[Update #2]: In celebration of the series' seventh anniversary, Vermintide 2 has just added a frigid new map - Trail of Treachery.

[Update]: The Be'lakor update has now arrived, and while a bit buggy, it's still a fair bit of fun.

The Chaos Wastes are Vermintide 2's rogue-like game mode where you and your buddies get to explore an assortment of increasingly more difficult and randomized maps. Along the way you'll have to contend with both positive and negative modifiers, collect a whole bunch of powerful upgrades, and naturally, tear through more ratmen and Chaos worshipers than you could even attempt to count.

It's a really fun game mode, and one that's only going to get better in the near future as Fatshark has used the currently ongoing Warhammer Skulls festival as an opportunity to announce a brand new patch for the Chaos Wastes! Once it arrives this June 14th, the Be’lakor update will bring the dark prince's influence to the Chaos Wastes, and with it a whole host of new modifiers and challenges to overcome.

First and foremost, there will be two new curses that can appear as you venture across the maps: ghastly skulls that materialize out of thin air to attack players, and shadowy totems that will keep spawning enemies until destroyed. Should you manage to overcome the new obstacles and defeat the powerful Shadow Lieutenants scattered throughout the levels, you will receive a crystal that will allow you to destroy the all-important Shadow Locus.

Breaking it into pieces will bring Be’lakor's schemes to light, and with it reveal the location of his Temple of Shadows on the expedition map. This new level will be a rather tricky one as there will be multiple Shadow Lieutenants scattered throughout its corners, though if you manage to survive and sever Be’lakor's connection to the mortal realms, you will be rewarded with some highly powerful boons that will help make the rest of your expedition a lot smoother.

Be'lakor sure loves putting down statues of himself

Speaking of which, the June 14th update will also add 7 new weapon traits and 31 new boons, all of which will be randomly available throughout the Chaos Wastes. Additionally, some of the most overpowered boons will be moved to weapon traits. While this does mean that they will be significantly rarer, the good news is that they should still be a complete powerhouse and will most likely carry you through the entire expedition if you get lucky enough to stumble upon them.

You can read a little bit more about these additions, as well as check out which boons have been shuffled around, over at the Vermintide website. Enjoy, and I'll leave you with the teaser trailer: