Nightmares & Visions - Early Balance Look - Dev Blog Pt. 2

Hey Everyone,

Welcome back to part two of our Early Balance Look for our upcoming release, Nightmares & Visions (coming out March 25, 2025).

In case you missed Pt. 1, you can read about the Ogryn Talent Tree rework on this previous post. :saluting_face:

Now to pass the mic over to Matteo to discuss some other Balances and Tweaks coming in the upcoming patch.

  • Part 1 (Ogryn Talent Tree Rework)
  • Part 2 (Ogryn Weaponry Balancing)
  • Part 3 (Additional Weapon Changes and Tweaks)

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Weapon Balance Changes

In this upcoming update, we are looking to address some of the outliers in the Darktide arsenal, whether over or under-performing.

We approached this objective by tweaking values, but also by adding new features and attack chains, or by shifting the power budget of the weapons, with the goal of giving each of them clear strengths and weaknesses.

In all cases, we made sure that the fantasy of each weapon was maintained or even reinforced by the changes.

Ogryn Weaponry

“Otherwise? –

Otthr… Otews… Or! We get mad, Sah!”

Alongside the giant Talent tree rework, we looked at the weapon selection available to the Ogryn class to spice up some of those that fell a bit out of vogue.

Blastoom Mk III Grenadier Gauntlet

The Ogryn Grenadier Gauntlet melee move-set was often not powerful enough to fulfill its role in this hybrid weapon type.

Conversely, on the ranged side, the ammo magazine and reserves became very punishing in target-rich environments, especially when paired with the longer-than-average reload speed.

We significantly increased the damage potential of the Strikedown melee attacks, while also changing the attack chained after the Light > Heavy string to Light 1 / Heavy 1 to add an easy-to-use Relentless combo.

We also significantly raised the ammo reserves of the weapon and brought the ammo in the magazine up from 4 to 5, and slightly sped up the reload timing.

We slightly raised the fuse timer of the grenade to increase the effective range on longer distances, and made the projectiles ignore the damage reduction multiplier when hitting an enemy on a limb.

Finally, we increased the offensive properties of the Special attack, both for the direct punch hit and the following explosion.

Detailed Changes - Blastoom Mk III Grenadier Gauntlet

Melee

  • Melee attack chains
    • Light > Heavy > … chain from Light 3 / Heavy 2 to Light 1 / Heavy 1.
  • Reduced chain time from Wield to Start Attack from 0.9 to 0.8.
  • Melee Light Strikedown damage profile
    • adm vs Carapace from 0.2 to 0.5
    • Finesse multiplier 1.0 on the 1st target
    • Finesse multiplier 0.5 on the 2nd target
    • Impact distribution from 12 to (6,10) on default target.
  • Melee Heavy Strikedown damage profile
    • attack distribution from (130,250) to (175,350) on 1st target.

Ranged

  • Projectile direct hit damage profile
    • added ignore_hitzone_multipliers = true.
  • Grenadier Gauntlet projectile template
    • fuse_time from 0.75 to 1.00.
  • Added time scale 1.05 to the Reload action (sped up).

Ammo

  • Ammo magazine
    • from 4 to 5.
  • Ammo reserves
    • from (lerp_basic = 36, lerp_perfect = 58) to (lerp_basic = 48, lerp_perfect = 511).
    • from 35 to 50 at 80% Ammo stat.

Special

  • Added ignore stagger reduction to the Special punch attack.
  • Changed the damage profile of the Special punch attack from Relentless to Strikedown.

Dev Note: More damage on the direct hit of the Special attack, even when out of ammo.

  • Special Explosion close range damage profile.
    • adm vs Unarmoured from 1 to 1.25.
  • The Special Explosion radius now scales with the Blast Size stat.

Cleavers

We significantly increased the damage of the Special punch, meaning it can now be used as an actual attack in combos, opening up effectively new attack chains.

While the damage against more heavily armoured enemies remains low, the Special uppercut will still be a reliable tool to stagger any target due to its high Impact values.

