Zealot Meta (No Stealth) [UnL Update]
Build for Darktide

Stealth Build:

https://darktide.gameslantern.com/builds/9a7a817d-6ef9-49b6-9e1e-c6f1d03b3fec/zealot-meta-stealth

Full Tank:

https://darktide.gameslantern.com/builds/9c885a48-4473-4240-b0c5-2f4c846a3b5f/full-tank-no-keystone-max-dr

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Unlocked and Loaded (Full Guide Update)

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1. Achievement Unlocked:  I have reached the max character count allowed for a guide on this website lol

    

2. The old version using Inexorable Judgement is still very good, but after the stack nerf and recent balance changes, focusing crits to combo Enduring Faith with damage maximization is better, if you want to see the old build, I have a picture of it here:  https://i.imgur.com/sYjoqhy.png

    

3. If you really want you can remove Second Wind or Good Balance to get the extra 10% crit chance from Righteous Warrior, but personally I don't think its worth it. Your crit chance during active combat is already going to be high enough to ensure every other attack is a crit. Defensive talents are much more valuable. You could also switch to Blades of Faith, which combos well with it, but rescuing teammates can be very difficult without the CC from Stunstorm or Immolation Grenades, (The new train mission is a great example, you're not getting teammates back at the last respawn zone without CC grenades, and that means you're not beating the mission):  https://i.imgur.com/3wpNxc3.png
    

4. Inspiring Barrage on the Agripinaa and Vraks Braced Autogun is LEGENDARY. Throw the Autopistol in the trash, and put the Zarona on the shelf. If you have an anti-armor melee weapon, its the best gun you can pick. (Zarona still wins if you don't)  If you feel comfortable enough generating Toughness solely through class abilities, the Vraks Infantry Autogun, Agripinaa Infantry Autogun, Kantrael Mk IIb Lasgun, Accatran Mk IX Shotgun, Accatran Recon Lasguns, and [BREAKING NEWS: ***THE BOLTGUN***] are also all very strong options.

    

5. The Flamer with the Everlasting Flames blessing is extremely strong when combo'd with Blades of Faith, Fury of the Faithful, and Blazing Piety. If you understand the movement tech and i-frames from FotF, and know how to slide and spot dodge, you can obliterate everything in your path without being touched, even a Daemonhost. On the other hand, Penetrating Flames currently only stacks to 20% rending, resulting in outright inferior damage in all scenarios compared to Blaze Away against every single enemy except Crushers (which you should not be flaming anyway) so don't waste a blessing slot on it.

    

6. Boltgun is just buffed in every conceivable way, it doesn't suck anymore, idk what else to say. Give yourself some drugs and go crown a Daemonhost or something. (The Boltpistol is also pretty decent now too)

    

7. I have a full tier list on every Zealot weapon available for viewing in my Full Tank guide, or this pastebin:
   https://pastebin.com/Vh5v0imP    (Updated for Unlocked and Loaded, and yes, Dueling Sword is S+)

    

8. I've added a section on Curio perks at the bottom of the guide if you are looking for detailed info on them.

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Quick reference for the pointless weapon renaming:

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Agripinna Mk I Infantry Autogun - Unchanged  (The high powered one that staggers)
Columnus Mk V Infantry Autogun --> Vraks Mk V Infantry Autogun  (The one that fires very fast)

Graia Mk VIII Infantry Autogun --> Columnus Mk VIII Infantry Autogun (The pointless one)

Agripinnaa Mk Vk VIII Braced - Unchanged  (The high powered one with good accuracy that staggers)

Columnus Mk II Braced --> Vraks Mk II Braced  (The high capacity one with bad accuracy)

Graia Mk IV Braced - Unchanged  (The one that fires fast if you brace)

Kantrael MG IV Lasgun --> Kantrael Mk IIb Lasgun  (The very fast firing one you should use Infernus with)

Kantrael MG Ia Lasgun --> Kantrael Mk VII Lasgun  (The fast firing one you should bless for headshot crits)

Kantrael MG XII Lasgun --> Kantrael Mk IX Lasgun  (The slow firing one that you shouldn't use on Zealot)

Kantrael Mk IX Combat Shotgun --> Accatran Mk IX  (High damage, incendiary special ammo)

Lawbringer Mk VI Combat Shotgun --> Zarona Mk VI  (Mid damage, close range stagger special ammo)

Agripinaa Mk VII Combat Shotgun --> Unchanged  (Low damage, precise, long range slug special ammo)

Ironhelm "Hacker" Mk IV Assault Shotgun --> Crucis Mk XI Double-Barrel  (Doom Super Shotgun)

Vraks Mk III Headhunter --> Columnus Mk III Vigilant  (The 3-round burst one you should bless with Headhunter/DA)

Agripinaa IX Headhunter --> Agripinaa Mk IX Vigilant  (The 2-round burst one you should bless with Headhunter/DA)

Vraks Mk VII Headhunter --> Graia Mk VII Vigilant  (The single shot one that sucks regardless of blessings)

Accatran Mk VIIa Recon Lasgun --> Accatran Mk XIV  (The slowest firing one with the highest per shot damage, also has cleave)

Accatran Mk II Recon Lasgun --> Accatran Mk VIc  (The mid-damage, mid-fire rate one)

Accatran Mk VId Recon Lasgun --> Accatran Mk XII  (The hyper fast firing one for tagging enemies with Infernus)

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Overview

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If I were to suggest only a single build - for any class - to nominate as the absolute strongest, most well-rounded, highest skill ceiling playstyle with the greatest potential to carry and clutch the hardest missions this game could ever possibly create, it would be this build. Except for the last part.

