Warhammer 40,000: Darktide introduces Expeditions, a new game mode where players venture beyond familiar territory to loot valuable resources. The free update also adds new cosmetics, weapons, and enemy types.
Warhammer: 40,000 Darktide’s Beyond the Hive Update Adds New Content to the Co-Op Shooter
Expeditions is a New Way to Play Darktide
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide’s upcoming update, Beyond the Hive, launches tomorrow, March 17, and brings a wealth of new content to the co-op shooter, including a new game mode called Expeditions, inspired by the growing extraction shooter genre.
This game mode takes players into the desolate plains of Atoma Prime, far beyond the familiar sights of hive city Tertium, where most of Darktide takes place. In this new area, players will search for Tech-Remnants, leftover pieces of technology from a bygone era that still have value, in missions that last ten to thirty minutes.
Darktide’s design director, Victor Magnuson, describes Expeditions on the official blog as "the biggest injection of new content in the game since launch."
The main objective of this game mode is to collect as many Tech-Remnants as possible within the time limit and safely extract with the loot. Players who fail to reach the Valkyrie extraction on time will lose everything they have collected. While the new mode follows the risk-and-reward formula seen in extraction shooters, it does not include any PvP, as Expeditions is purely focused on Darktide’s familiar PvE trappings.
After completing a run, players can unlock new parts of the map depending on how many Tech-Remnants they bring back. As the map expands, more missions will be available, including new Tech-Remnants to find, furthering the game mode’s replay value.
Not for the Faint of Heart
According to Fatshark’s official blog, "Expeditions are not for the faint of heart," and players who tackle this new content must be well-prepared and properly equipped. While the mode maintains Darktide’s first-person shooting gameplay, progressing through these untamed lands has no set path and players will need to coordinate how they traverse the zone. Otherwise, the impending Chaos Hordes will cut their runs short.
Players curious enough to explore every nook and cranny in Atoma Prime’s irradiated outskirts can discover interesting locations, such as Sanctuaries, a mini-hub where players can barter acquired loot for new destructive tools to aid them on their journey.
Apart from the deadly 30-minute timer, Atoma Prime is home to a host of terrifying threats, including the familiar Chaos Hordes. New adversaries, such as the Ogryn Pack Master, present a formidable challenge as they are protected by their Armoured Pox Hounds.
Throughout excursions across these arid lands, enemies spawn in waves, reminiscent of Arrowhead’s Helldivers 2, and players must also contend with inclement weather, including twisters and lightning storms.
Those who prevail will unlock new cosmetic sets, available through Penances, or mission bounties found exclusively in Expeditions.
While this new mode offers enticing challenges for existing Darktide players, the developers emphasized that Expeditions "will not replace Adventure Mode," describing it as a game mode "something [players] play in parallel with the rest of the game."
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is already available on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. As of this writing, the Beyond the Hive update is set to launch in just a few hours.
Sources:
Official Blog Post from Fatshark
Dev Blog for Warhammer: 40k Darktide’s Beyond the Hive Update
