I have to say that, besides many other issues, one of the things I’m disliking the most about this patch, is the addition of beastmen on the older levels. I’m not talking about gameplay difficulty, but story cohesion and immersion. It makes absolutely no sense. I could accept a few beastmen in athel, or in the herdstone section of Engines (if you are careful enough to remove the “we are lucky they are not here” line), but as it is it completely ruins the experience from a story perspective (mechanically they make the game a lot harder and confusing for new players).
More than a thousand hours into the game I mostly play it because the gameplay is as cool as anything, but for me immersion is still queen. I love how the new level is 90% beastmen, it’s what makes an otherwise bland map really interesting. I’d keep this cool, strong new race confined to it and the weaves (and future releases, if appropriate) or otherwise use them very, very sparingly.
(for example, i found them in the cave at the beginning of engines, and only there, in one run. It was kinda cool)
I love immersion, I beam every time I hear a new line of dialogue, but I won’t keep playing this as much as I am if it becomes just a messy gameplay soup.
PS regarding beastmen difficulties: I love how hard they hit. I kept in mind kruber’s line from the first game “The skavens are something else. The beastmen hit hard, but direct. The skaven are cunning, clever.”
I’d much rather have them keep their identity, and have you guys use them sparingly, to great effect, rather then add them, spam them, like a third ingredient to the chaotic soup the pact sworn might become if you do. As you said, you can see them being allied to the pact sworn, if the right circumstances are there, but they are their own men (or beasts). I think the beautiful scene with the dead rat ogre sums that up.