Weapons in Warhammer: Vermintide - How Realistic Are They?

[@weavelcow9596]

Shows Slayer Dwarf with no Armour and double axes. Everyone: This makes no sense, he'll eventually end up dying. Warhammer Fans: Well you see that's kinda the point.

[@Landmassorussia]

I mean, to be fair, they're only a troll Slayer. If they were a giant, dragon, or daemon Slayer, their hair would be plenty armor

[@Ninjat126]

Slayers aren't allowed to lose on purpose, but there Ain't No Rule against trying your best to win while using an impractical fighting style that's almost guaranteed to get you killed!

[@Predator20357]

@@Ninjat126 Honestly, there’s a reason why Godfrik isn’t dead despite wanting to die, he wants to have a death where he dies no matter what the odds are, be your best as a slayer, not just a depressed ginger.

[@lechking941]

@@Ninjat126 but the more crazy its funny enough oftent imes the winner

[@amulrei8149]

"Why do Skaven look like dirty mutants?!" Warpstone is a hell of a drug.

[@raestlin86]

Guess Skall didn't know Skaven eat literal solidified chaos :P

[@purgejmi]

Warpstone, yes yes!

[@Landmassorussia]

Can't wait until he finds a hellpit abomination

[@fancyincubus]

Oh boy don't bring up the bial trolls eating the plauge rats xD

[@hippophlebotamus]

they are literal mutants?

[@MrBones-hh1zy]

The comment about Saltzpyre hamfisting his rapier is pretty funny as Kruber will occasionally make comments that Saltzpyre's swordsmanship is either off or lacking.

[@Skallagrim]

Hah, that makes sense.

[@LordNithilus]

Kruber: Keep your guard up, sir. You're open when you do that. Saltzpyre: *With barely contained rage* Thank you, Kruber.

[@garretwoeller7669]

Which is funny because its doing work like his rapier is one of his strongest weapons so it's bizarre that Kruber will talk shit

[@TheCyanWool]

@@garretwoeller7669 It does some work, which is why Kruber is sitting there thinking it could be so much Better still!

[@BigPapaKaiser]

@@LordNithilus I will h e e d your advice...

[@FatsharkGames]

Hahah hammer go bonk Seriously though, thanks for the analysis! Always fun to balance realism and the rule of cool. Note: the cogs on the 'Steampunk-esque' hammer do wind up a kind of thumping motion on the hammer head. Practical IRL? Unquestionably not! Cool? Hopefully!

[@rafaelcastor2089]

I thought the devs would've been among the first comments shown. Weird to find you guys so lol in the order lol.

[@sovietunion7643]

i wish he would have brought up about how fast kruber re-loads the blunderbuss. how is he getting shott, a bunch of powder, and all that loaded in under 2 seconds?

[@olchum7605]

I like how Skall was slowly transforming into the vampire when he started talking about dwarf weapons. Almost as if his anger was corrupting him lol. first the left eye then the right then the fangs.

[@erikhanseisenheber]

I noticed that too and I was wondering "Wait, weren't his eyes a different color? Where did those fangs come from??"

[@Scorpiowned777]

@@erikhanseisenheber I thought i was loosing it

[@chaos_omega]

Yeah, I thought he was building up to something! Nope, just a vampiric transformation on the DL!

[@jamesharmer9293]

I thought he wasn't well or something and then I realised that he's got pale vampire makeup on.

[@TaRAAASHBAGS]

Zanguinaz That's a grudgin

[@fabiovarra3698]

I love how all Skall criticism of the "steampunk" hammer would perfectly fit with what a Warhammer Longbeard dwarf would said about it

[@sholahverassa8582]

Still not enough grumpiness. Nowhere near, actually.

[@chickeness1976]

There is mechanical movement- the hammer's flat head moved back and forth as the gears turn. What purpose that has I have absolutely no idea, and it's a shame he didn't take a look at in-game footage of it

[@Overlord99762]

IT'S NOT PROPER FOR A DAWI TO USE THOSE STEAM KNICK KNACKS, WHAT'S WRONG WITH A GOOD CROSSBOW OR A HAMMER?

[@JRexRegis]

@@chickeness1976 Maybe the hammer head acts sort of like a jackhammer? So the motion of swinging causes the head to extend, adding just a bit more impact to the swing?

[@RokuroCarisu]

@@JRexRegis You know what else has that effect? Swinging it faster. Which could be done if the additional weight wasn't there.

[@JagEterCoola]

The Griffon Foot and Brace of Pistols aren't actually reloaded per say; Saltzpyre literally discards the used weapons and draws new one from his coat. This is not a joke.

[@bogdangontar1363]

Indeed, you can watch from other player perspective as he drops his guns after shooting and draws another one. So when you are playing a Bounty Hunter with his expanded ammo capacity.... that's like 45 pistols that mf is carrying, and don't ask where he keeps them all, it's a sore topic

[@demonelf2094]

@@bogdangontar1363 In his butt?

[@Vanzgars]

@@bogdangontar1363 And I'm pretty sure he could carry a few more than that in the first Vermintide, especially if you take into account the pistols he uses in tandem with the rapier, which have a separate ammo pool (and have unlimited ammo in V2, but also doesn't work the same as their dual-wielded version anymore).

[@skeemnave4882]

@@bogdangontar1363 in his hat? under his coat? in the knife Ears blouse? In the dwarfs' book of Grudges? in the backpack of an invisible grey wizard following them around with a pair of coconuts? In the stomach of the skaven they kill? in krugers ... beer bottles??

