I've seen a lot of new faces in Darktide lately, which is great! What's less great is that a lot of them aren't making it past the first few rooms on higher difficulties. Which, fair enough, Auric and Maelstrom missions can be brutal. But once you understand what the game actually expects of you, they become a lot more manageable... and a lot more fun!

Greetings and welcome, friend - I’m Ash and today I want to show you how to survive and thrive once Darktide stops playing nice.

Video version of this guide (~13 minutes) 

Cardio beats Chaos

Let’s get into it with the most important lesson of them all: cardio beats Chaos. If you take away just one thing from this guide, let it be this.

On the highest difficulties, Darktide throws an absurd number of enemies at you. And you have two options: stand your ground and die like a brave fool, or do a lil' cardio and bravely advance backwards to a more defensible position - ideally a chokepoint in a previously cleared room.

It might feel counter-intuitive to retreat, especially if it means backtracking through multiple rooms, but it's by far the safest play. Why? Because you know exactly what's behind you: nothing! You just cleared it. So if you got a boss breathing down your neck and your team is too busy dealing with twenty crushers, just take the boss on a scenic walk across the map.

If you try to push forward instead, you'll just end up dragging the boss into a fresh pack of elites. And now you're surrounded, overwhelmed and probably dead. So when in doubt? Fall back, assess the situation, and only then strike. Trust me - it'll save your life!

If it's looking really bad, just leg it!

Learn how to melee

While guns are great and all, melee is still king in Darktide. No matter your class, no matter your build - you're going to have to smack some heretics.

So before diving into Auric, make sure you've got the melee basics down. The big one? Learning how to juggle a horde without taking damage. That means: staggering attackers with your own swings, dodging to avoid hits, and pushing to keep enemies off you. Done right, this lets you control near-infinite swarms without ever getting touched.

The trick is to stick to the edges of the horde. Don't get surrounded. You always want to leave yourself room to move. And if things start looking dicey? Just back off. Funnel enemies into a chokepoint and delete them one by one while the rest helplessly wait their turn.

It's not a complicated skill, but it does take practice. So next time you see a horde, roll up your sleeves and get stuck in. Try mixing attacks, dodges and pushes until it all clicks. You'll mess it up. You'll probably even go down a couple of times. But once it sticks, it'll be with you for life. And that's not a joke. I learned these tricks back in the original Vermintide, and they're still relevant a decade later in Darktide!

Channel this guy's energy and you'll be golden!

Sliding is silly

I usually skip over advanced tech in my guides. Most of it offers minor gains and takes way too much time and effort to master.

But sliding? Sliding is different. It’s not just a trick - it’s busted. By sliding around on the floor like a dog that's about to ruin a very expensive carpet, you can dodge a ridiculous amount of damage - especially from ranged enemies. When done at a slight angle, a couple of slides can carry you straight through a full squad of gunners without taking a scratch.

It's one of the strongest tools in your arsenal, and something you should absolutely get comfortable with. You'd be surprised how many 'impossible' situations you can get out of just by scooting around on your knees.

So how do you do it? There are two ways. First, dodge-sliding is done by dodging, and then crouching. That's it. The tradeoff is that this uses two of your invisible dodge charges, so don't spam it. Save it for when you need to get out right now.

Then there's the truly busted sprint-sliding. Just start running, then crouch. If you chain it correctly you can keep sliding for as long as your stamina holds which, for most builds, is a very long time!

It might take a bit of practice to get used to, but that's easy enough to solve - just start sliding whenever you're moving between fights. Before long, you'll be sweeping floors all across Atoma like a true veteran!

Be versatile

On higher difficulties, Darktide throws everything at you - often all at once. And when that happens, you can't always rely on your teammates to cover all of your weaknesses. So your best bet is to bring weapons that can handle as many different threats as possible.

There are four core enemy types you need to prepare for: hordes, specials, armored elites and bosses. If your loadout can handle at least three out of the four, you're in a great spot. All four? Congratulations - you've probably stumbled into one of the meta builds!

Take the Relic Sword Zealot, for example. It chews through melee threats like a woodchipper - everything from the humble poxwalker to the mighty Chaos Spawn. But the downside? It's slow, which leaves you wide open to disablers like trappers and hounds. So what do you do? You pair it with the revolver - a weapon that is quick to draw, accurate, and perfect for picking off specials. Throw in incendiary grenades to bail your team out when things go sideways, and boom - you've got yourself a build that covers all bases.

