What is the maximum number of Warhammer specials that can be alive at a time?

[BACK]
What is the maximum number of Warhammer specials that can be alive at a time?
Posted On: June 4, 2023

First-person shooter co-op games usually limit the number of special units that can be alive at the same time, to avoid overwhelming the players with units that can easily wipe the team. For example, Left 4 Dead 2 has a console command, z_minion_limit (default: 3), that sets the maximum number of “special infected” zombies that can be alive at any given time. This number is 3 by default to give at least one player on the team a fighting chance.


I want to know what this value is for Vermintide 2. How many specials can be alive at any given time? (Where beyond that maximum, the AI director will no longer spawn specials.) Is there a limit for the same special-unit type, or for disablers, specifically?


Please mention any differences between the difficulties (especially Legend and Cataclysm), between the game modes (Campaign and Chaos Wastes), and if the “Seek and Destroy” deed modifier is applied (described as: “specials spawn with much higher frequency and in larger numbers”).


In Vermintide 2, what is the maximum number of specials that can be alive at a time?


Question from user galacticninja at gaming.stackexchange.com.


Answer:

In Vermintide 2's conflict_settings.lua, a file containing all the difficulty settings, we can see, under the header SpecialDifficultyOverrides [r. 637], the values for max_specials. These vary by difficulty.


In this file, the difficulties are named hard, harder, hardest, cataclysm, cataclysm_2, and cataclysm_3.


We can see how they correspond with the difficulty levels in-game from this table in the adjacent difficulty_settings.lua file [r. 367]:.


So max-specials in SpecialDifficultyOverrides only sets the maximum for difficulty levels for Veteran and higher, reaching, as suggested by galacticninja, two difficulty levels that can be (customized and) used in Weaves, from the Winds of Magic DLC.*.


Since Recruit is missing from the SpecialDifficultyOverrides class (not being a "special" difficulty, which makes sense), it must have a default value.


I think this default value is 2 for Recruit,† but it could be 3, as well.


The values for max_specials in SpecialDifficultyOverrides are:.


3 for Hard/Veteran and Harder/Champion;.


4 for Hardest/Legend;.


5 for Cataclysm/Cataclysm;.


6 for cataclysm_2 and cataclysm_3.


From the file it is also clear that the types of specials to be spawned don't change with difficulty, but the amount of specials of the same type does change slightly: from Legend difficulty onwards, max_of_same changes from 2 to 3.


Further down in the .lua file, there are some variations on this, called SpecialDifficultyOverrides_ followed by, among others, skaven, beastmen, chaos and combinations thereof, but they generally follow the same pattern (safe for the first difficulty sometimes receiving a max_specials value of 2 rather than 3).


The names refer to factions, but I'm not sure how these specific variables come into play: they might refer to specific maps. I'll look into that a little more.


* Somewhat corroborated by a table mentioned before the DifficultyMapping class in difficulty_settings.lua, called DefaultDifficulties, which doesn't mention cataclysm_2 and cataclysm_3.


† Mainly because, as mentioned later in this answer, there are variations on this table based on factions, that have their maximum lowered from the SpecialDifficultyOverrides's lowest 3 to 2.


The file enemy_package_loader_settings.lua points to a limit of 3 specials [r. 132], but the conditions (and the fact they are there to begin with) make this being the default seem improbable.


Answer from user Joachim at gaming.stackexchange.com.


[BACK]
What is the maximum number of Warhammer specials that can be alive at a time?
Posted On: June 4, 2023

First-person shooter co-op games usually limit the number of special units that can be alive at the same time, to avoid overwhelming the players with units that can easily wipe the team. For example, Left 4 Dead 2 has a console command, z_minion_limit (default: 3), that sets the maximum number of “special infected” zombies that can be alive at any given time. This number is 3 by default to give at least one player on the team a fighting chance.


I want to know what this value is for Vermintide 2. How many specials can be alive at any given time? (Where beyond that maximum, the AI director will no longer spawn specials.) Is there a limit for the same special-unit type, or for disablers, specifically?


Please mention any differences between the difficulties (especially Legend and Cataclysm), between the game modes (Campaign and Chaos Wastes), and if the “Seek and Destroy” deed modifier is applied (described as: “specials spawn with much higher frequency and in larger numbers”).


In Vermintide 2, what is the maximum number of specials that can be alive at a time?


Question from user galacticninja at gaming.stackexchange.com.


Answer:

In Vermintide 2's conflict_settings.lua, a file containing all the difficulty settings, we can see, under the header SpecialDifficultyOverrides [r. 637], the values for max_specials. These vary by difficulty.


In this file, the difficulties are named hard, harder, hardest, cataclysm, cataclysm_2, and cataclysm_3.


We can see how they correspond with the difficulty levels in-game from this table in the adjacent difficulty_settings.lua file [r. 367]:.