[@boku5192]

@@Vanzgars In the first game he had about 52 shots and maybe 15 for the rapier side arm so yeah a lot of pistols

[@khylerbane4523]

Skallagrim: *Gives a good critique and analysis of dwarf weaponry* Dwarfs: “That’s going in the book!”

[@aquarius5264]

this is hardly dwarven weaponry lol

[@whiteeye3453]

Dwarf are not humans they are way stronger

[@Skallagrim]

This video was a lot of work but also a lot of fun to make. Let me know what you think about the video quality, editing, etc. And of course the games... Which weapons are your favorite? Does some level of realism enhance your experience or do you prefer designers to go nuts with creative over-the-top stuff? By the way, I misinterpreted Kruber's animation with the spear & shield. Apparently that's an intentional shield bash rather than the usual "I can't defend myself" animation, so kudos there. I've got more Halloween themed videos in the works for the end of this month by the way. If you don't get notifications, check the Subscriptions tab to find them. The Home feed is mostly full of recommendations, and it's easy to miss content you're subscribed for there. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching, folks!

[@SusaVile]

I would love to see you evaluate the weapons and armor of Total War games. Rome 1 or 2, Warhammer 2, Attila, Shogun 2... would love that

[@Cygnus_B]

i imagine you noticed but there seems to be something with the mic whenever you move your hands together, specially early in the video and notably on 1:10 it's pretty minor but thought i should mention it good video anyway :)

[@Skallagrim]

@@Cygnus_B Yeah, I actually had to painstakingly edit out or limit the noise transferring through the jacket to the mic. Still noticeable, but it was a LOT worse before.

[@Theorak]

Freaking love those games. And this was great fun, even for a dwarf main :D, of course their weapons are the most chonky.

[@ezrafaulk3076]

@@Skallagrim I finally saw the opening just now, and LOL with that little song!

[@CurlyHairedRogue]

To be fair, those gears on the cog-hammer aren’t static. They do move, and you can see both of the heads move with each rotation, meaning there’s likely a mechanism that somehow enhances the power of each impact. Dwarf-tech has a unique personality.

[@kakashihatake326]

The hammer bit is actually a pnuematic mechanism to power up the axe side strikes.

[@Kenddamus]

I was about to mention that, then I saw your comments ^^ While theoritically it could empower the strikes, having moving parts also weakens the overall structure of the weapon, especially a hammer based on blunt strikes. Another problem with the model shown is the sheer THICKNESS of the axe head on the oppositie side, which also isn't enhanced by the gears. It's a blunt weapon on both side, actually. But it could also be improvised as an emergency hammer in case the moving head fails, I guess...

[@bluntlyhonest6803]

The cogs make the hammer lighter without sacrificing impact, it is essentially lifting itself.

[@roland2690]

@@Kenddamus Dwarven weapons are made so they can be used as tools if needed. That's also why in Warhammer Dwarves (or Dwarfs, idk) use only axes and hammers.

[@Cheesepuff8]

I guess they’re just stuck on the outside for looks, there could have been a cutaway like affect though

[@Ghostrebel017]

What I love about the Witch Hunter (the guy with the pistols) is that he doesn't reload his pistols. He just throws them away after firing and takes new ones. So he has a brace of pistols. Still doesn't make sense how he carries 46 pistols on him, but still XD

[@paulchapman8023]

Sounds like The Matrix, or Reaper from Overwatch.

[@Ghostrebel017]

@@paulchapman8023 basically

[@EmperorZoron]

He carries them with big pockets and the blessings of Sigmar!

[@Outside85]

Or how he manages to avoid blowing himself up considering all the gunpowder and sparks that have to be around him.

[@erinfinn2273]

Coat of Holding. Nothing but magic pockets filled with preloaded pistols :)

[@jubeisato1060]

The only reason Kruber "throws his shield to the side when attacking" in that footage is because he is doing a shieldbash, or shove, which staggers enemies. His normal attacks are less egregious lol. Great commentary, much love

[@dustrockblues7567]

And the spear+shield does actually have the ability to attack with guard up!

[@obscure-cultist1709]

You are correct that dwarfen weapons in Warhammer are oversized, overweight things, so much so that the fiction has regularly mentioned it. For instance, in the book Trollslayer, the narrator mentions that the axe of a dwarf named Gotrek, was so large and heavy, it'd need two human men in order to lift the damn thing, but for Gotrek he's able to use it like it was nothing. So yeah, don't mess with Warhammer dwarfs, they're absurdly strong!

[@padalan2504]

or they somehow manipulate momentum, which would explain the fairly low recoil on their massive firearms and cannons.

[@stefanfranke5651]

Also looks more badass and is easier to cast and paint on a 28 mm figurine. :>

[@padalan2504]

@Dreymon Green Their strength doesn't correspond to their anatomy. Yet they can hurl themselves into the middle of an orc waagh, lift objects far too heavy for humans and exert force on their construction without compromising their structural integrity, their massive guns have little recoil, their organ cannons stay in place when firing one salvo after another, their gyrocopters somehow manage to stay afloat and even move despite their low understanding of aerodynamics, their machines and mechanisms do not break down due to physical stress put on the individual parts. The only explanation is an innate form of magic, which allows the dawi to exert force on objects they manufactured, or are in contact with. Perhaps this is the source of the runic magic of the elder race.

[@Outside85]

True, but Gotrek is a bit of an odd duck, because the axe is actively empowering him... though he is noted as being freakishly strong even without it, even for a dwarf.

[@Andri474]

Muscles aren't enough, you also need the mass to be able to lift and swing these ridiculous weapons. I can see a Minotaur using Gotrek's axe, but I can't actually believe Gotrek can use that thing without some serious warp fuckery.

