Veteran: Squad Leader
Build for Darktide

GUIDE UPDATED: Unlocked and Loaded, 27SEP2024
- Talent guide unchanged, but if you care about it I'll be sloooowly working on the weapons section (I play all classes, so testing time is divided lol). May the Emperor guide your lasguns this update o7

- I may otherwise make small updates and/or reformat certain sections randomly lol

to do/planned:

- revisit weapons section for the Itemization update

- Reformat general guide to be short/concise; more extensive, detailed info will be inserted further down for those who like word vomit
 

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Support Veteran build that provides you and your team with excellent crowd control options and a metric kark-ton of team buffs and coherency bonuses: toughness regen, ammo efficiency, and several sources of team damage boosts, all while still allowing for enough personal damage to perform as the team's traditional backline. More than anything, this talent mixture allows a diligent Veteran to flex between frontline fights and high-threat management as necessary, enabling you to become the crux member of every auric-operative team.

** This build will serve as an excellent stepping stone for newer players while staying mostly optimal in terms of damage and utility; once you're more experienced, start tweaking some of the talent picks per your needs and playstyle, further suggestions under the 'Alternative Talents' section. **

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BLITZ: SHREDDER GRENADES

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This blitz is used less for damage and more for it's ~8m AoE bleeds and stagger, which if used properly, can create clutch openings or even prevent deaths and damage in high pressure fights. The closer to the initial blast's epicenter the higher the amount of impact inflicted, which will face-to-floor everything but mutants and monstrosities. As such, the best practice is placing the shredder nearest the toughest targets in a horde (ragers, maulers, crushers, etc.) to maximize that crowd control potential.

• The shredder's three maximum capacity paired with the regen from Demolition Stockpile makes for some free and fairly consistent options of CC, with enough uptime to last you throughout a mission. 
• The applied bleed stacks are effective for softening chaff and non-heavy armored targets, but will also synergize with any allied Ogryns and Zealots who utilize bleed talents for extra crit chance and toughness dmg reduction! 
• Fill in the gaps for every fight: the blitz by itself is a wonderful filler in case of ability downtime or a general lack of hard CC options. It's ease of use, larger effective radius, and respectable damage makes it a tool to be used both offensively and defensively, and is something you can and should abuse for every fight.
• Make sure to read about the Shredder's bleed damage near the end of this guide if you want to make the most out of it!

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ABILITY: VOICE OF COMMAND

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A core defining ability for every support Veteran build, which staggers all enemies within 9m and instantly replenishes your toughness to full, even when it's completely spent. Similar to shredder grenades but without the harsh range falloff, and sporting stagger that can better affect mutants and monstrosities, a VoC shout will instantly floor and otherwise interrupt everything that threatens your team. 

• Duty and Honor enables VoC to overheal toughness by +50 while additionally providing that bonus to your team, essentially converting the ability into a team 'heal' similar to Zealot's chorus relic.
• For the Emperor is another excellent modifier that grants the team a 10% damage buff, better enabling them to follow up on the opening you've just made. 
• Use this reflexively and often: with a short 30s cooldown and further reduction earned from Tactical Awareness, it's the ultimate all-in-one tool to create space, replenish toughness, and buff team damage with very little downtime.

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KEYSTONE: FOCUS TARGET

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An amazing keystone that alters the Veteran's default tag function: any specialist/elite/boss enemies that you tag will now be marked by a golden outline and skull, as opposed to the default red. Not only does this help more visually challenged teammates prioritize these threats alongside you, it will also apply a debuff which the entire team benefits from. Higher 'focus' stacks will apply a stronger debuff for even greater damage bonuses.

• The Focused Fire modifier increases your total focus stacks from 5 to 8, effectively increasing bonus dmg from 20% to 32%. This higher maximum is best applied against tougher targets like crushers and monstrosities, but isn't super necessary for most other threats.
• Securing a kill on a focused target will grant further coherency bonuses through Target Down (toughness and stamina regen) and Redirect Fire (base damage). So long as targets are being marked, even teammates can secure the kill for both bonuses to trigger, allowing for easy and consistent regen/dmg buffs throughout a fight.
• Pick your focus targets carefully, but also quickly: the moment a focus mark is applied to a new enemy, a previously marked target will instantly lose their applied debuff. That means it's wasteful to spam tag an entire patrol, but that doesn't mean you want to hold a focus target for too long, either. Prioritize the toughest enemy as your first mark, and be ready to switch to whatever might be the next most immediate threat. The faster you decide what's most important in those moment to moment changes, the better this keystone will serve you.

