Warhammer 40,000: Darktide's launch day patch is a big 'un

Today is the official release day for Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, and that means it's also the day for the launch-day patch. It's a big one—"Ogryn sized," as developer Fatshark put it, and in case you're not familiar with the term that's an ogryn in the image above—with changes aimed at both improving stability and bringing in a number of new features.

There are actually two patches out today: 1.0.10, for all PC platforms (Steam and Microsoft Store), and 1.0.11, which is Steam exclusive, but also contains all the fixes in 1.0.10. It may seem a little confusing but Fatshark said the content and weapon balancing changes are identical in both patches, and that it aims to have "parity" in update numbering in future patches.

Both updates are beefy, with fixes focusing on stability, matchmaking and network disconnections, and gameplay adjustments and balancing. Developers are also focusing on improving Darktide's ray tracing performance, which has been disabled on AMD and Intel GPUs while developers work on hardware-specific issues.

"Please, keep reporting issues, and express your thoughts in our Discord channel and Fatshark Forum," Fatshark said. "On our social channels, we also provide regular updates."

The full patch notes are below:

1.0.10 (WINDOWS PC & STEAM)

Cosmetics

• Fixed an issue where some Armoury Exchange headpieces hid the Ogryn beards.
• Fixed some visible black spots on upper body cosmetics obtained through Sire Melk’s Requisitorium.
• Veterans should now wear the correct gloves on the Sire Melk’s Requisitorium obtained / Penance earned cosmetics.
• Fixed an issue where player outlines were missing on some cosmetics.

SFX / Audio

• Atrox Mk IV & VII Tactical Axes and Antax Mk V & Achlys Mk VIII Combat Axes now have block sounds.
• Fixed ambient audio cutting in and out at the start of HL17-36 Smelter Complex.
• Turned up the audio of Scab Ragers.
• Fixed an issue where Ogryn footstep sounds were out of sync with his big ol’ feet.
• Fixed an issue where there was no sound when blocking whilst reviving.
• Fixed an issue where audio would be missing on equipping the Maccabian Dueling Sword.
• Fixed an issue where the incorrect voice line would be played on mission update, or it wouldn’t play at all.
• Fixed an issue where the audio would not match the subtitles for Ogryn’s voice lines when Psyker is low on health.
• Fixed an issue where music would be absent or quiet during combat.
• Fixed an issue where the Plague Ogryn would be missing the appropriate audio effects on certain attacks.
• Fixed an issue where Scab Ragers had the wrong sound effects assigned to them.

UX / UI

• Atrox Tactical Axes should now have the correct UI icons.
• Turtolsky Heavy Swords should now have the correct “Smiter” icons and not “Tank” icons.
• Fixed an issue where the Penance ‘Flawless Execution’ had misleading requirements.
• The Scab Rager should no longer appear as “Dreg Rager” when tagged or in the kill feed or Meat Grinder.
• Fixed an issue where the trait “Fire Frenzy” had an incomplete description.
• Fixed an issue where gamepad players were not clearly informed on how to use the Auspex Scanner.
• It should now be possible to access your loadout in the pre-game lobby.
• Fixed an issue where menus could not be navigated easily using a controller.
• Fixed an issue where item rarity would not be displayed in the end-of-round reward screens.
• Fixed some issues where things would appear missized or in the wrong resolution in the Tactical Overlay (Tab).
• Fixed an issue where scrolling by mouse-wheel in chat did not work.

Animation

• Fixed an issue where attacks would not animate correctly if performed immediately after being stunned.
• Turtolsky Heavy Swords now have the correct attack direction on special attacks.
• Fixed an issue where sprinting & inspecting weapons creates a stuttering animation loop.
• Maccabian Dueling Swords should no longer have a weird arm rotation on stab attacks.
• Ogryn’s Heavy weapons should no longer overlap with the other players during the cinematic scenes.
• Made some improvements to player movement animations in the Mourningstar.
• Fixed an issue where the Catachan Mk III Combat Blade was missing heavy block to idle animation transitions.
• Fixed an issue where the first shot when sprinting and shooting with the Accatran MG Mk II Heavy Laspistol looked wonk.
• The Bull Butcher Mk III Cleaver and Krourk Mk IV Cleaver should now use the correct animation events for when an attack is stopped by reaching its cleave limit.
• The Brute-Brainer Mk III Latrine Shovel should now have the appropriate sweep trails when swinging around like Ogryn do.
• Zarona Mk IIa Quickdraw Stub Revolver should now have follow-up melee attack animations while aiming with the weapon.
• The Force Staff should now go back into the charge animation after using the Psyker ability.
• Fixed a bunch of animation issues seen from third-person use of the Foe-Rend Ripper Guns.
• Fixed an issue where the ‘ready up’ model animations would not display for all players in the lobby.
• Fixed an issue where the Chainsword would not animate correctly when sprinting.
• Fixed an animation issue that could occur on heavy attack with the Combat Axes.

