Those who wish to make the missions harder can do so in a variety of ways. They can either up the difficulty (thereby increasing the number, toughness, and variety of enemies) or they can choose missions that have modifiers and secondary objectives attached to them. Modifiers are non-negotiable effects that change how players experience a mission. This could be anything from increased enemy hordes to a ventilation purge that greatly reduces visibility at range. Secondary objectives, on the other hand, are optional missions that players can complete for extra currency and experience. The most common secondary objectives found in the Warhammer 40,000: Darktide pre-order beta task players with collecting Scriptures or Grimoires - books that change how players manage their resources.
RELATED: Warhammer 40,000: Darktide Reveals PC System Requirements, Performance Details
Discarded Knowledge
Much like Fatshark’s own Vermintide games, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide’s Scriptures and Grimoires are items that players can pick up to increase their team’s endgame completion rewards. As of the current pre-order beta build, these rewards only amount to more currency and experience. There is no known increase in loot drops, unlike in the Vermintide games.
Also unlike the Vermintide series of games, the books can only be found on missions that have the specific secondary objective active. Both Scriptures and Grimoires spawn in random locations throughout the levels. Grimoires emit a telltale green glow that makes them easier to spot, while Scriptures have the added complexity of being able to spawn in the lootable containers - forcing players to go out of their way to interact with them. Missions can currently only have either Scriptures or Grimoires tied to them at a single time, with two Grimoires and three Scriptures needed to complete the specific secondary objective.
Knowledge Is A Heavy Burden
In order to get the full rewards for collecting Scriptures and Grimoires, players must carry the complete collection of items to the end of the level. This sounds easy until players realize that carrying the books requires them to give up their inventory slot that could otherwise be used to hold an Ammo Crate or a Medi Pack. Scriptures are the easier books to carry as players can easily replace them by interacting with another world item that fills the item slot. Once they deploy their ammunition or health, players can simply pick the book back up and place it in their inventory.
Grimoires are much harder to manage as players cannot drop them once picked up. Dying or disconnecting from a game causes the Grimoire to despawn, thus rendering the secondary objective incomplete. What’s more, Grimoires constantly inflict Corruption - a debuff that lowers the entire team’s maximum health. Corruption can only be removed at an emplaced Medicae Station, though if a team is carrying a Grimoire or two they will soon find themselves being inflicted with the status ailment once again. Corruption caused by Grimoires can be mitigated by equipping certain Relics, but to truly remove the effects, players have to interact with the Grimoire to destroy it. This comes at a cost, however, as destroying a Grimoire removes it from a player’s inventory and makes it impossible to be picked up again.
Necessity Over Greed
To complete the Scripture and Grimoire secondary objectives, Players have to carefully manage who carries the books and who carries the supplies. Scriptures are easier to deal with as players can drop them to pick up a much-needed Ammo Crate or Medi Pack. As long as a team communicates, carrying three Scriptures to the end of a level isn’t hard at all.
The fact that players cannot drop Grimoires and have their maximum health reduced means that carrying these particular books requires a team’s full commitment. The only time players should consider destroying Grimoires is if their team is in danger of failing a mission without the supplies that are available to them. Many teams have fallen victim to their greed by continuing to carry Grimoires while passing on important ammunition or health. The low supplies, coupled with the maximum health debuff that Corruption brings, would then cause a team to fail the mission without anything to show for it.
Those who plan on completing the secondary objectives for the Scriptures and Grimoires should be wary of what they are getting themselves into. While Scriptures require good inventory management, picking up Grimoires should be done with more caution as they put the entire team at a bigger disadvantage. Finding these books is only half the battle in Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, as carrying them will be just as big a challenge for players.
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide releases on November 30, 2022 for PC and Xbox Series X/S.
MORE: Warhammer 40K Darktide: What is the Imperium?
