New Player Guide - Pactsworn
Pactsworn,
This is Fatshark Quickpaw, Community Manager and long time player of Vermintide 2! With the Versus Beta being open to anyone, we expect a lot of new players to try out the game for the first time, which is why we wanted to prepare guides for how to get started with playing Vermintide Versus! This guide is focused on the Pactsworn side, but we’ve also just published a similar guide for the Hero side.
In Versus specifically, the game turns from a PvE co-op game into a PvP+E mayhem! 8 players will take turns playing as Heroes in what is otherwise a normal game of Vermintide, and as Pactsworn - where they control the Specials and try to stop the Heroes from progressing! By killing them dead-dead.
Vermintide 2 is, overall, a First Person Hack & Slash and Shooter hybrid set in the Warhammer Fantasy universe. The Heroes must cleave through endless hordes of enemies while also fending off the lethal Special enemies, Monsters, Elites and so on, all while they carry on through the levels to complete objectives and make it through to the end!
Players familiar with Left 4 Dead, Darktide or similar games should feel right at home!
How the Pactsworn play
As Pactsworn, your team doesn’t earn points. Your job is to wipe out the enemy team so that they generate as few points as possible, so that when you switch teams you can beat them on score!
In a typical round of Versus, the Hero team will want to advance through the level, completing objectives and working their way to the end as they fend off AI enemies and… you! The Pactsworn must exploit vulnerabilities and weaknesses in the Hero team to wipe them out in deadly ambushes.
There’s five specials to choose from, each with a role to fulfil and situations they shine in. Pactsworn Specials live short lives, but that’s fine: After dying, you get to quickly pick a different Special and spawn in again. You have no limits on how many times you can try again and again!
“Rat lives are cheap, you are not made to live long, you are their to damage/kill players not survive. Spend your lives well, respawn, and do it again.”
Controls
Movement
Pactsworn share many of the same controls as Heroes, such as basic movement (Default: WASD) and jumping (Default: Spacebar), but cannot crouch or dodge!
“All specials make sound when they move. You are silent when you stand still.””
Specials also have the ability to climb around the map. Jumping over tall fences, climbing up a wall and onto a roof, leaping up to a second story, all possible to position and maneuver yourself! To climb, the Pactsworn player must approach a possible climb spot (marked with floating upwards or downwards arrows!) and press the Interact key (Default: E)
“[About Ratling Gunners & Warpfire Throwers] Strafe left and right, jump even, when shooting the Heroes to make it harder for them to hit you with their ranged attacks.”
Communication
As both Heroes and Pactsworn, you can also tag enemies and locations (Default: T), highlighting important enemies or places to keep an eye on. You can also hold down the tag button to open up the Social Wheel, giving you some quick messages to communicate with your team.
Opening the chat (Default: Enter) lets you write out text messages to your team. You can also communicate with both teams by opening All Chat (Default: Shift + Enter).
The game also features in-game Voice Chat!
Spawning
At the end of each round, plus after every time you die, you will be given a random option of two of the five Specials. Which one will be the best choice depends on several factors, like what other Pactsworn are currently active, the situation the Hero team is in, the current part of the map that they’re going through, etcetera.
“Other than what's fun, factors to decide what rat to pick might be: The current and upcoming part of the map, what the Heroes are playing, what's lacking in your current skaven set-up or what synergies you could pull off” ~ Flemlius, Community Champion
Once you pick your Special, you will be in ‘ghost’ form. This means you haven’t spawned yet, but you can move around to scout the area and position yourself. You can also quickly teleport to Heroes with the Catch Up key (Default: Q). Keep in mind that you can’t spawn too close to the Heroes, or in a spot where they could see you spawn.
Whenever you’re ready to spawn, you can hit the spawn key (Default: Right Mouse Click).
“Pro Tip - Spawning in and not moving makes you completely silent, for those times when you want to be ready but remain sneaky sneaky.” ~ JTCLive, Community Streamer
The Horde Ability
A brand new feature in this Beta is a universal ability that all Pactsworn players will share: Summoning a Horde. Using the ability lets each Pactsworn player trigger a small horde on their own!
The Horde Ability
You can use it individually when you’re about to attack, either as a distraction or cover! But you can also synchronise with your Pactsworn allies and all trigger your Hordes at the same time, to cause maximum mayhem and overwhelm the Hero team!
“If you need to move a lot to attack the enemy, using the horde ability and running in it is your best disguise. Even if you're noisy, you'll be harder to target.” ~ Julia, Gameplay Animator
The ability has a cooldown and will recharge on its own slowly. Additionally, dealing damage to Heroes will help recharge it faster. Your progress on the Horde cooldown carries over through your various Pactsworn lives, so don’t worry. Build up your horde slowly, and unleash it when it will be the most deadly!
