I wasn’t able to figure what kind of vibes i have from the trailer.
Now i know - it’s a generic mobile game trailer.
You’ll have to excuse me, but this is, to put it mildly, another slap in the face. So, many people are asking for new weapons for their classes, and you’re simply making a new class with a weapon that, even by this meager description, is at least suitable for a Veteran and Zealot? Are you serious?
Instead of adding proper content, you’re doing this? New maps, fixing millions of bugs, adding a decent quality of life a new class?
What did you analyze there? No aggressive marksman? Do you even know how Havoc games are played? What builds and playstyles do veterans have? How often are they in melee combat, how can they play aggressively? Reading this just made me laugh. If you’re having a hard time analyzing it, open Twitch and watch it; maybe you’ll learn something about your game.
Oh well, I’ll play and then write an article about how knowledgeable the sharks are and how they understand everything about their game. The players will probably read that at most, but the sharks, as usual, won’t care about my review or the reviews of other players.
- Aura: Critical Hit Chance +5% for Psyker
- Infectious Zeal: +10% Critical Hit Chance
- Coherency Aura: Anarchist Increased Critical Chance (let’s say +5%)
Total: +20% Critical Hit Chance for the entire group
Prepare a critical hit build for all characters, have fun!
I’ll definitely get the DLC to try out the new builds. I wasn’t expecting any particular class or character, and I’m quite happy with the announcement.
This is the zealot counterpart… close ranged combat.
As always it will surely means more use for ranged weapons but you will still have to use melee.
I really hope that this class will get more ammo.. or maybe they will make larger the ammo reserve for their specific weapons (but not sure it would work with the other weapons not specific to the class).
To all that complain… with this class, what is clear is what Fatshark decided to sell as DLC. An experience.
You’ll get a different gameplay for a niche archetype that will never get any cosmetics in the shop (except on page).
This doesn’t mean it will stay like that or that we will never get an a new major archetype like zealot, veteran, ogryn or psyker… but, for now, the DLC will just offer us a different experience.
I must say that I like that, and welcome it.
Can’t wait to play with this class. I hope that one of the weapon is a BOOM BOOM pistol… I wait for a boom boom weapon… even if I would appreciate a tactactac weapon… but the BOOM BOOM is really more appealing.
I started this as a joke,
but the more I thought about it, the more I think it would actually work.
Lore-wise it does make sense to have Scribes being pressed into frontline service,
if the situation is desperate enough:
The Pressing of the Scribes into War
Why They Are Drafted
Scribes—Lexigraphs, Archivists, and Penitential Quill-Bearers—are not warriors by design.
But the Imperium burns manpower at a rate no bureaucracy can refill, and several key reasons push them into the front:
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Mass-Casualty Campaigns
During prolonged sieges, hive-quakes, or Tyranid incursions, vast numbers of Guardsmen die faster than replacements can be drawn. Administratum personnel are declared “non-critical to rear operations” and reassigned. -
Purity and Zeal
Many Scribes are indoctrinated from youth, raised on catechisms and litanies. Their faith is absolute—if brittle. Commanders see them as spiritually reliable bodies who may not fight well, but will never question orders. -
Record-Keeping Under Fire
Imperial commanders want accurate battlefield logs, kill-tallies, requisition records, and after-action reports. Who better to chronicle a war than someone literate? -
Punishment by Reassignment
Minor clerical errors, perceived heretical hesitation, or simple bad luck can get a Scribe pressed into a Penal-Supplicant regiment.
How They Are Recruited or Pressed
Scribes rarely volunteer. Instead:
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A Munitorum Officer arrives with an Emergency Draft Writ.
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Scribes are sorted into “combat-capable,” “combat-adjacent,” and “morale-bolstering.”
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They are given ill-fitting flak gear, a laspistol older than the Imperium itself, and approximately nine minutes of combat training.
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A Commissar reads a stirring speech reminding them that to die in service is the purest form of accounting.
When It Happens
Scribes get sent to the front most commonly:
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During final defensive stands when every body matters.
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In urban clearance operations, where their knowledge of old hive-maps, tax ledgers, or maintenance tunnels becomes invaluable.
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When a regiment’s mortality rate hits a point where even non-combatants are armed out of simple necessity.
Some worlds even maintain standing traditions of Battlescribes, who accompany regiments from the beginning and are expected to fight when needed.
Roles They Fulfill in the Field
1. Frontline Archivist
Documents battlefield events, maintains casualty ledgers, logs ammunition, and keeps tally of debt, glory, and sin.
Often found crouching behind someone much larger.
2. Litany-Shouter / Moral Chorus
Recites prayers, absolution rites, and motivational scripture mid-battle.
Sometimes louder than the gunfire.
Sometimes more effective.
