Trench Sentry Guardsman
Build for Darktide

(WiP)

This is a Difficult to master, but worthwhile defensive, hybrid ranged-melee build. If we treat skill as a spectrum, this build is probably somewhere in the in the upper end of it when it comes to its skill floor, but not so much so that it becomes a meme build. Treat your shotgun as a singleshot weapon, and fire only slugs (alt fire) as often as you can afford to, it will work wonders for your ammo efficiency, and you'll be able to 1 to 2 shot most non-monster/ogryn/boss threats. Despite the meme-y sounding playstyle tied to it, it is surprisingly viable in Auric in the hands of a capable player. With Full Bore you will have enough cleave to nail Specialists and Disablers deep in hordes. Meanwhile, No Respite will make sure that one shot puts them down. This build should allow an experienced Veteran player to meaningfully contribute to their team while LARPing as Ash in Army of Darkness (1992). Flexible, and powerful, respect the boomstick. 

Auric-Tested and approved or your money back! 
-Some Sweaty Weirdo

Buyer beware: Most likely will require a God Roll Agripinaa, at least until it's breakpoints are buffed if ever.

Desired Stat Distributions in order of Preference for your Shotgun:

1. 77+ Damage + Stopping Power, Non-Negotiable. Too many breakpoints depend on these. The stagger bonuses from Stopping power will make sure you can stagger anything but Monsters and Bosses with your slugs. Don't settle for anything lower on these two, if you can afford the expenditure to get a better roll of these stats, even if it's a 1% to 5% difference without too steep a compromise in other areas, do so.

2. 70+ Mobility is ideal, the higher the better, and anything below 60% should be regarded as a deathtrap. Even high mobility shotguns can feel frustratingly sluggish. Some people think this should be the dump stat on all your weapons, they are stupid. They're probably Power Sword players too. They probably think shotguns suck because they tried playing one with a Golden Triad set of stats 80-80-80 (DMG-StP-Stab) but sub 30 mobility, and then proceeded to wonder why everything on the map was teabagging them as soon as fights started. I mostly kid, Power Swords are valid too, but the point still stands, don't underestimate the value of the Mobility stat specially on ranged weapons for Veteran builds.

3. 70+ Ammo, the higher the better, but if you're a good shooter you can settle for less as long as you're over 50. Shotguns are notoriously ammo hungry, but as long as you stick to slugs it shouldn't be a concern unless you're babysitting a squad of paraplegics, bots, or speedrunners.    

4. 60+ Stability, if you're good enough you can probably make lower work as long as you're above 40. As long as you can still put a slug into something on your first shot, anything goes here. Will most likely be your dump stat.

Caveat: Ideally you should try to get at least 65 to 70 on everything but DMG and Stopping Power, as you need these to be as close to 80 as you can get them. The Agripinaa shotgun needs to be religiously min-maxed for viability. The noted blessings are non-negotiable, X-on kill for Y time blessings are useless on low capacity, slow reload weapons like shotguns.  You shouldn't go lower than lvl III on your blessings if possible. None of the other shotguns can flex into this build, keep that in mind.

For your TacAxe:

1. Damage + Penetration, 70+, non negotiable, these keep the bad things off you, penetration, as the word suggests (no not that kind you freak), is important in making sure you can deal with carapace and flak armored threats. Don't settle for anything lower, if you can afford the expenditure to get a better roll of these stats, even if it's a 1% to 5% difference without too steep a compromise in other areas, do so.

2. Finesse + Crit Bonus, 60+ if you need to compromise, 70+ is preferred. Finesse influences your Weakspot DMG and Attk Speed. Both very important in a melee weapon. This stat when combined with Brutal Momentum, and any of the Power on-hit blessings will not only help you with horde clear but also help you win duels against Ragers and Crushers. Crit Bonus does what's on the tin, it influences your base Crit Chance, and Crit Damage. These two stats synergize with Desperado beautifully to allow you to chew through anything with pure grit and determination.

