Since it launched in March of 2018, Vermintide 2 has had an odd approach to DLC. There's been a few map packs, two new careers (with another potential two teased), and a new Roguelike game mode courtesy of The Winds of Magic. The latest addition, The Chaos Wastes, is no different.
Released to the public after being teased in blog posts for months by the games developer's FatShark on their website, the Chaos Wastes brings a new Expeditions mode to the popular Skaven slaying multiplayer game. This interesting adventure feels more like a homebrew one-shot D&D session than your average Vermintide mission.
Although the team has moved onto other projects such as Darktide, this DLC is still absolutely bursting with Warhammer goodness. So if you're thinking of building a party to venture out into the wastes for fame and fortune, here's everything that's been added with the new DLC.
10 Expeditions
The biggest part of the DLC is the new expeditions into the Chaos Wastes. Similar to how Winds of Magic provides unique Roguelike adventures, the point of the Expeditions is to complete a long-running adventure to get to the Citadel of Eternity, where an arena battle will occur, and after that players will be rewarded with a lot of experience and chests of loot.
It's a closed adventure session that feels like it's what Vermintide was always aiming towards in its development. Plus, completing different Expeditions with specific characters will also unlock unique portraits that are in the theme of each of the Chaos Gods.
9 Pilgrim Coins
Throughout each Expedition in the new Chaos Wastes DLC, players will find special sparkling coins. These glittering tokens can be traded at various points through each expedition to pay for new passives at shrines, new weapons, and gear upgrades. However, everything resets after an Expedition, this includes your coin stash, so players are encouraged to not hoard their cash and instead spend it wisely.
Although a small percentage of your total does carry over into your next Expedition, it is definitely not worth hanging on to your coins until the end as there are some strong upgrades you can miss out on. You're better off burning through them on rewards that could benefit you or the party throughout the Expedition, like new passives or miracles.
8 Shrines
To freshen up the familiar gameplay of Vermintide 2, FatShark has introduced shrines. These stone totems are scattered throughout the maps in different locations and they can also be found as stops in stages of an Expedition.
The shrines you will run into during a map provide upgrades for your weapons by improving their power level or giving players new random gear. These Expedition shrines can provide miracles such as a super grenade or a selection of permanent buffs for either players or the group as a whole. Each of these shrines costs Pilgrim Coins with higher rewards costing more, so save up those coins if you want to get stronger.
7 Twitch Voting On Expedition Locations
Twitch integration is a big part of the Vermintide series and the developers have continued to tweak and change just how much of a coliseum the audience can make for their favorite Twitch personality. For streamers playing Vermintide 2 with an audience prepare for them to take the reigns on your adventure in a big way.
In the base game, the audience can vote on mini-bosses, potions, hordes, and other gameplay changes. But with the Chaos Wastes update, Twitch Chat can collectively decide the path being taken. This unique little addition uses the usual #letter input for deciding the vote, so if you're playing with a large group of people watching get ready to sit back and hope they don't send you down a dangerous path.
6 Boons
Whilst you can bring your current heroes' talents in with you, throughout the adventure there will be shrines that offer additional passive abilities.
These new abilities cost Pilgrim Coins and whilst they are important, they are completely random. So you could either get a beneficial ability for your build or something completely useless. For example, players with a melee build could be rewarded with a passive that benefits using or consuming ammunition. Plus, throw on top of that the new potions that provide random status effects such as stealth, life steal, or unlimited bombs and just watch how anarchic the game can get.
5 Attention Of The Gods
To add even further to what's already an overstuffed toy box of treats, there are also modifiers for levels based on what particular Chaos God is watching. Appearing at random during your expedition, these high difficulty additions can make for some quite tricky matches.
For example, Nurgle's gaze could take the form of health sapping poison throughout the level or a Lifeleech that can't be killed and constantly harasses players. Or if Tzeentch is passing by players might find enemies that are killed respawn into two new random mobs or lightning could be called down periodically. It's befittingly chaotic.
4 15 Unique Levels
The Expeditions are not a quick hack-n-slash affair like an ordinary Vermintide 2 level. Instead, these are long-drawn-out adventures across 15 levels in total, and whilst you can't travel to all of them, they provide a lot of variety to each subsequent run.
Like the ever-shifting planes of Chaos themselves, no venture into the Wastes is the same. The layouts of the levels constantly change with each adventure as you run into more mind-bending layouts and vistas within this mysterious zone. Stairways float in the air, castle corridors give way to softly swinging fields of corn, nothing makes sense and you can only push forward.
3 Challenge Chests
For those looking for an extra challenge on their Expedition, there are challenge chests. These sparkling boxes provide a quick mini-boss battle for a selection of free boon's that last until the end of the ongoing adventure.
These imposing boxes are completely optional, so if you're having a hard run already it's completely fine to skip them. But if you do decide to take one on then get ready to fight one random creature from the base games mini-boss roster, so expect a Chaos Spawn, Stormfiend, Rat Ogre, or Minotaur if you own the Winds of Magic DLC. Once they're taken down just head back to the chest to claim your prize.
2 Unique Map Effects
To make each level feel different, Fat Shark has added modifiers to each round that can provide handy benefits such as more Pilgrim Coins, or extra difficulty by spawning more Specials.
Each level also provides a permanent boon as a reward for beating it with some potentially being more valuable than others depending on the group build. For example, you could earn an extra 5% movement speed, 20% cooldown reduction, or increased stamina regen. So try to plan your route in a way that will be the most beneficial to your group.
1 Extra Lore
FatShark has put a lot of effort into representing the rich and deep lore of the Warhammer fantasy setting. From accurate depictions of the tabletop models in the character designs to the locations and references to the wider scale Endtimes era. With the Chaos Waste's comes more insight into life during this period.
The devs have included little bits of lore in the form of shrines in the hub depicting each of the Ubersreik Five's Deities of choice and a mysterious taunting voice. This eery invisible interloper mentions the hero's insecurities and dark secrets in an effort to dissuade any future adventure into the wastes adding a little bit more to the depth of the game world.