There is one ability in this game that is in a class of its own, and it is of course, also exclusive to Zealot.

That ability is Shroudfield. In its current state and with the right setup, Shroudfield can make you truly unkillable.

Breaking aggro for ̶6̶  5 seconds every 15-20 seconds on an already very resilient and mobile class is simply broken.

No other build in the game can compete with this, so I have decided to write two separate build guides concerning Darktide's highest meta potential. One that ignores Shroudfield (this guide), and one that embraces it.

This guide will focus on creating the one build that ascends to the top of the meta purely via a player's own skill.

We create the strongest build in the game that does not rely on gimmicks, crutches, or overtuned abilities.

Just the raw potential to bring out a level of performance in a player that no other build in this game can allow.

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Playstyle and Key Features

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Key Talents:     Fury of the Faithful | Immolation Grenade |  Blazing Piety | Benediction Aura

Alternative:   "My teammates should rescue themselves, I need max damage"

/////////////////////////////////   https://i.imgur.com/3wpNxc3.png

1.    DESELECT   Toughness Boost   -->   Immolation Grenade
2.      SELECT      Blades of Faith
3.      SELECT      Blood Redemption   and   Righteous Warrior

The core playstyle of this build is typical of any Zealot. You do anything and everything, zipping all around the area of engagement to go wherever you are needed, charging into battle with Fury of the Faithful, intercepting priority targets, and supporting your squad as a mobile human blender. We focus on maximizing the benefits we receive from the talent tree, always taking the most important defensive options, but not sacrificing offensive potential thanks to the basis of our build revolving around critical hits.

You sport the most important features of Zealot but also possess everything you need to handle any situation in the game all by yourself should your teammates meet with an untimely end: 

::

You:  Stun immunity, death resist, damage reduction, speed and mobility, burst damage, anti-armor, anti-horde, anti-boss, on-demand Toughness regen, critmaxxed damage, crowd control grenade, high clutch potential

::

Your Enemies:  Dead

//

Strengths:

With the exception of unique abilities locked to other classes and archetypes, you do everything there is to do, and you do it exceptionally well. So well that you begin to realize the best thing your team is doing for you is simply existing, reducing the number of enemies that target you. But use your powers for good. Protect your team, save them from mishaps, no need to be selfish when you already have it all.

//

Weaknesses:

Trapper nets, Chaos Spawn grab attack, exploding barrels, hunting grounds modifer, out of memory crashes

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Weapons

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Melee:

• Maccabian Dueling Sword | Uncanny Strike and Riposte | +Flak, +Maniacs or +Crit Chance or +Carapace

or

• Catachan Combat Blade | Mercy Killer and Flesh Tearer /or/ Uncanny Strike and Riposte | +Unyielding, +Crit Chance

or

• Cadia Assault Chainsword | Shred and Bloodletter | +Flak, +Crit Chance or +Unyielding

or

• Turtolsky Heavy Sword | Headtaker and Deathblow or Rampage | +Flak, +Maniacs

Ranged:

• Agripinnaa Mk VIII Braced Autogun | Inspiring Barrage/Fire Frenzy and Speedload/Deathspitter | +Flak, +Maniacs or +Unyielding (survivability)
  or
• Infantry Autogun/Recon Lasgun | Dumdum and Fire Frenzy/Infernus | +Flak, +Unyielding or +Maniacs (general DPS)

or

• Zarona Mk IIa Quickdraw Stub Revolver | Hand-Cannon and Surgical | +Unyielding, +Crit Chance (anti-armor)

or

• Artemia Mk III Purgation Flamer (w/ Blades of Faith) | Blaze Away and Everlasting Flame | +Unyielding, +Maniacs or +Crit Chance (anti-everything)

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Melee Option 1:  Dueling Sword

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If you have used this weapon on Psyker, you know how good it is already. But that was on Psyker. Now its on the best class in the game that can make it do twice as much damage as before thanks to critmaxxing.

This weapon honestly should not have been given to Zealot, or at least not with the same blessings. Uncanny Strike and Riposte combined with Zealot's already innately high crit chance and crit damage boost from Duelist results in this weapon basically annihilating any enemy it comes in contact with regardless of armor category. Crushers and Maulers will literally die in 3 seconds if you have buffs active.

In addition to the absurd DPS, it has an incredible mobility profile, almost as good as the Combat Blade. Not only can it delete elites in mere seconds, it can also stunlock them indefinitely with the lightning fast special attack stab. Even Crushers will be thrown backwards from it, nothing can touch you, it is absolutely ridiculous how strong this weapon is. If you want to feel invincible and are bored of the knife, the Dueling Sword is your new best friend.

Note: Thrust and Precognition might seem appealing but you will actually kill things faster by just fishing for crits on regular fast heavy attacks. Uncanny Strike outperforms both of these blessings if you simply use your second blessing slot to raise your crit chance high enough to ensure every other one of those fast attacks is a crit. Maintaining a fast attack speed and high crit chance massively benefits the rest of your kit too, not just your melee weapon, so even if the damage were comparable, it would still be a no-brainer on which to pick.

On a related note, the permanent 20% crit chance at all times from Riposte is WAY better than the unreliable stacking 5% from Shred that resets if you miss a swing. Also...

Keep in mind that if you have Blades of Faith, Uncanny Strike and your current Crit Chance % applies to them!!

Note 2: For some absurd reason this weapon can also kind of speed boost, not nearly as fast as the knife, but apparently this weapon is allowed to be absolutely busted in every single way. I really don't know what the hell they were thinking giving this thing to other classes. I personally think this weapon on Zealot is far stronger than the Combat Blade. The way you can dodge dance around everything while still stabbing enemies precisely in their weak points from ridiculously safe distances, and dish out insane amounts of damage against every single enemy type, using this thing really does just feel like cheating.

