vs Maniac from 0.5 to 0.7
• adm vs Carapace from 0.1 to 0.05
• adm vs Void shield from 1.5 to 1.0.
• Added Impact armour mod table for targets 1 to 3:
• mod vs Maniac from 0.5 to 0.7
• mod vs Void shield from 1.5 to 1.0
• Ragdoll push force from 400 to 500.
• Light Strikedown
• Cleave from (2,8) to double_cleave ((2.0,4.0)).
• 1st target
• Damage from (100,200) to (120,240)
• adm vs Maniac from 0.5 to 0.8
• adm vs Carapace from 0.05 to 0.25
• Finesse boost vs Unarmoured from 0.5 to 0.6.
• 2nd target
• adm vs Carapace from no.damage to 0.1
• Damage from (40,80) to (50,100).
• Light Strikedown Stab
• Cleave from (2,8) to double_cleave ((2.0,4.0)).
• 1st target
• adm vs Unarmoured from 1.0 to 1.25
• adm vs Maniac from 0.75 to 0.8.
• 2nd target
• adm vs Carapace from no.damage to 0.1
• Damage from (40,80) to (50,100).
• Heavy Strikedown
• 1st target
• Damage from (200,400) to (210,410).
• Finesse multiplier from 0.25 to 0.55
• Finesse boost vs Unarmoured from 0.1 to 0.9
• Finesse boost vs Flak from 0.5 to 0.35
• Finesse boost vs Unyielding from 0.1 to 0.5
• Finesse boost vs Maniac from 0.1 to 1.0
• Finesse boost vs Carapace from 0.1 to 0.35
• Finesse boost vs Infested from 0.25 to 1.0.
• Light Vanguard
• 1st target
• Finesse multiplier from 0.25 to 0.55.
• Heavy Vanguard
• 1st target
• Adm vs Maniac from 0.75 to 0.8.
• Adm vs Carapace from 0.2 to 0.3.
• Finesse multiplier from 0.25 to 1.0; added finesse boost tweaks:
• Finesse boost vs Unarmoured 1.0
• Finesse boost vs Flak armour 0.3
• Finesse boost vs Unyielding 0.4
• Finesse boost vs Maniac 1.2
• Finesse boost vs Carapace armour 1.1
• Finesse boost vs Infested 0.7
• Finesse boost vs Void shield 0.25.

All Marks

• Improved dodge template
• distance scale from (0.8,1.0) to (0.8,1.1)
• speed modifier from (0.9,0.9) to (0.9,1.0).
• Block action minimum hold time from 0.3 to 0.2.
• Push chain time from Block from 0.25 to 0.15.
• Added buffer time 0.3 for the Wield input.
• Wield action total time from 0.1 to 0.2.
• Removed chain to Special from Wield action.
• Start attack chain time from Wield from 0 to 0.1.
• Start attack chain time from Special from 0.7 to 0.6.
• Unwield chain time from Special from 0 to 0.6.
• Block chain time from Special from 0.55 to 0.7.
• Added Allowed during sprint to most attacks.
• Added Special uppercut hitstop animation.
• Updated attack gestalts in the Inspect menu.

Krourk Mk VI Cleaver

• Added new attack start chain from Push, chaining into Light 1 / bespoke vertical Heavy Strikedown.
• The new Heavy Strikedown has power level multiplier 550 and chains into Light 3  / Heavy 1.
• Heavy 1 windup from 0.65 to 0.55.
• Heavy 1 and Heavy 2 time scale from 1.2 to 1.3 (sped up).
• Slightly increased the Heavy 2 damage window end timing.
• Light 2 damage profile from Strikedown to Vanguard.
• Start attack and Block chain times from Pushfollow from 0.7 to 0.6.
• Pushfollow hitbox slightly lowered to be more aligned with animation and crosshair.
• Start attack chain time from Push from 0.5 to 0.45.