For all three marks, we fine-tuned the chain timings of different actions and increased the offensive properties of the Strikedown and Vanguard profiles.

We also slightly improved the dodge distance and speed and the timings related to Block and Push to make the weapon snappier.

For the Krourk Mk VI, we changed the Light 2 damage profile from Strikedown to Vanguard, which gave a small speed increase to the Heavy attacks, but also added a bespoke Heavy Strikedown attack chained only from Push.

This attack chains into Light 3 / Heavy 1, granting the weapon a new short but useful single target combo.

For the Bull Butcher Mk III, we changed the Pushfollow attack damage profile from Light Vanguard to Light Strikedown and added a unique Light Strikedown Stab chained only from the Pushfollow attack.

The new Light Strikedown Stab has a power level multiplier of 550 and chains into Light 1 / Heavy 1, for a quick and easy to use single target combo.

The Krourk Mk IV was already in a good spot after the overall changes to the weapon family, so we only slightly increased the power level multiplier of the Pushfollow attack to make it more useful as the opener for a horde control combo.

Detailed Changes - Cleavers

Damage Profiles

  • Special Uppercut
    • 1st target
      • damage from (30,70) to (190,290).
    • Removed 4th target.
    • Added adm table for targets 1 to 3:
      • adm vs Flak from 0.75 to 0.6
      • adm vs Unyielding from 1.0 to 0.2
      • adm vs Maniac from 0.5 to 0.7
      • adm vs Carapace from 0.1 to 0.05
      • adm vs Void shield from 1.5 to 1.0.
    • Added Impact armour mod table for targets 1 to 3:
      • mod vs Maniac from 0.5 to 0.7
      • mod vs Void shield from 1.5 to 1.0
    • Ragdoll push force from 400 to 500.
  • Light Strikedown
    • Cleave from (2,8) to double_cleave ((2.0,4.0)).
    • 1st target
      • Damage from (100,200) to (120,240)
      • adm vs Maniac from 0.5 to 0.8
      • adm vs Carapace from 0.05 to 0.25
      • Finesse boost vs Unarmoured from 0.5 to 0.6.
    • 2nd target
      • adm vs Carapace from no.damage to 0.1
      • Damage from (40,80) to (50,100).
  • Light Strikedown Stab
    • Cleave from (2,8) to double_cleave ((2.0,4.0)).
    • 1st target
      • adm vs Unarmoured from 1.0 to 1.25
      • adm vs Maniac from 0.75 to 0.8.
    • 2nd target
      • adm vs Carapace from no.damage to 0.1
      • Damage from (40,80) to (50,100).
  • Heavy Strikedown
    • 1st target
      • Damage from (200,400) to (210,410).
      • Finesse multiplier from 0.25 to 0.55
        • Finesse boost vs Unarmoured from 0.1 to 0.9
        • Finesse boost vs Flak from 0.5 to 0.35
        • Finesse boost vs Unyielding from 0.1 to 0.5
        • Finesse boost vs Maniac from 0.1 to 1.0
        • Finesse boost vs Carapace from 0.1 to 0.35
        • Finesse boost vs Infested from 0.25 to 1.0.
  • Light Vanguard
    • 1st target
      • Finesse multiplier from 0.25 to 0.55.
  • Heavy Vanguard
    • 1st target
      • Adm vs Maniac from 0.75 to 0.8.
      • Adm vs Carapace from 0.2 to 0.3.
      • Finesse multiplier from 0.25 to 1.0; added finesse boost tweaks:
        • Finesse boost vs Unarmoured 1.0
        • Finesse boost vs Flak armour 0.3
        • Finesse boost vs Unyielding 0.4
        • Finesse boost vs Maniac 1.2
        • Finesse boost vs Carapace armour 1.1
        • Finesse boost vs Infested 0.7
        • Finesse boost vs Void shield 0.25.