[@legus9684]

Poor ol' ratty has seen better days. Poor lad's just hyperventilating. Also, as I was watching the video, I was like, "tf is going on with Skall?" and then it downed on me that it was actually a Halloween special and that you were turning into a vampire lmao. Absolutely loved that.

[@JakeCWolf]

Damn'd zangunaz, I should known! Grimnir only knows it takes such a creature to balk at age old weapon-crafting!

[@cyrus405]

Kruber can actually attack with his spear while holding his shield front. Most people don't use it much since it takes away so much vision. So you can do both its a player choice for better game play.

[@ClayInvictus]

When it was released it didn't cost any stamina, so people would spam that attack. Then it was nerfed to cost stamina, but I still find it useful myself.

[@KanaiIle]

@@ClayInvictus I find it stupidly effective when tanking bosses or chaos warriors. Just sit behind your shield and keep poking them.

[@illoney5663]

@@KanaiIle Mostly useful against berserkers as far as I'm concerned. You should be dodging bosses and CWs anyway.

[@wolffrdu6463]

Did it work with kerilian shield and speres ?

[@galling2052]

the S&S speial attack is great vs beserkers as u do not have to drop ur blok to kill them. Just like the rapier and pistol.

[@cakeboss4194]

Another benefit of Dwarves; lower center of gravity means it's MUCH harder to knock them over. This is why dwarven shield formations are actually pretty decent, beyond presenting a smaller target and the ability to turtle up behind the shield.

[@Skallagrim]

Yep, I mentioned that in the video about the best weapons and armor for a dwarf. :)

[@annoyingkraken]

Foolish dwarf-things! Warp-gas will kill-choke shield-forms, yes-yes!

[@Overlord99762]

For all the flaws the Hobbit movies may have the shield wall the dwarves make is fucking orgasmic

[@Captain_Ironbeard]

13:10 The thing is that lorewise those dwarfs without armor and the short double axes are Slayers. They swore an oath to die a glorious death in battle after shaming their clan. They basically want to die so they'd never go the defensive option of a long spear or polearm. A normal dwarf in Warhammer Fantasy would mostly compensate with two handed weapons, a shield, thick armor or go for more ranged weapons like crossbows, flame throwers or muskets.

[@TaRAAASHBAGS]

Dwarfs also abscond polearms for being cowardly

[@muninrob]

Aye, 2 inches of Gromril plate, and an 8 foot long Gromril hammer that weighs more than me wife!!! *note -Gromril is something akin to tungsten without the brittleness*

[@leadpaintchips9461]

@@muninrob >that weighs more than me wife! And that's saying something since the dowry was the bride-to-be's weight in gold. Since they love gold, they would do _everything_ to make her heavier.

[@themadmaus6222]

Fulfill your oaths brothers!

[@xenomemphate]

@@TaRAAASHBAGS They are also pretty useless in the tight confines of tunnel fighting, which is where a Dwarf spends most of their time.

[@cuhlainnslane1564]

7:02 considering that's a chaos warrior that shield being a repurposed coffin lid is not out of the realm of possibilty

[@Iustusian]

I’d even call it “uncomfortabky probable”

[@Ninjat126]

That's the trouble with writing fantasy. You can try to make a character seem threatening by giving them inhuman strength, but people are just going to look at your art and say "that's unrealistic, there's no way a human would be able to use a shield like that!" Jokes aside, that's why (imo) it's important to keep a LITTLE realism in your fantasy settings. If everyone has hilariously disproportionate weapons, then "guy with big axe" isn't that scary.

[@Iustusian]

@@Ninjat126 It's all about the Suspension of Disbelief. In Warhammer, this doesn't break it, because that's what was said to be plausible in the world and is thus expected.

[@Volos__]

This reminds me of the fact that in TWW, WoC and Chosen are almost as tall as most people's calvary, which is hilarious to me.

[@pempotfoy6206]

If you have the strength to carry such "shield", you don't need a shield on the first place

[@WelcomeToDERPLAND]

In regards to the reloading of the duckbill pistols (or any flintlocks saltz uses) It's always been canon to me at least, that he's actually just carrying like 12+ extra pistoles inside his massive coat, and thats why he can just whip out another over and over and fire instantly.

[@JagEterCoola]

This is canon. In the first game, you can see him physically drop pistols when he fires them, and you can see additional guns inside of his robes.

[@TheHornedKing]

@@JagEterCoola It was the case in Vermintide 2 as well, but they later changed it to give him a reload time.

[@Vanzgars]

@@TheHornedKing I think the "reload" is just him arming already loaded pistol.

[@JagEterCoola]

@@TheHornedKing The reload, If you look at the animation, Is just him cocking back the hammers to prime the pistols for firing, I think.

[@TheHornedKing]

@@Vanzgars So do I. ​ @The Shade Yeah, that's what it looks like.

[@ginjaBRETTman]

You really can tell Fatshark have a love of HEMA with the Longsword. They also did really well implementing the Halberd and Billhook in game as well, with fantastic movesets that reflect their real world use.

[@fenorlex1126]

So. Swords by default are normal. But Longsword by Grail Knight's full on HEMA.

[@GrimViridian]

I was SO happy when I used the Halberd and they use thrusts as well as cuts

[@elitemook4234]

You ask why the skaven look the way they do, the answer is magical mutagenic super meth.

[@DarkPillWarrior]

Which is why I, personally, do not take such super meth. That and it doesn't exist, but, that is neither here nor there.

[@EcchiRevenge]

@@DarkPillWarrior Neither does Skaven, officially.

[@en-men-lu-ana6870]

Correction it's "magical mutagenic radioactive demonic super meth".

