Veteran: Mandatory/Guide Outdated
 Veteran Build - Warhammer 40k: Darktide 

This is the baseline you should run with in patch 14.

First row:

Close order drill is very, very good. Paired with 50% aura radius you will almost always have a big toughness damage reduction. Secondly your choice of grenade depens on your choice of weapons. Choose what weapons you prefer - But keep in mind that your choice may alter what grenade you should use. Krak grenades are for dealing with armor, so if one of your weapons (i.g. revolver/plasma/bolter) already does this you can go shredder instead for some horde control. Smoke grenade are for niche setups og map types and is for getting cover. Hard to find good use for.

Second row:

Go survivalist. It is so much better than the other choices by big margins. The only exception is if you are doing low intensity maps and you are running with allies that don't need ammo. Otherwise this is a mandatory keynode.

• I've not picked grenade tinkerer in this build because it is sure to get patched soon. But this is also a strong pick because it is bugged and gives you stun immunity. Keep this in mind.

Third row:

Allthough you could pick executioner's stance or infiltrate I'd heavily recommend going voice of command with duty and honour right now because of how strong it is. As long as you can kill some specialists now and then this should be up in every fight and your allies in coherency will appreciate it. It gives a big toughness boost preventing teammates from dropping health.

• Be careful with "Only in Death Does Duty End". It seems good on paper but it is not really worth it. If you play right you should never really need it and the cooldown increase is too big for it to be worth it (I'd make a case for it if you and your allies are new to the game and get downed a lot).

Fourth row:

Middle-bottom tree is almost mandatory. It is so powerful, especially paired with voice of command. You will be so tanky and decidedly loose the least amount of HP during a run if you pair it with good toughness from curios. Not to speak of extra 25% damage to ogryns and bosses + 15% to elites.

• Continuing down middle tree is also good but keep in mind that "Born Leader" is not really good right now. It only works with toughness you have lost. So if you are at 100% it gives your allies nothing.

Final points:

Go left side if you prefer ranged and right side if you prefer melee. A mix of the two is also strong. 

• 30% weak point damage on the left side is a very good node that also works for melee. Avoid if you are struggling with getting headshots.
• I personally prefer "Agile Engagement" on the right (25% extra damage) but it changes your playstyle a lot, testing you to swap between ranged and melee a lot. Especially good if you like running with a laspistol or revolver and whipping it out for a quick kill now and then.
• "Deadshot" on the left is good if you are running a crit build, but keep in mind you should have extra stamina from wep or curio with this.
• "Onslaught" on the right is very good if you use quick weapons (especially ranged)

Weapons:

Almost all weapons are viable right now so you should run with what you like. Personally I'd make a strong case for the revolver right now. I like to pair it with the chainsword or rashad combat axe but again - everything works as long as you choose the right blessings and perks.

Try to plan for what your weapons should be dealing with. For example giving the revolver 25% damage against carapace means it will be a crusher slayer. Or giving your melee weapon 25% damage against maniacs for ragers or muties. etc.

Keep in mind that flak armor is the most common damage type and putting 25% damage on your weapon of this type is almost never wrong. The only exception is if your weapon already one-shots these types (for example the plasma or revolver).

Curios:

If you follow this guide nothing will beat toughness. Trading one curio for +1 wound is the alternative if you don't feel confidant in staying up (or if you don't trust your allies). And as mentioned over you should go with extra stamina on one curio if you go crit build with "Deadshot".

Otherwise your extra perks here should be more toughness and stamina regeneration. Damage reduction from snipers or gunners is also a safe choice. I went with toughness regeneration speed here but this is just personal preferance.

Final words:

Don't forget to have fun and try new things. This guide should just be a primer to what works best on the highest difficulties. I personally found that after using this baseline I went from being shaky in a high intensity heresy, to doing auric maelstrom in a short amount of time.

Don't hog all the ammo crates, stay in your coherency, rush to remove netted allies from trappers ASAP, flames are your worst enemy. Dodge, dodge, dodge.