Very true, it’ll be my first time doing co commentary, and my first time doing it in post. Trying to think of how to do that, best option being recording discord along with OBS as we watch a video unlisted that I upload in a video syncing program. Then add the commentary after. Maybe I;ll try out both and see which works the best.
Update 2 - Taal’s Keep
Let’s get things started, we’ll be going through the things around Taal’s Keep, the hub for the game. Rather than having you just go through menus alone the lobby for Vermintide 2 is its own world. First you’ll have to select a character then you’ll be placed within Taal’s Keep. Taal is an ancient god of humans in Warhammer, a god of nature.
You are able to explore the keep. At first it won’t have too much to explore, mainly a courtyard, the bridge of shadows, and a few spots where you can do things like craft and deal with item management. It should be noted that you can just pull up the item menu at any time and do whatever you need to do such as open lootboxes without needing to interact with specific environmental objects.
As you level up characters so too will the Keep. For instance since I have Bardin at a high enough level he has a room now in the Keep rather than just a cot in the main room. Each character will have their own rooms depending on how leveled up they are. You can also have a statue of the main god of the Empire, Sigmar, in the main room if you own the Collector’s Edition.
To set up a game you’ll need to approach the map and interact with it.
From the map you’ll have some different options to set and decide upon for what you’ll be doing. You can matchmake with others or play with friends, you can do a mixture of both which will still grant you the quickplay bonus to loot. When setting up a game you can decide on one of the 13 levels to play, you’ll have to progress through them to unlock later missions so at first you’ll only have the first 1 of each story arc available. The game has Twitch integration, the way this works is as you stream your chat will be able to vote on enemy spawns, difficulty adjustments, loot, boons, and debuffs.
The Bridge of Shadows is also found in Taal’s Keep. This is what you use to teleport to and from missions. It is said that it is more powerful magically at night.
As I mentioned you’re able to bring up the in game menu at any time and deal with your items, talents, crafting, and cosmetics. This game is big on loot. You can break it down for materials and craft new items.
Whenever you level up you gain a commendation box, and when you beat a mission depending on how many tomes, grimoires, loot dice, and perform, you will get better loot. You cannot buy lootboxes. They are only earned in game.
Lootboxes will drop gear that is near to your level. As you get higher equipment level you’ll get better gear. Each difficulty can only give a maximum level for equipment earned in it, for instance Recruit equipment will not exceed level 100.
In the courtyard are dummies you can check your damage on. Some have armor and allow you to test the armor penetration of the weapons you have.
Franz and Olesya can also be found in the Keep but offer little dialogue at the time being.
That’s just about it for Taal’s Keep.
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Update 3 - Supplemental 1 - Getting Through Armor
Here is a little mini episode about armored enemies in game and how to deal with armor.
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Update 4 - Episode 2 - Righteous Stand
In today’s episode we are introduced to the game proper. This is the true Vermintide 2 experience. We run into some RNG hiccups and AI troubles. In this episode we also meet Ferrond, a friend of mine. He’ll be with us for much of the LP. In this episode we did live commentary to try and liven things up a bit and because of recording limitations with discord. A problem in this episode is I’m very quiet but that’ll be fixed in all future updates.
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This was such a beautiful moment, it needed to be saved for posterity.
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Update 5 - Episode 3 - Convocation of Decay
Today’s episode I fixed the graphics and audio and things are off to a running start. Ferrond once again joins us while we go deep into an Imperial church to discover what horrors lay beneath it. I apologize if you hear any rumbling sometimes, Ferrond was on his phone it was the only way we could record.
Also thank you for making that GIF Phoenix it is beautiful. We see some more glitchy nonsense in this episode.
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Catching up on Episode 3 as I type this, but figured I’d ask about a couple little things I ran into in Ep 2.
First, how do the grimoires work? Seems they’re hidden in each level and give you extra rewards when you finish, but I don’t quite know how.
Second, I spotted this rather large rat that was seeming to lead you to the next area in the level. Is the rat always there or, how does that bit work basically?
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I don’t believe grimoires really have a story significance. I think they’re just there for rewards really, because otherwise they’re in such hard to reach locations or spots that don’t make a whole lot of sense I’d beg the question how and why they’re in those spots. Similar for some tomes. There are ones that I can get, like in the back of a wagon or in a tower. But the jumping puzzles make me doubt any lore significance.
