Xathrodox86 reviews: "Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide Karak Azgaraz"

As the current year is slowly coming to an end, I am writing the last article for 2016. Fortunately it's about a very good DLC for a very good game.

Last time I reviewed "Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide Drachenfels", the first DLC for "Vermintide", a fun game about killing Skaven en masse with your friends (or bots). Now it's time for the second paid addon - "Karak Azgaraz".

"Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide Karak Azgaraz" (released December 15th 2016)

That's one, gorgeous looking logo!

Taking place in the titular dwarven hold, and in the areas around it, this one offers a tad different experience, than the other missions, both in the core game and "Drachenfels". The main reason is becuase it's actually snowing! Yes, finally we have our first snow missions in "Vermintide" and I must say that they look magnificent. The devs really made an incredible work on the whole "frozen landscape" part and it truly is a sight to behold.

Now interestingly Karak Azgaraz is present in the Warhammer Fantasy lore for some time now. I honestly thought that this hold was created exclusively for the DLC, but apparently there is a substantial ammount of this Karak's lore in the "Book of Grudges" sourcebook for the 3rd edition of WFRP. I know one thing: after playing through this DLC, I will certainly read all I can about "Hold of the Fearless Axes".

Situated to the southeast of Übersreik, Karak Azgaraz has been attacked by the vile Skaven. Our heroes must travel to the besieged hold and help the Dwarfs in any way they can, but also to retrieve a Cursed Rune for the city's Grey Wizard. To do all of this, they need to accomplish three tasks: light the Chain Of Fire, explore the tunnels of Khazid Kro and finally retrieve the Cursed Rune itself. All the while the Skaven are on them, without a pause nor mercy. This will be one of the toughest tests that our heroes have faced, so far.

First we have the "Chain Of Fire" mission which takes place completely outdoors. As our heroes brave the snowy wilderness of the Grey Mountains, they must light 3 dwarven signal beacons, to warn Karak Azgaraz about the impending Skaven attack. This map is incredible and easily my favorite of all 3. The frozen night, Rat-men attacking from the tunnels, digged under the snow (their fur is frozen!) and the endless, chilling white of snowy mountains - they all create an incredible atmosphere. The mission ends in a climactic battle at the top of a high peak. With one hero forced to stand on a switch, that lights the final beacon, and endless hordes of rats pouring from every direction, this is one of the most awesome and heart pounding endings of any quest in "Vermintide". Absolutely fantastic and truly memorable.

Next we have the "Khazid Kro" mission, which finally takes us inside the hold of Karak Azgaraz. Again I must complement the devs - they've made a great job of portraying both the exterior and interior of a dwarven fortress. Karak Azgaraz is, simply put, magnificent and majestic. It is a true testament to Dawi and their craftsmanship, both grandoise and functional. As the heroes wander through the corridors of the lost Karak they see wonders like powerful steam-driven trains and even steam-powered breweries! They are also witnessing a real tragedy, as they encounter scores of slain Dwarves and the bodies of countless Skaven, all fallen in a bitter, merciless battle, where no quarter was given, nor asked. "Khazid Kro" is a visually stunning mission, with very interesting parts, like repairing the brewing equipement, while the room is getting filled with huge ammounts of steam... and Skaven. However I did find this map a bit... standard. It's not bad, don't get me wrong, but it's not really memorable in any way. The Karak itself is stunning to look at, but the interiors are just ok. I think that Fatshark lost an opportunity to show us really interesting stuff, that can be found inside a dwarven hold, like the Undgrin Angkor, the legendary and impossibly large tunnels, that run between every Dawi Karak, connecting each and every one of them. "Khazid Kro" is good, but only good, which is a bit of a shame in a 9 euro DLC. Oh well...