Bull Butcher Mk III Cleaver

• Pushfollow attack damage profile from light Vanguard to light Strikedown.
• Pushfollow attack power level multiplier 450.
• Added a new attack start chain from Pushfollow attack, chaining into bespoke Light Strikedown Stab / Heavy 2.
• The new Light Strikedown Stab has power level multiplier 550 and chains into Light 1 / Heavy 1.
• Start attack chain time from Pushfollow attack from 0.4 to 0.45.
• Block chain time from Pushfollow attack from 1.05 to 0.75.

Krourk Mk IV Cleaver

• Block chain time from Pushfollow attack from 0.85 to 0.75.

Added power level multiplier 525 to the Pushfollow attack.


The Ogryn Latrine Shovels needed some tweaks to remove excessive clunkiness and to give players encouragement to fully utilize their moveset, so the changes on this weapon family will be mainly related to rebalancing action chain times and the different attack profiles.

For all marks, we lowered the chain times to Block for most Light attacks to 0.1s, meaning that now the Block action will be more responsive (but also that the attacks will be canceled before entering the attack window if not careful).

We rebalanced the cleave values for Light Relentless and Light Vanguard attacks to better diversify the profiles, and increased the offensive properties of the Strikedown profiles.

We significantly lowered the chain times after performing the Special attacks of the folding marks (Mk XIX and Mk V), especially for the Light version to increase its use cases.

For the Mk III, we added a bespoke Light Strikedown attack chaining only from Heavy 1 and chaining back to Light 3 / Heavy 1.

We also significantly increased the offensive potential of the Special punch, while tweaking its reach and hitbox to better match the animation.

These changes will give the mark easier but also more interesting decisions when chaining together attacks for single target combos.

We also slightly increased the power level multiplier for the Light 3 attack, as it was further into the attack chain structure, and improved the offensive properties of the Pushfollow attack.

For the Mk XIX, we increased the power level multiplier of the Heavy 2 and Light 3 / Light 4 attacks, to incentivize their use instead of resetting the combo by Block or swap canceling.

The Mk V didn’t need a lot of targeted changes, so we limited ourselves to a small bump to the Pushfollow attack.


Damage Profiles

• Light Relentless
• Cleave from medium (4.0,9.0) to large (5.5,10.5)
• Increased attack power distribution slightly on targets 2, 3, 4
• Increased Impact power distribution slightly on targets 2, 3, default.

• Light Vanguard
• Cleave from large (5.5,10.5) to medium (4.0,9.0)
• Lowered Impact power distribution slightly on all targets
• Raised attack power distribution slightly on default target.
• Light Strikedown
• 1st target
• adm vs Carapace from 0.1 to 0.25
• finesse boost vs Unarmoured from 0.1 to 0.6
• finesse boost vs Unyielding from 0.1 to 0.5
• finesse boost vs Maniac from 0.1 to 0.2
• finesse boost vs Infested from 0.25 to 0.5.
• Light Strikedown Special
• Added ignore stagger reduction
• Changed stagger category from sticky to melee.

Dev Note: It also inherits the changes to Light Strikedown.

• Heavy Strikedown
• 1st target
• Finesse multiplier from 0.25 to 0.5
• finesse boost vs Unarmoured from 0.1 to 0.9
• finesse boost vs Unyielding from 0.1 to 0.5
• finesse boost vs Maniac from 0.1 to 0.5
• finesse boost vs Infested from 0.25 to 0.7.
• Heavy Strikedown Special

Dev Note: It inherits the finesse boost changes to Heavy Strikedown.

• Special uppercut
• 1st target
• damage from (30,60) to (100,200)
• Rebalanced down damage adm values, especially against Flak armour, Carapace armour and Unyielding
• Rebalanced up Impact adm values.
• Added 2nd target.
• Slightly shortened the active window.
• Reduced the hitbox and reach.

