Meet the Hive Scum: Warhammer 40,000: Darktide's Next Class

A brutal new playable class is making its way into Warhammer 40,000: Darktide: the Hive Scum, arriving on December 2, 2025. Fatshark’s latest addition dives deep into the underbelly of Tertium, bringing a grimy, street-tough edge that stands apart from the existing roster of imperial rejects.

Fight against the corruption of Chaos

The Hive Scum originate from the sprawling hive cities where criminal syndicates, corrupt fixers, and desperate survivors carve out their lives in filth and fire. Rather than noble ideals or imperial duty, their motivations are rooted in survival, opportunity, and the shifting power struggles of Tertium’s criminal world. With this new class, players step into the boots of characters who live outside the law, and often well beyond the limits of good judgment.

The new class features exciting mechanics, like a customizable Stimm, a hazardous chemical cocktail players can tailor to their preferred playstyle. These mixtures offer powerful temporary boosts but come with the reckless edge one would expect from improvised, underground bio-enhancements. Hive Scum combatants can also coat their blades in toxic compounds and deploy Chem Bombs, creating hazardous zones that chew through enemy health over time.

The Hive Scum introduces true dual-wielding combat for the first time in Warhammer 40,000: Darktide. At range, players can fire off twin pistols, including stub pistols to autopistols, while melee encounters let them carve through foes using two shivs simultaneously. Their arsenal also embraces the improvised brutality of underhive life, featuring makeshift weapons such as crowbars and bone saws that feel appropriately savage.

The class's talent tree offers surprising flexibility. Players can lean into an aggressive hybrid of melee and ranged combat, specialize as a toxin-focused demolition expert, or build into a fast, fragile bruiser who strikes quickly before slipping back into the shadows. Their toolkit includes crowd-control options like flash-disrupting grenades and even access to high-impact heavy ordnance, including a volatile missile launcher for players who prefer explosive solutions.

Customization also takes a major step forward with this release. The Hive Scum arrives with expanded character options including full-body tattoos, new hairstyles, brighter color palettes, and the introduction of face paint as a first for the game. The class comes with six unique voice sets distributed across three distinct personalities, giving players more freedom to create either a cunning hustler, a spiteful survivor, or an unhinged street killer.

While anticipation for the class has been high, reactions across the community vary. Some players welcome the experimental mechanics and grimy personality, while others debate how its high firearm emphasis fits within Darktide's broader balance arc. Regardless, the Hive Scum is set to leave a mark, offering a new departure in both tone and combat identity, pretty much like the Arbites did when it was added to the game.

The Hive Scum class will be available across all platforms on release day. With new gameplay possibilities, expanded character design options, and a uniquely seedy narrative flavor, this DLC looks ready to pull players deeper into the chaos and corruption that define the hive cities of the 41st millennium. Make sure to visit our comparator to keep track of the best prices for Warhammer 40K: Darktide if you haven't discovered this amazing horde shooter from the creators of Vermintide 2.