“Use the AI hordes to time your attacks. A distracted enemy is an easier to ambush enemy.”
Things to keep in mind
Distract the Heroes
An experienced Hero team will have few weaknesses and will cover each other. As the Pactsworn team, if there’s nothing to exploit, you must create those opportunities yourself! Confuse, distract, separate the Heroes and then execute deadly ambushes! The Pactsworn Specials have the tools for the job.
“You are opportunists. And together you are the Pactsworn. Scheme as such.”
Strike together
If the key to playing the Heroes is teamwork, the key to playing the pactsworn is coordination. A coordinated ambush where you strike together, throwing the Hero team in disarray and taking out whoever is most alone or hardest to rescue, that kind of play will be key and decisive in taking down the Heroes.
Communicate with your fellow Pactsworn! Tell them what you’re planning so that they can help you execute your ambushes, covering you or taking out other Heroes in sync!
“An ambush is most deadly when all of Pactsworn work together. Rats together strong-strong!” ~ SlashKex, Community Champion
“It's really important to not go in alone. Make sure your team has respawned so you can get ready for a more coordinated strike!” ~ Lonk1442, Community Champion
Be sneaky
Pactsworn are easy to kill! Don’t let them get an easy shot off on you. Attack from far away, approach unseen, use gas or the Horde as distractions!
But be careful, even if they can’t see you, the Heroes can hear you coming.
“There are only dead heroes, be a smart rat - backstab!” ~ Old’Un, Community Champion
“Never attack from the same spot twice, always find a new angle to strike the enemy team from. The more confused they are, the better.” ~ Janfon1, Community Fan Animator
Be aware of the situation
Playing Pactsworn is a game of opportunities! It’s about creating them and also exploiting them. Look for good spots to plan an ambush. Keep an eye on the Heroes’ health to find who’d be easiest to kill. See a Hero that’s all on their lonesome? Easy target. Is one Hero being disabled by a Gutter Runner or a Packmaster? Better help them out before another Hero rescues them. Things like that!
“Scout out ahead and plan your attacks around the map! If the heros are coming up to a cliff use hookrats and warpfires to shove them off, or if they're approaching an event area with fixed objective spawns, set up an ambush at a choke point the have to pass through.” ~ JTCLive, Community Streamer
They only need to die once
While the Pactsworn players get to quickly respawn over and over again every time they die, the same is not true of the Heroes. Whenever a Hero loses all their health, they go down into a Knocked Down state. If they die in this state before an ally can revive them, then they will be gone for the rest of the round.
“Something I rarely saw during quickplay was players trying to kill off downed players. Focused ratling gunner fire, or a few gas globes is enough to kill off most downed players which can be really big in close games.”
In addition, if a Hero is knocked down too many times without receiving healing from medical supplies, then they will die without the opportunity to be revived.
“Attrition. Waste the Heroes' time. Time spent chasing you down means more opportunities for your teammates to whittle down the heroes. The seconds add up, and the time for the Heroes ticks ever down.” ~ SlashKex, Community Champion
The Specials
Our lovely rats! There’s five specials to choose from, with Pactsworn players getting two options each time they spawn!
The Gutter Runner
A deadly, nimble Assassin of Clan Eshin, capable of pouncing an unsuspecting Hero from ANYWHERE! The Gutter Runner is one of our two Disablers.
By holding down the Attack button (Default: Left Mouse Click) you can charge up a Pounce. Aim it by moving the camera! When fully charged, you can release it to launch yourself at ludicrous speeds to where you’ve aimed!
“As an Assassin, I take the first steps in completing the Skaven Space Program. I can leap sky-high and land on an unsuspecting Hero. Very satisfying.” ~ SlashKex, Community Champion
You can use this pounce just for movement, but its true application is pouncing an enemy Hero. When successful, you will disable the Hero, meaning they can’t act and will begin to take damage! This will continue until the Hero is knocked down or one of their allies knocks you off.
“Finding low health targets and picking Heroes off one by one is superb. Can also get a hero down quickly if combo’d with a globe of gas or a warpfire thrower, especially when doing a crazy leap from a high roof.” Emil, Game & UX Designer
While direct pounces from a rooftop are the most common, you can also purposely aim your Pounce extremely high up. If you aim correctly, you can land on a Hero straight from above!
Unique to the Gutter Runner, you also have a one-time use smoke bomb! If you ever find yourself out in the open (perhaps you’ve just failed a pounce?), you can press the Career Skill key (Default: F) to go invisible and reposition.
