I've sunk over 1000 hours into Darktide over the past few years, so to justify that life choice, I figured I'd share some of the most fun (and powerful) builds in my roster - one for each of the five classes.
These aren't designed for the highest levels of Havoc, but if you're looking for builds that can comfortably carry you through just about everything else, and with a bit of style, you're in the right place. Without further ado, let us begin!
Video version of this guide (~12 minutes)
Guardian Arbitrator
As a bonus, you get a cute dog!
Greetings and welcome friends, I'm Ash and this is the Arbitrator build I keep coming back to. It hits hard, it’s tanky as hell, and it can yank teammates out of total disaster. With a shock maul, shield and shotgun combo - it is the quintessential Arbiter loadout. You bust into a room, stun everything in sight, and then mop up before the heretics even know what hit ‘em.
You’ll want to play aggressively with this one. Run into hordes, tie up elites, and generally make yourself the prime target. Between your bash, your shield slam, your dog’s explosion, and just raw stagger, you can lock down even squads of Maulers. Just make sure to keep moving. There’s always going to be one cheeky bastard that doesn’t get stunned!
Damage-wise, it's simple. You have a frankly stupid amount of armor-piercing power. Do a heavy attack every couple of seconds to keep your damage buff rolling, and then spam light attacks - even on Crushers. Headshots will absolutely melt them!
Your loyal doggo is great for disrupting crowds or picking off ranged specials, but don't rely on him for anything urgent. If something needs to die right now, whip out the Agripinaa shotgun. With slug rounds, it's one of the best snipers in the game. And even if you miss, the twelve follow-up blasts will still turn most enemies into a fine red mist.
As a little tip - do not get too comfy behind your shield. Blocking is useful for bosses and gunners, but against melee swarms it'll get you boxed in fast. Dodging and swinging is a far safer option. After all, stunned or dead heretics don't hit back!
And that's it. A high-impact build with just the right mix of control, carnage and flavor. Whether you're new to the game or just want to bully cultists, this one's a banger!
Problem-solver Veteran
When you want to win, no matter what
The Veteran build is the problem-solver. It's the one I default to when I want to drag the team to the finish line - even if they're kicking and screaming the whole way. It hands out a constant supply of temporary health, erases specials without breaking a sweat, and dices through massive hordes within seconds.
Unlike the Arbitrator, this one's all about staying aware of your surroundings. You're not here to brawl - you're here to scan the battlefield and delete the threats that actually matter. In my experience, most runs end due to specials separating the group and picking people off, and luckily you have the perfect counter to that: the revolver!
It's quick to swap to, hits like a truck at long range, and thanks to the Always Prepared talent, you almost never have to reload. Just bonk a few enemies in melee, and bullets will magically reappear the next time you draw it. The Emperor provides!
And the more specials you drop, the faster your Voice of Command will come back. So scream often, and loudly, as the health boost is massive. I'm genuinely shocked it hasn't been nerfed yet!
When the specials dry up, swap to your trusty combat axe and aim at head height. Everything softer than an Ogryn will crumple instantly. And if there’s too many big boys to deal with? Just yeet a krak grenade and call it a day.
Your only real weakness is groups of distant gunners since their suppression will make lining up revolver shots a pain. Either close the gap and axe them a question, or wait for them to tunnel-vision someone else before popping heads.
I really like this build because it's super easy to pick up, yet has a surprising amount of depth once you really get into it. And it's just plain powerful. So what's not to love?
Bully Ogryn
The pleasure of sniping snipers with a big ol' rock!
The Ogyrn build is best described as... the Ogyrn build. You're big. You're strong. Damn near unkillable. And you can slap around anyone dumb enough to come within swinging range.
Unsurprisingly, the playstyle is extremely aggressive. You want to protect the lil' 'uns by charging into the thickest fight as fast as possible. It doesn't even matter how many enemies there are. You'll be perfectly fine, because as long as you're smashing heads, you'll be healing your toughness.
