Ultimately Thunderhammers are as it stands currently a relic of ancient prehistoric times (3 years ago) where even then they were considered clunky. As of the 18th of June 2026 a small flickering flickering light in the endless darkness of the Second Millennium and of the Thunderhammer’s obsolescence has been lit, the Skitarii Primus’ Mechanicus Power Sword.
The goal here is to make Thunderhammers have a distinct identity amongst the Zealot’s arsenal and Darktide as a whole. The main goal being to create a “stand your ground” type weapon where utilisation of it’s moveset and your loadout is key to survival rather than dodges or slides. Think Vermintide 2 gameplay.
The text below is a copy of the announcement page for it for the entire basis of this rework.
Through plagiarism the Thunderhammers may be saved, here is how:
All Thunderhammers:
These changes will apply to all Thunderhammers.
Thunderhammers are now always active and have a Charge system. The amount and recharge time per Charge is Thunderhammer Mark dependant.
Activation Special removed.
The Special of all Thunderhammers is now an overhead Heavy attack that is the same as the Ironhelm’s third Heavy attack in a chain, or the one that the Crucis currently uses shortly after it’s Special activation (it’s the same animation). Damage and any additional effect varies between Marks.
This Heavy Special can be charged up to three levels with different behaviour on each level depending on the Thunderhammer Mark, this is based on filling gaps out in their overall ability rather than just pure damage.
A level three charged Heavy using the Special has a different effect depending on the Thunderhammer Mark but will always generally consume 1 Charge unless you have specific Blessings active.
“Thrust” Blessing removed from available Blessings pool and integrated into the Thunderhammers by default. (Strength increase included as well as the UI icon).
Slaughterer and Headtaker removed from the Blessing pool.
Crucis MKII:
Based heavily on Bardin’s Great Hammer from Vermintide 2, this one is not as it stands a great hammer. Unlike what was arguably Bardin’s best melee weapon and one of the best in Vermintide 2, this one is all around lacking.
Meant to be an all-rounder, the goal here is to push it to be on the same level as Bardin’s Great hammer in terms of effectiveness and utility whilst keeping the slowness that acted as a balance on the weapon’s power.
Moveset:
All Light attacks have higher Impact (Stagger) values.
The third Light attack in the chain has higher Cleave.
Heavy attack Cleave damage distribution slightly increased.
Light attack Finesse (weakpoint damage) increased.
Heavy and Light attack speed reduced. (Roughly 12% and 7.5% respectively).
Push strength increased and Push follow-up attack Impact (Stagger) increased.
Blocking ability greatly improved.
Dodges reduced to 1. (Effective Dodges).
Dodge distance increased slightly.
Stamina cost for Pushing increased.
The goal with the Crucis’ moveset was to recreate the versatility of the Great Hammer, Heavy attacks will generally do well against everything but when duelling a particularly threatening enemy you’ll want to try and execute combos to manage them with your Light attacks or Pushes.
The Mobility losses are there to compensate for the additional ability to deny an area, but will be a constant between all Thunderhammers as they’re not mobile weapons ultimately.
Sprint wasn’t touched negatively due to the Zealot being primarily a class focused on getting into enemy lines.
New Special overhead Heavy:
The old activation has remained a point of contention for Thunderhammers since launch and limits their ability to keep up with the current pace of Darktide. It has been removed in favour of integrating it into the weapons movesets alongside the near mandatory Thrust Blessing.
A level 1 Heavy using the Special is on par with the third Light attack in the Crucis hammer’s Light chain, the difference is it has much less cleave only really getting through Poxwalkers, but in exchange has very high Finesse making it useful for taking out lighter Specialist quickly. It also has low impact (Stagger) meaning you want to weave it into combos or pick your moment wisely.
A level 2 Heavy Special is much the similar to it’s level 1 version, the difference being damage with this one hitting much harder but having equally as bad Cleave but better Stagger, if built around improving Impact you can stop a Crusher with this one.
When Charges are available:
(The Thunder discharge SFX will play.)
A level 3 Heavy Special is unique in that it uses up one of your available Charges. It’s damage output is higher than it’s current meaning it will oneshot enemies such as Crushers, Bulwarks or Reapers consistently. The Unyielding health type damage on it hasn’t been adjusted as it’s Monster fighting ability will be much more difficult with the Mobility losses the Crucis Thunderhammer is suffering.
Will not Stagger Monsters, will Stagger everything else if it survives.
This attack will Cleave through lighter enemies.
A Charge will be spent upon activation regardless if anything is hit.