“Nothing brought me more pleasure than trying to land a Gutter Runner leap the length of a bastketball field and whiffing it entirely. There's always next time!” ~ Janfon1, Community Fan Animator
Keep in mind that, even while invisible, the Heroes can still hear you chittering about! Don’t linger.
THE PACKMASTER
Also known as the Hookrat! This Special is the second of our Disablers. The Packmaster is sturdy and blends well with the typical skaven slave that comprises a Horde.
If you can get close enough, you can press the Attack button (Default: Left Mouse Click) to strike with your hook and catch a Hero, disabling them!
This means that they can’t act and will take damage, all while you can move around to drag them away from their teammates!
“Once an enemy is hooked try to ensure you are not in a direct line of fire from the remaining enemy team. Also make sure to drag your enemy into cover.” ~ DaveeBoy, Community Streamer
Once you’ve hooked a Hero, you can also hang them from your hook by holding down the Attack button. If you can complete the animation, the Hero will be left hanging there, still disabled, but now you can act and even go catch another Hero!
“Hoisting up a Hero will leave you with no Hook for a short while. Run away and plan your next ambush in the meantime.” ~ SlashKex, Community Champion
Be careful though, the Packmaster is particularly noisy when moving around, so the Heroes will be on high alert whenever you get close. Use Hordes (call in your own?) and fellow Pactsworn (Warpfire, Ratling fire, Globadier gas!) as cover to approach while they’re distracted.
“As a Hookrat, you are the most reliant on teamwork since you do very little damage. Drag a hooked hero behind cover into the line of sight of Gunrats and Flamerats or hoist them up in Gas clouds.” ~ SlashKex, Community Champion
WARPFIRE THROWER
A brutal short range damage dealer! The Warpfire Thrower is a tough, armoured lad who needs to get close enough to the Heroes to blast them with his Warpfire.
“Don't get into a melee scuffle with the Heroes. Your Warpfire Thrower has deceptively good range.” ~ SlashKex, Community Champion
But he’s worth the trouble, since his warpfire deals really high damage, pushes Heroes back and blocks their view with its glowing green flames!
“The warpfire can use cover to skirmish with the heroes in a way no other pactsworn can.” ~ Hurrvs, Community Streamer
To fire, simply hold down the Attack button (Default: R). You can fire for a limited amount of time before you’re forced to pause the stream for a bit and reload. If you pause the stream of fire yourself, you also have to wait a bit before you can fire again.
The Warpfire Thrower shines at setting up ambushes around corners, near chokepoints and near cliffs. Jump in when they least expect it, blast them with warpfire when they have nowhere to run, and push them off a ledge onto their doom!
“Getting a real good Warpfire play in feels so satisfying. Finding a nice corner and turning it into an absolute hero barbeque fiesta is what I live for. Especially if you have another Warpfire buddy by your side. Lethal!”
Ratling Gunner
As close to a Sniper as the Pactsworn team gets! The Ratling Gunner has a powerful rapid fire gun that can strike from far away.
What he lacks in aim he makes up for in sheer firepower! The Ratling Gunner can lock down passageways or just focus fire on a vulnerable Hero, dealing massive damage if they don’t have a shield to block the bullets.
“You can also pair Ratling with any disabler in order to provide covering fire in critical moments - As your team goes in for the kill, pepper their ranged careers with ratling fire with the intent to aimpunch them, so they have a much harder time shooting your allies” ~ JTCLive, Community Streamer
To fire, hold down the Attack button (Default: Left Mouse Click). You can fire a limited amount of bullets before being forced to reload. If you want to reload before you’re completely empty, simply hit the Reload button (Default: R).
“Your minigun needs to spin up before it can fire. Keep this in mind when peeking out of cover.” ~ SlashKex, Community Champion
Oftentimes, the best play will be to climb to a good spot before firing! Somewhere high up where you can take cover from the Heroes if they shoot back, but you still get a clear shot on them! Keep in mind the map’s objectives so you know which direction the Heroes want to go.
“Use narrow tunnels with limited cover and set up your skaven mini gun to supress everything that attempts to pass thru” ~ DaveeBoy, Community Streamer
Poison Wind Globadier
Or just Globadier, for short! This pesky Special can throw globes of poisonous gas, creating thick clouds that limit visibility, and deal high damage to any lingering Heroes.
Block off chokepoints, disperse Heroes that stick together, deal extra damage to a disabled or knocked down Hero, or just create cover for your Pactsworn allies to take advantage of!
“Gas Rats are both initiators and damage amplifiers. They can create cover or distract Heroes while others attack, or they can throw globes on disabled heroes for additional damage, or they can separate Heroes, or Delay them. Basically Gas Rat is the biggest [redacted] on Skaven Team, but garbage when alone” ~ Old’Un, Community Champion
To throw a Gas Globe, hold down the Attack button (Default: Left Mouse Click). This will show the aim reticle, letting you know where the globe will hit exactly. Once you’ve aimed, simply release the button to throw that globe!
