Ransacked Event Feedback

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide Gameplay Feedback
1

First, I love this modifier conceptually. The RNG and no med stations makes things a lot more interesting, and pickup groups naturally stick together more and move at a higher pace (no need to search for loot) which is a really enjoyable change in terms of gameplay/mindset. I hope it gets added to Maelstrom and maybe Havoc pool of modifiers (or even the normal pool of modifiers!) and returns frequently, I really enjoy it.

Second, the implementation feels off in terms of challenge, as if the spawn count was decreased to balance the modifier. Auric missions with this modifier feel WAY too easy (and don’t have high intensity attached by default?), easier than normal aurics. At times I’m walking down the middle of the street in Throneside and there’s nothing in sight - this is auric? With a full party of havoc capable people there’s nothing to kill at times. With a group of randos, there’s still nothing to kill at times. Did something break? Feels much easier than past events.

Third, probably needs some tweaks. First, too many drops in high intensity auric at times - last night was stumbling through an absolute swamp of celerity stims and ammo pickups at one point (e.g. seems like everyone in that elite cluster dropped the same thing, we’re talking 15+ drops), ended that run with like 8 med stims found. Probably needs to 1) reduce rate on higher diffs/intensities, and 2) add pseudo-random logic to smooth out the curve and distribution of drops a bit (e.g. for example pre-gen a list of drops and have the death action pull from it with a timing component so you don’t get more than 2 in 10 seconds but don’t go 5 minutes without one). The fun in the mode to me is the RNG anticipation (e.g. really want a grenade, will we get one before we need it?) and that nothing is guaranteed / no med stations. Lastly, might also be some bugs - I rounded a corner on the main path ahead of the group and I found a trio of ragers… standing over a pair of stims. No one had been there before, maybe mobs spawned and despawned? Was odd to just find stims lying on the ground in this mode.

Love the mode, please keep it and add it to more game modes / rotations!

2

Yup, pretty much

We had the exact same experience, its a Malice that somehow got on the Auric mission board!

Wanna have a good laugh? Go read how empty map is a massive skill check :rofl:

3

i’ve had a few that werent empty, very hit and miss

fun when it’s not broken though

4

Lucky you, I’ve had three runs on it and it was the most pedistrian Darktide experience i had in years!

That being said i basically couldn’t care less about it, but it once again comes bundled together with Quickplay being perfectly hijacked by it for two weeks and that’s cretinous as it gets…

5

afaik the only difference between these missions and regular missions is the lack of chests/item spawns/medicae. It’s the same enemy spawns as normal aurics.

6

When I am playing normally, I barely use any stims, I hold on to it for dear life, for the just in case moment that never comes. Here, I am spamming whatever if find on the ground. So kind of helps.

But I would not say its easier, people play differently here and stick together and help each other more, rather than jumping at each others throat over reset points and stealing heals and ammo. Here you eat what you kill, and everyone is in hte middle of it all, because that is wher resources will spawn.

The game is no easier! people are playing better, and it feels easier, eventhough you technically have less resources.

:double_exclamation_mark: :double_exclamation_mark:

7

I actually really like how the maps are empty, as it gives Darktide something that it severely lacks these days: quiet moments. For a more complex explanation as to why quiet moments are needed in games like Darktide, read this:

8

Couldn’t agree more. That’s probably one more aspect that makes me like the event even more. Should be even more quiet moments for banter and such though. That was so good in VT2. The hectic rush makes me zone out a lot of the wonderful dialogue way too often.

9

Fix the bad player modifier, it hurting this event. I hate having to carry just to beat this event. Idk fatshark is trying to up the skill level to something higher but its just showing something else.

Also, My expectations regarding player levels are also in disarray as I’ve met lower level players who were better than higher leveled.

10

Another thing I’d add is the monstrosities seem to drop the same things. That is to say, daemonhosts always drop medkits, plague ogryns and chaos spawns always drop ammo boxes. It would be good if that was randomised too.

11

After completing the event, I have one major gripe with the modifier: it pushes a D&D-esque healing meta.