[@eldunae922]

And the worst social system, in wich most of the rats you kill are either slaves (so famished, and probably carrying a couple diseases) or clanrats (who are like, the default "skaven citizen tier") they also don't get a lot of food, just less beatings.

[@forickgrimaldus8301]

Warp stones turn them into monsters basically, they may have looked like regular rats at one point but with all that "magic radiation" hitting them I wouldn't be surprised if by a number of generations of Rats they would slowly look like that.

[@klutzbunny7180]

Ah the Slayer Class. The "I messed up and can only repent by dying and murdering everything before me before I fall." Also known as "The Armorless Dwarf Fired out of a Cannon."

[@connorparfrey9191]

With regards to the stunty yeeting himself through the air it makes sense in lore. Given that he's a slayer, seekers of honour in death in glorious combat.

[@sushanalone]

There is no honor in maximising your chance of dying dishonorably because a goblin just stepped out of your leap and you smash your skull on a boulder because you don't wear helmets.

[@turkoositerapsidi]

@@sushanalone I think dwarves would disagree.

[@skeemnave4882]

@@sushanalone honor cultures tend to have this sort of nonsense. remember the goal is not to win until you can't, the goal is to die at the hands of an enemy. silly? yes. destructive to dawi civilization? yes. ultimately pointless because it stems from a questionable interpretation of grimnir's oath? maybe. something dawi will ever realize? nooooooooooo.

[@colbunkmust]

@@sushanalone "There is no honor in maximising your chance of dying dishonorably because a goblin just stepped out of your leap and you smash your skull on a boulder because you don't wear helmets." Uh, that is exactly the point in the lore. Slayers want to die in combat. It is seen as ritual suicide. Having their skulls smashed while trying to kill grobi scum would be fulfilling their Slayer Oath.

[@MrVeps1]

@@sushanalone Look, slayers want to die. If they can't die, they aren't redeemed. Being a dragonslayer, demonslayer and so on isn't a positive thing, it just means your shame is too big to receive absolution in the eyes of the Ancestors. The longer a slayer lives, the worse the shame of not even managing to die properly.

[@TheClownesque]

re: big hammer being used to knock enemies around, that is exactly what you use the big hammer for in the game. it's a crowd control weapon whose gimmick is being able to hit more enemies than other weapons. which sort of makes sense, you're carrying the momentum of the swing through one rat into the next

[@szarekhthesilent2047]

Also dwarves have those runes, that somehow, for some weird reason automatically reduce mass?? At least in the tabletop. You actually have to put an extra Master-rune on the weapon to give it back its normal properties.

[@grimnir8872]

@@szarekhthesilent2047 Dwarf runes basically take the near infinite possbility of the Realm of magic and make it CONSISTENT

[@darthplagueis13]

"This little guy used to squeak but now it's gotten old so it just hyperventilates..." I relate

[@Shackospeare]

14:26 "that's approximately 500% more weight than you need" lol my man. You need to know the cute monsters of Warhammer, would even make the minoutaur pee his rags

[@ClarkOfUK]

In regards to the shield and spear Kruber uses, he does actually have an attack with that weapon where he keeps the shield up and pokes from behind it. The one you saw and reviewed is a bash attack that all shield weapons use (to push and then attack immediately after in-game).

[@mkv2718]

kerillian’s spear and shield on the other hand.... she flails all over the damn place 😅

[@NightmareBlade10]

@@mkv2718 Leave it to an elf to talk big to overcompensate for their shortsightedness. No wonder a battle tested mercenary would have more martial discipline than a cocky wood elf that never left her forest before.

[@jaycenzimbeck7638]

Me: *Asks Jorge how much he loves the concept of gravity loading repeating crossbows* Jorge: Let me show you its features!

[@RexOedipus.]

Skall, kruber moving the shield away is because he's using his herculean strength to push away the dirty rats. It's a shove move. Still weird, but there's a reason for it

[@Skallagrim]

Alright, fair enough.

[@predwin1998]

Kruber's Spear & Shield also happens to be one of only two weapons in the game with a "special attack" that actually allows you to attack without dropping your guard, but that attack wasn't shown in the footage. The other weapon is the Rapier that allows you to fire your off-hand pistol while blocking. Of course when looking at realism poking someone from behind a shield shouldn't be a special attack, but that's gameplay for you.

[@F3N01]

@@predwin1998 Don't forget the billhook which also has a special attack. Used to stun crowds but takes stamina with each use.

[@predwin1998]

@@F3N01 True, the billhook does have a special attack that probably happens to be the best one in the game when used well. But that one cannot be used while blocking sadly. I may have been unclear in my wording when I meant there were only two special attacks that specifically could be used while blocking.

[@chuckydickens7258]

Thank you for this video, Skall. Respectful, yet comedic enough. Warhammer is supposed to be eccentric! :D Skaven are also my favourite fantasy race by a long shot. Especially clan Skryre's shenanigans. But I'd also like to point out, for bonus points, the skaven "Thing-Catcher" or "Man Catcher" in real life. I believe you, or Shadiversity talked about them before? Vermintide was the first time I'd ever seen such a polearm, but it seems the real-life purpose is quite similar to it's role in the fantasy, with the design not changing much either. Thank you again though, this was my easiest and fastest Like, Favourite and Share of the month. :D Really put a smile on my face after a long day.

[@NotoriousTim]

One thing about the dwarf not wearing armor and jumping in, it's part of a "punishment" that all slayers take an oath to fight until they fall in combat.

[@grimnir8872]

This, his point is to die, but also do Max damage. Not even the weirdest Slayer weapons, Doomseekers use Whirling chain axes.

