Fatshark has announced details of the latest free update for Warhammer 40K: Darktide, which is out today, and called “Nightmares & Visions”.
The update will hit on PC (Steam, Windows Store), Xbox Series S|X, and PlayStation 5, and just in case you hadn’t already grabbed the game, it’s 50% off on Steam as well to celebrate the release of Nightmares & Visions.
The publisher says: “This free update brings a new wave-based activity, significant improvements to the end-game mode Havoc including four new mutators, an overhaul to the Ogryn Talent Tree, a time-limited special event, and more!”
Let’s get into the updates, then, with the biggest being a new game activity called Mortis Trials:
- Wave-based feature: rejects will mash through waves of enemies in visions induced by the ship’s Psyker, Sefoni. Each time players venture into the Psyker’s visions, they will be able to build new and exciting playstyles by selecting randomized abilities and buffs for the duration of the trial.
- Choose Your Indulgence, Shape Your Playstyle – Before the battle begins, players select an Indulgence, each offering unique buffs that enhance combat styles. Pyrokinetic and Voltaic focus on elemental damage, Fulminator blends both, Death Dealer excels in close-quarters ranged and melee combat, and Colossus boosts survivability.
- Trials of Endurance – Mortis Trials unfold in 12 escalating waves, with every third wave introducing an objective to complete. Success grants supplies and stronger buffs, culminating in a final gauntlet where players unleash their full potential.
- Uncover lore and backstories: by overcoming the Mortis Trials, players will unlock memory echoes, granting them access to secret information on some of the main characters present on the Mourningstar.
Next up is a refresh of the end-game mode, Havoc: first up the improvements.
- Havoc Assignment Rank Overhaul: making progression clearer and more rewarding for all players. Now, everyone who participates in a mission will rank up if they meet the new progression criteria, making teamplay more fulfilling.
- Introducing Campaigns to Havoc: To keep gameplay fresh, Darktide will introduce a rotation system for mission pools and mutators in Havoc challenges, ensuring variety across play sessions. With the Nightmares & Visions update, players will have their ranks reset to the nearest threshold based on the highest rank reached since the introduction of Havoc last year.
Now the new challenges for Havoc:
- Heinous Rituals: heretics are attempting to summon a new kind of Daemonhost, disrupt their rituals, or face the consequences.
- The Encroaching Garden: specific enemies will heal their allies. If these are not dispatched promptly, they will rapidly regenerate the ranks of the heretics.
- Rampaging Enemies: Fallen enemies empower their allies with a surge of strength, making tactical planning crucial to avoid being overwhelmed.
- Enraging Elites: injured Elites will become enraged, increasing their attack and movement speed, and giving them immunity to crowd control effects.
There’s plenty more as part of the update, with an Ogryn talent tree rework, and some other balance changes too.
Warhammer 40K: Darktide is out now for PC, Xbox Series S|X, and PlayStation 5.
