I like Expeditions, but the mode feels almost disconnected from the rest of Darktide.
Because it has its own terminal and separate queue, it often feels like a side activity rather than part of the game. As a result, matchmaking can take longer and many players simply ignore the mode altogether.
One possible solution would be to merge Expeditions into the main mission board instead of keeping them on a separate terminal. Let Expedition missions appear alongside regular missions so players naturally see them when choosing what to play.
Maybe they could even be mixed into the regular event rotation and included in regular Quick Play matchmaking. That way, more players would encounter the mode naturally instead of having to actively seek it out.
This would increase visibility, improve matchmaking, and make Expeditions feel like a core part of Darktide rather than a forgotten side mode.
I would also be interested in seeing Havoc modifiers or experimental events tested through Expeditions to give players more reasons to return.
Personally, I enjoy Expeditions, so I may be looking at the mode from a different perspective. It certainly has its problems, and I’m not going to argue that it’s perfect.
But “this game mode was never wanted”? I’m not so sure about that. Sure, Mister E pointed out a lot of issues, and many of them are definitely valid, but I think you’re being a little extreme.
I think people know how to play Expeditions if they want to, it’s just comparatively few do. I still have an objective marker in the Mourningstar that floats above the Expeditions terminal, not sure why though. I haven’t been bothered to check it out since it’s not really my cuppa tea (played enough on launch tyvm).
Adding more options to the quickplay checklist, similar to the Campaign mission toggle, would be easy enough though. OTOH then you have the issue of quickplaying into what-mission-type-even which complicates loadout selection somewhat.
IMO, instead of smart solutions, we should just have dumb stuff like:
Pre-game screen showing characters and loadouts; you can swap yours here (it’s literally the 60second lobby, but ‘unskippable’ and able to swap class)
Lobby browser: Then you don’t have to worry about quickplay randomly assigning you a mission, you can just choose it
Expeditions is probably resented by many because all we want is new main board missions, which we have asked for over and over and over and over again, but they gave us expeditions…I would imagine it’s been received poorer than it deserves for this reason, and kinda rightly so.
FS are terrible at reading the room!
How long ago did we receive the cathedral map? A looooooooooong time ago. And before that a quite long time since glorianna, and before that? A really long time.
We are starved of maps and it’s making anything else new much less exciting.
Im not sure how many people I can speak for when I say this but, Expeditions was not the gamemode I was wanting, I was hyped and excited for darktides version of Chaos Wastes, and it was not what was delivered. Instead its a disconnected mode in an open map where you walk to and complete objectives and sometimes kill enemies. its also timed… why? who is asking for more timed modes/maps. Im pretty sure Rolling Steel is one of, if not THE most hated map in darktide, and it pretty much is my most hated map for a whole list of reasons, the timer being one of them. Its just boring to stand there waiting on objectives/ the chests to be ‘hacked’ open, also the chests themselves open slower than regular chests? why? There’s also all the resource spawn points that are clipped into geometry/out of bounds and can’t be picked up. One of the air support things you can buy has been bugged since the mode was added and will not properly target enemies on night maps. The boss spawn pool for the roaming patrols is also limited for some reason, I don’t think I seen a single plague ogryn while playing expeditions.
I like and play Darktide for its incredible melee/ranged combat and the incredible set pieces we get put into. I don’t play it to stand in an open desert waiting for some chests to open and grab the literally worthless resources inside. I remember there being some kind of system where the longer you stay/the more you kill will result in the game getting harder somehow, maybe by spawning more enemies or something? im not too sure because the MODE IS TIMED, you dont have the time to kill stuff and let the game get harder, you have to rush to the objectives, grab the worthless scrap, and try to escape before time runs out, and thats just not what i play darktide for, thats just not any fun whatsoever
oh and another thing, there is no difference between the difficulties on the amounts of remnants and stuff you get, so its most efficient to just play on malice and collect all you need(which again is literally so boring i’d rather not play the game)
I would only suggest taking those “pieces” of the map and create a narrative version to plop into quickplay. Being someone who asked for randomly generated maps I thought this would be a great change of pace mode, and have a ton of replay ability. I played the mode twice and threw it in the trash. The idea of spawning more enemies the more you fight just never felt right to me. I do Main Ogryn and the amount of ranged fire every engagement, with little to no cover, was not fun.
I’ve given up trying to grind through un-fun experiences just to get that completion token, elite status or fancy border (I do like me a good border) and rather play what’s fun. It’s unfortunate FS hasn’t nailed down what makes their game tick/stuck to the lane and deliver more content for that. The good news is players will pay hand over fist for Skitarii and hopefully this will fuel FS to deliver more narrative campaign missions to progress this story on Atoma.
Expeditions, in time, can get better but FS cyclically bites off more than it can chew only to “fine tune” it years after players have moved on.
