Revelations in Revolutions
 Zealot Build - Warhammer 40k: Darktide 

I recently learned how to use Shroudfield with chain weapons...

Summary recap if you don't know :
Once you pop Shroudfield, the next attack you land will end it immediately. If it's a revved attack, only the first tick of damage would benefit from the backstab & finesse damage boosts.

But if you time your Shroudfield right after you land a revved hit, not only will you drop aggro while locked in your animation, but all subsequent ticks of damage from your revved attack would benefit from the Shroudfield damage buff. You remain in stealth WHILE revving... my only guess is that you have some kind of very efficient exaust muffler on that crazy chainsword...
After your first attack end, you're still able to move around and hit a second time for a guaranteed crit with a buff for the initial tick of damage.

Why this Build ?

By pairing Shroudfield with the Bloodthirsty blessing, we get a way to force a crit on the initial attack, thus using the finesse damage buff on most of the attack.

By pairing invocation of Death with the Bloodthirsty blessing, we get a way to reset our Shroudfield cooldown... a lot.

Why did I choose Bloodthirsty over Shred / Wrath / Savage Sweep ?

1. I like activation weapons and I like activating said weapons.
2. Blazing Piety isn't as fun to play as Martyrdom imo.
3. Guaranteed Crit for the CDR engine makes dopamine go 'yes'.
4. Revved L1 has decent finesse modifier (40:40:70) and amazing damage carry-over (cleave)
5. Revved H1 crits can delete any non-monstrosity with some very basic setup (no martyrdom stack required for anything smaller than a Crusher)

Why Master Crafted instead of Perfectionnist Shroudfield ?

The only kind of target Perfectionnist would be relevant for are Monstrosities. We already do more than enough damage to monstrosities, also, the 6 second buff is great for chasing around your next target / escaping a crossfire.

For now (1.12.21),
Revved L1 can, on a weakspot crit, cleave and kill 6 poxwalkers / groaners. That's quite good.

It will deal with more mixed crowds quite well, but you might get stuck on some poor sod when the density is very high. 

Not to worry, your next tick of damage will probably finish the job, you're free to move as soon as the target dies, so escaping the retaliatory strike from the horde isn't an issue. usually.

If you get stuck in an elite / specialist, you can dodge to abort the attack, but it costs 4 stamina to perform. Enemies weaker than a Rager would probably die from that attack, but it takes time you probably can't afford.

Shroudfield is obviously a get out of jail free card for that too.

Other lights, when revved, will stick to the first target they find, regardless of mass. Sometimes useful to pulverize a single poxwalker and grab a fresh Bloodthisty buff. Otherwise, avoid them. Cleave is king.

A revved heavy crit can kill any elite short of a Crusher (avoid the Mauler's head)... Unless you've got a damage perk toward Elites or Carapace and a couple Martyrdom stacks, at which point, everyone dies, short of a Monstrosity.

 

Basic Strats

Poxies & Grannies Horde ? 
Revved L1 spam.

Mixed Horde ? 

Revved L1 spam with care

Elites + Horde ? 

1. Create space with lights spam, 
2. Use said space to land revved L1s 
3. Milk as many ticks of damage as you can when you stick into something juicy. 
4. Use Shroudfield liberately, farming crits resets your cooldown very quickly.

Elite Packs ? 

1. Try to grab a Bloodthirsty buff on the way in ,then land a revved H1 into something dangerous.
2. If you have aggro and are in immediate danger from his friends (ragers are especially threatening), drop aggro using Shroudfield.
3. From then onward, it's about keeping the Bloodthirsty daisy-chain rolling. 

Ideally, you'll get familiar with the max range of your heavies and dance around the elite pack without being locked in place for too long. You do kill them quite fast, after all...

Stun Grenades are also an amazing tool at locking Elite packs down. They last long enough for you to really 'thin the forest down'. Remember to keep one for a clutch, just in case...

Gunner Firing Squad ?

1. Close in,
2. Spam lights if you have aggro, spam revved heavies if you don't.

Try hitting weakspots with your laspistol while moving around. If impossible because of suppression / out of ammo, Shroudfield is still your friend.

Boss ?

Try to grab a Bloodthirsty buff if you can, it really boosts the damage output.

• If you have aggro, aim for the weakspot with a revved H1 and pop Shroudfield right after it lands (or kite the beast of Nurgle until it switches). With a bit of luck and positionning, the boss will turn around in time for your last hit to count as a backstab.
• If you don't have aggro, go for a backstab revved H1 and perform the same gimmick as previously explained.

If there isn't any target available to grab a Bloodthirsty buff, don't fret too much over it, the backstab damage is the main scaling factor here. Just wait to get access to the boss' back before going in.

And that's about it. Simple, really.