Unlike the extremely tanky Arbiter or the glass-cannon Hive Scum, the Skitarii are a true all-rounder. They can frontline, support, snipe, and generally adapt to anything the game throws at them. So getting started is easy, but getting the most out of their kit takes a surprising amount of effort. So let me walk you through a couple of fun, powerful builds that can smash through anything but the nastiest Havoc missions.

One quick note before we begin. Fatshark will be rebalancing the class over the next few months, so some of the exact numbers and talents may change. I'll always keep the written builds linked in the description updated to the newest patch, so if you're watching this from the future and something looks weird, go with the written version.

Video version of this guide (~14 minutes)

Build #1 - THE CLAW

And now, let's start with my favorite build. It's all about honing your culinary skills - specifically, slicing, dicing, and blending heretics into a fine paste.

The Transonic Blades are your bread and butter. While their current is moving upwards - as physically seen on the blades - your attacks will do wide sweeping strikes that mulch through hordes. Just turn off your brain, mash left click, and keep swinging until there's nothing but nondescript gloop around you.

The upward current doesn't do much armor damage, however. So when a mauler decides your skull needs some remodeling, use the special attack to swap to the downward current. This makes your attacks narrower, but gives them significantly better armor penetration.

You can also hold attack immediately after changing polarity to perform a stronger follow-up strike. It's a little bit slow and awkward to use often, but it's a nice bonus when you have the time.

But even then, the blades are never going to be amazing against armor. But don't worry, because that's where the Chordclaw comes in.

If you tap it once it'll sweep through the horde and either kill everything, or leave them wishing it had. But if you're fighting Crushers, bosses or other big boys, hold the button down to charge up a devastating strike that will give enemies the worst nipple-twister of their life... and also their final one.

The Claw also refreshes your Flensing Protocol buffs, so don't blow your entire load the moment you see a single cultist. Pace yourself and keep those buffs active for as long as possibly.

To complement this melee-heavy playstyle, bring the Blast Pistol. It hits like a monster truck, is surprisingly accurate, and it even applies a debuff that makes the enemy take more damage. Use it to snipe snipers, kneecap trappers, and soften up bosses before you tickle them with the Claw.

For your blitz ability, I'd go with the shield. It blocks all incoming ranged damage, which lets you charge directly into enemy gunlines to either turn them into mince meat, or distract them for long enough that your team can catch up and help you. Just remember: the shield only blocks ranged attacks. A Crusher overhead will still happily introduce your spine to Mr. Floor.

If you'd rather play a more supportive role, swap the shield for the Servo Skull with the Medicae upgrade. It deals good damage, helps complete objectives, and can even revive teammates while you're busy preforming the traditional 'oh god, please don't kill me' dance.

The goal of this build is simple: get stuck into the enemy and never give them time to breathe. Cut through hordes, pick off specials when needed, and use the Claw to eradicate anything too stubborn to die normally.

Your biggest weakness is concentrated ranged fire as you're surprisingly squishy when not fighting. So either deploy the shield, or dodge-slide your way into melee range as soon as you can.

This is a fast, chaotic and very satisfying build to play. So if you're just starting out with the Skitarii, this is a great one to begin with.

Build #2 - Sniping's a Good Job, Mate!

The second build is the complete opposite of the Claw. Instead of rushing into danger, you're mowing down problems before they even get a chance to cause trouble.

Your main weapon is the Galvanic Rifle. Whenever a pack of specials or elites appears, activate your ultimate and start popping heads. The aim-assist will make landing your shots incredibly easy, and the vast majority of enemies will die from a single headshot.

As long as you're landing your shots, you're also basically immune to ranged damage. Which makes you the best problem-solver on the team. The only catch is that you're fairly squishy, so don't get tunnel vision. Mix in a dodge or two while shooting, just to shake off any enemies that might want to slap your booty.

The rifle can also deal with Crushers and Maulers, though it'll take you several shots to bring them down. So whenever possible, save your ammo and engage them in melee. But if everything goes to hell in a handbasket, just start blasting and don't stop until one of you is dead.

Your melee weapon of choice is the Arc Maul. Against hordes, perform two light attacks to 'unlock' the heavy attack chain, and then just spam heavy attacks to give entire hordes a severe case of brain blamage.

Against armored enemies or mixed hordes, activate the special attack to charge up your weapon - and then aim at head height. Most enemies will either die outright or spend the next few seconds doing a little dance while you prepare a follow-up swing.

As an added bonus, the Gunsmith talent will reload your rifle while you're fighting in melee. So by the time you're done administering head trauma, you'll be ready to start sniping again.

For your blitz, take the almighty Servo Skull. It does respectable damage, can complete objectives, and even revive teammates - all without you having to move an inch. It also comes with a flamethrower mode that is currently very underpowered. But once it inevitably gets buffed, it'll be an excellent way to create some breathing room while you snipe.

