After a 4 month hiatsu i returned to play some Darktide… And after couple of match still something bugged me… What is the purpose of the “Down But Not Out” (DBNO for short) state ?
What i mean, you HP goes zero and you down with 1000 “temp hp”(?) the mobs still aggroing you and beating you to death and my problem is when at some cases the mobs just literally nuking your downed ass and rendering the DBNO state utterly useless…
I get it, it supposed to generate some sort of urgency among your teammate but that’s urgency worthless if 8 gunners / 2 flamers just unloading you and melting you under 3 seconds or bomber cockblocking the team by droping a bomb right under the DBNO player…
My proposal is for improving the DBNO state is removal the agro from the DBNO player by:
1: Make it timer based… (this is the laziest one IMO)
OR
2: If someone is downed by enemies ( not by peril or plasma overheat nor dangling at ledges ) the game director AI periodically sending group of mobs to rallying around the DBNO player, thus Creating an extra layer of urgency… one the amount of time someone bleed out , and the second is how many mob rallied around the DBNO player…
If your downed state involved 3 gunners, 3 maulers, and a whole bunch of other “out of position” stuff, then you deserve to die faster. I see the game design working correctly
I’m not sure if lower difficulty is what the game needs atm. The downed state HP pool is massive when compared to VT series at it is. The respawns are also in vast majority FAR less punishing.
Should enemies proritise alive players in general? Maybe, even if I can see some groaners just enjoy kicking the player when they are down.
I dont want to DBNO easier, i want to be more intresting… My core issue whit the DBNO state is a bit contradictory, eiter you teammats pick you up relative ease (so why the “huge” amount of temp hp) or some cases the piled up mobs just nukes you… (why we even have temp hp?)
No risk / reward between picked up someone fast or a nearly bleed out player
And the AI just act like a early 2000 game AI and magduping the downed player… FFS this is 2024 make a twist, spice thing up like send 4 bulwark to form a shield wall around the downed player. crushers who block of routes around said player… Set up a shooter ambus !
taken into account they drop you into the same sinkhole at the end of the map in case of a failed run, maybe instead of downed you should get dragged away by some non-combative enemies that simply spawn near you to rope you up and get you there.
that way it would put pressure on the remaining team to prioritize the downed player, getting harder to reach with every second passing.
I think it’s to promote teamplay, and give players another chance at surviving. As being dead and waiting, isn’t very fun. Overall it’s just a game mechanic. I like it as it is. It is better than it was in Vermintide because in higher difficulty, you are basically insta-gibbed as soon as you died if there was enough enemies around. Or an elite that does an overhead swing on your soon to be corpse character.
I disagree on that point. A quick revive can be the difference between a clutch and a failed run. More so in VT than in DT. You have to calculate when to revive, as with your example above with 420 gunners and 69 Rippers. You’ll probably won’t want to try and won’t be able to revive someone in those circumstances. That’s where experience comes in, how much do you need to clear before trying, when to try etc etc.
I personally think that in most cases, prioritize the revive. Quick 'n dirty. The best teams all just drop what they’re doing, and go for the revive. Ogryn charges into the enemies on top of you, a second teammate revives, the third player (Psyker) puts down shield bubble to cover from gunners.
I always prioritize reviving because 4 nuggets are more than 3. And if you’ve already lost one player, 3 is more than 2. Some players are good enough to solo everything, but in most cases, they are not. You want teammates in the co-op oriented game Darktide.
There is no changes needed to DBNO. Working as intended and the gamer logic is already massive. You turn from a brittle human thing to a slab of stone when you’re down. You can tank about 5 crusher hits or so.
Your suggestion would inadvertently intensify the game’s difficulty. One of the strategic advantages of downed players drawing aggro is that it provides a temporary reprieve during revival attempts. With enemies focused on the incapacitated player, the reviver can act without the added pressure of incoming attacks that could otherwise break their guard. Furthermore, even if revival fails, the downed player continues to divert enemy attention, effectively acting as a decoy until their demise. Additionally, this mechanic enables free damage opportunities, particularly when a zealot employs a fire grenade to exploit the distracted horde.
That’s a bit contradictory, imo DBNO its a grace period between actual dead and a potential rescue, i dont think tanking horde while your down it’s a conscious decision but a byproduct the lack of interaction between the enemy AI and a downed player… wich is my core issue.
Player get downed → enemy defaulting to keep attaking because of lack of interaction with the DBNO state → if its a critical mass of enemy dogpiled up around the downed player grace period of revive denide by the sheer volume of dmg causing the downed player to die earlier… I don’t think this generating an adequate time frame as a “presure offset” aggro drawning “tool” to the rest of the party…
If someone want to drawn agro its a better way to do it like picking an ogry wit a shout and slab shiled and turtleing behind it…
Thats not realy true considering LOS is limited (they cant move) around the downed player… unelss the down happened at open space or the disabler passes by around the DBNO player…
The gamer logic by the AI side, currently is mag dumping the downed player… as i said earlie i like to spice thing up…
It’s definitely a conscience decison. In COD Zombies, if you go down, the zombies don’t attack the downed player, they chase the surviving ones. In L4D2, the zombies will attack downed players with the exception of some specials. In regards to DT, The AI will attack downed players, but not defeated ones who respawn. It’s definitely intentional, if it wasn’t they would of patched it out ages ago.
I think the downed, but not out state is meant to give you a chance if your squad are close by. I think it’s brilliantly implemented, and I think needs no change.
If you go down, and you’re not in range of your squad, then you’re supposed to die.
If you go down, and you’re in the middle of a crusher pack, you’re supposed to die. You might get lucky and some hero bail you out, but GL with that.
If you go down, and you’re surrounded by specials, you’re supposed to die. You might get lucky and some hero bail you out. Again, GL with that.
If you go down, and your squad are nearby but can’t handle the heat without you, then you’re all supposed to die. Maybe you were the weak link, who knows. Maybe just unlucky.
If you go down (maybe your Warp Peril’d yourself), but your squad are on hand, they pick you up.
If you go down amongst mobs, and your team mates are engaged, then they’ve about 20 seconds to save you from normal mobs. Easily doable.
If you go down and your teammates ignore you, you’re either unlucky, or said something salty.
If you go down and your teammates can’t get to you through the thick of it: save your grenades folks!
I could go on. It’s boring though. DBNO is perfectly balanced imho.