3. Relay-Bearer
Carries written orders between squads when vox systems fail.
High mortality rate—often mistaken for someone important.
4. Reluctant Combatant
Despite shaking hands and hollow eyes, the Scribe still fights:
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stabbing with a quill (a sacred stylus blessed with ink of purification)
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firing a badly-maintained laspistol
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surrendering their fear to religious fervor in moments of desperation
5. Lore-Keeper / Navigator of Forgotten Places
Scribes often know:
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old maps
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administrative tunnels
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forgotten rail lines
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archive vaults beneath the hive
This makes them unexpectedly useful in infiltration or escape operations.
6. Attached to an Ogryn or Veteran Squad
Not for combat value—
but because someone must keep notes on the carnage, and larger soldiers can physically protect them (or carry them like luggage).
Why They Might Become the “Heart of the Team”
Despite having no idea why they were brought or what they should do:
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Their unwavering faith encourages others.
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Their presence reminds Guardsmen what they fight for—duty, order, the Imperium’s endless paperwork.
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Their frailty brings out protective instincts, especially in Ogryn.
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Their chronic enthusiasm (or terrified zeal) keeps morale strangely high.
Even the most hardened kill-team develops a fondness for the tiny,
confused man clutching a quill like a holy relic.
——-
Standard Weapons Issued to Scribes
1. Laspistol (Munitorum Pattern IV)
The most common “weapon” assigned to non-combatants.
Often:
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badly maintained
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decades old
-
low-powered
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issued with three power packs, one of which is half-drained
The Munitorum views it as sufficient for “personal reassurance.”
2. Shock Maul (Low-Authority Variant)
Used by Administratum clerks to enforce order in archive stacks or during tithing disputes.
Sometimes issued if the Scribe had disciplinary duties before being drafted.
Lightweight and non-lethal… until the battery overloads in battle.
3. Quill-Blade / Stylus Dagger
Rare but iconic.
A devotional writing stylus with a microsharpened metal tip, often a cherished personal item.
Scribes sometimes use it in desperation—
and some turn it into a zealot’s weapon, stabbing wildly while reciting liturgies.
Weapons When Assigned to Penal or Militia Roles
4. Stub Pistol
Crude, cheap, and prone to jamming.
Issued when supplies are limited.
Seen more in hive-militias or emergency pressed regiments.
5. Truncheon / Baton
Sometimes an old civ-security baton repurposed for combat.
Good for:
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panic-swinging
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baton-based prayers
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dying with dignity
6. Improvised Weapons
Because sometimes the Munitorum does not issue anything at all.
Examples:
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brass candlestick from a chapel
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heavy ledger
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ink-pot of acidic archivist’s ink
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weighted ceremonial stamp
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an entire book used as a bludgeon (“The Emperor Protects”—literally)
Weapons for “Battle Scribes” and Ecclesiarchy-Adjacent Quill-Bearers
Some Scribes—especially those attached to Ecclesiarchy forces—get more serious weaponry.
7. Autopistol
More reliable than a stub pistol and easier to conceal.
Favored by zealous or penitential order scribes.
8. Sanctified Quill-Spear
A rare ceremonial weapon associated with shrine worlds.
A writing implement at one end, a short stabbing tip at the other.
Used by liturgical archivists accompanying Ecclesiarchal forces.
9. Flamer (Liturgical Edition)
Very rare.
Sometimes a shrine-world archivist proves so zealous that a priest assigns them a flamer to “purge ignorance with fire.”
These individuals usually burn themselves within the first hour.
If They Survive Long Enough…
Veterans evolve:
10. Lascarbine
If a Scribe survives their first few battles, a sergeant might issue a real weapon.
11. Chainknife or Chainsword (Honorary Issue)
Given only under special circumstances—
usually after saving a squad or performing a heroic act with a quill.
Comedic but LORE-TRUE Additions
Scribes have been depicted using:
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“The Emperor’s Paperweight” – a heavy iron seal used to crush skulls
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“The Ledger of Judgement” – a book containing names of the fallen used as a club
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“Prayer-Bolt” – a sharpened quill dipped in blessed ink
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“Archivist’s Fork” – a two-pronged tool for retrieving scrolls, repurposed to jab enemies
All fittingly pathetic yet heroic.
I can see Scribes as a support unit/class with various buffs for the strike team,
de-buffs for enemies & powers like “requisition”.
I think Hive Ganger can be fun, but I don’t see them as unique enought plus I think they don’t fill a specific role, that hasn’t already been filled by other classes.
Scribe, Mechanicus of some sort or another support class could fill a role,
which has some uniquieness & do something that other don’t.
Yeah, kinda weird feeling that “scum” is premium content on par with Arbites.
Free update would suit better here…
Free is not enough… they have to pay if they want me to play a methhead.