Fixes & Tweaks

• Fixed an issue where End of Round could sometimes not be shown to players.
• Sharpshooter “Counterfire” Feat description should now describe Cultists as an additionally affected faction as intended.
• Fixed an issue where double %% was shown on the Decimator weapon perk.
• Fixed an issue where the “Your Trust Level is growing” messages could spam players in the Mourningstar.
• Penances for killing specific Cultist enemies should now have progress tracked as intended.
• Failing a mission should no longer grant you the crafting materials you found in that run. Soz.
• The Standard-issue Munitorum Sapper Shovel should now apply the correct wounding decals on enemies.
• Vraks & Agripinaa Headhunter Autoguns should now have the correct crosshairs.
• The Artemia Mk III Purgation Flamer should now have a fuel canister installed as expected.
• Fixed an issue where it wasn’t possible to turn on flashlights on weapons with flashlights while sprinting.
• Fixed an issue where the camera sway behaved weirdly when under 60FPS.
• Characters should no longer slide in idle movement when swapping between weapons.
• Fixed an issue where the Zealot ability would be canceled if getting shot or accelerating backward at the start of the charge.
• Fixed an issue where sprinting while holding weapon special with the Vraks & Agripinaa Headhunter Autoguns caused an ugly chain loop.
• Fixed an issue where it was possible to sprint and shoot with the Vraks & Agripinaa Headhunter Autoguns even without the ‘Run n’ Gun’ trait.
• Fixed an issue where Ogryn could get stun-locked by Dreg Stalker, and Scab Stalker ranged attacks.
• Fixed an issue that would prevent two players from partying up.
• Fixed an issue where the Force Staff could have the incorrect crosshair.
• Fixed an issue where the Flame Staff VFX would render poorly when the camera is moved down → up.
• Fixed the description of the ‘Quickflame’ Weapon Trait being unclear.
• Fixed an issue where Ogryn’s hands would appear low-resolution.
• Fixed an issue where the Laspistol would display incorrectly in the third-person view.
• Fixed an issue where Kinetic Flayer could be activated when an enemy is damaged by a tick of the Soulfire debuff.
• Fixed an issue where player flashlights would be switched on after a cutscene.
• Fixed an issue where players could respawn with the Corruption they had before dying.
• Fixed an issue where equipping a weapon of the same Mk did not work as expected in the Meat Grinder.
• Fixed an issue where ammunition in magazines would not decrease as expected.
• Fixed an issue where fire decals would flicker after the explosion of a barrel.
• Fixed an issue where canceling reload with another action will show the magazine as still in the weapon.
• Fixed various Weapon Trait descriptions that were not described clearly to players.
• Fixed an issue where switching weapons could cancel sprinting.
• Fixed an issue where players could be moved up instead of being pushed away in explosions.
• Fixed an issue where the text cursor could not be placed between letters during character creation.
• Fixed various input queue issues.
• Fixed an issue where the mouse wheel could not be looped to swap weapons.
• Fixed an issue where some push attacks would have a longer than expected recovery time.
• Fixed an issue where the Pox Hound could become invisible after attacking a player.
• Fixed an issue where impact decals could wrap around 90-degree corners.
• Fixed an issue where expanding from Windowed to Fullscreen mode did not work as expected.
• Fixed an issue where a mission would not automatically start when the timer reaches 0, if one player hasn’t selected ‘Ready’.
• Fixed an issue where the Pox Hound can result in a player becoming stuck in a permanent “attacked” state.

