Darktide fans' dreams finally come true with the Skitarii class

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide started out with four classes, each of them Rejects that had been drafted in a desperate fight for the hive city of Tertium. The Psyker, Zealot, Veteran, and Ogryn were later joined by the law enforcing Arbites and the chaotic Hive Scum, and now we know the next class coming to the game: the Skitarii. Fans have been demanding Skitarii for years, and nearly threw a riot when the Scum was announced over these Adeptus Mechanicus warriors. Now, we know the Skitarii will join Darktide this summer on June 23.

Darktide is a four-person horde shooter game, and each class has abilities that allow them to take down priority targets, clear out masses of enemies, or aid their allies. We didn't get to see any gameplay from the Skitarii, but the class was designed as "cryptic", and it looks like they'll have a Servo Skull accompanying them on the battlefield. The Skitarii are warriors of the Adeptus Mechanicus, the red-robed priests of Mars, so they'll likely have access to higher tech than their fellows on the battlefield.

Fans have been begging for Skitarii – or some variety of an Adeptus Mechanicus soldier – for years now. The most common meme on any Darktide communities is an AdMech with a distended jaw inhaling the powder that makes you say "Skitarii tomorrow," an icon of hope that the much-requested class would eventually make it to the game.

The argument has always been that these soldiers are too high-tech for our battle on Atoma Prime; the core four characters are all freshly sprung out of jail, and the Hive Scum takes to the battlefields with shivs and crowbars. But at today's Warhammer Skulls event, we got a cinematic teaser that proves that the Skitarii are finally on their way.

"We have known from the start that we wanted to add some form of playable Adeptus Mechanicus presence to the game," writes Fatshark in a blog post accompanying the announcement. Tech Priests like Hadron Omega-7-7 are simply too valuable and independent to risk on missions like the ones undertaken by Darktide's warband. So, we get the frontline warriors of the Mechanicus, here to help us uncover ancient relics and reclaim the hive world from heresy.

The Skitarii will wield Arc weapons, phosphor blasters, transonic blades, galvanic rifles, and be aided by servo skulls on the battlefield. They also have their own unique take on the talent tree. "You will also be greeted with a new sight when you go into the Skitarii Talent tree. It’s quite different from the other classes , as it is now a wheel (or a cog if you will) that starts in the middle and you will be able to customize your play experience by going in different directions, instead of the normal top down progression that the other classes have," reads the blog post. "This makes the Skitarii Alpha Primus easier to really 'make your own,' and have them fit several roles in the Inquisitorial party."

Now that we know Skitarii are coming, fans are celebrating:

We'll learn more about the Skitarii and how they operate in Darktide as we lead up to the June 23 release date. I'm most interested in seeing the personality options for the class, and hearing some of the banter they have with the other operatives in the warband. Now that Skitarii have finally released, the Darktide fanbase can stop agitating for their AdMech warriors and wait to see how they fit in with the rest of Rannick's rejects.

Darktide is currently on sale for 75% off, so if you've ever been curious about the horde shooter, now's a good time to check it out.