Auric Maelstrom Damnation+ Plasma Build
 Veteran Build - Warhammer 40k: Darktide 

Patch 15 as of 11/14/23

Optimized Strat for Damnation+ Pub Runs

My main objective is to craft a versatile loadout for Veteran players in Damnation+ pub runs that handles various challenges. Despite the demanding nature of the build, there is some room to try out different nodes. I'll try to outline a few that I mess around with.

Get to the bottom of the tree with as little top-heavy nodes as possible. The meat of this build relies on Survivalist for ammo regen aura, Iron Will for the 50% damage reduction, Confirmed Kill for tons of toughness regen on Elite and Special kills, and stacking rend/bleed/brittle to bleed-out bosses. 

Ultimate

EXECUTIONER STANCE is my personal choice and the most practical, however depending on your rifle choice. Even with my 32" Odyssey Neo G8 on 4k res I still struggle to see Elites and Specials in crowds thanks to some of the muddy shaders and lighting. ReShade helps a bit with this but there's only so much you can really optimize. I prefer to keep stance up as long as possible and having more targets to hit helps me to chain them together with very little downtime so I can spread as much love to my teammates as possible.

VOICE OF COMMAND is a solid pick and a bit overpowered. It's a low CD death preventative, however, I find it to be less clutch than the prior.

INFILTRATE is for streamers so don't bother with it.

Blitz

SHREDDER GRENADE - Just okay for horde kills, but the real utility here is clearing out the dance floor for bosses so we can get in and start stacking some debuffs.

KRAK GRENADE - Highly effective with hordes, better than the shredder. This is the best pick for any Vet, however, I prefer Melee Attack Speed at the bottom of the third leg and this would take one point too many for me to reach that. More on that later.

SMOKE GRENADE - Remember kids, smoking gets you killed. Emphasis on you - not the enemy.

Tips

Plasma is incredibly powerful. I would suggest not getting too comfortable with charged shots. Charged shots are the only way that you'll overheat and pop yourself, and we're playing a Veteran so we don't have to worry about Peril, right?

Plasma Perks: Maniac should be prioritized.

Plasma Blessings: Gets Hot! and Blaze Away are both solid picks for Blessings, however, Glory Hunter will also benefit Born Leader and share more Toughness with your allies in coherency. I would pass on Shattering Impact.

Onslaught is exceptionally additive on bosses when using a Chainsword. If you want to run any other melee that isn't chain driven with a slow main gun, I suggest dropping this node, however that will break a lot of the multipliers we rely on for bosses.

Rending Strikes in my opinion is necessary to bleed out bosses.

10% Melee Attack Speed feels incredible to use and I have a lot of trouble getting away from it. If opting out of this to grab Krak (rocks) Grenade, I would suggest a Shovel for horde and melee combat, however this will also break up a lot of the stacking multipliers for bossing damage.

Curios are up to you, however, I prefer to stack 3x Toughness or 2x Toughness / 1x Health to increase my benefit from Iron Will. Stamina will work - solely depending on your playstyle. I prefer to recover my toughness as fast as possible and raise my allies up faster.