Hive Scum is Fun, Doesn't Add Much to Darktide Palette
- Antal Bokor
- Dec 16
- 3 min read
Okay, I know Hive Scum released way earlier this month, but I’ve been busy!
Seriously, though: Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is still the best Left 4 Dead style 4-player co-op game on the market. Easily the best. And it’s a shame that it doesn’t get more attention. Maybe it’s overshadowed by its equally great Warhammer: Vermintide 2 spiritual prequel, or maybe people have been burnt by too many bad 40k video games to really feel the draw to it. Still, The Hive Scum is a decent addition to a great game, even if it feels a bit familiar.
I say “decent” because this DLC adds little to the palette of gameplay possibilities that you can already find in Darktide. The truly unique class is the Psyker, with the Veteran and Zealot feeling like two sides of the same coin. The Ogryn can feel like a bruiser, but shares a lot of DNA with the Veteran and Zealot.
Sadly, I can say almost the same about the new class. Where the Ogryn is about being big, the Scum is about “true” dual-wielding guns. So it just feels like another variation of the Veteran/Zealot dynamic, despite their ability to work as a support-focused Chemist–another niche the support-styled Veteran or the bubble Psyker already provides.
That means the character is best played as high damage output. And as of right now, that looks like going the Enhanced Desperado gunslinging route. While this ability was so powerful it was nerfed before the character even released to the public, it does one thing really well: overshadow the Veteran’s own shooting DPS output.
The Hive Scum is not a character I fell into easily. With the lowest toughness of any character in the game, the class feels like a glass cannon. With enhanced dodge talents, I found myself weaving in and out of dangerous situations—never once needing to holster my dual snub pistols. I haven’t had this much fun as a gun-based character since before the Veteran’s first talent overhaul (and major nerf). It sucks to have to buy a DLC to put that fun back in the game, but at least I have it now.
You can also play a melee DPS style build, armed with dual shivs, a bonesaw, or a crowbar. Unlike most weapons that come with DLC characters, none of these felt like they would immediately replace any of my current favorites, but I did use them extensively. Playing a melee Scum is a lot like a Zealot–fast and high damage. However, this class deals more in bleeds and replaces tankiness with fast and prodigious dodging prowess.
The ability for this character to dodge so efficiently in any of its builds makes for a very high skill ceiling. I’d argue a Scum player in the right hands is potentially more of a damage dealer than the tankier Arbites DLC character that was released earlier this year.
They also have access to a new “Stimm Lab” that allows you to craft your own personalized stimms. These take the slot a normal stimm would take (similar to the Grail Knight in Vermintide 2 creating his own potions) and you can even share these abilities via the “Stimm Supply” talent. However, this feels vastly inferior to the raw killing power of Enhanced Desperado or Rampage found in the other trees. My group has used support abilities on other characters to great effect, so my opinion of the Stimm Supply might change as I play more and in different scenarios/team make-ups.
I really like the Hive Scum, though he doesn’t really fill a new niche–just does more of the same a little differently. That truly seems to be a Fatshark hallmark, however. Vermintide 2 DLC characters were some of the most unique that were released; this pack just feels like more of the same, just with slightly different flavors. If you want a unique look and a few unique weapons, the Hive Scum provides these. But if you want a whole new way to play Darktide, Hive Scum falls short.
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