Savages need better audio and visual cues

One of the best features of Vermintide is the sound. Keeping a sharp ear out gives the player a ton of information about the location of even mundane enemies, thanks to the ambient noises they make. However, it's specials that the work Fatshark put into sound really comes through. This was especially apparent in the first Vermintide, where every special had their own voice lines from the characters, and their own unique sounds. We still see this with the Skaven specials in VT2, along with the Chaos specials.

Specials and elites also tend to have a unique appearance that make them stand out from others around them. Between these two features (unique sounds and unique look) players can avoid being surprised by specials and elites and instead prepare for them ahead of time.

There's one rather major exception to this however: the Savage. These are the guys wielding two axes and not wearing a shirt. There's no unique sound cue for them appearing, and unlike their skaven equivalent, the Plague Monk, their appearance is very similar to other Rotbloods, making picking them out of a crowd very difficult. It basically boils down to spaming ping on a crowd to see if any Savages are hiding in there.

This wouldn't be necessarily a huge issue if Savages weren't overly dangerous. However, this most certainly isn't the case. Even on low difficulties, Savages can carve their way through health bars extremely quickly. The fact that they can't be staggered from attacks and must instead be blocked/parried is told to us by the game in sound cues, but only after they've lopped off a few limbs. Players are used to being able to handle hordes or patrols in particular ways, but the presence of a Savage changes that completely.

I should be clear that I have no issue with the Savages doing a lot of damage. That's completely fine. But alert players should be able to pick them out through audio or visual cues, and prepare accordingly. Why should the game very clearly alert us to the presence of a Stormvermin, yet remain silent on an Elite who can take a player out much faster?

Solutions

It's a real pity that the Rotbloods are exclusively Nurgle aligned because if Savages were followers of Khorne instead they'd have a perfect sound cue: BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! You could honestly still have that; give them a more crimson appearance which would also differentiate them from their kin, and have them bellow out the Blood God's infamous catchphrase. During the End Times the various followers of Chaos do team up after all.

Another option is to make them look more mutated. Follows of Nurgle often grow tentacles or other mutations. Giving Savages a writhing mass of tentacles for an arm would make them stand out much more.

Finally, the characters really need to call these guys out.

TLDR: Savages are dangerous and their presence should be communicated to the player more clearly.