My previous thread… Ratling archetype
And how damn cool are these?!
They feel so perfect for the DT world. Anyone dismissing them for lack any gameplay imagination - please save your breath (and read my previous thread linked above for some inspiration).
And apparently according to lore they’re just as strong as humans but only that size due to the gravity and conditions on their home world so it’s not like they’re feeble or anything. No different to having a dwarf in vt2 (which there is right?).
Hell yee!
Ratlings and Ogryns in the same squad would AWESOME!
Exactly!! And they SOOOOO look the part too!
I’d still love the Ratling to be able to jump onto an Ogryn and shoot from their shoulders whilst Ogryn smashes everything around them. Like a shoulder mounted sniper!
It’s insanely fun to think about
The voice actors and sound designer would have a field day with a cocky foul-mouthed Ratling
HELL YEAH
It’s like this mecha from Borderlands 3, which is an Ult that your friends can mount too
(It was the mech that you can summon, it’s pretty much a Suit, and on top of that suit could be a Turret that your friend can mount)
That’ll be the coolest thing
Yeah! Guess he could mount the shoulders of a human and then would be about the height of an Ogryn too lol
Wow, this whole time I thought ratlings were 40k skaven — jezzails come to mind. Kinda confused me that there was so much appetite for the lil fellas but I like skaven yes yes so I rolled with it.
Guess this makes a bit more sense though 
Essentially they’re space hobbits but much tougher, stronger and more foul-mouthed/mannered than Hobbits 
They work for the Imperium under the same rules as Ogryns.
The big problem with Ratlings lays with the PoV. Darktide’s maps are built for Human and Ogryn PoVs whilst the Vermintide games were worked from Dwarf & Human perspectives. To add in a third PoV to Darktide, one equivalent to a Human crouching/kneeling, would at the least require them to re-work every map to make them viable for a Ratling to play through them, but such a re-work would also have to not ruin the experience for Human-Ogryn PoVs. It is a distinct choice Fatshark made in line with the 'Tide games. Maybe Darktide 2, but not in DT1.
I understand the enthusiasm for Ratlings, I’ve always been fond of the little guys, but its a technical issue that is not one that can be readily resolved.
As for the mount idea? It is terrible. Every aspect of it would be awful. Think through everything about it, being on an unpredictable and unstable platform that is running, sprinting, sliding, dodging, vaulting and jumping its way around the map, twisting and turning in combat. Trying to fight from there would be a nightmare of frustration that would breed toxicity. Lining up your shots only for the ‘mount’ to suddenly twist away and ruin the shots. It was bad enough when common practice amongst Zealot players was to zoom ahead constantly, getting downed and screaming down VOIP at the rest of the squad. Imagine that but with Ratling players getting upset and frustrated because the ‘mount’ is not doing what they want.
The more I think about it the worse and worse an idea it feels. I cannot think of one viable positive benefit to such a system that would make it worth all of that frustration and potential toxicity, or even the time for Fatshark to implement such a system.
The worse it feels because you’re just thinking negatively about it and can’t seem to see anything positive. Boring. Literally any problem can be solved with game code with a bit of thinking. You poo-pooing it instantly is just daft tbh.
The mount could have a stabilised and independently moving pov like a steady cam…there you go I fixed that issue in 5 seconds of thinking.
Just open your mind a bit.
As for pov…I’d happily run about at crouch height if there mechanics were fun enough. When there’s a sea of enemies it’s not like visibility is a thing anyway.
you strike me like the kinda guy who, if they eventually did create a ratling, and he isn’t as much fun as you hoped would come back here and moan to fatshark how scuffed the class is…
There was a great discussion about ratling ideas recently on Steam!
And yes I’d absolutely love them as a new playable class!
Because I say don’t dismiss an idea because you lack imagination on game mechanics?
Yeah sure. Cool story and thanks for your useful input. Why not derail the thread only a few comments in with ad hominem. That would be so cool and exactly the kind of thing I’d expect from someone who, if they eventually did create a ratling, and he isn’t as much fun as you hoped would come back here and moan to fatshark how scuffed the class is…
Awesome! Didn’t see this so thanks for the link. I’ll check it out 
Lets take Archetypes in mind.
That mean 3 personality, with either 3 or 6 voice actors (Depending on whether or not they do 2 gender or equivalent) + Adding new voice lines to the current ones.
It also mean a whole new line up of cosmetics, both free (Penances and Commissary), and Paid (Commodore).