All Marks

  • Improved dodge template
    • distance scale from (0.8,1.0) to (0.8,1.1)
    • speed modifier from (0.9,0.9) to (0.9,1.0).
  • Block action minimum hold time from 0.3 to 0.2.
  • Push chain time from Block from 0.25 to 0.15.
  • Added buffer time 0.3 for the Wield input.
  • Wield action total time from 0.1 to 0.2.
  • Removed chain to Special from Wield action.
  • Start attack chain time from Wield from 0 to 0.1.
  • Start attack chain time from Special from 0.7 to 0.6.
  • Unwield chain time from Special from 0 to 0.6.
  • Block chain time from Special from 0.55 to 0.7.
  • Added Allowed during sprint to most attacks.
  • Added Special uppercut hitstop animation.
  • Updated attack gestalts in the Inspect menu.

Krourk Mk VI Cleaver

  • Added new attack start chain from Push, chaining into Light 1 / bespoke vertical Heavy Strikedown.
    • The new Heavy Strikedown has power level multiplier 550 and chains into Light 3 / Heavy 1.
  • Heavy 1 windup from 0.65 to 0.55.
  • Heavy 1 and Heavy 2 time scale from 1.2 to 1.3 (sped up).
  • Slightly increased the Heavy 2 damage window end timing.
  • Light 2 damage profile from Strikedown to Vanguard.
  • Start attack and Block chain times from Pushfollow from 0.7 to 0.6.
  • Pushfollow hitbox slightly lowered to be more aligned with animation and crosshair.
  • Start attack chain time from Push from 0.5 to 0.45.

Bull Butcher Mk III Cleaver

  • Pushfollow attack damage profile from light Vanguard to light Strikedown.
    • Pushfollow attack power level multiplier 450.
  • Added a new attack start chain from Pushfollow attack, chaining into bespoke Light Strikedown Stab / Heavy 2.
    • The new Light Strikedown Stab has power level multiplier 550 and chains into Light 1 / Heavy 1.
  • Start attack chain time from Pushfollow attack from 0.4 to 0.45.
  • Block chain time from Pushfollow attack from 1.05 to 0.75.

Krourk Mk IV Cleaver

  • Block chain time from Pushfollow attack from 0.85 to 0.75.
  • Added power level multiplier 525 to the Pushfollow attack.

Brute-Brainer Latrine Shovels

The Ogryn Latrine Shovels needed some tweaks to remove excessive clunkiness and to give players encouragement to fully utilize their moveset, so the changes on this weapon family will be mainly related to rebalancing action chain times and the different attack profiles.

For all marks, we lowered the chain times to Block for most Light attacks to 0.1s, meaning that now the Block action will be more responsive (but also that the attacks will be canceled before entering the attack window if not careful).

We rebalanced the cleave values for Light Relentless and Light Vanguard attacks to better diversify the profiles, and increased the offensive properties of the Strikedown profiles.

We significantly lowered the chain times after performing the Special attacks of the folding marks (Mk XIX and Mk V), especially for the Light version to increase its use cases.

For the Mk III, we added a bespoke Light Strikedown attack chaining only from Heavy 1 and chaining back to Light 3 / Heavy 1.

We also significantly increased the offensive potential of the Special punch, while tweaking its reach and hitbox to better match the animation.

These changes will give the mark easier but also more interesting decisions when chaining together attacks for single target combos.

We also slightly increased the power level multiplier for the Light 3 attack, as it was further into the attack chain structure, and improved the offensive properties of the Pushfollow attack.

For the Mk XIX, we increased the power level multiplier of the Heavy 2 and Light 3 / Light 4 attacks, to incentivize their use instead of resetting the combo by Block or swap canceling.

The Mk V didn’t need a lot of targeted changes, so we limited ourselves to a small bump to the Pushfollow attack.

