Today we’ve got some shiny new details about the upcoming sequel to the excellent Warhammer: Vermintide, Warhammer: Vermintide 2. It’s almost like there’s a pattern with the titles there, wonder what it is. Seriously though, we’ve got a lot of information so lets get the big thing out of the way first; there’s still no hard and fast release date except for the very broad Q1 2018.

Now then, there’s quite a few changes from the first game. Perhaps the most major of which is the inclusion of the Chaos faction. They’ll be joining the Skaven forces as the game’s antagonists and as Skaven allies they’ll provide a heavier, more armoured enemy to fight alongside the fast rat-men. Just like the rats, Warhammer Fantasy Chaos run the gamut from lowly unarmoured cultists to walking tanks capable of taking on a squad on their own so expect a good variety of special units to make an appearance and muck up your strategy.

Speaking of strategy, the class and loot systems from the original game have received a shake-up too. The game’s original cast of heroes has been expanded from 4 to 5, though there’s no details on just what the fifth hero is yet. Sadly, the expansion of the roster doesn’t come alongside an expansion of player count – the game will still be 4 player co-operative but the new character should allow a little more wiggle room at least.

Additionally, the characters have been expanded to have multiple talent trees each. Assuming all get an equal amount there’ll be three to choose from for each character; developer Fatshark are calling these careers and say they’ll influence more than just stats. Examples given have been that they’ll affect appearance, abilities, talents, and your weapons. It’s unclear if a particular career will lock you out of certain weapon sets or not though.

Speaking of appearance and weapons – the loot system has been given an overhaul from the previous game. No longer will you be gambling for loot and being disappointed when the roll doesn’t go your way and you get your fifteenth Dwarven axe when you really wanted some Bright Wizard armour. In Vermintide 2 you’ll get loot for your chosen career (note the developers have said career here, not character) at the end of every successful mission. Lovely.

The setting of the game has also moved on to Helmgart. This fortress town sits in the wonderfully named Axe Bite Pass on the Bretonnian border with Reikland and is allied with Margrave Reinhardt von Mackensen whom Warhammer Fantasy RPG players will recognise as being of no bloody importance whatsoever. On the up-side, the move of location should provide some excellent scenery as it’s smack in the middle of the Grey Mountains so at the very least the Dwarf of the party can feel right at home.

News about Twitch integration will follow at a later date; developers Fatshark are planning on releasing more information about that in another live-stream event in December. Check out the trailer above, there’s some gameplay in there, and enjoy the screenshots and press release below. If you just can’t contain yourself there’s also the game’s Steam page that you can take a gander at and pre-order the game on. There’ll be a pre-order beta sometime before launch.