Rats are always in the same spawn locations. And yep they do like to lead you where to go. I think that’s just a bit of level design.
It’s very helpful, I’d bet! Only other thing I’d like to ask about is what the special enemies are we’ve run into so far, since it’s easier to follow in text than just when they show up on screen. The hunter equivalent I didn’t even get to see before you wiped one out in Ep 2, but showed up multiple times in 3.
That’s probably an update unto itself though.
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If people want me to I could go through some more in depth enemy details and such, currently I have the enemies labelled with images underneath the updates section. Here they are for quick access.
Enemies
Skaven
Skavenslaves
The weakest of Skaven. They are mere slaves that wield small weapons. It is very easy to kill them, even in swarms they are not too dangerous and are best cleaved through.
Clanrats
The common Skaven, these are the front-line of the Skaven forces alongside Skavenslaves. A little bit sturdier than Skavenslaves, these warriors are still quite weak and rely heavily on numbers.
Stormvermin
Known as Black Rats, the Stormvermin are the warrior elite of the Skaven. Armored with well crafted weapons, they are a serious threat. A few Stormvermin can easily overrun a band of adventurers. Their weak spot is their head and especially their face.
Packmaster
Known also as hook rats, these rats carry, you guessed it, big hooks. They use these to grab people and then drag them away. They can pull heroes back through mobs of Skaven and Chaos, go around corners to break line of sight, and when they get far enough they impale the hero on a pole.
Warpfire Thrower
Warpfire Throwers are area denial style enemies. These special Skaven can push with their fire and are dangerous mostly at close range. They need to close the distance to hit heroes and if they are killed by shooting their fire tank they’ll explode and leave fire on the ground.
Globadier
Skaven are fond of poison, they use it often in their weaponry and none show this off quite like Globadiers. They throw poisonous gas bombs that are area denial and can force heroes to move from one spot to another. This may cause them to give up a favorable position for a dangerous one. When killed they explode in a poisonous cloud. Also known as Gas Rats.
Plague Monk
Donned in green robes, Plague Monks are berserking Skaven that dual wield weapons. At close range they’re extremely dangerous and do flurries that can hit many times or break through guard. It is best to push them then go for the kill.
Ratling Gunner
Yes its a pun, I’m not even the one responsible. These rats carry large Ratling guns on their backs with a lot of ammo. They lay down suppressing fire and can assault the party at long range. Only shields can block their bullets. Their bullets push hard and are able to knock heroes off of areas to their deaths.
Gutter Runner
Yes-yes, stab-stab. The Gutter Runner is a sneaky stabby jerk. They like to stalk heroes and at opportune moments jump onto them. When pinned by a Gutter Runner the target is helpless and needs to be saved. If confronted they can teleport away in a puff of smoke.
Rat Ogre
Big and buff, the Rat Ogre is a Sub-Boss in the game. They are large and mostly in charge. There is nothing too special about them among Sub-Bosses, they are the standard from Vermintide 1. They hit hard, can launch heroes they hit, and have a large health pool.
Stormfiend
At some point the Skaven noticed a flaw with Rat Ogres. They’re just too dumb. It’s not possible for them to wield weapons or do much of anything except charge. Through experimentation the Skaven bred small mutants that would function as the brains for them. Thus the combined creature became known as a Stormfiend. Stormfiends are coated in armor and mostly need to be damaged from behind. As their brain stems are vulnerable and take significant damage compared to their bodies. Like Rat Ogres they are big and brawny but also carry Warpfire Throwers which scald those who approach them. From the front the Stormfiend is an extremely deadly foe.
Chaos
Raider
The average warrior of the Rotblood. These soldiers are quite wild and are stronger than their Skaven counterparts. Without any armor they still are not too hard to deal with but may take a few swings to kill.
Marauder
Battle hardened, Marauders have a decent chunk of health to get through though they lack armor. They charge up their swings and can deal heavy blows, but telegraph their attacks making it easy to dodge them.