Detailed Changes - Brute-Brainer Latrine Shovels

Damage Profiles

  • Light Relentless

    • Cleave from medium (4.0,9.0) to large (5.5,10.5)
    • Increased attack power distribution slightly on targets 2, 3, 4
    • Increased Impact power distribution slightly on targets 2, 3, default.
  • Light Vanguard

    • Cleave from large (5.5,10.5) to medium (4.0,9.0)
    • Lowered Impact power distribution slightly on all targets
    • Raised attack power distribution slightly on default target.
  • Light Strikedown

    • 1st target
      • adm vs Carapace from 0.1 to 0.25
      • finesse boost vs Unarmoured from 0.1 to 0.6
      • finesse boost vs Unyielding from 0.1 to 0.5
      • finesse boost vs Maniac from 0.1 to 0.2
      • finesse boost vs Infested from 0.25 to 0.5.
  • Light Strikedown Special

    • Added ignore stagger reduction
    • Changed stagger category from sticky to melee.

Dev Note: It also inherits the changes to Light Strikedown.

  • Heavy Strikedown
    • 1st target
      • Finesse multiplier from 0.25 to 0.5
      • finesse boost vs Unarmoured from 0.1 to 0.9
      • finesse boost vs Unyielding from 0.1 to 0.5
      • finesse boost vs Maniac from 0.1 to 0.5
      • finesse boost vs Infested from 0.25 to 0.7.
  • Heavy Strikedown Special

Dev Note: It inherits the finesse boost changes to Heavy Strikedown.

  • Special Uppercut
    • 1st target
      • damage from (30,60) to (100,200)
      • Rebalanced down damage adm values, especially against Flak armour, Carapace armour and Unyielding
      • Rebalanced up Impact adm values.
    • Added 2nd target.
    • Slightly shortened the active window.
    • Reduced the hitbox and reach.

All Marks

  • Lowered chain time to Block for all Light attacks to 0.1.
  • Added 0.3 Wield buffer time.

Brute-Brainer Mk III

  • Added a new bespoke Light Strikedown attack, chaining only from Heavy 1 and chaining to Light 3 / Heavy 1.
  • Heavy 1 chain time to Wield from 0.17 to 0.4.
  • Heavy 2 chain time to Wield from 0 to 0.4.
  • Heavy 2 chain time to Block from 0.46 to 0.4.
  • Light 3 time scale from 1.0 to 1.1 (sped up).
  • Light 3 chain time to Special from 0.5 to 0.7.
  • Added power level multiplier 525 to Light 3.
  • Special chain time to Wield from 0 to 0.6.
  • Special chain time to Block from 0.9 to 0.6.
  • Special chain time to Special from 1.0 to 0.9.
  • Changed the Pushfollow attack damage profile to standard Light Relentless.
  • Added power level multiplier 550 to Pushfollow attack.
  • Added Uninterruptible to Pushfollow attack.
  • Push chain time to Pushfollow attack from 0.45 to 0.35.

Brute-Brainer Mk XIX

  • Light Special attack chain times:
    • to Blitz from 0.8 to 0.7
    • to Wield from 0.8 to 0.7
    • to Start Attack from 1.3 to 0.7
    • to Start Special Attack from 1.3 to 0.8
    • to Block from 0.8 to 0.7.
  • Heavy Special attack chain times
    • to Wield from 1.3 to 0.9
    • to Start Attack from 1.5 to 1.32
    • to Start Special Attack from 1.95 to 1.45
    • to Block from 1.1 to 0.9.
  • Heavy 1 chain time to Wield from 0.17 to 0.4.
  • Heavy 2 chain time to Wield from 0 to 0.4.
  • Heavy 2 chain time to Block from 0.46 to 0.4.
  • Added power level multiplier 525 to Heavy 2.
  • Added power level multiplier 530 to Light 3 and Light 4.
  • Tweaked Light 1 and Heavy 1 hitboxes to better match the animation.

