Darktide's Depths of the Damned adds a three-mission campaign and a Nurgle Psyker boss

Fatshark rolled Darktide's patch 1.13.0 out on all platforms and switched on the free Depths of the Damned update the same afternoon. It is a content drop rather than a balance pass: a new mission, a new boss, a scripted three-mission campaign and a new weapon family for Ogryns.

Terrors of the Deep

The mini-campaign strings three missions into one narrative, in the mould of Battle for Tertium and No Man's Land. The first two run on existing maps - Consignment Yard and Enclavum Baross - with the Strike Team sent to help noble allies of the Inquisition. The third moves to the new map.

Spillway, and what lives in it

Spillway drops the Strike Team into the sewers beneath the Torrent's dam, where the Ragged King has been losing Water Cartel members to something in the warrens. The brief, as Fatshark puts it, is to clear out the Traitorous Sixth and "deal with whatever has made its lair down there."

That turns out to be the Prophet of Decay, a boss unique to the level and described by Fatshark as "a terrifyingly powerful Psyker of Nurgle." The studio is deliberately vague about how the fight works, framing the identity of the corruption's source as a question for players to answer.

A very large hammer

The update also brings new weapon families and marks, headlined by the Krourk Mk IIa Cruncher - an industrial sledgehammer heavy enough that only Ogryns can lift it. Fatshark's own summary is "we're gonna need a bigger bonk, sah." Swings are slow but carry heavy stagger, cleave and reach, and holding the weapon special raises it overhead for Strikedown attacks; hold the windup long enough and it banks up to four stacks of +10% melee strength for the next hit.

The event running alongside it

A live event called Allies and Adversaries has Interrogator Rannick sending the warband to assist influential figures. Playing through the campaign missions progresses it, paying out Plasteel, Ordo Dockets, Diamantine and a new Insignia. A Death Korps of Krieg 158th cosmetic set went into the store at the same time.

Why it matters

Darktide's post-launch record has been patchy, but the mini-campaign format is the thing Fatshark has quietly got good at - it gives the game's missions a reason to be played in a specific order, which a randomised mission board never does. Doing it with a brand-new map and a bespoke boss attached is the most substantial version of that so far.