Chaos Warrior
Who is ready for some heavy metal, armor! Chaos Warriors are high ranking servants of Chaos. These ones serve the god Nurgle and are coated from head to toe in armor. Their weak point is their head, but even that is still heavily armored. Their blows can easily break guard and are best dodged.
Blightstormer
Sorcerers in service of Nurgle mainly come in two forms. One is the Blightstormer. A Blightstormer likes to hide far away while weaving winds of magic causing a storm. This storm of green can pick up and toss heroes and can only be dispelled by killing the caster.
Lifeleecher
The other form of sorcerer is the Lifeleecher. These figures like to ambush heroes and stun them while sucking the life out of them. The act of leeching life pulls the hero towards the caster who must be staggered or killed to free them.
Bile Troll
Trolls that are in service of Nurgle are known as Bile Trolls. These lumbering large creatures are a form of Sub-Boss that can spawn. They regenerate health over time and deal a good amount of damage. When their health reaches certain thresholds they’ll drop to one knee and try to regenerate a massive amount of health, you need to focus fire it at this moment. Trolls are weak to fire. Bile Trolls can vomit acid that blinds those it hits and creates pools that damage those who stand in them.
Chaos Spawn
Yikes talk about ugly. Chaos Spawn are mutated former mortals that have been twisted by Chaos. Over time they lose their mind until they become nothing but a husk of death and destruction. In battle these creatures are Sub-Bosses that are highly aggressive. They can grab heroes and chew on them to gain health back. Their onslaught never ends until they are killed.
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In Vermintide the idea was that you were collecting them to prevent the Skaven from getting their paws on the magical lore they contained.
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Update 6 - Episode 4 - Hunger in the Dark
Hello again, in this episode Ferrond and I take our heroes on a journey through mines in the snow capped mountains. There we are seeking to destroy the breeding grounds for the Rotblood Blight Trolls. This level features some neat lighting.
Also Ah @White_Coke that makes sense.
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The grimoires also are only valuable to skaven or those with an interest in dark magic such as chaos followers. The sheer detrimental effect they have on the player squad pretty much is a confirmation that they are some rather potent chaos artifacts of some sort. The group is lucky that they don’t start sprouting tentacles or getting new mouths after handling so many.
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Kruber has PTSD because a necromancer ripped out the souls of most of the other men in his regiment. His character makes a lot more sense in that context, given how he’s extremely bloodthirsty but also quick to make jokes and bring levity to the group. He’s just trying to come to terms with what happened.
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He’s also a career sargeant before this mess, and one of his jobs was basically trying to maintain group cohesion. Pretty much all characters are suffering from some sort of pyschological issue that becomes a class choice. Sienna addiction to magic, Kruber PTSD, Saltzpyre Zealous breaking his brain, Elf is an elf, and Bardin can become a slayer.
Elf is basically a teenager. She might be hundreds of years old but she comes off as a moody teen. Waystalker is just her getting older but refusing to change, Handmaiden is her going straight edge so she can look down on everyone else, and shade is her going full goth.
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Favorite pick up line is for Sienna helping elf up with the phrase, “Is this mayfly going to outlast you?” Also the exchange between bardin and elf over using health potions. “If you’re not going to use those potions responsible bardin.” Bardin: “It hurt.”
Update 7 - Episode 5 - Halescourge
In this update we go to deal with the vile Nurgle sorcerer Burblespue Halescourge. He is a huge asshole and a boss I do not like fighting. Through the ruins of a settlement we find it crumbling from a cliff side and must traverse dilapidated buildings to make our way through. Burblespue plans to unleash a mighty blightstorm and our heroes have to put a stop to it.
I had heard Kruber had PTSD but I wasn’t sure if that was people just misusing the term or not.
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I don’t know if its ever outright said in game, but Kruber’s family is strongly hinted at being killed by the skaven as they were in ubersreik while he was fighting there. In addition to previously losing his squad to a necromancer. One reason Saltzpyre hired him as a guard in vermintide one stems from Kruber having family in ubersreik.
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So, thanks to this LP I did indeed pick up the game, and I discovered two very important things. Firstly, you make this game look much easier than it actually is. Secondly, the flail is the best weapon in the game and Victor Saltspyre is my new main. Glad to see it getting the appreciation it deserves.
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