Brute-Brainer Mk V

  • Light Special attack chain times:
    • to Blitz from 0.8 to 0.7
    • to Wield from 0.8 to 0.7
    • to Start Attack from 1.3 to 0.7
    • to Start Special Attack from 1.3 to 0.8
    • to Block from 0.8 to 0.7.
  • Heavy Special attack chain times
    • to Wield from 1.3 to 0.9
    • to Start Attack from 1.5 to 1.32
    • to Start Special Attack from 1.95 to 1.45
    • to Block from 1.1 to 0.9.
  • Changed the Pushfollow attack damage profile to standard Light Relentless.
  • Added power level multiplier 550 to Pushfollow attack.
  • Added Uninterruptible to Pushfollow attack.
  • Tweaked Light 3, Heavy 2, Pushfollow attack hitboxes to better match the animation.

Foe-Rend Ripper Guns

In order to improve the consistency of the Ripper Guns, we normalized the minimum pellet count (the amount of shotgun pellets that are always considered hitting an enemy, even if they were actually hit by a lower amount of pellets) between the Hipfire and Braced fire modes for all marks.

We then increased the speed of the Brace action to make it faster to transition to Braced shooting.

Before, shooting in Braced mode was often less effective than just Hipfiring, especially from mid range and further.

After the changes, the choice between the mobile Hipfire mode and the less agile but more controllable Braced mode will be more engaging.

We also increased the ammo reserves of the weapon and slightly increased its ranged cleave values for all marks.

Finally, we significantly increased the offensive properties of Special bayonet attack and reduced the movement speed penalty when shooting in Hipfire mode, to further enhance the “assault” theme of the weapon.

For the Mk VI, we increased its default pellet count and raised the Finesse multiplier, improving the reliability of the shots while also rewarding precise aiming.

We also slightly lowered the move speed reduction when in Braced stance and tightened the Braced spread profile to be more horizontal and less scattered overall, to further differentiate the Hipfire and Braced modes for this mark.

Detailed Changes - Foe-Rend Ripper Guns

Ammo

  • Ammunition reserves from (126,247) to (126,248).
    • from 148 to 168 at 80% Ammo stat.

Special attack

  • 1st target
    • attack power distribution from 200 to 300
    • Impact power distribution from 25 to 30
    • Finesse multiplier from 0.5 to 1.2
    • Finesse boost vs Unarmoured from 0.1 to 0.25
    • Finesse boost vs Maniac from 0.1 to 0.2.
  • 2nd target
    • Impact power distribution from 6 to 12.
  • Added buffer time 0.3 for the Special input.

All marks

  • Aligned minimum pellet count between Hipfire and Braced fire modes.
  • Ranged Cleave from 2 to double_cleave (2.0,4.0).
  • Slightly lowered the move speed reduction when shooting in Hipfire mode.
  • Added 1.3 time scale to the Brace action (sped up).

Mk II

  • Braced min num hits vs Unyielding from 4 to 5.

Mk V

  • Braced min num hits vs any armour type but Carapace from 3 to 5.
  • Aligned the Moving, Crouch and Crouch Moving values to the Still values for the Hipfire and Braced Recoil profiles.

Mk VI

  • Hipfire and Braced num pellets from 5 to 7.
  • Hipfire and Braced min num hits vs any armour type but Carapace from 2 to 3.
  • Hipfire and Braced damage profiles Finesse multiplier from 0.5 to 1.5.
  • Tightened the Braced spread profile to be more horizontal.
  • Slightly lowered the move speed reduction when in Braced stance.

Bully Clubs

To enhance the “brutal beatdown” identity of the Ogryn Clubs, we took a pass on all the attack profiles and increased the base damage of the Light Strikedown, Heavy Strikedown, Light Vanguard, Heavy Relentless profiles.

We rebalanced the armour modifiers against specific armour types, in particular lowering the Unyielding modifiers (which were extremely high on some profiles) and raising the Carapace armour and traitor Captain Conversion Field ones.

We then tweaked the damage and Impact falloff on secondary targets, removing damage caps while still maintaining a curve skewed towards the first targets.

For the Special Slap, we increased the damage of the attack and rebalanced its Stagger properties, lowering the weakspot bonus but increasing the base Impact values. We also greatly improved the chain timings to the Block action.