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ALTERNATIVE TALENTS

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As you consider following section, just remember that any changes should be picked for what suits you the most. Whether that's a Vet who likes to provide more team buffs or one who will min/max DPS, damage and utility needs can shift dramatically depending on the weapons you bring and even down to the individual stats themselves, where a mere 5% difference can bring an enemy that can tank two hits down to a one-shot kill. 

This is not to mention your own playstyle above all else, so just go for what's fun - that's what this build is for me, with just a few changes since the class rework update. What I have outlined below are the talents I think can be reasonably adjusted, with other playstyles in mind.

• SHREDDER GRENADES -> KRAK GRENADES
  • Krak Grenades have some reputation of being more impactful compared to Shredders, which requires a bit of knowledge on bleed mechanics to show similar results. It's your preference on consistent single-target damage vs. consistent AoE damage, respectively.
  • I'd recommend loading Kraks if you want extra damage for monstrosities, or you're looking to cover anti-armor options elsewhere in your loadout.
• SURVIVALIST -> FIRE TEAM
  • Survivalist is a priority pick for T5+ difficulties, where Special/Elite spawns are frequent enough to proc a consistent ammo return, and is often the difference for an entire team never being too low on ammo.
  • Fire Team can be considered if it helps push a particular weapon breakpoint, if you're practicing below T5+, and/or you're playing with another Vet who can cover Survivalist.
  • ** As of the Path of Redemption update, the Survivalist aura now requires a 5s cooldown in between each successful proc. This means that the ammo return is much less effective when facing elite/specials in groups, such as during hazard missions with the Shock Troop Gauntlet modifier. Regardless of the nerf, a team's overall ammo economy will still greatly benefit from a Veteran who stays locked in on elite/special kills throughout a mission.
• LONGSHOT -> ANY
  • A simple damage boost that works off a minimum 8m distance from your target, to a maximum of 30m. 
  • Optional if you have a CQC setup and are looking for damage/utility elsewhere.
• CHARISMATIC -> ANY
  • A great QoL coherency boost (8m -> 12m) that benefits the absurd amount of bonuses available to a Veteran, which for this build can include: 
    • Survivalist Aura
    • Close Order Drill 
    • Duty and Honor
    • For the Emperor!
    • Target Down!
    • Redirect Fire!
  • Optional if you really want to push damage/utility elsewhere
• GET BACK IN THE FIGHT -> CATCH A BREATH
  • Get Back in the Fight! activates when your toughness is broken, and will essentially help Veterans under high pressure reposition much easier. 
  • Catch a Breath can be noticeably helpful when under constant fire during shooter-heavy missions, mitigating some of the damage with constant regen, and may otherwise provide passive regen if outside of team coherency. 
  • Both will see far less value if you're generally good about your defensive play and positioning in the first place, and the problems posed by either situation can often be mitigated by the swiss army knife that is VoC lol
  • GBITF has the slight win in my case, as I'd rather stay mobile when forced to soak damage, like wading through bomber flames or while taking heavy gunner fire.
• RENDING STRIKES -> ANY
  • 10% Rending is essentially another free damage boost, and will stack with the Penetration stat found on some melee and ranged weapons.
    • Rending TL;DR: will negate an equal value of enemy dmg resistance, and affects all enemy types.
    • Ex: if you only deal 20% damage to Carapace, with 10% rending you now deal 30%
    • Any rending added after reaching 100% penetration will continue to add damage, but at a reduced value. (source: patch 13 notes)
  • Optional if it doesn't negatively affect any breakpoints, and are wanting more utility from the talent tree. 
• TARGET DOWN! -> ANY
  • Target Down will replenish 5-40% toughness/stamina, and can be a steady supply of regen if marks are managed properly in high density fights, and is invaluable for stubborn randoms who don't know how to dodge.
  • A little less important for a premade team that can reliably defend themselves. 
• FOCUSED FIRE -> ANY
  • This increased dmg maximum (20% -> 32%) might be substantial in certain situations, but is only kicking in every 12-16s. In a realistic T5+ scenario where you're more likely to switch focus targets as needed, it will be harder to get consistent use of that increase the more a mission staggers elite/special spawns in drawn out fights.
  • If provided with any sort of downtime however, you can effectively view this talent as a buff to the opening shots of a fight, as well as an increase in team dps against monstrosities, where focus marks tend to stick for longer anyway.
  • Optional if you'd prefer more consistent talent picks.
• TALENTS TO CONSIDER
  • Any minor talent node (melee damage, crit chance, etc.)
  • Exhilarating Takedown for further toughness regen and dmg reduction
  • Marksman for extra weakspot dmg on VoC use
  • Close Quarters Killzone for extra close dmg on VoC use
  • Competitive Urge for an rng dependent dmg boost; only good on T5+
  • Grenade Tinkerer, Twinned Blast, Demolition team for better grenades & efficiency
  • Deadshot + Shock Trooper for crit chance and lasgun ammo efficiency
  • Only In Death Does Duty End... (Good for challenge modes like hard mode twins; otherwise wasted if you're with good players!)

