New trend with the release of the DLC classes

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide General Discussion
1

I am by no means trying to be negative here - there’s already enough of that everywhere. I am trying to convey the need for a change of tone when it comes to the focus of what makes a class strong and viable.

Let’s start with the release of Arbites - obviously the class is going to be strong knowing it’s history. Either way, a dog that basically nullifies specials/bosses in most situations is extreme utility - combine that with their insane survivability, damage, talents and weapons - the class is just a powerhouse all around with barely any downsides.

Hive Scum - the class is basically the opposite in terms of survivability when compared to Arbites but who needs to survive when you can obliterate an entire screen with minimal effort and skate around levels as if you were Frozone in Antarctica. Movement/positioning is king in Darktide - Hive Scum is the king of movement and therefore you would THINK there would be a downside.. like not being able to kill an unlimited amount of specials within a specific vicinity with the press of ONE button.. but there isn’t. Anyone who has played Darktide and actually got GOOD/understand movement mechanics - Hive Scum is the equivalent of having a Hero class when put besides the original four classes. I have completely avoided buying this class because I LITERALLY do not want to ruin other people’s experience. As someone who has mained Zealot for the last 1800 hours and played Martyrdom for 800 of those, Hive Scum would be the equivalent of giving me unlimited cocaine and I don’t even do that sh*t.

Skitaari - Oh boy. Besides being in a game with a Skitaari last night and witnessing first hand how broken the bug with Noospheric command is - just wow. Half the stuff I even made eye contact with on screen was dying by a skull shooting lasers everywhere. Let’s move past the broken move and talk about how they give the class an Arc rifle that has insane ammo capacity, arcs between enemies, does insane damage to EVERY armor type AND they gave them a type of “auto aim” on top of the servo skull being able to solo events for them.

Let’s put all three of these together - a class that can survive basically anything and has an invincible, untargetable companion that can nullify every disabler in the game save being spammed with trappers and ALSO stun massive bosses about 1000 times it’s own weight. A second class that gives new meaning to the word “fast as f*ck boi” while sporting a Bazooka that could even Space Marines jealous. Finally the third and newest class that basically plays the game for you while deleting entire screens by spam pressing one button and a companion that is BUGGED until god knows when and it can also make every single event completely pointless!

So, with all that being said - the trend of giving people the ability to be GOOD without actually BEING GOOD - should stop. I get it though - that’s how you increase sales. Why release a new map when you can bate 40,000 people (get it) into the game and make them think they’re good with a DLC class and have 90% of them disappear within 5 months? You just made $480,000 in comparison to a free map where you get nothing.

Greed knows no bounds and it’s infecting every single part of life. Let’s try to be a little different.

2

It’s not even the whole class as much as it is just servo being stupid strong. For a single point you get constant free damage with the ability to by pass obj’s, for another you can revive from stupidly far away (Can save games btw) and you can do it 4 times no problem. The base auto aim isn’t even that good compared to vets (25% extra base + weakspot damage vs head magnetism) but it’s piercing sight modifier gives so much crit it doesn’t even matter

I really hope they rebalance skit at some point because their highs are absurd and their lows make the class feel even more uneven then then non gun release scum

3

I am by no means trying to be negative here - there’s already enough of that everywhere. I am trying to convey the need for a change of tone when it comes to the focus of what makes a class strong and viable

There is a lot of negativity especially in these forums it seems but this post devolved into “grrrr devs bad territory” with the final part of…

Greed knows no bounds and it’s infecting every single part of life. Let’s try to be a little different.

When reading something like this I tend to think this must be said as a joke simply comparing it to what you at first wrote. I for one like to ironically curse Fatshark whenever something happens to me ingame like eating a crusher overhead.

I see people struggle with the new class all the time yet all I keep seeing here is “screen wiping !1!1!!!” and “wow so op” that I laugh. I have however seen people using scripts to auto mark units for ultimate Noospheric command spam which clearly/unclearly could be a bug due to “the 25 percent capacitance” as written in the talent. (I should have searched the forum to see if this is acknowledged as a bug.) I have also seen psykers using similar things for frame perfect inputs to quell canceling some of which has been addressed like “Ball Spam” while others still remain. While auto aim did not exist there is the Zarona revolver mark that shoots out bullets with a hitbox so large they may as well be tree trunks coming out of the gun.

Is the Zealot Blades of Faith auto aim because you can throw it above the targets head and still hit them? It also one shots elites/specials on head shot faster than the servo skull can and you still have your ability while a skitarii can use up all their capacitance leaving them with no safety net. Then there is the whole existence of talents that highlight enemies for you even through walls that you could take offense at.

I cannot be sure but maybe this class was suppose to gain resources (capacitance) and then spend them at key moments for the best value in conjunction with things like the medicae/flame servo skull. Unfortunately many times it makes more sense to spend/spam as much as possible to prevent having to think when to use things or create cascade to prevent things going wrong in the first place.