All Marks

• Lowered chain time to Block for all Light attacks to 0.1.
• Added 0.3 Wield buffer time.

Brute-Brainer Mk III

• Added a new bespoke Light Strikedown attack, chaining only from Heavy 1 and chaining to Light 3 / Heavy 1.
• Heavy 1 chain time to Wield from 0.17 to 0.4.
• Heavy 2 chain time to Wield from 0 to 0.4.
• Heavy 2 chain time to Block from 0.46 to 0.4.
• Light 3 time scale from 1.0 to 1.1 (sped up).
• Light 3 chain time to Special from 0.5 to 0.7.
• Added power level multiplier 525 to Light 3.
• Special chain time to Wield from 0 to 0.6.
• Special chain time to Block from 0.9 to 0.6.
• Special chain time to Special from 1.0 to 0.9.
• Changed the Pushfollow attack damage profile to standard Light Relentless.
• Added power level multiplier 550 to Pushfollow attack.
• Added Uninterruptible to Pushfollow attack.
• Push chain time to Pushfollow attack from 0.45 to 0.35.

Brute-Brainer Mk XIX

• Light Special attack chain times:
• to Blitz from 0.8 to 0.7
• to Wield from 0.8 to 0.7
• to Start Attack from 1.3 to 0.7
• to Start Special Attack from 1.3 to 0.8
• to Block from 0.8 to 0.7.
• Heavy Special attack chain times
• to Wield from 1.3 to 0.9
• to Start Attack from 1.5 to 1.32
• to Start Special Attack from 1.95 to 1.45
• to Block from 1.1 to 0.9.
• Heavy 1 chain time to Wield from 0.17 to 0.4.
• Heavy 2 chain time to Wield from 0 to 0.4.
• Heavy 2 chain time to Block from 0.46 to 0.4.
• Added power level multiplier 525 to Heavy 2.
• Added power level multiplier 530 to Light 3 and Light 4.
• Tweaked Light 1 and Heavy 1 hitboxes to better match the animation.

Brute-Brainer Mk V

• Light Special attack chain times:
• to Blitz from 0.8 to 0.7
• to Wield from 0.8 to 0.7
• to Start Attack from 1.3 to 0.7
• to Start Special Attack from 1.3 to 0.8
• to Block from 0.8 to 0.7.
• Heavy Special attack chain times
• to Wield from 1.3 to 0.9
• to Start Attack from 1.5 to 1.32
• to Start Special Attack from 1.95 to 1.45
• to Block from 1.1 to 0.9.
• Changed the Pushfollow attack damage profile to standard Light Relentless.
• Added power level multiplier 550 to Pushfollow attack.
• Added Uninterruptible to Pushfollow attack.
• Tweaked Light 3, Heavy 2, Pushfollow attack hitboxes to better match the animation.

In order to improve the consistency of the Ripper Guns, we normalized the minimum pellet count (the amount of shotgun pellets that are always considered hitting an enemy, even if they were actually hit by a lower amount of pellets) between the Hipfire and Braced fire modes for all marks.

We then increased the speed of the Brace action to make it faster to transition to Braced shooting.

Before, shooting in Braced mode was often less effective than just Hipfiring, especially from mid range and further.

After the changes, the choice between the mobile Hipfire mode and the less agile but more controllable Braced mode will be more engaging.

We also increased the ammo reserves of the weapon and slightly increased its ranged cleave values for all marks.

Finally, we significantly increased the offensive properties of Special bayonet attack and reduced the movement speed penalty when shooting in Hipfire mode, to further enhance the “assault” theme of the weapon.

For the Mk VI, we increased its default pellet count and raised the Finesse multiplier, improving the reliability of the shots while also rewarding precise aiming.

We also slightly lowered the move speed reduction when in Braced stance and tightened the Braced spread profile to be more horizontal and less scattered overall, to further differentiate the Hipfire and Braced modes for this mark.