Fortunately the outside view is really worth the money

Finally there's the "Cursed Rune" mission and this one is your pretty standard, "survive for x ammount of time, while being drown in fur" type of quest, which ends every, single "Vermintide" mission. The heroes need to fight their way to the vault, holding the Cursed Rune, retrieve it, while being attacked by endless hordes of Skaven, and escape with it to Olesya's wagon. Interestingly enough, while it does take place on the premises of Karak Azgaraz, the heroes will mainly travel on the outside of the great hold's wall, instead of its interiors. Courtyards, walls and corridors that are open to the cloudless sky will be explored fully in this quest, and it's a very nice idea, in my opinion. We already had the taste of the wild in the "Chain Of Fire" and discovered the myriad secrets of Karak Azgaraz's inner areas. Now it's time to run between high pillars, with icy wind slashing at your face, while witnessing the horror of a massed Skaven attack. Here too, are many, many dead Dwarves and their eternal enemies, lying all over the premises of the hold. The visual style and grandoise of the "Cursed Rune" are certainly impressive and I've found this quest to be a fitting end to the entire "Karak Azgaraz" DLC. Good job Fatshark.

Apart from the 3 missions, there are also two new weapons, added in this DLC. Now players can slaughter the servants of the Horned Rat with a Warpick and Falchion. Both very iconic to Warhammer Fantasy, the Warpick can be used by the Dwarf and is a heavy, double handed weapon, that's very satisfying to utilize against the Skaven. You can even make horrible puns, while sticking them with it, like "now, now, don't be PICKY". The Witch Hunter can now equip a Falchion, which works just like Soldier's sword, perhaps slashing a bit faster. While they're not as useful as the Glaive from "Drachenfels", they are both very stylish and I'm glad that Fatshark added them to the game. For me a Witch Hunter armed with Falchion is much more badass, then a one with a Rapier. It should be mentioned tough, that both of these weapons can only be "dropped" on "Karak Azgaraz" levels, which personally I find rather strange. Ok, I get that the pick could probably be found easier inside a dwarven hold, but the Falchion? Strange move on the devs part, altough one that will certainly make the replayability of this DLC much higher, than that of "Drachenfels", that's for sure.

The new weapons really look fabulous...

"Karak Azgaraz" also came with a huge patch, and it's a good thing that the devs decided to finally adress some of the game's many problems, among them a host of performance issues, bugs and crashes. The majority of the weapons and skills got rebalanced, the Skaven and player bots are much smarter now, the game interface has been fixed a bit and the loot, that players recieve after levelling up also got improved. Now there's a chance to actually get better quality items, each time the player reaches another level and that's really, really good. You have no idea how pissed off I was, after I've got another common, white item, while reaching the 31st level with my Soldier.

Oh and Franz Lohner no longer whistles under his nose. These are the End Times, after all...

So there you have it, my review of "Karak Azgaraz". I really think that it is a very good DLC for a very good game, and unlike "Drachenfels", the missions here are almost univerally great, perhaps with the exception of "Khazid Kro", which is still decent. New weapons are cool looking, and certainly useful in a fight, and the overall balancing and fixing of "Vermintide's" many flaws and bugs was a really welcome thing to see. I hope that Fatshark will continue to make more DLC's with more great content for this game, because it certainly deserves to be further developed and expanded. Perhaps next time we could get a new enemy, like a Plague Monk, working exactly the same as the Witch from "Left 4 Dead", and maybe a new character as well? I'd love to see a Warrior Priest, making an appearance in "Vermintide", or a Master Engineer. There are still many, many possibilities in which this title can be expanded and improved, I'm sure of it.

This is the last post in 2016. I will return next year, with even more content, both for Warhammer games and other, equally geeky stuff, such as reviews, interviews and my thoughts and opinions on various things. That said, I plan to concentrate more on writing about Warhammer Fantasy in the future, since my previous bad mood, concerning the Old World, seemed to pass away, fortunately. After all, this is a blog with the word "Nuln" in it, for Sigmar's sake! That, and I really don't like the way that GW is going with 40K, altough there will be an article or two, about that particular topic, you can be sure about that.

Lastly I wanted to thank all of you, who read my blog, who visit it and decide to stick around for more. Make no mistakes, I am doing all of this for you guys and gals. I love sharing my passion and geeky knowledge with other people, and to see that so many readers brave the rains of Nuln, brings joy to my heart and soul. Thank you. All of you. Your are the reason that I'm writing these articles and rant about various things, which I hope, also bring you a healthy dose of laughter and joy.

"The rain of Nuln is made of win" as Baron Von Klatz, a good friend of mine, used to say (he also made this incredible piece, as well as my profile picture!)

Happy new year and... until next time!

Xathrodox86