Veteran Scavenger / Auras Rework

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide Gameplay Feedback
1

Quick Aura Changes Summary:
Scavenger: In-built, no longer an aura.
Inspiring Presence (new aura): +1% toughness from kills, +15% weapon swap speed.
Fire Team: +5% damage > +10% ranged damage, moved to Scavengers old place
Close and Kill: +5% Movement Speed > +7.5% movement speed and +7.5% toughness damage reduction vs ranged.

:down_arrow::down_arrow::down_arrow:Longer detailed read :down_arrow::down_arrow::down_arrow:

So as we know, Vet is fairly likely to receive a rework, as is Zealot.

Anyway, I had an idea how to rework Vets auras so that they’re fitting to his class identity, which was originally meant to be the “shooty guy”, but he currently isn’t the shooty guy, he’s trying to do everything while being a lot worse then the other 4 classes.

So, first way to fix this is to change his auras so that they make sense and don’t seem so arbitrary as +5% damage and +5% movement speed, both of these stats don’t make much sense for the “shooty guy”, only aura that makes sense is Scavenger, but that as we know is kind of overpowered.

I propose that Scavenger aura be retired entirely, but not removed as a mechanic. I think that Scavenger be added to Veterans base stats as a built-in passive, but only affect the Veteran himself and not the team mates. This seems pretty appropriate as the “shooty guy”.

Next up, where Scavenger was on the tree there will need to be a replacement aura, one that fits into ranged combat focus, I suggest we move Fireteam into it’s place, change Fireteam from a 5% damage bonus (which is useless for breakpoints) to a 10% Ranged Damage bonus (which makes sense for the talent name and fact he’s the shooty guy), this would mirror Ogryns Bonebreaker aura which offers a 10% Melee damage bonus. Seems pretty fair if you ask me.

Next I would add a new Aura where Fireteam previously was that is focused more on being a frontliner (which VoC enforces), so a Aura called “Inspiring Presence” will do, it grants +1% toughness replenishment on kill (you normally get 5% of your toughness back on kill, this would increase it to 6%) and +15% weapon swap speed. So it helps everyone get toughness slightly better and also allows everyone to access their guns a bit quicker, you know for those moments where you pull it out, shoot, special dies, and then go back to melee. Can also help on those guns that take 20 years to pull out, like bolters or heavy stubbers etc.

Lastly we need to talk about the “Close and Kill” aura that currently gives 5% movement speed, which is a bit unnoticeable imo. I suggest increasing the movement bonus from +5% to +7.5% and also have it give +7.5% toughness damage reduction against shooters. This would make it decent for charging a group of shooters or having a shootout with a group of shooters, a very “Shooty Guy” thing to do.

Anyway, that’s my solutions to Vets problematic auras. His talent tree as a whole needs a rework, but I’ll leave that up to the devs to figure out.

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I made a very similar suggestion in a recent Vet thread, so needless to say I agree:

I do like my replacement idea for Fire Team a bit more, but yours is perfectly reasonable too.

Close and Kill I’m a little unsure about. I think it’s a pretty nice stat to give your team even at only 5%. 7.5% isn’t a crazy amount either mind you, I guess I’m just unconvinced that its pick rate isn’t more to do with right tree being generally undesirable and losing points to switching branches being pretty heavily punished in Vet tree. I see a world where we’re quite fine with it as is, because we’re already happy to be over there, our points don’t feel quite do thin, and move speed bonuses for the whole team are quite a scarce resource.

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Yeah I made Close and Kill a bit more powerful then the other two auras since it’s on the “bad” side of the tree.

Honestly the whole stealth mechanic on Vet doesn’t fit him, at least not how it works currently anyway (zealots version is way better), so I hope to see that ability get a rework or be replaced entirely with something more useful, like a powerful special ranged weapon that Vet can pull out and use (basically you’d have two ranged options instead of just one), kind of like the crankgun Outcast Engineer has in Vermintide 2. Maybe a Hotshot Volley Gun could fill in for the crankgun.

Having access to two ranged weapons would open up so much versatility. The Hotshot Volleygun would be great for mowing down hordes, elites and melting bosses, but probably not great for quickly pulling out and using against specials, so you’d probably bring a sidearm like the revolver or las pistol to deal with them quickly.

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I wouldn’t mind if the stam regen delay modifying tax nodes were built into Close and Kill instead.

Assuming FS doesn’t touch veteran’s stamina any.

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While I do think it could probably be replaced with something more interesting, I don’t hate the concept here. Seems like Zealot stealth is designed more for burst damage while Vet’s is designed more for utility, which shows in the duration, cooldowns, and the amount of lingering buffs Vet can stack for when he leaves stealth. Having a freebie for doing objectives or creating distance in last man clutches is pretty nice. And while I never take it low profile seems designed to give a sudo replacement for the old camouflage (which I still see people bemoaning the removal of).

As an aura effect? Cause that seems like it would be pretty bonkers.

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Ah, i didn’t think about psyker or zealot.

I was just looking and thinking about that whole right side of the tree having multiple stamina related talents and tax nodes to get around his very delayed stamina.

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Now Arbites too with the Psyker Stam delay he was given for no damn reason.