Ammo

• Ammunition reserves from (12*6,24*7) to (12*6,24*8).
• from 148 to 168 at 80% Ammo stat.

Special attack 

• 1st target
• attack power distribution from 200 to 300
• Impact power distribution from 25 to 30
• Finesse multiplier from 0.5 to 1.2
• Finesse boost vs Unarmoured from 0.1 to 0.25
• Finesse boost vs Maniac from 0.1 to 0.2.
• 2nd target
• Impact power distribution from 6 to 12.
• Added buffer time 0.3 for the Special input.

All marks

• Aligned minimum pellet count between Hipfire and Braced fire modes.
• Ranged Cleave from 2 to double_cleave (2.0,4.0).
• Slightly lowered the move speed reduction when shooting in Hipfire mode.
• Added 1.3 time scale to the Brace action (sped up).

Mk II

• Braced min num hits vs Unyielding from 4 to 5.

Mk V

• Braced min num hits vs any armour type but Carapace from 3 to 5.
• Aligned the Moving, Crouch and Crouch Moving values to the Still values for the Hipfire and Braced Recoil profiles.

Mk VI

• Hipfire and Braced num pellets from 5 to 7.
• Hipfire and Braced min num hits vs any armour type but Carapace from 2 to 3.
• Hipfire and Braced damage profiles Finesse multiplier from 0.5 to 1.5.
• Tightened the Braced spread profile to be more horizontal.
• Slightly lowered the move speed reduction when in Braced stance.

To enhance the “brutal beatdown” identity of the Ogryn Clubs, we took a pass on all the attack profiles and increased the base damage of the Light Strikedown, Heavy Strikedown, Light Vanguard, Heavy Relentless profiles.

We rebalanced the armour modifiers against specific armour types, in particular lowering the Unyielding modifiers (which were extremely high on some profiles) and raising the Carapace armour and traitor Captain Conversion Field ones.

We then tweaked the damage and Impact falloff on secondary targets, removing damage caps while still maintaining a curve skewed towards the first targets.

For the Special Slap, we increased the damage of the attack and rebalanced its Stagger properties, lowering the weakspot bonus but increasing the base Impact values. We also greatly improved the chain timings to the Block action.

We also tweaked the chain timings on all marks, often lowering the values to make actions flow better into each other, but also adding more commitment when performing Heavy attacks.

For the "Brunt Special" Mk I, we added a new Heavy Strikedown attack chaining only from Heavy 1 and chaining back into Light 3 / Heavy 1, to introduce a very easy to perform Strikedown combo to the weapon.
The previous Heavy 2 Relentless attack will still be chainable from Light 1, but it will also be available now after a Push action.

Additionally, the weapon will chain into Light 1 / Heavy 1 instead of Light 3 / Heavy 1 after a Pushfollow attack, granting a fast Vanguard combo when controlling enemy crowds.

For the "Brunt's Pride" Mk II, we significantly enhanced the properties of the unique Light Punch performed after any Special attack, to more easily follow up after having staggered an enemy with a Slap.

We also increased the power of the Light 4 attack, and made it more reachable through new combo chains from Light Punch and Heavy 2 > Light 3.

Since the "Brunt's Basher" Mk IIIb Heavy Relentless attack loop is now slightly less performant against single targets, we reworked the combos of this weapon to introduce additional routes.

We added a new Heavy Strikedown attack chaining only from Light 3 and chaining back to Light 1 / Heavy 1, and we changed the chain after Heavy 2 to go into Light 3 / Heavy 1. Building on the already existing Pushfollow attack > Light 3 combo, this will add more opportunities to perform Strikedown attack strings to dispatch any foe.

We also increased the power of the Light 4 attack, as it was otherwise hard to utilize being very far into the Light attack chain.

Finally, we added a minimum time of 0.3s to the Block action to align the weapon to the other two marks.


