'Warhammer: Vermintide 2' Beta Update & Patch Notes

Fans who have been waiting to join the Warhammer: Vermintide 2 beta won't have to wait any longer. Fatshark announced today the pre-order beta is now available. Anyone who pre-ordered the title will have access to the beta on PC right now, but those holding out for a console release can still register for the Warhammer: Vermintide 2 PS4 beta and the Warhammer: Vermintide 2 Xbox One beta. Fatshark is offering a 10 percent discount on the title today for anyone who orders through their Steam store page. Here is the official description from Fatshark:

The five heroes have returned to take on an even greater threat during the End Times - the combined forces of the cowardly Skaven army and the barbaric Chaos faction. Prepare to be challenged like never before as you and your team desperately try to survive the never-ending hordes of enemies. Choose between 15 different careers, climb the talent tree, and customize your weapon arsenal to fit your unique play style as you fight your way through 13 stunning levels. The only thing standing between utter defeat and victory is you and your allies - if you fall, so will the Empire.

In case the gameplay trailer above didn't make it clear, Warhammer: Vermintide 2 is all about close-quarters, visceral combat. However, the character classes for each of the five heroes seem geared towards giving players the freedom to find their most comfortable playstyle, and, coupled with co-op play, the ability to mix-and-match for a wide variety of battles.

The standard fantasy melee tropes are all there. A dwarf, Barden Goreksson, serves as the veteran ranger doling out that DPS. Kerillian is your tortured stealth assassin, dual-wielding and creeping around for high bonus damage. The third hero, Victor Saltzpyre, is a tweaked version of the Witch hunter from previous games. Now defined as a Bounty Hunter class he's a balanced mix of melee and ranged attacks. Sienna Fuegonasus is the battle mage with all the pyro spells that will push your graphics processing to its limits (but be really, really fun to watch). Finally, Markus Kruber is your Foot Knight, a tanky melee warrior who is big on armor, defense and intimidation.

The release of the Warhammer: Vermintide 2 PC beta also comes with a big old pile of patch notes, too. Here's the full list courtesy of Fatshark:

Note: the patch notes are not a complete list of revisions due to the volume of revisions being made.

Added new intro movie!

BALANCE

Axes should now feel 'wider' and as such feel more effective

Dots now require damage to apply

Lessened the amount of shield vermin in patrols on recruit

Reduced the effectiveness of damage boost potion

Reduced the range of berzerker/raider attacks

Reduced the range of Knight Kruber's charge

Sienna's mace now reaches further

Small staggers should not make downed Chaos Warriors stand back up

special spawning, patrols and horde timing tweaks

Switch beam staff left/right

Tweaked crossbow spread speed up

Various other balance changes (just try things out, we made a lot of adjustments!)

BOTS

Bots can now use talents, huzzah!

Bots should no longer freak out in shallow water

Fixed a case where bots would stop reviving a player whenever a ranged attacker performed an attack (regardless of the distance between them)

STABILITY

Fix crash caused by Chaos Spawn chew attack

Fix rare crash that could happen after a chaos warrior launch attack

Fixed a crash caused when hitting a ragdolled enemy

Fixed a crash that could occur if you got disconnected from the game just as the win/lose screen was finished

Fixed crash caused by paintings

Fixed crash issue when joining game

Fixed crash when setting overcharge values on a weapon that was unequipped

Fixed issues with crashing when opening a loot chest or crafting when the host leaves the game

Fixed opening charm tab in inventory or clicking currently equipped charm occasionally leading to a crash

Fixed various other tougher to describe crashes

FIXES

Added camera animations to Sienna's flamethrower staff along with a new start animation for the charged attack

Added hero selection hotkey to keybindings menu

Against the Grain Fix for unlocalized objectives

Bounty Hunter talent "Extremely Impatient" should now properly reset cooldown of "Impatient" on melee kills

Changed Zealot passive damage increase calculation to allow high buff stack amounts even
when grimoires are picked up

Fix wizards sword light chain and push

Fixed all kruber shoulders and thumb poses for the 2h hammer set

Fixed bug with loot chest reward backgrounds were drawn during opening presentation

Fixed certain activated abilities not being able to be used during a weapon action

Fixed Gutter Runner having issues while jumping on Bardin

Fixed Lifeleech perception, can no longer change target mid-attack

Fixed not being able to deal damage to explosive barrels with certain weapons

Fixed some locations in the Keep where you could get stuck

Force ragdoll on death when an enemy is in a vortex

Ironbreaker: Critical beard fixes

Kerillian's 1h sword should no longer ignore heavy attack input

Keybinding added for Weapon Special

Maiden Guard: Fixed missing material assignment

Polished staff animations

Removed overly explosive impact effects from Flamestorm Staff.

Shortened the game end timer from 10 to four seconds when last standing player is dead. Game end timer is still 10 seconds if last standing player is only disabled

Sienna Pyromancer activated ability no longer bounces on training dummies

Swapped stat improved by talent for Zealot

The amount of crafting materials you gained are now correctly shown after completing a Salvage

Unchained no longer vents overcharge by pushing enemies

Venting no longer triggers Gromril Armour cooldown

Waystalker: Added arrow in quiver

SOUND

Added missing sound triggers to heavy attacks with Sienna's mace

Fixed character foley and voice over not always loading correctly

Fixed charge sound on Flamestorm Staff

Fixed missing light attack sounds on Kerillian's Wardancer Blade

Horde music should no longer get stuck in a loop

UI/UX

Added enemy shield armor indicators

Added fade in delay for item compare tooltips

Added keywords on weapon tooltips

Added missing enemy portrait textures

Added new images for trinkets and charms when presenting them in chest opening screen

Added new item icons for Sienna's Beam Staffs

Added new necklace icons

Added new shading environment for weapon presentation in chest opening screen

Added new trinket icons

Added tooltip in inventory screen to explain Hero Power

All items should now have working tooltips (WIP)

Changed mission voting ui to reflect the new additional options

Fixed double item tooltip compare for Slayer Bardin

Fixed issue with item sorting not being applied

Fixed so skin name and descriptions are presented on weapons with skins applied

Fixed updated weapon skins with the correct icons

HUD weapon icons are now showing correct item type icon when playing Bardin Slayer.

Level presentation in mission voting popup are now using the correct frame

Now properly displays inventory tabs for slayer bardin

Only salvagable items will now be presented in the the Crafting page for Salvage

Rarities on items are now being presented in the background

Reskin for friends view

Updated some talent icons