For those who have not played D&D, the way healing and death works there is that if someone is at low hitpoints, healing them is often worthless, and it is often, through some quirks of the death mechanics, better to wait until they are downed, and only then heal them, often times merely just enough so that they can get up and fight again, and generally with regard to the turn-based order (i.e. if that player is likely to be attacked before they get their turn, they might just get down again before being able to take their turn).

Back to Darktide. Since there are no med stations, and no guaranteed medkit spawns (normal missions always spawn 2, in randomized locations), and even the random chance for medkit drops seems to be massively weighted in favour of ammo crates, you often end up with entire missions where the only source of healing provided, for the entire team, is like two or three med-stimms, in rare occasions even less.

And as we all know, if someone is at very low HP, using a med-stimm just fills up a small portions (up to 25%, or one wound, whichever is smaller), therefore making the stimm much more effective if you wait, just like in D&D, until they go down, and only then use the stimm afterwards to clear the wound, so that they are now at 100% health.

To be clear, this is not a complaint against the way med-stimms work, but how the lack of other reliable healing sources are a problem. If this modifier is to become a permanent addition, as many have requested, I suggest that at least the med stations should exist as normal, thus lessenning the over-reliance on med-stimms and their quirky healing mechanics.

12

Oh no, strategic decision making and intelligent use of resources?! In a co-op horde shooter?!

I’d get your concern if it’s because of the general…vibe…of the player base.
But there is nothing objectively wrong with needing to play smarter because you can’t faceroll a mission due to an overabundance of health.

13

This has always been the case for medstimms.

14

Point of order: it’s whichever is larger.

Green stimms will generally restore 50% of target’s hp, if they’ve done their build anywhere near competently, except for Ogryn and sometimes Zealot.

15

nope, time stamped spawn dropping med crate :backhand_index_pointing_up:

as for the mode itself:
hi int is pretty ok as far as enemy density goes.
plenty of “unprepared” folk that spice up a run and waste resources if they get their hands on it as well.

been having more fun with this than any maelstrom lately, or havoc 40 for that matter.

bummer its on a timer as every event.

that would defeat the purpose of the mode.
never did i take so little damage while still playing pretty aggressive, its a nice spice to get your “green” early or be more cautious.

for under no circumstance trust a random with healing you up
a) when necessary
b) when useful

the amount of wasted stims or crates if you don’t get that stuff and reign over it first is a difficulty modifier in itself and weighs even heavier than just playing with 3 “ill-equipped” other rejects.

after securing the important resources you keep an eye on who’s contributing and who “isnt”, adding another decision component if you want to make it to the finish line.

to the point where a skit had to acknowledge mid game that backtracking for the 5th time to pick up a dude that would soon drop again isnt the best course of action nor the most efficient recipient of those stims.

hopefully it teaches those players the value of taking less damage and picking their fights more intelligently.

having a med station safety belt down the road would eliminate that learning effect :man_shrugging:

16

it is

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17

Normally players run to separate paths to avoid competing for resources on main path. Then later rejoin but at increased risk from being temporarily alone.

In this event - Now that everyone just rolls as deathball and coherency, the actual kills itself can drop stim, med/ammo kits, no more reason to split off. It drops on main path from RNG enemy deaths

The same effect happens in Maelstrom No Ammo. Where players join an existing mission to realise then leave, the ones that stay are running full anti-armour melee builds with no ammo dependency and roll out as group deathball because they’re not looking for ammo.

In strange sense it actually makes Maelstrom No Ammo actually easier than normal Maelstrom. Well also in Maelstrom No Ammo it tends to have ranged elites removed from what I remember, so there’s that.

Jump into HK server Auric/Maelstrom. They go full hard speed run, ignore medstation, ignore pickups and don’t deviate from main path. Whoever goes fastest the rest WILL follow to that pace as death ball group. They set expectation even if low health doesn’t matter if death, as long as rest or one moves on to rescue and continue.

The removal of resource hunting has the effect of motivating coherency with little reason to split off if nothing to find elsewhere.

But as someone said in different thread. If pickups were of team benefit i.e. Pickup ammo and everyone gets ammo it would lead to more friendly player to player interaction and less conflict when playing with randoms.

Shame in 5 days this event will end and who knows when or if rather it will return.