I would have given them my soul!
Ima be real, chief. The trailer was abysmal, and this devblog is not changing my mind. Remember, dual wielded weapons were in Vermintide 2 from the get go for… three characters? Now it’s being sold back to us in 40K of all settings with a ganger class?
I really want to just start over. No powercrept characters or chore-crept difficulties. A frikin’ attempt at weapon balance. Classes: Scum, Ogryn, Psyker, Vet - which might have an “Arbites” branch. Bring on reject-level Zealot and Ad Mech as first two DLC classes.
I’m going to go take a nap, in which many rats are killed. Please wake me for VT3 or DT2, but only if “maximized ROI” isn’t at the top of the first page of the design document.
i don’t even care for dual wield, after VT1 Saltspire’s brace of pistols all the rest were underwhelming, VT2 brace of pistols included
Kerillian’s daggers were an honorable mention i guess
For anyoen asking how this class will deal with carapace, they’ll just give it some insane rending talent like a better version of onslaught, probably
I definitely don’t agree. There’s a huge extra element of design like the dog here, but far more nuanced and customizable than ‘tell the dog to attack/stagger thing or blow up, and/or pick buffs that influence its damage on certain targets or after X condition is met’. And their weapons sound a lot more fun and unique than the ‘shotties clubs and shields but better’ angle. Only the shotpistol feels unique to Arbites and not like an enhanced version of something already in the game.
What is this?! Cartel special? Have you become a narco developer? Who’s idea was this?
How did we go from Arbites, which I thought was very impressive to cartel trash who wields a crowbar and throws meth lab juice on people and calling it a HERO?! That looks horrible. Straight up junky trash. Looks like one of those dope zombies that defy the laws of physics, all hunched over but can’t fall down because it ran around the map gathering all the stims and used them all at once. If I were fatshark I would scrap this drug promoting garbage.
Developers need to start asking us what we would like to see in future DLC. Let the community be more involved with what THEY want to play because these surprise reveals aren’t the way to go about it.
Found the reason Fatshark had to delay the class trailer and cut out mechanics showcase
main question is: can we rocket jump with it?
I am very much into the class in concept and aesthetically, I think y’all nailed it!
I do think the trailer was not a good showcase of her, I really expected the crux of the trailer to be that the hive gangs know Tertium’s insides and outs better than anyone and a whole horde of them would pop up in unexpected ways and with a bunch of improvised tools to overwhelm our captors. The single Hive Scum lady being alone feels odd! The scene could’ve ended with that same kinda progression, but on its own, it just feels out of place and goofy.
This design blog is nice to read, but does have me concerned in multiple ways:
- Why does the class have an aura that’s literally the same as another one? I don’t think auras are the most important thing for a class to have, but surely the first step of making a class unique means adding as many unique aspects as possible? There has to have been so many more options for even a crit-related aura, not to mention just the melee damage aura being similar to Ogryn Bonebreaker’s Aura
- I’ll say the same thing about Desperado; I really hope at least through the modifier nodes it feels significantly different than Ogryn’s Point-Blank Barrage. There are some differences, but the core ability being “instantly reload your ranged weapon and go nuts with it” is the same for both. Weren’t there other unique ways you could’ve gone? (By contrast, all of the custom stimm and chem stuff sounds amazing!)
- If Hive Scum is supposed to be a close-range ranged-damage focused class by default that can flex into a hybrid ranged/melee fighter, can Zealot please get some of that flexing for ranged builds? The latest talent rework for Zealot removed multiple gun-related talents, and while I am super excited to try the new class, if it doesn’t end up dethroning Zealot for me, I’d like some of that flex to go around on the other dedicated fast, close-range class, otherwise it’s just encroaching on that play style
- Likewise, Hive Scum is already shown to be getting a number of movement related talents (dodges, unlimited sprint, etc), which again was part of Zealot’s high speed fantasy. Can Zealot please get some more mobility focus at least for Inexorable Judgment, the movement-based Keystone? I made a small proposal here: Making Inexorable Judgement more interesting, unique, and fun with a few changes. Again, I will gladly try Hive Scum but if the class just steals Zealot’s thunder and I don’t end up getting into it, that will be disappointing
I am excited for the new class but also don’t want it to trample on the uniqueness of the existing classes and hope steps will be taken to continue to develop all classes in more unique ways.
I understand being disappointed, but complaining that our grimdark sci-fi fantasy character is morally grey seems like a very very strange angle to take here.
Of all the absolute nightmare technology that is pervasive in 40k we’re really going to draw a puritanical line at drug use? Like stimms aren’t already functionally drugs in the first place?
I absolutely respect being disappointed by this reveal but could we be critical in a way that sounds less like a 1950s house wife upset about drugs in their murder + dismemberment game?