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LOADOUT

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First and foremost: Nothing wrong in using what you like. 

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RANGED:

Though this build lacks Executioner's Stance and additional precision damage from Marksman's Focus, there's more than enough damage talent picks and coverage from Focus Target that keeps the Veteran's entire arsenal in relevancy. 
 

M35 Magnacore Mk II Plasma Gun | Gets Hot & Rising Heat/Blaze Away | +Maniacs +Unyielding +Carapace

Anti-Boss, Anti-Armor, Anti-Special, Versatile

• STATS:
  • Priority 80% stats will be Damage, Stopping Power, and Thermal Resistance.
  • Take 60% on either Ammo or Charge Rate, or as close to an even 70% between.
  • Charge Rate was formerly the PG's preferred dumpstat, though with the addition of the Rising Heat blessing, an argument can be made to have faster charged shots woven in with your non-charged volleys for some new and exciting damage numbers.
  • ** Note: As of the Traitor Curse Anniversary update, Charge Rate no longer affects damage as it used to, i.e. scaling damage weirdly with very specific charge rate values. Partial charges are virtually the same as a non-charged shot, so you either commit to a full charge for increased damage or don't; the principle of choosing your dumpstat is really whether you'll be using charged shots more often than not.
• BLESSINGS:
  • Gets Hot is the PG's anchor blessing, as the expanded 'magazine' only encourages you to fire several shots in sequence long before you ever need to reload. With a high base damage, this will only lead to some funny high critical numbers as you stay on the trigger and ramp up the heat.
  • If you tend to pace your shots, Rising Heat is an excellent secondary blessing to synergize with Gets Hot, scaling both damage and critical rate as you accumulate heat. It's the 'easier' and more flexible combo since both charged and non-charged shots will benefit from these buffs, which will help you meet breakpoints on heavier threats while conserving ammo on weaker ones.
  • Blaze Away will still theoretically provide a higher DPS throughput due to the higher damage maximum, but this of course requires you to lay on the trigger and exclusively fire non-charged shots. Because the PG doesn't have 'automatic' functionality like other weapons that roll this blessing, the timing can be finnicky and it's very easy to lose stacks if you hesitate for a fraction of a second; if you have fast target acquisition and can manage the clicking (or you use the FullAuto mod from Nexus Mods) the results will serve you well in high density fights.
• PERKS:
  • WIP

Zarona Mk IIa Revolver | Surgical & Hand-Cannon | +Flak +Maniacs

Anti-Armor, Anti-Special, Versatile

• STATS:
• BLESSINGS:
• PERKS:

Locke Mk IIb Boltgun | Pinning Fire & Surgical/Shattering Impact | +Flak +Unyielding +Carapace +Elites

Anti-Boss, Anti-Armor

• STATS:
• BLESSINGS:
• PERKS:

Accatran MG Mk II, Kantrael Mk X Heavy Laspistol | Infernus & Reassuringly Accurate/Dumdum | +Flak +Maniacs

Anti-Boss, Anti-Special

• STATS:
• BLESSINGS:
• PERKS:

Godwyn-Branx Mk IV Bolt Pistol | Surgical & Deadly Accurate | +Flak +Manics +Elites

Anti-Armor, Anti-Special

• STATS:
• BLESSINGS:
• PERKS:

Kantrael MG Ia, Kantrael MG IV, Kantrael MG XII Infantry Lasgun | Headhunter & Deadly Accurate | +Flak +Maniacs +Unyielding

Anti-Special, Versatile

• STATS:
• BLESSINGS:
• PERKS:

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MELEE:

As above, choices for melee weapons are largely up to preference, though I'd still advise planning with specific goals in mind. (i.e. coverage for hordes, elites, etc.)