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Headshot Breakpoints:   (without Duelist - all unlisted units are 1-shot on non-crit headshots, except Dreg Gunners, which need a crit)

% Unarmored:

Does not change any breakpoints.

% Flak:

1-Shot: Scab Shotgunner, Scab Gunner

2-Shot: Scab Rager

% Maniac:

1-Shot: Mutant (w/ crit)

2-Shot: Dreg Rager

% Unyielding:

3-Shot: Reaper (has like 1hp left after 3, a crit or any additional dmg will kill it in 2)

4-Shot: Bulwark

% Carapace:
4-Shot: Mauler

5-Shot: Crusher

Based on these results, I would recommend taking +25% Flak and +25% Unyielding as your perks. Duelist will almost always be up while fighting Ragers and Mutants so you don't need +Maniac to reach those breakpoints. You are better served by +Unyielding for Monstrosity DPS.

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Melee Option 2:  Combat Blade

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If you know how to properly use this weapon, it will outperform anything else simply due to the broken mobility and single-target damage. The heavy attack speed boost allows you to outrun any enemy in the game, even the Daemonhost. It synergizes extremely well with a crit-bleed build, Mercy Killer and Flesh Tearer is the ideal combo.

When not spec'd into bleed, Riposte and Uncanny Strike are your best in slot blessings, allowing you to actually deal with armored enemies in a surprisingly quick manner. The knife's special stagger attack can chain straight into a heavy attack with no windup, abuse this to maximize your heavy attack speed. You will be the fastest character in the game, but your horde clear won't be amazing. Getting trapped in a corner surrounded by enemies can be a death sentence, so be aware of your positioning at all times. For more info on the Combat Blade, check the Stealth guide.

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Melee Option 3:  Chainsword

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After chain weapons were buffed, the Chainsword really hit a new level of power that put it in equal standing with the Heavy Sword for general purpose combat. Its key difference is it can also do the main thing the Heavy Sword can't - dish out high DPS to Carapace and Monstrosities thanks to the special rev attack.

Both variants are superb all-purpose weapons. They have fantastic attack speed, mobility, and horde deletion capabilities, while also being very effective against both Elites and Monstrosities. Shred and Bloodletter are the only blessings you want. Bloodletter throws 14 bleed stacks on any enemy you tag with the rev attack, you don't even need to complete the animation. These bleed stacks allow you to pseudo one-shot the enemies that cannot be killed with a rev attack alone. A great example of this is with Mutants, as one charges you, prepare a rev, dodge when it is in range, then complete the rev attack. It won't be enough to kill it at first, but the bleed stacks will finish it off, meaning you can immediately divert your attention to something else as if it was already dead.

With some fancy footwork, you can also deal very respectable damage to Monstrosities with the rev attack. Pay attention to the attack timings of the monster. You need to learn to initiate your rev attack at the correct moment that will allow you to complete it with enough time to still dodge away from an incoming attack. These windows are quite narrow and will take some practice before you learn them. Always aim for the weak points.

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Melee Option 4:  Heavy Sword

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Previously, the Heavy Sword was my primary recommendation for this build, and it is still a very strong contender. Its only shortcomings are its inability to quickly take down Carapace and Monstrosities, necessitating that your ranged weapon be able to perform this function - pairing it with the Zarona Revolver is a particularly strong option.

The Heavy Sword decimates unarmored twice as fast as other weapons and takes down Flak at nearly the same speed (despite the Heavy Sword's poor Flak damage). With a Duelist-boosted crit, Heavy attacks can one-shot every non-Ogryn elite/special in the game, including Mutants and Maulers. Additionally, the attack patterns are very safe when spamming against large groups of enemies attempting to overwhelm you.

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Q: What about Carapace?
A: Fighting a pack of Crushers solo with the Heavy Sword is admittedly rough now. If you don't have the Zarona or Bolter, I hope you know how to dodge.

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Ranged Option 1:  Agripinaa Mk VIII Braced Autogun

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Where do I start with this thing? Its so damn good, it is almost the perfect Zealot gun.

Accurate hip fire, high damage, guaranteed stagger on every shot, deceptively long range, good ammo reserves, great enemy modifiers, good Monstrosity damage, and the icing on the cake;  two of the best blessings you could ever ask for.

The only thing this gun can't do is kill Crushers. That's it. That's its only caveat.

Bring a melee weapon that can do that and now you are basically unstoppable because here's the rundown:

1. Obliterate everything in your path with insane burst damage
2. Take zero damage while doing it because you literally shoot Toughness
3. Anything you cant completely kill yet gets staggered out of whatever they are doing
4. Zero downtime on any of the above 3 points because reloads are lightning fast

The low mobility does take some getting used to, but it is not as unforgiving as it seems. The dodge distance is mediocre but not abysmal; you have +2/-5 dodges. The first 4 of the 7 dodges you can reliably spot dodge anything even if you don't actually move anywhere. Try to always reset your dodge count after the 4th dodge and you should generally be alright.

Perks:

+Flak, +Unyielding or +Maniacs

Blessings:

Inspiring Barrage or Fire Frenzy

and

Speedload or Deathspitter

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Q: Speedload??

A: Speedload is a solid choice for both damage and survivability. The increased reload speed on kill mostly compensates for the slightly lower killing power without a damage blessing; though each shot is less powerful, your DPS is technically about the same. Additionally, since reloads are faster, you have less downtime between moments where you can stagger or kill enemies, meaning you are also safer as well. Fire Frenzy/Deathspitter are still viable alternatives if you prefer raw burst damage or if you want to be more conservative with your ammo.