As well as a whole new tree, composed of 3 branches made of Blitz, Ability, Aura, and Keystones, as well as 2 dozen minor nodes.
There is also the problem of the monetization, where would it be dlc, and would they be permitted to sell cosmetics if they do so (Call back to VT2’s Premium Cosmetics for the Prem career not being sold on the Microsoft side).
Like the Archetypes are a big load of work, and it’s really not something that is atm promised, nor something that we should consider as being done multiple time, if it even does happen.
And in which case, Ratling is picking a harder candidate that has less potential than picking a Tech Adept (Who would introduce new weapons that can’t be brought without it or equivalent), a Xenos (Not saying I’m in favour of it, but also would be able to introduce new exclusive weapons, but has issues with Auric cosmetics and lore) or even a Sister (Who has some exclusive weapons as well as being able to introduce exclusive cosmetics)
Yeah it would be a lot of work, but I never see that as an argument against an idea. It’s a games studio, all they do is make games non-stop. It’s literally their job. We as the community should never ever dismiss an idea because we deam it to be too much work. It’s not our place to decide that and it’s something I see mentioned on those forums all too often.
As for tech mage or similar…I’d personally 100% prefer a Ratling over any form of new human sized archetype. We already have 3. Let’s have something as different as an Ogryn in the mix. Exclusive weapons etc can be applied to anyone, just like they do with the current archetypes. Why can’t a vet have a flamer? Because reasons.
I think a Ratling would be huge fun. Obvs just my opinion and preference but the unique things a Ratling could bring to the gameplay and approach would be brilliant and fresh.
Edit: on the topic of new voice lines - that’s actually not insane amount of work. The sound designer would do that on his own steam and it’s a case of getting lines approved then having a few recording sessions. They’d record a load too and have a catalogue to use. I’m pretty sure they added quite a bit of new adio/VO on the last couple of big updates
I really doubt we’re getting any new archetypes, ever. I think the classes they wanted to give us were essentially what we got in the class rework and the new talent trees.
That is indeed the case, the ‘classes’ had been datamined and largely followed similar themes.
Well you should, that’s what is called ‘working scope’.
If we put it to the most basic element, a new archetype will take as much work regardless of what they pick, and will issue the same amount of ‘fun’ (Do consider that while it’s somewhat true, there are differences that shouldn’t be considered, cause it’s not really measurable).
If you’re seeing the archetype solely on the PoV/bodytype, they you’re looking at it in a biased way.
And if they did a smaller PoV archetype, the better/deeper candidate from the lore would be a Squat, as it let them lean on various sources:
Both for cosmetics, weapons, personality…
They do, but the volume of voice lines is not small, @FatsharkStrawHat would it be possible to know how many voice lines a personality has ?
Sure but, and I genuinely hate saying this, I know scope well as I’ve worked in many games studios of differing sizes for many years over many years in different countries. I don’t like bringing that up for obvious reasons but I do know very well how games studios generally operate and I’d not suggest something that was out of the realm of possiblity. My gripe is that community members seem to think they have enough intimate knowledge of a company’s pipeline and ability in order to approve or reject an idea before it hits the designers desk, which is frankly absurd and I’d just like to stop seeing it used on these forums as a means to quash an idea before it’s started.
None of us have the right to say what’s too much work.
I’m not saying I’d expect it in a few weeks and I don’t mind them taking their time but a studio is made up of lots of microclimates of specialist workers and teams who focus on different areas. It’s not like the entire team suddenly all drop what they’re doing to all work on the same feature. It doesn’t work like that. The engine is the biggest hurdle and once that is solid then everything else is simply a matter of time. The engine is pretty damn solid imo and now it’s content pushing.
I’d genuinely be surprised if they didn’t already have some core mechanics already set and playable for a whole range of different archetypes from previous prototype stages. I’m sure they have a lot of toys sitting in the wings that they’ve not yet pushed into the limelight.
That just sounds like personal preference. Imo none of them would fit as well as a rattling whom are known criminals - the entire theme of DT. I’d not want a halfing melee Ogryn anyway. I’d want some truly truly unique gameplay to the next archetype…not just different cosmetics.
But quite irrelevant. You’d be surprised how much sound can be recorded in just a few sessions.
Poo-pooing an idea based on potential VO requirements is just getting a bit pedantic though if I’m honest. It’s not a solid argument. The sound designer would have heaps of fun with it and every sound designer I’ve worked with has always blown my mind with how much quality audio and VO they can churn out in no time at all. The sound designer would have all the lines ready and waiting eons before the other content was ready to publish.
