An Interview with Fatshark on Vermintide 2: Lore, Gameplay, and More!

Published: January 10, 2018 1:00 PM /

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In anticipation of the release of Vermintide 2, the latest entry in the Warhammer series developed by Fatshark, we sat down to ask the developers some questions about this much anticipated sequel. For more information, or to just learn about what the Vermintide series is, check out our coverage of Vermintide 2's announcement.

TechRaptor: Are there any particular aspects of the lore that you're looking to expand upon that were in the first game?

Fatshark: The Story is a direct continuation following the events in Vermintide. There will be a free update to Vermintide that will bridge the two games so I can’t really go into any more detail than that. As we have previously stated, we are very excited to continue the story of our 5 unlikely heroes from the first game, and give players more time to further delve into their sometimes dysfunctional relationships.

TR: Since the lore is so expansive and well renowned, how would you sell Vermintide 2 to someone who is just getting into the Warhammer series for the first time"?

Fatshark: We have always seen Vermintide as a stepping stone for someone who is being exposed to the world of Warhammer fantasy for the first time. We feel that it is really important that players can enjoy the game independently without any prior knowledge of the franchise. While Vermintide 2 story is a sequel to the first game it is fully rounded in itself so players, who haven’t played Vermintide 1, won’t feel like they lack any key details to enjoy the game.

TR: Are heroes confined to a single career path or can the player switch between them during the game?

Fatshark: Players will be able to switch careers freely to whatever suits the current team composition but it will only be possible before you set out on a mission, the same way you could not change weapons after leaving the Red Moon Inn in the original. It is important that players don’t feel bogged down by their choice of career and feel free to switch depending on the composition of their current team.

TR: Can there be more than one of any class in a party, now that classes can be more diverse?

Fatshark: Similar to the original, we will only allow one of each character in a party at any given time but the addition of the career choices will further expand the possibilities of players finding a play style that fits their liking with each character. The limitation is mainly there due to story and lore reasons, since the dialogue system relies on there not being more than one of each character.

TR: How do you plan to improve the experience for players who wish to play without grouping?

Fatshark: We are looking into ways to improve our BOT AI to better facilitate the players who don’t want to go online and play with other people. Hopefully this will make the game more enjoyable to players that play it as a singleplayer game. However, we strongly advise players to find a group of friends to play the game with since this is the way the game truly shines. There's just no replacing the thrill of fighting alongside a group of friends!

TR: How is the loot system changed and improved from the first game?

Fatshark: Loot is a very large part of this type of game and we have taken drastic measures to ensure that we improved on the system without losing what made the original good. We have completely revamped the way we approach itemisation with a new Power level system that should prevent the worst aspects of a RNG based system. We have also redone how we handle crafting and streamlined it to be less of a barrier without losing any functionality from the original. The way we handle loot this time around will also allow us to be more generous when it comes to the amount of items players will receive. Lastly, measures have been taken to ensure that players get items that feel relevant to not only the Hero they are playing but also the Career they have decided to play as.

TR: How will the first game still be supported after the second releases, given the recent nature of updates and DLC?

Fatshark: It all depends on how the community looks after we release Vermintide 2, if there is still a significant playerbase that is still playing the original there is no reason we wouldn’t continue supporting the game, but if the majority of the playerbase moves on to the sequel our efforts will be better spent supporting that game.

TR: Additionally, why was it decided to tie the pre-order bonus back to DLC for the first game?

Fatshark: We know that a lot of the people that pre-order the game are players that are fans of the first game and that want to support us in the development of the sequel so we figured that giving them something extra for their support would hopefully be appreciated.

 


We would like to thank Fatshark for giving us their time to answer some questions!

Are you excited to see the continuing story of Vermintide? What questions would you have for the devs? Let us know in the comments below!

Have a tip, or want to point out something we missed? Leave a Comment or e-mail us at tips@techraptor.net


Courtney
| Former Staff Writer

Courtney Ehrenholfer is an aspiring novelist and screenwriter, and current journalist who greatly enjoys video games, especially those of the point and… More about Courtney

More Info About This Game
Learn more about Warhammer: Vermintide 2
Developer
FatShark
Publisher
FatShark
Platforms
PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Release Date
March 8, 2018 (Calendar)
Genre
Action, Indie
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