I looked through forum post history to see if this topic has been covered before, and the most recent post I could find was from June of last year, but it’s locked so I can’t necro it even if I wanted to, which means a fresh post for everyone.
To cut to the chase, I don’t think that the numerical stat distributions we have on weapons (and curios, to a lesser extent) serves a purpose beyond a random chance to waste resources buying an unsatisfactory weapon. I’ve been collecting weapons for so long on my Zealot that it’s hardly a problem if I want to try out a different one now and again because I’ve probably got a “proper” version of it, but if I want to play Psyker or Veteran who I have much less time on, then I have to sink quite a lot of time and resources into producing a weapon I’m happy with. And what for? What has this added to my gameplay experience?
I’d like to hear what you, the reader, thinks about the stats. Do you ever meaningfully engage with the system by considering one build that wants 60% Defense and another build that wants 60% Finesse on the same weapon? Even for force staves where grass-averse Psykers will seek out 0% Warp Resistance, I don’t think that makes the gear system any more engaging, just an obstacle to build crafting.
I only see upside for a(n admittedly monumental) rework that removes stat variation within a weapon. There’s plenty of variation to be had in a system where every MkIII Combat Blade has the same stats as every other MkIII Combat Blade. You don’t even need to show the bars; think of the potential use for all that screen real estate you’d get back.
- Weapon balance and breakpoint calculations. If the fantasy of swinging a combat axe at the head of a heretic involves taking two hits to kill, then the fantasy is broken if the weapon does less damage than designed, especially if that less damage doesn’t come with a meaningful upside. The difference between 60% and 80% in Damage means a lot more than the difference between 60% and 80% Defense, so you aren’t trading a little damage for something else; you just have an inferior weapon, and that’s assuming it’s fully empowered. The Damage for Attack Speed trade comes from different marks of the same weapon, or even in the case of axes if you choose a combat axe or tactical axe (or chain axe or two-handed Plasma Halberd make it happen), so the gameplay system of different weapon stats already takes a backseat to different weapons entirely. You can streamline the weapons and balance considerations if you just embrace the fact that players already swap marks or weapon families rather than stat distributions when they want different gear.
- Shake off the last vestiges of a much-maligned failure of an RNG player retention system. It wasn’t all that long ago that I was regularly logging in just to check the shop to see if I get to use the MkI Bully Club yet, though Hadron could also say no. Dark times for Darktide, and I’m sure we’re all happy to mostly have that behind us. But the frustration of hunting for a functional weapon remains in stat distribution, and each time it rears its ugly head it reminds me of Darktide’s immeasurably complex history of failures. Getting rid of random stats will finally rid us of that (part of the) grim past.
- Opportunity for something new. Since the game’s release, players have been wonder about 100% and red weapons and what’s out there for end-game rejects. If you don’t want to answer the question, what better way than to make it invalid? “You want 100% stats? What stats?” Ah, it’s even better than avoiding the question, because they can’t just ask it again. With that out of the way, you can consider how other games handle difficulty tiers and weapon balance. Emperor forgive my disloyalty, but I’ve been playing Helldivers 2 quite a bit more lately, and if you missed the discussions on this forum when it first came out, then let me necro all that discussion too. In HD2, a given enemy has a fixed amount of health regardless of the difficulty you’re playing on. On higher difficulties, you see larger numbers of stronger enemies, but still see swarms of the little guys from lower difficulties. Your weapons perform predictably (bugs and odd angle of deflection aside) against every enemy. Your starter pistol is just as good at taking out the weakest bugs on 1 as it is on 10, but you better have an answer for the bigger enemies too. Darktide almost has this. There are the groaners which are weaker than poxwalkers which are weaker than bruisers which are weaker than infected Moebian 21st, but all are horde mobs. Shotgunners and Ragers could be the scariest things you fight in difficulties 1 and 2, with a Crusher or Reaper for really intense events. As you move up, you see more armored ragers and maulers and groups of crushers, but also the hordes change from mostly groaners to mostly Moebian 21st. Feel free to imagine this in whatever way best supports my argument; I’m not being super specific here. Players already think about equipment in terms of horde-clear and anti-armor and boss-killing, so why not build the difficulties around this progression? Sedition to Damnation sees a rise in armored hordes and roamers, Auric adds harder modifiers and increases spawn intensity, Havoc allows way more bosses to spawn, and each of these builds on top of the previous. You could make Auric a difficulty 6 and 7 and Havoc 8, 9, and 10 and do away with all the different mission boards.
Ooh! And you could give us each our own ship and we fight on multiple planets and we kill bugs and robots and aliens and it’s a third-person shooter and we get capes and we’re called Helldivers! That would make Darkdivers I mean Helltide I mean Darktide 2 way better.
Jokes aside, my gameplay feedback is that Darktide probably doesn’t need weapon crafting. Unlocking new weapons and marks creates progression and increases build complexity over time as players learn the game, but converting time and resources into less-than-ideal weapons only takes away from a good experience. My ideal version of Darktide sees players unlocking new weapons that better answer the different challenges presented in higher difficulties and then players can experiment with different combinations of primary, secondary, blitz, ability, keystone, whatever to either round-out their abilities or focus on one or two tasks, such as becoming a dedicated boss eliminator or variety crowd-control and counter-sniper kind of build, and the difficulties prompt such decisions rather than everyone being able to do everything. Raises the question of what to do if you and your three random all want to be boss killers, but I say that’s not my problem. Writing forum posts is so easy, I should consider a career in game design.
Perks and Blessings aren’t in a great spot either, but that’s territory for a different post. In brief, too few perks and blessings matter. The quick solution is to get rid of useless perks. Blessings need a complete redesign and a focused shifted away from directly increasing weapon power because killing stuff faster is always the goal and the best two blessings for that will always be the only two blessings worth taking. But don’t argue about it here. Make a new post, if you’re so inclined.
aint no game designer.