So max-specials in SpecialDifficultyOverrides only sets the maximum for difficulty levels for Veteran and higher, reaching, as suggested by galacticninja, two difficulty levels that can be (customized and) used in Weaves, from the Winds of Magic DLC.*.


Since Recruit is missing from the SpecialDifficultyOverrides class (not being a "special" difficulty, which makes sense), it must have a default value.


I think this default value is 2 for Recruit,† but it could be 3, as well.


The values for max_specials in SpecialDifficultyOverrides are:.


3 for Hard/Veteran and Harder/Champion;.


4 for Hardest/Legend;.


5 for Cataclysm/Cataclysm;.


6 for cataclysm_2 and cataclysm_3.


From the file it is also clear that the types of specials to be spawned don't change with difficulty, but the amount of specials of the same type does change slightly: from Legend difficulty onwards, max_of_same changes from 2 to 3.


Further down in the .lua file, there are some variations on this, called SpecialDifficultyOverrides_ followed by, among others, skaven, beastmen, chaos and combinations thereof, but they generally follow the same pattern (safe for the first difficulty sometimes receiving a max_specials value of 2 rather than 3).


The names refer to factions, but I'm not sure how these specific variables come into play: they might refer to specific maps. I'll look into that a little more.


* Somewhat corroborated by a table mentioned before the DifficultyMapping class in difficulty_settings.lua, called DefaultDifficulties, which doesn't mention cataclysm_2 and cataclysm_3.


† Mainly because, as mentioned later in this answer, there are variations on this table based on factions, that have their maximum lowered from the SpecialDifficultyOverrides's lowest 3 to 2.


The file enemy_package_loader_settings.lua points to a limit of 3 specials [r. 132], but the conditions (and the fact they are there to begin with) make this being the default seem improbable.


Answer from user Joachim at gaming.stackexchange.com.


[BACK]

What are all the ways to impact your trial grade in Outlast Trials? What are all the ways to impact your trial grade in Outlast Trials?

Posted On: June 22, 2023
In The Outlast Trials, you are given a personal grade (and a team grade) when you complete a trial. It is a letter-grade style score (A+, A, A-, B+ etc.). Performing certain actions can increase your ...[More]


What does it mean when Im cowering in fear? What does it mean when Im cowering in fear?

Posted On: November 27, 2023
In the Kero Sewers, enemy Boos sometimes use a Scream attack that makes one of my party members cower in fear with a purple aura around them. The scared party member can seemingly still fight like nor...[More]


What is this item and what is it for? What is this item and what is it for?

Posted On: April 26, 2024
I've seen this item a number of times now, but I can't seem to pick it up.Is this an actual weapon or item? It looks like a circular saw of some sort. I can't seem to pick it up at all, but since I'v...[More]


What is this white rhombus icon on the mini map in Enter the Gungeon? What is this white rhombus icon on the mini map in Enter the Gungeon?

Posted On: February 5, 2023
In Enter the Gungeon, this white distorted rectangle icon appeared after I cleared a room in floor 1:.The room looks empty and the icon on the mini map seems to correspond to the walls in the center:....[More]


Are there any Koroks in the depths? Are there any Koroks in the depths?

Posted On: May 20, 2023
Are there any Koroks or Koroks Seeds to find in the underground depths? I've found them in the Sky and on the Surface, but I haven't spotted any in the Depths yet. Question from user Stevoi...[More]


In Gundam Evolution, What does the percentage mean when enemies are destroyed? In Gundam Evolution, What does the percentage mean when enemies are destroyed?

Posted On: March 20, 2023
Whenever an enemy player is destroyed there's a percentage next to the kill message. What does the percentage mean? Question from user Stevoisiak at gaming.stackexchange.com. Answer: The ...[More]


AC Revelations How can I check how long I need to wait for the next bank deposit? AC Revelations How can I check how long I need to wait for the next bank deposit?

Posted On: May 3, 2023
I never know how long I have to wait until the next bank deposit. I know it's meant to be every 20 minutes and that there are events that annoyingly reset the timer without telling you, so I was w...[More]


What games come with the Nintendo Switch Online Membership? What games come with the Nintendo Switch Online Membership?

Posted On: August 5, 2023
I'm considering purchasing a Nintendo Switch Online Membership, and my primary motivation to do this is the classic game collections. Therefore, I would like to know what games in the Mario, Zelda...[More]


How to Trade Between Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire emulator on my Macbook pro? How to Trade Between Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire emulator on my Macbook pro?

Posted On: March 31, 2024
I would like to trade Pokemon for evolution between Ruby and Sapphire emulators for trades. However, I cannot seem to get an emulator that works on my Macbook M1 with Ventura to load 2 games at once.T...[More]


How many chapters are in Nier Reincarnation? How many chapters are in Nier Reincarnation?

Posted On: April 2, 2024
How many story chapters are in Nier Reincarnation? The game just released its final chapter. I just finished chapter 10 and want to know how many chapters I have left to complete before the game shuts...[More]