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Q: Between Inspiring Barrage and a damage blessing, which one is the better pick?

A: More damage is great, and I won't pretend like I don't use the FF+DS combo myself sometimes, but for the average player personally I think sacrificing defense for meager gains in offense is a trap in this game. Your goal is to gain as much survivability as possible. Having 10x the average amount of Toughness regained throughout the entire match than you normally would is a lot better than dealing ~15-20% more damage with your ranged weapon.

The breathing room Inspiring Barrage provides while out in the open is unmatched by any other blessing in the game. It effectively removes non-elite shooters as a threat and can save your life in situations that would normally be guaranteed death. The blessing is in fact so impactful, it should be considered the primary reason for ever choosing a Braced Autogun over the still extremely OP Zarona Revolver.

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Ranged Option 2:  Agripinaa Mk I Infantry Autogun / Vraks Mk V Infantry Autogun

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The Agripinna Mk I and  ̶C̶o̶l̶u̶m̶n̶u̶s̶ Vraks Mk V Infantry Autoguns are among the best ranged weapons in the game. They deal godly DPS with power blessings like Dumdum and Fire Frenzy, and with ADS, they are much more accurate than the Braced Autoguns. There is a legitimate argument to be made that the Agripinna IAG is a better pick than it's Braced counterpart. Switching between a Braced Autogun and Infantry Autogun essentially just swaps some of the qualities of your weapon around in an even trade off.

Compared to Braced Autoguns, Infantry Autoguns deal more damage on average, with better accuracy and range. They also give you 3 more dodges (but 10% less distance). However, Braced Autoguns have significantly higher stagger potential and access to Inspiring Barrage, allowing you to play very dangerously with little risk. Taking a Braced Autogun allows you to dish out great DPS while face tanking everything you encounter.

Perks:

+Flak, +Unyielding or +Maniacs

Blessings:

Dumdum

and

Fire Frenzy / Raking Fire / Deathspitter / Speedload

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Q: What damage blessings do I want on my Autoguns??

A: Lets take a look at exactly what each one does and what that means for you:

Autogun Blessing Cheat Sheet

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Sustained Fire:     +20% Damage on Second, Third, and Fourth shots in a Salvo.  "Salvo" refers to continuous, uninterrupted firing.

Punishing Salvo:  +50% Weakspot Damage on Second Third, and Fourth shots in a Salvo.  Salvos reset with recoil, about 0.5 seconds.

Raking Fire:          +40% Damage when shooting enemies in the back.  "In the back" means an angle more than 90 degrees from the front.

Dumdum:              +6% Damage for 2 seconds on Repeated Hit. Stacks 5 times.  Damage gradually decreases with distance.

Fire Frenzy:          +10% Damage for 3.5 seconds after a kill within 12.5 meters. Stacks 5 times.  Damage gradually decreases with distance.

Deathspitter:       +6.5% Strength for 3.5 seconds after a kill within 12.5 meters. Stacks 5 times.  (Strength was previously called Power)

Strength increases Damage, Impact, and Cleave by the specified amount. It applies to everything you do, and is not affected by distance.

The first thing you should note from this is that if you ever choose Sustained Fire, you should also take Punishing Salvo too, because having either of these blessings necessitates that you only fire your weapon in short bursts. You might as well just turn your weapon into the Halo battle rifle and go for the damage boosted weak point burst shots as often as possible...unfortunately, using your weapon this way with these blessings is not any more effective than simply stacking the raw damage bonuses from the other blessings and spraying full auto. As is the case with anything precision-related in this game, its effectiveness will scale down as more pressure is placed on you, limiting its appeal.

Raking Fire is an overlooked blessing that deals a whopping 40% flat damage any time you shoot something from an angle greater than 90 degrees from its front. So shooting an enemy from the side also counts as long as you are closer to the back half of their side than the front.

Dumdum and Fire Frenzy provide what is called "close damage", which just means that the damage bonus from the blessings scales with how far away the enemy is from you. Even at max stacks, if the enemy you shoot is a mile away you will barely get any bonus damage against it.

Finally, Deathspitter is a flat Strength (prev. Power) increase, which just means an increase to your whole character's Damage, Impact, and Cleave all at once while the stacks are active. So it is not just a buff to the weapon, it is a global power boost, meaning it affects other attacks and abilities. It also has no distance scaling mechanic like Dumdum and Fire Frenzy.

Takeaway:

Ironically, the best way to use an Infantry Autogun is just like a Braced Autogun, up close and personal in order to get the max damage bonuses from Dumdum and Fire Frenzy, or to flank for Raking Fire. When you are on the back lines picking off foes from afar, the blessings aren't actually triggering because of the distance restrictions.

Dumdum reaches max stacks almost instantly and should always be your first choice on an Infantry Autogun, Fire Frenzy provides the largest damage increase, but relies on stacks and distance. Raking Fire and Deathspitter are both viable alternatives depending on how you play, or if you just don't have access to one or the other. On a Braced Autogun, Fire Frenzy is also your best choice for damage, and with Deathspitter as the only alternative, you might be better served using the other slot for a utility blessing like Speedload or Inspiring Barrage instead.

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Q: What about the other two Braced Autoguns?

A: The Vraks Mk II (prev. Columnus) is similar to the Agripinna but has a few key differences that make it less desirable overall. It does come with a larger clip size, and it deals only slightly less damage, but it is significantly less accurate at all ranges. The Agripinna can reliably snipe far away enemies like a regular Autogun, making it a true all-range weapon. The Vraks' reduced accuracy unfortunately limits its effectiveness to close range only, and while it does stagger, it is not as consistent as the Agripinna, shooting approaching enemies is not guaranteed to stop their attacks.

