Auspex
Looks great, is interesting and has so many possible uses.
- Could point towards loot/treasures/grims/scrips.
- Could help find collectables, special npcs, communiques etc.
- Point you in the direction you have to go if you are lost, like a compass points towards where u have to go.
- Unique enemies
Safe Houses
Sometimes you did not fail due to a specific issue, it was just a perfect storm, a lot of things mixed together and kaboom. Players knowing they can hit retry, requiring them to clear a few enemies instead of the whole map, are more likely to maintain a positive attitude, and be open to new things.
One of the more frustrating aspects of failing a mission, is not necessarily the failing, its the whole process of going to the morningstar, running to the mission screen, queueing, and rolling the dice again.
The addition of safe houses, will also let you up the challenge. With a checkpoint system, that allows squads to retry after wounds run out and all die, you can also create more dramatic boss fights, phases, and encounters.
Safe Houses can also allow players to switch loadouts, sometimes a new weapon/build does not work out. A limit to one loadout switch per mission can be placed.
We also all have biological necessities, it is very difficult/impossible to afk, even if you are being watched. A sort of gas station a long the road to stop at to go to the bathroom, refill drinks etc. will be a welcome addition.
I dont know a lot about programming, but I recall a story about WoW, how the entrance to Ironforge was made the way it was, in order to avoid performance loss, since everything behind the wall was no longer generated. Maybe Safe Zones can help somehow in achieving a similar result, by dumping everything that is no longer required to complete the next phase.
Considering we are revisiting locations, and the nature of our mission, the existence of some sort of Safe House working as an underground network of sorts, that is meant to help us ressuply or what not while out on a mission is not that far fetched.
Squad Screen (Waiting Room)
Additional Functions
- Allow players to switch character.
More information: - What weapons squad member has equipped below character name. Primary/secondary should be displayed, just the name. Players can switch weapons depending on team composition/equipment.
- Account/playerid name should take priority over character name. There is to many Skyv’s it can be hard to keep track of players you might encounter often. On screen in mission it shoudl show player id/account first, character name below, same for the morningstar.
Players/Friends List
Friends from steam list should not be showed unless they have been added on darktide. I dont have many people on my list, but I do not want to imagine how bad it must be with people that have friends in the hundreds.
Friends do not need to have the image of the character next to it, it should just be text listing name,character, online/offline, in-mission/morningstar. Should also help with it loading faster.
The list of people you recently partied with should only display up to the most recent 2 missions. It lists to many people, making it harder to keep track of who you just played with.
Spawning
Players should spawn into the mission in spectator mode. You should have 15-30 secs to click to spawn before it spawns you.
When players load in to missions, it can be rough to get dropped in when heavy combat is taking place, on other occasions the map has not loaded, or it does, but you move and you fall thru it, or a ledge.
It could probably also help with the lag players get when someone connects and is just dumped in immediately.
Primary/Secondary weapons
New players have a hard time accepting the ranged nature of the game, the melee weapon is presented as the primary weapon in inventory, and when u spawn at mission start. Switching ranged to the primary slot should help with this issue.
An example:
You give me a knife and tell me “this is your primary weapon”, and then you hand me a gun and say “this is your secondary weapon”. If you knew nothing about medieval vs guns what weapon would you use?
On top of that you come from a medieval background, and are playing with a medieval mindset, melee being primary weapon, further reinforces this, instead of helping players adapt.
Id even suggest adding an extra 25% base ammo to every class in order to get rid of the idea that you are supposed to use one weapon for hordes, one for elites, and instead players rely on what weapon is best for the job.
Utility feat/perks and Armor
These should go in the spaces in between the current ones. They should be the same regardless of class. Rather than being class specific perks these can draw from a more general feat/perk pool.
These will serve a dual purpose, one is to add an opportunity for players to further specialize, not so much to there class, but to there playstyle.
Armor will allow you to select from 3 options. They should be named in accordance to wh40k lore, or armor types. I think they are called flak/mesh/carapace. Dont recall them so Im going to use Heat/Physical/Explosive. The individual enemy dmg resist from curios should be removed, it encourages players to stack curios full of dmg resist instead of using some of the other utility/functional perks.
Three feats/perks should be added to each of the following categories, functioning as a buff, and a way to encourage players to rely on game mechanics. Battle Traits from the tabletop can be adapted, using those that are not class/role specific.
Below are the categories with some examples:
(Some of the suggestions might require removal from curios rolls, but retain the same choose one sacrifice others mechanic)
Armor (Players select one in accordance to what they might consider a higher threat to them, or mission selected)
Heat: Should cover lasers, bombers, flamers, in a single category.