Bulwarks will be thrown to the floor if their shield is hit by this attack.
Heavy Recoil from hitting will apply.
Recoil pushes the user back.
Takes 5 seconds from neutral to reach full Charge. Visually builds power when being charged.
You can either facetank the Monster to kill them quickly at the cost of Health or use the much improved blocking ability to your advantage to preserve your Health in a similar gameplay loop to Vermintide 2’s Monster fights.
When out of Charges:
(The Thunder SFX will not play).
When you are out of Charges your level 3 charged Heavy Special will still hit harder than the previous 2 levels, however it will not discharge any power and be noticeably weaker than the Charge version. It does have good Impact however, although it’s Cleave is still terrible.
No Recoil from hitting..
Charge mechanics for the Crucis MKII Thunderhammer:
This section is mainly about clarification on what exactly is changing regarding the “Thunder” part of Thunderhammers.
These are the unique Charge mechanics for the Crucis hammer, they differ from the Ironhelm’s to be more about target elimination and management.
Charge mechanics and how they’re activated are the exact same across all Thunderhammers: reaching level 3 on a Heavy attack by holding it long enough, it’s what you get from charging that changes.
The Thunderhammer is always active and as such the Cleave improvements are considered a result of that. Your Cleave bonus is directly dependant on your Amount of Charges available, I.E, roughly 100% to 66% to 33% to 0% when going from 3 to 2 to 1 to 0. Without Charges your Thunderhammer is just a Hammer, although a very large one at that.
Without Charges your Thunderhammer will only really Cleave through Poxwalkers and one or two other fodder type enemies, it’s impact and non-level 3 Damage will remain the same however. Cleave damage Distribution is untouched due to hitstops largely negating that.
All Charges only apply on level 3 Heavies.
Available Charges is 3 at default. (Blessings can increase the amount).
1 Charge is restored every 45 seconds. (Blessings can help).
A level 3 charged Heavy attack will not have any Cleave bonus and will discharge on the first hard target hit, or enemy that it can’t Cleave through. (Think before it received the changes to it’s activated Heavy allowing it to Cleave through weaker enemies, the same one that changed it to an overhead if used immediately).
Upon contact with a hard target the Power in the head is discharged doing higher damage and a small AoE, Recoil applies on this attack but is less than current.
Damage from Power discharge is slightly lower than current.
The AoE is very small, such that hitting a Crusher surrounded by Poxwalkers, in the head will hit very few of the Poxwalkers. Pick your target area based on current needs.
The AoE can be triggered by hitting any surface. I.E, hit the floor in front of a horde to knock the frontline down.
The AoE has low damage and is meant to be primarily defensive, but can be improved via Blessings.
The AoE cannot Crit, although the actual hit of the Thunderhammer can. (To prevent Bleed bombs from Talents).
Without Charges the Thunderhammer’s Heavy attack will function the same as current and not suffer Recoil. There is no movement lock for the Recoil.
That is everything for the Crucis MKII Thunderhammer. The goal with it was to create a heavy feeling weapon with the power to match alongside modernising it’s activation mechanics, whilst also carving out a unique role for it.
Much of what is written for the Crucis Thunderhammer Applies for the Ironhelm Thunderhammer, so only specific changes will be listed for it.
Ironhelm MK IV Thunderhammer:
Regarded as the weirder and less powerful member of the Thunderhammer family, the goal with this Mark is too make it in be almost akin to a Power Sword in terms of use while also giving boosts to it’s moveset to reward learning it.
This one should be much lighter and won’t suffer heavily in the Mobility category.
Moveset:
Damage against Manic and Infested Health types slightly improved. (ADM ((Armour Damage Modifier))).
Third Heavy chain Damage and Impact improved.
Second Light chain Damage increased.
First and second Light chain Impact increased.
Blocking ability slightly improved.
Dodges reduced to 1.
Dodge greatly distance increased.
Push strength increased.
Push attack Damage greatly increased.
Push stamina cost increased.
While given less changes than the Crucis Mark, the Ironhelm ultimately needs less to fulfil it’s role.
The integration of Thrust by default into Thunderhammers gives the Ironhelm the punch that it’s Heavy attacks lacked while the Mobility changes make it both the most mobile in any situation.
New Special overhead Heavy:
The Ironhelm shares the exact same properties as the Crucis for it’s level 1 and 2 Charge on this Special, the aim being too give both an easily accessible powerful single target attack as compensation for their activations now being less accessible.
However the level 1 and 2 Heavy attacks on this Special are not as powerful as the Ironhelm’s newly improved third Heavy chain to incentivise choosing between the two and learning how to reach the third Heavy chain quickly.