Damage Profiles

• Light Relentless
• Tweaked adm values vs most armour types.
• Added 4th and 5th targets.
• Smoothed damage falloff on secondary targets.
• Decreased Impact on 2nd and default targets.

• Heavy Relentless
• Tweaked adm values vs most armour types
• Particularly, 1st target adm vs Unyielding from 3 to 1.
• 1st target damage from (135,275) to (150,310).
• Smoothed damage falloff on secondary targets
• Particularly, damage on default target from (0,0) to (20,40).
• Decreased Impact on default target.
• Light Strikedown
• Tweaked adm values vs most armour types.
• 1st target damage from (150,300) to (185,370).
• 1st target Finesse multiplier from 0.25 to 0.35.
• 1st target Finesse boost from 0.1 to 0.5 vs most armoury types.
• Heavy Strikedown
• Cleave from single_cleave to double_cleave.
• Tweaked adm values vs most armour types.
• 1st target damage from (200,400) to (250,500).
• 1st target finesse multiplier from 0.25 to 0.35.
• 1st target finesse boost from 0.1 to 0.5 vs most armoury types.
• Increased damage on 2nd and default targets.
• Light Vanguard
• Tweaked adm values vs most armour types.
• 1st target damage from (90,180) to (100,210).
• 1st target Impact from (15,30) to (10,20).
• 1st target Finesse multiplier from 0.25 to 0.35.
• Added 4th and 5th targets.
• Smoothed damage falloff on secondary targets.
• Light Vanguard pushfollow
• 1st target damage from (90,180) to (110,220).
• Special Slap
• Weakspot stagger resistance modifier from 0.1 to 0.4.
• Tweaked adm values vs most armour types.
• Tweaked Impact modifier values vs most armour types.
• 1st target damage from (5,10) to (45,90).
• 1st target Impact from 4 to 10.
• Default target damage from (5,10) to (20,40).
• Default target Impact from 2 to 4.
• Light Punch
• See Ogryn Cleaver Special Uppercut damage profile.

All marks

• Added 0.3 buffer time for the Unwield action.
• Special 1 chain to Block from 0.8 to 0.6.
• Special 2 chain to Block from 1.2 to 0.6.

"Brunt Special" Mk I

• Heavy 1 chain to Unwield from 0.17 to 0.4.
• Heavy 1 chain to Block from 0.15 to 0.4.
• Heavy 2 chain to Unwield and Block from 0 to 0.45.
• Special 2 chain to Start attack from 0.7 to 0.4.
• Pushfollow chain time to Start attack, Block and Special from 0.65 to 0.55.
• Heavy 1 windup from secondary starts from 0.75 to 0.65.
• Light 1 time scale from 0.9 to 1 (sped up).
• Light 3 time scale from 1.1 to 1 (slowed down).
• Added a new Heavy Strikedown attack, chaining from Heavy 1 and to Light 3 / Heavy 1.
• Changed chain from Push from Light 1 / Heavy 1 to Light 2 / Heavy 2.
• Changed chain from Pushfollow attack from Light 3 / Heavy 1 to Light 1 / Heavy 1.

"Brunt's Pride" Mk II

• Push chain to Start attack from 0.4 to 0.3.
• Punch chain to Start attack from 0.75 to 0.55.
• Heavy 1 windup from Special 1 or Special 2 from 0.75 to 0.5.
• Changed chain from Heavy 2 from Light 1 / Heavy 1 to Light 3 / Heavy 1.
• Changed chain from Punch from Light 2 / Heavy 2 to Light 4 / Heavy 2.
• Light 4 time scale from 1 to 1.1 (sped up).
• Added power level 550 to Light 4.
• Tweaked stagger direction for Light 4.
• Changed damage profile for Punch from Light Relentless to Light Punch.