“I love doing long range trickshots while trying to predict where my team will disable heroes in the next few seconds. Not optimal, but very satisfying. ps. hiding in my own gas in the middle of all the heroes is really fun”
While the initial damage of the poison cloud is low, the damage ramps fast up as Heroes stay in the poison. Placing gas in spots where the Heroes are forced to be in, such as objectives, chokepoints or on a Hero under attack from another Pactsworn, are all great candidates!
“Use choke points: Attack with AOE gas, gassing all the enemy team as they pass thru or blocking their movement until the gas clears.” ~ DaveeBoy, Community Streamer
Comboing Specials Together
While each Pactsworn Special has quite the lethal toolkit, the Heroes are tough to crack. Combining your abilities with that of other Pactsworns is key to maximising the damage you can inflict in a single life, or a single ambush.
Make sure to communicate with your fellow Pactsworn! Knowing what your allies are doing lets you know how to best help them out.
The Globadier and Warpfire Thrower, for instance, can both create cover for other Specials as they move in, or they can capitalize on some Heroes being immobilized thanks to another Pactsworn’s actions.
On top of that, the simple act of focusing your attacks on the same Hero to deal a ton of damage very quickly can turn a healthy Hero into a dead one in seconds.
Disabling multiple Heroes at the same time can also be deadly. It means there’s less Heroes around who can help, and the few that are still standing might go into a panic knowing they have to save half the team.
Of course, though, you won’t always get to perform the perfect synchronised ambush with your teammates. The Pactsworn play a game of opportunities, if you have an advantage you can seize, just go for it.
“Don't wait for the perfect combos, just play off each other as best you can with what you have to start racking up the damage.” ~ Hurrvs, Community Streamer
The Monsters
Occasionally, one of the Pactsworn players will get the choice to spawn in as a Monster! These are powerful monstrosities that deal high damage and are very tough to kill. Monsters will only spawn a limited amount of times in a match, and where they spawn is random and unique for each match.
However, if a Monster spawned in a certain spot for one team, then when the teams swap around and play that section again, that monster will spawn again there! Keep that in mind, since playing Heroes second in a given round can give you some information ahead of time.
The monsters are tough, powerful and impactful. Oftentimes the Hero team will have to focus their efforts on bringing the Monster down. A rampaging monster can throw an entire team in disarray just by showing up, blocking their advance, and attacking.
“Choose the most durable hero as your target. The rest will focus on you, presenting their backs to your Pactsworn teammates.” ~ SlashKex, Community Champion
However, don’t get too cocky. While Monsters are tough to kill, some Hero Careers have the tools to take them on. This can be high damage from ranged focus fire, or using their Career Skill to deal massive damage in a single melee strike, or it can be various abilities that could temporarily stagger you, leaving you open. Bombs are also quite lethal at dealing with Monsters.
“If you select one of the skaven bosses, make sure to avoid running in alone or out in the open! The heroes have many stagger options and lots of damage. It is better to guard or defend doorways or key chokepoints from behind cover with powerful charged swings.” ~ Lonk1442, Community Champion
Bile Troll
The Bile Troll is big and tough, but he has no armour. He wields a big ol’ club that can smack Heroes off a cliff or break their guard, on top of dealing solid damage.
Currently for this Beta, the only available Monster is the mighty Bile Troll! There will be more coming in the future, but he’s more than enough trouble for the Heroes for now.
Tapping the Attack button (Default: Left Mouse Click) will make you do a quick light attack. Holding it down and then releasing it lets you do a Heavy Attack, which knocks them back and deals more damage.
On top of that, the Bile Troll has a unique ability: His Acid Vomit!
By hitting the Career Skill button (Default: F), the Troll will spew acid bile, dealing unblockable damage to the Heroes and leaving behind a puddle of his acid. Heroes standing in the acid puddle will also take damage!
“Surprising heroes with troll vomit in a choke point sets up for some nasty follow ups.”
You can hold down the button to prepare the puke and aim it better, as well.
That’s it for now!
Hope this will be a helpful resource to learn how to play the game, pick the right Special for the situation and coordinate with your team!
Thanks to everyone who contributed with their tips and opinions, community members and developers alike!
If you haven’t already, check out the Hero guide here.
We hope you enjoy playing the Open Beta of Versus! You can sign up here.
“Bring glory-praise to Horned Rat, attack together and kill-slay no-fur man-things!” ~ Old’Un, Community Champion