3. Mobility 70+, Try not to compromise here if it's an option. Contrary to popular perception, actually treating this stat as a dump stat is a good way to be that one Veteran that keeps getting dropped right in the starting portions of runs. Especially if you're insane enough to settle for a low Mobility Power Sword. This stat affects your sprint speed, but more importantly also affects your dodge counts and distance. Why #3 then? Because you can't dodge or sprint away from the enemy forever, you will eventually need to CLOSE WITH AND DESTROY THE ENEMY. Regardless of whether its a simple Poxwalker/Groaner horde or a wall of Ragers, Crushers, and Maulers supported by Bulwarks, Flamers, and Grenadiers. 

Caveats: TacAxe is one of the weapons in the awkward position where you can't really afford to treat any stat as a dump stat. The rule of thumb here is that you should try to get one with 70% as its baseline across the board while trying to maximize DMG and Pen. Replacing with other TacAxes or even CAxes is possible with similar blessings. Do note this build does not use Trench Fighter Drill, so you may struggle to make the most of your CAxe despite Desperado. Not to the extent that viability is affected, but for a Hybrid Melee-Ranged build, the difference is noticeable. If Crushers, Maulers, and Armored Ragers keep bullying you in melee, feel free to trade out the Infested and Unarmored weapon DMG perks for Flak and Carapace.

Talent Breakdown:

Offensive

- Deadshot: This + the next two talents will be your primary sources of DMG, this plus the two 0.25 regen nodes will keep you topped off as long as you don't try to use the agrip like an auto shotgun.
 
- Opening Salvo: if you use it as noted in the opening statement you'll be able to have a near 100% uptime on it.

- Reciprocity: rewards you for learning how to "dance" while trying to take shots, hard to pull off due to shotguns having the mobility of a stranded, de-tracked tank even at high mobility values.

- Desperado: This will turn your anti-unarmored/infested TacAxe into a horde shredder, actualize your inner wood chipper.

- Superiority Complex: let's you 1-shot gunners and ragers reliably.

- Tactical Awareness + Executioner's + Counterfire + Relentless + Always Prepared: These are the build's source of flexibility, along with your crit talents these will allow you to flex into anti-ranged chaff and Gunner/Reaper duty without needing to banzai charge firing lines like a crackhead Zealot, and it keeps the build from being an anti-special 1-trick pony. Contrary to other Executioner's builds this will not your main source of DPS even if you opt to go for Marksman instead of Demo Team (the only node you can afford to trade off-ish). 

Defensive

- Confirmed Kill + Iron Will + Close Order Drill: These are core defensive talents, none of your builds should go without them even if you're John Wick/Jack Bauer. These will keep you from spontaneously combusting when the director decides to play grab-ass with you with melee chaff and Ragers. They will not save you from Maulers and Crushers, nothing other than dodging and smart positioning can. 

- Frag Grenades + Demo Team: This combo is your get out of jail free card, only use it to disengage or if you get caught out in the middle of a full reload against something you can't deal with your TacAxe. Why not Krak Grenades? GW and FS don't want you to know this, but canonically Veteran isn't actually Cadian. He's actually a tech startup employee in California, and he can't afford the taxes to splurge for Krak Grenades without converting the entire build into something else.

- Get Back In the Fight + Determined: These, along with the Executioner's combo above will allow you to flex into anti-ranged. These talents should be as core to any build as Iron Will + Close Order Drill, but the taxes to pay for them are too damn high so it's only viable to take with Executioner's based Marksman Veteran builds, this is why this build isn't a Commando Hybrid Veteran build (plus it affords you more forgiving breakpoints).

Utility

Lol, Lmao even. Will put something in here when FS decides to stop treating the Veteran like a Californian/New Yorker without even bothering to give him the quality services and utilities the taxes should otherwise afford him. 

Don't have a God Roll Boomstick? I gotchu! Here are some casino tips to help you get one:

- Games as a live service are bad for you, go play something else while you still can. Unless you're here from a Gacha game or a Riot game. . . just stay away from the cosmetic shop you poor bastard, and don't go back. If you still intend to stick around, read on. 

- Save up 2 to 4 million credits before going to Brunt's Pachinko parlor to get your hands on your 380 Agrip/Columnus IAG. Ignore the price stickers, and treat this as the default price tag for any greys rated at 375+.

- Get the Buy Until Rating Mod on Nexus if you value your own time and set it to stop when a 380 drops in its settings, then go make yourself a sandwich, watch your favorite vtuber vods, nature docs, paint dry or whatever tickles your fancy while you wait. 