The Graia is still the black sheep of the bunch, it has the unique property of firing more rapidly when you brace it, but the accuracy and movement speed trade-off for doing so hardly makes it worthwhile. Like the Infantry Autogun variant, there really isn't much point to ever using the Graia, it's kind of just worse in every way since it has the same drawbacks the Vraks does in comparison to the Agripinna, but with even lower damage.

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Q: Lasguns?

A: They are all pretty well rounded, including the Laspistols. Though they lack the raw burst damage potential of the Autoguns, they still offer considerable DPS, albeit with a focus on precision and headshots. Naturally, this means extracting their full potential requires careful aim and reflexes. Your ability to land accurate shots rapidly scales down with the amount of chaos unfolding around you. This is the inherent downside of precision weapons in this game (and why the  ̶H̶e̶a̶d̶h̶u̶n̶t̶e̶r̶s̶ Vigilants are so terrible), the Autoguns shine on Zealot because their full damage potential can be realized simply through hip fire and haphazard body shots. Though they are eclipsed by the Autoguns, if you want to take a Las weapon, you will be fine as long as you have good aim and the right blessings.

=============

Q: Zarona Revolver?

A: Still OP but its no longer in a class of its own thanks to the blessing redistributions of Unlocked and Loaded. It is however - totally and utterly broken if you really know how to play this game, as in dodge dancing around the map without switching to melee to block. Veteran and Zealot can literally grief a match if they are good enough with this weapon, denying all fun to anyone else as they will kill anything and everything all by themselves before anyone else has a chance.

Don't let that stop you from using it though, that skillset does not come free.

The Braced Autoguns remain my primary recommendation simply due to how impactful Inspiring Barrage is.

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Why this combination of weapons and talents?

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There are several key things you want to remember to always have checked off when you start a mission:

1. The ability to stagger specials and elites out of attacks that you cant avoid

2. Close range burst damage to quickly remove packs of elites and specials

3. Some way of generating Toughness on-demand not exclusively tied to coherency or melee kills

4. Reasonably decent mobility

Additionally, if you intend to solo carry:

5. Anti-armor capabilities

6. Anti-boss capabilities

And finally, if you care about saving your teammates when they inevitably die:

7. A crowd control button

You don't need all of these things to win, but the more you have the safer your run is going to be. Eliminating your dependency on your teammates' performance not only helps you become a better player, but also safeguards the match when you are the only one left alive. The talents and weapons I recommend in this guide are ideal for the "I do everything" style of play, its why I call these guides "meta", because there really isn't any way to meaningfully optimize the class any further beyond these recommendations.

Q: What does "meta" even mean?

You can play around with different weapons and blessings or weird alt builds like my Full Tank setup, but at the end of the day, there is a core concept that should be adhered to in your style of play if you are actually trying to reach peak performance. That is what is detailed in this guide, the idea or concept of how to play "meta". Not the exact talent nodes, weapon blessings, none of that, its about understanding that certain playstyles facilitate better results on average when individual skill and decision making are removed from the equation.

As an example of what I'm trying to convey:

You may be terrible with this build, but do great every time you pick Martyrdom. Naturally you think this build is dumb and stick to Martyrdom because that's what keeps you alive. You win 90% of your games with your reliable Martyrdom loadout. John Darktide can use your same Martyrdom loadout and also win 90% of his games, both of you only losing in scenarios that were effectively impossible to survive with the tools you had access to. But John Darktide is actually much better than you at the game, and if he been playing this way instead, he could have won those 10% too, even though it would have been an almost certain loss for you. That's what "meta" means. It's what is guaranteed to give you the absolute best results in an ideal scenario where you are the perfect player. Not your actual scenario that is unique to you.

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The remainder of this text will be information that is mostly shared with my Zealot Meta (Stealth) guide.

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Dealing with Monstrosities Solo

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First, the obvious:

Want to kill monsters? Bring the Thunder Hammer. It is actually usable in normal melee combat now.

You can usually get by without a sword or axe thanks to the sheer power and utility of your ranged weapon.

For all other weapons:

Your strategy against a monster while alone is to first decide if you can kill it in a reasonable amount of time, before more enemies start to appear and overwhelm you, or before you run out of ammo. Sometimes your best course of action is to GTFO and make a mad dash to your teammates for a rescue. You are fast, you are evasive, you are using one of the best builds in the game to potentially survive this scenario, do not give up or panic. Think about where you are on the map, and where you can go that might give you an advantage. Remember that moving forward means more ambient enemies on the map will aggro you, take this into consideration when deciding to reposition.

A Plague Ogryn and Nurgle Beast are annoying, they cause area denial and place pressure on you, but you are faster than they are, and you will usually be able to prioritize more immediate threats if you are smart about how you position yourself and how you traverse the map. One of your best strategies is to lead enemies towards a location where there is a ledge you can vault over. Lure them close then jump and run like hell. They have to path all the way back around the way they came, giving you precious time to deal with other enemies, look for resources, or make a mad dash towards the respawn zone to save your team.

Regarding the Chaos Spawn:

The Chaos Spawn is a far more perilous enemy to fight as the last player standing. The deadliest aspect of the Spawn is not the Spawn itself, but rather the immense pressure it places on you that allows other enemies to have their way with you. It is extremely fast, and often right in your face. Disablers completely ignore its collision. Mutants, dogs, and trapper nets will magically appear in front of you through the Spawn with very little warning, and often there is nothing you can do to avoid it.