You'll mostly want to use heavy attacks, as they have heavy synergy with your talent tree. They stagger enemies, regenerate toughness, and most importantly, apply a ridiculous amount of bleeds. These bleeds might not look like much, but give them a few seconds and they'll absolutely tear through everything - including bosses!
If you ever run into a swarm of gunners, Ogyrn's natural predators, just smash that charge button and get up close and personal. You might lose a little bit of health closing the gap, but that's a small price to pay for the privilege of tearing those cowards apart.
Your actual weakness, however, is disabling specials. Your gun hits like a truck and can kill most of them no problem, but like every other Ogyrn weapon, it's slow and clumsy to bring out. So unless you want to die to a single trapper like some sort of chump, it's best to buddy-up with one of your teammates that might otherwise struggle with hordes.
This is the simplest of all my builds, but don’t let that fool you. It’s fun, it’s powerful, and it’ll make you feel like an unstoppable juggernaut of an Ogyrn.
Trash-cleaner Psyker
You can save your team from even the worst situations
The Psyker build is the most ranged-focused out of the bunch, and its role is best described as the trash-cleaner. Skirt the edges of the fight, carve up absurd numbers of enemies with sword & sorcery, and pick off any specials that threaten your team with the recon lasgun.
This one plays a bit more reactive than the others. You'll usually want to hang back and fling as many Assail knives as possible into hordes and specials. Once you're close to max peril, that's your cue to dive in. At that point all of your stacking buffs will supercharge your greatsword and let you slice through anything. As your peril drops, the sword will lose some of its edge, so fire off its special attack, swap back to Assail, and repeat the cycle.
If you're dealing with multiple specials or a pack of distant gunners that Assail can't reach, swap to your lasgun. This bad boy hits hard, fires fast, has a massive magazine, and barely requires any ammo... as long as you don't waste it on hordes.
And when your team runs into trouble, slam down the Telekine shield. It gives you around 20 seconds of freedom to do whatever you want, all while rapidly regenerating everyone's toughness. If timed well it can absolutely save a run, so get used to using it often.
The weakness here is that you're squishy. You can handle every enemy in the game, but if you get mobbed by too many elites, it's game over. So try to buddy-up with a tanky teammate - like a big friendly Ogyrn!
This is definitely the flashiest of the builds, and the one most likely to rack up absurd killstreaks. That immense power comes with great risk, but that's exactly what makes it so fun to learn and master.
No-retreat Zealot
True to its illustration, the Zealot is all about screaming and swinging!
The last, and definitely not least, is my beloved Zealot. This build is fast-paced, hyper-mobile, brutally effective at every stage of the game, and most importantly, it lets you swing a gigantic sword while screaming about the Emperor!
Your role is simple: obliterate everything. Charge straight into the biggest, nastiest enemies you can find, and then bisect them with a powered-up relic blade. It doesn't matter if it's a Crusher or a boss - one charge, one swing, and they'll regret ever showing up.
Against elites, chain heavy attacks. For hordes, alternate between heavy and push attacks to get wide, sweeping arcs that can cleave a dozen heretics in a single strike. And if you want even more carnage, drag your camera during the swing to hit even more enemies. Powerful, and satisfying!
Just make sure to power down your sword when you're mopping up stragglers. Charged hits are limited, so conserve your energy for when it really matters. A regular swing is more than enough to smash a couple of groaners.
Much like the Veteran, your ranged weapon of choice is the revolver. It's quick to draw, so perfect for sniping specials and then diving straight back into the melee blender.
This one's my personal favorite. It's stylish, a little bit savage, and packed with fancy tricks you can master to push the build's power level through the roof. If you like momentum-heavy, high-impact builds, you're going to love this one.
Closing thoughts
And that's it, my favorite builds for each class, and the ones I've used to smash even the hardest Auric missions with. They're powerful, punchy, and a whole lot of fun, so I hope they serve you just as well. Enjoy!