Physical: Bullets, hordes, anything wielding any non laser/power/force/flame weapon.
Explosives: Bursters, barrels, anything that explodes, goes boom.
Mobility (Encourages run/gun, parkour)
- Swift and agile: increased speed when vaulting, up/down ladders, Faster quickswitch in/out animation, increased slide distance.
- Fleet of foot : Reduced sprint consumption, faster sprint. Can hipfire while sprinting.
- something something something something and something
Cover/terrain (encourages cover to cover)
Cool-headed: + small amount of tough regen while in cover. Less weapon sway. less suprression dmg taken. ( to encourage cover to cover)
Hunkered down: + toughness dmg resist ranged. + small amount of tough regen while in cover.
Overwatch?/Height advantage?: +5% Ranged crit -10% sway +5% dmg on enemies below you. (being on top of 2?(1?) crates, using pipes, other levels etc.
Gun/melee:
Auto-loader: Automatically reloads weapon over time when not equipped.
Razor-edged: Adds +1 bleed stacks on crit hit to all Bladed/edged weapons.
Brutal: Adds a small amount of splash dmg on hit with blunt weapons.
Utility:
Treasures?: Increases Plasteel/Diamantine collected by 25% or chances of finding.
Ammo: Increases amount from tins/bags by 25% or 15% more base ammo. Or chances of finding.
Auspex: Now leads you to treasures/loot/grims/scrips as well.
Flashlights
All ranged weapons should have a flashlight, Im sure theres duct tape/dirty bandages in 40k lying around somewhere on the ship, that would let me strap one to my gun/face/hip like Id have a flashlight strapped everywhere on my body in every direction. Id be known as Inquisitor MC Flashlights.
Hair colors
There’s to many variations of the same tones, instead you should add a wider range, and remove those that are just slightly darker/lighter black.
Hair styles
Same as the colors to many variations of the same style, there’s 4 variations of head shaved. Females have it worse, all players use the same 3 styles.
Faces
Sliders that let us make some adjustments to the face shape. (cheeks, jaw, eyes, etc.)
Random events
A serious of random scripted events should be added to the missions. These can range from encounters with special vendors, to dynamic side quests that can randomly occur for extra XP/money. The idea is that these events help players deal with the repetitive nature of the missions/maps. These can all be RNG and have a chance of showing up on any map.
Examples:
- Random priority target (Stronger named Elite accompanied by a retinue)
- Special trader (sells packs of crafting mats, higher chance for class specific transcendents, skins, pets etc.)
- Chaos gates (A wave after wave till shut down event)
- Rescues
- Evacuations
- Convoy Interception
Mission summary
Should focus on group stats, not individual and should reward the whole group after achieving certain tiers.
It should list group total amount of horde purged/elites/specialists/monstrosities.
It should take into consideration time spent in cohesion( 2+2 configuration 90% of the time should give full reward, squad split into pairs)use of staggers/suppress, using healthpacks/ ammo apcks and how much of it was actually applied/used (not just throwing it, it should not count overhealing).
The squad should receive a rating at the end as a whole, maybe whats-her-face can send us a few /golfclaps, if we rated high enough.
Each Reward tier grants increasing rewards, with a gift from the emperor or chest, with increasing amounts, and rarity.
It also needs a much easier way of adding people to your friends list.
Chests/Gifts from the Emperor
Should roll one item for each of the following categories melee/range/curios. You can only choose 1 item per chest.
You might not get the item you wanted, but might get something thats worth keeping.
Character tab
A tab on the operative menu, that adds up our stats,feats,curios, and other combat/stats related information.
Flex stats for example total kills of types. Can be generalized Horde/specialists/elites etc. or enemy specific.
Total money earned, total melks, total plasteel, diamantine etc.
Glossary
A sort of in game manual, that lists the mechanics, keywords in game, and gives a basic explanation/definition of what they are and why they matter.
An emphasis on explaining some of the games mechanics should be placed, in particular run and gun, and playing different roles (Assault,fire support).
Weapons
Are still incredibly confusing to any average mortal, myself included.
The small explanations that they used to have that hinted at how different Mk’s functioned was replaced by an explanation of what Mks are but not what each Mk does different.
The original backstory/text each weapon used to have should replace the current Mk description when using “V” to view a weapons stats, it was more informative.
Meat Grinder 2.0
The current one is just a kind of shooting range, it does not do much to train players. Another option should be added that puts you inside one of those storm drain environments, enemies get thrown at you with increasing difficulty in order to give players the option to train in a no-consequences environment.
You can add a kill counter, headshot counter etc. and give points and at the end it adds a score. Every wave increases in difficulty, cycling between the ones available, presenting them in increasing numbers, when they run out.