Additionally, its grab attack is very hard to dodge, even with a slide there is a good chance you will be grabbed anyway. Getting grabbed of course means you gain corruption, the Spawn heals, and enemies that were chasing you now have fully caught up to you when it releases you. A Chaos Spawn's grab will be your #1 cause of death while fighting monsters solo.

Choosing to Run instead of Fighting a Monstrosity:

Depending on how many other enemies are actively targeting you while you fight a monster, and your current health/ammo situation, it might be a better idea to try to rescue your teammates rather than facing a healthy monster alone. Remember that even if the map is clear now, at any moment the game could send 10 specials at you, and the right combination of them and a bit of bad luck will easily end your run. If you decide to run, use everything you can to gain speed and simultaneously slow your pursuers down. Explode barrels, side dodge off ledges, utilize vertical drops to make enemies turn around, use your ult to charge towards ambient enemies in front of you to create distance, etc. Make sure your highest mobility weapon is equipped while on the run.

Sometimes you will reach a rescue zone and it will simply be impossible to get someone up before the monster and its buddies catch you. Even with a stun grenade on the other enemies, if the monster knocks you out of the revive animation, the entire rescue is a bust. If you stand there and keep trying, you will fail, and you will die. But DO NOT GIVE UP, there are scenarios where you can continue to just loop around and try again or run like crazy and try to book it to the next respawn zone instead, assuming there isn't some kind of event in the way stopping you from proceeding. Your teammates will be moved there when you have gone too far to save them in the last zone.

If you can reach a checkpoint door or elevator, and make it inside before an enemy also enters, you can hit the button immediately and you have just bought yourself a ton of time. It takes a good while for enemies to make their way back to you after you cross a checkpoint zone, including monsters. The precious time this buys you can save the mission if you can make it to the next respawn zone, stun everything there, and pick up your team. Make sure you have grenades and be ready to fight an entire map's worth of enemies with your team within the next few seconds. This is a Hail Mary maneuver, don't feel bad if you can't pull it off, sometimes it just isn't possible.

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Alternate Weapons

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Munitorum Mk III/Agni Mk Ia Shock Maul | High Voltage and Skullcrusher or Opportunist | +Flak, +Maniacs or +Crit Chance

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The shock mauls are a welcome addition to Zealot's melee weapon arsenal, offering a balanced mix between crowd control and single target damage. While it won't clear hordes of enemies as quickly as the swords, its special attack is extremely useful for not only damaging more problematic enemies like Maulers and Crushers, but also staggering them out of their animation cycles, providing a very safe and reliable option for dealing with armor if your ranged weapon does not have that capability.

Orestes Mk XII Assault Chainaxe | Thunderous and Bloodletter | +Flak, +Crit Chance or +Maniacs

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Unlike the Chainsword, the Chainaxe has some notable shortcomings that limit its effectiveness. It has poor mobility and horde clear, low attack speed and stagger potential - but it does do one thing better than other melee weapons, and that is absolutely nuking armored enemies fast and efficiently. This can be attributed to the Thunderous blessing, which stacks up to a maximum of 40% rending. Unlike other weapons that have this blessing, the Chainaxe can immediately reach max stacks of Thunderous just by tagging an enemy with the rev attack. Both the ticks from the rev attack and bleed ticks from Bloodletter count as individual hits. Thanks to this interaction, even a level 2 Thunderous blessing will quickly jump to max stacks on any enemy you tag with the rev, regardless of whether or not you complete the attack animation. Combined with the weapon's high base damage, and 16 stacks of bleed from Bloodletter, anything you hit with this is going to die very quickly.

Still, you are giving up a lot to have this unique property, and are likely better served by the Chainsword, which is only moderately less effective against armor, but far superior in all other categories.

Catachan "Devil's Claw" Swords | Shred and Rampage or Savage Sweep/Wrath | +Flak, +Crit Chance or +Maniacs

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The Catachan Swords are essentially the younger siblings of the Turtolsky Heavy Swords. Their single-target damage, especially with a crit, is almost as strong as the Heavy Sword. They have excellent mobility, and incredible crowd-control. When buffs are at max, horde clear efficiency is off the charts.

The parry is EXCELLENT and ideally you should use it as much as possible, but it is dangerous and distracting to be overly reliant on it in clutch scenarios so I would really suggest using it with an anti-armor/boss ranged weapon. This is a great weapon for a crit-fishing Zealot build, but its armor penetration and Unyielding damage are lacking compared to other options. Even with constant crits and parries, packs of Maulers and Crushers will take time to down, as well as Monstrosities.

Rashad Mk III Combat Axe | Brutal Momentum and Headtaker/Shred | +Maniacs, +Flak or +Unyielding

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The Combat Axe is still a great weapon for Zealot, as it is with all classes - even after the change to Brutal Momentum. If Monstrous Specials is one of the modifiers and you aren't doing the bonk, this might be a good option, though it is best used with a crit-focused build and Shred.

Crucis Mk II Thunder Hammer | Thrust and Headtaker/Slaughterer | +Unyielding, +Weak Spot or +Crit Damage

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The Thunder Hammer doesn't need a write up regarding its purpose. In regular melee combat it is no longer a total joke, but it is still bad. You can at least defend yourself now instead of being forced to retreat against large groups of enemies. Take the Thunder Hammer if you want to obliterate bosses and don't mind sacrificing your proficiency in regular melee combat.

