Fatshark has released another video and developer update on Veteran, a class in the upcoming cooperative horde shooter Warhammer 40,000: Darktide. Specifically, I’ve been looking at the Veteran Sniper class. This is his one of a class within the wider Veteran archetype, Sharpshooter.
Last week, Fatshark unveiled Darktide’s archetype for the first time, zooming in on Zealot: Preacher carving the cultist. (opens in new tab) Fatshark states that this is the midpoint of the class spotlight, clarifying that each class will have one archetype at release, with additional classes of each archetype coming after release.
As you can guess from the name, the Sharpshooter is a ranged combat specialist. They focus on using lasguns and autoguns, which are laser rifles and bullet rifles respectively, and use modest things like knives and shovels. The debut trailer also shows the Veteran using a heavier, bluer glowing plasma gun.
According to Fatshark, Veteran: Sharpshooter “leans heavily into the standard shooter trope” and may be the best choice for those unfamiliar with the Horde shooter style, where melee combat is a big option. Certainly, headshot-oriented abilities and frag grenades that cause a big boom are expected.
A veteran’s activated ability slows their movement, but improves their weapon’s accuracy and handling, greatly increasing damage when hitting vulnerable spots like the head. In addition to already increasing damage to weak points, which is a passive force.
Another of their passive powers is increased weapon ammo capacity. A bonus for staying consistent with your team is the chance to not use ammo while firing. (I love great design ideas for shooters like this.)
You can read more about the class and some nice lore. Fatshark Veteran Character Spotlight Post: Sharpshooter (opens in new tab).
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is eagerly awaited by two groups: those who love the Left 4 Dead-style co-op shooter formula, and those who love the world of Warhammer 40K. Fat Shark’s past games in the genre are set in his fantasy world of Warhammer, and Vermintide and Vermintide 2 are both great. You can read everything we know about Darktide (opens in new tab) here.
Darktide goes into beta this month (opens in new tab)Following the delay to the November 30th release. At his Darktide hands-on earlier this year, Wes Fenlon said he “absolutely rules.” (opens in new tab)
