This weapon Blocks both Melee and Ranged attacks. Additionally, Block Cost is reduced by 22.5-30%.
Quell 2-5% of Peril on Repeated Weak Spot Hit.
Your Secondary Attack cannot be interrupted and loses 20-50% of Secondary Attack Movement Speed penalties.
-8.5--5.5% Charge Time on Chained Secondary Attack. Stacks 3 times.
TLDR; Deflector + Kinetic Deflection is busted, Flame Staff primary attack is hard-CC, +Toughness is the only thing that matters on curios. Build focused on team support and CC.
Preface:
First of all, this is an INCREDIBLY idealized version of this build. The only thing absolutely necessary to play a strong hoard cleaning support Psyker is the flame staff. Me personally, I have 3 purple toughness curios, a blue deflector sword, and a blue flame staff with focused channeling, and it serves me very well. This is a theoretically perfect build containing all the stats I find most relevant to the hoard-clearing support flame Psyker.
Additionally, I'll be outlining some of the benefits I find in not only the perk/blessing selection, but also sometimes the base functionalities of the weapons themselves and how I think they're best used with this build.
Alright, now components:
1.) Weapons:
Melee: Force Sword (Deflector) → The Force Sword, with no blessings or perks, is maybe the best sword in the game in terms of utility, and top 3 in practical damage. Even without the Deflector perk, the Force Sword's block/push is an invaluable tool that I do not see enough Psykers abusing in high-level games. The what would be a push back on any other weapon is replaced with a special CC move consisting of two parts. The first part is a small stun in a radius around the player and does not generate peril, and the second part is a pretty strong single target push that will knock over most enemies and generates a small amount of peril. The second part is good for temporarily incapacitating an approaching Rager that you can't deal with or something, but the first part is where some truly broken shit comes in. The duration of the stun that the first part provides varies from enemy to enemy, but generally lasts about 1 second and can be used if you have any stamina at all, much like a normal push. But the 360 degree nature of the push combined with its increased range mean that you can effectively lock down an entire area just by spamming the stun. This is especially helpful when defending an ally who is restarting a data interrogator.
The next significantly important feature of the Force Sword is the Deflector perk. The deflector perk allows the Force Sword to block ranged attacks and provides some base block efficiency. This opens up some unique gameplay for the Psyker, allowing them to fulfill 3 totally new roles that it would otherwise be incapable of filling: Hyper-aggressive gap-closer, pseudo-tank/team cover, and most importantly, emergency revive support. Due to the nature of higher level engagements, I've found it often the case that my team is locked down behind cover while what feels like a hundred ranged enemies fire at anything that moves. In a scenario like this, I find that all three of these roles can be incredibly helpful in quickly breaking the stale-mate and moving forward. The Deflector Psyker can come out from cover and block while sliding sideways towards the rangers to safely aggress the enemies, forcing them into melee and allowing your team to approach. The Deflector Psyker can come out from cover and block while slowly approaching, allowing team mates to rally behind them and deal with rages enemies safely (think of it like a slightly worse Ogryn shield with the benefit of being easier to shoot around). Should their teammates act recklessly and rush out only to be instantly gunned down, the Deflector Psyker can move out into direct fire and confidently block while reviving for an incredibly safe pick-up. That last role can work in conjunction with the Force Sword stun. It is incredibly easy to wade through a horde of melee enemies to get to a downed teammate by spamming the stun, and then safely revive them with Deflector block.
NOTE: Deflector perk basically requires you take the Kinetic Deflection talent.
The other perks on this weapon are less relevant. Block efficiency to allow you to Deflect more damage, crit chance because its just free damage, and Exorcist because why not quell some extra peril on the side. Deflector is the only truly broken perk on this weapon, and is, in my eyes, essential for a high level Psyker.