We also tweaked the chain timings on all marks, often lowering the values to make actions flow better into each other, but also adding more commitment when performing Heavy attacks.

For the “Brunt Special” Mk I, we added a new Heavy Strikedown attack chaining only from Heavy 1 and chaining back into Light 3 / Heavy 1, to introduce a very easy to perform Strikedown combo to the weapon.

The previous Heavy 2 Relentless attack will still be chainable from Light 1, but it will also be available now after a Push action.

Additionally, the weapon will chain into Light 1 / Heavy 1 instead of Light 3 / Heavy 1 after a Pushfollow attack, granting a fast Vanguard combo when controlling enemy crowds.

For the “Brunt’s Pride” Mk II, we significantly enhanced the properties of the unique Light Punch performed after any Special attack, to more easily follow up after having staggered an enemy with a Slap.

We also increased the power of the Light 4 attack, and made it more reachable through new combo chains from Light Punch and Heavy 2 > Light 3.

Since the “Brunt’s Basher” Mk IIIb Heavy Relentless attack loop is now slightly less performant against single targets, we reworked the combos of this weapon to introduce additional routes.

We added a new Heavy Strikedown attack chaining only from Light 3 and chaining back to Light 1 / Heavy 1, and we changed the chain after Heavy 2 to go into Light 3 / Heavy 1. Building on the already existing Pushfollow attack > Light 3 combo, this will add more opportunities to perform Strikedown attack strings to dispatch any foe.

We also increased the power of the Light 4 attack, as it was otherwise hard to utilize being very far into the Light attack chain.

Finally, we added a minimum time of 0.3s to the Block action to align the weapon to the other two marks.

Detailed Changes - Bully Clubs

Damage Profiles

  • Light Relentless

    • Tweaked adm values vs most armour types.
    • Added 4th and 5th targets.
    • Smoothed damage falloff on secondary targets.
    • Decreased Impact on 2nd and default targets.
  • Heavy Relentless

    • Tweaked adm values vs most armour types
      • Particularly, 1st target adm vs Unyielding from 3 to 1.
    • 1st target damage from (135,275) to (150,310).
    • Smoothed damage falloff on secondary targets
      • Particularly, damage on default target from (0,0) to (20,40).
    • Decreased Impact on default target.
  • Light Strikedown

    • Tweaked adm values vs most armour types.
    • 1st target damage from (150,300) to (185,370).
    • 1st target Finesse multiplier from 0.25 to 0.35.
    • 1st target Finesse boost from 0.1 to 0.5 vs most armoury types.
  • Heavy Strikedown

    • Cleave from single_cleave to double_cleave.
    • Tweaked adm values vs most armour types.
    • 1st target damage from (200,400) to (250,500).
    • 1st target finesse multiplier from 0.25 to 0.35.
    • 1st target finesse boost from 0.1 to 0.5 vs most armoury types.
    • Increased damage on 2nd and default targets.
  • Light Vanguard

    • Tweaked adm values vs most armour types.
    • 1st target damage from (90,180) to (100,210).
    • 1st target Impact from (15,30) to (10,20).
    • 1st target Finesse multiplier from 0.25 to 0.35.
    • Added 4th and 5th targets.
    • Smoothed damage falloff on secondary targets.
  • Light Vanguard pushfollow

    • 1st target damage from (90,180) to (110,220).
  • Special Slap

    • Weakspot stagger resistance modifier from 0.1 to 0.4.
    • Tweaked adm values vs most armour types.
    • Tweaked Impact modifier values vs most armour types.
    • 1st target damage from (5,10) to (45,90).
    • 1st target Impact from 4 to 10.
    • Default target damage from (5,10) to (20,40).
    • Default target Impact from 2 to 4.
  • Light Punch

    • See Ogryn Cleaver Special Uppercut damage profile.

All marks

  • Added 0.3 buffer time for the Unwield action.
  • Special 1 chain to Block from 0.8 to 0.6.
  • Special 2 chain to Block from 1.2 to 0.6.

