Ogryn: Bullgryn
Build for Darktide

Frontliner Ogryn build that embodies the philosophy of having the best offense means having the best defense! This build selects a heavy mixture of the Skullcrusher & Bullgryn trees (left and middle), supporting a playstyle that can both safely anchor a team and brawl in the thickest fights.

The Frag Bomb is used for practically any shituation you and your pals might find themselves in. Because of the grenade's massive payload yet limited one-time use, it's best to hold onto this blitz as a last resort, i.e. for those overwhelming spawns from a very unfair conflict director... Anything less would be a tremendous waste, and it is otherwise polite for you to inhabit as small a space in a level's grenade economy for your fellow Stunstorm/Immolation Zealots and Nade Box Ogryns (Veterans who don't pick grenade regen for themselves can kick rocks).

Loyal Protector is a wonderful shout ability that will stagger everything close enough to get thumped. Synergizing with this ability is the Get Stuck In passive, which enables your team to reposition more effectively with the space you've just made, while the Valuable Distraction subtalent is the icing on the cake for you and your team to clean up whatever poor sods just got knocked on their asses. Use this often and reflexively, whether it's to create space in the middle of a high density fight, to stagger incoming specials/bosses, and most importantly to protect the lil 'uns! 

The Heavy Hitter keystones are picked to work in tandem with practically every other heavy attack talents available. Batter and Delight in Destruction adds respectable DoT on top of excellent toughness dmg reduction, while Furious, Soften Them Up, Hard Knocks, and both Heavy Hitter subtalents all reward you with more damage and toughness regen for merely staying in the fight. So long as you're chaining heavy attacks to also proc Implacable, this combo will essentially enable you to be nigh unkillable so long as you're able to control your space and slay out.

A good Bully Club or Latrine Shovel will serve as excellent options for this build, yet I find the overall pick for such a playstyle to be the Maul & Shield. What one might lose in slightly more optimal killing power one gains in excellent crowd control and defensive utility; the M&S has stagger in absolute spades, and while some elites might survive the first hit, everything short of a boss monster will be knocked to the ground and more than likely won't survive the immediate follow-up. As a side note, Attention Seeker will force any shooters who target your shield into melee combat! (unfortunately does not work on gunners or reapers)

Seeing as none of the Gunlugger talents are picked for this build, it is practically the player's choice on the type of ranged weapon they wish to bring into the mission. Best practice is to run ammo efficient weapons and allow more ranged-focused allies to have priority on ammo pickups; the Rumbler, Kickback, and Grenadier Gauntlet will all serve as excellent munitions that allows your melee focus to shine without compromising that ranged utility.

Misc:

• Aside from the lads and ladies in the official Darktide discord, a lot of the information I get to supplement my own buildcrafting comes from incredibly useful guides like the Ogrynomicon (by Hank and friends) and the Psyker's Atheneum (by Pygex), as well as YT creators Ryken XIV and cashcrop, both of whom do some excellent numbers and damage testing. I highly suggest giving their stuff a gander if you're interested!
  • Ogrynomicon: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3044646170
  • Psyker's Atheneum: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2917274959
  • Ryken: https://www.youtube.com/@rykenxiv
  • cashcrop: https://www.youtube.com/@cashcrop_