[@ronwingrove683]

I'm going to be humming "just put some gears on it and call it steampunk" for the rest of the day. Thanks, Skall.

[@Skallagrim]

You're welcome.

[@armintor2826]

Viktor's automatic crossbow actualy does have a crank! Unlike the one shown. However he only uses it during the reload animation, not after each shot

[@TaRAAASHBAGS]

And the Dark Elf crossbows in Total War are cocked between each shot

[@magoshighlands4074]

Could be a wind up crank, to tighten a mechanism, that release a little after each shot, and so has to be receanked afterwards

[@Izhkoort]

Skaven lore wise are "deformities" could be because of the magic and artifacts they are expose too, but I think you might like Mouseguard (I know, mice and rats are not the same)

[@MouldMadeMind]

Or because uranium is their food, money, fuel and drug. We will never know.

[@JohanKylander]

​@@MouldMadeMindLess like yellow cake more like green cheese. Their moon's made of it.

[@Reittenkruez]

Video hasn't come out yet while I'm writing this, but it's spooky that you release this video the day after I started playing Vermintide 2 lol

[@nowayjosedaniel]

Same here. It makes you feel like your life is a truman show.

[@thebbqbandito2868]

Spare no vermin or Heretic comrade!

[@mildlydazed9608]

Welcome to a fun time.

[@z3r070000]

7:20 , Counter point, for game design, they don't want characters to be able to block constantly while also attacking as that would make them near invincible and remove much of the challenge on top of constantly having a giant shield covering a good chuck of your screen most of the time. Also there is an option to attack while guarding if you hit the special attack button, similar to how saltzpyre fires his pistol while holding his rapier pistol combo.

[@sumoslamer180]

About the pistols in Vermintide, The amusing thing is they thought about the loading of them and just said. Why not just toss them and grab a loaded gun instead of loading?! You can see Saltspyre tossing his pistols aside after each shot and grabbing a new one from his coat.

[@Janfon1]

Plot twist: Saltzpyre has been secretly working with Tzeentch since before the first game - the God of Change allows him to have infinite pistols while Saltzpyre quietly does his deeds from time to time

[@sumoslamer180]

@@Janfon1 second twist. Saltzopyre takes ammo for shits and giggles. He doesn't even need it

[@kakashihatake326]

He reloads them now. They changed the animations.

[@Predator20357]

@@kakashihatake326 do they though? The first person screen has him just cocking the duel pistols as a “reload” and for the revolver shotgun he hides it before pulling it back up quickly

[@JakeCWolf]

In regards to Kruber's spear and shield, there is a 'special' attack with that weapon where you can do while keeping your guard up.

[@elephantspaintingelephants]

Hearing you say Skaven just made my decade. Also they are technically demon spawn and my favorite Warhammer Army. If you make more videos on Warhammer Lore with the artwork/real world historical references and religions that would be an AWESOME video. :]

[@wolffrdu6463]

Chaos spone, they do not come from deamon, or maybe yes, we do not know if they appear like the beasts mans or if they had an even more unnatural apparition

[@elephantspaintingelephants]

@@wolffrdu6463 in age of Sigmar the Great Horned Rat ascends to be the 5th chaos god. So yes rat demon spawn, just not “demonic”. More beast man than bloodletter.

[@mkv2718]

yes yes, glory to the Great Horned Rat!

[@wolffrdu6463]

@@elephantspaintingelephants i was speaking befor he became a great chaos god, also he only rise because slannesh was captured by the new elvens gods

[@elephantspaintingelephants]

@@wolffrdu6463 “all according to plan scheme”

[@degurkin]

"in the game it is glossed over" Au contraire! He wears a BRACE of PISTOLS Yes that is right he carries like 20 of these babies on his person at once and drops them either on the ground or into a pouch when used to reload LATER That's right Saltzpyre is just running around like a Piratecaptain under that cloak

[@IAMDRMERVRENBARRON]

One complaint about the "casting shield aside and then thrusting with spear" animation. that's actually the "Smack opponents with shield, then thrust" animation. All the weapons when guarding have the option of "stunning" strikes out of a block (for weapons with a shield, it's often via a shield push, with other ones, it's a push with the blunt edge of the weapon), it's used to push foes out of the way or to break animation cycles, very useful against opponents with unbreakable shields, like stormvermin. As for the pistols used by the witch hunter. The Item description is a "brace of pistols", the "reloading" animation for them to refill the "magazine" (you get around 8 shots or so out of them out of 32 or so from an ammo pool), is to simply cock new pistols and holster them, two at a time. He shoots and then discards them. A better example of gameplay over realism for reloading firearms should of been the repeater pistol/rifle, which is a giant pepper box revolver that Saltzpyre and Kruber use, which simply gets lowered offscreen, a sound plays, and it's magically reloaded.

[@fenorlex1126]

Gives off the sound of a Speedloader in a revolver.

[@falfires]

It's always amazing to me how much the brightness of one's eyes changes their face. I couldn't pull my eyes from yours after you put in the dark lenses over your bright eyes.

[@DekArosaro]

7:13 He is not really casting away his shield, its a Shield bash to push back a lot of enemies, and then a strike. So he attacks with both arms.

[@matesan1014]

And with spear and shield he can attack when he is blocking with shield (its weapons special attack)

[@GabrielOnuris]

I had to rewind when I noticed your eyes changing, thought I didn't notice it at the beginning. Makes a lotta sense at the ending though, lol, that was really great! About Vermintide, I play both and I love those games exactly for what you said at the start: the developers kind of found that sweet spot between realism and fantasy. We have a healthy amount of both in this game.

