You fight hordes with a squad of four in Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, a co-op action shooter from Fatshark, the studio behind the Vermintide games. You play as a prisoner the Inquisition has conscripted to fight a Chaos uprising in the hive city of Tertium. You pick a class, such as the Veteran, Ogryn or Psyker, and team up in a squad of four, with bots filling any empty spots. Every class switches between melee and ranged attacks, and each one brings its own abilities, talents and weapons.
Each session starts at the Mourningstar, the warband's ship that serves as your home base. At the Mission Terminal, you pick a mission and a difficulty, and your squad heads into the city. You fight through waves of enemies on the way to the mission's objective, and optional side objectives add extra work in exchange for extra rewards.
When a mission ends, you return to the Mourningstar with experience and Ordo Dockets to spend. The Armoury Exchange sells weapons, and Hadron at the Shrine of the Omnissiah lets you upgrade weapons and curios with Plasteel and Diamantine found in missions. Over time, you work toward a stronger character built through its talent tree, weapons leveled toward Mastery and a higher Trust level. Harder modes such as Havoc and Mortis Trials wait for players who want a tougher challenge.
- Developer
- Fatshark
- Publisher
- Fatshark
- Release
- Windows PC: 2022-11-30 · PlayStation 5: 2024-12-03 · Xbox Series X|S: 2023-10-04
- Platforms
- Windows PC, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5
Game data
Weapons
Weapons in Warhammer 40,000: Darktide are melee or ranged and grouped into families, with marks that change how each one attacks or handles. Each family has its own Mastery track, so using its weapons unlocks marks, perks and blessings over time. Upgrades at the Shrine of the Omnissiah raise a weapon's Power, up to a cap that rises as its Mastery grows.
Classes
Every Darktide class has its own weapons, abilities and role in a team. The Veteran, Zealot, Psyker and Ogryn come with the base game and are prisoners the Inquisition has drafted into service, while the Arbites, Hive Scum and Skitarii are paid add-ons with backgrounds of their own. Your class sets your blitz, aura, combat ability and keystone choices, so it shapes every fight you take on.
Missions
Missions are the core of Warhammer 40,000: Darktide. Each one has a type, such as Raid, Strike, Disruption or Operations, along with a main objective and any conditions that change the rules. You choose a mission and a difficulty separately at the Mission Terminal, and story campaigns, Mortis Trials and Expeditions sit alongside the regular board.
Darktide gameplay tips
- Stay close to your squad. Coherency builds from each nearby ally, and the higher it is, the faster your Toughness refills. Lone players tend to struggle, especially against enemies that can disable them.
- Block melee attacks and push enemies away. Blocking stops melee hits as long as you have Stamina, and pushing knocks enemies back and staggers them. Using both means you take less damage while you deal with close enemies.
- Save ranged ammo for Specials and Elites. Players who lean on guns run out quickly. Save your shots for Specials, Elites and enemies you can't safely melee.
- Learn the maps on a lower difficulty. Clearing missions unlocks the higher difficulties, which pay more experience and currency but demand a stronger build. Stepping up once your character can handle the pressure keeps the harder runs from wiping your squad.
- Check a mission's Special Condition before you deploy. Conditions such as Power Supply Interruption darken the level and change how the mission plays, so pick one your squad is ready for.
- Spend Plasteel and Diamantine carefully. Both materials are limited, so put them into a weapon you plan to keep and level up instead of upgrading every drop.