+1-2 Extra Chained Energised Hits and +2.5-10% Impact on Energised Hits.
+7.5-15% Weak Spot Damage. Weakspot Kills also ignore Enemy Hit Mass.
+70-100% Critical Weak Spot Damage.
+14-20 Critical Chance on Weak Spot Hit until your next Critical Hit. Stacks 5 times.
The new vet tree is kinda weird right now. I feel like going for any keystone means missing out on a lot of important talents. So instead of going for any keystones, I decided to go for two of the red talent nodes instead - Marksman and For the Emperor give insane value. This build leans heavily into precision ranged killing of high threat enemies, even in the middle of a horde.
If you really have to, you can use your combat ability and then switch back to melee, and you and your nearby teammates get 10% melee and ranged damage while you also maintain enemy outlines as info for 5 seconds. Any specials you kill give you back 6 seconds of ability cooldown, and that's the case even when you're ability is already in use, meaning you can reactivate it to give everyone the buff from For the Emperor. Survivalist is a no-brainer pick for the aura. Flak grenades are great for crowd control and stacking bleed on an area of enemies. Executioner's stance basically guarantees you one-shot most specials and elites in the head at a very sustainable rate - hunting grounds missions are a great place for this to shine in.
The Lasgun MkXII is the perfect sweet spot, for popping heads at a consistent rate, especially when activating Executioner's stance to take care of most elites and specials - Headhunter and Deadly accurate play too well into each other, and flak and maniac damage includes most high-threat enemies in the game. From what I've tested, if you stack Headhunter IV twice, then your next shot is basically a guaranteed critical hit. which means you can kill a Reaper in 2-3 shots without even having to use your combat ability. The only enemies you can't really take care of with your ranged weapon are Crushers, Maulers, and maybe Scab Ragers, however the Power Sword has your back on those enemy types.
The Power Sword VI can produce insane damage and even two-shot a crusher - Power Cycler (either 3 or 4 would do) and damage against carapace are a must for this (secondary perk can be damage against flak>maniacs>unyielding and the second blessing can be either Slaughter, Brutal Momentum or Rampage). For the lethal combo to feel just right, you'll need the weapon to have good finesse and cleave, besides damage. The combo is done by charging your sword, pushing into a stabbing attack and then a final light attack, which should be an overhead - if you land both of the hits on a crusher's or a Mauler's head, they should be dead on the spot.
The curios are just a suggestion, you can mess around with them. If you're not struggling with maintaining your toughness, you can take the point from Close Order Drill and invest that in something else that you feel you might need - this could be an extra talent for your Executioner's Stance, Volley Adept for faster reloading, Field Improvisation to improve the value of medipacks and ammo crates, etc. If you feel like you need more stamina, you can start down the middle path with Close Order Drill and Confirmed Kill, but you absolutely HAVE TO take Longshot to ensure your ranged breakpoints remain the same, however this way you don't have much freedom to invest in different talents without sacrificing something good.