A gamewide ladderboard can be added where players can compete to see who purges more in the Meat Grinder 2.0 based on highest score achieved.
Enemies should recreate many of the dangerous situations you will encounter, allowing you to hone your skills, and get used to the sounds enemies make. As well as provide you for a viable place to test your build, that does not involve joining a mission, then leaving.
Dismantling
The whole crafting system is not there yet, so this might be something that is already in the works just not there.
In case it is not:
Some blessings are to low tier, or you don’t want need or just want to dismantle an item into crafting mats.
Other times you just need a bit of plasteel/diamantine, dismantling gives you an option that does not require you to join a mission.
The amounts you get can be based on the type of item, and its rarity, relative to the amounts required to upgrade an item to that rarity at the shrine.
Issues with players that lag on hordes/many enemies/large environments
I used to attribute this issue to random connection lag, or maybe my own performance drops. But as my playtime has gone up, I have been able to experience the same mission multiple times with random people, and noticed the issue is not my computer/internet.
Sometimes in a mission even in Damnation, at High Intensity, I can be playing with a full random squad, and everything is running smoothly. Other times we might be 3 everything is smooth, then another player joins, and now every time a horde spawns, we start suffering from stutter/lag and charging attacks going bonkers.
It seems as if the game punishes the whole group as soon as one player starts lagging, rather than just the player lagging. If multiple squad members have performance issues, the ones that are not, still suffer from FPS drops that are solved by removing the lagging squad members.
I do not know if there is a way to change this so only the lagging player has the problem, it is almost as if the game is trying to sync the whole group to that persons lag.
Color customization
One of the more popular aspects of the Warhammer Tabletop when it comes to the miniatures is the ability to paint them whatever way you want. Most miniatures are painted using a 3-4 color palette. In Darktide players should be allowed to do the same thing. Skins on the store have 3 layers per part(under/upper/armor(acces.)
You can limit color choices by adding color palettes that are commonly used across the wh40k tabletop, and even theme/name them. This will help to avoid 100% neon pink cheetah print ogryns, but you should offer a wide range between colors available. Not 50 shades of grey.
If players can apply a color to each layer, free/store skins increase in value, maybe someone liked a skin, but did not like the color, if the option to change them existed that person might have used/purchased the skin.
Weapons can get a similar option as well, selling same skins in a different color should have never been a thing. Players should be able to customize weapons using a similar approach to the outfit/skins. This can be used as an excuse to just sell different models on the stores, not same models different colors.
Skins that have a camo layer, can have the option to change the camos color as well. This gives you an excuse to stop selling identical camo patterns in different colors, and instead sell different patterns. If you wanted to, you could also allow players to add said camo patterns to any skin they are wearing. And personally I would have never sold identical camos in different colors individually, it seems like a low blow, I’d sell one pattern that can be applied to all of your skins and one to all of your weapons, and let players customize the colors.
The Emperors Tarot
“The Emperor’s Tarot is one of the few accepted methods of divination employed in the superstitious and close-minded Imperium of Mankind. The deck is made up of cards that each have an image and a name – like The Fool and Harbinger” - warhammer-community.com
There is another warhammer game where they implemented a system for the missions that revolves around levelling your tarot deck up, and applying cards to the missions as modifiers. These are like your combat zone modifiers, but applying them not only increases difficulty but also rewards. Im sure someone at GW remembers it, it was implemented rather well.
Since the tarot deck is a part of the universe, it can be add here in a similar manner, but instead of you picking your modifiers, and leveling it up, if you choose to use the tarot deck, it will pick 5 random cards, that each add a random modifier to the mission.
Modifiers can range from increasing buffs to the different types of enemies, or detriments to the player, like movement speed, reduced wounds, etc. The occasional positive card can be added wich buffs players, increases ammo reserves etc.
Since the cards and the images are of a mystical nature, the team can have fun looking at them and interpreting what boons/punishment these cards will give us.
Accepting your fate, will grant greater rewards upon completion (loot chests, craftings mats, etc.)
Weapons Vendors
-The cage has 3 windows, each window should be manned by a vendor.
-Each vendor sells from a different type, the types can be Melee,Ranged,Class Specific
-
Another vendor should be added just for curios in a nearby location.
-
They should sell every weapon available but it should be grey quality, offering +/- rating options when it rotates.
-
Players should rely on crafting mats to upgrade weapons.
-
With the blessings transfer option players can transfer blessings from weapons they bought at Melks, or got from Chests/rewards.
-
An option to reroll weapons base rating, based on players current level/gear rating could be made available at the shrine, in order to allow players to grow with there weapon pre 30, and then replace/buy higher rating grey quality at the vendors, and upgrade these by farming mats.