Publisher and developer Fatshark has lifted the lid off the upcoming Expeditions game mode for Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, confirming that it will take us outside Hive Tertium for the very first time, tasking us with securing valuable Tech-Remnants.
Darktide’s Expeditions game mode is comprised of several runs, each one likely to take “between ten to thirty minutes, depending on how far you will go.” Since venturing outside of Hive Tertium was previously thought to be impossible, it’s no surprise that the radiation and pollution we’ll be exposed to impose a time limit on our efforts.
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide Expeditions Game Mode Announced
This pressure can lead to several outcomes. The best-case scenario sees us reaching the end of a run and extracting in a Valkyrie. We can also opt to leave early and take what Tech-Remnants we found instead of risking death. Running out of time or falling in battle means we lose everything we gathered.
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide’s Expeditions game mode adopts a different structure from the missions we’re already familiar with, as it doesn’t have a defined “main path”.
Landing in a scavenge zone, we use our Auspex to discover sites of interest. We decide our own route between these sites, which will see us facing more or less familiar foes while securing salvage and Tech-Remnants.
“A run can, and most often will, cover several ‘Scavenge Zones’, and in-between them you will find Sanctuaries that let you spend the Salvage you’ve found to heal up, resupply and get your hand on some new toys,” the developer explains.
“Here we have some really cool new explosives, and an item that even let you call in the Valkyrie for supporting fire!”
Aside from defeating enemies, sites of interest can also be “quite puzzle-like,” requiring collaboration to quickly find the solution and move forward.
Although the maps featured in Darktide’s Expeditions mode are “not truly procedurally generated, they are very randomized in their composition,” according to the developer.
“Different Sites of Interest can show up in different spots with different enemies. The runs themselves can also have different modifiers and effects. So it should feel quite unique every time you go for a new run outside Tertium.”
While enemies will still spawn and attack in waves, we’ll also find them roaming the areas we explore, having a choice between engaging them or circling around at the cost of time.
We’ll also get to face the Ogryn Pack Master and his dangerous Armoured Pox Hounds while the more open nature of levels will allow us to shift around our tactics.
The game mode has its own map with several grid points. Retrieving Tech-Remnants unlock additional points alongside “crazier modifiers.”
Developer Fatshark sees Expeditions “as something you will start playing halfway through the progression journey with a character,” and “in parallel with the rest of the game.”
Warhammer: 40,000: Darktide’s Expeditions game mode is coming “very soon.” A trailer is set to go live on March 13, 2026.
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