• Scandar Mk III Power Sword | Power Cycler & Slaughterer | +Flak +Unyielding +Carapace +Elite
  Achlys Mk VI Power Sword | Power Cycler & Brutal Momentum | +Flak +Unyielding +Carapace +Elite
  • STATS:
  • BLESSINGS:
  • PERKS:
• Munitorum Mk I Sapper Shovel | Decimator & Skullcrusher/Uncanny Strike | +Flak +Unarmored +Infested
  Munitorum Mk III, Munitorum Mk VII Sapper Shovel | Uncanny Strike & Thrust/Decimator | +Flak +Unyielding +Carapace +Elite
  • STATS:
  • BLESSINGS:
  • PERKS:
• Cadia Mk IV, Cadia Mk XIIIg Assault Chainsword | Savage Sweep & Rampage | +Flak +Unarmored
  • STATS:
  • BLESSINGS:
  • PERKS:
• Orestes Mk IV, Orestes Mk XII Assault Chainaxe | Headtaker & Slaughterer | +Flak +Unyielding +Carapace +Elites
  • STATS:
  • BLESSINGS:
  • PERKS:
• Rashad Mk II Combat Axe | Brutal Momentum & Headtaker | +Flak +Unyielding
  • STATS:
  • BLESSINGS:
  • PERKS:
• Catachan Mk IV Devil's Claw | Savage Sweep & Rampage | +Flak +Unarmored
  • STATS:
  • BLESSINGS:
  • PERKS:

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CURIOS:

The standard setup for most Veterans can be x3 Toughness OR x2 Toughness & x1 Health. Frontloading your Veteran with toughness will synergize with talents such as Exhilarating Takedown, Close Order Drill, and Iron Will, providing more value to those damage reduction talents.

Beyond that, plan for perks that suit your playstyle and needs.

CURIO BLESSINGS:

• Build for more Toughness if you have trouble with chip damage (i.e. horde melee and shooters). 
• Build for more Health if you struggle defending against bigger attacks and/or take damage all at once (i.e. Snipers, Elites, Bosses). 
• Wounds are like training wheels, especially if you're a newer player venturing into T5+ missions. As a Vet, you should never take more than one, and be sure to replace it once you're confident you can defend yourself proper!
• Stamina is a hard sell to make for most Veterans, and is often memed as the 'optimal' pick for players who just never take damage. If you're reading this, I'm sorry - you're not that guy lol

CURIO PERKS:

• +Toughness/+Health as above.
• +Toughness Regeneration Speed only affects passive regen when in team coherency, but x3 of this perk can improve the speed by a ridiculous amount. If using Charismatic's +50% aura radius, by simply playing for your team you stand to gain plenty of return from this perk alongside all the buffs you provide to everyone.
• +Stamina Regeneration Speed will obviously benefit your ability to sprint, block, and push more often, but can be especially useful when using Deadshot, or when paired with 'Stamina Delay Reduction' talent nodes. 
• +Sniper Resistance is recommended by many in the community, and is often cited as insurance against being one-shot. This can be optional if you're able to defend against them well enough, and especially considering Veterans are often the best equipped to deal with them quickly. 
• +Gunner Resistance will actually cover dreg/scab gunners and Ogryn reapers, and is equally recommended by the community as insurance given they're some of the most common elite spawns. This perk may also be optional if you can defend against and/or are equipped to deal with them quickly.
• +Cooldown Reduction can be considered if you really want to push for ability uptime at the cost of slotting any of the above; for VoC, bear in mind this is only removing 3.6 seconds, which is only half of what Tactical Awareness provides so long as you remain locked in on Elite/Special kills.

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General guide ends here. 

Tips, tricks, and useful stat breakdowns for the big nerds below

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Shredder Grenades: 

• Shredders have three acting components in that single ~8m detonation: stagger, blast damage, and bleed.
• Both the shredder's stagger and blast damage have an effective range of ~5m, with major falloff around ~2m.
• The Shredder's bleeds have zero falloff range, and will inflict full damage/bleed application within the default max radius of ~8m.
• BLEED DAMAGE is not a simple additive value, and instead scales with higher bleed stacks (to a total of 16 bleed stacks).
• If that doesn't make sense, here is a simple example:
  • A single Shredder applies 6 bleed stacks, totaling for 302 bleed damage.
  • Two Shredders will apply 12 bleed stacks, totaling for 1442 bleed damage.
  • (This isn't even considering the damage enhanced by Grenade Tinkerer btw)
• With the above in mind, Shredders can then be used in two ways: 
  • delaying between each detonation to make use of stagger animations, grounding tougher enemies for longer
  • chaining them more closely to massively increase bleed damage, clearing any surrounding chaff while softening tougher targets. A lucky proc of Twinned Blast can do just the same!
• Another important note: bleeds have differing damage values on all armor types, but I won't get into that here. Instead, Ryken has more in-depth testing on Shredder damage values if you're that curious: https://youtu.be/lS_CmIQzYhc?si=g4266z1p9-Ue3_Ov&t=34
  • Some info in the video, like Longshot affecting grenade damage, have since been patched. insofar as I know and from my own testing, the stagger, blast damage, and bleed values all function the same as was in patch 13. I'll update as I learn more/any changes come.