Kantrael Mk IIb/Mk VII Infantry Lasgun | Headhunter and Infernus/Deadly Accurate | +Flak, +Maniacs

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The Kantrael Mk IIb is definitely the best lasgun for high mobility Zealot. The weapon deals surprisingly high damage for how fast it fires, and if you actively focus on headshots, it can melt things rather quickly. Headhunter and Infernus are great for swiftly eliminating packs of Reapers and Gunners, but the weapon is not terribly dependent on the burn stacks to feel impactful if you would prefer some other blessing. The Mk VII is nearly as good, firing a bit slow but with more power, Headhunter and Deadly Accurate provide very high DPS if you can consistently hit weak points. Be warned that without an auto click mod these weapons will give you carpal tunnel.

Zarona Mk IIa Quickdraw Stub Revolver | Hand-Cannon and Surgical | +Unyielding, +Crit Chance

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As you probably already know, the Zarona revolver is an absolute beast against literally everything, especially when you combine both Hand-Cannon and Surgical, you will be critting non-stop. Hand-Cannon applies rending to the same shot that triggered it, meaning it is a huge permanent boost to damage.

Honestly, this is probably STILL the strongest ranged weapon in the game right now with these two blessings on Zealot, and if you really don't care about Inspiring Barrage, it outperforms everything else.

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Q: Agripinaa Revolver?

A: It's really good now! They gave it some cleave, it feels almost as strong as the Zarona at times. The speedloader alone makes it worth using now. Surgical and Crucian Roulette both work well, always keep Hand Cannon.

Accatran Mk IX Combat Shotgun | No Respite and Full Bore | +Maniacs, +Flak or +Unyielding

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Out of the three shotgun variants in the game, the Accatran (prev. Kantrael) is the only one I would recommend using. Its damage is just ever so slightly high enough to reach one-shot breakpoints on many important targets, and its special ammo serves a unique purpose that is actually useful to you. No Respite and Full Bore are always-active damage/power increases that you do not need to think about or maintain. Deathspitter and Fire Frenzy expire too quickly to make proper use of, so avoid them. Scattershot is okay, but you really want base damage increase, not crit chance. The incendiary rounds are great for softening up large groups of approaching enemies before they get to you. They make Bulwarks a non-issue and also allow you to actively damage Monstrosities even when you are out of melee or shotshell range. For Knife Zealots, incendiary rounds can also help speed up horde-clear in a pinch.

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Q: What about the other shotguns?

A: The Agripinaa variant is far too lacking in damage to make any reasonable use of. Its special ammo is a mostly redundant ability considering ADS spread on the Accatran is tight enough to take out enemies from across the map anyway. With ADS, Accatran also has the option to fire highly accurate incendiary rounds at distant targets, this works equally as well and is very ammo efficient. Taking the Agri shotty is just nuking your DPS for no reason.

The Zarona (prev. Lawbreaker) may seem like a good middle-ground, but the lower damage means many one-shots become two-shots, time to kill goes up - and ammo efficiency goes down, nullifying the only advantage it has over the Accatran. The special scatter ammo is a waste of your time, you can use it to stagger groups of enemies or spread bleed stacks with Flechette, but even this is usually just inferior to fighting normally.

If you are intent on using the other shotgun variants, you should be aiming for headshots as often as possible.

Consistently hitting weak points with their extra tight ADS spread will go a long way towards your overall DPS.

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Q: Please tell me the Double Barrel Shotgun is good!

A: Sorry, its awesome but its hilariously bad. Probably even worse than the  ̶H̶e̶a̶d̶h̶u̶n̶t̶e̶r̶  Vigilant Autoguns. It has so much downtime between shots and so little utility its almost like not even having a ranged weapon at all. If you take it you are taking it exclusively to roleplay as Doomguy.

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Q: Boltgun/Boltpistol status post update?

A: Boltgun: FRIENDSHIP RESTORED!  Boltpistol: NO LONGER COMPLETELY WORTHLESS!

The garbage handling and absurdly poor damage are a thing of the past. Both weapons are now brand new reliable anti-armor ranged options for Zealot, just be mindful not to hog too much ammo. ᴵᵗˢ ᵒᵏ ʷʰᵉⁿ ᴵ ᵈᵒ ⁱᵗ ᵗʰᵒᵘᵍʰ

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Q: Flamer status post update?

A: Extremely strong with Everlasting Flames and a crit-focused build. Still requires dodge skillz™ and Blades of Faith to keep ranged enemies and disablers at bay. Ignore Penetrating Flames, it doesn't provide enough rending to even come close to the damage of Blaze Away, it's basically just a wasted blessing slot unless you want to incinerate Crushers for some reason (which still takes 20 seconds of direct fire, the same amount of time it takes to kill a Daemonhost with Blaze Away).

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Q: Why do you not like to recommend the Kantrael Mk IX Lasgun?

A: Yes, it is powerful while you are safely at range and picking off targets, but because of its slow fire rate, reliance on ADS, and inverse damage falloff - it absolutely will not save you when your teammates are dead and the entire map's worth of enemies are in your face and trying to kill you. This weapon is a trap, it works great when everything is going well, but performs poorly when things start going wrong.

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Q: What about the  ̶H̶e̶a̶d̶h̶u̶n̶t̶e̶r̶  Vigilant Autoguns?

A: Don't be fooled by the seemingly high DPS you get with them plinking heads in the Psykhanium.

They are terrible on Zealot, and honestly not really good in general. Just like the aforementioned Kantrael Mk IX, the Headhunters massively drop in performance when enemies get too close and surround you, throwing off your ability to ADS and accurately hit weak points (which happens non-stop on high difficulty)

Too often you will end up hip firing body shots out of pure necessity, struggling to use the weapons for their intended purpose. Even when you do have time to go for heads, the damage really isn't that spectacular for it to be even remotely worth it. By the end of the match you will realize you should have just taken a regular Autogun since you ended up using it like one anyway.

