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Warhammer 40,000: Darktide’s Spillway Will Send Teams Through Branching, Corrupted Tunnels

The mission will use randomized symbols, harsher wrong turns, and growing Nurgle corruption when Depths of the Damned arrives on September 29.

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A fleshy, corrupted tunnel with an industrial walkway and bulbous growths in Warhammer 40,000: Darktide.

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide‘s upcoming Spillway mission will use its setting as a gameplay signal. Teams will begin near familiar Torrent territory before moving through increasingly cramped tunnels where the wrong turn can lead to traps, locked doors, or extra work.

The free Depths of the Damned update will arrive on September 29, adding the Spillway mission alongside its wider story and combat content. Fatshark’s Spillway feature highlight explains how Senior Level Designer Karl, Associate Art Director Lucas, and Lead Level Artist Sara shaped the mission’s look and route structure.

Spillway forms part of a live story involving the Agents of the Mourningstar and the Water Cartel’s domain. The opening missions lead the warband toward lower Tertium, where the Ragged King needs help investigating a spreading corruption.

Spillway gets tighter as Nurgle corruption spreads

The mission starts close to the Torrent, Hive Tertium’s major water recycling facility, giving returning players a recognizable entry point. Its broad industrial backdrops gradually disappear as the warband pushes farther underground. More corruption fills the environment, the tunnels become more claustrophobic, and the route eventually reaches the source of the infestation.

Industrial water facility beneath Hive Tertium in Spillway

Visual design carries much of that progression. Spillway’s lower areas combine junk, water reservoirs, and the infrastructure of one of the Hive’s life support systems with fleshy growths, buboes, pus, and other signs of Nurgle’s influence. Fatshark created new assets and visual effects to make the corruption feel more like a living presence than another layer of grime.

Lead Level Artist Sara specifically called out a mouth added to one of the assets as “really creepy.” The result is one of Darktide’s most heavily infested areas so far, with the environment becoming less familiar as the mission advances.

Branching paths make the route matter

Early sections follow Darktide’s usual rhythm of fighting enemy waves, but the warband will eventually reach a Moebian 6th outpost. Defeating its leader reveals a symbol that becomes important when the mission opens into a large network of tunnels.

Spillway chamber with multiple doors marked by symbols

Two route decisions will appear during the mission. The first offers two paths, while the second presents three. The symbol found earlier indicates the correct route, but its position is randomized between playthroughs, so teams cannot memorize one answer and repeat it every time.

A wrong route will still lead toward the same destination, but it will make the trip harder through traps, locked doors, or additional tasks. The team can also see the other branches from its chosen path. Players who take the correct route may watch the rest of the warband deal with a harsher section, although nobody can lend a hand until the groups meet again.

All routes eventually converge at a new boss arena. Fatshark is keeping the fight itself undisclosed for now, leaving the spreading corruption and the route through it as the main preview of what awaits on September 29.

Would you rather trust the randomized symbol or follow the branch that looks safer? Share your thoughts, and follow us on X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram, Steam, and Telegram.

From the developers of the best-selling and award-winning franchise Vermintide, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is a visceral 4-player co-op action game set in the hive city of Tertium. Fight together with your friends against hordes of enemies in this new Warhammer 40,000 experience.