[@sompret]

1:23 This argument is why I always pushed for Skavens to be based on HAMSTERS instead of rats. Hamster behavior is a lot more Skaven-like in real life than even wild rats, and sometimes it's so much worse.

[@happykal11]

12:30 referring to the edge profile. That is how most double bit axes should be set up. One sharp edge for fine work and chopping, the other bit for rough work like limbing close to the ground or splitting logs. They’re the mullet of the axe world. Business In the front, party in the back. Lol

[@Swordsnstuff]

"this rat used to squeak, but now it's got old so just hyperventilates." Same! XD

[@enoughofyourkoicarp]

"This little guy used to squeak but it's gotten old so now it just hyperventilates." Same.

[@ds22342]

The half naked dwarf with dual axes is a slayer.Slayers are basically warriors who have to seek their doom in battle.So no armor=more chance for that to happen.

[@wolffrdu6463]

They do not have the right to have an armor even if they wanted it (without counted leather armor with is not considered as armor by the dawi (the dwarf of the warhammer universe))

[@ds22342]

@@wolffrdu6463 with the exception of ungrim of course

[@wolffrdu6463]

@@ds22342 yes but because he is king at the same time (with normay shound't have apen, because wen you tale the oath you are considered dead, but because his sun was a slayer he cannot had the trone, so because they was no one else, ungrim stay king)

[@calebbarnhouse496]

@@wolffrdu6463 they actually have the right to armor, however the limited armor was for balancing reasons, the slayer oath is about them doing whatever it takes to kill there enemies in a glorious death, if they were a mega chad that could wear full dwarf plate armor without being restricted at all they can do so, they just don't want to as it's counter productive, umgrim wears his armor because of his oath as king stating he will lead and protect his people, which includes not killing himself by just walking up north until he dies up in the chaos wastes from exhaustion due to chasing fleeing deamons

[@wolffrdu6463]

@@calebbarnhouse496 i never see that, can you give your source of information ?

[@knightofendor8384]

To be fair to the naked dwarf, he is actually just trying to die, like literally.

[@langoloql]

The casting the shield aside thing is because is the animation to slam the shield towards the enemy and break their guard and then attacking right away I believe is the same animation with all character that use a shield and one handed weapon

[@Deadly_DoRight]

I really enjoyed that subtle shift in costume and demeanor over the course of the video. Well done sir

[@pokemon1895]

Great job on the editing. This was a lot of fun to watch for that alone, but it was also great content. Thanks!

[@Lunethex]

I always like watching documentary or informative videos like this, thank you!! Also, 8:46 -- thank you for using footage from a video series I made in the past! It was surprising and flattering to see!

[@KubinWielki]

Great video! Warhammer certainly has its (over)abundance of ridiculous designs, but honestly, to me that's part of its charm. For a very grim setting, it doesn't take itself too seriously... kinda like Skallagrim xD But in regards to 14:05 - that's the disadvantage of using screenshots over video as your source - the Coghammer (yea, it really is called that) actually moves, and the hammer part of it moves on a piston. Still ridiculous, but I suppose it's supposed to pack more punch because your strike is enhanced by a mechanically winded piston... I suppose :D

[@boku5192]

like that weird piston arm punch thing from fallout

[@parki2772]

Also the weapon was designed for outcast engineer that has the piston powered arm. (I know other careers use it with the same results for gameplay reasons)

[@drakonyanazkar]

Took me a while to notice the intentional transformation throughout the video. At first I was like "damn, it looks like Skall had _waaay_ too much caffeine!" Very nice touch and well executed. On the Warhammer topic: it's strange to see very down-to-earth designs on something under the Warhammer brand, given that the creator of that universe made it so it would be absurd and over-the-top. And so it has been until... _well, until Vermintide, I'd guess_

[@adambielen8996]

Well no, the human factions have always been fairly grounded. Most Elven stuff also tends to be practical.

[@kompatybilijny9348]

It's because you think f the 40k. Fantasy stuff is tame in comparison.

[@drazarkabalblade9486]

To be fair about the pickaxe, even without considering that said particular piece is a kinda-relic, a couple of reason why they make it so heavy is because Dawi don't like creating things with a.. completely single purpouse. In short, a pickaxe brought to war is to be use equally while mining without failing. Even if it's destined for a king or a guildmaster, and you can't give such people normal stuff PX Also even without considering that the Dwarfs are stronger than human there, they tend to fight creatures that have some bloody tough hides like the Orcs. Skaven are softer but their abominations aren't, so that weight helps giving momentum I think. Though I could be wrong of course.

[@Mankong100]

As another person said Kruber’s spear and shield does have a thrust and guard special attack. The attack you showcased was the shield bash attack where you bash then stab. Love the video! Glad you put in the Scream video hahaha

[@TheBlackfall234]

Warhammer is so great (imo) because the wide range of fantasy it appeals. It goes from very realistic to over the top.

[@TheTheNatona]

This video is so lovely. With ever detal along with the gradual Vampire transformation, made me be like "Wait.. dada Skall's eye color just change randomly. Love it. All the work didnt go uneen from the clips to the props

[@supremeoracle597]

Been waiting for something like this! I was thinking dark souls with its many historical and fantastical weapons. Would love to see your thoughts on weapons in more games!

[@anthonydelonga7181]

Dark souls is harder than real life :D

[@JamesBuckel]

an interesting point about the witch hunter hammer-gripping his rapier, if you play with saltzspyre and kruber in the same group, often kruber will shout out tips to the witch hunter about heightening his guard. Kruber is a career soldier, so it makes sense he knows how to wield his weapon well, but ol' Saltzsy is just a witch burner, so it would make sense for him to use his weapons in a less trained and more layman type of way, i wonder if that was intentional on Fatsharks' part or if it just turned out that way. great vid Skall, I've been sinking all my free time into vermintide 2 lately between essays for school, so your choice was well timed for me. Keep em comin' and happy Halloween!