4

Comparing Blades of faith, something that has ammo capacity and you have to physically aim/press a button for - to a servo skull that floats around and auto kills stuff for you by tagging - I don’t think that’s a good comparison. From my understanding though, the servo skull Noospheric command is bugged so it’s actually supposed to function differently. Yeah, the knives are SLIGHTLY generous and that’s because the enemies are constantly jerking around and moving at different angles. It would be damn near impossible to hit enemies on the move if they didn’t give a LITTLE leeway.

If you haven’t seen a Skitaari obliterating stuff in front of you before you have a chance to blink it’s because you haven’t played with a good one yet. Combine 2 of them together with the arc rifle and you might as well just sit back and relax while you watch everything get fried with lightning.

“I see people struggle with the new class” Yes, it’s completely normal to struggle when playing a new video game especially one like this. If you are bad at one class, you are most likely going to be bad at another. It doesn’t change the fact that once you UNDERSTAND mechanics, the class far excels above the original four. Same with Hive Scum and same with Arbites.

Let’s put it this way - while it took real practice, effort and actual skill to get good when playing Zealot/Veteran/Psyker/Ogryn. When playing the new DLC classes, it takes a fraction of the effort and skill to accomplish the same feats and it also creates bad understanding of game mechanics for people completely reliant on overtuned classes.

5

we just got nomans land and expeditions… what are you ppl talking about ‘’ no new maps’‘? xD
i keep seeing that message of ‘’ we need new maps’’ soooo mutch lately, it is driving crazy slowly. lol
the game has so many issues rn, especially with Special Units, the sound Engine and screen wipe slopification of the game. yet, ppl keep asking for the slopiest Slop. idk man.

6

Based on your description, I’m guessing you mainly play on Auric difficulty. On this difficulty, the damage of the old classes isn’t any weaker than the new ones—especially for Psykers and Ogryns. Every class can easily kill everything. the problem isn’t that the new classes are stronger than the old ones, but rather that all classes are just op right now.

7

I compared it to the throwing knife because they are both Blitzes somehow lol. It would probably make more sense to compare it to the hound but even just typing that makes me laugh. Noospheric Command (usage at 0 percent capacitance which is acknowledged as a bug in a report as intended it) would still be outperforming the dog.

In Auric Maelstroms everything seems to die relatively easy to the likes of almost everything. I do not see the class as wildly above others outside macro spam servo skull that trivializes some Havoc 40s but that is clearly a bug. Most skitarii I have seen in Havocs seem to shoot into horde of nonthreat trash units in melee range then die or use Advance Combat Doctrines to aggro an entire room of gunners then die. I do not feel better off having a skitarii in my group.

Rework Invincible Ogryn should not have been a thing that existed much like the Arbitrator Bleeddog. I do not think that Noospheric Command should effectively double or probably more if you stack brittleness on crushers to you dps.

Also would like to see what others think of the skull counting as ranged attacks for talents within the skill tree. (Also an acknowledged bug) I think its too strong for generating toughness with the toughness grace period and damage buffs you can pickup in the tree.( Not sure why I added this when gunners really are not a threat in this case anyway lol)

8

I don’t know if I’m living in the same universe as the rest of you guys but Skittles really just aren’t that good IMO. Yes arc rifle is busted but it’s really the only overpowered thing I would say is in their toolkit. Chordclaw has trouble dealing with multiple elites, shock nova is a well-balanced skill overall, and aimbot just sucks and the only reason people think it’s good is because it’s good with the arc rifle, which makes everything good.

The servoskull is also just Okay, it’s no cop dog. Noospheric command is bugged and I don’t use it anyways. Yes auto-hack and long range revives are teetering on ridiculous but aren’t actually that busted imo. If you use the revive while someone is swamped by crushers they’re just gonna die again.

They’re literally fine, it’s just the durability of the cops (who do no damage, by the way) and the damage output of the gangers that needs to be tuned down. My condolences for your playing Martyrdom as well, there are better keystones available that don’t require sacrificing curio slots and wasting a talent point on extra wounds :pray:

No Man’s Land was over a year ago and Expeditions is a bad gamemode that doesn’t capture the core Darktide experience.

9

Arbites, compared to other classes, has the lowest damage, which he trades for immense stagger power to which makes him a great enabler. He also doesn’t have access to knife or DS4 so his mobility struggles for range engagements. If he still had his bugged dogsplosion where it proc’d with bolt pistol puncture, I’d agree. But as it stands, he’s pretty balanced for what he is. The only reason I ever see an arb top damage is if the team is just not playing well.

Hive Scum is interesting as he is similar to pysker where you kinda have to know the game to use hive scum to its fullest potential; the only reason he’s really broken is his tox builds where it just melts hp. I think if they reigned in the needle pistols DoT and touched up on his tox he be better balanced.

Skiitari has two ults going for him, and it’s really only worth it to take Chord Claw; Arc Rifle is a very low-mobility weapon, and it’s very dangerous on reload. For Skiitari, at least for me, I feel like you really need to path hard to make him very tanky, whereas on other classes I can just take two nodes and I’m good to go. For example, with vet I can take kill confirmed, close order drill, and iron will and I’m good to go. Noosphere is a tad strong and I think there’s a bug going around so I will not comment too much on it.

