Hardened criminals, ruthless bounty hunters, violent psychopaths: Tertium’s Hive Scum are coming to Darktide as the next DLC class.
In case you missed it, check out the reveal trailer here.
Hive Scum comes in hot with a ton of class features. As experts at fast paced, frenzied gameplay, they bring several new and unique things to the table for the forces of the Mourningstar. For the first time in Darktide, we will have true dual-wielding, both in close combat with the twin shivs, and at range in the form of twin-wielded stub and autopistols. But that is not all, as they also come with new makeshift weapons, like crowbars and bonesaws.
There will also be plenty of options to create your unique Hive Scum; new faces, tattoos, hairstyles and even (for the first time) face paints that will let you customize them to your heart's content. They also have a unique place in the story, as they are from Tertium, and are here to protect their home territory.
All of this will have its own time in the spotlight before release on the 2nd of December, but today we will dive into the design and talents of the class, focusing on what you can build around and the new mechanics of stimms and toxins! For this we tracked down Teodor here in the office, so we are handing over to him now! Take it away, Teodor!
“My name is Teodor, born and raised in Stockholm, Sweden. [...] I’m a Game Designer and I’ve been on Darktide and Vermintide. I started here working on weapons back in the day and slowly moved over to class design, but I’ve always been in that sort of ‘Player mechanics’ space. In my free time I make music and I cook a lot! I love food. Food and drinks are great.” ~ Teodor
Class Design
Before we had even picked the Hive Scum as our next class, we took a look at our existing classes and started categorizing them. Each class can fulfill multiple niches depending on the build, and each build fits separate archetypes for Melee and Ranged.
From looking at the types of builds, player fantasies and opportunities for player expression that we already had represented in our existing classes, we were able to see what archetypes were missing or didn’t have much representation.
“[...] so we have the Zealot as an aggressive melee character, but we don’t necessarily have an overly aggressive ranged character that, you know, hovers in close range, almost where other classes would opt into using a melee weapon.” ~ Teodor
From this starting point we began to explore concepts and ideas, eventually landing the Hive Scum as the ideal candidate. Not only did it suit itself perfectly to the niches we wanted to fill, but it’s a direct contrast to our previous DLC Class, the Arbitrator, in both gameplay and theme.
In both ranged and melee, the core idea behind the Hive Scum is a very mobile, aggressive style that emphasizes dodging, maintaining the offensive as you dance in and out of attacks while showering the enemies in a hail of bullets or blows.
“It’s like a ‘I don’t need to block, I don’t need to be big and strong because I am so fast and so precise, you will never hit me’ type of deal. So for [Hive Scum] we really leaned into those aspects.” ~ Teodor
As we kept developing the Hive Scum we were able to expand on that, with the narrative and the gameplay elements building on each other, a back and forth that influenced not just the abilities and talents of the class, but also the weapons, how they’re used, and how everything looks. And this also led us to a few unique mechanics…
Chem Toxin
Unique to the Hive Scum, the Chem Toxin is a new mechanic coming to Darktide. Similar to Burn or Bleed, this homebrewed toxin is its own Damage Over Time effect which the Hive Scum can apply through various ways, such as some of the unique weapons or one of the Blitzes.
It is quite potent, and multiple applications can stack up until a certain limit. Certain talents also interact with the Chem Toxin by triggering effects when applying it and things of that nature (more on that further down!)
Stimm Lab: The Cartel Special
Another new mechanic unique to this is the Stimm Lab! Thanks to their underworld connections, the Hive Scum are able to get some special materials and make their own custom Stimms called the Cartel Special!
Just like the main talent tree, you gain 1 point to spend in the Stimm Lab for every level, picking different bonuses to add to your Cartel Special. Players who opt into making their custom
Stimms through the Lab will start each mission with their Stimm equipped and will be unable to use any of the Stimms found in missions.
This Cartel Special Stimm will recharge on its own, and the cooldown will depend on how many points you’ve spent in the Stimm Lab: the more potent the effect, the longer the cooldown!
This mechanic is optional: By not selecting any upgrades in the Stimm Lab, your Hive Scum will be able to use normal Stimms like the other classes.
The three “archetypes”
Just like with our existing classes, the talent tree allows players to mix and match talents to make their own custom builds, but there are three underlying “archetypes” that act as the foundation for each branch, which represents different player fantasies that the Hive Scum can represent. While not official names, we called these “Gunslinger”, “Ruffian”, and “Chemist” during development, so for ease of writing we will use these names here
“And then, of course, over time these three playstyles blend together and become a Talent Tree. At some point you have to ‘let go’ of the fact that, while the playstyles exist, we cannot control how the players will welcome and use them. They’re gonna find entirely new ways of playing Hive Scum, but the playstyles really help with getting the initial direction of the class.” ~ Teodor
“Gunslinger”
This was the first archetype to come into being, and it best encapsulates the initial idea for the Hive Scum. Found in the left branch of the talent tree, the focus of the Gunslinger is overwhelming close ranged firepower and nimble dodging, a true Run and Gun playstyle.
The default Coherency Aura, Blitz and Combat Ability are all based on the ones that the Gunslinger improves.
Sneak peek at some of the talents:
In Your Face: Increased Ranged damage at close range, which is further increased for a short while after reloading.
