Vermintide 2 - Winds of Magic
Preview
REZZED 2019: The Beastman cometh
by Sean Martin
previewed on PC
THE WINDS OF MAGIC
At Rezzed this year, I was super lucky to get to play Winds of Magic (I will admit it’s the main reason I went to Rezzed) and I was pretty pleased with what I saw. Fatshark’s upcoming expansion to the world of Vermintide 2 is greatly anticipated, not in the least, because it is adding the Beastmen to the game, an inclusion which many have been amped for since the beginning. Vermintide 2 will now feature the great Chaos triumvirate, which should add plenty of diversity and lore-feel to the play.
The demo I played at Rezzed did not feature the Beastmen unfortunately, but did feature a level from the new mode called ‘the Weave’. This new mode effectively stitches together sections from previous levels to create whole new levels, each themed around a specific wind of magic. If the wind is Ghyran (the wind of life) the level will be super green and filled with foliage. Or if the wind is Aqshy (the wind of fire) the level will super flamey, and burnt, etc. I know players were initially worried by the fact that Winds of Magic will only have one new level, but this new Weave system, will go a long way to remedy that I think. The stitched together/backwards version of Righteous Stand that I played, felt super new and fresh
CATACLYSM
One other new thing, is that the Cataclysm difficulty will return from the first Vermintide. That means there will be a mode which is harder that Legend, which is kind of insane. Also as you play stages of the Weave, the difficulty gradually increases, technically making it possible to get to a difficulty even higher than Cataclysm, a prospect which renders me absolutely speechless in fear.
While there won’t be a new character, there will be new weapons for existing characters, including: Boar Spear for Kruber, Flame Flail for Sienna, Spear and Shield for Kerillian, Bill-Hook for Saltzpyre and Throwing Axes for Bardin. Some of these are quite cool, such as the Bill-Hook’s ability to pull enemies closer and the Spear and Shield will be an amazing combination, considering how good spear already was for Kerillian. As a Slayer player, I can say however, that Throwing Axes for Bardin will be ridiculously good. The only current downside I see with Slayer at the moment, is that he has no ranged component, but now that he will, he’s going to be an almost unstoppable class.
THE WEAVE REBELS!
It was a fairly bare-bones demo of the Winds of Magic that I played at REZZED, and while I was disappointed I didn’t get to annihilate any Beastmen, I was glad to see the new level-building system that the Weave is bringing. In a game that relies so heavily on re-playability, I’m super excited for a feature which will effectively add that. It’s the second best thing to getting new levels, and actually might prove better in the long run, as after a few plays of a new level, it can start to get old. I’ll be curious to see the true extent of this Weave feature when Winds of Magic drops in the summer. Weapons, maps, difficulty and new enemies — All in all, I think it’s going to make for a great piece of content.
