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.
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!
@@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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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!
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?
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.
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.
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.
@@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.
@@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.
@@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.
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
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)
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
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 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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
@@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
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.
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_
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. :]
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
@@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.
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!
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
@@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!
@@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
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
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!
I like the lore behind the naked dwarf thing. Something about ritualistic death. They believe they've committed a sin so grievous, their only path to atonement is to die in battle. They are vow or oath-bound to not wear armour, and to not use anything ranged, and to run right at the biggest, most dangerous foe, in a speedrun contest to see who dies first, or something like that?
Pretty much. A dwarf who feels they've sinned, either through failure or the breaking of an oath, will dye their hair bright orange, shave their head except for a Mohawk, and get a number of tattoos they feel relevant to their offence. They then make their way to Karak Kadrin, the slayer keep, where the shrine of Grimnir, ancestor God of War, is located.
Interesting note is there is an extra input for the spear & shield that is a thrust while you’re still guarding with the shield, so he does clearly know how to attack and defend at the same time, but chooses not too most of the time….. for some reason
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.
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.
Skall, about the Kruber's Spear and Shield: if you press some special attack button (it doesn't have a keybind, you have to manually bind it yourself), Kruber can attack from behind his shield.
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.
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.
"Don't dwarves often have a stereotypical tendency to be stingy? Not those, they seem to pride themselves on using three times more metal than necessary..." Yes, they are not typical dwarves, these are warhammer dwarfs!
The "Steampunk" Hammer or "Cog Hammer" in the game is in fact animated and the gears do all rotate. There is also a worm gear that's visible from the top. Their function is to power the flat Sledgehammer part seen on the right side of the image. It is propelled outward when striking to increase the force of the impact. When idling it just pumps back and forth. How long-lasting a delicate clockwork would be on a two-handed blunt impact weapon is up for debate but it looks very cool.
13:59 This makes sense within the lore. Slayers are exiled dwarves who seek a glorious death. They purposely wear no armor because it makes them more likely to be killed. They still fight with the same ferocity and self-preservation as they would with armor tho, cuz they're supposed to try and stay alive. Seeking death but in the form of an opponent who bests you, rather than purposely letting them kill you.
I thought you were just going wide eyes for a second and got worried for you 😂😂 had to back up and make sure I didn’t imagine your eyes changing colors lol slick one
Wow, that was a fun video. It's a shame that RU-vid hides it from viewers. I hope my comment will help with that. Also I absolutely like that gradual vampire transition thing you've done. I noticed only on two eyes, because when it was one eye I was mostly watching on the other parts of screen. And then I learned that it was hair and skin tone before that, not at the same time! Even though I have read the comment about transformation at the start, the video was just too engaging. Cool Screaming hammer was also funny =D Thank you for all this, Skall
When you listen to a video in the background while doing housework and look back at the screen towards to see that your favorite RU-vidr became a werewolf at some point.
I'd imagine the thing with the shield is one of those purely gameplay balance things. If you want to turtle you aren't allowed to see, if you want to attack you aren't allowed to turtle, whereas in real life you could easily do both.
I at least know the reason for the "Trollslayer" Dwarves; those shirtless, dual-axe ones. I think. As far as I remember, they're basically suicidally charging into any battle they can until they die to get some shred of honor back from some dishonor they suffered.
Great video Skall! Love when you over-analyze fantasy weaponry and armor, miss those kind of videos. Hope you're gonna make more about Warhammer FB(pls, no Age of Sigmar). "Warhammer: Total War" and "Mordheim City of the Damned" have some interesting examples as well.
When speaking about spear&shield for Kruber, Skall mentions that Kruber sets shield aside to strike. This is actually not the case, as his spear&shield is the only weapon in the game with unique means to attack whilst blocking. When he blocks during his special attack, you can actually see the shield bounce, it's only set aside so the player can see clearly.