Ranged: Purgatus Force Staff → The Purgatus Force Staff (Or Flame Staff) is an incredibly powerful tool for all around use, but excels in hoard clearing and crowd control. Although I previously found its primary attack to be borderline useless, its actually an incredibly powerful stun, capable of hard-CCing every non-boss enemy in the game, excepting Mutants. I find my self using the primary attack just as often, if not more often, than the secondary attack, just for its ability to completely prevent entire columns of enemies from fighting back while your team cleans up. Its especially useful for saving yourself or teammates from a Trapper or a Pox Hound.
The secondary attack is much stronger than the primary in terms of damage, but slightly weaker in terms of CC. It will still totally stun most weaker enemies, but most Elites and Specialists will no longer be stunned by this move. Therefore, it is best used on either groups of weaker enemies, or as a single-target option on stronger enemies who do not need to be stunned by your primary.
As far as perks go, nothing here is as complicated as Deflector. Increased attack speed on a normal weapon would ordinarily represent a flat % damage increase, but I'm not sure how that interacts with application of Soul Flame. Either way, its an easy pick as a universal damage bonus. Focused Channeling will make it much easier and safer to charge your secondary, as it wont be interrupted by a surprise attack from behind, and will also be invaluable when a horde gets a little too close for comfort. Warp Flurry is also a no-brainer, as it flatly makes your secondary attack come out faster and be thus more accessible when you really need it. The only perk I am unsure of is ranged critical chance. I don't think that critical chance influences the damage of a stack of Soul Flame, which is where most of the Flame Staff's damage comes from. This stat could easily be swapped for a perk of your choosing, tho I would probably switch it to +10-25% damage to Maniacs to better deal with Ragers and Mutants.
2.) Curios:
In my opinion, curios are insanely unbalance right now, especially for Psyker. I find that the only relevant blessing on a curio is +10-20% Toughness and all others are either totally useless or objectively worse in combat, which is where I feel the boost is really needed. +1-3 Stamina can be fun, but ultimately I don't find that I need stamina all that often in combat, especially if you run Kinetic Deflection (blocking increases peril instead of consuming stamina) on Psyker. +1 Wound(s) seem like planning for failure. I would much rather have measures that prevent me from going down in the first place than measures that allow me to go down more often. And +10-25% Health seems just, totally pointless. I can maybe see a use for it if you want extra health to account for toughness bleed-through, but frankly I think that's a bit of a reach. Toughness regenerates a LOT. When you get +10-20% toughness, you're not really getting +10-20% toughness. You're getting +10-20% toughness multiplied by the amount of times that toughness is regenerated during a match. The same reasoning stands for the +2-5% Toughness perk. If you've got 3 curios with +25% toughness each, then your total toughness as a Psyker would be 175. But If you take 75 damage and regenerate that toughness (which you will, potentially within a minute) then the curios have actually provided you with 150 bonus toughness over the match.
Following from that we are optimizing toughness for survivability, +5-30% Toughness Damage Reduction is an ABSOLUTELY GOD-TIER perk. Likely the single most impactful stat in the entire game because of its effect on Effective Health Points. The formula for EHP, or in our case ETP, is T x ( 1 / ( 1 - DR )) where T is total toughness and DR is your percent damage reduction represented as a decimal (45% damage reduction → DR = 0.45). Assuming the +X% Toughness Damage Reduction stat applies additive, your total DR would be +15-90%. Applying the formula to these numbers, you ETP could range from ~1.17x to ~10x your total toughness. This means that, assuming perfect stats on all 3 curios (90% toughness DR and +75% toughness), your Psyker's ETP would be 1750. This number is so incredibly stupid I can only assume that the buff is not additive but multiplicative with itself, so to find total DR from all three curios the formula is A x (1+B) x (1+C), where A, B, and C are the values for each curio's toughness DR represented as a decimal. If the calculation is additive, the new range DR is anywhere from +5.5-50%. These numbers are still pretty strong, but result in a much less appalling range of toughness multiplication, from 1.05x to 2x. With this in mind, the new max theoretical ETP would be 350, which is much more reasonable and still more than good enough to be a top pick.
