The full title, War Hammer: End Times – Vermintide, is a first person game developed by Fatshark, an independent development studio based in Stockholm, Sweden. Although Fatshark has contributed to a number of other games for console and PC, it’s Vermintide that has made them one of my favorite studios ever.
A few months ago, Jake Combs brought us the original review of Vermintide. Since then, Fatshark has continued to improve the game with a combination of free and paid DLC.
In February, Fatshark released a free DLC update to Vermintide, Quests & Contracts. This updated offers five daily contracts for completing specific tasks such as killing Rat Ogres, collecting Tomes or Gilmores on certain levels/difficulties. Rewards include; difficulty appropriate tokens that can be used in the forge or shrine, temporary state increases and keys that can be used for quests. Quests require a number of keys to complete, and reward the player with high level gear. Experienced players will be able to claim up to two keys per day, one on “nightmare” difficulty and the other on “easy.” This provides even casual players with a path to red level gear.
Gameplay featuring Odiumar as the Bright Wizard and Jake Combs as the Waywatcher!
The most recent update to the game is a DLC titled Karak Azgaraz, which introduces three new dungeons, some new weapons and achievements/trophies. In this expansion, the characters are tasked with eliminating a Skaven invasion of the Dwarven stronghold. The new dungeons have some impressive visuals, including rooms filled with steam and lava rivers. In addition, I noticed an increased amount of banter between the heroes as I progressed through the story line. The whole package, has lifted the level of gameplay significantly and I have already decided that Karak Azgaraz levels are my new favorites. Check out a clip of the new level Khazid Kro below.
A few tips and tricks that our crew has learned along the way:
Stick together, no matter what! Separation will get everyone killed, one-by-one. Use your environment against them! Keep your backs to the wall and use choke points to your advantage. If the hordes are restricted to a single approach, you will survive much longer. Play to each characters strengths. We’ve found that elves with a strength potion take down Rat Ogres before they can do any damage, wizards are excellent for controlling crowds of regular rats, dwarves armed with shields are awesome for knocking foes off of narrow passages. Whenever possible, collect the Tomes and Grims to improve your chances of a better reward at the end of each level. Fuse your low level items at the forge. Five white items will upgrade to a green and so forth. Careful combinations will eventually provide you with red gear. Gear ALL of your characters with the best you’ve got. These items improve your BOTs when you play solo.
Fatshark has already released the Lorebook DLC for the PC version of Vermintide. This DLC will spread pages throughout the game that can be collected to fill out the stories behind characters, enemies and the events of Vermintide. This DLC has not been announced for console, but Fatshark is known to give out free DLC when their games hit sales milestones. So spread the word folks! War Hammer: End Times – Vermintide is well worth the price of investment.
Ohhhh…shiney!~~All images courtesy of Fatshark.
Verdict: “I would follow you into the mists of Avalon, if that’s what you mean?”
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