So while it's great to focus on one thing and do it exceptionally well, make sure to patch up your weaknesses. Because as I've learned during my World of Warcraft days, it doesn't matter how much DPS you can do... if you're lying face-down on the floor!

Don't be the guy that has to constantly run from Crushers

Fine-tune your build

I've already done a full guide with Auric-ready builds for every class, so check that out if you want the nitty-gritty details. But for now, here's the short version. You should prioritize two things: survivability and damage.

Toughness is your most important resources. It's basically a magic shield that protects your health bar, and the more of it you can stack through your talents - whether it's via toughness boosts, damage reduction or just ways to regenerate it - the easier your life will be. Next comes damage. Because, as it turns out, dead enemies don't fight back. So the fast you cleave through them, the safer you'll be - especially on higher difficulties where every second counts.

So when designing a build, don't just blindly follow a single path through the tree. Instead, scan the entire tree and look for standout talents - ones that offer unusually high durability or damage, and then route your build through as many of them as possible. Yes, that might mean skipping some quality-of-life perks or not fully finishing a branch, but the raw power you'll gain is worth the tradeoff.

These are the Zealot's most powerful talents, and ones you should always try to grab

Curious Curios

Let’s get straight to the point: wound curios are bad. To get any value from them you need to die twice before reaching a med station or using a med stim. And if that's happening regularly, an extra wound won't really do much for you.

Actually, scratch that. It will do something - it'll make your build worse! A wound curio means giving up something far more useful, like +17% toughness which can make sure you don't take damage in the first place. So why plan to fail when you can set yourself up for success instead?

If you're unsure what curios to use, here's a tried-and-tested combo that works on every class and build, from your very first Auric run all the way to Havoc 40.

Main attributes: Stamina, Toughness, Toughness
Minor perks: Cooldown reduction, Stamina regeneration, Bonus toughness

You'll eventually want to tweak these based on your build's specific needs, but honestly? This setup will serve you well no matter what you play. I’ve been using it for years, and it hasn’t let me down yet.

This combination will never let you down

Save yourself first

Everyone likes being the hero - charging through fire and hordes of elites to rescue their downed teammates. But on higher difficulties? That's a great way to go meet the Emperor.

So before you even think about saving others, focus on saving yourself. Unless you can get into a good position to rez them and guarantee you won't die in the process, it's far better to leave them on the floor for now. Yeah, it sucks. But if they're in a bad spot, no amount of heroics will save them - and all you'll accomplish by trying is ruining the entire run. So play it smart, and just rescue them later.

If you can, save them, but make sure not to create a second casualty!

Stick together... sort of

'Stick with the team' is the most generic advice in co-op games - and yeah, it applies here too. But only sort of.

You don't need to be permanently glued to your teammates. In fact, you shouldn't be. You'll end up stepping on each other's toes, ruining each other's plans, and eating hits meant for the other guy. Instead, just keep them in view. Be close enough to help if they get swarmed or disabled, don't breathe down their neck. Trust them to do their job, while you do yours.

And if the team starts drifting apart during the chaos, try to stay in groups of two. That way, if someone gets pinned, there's always a friend nearby to save the day. A helping hand in a bad moment can flip a whole run around, so do make sure someone has your back... and that you have theirs!

Prioritize the specials

In my experience, the vast majority of losses on higher difficulties come from specials picking people off during chaotic moments. So if you want to give your team the best possible shot at surviving, be the one that handles all of the high-priority specials.

This is easier said than done, of course. It means staying alert even when everything is going to hell around you, but it's one of the most valuable skills you can develop, and one that is useful beyond just Darktide itself. My biggest tip? Listen. Darktide has amazing sound design, so you can often pinpoint where a special is just by hearing them. If you think you have a bead on where they are, break away from the melee and take them out fast. Then dive back in, or keep running, until the next batch shows up.

Do this consistently and I guarantee your winrate will skyrocket. It's that impactful of a job, and sadly, that often overlooked.

Clear the specials and you'll find your missions a lot easier

Closing thoughts

And there you have it, a collection of simple tips to help you not just survive the harder difficulties, but actually enjoy them. If anything was unclear, or if you have any questions, feel free to drop them in the Youtube video's comments. I'll do my best to help out.