The goal of this build is fairly obvious: clear out specials and elites before they can make life difficult for your team. If something that can be tagged appears in your sight, make sure it disappears shortly after.

Your biggest weakness is survivability. You're quite squishy, so don't run headfirst into danger or you'll quickly regret it. So position well, and remember - a dead sniper does zero DPS.

So if you hate the fact that your enemies have faces while you don't, this is the build for you. Play it well and your teammates will start complaining that you're making the game boring.

Build #3 - Unlimited Power!

The third build is all about embracing your inner Palpatine. Your melee attacks taze enemies, your gun fires lightning, and your grenades are the very definition of shock and awe. What's not to love?

Unlike the sniper build where the Arc Maul was just a fallback weapon, here it's your main squeeze. Against hordes, perform two light attacks and then chain heavies to do huge sweeping cleaves. Against the big boys, charge up your weapon and aim heavy attacks at their head. Even Crushers can't stand up to that for very long.

That said, often times the smartest strategy is to just not be near the walking refrigerators. This is where the Arc Rifle comes in.

This bad boy hits absurdly hard, has really good accuracy for something so bulky, and it carries enough ammunition that you can be fairly... generous with your aim. It's great for deleting specials, thinning out hordes of Maulers and Ragers, and can even bring down Crushers with a bit of sustained fire.

It's only real weakness is the reload speed which makes glaciers look practically athletic. But honestly, by the time you need to reload everything is probably already dead, so who cares.

And when things really go sideways, you've got the Arc Grenades to save the day. They're slow to detonate, which means they're not the most reliable in fast-moving situations, but when they go off they hit like a truck full of other, smaller trucks. It's so much damage that I don't understand why they have a 'disarm ranged enemies' talent - it's not like any of them will survive it!

Especially since your ultimate - the Voltaic Emitter - lets you disarm ranged enemies in a massive radius if used at two charges... though it's currently a bit buggy. This will give you all the time you need to introduce them to the business end of your mace. But the ultimate gets really nasty at three charges, because it makes all your attacks electrocute enemies. Both versions are incredibly powerful, so save them for situations where the game is really, really trying to kill you.

The best way to think about this build is a jack-of-all-trades. Need to clear a horde? You've got it. Need to bash through armor? You betcha. Need to vaporize an entire room full of elites? Oh yeah!

So if you want a sturdy build that can keep marching forward regardless of what happens, definitely give this one a try. It's powerful, flashy, and comes with your daily recommended dose of lightning!

Build #4 - Hot Stuff

The final build is for anyone that loves big, big booms.

It revolves around the Mark 2 plasma gun - the old one. While I desperately wanted to make the new Mark 3 work - because who doesn't want explosions that cause more explosions - the old model simply hits harder, which makes it far better at sending Crushers and other nasties to the shadow realm.

So whenever you see multiple elites, pop your Combat Doctrine ultimate and start firing. With the aim-assistance you'll land headshot after headshot, thus letting you tear through massive hordes of Crushers, Maulers, and anything else stupid enough to stand in front of you.

For small fries you can simply spam left clicks. But for bosses, Ogryn, or when you really need to make sure someone's dead - use charged shots. Your goal here is simple: unleash absolute hellfire until your plasma gun is just about ready to explode.

At that point, either aggressively vent heat if there's loads of enemies left, or swap to melee and clean out any stragglers while you're still buffed with Power Management. And much like the sniper, while you're chopping heads the Gunsmith talent will reload your plasma gun. So by the time the next big threat appears, you'll be fully stocked and ready to start boomin'.

Since the plasma gun already handles elites, bosses and heavy armor, your melee weapon is purely down to preference. I personally use the Mechanicus Power Sword because it looks cool - and as we all know, looking cool is the most important combat statistic.

Against hordes you'll want to open with a push attack, and then rotate between light and heavy attacks to get wide swings. Against armored enemies, hold your special attack to get a much more powerful strike.

The weapon could definitely use a bit of love from Fatshark as its damage output is on the lower side, but it's still perfectly usable and fits the build nicely.

For your blitz, we're once again going with the Servo Skull. It kills enemies, revives teammates, completes objectives, and just kinda does it all.

The goal of this build is very straightforward: aim for the biggest things in the room, and cut them down to size. Crushers, elites, bosses - it doesn't matter. Just point the plasma gun at them, and they'll go 'poof'. And then, once all the important targets are dead, jump into melee to clean up the stragglers.

So if you want a very straightforward build that lets you casually auto-aim your way through some of the nastiest things Darktide can throw at you, this one's an absolute blast.

Got Any Questions?

And there you have it, four Skitarii builds that have served me well both while leveling and in Auric Maelstrom missions.

If you have any questions, about the guide, the class, or Darktide in general, drop them in the video's comments and I'll do my best to help you out. And if you've cooked up any spicy builds of your own, definitely share them. I'm sure there's plenty of cool synergies I still haven't even touched yet.