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Curios

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There is a lot of discussion about what the truly optimal setup is when selecting curio bonuses. Mostly the Toughness vs. Health debate. I will offer some insight into why I think Health is the better pick, contrary to the popular opinion of Toughness being statistically better. We are also going to ignore Wounds and Stamina. Never pick Wounds or Stamina unless you are playing a meme build.

Q: Why do you think +Max Health is better than +Max Toughness?

A: When people talk about the amount of value you derive from increased Toughness over the course of an entire match, if you do the math, it adds up to less Health theoretically lost in total, since the amount of Health damage you take is directly tied to the remaining percentage of Toughness you have. More Toughness = Better Defense = Less Health Lost. Data has been compiled to support this notion, and I am not disputing it.

But people who argue that this alone validates always choosing Toughness over Health are failing to consider several concepts that I think are much more important than simply looking at the basic math.

First of all, with the new class reworks, talents give loads of Toughness and Toughness Regeneration that previously were never part of the equation. If you combine this with curios stacking Toughness even higher, yes, you can reach absolutely ridiculous amounts of Toughness. Lets sweeten the deal up a bit by mentioning that Zealot has a nice on-demand Toughness button, and the Brautos can even be blessed to literally shoot Toughness. With all this Toughness, that can so easily be regenerated, you will never be taking any Health damage, so you don't need the Health in the first place, right? Wrong. This is an erroneous assumption because stacking Toughness actually indirectly has diminishing returns, and I will explain why.

When you begin to play this game at an advanced skill level, you start to develop patterns in your playstyle that are specifically designed to avoid scenarios where you risk running out of Toughness in the first place. You learn not to stand out in the open in large rooms of shooters, you learn to just shoot Poxbursters when a push seems risky, you begin to subconsciously make adjustments to your positioning and tactics on the fly to keep your character out of situations where your Toughness might be depleted. You become so proficient in melee combat that you end up generating far more Toughness through attacking than you could ever possibly lose to blows from trash mobs.

You reach a point where stacking Toughness no longer brings you any value, because eventually, the only time you will be out of Toughness is going to be from incidents that put your Health at risk no matter how much Toughness you have. The overwhelming majority of damage you will take as a highly skilled player is going to come from sudden burst-damage incidents that immediately zero your Toughness no matter how much you have stacked. A flamer that you were unaware of clipping you when you can't move, a Poxburster jumping out of a door you are standing next to with absolutely no warning, being grabbed or disabled at the wrong moment in the wrong location, thrown, pinned, or blasted into a horde of enemies (or worse, fire and a horde of enemies), etc.

We are talking about scenarios that you realistically cannot fully prevent from happening no matter how skilled you are. There will always be some degree of randomness at play, and sometimes, the game decides it just doesn't like you. In these scenarios where something terrible happens to you, and your Toughness is instantly gone, this is where we see the value in having more Health.

Increased Health is a buffer against bad luck. Toughness often is not.

And bad luck is the ONLY thing that should ever be causing you significant damage during a match.

Q: I think Toughness is better!!!!!

A: Take Toughness then, it is still good, but you really shouldn't take more than one. Just don't take Wounds or Stamina, those are garbage.

Q: But Stamina lets me-

A: Do not let Reddit fool you. Stamina is garbage. Psyker and Vet are the only classes that should even consider Stamina curios, and even then it is highly questionable. Taking Stamina gives you something you don't need in exchange for one of the most important things that you do need. It is a terrible decision, especially on Zealot. If you can't keep yourself alive without extra Stamina, not having enough Stamina is not the problem.

Q: I do agree though Wounds are indeed garbage.

A: I knew you had some sense in you.

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PERKS

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Perks stack multiplicatively, meaning they offer diminishing returns as you take more of them.

Three 20% perks is not 60%, it is 0.800³ which equals 0.512 and when subtracted from 1.000 ends up as 0.488.

So three 20% Something Resistance perks are actually only providing you with a total of 48.8% resistance. Two provides 36% resistance.

Taking this into consideration, you get much more value out of your perks by not taking a 3rd resistance perk, and instead allocating the slot to something else entirely. The following perks are the ones I consider to be the most valuable and impactful of the lot:

Best in Slot:

x2 - 20% Gunner Resistance (basically mandatory)  [+16% resistance from the 2nd; a 3rd only adds +12.2% resistance - not worth the slot]

x2 - 20% Sniper Resistance (no matter how much you think you won't get sniped, you will still get sniped)   [prevents being chunked]

x2 - 15% Corruption Resistance (significantly reduces damage from Poxbursters, tox gas, and all corruption)   [3 adds very little, only take 2]

x1 - 12% Stamina Regeneration (having just one of these on Zealot is a noticeable improvement)   [2 is noticeable but unnecessary]

Good Secondary Choices:

x1 - 5% Health

x1 - 5% Toughness

x1 - 20% Tox Flamer Resistance   (both Flamers, applies to melee, fire, ground flame, and tank explosion - but not tank explosion ground flame)

x1 - 20% Bomber Resistance   (both Bombers, applies to melee, grenade explosions, ground flame, and damage from Tox Bomber gas)

Questionable:

x? - 10% Revive Speed    (can save missions but its hard to justify reserving the slot for something that only helps under rare circumstances)

x1 - 15% Sprint Efficiency   (some people love this, but I think its a waste of a slot, Zealot doesn't need it at all)

x1 - 12% Block Efficiency   (see above)

Completely Useless Wastes of a Slot:
Experience

Ordo Dockets

Chance of Curio as Mission Reward

Pox Hound Resistance

Mutant Resistance

Grimoire Corruption Resistance

Toughness Regeneration Speed

Combat Ability Regeneration