But the original 4 classes are still very strong at what they do. Ogryn(as of now) is the only one who can taunt enemies and break their ai and give your team easy breathing room or he can just use rumbler pair with point blank barrage and delete rooms and get ammo back, Veteran is the only class that gives you free ammo and gold toughness and can use smoke to shut down range engagements, Zealot can also give you gold toughness, turn off the game for 5 seconds or can run stealth and one shot bosses with fat mangus. Then there is Pysker, who is unanimously agreed upon by the community to be the most broken class in the game as he just does not play it, smite entire rooms and enemies don’t move. Gunner squad or beast of nurgle? Just press f and they’re null and voided. Spam flamestaff and the room is dead. Best part is you don’t even have to pay he’s right there to play.

I don’t agree with this, as you can be a brain-dead shout bot for vet with DS4, a brain-dead chorus bot with zealot also using DS4, Ogryn gets 50% dr by just dodging and just taunt everything and the AI just goes dumb, and with pysker you can just smite the game while using bubble or venting shriek if you want enemies to die faster. Just because you play a dlc class does not mean your going to win as you still need to interact with the game, I still see newbies on DLC classes eating the dirt to a crusher overhead.

EDIT:
Forgot to add that Auric is a very powercrept difficulty and all classes are in serious need of tuning to make auric actually difficult again.

10

I really hope this skull gets nerfed.

11

Lol dude you sound like a person that has a problem with affording paid DLCs. You are crying about “OP” while at the same time the regular Psyker laughs in flames. I main Zealot as well, still have played with all the classes. You are probably meta-sweat-lord-chaser and it pisses you off that you need to learn to play with new classes & builds.

12

Fear not a simple Psyker wall/bubble shield or a Vet smoke nade completely stops a servo skull from shooting.

13

Before 1st DLC got released FS couldn’t make good progress on balance. Now with 6 month DLC cycle. It now outpaces FS’ ability to balance as more classes and weapons added over time. It’s like a road getting longer the more you travel on it. By time 2-3 more DLC going to get real messy.

14

That’s a bug vs …broken by design damage output.

From perspective of H40 games, I don’t find the class that OP outside the Noospheric, arc rifle and maybe plasma.

If you remove those from play, Skit is fairly mild. It’s damage output becomes fairly average, as you aren’t staff psyker with its spammable range AoE or even vet with its “free” grenades. The class is also not that survivable when compared to the easy mode offered by Hive Scum mobility or DR on Ogryn / zealot. I would rather play on melee psyker with a mobile weapon than on melee skit, but that might also a “skill issue” on my part.

I’m actually fine with Skull being untouchable during hacking events, but similarly to arbi’s dog, untouchable high damage companion is “problematic” at best

15

They will probably make it to where it requires more capacitance or has a cooldown.

16

You sound like someone that make a lot of assumptions without actually using their brain. Psyker has ONE broken build - fire staff. Remove the fire staff and 90% of these psykers would go back to dying every mission. Relying on a broken weapon/talent doesn’t make the class overpowered, it makes it badly balanced. Same with Veteran - remove shout and the class will be going down every mission again, just like before the release of the talents.

It’s also hilarious how utterly WRONG you are. I MAINLY play Zealot - I got almost 2000 hours on him - Veteran was my first class and got him to around 200, played Psyker for a bit and got him to 50. I bought Arbites about a month ago - got him to level 30, played 3 maelstroms and got bored.

First Auric Maelstrom at level 27 on my Arbites. Something I definitely couldn’t pull off on a Psyker/Veteran/Ogryn/Zealot. Yeah I could “pull” it off but not be doing anywhere as much damage. I could only imagine if I actually put time and effort into the class - yet I was able to complete the hardest mission in the game (outside of Havoc) on a level 27 character that I had minimal experience on.

17

Unless exterminator shotgun gets nuked this doesn’t hold true, EX shotgun is still absurdly OP with an ammo economy so strong it works on Havoc even with a arc rifle skittle that eats most of the ammo around. (Since everything’s getting balanced for Havoc)

18

How does the dog nullify bosses? Specials I get but bosses? 0_o

19

Okay, I was being a little too enthusiastic with my words - it doesn’t NULLIFY them but it can still provide…

20

That’s weak as hell, by that I mean it was a weakened boss, you get 2 uses of remote detonation now, it does like maybe 7.5% of an actual boss’s lifebar. Takes 50 seconds to recharge each charge.. it’s nice because you don’t have to worry about finding grenades, but for dropping bosses you’re better off running without a dog. It’s over a minute and a half to recharge both charges, and dogs fling themselves so far from the boss that if you detonate it at the wrong time despite being tagged to the boss you can miss.

Lone wolf + Skull crusher + bolter mag dumping is handily better for dropping bosses.

Infact talents like serrated maw aren’t even able to stack on bosses because the time between attacks from the dog is so long, it sucks. I’ve seen the boss killing a scum can do, I feel like arbiter harder compares.