The no Charge level 3 overhead Special is also the same as the Cruicis’
When Charge is available:
The fully charged overhead Special on the Ironhelm differs from the Crucis. Instead of stopping on hit it will have extremely high Cleave and cut through almost anything instead. (Think Relic Blade).
This deals extremely high damage, although lacks Impact somewhat.
1 Charge will be consumed upon use.
Only takes 3 seconds from neutral to use. (The same as charging a regular Heavy attack).
Charge Mechanics for the Ironhelm MK IV Thunderhammer:
The exact same method as the Crucis but the effect differs.
Has the same penalties as the Crucis when out of Charges.
Has 2 Charges by default.
Charges restore every 20 seconds.
Upon reaching Charge level 3 with any Heavy attack your Thunderhammer will have a Thunder SFX and gain a massive amount of Cleave only really being stopped by a Bulwarks shield, Crushers situationally dependant or a Captain’s shield. (Applies to all Heavy attacks in a chain allowing you to chain them together).
Level 3 Charged Heavies do not gain any extra damage bonus.
Damage is lower than current activation bonus.
The goal with the Ironhelm was to create a lighter almost sword like Mark, it’s moveset will offer excellent defence against hordes while also allowing hard target destruction at a momentary loss of power.
Blessings:
The removal of easy Damage Blessings is to push choosing between available Thunderhammers, Horde control and single target ability or Horde killing and modest single target ability. Damage Blessings, especially ones that give Strength are ultimately too powerful and balance warping.
New Blessings have been included.
New Blessings:
Shocking Impact-
Spending a Thunderhammer Charge unleashes an electrical shockwave in a 10 meter radius around you. Electrified enemies take 20% more Impact and Damage.
Gambling Clergy-
20% chance to not consume an Effective Dodge upon Dodge. Kills have a 15% chance to restore Effective Dodges (3%, 6%, 9%, 15% level 1-4).
Energising Faith-
Spending a Thunderhammer Charge increases your Attack Speed and Movement Speed by 10% (2.5, 5, 7.5, 10 level 1-4) for 12 seconds (3, 6, 9, 12 level 1-4). Killing an Enemy with the Special restores 50% Stamina. (Any level of Special).
Hammer of flame-
Spending a Thunderhammer Charge sets your Hammer aflame for 15 seconds (3, 6, 9, 15 level 1-4), inflicting 1 stacks of Burn on enemies hit. Enemies killed by Burning remove 2 second from your Charge restore cooldown. Maximum stacks of Burning is 4. (Applies to Crucis AoE).
Performative Perfection-
Perfect Blocks block all attacks. (Not ranged). Perfect Blocks and Dodges restore 10% Toughness (2.5%, 55, 7.5%, 10% level1-4). (No cooldown) and remove 10 seconds from Charge restore cooldown.
Artificer’s Pride-
Maximum Thunderhammer Charges increases by 1. Killing Elite and Specialist enemies removes 3 seconds from the Charge cooldown (1, 1, 2, 3 level 1-4)
Emergency Reroute-
Upon Toughness break, consume 1 Thunderhammer Charge to restore 40% Toughness (10%, 20%, 30%, 40% level 1-4). Cooldown 20 seconds. Generate a shockwave on Toughness break. Decreases Stamina consumption by 25% for 10 seconds. (Includes Blocking).
Fleeting Power-
Increases Maximum Thunderhammer Charges by 3. Take 75% more damage while the Thunderhammer is equipped (in your hands). Decrease Sprint Stamina cost by 10% (2.5%, 5%, 7.55, 10% level 1-4).
Concussive Confusion-
Weakpoint hits have a 10% (2.5%, 5%, 7.5%, 10% level 1-4) chance to Taunt enemies. Being within 10 meters of a Taunted Enemy (2.5, 5, 7.5, 10 level 1-4) reduces damage taken by 5%. Stacks up to 20%. (Crucis AoE cannot trigger this).
Powered Pusher-
Pushes gain 50% Strength when used into an attacking Enemy. Dodging into weaker enemies shoves them. (Poxwalkers, Bruisers, Scab shooters, Dreg shooters, ect. Take 50% more damage if hit while Pushing or Dodging.
Secondary effects are a fun way to make Blessings overall more appealing even if the main effect doesn’t.
Whoever designed this forum’s post creation system deserves immense credit, formatting cope posts into unfortunately easily digestible and understandable text has never been easier or looked better.
Bardin’s Cog Hammer (VT2) for third Thunderhammer when?