“Brunt Special” Mk I

  • Heavy 1 chain to Unwield from 0.17 to 0.4.
  • Heavy 1 chain to Block from 0.15 to 0.4.
  • Heavy 2 chain to Unwield and Block from 0 to 0.45.
  • Special 2 chain to Start attack from 0.7 to 0.4.
  • Pushfollow chain time to Start attack, Block and Special from 0.65 to 0.55.
  • Heavy 1 windup from secondary starts from 0.75 to 0.65.
  • Light 1 time scale from 0.9 to 1 (sped up).
  • Light 3 time scale from 1.1 to 1 (slowed down).
  • Added a new Heavy Strikedown attack, chaining from Heavy 1 and to Light 3 / Heavy 1.
  • Changed chain from Push from Light 1 / Heavy 1 to Light 2 / Heavy 2.
  • Changed chain from Pushfollow attack from Light 3 / Heavy 1 to Light 1 / Heavy 1.

“Brunt’s Pride” Mk II

  • Push chain to Start attack from 0.4 to 0.3.
  • Punch chain to Start attack from 0.75 to 0.55.
  • Heavy 1 windup from Special 1 or Special 2 from 0.75 to 0.5.
  • Changed chain from Heavy 2 from Light 1 / Heavy 1 to Light 3 / Heavy 1.
  • Changed chain from Punch from Light 2 / Heavy 2 to Light 4 / Heavy 2.
  • Light 4 time scale from 1 to 1.1 (sped up).
  • Added power level 550 to Light 4.
  • Tweaked stagger direction for Light 4.
  • Changed damage profile for Punch from Light Relentless to Light Punch.

“Brunt’s Basher” Mk IIIb

  • Heavy 1 chain to Unwield from 0.17 to 0.4.
  • Heavy 1 chain to Block from 0.15 to 0.45.
  • Heavy 2 chain to Unwield from 0 to 0.6.
  • Heavy 2 chain to Block from 0 to 0.65.
  • Heavy 2 chain to Start attack from 0.85 to 0.75.
  • Push chain to Pushfollow attack from 0.3 to 0.2.
  • Heavy 1 windup from Special 1 or Special 2 from 0.75 to 0.5.
  • Added power level 550 to Light 4.
  • Changed chain from Heavy 2 from Light 1 / Heavy 1 to Light 3 / Heavy 1.
  • Added a new Heavy Strikedown attack, chaining from Light 3 and to Light 1 / Heavy 1.
  • Added minimum hold time 0.3 to Block (same as the other marks).

DarktideHeader

Alright, we still have a bit of notes to share, and this post is already quite long!

Let’s end pt. 2 here (which focused on Ogryn Weaponry), and we’ll continue on in pt.3 with Other Weapon Changes and Tweaks.

See y’all there!

31 Likes

I’m not enough of a math guy to know exactly how these will play out, but it looks like a serious set of buffs and includes Ogryn’s biggest underperformer the GG, sooo…yeah.

Combined with the massive damage buffs available via the new talent tree, and Ogg looks like he’s gonna be sitting pretty.

10 Likes

I’m pleased to see you looked at the minimum pellet counts for ripper guns. I installed the fullauto mod specifically because it was more effective to spam hip-fire shots and deal with the recoil than to brace the weapon.

2 Likes

tumblr_inline_pcgoefUTM41s6a9sf_540

I like everything I’m seeing with the punches. Folding shovels sound like they have a reason to live again, too

5 Likes

A bit disappointed not to see any Shield changes. It is a very strong weapon, yes. But with Brutal Momentum, there really isn’t any reason to use attacks other than the Heavy 1, as it has better single-target and horde DPS and can easily be repeated by block-cancelling.

Would love to see a bit more combo variety.

Edit: also, no Power Maul changes?

12 Likes

Heavy 2 was seeing plenty of use in havoc and it does have literal infinite cleave. With kars and shield being good in h40, I see little reason for it to be changed immediately vs cleavers and clubs

3 Likes

I was hoping Rippers would get a base damage increase, but I’m looking forward to trying it! There’s a lot going on here with the talent revamp and the changes; I’m glad mk V enthusiasts will be rewarded for bracing and the mk VI enjoyers will be eating good, too!