Weapons & Balance

• Turtolsky Mk IX Heavy Sword now has the correct power level.
• Fixed an issue where it was possible to dodge-slide-kite for an unintended amount of time with the Catachan Mk III Combat Blade.
• Lucius Helbore Lasgun charged shots should now chain into zoomed bayonet attacks appropriately.
• Agripinaa, Graia & Columnus Braced Autogun weapon specials should now interrupt sprinting.
• Fixed an issue where not all stats were working correctly for Ogryn Cleavers.
• Weapon traits can no longer be activated by different weapons and attacks
• Adjustments made to slowdowns and stuns on hit. Adjustments made to Toughness bleedthrough:
• - Reduced slowdown on hit durations for light and medium stunning hits
• - Increase stun immunity durations when players suffer stunning hits
• - Added immunity to look overrides, pushes, and ADS interrupts when in stun immunity - should clean up and interface when players can act and help avoid aiming dashes, etc. while being shot at.
• - Slightly increased stun durations for light hits
• - Set all dodge count reset timers to 0.85s for all weapons and classes. (down from 1.0s on many, but not all, weapons)
• - Removed minimum bleed-through of 10% damage regardless of toughness on melee hits. 100% toughness now blocks all damage. Damage reduction based on toughness at the time of strike (So at 75% toughness, the damage is reduced by 75%)

Zones & Missions

• Fixed an issue where sometimes the mid-level elevator would not show up on Refinery Delta-17.
• Enemies should no longer be able to walk through a chainlink gate at the start of Relay Station TRS-150.
• Fixed an issue where Grenades could drop through the environment in one area during HL-16-11 Chasm Station.
• Fixed an issue where a wall encountered in HL-16-11 Chasm Station would have no collision.

Stability & Performance

• Fixed countless unspecifiable crashes.
• Various improvements to performance.
• Fixed a crash that could occur when making purchases or navigating back through the menus in Sire Melk’s Requisitorium.
• Fixed a crash that could occur on the second heavy charge of the Orox Battle Maul.
• Fixed a crash that could occur on selecting certain weapons in the Armory Exchange.
• Fixed a crash that could occur on the credits screen.
• Fixed a crash that could occur on selecting a tattoo for Ogryn.
• Fixed a crash that could occur after selecting tattoos in quick succession.

1.0.11 (STEAM ONLY)

UX / UI

• The selected Screen Mode should now correctly apply when starting up the game.
• Heavy eviscerator should now have stat details on “shredder” and “cleave targets” stats
• Fixed an issue where the “Bombs Away!” Ogryn trait description wasn’t clear.
• Zealot ability “Chastise the Wicked” should now show the appropriate amount of toughness restored in the description.
• Fixed an issue where the Ogryn’s Blastoom Mk III Grenadier Gauntlet damage stats weren’t explicitly noted as only affecting melee damage.
• Fixed an issue where Strike Team Members’ character levels showed your own level in the Mourningstar.
• Fixed an issue where some subtitles could be stuck on screen when the dialogue has long since passed.

Animation

• Fixed an issue where the Blastoom Mk III Grenadier Gauntlet readying animation prevented switching weapons.
• Fixed an issue where the Nomanus Mk VI Surge Force Staff electric effect could get stuck on screen when switching weapons.

Fixes & Tweaks

• Fixed an issue where it was possible to unlock Veteran penances while playing another class.
• The veteran’s “Counterfire” feat has been fixed and now should function as intended.
• Ogryn’s “Non-stop Violence” feat should no longer remove the speed boost from his main ability
• Mk VIIa Recon Lasgun’s flashlight should now stay lit when turned on.
• The Lucius pattern lasgun should now fire consistently when using a gamepad
• Ogryn’s Slap hitbox should now match its animation
• Fixed an input buffer issue with switching from Surge Staff to Brain Burst.

Zones & Missions

• We have increased the number of materials obtained per pick up of Diamantine, and Plasteel found in missions.

Stability & Performance

• Fixed an issue where DLSS and FSR settings were not correctly saved to the user_settings file when changed/applied.
• Made some VFX optimizations on player flamer, resolving an FPS drop that could occur if a player continuously sprayed a surface close to the camera for too long.
• Fixed an issue where the Framerate Cap setting was not applying correctly on starting the game.
• Fixed a crash with the Daemonhost that could occur when a target gets deleted during warp teleport
• Fixed a crash that could occur on some Maccabian Duelling Sword attacks.