- Don't throw out useless copies below 350 rating, instead throw out ones between 350 and 377 that don't have the stat the distributions you need/want. You use the ones at 350 and below to upgrade them up to gold to farm lvl III to IV blessings. Why? Because lower rating weapons are cheaper to upgrade. 

- For farming mats run vanilla T5 quickplays if you want to have fun (Terms and Conditions Apply), the loss rate you'll accrue in Auric is not worth the quickplay bonuses there, and your time. Also, as far as I'm aware, it has identical drop rates and rewards as regular T5s(Citation Needed). Even if this isn't the case, success rates in vanilla T5 will still be enough to make up for whatever differences. Especially so if you're a twat and decide to destroy other people's playthroughs trying to speed run Hab Dreyko for da lootz. Don't be a dick, get on the Darktide discord and set up a loot crew to do these runs, it will improve your success rates, and resource gains. Also, you won't be blocked by half the game's playerbase by the time you start playing real runs. Barring that, be an adult (or a mature kid) and just ask people in the lobby if they're comfortable with focusing on farming mats, most of them are probably there for the same reason anyways if they're QPers or on vanilla T5 Hab Dreyko.

- Once you have 1 to 2 established Auric-Tested and Approved (TM) build(s) you're comfortable and proficient with, whether it's one of mine, others, or your own you won't need to do any of the min-maxing nonsense in the above point anymore. Especially once you get good enough to carry and clutch Auric T5s. Then you can just focus on enjoying the game and challenging yourself. You'll be amassing inane amounts of resources by then, and you'll have room to experiment and to continue farming blessings. Do note this will only be the case if you're not constantly hitting Brunt's Pachinko Parlor and Hadron's Slots willingly. If you are, you should get a therapist and drop the game, because you have a problem. Stop it, get help. Meanwhile, get on the FS forums to bitch about the garbage crafting with the rest of us no-life sweatlords. #BreaktheLocks

Mechanical Caveats and Tips:

- Only stay in ADS to fire shots, go in and out of it as needed to acquire targets. Do not scan for targets while in ADS. It's harder to do outside ADS, but if you get good it'll do wonders for your situational awareness and target ID skills even if you don't use this build. When you get good enough you'll be able to even pick out grenadiers, snipers, and trappers inside hordes or in pitch black levels without even having to spam tag. Don't stop tag spamming though, it helps the team if you're not being too obnoxious about it.  

- Using your melee weapon as a primary for movement is valid, but if you're patient and your team isn't speed running it's better to treat the shotgun as a primary, switch speed isn't a concern, and as you grow proficient your ability to react to surprise special mob spawns will be unparalleled. Ideally, as you learn maps you'll get a feel for when and where to stick to your melee or ranged weapon as a primary. 

- Learn to use the special attack with the TacAxe, it will allow you to reliably duel Ragers once you learn it, alternate between special strikes and Heavies or 2 light strikes. If faced with multiple pop a grenade and blast them with Executioner's Stance.

- Dodging with shotguns is hard, but getting good at it is worthwhile. gitgud or gitrekt~ 

- Consider running the third person and weapon customization mods, not mandatory but they will do wonders for your situational awareness, and your teammates will accuse you of aimbotting.

- Feel free to use regular shots while in Executioner's Stance. If you get proficient with the alt mode juggling and reloads you will be able to maintain the stance up pretty reliably even without running +reload modifiers.

- This is a defensive melee build, if your team isn't braindead you stick to coherency and protect your teammates. It's why you're a trench sentry, and not a raider. Keep this in mind if you decide to experiment with the build. It doesn't mean you can't use this build aggressively, but it's a not a commando melee vet build.

- Bulwarks are not a threat to you, one slug will drop their guard, and another slug + regular shot to the head following that will put them down (or just multiple shots if you're in a hurry/bind). 