Like the Wind: Dramatically increased Sprint Dodge Angle, and can Sprint Dodge even without Stamina.
Base Coherency Aura: Gunslinger
When an Ammo pickup is collected by you or your Allies in Coherency, everyone else in Coherency also replenishes a small amount of ammo.
Base Blitz: Blinder
An extremely quick to throw blinding grenade, which staggers enemies. This enables the Hive Scum to close the gap and get into their preferred range with very little effort, regardless of what gunlines the heretics have aiming your way.
“You can throw this out really fast, you can even throw it mid-combo while swinging your melee weapon.” ~ Teodor
You can recover Blinder grenades by killing enemies.
Base Combat Ability: Desperado
Immediately swap to and reload your ranged weapon, entering Desperado for a few seconds. During Desperado, the Hive Scum is immune to Ranged Attacks, Sprinting costs no stamina, and reloading does not reduce your Ammo Reserve.
Close Ranged Kills extends the duration of Desperado.
Keystone: Vulture’s Mark
Killing Specials or Elites with a Ranged weapon gives you stacks of Vulture’s Mark, which improves Ranged Damage, Ranged Critical Strike Chance, and Movement Speed. At max stacks, ranged Special and Elite kills restore Toughness for you and Allies in Coherency.
“Ruffian”
For those who want to lean a bit away from the ranged focus and enjoy feeling more like the guy who the Cartel sends to “convince” those who don’t cooperate, we have the Ruffian! Found in the middle branch of the talent tree, this is a melee-focused archetype that goes all in on aggression, still relying heavily on mobility and dodging to survive.
Duck, weave and shank them in the back, or bash their skulls in with relentless pressure!
Sneak peek at some of the talents:
Nimble: Dodges move farther and last longer.
Hyper-Violence: Upon Melee kill, gain bonus Melee Damage based on amount of overkill damage.
Coherency Aura: Ruffian
Increased Melee damage for you and Allies in Coherency.
Blitz: Boom Bringer
A high powered missile launcher. What else is there to say? For when you really want something dead!
“That was so much fun. The idea came pretty early on because we were like ‘if we make a projectile weapon only exist as a Blitz, we can really crank the effect’. Because we can make sure that it doesn’t have too much ammo, or crazy numbers or doesn’t scale weird.” ~ Teodor
Combat Ability: Rampage!
“We wanted a ‘rage’ ability where you become unstoppable for a few seconds, as long as you play really aggressively and kill lots of things.” ~ Teodor
Enter Rampage! for a few seconds, gaining vastly increased Melee Attack power, Attack Speed, Damage Reduction, and becoming immune to Stuns and Suppression.
Melee attacks extend the duration of Rampage!, although this effect is diminished after 30 seconds. Exiting Rampage! leaves you exhausted and vulnerable for a few seconds.
Keystone: Adrenaline Frenzy
A very aggressive keystone that encourages relentless brawling!
Melee hits grant stacks of Adrenaline, which are lost over time when not attacking. At max stacks, lose all stacks and gain Adrenaline Frenzy, increasing Attack Speed and Melee Damage for a few seconds.
“Chemist”
Found on the right branch of the Talent Tree, this archetype puts a bigger focus on the unique Stimm and Toxin mechanics of the Hive Scum, gaining bonuses related to using Stimms (whether it’s the Cartel Special from the Stimm Lab or normal Stimms found in missions) and applying Chem Toxin through various methods (including weapons! More on that in a future dev blog).
Sneak peek at some of the talents:
Blessed Stimms: While Stimmed, killing blows clear some Corruption.
Targeted Toxin: Enemies infected with your Chem Toxin deal less damage. Increased effect on Monsters.
Coherency Aura: Anarchist
Increased Critical Chance for you and Allies in Coherency.
Blitz: Chem Grenade
Throw a canister containing Chem Toxin, which breaks open and spills its contents across an area when it explodes. Any enemy that enters the lingering toxic cloud will be affected with stacks of Chem Toxin.
Combat Ability: Stimm Supply
The Hive Scum has ‘repurposed’ military gadgets to come up with this customized Medical Crate that can be placed down on the ground. This is a supportive ability that grants nearby Allies the effects of the Hive Scum’s Cartel Special Stimm.
Keystone: Chemical Dependency
While the Stimm Lab allows you to craft the perfect Stimm to suit your playstyle, the more potent Cartel Special Stimms have a longer cooldown. This Keystone is not so much about the perfect Stimm, but about taking as many Stimms as you can, as fast as you can!
With this Keystone, using a Stimm (Cartel Special or otherwise) grants a stack of Dependency for a long duration. Each stack grants Ability Cooldown Reduction, up to a limit.
“The gameplay I’d like to see there is players min-maxing the contents of their Stimms so that they can still get those Keystone bonuses while also balancing it with the contents themselves.” ~ Teodor
Bonus: Most fun part of working with Hive Scum?
“I had the most fun working with the Missile Launcher, for sure. Which is now called the Boom Bringer, which I think is great. [...] That’s been really fun, and I really enjoyed that. And it’s got fun little things that I hope players find!” ~ Teodor
That’s all for today, but keep an eye out for our next Dev Blog, coming soon!
For the Conclave and Tertium!
Wishlist the Hive Scum here:
We’ll see you on the Mourningstar.
– The Darktide Team