"Brunt's Basher" Mk IIIb

• Heavy 1 chain to Unwield from 0.17 to 0.4.
• Heavy 1 chain to Block from 0.15 to 0.45.
• Heavy 2 chain to Unwield from 0 to 0.6.
• Heavy 2 chain to Block from 0 to 0.65.
• Heavy 2 chain to Start attack from 0.85 to 0.75.
• Push chain to Pushfollow attack from 0.3 to 0.2.
• Heavy 1 windup from Special 1 or Special 2 from 0.75 to 0.5.
• Added power level 550 to Light 4.
• Changed chain from Heavy 2 from Light 1 / Heavy 1 to Light 3 / Heavy 1.
• Added a new Heavy Strikedown attack, chaining from Light 3 and to Light 1 / Heavy 1.
• Added minimum hold time 0.3 to Block (same as the other marks).

Alright, we still have a bit of notes to share, and this post is already quite long!

Let’s end pt. 2 here (which focused on Ogryn Weaponry), and we’ll continue on in pt.3 with Other Weapon Changes and Tweaks.

See y’all there!

Welcome back to part THREE of our Early Balance Look for our upcoming release, Nightmares & Visions (coming out March 25, 2025).

In case you missed our previous parts or you want to go back and check:

• Part 1 (Ogryn Talent Tree Rework)
  
• Part 2 (Ogryn Weaponry Balancing)
  
• Part 3 (Additional Weapon Changes and Tweaks)

Let's dive into the rest of the changes.



We performed some tweaks on the Devil’s Claw swords to improve their overall gameplay experience and enhance their niche as safe, reliable weapons.

We aligned the Block duration (the period of time in which the player is still considered blocking) for the Push action and the Riposte attack, but also the Stamina profile between the three marks.

For the Mk I, we lowered the windup timing for the Heavy 1 attack and added a chain opportunity from the Riposte attack to the Special Parry.

For the Mk VII, we lowered the windup timing for the Heavy 1 attack and slightly increased the speed of the Light 2 attack, improving its base horde clear combo.


All Marks

• Aligned Stamina profiles
• Block cost (inner) from (1.5,0.5) to (1.0,0.5).
• Sprint cost per second from (1.5,0.5) to (1.25,0.75).

Mk I

• Heavy 1 windup from 0.75 to 0.65.
• Block duration for the Riposte attack from 0.2 to 0.5.
• Added chain from Riposte attack to Special Parry (0.45 timing).

Dev Note: The chain from Riposte attack to Special Parry is already present on the other two marks.
Mk IV

• Block duration for Push action from 0.2 to 0.5.

Mk VII

• Heavy 1 windup from 0.75 to 0.65.
• Added time scale 1.1 to Light 2 (sped up).
• Block duration for the Riposte attack from 0.2 to 0.5.

After the power of the Pinning Fire blessing was decreased, the Autopistol lost most of its attractiveness, being often outgunned by alternatives and feeling overall very underwhelming.

To reinforce the weapon’s niche as an assault, “spray n pray” SMG, we tweaked the movement speed curve when shooting in Hipfire mode: the move speed will be slightly slower when starting to fire, but will be significantly faster on prolonged shooting compared to before.

Additionally, we increased the damage and the Finesse multiplier in both Hipfire and Braced fire modes to bring up the baseline performance of the weapon.


Hipfire Mode

• Adjusted the movement speed curve to be slightly slower when starting to shoot, but significantly faster on prolonged shooting.

Hipfire & Braced Fire Modes

• Attack power distribution from (40,80) to (50,95).
• Finesse multiplier from (0.3,0.9) to (0.5,1.5).

---

When using Psyker Force Staves, the Quell action could be immediately ended by tapping and releasing its input.

However, this meant that the Quell action could be used to bypass the default chain times of other actions, and particularly allowed to chain the Primary fire action into another Primary fire action at a speed that was not intended.

We added a short minimum hold time period for the Quell action, meaning that the action will be performed for the specified amount of time even if the input is released earlier. This change will also guarantee that the first “tick” of Peril quelling will be reached by the Quell action, even when the action is interrupted at the earliest possible timing.