- On Crushers and Maulers, Take Heed Brave Veteran Player! You will not Duel Crushers and Maulers, nothing but the God Emperor's Mercy will allow you to tank a hit even if you stack all the HP and Toughness in the world. Two to three slug body shots will put maulers down. Crushers are the only true weakness of this build, you give up too much flexibility if you decide to go for Krak Grenades by giving up Demo Team (the only talent you can afford to trade off in this build). No Respite + Full Bore blessings will allow you to make a dent and reliably stagger them though (headshots), but you will need to put allot of shells downrange to put them down. Do not use regular shot on them. Focus on clearing smaller hostiles, especially disablers and flamers/grenadiers, and isolate the crusher(s) before putting them down. Don't forget to tag the crusher(s) to remind your team that you, and they exist. If you have good teammates crushers will rarely be a concern unless you're the idiot that went off to die 30m+ outside coherency to cop a cube of diamantine.  

Newbie tips:

- Learning by drowning in the deep end is perfectly valid, just make sure your teammates consent. Let them know they're fucked if they think you can hold a flank against an Auric maelstrom special wave before they have to find out the hard way. Communicate.
 
- You've probably noticed by now that the AI likes to fuck with you, especially when you're not surrounded by friendlies or have an ogryn/zealot willing to babysit you. Don't take empty rooms for granted, you ever seen the idle animations for tanks in RTS games? You know, where they keep sweeping their guns around, side to side, slowly, 180 degrees wherever they're facing? Looks and sounds goofy, but it works for situational awareness in any and all first person games (and irl cool guy shit). Do that and you'll be less likely to get shanked by a corner camping Rager. Sweep around while moving, scan the room, and take mental notes of everything, and spawn points especially. Who knows, you may be full on grenades when you firs spot them, but that grenade box you noticed may save the run when you're later forced to scramble back into the room after the rest of your squad's been annihilated, and half the map's at your heels while you're out of ammo and grenades. 

- Keep situational awareness, and don't drop overwatch guardsman. And turn around every so often! The AI director loves to spawn crap within 8m of you if you're on the edge of the team coherency,that is a flank or rear. Even if you're not the rearmost man, still turn around and make sure that the lonely sod there wasn't dragged off by something, or decided to get himself killed to forage for plasteel. 

- Unless your team is playing mario cart that run, take your time and avoid sprinting if you don't have to. Once you know maps well enough, and are playing with functional teammates or at least wholesome, fellow newbies you'll be able to breeze through stuff while rarely having to sprint around.

- This game has a lot of hidden mechanics, don't be afraid to experiment, and ask questions to fellow players in-game, or us sweatlords on social media, and the FS forums. 

- Can't emphasize this enough, so you get another paragraph, Git gud at melee! You will need to even if you don't use this build. Stop using Power Swords, and learn other melee weapons. Combat Blades make you more mobile, and therefore, survivable, remember the mantra. Swords, and shovels are more reliable for horde clear even without using Desperado and Trench Fighter Drill. CAxes are better at dropping things dead, and can flex into horde clear with the Brutal Momentum blessing. TacAxes are what happens when a knife and a CAxe love eachother very, very much and- anyways, they're not as mobile as knives, but they're more so than CAxes or Power Swords, and they may not kill or stagger things as good as CAxes but they kill better than knives and can actually stagger stuff (backstab-mercy-kill minmaxed MLG fuckery aside). Worth noting as well that their special attack, unlike Power Swords in general, will help keep you safe from the Rager that's been looking at you weird while panting suggestively from the corner of the room this entire time.

If you want to use this build as a baseline for your own, here's some buildcrafting tips: 

- As I hinted at earlier, big numbers aren't always the best. Don't try this build with the Kantrael shotgun, it's mobility is somehow even worse than the other two shotguns, and it's terrible spread means that it's only useful for blasting things at pointblank range. It makes Executioner + Counterfire + Relentless + Always Ready nearly useless even if you drop Demo Team to get Marksman. Even if you drop Counterfire, Desperado or Iron Will to get Longshot, you will likely still not be able to meet breakpoints against ranged chaff even if you went to the Jack Bauer school of marksmanship and use a Golden Triad (80-80-80) Kantrael. 

- You can switch out the shotgun for an Autogun or a Headhunter if you want to turn this into a generalist DMR build (see my DMR build for more info). 

- Combat Blades, while helping with the shotgun's mobility issue will mean you're giving up anti horde. They're best used in melee commando vet builds where you can use Serrated Blade so you can run Mercy Killer and Uncanny Strike on your knife for maximum minmax fuckery.

- Krak grenades are not worth the trade offs for this build (-cause taxes). 

- Don't bother with utility picks, you lose too much in trade off.