Darktide’s Next Update Could Change How Every Class Plays

Fatshark is back and already announcing they are going to shake up basically all the talents in Darktide yet again. In a recent preview post, the devs talked about a lot of upcoming changes not just to all class talents, but also to the Golden Toughness mechanic.

Changes to Golden Toughness

When the Depths of the Damned update arrives, a ton of passives and abilities that currently grant Golden Toughness are going through some major adjustments. The reason being is the developers have stated that:

Golden Toughness is one of the more disruptive mechanics in Darktide. By changing the way damage and toughness interact, it can obscure some of the core rules of combat.

Many players are naturally guided towards abilities that provide Golden Toughness, and these abilities can be highly effective even before a player has developed a strong understanding of the mechanics they are intended to learn, e.g. positioning, and how to engage each type of enemy. This can allow difficult situations to be bypassed or diffused without engaging with the underlying threats, making it harder for players to build that understanding through the intended learning curve.

Fatshark also explained that Darktide’s balance and combat flow have changed significantly since Golden Toughness first arrived. Now, after several years, the developers want Toughness to “have consistent and understandable rules regardless of how it is obtained.”

So they are removing the Spillover Immunity effect from Golden Toughness, and it will now follow the same calculation as regular Toughness. Simply put, this means Golden Toughness will continue to provide extra protection, but will no longer allow a single point of Toughness to fully absorb the damage of a lethal attack.

Talent Changes

A mountain of changes is coming. Not just to Toughness passives and talents, but to every build as a result. This includes the removal of Stat Nodes, so you won’t be talenting into extra Toughness, Reload Speed, Melee Damage, etc.

As for a general look at all the class changes:

• Ogryn is getting some melee and reload buffs, but getting cooldown reduction nerfs.
• Zealot is getting a bunch of new talents, all of which are primarily reworks or replacements of their preexisting toughness regeneration or reduction talents.
• Psyker is mainly getting two clusters of their talent tree put together, along with a handful of small range buffs.
• Veteran is basically getting nerfs to everything that isn’t the ranged build.
• Arbites get a bigger damage bonus for not having a Cyber-Mastiff.
• Hive Scum are getting Rampage nerfs.
• Skitarius are getting Claw nerfs and buffs to their ranged talents.

If you want a more in-depth look at the upcoming Darktide changes, skim through the official post.