This post is structured into 3 clear parts. Part I pertains to Sedition and Uprising, Part II pertains to a new modifier, Nurgle’s Chosen and Part III pertains to the other modifiers that would exist on Auric missions.
This is just a rough idea based on much feedback I’ve seen through the community that advocate for Auric modifier changes, changes to Elite density, and general Mission Board changes. I’m open to suggestions and look forward to reading feedback.
PART I
1. Sedition and Uprising Remove them from the Mission Terminal, keep them for Mortis. Make Mortis Trials the focus for newer players. It will teach them Darktide’s main objectives and the value of Coherency. It’s a more forgiving environment to learn the game in due to the boons and close proximity to teammates compared to the bigger maps of the Mission Terminal.
2. Malice - should still exist for learning the levels themselves and the locations of chests, drop downs etc. Malice should even reveal these chest locations to players somehow, so newer players can begin memorizing their locations instead of scrambling to find them on higher difficulties and breaking Coherency with nothing to show for it.
3. Damnation and Heresy - with the extra server bandwith freed from hosting Sedition and Uprising on the Mission Terminal, host 4 Damnation and 4 Heresy missions at a time instead of 3. 2 missions should be Normal and 2 missions should have high intensity at all times, to gradually grow players accustomed to Auric enemy density.
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PART II:
Add one more Heresy Mission to Auric, for a total of 6 Damnation and 4 Heresy Missions.
Both Damnation and Heresy should be split into 50% high intensity missions, and the other 50% of hosted missions should have a modifier called: Nurgle’s Chosen at all times.
Nurgle’s Chosen - Fewer Heretic Elites present, but remaing Elites have been blessed by Nurgle with unholy abilities. Expect more frequent hordes of Poxwalkers, Groaners and Moebian 21st regiments.
Crushers, Ragers, and Maulers would be B
blessed with Final Toll - Elite enemies fall into rage under 50% HP left, increasing their attack speed, damage caused and rendering them immune to crowd control.
Bulwarks, Reapers and Shotgunners would be blessed with Rampaging Enemies - Enemies in this sector are rampaging. They gain increased defence against attacks upon witnessing the death of an ally.
Trappers would be blessed with Encroaching Garden - Marked Enemies, blessed by the Lord of Pestilence, will heal affected allies in proximity. If these enemies are not dealt with quickly, they will rapidly regenerate the enemy forces.
Because they are Specialists, the healing of Encroaching Garden would not always be present on the battlefield. That said, they would become a much bigger threat due to their ability to heal enemies along their travel path and around a netted player. Still, with their low health they are easily knocked out and they will be unable be heal other Trappers.
Note: If further adjustments are needed, Elite health could be tweaked in Nurgle’s Chosen alone as an addition to the modifier
The purpose of Nurgle’s Chosen is two fold:
First it would provide a solution to players who want Elite density returned to their original density and feel as though more Elites present at a time puts higher stress on the game engine. Changing Elites this way throughout all of Auric would require lots of Talent Tree adjustments so they don’t become too easy and is much more complicated as a result.
Second, it would assist in players gradually becoming accustomed to Havoc modifiers in a more foregiving environment. This could help the players that do move on to Havoc to be better prepared for what lies ahead.
The other 50% of Heresy and Damnation Missions would remain High Intensity.
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PART III:
All Auric missions - both Nurgle’s Chosen and High Intensity - would be subject to these roatating modifiers. All missions would have one modifier from each category, with equal percentage between all of them for appearing.
Category 1: Environmental -
Pox Gas, Lights Out, Ember, Ventilation Purge, None
Category 2: Enemy Composition -
Brute Conscripts, Scab, Shock Troop Gauntlet, Sniper Gauntlet, Hunting Grounds, Heinous Rituals
Category 3: Unholy Blessings
Pus Hardened Skin, Mutated Horrors, Nurgle’s Blessing, Moebian 21st, None
Note: Heinous Rituals would replace triggered bosses, but not end of level bosses.
Note: Scab modifier would replace BoN, Chaos Spawn and Plague Ogryn with Rinda and Rodin Karnak, who would each make one appearance alone before a 3rd appearance together later in the mission.