[@josephlongbone4255]

Thanks for defending rat honour, they are actually one of the cleanest animals and will spend up to 3 hours of everyday washing themselves. Furthermore, one of the reasons for their success is that they are extremely good parents with very high baby survival rates. Let's be honest, rats are also a much less species than us and intelligent bipedal ones would probably be quite nice.

[@mildlydazed9608]

Justice for Ratatouille!

[@MrVeps1]

Yeah, rats are cool, but the only good skaven is a dead skaven. They are less human-rat hybrids and more a chaos spawned breed of every negative plague rat stereotype in humanity's collective unconscious. They feed their females drugs fortified with the demon-uranium that is warpstone, and the lower ranks of their armies are the provisions of the higher ranks, and so on. Rats are to skaven as goats are to beastmen. Goats are really nice and cuddly, but gors are basically only interested in raping, pillaging and murdering, not necessarily in that order.

[@agrippa2012]

@@MrVeps1 indeed, Warhammer loves to play with medieval tropes, hence the (almost literally) demonized rats, goats and vikings.

[@johndododoe1411]

Of cause he defends rats. He married one!

[@josephlongbone4255]

@@johndododoe1411 rude

[@biblequotesdaily6618]

argument for the dwarves: those weapons would definitely work warhammer dwarves; often in the books the strongest warriors like slayers and ironbreakers are described as being half the height of a man, but like 3 times as wide. Big Ass Weapons 3× As Huge As A Practical Human Weapon is very in character for warhammer dwarves. all round A+ for me.

[@alexsushin3505]

Also you can see in game how thick and muscular are Bardin's arms - these are bigger than Kruber's hips. And Kruber is really big and strong guy. So i can easily see Bardin flailing with this 25Kg double-edged greataxe with no issue (also he probably have at least 50-100 years of training and experience doing it).

[@raisaulolopezlima2063]

Please Skall, you should try Vermintide, the best thing about it its the "feeling" of the weapons, there is nothing more satisfiyng than fend off a horde of rats with your two handed hammer

[@eyesofstatic9641]

Thanks. Ima download it again lol

[@Iustusian]

I’d argue that the best feeling is the executioner sword decapitating a group of chaos worshippers at once. The splat sound is great.

[@Skallagrim]

I did try the first one but like I said, multiplayer horde survival is just not my genre (and really online multiplayer in general). Guess I'm weird.

[@raisaulolopezlima2063]

@@Skallagrim well, tbh i'm not a fan too, like "Left for Dead" never was apelling for me. But Vermintide have such a charming personality... and its coming the equivolent for 40k, "Darktide"... Pls skall, check the trailer!

[@mkv2718]

@@Skallagrim the game actually plays well enough alone. it’s better on higher difficulties when you actually have to think about what inputs to hit to get the ideal attack combos and actually have to think about when to use stuff, as opposed to the starting difficulty when you just button mash. the only issue when playing alone is you have to level up all the characters to be effective, since the bots use the gear and skills you’re assign them seems like it would be a fun game for a colab with Shad and Metatron though. you could all critique the characters’ techniques and the weapon designs

[@nicolaskou7287]

I'm glad to see Vermintide 2 get some love still. It's one of my favourite games in the past decade and I find myself always going back to it.

[@yearight1205]

Halloween is the best holiday, I loved how in this video you covered how a Dwarf is a stocky fighter and it does make sense that with a giant shield they would go into melee range. I wish at some point in the future you would discuss how some genres focus in on the fact that dwarves are not only more high in health points, but also generally stronger than humans. This too I suspect plays a role in why they often times are depicted the way they are.

[@ZenexTheZealous]

I reccomended this on a stream or two so I'm really glad something came out of the idea! Lovely stuff and God bless you, Skall :>

[@TheRewasder97]

The bulky weapons are dwarf weapons. You could argue that it's the fantasy element. Dwarfs have the strength to not only use said weapons but use them with more effectiveness than punny human weapons. They also love to decorate and put magic runes in their weapons. Which brings another question related to fantasy realism. If you have the strength to wield such a weapon and shield, should you over normal weapons? Big powerful foes might require those thicc shields to defend yourself, and if you have the strength to carry it like a normal shield, why not?

[@ysmaliwr]

9:10 Sword Odin making a reference to Gun Jesus. My day has been made, I needed this.

[@Zesmas]

to be fair on the dwarf weapons, in fantasy, Dwarves are known to be about as strong as an ORC so them having extra little bits on their weapons probably makes the weapons more effective because its adds more weight. more weight for a human may be seen as a bad thing but for a dwarf that just means they can smash Orcs heads better XD

[@IIIAnchani]

HOLY COW! You really got me when you changed the eyes one after another. I had a weird feeling that you're somehow demonically possessed (or that I'm tripping balls for no reason whatsoever) but I couldn't wrap my mind around what it was. After you put in the teeth, it was revealed. LOVED IT!

[@sirgentlebread7302]

Witchhunters have obscene strength so the recoil wouldn't be much of a problem for Saltzpyre

[@Darek_B52]

they do?

[@Riwillion]

How do they have obscene strength? O.o Also, it´s not like recoil is really relevant for a single-shot weapon, that is, up to the point where it is so strong it sprains your wrist or hits your face.