Alongside this, we slightly raised the chain time from Primary fire to the Quell action.

These two changes together will mean that it won’t be possible anymore to fire Primary shots faster than the intended chain timing.


Equinox Mk III Voidblast / Equinox Mk IV Voidstrike / Nomanus Mk VI Electrokinetic

• Added minimum hold time 0.26 to the Quell action.
• Chain time from Primary fire to Quell from 0.2 to 0.29.

Rifthaven Mk II Inferno

• Added minimum hold time 0.3 to the Quell action.
• Chain time Primary fire to Quell from 0.3 to 0.4.

---

Several weapons which have a Special action activation could have their activation state reset after being stunned (including when hit by a melee attack).

While the behavior was originally intended to balance the always-available nature of these powerful Special actions, player feedback indicated that this mechanic was not perceived as engaging, leading often to frustrating moments.

Given also the increased intensity of fights and enemy spawns in harder difficulties, we decided to allow for the affected weapons to keep the Special active after being stunned, as being hit is usually enough punishment by itself.

Dev Note:The change will not affect situations where the player fully stops wielding the weapon, such as stuns and dislocations from explosions or specific Monstrosity attacks.

Special Action

• Allowed the following weapons to remain active after a stun:
  • Scandar Mk III Power Sword
  • Achlys Mk VI Power Sword
  • Crucis Mk II Thunder Hammer
  • Ironhelm Mk IV Thunder Hammer
  • Indignatus Mk IVe Crusher
  • Achlys Mk I Power Maul
  • Covenant Mk VI Blaze Force Greatsword
  • Covenant Mk VIII Blaze Force Greatsword.
  • Tigrus Mk III Heavy Eviscerator.

Dev Note: The Tigrus Mk XV Heavy Eviscerator was already not affected by the behavior.

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All weapons which have a Special action activation will no longer have their activation state reset after vaulting over tall terrain or railings.


Special Action

• Allowed the following weapons to remain active after vaulting:
  • Scandar Mk III Power Sword
  • Achlys Mk VI Power Sword
  • Crucis Mk II Thunder Hammer
  • Ironhelm Mk IV Thunder Hammer
  • Cadia Mk IV Assault Chainsword
  • Cadia Mk XIIIg Assault Chainsword
  • Orestes Mk IV Assault Chainaxe
  • Orestes Mk XII Assault Chainaxe
  • Tigrus Mk III Heavy Eviscerator
  • Tigrus Mk XV Heavy Eviscerator
  • Indignatus Mk IVe Crusher
  • Obscurus Mk II Blaze Force Sword
  • Deimos Mk IV Blaze Force Sword
  • Illisi Mk V Blaze Force Sword
  • Achlys Mk I Power Maul.

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Attack speed and melee attack speed buffs were not applied to most melee attacks performed with Secondary weapons (e.g. bash Special attacks), making their use often very niche.

To incentivize experimenting with them, we changed so that attack speed buffs will now affect these Special melee attacks.

Specifically for the MK IIIa and MK V Helbore Lasguns, we slightly increased the chain timings for the Special bayonet Light stab, as the attack was already very fast to repeat.


All Secondary Weapons

• Allowed for Attack Speed buffs to affect melee attacks.

Lucius MK IIIa Helbore Lasgun / Lucius MK V Helbore Lasgun

• Minimum windup time from Start Special attack to Special Light Stab from 0 to 0.1.
• Chain time from Special Light Stab to Start Special attack from 0.575 to 0.635.

Almost forty pages later….and we’ve gotten through the upcoming Ogryn Talent Tree rework and some upcoming balancing changes for our next patch, Nightmares and Visions. It’s a lot!

Give this a read and let us know your thoughts in the comments below! We’ll be reading the comments and feedback to our plans.

See you on the Mourningstar.

– The Darktide Team