Oh, realized there’s a couple of other weapon related pain points not mentioned. I hope a twin-linked heavy stubber and power maul change are still in the works.

6 Likes

I think the improved consistency will have the same effect at most ranges. The Rippers are already quite powerful at point-blank range, but they’re frustrating to use at medium ranges.

Reads title
Oh boy! The power maul will definitely get buffs
Reads content
It seems I was mistaken…
But in all seriousness, looks like good changes. I won’t have to magdump a trapper a close-mid range to kill it with a ripper gun now.

5 Likes

As the last remaining brain-damaged MK II liker, I know my breakpoints disappear past sneezing range and at point blank it’s still inconsistent and mag-dumpy to kill elites and specials. I think the cleave buff will feel amazing in hordes, but that’s about it. Now that the V and VI are going to be consistent with braced and just 'more better", I’ll be dropping the II.

Maybe the talents will align to make up for the damage I think it needs.

1 Like

Ogryn’s Achlys Mk I Power Maul been forgotten again. This weapon is completely useless…
:cry:

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Yeah paul is still dumpy after the rework. Don’t see any changes to the actual worst ranged in the game (krourk twin linked) either. I’ve yet to number crunch but the pickaxes will still do a lot more damage than the rest. Don’t see any noticeable increase to hitmass to make hitting more targets an actual reality with clubs. Shovels seem to get a nerf in that respect on light attacks, while the patch notes gas on about making it more varied an experience.

Though I don’t expect anything ever so I guess some buffs to some weapons is better than nothing. Even if the incredibly small ogryn kit that is mostly bad somehow had weapons that were missed by these changes.

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All this news has me so hyped. I started playing the game and wanted to main Ogryn, but their talent selection was like a neutered version of every other class. And I am a huge bullet sponge, so it was hard to really play the mixed bruiser I wanted to be.

From the talent changes, to the weapon changes this is exactly what I wanted to see. Being rewarded for mixing between melee/range and stacking huge damage reduction by mixing it up on the vanguard.

I have to agree it was a bit odd to not see the power maul getting any love, it is so damn clunky and was an obvious weapon to improve its combo flow. Maybe instead of one charged strike, you can chain into a second detonation? It needs something to make it worth having to stop and activate it.

Don’t get it. Punt hold club. Punt hit enemy with club. Is dif-ferr-ent?

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I’m hoping flechettes will end up being a more reliable option.

buff the power maul its really slow and not really worth taking

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Probably the flechette build? Since Batter is right there, I see no reason to not take it. No idea if the new Slam talent works off of Ripper melee, but if it does, maybe it would also work with Concentrate? Use stamina to control fire when braced, stab a dude to get stamina back, cause bleed, ect.

I’m not entirely sure how these balance changes will effect the mk2, but I do wish it gives it more range because currently you can feel the damage fall off hard past like 5-6 meters. I think still buffing it’s minimum pellet to be around 6 or 7 could help with that.
But we’ll see when this update rolls around, if it turns out that the mk2 doesn’t need buffs after it, I’m happy.

As for another thing, interesting you didn’t mention anything about the power maul. I bring it upit since it is objectively currently ogryn’s weakest melee weapon and it still needs buffing. I’d it still needs better single target damage, also the slow down on the maul activation should be removed, also the activation for the maul needs to be faster so you can attack faster with it.
Also when do we get a slab shield with a power maul? Everyone knows that the current slabshield and battle maul is just called the slabshield_powermaul in the game files. Even the full black premium weapon skins with the small bones tied to them shows the name as “slab shield & power maul”.

But other than this, I think this update looks amazing and rest of the weapon buffs are good, like the ripper guns and clubs. I do look forward to 25th to play and test the new skilltree.

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Time to dust of my ripper and get in the fight!

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Here’s another build idea that leans more towards melee

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