[@drazarkabalblade9486]

@@Riwillion A mix of blessing of Sigmar ( like the Priests, they are kinda supported by the Gods of Order ) and the possibility that the humans there are a bit stronger than normal, at least some. Witch Hunters and the like at some point, if they survive the actual training to become worthy of being considered such ( and not random fanatics ), they start becoming more than normal.

[@Riwillion]

@@drazarkabalblade9486 Ah, I see. That makes sense, thanks!

[@guilhermedosreis8100]

I really like how a new vampire mechanic just originated, the saltier Skall got, more severe his transformation got, first one eye, then the other, fangs, only thing left was a paler skin. Gotta love this theme!! Amazing video and evolution in the editing, loved it!!!

[@bluntlyhonest6803]

To be fair, the skaven have been mutating and evolving for... Sigmar knows how long, they Are in constant proximity to warpstone which is crystalized chaos energy, seeing aswhat chaos magic can do to living beings (chaos spawn) i'd say the skaven were pretty Lucky with how they turned out.

[@rustkarl]

Also considering that all their females have been mutated and experimented on to be as ‘productive’ as possible. Given that warpstone is basically fantasy plutonium and is the cornerstone of Skaven society from their technology to their economy i’m not surprised that their litters of mass produced rats are on the mutated side.

[@Jonathan-bu7iv]

You’ve become such an entertainer over the years. Love the improvements in quality. Fantastic video as always

[@WelcomeToDERPLAND]

Love these games so much, hopefully Darktide is great!

[@Rex_W]

2:00 it's an older meme, but it checks out

[@Toby704]

Vermintide fans in!

[@graysonofthewood3747]

I took a double take about 2/3rds through wondering if his eyes always looked like that throughout the video, but then he bared his fangs and everything made sense. Great video Skall!

[@robinthrush9672]

I don't play or have interest in Warhammer generally, but I am interested in your take on the weapons I've seen in the setting. Edit: These were not the types of weapons I was expecting. I am shocked! Shocked, I say! In a good way. Nice editing, good coverage of the equipment, very clear video. I like the two-handed war mallet with the stylish cylinder head.

[@adamred5449]

great video skall, this is the type of content that I think is great, seeing how well designed/practical fantasy weapons are

[@Myndness]

I'm a huge vermintide nerd, and I love the weapons and fighting in the game.

[@thatmanavakon]

I'm so glad you made this video. I love vermintide, it was fun to watch a professional pick away at the tiny details I was curious about

[@KageRyuu6]

Well technically Skaven are a sub species of Beastmen, just don't tell them that, so they aren't entirely Rats as they were merged with Humans through some ancient dark ritual. Also Krub's Shield and Spear has an Alt Block Attack where he keeps his shield up and attacks around it, very useful when dealing with Berserkers. This does require a third mouse button though, and eats through your Stamina/Blocks meaning you can't do so too quickly or for too long, particularly when being attacked. Sadly none of the other shield weapons have such a feature. Regarding Slayers, ie shirtless jumping Bardin with a mohawk, they are literal suicidal berserkers who swear the Slayer Oath to regain some lost honor by dying in battle against a powerful foe, usually at minimum a Troll, so survival and tactical advantage is not desired. Regarding Bardin's lost honor, it's due to his perceived failure to warn his hold about a Skaven invasion, by being stabbed and left for dead, that also cost his son his life. Also, he has a daughter who is an Ironclad Ship Captain who was still alive last he heard. The sound bites really do make the game for quite a few people, fleshing out the world and the characters so wonderfully.

[@KageRyuu6]

Also if you do another of these videos, use the Z key, lets you inspect the weapon and see the other side, and even twist it around with your mouse. And forgot to mention this last time as well, but regarding the Steam Hammer, if you do an attack and hit a post or something, you can see the mini-hammers on the hammer face shoot out, same with the charged attack given he uses the axe side.

[@CrymsonNite]

That rat intro is such a mood. "Its gotten old so now it just hyperventilates"

[@datpolakmike]

8:15 i just noticed, the handle on the fancy axe looks just like the haft of a Roman plumbata, the way it bulges and immediately tapers back down. An interesting touch, i like it

[@thejonnyism6868]

0:09 Skaven fans introducing new people into Warhammer

[@Blaisem]

Only halfway through. Love seeing a game I played reviewed. I'm also really impressed how you sync your description with the images without stumbling in the monologue. I just realized you are probably discussing the images without being able to see them, so either from notes or memory I guess. It came out really well.

[@brianfuller757]

I'm re-watching this and this is quite fun. Enjoyed this.

[@jamesallred460]

Skal, I just wanted to tell you that watching your eyes change through the course of the video was surprisingly unsettling, which I'm assuming is what you were going for, so good work!!

[@kylehughes1619]

Hey buddy, what we like best about your videos is your humor. It doesn't matter what your covering as long as it looks like you'll be funny I'll watch it.

[@Aamakkiir94]

The slow turning into a vampire throughout the vid is amazing, good work.

[@lanzhimself]

Editing is on point. Screaming Cowboy Hammer nearly killed me.

[@acfangaming]

Absolute great video. Engaging and the video keeps moving forward with out lingering more than it should.

[@youremakingprogress144]

Great video. I enjoyed the breakdown of the weapons, and the gradually changing costume was a fun touch. Extra details and effort like that are appreciated!

[@jmueller9288]

Love that you mention Ian with Forgotten Weapons! Btw, Skall, great video (as always)

[@Logan_93]

Hey Skallagrim. Been subbed for like 9 years now. Just wanted to let you know I still watch every video and you're one hell of a dude.

[@Scarlet_Soul]

9:07 the good ol' wrist snapper

[@SuperEagle112]

All of my favorite things. Warhammer, the old world. Realistic weapons reviews. And Skal! Thank you brother.