Very nice video. I think quality has improved recently and also your joy making the videos can be felt. I'm happy for you and keep up the spirit and good work. (Sorry if my English is not the best) Edit. Love the reference to Ian
Dude! I haven't actually laughed like that in a minute....at around 2:10 when you show that hammer thing with the yelling face on it and your reaction. Man, that shit was hilarious to me for some reason...😅
the reloading issue on saltzpyre's pistols is easily explained, he got them preloaded and if you watch him as another player you can see him drop the guns and pull out fresh ones
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!
Ooh the Cog-Hammers. I love those, a good way to explain the fiction of the cog-hammer is to look at those emergency tools that crack class in cars, where you push down until it pops and *bam* everything shatters. The axe side is supposed to do something similar, and the hammer side is there cause... that might break or something. Not saying it would function or be useful in actual life... but it's an interesting fantasy concept.
I'd like to see more ratfolk in fantasy, but nice ratfolk. Make them quick and clever, because they don't have the strength of others. They want to be friends but if you turn on them, turns out they've already planned for your betrayal.
Saltzpyre uses a 'brace of pistols' weapon as well. It's not as ridiculous as the griffin pistols because he actually throws the pistols away and draws new ones after each shot.
My favorite weapon in the game is the pistols for saltspyre because they imply that saltspyre has magical reloading speed or a huge portable dimension filled with guns
On the topic of recoil, old-fashioned black powder doesn't cause quite as much recoil as the faster-burning gunpowder used in modern weapons, and on top of that, the higher weight of the weapon helps to reduce recoil. Adding extra barrels would make the gun more unwieldly in general, *BUT* would help to mitigate the increased recoil from multiple shots being fired at once.
So, a couple things. First, the coghammer. Those gears do actually move and have an actual function, I'm assuming all Skall had as reference were static images and truly didn't see them moving. The weird thing about that weapon is that it has an internal mechanism that attracts and detracts the hammer and axe heads from the middle continuously, which is supposed to make impacts harder, which I'm pretty sure wouldn't work. Second, this really needs a part two and we've only seen about half the weapons in the game at this point. Sure, all the bows are pretty much the same thing and completely feasible in the real world (aside from the one that is 90% fire), and some of the firearms being either directly taken from history or just aesthetically different from real world examples with no significant mechanical change, but there are there are several weapons that I'd love to see Skall analyzing, such as the flails, the repeating handgun/pistol, and especially Kerillian's oversized daggers. Third, there's also the fact that each weapon has several different skins, and some are certainly more realistic than others. I'd love to watch a take on a few different skins for each weapon.
Totally caught me off guard on your progressive transformation into a vampire! At first I was like, "Wait...something seems off with his eye." Then it progressed further and made me rewatch when the transformation started. Very nice!
These games are definitely better with friends if you ever do decide to give them another go. Also the rat-men/skaven are hideous malformed dirty mutants because they're usually around a substance called warpstone that can cause such mutations and alterations. Also crazy mad scientist experiments. The more you know.
as for why they move the shield when thrusting, that's for two gameplay reasons. the first is so the player can see a little better while striking, the second (and bigger) reason is to make it so you can't just spam attack while defending at the same time. that would be OP within the game, you have to be attackable sometimes for balance reasons
I love the comment of how impractical the Slayer weapons and tactics are because that's the point. Slayers go head on looking for death to regain their honor.
On the dwarf wielding dual axes, no armour, flying through the air as though shot by a cannon, that is a Slayer. They are suicidal. Literally. They want to die in a glorious worthy death, and actively seek it, to the extent to trying to solo trolls, which are one of the minor bosses of Vermintide.
Thought during most of the video that something about Skall looked off, then right at the end I see the teeth :p Have to say, with that beard, Skall, you'd pull off a mighty fine VTM:B Smiling Jack cosplay
7:15 I think this is literally just so that the player can fully see what they're attacking. I'm curious if the 3rd person animation is different from the 1st person animation where kruber *does* keep the shield close.
