[EndGame] Zealot Crit-Wounds Build | Auric Ready | Guide by Yobi
Build for Darktide

This is your "Crit-Wounds" Zealot -Martyrdom- Build

Idea behind the build:

This is a Martyrdom Build, which means you are going to be running full Wounds and very low on HP

However, we take advantage of Fury of the Faithful (guaranteed crit), Scourge (Crits Apply bleed and bleed increases Crit%), Enduring Faith (Damage Reduction on crit), Invocation of Death (Ability Cooldown Reduction on Crit) and Crit Weapons to increase both our DPS and our survivability.

The build is Auric Damnation/Maelstrom ready and extremely fun to play.

Here are the key points:

Melee Weapon

There's a bunch of melee weapons that work with this build as long as they either have access to "Shred" Blessing or "Assassination" light attack type.

**Note 1: My personal Favorite is Catachan "Devil's Claw" MK7 because of the Special Attack. It also has the best Synergy with Disdain.

**Note 2: I would take Shred weapons over Assassination weapons any day of the week.

--- SHRED WEAPONS ---

• Catachan "Devil's Claw"
  --- Weapon of Choice; OP Special Attack vs anything / Fast / Mixed-Horde Destroyer
  Perks: Flak + Maniac (alternatives: Crit% chance, Elite Damage)
  Blessings: Shred + Rampage (alternatives: Shred + Savage Sweep)
• Chain-sword
  --- Overall Strong; Better than Catachan against Elites, Worse than Catachan against hordes and Ragers
  Perks: Maniac + Flak (alternatives: Crit% chance, Elite Damage)
  Blessings: Shred + Rampage (alternatives: Shred + Devastating Strike)
• Eviscerator 
  --- Decent; Slower = less crits, Better against Carapace than Chainsword/Catachan
  Perks: Combination of Maniac / Carapace / Crit% / Elite / Unyielding as long as you hit rager break points
  Blessings: Shred + Rampage
• Combat-Axe
  --- Decent; One taps most things on head-shot / confident against ragers and carapace / Slower = less crits
  Perks: Combination of Maniac / Carapace / Crit% / Elite / Unyielding as long as you hit break points
  Blessings: Shred + Brutal Momentum

--- ASSASSINATION WEAPONS ---

• Tactical Axe 
  --- Fast / 15% built in crit chance on light attacks
  Perks: 5% Crit chance + Flak/Maniac/Elites (whichever you need most to hit breakpoints)
  Blessings: Headtaker + Brutal Momentum
• Combat Blade (dagger) 
  --- Fast / 15% built in crit chance on light attacks
  Perks: 5% Crit chance + Unyielding
  Blessings: Flesh Tearer + Lacerate (alternatively: I would experiment with Uncanny, Riposte, Mercy Killer)

Ranged Weapon

• Weapon of Choice: Laspistol; Fury of the Faithful ignores armor hence you can destroy Bosses, Elites, Carapace
• Perks: 5% Crit Chance + Carapace (1) or Unyielding (2) or Elites (3) 
• Blessings: Infernus + DumDum

Laspistol is your "go-to" whenever you have to kill Carapace and Unyielding Enemies or Bosses.

Use your Ability Cooldown "Fury of the Faithful" and shoot the damn thing!

Curios

• Blessings: +1 Wounds Curios
• Perks: Stamina Regen + HP% + Anything else

Synergies:

• Martyrdom - Up to 6 Stacks:
  Damnation (2 wounds) + Faith's Fortitude (2 wounds) + 3 wound Curios = 7 wounds
  --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
• Toughness Damage Reduction - Up to 71.73% Toughness Damage Reduction
  ---  Note: I believe the calculation goes like this: ---
  100% damage taken - 5% from talent = 95%
  95% damage taken - 15% from Benediction = 95*0.85 = 80.75%
  80.75% damage taken - 30% from "I Shall not Fall" = 80.75*0.7 = 56.525%
  56.525%% damage taken - 50% from "Enduring Faith" = 56.525*0.5 = 28.2625%
  Therefore, you take 28.26% toughness damage, in other words, that's 71.73% toughness dmg reduction
  
  1x Talent Node = 5% Toughness Damage Reduction
  Benediction = 15% Toughness Damage Reduction
  I Shall not Fall (6 stacks) = 30% Toughness Damage Reduction
  Enduring Faith = 50% Toughness Damage Reduction for 4s on Crit
  --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
• Crit Stacking:
  Scourge = Crits apply bleed. Bleed increases crit chance by 10%
  Shred (Blessing) = Continuous hits increase crit chance by 4% up to 20%
  Fury of the Faithful (CD) = Guaranteed Crit
  --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
• CD Reduction:
  Invocation of Death = Crits reduce CD by 1.5s
  --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
• Attack Speed Stacking:
  Faithful Frenzy = 10% IAS
  Maniac (6 stacls) = 24% IAS
  --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
• Damage Stacking:
  Martyrdom (6 stacks) = +48% damage (melee)
  Sustained Assault (5 stacks) = +20% damage (melee)
  Fury of the Faithful (CD) = +25% damage (melee)
  Talents = +10% damage (melee)
  Backstabber = +20% damage (backstab melee)
  Disdain (5 stacks) = +25% damage (if you cleave 5 targets)
  --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Other noteworthy synergies:

• +10% HP
• +10% Movement Speed

Things you can change:

• The only thing I could move around is 1 point from "Redoubled Zeal" (+1 CD Charge)
  I personally like having 2x charges of "Fury of the Faithful" at all times but alternatively you can go:
  -- Duelist: +50% "Finesse" (weakspot / crit) damage on dodge
  -- Second Wind: +15% toughness on dodge
  -- Blood Redemption: +50% toughness on melee kill

How to play:

• Hordes / Unarmored melee enemies: Destroy them with Devil's Claw
• Mutants: 2-hit with Devil's Claw
• Carapace: Switch to Laspistol, use Fury of the Faithful, shoot the damn thing!
• Bulwarks / Reapers: Switch to Laspistol, use Fury of the Faithful, shoot the damn thing!
• Bosses: Switch to Laspistol, use Fury of the Faithful, shoot the damn thing!
• Elites: Destroy them with Devil's Claw
• In general:
  Start the match, find a red barrel, hit it, stand in flames until you are down to 1 wound. GG! Congratz you won the game (as long as you don't lose your toughness to dump things or get trapped.. or dogged!) 
  Jokes aside, you need to hit things to crit, crits will refresh your CD and reduce toughness damage taken, use CD to crit and get toughness back. As long as you keep crit-ing you cannot die.
• Fury of the Faithful (Ability Cooldown):
  Can't stress it enough; When you use it your ranged attacks ignore armor. You can delete crushers

Thank you if you made it to the end of this guide.

Below you'll find a video where I clutch the game with this build against all odds.

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