Voice of Command:

• It's worth reminding that while Duty and Honor and For the Emperor both function off of VoC, both are still coherency bonuses that can exceed the ability's default 9m radius, depending on if you've invested into Charismatic or not. 
• VoC will still replenish the Veteran's maximum toughness and the full +50 overheal even when completely empty. Teammates will only receive a standard toughness heal of +50.
• This overheal can also stack with another Veteran's VoC and Zealot's Chorus Relic.
• This overheal alone is often enough to protect health from moderate forms of chip damage, such as the mutant body slam, the kaboom from a Bomber, or the initial pounce of a hound.
• With that in mind, the best practice when using this ability is preventing damage, not replenishing toughness after the fact. Shield the team when making pushes through a horde or into risky open spaces, or stagger Elites and Specialist enemies right before they attack a teammate. 

Focus Target:

• A focus mark stays applied for ~25s (default tags only stick for ~10s). That's more than enough time to secure a kill on tougher elites, but also a generous window of bonus damage to inflict on monstrosities. 
• Once a focus mark is applied, the focus target will always retain the highest focus stacks. (ex: if the first focus mark applies 8 focus stacks, then it cannot be overridden by any lower value, if say, you were to accidentally re-mark the target sooner than you wanted).
• Conversely, if you were to mark a target too early with low stacks, you are able to 'refresh' the mark to get that higher damage bonus. Note that applied focus stacks are not additive. (ex: the first focus mark applies 3 stacks, but is followed up with another 5 stacks. This does not suddenly yield 8 total stacks on the focus target, and will instead refresh with the higher 5 stack debuff.)
• If the above is looking a touch complicated, I wouldn't worry too much. In the grand scheme of things, this is really only important to remember for monstrosities, the one enemy type where you'll always want to maximize Focus Target's bonus damage. 
• TL;DR if you want full bonus damage on an enemy, you must always apply at full stacks, period.
• The Redirect Fire modifier has a curious if not confusing disconnect from the normal behavior of the keystone, and does actually work as an additive buff, meaning that any kills that which reward stacks of Redirect Fire will refresh the duration and cumulatively reach the 8 total stack maximum.

GUN STUFF/DRAFT:

• Plasma Gun
  • Heat Management: Manually venting via the special action key should be considered the 'reload' adjacent function of the PG. Proper heat management with the PG's high base capacity means you can keep shooting in longer engagements without needing to eat the long reload - as such, generally try to reload when in-between fights. 
    • Firing a charged shot above 100% heat will overload the PG, resulting in an explosion that damages nearby enemies while downing the Veteran with a wound (or killing them outright if on a single wound). 
    • Attempting to fire a non-charged shot above 100% will instead automatically vent 20% heat.
    • Reloading the fuel cell itself is about a ~7s reload time without modifiers, and will vent all currently accumulated heat.
    • You can actually sprint cancel parts of the animation to reduce that reload time if you're desperate or a sweat: first when the ammo counter vanishes, next when the cartridge makes a second 'click', and lastly when the ammo counter refreshes as full.
    • Manually venting to 0% heat will always last five ticks (or ~3s total) whether you're venting from 15% heat or 100%. 
    • With a high ammo stat, you're able to fire upwards of 50 non-charged shots before needing to reload on empty.
    • With a high thermal resistance stat, you're able to fire ~8 non-charged shots in quick succession before needing to manually vent.
• Revolver
  • The Rending Strikes talent can help a revolver with a high penetration stat and a minimum T3 Hand-Cannon reach ~100% rending, effectively bypassing the heavier armor values of enemies like Crushers and Maulers.
• Mk IIb Bolter | Pinning Fire & Surgical/Shattering Impact | +Flak +Unyielding +Carapace +Elites
  • At present, the Bolter Rifle may be effectively used as a decent anti-armor and stagger tool, capable of bursting down singular heavy targets or staggering clusters of Elites.
  • The biggest drawbacks of this weapon are a relatively small magazine paired with a moderately long reload, and a long draw speed that doesn't make much sense when it's notorious counterpart in lore and firepower, the Plasma Gun, has an instant one. 
  • This forced downtime can make it unwieldy and much less responsive when compared to other weapons in high pressure situations, though both VoC and Shredders can help buy you the time needed to do either.

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_

final author note: Since I play a lot of other games (Space Marine 2 anyone?), I'll typically update my guides semi-often as I get the urge to play Darktide, mostly when I earn better rolls and experiment with breakpoints, and especially after patch specific changes, so stay tuned if you like. I had originally used this just for personal planning and quick reference, but thanks for upvoting the guide nonetheless. have fun gang :)