Finally, +8-10% Block Efficiency is just to boost Deflector more. I'm actually unsure if this interacts properly with Kinetic Deflection, but I'm assuming it does. If not, switch it out for +3-4% Combat Ability Regeneration.
3.) Talents:
Lvl 5 Talent → This is the most unfortunate pick of the build, because I really wish that Warp Absorption proc'd on Soulblaze kill. But because it does not, our choices are between Essence Harvest and Quietude. Both are valid options, as you'll be getting more than enough Warp Charges mid-combat to reliably keep Essence Harvest applied. However, I prefer Quietude due to its non-reliance on being mid-combat. While its true I want toughness the most while mid-combat, during an engagement there are plenty of scenarios that I'd rather retreat behind cover for a moment and need to regenerate toughness. I find the utility of being more self reliant better than the effortlessness of Essence Harvest.
Lvl 10 Talent → Wrack And Ruin is bad. Don't use it. I know it seems like it would fit because its a Soul Flame attack and this is a Soul Flame Build, but not only is the amount of Soul Flame it applies pitiful, but its activation requirement for it to be really useful is far too much effort. For a while I ran Psykinetic's Wrath over Inner Tranquility, but frankly, I just didn't really notice the bonus damage. Even at max peril, I didn't feel 15% stronger. I do, however, always notice and appreciate the lowered peril cost of things thanks to Inner Tranquility. You'll basically always be at max Warp Charges, so the talent functionally reads, “+24% Warp Resistance”. I find that the damage I can output before I need to quell more than makes up for any damage I lose from not taking Psykinetic's Wrath, plus I don't need to be in the vulnerable position of keeping my peril high to get the full benefit.
Lvl 15 Talent → Psykinetic's Aura seems broken. In my testing, I've noticed absolutely no benefit from killing Elites. If it wasn't it might be worth running, maybe, but I'd have to test to be sure. I've heard people like taking Cerebral Lacerations to better deal with Monstrosities, but… eeehhh. In my experience Monstrosities aren't really that big of a threat most of the time, and we never really need the extra damage. Psychic Communion helps us keep up our Warp Charges consistently, providing a damage buff as well as our warp resistance. I find this one to be an easy pick.
Lvl 20 Talent → Kinetic Deflection is absolutely essential if you are running a Force Sword with Deflection, turning it from a sort of good blessing to the best one in the game. However, if you're not using a Deflection Sword, the other two are more than viable. My favorite Darktide youtuber (Fimbly Jim) uses Mind in Motion, swearing by the utility of the mobility while quelling, but frankly I find it a kind of unnecessary perk. Your walk speed is almost as good while quelling with a staff/sword, and with a sword you can dodge at the same time which is actually faster and safer. Kinetic Shield would be my alternative recommendation.
Lvl 25 Talent → Kinetic Overload is just as bad as Wrack and Ruin, maybe worse. Applying 4 stacks of Soulblaze to one enemy is borderline useless. Warp battery isn't terrible. Its not bad to have 6% more damage and 12% more warp resist at all. But I find Kinetic Flayer to be more useful. With the speed that the Flame Staff hits, you'll be procing the extra Brain Burst off cooldown, which not only provides some free damage, but also is a free Warp Charge. Overall I find this to be the best talent.
Lvl 30 Talent. → Just use Ascending Blaze. 10% chance to generate a Warp Charge on Soulblaze kill from any source in so incredibly good for quickly gaining and maintaining Warp Charges, and the rage that it applies Soulblaze at is frankly shocking every time I use it. However, if you feel confident enough in your Warp Charge generation without this, it might be interesting to take Quicken instead. This would allow you to play much more recklessly with your peril and be able to emergency cleanse much more often. Might be interesting. But mostly just use Ascending Blaze. Its really good.
And that's it! Remember, this Psyker is a support class. Your job is primarily to keep trash mobs off your teammates' backs, deal with hordes, provide cover via Deflection, and pick-up your teammates as they fall.
Good Luck!