Balance & Weapons

• Chaos Hounds should no longer receive running stagger from pushes
• Poxburster is no longer stagger immune after being staggered while running
• Fixed damage vs. elite/horde/specials perks to 40/60/80% bonus damage
• Fixed an issue where the ‘Infernus’ ranged weapon perk was also activated by melee stab/bash special attacks.
• Players should no longer be able to consult with the Warp and have infinite heat reduction for their plasma gun.
• Atrox MK II Axe now has a cancelable push-attack recovery
• Zealot’s “Enemies Within, Enemies Without” talent should now function as expected.
• There should now be more verticality when aiming with the Surge Force Staff
• Psyker should no longer forcibly switch to their melee weapon from Brain Burst
• Grenadier Gauntlet melee attacks should now register to their correct damage profiles
• Psykers can now cancel Dueling Sword attacks into Brain Burst
• Boltgun should now stop firing when a player hits reload
• Psyker’s Force Staff should now stop charging while quelling Peril.
• Tweaked netgunner so reload triggers more often
• Tweaked special spawning:
• - Duplicate specials should now spawn less frequently
• - Reduced the number of specials that can spawn in coordinated strikes
• - Coordinated strikes now use more randomized spawns
• - Added offset timers to help space out special spawning
• Fixed an issue where Orestes Mk IV Assault Chainaxe push attacks couldn’t be canceled into rev / special action.
• Fixed an issue where the Artemia Mk III Purgation Flamer could get a crit perk despite being unable to crit.
• All weapon traits have had their power curves changed from Logarithmic to either Linear or Exponential curves instead.

The update also includes a new zone called Habzone HL-19-24, "Throneside," which has been unexpectedly overrun by enemy forces. Your mission: Cut off their supply lines before they can consolidate their positions and then wipe 'em out.

There's also a pair of new missions in Freight Port HL-32-2, "The Hourglass":

• Refinery Delta-17 - Turns out that one of the Hourglass' fuel refineries is being used to culture a pathogen. Get access to said refinery via flow control, then build overpressure in the gestation chambers to destroy it. The bad news is that it's all enemy territory, so it might get sticky. 
  
  

• Excise Vault Spireside-13 - The Heretics are using one of the old Excise Vaults to store samples of their latest contagion, and Interrogator Rannick wants one for study. To get into the Vault, you'll need a cypher-ident… and for that, you'll need to brute force access to a servitor colony. You can use the old pneumatic conveyor to get the samples out. Then you can find your own exit.

And of course, there are a number of known issues that are still being worked on. Ray tracing tops the list, but there are a handful of other problems that currently persist:

• Ray tracing is currently disabled for AMD and Intel GPU users while investigating issues related to our support for these GPU's. We are working closely with our hardware partners to resolve this as soon as possible. Until then,
  ray tracing is turned off by default
  to avoid any issues in playing the game.
• Ray tracing optimization and performance. This is an area we continue to work on, and see issues with performance.
• We currently don’t support users on IPv6-only networks. This often means a player requires a VPN to play the game. The intention is to support IPv6 in the near future.
• In the Weapon Detail Screen, there is a known crash when inspecting the weapon damage breakdown of certain weapons (e.g. lasgun torch).
• Sudden crash to desktop with dialogue popup - often called “GPU Hang”.
• Switching between windowed mode and fullscreen can result in adjusted resolution and deadlock in some rare cases.
• Working on delivering missing Twitch Drops to a select few players. We hope to have this resolved within a week.
• Inability to merge strike teams. If you pick to merge your strike team at the end of a mission, it will currently not work and will display a version mismatch error.
• Some users may not have some premium currency packs available on Microsoft Store.
• if toughness is above 100 (veteran or anyone who's stacked +toughness curios), they'll still take damage.

The update also has a short FAQ and a couple of helpful links that players might find useful, one to a performance blog and another with information on Twitch Drops.

We're still working on our full Warhammer 40,000: Darktide review, but declared in our review-in-progress that it's "a worthy successor to Vermintide, but still needs a fair bit of work." It's also been struggling with queues, although we expect (or at least) that will be cleared up soon.